GenusVI. GAZELLA.

Size medium, but with a considerable range of variation. General form normal; the muzzle simple, neither expanded as inPantholopsnor elongated as inSaiga; the neck of ordinary length, and the back without any evertible fold as inAntidorcas. Coloration ordinarily sandy, with a white belly, the face generally marked with dark and light streaks; streaks also generally present on the flanks and rump. Knee-brushes usually present. Tail short or of medium length.

Skull generally with shallow anteorbital fossæ corresponding to the anteorbital glands, but occasionally—in theprocaprinesection—without any trace of them. Premolars 3/3, as usual in the Bovines.

Horns generally present in both sexes, the females of the first four species alone being without them. In the male the horns are strong, prominentlyribbed, and generally of medium length, about the length of the head, but occasionally considerably longer. With the exception of their tips they are curved backwards, so as to be convex forwards below, while their ends are commonly more or less recurved forwards or upwards. The degrees of curvature seem to be fairly constant within the species, and to afford very fair specific characters. On the other hand, in the female the horns are slender, straighter, and shorter than in the male, very variable in direction, and as a rule showing little of the characteristic curvature peculiar to the male of each species, although there is a certain correspondence between the lengths of the horns in the two sexes.

Range of the Genus.Northern and Eastern Africa, and Western and Central Asia to Mongolia and British India.

The genusGazellacontains the great majority of the members of the present subfamily, and forms a very natural and easily defined group. All the species are lightly built and delicate animals, and are among the best known of all the Antelopes, on account of their beauty and the fact that they are common in confinement, so that every zoological garden is always well provided with examples of them. In the Zoological Society’s Gardens at the present time no less than ten species are represented.

The genusGazellawas always a favourite one with Sir Victor Brooke, who devoted much time to its elucidation, and published in 1873 a monograph of it, which up to the present time has been the standard work on the subject. From this monograph we venture to quote the following paragraphs which explain the nomenclature of the characteristic markings of the Gazelles: they also give an indication of the difficulties to be met with in working out a genus which, while the largest contained in the present work, is remarkable for the close resemblance of the different species to one another and for the absence of characters which will enable them to be readily separated:—

“For the sake of convenience, and the avoidance of constant repetition, and also to throw into relief the traces of genetic affinity afforded by coloration, I will describe the typical ground-plan which may be seen underlying each variation, the uniformity of the arrangement of the more salient and characteristic markings (where they appear) throughout the group clearly showing the existence of such a plan. To each of these more prominent features, indicating what may be provisionally called generic coloration, I will apply a definite name, which I shall make use of in the following descriptions.The anterior facial region in Gazelles, from the base of each horn to the muzzle, is cut off from the sides of the face on both sides by white streaks, which, starting externally to the base of each horn, run downwards to within two inches of the nostrils; the former I shall call the ‘central facial band,’ the latter the ‘light facial streaks.’ From the corner of the suborbital gland, running downwards immediately below the light facial streak, and of about equal width, is a dark line; this I shall refer to as the ‘dark facial streak.’ Bordering the white of the belly on each side, and extending from above and behind the ulna to above and in front of the patella, are two bands, the lower of which is darker, the upper lighter than the colour of the back and flanks. The former I shall speak of as the ‘dark lateral band,’ the latter the ‘light lateral band.’ Lastly, bordering the white of the rump is frequently seen a narrow indefinite darkish band, which may be conveniently called the ‘pygal band.’ The difficulty of expressing differences dependent to a large extent upon shades of colour and texture of hair sufficiently sharply to give a just impression of the effect produced by such differences upon the eye may cause the distinction of some of the forms below mentioned to appear doubtful. I can only say that upon occasions when I have had ample opportunity of subsequently verifying my identification, I have never experienced any difficulty in referring specimens entirely new to me to their proper name and habitat. The descriptions must be taken as applying to thoroughly typical specimens, the intensity of the markings and length and curvature of the horns being subject to great individual variation.”

The anterior facial region in Gazelles, from the base of each horn to the muzzle, is cut off from the sides of the face on both sides by white streaks, which, starting externally to the base of each horn, run downwards to within two inches of the nostrils; the former I shall call the ‘central facial band,’ the latter the ‘light facial streaks.’ From the corner of the suborbital gland, running downwards immediately below the light facial streak, and of about equal width, is a dark line; this I shall refer to as the ‘dark facial streak.’ Bordering the white of the belly on each side, and extending from above and behind the ulna to above and in front of the patella, are two bands, the lower of which is darker, the upper lighter than the colour of the back and flanks. The former I shall speak of as the ‘dark lateral band,’ the latter the ‘light lateral band.’ Lastly, bordering the white of the rump is frequently seen a narrow indefinite darkish band, which may be conveniently called the ‘pygal band.’ The difficulty of expressing differences dependent to a large extent upon shades of colour and texture of hair sufficiently sharply to give a just impression of the effect produced by such differences upon the eye may cause the distinction of some of the forms below mentioned to appear doubtful. I can only say that upon occasions when I have had ample opportunity of subsequently verifying my identification, I have never experienced any difficulty in referring specimens entirely new to me to their proper name and habitat. The descriptions must be taken as applying to thoroughly typical specimens, the intensity of the markings and length and curvature of the horns being subject to great individual variation.”

