NATURAL HISTORY OF AFRICA. 44<7 
neck is of uncommon length, its head very much 
resembles that of a sheep, but it is provided with 
two undivided horns, tipped with brushes of hair. 
It is the tallest of land animals, individuals having 
been measured eighteen feet high. It is a re- 
markably gentle animal, and lives on the leaves of 
trees. 
No animals of the deer tribe (cervus) occur 
in southern and tropical Africa ; and the small 
cervus Guineensis appears to be a species of 
antelope. The red deer (cervus elephas) occurs 
in the north of Africa, but may have been im- 
ported from Europe. But Africa, although des- 
titute of deer, is abundantly supplied with spe- 
cies of that beautiful tribe of hoofed quadru- 
peds, named antelope. There are about thirty 
species of antelope found in Africa, and most of 
them distinguished by the great beauty of their 
form, the gracefulness of their motions, and their 
velocity of speed. The most striking species is 
the A. gnou, a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
It appears to be a very singular compound of ani- 
mals, uniting the strong head and horns of the 
bull, with the lightness and skin of the stag ; the 
beauty of the mane, body, and tail of the horse, 
and the lachrymal sinus of the antelope ; in short, 
at first view it appears to be a mixture of the bull, 
antelope, and holse j and seems more nearly allied 
to the bovine than the antelope tribe. It is one 
