Chapter VI: Part 6

_Gazella dorcas_, var. 4, =Gray=, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 57 (1852).

_Leptoceros abuharab_ et _L. cuvieri_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix.
pt. 1, p. 160 (1869).

_Gazella loderi_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xiii. p. 452
(1894) (Algeria); =id.= P. Z. S. 1894, p. 470, pl. xxxii.
(animal); =Loder=, P. Z. S. 1894, p. 473 (habits); =Scl.=
P. Z. S. 1895, p. 522 (Egypt); =Bramley=, P. Z. S. 1895, p.
863 (Egypt); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 780 (Viv. Soc. Zool.);
=Pease=, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 813 (Algeria); =Whitaker=, P. Z. S.
1896, p. 816 (Tunis); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (2) p. 169 (1896).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Abu el harabat_ or _Abu el haráb_ in Arabic
(_Heuglin_); _Reem_ of Arabs in Algeria (_Loder_); _Ghazal
abiad_ (White Gazelle) of Arabs in Tunis and Egypt (_Whitaker &
Bramley_).

Height of male at withers about 25 inches. General colour very pale sandy fawn, the Gazelline markings little defined. Central facial band and darker cheek-bands sandy, not rufous, and but little contrasting with the light facial streaks. Light lateral bands scarcely perceptible, and the darker ones below them only pale sandy with a tinge of brownish, as are the pygal bands, neither being much darker than the general dorsal colour. Ears long, narrow, pointed, pale whitish buff externally. Tail sandy at base, darkening terminally to brownish black. Front of fore limbs sandy, of hind limbs whitish; knee-brushes distinct, but little darker than the general colour. Hoofs variable in shape, those of specimens from the sandy regions of the Sahara much elongated, while in other regions they are of the usual shape.

Skull of normal proportions; premaxillæ broadly articulating with nasals. Basal length in an old male 6·45 inches, greatest breadth 3·3, muzzle to orbit 3·6.

Horns of male long, about twice the length of the skull, slender, closely and heavily ringed nearly to the tip. They are very variable as to their exact curvature, but are ordinarily rather straighter than in other species, curving but slightly backwards; they are near together basally, diverging above, sometimes very widely, so as to make them resemble divergent horns of _G. granti_ in miniature.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but the horns, although nearly equally long, are much slenderer and even less curved than in the male.

_Hab._ Sandy tracts of the interior of Algeria, Tunisia,
and Western Egypt, south to Nubia and Sennaar.

The great folio work of Geoffrey St.-Hilaire and Frédéric Cuvier entitled ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères,’ which was issued in livraisons from 1824 to 1842, contains a long series of coloured figures of mammals, mostly taken from examples living in the well-known Menagerie attached to the Jardin des Plantes. Amongst these in the seventy-second livraison, published in 1842, were the first descriptions and figures given of both sexes of the present Gazelle, from examples stated to have been brought from Sennaar by Burton. They had lived in the Menagerie, we are told, two years, and had bred a young one, which resembled its parents in most particulars. The appropriate scientific name “_leptoceros_,” from the long thin horns, had been given to this species, we are informed, by Georges Cuvier, and was adopted by the authors of the work referred to, who, however, called it at the head of their article, after their usual fashion, only by the French name “_Antilope à longues cornes_.”

Very little more information was acquired concerning this Gazelle for many years. Most of the systematists were entirely unacquainted with it, and could only quote the original descriptions. Sundevall and Gray considered it to be merely a variety of _Gazella dorcas_. Rüppell, during his extensive travels in East Africa, seems never to have come across it, and does not mention it in any of his publications.

The first author after its describers to recognize its existence was Heuglin, who in 1877, in the second volume of his ‘Reise in Nordost-Afrika,’ writes of this species, the name of which he had previously misapplied to another Gazelle, and gives a coloured figure of its head and figures of two pairs of its horns. Heuglin met with _G. leptoceros_ in the Libyan desert of Egypt, near the Natron Lakes and the Fayoum, where he states its Arabic name is “Abu el haráb.”

Sir Victor Brooke had never seen specimens of this Gazelle, and in his ‘Monograph’ relies mainly upon Heuglin’s description.

So matters remained until recent years, when examples of this Gazelle, or of a very closely allied form, turned up unexpectedly from a new quarter.

Loche, Lataste, and other authorities on the zoology of Algeria had mentioned the existence far in the interior of that country of an Antelope called “El Rim,” and examples of the horns of a problematical Gazelle called “El Reem” had been brought to England from the shops at Biskra. In 1894 an enthusiastic sportsman and naturalist, Sir Edmund Loder, F.Z.S., resolved to make a serious attempt to discover this mysterious animal, and proceeded to Algeria for that purpose. We cannot do better than transcribe for our readers Sir Edmund’s own account of the results of this successful expedition, which was read before the Zoological Society of London on June 5th, 1894:--

“Seventeen years ago (in 1877) I bought in the bazaar at Biskra
several pairs of Gazelle horns. They obviously belonged to three
species: _Gazella dorcas_, called by the Arabs ‘Rezal’; _Gazella
cuvieri_, which they call ‘Admi’; and a third called ‘Reem,’
which I was not able to identify with any described species. All
these horns were on frontal bones only. It is very rarely that
the Arabs bring in any whole skulls or skins for sale, and I
have never seen anything but frontlets of the ‘Reem.’

“In 1891 and again in 1893 I went out to Algeria for the purpose
of hunting Mouflon (_Ovis tragelaphus_).

“In 1877 I had been prevented from going after them except for a
few hours at a time. On these later trips I was more successful
and secured some fine male Mouflon, a female of the large
Mountain Gazelle (_Gazella cuvieri_), and a few specimens
of _Gazella dorcas_.

