Buffon's Kob 291 



out to me by the local natives, yet been quite unable to make them out 

 until they have either moved or I have changed my position by walking 

 to the right or left. This made them appear in a different light, when of 

 course one wondered how on earth it was that one could be so stupid as 

 not to see them before, and felt inclined to blame oneself, and not take 

 into consideration that provision of nature by which the beast should be 

 practically invisible in certain lights. F. J. Jackson. 



Buffon's Kob [Gobus kob) 

 Hausa Name, Maria ; Igara Name, Abedi 



This kob is quite the commonest antelope of West Africa, when 

 once the dense bush-belt which runs more or less parallel to the coast is 

 passed. Of no great size, standing only from 29 to 33 or 34 inches at the 

 shoulder, it is also perhaps the most graceful of the West African antelopes, 

 whether at rest or in motion. 



A buck barely mature, and certainly lacking the weight of years, 

 measured 31 inches at the shoulder and 36 inches in girth just behind the 

 fore-leg. It was 45^ inches from between the ears to root of tail, its tail 

 was 10 inches long, and the horns were 1 5 J inches along outside curve, and 

 8i inches between tips. With coats of a bright brown-red, shading off into 

 white on the under surfaces, a herd of kob, feeding on the short green grass 

 of the early rains, forms, particularly in the sunlight, a perfect piece of 

 colour. With the exception of the harnessed antelopes, the coat of this kob 

 is the finest in texture and most brilliant in colour of all the West African 

 antelopes. The hair is short and lies very close to the skin throughout. 

 The knees and upper front of the fore-legs shade off into a deep brown 

 which is almost a black, but, apart from this and the white of the belly, the 

 coat is uniform in colour. The effect of sunlight on the apparent colour 

 of an animal is never more plainly shown than in the case of the kob. 



