Chapter V: Part 5

_Gazella kevella_, =Tristram=, Great Sahara, p. 387 (1860);
=Lataste=, Mamm. Barbarie (Act. Soc. Linn. Bord. xxxix.), sep.
cop. p. 172 (1885); =Buxton=, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 363.

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Edmi_ of Arabs of Algeria (_Pease_); _Edem_
in Tunis (_Whitaker_).

Size comparatively large; height at withers about 26 or 27 inches. Hair rather long, rough and coarse. General colour dull fawn. Face-markings distinct; the central facial band brownish fawn, with a black patch on the top of the nose, in front of which the muzzle is white. Ears long, pointed, their backs fawn. Dark lateral line and pygal band distinct, darker than back; light lateral line present, but little defined. Knee-brushes distinct.

Basal length of skull 7·35 inches, greatest breadth 3·6, muzzle to orbit 4·45.

Horns rather short in proportion to the size of the animal, thick, strongly ribbed, very slightly curved backwards, and but little divergent from each other; the tips slightly curved upwards and forwards.

_Female._ Similar, but horns shorter, slenderer, and straighter.

_Hab._ Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis.

The “Edmi” or Mountain Gazelle of Algeria, though it has often been confounded with the Dorcas, and has only been accurately known within the last few years, is without doubt an absolutely different species not only in structure, but in habits and mode of life. As Sir Victor Brooke has pointed out, it is easily distinguished from all its allies by its larger size, rough coat, dark colour, and long ears.

The first published information that we can certainly refer to this species is that of Frédéric Cuvier, who figured both sexes in his folio work on Mammals from specimens living in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, but called it only “_le Kevel gris_,” without giving it any scientific designation.

Some time in 1839 a living female example of this Antelope was presented to the Zoological Society of London by Mr. W. Willshire, one of their corresponding members, who had procured it at Mogador. After its death in May 1840, Mr. Ogilby, who was at that time Secretary of the Society, and was specially interested in the study of mammals, brought the specimen before the notice of the Zoological Society at one of their scientific meetings, and proposed to name the species “_cuvieri_” after M. Frédéric Cuvier. Ogilby stated that he had observed examples of the same Gazelle in the Paris Museum, and that M. Cuvier would have described it had he, Ogilby, not done so. There can be no question therefore of Ogilby’s animal being the same as Cuvier’s “Kevel gris,” and that _Gazella cuvieri_ is the earliest certain name to adopt for it.

In 1849 Fraser published a figure of this species in his ‘Zoologia Typica,’ taken from Ogilby’s typical specimen, which is now in the British Museum. Although imported from Mogador there can be little doubt that this example was originally obtained from the chain of the neighbouring Atlas. The Gazelles observed in the Great Atlas in company with Wild Sheep (_Ovis tragelaphus_) by Mr. W. B. Harris, F.R.G.S., on his journey from Morocco to Tafilat in 1893, were no doubt _Gazella cuvieri_.

Passing on to Algeria we find that Loche appears to have referred to this Antelope under the name _Gazella corinna_, and that Canon Tristram and Lataste have called it _Gazella kevella_. We have already shown, however, that both these names are properly to be applied to the Dorcas Gazelle.

In 1890, Mr. Edward Buxton met with this Gazelle during a shooting excursion into the Atlas, of which he has given us a most interesting account in one of the chapters of his ‘Short Stalks.’ Mr. Buxton’s principal object of pursuit on that occasion was the Aroui or Barbary Sheep (_Ovis tragelaphus_), but he also had the good fortune to obtain a fine head of the Mountain Gazelle, which he exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society on March 31st of that year (see P. Z. S. 1890, p. 363).

Mr. Buxton tells us, in the course of the remarks he made on this occasion, that the Mountain Gazelle of Algeria is “about twice the size of the Gazelle of the plains (_Gazella dorcas_), and has straight instead of lyre-shaped horns. It lives on the same kind of steep ground as the Aroui, perhaps at a rather lower elevation. The fact that it is essentially a mountain animal is, I think, shown by its large callous knees, like those of a London cab-horse. The Aroui has the same. They are, I think, absent in _Gazella dorcas_. Another feature consists in the curious hollows or pouches on each side of the testicles.”

In his ‘Short Stalks’ Mr. Buxton gives us full particulars of his adventures in obtaining the much-coveted head of this animal above referred to, and illustrates them by a beautiful picture of a group of these Gazelles drawn and engraved after his instructions by Mr. G. E. Lodge.

In his field-notes on the Antelopes of Eastern Algeria, published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1896, Mr. A. E. Pease speaks as follows of the present species:--

“This Gazelle is by no means so rare as is generally supposed,
though it is difficult to secure, its quickness and facility for
eluding observation being equal almost to that of the Larrowi
(_Ovis tragelaphus_). There is hardly a mountain in the
southern ranges of the Aures where they are unknown, and I have
seen them on almost every mountain from far to the N.W. of
Biskra to the Tunisian frontier at Negrine. I know that they are
common on the Djebel Cherchar, and I have seen them as far north
as the hills and woods of Melagon, near Chelia. I have seldom
seen more than eight in a herd, and far more frequently they are
met with singly and in pairs, or bands of three to five. While
frequenting the same difficult ground as the Larrowi, it is more
usual to find them in larger numbers on those mountains which
are lower than the highest. I have seen them on the plateaux and
plains among the mountains, and they frequently descend at night
to feed on the barley in the valleys, as also does the Larrowi.
The best male horns I have measure rather more than 36 cm. along
the curve.”

Crossing the frontier of Algeria into Tunis we find the Edmi Gazelle prevalent in suitable districts throughout that country. Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker, F.Z.S., who knows Tunis and its birds and mammals well, writes, in the same volume of the ‘Proceedings’ as we have quoted above, of his experiences of this animal as follows:--

“The Mountain Gazelle, the _Edmi_ or _Edem_ of the Arabs--the
Tunisians use the latter name--is to be found sparingly on most
of the mountains throughout the Tunisian Regency. Essentially
a mountain species, as its name implies, it never occurs, so
far as I am aware, on the plains, or at any distance from hilly
country.

