98 



THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA. 



is much hunted on account of its excellent 

 flesh as well as on account of its hide, which 

 makes a very flexible leather. When wounded 

 it attacks the hunter, throwing itself upon its 

 knees and creeping up to him. In captivity 

 it is ill-tempered and often attacks its keepers. 

 Since i860 the King of Italy has possessed 



a pretty large herd of nylgaus at San Ros- 

 sore, near Pisa, where the animals appear to 

 thrive. 



The Sing- Sing, the Waterbok of the Boers 

 {Kobtis cllipsiprymnus), fig. 174, has the ap- 

 pearance of a large fallow-deer and almost 

 attains the size of our stag. The horns of 



1- ig. 175. — 1 ho .Sable Antelope or Swarte-bok [Hifpotragus niger] 



the male are large, curved in the shape of a 

 lyre, ringed for two -thirds of their length, 

 the ears of moderate size, the eyes pretty 

 large. The hair is rough but oily -looking 

 and shining, somewhat longer at the neck 

 than in other parts, and there is a tuft at the 

 end of the tail. The legs are slender. The 

 waterbok lives in small herds under the 

 leadership of an old male, and inhabits the 

 marshes of Central Africa and the Cape re- 

 gion. It always remains in the vicinity of 

 water, into which it plunges when danger 

 threatens, in order to save itself by swimming. 

 The flesh of adult animals smells strongly of 

 musk ; that of the young alone is eatable. 



The Sable Antelope or Swarte-bok {^Hippo- 

 tragus nigcr), fig. 175, is of about the size of 

 a stout short stag. The male carries long 

 horns curved backwards and ringed to the 

 points like those of a goat. The horns of 

 the female have the same form but are 

 smaller. The head is small and short, the 

 ears long like those of an ass, the tail of 

 moderate length, very thin and with a large 

 terminal tuft. A long loose mane runs from 

 the nape of the neck to the middle of the 

 back, and there is a shorter one on the under 

 surface of the neck. The colour is a brilliant 

 black; a broad white stripe extends from the 

 eye to the lips and here unites with another 



