THE PRONGHORNED ANIMALS. 



513 



.apparently loves it tenderly and perils her life in 

 -defense of it without hesitation. 



Difficulty and The pursuit of adult Gnus is rendered 

 Profit of a Gnu difficult by reason of the extreme 

 Hunt. speed and endurance of the animal. 



■Gnus when pursued exhibit a striking resemblance 

 to fleeing wild Oxen. Occasionally Gnus are caught 

 in pitfalls or snares. Those which are taken when 

 already old act as if mad; young ones, however, 

 that are reared on cow's milk and caressed and fon- 

 dled become accustomed to Man and so tame that 

 one can send them to pasture with the flocks and 

 allow them the liberty accorded a domestic animal. 

 . The profit accruing from the carcass of a slain 

 Gnu is about the same as that arising from any other 

 wild African Antelopes. The flesh is eaten, being 

 juicy and tender, the hide is used as leather, and the 

 horns are made into knife handles and other articles. 



Horns of Prong. This Ruminant, the Pronghorned 

 horns Not Those of Antelope, differs from all its rela- 

 an Antelope. tives of the entire order, by having 

 hollow, pronged horns, which do not increase by a 

 contmuous growth, as do those of the Horned Ani- 

 mals, but are shed and formed anew from time to 

 time, as are those of Deer, but in a totally different 

 manner. Other peculiarities, such as the existence 

 of special glands, the resemblance of the hoofs to 

 those of the Giraffe, the texture and appearance of 

 the hair, etc., induced Murie, who dissected the 

 animal, to describe it as " an Antelope with a head 

 like a Deer, "hoofs like a" Giraffe, glands like a Goat, 

 hair like a Sheep," which can mean nothing else but 

 that the Pronghorn is no Antelope. All character- 

 istics of the Ruminant in question are of so peculiar 

 and important a character that the animal cannot be 

 united with any other family of its order, but must 





THE GNU. This s 



Siristles around the strange! 



tTbe pronQborneb animals. 



FOURTH FAMILY: Antilocaprid.e. 



We let the hollow-horned animals be followed in 

 ■our consideration by a Ruminant which was, until 

 recently, classified among the Antelopes, although 

 the distinctive difference in the formation of its 

 horns from those of all other Horned Animals made 

 5uch a classification manifestly incorrect. This is 

 probably the animal mentioned by old Hernandez as 

 •existing in Mexico, under the name of "Teutlama- 

 zame," but as the scientific description of this re- 

 markable Ruminant dates back only to the year 

 i8i5itwas reserved for the naturalists of our own 

 time to correct a scientific error which had been 

 obstinately persisted in, and to give the animal its 

 true position in its order. 



be classified as the representative of a distinct family 

 which we will call the Pronghorned Animals. 

 Description and The Pronghorn, or, as it is variously 

 Range of the called the Pronghorned Antelope, 

 Pronghorn. Prongbuck, Cabree or Cabrit {Anti- 

 locapra americana or Antilope furcifer) has, on the 

 whole, the shape of a vigorous Antelope, measuring 

 about five feet in length, from seven to eight inches 

 of which total are included in the tail; and the 

 height at the shoulders is thirty-two inches. The 

 head is ungainly, sheep-like and elongated, the eye 

 large, dark and expressive; the ear is rather long and 

 is acutely pointed. The neck is of moderate length, 

 and the body appears more slender than it really is, 

 for it is supported on very delicate legs of more than 

 medium length. Three different and usually sharply 

 contrasting tints — a rusty sorrel, white and dark 

 brown — make the coat one of very gay appearance. 



