i 5 8 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
as it carries extremely short horns, seldom more 
than 8 inches in length, although it attains the 
large size of 600 lbs. live weight. The bull is a 
bluish gray, very high in the withers, and deep 
in the chest; the female is devoid of horns, and 
is smaller, also different in colour, being a russet 
brown. There is a strong resemblance to domestic 
cattle in the nilghye, but the animal is shy, and, 
in my own experience, I have found it more difficult 
to approach than the sambur deer. All antelopes 
have a peculiar arrangement below the eyes, a 
sort of pit, in connection with the lachrymal duct. 
In some parts of India the nilghye commit 
great havoc during their nightly depredations upon 
the natives’ crops, but the Hindoos will seldom 
destroy them, as they regard them in the same 
light as cows, the name signifying “ blue cow.” 
All the horns of antelopes are sheaths fitted upon 
a bony cone. I cannot see much difference 
between the gazelle (A. dorcas ) of Africa and 
Arabia, and the chicara of India. They are 
graceful creatures, which generally inhabit extensive 
plains, and are difficult to approach. I do not 
pretend to give a description of every variety 
of antelope ; there are several in Northern India 
and Thibet, also the four-horned antelope (Tetracerus 
quadricornis ). This is a curious little animal 
with four short spike horns ; the two anterior are 
seldom more than 2 inches in length, and the 
posterior, which are immediately behind, do not 
exceed 4 inches. The four-horned antelope is 
