150 



ANTELOPES. 



that more than four inches are black, smooth, very firm, 

 and keen pointed. The position of the horns inclines 

 a very little forward from the plane of the forehead. 



The colours, especially on the upper part, vary 

 in tint in different individuals ; but the general colour 

 is pale yellowish-brown. The under part, the pos- 

 terior surface of the hips surrounding the base of the 

 tail, the chin, the lips, and a bar over each eye are 

 white ; and the hair on the tail, which is rather thick 

 and bushy, is jet black, which contrasts strikingly with 

 the white around it. The fact of being higher at the 

 croup than the shoulder shows that this animal is a 

 leaper ; and another consequence of its erratic habits 

 is said to be that at no season is there any accumula- 

 tion of fat upon any part of its body. 



The plains of Southern Africa, in which the greater 

 part of the antelopes of that country which have been 

 noticed, find their food and take up their abodes pe- 

 riodically or habitually in flocks, in packs or in a more 

 solitary state, terminate in three different ways, and 

 each of these is marked on the boundary by antelopes 

 of a character somewhat peculiar, or at least different 

 from those found on the others. These are : first, ever- 

 green forests by the banks of the large rivers, arid the 

 antelopes which inhabit there are, generally speaking, 

 of tall stature, with produced, and often elegantly 

 twisted horns, and they feed in part upon the green 

 leaves and branches of trees. Secondly, " the bush," 

 that is underwood or shrubs, which for part of the 

 year are without green leaves ; but among which 

 there is even then dry vegetable food of some descrip- 

 tion to be picked up. The antelopes which inhabit 

 these places are better formed for leaping and of 

 smaller size ; and thirdly, rocks, which are often very 

 abrupt and wild, and the antelopes which inhabit 

 them have a power of bounding and also of balancing 

 themselves upon narrow ledges and sharp pinnacles 

 which is truly astonishing, and leaves them, unless 

 taken by surprise, pretty safe from wild beasts, as none 

 of these can follow them in their boundings from rock 

 to rock ; and it is doubtful whether a cat, with all the 

 flexibility of her spine, could remain for one second 

 upon a point on which one of these wonderful 

 creatures can not only balance itself for several 

 minutes, but from which it can take a new spring, 

 upwards, downwards, or laterally, as may be required. 



But besides the species which have been enume- 

 rated, and some additional species which have been 

 omitted because the accounts of them are not satis- 

 factorily made out, there are certain other antelopes 

 of the South African plains which, in some of their 

 external appearances, and even some of their actions, 

 appear to connect the antelopes with the horse which, 

 as every body knows, is a solid-hoofed animal not 

 ruminant. At first this seems something of an 

 anomaly in nature ; but when we consider that 

 antelopes are the predominant grazing animals of that 

 country, and that where they cease to come their 

 place is taken up by many races, and among the rest 

 by some of the horse genus, as the zebra, the dow, and 

 quagga, we begin to discover that an approximation 

 to these, as well as to the ox and the goat tribes, is 

 necessary to adapt the whole of the races to each 

 other and to their localities, so that no pasture may be 

 unoccupied. Of those antelopes which have a slight 

 trace of the horse in their form, the best known 

 certainly, and probably the most abundant, as well as 

 the most interesting, is 



The GNU (A. Gnu). This species, which some 



systematists make the type of a separate genus, and 

 others include in the great genus . antilope, is by no 

 means so large in size as some of the species which 

 have been mentioned ; but in restless activity and 

 in disposition to do mischief, it is the most conspicuous 

 of the whole. They seem to be continually using 

 their formidable horn?, either in butting against each 

 other, which they do playfully, or in attempting to 

 root up trees and bushes, and gore or fight any other 

 animals that come in their way. The height both at 

 the shoulder and the croup is an inch or two under 

 four feet, and the length from the muzzle to the tail is 

 about six feet and a half. The form of the neck, body, 

 tail and legs, with the exception of the feet, is exactly 

 that of a small, compact, fleet, and strong horse ; the 

 feet are those of an antelope, the head and muzzle 

 have a good deal of resemblance to those of the ox ; 

 and the horns, though somewhat intermediate between 

 those of the buffalo and some other of the antelopes, 

 have so many peculiarities that they cannot be de- 

 scribed by comparison. The head is square, the 

 muzzle broad, the neck rather short, but beautifully 

 arched like that of a fine horse, compressed throughout 

 its length, deep at its union with the body, but much 

 less so at the head ; the shoulders are deep, and the 

 chest ample and muscular ; the body is short, but 

 straight, cylindrical, and very firm ; the croup is re- 

 markably broad, and the breadth is farther increased 

 by a hump of fat on each hip ; the tail is much longer 

 in proportion than that of most antelopes, and it is co- 

 vered with long hair throughout the greater part of its 

 length, and borne flowing, like that of a high mettled 

 horse ; the legs are long and peculiarly handsome, 

 but at the same time expressive of great strength as 

 well as fleetness ; even the ears have a considerable 

 resemblance to those of a horse, which is increased 

 from the peculiar bend of the horns not interfering 

 with them ; the neck and upper part of the back 

 for a short distance are furnished with an erect mane 

 of very hard hairs from four to five inches in length ; 

 there is also some long hair on the under part of the 

 neck, and a large bunch of the same along the sternum, 

 upon which there is a small dewlap. 



The horns originate very near each other in the 

 forehead, a little before the line of the ears. They 

 adhere to that for a considerable part of their length, 

 forming a strong bony frontlet, the two divisions of 

 which diverge till they nearly reach the orbits of the 

 eyes. Just at the orbits they become smooth and 

 form their curvature downward till within a short dis- 

 tance of the nose, and then upwards again till the 

 points are nearly on a level with the roots of the ears. 

 This curved portion, which forms nearly a semicircle, 

 has a bend outwards, so that when the animal is seen 

 directly in front, the eyes appear in the bend of the 

 horns, very bright and glaring. The head, which is 

 so peculiar in form, is rendered still more warlike by a 

 great beard on the chin, mustachios on the upper lip, 

 and a sort of whiskers on the cheeks. 



The females are pretty similar to the males, only 

 the horns are perhaps not quite so large, and the 

 general disposition not quite so mischievous. The 

 females have two mamma?, and it is understood that 

 they have not more than one young at a birth. 



The general colour of the male is deep brown ; 

 and that of the female paler, with an ashen shade ; the 

 hair on the bodies of both being short and smooth, 

 and thus allowing their symmetrical forms, and also 

 the ornamental hair of their manes, tufts, and tails to 



