From the days of Shaw the “Common Gazelle” has been recognized as an inhabitant of the “Barbary States.” The French naturalist Loche included it in his catalogue of 1858, but is not clear in distinguishing it from its allied species. Canon Tristram, in the ‘Great Sahara,’ published two years later, informs us that this Gazelle is found in small troops in every portion of the Sahara, and is the principal large game to be depended on for food, especially in the neighbourhood of the dayats beyond Laghouat, where pasturage is abundant. The fawns are dropped in the early summer, and follow the dam until towards the end of the autumn. The Bedouin gather the droppings, which have a strong aromatic scent, to mix with snuff.
In the pages of the ‘Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie’ devoted to Mammals, likewise from the pen of Loche, we find a little more information concerning the Algerian Gazelles, but it does not appear that Loche was at all clear in discriminating the various species that are there met with.
Good and precise information has, however, been given us on this subject by Mr. Alfred E. Pease, M.P., in his article on the “Antelopes of the Aures and Eastern Algerian Sahara,” published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1896, the principal portion of which we must quote at full length:—
“It is with great respect and diffidence that I object to the Dorcas being described (see P. Z. S. 1894, p. 467) as ‘the common Gazelle of the Algerian Sahara generally,’ for the Dorcas is not met with in the Sahara proper, so far as I can learn, and in the Eastern Algerian Sahara at least is not to be found south of lat. 33°. The Dorcas in the Eastern Province and in Tunisia is the common Gazelle of the plains immediately south of the Aures Range, which form a sort of transitional zone between the mountains and the Sahara proper. Roughly speaking, this Gazelle is confined to a belt of country not more than 120 or 150 miles wide (and generally very much narrower). It may be found in plains, or even in low hills, within the southern mountain-chains, and on or near some of the sand-dunes on the confines of the Chotts. I have frequently seen it in the neighbourhood of the Chotts, but once into the Oued Souf and sand desert and all trace of it is lost and the Rhime takes its place. In the district of Sef el Menadi, where I have been twice with Sir E. G. Loder, and where he secured the first specimen of the Gazelle (the Rhime) which now bears his name, we found both Rhime and Dorcas on the same ground; and this place may be marked as the most northern limit which the Rhime ever inhabits, as it never leaves the sand, I think, whilst the Dorcas does not go much further south than this. Probably there are several of these isolated islands of sand where the Rhime may be found.
“The best male Dorcas that I have shot had horns a little over 31 cm. in length, the best female 25 cm. (measured along the curve).
“They vary a good deal in colour according to the ground they frequent, and there is a slight variety among members of the same band. In 1893 there was on the plain of Aïn Naga a pure white one, no doubt an albino; but though my hunter had frequently seen it, he was never able to find it for me.”
Passing on to the Beylik of Tunis, we have excellent notes on the Gazelles of this country drawn up by Mr. Joseph I. S. Whitaker, F.Z.S., published in the same volume of the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings.’ Mr. Whitaker writes of this Gazelle as follows:—
“The common Dorcas Gazelle is to be met with throughout the greater part of Central and Southern Tunisia, frequenting the vast semi-desert plains abundant in those districts, but not the more sandy inland country of the extreme south of the Regency, where it is replaced by another species. So far as I can ascertain, the Dorcas Gazelle never occurs in the Tell country; but I have observed it in the neighbourhood of Kairouan, which is probably the extreme northern limit of the range of this species in the Regency. On the extensive plains to the west of Gafsa I have found it particularly abundant; and I understand it is plentiful in the neighbourhood of the Chott Djerid, and throughout a considerable portion of the coast-country of the south, but not in the true desert further inland, where sand-dunes take the place of the stony scrub-covered plains. It may occasionally stray into the sand country, but this is exceptional.
“In winter the Dorcas Gazelle congregates in large herds, often numbering over one hundred individuals; but in spring these herds break up, and one then meets with the Gazelles in small parties or singly. The female G. dorcas, I am told, gives birth to but one young one at a time, and this generally in the month of April.
“The horns of this species vary considerably both in size and in shape. As a rule, those of the adult male are stout, deeply annulate, and lyrate, measuring from 10 to 13 inches in length along the front curve; those of the female are much shorter, straighter, smoother, and more slender.