Chapter 15

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

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

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

Fig. 67.Front view of head of a female Loder’s Gazelle.(P.Z.S. 1896, p. 781.)

Fig. 67.

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

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

But the identity of the EgyptianGazella leptoceroswith the AlgerianG. loderiis perhaps not yet exactly certain, although we have combined the English name of the latter with the scientific name of the former.

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

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

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

Fig. 68.Skull ofGazella leptoceros loderi, ♂.(P.Z.S. 1894, p. 471.)

Fig. 68.

Skull ofGazella leptoceros loderi, ♂.

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

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

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

May, 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXIV.Wolf del J Smit lithHanhart imp.The Isabella Gazelle.GAZELLA ISABELLA.Published by R.H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXIV.

Wolf del J Smit lith

Hanhart imp.

The Isabella Gazelle.

GAZELLA ISABELLA.

Published by R.H. Porter.

Antilope dorcas,Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. v. (1827)?Gazella dorcas,Blanf.Zool. Abyss, p. 261, pl. i. fig. 1 (1870).Gazella isabella,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. pp. 214 & 231 (1846);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 4 (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 113;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 57 (1852);Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862);Fitz. & Heugl.SB. Wien, liv. pt. 1, p. 591 (1866);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 38 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 107 (1873);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 539;Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 65;W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 157 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 116 (1892), (2) p. 158 (1896).Antilope isidis,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 267 (1847); id. Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 263; Reprint, p. 83 (1848).

Antilope dorcas,Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. v. (1827)?

Gazella dorcas,Blanf.Zool. Abyss, p. 261, pl. i. fig. 1 (1870).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May,1898.

Fig. 69. Fig. 69a.Heads of Isabella Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.(From specimens in B. M.)

Fig. 69. Fig. 69a.

Heads of Isabella Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.

(From specimens in B. M.)

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVWolf del. J. Smit lith.Hanhart impThe Muscat Gazelle.GAZELLA MUSCATENSIS.Published by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXV

Wolf del. J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp

The Muscat Gazelle.

GAZELLA MUSCATENSIS.

Published by R. H. Porter.

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

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

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

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

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

Hab.Oman, Eastern Arabia.

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

Fig. 70. Fig. 70a.Heads of Muscat Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.(From specimens in B. M.)

Fig. 70. Fig. 70a.

Heads of Muscat Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.

(From specimens in B. M.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

May,1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVI.Wolf del. J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.Heuglin’s Gazelle.GAZELLA TILONURA.Published by R.H.Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVI.

Wolf del. J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

Heuglin’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA TILONURA.

Published by R.H.Porter.

Antilope melanura,Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 6 (1863) (necBechstein, 1799).Gazella melanura,Fitz, SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 159 (1869).Antilope tilonura,Heugl.Reise Weiss. Nil, p. 315 (1869);id.Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 101 (1877).Gazella tilonura,Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 126 (1892), (2) p. 170 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 233 (1893).Gazella lævipes,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 541 (necSund.).Vernacular Name:—Tel-baduin Tigré (Heuglin).

Antilope melanura,Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 6 (1863) (necBechstein, 1799).

Gazella melanura,Fitz, SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 159 (1869).

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

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

Gazella lævipes,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 541 (necSund.).

Vernacular Name:—Tel-baduin Tigré (Heuglin).

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

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

Hab.Bogosland, North-east Africa.

Fig. 71. Fig. 72.Heads of Heuglin’s Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.(From specimens in B. M.)

Fig. 71. Fig. 72.

Heads of Heuglin’s Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.

(From specimens in B. M.)

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

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

May,1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVII.Wolf del. J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.The Red-fronted Gazelle.GAZELLA RUFIFRONS.Published by R. H Porter

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVII.

Wolf del. J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

The Red-fronted Gazelle.

GAZELLA RUFIFRONS.

Published by R. H Porter

Le Kevel,F. Cuv.H. N. Mamm. (fol.) i. livr. 1, pl. 368 (1818);Corine, ii. livr. 36, pl. 369 (1822), andCorine jeune, iv. livr. 72, pl. 370 (1842).Gazella rufifrons,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. pp. 214 & 231 (1846);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 5, pl. iv. (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 115;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 60 (1852);id.Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 108 (1873);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 540;Scl.List An. Z. S. (8) p. 140 (1883);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 232 (1893);Ward, Horn Meas. (2) p. 159 (1896).Antilope lævipes,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; Reprint, p. 82 (1848) (exKevelandCorine, F. Cuv.,necBuff.);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. v. p. 404 (1855).Gazella lævipes senegalensis,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 159 (1869).Vernacular Name:—Seni, on the Gambia (WhitfieldfideGray).

Le Kevel,F. Cuv.H. N. Mamm. (fol.) i. livr. 1, pl. 368 (1818);Corine, ii. livr. 36, pl. 369 (1822), andCorine jeune, iv. livr. 72, pl. 370 (1842).

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

Antilope lævipes,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; Reprint, p. 82 (1848) (exKevelandCorine, F. Cuv.,necBuff.);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. v. p. 404 (1855).

Gazella lævipes senegalensis,Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 159 (1869).

Vernacular Name:—Seni, on the Gambia (WhitfieldfideGray).

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

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

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

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

Hab.Senegal and Gambia.

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

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

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

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

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

May,1898.

Gazella rufina,Thos.P. Z. S. 1894, p. 467 (fig., skull).Antilope lævipes,Sund.K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847), form α, ex Sennaar;id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; Reprint, p. 82 (1848);Heuglin, Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 6;id.Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 100 (1877).Antilope leptoceros,Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. p. 7 (err.).

Gazella rufina,Thos.P. Z. S. 1894, p. 467 (fig., skull).

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

Antilope leptoceros,Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. p. 7 (err.).

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

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

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

Hab.Interior of Algeria (?).

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

Fig. 73.Skull of Rufous Gazelle.(P. Z. S. 1894, p. 468.)

Fig. 73.

Skull of Rufous Gazelle.

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

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

Sir Edmund Loder has most liberally presented the typical specimen ofGazella rufinato the British Museum.

May,1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVIIIJ. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.Thomson’s Gazelle.GAZELLA THOMSONI.Published by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXVIII

J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

Thomson’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA THOMSONI.

Published by R. H. Porter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fig. 74.Horns of Thomson’s Gazelle, ♂.(Ann. Mag. N. H. (5) xiv. p. 427.)

Fig. 74.

Horns of Thomson’s Gazelle, ♂.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fig. 75.Front view of head of Thomson’s Gazelle, ♀.(Neumann’s ‘Elephant-Hunting,’ p. 11.)

Fig. 75.

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

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

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

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

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

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