to Sir Andrew Smith, inhabited, in enormous multitudes, the grassy
plains to the northward of the Vaal River, and after the fall of the
summer rains were in the habit of advancing simultaneously in large
herds as far as the southern branches of the Orange River. But on
reaching the latter stream singularly enough the Brindled Gnu ceased
to advance, and the Common Gnu alone passed into the Cape Colony. The
appearance of the latter to the south of the Orange River was the
signal for hunters of all denominations to prepare for the chase,
and though the yearly slaughter was very great the herds in those
days never ceased to renew their periodical visitations. Strongly
expressed as are the views of both Andrew Smith and Harris as to the
line of demarcation between the two species of Gnu, there seems to be
some doubt as to their correctness. An excellent recent authority,
Mr. H. A. Bryden (‘Kloof and Karroo’), tells us that the Brindled
Gnu was in former days certainly a “denizen, albeit a rare one, south
of the Orange River,” and gives us Gordon-Cumming as an authority.
Gordon-Cumming asserts (‘Hunter’s Life in South Africa,’ p. 148) that
he met with the Brindled Gnu in the Karroo country west of Colesberg,
in what is now the Hopetown division of the Cape Colony. But Mr. Bryden
admits that it has now for many years been extinct in that district. In
the Transvaal, also, he tells us, the Boers have, of late years, played
sad havoc with this singular Antelope, not long ago found in countless
thousands on the plains of that Republic.
Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington, in their ‘Sportsman in South Africa,’
tell us the same story. Writing in 1892, they state that, except in
some of the northern districts along the Crocodile River, the Brindled
Gnu is now extremely scarce in the Transvaal, and practically extinct
in the Orange Free State. But it is still met with in Bechuanaland,
and is fairly plentiful along the edges of the Great Kalahari Desert.
“In the Lake Ngami district, on both banks of the Botletle River, and
from thence right up to the Chobe and Zambesi, it is quite common in
suitable localities, and, at the present time, large troops may be seen
on the Ma-Chara-Chara and Mababe Flats, and in the country surrounding
the great salt-pans of Makari-Kari, through which the main road passes
to the Victoria Falls.”
So much for the occurrence of this species in the South and South-west
of Africa, past and present. But we must now trace its distribution
to the north; for it is an extraordinary fact that the Brindled Gnu,
instead of being confined, like its sister species, to a small part
of South Africa, extends up along the eastern coast certainly as far
as Kilimanjaro, and perhaps even into Sennaar, where reports of the
occurrence of a Gnu-like Antelope were made to Heuglin. It is, however,
possible that some of these northern Gnus may belong to the White-maned
species, which we shall presently mention.
Beginning from the Limpopo, Mr. Selous tells us that the Brindled
Gnu is found all over this portion of South-eastern Africa up to the
Zambesi, in districts suitable to its habits--that is, “in open downs
devoid of bush and in open glades in the forest,” but not in hilly
countries. Peters and Sir John Kirk both enroll it among the mammals of
Zambesia, the latter author stating that at the time of his visit it
was “very abundant in considerable herds in the Batoka country, also
near Lake Shirwa, and at Shupanga on the Zambesi.” As to its present
existence in the Shiré Highlands, Mr. B. L. Sclater, R.E., sends us
the following notes.--“In November 1891, while travelling between Zomba
and Milanji, I was shooting in the marshes on the west bank of the
Tochila. I saw a Gnu and tried to stalk it, but it was right in the
open and I could not get near it. My head man, a Swahili, said it was
a Gnu (_Nyumbo_), and he was well acquainted with that animal.
Again, in 1892, at Midima, to the south of the Tochila, I obtained
a tail of a Gnu from a native, who told me that formerly there was
a large herd of them on these plains, but that he thought they were
now all killed. I believe that Mr. Sharpe has met with the Gnu on the
plains to the west of the Upper Shiré, between Matope and the sources
of the Lesungwi River.”
As regards the more northern portion of the British Central African
Protectorate, Mr. Crawshay tells us that the Gnu is apparently unknown
to the natives round the northern half of Lake Nyasa, and is not met
with anywhere in the immediate neighbourhood of the Lake, though found
a little to the south-east, and also, he believes, to the south-west.
