“The wild Gazelle, on Judah’s hills, Exulting yet may bound, And drink from all the living rills That gush on holy ground. Its airy step and glorious eye May glance in tameless transport by.”--BYRON. THE Gazelle is the most elegant of antelopes. The Arabian poets have applied their choicest epithets to the beauty of this animal, and their descriptions have been adopted into our own poetry. Byron, in speaking of the dark eyes of an eastern beauty, says: “Go look on those of the Gazelle.” When the Persian describes his mistress, she is “an antelope in beauty,”--“his Gazelle employs all his soul;” and thus, in their figurative language, perfect beauty and Gazelle beauty are synonymous. These animals are spread, in innumerable herds, from Arabia to the river Senegal in Africa. Lions and panthers feed upon them; and man chases them with the dog, the cheetah, and the falcon. The height of the Gazelle is about twenty inches, the skin beautifully sleek, its body extremely graceful, its head unusually light, its ears flexible, its eyes most brilliant and glancing, and its legs as slender as a reed. [Illustration: THE CHAMOIS. (_Antilope Rupicapra._)] THE Chamois is about three feet in length and two in height; its horns six or seven inches long, its ears small, and its head resembling that of the goat. The body is covered with long brown hair, the hue of which varies with the season. The flesh is considered a savoury food, and the skin is wrought into a soft pliable leather, well known in domestic economy. The Chamois is found only in the mountainous regions of Europe, where they herd together on lofty and almost inaccessible cliffs and precipices. They are so acute and shy, that it is only by the greatest patience and skill that the hunter can approach near enough to shoot them; and they are so swift, and leap with such extraordinary sureness of foot, that to overtake them is impossible. “---- ---- ---- But beasts have reason too. And that we know, we men that hunt the Chamois, They never turn to feed--sagacious creatures-- Till they have placed a sentinel a-head, Who pricks his ears whenever we approach, And gives alarm with clear and piercing pipe.” SCHILLER’S WILLIAM TELL. [Illustration: THE NYL GHAU, OR BLUE OX. (_Antilope picta._)] THIS is a large kind of antelope, found in India. In the wild state these animals are very ferocious, but they may be domesticated, and in that condition give frequent tokens of familiarity, and even of gratitude, to those under whose care they are placed. The female, or doe, is much smaller than the male, and of a yellowish colour, by which she is easily distinguished from the buck, who is of a grey tint.