FOR THE PEOPLE

FOK EDVCATION

FOR SCIENCE

LIBRARY

OF

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY

LIBRARY

OF

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
OSBORN LIBRARY OF VERTEBRATE PAL/LONTOLOGY

PRESENTED APRIL 16T" 1908

Natural History Essays

?-r>-l*L^6C„i*-. IRS-'*.''!

PAPYRUS RKEDS.

Natural History
Essays

S'^.'=\ ;Og.

BY

GRAHAM RENSHAW, M.B., F.Z.S.

ILLUSTRATED

Sherratt & Hughes

65 Long Acre London W.

27 St Ann Street Manchester

1904

&'lf(9.

Zo m^ jfatber

^OirniElLN (ilUAFl'E.

Note the stoutly formed muzzle, the larj^e angular spots and the

unspotted legs. In galloping the head swings rajndly up and down

and the tail is either curled up over the liaek or is switched from

side to side — hence not seen in this illustration.

PREFACE.

The kind reception accorded to certain lectures and
magazine articles has encouraged the preparation of this
little work. In it an attempt has been made to describe
typical examples of the mammalian fauna of Africa as
seen both from the zoological and the historical stand-
point. The information upon which this book is based
being the outcome of several years' investigation,
research, and correspondence, I hasten to express in
this place my grateful thanks for many courtesies
received from various scientific gentlemen, not only in
this country but also in America, Africa, and on the
Continent of Europe.

GRAHAM RENSHAW.

Sale Bridge House

Sale, Manchester

July, 1904

A HERD OF SINC; S1N(; nVATERBUCK.

CONTENTS.

PAOK

I.

The Barbarv Ape ...

1

II.

The Bush Baby

9

III.

The Serval Cat

15

IV.

The Senegal Genet .

26

V.

The Fennec Fox ...

32

VI.

The Blaauwbok

38

VII.

The Roan Antelope

59

VIII.

The Mhorr Gazelle

76

IX.

The Blue Wildebeest

86

X.

The Northern Giraffe ...

99

XI.

The Pigmy Hippopotamus...

114

XII.

The White Rhinoceros

126

XIII.

The Grevy Zebra ...

152

XIV.

The True Quagga

169

XV.

The Egyptian Jerboa

198

XVI

The Aard Vark

208

A TAME GREVY'S ZEBRA.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Papyrus Reeds ... ... ... ... ... Frontispiece

Northern Giraffe . . . ... ... ... to face Preface

A Herd of Sing Sing Waterbuck to face List of Contents
A Tame Grevy's Zebra ... ... to face List of Illustrations

A Young Barbary Ape

The Oued Chiffa in June

The Home of the Barbary Ape ...

Serval Cat ...

Fennec Fox, in the Manchester Museum

View in the Sahara Desert

Blaauwbok Bull in the Leyden Museum

Roan Antelope Calf

The Unique Blaauwbok Skull in the Royal College of
Surgeons' Museum

Senegambian Roan Antelope, showing Protective
Assimilation to Surroundings ...

The ''Tackheitse "

Mhorr Gazelle, in the Antwerp Zoological Gardens.

Mhorr Gazelle, showing Shape of Horns

Blue Wildebeest Bull

A Pair of Blue Wildebeest

Blue Wildebeest Cow AND Calf ...

Northern Giraffe, Galloping

FACINU

PAGE

1

6

8

15

32

36

38

48

56
59

76

8-i

90
97
99

XIV.

Southern Giraffe ...

Northern Giraffe (bred at Antwerp)

Southern Giraffe, Browsing

Pigmy Hippopotamus

Common Hippopotamus

Cast of Skull of Pigmy Hippopotamus . .

White Rhinoceros, in the Tring Museum

Indian Rhinoceros ...

Grevy's Zebra (No. 1)

Grevy's Zebra (No. 2)

Mountain Zebra

Equine hybrid

Quagga, in the Leyden Museum ...

A Salt Lake

Egyptian Jerboa

Aard Vark ...

FACING
PAGE

. 102

. 107

. 110

.. 114

.. 117

.. 118

.. 126

.. 131

.. 152

.. 162

.. 165

.. 167

.. 169

.. 175

.. 198

.. 208

THE BARBARY APE

A YOUNG BARBARY APE.

THE BARBARY APE.

''Africa sempe?- a liquid novi offertT Truly,
even to-day, the words of Pliny hold good :
Africa's rich store of animal life has not only
afforded many surprising novelties in the past but
even yet is apparently unexhausted/ It is quite
possible that many forms of the highest interest
still await discovery. The list of remarkable
mammals inhabiting Africa is so long that but
few can be mentioned here : we may, however,
instance as examples the gorilla, the potamogale,
the Burchell zebra, the sable antelope, the pigmy
hippopotamus, the fringe-eared oryx, and the Somali
giraffe. Every one of the foregoing animals has
only become known to Europeans within the last
hundred years ; the Romans were, however,
familiar with a considerable number of African
mammalia, such as the lion, leopard, elephant, and
common hippopotamus, whilst the addax (strepsi-
ceros of Pliny), the leucoryx, and the black
rhinoceros were also known to some of the older
writers. One animal, familiar to both ancients
and moderns, has persisted throughout a great
portion of its original habitat during all the long

' Witness the discovery of Grevy's zebra in 1882, of Hunter's
hartebeest in 1888, and of the okapi in 1900.

2 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

centuries which have elapsed since Roman
times, and is a form of considerable interest. I
refer to that well-known species — the Barbary
Ape.

The Barbary Ape {Macacus innuus)- — pithecus
of the ancient Romans — ttiOvkos of the ancient
Greeks — magot of the present day French — is a
stoutly built muscular animal about as large as a
moderately sized dog. The face is surrounded
by a semi-ruff of elongated hair : the eyes are
hazel-brown, close together, and deeply set in the
head ; each ear has a small tuft of upright hair
springing from its root. The muzzle protrudes
slightly. In colour the Barbary ape is brownish
grey paling to dirty white beneath : on the fore-
head the fur tends to an orange tint, and there is
a yellowish suffusion noticeable on the facial ruff
and the shoulders. The face itself, the soles of
the feet, and a small patch on each buttock are
flesh-coloured. There is some individual varia-
tion amongst these monkeys, the fur of some
specimens inclining to a reddish-brown colour,
while that of others approximates to olive-green.

The tail of the Barbary ape is a mere tubercle
of skin : this is an interesting fact since so many
of the macaques (to which division of monkeys
the present species belongs) have long tails. One
can even trace a distinct gradation in the length
of this appendage. Thus in the well-known

THE BARBARY APE

bonnet monkey the tail is about twenty inches
long, or equal to the combined length of the head
and body ; in the equally well-known rhesus it
does not exceed half this measurement, and in
the East Indian maimon the pig-like tail is only
one-third as long as the head and body together.
Continuing this investigation, the brown macaque
is found to possess a mere two-inch stump, thus
bringing us to the Barbary ape, which is practi-
cally tailless. It is therefore evident that but
little importance can be attached to the length of
the caudal appendage in classifying monkeys,
since all the macaques, in spite of the varying
length of the tail, are very closely allied, as is
seen not only from their other external characters
but also from their internal structure.

The history of the Barbary ape stretches far
back into antiquity. The date of its discovery
by Europeans will probably never be known : but
Aristotle (b.c. 384-322) describes the -^^Oyxo^ in
his great work on the history of animals {^j^
^u)U)v la-Topia)^ remarking that it is a hairy-coated
animal and that it "passes more of its time as a
quadruped than a biped " in obvious allusion to
its baboon-like habit of going about on all fours.
Galen (130-200 a.d.), honourably known as the
industrious author of at least eighty-three treatises,
on medicine and allied subjects, has left an account
of the anatomy of this monkey : for the student will

4 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

find that, although this writer's Trept oa-TOiv rot? Elo-ayo
^^^o'^'i (De Ossibus ad Tirones) contains a fairly
accurate description of various bones, the objects
thus described are, in many instances, not human,
but simian. Coming to recent times, it appears
from an old paper in the British Museum, quoted
by Captain Sayer, that the Barbary ape certainly
inhabited Gibraltar as early as 1740, in which
year a large number were imported : a poll-tax
was instituted on "apes, Jews, Moors and other
aliens ! "

A few weeks before the famous siege of
Gibraltar (1779-82) the Spaniards attempted to
surprise a British outpost : but the apes of the
Rock played the part formerly enacted by the
geese of the Capitol, for by their cries they gave
the alarm to the British, who promptly repulsed
the enemy. Successive garrisons at Gibraltar
took considerable interest in the wild monkeys,
and, indeed, General Elliott (afterwards Lord
Heathfield) never allowed them to be captured
or even molested. The apes were hence very
numerous in the old days, wandering about in
several troops : however, at last, they became so
destructive to the fruit gardens that the protection
was withdrawn and they were destroyed by trap
and poison almost to the point of extermination.
In 1856 the surviving monkeys (only some half-
dozen all told) were again protected, and in 1863

THE BARBARY APE 5

fresh blood was introduced from Africa by Gen,
Sir W. Codrington, the total number in 1864
beino- about a dozen individuals. Since then, the
Gibraltar apes have increased slowly: in 1875
they consisted of eight adults with several young
ones, and in 1880 they numbered twenty-five
all told.

AlthouQfh some naturalists have assumed the
Gibraltar colony to be a last survival of the
numerous bands of Pliocene times, it seems that
Africa and not Europe is the true home of the
Barbary ape. Mr. Busk, who found plenty of
bones of the serval cat and other North African
species in the ancient breccia of Gibraltar, failed
to discover any remains of Macacus znnuus, and
concluded that the Rock monkeys had been
imported — comparatively recently — from across
the straits. In Africa the Barbary ape occurs in
Morocco and also in Algeria, from the Chiffa
River as far as the eastern boundaries of Kabylia,
being thus widely, if not abundantly, distributed.
The pretty little village of Stora, near Philippeville,
is now known chiefly as a charming resort for
tourists, and also as a centre for the sardine-curing
industry : in earlier times, as Desfontaines found
at the end of the eighteenth century, it was
remarkable rather for the troops of wild monkeys
which covered the trees with their
numbers.

6 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

Since then the partial destruction of the North
African forests has diminished the range of the
Barbary ape ; it still occurs, however, in many
places in Algeria and Morocco, where it inhabits
rocky situations, more or less covered with trees
and bushes, though I have no information of any
survivors still occurring at Stora. The best known
haunt of these monkeys at the present day is the
Gorge of the Chiffa, near Blidah, in Algeria,
where the animals are often seen in considerable
numbers.

In June, 1903, a visit was paid to the Ruisseau
des Sino'es, a mountain stream situated in the
heart of the Gorge. Setting out at half-past seven
in the morning from the pretty little town of Blidah,
embowered in groves of orange and citron, we
drove along the white, dusty, cactus-fringed road,
which led from Blidah to Medeah. A blue haze
obscured the lofty peaks of the Atlas mountains on
the one hand, and the fair plateau of the Sahel on
the other, while between the two lay the fertile
Metidjeh plain, and over all hung the turquoise
sky of Africa. At a distance of four miles from
Blidah an iron bridge spanned the Oued Chiffa,
in summer a mere stream passing over a rocky
bed, far too wide for it, but in winter a fair-sized
river. The Goro-e of the Chiffa — an enormous
rent in the Atlas extended for ten miles into the
heart of the mountains. The scenery was

THE OUED CHIFFA IN JUNE.

Like many other African rivers in sninnier tlie Cliiffa is a mere

stream, coursing over an almost dried up lied. Tlie apes are said

to descend to drink here ni^ht and morninir.

THE BARBARY APE 7

magnificent in the extreme, consisting of steep,
precipitous rocks, tinted with various shades of
purple, slate, and brown, and thickly covered with
luxuriant veofetation : while at intervals numerous
cascades discharo-ed themselves into the Chiffa.
This romantic district abounded in wild life : the
Algerian chaffinch, the blue thrush, the rock
swallow, the rock dove, and other interesting birds
were seen, while high above a couple of buzzards
circled in the cloudless azure. The first monkey
was noticed sittinof close to the road with such
confident tameness that it was difficult to believe
that it was really a wild animal : several others
were observed in the Goro^e itself scrambling- over
the rocks on all fours and climbing into the trees.
Most of the animals, however, were seen in the
neio"hbourinCT Ruisseau des Sing-es.

The Ruisseau des Singes is a little stream
situated in a ravine, whose rocky sides are if
possible even more luxuriantly clothed than the
Gorge of the Chiffa with which it is continuous.
Ferns and lycopodiums, olive and bay trees,
lentisk and juniper grow in rich profusion, while the
botanist will also recognise here the curious tree-
heaths so characteristic of African mountain
scenery. The Barbary ape was abundant at the
Ruisseau. There were sturdy old males whose
powerful jaws were capable of inflicting a severe
bite : female apes also appeared with their young

8 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

ones either clinging underneath the mother's chest
or perched on her shoulder. The monkeys would
allow a fairly near approach when high up in the
trees. They silently occupied themselves in
stripping off and eating the leaves or berries from
the branches : there was no quarrelling or chat-
tering as might have been expected from the
behaviour of menagerie animals. Fourteen indi-
viduals were seen between half-past eight and
half-past ten on that June morning. The monkeys
seem to lie down during the heat of the day :
certainly several of them appeared to be taking
shelter from the sun, and they are said to be
difficult to find after eleven o'clock. The Arab
guide was quite proud to be able to point out the
monkeys, and even endeavoured to assist with the
camera. It is strictly forbidden to shoot any of
the animals : a few young individuals are however
captured from time to time, and find their way
into European Zoos.

THE HOME OF THE BARBARY APE.

THE BUSH BABY.

Poeta nascitur fton fit. Similarly, he who
would in the true poetic spirit enter Nature's
fairyland, must ever possess the seeing eye and
the receptive mind. The true naturalist opens
out a world of wonders in exploring the animal
kingdom, and — especially if he extend his re-
searches to other lands than his own — will con-
tinually discover new realms of ever-increasing
delight.

The wonderland of Africa is especially rich in
the romance of natural history. The habits of
the remote and formidable gorilla are fully as
interesting as any legend of the doings of a forest-
dwelling ogre ; perhaps on account of the alleged
ferocity of Gorilla savagei such comparison is not
unapt. The Horses of the Sun, if unable to soar
like Pegasus, are nevertheless still as handsome
as in the days of Severus, and very much alive,
though known in these prosaic days as zebras.
The oryx antelopes — swift, strong, and of striking
appearance — are more worthy of attention than
the fabulous unicorn, of which they have been
supposed to be the originals : the Red Sea dugong
is a very interesting, if not very beautiful, sub-
stitute for the mermaid : while we may fancifully

lO NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

liken the fleet-footed jerboas of the Sahara to wee
sprites of the desert, and the large-eyed galagoes
to nocturnal hobo-oblins. This last similitude
appears to have strongly commended itself to
the mind of the black man, since in Uganda
the natives believe the nocturnal cries of the gala-
goes to be the voices of devils.

Galagoes are the only long-tailed lemurs which
inhabit the mainland of Africa, the remaining
tailed species being almost exclusively natives of
Madagascar. Varying from the size of a cat to
that of a rat, these African forms are remarkable
for their enormous ears, which can be folded up
at will of the animal, to lie pressed more or less
closely to the sides of the head.^ Galagoes are
also characterised by the great elongation of the
upper part of the ankle, a peculiarity, however,
which they share with the allied mouse-lemurs.
There are several species : perhaps the best known
is the pretty little animal known as the bush baby.
The bush baby or Maholi g3i[ago(Ga/a£-o mahoh)
— nacht apje of the Boers — is about the size of a
large rat, and occurs in Uganda, in Nyasaland,
and in South Africa, as far down as Natal. The
head of the bush baby is rounded and almost cat-
like in expression, with large eyes of a beautiful

1 The appearance of the larger galagoes is uncanny in the extreme.
One in the Antwerp Zoological Gardens, as it sat on its box with its
enormous bat-like ears covering the sides of its head, and its great
eyes staring forward, seemed to resemble some weird gnome, squatting
in a haunted dell, rather than any creature of flesh and blood.

THE BUSH BABY I I

topaz yellow, striated with delicate lines. The
ears, as in all the galagoes, are thin and mem-
branous : the fur is thick and soft, and the tail
long and ample. The general colour of this
interesting little animal is pearly grey above,
passing into white below : the nose, cheeks, and
throat are white, and the insides of the limbs
yellowish, while the ears, hands, and feet are flesh-
coloured. Galago ?;2(3;/^c>/2' exhibits a certain amount
of variation : the fur on the back is as a rule of a
darker grey than the rest of the pelage, but some
specimens have in addition blackish rings round
the eyes. Naturalists have not yet decided whether
the bush baby is identical with the galagoes
of Senegal and Sennaar [G. senegalefisis = sen7ta-
riensis) : but when a larger amount of material
has been received by museums of natural history,
the comparison of a long series of skins and bones
will enable the matter to be satisfactorily decided.
The bush baby was first described by Sir Andrew
Smith, who discovered it near the Limpopo River,
in what is now the Rustenberg district of the
Transvaal. A preliminary account of the new
animal was drawn up by Sir Andrew in 1836, and
on the publication of the scientific results of the
great expedition which he had so ably directed, he
figured Galago inaholi in his " Illustrations of
South African Zoology." Smith's figure will
perhaps be familiar to many naturalists, as it has

12 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

often been reproduced in scientific works ; not so
well known in all probability are the excellent series
of anatomical drawings made from dissections of
the ample material — nine specimens — obtained by
the expedition. On his return to England, Sir
Andrew brought home a male specimen (in which
the eyes were not encircled by rings), and this
example is now in the National Collection.

The gradual spread of civilisation since 1836
has considerably increased our knowledge of the
bush baby, since its haunts — many of them in
Smith's day situated in " the far interior" — have
now been largely invaded by colonists, both Boer
and Briton. The bush baby is purely arboreal
and nocturnal, sleeping through the hours of
daylight with head tucked in between the forelegs,
and its long tail wrapped round : at night it
becomes very active, calling loudly at sunset, and
industriously searching for insects and fruit on
which to feed. Galagoes are remarkable for their
nocturnal activity, being able to clear several feet
at a bound, and clinging to any object against which
they may impinge with a sudden and surprising
tenacity resembling that of a tree frog alighting
on a branch. These lemuroids really appear to be
capable of exerting some suction action with their
digits. Mr. Murray's captive Galago deinidoffion
one occasion easily adhered to a cylindrical glass
shade, though unable to embrace even a third of

THE BUSH BABY 1 3

its circumference : its hold did not relax for some
time, when it began to slide slowly down the glass
surface. Unfortunately all the galagoes which I
examined for the purpose of this book were too
wild to be handled, so that it was not possible to
demonstrate the existence of suctorial discs at the
ends of the toes : but a careful scrutiny of the
allied tarsier of Celebes (from a specimen preserved
in the Manchester Museum) seems to indicate that
the digits of the bush baby may be provided with
such structures. Although able to clear several
feet at a single bound, the bush baby alights
gracefully and without noise : the long tail probably
acts as a counterpoise to the head and body during
these aerial gymnastics. When on the ground
galagoes sit in an upright position. They can leap
six feet or more " from a stand : " one individual
which I recently saw could thus easily reach a
horizontal bar situated high above its head. When
disturbed, these animals make a low, chatterino-
noise, and Sir Andrew Smith states that the bush
baby can grimace like a monkey.

These small galagoes are usually found in pairs,
and are frequently taken alive by the bush-veld
Boers ; when tame they make charming pets.
Many examples have been brought to England,
and no less than seven specimens were exhibited
in the London Zoological Gardens between 1866
and 1879. In captivity the bush baby may be fed

14 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

on fruit, honey, and boiled rice : it will also eat
bread and milk, and even cooked meat, while its
normal insect diet may be conveniently replaced
by a supply of the mealworms so largely used by
bird-fanciers. One can hardly realise that so
innocent-looking an animal as the bush baby is, in
its own feeble fashion, a beast of prey ; but in
captivity these wee creatures will not refuse a dead
sparrow, and when wild probably catch and kill
small birds for themselves.

The bush baby has bred in captivity, not only
in Africa, but also on two occasions in England.
The normal number of young at a birth is two,
though sometimes there is only one : the infant
galagoes are long-coated, and grow but slowly,
taking two years, or even longer, to attain maturity.
The Jardin des Plantes Museum at Paris contains,
amongst other treasures, a young galago — a queer,
rat-like little creature, scantily clothed with long-
hair, very unlike the close-set chinchilla-like fur
of the adult.

sS. a. ■ .4;

[■ammtm

SERVAL CAT.

THE SERVAL CAT.

The study of the lesser Felidae or tiger cats,
although undertaken by few, save professional
naturalists, is interesting even to the general
reader, on account of the remarkable diversity of
appearance and disposition amongst the animals
concerned. As regards bodily contour, one finds
every modification of outline from the short,
stumpy figure of the flat-headed cat of Sumatra
to the elongated curves of the snake-bodied eyra
of Brazil. The texture of the coat ranoes from
the short, coarse fur of the fishing-cat to the silky,
yet shaggy, pelt of the manul, fit covering for a
denizen of the snowy steppes of Siberia ; while
in coloration these felines exhibit an extensive
variety of hues — silvery grey and warm chestnut,
bright fulvous and pale isabelline. There exist
also great differences of disposition, even amongst
individuals of the same species, one animal hissing,
spitting, and savagely resisting every attempt to
tame it ; whilst another proves amenable to kind-
ness, and well repays the care bestowed upon its
welfare, in captivity. All these interesting points
may be readily studied by taking a particular species
for detailed examination ; for this purpose we may
select one of the best known of the \&ssQr felidae —
the serval cat of Africa.

1 6 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

The serval [Felts sei^oal) is widely distributed
throughout the Dark Continent, although less
abundant in the North, and absent from the Congo
Forest region. About the size of a moderately
large dog, this species is remarkable for its large
ears, its long legs, and its short, bushy tail ; these
three characters combined giving the animal a
remarkably lynx-like appearance. The face of
the serval is very short from before backwards ;
the eyes have an oblong pupil, and are obliquely
set in the head. The ears are upright, and placed
closely together, touching each other at their
bases ; they resemble cones of paper in shape,
and are lined inside with long hairs. The rump
is much higher than the shoulders — a character
which is frequently overlooked, since Felis sei'val
is often inaccurately mounted by taxidermists,
who represent the shoulders as the higher of the
two.

In coloration the serval varies as much as any
other tiger-cat. The ground color ranges from a
brownish-grey (which is sometimes so pale as to
be almost silvery) through fulvous to a warm
orange-tawny. The ornamentation consists of a
few bold, black streaks about the head and neck,
the rest of the body being decorated by black
spots, which may be either large and few, or small
and numerous. There is always a whitish band
on the back of the ear, and two broad, black stripes

THE SERVAL CAT I 7

on the inside of the fore-leg ; the throat is crossed
by a more or less well-defined row of small spots,
which may coalesce in necklace fashion.^ The
tail is always ringed and tipped with black.

The above paragraph describes a typical serval
as far as such a varying species can be reduced to
a common denomination ; there exists, however,
a smaller variety, which Burchell, who discovered
it in 1 812-14, described as a separate species,
under the name of the black-footed cat (Felis
nigripes). This black-footed serval is smaller
than the typical form, and is deeply marked with
black on the lower parts of the body, the legs and
the soles of the feet. It is now a rare animal ;
an old specimen obtained at Kuruman many years
ago by Dr. Moffatt is in the South African
Museum at Cape Town, and has been figured in
Mr. W. L. Sclater's " Mammals of South Africa."
The British Museum has an example, and it is
also represented in the collection at Berlin. The
serval seems to be rather liable to melanism,
since several individuals have been shot having
the whole fur of a brownish-black, though the
spots can be detected in certain lights. On the
other hand, this protean species may show a
tendency towards reduction in the size of the
black spots, thus approximating to the closely
allied Servaline cat (Felis servalina).

1 TIie.se throat markings may be compared to the ' ' Lord Mayor's
Collar " seen on well-bred Persian cats.

15 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

The first recognisable description of the Serval
appears to be that of Kolben in 1731. Dr.
Sparrman, the Swedish naturalist, who travelled
through a portion of Cape Colony during 1772-6,
identified the present species as the serval cat of
Buffon and brought home a couple of skins ; since
then various travellers have met with the animal,^
though on account of its nocturnal habits but
little is known about it. The serval is said to
frequent long grass near rivers in South Africa,
whilst in Algeria^ it is stated to hide away
during the hours of day-light amongst tamarisk
and other bushes. It is known to hunt in couples,
and can fairly run down its prey, which consists of
small mammals, or even young antelopes ; birds
also form a considerable portion of its diet. From,
observations on captive animals the serval seems
quite at home perched on a branch, and will squat
comfortably on elbow and hocks like a great
tom-cat. Serval skins, together with those of the
caracal lynx (rooi kat of the Boers) and of various
antelopes, are used for making karosses or native
cloaks ; in some districts, as has long been known,
only youths of Royal houses are allowed to wear
the spoils of the serval. Further information on
the habits of this and other lesser Felidae would
be very welcome ; most sportsmen, unfortunately,

1 The first naturalist to fifrure the serval was Schreber, who in
1778 published an illustration of it in his work on the Mammalia.

According to Heuglin, the Arab name of the serval is " Badj."

THE SERVAL CAT 1 9

consider them as little better than vermin, and
take no trouble to learn anything about them.

Apparently the first serval brought to Europe
alive was the young male described many years
ago by Cuvier. This individual was as playful as
an ordinary kitten, chasing its tail and rolling
objects about with its paw ; it seems to have ex-
hibited none of the fierceness popularly associated
with the name of tiger-cat. Since Cuvier's day
many servals have been brought to Europe for
menageries and zoological gardens ; indeed, it
appears to be the most abundant of the lesser
cats except, perhaps, the American ocelot (Felts
pardina). Judging from the lists regularly
issued by the various wild beast merchants to
advertise their stock, barely three months pass
without one or more individuals being offered for
sale. Eleven examples were exhibited at the
London Zoo between 1853 ^'^^ 1^79 inclusive,
and I never recollect to have visited those famous
Gardens without having seen at least one specimen
there. In June, 1893, Felis serval was repre-
sented in the Regent's Park Collection by a
half-grown kitten, as playful as the one described
by Cuvier. It continually tossed its meat up in
its paws and played with its apology for a tail.
This individual had the spots along the back
almost confluent, but the "necklace" was indistinct.

The temper of the present species is as variable

20 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

as the markings of its skin, and great individual
differences in disposition and tractability may be
recognised. Many servals are the reverse of
amiable, snarling and spitting if their cage is
approached too closely, and ready enough with
teeth and claws to resent a^orression : it would p"o
very hard with the pluckiest of terriers if thrown
into a cage with one of these savage brutes. This
ferocious disposition is not limited to the adults
for it may be evident enough in mere kittens,
although by reason of their voyage to Europe all
foreign animals of necessity become accustomed
to the presence of human beings. Truculent,
agile, with muscles as supple as steel, it is quite
conceivable that a serval driven to bay would be
no despicable antagonist for an unarmed man.

Nevertheless although it is plain that individual
animals can be incarnations of brute ferocity it is
not fair to libel the whole serval race as utterly
untameable and hopelessly savage, as too many
naturalists have done. "Give a dog a bad name"
is a proverb equally applicable to cats, even wild
ones ; it must be borne in mind, by the way, that
the name *' tiger-cat " refers chiefly, if not wholly,
to the tiger-like markings which adorn most of the
group, and not to the tigerish nature of the
animals.^ Repeated observations in Continental

1 Compare also the adjectival use of the word in the case of the
readily-tamed "tigrine" genet of the Cape, and of the Tasmanian
"tiger ".wolf or thylacine, which becomes at least half-tame in
captivity to my own certain knowledge.

THE SERVAL CAT 21

and other Zoological Gardens will demonstrate
the fallacy of many popular ideas concerning the
mammalia. Thus the (alleged) intractable zebra
may be as docile as a pony ; the mild-eyed eland
is by no means to be trusted ; the savage sable
antelope can be half-tamed, and the lynx, although
naturally as fierce and as strong as a leopard, will
sometimes allow himself to be pulled about like a
huge, over-grown kitten. As regards Felis sefval,
it must be remembered that all wild animals act
on the defensive in the presence of man, whom
they instinctively fear as a common enemy ; only
those individuals whose minds are naturally im-
pressionable will become tame, the others, from
some unknown factor, remaining savage, even
after long confinement. A half-tame animal may
be amiable towards those it knows, but vicious
towards strangers ; this may be illustrated by a
typical instance.

A young serval had been brought to Europe
from Uganda, and in consequence of much
attention, became strongly attached to its keeper,
who soon had his pet docile, tame, and indeed
affectionate— all that could be desired. The
attendant, having had occasion to go out, left me
with the serval loose in the room. Shut up with
a stranger, the animal at once lost his wits, and
retreated into a corner. On advancing towards
him, he bristled up angrily, snarling like a leopard ;

2 2 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

yet curiosity prevailed over his surly temper, and
he would take occasional peeps from his hiding
place to see if he was alone. The keeper returning,
the serval ran to meet him with evident joy,
rubbing against his leg like a cat, and feeding
readily from his hand : indeed, the same animal
was coaxed a few moments later to stand for the
photograph reproduced in this book. The above
instance illustrates admirably the uselessness of
trying to estimate an animal's character from a
casual inspection of a single individual : had more
care been taken by the compilers of the older
Natural Histories, we should have had fewer
stories of the " savage " and " untameable " nature
of many a score of animals.

A very good-iempered and handsome serval
was, until recently, living in a well-known Zoo-
logical Garden ; he was delightfully tame, taking
notice of anybody, and showing every sign of
delight when stroked. This animal may be taken
as illustrating Felis serval at its best, a big,
good-natured playfellow, full of animal spirits, and
as anxious to be noticed and petted as any dog
could be. It seemed that this individual had had
his misfortunes, judging from the crumpled state
of one ear, which was either malformed or had
sustained some injury; nothing, however, appeared
to ruffle his sunny disposition, or to bate his
unabashed friendliness. In contrast to the

THE SERVAL CAT 23

amiability of this individual, one may mention the
savage temper of two half-grown kittens, now in
the same collection : these young servals, though
barely half the size of their predecessor, are vicious
enough, and ever ready to spit and snarl.

No account of the serval would be complete
without a short notice of the servaline cat of West
Africa [Fe lis serva lino), a form so closely connected
with the present species that it is doubtful whether
it is not a mere variety of it, like the black-footed
cat. It has already been mentioned that some
servals have the spots small and numerous, instead
of few and large ; this is exactly the case with the
servaline cat, but the diminution in the size of the
spots is carried a degree further, the skin being
profusely ornamented with a multitude of minute
black dots. A comparison of living Felts serval
with living Felis servalina, side by side, reveals
but little real difference between the two, save for
the shorter tail of the latter.^ The servaline cat
has a few bold, black markings about the neck and
throat, and the tiny black spots are distributed
over a ground colour of greyish brown ; the whitish
band on the back of the ear, and the black stripes
on the inside of the fore-leg, which occur in the
true serval, are also found in the servaline cat.

1 The iris is greyish yellow in young F. serval, and pure yellow in
adult F. servalina. A direct comparison of the eyes of the tM'o
species at the sayne. age would be very instructive.

24 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

The name Felis servalina was proposed in 1839
by Mr. Ogilby, the species being founded on an
imperfect skin received from Sierra Leone. Little
was known about the animal for many years ; but
on June 15th, 1874, an example was trapped at
Kisembo, in South-west Africa, and brought
home alive by Mr. Shield, who presented it
to the London Zoological Gardens. A second
example was received in the Zoo in 1876,
having been presented by Lieutenant V. Lovett
Cameron ; and a third was purchased in 1 880 for
exhibition in the same famous menagerie. In 1889
a fourth sei^oalina was livinof in the Amsterdam
Zoological Gardens. A specimen of this very rare
cat received from Uganda was added to the
Regents Park collection in June, 1898, and still
flourishing in the small cat's house. This example
is extremely amiable and fond of being stroked.
Its fur seems to lack the greyish tinge often seen
in the true serval but the necklace and other
markings are well defined.

The above account practically completes our
present knowledge of the serval and servaline
cats (if indeed the latter be distinct) ; enough,
however, has been said to show that even the
obscurer animals of Africa well repay the attention
of the student, not only on account of the strange-
ness of their external appearance, or the variability
of their colouring, but also because an examination
of living individuals imparts a good education in
animal psychology. In the course of this Essay

THE SERVAL CAT 25

we have seen that individuals of the same
species living under the same conditions exhibit
a marvellous disparity in temper, one animal
repelling all offers of kindness, whilst another
courts attention and receives caresses with a
graciousness not to be rivalled by the most
pampered of domesticated cats. It is the study
of the mind of an animal, the investigation of
the dumb intelligence which operates somewhere
within the bodily frame-work of the brute which
must ever constitute the most enchanting field of
zoological research, a quest compared to which the
most masterly treatise on comparative anatomy,
or the most scientific scheme of classification, can
only resemble the description of some soulless
mummy or the terse lettering inscribed on a
sarcophagus. The remarkable lynx-like appear-
ance and handsome coat of the serval attracts
the observer's attention at once, whilst the com-
parative frequency with which it is offered for
sale is an additional reason for supposing that
some day the study of the animal may be more
fully undertaken. In its wide range, in its ten-
dency to individual variation, both in colour and
disposition, Felis sei^ual is one of the most in-
teresting of all the tiger-cats ; and any naturalist
who takes up that neglected though fascinating
branch of Natural History — the study of the
lesser Felidae — will find it full of an enchanting
interest, and one, which once fairly commenced,
will not readily be abandoned.

