500 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



lyre shape, ringed along their whole length, slender 

 and long. The Addax is repeatedly found depicted 

 on Egyptian monuments. The horns which adorn 

 the head of the sculptured images of the gods, of 

 the priests and kings of ancient Egypt, are patterned 

 after the horns of this Antelope. From Egypt the 

 reputation of the animal spread and the Greeks and 

 Romans were familiar with it. 



The Addax {Addax nasomaatlatus) is of rather 

 clumsy physical proportions. The hairy coat is 

 thickset and, with the exception of that covering a 

 few places about the body, is short and coarse. In 

 front of the base of the horns there is a tuft hang- 

 ing over the forehead; a strip of rather long hair 

 extends from the ear to the back of the head; the 



chiefs of the wandering tribes of Bedouins regard 

 it as being one of the noblest animals that can be 

 hunted, and pursue it partly for the sake of its flesh, 

 partly to test the speed of their Horses and Grey- 

 hounds, and partly to capture the young, which they 

 rear. 



Living specimens have repeatedly been kept and 

 observed in various zoological gardens. Their con- 

 duct shows how nearly allied they are to the Oryx; 

 for they are just as capricious and quarrelsome as 

 the latter. Exceptions have been observed, how- 

 ever. If kept on plain food, these Antelopes bear 

 long captivity easily and propagate themselves with- 

 out any special difficulty, as the animals are by na- 

 ture fitted to bear privations. 



THE ADDAX. A heavy and rather ungainly species of Antelope is the Addax, which is an inhabitant of northern Africa. Besides the peculiar 



twist of the horns this animal is specially marked by a tuft of long dark hair on the forehead and a lighter one on the neck. {Addax nasomaculatus.) 



fore part of the neck is adorned by a long mane. 

 During the cool season the yellowish white hue 

 gradually merges into gray. Young animals are of 

 a pure white color. The body measures six feet 

 eight inches in length, and the height at the withers 

 rather exceeds forty inches. 



The range of the Addax embraces the heart of 

 northern Africa, lying south of the eighteenth paral- 

 lel of north latitude, from the Nile country to the 

 Lake Tchad region. It inhabits the most arid 

 regions, in which, as the nomads say, not a drop of 

 water can be found for miles around. If the stories 

 of these people are to be believed, the animal can 

 abstain from water for months. It is shy and timid, 

 like the rest of the Antelopes, agile and hardy, 

 but exposed to a great deal of persecution. The 



SPIRAL HORNED ANTELOPES. 

 The Spiral Horned Antelopes ( Strepsiceros) com- 

 prise large Antelopes with spirally twisted, com- 

 pressed and acutely-angled horns, borne only by 

 the males, and a fur relieved by stripes or otherwise 

 marked in light colors. 



The Koodoo a A representative of this group is the 

 Large, Stately stately Koodoo (Strepsiceros kudu), 

 Animal. an Antelope surpassing the Euro- 



pean Stag in size. Adult males measure about ten 

 feet in length, from the nose to the tip of the tail, 

 the latter organ being about twenty inches long. 

 The height at the withers is five feet eight inches, 

 and the weight ranges from six hundred pounds up- 

 wards. The doc is considerably smaller. In its 

 bodily structure the Koodoo resembles the Stag in 