“I have met with the Edmi, and obtained specimens of it, on some
of the higher ranges near Kasrin, in Central Tunis, and have
found it in the south near Gafsa and Tamerza. In the north of
the Regency it seems to occur on the mountains near Zaghouan,
the extreme eastern range of the Atlas, and in the neighbourhood
of Ghardimaou, on the Algerio-Tunisian frontier, from both of
which places M. Blanc, the naturalist in Tunis, tells me he has
received specimens in the flesh. I myself have also been offered
Edmi-shooting on an estate only some twenty miles or so south
of Tunis. It seems evident, therefore, that the species has a
wide range in the Regency, although perhaps it is nowhere very
abundant.

“The Edmi is to be found either in small herds or singly, and
occasionally, though not as a rule, at a considerable elevation.
On the Djebel Selloum and Djebel Semama, near Kasrin, both of
which mountains are nearly 4000 feet above sea-level, I found
the Gazelles about halfway up. These mountains, although steep
in places and with some very rugged scarps, are in great part
well-wooded with Aleppo pines, and on the lower slopes with a
thick undergrowth of the usual _maquis_ vegetation. In this
brushwood the Gazelles easily escape detection and are naturally
not very often seen. Although fond of cover, the Edmi will adapt
itself to circumstances, and seems equally at home on the arid
mountains of the south, where there is but little vegetation,
and that merely of a dwarf description, affording slight
shelter. In the spring, when my hunting-trips after Aoudad
(_Ovis tragelaphus_) and Edmi have taken place, there has
always been a little water on these mountains; but for some
months of the year, I am told, the watercourses are dry, and
the animals then, should they wish to drink, must travel some
distance. That both these species, however, shift their quarters
constantly I feel convinced, force of circumstances rendering
them as much nomads as the Arabs themselves.

“The Edmi is very much larger than the Dorcas Gazelle, its
weight being almost double. Its coat is darker in colour
and with rather longer and coarser hair, while its knees,
besides having very strongly developed brushes, show distinct
callosities. The horns in the adult male are very stout and
deeply annulated, and generally with but little curve, measuring
about 13 inches, or even more in fine specimens. Those of the
female are much more slender and smoother, but sometimes of fair
length, some in my possession measuring 11 inches.”

Among the wood-blocks left ready for use by the late Sir Victor Brooke was a figure of a fine head of a male of this Gazelle drawn by Mr. Smit, of which we now give an impression.

Head of Edmi Gazelle, ♂.

(Drawn by Smit under the direction of the late Sir Victor Brooke.)]

The Edmi Gazelle is not often brought alive to Europe, but besides Ogilby’s type specimen, which we have already mentioned, at least three others have been exhibited at various times in the Zoological Society’s menagerie. An example of this species was first obtained in 1839, as mentioned in the Report of the Council for 1840, and another was acquired in November 1862. Others were presented by Capt. Alan Gardner, R.N., in June 1865, and by Rear-Admiral Sir William Hall, R.N., in May 1867. Sclater observed a female of this Gazelle in the Zoological Garden of Berlin in September 1897 (see P. Z. S. 1897, p. 813).

As we have already stated, the typical specimen of this Gazelle, formerly in the Zoological Society’s Collection, is now in the British Museum, as is also a stuffed female, originally presented by H.M. the Queen to the Zoological Society, but transferred to the National Collection in 1855. In the British Museum Gallery of Mammals will be found a good adult stuffed specimen of this Gazelle stated to be from near Biskra, Algeria, and presented by Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker. There are also some frontlets and horns of this species from the same locality presented by Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co.

We are greatly indebted to Sir Edmund Loder for a photograph of a head of a female of this Gazelle, taken from a specimen in his collection, which he himself shot on the 27th of February, 1893, on the Ahmar Khaddou Mountains, two days’ march east of Biskra. It shows very clearly the inferior size of the horns in this sex, and the long ears characteristic of the species.

Front view of head of Edmi Gazelle, ♀.

(From a photograph.)]

Our illustration of the male of this Gazelle (Plate LVIII.) has been drawn by Mr. Smit from the Algerian specimen in the British Museum above referred to.

_January,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIX.

_J. Smit del. et lith._ _Hanhart imp._

The Arabian Gazelle.

GAZELLA ARABICA.

_Published by R. H Porter._]

89. THE ARABIAN GAZELLE.

GAZELLA ARABICA (LICHT.).

[PLATE LIX.]

_Antilope arabica_, =Licht.= Darst. Säug. pl. vi. (1827);
=Ehrenb.= Symb. Phys. Decas i. pl. v. (1828); =Fisch.= Syn.
Mamm. p. 460 (1829); =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836);
=Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 40 (1838); =Oken=,
Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1371 (1838); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. Supp.
i. p. 261 (1840); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A. Mamm. p. 176 (1842);
=Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 407 (1844), v. p. 403 (1855);
=Reichenb.= Säug. iii. pl. xxxiii. fig. 188 (1845); =Schinz=,
Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 399 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 4, pl. ii.
(1848); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 307 (1853); =Heugl.= Faun. roth. Meer,
Peterm. Mitth. 1861, p. 16; =id.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N.
Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 5 (1863).

_Gazella arabica_, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);
=Tristr.= P. Z. S. 1866, p. 86; =id.= Faun. & Flor. Pal. p. 26
(1884) (Palestine); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. p. 159; =Blanf.=
Zool. Abyss, p. 261, pl. i. fig. 3 (horns) (1870); =Brooke=, P.
Z. S. 1873, p. 544, 1874, p. 141 (fig., head); =Scl.= List Vert.
An. Z. S. (1) p. 140 (1883), (2) p. 981 (1896); =Jent.= Cat.
Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 137 (1887); =W. Scl.=
Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 458 (1891); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm.
Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 168 (1892); =Ward=, Horn
Meas. (1) p. 114 (1892), (2) p. 156 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns and
Hoofs, p. 179 (1893); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1897, p. 812 (Hodeidah).

_Antilope cora_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 216, v. p. 333
(1827); =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836).

_Gazella cora_, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843).

_Antilope dorcas_, var. δ, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl.
1845, p. 268 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand.
Beitr. ii. p. 264; Reprint, p. 84 (1848).

