Chapter XIII: Mammals of the Sahara

Lacking the wings of the feathered world, the animal life of the Sahara has not the same highly convenient means of passing from place to place, when the necessity arises to evacuate exhausted feeding ground and find more favourable country. Therefore, if hard pressed, they move carefully, and only at certain seasons, and are apt to cling closely to favoured regions, where such are found.

Any real migratory instinct is, with a few exceptions, not pronounced in the animals of the Sahara, and by far the greater number remain closely confined within their natural types of country, even though these are impoverished and struggle for an existence is keen.

If, on a map of the western portion of Africa, we glance along a line from south to north, starting from Kano in Northern Nigeria, which is about latitude 12°, it is possible to get a rapid idea from the creatures of the country of the change from tropical regions to Saharan regions.

At Kano may be found that loathsome reptile, the Crocodile, and, in the same latitude, Lion; west of Katsina, Elephants, and scattered groups of Giraffe right to the shores of the Sahara in the bush country of Damergou.

The northern boundary of Damergou, which runs along the outer edge of the bush belt, may be taken to be about latitude 16°; and it is there, at the junction between bush and desert, that one finds the line of decided change. Curiously enough, as if to incite one to remember, before entering the desert, the good things that go with a bush-land, it is close to, and on, that very line that four of the most handsome Gazelle and Antelope of Africa are to be found at their best: the White Oryx, Addax, Red-fronted Gazelle, and Damas Gazelle.

All through the dry season—long, weary months among sun-withered vegetation—these animals frequent the margins of bush and desert; but when the rains of the Sudan set in they move out from the sheltered, fly-infested scrub on to the open plains, to enjoy a far-reaching freedom and the fresh winds of the boundless spaces. The Red-fronted Gazelle and Damas Gazelle are content with wandering at no great range beyond their permanent locality, but the White Oryx and Addax, which have strong nomadic instincts and ever move restlessly from place to place, wander right away north when driven from the bush. I have seen them in latitude 18°, and the footprints of Addax in the sand as far north as latitude 22°, while Tuaregs of Ahaggar report the same animal to be west of the mountains on latitude 25°. This is not altogether surprising in respect to the Addax, as a few are found south of Tunis and Algeria, but it may not always be realised that the main stock of the species originates in the bush-belt that pertains along latitude 16°, which forms the shores of the Sahara in the Western Sudan and, doubtless, it is the same line, away eastward, that is the chief habitat of the Addax in Kordofan in the Egyptian Sudan.

Once clear of the bush, the species of big game that live in the Sahara throughout the year are very limited. Dorcas Gazelle is the principal animal, and may be found throughout the interior in small numbers; sometimes approachable, if the country is broken; sometimes excessively wild in the open wastes. Its protective sand-colour is remarkable, and, standing still, it is often passed over in scanning a landscape, though perhaps broadside on, in full view, and at no great distance. On occasions of the kind I have suddenly realised that I stood face to face with one of these beautiful creatures, and have ejaculated under my breath: “Good heavens, I must have been asleep not to have seen you before!”

In addition to the above, one or two Damas Gazelle were seen in Aïr and in Ahaggar, feeding on the vegetation of sandy wadis, and a few rare Wart Hog in the former mountains. But there end the ungulate animals of the Sahara, excepting the king of them all, the Arui, or Barbary Sheep, which I will return to later.

Of the lesser animals the chief of interest are: Jackals, Lynx, Wild Cats, Hyenas, Foxes, Fennecs, Ratel, Ground Squirrels, Gerbils, Spiny Mice, Jerboas, Porcupines, Gundis, Dassies, and Hares.

Like the bird life, but even more so, these animals are nowhere plentiful, and the species collected were obtained over a prolonged period, and through traversing a tremendous extent of country. Sixty-four different species and subspecies were collected altogether, representing examples of almost every animal that lives on the shores of the Sahara and in its interior, and these have proved of the greatest scientific value to the authorities of the British Museum in linking up the mammalogy across a vast tract of Africa. The mammals of my first expedition were collected for Lord Rothschild, who generously presented a set of all species obtained to the British Museum, and I was glad to add the results of the second expedition to our national museum to make the whole as complete as possible.

