( 36) 



p. 387) relates thiit Mie hunters of the Sonf (El-Oiiod) frr(|nenfly nlit.aiiipd it. 

 In the British Museum is a young animal obtained by Frasor in the Cliott Djerid 

 in Tunisia, in 1846. 



All these statements are probably correct and true, but it is to be feared that 

 the Bubal no longer e.xisls in Algeria nor in tlie Sahara south of Algeria— at 

 least as far as Tidilielt. 



It is, perhaps, not astonishing that so large a beast has disapjjeared, when 

 it is considered that tlie Lion has been exterminated ; in olden times a wild Ass 

 (according to Tristram) iiihatnted South Algeria ; the Deer is restricted to a small 

 portion of the Northern Atlas forests, the Panther and other wild cats have 

 become rare ; the Ostrich has disappeared from the confines of Algeria. All this is 

 partly due to the ruthless hunting of Europeans, unchecked by any game-laws, 

 as they used to be ; but more so to the persevering and unsportsmanlike killing 

 and catching by the Arabs at all seasons of tiie year. 



8. Oois Icrcia Pall. (= Oviis trayelaplum Desm.). — Tlie " Barbary Sheep" 

 appears to inhabit the mountains of the Southern Atlas ranges, especially south 

 of the " Hants Plateaux," but it also extends into the Sahara, at least as far as 

 Ain Gnettara, and, according to hearsay, even to the Hoggar mountains. It is, 

 naturally, absent, from the regions of the sand-dunes, from the C'hotts and the 

 flat hammada, and is only fouud among rocks and cliffs, which, however, need not 

 be very high. We saw a very old male at Ain Guettara, and picked up a skull 

 and horns close by ; but we found many traces and dropjiings in the little afHucnts 

 and side-valleys of the Southern Oued Mya, and in the latter itself. They come 

 to the river-bed to feed in the evening and during the night, but retire to the 

 rocks for the day. As tlieir colour harmonises so closely with tiic brown rocks, 

 they are invisible while resting, even to most Arabs. A fine male was shot in 

 the Oued Mya at dusk ; its meat was excellent. Our Arabs called this animal 

 always " Laroui," which appears to be a contraction of " El-Aroni," and the 

 name " Aoudad " was unknown to them. 



0. Foxes. — There are at least — apart from the Fennec — two Foxes in Algeria, 

 a larger form living in the Atlas mountains, probably Vidpes nilotica, and a 

 smaller one in the northern parts of the Sahara, which is Vulpes famelica 

 (hetzschm., or perhaps a subspecies of the latter. Unfortunately we have not 

 shot any of these (cf. also Lataste, Actes Soc. Linn. JJordeau.c, xxxix. pp. 212-19). 

 Foxes are said to occur also in the Southern Oued Mja, but we have no proof 

 of it. Vulpes famelira occurs also in South Tunisia. 



10. Canis aureus L. — The jackal is not rare in North Algeria, and even 

 found close to the town of Algiers, and extends as far south, at least, as Ain 

 Guettara, where we saw its undoubted spoor, and the dung, dropped on top of 

 stones and camel-skeletons, more especially on the stomachs of the dead camels, 

 which were generally full of half-digested food. Lataste {I.e. p. 'ZVZ) says that 

 the .jackal never goes south of the Tell and Hauts Plateaux, but this is an error, 

 though it is, naturally, absent from the Erg and (Jhotts. 



11. Ili/neiia l<i/aenu (L.). — Still fonnd, though in small numbers, from the 

 Northern Atlas ranges to Biskra, and, according to statements from Arabs and 



