Chapter IX: Part 9

_Range of the Genus._ Somaliland and British East Africa.

One species only.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXIV.

_J Smit del et lith._ _Hanhart imp._

The Gerenuk.

LITHOCRANIUS WALLERI.

_Published by R H Porter._]

108. THE GERENUK.

LITHOCRANIUS WALLERI (BROOKE).

[PLATE LXXIV.]

_Gazella walleri_, =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 929, pl. lvi.
(skull); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1884, p. 538, pl. xlix. (head and
skin); =Phillips=, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 931; =Scl.= in James’s
Unknown Horn of Africa, p. 262, pl. i. (1888); =Hunter=, in
Willoughby’s E. Afr. p. 289 (1889); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 342
(1891); =Inverarity=, Journ. Bombay N. H. Soc. vi. p. 459 (1891).

_Lit(h)ocranius (Gazella) walleri_, =Kohl=, Ann. Mus. Wien,
i. p. 79, pl. v. fig. 3, and pl. vi. fig. 1 (skull) (1886)
(Somaliland).

_Lithocranius walleri_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 207; =Scl.=
P. Z. S. 1892, p. 101; =Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1892, p. 305; =Ward=,
Horn Meas. (1) p. 134 (1892), (2) p. 175 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns
and Hoofs, p. 241 (1893); =Jackson=, in Badminton Big Game
Shooting, i. p. 307 (head) (1894); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1893, pp.
101 & 118; =Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 305 (habits); =id.=
Seventeen Trips to Somaliland, p. 312 (1895); =Matsch.= Säug.
Deutsch-O.-Afr. p. 132 (1895); =Hoyos=, Zu den Aulihan, p. 180,
pl. x. fig. 4 (1895); =Thos.= Ann. Mus. Genov. (2) xvii. p. 107
(1896); =Rhoads=, P. Ac. Philad. 1896, p. 519; =Elliot=, Publ.
Chicago Mus. Zool. i. p. 226 (1897).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Gerenuk_ of Somalis (_Swayne and others_).

Height at withers 39 inches in an old male. General colour of back rich chestnut rufous, sharply bounded on the upperside of each flank by the very distinct light lateral line, which passes below imperceptibly into fawn-colour, much paler than the dorsal colour, no trace of a dark lateral line being present. The fawn-colour also extends on to the crown, all round the neck, on the shoulders, hips, and down the limbs. Central line of face deep rufous; area round eye whitish, sometimes extended forwards as a light final streak towards the muzzle, but more often stopping just anterior to the openings of the lacrymal glands. Backs of ears pale fawn-colour; area round their bases but little lighter than rest of head. Fawn-colour of throat projecting down on to chest, as in _Ammodorcas clarkei_. Outer sides of limbs pale fawn throughout. Tail about 10 inches in length, rufous-fawn like the body basally above, whitish below, the tip tufted with black; on each side of its base the white of the hams, which is very narrow, runs up as a pointed projection into the dark body-colour.

The skull of an old male measures 8·75 inches in basal length, the greatest breadth being 3·8, and the muzzle to orbit 4·7.

The horns of good specimens attain 15 or 16 inches in length round the curves, but southern specimens, those from East Africa, have not, as a rule, such fine horns as those from Somaliland.

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

_Hab._ Somaliland, and thence southwards to the Tana
Valley, and the Kilimanjaro district of British East Africa.

This Antelope was first made known to science by the late Sir Victor Brooke in 1878 in the last of the many excellent articles which he published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings.’ His description was based on two skulls with horns attached to them which were lent to him for examination by Mr. Gerald Waller, F.Z.S., at whose request they were named by Brooke after Mr. Waller’s brother, “who lost his life in Africa.”

Although it is not so stated by Brooke (who was presumably ignorant of the fact), Mr. Waller’s specimens of this Antelope are now known to have been given to him by Sir John Kirk, at that time H.B.M. Consul at Zanzibar. In reply to enquiries Sir John kindly informs us that these skulls were procured by hunters in his employment on the coast near the River Juba in Southern Somaliland. Sir John subsequently shot specimens of it himself in the same district (where at that period it was very common), and also brought living examples of it away to Zanzibar.

