CHAPTER XXVIII. 



THE GAZELLES. 



THE GAZELLE — ITS BEAUTY AND GRACE — THE ARIEL GAZELLE — THE JAIROU — THE SPRING-BOK — 

 ITS IMMENSE NUMBERS — THE DSEREN — THE SASIN — THE PALLAH — THE SAIGA — THE SUB- 

 FAMILY ANTELOCAPRIN/E — THE PRONG HORN. 



r- w '\HE sub-family Gazellin.^ — comprising six genera — consists of 

 I a group of small or moderate-sized animals, remarkable for their 

 % graceful forms, their lyre-shaped horns, their long-pointed ears, 



and small false hoofs. The tear-bag below the eyes is distinct. 



GENUS GAZELLA. 



The Gazelle, as it ranges the desert, presents a figure so attractive, 

 that the poets of the East have from time immemorial been eloquent in 

 singing its grace, agility, and beauty. The old Egyptians dedicated it to 

 their goddess Iris, the Queen of the gods ; it is the " roe or the young 

 hart " to which Solomon compares his spouse, it is the " roe or the hind 

 of the field " by which he conjures the daughter of Jerusalem. The 

 highest expression of beauty which an Eastern bard can utter is the 

 comparison — " she is like a gazelle as it browses beneath the roses." 

 The Arabs find no words to depict it adequately ; their oldest poems 

 praise it, the wandering minstrels of to-day still sing its loveliness. 



THE GAZELLE. 



The Gazelle, Gazdla dorcas (Plate XLVIII), is not quite as large 

 as the Roe-deer, but is much more finely and slenderly built, and much 

 more prettily marked. A full-grown male stands about a yard high, and 

 measures nearly a yard and a quarter in length. The legs are extremely 

 delicate, and the hoofs small and pretty. Its home is the northeastern 



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