THE SENEGAL GENET.

ThrouP"hout the animal kinordom there exists

o o

a remarkable modification of the external forms
of the various species to the contour which
best fits them for the conditions under which
they live. By merely examining the dead body
of an animal its habits can be determined with
considerable accuracy. On the other hand,
from fore-knowledge of its mode of life, one
can predict the external appearance of an
animal before it has been seen. Thus amongst
the mammalia fleetness of foot is often associ-
ated with length of limb, as is seen in various
deer and antelopes ; aquatic animals are provided
with natural paddles as in the seals, or with
effective screw-propellers like the hind feet of the
water-shrew ; whilst those forms which live on a
special diet are duly provided with proper tools
for obtaining it, as we see in the elongated tongue
of the giraffe, the prehensile lip of the black
rhinoceros, and the burrowing claws of the ant-
bear. The insectivorous otter^ shoots through the
clear waters of the West African streams impelled
by its long supple tail, and protected from drowning
by the valves closing its nostrils. The sluggish

1. Potamogale velox ; a very rare insectivore, remarkable for its
very broad muzzle, its valvular nostrils, and its long compressed tail.

THE SENEGAL GENET 2/

manatee (strange contrast to the alert otter) lazily
browses upon the aquatic plants, its rotund body
comfortably sheathed in a warm covering" of
blubber, and its short, though powerful paddles,
acting as perfect oars. Amongst the carnivora
the lion, the leopard, the serval, in fact all
the cat tribe, are furnished with pads on their feet
to enable them to steal noiselessly upon their prey,
while they are also provided with powerful talons
to hold it when captured, and with roughened
tongues to rasp the meat off the bones of their
victim. The viverridce (civets, genets, and mon-
gooses) are closely related to the cats in structure,
and by reason of their elongated bodies, also bear
considerable superficial likeness to the mustelidce or
weasels, which they resemble in habits. Many
viverrines indeed are as expert hunters as the true
cats or the true weasels. A good example of the
viverridce is seen in the Senegal genet (Genetta
senegalensisy of West Africa.

Few of the carnivora are as elegant in propor-
tions or in markings as the Senegal genet. Its
pointed muzzle, short legs, and elongated body at
once indicate it to be an animal accustomed to prey
upon small victims (such as mice), which harbour
in holes and crannies, the suppleness of its
body well guaranteeing its capacity for such an

1 The Senegal genet is also the Genetta imrdina of M. Isidore
Geoffrey St. Hilaire = the " pardine genet" of menageries.

28 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

occupation. The fur of this genet is yellowish-
brown, richly spotted and streaked with blackish
brown ; a black line runs along the spine, and the
tail is alternately ringed with black-brown, and
yellowish.-^ An examination of the foot will show
that G. senegalensis, like the other genets, has a
bare space extending some distance along the
under surface beyond the foot-pads. The scent
gland of the closely-allied civet cats (once famous
for their perfume) is represented in the genets by
one or two folds in the skin ; at the bottom of
these folds are a number of minute orifices which
exude an odorous substance.

The Seneofal sfenet was first known to science
from a specimen received from M. le Coupet by
the Paris Museum, but the relationship of the
various species to each other has not yet been
worked out, though obviously all the forms are very
closely allied. Owing to their nocturnal habits, but
little is known of them in the wild state : they are,
however, stated to climb well, and to feed on birds
and mice, which they hunt for diligently, prowling
about in the long grass, An example of G. tigrma
gave birth to three young ones at the London
Zoological Gardens, on July 29th, 1874, and
amongst the specimens sent home by the late

1 The Senegal genet is a very variable species, and divisible into
several local races occurring in various parts of tropical Africa. A
fine male specimen of the Dongolan race, taken in the hill country
of Erkoweet, near Suakin, lived for several years in the London
Zoological Gardens.

THE SENEGAL GENET 29

Emin Pasha in 1887, were the sknis of a female
G. tigrina and her young one, the latter being one
of three which had been found in a nest at Lado,
on the Upper Nile. The following" notes refer to
a very fine male sent to Liverpool in 1901.

During the day-time the animal remained more
or less drowsy, and slept coiled up in his travelling
box, but awoke at twilight, when he came out,
and became exceedingly active. Any person
observing this species in captivity will be struck
with the marvellous activity and lithe, serpentine
grace with which it moves, springing like a cat
from place to place, or running across the floor
like a streak of lightning. Genets have a curious
habit of continually bounding to and fro behind
the bars of their cage, performing the task with
clock-work regularity, like wound-up automata.^
In the living animal the head has a remarkably
deer-like expression, whilst the graceful carriage
of the elongated and tapering tail adds consider-
ably to the creature's elegant appearance. The
movements of a genet are as noiseless as those of
a cat, and are due to the same cause, since in both
animals each toe is padded underneath, whilst the
sole of the foot is also provided with a similar
though larger cushion. Not only is the genet
noiseless in its movements, but the individual here

1 The fine example now living in the small Cats' House at the
London Zoological Gardens, affords a good illustration of this
peculiarity.

30 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

described never uttered any cry. Perhaps this
was because he was never teased or irritated, since
wild genets when attacked by dogs are stated to
hiss vigorously, and an example, recently living in
Paris, would snarl at once if disturbed.

Captive genets soon become very tame. The
Liverpool specimen would allow himself to be
stroked and fed readily from the hand before he
had been eight weeks in England. On one
occasion his good temper was rather severely
tested, for it being desired to restore him to his
cage (he being unwilling) it took three-quarters of
an hour to secure him without injury ; nevertheless,
though thoroughly frightened, he neither uttered
any sound nor made any attempt to bite. He
was fed on fish, mice and fowl's heads ; he seized
his prey with a sudden snap of the jaws (weasel
fashion) instead of pouncing upon it like a cat.
This genet remained in excellent health after his
arrival in England, never having a day's illness,
showing the slightest ill-temper, or making any
attempt to escape from his roomy cage. He was,
eventually, sent away in the pink of health and
condition, " leaving situation for no fault of his
own," beino" exchano-ed for a nankeen nig-ht-heron
(Nycticorax caledonicus).

It will thus be seen from the above account
that the Senegal genet makes an almost ideal pet.
Not only does the animal well repay the trifling

THE SENEGAL GENET 3 I

amount of attention it requires by the continual
pleasure of observing its beautiful form and grace-
ful movements, but it may also be put to some
practical use. When tame it may be set to a
very congenial task — that of ridding premises of
mice ; indeed, the common genet was formerly
domesticated at Constantinople (and in various
other places in Europe) for this express purpose,
much as mungooses are kept in England for
clearinor rat-infested warehouses.^ From their
great activity genets require much more cage
room than is often their fortune ; a run of at least
nine feet by three feet, with branches for climbing
exercise, should always be provided. Warmly
bedded, with good hay or straw, and with a daily
supply of fresh animal food and good water, the
Senegal genet will live happy and contented long
to delight its owner with its handsome appearance,
its graceful movements, and its amiable disposition.
Should any reader of these lines wish to purchase
a pet which will be beautiful to look upon, easy
to tame, to feed and to keep in good health —
being at the same time conveniently small (size
of a large ferret), and moderate in price— let him
buy a genet. He will not regret his choice.

1 This suggestion is not based on any arm-chair theory since the
homing qualities of the genets have been recently put to a practical
test. Mr. G. E. Powter, of Mombasa, British East Africa, has
shown (Field, 1903), that a tame individual set free in the bush will
return over a distance of half-a-mile, and re-enter the house from
which it was taken three days after its liberation.

THE FENNEC FOX.

"A Fox, very hungry, chanced to come into a
vine-yard, where there hung branches of charming
ripe grapes : but nailed up to a trellis so high,
that he leaped till he quite tired himself without
being able to reach one of them. At last, " Let
who will take them ! " says he : they are but
ofreen and sour : so I will even let them alone."

The above venerable fable has doubtless been
employed on innumerable occasions to point a
moral or adorn a tale during the long centuries
which have elapsed since /Esop first related it :
and it is to be hoped that much profit has accrued
to those who have duly meditated on the applica-
tion thereof. It is interesting to reflect that this
fable has an attraction for the naturalist, as it has
been considered possible that the fox mentioned
by /Esop was not the common fox of Europe,
but the fennec fox of Northern Africa. Be this
as it may, the fennec is well known to be very
partial to sweet fruit, such as dates, and may well
be included amongst " the little foxes that spoil
the vines." This diminutive species, apart from
any literary associations, is in itself so remarkable
and interesting that it is well worth studying for
its own sake.

FENNEC VOX (in tlie Maiifliester Museum)

THE FENNEC FOX ^^

The fennec fox (Cam's zerda) is the smallest of
all the Canidae or dog family, measuring only
twenty-three inches from the tip of the muzzle to
the root of the tail : on account of its delicate
outlines it is also one of the most beautiful. The
muzzle of this exquisite little creature is narrow
and tapering. The head is broad and rounded.
The ears are upright, and relatively enormous,
often exceeding three inches in length : they are
shaped like paper cones and lined internally with
silky hairs.^ The legs are short : the fur is thick
and the tail ample and bushy. The colour of the
fennec is fawn or buff above, fading to creamy
below : some specimens have the greater part of
the coat pervaded by the creamy tint. A small
blackish area occurs below and in front of the eye,
and the tail is tipped with black, while some
individuals have in addition some dark pencillings
along the spine.

The fennec has lono- been known to Arab
writers who have published descriptions of it
under the name of El Fennec : it was, however,
first introduced to the notice of Europeans by
Bruce, who was Consul-General at Algiers durino-
1762-65. The specimen which he described was
supposed to have originally come from Biskra,

1 The sense of hearing is probably very acute in the fennec as may
be deduced not only from the large size of the external ear, but also
from the great development of the tympanic bulla seen in the dried
skull.

34 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

the beautiful oasis in the Northern Sahara, famous
for its thousands of palm trees. Having received
the fennec from his dragoman, Bruce kept it under
observation for several months, and subsequently
presented it to Captain Cleveland, R.N., who, in
his turn, gave it to the Swedish Consul at Algiers.
Bruce is said to have made a water-colour draw-
ing of his pet, and subsequently entered into a
violent quarrel with Mr. Skioldebrand as to which
of them had been the first to figure Canis zerda ;
the Swede maintaining on his side that Bruce,
instead of being the original delineator of the
fennec, had merely received a copy of Skiolde-
brand's own drawing ! A figure of the new
animal, together with an account of it, was com-
municated by Bruce to Buffon, and was published
by the French naturalist in 1786. Mr. Skiolde-
brand was not backward in publishing his account
of the fennec, which was sent to Pennant, and
will be found (doubtless paraphrased) in the first
volume of that naturalist's "History of Quadru-
peds." A comical figure of the "Zerda" con-
stitutes Plate LHI. of Pennant's work: the little
fox of the Sahara^ is represented as sitting on its
haunches and (in spite of the due rendering of the
large ears) very much resembling an overgrown
rat. Although so obviously a fox, the true affinities
of Canis zerda were not thoroughly understood

1 Skioldebrand aptly styled the fennec " Vulpcs minimus saarensis."

THE FEN NEC FOX 35

by the early writers, and one French naturalist
even supposed it to be some kind of galago — a
carnivorous terrestrial species being thus mistaken
for an arboreal lemuroid, allied to the bush baby
already described !

A further contribution to the subject was made
many years later, when a fairly good figure of the
fennec (from a drawing by Major Denham) was
published with the zoological report appended to
Denham and Clapperton's book of travels : the
report also contains a good account of the fennec. 1 1
may here be mentioned that the zoological results
of this expedition were highly creditable, for though
only provided with a penknife and a little arsenical
soap, the party managed to bring home upwards
of a hundred natural history specimens, many
being in an excellent state of preservation !

In more recent times the habits of the fennec
have been carefully studied. Bruce tells us that
he purchased a second specimen in Sennaar : in
spite of the enormous distance thus separating the
homes of his two fennecs, they were both exactly
alike, so that Cam's zerda probably ranges through-
out the Sahara desert. It has been found to be
abundant in the date-o^rowino; districts of Beni
Mzab and Ouargla, and has even been stated to
climb the date palms for the sake of the fruit.^

1 The fennec has here probably been confused with the palm-rat
( Mus chamaeropsis J, which is often found in the tops of the palm
trees in the Algerian Saharsi.

36 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

The fennec constructs its own burrow, where it
spends the hours of daylight curled up, with its
bushy tail wrapped round it like a natural counter-
pane, though the large ears remain exposed. The
districts of the Sahara througrh which I travelled
were remarkable for their periodical streams
which, though containing water in the winter, are
at midsummer merely dried up ravines. It is
along the beds of such former watercourses or
in the depressions between the sand dunes that
the fennec passes in seeking its drinking place at
dusk, its great ears ever on the alert to warn it of
approaching danger ; while doubtless its acute
sense of hearing is of the crreatest service, as in
the stillness of the desert it begins to search for
its nocturnal prey — jerboas or lizards.^

Although Bruce's type specimen is believed to
have come from Biskra (and fennecs were some
years ago frequently offered for sale there), I did
not observe any of these tiny foxes in the Arab
market at that place. That it is still a common
African species, is however demonstrated by the

1 The utter and savage desolation of the wildernesses in which the
fennec lives would almost seem to forbid any animal, however small,
the means of subsistence. Even in the extreme Northern Sahara
(districts of El Kantara and El Outaia) I observed but few signs of
life. One or two little black-and-white birds (rock chats) at uncertain
intervals : occasional parties of insects hovering in shimmering clouds
above the burning sand : and high in the blazing sky birds of prey
ready to pounce on anything larger than a mouse, completed the
scanty picture of animal life. Vegetation was represented merely by
a coarse scrub of dwarf bushes, and the scenery consisted of frowning-
rocks, yawning precipices, and stretches of shifting sand — a vast and
awful silence reigning over all.

VIEW IN THE SAHARA DESERT.

THE FENNEC FOX 2>7

considerable number which in recent years have
been imported into Europe for exhibition in zoo-
logical gardens. Although very nervous and
suspicious, when tame the fennec makes a charming
pet. It has none of the disagreeable odour of
other foxes, and indeed of many dogs : and its
only cry is a weak bark. Care should be taken to
protect the fennec from cold and damp : the food
provided may consist of ripe fruit and sweetened
bread and milk, varied with eggs or even meat,
though the feebleness of the jaws will naturally
limit the range of diet which may be allowed
to this fox. Taken altogether, the fennec in
captivity, does not appear to exact more care
than is ordinarily bestowed on delicate breeds
of dogs or on prize Persian cats : and were it
better known it would probably soon become
popular. Whether such will be the case in the
future is doubtful. Nevertheless, the jerboa rats
from the same districts of the Sahara are steadily
growing in public favour as quaint and interesting
pets : and whether we regard the fennec merely
as a curiously diminutive specimen of the vulpine
race, or whether we take up in earnest the study
of its ways in captivity, there will always be a
deligfhtful interest and charm attaching; to the four-
footed hero who figures in the fable of "the fox
and the grapes."

THE BLAAUWBOK.

Summa cortex levls innatet unda
Cum orrave nexa simul retia mero-at onus.^

— Ovid, Tristia Lib. III.

Amongst animals the larger and more conspicu-
ous species are ever the first to be exterminated,
while the small fry find their safety in their
very insignificance. The great white rhinoceros,
huofest of all terrestrial mammals save the
elephant, has almost disappeared from Africa
south of the Zambesi, though the diminutive
Cape hyrax yet flourishes in its mountain
fastnesses : the gigantic moa — tallest of the
ostrich tribe — has vanished for ever, hounded
to death by the Maories, though the diminu-
tive apteryxes still find shelter in the ferny
brakes of New Zealand ; further instances might
be multiplied indefinitely. In addition to large
size, limitation of range seriously predisposes a
species to extermination. This factor alone
has had disastrous effect on many forms of very
moderate size, such as the Reunion Starling, the
Norfolk Island parrot, and the black emu. As
examples of both agents acting in combination,
one may instance the extermination of the sea-cow

1 The light cork floats on the top of the waves, while the weighted
net sinks.

BLAAUWBOK BULL (in the Leyden Miiseuin).
The type specimen described by Pallas.

THE BLAAUWBOK 39

of the Commander Islands, the loss of the true
quagga of South Africa, and the fate of the
blaauwbok of Swellendam.

Few mammals indeed have had so limited a
distribution as the blaauwbok i^Hippotragus leuco-
pkaeus), a beautiful antelope which inhabited Cape
Colony until 1800, when the last survivors were
exterminated. The blaauwbok only occurred in
the province of Swellendam, in the south-west of
the colony, the most persistent inquiries always
failing to discover it anywhere else ; this un-
fortunate species was thus situated directly in the
path of civilization, as it spread from Capetown
into the savage interior, and was promptly ex-
terminated by the early settlers, being the first of
the splendid African fauna to disappear. The
stature of the blaauwbok (40 to 45 inches at the
withers) was also against it, for while lesser
antelopes, such as duiker or steinbok, found ready
concealment in the thicker bush, the blaauwbok
furnished a conspicuous target for the guns of the
rapidly-increasing settlers. Hmc illae lachrymae!

The blaauwbok was armed with a pair of stout
horns, heavily ringed at the base and sweeping
backwards in a curve to end in sharp points.
The ears were somewhat elongated but were not
pencilled at the tips.^ The neck bore a short

1 Tlie essential differences between the blaauwbok and the allied
roan antelope are indicated in this description.

40 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

mane directed forwards, but there was no ruff on
the throat. The tail was short, tufted, and did
not reach to the hocks. The general colour of
the blaauwbok was bluish-grey, paling to white
beneath ; the belly and insides of the limbs were
also white, and the posterior portions of both fore
and hind legs were paler than the anterior. The
specific name leucophceus was conferred on the
animal by Pallas on account of a whitish spot
situated in front of and beneath the eye.

The foregoing characters of the blaauwbok may
be studied to-day in any one of the few museums
which possess a stuffed specimen ; during life,
however, the animal was said to be of a much
bluer colour than could be recognised in the dead
skin. Pennant says, " Colour, when alive, a fine
blue of a velvet appearance ; when dead, changes
to bluish-grey, with a mixture of white" (History
of Quadrupeds, Vol. I., p. 74). Dr. Sparrman,
in mentioning the animal, says, " On this subject
the reader may likewise turn to Mr. Pennant's
Blue Antelope," and adds, "the colour of this
creature, when alive, is said to resemble that of
blue velvet, but when it is dead, it is of a leaden
colour." Those who have noted the exquisite
satiny gloss often seen on menagerie specimens
of the allied sable antelope i^H. nige?-), will readily
understand that after death such adventitious hues
are liable to disappear, and that the "velvety"

THE BLAAUWBOK 4 1

appearance of the living blaauwbok might be due
to a similar iridescence ; Le Vaillant, however,
seems to have expected some visible colour-change
in the blaauwbok which his attendant shot in
1781. He writes, "I did not observe, as Dr.
Sparrman says, that this antelope when alive
resembles blue velvet, and that when dead the
skin changes its colour ; living or dead, it appeared
to me always alike. The tints of that which I
brought with me never varied " (Travels in Africa,
Vol. I., p. 133). Post-mortem changes of colour
undoubtedly do occur in the animal kingdom, as
may be seen in the lilac breast feathers of the
Gouldian finch (Poephila gouldzae), or in the
gorgeous livery of many tropical fishes, so that
Le Vaillant had some ground for expecting such
a transformation in the blaauwbok ; the matter,
however, can be readily explained. The colour of
the living leitcophcBus may have been due to the
bluish hide showing through the hair ; many
antelopes, such as eland and kudu, have this
appearance when age has thinned their coat, and
it has even been recorded by Harris in the roan
antelope, itself a near relation of the blaauwbok.
Old animals would be the most likely to be
dispatched by the antediluvian weapons of the
colonists, and these would of course exhibit the
bluish appearance in the fullest degree ; hence the
blue tint would first be noticed in these early

42 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

examples, and then popularly ascribed to the whole
blaauwbok race. The subsequent change to
" leaden colour " is easily explained by the post-
inortevi drying of the hide.

The blaauwbok was exterminated so early that
but little is known of its habits. From various
published descriptions of the Swellendam district,
it appears that the animal resembled the sable
antelope, in frequenting grassy valleys, intersected
by small streams, with adjacent woodland ; we may
also conclude that it resembled the roan antelope
in occurring on open flats, since Le Vaillant's
specimen was shot almost immediately after an
unsuccessful pursuit of " gazells," which had
appeared in immense herds, and were probably
springbok, mammals characteristic of the open
veldt. The blaauwbok, like other antelopes, was
accustomed to rest during the heat of the day ;
that killed by Le Vaillant's Hottentot was shot
soon after it had risen to graz^ in the afternoon,
the sun still shining strongly enough to make
it appear quite white at a distance.^ The specimen
obtained was a male, and the only one seen on
this occasion ; hence it is probable that, as with
other antelopes, the old bulls often wandered
about alone.

1 Mr. Selous says of the allied roan antelope : " when standing in
an open plain, with thesnn shining upon tiieni, they often look almost
white, wliich accounts for the name of white sable antelope^ by which
they are known in many native dialects. ("Great and Small Game
of Africa," p. 409).

THE BLAAUWBOK 43

Thunberg, the Swedish botanist, has attempted
to account for the rarity of the blaauwbok by
quoting- the colonist's belief that the females being-
careless mothers, the calves were often devoured
by wild beasts ; although this can neither be
proved or disproved at this time of day, the con-
siderable number of field notes and drawings now
extant, re the sable and roan antelopes, demonstrate
conclusively that at any rate the species nearest
allied to the leucophceus are alert and watchful
enough. No one could associate carelessness with
the sable antelope, since, even when feeding, the
old sentinel cows are ever ready at the slightest
alarm to stand, suspicious and uneasy, with dilated
nostrils and raised fore-foot, while even the chestnut-
coloured calves prick their ears like their elders.
Neither can oneattribute heedlessness and stupidity
to the inquisitive roan antelope, of which Sir
Samuel Baker says, " in habits of watchfulness it
is only equalled by the giraffe."

The best known haunt of the blaauwbok was
the valley of Soete Melk (Sweet Milk), which Sir
John Barrow described in 1801 as an extensive
tract of land near the town of Swellendam, watered
by the Zonder End River, and bounded to the
north by a range of hills. The beauty of the
district was much enhanced by a considerable
amount of forest, and as the Dutch East India
Company — the owners of the valley — reserved to

44 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

themselves the right of felHng the trees for ship
timber, we may assume that in maintaining this
restriction the Company indirectly protected the
blaauwbok by discouraging the visits of loafers ;
unfortunately the presence of even the Company's
workmen would be by no means an unmixed
blessing to the unfortunate antelopes, already
almost exterminated. The local farmers were
willins" enouofh to shoot blaauwbok whenever a
chance offered, as appears from Sir John's account ;
indeed, at first he supposed that the antelopes
had gone under altogether — a surmise which
happily proved unfounded at the time. Dr. Lich-
tenstein, the famous African traveller, and the
founder of the Berlin Zoological Gardens, mentions
the mountains near the Buffalo-jagt River, between
Swellendam and Algoa Bay, as a haunt of these
animals.

The history of the blaauwbok is brief enough,
being little more than a record of senseless exter-
mination. The first notice of it appears to be that
of Kolben, who travelled in South Africa during
1 700- 1 710. He called it the " Blue Goat," so that
the characteristic appearance of the hide had
evidently already been noted by the settlers. The
first specimen seen in Europe was an example sent
to Leyden, and carefully described by the Russian
naturalist Pallas in 1766. A blaauwbok, shot by
Col. Gordon, was also forwarded to Europe, and

THE BLAAUWBOK 45

was described by Dr. Allamand. In 1774 Thun-
berg gave the first indication of the approaching
extermination of the species ; during seventy odd
years the Cape Colony had made great progress,
and the animal was already becoming rare. This
cannot be wondered at, when we remember its
limited habitat, situated comparatively near Cape
Town ; perhaps the wonder is that it held out so
long. By 1 78 1 the Valley of Soete Melk, accord-
ing to Le Vaillant, was the only place in which
the blaauwbok lingered ; it had become the " most
scarce and beautiful species of the African gazells."
Some fifteen years later, Sir John Barrow con-
cluded that the leucophaeiis was "entirely lost to
the Colony," but he learnt in 1796-7 that a small
troop had appeared in the wooded hills behind the
Valley of Soete Melk, and that the farmers, far
from giving these survivors a last chance of re-
storing the race, lay in wait to shoot them. The
candle had burnt down in the socket ; a last
flicker of life is indicated by Lichtenstein who
speaks of them as occasionally appearing near
the Buffalo-jagt River, and relates that " some "
were shot in 1800. These were the last of their
race.

Thirty-five years passed ; the opening up of
South Africa proceeded apace and the comforts
of civilisation spread further and further into the
wilderness. Explorers like Barrow, missionaries

46 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

like Campbell, and naturalists like Burchell,
journeyed into the far interior. Travelling became
easier and safer, while communication from place
to place became more rapid. A great expedition
sent out by the Cape of Good Hope Association
for exploring Central Africa, passed into Bechu-
analand, under the direction of that indefatigable
worker, Sir Andrew Smith. Yet in spite of all
this nothing was heard of the blaauwbok ; not a
solitary specimen, not a skull nor a footprint was
found between Cape Town and the tropic of
Capricorn. Sir Andrew even came to the con-
clusion that the leucophea could not be ranked as
a true species, and that the classical specimen
preserved at Paris was only an immature roan ante-
lope. Sir W. Cornwallis Harris searched for the
blaauwbok during his famous travels of 1836-7
with enthusiastic perseverance. " For a leuco-
phed,'' he says, " I would willingly have given a
finger of my right hand." No leucophea was
forthcoming, however, and Harris began to doubt
if it had ever existed ; he came to the inevitable
conclusion that by 1836, at any rate, it had been
exterminated. " If the blue antelope (Aigocerus
leucopheay- ever did exist it is now extinct."
Other naturalists followed these distinguished

1 Aigocerus leucophea was the scientific name then employed to
denote the bhiauwbok : Hifpotragus lewophccus is its modern title,
originally conferred on the species by its iirst describer, Pallas, and
now resuscitated in accordance with tne law of prioiity. In this essay
leucophea and leucophimis are nsed as ecjuivalent synonyms.

THE BLAAUWBOK 47

authorities, and it was finally declared that the
few examples in museums were but dwarf or
immature roan antelopes.

It was left for two Continental naturalists —
Sundevall, of Stockholm, and Kohl, of Vienna
— to demonstrate conclusively the right of the
blaauwbok to rank as a true species. Sundevall,
after an examination of a long series of roan ante-
lopes, pointed out that the feet of the adult leuco-
phceiis preserved at Stockholm were smalle?- than
those of quite immature examples of the roan ; and
Herr Kohl, in his valuable paper, " Ueber neue
und Seltene Antilopen," has drawn up a list of
differences between the two. A careful examina-
tion of the Leyden blaauwbok — the very individual
on which Pallas founded the species — will amply
demonstrate that the leucophcFiis was clearly recog-
nisable by the following characters :—

1. Horns relatively long and slender.

2. Ears elongated, but without a terminal pencil
of hair.

3. Mane directed forwards.

4. Throat hairs not elongated.

5. No switch of elongated hair on the face.

6. No black on the face.

The above list of external characters may be
compared with those of the roan antelope, whose
shorter horns, great ears, upright mane, bearded
throat, anteorbital brushes, and pied face abund-

48 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

antly proclaim it to be distinct from the blaauwbok.
An examination of my photograph of the fine
leucophcBMs now at Leyden will surely convince
anyone that the blaauwbok cannot be identical
with the roan. If an immature roan, why are the
horns so well developed, in proportion to the size
of the animal ? If adult, though dwarfed, why is
not the face marked with black, a pigment which
begins to appear in mere calves ?

The matter, however, is now settled beyond
doubt. Several of the blaauwbok still in pre-
servation have been found to agree in their
measurements ; and all the scientific world admits
the leucophea as a true species, endorsing the
dictum of Sundevall — '' Minime animat Jictztm ut
credidit A. Smith, sed fere certe, at docuit Lick-
tenstein, in fine soectili prioiHs extinctumy

A further argument — ^were one needed — may be
adduced in favour of the blaauwbok as a distinct
species. Its habitat is widely sundered from that
of the roan antelope. The leucophaetis, always
confined to the province of Swellendam, was finally
lost in 1800; the roan antelope was not even
discovered till December ist, 1801, when Sir John
Barrow's party met with it near Leetakoo (Kuru-
man), in Bechuanaland, under the name of the
tack haitsie. Certainly Sir Andrew Smith mentions
the roan as formerly occurring in northern Cape
Colony, but it is not known to have been common

ROAN ANTELOPE CALF.

About 14 days old. Altliouj;li very iiiiinature it already

exhibits the characteristic black markings on the face,

never seen even in adult bla<auwbok.

THE BLAAUWBOK 49

in that region, and has never been recorded south
of the Orange River; so that even accepting Sir
Andrew's statement, many weary leagues would still
intervene between the southernmost limitof the roan
and the northernmost limit of the blaauwbok. If the
two species were identical, surely fossilized or other
remains would have been unearthed by this time
in the intervening districts.

We may conclude this account of the blaauwbok
by adding a census which enumerates all recorded
specimens ; many of these unfortunately are not
known to exist.

I. Pallas 's type specimen, an adult bull, is still
in the Leyden Museum, where I have repeatedly
examined and photographed it. It is a fine
specimen in excellent preservation, and probably
carries the record horns. Measurements were
taken by me in 1901 ; it is instructive to compare
them with those of the female example at Vienna,
by means of the following table : —

Blaauwbok Bull Blaauwbok Cow
(Leyden). (Vienna).

Length of horns along anterior curve - 24'iin. 2o|in.

Circumference of horn' at base - - 6|in. 5in.

Height at withers . . - - 49;|in. 4oiin.

Tip of muzzle to root of tail - - 73iin. 75 sin.

Number of rings on each horn - - 35 26

It will be noticed that the len«-th of the male is
less than that of the female ; Herr Kohl, however,
does not state whether this measurement in the
Vienna specimen was taken from the mtizzle to

E

50 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

the root of the tail ; this however being the usual
custom, it is here assumed that such was the case,
and the remarkable discrepancy on the wrong
side may be explained by overstretching of the
Vienna skin in mounting. Other measurements
of the Leyden blaauwbok ; minimum divergence
of horns, iJin, ; length of ear, 9|in. ; length of
mane, i+in. Beyond the fact that it was shot
previous to 1776, no particulars are known about
the Leyden blaauwbok : it is a splendid example,
well worthy to be the type of the species.

2. The blaauwbok shot by Col. Gordon and
sent to Europe may have been the example which
was acquired by Sylvius von Lennep, of Haarlem,
and which at his death became the property of
the Haarlem Societe Hollandaise des Sciences.
Be this as it may, Gordon's specimen was
described by Dr. Allamand, and Gordon himself
drew a beautiful figure of it : Buffon copied both
Allamand's description and Gordon's figure for
publication in his own Natural History. The
spirited drawing of the blaauwbok published many
years ago, as fig. 650 of the " Museum of
Animated Nature," may have been taken from
Gordon's sketch. Allamand incorrectly called
the blaauwbok the tseiran. a name which rightly
belongs to the Mongolian gazelle (Gazella
gutturosa).

3, A preserved skin of the blaauwbok was seen

THE BLAAUWBOK 5 1

by Dr. Sparrman near Krakeel River, about 1772.

4. Pennant bought a blaauwbok skin at Amster-
dam previous to 1781. Each horn had twenty
rings, and he tells us in his History of Quadrupeds,
that the hair of this specimen was long, so that
it was probably shot in winter coat. According
to Pennant, the blaauwbok was mentioned at
p. 58 of the Journal Historique (published at
Amsterdam in 1778), under the name of Bouc-
Chamois.

5. Le Vaillant's Hottentot attendant shot a
blaauwbok bull, in the Valley of Soete Melk, in
December, 1871. To judge from Le Vaillant's
brief account, this example was in splendid adult
condition. Like Harris long afterwards with the
roan antelope, the French naturalist took a drawing
of his prize on the spot ; the Hottentot then
skinned it, and the skin was carefully preserved by
Le Vaillant, who was well aware of its value.
This specimen is known to have been brought to
Europe, but cannot now be traced.

6. Another male specimen was seen by Le
Vaillant during 1781-85, and may have been the
other example (or one of them, if there were
several) which he brought home with the specimen
of 1 78 1, above mentioned.

7. Subsequently to 1782 a blaauwbok bull,
obtained in the Valley of Soete Melk, was presented
to the Governor of Capetown.

52 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

8. Le Vaillant also saw a blaauwbok bull at
Amsterdam, where it had been preserved in
excellent condition for fifteen years. He tells us
that there was little if any variation between the
different specimens he saw, thus unconsciously
strengthening the claim of H. leiicophceus to rank
as a distinct species.

9. A blaauwbok is still preserved at Stockholm,
and is the identical specimen which helped Sunde-
vall to prove the essential distinctness of H.
leucophaeiis. It would be interesting to know if
this example was brought home by either of the
famous Swedish travellers — Thunberg and Sparr-
man^ but information on this point will probably
now be unobtainable.

