348 Great and Small Game of Africa 



base. This species and the upland gazelle seem to meet here, for I have 

 seen both on the same day, when hunting in the vicinity of Laferug. It 

 is larger than Speke's gazelle, but in their general habits the two species 

 are very much alike. Pelzeln's gazelle is usually met with on dry and 

 stony ground covered with low bushes, in such a forbidding sterile country 

 that it is difficult to imagine where, or in what manner it can obtain 

 sufficient nourishment from the barren, desert-like places it selects for its 

 habitation. It goes in small bands consisting of from two or three to 

 about a dozen individuals, and it is not very often a single individual is 

 encountered ; whenever one is seen alone it is usually some old buck 

 driven to a solitary life. Eleven was the greatest number I have ever 

 met with in one troop. 



As a rule, Pelzeln's gazelle is not a wild creature, and one can generally 

 approach either single individuals or a number scattered about sufficiently 

 near to make very sure of the shot ; but, like all wild animals, where it is 

 much hunted it becomes very wary and watchful. Whenever a buck is 

 seen alone, it is not very difficult to make a successful stalk and approach 

 him closely, for, deprived of the companionship of the more watchful doe, 

 he is less alert to probable dangers. 



It possesses much curiosity, and its inclination to indulge in this failing 

 often costs it its life, for, in its great desire to ascertain what some strange 

 object may be, it delays its departure to a safer locality, until too late, and 

 the singing bullet has laid its senseless form upon the sand. This gazelle 

 would seem to be indifferent as to whether it can procure water or not, for 

 this necessary fluid for most creatures is quite absent from many localities 

 inhabited by it. Of course, in the brief rainy season, when showers are of 

 daily occurrence, pools are formed in the cavities of the rocks, or in hardened 

 places in the soil, from which water can be obtained, perhaps, many days 

 in succession ; but in the dry season this animal must go sometimes for long 

 intervals before it may find an opportunity to quench its thirst. The dews 



