HE ANTELOPE. 33 



THE ANTELOPE, 



IN THE COLLECTION OF EARL DARNLEY, AT COBHAIU HALL. 



As there appears a general agreement in the nature of the species which form the great genus of the 

 Antelope, it will be merely necessary to observe, that antelopes are animals generally of a most 

 elegant and active make, of a restless and timid disposition, extremely watchful, of great vivacity, 

 remarkably swift and agile, and most of their boundings so light and elastic, as to strike the spectator 

 with astonishment. 



The fleetness of the antelope was proverbial in the country which it inhabited, even in the earliest 

 times ; the speed of Asahel (2 Sam. vi. 18) is beautifully compared to that of the tzebi, and the Gadites 

 ■were said to be as swift as the antelopes upon the mountains. Even at the present day, one of the 

 highest compliments that can be paid to female beauty in the eastern regions is, " You have the eyes 

 of an antelope." 



Some species of antelopes form herds of two or three thousand, while others keep in troops of five 

 or six. They generally reside in hilly countries, though some of them inhabit the plains; they often 

 browse like the goat, and feed on the tender shoots of trees, which gives their flesh an excellent 

 flavour. It has been stated by Delalande, that, in the southern parts of Africa, those antelopes 

 which inhabit the plains never enter the forests, and that those of the forests never seek either the 

 plains or the marshes ; every site retains the species peculiar to it. 



The antelope is a variety of the gazelle, and resembles that animal in many particulars, but in 

 others it is essentially different. It has deeper eye-pits than the gazelle, and the horns are also 

 formed differently, being about sixteen inches long, almost touching each other at the bottom, and 

 spreading as they rise, so as at their tips to be sixteen inches asunder. They have the annular 

 prominences of their species, but not so distinguishable as in the gazelle ; they have, however, a double 

 flexure, which is very remarkable, and serves to distinguish them from all others of their kind. At 

 the root they have a tuft of hair, which is longer than that of any other part of the body. Like 

 others of the same species, the antelope is brown on the back, and white under the belly ; but these 

 colours are not separated by the black streak which is to be found in all the rest of the gazelle kinds. 

 With the exception of four species, the Antelope gazella, A. caama, A. cucophcea, A. oryx, the 

 females of the antelope tribe are wholly destitute of horns. 



The antelope of the Cape of Good Hope is generally known by the name of the Springbok, on 

 account of the astonishing; bounds which it takes. Mr. Burchell gives the following interesting 

 description of a herd of these animals : — '.' At this high level we entered upon a very extensive open 

 plain, abounding, to an incredible degree, in wild animals, amongst which were several large herds of 

 quakkas, and many ivilde-beests or gnus ; but the springboks were far the most numerous, and, 

 like flocks of sheep, completely covered some parts of the plain. Their uncertain movements ren- 

 dered it impossible to estimate their number, but I believe if I were to guess it at two thousand, I 

 should still be within the truth. This is one of the most beautiful of the antelopes of southern Africa, 

 and it is certainly one of the most numerous. The place afforded no other object to fix the attention ; 



