Chapter VIII: Part 8

“They are, I think, the most stupid and easy to shoot of all
the Somáli Antelopes, and their habits are identical with
those of the Indian Blackbuck, but they are not equal to it
in beauty and grace of movement. _Aoul_ often make long
and high jumps when going away, presumably to look over the
backs of the others; they look something like specimens of the
Cape Springbuck which I have seen in England. I have never
observed them spring vertically to a great height, as the Indian
Blackbuck does. They are inquisitive like the Hartebeests, and
will follow a caravan in the open, and if fired at they make off
across the front, stretching themselves out at racing speed, and
drawing up in a troop now and then to gaze.”

Captain R. H. Light, of the Indian Staff Corps, who visited Somaliland in 1891, and has kindly furnished us with some field-notes on its Antelopes, writes that this Gazelle is found there in couples, and also in herds of fifty or more, and generally frequents plains with slight coverts. They are not usually difficult of approach, and out of a large herd he has shot four, one after the other, within a mile of ground, the herd moving off at every shot, but allowing him to approach again. At 150 yards distance or so Capt. Light says it is very hard to distinguish a buck from a doe of this Antelope, the size of the body being the same, and the slight differences in the thickness of the horns and neck being hardly perceptible. Their gait is longer and slower than that of Pelzeln’s Gazelle, but still not awkward like that of the “Gerenuk” (_Lithocranius walleri_).

Mr. F. Gillett, F.Z.S., who accompanied Dr. Donaldson Smith during the first portion of his journey to Lake Rudolph, and made other expeditions in Somaliland, has favoured us with the following notes on this species:--

“_Gazella soemmerringi_ is the common Gazelle of the interior
of Somaliland, supplanting the two Gazelles _G. spekei_ and
_G. pelzelni_, which inhabit the country lying to the south
of the Golis Mountains and the barren ground along the coast
respectively. Its native name is ‘Aoul,’ and it is found in the
open plains, as a rule in herds of from four to sixty beasts,
although occasionally I have come across an old buck by himself.
On July 14th, 1894, I saw a small herd of these Gazelles about
long. 44° 30´ E. and lat. 9° 48´ N., which is the most northerly
point at which I have found them, whilst to the east they are
not met with till even farther south. Herds of Speke’s Gazelle
are seen in company with Soemmerring’s Gazelle as far south as
lat. 9° 6´ N., after which _Gazella soemmerringi_ is alone found.

“Whilst in the Haud in 1894 I saw Oryx, and Waller’s, Speke’s,
and Soemmerring’s Gazelles all together at the same time. The
Soemmerring’s Gazelles prefer the open plains, although they are
also found in bushy park like country, but never in the Khansa
forests like _Gazella walleri_. When sighting anything
strange they bunch together and stare; they are the least timid
besides being the most plentiful of the Somali Antelopes, but in
the open plains they will often allow you to walk past them at
200 yards distance, whilst any Oryx that are with them decamp
long before. The horns of the female are much more slender than
those of the male, they are also shorter and more irregular.

“The flesh of this Gazelle is preferred by the Somalis to any
other, and on several occasions I have been asked by sick men
to shoot one for them, especially in cases of fever, when it is
considered to be very strengthening. When in the Arusa Galla
country in 1894–5 I did not come across this Gazelle between
the Webbe Shabeyli and long. 40° 30´ E., lat. 7° N.; in fact
once across the Webbe I did not meet it again till my return to
Somaliland, the country beyond being absolutely unsuited to it.
In the Aulihan district opposite Bari, however, I met with it on
the farther side of the Webbe.

“In February 1897, whilst camping in the Haud along with Mr.
Percy V. Aylmer, we met with examples of this Gazelle at least
35 miles from the nearest water as the crow flies. As it was the
dry season these animals could have obtained no moisture except
dew unless they travelled that distance. Although at present the
most plentiful, this, I fear, will be one of the first of the
Antelopes of Somaliland to disappear, and the Reservation, as
now laid down, will be of little or no use in protecting it.”

To Mr. Alfred E. Pease, M.P., F.Z.S., we are greatly indebted for the following notes on his experiences with this Antelope.--

“Soemmerring’s Antelope is widely distributed throughout
Somaliland. In the following notes my remarks are confined
to my own personal observations of this species during two
expeditions. The first was in the north-western corner of
the British Somali Protectorate, the second across the Haud
into Ogaden and the country south of Harrar frequented by the
Rer Mellingowr Ogaden. The average height of an adult male
Soemmerring’s Gazelle is about 35 inches at the shoulder, with
a girth behind the elbow of 32 inches. Unfortunately I never
weighed any specimen. In colour they are amongst the most
beautiful of the African Antelopes, and to see large herds of
them moving about as the first bright gleams of the sun in the
early morning touch them is one of the prettiest of the many
charming sights that meets the traveller’s eye in this part of
Africa. Their colour is an extremely rich clear pale orange on
the body, spread evenly over the back, flanks, and running in
narrowing bands down the four legs; this colour is set off by a
wide margin of snowy white, which not only covers the whole of
the belly and inner side of the legs, but which cuts back into
the rump, so that when the Gazelle is standing with its tail
towards you, you see little else but the snowy stern. Their
heads are beautifully marked, the pervading tint forming the
groundwork being of a slightly browner and fainter hue than the
body, relieved by an almost black band running down from between
the horns to the nostrils, and covering both sides of the nose
and facial ridge; a short band, also very distinct, of the same
colour runs down the tear-mark below the eye. In old bucks these
dark stripes are often very nearly jet-black; in younger males
and females the colouring varies from pale to dark brown. The
throat is sometimes white, and when not altogether so, generally
wears a more or less distinct crescent of white about two-thirds
down the lower part of the underside of the neck. Both males
and females carry heavy horns for animals of their size. The
female’s horns are quite as long as, and perhaps slightly longer
in proportion to their age than, the male’s, but they are weaker
and less regular, though almost as deeply notched and annulated
as in the buck. In general form they may be described as lyrate
in a front view; the tips often point exactly towards each
other, being separated sometimes two inches, sometimes even more
than six. Sometimes the tips point backwards, and sometimes
distinctly forwards.

