532 
VERTEBKATA 
STRIPED ELANOS DISCOVERED BY DR. LIVINGSTONE. 
Hie Lead is long and pointed, the ears are large, the neck thick, compressed on the sides, as in 
the ox, and famished underneath with a loose, hanging skin or dewlap, fringed along the margin 
with a border of long hair. There is likeAvise a large protuberance of the size of a man's fist on 
the larynx, and it Avas probably from this organ, which is likewise foimd in the elk of Europe, 
that the animal derived the name of Eland, by which it is universally known at the Cape. Prom 
tlie center of the forehead to the root of the tail runs a short erect mane of dark-browai hair, 
wkicli is reversed on the neck, but directed backward in the usual manner along the spine of the 
back. The color of the body is uniform reddish-fawn on the upper parts, and white on the under ; 
the head and nock ashy-gray, but in some individuals the latter color extends over all the upper 
parts of the body. 
The Eland wdien full-grown usually weighs from eight hundred to a thousand pounds, and, 
contrary to the general rule observed among antilopes, is commonly extremely fat. Its flesh 
is consequently more prized than tliat of any other wild animal of South Africa, and the large 
muscles of the thighs, in particular, are held in the highest estimation when, dried and cured, 
under wbich form they are denominated thigh-tongues. The character of this animal is very 
mild, and as it wore predisposed to domestication ; it is gregarious, and lives in large herds 
upon the open plains and low hills, the old males generally residing apart. This species were 
formerly veiy common in the immediate neighborhood of Cape Town, but were so much hunted 
that they have long since ceased to frequent the inhabited districts, and are now rarely met 
with except in the more distant and retired parts of the colony. Being generally very fat 
and pursy, they do not run w^ell, and are soon fatigued; it is even said that wben hard run a red 
oily perspiration has been known to ooze out from the pores of their skin, and that they occasion- 
ally drop down from plethora. Like most other animals when hunted, they always run against 
the wind. As the carcass is weighty, and consequently difficult to transport, the great object of 
the hunters, in the chase, is to turn their game in such a direction as to drive it close to their 
