by his initials, we have now the pleasure of reproducing by the kind
favour of the publishers of that work. It was no doubt executed under
Speke’s direction, and, although not quite satisfactory according to
our present knowledge of the animal, gives several views of the shape
and size of the horns of Grant’s Gazelle.
Although Speke in his ‘Journal’ writes of the Ugogo Antelope as being
undoubtedly new, he was at first evidently by no means certain about
this point, as in a letter addressed to Sclater from Kazeh, in February
1861, he referred it doubtfully to _Gazella soemmerringi_. But in
a footnote to this letter (which was published in the ‘Proceedings’ of
the Zoological Society for January 1863) Sclater stated his conviction
that, so far as could be determined from the rough sketch of the horns
which accompanied the letter, the Ugogo Antelope was certainly new, and
he added that the late Dr. Gray was of the same opinion.
[Illustration: Fig. 77.]
[Illustration: Fig. 78.
Heads of Grant’s Gazelle, ♂ & ♀.
(From Mr. Jackson’s specimens.)]
The box containing the specimens of the new Gazelle from Ugogo
having been unfortunately lost on its journey to the coast, Sclater
was unable to give any account of this animal in his paper on the
Mammals collected and observed during the East-African Expedition,
in the ‘Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society for 1864. The subject
therefore was delayed until 1872, when Sir Victor Brooke, who was at
that time busy upon the Antelopes, obtained from Col. Grant and Capt.
Speke the careful sketches of the heads and skins of this animal which
the travellers had made in their note-books. The examination of these
sketches confirmed Brooke in the opinion that the Antelope represented
by them was undoubtedly new to science; and consequently on April 16th
of that year Sir Victor read a communication to the Zoological Society
in which he proposed to name the new Gazelle after Grant, Speke’s
name in this group of animals having been already commemorated by the
_Gazella spekei_ of Blyth and the _Tragelaphus spekei_ of Sclater.
Sir Victor gave as good a description of the new Antelope as he could
from the notes before him, especially alluding to the extraordinary
development of its horns, which attained dimensions nearly double those
of any other Gazelle known to him. Brooke’s paper, which is accompanied
by a beautiful coloured figure of the new Antelope, prepared by Wolf
from Speke’s sketches, states that Col. Grant, who had supplied him
with copious extracts from his note-books, informed him that this
species was only met with during their expedition in Western Kinyenye,
in Ugogo. The country inhabited by it he described as low-lying sandy
plains, dotted over in some places with euphorbias, dwarf acacias,
and stunted baobabs. The chief peculiarity of this district, owing
doubtless to its comparatively low level, was the great accumulation of
salt, which had of course a marked effect on the vegetation. Water at
all times of the year was very scarce there, and often entirely absent,
the little found being brackish and undrinkable.
In 1875 the Zoological Society received as a present from Sir John
Kirk, then British Consul-General at Zanzibar, a living female Grant’s
Gazelle, which, however, was unfortunately in very poor condition
and died shortly after its arrival in London. The acquisition of
this animal was announced by Sclater in a report on the additions to
the Society’s Menagerie read on November 2nd of that year, and was
accompanied by a figure of it drawn from the stuffed specimen by Mr.
Smit. So far as we know, this is the only individual of Grant’s Gazelle
that has ever reached Europe alive.
It will be observed that the original place of discovery of Grant’s
Gazelle was in what is now German East Africa. In this country,
according to Herr Matschie, it has an extensive range over the whole
western portion of the colony, extending up to Mpapwa, in which
district several sportsmen have met with it, and through Irangi on to
Lake Victoria on the borders of British territory. Over this country it
has been found in many localities by Fischer, Neumann, and Stuhlmann.
Throughout these districts it appears to resort principally, as stated
by Grant, to the more open sandy plains, which are thinly covered with
euphorbias and other trees, especially where a saline vegetation is
prevalent.
In the eastern districts of British East Africa, Grant’s Gazelle
appears to be not less prevalent in similar spots. Mr. Hunter, in
his Appendix to Willoughby’s ‘East Africa,’ tells us that during his
expedition in 1888 it was found to be common everywhere in the open
plains near Kilimanjaro, one male being generally accompanied by from
10 to 15 females. It was at that time most common in the direction
of Useri. The longest pair of horns obtained by the party measured
30 inches in length, but 27 inches were considered to constitute a
big head. The best female’s head obtained measured 17 inches along
the inside curve. Dr. Abbott, during his expedition to Kilimanjaro,
as recorded by Mr. True, obtained a good series of specimens of this
Antelope, which are now in the United States National Museum. Capt. F.