“The ‘Aoul,’ as the Somalis call this Antelope, is almost
ubiquitous in Somaliland. I have seen it within a few hours
of Bulhar and Berbera on the maritime plain, whilst in 1896
we observed herds of it on the prairies to the south of the
Elmas Mountains. Once in the mountains, whether in the ranges
of the Gadabürsi country or of the Golis, you lose it and do
not find it again, unless it be in some interlying plain, till
you reach the region of the Haud. On the great prairies of the
Haud I have seen an astonishing number of great herds from a
single point of view. When travelling with Mr. E. N. Buxton and
Mr. A. E. Leatham we first came on to the great Marar Prairie
these Gazelles were seen in incredible quantities, and not
having been hunted by even the Midgans (who devoted their time
to pursuing the Oryx with their dogs and poisoned arrows) I
found them astonishingly tame, so much so that after securing
two or three specimens I never had the heart to betray their
confidence, and have often walked past them in the thin bush
that lines the northern edge of the plain within 20 paces, and
on some occasions so near that I could almost have touched them
with a long stick. At such times they have just lifted their
heads till I had passed, and on looking back they had resumed
feeding within a minute. I mention this as it is so very much
in contrast with my experience when crossing the Toyoo Plain to
the east in December 1896, when, though there were vast numbers
of them, they were most extraordinarily wild and went off full
gallop if you came within 400 yards of them. This was no doubt
the result of having been shot at by English shikaris, who often
take this route into Ogaden. On the Ogaden side of the Haud we
found them frequently both in the long dhur grass, the home of
the Dibatag (_Ammodorcas clarkei_), and also in open glades
in the regular bush. When we were west of Milmil we came across
these Gazelles occasionally till we reached the neighbourhood
of the Tug Sulul; but I do not remember seeing them again in
the more broken country that lies west of this Tug, and which
continues practically hilly right up to the mountains of Bourka.
From what I have been able to observe of the habits of this
Antelope, I should think the traveller might expect to find
it in any part of this corner of Africa where there are grass
plains or where the bush is level and not too thick. It seems to
thrive as well at sea-level as on the Haud at an elevation of
5000 feet.

“In the larger herds (say from 40 to 150 or more) the sexes are
generally mixed, with a large preponderance of females. Some
large herds are all females. Small herds may be either mixed,
or all females, or all bucks. I do not call to mind having seen
more than 14 old bucks alone together. The solitaires are, as
a rule, old bucks, though you do not often see one quite alone
at any distance from a herd. I have seen Speke’s Gazelle on the
Toyoo Plain feeding in the same herd as the Aoul, and the latter
are frequently in the company of the Hartebeest. The ‘Aoul’ is,
in my opinion, identical with the Ariel, which is common in
Abyssinia and the neighbourhood of Suakin, but it appears to
diminish in size somewhat to the north.”

Of the typical form of this Antelope the British Museum possesses an adult male specimen (mounted, but not exhibited), obtained by Esler in the Bogos country, and purchased in 1873, also a female from Sennaar received from the Stockholm Museum, in exchange, in 1846--probably one of those collected by Hedenborg. It has likewise a young male from Abyssinia procured by Rüppell, the original discoverer of the species, and received in exchange from the Frankfort Museum; a skull of a male obtained by Mr. W. Jesse during the Abyssinian Expedition; and several heads and skins from Suakin collected and presented by Major W. Sparkes, of the Welsh Regiment, now attached to the Egyptian army.

Of the southern subspecies, _Gazella soemmerringi berberana_, the National Collection possesses a stuffed adult male specimen obtained on the Shebeyli River, Somaliland, and presented by Col. Arthur Paget, who has also given to the Museum two heads (male and female) from the Bourdap Mountains in the same country. In the British Museum there are likewise a mounted head and skins of both sexes of this Antelope collected by Capt. Swayne in Somaliland and presented by Sclater.

The first living examples of Soemmerring’s Gazelle received by the Zoological Society were purchased of a dealer in August 1867. The announcement of their arrival, which appeared in the ‘Proceedings’ for November 14th of that year, was accompanied by a beautiful lithographic plate of the young pair drawn by Mr. Wolf. In 1871 a fine young male example of this Antelope was presented by Mr. Charles McIver, Jun., with the information that the specimen had been obtained in the desert on the Red Sea coast about 100 miles south of Suez. If this was correct, the range of this Antelope would appear to extend considerably further north than we know of upon any other authority. Other specimens of this Antelope were obtained in 1877, 1879, 1892, and 1895, including a fine pair from Suakin presented by Col. Holled Smith, C.B., in July 1892. At the present moment, also, there is a fine male of this Antelope in the Society’s Gardens, obtained by purchase in 1897.

Our representation of this Antelope (Plate LXX.) was drawn by Mr. Wolf under Sir Victor Brooke’s directions, and put upon the stone by Smit. It is that of an adult male example, but we unfortunately do not know from what specimen it was taken.

_September,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXI

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

The Red-necked Gazelle.

GAZELLA RUFICOLLIS.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

104. THE RED-NECKED GAZELLE.

Gazella Ruficollis (HAM. SMITH).

[Plate LXXI.]

