CHAPTER XX 
THE ANTELOPE 
There is no animal that belongs to the Cervidce 
south of the Sahara desert; the deer of Barbary is 
supposed to have been introduced from Europe, 
possibly by the Carthaginians; at any rate, there 
are no deer throughout the vast continent of Africa, 
excepting the Northern States which border the 
Mediterranean. This is a peculiar feature in the 
African fauna, the deer being common to all other 
portions of the globe. In Africa, in the absence of 
deer, we find an extraordinary variety of the 
antelopes. 
The antelopes, although possessing many of the 
characteristics of deer, have a distinguishing feature 
in the permanency of their horns ; these grow like 
those of the Bos, in proportion to the age of the 
animal. There is an extraordinary variation in 
both shape and length, according to the species, 
also in the distribution of horns among the sexes ; 
in some antelopes the horns are confined to the 
male, while in other varieties both the male and 
female are thus armed. 
