“The Gazelle (Gazella dorcas) is by far the most abundant of all the large game in Palestine; indeed it is the only wild animal of the chase which an ordinary traveller has any chance of seeing. Small herds of gazelles are to be found in every part of the country, and in the south they congregate in herds of nearly 100 together. One such herd I met with at the southern end of the Jebel Usdum, or salt mountain, south of the Dead Sea, where they had congregated to drink of the only sweet spring within several miles, Ain Beida. Though generally considered an animal of the desert and the plains, the gazelle appears at home everywhere. It shares the rocks of Engedi with the wild goats; it dashes over the wide expanse of the desert beyond Beersheba; it canters in single file under the monastery of Marsaba. We found it in the glades of Carmel, and it often springs from its leafy covert on the back of Tabor, and screens itself under the thorn bushes of Gennesaret. Among the grey hills of Galilee it is still ‘the roe upon the mountains of Bether,’ and I have seen a little troop of gazelles feeding on the Mount of Olives, close to Jerusalem itself. While in the open grounds of the south it is the wildest of game, and can only be approached, unless by chance, at its accustomed drinking-places, and that before the dawn of morning; in the glades of Galilee it is very easily surprised, and trusts to the concealment of its covert for safety. I have repeatedly startled the gazelle from a brake only a few yards in front of me, and once, when ensconced out of sight in a storax bush, I watched a pair of gazelles with their kid, which the dam was suckling. Ever and anon both the soft-eyed parents would gambol with it as though fawns themselves.”
“The Gazelle (Gazella dorcas) is by far the most abundant of all the large game in Palestine; indeed it is the only wild animal of the chase which an ordinary traveller has any chance of seeing. Small herds of gazelles are to be found in every part of the country, and in the south they congregate in herds of nearly 100 together. One such herd I met with at the southern end of the Jebel Usdum, or salt mountain, south of the Dead Sea, where they had congregated to drink of the only sweet spring within several miles, Ain Beida. Though generally considered an animal of the desert and the plains, the gazelle appears at home everywhere. It shares the rocks of Engedi with the wild goats; it dashes over the wide expanse of the desert beyond Beersheba; it canters in single file under the monastery of Marsaba. We found it in the glades of Carmel, and it often springs from its leafy covert on the back of Tabor, and screens itself under the thorn bushes of Gennesaret. Among the grey hills of Galilee it is still ‘the roe upon the mountains of Bether,’ and I have seen a little troop of gazelles feeding on the Mount of Olives, close to Jerusalem itself. While in the open grounds of the south it is the wildest of game, and can only be approached, unless by chance, at its accustomed drinking-places, and that before the dawn of morning; in the glades of Galilee it is very easily surprised, and trusts to the concealment of its covert for safety. I have repeatedly startled the gazelle from a brake only a few yards in front of me, and once, when ensconced out of sight in a storax bush, I watched a pair of gazelles with their kid, which the dam was suckling. Ever and anon both the soft-eyed parents would gambol with it as though fawns themselves.”
Canon Tristram describes the mode of hunting Gazelles practised by the Arabs as follows:—
“The usual way of hunting the Gazelle is by lying in wait, either at its watering-places, which are always known to the Arabs, or in the defiles in the rocky districts. A more wholesale mode is practised in the Houran, by driving a herd into a decoy-enclosure, with a pitfall on the other side, where they are easily taken. When in company with great sheikhs, I have more than once had an opportunity of witnessing the chase of the Gazelle, after the only fashion which the high-bred Bedouin thinks sportsmanlike, viz. with the greyhound or the falcon, or more often with both combined. When the greyhound, which is the large Persian dog, with long silky ears and silky tail, is employed alone, success is very uncertain, and the ‘roe’ often ‘delivers itself from the hand of the hunter.’ When the chase is conducted with the falcon alone, the bird is trained to dash repeatedly at the head of the victim, taking an instinctive care not toimpale itself on the horns (which, nevertheless, often happens), and by its feints so to delay the quarry that the horsemen are able to come up with it. But the favourite chase is by both bird and dog. The birds are first swung off at the Gazelle, and make repeated swoops, while the greyhound gains upon it and seizes it. With a well-trained bird the poor beast can rarely escape in this chase, unless he have a long start of the hunter. The flesh of the Gazelle, though of high repute, we did not find so savoury as that of the wild goat. Indeed it was generally very dry and always lean, but our taste is not that of the Arabs.”
“The usual way of hunting the Gazelle is by lying in wait, either at its watering-places, which are always known to the Arabs, or in the defiles in the rocky districts. A more wholesale mode is practised in the Houran, by driving a herd into a decoy-enclosure, with a pitfall on the other side, where they are easily taken. When in company with great sheikhs, I have more than once had an opportunity of witnessing the chase of the Gazelle, after the only fashion which the high-bred Bedouin thinks sportsmanlike, viz. with the greyhound or the falcon, or more often with both combined. When the greyhound, which is the large Persian dog, with long silky ears and silky tail, is employed alone, success is very uncertain, and the ‘roe’ often ‘delivers itself from the hand of the hunter.’ When the chase is conducted with the falcon alone, the bird is trained to dash repeatedly at the head of the victim, taking an instinctive care not toimpale itself on the horns (which, nevertheless, often happens), and by its feints so to delay the quarry that the horsemen are able to come up with it. But the favourite chase is by both bird and dog. The birds are first swung off at the Gazelle, and make repeated swoops, while the greyhound gains upon it and seizes it. With a well-trained bird the poor beast can rarely escape in this chase, unless he have a long start of the hunter. The flesh of the Gazelle, though of high repute, we did not find so savoury as that of the wild goat. Indeed it was generally very dry and always lean, but our taste is not that of the Arabs.”
In the desert country east of the Jordan, Canon Tristram tells us, the Dorcas Gazelle is replaced by the Arabian Gazelle (G. arabica); but a Gazelle, probably of this species, is found in the Syrian Desert north of Damascus, as testified by many writers.
In his interesting volume on ‘Palmyra and Zenobia,’ Dr. William Wright, describing his journey between Damascus and Palmyra, says:—
“We passed several gazelle-traps near Karyetan. Little walls converge to a field from a great distance, increasing in height as they approach the field. The field is walled round, leaving gaps at intervals, outside of which there are deep pits. The Gazelles, led on by curiosity, and guided by the little walls, march boldly into the field, and when they are startled, they rush out wildly in a panic, at the breaches, and tumble into the pits. Sometimes forty or fifty are taken out of a pit alive at one time.”