_Antilope dama_, =Licht.= Abh. Ak. Berl. 1824, p. 226 (1826)
(_nec_ Pall.); =id.= Darst. Säug. pls. iii. (ad. & jr. ♂), iv.
(♀ & jr.) (1827); =Cretzschm.= Atl. Rüpp. Reis. pp. 39 & 43,
pls. xiv.-xvi. (1826) (Abyssinia); =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. v.
p. 331 (1827) (partim); =Hempr. & Ehr.= Symb. Phys., Mamm. pl.
vi. (1828), text (1833) (Dongola); =Rüpp.= N. Wirb. Abyss. p.
25 (1835); =Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 41 (1838);
=Rüpp.= Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38 (1842); =Sund.= K. Vet.-Ak.
Handl. 1842, p. 201 (1843); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug., Suppl. iv. p.
408 (1844), v. p. 404 (1855); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 424
(1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 25, pi. xxvi. (1848); =Gieb.= Säug.
p. 308 (1853); =Heugl.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop.
xxx. pt. 2) p. 6 (1863); =Hartm.= Z. Ges. Erdk. Berl. iii. p.
253 (1868); =Heugl.= N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 103 (1877).

_Gazella dama_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158 (1869);
=Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 547; =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus.
(Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 137 (1887); =id.= Cat. Mamm. =Leyd.=
Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 169 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p.
235 (1893).

_Antilope ruficollis_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 205 (1827).

_Gazella ruficollis_, =Gray=, 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. 60 (1862); =Temm.= Esq. Zool.
Guin. p. 193 (1853); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872); =id.=
Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 108 (1873); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 117
(1892), (2) p. 159 (1896).

_Antilope (Dama) addra_, =Benn.= P. Z. S. 1833, p. 2; =id.= Tr.
Z. S. i. p. 7 (1833); =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 288 (1836);
=Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat., Suppl. i. p. 261 (1840); =Reichenb.=
Säug. iii. p. 116, pi. xxxv. fig. 207 (1845).

_Antilope dama_, var. _orientalis_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak.
Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch.
Skand. Beitr. p. 262; =id.= Reprint, p. 82 (1848).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Addra_ in Dongola (_Hemprich & Ehrenberg_);
_Ariel_ or _Rīl_ in Arabic (_Heuglin_).

Size large, form graceful. Colour nearly all over white, the only parts which are of the usual rufous shade being the neck and anterior back, the sides and rump gradually shading off into white. Head and ears white, a faint rufous tinge on the centre line of the face. Neck deep rufous all round, except for a white spot on its anterior surface. Lower part of fore legs faintly rufous, rest of limbs and whole of tail white. Knee-brushes present.

Skull, basal length in an immature male 8·85 inches, greatest breadth 4·15, muzzle to orbit 5·3.

Horns of male thick, curved strongly backwards below, then hooked inwards and forwards above. Horns of female almost equally long, but comparatively thin, slightly curved, and not hooked terminally.

_Hab._ Dongola and Sennaar.

In concluding our account of the true Gazelles we come, at the end of the list, to a small but attractive group of three species which are closely related to one another, and take each other’s places as representatives in the different countries where they have been found. These three Antelopes are certainly nearly allied, and it is by no means improbable that, although all the accessible specimens known to us are distinguishable, intermediate forms will ultimately be found to link them together. It is especially likely that this will prove to be the case with the two western species, _G. dama_ and _G. mhorr_. All the three species of this group are exceedingly rare in collections, and we have been able to obtain but very little information about them, and very little material for comparison, the British Museum being badly off for specimens of all of them. It is to be hoped, however, that the prospective opening of the Soudan, by France on one side and England on the other, will lead to an increase of our knowledge of this group of Antelopes, and of the many other interesting forms of the great North-African desert.

We will commence our account of these three Gazelles with the one which inhabits the eastern part of the Soudan, where our own countrymen may soon be expected to meet with it.

The first notice of the existence of a species of this form in North-eastern Africa appears to have been given by Lichtenstein, who read a paper on the Antelopes of Northern Africa before the Academy of Sciences of Berlin on March 11th, 1824. Amongst the four Antelopes discussed in this learned treatise, which was mainly based upon the specimens sent to the Royal Collections by the well-known travellers Hemprich and Ehrenberg from Dongola and Sennaar, were several representatives of the present species which Lichtenstein not unnaturally referred to the _Antilope dama_ of Pallas. The same course was pursued by Hemprich and Ehrenberg themselves, who shortly afterwards published full descriptions and figures of it in their ‘Symbolæ Physicæ.’ They inform us that they met with specimens of this Antelope in Southern Dongola in the month of July 1822, and hunted it along with the Addax and Leucoryx, which occurred in the same district. They found it plentiful in herds and easy of access, even without the use of horses. Like the other species mentioned, it feeds principally on the acacias. They did not meet with this Antelope until they arrived at 20° N. lat. going south, after which they found it abundant. The Arabs, who much esteem the flesh and sell it when dried, call it “_Addra_.” It did not appear to approach the banks of the Nile, but kept entirely to the desert and to the valleys which traverse it, especially to the Chor-el-Lebben.

Not far from the same date another distinguished German traveller and naturalist, Rüppell, whose name we have already had frequent occasion to mention, also met with this Antelope. Rüppell sent his specimens to Frankfort-on-the-Main, where they were described and figured by Cretzschmar on the part of the Senckenbergian Society of Naturalists in 1826. Cretzschmar also referred these specimens to _Antilope dama_; but Hamilton Smith, after examining them in the Senckenbergian Museum, came to the correct conclusion that they belonged to a different species, on which he proposed to bestow the name _Antilope ruficollis_. We must therefore use _Gazella ruficollis_ as the correct scientific designation of this animal. A third German naturalist, Heuglin, who has recorded his experiences of this species, tells us that he met with it, generally in pairs or small families, and often mixed up with herds of other Gazelles, in the desert districts of Dongola and Kordofan, where it is known to the Arabs as the “Adra” or “Ledra.” From this native name, Bennett, in his memoir on _Gazella mhorr_, to which we shall presently refer, proposed to call the present species _Antilope addra_, but, as has been already stated, Hamilton Smith’s name has precedence.

_Gazella ruficollis_ is, we regret to say, represented in the British Museum by two specimens only, neither of which is suitable for exhibition in the Gallery. One of these is a stuffed female from Sennaar, received from the Stockholm Museum, in exchange, in 1846, and the other an imperfect skin of a male from Kordofan, purchased of a dealer in 1848.

