r parts of Southern India, _with the complete exception of
the Malabar coast and the adjacent hills_." He adds that from the
evidence of Colonel McMaster and Colonel Douglas Hamilton, both good
authorities, it is not known to occur much south of the Krishna river,
nor is it found in the Ganges valley east of Benares, in Eastern Behar,
the Santal Pergunnahs, Chotia Nagpur, Birbhum, &c., Chhatisgurh, the
Mahanadi valley, Orissa, Bastar, and the east coast, generally north
of the river Krishna. He says it is met with in the Narbada valley,
but I have also found it common on the plateaux of the Satpura range.

[Illustration: _Gazella Bennetti_ (male and female).]

DESCRIPTION.--"Fawn brown above, darker where it joins the white of
the sides and buttocks; chin, breast, lower parts and buttocks behind
white; tail, knee-tufts and fetlocks behind black; a dark brown spot
on the nose, and a dark line from the eyes to the mouth, bordered
by a light one above" (_Jerdon_).

SIZE.--Length, 3-1/2 feet; height, 26 inches at shoulder, 28 inches
at croup.

The horns run from 10 to 14 inches in the male, but, in fact, few
exceed a foot. The longest of six pairs in my collection measure 12
inches, and the head is looked upon as a fine one. I agree with Jerdon
that there must be some mistake about 18-inch horns recorded from
the Punjab.

This pretty little creature, miscalled "ravine-deer," is familiar
to most shikaris. How it got called a _deer_ it is difficult to say,
except on the principle of "rats and mice, and such small deer." The
Madras term of "goat-antelope" is more appropriate. I remember once,
when out on field service with the late Dr. Jerdon during the Indian
Mutiny, a few _chikara_ crossed our line of march. A young and
somewhat bumptious ensign, who knew not of the fame of the doctor
as a naturalist, called out: "There are some deer, there are some
deer." "Those are not deer," quietly remarked Jerdon. "Oh, I say,"
exclaimed the boy, thinking he had got a rise out of the doctor;
"Jerdon says those are not deer!" "No more they are, young man--no
more they are; much more of the goat--much more of the goat."

This gazelle frequents broken ground, with sandy nullahs bordered
by scrub jungle, and is most common in dry climates. It is unknown,
I believe, in Bengal and, according to Jerdon, on the Malabar coast,
but is, I think, found almost everywhere else in India. It abounds
in the Central provinces, and I have found it i