“We passed several gazelle-traps near Karyetan. Little walls converge to a field from a great distance, increasing in height as they approach the field. The field is walled round, leaving gaps at intervals, outside of which there are deep pits. The Gazelles, led on by curiosity, and guided by the little walls, march boldly into the field, and when they are startled, they rush out wildly in a panic, at the breaches, and tumble into the pits. Sometimes forty or fifty are taken out of a pit alive at one time.”
But, as we are informed in the valuable papers on the Mammals of Asia Minor published by Messrs. Danford and Alston in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1877 and 1880, the Dorcas Gazelle ranges far north of Syria. Danford states that it is “not uncommon” on the plain of Tchukurova and about Tarsus and Adana in the south-east of Asia Minor, and that it is “common” in the wooded valley of the Pyramus on the plain of Bazardjik and extends thence into the stony wooded uplands on the right bank of the Northern Euphrates.
When taken young, the Dorcas Gazelle is easily tamed and becomes very docile and affectionate. It is frequently kept in captivity by the Arabs and thus passes into the hands of Europeans who visit the East. As will be seen by reference to the Zoological Society’s List of Animals, specimens of this species reach the Gardens every year. But they cannot be said to thrive in the climate of England, where they miss the bright sun and dry air of their native deserts, and seldom produce young.
The series of examples of this Gazelle in the National Collection is by no means a full one, and wild-killed examples with ascertained localities from different parts of its range are much wanted. At the presenttime, besides a number of old specimens without localities, there are only in the collection an adult male from Biskra in Algeria presented by Sir Edmund Loder, a pair of skins from the same place presented by Messrs. Rowland Ward and Co., and a skull from Egypt presented by the late Sir Gardner Wilkinson. The accompanying illustration (fig. 57) gives a front view of a good head of this Gazelle prepared by Mr. Smit from these specimens.
January,1898.
Fig. 57.Head of the Dorcas Gazelle, ♂.(From specimens in the British Museum.)
Fig. 57.
Head of the Dorcas Gazelle, ♂.
(From specimens in the British Museum.)
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LVIII.J. Smit del. et lith.Hanhart imp.The Edmi Gazelle.GAZELLA CUVIERI.Published by R H Porter.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LVIII.
J. Smit del. et lith.
Hanhart imp.
The Edmi Gazelle.
GAZELLA CUVIERI.
Published by R H Porter.
Kevel gris,F. Cuv.H. N. Mamm. (fol.) iii. livr. lvii. (1827), and iv. livr. lxix. (1833).Antilope cuvieri,Og.P. Z. S. 1840, p. 34 (Mogador);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 399 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. pl. 2 a (1848);Fraser, Zool. Typ. pl. xvii. (1849).Gazella cuvieri,Gray, Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 107 (1873);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 542;Scl.List Vert. An. Z. S. (8) p. 140 (1883), (9) p. 154;Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 126 (1892), (2) p. 168 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 233 (1893);Thos.P. Z. S. 1894, p. 467;Pease, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 814;Whitaker, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 815.Gazella dorcas, var. 3,Gray, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 57 (1852).Gazella cineraceus,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853) (fromKevel gris, F. Cuv.).Gazella corinna,Loche, Cat. Mamm. Alg. p. 13 (1850);id.Expl. Alg., Mamm. p. 68 (1867) (necPall.).Gazella kevella,Tristram, Great Sahara, p. 387 (1860);Lataste, Mamm. Barbarie (Act. Soc. Linn. Bord. xxxix.), sep. cop. p. 172 (1885);Buxton, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 363.Vernacular Names:—Edmiof Arabs of Algeria (Pease);Edemin Tunis (Whitaker).
Kevel gris,F. Cuv.H. N. Mamm. (fol.) iii. livr. lvii. (1827), and iv. livr. lxix. (1833).
Antilope cuvieri,Og.P. Z. S. 1840, p. 34 (Mogador);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 399 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. pl. 2 a (1848);Fraser, Zool. Typ. pl. xvii. (1849).
Gazella cuvieri,Gray, Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 107 (1873);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 542;Scl.List Vert. An. Z. S. (8) p. 140 (1883), (9) p. 154;Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 126 (1892), (2) p. 168 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 233 (1893);Thos.P. Z. S. 1894, p. 467;Pease, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 814;Whitaker, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 815.
Gazella dorcas, var. 3,Gray, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 57 (1852).
Gazella cineraceus,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853) (fromKevel gris, F. Cuv.).
Gazella corinna,Loche, Cat. Mamm. Alg. p. 13 (1850);id.Expl. Alg., Mamm. p. 68 (1867) (necPall.).
Gazella kevella,Tristram, Great Sahara, p. 387 (1860);Lataste, Mamm. Barbarie (Act. Soc. Linn. Bord. xxxix.), sep. cop. p. 172 (1885);Buxton, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 363.
Vernacular Names:—Edmiof Arabs of Algeria (Pease);Edemin Tunis (Whitaker).
Size comparatively large; height at withers about 26 or 27 inches. Hair rather long, rough and coarse. General colour dull fawn. Face-markings distinct; the central facial band brownish fawn, with a black patch on the top of the nose, in front of which the muzzle is white. Ears long, pointed, their backs fawn. Dark lateral line and pygal band distinct, darker than back; light lateral line present, but little defined. Knee-brushes distinct.
Basal length of skull 7·35 inches, greatest breadth 3·6, muzzle to orbit 4·45.
Horns rather short in proportion to the size of the animal, thick, stronglyribbed, very slightly curved backwards, and but little divergent from each other; the tips slightly curved upwards and forwards.
Female.Similar, but horns shorter, slenderer, and straighter.
Hab.Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis.
Hab.Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis.
The “Edmi” or Mountain Gazelle of Algeria, though it has often been confounded with the Dorcas, and has only been accurately known within the last few years, is without doubt an absolutely different species not only in structure, but in habits and mode of life. As Sir Victor Brooke has pointed out, it is easily distinguished from all its allies by its larger size, rough coat, dark colour, and long ears.
The first published information that we can certainly refer to this species is that of Frédéric Cuvier, who figured both sexes in his folio work on Mammals from specimens living in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, but called it only “le Kevel gris,” without giving it any scientific designation.
Some time in 1839 a living female example of this Antelope was presented to the Zoological Society of London by Mr. W. Willshire, one of their corresponding members, who had procured it at Mogador. After its death in May 1840, Mr. Ogilby, who was at that time Secretary of the Society, and was specially interested in the study of mammals, brought the specimen before the notice of the Zoological Society at one of their scientific meetings, and proposed to name the species “cuvieri” after M. Frédéric Cuvier. Ogilby stated that he had observed examples of the same Gazelle in the Paris Museum, and that M. Cuvier would have described it had he, Ogilby, not done so. There can be no question therefore of Ogilby’s animal being the same as Cuvier’s “Kevel gris,” and thatGazella cuvieriis the earliest certain name to adopt for it.
