ANTELOPES. 



14:* 



general air of the head, and the shape of the muzzle, 

 ears, and horns, is liovine ; but the horns are annu- 

 lated to within a short distance of their points. The 

 neck, shoulders, and outline of the croup are also 

 modelled like those of the ox, and there is a 

 sort of rudimental dew-lap between the fore-loirs ; 

 but the animal is more clean and compact in the 

 body, and the legs are larger in proportion. The 

 proper locality of this species appears to be to the 

 north of the Great Desert, but, like the other inha- 

 bitants of the plains bordering upon that, it appears 

 to have been much more numerous in former times 

 than at. present. 



Though several of the more delicately formed 

 antelopes which are met with in the countries about 

 the sources of the Nile, are probably varieties of the 

 gazelle, yet there arc others, which, though they have 

 some analogy to that species, have very marked dif- 

 ferences. 



S(EMMERING'S ANTELOPE. (A. Scemmcringii) is a 

 very beautiful species from the eastern parts of Abys- 

 sinia. They live in pairs upon" the low hills, and par- 

 tially in the bushes, so that their habit does not agree 

 wiihthat of the gazelles. They have very long and slen- 

 der limbs ; their necks, heads, bodies, ears, and, indeed, 

 horns and tails are so light and slender as to give 

 the impression of feebleness ; and though there is an 

 enlargement of the haunch, which indicates that they 

 can leap with some alacrity, there is no indication of 

 their being able to scour the open waste like the 

 ga.ze!Ie. The throat, belly, and insides of the thighs 

 and legs are pure white, the whole of the upper part 

 cream yellow, and the face variously marked with 

 black, brown, and rust colour, but with a white stroke 

 down each side, as in the gazelle, though in front of the 

 eye rather than across it. The muzzle and crown are 

 both narrow, which gives a lozenge shape to the 

 face ; the horns rise parallel and near each other at 

 their bases, then they bend outwards till they are 

 nearly horizontal, and again inwards at the points. 

 They are annulated to near the points. The females 

 have the horns rather smaller and smoother, but in 

 other respects they are like the males in appearance. 

 The hair upon the body is very short and glossy, and 

 turned many ways, so that though really all one co- 

 lour, the animal appears shaded in stripes. 



It is possible that some of the small and lightly 

 formed antelopes, of which menagerie or museum spe- 

 cimens have at different times been brought from the 

 zone between the 10th and 1.5th degrees of north 

 I ititude in Africa, and which have never been seen 

 in a state of nature, are varieties of the species now 

 mentioned. There seems at least some probability 

 of such being the case with those which have been 

 called A. for/ex and A. adenntn. The shape and 

 size of horns are, at all events, very unsafe grounds 

 of distinction. It is true that the effect of climate 

 upon the horns of ruminantia has been no more 

 studied than its effect on their colour ; but there arc 

 effects, even within small geographical limits ; and 

 they are so strong, that they suffice to distinguish 

 the cattle and sheep of the different districts of 

 Britain. 



The MADOQUA (A. Saltiana). This is a neighbour 

 of the former, and is said to have nearly the same 

 habits ; but it is very different in size and in many of 

 its appearances. It is not above two feet long; only 

 tiff ecu or sixteen inches in height ; its body, head, 

 and neck are slender, and the cannon bones of the 



legs are hardly thicker than a goose-quill. The horns 

 are slender, annulated, in the plane of the face with a 

 very slight bend forward, and they arc about three 

 inches in length. Between them there is a pointed 

 tuft of hair, about half their length, which at a 

 distance has something the appearance of a third 

 horn. The female has the tuft, but wants the horns. 



This delicate little creature (certainly the smallest 

 and by much the lightest of horned mammalia) is as 

 beautiful in its colours as it is delicate in its form. 

 The face, forehead, coronal tuft and legs are deep 

 red, not so rich and glowing as many of the reds in 

 the feathers of birds, but more so than in the hair of 

 any other of the mammalia. The rest of the upper 

 part to the haunches is squirrel-gray, or gray pro- 

 duced by alternate portions of bluish-black and white in 

 the single hairs, excepting the middle of the back,which 

 is reddish-brown. The posterior part of the haunches 

 round the tail is white, the hair rather produced and 

 radiating from the tail as a centre. All the rest of 

 the under partis white. [In describing the under part 

 of a quadruped, whether one of the mammalia or not, 

 it is understood to mean the throat, breast, belly, and 

 inxidcs of the legs. The outsides of the legs belong 

 to the upper part.] 



There is Still another antelope, differing with the 

 locality, or there are two or three species of antelopes, 

 agreeing in almost every thing except size and 

 colour, and not differing more in these respects than 

 some other varieties of the same species do, inhabit- 

 ing the southern skirts of the great African desert, 

 probably the whole way from the Red Sea to the 

 Atlantic. These animals extending, as they do, over 

 a range of 'nearly two thousand miles, may be sup- 

 posed, even though identical in all their characters, 

 to get different names in different places ; and indeed, 

 with the exception of those species which, from their 

 resemblance to these animals are called wild oxen, or 

 wild goats, it is probable that the names of all the 

 gregarious antelopes on the borders of the desert, 

 have the same meaning as "gazelle." The species 

 in question is 



The DAMA (A. damn*), which certainly has been 

 found of larger size and different in colour in the 

 eastern part of the range than in the western. The 

 former, found in Upper Egypt and Nubia, has been 

 called ADDRA (A. addra) ; and the latter, from the 

 country farther west M'Hona(yl m'horr). There was 

 indeed a third account anterior to these two, founded 

 upon an immature specimen brought from Senegal 

 by Adanson. These animals are gregarious in their 

 habits, fleet in their motions, and firm and elegant in 

 their shape. The legs are long ; the neck long and 

 curved, with a contrary flexure ; and there is a white 

 spot at the most prominent part of the curve on the 

 throat. The horns are very peculiar ; they are strong 

 at their bases, inclined slightly back, and annulated ; 

 and in the remainder of their length are smooth, and 

 recurved forward so as to form complete hooks. 



The m'/iorr is about four feet in length, and stands 

 about two feet and a half, the hind legs being a little 

 longer than the fore ones. The length of the horns 

 is about nine inches, including the hooks. The 

 colour of the under part, from the neck to round the 

 insertion of the tail, is white, and there is an oblique 

 band of white across the hip. The head is bright 

 fawn-colour, with some black hairs at the bases of 

 the horns, more produced than the rest. The re- 

 mainder of the upper part is of a rich reddish-brown. 



