The first appears to have been exhibited in the dictatorship of Julius Cesar; subsequently several of the emperors exhibited it in the games and processions; and Gordian the Third is said to have possessed ten at the same time. Now, as Southern Africa was a terra incognita to the Romans, we have reason to conclude that every example was obtained from the northern or north-eastern line of that vast continent, and most probably by way of Egypt; hence we may well believe that it was known in Egypt at an era more remote, and to the nations communicating with that then mighty empire. The height of the full-grown Giraffe, from the hoofs to the head, is about eighteen feet; but the females are smaller. The first specimens were brought to England by that enterprising traveller, Mr. Burchell, and are preserved in the British Museum; they were obtained in South Africa. The largest measures seventeen feet six inches. The word Giraffe is a corruption of the Arabic "Zirafe." We now enter upon a multitudinous assemblage of animals, united into one great genus by common characters, but which, for the sake of preventing confusion, systematic writers have endeavoured to subdivide into minor groups, taking the unimportant characters of the horns, their shape, and direction, as the grounds of their sections. Characters, however, like these can hardly be relied on, nor, indeed, ought they to have been chosen, could data, essentially connected with structure, have possibly been obtained: as it is, they must, at present, stand in the stead of a more scientific basis. These sections, thus artificially formed, we shall pass over without any explicit notice, because, as we cannot give even a sketch of every species, they would be of no service, and because, if we were to dwell upon them, they would add nothing to our real information. This genus, then, is that of the ANTELOPES, (Antilope.) The Antelopes are distinguished at once from the preceding genera by their true and permanent horns. Internally, they consist of a solid osseous protuberance of the frontal bone, covered externally by a sheath of true horny matter, which increases by the addition of successive layers in proportion to the growth of the internal nucleus. The solidity of this nucleus of bone is a character worth noticing, inasmuch as it is one of the distinctive marks between the Antelopes and the Goats, which latter, in addition to the compressed form of the horns, have the bony nucleus hollow, and communicating with the frontal sinuses. The horns of the Antelopes are simple; they are generally, though not always, peculiar to the males alone, and are always rounded. Many are marked with raised circular rings, continued more or less throughout their whole length; some are spirally twisted, others encircled by a spiral line; some are perfectly straight, others are hooked forwards, others backwards, others by their junction form a lyre; in short, the modifications of their outline are almost innumerable. The remaining characters of the genera are such as bring them in close alliance with the [RUMINANTIA. genus Cervus. Gracefully and elegantly formed, their body is supported on light and slender, but vigorous limbs, constructed for the utmost speed; the hinder being the longest, and the haunches being elevated accordingly. In many species we find a tuft of hair below the knees. The hoofs are long, narrow, and pointed; the head is generally small, and its contour beautiful; the eyes are large, full, and brilliant; the ears large, open, pointed, and moveable. The suborbital sinuses are generally large, and capable of contraction or expansion; the hair is usually sleek and close. This interesting genus is almost peculiar to the hotter countries of the Old World, Africa and Asia. One, the Chamois, is found in western Europe, and two or three species, imperfectly known, are natives of the American continent. In habits and manners the Antelopes offer but little variety. Fleet as the wind, they scour the plains in herds, bounding along, when scared by the approach of man or beast, with a lightness and grace absolutely unrivalled. Timid and gentle, they have but their speed to trust to for escape; and they are therefore endowed with the senses of hearing, sight, and smell in exquisite perfection: the sense of taste also is singularly delicate. Were these creatures not thus gifted, were not their limbs thus strong for flight, and their senses thus acute, how would they escape their foes? As it is, multitudes fall. The leopard, the tiger, and the lion, lurk for them in every thicket; and man joins the number of their devoted enemies, training the eagle and the cheetah for the chase. But, like all creatures whose weakness renders them a prey to the ferocious, their increase bears a relative proportion to their diminution; and though thousands yearly fall to glut the prowlers of the forest, their loss is yearly supplied. Some few of the larger species, it is true, make a