We are not aware that this Gazelle has ever been brought to Europe alive.

Our figure (Plate LXXI.) has been drawn from the stuffed female in the British Museum.

_September,_ 1898.

105. THE DAMA GAZELLE.

GAZELLA DAMA (PALL.).

_Le Nanguer_, =Buff.= Hist. Nat. xii. p. 213, pl. xxxiv. (1764),
whence

_Antilope dama_, =Pall.= Misc. Zool. p. 5 (1766); =id.= Spic.
Zool. fasc. i. p. 8 (1767), fasc. xii. p. 13 (1777); =Müll.=
Natursyst. Suppl. p. 53 (1776); =Erxl.= Syst. R. A. p. 280
(1777); =Zimm.= Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 541 (1777); =id.= Geogr.
Gesch. ii. p. 114 (1780); =Gatt.= Brev. Zool. i. p. 81 (1780);
=Herm.= Tabl. Affin. Anim. p. 108 (1783); =Schreb.= Säug. pl.
cclxiv. (1785); =Bodd.= Elench. Anim. p. 141 (1785); =Gmel.=
Linn. S. N. i. p. 183 (1788); =Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 308
(1792); =Donnd.= Zool. Beytr. i. p. 623 (1792); =Link=, Beytr.
Nat. ii. p. 98 (1795); =Bechst.= Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p.
643 (1800); =Shaw=, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 359 (1801); =Turt.=
Linn. S. N. i. p. 112 (1802); =G. Cuv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p.
243 (1804); =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xv. p. 334, xxiv. Tabl.
p. 32 (1804); =Tiedem.= Zool. i. p. 408 (1808); =Licht.= Mag.
nat. Freund. vi. p. 170 (1814); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p. 409
(1814); =Afz.= N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815); =Desm.= N. Dict.
d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 189 (1816); =G. Cuv.= R. A. i. p. 263 (1817);
=Goldf.= Schr. Säug. v. p. 1199 (1818); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr.
i. p. 394 (1821); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 458 (1822); =H. Sm.=
Griff. An. K. iv. p. 206, v. p. 330 (1827); =Less.= Man. Mamm.
p. 375 (1827); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 463 (1829); =Less.=
Compl. Buff. x. p. 288 (1836); =Oken=, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1375
(1838); =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 616 (1839); =Less.=
N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842); =Reichenb.= Säug. iii. p.
115 (1845).

_Cerophorus (Cervicapra) dama_, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom.
1816, p. 75.

_Cemas dama_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 741 (1816).

_Gazella dama_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231
(1846); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 5 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p.
114; =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883); =Kohl=, Ann. Mus.
Wien, i. p. 79, pl. v. fig. 2 (skull) (1886) (partim); =Ward=,
Horn Meas. (1) p. 116 (1892), (2) p. 158 (1896).

_Antilope (Dama) nanguer_, =Benn.= P. Z. S. 1833, p. 2; =id.=
Trans. Z. S. i. p. 7 (1833); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i.
p. 261 (1840); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842).

_Gazella nanguer_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158 (1869).

_Antilope mhorr_, var. β, =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 410
(1844), v. p. 404 (1855).

_Gazella mohr_, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872) (partim);
=Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 648 (partim).

_Antilope dama_, var. _occidentalis_, =Sund.= Pecora, K.
Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl.,
Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; Reprint, p. 82 (1848).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Nanguer_ in Senegal (_Buffon_).

Size about as in _G. ruficollis_ and _G. mhorr_. Markings throughout very much as in the next species, _Gazella mhorr_, but the white of the rump-patch, although less than in _G. ruficollis_, where it spreads all over the body, is considerably more extended, uniting on the thighs with the white of the sides of the belly, and therefore cutting off the dark colour of the outer sides of the hind limbs from that of the back. Other characters very much as in _G. mhorr_.

_Hab._ Senegal and Gambia.

Passing now to the western end of Northern Africa we find this group of Antelopes represented by the “Dama” Gazelle, a species which has been known to naturalists ever since the time of Buffon. By him it was described and figured in the twelfth volume of his ‘Histoire Naturelle,’ under the name of “_Le Nanguer_” the appellation stated by Adanson to be given to it in Senegal. Upon the “Nanguer” of Buffon, Pallas in 1766 established his _Antilope dama_, so that there can be no question as to _Gazella dama_ being the correct name of the representative species of this group in Senegal. But whether Pallas was right in assigning the term “_dama_” of Pliny to the present animal is a matter open to much question. The late Mr. E. T. Bennett has discussed this subject in his article on the Mhorr Antelope published in the first volume of the Zoological Society’s ‘Transactions,’ to which we may refer our readers. But there can be little doubt that the ordinary “_Dama_” of the Romans was not the present animal, but the well-known Fallow-Deer, _Cervus dama_.

For many years the naturalists following Buffon and Pallas gave us no further information concerning this Antelope, and merely copied what their predecessors had said of it. Sundevall, in his well-known treatise on the “Pecora,” united the three members of this group together under “_Antilope dama_,” designating the forms of Morocco and Senegal as “var. _occidentalis_,” and stating that he had examined a specimen of it in the Frankfort Museum. If the locality and the references given by Rüppell in his catalogue of the Senckenbergian Collection are correct, the specimen in that collection must be the “Mhorr” of Morocco, and not the “Nanguer” of Senegal. We are told by Gray (‘Gleanings from the Knowsley Menagerie,’ p. 5) that the Frankfort specimen was originally received from the Zoological Society of London.

Among the numerous Antelopes procured from the Gambia for the Derby Menagerie by Lord Derby’s agent Whitfield were several examples of this species. Dr. Gray, in the letterpress to the ‘Gleanings,’ tells us that at the time of his writing (April 1850) there was a fine male of _Gazella dama_ living at Knowsley, and that a female, procured by the same collector, which died on its passage home, was preserved in the British Museum. This specimen, a skin of an immature animal, is still in the Museum, to which it was presented by the Earl of Derby, and, strange to say, is still the only example of this Antelope in the National Collection.

