Other footprints tell where a Short-Eared Hare has loped across the ground, and I see where a hungry Jackal has picked up the trail and hurried in pursuit. At a cluster of bush I find the up-turnings of a Porcupine that has been burrowing and tearing at a shrub-bottom to feed on its favourite food—the roots of the pale-limbed, big-leaved bush which the Tuaregs call Tirza.

In a shallow, dried-up river-bed the camels are guided clear of a regular warren of holes scooped out in the night by a Ratel in search of dormant frogs buried in the sand a foot or two beneath the surface.

Nearing camping time the caravan reaches a terrace margin and descends a rocky slope, where the camels have difficulty in picking their way. A strange, wild valley lies in the unexpected level below, and a dry river-bed in a deep ravine. It is a drear valley-side, and the caravan passes on into the ravine below. In a cliff I find a deep, dark cave, and strike a match to enter it. It proves to be an old den of Hyenas; their footprints are on the dusty sand and the floor is littered with the bones of camels and other animals. The roof of the cave is festooned with the honeycombs of wasps, but the hives are forsaken.

By this time the journey of the day has drawn to a close, and we camp to rest and eat, and refresh both man and beast, while my skinning-table and knives are set ready for the work of the evening on specimens that, mayhap, shall add to the knowledge of the world.

Altogether, forty-two different species and subspecies of animals were collected from the Sahara and twenty-two additional varieties from the Western Sudan, on its southern shores.

In the Sahara the following mammals were collected[20]:

1.Arui, or Barbary Sheep (B)
2.Damas Gazelle (B).
3.Dorcas Gazelle.
4.White Oryx.
5.Addax.
6.Wart Hog.
7.Baboon.
8.Small Mouse-eared Bat.
9.Small White and Brown Bat.
10.Small Long-tailed Bat.
11.Desert Hedgehog.
12.Hausa Wild Cat (A).
13.Desert Wild Cat.
14.Genet.
15.Caracal, or Lynx (B).
16.Rufous Mongoose (B)
17.Striped Hyena.
18.Jackal.
19.Buff Desert Fox (B).
20.Grey Rock Fox (B).
21.Fennec.
22.Ratel (A).
23.Saharan Ground Squirrel (B).
24.Dormouse (A).
25.Long-tailed Naked-soled Gerbil.
26.Hairy-soled Gerbil.
27.Dark Naked-soled Gerbil.
28.Lesser Naked-soled Gerbil.
29.Dwarf Gerbil (A).
30.Large Fawn Gerbil (B).
31.Large Dark Gerbil.
32.Large Rufous-headed Gerbil.
33.Multimanimate Rat (A).
34.Reddish Spiny Rock Mouse (A).
35.Dark Spiny Mouse.
36.Brindled Field Rat (B).
37.Jerboa (B).
38.Porcupine (A).
39.Gundi (A).
40.Short-eared Hare (A).
41.Rock Dassy (A).
42.Aardvark, or Ant Bear.

Twenty-two additional mammals found in the Western Sudan, on the southern margin of the Sahara, between latitudes 12° and 16°:

43.Korrigum, or Tiang.
44.Red-fronted Gazelle.
45.Small Leaf-nosed Bat.
46.Epauletted Bat.
47.Long-eared Slit-faced Bat.
48.Saharan Hedgehog.
49.Mann’s Shrew.
50.Large White-tailed Mongoose.
51.Jackal.
52.Pallid Fox.
53.Rothschild’s Skunk (near) (A).
54.Large Striped Skunk (near).
55.Ground Squirrel.
56.Naked-soled Gerbil (B).
57.Nigerian Hairy-soled Gerbil (A).
58.Fat-tailed Mouse.
59.Gambian Giant Rat.
60.Buchanan’s Giant Rat (A).
61.Dwarf Mouse.
62.Striped Bush Mouse (A).
63.Brindled Field Rat.
64.West African Porcupine.