Part 15

Writing quite recently to Sclater, Mr. J. ffolliott Darling gives the following notes:--

“The Springbuck does not range up so far north as Mashonaland; but I have shot them in Griqualand West, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State, also in Bechuanaland, where the most northerly point I found them in 1890 was south of the Macloutsie River in the British Protectorate. I was for several years in various parts of Griqualand East, but never saw a Springbuck, though there are large flats suitable for them, on which Oribis abound.

“When protected they become very numerous, so much so as to scarcely leave any grass for the sheep in some places; one farmer told me that he reckoned that the Springbok cost him £200 a year.

“One curious thing, well known to hunters, but I do not recollect ever seeing it in print, is that the white patch of hair on the back smells like honey.

“I have several times coursed Springbuck with good greyhounds, but never caught one; they weary out the dogs playing before starting to run. If one buck be found by himself greyhounds can catch him; but some people say that if you find one alone it means that he is sick, and that is the reason that he can be caught. I know some prominent coursing men do not like their dogs to run after Springbuck, as too frequent failures to kill discourage the dogs, and often when run into they will turn and fight the greyhound, which, if timid, may be spoiled thereby and become afraid to attack other antelopes.

“However, one friend, in whom I have every reliance, told me that a large and very strong greyhound of his on one occasion separated a fine Springbuck ram from a small herd and killed him single-handed.

“Of course the jumping powers of this buck are well known and how they will skip across a road 50 ft. wide without any trouble. The habit of spreading out the hair on the back, so as to expose the white patch more prominently when frightened, is very curious, as in the case of being hunted by dogs it makes the animal more easily perceived and followed in long grass or scrub.”

White and Albino varieties are not so frequently met with amongst the Bovidæ as in some other groups of mammals. But the ‘Johannesburg Times’ of January 22nd, 1897, informs us that a perfectly white Springbuck, caught in the Orange Free State, and supposed to be about eleven months old, was at that time being exhibited in Johannesburg by Messrs. Colquhoun and Hill, of Jeppe Street. Such a novelty as a white Springbuck was previously quite unknown in the Transvaal. This communication was sent to us accompanied by a photograph of the animal taken from life, from which it would appear that its colour was absolutely of a spotless white.

The Springbuck, although not unfrequently seen in the Zoological Gardens of Europe, is, as might be supposed, from its free and active habits, somewhat impatient of captivity and does not thrive in confinement except in occasional instances. The Zoological Society acquired their first specimen (by purchase) on July 9th, 1852, and, as will be seen by reference to their published Lists of Animals, others have been subsequently received at short intervals since that date. At the time we are writing there is a fine pair in the Society’s Gardens, deposited by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales in March, 1893, which are still doing well. Dr. Wünderlich, Director of the Zoological Garden of Cologne, has kindly furnished us with notes upon a pair of this Antelope which he bought on the 13th May, 1896, from Herr Reiche, of Alfeld. They bred on the 24th May last year, and after a period of 171 days a young one of the female sex was born on the 12th November last. The young one at birth was 45 cm. (about 17¾ English inches) in height, and generally of a yellowish-grey colouring. The side stripe was rather darker, but by no means so clearly defined as it is in the adult animal. The under surface and inner sides of the limbs were white, as in the adult. On the face a dark stripe from the eye to the corner of the mouth was visible, but the cheeks and chin generally were yellowish grey like the sides of the body. The little animal did well in company with its mother at first, and after 15 days began to eat corn. Unfortunately, however, it did not continue to thrive, and died on December 21st, when about 40 days old.

The flesh of the Springbuck is much esteemed by the epicures of the Cape Colony, and has been occasionally brought to London in a refrigerator for consumption here. In the ‘Field’ for 1892 (vol. lxxx. p. 390) will be found an account of its successful importation by Messrs. Brooks, of Leadenhall Market, and of the high appreciation it met with by those who tried the “venison,” which was pronounced to be “in good condition, not the least high, and tasting not unlike Chamois.”

Our figure of the adult male Springbuck, with a herd of these animals in the distance, has been prepared by Mr. Smit from an original sketch by Wolf, which is now in the possession of Sir Douglas Brooke, and has been kindly lent to us for examination.