In his description Brooke pointed out that, as is well shown in the accompanying figure (p. 231), which has been copied from the plate that illustrates his paper, the skull of this Gazelle, besides its general depression, stands widely apart from those of all other species of the group in the enormous backward prolongation of the occiput--“an extension gained principally by the great size of the occipital bone and the prominence of the occipital crest.” This divergence was so remarkable that Brooke doubted “whether the species should not constitute the type of a new subgenus.” As we shall see later, Brooke’s views have been fully justified by what has taken place since a close acquaintance with the structure of this singular Antelope has been acquired.

Skull of the Gerenuk.

(From Brooke, P. Z. S. 1878, pl. lvi.)]

It was six years after the publication of Brooke’s paper before any additional information concerning this strange Antelope was obtained. In November 1884 Sclater brought before the notice of the Zoological Society a series of flat skins of Mammals, prepared by the natives of Somaliland, which had been lent to him for examination by Mr. C. Hagenbeck, of Hamburg. Amongst these were two skins, at first believed to belong to a new Gazelle, but which, after much research and mainly by the aid of a mounted head obtained in Somaliland by the late Mr. F. L. James, he was enabled to prove must belong to the same Antelope on the skull of which _Gazella walleri_ had been founded. The skins were at once distinguishable by the well-defined dark brown dorsal stripe which, as we now know, forms such a noticeable feature in the present species. Further evidence of the identity of the Somaliland Antelope with _Gazella walleri_ was obtained by the comparison of Mr. James’s specimen with one of the typical skulls of the last-named species. They differed little, except in the slightly larger size of the northern specimen and in some other minor characters. It was thus first shown that the range of Waller’s Gazelle extends to Northern Somaliland, but we now know that the “Gerenuk,” as the Somalis call it, is one of the most abundant game-animals of that favoured land.

Sketch of Gerenuk, ♂ and ♀, in characteristic attitudes.

(From Neumann’s ‘Elephant-Hunting,’ p. 81. Lent by Messrs. Rowland Ward
& Co.)]

Capt. Swayne sums up his long acquaintance with this Antelope as follows:--

“The _Gerenúk_ is the commonest and most widely distributed
of the Somáli Antelopes except the little _Sakáro_, which
springs up like a hare from every thicket.

“The long neck of the _Gerenúk_, the large giraffe-like
eyes, and long muzzle are peculiar to it and the _Dibatag_
(_Ammodorcas clarkei_). The _Gerenúk_ is more of a browser of
bushes than a grass-feeder, and I have twice shot it in the act
of standing on the hind legs, neck extended, and fore feet
against the trunk of a tree, reaching down the tender shoots,
which could not be got in any other way. Thus not only the
appearance, but the habits of the _Gerenúk_ are giraffe-like.
The skull extends far back behind the ears, like that of a camel.

“It is found all over the Somali country in small families,
never in large herds, and generally in scattered bush, ravines,
and rocky ground. I think it subsists almost entirely on bushes,
as it is constantly found in places deserted by Oryx and all
other Antelopes because there is no grass. Perhaps the Gadabursi
country is the best ground for it, but the _Gerenúk_ is almost
ubiquitous and need not be specially looked for. I have never
seen it in the cedar-forests which crown Gólis, nor in the
treeless plains which occur in the Haud. It is not necessarily
found near water,--in fact, it is generally met with on stony
ground, where there is a sprinkling of thorn-jungle.

“The gait of this Antelope is peculiar, and when first seen
a buck will generally be standing motionless, head well up,
looking at the intruder, and trusting to its invisibility. Then
the head dives under the bushes, and the animal goes off at a
long crouching trot, stopping now and again behind some bush to
gaze. It seldom gallops, and its pace is never very fast. In the
whole shape of the head and neck, with its extended muzzle and
slender lower jaw, there is a marked resemblance between the
_Gerenúk_ and the _Dibatag_. The texture of the coat is much
alike in both. The horns of immature buck _Gerenúk_ have almost
exactly the same shape as those of the _Dibatag_. Their average
length when fully grown is about 13 inches. The females are
hornless; they sometimes lose or desert their young ones, as I
have now and then come on fawns living alone in the jungle. The
_Gerenúk_ stands a good deal higher than an Indian Blackbuck,
but would be of about the same weight.”

