THE RED SEA HILLS 
353 
heads. The latter are recorded up to 16 inches, but the 
great majority average under 14 inches. 
Among hundreds of heads examined through the 
telescope, I only detected three that appeared sub¬ 
stantially to exceed the latter measurement. Fate, in 
two of these cases, proved unkind. The first I undershot 
twice, standing full broadside at 300 yards ; although, 
after the first failure, I had raised the “sighting” and, 
moreover, at the time, was shooting in my top form! 
The next evening, after long and patient “spying,” we 
detected two extra big heads in a herd of a hundred—the 
best a real champion, but so restless, that after our hour’s 
hanging on the flanks of the troop (alternately crawling, 
running, and stalking), he deliberately left his companions 
and went off alone. As dusk was falling, I essayed a long 
shot at the second-best, which proved to be my best for 
that year, taping 14J inches with an inside spread of just 
under 9 inches. 
There is no water among these sterile hills, and both 
ariel and the smaller gazelles must be nearly as inde¬ 
pendent of that element as are the ibex. 1 
That last remark, however, necessitates a note on 
the totally different climatic conditions that distinguish 
these Red Sea hills from the far interior Sudan. In both 
regions the winter winds blow fresh and strong from 
N. or N.E. But here, among the hills—the reverse of 
the case on arid Nile—its cool breath comes saturated 
with moisture. So damp was the atmosphere at Sarrowit 
that we were compelled to keep all change-clothing buried 
in our camp-beds! — an experience that recalled long- 
past days on the “high fjeld” of Norway, but almost 
incredible in high-dried Sudan. Often before sunrise 
the dark hill-slopes glistened wet, as it were after a heavy 
thunder-shower; and we noticed the crude rocks coated 
with a sort of film of eocene plant-life—mossy or crypto- 
1 Nevertheless, we found the bladders of ariel shot in afternoon, and 
even at sunset, filled with water! 
Z 