In 1865 a pair of this Gazelle (as recorded in the Society’s ‘Proceedings,’ 1865, p. 675) were acquired by the Zoological Society of London, from the Zoological Gardens, Antwerp. About the same period Sclater recollects having seen other examples of this Antelope in the Antwerp Gardens, but does not remember to have noticed them in any other of the continental Gardens which he has visited from time to time for many years.

In some MS. notes on the Antelopes of the Gambia which Sir Robert Llewelyn, K.C.M.G., the Governor of the Colony, has kindly sent to Sclater, “the Springbuck,” or “Kongko-tong” of the Mandingos, is stated to be “common all over the south bank of the river.” This “Springbuck” can be hardly any other Antelope than the present species. If such is the case, it is remarkable that a beautiful animal, so abundant in a British Colony a few days’ steam from our shores, should be still so little known in our Museums and Menageries.

_September,_ 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXII.

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

The Mhorr Gazelle.

GAZELLA MHORR.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

106. THE MHORR GAZELLE.

GAZELLA MHORR (BENN.).

[PLATE LXXII.]

_Nanguer_, =F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm. (fol.) iv. livr. 67 (1833)
(_nec_ Buff.).

_Antilope (Dama) mhorr_, =Benn.= P. Z. S. 1833, p. 1 (Mogador);
=id.= Tr. Z. S. i. p. 7, pl. i. (1833); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat.
Supp. i. p. 261 (1840).

_Antilope mhorr_, =Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 41
(1838); =Rüpp.= Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38 (1842); =Wagn.= Schr.
Säug. Supp. iv. p. 410 (1844) (partim); =Reichenb.= Säug. iii.
p. 116, pl. xxxv. fig. 212 (1845); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p.
426 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 25, pl. xxvi. (1848).

_Nanger mhorr_, =Lataste=, Mamm. Barb. (Act. Soc. Linn. Bord.
xxxix.) sep. cop. p. 173 (1885).

_Antilope mhoks_, =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 288 (1836).

_Gazella mohr_, =Gray=, 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); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones
Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158
(1869); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum.
B. M. p. 108 (1873); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 548 (in part.);
=Kohl=, Ann. Mus. Wien, i. p. 78 (1886); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p.
342 (1891); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.)
p. 168 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 235 (1893).

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

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Mhorr_, in Morocco (_Bennett_).

Size large, height of a male not fully adult 35½ inches. General colour dull rufous or rufous-fawn, becoming a deeper and richer rufous anteriorly. Face, cheeks, and chin whitish or whitish-fawn, the forehead beneath the horns and an inconspicuous dark cheek-streak blackish. Neck deep rufous, a conspicuous white spot on its front surface. No dark or light lateral bands present, nor pygal bands. White of belly extending rather high up on the sides, the line of white passing across the outer sides of the forearms on to the chest, where it contrasts conspicuously with the dark red of the neck. White of rump much as in _G. soemmerringi_, including the tail, and extending angularly forwards on each side into the body-colour, but not uniting with the belly-colour across the outer sides of the thighs. All the boundary-lines between the rufous and white well defined. Knee-brushes small. Tail white, a small brownish or fawn-coloured tuft at its extremity.

Horns of male thick, strongly bent backwards below, recurved upwards and forwards above.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but horns shorter and thinner.

_Hab._ South-western Morocco.

The last species of the group, and also of the genus _Gazella_, is the Mhorr, the Moroccan representative of the Dama Gazelle, to which, as we have already stated, it is very closely allied. Indeed, we have not inconsiderable doubts as to their real specific distinctness. Southern Morocco and Senegal approach so nearly together that it is not likely _prima facie_ that the Gazelles of their deserts would be specifically different.

The well-known zoologist, Mr. E. T. Bennett, who was Secretary to the Zoological Society of London in its early days, was the first describer of the “M’horr” as distinct from _Gazella dama_, and brought his account of it before a Meeting of that Society on January 8th, 1833. His full memoir on this subject was afterwards published in the Society’s ‘Transactions,’ where it occupies the first pages of the first volume of that standard work.

Bennett’s observations were made on two specimens of this Gazelle which were presented, while living, to the Zoological Society by Mr. E. W. A. Drummond-Hay, C.M.Z.S., then British Consul-General at Tangier, for whom they had been procured by Mr. E. W. Willshire, C.M.Z.S., British Vice-Consul at Mogador. Bennett also had before him a third specimen in the shape of an imperfect skin of this Antelope, also presented to the Society by Mr. Drummond-Hay. All these specimens are stated to have been brought “from the territories of the Sheik of Wednoon, twelve days’ journey inland from the latter place”; but, in spite of the expression “inland,” we suppose “Ouednoon,” as it should be more correctly written, to be the valley of the River Noon in the extreme southern coast district of Morocco, opposite the Canary Islands.

In the article in question, which is accompanied by an excellent coloured figure of the “M’hoor,” Bennett informs us that this Antelope “is regarded in the kingdom of Morocco as an exceedingly rare animal,” and continues as follows:--

“Mr. Willshire states that the one earliest obtained by him was
the first individual of the race which had been seen in Mogador.
It is highly esteemed, according to Mr. Drummond-Hay, on account
of its producing the bezoars, so precious in Oriental medicine,
which are known in Morocco as the Baid-al-Mhorr, or eggs of the
M’horr. Mr. Hay conjectures that Baid-Mhorr may possibly be the
source whence, rather than from the Persian Pazahar, the name of
Bezoar has sprung. It is pretended that two of these calculous
concretions are met with in the intestines of every individual
of the race, but none were found in that which died in the
Society’s collection, and which, as is stated by Mr. Spooner
and Mr. Langstaff, who examined it after death, agreed in its
visceral anatomy with the Antelopes in general.”

