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Show 448 MR. 0. THOMAS ON MAMMALS FROM OMAN. [May 1, three more lying down, and I made a long stalk after them. Owing to their height Wild Camels are rather difficult to approach, for even when lying down their heads are so high that it is not easy to keep out of sight, for there is little or no cover in the desert. Out of the last-mentioned herd I got a fine old male. W e were now evidently in the thick of the camel-district, for a few miles farther we came on a herd of nine, but the wind being westerly they smelt us long before we got near them. That day we had to camp in an arid desert, where there was neither water nor grass. Towards evening an animal was seen in the distance, and turned out to be another camel. On getting up to it I had to fire at a desperately long range. The beast spun round and then dropped in his tracks. The stalk had been watched from camp with a good deal of interest, and our two Lob hunters, w ho were in disgrace, were much put out at the result, for, when they saw me preparing to shoot, they announced to our m e n that I was a madman to attempt to kill a camel at that distance. This specimen fortunately proved to be a female, which I particularly wanted. It was the last camel of any kind that we saw. The natives told me that if a camel saw or smelt a man they would not return to that place for a year. This is probably an over-statement, but they certainly were very wild, for I saw with m y telescope two camels, which I did not fire at, striding away far across the desert, and when last visible they showed no sign of slackening speed. I brought home 3 skins, 1 complete skeleton, and all the skulls of these camels. The animals being shot in summer, unfortunately their skins were not in a very good condition. Whether these camels are remnants of the original Wild Camel or simply the descendants of some tame ones run wild, I leave to more learned heads than mine to discover. There are round the Gobi Desert the remains of many cities that have been overwhelmed with sand; that the catastrophe was sudden in some instances is proved by the fact that when the wind blows away the sand and exposes the ruins, cooking and other things are found in the houses; and it is quite reasonable to suppose that some camels might have survived a sandstorm severe enough to have annihilated their owners and buried their towns. 4. On some Specimens of Mammals from Oman, S.E. Arabia. By OLDFIELD THOMAS. [Received April 3, 1894.] (Plate XXXI.) Dr. A. S. G. Jayakar, whose magnificent collections and donations of Muscat fishes are known to all ichtlryologists through the papers upon them by Mr. Boulenger, has, during the past few years, collected and presented to the National Museum a certain number |