Mr. Frederick Gillett, F.Z.S., who accompanied Dr. Donaldson Smith during the first part of his expedition to Lake Rudolph, has kindly drawn up for us the following notes on Waller’s Gazelle:--

“This Gazelle is more like Clarke’s Gazelle than any other in
Somaliland, not only on account of its long neck, but because
of its habits. Never is it found out on the open plains, so
much frequented by Soemmerring’s Gazelle, but it prefers the
dense Khansa jungles, or, like Clarke’s Gazelle, the high
durr-grass of parts of the Haud. Sometimes it is found in
company with, or rather in the same neighbourhood as, _Gazella
soemmerringi_, in more or less open country amongst the
Khansa-bush and big aloes. It is usually seen in small families
of not more than a dozen, but never in herds. It relies on its
sharp eyesight and long neck for its safety, standing motionless
amongst the bush or grass watching for an enemy. Most of the
Somalis dislike its flesh, not so, however, the Lion and
Leopard, and many a Waller’s Gazelle is stalked and killed by
them. Its native name in Somaliland is ‘Gerenook,’ and in the
Arusa Galla country ‘Googoofto.’ In the latter country it is
very common, inhabiting the jungles frequented by Elephants and
Lesser Koodoos. It is the most ubiquitous of all the Antelopes
of this part of Africa, and it is a very common sight to see
a buck with its fore legs, like a goat, high up the trunk of
a Galol-tree nibbling the small green leaves. The female is
hornless, whilst the horns of a good male measure from 14 to 15
inches. Its legs are extremely slender. When disturbed it runs
with its long neck stretched out as near the ground as possible,
so that it can never be mistaken for a Clarke’s Gazelle, as
the latter always holds its head erect and its tail well over
its back, and springs instead of runs. The young are born, I
believe, early in the year; but I have never seen a really young
one, although I have been in the country every month in the year
except May and June. On December 8th, 1894, I was stalking an
Oryx when a female Waller’s Gazelle ran almost on to me pursued
by a male; they did not see me, but turned and ran back, and
then again came towards where I was lying, still without seeing
me. After they had gone I crawled on, when for the third time
they returned and this time saw me. I remained motionless on one
knee; the female retired to a bush, and the male with its neck
stretched at its full length came cautiously towards me till
within 25 yards, and then gave three or four snorts. As it was
the Oryx I was after I now moved and they at once trotted off.”

We copy an account of the native mode of capture of this Gazelle from Messrs. Parkinson and Dunbar’s narrative of their journey in Northern Somaliland in 1896 (Geogr. Journ. xi. p. 25):--

“We found here (on the Bur Dab range) an old man living entirely
alone, subsisting on gum and snared game. He was very clever
at catching ‘Gerenok,’ or Waller’s Gazelle, by means of a cord
made of the fibre of the ‘hig’ aloe. At one end of the cord a
running noose, 6 inches in diameter, was laid round the rim of a
cup-shaped hole scooped in the ground, and supported by a series
of small pegs. Near the noose was attached a fine but strong
thread, the other end of which was fastened to a springy branch
of a tree bent down for the purpose. The noose was prevented
from being dragged out of the hole by two pieces of wood laid
crosswise. The loose end of the cord was either tied to an
adjacent tree or pegged firmly to the ground, and all traces of
the trap neatly covered with leaves and sand. The Gazelle is, of
course, caught by the leg, and once the noose is drawn tightly
round above the hoof there is no escape; but it must need large
experience of the haunts of the game to know where to set these
gins. The old man had thirty or forty constantly set, and said
he got a Gazelle once every four or five days.”

