..98 



LETTER, XV11L 



" From rock to rock the swift antelope springs." 



ANON. 

 DEAR SIB, 



I HAVE exhibited to your view the principal var 

 rieties of the sheep and the goat kind, and the ap- 

 proaches they make towards each other by continual, 

 ;md in some respects, almost imperceptible gradations. 

 Nature, indeed, proceeds in her variations by .insciv- 

 gibie degrees, and a line of distinction can sometimes 

 scarcely be drawn between her varying shades, or a 

 discrimination made between two neighbouring tribes 

 of animal life. In almost all transitions, from one 

 kind to another, a middle race is found, which appears 

 to partake of the nature of both, and which yet can- 

 not precisely be classed with either. 



THE GAZELLES, OR ANTELOPES, 



From 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 common 

 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 character- 

 jstics which distinguish this tribe of animals, both 

 from the goat arid the deer, are chiefly these : The 

 horns are annulated, and have longitudinal furrows 

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

 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 mildness of its 

 aspect, the gazelle surpasses the roebuck in the deli- 

 cate formation of its limbs, as well as in the fineness 

 and glossiness of its hair. It is elegant in its shape, 

 and rapid in its motions ; of a restless and timid dis- 

 position; vigilant and vivacious; and^its boundinge 



