XXIII 



GAZELLES 



THE Gazelles form the largest genus of the Antelope 

 subfamily. Among the characteristic features of 

 gazelles .should be mentioned the ringed and often lyrate 

 horns ; the presence of face-glands (tear-pits) and a 

 short tail. They are of moderate size in comparison 

 with other antelopes, sandy-coloured with white bellies, 

 dark stripe along the flank and, as a rule, dark face- 

 marks. Gazelles possess one feature impossible to 

 describe either in prose or poetry, the beautiful limpidity 

 of their eyes. They inhabit open and more or less desert 

 districts, but in the "rolling seas of grass" of the Rift 

 Valley they abound in vast numbers ; their sandy 

 coloured coats harmonise well with the tall yellow grass 

 which grows abundantly in the districts frequented by 

 them. Species-making zoologists have endeavoured to 

 separate some of the East African antelopes from the 

 well-known species living in South Africa. When the 

 supposed distinctions come to be critically examined 

 they fail, and in many instances amount to little more 

 than variations in tint. 



Naturalists and others interested in the effects of 

 environment on the evolution of animal form and 

 colour, will be perplexed in Eastern Ethiopia to decide 

 whether the abundance of a particular species of 

 antelope depends on its adaptation to a particular 



environment, or whether they flourish in such favour- 

 as? 



