OF THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS. 55 



male sex only, we shall not fail to observe the influence of the character deeply marked 

 in the different effects which it produces on the ceconomy of these two classes. We 

 shall find the hornless females remarkable for their extreme gentleness and timidity ; 

 we shall find the males participating more or less in these attributes in all cases, but 

 especially among the Deer kind at the period of shedding and renewing their horns ; we 

 shall find both sexes more remarkable for cunning and circumspection than for courage 

 or force of character, trusting their safety to flight or stratagem rather than defence ; 

 cautious in all their actions, extremely suspicious of strange objects or appearances, and 

 detaching sentinels to the outskirts of their encampments, to give timely notice of the 

 approach of danger, in the unguarded moments of feeding or repose : finally, we shall 

 find them either perfectly monogamous, or residing in small detached families, composed 

 of a single adult male and a variable number of females, with the young of one or two 

 preceding seasons, occasionally uniting into numerous flocks for the purpose of migra- 

 tion, but always resuming their family habits when this necessity is satisfied, and ad- 

 hering throughout life to the same sexual attachments. The cause of all these phse- 

 nomena is evidently to be found in the defenceless situation of the females, which com- 

 pels them to place themselves permanently under the guidance and protection of the 

 better armed sex. Did they reside in large herds and hold miscellaneous intercourse, 

 the bond of social union between the sexes would be comparatively weak, and the males, 

 having little personal interest and no individual attachments, would show little spirit 

 in defending the females. But in small famihes the case is different : long famiUarity 

 and privity of sexual intercourse produces attachment, if not affection, in the mind of 

 the male ; he guards his family with jealousy, and defends them with courage. 



On the other hand, those Ruminants which are distinguished by having horns in both 

 sexes, are as bold, daring and independent, as the others are gentle, timid and irreso- 

 lute. Tliese reside generally in large herds, have a community of sexual intercourse, 

 contend fiercely for the possession of the females, rarely attach themselves to particular 

 individuals, and often exhibit a degree of stupid and brutal ferocity, in other respects 

 foreign to the character of herbivorous animals ; the old males frequently abandoning 

 the herd after the rutting season to live in savage and morose solitude. The vindictive 

 and malicious character of wild cattle, of the Ariiee of India, the Buffalo of the Cape and 

 the Bison of America ; the fierce and resolute spirit with which the Gnoos, and even the 

 common Gazelles defend themselves when wounded, or unite to repel the attacks of wild 

 beasts ; the known danger of approaching the Gemsbok of Southern or the Algazel of 

 Northern Africa, the 



Cornua acuta ferens, animisque ferocibus iram, 

 Formidandus Oryx, homines ferasque lacessens, 

 of Oppian, are a few of the many instances which might be produced in proof of this 

 distinction. It is not here meant that all Ruminants wliich have horns in both sexes 

 are on that account necessarily gregarious ; this is, nevertheless, the general rule, 