D. Lugard, in his volumes on ‘The Rise of our East-African Empire,’
writes of Grant’s Gazelle as being “a model of symmetry,” while “its
large and massive horns are most beautiful in their curve and are
carried most gracefully.” He continues as follows:--
“Grant’s Gazelle is always found on the open plains and in
rocky ground far from water, and never near forest. Both sexes
are horned; the female carries thin but long horns (up to 17
inches in length), the points, as is the case in all horned
female Antelopes, turning inwards, the curve being more or
less lyre-shaped. I have weighed a male and found it weigh 115
lbs. without the stomach; female 65 lbs. The horns of the male
measure up to 30 inches and are about 7 inches in circumference
at the base. They are annulated, black in colour, and bend
backwards and then forwards at the tip. Anything above 25 inches
would be a ‘good head.’”
Another excellent authority on the Antelopes of British East Africa,
Mr. F. J. Jackson, in a recent article on the subject, writes as
follows:--
“Grant’s Gazelle ranges north into Turkwel and the Sak country,
but is not found on the Mau plateau. At Njemps and Baringo, and
in Turkwel, this Gazelle is considerably smaller than those
found further south at Naivasha and on the Athi plains. At
Njemps I shot the largest buck out of a herd of thirty, in which
there were three or four other bucks. It was an old beast, in
good condition, but only weighed 135 lbs. with horns 20 inches.
To show the differences in size I append some measurements for
comparison:--
+-----------------------+---------------+----------------------+---------------+
| | | |_G. granti_, ♂.|
| |_G. granti_, ♂.|_G. granti_, ♂ (two). |Gil-Gil River, |
| | Njemps | Gil-Gil River, Lake | Lake Naivasha |
| | (21.9.96). | Naivasha (2.1.96). | (4.4.96). |
|-----------------------+---------------+-----------+----------+---------------+
| | ft. in. | ft. in. | ft. in. | ft. in. |
| | | | | |
|Total length | 5 3 | 5 8 | 5 7 | 5 7 |
|Height at shoulder | 2 11 | 3 1½ | 3 2½ | 3 0½ |
|Depth of chest | 1 1½ | 1 3 | 1 4 | 1 3 |
|Circumference of chest | 2 9 | 3 1 | 3 3 | 3 1 |
| „ haunch| 3 0 | | | 3 5 |
| „ loins | 2 3 | 2 9 | 2 10 | 2 7½ |
| „ throat| 1 6 | 1 8 | 1 8 | 1 6 |
| „ neck | 1 8 | 2 0½ | 2 1 | 1 10½ |
|Tail | 10½ | 11 | 10 | 10 |
|Horns | 20 | 28¼ | 27 | 24 |
|Weight | 135 lbs. | 158 lbs.| 167 lbs.| 166 lbs.” |
+-----------------------+---------------+-----------+----------+---------------+
Dr. Donaldson Smith has recorded the existence of this Gazelle “in
great numbers” all along his route homewards from Lake Rudolph on the
northern bank of the Tana. But these animals may possibly have belonged
to the next species _Gazella petersi_. Dr. Donaldson Smith also
met with Grant’s Gazelle in the Boran country “a little west of 39°
W.L.,” and found it “extending as far north as 6° N.L.” Mr. Cavendish
likewise obtained examples of this Gazelle during his recent expedition
to Rudolphia.
There is a good mounted specimen of an adult male of this Antelope in
the Gallery of the British Museum, obtained by Mr. F. J. Jackson in the
Kilimanjaro district of British East Africa and presented by him. Mr.
Jackson has also given the Museum a fine skull of an adult male from
the same locality, and has placed at the service of the Museum three
other mounted heads of this Antelope. The National Collection also
contains skulls of an adult pair of Grant’s Gazelle from Kilimanjaro
presented by Mr. W. Carlisle Fraser, and several skulls and skins
of different ages from Machakos, collected and presented by Mr. S.
L. Hinde. Besides these some skulls and skins obtained during the
Cavendish expedition to Lake Rudolph, and presented by Mr. H. S. H.
Cavendish and Mr. H. Andrew, have lately been added to the series.
Our illustration of this beautiful Antelope (Plate LXIX.), which shows
the horns of the male in various attitudes, was prepared by Mr. Wolf
under Sir Victor Brooke’s directions and drawn upon the stone by Mr.
Smit. We are not sure as to the specimens from which it was taken.
_September,_ 1898.
101. PETERS’S GAZELLE.
GAZELLA PETERSI, GÜNTH.
_Gazella granti_, =Peters=, MB. Ak. Berl. 1879, p. 832, pl. v.
(skull).
