XXVI 



GAZELLES AND OTHER SMALL ANTELOPES 



THE two kinds of gazelles most frequently met with 

 in the Masai-Nyika are the Grant gazelle {Gazella 

 granti) and the Thomson gazelle (Gazella thomsoui). 



The beautiful and large Grant gazelle was discov- 

 ered in i860 by Grant and Speke, in Ugogo, on their 

 expedition which led to the discovery of the Victoria 

 Nyanza. The smaller "goiliu" of the Masai was not 

 known to zoologists before the English traveller, Thom- 

 son, found it in 1883. The horns of the stately male 

 Grant gazelle are long, strong, and beautifully bent, 

 those of the female are also long but not quite so heavy. 

 This species is spread all over the Masai country and 

 runs in herds of many animals. The herds are, in 

 general, separated according to sex ; the herds of fem.ales, 

 however, are mostly accompanied by one or more bucks. 

 The females bear their young in the summer months, 

 retiring for this purpose into the high grass. As soon 

 as tlie calf is able to stand, it joins with its mother 

 the herd of females. The Grant gazelle inhabits the 

 plains, avoids the thick ff)rests, l)ut frequents locali- 



304 



