Chapter VII: Part 7

In 1847, in his excellent essay on the “Pecora,” the late Professor Carl J. Sundevall established an “_Antilope lævipes_” basing it primarily on the figures of Geoffrey St.-Hilaire and Fr. Cuvier in the ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères,’ of which we have already spoken. It is obvious, therefore, that Sundevall’s term “_lævipes_” is an absolute synonym of “_rufifrons_,” though he gives as his principal example a specimen from Sennaar in the Stockholm Museum. But, nevertheless, there would appear to be a closely allied species living in East Africa, which Heuglin, in his first work (‘Antilopen und Büffel’), referred to _Antilope leptoceros_, but which he subsequently in 1877 (‘Reise in Nordost-Afrika’) treated of under Sundevall’s name “_Antilope lævipes_.” Heuglin states that this Gazelle, of which the native name is “Abu-el-Harabat,” is found in Nubia, Kordofan, Sennaar, and Taka, as also near Suakin and on the plains of the Beni Amer, ascending to a height of about 1500 feet above the sea-level. Heuglin specially alludes to the want of knee-tufts in his _Antilope lævipes_, which is the case also in _Gazella rufifrons_. What this East-African Antelope of Sundevall and Heuglin may be we are quite unable to decide, not having been able to examine East-African specimens. It is possible, however, that it may be _Gazella rufina_, which we shall presently speak of.

Of the examples of this Gazelle formerly in the Knowsley Menagerie we have already written. The Zoological Society of London have also, on several occasions, received living examples of this species from the West Coast of Africa. The first of these recorded of late years was purchased in August 1865, and the second, a female, in 1869. In June 1895 a female _Gazella rufifrons_ was placed under the Society’s care by the Hon. W. Rothschild, F.Z.S., and is still living in the Gardens. In May of last year a fine living pair of this species were received by the Zoological Society from a London dealer and subsequently purchased. It is from this pair that the accompanying figures of both sexes of this beautiful Gazelle (Plate LXVII.) have been prepared by Mr. Smit. These animals are still living in the Society’s Gardens. They stand about 24 inches in height at the shoulder, the male being slightly the taller of the two. Both male and female have a slight blackish nose-spot, as shown in our figures. The knee-brushes are quite imperceptible in these three specimens, and the knees are perfectly smooth.

_May,_ 1898.

98. THE RUFOUS GAZELLE.

GAZELLA RUFINA, THOS.

_Gazella rufina_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1894, p. 467 (fig., skull).

_Antilope lævipes_, =Sund.= K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266
(1847), form α, ex Sennaar; =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch.
Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; Reprint, p. 82 (1848); =Heuglin=, Ant.
u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 6; =id.= Reise
N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 100 (1877).

_Antilope leptoceros_, =Heugl.= Ant. u. Büff. p. 7 (err.).

Closely similar in all respects to _G. rufifrons_, but decidedly larger, the colour throughout particularly rich and brilliant. Light facial streaks not white but sandy, and little different to the general colour of the cheeks. In the single specimen known (a tanned skin), the hairs along the centre of the back and on the sides of the rump are peculiarly waved, but how far this may be due to the preparation of the skin we are unable to say. Knee-brushes dull rufous.

Skull conspicuously larger and heavier than that of _G. rufifrons_. Anteorbital fossæ larger and deeper. Nasal opening shorter and broader in proportion to the general size, and the upper line of the premaxillæ more curved. Basal length of the type, an old male, (circa) 8·05 inches, greatest breadth 3·86, muzzle to orbit 4·9.

Horns of male short and heavy, their curvature and proportional length about as in _G. rufifrons_; those of the type are 11·6 inches in length on their anterior curve.

_Hab._ Interior of Algeria (?).

After his return from Algeria in 1894, Sir Edmund Loder, as we have already stated, placed the whole of his series of specimens of Gazelles from that country in Thomas’s hands for examination. Besides examples of the two previously known Algerian species--_Gazella dorcas_ and _G. cuvieri_--Thomas found that two other species, hitherto apparently unrecognized, were represented in the collection. Of one of these, which Thomas named _G. loderi_, we have treated under the head of _G. leptoceros_. Of the other, to which we now propose to refer, only a single specimen, consisting of a skin and a skull, was in the series. This, however, was of so entirely a different character from the three others above-mentioned that Thomas found it necessary to refer it to a new species, which he proposed to call _G. rufina_, from its generally bright, rich rufous colour. The specimen not having been obtained in the field, but having been purchased at a shop in Algiers (in the spring of 1877), cannot have any certain locality assigned to it; but in all probability it was brought from somewhere in the interior, as it is hardly likely that such an object would have been imported into Algiers from a distant country.

Skull of Rufous Gazelle.

(P. Z. S. 1894, p. 468.)]

There can be no doubt that, as stated above, _Gazella rufina_ is most nearly allied to _G. rufifrons_ of Senegal, from which, however, we have already stated its points of difference. Sir Edmund Loder has had a water-colour drawing of the typical specimen prepared by Smit, which has much assisted us in our study of it. It is obviously a larger and more richly coloured animal than _G. rufifrons_, and its skull, of which, by the kindness of the Zoological Society, we are enabled to give the figure that originally appeared in their ‘Proceedings’ (fig. 73, p. 168), is remarkable for its stout and heavy build and short nasal opening. The only conjecture we can make respecting this somewhat problematical species is that it may possibly be the same as _Gazella lævipes_ of Sundevall and Heuglin from North-east Africa, of which we have spoken in our article on _Gazella rufifrons_. It may be remarked that Sundevall, in his account of _Antilope lævipes_ (K. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 1845), has noted the existence, in the Paris Museum, of specimens from Algeria of a Gazelle which he considers identical with his species, form α (from Sennaar), and which he separates from form β (from Senegal) on account of the want of the blackish nose-spot. But even if such shall turn out eventually to be the case, the present species will still retain the name “_rufina_,”--“_lævipes_,” as we have already pointed out, being correctly treated of as a synonym of _G. rufifrons_.