Since Sir Victor Brooke wrote his monograph of the Gazelles, many species only known to him by descriptions or by imperfect specimens have become represented in our National Museum by complete examples, while several additional species have been discovered. Our arrangement of the species is therefore necessarily different from his, but is, we fear, still very far from being perfect, as more and better specimens of most of the forms are still wanted before their exact geographical distribution, their extent of variation, and their true relationships to each other can be satisfactorily worked out.

As already noted, we have removed from the genusGazella, under the nameAntidorcas, the South-African Springbuck, which Sir Victor Brooke included in it. This being eliminated, the 25 species which we are prepared to recognize as distinct may be arranged as follows:—

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIIWolf del Smit lithHanhart impThe Tibetan Gazelle.GAZELLA PICTICAUDATA.Published by R. H. Porter

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LII

Wolf del Smit lith

Hanhart imp

The Tibetan Gazelle.

GAZELLA PICTICAUDATA.

Published by R. H. Porter

Procapra picticaudata,Hodgs.J. A. S. B. xv. p. 334, pl. ii. (1846), xvi. p. 696 (1847);Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi. p. 725 (1847);Gray, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 116;Horsf.Cat. Mamm. Mus. E. I. C. p. 169 (1851);Gray, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 55 (1852);Hooker, Himalayan Journ. ii. p. 157 (1854);Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 523;Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 232 (1862);Blyth, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. p. 173 (1863);Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 245, fig. (skull);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. p. 161 (1869);Kinloch, Large Game Shooting, p. 10 (1869);Blanf.J. A. S. B. xli. pt. 2, p. 39 (1872);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 38 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 105 (1873);Przewalski, Mongolia (Russian ed.), pl. i. figs. 2 & 3 (♂ ♀) (1875);Blanf.P. Z. S. 1876, p. 634;Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 136 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 167 (1892).Antilope picticaudata,Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. v. p. 408 (1855);Przewalski, Mongolia (Morgan’s Engl. Transl.), ii. p. 208 (1876).Gazella picticaudata,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 547;Sternd.Mamm. Ind. p. 467 (1884);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. ii. p. 161 (1891);Blanf.Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm. p. 529 (1891);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 342 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 120 (1892), (2) p. 161 (1896);Blanf.P. Z. S. 1893, p. 449;Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 183 (1893);Percy, Badm. Big Game Shooting, ii. p. 342 (1894).Vernacular Names:—RagoaandGoa(Hodgson);Ata-dzeren(Przewalski); all of the Tibetans.

Antilope picticaudata,Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. v. p. 408 (1855);Przewalski, Mongolia (Morgan’s Engl. Transl.), ii. p. 208 (1876).

Gazella picticaudata,Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 547;Sternd.Mamm. Ind. p. 467 (1884);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. ii. p. 161 (1891);Blanf.Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm. p. 529 (1891);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 342 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 120 (1892), (2) p. 161 (1896);Blanf.P. Z. S. 1893, p. 449;Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 183 (1893);Percy, Badm. Big Game Shooting, ii. p. 342 (1894).

Vernacular Names:—RagoaandGoa(Hodgson);Ata-dzeren(Przewalski); all of the Tibetans.

Height at withers about 25 inches. Fur close and thick. General body-colour pale fawn, darkening posteriorly and becoming almost rufous brown along the edges of the white anal patch. No lateral nor pygal bands. Face without any trace of the ordinary Gazelline markings, coloured like the body, or the top of the muzzle sometimes brown; hairs on the sides of the muzzleelongated, so as to form a sort of lateral tuft, which extends backwards under the eyes. Ears short, narrow, pointed, well haired, coloured like the body. Rump with a prominent white patch surrounding the base of the tail. Tail quite short, projecting little beyond the fur, its end black or dark fawn. Limbs white or very pale fawn; no knee-tufts.

“In the summer the coat is short and of a slaty grey colour” (Brooke).

Skull rather broad in proportion to its length. Anteorbital fossæ practically obsolete. Nasals broad behind, evenly tapering forwards. Basal length 6·4 inches, greatest breadth 3·75, muzzle to orbit 4·0.

Horns slender, of median length, much compressed laterally, very closely ringed. With the exception of their tips (2–3 inches), after starting vertically, they curve evenly and strongly backwards, diverging laterally but little. Tips gently curved upwards and slightly inwards, reapproaching each other above to a certain extent.

Female.Similar to the male but without horns.

Hab.Plateau of Tibet and adjoining districts of Central Asia.

