Chapter I: Part 1

THE

BOOK OF ANTELOPES.

BY

PHILIP LUTLEY SCLATER, M.A., PH.D., F.R.S.,
SECRETARY TO THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON,

AND

OLDFIELD THOMAS, F.Z.S., F.R.G.S.,
ASSISTANT IN THE ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

IN FOUR VOLUMES (1894–1900).

VOL. III.

LONDON:
R. H. PORTER, 7 PRINCES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, W.
1897–1898.

PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

CONTENTS.

VOL. III.

Page

Subfamily V. ANTILOPINÆ 1

Genus I. ANTILOPE 3

76. THE BLACK-BUCK. _Antilope cervicapra_ (Linn.).
[Plate XLVII.] 5

Genus II. ÆPYCEROS 15

77. THE PALLAH. _Æpyceros melampus_ (Licht.).
[Plate XLVIII.] 17

78. THE ANGOLAN PALLAH. _Æ. petersi_, Bocage 25

Genus III. SAIGA 29

79. THE SAIGA. _Saiga tatarica_ (Linn.). [Plate XLIX.] 31

Genus IV. PANTHOLOPS 43

80. THE CHIRU. _Pantholops hodgsoni_ (Abel). [Plate L.] 45

Genus V. ANTIDORCAS 53

81. THE SPRINGBUCK. _Antidorcas euchore_ (Zimm.).
[Plate LI.] 55

Genus VI. GAZELLA 65

82. THE TIBETAN GAZELLE. _Gazella picticaudata_ (Hodgs.).
[Plate LII.] 71

83. PRZEWALSKI’S GAZELLE. _G. przewalskii_, Büchn.
[Plate LIII.] 79

84. THE MONGOLIAN GAZELLE. _G. gutturosa_ (Pall.).
[Plate LIV.] 83

85. THE PERSIAN GAZELLE. _G. subgutturosa_ (Güld.).
[Plate LV.] 89

86. THE MARICA GAZELLE. _G. marica_, Thos. [Plate LVI.] 95

87. THE DORCAS GAZELLE. _G. dorcas_ (Linn.). [Plate LVII.] 99

88. THE EDMI GAZELLE. _G. cuvieri_ (Ogilby). [Plate LVIII.] 109

89. THE ARABIAN GAZELLE. _G. arabica_ (Licht.). [Plate LIX.] 115

90. THE INDIAN GAZELLE. _G. bennetti_ (Sykes). [Plate LX.] 119

91. SPEKE’S GAZELLE. _G. spekei_, Blyth. [Plate LXI.] 125

92. PELZELN’S GAZELLE. _G. pelzelni_, Kohl. [Plate LXII.] 133

93. LODER’S GAZELLE. _G. leptoceros_ (F. Cuv.).
[Plate LXIII.] 137

94. THE ISABELLA GAZELLE. _G. isabella_, Gray. [Plate LXIV.] 151

95. THE MUSCAT GAZELLE. _G. muscatensis_, Brooke.
[Plate LXV.] 155

96. HEUGLIN’S GAZELLE. _G. tilonura_ (Heugl.). [Plate LXVI.] 159

97. THE RED-FRONTED GAZELLE. _G. rufifrons_, Gray.
[Plate LXVII.] 163

98. THE RUFOUS GAZELLE. _G. rufina_, Thos. 167

99. THOMSON’S GAZELLE. _G. thomsoni_, Günth. [Plate LXVIII.] 171

100. GRANT’S GAZELLE. _Gazella granti_, Brooke.
[Plate LXIX.] 179

101. PETERS’S GAZELLE. _G. petersi_, Günth. 187

102. THE BANDED GAZELLE. _G. notata_, Thos. 191

103. SOEMMERING’S GAZELLE. _G. soemmerringi_ (Cretzschm.).
[Plate LXX.] 195

104. THE RED-NECKED GAZELLE. _G. ruficollis_ (Ham. Smith).
[Plate LXXI.] 205

105. THE DAMA GAZELLE. _G. dama_ (Pall.) 209

106. THE MHORR GAZELLE. _G. mhorr_ (Benn.). [Plate LXXII.] 213

Genus VII. AMMODORCAS 217

107. THE DIBATAG. _Ammodorcas clarkei_ (Thos.).
[Plate LXXIII.] 219

Genus VIII. LITHOCRANIUS 227

108. THE GERENUK. _Lithocranius walleri_ (Brooke).
[Plate LXXIV.] 229

Genus IX. DORCOTRAGUS 239

109. THE BEIRA. _Dorcotragus megalotis_ (Menges).
[Plate LXXV.] 241

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

IN THE TEXT.

VOL. III.

Fig. Page

45. Horns of Black-buck, ♂ 13

46. Abnormal horns of female Indian Antelope 14

47. Head of Pallah, ♂, front view 23

48. Front view of head of Angolan Pallah 26

49. Group of Saigas 35

50. Frontlet and horns of Saiga (fossil), ♂ 39

51. Head of male Saiga in its winter dress 40

52. Horns of Chiru 48

53. Horns of Springbuck, ♂ & ♀ 61

54. Skull and horns of the Tibetan Gazelle 73

55. Goa Antelopes on the Donkia Pass 74

56. Skull and horns of Mongolian Gazelle 87

57. Head of Dorcas Gazelle, ♂ 108

58. Head of Edmi Gazelle, ♂ 113

59. Front view of head of Edmi Gazelle, ♀ 114

60. Head of Arabian Gazelle 117

61. Head of _Gazella fuscifrons_, ♀ 123

62. Head of adult male Speke’s Gazelle 128

63. Head of adult female Speke’s Gazelle 129

64. Head of young male Speke’s Gazelle 131

65. Head of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, ♂ 135

65_a_. Skull of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, ♀ 135

66. Diagram of horns of Rhime (_a_) and Admi (_b_) 143

67. Front view of head of a female Loder’s Gazelle 147

68. Skull of _Gazella leptoceros loderi_, ♂ 148

69, 69_a_. Heads of Isabella Gazelle, ♂ & ♀ 154

70, 70_a_. Heads of Muscat Gazelle, ♂ & ♀ 156

71, 72. Heads of Heuglin’s Gazelle, ♂ & ♀ 160

73. Skull of Rufous Gazelle 168

74. Horns of Thomson’s Gazelle, ♂ 172

75. Front view of head of Thomson’s Gazelle, ♀ 174

76. Grant’s Gazelle, Ugogo 181

77, 78. Heads of Grant’s Gazelle, ♂ & ♀ 182

79. Skull and horns of Peters’s Gazelle, ♂ 188

80. Skin of the Banded Gazelle 192

81. Skull and horns of _Gazella soemmerringi typica_ (male) 197

82_a_, 82_b_. Skull and horns of _Gazella soemmerringi
berberana_, ♂ & ♀ 198

83. Head of the Dibatag, ♂ 222

84. Map of Somaliland (showing the localities of the
Dibatag) 225

85. Skull of the Gerenuk 231

86. Sketch of Gerenuk, ♂ & ♀, in characteristic attitudes 232

87. Front view of the head of the Beira 245

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES.

