White Oryx 207 



shoulders, lower surface of the body, and upper portion of the limbs. On 

 the face there are six brownish patches or streaks, two of which are 

 situated in the middle line, while two form eye-stripes, the other pair 

 being situated between the horns and the eyes. As stated by Mr. Bryden 

 in Great and Small Game of Africa, the longest pair of horns yet known 

 measure 39^ inches along the front curve. 



No reference is made either in the work just mentioned or in Messrs. 

 Sclater and Thomas's Book of Antelopes to the occurrence of this animal 

 elsewhere than in North Africa. Canon Tristram, in his Natural History 

 of the Bihle (p. 57), writes, however, as follows : — 



"The oryx is still found on the confines of the Holy Land, though 

 strictly an inhabitant of the deserts, and, although I never obtained it, I 

 have been quite near enough to it to identify it by the shape of its horns. 

 These are of immense length, sweeping towards its back in a wide curve, 

 and often exceeding 3 feet in length. They are frequently to be purchased 

 in the bazaars of Damascus. It is a large animal, standing between 3^ and 

 4 feet in height, and though rather heavy in build, has great speed, bound- 

 ing and leaping like an ibex. Its lower-parts, flanks, and face are of a 

 sandy white colour, with large darker patches of brown and tawny on its 

 face, back, and flanks. Its horns, though so recurved, are a formidable 

 weapon of oftence, and when wounded and brought to bay, it will 

 frequently pierce the hunter by a sudden and well-directed blow. The 

 oryx is found throughout all North Africa, in the Sahara, Arabia, the 

 Mesopotamian desert, and Persia." 



If this testimony is to be relied on, the occurrence of the white oryx 

 in Syria and Palestine must be regarded as established, for it is difficult to 

 see how the straight-horned Beatrix oryx could have been mistaken for 

 the present animal. The oryx which Dr. Tristram alludes to as inhabiting 

 Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia is, however, probably O. heatrix. 



