THE WILD OXEN
We now come to a very important group of mammals called ungulates, or
hoofed animals, because of the way in which their feet are formed. The
oxen, sheep, goats, antelopes, deer, horses, swine, elephants, and
rhinoceroses all belong to this order. First let us notice some of the
wild oxen.
THE GAUR
The largest of these is the Gaur, which is found in India. It is a very
big animal, sometimes standing more than six feet in height at the
shoulder, and as it has long and very powerful horns, it is much dreaded
by the natives. As a rule, however, it is a very gentle and peaceable
animal, scarcely ever venturing to attack man, and only dwelling in
those remote parts of the jungle to which even hunters seldom find their
way.
The gaur lives in small herds, generally of from ten to twenty in
number. Each of these is led by an old bull, and there are generally two
or three younger ones, the rest being cows and calves. When the younger
bulls grow up they usually fight the old one in order to take his place.
For some time he contrives to hold his own; but when at last he is
beaten he goes off and lives in the thickets by himself.
These solitaries, as they are called, are generally very savage, and
will often rush out and attack a passer-by, even when he has not
provoked them at all.
The gaur is a very wary animal, and sentries are always posted near the
herd, in order to give warning of the approach of a foe. When feeding,
they are said to stand in a circle with their heads outward, so that
they can see in every direction.
The old male gaurs are nearly black in color, and the younger ones and
the cows reddish brown, while they all have white "stockings" from the
knee downward.
THE YAK
The yak, which lives in Tibet, is something like an ox with great masses
of hair on its flanks, limbs, and tail. In color it is blackish brown,
with a little white upon the muzzle, and in height is about five feet
six inches at the shoulder. The thick fringes of hair do not begin to
grow till it is about three months old, and the young calf is covered
all over with curly black hair, like a Newfoundland dog.
The yak lives among the mountains, sometimes climbing to a height of
fully twenty thousand feet, and scrambles about among the boulders with
wonderful activity. Large herds of these animals, however, have been
domesticated, and are used as beasts of burden, while their flesh is
said to be almost as tender and well-flavored as beef. The big, tufted
tail, too, is highly valued, for it is dyed in various colors, and is
then employed in making the fly-flappers which are used so much in
Eastern countries for driving away flies.
THE BISON
The famous bison, commonly called buffalo, of North America, sad to say
is now almost extinct, for there are only a few small herds living under
special protection. Yet, not so very many years ago, these magnificent
animals wandered over the prairies in millions. Even a single herd,
sometimes, would extend farther than the eye could reach, and we read of
one herd which covered a tract of country fifty miles long and
twenty-five miles broad! But these herds were recklessly destroyed for
the sake of their hides and tongues, and now there are only a few wild
buffaloes left alive altogether.
Generally, however, buffaloes are to be seen in zoos, and if you go to
look at them you will most likely think that the male looks rather like
a very big lion. For it has an enormous mane of long, shaggy hair, which
covers the head and shoulders. There is also a sort of long beard under
the chin, and the hair of the sides and hind quarters is very thick. The
consequence is that the animal looks a great deal bigger than it
really is, although it stands well over five feet high at the shoulders.
In spite of its great mass of hair, this is a very active animal, and it
can both trot and gallop with considerable speed. When galloping it
always holds its head close to the ground, and its tail high up in the
air. It is not by any means a courageous animal, notwithstanding its
size and strength. But the bulls fight most savagely with one another,
roaring so loudly that in the days of the great herds the noise was
compared to thunder, and could be heard for miles.
Another kind of bison, called the aurochs, lives in the great forests of
Northern Europe. Its mane is not so long and thick as that of the
American animal, but its horns are longer and not so strongly curved.
THE CAPE BUFFALO
Smaller than the bison, but very much more formidable, is the cape
buffalo, which is spread over almost the whole of Africa south of the
equator. It is about as big as an ordinary bullock, and has a pair of
massive and sharply pointed curved horns, which are sometimes as much as
three feet in length.
This animal lives in reedy swamps, and is generally found in herds,
which often number from 250 to 300 individuals. They are very wary, and
difficult to approach, while they are so swift of foot that only a very
fast horse can escape from them when carrying a rider on its back. In
charging they throw their heads back, with the horns upon the shoulders,
and then suddenly bend down and strike upward when they come within
reach.
The buffalo does not usually attack unless it is wounded, however,
though solitaries will often lie in concealment and rush out upon the
hunter as he passes by.
