Buffon also described and figured another Antelope, “Le Kevel,” of
which he does not state the locality. Some authors have been disposed
to refer Buffon’s Kevel to the larger Antelope of Algeria, which
is generally called _Gazella cuvieri_. But Buffon’s description of
the colour of the face and the length he attributes to the ears, as
likewise his phrase that the Kevel is “plus petit que la Gazelle,”
taken together form conclusive evidence against this view, and
there can practically be no doubt that Buffon’s “Kevel” was a small
individual of _Gazella dorcas_.
A third name invented by Buffon for one of the Gazelles, “La Corine,”
has likewise been the source of some confusion. His figure and
description were taken from a female animal at one time living in
the park of Saint Cloud, but its locality was not given. Owing to
the fact that some horns, brought home by Adanson from Senegal, were
subsequently referred to Buffon’s “Corine,” the name _Gazella
corinna_ (founded upon Buffon’s “Corine”) has been sometimes
applied to the _Gazella rufifrons_ of Senegal. But, so far as
we can judge from Buffon’s figure and description, the real type
of Buffon’s “Corine” must have been merely an ordinary female of
_Gazella dorcas_, although there is some difficulty on the
subject in consequence of the discrepancy between Buffon’s figure and
his description. As Thomas has shown in his observations upon this
point (P. Z. S. 1894, p. 469), it seems that a wholly satisfactory
determination of Buffon’s “Corine” is barely possible.
It is manifest, however, that the names “_kevella_” and “_corinna_”
cannot be safely assigned to any other Gazelle than _Gazella dorcas_.
The many systematists whose works we have quoted above in our list of
synonyms added very little to our knowledge of this Gazelle beyond
the fact that it was supposed to be distributed all over North Africa
from Morocco to Egypt and to be also found in Palestine and Syria. It
is only quite recently that we have ascertained some precise facts
respecting the ranges of this and other Gazelles in the countries above
mentioned, and even now our information on this subject is by no means
perfect.
Commencing with Morocco, there is no doubt, we believe, from the
testimony of various travellers, that a small Gazelle of this group
does occur in the interior of that country and that it is probably
of this species, but we have never had an opportunity of examining
Moroccan specimens. In Algeria we have more definite information
available.
From the days of Shaw the “Common Gazelle” has been recognized
as an inhabitant of the “Barbary States.” The French naturalist
Loche included it in his catalogue of 1858, but is not clear in
distinguishing it from its allied species. Canon Tristram, in the
‘Great Sahara,’ published two years later, informs us that this
Gazelle is found in small troops in every portion of the Sahara, and
is the principal large game to be depended on for food, especially in
the neighbourhood of the dayats beyond Laghouat, where pasturage is
abundant. The fawns are dropped in the early summer, and follow the dam
until towards the end of the autumn. The Bedouin gather the droppings,
which have a strong aromatic scent, to mix with snuff.
In the pages of the ‘Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie’ devoted
to Mammals, likewise from the pen of Loche, we find a little more
information concerning the Algerian Gazelles, but it does not appear
that Loche was at all clear in discriminating the various species that
are there met with.
Good and precise information has, however, been given us on this
subject by Mr. Alfred E. Pease, M.P., in his article on the “Antelopes
of the Aures and Eastern Algerian Sahara,” published in the Zoological
Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1896, the principal portion of which we
must quote at full length:--
“It is with great respect and diffidence that I object to the
Dorcas being described (see P. Z. S. 1894, p. 467) as ‘the
common Gazelle of the Algerian Sahara generally,’ for the Dorcas
is not met with in the Sahara proper, so far as I can learn,
and in the Eastern Algerian Sahara at least is not to be found
south of lat. 33°. The Dorcas in the Eastern Province and in
Tunisia is the common Gazelle of the plains immediately south
of the Aures Range, which form a sort of transitional zone
between the mountains and the Sahara proper. Roughly speaking,
this Gazelle is confined to a belt of country not more than 120
or 150 miles wide (and generally very much narrower). It may
be found in plains, or even in low hills, within the southern
mountain-chains, and on or near some of the sand-dunes on
the confines of the Chotts. I have frequently seen it in the
neighbourhood of the Chotts, but once into the Oued Souf and
sand desert and all trace of it is lost and the Rhime takes its
place. In the district of Sef el Menadi, where I have been twice
with Sir E. G. Loder, and where he secured the first specimen
of the Gazelle (the Rhime) which now bears his name, we found
both Rhime and Dorcas on the same ground; and this place may be
marked as the most northern limit which the Rhime ever inhabits,
as it never leaves the sand, I think, whilst the Dorcas does not
go much further south than this. Probably there are several of
these isolated islands of sand where the Rhime may be found.
“The best male Dorcas that I have shot had horns a little over
31 cm. in length, the best female 25 cm. (measured along the
curve).
“They vary a good deal in colour according to the ground they
frequent, and there is a slight variety among members of
the same band. In 1893 there was on the plain of Aïn Naga a
pure white one, no doubt an albino; but though my hunter had
frequently seen it, he was never able to find it for me.”