10. The blaauwbok cow, on which Herr Kohl
based his valuable paper, is still preserved at
Vienna : this and the foregoing specimen are
specially interesting, on account of the important
deductions which have been drawn from them.
Some of the measurements of the Vienna example
have already been given.

11. A blaauwbok is still preserved at Upsala.

12. The blaauwbok bull still in the Museum of
the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, has given rise to
a great deal of discussion. Supposed to have
originally come from the collection of the Stadt-
holder of Holland, it was acquired by the Paris

1 P>om the Krakeel River district ?

THE BLAAUWBOK 53

Museum previous to 1840, and was believed by
Harris (and probably by odiers also), to be the only
specimen in existence. Sir Andrew Smith, when
investigating the status of H. Icucopliaeus, received
from M. Geoffreya drawing of the Paris blaauwbok,
and boldly declared that the treasured relic was
only a young roan, differing from the ordinary
form in lacking the chocolate red on face and
breast. It does not appear that Sir Andrew saw
the actual specimen ; however, Dr, J. E. Gray,
after examining the Paris animal, agreed with
Smith, in spite of the eloquent arguments of
Sundevall, who had also seen it. This was all the
more remarkable, as Dr. Gray made himself quite
a name for manufacturing new species. The fact
that such expert authorities were unable to agree,
naturally enhances the interest attaching to the
specimen.

The Paris blaauwbok is a puzzle, and it is easy
to understand how a naturalist like Smith, who
had only seen a figure of it, might refuse to
separate it from the roan antelope : at first sight
it certainly does resemble a small, faded individual
of that species. Besides, during its long post
mortem career this historic specimen has been so
banged about that it is impossible to determine
whether its ears did or did not once possess pencils
of hair : a most important point. A careful
examination, however, soon demonstrates that it

54 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

is a true blaauwbok. The horns, longer and Tnore
slender than those of the roan, bear twenty-eight
rings : there is no black area on the face, nor any
anteocular switch of hair : the scanty mane is
directed forwards. The specimen is much
elongated, from faulty stuffing ; and it has also
been badly cut on one shoulder (perhaps from
carelessness in skinning it) : in spite of these
blemishes, however, it has a remarkably fresh
appearance, and certainly does not "look its age,"
for even the famous bluish-purple tint yet lingers
on its century-old hide. The label bears the
inscription :

" Hippotragus leucophaeus Pall :
Delgorgue. Afrique Australe."

13. In 1799 a leucopheus was shot and sent to
Berlin. Dr. Lichtenstein described it in 18 14,
and it is fortunate that he did so, as it seems to
have since been lost — perhaps destroyed by some
person ignorant of its priceless value, like the dodo
in the museum at Oxford. When the doctor
wrote his account of this specimen (only a few
years after it had been shot) the whole blaauwbok
race had already disappeared from the face of the
globe — " blotted from the book of life," as Harris
expressed it long afterwards.

14, 15, 16.'* "Some" were shot in 1800, accord-
ing to Lichtenstein, and their skins were sent to
Leyden, but nothing more is known about them.

THE BLAAUWBOK 55

These blaauwbok of 1800 were the last of their
race.

The above list comprises all the more recent
occurrences of H. letccopkaeus, and mentions all
the stuffed examples now known to exist. There
is a frontlet of a bull blaauwbok in the Natural
History Museum : each horn is twenty inches long,
and bears twenty rings. No data concerning it
are known, though it has long been in the
National Collection. It is interesting to remember,
however, that this frontlet may have once belonged
to one of two famous naturalists. The horns
attached to the skin bought at Amsterdam by
Pennant, were twenty inches long and had twenty
rinofs on them : could the fate of Pennant's
specimen be traced, its horns might be found to
be identical with those on the frontlet above
mentioned. Aofain, Sir Hans Sloane's collection,
purchased in 1753, on the foundation of the
British Museum, contained several natural history
specimens from South Africa (such as a horn of
the white rhinoceros), and may well have included
relics of the blaauwbok — at that time a compara-
tively abundant antelope. Finally, there is still
in existence a most interesting relic of H. leuco-
phaeus, which seems to have been strangely
overlooked by naturalists.

It has hitherto been supposed that the blaauwbok
is represented to-day only by stuffed specimens

56 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

and by the frontlet above referred to : no skull
being known to exist in any museum, nor does
there seem to be any description of one in the
whole of scientific literature, the acquisition of
such a desideratum being apparently considered
about as likely as that of the living animal itself!
Nevertheless, a blaauwbok skull — unfortunately
imperfect — ^has for many years been preserved
in the Royal College of Surgeons' Museum in
Lincoln's Inn Fields. A careful comparison of
this skull, with that of a roan antelope, has
convinced me that it is genuine. The horns, like
those in the Natural History Museum, bear
twenty annulations, and are relatively long and
slender. They appear to be less curved, however,
than those in the National Collection : and since
the skull is comparatively smooth with little
development on bony ridges for the attachment
of muscles, it seems probable that the animal was
a female. There can be no question of the
maturity of the animal, for between the lowest
rinor and the true base of the horn there is a
considerable portion (about one-sixth of the total
length) without rings, but ornamented with a
great number of indefinite wavy furrows : had the
horns been still orowina:, the annulations would
have continued right down to the base. The
skull, therefore, cannot be that of an immature
roan, the only other species with which it could

w

THE UNIQUE liLAAUWBOK SKULL:
Li the Royal College of Surgeons' ^luseum.

THE BLAAUWBOK 57

possibly be confounded. Apparently, the animal
was shot in the prime of life : the horns are
neither worn nor splintered : the sutures of the
skull are unobliterated, and the teeth are in
excellent condition. U nfortunately the premaxillae
and lower jaw have been lost.

The following horn measurements of this unique
example may be compared with those of horns
attached to skin-specimens at Leyden, Paris, &c. :

Length of left horn^ over anterior curve, 2 2 in.

Circumference at base, 6in.

Minimum divergence, iMn.

No. of rings : 20 (left horn), 21 (right horn).

To recapitulate :

The horns attached to the male frontlet in the
National Collection are 20 inches long : those of
the bull at Paris, tape 2 1 1 inches : of the bull at
Leyden — a record measurement — 24! inches. The
horns of the cow at Vienna reach 20| inches,
and those of the cow in the Royal College of
Surgeons' Museum are 22 and 21 inches respec-
tively. Thus the various measurements show a
certain relationship to each other : had the speci-
mens from which they have been taken belonged
merely to a haphazard series of different animals
instead of to one definite species, they would not
have exhibited this agreement. The dimensions

o

1 The right horn has about one inch of the tip missing, hence the
original distance between the tips coukl not be taken.

58 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

of the horns, coinciding as they do within limits,
constitute the final link in our chain of facts : for
unlike the dimensions of the skin, they cannot be
distorted and overstretched in stuffinor, and must
always remain unaltered. Enough has now been
said to prove to the hilt the right of the blaauwbok
to rank as a distinct form,

Qjiod e7'at demonstrandum.

'^•s^-t. "'•''***<««• ^^5b?v

^..'^^^

KUAN ANTELOPE (Seiiegambiau race).
Showing protective assimilation to surroundings.

THE ROAN ANTELOPE

The study of the variation of species under
domestication has long afforded instruction, not
only to the evolutionist and the scientific naturalist,
but also to the practical breeder of animals. The
numerous and widely-differing types of dog and
horse, sheep and pig, cat and rabbit, exhibit a
marvellous plasticity of constitution under the
artificial influence of selective breeding. For
instance, few greater contrasts could be found in
external appearance than are seen in the outlines
of the long-legged, snipe-jawed greyhound, and
the sturdy bulldog ; in the heavy-footed Clydes-
dale and the slim racehorse ; or in the Manx tabby
and the long-haired Persian cat. These are only
a few instances amongst many illustrating the
facility with which the characters of domesticated
animals may be modified by the action of man.

The variation of species in the ivild state,
uninfluenced by human agency, is also a theme of
fascinating interest, and almost equally intricate :
the bewildered worker in every department of
zoology is as far off as ever from drawing the
line between a true species and a mere variety,
some naturalists assigning specific rank to
forms to which others would only allot varietal

6o NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

importance, and vice versa. Thus we have the
perplexing variations amongst the Felidae, as
instanced by the serval and the servaline cats,
or by the ocelot of America, with its fulvous, grey,
and pallid phases : the puzzling and unsolved
relationship between the European brown bear
( Ursus arctos), the barren ground bear ( U. richard-
soni), and the grizzly ( U. horribilis) : whilst the
protean variations of the Burchell zebra [E. bur-
chellii) are now ranked as sub-species under the
names of E. burchellii chapmanii, granti, seiousi,
and so on» It will thus be seen that not only are
wild animals liable to considerable variation, but
also that the study of this phenomenon alone would
occupy a lifetime.

The splendid roan antelope ( Hippotragus ecpti-
ntts) of Africa is a very unstable species, and
serves as an excellent example of animal variation.
It is distributed over a large portion of the African
continent, from the White Nile as far south as
and including the Transvaal ; while in former
times it was also found in Cape Colony, north of
the Orange River. It occurs in West Africa, but is
absent from the Congfo forest reo^ion. With the
single exception of the eland, the roan is the
largest of all the magnificent antelopes of Africa,
and stands about 56 inches high at the shoulder,
its splendid proportions being enhanced by its
stately bearing and self-possessed carriage. The

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 6 1

horns, though comparatively small for so sturdy
a beast, are very stout, heavily annulated with
from twenty to thirty rings, and curve backwards
to end in sharp points. A curious brush of long
white hair, springing from just beneath the eye,
passes downwards and outwards across the face :
the ears are enormous and curved at the tips,
which droop markedly, and are frequently orna-
mented with a pencil of black hair. The flat,
muscular neck of the roan antelope is surmounted
by a thick, upstanding mane, which extends from
occiput to withers : the throat is heavily ruffed.
The body is stout and markedly equine in contour,
the legs are slender and clean, and the tail is short,
barely reaching the hocks.

The coloration of this antelope is extremely
variable. All forms have the muzzle white and the
cheeks black, with a white patch about the eyes in
addition to the white brush of hair already alluded
to : the abdomen is also whitish, and the anterior
surface of the leo-s blackish brown. The o-eneral
body colour, however, varies a good deal, and
naturalists are by no means agreed as to the
number of species or subspecies now grouped
together under the name of roan antelope. The
typical form from the Cape is very inconstant in
colour, ran^ino- in hue from a dark brown to a
strawberry roan, which in some individuals becomes
almost white : a good example of the brown phase

62 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

is now mounted in the Dover Museum, while the
rufous form is represented in the Natural History
Museum at South Kensington ; and a whitish
specimen, shot in 1836 by Sir W. Cornwallis
Harris, is figured on plate xviii. of that naturalist's
famous work on the South African Game animals.
The little known roan of East Africa is pale
reddish on the body, with dark, reddish legs, and
some naturalists have thought it worth while to
give it the names of HippotragjLS equimts 7^ttfo-
pallidus and of Hippot7^ag2ts langheldi : probably
this distinction will be abandoned when it has
become better known to museum experts. In
West Africa we see a greater development of the
reddish colouring, the Senegambian roan being
warm, rufous-grey or chestnut, while the northern-
most form (Baker's roan antelope) is mouse-
coloured. In all forms the body colouring merges
gradually into the white of the abdomen, in
remarkable distinction to the closely allied sable
antelope i^Hippotragus nigei^), which is arrayed in
a handsomely contrasted livery of jet black and
snowy white.

Passing now to the history of the roan antelope,
we find that it was first seen by Europeans on
December 21st, 1801, the individuals concerned
being the members of Sir John Barrow's party,
who had travelled into Bechuanaland for the
unromantic purpose of buying cattle. No specimen

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 63

was secured, but a fairly accurate and quite recog-
nisable description of the animal has been left by
Truter, who says : " the animal appeared to be
near five feet high, the colour a cinerous blue, and
shape not unlike the nilghau of India, the
Antilope picta. Its mane is black, long and
flowino- over each shoulder : its beard is lone and
pointed : the tail short and naked : the horns from
fifteen to eighteen inches long, pointing backwards,
and bent into a circular curve, embracing about a
fifth of the whole circumference, annulated from
the root to about two-thirds the lencrth." The
natives near Leetakoo (Kuruman), where Barrow's
party saw the animal, called it the Tackhaitsie,
and stated it to be very fierce and dangerous.

Daniell's volume of sketches, containing a figure
of the Tackhaitsie, is still extant, though rare.
Unfortunately the animal has been represented as
of a very uncompromising blue-grey colour : the
mane is not only wrongly figured as drooping
instead of erect, but is further shewn as pendent on
both sides of the neck : the " beard " is shown as
long and pointed, and strictly confined to the chin !
Daniell's figure well illustrates the difficulty of
accurately representing a new species without first
securing a specimen : had the party succeeded in
shooting a tackhaitsie instead of staring at it, such
a ridiculous figure would never have been published.
It is to be feared that Daniell hindered rather than

64 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

helped science by his unfortunate effort : certainly
for years afterwards naturalists did not recognise
that the roan antelope was the true tackhaitsie of
Barrow.

The first specimen of the roan antelope to reach
the museums of Europe appears to have been
the example received at Paris from an unknown
locality, and described by Desmarest in 1804 as
the " antilope osanne." The first specimen brought
to England was the rufous-gray animal, shot in
December, 1812, at the 'Tittle Klibbolikhonni
fountain in the Transgariepine," and presented to
the British Museum by Dr. Burchell: it was figured
by Landseer in " Griffith's Animal Kingdom," and
the horns are still in the National Collection.

Burchell searched in vain for the "tackhaitsie"
as represented by Daniell : and Sir Andrew Smith
in 1836 took up the quest with the same result.
He even provided himself with a copy of Daniell's
figure, which he showed to the natives : but
though many of them had grown old in the very
region it was said to inhabit, none of them recog-
nised the animal, nor will anyone who compares
Daniell's figure with an accurate drawing of H.
equiniLS wonder at it. Sir Andrew finally
recognised that the tackheitsie and the roan
antelope were one and the same animal ; and in
his account of the roan, in his " Illustrations of
South African Zoology," expressly states that it is

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 65

the " tackhaitsie of the Bechuanas " : the species
is correctly figured on plate xxvii. of the above-
mentioned work. The example from which the
figure was taken (a young bull) is still in the
National Collection. In spite of its great post
7nortem age, the animal is in good preservation :
and it is most interesting to stand and contem-
plate this historic specimen, presented to the British
Museum by the very man who established the
identity of the tackhaitsie with the roan antelope,
and constituting a link between the present day
and the Africa of the long- vanished past, when all
the rivers of the interior were alive with bellow-
ing hippotami, when the lion infested every foun-
tain, and the spreading veldt teemed with
countless hartebeest and wildebeest, buffalo and
rhinoceros, elephant and giraffe. " Not very many
years ago," said Sir Andrew in 1840, "the animal
was frequently seen within the northern boundary
of the Cape Colony," and although the roan has
long disappeared from that region, it still lingers
in the Transvaal. A considerable amount of
information as regards its habits was collected by
Smith's friend Harris, and has been supplemented
by later writers.

The roan antelope is stated to congregate in
small troops, composed of from five to a dozen
individuals, and usually including only one adult
bull : as with many other antelopes, solitary old

66 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

males are often seen. Wounded individuals are
apt to turn on the hunter, if pressed too closely,
when from their great size and strength they are
most dangerous antagonists, striking right and left
with their formidable horns ; the blows are delivered
with a tremendous violence that makes utter havoc
of a pack of strong dogs, and will mortally wound
a horse. Like other antelopes, the roan is fond
of rubbing and grinding its horns against trees and
stumps ; it retains this habit even in captivity.
Roan calves are of a light chestnut colour : an
example shot by Mr. Selous will be found figured
on an adjoining page.

In addition to the mystery long attaching to it
as the dreaded tackhaitsie of the Bechuanas, the
roan antelope is apparently one of the numerous
animals which have masqueraded as the unicorn.
The original of this fabulous creature has been
variously identified as the rhinoceros, the gemsbok,
and the beisa — the last-named being a long-horned
antelope, closely allied to the gemsbok, but in-
habiting north-east instead of southern Africa.
To this interesting trio there seems good reason
to add a fourth — the roan antelope, as will be seen
from the following account.

Sir John Barrow, during his travels in South
Africa, at the close of the eighteenth century,
heard reports of the existence of a strange one-
horned animal, which was said to inhabit the

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 67

regions immediately north of the Tarka mountains,
near the Bambosberg, in Cape Colony : Col.
Gordon, himself an eminent naturalist, had already
seen several native drawings of the mysterious
creature, and thoroughly believed in its existence.
Inspired with the hope of obtaining so marvellous
a trophy, Sir John himself made a diligent search
in the locality which the unicorn was supposed to
inhabit : and achieved the partial success of
discovering a rude drawing of the animal, sketched
by a Caffre on the wall of a deep cavern. The
unicorn was represented, together with a number
of other African animals, but unfortunately the
body and legs had been erased to give place to
the figure of an elephant : the mutilated drawing
was however copied, and is reproduced in Sir John's
"Travels in Africa," Vol. I., p. 311. The animal's
head is figured as possessing long ears, and set on
a stout neck, exactly like the roan antelope ; the
single horn is annulated at the base and curved in
its upper two-thirds (also like H. equinus) ; a
backwardly-directed mane adorns the neck. It is
true that the animal of the Tarka cavern is shown
with but one horn, and that growing out of the
forehead at an angle of 45° : but even a two-
horned animal like the roan, when seen sideways,
might seem to have only one, especially at the
respectful distance the natives would take care
to maintain between themselves and it : many

68 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

antelopes, however, in fighting amongst themselves
snap off one horn, and thus become true unicorns.
Moreover, although the horn is represented as
growing from the unicorn's head at an angle, this
may only have been the native artist's method of
representing a typical pose of the animal, and here
again we observe a likeness to the roan, for the
hippotragine antelopes in fighting draw in the
head and lower the horns so that they project
forwards. The Tarka unicorn and the roan
antelope are probably one and the same animal :
and it is surprising that when Sir John discovered
the " tackhaitsie " a year or so later, he did not
reco2fnise in it the lono-souQfht monoceros of the
Caffres.^

The mysterious unicorn died hard. Many years
after Sir John Barrow's party had safely returned
to Capetown, Sir Andrew Smith heard reports of
a one-horned animal said to exist somewhere
north of the Tropic of Capricorn, and which was
said to be very different from any known species
of rhinoceros : he also published some remarks
communicated to him by the Rev. Mr. Freeman
on an extraordinary animal reported in his day to
be fairly common in Makooa, where it was known
as the Nzoodzoo. The naturalist will see on

1 It appears that the Bushmen near Leetakoo (Knruman) — the very
place Avhere Barrow discovered the "tackhaitsie" — Avere in the habit
of adorninj^ the walls of caA-erns with drawings of animals, including
vnicorns. Gordon Gumming mentions such an improvised art-gallery,
situated to the A^est of the waggon-track between Kuruman and
Daniels'-Kuil.

THE "TACKHEITSE."

The tir.st living example in England of the southern roan antelope :

the tacklieitse of Sir John Barrow and probably the original of

the Tarka unicorn.

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 69

comparing the account of the nzoodzoo with the
roan antelope, that, with the exception of the horn
being single in the former animal, the descriptions
of the two are suspiciously alike. The length of
the horn of the supposed unicorn was said to be
from two to two and a half feet long : the weapons
of the roan antelope vary from 24 to 36 inches in
lenofth. The horn of the nzoodzoo was said to be
capable of being curled up like the trunk of an
elephant at the will of the animal : we recollect
that the horns of the roan are curved in scimitar-
fashion. The unknown animal had the size and
strength of a horse, and was extremely fleet : the
roan has curiously enough received the apt name
of Hippotragus equinus, on account of its horse-
like outline, and modern sportsmen have found it
to run for miles when pursued.^ The female
nzoodzoo was said to be absolutely hornless :
strange to say, the female roan was long thought
to be unhorned, even so good an authority as
Harris, who had himself hunted the animal, stating
in 1840 that the female H. equinus had no horns.
The ndzoodzoo was very fierce, attacking men on
sieht : the Bechuanas in Barrow's time were afraid
of the fierce tackhaitsie (" the wicked one ") and
even white hunters have found the roan antelope
dangerous enough at close quarters. These

1 Mr. E. N. Buxton says of the roan antelope, "When galloping,
their long tails and manes give them almost the appearance of wild
horses." Two African Trips, p. 72.

70 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

Statements concerning the ndzoodzoo being so
wonderfully paralleled by our knowledge of similar
facts concerning the roan antelope, surely remove
the matter out of the domain of mere coincidence :
and assuming that the two horns of the antelope
had in the distance appeared as one (the animal
having been seen sideways), we are driven to the
conclusion that the ndzoodzoo of Makooa is
identical with the roan antelope. The finishing
touch to the matter is given when we remember
that Makooa is the country between Lake Nyasa
and the Mozambique Coast — a well-known haunt
of the roan antelope.

The East African roan differs but little from
the southern form, and may be dismissed without
further notice. The West African phase of
Hippotragus equmus is the handsomest subspecies
of all, as will be seen from the following descrip-
tion of a fine female of this variety which was
living in the Antwerp Zoological gardens in 1900:
" Face black, with a small greyish area above the
muzzle : anteocular stripe white, postocular pale
brownish-white. Iris black-brown. Ears chest-
nut externally, and thickly lined internally with
long fine dirty-white hairs. General body colour
splendid warm rufous paling into white on
abdomen and buttocks. Mane, tail and anterior
surface of legs blackish-brown." This variety is
now known as Hippoh'agus equinus gambianus in

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 7 1

allusion to its habitat : besides its brighter colour-
inpf the West African roan has the ears even
longer than in the typical South African form.
The western subspecies was first known from two
or three living specimens brought home by Whit-
field on the SS. "African" in 1848; these were
all young animals intended for the splendid
menagerie which the thirteenth Earl of Derby was
then maintaining at Knowsley Hall near Liver-
pool. One of the antelopes died in London on
its way to Knowsley and was mounted for the
Derby Museum. On the death of Lord Derby
in 1 85 1 his splendid collection of preserved speci-
mens, including the roan antelope, became the
property of the city of Liverpool, and is now
housed in the Liverpool Museum. The Liverpool
specimen, although immature, agrees with the
Senegambian adult cow at Antwerp, both in its
coloration and in its immense ears : the horns
are only about three inches long and are very
slightly curved at the extreme tips.

Travellers have assured us that the larger
antelopes in spite of their size are not of
necessity conspicuous when seen amongst their
natural surroundings : and further, that even
waterbuck, roan, or sable antelope may be effec-
tually concealed when standing amongst the
shadows of thick bush. I recently had an oppor-
tunity of verifying this, though the animal con-

72 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

cerned was the brilliantly coloured Senegambian
roan and its surroundings were the artificial
adjuncts of the Antwerp Zoological gardens. Dur-
ing 1900 the West African roan before mentioned
was turned out like the rest of the animals to
graze in its paddock : in spite of its great size and
rufous coat it was quite inconspicuous when
standing under the trees, the black of the face
and legs merging insensibly into the shadows cast
by the overhanging boughs, whilst the blazing
sunlight streaming through the interstices of the
foliage merely revealed the sleek body of the
antelope as a large surface of uniform coloration.
These points may be readily observed by examin-
ing the photograph of the individual taken at the
time : probably in its natural state the animal
would have been still better concealed.

The northern form of the roan antelope —
Baker's antelope of some naturalists — (abou aroof
of the Arabs) has by some been regarded as a
separate species under the name of Hippotragus
bakeri. Very little is known of it, however, and
Sir Samuel Baker, who discovered it in 1861 on
the confines of Abyssinia, did not himself obtain
a good specimen, but only the battered remnant
of an individual which had been killed by a lion.
A few living bakeri have been brought alive to
Europe. There was a young bull of this form in
the Royal menagerie at Turin in 1867, a second

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 'J T^

example at Berlin about 1879, and a third (also at
Berlin) in 1 899 : while the young roan from
Upper Nubia received by the Zoological Society
of London in 1878 probably also belonged to
Baker's subspecies. I remember noticing in 1901
the name of Hippotragiis bakeri in a list of
animals offered for sale by Herr Menges, the well
known wild beast merchant, but do not know
what became of the specimen thus advertised.
A good bull of this subspecies, shot at Gondokoro
on the Upper Nile, is now in the National Collec-
tion.

In captivity the roan antelope does fairly well,
though like all the larger antelopes it is a danger-
ous pet. Those kept at Antwerp were evidently
conscious of their strength, continually grinding
their massive horns against the strong railings of
their pen, and exhibiting a restless and half-savage
demeanour. The roan will become half-tame,
feeding from the hand and even allowing an
attendant to enter the paddock provided he keep
a respectful distance : it would, however, go hard
indeed with any person rash enough to approach
too closely to these, perhaps the most dangerous
of all the African Bovidae. Those who have been
accustomed to consider antelopes as gentle, pretty
creatures ready to flee timidly on the slightest
alarm would speedily be undeceived on attempting
to play with either roan, sable or hartebeest, even

74 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

though the same animal had fed from the hand a
few minutes before : the experimenter would be
soon carried to the hospital there to reflect on
his folly at leisure.

There seems to be no record of these animals
ever having bred in captivity : but turned out in
semi-freedom in large paddocks there seems no
reason why acclimatized individuals should not do
so. The closely allied sable antelope bred in the
Hamburg Zoological Gardens in 1894, and at
Cologne in 1896 and 1898: the eland, the sing-
sing waterbuck, the blue wildebeest, and the black
wildebeest have all reproduced their kind in
confinement, so that European skies are by no
means inimical to the welfare of African antelope
life. A herd of roan with their great stature and
imposing presence would make a magnificent if
dangerous ornament to a gentleman's park : the
animal seems, however, to be but little known
save to experts, and the first living example of
the southern or typical roan (the true tackheitse)
seen in England did not reach this country till
November 28, 1902, when a fine young cow
presented by Major Minchin, D.S.O., arrived at
the Zoo. The more stringent enforcement of game
preservation in Africa, and the increasing interest
taken in natural history in Europe make it possi-
ble that in the future this noble beast may become
better known. Certainly when one reflects on

THE ROAN ANTELOPE 7 5

the atmosphere of mystery which for long" years
shrouded its very existence, together with the
interest which attaches to it for its own sake, it
will be admitted that few of the splendid animals
of Africa can rival Hippottagus equinus in interest:
while the beast itself occurs in so many phases —
brown, grey or reddish in the south, rufous on the
West Coast, and mouse colour on the Upper
Nile — that one may well apply to it (after altera-
tion) the famous words of the Roman poet :

" Varium et mutabile semper

THE MHORR GAZELLE.

One of the most remarkable features which has
characterised the advance of modern therapeutics
(the application of drugs in disease) has been the
gradual abandonment of substances derived from
the animal kingdom, whilst remedies obtained from
plants — digitalis and strophanthus, strychnine and
belladonna, lobelia and colchicum — are daily em-
ployed throughout the globe. The animal world
is now hardly represented by any internal medica-
ments at all, unless one include the various antitoxic
serums used in combating diphtheria, plague, and
tetanus : these, however, are not taken by the
mouth, but are introduced under the skin.

In ancient times, however, matters were far
different, many animal substances being long
employed, though now discarded as useless.
Castoreum, hyraceum, ambergris, and many other
drugs now abandoned were once in high favour :
and marvellous cures have been reported after the
use of agents which were (to say the least of it)
extraordinary ; whether the cures resulted on the
post hoc ox propter hoc principle is a matter for very
free speculation. Rondeletius recounts how a
tench applied to the feet of a sick man caused a
marvellous recovery: the sudden application of

MHURK GAZELLE (in the Antwerp Zoological Garden?^

THE MHORR GAZELLE 'J'J

such a cold, slimy object to the feet of a man in a
burning ague would, it must be admitted, conduce
to speedy animation, combined with vivacity of
thought and freedom of language on the part of
the sufferer, even if no permanent result were
obtained. Dr. Caius also recommended this fish,
saying that tench were "good plaisters, but bad
nourishment, for being laid to the soles of the feet,
they often draw away the ague."

Amongst other strange materia niedica, we may
note that the web of a spider was a reputed remedy
against fever, and its body, or eggs, would disperse
white specks in the eye : a living toad laid on the
most deep-rooted cancer would infallibly cure it :
whilst poison poured into the inverted horn of a
rhinoceros was at once detected by the frothing
bubbles which rose from the depths of so magical
a cup. In many cases the implicit faith maintained
in these remedies almost amounted to superstition :
high prices were paid for substances utterly worth-
less for the purpose for which they were purchased,
and popular credulity appears to have known no
bounds. Prominent amongst these pseudo-remedies
and once as highly-prized as any of them in
mediaeval medicine, rank the curious objects known
as bezoar stones. These bezoars were formerly
worn round the neck as amulets, and valued as
antidotes to poison and fevers : the Chinese used
them both as a pigment and as a drug. It is

78 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAY<5

recorded that formerly a bezoar was valued at ten
times its weight in gold, and that a stone weighing
four ounces could formerly be sold for upwards of
^200. So deeply rooted and so widespread was
the old-time belief in their efficiency that the whole
subject of bezoars is a highly interesting and
romantic subject, well worthy of the days when
men believed in the existence of the philosopher's
stone, when they thought that the earth was flat,
and that all Africa beyond the Atlas mountains
was alive with dragons and dog-headed men.

Examined by the critical light of modern
science, bezoars are demonstrated to be concre-
tions or calculi occurring in the intestines of
various ruminant animals, such as the Persian
wild goat (Capra cegagrus) and the mhorr gazelle
of Southern Morocco : indeed, every individual of
this gazelle is said by the Moors to contain two
bezoars. These concretions are either oval or
orbicular in shape, and consist of odourless taste-
less organic matter, more or less greenish in
colour. They are smooth externally, and their
size varies from that of an acorn to that of a
pigeon's ^%%' When broken, bezoars exhibit a
waxy fracture and are seen to consist of concentric
layers of material disposed about a small nucleus,
such as a bit of stone or the bud of a plant : when
burnt they are almost entirely consumed and leave
but little ash. These stones exhale an aromatic

THE MHORR GAZELLE 79

odour like the ambergris found in the intestines
of the cachalot whale, a substance to which,
by the way, they are strictly comparable. They
contain a large amount of organic acids (ellagic
acid in some bezoars, lithofellic in others), but
although nine varieties are known, not one
appears to have any claim whatever to the
medicinal qualities once assigned to them.

Formerly used to combat vertigo, palpitation of
the heart, colic and jaundice, they were probably
utterly useless in any of these capacities : if they
possessed any properties at all they were at most
mechanically absorbent, and of no more efficacy
than so much chalk. Some authorities derive
the name bezoar from the Persian pad-zahr or
expeller of poison : it has, however, been suggested
by Mr. Drummond-Hay that since the Moors call
the bezoars obtained from the mhorr gazelle Baid
al Mhorr or "eggs of the Mhorr," the word may
have been derived from the Moorish rather than
from the Persian lano'uap'e.

The Mhorr Gazelle (Gazella mhorr) as one of
the chief sources of the famous bezoar stones,
deserves the attention not only of every naturalist,
but of every chemist, of every physician, and of
every antiquarian. Standing about thirty-five
inches high at the withers, this splendid gazelle is
of a rich rufous fawn colour on the body, paling in
intensity towards the hind quarters : the abdomen

8o NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

and rump are white. The face, forehead and
chin are whitish fawn : the cheeks are of the
same ground colour but are ornamented with a
blackish streak, whilst a dark-coloured area also
occurs below the horns. This gazelle has a con-
spicuous white mark on the throat : its legs are
rufous externally, and white internally, the rufous
of the hind legs being continuous with that of the
body. Young mhorr have the horns appearing
as short spikes, strongly and uniformly curved
forwards:^ with increasing age the horns gradu-
ally assume the adult shape, and become thick,
annulated at the base and bent strongly back-
wards, being finally directed forwards and upwards
to end in sharp points. The horns of an example
measured by Mr. Bennett taped twelve inches
along the anterior curve, and the tips were four
inches apart. The knees of the mhorr gazelle
bear small brushes of hair.

The unsettled nature of the country inhabited
by this antelope has not conduced to original
observations on its habits, and practically nothing
whatever is known about it in the wild state,
although the animal has longr been known to
science. Occasionally one or two living examples
are sent to Europe : but the species remains

1 This is well seen in the two young mhorr (labelled as Gazella
dama) now in the Jardin des Plantes Museum. The head of each
animal bears two forwardly directed spikes, being about 3| inches
long in one animal and 1^ inches in the other. These specimens came
from Senegal, and were acquired from M. Fronsacq.

THE MHORR GAZELLE 51

exceedingly rare not only in zoological gardens
but even in museums, where skins and heads of
animals can be so readily stored that even rare
forms may at last become well represented by the
gradual accumulation of chance specimens. The
relationship of the mhorr to other gazelles is a
very interesting theme which although it has
received considerable attention from naturalists is
not yet fully elucidated. Three large forms of
gazelle exist in North and West Africa, all
evidently closely connected, and in their long
necks and legs showing considerable affinity with
the curious gazelle-like antelopes (gerenuk and
dibatag) which inhabit Somaliland. The three
forms are ( i ) the mhorr gazelle already described :
(2) the dama gazelle inhabiting Senegal and
Gambia : and (3) the red-necked or addra gazelle
of Dong^ola and Sennaar. These three animals
may eventually be found to be more akin than
is at present admitted by naturalists : a few words
may here be devoted to this matter.