THE INDIAN BUFFALO
There is another kind of buffalo found in India, which is a very
different animal in every way. It is different in appearance, for it has
its head drawn out into a kind of muzzle, while its horns are very long
indeed, and taper gradually from base to tip, at the same time curving
outward and upward and backward. And it is different in disposition,
because it is easily tamed, and is employed in many parts of India as a
beast of draught and burden. You might see buffaloes drawing a plow, for
example, or dragging a cart, and for these and similar purposes they
have been introduced into Egypt, and even into Southern Europe. The wild
bulls, however, are apt to be very savage when they live alone. But a
herd of buffaloes, strange to say, though they will gallop up close, and
toss their heads, and behave in a most threatening manner, seem never to
actually attack a man so long as he has the courage to stand perfectly
still.
THE MUSK-OX
Though it is called an ox, and looks like an ox, this animal is in
reality much more closely related to the sheep. It is of about the size
of a rather large ram, but looks much bigger than it really is, owing to
the great masses of long hair, which cover the whole of its body, and
hang down so far that one can scarcely see its legs at all. It is even
more hairy than the yak.
The horns of the male animal are very curiously formed, for they are so
broad and flat at the base that they form a kind of helmet, which covers
almost the whole of the forehead. They then droop downward on either
side of the face, but curve upward and outward at the tips. Those of the
cow, however, are very much smaller.
The musk-ox lives in the most northerly parts of North America. It is
perfectly at home amid the snow and ice, and lives in the wildest and
dreariest regions, in which the ground scarcely thaws during the whole
of the year; so that the life of those who hunt it is a very hard one.
But, as a rule, its only enemies are the arctic wolves, which drive it
to bay on some rocky mountain slope, and tear it to the ground by the
mere force of numbers.
The name of this animal is due to the musky flavor of its flesh, which
is said to be very tender and delicate.
SHEEP
The sheep are represented at the present time by several wild species,
one of which is found in Northern India east of the Indus, in the
Punjab, and in Sind; one in North America; and another in North Africa.
The rest inhabit the high ground of Europe and Asia as far south as the
Himalayas. These mountains, with the adjacent plateaus of the Pamirs and
the great ranges of Central Asia, form the main home of the group. Wild
sheep are of various types, some so much like the goats that it is
difficult to draw a hard and fast line between them; while others,
especially the curly-horned argalis, bighorns, urial, and Kamchatka wild
sheep, are unmistakably of the sheep type.
The wild original of the domesticated breeds of sheep is unknown.
Domesticated sheep which live on hills and mountains are still inclined
to seek the highest ground at night. The rams fight as the wild rams do,
and many of them display activity and powers of climbing and of finding
a living on barren ground scarcely less remarkable than in the wild
races.
The domesticated sheep have been bred by artificial selection for
unnumbered ages in order to produce wool. It is said that in some of the
wild breeds there is an under-fur which will felt like wool. Most of the
species are short-tailed animals, but this is not the case with the
Barbary wild sheep. Wild sheep are mainly mountain-living animals or
frequenters of high ground. They generally, though not always, frequent
less rugged country than that of the wild goats, and some are found at
quite low levels. The altitude at which other wild sheep are found is,
however, very great; on the Pamirs it reaches twenty thousand feet. Here
the country is quite open.
THE EUROPEAN MOUFLON
The only wild sheep of Europe is the mouflon, found in the mountains of
Corsica and Sardinia. Its height at the shoulder is about twenty-seven
inches. In the rams the horns are strong, and curved into a spiral,
forming almost a complete circle. The hair is close, and in winter has a
woolly under-fur. In summer and autumn the coat is a bright red brown
on the neck, shoulders, and legs; the rump and under parts are whitish,
and the back and flanks marked with a white saddle. In winter the brown
becomes darker and the white saddle broader. A rather larger mouflon is
found on the Elburz mountain range in Persia, in Armenia, and in the
Taurus Mountains. A smaller variety exists in Cyprus, where it has been
preserved since the British occupation. The mouflon is a typical wild
sheep. In Sardinia and Corsica are dense scrubby forests of tall
heather, some five feet high, practically impenetrable to hunters. When
alarmed, the mouflon dash into this cover and are safe. These forests
have preserved two very interesting survivals of antiquity--the mouflon,
and the Corsican or Sardinian bandit. The Corsican bandit, like the
mouflon of the same island, is nearly extinct. In Sardinia both still
flourish.
THE ARGALI
This animal is found in Siberia and Mongolia, and also in Tibet. It is
the largest of all living wild sheep, and is about as big as a large
donkey, and has enormous twisted and wrinkled horns, which are sometimes
as much as four feet long, and nineteen inches round at the base. The
male Tibetan argali has a ruff on the throat. The usual color is a stony
gray, mingled with white in summer in the case of the old males.
The argali rams are very fond of fighting one another, and such fierce
conflicts take place that sometimes their horns are broken short off,
and left lying upon the ground. And it will give you some idea of the
size of these horns when we tell you that more than once a fox has been
found lying fast asleep in one of them!
