Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/577

 ANTELOPE 545 vast herds. Africa is the headquarters of the antelope family in regard to variety, beauty, and numbers. Madagascar and Australia possess no antelopes ; Hindostan and Further India have several varieties ; western Europe and Amer- ica each but a single species. Originally, all Red Eeed Buck (Eleotragus arondinaceue). species of antelopes were referred to a single family; but they are now distinguished into two great divisions: the antelopes of the fields, whose nostrils are smooth and free from hairs, and the antelopes of the desert, which are beard- ed and have bristly muzzles. The antelopes of the fields are again subdivided into three groups : the true antelopes, which have a light, elegant body, slender limbs, small hoofs, short tails, lyrate or conical horns, placed above the eyebrows; the cervine antelopes, with short, deer-like bodies, strong, slender limbs, long tails, cylindrical at the base, with the hair longer at the ends, and muzzles like those- of the cervine ruminants ; and the goat-like antelopes, which have a short heavy body, strong hoofs and false hoofs, very short tail, flat and hairy above, and recurved conical horns. Of the true antelopes, the most remarkable are the gazelles of Egypt, Barbary, and Turkey in Asia; the Ariel gazelle of Egypt and Kordofan ; the pal- lah, antilope cepyceros melampw, of southern Africa, with its annulated, lyrate horns, and its sleek hide, painted with brilliant rust color and Sable Antelope (Aigoccrus niger). 30 VOL. i. 36 white, divided by coal-black lines ; the common antelope of India, A. cervicapra ; the madoqua, A. saltrara, the smallest of all horned animals, not exceeding a hare in size ; the steinbok, the ourebi, the grysbok, the klipspringer, and the bush goat, with the red reed buck, the water buck, and the sable antelope, of southern Afri- ca. The red reed buck (called rietbok in the Dutch settlements) is about five feet high and five long ; its color is gray above and white be- neath. The sable antelope, a very rare and beautiful animal, is one of the noblest types of the genus ; its back and sides are black, and its belly white ; its horns are more than three feet in length, and are covered with bold ridges. Of the cervine antelopes, by far the most re- markable are the gemsbok, oryx gazella, and the oryx, oryx leucoryx. The former stands Addax nasomaculatus. 3 feet high at the shoulder, with long straight horns, annulated at the base. His hide is of a deep blue-gray above and snow-white below, divided by marked lines of jet black. Even the lion seldom dares attack him. The oryx is a native of Nubia and Senegal. Another cer- vine antelope, not far inferior in size to the last, is the addax of Senegal, which has preserved its name unaltered since the days of Pliny. A Siberian Antelope (Saiga Tartarica).