CHAPTER VI. 



ANTELOPE SHOOTING IN MONGOLIA, 



WHEN the word antelope is mentioned one's thbughts immediate- 

 ly take wing to the great game preserves of East Africa, which country 

 we have been taught to look upon as par excellence the sportmaai'a 

 paradise. And so it is. There one may see herd upon herd of antelope 

 and buck, often containing tJhree or four different kinds, feeding together 

 on those immense grassy and shrub-dotted stretches. 



Altogether there are well over eighty kinds of antelopes found 

 in Africa, ranging in size from the eighteen foot giraffe down to the 

 little blue duiker, which stands only thirteen inches at the shoulder, 

 or in weight from the fifteen hundred pound eland to the seven pound 

 dik-dik, and in appearance from the hideously fierce looking gnu to 

 the graceful and elegant spring buck. 



Nevertheless Africa is not the only place where there are antelopes. 

 In Asia there are plenty of these pretty and graceful creatures, though 

 there is not so great a variety. They extend from Asia Minor 

 through Palestine, Arabia and Turkestan southward into India, and 

 eastward and northward into Mongolia. Most of these belong to the 

 genus Gazella and are inhabitants of the arid desert regions. 



In Mongolia there are at least three different species of antelopes 

 or gazelles, namely, Przewalski's gazelle (GazeNa przeivalskii), the Mon- 

 golian gazelle ((?. gutturosa) and the goitred antelope (G. subguttuwsa). 

 Of these Przewalski's gazelle inhabits the western Gobi and is charac- 

 terized by its strongly curved horns, very short tail and small size. 



The goitred antelope, so called on account of its greatly enlarged 

 larynx, is commonest in Outer Mongolia. It has a long tail, and much 

 straighter horns than Przewalski's gazelle. 



The Mongolian gazelle ranges from Western Gobi right across 

 Mongolia and is also found all along the Chinese border. It occurs 

 in vast herds often containing hundreds of head. It is larger than 

 either of the other two species, and 'has longer horns. The tail is 

 extremely short. 