In 1864 Speke met with the Brindled Gnu in large herds in Khutu, on
the western borders of Uzaramo, close to the Kingani River, where it
inhabits the “park-like lands adjoining the stream.”
Later on Sir John Kirk obtained heads of it in the same district, and
has favoured us with the following notes on its occurrence in this part
of German East Africa:--
“As regards the Brindled Gnu in East Africa, I may say that, although
familiar with this animal on the Upper Zambezi near the Victoria
Falls, where they were common in 1860, I have only since shot them in
Ukami, to the west of Dar-es-salam, and on the River Wami inland from
Bagomoyo. In the plains and on the rolling ground between the River
Rufiji and the River Wami they used to be common. I have shot them
within ten miles of the coast, and I believe that they extend back to
the foot of the mountains.
“As I was not then acquainted with the species or variety lately found
by Jackson, I cannot from memory express any opinion as to the identity
of these animals, further than that they seemed to me identical with
the Brindled Gnus I had killed years previously near the Victoria Falls
and Sesheke on the Upper Zambezi.
“In East Africa, near the coast, in the places above-named
where I found this Antelope, it never occurs in numbers, but is
often associated as an attendant on other game, especially upon
Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest. It often causes annoyance to the sportsman
by giving warning of his approach to the other Antelopes.
“I believe this Gnu suffered from the recent cattle-disease which
during the last four years has decimated the Buffalo, the Giraffe,
the Eland, and many other kinds of game, not affecting, however, the
Rhinoceros, and certain other animals. This disease seems to have
killed off different classes of animals in different localities,
attacking universally, wherever it appeared, the cattle of the natives.
“Thousands of hides of cattle that have died of this plague have been
freely imported into Europe and America; the disease has travelled from
Somali-land to Nyasa-land, and yet we do not know its nature. Some say
it is anthrax, others that it is pleuro-pneumonia; but whether it is
a disease that can be communicated by the dried hides of the diseased
animals has not been ascertained. In Somali-land and Masai-land it has
worked itself out, and it may stop short of the Cape Colony and not
cross the Zambezi; but in the meantime it has decimated the African
Game, and left its mark by changing the whole life of the pastoral
peoples who depended on their cattle alone.”
In British East Africa the Brindled Gnu (here called by the Swahilis
“_Nyumbo_”) is well-known to the sportsmen who have visited the
happy hunting-grounds of Kilimanjaro. Sir John Willoughby and his
friends found it principally to the north-east of the mountain “in
large herds.” Mr. F. J. Jackson (‘Big Game Shooting’) tells us it is
more plentiful in the Useri district to the north-east of Kilimanjaro,
and on the Athi plains to the north and west of Machakós, than anywhere
else. In the latter place, on August 5, 1890, he and his companions
“saw an enormous herd of 1500”; but this was “quite unusual, as they
are rarely found in herds of more than from twenty to sixty.” But it
is possible that some of Mr. Jackson’s observations may refer to the
following species, as when he wrote them he did not distinguish the two
animals.
Mr. Jackson gives the following advice to the Gnu-hunter:--“Wildebeests
are amongst the most difficult beasts to stalk, owing to the open
nature of the country in which they are found, and will probably try
the sportsman’s patience more than any other Antelope. They will stand
gazing at him, and will sometimes allow him to get within a range
of 200 yards, if he pretends to walk past them, though in reality
closing in upon them in a semicircle; but directly he stops to take
a shot they will shake their heads in the most defiant way, and with
a few snorts and flicks of their mule-like tails, kick up their heels
and caper off jauntily. As they will, as a rule, pull up a short way
off, the sportsman will have the annoyance of again adopting the same
tactics, with probably like results, until he might almost believe that
the Wildebeest is enjoying itself at his expense. He should, however,
avoid risking a long shot (the Wildebeest is an extremely tough
brute, and will go for miles when wounded in such a way as would soon
bring other game to a standstill), since after two or three fruitless
attempts if no shot is fired its suspicions will become allayed, and it
will probably stand sufficiently long to give him a good chance.”