The dama {Gazella dama) is a fine species so
closely resembling the mhorr as to be practically
identical with it. The only remarkable difference
between the two is that in the dama the white of
the abdomen and rump coalesce to separate the
rufous hue of the hind legs from that of the body.
Some naturalists have indeed united the two
forms. The splendid menagerie which Lord

82 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

Derby established at Knowsley Hall from 1835
to 185 1 contained several dama which had been
brought home by the collector Whitfield, and in
1865 a pair were sent to London from the
Antwerp Zoological Gardens. In spite, however,
of the casual acquisition of a few specimens, the
dama is as rare as the mhorr in menageries and
museums, and even less if possible seems to be
known about it.

The red-necked gazelle [G. ruficollis) is a very
pale form, being nearly all white save for the
rufous of the neck and anterior back ; the
median line of the face is also tinged with rufous.
It however resembles its congeners not only in its
size and general proportions, but also in the
presence of brushes on the knees, while there is
also a white spot on the throat. It therefore
appears probable that as Africa becomes better
known, intermediate forms will be obtained con-
necting this gazelle with the mhorr ; indeed, even
in the present state of our knowledge, we see a
very great likeness between the two antelopes.^
Althouo^h the resemblance between the red-necked
gazelle and the mhorr is by no means so striking
as that between the latter animal and the dama,
nevertheless it will be admitted that all three
gazelles approximate not only in form and size, but

1 Judging from a photograph published in Animal Life for May,
1904, the male red-necked or addra gazelle in the Khartoum
Zoological Gardens is almost indistinguishable from G. mhorr.

THE MHORR GAZELLE 83

even in coloration, since all three animals have
the neck rufous, with a white spot on the throat,
and all are more deeply coloured anteriorly than
behind. The mhorr would appear to be exactly
intermediate as regards coloration. On one hand
stands the richly- marked dama, in which the white
areas have their fullest development, as marked by
the junction of the white of abdomen and rump :
on the other is the pallid G. ruficollis, whose coat
in typical specimens hardly shows any contrast
at all, save on the neck and back, the rest
of its pelage being dominated almost entirely
by white. It is a significant fact that the mhorr
is also intermediate in geographical range, as
if the ancestors of these gazelles, in migrating
westwards, had gradually assumed a darker
coat, in lieu of their original pale one,^ thus
affording an illustration of the fact that many
widely-distributed forms assume a more or less
rufous colour in West Africa.

The mhorr gazelle was first brought alive to
England in 1833, when a pair, captured near
Wed Noon or Oued Noon, was presented to the
Zoological Gardens by Mr. E. W. A. Drummond
Hay : the male of this pair is now in the National
collection. Although these specimens were care-

1 On the other hand, the red-necked gazelle may have lost its
former deep colouring : several desert-haunting animals, such as the
addax antelope, are protected by their pale coats, which harmonise
with the shimmeiing glare of the sand.

84 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

fully dissected after death, no bezoars were found
in the intestines of either. A young pair of this
gazelle was sent to the Jardin des Plantes at Paris
about the same time as the others arrived in
England, and lived in the crardens of the French
capital for a considerable period. A photo-
engraving was published several years ago
representing a mhorr then living in the London
Zoological Gardens. This specimen was tame
enough to allow the keeper to approach within a
yard of it, and is shown standing close to him in
the photograph.

In 1900 a fine mhorr gazelle was living in
the Antwerp Zoological Gardens. G. mhorr
and G. dama had here evidently been con-
sidered as the same species, since, although
the rufous of the legs was continuous with that
of the body, the name of the latter animal
appeared on the label attached to the cage.
This individual was in excellent condition, and
exceedingly tame, constantly coming up to the
railings to be noticed by strangers, and ever ready
to accept food from their hands. Owing to the
insufficient light (it was raining outside), it was
impossible to take a snapshot, and a time exposure
was attempted : photographers who know the
difficulty of doing this with a living animal as a
subject will appreciate the hindrance caused by
the confident overtameness of this mercurial

MHURK (iAZELLE (sliowiiig shape of lioriij-

THE MHORR GAZELLE 85

antelope, which was almost continually moving
some portion of its body, and hardly kept still for
ten seconds tog-ether. Half a dozen films were
exposed, with but indifferent results : however,
knowing the extreme rarity of the animal, the
writer persevered. The best of several efforts is
reproduced at the head of this essay : it demon-
strates the markings of the rump and hind legs
characteristic of the species, and will, it is hoped,
constitute a useful contribution to the existing
material — all too scanty — available for the study
of this antelope.

There remain, even to-day, many interesting
mammals, with whose habits and affinities the
naturalist is but very imperfectly familiar, and he
will find abundant scope for his energies in duly
prosecuting his studies amongst the same. Africa
especially abounds in little-known animals — the
white-winged bat of the Gambia, the jumping
shrews, the potamogale, the Western linsang, the
okapi : yet on account of its little understood
relationships with other antelopes, and on account
of its rarity and beauty, few members of the
splendid African fauna exceed in interest or in
attractiveness the subject of our essay — the mhorr
gazelle.

THE BLUE WILDEBEEST.

The occurrence of curious parallel resemblances
between creatures of far-sundered genera is
comparatively frequent throughout the animal
kingdom. Numerous instances of this are readily
called to mind, the various organs of the species
concerned being adapted to the environment
of the animal on similar lines, although the
creatures themselves may have no real affinity
with each other. Taking the mammalia only, the
mimicry of a squirrel by the tupaia or tree shrew,
with rodent-like attitudes and bushy tail complete,
is a remarkable example only equalled by the
curious reverse mimicry of the tupaia itself by
the Bornean tupaia-like squirrel with its elongated
muzzle and shoulder-streaks. The insectivorous
mole of Europe finds its zoological parallel in the
mole-rat of North Africa, and in the marsupial
mole of Australia : the parachute of the cobego
reappears as the volant membrane of the anom-
alurus, the patagium of the flying squirrel and
the extensile skin-fold of the flying phalanger.
The spines of the hedgehog and of the tenrec
may be contrasted with the formidable quills of
the porcupine and with the serried panoply of the
echidna, while the rodent jerboas and the kangaroo

BLUE WIl.DKliKEST BULL.

Note the apparent coiiiponiHl of buffalo, antelope, and pony-

The head is dei-orated witli sha<;<;y Ininclies of hair and the neck i?^

curiously brindled with a number of vertical lines.

THE BLUE WILDEBEEST 8/

rats are copied more remotely by the marsupial
jerboa-mouse and by the rat kangaroos.

There exists also a still more remarkable class
of resemblances, being almost a caricature of the
first; for in the second series the likenesses are
more or less grotesque, and instead of sustaining
a semblance of any one animal, appear rather to
form a bizarre combination of several. Thus the
eupleres of Madagascar, with its minute teeth,
snipy jaws, and bushy tail, is an aberrant civet
showing insectivorous characters : the saiga with
its semi-translucent horns, its tapir-like proboscis,
and its ovine coat shed annually in patches is
hardly recognisable as an antelope : the aard vark
combines the snout of a pig and the tongue of an
anteater with the ears of a rabbit and the burrow-
ing claws of an armadillo, whilst the ornitho-
rhynchus of Australia, duck-billed and web-footed,
with the fur of a mole and the spurs of a fighting-
cock — being hatched to begin with from a leathery
egg like that of a tortoise— is almost mammal,
bird, and reptile all in one.

Perhaps the most singular of these nondescript
forms is the blue wildebeest, or brindled gnu
(Connochaetes taztrinus), of South and East Africa
— blaauw wildebeeste of the Boers — kokoon of
the Bechuanas — ^imbutuma of the Kaffirs — a large
antelope standing over four feet high at the

88 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

withers and bearing much superficial resemblance
to a buffalo. The head, neck, and shoulders of
the blue wildebeest are very heavy-looking, in
remarkable contrast to the neat antelope legs and
the long sweeping tail, which resembles that of a
horse. The horns are stout with broad palms,
and first passing outwards from their base curve
upwards, forwards, and inwards to end in sharp
points. The face is much elongated and a shaggy
brush of coarse hair hangs over the forehead and
nasal region. The muzzle is broad and flat. The
neck of the blue wildebeest bears a thick mane
partially upright, but inclining to one side in its
posterior third — a fact which appears hitherto to
have escaped the notice of naturalists. The
throat is adorned with several bunches of thick
hair. The general colour of this savage-looking
creature is bluish-grey, inclining to fuscous on the
legs ; the mane, together with the bunches of hair
on the face and throat, is black. The neck and
forequarters are brindled with about seventeen
lines of differently directed hair which, as the set
of the fur is opposed to that of the coat, generally
appear to be bluish-black in colour. A number
of black particles dotted along the spine form a
very indistinct dorsal line. These antelopes show
considerable tendency to sport white hairs about
the nostrils and muzzle, and a blue wildebeest
with a white tail has been recorded, although

THE BLUE WILDEBEEST 89

this member is normally black in Connochaetes
taurinus.

The present species ranges throughout the
eastern portion of the African continent, from the
Vaal River as far north as Kilimanjaro, and like
the roan antelope, the Burchell zebra, and other
widely-distributed animals, shows considerable
tendency to variation in the different portions of
its extensive habitat. Thus the so-called white-
bearded gnu {Connochaetes taurinus albojtibatus)
is paler in colour than the normal type, especially
on face and buttocks : the chin is white, and white
hairs are sprinkled in the black mane, whilst the
bunches on the throat are white, tinged with
yellow. The wildebeest of German East Africa
on the other hand constitute a darker phase,
having the body greyish-brown and the mane
brown mixed with white. Johnston's wildebeest
(C taurinus johnstoni) is likewise brownish ; it
has a curious white line crossing the face, just
below the level of the eyes, recalling the chevron
of the addax antelope. This chevron is very
remarkable, and perhaps indicates that the wilde-
beests and hartebeests are all derived from the
same ancestral stock ; indeed, amongst the
" bastard-hartebeests "one finds Hunter's antelope
{Damaliscus hunteri) still retaining this ornament.

Wildebeest show traces of their ancestry in
structure also, which affords far more important

90 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

evidence than so variable a character as colora-
tion. For example, the horns of young adult
individuals frequently exhibit distinct annula-
tions near the bases, these rings being more
distinct behind than in front, and tending to
disappear with advancing age. A photo-engraving
has been published, which represents a pair of
these antelopes still living in the Antwerp Zoo-
logical Gardens : it was taken several years ago,
and the rings on the horns of both animals appear
quite distinctly in the picture. I have since several
times examined these individuals (in 1900 and
1902) : the horns of the bull are now only faintly
annulated, those of the cow, however, still retain
five rings on each horn, most distinctly marked
behind. These more or less evanescent ornaments
are analogous to the persistent annulations seen on
the horns of the various hartebeests, and are a
further indication that both hartebeests and wilde-
beests are sprung from the same ancestral stock.
The blue wildebeest is specially interesting to
naturalists, as it is probably identical with the
mysterious creature known to the ancients as
the Katoblepas (KaTiZfBX.€\l/) which was said to inhabit
Ethiopia, near the sources of the Nile. Pliny
says that the katoblepas was savage, but sluggish,
resembling a bull ; its head was ponderous, and
carried low, so that its glance was directed down-
ward ; a flowing mane descended over the face.

ss«!sa»?^

A I'AIK OF IJIAE WILDEHEEST.

T\w luiiilteriiig j^ait of tliese luiiuials causes them to resenil)le Imtlaloes.

Tills photograph may be compared with Pliny's description of the

Katoblepas on p. 90.

THE BLUE WILDEBEEST 9 1

This description of a heavy-headed, semi-bovine
animal applies very well to the blue wildebeest,
and the fact of its face being decorated with a
" flowing mane " (frontal brush of hair) precludes
the possibility of its having been a buffalo : in fact,
there is no animal, save the blue wildebeest,
which would fit Pliny's description. In spite of the
stories of the katoblepas (which is noticed by Elian
as well as Pliny), nothing more was recorded of
the animal for hundreds of years, when its existence
was reported to Europeans from the opposite end
of the African continent, and under a new name.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century,
when Cape Colony was springing up as a flourishing
offshoot of the Empire, and year by year becoming
from its advancing civilisation more and more
differentiated from the wild regions of the far
interior, vao"ue rumours beran to be current of the
existence of a mysterious animal — the Baas or
Bearded Ox — said to exist in the almost unknown
country beyond the limits of the Colony. The
baas was stated to have short horns, to be bearded
on chin and breast, and to be of a gray colour :
in this animal one recognises the katoblepas of
Pliny — the blue wildebeest of modern times. In
1 80 1 Europeans at last came definitely in touch
with the remarkable creature which had excited
the wonder of the ancients, for in that year some
Dutch hunters shot a specimen near Patanie, and

92 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

the description of this individual is so accurate as
to leave no doubt whatever as to the nature of the
species met with.

" Tail of long black hair, three feet three inches,
resembling that of a horse, neck uncommonly-
thick in proportion to the body. It had a mane,
very unlike that of the gnoo, flowing over its
shoulders and continuing to the middle of the
back. The forehead, like that of the buffalo, was
covered with an osseous excrescence, being in
fact the roots of the horns, which were terminated
in fine pointed extremities, like that of the gnoo.
From the centre of the forehead to the nose was
an arched or convex protuberance, covered with
a ridge of long black hair : and on each cheek, a
little below the eye, was a remarkable spot of
circular form, rather more than an inch in diameter,

naked and apparently glandulous close

under these glands grew tufts of black hair . . .
... a long black beard, like that of the gnoo,
covered the throat from the chin to the breast :
the nose and mouth were like those of an ox, but
more broad and flat : the general hue of the body
was that of an ash-coloured grey."^

Subsequent travellers have made us abundantly
familiar with the blue wildebeest. Burchell- — who
though not the discoverer of the species, was the
first to introduce it to European museums —

1 Sir John Barrow : "Journey to the Country of the Boshuanas."

THE BLUE WILDEBEEST 93

brought home several skins, one of which is still
in the National Collection. This species was also
obtained by Sir Andrew Smith's party in 1836,
and a female wildebeest is figured in his Illustra-
tions of South African Zoology, the illustration
being unintentionally comic since the old animal
is attended by a remarkably drowsy-looking calf,
which seems to be walking in its sleep ! Blue
wildebeest are said to run in troops of from
twenty to fifty individuals, large herds of several
hundreds having been occasionally met with.
They frequently associate with other animals with
which they have no blood relationship, such as
giraffe, Burchell zebra and ostrich : they will
also mix with other antelopes, such as pallah or
sassaby, and large herds of animals as promiscu-
ously mingled as the contents of a Noah's ark
may thus be seen enlivening the veldt.

Sir W. Cornwallis Harris pointed out in 1839
the strange preference shown by the blue
wildebeest for the society of Burchell's zebra
(Eqiius Burchellii), this odd companionship being
parallelled by the sociability of the black wilde-
beest and the true quagga. The object of this
strange bovine and equine alliance probably
benefits the zebra by reason of the superior
vigilance of the wildebeest : in this connection it
is interesting to remember that when Grant and
Speke met with Grdvys zebra, in the country

94 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

north of the Victoria Nyanza, they noticed that
a large antelope accompanied the herd and acted
as sentinel. The conspicuous stripes of the zebras
may, on the other hand, be advantageous to the
wildebeest : for should any of the former be sus-
picious of any danger they would naturally become
restless, and the agitated movements of such
brilliantly arrayed companions would at once
catch the eye of the antelopes. We thus see
in the comradeship of Burchell zebra and blue
wildebeest no chance whim of Nature, but a plain
matter of fact system of life insurance in which
all parties invest their wits and vigilance, and in
which all reap the substantial bonus represented
by their mutual safety.

Readers of the adventures of Gordon Gumming,
who hunted in South Africa during 1843 — 49,
will remember that he relates how an old bull
wildebeest was captured by his men under very
curious circumstances. The animal had somehow
managed to get one foreleg caught over his horn,
and being prevented from withdrawing it by the
curvature of the tips, was quite unable to run, so
that he fell an easy prey to Gumming's Hottentots.
The hunter himself suggests that the old wilde-
beest had got his leg thus inextricably hooked in
fighting with his fellows, and this explanation is
doubtless satisfactory enough. There remains,
however, another explanation which has not

THE BLUE WILDEBEEST 95

hitherto been offered. It is possible that the old
wildebeest had been scratching his huge face with
one foreleg passed down between the horns, when
in a standing position. In this attitude the head
can be easily depressed, to allow the hoof to
pass between the horns : I have seen eland and
singsing waterbuck easily perform the feat. In
being withdrawn, the hoof might readily be caught
in the horn, and the animal feeling the check, and
standing awkwardly on three legs, would probably
struggle to release his foot, his efforts only resulting
in locking it still tighter, till at last it became
inextricably jammed. This explanation is sug-
gested because thouoh the incident has been
commented upon by naturalists no one has hitherto
attempted to account for it in this manner.

The blue wildebeest has frequently been brought
alive to Europe, and is to-day well represented
in zoological gardens, where it is known as the
"brindled Sfnu " : the folio wino^ notes are from
observations on captive specimens during the last
seven years : —

The disposition of this antelope may be described
as a curious mixture of eccentricity, inquisitiveness,
and ferocity. Although not equalling the black
wildebeest (white-tailed gnu of European Zoos)
in the absurdity of its behaviour, Comiocliaetes
taurinus is nevertheless one of the clowns of the
animal world. It indulges in wild capers on the

96 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

slightest pretext, or even for no apparent reason
at all, following a visitor for the whole length of
the railings in a clumsy canter, with much flourishing
of tail and hoofs in the air : if in a more sedate
mood, it walks along slowly in a remarkably
bovine fashion, the huge head moving slowly up
and down at each stride. The blue wildebeest is
exceedingly wide-awake, and any unknown object
is regarded with a suspicious and prolonged stare.
Should the wildebeest be tame enough, the stare
is followed by a deliberate walk up to the suspected
object : the animal halts within a few yards of it,
and has another long stare, usually wheeling off
with a flourish of its streaming tail. Wildebeest
will investigate human beings with determined and
not very friendly curiosity, advancing so near that
I recollect being compelled to hastily shut off one
persistent individual living in a Continental Zoo,
where I was taking photographs ; when the door
was pulled to, he had already approached to within
a couple of yards.

Like many other ungulates, these antelopes are
very fond of rubbing themselves against trees,
posts, and similar objects : if they can find a damp
place in their paddock, they will roll in the mud
like buffaloes. Two wildebeest kept together in
the same enclosure will frequently indulge in semi-
sportive contests, dropping on their knees, and
crashing their heavily-armed heads together with

BLUE WILDEBEE«T CUW AND CALF.

THE BLUE WILDEBEEST 97

a will. Females with young are extremely watchful
and suspicious. One of these cows which was
being photographed soon became restless, though
the camera was at a considerable distance away
from her. Switching her tail from side to
side, she stood uneasily watching every move-
ment. At last she uttered a loud, braying snort :
the calf which had been lying in the grass at her
feet immediately got up, and stood peering in the
direction of the supposed danger. Although only
one or two snapshots were taken, she remained
restless for fully an hour afterwards, and continued
to utter her alarm note at frequent intervals.

The first blue wildebeest ever bred in the
London Zoological Gardens was born in 1900.
The calf was a curious little creature, all legs and
no horns, its quaint proportions, fawn-coloured
dress, and skittish gambols bearing little re-
semblance to the heavy-fronted appearance, blue-
grey coat, and lumbering gait of the mother. The
following description of it is based on notes taken
when the calf was five weeks old : —

" General colour of animal blackish brown ;
vertex, forehead, and median region of face warm
dark brown, the future facial tuft beinof indicated
by a darker vertical patch. Horns blunt, widely-
separated, thimble-like projections ; back of ears
deep blackish brown : circumocular fur black.

98 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

Neck-mane and tail-tuft black : throat-mane
brown, mixed with black."

The coat of the young wildebeest very rapidly
darkens from pale fulvous to blue-grey, and even at
twelve months old is very different from what it
was at birth. It may here be remarked that
although the adult blue wildebeest is very different
in appearance from the adult black wildebeest or
white-tailed gnu [Connockaetes gnu), the calves of
the two species are very much alike, indicating
that both forms are sprung from a common ancestor.

NORTHERN GIRAFFE.

THE NORTHERN GIRAFFE.

" Nabun yEthiopes vocant," says Pliny of the
northern giraffe, " collo similem equo, pedibus et
cruribus bovi, camelo capite, albis maculis rutilum
colorem distenguentibus, unde appellata camelo-
pardalis."

The above quotation indicates a Roman natur-
alist's method of describing a new species ; the
individual thus noticed by Pliny being the property
of Julius Caesar, and the first example which
had ever been brought alive to Europe.
Although modern zoologists will hardly agree with
Pliny's statement that the giraffe's neck is like that
of a horse, nevertheless its feet and legs do some-
what resemble those of a bull, and its head that
of a camel, whilst its ruddy coat, diversified with
white, amply justifies the old name of camelopard.
Having thus noticed this early attempt at a
scientific description, the external characters
common to all giraffes may here be conveniently
enumerated.

The tallest of all quadrupeds, owing to the great
length of the neck and legs, these animals are
remarkable also for the great elevation of the
withers, which since the back slopes gradually
downwards to the rump, causes the forelegs to
appear much longer than the hind ones. For this
reason also the body, although very narrow across

lOO NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

the chest, is very deep from above downwards :
from before backwards, however, it is remarkably-
short. The upper Hp is thick, undivided, and
defended by a number of stout bristles : the
nostrils are S-shaped, and not linear, as always
misrepresented in books. The eyes are large and
lustrous : the upper eyelid is remarkably stout
and thick, and is ornamented with long lashes.
The centre of the forehead bears a more or less
prominent elevation, forming a horn in some
species and a rounded prominence in others. A
pair of short horns, covered with hair, and ahvays
uneqttal in size, surmounts the vertex of the head.
The ears are large and mobile. The tongue is
very extensile, about seventeen inches long,^ and
covered with black pigment, derived from the rete
mucostim : this organ can be coiled round various
objects like the trunk of a tapir.

The neck of all giraffes bears a short mane,
extending from the occiput to the withers ; the
shoulder-blades project forward on each side of the
chest in a very prominent manner ; the knees are
protected by thick pads or callosities. The end
of the tail is laterally compressed and bears a long
tassel of hair, which grows from its zmder surface,
and does not encircle it as wrongly represented in
books. Giraffes, both wild and in confinement,
have a curious habit of pulling the hair out of their

1 The tongue of a dead giratte, according to Sir Everard Home,
can be stretched to this extent.

THE NORTHERN GIRAFFE lOI

tails as shown in the figure of the southern
species published in this work. Until within the
last few years it was generally supposed that only
one species of giraffe was distributed throughout
Africa : but it has become evident that at any rate
the Somali species {Gii^affa reticulata) is a distinct
form. G. retiatlata may be described as a
chestnut-coloured animal covered with a network
of white lines, its ornamentation thus differing -
widely from that of ordinary giraffes.

It is now also considered possible that the
ordinary giraffes may be separable into a northern
form not occurring south of the Tana River, and
a southern form originally extending from that
boundary as far as the Orange River in Cape
Colony : the western giraffe {G. peraltd) may
perhaps also be distinct. Assuming that the
northern and southern forms are separable, the
chief differences between them may be formulated
as follows :

Northern giraffe Southern giraffe

( Giraffa camelopardalis L. ) (Giraffa capcnds Less.)

(a) Differences in structure.

1. Muzzle Inoad. Muzzle narrow and tapering.

2. Third horn 3-5in. long, in centre ^^ ^hird horn, but a rounded

of forehead eminence in centre of fore-

head.

3. Skull of northern giraffe Skull of southern giraffe much

largely covered with osseous smoother,

excrescences.

4. The dried skull of G. carnelo- The dried skull of G. cajjensis has

partialis has the posterior tlie posterior edge of the

edge of the bony palate bony palate pointed.

rounded.

I02

NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

In adult males, even during life, the nodules in
the supra-occipital region become very prominent •}
in a variety discovered in Uganda by Sir H. H.
Johnston, they are so much developed as to
constitute the animal a five-horned Qfiraffe.

(bj Differences in coloration.

Upper part of face greyish-Avhite.
Median area blackish bro^vn.

Mane dark chestmit.

({round colour varies fronnvhite to
fawn, spotted with darker
fawn spots, often becoming
almost black along the back,
as seen in my photograph of
this species.

Body markings consist of ir-
regularly-shaped spots with
deeply indented outlines, and
are relatively mrmerons.

5. Upper part of face light fawn -

color : median area (base of
horns to muzzle) dark fawn.

6. Mane reddish brown.

7. Ground colour white or fawn>

marked with reddish choco-
late spots. Young bulls
having the ground colour
white are very beautiful
animals.

8. The body markings consist of

sharply defined spots of
polygonal shape : they are
relatively few, and in old
bulls there is a saddle-shaped
area on the back in which
the spots are separated by
whitish lines, recalling the
network-pattern seen on the
Somali giratie. In cows of
6^. cainelopardalis these
whitish lines may be replaced
by pale fawn.

9. Abdomen and legs below knees

and hocks almost free from
spots : but faint markings
in these situations may per-
sist to extreme old age
(twenty-seven years).

Although the foregoing differences have only
been fully recognised of late years, it should be

1 I was much struck with this in 1902 when studying the old Inill
giratte then living in the Jardin d'Acclimatation at Paris. This
patriarch had a pair of incipient horns situated at the V)ack of the
head immediately above the insertion of the nuchal muscles. Other
naturalists appear to have discovered these nodules independently
and have aptly designated the anterior, middle, and posterior projec-
tions as fore, main, and mizzen horns.

Abdomen and legs below knees
and hocks profusely spotted.

SOUTHERN OIRAFFE.

Note the slender formation of tlie muzzle, the irregular-shaped
spots and the mottled legs. A chain of blackish spots is seen along
the spine. In walking slowly the tail hangs limp : it Avill be
noticed that the terminal tassel has been pulled out by the giratte.

THE NORTHERN GH^IAFFE IO3

remembered that M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire as
long ago as 1827 pointed out that the northern
oriraffe was distinct from the southern form.

Recorded measurements seem to show that
G. came lop ai'da lis is on the whole a taller animal
than G. capensis, though the height of both
species averages about eighteen to nineteen feet
in bulls, and sixteen to seventeen feet in cows.
The five-horned giraffe of Uganda may be taken
as the best developed type of the northern animal :
one of the examples shot in 1900 (now in the
National Collection) measured twenty feet in
height. Paterson's type specimen of the Southern
giraffe (shot in 1777-79) was according to Pennant
only fifteen feet high, hence probably immature.
The Somali and Western girafTes are as yet too
imperfectly known for us to estimate their average
stature.

The Northern Giraffe has been so long known
to Europeans and its history is so interwoven
with the legends of antiquity, that a study of
its history and habits constitutes a most facinating
chapter of Zoology. Our knowledge of the animal
may be tabulated as follows : —

{a). Classical period : The oldest known picture
of the animal is to be found on the tom.b of Beni
Hassan in Egypt. The ancients were more or
less familiar with it, and it appears in many of

I04 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

their quaint drawings, perhaps the most remark-
able of these sketches being that which represents
the animal as semi-domesticated and carrying a
load on its back. Whether the tTrTrapgtoi/ of Aristotle
is identical with Giraffa came loparda lis is doubtful :
but the Greek writer Agatharchides (b.c. 130) has
certainly left a recognisable description of the
animal, and both yElian and Strabo mention the
giraffe. We have already noticed Pliny's descrip-
tion of the first living example ever brought to
Europe, obtained from Alexandria by Julius Csesar,
who exhibited it at Rome : subsequent efforts to
capture the camelopard were very successful, and
it is recorded that Gordian III. had ten alive at
once, a record which has never been approached
by any modern Zoo.^ Other emperors, as Corn-
modus and Aurelian, also exhibited this animal :
but after the fall of the Roman Empire the northern
giraffe remained long unknown in Europe, and
people began to believe that so extraordinary an
animal was only a mythical creature like the griffon
and the wyvern, the phoenix of Egypt and the
roc of Madagascar.

(b) Mediceval period. During the middle ages
a few giraffes were sent across the Mediterranean :
Frederick II. of Sicily (i 198-1227) had living
specimens in his menagerie : and at the end of

1 I understand, however, that Carl Hagenbeck, the well-known
wild beast merchant, had as many as thirty-five giraftes for sale
during the summer of 1876 — probably not all at the same time.

THE NORTHERN GIRAFF? IO5

the fifteenth century the " Soldan of Egypt " sent
one to Lorenzo di Medici.

(c) Modern period. Another blank intervened,
and men again began to question the existence of
the giraffe : but all doubts were permanently
dispelled by Lieutenant Paterson, who had been
commissioned by Lady Strathmore to botanise in
the then unknown region of Caffraria. He sent
home an immature male specimen of the southern
giraffe which he had shot : this example was pre-
sented by Lady Strathmore to John Hunter the
celebrated surgeon, and the skull with some of the
bones is still in the Royal College of Surgeons'
Museum. After exhibition in the College of
Suroreons' collection. Lieutenant Paterson's griraffe
was eventually acquired by the British Museum,
and was still extant, though in bad condition, as
late as 1843 — a historic relic which had in its
day marked the dawn of a new era of scientific
activity.^

In 1827 the existence of the giraffe in North
Africa was practically demonstrated by the Pasha
of Egypt (Mohammed AH) who sent one to
Windsor for George IV. and another to Paris,
where the animal created quite a sensation, dense
crowds of over 10,000 persons flocking to see

1 The southern giraffe had previously been seen (1761-2) by Brink
and Hop, who were travelling in Naniaqualand by orders of Ciovernor
Tulbajrh.

I06 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

her.^ The Pasha sent a third oriraffe to the Suhan,
and a fourth to Venice, at the same time. George
IV 's specimen was the weakest of the four and
soon becoming unable to stand, died after a few
months in England.

Finally, in 1836, four young camelopards, none
of them more than two years old, were safely
received at the London Zoological Gardens.^ The
animals — three males and a female — flourished,
and became the founders of a long line of English-
bred giraffes, the first calf being born on June 9th,
1839 ; it was followed by five others, the old cow
eventually dying at the age of eighteen years.
The ofiraffes continued to breed : and between the
arrival of the original animals in 1836 and the
death of the last of the old stock in 1892, no less
than thirty camelopards were exhibited in the
Regent's Park menagerie, seventeen of which
had been born there, I well remember the last
two animals of this long series, which connected
the business-like era of to-day (in which almost
every part of Africa is being diligently exploited
by companies) with the long-vanished past, when
huee areas of the Dark Continent now colonised
were unknown regions, teeming with great game.
Eheu fugaces !

1 The famous Paris giraffe may now be seen stuffed in the Natural
History Museum of the Jardin des Plantes.

2 A series of the milk teeth of these individuals is preserved in
the Royal College of Surgeons' Museum.

NORTHERN GIRAFFE (bred at Antwerp).

Twenty-three years old. The tassel in the tail has been allowed
to grow by the animal and reaches below the hocks.

THE NORTHERN GH^AFFE lOj

Owing to the closure of the Soudan by the
Mahdists, and the unsettled political conditions
arisino- therefrom, the death of the last of the
old stock caused a long- hiatus (1892- 1902) to
intervene before the northern o-iraffe was ag"ain
exhibited in the London Zoo. A pair of young
animals presented by Col. Mahon, and obtained
singularly enough from the same province —
Kordofan — as the giraffes of 1836, arrived in
London in the summer of 1902 and are still (1904)
flourishing in the Regent's Park menagerie.

The northern giraffe has frequently been ex-
hibited in the various zooloo;ical oardens of the
Continent : a fine pair of adult animals were living
at Berlin in 1899, and the Jardin d'Acclimation at
Paris long possessed a herd of Abyssinian giraffes
which bred repeatedly in the garden, the last
survivor — an old bull— dying in June, 1902. The
Antwerp series included eight Belgian-born giraffes,
born during 1871-78: the last of these still
survives, and bears her twenty-three summers
with the elasticity of youth.

It will thus be seen from the foregoing account
that the northern giraffe under common-sense
treatment does well enough in captivity, living to
a considerable age, and even breeding with
regularity, so that it seems probable that were it
not for the enormous cost of the animals (^700 or
;^8oo apiece) they might be systematically bred in

I08 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

Europe with no more trouble than is expended on
valuable cattle.^ During the long period that has
elapsed since the Pasha of Egypt sent the first
living example to George IV., a considerable
amount of information has been collected regarding
the northern giraffe, from observations on captive
specimens : and now that the Soudan has been
re-opened, it seems probable that much more
material will be available.

The following observations are based upon a
study of somewhat extensive material, consisting of
twelve living giraffes, augmented by examination
of various photographs from life of these and
other individuals, and by a study of six museum
specimens, the total number of animals thus
considered (including those represented by the
photographs) amounting to no less than twenty-
six individuals.

The two-year-old bull has the third horn about
one inch long. In passing from youth to maturity,
the blotches on the hide grow darker, the pig-
mentation spreading from the centre to the
circumference, while the interspaces become lighter;
old cows are comparatively paler than old bulls.
In advanced age the darkening of the hide becomes
noticeable over a saddle-shaped area on the back ;

1 Accordiiifi; to tlie late Sir Richard Owen, the lioriis of the young
giraffe are apparent before birtli. It is born with tlie eyes open. The
young animal can stand two hours after birth, and can walk after ten
hours : when a day old, it begins to gambol, and can run well twelve
hours later. After tliree weeks it begins to take vegetable food.