_Gazella vera_, =Gray=, Knowsl. Men. pl. iii. (1850) (_cf._
=Scl.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 984).

_Gazella bennetti_, =Yerb. & Thos.= P. Z. S. 1895, p. 555 (Aden).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Ghasal_ of Arabs, like _G. dorcas_; _Ariel_
or _Aiel_ in Syria (_Ehrenberg_).

Size medium; height at withers about 24 or 25 inches. General colour dark smoky fawn, much darker than in the allied species. Facial markings distinct; central facial band dark rufous-fawn, with a black spot on the nose. Ears of medium length, brownish-fawn behind. Dark lateral and pygal bands smoky brown; light lateral band very slightly lighter than the back. Limbs more rufous than body; knee-brushes brown or black.

Skull with short broad nasals; anteorbital fossæ shallow in the only good skull available. Basal length 6·75 inches, greatest breadth 3·3, muzzle to orbit 3·7.

Horns thick and rather short, almost straight and parallel to each other, a little curved backwards below, and forwards above.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but horns short and straight.

_Hab._ Western Arabia.

Although the Arabian Gazelle was described and figured as long ago as 1827, and specimens of it are by no means rare in captivity, we have as yet received little information about its exact range and its mode of life. But the great peninsula of Arabia still remains, we must recollect, one of the largest tracts on the earth’s surface that has been least explored by scientific travellers.

Hemprich and Ehrenberg, the discoverers of this Gazelle, met with it during their travels on the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and transmitted specimens of both sexes to the Berlin Museum. Here they were first described and figured by Lichtenstein in his ‘Darstellung der Säugethiere’--a work devoted to making known the riches of the Mammal-collection of the great Institution of which he was the Director.

Following Hemprich and Ehrenberg’s MS., Lichtenstein named the species “_Antilope arabica_,” and a short time afterwards it was again described and figured by Ehrenberg in his ‘Symbolæ Physicæ’ under the same designation.

Ehrenberg informs us that he and his fellow-traveller Hemprich obtained their first specimens of this Gazelle at Hamam el Faraun, on the coast of the Sinaitic Peninsula between Suez and Tor, and subsequently found it abundant on the island of Farsan on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea. They also observed Gazelles which they believed to be of the same species near Baalbec in Syria, but these, we think, are more likely to have been _Gazella dorcas_.

Succeeding authorities have added very little to our knowledge of this Gazelle. Canon Tristram, in his ‘Fauna and Flora’ of Palestine, mentions a Gazelle occurring in the “desert-country east of the Jordan” as being probably of this species; but we believe that he did not obtain any good specimens of it. Dr. Blanford, in his volume on the ‘Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia,’ has figured (for comparison) a head of this species obtained by Captain Heysham near Mocha, S.W. Arabia; and in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1874, the late Sir Victor Brooke gave a woodcut of the head of this Gazelle, which, by the kind permission of the Society, we are enabled to reproduce.

Head of Arabian Gazelle.

(P. Z. S. 1874, p. 141.)]

Living examples of the Arabian Gazelle are easily obtained at Aden and at Hodeidah, Jeddah, and other Arabian ports on the Red Sea, and are often brought to Europe. We have little doubt that the Gazelles in the Derby Menagerie figured by Waterhouse Hawkins in the third plate of the ‘Gleanings,’ and there called by Lord Derby’s MS. name, _Gazella vera_, were of this species, though in the text they are referred to as _G. dorcas_ and in the list of plates as _G. cuvieri_. The Zoological Society of London appear to have received their first specimens in 1874[9], and since that date (as will be seen by their published Lists of Animals) have acquired many examples, chiefly by presentation. At the present time there are two fine males in the Society’s Gardens, both brought from Aden and presented--one by Mr. R. G. Buchanan and the other by Mr. J. Benett Stanford, F.Z.S. From the former of these Mr. Smit’s drawing (Plate LIX.) was taken.

The British Museum has lately acquired from the Zoological Society a good male example of this Gazelle, which was obtained at Aden and brought alive to London. It has been mounted for the Mammal Gallery. The Museum also has the skull from Mocha figured by Dr. Blanford, as already mentioned, and since presented by him to the collection, and the skin of a young animal from Gilead, obtained by Canon Tristram, the determination of which is, however, somewhat doubtful.

_January,_ 1898.

_J. Smit del. et lith._ _Hanhart imp._

The Indian Gazelle.

GAZELLA BENNETTI.

_Published by R. H. Porter._ ]

90. THE INDIAN GAZELLE.

GAZELLA BENNETTI (SYKES).

[PLATE LX.]

_Antilope bennettii_, =Sykes=, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 104; =Less.=
Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836); =Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z.
S. (2) p. 40 (1838); =Laurill=. Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 617
(1839); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. Supp. i. p. 261 (1840); =Less.=
N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1842); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p.
400 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. pl. iii. _b_ (1848); =Reichenb.=
Säug. iii. p. 111 (1845); =Fraser=, Zool. Typica, pl. xvi.
(1849); =Horsf.= Cat. Mamm. E. I. C. p. 166 (1851); =Wagn.=
Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 405 (1855).

_Gazella bennettii_, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843);
=id.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846); =Hutton=, J. A.
S. B. xv. p. 150 (1846) (Neemuch); =Gray=, List Ost. B. M. p. 56
(1847); id. Knowsl. Men. p. 4 (1850); =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin.
p. 193 (1853); =Jerd.= Mamm. Ind. p. 280 (1867); =Blanf.= J.
A. S. B. xxxvi. p. 196 (1867); =Kinloch=, Large Game Shooting,
p. 57, pl. (1869); =McMaster=, Notes on Jerdon, pp. 141 & 249
(1870); =Blanf.= Zool. Abyss. p. 261, pl. i. fig. 2 (horns)
(1870); =Stoliczka=, J. A. S. B. xli. p. 229 (1872); =Blanf.=
P. Z. S. 1873, p. 315 (distribution); =Brooks=, P. Z. S. 1873,
p. 544; =Blanf.= E. Persia, ii. p. 91 (1876); =Ball=, P. A. S.
B. 1877, p. 172; =Scl.= List Vert. An. Z. S. (8) p. 141 (1883),
(9) p. 155 (1896); =Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p.
264 (1884); =Sterndale=, Mamm. Ind. p. 463 (1884); =Murray=,
Zool. Sind, p. 56 (1884); =Blanf.= Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm. p.
526 (1891); =W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 159 (1891);
=Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 168
(1892); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 124 (1892), (2) p. 166 (1896);
=Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 175 (1893); =Percy=, Badm. Big Game
Shooting, ii. p. 355 (1894).