The Brindled Gnu is not so commonly met with in Zoological Gardens as
the White-tailed species. It is generally considered to be a rarer
animal in the market, and the dealers ask a larger price for it. We are
informed that a pair of Brindled Gnus bred in the Zoological Gardens
at Breslau in 1886 or 1887. The only specimen ever received by the
Zoological Society, so far as we can make out, was a female purchased
in 1859. In the continental Gardens it has been better represented,
and the collections at Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Berlin usually contain
specimens of this Antelope. These have been, in many cases, obtained
from Mr. Reiche, of Alfeld, who has received several examples of this
Gnu among his recent importations of living animals from the Transvaal.
In the British Museum the Brindled Gnu is represented by one of
Burchell’s typical examples, as already mentioned, and by an adult male
received from Sir Andrew Smith. Both these are mounted specimens. There
are likewise a skeleton, obtained by Mr. Selous in Mashonaland in 1885,
and a set of skulls and horns in the same collection.
Our Plate of this animal was put on the stone by Mr. Smit from a sketch
made by Mr. Wolf. For the use of the woodcut (fig. 13, p. 98), drawn by
the celebrated German artist Mützel, we are indebted to the kindness of
Messrs. Warne and Co., by whom it has been used in their ‘Royal Natural
History’ (vol. ii. p. 314).
_January, 1895._
17. THE WHITE-BEARDED GNU.
CONNOCHÆTES ALBOJUBATUS, THOS.
_Catoblepas_ sp. inc., =Hengl.= Ant. u. Buff. N.O.-Afr., N. Act.
Leop. xxx. pt. ii. p. 24 (1868) (Sennaar)?
_Connochætes gnu_, =Hunter=, in Willoughby’s E. Afr. p. 288
(1889)?
_Connochaætes taurinus albojubatus_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H.
(6) ix. p. 388 (1892); =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 75, fig. (head and
skull) (1892).
_Connochætes taurina_, =Lugard=, E. Afr. i. p. 540, pl. p. 530
(animal) (1893).
Similar in size and coloration to _C. taurinus_, except that
the general tone is paler, especially on the cheeks and rump, and
the throat-mane instead of being black is of a dirty yellowish-white
colour. A few whitish hairs are also intermixed with the black of the
dorsal mane.
The skull is shorter and broader than in _C. taurinus_, especially
in the region of the muzzle, and the horns are placed further back on
the head, so that the palm surpasses the back of the skull posteriorly
by nearly half its breadth. The palm is also more tipped up behind away
from the skull, and is much knobbier, on which account the hinder edge
of the horns forms a more serpentine curve.
The dimensions of the typical skull are as follows:--basal length 16
inches, greatest breadth 7·6, muzzle to eye 12·1.
_Hab._ East Africa, Athi plains, Ukambani, north of Kilimanjaro,
and west side of Victoria Nyanza.
As we have already stated, this form, although otherwise agreeing in
nearly every point with the Brindled Gnu, is readily distinguishable
by its white mane, white jaw-tufts, and the generally paler colour.
But whether we ought to classify it as a separate species, or as a
subspecies, or only as a variety of the Brindled Gnu future researches
only can decide. We know as yet too little of its exact range and
mode of occurrence to be able to settle this question, nor is there
a sufficient series of specimens available. If it should be found
hereafter that beyond a certain boundary in Eastern Africa all the
Gnus met with are of the White-bearded form, and that along this line
of junction there are transitional forms between this and the ordinary
Brindled Gnu, we should do well to allow it merely subspecific rank.
If, on the other hand, it shall be found that the White-bearded
Gnu occurs side by side with the Brindled Gnu without mixing or
interbreeding with that animal, we shall have to count it as a full
species.
[Illustration: Fig. 14.
Skull of _Connochætes albojubatus_, ♂.]
Thomas, in 1892, based his _Connochætes taurinus albojubatus_ on a
head in Mr. F. J. Jackson’s collection, at that time under the care of
Messrs. Rowland Ward and Co., but since kindly presented by Mr. Jackson
to the National Collection. Thomas, from erroneous information, gave
the locality as “Uganda,” but we have since ascertained that this and
another specimen, still in Mr. Jackson’s possession, were obtained on
the Athi plains north of Kilimanjaro. Mr. Gedge assures us that no Gnus
at all were met with by Mr. Jackson and himself in Uganda.
