THE ANTELOPES. 49 



deer, is still more difficult. In almost all transitions, from one 

 kind to another, a middle race is 'wind, which appears to par- 

 take of the nature of both, and which yet -cannot precisely be 

 classed with either. 



THE GAZELLES, OR ANTELOPES, 



Form one of those connections of animated nature, holding a 

 middle rank between the goat and the deer ; and although they 

 have, by some systematic writers, particularly Linnaeus, been 

 classed with the goat kind, yet some others have considered them 

 as a distinct race ; and, indeed, if they have properties in com- 

 mon with the goat, especially the similitude of their horns, and 

 the circumstance of not casting them, they greatly resemble the 

 deer in other respects. The characteristics which distinguish 

 this tribe of animals, both from the goat and the deer, are chiefly 

 these : The horns are annulated, and have longitudinal furrows 

 running from the base to the apex. Of all animals, the deer kind 

 have the most beautiful eyes, to which the Eastern poets make 

 frequent allusions, in describing the attractive glances of their 

 favourite mistresses. Besides the extraordinary beauty and mild- 

 ness of its aspect, the gazelle surpasses the roebuck in the deli- 

 cate formation of its limbs, as well as in the fineness and glossi- 

 ness of its hair. It is elegant in its shape, and rapid in its motions; 

 of a restless and timid disposition ; vigilant and vivacious ; and 

 its boundings are astonishingly light and elastic. These may be 

 considered as the general characteristics of all the different spe- 

 cies, of which our limits permit us to enumerate only a few, 

 although they are ramified into almost numberless varieties. Of 

 these we shall remark 



THE BLUE GOAT, 



So named from its colour, which is a fine blue, and shines with 

 a gloss resembling that of velvet. Its belly is white, and beneath 

 each eye it has a large white mark : its tail is about half a foot 

 long, with a brush of long hair at the end : its horns are turned 

 backward, and thiee-fourths of the length, from the base, is deco- 

 rated with twenty-four rings; but the uppermost quarter is 

 smooth, and terminates in a point. This animal inhabits the hot- 

 test parts of Africa. 



THE PIED GOAT 



Is an inhabitant of the same country, and large herds of them 

 are seen in the forests and plains of Senegal. It is remarkable 

 for having a white band running along each of its sides, crossed 

 by two others, whence it is called the harnessed antelope. On 

 each side of the rump it has three white lines, in a downward 



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