The argali is a mountain-loving animal, seldom seen at a lower level
than twelve or thirteen thousand feet even in winter, while in summer it
ascends much higher. It is a most difficult creature to approach, for it
lives in small flocks, which always post a sentry to keep careful watch
while they are feeding. At the slightest sign of danger the alert
sentinel gives the alarm and a moment later the animals are dispersing
in all directions, scrambling so actively over rocks and up and down
precipices that is it quite impossible to follow them.
It has sometimes been said that when the argali leaps from a height it
alights on its horns, which break the force of its fall. But this
statement seems to be quite untrue.
Writing of the argali of Southern Siberia, the naturalist Brehm says
that when the Tartars want mutton an argali-hunt is organized. The
Tartar hunters advance on their horses at intervals of 200 or 300 yards,
and when the sheep are started generally manage, by riding, shooting,
coursing them with dogs, and shouting, to bewilder, shoot, or capture
several.
THE GULJAR, OR MARCO POLO'S SHEEP
On the high plateau of the Pamirs and the adjacent districts Marco
Polo's sheep is found. The rams are only slightly less in size than the
Siberian argali; the hair is longer than in that species, and the horns
are thinner and more slender and extend farther in an outward direction.
An adult ram may weigh three hundred pounds. The first description of
this sheep was given by the old traveler whose name it now bears. He
said that on the Pamir plateau wild animals were met with in large
numbers, particularly a sheep of great size, having horns three, four,
and even six palms in length; and that the shepherds (hunters?) formed
ladles and vessels from them. In the Pamirs Marco Polo's sheep is seldom
found at less than 11,000 or 12,000 feet above the sea. In the Tian-Shan
Mountains it is said to descend to 2,000 or 3,000 feet. They prefer the
hilly, grassy plains, and only seek the hills for safety. On the Pamirs
they are said to be very numerous in places, one hunter stating that he
saw in one day not less than six hundred head.
THE BIGHORN SHEEP OF AMERICA AND KAMCHATKA
North America has its parallel to the argalis in the famous bighorn. It
is now very rare even in Northern Canada, and becoming scarce in the
United States, though a few are found here and there at various points
on the Rocky Mountains as far south as Mexico. In habits it is much the
same as other wild sheep--that is to say, it haunts the rock-hills and
"bad lands" near the mountains, feeding on the scanty herbage of the
high ground, and not descending unless driven down by snow.
[Illustration: WILD SHEEP AND GOATS
1. Chamois. 2. Moufflon.
3. Argali. 4. Markhor.]
The bighorn sheep are very partial to salt. Mr. Turner, who hunted them
in British Columbia, says: "Wild sheep make periodical excursions to the
mountain-tops to gorge themselves with salty clay. They may remain from
an hour to two days, and when killed their stomachs will be found full
of nothing but the clay formed from denuded limestone, which they lick
and gnaw until sometimes deep tunnels are formed in the cliffs, large
enough to hide six or seven sheep. The hunter, standing over one of
these warrens, may bolt them within two yards of him. In the dead of
winter sheep often come to the woods to feed on fir-trees. At such times
they may be seen mixed with black-and-white-tailed deer, low on a
river-bank. I have known them come within forty yards of an inhabited
hut."
Mr. H. C. Nelson tells us that once he was sleeping with two other
friends in a hut in the mountains where some miners had lived for a
time. These men, when they washed up their pots and pans, threw the
slops away at a certain place close by the hut. As all water used for
cooking meat has salt put into it, a little salt remained on the
surface. This the wild sheep had found out, and were in the habit of
coming to lick it at night.
The bighorn sheep stands from three feet two inches to three feet six
inches at the shoulder. The horns are of the general type of the
argalis, but smoother. Another bighorn is found in Kamchatka. There is
also a beautiful white race of bighorn inhabiting Alaska. The typical
Rocky Mountain race is browner than the Asiatic argalis, and in winter
is dark even beneath the front parts of the body. It is not found on the
high peaks of the great ranges, but on difficult though lower ground on
the minor hills.
THE URIAL
The vast range of the Himalayas affords feeding-ground to other species
of wild sheep and wild goat, so different in the shape of the horns that
the variations of the sheep race under domestication need not be matter
for wonder when so much variety is seen in nature.
The urial, or sha, is found in Northwest India, on the Trans-Indus
Mountains, and in Ladak, Northern Tibet, Afghanistan, Baluchistan,
Turkestan, and Southern Persia. The horns make a half-curve backward,
and are flattened. The angle with the horizontal line across the ears is
about half a right angle. The coat is of a reddish-gray color, with
white on the belly, legs, and throat. This species has a very wide
geographical distribution, and is the only wild sheep found in India
proper.