_Tragops bennettii_, =Hodgs.= J. A. S. B. 1847, p. 11, & xvi.
p. 695; =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 116; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p.
62 (1852); =Adams=, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 522 (Punjab); Gerr. Cat.
Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862); =Blyth=, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As.
Soc. p. 173 (1863); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872); =id.=
Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 108 (1873).

_Tragopsis bennettii_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. p. 157 (1869).

_Antilope arabica_, =Elliot=, Madr. Journ. x. p. 223 (1839)
(Mahratta Country).

_Gazella christii_, =Gray=, =Blyth=, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 452
(1842); =Hutton=, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 151 (1846).

_Antilope hazenna_, =I. Geoffr. St.-Hil.= Voy. Jacq., Mamm.
p. 74, Atl. pl. vi. (1844); =Schinz=, Mon. Ant. pl. xxi. _a_
(1848); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 406 (1855).

_Gazella hazenna_, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853).

_Tragopsis hazenna_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. p. 157 (1869).

_Gazella fuscifrons_, =Blanf.= P. Z. S. 1873, p. 317 (fig., head
♀) (Jalk, Persia); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 545; =Blanf.= E.
Persia, ii. p. 92 (1876); =Sterndale=, Mamm. Ind. p. 465 (1884);
=W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 160 (1891).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Chinkára_, _Chikára_, _Kol-punch_ in
Hindustani; _Phaskela_ in N.W. Provinces; _Ask_ or _Ast_ and
_Ahu_ in Baluchistan; _Khazm_ in Brahmi; _Kalsipi_ in Mahratta;
_Tiska_, _Budári_, or _Mudári_ in Canarese; _Sank-húlé_ in
Mysore; _Porsya_ ♂, _Chari_ ♀ in Baori; _Burudu-jinka_ in
Telugu; _Ravine-Deer_ of many Anglo-Indians.

Size medium; height at withers 24 to 25 inches. General colour dull fawn. Facial markings distinct, the darker ones rufous-fawn; a black spot on the top of the nose. Ears of medium length, fawn-coloured behind. Dark lateral and pygal bands brownish fawn, scarcely darker than the back; light lateral bands scarcely perceptible; knee-brushes present.

Skull with deep anteorbital fossæ:--Basal length 7·2 inches, greatest breadth 3·45, muzzle to orbit 4.

Horns thick, heavily ribbed, close together, diverging little but evenly, gently curved backwards below and forwards at their tips.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but horns straight, simple, about two-thirds the length of those of the male.

_Hab._ Indian Peninsula, extending westwards through
Baluchistan to the Persian Gulf.

Like the Lion and the Cheetah this Gazelle belongs to an Ethiopian type of mammals, and was originally, no doubt, an intruder into India from the west. But, as will be seen when we come to describe its range, it has now spread itself over the greater part of the peninsula except on the eastern side. On the west the Indian Gazelle extends far along the Mekran coast to the Persian Gulf, and there meets the Arabian Gazelle, of which it is undoubtedly a very close ally, although the latter is always much darker on the back.

Although the Indian Gazelle, or “Ravine-Deer,” as it is usually termed by Europeans, was doubtless known to the sportsmen of British India long ago, it was not made known to science until 1831, when Col. Sykes, one of the earliest pioneers in Indian natural history, described it in a communication made to the Zoological Society of London. Sykes, in his paper on the Mammals of the Deccan read before the Society in July of that year, proposed to name it _Antilope bennetti_, after the late Edward Turner Bennett, a well-known naturalist, who was at that time Vice-Secretary of the Society. Sykes met with this Antelope on the rocky hills of the Deccan “in groups rarely exceeding three or four in number, and very frequently solitary.” In 1849, Fraser published a figure of this species in his ‘Zoologia Typica,’ taken from one of Sykes’s male specimens in the British Museum, which is still in the National Collection, although not in the exhibition gallery. In 1844, in his description of the mammals of Jacquemont’s ‘Voyage dans l’Inde,’ Isidore Geoffr. St. Hilaire described and figured an _Antilope hazenna_, which he at that time considered to be different from the present animal. But there can be no doubt that Jacquemont’s specimens, which were obtained at Malwa in Central India, are the same as _Gazella bennetti_, and Sykes’s term being the oldest has been universally employed as the designation of this species. As we shall presently show, _Gazella christii_ of Gray, from Sind, and _Gazella fuscifrons_ of Blanford, from Baluchistan, are names which have been based on what are merely slightly divergent forms of _Gazella bennetti_.

From the researches of Elliot, Jerdon, Blyth, Blanford, and other authorities on the mammals of British India, we are now well acquainted with the range of this Gazelle in the peninsula and adjoining lands to the west. Dr. Blanford describes it as extending throughout the plains and low hills of North-western and Central India, and thence through Baluchistan to the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf. In the Indian peninsula, he continues, the Indian Gazelle ranges in suitable localities throughout the Punjab, Sind, Rajputana, the N.W. Provinces, and the whole of the Bombay Presidency with the exception of the Western Ghats and Konkan; it also occurs in Central India as far east as Palamow and Western Sargiya, and in the Central Provinces as far east as Seoni and Chánda, together with the Hyderabad territories and the Madras Presidency to a little south of the Kistna, Gazelles being found at Anantapur, south of Kurnool, and in Northern Mysore.

For an account of the habits of the Indian Gazelle and the modes of its chase, we cannot do better than refer to the last edition of General Kinloch’s ‘Large Game Shooting,’ where they are described as follows:--

“The favourite haunts of this Gazelle are extensive wastes
of sandy or rocky ground, sprinkled with low bushes, and
interspersed here and there with patches of cultivation. Thick
jungles they avoid; and they are seldom to be met with in
districts which are entirely under crop. During the daytime
they resort to secluded spots where they are not subject to
annoyance, and in the mornings and evenings they frequently
repair to fields of young grain, sometimes in close proximity to
villages.