The collections contained no fewer than fifteen new species and eleven new subspecies, which Messrs. Oldfield Thomas and M. A. C. Hinton, of the British Museum, have declared to be one of the most remarkable collections of novelties ever secured in the history of mammalogy.

I feel that, to give some impressions of the animal life of the land, they should be dealt with under one or two aspects. The first place of interest is the southern shore of the Sahara, particularly at the time of rains—August-September, or thereabouts.

To any caravan out on the trail rains are a tremendous discomfort, and with camels, in wet weather the drawbacks are increased. Yet it often falls to the lot of the traveller to journey through the worst of weather, and on my second expedition it happened to be my wish to reach the neighbourhood of the bush edge at the season in question because of the movement of game.

In accomplishing this my caravan experienced outdoor conditions at their worst. Everyone knows the intensity of tropical storms in their wild, spasmodic outbursts. When the weather broke the caravan was beset with periods of low-flung thunder and lightning, hurricane winds, and torrential rains that swooped across the land with alarming rapidity and malignant fierceness. Enforced camps had to be hurriedly pitched to protect valued specimens and perishable baggage, while the work of skinning, which was always my concern, was impossible, even under canvas, owing to the fierceness of wind and driving rain.

Each day, at one time or another while _en route_—sometimes at an extremely awkward hour, when only a short distance had been travelled from the last camp—great black clouds would race up from the skyline, to be watched anxiously until the first deep rumblings of thunder gave warning to hasten to take cover. Whereat the camels had to be halted at once on any piece of raised ground near at hand that gave promise of not being under water when the torrent should fall. It was always a mad race against the elements. So soon as the brutes were on their knees camel-men hurriedly released the loads from the saddles, then piled them in a heap, and covered all with a large ship’s tarpaulin carried for the purpose. At the same time a tent would be hurriedly pitched.

Sometimes we were ready for the onslaught of the storm just in the nick of time, or got drenched to the skin battling to hold down the last few tent-ropes and drive home secure pegs as the first wave of the gale hurled in upon us. Then, packed into the small space of the tent, masters and men crouched, sheltering from the storm, and waited impotently its passing. No meal could be cooked—not even a comforting cup of tea. If it happened to be evening, or night, camp-beds and blankets had perforce to remain unpacked among the baggage. Sometimes the operator and I slept on the ground, under cover of the tent, in the clothes we stood in, and went to bed foodless. On other occasions we risked the rain and sought such rest as could be found in wet bedding, soaked either by actual rain or the heavy dew that always followed.

This did not end discomfort. Mosquitoes and sand-flies followed these storms, and were terrible pests. I have never known them more persistent and venomous, and everyone suffered from poisonous scars, as if we had been attacked by swarms of bees. So bad were they that some of the natives slept on platforms in the branches of thorn-trees, gaining some little relief from their tormentors in these elevated but body-racking “crows’ nests.”

But my camels suffered most of all. The poor brutes appeared to get no rest whatever, even round the smoke of huge log fires that were built, when it was possible, to keep away the pests. All night they could be heard tossing and rolling in the sand to throw off their tormentors: vain efforts that brought barely a moment’s relief, for the air hummed with armies of the terrible insects.

These were our troubles in camp. When it was fine enough to travel we found a fairyland of damp, fragrant sand from which fresh green shoots were already springing, while insects hummed and birds twittered with all the gladness of a wonderful dawn. The magic touch of abundant rain was upon the land, though swift would be its passing.

It was the season for wild life to be abroad. Game, and tracks of game, were abundant. Damas Gazelle were seen in picturesque herds, their white sides and rumps showing in the bush like silver on a cloth of green, while the more sedately coloured Red-fronted Gazelle and Dorcas Gazelle, in small parties or pairs, were passed at almost every turning on the trail.

Ostriches, great birds that never seem to rest, were sometimes sighted far off, passing on their journey of the day, picking a morsel here and there, but never ceasing in their onward march.

Giraffe was seen only once, but on a number of occasions their fresh tracks were crossed. These were left unfollowed, as a specimen of the species was not wanted.