desperate stand in self-defence even against the lion, and, nerved by despair, use their sharp horns with surprising energy. Still the struggle is unequal, and the race would soon perish, were its recruits not adequate to its losses. The Antelopes are not restricted to one kind of locality; the jungles, the wide and open plains, the morasses, the forest, and the mountain-tops, are respectively the habitat of different species; but every where they retreat as human society advances; the wilds, the solitudes, and the deserts are their home. "Afar in the desert I love to ride, With the silent bush-boy alone by my side ; In the v'ley* where the wild ass is drinking his fill. "Afar in the desert I love to ride, With the silent bush-boy alone by my side; V'ley, marsh, in the language of the colonists. RUMINANTIA.] THE GAZELLE-THE SPRINGBOK. Where the zebra wantonly tosses his mane, PRINGLE. We shall proceed to illustrate the present genus by a few examples; and first, the GAZELLE, (Antilope Dorcas, LINN.) The light Gazelle, with its beaming eye and graceful figure, has been ever a favourite with the poets of the east, from whose writings it has been borrowed into the pages of northern bards. Under the name of the Roe we meet with many beautiful allusions to this animal in the sacred writings. It is common over the whole of the north of Africa; it abounds in Arabia and Syria. "The wild Gazelle o'er Judah's hills Exulting still may bound, And drink from all the living rills The Roe is still "swift on the mountains" of a land whose glory is departed, the land of prophecies and miracles, the land of the Redeemer, where he was despised and rejected; over its nameless and desolate ruins the Gazelle may bound unnoticed, save by the prowling hyæna or yelling jackal. The Gazelle is about twenty-four inches in height; its skin is of a beautiful light fawn on the back, passing into a brown band along the sides, which forms an abrupt border to the white of the under surface. The horns, which are lyre shaped, have twelve or fourteen rings; they occur in both sexes, and by their form distinguish the group of Antelopes to which this species belongs, a group taking from it the name of the Gazelles. Another very beautiful animal of the same group, is the SPRINGBOK of Southern Africa, (Antilope euchore, BURCHELL.) (See Engraving, No. 52.) The Springbok is larger than the gazelle; the general colour of its upper parts is fawn; the under surface is white, abruptly bordered along the sides with a rich chestnut band; the horns are of moderate length, and lyriform. The distinguishing mark of this species is a line of very long white hairs, arising from between a double longitudinal fold of the skin along the middle of the back: in the ordinary state the edges of this fold approximate and lie close, so as to conceal, in a great measure, this snowy stripe. It is, however, expanded so as almost to occupy the whole of the haunch, when the animal takes those extraordinary leaps which first suggested its name. Mr. Burchell thus describes the effect produced by the appearance of a herd of these beautiful creatures. "At this high level we entered upon a very extensive open plain, abounding to an incredible degree in wild animals; among which were several large herds of quakkas, and many wildebeests, or gnues; but 105 the springboks were far the most numerous, and, like flocks of sheep, covered several parts of the plain. Their uncertain movements rendered it impossible to estimate their number; but I believe if I were to guess it at two thousand, I should be still within the truth. This is one of the most beautiful Antelopes of Southern Africa, and it is certainly one of the most numerous. The plain afforded no other object to fix the attention; and even if it had presented many, I should not readily have ceased admiring these elegant animals, or have been diverted from watching their manners. It was only occasionally that they took those remarkable leaps, which have been the origin of their name; but when grazing, or moving at leisure, they walked or trotted like other antelopes, or as the common deer. When pursued, or hastening their pace, they frequently took an extraordinary bound, rising with curved or elevated backs high into the air, generally to the height of eight feet, and appearing as if about to take flight. Some of the herds moved by us almost within musketshot; and I observed that, in crossing the beaten road, the greater number cleared it by one of those flying leaps. As the road was quite smooth and level with the plain, there was no necessity for their leaping over it; but it seemed that the fear of a snare, or a natural disposition to regard man as an enemy, induced them to mistrust even the ground which he had trodden.” The most interesting part of the history of the Springbok relates to its occasional migrations, from the interior to the cultivated districts of the colonial settlements of the Cape. South of the Orange