“In some places they are extremely wild, and can only be
approached by the most careful stalking; in other localities
they are comparatively tame, and will allow the sportsman to
walk openly to within easy range. At most times, however, they
are restless little animals, continually on the move, and they
have a provoking way of trotting off with a switch of their
black tails the moment that they suspect danger.

“On open plains the best way of getting within shot of them is
under cover of a steady shooting horse. As they afford but a
small mark, and seldom remain still very long, quick as well as
accurate shooting is required, and beginners in the art of rifle
shooting will find them excellent practice.

“The officers of the Guides used to hawk the Gazelle in the
neighbourhood of Hótó Mardán, the Falcons used for the purpose
being nestling ‘_charghs_’ (_Falco sacer_). Adult caught birds
cannot be trained for this sport, and the nestlings had to be
obtained from the distant province of Balkh by the assistance of
some of the Kábúl Sirdárs. In the present state of our relations
with Áfghánístán, the Falcons cannot be procured, and the sport
has, for the present at any rate, died out. The hawks alone
could not kill a Gazelle, but were assisted by greyhounds, which
used to pull it down after the hawks had confused and stunned it
by repeated blows. I regret that I never had an opportunity of
witnessing the flight, which has been described to me as very
interesting and exciting.”

Dr. Blanford tells us that this Gazelle lives on grass and on the leaves of bushes, and, so far as he is aware, never drinks. “I have seen it,” he says, “in the deserts of Sind in places where the only water for twenty miles round was procured from wells; and in spots in Western and Central India where, in the hot weather, the only water to be obtained was in small pools remaining in the beds of streams. But around these pools, in which the tracks of almost every animal in the forest was to be seen, I never yet saw the very peculiarly formed tracks of the Gazelle, although it frequently abounded in the neighbourhood. The four-horned Antelope, on the other hand, drinks habitually.”

_Gazella christii_, which we have alluded to above as synonymous with this species, was a MS. name of the late Dr. Gray, which appears to have been first published by Blyth in 1842, and applied to a pale form of the present animal from Kutch and Sind. But more recent researches have shown that it is not properly separable from the typical _Gazella bennetti_.

_Gazella fuscifrons_, another synonym also mentioned above, was based by Dr. Blanford in 1873 on a doe with distinctly ringed horns and with portions of the face dark brown, obtained in Baluchistan. But the late Sir O. B. St. John subsequently procured what he justly concluded to be the male of this form, which, as acknowledged by Dr. Blanford himself, proved to be not distinct from _Gazella bennetti_. By the kindness of the Zoological Society we are enabled to reproduce Dr. Blanford’s figures of the head of _Gazella fuscifrons_, which, except for the slight differences above mentioned, give an equally good idea of the head of the typical _G. bennetti_.

Head of _Gazella fuscifrons_, ♀.

(P. Z. S. 1873, p. 317.)]

The Indian Gazelle is frequently brought to Europe alive, though it is not so common in our menageries as _Gazella dorcas_, _G. subgutturosa_, and some other species. According to the Zoological Society’s books, the first examples were received in 1838, and since 1860, as will be seen by the printed lists, about twelve specimens have been exhibited. A pair presented by Capt. H. J. Hope Edwards, in April 1883, bred, and the female gave birth to a young one in November of that year; but, like other Gazelles, this species does not usually thrive in the dull climate of England.

As is the case with many common animals, the British Museum does not contain a good series of this Gazelle, and specimens with exact localities from all parts of its range are much required. Besides the old mounted examples from the Deccan presented by Col. Sykes and already alluded to, it possesses only a skin from Sind received from the Karachi Museum, and several skulls and pairs of horns from the Salt Range of the Punjâb and Kelat, received in the Hume Collection.

Our figures of this species (Plate LX.) have been prepared by Mr. Smit--the male from the skin received from the Karachi Museum, and the female from Col. Sykes’s specimen.

_January,_ 1898.

_J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Speke’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA SPEKEI.

_Published by R. H. Porter._ ]

91. SPEKE’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA SPEKEI, BLYTH.

[PLATE LXI.]

_Gazella_, sp.?, =Blyth=, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxiv. p. 297 (1856).

“_Gazella cuvieri_, Blyth,” =Speke=, Rep. Zool. Coll. Somali, p.
8 (1860).

_Gazella spekei_, =Blyth=, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. p. 172
(1863); =Blanf.= Zool. Abyss. p. 261, pl. i. fig. 5 (horns)
(1870); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 543; =Kohl=, Ann. Mus. Wien,
i. p. 77, pls. iii., iv. fig. 3, & v. fig. 1 (animal & skull)
(1886); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 210; =W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm.
Calc. Mus. ii. p. 158 (1891); Scl. P. Z. S. 1892, pp. 100 & 118;
=Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1892, p. 306; =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 112
(1892), (2) p. 153 (1896); Lyd. Horns and Hoofs, p. 234 (1893);
=Swayne=, Somaliland, p. 316 (fig., head) (1895); =Hoyos=,
Aulihan, p. 179, pl. x. fig. 3 (1895); =Elliot=, Publ. Chicago
Mus., Zool. i. p. 120 (1897); Scl. P. Z. S. 1897, p. 920 (fig.,
head).

_Gazella_, sp. inc., =Lort Phillips=, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 932.

_Gazella naso_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1886, p. 504, pl. li. (head);
=id.= in James’s Unknown Horn of Africa, p. 268, pl. iii. (1888).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Dhero_ of Somalis (_Swayne_).

Size slightly greater than in _G. dorcas_; height at withers 23–24 inches. Body pale brownish fawn, the light lateral band but little paler than the back, then dark or dull blackish, not sharply defined. Central facial band brownish fawn; top of muzzle, over nasal bones, with a distinct blackish patch, in front of which there is a peculiar swollen and corrugated cushion of skin raised up above the level of the face, and extensible at the pleasure of the animal. Dark cheek-band narrow, indistinct, the light band above it broad and extending to the muzzle. Ears long, narrow, pointed, their backs whitish fawn. Knee-tufts present, brownish fawn. Pygal band very indistinct.

