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ANTELOPES i4t

but they vary so much in size and character from the
big ox-like elands to the hare-like royal antelopes
little more than a foot high, that itis not easy to frame
a definition to embrace themall. As a rule, however,
the bony centre of their horns is solid and not cellular.
Some of the larger antelopes in their molar teeth
show resemblance to the oxen, while the gazelles
more nearly approach the sheep. The antelopes are
mostly African, there being about a hundred species
in the dark continent; a few are Asiatic. There is
only one antelope in America, but, as we have seen,

 

HEAD OF GEMSBOK

he differs so much from the rest that he has a family
all to himself.

One of the handsomest of the antelopes is the
kudu (Strepstceros kudu), with long corkscrew horns
and striped body. The harnessed antelopes, 7rag-
elaphus, form another striking genus. Among the other
large antelopes may be mentioned the addax, with
lyre-shaped horns, ; the gemsbok, Oryx gazella, with
long straight horns; the beisa, O. dezsa, with horns of
much the same character ; the sabre-horn, O. leucoryx ;
the sable or black antelope, which is really chestnut-