In 1849 Fraser published a figure of this species in his ‘Zoologia Typica,’ taken from Ogilby’s typical specimen, which is now in the British Museum. Although imported from Mogador there can be little doubt that this example was originally obtained from the chain of the neighbouring Atlas. The Gazelles observed in the Great Atlas in company with Wild Sheep (Ovis tragelaphus) by Mr. W. B. Harris, F.R.G.S., on his journey from Morocco to Tafilat in 1893, were no doubtGazella cuvieri.
Passing on to Algeria we find that Loche appears to have referred to thisAntelope under the nameGazella corinna, and that Canon Tristram and Lataste have called itGazella kevella. We have already shown, however, that both these names are properly to be applied to the Dorcas Gazelle.
In 1890, Mr. Edward Buxton met with this Gazelle during a shooting excursion into the Atlas, of which he has given us a most interesting account in one of the chapters of his ‘Short Stalks.’ Mr. Buxton’s principal object of pursuit on that occasion was the Aroui or Barbary Sheep (Ovis tragelaphus), but he also had the good fortune to obtain a fine head of the Mountain Gazelle, which he exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society on March 31st of that year (see P. Z. S. 1890, p. 363).
Mr. Buxton tells us, in the course of the remarks he made on this occasion, that the Mountain Gazelle of Algeria is “about twice the size of the Gazelle of the plains (Gazella dorcas), and has straight instead of lyre-shaped horns. It lives on the same kind of steep ground as the Aroui, perhaps at a rather lower elevation. The fact that it is essentially a mountain animal is, I think, shown by its large callous knees, like those of a London cab-horse. The Aroui has the same. They are, I think, absent inGazella dorcas. Another feature consists in the curious hollows or pouches on each side of the testicles.”
In his ‘Short Stalks’ Mr. Buxton gives us full particulars of his adventures in obtaining the much-coveted head of this animal above referred to, and illustrates them by a beautiful picture of a group of these Gazelles drawn and engraved after his instructions by Mr. G. E. Lodge.
In his field-notes on the Antelopes of Eastern Algeria, published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1896, Mr. A. E. Pease speaks as follows of the present species:—
“This Gazelle is by no means so rare as is generally supposed, though it is difficult to secure, its quickness and facility for eluding observation being equal almost to that of the Larrowi (Ovis tragelaphus). There is hardly a mountain in the southern ranges of the Aures where they are unknown, and I have seen them on almost every mountain from far to the N.W. of Biskra to the Tunisian frontier at Negrine. I know that they are common on the Djebel Cherchar, and I have seen them as far north as the hills and woods of Melagon, near Chelia. I have seldom seen more than eight in a herd, and far more frequently they are met with singly and in pairs, or bands of three to five. While frequenting the same difficult ground as the Larrowi, it is more usual to find them in larger numbers on those mountains which are lower than the highest. I have seen them on the plateaux and plains among the mountains, and they frequently descend at night to feed on the barley in the valleys, as also does the Larrowi. The best male horns I have measure rather more than 36 cm. along the curve.”
“This Gazelle is by no means so rare as is generally supposed, though it is difficult to secure, its quickness and facility for eluding observation being equal almost to that of the Larrowi (Ovis tragelaphus). There is hardly a mountain in the southern ranges of the Aures where they are unknown, and I have seen them on almost every mountain from far to the N.W. of Biskra to the Tunisian frontier at Negrine. I know that they are common on the Djebel Cherchar, and I have seen them as far north as the hills and woods of Melagon, near Chelia. I have seldom seen more than eight in a herd, and far more frequently they are met with singly and in pairs, or bands of three to five. While frequenting the same difficult ground as the Larrowi, it is more usual to find them in larger numbers on those mountains which are lower than the highest. I have seen them on the plateaux and plains among the mountains, and they frequently descend at night to feed on the barley in the valleys, as also does the Larrowi. The best male horns I have measure rather more than 36 cm. along the curve.”
Crossing the frontier of Algeria into Tunis we find the Edmi Gazelle prevalent in suitable districts throughout that country. Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker, F.Z.S., who knows Tunis and its birds and mammals well, writes, in the same volume of the ‘Proceedings’ as we have quoted above, of his experiences of this animal as follows:—
“The Mountain Gazelle, theEdmiorEdemof the Arabs—the Tunisians use the latter name—is to be found sparingly on most of the mountains throughout the Tunisian Regency. Essentially a mountain species, as its name implies, it never occurs, so far as I am aware, on the plains, or at any distance from hilly country.“I have met with the Edmi, and obtained specimens of it, on some of the higher ranges near Kasrin, in Central Tunis, and have found it in the south near Gafsa and Tamerza. In the north of the Regency it seems to occur on the mountains near Zaghouan, the extreme eastern range of the Atlas, and in the neighbourhood of Ghardimaou, on the Algerio-Tunisian frontier, from both of which places M. Blanc, the naturalist in Tunis, tells me he has received specimens in the flesh. I myself have also been offered Edmi-shooting on an estate only some twenty miles or so south of Tunis. It seems evident, therefore, that the species has a wide range in the Regency, although perhaps it is nowhere very abundant.“The Edmi is to be found either in small herds or singly, and occasionally, though not as a rule, at a considerable elevation. On the Djebel Selloum and Djebel Semama, near Kasrin, both of which mountains are nearly 4000 feet above sea-level, I found the Gazelles about halfway up. These mountains, although steep in places and with some very rugged scarps, are in great part well-wooded with Aleppo pines, and on the lower slopes with a thick undergrowth of the usualmaquisvegetation. In this brushwood the Gazelles easily escape detection and are naturally not very often seen. Although fond of cover, the Edmi will adapt itself to circumstances, and seems equally at home on the arid mountains of the south, where there is but little vegetation, and that merely of a dwarf description, affording slight shelter. In the spring, when my hunting-trips after Aoudad (Ovis tragelaphus) and Edmi have taken place, there has always been a little water on these mountains; but for some months of the year, I am told, the watercourses are dry, and the animals then, should they wish to drink, must travel some distance. That both these species, however, shift their quarters constantly I feel convinced, force of circumstances rendering them as much nomads as the Arabs themselves.“The Edmi is very much larger than the Dorcas Gazelle, its weight being almost double. Its coat is darker in colour and with rather longer and coarser hair, while its knees, besides having very strongly developed brushes, show distinct callosities. The horns in the adult male are very stout and deeply annulated, and generally with but little curve, measuring about 13 inches, or even more in fine specimens. Those of the female are much more slender and smoother, but sometimes of fair length, some in my possession measuring 11 inches.”