After those brief days of torrential rain-bursts all tracks in the tell-tale sand told that the game were moving out northward as the growth of fresh vegetation advanced. My caravan followed the same course. On the outer bush-edge those beautiful antelope, the White Oryx, were encountered, and small bands of cattle-like Addax: animals that appear almost equally white at a distance, until the black forehead and dark-marked limbs of the latter can be discerned. Both are adorned with magnificent heads of horns, three feet to three feet six inches in length, or thereabouts.

These animals are given to restless roaming across open plains of sand, feeding chiefly on scant grass-tufts, where there is little cover, except an odd acacia, solitary or in a straggling group, and the sentinel-like _Jiga_, which is the choice tree of the solitudes, and the favoured shade of game.

It is under such scattered, dwarf-sized trees that Oryx and Addax are in the habit of resting when the sun is at its height; and it was then that I had a chance to get within rifle-shot, by manœuvring to utilise any slight dip in the land, and by crawling or sprawling long distances flatwise on my “tummy.” By reason of the extreme openness of the country it was stalking of a high order, and hence nerve-exciting and engrossing. Specimens for the museum were wanted, and, although I lost most of the skin from my knees owing to the cutting nature of the hot, sharp sand, I had one or two glorious hunts that ended successfully, and made ample compensation.

White Oryx are killed locally on occasion, by the few Tuaregs and Beri-Beri who roam the region. They ride them down on horseback in the following manner.

When an animal is sighted, and chosen as the quarry, the long race starts, but eventually the Oryx shows the horse a clean pair of heels. The persistent hunter then follows the tracks in the sand until the quarry is again sighted, and a second race ensues. At the end of this struggle of speed the Oryx may break down and become so hopelessly broken-winded that it is easily approached and destroyed. Sometimes a third race is necessary, and, on rare occasions, a fourth. Escape is only possible if the stamina of the horse is over sorely tried, and the hunter has pity enough to cease asking more of his mount.

Jackals and Striped Hyenas were plentiful in the neighbourhood of the game and a few were seen, and tracks of their night prowlings constantly. I have a note regarding the remarkable strength of the Hyena. One day, having skinned a large male ostrich, I had the discarded carcass (not eaten by the natives because its throat had not been cut, as their Mohammedan religion demands) drawn about forty yards away from the camp. At dusk a single Hyena came to the carcass and, to the astonishment of all, commenced to pull it farther away so that it might enjoy the feast out of danger of its enemies. It had taken no less than four strong men to drag the same carcass, by aid of ropes, from camp to the position it occupied—a task this single Hyena was capable of. I have scaled dead ostrich, and know that this particular bird weighed in the neighbourhood of 300 lbs.

In the interior of the Sahara there is nothing to compare with the game to be found on its southern margin. The desert is practically barren excepting in rare wadis that have sufficient vegetation to attract a few Dorcas Gazelle, and perhaps a Desert Fox or Wild Cat, or the like, that feed chiefly on the rodents about the tussock bottoms.

But the mountain regions are havens to a certain amount of animal life, and it is there that one finds the Arui, or Barbary Sheep. In Aïr they are sufficiently rare—because of the altitudes they frequent and the wildness of the mountains, not because of their numbers—to make the quest for them highly interesting. In Ahaggar they are very scarce.

Wild and keen-sensed in sight and hearing, and in difficult country, these mountain sheep are fine animals to hunt, from the point of view of the sportsman. They live in magnificently wild fastnesses, and are truly superb creatures; particularly when caught at eve or dawn poised on the precarious pinnacles of the world, sniffing the wind and inquiring the dangers of the crags beneath them.

But they are never seen unless diligently searched for, and, on account of the wild nature of their haunts, hunting them is strenuous in the extreme. They hide in the cool depths of caves and cairns through the day and venture out toward dusk to feed all through the night. At dawn they again seek shelter. Coolness and darkness appear necessary to their existence; heat and sunlight they avoid.

When I had come to comprehend their habits I more or less adapted my life to theirs in hunting them. I sought the hills, toward dusk, with rifle and blanket, to pick my way steadily up into the mountain-tops, sometimes sighting sheep on the way; then sleeping in some sheltered nook on the summit, till the quest was renewed at the first hint of dawn.