_Gazella petersi_, =Günth=. Ann. Mag. N. H. (5) xiv. p. 428
(1884); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 238 (1893); =Jackson=,
in Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. p. 299 (1894); =A. Neumann=,
Elephant-Hunting in E. Africa, pp. 9, 10 (figs., horns, ♂ ♀)
(1898).
_Gazella grantii_ var. _gelidjiensis_, =Noack=, Zool. Gart.
xxviii. p. 277 (1887).
VERNACULAR NAME:--_Sala_ (Swahili) (_Fischer_).
Size large; height at withers about 33 inches. General colour and
markings practically identical with those of the last species,
_Gazella granti_, with the exception that the white rump-patch
is of much less extent. This patch, which in _G. granti_ is very
broad, and projects prominently forward on each side, overhanging the
dark pygal band, and passes across above the tail, separating that
organ entirely from the dark dorsal colour, is in _G. petersi_
divided above into two portions by an extension of the body-colour
which runs down on to and along the top of the tail. Laterally the
white is much narrower, and encroaches much less on the body-colour
above, scarcely or not at all overhanging the pygal band.
Skull rather smaller than in _G. granti_, and the nasal opening
rather narrower. Basal length in a male 9·3 inches, greatest breadth
4·2, muzzle to orbit 5·4.
Horns similar to those of _G. granti_, but smaller and more
uniformly parallel, never widely divergent above. Horns of female about
two-thirds the length of those of the male, slender and comparatively
straight.
_Hab._ Coast-districts of British East Africa, from Mombasa
northwards to beyond the Tana.
In a communication made to the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin
in October 1879 the former Director of the Berlin Museum, the late
Dr. Wilhelm Peters, gave an account of the specimens of Mammals
collected in East Africa in 1878 by the well-known traveller Dr. G. A.
Fischer. Amongst these were the skull and skin of a young male Gazelle
obtained at Gelidja, near the mouth of the Osi and Tana Rivers, on
June 27th, and stated to be called there by the Swahilis and Wapakomos
“_Sala_.” Peters added to his paper on this subject an excellent
lithographic plate of the skull and horns in question, which he
referred, without much doubt, to _Gazella granti_, remarking,
however, that the nose-spot was not well defined, and that the horns
were straight at the base and not curved.
[Illustration: Fig. 79.
Skull and horns of Peters’s Gazelle, ♂.
(From one of Mr. Jackson’s specimens in the British Museum.)]
In 1884 Dr. Günther, commenting on Peters’s figure of this supposed
_Gazella granti_, stated that in his opinion it “clearly belonged to
a distinct species. It resembled somewhat _Gazella thomsoni_ in the
slight degree in which the horns diverge from each other; but their
annulated portion was almost straight, and the annuli themselves were
much further apart, much fewer in number (about twelve), and lower
towards the hinder part of the horn. The base of the bony core showed
a bossy swelling, which was different from that of _Gazella granti_,
and entirely absent in _Gazella thomsoni_.” This species Dr. Günther
proposed to call _Gazella petersi_.
There has, however, been much doubt raised by subsequent authorities
as to the validity of this species, and although we have given a
separate heading to _Gazella petersi_ we have had considerable
hesitation as to whether it ought not to be regarded rather as a local
subspecies of _G. granti_, to which it is closely allied in all
essential characters. But since we have as yet seen no specimens
absolutely intermediate between the two, so far as the rump-markings
are concerned, we have thought it advisable to keep them provisionally
separate. At the same time we shall be in no way surprised if such
specimens should occur, in which case the two forms will have to be
united. As regards the skulls, no constant or tangible difference
can be made out, although those of _G. petersi_ can usually be
distinguished by their smaller size, narrower nasal opening, and
shorter and less divergent horns.
Mr. F. G. Jackson, in ‘Big Game Shooting,’ gives us the following
account of this Gazelle and his experiences with it:--
“_Gazella petersi_ (known to the Swahilis also as ‘Sala’) may be
a local variety of _G. granti_ rather than a distinct species. It
used to be plentiful at Merereni on the British East African coast, and
is still found further inland in the Galla country. It is certainly a
smaller beast than _Gazella granti_ from Kilimanjaro and Machakos,
but in other respects is almost identical, excepting in the shape and
size of the horns, which I have never known to exceed 22 inches in
length measured along the curve. The horns are also straighter, and
have not nearly such a pronounced backward curve as those of _G.
granti_, neither do they diverge towards the points so much, being
rarely more than seven or eight inches apart at the widest parts.
_Gazella petersi_ is found in the small open plains and open
scrub.”