Sir Edmund Loder has most liberally presented the typical specimen of _Gazella rufina_ to the British Museum.

_May,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVIII

_J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Thomson’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA THOMSONI.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

99. THOMSON’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA THOMSONI, GÜNTH.

[PLATE LXVIII.]

_Gazella thomsoni_, =Günth.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (5) xiv. p. 427
(1884) (fig., horns); =Thomson=, Masai-land, p. 536 (1885)
(fig., horns); =Hunter= in Willoughby, E. Africa, p. 289 (1889);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 133 (1892), (2) p. 171 (1896); =True=,
P. U.S. Nat. Mus. xv. p. 473, pl. lxxvii. (1892) (Taveta);
=Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, pp. 236, 239 (1893) (fig., horns);
=Lugard=, E. Africa, i. p. 534 (1893); =Jackson=, in Badm. Big
Game Shooting, i. pp. 285 & 298 (1894); =Scott Elliot=, P. Z.
S. 1895, p. 340; =Matsch.= Säug. Deutsch-O.-Afr. p. 130 (1895);
=Rhoads=, P. Ac. Philad. 1896, p. 519; =Jackson=, P. Z. S. 1897,
p. 434.

Height at shoulders about 25 inches. General colour deep sandy rufous, all the markings well developed and sharply defined. Central facial band deeper rufous, a black patch present on the top of the muzzle. Light facial streaks pure white, extending quite to the muzzle and surrounding the eye; darker cheek-streaks blackish. Light lateral band present, though not very much paler than the back. Dark lateral band deep black, greatly developed, very broad, sharply defined above and below, extending on to the outer side of the elbow; no sandy streak between it and the white of the belly. Pygal band small, blackish. Ears rather short. Tail sandy at its base above, the remainder black. Knee-brushes present, sandy or whitish.

Skull with short, broad, and quadrangular nasals, nearly as broad as long; premaxillæ straight, scarcely concave above, broadly articulating with nasals. Basal length of skull of a male 7·7 inches, greatest breadth 3·6, muzzle to orbit 4·25.

Horns rather like those of _G. bennetti_ on a large scale, little divergent, sometimes even quite parallel, evenly but very slightly curved backwards for seven-eighths of their length, their tips gently recurved upwards and forwards. In length, over the front curve, they attain to about 14 or 15 inches, the record being 15½.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but with the horns rudimentary, much smaller than in other African Gazelles; only from 3 to 6 inches in length, of about the thickness of a cedar pencil, smooth and unridged, and in direction crooked and irregular.

_Hab._ Interior of British and German East Africa, from
Lake Rudolph south to Irangi.

Horns of Thomson’s Gazelle, ♂.

(Ann. Mag. N. H. (5) xiv. p. 427.)]

The name of Joseph Thomson, the African traveller, will always rank among the foremost of those who in the second half of this century have striven to open the Dark Continent to civilized man, and have lost their lives at an early age by violence or disease in consequence. Thomson was, moreover, one of the very few amongst African explorers who had never shed the blood of a native, nor even, we believe, during his many journeys, fired a shot in self-defence. Thomson’s name has been worthily associated with the present Gazelle, of which he was the discoverer during his expedition through Masai-land to Lake Victoria in 1883 and 1884, and of which he first brought back specimens to Europe.

Thomson, as we are informed by Dr. Günther, who described this Gazelle as _Gazella thomsoni_ in June 1884 from two frontlets presented by Thomson to the British Museum, met with it on his way up the country from the plains near Kilimanjaro to Lake Baringo, at various elevations under 6000 feet. Dr. Günther, we may remark, in his description and figure of these horns fell into a not unnatural error in treating the more slender pair (fig. 74_a_, p. 172) as those of a female. But, as we have already stated, the horns are always abnormally small in the doe of this Gazelle, and sometimes, it is said, altogether wanting. The slenderer pair of horns shown in Dr. Günther’s figures, which we have been kindly allowed to reproduce in this work, are, like the stouter pair, doubtless those of a male.

In his volume ‘Through Masai-land,’ Thomson does not appear to have made any reference to this Gazelle, except by repeating the figures of the horns (p. 536) already published by Dr. Günther. Thomson had intended, we believe, to put his notes on the animals and plants collected and observed during this expedition into an Appendix, which, however, from pressure of other matters, was never written.

After Thomson himself, the next earliest information obtained concerning this Gazelle appears to be that collected by Sir John Willoughby’s hunting-party in 1886–87. In the Appendix to ‘East-Africa and its Big Game,’ Mr. Hunter writes of it as follows:--

“This Gazelle, discovered by Mr. J. Thomson during his trip
through Masai-land in 1883, was found in large numbers in the
plains in the Masai country to the south-west of Kilimanjaro,
and we also came across it on the borders of the Masai country
at the south end of Kyulu mountain, but it is not met with on
the south side of the mountain between these two points. I have
seen these Gazelles mixing with _Gazella granti_, the female of
which, at long range, though larger, is easily mistaken for a
male _G. thomsoni_, both having the broad black stripe on the
side. They are generally seen in small herds of one male to
about ten females.”

In the first volume of ‘Big Game Shooting,’ of the Badminton Library, Mr. F. J. Jackson, than whom no one can be better qualified to speak of East-African Antelopes, gives us his experiences with the present species in the following words:--

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

(Neumann’s ‘Elephant-Hunting,’ p. 11.)]

