SHOOT A BEISA ORYX. 135 



mile, the cream-coloured hide and black marks on the 

 legs and face were sufficient to show what the antelope 

 was. I lay down and watched her (it proved to be a 

 female) through a glass. The long, straight, tapering 

 horns, the beautifuUy-formed limbs, the almost bovine 

 tail, and the singular symmetry of the Beisa, as this oryx 

 is called, combine with the unusual colour to render it 

 one of the most striking and elegant even of antelopes. 



The oryx moved off with a quick, steady walk : she had 

 seen me, and turned from time to time to look. Leaving 

 my horse and men for her to watch, I stole up a ravine, 

 and at its head lay behind some rocks till she had crossed 

 a low rise, when I pushed on to the top, and had the 

 satisfaction of seeing her walking slowly only 150 yards 

 away. I fired and hit her, missing with my second 

 barrel, however, but her leg was broken, and following up 

 I hit her again. A long chase ensued ; I was excited and 

 unsteady from running, and missed several times, till at 

 last I had but one bullet left, and as wounded oryx have 

 the reputation of charging, I slipped a shot cartridge into 

 the second barrel of my rifle. However, a Bedouin cut 

 her off as she was very nearly done, turning her towards 

 me, and I had the satisfaction of rolling her over. I was 

 surprised to find it was a female : from the splendid 

 horns, twenty-nine inches long, I had certainly supposed 

 it to be a buck, but the females of the Beisa oryx have 

 horns as long as those of the males, or longer. 



I secured and preserved the skin. Specimens of this 

 kind of oryx (0. Beisa) arc extremely scarce in museums, 

 far more so than those of the Cape oryx (0. capensis), 