“At Biskra I again found horns of the Reem, but got no
information about it except that it was reported to live in the
sand. I heard a French name for it for the first time, ‘Gazelle
des sables.’

“As my friend Mr. Alfred Pease was spending a second winter at
Biskra and had made the acquaintance of several native hunters,
I requested him to try what he could do to find out the habitat
of the Reem. About Christmas-time last year he wrote to me that
he believed he had reliable information that the Reem was to be
found in the desert near Chegga, only about 50 kilometres south
of Biskra on the caravan-route to Touggourt.

“We made arrangements for a camping trip, and I left England on
February 1st, and started from Biskra with Mr. and Mrs. Alfred
Pease on February 8th of this year.

“After two days’ marching we got to Chegga and made inquiries
respecting the Reem. No one seemed to know anything about the
animal except one Arab, who said that if we went on farther
south we should come to a place called Ain Gebberah, where there
were a few Reem, but if we went on still farther to Hamraia we
should find the Reem in quantities.

“We therefore travelled on for two or three more days until we
came to Hamraia, but on making inquiries about the Reem the
answers were very unsatisfactory. We determined, however, before
giving up the search, to stay here a day to hunt and see what
game there was in this part of the desert.

“In the early morning of the next day Pease started off from
camp with an Arab in one direction, while I went off in the
other. By the evening we had covered a considerable extent of
country and had used our glasses from every available rise in
the ground. We saw several small herds of _Gazella dorcas_,
but no tracks even of any other Gazelle. We did not seem to be
any nearer to obtaining a Reem than when we started from Biskra.

“At night, when we got back to camp, we were told that a negro
camel-herd had been there during the day, and had said that
we were not at all in the right country for Reem, that he was
well acquainted with the animal and knew where it was to be
found. He came into camp again the next morning and told us
that the Reem had long slender hoofs and tender feet, lived
only in the soft sand, and would be unable to run on hard stony
desert such as that round Hamraia. He said he could take us to
the Reem country, in rolling sand-hills, but we should not be
able to camp very near as there was no water for our horses and
pack-animals.

“We agreed to go with him, and he led us a day’s march still
farther south towards the Oued Souf, and then turned off the
caravan-track to the east and chose a camp in the sand about an
hour and a half from water. (Almost all the water in the desert
is brackish and bad, but the water here was positively nasty.)

“The next morning we left camp very early on horseback, with the
negro on foot and an Arab hunter riding a mule. The negro led
the way at a tremendous pace, keeping up a good trot in the soft
sand and sometimes running fast for a couple of miles without a
stop across the dry arm of a chott, keeping us at a hand-gallop
most of the time.

“After two hours and a half the negro pointed out the first
track of the Reem, which is quite easily to be distinguished
from that of _Gazella dorcas_ from its much greater length.
We now unsaddled the horses, tied them up, and went off in two
parties to hunt for Reem. The negro led the way in front of me,
going slowly and with great caution, as the Reem is extremely
wary and against the nearly white sand can detect a moving
object a long way off. We had not walked very far when we saw
the head of a Reem looking over the top of a sand-ridge at
about 300 yards distance. We stayed for a long time perfectly
still behind a tuft of tall alpha grass, till at last the head
disappeared. As soon as it was out of sight we ran as hard as
we could across the bare sand to the top of the next ridge, and
again sheltered ourselves behind a tuft of alpha. When we looked
out cautiously we saw that the Reem had moved on to another
sand-hill more to our left, and was again showing just the top
of his head over it. We had, however, considerably reduced the
distance. Again he stopped perfectly still for a long time and
then turned and moved off. We ran to another ridge, and I caught
sight of him trotting to the top of the sand-hill beyond at
about 150 yards. At the top he turned and I fired at once and
got him. A lucky shot! as the distance was long for so small an
animal. It was a good male, with horns 13 inches long. I have
not seen any much longer than these.

“After taking the Reem back to the place where we had left the
horses, we started off again, and during the day saw several
small lots containing both males and females (4, 5, and 2), but
did not get a chance of another shot. Pease also saw a few.

“We hunted the sand-hills for two more days; on the third day
our negro guide took us much farther from camp, running before
us with surprising speed and endurance for three and a half
hours before we halted and tied up our horses. In the evening,
after walking all day in a hot sun and on soft sand, he showed
himself still untired and ready to run at the same pace back
again to camp. This remarkable man said that he had lived for
seven years in the desert without sleeping in a house or tent,
and had hardly tasted water, meat, or bread; during the whole
of that time his food consisted of dates and camel’s milk, and
he attributed his strength to this diet. The long distance of
our camp from the sand-hills where the Reem is found was a great
hindrance, as we could not hunt for them at the time they were
feeding. By the time we got to the ground they were already
lying down for the day, generally on the top of the sand-ridges,
and keeping a watchful look-out. We saw several small herds each
day, but neither of us ever got another chance of a shot.

“We were lucky in having calm weather, as a sand-storm in that
country is a very serious matter. The air gets as thick as
during a bad London fog and one cannot see even a few yards
ahead, making it quite impossible to regain camp, all tracks
being blotted out in a few minutes by the wind. Our experience
of sand-storms was limited to _one_ day, our last day
in the desert, luckily for us well outside the region of the
sand-hills, when leaving our caravan behind we rode in 50
kilometres to Biskra in the teeth of a cutting wind filled with
dust and sand, an extremely painful experience; but we were in
no danger of losing our way as we were then on the broad track
worn by the caravans travelling between Biskra and Touggourt.