About the same time as the Zoological Society’s specimens arrived in England it would appear that living examples of the same Antelope reached the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. One of these, an immature female, was figured by Geoffrey St.-Hilaire and F. Cuvier on the 375th plate of their ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères.’ In the letterpress accompanying this plate we are informed that two young living examples (male and female) had been received there, and that the female had lived in good health for two years without changing her colour, only varying in the size of her body and in the shape of her horns. The authors inform us that when the “Nanguers” arrived at Paris they had only very short horns, about 4 or 5 inches in length, which were at that period strongly and uniformly curved towards the front. The male having died when young did not change the character of his horns, but those of the female having had time to develop became recurved behind and divergent one from the other. These Gazelles had neither tear-bags nor knee-brushes. When the figure was drawn the female stood about 2 feet 10 inches in height, but seemed to be not fully grown.

The authors of the ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères’ refer these specimens to the “Nanguer” of Buffon, and do not say from what country they were received, but from their figure and description there can be no doubt that they belonged to the _Gazella mhorr_ of Morocco and not to the true _G. dama_ of Senegal, if these two species are held to be distinct.

The only example of _Gazella mhorr_ in the British Museum is the mounted adult male from Morocco presented to the Zoological Society by Mr. Willshire in 1833, and formerly in that Society’s collection. It is no doubt the specimen from which Bennett’s figure in the ‘Transactions’ was taken, and is also, we believe, the original of our illustration (Plate LXXII.), which was put upon the stone by Mr. Smit under the direction of the late Sir Victor Brooke. Further information concerning this and other animals of Southern Morocco is much required, but until the present political conditions of that country are altered we are hardly likely to obtain it.

_September,_ 1898.

GENUS VII. AMMODORCAS.

Type.
_Ammodorcas_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 207 A. CLARKEI.

Size medium, about as in middle-sized Gazelles. Neck slender and rather elongated, but not so much as that of _Lithocranius_. Tail long, reaching nearly to the hocks. No Gazelline body-markings present, but the head with typically Gazelline streaks and bands. False hoofs small.

Skull long and low, approaching in shape that of _Lithocranius_, but less modified. Shallow anteorbital fossæ present. Premaxillæ reaching nasals. Premolars 3/3, the anterior in each jaw unusually small.

Horns of medium length, evenly divergent, curved upwards and forwards throughout their length, except just at their bases. Female hornless.

_Range of the Genus._ Restricted to Somaliland.

One species only.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXIII.

_J Smit del et lith_ _Hanhart imp._

The Dibatag.

AMMODORCAS CLARKEI.

_Published by R. H Porter_]

107. THE DIBATAG.

AMMODORCAS CLARKEI (THOS.).

[PLATE LXXIII.]

_Cervicapra clarkei_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) vii. p. 304
(1891).

Gazelle from Somaliland allied to _Lithocranius_, =Scl.= P. Z.
S. 1891, p. 197.

_Ammodorcas clarkei_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 207, pls. xxi.
& xxii. (head and skull); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 101; =Ward=,
Horn Meas. (1) p. 128 (1892), (2) p. 173 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns
and Hoofs, p. 240 (1893); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1892, pp. 101 & 118;
=Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 318 (habits); =id.= Seventeen Trips
to Somaliland, p. 310 (1895); =Hoyos=, Zu den Aulihan, p. 181
(1895); =Elliot=, Publ. Chicago Mus., Zool. i. p. 124 (1897).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Dibatag_ of Somalis (_Clarke_, _Swayne_, _and
others_).

Height at withers about 31 inches. General colour of body dark purplish rufous, no dark or light lateral or pygal bands present. Head with handsome sharply-defined Gazelline markings; the central facial band rich fulvous rufous, no darker spot on muzzle; light facial streaks long, sharply defined, and extending to the sides of the muzzle, pure white; areas round eyes and ears also whitish, though not sharply defined, connected with each other and continuous with the white facial streaks. Dark facial streaks present but not prominent. Back of ears dull whitish. Chin and interramia white. Cheeks below white markings, throat, and whole of neck dark purplish rufous, continuous with the back. Belly pure sharply-defined white, but on the chest this colour is broken by two projections running down from the dark throat-colour on each side of the middle line to between the elbows. Limbs, except their inner sides above, coloured like the back, but gradually passing lower down into fulvous instead of rufous. Knee-brushes present but small. Back of hams white, the white not projecting into the dark body-colour. Tail long, well-haired, but not crested, blackish above and below, except just at its base.

Skull-dimensions in an adult male:--Basal length 7·5 inches, greatest breadth 3·7, muzzle to orbit 4·2.

Horns attaining about 11 or 12 inches in length; their basal halves broadly ringed, their long forwardly-directed terminal halves smooth and evidently corresponding to the short smooth recurved tips of ordinary Gazelline horns.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but without horns.

_Hab._ Eastern parts of Central Somaliland, restricted to
the Dolbahanta and Marehán countries S.E. of Berbera.

We now conclude the long series of Gazelles with three abnormal forms, each constituting a genus of itself, which, curiously enough, are all restricted to N.E. Africa. As regards the first two of them there can be no question, we believe, of their close alliance to the Gazelles, _Ammodorcas_ being, in several respects, intermediate between _Gazellla_ and _Lithocranius_, and leading on to that most specialized form of the group. About the correct position of the Beira, however, there is considerable doubt, and it is quite possible that a more natural place for it in the Antelopine series may be hereafter discovered.

The Dibatag, or Clarke’s Gazelle, was first met with by the sportsman and naturalist whose name it bears in 1890, during his exploring trip into the Dolbahanta and Marehán country south-east of Berbera. Writing to Thomas about his discovery, Mr. T. W. H. Clarke (of Secheron, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania) says (see P. Z. S. 1891, p. 209):--

“I saw this Gazelle for the first time on December 17th, 1890,
about three hours from ‘Bairwell,’ or about one day from ‘Buroa
Well, Habergerhagi’s country,’ and afterwards on the road all
the way into the Marehan district, 8° N., 47° E. I killed a
male, and found one of the horns broken off close to the skull,
which had apparently been done a year or so ago.

