Buffon's Natural History. Volume 08 (of 10) / Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c

by comte de Georges Louis Leclerc Buffon

FIG. 154. Corine.

The second gazelle is an animal found in Senegal, which M. Adanson informs us, is there called kevel. It is something less than the former, and nearly of the size of a small roe-buck; it differs also in its eyes, which are much larger; and its horns, instead of being round, are flattened on the sides, and this flattening of the horns is not a sexual difference; the male and female gazelles have them round, or more properly speaking, compressed; in other respects, they entirely resemble each other. They both have yellow-coloured hair, thighs and belly white, the tail black, a brown stripe under the flank, three white streaks in the ears, black horns surrounded with rings, with the longitudinal depressions, &c. but it is certain, that the number of these rings is greater in the kevel than in the gazelle, the last having generally but twelve or thirteen, and the former at least fourteen, and often eighteen or twenty.

The third is called corine ([fig. 154.]) from korin, the name it bears in Senegal. It greatly resembles the gazelle and the kevel, but is still less than either; its horns are also thinner and smoother, the rings being scarcely discernible. M. Adanson, who communicated to me his description of this animal, says, that it seemed a little tending to the chamois goat, but that it is much smaller, being in length only two feet and a half, and not quite two feet in height; that its ears are four inches and a half long, its tail three inches, its horns six inches long, and not an inch thick; that they are two inches distant from each other at the base, and about five or six at their extremities; that, instead of annular prominences, they have only transverse wrinkles very close to each other in the lower part, and more distant in the upper, and that these wrinkles, which are in the place of rings, are about sixteen in number; that its hair is short, fine, and glossy, yellow on the back and flanks, and white under the belly and the inside of the thighs and a black tail; and that there are some of these animals whose bodies are often sprinkled with irregular white spots.

These differences between the gazelle, the kevel, and the corine, although very apparent, especially in the corine, do not appear to be essential, nor sufficient to divide these animals into different species; for they resemble each other so much in every other respect, that they seem to be all three of the same species, more or less varied by the influence of climate and food. There is much less difference between the kevel and the gazelle, than the corine, whose horns in particular bear no resemblance to those of the other two; but all three have the same natural habits; they assemble and feed together in herds; they are of mild dispositions, and easily accustomed to a domestic state and the flesh of all three is very good to eat. We think ourselves therefore, authorised to conclude that the gazelle and kevel are certainly of the same species, and that it is uncertain, whether the corine be only a variety of the same species or whether it be a different one.

In the royal cabinet of France, there are skins of these three different antelopes, besides which, there is a horn that bears a great resemblance to those of the gazelle and kevel, but much larger; this horn is engraven in the works of Aldrovandus, Lib. I. de Bisulcis, c. xxi. Its thickness and length seem to indicate a much bigger animal than the common gazelle, and it appears to me to belong to an antelope which the Turks call tzeiran, and the Persians ahu. This animal, according to Olearius, in some measure resembles our fallow-deer, except being rather of a red than yellow colour; the horns, likewise, are without antlers, and rest upon the back, &c. M. Gmelin, who describes it under the name of dsheren says, it resembles the roe-buck, with this exception, that the horns like those of the wild goat, are hollow and never fall off. He also adds, that in proportion as the horns increase in growth, the cartilage of the larynx thickens, and forms a considerable prominence under the throat when the animals are advanced in years. According to Kœmpfer the ahu differs not in the least from the stag in its form, but that his horns appear nearer to those of the goat, which are single, black, and annulated, as far as the middle, &c. Some other authors have likewise made mention of this species of antelope under the name of geiram and jarain, which it is easy to restore, as well as that of dsheren to the primitive name of tzeiran. This antelope is common in South Tartary, in Persia, in Turkey, and is also to be met with in the East Indies.

To these four first species, or races of antelopes, may be added two other animals, which greatly resemble them; the first is called koba at Senegal where the French have stiled it the great brown cow; the second is also a native of Senegal, and is there called kob, but our countrymen denominate it the small brown cow. The horns of the kob greatly resemble those of the gazelle and kevel, but the shape of the head is different, the muzzle is longer, and there are no pits under the eyes. The koba is much larger than the kob; the latter is about the size of the fallow-deer, and the other is as large as the stag. From the remarks of M. Adanson, it appears that the koba is five feet long, from the extremity of the muzzle to the insertion of the tail; that its head is fifteen inches, its ears nine, and its horns from nineteen to twenty, that its horns are flattened on the sides and surrounded with ten or twelve rings, while those of the kob have only eight or nine, and are not more than a foot in length.

The seventh animal of this species is found in the Levant but more commonly in Egypt, and in Arabia. We call it, from its Arabian name, algazel; it is shaped pretty much like the other antelopes, and is nearly the size of the fallow-deer, but its horns are long, thin, and but little bent till toward their extremities, when they turn short with a sharp flexion; they are black and almost smooth, and the annular prominence scarcely observable, except towards the base, where they are a little more visible. They are about three feet in length, while those of the gazelle are not more than one foot, those of the kevel fourteen and fifteen inches, and those of the corine (which, nevertheless resembles this the most) only six or seven inches.

The eighth animal is generally called the Bezoar antelope, but by the eastern nations pasan, which name we retain. A horn of this animal is very well represented in the German Ephemerides, and the figure of the animal itself has been given by Kœmpfer, but his description is faulty in the horns, which are neither sufficiently long nor straight. His description likewise, does not appear to be exact, for he says, that this animal has a beard like the he-goat; and yet, he has given a figure of it without one, which seems more conformable to truth; for the want of a beard is the principal character by which antelopes are distinguished from goats. This antelope is of the size of our domestic he-goat, and has the colour, shape, and agility of the stag. We have seen a skull of this animal with the horns on it, and two other horns separate. The horns which are engraved in Aldrovandus, de quad. Bisulcis, p. 765. C. 24 de Orige, bear a great resemblance to these. In most respects, the algazel and the pasan, appear to have a great affinity; they are also natives of the same climate, and are found in the Levant, Egypt, Arabia, and Persia; but the algazel feeds upon the plains, and the pasan is only found on the mountains. The flesh of both is very good food.