River is an immense desert tract destitute of permanent springs, and therefore uninhabitable by man, but still interspersed with pools of brackish water, replenished by the periodical rains, which satisfy the wild beasts of this almost uninvaded realm. Here, with others of their race, myriads of Springboks dwell in peaceful security. At length comes a season of drought; no thunderstorms replenish the pools; every reservoir is dried up; the ground is parched; every green thing withers, and is, as it were, burnt away by the scorching sun: one scene of barren desolation extends around. Driven by necessity, these swarm, countless as the sands, inundate the surrounding regions, seeking more fertile plains and unexhausted springs. Some pass to the borders of the Orange River and its tributary streams; others southwards, ravaging like locusts the fields of the colony, and destroying the hopes of the year. Mr. Pringle says, he has seen them literally whiten the face of the country "as far as the eye could reach over these far-stretching plains." They do not, however approach the precincts of man with impunity; they are destroyed by thousands for food; they are harassed on every side, but still pursue their course. Let, however, the rains return, and, warned by their instinct that vegetation has recommenced in the desert, and that the pools are filled, they rapidly retrace their steps, and in a few days not a Springbok is to be seen. Referring to the migrations of these animals, Captain Stockenstrom, chief civil commissioner at the Cape, thus writes to Mr. Pringle. "It is scarcely possible for a person passing over some 106 THE INDIAN, CHIRU, AND CERVINE ANTELOPE. [RUMINANTIA. of the extensive tracts of the interior, and admir- a blow. The falcon is also trained to baffle them ing that elegant animal the Springbok, thinly as they scour the plain, and by thus impeding scattered over the plains, and bounding in play- their celerity, give the dogs a chance. In size, ful innocence, to figure to himself that these the present species equals a fallow deer; its geornaments of the desert can often become as neral colour above is a brownish fawn, approachdestructive as the locusts themselves. Incredible ing more or less to black, and abruptly edging numbers, which sometimes pour in from the north the white of the under surface; there is a broad during protracted droughts, distress the farmer patch of white on the buttocks, and an almost inconceivably. Any attempt at numerical com- complete and pretty broad circle of white surputation would be vain; and by trying to come rounds the eye. The colour of the upper surface near the truth, the writer would subject himself, in the female is lighter. in the eyes of those who have no knowledge of the country, to a suspicion that he was availing himself of a traveller's assumed privilege. Yet it is well known in the interior, that on the approach of the Trek bokken, (as these migratory swarms are called,) the grazier makes up his mind to look for pasture for his flocks elsewhere, and considers himself entirely dispossessed of his lands until heavy rains fall. Every attempt to save the cultivated fields, if they be not enclosed by high and thick hedges, proves abortive. Heaps of dry manure (the fuel of the Sneeuwbergen and other parts) are placed close to each other round the fields and set on fire in the evening, so as to cause a dense smoke, by which it is hoped the antelopes will be deterred from their inroads; but the dawn of day exposes the inefficacy of the precaution, by showing the lands, which appeared proud of their promising verdure the evening before, covered with thousands, and reaped level with the ground. Instances have been known of some of these prodigious droves passing through flocks of sheep, and numbers of the latter carried away with the torrent, being lost to the owners, and becoming a prey to the wild beasts. As long as these droughts last, their inroads and depredations continue, and the havoc committed upon them is of course great, as they constitute the food of all classes; but no sooner do the rains fall than they disappear;" no doubt to return to their native wilds, where, if the food be coarse and the water brackish, they at least are seldom visited by man, and enjoy some degree of exemption from his incursions. The Springbok is easily tamed, and is playful and familiar when domesticated. 