THE BARBARY SHEEP 115 



mentions the mountain of salt, supposed to be that 

 situated near the oasis of El Outaia, another locality 

 for the aoudad. This mountain is noticeable a long 

 way off by reason of its white saline surface, con- 

 trasting markedly with the red and yellow rocks 

 around it ; owing to its solubility, great chasms and 

 trenches have been washed out by the action of 

 successive storms, and dangerous craters have 

 developed some of them a hundred feet deep in the 

 friable crust. Aoudad and antelope occur here in 

 some numbers; a little outlying farm has been named 

 by the French Fontaine des Gazelles. 



Although inhabiting so sterile a country the 

 Arabs say the aoudad only drink once in five 

 days the present species thrives remarkably well 

 in the cold, damp climate of Europe. It has 

 bred in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes, 

 whence specimens have been distributed to many 

 other collections, where they have again bred 

 freely. It is always represented in every big 

 vivarium (such as our own Gardens in Regent's 

 Park) ; quite a number of animals of different sizes 

 and ages can be seen in the London collection, 

 affording a most interesting object lesson in the growth 

 and appearance of the horns at various ages, the 

 appearance of the throat-mane, etc. Provided with 

 artificial rock-work, whose rough exterior forms a 

 ready gymnasium, and whose hollow interior forms a 

 snug dormitory, the Barbary sheep thrives under 