Mr. Gedge has kindly supplied the following notes on his experiences
with the Gnus of British East Africa:--
“Both the Blue Wildebeeste and Jackson’s Wildebeeste are found in
British East Africa, and are to be met with in great numbers on the
Athi plains north of Ukambani. Of the two, the blue variety is,
perhaps, more usually met with, though I would remark that on my
upward journey to Uganda, in December 1892, I only encountered a few
solitary specimens of the Blue form in a part where they are generally
seen in hundreds, whereas on my downward journey, in the month of
August of the following year, the same locality was entirely tenanted
by Jackson’s Wildebeeste, which on this occasion were so tame that I
was able to literally walk right in amongst them and knock them down
with a small Winchester. This was really the one and only occasion
that I have met with this latter variety in any great numbers. On the
other hand, the Blue Wildebeeste will be found more or less commonly
distributed over the Leikipia and Mau plateaux. It probably ranges
over a very wide extent of country to the northwards, though I cannot
remember having seen any Wildebeestes at all north of Lake Baringo.
At the same time its non-appearance on the occasion of my visit may
doubtless very easily be accounted for by the excessive dryness of the
country at that time, and the consequent lack of pasturage. Similarly,
I have never seen Gnus anywhere near the Victoria Lake, though
possibly other travellers may have done so. The Gnu is an uncouth and
ungainly beast in appearance, and, as a rule, will not allow itself
to be easily approached. As the open character of the country which
it usually frequents more or less precludes any idea of being able
to stalk it successfully, the method which I adopted, and which I
found answered best, was to walk along quietly parallel to the herd,
gradually edging inwards. On such occasions their natural curiosity
would often allow a shot to be obtained at a distance of from a hundred
and fifty to two hundred yards. Being tough and hard to kill, Gnus must
be struck accurately by a weapon with a high degree of penetration.
As an illustration of their great vitality, I would mention that on
one occasion I had the misfortune to break both the fore legs of
one just above the fetlock, and that in spite of these crippling
wounds the poor beast was able to cover a distance of nearly half a
mile on its stumps before I came sufficiently near to administer the
_coup-de-grâce_. This was in spite of the fact that, in addition
to this severe injury, it had received two other solid express bullets
in its body, one of which was afterwards discovered to have penetrated
the base of the heart. When alarmed the Gnu usually runs but a short
distance at a time, at a stiff ungainly gallop, whisking its tail round
in the most comical fashion. It then stops and turns to inspect the
object of its alarm, at the same time uttering a few snorts. Having
satisfied itself of the approaching danger, it will again gallop off
and pursue the same tactics several times if unmolested. It is a very
harmless and inoffensive animal in spite of its ferocious aspect.”
As regards the Gnus of German East Africa there is the same difficulty.
Herr Matschie has kindly sent to Sclater the following notes on this
subject:--
“At Berlin we have received from Oscar Neumann several skins and
skulls, young and old, of the Gnu [procured during his recent journey
northwards from Irangi up the east side of Lake Victoria].
“All of these have white neck-manes and chin-bunches and brownish heads
and manes, but in some cases the latter are mixed with white, and the
tails are of a similar colour. The body is dirty greyish brown, without
a trace of bluish. One old bull shows vertical stripes on the front of
the body, the hairs having been worn short.
“The localities are--between Ngera and Irangi; Mount Guerui; Mgogo,
north of the Manyara Lake; and further on as far as Ngare Dobasch,
where they cease.
“Neumann writes that on Mount Guerui and farther along he observed the
two varieties living apart. On the Guerui he saw at the same time a
herd of light-coloured Gnus, and a herd varying from bluish black to
black, but no transitional forms.”
From Mgogo, Neumann writes:--“By the six skins which I obtained [these
skins have not yet arrived in Berlin] I hope to prove that there are
two species, or, at any rate, varieties of Gnus--one lilac-black grey,
and the other bright yellowish brown. On the Mangoto natron-swamp they
kept apart. Here in Mgogo the black form predominates, so that it seems
to be the more northern. Of two young examples of about the same age,
judging from their horns, one has a black forehead, and the other has
two white spots in front of the eyes.
