242 RUMINANTIA. 



remarked, that the horns of the Strepsicerae and the sheep are 

 twisted in opposite directions. 



A. Stepsiceros. The KUDOO. 



This magnificent animal is found in South Africa. It is one 

 of the largest of the Antelopes, being upwards of eight feet long, 

 and four feet high at the shoulder. The horns of the Kudoo, for 

 which it is most remarkable, are nearly four feet long, and beau- 

 tifully twisted into a large spiral form, of about two turns and a 

 half. A bold ridge runs over the horns and fbllowstheircurvature. 

 (Plate VII. fig. 15.) The leading color is a bright fallow-brown, 

 with a narrow white stripe along the spine. In its external aspect, 

 the animal more nearly resembles the ox than the Antelope. 

 Although large and heavy, it can leap with wonderful activity. 

 The weight of the horns is considerable, and in part to relieve 

 itself from that weight, and in part also to keep the spreading horns 

 from entanglement in the bushes on which it lives and feeds, the 

 Kudoo usually bends its head back and rests its horns upon its 

 shoulders. When closely pursued, it takes to the water, and 

 seeks to escape by its power of swimming. 



A. oreas.. (Gr.oQEtdg, oreias, of the mountain.) The ELAND, 

 or the BOSELAPHUS, (ox-stag.) of the ancients. 



We have in this animal the largest of the Antelopes, measur- 

 ing eight feet two inches in length, and full five feet in height at 

 the shoulder being quite as large as a good sized horse. It has 

 very thick, nearly straight horns, about a foot and a half long, 

 and covered, for the most part, with a thick spiral wreath. The 

 ears are large. A protuberance, of the size of a man's fist, 

 appears on the larynx ; from this organ, the animal probably de- 

 rived the name of Eland, (as it is called at the Cape Colony.) 

 When full grown, it weighs from seven to nine cwt. ; and, contrary 

 to the usual rule observed among Antelopes, is commonly ex- 

 tremely fat. The flesh is more highly prized than that of any other 

 animal in South Africa. The Eland is mild and inoffensive in its 

 disposition, so that a man may penetrate into the very midst of a 

 herd without alarming them. Being quite heavy, the great ob- 

 ject in hunting this animal, is to turn the game in such a direc- 

 tion as to drive it close to the residence of the hunter before it is 

 killed; and the Cape farmers, it is said, "very frequently succeed 

 in accomplishing this masterpiece of South African field sports." 



A. picta, (painted.) The NYL-GHAU. 



This large and magnificent Antelope is about the same size as 

 the GnoOj standing about four feet high at the shoulder. It is 

 found in the forests of N. W. India, ranging thence as far as 

 Persia. The face of this species is long and narrow, surmounted 



