entitled ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères,’ which was issued in
livraisons from 1824 to 1842, contains a long series of coloured
figures of mammals, mostly taken from examples living in the well-known
Menagerie attached to the Jardin des Plantes. Amongst these in
the seventy-second livraison, published in 1842, were the first
descriptions and figures given of both sexes of the present Gazelle,
from examples stated to have been brought from Sennaar by Burton.
They had lived in the Menagerie, we are told, two years, and had bred
a young one, which resembled its parents in most particulars. The
appropriate scientific name “_leptoceros_,” from the long thin
horns, had been given to this species, we are informed, by Georges
Cuvier, and was adopted by the authors of the work referred to, who,
however, called it at the head of their article, after their usual
fashion, only by the French name “_Antilope à longues cornes_.”
Very little more information was acquired concerning this Gazelle for
many years. Most of the systematists were entirely unacquainted with
it, and could only quote the original descriptions. Sundevall and Gray
considered it to be merely a variety of _Gazella dorcas_. Rüppell,
during his extensive travels in East Africa, seems never to have come
across it, and does not mention it in any of his publications.
The first author after its describers to recognize its existence
was Heuglin, who in 1877, in the second volume of his ‘Reise in
Nordost-Afrika,’ writes of this species, the name of which he had
previously misapplied to another Gazelle, and gives a coloured figure
of its head and figures of two pairs of its horns. Heuglin met with
_G. leptoceros_ in the Libyan desert of Egypt, near the Natron
Lakes and the Fayoum, where he states its Arabic name is “Abu el haráb.”
Sir Victor Brooke had never seen specimens of this Gazelle, and in his
‘Monograph’ relies mainly upon Heuglin’s description.
So matters remained until recent years, when examples of this Gazelle,
or of a very closely allied form, turned up unexpectedly from a new
quarter.
Loche, Lataste, and other authorities on the zoology of Algeria had
mentioned the existence far in the interior of that country of an
Antelope called “El Rim,” and examples of the horns of a problematical
Gazelle called “El Reem” had been brought to England from the shops at
Biskra. In 1894 an enthusiastic sportsman and naturalist, Sir Edmund
Loder, F.Z.S., resolved to make a serious attempt to discover this
mysterious animal, and proceeded to Algeria for that purpose. We cannot
do better than transcribe for our readers Sir Edmund’s own account of
the results of this successful expedition, which was read before the
Zoological Society of London on June 5th, 1894:--
“Seventeen years ago (in 1877) I bought in the bazaar at Biskra
several pairs of Gazelle horns. They obviously belonged to three
species: _Gazella dorcas_, called by the Arabs ‘Rezal’; _Gazella
cuvieri_, which they call ‘Admi’; and a third called ‘Reem,’
which I was not able to identify with any described species. All
these horns were on frontal bones only. It is very rarely that
the Arabs bring in any whole skulls or skins for sale, and I
have never seen anything but frontlets of the ‘Reem.’
“In 1891 and again in 1893 I went out to Algeria for the purpose
of hunting Mouflon (_Ovis tragelaphus_).
“In 1877 I had been prevented from going after them except for a
few hours at a time. On these later trips I was more successful
and secured some fine male Mouflon, a female of the large
Mountain Gazelle (_Gazella cuvieri_), and a few specimens
of _Gazella dorcas_.
“At Biskra I again found horns of the Reem, but got no
information about it except that it was reported to live in the
sand. I heard a French name for it for the first time, ‘Gazelle
des sables.’
“As my friend Mr. Alfred Pease was spending a second winter at
Biskra and had made the acquaintance of several native hunters,
I requested him to try what he could do to find out the habitat
of the Reem. About Christmas-time last year he wrote to me that
he believed he had reliable information that the Reem was to be
found in the desert near Chegga, only about 50 kilometres south
of Biskra on the caravan-route to Touggourt.
“We made arrangements for a camping trip, and I left England on
February 1st, and started from Biskra with Mr. and Mrs. Alfred
Pease on February 8th of this year.
“After two days’ marching we got to Chegga and made inquiries
respecting the Reem. No one seemed to know anything about the
animal except one Arab, who said that if we went on farther
south we should come to a place called Ain Gebberah, where there
were a few Reem, but if we went on still farther to Hamraia we
should find the Reem in quantities.