Like many other Himalayan and Tibetan animals this Antelope first became known to science from the researches of the great Indian naturalist and antiquarian, Bryan Houghton Hodgson, British Resident at the capital of Nepal. Hodgson described it in 1846, in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ asProcapra picticaudata, and gave a very recognizable figure to accompany his letterpress. He wrote of it as follows:—

“The exceedingly graceful little animal, which is the subject of our present description, is called by the Tibetans Rágóá, or Góá simply, and they allege that it is found generally throughout the plains of middle and eastern Tibet. But those plains, it must be remembered, are, for the most part, broken by deep ravines or low bare hills, and it is in such situations, more especially, that the Góá dwells, either solitarily or in pairs, or at most in small families, never in large flocks. The species is said to breed but once a year, and to produce ordinarily but one young one at birth, rarely two; and it is added that it browses rather than grazes, preferring aromatic shrubs and shoots to grass, of which latter, indeed, its habitat is nearly void. I have not heard that the Góá is ever tamed, but it is killed for the sake of its flesh, which is esteemed excellent, and is free from all caprine odour, even in the mature males.”

Hodgson also entered into the structural peculiarities of this Antelope, which he described at full length. It is quite evident that, as pointed out by him, the present Gazelle, as also the two allied species (G. przewalskiiandG. gutturosa), present certain points of difference from the rest of the group, and that there was, therefore, some justification for Hodgson’s proposal of the generic term “Procapra,” although we do not think it necessary to use it. These three species agree among themselves in the females not possessing horns, in the absence of anteorbital glands, and the corresponding absence of a fossa in the skull, in having no brushes on the knees, and in several other characters, which show that they are really more closely connected to each other than to the more typical Gazelles. Nevertheless we think that, on the whole, it is best to include them in the genusGazella, as no one of these characters is absolutely confined to them. ThusG. subgutturosa, often, though wrongly, placed with them, has no horns in the female, while in other characters it is a trueGazella, and several species besides these three are without knee-brushes, while the anteorbital fossæ in others are so shallow as to be practically non-existent.

Fig. 54.Skull and horns of the Tibetan Gazelle.(P. Z. S. 1867, p. 245.)

Fig. 54.

Skull and horns of the Tibetan Gazelle.

(P. Z. S. 1867, p. 245.)

Soon after his discovery of the Goa, Hodgson forwarded specimens of it to the British Museum, and the species was included in Gray’s catalogues asProcapra picticaudata. Under this name also Gray figured a skull and pair of horns of this Gazelle in 1867, in order to point out its differences from theallied Asiatic form,Gazella gutturosa. This figure (fig. 54, p. 73), by the kind permission of the Zoological Society of London, we are now able to reproduce.

In October 1849, Sir Joseph Hooker, as related in his ‘Himalayan Journals’ (ii. p. 157), met with the Goa feeding on the short grass near the Cholamoo Lake in Sikim, at an elevation of 17,000 feet above the sea-level, and in other adjoining localities on the Donkia Pass between Sikim and Tibet. Through his kindness and that of his publishers we are enabled to introduce the illustration of this striking scene (fig. 55) prepared for his well-known work.

Fig. 55.Goa Antelopes on the Donkia Pass.(Hooker’s ‘Himalayan Journals,’ ii. p. 139.)

Fig. 55.

Goa Antelopes on the Donkia Pass.

(Hooker’s ‘Himalayan Journals,’ ii. p. 139.)

Other travellers and sportsmen have also noticed the Goa or Tibetan Gazelle in Ladak and on the frontiers of Tibet. But by far the most complete account of the habits and ways of life of this Antelope is that given by Major-General Kinloch in the various editions of his excellent work on Large-Game Shooting in Tibet.

To the east of Ladak, General Kinloch tells us, in the country that lies between the Upper Indus and the Sutlej, are vast expanses of undulatinghills and valleys of great elevation utterly destitute of forest and with but scanty indications of vegetation. The greater part of these wild uplands would appear at first to be a perfect desert, but, as a matter of fact, on closer inspection, it will be found that there is hardly a slope, however rocky, or an expanse of sand, however thirsty-looking, where an occasional tuft of grass or bunch of sweet-scented herb may not be found, while wherever streams of water exist their banks are often ornamented by the greenest of turf and studded with flowers of the most brilliant hues. This bleak country, General Kinloch continues, the elevation of which varies from 13,000 to 18,000 feet, is the home of the Goa, which is to be found there scattered about in small parties usually varying from two or three to about a dozen in number, and in certain localities is decidedly plentiful. They are not generally very shy, but will seldom allow the hunter to approach openly within shot.