THE NORTHERN GIRAFFE IO9

indeed, bulls over sixteen years present a remark-
able appearance, the interspaces forming- a creamy
network recalling that found all over the Somali
giraffe : adult cows, however, even of greater age,
may show only faint traces of this network. A
remarkable pair of bony protuberances develop
in the supraoccipital region of adult bulls, and are
easily recognisable during life, projecting under the
skin : in the Uganda giraffes these protuberances
develop into horns as already stated. Both sexes
of the northern o-iraffe have a variable amount
of curly hair situated between the base of
the paired horns and the muzzle. Some individuals
(as in an eighteen-month old cow at Antwerp)
have the ends of the paired horns ornamented
with long, backwardly-directed tufts of drooping
hair. In extreme old age — twenty-seven years —
the legs become bowed. Wild-caught giraffes are
often darker than European-bred animals.^

The anatomy of the northern giraffe has been
repeatedly investigated, and will only be lightly
touched on here. This animal is remarkable in
occasionally possessing a gall-bladder : as a rule
this organ is absent, but Sir Richard Owen found
one with a bifid fundus in a northern giraffe which

1 The most beautiful giraffe which I have ever seen is the young
eighteen -month okl bull, recently added to the collection of the jardin
d'Acclimatation, Paris. The ground colour of this animal is pure
creamy white : compared with this fourfooted Adonis the young bull
now in London (ground colour suffused with fawn) is a veiy inferior
specimen.

no NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

he dissected in 1838, and Col. Gordon in the
supplement to the seventh volume of Buffon's
Natural History records a similar case- — probably
in the southern species. According to Dr. Crisp,
the liver and spleen of G. camelopardalis is
frequently infested with parasitic acephalocysts,
the size of a hen's t.'g'g : various cysticerci and
cercariae attack these huge animals, and giraffes
may also be the hosts of liver flukes (Fasciola
gigantea) allied to the flukes which infest sheep.

But little appears to have been recorded of the
habits of G, camelopardalis as distinct from G.
capensis : for though every work on African
huntino;- contains reference to grirafifes, these almost
invariably deal with the southern and not the
northern species. Until within the last few years,
indeed, few Europeans, save Dr. Riippell and
Sir Samuel Baker, appear to have had any field
experience of G. camelopa^ dalis : such observa-
tions as have been recorded demonstrate, however,
that in habits it resembles G. capensis, wandering
about in troops in open bush country, browsing on
the tall tops of the mimosas, and going for
long periods without drinking. Ever alert and
watchful, the northern giraffe when feeding is
further protected from danger by its singular
coloration, for the blotched hides of a troop
standing in a mimosa grove will effectually screen
them from observation, by harmonising with the

SOUTHERN (ilRAFFE (BroMsiiio).
Note the curious resemblance to a lichen covered tree trunk.

THE NORTHERN GIRAFFE I I I

lights and shade of the surrounding thicket. When
out in the open the speed of these colossi readily
enables them to distance most of their enemies.
As may be gathered from observation of menagerie
specimens, giraffes when walking do not move
their fore and hind legs of opposite sides like
ordinary mammals, but the fore and hind leg of the
same side, like a camel. They have but two paces,
a walk and a gallop, breaking at once from one
into the other, as I was once fortunate enough to
observe in a Continental Zoo : the lucky snapshot
taken on that occasion is reproduced in this book.
Giraffes are well known to be silent animals. I
once heard the southern giraffe still living in the
London Zoo give a kind of coughing sneeze —
the only recorded occasion, I believe, of these
animals ever having been known to make any
noise at all ! It was, however, probably caused by
some irritant in the nasal passages, and cannot be
called a vocal sowxiA. In captivity both G. cainel-
opa7'dalis and G. capensis have a curious habit of
licking the walls of their enclosure for half an hour
or more at a time : the reason of this is not known.
Young individuals in menageries will indulge in
clumsy gambols, and strike out playfully with their
forefeet : a blow delivered, even in play, by so
powerful an instrument, would probably brain any
unfortunate attendant on whose head it happened
to alight. In spite of the gentle demeanour of

112 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

these animals, bull giraffes are said to fight among
themselves, swinging their long necks like animated
flails, and striking each other violently with their
armed heads. Giraffes are very nervous, and hence
very awkward animals to transport, as they are
liable to break their necks by suddenly twisting
about in their travelling box ; it will be remembered
that some years ago Messrs. Barnum and Bailey
lost a fine specimen- — at that time one of the very
few in captivity — from this cause.

The above account practically completes our
present knowledge of the northern giraffe, con-
sidered as a distinct species. It is to be regretted
that comparatively little is known of its habits in
the wild state, so that one is compelled to turn to
menagerie specimens for information : these at
best amonofst their artificial surroundinQfs can eive
but a poor idea of the real giraffe. An acclimatised
herd of camelopards, roaming half wild over some
English gentleman's park, would doubtless afford
the naturalist much instruction as to their habits ;
and it would indeed be thrilling to see a troop of
these beautiful or-iants stridino" over the ofreensward,
their towering forms darkening as they paced the
woodland glades, and glistening with a coppery
sheen as they swung out again into the hot
sunshine. Unfortunately ''nature study" on so
costly though magnificent a scale is not as yet
included in the programme of learned societies :

THE NORTHERN GIRAFFE I I 3

as for private enterprise, few naturalists are
millionaires, and the progress of zoology, like that
of many of her sister sciences, is too often hindered
by the res angusiae domi. It seems possible, how-
ever, that the zoological gardens of to-day will be
eventually replaced by zoological /^ry^i-, in which
many of the animals will not be confined in cages,
but allowed to wander over extensive runs in a
state of semi-freedom. Under such circumstances,
there would naturally arise a demand for animals
whose larofe size and strange exterior would lend
interest and impressiveness to the landscape : and
in such an exhibition the northern giraffe, with its
towering stature, its immense bulk, and its strange
almost antediluvian outlines would find its due
place.

THE PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS.

In spite of the progress which has been made
in the study of natural history during the past
thirty years there still remain a considerable
number of interesting animals which continue to
be rare and obscure, although they have long been
known to science. Thus the colocollo— a hand-
some tiger-cat — was for many years only known
from a single skin ; the Derbian eland, though
discovered in 1846, is even to-day numbered
amongst the rarest of antelopes ; our knowledge
of the West Indian seal is not only fragmentary, but
out of date : and only two examples of Brannick's
paca — practically a huge guinea-pig — have been
seen since the type specimen was taken in Peru
nearly thirty years ago.^

The name hippopotamus, like that of whale or
elephant, is usually applied to mammalia of great
size, such as the living Hippopotamus amphibiiis
of Africa, or the long-extinct H. major, of Britain.
Even the casual visitor to a zoological garden
retains a vivid impression of the common African
species as a monster silently swimming round its
tank, submerging itself without a ripple to rise
again with the same remarkable noiselessness ; or

1 Tlie two additional specimens of Brannick's paca were not taken
till 1904.

PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMrS (in the Natural History :Museuin).

Note the relatively small face, the depressed orbits, and the
convexity of the head from before backwards.

THE PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS I I 5

perhaps he remembers it as a huge, inert mass,
reposing, uncouth and hideous, on its bed of straw.
Nevertheless, as the remains of pigmy elephants
have been found in the caverns of Malta,^ so also
the great hippopotamus of to-day has a dwarf
congener barely the size of a heifer, inhabiting a
restricted area of Western Africa, and perhaps
also ranging into the Congo Forest.

The pigmy hippopotamus {Hippopota7mts libei'i-
ensis) stands about thirty inches high at the
shoulder, and measures about sixty-five inches in
lencrth, exclusive of the short tail. The averaofe
weio-ht of the animal is said to be about four
hundred pounds, and the maximum estimated
weight (probably seldom attained) is seven hundred
pounds : the males are larger than the females.
Living specimens are slaty-black on the back,
greenish grey on the sides, and greyish white
beneath, but the hues of the skin probably vary
according to the moisture or dryness of the hide :
at any rate a very little observation of the common
hippopotamus in menageries will show that the
larger species, when recently emerged,, is brownish-
blue above and reddish below, but that when dry
it is blackish-brown. The same rule may apply
more or less closely to its dwarf congener.

Although to the superficial observer the pigmy

1 Curiously enough the bones of giant dormice have also been found
in these caves.

Il6 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

hippopotamus is but an absurdly faithful replica
of its oriant relative, careful examination will
demonstrate that the following differences exist
between the two : —

1. The face of the pigmy hippopotamus (as
compared with the cranium) is relatively smaller
than that of H. amphibius, so that the eye of the
lesser animal is much nearer the centre of the skull.

2. The lower jaw of the pigmy hippopotamus
carries only two' incisors, instead of four, as in the
larger species.

3. The forehead of the Liberian animal is con-
vex from before backwards, and also from side to
side, but that of the common hippopotamus is
concave in both directions.

4. The orbits of the lesser species are never
elevated : but those of the larger one are always
prominently developed.

5. An examination of the dried skulls of both
animals will demonstrate that the brain cavity,
ear-capsules, and orbits of H. liberiensis are
relatively larger than those of H. a^nphibius.

These characters are of course best seen by
contrasting adult specimens of both animals, but
a comparison of a full-grown pigmy hippopotamus
with even a calf of the common species, will
amply demonstrate the essential differences be-
tween the two. An adult H. liberiensis is about
the size of a thirteen month old calf of H. a7npkibius

CAl.F OF COMMON HIPPOPOTAMUS (13 months old).

Note the relatively larj^e face, the elevated orbits, and tiie concavity

of tlie liead from before backwards.

Tlie iiigniji liippopotanius even wlien adnlt never exceeds the size

of the calf here shown.

THE PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS II 7

and as it is extremely interesting to compare the
two forms when of the same relative size, a
photograph of a young calf aniphibius of this
age has been selected for comparison with its
dwarf congener : most of the points of distinction
can be readily made out by studying the illustra-
tions contained in this book.^

Mr. C. E. Bidwell, writing in 1839 to the
Zoological Society, stated that although "the"
hippopotamus was not found in the Sierra Leone
River, it was very abundant in the Scarcies, fifty
miles off, one of the very rivers now known to be
a haunt of H. liberiensis : and it seems possible
that this casual communication was really a
foreshadowing of the discovery of the Liberian
hippopotamus.^ The animal, however, was first
definitely made known to science by Dr. Morton
of Philadelphia, in 1 844. The doctor stated that
four years previously he had been informed by a
returned African traveller that there existed in
Liberia a new species of hippopotamus no bigger
than a heifer : and added that this statement had
been confirmed in 1843 by the arrival in America
of a collection of skulls belong^ing' to West African

1 It is interesting to note further that the bones of the pigmy
hippopotamus show considerable affinity with those of If. minutus
(Cuvier's " petit hippotame fossile''), wliich have been discovered in a
cave in Cyprus.

2 It seems possible, however, that the Liberian hippopotamus,
although not then recognised as (list i net. , was known to Europeans
long before 1839. In the Jardin des Plantes Museum there is an old
specimen labelled " Hippotame, Buff. Supp. III. 62, H. ampliibius L.
du Senegal ! "

Il8 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

mammalia — the series including two crania of the
new animal. Dr. Gpheen, of Monrovia, who had
obtained these during his residence in West Africa,
had from the first suspected that they indicated
a new species, a deduction abundantly confirmed
bysubsequentexaminationof theskulls. Dr. Morton
finally sent the two specimens, under the care of
Sir Chas. Lyell, to London, where they were
carefully examined by Sir Richard Owen and
Dr. Falconer, theauthor of the "Fauna Sivalensis."
Falconer regarded the finding of the pigmy hip-
popotamus as "one of the most interesting and
remarkable discoveries in recent zoology." Casts
were carefully made of the best of the two skulls,
which were both duly returned to their owner.
Dr. Morton published an account of his specimens,
accompanied by two wood engravings, in the
Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Phila-
delphia for 1844. This paper reappeared in 1840,
alter careful revision, illustrated by several excellent
plates, under the title of "Additional observations
on a new living species of hippopotamus of
Western Africa." Dr. Morton presented a copy
of his revised treatise to Sir Richard Owen : this
copy, inscribed with the author's handwriting, is
now in my possession, and constitutes a very
interesting memento of an important zoological
discovery.

In spite of the advance of science during recent

THE PKiMY HIPPOPOTAMUS:

Cast of the original skull described by Dr. Morton.

THE PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS II9

years, but little has been added to our knowledge
of the pigmy hippopotamus since Morton's day.
Itwould be reasonable to infer from its non-elevated
orbits that the Liberian animal is not so aquatic as
the common species, which from the situation of
the eye on the summit of the face is well adapted
for river life/ This inference is borne out by
ascertained facts, the pigmy hippopotamus having
been found to frequent marshes and damp situa-
tions in woods rather than rivers, and to often
occur as far distant as two or three miles from any
considerable stream. Resembling the common
hippopotamus in its sluggish movements and its
tenacity of life, the pigmy species differs from it
in consorting in pairs only, and not in herds.
Largely nocturnal in its habits, the dwarf hippo-
potamus feeds on fruits and grasses, wandering
over large areas of forest, and hiding away during
the daytime — being in fact a hippopotamus which
has adopted the terrestrial habits of a wild pig.
Like a pig also, it is said to be good eating and
the negroes pursue it on that account. From its
roving habits the dwarf hippopotamus, though
nowhere common, is said to be known everywhere
in its own distributional area : several localities
whence specimens have been obtained are recorded,
such as the Du Queah River and Fisherman Lake.

1 The common hippopotamus having both nostrils, eyes, and ears
all on the same elevated level, can smell, see, and hear without
exposing itself much in the water.

I20 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

The best known region, however, is the country-
adjacent to the banks of the St. Paul's River, a
stream which rises in the mountains of Guinea,
and flowing through Liberia empties itself into
the Atlantic north of Cape Messurado. In 1843
H. liberiensis occurred in a tract of land extending
from the banks of this river to a distance of three
miles from the water, and was quite abundant one
hundred and fifty miles from the coast : it probably
still occurs in that reo"ion.

Dr. Morton in his paper expressed the hope
that considering the small size of the pigmy hip-
popotamus it might be found an easy task to
capture living examples for zoological gardens :
but unfortunately, like many other West African
mammals, this fourfooted dwarf yet remains a
desideratum in the menageries of Europe and
America, the only example ever sent over alive
being the calf which was received at the Dublin
Zoological Gardens, in 1873.-^ This example was
obtained on the Little Scarcies River, and was
presented to Mr. Pope Hennessey by the negroes
who captured it. He sent the animal home : on
its arrival in Liverpool, several photographs were
taken of it, and these are extremely valuable,
being the only sun-pictures of a living pigmy
hippopotamus that have yet been taken. The

1 It has been stated in a recent work on natural history that no
living example of the pigmy hippopotamus has ever been brought to
Europe ; such, however, is not the case.

THE PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS 121

little creature was then shipped for Dublin ; but
unfortunately reached its destination in a dying
state, and only breathed for about five minutes
after reaching the Gardens. The body was care-
fully dissected : an account of its anatomy will be
found in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy for 1873-4.

In consideration of the great rarity of Hippo-
potamus liberiensis, I have compiled a census of
museum specimens which may interest students.
The examples thus recorded are as follows : —

1. Skull of young adult animal, with complete
dentition : nasal region and orbit injured by slugs.
Casts of this skull are now in the Royal College
of Surgeons' Museum and in the Natural History
Museum at South Kensington.

2. Skull of aged animal, with obliterated sutures,
worn teeth, and lower jaw missing. This and the
preceding are the specimens originally described
by Dr. Morton, in 1849, and are now in the
Museum of the Royal Academy of Sciences, at
Philadelphia.

3. Mounted skeleton, from example obtained on
the St. Paul's River, Liberia, described in 1852 by
Dr. Leidy, in the Proceedings of the Academy of
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and still pre-
served in the Museum of that Society.

4. Skin sent over in pickle, and described in
1868 by M. Alphonse Milne Edwards. He figures

122 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

this example as suffused with a reddish hue. This
tint was perhaps due to the moisture of the skin,
still sodden with the preservative fluid, rather than
to any chemical action of the fluid itself, as has
been suo-o-ested. The cranium and skeleton of
the same animal were also described by Milne
Edwards, Perhaps it is the skin of this individual
which is now mounted in the Jardin des Plantes
Museum, and labelled as a female from West
Africa, presented by Prince Napoleon, As already
mentioned, there is also

5, A second small hippopotamus in the Paris
collection. Though labelled as H. amphibius, it
seemed to be quite as likely to be the pigmy species,
especially as it is said to have come from Senegal :
it is very old and badly stuffed, and the tail is
missing. This dubious specimen was presented
many years ago by M, Gerardin,

6, The sternum of H. libertensis (absent from
Milne Edwards' specimen) was described and
figured by Peters, in 1873, in his paper " Ueber
den Brustbein des Hippopotamus Hberiensis"

7, The calf sentalive to Dublin, in 1873, is now
mounted as a stuffed specimen in Trinity College
Museum, Dublin: theskeletonof the same animal,
together with its brain and several of the abdominal
viscera, has also been carefully preserved, ^'^and an
outline sketch of the brain appeared in the Proc.
Royal Irish Acad. (Session 1873-4). Several

THE PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS 1 23

specimens collected by Dr. BUttikofer, on the Du
Oueah River and Fisherman Lake, in Liberia, are
now in the Leyden Museum, and Dr. Jentink
kindly informs me that these consist of three males,
being (8) an adult, (9) a young one, (10) a very
young calf. There are also several osteological
specimens of H. liberiensis in the Museum, namely,
(11, 12) two skeletons, and (13) a skull of this
species.

14, The Natural History Museum (South Ken-
sington) possesses a fine mounted adult example
of this animal, obtained by Dr. Biittikofer, on the
Du Oueah River ; as now preserved, the general
colour of this specimen is greenish black. It was
acquired by the Museum in 1887, and has been
very well stuffed, the modelling being excellent.
The skeleton of the same animal is also in the
National Collection, and is very interesting, as the
lower jaw contains a minute right outer incisor —
whether this is due to reversion or to redundancy
is a moot point. It is curious to remember that
on the other hand the skull of the animal presented
by Prince Napoleon to the Jardin des Plantes has
no lower incisors at all !

15. Early in 1893 the Academy of National
Sciences at Philadelphia received a skin and
disarticulated skeleton of the pigmy hippopotamus,
Mr. Whitner Stone kindly informs me that the skin
was removed from the pickle in which it had been

124 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

brought over, and mounted by the museum
taxidermist, the example thus stuffed figuring
amongst the attractions of the Liberian department
in the Chicago Exhibition. This specimen is now
in the Museum of the Academy of Natural
Sciences : judging from a photo-engraving of it
now in my possession, the taxidermist has made the
lep^s much too stilted, although the characteristic
inter-orbital and antero-posterior convexities of
the head have been correctly reproduced.

This census practically completes our present
knowledge of the pigmy hippopotamus. Con-
sidering its moderate size, and the length of time
it has been known, one might have expected this
little ungulate to have become at least moderately
common in the great zoological gardens of Europe,
where rarities presumably as difficult to obtain,
are frequently exhibited : one may mention as
instances the Tasmanian thylacine, the fossa of
Madagascar, the snow leopard, the sable antelope,
the black rhinoceros, the echidna, the kiang.
Moreover, there is good reason for desiring the
exhibition of H. liberiensis at an early date. We
have seen that the little beast, alas for him ! is
succulent, and is hunted because he is good to eat.
Considering- the limited range of the animal, this
points to eventual extermination. The naturalist
remembers with regret how the northern sea-cow,
the great auk, and the dodo were relentlessly

THE PIGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS 1 25

slaughtered by old-time mariners : these sailors
being white men, presumably enlightened by some
degree of civilisation. One cannot expect the
natives of so savage a country as Liberia to be
more merciful than whites towards the beasts of
the chase : or to show any sentimental scruples
about destroying the toothsome pigmy hippo-
potamus, whose dull wits, defenceless jaws, and
limited range so heavily handicap him in the
struggle for existence. The protection of Hippo-
potamus libeTiensis is a matter of urgency. Carpe
diem !

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS.

" Solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant." So
wrote Tacitus centuries ago : but while the methods
practised by the ancients were crude enough,
unhappily in later times also men have made a
wilderness, and called it peace. To the naturalist
the story of the development of South Africa
by Europeans, as narrated in countless volumes
of history and travel, of colonisation and sport,
reveals so dire a transformation from a paradise
to a (zoologically) dead world, that it may be
interesting to consider briefly the history of this
change.

The early colonists found South Africa teeming
with a magnificent profusion of great game animals,
abundant even in the colony itself, whilst the far
interior was tenanted by a countless mammalian
population of marvellous diversity and interest.
The lion abounded everywhere, preying on giraffe
and buffalo, quagga and zebra ; the leopard,
stealthy, yet daring, carried off the settlers' dogs ;
the cheetah frequented the cracked mud-flats of
the great Karroo, which it shared with bright-
coloured troops of blesbok and squadrons of
quagga and black wildebeest ; in the rivers floated
the slate-coloured forms of countless hippopotami,
which made the air resound with their bellowings,
whilst similar unwieldly monsters crashed heavily

lUl lirnnixsioii ofth. Hn„. Wnlt.,- i:,,ths,h ,1,1, M.i:

WHITE RHINOCEROS IN THE TRINO MUSEUM.

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS I 27

through the tangled vegetation on the banks,
making wide lines in their repeated passage. The
noble family of antelopes exhibited in bewildering
profusion its splendid series of animal types —
eland and kudu, gemsbok and hartebeest, spring-
bok and duiker : the mountain ranges were
ornamented by the savage beauty of the Cape
zebra, and by the chamois-like grace of the little
klipspringer. In the forest land browsed troops
of stately giraffes, whose variegated hides were
scarcely distinguishable from the mottled trunks
amongst which they wandered ; whilst the imposing
presence of great herds of elephants, their huge
ivory tusks gleaming in the hot sunshine, and their
great ears flapping to and fro, completed a picture
of wild life which in recent times has had no rival,
either on the North American prairies, once teeming
with countless bison, or on the South American
pampas, the home of jaguar and puma, of tapir
and peccary, of huanaco and rhea. Not only so,
but even if one could bring to life that marvellous
assemblage of antediluvian animals which the
genius of Cuvier and Buckland, of Marsh and
Cope has reconstructed from the fossilized relics of
bygone ages, till one saw again the long-extinct
pterodactyl sailing through the groves of ptero-
phyllum on its parachute-like membranes, or beheld
the terrible sabre-toothed tiger (machairodus) steal-
ing like a shadow after the three-toed horses on the

128 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

uplands of Pliocene France — could one exchange
the mammalia of to-day for their prehistoric
ancestors, substituting the mastodon for the ele-
phant, the tinoceras for the hippopotamus, the
brontops for the rhinoceros, the helladotherium
for the giraffe, the hipparion for the zebra, and the
sabre-toothed tiger for the African lion — even then
the animals thus conjured up by so preposterous
a transformation, would hardly exceed in interest
and variety the magnificent fauna of South Africa
as it appeared to the astonished gaze of the early
settlers.

During the decline and fall of this splendid
fauna (caused by the introduction of firearms), the
same ruin fell alike on all the largfer P"ame animals.
Rarity became a mere prelude to extinction, either
local or general : and since the same miserable
history applies in varying degree to each of the
larger species, we may, on the principle of ex pede
Hercleni, select for special study one animal [to
stand for all the others. For this purpose we
proceed to consider an eminently typical form —
the great white rhinoceros.

The white, square-mouthed, or Burchell's rhin-
oceros (Rhinoceros simus) — wit rhenoster of the
Boers — chuckuroo and mohohu of the Bechuanas
and Matabele — is, after the elephant, the largest
of all terrestrial mammals, standing six feet high
at the shoulder, and attaining a length of sixteen

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 129

feet, measured from the base of the anterior horn
to the tip of the two foot tail : the maximum
weiofht of this rhinoceros has been estimated at
five thousand pounds (Andersson). The white
rhinoceros is a larger animal than the black species,
from which it may at once be differentiated by the
square, rubber-like and non-prehensile upper lip.
Other distingfuishing^ characters oi Rhinoceros simus
are the slit-like nostrils, the characteristic position
of the eye behind the line of the second horn, the
semi-tubular ears, and the great length of the
shapeless head — these points amply justifying the
refusal of the late Joseph Wolf to depict the white
rhinoceros as resembling its black congener in all
respects, save for the square upper lip. He said
that surely other important differences existed, and
indeed, when closely compared, the two animals
are really very unlike each other, as may be seen
from the followinor table : —

White Rhinoceros. Black Rhinoceros.

(Rhinoceros simus). (Rhinoceros bico7'nisJ.i

1. Upper lip square, non-prehen- Upper lip pointed, prehensile, and

sile, and adapted for grazing. adapted for browsing.

2. Nostrils slit-like, elongated. Nostrils small and rounded.

and narrow.

3. Eye situated entirely behind Eye situated behind axis of second

line of second horn. horn.

4. Ears semi-tubular and scantily Ears open : fringed on upper edge.

tufted.

5. Head much elongated. Head less elongated.

6. Feet broad, leaving a wide Feet smaller : spoor about 27in.

spoor or footmark about 36in. circumference. (Kirby).

circumference. (Kirby).

7. Size of animal very large, 6ft. Size smaller up to 5ft. Sin. at

at shoulder. shoulder. (Baker).

1 Some naturalists have recently adopted Diceros bicornis as the
scientific name of the black rhinoceros.

130 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

The white rhinoceros, like its congener, carries
two horns, but an examination of a good series of
museum specimens will speedily demonstrate that
the front one is always flattened anteriorly in the
white species, and rounded anteriorly in the black.
Moreover, R. simus has always the anterior horn
extremely bristly at the base, and exhibiting a
whitish colour on section. The anterior horn
of the white rhinoceros shows oreat individual
differences of curvature : two well marked types
may be recognised. The first type (mohohu) is the
commoner : the horn is curved backwards. The
second type (kabaoba) is directed forwards, so
that the anterior surface is often much worn by
repeated contact with the ground when its owner
grazes : this is well seen in the type kabaoba horn
which Col. Steele presented to the British Museum
many years ago. The kabaoba was long described
as a separate species under the name of Rhinoceros
osivellii, but this distinction is now abandoned, as
intermediate forms between the two have been
observed. Maximum recorded lengfth of anterior
horn (mohohu) 623^ inches: of anterior horn
(kabaoba) 563^ inches. Maximum recorded
length of posterior horn two feet. The posterior
horn is often little more than a mere dermal
excrescence, and it was probably from this cause
that the natives in Sir A. Smith s day informed
him that a race of one-horned rhinoceroses in-
habited South Africa.

INDIAN RHINOCEROS IN MUDHOLE.

Showing how the greyish liide appears black when in sliadow and

white in full sunlight. This individual was standing in and actually

cheioing the mud when the i)hotograph was taken.

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS I3I

It will be noted that in the above account no
reference has been made to colour as a distin-
guishing mark of the white rhinoceros. Structural
details only have been touched upon, and these
are of course always the most important. As a
matter of fact, however, colour plays but little part
in differentiating between the so-called "white"
and " black " rhinoceroses, since both are of a dull
slaty grey. Several explanations of the Boer
name " witte rhenoster " (white rhinoceros) may
here be considered.

1. The usual explanation is that the first indi-
viduals encountered were seen when emerg^inor
from their mudbath, and that their caked hides
gave them a whitish appearance.

2. A little observation, even in a zoological
garden, will amply show that the colour even of a
dark animal may vary in intensity, according to
the amount of sunlight concentrated upon it. It
is now so common for the up-to-date sportsman to
be armed with camera as well as with rifle, that
most recent works on African hunting are
ornamented with excellent engravings from photo-
graphs taken on the veldt. Several recently-
published photos show that even the black species
in full sunlight may appear quite white : and
Drummond, in the proceedings of the Zoological
Society for 1876, has pointed out that the sun
shining full on a bull of the white species may

T32 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

cause it to appear whitish, the same animal on
being followed into the shade appearing quite dark.
We may thus conclude that R, simus, even when
not recently emerged from its mud-bath, may
appear white owing to the slate-grey hide
glistening beneath the fierce rays of the African
sun.

3. There appears to be a distinct tendency to
true albinism in the white rhinoceros. Individuals
have been met which were really white, or at least
whitish. Sir Cornwallis Harris, who saw many
sinius during his famous expedition of 1836-7, says

of this animal — "His true complexion often

approaches to cream colour." Mr. Nicholson,
writing to the " Field" in 1894, mentions having
shot no less than three examples which were of a
yellowish cream hue. According to old tradition,
the white rhinoceroses inhabiting South Western
Cape Colony were lighter in colour than those
found further north : these would naturally be the
first individuals encountered by the early expe-
ditions setting out from Cape Town, and thus the
name adopted by the old pioneers would come
into general use.

4. Another explanation has also been suggested.

The horns of the white rhinoceros are pale-
coloured, and those of the black rhinoceros are
black, hence since these structures are but agglu-
tinated hair, it may be inferred that if these animals'

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 33

bodies were hirsute instead of naked, then would
R. simus be truly white, and R. bicoriiis truly-
black. Any person who has examined a front
horn of the white rhinoceros will admit that the
pale bristles sprouting from the base of the horn
are themselves half way in structure to hair.
Further, I have recently examined a front horn of
the allied extinct Rhinoceros antiquitatis, and this
strikingly resembled a white rhinoceros horn in
my possession. Both specimens were markedly
fibrous in texture, translucent, and had the posterior
margin sharply defined. At its base the fossil horn
was split up into bristly fibres, just like that of the
white rhinoceros of the present day : in section it
showed also exactly the hue which is seen in
its living congener, so that the horns of the two
species agreed remarkably in many ways. We
are thus led up to a most interesting speculation :
for since Pallas^ described the frozen carcase of
the woolly rhinoceros which was found in Dec-
ember, 1 77 1, on the banks of the Viloui River,
as covered with ash-coloured hair, one may retrace
the steps of evolution and fancifully picture the
living white rhinoceros of recent times clad in a
furry robe of silvery grey. Truly, in such a case,
would the white rhinoceros well deserve its name !
Although first scientifically described in 1817,
Rhinocei'os shmis had been dimly known to Euro-

1 Pallas : Commentarii Academiae Petersburgicae.

134 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

peans for many years previous to that date, though
it was not then recognised as distinct from the
black species. Thus we find that Dr. Parsons in
1742-3 figured a rhinoceros horn, which Dr, Gray
recognised in 1867 as that of R. oswellii — kabaoba
form of the white rhinoceros. This horn was
originally in Sir Hans Sloane's collection, and
along with his other curios was purchased by the
Trustees on the foundation of the British Museum
in 1753 : it appears to be the oldest example of
which there is any record, and should, therefore,
strictly speaking, be regarded as the type specimen
rather than any of Burchell's trophies in the Royal
College of Surgeons' Museum. It is, however,
so remarkably curved in an S -shape as to be
practically deformed (kabaoba type run mad), and
is quite different from any other horn— whether
kabaoba or mohohu — which I have ever seen.
On rising from the base, this horn passes first
backward, then gradually sweeps forward to become
slightly recurved at the tip. Its contour thus
resembles that of a reversed gazelle horn of
gigantic size. Science can be little benefited by
accepting such very abnormal examples as typical
of the species, and to do so would be to worship
the fetish of priority at the expense of reason.

In 1812 Dr. Burchell found the white rhinoceros
abundant in the Batlapin country, near Letakoo
(Kuruman), the species being first met with in 26°

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 35

S. latitude. Science is indebted to Burchell for
the first definite account of Rhinoceros simus : a
short description of the animal, which he com-
municated to de Blainville, appeared in the
"Journal de Physique" for August, 1817. The
Royal College of Surgeons' Museum still contains
an interesting memento of Burchell's expedition in
the shape of a pair of simus horns, the anterior of
which measures twenty inches.

Subsequent investigations have demonstrated
that the white rhinoceros was once widely dis-
tributed over South Africa, wherever the grass-
lands were adapted to its habits, extending
from the Orange River in the south as far
north as the Zambesi. We may conveniently
take 18 1 2 as representing the era of pros-
perity, the open veldt then being dotted with
peaceful groups of white rhinoceroses — father,
mother, and calf — or with solitary individuals
standing motionless, awake but stupid, in soulless
meditation. We can readily picture the daily life
of these animals as narrated in many volumes of
sport and travel : the wallowing in the mud-bath,
the noon-tide siesta, the grazing over the vast
pasturages, the drinking at the lonely fountain :
while during the whole bovine round of sleeping
and wallowing, of eating and drinking, these
colossi were continually attended by their winged
sentinels, the faithful rhinoceros birds (Buphaga

136 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

africana), ever alert to give their dull-witted
hosts notice of approaching danger by their shrill
cries, or by thrusting their beaks into their ears.
Such a picture of wild life is now seldom to be
witnessed in Southern Africa, owing to the ruin
which has overtaken the white rhinoceros nation
throughout all the vast grass-lands from the Orange
River to the Zambesi.

