ANTELOPES. 



137 



hood of the hunters, their hunting ground is so ex- 

 tensive, their paths are so difficult, and they are for 

 great part of the year so inaccessible, that it is very 

 probable they do little more (if as much) than capture 

 those individuals which would otherwise perish from 

 casualties. 



The SAIGA (A. coins). Though this species must 

 be considered as originally and properly Asiatic, yet 

 it not only straggles in considerable numbers into 

 those portions of the middle latitudes of Europe which 

 may be said to have an Asiatic character, but re- 

 . mains in them all the year round, shitting its locality 

 with the seasons. It frequents the arid plains or 

 steppes, which, interrupted only by the valleys of the 

 rivers, extend from the Danube to the Don ; and it 

 reaches eastward into Asia, as far as the same climate 

 and character of land continue. Its food is the sa- 

 line and other pungent plants which are found in 

 these arid tracts ; and it never resorts to the marshes, 

 the woods, or the mountains. It is a true antelope, 

 having none of the climbing habits of the goats, and 

 none of their peculiar odour ; but still, from the na- 

 ture of its food, its flesh is unpalatable. 



Thtfy have poves or follicles in the groin, lachry- 

 mal sinuses under the orbits of the eyes, and (the 

 mules only) have the horns round in their section, 

 annulated, and spiral. The horns are semi-transpa- 

 rent, of an amber colour, and much esteemed in the 

 arts. The size is about equal to that of the fallow 

 deer, but the body is thick, bunchy, and not so com- 

 pact. The head also is large, and the nose promi- 

 nent and cartilaginous. The legs are long but dis- 

 proportionally slender, considering the thickness of 

 the body ; and though the animal runs fast for a little 

 distance, it soon loses wind, and is not difficult to 

 capture. In the covering of its body, it is tempered 

 to the plains which it inhabits, its hair being long and 

 flowing, white on the under part, and yellowish grey 

 on the upper in summer, but fading into dirty white 

 in the winter. When the latter season begins to set 

 in in the northern parts of their haunts, they assemble 

 in numerous flocks, and migrate southward, and when 

 spring returns they break into small parties and re- 

 trace their steps northward. The period of gestation 

 is six months, and the kids are not dropped before 

 the end of May, against which time the plants by the 

 margins of the little streams on the steppes are in full 

 verdure ; so that, living dispersedry, they find plenty 

 of food till their young are able to follow them on a 

 wider range, when the saline plants appear, farther 

 into the wilds. They are much hunted for their 

 horns and skins, but their flesh is but little esteemed. 



The antelopes of Asia and Africa are far more 

 numerous than those of America and Europe ; and 

 as there are extensive regions in both those quarters 

 of the world, yet in a great measure unexplored, it is 

 probable that future observation may increase the 

 number in both. On the confines of those two por- 

 tions of the globe we may suppose that some of the 

 antelopes will pass from the one to the other, and 

 thus be the same in both ; but in proportion as their 

 principal localities lie farther apart, we may, from the 

 climatal and other differences, conclude that the an- 

 telopes will not have exactly the same characters in 

 both. This is the more likely from the different 

 structures of their other animals. The elephants of 

 the two are distinct species, having peculiar structu- 

 ral differences ; and although the point has not been 

 so well made out, it is probable that tHe lion also is 

 not quite the same. 



The CHIRU (A. Hodgsonii}. This is a mountaineer, 

 or, at all events, an upland inhabitant, though it pre- 

 fers the wide plains to the forests or the rocks. Its 

 native locality is on the elevated plains which stretch 

 along the northern side of the Himalaya mountains, 

 in Thibet, and probably in countries farther to the 

 north ; but it has not been found on the Indian side 

 of the mountains. The plains which these animals 

 inhabit are very peculiar in their character; for 

 though they are near the perpetual snow on the 

 loftiest mountain tops in the world, their climate is in 

 general mild, though seasonally the snow storms 

 are very violent. The animals of such regions, 

 especially those that keep the open plains during the 

 storms, have their covering adapted to ther locality. 

 They have a coat of long and strong hair which 

 throws off the snow, and a short and soft under gar- 

 ment of wool, which keeps them warm. This is the 

 case with the chiru, which, though it comes further 

 down in winter, braves the weather in the open plains 

 all the year round. 



The chirus have no lachrymal sinuses, no poves in 

 the groin, and no knee tufts, and the females have 

 no horns. They are rather large animals. From the 

 muzzle to the horns measures nine inches, from 

 thence to the tail four feet three, and the tail is about 

 eight inches long. The height of the back is about 

 three feet, and the animal stands nearly equally high 

 on all its legs. The lips are hairy, the nose enlarged, 

 with a knob on each side ; and the horns of the male 

 are about two feet long, lyrated in their curve, and 

 annulated" to within five or six inches of their points 

 by about twenty projecting rings which are most 

 prominent in front. The belly and inner surfaces of 

 the legs are white, the fine wool over the body gray- 

 ish-blue, the coarser hair fawn-coloured at the points, 

 and bleaching to a paler shade in the winter. The 

 face, the muzzle, and a streak down the front of each 

 leg are dark brown or black. The females have only 

 two teats, and they are understood to produce but one 

 young one at a birth. 



They are social at all seasons, living in consider- 

 able herds, being under leaders and posting sentinels 

 like deer. If danger approaches, or an alarm is 

 given by the sentinels, they make off with much 

 speed; but if the males are so surrounded that they 

 cannot retreat, they stand at bay, and defend them- 

 selves with great courage. 



The COMMON ANTELOPE, or SASIN (A. cervicupra). 

 This is another species which is properly Asiatic ; and 

 though it has been said to exist also in some parts of 

 Africa, the fact has not been satisfactorily made out. 

 Its principal locality is India, over the whole of which 

 it is distributed in all places that are adapted to its 

 habits. It shuns equally the desert, the forest, and the 

 mountain, taking up its abode in the rocky plains, 

 where it bounds along with great agility and grace. 

 In its leaps, which appear to it mere play rather 

 than exertion, it is said to rise at least twelve feet from 

 the ground, and clear a horizontal distance of thirty 

 feet. 



And its form is as graceful as its bound is fleet. It 

 is not a very large animal ; but it is remarkable for 

 the symmetry of its proportions and the liveliness qf 

 its expression : round and firm in the body, ele- 

 gantly formed in the haunches, clean and elastic in the 

 limbs, and bearing the head and neck with singular 

 grace. Its length is about four feet, and its height 

 to the back two and a half; the tail is about half a 

 foot long and nearly naked ; the cars arc nearly the 