66 The CHIRU ANTELOPE, (Antilope Hodgsonii, ABEL,) may here be noticed. It is a native of Tibet, and, like all the animals of that country, possesses an under fleece of fine and soft wool. The hair forming the external coat is two inches long, harsh, feeble, and very closely set. The colour of the animal is fawn-red above, and white on the under parts; but every hair, at a little distance from the top, loses the red, and assumes a bluish grey. The forehead is black, and a fringe of the same colour passes round a fleshy or rather skinny protuberance close to the outer margin of either nostril, and as large as half of a fowl's egg. The height of this species is about two feet eight inches at the shoulder. It is highly gregarious, being," says Mr. Hodgson, "found in herds of several scores, or even hundreds. It is extremely wild and unapproachable by man, to avoid whom it relies chiefly on its wariness and speed; but though shy, it is not timid, for if overtaken, it meets danger with a gallant bearing. It is said by some to inhabit the plains of Tibet generally, while according to others, it is confined to those plains which are within sight of mountains, especially of the Hemâchal mountains. It cannot bear even the moderate heats of the valley of Nêpâl; an individual belonging to the lama of Digurchee having died at the commencement of the hot season, when the maximum of temperature was only 80°, a temperature seldom reached for two hours a day, or for two days of that month, March. "The Chiru is extremely addicted to the use of salt in the summer months, when vast herds are often seen at some of the rock salt-beds, which so much abound in Tibet. They are said to advance under the conduct of a leader, and to post sentinels around the beds, before they at of Science, etc. of Zool. Soc.," vol. i. p. 52, 53. The horns are long, often measuring two feet and a half, and ringed to within six inches of the tip. Their general outline is straight, bending rather forwards, and outwards, and becoming suddenly incurved at their points. Of another group of Antelopes, distinguished by horns spirally convoluted and ringed, and occurring only in the male, we may notice the IN-tempt to feed."-Vide "Proceedings of Committee DIAN ANTELOPE, (Antilope cervicapra.) This beautiful Antelope is generally spread through India, associating in small herds under the guidance of an experienced male. It is called "Bahmunnee hurn" by the Mahrattas, and abounds in scores of flocks over the plains of the Dukhun. Timid and suspicious, they are easily alarmed, and by their rapidity, and the extraordinary length of their bounds, escape the fleetest dogs. In captivity, however, as seems to be the case with all the antelopes, they become familiar and even bold; and as they have manifested much hardiness in bearing our winters, might with care be added to the ornaments of our parks. The usual mode of chasing the Antelope is by means of the cheetah, or hunting leopard, which creeps, catlike, towards the herd, and bounding upon a selected victim, dashes it to the ground with To the group with ringed horns having a double bend, with the points directed backwards, we may refer the CERVINE ANTELOPE, (Antilope bubalis.) (See Engraving, No. 53.) This species is a native of Northern Africa, living in small troops in the deserts. It is common in Barbary, and is even found on the borders of Egypt. Its proportions are not distinguished for that grace and lightness which characterize the genus in general; the head is large, very elongated, and narrow; the shoulders are high, the limbs stout; the horns are heavy, and nearly touch each other RUMINANTIA.] THE HARTEBEEST-ORYX-ALGAZEL-NYL GHAU. at their base; their first direction is backwards, then making an angle, they bend forwards, and, lastly, with another angle bend their points backwards. In size, the Cervine Antelope equals a stag; the colour is one uniform yellowish red or fawn, with the exception of the tail, which is tipped with a black tuft. From the heaviness of its figure, it has acquired the name of " taureau cerf," and "vache de Barbaric." Closely allied to this species is the HARTEBEEST of Southern Africa, (Antilope caama, Cuv.,) having its horns still more angular, and a black mark encircling their base; there is also a mark of the same colour on the forehead: a line along the neck and down the front of the limbs, and the tuft of the tail, are black. The group of Antelopes with long pointed horns, straight, or slightly curving backwards, ringed, and occurring in both sexes, is represented by the ORYX, (Antilope oryx, PALL.,) (see Engraving, No. 54,) of southern, and the ALGAZEL of northern Africa. The Oryx, one of the most splendid of antelopes, is a native of the regions of Southern Africa: it is as large as a heifer, and its horns often measure three feet in length; they are straight, pointed, round, and obliquely ringed for two-thirds of their extent, becoming smooth towards the points. In the female they are smaller. The colour of the Oryx is dull grey, tinged here and there with a slight wash of reddish, and becoming white below; there is a chestnut spot on each shoulder and on each thigh; a black band, with the hairs reversed, runs along the spine; another occurs on each flank, and above the hoofs; the tail is long and blackish; the head is white, with a large black mask on the forehead, and two lines of the same colour across each cheek, so as to produce somewhat of a piebald appearance. The Oryx is heavily made, having short stout limbs, a large