“We therefore travelled on for two or three more days until we
came to Hamraia, but on making inquiries about the Reem the
answers were very unsatisfactory. We determined, however, before
giving up the search, to stay here a day to hunt and see what
game there was in this part of the desert.
“In the early morning of the next day Pease started off from
camp with an Arab in one direction, while I went off in the
other. By the evening we had covered a considerable extent of
country and had used our glasses from every available rise in
the ground. We saw several small herds of _Gazella dorcas_,
but no tracks even of any other Gazelle. We did not seem to be
any nearer to obtaining a Reem than when we started from Biskra.
“At night, when we got back to camp, we were told that a negro
camel-herd had been there during the day, and had said that
we were not at all in the right country for Reem, that he was
well acquainted with the animal and knew where it was to be
found. He came into camp again the next morning and told us
that the Reem had long slender hoofs and tender feet, lived
only in the soft sand, and would be unable to run on hard stony
desert such as that round Hamraia. He said he could take us to
the Reem country, in rolling sand-hills, but we should not be
able to camp very near as there was no water for our horses and
pack-animals.
“We agreed to go with him, and he led us a day’s march still
farther south towards the Oued Souf, and then turned off the
caravan-track to the east and chose a camp in the sand about an
hour and a half from water. (Almost all the water in the desert
is brackish and bad, but the water here was positively nasty.)
“The next morning we left camp very early on horseback, with the
negro on foot and an Arab hunter riding a mule. The negro led
the way at a tremendous pace, keeping up a good trot in the soft
sand and sometimes running fast for a couple of miles without a
stop across the dry arm of a chott, keeping us at a hand-gallop
most of the time.
“After two hours and a half the negro pointed out the first
track of the Reem, which is quite easily to be distinguished
from that of _Gazella dorcas_ from its much greater length.
We now unsaddled the horses, tied them up, and went off in two
parties to hunt for Reem. The negro led the way in front of me,
going slowly and with great caution, as the Reem is extremely
wary and against the nearly white sand can detect a moving
object a long way off. We had not walked very far when we saw
the head of a Reem looking over the top of a sand-ridge at
about 300 yards distance. We stayed for a long time perfectly
still behind a tuft of tall alpha grass, till at last the head
disappeared. As soon as it was out of sight we ran as hard as
we could across the bare sand to the top of the next ridge, and
again sheltered ourselves behind a tuft of alpha. When we looked
out cautiously we saw that the Reem had moved on to another
sand-hill more to our left, and was again showing just the top
of his head over it. We had, however, considerably reduced the
distance. Again he stopped perfectly still for a long time and
then turned and moved off. We ran to another ridge, and I caught
sight of him trotting to the top of the sand-hill beyond at
about 150 yards. At the top he turned and I fired at once and
got him. A lucky shot! as the distance was long for so small an
animal. It was a good male, with horns 13 inches long. I have
not seen any much longer than these.
“After taking the Reem back to the place where we had left the
horses, we started off again, and during the day saw several
small lots containing both males and females (4, 5, and 2), but
did not get a chance of another shot. Pease also saw a few.
“We hunted the sand-hills for two more days; on the third day
our negro guide took us much farther from camp, running before
us with surprising speed and endurance for three and a half
hours before we halted and tied up our horses. In the evening,
after walking all day in a hot sun and on soft sand, he showed
himself still untired and ready to run at the same pace back
again to camp. This remarkable man said that he had lived for
seven years in the desert without sleeping in a house or tent,
and had hardly tasted water, meat, or bread; during the whole
of that time his food consisted of dates and camel’s milk, and
he attributed his strength to this diet. The long distance of
our camp from the sand-hills where the Reem is found was a great
hindrance, as we could not hunt for them at the time they were
feeding. By the time we got to the ground they were already
lying down for the day, generally on the top of the sand-ridges,
and keeping a watchful look-out. We saw several small herds each
day, but neither of us ever got another chance of a shot.