THE AOUDAD, OR ARUI
This is a large wild type of the North African highlands. It stands
intermediate between sheep and goats. The old rams have a very fine
appearance, with a long flowing beard or mane, and large horns. These
wild animals, though somewhat goat-like in appearance, are typical of
the sheep race in general habits. They live in the Atlas Range, and in
the splendid heights of the Aures Mountains, which lie at the back of
Algeria and fringe the great Sahara Desert. In the isolated and burning
rocks which jut up in the desert itself into single mountains they are
also found, living on ground which seems absolutely destitute of water,
grass, or vegetation. They live singly or in small families; but the
rams keep mainly alone. Sometimes they lie in shallow caves during the
heat of the day. These caves smell like a sheepfold. More generally the
aoudad reposes on some shelf of rock, where it matches the color of the
stone, and is almost invisible. The ground is one of the most difficult
in which any hunting is attempted, except perhaps in chamois-stalking;
but the pursuit seems to fascinate sportsmen.
Mr. A. E. Pease gives some charming descriptions of the silence,
the rugged rocks, and the astonishing views over the great orange Sahara
Desert seen from the tops of these haunts of the aoudad--mountains on
the summits of which his Arab guides would prostrate themselves in
evening prayer as the sun sank over the desert, and then, rising, once
more resume the chase. The young of the aoudad are charming little
creatures, much like reddish kids. They can follow the mother over the
steepest ground at a great pace. When caught, as they sometimes are by
the Arabs, they soon become tame.
[Illustration: GOATS AND GOAT-ANTELOPES.
1. Asiatic Tahr. 3. Rocky Mountain White Goat.
2. Alpine Ibex. 4. African Aoudad.
5. Arctic Musk-Ox.]
THE GOATS
Though the dividing-line between the sheep and goats is very indistinct,
some differences are of general application. The goats are distinguished
by the unpleasant odor of the males, and by beards on the chins of the
same sex, by the absence of glands in the hind feet, which sheep
possess, and by certain variations in the formation of the skull. The
difference between the temperament of the sheep and goats is very
curious and persistent, showing itself in a marked way, which affects
their use in domestication to such a degree that the keeping of one or
the other often marks the owners as possessors of different degrees of
civilization. Goats are restless, curious, adventurous, and so active
that they cannot be kept in enclosed fields. For this reason they are
not bred in any numbers in lands where agriculture is practised on
modern principles; they are too enterprising and too destructive.
Consequently the goat is usually only seen in large flocks on mountain
pastures and rocky, uncultivated ground, where the flocks are taken out
to feed by the children.
On the high alps, in Greece, on the Apennines, and in Palestine the goat
is a valuable domestic animal. The milk, butter, and cheese, and also
the flesh of the kids, are in great esteem. But wherever the land is
enclosed, and high cultivation attempted, the goat is banished, and the
more docile and controllable sheep takes its place. In Syria the goat is
perhaps more docile and better understood as a dairy animal than
elsewhere in the East. The flocks are driven into Damascus in the
morning; and instead of a milk-cart calling, the flock itself goes round
the city, and particular goats are milked before the doors of regular
customers.
The European goat is a very useful animal for providing milk to poor
families in large towns. The sheep, while preserving its hardy habits in
some districts, adapts itself to richer food, and acquires the habits as
well as the digestion of domestication. The goat remains, as in old
days, the enemy of trees, inquisitive, omnivorous, pugnacious. It is
unsuited for the settled life of the farm. Rich pasture makes it ill,
and a good clay soil, on which cattle grow fat, kills it. But it is far
from being disqualified for the service of some forms of modern
civilization by the survival of primitive habits. Though it cannot live
comfortably in the smiling pastures of the low country, it is perfectly
willing to exchange the rocks of the mountain for a stable-yard in town.
Its love for stony places is amply satisfied by a granite pavement, and
it has been ascertained that goats fed in stalls and allowed to wander
in paved courts and yards live longer and enjoy better health than those
tethered even on light pastures. In parts of New York the city goats are
said to flourish on the paste-daubed paper of the advertisements which
they nibble from the bill-boards!
It is beyond doubt that these hardy creatures are exactly suited for
living in large towns; an environment of bricks and mortar and
paving-stones suits them. Their spirits rise in proportion to what we
should deem the depressing nature of their surroundings. They love to be
tethered in places where they find bushes to nibble. A deserted
brick-field, with plenty of broken drain-tiles, rubbish-heaps, and
weeds, pleases them still better. Almost any kind of food seems to suit
them. Not even the pig has so varied a diet as the goat; it consumes and
converts into milk not only great quantities of garden stuff which would
otherwise be wasted, but also, thanks to its love for eating twigs and
shoots, it enjoys the prunings and loppings of bushes and trees. In the
Mont Dore district of France the goats are fed on oatmeal porridge. With
this diet, and plenty of salt, the animals are scarcely ever ill, and
never suffer from tuberculosis; they will often give ten times their own
weight of milk in a year.
