THE ANTELOPES AND GAZELLES 145 



THE BEISAS, LEUCORYX, AND ADDAX 



The Beisa (Oryx beisa} of North-East Africa is a 

 near cousin of the gemsbok of the south. There is 

 some slight difference in the face markings, and the 

 tuft of hair found on the throat of the South African 

 species is lacking in this animal. The flank stripe 

 and leg markings are also absent. The horns are 

 somewhat shorter, the finest recorded pair reaching 

 40 inches only. Beisa are found in East Africa from 

 the equator to as far north as the neighbourhood of 

 Suakim on the Red Sea. They are excellent sport- 

 ing animals, very hard of approach on open plains, 

 but are, with care, to be stalked successfully in thin 

 bush. 



The Fringe-Eared Beisa (Oryx callotis] is a sub- 

 species, found in British East Africa and the Galla 

 country. Its chief claim to a specific title of its own 

 lies in the fact that the ears are decorated with long 

 fringes or tassels of hair ; the face marking also is 

 slightly different. The Swahili name for both these 

 animals is Chiroa ; in Abyssinian the beisa is known 

 as Sala ; in Somali as Beit. 



The Leucoryx, or white oryx (Oryx Ieucoryx\ of 

 Senaar, Kordofan, Nubia, and the Southern Sahara, 

 is very little known to European hunters. It is 

 purely a desert-loving beast, whitish in colour, with 

 a strong tinge of chestnut, chiefly upon the neck 

 and fore-quarters. The horns, more curving and 

 scimitar-like in their sweep than are those of the 