“Von Höhnel and Count Teleki found only grey-black Gnus on Mount Maeru,
but these had the neck-manes striped with white and black. On the
Naschiri Lake, Teleki first met with a pure white-maned specimen.”
The woodcut of the skull of this Antelope (fig. 14, p. 106) is taken
from one of Mr. Jackson’s specimens in the British Museum.
_January, 1895._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XII.
_J. Smit del & lith._ _Hanhart imp_.
The White-tailed Gnu.
CONNOCHÆTES GNU.
_Published by R. H. Porter_.]
18. THE WHITE-TAILED GNU.
CONNOCHÆTES GNU (ZIMM.).
[PLATE XII.]
_Bos gnou_, =Zimm.= Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 372 (1777).
_Antilope gnou_, =Zimm.= Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 102 (1780);
=Bodd.= Elench. Anim. p. 138 (1785); =Schr.= Säug. pl. cclxxx.
(animal) (1787).
_Antilope gnu_, =Gmel.= Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 189 (1788);
=Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 315 (1792); =Donnd.= Zool. Beytr.
p. 634 (1792); =Link=, Beytr. Nat. i. pt. 2, p. 100 (1795);
=Bechst.= Uebers. vierf. Thiere, i. p. 64 (1799), ii. p. 641
(1800); =Shaw=, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 357, pl. 196 (1801);
Turt. Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 114 (1802); =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H.
N. (1) ix. p. 516 (1803); =G. Cuv.= Diet. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 247
(1804); =Ill.= Prodr. Syst. Mamm. p. 106 (1811); =Licht.= Mag.
nat. Freund. Berl. vi. p. 165 (1814); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p.
418 (1814); =Afzel.= N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 219 (1815); =Desm.=
N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 201 (1816); =Goldf.= in Schreb.
Säug. v. p. 1165 (1820); =F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm. (fol.) i. livr.
xvi. (animal) (1820); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 399 (1821);
=Desmoul.= Dict. Class. d’H. N. i. p. 447 (1822); =Burchell=,
List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 7 (1823); =Less.= Man. Mamm. p.
385 (1827); =Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 475 (1829); =Waterh.= Cat.
Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 41 (1838); =Oken=, Allgem. Naturgesch.
vii. p. 1400 (1838); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp. iv. p. 473
(1844), v. p. 448 (1855); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 445
(1845); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 299 (1859).
_Antilope capensis_, =Gatt.= Brev. Zool. i. p. 80 (1780).
_Bos gnu_, =Thunb.= Mém. Ac. Pétersb. iii. p. 318 (1811).
_Cerophorus (Boselaphus) gnu_, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom.
1816, p. 75.
_Cemas gnu_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Naturgesch. iii. pt. 2, p. 728
(1816).
_Antilope (Boselaphus) gnu_, =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 472 (1822).
_Catoblepas gnu_, =Ham. Sm.= Griff. Cuv. An. K. iv. p. 367, v.
p. 368 (1827); =Smuts=, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 93 (1832); =A. Sm.=
S.-Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 224 (1834); =Less.= Compl. Buff.
x. p. 305 (1836); =Harr.= Wild Anim. S. Afr. pl. i. (animal)
(1840);
=Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 154 (1843); =id.= Ann. Mag. N. H.
(1) xviii. p. 232 (1846); =id.= List Ost. B. M. p. 59 (1847);
=Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l. 1844, p. 205 (1846); =id.=
ibid. Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 156;
Reprint, p. 80 (1848); =Gray=, Knowsl. Men. p. 19 (1850); =id.=
P. Z. S. 1850, p. 138; =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 195 (1853);
=Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 182 (1869); =Murie=, P. Z. S.
1870, p. 475; =Drummond=, Large Game S. Afr. p. 425 (1875);
=Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 286, 292 (distribution); =Brehm=,
Thierl. iii. p. 287 (fig. animal) (1880); =Blaauw=, Bull. Soc.
