THE PALL AH AND BLACK BUCK. It 



THE PALLAH.* 



THE PALLAH, OR IMPALLA, of South and South-east Africa, is anothei closely-allied form of large 

 size, being more than three feet high at the shoulder. Its colour is dark red above, yellow dun on the 

 sides, and white below. There are no false hoofs in the usual situation on the lengthy legs : a pecu- 

 liarity which it shares with the Cabrit and the Giraffe. The eyes are very large and liquid. The 

 horns, wanting in the female, are twenty inches long in the male, and lyrate ; they are ringed nearly 

 to their tips. They are abundant on or near to hills, and collect in herds of from twenty to thirty. 

 Mr. Drummond, vividly describing his South African experience, on an occasion whilst hunting 

 Buffalo, " saw something red moving among the trees, and stopped to watch it. It turned out to be a 

 troop of Impalla coming back from water and making for some of the grassy glades. There might 

 have been seventy or eighty of them, picking their way along in Indian file, nibbling here and there, 

 but always moving, and seeming like a troop of ghosts in the dim twilight and silence." 



THE INDIAN AJSTELOPE.t 



THE INDIAN ANTELOPE, OR BLACK BUCK. This species differs but little from the Gazelles in 

 many respects, whilst its peculiarities are striking. Like the Nylghau, the male differs greatly from 

 the female in its colour. The female has no horns ; those in the male are black and of great size, 

 spirally twisted for three or four turns like a corkscrew, slightly divergent, and often reaching thirty 

 inches in length. It stands a little over two feet and a half at the shoulder. The colour of the males 

 is deep brown-black above, with an abrupt line of separation from the pure white of the belly. This 

 dark colour extends down the outer surface of each limb. The face is also black, with a white circle 

 round the eyes and nose. In the females and young of both sexes the black and brown are replaced 

 by a light fawn colour. The tail is very short and white below. At certain seasons of the year the 

 glands below the eyes are much enlarged and form a prominent feature in the face of the male. 



The Black Buck is one of the swiftest of the Antelopes, no Greyhound having any chance 

 against it. Its flesh, being dry and unsavoury, is rarely eaten. The species falls a frequent prey to 

 the Tiger, and is generally found in herds, fifty does, or so, accompanied by a single buck. The 

 height to which they can bound is very great. According to Major C. Hamilton Smith, the native 

 Indians " have raised the common Antelope among the constellations, harnessed it to the chariot of the 

 moon, and represented it as the quarry of the gods. In the opinion of Hindoos the animal is sacred 

 to Chandra, female devotees and minstrels lead it, domesticated, by the harmony of their instruments, 

 or the power of their prayers, and holy Brahmins are directed to feed upon their flesh, under certain 

 circumstances prescribed by the Institutes of Menu." 



CHAPTER II. 



RTJMINANTIA : BOVID^E (continued) ANTELOPES. 



THE STEINBOKS : KLIPSPRINGER, OUBEBI, STEINBOK, GRYSBOK, MADOQUA THE BUSH-BUCKS Appearance Distinctive 

 Marks THE FOUR- HORNED ANTELOPES Peculiarity in the Chikarah THE WATER ANTELOPES : NAGOR, KEITBOK,. 

 LECHE, AEQUITOON, SING-SING, WATER-BUCK, POKU, REH-BOK THE ELAND Beef Appearance Captain Cornwallis. 

 Harris' Description Hunting Scarcity THE KOODOO Appearance King of Antelopes ANGAS' HARNESSED 

 ANTELOPE THE HARNESSED ANTELOPES: GUIB BUSH BUCK, OR UKOUKA Appearance Pluck THE BOVINE 

 ANTELOPES THE BUBALINE HARTEBEEST BLESBOK BONTEBOK SASSABT THE GNU Grotesque Appearance 

 Habits BRINDLED GND THE CAPRINE ANTELOPES SEROW Ungainly Habits - GORAL CAMBING-OUTAN YAKIN 

 MAZAMA THE CHAMOIS Distribution -Appearance Voice Hunted THE ORYXES BLAUBOK SABLE ANTELOPE: 

 BAKER'S ANTELOPE ORYX BEISA BEATRIX GEMSBOK ADDAX. 



THE STEINBOKS. 



THE KLIPSPRINGER, the OUREBI, the STEINBOK, and the GRYSBOK form a small section of the African 

 Antelopes, elegant and small, with horns only in the males, these being straight, or nearly so. Their 

 body hair is harsh. The Klipspringer stands a little under two feet high ; it is the heaviest in build 



* jEpyccros melampus. t Antilope bezoartica. 



