1896.] ON THE ANIEL0PB3 OF BASTHBN AIGBRIA. 809 



3. Od the Antelopes of the Aures and Eastern Algerian 

 Sahara. By Alfred E. Pease'. 



[Eeceived June 24, 1896.] 



In the followmg notes I shall confine myself to the Antelopes of 

 those regions of Algeria which are comprised between the Aures 

 •Eange 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 Worth-African wild animals, 

 outside the scope of this paper. However, in passing, I might bo 

 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 El Golea moun- 

 tains in the south, though he believed they were smaller in size. 

 At tlie same time he asserted tliat he had made a discovery so at 

 variance with all preconceived ideas of the habitat of the lied Deer 

 (Arab Fortassa or MuUarh), and which he regarded as " une chose 

 si bizarre," that he almost hesitated, in regard for his own reputa- 

 tion, to make it kuown. His discovery was this, that he had 

 convinced himself of the existence of Gervus harharus in certain 

 of these districts of the Ahaggar between the marshy juugles 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 ha|)i)ily 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 Eed 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 {Buhalis huselaphus) 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 

 Am-es 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. e., the Barbary States, Eastern Pro- 

 vince) " afforded large herds of the Neat kind called Belcher 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 Beyra el Ouash (Wild Cow) is indiscriminately used 

 by the Arabs for both the Bubal and Addax, and travellers should 

 ' Communicated by the Secretary. 