“The Mountain Gazelle, theEdmiorEdemof the Arabs—the Tunisians use the latter name—is to be found sparingly on most of the mountains throughout the Tunisian Regency. Essentially a mountain species, as its name implies, it never occurs, so far as I am aware, on the plains, or at any distance from hilly country.
“I have met with the Edmi, and obtained specimens of it, on some of the higher ranges near Kasrin, in Central Tunis, and have found it in the south near Gafsa and Tamerza. In the north of the Regency it seems to occur on the mountains near Zaghouan, the extreme eastern range of the Atlas, and in the neighbourhood of Ghardimaou, on the Algerio-Tunisian frontier, from both of which places M. Blanc, the naturalist in Tunis, tells me he has received specimens in the flesh. I myself have also been offered Edmi-shooting on an estate only some twenty miles or so south of Tunis. It seems evident, therefore, that the species has a wide range in the Regency, although perhaps it is nowhere very abundant.
“The Edmi is to be found either in small herds or singly, and occasionally, though not as a rule, at a considerable elevation. On the Djebel Selloum and Djebel Semama, near Kasrin, both of which mountains are nearly 4000 feet above sea-level, I found the Gazelles about halfway up. These mountains, although steep in places and with some very rugged scarps, are in great part well-wooded with Aleppo pines, and on the lower slopes with a thick undergrowth of the usualmaquisvegetation. In this brushwood the Gazelles easily escape detection and are naturally not very often seen. Although fond of cover, the Edmi will adapt itself to circumstances, and seems equally at home on the arid mountains of the south, where there is but little vegetation, and that merely of a dwarf description, affording slight shelter. In the spring, when my hunting-trips after Aoudad (Ovis tragelaphus) and Edmi have taken place, there has always been a little water on these mountains; but for some months of the year, I am told, the watercourses are dry, and the animals then, should they wish to drink, must travel some distance. That both these species, however, shift their quarters constantly I feel convinced, force of circumstances rendering them as much nomads as the Arabs themselves.
“The Edmi is very much larger than the Dorcas Gazelle, its weight being almost double. Its coat is darker in colour and with rather longer and coarser hair, while its knees, besides having very strongly developed brushes, show distinct callosities. The horns in the adult male are very stout and deeply annulated, and generally with but little curve, measuring about 13 inches, or even more in fine specimens. Those of the female are much more slender and smoother, but sometimes of fair length, some in my possession measuring 11 inches.”
Among the wood-blocks left ready for use by the late Sir Victor Brookewas a figure of a fine head of a male of this Gazelle drawn by Mr. Smit, of which we now give an impression.
Fig. 58.Head of Edmi Gazelle, ♂.(Drawn by Smit under the direction ofthe late Sir Victor Brooke.)
Fig. 58.
Head of Edmi Gazelle, ♂.
(Drawn by Smit under the direction ofthe late Sir Victor Brooke.)
The Edmi Gazelle is not often brought alive to Europe, but besides Ogilby’s type specimen, which we have already mentioned, at least three others have been exhibited at various times in the Zoological Society’s menagerie. An example of this species was first obtained in 1839, as mentioned in the Report of the Council for 1840, and another was acquired in November 1862. Others were presented by Capt. Alan Gardner, R.N., in June 1865, and by Rear-Admiral Sir William Hall, R.N., in May 1867. Sclater observed a female of this Gazelle in the Zoological Garden of Berlin in September 1897 (see P. Z. S. 1897, p. 813).
As we have already stated, the typical specimen of this Gazelle, formerly in the Zoological Society’s Collection, is now in the British Museum, as is also a stuffed female, originally presented by H.M. the Queen to the Zoological Society, but transferred to the National Collection in 1855. In theBritish Museum Gallery of Mammals will be found a good adult stuffed specimen of this Gazelle stated to be from near Biskra, Algeria, and presented by Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker. There are also some frontlets and horns of this species from the same locality presented by Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co.
We are greatly indebted to Sir Edmund Loder for a photograph of a head of a female of this Gazelle, taken from a specimen in his collection, which he himself shot on the 27th of February, 1893, on the Ahmar Khaddou Mountains, two days’ march east of Biskra. It shows very clearly the inferior size of the horns in this sex, and the long ears characteristic of the species.
Fig. 59.Front view of head of Edmi Gazelle, ♀.(From a photograph.)
Fig. 59.
Front view of head of Edmi Gazelle, ♀.
(From a photograph.)
Our illustration of the male of this Gazelle (Plate LVIII.) has been drawn by Mr. Smit from the Algerian specimen in the British Museum above referred to.
January,1898.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIX.J. Smit del. et lith.Hanhart imp.The Arabian Gazelle.GAZELLA ARABICA.Published by R. H Porter.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIX.
J. Smit del. et lith.
Hanhart imp.
The Arabian Gazelle.
GAZELLA ARABICA.
Published by R. H Porter.
Antilope arabica,Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. vi. (1827);Ehrenb.Symb. Phys. Decas i. pl. v. (1828);Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 460 (1829);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836);Waterh.Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 40 (1838);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1371 (1838);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Supp. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A. Mamm. p. 176 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 407 (1844), v. p. 403 (1855);Reichenb.Säug. iii. pl. xxxiii. fig. 188 (1845);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 399 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 4, pl. ii. (1848);Gieb.Säug. p. 307 (1853);Heugl.Faun. roth. Meer, Peterm. Mitth. 1861, p. 16;id.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 5 (1863).Gazella arabica,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);Tristr.P. Z. S. 1866, p. 86;id.Faun. & Flor. Pal. p. 26 (1884) (Palestine);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 159;Blanf.Zool. Abyss, p. 261, pl. i. fig. 3 (horns) (1870);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 544, 1874, p. 141 (fig., head);Scl.List Vert. An. Z. S. (1) p. 140 (1883), (2) p. 981 (1896);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 137 (1887);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 458 (1891);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 168 (1892);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 114 (1892), (2) p. 156 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 179 (1893);Scl.P. Z. S. 1897, p. 812 (Hodeidah).Antilope cora,H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 216, v. p. 333 (1827);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836).Gazella cora,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843).Antilope dorcas, var. δ,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 268 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 264; Reprint, p. 84 (1848).Gazella vera,Gray, Knowsl. Men. pl. iii. (1850) (cf.Scl.P. Z. S. 1896, p. 984).Gazella bennetti,Yerb. & Thos.P. Z. S. 1895, p. 555 (Aden).Vernacular Names:—Ghasalof Arabs, likeG. dorcas;ArielorAielin Syria (Ehrenberg).