The wild ruggedness of the country is unbelievable until one is actually in amongst the endless range of valleys and slopes that are thick with the disordered rocks and gigantic boulders that make up the crags and corries and cairns which meet one on every side. The hunter requires to be nimble as a cat to leap and step quietly in such surroundings, and _noiselessness is essential_ if the keen-sensed Arui is to be successfully approached. Wherefore one must go barefooted or with soft-soled shoes, and in consequence feet and shins suffer many bruises and jars on the hard, cruel rocks, particularly in travelling when it is very dark. I had no serious accident in those wild hills; only a few minor ones. I once lost the nail of a big toe through a stone giving way and turning over to pin my foot beneath it. On another occasion, through my attention being distracted by movement below, I stepped into space, and had an ugly fall, which was not lightened by my efforts to save my precious rifle. But miraculously no bones were broken, though knees, arms, hands, and face bled so freely that anyone might have thought I was a proper ambulance case.

I was particularly anxious to secure good examples of the Arui of Aïr, which had not been collected by anyone before (which, as a new subspecies, has since been named _Ammotragus lervia angusi_ (Rothsch.) in my honour). Hence I spent many nights in the lone mountains and laid my head to rest in some wild, eerie spots, unknown to the eyes of men. It was a wonderful experience to be all night high up in the great mountains, and to watch the final lights of eve, and dawn. Indeed, I came to know these hills in another complexion. From afar I had always thought them frowning and black, while now I discovered them soft smoke blue in the mornings, and shades of mauve when touched with the late evening sun.

Dawn is the most favourable hour for hunting. It is then that the Arui ascend the steep and bouldered mountain slopes from wild corries where they have been browsing overnight, on a scattering of hardy shrubs and wiry grass, to seek dark resting-place for the day among great cairns near the summits where the air remains cool and shade complete. And that is the time when the hunter has a chance to intercept them on the way to their lairs.

As a rule, I found them difficult animals to secure, but was greatly aided in hunting them latterly, by coming to realise a curious trait of theirs, which was, that _if a sheep was sighted looking intently from a prominence in a certain direction it would, when it moved, surely travel in that direction_. Wherefore, by making a detour, it was possible sometimes to intercept the quarry without stalking it directly.

I have seen fairly young mountain sheep in January, and believe they are dropped about the season when rains may occur, viz. August-September.

The Arui were found in Aïr at any altitude between 2,000 and 5,000 feet; but in the hottest season of the year, which reaches its climax about July, they are prone to abandon the lower altitudes and live altogether in the high summits, where it is coolest.

If rain falls at the season it is due they roam widely and come low down to browse on the short-lived green feeding that soon springs up. At such times they find pools in almost every ravine, and they are animals that are very fond of water.

Of the specimens collected all were not weighed. However, 164 lbs. was a good male, and 112 lbs. a fair female. The best horns measured just over 26 inches. The Tuaregs call the Arui _Afitall_ in Aïr, and _Oudel_ in Ahaggar.

The final aspect I will refer to, regarding the animal life of the land, is of an ordinary day in the course of travel.

We are camped in the outlying hills of Aïr. It is a region where there is no winter even in the depth of the year, but in December and January the nights are bitterly cold.

The caravan sets out at dawn on the journey of the day, and the smouldering logs of a night-fire are left behind with regret.

We start over a land of sand and rocks, with high-reaching mountain slopes some miles in the forefront.

It is too early for birds to be showing. Like ourselves, they are feeling the uncommon cold, and shelter among the bushes on the banks of the river-beds until the sun grows warm and the land returns to its accustomed stifling heat.

It is the hour for game to be abroad. In the broken-up valley land a few beautiful little Dorcas Gazelle, of the colour of the sand, are seen busy breakfasting on slim, delicate grasses that they search for in open places. They are the most numerous game in Aïr; unlike the Mountain Sheep, which in comparison are rare, owing to their shyness and the nature of their almost inaccessible haunts. These two animals are the meat-giving game to the few natives of the land. There is one other—the large and handsome white-flanked Damas Gazelle, an exceedingly timid animal that is seldom seen in an ordinary day’s travel.

If I had set out expecting to see much I should have been disappointed, for hours pass and nothing of unusual consequence is encountered. But I know Aïr as a lone, deserted land where one has to be content with little.