“The Reem is remarkable for its light and uniform coloration,
the ordinary Gazellemarkings being hardly noticeable. The long
slender hoofs are also very peculiar, reminding one of those
of _Tragelaphus spekii_, which lives in the swamps on the
borders of lakes and rivers.

“It is quite certain that the Reem can never drink, as there is
no water in this country at all, except in the comparatively
deep wells dug by the natives.

“The following measurements of the male Reem were taken directly
after it was killed:--Height at shoulder 2 ft. 4 in.; girth at
brisket 2 ft. 1 in.; length of horns 13 in. It weighed, after
being brought into camp (without entrails), 34 lb. These are
about the measurements and weight of _Gazella dorcas_.

“For comparison I give the measurements of a good male
_Gazella cuvieri_ which I killed in the mountains a few
weeks after the Reem:--Height at shoulder 2 ft. 7 in.; girth at
withers 2 ft. 8½ in.; weight without entrails 58 lb.

“As to the distribution of these species, I may say that
_Gazella cuvieri_ is found entirely in the mountains, never
down in the true desert. It climbs like a Chamois to the tops of
the highest mountains in the rockiest ground, and is often found
in the juniper-forests on the mountain-slopes. These are also
the haunts of the Mouflon, the two animals being constantly seen
on the same ground.

“_Gazella dorcas_ is found all over the hard stony desert
and also on the foot-hills, so that it sometimes overlaps the
range of the Admi. I have seen a few in the sand-hills, the true
country of the Reem; but I believe that still farther south
it is not found, its place being taken entirely by the Reem.
I quite believe the statement of the natives that the Reem is
never found off the soft sand.”

On his return home Sir Edmund Loder submitted his series of specimens of the Gazelles obtained during this and his former journeys in Algeria to Thomas, who, at the same meeting of the Zoological Society at which Sir Edmund’s notes were read, proposed to refer his examples of the “Reem” to a new species to be called _Gazella loderi_, after the energetic traveller who first made known its existence in Algeria.

Mr. Pease, in his notes on the Antelopes of Eastern Algeria published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1896, gives us the following additional information:--

“The Rhime (_Gazella loderi_), Arab ‘El Rhime,’ Tamahaq
‘Hankut,’ is the common Gazelle of the Sahara. Enormous numbers
are killed by the Arabs in the neighbourhood of Rhadamis and
their skins dressed and dyed with a dye made from the rind of
pomegranates and exported from Rhadamis. They are to be found
throughout the region of the great Ergs and everywhere in the
Sahara sands where there is vegetation sufficient to support
them. The only places where they are to be met with, north of El
Oued Souf, are to the south-west of Bou Chaama and near Sef el
Menadi. A number of their horns are always on sale at Biskra and
sometimes the skins. The male horns of the Rhime sometimes bear
so close a resemblance to those of the Admi (_Gazella cuvieri_)
that they are often sold and bought as such.”

Mr. Pease also points out that in the “Rhime” the horns in their main outline form a long evenly tapering V, whilst in the Admi the horns are more inclined to be parallel, and towards the points usually take an inward and forward turn, as shown in the diagrams (Fig. 66, _a_, _b_) which by the kindness of the Zoological Society we are able to reproduce. The annulations, also, Mr. Pease states, are deeper and more marked in the Admi, and stop more abruptly towards the points than in the “Rhime.”

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

(P. Z. S. 1896, p. 814.)]

This Gazelle occurs also in Southern Tunis, as we learn from Mr. J. S. Whitaker, F.Z.S., who has written the following notes on it in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’:--

“This pale desert Gazelle is known to the Tunisian Arabs by
the name of ‘Ghazel abied’ or ‘Resêl abied,’ meaning the White
Gazelle, its Algerian name ‘Reem’ or ‘Rim’ being apparently
unknown in Tunis.

“It seems to be a true desert species, never occurring out of
the sand-dune country, where it replaces _G. dorcas_;
and while the home of the latter species is the semi-desert
country, with its vast stony plains, covered with scanty scrub
vegetation, the habitat of _G. loderi_ is undoubtedly the
more arid region of sand wastes further south.

“Herr Spatz, who has resided for several years in the south of
Tunis, and is well acquainted with this Gazelle, informs me
that it is common in the inland country of the extreme south
of the Regency, being first met with at about 25 to 30 miles
south of the Chott Djerid. In the districts where it occurs it
is plentiful, and is generally to be found in small herds; but
owing to its very pale colour, which harmonizes so well with
that of the desert surroundings, it is not easily distinguished
at a distance, and being, moreover, extremely shy and wary, a
near approach is not often possible. The nomad Arabs, however,
who are nearly all sportsmen, kill a good many, and every year
some 500 to 600 pairs of horns of this species are brought by
the caravans coming from the interior to Gabes, where they find
a ready sale among the French soldiery.

“Herr Spatz confirms what Sir Edmund Loder says of this species
never drinking, and, as to its food, says it subsists on the
leaves and berries of the few desert plants to be found in the
sand wastes. The female of _G. loderi_, according to Spatz,
often has _two_ young ones at a birth, differing in this respect
from _G. dorcas_, which seems to have but one.

“So good a description of _G. loderi_ has been given by Mr.
Thomas (P. Z. S. 1894, p. 470), that I can add nothing thereto,
except it be merely to say that the coat of this Gazelle is
extremely fine and short-haired, and that in the specimens which
I have the knee-brushes are so slightly developed as to be
scarcely noticeable or worthy of the name.”