The first definite sign of the decadence of
Rhinoceros siniits which appears on studying the
history of the species, is a circumstance related
by Sir Andrew Smith. He tells us that when his
expedition of 1836 passed into Bechuanaland, the
white rhinoceros had already receded further north,
owing to continual persecution, and was not found
within a hundred miles of Letakoo, where Burchell
had met with it in abundance in 181 2. For many
years afterwards, however, the animal continued
plentiful in the far interior. Harris found it
extremely abundant in the Cashan mountains
(Magaliesberg), the future environs of Pretoria
being in 1 836 and for long afterwards a vast natural
zoological park, replete with great game. Gumming,
Andersson, Oswell, and others have left behind
records showing that in the middle of the
last century simus was still plentiful. Several
causes, however, were fast contributing to its
downfall. In 1850 the north-trekking Boers
began systematically to exterminate the splendid

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 37

fauna of South Africa, the persecution being con-
tinued in season and out of season, without
intermission. Giraffe, elephant, buffalo, eland,
hartebeest, and a host of other noble forms
diminished rapidly under their attacks, and the
Boers were aided by a multitude of native gunners
which the advance of civilisation had provided
with more or less reliable firearms.

Prominent in the host of vanishing" creatures
stood the great white rhinoceros, whose immense
size promised a corresponding amount of meat —
and at certain seasons an abundance of fat also —
to his destroyers. The very harmlessness of the
unfortunate colossus was but an added incitement
to the destruction of so meek a quarry. " He was
just the very thing for young gunners to try their
'prentice hand on," said Oswell. These considera-
tions eventually compassed the death of almost
every white rhinoceros south of the Zambesi, and
so rapidly was the animal shot out, that like the
true quagga, the American bison and the northern
sea-cow, it had practically vanished before it was
even recognised as rare. In 1880 hunters began
to notice the great scarcity of Rhinoceros simus :
it was hardly to be found even by the most
diligent search over the very plains once so
abundantly enlivened by its burly presence.
Scientific naturalists abruptly realised that it had
all but vanished from Southern Africa. The

138 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

individual shot in 1882 (its head is now in the
Cape Town Museum), was for a long time con-
sidered to be the last of its race. Since then a
few survivors — rari nantes in gurgite vasto — have
been recorded south of the Zambesi. The follow-
ing is the scanty list of the appearances of R.
simus since 1 890 : —

1892. Messrs. Eyre and Coryndon, in August,

1892, saw a bull, cow and calf all
together : the next day they met a large
cow, a half-grown individual, and a calf.
The calf died in captivity after a few days.

1893. Two adult bulls were shot in July, in

Mashonaland, by Mr. R. C. Coryndon.

1894. Six animals were killed in Zululand by the

late Mr. C. R. Varndell and a friend.

1895. A fine bull was shot by Mr. Eyre in North

Mashonaland.

1897. The spoor of a bull and a cow were seen in
Matawamba by Mr. F. V. Kirby.

1903. Dr. Gunning, of the Pretoria Museum and
Zoological Gardens, kindly informs me
that four individuals still linger near
Lake Ngami : there were eleven before
the outbreak of the war in 1899, four in
Zululand, and seven near Ngami. These
complete the list.^

1 According to a more recent estimate, there are, however, about
ten white rhinoceroses still in Zululand. In December, 1902, an old
bull and a younger one " escaped " into a native reservation, where
they were promptly killed with spears. (See Held for March 21,
190'3).

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 39

Thus has the great white rhinoceros practically-
vanished from South Africa, where once it occurred
in a teeminof abundance difficult to realise at the
present day. One cannot expect that the few sur-
vivors (now protected as far as possible) will restore
the race, though the belated game regulations are no
dead letter. In 1897-8 two Europeans who had
killed a pair of stmus (the female being in calf)
were very properly compelled to pay a heavy fine. ^
Such stringent measures at an earlier date might
have saved to future generations of South African
naturalists — and under proper restrictions, of
sportsmen also — this curious behemoth, whose
monstrous size and antediluvian appearance con-
stitute it a worthy ally of the hornless amynodon
and the huge elasmotherium of Miocene and
Pleistocene times.

In captivity the white rhinoceros has proved a
most disappointing animal, dying even when taken
quite young from no obvious cause. None of the
calves which have been captured from time to time
have survived long enough to be taken down
country, to say nothing of being brought to Europe,
so that the animal has never been represented in
any zoological garden. This has not been for
want of trying, for many efforts have been made
to rear young siintis. Many years ago the
thirteenth Earl of Derby sent a thoroughly com-

1 The animals thus wantonly slaughtered were left lying where
they fell.

140 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

petent man to obtain the white rhinoceros alive,
but although he succeeded in taking several calves,
not one lived long, and the costly expedition sub-
sequently fitted out by Mr. Nicholson, of Cape
Colony, for this express purpose, was equally un-
successful, although as many as nine young animals
were taken. Probably the last attempt that
will ever be made in South Africa was that of
Messrs. Eyre and Coryndon, who captured a calf
in 1892. This youngster was vigorous and sturdy,
and indeed inconveniently so — since it was only
taken with considerable difficulty — yet though
eating well and provided with water, the little
rhinoceros died on the eighth day after capture.
It is interesting- to remember that there are some
animals which do not thrive in captivity from
some unknown cause, such as the great kudu
for example : nevertheless other rhinoceroses as a
rule do very well in captivity. The black R.
bicornis brought into Cassala (purchased in 1 868 by
the Zoological Society of London) did not die till
1 89 1, when it succumbed to cancer and not to old
age, whilst an Indian rhinoceros lived in the
Gardens from 1843 till 1849, and another example
— also Indian — was purchased in 1850, and died
in 1874. Specimens of the white rhinoceros are
unfortunately very rare in museums, so that the
following census may be interesting. The speci-
mens are as follows : —

TPIE WHITE RHINOCEROS I4I

I. A calf obtained in 1836 by Sir Andrew Smith's
expedition. This animal was mounted by the
celebrated taxidermist, Jules Verreaux, under Sir
Andrew's personal superintendence, and added to
the South African Museum at Capetown. Subse-
quently it was either sold to or received in exchange
by the British Museum trustees, as the animal
figures in the British Museum Catalogue of 1843.
This specimen is now at the Natural History
Museum, South Kensington. Dr, Gray called it a
"half-grown calf." It appears to be about three
years old. The anterior horn measures 3^ inches,
the posterior one inch. As mounted, the animal's
hide is dull black, paling to brownish black beneath.
The existence of this specimen is emphasised, as
in the various articles which have been from time
to time written on R. simus, it has almost invariably
been overlooked. This is not the animal figured
on plate XIX. of Smith's " Illustrations of South
African Zoology," as will be seen from the horns
and from the measurements given in the book :
these belong to an older animal. The young
specimen will, however, be found figured under
the title of "African Rhinoceros" as fig. -^11 ^ '^^
the " Museum of Animated Nature " — the square
lip, slit-like nostrils, position of eye, and the
semi-tubular ears all being correctly given, whilst
the older animal — a fine example — is also depicted
as fig, 388 of the same work, under the ambiguous
title of "two-horned rhinoceros."

142 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

2. A young adult bull, shot by Mr. Coryndon in
July, 1893, is now mounted in the Tring Museum.
Published measurements — height at shoulder,
6 ft. 9 in. : base of anterior horn to tip of tail, 16 ft. :
anterior horn, i ft. 11 in. : posterior horn, 8 in.
I am indebted to the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P.,
for permission to photograph this specimen.

2A. The skeleton of the above individual was
sold to the University of Cambridge for ;^2,ooo,
and is now in the Cambridge Museum.

3. A young adult bull obtained at the same
time as No. 2, is now in the Natural History
Museum at South Kensington. Published measure-
ments— height at shoulder, 6 ft. 6 in. : base of
horn to top of tail, 14 ft, 6 in. : anterior horn,
1 ft. 7 in, : posterior horn, 7 in.

3A. The skeleton of the preceding animal is now
mounted in the Fossil Mammal Gallery of the
Natural History Museum.

4. An adult cow Rhinoceros simus, obtained
many years ago in the interior of Cape Colony, is
now in the Leyden Museum, It does not show
any tendency whatever to albinism, as some of the
Colony swius were said to do. The folds of skin
on the neck, mentioned by Smith and Harris as
occurring in this species, have been reproduced by
the taxidermist.

4. Dr. J entink kindly informs me that the Leyden

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 43

Museum has also another adult specimen of the
white rhinoceros ; locaHty unknown.

6. A fine head of this species, obtained many-
years ago by Mr. Burke for Lord Derby, is now
in the Liverpool Museum, where the skull (6a) of
the same individual is also preserved. Measure-
ments of horns : anterior 25in., posterior i2in.

7. A young white rhinoceros, taken from a
mother of the kabaoba type (^so-called R. oswellii)
on June 3rd, 1862, by Mr. Baines, and by him
presented to the Royal College of Surgeons, is still
in the Museum of that institution. It is about six
inches long ; although only labelled " Rhinoceros "
— the rarity and value of the specimen being
apparently unknown to the authorities — it is un-
mistakeably B.. simus, the characteristic square lip
being well defined, whilst the slit-like nostrils and
elongated head are also clearly recognisable. The
site of the anterior horn is only indicated by a very
slight greyish, flat-topped elevation, hardly differ-
entiated from the rest of the head : in the middle
of this elevation are seen two small parallel areas
of a purplish-brown tint, apparently indicating
nuclei of horny material. There is no sign
whatever of a posterior horn, nor of any hair or
pigment. // is probably the only spiHt speciinen of
Rhinoceros sintus in any Museum.

8. The South African Museum, Cape Town,
possesses the head of the bull shot in Mashonaland

144 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

by Mr. Selous in 1882, and then supposed to be
the last of its race. It was brought to England
to be mounted, and was exhibited at a meeting of
the Zoological Society in 1886, before being sent
back to Africa. The skull of the same individual
(8a) is also in the South African Museum.

9. The fine bull white rhinoceros, shot by
Mr. Eyre in Mashonaland in 1895, was purchased
by Mr. Rhodes, who presented it to the Cape
Town Museum, where it is now mounted. The
skeleton (9A) of this same animal is also in the
Museum.

10. The specimen shot in 1894 by the late
Mr. C. R. Varndell was sent to London to be
mounted. It was subsequently purchased by
Mr. Carl Jeppe, who presented it to the Pretoria
Museum, where it still remains. It is said to have
a good anterior horn 3 ft. long.

11. A fine skeleton of a cow Rhinoceros simus
is now exhibited in the new Gallery of Comparative
Anatomy, at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. It
was obtained from the Cape, and the label bears
the inscription "Ed. Verreaux, 1846."^

In addition to the foregoing, there are various
other odd specimens of skulls and horns in various

1 There does not appear to be any stuffed specimen corresponding
to this skeleton in the Jardin des Plantes collection. The rhinoceros
with long forehorn sweeping backwards which the casual visitor sees
mounted in the stuffed series is not Rhinoceros simus but a very line
specimen of the Indian species. This individual lived in the
menagerie of Versailles and was dissected in 1793 by Vicq d'Azyr
and Mertrud.

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 45

museums, many being without any history attached.
Of these the finest skull appears to be that of
the aged individual brought home by Gordon
Gumming, and now in the Royal Gollege of
Surofeons' Museum. The record anterior horn
(62^ inches) was also obtained by Gumming, and
is now in the possession of his relative, Gol. W.
Gordon Gumming. Some interest attaches to the
series of sinius horns in the National Gollection,
which includes Sir H. Sloane's kabaoba specimen
already referred to, and also the pair of kabaoba
trophies on which the so-called R. oswellii was
founded. The latter are of course remarkable for
the forward inclination of the anterior horn, and
were obtained by Andersson. He presented them
to Gol. T. Steele, who gave them to the British
Museum previous to 1843. They are figured in
Andersson 's " Lake Ngami " ; the front horn
measures 3 1 inches, and the posterior one 1 1
Inches. The student will find a very fine anterior
horn of the mohohu type displayed in the Index
Gollection of the Natural History Museum.

Finally, I may mention my own specimen,
brought home a year or two back from South
Africa by Mr. Penfold, an engineer working on
the railway near Buluwayo, It is an anterior horn
of the mohohu type, said to have been picked up
amongst the sedges of a river. One may reason-
ably conclude that it had dropped out of some

146 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

hunter's waggon in fording the stream, and that it
was obtained much further up country than the
locality where it was found. In spite of its
history, the horn is in good preservation, and but
little defaced, though the base has apparently been
gnawed by rats. It is longer than the anterior
horns borne by the mounted specimens either at
Tring or South Kensington, taping exactly 2 feet ;
the circumference at the base is I'jyi inches.^

A few years ago this census would have
practically completed our knowledge of the white
rhinoceros, which would have been regarded as a
well-nigh lost species, being almost exterminated
south of the Zambesi, and utterly unknown north
of that river. But an astonishing sequel remains.

The white rhinoceros, harassed out of existence
throughout South Africa, has been re-discovered
further north. It has risen, phcenix-like, from its
ashes ; the naturalist need no longer mourn it as
an extinct animal !

1 It would be interesting to know if the white rhinoceros head
brought to England by the Rev. John Campbell, about 1815, is still
in existence. It appears to have been preserved as late as 1867 in
the Museum of the London Missionary Society at Finsbury, but there
seems to be no mention of it during recent years in zoological litera-
ture. In a figure now before me the artist has absurdly furnished
the open jaws with an imaginary series of perfectly regular pseudo-
molar teeth : the square mouth has been distorted to resemble the
prehensile lip of the black species, though the slit-like nostrils,
position of eye and semi-tubular ears are delineated with fair correct-
ness. The anterior horn of this individual is said to have been 3 ft.
long : and, as figured, from its slenderness recalls Col. Hamilton
Smith's description of the mysterious horn, brought from Africa,
from which he sought to deduce the existence of a true unicorn
in the interior of that Continent.

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 47

The skull and horns of an undoubted white
rhinoceros, shot by Major Gibbons at Lado, on
the Upper Nile, were exhibited at a meeting of
the Zoological Society, held on December i8th,
1900. Other corroborative evidence, were it
needed, is also forthcoming, showing incontest-
ably that Rhinoceros simus yet wanders over a
considerable portion of the African continent.
Dr. Gregory, in his work on the Great Rift
Valley, mentions having seen in Leikipia three
rhinoceroses, which he believed to be of this
species, though unfortunately none of the three
were obtained : Sir H. H, Johnston, in his work
on British Central Africa, states that a pair of
horns, resembling those of the white rhinoceros, and
obtained near the Ruo River, were sent home in
1895. The anterior horn was very long, slender,
and directed forwards (kabaoba?).^ A number of
long slender horns were sent some years ago by
the late Mr. F. Holm wood and assigned to a
hypothetical Rhinoceros holmivoodi. They have
not only been supposed to indicate a species allied
to the white rhinoceros but the holmwoodi horn
now exhibited in the mammal gallery of the
Natural History Museum certainly recalls the

1 The forward inclination of the anterior horn is not however con-
fined to the white rhinoceros. Tlie example of the hluck species in
the Berlin Zoological Gardens has the front horn pointing forwards
at an angle of 45° . On the other hand the black rhinoceros which
died in London in 1891 had the anterior horn vertical ; one thus has
" mohohu" and " kabaoba" forms in both species.

148 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

long anterior horn of the veritable simus figured
in Campbell's Travels.

Attempts have been made to associate R. holm-
woodi with the black rhinoceros, but they
seem to have been initiated prior to Major
Gibbons' discovery in 1900, before which date
simus was unknown in East and North East
Africa. Mr. Rowland Ward, writing to the
"Field," on November 17th, 1894, stated that
he had seen a horn of the white rhinoceros
which had been brought from what is now
British East African territory, and many miles
from any known haunt of the species ; Count
Teleki mentions a white rhinoceros amongst
the animals shot by his party during his Lake
Rudolph expedition of 1887-88. Although this
constitutes a considerable mass of evidence, it is
by no means all, for on examining the records of
the past, one finds many obscure hints of the
presence of this species north of the Zambesi.
Strange to say, these records appear to have been
utterly ignored by naturalists, though they have
long been published to the world ; the facts are
here restated as follows :

I. The earliest evidence of the existence of
R. simus north of the Zambesi is probably that
of Mr. Salt, the Abyssinian traveller, who on his
return in 181 1 presented a trophy (consisting of
anterior and posterior horns) to the Royal College

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS 1 49

of Surgeons' Museum, These horns are almost
certainly those of the white rhinoceros.^ In
the absence of any data, however, they cannot
be absolutely proved to have come from the
countries through which Mr. Salt travelled, though
the presumption that such is the case is strong
indeed. Locality and not identity is here the de-
bateable point ; as confirmatory of other evidence,
we may conveniently insert mention of them here.

2. When Denham and Clapperton returned
home from their Central African expedition of
1822-24, they presented to the British Museum
two remarkable light-coloured and semi-tra7isparent
horns. It is interesting to remember that the
horns of the white rhinoceros are pale-coloured on
section, and that Sir A. Smith (who had practical
experience of R. simus in Southern Africa) himself
suggested that if not those of young shmis, they
must belong to some unknown species of rhin-
oceros. " The horns of Rh. simus,'' said Sir
Andrew, " possess more of the above characters
than any others yet known."

3. Speke has stated that his party in 1864 shot
several of the "white two-horned rhinoceros" in
Karagweh, East Africa, and expressly says that

1 In the Catalogue of the Royal College of Surgeons' Museum,
Mr. Salt's trophies are doubtfully assigned to the white rhinoceros :
however, these interesting specimens agree perfectly with undoubted
simvs horns.

150 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

the species killed was larger than the black
rhinoceros.

4. Stanley claims to have shot R. simus in
Karagweh,

The above evidence, both recent and remote,
thus proves the distribution of the white rhinoceros
to be far wider than was formerly supposed.
A great portion of the newly-discovered home of
R. simus lies within the boundaries of a British
Protectorate — Uganda. It is therefore to be
hoped that this sorely-persecuted species may at
last receive efficient protection. Already it is
evident that the era of slaughter is passing away
from Africa, and that preservation and not perse-
cution will be the order of the day. The most
recent accounts of the various game reserves
established by British Administrators show that
much may yet be done to protect the noblest
fauna the world has ever seen ; and the naturalist,
on reading the reports of the increasing zebra and
waterbuck herds on the Shire River, and of
the flourishing state of the protected game animals
along the course of the Uganda Railway, may
reasonably hope that the persecuted white rhin-
oceros, so harassed in the past, may find an abiding
sanctuary under the aegis of the pax Britannica.
Protection vice persecution, increase vice decrease,
stringent guardianship vice irresponsible indif-

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS

151

ference, may yet preserve to future generations
much of the zoological wonderland of Africa ;
and that such may be the issue will be the wish
of every naturalist, of every traveller, and of every
true sportsman.

Inveniat dies !

THE GREW ZEBRA.

The most superficial study of the map of
Africa to-day demonstrates everywhere the rapid
progress of civilisation in every part of what can
scarcely any longer be called the Dark Continent.
Northwards, Egypt, prosperous and contented, is
happily united to a reconquered Soudan, and
Khartoum (linked to Cairo by a band of iron) is
once more an outpost of civilisation. Westwards
lies the huge area of British Nigeria, our latest
protectorate. In the East the Uganda Railway,
a hissing snake of steel, writhes its way from
Mombasa on the coast to Port Florence on the
Victoria Nyanza : while far in the south Table
Mountain, once infested by lions and rhinoceroses,
towers above the metropolis of a vast austral
empire stretching from the Cape to the Limpopo.

Although the railways have in recent times
proved most important factors in this opening up
of Africa, one must not lose sight of the invaluable
services which have been and still are rendered
to man by his fourfooted servants, — especially
by the horse for riding and by the ox for
transport. Numerous accounts of African travel
have made us familiar with the hunter's
equipage — a waggon drawn by a team of sturdy
long-horned Cape oxen, encouraged by the voice

GREVY'S ZEBRA.

Formerly the property of President Faure. Its docility is aptly

indicated by tlie lieadstall.

The white animal in the next pen is believed to be the only fertile

mule known.

THE GREW ZEBRA I 53

and whip of some leather-lunged Kaffir, The
progress of exploration and trade would have been
seriously hampered without such valuable auxili-
aries. U nfortunately, travellers are still hindered by
two most serious scourges — the veldt-sickness,
which attacks "unsalted" horses, and the progres-
sive emaciation caused in oxen by the bite of the
tse-tse fly/ These twin plagues, which have cost
African travellers many thousands of pounds, are
not yet fully understood, but it may be interesting
to briefly consider them in this place.

The horse-sickness is a non-contagious fever of
malarial type, produced in annual epidemics by a
minute fungus which grows on the veldt during
the African summer. Owing to its moisture-
loving nature, this curse is especially potent in
damp places and at night : it attacks grass-fed
horses with great virulence, over 95 % of the
affected animals succumbing. The equine patient
stands- with running nose and eyes and lowered
head, his heaving flanks telling too plainly of the
impeded respiration and the rapidly-developing
pleuro-pneumonia which will probably carry him
off in a few hours : those horses which survive,
however, are immune from further attack. Attempts
have been made to investigate the hypothetical
germ which produces the illness, but with uncertain

1 The student will recollect the dismal fate of the early Portuguese
expeditions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which were
often ruined by the tse-tse killing all their horses.

154 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

results, though genuine horse-sickness blood has
been found to contain certain bodies, both inside
and outside the blood corpuscles. Little is known
as to their true nature, but it appears that neither
forms can be readily stained with the aniline dyes
usually employed in microscopic examinations,
and that the extra corpuscular bodies exhibit great
variations in size. Hitherto the only chance of
recovery has been afforded by the rough and ready
treatment of bleeding the equine patient to ex-
haustion : Oswell tells us that he succeeded in
saving one or two horses by this risky method.^

The tse-tsef\y {G/ossina morsitans) was originally
brought to the notice of Europeans by Oswell
and Vardon, who met with it on the Siloquana
hills near the Limpopo ; the first specimens
brought to England being those caught by Vardon
on his favourite horse. Many specimens have
since been received in this country, and may be
seen in the principal museums. The tse-tse is
about the size of a house-fly, and is greyish-brown
in colour, the abdomen being gaily striped with
yellow. This insect is thus very much smaller
than the absurdly-exaggerated figures of it in
books would lead one to suppose : it is misleading
to compare the tse-tse to a bee in size, as is often

1 The late Roiialeyn Gordon Gumming once •prevented his horses
from taking this distemper by preventing them from eating gi'ass, and
by covering them at night with blankets — the former precaution
alone would probably have been sufficient.

THE GREW ZEBRA 1 55

done. The tse-tse has only two wings, the pos-
terior pair being represented, as in the common
housefly, by rudiments or "balancers." As if to
compensate for the loss of the hind wings, the
anterior pair are long and well developed, pro-
jecting, when closed, considerably beyond the end
of the body. The tse-tse has a characteristic
buzz, probably produced by the rapid vibration of
the balancers ; the chief interest attaching to this
terrible insect, however, centres in its proboscis,
which consists of a hollow stylet, protected by an
adpressed palpus, on each side, and furnished at
its base with a bulbous expansion. The tse-tse
thrusts the central stylet into the skin of the
victim, sucking up the blood like an ordinary
mosquito in England. Although happily innocuous
to man, the stab of this winged terror is fatal to
nearly all domesticated animals.^ The victim in a
few days begins to sicken : then, with running
eyes and nostrils and staring coat, the unfortunate
animal rapidly goes down hill, struggling about in
a state of emaciation for a few weeks — three
months at most — and eventually dying exhausted.
The blood for a short time before death is found

1 It was formerly thought that the bulb situated at the root of
the proboscis was a poison gland : such, however, is not the case, the
tse-tse being harmless in itself. Frequently, however, minute para-
sites, derived from a previous host, adhere to the proboscis of the
tse-tse : these are introduced accidentally when the fly begins to suck
its next subject. If this second liost be susceptible, the parasites,
which rapidly multiply in the blood by longitudinal division, soon
kill it.

156 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

to be swarming with microscopic parasites of the
genus Trypanosoma, and after death the heart and
lungs are markedly anaemic. Wild animals —
Burchell zebra, sable antelope, and so forth — are
not liable to this terrible malady : an infusion of
zebra blood, however, is not sufficient to save the
victim, judging from the loss of some zebra-horse
hybrids which were experimentally inoculated in
1898, and died eight weeks afterwards.^ Strange
to say, although adult oxen readily succumb to the
disease, the sucking calf is immune from the
poison.

In consideration of the enormous pecuniary loss
sustained every year from these two plagues, it
is evident that an Inestimable benefit would be
conferred on civilisation if some animal could be
found capable of acting as an efficient substitute
for horse or ox, and of course immune from either
disease. The common donkey Is only partially
liable to the tse-tse poison, and has been
frequently employed : but on account of its
Inferior size and self-willed disposition, this animal
cannot be considered as an effective substitute
for either horse or ox. A very Interesting series
of experiments was made In the Transvaal during
1893, when eight wild-caught Burchell zebras
{Bquus burchellii) were trained to run in mail

1 See Proceedings of the Fourtli International Congress of Zoology :
Cambridge, 1898.

THE GREW ZEBRA I 57

coaches between Pretoria and Pietersburg, and —
contrary to the received opinion regarding these
animals — proved themselves to be most willing
and docile steeds, neither kicking nor biting when
once broken in. The success of this effort caused
more zebras to be purchased : but as the experi-
ments continued, it became evident that though
willing enough, they were not sufficiently strong for
continuous work, and the matter was abandoned.^
Burchell "s zebra stands about twelve hands high
at the withers, having the make and proportions
of a stout pony : one cannot, however, expect
wild-caught animals, even of this size, to be equal
to such heavy and continued work as is implied in
the daily to and fro journeyings of a mail-coach.
There remains, however, a splendid and little-
known zebra, whose powerful frame might well be
employed in the service of man. This species
is a native of Shoa, Somaliland, and British East
Africa north of the Tana River : it is known as
Grevy's zebra.

Grevy's zebra [Eqmts grcvyi) is a magnificent
creature, with the handsome form and ample
proportions of a horse. The head, although
terminatinor in an elono-ated face and surmounted
by large wide ears, is extremely beautiful in its
outlines, which suggest those of an antelope

1 The domestication of Burchell's zebra has now been recommenced
in East Africa.

158 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

rather than those of a zebra. The hoofs are
rounded in front, long-heeled behind : the neck is
adorned with an erect mane, and the tail resembles
that of a donkey. In its actions Grevy's zebra
resembles a horse, but its voice is asinine rather
than equine. The ground colour of the animal is
a beautiful silvery white, elegantly banded at
regular intervals with narrow black stripes, which
rise from a line running along the back, and
extend over the sides, stopping short of the
abdomen. The muzzle of Grevy's zebra is bright
bay ; there is frequently, but not always, a white
area on the croup, disposed on each side of the
middle line, while the tail tassel is invariably
white. The legs are striped, sable and silver, right
down to the hoofs.

Although not known to scientific zoologists
until 1882, it is highly probable that Equus grevyi
was the zebra or hippotigris of the Romans, and
that it was the animal exhibited in the arena
under that name. Of these early appearances,
we may note that in the reign of Caracalla (244-
217 A.D.) three zebras were slaughtered in the
arena, and that Philip the Arabian subsequently
possessed no less than twenty examples of the
"hippotigris," which he exhibited to the populace :
while Dion Cassius tells us that Severus received
from Plautianus the " tiger-like " horses of the Sun
(rtypoftges)^ which were found on an island in the

THE GREW ZEBRA I 59

Red Sea. Although the epithet " tiger-like " may-
refer to the supposed ferocity of the animals, it is
at least equally probable that it indicates that they
were conspicuously striped, and hence really
zebras — not merely wild asses, as some might
be disposed to think, seeing that even wild asses
can bite and kick savagely. The Arabs were long
ago acquainted with some equine animal which
they called Zeora or Zecora, and this creature has
been supposed by some to have been the true or
mountain zebra [Eqims zebra), a most absurd
conjecture. Ludolph, in his "New History of
Ethiopia" (published 1684), tells us that " there is
a beast which is called Zecora which for beauty
excels all the fourfooted creatures in the world.
They of Congo give it the name of Zebra. This
creature is about the bigness of a mule, and is

brouo-ht out of the woods of Habessinia

and easily tamed — a present of great esteem and
frequently given to the kings of Habessinia. . . .
His Eares are the only thing that disfigures him,
being of a disproportionate length, for which
reason he is call'd by the Portugals Burro do
Matto (though improperly), the wild Ass."

In 1809-10 Mr. Salt travelled in Abyssinia, and
came within an ace of makino- a orrand zoological
discovery, for he also alludes to the " Zebra or
Zecora," which occurred chiefly in the south of
that country. He states that its mane was in

l6o NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

great demand as a collar for the war horses of the
chiefs on state days.^ In reviewing the evidence
of Ludolph and Salt, it must be plain to anyone
that the Zecora of the Arabs was identical with
Grevy's zebra, and not with the mountain zebra,
which is quite a distinct animal, unknown north of
the Equator.

In spite, however, of these vague hints and
brief accounts of the existence of the Zecora, this
magnificent beast remained unknown to scientific
Europe till 1882, when a specimen was sent alive
to France by Menelek (then King of Shoa) as a
gift to the President of the Republic. On arriving
in Paris, the new animal was placed in the
menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes, where it
was at once recognised as new by the late
M. Alphonse Milne Edwards, who gave it the
name of Equus grevyi. The zebra was sent to
Europe in the warmest part of the year, but soon
died of inflammation of the lungs, though not
before its appearance in life had been recorded by
the camera. Unfortunately, the animal having
been photographed with its muzzle in a bucket,
the characteristic elongation of the face was not
shown in the print. The dead zebra was stuffed
for exhibition in the Gallery of the Natural
History Museum, in the Jardin des Plantes :

1 The Angoni tribesmen of British Central Africa are said to
employ the mane of BurchdVs zebra as a head-dress when on the
war path.

THE GREW ZEBRA l6l

great pains were taken in mounting it, the body-
being carefully measured, while plaster casts were
taken of the face, shoulders, pelvis, and feet. All
the bones were retained as a foundation for the
stuffed skin, except the skull, which is now in the
Museum of Comparative Anatomy. A figure of
the new zebra appeared in several scientific publi-
cations, and caused a considerable amount of dis-
cussion : for while some naturalists followed Milne
Edwards in considering it a distinct species,
others asserted that it was nothing more than a
large variety of the mountain zebra, a theory to
which its asinine head and ears and peculiar
striping at first lent some colour. The setting up
of the Paris specimen was also subjected to
adverse criticism, the great length of the face as
represented in the dried skin not being then
recognised as a normal condition.

The judgment of M. Milne Edwards was, how-
ever, triumphantly vindicated by the subsequent
arrival in Europe of a considerable number of
zebra hides, all of which were alike, and resembled
the type specimen in the Jardin des Plantes
Museum, so that Equus grevyi was definitely
established as a true species. A second living
specimen — a young mare — reached Paris in Sep-
tember, 1898, being a present from the Emperor
Menelik to President Faure, who gave the animal
to the Jardin d'Acclimatation. When she was duly

1 62 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

placed in a pen, next to some of the better known
Burchell zebras, the comparison was much to
their disadvantage, for though they were handsome
enough after their kind, the Burchells appeared
but as clumsy ponies when contrasted with this tall
and eleofant creature, whilst the mountain zebra of
the Cape seemed little better than a striped jackass.
Many of the stripes of this second grevyi showed
the brownish tinge due to youth. President
Faure's pet was very tame, allowing me to stroke
her sleek sides like any horse, and was quite a
favourite with the Parisians. This animal is now
dead, and may be seen stuffed at the Jardin
d'Acclimatation.

In 1899 the Emperor Menelik again sent
Equus grevyi to Europe : this time a pair of
animals as a present to Queen Victoria. They
were believed to be the only survivors of a herd
of twenty, which had been captured and brought
to Addis Abbeba. The zebras performed in safety
the long six weeks' march from Addis Abbeba to
the seaport of Zeila, and after being rested were
shipped for England, which they reached without
mishap. The male was an old animal, being
believed to be about twenty years of age : he died
suddenly after a few months in England, but the
female is still living in the London Zoo, and her
portrait will be found in this book. She resembles
the Paris specimen in the gentleness of her de-

GREVVS ZEliUA.

A live. year-old mare presented to Queen Victoria by Menelek,

Emperor of Abyssinia, in 1899.

Note tlie elongated head and ears, the narrow striping, and the

M'hite space over the croup.

THE GREW ZEBRA 1 63

meanour, which contrasts favourably with the surly
viciousness of the mountain zebra in the next pen.
It is hoped that a mate may eventually be obtained
for this animal :^ indeed it appears reasonable to
hope that Grevy's zebra may some day breed as
regularly in European Zoos as any of its congeners
— the other zebras — have done in the past. The
large size, handsome appearance, and gentle dis-
position of Equus grevyi constitute it a most
desirable addition to any menagerie, whilst its
great strength encourages the hope that as a
domesticated animal it may prove a most valuable
auxiliary.'^

Although previously noticed by Speke and Grant
in the mountains north of the Victoria Nyanza,
Grevy's zebra (definitely recognised as such) was
not found in the wild state by Europeans till 1893,
when it was met with near Durhi, in the Malingur
country : and some small amount of information
regarding its habits in the wild state is now avail-
able. Eqitus grevyi has been ascertained to go in
much smaller herds than Burchell's zebra — from
ten to twenty of the former, as compared with
perhaps one or two hundred of the latter, being a
frequent proportion : mixed herds of the two

1 Owing to additions to the menagerie since the above was written,
tliere were in June, 1903, no less than four of these magnificent
zebras living in the London Zoological Gardens, one of these being a
male. Unfortunately this beast died on March 20, 1904.

