310 ANTELOPE* 



Falcon, trained for the purpose, to seize on the 

 animal, and impede its motions, in order to give 

 the dogs an opportunity of overtaking it. In In- 

 dia and Persia a species of Leopard is made use of 

 in the chace : this is an animal that takes its 

 prey not by swiftness of foot, but by the greatness 

 of its springs, by motions similar to those of the 

 Antelope ; but, should the Leopard fail in its first 

 essay, the game escapes. 



The fleetness of the Antelope was proverbial 

 in the country it inhabited, even in the earliest 

 times : the speed of Asahel (2 Sam. ii. 18.) is 

 beautifully compared to that of the Tzehi, and the 

 Gadites Avere said to be as swift as the Antelopes ^ 

 upon the mountains. The sacred writers took 

 their similies from such objects as were before the 

 eyes of the people to whom they addressed them- 

 selves. There is another instance draAvn from 

 the same subject : the disciple raised to life at 

 Joppa was supposed to have been called Tahi- 

 tkn, i. e. Dorcas, or the Antelope, from the beauty 

 of her eyes ; and to this day one of the highest 

 compliments that can be paid to female beauty in 

 the eastern regions is Aine el Czazel, ' You have 

 the eyes of an Antelope. ' 



Some species of Antelopes form lierds of two 

 or three thousands, while others keep in troops of 

 five or six. They generally reside in hilly coun- 

 tries, though some inhabit plains : they often 

 brouse like the goat, and feed on the tender 



* Improperly translated Roes, 