In 1866 General Kinloch made an expedition to the Tsomoriri Lake in this district, mainly with a view of hunting the Goa. We subjoin an account of his adventures, extracted from his work:—

“In 1866 I went to the Tsomoriri Lake and Hanlé, the Goa being one of my principal inducements to go there. I was accompanied by a friend, and on the 2nd of June we pitched our camp at the corner of the lake and ascended the plateau above. We had not gone far before we discovered some animals feeding at a distance, and the telescope showed them to be Goa. We made a most careful stalk, and got within easy shot, but the small size of the animals deceived us in our estimate of distance, and we both missed. Soon afterwards we saw some more Goa, but I again missed a fair chance. We then separated, but I could see nothing for a long time; at length I caught a glimpse of the heads of two or three Goas just as they were disappearing over a ridge; I followed them, and shot a doe through the body as it was galloping away. A greyhound which I had with me gave chase, and ran into it after a long course. The next day I determined to kill a buck, so I ascended the plateau very early in the morning; I soon discovered some Goa at a great distance, but after stalking to within seventy yards, I found that they were all does and young ones. I therefore would not fire at them, but lay watching the graceful little animals with much interest. Before long they caught sight of me, but being unable to make me out distinctly, they advanced towards me, occasionally rising on their hind legs to obtain a better view. I at length arose and showed myself, upon which they made off. Further on I found some does, and shortly afterwards three bucks, but in a place where they could not be stalked, so I sent a man round to drive them. The driver failed, the Goas going off in the wrong direction, but the man who went after them informed me that he had seen five others, and pointed out the direction in which they had gone. I crossed the plain, and saw them on the slopes at the otherside, and after a détour, found myself on the hill-side straight above them. I watched them for some time as they fed along the foot of the hill: at last they approached a deep but narrow ravine which ran down the hill; I entered this, which afforded me capital cover, and on reaching the plain and looking over the bank, I saw the Goas quietly feeding within about a hundred yards. Resting my rifle on the bank, I fired very steadily at the best buck, but to my surprise missed with both barrels, owing to over-estimating the distance. Dropping behind the bank, I reloaded, and on again looking over was astonished to see the Goas still feeding in the same place. I was more successful this time, wounding one with the first barrel, and killing another with the second. Even now the Goas did not move far, and I had time to fire two more bullets, which, however, missed. Meanwhile I had sent a man to bring my dog, and on his arrival I slipped him at the Goas, but the wounded one seemed to recover completely, and it soon distanced the greyhound. The one I had killed had a very beautiful pair of horns.”

Besides the experiences of the travellers and sportsmen from the Indian side, the only published record concerning the Tibetan Gazelle, so far as we know, is that of the great Russian explorer Przewalski, who, after treating of the “Orongo” of Northern Tibet (Pantholops hodgsoni), mentions the present species as being found in the same district, and there known to the Mongols as “Ata-dzeren,” or Little Antelope[4]. Przewalski, who met with this animal near the headwaters of the Tatong-gol, in Northern Tibet, and, as he believes, also in the highlands of Kan-su in China, describes its habits as follows:—

“Like the Orongo it frequents elevated plains, preferring, however, the valleys in the mountains where water is abundant. Yet its habits are very different from the Orongo’s, and it is without exception the most graceful and the swiftest of the antelopes of Mongolia and Northern Tibet. It generally moves in small herds of from five to seven (seldom as many as twenty), though solitary males are often seen. It is extremely wary, especially in those districts where it has learnt to fear man; on the banks of the Muruiussu it is a little less timid. Its swiftness is amazing; it bounds along like an india-rubber ball, and when startled seems absolutely to fly. During their breeding-season, which begins towards the close of December and lasts a month, the males chase one another from their herds, but we never saw them fighting like the Orongo, nor did we ever hear them utter any sound other than a snort on seeing a man; and the does when startled gave a short loud cry. They scrape themselves trenches a foot deep, in which they lie at night (and probably during the day), and in these we found heaps of their droppings.“This little antelope is more difficult to shoot than the Orongo, besides being much scarcer and extremely tenacious of life. Its ashy-grey colour, exactly resembling thesoil, renders it almost invisible at a distance, and it is only by its conspicuous white rump, and its snort, that you are able to discover its presence.”

“This little antelope is more difficult to shoot than the Orongo, besides being much scarcer and extremely tenacious of life. Its ashy-grey colour, exactly resembling thesoil, renders it almost invisible at a distance, and it is only by its conspicuous white rump, and its snort, that you are able to discover its presence.”

There are many specimens of this Antelope in the British Museum presented by Mr. Hodgson, amongst which is the type of the species. There are also in the National Collection skulls from Kumaon and other localities presented by Mr. A. O. Hume, C.B.; from the Changchenmo Valley, Ladak, presented by Mr. R. Lydekker; and from the confines of Tibet north of Sikim, collected by Mandelli and presented by Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S.

There is also a good series of specimens of this Gazelle in the Museum of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, obtained by the Russian explorers in Northern Tibet and in the mountains of Nan-shan.

Our figure (Plate LII.), which has been put on the stone by Mr. Smit from a sketch prepared for Sir Victor Brooke by Mr. Wolf, represents a male and two females of this species, probably the specimens in the British Museum.

