THE BUBALINE ANTELOPE 149 



moorland of the Tell country were enlivened by 

 herds of that curious and now rare antelope the 

 bubaline hartebeest. 



The bubaline antelope (Bubalis buselaphus) 

 begra el ouach of the Arabs kargum of the 

 Touaregs is the smallest, the dingiest, and the 

 quaintest of the hartebeest family. It stands about 

 44 inches high at the shoulder. The horns are 

 short, heavily ringed, and curiously curved in a 

 U -shape ; they are set upon a short pedicel rising from 

 the summit of the skull. The face bears a melancholy 

 expression ; the humped shoulders and sloping 

 quarters give the animal a deprecatory appearance, 

 as if it apologised for its very existence. The hair 

 in the middle of the forehead is curiously whorled, 

 with a central depression, as if this dejected-looking 

 creature had made one solitary effort to smarten up. 

 The general colour is greyish brown, with an 

 indistinct greyish area on each side of the muzzle ; 

 the tail tuft is black. The horns may attain a length 

 of 14^ inches over the curve, as seen in a specimen 

 in the National Collection. 



The above is a description of the typical bubal of 

 Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco ; it is, however, 

 possible that this northern race is but a sub- 

 species of the West African hartebeest (Bubalis 

 major), distinguished by its deep brown face, and the 

 general body colour varying from fawn to sandy 

 grey. The horns of this western species may attain 