Mr. Alfred Pease has kindly summarized his field-notes on the Gerenuk in the following paragraphs:--

“The Gerenuk is the commonest and most evenly distributed of all
the Somali Antelopes, if we exclude the little Dik-diks, but it
is by no means the least interesting. It is as peculiar as it
is beautiful. At rest it is graceful, when running grotesque,
and when feeding most curious in its pose. But its colouring
of red and purple-grey, its reach of view, and its motions all
wonderfully facilitate its power of escaping observation. At
300 yards I have often had my eye on them feeding, unable almost
to distinguish them from their likeness to stems of trees and
dead thorn. They are tree-feeders, and their length of leg,
body, and giraffe-like necks enable them to crop the leaves
from bush-trees at a great height from the ground. When thus
occupied in browsing they are often absolutely vertical, and for
minutes together motionless, save for the lips and head, which
are buried in the foliage. The male alone carries horns, varying
in length and circumference, which reach, in fine specimens,
15½ inches measured along the curve. The female is smaller and
slighter than the male. On being disturbed they often remain so
motionless that it is difficult to detect them in the bush, and
when they make off they do so very quickly, and are immediately
transformed from tall elegant animals with heads proudly carried
to clumsy crouching fugitives with outstretched heads and necks.
I have noticed when in flight they generally take a line more
or less parallel to the hunter, as if they did not consider it
safe to lose all knowledge of their pursuer’s whereabouts in
the bush. With this object apparently they will usually keep
the crest of a ridge or rise till they have put a considerable
distance between themselves and their enemy. They go singly
or in bands, but most commonly there are two, three, or more
together. I have never seen more than fifteen in one band, and
in that case twelve out of the fifteen were females. There is
no part of Somaliland that I have visited where they are not
common. In 1897 I saw some within five miles of Berbera, in 1896
and 1897 in the maritime plains, in the Golis, on the Haud,
in distant Ogaden, and far Bourha, but nowhere more numerous
than in the Godabürsi country. They are easily killed by
anyone who can shoot standing up, as the long-line shot at the
perpendicular, even when as narrow as that of a Gerenuk’s chest
and neck, is a comparatively easy one, and no very nice judgment
of range is necessary. Their meat is generally despised by the
Somalis, but eaten by the Midgans; but to my own taste it is
not very much less nice or more nasty than most other Antelope
flesh. The Somalis have an expression ‘_Gerenuk_,’ which is
derived from their opinion as to the merits of its flesh, as it
is generally considered nasty meat, yet not actually forbidden,
and occasionally even relished by individual Somalis. The word
is used constantly as an interjection to express dissent, either
in chaff or contempt, in the sense: ‘That may do for you, but it
won’t do for me!’”

We subjoin Mr. E. N. Buxton’s lively account of his experiences with this Antelope, extracted from the second series of ‘Short Stalks’:--

“The long-necked ‘Gerenook’ is a bush-feeder, like the Giraffe,
and is built on the same lines, except that the males carry
curved horns. The body is on the scale of a small Fallow-deer,
but such is its length of leg and neck that the head, when the
animal is on guard, is held over six feet from the ground.
They are generally found in small families of three or four.
The bright chestnut back makes it fairly easy to see them even
among the bushes. On the other hand, its sharp sight and length
of neck give it a conspicuous advantage against pursuers. At
the first sign of danger the Gerenook slinks behind the bushes,
and peeps over the tops as from a small watch-tower. Imagine
the strategical advantage you would have in guerilla-warfare
if you could screw your head on to your umbrella and gently
elevate it till it looked over the parapet, especially if your
eyes were placed quite at the top. If they think themselves
followed, down go their heads nearly to the ground and they
retreat at a slouching trot, keeping completely out of sight.
If you can manage to catch sight of one of these animals before
he sees you, and that is seldom, do not shoot him, but watch
him feeding. You will not have such a chance at the Zoo, for
this species has never been brought alive to Europe. When he has
consumed what he can reach in a normal attitude he rears up and
stands on his hind legs, assuming a perfectly erect position.
With the fore feet, which are carried level with the cheeks, he
holds the boughs down, and assists his balance. If he happens to
be facing you, so as to show his white belly, the appearance is
particularly odd, being that of a tall brown man clad in a white
apron.”