VOL. III.

SUBFAMILY V. _ANTILOPINÆ._

_General Characters._--Size medium or small. Muzzle hairy. Anteorbital glands variable, large in some genera, absent in others. Tail generally short. Mammæ 2 (4 in _Saiga_).

Skull usually with supraorbital pits, lachrymal vacuities, and anteorbital fossæ. Molars tall and narrow.

Horns present in the male only, except in _Antidorcas_ and in most of the species of _Gazella_.

_Range of Subfamily._ South-eastern Europe, Western and
Central Asia, Peninsula of India, and the whole of Africa.

The greater part of this subfamily consists of the Gazelles and their allies, the Saiga, Chiru, Springbuck, Gerenuk, and Dibatag; and with these, by common consent, are included the Black-buck, the typical form of the whole group of Antelopes, and the Pallahs. We have also thought that the anomalous little Antelope known as the Beira would best be placed in this subfamily, near the Gazelles, in spite of the superficial resemblance it bears to certain members of the subfamily _Neotraginæ_.

The present subfamily consists therefore of nine genera, which may be arranged as follows:--

A. Horns spirally twisted 1. ANTILOPE.
B. Horns curved or straight, not twisted.
_a._ False hoofs absent 2. ÆPYCEROS.
_b._ False hoofs present.
_a^1._ Horns medium or long, curved.
_a^2._ Muzzle swollen or elongated.
_a^3._ Horns medium, lyrate, whitish 3. SAIGA.
_b^3._ Horns long, slightly curved, black 4. PANTHOLOPS.
_b^2._ Muzzle slender, normal.
_a^3._ Neck normal.
_a^4._ Horns convex forwards for three-fourths
their length.
_a^5._ Back with a central white streak. Lower
premolars 2.
5. ANTIDORCAS.
_b^5._ Back normal. Lower premolars 3 6. GAZELLA.
_b^4._ Horns concave forwards, except just at their base.
7. AMMODORCAS.
_b^3._ Neck much elongated. Horns as
in _Gazella_. 8. LITHOCRANIUS.
_b^1._ Horns short, quite straight 9. DORCOTRAGUS.

GENUS I. ANTILOPE.

Type.
_Antilope_, =Pall.= Misc. Zool. p. 1 (1766) A. CERVICAPRA[1].

Size medium. Muzzle hairy. A large anteorbital gland present. Tail short, compressed. Mammæ 2. Accessory hoofs present. Glands in all the feet and in the groin.

Skull with deep pits between the orbits, very small or no lachrymal vacuities, and large anteorbital fossæ. Molars tall and narrow.

Horns long, placed close together, widely divergent, cylindrical, spirally twisted, closely ringed throughout. Female normally hornless.

_Range of the Genus._ Peninsula of India.

One species only is known.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLVII.

_J. Smit, del. & lith._ _Hanhart imp._

The Black-buck

ANTILOPE CERVICAPRA.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

76. THE BLACK-BUCK.

ANTILOPE CERVICAPRA (LINN.).

[PLATE XLVII.]

_Gazella africana_--_The Antelope_, =Ray=, Quadr. p. 79 (1693).

_Capra cervicapra_, =Linn.= Syst. Nat. (10) i. p. 69 (1758),
(12) i. p. 96 (1766).

_Antilope cervicapra_, =Pall.= Misc. Zool. p. 9 (1766); =id.=
Spic. Zool. i. p. 18 (1767), xii. p. 19 (1777); =Erxl.= Syst. R.
A. p. 283 (1777); =Zimm.= Spec. Zool. Geog. p. 542 (1779); =id.=
Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 116 (1780); =Gatt.= Brev. Zool. i. p. 81
(1780); =Schreb.= Säug. pl. cclxviii. (1785); =Bodd.= Elench.
Anim. p. 142 (1785); =Gmel.= Linn. S. N. i. p. 192 (1788);
=Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 319 (1792); =Donnd.= Zool. Beitr. i. p.
644 (1792); =Lath. & Dav.= Faunula Indica, p. 4 (1795); =Link=,
Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 90 (1795); =G. Cuv.= Tabl. Élém. p. 164
(1798); =Bechst.= Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 644 (1800);
=Shaw=, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 336 (1801); =Turt.= Linn. Syst.
Nat. i. p. 116 (1802); =Desm.= N. Diet. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. Tabl.
p. 33 (1804); =G. Cuv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 235 (1804);
=Tied.= Zool. i. p. 410 (1808); =Licht.= Mag. nat. Freund. vi.
p. 172 (1814); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p. 437 (1814); =Afz.=
N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815); =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. N. (2)
ii. p. 180 (1816); =G. Cuv.= R. A. i. p. 261 (1817); =Goldf.=
Schr. Säug. v. p. 1214 (1818); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p.
389 (1821); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 451 (1822); =Desmoul.= Dict.
Class. d’H. N. i. p. 443 (1822); =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p.
231, v. p. 337 (1827); =Less.= Man. Mamm. p. 370 (1827); =J.
B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 457 (1829); =Gray & Hardw.= Ill. Ind.
Zool. i. pls. xii. & xiii. (1832); =Benn.= P. Z. S. 1836, p.
34; =Og.= P.Z. S. 1836, p. 137; =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 289
(1836); =Oken=, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1377 (1838); =Elliot=, Madr.
Journ. x. p. 222 (1839); =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p.
620 (1839); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 260 (1840); =Hodgs.=
J. A. S. B. x. p. 913 (1841); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p.
175 (1842); =Forst.= Descr. Anim. p. 379 (1844); =Wagn.= Schr.
Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 416 (1844), v. p. 409 (1855); =Schinz=,
Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 408 (1845); =Hutton=, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 150
(1846); =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 270 (1847);
=id.= Hornsch. Transl. Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 266; Reprint,
p. 86 (1848); =Schinz=, Mon. Ant. p. 10, pl. ix. (1848); =Temm.=
Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 190 (1853); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 312 (1853);
=Kinloch=, Large Game Shooting in Tibet, p. 59 (1869) (pl.,
head); =Blanf.= J. A. S. B. xliv. pt. 2, p. 19 (1875); =Ball=,
P. A. S. B. 1877, p. 171; =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 198 (1880);
=Scl.= List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 144 (1883), (9) p. 158 (1896);
=Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 266 (1884); =Kinloch=,
Large Game Shooting, 1885, p. 112, 1892, p. 153, pl. (head);
=Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (M. P.-B. ix.) p. 137 (1889); =W.
Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 162 (1891); =Blanf.= Mamm.
Brit. Ind. p. 521 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 340 (1891);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 95 (1892), (2) p. 139 (1896); =Jent.=
Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (M. P.-B. xi.) p. 169 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns
and Hoofs, p. 152 (1893).