Passing on to the Beylik of Tunis, we have excellent notes on the
Gazelles of this country drawn up by Mr. Joseph I. S. Whitaker, F.Z.S.,
published in the same volume of the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings.’
Mr. Whitaker writes of this Gazelle as follows:--
“The common Dorcas Gazelle is to be met with throughout the
greater part of Central and Southern Tunisia, frequenting the
vast semi-desert plains abundant in those districts, but not the
more sandy inland country of the extreme south of the Regency,
where it is replaced by another species. So far as I can
ascertain, the Dorcas Gazelle never occurs in the Tell country;
but I have observed it in the neighbourhood of Kairouan, which
is probably the extreme northern limit of the range of this
species in the Regency. On the extensive plains to the west of
Gafsa I have found it particularly abundant; and I understand
it is plentiful in the neighbourhood of the Chott Djerid, and
throughout a considerable portion of the coast-country of
the south, but not in the true desert further inland, where
sand-dunes take the place of the stony scrub-covered plains.
It may occasionally stray into the sand country, but this is
exceptional.
“In winter the Dorcas Gazelle congregates in large herds, often
numbering over one hundred individuals; but in spring these
herds break up, and one then meets with the Gazelles in small
parties or singly. The female _G. dorcas_, I am told, gives
birth to but one young one at a time, and this generally in the
month of April.
“The horns of this species vary considerably both in size and
in shape. As a rule, those of the adult male are stout, deeply
annulate, and lyrate, measuring from 10 to 13 inches in length
along the front curve; those of the female are much shorter,
straighter, smoother, and more slender.
“I may here mention that I have specimens of the Dorcas Gazelle
from the country south of the Chott Djerid, which are somewhat
paler in colour than the ordinary form. No doubt this variation
in colouring is due to some difference in the nature of the soil
and surroundings of the districts from whence these particular
specimens came.”
So little is known of the natural history of Tripoli and Barca that
we can only presume that the Dorcas Gazelle ranges through these
countries on its way to Egypt, where it is well known to be abundant
in the Western Desert. Sclater examined large numbers of both sexes of
this species in the Zoological Garden of Gizeh near Cairo in 1895 from
this locality[8], and several specimens from the same source have been
received in exchange by the Zoological Society of London. Our figures
of both sexes of the Dorcas Gazelle (Plate LVII.) have been prepared by
Mr. Smit from examples thus obtained.
In the eastern desert of Egypt the Dorcas Gazelle appears in these days
to be not nearly so common. Mr. E. N. Buxton, who traversed the eastern
desert in his expedition after _Capra sinaitica_, tells us that
two or three Gazelles together were the most he ever saw at one time.
Between the Nile and the granite mountains 80 miles to the east, a
very arid district, Mr. Buxton only saw Gazelles once. They were more
numerous among the foot hills of the Kettar range and the porphyry
mountains, for the obvious reason that there is more vegetation there.
The Gazelles frequently depicted in the paintings of the ancient
Egyptian tombs and temples were, no doubt, usually _Gazella dorcas_
in Lower, and _G. isabella_ in Upper Egypt, although they were
probably also well acquainted with _G. arabica_. Dr. Hartmann in his
interesting disquisition on the animals of these paintings (Zeitschr.
f. Aegyptische Sprache und Alterthumskunde, 1864, p. 22) gives us the
hieroglyphic symbols of the Gazelle, and its corresponding name as
“_Gahés_.” It was evidently a common object of chase even in those days.
Crossing over into the Holy Land, we find the Dorcas Gazelle registered
in Canon Tristram’s ‘Fauna and Flora of Palestine’ as met with in all
suitable localities. From the same author’s ‘Natural History of the
Bible’ we extract the following passages relating to this favourite
animal:--
“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 to impale 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.”
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
present time, 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 57.
Head of the Dorcas Gazelle, ♂.
(From specimens in the British Museum.)]
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LVIII.
_J. Smit del. et lith._ _Hanhart imp._
The Edmi Gazelle.
GAZELLA CUVIERI.
_Published by R H Porter._]
88. THE EDMI GAZELLE.
GAZELLA CUVIERI (OGILBY).
[PLATE LVIII.]
_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)
(from _Kevel gris_, F. Cuv.).
_Gazella corinna_, =Loche=, Cat. Mamm. Alg. p. 13 (1850); =id.=
Expl. Alg., Mamm. p. 68 (1867) (_nec_ Pall.).
_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:--_Edmi_ of Arabs of Algeria (_Pease_); _Edem_
in 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,
strongly ribbed, 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.
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 that _Gazella cuvieri_ is 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 doubt
_Gazella cuvieri_.
Passing on to Algeria we find that Loche appears to have referred to
this Antelope under the name _Gazella corinna_, and that Canon
Tristram and Lataste have called it _Gazella 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 in _Gazella 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.”
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, the _Edmi_ or _Edem_ of 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.