22 
3) 
Capt. Swayne, who has had the unequalled experience of seventeen visits to 
Somaliland, writing in 1894, says :— 
“T have been singularly unfortunate with this Antelope, never having been in the 
country where it is found till I went to the Nogal Valley some three years ago. At 
that time the Jilal, or dry season, was at its height, and all the game was scarce and 
shy, so I never got a Dibatag till June 1898, when on my return journey from Ogédén, 
across the waterless plateau, I made a détour of several days to the east on purpose to 
shoot ove for my collection. 
“J searched for Dibatag at Tur, a jungle due south of the Toyo grass plains, the 
distance being some eighty miles from Berbera, and was lucky in getting one good 
buck and picking up two pairs of horns. Although I saw a good many, all were wild 
and shy. ‘This is their extreme western limit, and they never by any chance, I believe, 
come so far south as the Golis Range. Farther east, towards Burd, they are more 
plentiful and less shy. 
“« Dibatag are very difficult to see, their purplish-grey colour matching with the high 
durr grass in the glades where they are found. The glossy coat, shining, reflects the 
surrounding colours, making it sometimes almost invisible ; and at the best of times its 
slender body is hard to make out. JI have often mistaken female Waller’s Gazelles for 
Dibatag, and once shot one of the former in mistake for the latter. The habits and 
gait are much the same, save that the Dibatag trots off with head held up, and the long 
tail held erect over the back nearly meeting the head, while Waller’s Gazelle trots 
away with its head down and its short tail screwed round. Like Waller’s Gazelle the 
Dibatag goes singly or in pairs, or small families up to half a dozen. 
“« As in the case of Waller’s Gazelle, the Dibatag is enabled by its long neck and 
rather long upper lip to reach down branches of the mimésa bushes from a considerable 
height. The shape of head and way of feeding of both Antelopes are Giraffe-like, and 
I have seen both standing on the hind legs, fore-feet planted against the trunk of a 
tree, when feeding. I have seen Dibatag feeding both on thorn bushes and on the durr 
grass. Both Waller’s and Clarke’s Antelopes can live far from water. The country 
most suitable for Dibatag is jungle of the khansa or umbrella mimésa, alternating 
with glades of durr grass which grows about six feet high. The females are hornless. 
The Dibatag is a very graceful Antelope, standing higher than an Indian Blackbuck, 
but weighing probably a good deal less.” 
Another well-known explorer of Somaliland, Mr. G. Percy V. Aylmer, 
kindly sends us the following field-notes on this species :— 
“ Ammodorcas clarkei, the Debbertag of the Somali, one of the most beautiful and in- 
teresting of the rare Antelopes of that country, is, I believe, exceedingly local. From the 
reports of Messrs. Gillett, Pease, and other travellers, and my own experience, I should 
roughly describe the range of these Antelopes as contained within North latitude 8° to 
9° 30', and East longitude 44°, to an unknown distance towards the east. Morning and 