2 I understand that two of these fine zebras now in the Zoo have
recently been broken in for riding purposes.

164 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

species occur where the distribution of the animals
overlaps. Grevy's zebra, like its congener,
is fond of rolling in the dust, as may be observed
in menagerie specimens : it resembles burchellii
also in drinking every day, in frequently associating
with other game — such as oryx antelope — and in
being much persecuted by lions. Travellers have
reported that the nature of the country inhabited
by Grevy's zebra frequently consists of rocky
plateaux, intersected by deep ravines (thus
resembling the haunts of the mountain zebra
of the Cape) : their accounts are confirmed by the
recently-published photographs by Lord Delamere,
which represent E, grevyi in its native home.
One of these pictures a troop of about a dozen
individuals standing knee-deep in the long grass
of an African valley, whilst behind them stretches
a dense mass of stunted bushes, and behind these
again are seen the outlines of bare, stony hills,
dotted here and there with sparse vegetation,
and vividly reminding one of the desolate
hills which fringe the Northern Sahara.
Another very interesting sun-picture shows a
large herd of these zebras, together with a
number of oryx antelopes, standing motionless,
basking in the hot sunshine after drinking at a
water-hole. The ground consists apparently of
scrub-covered plain, with alternating patches of

.MOl'NTAIN ZEBRA

Uf Cape Colony. Note the asinine ears, mane, and tail, the

hroad stripes, and the "j;ridiron" marking;' over the croup. This

individual was born in Amsterdam.

THE GREW ZEBRA 1 65

absolutely parched earth. A very curious point
is well illustrated in this photograph.

It might reasonably be supposed that so boldly
striped an animal as a zebra would be conspicuous
enough even at a distance, but this proves not to
be the case, and indeed it has been recorded of
all three species that in the wild state their
markings render them practically invisible. Thus
Sir John Barrow, writing in 1801 of the mountain
zebra, says, "the black and buff zebra even
when very near it and especially if in motion
appears of a dull bluish ash colour like the
common ass." The photograph of zebra and
oryx above alluded to gives an excellent idea of
how in Grevys zebra also the striping merges
into the ground colour, the animal when viewed
from a distance appearing of a uniform dun hue.
Burchell's zebra is similarly inconspicuous when
seen a long way off: experiments made by me in
August, 1902, on a pair of tame individuals turned
out to grass demonstrated that the stripes of
Equus burchellii begin to blend with the ground
colour at a paced distance of 1 50 yards.

Having thus considered the history and habits
of Grevy's zebra one may now discuss the future
of the animal : indeed in the future lies the
main interest of any study of this species. The
past indicates it as a striking figure in the
semi-legendary tales of ancient and mediaeval

1 66 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

times, when it was supposed to be a hybrid
between a horse and a tiger. At the present
day it is to be regarded as a rare and beautiful
form — perhaps, indeed, the most beautiful of all wild
animals— so that it is of interest to the naturalist.
But its true importance lies in the possibility that
its great strength and gentle disposition may one day
prove useful to man ; and that it may eventually
play an important part in the opening up of
Africa, especially in its own native haunts, where
the need of an efficient transport animal is so
great. In Grevy's zebra one sees an opportunity
of applying the study of natural history to a very
practical use : for it seems likely that by crossing
this animal with the horse or ass there might
be bred a race of giant mules, which would even
exceed in height the enormous measurement of
2 2 hands (7 ft. 4 in.) at the withers, already
recorded of the ordinary horse-donkey hybrids.
Needless to add, these strong "zebrules" would
be able to carry proportionately heavier burdens
than the ordinary mules, and would in the long
run prove cheaper than they, since a supply of
wild zebras could be captured from time to time
as required.^

1 A zebra farm has already been established at Nairobi on the
Uganda Railway for the domestication of BnrchelVs species, and there
is a similar institution in German East Africa.. Great numbers of
these animals have been trained by the German Government. It is
intended to ship to Europe a large consignment of sixty zebras
during 1904.

EQUINE HYBRID (in tlie Jardiii des I'lantes).

(Asiatic Wild Ass x Burchell Zelmi. )
On tlie hind ((uarters are seen broad bands derived directly from
the zebra jiarent ; the l)ody shows narrower stripiiii; probably
inherited from a remote ancestor. (xeneral body colour rufous
grey. Tlie cliaracteristic iu(iuisitiveness of these hybrids is seen in
the averted head, the animal being absorbed in the clumsy antics

of a young elephant in tlie next pen.

THE GREW ZEBRA 1 6/

The whole subject of equine hybrids is ex-
tremely interesting, and crosses between many
of the species have been obtained. The
mountain zebra has bred with the common ass ;
the Burchell zebra has been crossed with the
common ass, with the Asiatic wild ass, and with
the horse : the true quagga has bred with the
Asiatic wild ass and the horse. The series of
hybrids thus obtained is a long one, the
records extending from about 1786 to the
present day. Most, if not all of the foals
born exhibited stripes which resembled those
of their zebra parent. Such a result was
only to be expected : a most remarkable fact,
however, deserves brief mention here. Many, if
not all of the young animals exhibited additio7ial
stripes, which did not resemble those of their
parent, but, on the contrary, were long and narrow,
like those of Grevys zebra! This singular pheno-
menon has been explained as follows :

Naturalists (acting on the supposition that the
various species of every genus have been evolved
from a common ancestor) have endeavoured to
reconstruct this ancestor by intercrossing the
various species so that the resulting hybrid may
present more or less remotely the original appear-
ance of the progenitor of the race. The peculi§,r
narrow striping which occurs frequently in equine
hybrids (with or without the presence of other

t68 natural history essays

stripes or bands derived directly from the actual
zebra parent) therefore indicates that Grevy's
zebra is an evolutionally older for^n than the
others, being thus the most primitive type of
zebra in Africa, and perhaps that from which all
the others are descended. Indeed, at the present
day, we see that the mountain zebra of the Cape
resembles grevyi in its long ears, in its unstriped
abdomen, in its legs being banded right down to
the hoofs : whilst Burchell's zebra retains in its
semi-equine mane and tail a likeness to its northern
cousin. These and other matters relating to these
very interesting animals require much elucidation,
and in the careful investigation of many problems
connected with the splendid zebra which we have
just been considering, there yet remain years of
work for the naturalist.

iwffiffrnri

QUAGGA (ill tlie Leyden Museum)

THE TRUE QUAGGA.

" Alas ! in the colony of the Cape of Storms, how have the

wild sports dwindled from their former prosperity

Before the strides of civilization, together with the rugged
aborigines, have receded also the scarcely more savage quad-
rupeds ; and saving certain diminutive antelopes, which will
hereafter be noticed as frequenting the sea coast, the spring-
bok now affords the only four-footed game that occurs in any
abundance." — Sir JV. Cornivallis Harris {1840).

We have already seen, when considering the
white rhinoceros, how the advance of civilization
in South Africa resulted in a terrible diminution
of the numbers of the indigenous game animals :
the eloquent lament of Sir Cornwallis Harris but
foreshadowed a greater devastation, which has
continued almost to the present day.

Happily at last there are indications that this
waste of life is beintj checked.

In 1899 an International Conference for the pre-
servation of the African game animals was held in
London, and delegates representing the various
Powers now colonising Africa met to discuss the
best methods of procedure : the regulations then
drawn up have been published, and may be
studied by consulting the Parliamentary papers
for 1899. The British Government has declared
considerable areas of land in various parts of
the continent to be game reserves, and the

I/O NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

animals which inhabit these sanctuaries receive
either partial or total protection. Thus the
whole of the Soudan lying south of the Sobat
and Bahr-el-Ghazal Rivers, together with the
greater part of Darfur and Kordofan, has been
declared closed for the present — a vast area of
some 400,000 square miles being set aside
for the benefit of the game. In Uganda
the Sugota reserve has been for several years
an accomplished fact ; in British East Africa
the Kenia sanctuary has not only been estab-
lished, but has since undergone a careful
investigation, resulting in a prompt rectifying
of several defects, while a large area to the north
of Mount Kenia has also been declared closed.
In British Central Africa there are the Elephant
Marsh reserve (established 1896) and the Lake
Shirwa reserve. Even in devastated South Africa
it appears that it is not yet too late to save some
of the animals : the Sabi sanctuary promises to be of
real service, and contains many rare species (such
as the southern giraffe),^ while a refuge for the
gemsbok and Cape hartebeest is to be established
near Warmbaths.

Eminently satisfactory as this new state of

1 Measures for the protection of this beast appear to have been
taken only just in time : indeed it appears doubtful whether the
typical Cape race is not already extinct. The southern giratles now
obtained are said to differ considerably in coloration from the tawny,
dark-blotched specimen presented to the National Collection by Lord
Derby many years ago. This example was long exhibited to the
public in the British Museum, and many persons will well remember it.

THE TRUE QUAGGA I7I

things must be to all naturalists, it is sad
to reflect that had such steps been taken
earlier, far more might have been done. Perhaps
it would have been too much to expect the early
settlers of 1652- 1800 to have prevented the
extinction of the blaauwbok ; at first, indeed,
they seem to have been afraid that the wild
beasts would exterminate them !^ It seems, how-
ever, regrettable that the once abundant white
rhinoceros should have been almost utterly exter-
minated south of the Zambesi during the last fifty
years, while the loss of the beautiful true quagga
of Cape Colony, the Orange River Colony, and
Griqualand West is even more to be deplored, for
it seems that with a little protection it could easily
have been saved, and might even have become a
domestic animal.

The true Quagga [Eqims quagga) stood about
4 ft. 6 in. high at the withers. In general pro-
portions it resembled a stout pony, and the mane,
and tail and hoofs were semi-equine. The body
colour was rufous brown, becoming fulvous
posteriorly, and fading to white on the abdomen,
legs, and tail. The head was of a bay colour, striped
with brown, in zebra fashion. The neck was orna-
mented with broad bands of dark brown, alternating

1 Governor Tulbagh records in his diary that on one occasion it
almost seemed as if the lions would take the fort hy storm ! Hippo-
potami were common on the present site of Capetown, and the
abundant (black) rhinoceroses made hay of the settlers' crops.

172 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

with narrower white ones ; these markings began
to fade at the withers, but were continued more or
less indistinctly as far as the haunches, which bore
a few indefinite dark lines and spots. The up-
standing- mane was banded with brown and
white : the tail reached to the hocks, and was
pure white without any admixture of brown.
The iris was orange brown in Lord Derby's
female quagga, as figured from life by Waterhouse
Hawkins,

The Quagga was first mentioned by Tachard
about the middle of the seventeenth century,
under the name of '* wilde esel " (wild ass), though
the absurd creature he describes, blazing with
tints of pyrotechnic brilliance, has little resem-
blance either to the original or to anything else.
Some years later Dr. Allamand published a
description received from Col. Gordon of a
quagga foal : this account being reprinted by
Buffon. Gordon's description was accompanied
by a sketch, and to him rightly belongs the
credit of introducing the animal to the notice
of scientific Europe. Edwards supposed the
quagga to be the female of the mountain
zebra, but this error was corrected by Dr.
Sparrman towards the end of the eighteenth
century. The doctor further states, in his book
of travels, that the quagga was sometimes
kept alive by the colonists to protect their flocks

THE TRUE QUAGGA I 73

from the attacks of wild dogs^ and hyeenas, and
also mentions the specimen now in the Stockholm
Museum, Le Vaillant seems to have seen the
animal in the wild state about 1781, though he did
not obtain any specimens. In those early days
it was remarkably abundant, ranging the spreading
plains in vast herds of many hundreds, often
mixed with black wildebeest and ostriches.

The quaggas probably grazed stretched out in a
great semi-circle, like other wild asses, and it must
have been a beautiful sight to see hundreds
of these animals spread over the flower-
bespangled veldt, their handsome striped heads
closely applied to the fresh green grass, and
their snowy tails whisking to and fro, while
eagrles, hawks, and other birds floated above
them in the cloudless azure. Harris' famous
" Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals
of Southern Africa " includes an interestinsf
sketch of several quaggas drawn from life on
their native veldt. The nearest animal stands on
the edge of a little pool fringed with graceful
rushes : close by are three or four others — ap-
parently basking, after drinking, in the early rays

1 Tlie Cape hunting dog (Lycaon jiictus) is a long-legged, parti-
coloured brute, which hunts in regular packs. These ferocious hounds,
formerly preying on antelopes, became the terror of the Cape farmers,
whose sheep they would massacre in sheer bloodthirstiness. // the
old stories arc true, the quagga showed a higli degree of courage in
facing animals able to conquer the lion. Bay horses, liowever, are
noted usually for their spirit : and this tint entered largely into
the coloration of the quagga !

174 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

of the morning sun. In the middle distance is
seen a troop of springbok, the prominent chestnut
Hne ornamenting their flanks being excellently
rendered : two of these buck are rejoining the
herd after drinking. Further away are seen more
quaggas, the main troop being dimly recognisable,
spreading out in characteristic crescent formation
as its component members begin to graze. A
single rocky hill rises in the ocean-like expanse,
its outlines swimming in hazy perspective on the
boundless horizon.

The quagga like many other animals had
the curious habit of swarming at the salt
pans to lick the salt. These pans are vast
depressions, gleaming with crystallized efflor-
escence, and curiously recalling the salt lakes
of Algeria. Harris has left a clever sketch
of one of these saline tracts, the impression of
free boundless space and sparkling atmosphere
being capitally rendered. In the foreground are
seen a couple of small pools, whose moisture
encourages a scanty growth of trees and shrubs :
a few antelopes are resting near the water or
careering over the plain, whose parched condition
is well shown by the cloud of dust thrown up by
their flying hoofs : the horizon is blurred in the
shimmering heat-haze, through which loom in-
distinctly the grotesque forms of some three or
four ostriches. My own picture reproduced in

A BALT LAKE ON THK IIUUTE TU THE .SAHARA.

THE TRUE QUAGGA I 75

this book represents the Chott Tinsilt, a salt
lake on the route to the Sahara : seen in the
early morning, with the sunlight on its blue
waters and the purple mountains behind, it is
a sight to be remembered.

The pace of the quagga was said to be fleet, ;
though laboured : wounded animals bit and kicked '
severely and even inflicted fatal injuries on
incautious hunters. According to Sir John
Barrow it was often taken alive by lassoing,
just as the Boers of to-day take Burchell's zebra
with the fangstock or noosed stick.

Extending as far south as the Albany
district in Cape Colony, the range of the quagga
was limited to the north by the Vaal River,
beyond which it was replaced by Burchell's
zebra, its faithful comrade the black wildebeest
being similarly replaced by the blue wildebeest.
The quagga seems to have shown some
tendency to variation in the different portions
of its habitat, some individuals having the ground
colour of the head, neck, and chest chocolate
brown, while in others it was chestnut, and
portions of the example preserved at Vienna are
creamy buff. In 1817 Dr. Burchell presented the
skin of a young quagga to the British Museum,
and this specimen was thought so remarkable that
Hamilton Smith considered it a new species,
under the name of "Isabella quagga," an error

176 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

afterwards corrected by Dr. Gray. Darwin, in
his "Origin of Species," mentions a figure of a
quagga, in which the legs (usually pure white)
were distinctly barred above the hocks. There is,
however, very little material left on which to base
any conclusions regarding the variations of Equus
quagga. Careful examination of several museum
specimens has, however, convinced me that the
mane of the female quagga was longer than that
of the male.

During the last ten years it has become
the fashion amongst naturalists to describe
the quagga as little more than an extreme
southern variety of Burchell's zebra. They
point out that beyond the Vaal River the quagga
was replaced by a subspecies of burchellii which
in its white legs and abdomen approximated to
the half-striped condition of the quagga. This
variety of zebra is itself almost, if not quite,
extinct : one, however, is preserved in the Derby
Museum at Liverpool, and I have had the good
fortune to see and photograph a young btirchellii
in the Amsterdam Zoo having the legs almost
free from stripes. Intermediate vai-ieties between
the partially and the fully striped condition may
be seen in the menageries at Antwerp and Berlin.
These facts notwithstanding the quagga is a per-
fectly distinct species, recognisable from burchellii,
as I have recently found, by differences in the skull.

THE TRUE QUAGGA 1 77

The history of the decline and fall of the
quagga is as follows :

Thunberg in 1773 met with it on the flats
adjacent to the Zwartkops River, near the
present site of Port Elizabeth. It then enjoyed
a practically undiminished range, living out its
life as it had previously existed — harmless and
unharmed — for centuries. The first sign of
the recession of the true quagga may be recog-
nised in an observation made by Thomas
Pringle in 1820. Pringle was not only an
intimate friend of Sir Walter Scott, but was also
himself a poet of considerable distinction : with the
true regret of an educated man he laments the
almost total disappearance of the quaggas and
hartebeests from the open pastures of the Albany
district, which they had formerly enlivened with
their presence. Some twelve years afterwards the
Cape farmers, according to Lieutenant Moodie,
were employing meal sacks made of quagga skin,
this custom persisting till at least fifty years later :
Harris also mentions Boer shoes, home-made from
the skin covering the hocks of this animal. By 1 836
the quagga had become rarer, though still found
on the great Karroo Desert and on the outskirts
of Cape Colony : in the far interior it yet roamed
in immense numbers. The hide-hunting Boers
of 1850-70, however, attacked even the remoter
herds, whose legions began to diminish year by

178 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

year, but little respite being given to the un-
fortunate animals, who were massacred both in
season and out of season without any close time
being afforded them/ According to Mr. H. A.
Bryden the last two quaggas of the Great Karroo
were shot in 1865, near the Tigerberg Mountain :
and the once teeming myriads of the Orange
River Colony only held out a few years longer,
for when the late Mr. T. E. Buckley passed
through their haunts in 1873, ^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^SS^^
had already become " apparently unknown."
According to Mr. Layard, however, dilapidated
quagga skins, unfit for stuffing, were still obtainable
in Capetown as late as 1875:^ but by 1879, at latest,
the true quagga had become quite extinct, and had
gone to join the blaauwbok and the northern
seacow in the melancholy list of departed species. \
So rapidly indeed was the true quagga extermi-
nated that naturalists seem to have been utterly
unaware of its impending fate till it was too late
to try to save it : the Burchell zebra or bonte
quagga also being called "quagga" in South
Africa for the sake of brevity, has led some

1 Wasteful though they were of animal life, these tough old souls
are said to have been quaintly economical of powder and lead, care-
fully cutting the bullets out of their slain quarry to serve again.

2 I have been informed that in this year some " half -striped "
quaggas were still surviving — the last of their race — on a farm in the
Hanover district of Cape Colony. A special inquiry which I made
in 1900 — greatly facilitated by the extreme courtesy and kindness of
the Commissioner of Hanover — showed that neither in Hanover nor
in Cradock can the true quagga noiv be found.

THE TRUE QUAGGA I 79

persons to suppose that Equus quagga is not after
all extinct.^ Unfortunately all reports of the
existence of "that rare animal the quagga,"
published in later years, turn out on investigation
to refer to some species of zebra : the subject of
this essay is as extinct as the dodo.^

The extermination of the quagga is all the
more to be regretted because it seems possible
that it might have been systematically broken in
to bit and harness like a horse, or indeed like its
near relative the Burchell zebra during the last
ten years. The first example which Sparrman
noticed was a very tame specimen, pleased when
anyone stroked its sleek sides and delighting
to be caressed. On a subsequent occasion the
doctor actually saw a quagga driven in the street
harnessed with five horses : and with a rare fore-

1 One gentleman, writing as late as some five years ago to the
scientific papers, to "correct" the assertion that the true quagga
had been exterminated, observed that at the moment of
writing a dead quagga (or its freshly stripped hide) lay outside the
house. After the Boer custom of calling zebras "quaggas" had
been pointed out to him, nothing more was heard of this "proof" of
.survival. Even in August, 1900, a tradition was current at Port
Elizabeth that the true quagga was still preserved on a single farm in
the north-west of Cape Colony : perhaps the animal had been
confused with the black wildebeest under private protection in Victoria
West. Any enthusiast wishing to investigate the truth of this
rumour is welcome to attempt it : one can prophesy the result
beforehand !

2 See also my letter to the Field of June 11, 1904. It may be
mentioned that tlie name "quagga" being derived from the cry of
the animal, should be pronounced kwa-ha (Boer fashion), not
" kwagger," as is invariably done by naturalists in this country. I
remember, when inquiring some three years ago for the specimen of
this animal preserved in the Museum of the Amsterdam Zoological
Society, the Dutch attendant did not recognise the name as rendered
in English fashion. On my pointing out the sjjecimen in its glass
case, he at once recognised it, and pronounced its name " Kwa-ha."

l8o NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

sio-ht far in advance of his ao-e he uro-ed the

o o o

domestication of the species, pointing out that in
his day it could be even more easily obtained than
the horse, that it would of course eat the harsh
grass of the country — its natural food — and that it
would probably be immune from the horse-sickness.
This excellent advice has been seconded by
subsequent writers. Almost in Sparrman's own
words, Harris says : " Doubtless it might readily
be subdued by bit and bridle, and if not capable
of universal distribution, would in its native
regions at least, where food and climate are
congenial, reward fourfold by its services, the
trouble attendant upon its education." Would
that his counsel had been heeded ! The relations
of white men with the true quagga during the
long years that have elapsed between 1772 and
1879 are summed up in one word — extermination 1
A few half tame specimens have been brought
to Europe. The list is as follows :

1. A quagga was kept at Windsor during the
eighteenth century : it was the property of the
then Prince of Wales — probably Frederick, son
of George II. As this individual is said to have
been striped with black (not brown), it has been
thought that the animal may have been a Burchell
zebra.

2. The Royal collection of the Palais de
Versailles once contained a quagga : after the

THE TRUE QUAGGA l8l

Revolutionary mob attacked the palace, the
quagga, together with a hartebeest, a crested
pigeon, a rhinoceros and a lion was sent to the
Jardin des Plantes, these being the only specimens
which escaped destruction.

3. In 1 82 1 Frederic Cuvier described another
quagga in his " Histoire Naturelle des Mammi-
feres." This animal also lived in the Jardin des
Plantes menagerie, and died when about eighteen
or twenty years old. Cuvier says that it was not
inherently vicious, but inclined to be tiresome and
obstinate, and ready on occasion with teeth and
heels ; thus being no more intractable than a
spirited horse.

4. About 181 5 Lord Morton obtained a quagga
stallion and endeavoured also to secure a quagga
mare. He tells us that he intended to domesticate
the species, and it is unfortunate that the attempt
should have failed, a female proving unobtainable.
Lord Morton, however, by means of his quagga
and a mare of J^ Arab blood, bred a curious
female hybrid of a dun or chestnut colour, having
faint stripes on the neck and shoulders and more
pronounced ones on the knees and hocks. The
mane of this hybrid was short and stiff: the tail
though but semi-equine (being haired in the
lower half only), was dark coloured, and not
white like that of the quagga. The hybrid was
apparently a vigorous and sturdy animal, and is

152 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

known to have lived for at least five years
afterwards.

5, Lord Mostyn had a quagga stallion which
he crossed with a chestnut mare : the resultingr
hybrid is mentioned by Charles Darwin, but
nothing more is known about it.

6, 7. At some time previous to 1826 Sheriff
Parkins used to drive two male quaggas {not a
pair as is usually stated) through the streets of
London harnessed to a light phaeton : these
beautiful steeds were often seen in Hyde Park
and other fashionable places, and Agasse's portrait
of one of them still hangs in the Royal College of
Surgeons' Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields.
These quaggas unfortunately died while still in
the prime of life ; their bodies were presented
to Mr. Joshua Brookes, a celebrated naturalist,
whose museum was second only to the famous
collection of John Hunter. The skulls are
preserved in the Royal College of Surgeons'
Museum, while Agasse's portrait has been
perpetuated as a woodcut in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, being employed to illustrate the
article " Quagga," by the late Sir Wm. Flower.

8, 9, 10. Three quaggas (not two as is usually
stated) have been exhibited in the London Zoo-
logical Gardens. The first specimen was purchased
in 1 83 1, and was probably one of the parents
of the quagga hybrids said to have been

THE TRUE QUAGGA 183

driven in harness between the Zoo and Covent
Garden Market, early in the last century. It was
also probably the animal drawn from life by
• Hamilton Smith, and figured in his work on the
Equidse, published in 1841. This animal died at
some time previous to 1838, and its skin may be
that referred to by Sir Cornwallis Harris in 1840,
as being exhibited by the Zoological Society. The
second quagga was purchased in 1851, and died in
the summer of 1872. This individual — a female —
was twice photographed in the last year of its life
by Mr. York, and it has been stated by several
naturalists that these photographs are the only
sun pictures of a living quagga extant. Such,
however, is not the case, as Captain Hayes' work
on the " Points of the Horse " contains a repro-
duction of a photograph of the same individual —
taken by Mr. Frank Haes. A copy of this
photograph, presented to the Society by Mr. Haes,
was exhibited by the Secretary at a meeting held
on May 3rd, 1904. The third quagga was a
male, which was presented to the Zoological
Society in 1858 by the late Sir George Grey, and
had to be slaughtered in 1864, it having injured
itself by breaking down some boarding. It may
be the animal specially drawn by Zwecker for the
figure of the quagga in the Rev, J. G. Wood's
Illustrated Natural History, published during
1861-63 • ^t ^"y ^3-^^ the individual represented

184 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

is obviously a male, from the richness and extent
of the markings, which differ materially from the
paler ornamentations of the female, as shown in
York's photograph. Zwecker has drawn the animal
well enough, but the surrounding bush seems
far too luxuriant, and the water scene does not
suggest a pool on the open veldt, as delineated
by Harris. An enlarged copy of one of York's
photographs of the female now hangs in the new
zebra house at the Zoo.^

II, 12. The thirteenth Earl of Derby had a
pair of quaggas living in his famous menagerie at
Knowsley Hall. The male seems to have been
the individual mentioned by Darwin as being
striped about the hocks — a unique occurrence in
this species, indicating an approach to the zebra
type of ornamentation. It appears to have died at
Knowsley, for on the sale of the menagerie
after the death of Lord Derby in 1851, only the
female animal is mentioned in the catalogue which
was issued by Mr. J. C. Stevens. This quagga
mare was purchased for ^50 by the late Dr. G. F.
Westerman, and was sent to the Amsterdam Zoo-
logical Gardens, where she gave birth to an
equine hybrid (Asiatic wild ass x quagga).

13. The Berlin Zoological Gardens once pos-

1 This photograph has been published as a lantern slide, and was
included in the series of lantern photographs illustrating my lecture
on the "Vanishing African Fauna," before the Selborne Society in
1899. The animal is in a standing position, apparently basking in
the sun, and the characteristic half-striping is well shown.

THE TRUE QUAGGA 1 85

sessed a quagga, but I have no information about
the animal.

14, 15, 16. " Several " quaggas — apparently the
last of their race to be sent alive to Europe — were
obtained about 1870 by Mr. Bols, the Belgian
consul at Port Elizabeth, and forwarded to the
Antwerp Zoo : about the same time a very fine
individual, which had lived several years at Ant-
werp, was purchased by Dr. Westerman for
the Amsterdam Gardens. Had the impending
extermination of the species been realised at the
time, a last effort might have been made to save
the race by breeding from the Antwerp animals,
and so founding^ a menagerie stock : the wild
quaggas then left in Africa were already in a
parlous state, and probably all but exterminated.
This last opportunity, however, was unwittingly
lost : indeed I find that these animals have never
bred anywhere in captivity, and the last of the
imported specimens will by now have died from
sheer old age.^ It was probably the fine Amster-
dam specimen of 1870 which, on its death, passed
as a "duplicate specimen from a Continental
Museum " into the hands of Heer Franks — him-
self resident in Amsterdam. The Dutch Zoo-
logical Society already possessed another stuffed

1 This importation of 1870 is here emphasised, as I have seen it
stated in a recent work by a well known naturalist that in IS64 the
last specimen ever exhibited was received by the Zoological Society.
1864, however, was the year in which the skin and skeleton of the
quagga of 1831 was purchased for the British Museum.

1 86 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

quagga — that purchased at the Knowsley sale —
so that the 1870 animal would in any case be
a " duplicate specimen " — a valuable asset to be
profitably disposed of in the best market.

So much for the quagga in captivity. After
laborious enquiry, it appears that the animal has
never been exhibited in the Zoological Gardens
of Bristol, Cologne, Dublin, Frankfort-on-Main,
Hamburg, Hanover, Lisbon, Marseilles, or Rotter-
dam : therefore, on adding the few odd individuals
formerly taken young by the colonists as curio-
sities (and not by wild beast merchants for export),
the list is completed. It has not seemed worth
while to compile a census — probably imperfect
at best — of the few seen in Africa about the
homesteads of their captors by Sparrman,
Burchell, and others. The following is a list of
specimens in museums, compiled after a lengthy
correspondence with various scientific gentlemen
in Europe, South Africa, and the United States,
and I hasten to express my thanks to them all
in this place. The tale of quagga relics is as
follows :

I. A newly-mounted old skin of a quagga
stallion has been placed in the Mammal Gallery
of the Natural History Museum at South Ken-
sing-ton. It has been stated to have belong-ed to
the male quagga presented to the Zoological
Gardens by Sir George Grey in 1858, but a

THE TRUE QUAGGA 1 8/

careful examination of the skull (i'^) belonging to
the skeleton of the same animal showed me that
it was labelled '' Equus quagga, the specimen men-
tioned in Waterhouse's Mam, of Mus. Zool. Soc.
1838, p. 2,1-" It was purchased with the skin for
the British Museum in 1864. The teeth are
much worn. The specimen is doubtless the first
quagga purchased for the Zoo in 1831. Sir
George Grey's animal was a beast in the prime
of life, slaughtered through grim necessity, owing,
as we have already seen, to its self-inflicted
injuries. The quagga skin which Sir Cornwallis
Harris states to have been exhibited previous to
1840 by the Zoological Society, cannot have
been that of Sir Geo. Grey's specimen : it
probably belonged to the 1838 quagga above
mentioned, or was perhaps a trophy brought
home by Harris himself.

2, 3. I have examined the skulls of Sheriff
Parkins' famous quaggas in the Royal College of
Surgeons' Museum. Both are the skulls of young :
adult males, with the sutures unobliterated, and \
without any trace of the first premolar teeth. |
They were purchased for the College at the
sale of the greater part of the Brookes collection,
in 1828.

4. The Tring Museum contains a beautiful
stuffed quagga mare : the markings are particularly
distinct, and even the hind quarters are ornamented

l88 NATURAL PIISTORY ESSAYS

with definite stripes passing downwards and for-
wards from the croup. I am informed that this
quagga was originally sold mounted by Franks,
but has since been re-stuffed for the Tring
Museum. Perhaps it is the duplicate from the
Amsterdam Zoo already mentioned.

5. The Science and Art Museum at Edinburgh
possesses a stuffed quagga of unknown sex and
locality, obtained in 1879 from a London dealer.
I applied to its former owner, and as he kindly
informed me that one of the Zoo quaggas had
been purchased by him after its death, it is
probable that the Edinburgh specimen is the
quagga mare photographed in 1872 by York. The
photograph represents a much duller coloured
animal than the one at Tring ; the stripes
disappear cornpletely on reaching the middle of
the body, and the hind quarters are absolutely
without maj'kings.

6. The Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical
Society at York contains an articulated quagga
skeleton, which is one of the first natural history
specimens which I ever remember seeing :
unfortunately no data relating to it have been
preserved.

7. The Medical Museum of the Owens College,
Manchester, contains an equine skeleton alleged to
be that of a quagga. I have carefully examined
this specimen, and think it is authentic : the skull

THE TRUE QUAGGA 1 89

shows the stout nasal bones and squarish diastema
which occur in the true quagga and thus differ-
entiate it from the elongated nasals and oblong
diastema seen in the skull of Burchell's zebra,
the only species with which it is likely to be
confounded.^ Unfortunately no history is obtain-
able, thouofh the Medical Museum collection
appears to have been founded by the union of
specimens from the old Manchester Natural
History Society's Museum with others formerly
kept at the Pine Street Medical School, near the
Manchester Infirmary. Horns of other African
animals — Cape hartebeest, blesbok, etc. — in the
same series, as far as they go, seem to support
the authenticity of this skeleton : but all further
inquiry appears useless owing to the death in
1885 of Professor Morison Watson, M.D., F.R.S.,
in whose time the collection of the Medical
Museum was arranged in its present situation.

8. The late Professor Cope formerly possessed
a roughly-cleaned quagga skeleton, which he pre-

1 A few years ago I devoted some time in endeavouring to separate
Emms quagga and E. burchellii by their osteological characters.
The diastema or space between the canine and molar teeth (through
which horse drivers insert the bit) is, when the jaws are closed,
squarish in the quagga and oblong in burchellii. In the quagga the
aperture of the posterior nares is wider and also more rounded than in
Burchell's zebra, as seen in a photograph now before me showing the
two skulls placed side by side. The three quagga skulls in London,
together with that of the male specimen at Leyden, were examined in
connection with this research. Naturalists 01 course have long been
aware of the interest which attaches to the skeleton of the quagga,
the nearest of all recent equines to the extinct Pliocene horses —
Equus quaggoides and E. stenonis — of Europe.

