THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
Relatives of the inyala are the shy marsh-hunting sitatungas, whose 
feet are furnished with hoofs of relatively enormous length, which spread 
far apart at every step, enabling their owner 
to walk upon marshy ground without sinking 
deeply, or at all. With this modification goes 
great flexibility of the ankle joints, which 
yield to the weight of the body sufficiently to 
allow the false hoofs and the smooth, tough, 
horny skin at the back of the pasterns to rest 
upon the soil and thus further broaden the 
supporting surface; but these “‘slimpsy” ankles 
and elongated toes give the animal a very awk- 
ward and comparatively slow gait when it is 
compelled to walk on hard ground. 
Hoor oF SITATUNGA. To this section, although a native of 
India, belong the oddly cowlike nilgais, 
which, where not much disturbed, become so fearless as to 
mingle with the village cattle herd. They prefer a dry, 
hilly, thinly wooded country, and where it is open 
may sometimes be run down on _ horseback and 
speared; otherwise they are not much hunted, for the short 
little horns are a poor trophy. The general color is dark gray 
with a black mane and some faint white markings about the 
head. In some parts of India these animals commit great 
havoc by nightly depredations on the crops, but the Hindoos 
will seldom destroy them on account of their resemblance to 
the sacred cow—an unexpected phase of ‘‘protective mimicry”! 
A common name in India is “blue cow.” 
Another section of the group embraces very large antelopes 
of Africa, having long, stout, ringed horns in both sexes, such 
as the sable and roan, the gemsbok and allied species. 
Among these are some of the most conspicuous 
and familiar antelopes of the arid plains south and east of the 
Mediterranean. Thus the addax, beatrix, beisa, and other 
large, pale, dark-legged species of the Sahara, Arabia, and 
272 
Nilgai. 
Oryx. 
