hole book, therefore, to give a fair
account--a monograph--of the antelopes alone; and I cannot afford that
space here. At present I can only say that Africa is the great antelope
country, although many fine species exist also in Asia--that in America
there is but one kind, the _prong-horn_, with which you are already well
acquainted--and that in Europe there are two, though one of these, the
well-known "chamois," is as much goat as antelope.

I shall farther remark, that the seventy species of animals, by
naturalists classed as antelopes, differ widely from one another in
form, size, colour, pelage, habits; in short, in so many respects, that
their classification under the name of _Antelope_ is very arbitrary
indeed. Some approximate closely to the goat tribe; others are more
like deer; some resemble oxen; others are closely allied to the buffalo;
while a few species possess many of the characteristics of wild sheep!

As a general thing, however, they are more like to deer than any other
animals; and many species of them are, in common parlance, called deer.
Indeed, many antelopes are more like to certain species of deer than to
others of their own kind. The chief distinction noted between them and
the deer is, that the antelopes have _horny_ horns, that are persistent
or permanent, while those of the deer are osseous or _bony_, and are
annually cast.

Like the deer the different species of antelopes possess very different
habits. Some frequent the wide open plains; some the deep forest; some
wander by the shady banks of streams; while others love to dwell upon
the rocky steep, or the dry ravines of the mountains. Some browse upon
the grass; while others, goat-like, prefer the leaves and tender twigs
of trees. In fact, so different are these creatures in habits, that
whatever be the natural character of a district of country, it will be
found the favourite home of one or more species. Even the very desert
has its antelopes, that prefer the parched and waterless plain to the
most fertile and verdant valley.

Of all antelopes the "eland," or "caana" (_Antelope oreas_) is the
largest. It measures full seventeen hands at the shoulder--being thus
equal in height to a very large horse. A large eland weighs one
thousand pounds. It is a heavily formed animal, and an indifferent
runner, as a mounted hunter can gallop up to one without effort. Its
general proportions are not unlike those of a common ox, but its hor