_Cerophorus_ (_Antilope_) _cervicapra_, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc.
Philom. 1816, p. 75.

_Strepsiceros cervicapra_, =Rüpp.= Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 39
(1842).

_Antilope rupicapra_, =Müll.= Natursyst. Supp. p. 56 (1776)
(ex _l’Antilope_, =Buff.= Hist. Nat. xii. p. 273, pls. xxxv. &
xxxvi. 1764).

_Cemas strepsiceros_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Nat. p. 732 (1816).

_Antilope_, =F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm. (fol.) iii. livr. xliii. (♂) &
xliv. (♀) (1824).

“_Antilope bilineata_, Linn. MS.,” =Gray & Hardw.= Ill. Ind.
Zool., lettering to pl. xii. (1832) (juv.).

_Cervicapra bezoartica_, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 159 (1843);
=id.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846); =id.= Cat. Mamm.
Nepal, Hodgson Coll. (1) p. 26 (1846), (2) p. 13 (1863); =id.=
List Ost. B. M. p. 56 (1847); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 6 (1850);
=Horsf.= Cat. Mamm. E. I. C. p. 167 (1851); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones
Mamm. B. M. p. 234 (1862); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. 1, p. 162
(1869).

_Antilope bezoartica_, =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 117; =id.= Cat.
Ung. B. M. p. 66 (1852); =Blyth=, Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. p. 171
(1863); =Jerdon=, Mamm. Ind. p. 275 (1867); =Blanf.= J. A. S. B.
xxxvi. pt. 2, p. 196 (1867); =Macmaster=, Notes on Jerdon, pp.
134 & 258 (1870); =Stol.= J. A. S. B. xli. pt. 2, p. 229 (1872);
=Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 40 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M.
p. 109 (1873); =Pollok=, Sport in Brit. Burmah, p. 50 (1879);
=Sterndale=, Mamm. Ind. p. 472 (1884); =Percy=, Badminton Big
Game Shooting, ii. p. 345 (1894).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Ena_ ♂, _Harina_ and _Mirga_, in
Sanscrit; _Haran_, _Harna_ ♂, _Harni_ ♀, _Kalwit_ ♀, _Mrig_,
in Hindostani; _Kala_ ♂, _Goria_ ♀, in Tirhoot; _Kalsar_ ♂,
_Baoti_ ♀, in Behar; _Bureta_ in Bhagalpur; _Barant_ or _Sasin_
in Nepal; _Alali_ ♂, _Gandoli_ ♀, in Baori; _Badu_ in Ho Kol;
_Bamani-haran_ in Uria and Mahratta; _Phandayat_ in Mahratta;
_Kutsar_ in Korku; _Veli-man_ in Tamil; _Irri_ ♂, _Ledi_
and _Jinka_ in Telugu; _Chigri_ and _Húlé-kara_ in Canarese
(_Blanford_).

Height of male at withers about 30 inches. General colour in the same sex brown, gradually darkening with age to deep shining black. Muzzle and chin, an area round the eyes, and the whole of ears white. Back of neck, especially in the black individuals, yellowish. Upper part of flanks with an indistinct narrow whitish line running along them, most conspicuous in the young. Chest, belly, and inner sides of limbs pure white; outer sides of the latter brown. Tail short, its upperside fawn or brown, beneath white; its end with an indistinct blackish tuft.

Female brownish fawn wherever the male is black, and with the colour-contrasts nowhere so conspicuous. Back of ears and nape of neck also fawn. Horns absent, except in abnormal cases (see p. 14).

Skull as described above. The dimensions of a skull of a male are:--Basal length 8·3 inches, greatest breadth 4·0, muzzle to orbit 4·9.

_Hab._ India, from the base of the Himalayas to Cape
Comorin, and from the Punjab to Lower Assam; but not found in
Ceylon or to the east of the Bay of Bengal.

The Indian Antelope or Black-buck, as the male is universally called by sportsmen, is usually associated with the Gazelles, and we retain it in this position, although it deviates from all the other members of the subfamily in having its horns spirally twisted somewhat after the manner of the _Tragelaphinæ_. It likewise differs from the rest of the group as regards the strong contrast of colour between the sexes, although this is of course a comparatively trifling character.

This Antelope, although strictly confined to India south of the Himalayas, has been more or less known in Europe for a long period, probably since the invasion of India by Alexander the Great. It has been even conjectured that the twisted horn of the fabled Unicorn of mediæval writers may have been originally based upon single horns of the present animal, though other authorities are inclined to refer the Unicorn’s horn to the Narwhal. This, however, is rather an antiquarian than a zoological question.

In the two last and most complete editions of the ‘Systema Naturæ’ Linnæus based his _Capra cervicapra_ upon the descriptions of several of his predecessors (Gesner, Aldrovandus, Ray, and Brisson), which certainly refer to the present species, and we may therefore safely adopt _cervicapra_ for it as its specific term. The name _bezoartica_ of Linnæus, which has been employed in its place by some authorities, refers to quite a different animal, probably to one of the wild goats, but certainly not to the Indian Antelope.

As regards the generic appellation of the present animal, we have already explained our reasons for following the general practice of the best modern authors in considering the _Capra cervicapra_ of Linnæus to be the type of the genus _Antilope_, although Pallas, who founded the genus, did not give it precedence in his list of species. But the fact is that Pallas in his day never realized the importance attached in modern times to the exact designation of the types of genera, and had probably no intentions in the matter. The correct scientific name of the Black-buck is therefore, in our opinion, _Antilope cervicapra_.

The authors immediately subsequent to Linnæus, whose numerous references we quote in our synonymy, added little or nothing to our knowledge of the Indian Antelope. Shaw and other writers of the same date continued the story (which originally arose from its being confounded with the Addax) of its being met with in Africa as well as India--a fallacy which appears to have been first exposed by Lichtenstein in his excellent article on the genus _Antilope_, published in 1814. But accurate information on this Antelope and its exact range and habits was only obtained when the fauna of the Indian Peninsula came to be investigated by those whom the increase of English influence caused to be resident in that country.