There is a good stuffed specimen of an adult male Springbuck in the Gallery of the British Museum. It was obtained by Mr. F. C. Selous at Mahemfontein, in the Orange Free State, in 1896, and was presented to the collection by that gentleman. From a pencil-note on the back of Mr. Wolf’s sketch it would appear to have been taken from a specimen of the head of this species formerly exhibited in the same Museum. The National Collection has also some skins, skulls, and horns of the Springbuck from various parts of South Africa; but good skulls of this Antelope are still desiderata to the National Collection, and a series of them, with dates and localities, would be much appreciated.

August, 1897.

GENUS VI. GAZELLA.

Type. Gazella, =Licht.= Mag. nat. Freund. Berl. vi. pp. 152 & 171 (1814) G. SUBGUTTUROSA. Dorcas, =Gray=, Med. Repos. xv. p. 307 (1821) G. DORCAS. Dama, =Benn.= Tr. Z. S. i. p. 7 (1833) G. DAMA. Leptoceros, =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 422 (1844) G. LEPTOCEROS. Procapra, =Hodgs.= J. A. S. B. xv. p. 334 (1846) G. PICTICAUDATA. Tragops, =id.= op. cit. xvi. p. 11 (1847) G. BENNETTI. Tragopsis, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. p. 157 (1869) G. BENNETTI. Eudorcas, =id.= tom. cit. p. 159 (1869) G. “LÆVIPES.” Korin, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872) G. RUFIFRONS. Nanger, =Lataste=, Mamm. Barb. (Act. Bord. xxxix.), sep. cop., p. 173 (1885) G. MHORR.

Size medium, but with a considerable range of variation. General form normal; the muzzle simple, neither expanded as in Pantholops nor elongated as in Saiga; the neck of ordinary length, and the back without any evertible fold as in Antidorcas. 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 the procaprine section--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, prominently ribbed, 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 genus Gazella contains 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 genus Gazella was 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.”

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 genus Gazella, under the name Antidorcas, 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:--

A. Tail quite short. No Gazelline face-markings. Females without horns. a. Horns strongly curved backwards. Skull 7 in. or less in basal length. a^1. Horns not hooked at tip. (Tibet.) 82. G. picticaudata. b^1. Horns hooked at tip. (Mongolia.) 83. G. przewalskii. b. Horns but little curved backwards, not hooked at tip. Skull about 9 in. in basal length. (N. China.) 84. G. gutturosa. B. Tail of average length, its terminal half generally more or less crested with black. Face-markings present. Females (except in G. subgutturosa) with horns. a. Upper part of face white (at least in old age), interrupting the central facial band.

a^1. No horns in female: size larger. (Central and Western Asia.) 85. G. subgutturosa. b^1. Horns present in female: size smaller. (Arabia.) 86. G. marica.

b. Central dark facial band uninterrupted by white above. Horns present in the female. a^1. Dark colour of back not invaded by white of rump. a^2. Dark lateral band indistinctly marked, not strong and blackish. a^3. Tip of horns slightly curved inwards or upwards, not bent in to a right angle. a^4. Horns of medium length. a^5. Horns truly lyrate, the middle portion twisted outwards, the tips reapproaching each other. (Algeria, Egypt, Palestine.) 87. G. dorcas. b^5. Horns not truly lyrate, more or less evenly diverging upwards. a^6. Top of muzzle ordinarily with a black spot on it. a^7. Nose simple. a^8. Larger: hair rough. (Algeria.) 88. G. cuvieri. b^8. Smaller: hair smooth: darker. (Arabia.) 89. G. arabica. c^8. Smaller: hair smooth: lighter. (India and S. Persia.) 90. G. bennetti. b^7. Nose with a flabby corrugated elevation on it. (Somaliland.) 91. G. spekei. b^6. Top of muzzle without a black spot. (Somaliland.) 92. G. pelzelni. b^4. Horns long and very slender. Colours very pale. (Algeria and Egypt.) 93. G. leptoceros. b^3. Tip of horns hooked inwards or upwards, nearly or quite to a right angle. a^4. General colour pale fawn, the lateral band and other markings also fawn. (Nubia.) 94. G. Isabella. b^4. General colour brownish fawn, the lateral band blackish. (Muscat.) 95. G. muscatensis. b^2. Dark lateral band black and strongly marked. a^3. Horns abruptly hooked inwards at the ends. (Abyssinia.) 96. G. tilonura. b^3. Horns not abruptly hooked at end. a^4. No nose-spot; face uniform rufous. a^5. Size smaller. (Senegambia.) 97. G. rufifrons. b^5. Size larger. (Algeria.) 98. G. rufina. b^4. Nose-spot black. (Masai-land.) 99. G. thomsoni.