ORDER VIII. THE RUMINAXTIA. "Ort 



Por'ax Picla. — The Xecl-f i!i:iu. Pennant calls this beautiful and active 

 animal the u-Juie-fuoled aidelope. It inhabits the jungles and woods ot" 

 Northern India, and is mure numerous on the confines of Persia. TliC 

 color is a dark-gray. The horns are seven or eight inches long, the curve 

 directed forward. It has a considerable mane, and the breast is ornamented 

 with long, pendulous, black hairs. ]\Ir. Bennet relates that in cnptivity it is 

 gentle, and licked the hands of those who oifered it Ijread, suilering it.'>elf to 

 be played with, with every manifestation of pleasure. A\'i!en meditating an 

 attack, it falls suddenly on its fore-knees, shiifHes onward in that posture 

 until it has advanced to within a few paces of the dbject of its irritation, and 

 then darts forward with a powerful spring, and deals such tremendnus 

 blows with its head, that both horse and rider have been prostrated by the 

 charge. 



Catohlepns Gnu. — The Gnoo, or Gnu. This singidar animal is a 

 native of Central and South Africa, freijuenting the deserts beyond the 

 confines of civilization in company with the antelopes, ostriches, quaggas, 

 and zebras. The whole aspect of the bead is ox-like. The burns are 

 present in l)oth sexes, and \-\a<^ "from the frontal ridge, and then bend fir- 

 ward and downward, and then suddenly upward; they are round, nearly 

 smooth," and pointed. Altogetlier, the gnoo is a fierce and mischie\ous- 

 looking animal ; yet it is really sporli\e in manner, standing still at one 

 time, gazing around, and at the next ihoment scampering and ambling 

 over the plains with immense rapidity. Its cry is like the bellowing of a 

 bull. There are three species of the gnu : 1. Tiie one under consideration ; 

 2. The kokoon (^1. tauruia, Piurchein, of a larger size than the gnu, 

 but similar to it in form, and although inhabiting the same localities, never 

 associating with it; and, 3. Tlie briinUed (jna (vl. (/orou, Hamilton 

 Smith), a ver)' distinct species from citlier of the preceding, but known only 

 l)y a stuffed specimen in the iluseum of -the London jNIissionary Society, 

 which was brouuht from the countries near the source of tlie Orancre Eiver. 



Ocihos Moadiutus. — The iMusk-Ox. The desolate and barren regions 

 of Xortli America, stretching northward from the sixtieth degree of latitude, 

 nature has assigned as the dwelling-place of this animal. A country rocky 

 and barren, and without wood, appears to be its favorite resort, where it 

 feeds on mosses and lichens. It is about the size of a small bullock. The 

 head is large and broad, and is ornamented with heavy horns, which cover 

 the whole crown of the head. The hair is long, matted, and curled, and 

 hangs down to the middle of the leg. The cow is less in size, has smaller 

 horns, and shorter hair on the chest and throat. The general color is 

 brown. The musk-ox is a gregarious animal, and assembles in troops of 

 thirty or forty. The fur-traders, Esquimaux, and other Indians, hunt them 



