Quadrupeds: or, outlines of a popular history of the class mammalia; with a particular notice of those mentioned in Scripture.

  • Religious Tract Society
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Quadrupeds: or, outlines of a popular history of the class mammalia; with a particular notice of those mentioned in Scripture. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    149/176 page 135
    Where the zebra wantonly tosses his mane, As he scours with his troop o’er the desolate plain ; And the timorous guagha’s whistling neigh Is heard by the fountain at fall of day; And the fleet-footed ostrich over the waste Speeds like a horseman who travels in haste, Hying away to the home of her rest, Where she and her mate have scooped their nest, Far hid from the pitiless plunderer’s view. In the pathless wilds of the parched karroo.” * * Hk * * * Pringle. We shall proceed to illustrate the present genus by a few examples ; and first, the Ga¬ zelle, {Antilope Dorcas, Linn.) The light Ga¬ zelle, with its beaming eye and graceful figure, has been ever a favourite with the poets of the east, from whose writings it has been borrowed into the pages of northern bards. Under the name of the Roe we meet with many beautiful allusions to this animal in the sacred writings. It is common over the whole of the north of Africa; it abounds in Arabia and Syria. “ The wild Gazelle o’er Judah’s hills Exulting still may bound. And drink from all the living rills That gush on holy ground.” The Roe is still “ swift on the mountains” of a land whose glory is departed, the land of pro¬ phecies and miracles, the land of the Redeemer, where he was despised and rejected; over its nameless and desolate ruins the Gazelle may bound unnoticed, save by the prowling hyuma or yelling jackal. The Gazelle is about twenty-four inches in height; its skin is of a beautiful light fawn on the back, passing into a brown band along the sides, which forms an abrupt border to the white of the under surface. The horns, which are lyre shaped, have twelve or fourteen rings; they occur in both sexes, and by their form distin¬ guish the group of Antelopes to which this spe¬ cies belongs, a group taking from it the name of the Gazelles, Another very beautiful animal of the same group, is the Springbok of Southern Africa, {Antilope euchore, Burchell.) {See Engraving, No. 52.) The Springbok is larger than the gazeUe ; the general colour of its upper parts is fawn ; the under surface is white, abruptly bor¬ dered along the sides with a rich chestnut band; the horns are of moderate length, and iyriform. The distinguishing mark of this species is a line of very long white hairs, arising from between a double longitudinal fold of the skin along the middle of the back: in the ordinary state the edges of this fold approximate and lie close, so as to conceal, in a great measure, this snowy stripe. It is, however, expanded so as almost to occupy the whole of the haunch, when the ani¬ mal takes those extraordinary leaps which first suggested its name. Mr. Burchell thus describes the effect produced by the appearance of a herd of these beautifu] creatures. “ At this high level we entered upon a very extensive open plain, abounding to an incredible 'degree in wild ani¬ mals ; among which were several large herds of quakkas, and many wildebeests, or gnues ; but the springboks were far the most numerous, and, like flocks of sheep, covered several parts of the plain. Their uncertain movements rendered it impossible to estimate their number; but I be¬ lieve if I were to guess it at two thousand, I should be still within the truth. This is one of the most beautiful Antelopes of Southern Africa, and it is certainly one of the most numerous. The plain afforded no other object to fix the attention ; and even if it had presented many, I should not readily have ceased admiring these elegant animals, or have been diverted from watching their manners. It was only occasion¬ ally that they took those remarkable leaps, which have been the origin of their name; but when grazing, or moving at leisure, they walked or trotted like other antelopes, or as the common deer. When pursued, or hastening their pace, they frequently took an extraordinary bound, rising with curved or elevated backs high into the air, generally to the height of eight feet, and appearing as if about to take flight. Some of the herds moved by us almost within musket- shot ; and I observed that, in crossing the beaten road, the greater number cleared it by one of those flying leaps. As the road was quite smooth and level with the plain, there was no necessity for their leaping over it; but it seemed that the fear of a snare, or a natural disposition to regard man as an enemy, induced them to mistrust even the ground which he had trodden.” The most interesting part of the history of the Springbok relates to its occasional migrations, from the interior to the cultivated districts of the colonial settlements of the Cape. South of the Orange River is an immense desert tract destitute of permanent springs, and therefore uninhabitable by man, but still interspersed with pools of brack¬ ish water, replenished by the periodical rains, which satisfy the wild beasts of this almost unin¬ vaded realm. Here, with others of their race, myriads of Springboks dwell in peaceful security. At length comes a season of drought; no thunder¬ storms replenish the pools ; every reservoir is dried up; the ground is parched; every green thing withers, and is, as it were, burnt away by the scorching sun: one scene of barren desolation extends around. Driven by necessity, these swarm, countless as the sands, inundate the sur¬ rounding regions, seeking more fertile plains and unexhausted springs. Some pass to the borders of the Orange River and its tributary streams ; others southwards, ravaging like locusts the fields of the colony, and destroying the hopes of the year. Mr. Pringle says, he has seen them literally whiten the face of the country “ as far as the eye could reach over these far-stretching plains.” They do not, however approach the precincts of man with impunity ; they are de¬ stroyed by thousands for food ; they are harassed on every side, but still pursue their course. Let, however, the rains return, and, warned by their instinct that vegetation has recommenced in the desert, and that the pools are filled, they rapidly retrace their steps, and in a few days not a Spring¬ bok is to be seen. Referring to the migrations of these animals. Captain Stockenstrom, chief civil commissioner at the Cape, thus writes to Mr. Pringle. “ It is scarcely possible for a person passing over some
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