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Show 1892.] ANTELOPES OF NORTHERN SOMALILAND. 307 the result of natural selection, as the high plains of Ogo and Haud, where it lives, are subject to sweeping cold winds, and the nights are very cold indeed. I have noticed the Oryx in the elevated country also have slightly thicker coats. The altitude of these plains inhabited by the Flabby-nosed Gazelle is from three thousand to nearly six thousand feet, but doubtless they go much lower towards Ogaden. The great upheaval of Golis, and its prolongations east and west, which rise some forty miles inland and separate Guban, the low coast country, from Ogo, the high interior country, form the natural line of demarcation between these two Gazelles. The short-coated, brightly-coloured Coast Gazelle is found below in Guban, to the north of Golis. The long-coated, dull-coloured, Flabby-nosed Gazelle is found south of Golis, in Ogo and in the Haud" In Ogo-Gudan, the country near Hargeisa where Guban rises gradually into Ogo, I have found the Flabby-nosed Gazelle to prevail. I have found that the Gazelles of the low country carried longer horns, those of the Big-nosed Gazelle being shorter, thicker, more curved, and better annulated. The habits of both are alike. They go in moderate herds from half a dozen up to about fifteen, and are fond of stony or sandy undulating ground and ravines, thinly dotted over with mimosas. They are fond of salt, and do not want water, and it is hard to understand what they can pick up to eat in the wretched ground they frequent. They avoid thick bush. They have curiosity which amounts to impudence, but are wonderfully bright and on the alert, and are hard to shoot, knowing perfectly well the range of a rifle and presenting a small target. 9. SALT'S ANTELOPE (Neotragus saltianus). Sakdro. The Sakaro certainly weighs less than an English hare, and is the smallest of the Somali Antelopes. The horns are well-ringed at the base and sharply pointed, and about 1| inch long. There are two kinds of Sakaro, the larger and the smaller. They are alike in every other respect, but one is half as large again as the other. The smaller is found in Guban and Ogo. I shot the larger in the Gadabursi country, 150 miles inland. Mr. Clarke, who went to Mauhan, first noticed a difference in size and pointed it out to me. The skull is nearly twice as large in the larger kind. The eyes of the Sakaro are larger in proportion to the head than any other of the Antelopes here. Sakaro live in broken ground where there is good cover of low mimosa scrub. They are never seen in absolutely open grass plains. They are specially partial to the aloe undergrowth found in Lesser Kudu ground. Sakaro go in pairs, hiding under the low bush. The female exposes herself to view most, and is consequently most often shot. |