The Kashmir shawls are made of the finest goats' hair. Most of this very
soft hair is obtained from the under-fur of goats kept in Tibet, and by
the Kirghiz in Central Asia. Only a small quantity, averaging three
ounces, is produced yearly by each animal. The wool is purchased by
middlemen, and taken to Kashmir for manufacture.
In India the goat reaches perhaps the highest point of domestication.
The flocks are in charge of herd-boys, but the animals are so docile
that they are regarded with no hostility by the cultivators of corn and
cereals. Tame goats are also kept throughout Africa. The valuable Angora
breed, from which mohair is obtained, is now domesticated in South
Africa and in Australia. In the former country it is a great commercial
success. The animals were obtained with great difficulty, as the Turkish
owners did not wish to sell their best-bred goats; but when once
established at the Cape, it was found that they proved better producers
of mohair than when in their native province of Angora. The clip from
their descendants steadily improves.
We now pass to consider various species of wild goats, all of which
present very interesting features for our study.
THE TURS
In the Caucasus, both east and west, in the Pyrenees, and on the South
Spanish sierras three fine wild goats, with some features not unlike the
burhal sheep, are found. They are called turs by the Caucasian
mountaineers. The species found in the East Caucasus differs from that
of the west of the range, and both from that of Spain. The East
Caucasian tur is a massive, heavy animal, all brown in color, except on
the fronts of the legs, which are blackish, and with horns springing
from each side of the skull like half-circles. The males are
thirty-eight inches high at the shoulder. The short beard and tail are
blackish, and there is no white on the coat. The West Caucasian tur is
much lighter in color than that of the East Caucasus, and the horns
point backward, more like those of the ibex, though set on the skull at
a different angle. The Spanish tur has the belly and inner sides of the
legs white, and a blackish line along the flank, dividing the white
from the brown; also a blackish chest, and some gray on the flank.
In the Caucasus turs are found on the high crags above the snow-line in
summer, whence they descend at night to feed on patches of upland grass;
but the main home of the tur by day is above the snow-line. The Spanish
species modifies its habits according to the ground on which it lives.
Mr. E. N. Buxton found it in dense scrub, while on the Andalusian
sierras it frequents bare peaks 10,000 feet high. In Spain tur are
sometimes seen in flocks of from 100 to 150 each.
THE PERSIAN WILD GOAT
The original of our domesticated goat is thought by some to be the
pasang, or Persian wild goat. It is a fine animal, with large
simitar-shaped horns, curving backward, flattened laterally, and with
knobs on the front edge at irregular intervals. It is more slender in
build than the tur, light brown in general color, marked with a black
line along the nape and back, black tail, white belly, blackish
shoulder-stripe, and a black line dividing the hinder part of the flank
from the white belly. Formerly found in the islands of Southeastern
Europe, it now inhabits parts of the Caucasus, the Armenian Highlands,
Mount Ararat, and the Persian mountains as far east as Baluchistan. A
smaller race is found in Sind. It lives in herds, sometimes of
considerable size, and frequents not only the high ground, but the
mountain forests and scrub, where such cover exists. The domesticated
goat of Sweden is said to be certainly a descendant of this species.
THE IBEX
Of the ibex, perhaps the best known of all the wild goats, several
species, differing somewhat in size and in the form of their horns, are
found in various parts of the Old World. Of these, the Arabian ibex
inhabits the mountains of Southern Arabia, Palestine, and Sinai, Upper
Egypt, and perhaps Morocco. The Abyssinian ibex is found in the high
mountains of the country from which it takes its name. The Alpine
ibex is now extinct in the Swiss Alps and Tyrol, but survives on the
Piedmontese side of Monte Rosa. The Asiatic ibex is the finest of the
group; its horns have been found to measure nearly fifty-five inches
along the curve. This ibex inhabits the mountain ranges of Central Asia,
from the Altai to the Himalayas, and the Himalayas as far as the source
of the Ganges.
The King of Italy is the great preserver of the Alpine ibex, and has
succeeded where the nobles of the Tyrol have failed. The animals are
shot by driving them, the drivers being expert mountaineers. The way in
which the ibex come down the passes and over the precipices is simply
astonishing. One writer lately saw them springing down perpendicular
heights of forty feet, or descending "chimneys" in the mountain-face by
simply cannoning off with their feet from side to side. Young ibexes can
be tamed with ease, the only drawback to their maintenance being the
impossibility of confining them. They will spring on to the roof of a
house, and spend the day there by preference, though allowed the run of
all the premises. The kids are generally two in number; they are born in
June.
