THE ANTELOPE. (Antilope cervicapra.)
These beautiful inhabitants of the temperate regions of Africa, and southern Asia, possess swiftness and elegance 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 beautiful yellow. The eyes are exceedingly bright, and have often been compared to those of a beautiful nymph by Persian and other poets. Enjoying perfect liberty, they range in herds through the deserts of Arabia, and bound from rock to rock with wonderful agility. Their long and slender legs are peculiarly suited to their habits and manners of life, and are, in some of the species, so slender and brittle as to snap with a very trifling blow. The Arabs, taking advantage of this circumstance, catch them by throwing sticks at them, by which their legs are broken.
THE GAZELLE. (Antilope Dorcas.)