After General Hardwicke, the late Sir Walter Elliot was among the first of the British residents in India who turned his special attention to the zoology of British India. In 1839 he published an excellent article upon the mammals of the Southern Mahratta country. Here, he tells us, the Indian Antelope “frequents the plains in herds of from twenty to thirty, each of which contains only one buck of mature age, the others being young ones.” In some cases the herds are so large that one buck has fifty or sixty does in its company, while the younger bucks, driven away by the old ones, wander about in separate herds, which sometimes contain as many as thirty individuals of different ages.

Jerdon, in his ‘Mammals of India,’ published in 1867, following Gray, calls the Indian Antelope _Antilope bezoartica_, but gives us a good account of it. It is found, he says, throughout India in suitable localities, but is not met with elsewhere. “It is rare in Bengal, a few only extending into Purneah and Dinagepore, north of the Ganges; and it does not occur in the richly wooded Malabar coast. It is abundant in the Deccan, in parts of the Doab between the Jumna and Ganges, also in Hurriana, Rajpootana, and the neighbouring districts. It is found in the Punjab, but does not cross the Indus.”

McMaster, in his ‘Notes on Jerdon’s Mammals,’ and Sterndale, in his ‘Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon,’ besides numerous other writers in the ‘Bengal Sporting Magazine’ and other periodicals, have published good field-notes upon the Black-buck, which is perhaps the most favourite object of pursuit of the sportsman in the plains of India. But one of the best summaries of all these observations is that put together by General Kinloch in his excellent work on ‘Large Game Shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas, Northern and Central India,’ from the third edition of which, published in 1892, we venture to quote the following extracts:--

“The Indian Antelope, the male of which is universally known
among sportsmen as the ‘Black Buck,’ is generally distributed
throughout India, being found from the foot of the Himalayas to
the extreme south of the mainland, and from Eastern Bengal to
the River Jhílam. There are, however, large tracts of country
where it is not found, and it is essentially an inhabitant of
the open cultivated plains, avoiding equally hills and dense
jungles. The localities in which I know it to be most abundant
are the desert near Ferózpúr, in the Hissár District, and in the
neighbourhood of Álígarh. The male is one of the most graceful
and beautiful animals in creation, combining symmetry of form
and brilliancy of coloring with marvellous speed and elasticity
of movement. He stands about thirty-two inches at the shoulder,
and when arrived at maturity the upper parts are of a deep
glossy black, with the exception of a light chestnut-colored
patch at the back of the neck, and some markings of the same
color about the face. The lower parts and the inside of the
limbs are snowy white, and the line between the black and
white is most clearly defined. The hair is short and glossy,
and the skin makes a very pretty mat. The horns are remarkably
handsome, being spiral and annulated nearly to their tips.
They vary considerably in length, in degree of spirality, in
the number and prominence of rings, and in the angle at which
they diverge. In Southern India they are said rarely to attain
a greater length than twenty inches, but in the Panjáb they
have been found very much longer. I have _seen_ two pairs
of twenty-seven inches, and have _heard_ of horns over
twenty-eight in length. Young bucks are of a light fawn color,
their coats gradually becoming darker with age, although I have
seen full-grown buck with long horns which had hardly a black
hair. The doe is of a light fawn above and white beneath, with
a light-colored line along the side; she is not furnished with
horns, except in very rare instances. When horns do appear
they are slender and much curved, bearing no resemblance to
those of the buck. Antelopes delight in extensive open plains
where there are alternate wide tracts of cultivation and
waste land, repairing as a rule to the fields for food, and
resting when they can on bare and sandy soil. During the rainy
season, however, they are fond of concealing themselves among
high-standing crops, and only come out in the mornings and
evenings. Black Buck are very pugnacious, and sometimes fight
so desperately that they will allow a person to walk close up
to them without observing him. Many have their horns broken in
their combats, and I have seen one both of whose horns were
broken off within three inches of the head. Antelopes are
usually found in considerable herds, varying in numbers from ten
or a dozen to a couple of hundred. A buck and one doe, or a buck
and a couple of does, may, however, be frequently met with; and
vast herds of many thousands have occasionally been seen. When
in large numbers they of course do much damage to the crops, and
it is with difficulty that the natives drive them away. It is
a beautiful sight when a herd of Antelopes are first alarmed;
as soon as they have made up their minds that safety is only
to be found in flight, first one, then another bounds into the
air to a surprising height, just touching the earth, and again
springing upwards, until the whole herd are in motion. So light
are their movements that they seem as if they were suspended
on wires. These bounds are only continued for a few strides,
after which the Antelopes generally settle down into a regular
gallop. The speed of the Black Buck is wonderful, and it is
seldom that greyhounds can pull down an unwounded one; but I
knew one dog that caught several, both bucks and does, on fair
ground. Antelopes will go away when very hard hit, and a wounded
one will often give a capital run, if ridden after with spear
or knife; the latter is nearly as good as the former, for the
buck runs so game, that he will not, as a rule, give a chance of
spearing him until he is so completely exhausted that he drops
with fatigue, when one may dismount and cut his throat. The
sportsman can choose between riding down or coursing his wounded
Antelope; but either a good horse or a brace of greyhounds
should always be in readiness, or the best shot will have the
mortification of seeing maimed animals escape to die a lingering
death.”

The chase of the Black-buck by the Cheetah (_Cynælurus jubatus_) is a favourite sport of the native Princes and Nobles of India. General Kinloch, in the work we have just quoted, describes one of these chases, in which he took part, as follows:--

“Early one morning at the beginning of June, M. (a brother
Officer) and I rode out with the Chítá cart, and had not
proceeded very far across the fields, which were then almost
destitute of vegetation, when some Black Buck were discovered
in the distance. M. then took his seat beside the keeper of
the cart, while I rode alongside, taking care to keep the cart
between me and the Antelope. The herd had evidently been hunted
before, and in spite of careful manœuvring would never allow us
to approach within a hundred and fifty yards, which the keeper
considered too great a distance for a successful slip. Several
other antelope were followed with a similar result, but at
last a herd that were grazing in a very rough field permitted
the bullocks to trot up to within a hundred yards. The Chítá
was now unhooded, and on catching sight of the game he sprang
lightly from the cart, but instead of at once giving chase, he
walked quietly towards the Antelope, which, being now alarmed,
were rapidly increasing their distance. I began to think that
he had no intention of pursuing, and the Antelope were nearly
two hundred yards off, when he gradually increased his speed,
and after a few strides bounded after them with such amazing
velocity that in a few seconds he was in the middle of the now
flying herd. Passing several small ones, he singled out one of
the finest buck, and in less time than it takes to describe it
buck and Chítá rolled over in a cloud of dust. The chase had not
extended much over three hundred yards. Galloping to the spot,
I found the buck lying on his back, while the Chítá crouched
quietly by him with his fangs buried in the throat. The keeper
quickly came up, terminated the buck’s existence with his knife,
and catching the blood in a wooden ladle, presented it to the
Chítá, who lapped it up with relish. A haunch was then cut off,
and the Chítá seizing it bounded back into his cart, where he
proceeded to devour it at his leisure. The buck was a fine one,
with twenty-three inch horns.”