Skull with short broad nasals, the premaxillæ not or barely touching their outer corners. Basal length in an old male 6·5 inches, greatest breadth 3·35, muzzle to orbit 3·6.

Horns but slightly divergent, evenly and strongly curved backwards for three-fourths their length, their tips gently recurved upwards.

_Female._ Like the male, but the horns slender, little ridged, less curved, about three-fourths the length of those of the male.

_Hab._ Interior Plateau of Somaliland.

There can be no doubt that the two Gazelles which inhabit the maritime plain and the high inland plateau of Somaliland respectively, although they are closely allied, and have been confused together by some writers, belong to distinct species, distinguishable by well-marked characters. The Gazelle of the interior plateau, which we treat of first, when compared with that of the coast-land is at once recognizable by the generally browner colour, the darker lateral band, the black nose-spot, and above all by the wrinkled and elevated nose of the adult, which is not met with in the sister species.

Speke’s Gazelle was first discovered by the energetic African explorer, whose name it appropriately bears, during his expedition to Harar in the summer of 1854 in company with the late Capt. Sir Richard Burton[10]. Speke, who attended to the natural history of the expedition, forwarded the collections made upon this occasion to Blyth, at that time curator of the Asiatic Society’s Museum at Calcutta, and in the zenith of his zoological work. In his report upon the collection, which was published in the twenty-fourth volume of the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ Blyth did not venture to bestow a new name on this Gazelle, although he gave an accurate description of it, and added a note (obtained from Burton) calling special attention to “the elevation of loose replicated skin upon the nose,” so that there can be no doubt as to which of the two allied species Speke’s specimens (which are still in the Calcutta Museum[11]) belong.

In the reprint of Blyth’s ‘Report,’ which was edited by Speke in 1860 after his return to this country, this Gazelle was erroneously referred to _G. cuvieri_ of Ogilby. In 1883, however, Blyth, who had discovered that this was a mistake, proposed the name _Gazella spekei_ for this species in his ‘Catalogue of the Mammals of the Asiatic Society’s Museum,’ and this appellation has been generally adopted for it ever since.

When the late Sir Victor Brooke wrote his Monograph of the Gazelles in 1873 Speke’s Gazelle was hardly known in this country, and Brooke was only acquainted with it from photographs of the type specimens in the Calcutta Museum. But since that date Somaliland has been fully opened to British travellers, and the numerous explorers and sportsmen who have visited that much-hunted country have brought back good sets of specimens both of Speke’s and of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, and made us well acquainted with the ranges and other peculiarities of these two species.

One of the first British travellers who visited Somaliland, and made the acquaintance of Speke’s Gazelle, was the late Mr. F. L. James, who proceeded there on a shooting-expedition in January 1884, accompanied by his brother and Mr. E. Lort Phillips[12]. Mr. Lort Phillips read some notes on the Antelopes obtained on this occasion before the Zoological Society in December 1885, and in alluding to this Gazelle called it the “_Flabby-nosed Gazelle_,” to which term Sclater attached a footnote stating that it was “probably of a new species,” but required further examination. This examination Sclater bestowed upon Mr. Lort Phillips’s specimens shortly afterwards (see P. Z. S. 1886, p. 504), and came to the correct conclusion that the so-called Flabby-nosed Gazelle was quite distinct from the species of the coast land. He unfortunately did not perceive that it was the species of the high plateau and not that of the coast land, which had already been named _Gazella spekei_ by Blyth, and therefore gave it a new name, _Gazella naso_, under which appellation it will be found described and its characteristic head figured in Sclater’s article in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1886. But, as Thomas has subsequently shown (P. Z. S. 1891, p. 210), there can be no doubt that _Gazella naso_ is merely a synonym of _Gazella spekei_.

Another well-known author, who must not fail to be quoted in any reference to the game animals of Somaliland, is Capt. H. G. C. Swayne, R.E. Capt. Swayne has made no less than seventeen trips to that attractive country, and is probably better acquainted with its larger mammals than any other living individual. In his excellent narrative of his adventures[13], Capt. Swayne has given us some capital notes on Speke’s Gazelle and its near ally Pelzeln’s Gazelle, both of which are known to the natives by the same name “_Dhero_.”

Head of adult male Speke’s Gazelle.

(Brit. Mus.)]

Capt. Swayne calls the former Antelope the “_Ogo_, or Plateau Gazelle,” and the latter the “_Guban_, or Lowland Gazelle,” and describes the peculiarities of the present species as follows:--

“The Plateau Gazelle, which has the ridges of loose skin
over the nose well developed, inhabits the elevated country,
commencing about thirty-five miles inland. It is found south
of Gólis, in Ogo and in the Haud, as well as in Ogo-Gudan, the
country near Hargeisa where Guban rises gradually into Ogo.

“I have shot large numbers of Gazelles for food at various
times, and have always noticed that the plateau variety has a
much thicker and longer coat than the other. This is possibly
the result of natural selection, as the high plains of the Ogo
and the Haud, where it lives, are subject to sweeping cold
winds, and the nights are very cold indeed. The altitude of
these plains inhabited by the Plateau Gazelle is from three
thousand to over six thousand feet, but doubtless they go
much lower towards Ogádén. The great steppe of Gólis, with
its prolongations east and west, which rises some forty miles
inland, and separates Guban, the low coast country, from Ogo,
the high interior country, forms the natural line of demarcation
between these two Gazelles.”

Head of adult female Speke’s Gazelle.

(Mr. F. Gillett, F.Z.S.)]

A still more recent explorer of Somaliland, Mr. A. E. Pease, M.P., F.Z.S., has most kindly favoured us with some excellent notes on Speke’s Gazelle and its sister species, which we cannot do better than reproduce. Mr. Pease has also sent us along with his MS. remarks a sketch-map of the northern part of Somaliland, in which the ranges of these two species are accurately shown.