“In habits _G. thomsoni_ is very like _G. granti_, but, as a
rule, is found in rather larger herds. Single bucks of this
species are, however, more often seen than single bucks of _G.
granti_. At Lake Naivasha, in July 1890, I saw a large herd of
some sixty head, composed entirely of does, and in the same
place, in September of the previous year, I saw a herd of some
thirty or forty beasts, every one of which was a buck; but I
do not think that this can be taken as evidence that the bucks
and does separate at certain seasons of the year, as on the
same days on which I saw these two herds I also saw others in
which the bucks and does were together. Thomson’s Gazelle is
a confiding little beast, and, except in places close to a
well-beaten caravan-route, where it has been constantly shot at,
can be easily approached within 120 yards with ordinary care
and perseverance, even in the most open and covertless spots.
These beasts appear to be confined almost entirely to the Masai
country, as I have not heard of their having been seen east of
the Sigarari plains to the south of Kilimanjaro, or south of
the Useri river and the headwaters of the Tsavo. I saw none at
Njemps near Lake Baringo, or in Turkwel and Ngaboto in the Suk
country, though _G. granti_ was plentiful in all these places.”

Writing subsequently in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ on the Antelopes of the Mau District of British East Africa, Mr. Jackson says that this Gazelle does not, as he believes, extend beyond a few miles north of Lake Nakuru. He adds that “the females are _horned_, whatever may be said to the contrary.” With this view Mr. Arthur H. Neumann, one of our most recent explorers in British East Africa, quite agrees. In his lately published volume on ‘Elephant-Hunting’ in that Protectorate, Mr. Neumann gives a figure of the head of a female Thomson’s Gazelle, which, by his kindness and that of his publishers, Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co., we are enabled to reproduce (fig. 75, p. 174): this shows that the horns are present in that sex of _G. thomsoni_, though in a much more dwarfed condition than in most of its allies. Mr. Neumann also claims to have met with this Gazelle much further north than its range is usually held to extend. This was in the district of Kisima, south of the Lorogi Mountains and north of Lake Naivasha.

Col. Lugard, who has had great experience in East-African game-shooting, has stated[15] that he had never met with a horned female of Thomson’s Gazelle. A letter lately received from our much-valued correspondent, Mr. S. L. Hinde of the B.E.A. Medical Service, in response to enquiries on this point, endeavours to explain this diversity of opinion as follows:--

“With reference to the statement that the female Thomson’s
Gazelle has no horns, I can, perhaps, give some explanation. The
horns of the female of this species (see the skulls given by me
to the British Museum) are very frail, crooked, and generally
malformed. A good pair would be about five inches long; but
a very slight blow will break or knock off these horns. Four
or five females of this Gazelle that I have shot have knocked
off one or both horns when falling to the shot or in their
subsequent struggles.

“A doe of this species born in the fort at Kikuyu developed
horns; but in play with the rest of the herd of five, knocked
them off when they were not more than two inches long, and
when I last saw her there were two warty scars where the horns
had been. I should think that a similar accident is probably a
very common occurrence among the wild herds; so much so, that I
should not be surprised to see a herd of does ‘without horns.’
The yearling fawns running with their mothers would have horns
not more than half an inch long, and therefore invisible. If a
man, for any reason, were to shoot a doe out of such a herd he
would probably choose the largest animal. Afterwards, if the
question were raised, he would say that he saw a herd of does of
Thomson’s Gazelle absolutely hornless, and on shooting one found
there were only little marks on the head where the horns would
have been if the animal had had any.

“I have myself seen hundreds of these Gazelles in Ukambaui, some
without horns, some with one, and some with both horns. Of those
I have shot or seen shot myself, two were without horns, one
had one horn about three inches long, and four had both horns
averaging three and a half inches in length, while two had horns
about three-quarters of an inch long.”

Passing on to German East Africa we find, from Dr. Matschie’s volume on the Mammals of that country, that Thomson’s Gazelle was met with by Herr Oscar Neumann at various points on his journey north from Tanga to the Victoria Lake. Mount Gurui, Lake Manyara, Ndalalani on the Natron Lake, and the district between Guasso Nyiro and Ngare Dobasch are specially mentioned, but north and west of the latter locality Herr Neumann did not find it. It was also obtained near Mount Meru by Herr v. Höhnel, and in Northern Irambi by Herr Stuhlmann.

We are not aware that examples of Thomson’s Gazelle have ever been brought to Europe alive; but it would appear that young individuals of this species are often captured and kept in confinement in British East Africa. The late Capt. B. L. Sclater, R.E., who made the road from Kibwesi to Port Victoria in 1895–97, in his letters written home refers to several such cases, and Lieut. G. E. Smith, R.E., who was second in command of Capt. Sclater’s party, kindly sends us the following notes about them:--“Early in January 1896 Capt. Sclater obtained from the Masai two young Thomson’s Gazelles, which were fed by hand and throve well. They became quite tame and used to run about the camp and play with a puppy. One of them subsequently ran away, but the other remained with the camping-party for nearly a year.” At Kikuyu, Lieut. G. E. Smith saw a pair of Thomson’s Gazelles then fully grown, having been in possession of Mr. Hall, the Resident, for more than two years. The buck was rather fierce and apt to attack natives with his horns. Major Eric Smith, we are told, also generally had two or three of these Gazelles scampering about his station at Naivasha very tame.

Our figure of the male of this Antelope (Plate LXVIII.) has been prepared by Mr. Smit from a mounted specimen in the British Museum presented by Mr. F. J. Jackson. There are also in the Museum a second mounted specimen of a male presented by Mr. H. C. V. Hunter and the skull of a male from Lake Naivasha presented by Col. Lugard. Besides these the Museum contains two frontlets with horns, being the typical specimens obtained by Thomson, and some skins and skulls of both sexes from Machakos, presented by Mr. S. L. Hinde, as already mentioned in his letter.

_May,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL LXIX

_Wolf del J Smit lith_ _Hanhart imp_

Grant’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA GRANTI.

_Published by R. H. Porter_]

100. GRANT’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA GRANTI, BROOKE.

[PLATE LXIX.]

_New Antelope_, Ugogo, =Speke=, Journ. of Disc. p. 61 (1863).

_Antilope soemmerringii_?, =Speke=, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 3 (Ugogo).

