46 THE ANTELOPE OF AMERICA. 



animal I have ever seen. When three months old, he commenced 

 to leap upon the other pet antelopes, the dogs, young calves, 

 sheep, goats, and even people sitting down or bent over to pick 

 up anything from the ground ; and as he grew older the more 

 salacious he became. He always raised himself on his hind feet, 

 and then walked up behind the animal that he wished to leap 

 on, and without sustaining himself at all by his belly or fore-legs, 

 he commenced walking around, directing the erected penis only 

 by movements of the body, poised on the hind feet, until, having 

 introduced the penis, he instantly gave one convulsive or spas- 

 modic thi'ust, clasping spasmodically the female with the fore- 

 legs, which lie had before held ujd in the air without touching 

 her. He would in this way go at anything held up to him." 



From this exhibition of passion, we may well suppose that 

 fierce battles must occur among the males during the period of its 

 away. A young male which I raised till he was four months old, 

 when in perfect health he met a violent death, never attracted 

 attention by such exhibitions as described by Dr. Canfield ; but 

 the ordinary rutting season of the animal had hardly commenced 

 when he Avas killed, so that I am unable to say whether the con- 

 duct of the one observed by the doctor waS exceptional or not, 

 though I am inclined to think that it was, at least to some ex- 

 tent. The traits described strongly suggest the disposition of the 

 goat. 



Our antelope has the faculty of weeping when in affliction. I 

 first observed this in a specimen which had been taken wild when 

 adult, and still retained all his natural fear of man. I had placed 

 him in a close cage in the evening, intending to familiarize him 

 • with my presence, and divest him of his fears when he saw me 

 by convincing him that I would not hurt him. When I ap- 

 proached him the next morning, he seemed struck with terror, 

 and made frantic efforts to break out, which he soon found was 

 impossible. His great black eye glistened in affright. I spoke 

 softly and kindly, while he stood trembling, as I introduced my 

 hand and placed it on his shoulder. Despair now seemed to pos- 

 sess him, and he dropped on to his knees, bowed his head to the 

 ground, and burst into a copious flood of tears, which coursed 

 down his cheeks and wet the floor ! My sensibilities were 

 touched ; my sympathies were awakened, and I liberated him 

 froni that cage as quickly as I could tear the slats from one 

 of the sides. Whether he appreciated this or not I cannot say, 

 but his great fear seemed to leave him as soon as he was liber- 