January,1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES PL. LIII.J Smit del, et lith.Hanhart imp.Przewalski’s Gazelle.GAZELLA PRZEWALSKII.Published by R H Porter

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES PL. LIII.

J Smit del, et lith.

Hanhart imp.

Przewalski’s Gazelle.

GAZELLA PRZEWALSKII.

Published by R H Porter

Antilope gutturosa,Przewalski, Mongolia (Russian ed.), p. 18, pl. i. fig. 1 (♂) (1875);id.op. cit. Morgan’s Engl. Transl. i. pp. 20 & 28 (1876).Antilope cuvieri,Przewalski, Cat. Coll. (Russian) p. 110 (1888) (necOgilb.).Gazella przewalskii,Büchn.Mélang. Biol. xiii. p. 164 (1890).Vernacular Name:—Dzérenof Mongols (Przewalski)—applied to all the Gazelles of Central Asia.

Antilope gutturosa,Przewalski, Mongolia (Russian ed.), p. 18, pl. i. fig. 1 (♂) (1875);id.op. cit. Morgan’s Engl. Transl. i. pp. 20 & 28 (1876).

Antilope cuvieri,Przewalski, Cat. Coll. (Russian) p. 110 (1888) (necOgilb.).

Gazella przewalskii,Büchn.Mélang. Biol. xiii. p. 164 (1890).

Vernacular Name:—Dzérenof Mongols (Przewalski)—applied to all the Gazelles of Central Asia.

Size rather greater than inG. picticaudata. General colour deep fawn in summer, pale finely grizzled fawn in winter. Sides of neck (at least in winter) and top of muzzle slaty brown; no ordinary gazelline face-markings. Ears short, acutely pointed[5]; coloured like the back. Rump with the white of the anal region running up on to the upper surface, divided in its centre by a narrow fawn-coloured line running from the back on to the tail. Tail very short, hidden in the fur; fawn along its top, inconspicuously pale brown at its tip. Front of limbs more or less brownish; no knee-tufts.

Skull short and stoutly built. No anteorbital fossæ. Nasals broad and short; premaxillæ not reaching up to the latter, the nasal opening unusually large and broad. Basal length of an adult male 7 inches, greatest breadth 3·8, muzzle to orbit 4.

Horns of median length and thickness, much compressed laterally; with the exception of their terminal two inches, they are evenly curved backwardsand divergent outwards, the divergence increasing above; tips abruptly hooked inwards and slightly upwards, at a sharper angle with the rest of the horn than a right angle.

Female.Similar to the male, but without horns.

Hab.Mongolia; Koko Nor, northern part of Kan-su, and Ordos.

Przewalski’s Gazelle, which has been most appropriately named after the famous explorer who discovered it, was first described and figured by Przewalski himself in 1876, but erroneously confounded with the allied formG. gutturosa. Twelve years later, it appears, Przewalski discovered his error, and proposed to rename the animalAntilope cuvieri. But this specific term properly belongs to another species which had been described by Ogilby many years previously. Under these circumstances Dr. Büchner in his account of the Mammals of the Kan-su Expedition of Messrs. Potanin and Beresowski, proposed that this Gazelle should in future be known asGazella przewalskii—Przewalski’s Gazelle.

In the English translation of Przewalski’s ‘Mongolia’ the habits of this species are described as follows:—

“These antelopes are gregarious, their herds sometimes numbering several hundreds or even thousands in those parts where food is plentiful, but they are most frequently seen in smaller numbers of from fifteen to thirty or forty head. Although they avoid the neighbourhood of man, they always select the best pasturages of the desert, and, like the Mongols, migrate from place to place in search of food, sometimes travelling great distances, especially in summer, when the drought drives them to the rich pasture-lands of Northern Mongolia, and as far as the confines of Trans-Baikalia. The deep snows of winter often compel them to travel several hundred miles in search of places almost or entirely free from snow. These animals belong exclusively to the plains, and carefully avoid the hilly country, but sometimes appear in the undulating parts of the steppe, particularly in spring, attracted by the young grass, which shoots up under the influence of the sun’s warmth. They shun thickets and high grass, excepting at the time of parturition, which is in May, when the doe seeks the covert to conceal her new-born offspring. But a few days after their birth the fawns follow their mothers about everywhere, and soon rival the fleet-footedness of their sires. They very seldom utter any sound, though the males occasionally give a short loud bleat. Nature has endowed them with excellent sight, hearing, and smell; their swiftness is marvellous and their intelligence well developed, qualities which prevent their falling so easy a prey as they otherwise would to their enemies—man and the wolf.“The Mongols, armed with their poor matchlocks, hunt the dzerens in the following way. In those parts of the steppe where these antelopes abound they dig small pits atcertain distances apart. These holes at first excite mistrust, so the animals are left alone for some weeks to get used to them. The hunters then repair to their allotted stations, and conceal themselves in the pits, while others make a wide circuit to windward and drive the herd towards the ambush. No gun is fired till they are within a distance of fifty paces or even less. The drivers must know their business and be thoroughly familiar with the habits of the animal, otherwise their labour will be lost. They must never gallop suddenly up to the herd—because if they do the antelopes almost always escape. The usual plan is to make a circuit round the herd, slowly narrowing the circle with repeated halts, or else to ride on one flank at a foot’s pace, gradually edging the herd towards the ambush.“Towards the end of summer the dzerens are very fat, and are eagerly hunted by the Mongols for the sake of their delicate flesh, and also for their skins, which are made into winter clothing. The nomads, however, rarely wear the skins themselves, but sell them to Russian merchants at Urga and Kiakhta. Dzerens are also snared in traps made in the shape of a shoe of tough grass. When caught by the leg in one of these the animal lames itself in its struggles to get free, and becomes unable to move.”

