THE SASIN. 623 



visit the frozen streams, obtaining water by breaking the ice with their 

 hoofs. If they are surprised on the ice, they can be easily killed, as they 

 cannot keep their feet. A lucky sportsman will kill two hundred head 

 in a favorable winter, for the Dseren keep together in such large herds, 

 that a single ball will often kill two or three of them. 



GENUS ANTILOPE. 



The Sasin, or Indian Antelope, Antilope bczoartica, — the only 

 species — is generally found in herds of fifty or sixty together, each 

 herd consisting of one buck and a large harem of does. 



It is a wonderfully swift animal, and quite despises such impotent foes 

 as dogs and men, fearing only the falcon, which is trained for the pur- 

 pose of overtaking and attacking them, as has already been related of 

 the gazelle. At each bound the Sasin will cover twenty-five or thirty 

 feet of ground, and will rise even ten or eleven feet from the earth, so 

 that it can well afford to despise the dogs. As its flesh is hard, dry, and 

 tasteless, the animal is only hunted by the native chiefs for the sake of 

 the sport, and is always chased with the assistance of the hawk or the 

 chetah, the former of which creatures overtakes and delays it by con- 

 tinual attacks, and the other overcomes it by stealthily creeping within a 

 short distance, and knocking over his prey in a few rapid bounds. It is 

 a most wary animal, not only setting sentinels to keep a vigilant watch, 

 as is the case with so many animals, but actually detaching pickets in 

 every direction to a distance of several hundred yards from the main 

 body of the herd. 



The young Sasins are very helpless at the time of their entrance into 

 the world, and are not able to stand upon their feet for several days, 

 during which time the mother remains in the covert where her little 

 one was born. As soon as it has attained sufficient strength, she leads it 

 to the herd, where it remains during its life, if it should happen to be a 

 doe, but if it should belong to the male sex, it is driven away from its 

 companions by the leading buck, whose jealousy will permit no rivals in 

 his dominions. Forced thus to live by themselves, these exiles become 

 vigilant and audacious, and endeavor to attract mates for themselves 

 from the families of other bucks. 



The horns of this animal are large in proportion to the size of their 