He writes as follows:--

“Speke’s Gazelle is called ‘Dhero’ by the Somalis, who do not
distinguish it by name from _Gazella pelzelni_. It is a
‘Dhero,’ just as the other, and yet there is no Somali shikari
or any other observer who cannot discriminate at a glance
between these two very distinct species--distinct in colour,
size, horns, and habitat, whilst the peculiar nose, covered with
soft pliable folds of loose skin, of the _G. spekei_ is
alone sufficient to mark it as a species apart.

“The Speke’s or Plateau Gazelle has been termed the Mountain
Gazelle by some writers; but it is not strictly a mountain
Gazelle, but one that frequents the higher plains and low
foot-hills north and south of the Golis. But with its
distribution I will deal later.

“In colour the Speke’s Gazelles are much darker than Pelzeln’s
Gazelles, the predominating colour in life being a rich
strong burnt-sienna buff, distinctly darker over the back.
The side-stripes are very dark brown, strongly marked, and
maintaining their depth of colour to the edge of the white under
the ribs and belly. The tail is a dark reddish brown, and the
colour on the quarters towards the tail is of a deeper shade.
The coat, though fine in texture, is very long for a Gazelle,
being sometimes fully two inches long on the withers, and the
stern is heavily feathered with long white hair. Altogether it
is one of the most beautifully coloured of all the Gazelles.
The head is also strongly marked, the deep dark brown patch
on the nose and the tear-mark sprinkled with dark hairs are
very distinctive. The enlargement of the nose is covered with
three or four folds of loose pliable skin. The horns are more
curved back and forward towards the tips than those of Pelzeln’s
Gazelle, and on the average do not reach to quite the same
length as in that species. Twelve inches along the curve would
be an abnormally long horn for _G. spekei_, whilst this
measurement is not uncommon in Pelzeln’s Gazelle. The female is
very slightly lighter in colour, and has weak horns, reaching
to about 9 inches in old ones, with slight indications of the
annulations, which are deep and strong in the male.

“This Gazelle I have observed in large numbers on both sides of
the Golis range. I have seen it in bands numbering from fifteen
to twenty on the plateaux behind (S. of) Gan Libah and Dunanoof.
In the Gadabursi country, on the northern limits of the Haud,
west of Lija Uri, I have seen them frequently in small bands
of from five to eight, and herds of this size may be said to
be the rule in the zone north of the Golis Range and south of
the Maritime Plain. I cannot call to mind having seen them much
further south than the grass plains of Toyo, but there I have
observed them mixed up with the Aoul or Soemmerring’s Gazelle.

“I should put down the height of this Gazelle at about 24
inches, and its weight, when living, at about 40 pounds.”

So far as we know, but one specimen of Speke’s Gazelle has as yet reached this country alive. This was a young male, presented to the Zoological Society’s Menagerie in November last year by Dr. L. de Gébert, who had obtained it at Djibutil, the French port of Abyssinia. Unfortunately it did not live long in captivity, but after its death Sclater, with Mr. F. E. Beddard’s kind assistance, was able to examine the specimen more closely. It exhibited a slight protuberance on the nose, as shown in the figure (fig. 64), which by the kindness of the Zoological Society we are enabled to reproduce on the present occasion. Underneath the skin of the nose was a slight cavity, which was easily inflated into a protuberance by blowing air into the nostrils. But dissection, which was carried out by Mr. Beddard, revealed no trace of any glandular structure.

Head of young male Speke’s Gazelle.

(P. Z. S. 1897, p. 920.)]

The collection of the British Museum contains a good mounted example of this Gazelle (procured from Herr Menges, and originally obtained from Gerbatir in Somaliland), from which the coloured figure (Plate LXI.) has been prepared by Mr. Smit. There is likewise in the Museum a good series of skins and skulls from different places in Somaliland collected and presented by Mr. T. W. H. Clarke, Capt. H. G. C. Swayne, R.E., Col. Arthur Paget, and Mr. Ford G. Barclay. From one of these our figure (p. 128) of a good adult head of this Gazelle has been prepared by Mr. Smit; while that of the female (p. 129) has been drawn from a mounted head kindly lent to us for that purpose by Mr. Frederick Gillett, F.Z.S.

_May,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXII.

_J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Pelzeln’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA PELZELNI.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

92. PELZELN’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA PELZELNI, KOHL.

[PLATE LXII.]

_Gazella spekei_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1884, p. 540; =Lort Phillips=,
P. Z. S. 1885, p. 931 (_nec_ Blyth).

_Gazella pelzelni_, =Kohl=, SB. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 1886,
p. 4; =id.= Ann. Mus. Wien, i. p. 76, pls. iii. & iv. fig. 1
(animal & skull) (1886); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 211; =Scl.=
P. Z. S. 1892, pp. 100 & 118; =Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1892, p. 306;
=Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 113 (1892), (2) p. 155 (1896); =Lyd.=
Horns and Hoofs, p. 238 (1893); =Swayne=, Somaliland, p. 316
(fig., head) (1895); =Hoyos=, Aulihan, p. 178, pl. x. fig. 1
(1895); =Elliot=, Publ. Chicago Mus. Zool. i. p. 119 (1897).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Dhero_ of Somalis (in common with the last
species) (_Swayne_).

Size rather greater than in _G. spekei_; height at withers about 25 inches. Colour brownish fawn, rather more rufous than _G. spekei_. Light lateral band distinct; dark band rufous brown, similar to that of the back but rather darker in tone, not blackish. Pygal band distinct, brown. Centre of face dark fawn, without either the black spot or the pale swollen cushion characteristic of _G. spekei_. Dark and light cheek-bands short and indistinct. Knee-tufts dark brown.

Skull narrower than in _G. spekei_, and with long narrow nasals, which articulate broadly with the premaxillæ. Basal length in an old male 6·87 inches, greatest breadth 3·25, muzzle to orbit 3·75.

Horns more evenly divergent, much straighter and less curved backwards than in _G. spekei_, but otherwise similar. In length they attain to about 11 or 12 inches.

_Female._ Like the male, but the horns much smoother and slenderer, and only about three-fourths the length.

_Hab._ Maritime plains of Northern Somaliland.