_Gazella granti_, =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 601, pl. xli.;
=id.= P. Z. S. 1873, p. 550; =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1875, p. 527, pl.
lix. (Viv. Soc. Zool.); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 723 (figs.,
head); =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883); =Pagenst.= JB.
Mus. Hamb. ii. p. 38 (1884); =Johnston=, Kilimanjaro Exp. p.
394 (1886); =Hunter=, in Willoughby, E. Africa, p. 289 (1889);
=Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 342, fig. 2 (head) (1891); =Ward=, Horn
Meas. (1) p. 104 (1892), (2) p. 148 (1896); =True=, P. U. S.
Nat. Mus. xv. p. 473 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 236
(1893); =Lugard=, E. Afr. i. p. 534 (1893); =Jackson=, in Badm.
Big Game Shooting, i. p. 298 (1894); =id.= P. Z. S. 1897, p.
453; =Matsch.= Säug. Deutsch-Ost-Afr. p. 131 (1895); =Donaldson
Smith=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 868; =A. Neumann=, Elephant-Hunting in
E. Africa, pp. 9, 10 (figs., horns, ♂ ♀) (1898).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Swara_ (_Jackson_) and _Njéra_ (_Stuhlmann_)
in Swahili.

Size large; height at withers about 34 inches. Fur close and short. General colour fawn, rather variable in tone. Lateral bands, both light and dark, usually very indistinct, often scarcely perceptible; but, on the other hand, occasionally well developed, especially in young animals. Central facial band richer fawn, approaching rufous; a brownish spot present on the muzzle. Light facial streaks white, sharply defined, running up over the eyes to the horns. Below these the dark facial bands are almost imperceptible, scarcely or not at all darker than the fawn-coloured cheeks and neck. Rump with the white of the hams very broad, extended upwards, and uniting across the base of the tail, so that the latter is quite separated from the dark body-colour; laterally the white penetrates angularly into the body-colour, overhanging the top of the pygal band, which is generally well-defined. Outer sides of limbs fawn, without blacker markings. Knee-brushes present, dark fawn. Tail above white for its basal half; black and crested terminally.

Skull stout and heavy, nasal opening broad. In that of an adult male the basal length is 9·75 inches, greatest breadth 4·4, muzzle to orbit 5·3.

Horns very long, longer and more powerful than in any other Gazelle; evenly but slightly curved backwards below, and gently recurved forwards terminally; sometimes but slightly divergent, but more often, especially in specimens from Kilimanjaro, they spread widely above, approaching each other again at their tips. Their section at base is a long oval, very different from the nearly circular section found in _G. soemmerringi_.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but the horns slender, nearly circular in section, more strongly ridged than in the females of most Gazelles; about two-thirds in length of those of the male.

_Hab._ Eastern Africa, from the district of Lake Rudolph,
southwards to Ugogo.

Grant’s Gazelle, which has been appropriately named after one of its discoverers, is pre-eminent, even in this ornamental genus, for its size and elegance, and is, in fact, generally allowed to be one of the most beautiful species of the whole group of Antelopes. Speke and Grant left Zanzibar on the well-known expedition during which the efflux of the Nile from Lake Victoria was discovered, in September 1860. Starting from Bagamoyo on the opposite coast, and passing through Usagara, they arrived about two months later in Ugogo, then under the rule of a native chief called Magomba. It was in December 1860 during their stay at this place, where they were long detained by the drunken chief and his wazir, that Speke first met with the present Antelope. In the ‘Journal’ of his travels Speke tells us that while kept waiting to arrange the amount of his “hongo” he took the time out in the jungles very profitably, “killing a fine buck and doe Antelope of an unknown species.” “These animals,” he continues, “are of much about the same size and shape as the common Indian Antelope, and like them roam about in large herds, the most marked difference between the two being in the shape of their horns, and in their colour, in which in both sexes the Ugogo Antelopes rather resemble the _Gazella picticaudata_ of Tibet, except that the former have dark markings on the face.”

Grant’s Gazelle, Ugogo.

(From Speke’s ‘Journal of Discovery,’ p. 61.)]

The original woodcut of Speke’s ‘Journal,’ drawn by Wolf, as shown by his initials, we have now the pleasure of reproducing by the kind favour of the publishers of that work. It was no doubt executed under Speke’s direction, and, although not quite satisfactory according to our present knowledge of the animal, gives several views of the shape and size of the horns of Grant’s Gazelle.

Although Speke in his ‘Journal’ writes of the Ugogo Antelope as being undoubtedly new, he was at first evidently by no means certain about this point, as in a letter addressed to Sclater from Kazeh, in February 1861, he referred it doubtfully to _Gazella soemmerringi_. But in a footnote to this letter (which was published in the ‘Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society for January 1863) Sclater stated his conviction that, so far as could be determined from the rough sketch of the horns which accompanied the letter, the Ugogo Antelope was certainly new, and he added that the late Dr. Gray was of the same opinion.

Heads of Grant’s Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.

(From Mr. Jackson’s specimens.)]

The box containing the specimens of the new Gazelle from Ugogo having been unfortunately lost on its journey to the coast, Sclater was unable to give any account of this animal in his paper on the Mammals collected and observed during the East-African Expedition, in the ‘Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society for 1864. The subject therefore was delayed until 1872, when Sir Victor Brooke, who was at that time busy upon the Antelopes, obtained from Col. Grant and Capt. Speke the careful sketches of the heads and skins of this animal which the travellers had made in their note-books. The examination of these sketches confirmed Brooke in the opinion that the Antelope represented by them was undoubtedly new to science; and consequently on April 16th of that year Sir Victor read a communication to the Zoological Society in which he proposed to name the new Gazelle after Grant, Speke’s name in this group of animals having been already commemorated by the _Gazella spekei_ of Blyth and the _Tragelaphus spekei_ of Sclater. Sir Victor gave as good a description of the new Antelope as he could from the notes before him, especially alluding to the extraordinary development of its horns, which attained dimensions nearly double those of any other Gazelle known to him. Brooke’s paper, which is accompanied by a beautiful coloured figure of the new Antelope, prepared by Wolf from Speke’s sketches, states that Col. Grant, who had supplied him with copious extracts from his note-books, informed him that this species was only met with during their expedition in Western Kinyenye, in Ugogo. The country inhabited by it he described as low-lying sandy plains, dotted over in some places with euphorbias, dwarf acacias, and stunted baobabs. The chief peculiarity of this district, owing doubtless to its comparatively low level, was the great accumulation of salt, which had of course a marked effect on the vegetation. Water at all times of the year was very scarce there, and often entirely absent, the little found being brackish and undrinkable.

