42 THE GAZELLS. 



they can only exist in the tropical climates ; and in 

 Java and Ceylon they chiefly abound. 



If we compare the gazells with each other, we shall 

 find there is a very slight difference between them, and 

 that the only distinction which Naturalists have disco- 

 vered is in the size of their horns, and spots on their 

 skin : they are in general inhabitants of warm climates, 

 and feed in herds on the sides of mountains, or in the 

 shade of forests and woods : in their nature they are 

 shy and timid, and fly from the sight of a human being 

 with a degree of velocity it is scarcely possible to con- 

 ceive. The hunting of gazells forms a principal amuse- 

 ment for the Arabians, the Persians, and the Turks ; 

 but unless they were aided by the swiftness of the falcon, 

 the animal would easily evade their pursuit. This bird 

 is early trained to the employment ; and the moment 

 the hunters espy their prey, they instantly point the 

 falcon towards it, who darts forward like an arrow, and 

 fixes its fangs in the creature's throat. In vain the poor 

 animal tries to escape : the torture it endures soon ar- 

 rests its speed. When the hunters come up, they seize 

 their victim, and at once put an end to its misery and life. 



CHAP. V. 



THE MUSK ANIMAL. 



IT is to the reproach of the present age, that we are 

 more anxious to increase the bulk of our knowledge 

 than to improve upon that which we have already at- 

 tained, and take more pains to add to the number of 

 our ideas than to discover whether they are not erro- 

 neously applied. That Naturalists should be ignorant 

 of the species of an animal which produces a medicine 