Excellent accounts of the distribution and habits of the Indian Antelope have also been lately published in Dr. Stanford’s ‘Mammals of British India,’ and in the second volume of ‘Big Game Shooting’ in the Badminton Library. In the latter we find described the following curious method of getting within close range of the Black-buck as practised in Central India:--

“A trained Black-buck and doe are taken out, each having a light
cord about ten yards long attached to it, and the pair are led
by an attendant, a light screen about three feet square made of
grass and leaves with a small hole in the centre being carried
by the shikari. The whole party moves under cover of a third
man on horseback to within about three hundred yards of a herd
of antelopes. The screen is then planted on a spot commanding a
good view; the men on foot crouch behind it, and the horseman
rides slowly off on the flank. The two tame Antelopes are then
let out to the full extent of their lines on one side of the
screen, and begin playing round one another. The master buck of
the herd, seeing an impertinent intruder on his ground, trots
out at once to do battle for the doe, but the screen puzzles
him, so before coming close he generally circles round to try
and see behind it. As he moves, the screen is shifted round,
the men scrambling round on hands and knees behind it, and if
there are two Englishmen bursting with suppressed laughter in
addition to the two natives, all scuffling round as the screen
moves and trying to keep their legs out of sight, the business
is most comical. Directly the wild buck stops, the screen and
the men behind it must remain motionless. Having failed to
discover what is behind the screen, the buck, though he is still
suspicious, feels that he must try to capture that enticing doe,
but decides on having a look on the other side of the screen
first, so back he gallops to the other flank, and the scrambling
process is repeated. Gradually he comes within range, the rifle
is poked through the hole in the screen and he gets his quietus.
After this the tame Antelopes are given a handful of corn, and
the party sets out to look for another herd. The tame buck
employed in this manœuvre should be a brown one, as if an old
powerful-looking black one is used the wild buck will often
decline the contest.”

The Indian Antelope bears captivity easily, and specimens of it are to be seen in all the Zoological Gardens of Europe, in some of which it has bred and multiplied very successfully. In other places it has not done so well, apparently requiring a light soil and a considerable amount of protection from the inclemencies of a northern climate.

In the celebrated Menagerie at Knowsley fifty years ago this Antelope is stated by Gray to have bred but once at the time he was writing of it (1846). But shortly afterwards the herd of this animal in Lord Derby’s possession appears to have increased very rapidly. When the Menagerie was dispersed by auction after the Earl’s death in 1851 we find that four males and four females of this Antelope were entered in the sale-list, all described as having been bred at Knowsley. These passed into the possession of the late Viscount Hill, of Hawkstone, who at that epoch shared Lord Derby’s tastes in his love for keeping living animals.

So far as we can tell from an inspection of the Zoological Society’s records, the first specimens of the Black-buck received by the Society were brought home by Col. Sykes (a well-known authority on Indian zoology) from Bombay in 1831. In the ‘Proceedings’ of the Society for 1836 Mr. E. T. Bennett, then Secretary of the Society, published some interesting remarks on this herd, especially referring to the vexed question of the use of the lachrymal sinus in Antelopes, which, from consideration of the relative development of it in the several specimens then in the Society’s Gardens, he showed was in all probability subservient to sexual purposes.

As will be seen by reference to the nine published editions of the ‘Lists of Animals in the Society’s Collection,’ numerous specimens of the Black-buck have been acquired by the Society since that date, but, probably on account of the small free space assigned to them, little or no success has been met with in breeding this beautiful species in the Regent’s Park. On the other hand, at the Jardin d’Acclimatation at Paris and in other places under a climate more genial than our own, where large paddocks can be assigned to it, the Black-buck frequently reproduces in captivity and flourishes exceedingly.

No figures of the Black-buck having been drawn under the late Sir Victor Brooke’s directions, our illustrations of this beautiful Antelope (Plate XLVII.) have been taken by Mr. Smit from two mounted specimens in the British Museum of Natural History, the male of which, from Gwalior, was presented by Mr. C. Maries, of the Gwalior Museum.

Horns of Black-buck, ♂. (In the Collection of Mr. A. O. Hume.)]

Abnormal horns of female Indian Antelope. (In the collection of
Mr. A. O. Hume.)]

The National Collection possesses other examples of this Antelope, besides a fine series of heads and horns, mostly from Rajpootana and the Punjáb, belonging to the splendid collection of these objects presented to the British Museum by Mr. A. O. Hume, C.B. In order to show the large dimensions to which the horns of the adult male Black-buck attain in Rajpootana and Hurriana we give a drawing (fig. 45) of a beautiful pair still in the possession of Mr. Hume, which attained a length of no less than 28¼ inches measured in a straight line. On referring to the long list of the dimensions of the horns of this Antelope published in Mr. Rowland Ward’s ‘Records of Big Game,’ it will be found that only one pair of greater length than the horns which we now figure have been hitherto recorded. We also give (fig. 46) a figure of the skull and abnormal horns of a female of this Antelope in Mr. Hume’s Collection.

_August_, 1897.

GENUS II. ÆPYCEROS.

Type.
_Æpyceros_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl.
1845, p. 271 (1847) Æ. MELAMPUS.

Size large. No anteorbital glands. Tail fairly long. False hoofs absent. Hind feet with glandular tufts of hair placed shortly above the hoofs.

Skull without supraorbital pits or anteorbital fossæ; lachrymal vacuities small.

Horns of male medium or rather long, broadly lyrate, half-ringed, slightly compressed. Female hornless.

_Range of the Genus._ Southern Africa, northwards to Angola
on the west, and to the Southern Soudan on the east.

Of this genus we are at present prepared to recognize only two species--the Common Pallah of Southern and Eastern Africa (_Æ. melampus_) and that of Angola (_Æ. petersi_). The latter may be readily distinguished from the ordinary form by having a prominent blackish mark running down the upper surface of the muzzle.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLVIII

_Wolf del, J. Smit lith_ _Hanhart imp._

The Pallah

ÆPYCEROS MELAMPUS.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

77. THE PALLAH.

ÆPYCEROS MELAMPUS (LICHT.).