In 1875 the Zoological Society received as a present from Sir John Kirk, then British Consul-General at Zanzibar, a living female Grant’s Gazelle, which, however, was unfortunately in very poor condition and died shortly after its arrival in London. The acquisition of this animal was announced by Sclater in a report on the additions to the Society’s Menagerie read on November 2nd of that year, and was accompanied by a figure of it drawn from the stuffed specimen by Mr. Smit. So far as we know, this is the only individual of Grant’s Gazelle that has ever reached Europe alive.

It will be observed that the original place of discovery of Grant’s Gazelle was in what is now German East Africa. In this country, according to Herr Matschie, it has an extensive range over the whole western portion of the colony, extending up to Mpapwa, in which district several sportsmen have met with it, and through Irangi on to Lake Victoria on the borders of British territory. Over this country it has been found in many localities by Fischer, Neumann, and Stuhlmann. Throughout these districts it appears to resort principally, as stated by Grant, to the more open sandy plains, which are thinly covered with euphorbias and other trees, especially where a saline vegetation is prevalent.

In the eastern districts of British East Africa, Grant’s Gazelle appears to be not less prevalent in similar spots. Mr. Hunter, in his Appendix to Willoughby’s ‘East Africa,’ tells us that during his expedition in 1888 it was found to be common everywhere in the open plains near Kilimanjaro, one male being generally accompanied by from 10 to 15 females. It was at that time most common in the direction of Useri. The longest pair of horns obtained by the party measured 30 inches in length, but 27 inches were considered to constitute a big head. The best female’s head obtained measured 17 inches along the inside curve. Dr. Abbott, during his expedition to Kilimanjaro, as recorded by Mr. True, obtained a good series of specimens of this Antelope, which are now in the United States National Museum. Capt. F. D. Lugard, in his volumes on ‘The Rise of our East-African Empire,’ writes of Grant’s Gazelle as being “a model of symmetry,” while “its large and massive horns are most beautiful in their curve and are carried most gracefully.” He continues as follows:--

“Grant’s Gazelle is always found on the open plains and in
rocky ground far from water, and never near forest. Both sexes
are horned; the female carries thin but long horns (up to 17
inches in length), the points, as is the case in all horned
female Antelopes, turning inwards, the curve being more or
less lyre-shaped. I have weighed a male and found it weigh 115
lbs. without the stomach; female 65 lbs. The horns of the male
measure up to 30 inches and are about 7 inches in circumference
at the base. They are annulated, black in colour, and bend
backwards and then forwards at the tip. Anything above 25 inches
would be a ‘good head.’”

Another excellent authority on the Antelopes of British East Africa, Mr. F. J. Jackson, in a recent article on the subject, writes as follows:--

“Grant’s Gazelle ranges north into Turkwel and the Sak country,
but is not found on the Mau plateau. At Njemps and Baringo, and
in Turkwel, this Gazelle is considerably smaller than those
found further south at Naivasha and on the Athi plains. At
Njemps I shot the largest buck out of a herd of thirty, in which
there were three or four other bucks. It was an old beast, in
good condition, but only weighed 135 lbs. with horns 20 inches.
To show the differences in size I append some measurements for
comparison:--

+-----------------------+---------------+----------------------+---------------+ | | | |_G. granti_, ♂.| | |_G. granti_, ♂.|_G. granti_, ♂ (two). |Gil-Gil River, | | | Njemps | Gil-Gil River, Lake | Lake Naivasha | | | (21.9.96). | Naivasha (2.1.96). | (4.4.96). | |-----------------------+---------------+-----------+----------+---------------+ | | ft. in. | ft. in. | ft. in. | ft. in. | | | | | | | |Total length | 5 3 | 5 8 | 5 7 | 5 7 | |Height at shoulder | 2 11 | 3 1½ | 3 2½ | 3 0½ | |Depth of chest | 1 1½ | 1 3 | 1 4 | 1 3 | |Circumference of chest | 2 9 | 3 1 | 3 3 | 3 1 | | „ haunch| 3 0 | | | 3 5 | | „ loins | 2 3 | 2 9 | 2 10 | 2 7½ | | „ throat| 1 6 | 1 8 | 1 8 | 1 6 | | „ neck | 1 8 | 2 0½ | 2 1 | 1 10½ | |Tail | 10½ | 11 | 10 | 10 | |Horns | 20 | 28¼ | 27 | 24 | |Weight | 135 lbs. | 158 lbs.| 167 lbs.| 166 lbs.” | +-----------------------+---------------+-----------+----------+---------------+

Dr. Donaldson Smith has recorded the existence of this Gazelle “in great numbers” all along his route homewards from Lake Rudolph on the northern bank of the Tana. But these animals may possibly have belonged to the next species _Gazella petersi_. Dr. Donaldson Smith also met with Grant’s Gazelle in the Boran country “a little west of 39° W.L.,” and found it “extending as far north as 6° N.L.” Mr. Cavendish likewise obtained examples of this Gazelle during his recent expedition to Rudolphia.

There is a good mounted specimen of an adult male of this Antelope in the Gallery of the British Museum, obtained by Mr. F. J. Jackson in the Kilimanjaro district of British East Africa and presented by him. Mr. Jackson has also given the Museum a fine skull of an adult male from the same locality, and has placed at the service of the Museum three other mounted heads of this Antelope. The National Collection also contains skulls of an adult pair of Grant’s Gazelle from Kilimanjaro presented by Mr. W. Carlisle Fraser, and several skulls and skins of different ages from Machakos, collected and presented by Mr. S. L. Hinde. Besides these some skulls and skins obtained during the Cavendish expedition to Lake Rudolph, and presented by Mr. H. S. H. Cavendish and Mr. H. Andrew, have lately been added to the series.

