1892.] ANTELOPES OF NORTHERN SOMALILAND. 307 



the result of natural selection, as the high plains of Ogo and Hand, 

 Avhere it lives, are subject to sweeping cold winds, and the nights 

 are very cold indeed. I have noticed the Oryx in the elevated 

 country also have slightly thicker coats. The altitude of these 

 plains inhabited by the Flabby-nosed Gazelle is from three thousand 

 to nearly six thousand feet, but doubtless they go much lower 

 towards Ogaden. 



The great upheaval of Golis, and its prolongations east and west, 

 wbich rise some forty miles inland and separate Guban, tiie low 

 coast country, from Ogo, the high interior country, form the natural 

 line of demarcation between these two Gazelles. 



The short-coated, brightly-coloured Coast Gazelle is found below 

 in Guban, to the north of Golis. The long-coated, dull-coloured, 

 Flabbv-nosed Gazelle is found south of Golis, in Ogo and in the 

 Hand! 



In Ogo-Gudan, the country near Hargeisa where Guban rises 

 gradually into Ogo, I have found the Flabby-nosed Gazelle to 

 prevail. I have found that the Gazelles of the low country carried 

 longer horns, those of the Big-nosed Gazelle being shorter, thicker, 

 more curved, and better annulated. 



The habits of both are alike. They go in moderate herds from 

 half a dozen up to about fifteen, and are fond of stony or sandy 

 undulating ground and ravines, thinly dotted over with mimosas. 



They are fond of salt, and do not want water, and it is hard to 

 understand what they can pick up to eat in tlie wretched ground 

 they frequent. They avoid thick bush. They have curiosity which 

 amounts to impudence, but are wonderfully bright and on the alert, 

 and are hard to shoot, knowing perfectly well the range of a rifle 

 and presenting a small target. 



9. Salt's Antelope {Neotragus saltianus). 



Sakdro. 



The Sakaro certainly weighs less than an English hare, and is the 

 smallest of the Somali Antelopes. The horns are well-ringed at 

 the base and sharply pointed, and about 1| inch long. 



There are two kinds of Sakaro, the larger and the smaller. They 

 are ahke in every other respect, but one is half as large again as the 

 other. The smaller is found in Guban and Ogo. I shot the larger 

 in the Gadabursi country, 150 miles inland. Mr. Clarke, who went 

 to Mauhan, first noticed a difference in size and pointed it out to me. 

 The skull is nearly twice as large in the larger kind. 



Tbe eyes of the Sakaro are larger in proportion to the head than 

 any other of the Antelopes here. 



Sakaro live in broken ground where there is good cover of low 

 mimosa scrub. They are never seen in absolutely open grass plains. 

 They are specially partial to the aloe undergrowth found in Lesser 

 Kudu ground. 



Sakaro go in pairs, hiding under the low bush. The female 

 exposes herself to view most, and is consequently most often shot. 