It will be recollected that _Lithocranius walleri_, although actually better known to us from Somaliland, was originally discovered in the southern part of its range, in British East Africa. Here, according to Mr. Hunter, it is “very rare in the Kilimanjaro district, though numerous up the Tana River.” Lieut v. Höhnel, who accompanied Count Teleki’s expedition to Lake Rudolph, informs us that it is common also on the Upper Tana, between Hameye and the mouth of the Mackenzie River, but that none were found on the Guaso Nyiro. Mr. Jackson, in the first volume of ‘Big Game Shooting,’ writes as follows concerning the habits of this species in British East Africa:--

“The East-African Waller’s Gazelle is very much smaller than
that found in the Somali country. There is no mistaking this
Antelope for any other, on account of its extraordinarily long
and thin neck, which in the case of a fully adult buck, killed
by myself at Merereni, was only 10 inches in circumference.
Two females measured only 7 inches each round the neck. When
walking and seen at a distance these animals look not unlike
pigmy Giraffes, as they carry their long necks stretched out at
an angle. They frequent the open bush fringing the outskirts
of dense thickets, into which they at once retreat on being
disturbed. Their note of alarm is a low short ‘buzz’! This
Gazelle is essentially a bush-feeder. At Merereni I once watched
a doe feeding on a small-leaved bush not unlike the privet in
appearance, and several times I saw her rear up on her hind
legs, bend down a branch with her fore legs, and feed on the
leaves in this upright position like a goat. This quaint-looking
little Antelope, like the Bushbuck, is apt to haunt one
particular spot, and may be seen in or quite near to it for
weeks together. They are very shy and not easy to stalk, and,
as they have a happy knack of hiding behind bushes in the most
effective manner, they are not easy to see.”

The Gerenuk was well represented in the collection of Mammals obtained by Mr. D. G. Elliot in the course of his recent expedition to Somaliland, and a series of specimens of this Antelope obtained on that occasion has been mounted in characteristic attitudes in one of the large show-cases of the Field-Columbian Museum at Chicago. Mr. Elliot has kindly sent us some photographs of this interesting group, which show the male, female, and young, and their peculiar manner of feeding.

The Gerenuk is represented in the British Museum by a fine mounted pair obtained by Herr Menges in the neighbourhood of Berbera, from which our illustration of both sexes (Plate LXXIV.) has been prepared by Mr. Smit. There are also four other skins of both sexes, purchased of Herr Menges, and the skin figured by Sclater (P. Z. S. 1884, pl. xlix.), which was presented to him by Herr Hagenbeck, but was likewise originally procured by Herr Menges. In the National Collection there are also a skin and skull of a male of this Antelope from Burao Wells, Somaliland, presented by Mr. T. W. H. Clarke, another skin and skull from the hills south of Berbera, presented by Capt. J. R. Harkness, R.A., and a mounted skeleton from Somaliland, obtained by purchase.

From the southern part of its range the British Museum has one of the original skulls from the River Juba district upon which the species was founded, and three skulls and some separate horns from the extreme south of the Somali coast, obtained by Sir John Kirk.

_September,_ 1898.

GENUS IX. DORCOTRAGUS.

Type
_Dorcatragus_, Noack, Zool. Auz. xvii.
p. 202 (1894) D. MEGALOTIS.

Size very small, smaller than in any Gazelle. Ears large. Tail short. False hoofs minute; horny part of main hoofs short, but the internal pad to the hoof broad and thick; position of limbs in standing almost as in _Oreotragus_. No Gazelline head-markings, but a dark lateral band present on the sides of the body.

Skull broad and short. Nasals short and premaxillæ long, the structure in this region recalling that in _Madoqua_. Anteorbital region with a very small and shallow lacrymal fossa. Bullæ large and inflated. Premolars 3/3, the anterior very large.

Horns short, straight or faintly curved forwards, not unlike those of _Raphiceros_, and quite different from those of any true Gazelle. Female hornless.

_Range of the Genus._ Restricted to Somaliland.

One species only.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXV.

_Smit del. et lith._

The Beira.

DORCOTRAGUS MEGALOTIS.

_Hanhart imp._

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

109. THE BEIRA.

DORCOTRAGUS MEGALOTIS (MENGES).

[PLATE LXXV.]

_Behra_, =Menges=, Peterm. Mitth. xxxi. p. 454 (1885) (Hekebo
plateau).