“The Mongols, armed with their poor matchlocks, hunt the dzerens in the following way. In those parts of the steppe where these antelopes abound they dig small pits atcertain distances apart. These holes at first excite mistrust, so the animals are left alone for some weeks to get used to them. The hunters then repair to their allotted stations, and conceal themselves in the pits, while others make a wide circuit to windward and drive the herd towards the ambush. No gun is fired till they are within a distance of fifty paces or even less. The drivers must know their business and be thoroughly familiar with the habits of the animal, otherwise their labour will be lost. They must never gallop suddenly up to the herd—because if they do the antelopes almost always escape. The usual plan is to make a circuit round the herd, slowly narrowing the circle with repeated halts, or else to ride on one flank at a foot’s pace, gradually edging the herd towards the ambush.

“Towards the end of summer the dzerens are very fat, and are eagerly hunted by the Mongols for the sake of their delicate flesh, and also for their skins, which are made into winter clothing. The nomads, however, rarely wear the skins themselves, but sell them to Russian merchants at Urga and Kiakhta. Dzerens are also snared in traps made in the shape of a shoe of tough grass. When caught by the leg in one of these the animal lames itself in its struggles to get free, and becomes unable to move.”

Besides the Russian explorers already mentioned, the only traveller, so far as we are aware, that has met with Przewalski’s Gazelle in its native wilds is the well-known explorer Mr. St. George Littledale, F.R.G.S., who brought home a skin and skull of this species from his adventurous journey across Central Asia in 1893, and presented them to the British Museum. In the narrative of Mr. Littledale’s expedition, which is contained in the third volume of the ‘Geographical Journal’ (p. 465), will be found an allusion to this Antelope as observed by him near the Lake Koko Nor. The north shore of this lake, first seen by Mr. Littledale on the 3rd of August, 1893, was flat and swampy, and there were many of these antelopes feeding on it in company with Wild Asses (Equus kiang). In some MS. notes with which Mr. Littledale has kindly favoured us on this subject it is stated that he first saw examples of this Gazelle south of the Nan-Shan mountains in about lat. 38° 30´ N. and long. 96° 30´ E. On that occasion, he says, they were high up above the party, and nearly all males, but, as Mr. Littledale was then expecting an attack from the Tanguts, he did not like to leave the caravan to try after them. As the valley of the Buhain-Gol (the river which flows into Lake Koko Nor) was descended, the old males became scarcer, and round the lake, where he procured the specimen now in the British Museum, there were large bands of females accompanied by young males.

Besides Mr. Littledale’s specimens already mentioned, the British Museumcontains a beautiful pair of this Antelope obtained in exchange from the Museum at St. Petersburg, from which our figures representing both sexes (Plate LIII.) have been prepared by Mr. Smit. It will be observed at once that though in its general form and coloration this species is somewhat similar toG. picticaudata, the shape of its horns is quite different, and readily distinguishes this species from its allies.

When at St. Petersburg in August 1897, Sclater had the opportunity of examining, under the kind guidance of Herr Büchner, the fine series of specimens of this Antelope in the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of that city. The specimens had been obtained in the region of the Koko Nor, in the most northern part of the Chinese province of Kan-su, and in Ordos, which is the country encompassed by the great northern bend of the River Hoang-Ho. In the southern part of this district Przewalski’s Gazelle was met with in great numbers during the Kan-su expedition already mentioned, and many specimens of it were obtained for the Imperial Museum at St. Petersburg.

