THE MUSK ANTELOPE. 629 



which it v.'ill cross successfully even when the stream is deep, strong, 

 and rapid. The animals are probably induced to take to the water by 

 their instinctive dread of the lion and leopard, which will never volun- 

 tarily enter the water, except under peculiar circumstances. The Water 

 Bucxs are generally found in small herds, which never wander far from 

 the banks of some large river. The horns of this species are remarkable 

 for their formation, being somewhat lyrate, bent back, and thrown for- 

 ward at their extremities. The tail is rather long, and is covered with 

 long hairs toward its termination. The flesh of this animal is very 

 powerfully scented, and is of so bad a flavor that none but a hungry 

 Kaffir will eat it, and even he will not do s(j until forced by dire hunger. 

 This peculiar scent is probablv variable in potency according to the 

 season of the year, as is the case with all perfumed animals. Captain 

 Harris says that those which he has killed have been totally uneatable, 

 not even the native palate being proof against the rank flavor. The 

 scent extends to the skin, which exhales so powerful an odor that when 

 Captain Harris was engaged in cutting off" the head of one, he was com- 

 pelled to desist. The calves, however, according to Schweinfurth, are 

 very good eating. 



GENUS NEOTRAGUS. 



The Musk Antelope, Ah-otrngus moscliatus, — the only species — is 

 a native of Abyssinia and Eastern Africa, where it be , s the name of 

 Beni-Isracl, or " Children of Israel." It is one of the tiniest of ante- 

 lopes, being hardly fourteen inches in height at the shoulder, and is so 

 slightly made that it appears too fragile to live. Its legs are long, and 

 not thicker than a lady's finger, the body is covered with fine long hairs, 

 which are gray at the base, but a warm red at the top. A broad white 

 stripe runs above and below the eyes. The hoofs and tear-bag are 

 black. The male has a little pair of horns with ten to twelve rings, and 

 pointed tips bent forward, and almost lost in the thick shock of hair in 

 which they grow. Like some of its kindred, it lives in pairs, or in 

 families consisting of the parents and their off"spring. 



It is found in the mountains as high as six thousand feet above the 

 sea. It lives in the densest thickets, where the larger antelopes cannot 

 enter, and it can pass through the narrowest clefts of the rock. 