_Beira_, Scl. P. Z. S. 1892, pp. 102, 118; =Swayne=, P. Z. S.
1892, p. 308.

_Oreotragus megalotis_, =Menges=, Zool. Anz. xvii. p. 131
(1894); =Swayne=, Seventeen Trips to Somaliland, p. 321 (1895).

_Dorcotragus megalotis_, =Noack=, Zool. Anz. xvii. p. 202
(1894); =Hoyos=, Zu den Aulihan, p. 186 (1895); =Elliot=, Publ.
Chicago Mus. Zool. i. p. 135 (1897) (Hargeisa).

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

Size about as in the Steinbok or Grysbok; height at withers 20 inches in an adult male. General colour of neck and back a peculiar purplish grey, very finely grizzled with white, the extreme tips of the hairs being this latter colour. Scarcely a trace of a light lateral band, but a distinct dark one present, brownish, passing quite across the shoulder, and extending behind on to the sides of the rump. Belly not, as is usual, pure white throughout, but only white on the axillæ and groins, the remainder pale yellowish fawn, or even orange-fawn, this colour also extending on to the outer sides of the forearms and thighs; rest of limbs becoming darker fulvous to the hoofs. Head bright fulvous, quite different to the neck; area round eyes white, but no Gazelline facial streaks present. Tail short and rather bushy, coloured like the back, without darker tip.

Measurements of an old male skull:--Basal length 5·35 inches, greatest breadth 3·15, muzzle to orbit 3·2.

Horns ordinarily from 4 to 5 inches in length, the longest in the British Museum collection, one of Capt. Swayne’s, attaining 5½ inches.

_Hab._ Northern Somaliland; hills along the northern edge
of the Haud.

On several occasions during the many years in which Sclater’s excellent correspondent Captain H. G. C. Swayne, R.E., was engaged on his various explorations and expeditions in Somaliland, he wrote about a “small red Antelope” found in the mountains which had the habits of a “Klipspringer,” but, according to native testimony, was of quite a different species. The existence of the same animal had also been recorded as long ago as 1885 under the name “_Behra_,” by Herr Josef Menges, in an account of his fourth journey in Somaliland, published in Petermann’s ‘Mittheilungen.’ Herr Menges met with the “_Behra_” on the Hekebo plateau (about 10° S. lat. and 44° 40´ E. long.), and had at one time a young living specimen of it in his possession.

After Herr Menges the “_Behra_” or “_Beira_,” as it is now usually called, after its Somali name, seems to have been first actually seen by Lieut. E. J. Swayne, of the Indian Staff Corps, Capt. Swayne’s brother, when he was in the Gadabursi country in the autumn of 1891. He observed two of them among very rugged hills, but failed to get a shot at them. He described them to Capt. Swayne as being “reddish Antelopes, rather larger than the Klipspringer, with small straight horns, which bounded away among the rocks in exactly the same manner as the Klipspringer.”

Capt. Swayne was much excited about this discovery, and promised Sclater to do all he could to procure specimens of the animal. On his last trip to Somaliland he was assured by his Somalis that he would find the “Beira” on Waggar Mountain, near the south-eastern extremity of the Golis range, but he had not time to go there. On leaving Berbera, however, Capt. Swayne exhorted his men to proceed to the mountains themselves and to endeavour to procure some specimens of the Beira, offering them a handsome reward for good heads and skulls of a male and female, and leaving instructions to his agents there to pay the men and to forward the specimens.

Early in 1894 the much-wished-for skins were obtained by the faithful Somalis and forwarded to Sclater by Captain Swayne. We were proceeding to describe and figure them in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings,’ when we found that we had been anticipated by Herr Menges, who had just described the species in the ‘Zoologischer Anzeiger,’ and given it the name “_Oreotragus megalotis_.” It has, however, certainly but a very remote connection, except as regards its habits, with the Klipspringer (_Oreotragus_), and Dr. Noack was quite justified in proposing for it the new and appropriate term _Dorcatragus_ (δορκας, an Antelope, and τραγος, a Goat), which he did in the same periodical shortly afterwards. Dr. Noack based his article upon two specimens, male and female, which he had then lately received from Herr Menges for examination.

