178 Wild Life in Central Africa. 



disturbed he holds himself well. Their colour varies con- 

 siderably, like roan antelopes, but the prevailing colour 

 is an iron-grey brown, and variations of colour will some- 

 times be seen in the same herd. The hair is often fairly 

 long and shaggy, and generally the bulls have long hair 

 under their throats. My friend George Garden, of Mlanje, 

 in Nyasaland, once showed me a photograph of a bull 

 waterbuck he had shot which had extremely short hair on 

 the body and neck, and without a vestige of the long neck 

 and throat hair common to most bulls of this species. 

 Waterbuck are found in herds, though at certain seasons 

 the bulls will consort together and keep apart from the cows 

 and younger animals. 



Waterbuck swarm in the Luangwa Valley in North- 

 Eastern Rhodesia, and they are usually common near all 

 large rivers and lakes. Their name would seem to imply 

 that they live in water, which is far from being the case, 

 although they are never seen far from it. They are fond 

 of living in stony hills bordering rivers, but they drink 

 daily and often lie up close to water. If a hunter is thirsty 

 and sees waterbuck or impala, he may be sure there is 

 water somewhere near. I once saw a wounded one run 

 into the Luangwa River, but, his heart or strength failing 

 him, he stood up to the belly in water, and I put him out of 

 his misery with another bullet, and I have often regretted 

 not having had a camera with me at the time, as he was a 

 splendid picture of an antelope. 



The waterbuck, or Steedman's antelope, was discovered 

 by Andrew Steedman, who travelled in South Africa early 

 in the nineteenth century. He published " Wanderings 

 and Adventures in the Wilds of South Africa," 2 vols., 

 8vo, London, 1835, and exhibited at the Colosseum, 

 Regent's Park, in that year, a panorama called the African 

 Glen, with a large collection of African trophies, birds, 

 animals, native arms, etc., the catalogue of which extends 

 to 346 items, according to a copy in my possession. 

 Steedman named the waterbuck Ellipsiprymnus, from the 

 wel -known circular white mark on its hind quarters. 