[PLATE XLVIII.]

_Pallah_, =Daniell=, African Scenery, no. 9 (1812).

_Antilope melampus_, =Licht.= Reise, ii. p. 544, pl. iv. (1812);
=id.= Mag. nat. Freund. vi. p. 167 (1814); =Goldf.= Schr. Säug.
v. p. 1224, pl. cclxxiv. (1818); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p.
388 (1821); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 456 (1822); =Burch.= Trav.
ii. p. 301 (1824); =id.= List Mamm. pres. to B. M. p. 5 (1825)
(Latakoo); =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 219, v. p. 334 (1827);
=Less.= Man. Mamm. p. 374 (1827); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p.
462 (1829); =Smuts=, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 74 (1832); =A. Sm.= S.
Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 209 (1834); =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H.
N. i. p. 616 (1839); =Harr.= Wild Anim. S. Afr. p. 78, pl. xv.
(1840); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840); =Jard.= Nat.
Misc. vi. p. 217, pl. xxix. (1842); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A.,
Mamm. p. 176 (1842); =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 162 (1843);
=Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 417 (1844), v. p. 409 (1855);
=Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 405 (1845); =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H.
(1) xviii. p. 231 (1846); =id.= List Ost. B. M. p. 56 (1847);
=Schinz=, Mon. Antil. p. 7, pl. vi. (1848); =Gray=, Knowsl. Men.
p. 6 (1850); =Peters=, Säug. Mossamb. p. 190 (1852) (Zambezi);
=Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 190 (1853); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 313
(1853); =Drumm.= Large Game S. Afr. p. 426 (1875); =Brehm=,
Thierl. iii. p. 203 (1880); =Huet=, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv.
p. 477 (1887).

_Æpyceros melampus_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845,
p. 271 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr.
ii. p. 267; Reprint, p. 87 (1848); =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1850, p.
116; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 65 (1852); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones
Mamm. B. M. p. 234 (1862); =Blyth=, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. p.
171 (1863); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1864, p. 101 (Uzaramo); =Kirk=, P.
Z. S. 1864, p. 656 (Zambesia); =Hengl. & Fitz.= SB. Ak. Wien,
liv. pt. 1, p. 590 (1866); =Fitz.= SB. Ak. Wien, lix. pt. 1,
p. 157 (1869); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 42 (1872); =id.=
Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 112 (1873); =Buckl.= P. Z. S. 1876, pp.
283 & 291; =id.= op. cit. 1877, p. 454; =Heugl.= N.O.-Afr. ii.
p. 103 (1877) (S. Kordofan); =Selous=, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 757;
=id.= Hunter’s Wanderings S. Afr. p. 216 (1881); =Pagenst.= JB.
Mus. Hamb. ii. p. 40 (1884); =Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Coll. Surg.
ii. p. 272 (1884); =Johnston=, Kilimanjaro, pp. 218 & 394, fig.
47 (1886); =Noack=, Zool. JB. ii. p. 206 (1887); =Jent.= Notes
Leyd. Mus. ix. p. 173 (1887); =id.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus.
Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 138 (1889); =id.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op.
cit. xi.) p. 170 (1892); =Hunter=, in Willoughby’s E. Afr. p.
288 (1889); =Crawshay=, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 654 (Nyasa); =W. Scl.=
Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 169 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm.
p. 341 (1891); =Ward=, Horn. Meas. (1) p. 99 (1892), (2) p. 142
(1896); =Nicolls & Egl.= Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 41, pl. i. fig. 3
(1892); =True=, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xv. p. 472 (1892); =Lyd.=
Horns and Hoofs, p. 229 (1893); =Lugard=, E. Afr. i. p. 537
(1893); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1893, p. 728 (L. Mweru); =Barkley=, P.
Z. S. 1894, p. 132 (Pungwue Valley); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1894, p.
145 (Nyasa); =Jackson=, in Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. pp. 285 &
306 (1894); =Lorenz=, Ann. Mus. Wien, ix., Notizen, p. 61 (1894)
(Upper Limpopo); =Rendall=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 359 (Transvaal).

“_Antilope pallah_, =Cuv.=,” =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261
(1840).

_Strepsiceros suara_, =Matsch.= SB. Ges. nat. Freund. 1892, p.
135 (skin, not horns).

_Æpyceros suara_, =Matsch.= Thierw. O.-Afr., Säug. p. 129 (1895).

_Æpyceros melampus johnstoni_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 553
(Nyasa).

_Æpyceros melampus typicus_, =Thos.= l. c.

_Æpyceros melampus holubi_, =Lorenz=, Ann. Mus. Wien, ix.,
Notizen, p. 62 (1894) (“N. of Zambezi”).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Pallah_ of English; _Roodebok_ or _Roibok_
of Dutch; _Pala_ of Bechuanas; _Napala_ of Matabili; _Ee-pala_
of Makalakas; _Inzero_ of Masubias; _Umpara_ of Makubas;
_Lubondwee_ of Batongas; _Kug-ar_ of Masaras (_Selous_);
_Impaya_ of Transvaal Shangaans (_Rendall_); _Suare_ in Tette
(_Peters_); _Nswala_ of Nyasa tribes (_Crawshay_) and of
East-African _Swahilis_ (_Jackson_); _Kulungu_ and _Nosi_ near
Kilimanjaro (_Johnston_); _Om-gaba_ in Arabic (_Heuglin_).

Size comparatively large; height at the withers about 36 inches. General colour bright reddish brown, paler along the lower part of the sides. In southern specimens the colour is rather duller and browner than in northern ones, but the difference is very slight. Head dark fawn; a mark over the anterior half of the eye, chin, interramia, and upper part of throat white. Belly pure white. In front of the eye, on the side of the face, there is generally, though not always, in southern specimens an indistinct darker patch, but this is never present in northern ones. A black patch occasionally present on the crown. Ears of medium length, their outer sides fawn, with the terminal third black. Limbs like the back, a lighter ring round the pasterns just above the hoofs; a pair of prominent black tufts of longer hairs on the distal extremity of the hind cannon-bones (whence the name of the species). Tail fairly long, its upperside with a narrow black line along it, extending more or less on to the back, its sides fawn basally, white terminally.

Skull as above described. The dimensions of a male skull are:--Basal length 10·3 inches, greatest breadth 4·4, muzzle to orbit 6·1.