Our illustration of this beautiful Antelope (Plate LXIX.), which shows the horns of the male in various attitudes, was prepared by Mr. Wolf under Sir Victor Brooke’s directions and drawn upon the stone by Mr. Smit. We are not sure as to the specimens from which it was taken.

_September,_ 1898.

101. PETERS’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA PETERSI, GÜNTH.

_Gazella granti_, =Peters=, MB. Ak. Berl. 1879, p. 832, pl. v.
(skull).

_Gazella petersi_, =Günth=. Ann. Mag. N. H. (5) xiv. p. 428
(1884); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 238 (1893); =Jackson=,
in Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. p. 299 (1894); =A. Neumann=,
Elephant-Hunting in E. Africa, pp. 9, 10 (figs., horns, ♂ ♀)
(1898).

_Gazella grantii_ var. _gelidjiensis_, =Noack=, Zool. Gart.
xxviii. p. 277 (1887).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Sala_ (Swahili) (_Fischer_).

Size large; height at withers about 33 inches. General colour and markings practically identical with those of the last species, _Gazella granti_, with the exception that the white rump-patch is of much less extent. This patch, which in _G. granti_ is very broad, and projects prominently forward on each side, overhanging the dark pygal band, and passes across above the tail, separating that organ entirely from the dark dorsal colour, is in _G. petersi_ divided above into two portions by an extension of the body-colour which runs down on to and along the top of the tail. Laterally the white is much narrower, and encroaches much less on the body-colour above, scarcely or not at all overhanging the pygal band.

Skull rather smaller than in _G. granti_, and the nasal opening rather narrower. Basal length in a male 9·3 inches, greatest breadth 4·2, muzzle to orbit 5·4.

Horns similar to those of _G. granti_, but smaller and more uniformly parallel, never widely divergent above. Horns of female about two-thirds the length of those of the male, slender and comparatively straight.

_Hab._ Coast-districts of British East Africa, from Mombasa
northwards to beyond the Tana.

In a communication made to the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin in October 1879 the former Director of the Berlin Museum, the late Dr. Wilhelm Peters, gave an account of the specimens of Mammals collected in East Africa in 1878 by the well-known traveller Dr. G. A. Fischer. Amongst these were the skull and skin of a young male Gazelle obtained at Gelidja, near the mouth of the Osi and Tana Rivers, on June 27th, and stated to be called there by the Swahilis and Wapakomos “_Sala_.” Peters added to his paper on this subject an excellent lithographic plate of the skull and horns in question, which he referred, without much doubt, to _Gazella granti_, remarking, however, that the nose-spot was not well defined, and that the horns were straight at the base and not curved.

Skull and horns of Peters’s Gazelle, ♂.

(From one of Mr. Jackson’s specimens in the British Museum.)]

In 1884 Dr. Günther, commenting on Peters’s figure of this supposed _Gazella granti_, stated that in his opinion it “clearly belonged to a distinct species. It resembled somewhat _Gazella thomsoni_ in the slight degree in which the horns diverge from each other; but their annulated portion was almost straight, and the annuli themselves were much further apart, much fewer in number (about twelve), and lower towards the hinder part of the horn. The base of the bony core showed a bossy swelling, which was different from that of _Gazella granti_, and entirely absent in _Gazella thomsoni_.” This species Dr. Günther proposed to call _Gazella petersi_.

There has, however, been much doubt raised by subsequent authorities as to the validity of this species, and although we have given a separate heading to _Gazella petersi_ we have had considerable hesitation as to whether it ought not to be regarded rather as a local subspecies of _G. granti_, to which it is closely allied in all essential characters. But since we have as yet seen no specimens absolutely intermediate between the two, so far as the rump-markings are concerned, we have thought it advisable to keep them provisionally separate. At the same time we shall be in no way surprised if such specimens should occur, in which case the two forms will have to be united. As regards the skulls, no constant or tangible difference can be made out, although those of _G. petersi_ can usually be distinguished by their smaller size, narrower nasal opening, and shorter and less divergent horns.

Mr. F. G. Jackson, in ‘Big Game Shooting,’ gives us the following account of this Gazelle and his experiences with it:--

“_Gazella petersi_ (known to the Swahilis also as ‘Sala’) may be a local variety of _G. granti_ rather than a distinct species. It used to be plentiful at Merereni on the British East African coast, and is still found further inland in the Galla country. It is certainly a smaller beast than _Gazella granti_ from Kilimanjaro and Machakos, but in other respects is almost identical, excepting in the shape and size of the horns, which I have never known to exceed 22 inches in length measured along the curve. The horns are also straighter, and have not nearly such a pronounced backward curve as those of _G. granti_, neither do they diverge towards the points so much, being rarely more than seven or eight inches apart at the widest parts. _Gazella petersi_ is found in the small open plains and open scrub.”

In the gallery of the British Museum there is a good mounted specimen of the adult male of this species, also another younger specimen from the “Mainland opposite Zanzibar,” and a third from “Mombasa,” besides two skulls (♂ and ♀) from “South Somaliland,” all presented by Sir John Kirk. These were formerly labelled _G. granti_, but must be referred to _G. petersi_ if the species are kept separate. There is also in the Museum a fine skin and skull of a male _G. petersi_ from near Mount Pika-pika, about 40 miles from Mombasa, presented by Mr. L. E. Caine. It would appear, therefore, that the range of _G. petersi_ until lately extended all along the coast of British East Africa, though it has now perhaps been nearly shot out in the southern parts.

The British Museum has likewise three skulls of this Gazelle from the Tana River presented by Mr. F. J. Jackson, to whom we are also much indebted for the loan of two other representative heads of this species from Merereni, south of Formosa Bay.

