WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



coming with the wind, and their keen eye spies him 

 approaching against the wind. Thus they are fairly 

 safe from man or beast. 



The oryx is ?, very difficult animal to kill, and it is al- 

 most impossible to catch it. To my knowledge none 

 has ever been brought alive to Europe. 



Antler-bearing ruminants are entirely lacking in Afri- 

 ca, with the exception of two species of deer confined 

 to the extreme north of the continent, which zoo-geo- 

 graphically belongs to the Mediterranean zone. 



Some species of the water-buck (Cobus), however, re- 

 mind one very much of the deer by their habits, their 

 bearing, and their behavior; the hornless females, es- 

 pecially, strikingly resemble our red deer. The males 

 are adorned with fine, curved and lyrate horns. Al- 

 though the water-buck, as its name implies, preferably 

 lives near rivers and swamps, it sometimes ventures 

 into the steppe, and in the dry season often retires into 

 the mountain woods in search of food and protection 

 from the bot-fly. Its scientific name is Cohiis ellipsi- 

 prymniis ; the Masai call it "ol'emaingo," the Wando- 

 robbo "ndoi," and the Waswahili "euro." I found the 

 water -buck very plentiful near the swampy banks of 

 rivers, where I saw several hundred of them in one 

 day. Except in the breeding season the water-bucks 

 herd together according to sex, but the herds of females 

 usually contain one or more males. The bulk of the 

 males congregate by themselves, and very old bucks art- 



296 