The horns are particularly graceful, lyrate, convex forwards below, concave above, evenly spreading. In length, in the south, good specimens may attain about 18 or 20 inches in a direct line, and in the north more, up to about 21 or 22 inches, the largest recorded being 23. But in the intermediate districts, Nyasa, Zambesia, and Gazaland, they are much shorter, fully adult horns being often only 14 inches in length.

_Female_ similar to the male, but without horns.

_Hab._ Southern and Eastern Africa, from Bechuanaland to
Southern Kordofan.

The first account of the Pallah seems to have appeared in one of the early numbers of a work called Daniell’s ‘Illustrations of African Animated Nature and Scenery,’ published in London in 1812. The author of the letterpress, however, did not give it a scientific name, believing that it might be the “Kob” of Buffon, or an allied species. At about the same date Prof. Lichtenstein, who had met with this animal during his journeyings in Southern Africa from 1803 to 1806, published a description and figure of it in his ‘Reise nach südlichen Afrika’ under the name _Antilope melampus_. This description, with additional particulars, was repeated in the same author’s classical monograph of the genus _Antilope_, published in 1814, and his name, taken from the black tufts of short hair at the back of the hind legs just above the foot (which are clearly shown in our figures), has been employed, almost universally, for this species by subsequent writers. Lichtenstein met with his specimens near Klip Fontein in Namaqualand, where it was found to occur in small herds of five or six individuals. In 1812 the celebrated African traveller Burchell likewise met with the Pallah in Bechuanaland, and secured the first specimens which arrived at the British Museum.

Little more was added to our knowledge of this beautiful Antelope until the publication of Harris’s ‘Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa’ in 1840. Harris devotes his fifteenth plate mainly to the illustration of the “rare and graceful Pallah,” which he states “first gladdens the sight of the traveller in Southern Africa upon the elevated districts north of Latakoo.” Here in the wooded slopes and valleys that environ the mountain-ranges of Kurrichane and Cashan it was met with in families of from twelve to twenty individuals of both sexes.

Harris, with all his experience, could recall to his memory “few objects more picturesque than the graceful figures of a wandering herd of these Antelopes dancing and bounding through the thousand stems of the acacia-groves in all the poetry of motion.” To these wooded districts Harris considered the Pallah to be restricted, not a single specimen having been observed in the open country. The flesh of the Pallah he characterizes as “tender and palatable,” although “rather dry,” like that of most Antelopes.

In these days, however, as we are informed by Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington, it is only on rare occasions that the Pallah is met with in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and its present distribution is described by them as follows:--“A few herds still linger in the Transvaal along the Crocodile River. Almost exterminated in the regions through which the north-west tributaries of that river flow, it is only when the Zambesi is reached that the Palla is again to be frequently met with in any number. On the Chobe River it is still fairly common, being unknown on the Botletle, but it is only after passing the shores of Lake ’Ngami, and reaching the densely wooded banks of the Tonke, that the species again makes its appearance in a westerly direction. In those parts of Mashonaland and Matabeleland where it is not subject to continual persecution it is still fairly numerous. The Palla is highly gregarious, and frequents the thick, forest-clad banks of rivers, from which it never strays, except after periods of heavy rains, and then only when the pans and vleys (which are always dry during the greater portion of the year) are for a time filled with water. In remote parts, not very much frequented by man, the herds often exceed a hundred in number. Where not continually disturbed, this Antelope, so elegant and graceful of motion, is not by any means shy when approached, generally running but a short distance, and then standing and looking back again, a habit which easily permits of its being stalked.”

In the Transvaal, Mr. Barber kindly informs us, the Pallah was plentiful in the Waterburg and Lydenburg districts up to 1880. Now, however, it has been driven away many miles east, into the valleys that intersect the Lebombo range.

On the north-west of the Cape Colony the Pallah, as we shall see presently, is represented by a nearly allied, though probably distinct, form. But on the eastern side of Africa the Pallah has a wide range, and extends north certainly into British East Africa, and probably still farther into Kordofan. We will endeavour to trace its range throughout this wide area.

Mr. Selous found the Pallah on the tributaries of the Limpopo, and thence northwards on the banks of every river and stream which he has explored in Matabeleland and Mashonaland. The Impalas of the Limpopo he considers to be larger than those of the Chobe.

Peters records the Pallah as met with in the mountainous parts of the Portuguese province of Mozambique, near Tette, Chidima, and Sena, and gives its native names as here ‘Psuara’ or ‘Suara.’ Passing into British Central Africa we find this Antelope recorded by Mr. Crawshay as not common anywhere in Nyasaland, but where met with, as a rule, found in even larger numbers than the Waterbuck. Mr. Crawshay has seen it in companies of one hundred or more, and gives a number of localities around Lake Nyasa in which he has come across herds of it. No Antelope, Mr. Crawshay tells us, can compare with the Pallah in fleetness of foot, and certainly “no other can display such wonderful leaping powers. They go off like the proverbial arrow from the bow, and with most beautiful gliding bounds, cover the ground without apparently the least effort.” In Northern Nyasaland, Mr. J. B. Yule tells us, the Pallah is found only along the stony ridges between Deep Bay and Karonga.

In the highlands of Zomba and the adjacent districts of Nyasaland a local race of the Common Pallah is found, distinguished by its slenderer skull and much shorter horns; but as regards the colour of its fur it is precisely similar to the South-African form. Thomas was at one time of opinion that this highland form should constitute a separate subspecies, and proposed to name it after its discoverer, Sir Harry Johnston, who has done so much in investigating the fauna of British Central Africa, _Æpyceros melampus johnstoni_. Thomas, however, since the examination of further specimens is not disposed to insist upon the necessity of recognizing this subspecies as distinct.

In the low, dry, thicket-covered hills to the north of Lake Mweru both Mr. Crawshay and Mr. Sharpe have obtained specimens of this Antelope, which, according to the latter, is often confounded by the natives with the Lechee and Vardon’s Antelope under the common name “_msala_.”

In German East Africa, according to Dr. Matschie’s excellent Handbook, the Pallah occurs in many localities all over the country. At first misled by the association of the horns of a Lesser Koodoo and a skin of a Pallah, Dr. Matschie proposed to found a new species of Koodoo upon this animal, and to call it _Strepsiceros suara_. Afterwards recognizing his mistake he proposed to retain the term _suara_ for the East-African Pallah, and to separate it specifically from the South-African animal as _Æpyceros suara_, on the ground of certain small discrepancies in colour. But after examining many specimens of the Pallah from East Africa we have come to the conclusion that the differences pointed out by Dr. Matschie are not confined to individuals from the same locality, and we cannot therefore regard _Æ. suara_ as a distinct species.