“We were lucky in having calm weather, as a sand-storm in that
country is a very serious matter. The air gets as thick as
during a bad London fog and one cannot see even a few yards
ahead, making it quite impossible to regain camp, all tracks
being blotted out in a few minutes by the wind. Our experience
of sand-storms was limited to _one_ day, our last day
in the desert, luckily for us well outside the region of the
sand-hills, when leaving our caravan behind we rode in 50
kilometres to Biskra in the teeth of a cutting wind filled with
dust and sand, an extremely painful experience; but we were in
no danger of losing our way as we were then on the broad track
worn by the caravans travelling between Biskra and Touggourt.
“The Reem is remarkable for its light and uniform coloration,
the ordinary Gazellemarkings being hardly noticeable. The long
slender hoofs are also very peculiar, reminding one of those
of _Tragelaphus spekii_, which lives in the swamps on the
borders of lakes and rivers.
“It is quite certain that the Reem can never drink, as there is
no water in this country at all, except in the comparatively
deep wells dug by the natives.
“The following measurements of the male Reem were taken directly
after it was killed:--Height at shoulder 2 ft. 4 in.; girth at
brisket 2 ft. 1 in.; length of horns 13 in. It weighed, after
being brought into camp (without entrails), 34 lb. These are
about the measurements and weight of _Gazella dorcas_.
“For comparison I give the measurements of a good male
_Gazella cuvieri_ which I killed in the mountains a few
weeks after the Reem:--Height at shoulder 2 ft. 7 in.; girth at
withers 2 ft. 8½ in.; weight without entrails 58 lb.
“As to the distribution of these species, I may say that
_Gazella cuvieri_ is found entirely in the mountains, never
down in the true desert. It climbs like a Chamois to the tops of
the highest mountains in the rockiest ground, and is often found
in the juniper-forests on the mountain-slopes. These are also
the haunts of the Mouflon, the two animals being constantly seen
on the same ground.
“_Gazella dorcas_ is found all over the hard stony desert
and also on the foot-hills, so that it sometimes overlaps the
range of the Admi. I have seen a few in the sand-hills, the true
country of the Reem; but I believe that still farther south
it is not found, its place being taken entirely by the Reem.
I quite believe the statement of the natives that the Reem is
never found off the soft sand.”
On his return home Sir Edmund Loder submitted his series of specimens
of the Gazelles obtained during this and his former journeys in Algeria
to Thomas, who, at the same meeting of the Zoological Society at which
Sir Edmund’s notes were read, proposed to refer his examples of the
“Reem” to a new species to be called _Gazella loderi_, after the
energetic traveller who first made known its existence in Algeria.
Mr. Pease, in his notes on the Antelopes of Eastern Algeria published
in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1896, gives us the
following additional information:--
“The Rhime (_Gazella loderi_), Arab ‘El Rhime,’ Tamahaq
‘Hankut,’ is the common Gazelle of the Sahara. Enormous numbers
are killed by the Arabs in the neighbourhood of Rhadamis and
their skins dressed and dyed with a dye made from the rind of
pomegranates and exported from Rhadamis. They are to be found
throughout the region of the great Ergs and everywhere in the
Sahara sands where there is vegetation sufficient to support
them. The only places where they are to be met with, north of El
Oued Souf, are to the south-west of Bou Chaama and near Sef el
Menadi. A number of their horns are always on sale at Biskra and
sometimes the skins. The male horns of the Rhime sometimes bear
so close a resemblance to those of the Admi (_Gazella cuvieri_)
that they are often sold and bought as such.”
Mr. Pease also points out that in the “Rhime” the horns in their main
outline form a long evenly tapering V, whilst in the Admi the horns are
more inclined to be parallel, and towards the points usually take an
inward and forward turn, as shown in the diagrams (Fig. 66, _a_,
_b_) which by the kindness of the Zoological Society we are able
to reproduce. The annulations, also, Mr. Pease states, are deeper and
more marked in the Admi, and stop more abruptly towards the points than
in the “Rhime.”
[Illustration: Fig. 66.
Diagram of horns of Rhime (_a_) and Admi (_b_).
(P. Z. S. 1896, p. 814.)]
This Gazelle occurs also in Southern Tunis, as we learn from Mr. J.
S. Whitaker, F.Z.S., who has written the following notes on it in the
Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’:--
“This pale desert Gazelle is known to the Tunisian Arabs by
the name of ‘Ghazel abied’ or ‘Resêl abied,’ meaning the White
Gazelle, its Algerian name ‘Reem’ or ‘Rim’ being apparently
unknown in Tunis.
