Part 13

How far the Chiru extends into the high plateau of Northern Asia beyond the Himalayas it is yet a little uncertain. Dr. Blanford, in his account of the mammals collected by Stoliczka during the Second Yarkand Mission (where excellent coloured figures of both sexes of this Antelope are given), tells us that it has been found in the Kuen-lun range, but has not been met with further north-west or west. It is also, as we are told by the great Russian traveller and naturalist Przewalski, a characteristic animal of the highlands of Northern Tibet. The “Orongo,” as it is here called by the Monguls and Tanguts, was first met with by the great traveller after crossing the Burkhan Buddha range, beyond which it was found distributed to the south as far as the Tang-la mountains. In Mr. Delmar Morgan’s translation of Przewalski’s travels will be found the following passages relating to the habits of this animal, of which, in the original Russian edition of the work, both sexes are figured:--

“The Orongo is found in small herds from five to twenty or forty head, rarely collecting in large troops of several hundred, and this only where the pasturage is good and plentiful. Though a few of the old bucks, usually accompanying every herd, are more cautious and experienced, the Orongos generally are not so wary in their habits. In their flight the males follow the herd as though to prevent straggling; whilst with the Dzerens and Kara-sultas this order is reversed. When in motion, either leisurely or at full speed, the Orongo holds its horns erect, which adds greatly to its appearance. When trotting--its usual pace--the legs move so quickly that at a distance they are invisible, and dogs or wolves are soon left behind. We arrived in Tibet during the breeding-season of these animals, which begins late in November and lasts a month.

“At this time the full-grown males are in a most exited state, taking little food and soon losing the fat which they had gained during summer. The buck soon forms his harem of ten to twenty wives, and these he jealously guards lest any of them should fall into the power of a rival. No sooner does he see an adversary approaching than he, the lawful lord of the herd, rushes to the encounter with head lowered, uttering short deep bleats. The combat is fierce, and the long sharp horns inflict terrible wounds, often causing the death of both antagonists. Should one feel his strength ebbing, he takes to flight pursued by his enemy, then suddenly wheeling round receives the latter on his horns. As a proof of the fury with which they fight, I remember shooting one of the combatants, who, to my surprise, continued the fight for several minutes after he had received his death-wound, and then suddenly expired. If a doe chance to stray from the herd, the buck immediately gives chase, and, bleating as he goes, tries to drive her back again. While his attention is thus engaged the others give him the slip, and pursuing first one, then another, he often loses his whole harem. At last, deserted by all, he gives vent to his fury and disgust by striking the ground with his hoofs, curving his tail, lowering his horns, and bleating defiance at his compeers. From morning until evening these scenes are constantly occurring, and there appears to be no bond of union between the male antelope and his does; to-day they consort with one buck, to-morrow with another.

“The rutting-season over, the Orongos again live peaceably with one another, the males and females often collecting in separate herds. We saw a troop of about 300 does in February in the valley of the Shuga; the young are dropped in July. The Orongo is fearless and will let the hunter openly approach within 300 yards, or even nearer. The report of firearms or the whistle of a bullet does not alarm it; it only shows surprise by walking quietly away, frequently stopping to look at the hunter. Like other antelopes it is extremely tenacious of life and will run a long way although wounded. They are not difficult to shoot, for besides showing no fear, they haunt rocky defiles in the mountains, where they may be easily stalked. I have fired as many as from one to two hundred shots at them in the course of the day, my bag, of course, varying a good deal with my luck in the long shots. The Orongo is held sacred by the Mongols and Tangutans, and lamas will not touch the meat, which, by the way, is excellent, particularly in autumn when the animal is fat. The blood is said to possess medicinal virtues, and the horns are used in charlatanism: Mongols tell fortunes and predict future events by the rings on these, and they also serve to mark out the burial-places, or more commonly the circles within which the bodies of deceased lamas are exposed; these horns are carried away in large numbers by pilgrims returning from Tibet, and are sold at high prices. Mongols tell you that a whip-handle made from one will in the hands of the rider prevent his steed from tiring.”

It is almost unnecessary to say that living specimens of the Chiru have never, as yet, been brought to Europe.

The British Museum contains a mounted specimen of an adult male of the Chiru, obtained by Mr. Mandelli in Sikim and presented by Dr. W. T. Blanford; also some specimens presented by Hodgson, and a number of very fine skulls and horns from Ladakh and Kumaon from the Hume Collection.