The ibex was long one of the chief objects of the Alpine hunter. The
Emperor Maximilian had a preserve of them in the Tyrol mountains, and he
shot them with a crossbow when they were driven down. He tells us in his
private hunting-book that he once shot an ibex at a distance of two
hundred yards with a crossbow, after one of his companions had missed it
with a gun, or "fire-tube." When away on an expedition in Holland, he
wrote a letter to the wife of one of the most noted ibex-poachers on his
domain, promising her a silk dress if she could induce her husband to
let the animals alone. In the Himalayas the chief foes of the ibex are
the snow-leopard and wild dog.
THE MARKHOR
The very fine Himalayan goat of this name differs from all other wild
species. The horns are spiral, like those of the kudu antelope and
Wallachian sheep. It may well be called the king of the wild goats. A
buck stands as much as forty-one inches at the shoulder, and the
maximum measurement of the horns is sixty-three inches! It has a long
beard and mane, and stands very upright on its feet. Besides the
Himalayas, it haunts the mountains on the Afghan frontier. These goats
keep along the line between the forest and snow, some of the most
difficult ground in the hills. The horns are a much-prized trophy.
THE TAHR
The tahr of the Himalayas is a very different-looking animal from the
true goats, from which, among other characters, it is distinguished by
the form and small size of the horns. The horns, which are black, spring
in a high backward arch, but the creature has no beard. A buck stands
sometimes as much as thirty-eight inches high at the shoulder. It has a
long, rough coat, mainly dark stone-color in tint.
These animals live in the forest districts of the Middle Himalayas,
where they are found on very high and difficult ground. General Donald
Macintyre shot one standing on the brink of an almost sheer precipice.
Down this it fell, and the distance in sheer depth was such that it was
difficult to see the body even with glasses. The tahr is fairly common
all along the higher Himalayan Range. Its bones are believed to be a
sovereign cure for rheumatism, and are exported to India for that
object. A smaller kind is found in the mountains of Eastern Arabia,
where very few, even sportsmen, have yet attempted to shoot them.
THE NILGIRI TAHR, OR NILGIRI IBEX
Though not an ibex, the sportsmen of India early gave this name to the
tahr of the Nilgiri and Anamalai hills. The Himalayan species is covered
with long, shaggy hair; the South Indian, has short smooth brown hair.
"The ibex," says Hawkeye, the Indian sportsman, of this animal, "is
massively formed, with short legs, remarkably strong fetlocks, and a
heavy carcass, short and well ribbed up, combining strength and
agility wonderful to behold. Its habits are gregarious, and the does are
seldom met with separate from the flock or herd, though males often are.
The latter assume, as they grow old, a distinctive appearance. The hair
on the back becomes lighter, almost white in some cases, causing a kind
of saddle to appear; and from that time they become known to the hunters
as the saddlebacks of the herd, an object of ambition to the eyes of the
true sportsman. It is a pleasant sight to watch a herd of ibex feeding
undisturbed, the kids frisking here and there on pinnacles or ledges of
rock and beetling cliffs where there seems scarcely safe hold for
anything much larger than a grasshopper, the old mother looking calmly
on. Then again, see the caution observed in taking up their resting or
abiding places for the day, where they may be warmed by the sun,
listening to the war of many waters, chewing the cud of contentment, and
giving themselves up to the full enjoyment of their nomadic life and its
romantic haunts. Usually, before reposing, one of their number,
generally an old doe, may be observed gazing intently below, apparently
scanning every spot in the range of her vision, sometimes for half an
hour or more, before she is satisfied that all is well, but, strange to
say, seldom or never looking up to the rocks above. Then, being
satisfied on the one side, she follows the same process on the other,
and eventually lies down calmly, contented with the precautions she has
taken. Should the sentinel be joined by another, or her kid come and lie
by her, they always lie back to back, in such a manner as to keep a good
lookout to either side. A solitary male goes through all this by
himself, and wonderfully careful he is; but when with the herd he
reposes in security, leaving it to the female to take precautions for
their joint safety." Is it not pleasanter to think of watching such
innocent creatures, looking out for their own safety, than to think of
hunting and killing them?