The late Mr. F. Holmwood, formerly H.B.M. Consul-General at Zanzibar, wrote to us, “I have met with the Pallah in the countries of Usagara and Uzeguha, about 150 miles straight inland from Zanzibar, where they were very plentiful. The country has an elevation of 500 feet and is well watered. The Pallah go in troops of from 15 to 120. I once saw a pack of wild dogs hunt and run down one of these Antelopes which they first separated from a large herd.”

In British East Africa the Pallah is well known, and has been obtained by all the great sportsmen that have visited that territory. Mr. H. C. V. Hunter, in his appendix to Sir John Willoughby’s ‘East Africa,’ speaks of this Antelope as “common everywhere in thin bush and on the plains.” Dr. Abbott, as recorded by Mr. True, sent to Washington a good series of specimens obtained in 1889 from Taveta and Mount Kilimanjaro, where it had likewise been met with by Sir Harry Johnston during the Kilimanjaro Expedition of 1884. Mr. F. J. Jackson, in his notes on Antelopes published in the first volume of ‘Big Game Shooting’ of the Badminton Library, tells us that the Pallah is not met with in the coast-district of British East Africa. “But it occurs in small herds about 60 miles inland, and is plentiful at Adda and in the Teita country, and is found as far north as Turkwel in suitable localities, that is, in park-like open bush and thinly-wooded country, not far from water.” “The best heads,” Mr. Jackson says, “are obtained between Lakes Navaisha and Baringo, particularly in the vicinity of the small salt-lake Elmatita, where these beautiful beasts inhabit the open woods of juniper-trees.” In his paper on the Antelopes of the Mau district, recently read before the Zoological Society, Mr. Jackson likewise speaks of this Antelope, and again mentions the large size of the horns of the bucks in that part of British East Africa, which he gives as 22 and 23 inches from base to tip.

Head of Pallah, ♂, front view.]

Whether the Pallah ranges further north than British East Africa and the neighbouring district of Turkwel is perhaps not quite certain, though it may possibly be the case. Our only authority on the subject is Heuglin, who states that the Pallah occurs on the White Nile at Scherk-el-Akaba, and is “very common” on the Djur River, where it is known by the Arabic name of ‘Om-gàba,’ or ‘Om-sàba.’ But Heuglin’s observations on this point, so far as we know, have not been confirmed, and we have never seen specimens from this locality.

On the whole, therefore, we consider _Æpyceros melampus_ to be a wide-ranging species, extending from Bechuanaland in the south throughout the eastern side of Africa to British East Africa on the north, and perhaps reaching even to the White Nile. But over all these districts there is a certain amount of variety amongst the specimens, and we are not, therefore, at present inclined to recognize, even as subspecies, what have been designated as _suara_, _johnstoni_, and _holubi_, although future researches may lead us to a different conclusion.

So far as we know, the Pallah has been brought to Europe alive on two occasions only, and in both instances the animals were imported by Mr. C. Reiche, of Alfeld, from the northern part of the Transvaal. The first specimen (in 1890) went to the Zoological Garden of Berlin and the second (in 1890) to the Zoological Garden of Vienna. Both were young males, and generally of a reddish colour, with the horns slightly developed. They did not live long after their arrival in the Gardens.

The Pallah is represented in our National Collection by a mounted male from Kilimanjaro shot by Mr. F. J. Jackson and by a mounted head from Lake Elmetaita presented by Captain Lugard, the horns of which are amongst the longest of known specimens. There is likewise a mounted head from the Zomba highlands presented by Sir Harry Johnston and representing the short-horned race which inhabits the mountain-districts south of Lake Nyasa. Besides these there are skulls, skins, and horns from various districts in South and East Africa.

Our illustration of the Pallah (Plate XLVIII.) has been put upon the stone by Mr. Smit from a water-colour drawing by Wolf prepared for the late Sir Victor Brooke and now belonging to Sir Douglas Brooke. The drawing is noted on the back as having been taken from a head belonging to Mr. Selous and a loose skin. It represents an adult male in two positions. The female, as already stated, is absolutely hornless.

The woodcut (fig. 47, p. 23), which gives a front view of a good head of the Pallah, was drawn by Mr. Smit under Sir Victor Brooke’s directions.

_August_, 1897.

78. THE ANGOLAN PALLAH.

ÆPYCEROS PETERSI, BOCAGE.

_Æpyceros petersi_, =Boc.= P. Z. S. 1878, p. 741; =Huet=, Bull.
Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 479 (1887); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1890, p. 460
(woodcut of head); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 341 (1891); =Lyd.=
Horns and Hoofs, p. 231 (1893).

_Æpyceros melampus_, =Jent.= Notes Leyd. Mus. ix. p. 173 (1887)
(?) (Mossamedes).

Similar, so far as is yet known, to _Æ. melampus_ in all respects except that on the face, as is shown in our woodcut (p. 26), there is a prominent brown patch running along the top of the muzzle. This character is said to be perfectly constant, and we therefore admit for the present the validity of the Angolan form as a distinct species.

The Angolan Pallah was first recognized as a distinct species by Prof. J. V. Barboza du Bocage, a distinguished naturalist of Portugal, in a list of Angolan Antelopes published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1878. M. du Bocage based his description upon two specimens forwarded to the Lisbon Museum by the well-known explorer d’Anchieta. Of these the male was stated to have come from Capangombe, the female from Humbe--two places both in the province of Mossamedes north of the Cunene River. M. Bocage distinguished the new species from _Æ. melampus_ principally by its black face, and dedicated it to the late Professor Peters, of Berlin, whose opinion agreed with his that it was distinct. It is probable that the skull from the Cunene River, obtained by Heer Van der Kellen in October 1885, and referred by Dr. Jentink, in his paper on Mammals from Mossamedes, to _Æ. melampus_, may belong properly to _Æ. petersi_.

Front view of head of Angolan Pallah.

(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 460.)]

In 1889 Capt. F. Cookson, during a sporting excursion into Hasholand or Kaokoland, in the neighbourhood of the Cunene River met with some twenty or more specimens of this Antelope, and brought back a single head to England. This head, mounted by Mr. Rowland Ward, was exhibited by Sclater at a meeting of the Zoological Society on June 17th, 1890, as an example of _Æpyceros petersi_. The notice of Sclater’s exhibition published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ was accompanied by an illustration, which, by the kindness of the Council of the Zoological Society, we are enabled to reproduce (fig. 48). The dimensions of these horns are given by Mr. Rowland Ward, in his ‘Records of Big Game’ (1896), as 18¾ inches in a straight line and 22¾ on front curve, and the distance between the tips as 12¼ inches.