January,1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIVWolf del J Smit lith.Hanhart imp.The Mongolian GazelleGAZELLA GUTTUROSAPublished by R H Porter

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIV

Wolf del J Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

The Mongolian Gazelle

GAZELLA GUTTUROSA

Published by R H Porter

Caprea campestris gutturosa,J. G. Gmel.N. Comm. Petrop. v. p. 347, pl. ix. (1760).Antilope gutturosa,Pall.Spic. Zool. fasc. xii. p. 46, t. ii. (1777);Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 120 (1780);Herm.Tabl. Affin. Anim. p. 108 (1783);Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 143 (1785);Schreb.Säug. pl. cclxxv. (1787);Gmel.Linn. S. N. i. p. 186 (1788);Kerr, Linn. An. K. p. 310 (1792);Donnd.Zool. Beytr. i. p. 627 (1792);Latham & Davis, Faunula Indica, p. 4 (1795);Link, Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 99 (1795);Bechst.Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 645 (1800);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 342 (1801);Turt.Linn. S. N. i. p. 113 (1802);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 228 (1804);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxii. p. 499, xxiv. Tabl. p. 33 (1804);Pall.Zoogr. Ross.-As. i. p. 251 (1811);Licht.Mag. nat. Freund. Berl. vi. p. 171 (1814);G. Fisch.Zoogn. iii. p. 431 (1814);Afzel, N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 182 (1816);G. Cuv.Règne Anim. i. p. 260 (1817);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1221 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 387 (1821);Desmoul.Dict. Class. i. p. 441 (1822);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 452 (1822);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 229, v. p. 336 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 371 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 458 (1829);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1267 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. i. p. 615 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i. p. 260 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 416 (1844), v. p. 408 (1855);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 104, pl. xxxi. fig. 180 (1845);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 409 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 11, pl. x. (1848);Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 270 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 266; Reprint, p. 86 (1848);Gieb.Säug. p. 312 (1853);Radde, Ost-Sibirien, p. 254, pl. xi. fig. 1 (1862);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 201 (1880).Cerophorus (Antilope) gutturosa,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.Cemas gutturosa,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 737 (1816).Gazella gutturosa,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846);id.List Ost. B. M. p. 56 (1847);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 3 (1850);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 546;Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 342 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 119 (1892), (2) p. 160 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 182 (1893);Percy, Badm. Big Game Shooting, ii. p. 341 (1894).Procapra gutturosa,Gray, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 115;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 54 (1852);Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 232 (1862);Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 244, fig. (skull);Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. p. 161 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 37 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 105 (1873);Flow. & Gars.Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 266 (1884);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 136 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 167 (1892).Chinese Antelope,Penn.Syn. Mamm. p. 35 (1771).Antilope tzeiran,Zimm.Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 543 (1777).Antilope orientalis,Erxl.Syst. R. A. p. 288 (1777);Gatt.Brev. Zool. i. p. 82 (1780);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. Tabl. p. 33 (1804).Vernacular Names:—Dzérenof Mongols, the maleScharcholdsi, the femaleOhno, the kidIngdacha.Hoang-yang(Yellow Goat) of Chinese.Tzonrah(♂) andVgovóhof Tanguts (Pallas).

Caprea campestris gutturosa,J. G. Gmel.N. Comm. Petrop. v. p. 347, pl. ix. (1760).

Antilope gutturosa,Pall.Spic. Zool. fasc. xii. p. 46, t. ii. (1777);Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 120 (1780);Herm.Tabl. Affin. Anim. p. 108 (1783);Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 143 (1785);Schreb.Säug. pl. cclxxv. (1787);Gmel.Linn. S. N. i. p. 186 (1788);Kerr, Linn. An. K. p. 310 (1792);Donnd.Zool. Beytr. i. p. 627 (1792);Latham & Davis, Faunula Indica, p. 4 (1795);Link, Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 99 (1795);Bechst.Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 645 (1800);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 342 (1801);Turt.Linn. S. N. i. p. 113 (1802);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 228 (1804);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxii. p. 499, xxiv. Tabl. p. 33 (1804);Pall.Zoogr. Ross.-As. i. p. 251 (1811);Licht.Mag. nat. Freund. Berl. vi. p. 171 (1814);G. Fisch.Zoogn. iii. p. 431 (1814);Afzel, N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 182 (1816);G. Cuv.Règne Anim. i. p. 260 (1817);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1221 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 387 (1821);Desmoul.Dict. Class. i. p. 441 (1822);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 452 (1822);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 229, v. p. 336 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 371 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 458 (1829);Oken, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1267 (1838);Laurill.Dict. Univ. i. p. 615 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i. p. 260 (1840);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1842);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 416 (1844), v. p. 408 (1855);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 104, pl. xxxi. fig. 180 (1845);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 409 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 11, pl. x. (1848);Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 270 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 266; Reprint, p. 86 (1848);Gieb.Säug. p. 312 (1853);Radde, Ost-Sibirien, p. 254, pl. xi. fig. 1 (1862);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 201 (1880).

Cerophorus (Antilope) gutturosa,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.

Cemas gutturosa,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 737 (1816).

Gazella gutturosa,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846);id.List Ost. B. M. p. 56 (1847);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 3 (1850);Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 546;Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 342 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 119 (1892), (2) p. 160 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 182 (1893);Percy, Badm. Big Game Shooting, ii. p. 341 (1894).