round body, a thick and muscular neck, and a large head devoid of grace or animation. Cuvier says it frequents mountain districts; Mr. Steedman, however, met with it in the Karoo, or flat desert, south of the Orange River; whence the specimens were brought which that gentleman collected. It would appear to be resolute and dangerous when hard pressed; one of the individuals referred to having wounded three of the dogs which surrounded it before it was shot. It used its horns with amazing address and energy, and made a bold and gallant self-defence, striking right and left with prodigious violence, so as to keep the whole pack at a due distance. From the size and heavy make of this species, we should much question the fact of its mountain habitat; as large and ponderous animals seldom inhabit regions where their bulk would preclude a necessary degree of activity, independently of the scanty food such situations afford. Its hoofs are short and thick. It will be perceived that, in the figure which we have given of this animal, a single horn only is represented, as a single horn only appeared in the position in which the sketch was taken. In the sculptured monuments of ancient Egypt and 107 Nubia, the Oryx or the Algazel is thus delineated, and frequently, also, with a single leg before and behind, either because such only appeared to the artist, or because he aimed at giving in bas-relief a longitudinal section of the animal. However this may be, it is not improbable that the circumstance has given rise to the fabulous unicorn, fancy having added other details. We mention the fabulous unicorn, because our readers will remember that there is a unicorn alluded to in the sacred writings, which we cannot allow to have been the Oryx, and for this reason: it is spoken of as the monoceros, a creature having truly a single horn; whereas, erroneously as the Oryx may have been represented on Egyptian monuments, we are not to suppose the writers of the Scriptures were also as erroneous in their description, (for the name itself is a description in one great point,) but that they alluded to an animal really in nature. Such do we conceive to be the rhinoceros; and we refer our readers to our observations on that extraordinary creature. We shall now give the head of the Oryx in another point of view, showing the two horns, so that our readers will not be misled by the supposition that the Oryx is a one-horned antelope. Head of the Oryx. Closely allied to the oryx is the ALGAZEL, (Antilope leucoryx, LICHT.,) the oryx of Northern Africa, where it is found from Nubia to Senegal. Its horns are slightly curved, long, slender, and ringed; the colour of this animal is whitish, tinged more or less with yellow or reddish; a lively spot of yellowish brown extends before the root of the horns, and also down the forehead. Whether the ancients distinguished this from the preceding species or not, is perhaps uncertain; nor, indeed, granting this to be the only species with which they were acquainted, and consequently the true oryx, would it invalidate our observations; inasmuch as both animals, if not absolutely identical, are intimate relatives. In a genus so multitudinous we must necessarily pass over several interesting forms and species: we shall, therefore, proceed to give an example of a group with short, straight, and smooth horns, which the males alone possess. The NYL GHAU, (Antilope picta, PALL.) The Nyl Ghau is superior to the stag in stature, and more muscular and powerful, but less graceful in its proportions. The fore quarters are considerably elevated, and this elevation is increased by a slight hump on the withers; the haunch is small and low; the limbs are stout and strong; the neck is long, and of considerable thickness; the head is large, and the muzzle narrow; the eyes are full, large, and prominent; the horns are conical, and seven or eight inches in length. The male and female differ considerably in colour, and also in size, so that they might absolutely be mistaken for different species. The general colour of the male is a dark bluish slaty grey; two white spots occur on each cheek; and a white patch occupies the throat for some extent; the legs are also marked by a white band just above the hoofs in front, and another smaller round the fetlock joint. A bunch of long pendent black hairs arises from the fore part of the neck, and a similar tuft terminates the tail, which is of unusual length. The female is much smaller, lighter, and more slender, with less difference between the height of the fore and hind quarters, and less hump on the withers; her colour is a pale reddish brown, but with the same white markings as in the male. The Nyl Ghau is a native of the north western provinces of India, and the countries between these and Persia, where, according to some accounts, it is very abundant. Of its habits in a state of nature we have little or no information. In captivity it is familiar and gentle, but somewhat