334 THE STORY OF THE ANTELOPE. 



aimed at the gemsbok, but before he could pull a trigger, I held up my hand 

 in warning, 



"Don't shoot !" I exclaimed at the same time. "That gemsbok is entitled 

 to her life, and as far as I am concerned she shall have it." 



We needed venison, too, but I am sure I would not have enjoyed eating 

 that noble heroine. 



Antelopes are characterized by their graceful build, and by the head 

 being carried considerably above the level of the back. The horns, which 

 may or may not be present in the females, are generally long, more or less 

 round. They are frequently marked with prominent rings, and have an 

 upright direction. Their bony cores, instead of being honeycombed, as in 

 the oxen, sheep, and goats, are nearly solid throughout. These animals 

 very generally have a gland beneath the eye, by which they are distinguished 

 from the oxen and goats; but, as regards their teeth, some of them resemble 

 the oxen, while others are more like those of the sheep and goats. 



THE GEMSBOK. 



Under the title of oryx are five species of antelope, found throughout 

 the desert regions of Africa, and also in Arabia and Syria. In South Africa 

 the best representative of the oryx family is the gemsbok, which stands 

 about four feet in height, is greyish in color, becoming white beneath. A 

 black stripe on the flanks divides the grey of the sides from the white below., 

 and there is also a black surface on the haunches extending as a line on the 

 back, and continued over the whole of the tail. In addition to this, there is 

 also black on the upper parts of the limbs, on the front of the legs above 

 the fetlocks, and along the throat; the throat-stripe dividing and running 

 up the sides of the head nearly to the ears. On the face a black stripe runs 

 from each horn through the eye nearly to the muzzle, which is connected 

 by a narrow stripe with a broad black patch on the center of the forehead. 

 The longest male horns of this species I ever saw measured were 42 inches 

 in length, while those of the female may reach 46^ inches. Horns have been 

 recorded measuring 47^ inches. 



Gemsboks are generally met with where the country is either completely 

 open or covered with stunted scrub. They thrive and attain high condition 

 in barren regions where it might be imagined a locust would not find sub- 

 sistence; and, burning as is the climate, they are perfectly independent of 

 water, which, from my own observation and the repeated reports both of 



