Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/478

448 1$1/5$ in. Other measurements: height at withers, 49$3/5$ in.; length of ear, 9$3/5$ in.; length of mane, 1$1/5$ in.; tip of muzzle to root of tail, 73$1/5$ in. No of annulations on each horn about 35. These characters in the Leyden specimen compare very favourably with those of the bull at Paris (horns 21$1/2$ in., with 28 annulations, 45 in. at withers), and the cow at Vienna (40 in. at withers). The almost uniformly coloured face and moderate-sized ears of the Blaauwbok contrast markedly with the magpie face and immense ears of the Roan Antelope.

In addition to these skins and stuffed examples, one may mention the broken horn, supposed to have belonged to this species, figured by Button. I have also examined the horns and frontlet of this rare Antelope preserved in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. I do not know from what specimen the so-called "Blaubok or Etaak," figured on p. 651 of the Rev. J.G. Wood's 'Natural History,' is taken; however, it does not matter, for the animal there delineated is obviously a Roan Antelope, and no Blaauwbok at all; whilst the accompanying letterpress also refers to H. equinus.

Unfortunately, as Burchell's Zebra is now so often called "Quagga" (though the true Quagga has been extinct since 1879 at very latest), so also the name "Blaauwbok" has been applied to the Blue Duiker (Cephalophus monticola), a tiny Antelope no bigger than a Hare, occurring in Cape Colony and Natal. It is regretable that this little creature, with its mouse-dun coat, tiny horns, and insignificant stature, should be liable to be confused with the beautiful Blaauwbok of Swellendam, a worthy representative of the glorious Hippotragine Antelopes, which even to-day include the Fighting Sable, the handsome Gemsbok, and the gallant Fringe-eared Oryx.

That the splendid Antelopes yet remaining may be saved by prompt and efficient protection from the untimely fate of the Blaauwbok must be the earnest wish of every true naturalist. Purple Sassaby, Red Hartebeest, Magpie Blesbok, Striped Kudu—these man can destroy, but cannot replace; and if this essay contributes ever so little towards the preservation of that magnificent fauna whose noble presence even to-day gives to many an African landscape the appearance of a vast zoological garden, it will not have been written in vain.