capricious; and we have frequently seen it menace in a most determined manner: still, however, it is fond of being noticed and caressed. The first pair of Nyl Ghaus seen in England were sent from Bombay to Lord Clive in 1767, if we except one noticed in the 43rd vol. of "Philosophical Transactions," by Dr. Parsons, as a nameless "quadruped brought from Bengal;" and of which he gave an imperfect figure. We have often observed, that no race of animals is so isolated as not to present grades or links uniting it at certain points with other races. The antelopes present many of these links, of which we shall select two, with which to close our sketch of this numerous genus. And, first, the GNU, (Antilope gnu, GMELIN.) (See Engraving, No. 55.) Naturalists have always regarded the Gnu as an animal exhibiting a compound of characters each peculiar to some other animal; and hence different opinions have been formed as to its true situation. Zimmerman placed it among the ox tribe, under the name of Bos gnou. Mr. Smith places it in a new genus, under the name of Catoblepas, supposing it to be the animal to which Pliny* refers under that title. Most authors, however, have assigned it a place among the antelopes, which, indeed, appears, upon the whole, to be its most legitimate situation. The Gnu is certainly an extraordinary animal; its height is equal to that of a small pony; and its general contour very muscular, but compact, and exhibiting great energy. The head is large, the eyes are wild and fiery, the horns large and ponderous, like those of the buffalo, being thick, massive, and close together at their base, scarcely advancing from the skull, and having a direction obliquely outwards, they sweep down with a regular curve, and rise again See lib. viii. ch. 32; and Ælian, lib. vii. ch. 5. [RUMINANTIA. The at the points, which are long and sharp; their situation is such as to overshadow the eyes, producing a sinister and suspicious aspect. muzzle is large, spread out, and flattened, with narrow linear nostrils; above the muzzle is situated a large tuft of black bristling hairs, radiating laterally. The neck is short and thick, and surmounted with a fine, full, upright mane, the hairs of which are whitish at the base, and black at the tip. Below the neck hangs a dewlap, furnished with bristly hairs, which run up to the throat, and form a sort of beard. The body and rounded crupper are not unlike those of a horse, a similarity still farther added to by a long flowing tail of white hairs; the limbs are sinewy and active, like those of the antelopes in general: the colour of the body and limbs is a deep brown verging upon black. The Gnu is a native of Southern Africa, being principally confined to the hilly districts, where it roams either singly, or in small herds. Mr. Pringle observed it among the hills at Bavian's River, and informs us, that its flesh in all its qualities closely resembles beef. He also states, that, like the buffalo and ox, this animal is enraged by the sight of scarlet, and that "it was one of our amusements to hoist a red handkerchief on a pole, and observe them caper about, lashing their flanks with their long tails, and tearing up the ground with their hoofs, as if they were violently excited, and ready to rush down upon us; and then all at once, when we were about to fire upon them, to see them bound away, and again go prancing round us at a safer distance." This aversion to scarlet the writer has noticed, and can bear witness to the excitement produced by the sudden display of the scarlet lining of a cloak. The same talented writer adds that, when caught young, the Gnu is reared without any difficulty, becoming as domesticated as the cattle of the farm, with which it associates in harmony, going and returning to pasture; but that few of the farmers like to domesticate it, as it is liable to some contagious malady, which it communicates to its fellow companions. In our menageries the Gnu is fierce, bold, and dangerous, striking violently with his horns, and exhibiting astonishing proofs of muscular power and activity. The females are less violent, and more easily manageable: like the males, they have horns; in size they are rather less. If the gnu leads off to the buffalo or ox, the bounding Chamois is certainly the link between the antelopes and the goats: indeed, Blanville has placed it in an intermediate genus, under the name of Cervicapra. Retaining it, however, among the antelopes, we may observe that the CHAMOIS, or Ysard of the Pyrenees, (Antilope rupicapra, LINN.,) is the only species of the present extensive genus which is a native of western Europe; and there it is found only among the inaccessible cliff's of the high regions of the Alps and Pyrenees, below the line of perpetual snow. In those elevated districts the Chamois dwells in small herds, feeding upon the herbage of the sloping mountain sides, and protected by a sentinel placed on some adjacent rock, which commands |