Antilope arabica,Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. vi. (1827);Ehrenb.Symb. Phys. Decas i. pl. v. (1828);Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 460 (1829);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836);Waterh.Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 40 (1838);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1371 (1838);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Supp. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A. Mamm. p. 176 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 407 (1844), v. p. 403 (1855);Reichenb.Säug. iii. pl. xxxiii. fig. 188 (1845);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 399 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 4, pl. ii. (1848);Gieb.Säug. p. 307 (1853);Heugl.Faun. roth. Meer, Peterm. Mitth. 1861, p. 16;id.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 5 (1863).
Gazella arabica,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);Tristr.P. Z. S. 1866, p. 86;id.Faun. & Flor. Pal. p. 26 (1884) (Palestine);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 159;Blanf.Zool. Abyss, p. 261, pl. i. fig. 3 (horns) (1870);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 544, 1874, p. 141 (fig., head);Scl.List Vert. An. Z. S. (1) p. 140 (1883), (2) p. 981 (1896);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 137 (1887);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 458 (1891);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 168 (1892);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 114 (1892), (2) p. 156 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 179 (1893);Scl.P. Z. S. 1897, p. 812 (Hodeidah).
Antilope cora,H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 216, v. p. 333 (1827);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836).
Gazella cora,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843).
Antilope dorcas, var. δ,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 268 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 264; Reprint, p. 84 (1848).
Gazella vera,Gray, Knowsl. Men. pl. iii. (1850) (cf.Scl.P. Z. S. 1896, p. 984).
Gazella bennetti,Yerb. & Thos.P. Z. S. 1895, p. 555 (Aden).
Vernacular Names:—Ghasalof Arabs, likeG. dorcas;ArielorAielin Syria (Ehrenberg).
Size medium; height at withers about 24 or 25 inches. General colour dark smoky fawn, much darker than in the allied species. Facial markings distinct; central facial band dark rufous-fawn, with a black spot on the nose. Ears of medium length, brownish-fawn behind. Dark lateral and pygal bands smoky brown; light lateral band very slightly lighter than the back. Limbs more rufous than body; knee-brushes brown or black.
Skull with short broad nasals; anteorbital fossæ shallow in the only good skull available. Basal length 6·75 inches, greatest breadth 3·3, muzzle to orbit 3·7.
Horns thick and rather short, almost straight and parallel to each other, a little curved backwards below, and forwards above.
Female.Similar to the male, but horns short and straight.
Hab.Western Arabia.
Hab.Western Arabia.
Although the Arabian Gazelle was described and figured as long ago as 1827, and specimens of it are by no means rare in captivity, we have as yet received little information about its exact range and its mode of life. But the great peninsula of Arabia still remains, we must recollect, one of the largest tracts on the earth’s surface that has been least explored by scientific travellers.
Hemprich and Ehrenberg, the discoverers of this Gazelle, met with it during their travels on the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and transmitted specimens of both sexes to the Berlin Museum. Here they were first described and figured by Lichtenstein in his ‘Darstellung der Säugethiere’—a work devoted to making known the riches of the Mammal-collection of the great Institution of which he was the Director.
Following Hemprich and Ehrenberg’s MS., Lichtenstein named the species “Antilope arabica,” and a short time afterwards it was again described and figured by Ehrenberg in his ‘Symbolæ Physicæ’ under the same designation.
Ehrenberg informs us that he and his fellow-traveller Hemprich obtained their first specimens of this Gazelle at Hamam el Faraun, on the coast of the Sinaitic Peninsula between Suez and Tor, and subsequently found it abundant on the island of Farsan on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea. They also observed Gazelles which they believed to be of the same species near Baalbec in Syria, but these, we think, are more likely to have beenGazella dorcas.
Succeeding authorities have added very little to our knowledge of this Gazelle. Canon Tristram, in his ‘Fauna and Flora’ of Palestine, mentions a Gazelle occurring in the “desert-country east of the Jordan” as being probably of this species; but we believe that he did not obtain any good specimens of it. Dr. Blanford, in his volume on the ‘Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia,’ has figured (for comparison) a head of this species obtained by Captain Heysham near Mocha, S.W. Arabia; and in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1874, the late Sir Victor Brooke gave a woodcut of the head of this Gazelle, which, by the kind permission of the Society, we are enabled to reproduce.
Fig. 60.Head of Arabian Gazelle.(P. Z. S. 1874, p. 141.)
Fig. 60.
Head of Arabian Gazelle.
(P. Z. S. 1874, p. 141.)
Living examples of the Arabian Gazelle are easily obtained at Aden and at Hodeidah, Jeddah, and other Arabian ports on the Red Sea, and are often brought to Europe. We have little doubt that the Gazelles in the Derby Menagerie figured by Waterhouse Hawkins in the third plate of the ‘Gleanings,’ and there called by Lord Derby’s MS. name,Gazella vera, were of this species, though in the text they are referred to asG. dorcasand inthe list of plates asG. cuvieri. The Zoological Society of London appear to have received their first specimens in 1874[9], and since that date (as will be seen by their published Lists of Animals) have acquired many examples, chiefly by presentation. At the present time there are two fine males in the Society’s Gardens, both brought from Aden and presented—one by Mr. R. G. Buchanan and the other by Mr. J. Benett Stanford, F.Z.S. From the former of these Mr. Smit’s drawing (Plate LIX.) was taken.
The British Museum has lately acquired from the Zoological Society a good male example of this Gazelle, which was obtained at Aden and brought alive to London. It has been mounted for the Mammal Gallery. The Museum also has the skull from Mocha figured by Dr. Blanford, as already mentioned, and since presented by him to the collection, and the skin of a young animal from Gilead, obtained by Canon Tristram, the determination of which is, however, somewhat doubtful.
January,1898.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LX.J. Smit del. et lith.Hanhart imp.The Indian Gazelle.GAZELLA BENNETTI.Published by R. H. Porter.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LX.
J. Smit del. et lith.
Hanhart imp.
The Indian Gazelle.
GAZELLA BENNETTI.
Published by R. H. Porter.