Our illustration (Plate L.), which represents a male of this animal in a snowstorm, has been put upon the stone by Mr. Smit from a coloured drawing prepared by Mr. Wolf under the directions of the late Sir Victor Brooke.

August, 1897.

GENUS V. ANTIDORCAS.

Type. Antidorcas, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 271 (1847) A. EUCHORE.

General characters as in Gazella, but, as in Saiga tatarica alone of Ruminants, with only two lower premolars, and the upper anterior premolar reduced to half the size of the second. Back with a peculiar elongate evertible fold in the skin.

Skull with small but particularly deep anteorbital fossæ, no anteorbital vacuities, and very broad and open posterior nares.

Horns medium, lyrate, twisted inwards, with a double serpentine curvature, convex inwards and in front below, outwards and behind above. The points turned inwards or backwards.

Range of Genus. Africa south of the Zambesi.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LI

Wolf del J Smit lith Hanhart imp

The Springbuck

ANTIDORCAS EUCHORE.

Published by R H Porter]

81. THE SPRINGBUCK.

ANTIDORCAS EUCHORE (ZIMM.).

La Gazelle à bourse sur le dos, =Allamand=, in Schneider’s ed. of Buffon’s Hist. Nat., Suppl. iv. p. 142, pl. lx. (1778); =id.= Buff. H. N., Suppl. vi. p. 180 (Paris, 1782).

Antilope marsupialis, =Zimm.= Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 427 (1780); =Bechst.= Syst. Uebers. vierf. Thiere, ii. p. 645 (1800).

Cemas marsupialis, =Oken=, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 738 (1816).

Springbok, =Sparrm.= K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1780, p. 275; =id.= Reise, p. 396, pl. viii. (1784); =id.= Engl. transl. ii. p. 83 (1786); =Daniell=, Afr. Scenery, no. 18 (1812).

Antilope euchore, “Forst.,” =Zimm.= Geogr. Gesch. iii. p. 269 (1783); =Schr.= Säug. pl. cclxxii. (1787); =Shaw=, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 314 (1801); =G. Cuv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 232 (1804); =Licht.= Mag. nat. Freund. vi. p. 169 (1814); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p. 423 (1814); =Afz.= N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815); =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 185 (1816); =G. Cuv.= R. A. i. p. 260 (1817); =Goldf.= Schr. Säug. v. p. 1189 (1818); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 387 (1821); =Desmoul.= Dict. Class. d’H. N. i. p. 441 (1822); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 455 (1822); =Burch.= Trav. i. p. 290 (1822); =id.= List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 5 (1825) (Nugariep R.); =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 208, v. p. 331 (1827); =Less.= Man. Mamm. p. 373 (1827); =Licht.= Darst. Säug. pl. vii. (♂♀) (1827); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 461 (1829); =Smuts=, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 72 (1832); =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 286 (1836); =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 615 (1839); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840); =Jard.= Nat. Misc. (1) vii. p. 213, pl. xxvii. (1842); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1812); =Forst.= Descr. Anim. p. 388 (1844); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 414 (1844), v. p. 407 (1855); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 400 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 5, pl. iii. (1848); =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 309 (1853); =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 212 (1880); =Huet=, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 485 (1887).

Cerophorus (Gazella) euchore, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom. p. 75 (1816).

Gazella euchore, =A. Sm.= S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 191 (1834); =Harr.= Wild Anim. S. Afr. pl. iii. (♂ ♀) (1840); =Sund.= K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1842, pp. 201 & 243 (1843); =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 160 (1843); =id.= Cat. Ost. B. M. pp. 56 & 145 (1847); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 6 (1850); =Turner=, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 168; =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 550; =Drumm.= Large Game S. Afr. p. 426 (1875); =Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 282 & 291; =Bocage=, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 741 (Huilla, Angola); =Selous=, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 757; =Scl.= List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883), (9) p. 156 (1896); =Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 264 (1884); =Bryden=, Kloof and Karroo, p. 220, figs. ♀ (1889); =W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 162 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 342 (1891); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 122 (1892), (2) p. 163 (1896); =Nicolls & Egl.= Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 29, pl. vi. fig. 20 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 238 (1893).