392 HUNTING THE GAZELLE. 



When suspecting clanger the animal stands for a moment erect and 

 motionless, as if cast in bronze. Then it bends its long neck so that it forms 

 almost a line with its body and moves noiselessly over the ground to the 

 nearest cover. To the pursuing hunter the animal suddenly seems- to have 

 vanished into the ground, but from a higher point it can be seen gliding along 

 like a shadow. No wonder that the giraffe gazelle has so long escaped the 

 observation of many African travelers. 



The American hunters found stalking the giraffe gazelle very difficult 

 and highly fatiguing in the thorny hunting grounds, which are its favorite 

 haunts. Progress is slow and the aniinal is apt to notice the hunter long 

 before he has become aware of its presence. Then he must fire a chance shot 

 or wait until the giraffe gazelle raises its head above the thorns. They used 

 to stalk the giraffe gazelle in the heat of the day, when it took its siesta. If 

 one does not mind the heat, one is often well repaid for the trouble. In the 

 neighborhood of the extinct Kilimanjaro volcano a sportsman once killed, 

 within a few hours, five bucks and sighted fifteen does, but spared them. 



To the above we add the following interesting facts. 



The gazelle is regarded as the embodiment of grace and beauty, and is 

 celebrated in song and story. It is usually of a sandy colo-r and has a white 

 streak on the side of the face from the base of the horn nearly to the nose, 

 thus cutting off a dark triangular patch in the middle of the forehead, while 

 the streak itself is bordered by a dark line. The horns, which are generally 

 present in both sexes, are recurved and completely ringed throughout the 

 greater part of their length. Most of the gazelles do not exceed thirty inches 

 in height, although the mohr reaches thirty-six inches. There are about 

 twenty-one living species. 



The gazelle so famous in Oriental poetry inhabits Arabia and Syria. Its 

 eyes are very large, dark and lustrous, so that the Oriental poets love to com- 

 pare the eyes of a woman to those of a gazelle, just "as Homer constantly ap- 

 plied the epithet ox-eyed to the more majestic goddesses, such as Junoi and 

 Minerva. It is easily tamed wdien young, and is frequently seen domesticated 

 in the court yards oi houses in Syria. Its swiftness is so great that even a 

 greyhound cannot overtake it, and the hunters are forced to make use of 

 hawks, which are trained to strike at the head of the gazelle, and thus con- 

 fuse it and retard its speed, so as to permit the dogs to come up. The color 

 of this pretty little animal is a dark yellowish brown, fading into white on 

 the under parts. 



One of the most important members of the gazelle family is the South 