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT
America possesses only one species of wild goat, the place of this genus
being taken in the southern part of the continent by the camel-like
guanacos. The Rocky Mountain goat, the North American representative of
the group, has very few of the characteristics of the European and
Asiatic species. In place of being active in body and lively in
temperament, it is a quiet, rather drowsy creature, able, it is true, to
scale the high mountains of the Northwest and to live among the snows,
but with none of the energetic habits of the ibex or the tahr. In form
it is heavy and badly built. It is heavy in front and weak behind, like
a bison. The eye is small, the head large, and the shoulders humped. It
feeds usually on very high ground; but hunters who take the trouble to
ascend to these altitudes find little difficulty in killing as many wild
goats as they wish. These goats are most numerous in the ranges of
British Columbia, where they are found in small flocks of from three or
four to twenty. Several may be killed before the herd is thoroughly
alarmed, possibly because at the high altitudes at which they are found
man has seldom disturbed them. None of the domesticated sheep or goats
of the New World are native to the continent of America. It is a curious
fact, well worth studying from the point of view of the history of man,
that, with the exception of the llama, the dog, and perhaps the
guinea-pig, every domesticated animal in use from Cape Horn to the
Arctic Ocean has been imported. The last of these importations is the
reindeer, which, though the native species abounds in the Canadian
woods, was obtained from Lapland and Eastern Asia.
When the first rush to Klondike was made, the miners were imprisoned and
inaccessible during the late winter. The coming of spring was the
earliest period at which communication could be expected to be restored,
and even then the problem of feeding the transport animals was a
difficult one. The United States government decided to try to open up a
road from Alaska by means of sledges drawn by reindeer, and the Canadian
government devised a similar scheme. Agents were sent to Lapland and to
the tribes on the western side of Bering Sea, and deer, drivers, and
harness obtained from both. The deer were not used for the Klondike
relief expeditions by the Americans; but the animals and their drivers
were kept in Alaska, native reindeer were caught, and were found very
useful for carrying the mails in winter.
THE CHAMOIS
The goats are linked with the antelopes by the famous chamois, which is
especially interesting because it makes its home among the snow-clad
mountains of Europe. It is a pretty little creature about two feet in
height, with a pair of short black horns which spring upright from the
forehead, and are then sharply hooked, with the points directed
backward. And its coat, strange to say, instead of becoming paler in
winter grows darker, so that from brownish yellow it deepens into rich
chestnut.
The chamois is one of the most active of all living animals, leaping
from rock to rock, and skipping up and down steep cliffs, where it would
seem quite impossible for it to obtain any foothold at all. It will
often spring down, too, from a very great height, never seeming to
injure itself and always alighting upon its feet. And as it is very
sharp-sighted and exceedingly wary, a hunter finds the utmost difficulty
in approaching, and very often for days together he never has the chance
of obtaining a shot.
When a chamois notices any sign of danger, it utters a shrill whistling
cry, on hearing which all the members of the herd instantly take to
flight. There are generally from fifteen to twenty animals in each herd,
consisting partly of does and partly of young bucks. The old bucks spend
most of the year quite by themselves. But early in the autumn they
rejoin the herds, drive away their younger rivals, and then fight fierce
battles with one another for the mastery.
The young of the chamois are born in May or June, and are so strong and
active that when they are only a day old they can follow their mother
almost anywhere.
THE ELAND
This is the finest of the antelopes, and is a really magnificent animal,
for it stands from five to six feet high at the shoulder, and
sometimes an eland weighs nearly fifteen hundred pounds! Both the buck
and the doe have spirally twisted horns, which are generally about two
feet long, and there is a heavy dewlap under the throat. In color the
animal is pale fawn, but sometimes the old males are bluish gray.
In former days the eland was spread all over Southern and Eastern
Africa. But it has been so much hunted on account of its hide that it
has quite disappeared from South Africa, and is fast disappearing
elsewhere. There seems reason to fear that soon this splendid antelope
will be altogether extinct. It lives for the most part in wooded plains,
and is generally found in large herds, which spend the daytime hiding in
the forests, and come out into the open country by night to graze and
drink. In the desert districts, however, where water is scarce, they
quench their thirst by feeding upon melons.
The eland is a difficult animal to hunt, for besides being very wary and
very timid, it is often accompanied by a rhinoceros-bird, which gives it
early warning of the approach of a foe. And, further, it is very swift
of foot, so that it can only be ridden down by a good horse. As a rule
it will never fight. But when a doe has calves with her, she will
withstand the onset of dogs, and has even been known to impale them upon
her horns.
THE KUDU
This is another very fine antelope. It can easily be distinguished from
the eland by the shape of the horns of the male, which are twisted like
a corkscrew, while the female has none at all. Besides this, it has a
white mark across its face, shaped something like the letter V, several
white spots on its cheeks and throat, a white streak along its back, and
several others running down its sides and hinder quarters. It stands
rather more than four feet in height at the shoulder, and the horns are
often more than three feet long.
The kudu is found all over Africa, from the Cape to Abyssinia, though it
is now very rare in the extreme south. It does not live in herds, as a
rule, but is generally found in pairs, which pass the day in dense
thickets, and come out to graze in the evening. It is not very swift
of foot, and can easily be run down by a man on horseback. But as it is
chiefly found in the country infested by the terrible tsetse-fly, whose
bite kills horses in a few days, it is generally hunted only with dogs.