“It seems to be a true desert species, never occurring out of
the sand-dune country, where it replaces _G. dorcas_;
and while the home of the latter species is the semi-desert
country, with its vast stony plains, covered with scanty scrub
vegetation, the habitat of _G. loderi_ is undoubtedly the
more arid region of sand wastes further south.
“Herr Spatz, who has resided for several years in the south of
Tunis, and is well acquainted with this Gazelle, informs me
that it is common in the inland country of the extreme south
of the Regency, being first met with at about 25 to 30 miles
south of the Chott Djerid. In the districts where it occurs it
is plentiful, and is generally to be found in small herds; but
owing to its very pale colour, which harmonizes so well with
that of the desert surroundings, it is not easily distinguished
at a distance, and being, moreover, extremely shy and wary, a
near approach is not often possible. The nomad Arabs, however,
who are nearly all sportsmen, kill a good many, and every year
some 500 to 600 pairs of horns of this species are brought by
the caravans coming from the interior to Gabes, where they find
a ready sale among the French soldiery.
“Herr Spatz confirms what Sir Edmund Loder says of this species
never drinking, and, as to its food, says it subsists on the
leaves and berries of the few desert plants to be found in the
sand wastes. The female of _G. loderi_, according to Spatz,
often has _two_ young ones at a birth, differing in this respect
from _G. dorcas_, which seems to have but one.
“So good a description of _G. loderi_ has been given by Mr.
Thomas (P. Z. S. 1894, p. 470), that I can add nothing thereto,
except it be merely to say that the coat of this Gazelle is
extremely fine and short-haired, and that in the specimens which
I have the knee-brushes are so slightly developed as to be
scarcely noticeable or worthy of the name.”
In the spring of 1895 Sclater was in Egypt, and convinced himself
that besides _G. dorcas_, of which there were many specimens in
the Zoological Gardens at Gizeh, there were examples of both sexes of
another species belonging to the group of _G. leptoceros_ and
_G. cuvieri_, stated to have been obtained from the Arabs of the
Western Desert (_cf._ P. Z. S. 1895, p. 400). On receipt in London
of a skin and skull of this Gazelle subsequently sent to him by Mr.
Jennings-Bramley, Sclater, after comparing it with typical specimens of
_Gazella loderi_ in the British Museum, pronounced them to be of
the same species. Mr. Jennings-Bramley also supplied Sclater with some
excellent notes on the mode of capture of this Gazelle by the Arabs
of the Western Desert of Egypt, from which we extract the following
passages:--
“On the 27th of June, 1895, I started from the Pyramids in
order, if possible, to catch some living specimens of Loder’s
Gazelle (_Gazella loderi_), known to the Arabs as ‘Rasal
Abiad’ (the White Gazelle), which the shikaries whom I took with
me reported to be found in the desert at some thirty or forty
miles distant from Cairo.
“Leaving at 4 P.M. on the 27th, we started, taking a
south-easterly direction. We travelled till 12 that night, and
at 4 next morning resumed our march. Soon after the sun had
risen, one of the shikaries, pointing to the ground, showed
what he made out to be the spoor, evidently but lately made, of
a fine male Loder’s Gazelle. This, being larger than that of
the Dorcas Gazelle, is very easily recognizable; the bluntness
of the hoofs in the case of Loder’s Gazelle shows a marked
difference. About 12 o’clock one of the camel-men called out
that a Gazelle could be seen ahead, but the many heaps of white
stones, scattered all over the desert, are so deceiving at a
little distance that both shikaries shook their heads.
“The camel-man, however, in this case proved to be correct,
as we soon noticed the Gazelle walking leisurely away. It
disappeared behind a mound of sand, where it must have remained,
for, on reaching the place about half an hour later, we were
surprised to come suddenly on the Gazelle, now only some 200
yards off. It was a fine female, very white in colour. Not
wishing to disturb any others that might be near, I did not
fire. We found, however, that it was alone. At 12 o’clock or
thereabouts we came upon the skirt of the plateau, from which
the Fayoum can be seen, and here the shikaries decided to turn
back, as they said we had passed the ‘White Gazelle ground’; so,
after returning about two miles, we set up the tents and waited
for the evening, the sun being so hot that it was impossible to
continue our search.
