894 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



The horns are placed wide apart over the eyes, and are sharp, slender, and well 

 ringed, rising nearly vertically with a slight forward bend, but with little divergence. 

 Their cross section is elliptical, and their length from five and one-half to eight 

 and one-half inches. The gland below the eye and the corresponding depression in 

 the skull are wanting. The muzzle is naked; the tail short, broad, fan-like, and 

 bushy; and the hair thick and rather woolly. The color is a light grayish brown, 

 passing into white beneath. 



This antelope is an inhabitant of hilly and mountainous districts in 

 Southern and Eastern Africa, and its habits much resemble those of 

 the chamois. Mr. Drummond states that rheeboc ' ' are never found but on the 

 bare hills among rocks and stones, and their habits of springing are wonderful. It 

 seems extraordinary how their delicate limbs escape injury, when they take bound 

 after bound, like an India-rubber ball, in places that a cat would shudder at. I do 

 not suppose that they are really more shy than some of the other antelopes, but the 

 nature of the ground which they inhabit makes it appear so. That it is hard to get 

 at them no one will deny, and it is equally difficult to drive them, unless, indeed, 

 you happen to know the particular troop, have often seen it, and been accustomed 

 to notice the direction they usually take when disturbed." Rheeboc only descend 

 from the mountain tops and ridges at night for the purpose of drinking. They are 

 usually found in parties of from six or seven to as many as a dozen. From their 

 wary nature, the best way of shooting rheeboc is by driving. At the present time,, 

 although widely distributed, these antelopes are nowhere abundant. 



THE KUPSPRINGER 

 Genus Oreotragus 



Even more active than the rheeboc is the diminutive klipspringer ( Oreotragus 

 saltator} , which derives its name meaning " rock -jumper " from its unrivaled 

 power of leaping from crag to crag. This little antelope stands about twenty-two 

 inches in height, and is characterized by its peculiarly thick and brittle hairs, which 

 are hollow internally. The color of the upper parts is uniform olive. The small 

 straight horns of the male rise vertically from the head and incline slightly forward 

 at their tips; their length averaging only about four inches, so that they are over- 

 topped by the large ears. The hoofs, although somewhat clumsily shaped, are so 

 small that all the four feet could easily stand upon a penny piece. 

 Habits ^ The range f the kli P s P rin ger extends from the Cape through 



Eastern Africa as far north as Abyssinia, and in the latter country 

 these pretty little animals are found as high up as eight or nine thousand feet above 

 the sea. The small size of their hoofs enables the klipspringers to obtain foothold 

 on the smallest projections, and they are consequently enabled to bound up the 

 sides of the steepest cliffs; needless to say, these antelopes are exclusively con- 

 fined to hilly districts. They were formerly abundant at the Cape, but have now 

 become comparatively scarce. Mr. Crawshay writes that " I have never seen more 