_September,_ 1898.

102. THE BANDED GAZELLE.

GAZELLA NOTATA, THOS.

_Gazella grantii notata_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xx. p.
479 (1897); =A. Neumann=, Elephant-Hunting in E. Africa, p. 238
(1898).

Only known from a single flat skin, without the head. Fur unusually long and shaggy. Size about as in _G. granti_, and general body-markings as in that species, but all much intensified. Dark and light lateral bands much longer and broader, the former nearly black and reaching forwards on to the shoulder, and backwards nearly to the white rump-mark; the latter pale buff, and succeeded above by a second dark band, lighter than the main lateral band, but distinctly darker than the centre of the back. This second dark band united with the other behind the posterior end of the light band. Pygal band black and very strongly defined.

Horns said by the discoverer to have been like those of _G. granti_.

_Hab._ Western slope of the Loroghi Mountains, British East
Africa.

In Mr. Arthur H. Neumann’s recently published volume on ‘Elephant-Hunting in East Equatorial Africa’ there will be found an account of his adventurous journey to Lake Rudolph, during which, on more than one occasion, he made his camp for some months at El Bogoi, a place situated east of the Loroghi Mountains, in rather higher than 1° N. lat., which was a favourite station for elephants. While at this place in October 1895 Mr. Neumann, accompanied by his native attendants, made an excursion over the Loroghi range, and encamped close to the edge of the open country on their western slope, at an elevation reckoned to be about 5500 feet above the sea-level, at a place called in the map attached to his narrative Kisima. Here, on taking a stroll into the open, he “shot a brace” of what he at first supposed to be Grant’s Gazelles; but on examination he found that they differed from the Grant’s Gazelles of the other side of the range, and of everywhere else that he had been, “in having longer hair, and dark bands on the sides,” while the “shade on the back” was also deeper than in the common kind. On one of the skins thus obtained and presented to the British Museum (see fig. 80), Thomas has based his subspecies “_Gazella grantii notata_.”

For much the same reasons as in the case of _G. petersi_, that is because no intermediate examples were yet known, we decided, when drawing up our Synopsis of Gazelles (above, p. 69), to give a separate heading to this form.

Skin of the Banded Gazelle.]

But since our Synopsis was prepared, Lord Delamere has sent home some skins which are, to a certain extent, intermediate between _G. granti_ and _G. notata_ in the development of the dark markings, and which, therefore, support Thomas’s original view that the latter should be looked upon as a subspecies of the former. Yet, on the whole, Lord Delamere’s skins are more like _G. granti_ than _G. notata_, especially in the character of their fur, so that they may be provisionally assigned to the older known form, leaving the exact status of _G. notata_ to be settled when further materials are available.

Thomas stated, in his original description of _G. notata_, that this Gazelle had also been obtained by Mr. H. S. H. Cavendish, that traveller having supposed that he recognized in the typical skin of _G. notata_ a Gazelle which he had met with during his journey to Lake Rudolph. This supposition, however, has been proved to be mistaken, as the Gazelle in question when brought home turned out to belong to _G. thomsoni_--an animal up to that date unknown to Mr. Cavendish. Mr. Neumann, the donor of the typical skin of _G. notata_ to the British Museum, remains, therefore, the only sportsman who has yet met with this handsome form, concerning which we hope to receive further information before long.

_September,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXX.

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

Soemmerring’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA SOEMMERRINGI.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

103. SOEMMERRING’S GAZELLE.

GAZELLA SOEMMERRINGI (CRETZSCHM.).

[PLATE LXX.]

_Antilope soemmerringii_, =Cretzschmar=, Atl. Rüpp. Reise,
p. 49, pl. xix. (♂) (1826); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 462
(1829); =Rüpp.= N. Wirb. Abyss. p. 25 (1835); =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. 616 (1839);
=Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i. p. 261 (1840); =Less.= N.
Tabl. R. A. Mamm. p. 176 (1842); =Rüpp.= Verz. Senck. Mus. p.
38 (1842); =Sund.= K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1842, p. 201 (1843);
=Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 415 (1844), v. p. 405 (1855);
=Reichenb.= Säug. iii. p. 114, pl. xxxiv. fig. 205 (1845);
=Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 403 (1845); =Sund.= Pecora, K.
Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl.,
Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; id. Reprint, p. 82 (1848);
=Schinz=, Mon. Antil. p. 7, pl. v. (1848); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 308
(1853); =Heugl.= Faun. roth. Meer, Peterm. Mitth. 1861, p. 16;
=id.= Ant. u. Buff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 7
(1863); =id.= N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 102 (1877); =Hartm.= Z. Ges.
Erdk. Berl. iii. p. 254 (1868).

_Gazella soemmerringii_, =Jard.= Nat. Libr. (1) vii. p. 215, pl.
xxviii. (1842); =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843); =id.=
Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846); id. Knowsl. Men. p. 5
(1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p. 114; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p.
59 (1852); =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853); =Scl.= P. Z.
S. 1867, p. 817, pl. xxxvii. (yg.); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt.
1, p. 158 (1869); =Blanf.= Zool. Abyss. p. 260 (1870); =Scl.=
P. Z. S. 1871, p. 701 (Suez?); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39
(1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 107 (1873); =Brooke=, P. Z.
S. 1873, p. 549; =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883); =Lort
Phillips=, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 932; =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus.
(Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 137 (1887); id. Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus.
(op. cit. xi.) p. 169 (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 210;
=W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 161 (1891); =Scl.= P. Z.
S. 1892, p. 100; =Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1892, p. 305; =Jent.= Cat.
Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 169 (1892); =Ward=,
Horn Meas. (1) p. 108, (2) p. 150 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns and
Hoofs, p. 236 (fig., head) (1893); =Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1895, p.
305 (habits); id. Seventeen Trips to Somaliland, p. 314 (1895);
=Donaldson Smith=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 868 (Juba R.); =Hoyos=, Zu
den Aulihan, p. 179, pl. x. fig. 6 (1895); =Thos.= Ann. Mus.
Genov. (2) xvii. p. 107 (1896); =Elliot=, Publ. Chicago Mus.,
Zool. i. p. 122 (1897).