“During the afternoon the two shikaries constructed traps, which
we set in the evening.
“The Gazelle trap, except the small hemp-platted rope, is
made entirely from the date-palm. Taking the long leaves, the
shikarie first constructs by platting them together a deep ring,
about 3 inches in diameter and about 4 inches deep: it should,
in fact, fit well into a golf-hole and make its walls secure. He
now takes an old stalk from which the dates have been picked,
and separating about twenty of the fibres which compose it,
and run its whole length, he twists them into a rude bracelet
about three inches in diameter. Then taking three more fibres,
in place of twine, he binds the ring securely; the ring or
bracelet has then a form much resembling a diminutive ‘Ringold’
ring. The shikarie now breaks off the points of the date-thorns
until he has about twenty-five of them 2 inches in length;
these he pushes through the fibrous sides of the ring until all
the points meet in the centre, so that when finished this ring
has much the appearance of a small sieve. All the thorn-points
overlap slightly in the centre of the ring. This ring, holding
all the thorns, the deep ring of platted leaves, and a soft
thick hemp rope, made by the Arab himself, by the ordinary
three-plat from raw hemp (this rope, being soft, not only binds
itself more securely to the Gazelle, but does not cut the skin
when drawn tight), attached to a date-stick about a yard in
length, are all the implements that an Arab requires to catch a
Gazelle.
“Starting in the evening for the lower ground, which is studded
with small bushes (for when pitching the tents we purposely
kept at a good distance from the feeding-ground), we soon found
spoor, but none very promising; a buck and two does had been
there two nights before. A small desert plant, much resembling
our English Red Cranesbill (_Geranium sanguineum_), was
pointed out to me by the Arabs as a favourite food of the
Gazelles. Finding a spot where the spoor led to one of these
plants, and the plant evidently having been nibbled at, we
decided to put a trap near it. The Arab sat down and made a
hole, using his deep ring to keep its sandy walls intact, so
that he now had a hole resembling exactly in size and depth a
golf-hole with basket-work sides, within four or five inches of
the plant.
“Taking now the thorny ring he places it on the hole, which it
should exactly cap. He now powders up some camel-dung and drops
it carefully over the thorns in the ring, which being close
together hold it up, so that soon nothing can be seen of the
thorns. The use of the dried dung is, to hold up the sand which
hides the trap. The hemp rope, now made into a slip-noose, is
put round the top ring, and the stick to which it is attached
buried in the sand. The whole is now carefully covered with
sand. One of the shikaries laid his traps so successfully that
it was almost impossible to find one again unless a Gazelle was
caught in it. The marks like those of a Gazelle made by the
fingers over the trap add to the deception. It is curious to
remark that a Gazelle will rarely walk over an impression left
by either beast or man in the sand.
“When the Gazelle comes in the evening to feed, its foot slips
through the top ring in the centre where the thorns meet, and so
to the bottom of the hole. The top ring is now fixed round the
Gazelle’s leg, at the height of the depth of the hole, the spiky
thorns entering the skin. This ring also holds up the hemp rope,
which the Gazelle, in endeavouring to kick off the thorny ring
that pricks it, draws tight, generally over the knee.
“The Gazelle starts off, dragging after it the date-stick,
attached to the rope. The swinging stick makes it impossible for
the animal to get away at any pace, as, twisting round one leg
or the other, it throws the Gazelle to the ground continually.
“The spoor of the trapped Gazelle with the marks of the swinging
stick are easily found, and the animal tracked down until in
sight, when a trained greyhound will soon catch and hold it
until his master comes up.
“During November and December the Gazelles are caught when fawns
by trained hounds, and this is the simplest method; but it can
only be practised during two months, as it takes a very good dog
to catch a Gazelle when more than this age.
“During the eight days I was in the desert, though unsuccessful
in trapping any, I saw several very fine specimens of Loder’s
Gazelle.”
In August 1896 a fine adult living female of this Gazelle was received
by the Society as a present from Mr. A. R. Birdwood, of Cairo--no
doubt obtained in the same locality as that explored by Mr. Bramley.
Mr. Birdwood wrote subsequently to Sclater concerning this Gazelle as
follows:--
“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!