The Antelope. 
149 
has a beard, and the female is less than the male. This 
animal skips from rock to rock, and often, when pursued, 
leaps down enormous precipices, and is said to bend his 
head between his fore legs while springing, so as to 
break his fall, by alighting partly on his horns. The 
Ibex has been known to turn on the incautious hunts- 
man, and tumble him down the precipice, unless he has 
time to lie down, and let the animal pass over him. 
THE ANTELOPE. (Antilope cervicapra.) 
These beautiful inhabitants of the temperate regions of 
Africa, and southern Asia, possess swiftness and ele- 
gance of shape in an eminent degree. They are timid, 
inoffensive, and gregarious. The males have horns like 
those of the goat, and never shed them ; they are smooth, 
long, twisted spirally, and annulated. The general 
colour of the hair is brown, and, in some species, a beau- 
tiful yellow. The eyes are exceedingly bright, and have 
often been compared to those of a beautiful nymph by 
Persian and other poets. Enjoying perfect li* rty, they 