In the spring of 1895 Sclater was in Egypt, and convinced himself that besides _G. dorcas_, of which there were many specimens in the Zoological Gardens at Gizeh, there were examples of both sexes of another species belonging to the group of _G. leptoceros_ and _G. cuvieri_, stated to have been obtained from the Arabs of the Western Desert (_cf._ P. Z. S. 1895, p. 400). On receipt in London of a skin and skull of this Gazelle subsequently sent to him by Mr. Jennings-Bramley, Sclater, after comparing it with typical specimens of _Gazella loderi_ in the British Museum, pronounced them to be of the same species. Mr. Jennings-Bramley also supplied Sclater with some excellent notes on the mode of capture of this Gazelle by the Arabs of the Western Desert of Egypt, from which we extract the following passages:--

“On the 27th of June, 1895, I started from the Pyramids in
order, if possible, to catch some living specimens of Loder’s
Gazelle (_Gazella loderi_), known to the Arabs as ‘Rasal
Abiad’ (the White Gazelle), which the shikaries whom I took with
me reported to be found in the desert at some thirty or forty
miles distant from Cairo.

“Leaving at 4 P.M. on the 27th, we started, taking a
south-easterly direction. We travelled till 12 that night, and
at 4 next morning resumed our march. Soon after the sun had
risen, one of the shikaries, pointing to the ground, showed
what he made out to be the spoor, evidently but lately made, of
a fine male Loder’s Gazelle. This, being larger than that of
the Dorcas Gazelle, is very easily recognizable; the bluntness
of the hoofs in the case of Loder’s Gazelle shows a marked
difference. About 12 o’clock one of the camel-men called out
that a Gazelle could be seen ahead, but the many heaps of white
stones, scattered all over the desert, are so deceiving at a
little distance that both shikaries shook their heads.

“The camel-man, however, in this case proved to be correct,
as we soon noticed the Gazelle walking leisurely away. It
disappeared behind a mound of sand, where it must have remained,
for, on reaching the place about half an hour later, we were
surprised to come suddenly on the Gazelle, now only some 200
yards off. It was a fine female, very white in colour. Not
wishing to disturb any others that might be near, I did not
fire. We found, however, that it was alone. At 12 o’clock or
thereabouts we came upon the skirt of the plateau, from which
the Fayoum can be seen, and here the shikaries decided to turn
back, as they said we had passed the ‘White Gazelle ground’; so,
after returning about two miles, we set up the tents and waited
for the evening, the sun being so hot that it was impossible to
continue our search.

“During the afternoon the two shikaries constructed traps, which
we set in the evening.

“The Gazelle trap, except the small hemp-platted rope, is
made entirely from the date-palm. Taking the long leaves, the
shikarie first constructs by platting them together a deep ring,
about 3 inches in diameter and about 4 inches deep: it should,
in fact, fit well into a golf-hole and make its walls secure. He
now takes an old stalk from which the dates have been picked,
and separating about twenty of the fibres which compose it,
and run its whole length, he twists them into a rude bracelet
about three inches in diameter. Then taking three more fibres,
in place of twine, he binds the ring securely; the ring or
bracelet has then a form much resembling a diminutive ‘Ringold’
ring. The shikarie now breaks off the points of the date-thorns
until he has about twenty-five of them 2 inches in length;
these he pushes through the fibrous sides of the ring until all
the points meet in the centre, so that when finished this ring
has much the appearance of a small sieve. All the thorn-points
overlap slightly in the centre of the ring. This ring, holding
all the thorns, the deep ring of platted leaves, and a soft
thick hemp rope, made by the Arab himself, by the ordinary
three-plat from raw hemp (this rope, being soft, not only binds
itself more securely to the Gazelle, but does not cut the skin
when drawn tight), attached to a date-stick about a yard in
length, are all the implements that an Arab requires to catch a
Gazelle.

“Starting in the evening for the lower ground, which is studded
with small bushes (for when pitching the tents we purposely
kept at a good distance from the feeding-ground), we soon found
spoor, but none very promising; a buck and two does had been
there two nights before. A small desert plant, much resembling
our English Red Cranesbill (_Geranium sanguineum_), was
pointed out to me by the Arabs as a favourite food of the
Gazelles. Finding a spot where the spoor led to one of these
plants, and the plant evidently having been nibbled at, we
decided to put a trap near it. The Arab sat down and made a
hole, using his deep ring to keep its sandy walls intact, so
that he now had a hole resembling exactly in size and depth a
golf-hole with basket-work sides, within four or five inches of
the plant.

“Taking now the thorny ring he places it on the hole, which it
should exactly cap. He now powders up some camel-dung and drops
it carefully over the thorns in the ring, which being close
together hold it up, so that soon nothing can be seen of the
thorns. The use of the dried dung is, to hold up the sand which
hides the trap. The hemp rope, now made into a slip-noose, is
put round the top ring, and the stick to which it is attached
buried in the sand. The whole is now carefully covered with
sand. One of the shikaries laid his traps so successfully that
it was almost impossible to find one again unless a Gazelle was
caught in it. The marks like those of a Gazelle made by the
fingers over the trap add to the deception. It is curious to
remark that a Gazelle will rarely walk over an impression left
by either beast or man in the sand.

“When the Gazelle comes in the evening to feed, its foot slips
through the top ring in the centre where the thorns meet, and so
to the bottom of the hole. The top ring is now fixed round the
Gazelle’s leg, at the height of the depth of the hole, the spiky
thorns entering the skin. This ring also holds up the hemp rope,
which the Gazelle, in endeavouring to kick off the thorny ring
that pricks it, draws tight, generally over the knee.

“The Gazelle starts off, dragging after it the date-stick,
attached to the rope. The swinging stick makes it impossible for
the animal to get away at any pace, as, twisting round one leg
or the other, it throws the Gazelle to the ground continually.

