“Accordingly we toiled up the face of the tableland and reached the top. It was simply a large stretch of perfectly flat ground covered with large, loose, black, burnt-up stones, with an occasional green bush to vary the monotony. The extent of the plateau was about a mile in length by half a mile broad. We had a very tiring tramp over this course, shingle from end to end of it, and just as we reached the further end, where there was a little fringe of green bushes, we espied several Antelope browsing about 300 yards from us. I could not quite make out what they were, and expected them to be some young animals of the Greater Koodoo; but directly my Shikari saw them he said, ‘Do you know what those are, Sir? they are “Bahra”; I have only seen them once before, and no sportsman has ever shot them.’
“There was no cover between us and them, and it was impossible to stalk them from where we were, so we made a long detour below the crest of the plateau expecting that we could come up within shot on the other side of the animals; but it was impossible to move without displacing stones and making a noise, and when we emerged above the crest again it was only to see five Antelopes streaming over the plateau in the direction we had just come from. Under such circumstances Klipspringer would have separated and taken to the rocks on the steep sides of the plateau, whereas these animals kept in a herd together and galloped away over the flat just as a herd of Gazelle would do.
“I was much disappointed at not getting a shot, but I was sure they would not leave the plateau, and determined to leave no stone unturned to come up with them. We tramped on in the direction they had gone, and after going about half a mile caught sight of them again; but they had seen us first, and were going hard at about 250 yards when we saw them. It would have been a very fluky shot, and I held my hand. I could now distinguish four females and one buck, which appeared to have horns exactly like a Gazelle, between 8 and 10 inches long.
“When they were fairly under weigh we got a bush between us and them, and hurried after them as quick as we could. After a few moments, as luck would have it, they all stopped in a bunch and turned round with their heads towards us at about 300 yards. I could not distinguish the buck at the moment, as they were standing among bushes and were not distinct, but I aimed at one which turned partially broadside and fired. The animal fell dead, and the other four streamed away out of sight. On running up I found that it was a female that I had killed, and I am sorry to say that on grallocking her we found an almost mature embryo inside her. I was unable to preserve this as I had no spirit with me, but the fact shows that the animal killed was an adult.
“I took careful measurements on the spot, and found the height at shoulder 23 inches; distance from the nose to the root of the tail 33; the tail including 2-inch hair 5½; the length of ears in front 6¼, and their breadth 2¾.”
Sir Edmund Loder has kindly favoured us with the following field-notes on the Beira:—
“Mr. Percy Aylmer heard of this Antelope on the stony foot-hills in Gubau (N. of Hargaisa), and saw it on one of the isolated foot-hills to the south of Gau Libah. Mr. A. E. Pease and I found it on another detached hill about 20 miles west of this. This particular hill was extremely rough and rugged, covered with loose boulders, making walking and silent stalking extremely difficult. This hill was also frequented by Gumbouri (Wild Asses, Equus somalicus), which, from their large size, were easily seen. The case was, however, very different with the ‘Baira,’ which, at a comparative short distance, seemed to melt out of sight immediately they stopped moving, and indeed when they were in motion it was rather the moving black shadow cast by a tropical sun that caught the eye than the animal itself. They were observed by us in bands of seven, three, and three. In the two lots of three which I saw there was what I take to be one adult male with each. The only record of height that I can lay my hand on at this moment is that of an adult female, which measured at the shoulder 2 feet 2 inches; probably the male would be an inch higher.
“The whole colour of this Gazelle is very beautiful in its tints of buff, purple, fawn, and grey and white; but what struck us most was their ears and hoofs. The ears, besides being very large and ornamental, are remarkable for the distinct rayed marking on the inside. The hoofs are well worth a special drawing, as they differ from those of any other Antelope with which I am acquainted. They are very much hollowed out, as is very noticeable in the track which they leave. The foot of the stuffed specimen in the Natural History Museum is filled up with some black substance which does not seem to me to be natural.”
The accompanying view of the head is enlarged from a photograph of this Antelope kindly sent to us by Sir Edmund Loder.
