140 



ANTELOPES. 



rnarkable differences that can be made the foundation 

 of popular descriptions, we shall refer at least all the 

 northern varieties of what is sometimes termed the 

 gazelline group to the gazelle itself. The chief of 

 these are, the KALSEEPEE, "black tail" (A.Bennettii), 

 of the rocky parts of southern India, which is formed 

 like the gazelle, only a little longer on the legs ; the 

 ARIEL (A. Arabica), seen in the southern parts of 

 Arabia, generally like the gazelle, only more elegant 

 and darker in the colour ; the ABU, and perhaps a 

 few more. The KEVEL (A. Kevclla) should, perhaps, 

 be included ; but as it is found in Senegal, south of 

 the great desert, that may seem to involve a little 



difficulty. The difficulty in a great measure vanishes 

 when we consider that in ancient times there was 

 fertile land all the way from the mouth of the Nile 



ciated circumstances, one of the brightest as well as 

 the most instructive pages in the book of natural 

 history. 



The subject, (though much has been attempted and 

 done of late years,) is one which we know only at a 

 few points. But we know enough to convince us how 

 interesting the whole must be, and also to give us 

 the hope that the channels of general knowledge 

 may soon be opened through that wide and wonderful 

 country. The termination of the Niger, the proxi- 

 mity of some of its branches to those of the Nile, 

 and of its sources to those of the Senegal and the 

 Gambia, render it not unreasonable to conclude that 



ere very lon: navigations may be opened from Alex- 

 andria to the Gulf of Guinea and to Senegambia ; 

 and when this is accomplished, we shall be able to 



to Senegal, without any known interruption of more | take the lion in his den, and give the whole wealth 

 than a few hours' march for a gazelle ; and that, in the of Africa, scientific and possessional, to civilisation 

 parts of the line which have now become barren, the and enjoyment; and for the mutual benefit of the 

 gazelle is among the animals most frequently sculp- people of Africa, and of all the other parts of the 

 tured upon the ancient monuments 



That gazelles 



should migrate when the countries over which they 

 pass are in progress toward the desert state, is neither 

 improbable nor unlikely. When the desert begins 

 to be formed, the surface, and of course the vegeta- 

 tion upon it, becomes saline ; all the antelopes are 

 fond of salt, which seems to be one of the chief 

 inducements which draws them to desert places. The 

 chamois hunters know that they will find their game 

 where the rocks are saline, or salt water oozes out of 

 the ground ; and the antelopes in India lick the 

 efflorescence of saltpetre, with which the naked soil 

 there is often covered. 



The CAMBING OUTANG (A. Su>natrensis),is a native 

 of the island of Sumatra, is called the wild goat there, 



world, of which Africa forms the centre, and should 

 be the point of connexion. At present we can only 

 " hope and inquire on ;" and it is cheering to reflect 

 that the field is rich and ample ; and that they who 

 observe the details on the spot, and they who gene- 

 ralise those details, are equally, though in different 

 ways, speeding the grand result. 



Antelopes are not the only ruminantia of Africa ; 

 but they are by far the most numerous both in species 

 and in individuals. They are not now so numerous 

 in the colony at the Cape, or upon its confines, as 

 they are represented to have been in former times, 

 when swarms of lions toiled in vain to keep down 

 their numbers ; and the depredations committed by 

 the prey were more formidable in the eyes of the 



lives on the rocky mountains, and has many of the | more distant settlers than the power and ferocity of 



habits of the goats. It is about four feet and a half 

 in length, and half the same in height to the shoulder ; 

 the back is a little rounded, but, as is the cfte with 

 all the mountaineers, it stands nearly equal on all 

 the legs ; the forehead is straight, the muzzle well 

 formed, the ears are of moderate length, the horns 

 about six inches,'stout at their bases, but tapering to 

 the points, and slightly curved backwards. The body 

 is stout, the legs muscular, and the hoofs rather large. 

 The hair is long, generally of a blackish brown 

 colour; but white on the nape, and partially on the 

 shoulders, and the insides of the ears ; and straw- 

 coloured on the chin. They are said to live in small 

 flocks, and to be very shy and difficult to come at. 



Those which have been slightly noticed are all the 

 leading, and indeed all the well-established, species 

 of antelopes in America, Europe, and Asia. It is not 

 improbable that there may be other species in them 

 all, except Europe ; and indeed other species have 

 been named and described ; but as that has been 

 done from fragments, and sometimes from small and 

 mutilated fragments, and as the living animals are 

 not known, the-y do not at present belong to popular 

 natural history. 



It now only remains, therefore, to take some no- 

 tice of the antelopes of Africa, which may be regarded 

 as the grand home and head quarters of the tribe ; 

 and were we in possession of data, by means of 

 which we could trace and follow them in all their 

 varieties and migrations, from the shores of the Me-, 

 diterranean to the Cape of Good Hope ; and from 

 Cape Guardafui on the est to Cape Verd on the 

 west, we should no doubt find the antelopes of Africa, 

 with their accompanying animals, and other asso- 



the preyer. Still they are very numerous, and many 

 of them flit en masse from where the drought parches 

 to where the rain brings vegetation ; and from what 

 has already been said of the habits of antelopes, it 

 will be borne in mind that those which congregate in 

 such numbers, must, at all points and stages of their 

 migrations, be inhabitants of the plains ; for animals 

 do not change their habits when they migrate, they 

 migrate because they cannot change them. Here, 

 therefore, is one point in African geography, as 

 clearly demonstrated as if eye-witnesses had been on 

 the spot. " There are, throughout a great range of 

 latitude in central Africa, plains which are capable of 

 supporting countless millions of grazing animals, 

 numbers, in short, vastly greater than we know or 

 ever heard of in a state of nature, in any other region 

 of the globe." It, in fact, resembles the fertility of 

 the sea more than the comparative sterility of the 

 rest of the land : the antelopes, and some accompany- 

 ing animals, arrive like shoals of herrings ; and the 

 lions follow, as the predatory fishes do those shoals, 

 and appear not to make much more impression. The 

 conclusion is irresistible : " There must be in central 

 Africa immense tracts of land, which would better 

 repay skilful culture than any other land on the face 

 of the globe." The " passenger pigeons" of North 

 America, though probably more numerous, though 

 not so extended in their part, are not a parallel case ; 

 they only prove the vast abundance of wild berries ; 

 and where these are superabundant, the land is never 

 either the most kindly for grazing, or the most valu- 

 able under the plough. 



This instance is given to show the reader, who is 

 not accustomed to reflect upon such matters, the vast 



