I774* Novembj
the beautiful genus of gazelles or antelopes *, and thé
different names which have been improperly given to its
fpecies, have hitherto not a little contributed to obfcure
our knowledge of them. A number of the fierceft beafts
of prey likewife infeft the Cape, and the colonifts can never
be at fufficient pains to extirpatè them. Lions, leopards,
tÿger-cats, ftriped and fpotted hyaenas, (Pennant s Syh. of
Quadr.) jackals, and feveral others, live on the numerous
» W e can only except a few fpecies found in India, and other parts of
Afia, and one in Europe. The, different fpecies at the Cape are remarkable, ,
feme for the elegance of their fhape, tome for their colours, their horns, or th e ir
fize. T h e Coodoo, or Kolben’s back ohm namcn (goat without a name), from'
whence the name o f M. de Buffon’s Condoma is probably derived, is the ftrep-
ficeros of Linné and Pallas, and its height is that o f a horfe. Its leaps are faid-
to he of an aftonilhmg height. T h e Cape elk o f Kolbeh, Pallas’s antiltpi oryx,.
is about the fize o f a flag. T h e bom'e bociis the A . fcripta of D r. Pallas, T h e
antelope which they improperly call a hart or flag at the Cape, is the A . bubalis ■
of Pallas. T h e Egyptian antelope, Linné’s and Pallas’ s gaztlla, and M . de
Buffon’s pafan, is here called gems-bock or chamois, Which it does not in the
leaft refemblc. T h e blue antelope, [blauuie bock) is really o f .a blueifh colour,,
but when killed foon lofes the velvet-like appearance of its fur. T h e fpring-
bock, a beautiful fpecies, named A . pygargus by Pallas, live in vaft herds in the'
interior parts of Africa, and travel to the fouthward in the fummer feafon, in
fearch of food, attended by many lions, panthers, hyænas, and jackals, which;
prey upon them. Ô f this fpecies we had the honour to prefent one to H e r
Majefty alive. T w o fmall fpecies, with feveral varieties not hitherto, noticed;,
fupply the principal inhabitants with venifon of a fine flavour. Their fize is
that of a fawn of the fallow-deer. T h e . duyktr, or diving antelope, fo called
from hiding iifelf among the b.ulhes when puithe1, and only emerging from time
to time, is not yet fufficiently known, and the animal named a roebuck here,
likewife deferves the farther attention of travellers.
fpecies
■
fpecies o,f antelopes, on hares, jerbuas, caviæ, and many N0V'E’2B'ER.
lefTer quadrupeds with which the country abounds. The
number of birds is likewife very great, and among them
many are arrayed in the brightefl colours. I cannot help
mentioning, in confirmation of Kolben’s accounts, that we
have feen two fpecies of fwallows at the Cape, though
the Abbé de la Caille cenfures him for fpeaking of them,
becaufe they did not occur to himfeif. The Abbé alfo
commits a miftake with regard to the knorhan, which is
not a gelinote or grous, as he calls it, but the African
buftard. Upon the whole, it would he eafy to refute al-
moft every criticifm which the Abbé has paffed on Kolben,
if a work of fo little merit deferved fa much attention.
Reptiles of all kinds, ferpents, (among which are many
whofe bite is mortal,') and a variety of infefts fwarm about
the Cape ; and its fhores likewife abound in well-tafted
filh.es, many of which are not yet known to the natural-
lift. In Ihort, notwithftanding the many fpoils of the vegetable
and animal kingdom, which have been brought
from Africa, its immenfe interior countries remain almoft
entirely unknown to the prefent time, and ftill contain
great treafures of natural knowledge, which wait the:
future inveftigation of another T h u n b e r g or. another
Bruce,
CHAP.