494 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



these two animals; the most 1 could say being that 

 a Gazelle, skimming over the ground, seems to fly 

 rather than to run: but that statement would still fall 

 short of describing its fleetness. 

 Peculiarities and The Springboks {Antidorcas) exhibit 

 Structure of the a great affinity to the Gazelles, but 

 Springbok. differ from them and all other rela- 

 tives by reason of one important feature, peculiarly 

 their own. Along the back, beginning about its 

 middle, runs a furrow formed by a doubling of the 

 skin and covered with very long hair ; it is usually 

 closed, but opens in response to violent movements, 

 especially in bounding. The horns, which are. borne 

 by both sexes, rise vertically from the forehead and 

 form an outline similar to that of a Grecian lyre. 

 The organization is both vigorous and graceful, the 

 head is moderately large, the neck slender, the tail 

 ■of medium length, the feet somewhat long from the 



^-^i^. 



cJf^^ 



THE'SFBINGBOK. In southern Africa these beautiful members of the Antelope family live on the plains, 



but frequently undertake migrations when seasons of drought and scarcity make their accustomed range undesirable 

 ■On these occasions they assemble in bands of thousands. They are veryfieet and agile. {.AntUope euchore.) 



soles to the ankles, the ears long and pointed, the 

 eyes very large, lustrous and long-lashed, the tear- 

 pits small and obscure. 



The only representative of this sub-genus is the 

 Springbok {Antilope euchore'), a wonderfully beauti- 

 ful Antelope, measuring five feet in length, the tail 

 occupying eight inches of this total; the height at 

 the shoulders is thirty-four inches. The color is a 

 lustrous, dark cinnamon-brown; a stripe running from 

 the roots of the horns across the eyes towards the 

 nose, and another broad one extending along the 

 flank from the fore-thighs to the hams, are nut-brown; 

 all other parts are white. The horns are black, and 

 measured in a straight line they may attain a length 

 of from eleven to twelve inches in the case of the 

 buck; measured along the curvature, they are from 

 twelve to sixteen inches long and show about twenty 

 complete transverse rings, the tip being smooth. 



The range of the Springbok is restricted to south- 

 ern Africa. It is still found in Cape Colony, espe- 



cially in the northwestern parts, but is plentiful 

 principally in the endless, desolate and desert-like 

 plains, extending from the Orange river to the 

 Ngami region. The majority of the Springboks 

 probably populate the Kalahari and some strips of 

 territory in German Southwestern Africa. They are 

 found there ranging from groups of twos and fives 

 up to herds from thirty to fifty in number, and some- 

 times even one hundred and two hundred. They 

 change their places of abode, disperse over their 

 vast territory or aggregate in large herds, according 

 to the amount of pursuit to which they are subjected, 

 the.abundance or scarcity of food, and the filling 

 or drj^ing up of water places. When the south Af- 

 rican regions are visited by great droughts, as hap- 

 pens at variable intervals, the suffering Antelopes 

 are obliged to desert their haunts, to evacuate vast 

 regions and migrate to others. The wandering bands 



of animals are joined by 



"" other troops and herds; 



growing into thousands 

 they form hosts, and are 

 followed by the various 

 beasts of prey which feast 

 on the weary and dead 

 animals. Keeping closely 

 or loosely together, the 

 Springboks push on in a 

 direct course, destroying 

 the scanty remains of 

 vegetation and finally in- 

 vading more favored lo- 

 calities like swarms of 

 Locusts. In recent times 

 these migrations, or"trek- 

 boken," as they are called 

 by the Boers, have lost 

 much of their magnitude 

 and also occur much less 

 frequently, not because 

 the times of scarcity are 

 no more, but evidently 

 becailse the numbers of 

 Springboks have greatly 

 decreased. 



Gordon Cumnjing thus 

 writes, speaking of a pe- 

 riod about forty years ago: 

 " Every traveler, who like 

 myself has seen the large 

 hosts which the Spring- 

 boks form in their pilgrimages, and gives an accurate 

 and true description of what he has seen, must fear 

 that he will encounter disbelief, so wonderful is the 

 sight of the migrating hordes. They have justly and 

 pertinently been likened to the devastating swarms 

 of Locusts with which the wanderer in this land of 

 wonders is so familiar; like them they devour all 

 verdure on their way in a few hours, and destroy in a 

 single night the fruits of a farmer's years of toil. 



"On the twenty-eighth of December I first had 

 the pleasure of seeing a ' trek-boken.' In respect to 

 animals, this was, I believe, the grandest spectacle I 

 ever witnessed. For about two hours before the day 

 dawned, I had been lying awake in my wagon, list- 

 ening to the grunting' of the bucks within two hun- 

 dred yards of me. I imagined that some large herd 

 of Springboks was feeding beside my camp. But 

 upon rising when it was clear, I beheld the ground 

 to the northward of my camp actually covered with 

 a dense living mass of Springboks, marching slowly 



