QUADRUPEDS. 121 
THE ANTELOPE. (Antilope cervicarpa.) 
SWIFTNESS and elegance of shape these animals possess to 
a considerable degree, and they inhabit the temperate re- 
gions of Asia. The males have horns like those of the goat, 
and never shed them ; these horns are smooth, long, and 
twisted spirally or annulated. The general colour of the 
hair is brown, and, in some species, of a beautiful yellow. 
Timid animals are of course inoffensive, and the Ante- 
lopes, like other gregarious creatures, are fond of living 
together. The eyes are exceedingly bright; and those of 
a beautiful nymph have often been compared to them by 
Persian and other poets. Enjoying an unbounded share 
of liberty, they range in herds, through the deserts of 
Arabia, and bound from rock to rock with wonderful 
agility. In disposition they are timid and restless, and 
their long and slender legs are peculiarly suited to their 
habits and manners of life. These, in some of the species, 
are so slender and brittle as to snap with a very trifling 
blow ; and the Arabs, taking advantage of this circum- 
stance, catch them by throwing sticks at them, by which 
their legs are broken. 