As we have already mentioned in our account of the last species, the late Mr. F. L. James and his party, who visited Somaliland in 1884, appear to have been the first to bring to England examples of the two allied Gazelles of Somaliland. Unfortunately, however, though perhaps not unnaturally, Sclater, who assisted Mr. E. Lort Phillips in the determination of the Mammals obtained during that expedition, referred the coast-land specimens to _Gazella spekei_, and described the examples from the high plateau as belonging to a new species, _Gazella naso_. About two years later, however, this error was corrected by Herr H. F. Kohl, of the Natural History Museum of Vienna, who, in an article upon new and rare Antelopes collected by Herr L. Menges in Somaliland, among which examples of both these Gazelles were comprised, rightly referred the upland species to _Gazella spekei_ of Blyth and gave to the lowland species, then still unnamed, the title of _Gazella pelzelni_, after the late August von Pelzeln, a well-known naturalist, who was at that time Custos of the Imperial Museum of Natural History.

Thomas, in his article on the Antelopes collected in Somaliland by Mr. T. W. H. Clarke, published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1891, was the first to make this matter perfectly clear, and to establish the name _Gazella pelzelni_ as the permanent designation of the coast-land Gazelle of Somaliland. Since that date the distinctions between the two allied species have become well recognized and understood, and numerous examples of both species have been obtained by the naturalists and sportsmen who have recently visited that country.

Capt. Swayne, in his well-known work on Somaliland and its wild animals (from which, by the kind permission of Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co., the publishers, we have been allowed to borrow illustrations of the heads of both sexes of this Gazelle), tells us that the “short-coated, light-coloured Lowland Gazelle” carries rather longer horns than those of the Plateau Gazelle (_Gazella spekei_), which are “shorter, thicker, more curved, and better annulated.” “The habits of both,” he continues, “are nearly alike; they go in moderate-sized herds of from three to ten, and resort mostly to stony or sandy undulating ground or ravines thinly dotted over with mimosas. Both species are fond of salt and do not require water. It is hard to understand what they can pick up to eat in the wretched ground which they frequent. They have a curiosity which amounts almost to impudence, but are wonderfully on the alert, and hard to shoot, seeming to know perfectly well the range of a rifle, and presenting but a very small target.”

Capt. R. Light, writing to Sclater in 1892, tells us that when he visited Somaliland in 1891 he found this Gazelle between Berbera and Zeila, close down by the sea: “they were often observed feeding side by side with camels and flocks of sheep and goats. When startled they move off the ground in a quick trot, taking bounds over any obstacles and finally breaking into a gallop.”

Head of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, ♂.]

Skull of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, ♀.]

(From Swayne’s ‘Somaliland,’ p. 317.)

Mr. Pease, who has kindly supplied us with notes on this Gazelle as well as on the preceding species, writes that Pelzeln’s Gazelle is essentially the species of the maritime plain and could be seen within shot of the town of Bulhar when he was there in 1896, and within a mile or so of Berbera. “In life it appears of a light rich yellow-buff in colour, with the usual Gazelline marks rather faintly indicated. Its coat is short and fine, and its horns are straighter and longer than those of _G. spekei_. The horns of the female are weak and almost smooth, like those of Speke’s Gazelle.” “Within fifty miles of the sea-shore,” he continues, “this Gazelle is exceedingly numerous in suitable places. Half-a-dozen herds may be often seen at a time, but I have seldom observed more than twenty in a single band. In size _G. pelzelni_ is larger than _G. spekei_, the average height being about 25 inches, while the weight of the carcase is usually a little over 40 lbs.”

Mr. D. G. Elliot, who made a successful expedition to Somaliland in 1896, for the purpose of obtaining specimens for the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago, gives us the following account of his experiences with the present species:--

“This is the Gazelle of the lowlands and is not often seen much
beyond Laferug on the road to Hargeisa, where the following
species begins to make its appearance. It is the larger animal
of the two, and they resemble each other very much in their
habits.

“Pelzeln’s Gazelle frequents dry and stony places, covered
with low bushes, and it is difficult to see where or how it
can obtain sufficient nourishment from the barren, forbidding
districts it inhabits. It goes in small troops of from two or
three to nearly a dozen individuals. I think eleven was the
greatest number I ever saw together at one time. As a rule,
it is not a wild creature and readily permits an approach
sufficiently near to ensure a fatal shot, but of course
when much hunted becomes wary. The males were often seen by
themselves, and then it was not difficult to stalk them. Their
horns are almost straight and annulated nearly to the tips. The
female also carries horns, much straighter and much more slender
than those of the male. There is considerable variation in the
coloring of individuals and I hardly know what causes it. The
typical style has a broad conspicuous chestnut band running
lengthwise along the body just above the white of the belly. But
some individuals, evidently of equal age, killed practically
at the same time and in the same condition of coat, were
entirely without the distinguishing mark. It may be possibly an
exhibition of individual variation, for these specimens were
not confined to any especial locality. I do not think, however,
it was in any way an indication of age, for fully adult animals
were without the stripe, neither was this peculiarity confined
to either sex.”

The British Museum contains a good male specimen of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, mounted from a skin obtained by Herr Menges near Berbera in Somaliland. Mr. Smit’s figures of this species (Plate LXII.), which represent the male in two positions, have been prepared from it. The Museum also contains two skins from the plains of Berbera, collected by Capt. Swayne and originally sent home to Sclater.

_May,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXIII.

_J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Loder’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA LEPTOCEROS.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

93. LODER’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA LEPTOCEROS (F. CUV.).

[PLATE LXIII.]

_Antilope leptoceros_, =Geoffr. St.-Hil. et F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm.
(fol.) pls. 473, 474, livr. 72 (1842) (Sennaar?); =Wagn.= Schr.
Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 422 (1844), v. p. 407 (1855); =Schinz=, Syn.
Mamm. ii. p. 445 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 34, pl. 38 (1848);
=Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 269 (1847); =id.=
Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 265; Reprint,
p. 85 (1848); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 309 (1853); =Heugl.= Reise
N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 100, cum tab. (1877).

_Gazella leptoceros_, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);
=Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 543; =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 234
(1893).