Procapra gutturosa,Gray, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 115;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 54 (1852);Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 232 (1862);Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 244, fig. (skull);Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. p. 161 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 37 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 105 (1873);Flow. & Gars.Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 266 (1884);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 136 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 167 (1892).

Chinese Antelope,Penn.Syn. Mamm. p. 35 (1771).

Antilope tzeiran,Zimm.Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 543 (1777).

Antilope orientalis,Erxl.Syst. R. A. p. 288 (1777);Gatt.Brev. Zool. i. p. 82 (1780);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. Tabl. p. 33 (1804).

Vernacular Names:—Dzérenof Mongols, the maleScharcholdsi, the femaleOhno, the kidIngdacha.Hoang-yang(Yellow Goat) of Chinese.Tzonrah(♂) andVgovóhof Tanguts (Pallas).

Size fairly large; height at withers rather over 30 inches; form stout and thick. General colour fawn, paler than in most of the other species, but the rump and sides are white, as is the whole of the limbs. Gazelline face-markings absent; top of the muzzle browner than the rest of the head; sides of the muzzle and cheeks white. Ears short but pointed, thickly furred, their backs pale fawn, nearly white. No lateral bands, either dull or light. No knee-brushes. Tail very short, white, its tip brown.

According to Radde all the parts which are fawn in winter are in summer of an intense isabel-yellow.

Skull long and narrow, with a heavy muzzle. Anteorbital fossæ obsolete. Nasals long and broad. Basal length (in a not fully adult specimen) 9 inches, greatest breadth 4·1, muzzle to orbit 5·5.

Horns short in proportion to the size of the animal; heavily and closely ringed; basally they are parallel to each other, diverging above, with their tips again gently curved in towards each other.

Female.Similar, but without horns.

Hab.Northern and Eastern Mongolia, and southern borders of Russian Transbaikalia.

The great traveller and naturalist, Peter Simon Pallas, whose name we have already often mentioned in the course of this work, was the first technical describer of this Antelope, although he was by no means its discoverer, for he himself quotes previous references to it in the works of older authors. But Pallas, in the Supplement to his memoir on the Antelopes, published 1777, gave us the first scientific description of it, and selected for it the appropriate scientific namegutturosa, by which it has been ever since known. According to Pallas, the first Europeans to become acquainted with this Gazelle were the Jesuit missionaries in China, one of whom, Pereira, as quoted by Witsenius, mentions it as a Chinese animal; while Du Halde, in his great work upon China, describes it, under the name “Hoang-yang” orCapra flava, as wandering about in large flocks in the deserts of Mongolia. Further accounts of this Antelope were subsequently given by Messerschmidt and Gmelin in the Commentaries of the St. Petersburg Academy. These are also quoted by Pallas, who himself met with this animal on the upper course of the River Onon, on the southern frontiers of Transbaikalia. Pallas concludes his history of this species with a lengthened description of its external form and anatomy, and gives an uncoloured figure, in which the peculiar swollen condition of the throat in the male in the breeding-season (whence it was termedgutturosa) is correctly shown.

Pallas’s posthumous work, ‘Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica,’ contains little more than a summary of his previous account of this animal.

The numerous authors who followed Pallas added little or nothing to our knowledge of the Mongolian Gazelle, and were content to base their notices of it almost entirely upon his publications. It is not, in fact, until we come to nearly modern days that we obtain any further original information concerning this animal.

Dr. Gustav Radde, now Director of the Museum at Tiflis, made extensive journeys in South-eastern Siberia, under the patronage of the Imperial Geographical Society of Russia, in 1855 and the three following years, and amassed large zoological collections. One of the volumes of his ‘Reisen im Süden von Ost-Sibirien,’ published at St. Petersburg in 1862, is devoted to an account of the Mammals of South-eastern Siberia, and is, and will long remain, our standard work on this subject. Dr. Radde brought home five good specimens of this Antelope, and commences his account of it with accurate descriptions of its summer and winter pelages. He adds a detaileddescription of its skull and dentition, and compares them at length with those ofGazella subgutturosa.

As regards its distribution in the present epoch, Dr. Radde points out that, like the Dziggetai (Equus hemionus) and the Argali Sheep (Ovis ammon), the Mongolian Gazelle has retreated to the south and east from the Russian frontiers since the days of Pallas. There are at present only two places on the southern borderlands of Transbaikalia in which this Antelope remains during the summer and breeds every year. One of these is a district east of the Dsŭn-tarei which is seldom entered even by the shepherds of the Cossacks. It is an uninhabited and rather mountainous country, without wood or bushes, varied by salt-and some freshwater lakes, and covered only with yellowElymus-grasses. The other district, which is of a similar character, lies north of the left bank of the Argunj, where this river enters into the Russian territories between the border-posts of Soktui and Abagaitui.

Dr. Radde gives the following account of the habits of this animal as observed by himself and as obtained from the reports of the natives in 1856:—

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