THE WATERBUCK 3*9 



the face are very distinctive. The horns, curving and ridged, 

 on the average seldom exceed three feet, but in specially 

 fine animals will run to another half-dozen inches. 



The Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) is most abundant 

 in Mashonaland and neighbouring regions, where the herds 

 number from ten to twenty individuals. There appears to 

 be no two opinions concerning the striking handsomeness 

 of the animal. Says Gordon Gumming, ' I shall never 

 forget the sensation I experienced on beholding a sight so 

 thrilling to the sportsman's eye ; he stood with a small 

 troop of palas right in our path, and had, unfortunately, 

 detected us before we saw him. Shouting to my pack, I 

 galloped after him ; but the day was close and warm, and 

 the dogs had lost their spirit. My horse, being an indif- 

 ferent one, soon lost ground, and the beautiful creature, 

 gaining a rocky ridge, was quickly beyond my reach, and 

 vanished for ever from my view. I sought in vain to close 

 my eyelids that night, for the image of the Sable Antelope 

 was still before me.' 



WATERBUCK (Cobus ellipsiprymnus}. 

 Coloured Plate XXI. Fig. 4. 



The genus Cobus includes various Antelopes, which in 

 their love of water present a great contrast to the great 

 majority of the Antelope family. Of these the Water buck 

 will serve as an excellent example. Standing four feet high 

 or more at the withers, the animal is principally reddish- 

 brown in colour, with an elliptical patch of white on the 

 hindquarters, and small patches of the same colour adorn 

 the face. The hair is long and coarse. The horns vary 

 from two to nearly three feet in length along the curve ; 

 they are slightly lyrate and ringed nearly from their base 

 to their tips. 



The Waterbuck is found in South and Eastern Africa, 

 especially in the valley of the Zambesi. The animal varies 

 somewhat in habit in different regions, sometimes frequent- 

 ing stony uplands, perhaps a mile or more from a river ; in 

 other cases, as in Nyassaland, selecting swampy plains, 