I read the trail as the camels move along, particularly when sheets of sand are spread before me. No one has passed ahead; no print of camel foot or donkey hoof marks the surface anywhere. The neat little cloven-hoof prints of Gazelle are fairly numerous and the feet of Field-mice have drawn countless little daisies on the sand where they have fed through the night about tussocks of grass.

Other footprints tell where a Short-Eared Hare has loped across the ground, and I see where a hungry Jackal has picked up the trail and hurried in pursuit. At a cluster of bush I find the up-turnings of a Porcupine that has been burrowing and tearing at a shrub-bottom to feed on its favourite food—the roots of the pale-limbed, big-leaved bush which the Tuaregs call _Tirza_.

In a shallow, dried-up river-bed the camels are guided clear of a regular warren of holes scooped out in the night by a Ratel in search of dormant frogs buried in the sand a foot or two beneath the surface.

Nearing camping time the caravan reaches a terrace margin and descends a rocky slope, where the camels have difficulty in picking their way. A strange, wild valley lies in the unexpected level below, and a dry river-bed in a deep ravine. It is a drear valley-side, and the caravan passes on into the ravine below. In a cliff I find a deep, dark cave, and strike a match to enter it. It proves to be an old den of Hyenas; their footprints are on the dusty sand and the floor is littered with the bones of camels and other animals. The roof of the cave is festooned with the honeycombs of wasps, but the hives are forsaken.

By this time the journey of the day has drawn to a close, and we camp to rest and eat, and refresh both man and beast, while my skinning-table and knives are set ready for the work of the evening on specimens that, mayhap, shall add to the knowledge of the world.

Altogether, forty-two different species and subspecies of animals were collected from the Sahara and twenty-two additional varieties from the Western Sudan, on its southern shores.

In the Sahara the following mammals were collected[20]:

1. Arui, or Barbary Sheep (B)
2. Damas Gazelle (B).
3. Dorcas Gazelle.
4. White Oryx.
5. Addax.
6. Wart Hog.
7. Baboon.
8. Small Mouse-eared Bat.
9. Small White and Brown Bat.
10. Small Long-tailed Bat.
11. Desert Hedgehog.
12. Hausa Wild Cat (A).
13. Desert Wild Cat.
14. Genet.
15. Caracal, or Lynx (B).
16. Rufous Mongoose (B)
17. Striped Hyena.
18. Jackal.
19. Buff Desert Fox (B).
20. Grey Rock Fox (B).
21. Fennec.
22. Ratel (A).
23. Saharan Ground Squirrel (B).
24. Dormouse (A).
25. Long-tailed Naked-soled Gerbil.
26. Hairy-soled Gerbil.
27. Dark Naked-soled Gerbil.
28. Lesser Naked-soled Gerbil.
29. Dwarf Gerbil (A).
30. Large Fawn Gerbil (B).
31. Large Dark Gerbil.
32. Large Rufous-headed Gerbil.
33. Multimanimate Rat (A).
34. Reddish Spiny Rock Mouse (A).
35. Dark Spiny Mouse.
36. Brindled Field Rat (B).
37. Jerboa (B).
38. Porcupine (A).
39. Gundi (A).
40. Short-eared Hare (A).
41. Rock Dassy (A).
42. Aardvark, or Ant Bear.

Twenty-two additional mammals found in the Western Sudan, on the southern margin of the Sahara, between latitudes 12° and 16°:

43. Korrigum, or Tiang.
44. Red-fronted Gazelle.
45. Small Leaf-nosed Bat.
46. Epauletted Bat.
47. Long-eared Slit-faced Bat.
48. Saharan Hedgehog.
49. Mann’s Shrew.
50. Large White-tailed Mongoose.
51. Jackal.
52. Pallid Fox.
53. Rothschild’s Skunk (near) (A).
54. Large Striped Skunk (near).
55. Ground Squirrel.
56. Naked-soled Gerbil (B).
57. Nigerian Hairy-soled Gerbil (A).
58. Fat-tailed Mouse.
59. Gambian Giant Rat.
60. Buchanan’s Giant Rat (A).
61. Dwarf Mouse.
62. Striped Bush Mouse (A).
63. Brindled Field Rat.
64. West African Porcupine.

CHAPTER XIV

THE NORTH STAR