The next traveller in Somaliland to encounter this rare Antelope was, we believe, Capt. P. Z. Cox, who, writing to Dr. Günther from Berbera in April 1895, gave an account of the circumstances under which he obtained a female example of the Beira for the British Museum:--

“I was returning from a short trip in the interior, upon duty
and pleasure combined--I was about 50 miles from Berbera;
the country I was travelling through was level plain, with
occasional flat-topped tablelands, with steep sides rising sheer
out of the general level of the surrounding country. I was
passing the foot of one of these large plateaux on 29th March,
with my Somali Shikari, in search of game, and remarked to him
that there was a rare Klipspringer said to be found on these
plateaux, and that I thought I would scale the steep side and
just see what there was at the top.

“Accordingly we toiled up the face of the tableland and reached
the top. It was simply a large stretch of perfectly flat ground
covered with large, loose, black, burnt-up stones, with an
occasional green bush to vary the monotony. The extent of the
plateau was about a mile in length by half a mile broad. We had
a very tiring tramp over this course, shingle from end to end
of it, and just as we reached the further end, where there was
a little fringe of green bushes, we espied several Antelope
browsing about 300 yards from us. I could not quite make out
what they were, and expected them to be some young animals of
the Greater Koodoo; but directly my Shikari saw them he said,
‘Do you know what those are, Sir? they are “Bahra”; I have only
seen them once before, and no sportsman has ever shot them.’

“There was no cover between us and them, and it was impossible
to stalk them from where we were, so we made a long detour below
the crest of the plateau expecting that we could come up within
shot on the other side of the animals; but it was impossible to
move without displacing stones and making a noise, and when we
emerged above the crest again it was only to see five Antelopes
streaming over the plateau in the direction we had just come
from. Under such circumstances Klipspringer would have separated
and taken to the rocks on the steep sides of the plateau,
whereas these animals kept in a herd together and galloped away
over the flat just as a herd of Gazelle would do.

“I was much disappointed at not getting a shot, but I was sure
they would not leave the plateau, and determined to leave no
stone unturned to come up with them. We tramped on in the
direction they had gone, and after going about half a mile
caught sight of them again; but they had seen us first, and
were going hard at about 250 yards when we saw them. It would
have been a very fluky shot, and I held my hand. I could now
distinguish four females and one buck, which appeared to have
horns exactly like a Gazelle, between 8 and 10 inches long.

“When they were fairly under weigh we got a bush between us and
them, and hurried after them as quick as we could. After a few
moments, as luck would have it, they all stopped in a bunch and
turned round with their heads towards us at about 300 yards.
I could not distinguish the buck at the moment, as they were
standing among bushes and were not distinct, but I aimed at one
which turned partially broadside and fired. The animal fell
dead, and the other four streamed away out of sight. On running
up I found that it was a female that I had killed, and I am
sorry to say that on grallocking her we found an almost mature
embryo inside her. I was unable to preserve this as I had no
spirit with me, but the fact shows that the animal killed was an
adult.

“I took careful measurements on the spot, and found the height
at shoulder 23 inches; distance from the nose to the root of the
tail 33; the tail including 2-inch hair 5½; the length of ears
in front 6¼, and their breadth 2¾.”

Sir Edmund Loder has kindly favoured us with the following field-notes on the Beira:--

“Mr. Percy Aylmer heard of this Antelope on the stony foot-hills
in Gubau (N. of Hargaisa), and saw it on one of the isolated
foot-hills to the south of Gau Libah. Mr. A. E. Pease and
I found it on another detached hill about 20 miles west of
this. This particular hill was extremely rough and rugged,
covered with loose boulders, making walking and silent stalking
extremely difficult. This hill was also frequented by Gumbouri
(Wild Asses, _Equus somalicus_), which, from their large
size, were easily seen. The case was, however, very different
with the ‘Baira,’ which, at a comparative short distance, seemed
to melt out of sight immediately they stopped moving, and indeed
when they were in motion it was rather the moving black shadow
cast by a tropical sun that caught the eye than the animal
itself. They were observed by us in bands of seven, three, and
three. In the two lots of three which I saw there was what I
take to be one adult male with each. The only record of height
that I can lay my hand on at this moment is that of an adult
female, which measured at the shoulder 2 feet 2 inches; probably
the male would be an inch higher.