_Antilope soemmerringii berberana_, =Matsch.= SB. nat. Freund.
1893, p. 65; =Rhoads=, P. Ac. Philad. 1896, p. 519.

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Arab_ or _Harab_ at Massowa, _Bus-Adu_ in
Danakil, _Om-Sabah_ in Arabic (_Heuglin_); _Aoul_ of Somalis
(_Swayne_).

Size large, height at withers 35½ inches in an old male of the Somali subspecies. General colour very pale fawn, and very uniform everywhere, as there are neither light nor dark lateral bands nor any pygal bands. Central facial band black or blackish fulvous, contrasting markedly with the white lateral facial streaks. Dark facial streaks also black, but very narrow. Sides of muzzle black, continuous with the central facial band. Back of ears whitish, margined and tipped with black. White of rump very broad and extended, projecting far into the body-colour, which it broadly shuts off from the tail. The latter is white basally, black tufted terminally. Knee-brushes present, whitish or fawn.

Basal length of skull 8·85 inches, greatest breadth 4·2, muzzle to orbit 5·4.

Horns long, nearly circular in section, heavily ringed. In the typical subspecies they are but little divergent for their basal half, but then curve widely outwards above, their tips being again abruptly hooked inwards so as to point almost directly towards each other. In the Somali subspecies their length is greater and their divergence is quite even, not increasing above, so that their upper portions are not nearly so widely separated; their tips also hook rather forwards, and not so directly inwards.

_Female_ similar to the male, but the horns much thinner and less rough, though almost as long as those of the male. In both of the subspecies their curvature is closely similar to that found in their respective males.

_Hab._ Coastland of Red Sea from Suakin south to Tajurah
(subspecies _typica_); Northern Somaliland (subspecies
_berberana_).

This fine Gazelle was one of the many discoveries made in North-east Africa by the great traveller and naturalist Edouard Rüppell, and was first described and figured by Cretzschmar in the ‘Atlas’ which illustrated the zoological portion of Rüppell’s ‘Reise.’ The species was dedicated to Ritter Samuel Thomas von Soemmerring, on the occasion of that savant attaining the fiftieth year of his Doctorate--an event which was celebrated by the Senckenbergian Naturalists’ Society of Frankfort-on-the-Main on the 7th of April, 1828. The original specimens were procured by Rüppell on the eastern slope of the Abyssinian coast-range, and were deposited along with all his other collections in the Senckenbergian Museum. In a _résumé_ of his knowledge of the East-African Antelopes contained in a subsequent work on the Vertebrates of Abyssinia, Rüppell tells us that he only met with this species in the bush-clad valleys of the Abyssinian coast, but that it was said to occur also on the large island of Dahalak off Massowah. It was generally observed in small families, which, however, sometimes congregated into larger herds.

Skull and horns of _Gazella soemmerringi typica_ (male).

(From a specimen in the British Museum.)]

Heuglin, another good authority on the animals of North-east Africa, informs us that this Antelope extends along the coast of the Red Sea from 20° N. latitude southwards to the Danakil country, and that it is also found in valleys of the Baraka and Atbara in the interior, and extends up to the neighbourhood of Berber, but is not so plentiful here as in the coast-districts.

Dr. W. T. Blanford, who accompanied the British Abyssinian Expedition of 1867–68 as naturalist, found this Antelope abundant on the coast of the Red Sea near Annesley Bay and Massowah, but states that it never ascends the hills. It was met with principally in the low bush and acacia-scrub in herds varying in size from a few individuals up to one hundred or more. A very large number, he adds, were shot by the sportsmen of the Expedition, who found the flesh excellent eating.

Fig. 82_b_.

Horns of _Gazella soemmerringi berberana_, ♂ & ♀.

(From specimens in the British Museum.)]

Examples of _Gazella soemmerringi_ are recorded by Sundevall as being contained in the extensive collections received by the Stockholm Museum which were made by the Swedish traveller Hedenborg in Sennaar, but the exact localities are not specified.

So much is all we have to say about the smaller and typical form of this species originally discovered by Rüppell. But about the larger subspecies of Northern Somaliland, which has been named _berberana_ by Herr Matschie, we are able to give greater details from information supplied by the many naturalists and sportsmen who have of late years visited the country which it inhabits. Although it does not appear that there is any discontinuity between the ranges of these two forms, and it is quite likely that intermediate specimens may occur where the two forms meet, we cannot but allow that Herr Matschie was justified in assigning a subspecific name to the Southern form. Not only is the latter a larger and finer animal with longer horns, but the curvature of its horns is, as we have already pointed out, so different that, so far as our experience goes, there can be no difficulty in distinguishing the two forms by this character alone.

Capt H. G. C. Swayne, R.E., in his ‘Seventeen Expeditions to Somaliland,’ writes thus of _Gazella soemmerringi_:--

“Five years ago, when I was staying in the quarters at Bulhár,
the _Aoul_ could be seen from the bungalow grazing out on the
plain. The Bulhár Maritime Plain used to be full of them, but
they have been so persecuted by sportsmen that they have now
retired to some distance.

“The _Aoul_ weighs about the same as the Gerenúk, but has a
shorter neck and a more clumsy-looking head, and is altogether
a coarser animal. It is a grass-feeder, and lives in the open
plains or in scattered bush, and never in thick jungle, and
prefers tolerably flat ground. The white hind-quarters can
be seen from a great distance, making a herd of _Aoul_ look
like a flock of sheep in the haze of the plains. I have never
seen them in the cedar-forests on the top of Gólis, but in the
hartebeest-ground to the south they are common. They are often
met with in large herds along with the hartebeests, and are very
common all over the Haud and Ogádén and near the Webbe.