Complex sentence: Cultivation of the Cape Colony and hunting with firearms made short work of the last small herds and the blue antelopes were gone before the early natural history cabinets and museum had a chance to obtain a fair number of specimens.
Split into simpler sentences: Cultivation of the Cape Colony and hunting with firearms quickly destroyed the last small herds. The Bluebuck disappeared before the early natural history cabinets and museums had a chance to obtain a fair number of specimens.