1896. ] ON THE ANTELOPES OF EASTERN ALGERIA. 809 
3. On the Antelopes of the Aures and Eastern Algerian 
Sahara. By Aurrep E. Pras’. 
[Received June 24, 1896.] 
In the following notes I shall confine myself to the Antelopes of 
those regions of Algeria which are comprised between the Aures 
Range and the borders of the countries inhabited by the Chamba 
and Touareg tribes of the Sahara. Although much of my time 
during the years 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1895 was devoted to hunt- 
ing the Barbary Wild Sheep, I shall consider this, which is in my 
opinion the most interesting of all the North-African wild animals, 
outside the scope of this paper. However, in passing, L might be 
allowed to’ say that M. Foureau, in the spring of 1895, assured 
me that he bad found this Sheep in great numbers in the moun- 
tain-ranges of those districts he had explored in the countries of 
the Touaregs, and that those he had shot were identical in appear- 
ance with specimens of the Atlas and Aures and Hl Goléa moun- 
tains in the south, though he believed they were smaller in size. 
At the same time he asserted that he had made a discovery so at 
variance with all preconceived ideas of the habitat of the Red Deer 
(Arab Fortassa or Mustarb), and which he regarded as ‘‘ wne chose 
si bizarre,” that he almost hesitated, in regard for his own reputa- 
tion, to make it known. His discovery was this, that he had 
convinced himself of the existence of Cervus barbarus in certain 
of these districts of the Ahaggar between the marshy jungles and 
the mountains. The only places that I know of where the 
Barbary Deer still lingers in N. Africa is to the E. of Tebessa and 
in the forests to the north of Gafsa in Tunisia, where happily it 
has been placed under the protection of the French Departments 
of Forests. The horns that I have seen from these districts 
lead me to believe that the Tunisian Deer is inferior in point 
of size to the European Red Deer. The Buffalo is still to be 
found in the marshes near Biserta, and is also under protection, 
one native Kaid alone having the right to hunt them. 
The Bubal (Bubalis buselaphus) is now extinct in the Province 
of Constantine, and very rare indeed in Tunisia and in Oran. In 
a journey made in 1895 through the Djereed and into the Tunisian 
Aures I not only never saw one, but never could obtain any but 
the most uncertain accounts of where they could be found. If I 
returned to that country I should search for them in the neigh- 
bourhood of Douz and the Dahar district. In 1738, according to 
Shaw, “these kingdoms” (i. ¢., the Barbary States, Eastern Pro- 
vince) “afforded large herds of the Neat kind called Bekker el Wash 
by the Arabs. This species,” he goes on to say, “is remarkable 
for having a rounded turn of body, a flatter face, with horns bend- 
ing more towards each other than the tame kind.” 
The term Begra el Ouash (Wild Cow) is indiscriminately used 
by the Arabs for both the Bubal and Addax, and travellers should 
1 Communicated by the Secretary. 
