254 
THE STORY OF THE ANTELOPE . 
aimed at the gemsbok, but before he could pull a trigger, I held up my hand 
in warning. 
“Don’t shoot!” I exclaimed at the same time. “That gemsbok is entitled 
to her life, and as far as I am concerned she shall have it.” 
We needed venison, too, but I am sure I would not have enjoyed eating 
that noble heroine. 
Antelopes are characterized by their graceful build, and by the head 
being carried considerably above the level of the back. The horns, which 
may or may not be present in the females, are generally long, more or less 
round. They are frequently marked with prominent rings, and have an 
upright direction. Their bony cores, instead of being honeycombed, as in 
the oxen, sheep, and goats, are nearly solid throughout. These animals 
very generally have a gland beneath the eye, by which they are distinguished 
from the oxen and goats; but, as regards their teeth, some of them resemble 
the oxen, while others are more like those of the sheep and goats. 
THE GEMSBOK. 
Under the title of oryx are five species of antelope, found throughout 
the desert regions of Africa, and also in Arabia and Syria. In South Africa 
the best representative of the oryx family is the gemsbok, which stands 
about four feet in height, is greyish in color, becoming white beneath. A 
black stripe on the flanks divides the grey of the sides from the white below, 
and there is also a black surface on the haunches extending as a line on the 
back, and continued over the whole of the tail. In addition to this, there is 
also black on the upper parts of the limbs, on the front of the legs above 
the fetlocks, and along the throat; the throat-stripe dividing and running 
up the sides of the head nearly to the ears. On the face a black stripe runs 
from each horn through the eye nearly to the muzzle, which is connected 
by a narrow stripe with a broad black patch on the center of the forehead. 
The longest male horns of this species I ever saw measured were 42 inches 
in length, while those of the female may reach 46!- inches. Horns have been 
recorded measuring 47^ inches. 
Gemsboks are generally met with where the country is either completely 
open or covered with stunted scrub. They thrive and attain high condition 
in barren regions where it might be imagined a locust would not find sub¬ 
sistence; and, burning as is the climate, they are perfectly independent of 
water, which, from my own observation and the repeated reports both of 