“The spoor of the trapped Gazelle with the marks of the swinging
stick are easily found, and the animal tracked down until in
sight, when a trained greyhound will soon catch and hold it
until his master comes up.

“During November and December the Gazelles are caught when fawns
by trained hounds, and this is the simplest method; but it can
only be practised during two months, as it takes a very good dog
to catch a Gazelle when more than this age.

“During the eight days I was in the desert, though unsuccessful
in trapping any, I saw several very fine specimens of Loder’s
Gazelle.”

In August 1896 a fine adult living female of this Gazelle was received by the Society as a present from Mr. A. R. Birdwood, of Cairo--no doubt obtained in the same locality as that explored by Mr. Bramley. Mr. Birdwood wrote subsequently to Sclater concerning this Gazelle as follows:--

“I am pleased that you have found the Gazelle a real acquisition
to your Gardens. I succeeded in securing you a very fine male
the other day, but it died almost at once from the effects of
the trap used by the Bedouins!

“With regard to the statement that this Gazelle does not drink
water, my theory is that it may be true that water is not always
obtainable where it is, and that in that case it makes shift
with the succulent desert plants that are to be found even
in the most arid, seemingly waterless, and barren plains! Of
these desert plants, I have collected more than sixty varieties
from the limestone hills of Mariout, in the arid stretches
running from Wady Natron to Wady Siwa, and in the still more
unfavourable ground of the dunes that intersect the road running
from Fayoum to the oases of Farafseh and Dakleh. All have the
same characteristic succulence, and one, known to the Bedouins
as ‘broth of the Gazelle’ (which looks more like a bundle of dry
thorns than anything else), is most delightfully aromatic (when
snapped off) as well as succulent! These seeming deserts after a
rain are plains of verdure, but in a few months return to their
primitive wildness.”

So far as we know, besides the original specimens of _G. leptoceros_ received at Paris in 1884, the female presented to the Zoological Society by Mr. Birdwood is the only example of this Gazelle that has reached the Menageries of Europe alive. By the kindness of the Zoological Society we are able to give a copy of Mr. Smit’s drawing of the head of this animal.

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

(P.Z.S. 1896, p. 781.)]

But the identity of the Egyptian _Gazella leptoceros_ with the Algerian _G. loderi_ is perhaps not yet exactly certain, although we have combined the English name of the latter with the scientific name of the former.

On comparing specimens from Tunis and Algeria with others from Egypt, the size of the former is slightly greater, the markings are even less defined than in Egyptian examples, the horns are less closely ringed, the nasal bones are markedly longer, the nasal opening is both longer and broader, and the premaxillæ articulate less broadly with the sides of the nasal bones.

An old male is 26 inches in height at the withers, and the skull-measurements of the type are:--Basal length 6·75 inches, greatest breadth 3·35, muzzle to orbit 4.

These differences seem to be quite constant, so far as we have materials for comparison, and we therefore think that as the Algerian form has had a name given to it, it may be provisionally retained as a subspecies, at least until these characters are shown to be variable. The accompanying figure, for the use of which we are indebted to the kindness of the Zoological Society, gives a side view of the skull and horns of the Algerian form.

Skull of _Gazella leptoceros loderi_, ♂.

(P.Z.S. 1894, p. 471.)]

Our representations of this Gazelle (Plate LXIII.) have been prepared by Mr. Smit--that of the male (front figure) from a mounted specimen in the British Museum obtained by Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker in the Tunisian Sahara, and presented by him in 1894; that of the female from the example from Egypt living in the Zoological Society’s Gardens.

In the British Museum are likewise the typical skin and horns of _Gazella loderi_ obtained by Sir Edmund Loder in the desert about a hundred miles south of Biskra, some frontlets and horns from Biskra, presented by Mr. Rowland Ward, and a skin and skull of a female from Tunis, presented by Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker along with the male now mounted. The example of _Gazella leptoceros typica_ sent to Sclater by Mr. Birdwood is also now in the National Collection. We have also to thank Dr. J. Anderson, F.Z.S., for the loan of a skin and skull of an old male of the Egyptian form of this Gazelle obtained near the Natron Lakes in Egypt.

_May,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXIV.

_Wolf del J Smit lith_ _Hanhart imp._

The Isabella Gazelle.

GAZELLA ISABELLA.

_Published by R.H. Porter._]

94. THE ISABELLA GAZELLE.

GAZELLA ISABELLA, GRAY.

[PLATE LXIV.]

_Antilope dorcas_, =Licht.= Darst. Säug. pl. v. (1827)?

_Gazella dorcas_, =Blanf.= Zool. Abyss, p. 261, pl. i. fig. 1
(1870).

_Gazella isabella_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. pp. 214 &
231 (1846); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 4 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850,
p. 113; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 57 (1852); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones
Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862); =Fitz. & Heugl.= SB. Wien, liv. pt.
1, p. 591 (1866); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158 (1869);
=Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 38 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M.
p. 107 (1873); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 539; =Huet=, Bull.
Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 65; =W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii.
p. 157 (1891); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 116 (1892), (2) p. 158
(1896).

_Antilope isidis_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p.
267 (1847); id. Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p.
263; Reprint, p. 83 (1848).

Height at withers about 25 inches. General colour pale fawn, rather variable in tone, sometimes tending towards brownish. Light lateral band very indistinct; dark band generally fawn like the back, occasionally darker, almost smoky brown. Central dark facial band deep rufous, a darker nasal patch often developing in old individuals. Light facial streak well defined, white. Pygal band almost obsolete, little or not darker than the back.

Skull rather variable in the shapes of the nasal bones and premaxillæ. That of a male measures 6·55 inches in basal length, greatest breadth 3·1, muzzle to orbit 3·65.