“They are very graceful animals, with a long neck and
well-proportioned head and horns; the body is rather slender,
but considerably larger than in _Gazella spekei_, about the size
of a female _G. walleri_. The legs are long and slender; the
hoofs are not so triangular as those of _G. spekei_, and small
for the size of the animal. They have small ears and a long
upper lip, just like those of _G. walleri_ or a Giraffe. The
horns are of the shape of a sickle, and less than 12 inches in
length, the longest, out of the eleven males killed, measuring
11 inches. The tail, from what I remember, is about 12 or 13
inches in length, very thin, and thinly covered with black hair
about 1 inch long.

“The colour of the body in this Antelope is like that of the
neck, of a kind of pink-fawn, but the belly is whitish and the
tail black. The face resembles that of _G. walleri_, only
_G. walleri_ has no white in front of the eye.

“When running, or rather jumping, these Gazelles look very
peculiar; their long neck and head being thrown back and the
tail thrown forward, so that there appears to be only a foot
between head and tail. The country they are mostly found in is
of low thorn-bush and sandy; they do not seem to like the big
bushes, though at times they are found there. In this respect
they differ from _G. walleri_, this species liking many bushes
to go and rest in.

“The new Gazelle is to be found one day’s journey from Buroa
Wells, at an elevation of 3100 feet, to the Marehan country
(800 feet) (general course about S. by E.), and is there
more numerous than any other kind of game, excepting _G.
soemmerringi_; but the latter is found only in the open
country.

“Several times I observed the new Gazelle and G. walleri feeding
together, but I never saw more than eight in a bunch, and on
that occasion there was a male _G. soemmerringi_ with them.”

Mr. Clarke’s skulls of this Antelope, which were at the time without head-skins, having been submitted to Thomas for examination by Messrs. Rowland Ward and Co. (to whom Mr. Clarke had sent for preservation his specimens of Antelopes obtained during this expedition), were, on account of the shape of the horns, not unnaturally supposed to belong to a new species of Reedbuck, and named “_Cervicapra clarkei_”--a mistake which Thomas corrected in his later paper. Very shortly after Mr. Clarke’s specimens had been sent to Europe Capt. Swayne purchased of an Arab in the market at Berbera two pairs of horns of this Antelope with the head-skins attached, and, seeing that they belonged to a new species, sent them to Sclater. Sclater exhibited these specimens at a meeting of the Zoological Society on March 17th, 1891, and pointed out their Gazelline affinities, but finding that they belonged to the same species as that just named by Thomas handed them over to the latter for further examination.

In his paper upon this subject, which was read at the same meeting of the Zoological Society, Thomas took the opportunity of describing the whole series of Mr. Clarke’s Antelopes, which were eight in number. For Clarke’s Gazelle, of which, with the aid of the head-skins and the cleaned skulls, he had no difficulty in recognizing the true affinities, he established the new generic term “_Ammodorcas_,” and added a full description of this remarkable form, illustrated by two plates, one of which, by the kind permission of the Zoological Society, we are enabled to copy in the present work.

Head of the Dibatag, ♂.

(From P. Z. S. 1891, pl. xxi.)]

As already pointed out, it is evident that in its skull-characters _Ammodorcas_ is intermediate between _Gazella_ and _Lithocranius_, while in the shape of its horns it is absolutely different from all other Gazelline genera.

Capt. Swayne, who has had the unequalled experience of seventeen visits to Somaliland, writing in 1894, says:--

“I have been singularly unfortunate with this Antelope, never
having been in the country where it is found till I went to the
Nogal Valley some three years ago. At that time the Jilal, or
dry season, was at its height, and all the game was scarce and
shy, so I never got a _Dibatag_ till June 1893, when on my
return journey from Ogádén, across the waterless plateau, I made
a détour of several days to the east on purpose to shoot one for
my collection.

“I searched for _Dibatag_ at Tur, a jungle due south of the
Toyo grass plains, the distance being some eighty miles from
Berbera, and was lucky in getting one good buck and picking up
two pairs of horns. Although I saw a good many, all were wild
and shy. This is their extreme western limit, and they never by
any chance, I believe, come so far south as the Gólis Range.
Farther east, towards Buró, they are more plentiful and less shy.

“_Dibatag_ are very difficult to see, their purplish-grey
colour matching with the high durr grass in the glades where
they are found. The glossy coat, shining, reflects the
surrounding colours, making it sometimes almost invisible; and
at the best of times its slender body is hard to make out. I
have often mistaken female Waller’s Gazelles for _Dibatag_,
and once shot one of the former in mistake for the latter. The
habits and gait are much the same, save that the _Dibatag_
trots off with head held up, and the long tail held erect over
the back nearly meeting the head, while Waller’s Gazelle trots
away with its head down and its short tail screwed round. Like
Waller’s Gazelle the _Dibatag_ goes singly or in pairs, or
small families up to half a dozen.

“As in the case of Waller’s Gazelle, the _Dibatag_ is enabled by
its long neck and rather long upper lip to reach down branches
of the mimósa bushes from a considerable height. The shape of
head and way of feeding of both Antelopes are Giraffe-like,
and I have seen both standing on the hind legs, fore-feet
planted against the trunk of a tree, when feeding. I have seen
_Dibatag_ feeding both on thorn bushes and on the durr grass.
Both Waller’s and Clarke’s Antelopes can live far from water.
The country most suitable for _Dibatag_ is jungle of the khansa
or umbrella mimósa, alternating with glades of durr grass
which grows about six feet high. The females are hornless. The
_Dibatag_ is a very graceful Antelope, standing higher than an
Indian Blackbuck, but weighing probably a good deal less.”

