2 oo ANTELOPES 



In its typical rufous phase it is, however, a decidedly handsomer 

 animal, the contrast between the general foxy-red tint of the long 

 shaggy coat and the white eye -stripes and black legs being very 

 striking. The horns are so like those of the typical waterbuck as 

 apparently to be indistinguishable. 



As the features already mentioned are amply sufficient for its 

 recognition, it will be unnecessary to describe the species in detail ; 

 and attention may accordingly be concentrated on its local races, 

 which are in the main nothing more than colour-phases. Unknown 

 to the south of the Zambesi, the species ranges north of that river into 

 Somaliland and Abyssinia, while on the west side of the continent its 

 distributional area includes Angola and Gambia. 



The Abyssinian, or typical, defassa (Cobus defassa typicus] has a 

 bright rufous or foxy-red coat, with a relatively large amount of white 

 in front of the eyes, and the ears longer and more pointed than in the 

 other races ; the forehead being bright rufous, and the throat showing 

 a broad white gorget. The typical defassa was named by Riippell in 

 1835 on the evidence of specimens from the neighbourhood of Lake 

 Tana and the upper Blue Nile, in West Central Abyssinia ; whence it 

 has been generally supposed to range into Kordofan, Sennar, and 

 thence southwards into Uganda and the Tanganyika district. Mr. 

 Oscar Neumann {Sitzungs-Berichte Ges. Naturfor. Berlin, 1905, p. 92) 

 is, however, of opinion that three other forms of defassa are to be 

 found in this area. As these differences from the typical animal are 

 apparently but slight, they should perhaps be regarded as subraces 

 rather than races, and therefore not worthy of separate names. 



The first of these is the defassa of the White Nile, C. d. harnieri, 

 named by Murray, of which the distinctive characters are not mentioned 

 by Mr. Neumann. 



The second, C. d. matschiei, from the Lake Abaya district, and 

 thence probably southwards to Lake Rudolf, is stated to he rufous on 

 the back and iron-grey on the loins and sides, and to differ from 

 harnieri by the larger white eye-streak and the greater extent of white 

 on the chin. 



The Uganda defassa (C. d. ugandce), from the neighbourhood of 

 Lakes Victoria, Albert, and Tanganyika, is characterised by its large 

 size, and by the general colour being paler than in harnieri, although 

 the forehead is a brighter rufous, forming a more decided contrast 

 with the general tone of colour than in either of the two preceding. 

 The " record " horns belong to this form, the three longest specimens 

 mentioned in Records of Big Game being one from near Toru measuring 



