172 



AVTILOPID.3 



-MAMMALIA. CAMELOPARDID.E. 



peculiar horns, which arise from the forehead imme- 

 diately above the eyes, giving off a sort of brow antler 



about half way up, and curving suddenly backwards 

 and hi wards at the tip (fig. 61). Below the prong the 



Fig. 61. 



The Prong-horn or Cabrit (Antilope farcifer). 



horns are rough, like those of the deer; but above they 

 are black and smooth. The fur has a fawn colour 

 generally ; being whitish on the throat, chest, belly, 

 and rump. The Prong-horn is gregarious in its habits, 

 frequenting open plains and billy grounds. The flesh 

 is coarse and unsavoury. The horns of the female are 

 rudimentary. 



According to Sir John Richardson, " the most nor- 

 therly range of the Prong-horn antelope is latitude 

 53, on the banks of the north branch of the Saskat- 

 chewan. Some of them remain the whole year on the 

 south branch of that river ; but they are merely summer 

 visitors to the north branch. They come every year 

 to the neighbourhood of Carlton House when the snow 

 has mostly gone. Soon after then* arrival the females 

 drop their young, and they retire southwards again in 

 the autumn as soon as the snow begins to fall. Almost 

 every year a small herd linger on a piece of rising 

 ground not far from Carlton House, until the snow has 

 become too deep on the plains to permit them to travel 

 over them. Few or none of that herd, however, sur- 

 vive until the spring, as they are persecuted by the 

 wolves during the whole whiter. They are found hi 

 the summer season in the fifty -third parallel of latitude, 

 from longitude 106 to the foot of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. According to Lewis and Clark, they also abound 

 on the plains of the Columbia, to the west of the 

 mountains, where they form the chief game of the 

 Shoshonees." Our authority also adds, that "the Prong- 

 horn appears on the banks of the Saskatchewan, 

 sometimes a solitary animal, sometimes assembled in 

 herds of ten or twelve. Its sight and sense of smell 

 are acute, and its speed is greater than that of any 



other inhabitant of the plains, although I have been 

 informed by Mr. Prudens, that when there is a little 

 snow on the ground, it may with some little manage- 

 ment be run down by a high-bred horse. The Indian 

 hunters have no difficulty hi bringing an antelope 

 within gun-shot by various stratagems, such as lying 

 down on then* backs and kicking their heels hi the air, 

 holding up a white rag or clothing themselves in a 

 white shut, and showing themselves only at intervals. 

 By these and similar manoeuvres the curiosity of a 

 herd of antelopes is so much roused, that they wheel 

 round the object of their attention, and at length 

 approach near enough to enable the hunter to make 

 sure of his mark. From this disposition of the Prong- 

 horned antelopes, they are more easily killed than any 

 of the deer of the district which they inhabit." 



Had space allowed, we should have supplied short 

 notices of several other antelopes, including the Kob, 

 Sing-sing, Nagor, Haar, &c. 



FAMILY IV. CAMELOPARDID^;. 



Although represented only by a single genus, the 

 characters of this family are sufficiently distinctive and 

 osculant between the antilopine, cervine, and cameline 

 species, to warrant the propriety of their being sepa- 

 rately treated. We have already taken occasion to 

 mention one unique structure hi connection with 

 the intestinal canal ; but there are others scarcely 

 less characteristic, being also more obvious. Firstly, 

 we notice the horns, which are solid, persistent, and 

 completely invested with a hairy integument. A ques- 

 tion has been raised as to the existence of a central 