Another well-known explorer of Somaliland, Mr. G. Percy V. Aylmer, kindly sends us the following field-notes on this species:--

“_Ammodorcas clarkei_, the Debbertag of the Somali, one
of the most beautiful and interesting of the rare Antelopes
of that country, is, I believe, exceedingly local. From the
reports of Messrs. Gillett, Pease, and other travellers, and my
own experience, I should roughly describe the range of these
Antelopes as contained within North latitude 8° to 9° 30´, and
East longitude 44°, to an unknown distance towards the east.
Morning and evening (within the above limits) they may be found
feeding in the open grass-covered plains which are dotted with
small scrubby bushes, patches of tall durr-grass, and immensely
tall white-ant hills. During the heat of the day they retire to
the shade of some solitary tree, where the dark mouse-colour
of their backs makes them particularly hard to pick out. Here
they stand motionless throughout the hot hours, apparently
drowsy, but in reality alert, and watching the landscape with
the keenest eyes for signs of danger from man, or the deadliest
of all their enemies--the leopard. In the opinion of the Midgan
(the Somāli hunting tribe) these are the wariest of Antelope,
and I have always had great difficulty in getting within shot,
partly because of the open nature of their feeding-ground, but
principally on account of their watchfulness and keenness of
vision at unusually great distances. On one occasion, being
lucky enough to get within 100 yards of two, and finding them to
be a female and calf, I contented myself with watching; and for
upwards of half an hour, whilst they fed, not two consecutive
mouthfuls were taken without the head being sharply raised and a
suspicious glance taken all round. In preference they feed upon
the small bushes, their long necks enabling them to reach up to
the young shoots, like Waller’s Gazelle, although they appear to
choose a less thorny variety. I have met with them occasionally
singly, generally in twos or threes, and once only as many as
five together. When disturbed they stand rigid, head upraised,
ears erect, tail stiffening, and the instant they begin to run
the tail (which is unusually long) stands up perpendicularly,
presenting, as they gallop away with their springy bounding
action, rather the appearance of a yawl’s mizzen-mast in a
sea-way. Thus they make a particularly difficult mark for the
disgusted stalker, who, exhausted by a long and arduous crawl
through the scanty cover, probably gets nothing but the flukiest
of snap-shots at the coveted specimen.”

Through the kind intervention of Mr. Pease we have also received some interesting particulars as to a wider range of the “Dibatag” from Lieut. R. Ward Jackson, of the 11th Hussars, who, accompanied by Capt. M. S. Wellby, has recently penetrated far into the eastern interior of the Somaliland peninsula. Mr. Jackson writes as follows:--

“In my journey I first saw _Dibatag_ between Bair and Kirrit.
They appear to be scattered all over the country between Bair
and Hodayu, and I found them most plentiful about 25 miles from
Kirrit. There Wellby shot three and wounded a fourth in one day,
but, as a rule, I saw two or three each day in a march of about
20 miles.

“Travelling eastward from Hodayu they gradually appeared to
grow less plentiful, and the last record I have of having seen
one was about 150 miles from Hodayu. After this I saw no more
until between Dagha Dalola and Mudug, about 130 miles from the
former, in the Mijourten country. Here I was surprised to find
them again very plentiful for three days, and I saw a few on
the following three days, after which they again ceased. A week
afterwards I found them again plentiful in the Marehan country,
gradually diminishing in numbers as we travelled south; the last
I saw was about 40 miles before we struck the Webbe Shebeyli.
On the homeward journey I came across an odd pair now and
then in the south of the Ogaden country. I have marked very
roughly (see map, fig. 84) the belts within which I found them
most plentiful. I do not remember having seen more than eight
together. In the Mijourten and Marehan country I have found
them quite close to Barao, and most plentiful in country where
there was very good grazing of ‘gillop,’ ‘jalaalo,’ and a fine
feathery grass. The country between Bair and Hodayu resembled
the Haud. As regards the description of the _Dibatag_, I
can add nothing to that contained in Swayne’s ‘Seventeen Trips
in Somaliland.’”

Map of Somaliland (showing the localities of the Dibatag).]

The specimens of _Ammodorcas clarkei_ in the British Museum consist of a head-skin with its skull from Burao Wells, presented by Mr. T. W. H. Clarke (the type of the species), and a stuffed male, the skins of a male and two females and their skulls from the same district, obtained in his second expedition, and presented by the same donor. There are also a skin and skeleton of a female from Darror Wells, on the Haud, presented by Mr. Ford G. Barclay, and the skull of a male from near the Bur Dap Mountain, Central Somaliland, presented by Col. A. Paget.

Our illustration of the male of this Gazelle, with the female in the distance (Plate LXXIII.), has been drawn and put on the stone from the specimens in the British Museum.

[Since this was written we have received from Dr. Matschie, through Herr Oscar Neumann, the interesting information that the Dibatag occurs in the Kilimanjaro district of German East Africa, a considerable extension of its previously known range.]

_September,_ 1898.

GENUS VIII. LITHOCRANIUS.

Type.
_Lithocranius_[16], =Kohl=, Ann. Mus. Wien,
i. p. 79 (1886) L. WALLERI.

Size about as in the larger Gazelles. Form very peculiar, owing to the great elongation of the neck, which gives almost a Giraffe-like appearance to the animal. Limbs also very long; false hoofs quite minute. Colouring of the head less typically Gazelline than in _Ammodorcas_, but a modification of the light lateral body-line present.

Skull (see fig. 85, p. 231) excessively long and low, the cranial part behind the horns particularly lengthened; the bones of this part very solid and stony. Bullæ low and opaque. A shallow anteorbital fossa present. Premaxillæ not reaching the nasals. Lower jaw slender and delicate. Premolars 3/3, the anterior one above almost as large as the second.

Horns thick, oval in section, very closely ringed, curved backwards as in many species of _Gazella_ for the greater part of their length, their middle portion more or less lyrate, as in _Gazella dorcas_, their tips recurved upwards or forwards. Female hornless.