Antilope bennettii,Sykes, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 104;Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836);Waterh.Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 40 (1838);Laurill. Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 617 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Supp. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1842);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 400 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. pl. iii.b(1848);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 111 (1845);Fraser, Zool. Typica, pl. xvi. (1849);Horsf.Cat. Mamm. E. I. C. p. 166 (1851);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 405 (1855).Gazella bennettii,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843);id.Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846);Hutton, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 150 (1846) (Neemuch);Gray, List Ost. B. M. p. 56 (1847); id. Knowsl. Men. p. 4 (1850);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);Jerd.Mamm. Ind. p. 280 (1867);Blanf.J. A. S. B. xxxvi. p. 196 (1867);Kinloch, Large Game Shooting, p. 57, pl. (1869);McMaster, Notes on Jerdon, pp. 141 & 249 (1870);Blanf.Zool. Abyss. p. 261, pl. i. fig. 2 (horns) (1870);Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli. p. 229 (1872);Blanf.P. Z. S. 1873, p. 315 (distribution);Brooks, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 544;Blanf.E. Persia, ii. p. 91 (1876);Ball, P. A. S. B. 1877, p. 172;Scl.List Vert. An. Z. S. (8) p. 141 (1883), (9) p. 155 (1896);Flow. & Gars.Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 264 (1884);Sterndale, Mamm. Ind. p. 463 (1884);Murray, Zool. Sind, p. 56 (1884);Blanf.Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm. p. 526 (1891);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 159 (1891);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 168 (1892);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 124 (1892), (2) p. 166 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 175 (1893);Percy, Badm. Big Game Shooting, ii. p. 355 (1894).Tragops bennettii,Hodgs.J. A. S. B. 1847, p. 11, & xvi. p. 695;Gray, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 116;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 62 (1852);Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 522 (Punjab); Gerr. Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862);Blyth, Cat. Mamm.Mus. As. Soc. p. 173 (1863);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 108 (1873).Tragopsis bennettii,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 157 (1869).Antilope arabica,Elliot, Madr. Journ. x. p. 223 (1839) (Mahratta Country).Gazella christii,Gray,Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 452 (1842);Hutton, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 151 (1846).Antilope hazenna,I. Geoffr. St.-Hil.Voy. Jacq., Mamm. p. 74, Atl. pl. vi. (1844);Schinz, Mon. Ant. pl. xxi.a(1848);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 406 (1855).Gazella hazenna,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853).Tragopsis hazenna,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 157 (1869).Gazella fuscifrons,Blanf.P. Z. S. 1873, p. 317 (fig., head ♀) (Jalk, Persia);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 545;Blanf.E. Persia, ii. p. 92 (1876);Sterndale, Mamm. Ind. p. 465 (1884);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 160 (1891).Vernacular Names:—Chinkára,Chikára,Kol-punchin Hindustani;Phaskelain N.W. Provinces;AskorAstandAhuin Baluchistan;Khazmin Brahmi;Kalsipiin Mahratta;Tiska,Budári, orMudáriin Canarese;Sank-húléin Mysore;Porsya♂,Chari♀ in Baori;Burudu-jinkain Telugu;Ravine-Deerof many Anglo-Indians.
Antilope bennettii,Sykes, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 104;Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836);Waterh.Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 40 (1838);Laurill. Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 617 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Supp. i. p. 261 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1842);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 400 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. pl. iii.b(1848);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 111 (1845);Fraser, Zool. Typica, pl. xvi. (1849);Horsf.Cat. Mamm. E. I. C. p. 166 (1851);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 405 (1855).
Gazella bennettii,Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843);id.Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846);Hutton, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 150 (1846) (Neemuch);Gray, List Ost. B. M. p. 56 (1847); id. Knowsl. Men. p. 4 (1850);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);Jerd.Mamm. Ind. p. 280 (1867);Blanf.J. A. S. B. xxxvi. p. 196 (1867);Kinloch, Large Game Shooting, p. 57, pl. (1869);McMaster, Notes on Jerdon, pp. 141 & 249 (1870);Blanf.Zool. Abyss. p. 261, pl. i. fig. 2 (horns) (1870);Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli. p. 229 (1872);Blanf.P. Z. S. 1873, p. 315 (distribution);Brooks, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 544;Blanf.E. Persia, ii. p. 91 (1876);Ball, P. A. S. B. 1877, p. 172;Scl.List Vert. An. Z. S. (8) p. 141 (1883), (9) p. 155 (1896);Flow. & Gars.Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 264 (1884);Sterndale, Mamm. Ind. p. 463 (1884);Murray, Zool. Sind, p. 56 (1884);Blanf.Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm. p. 526 (1891);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 159 (1891);Jent.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 168 (1892);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 124 (1892), (2) p. 166 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 175 (1893);Percy, Badm. Big Game Shooting, ii. p. 355 (1894).
Tragops bennettii,Hodgs.J. A. S. B. 1847, p. 11, & xvi. p. 695;Gray, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 116;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 62 (1852);Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 522 (Punjab); Gerr. Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862);Blyth, Cat. Mamm.Mus. As. Soc. p. 173 (1863);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 108 (1873).
Tragopsis bennettii,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 157 (1869).
Antilope arabica,Elliot, Madr. Journ. x. p. 223 (1839) (Mahratta Country).
Gazella christii,Gray,Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 452 (1842);Hutton, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 151 (1846).
Antilope hazenna,I. Geoffr. St.-Hil.Voy. Jacq., Mamm. p. 74, Atl. pl. vi. (1844);Schinz, Mon. Ant. pl. xxi.a(1848);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 406 (1855).
Gazella hazenna,Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853).
Tragopsis hazenna,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 157 (1869).
Gazella fuscifrons,Blanf.P. Z. S. 1873, p. 317 (fig., head ♀) (Jalk, Persia);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 545;Blanf.E. Persia, ii. p. 92 (1876);Sterndale, Mamm. Ind. p. 465 (1884);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 160 (1891).
Vernacular Names:—Chinkára,Chikára,Kol-punchin Hindustani;Phaskelain N.W. Provinces;AskorAstandAhuin Baluchistan;Khazmin Brahmi;Kalsipiin Mahratta;Tiska,Budári, orMudáriin Canarese;Sank-húléin Mysore;Porsya♂,Chari♀ in Baori;Burudu-jinkain Telugu;Ravine-Deerof many Anglo-Indians.
Size medium; height at withers 24 to 25 inches. General colour dull fawn. Facial markings distinct, the darker ones rufous-fawn; a black spot on the top of the nose. Ears of medium length, fawn-coloured behind. Dark lateral and pygal bands brownish fawn, scarcely darker than the back; light lateral bands scarcely perceptible; knee-brushes present.
Skull with deep anteorbital fossæ:—Basal length 7·2 inches, greatest breadth 3·45, muzzle to orbit 4.