Acclim. (4) iii. p. 494 (1886) (breeding in Holland); =id.= P.
Z. S. 1889, p. 2, figs. A-D (growth of horns); =Bryden=, Kloof
and Karroo, p. 293 (1889).
_Catoblepas operculatus_, =Brookes=, Cat. Mus. p. 64 (1828).
_Bos connochætes_, =Forst.= Descr. Anim. p. 392 (1844).
_Connochætes gnu_, =Gray=, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 119 (1852);
=Gerr.= Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 243 (1862); =Gray=, Ann. Mag.
N. H. (4) iv. p. 291 (fig. of young horns) (1869); =id.= Cat.
Rum. B. M. p. 43 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. p. 113 (1873);
=Scl.= List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 150 (1883); =Huet=, Bull. Soc.
Acclim. (3) ix. p. 678, x. p. 95 (1883) (breeding in Paris);
=Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Ost. Coll. Surg. p. 274 (1884); =Jent.=
Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 138 (1887); =W.
Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 170 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.=
Mamm. p. 336, fig. 139 (animal) (1891); =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 74
(1892); =Nicolls & Egl.= Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 48, pl. vii. fig.
25 (head) (1892); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas,
xi.) p. 170 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 205 (1893).
VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Gnu_, _White-tailed Gnu_, or _Black
Wildebeest_ of English Cape colonists; _Zwart Wildebeest_ of
Dutch colonists; _Inkonkone_ of Kaffirs (_Drummond_); _Imbutuma_
of Zulus (_Rendall_).
Size rather less than in _C. taurinus_. General colour dark brown
or blackish, the upwardly-directed facial tuft, the long hairs of the
nape, throat, and chest black. Tail very long; its thick tuft reaching
nearly to the ground; its colour white, except just at the base, where
it is like the back.
Skull shorter than in _C. taurinus_, but lengthened above, owing
to the horn-bases being prolonged backwards to support the enormous
palms of the horns, beyond the level of the occiput. Nasals short and
broad.
Measurements:--basal length 15·5 inches, greatest breadth 6·4, muzzle
to orbit 9·3.
Horns with very large longitudinally developed palms, frequently
attaining 8 inches in their greatest diameter. Proximal half of horn
directed downwards, outwards, and forwards, then rapidly recurved,
the end, which is about 10 or 12 inches in length, pointing nearly
vertically upwards. Measured from the top of the palm outside the
curves to the tip, good horns attain from 24 to 26 inches.
_Hab._ South Africa, south of the Limpopo.
The extraordinary form of the Gnu quickly attracted the notice
of the early Dutch settlers at the Cape. They called it the
“_Wilde-Beest_” supposing it to be a wild form of the domestic
cattle, whilst the native name was stated to be _Gnou_ or
_Gnu_. As early as 1776 a living specimen of the Gnu appears
to have reached Amsterdam, and was described by Allamand[8], whose
account of it was copied by Buffon in the Supplement to his ‘Histoire
Naturelle,’ and by Vosmaer[9]. In 1777 Zimmermann latinized the native
name, and used it specifically as _gnou_. This term was softened
by Gmelin into _gnu_, and thus modified has been generally adopted
as the specific name of this Antelope.
The older authors described the Gnu as lively, active, and petulant,
trotting, ambling, and galloping with great swiftness; the males
bellowing somewhat like a bull, the young ones having a “nasal murmur.”
“They are sportive, and when alarmed always commence by playing with
each other, striking sideways with their horns; but this lasts only for
a moment, and the whole troop soon flies away across the desert with
amazing speed.” By the year 1820 the Gnu appears to have been driven
far from the neighbourhood of Cape Town, and even at that period not to
have been found nearer than the Karroo district.
Sir Andrew Smith, whose expedition into the interior took place in
1834, 1835, and 1836, gives the grassy plains north of the Vaal River
as the ordinary habitation of the Gnu at that epoch. After the fall
of the summer rains the present species, he tells us, leaving its
congener, the Brindled Gnu, behind, passes the Orange River into the
Cape Colony. Here it becomes the prey of the hunters of all sorts who
at this season turn out every year to track and slaughter the advancing
herds.