Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/494

 486 ELAND up to be plundered. Esarhaddon or Asshurakh- iddin (680-667) established in the Israelitish territory large numbers of captives from the land of Elam. Esarhaddon and his son As- shur-bani-pal were constantly kept busy by the troublesome and rebellious inhabitants of Elam. Nine kings of Elam are mentioned in the inscriptions of these two monarchs. They maintained the struggle against Assyria without abatement, and often came near over- whelming it, but Asshur-bani-pal put an end to it by devastating the whole country, and reducing the populace to slavery. At the sub- sequent conquest of the Assyrian empire and its division between Oyaxares and Nabopolas- sar, the Elamite country was assigned to the Medes. It became afterward part of the Per- sian empire, forming a distinct satrapy and paying an annual tribute of 300 talents. At the time of Darius the Elamites had regained sufficient strength to venture on an insurrection under Martius, the son of Sisiscres, who made himself king, representing himself as Omanes, a descendant of the old native dynasty. Da- rius relates in the Behistun inscription : " Upon this I was moving a little way in the direction of Elam ; then the Elamites, fearing me, seized that Martius who was their chief, and slew him." Shortly after the Elamites joined their old friends the Babylonians in another revolt, which was suppressed in the following year by Gobryas, Darius's general. This was the last effort of the Elamites to regain their indepen- dence ; their country remained a Persian prov- ince, sharing the fortunes of the empire. In regard to the various names assigned by Greek and Roman writers to the country, Elymais seems to be less comprehensive than Elam, and Susiana and Susis are terms formed artificially from the capital city Susa; Oissia is used by Herodotus as the name of the territory of the Cushites. The modern Khuzistan nearly cor- responds to it. ELAND, a name applied by the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope to the impoofoo (bosela- phus areas, H. Smith ; oreas canna of some au- thors), an antelopean ruminant, resembling the bovine group in stature, shape, dewlap, and high shoulders. The general color above is a grayish yellow, with rusty and purplish shades shining through it ; the lower parts cream yel- low ; the forehead with long, stiff, yellowish brown hairs; face brownish red, chin white, eyes chestnut ; a slight brownish yellow mane, along the back becoming reddish brown ; muzzle black; hoofs brownish black, edged above with brownish red hair; the tail is brownish red, with a tuft of yellowish brown ; the mane of the dewlap is yellowish brown, pencilled with brownish red. This is the color of the male, which has a small head, a neck tapering above, but bulky toward the chest ; the body is thick and heavy ; the limbs are ele- gant and slender; the eyes full and soft, and the expression of the face is gentle and ovine ; the horns slope slightly back from the crown, being very thick at the base, with two spiral turns having an obtuse ridge, and the upper two thirds straight, tapering to a point; the ears are long, narrow, and pointed, hairy on both sides ; the hair is rather thin, except on the neck, mane, dewlap, and tuft of tail. The length from nose to base of tail is about 10 ft., the head being 17 in. ; the horns are near- ly 3 ft. long ; the height at the shoulder is 6f ft., and at the crupper 2 in. less ; the length of the tail 2 ft., and of the dewlap at x its base 20 in. The female is of a pale sienna yel- low, deadened with pale brown above ; below dirty white, with a cream-yellow tinge ; the figure is more delicate and elegant than that of the male, the limbs are more slender, the mane is shorter, the dewlap narrower, the tail less tufted ; and the horns are straight, slender, somewhat spiral at the base, with a rudimentary ridge on the spire. The young are of a tint between reddish orange and yellowish brown. This is probably the largest of the antelopes, equalling the horse in Eland (Oreas canna). height, and weighing from 7 to 10 cwt. It ranges the borders of the great Kalahari desert in herds varying from 10 to 100 ; rare at pres- ent within the limits of Cape Colony, it was found in abundance in the wooded districts of the interior by R. Gordon Cumming. The flesh is most excellent, and is greatly esteemed. When young and not over-fed the eland is not easily overtaken by the Cape horses ; but in good pastures it grows so fat that it is easily run down ; it is said that when pursued it in- variably, if it can do so, runs against the wind, which gives it an advantage in outrunning a horse. The hide is very tough, and much prized for shoes and traces. Like other ante- lopes, it seems to be independent of water, fre- quenting the most desert localities far from streams and rivers; except in the breeding season and when pursued, the males generally keep in groups apart from the females. A va- riety of this species is called bastard eland by the colonists ; it is smaller than the other, dark