Horns thick, heavily ribbed, close together, diverging little but evenly, gently curved backwards below and forwards at their tips.
Female.Similar to the male, but horns straight, simple, about two-thirds the length of those of the male.
Hab.Indian Peninsula, extending westwards through Baluchistan to the Persian Gulf.
Hab.Indian Peninsula, extending westwards through Baluchistan to the Persian Gulf.
Like the Lion and the Cheetah this Gazelle belongs to an Ethiopian type of mammals, and was originally, no doubt, an intruder into India from the west. But, as will be seen when we come to describe its range, it has now spread itself over the greater part of the peninsula except on the easternside. On the west the Indian Gazelle extends far along the Mekran coast to the Persian Gulf, and there meets the Arabian Gazelle, of which it is undoubtedly a very close ally, although the latter is always much darker on the back.
Although the Indian Gazelle, or “Ravine-Deer,” as it is usually termed by Europeans, was doubtless known to the sportsmen of British India long ago, it was not made known to science until 1831, when Col. Sykes, one of the earliest pioneers in Indian natural history, described it in a communication made to the Zoological Society of London. Sykes, in his paper on the Mammals of the Deccan read before the Society in July of that year, proposed to name itAntilope bennetti, after the late Edward Turner Bennett, a well-known naturalist, who was at that time Vice-Secretary of the Society. Sykes met with this Antelope on the rocky hills of the Deccan “in groups rarely exceeding three or four in number, and very frequently solitary.” In 1849, Fraser published a figure of this species in his ‘Zoologia Typica,’ taken from one of Sykes’s male specimens in the British Museum, which is still in the National Collection, although not in the exhibition gallery. In 1844, in his description of the mammals of Jacquemont’s ‘Voyage dans l’Inde,’ Isidore Geoffr. St. Hilaire described and figured anAntilope hazenna, which he at that time considered to be different from the present animal. But there can be no doubt that Jacquemont’s specimens, which were obtained at Malwa in Central India, are the same asGazella bennetti, and Sykes’s term being the oldest has been universally employed as the designation of this species. As we shall presently show,Gazella christiiof Gray, from Sind, andGazella fuscifronsof Blanford, from Baluchistan, are names which have been based on what are merely slightly divergent forms ofGazella bennetti.
From the researches of Elliot, Jerdon, Blyth, Blanford, and other authorities on the mammals of British India, we are now well acquainted with the range of this Gazelle in the peninsula and adjoining lands to the west. Dr. Blanford describes it as extending throughout the plains and low hills of North-western and Central India, and thence through Baluchistan to the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf. In the Indian peninsula, he continues, the Indian Gazelle ranges in suitable localities throughout the Punjab, Sind, Rajputana, the N.W. Provinces, and the whole of the Bombay Presidency with the exception of the Western Ghats and Konkan; it also occurs in Central India as far east as Palamow and Western Sargiya, and in theCentral Provinces as far east as Seoni and Chánda, together with the Hyderabad territories and the Madras Presidency to a little south of the Kistna, Gazelles being found at Anantapur, south of Kurnool, and in Northern Mysore.
For an account of the habits of the Indian Gazelle and the modes of its chase, we cannot do better than refer to the last edition of General Kinloch’s ‘Large Game Shooting,’ where they are described as follows:—
“The favourite haunts of this Gazelle are extensive wastes of sandy or rocky ground, sprinkled with low bushes, and interspersed here and there with patches of cultivation. Thick jungles they avoid; and they are seldom to be met with in districts which are entirely under crop. During the daytime they resort to secluded spots where they are not subject to annoyance, and in the mornings and evenings they frequently repair to fields of young grain, sometimes in close proximity to villages.“In some places they are extremely wild, and can only be approached by the most careful stalking; in other localities they are comparatively tame, and will allow the sportsman to walk openly to within easy range. At most times, however, they are restless little animals, continually on the move, and they have a provoking way of trotting off with a switch of their black tails the moment that they suspect danger.“On open plains the best way of getting within shot of them is under cover of a steady shooting horse. As they afford but a small mark, and seldom remain still very long, quick as well as accurate shooting is required, and beginners in the art of rifle shooting will find them excellent practice.“The officers of the Guides used to hawk the Gazelle in the neighbourhood of Hótó Mardán, the Falcons used for the purpose being nestling ‘charghs’ (Falco sacer). Adult caught birds cannot be trained for this sport, and the nestlings had to be obtained from the distant province of Balkh by the assistance of some of the Kábúl Sirdárs. In the present state of our relations with Áfghánístán, the Falcons cannot be procured, and the sport has, for the present at any rate, died out. The hawks alone could not kill a Gazelle, but were assisted by greyhounds, which used to pull it down after the hawks had confused and stunned it by repeated blows. I regret that I never had an opportunity of witnessing the flight, which has been described to me as very interesting and exciting.”
“The favourite haunts of this Gazelle are extensive wastes of sandy or rocky ground, sprinkled with low bushes, and interspersed here and there with patches of cultivation. Thick jungles they avoid; and they are seldom to be met with in districts which are entirely under crop. During the daytime they resort to secluded spots where they are not subject to annoyance, and in the mornings and evenings they frequently repair to fields of young grain, sometimes in close proximity to villages.
“In some places they are extremely wild, and can only be approached by the most careful stalking; in other localities they are comparatively tame, and will allow the sportsman to walk openly to within easy range. At most times, however, they are restless little animals, continually on the move, and they have a provoking way of trotting off with a switch of their black tails the moment that they suspect danger.
“On open plains the best way of getting within shot of them is under cover of a steady shooting horse. As they afford but a small mark, and seldom remain still very long, quick as well as accurate shooting is required, and beginners in the art of rifle shooting will find them excellent practice.
“The officers of the Guides used to hawk the Gazelle in the neighbourhood of Hótó Mardán, the Falcons used for the purpose being nestling ‘charghs’ (Falco sacer). Adult caught birds cannot be trained for this sport, and the nestlings had to be obtained from the distant province of Balkh by the assistance of some of the Kábúl Sirdárs. In the present state of our relations with Áfghánístán, the Falcons cannot be procured, and the sport has, for the present at any rate, died out. The hawks alone could not kill a Gazelle, but were assisted by greyhounds, which used to pull it down after the hawks had confused and stunned it by repeated blows. I regret that I never had an opportunity of witnessing the flight, which has been described to me as very interesting and exciting.”
