THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



beautiful antelopes for a few seconds longer, we retraced 

 our steps without even having frightened the animals. 



The water buck is an entirely different species of ante- 

 lope. Although not much smaller than the kudu, standing 

 sometimes fully four feet at the withers, and having power- 

 ful, sometimes almost lyre-shaped, horns of considerable 

 size, yet the water buck cannot be compared with the kudu 

 as to beauty. The skin of the water buck has an abund- 

 ance of long, coarse hair, and his tail is short and bushy. 

 The color of his skin varies considerably from light brown 

 and almost dark red to bluish gray, with white stripes over 

 the eyes. He has also patches of white on the throat and 

 muzzle, while on the buttocks there is a large half-moon- 

 like field of white which extends above the tail, the hair of 

 which on the sides and the end is often white. 



The water buck is, as his name implies, very fond of 

 water. He is a great swimmer and often stands for hours 

 belly-deep in the stream eating the tender leaves and shoots 

 of water plants. Strangely enough, this aquatic antelope 

 sometimes roams quite far away from his favorite element, 

 and seems then to prefer steep and stony hills, up and down 

 which he is capable of running with great precision and 

 speed. If disturbed, the water buck will instantly make 

 for the nearest river or lake, and there seek his safety in 

 hiding among reeds and rushes. I have several times seen 

 the animal more than a mile from the nearest water hole 

 or stream; in fact, once a female water buck showed us a 

 much-needed water hole, so completely surrounded with 

 high grass and bush that we should probably not have 

 found it, had not the frightened antelope made its way 

 there. 



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