“The Gemsbok was destined by nature to adorn the parched karroos and arid deserts of South Africa, for which description of country it is admirably adapted. It thrives and attains high condition in barren regions, where it might be imagined that a locust would not find subsistence, and, burning as is its climate, it is perfectly independent of water, which, from my own observation and the repeated reports both of the Boers and aborigines, I am convinced it never by any chance tastes. Its flesh is deservedly esteemed, and ranks next to the Eland. At certain seasons of the year they carry a great quantity of fat, at which time they can be more easily ridden into. Owing to the even nature of the ground which the Oryx frequents, its shy and suspicious disposition, and the extreme distances from water to which it must be followed, it is never stalked or driven to an ambush like other Antelopes, but is hunted on horseback, and ridden down by a long, severe, tail-on-end chase. Of several animals in South Africa which are hunted in this manner, and may be ridden into by a horse, the Oryx is by far the swiftest and most enduring.”
In his ‘Hunter’s Wanderings’ Mr. Selous gives us an excellent account of the range of the Gemsbok about twenty years ago. He says (p. 212):—
“The Gemsbuck is almost entirely confined to the arid deserts of South-western Africa. In the Kalahari desert, to the west of Griqualand West, it is fairly plentiful, and on the road leading along the eastern border of the desert from Kuruman to Bamangwato it is occasionally to be met with, becoming plentiful if one penetrates into the waterless country to the westward, but being unknown to the eastward, of the road. Along the waggon-road leading from Bamangwato to Tati there are a few Gemsbuck above Pelatsi, Serule, and Goqui, and they are sometimes to be met with on the upper course of the Macloutsi, Shashi, and Tati rivers. A few sometimes even wander as far eastwards as the Ramokwebani river. On the road leading from Tati to the Zambesi Gemsbuck are not often met with, but a few are occasionally to be seen in the neighbourhood of Thammasanka and Thammasetsi. A little farther westwards, however, in the neighbourhood of the great saltpans, they are numerous, as they are also in all the country between the saltpans and the Botletlie river, whilst to the west of that river, right through the desert into Damaraland, they are said to run in large herds. Where I have met with them, the country has either been open or covered with stunted bush, and along the waggon-road from Bamangwato to the Mābābe their northern range seems to be limited by the heavily-timbered sand-belts, which run east and west immediately to the south of that river, and into which the Gemsbuck does not penetrate. North of the Mābābe, in the direction of the Chobe, although many parts of the country appear well fitted for it, the Gemsbuck is unknown.
“So far as my experience goes, the Gemsbuck is far from being the fleetest or most enduring Antelope in South Africa, and in these respects cannot be compared to the Tsessebe or Hartebeest. I do not think it is either fleeter or more enduring than the Sable or Roan Antelope; and I have myself run one to a standstill without firing a shot, and I know of several other men having done the same thing. The horns of the cow become longer than those of the bull, as a rule; the longest pair of the former I have ever seen measured 3 feet 10½ inches, and of the latter 3 feet 6 inches,”
Mr. H. A. Bryden, writing in 1889, describes the Gemsbok as then “very nearly extinct in the Cape Colony.” Seven or eight years previously two of the last had been shot in the north of Calvinia, near the banks of the Orange River.
Mr. W. L. Sclater, Director of the South African Museum, Cape Town, writing of the present distribution of the Gemsbok in South Africa, informs us that, according to the statistics of the Agricultural Department, there are about 5000 Gemsboks still existing in Bechuanaland between Namaqualand and Kenhart. There are also said to be plenty of these Antelopes still to be found throughout the German South-west African territory and the western part of the Kalahari Desert. North of German South-west Africa, we know from Capello and Ivens, and other Portuguese authorities, that the Gemsbok is also found in Mossamedes and in the adjoining arid districts of Southern Angola.
The Gemsbok is very rarely seen in captivity, and we are not aware that living examples of it have ever been brought to Europe. Mr. Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, who has had great experience in such matters, informs us that he has never seen this animal alive.
There is a fine mounted pair of the Gemsbok in the Gallery of the British Museum, obtained by Mr. F. C. Selous in the Bamangwato District of Bechuanaland, and a frontlet and horns procured by the same enterprising hunter on the Botletli River. Besides these there are several older stuffed specimens, as also some heads and skins, of which the exact localities are unknown.
Our figure of the Gemsbok (Plate LXXXIII.) was drawn on the stone by Mr. Smit from Mr. Wolf’s sketch, but it is, unfortunately, impossible to ascertain from what specimen it was taken.
May, 1899.