AKUI 



87 



angulated, are frequently knotted or strongly wrinkled, and generally 

 form either an open or a screw-like spiral. The two genera are very 

 closely allied, and as they have so few African representatives, it will 

 be unnecessary to indicate all their distinctive differences. 



The arui, which is the only species of wild sheep native to Africa, 

 inhabits the mountains of the northern fringe of the continent from 

 Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria in the west to Egypt and the eastern 

 Sudan in the opposite direction, where its range extends nearly as 

 far south as Khartum, 

 or about latitude 16 N. 

 Usually standing about 

 3 feet 3 inches in height, 

 the arui is an altogether 

 abnormal kind of sheep, 

 on which account it has 

 been referred to a subgenus 

 by itself. Among its lead- 

 ing characteristics is the 

 fringe of long hair on the 

 throat and fore -quarters, 

 the comparatively smooth, 

 backwardly-curving horns, 

 which are proportionately 

 larger in the ewes than is 

 generally the case among 

 wild sheep, the great length 

 of the tail, and the uni- 

 formly russet or chestnut 

 colour of the coat, in both 

 sexes and at all ages, as 

 well, apparently, as at all 

 seasons. Although in 



younger animals they are marked by fine parallel ridges and grooves — 

 not to mention deeper lines indicating the limits of these annual 

 growths — the horns of old rams become worn nearly smooth. Horns 

 exceeding 25 inches in length are by no means common, but lengths 

 of 29-I- and 33^ are on record. 



In the western portions of its range the mountains of southern 

 Algeria, southern Tunisia, the interior of Tripoli, and the district of 

 El Kantara, on the fringe of the Sahara, form some of the chief resorts 

 of the arui, which is essentially an inhabitant of bare, almost waterless 



Fig. 28. — Head of Arui. 



