594 ox THE GAZELLES OV ALGERIA. [May 2, 



stony Gantaras that crop up out of the sand in this part of the 

 Sahara as well as in the " Dhaias " or " Houaths," or depressions 

 in the desert where the wind has swept the hottom clear of sand. 

 The Eime is found, generally speaking, in any part of the Sahara 

 where sand predominates and where there is vegetation and where 

 rain has fallen, though you may travel for days even in parts 

 of this purely sand-dune country or in the Erg without coming 

 across it. 



Throughout the Algerian Sahara the Eime is very difficult to 

 approach even where very numerous, much more so than the 

 Dorcas ; in my experience, it is shyer, much more easily scared, goes 

 further when disturbed, and is much more on the alert than the 

 Dorcas. This, I think, is largely due to the fact that every 

 Chambi or Arab of the south carries a gun and many of them 

 have greyhounds (the Sloughi) ; many are professional hunters for 

 meat to supply the markets of El Oued, Ouargla, Ghadamis, and 

 other towns. I have during the past few weeks seen many 

 hundreds of Eime and have only secured four specimens, only once 

 having obtained a shot at less than 400 yards. I devoted six days 

 to hunting them from two camps and only got two, the only two 

 chances 1 had, excluding a long galloping shot from the shoulder. 

 In this district the Eime appeared to avoid the dunes where 

 approach would have been possible, and kept to the bare level 

 plateaux of the Gantaras ^ or the plains of the Dhaias. 



Further south, in the Erg and in the waterless region between 

 Ai'n TaVba and Ghadamis, the Eime is less sophisticated, and my 

 Chaambi hunter told nie that he had hunted in this country at 

 places where water is 20 days apart and had been able to kill 

 many Eimes. On one occasion he and two other professional 

 hunters were 50 days hunting, and killed 90 Eimes and 7 Addaxes, 

 returning from time to time to Ghadamis to dispose of the meat. 

 I may remark that it appears to me that the meat being putrid 

 makes little difference in its saleable value. I have seen camel- 

 loads of stinking Gazelle- and Addax-meat brought into Ouargla 

 market and sold by auction to crowds of eager buyers. 



Only men accustomed to the country and able to bear the fatigue 

 of long days of fast travelling on Mehara, and indifferent to thirst 

 and the severe labour of hunting in deep sand, could succeed in 

 the places these men frequent. 



The nearest point to Ouargla where Addax have been killed this 

 year (1899) has been 3 days south of Ain Tai'ba. 



1 Gantara or Kantara in Arabic literally means a bridge, and is a term used 

 by tbe Arabs to describe the ridges and plateaux of rock (? or gypsum) that 

 crop up in the sand-desert : as a rule the Gantaras are ridges banked by sand 

 hills running parallel with the Oueds or surrounding the Houaths. 