Dr. Blanford tells us that this Gazelle lives on grass and on the leaves of bushes, and, so far as he is aware, never drinks. “I have seen it,” he says, “in the deserts of Sind in places where the only water for twenty miles round was procured from wells; and in spots in Western and Central India where, in the hot weather, the only water to be obtained was in small pools remaining in the beds of streams. But around these pools, in which the tracks of almost every animal in the forest was to be seen, I never yet saw the verypeculiarly formed tracks of the Gazelle, although it frequently abounded in the neighbourhood. The four-horned Antelope, on the other hand, drinks habitually.”
Gazella christii, which we have alluded to above as synonymous with this species, was a MS. name of the late Dr. Gray, which appears to have been first published by Blyth in 1842, and applied to a pale form of the present animal from Kutch and Sind. But more recent researches have shown that it is not properly separable from the typicalGazella bennetti.
Gazella fuscifrons, another synonym also mentioned above, was based by Dr. Blanford in 1873 on a doe with distinctly ringed horns and with portions of the face dark brown, obtained in Baluchistan. But the late Sir O. B. St. John subsequently procured what he justly concluded to be the male of this form, which, as acknowledged by Dr. Blanford himself, proved to be not distinct fromGazella bennetti. By the kindness of the Zoological Society we are enabled to reproduce Dr. Blanford’s figures of the head ofGazella fuscifrons, which, except for the slight differences above mentioned, give an equally good idea of the head of the typicalG. bennetti.
Fig. 61.Head ofGazella fuscifrons, ♀.(P. Z. S. 1873, p. 317.)
Fig. 61.
Head ofGazella fuscifrons, ♀.
(P. Z. S. 1873, p. 317.)
The Indian Gazelle is frequently brought to Europe alive, though it is not so common in our menageries asGazella dorcas,G. subgutturosa, and some other species. According to the Zoological Society’s books, the first examples were received in 1838, and since 1860, as will be seen by the printed lists, about twelve specimens have been exhibited. A pair presented by Capt. H. J. Hope Edwards, in April 1883, bred, and the female gave birth to a young one in November of that year; but, like other Gazelles, this species does not usually thrive in the dull climate of England.
As is the case with many common animals, the British Museum does not contain a good series of this Gazelle, and specimens with exact localities from all parts of its range are much required. Besides the old mounted examples from the Deccan presented by Col. Sykes and already alluded to, it possesses only a skin from Sind received from the Karachi Museum, and several skulls and pairs of horns from the Salt Range of the Punjâb and Kelat, received in the Hume Collection.
Our figures of this species (Plate LX.) have been prepared by Mr. Smit—the male from the skin received from the Karachi Museum, and the female from Col. Sykes’s specimen.
January,1898.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXI.J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.Speke’s Gazelle.GAZELLA SPEKEI.Published by R. H. Porter.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXI.
J. Smit lith.
Hanhart imp.
Speke’s Gazelle.
GAZELLA SPEKEI.
Published by R. H. Porter.
Gazella, sp.?,Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxiv. p. 297 (1856).“Gazella cuvieri, Blyth,”Speke, Rep. Zool. Coll. Somali, p. 8 (1860).Gazella spekei,Blyth, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. p. 172 (1863);Blanf.Zool. Abyss. p. 261, pl. i. fig. 5 (horns) (1870);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 543;Kohl, Ann. Mus. Wien, i. p. 77, pls. iii., iv. fig. 3, & v. fig. 1 (animal & skull) (1886);Thos.P. Z. S. 1891, p. 210;W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 158 (1891); Scl. P. Z. S. 1892, pp. 100 & 118;Swayne, P. Z. S. 1892, p. 306;Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 112 (1892), (2) p. 153 (1896); Lyd. Horns and Hoofs, p. 234 (1893);Swayne, Somaliland, p. 316 (fig., head) (1895);Hoyos, Aulihan, p. 179, pl. x. fig. 3 (1895);Elliot, Publ. Chicago Mus., Zool. i. p. 120 (1897); Scl. P. Z. S. 1897, p. 920 (fig., head).Gazella, sp. inc.,Lort Phillips, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 932.Gazella naso,Scl.P. Z. S. 1886, p. 504, pl. li. (head);id.in James’s Unknown Horn of Africa, p. 268, pl. iii. (1888).Vernacular Name:—Dheroof Somalis (Swayne).
Gazella, sp.?,Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxiv. p. 297 (1856).
“Gazella cuvieri, Blyth,”Speke, Rep. Zool. Coll. Somali, p. 8 (1860).
Gazella spekei,Blyth, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. p. 172 (1863);Blanf.Zool. Abyss. p. 261, pl. i. fig. 5 (horns) (1870);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 543;Kohl, Ann. Mus. Wien, i. p. 77, pls. iii., iv. fig. 3, & v. fig. 1 (animal & skull) (1886);Thos.P. Z. S. 1891, p. 210;W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 158 (1891); Scl. P. Z. S. 1892, pp. 100 & 118;Swayne, P. Z. S. 1892, p. 306;Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 112 (1892), (2) p. 153 (1896); Lyd. Horns and Hoofs, p. 234 (1893);Swayne, Somaliland, p. 316 (fig., head) (1895);Hoyos, Aulihan, p. 179, pl. x. fig. 3 (1895);Elliot, Publ. Chicago Mus., Zool. i. p. 120 (1897); Scl. P. Z. S. 1897, p. 920 (fig., head).
Gazella, sp. inc.,Lort Phillips, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 932.
Gazella naso,Scl.P. Z. S. 1886, p. 504, pl. li. (head);id.in James’s Unknown Horn of Africa, p. 268, pl. iii. (1888).
Vernacular Name:—Dheroof Somalis (Swayne).
Size slightly greater than inG. dorcas; height at withers 23–24 inches. Body pale brownish fawn, the light lateral band but little paler than the back, then dark or dull blackish, not sharply defined. Central facial band brownish fawn; top of muzzle, over nasal bones, with a distinct blackish patch, in front of which there is a peculiar swollen and corrugated cushion of skin raised up above the level of the face, and extensible at the pleasure of the animal. Dark cheek-band narrow, indistinct, the light band above it broad and extending to the muzzle. Ears long,narrow, pointed, their backs whitish fawn. Knee-tufts present, brownish fawn. Pygal band very indistinct.
Skull with short broad nasals, the premaxillæ not or barely touching their outer corners. Basal length in an old male 6·5 inches, greatest breadth 3·35, muzzle to orbit 3·6.
Horns but slightly divergent, evenly and strongly curved backwards for three-fourths their length, their tips gently recurved upwards.
Female.Like the male, but the horns slender, little ridged, less curved, about three-fourths the length of those of the male.