[Illustration: TYPES OF ANTELOPES
1. Waterbuck. 2. Dorcas Gazelle. 3. Indian Blackbuck. 4. Springboks.
5. Oryx. 6. Eland. 7. Sable Antelope.]
THE GEMSBOK
Another very fine antelope is the gemsbok, which is found in the more
desert regions of Southwestern Africa. It is remarkable for its very
long straight horns, which sometimes measure nearly four feet from base
to tip, and are such formidable weapons that the animal has been known
to drive off even the lion. More than once, indeed, a lion and a gemsbok
have been found lying dead together, the antelope having thrust his
horns deep into the lion's body, and been quite unable to withdraw them.
What the gemsbok feeds upon is rather a mystery, for it is often found
in districts where there is no vegetation except a little dry scrub. Yet
it nearly always seems to be in good condition. And it is odder still to
find that for months together sometimes it must go without drinking!
Some hunters, indeed, have declared that they are quite positive that
the animal never drinks at all, obtaining all the moisture it needs from
small watermelons and certain bulbous roots.
The gemsbok is of about the same size as the kudu, and is gray in color
above and white below. But there is a black streak across the face,
while another streak, which is much broader, runs along the sides,
dividing the gray of the upper parts from the white of the lower. This
antelope is hunted on horseback, and is so swift and so enduring, that
there is said to be no animal in Africa which is harder to overtake.
THE SPRINGBOK
The most graceful and elegant of all the antelopes are the gazelles, of
which we may take the springbok as an example.
In former days this was by far the most abundant of all the African game
animals, and would sometimes be seen traveling from one district to
another in enormous herds, covering the country as far as the eye could
reach. So vast were these herds, indeed, and so closely did the animals
march side by side together that sometimes a lion would be seen in their
ranks marching along with them, quite unable to stop, or to make his
escape, because of the pressure all round him!
The springbok, or "springbuck," owes its name to its marvelous activity,
and to its curious habit of suddenly leaping straight up into the air.
In this way it can easily spring to a height of eight or ten feet.
The springbok is easily tamed, and soon comes to know who are its
friends. One of these animals was kept as a pet by a lady living at
Klerksdorp, in South Africa, and would wander about the town by itself,
not seeming to be in the least afraid of the passers-by, or even of the
dogs. Every morning, too, it would cross the river, and go out upon the
veldt to feed; and although it would mix freely with its wild companions
during the day, it always left them in the evening and came home to
sleep.
In height the springbok stands about two feet six inches, and it can
easily be distinguished from all the other gazelles by the white streak
which runs along the middle of the back. The horns are black, with a
number of ridge-like rings running round them, and the color of the coat
is dark cinnamon-yellow above and white beneath, with a blackish stripe
on the flanks between the two.
GNUS
If the gazelles are the most graceful of all the antelopes, the gnus,
also known as wildebeests, are certainly the most ungainly, their great
broad heads, and very high shoulders giving them an extremely awkward
appearance. Then the curved horns are very broad at the base, and are
set so closely together on the forehead that they form a sort of helmet,
like those of the Cape buffalo, while the muzzle is fringed with long
bristles, and there is an upright mane of stiff hairs upon the neck. So
that altogether the gnu cannot be considered as a handsome animal!
Two kinds of gnus are known, both of which are found in Southern and
Eastern Africa. The commoner of the two is called the white-tailed gnu,
because it has a long white tail, while the other, the brindled gnu, has
a black one. Both animals stand about four feet six inches in height at
the shoulder.
Gnus are very suspicious, very inquisitive, and very timid, and when
they catch sight of a human being, they often behave in a most
extraordinary way, prancing about, pawing the ground, capering on their
hind legs, leaping into the air, and whisking their long tails about in
the most absurd manner. Then some will chase the others round and round
in circles. Next they will come charging on in a long line like cavalry,
as though they meant to attack. And then, quite suddenly, the whole herd
will wheel round, and dash off together, enveloped in a cloud of dust!
They are so inquisitive that a hunter has often attracted a gnu to
within a very few yards just by tying a red handkerchief to the muzzle
of his gun, and allowing it to flutter in the breeze like a flag!
Other antelopes that we should like to tell about have been described by
travelers and hunters. The sable antelope of South Africa, for example,
is regarded by Mr. Ernest Ingersoll as perhaps "the most admirable of
all antelopes," the object of "an admiring enthusiasm among sportsmen"
as well as naturalists. But as we cannot find space to describe all
these interesting creatures, we must leave you to learn about some of
them in books wholly designed to make them known.