“The whole colour of this Gazelle is very beautiful in its tints
of buff, purple, fawn, and grey and white; but what struck us
most was their ears and hoofs. The ears, besides being very
large and ornamental, are remarkable for the distinct rayed
marking on the inside. The hoofs are well worth a special
drawing, as they differ from those of any other Antelope with
which I am acquainted. They are very much hollowed out, as is
very noticeable in the track which they leave. The foot of the
stuffed specimen in the Natural History Museum is filled up with
some black substance which does not seem to me to be natural.”

The accompanying view of the head is enlarged from a photograph of this Antelope kindly sent to us by Sir Edmund Loder.

Front view of the head of the Beira.]

During Mr. D. G. Elliot’s East-African expedition of 1896, Mr. Akeley, one of his party, obtained two examples of this Antelope on Nasr Hablod Mountain, near Hargeisa, in nearly the same district as that just described by Sir Edmund Loder. These specimens are now in the Field-Columbian Museum at Chicago.

The British Museum contains a mounted specimen of an adult male of the Beira (from which our figure, Plate LXXV., has been prepared by Mr. Smit) and a skin of a female of the same species purchased of Herr Menges, besides the two skins obtained by the Somalis for Capt. Swayne, as above mentioned, which have been presented to the Museum by Sclater. It contains also a skin and complete skeleton of a female of this Antelope presented by Capt. P. Z. Cox, as described above.

_September,_ 1898.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This species, although mentioned last in Pallas’s List, may be taken as the type of the genus, because the term “_Antilope_” is clearly based on Ray’s and Buffon’s name for the Black-buck (The Antelope; _l’Antilope_), quoted and identified by Pallas, and only used up to this date for this particular species. The ordinary justification for the same course, based on de Blainville’s revision of 1816, is, as in so many other cases, invalidated by the earlier work of Lichtenstein, by whom the Black-buck was placed among the “_Gazellæ_,” and not among the “_Antilopæ genuinæ_.”

[2] _Saiga prisca_, Nehring, N. Jahrb. f. Min., Geol. u. Pal. ii. p. 131 (1891).

[3] This species may be taken as the type of _Gazella_, as being the only one which is common to Lichtenstein’s original genus and to Blainville’s “_Gazella_” of 1816. The latter author is ordinarily quoted as the original founder of the name, and his list includes the best known species--_G. dorcas_. But Lichtenstein’s genus, two years earlier in date, does not contain _G. dorcas_ at all, and the only way in which the name _Gazella_ can be properly retained for this group is by regarding _G. subgutturosa_ as its type.

[4] Przewalski’s ‘Mongolia,’ Morgan’s Translation, ii. pp. 208 _et seqq._

[5] Owing to the Plate having been drawn from winter skins, in which the ears are thickly covered with hair, this character is not properly shown in the figures.

[6] See List Vert. An. Z. S. 1883, p. 141.

[7] See P. Z. S. 1892, p. 711.

[8] See P. Z. S. 1895, p. 400.

[9] See P. Z. S. 1874, p. 494.

[10] See Burton’s “Narrative of a Trip to Harar,” Journ. R. G. S. xxv. p. 136 (1855).

[11] See Cat. of Mamm. in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Part II., by W. L. Sclater (1891), p. 158.

[12] See Mr. F. L. James’s “Journey through the Somali to the Webbe Shebeyly,” Proc. R. G. S. vii. p. 625 (1885).

[13] ‘Seventeen Trips through Somaliland.’ London, Rowland Ward, 1895.

[14] See under _Gazella marica_, above, p. 95.

[15] ‘The Rise of our East-African Empire,’ i. p. 535.

[16] Misprinted _Litocranius_ in the original description. The name is based on the solid stony character of the cranium (λιθος = _lapis_).

Transcriber’s Notes:

1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.

2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.

3. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the original.

4. Superscripts are represented using the caret character, e.g. D^r. or X^{xx}.

5. Italics are shown as _xxx_.

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