258 ZAMBEZIAN ZOOLOGY 



slightly forward at the tips and strikingly annulated. 

 They reach in some cases a length of from twenty- 

 nine to thirty-two inches, but, as is the case with 

 other forms, they vary greatly, a twenty-nine-inch 

 head being in one locality regarded as abnormally 

 large where in another it would scarcely attract 

 attention. The Waterbuck is of dark grey ; his 

 long coarse hair, which, beneath the chin, grows to 

 a length of three or four inches, gives him the 

 appearance of a beast meant by nature for a colder 

 climate. A white ring on the rump is the only 

 mark he possesses, which, in some of the sub-species 

 found in British territory to the northward, is pale 

 yellow or dun-coloured. 



Found as a rule in herds of from ten to twenty, 

 or more, they frequent grassy plains not far from 

 water, or thin forest giving on to open country. 

 They are very tenacious of life, and a powerful 

 rifle is necessary in hunting them. I have been 

 informed that another Cobus, the Puku (C vardoni), 

 has been seen in the country south of the In- 

 yamissengo mouth of the Zambezi ; but although 

 I am familiar with this district, I have never seen 

 any trace of it. So far as we know at present, 

 it does not occur until the middle course of the 

 Loangwa * River is reached, whilst thence onward 

 to Lake Mweru it is found in immense herds. 



The Sable Antelope {Strepciseros niger), although 

 existing in large numbers, rarely attains to the 

 impressive horn development which distinguishes 

 the male in Nyasaland, in Southern Rhodesia, 

 and in the Northern Transvaal. Here is another 



* Or Aroangwa. 



