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Show 286 MR. T. E. BUCKLEY ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [Mar. 7, limit appears to be the Amaswazi country ; along the Limpopo it is very common, and continues so into the Matabili country up to the Zambesi. The old males do not seem to associate with the females; nor do they appear so common, as out of nearly a dozen obtained by us only two were males, and one of these was immature. W e observed very young calves in October. The Sassabye runs with a peculiar gait, reminding one of a rocking-horse ; its shoulders are very high, sloping away to the rump ; it does not seem to be a very shy animal. 18. ALCELAPHUS ALBIFRONS. (The Blesbock.) Persecuted though it is, the Blesbock still continues to hold its ground, occurring through the Orange Free State and the Transvaal in countless numbers. In the winter they migrate south, a straggler coming even as low as Harrismith; in the summer, again, they go north of the Vaal river. They do not seem ever to have occurred much to the west of 24° east long., or north of 25° south latitude ; on the east the Drakenberg range is the boundary. At one time they were found in the Cape colony, but were scarce there even in Gordon Cumming's time : the extensive plains in the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, however, were probably always the headquarters of this species. W h y the Blesbock should still be so numerous, and the Bontebock, D. pygarga, almost extinct whereas, according to Harris, in 1836 it was almost as common as the Blesbock, is a problem not easily solved, inhabiting as they did the same localities, and feeding over the same ground. In habits, size, and appearance the Bontebock is almost identical with the Blesbock ; yet out of tbe vast herds of the former all that remain are a few individuals carefully preserved in the old colony near Cape l'Agulhaz. The Blesbock calves in November, the young at first being a sort of creamy brown colour ; the males and females live together in the same herds : these, when disturbed, invariably run up the wind, carrying their heads down. 19. CATOBLEPAS GNU. (The common Gnu.) W h e n Harris first entered the colony in 1836, the common Gnu was met with in Graaf Reinet; now, however, their numbers are so much reduced by continued hunting, that it is not until we come to about fifty miles south of the Vaal river that any are seen. In winter a few wander to within 'a few miles of Harrismith; but in summer as we were coming to Natal we only saw them after crossing the Vaal. O n the 20th of June I saw quantities of Wildebeest and Bles-bocks that were spreading themselves over the plains south of the Vaal; and this is the time when they are most persecuted, as they are then very poor in condition, and with a good horse may easily be ridden down, especially in the early morning, when they are stiff with the frost and cold. Their skins are valuable, and form one of the chief exports of Natal; and their flesh is converted by the Dutch boers into " beltong." Both sexes have horns; but those of the female are much lighter and do not meet so closely over the forehead. |