190 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

sented to the Academy of Natural Sciences at
Philadelphia, where it still remains. No data are
known,

9. A half or three-quarters grown quagga stallion
is preserved in the Natural History Museum of
the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, and the late
M. Alphonse Milne Edwards informed me that
he thought it had been brought home from the
Cape by MM. Peron and Leseur. This would
fix 1804 as the date of acquisition by the Museum.
It seems probable, however, that this is the
Versailles specimen (No. 2 on the list of
menagerie animals given above). It is evidently
of great post mortem age, as it has been
provided with the old-fashioned circular glass
eyes used by taxidermists in the first half of the
last century. This example was mentioned by
Frederic Cuvier in 182 1 (" Histoire Naturelle des
Mammiferes "), and is probably the individual
delineated in Cassell's Natural History : at any rate,
though well nigh a century old, it is in excellent
condition, and well worth figuring in any standard
work. The fully adult quagga described by
Cuvier, which lived 18 or 20 years in the
Jardin des Plantes menagerie, is not now in
the collection. " Le Museum ne possede qu'un
seul individu d'Equus quagga.''

10. The Leyden collection contains a quagga
stallion obtained in 1826 on the borders of Cape

THE TRUE QUAGGA I9I

Colony, probably by Dr. Von Horstock : the
perfect skeleton (ioa) of the same individual is
also in the Museum, and by the kindness of the
museum authorities I have been enabled to photo-
graph these very interesting relics.

11. The quagga mare, formerly in the Knows-
ley Menagerie, and afterwards purchased for the
Amsterdam Zoological Gardens, is now preserved
in the zoological museum attached to the latter
institution. It has been very well mounted, the
modelling being very good, while even the
colour of the iris has been carefully reproduced,
as shown in Waterhouse Hawkins' plate of the
same individual during life. The hemione-quagga
hybrid,^ to which this Amsterdam specimen gave
birth, does not seem to be in the museum : perhaps
it died young, and the skin was not preserved.

12. A stuffed quagga is preserved in the Berne
Natural History Museum. The Swiss authorities
are apparently unaware of the great value of their
specimen, and it is the only example I know which
is not protected by glass from dust and injury.

13. The Zoological Museum at Turin contains
a stuffed quagga and its skull (13A), obtained at
the Cape in 1827. Probably this was collected
by Dr. Von Horstock, who is known to have
obtained a quagga at Steenbergen, on June

1 The liemione (Equus hemionus) is the Asiatic wild ass— the
onager of Xenophon.

192 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

1 5th of that year. During the first half of the last
century many European collections were enriched
by the industry of Von Horstock, the British
Museum being similarly indebted to Burchell and
Sir Andrew Smith.

14. The stuffed skin and skeleton (14A) of the
quagga formerly living in the Berlin Zoological
Gardens, are now in the Natural History Museum
of that city : and Dr. Mobius kindly informs me
that the Berlin collection includes further speci-
mens, namely, (15) a quagga skeleton, received in
exchange from the Leyden Museum, and (16) a
skull obtained by Mr. Krebs, in the Orange River
Colony, or near the Liqua ( = Vaal) River. No, 17
is a skull also at Berlin, and probably obtained by
Krebs in or near the Orange River Colony. The
old name of " Liqua "River" being employed to
indicate the locality would seem to show that the
Berlin specimens were obtained previous to 1844,
by which date the term " Vaal River " had come
into general use.

18. There is a stuffed quagga, and its skull
(i8a) at Munich, purchased by Ecklon about 1835.

19. A stuffed quagga is also preserved at Mainz.

20. The Senckenbergian Museum at Frankfort-
on-Main contains a stuffed quagga, and its cranium
(20A) collected in 1831 in South Africa — perhaps
by Dr. Smuts, whose dissertation on the Cape
mammalia was published a year later.

THE TRUE QUAGGA 1 93

2 1. The female quagga, which the authorities
of the Vienna Museum purchased in 1836, is a
very remarkable example, the ground colour of
the head being clay-brown, while the rest of the
upper parts are creamy buff. The dark stripes
are relatively broader than usual, and seem to
extend further towards the hind quarters. This
specimen is also larger than the other quaggas
now in preservation. Unfortunately there is no
skeleton preserved with it. A photo-engraving of
the Vienna quagga appeared in the Proceedings
of the Zoological Society for 1902.

22. Equally interesting is the Stockholm quagga
— the only foetal specimen known ! This some-
what battered example is also the most venerable
of all the quagga relics, having been brought
home by Dr. Sparrman in 1776. A photograph
kindly forwarded to me by Mr. F. A. Smit shows
that the coloration is much the same as that of
an adult quagga : the mane appears to have been
lost. Measurements as published by Dr. Sparr-
man : ears to tail, 31 inches; height at loins,
22 inches.

23. At some time previous to 1862 Mr, A. Dale
of Beaufort West presented a quagga foal —
probably one of the last quaggas of the Great
Karroo Desert — ^to the South African Museum at
Capetown. This animal is also of special interest,
being the only y^«/ now in preservation ' Young

194 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

quaggas, like young zebras, were rough coated :
this point is well brought out in a photograph of
this specimen, kindly sent to me by Mr. W. L.
Sclater : a figure of the same individual was pub-
lished some two years ago in the Cape Times.
The mane of the Capetown quagga seems to be
of an almost uniform brown, with only scanty
indications of the usual white bands : otherwise
the marking's are much the same as in adults.

24. A quagga skin, brought home by Mr. T.
Cooper with other curios in i860, was sent by
him to be sold at Stevens' Rooms about eighteen
years later, and Mr. Cooper suggests that this
may have been the skin purchased in 1879 for the
Edinburgh Museum : but, as has already been
seen, the Edinburgh specimen was probably an
animal which died in the Zoo.

25. On August 22nd, 1899, a "skin of quagga
now extinct " appeared as lot 240 of a series of
natural history specimens sold on that date at
Stevens' Rooms. On inquiry I learnt that the
skin had been sent to be sold by a dealer who
had purchased it with some other curios from a
gentleman returned from abroad, so that it
had probably been imported direct from South
Africa. I have not been able to examine or
authenticate this skin, nor do I know who pur-
chased it at the sale.

The above completes the census of known

THE TRUE QUAGGA 1 95

remains of Equtts quagga} This extinct species
is not represented in the museums of Aberdeen,
Brussels, Breslau, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dresden,
Dublin, Durban, Florence, Geneva, Grahamstown,
Hamburg, New York, Oxford, Prague, Pretoria,
Pietermaritzburg, and Washington. Save for the
few specimens just enumerated, and perhaps some
odd meal sacks of tattered hide yet remaining in
remote Dutch homesteads, it has passed away for
ever.

A miserable history of extermination has
been herein narrated : now for the application
thereof. Immense enthusiasm marked the com-
mencement of ostrich-farming at the Cape in
1865-70 : had similar zeal been exerted, even
at that late hour, to save the true quagga, it
might have been profitably domesticated, and
surely a Colony which has saved the ostrich
for the sake of its feathers — mere ornaments
at best — might have bestirred herself to
preserve the quagga for far more practical
purposes. To enumerate the possible virtues of
a domesticated race of quaggas would be but
slaying the slain ; but it is sad to reflect that

lit appears that the young quagga ( ' ' Isabella quagga " of Hamilton
Smith) presented by Burchell to the British Museum, is no longer in
the National Collection, and has probably been destroyed. Dr. Gray
tells us that it was nothing more than a young specimen, with nearly
all the fur rubbed off. This individual was probably the male of
the pair shot by Burchell's Hottentot attendant, Speelman, at Groote
Fontein, on November 14th, 1811. It was figured in 1841 by Hamilton
Smith in his work on the Equidae.

196 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

the repeated recommendations of naturalist after
naturalist were allowed to pass practically un-
heeded, Sparrman's advocacy of the domestica-
tion of the species has already been noticed : in
1 801 Sir John Barrow observed of the quagga
"It is . . . . well shaped and strong limbed, not
in the least vicious, but on the contrary Is soon
rendered by domestication mild and tractable : yet,
abundant as they are In the country, few have
given themselves the trouble of turning them to
any kind of use," Burchell's vivid description of a
quagga foal which voluntarily followed a horse Into
Klaarwater, allowing itself to be freely handled,
demonstrates clearly enough that taken young the
species might easily have been domesticated.
Cuvier expressed the hope — nay, the expectation
— that it would soon be regularly broken to
harness. He justly observed, "when we consider
that this species is capable of highly beneficial
services In a domesticated condition , , , . we
may naturally be surprised that the Couagga
has been suffered by us to retain its liberty
so long." His hopes were not realised, Harris
in recommending the subjection of the quagga
remarked on the indolence of the colonists in not
essaying so tempting a task. And so on to the
end of the chapter : save for the laudable but
Isolated efforts of Lord Morton, Sheriff Parkins,
and one or two others, no attempt was made to

THE TRUE QUAGGA 1 97

Utilize the splendid capabilities of the animal.
Immune alike from the tse-tse disease and the
horse sickness, the quagga might have served as
an efficient substitute for the horse in unhealthy
localities, as suggested for Grevy's zebra in a
previous chapter : now it is too late. Truly
indeed :

" The evil that men do lives after them.
The good is oft interred with their bones."

It only remains to express the hope that the
fate of the quagga may serve as an object lesson,
and that the recent efforts to protect the remnant
of the South African fauna, as indicated by the
new Government regulations and by the formation
of a Game Preservation Committee at Pretoria,
may meet with lasting success. But if not : Ex
M710 disce omnes !

THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA.

The remarkable little rodents known as jerboas
are mainly Asiatic and African in their distribu-
tion, although a few forms occur also in Europe.
Their extraordinary appearance and quaint habits
together with their small size renders them pre-
eminently suitable as pets, and one species in
particular — the Egyptian Jerboa — is now sold in
such numbers in this country every summer, that
but little apology will be needed for devoting a
few pages to a consideration of its form and
habits.

The Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus orieiitalisj- ozzwrs
in considerable abundance in North Eastern
Africa. It measures about 14^ inches from the
snout to the tip of the tail, only about 6 inches of
this measurement being taken up by the dimen-
sions of the head and body. Rat-like in appear-
ance, sparrow-like in movements, the jerboa's
rotund person is absurdly supported on an
attenuated pair of hind legs, and propped up
when standing by a flexible tail, curved in an
S-shape with the tip closely pressed against the
eround. The head is short, the muzzle broad,
rounded and truncated : the eyes, separated by a

1 A smaller light-coloured species (Dipus jaculus) — the dwarf
jerboa — occurs near Alexandria with the larger one. The dwarf
jerboa Avas aptly described |by Hasselquist as "??t«s aegyj)tii(s
pedihus posticis longissimis."

EGYPTIAN JERBOA.

The forelegs are so .short as to appear absent. In the standing
position the S-shaped tail forms an efficient support.

THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA 1 99

wide interspace, are large, intelligent, and as
beautiful as those of a gazelle. The forelegs are
so tiny, and held so closely pressed to the body,
as at first sight to appear absent : the hind legs
are stilt-like, and terminate in three toes ; the
long tail is betasseled with a squarish and flattened
tuft of elongated hair. The jerboa is one of the
many mammals which suffer at the hands of taxi-
dermists, and of artists who do not draw from
life ; museum specimens are too often wrongly
mounted, the tail being absurdly shown as a limp
and useless-looking appendage, instead of possess-
ing the beautiful S-shaped curve seen in the living
animal. The colour of the Egyptian jerboa is
more or less dark fawn above and white below :
the tail-tuft is black, with a white tip. A glance
at the illustration will show that the Egyptian
jerboa — despite its small size — is as extraordinary
as any of the rest of the extraordinary animals of
Africa — worthy to rank with the giraffe, the
okapi, and the aard vark^ as one of Nature's
vagaries.

Jerboas are desert-haunting animals, and
make their burrows in sandy or clayey soil.
Four longr tunnels convergfe to a central
chamber, which serves at once as a refuge and
a sleeping apartment, and several individuals

1 The Aard Vark is an African anteater, fully described in this
book.

200 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

often share the same retreat. During the
greater part of the day the jerboas remain
hidden in their subterranean homes. They will,
however, occasionally emerge for a short time,
even during hot sunshine, and captive specimens
will snatch a little food at such times. At night
they become very active, leaping and running
with great rapidity : they retain their liveliness
till daylight, when the early traveller may see the
desert alive with jerboas, scudding in all directions.
Ain Chegga, a caravanserai 6 1 kilometres from the
oasis of Biskra, on the northern edge of the Sahara
Desert, is famous for its jerboas, which abound
in the vast treeless basin where the caravanserai
stands.^ These animals are said to be good
eating, and are much appreciated by the Arabs,
who take them by stopping up three of the
entrances to their underground nest, and netting
the fourth : on the central apartment being
broken into, the animals bolt into the netted
burrow, and are easily taken. The fennec fox
and the caracal lynx are said to prey largely
on these little rodents.

The first jerboa brought alive to England
appears to have been the specimen — living in

1 In 1903 I found the country surrounding the oasis to be almost
absolutely sterile, save for a scanty covering of dwarfed bushes :
the traveller crosses many dried-up watercourses, and observes
numerous ranges of barren, rocky hills. In these regions the
Egyptian jerboa (or an allied species) not only maintains life, but is
exceedingly abundant.

THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA 20I

London — figured by Edwards in his *' Gleanings
of Natural History," in 1758. About thirty years
afterwards Sonnini attempted to bring six over :
but three died, one after another, before he had
left Alexandria, and two more perished during
a stormy passage to Rhodes, whilst the last
survivor was believed to have been killed by
cats after its arrival at that island. One
therefore can well believe that Sonnini credited
the Egyptian jerboa with a very frail constitution,
and can understand his careful directions to
those who might subsequently endeavour to
bring such (supposed) delicate subjects to
Europe. In later times, however, dozens of
these little creatures have been safely imported :
a male jerboa was received at the London
Zoo in September, 1861, being the forerunner of
a long list of specimens since exhibited there :
some young ones were born in the Gardens on
April 27th, 1 87 1. At the present day these
animals are captured in great quantities for sale
in Europe as pets, and may be seen in the dealers'
shops. The following account is from observa-
tions on about a dozen individuals living in
captivity during 1903-04.

After leaving its sleeping-apartment at twilight,
the jerboa sits quietly outside its box for about ten
minutes or longer — wide awake, but motionless,
as if meditating. The animal then commences

202 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

its toilet, polishing up its little face assiduously
with the tiny forepaws, and paying much attention
to its tail, the terminal tuft of which is most care-
fully smoothed and also parted down the middle
in the most comical fashion. The animal also
stretches itself at full length on the floor of its
cage, the hind legs being first extended far behind
the body, and then flexed in a most surprising
way, so as to extend beyond the muzzle. Food
is the next consideration : millet seed, crushed
oats, and green stuff are taken readily, the food
being held between the front paws in true rodent
fashion. Jerboas drink by rapidly scooping the
water into their mouths with the tiny forepaws :
this action is very difficult to detect, as it is
executed with such rapidity that a careless ob-
server would conclude that the animal was lapping
with its tongue like a dog.

After toilet and refreshment comes exercise.
The animal runs lightly about its cage, moving each
leg alternately with such nimbleness as to recall
the graceful walk of some shore-frequenting bird,
and abruptly stopping here and there to examine
some object in its path. If a scrap of food be
found, it squats down to eat without more
ado — then flits on like a shadow in the fast-
gathering gloom, more like a wee sprite than an
animal. With increasing darkness the jerboa

THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA 2O3

becomes yet more lively, frisking and dashing
about with marvellous speed.

These animals when turned into an out-door
enclosure progress by a series of tremendous leaps,
the long tail streaming behind to act as a counter-
poise to the forwardly-directed head and body.
When allowed full liberty, they bounce over the
ground as if made of india-rubber, making springs
six or seven feet long, and escaped animals may
have to be recaptured by strategy, since the light-
ning speed at which they travel renders direct
pursuit hopeless. Jerboas are very fond of
ploughing up the sand or sawdust of their cage
with their snub noses,^ and heaping it up into
little mounds : they also are very destructive to
woodwork, rasping persistently at the same place
night after night, till a large ragged hole has been
gnawed in the wood. When nibbling at an object
near the floor these animals lie almost prone and
turn rapidly this way and that, their gleaming
white bellies recallino- the struo-orles of some
silvery fish, a semblance heightened by the rapidly-
jerking tail. Tame jerboas become bold enough
to nibble their owner's fingers : they do not,
however, relish being picked up, kicking and
struCTorlingf and inflictinsf incidental scratches with
the long claws on the hind feet. These animals

1 The nostrils of the Egyptian species are protected during this
ploughing operation by a thickened fold of skin.

204 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

seldom bite, though an escaped jerboa which
has run into a hole will nip the finger if
grasped incautiously : they often grunt if dis-
turbed when asleep.

Few persons, on viewing the disproportionate
length of the fore and hind limbs in these animals,
would suppose them to be good climbers. Never-
theless, scrambling up the wire fronts of their
cages is a favourite amusement of captive indi-
viduals, and they will jump off quite recklessly
when they have climbed up as high as they
can. A fine female who broke her leo- from
this habit persisted in struggling up again with
one limb rendered useless, and in spite of this
wilful behaviour did not die for a week
after the injury, eating well, and hopping about
during the interval. Jerboas can climb curtains,
and they will also scramble down from a consider-
able height, as if trusting to the sand of the
desert which they once inhabited, to break their
fall.

A mysterious disease is quite prevalent amongst
jerboas. The affected animal becomes pro-
gressively emaciated week by week, though it
still runs about as usual, and will feed even up to
within twenty-four hours of its death. The fur
in good health is wonderfully sleek and glossy :
in sickness the coat becomes rough and staring,
and though the wasting of the body may not be

THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA 20$

evident to the eye, the invaHd's legs and tail will
be seen to be woefully thin as compared with
those of a healthy jerboa. These animals often
die one after the other of this wasting complaint,
so that it may be directly communicable from a
sick to a healthy animal. A post-mortem exam-
ination made on the body of one victim revealed
no obvious changes in the viscera. The zoo-
logical pathologist in the investigation of this
disease will find a new field for his labours.
Tubercular disease on one hand or coccidiosis^ on
the other, may be responsible for the mortality.

Apart from a liability to this disease, jerboas seem
to be tough enough : and when in health they
require no more care than so many rabbits. Their
appetites are hearty, and they will readily take
crushed oats, millet seed, bread, cabbage, and
lettuce, whilst water should also be given them —
in an unspillable vessel, as damp surroundings
are injurious to these denizens of the hot Sahara.
All woodwork must be protected from their
mischievous teeth by a lining of sheet-iron, but
they may be allowed to exercise their jaws by
stripping the bark from a branch thrown into the
cage. Sand or sawdust should be freely sprinkled
over the floor of their compartment, sawdust (as
being warmer to the animal's feet) being prefer-

1 Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease due to the presence of minute
sporozoa in tlie liver or intestine, and is so fatal to rabbits, that it
might prove useful in reducing the Australian rabbit plague.

206 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

able in a northern climate. Sleeping accommo-
dation may be conveniently provided by means of
a tin box, lined with dry grass, and having a hole
cut in one side to allow the ingress and egress of
the jerboas : a wooden box will be speedily
gnawed into fragments. By way of affording
amusement and occupation to the animals, a little
dry hay or old sacking may be placed on the floor
of the cage : the jerboas will, after speedily gnaw-
ing the former into fragments, and teasing out
the latter into shreds, carry both impartially into
their bedroom, to serve as a couch. In con-
sideration of their active habits, these animals
should be allowed plenty of room and a run nine
feet long by three feet broad will not be found at
all too large for a pair ; the cage should not be
lofty, lest the jerboas injure themselves by jumping
off the wire front after ascending to a considerable
height.

If well fed and warmly bedded jerboas can be
wintered indoors without artificial heat : damp
alone appears injurious to them and makes them
lethargic and even semi-torpid. It would probably
be easy to acclimatise the Egyptian jerboa in
England, since a specimen which escaped on
February 4th, 1903, and was found killed by
a dog two days later, had its stomach full of
vegetable fibre, showing that it was well able to
look after itself Such an experiment would, how-

THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA 207

ever, have no practical object, unless indeed as
introducing a new food animal ! Besides, the
animals might prove inconveniently prolific, and
the story of the Australian rabbit plague needs
no repetition to enhance its value as an object
lesson.

Treated as menagerie exhibits jerboas might
be kept out of doors all the year round in a very
large enclosure, with a floor of cement or other
impermeable material covered with a few feet
of gravelly soil, so that the animals could burrow
without escaping : one or two snug indestructible
metal boxes, warmly lined with hay, might also
be provided for sleeping in, as an alternative
to the burrows constructed by the jerboas. In
an enclosure of generous size the animals could
forage for themselves : but if the commissariat
were to break down, food might be easily given
in the ordinary way. Visitors to the Jardin
d'Acclimatation, at Paris, may remember how
well the prairie dogs and Patagonian cavies
flourish under such an out-door r^Hiue. It is
probable that so hardy an animal as the present
species would do as well if not better than
either of the species just mentioned, and that
it would increase and multiply, living happily
in a state of semi-freedom as one who has
found "a home from home," rather than as a
stranger in a strange land. At any rate, such an
interesting experiment would be well worth trying.

THE AARD VARK.

The splendid Zoological Gardens of most
European capitals are an important factor in the
spread of education. To Englishmen the London
Zoo, founded in 1828, is the most familiar of
these institutions : but there are many flourishing
sister establishments dotted over the Continent of
Europe. The menagerie at Paris in connection
with the Jardin des Plantes is the oldest of all,
having been founded as early as 1809 by M.
Geoffroy St. Hilaire.

The Amsterdam Zoological Gardens was also
established many years ago, being founded in
1837 : it has several times been enlarged and
now extends over more than twenty-five acres.
In 1902 this menagerie contained many rare
species, including the maned wolf of Brazil, the
Australian echidna or porcupine anteater, and the
lesser bird of Paradise from New Guinea. Antwerp
again has a fine zoological collection and amongst
its exhibits may be mentioned the European bison
and the West African short-horned buffalo. The
maofnlficent Berlin Zoo with its rich series of
25,000 living creatures, is well worthy of the
great nation of students which it represents :
the naturalist will find much to interest him in

AARD VAPvK.

Killed near Durban and now in the ^lancliester Museum.

THE AARD VARK 209

this incomparable exhibition, which includes the
musk ox, the Cape zebra, and other rarities.

No province of the management of these
numerous institutions demands more resourceful-
ness than the task of obtaining the rarer animals,
together with the due care of them when
they have arrived at their destination. The
haunts of most species are so remote that the
mere journey thither forms a considerable item
in the expenses, and even when arrived at
the spot the traveller's efforts may be hindered
by war, fever, or the difficulty of transport.
Hence many creatures (such as the cobego or
flying lemur) remain practically unknown, save as
museum specimens. Other animals are of a
delicate constitution, and too frequently reach
Europe only to die, e.g., the gorilla, the slender
loris, and the elephant shrew.^ Others again
cannot be suitably fed on the voyage, so that
they are never sent over — the Australian mar-
supial mole for instance. The members of one group
of animals — the anteaters — seem to perversely
combine in their constitutions the several diffi-
culties which perplex the wild beast merchant
en rotite and the purchaser after arrival. Not
only do these anteaters inhabit remote regions,
whence it is costly to bring them, but being
accustomed to live in a hot country they require

1 Four elephant shrews — animals exceedingly rare in captivity —
were safely landed in England in June, 1904.

2IO NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

careful protection from the muggy climate of
Europe : whilst the task of providing proper
food for them, especially on the voyage, is a
tax on the ingenuity of the most accomplished
naturalist. The American species consist of the
great anteater ( Myrmecopkaga jtibata), the tam-
andua anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla), and the
two-toed anteater (Cycloturus didactylus). We
also include in this category the African ant-
bears, for although not closely related to the
American forms, they are equally difficult to
bring over and to maintain in confinement after
arrival. The African anteaters consist of two
forms : the Ethiopian ant-bear (Orycteropus aethi-
opicus) and the Cape ant-bear (O. afra), known
to the Dutch as the Aard Vark.

The Aard Vark — goup of the Namaquas —
takadu of the Basutos — isambane of the Swazis
and Zulus — measures from five and a half to
six feet from the tip of the snout to the tip of
the two foot tail, and stands one foot two inches
at the shoulder,^ being about the size of a large
pig. The elongated head ends in a swine-like snout :
the ears are large and naked : the tapering tongue
can be protruded several inches from the mouth,
is worm-like and covered with viscid saliva.
The neck of the aard vark is very short : the

1 As no shoulder measurements of the aard vark have hitherto
been published, the above is taken from the mounted example in the
Manchester Museum.

THE AARD VARK 2 I I

body is stoutly built, and is supported by
muscular though stumpy legs : the feet are
provided with strong claws. The tail, thick
at the base, is cylindrical in section, and tapers
gradually to a point, thus resembling that of a
marsupial : indeed, when sitting erect on the
tripod formed by its hind legs and tail, this
anteater does resemble a clumsy caricature of a
kangaroo, the similitude being heightened by the
long face and pointed ears. The general colour
of the hide is brownish, tending to reddish
on the back, and becoming orange below : the
skin is sparsely covered with bristly black hair,
more abundant in young adult animals, though
the newly boi-n aard vark is flesh-coloured
and quite hairless. It may here be mentioned
that the Cape ant-bear is readily distinguished
from its Ethiopian cousin by its straight facial line
and thick elongated nose, which contrast markedly
with the shelving forehead and attenuated snout
of the northern species. The weight of a Cape
ant-bear, which died in London many years ago,
was stated by Dr. Crisp to be about 90 lbs.

The aard vark is the " Earth Hog," first
described by Kolben in 1733. Pallas also
has left a description of a very young one,
which was preserved in the Museum of the
Prince of Orange in 1788. Young animals have
the tail relatively shorter than in the adult :

212 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

Otherwise, save for the absence of a hairy
covering, there is no striking difference between
the external characters of the young and those
of their seniors. A very young example is
preserved in the Royal College of Surgeons'
Museum,

The first specimen seen in Europe appears
to have been the skin (accompanied by a sketch
of the living animal) sent over by Col. Gordon :
while in 1812 another individual was exhibited
stuffed at Bullock's Museum (now the Egyptian
Hall, Piccadilly). Probably one of the oldest
examples noiv in preservation is that brought
home in 18 14 by Dr. Burchell.^ It is exhibited
in the Mammal Gallery of the Natural History
Museum, at South Kensington, and does not
seem to have deteriorated much in spite of its
great post viortem age : it is badly stuffed,
however, for the taxidermist has not reproduced
the archinor of the back, so characteristic of the
Orycteropodidae? Since Burchell's day the Cape
ant-bear has been briefly noticed by many writers
— Moodie, Smith, Harris, and a host of others — -
but on account of its nocturnal habits is even
yet but little known. Apparently, however, the
animal is still abundant, as travellers have reported

1 This specimen will be found figured in the Rev. J. G. Wood's
"Illustrated Natural History."

2 Burchell's specimen is probably a young adult, judging from the
fairly thick coat of blackish brown hair : in old animals the coat
becomes scanty.

THE AARD VARK

213

that acres and acres of land may still be seen
riddled with its holes.

The chief interest attaching to the aard vark in
the wild state is due to its burrowing powers.
Owing to its immense strength the animal can
sink into the hardest soil, tearing away with
its forefeet and throwing the earth rapidly back-
wards with the hind ones. It frequently com-
mences its burrow at the root of some bush,
the branches of which will effectually screen
the aperture ; but if not satisfied with the site
abandons its labours, and seeks some other situa-
tion. Once hard at work however, the animal
digs with great energy, tunnelling along for
perhaps thirty feet before finally excavating the
roomy chamber which will serve as bedroom
and citadel combined. Living armadilloes can
generally be seen at the Zoo, and anyone who has
observed the enormous strength and energy which
these little edentates put into their burrowing
operations will readily comprehend that such
will-power and muscle, multiplied five-fold in
the case of the aard vark, is not readily out-
manoeuvred. Moodie indeed states that one of
these ant-bears, whose hind foot had been noosed
in a thong, could not be dislodged from its burrow
by four or five men : and it has repeatedly been
found that the task of digging out an aard vark is
arduous and exhausting, the labour continuing for

214 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

hours, and the anteater progressing at least as fast
as his pursuers can dig.

The ant-bear employs its great claws not only
in carving out its subterranean home, but also
in obtaining its food. Although so bulky an
animal, it subsists entirely on termites — the
so-called " white ants " — which are only too
abundant in Africa, where their destructive habits
constitute them a veritable plague. There are
many species of these insects, which live together
in colonies, and inhabit elaborately-constructed
ant-hills encased in a hollow clay shell of
varying shape and size, some being conical
and others domed. The mounds often attain
a height of ten feet, and are extremely hard,
besides being so strong that they will support the
weight of a buffalo, a mounted man, or a giraffe.
On breaking through the external wall of sun-
baked clay, the ant-hill proper is seen to be a
wonderful structure, honey-combed with galleries,
and containing in the centre of all the queen ant,
a loathsome creature about two or three inches
long, whose head and thorax are but of the usual
size, though her white abdomen is hugely swollen
with eggs, which she can lay at the rate of sixty
per minute, or eighty thousand a day ! The tasks
of the ant-hill — excavation, foraging, and so forth
— are done by the swarming population of worker
ants, which though of very small size can employ

THE AARD VARK 215

their saw-like mandibles in a very business-like
and destructive fashion, as many an African
traveller has found to his cost/ The soldier ants,
though forming but a hundredth part of the
community, are nevertheless of great importance.
They protect their fellow-termites, and are even
better armed than the workers, their huore and
heavy heads being garnished with sharp pincers
which they do not hesitate to use as fighting
weapons, hanging on with a bull-like tenacity
which does not relax even in death. Perhaps,
however, the most remarkable fact about these
insect communities is the circumstance that all the
individuals composing them are blind, so that they
prefer to work in the dark, making little covered
passages along which to travel when outside the
anthill : if kept exposed to sunlight, they die.

The ant-bear takes little account of the
termites' stronghold, whilst his thick hide is
abundant protection against the bites of its warrior
sentinels. With his great claws he tears down
the side of the external dome, its stony hardness
dissolving into powder before so powerful an
attack : then penetrating to the citadel thrusts
his long snout into every crevice and cranny,
swallowing the termites wholesale, his twelve-

1 I have recently seen the remains of the square lintel of a door
(formerly built into a Government Office, at Jamestown, St. Helena)
completely ruined by termites. These destructive insects had
tunnelled great galleries in the wood, and had reduced it to a ragged,
unsightly mass.

2l6 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

inch tongue being covered with a glutinous
secretion, to which they adhere Hke sparrows on
a birdlimed twig. Thus an animal which, seen
amid the unnatural surroundings of a menagerie,
appears ridiculous in shape and awkward in
movements, when allowed to follow its natural
inclinations at once exhibits the most beautiful
adjustment of structure to environment. The
claws of the aard vark make short work of the
sun-baked walls of the anthill : the elongated
snout is a perfect instrument for exploring
the recesses of the termite city : whilst the
stout tail forms with the hind legs a tripod,
supported on which the ant-bear tears down the
toughest ant-hill with ease and rapidity. Finally,
the long ears quicken the sense of hearing, so that
no foe can steal unawares upon the ant-bear
engaged in its task.

In consideration of its nocturnal habits, its
great strength, and the difficulty of supplying it
with proper food, to say nothing of the Herculean
task of extricating it from its subterranean strong-
hold, it Is not surprising that the aard vark is
but seldom brought alive to Europe. The
first living specimen ever seen in England was
the fine male received at the London Zoo-
logical Gardens in June, 1869. This individual
had been taken at Port Elizabeth, near Al^oa
Bay, and was purchased for ^150. The food

THE AARD VARK 217

problem had been so satisfactorily solved during
the voyage by a liberal diet of raw pounded meat,
that the animal arrived in London in splendid
health : he was followed in October of the same
year by a female obtained in the same locality,
and a third example was deposited in the Gardens
in 1872. The original specimen lived at least ten
years in England : in 1870 he was given a male
Ethiopian ant-bear as a companion, the two
bachelors agreeing well together, and affording
naturalists the only opportunity hitherto recorded
of comparing the two species of African ant-
eater side by side during life.^

During 1900-02 no less than ten aard vark
were offered for sale, but although duly adver-
tised by their owner nothing further seems to be
recorded of any of the members of this very large
series. The labour of capturing and feeding this
great number of troublesom.e animals must have
been immense, and that so many were offered
speaks well for the perseverance of those con-
cerned in the enterprise.

It will have already appeared from this essay
that the inconvenient size and high price of these
animals together with the great difficulty of
managing them will effectually prevent them from

1 The Ethiopian aard vark is even rarer in captivity than the
Cape species, but tlie Paris Museum of Natural History contains a
fine example of the former which died in the Jardin des Plantes
menagerie.

2l8 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS

becoming at all common in captivity : the food
question also is an important matter. It is true
that the aard vark has been kept in excellent
health on a mixed diet of fresh raw minced meat
and bread and milk, with an addition of raw
eggs, but a daily supply of such food obviously
requires considerable trouble in preparation
besides being somewhat expensive into the
bargain : the ordinary menagerie animal — monkey
or deer — is satisfied with a much less complex diet.
Although thus unsuited to the ordinary lover of
strange pets these ant-bears from their grotesque
appearance and rarity are extremely interesting ;
and are desirable additions to the Gardens of
learned Zoological Societies whose resourceful
care and painstaking attention will suitably main-
tain them.

Sherratt and Hughes

London and Manchester

1904.

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