In the gallery of the British Museum there is a good mounted specimen
of the adult male of this species, also another younger specimen from
the “Mainland opposite Zanzibar,” and a third from “Mombasa,” besides
two skulls (♂ and ♀) from “South Somaliland,” all presented by Sir
John Kirk. These were formerly labelled _G. granti_, but must be
referred to _G. petersi_ if the species are kept separate. There
is also in the Museum a fine skin and skull of a male _G. petersi_
from near Mount Pika-pika, about 40 miles from Mombasa, presented by
Mr. L. E. Caine. It would appear, therefore, that the range of _G.
petersi_ until lately extended all along the coast of British East
Africa, though it has now perhaps been nearly shot out in the southern
parts.
The British Museum has likewise three skulls of this Gazelle from the
Tana River presented by Mr. F. J. Jackson, to whom we are also much
indebted for the loan of two other representative heads of this species
from Merereni, south of Formosa Bay.
_September,_ 1898.
102. THE BANDED GAZELLE.
GAZELLA NOTATA, THOS.
_Gazella grantii notata_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xx. p.
479 (1897); =A. Neumann=, Elephant-Hunting in E. Africa, p. 238
(1898).
Only known from a single flat skin, without the head. Fur unusually
long and shaggy. Size about as in _G. granti_, and general
body-markings as in that species, but all much intensified. Dark and
light lateral bands much longer and broader, the former nearly black
and reaching forwards on to the shoulder, and backwards nearly to the
white rump-mark; the latter pale buff, and succeeded above by a second
dark band, lighter than the main lateral band, but distinctly darker
than the centre of the back. This second dark band united with the
other behind the posterior end of the light band. Pygal band black and
very strongly defined.
Horns said by the discoverer to have been like those of _G. granti_.
_Hab._ Western slope of the Loroghi Mountains, British East
Africa.
In Mr. Arthur H. Neumann’s recently published volume on
‘Elephant-Hunting in East Equatorial Africa’ there will be found an
account of his adventurous journey to Lake Rudolph, during which, on
more than one occasion, he made his camp for some months at El Bogoi,
a place situated east of the Loroghi Mountains, in rather higher
than 1° N. lat., which was a favourite station for elephants. While
at this place in October 1895 Mr. Neumann, accompanied by his native
attendants, made an excursion over the Loroghi range, and encamped
close to the edge of the open country on their western slope, at an
elevation reckoned to be about 5500 feet above the sea-level, at a
place called in the map attached to his narrative Kisima. Here, on
taking a stroll into the open, he “shot a brace” of what he at first
supposed to be Grant’s Gazelles; but on examination he found that they
differed from the Grant’s Gazelles of the other side of the range, and
of everywhere else that he had been, “in having longer hair, and dark
bands on the sides,” while the “shade on the back” was also deeper than
in the common kind. On one of the skins thus obtained and presented
to the British Museum (see fig. 80), Thomas has based his subspecies
“_Gazella grantii notata_.”
For much the same reasons as in the case of _G. petersi_, that
is because no intermediate examples were yet known, we decided, when
drawing up our Synopsis of Gazelles (above, p. 69), to give a separate
heading to this form.
[Illustration: Fig. 80.
Skin of the Banded Gazelle.]
But since our Synopsis was prepared, Lord Delamere has sent home some
skins which are, to a certain extent, intermediate between _G. granti_
and _G. notata_ in the development of the dark markings, and which,
therefore, support Thomas’s original view that the latter should be
looked upon as a subspecies of the former. Yet, on the whole, Lord
Delamere’s skins are more like _G. granti_ than _G. notata_, especially
in the character of their fur, so that they may be provisionally
assigned to the older known form, leaving the exact status of _G.
notata_ to be settled when further materials are available.
Thomas stated, in his original description of _G. notata_, that
this Gazelle had also been obtained by Mr. H. S. H. Cavendish, that
traveller having supposed that he recognized in the typical skin of
_G. notata_ a Gazelle which he had met with during his journey
to Lake Rudolph. This supposition, however, has been proved to be
mistaken, as the Gazelle in question when brought home turned out
to belong to _G. thomsoni_--an animal up to that date unknown
to Mr. Cavendish. Mr. Neumann, the donor of the typical skin of
_G. notata_ to the British Museum, remains, therefore, the only
sportsman who has yet met with this handsome form, concerning which we
hope to receive further information before long.
_September,_ 1898.
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXX.
_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._
Soemmerring’s Gazelle.
GAZELLA SOEMMERRINGI.
_Published by R. H. Porter._]
103. SOEMMERRING’S GAZELLE.
GAZELLA SOEMMERRINGI (CRETZSCHM.).
