85

ORYX.

Tue species of antelopes are numerous, and differ
very much from each other. They frequent the cliffs
and ledges of mountain rocks, the bush-tangled wastes
on the tropical plains, and the margins of the arid
wildernesses. There they bound, and spring, and career,
fleet as the winds; now balancing themselves where one
would hardly imagine there was foot-fall for a bird;
now clearing the jungle as if they were winged creatures;
and now bounding along the plain with the speed of
the winds. To those who have been accustomed only
to the motions of the more sober animals—to the heavy
tread of the ox, or the pattering trot of the sheep, the
antelopes present something truly novel. From some
unseen hollow among the cliffs, one of these animals
will bound upwards, and alight upon its feet on a
pinnacle only a few inches in breadth. There it will
stand in perfect security, with its feet all touching each
other, and its back bent like a bow, surveying the cliffs
around; and no sooner has it espied a new footing to
its mind, than it bounds off again, though the distance
be many fathoms. Nor, if it is upon a journey of
some length, can it be contented with walking or even
with running along the plain; but proceeds by a few
fleet steps and a still fleeter bound alternately, as if it
were utterly unable to keep its own energy within limits.

The size of the oryx is somewhat superior to that
of a deer, and it is more easily distinguished than many
others of its race; the horns affording a character
perfectly clear and constant, being three feet long, nearly