

VEBTEBRATA. 



STRIPED ELAXDS DISCOVERED BT DR. LIYIXGSTONE. 



The head is loner and pointed, the ears are large, the neck thick, compressed on the sides, as in 

 and furnished underneath with a loose, hanging skin or dewlap, fringed along the margin 

 with a border < >t" long hair. There is likewise a large protuberance of the size of a man's fist on 

 the larynx, ami it was probably from this organ, which is likewise found in the elk of Europe, 

 that the animal derived the name of Eland, by which it is universally known at the Cape. From 

 center of the forehead to the root of the tail runs a short erect mane of dark-brown hair, 

 which is reversed on the neck, but directed backward in the usual manner along the spine of the 

 back. The color of the body is uniform reddish-fawn on the upper parts, and white on the under; 

 the head and neck ashy-gray, but in some individuals the latter color extends over all the upper 

 parts of the body. 



The Bland when full-grown usually weighs from eight hundred to a thousand pounds, anil, 

 contrary to the general rule observed among antilopes, is commonly extremely fat. Its flesh 

 quently more prized than that of any other wild animal of South Africa, and the large 

 muscles of the thighs, in particular, are held in the highest estimation when dried and cured, 

 under which form they are denominated thigh-tongues. The character of this animal is verj 

 mild, and a- it were pn -disposed to domestication; it is gregarious, and lives in large herds 



upon tl pen plains and low hills, the old males generally residing apart. This species were 



formerly very common in the immediate neighborhood of Cape Town, but were so much hunted 

 that they have long Bince ceased to frequent the inhabited districts, and are now rarely met 

 with except in the more distant and retired parts of the colony. Being generally very fat 

 and parsy, they do not run well, and are soon fatigued; it is even said that when hard run a red 

 oily perspiration has been known to ooze out from the pores of their skin, and that they occasion- 

 ally drop down from phthoia. Like most other animals when hunted, they, always run against 

 the wind. A> the carcass is weighty, and consequently difficult to transport, the great object of 

 the hunters, in the chase, is to turn their game in such a direction as to drive it close to their 



