208 



THE SPKING-BOK. 



it has long been proverbial. The herd seems to be actuated by a strong 

 spirit of mutual attachment, which preserves its members froni being 

 isolated from their companions, and which, in many instances, is their 

 only safeguard against the attacks of the smaller predaceous animals. 

 The lion and the leopard can always find a meal whenever they can 

 steal upon a band of Gazelles without being discovered by the sentries 

 which watch the neighborliood with jealous precaution ; for the Gazelles 

 are too weak to withstand the attack of such terrible assailants, and 

 do not even attempt resistance. 



The eye of the Gazelle is large, soft, and lustrous, and has long been 

 celebrated by the poets of its own land as the most flattering simile of 



a woman's eye. The 

 color of this pretty 

 little animal is a 

 light fawn upon the 

 back, deepening into 

 dark brown in a wide 

 band which edges the 

 flanks, and forms a 

 line of demarcation 

 between tiie yellow- 

 brown of the upper 

 portions of the body 

 and the pure white of 

 the abdomen. The 

 face is rather curi- 

 ously marked with 

 two stripes of con- 

 trasting colors, one a dark black-brown line that passes from the eye to 

 the curves of the mouth, and the other a white streak that begins at the 

 horns and extends as far as the muzzle. The hinder quarters, too, are 

 marked with white, which is very perceptible when tiie animal is walk- 

 ing directly from the spectator. 



The Spring-bok derives its very appropriate title from the extra- 

 ordinary leaps which it is in the constant habit of making whenever it. 

 is alarmed. 



As soon as it is frightened at any real or fancied danger, or whenever 

 it desires to accelerate its pace suddenly, it leaps high into the air 

 with a curiously easy movement, rising to a height of seven or eight 

 feet without any diflficulty, and being capable on occasions of reaching 

 the height of twelve or thirteen feet. When leaping, the back is great- 

 ly curved, and the creature presents a very curious aspect, owing to the 

 sudden exhibition of the long white hairs that cover the croup, and are 

 nearly hidden by the folds of skin when the creature is at rest, but 



The Gazelle (Gazella Dorcas). 