Horns of male, as well figured by Blanford under the name of _G. dorcas_, evenly diverging and curving backwards for four-fifths their length, their tips strongly bent inwards and upwards nearly or quite to a right angle.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but the horns slender, scarcely ridged, their tips curved inwards rather than upwards; in length nearly equal to those of the male.

_Hab._ Coast-lands of the Red Sea from Suakin to Massoua,
and over the interior to Bogos, Barca, and Taka.

It is possible that the Gazelles described and figured by Lichtenstein in the first part of his ‘Darstellung der Thiere’ as “_Antilope dorcas_,” which were stated to have been procured by Hemprich and Ehrenberg in Sennaar, may have belonged to the present species. Sundevall certainly considered them to be referable to a species distinct from the true _Gazella dorcas_, and proposed to call them “_isidis_,” from Lichtenstein’s vernacular name “Isis Antelope.” But this identification is by no means certain, and, at all events, the name “_isabella_,” under which this Gazelle was shortly diagnosed by the late Dr. Gray in 1846, will take precedence of Sundevall’s appellation. Gray’s description is very short, and does not allude to the shape of the horns, which are one of the most characteristic features of this species. His type specimen is still in the British Museum. It is an immature male, mounted, and stated to have been received from “Abyssinia,” though Gray in later papers gives “Egypt” and “Cordofan” as the localities for his _G. isabella_.

Heuglin, in his various memoirs on the Antelopes of N.E. Africa, did not keep _G. isabella_ separate from _G. dorcas_, and united their localities. Sir Victor Brooke, in his monograph of the Gazelles, though he divides them and says that “amongst the smaller Gazelles no two species could produce two more dissimilar animals than typical specimens of _G. dorcas_ and _G. isabella_,” states his conviction that “every intermediate degree between them will be found represented in intermediate localities.” It is indeed true that _G. isabella_ is a very inconstant species and requires further careful study.

There can be no doubt that Dr. Blanford’s _Gazella dorcas_, in his volume on the ‘Geology and Zoology of the Abyssinian Expedition,’ is what we here call _G. isabella_. The figure of its horns (_op. cit._ plate i. fig. 1) shows the characteristic twist inwards at the upper end. Moreover, a skull of a male (from Zoulla) and a skull and skin of a female (from Amba), obtained by him during the expedition, and now in the British Museum, are evidently referable here. Mr. W. L. Sclater has also catalogued four heads in the Calcutta Museum, obtained by Mr. Blanford on the same occasion, as _G. Isabella_. Mr. Blanford gives us the following field-notes on the present species:--

“So far as my observation extends, neither this nor Bennett’s
Gazelle are ever seen in large flocks, like the animals of the
Springbok group. Usually both are seen solitary or in parties
of from two to five together, inhabiting thin bushes, generally
on broken ground. They feed much upon the leaves of bushes.
The male has a peculiar habit when surprised of standing still
and uttering a short sharp cry. Like most Antelopes, they keep
much to the neighbourhood of some particular spot. After long
observation, I am convinced that Bennett’s Gazelle never drinks,
and all that I could ascertain of the present Gazelle leads to
the same conclusion in its case.”

In our efforts to obtain further information about the Isabella Gazelle, we did not fail to apply to the officers of the Anglo-Egyptian garrison at Suakin for a set of specimens of it for the National Collection. In reply to our requests Major Sparkes, Surgeon-Capt. Fleming, and Lieut. Carleton were kind enough to send to the British Museum five examples of it; but we cannot say that the examination of these specimens has enabled us altogether to understand this very difficult species. Of the five examples from that locality, three have and two have not a black nasal patch, while the dark lateral band in some is fairly distinct and in others almost obsolete. It is thus evident that these characters, of systematic importance elsewhere, are not, in _G. isabella_, even of local constancy.

Among the Gazelles registered in the Zoological Society’s ‘List of Animals’ (1896) as received during the past twelve years there have been several which, doubtless, should have been referred to the present species, but have been entered under _Gazella dorcas_. Amongst these may be specified an example presented by Commander W. Crofton, R.N., in July 1890 (specimen _e_), a female presented by Col. Holled Smith, C.B., in July 1892 (specimen _g_), and a pair (_h_, _i_) received on deposit in May 1894.

After the arrival of these specimens from Suakin, Mr. A. Thomson, the Head-Keeper, called Sclater’s attention to their differences from the ordinary _G. dorcas_. They were of a more reddish colour, and had a broad and somewhat distinct side-stripe and a blackish nasal spot, in addition to other smaller differences.

Besides the specimens of this Gazelle in the British Museum which we have already referred to, there is a mounted male from the Anseba River, formerly in Sir Victor Brooke’s collection, and presented to the Museum by Sir Douglas Brooke. We believe that our coloured figure (Plate LXIV.), which was prepared by Mr. Smit under Sir Victor’s superintendence, was taken from this specimen.

_May,_ 1898.

Fig. 69_a_.

Heads of Isabella Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.

(From specimens in B. M.)]

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXV

_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp_

The Muscat Gazelle.

GAZELLA MUSCATENSIS.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

95. THE MUSCAT GAZELLE.

GAZELLA MUSCATENSIS, BROOKE.

[PLATE LXV.]

_Gazella muscatensis_, =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 141, pl.
xxii.; =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 141 (1883); =id.= (9) p. 155
(1896); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 179 (1893); =Thos.= P. Z. S.
1894, p. 451.

