ANTELOPE. 
selves : their habits and manners are thus 
described. They inhabit, two or three spe- 
cies excepted, the hottest parts of the 
globe ; or, at least, those parts of the tem- 
perate zone that lie so near the tropics as 
to form a doubtful climate. None, there- 
fore, except the Saiga and the Chamois, are 
to be met with in Europe ; and notwith- 
standing the warmth of South America is 
suited to their nature, not a single species 
has yet been discovered in any part of the 
new world. Their proper climates seem, 
therefore, to be those of Asia and Africa, 
where the species are very numerous. “As 
there appears a general agreement in the 
nature of the species that form this great 
genus, it will prevent needless repetition to 
observe, that the antelopes are animals ge- 
nerally 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. What is very singular 
is, that they will stop in the midst of their 
course, gaze for a moment at their pursuers, 
and then resume their flight. As the chase 
of these animals is a favourite amusement 
with the eastern nations, from that may be 
collected proofs of the rapid speed of the 
antplope tribe. The greyhound, the fleet- 
est of dogs, is usually unequal in the course, 
and the sportsman is obliged to call in the 
aid of the falcon, trained for the purpose, 
to seize on the animal, and impede its mo- 
tions, in order to give the dogs an opportu- 
nity of overtaking it. In India and Persia 
a species of leopard is made use of in the 
chase : this is an animal that takes its prey 
not by swiftness of foot, but by the great- 
ness of its springs, by motions similar t6 
those of the antelope ; but, should the leo- 
pard fail in its first essay, the game escapes. 
The fleetness of the antelope was pro- 
verbial in the country it inhabited, even in 
the earliest times : the speed of Asahel 
(2 Sam. ii. 18.) is beautifully compared to 
that of tha Tzebi, and the Gadites were 
said to be as swift as the antelopes upon the 
mountains. The sacred waiters took their 
similies from such objects as were before 
the eyes of the people to whom they ad- 
dressed themselves. There is another in- 
stance drawn from the same subject : the 
disciple raised to life at Joppa was supposed 
to have been called Tabitha, i. e. Dorcas, or 
the antelope, from the beauty of her eyes ; 
and to this day one of the highest compli- 
ments that can be paid to female beauty in 
the eastern regions, is Aine el Czazel, ‘ You 
have the eyqs of an antelope’. Some 
species of antelopes form herds of two or 
three thousands, while others keep in troops 
of five or six. They generally reside in 
hilly countries, though some inhabit plains : 
they often brouse like the goat, and feed on 
the tender shoots of trees, which gives their 
flesh an excellent flavour. This is to be 
understood of those which are taken in the 
chase ; for those which are fattened in 
houses are far less delicious. The flesh of 
some species is said to taste of musk, which 
perhaps depends on the qualities of the 
plants they feed upon.” This preface (says 
Mr. Pennant) was thought necessary, to 
point out the difference in nature between 
this and the goat kind, with which most sys- 
tematic writers have classed the antelopes : 
but the antelope forms an intermediate ge- 
nus, a link between the goat and the deer ; 
agreeing with the former in the texture of 
the horns, which have a core in them, and 
are never cast ; and with the latter in ele- 
gance of form and swiftness. 
The Common Antelope. — The Antelope, 
properly so called, abounds in Barbary, and 
in all the northern parts of Africa. It is 
somewhat less than the fallow-deer: its 
horns are about sixteen inches long, sur- 
rounded with prominent rings almost to the 
top, where they are twelve inches distant 
from point to point. The horns of the an- 
telope are remarkable for a beautiful dou- 
ble flexion, which gives them the app earance 
of the lyre of the ancients. The colour of 
the hair on the back is brown, mixed with 
red ; the belly and inside of the thighs white ; 
and the tail short. 
The Striped Antelope, — is a beautiful, 
tall gazelle, inhabiting the Cape of Good 
Hope ; has long, slender shanks : its horns 
are smooth, twisted spirally, with a promi- 
nent edge or rib following the wreaths; they 
are three feet nine inches long, of a pale- 
brown colour, close at the base, and at the 
points round and sharp. The colour of 
this animal is a rusty brown ; along the 
ridge of the back there is a white stripe 
mixed with brown ; from this are eight 01 - 
nine white stripes pointing downwards ; the 
forehead and the fore part of the nose are 
brown ; a white stripe runs from the corner 
of each eye, and meets just above the nose ; 
upon each cheek-bone there are two small 
white spots ; the inner edges of the ears are 
covered with white hair, and the upper part 
of the neck is adorned with a brown mane, 
an inch long ; beneath the neck, from tire 
