THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
west of the Nile. Where rain falls on these thirsty wastes a scanty vegetation 
at once appears, on which the addax feeds, and thus these antelopes are 
accustomed to follow the rains and are forced to wander over vast areas 
of country in search of food. In any given year they may be numerous in a 
certain district after a good rainfall, and entirely absent from the same 
area during a succession of dry years. They are said to live in small herds 
or families, and are much persecuted by Arab hunters, who, indeed, have 
of late years greatly reduced their range; but as they are independent of 
water, like the white oryx and the desert gazelles, they will probably 
survive for a long time to come in the more inaccessible portions of the 
vast wastes where they still exist. 
102 
