THE ANTELOPE. 117

all animals of the antelope kind. Thus, in Psalm xlii., “ As
the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, O God,” the royal Psalmist in all probability did
not intend to refer to any particular species, but spoke of
the well-known habit of the whole genus, as the hart is
naturally of a hot nature, suffering much from thirst in
oriental regions, and therefore seeking the fountain with the
most intense desire. “The hart or hind was an emblem of
double signification. It was a type of solitude, and of
purity of life, and was also a type of piety and religious
aspiration, adopted from the forty-second Psalm, ‘Like as
the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, O God*.’”

The gazelle of the Levant (Antilope Arabica) is distin-
guished from 4. Dorcas by a still more elegant form, and
by its darker colour, and probably, as one of the common
species of the country, frequently gave rise to the beautiful
comparisons so abundant in Hebrew poetry.

The Fallow Deer (Antilope Dama), so well known as an
ornament to our parks, was originally a native of Barbary.
It is smaller than the stag, of a dark-brown colour in winter,
but in the summer, bay, spotted with white; the legs are

* Mrs. Jameson’s ‘ Legendary Art.’