448 ME. O. THOMAS ON MAMMALS FEOM OMAK. [May 1, 



three more lying down, and I made a long stalk after them. 

 Owing to their height Wild Camels are rather difficult to approach, 

 for even when lying down their heads are so high that it is not 

 easy to keep out of sight, for there is little or no cover in the 

 desert. Out of the last-mentioned herd I got a fine old male. 

 We were now evidently in the thick of the camel-district, for a 

 few miles farther we came on a herd of nine, but the wind being 

 westerly they smelt us long before we got near them. That day 

 we had' to camp in an arid desert, where there was neither water 

 nor grass. Towards evening an animal was seen in the distance, 

 and turned out to be another camel. On getting up to it I had to 

 fire at a desperately long range. The beast spun round and then 

 dropped in his tracks. The stalk had been watched from camp 

 with a good deal of interest, and our two Lob hunters, who were 

 in disgrace, were much put out at the result, for, when they saw me 

 preparing to shoot, they announced to our men that I was a mad- 

 man to attempt to kUl a camel at that distance. This specimen 

 fortunately proved to be a female, which I particularly wanted. 

 It M-as the last camel of any kind that we saw. The natives told 

 me that if a camel saw or smelt a man they would not return to 

 that place for a year. This is probably an over-statemeut, but 

 they certainly were vei'y wild, for I saw with my telescope two 

 camels, which I did not fire at, striding away far across the desert, 

 and when last visible they showed no sign of slackening speed. 



I brought home 3 skins, 1 complete skeleton, and all the skulls 

 of these camels. The animals being shot in summer, unfortunately 

 their skins were not in a very good condition. 



Whether these camels are remnants of the original WUd Camel 

 or simply the descendants of some tame ones run wild, I leave to 

 more learned heads than mine to discover. There are round the 

 Gobi Desert the remains of many cities that have been overwhelmed 

 with sand ; that the catastrophe was sudden in some instances is 

 proved by the fact that when the wind blows away the sand and 

 exposes the ruins, cooking and other things are found in the 

 houses ; and it is quite reasonable to suppose that some camels 

 might have survived a sandstorm severe enough to have annihilated 

 their owners and buried their towns. 



4. On some Specimens of Mammals from Oman, S.E. Arabia. 

 By Oldfield Thomas. 



[Eeceived April 3, 1894.] 



(Plate XXXI.) 



Dr. A. S. Gr. Jayakar, whose magnificent collections and donations 

 of Muscat fishes are known to all ichthy ilogists through the papers 

 upon tliem by Mr. Boulenger, has, during the past few years, 

 collected and presented to the ]\'ationul Museum a certain number 



