490 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



fore-legs, leaving only about one-third of those 

 members bare. A similar appendage covers the fore- 

 part of the hind-legs. The tail is decorated with a 

 long, thick tuft of the outer hair. The face is en- 

 tirely covered by the wool, as are also the eyes up to 

 the edges of the lids and the nose to the margin of 

 the nostrils. The ear, however, is covered with stiff 

 hair on both sides. The fleece feels soft and pliable 

 to the touch, like Sheep's wool, and the individual 

 hairs are somewhat matted and adhere perceptibly 

 to each other. The length of the animal is from 

 forty-eight to fifty-six inches, the tail taking up 

 rather less than four inches of this total; the height 

 at the withers is from twenty-seven to twenty-nine 

 and one-half inches, the height at the croup varies 

 between twenty-nine and thirty-one inches. The 

 horns, which are borne by both sexes, but are 

 slightly stronger in the buck, attain a length of from 

 eight to nearly eleven inches and turn upward, back- 

 ward and outward in a direct slight curve. They are 

 nearly round at the base and slightly ringed on the 

 lower half; in the middle section they are a little 

 compressed laterally and the tip is again rounded. 

 flange of the The range of this animal is re- 



Rocky Mountain stricted to the northern part of the 

 Goat. Rocky Mountains and extends north- 



ward to the sixty-fifth parallel of latitude. Accord- 

 ing to Baird, it is commonest in the elevated por- 

 tions of the state of Washington, and the Prince of 

 VVied says that it exists in greatest profusion near 

 the sources of the Columbia river. Some informa- 

 tion as to its mode of life has been obtained, but 

 only in recent times. It inhabits such lofty heights 

 that it finds no other food than lichens, mosses- and 

 mountain plants of the hardiest kind, or in excep- 

 tional cases a few stunted shrubs of a kind of pine 

 {Pitius contortd) and similar scant bushes. Never- 

 theless it leads a rather comfortable life most of the 

 time, and care and trouble beset it only when winter 

 drives it away from its high pasturage. In summer 

 it climbs up to an elevation of over thirteen thou- 

 sand feet and there selects its headquarters, generally 

 choosing the lower edge of the melting snow fields. 

 In winter it is wont to descend to a somewhat lower 

 level, without, however, leaving the high mountains 

 proper. In such a mountainous wilderness, which is 

 trodden by human feet in exceptional cases only, it 

 goes on its intricate paths with careless speed, jump- 

 ing from one rock to another with the precision 

 peculiar to its tribe and climbing about the most 

 maccessible looking walls. Differing from other 

 Goats, the bucks are said to undertake the leader- 

 ship, and the she Goats and kids follow them in sin- 

 gle file. When the herds are alarmed or frightened 

 by a shot, they skim along the edges of the most 

 frightful precipices at a full gallop, or cross an abyss, 

 stepping on the same spots one after another, show- 

 ing more of the lightness and grace of winged crea- 

 tures than the actions of even the most agile quad- 

 rupeds. Being exceedingly wary, and endowed with 

 extremely keen senses of hearing and smell, the 

 Rocky Mountain Goat usually thwarts any attempt 

 of Man to approach it, and is therefore as difficult 

 of observation as of pursuit. From the beginning 

 of June little kids are seen following their mothers, 

 usually one behind each Goat, but sometimes there 

 are twins. The kids are extremely pretty. 

 The Rochy Mount- Excepting a few naturalists and 



ain Goat Rarely hunters addicted to this sport, the 



Molested. Indians alone engage in the chase of 



these wary inhabitants of those desolate heights; 



and the latter do not display any special zeal in the 

 pursuit. The flesh of this Goat is not esteemed, for 

 it is tough and impregnated with the strong, rank 

 smell which usually characterizes the male Goat, and 

 which in this species is not absent even in the kid. 

 It is for this reason repulsive even to the Indians,^ 

 whose taste is by no means fastidious. The Rocky 

 Mountain Goat is therefore pursued only for the 

 sake of its fur, which is either disposed of to the 

 white fur traders at the trading posts or made into 

 plain rugs by the Indians. 



As far as my knowledge goes, this Goat has never 

 been tamed and is to be seen in very few museums. 



THE ANTELOPE TRIBE. 



The Antelopes {AnHlopifice) constitute the sub- 

 family among the Horned Animals which is richest in 

 forms, but also stands on the lowest plane of devel- 

 opment. Speaking in a general way this sub-fam.ily 

 comprises the most graceful and elegant of the 

 Horned Animals, but this statement is only true in 

 the wide sense, for among the Antelopes are in- 

 cluded several species which conform but little to 

 the commonly entertained notion of an Antelope. 

 As a rule the animals of this tribe bear the charac- 

 teristic of the family, as it includes the most dainty 

 and slender of all the hollow-horned animals; but 

 there are also included in the sub-family some 

 clumsy, lumbering creatures which at first glance 

 one would be inclined to classify with the Oxen. 

 Therefore great difficulties attend the effort to make 

 a general characterization of these animals, nor is it 

 easy to set the line of demarcation for the sub- 

 family, as some Antelopes show much greater affin- 

 ity to the Oxen or the Goats than to the original 

 type, which we consider to be the Gazelle, world 

 famed from the earliest ages. 



Characteristics and ^"^ general, the Antelopes are 

 Range of the slender. Deer-like animals, with 

 Antelopes. short, and nearly always thickset 

 hairy covering and more or less twisted horns, which 

 are usually borne by both sexes. The different spe- 

 cies show much similarity in bodily structure, and 

 the only marked distinctive features are found in 

 the formation of the horns, the hoofs and the tail, 

 as well as several modifications of the hairy cover- 

 ing. But the number of species of Antelopes is so 

 great that the members placed at either extremity 

 of the group bear little resemblance to each other. 



The Antelopes inhabit the whole of Africa, south- 

 ern, western and central Asia, southern and central 

 Europe. Each species seems to have its favorite 

 food, which determines its place of abode so long as 

 human interference does not drive the shy, fleet 

 animals to pastures new. The majority inhabit the 

 plains, but some decidedly prefer the high mountains 

 to the valleys, -and ascend to the lower limits of 

 perpetual snow. Some inhabit open country cov- 

 ered with a sparse vegetation, others are found in 

 thin ranges of scrubby bushes; some in the thickest 

 of forests, a few species even in marshes and bogs. 

 Food and Their food consists exclusively of 

 Osesofthe vegetable substances, mainly of 

 Antelopes. herbage, leaves, buds and young 

 shoots. Some content themselves with the coarsest 

 food, others are exceedingly fastidious and feed 

 only on the most succulent and dainty of plants. If 

 provided with fresh, green provender, the majority 

 can abstain from water for a long time, and those 

 that live in arid deserts can go entirely without 

 water for days and even weeks. 



