THE PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE. 219 



scattered themselves over what had been sacred and 

 free from their intrusion. I do not love my own race 

 less, but at the same time cannot deny that there is a 

 pleasure on the boundless plain, the dense forest, when 

 you can commune with yourself alone, and say, " I am 

 the first of my nation who has ever penetrated or stood 

 upon this spot. And then the precursors of civilisation, 

 however capable they may be of breaking up soil, 

 felling timber, and splitting rails, are of all society the 

 least qualified to be thrown among the representatives of 

 the aboriginal animals, for they slay without discretion, 

 slaughter for the sake of shedding blood, are more blood- 

 thirsty than the wolf or panther, and only cease when 

 all are exterminated or banished from their vicinity. 



The prong-horned antelope is in height about three 

 feet at the shoulder, over four feet from tail to termina- 

 tion of nose, smaller in the ear than the Certius family, 

 while the beautifully sabre- curved prong-horn is from 

 six to eight inches in length. The colour on the back, 

 down the thighs and hips, is dark brown ; the stomach, 

 throat, and exterior side of ham a yellowish white, 

 while a distinct dark bar, like a collar, girds the throat, 

 eight or ten inches below the setting on of the head. 

 The eye is large, soft, and protruding ; nostrils ex- 

 tended, and the ears stand usually horizontal, and are 

 very pointed. The limbs are tall in proportion to the 



