RUMINATING QUADRUPEDS. 143 



cured, under which form they are denominated thigh tongues. The 

 character of this aaimal is very mild, and, as it were, predisposed 

 to domestication ; it is gregarious, and lives in large herds upon 

 the open plains and low hills, the old males generally residing- 

 apart. 



They are so gentle that a man on horseback may penetrate 

 into the middle of the herd without alarming them, and pick out 

 the fattest and best conditioned ; and, as the old bulls are com- 

 monly chosen, on account of their greater size and weight, it not 

 unfrequently happens that the herd is left altogether without a 

 male. 



The Oryx, also a South African animal, is well known 

 among hunters as the only antelope that revenges itself on the lion. 

 When it sees the lion in the act of springing on it, it lowers its 

 head, receiving the lion on the points of its sharp horns. It in- 

 variably perishes by the shock, but the lion also perishes with it. 

 Their skeletons have more than once been seen lying together 

 bleached on the plain. The description given of this animal by 

 Gumming is highly graphic. " The oryx, or gemsbok, to which 

 I was now about to direct my attention more particularly, is about 

 the most beautiful and remarkable of all the antelope tribe. It is 

 the animal which is supposed to have given rise to the fable of the 

 unicorn, from its long straight horns, when seen in profile, so ex- 

 actly covering one another as to give it the appearance of having 

 but one. It possesses the erect mane, long sweeping black tail, 

 and general appearance of the horse, with the head and hoofs of an 

 antelope. It is robust in its form, squarely and compactly built, 

 and very noble in its bearing. Its height is about that of an ass, 

 and in color it slightly resembles that animal. The beautiful black 

 bands which eccentrinally adorn its head, giving it the appearance 

 of wearing a stall collar, together with the manner in which the 

 rump and thighs are painted, impart to it a character peculiar to 

 itself. The adult male measures three feet ten inches in height at 

 the shoulder." 



The Springbok is very fearful of man, and if it has to 

 cross a patli over which a man has pasced before, it docs not walk 