Size small, height at withers 21–22 inches. General colour dark rufous fawn, darker than in any other species except _G. arabica_, which it much resembles in colour. Light lateral band scarcely or not perceptible; dark lateral band blackish, its upper edge little defined. Central facial band dark rufous, a distinct blackish patch over the nasals; light facial streak narrow, well defined, dark band below it not defined from the general colour of the cheeks. Knee-tufts present, brownish. Limbs darker in colour than usual, being only white on the inner sides of the forearms and thighs.

Skull very similar to that of _G. isabella_. Premaxillæ scarcely touching nasals. Basal length in an old female 5·7 inches, greatest breadth 2·9, muzzle to orbit 3·6.

Horns of males curved like those of _G. isabella_, but decidedly shorter, not or little longer than the skull.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but the horns slender, scarcely ringed, nearly as long as those of the other sex.

_Hab._ Oman, Eastern Arabia.

On the 15th of August, 1873, the Zoological Society of London received as a present from Major C. B. Euan Smith (now Col. Sir Charles B. Euan Smith, K.C.B.) a male Gazelle which he had brought with him from Muscat. On September 20th of the same year a female, obviously of the same species and obtained at the same place, was received by the Society on deposit from Mrs. Harris, then of Limefield, Kirkby Lonsdale. Sir Victor Brooke having then lately published his well-known monograph of the Gazelles in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings,’ and being specially interested in the group, Sclater lost no time in calling Sir Victor’s attention to these animals, with which he was much delighted. Sir Victor described them as belonging to a new species at the meeting of the Zoological Society on Feb. 27, 1874, under the name _Gazella muscatensis_, and pointed out the clear differences which separated them from _G. arabica_, which up to that time he had believed to be the only Gazelle met with in any part of Arabia.

Fig. 70. Fig. 70 _a_.

Heads of Muscat Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.

(From specimens in B. M.)]

Instead of the massive, nearly straight, non-lyrate horns of _G. arabica_, Sir Victor showed that the new species had rather slender horns, compressed from side to side and distinctly lyrate, with their points turned boldly forwards and inwards. In general appearance also the Muscat Gazelles differed from _G. arabica_ in their long and soft coats of a silvery-grey colour, instead of the short close-set pelage of a rich grizzled bay. From _G. dorcas_, to which they bore more resemblance, the Muscat species was recognizable by its smaller size, its different colour, and by the intensity of the facial and lateral markings.

Sir Victor’s paper on this new Gazelle was illustrated in the ‘Proceedings’ by a good coloured plate drawn by Keulemans, in which, however, the general colour is made rather too dark.

In 1874 a second male specimen of this well-marked species was presented to the Zoological Society’s Menagerie by Mr. J. H. Bainbridge, and in October 1881 a pair of the same Gazelle were presented by the late Lord Lilford. These last bred a young one, which was born in the Society’s Gardens on the 6th of March, 1882.

No more examples of the Muscat Gazelle reached the Regent’s Park after this date until 1894, when a female of this species was obtained “in exchange,” and a pair were received “on deposit” from the Hon. Walter Rothschild, F.Z.S. The male of this pair is still living in the Society’s Menagerie.

The only other specimens of the Muscat Gazelle ever received in Europe, so far as we know, are five examples in the British Museum, presented to that Institution by Dr. A. S. G. Jayakar, of whose many and valuable contributions to science we have already spoken[14]. Among the several consignments of the Mammals of Oman sent home by Dr. Jayakar, of which Thomas has given an account in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1894, were five examples of this Gazelle collected in 1892 and 1893 in several localities in Oman--Khode and Barkah-al-moze, and in Sharkeeyeh, the eastern part of that country. These specimens agree very closely with the type of the species as described by Sir Victor Brooke, which is also in the National Collection.

Our figures of both sexes of this Gazelle (Plate LXV.) have been prepared by Mr. Smit from the specimens in the British Museum.

_May,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVI.

_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Heuglin’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA TILONURA.

_Published by R.H.Porter._]

96. HEUGLIN’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA TILONURA (HEUGL.).

[PLATE LXVI.]

_Antilope melanura_, =Heugl.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act.
Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 6 (1863) (_nec_ Bechstein, 1799).

_Gazella melanura_, =Fitz=, SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 159 (1869).

_Antilope tilonura_, =Heugl.= Reise Weiss. Nil, p. 315 (1869);
=id.= Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 101 (1877).

_Gazella tilonura_, =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 126 (1892), (2) p.
170 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 233 (1893).

_Gazella lævipes_, =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 541 (_nec_ Sund.).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Tel-badu_ in Tigré (_Heuglin_).

Height at withers about 27 inches. General colour deep sandy. Central facial band but little more rufous than the back; no black patch on muzzle. Light facial streak scarcely or not perceptible on sides of muzzle; the area round the eye dull whitish, not sharply defined. Back of ears scarcely lighter than nape. Light lateral band present, not strongly defined. Dark lateral band black, strongly marked, though narrower than in _G. thomsoni_; a sandy line present between it and the white of the belly. No dark pygal band. Tail sandy at base, the remainder black. Knee-brushes present, dark sandy.

Horns not, or little, longer than the head, lyrate, parallel at base, curving outwards above and then abruptly twisted inwards towards each other at the tip, the ends each forming a sharp hook, similar to that found in _G. soemmerringi_, but even more strongly bent inwards.

_Hab._ Bogosland, North-east Africa.

Fig. 71. Fig. 72.

Heads of Heuglin’s Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.

(From specimens in B. M.)]

