THE INDIAN ANTELOPE.[9]
THE INDIAN ANTELOPE, OR BLACK BUCK.—This species differs but little from the Gazelles in many respects, whilst its peculiarities are striking. Like the Nylghau, the male differs greatly from the female in its colour. The female has no horns; those in the male are black and of great size, spirally twisted for three or four turns like a corkscrew, slightly divergent, and often reaching thirty inches in length. It stands a little over two feet and a half at the shoulder. The colour of the males is deep brown-black above, with an abrupt line of separation from the pure white of the belly. This dark colour extends down the outer surface of each limb. The face is also black, with a white circle round the eyes and nose. In the females and young of both sexes the black and brown are replaced by a light fawn colour. The tail is very short and white below. At certain seasons of the year the glands below the eyes are much enlarged and form a prominent feature in the face of the male.
The Black Buck is one of the swiftest of the Antelopes, no Greyhound having any chance against it. Its flesh, being dry and unsavoury, is rarely eaten. The species falls a frequent prey to the Tiger, and is generally found in herds, fifty does, or so, accompanied by a single buck. The height to which they can bound is very great. According to Major C. Hamilton Smith, the native Indians “have raised the common Antelope among the constellations, harnessed it to the chariot of the moon, and represented it as the quarry of the gods. In the opinion of Hindoos the animal is sacred to Chandra, female devotees and minstrels lead it, domesticated, by the harmony of their instruments, or the power of their prayers, and holy Brahmins are directed to feed upon their flesh, under certain circumstances prescribed by the Institutes of Menu.”
CHAPTER II.
RUMINANTIA: BOVIDÆ (continued)—ANTELOPES.
[THE STEINBOKS]: [KLIPSPRINGER], [OUREBI], [STEINBOK], [GRYSBOK], [MADOQUA]—[THE BUSH-BUCKS]—Appearance—Distinctive Marks—[THE FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPES]—Peculiarity in the Chikarah—[THE WATER ANTELOPES]: [NAGOR], [REITBOK], [LECHÈ], [AEQUITOON], [SING-SING], [WATER-BUCK], [POKU], [REH-BOK]—[THE ELAND]—Beef—Appearance—Captain Cornwallis Harris’ Description—Hunting—Scarcity—[THE KOODOO]—Appearance—King of Antelopes—[ANGAS’ HARNESSED ANTELOPE]—[THE HARNESSED ANTELOPES]: [GUIB]—[BUSH BUCK, OR UKOUKA]—Appearance—Pluck—[THE BOVINE ANTELOPES]—[THE BUBALINE]—[HARTEBEEST]—[BLESBOK]—[BONTEBOK]—[SASSABY]—[THE GNU]—Grotesque Appearance—Habits—[BRINDLED GNU]—[THE CAPRINE ANTELOPES]—[SEROW]—Ungainly Habits—[GORAL]—[CAMBING-OUTAN]—[TAKIN]—[MAZAMA]—[THE CHAMOIS]—Distribution—Appearance—Voice—Hunted—[THE ORYXES]—[BLAUBOK]—[SABLE ANTELOPE]—[BAKER’S ANTELOPE]—[ORYX]—[BEISA]—[BEATRIX]—[GEMSBOK]—[ADDAX].
THE STEINBOKS.
THE KLIPSPRINGER, the OUREBI, the STEINBOK, and the GRYSBOK form a small section of the African Antelopes, elegant and small, with horns only in the males, these being straight, or nearly so. Their body hair is harsh. The Klipspringer stands a little under two feet high; it is the heaviest in build of the four; its horns are four inches long and curved a little forward. Its colour is olive. It lives singly or in pairs, in mountainous districts, and it was at one time so abundant in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope that its hair was employed to stuff saddles with.
The Ourebi, in height and length of horn, resembles the last-mentioned species. Its build is very delicate, its general colour being a tawny yellow, white below. Its speed is very great. According to Mr. Drummond, “its peculiar colour so much resembles the soil on which it lies that, trusting to remain unobserved, it often allows you to get within fifteen or twenty yards of where it is squatting. It is a handsome and peculiarly graceful Antelope, extremely good eating, and well worth the hunter’s attention. One thing he should bear in mind is, that however slightly they may be wounded, they will go and lie down within a few hundred yards, if not chased by a Dog, and will in such cases very generally allow him to get within shot again.” The Steinbok is twenty inches high, with straight horns four inches long, large ears, and a mere stump of a tail. Its colour is red-brown, white below.
HEAD OF FEMALE BUSH-BUCK.