THE ANTELOPES. 335 



THE ANTELOPE. 



The only representatives of the Antelope family, with its 

 many beautiful, curious and interesting species, that can 

 by any stretch of the imagination be brought within the 

 scope of this work are : 



The Indian Antelope (Antilope-cervicapra), whose skins 

 are occasionally used by furriers for various purposes ; The 

 Spring-Bock (Gazella-euchore), which is found in Southern 

 Africa, and whose skins make good glove leather; The 

 Gnu, or Wildebeest (Connochoetes-taurina), the quaint 

 South African animal, with the hoofs of a stag, the head of 

 a bison, the horns of a buffalo, and the tail of a horse, 

 which was once sought for its hide, but is now only valued 

 because it can be broke to the plow; and The Chamois 

 (Rupicapra-tragus), which lends its name -to the skins 

 sometimes used by furriers for intermediate linings, and 

 the pockets in fine garments. 



None of these are of sufficient importance commercially 

 to call for extended mention here, unless it may possibly 

 be the Chamois, which, to quote from the Official Guide to 

 the New York Zoological Park, "has its home in the moun- 

 tains of Southern Europe, especially the Pyrenees, the 

 Swiss Alps and the Caucasus; and is the animal so often 

 pictured as leaping from crag to crag, across chasms 

 apparently two hundred feet wide; but it is not exclu- 

 sively a crag dweller, for in many localities it inhabits 

 the mountain forests. Like most other mountain ungu- 

 lates, the Chamois dwell high in summer, and in the win- 

 ter they seek lower and more sheltered situations. They 

 are exceedingly wary and agile, and sure-footed on dan- 

 gerous ground." 



The Chamois are about three feet long, and have small 

 almost vertical horns that turn backwards and down at 

 the tips. 



In beauty the Sable Antelope (Hippotragus-niger) of 

 Africa, surpasses all other species. Some claim, however, 

 that the purple and white Blessbok (Bubalis-albifrons), 

 that seems to have about disappeared since the Boer 

 War, was its superior in this respect, even though it 