What little we know of this Gazelle is chiefly due to the researches of the late Baron Theodor von Heuglin, an energetic collector and observer of the Mammals and Birds of North-eastern Africa, whose name we have already had frequent occasion to mention in the pages of this work. In the absence of any better designation, we have selected “Heuglin’s Gazelle” as its English name, which is so far applicable that, besides being its first describer, Heuglin is the only naturalist that has recorded observations on it as met with in its native wilds. Heuglin passed several months in the fertile territory of Bogos, north of Abyssinia (now, we believe, included in the Italian colony of “Eritrea”), when attached to the German expedition sent out in search of the much-lamented traveller Dr. Eduard Vogel. He thoroughly explored this country, which is traversed by the River Anseba, and discovered many new birds and mammals, which were subsequently described in his various works. Amongst the mammals was the present species of Gazelle, which he met with only “on the bushy plains round Ain-Saba from 3000 to 5000 feet above the sea-level, in small families of from three to six individuals.” In his original description Heuglin called this Gazelle _Antilope melanura_, but subsequently altered its specific name to “_tilonura_,” there having been already an _Antilope melanura_ of Bechstein, which term is, however, a useless synonym of the Oribi (_Ourebia scoparia_). We have not been able to discover what the term “_tilonura_” means, but follow the change, which has been adopted by Sir Victor Brooke and other authors.

Little more, we regret to say, can be told of this beautiful species, which is readily distinguishable amongst its congeners by its broad black lateral stripe and lyre-shaped horns with incurved points. Sir Victor Brooke gave a figure of it from a stuffed specimen in his own collection to illustrate his article on the Gazelles in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1873. Our figure (Plate LXVI.), which was prepared by Smit under the direction of Sir Victor Brooke, was probably taken from the same specimen, now in the British Museum, to which it has been presented by Sir Douglas Brooke. It was obtained in Bogosland by Essler about 1872. Four other examples of this Gazelle procured at the same time by the same collector are also in the National Collection. From two of these the accompanying illustrations of the head and horns (figs. 71 & 72, p. 160) have been prepared by Mr. Smit.

_May,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVII.

_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

The Red-fronted Gazelle.

GAZELLA RUFIFRONS.

_Published by R. H Porter_]

97. THE RED-FRONTED GAZELLE.

GAZELLA RUFIFRONS, GRAY.

[PLATE LXVII.]

_Le Kevel_, =F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm. (fol.) i. livr. 1, pl. 368
(1818); _Corine_, ii. livr. 36, pl. 369 (1822), and _Corine
jeune_, iv. livr. 72, pl. 370 (1842).

_Gazella rufifrons_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. pp. 214
& 231 (1846); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 5, pl. iv. (1850); =id.= P.
Z. S. 1850, p. 115; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 60 (1852); =id.=
Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 108
(1873); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 540; =Scl.= List An. Z.
S. (8) p. 140 (1883); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 232 (1893);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. (2) p. 159 (1896).

_Antilope lævipes_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p.
266 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii.
p. 262; Reprint, p. 82 (1848) (ex _Kevel_ and _Corine_, F. Cuv.,
_nec_ Buff.); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. v. p. 404 (1855).

_Gazella lævipes senegalensis_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. p. 159
(1869).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Seni_, on the Gambia (_Whitfield_ fide
_Gray_).

Size medium, form comparatively rather stout. General colour deep sandy rufous, brightening into rich rufous on the forehead and muzzle. Nose-spot blackish. White facial streaks well defined, dark cheek-stripes rufous. Light lateral band broad, sandy buff, about the colour of the shoulders, sharply defined from the colour of the back; dark lateral band narrow, black, sharply defined, very prominent, succeeded below by a narrow edging of sandy. Knee-tufts absent. Tail blackish, except just at the base above, where it is sandy.

Skull of medium build; nasals rather broad and short, broadened behind; nasal opening long and narrow, the upper line of the premaxillæ straighter and less concave than usual. Dimensions of a slightly immature male:--Basal length 7 inches, greatest breadth 3, muzzle to orbit 3·95.

Horns rather short in proportion to the size of the animal, evenly divergent, slightly curved backwards below and forwards above, heavily ringed except for the terminal two or three inches.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but the horns straight, slender, and less ringed; those of an adult rather less than six inches in length.

_Hab._ Senegal and Gambia.

The existence of a Gazelle of the group allied to _Gazella dorcas_ in West Africa was first made known to us by the authors of the great folio work called ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères,’ issued at Paris, in which the figures were taken mostly from living specimens. In one of the early livraisons of this publication, in which French names only are primarily used, this species was referred to the “Kevel” of Buffon, and under this name a young male was figured, stated to have been brought to France from Senegal. In a later livraison two young specimens of the same species, also from Senegal, were figured as the “Corine” of Buffon, which was declared to be identical with the “Kevel.” We have, however, already shown (under the head of _Gazella dorcas_) that both these terms of Buffon are referable to the last-named species, and that neither these terms nor the scientific names founded upon them can be properly used for any other species. Hence it follows that the first scientific name that can be employed for this Gazelle is _Gazella rufifrons_ of Gray, under which term it was curtly described by that author in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for 1846. Shortly after that period the same species was figured in ‘Gleanings from the Knowsley Menagerie’ by Waterhouse Hawkins, whose well-drawn plate contains portraits of two males, a female, and a young one of the present species.

As the drawings in the ‘Gleanings’ were not in all cases taken from animals living in Lord Derby’s Menagerie, some of them having been prepared from specimens in the British Museum, it is nearly certain that this was the case in the present instance. It will be observed that Gray in his description mentions almost exactly such a series as being in the Museum as is drawn in the ‘Gleanings,’ and it is not probable that a similar set should also have been living at Knowsley at the same time.

All the specimens mentioned by Gray, with one exception, are still in the National Collection, and, as “co-types” of the species, show clearly to what animal the name “_rufifrons_” should be applied.