WATERBUCKS AND KOBS — RHEBOK 93 



far south as Zululand and the eastern Transvaal. In height this antelope stands 

 50 inches at the shoulder, while in length it measures nearly 90 from the muzzle to 

 the tail, which adds another 20 inches to the length. The coarse coat is greyish 

 brown with an elliptical white ring on the buttocks and a white band on the throat 

 extending almost from ear to ear. This species is seldom found far from water, 

 and generally frequents steep, stony hillsides, where it associates in small herds, the 

 females keeping watch, with their ears in constant movement and their eyes always 

 on the alert. When wounded, waterbuck charge and use their horns freely, so 

 that their pursuit is by no means free from danger. As in all the other members 

 of the group, the females are hornless. Nearly allied is the defassa or sing-sing 

 waterbuck (G. defassa), distinguished from the typical species by the fine soft rufous 

 coat and the presence of an uninterrupted white patch on the rump which does not 

 reach above the base of the tail, as well as by the absence of the white gorget. Several 

 local races of the defassa, chiefly distinguished by differences of colour, are known ; 

 the typical representative of the species being the true defassa of western 

 Abyssinia and Kordofan. Among the other races, it must suffice to refer to 

 G. d. ugandce of the great lake region, the sing-sing or western race 

 (G. d. unctuosus) of Senegal and Gambia, the dusky G. d. crawshayi of British 

 Central Africa, and the still darker C. d. penricei from the interior of the 

 Benguela district of Angola. Among the smaller members of the group, Mrs. 

 Gray's kob (C. maria) and the nearly related white-eared kob (C. leucotis) of the 

 papyrus-swamps of the White Nile are conspicuous on account of the white ears 

 and blackish brown coats of the adult males ; the females and young males being 

 foxy. The first named of these species has longer and more twisted horns than the 

 second. In the Bahr-el-Ghazal province the white-eared species is represented by 

 Vaughan's kob (G. vaughani), in which the foxy coat seems to be permanently 

 retained. Of smaller size and stouter build is the foxy red BufTon's kob 

 (G. coba), in which the backs of the ears are of the same colour as the neck. 

 This species is typically from the west coast, but is represented by a rather larger 

 race (G. c. thomasi) in Uganda. Not improbably Vaughan's kob and the white- 

 eared kob are nothing more than local races of this species. In BufTon's kob 

 the fronts of the fore-legs are black, but these dark markings are lacking in 

 the rough-haired puku (G. vardoni) of the Chobi and Zambesi valleys and parts 

 of Rhodesia. Considerably larger is the lechwi (0. leche), of Zambesia and 

 Barotsiland, which may be recognised by its much longer and more slender 

 horns, black-fronted legs, and the bare hind-surfaces of the pasterns. Finally, 

 the black lechwi (0. smithemani), of the Lake Mweru district, may be re- 

 garded as a lechwi on the way to assume a sable livery like that of Mrs. Gray's 

 and the white-eared kob. Lechwi are swamp-dwelling antelopes, which fre- 

 quently stand up to their necks in water, although, however deeply immersed, 

 they always progress by leaps, accompanied by great splashing, instead of 

 swimming. 



A distant relative of the waterbucks and kobs is the rhebok, or 

 Rhebok. 



vaal rhebok (Pelea capreolus), ranging from the Limpopo to Table 

 Mountain, but somewhat local in its distribution. Easily recognised by its grey- 

 fawn coat and the comparatively short, dagger-like, upright horns of the bucks, 