[PLATE LXX.]
_Antilope soemmerringii_, =Cretzschmar=, Atl. Rüpp. Reise,
p. 49, pl. xix. (♂) (1826); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 462
(1829); =Rüpp.= N. Wirb. Abyss. p. 25 (1835); =Less.= Compl.
Buff. x. p. 287 (1836); =Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p.
40 (1838); =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 616 (1839);
=Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i. p. 261 (1840); =Less.= N.
Tabl. R. A. Mamm. p. 176 (1842); =Rüpp.= Verz. Senck. Mus. p.
38 (1842); =Sund.= K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1842, p. 201 (1843);
=Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 415 (1844), v. p. 405 (1855);
=Reichenb.= Säug. iii. p. 114, pl. xxxiv. fig. 205 (1845);
=Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 403 (1845); =Sund.= Pecora, K.
Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl.,
Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; id. Reprint, p. 82 (1848);
=Schinz=, Mon. Antil. p. 7, pl. v. (1848); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 308
(1853); =Heugl.= Faun. roth. Meer, Peterm. Mitth. 1861, p. 16;
=id.= Ant. u. Buff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 7
(1863); =id.= N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 102 (1877); =Hartm.= Z. Ges.
Erdk. Berl. iii. p. 254 (1868).
_Gazella soemmerringii_, =Jard.= Nat. Libr. (1) vii. p. 215, pl.
xxviii. (1842); =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843); =id.=
Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231 (1846); id. Knowsl. Men. p. 5
(1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p. 114; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p.
59 (1852); =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853); =Scl.= P. Z.
S. 1867, p. 817, pl. xxxvii. (yg.); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt.
1, p. 158 (1869); =Blanf.= Zool. Abyss. p. 260 (1870); =Scl.=
P. Z. S. 1871, p. 701 (Suez?); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39
(1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 107 (1873); =Brooke=, P. Z.
S. 1873, p. 549; =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883); =Lort
Phillips=, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 932; =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus.
(Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 137 (1887); id. Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus.
(op. cit. xi.) p. 169 (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 210;
=W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 161 (1891); =Scl.= P. Z.
S. 1892, p. 100; =Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1892, p. 305; =Jent.= Cat.
Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 169 (1892); =Ward=,
Horn Meas. (1) p. 108, (2) p. 150 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns and
Hoofs, p. 236 (fig., head) (1893); =Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1895, p.
305 (habits); id. Seventeen Trips to Somaliland, p. 314 (1895);
=Donaldson Smith=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 868 (Juba R.); =Hoyos=, Zu
den Aulihan, p. 179, pl. x. fig. 6 (1895); =Thos.= Ann. Mus.
Genov. (2) xvii. p. 107 (1896); =Elliot=, Publ. Chicago Mus.,
Zool. i. p. 122 (1897).
_Antilope soemmerringii berberana_, =Matsch.= SB. nat. Freund.
1893, p. 65; =Rhoads=, P. Ac. Philad. 1896, p. 519.
VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Arab_ or _Harab_ at Massowa, _Bus-Adu_ in
Danakil, _Om-Sabah_ in Arabic (_Heuglin_); _Aoul_ of Somalis
(_Swayne_).
Size large, height at withers 35½ inches in an old male of the Somali
subspecies. General colour very pale fawn, and very uniform everywhere,
as there are neither light nor dark lateral bands nor any pygal bands.
Central facial band black or blackish fulvous, contrasting markedly
with the white lateral facial streaks. Dark facial streaks also
black, but very narrow. Sides of muzzle black, continuous with the
central facial band. Back of ears whitish, margined and tipped with
black. White of rump very broad and extended, projecting far into the
body-colour, which it broadly shuts off from the tail. The latter is
white basally, black tufted terminally. Knee-brushes present, whitish
or fawn.
Basal length of skull 8·85 inches, greatest breadth 4·2, muzzle to
orbit 5·4.
Horns long, nearly circular in section, heavily ringed. In the typical
subspecies they are but little divergent for their basal half, but then
curve widely outwards above, their tips being again abruptly hooked
inwards so as to point almost directly towards each other. In the
Somali subspecies their length is greater and their divergence is quite
even, not increasing above, so that their upper portions are not nearly
so widely separated; their tips also hook rather forwards, and not so
directly inwards.
_Female_ similar to the male, but the horns much thinner and less
rough, though almost as long as those of the male. In both of the
subspecies their curvature is closely similar to that found in their
respective males.
_Hab._ Coastland of Red Sea from Suakin south to Tajurah
(subspecies _typica_); Northern Somaliland (subspecies
_berberana_).