i86 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
although ‘577, it carried the Snider hollow bullet 
and 2-Jr drams of powder. This had no penetration, 
and animals that were well hit were continually 
escaping, which would not have been the case with 
a larger charge and a solid bullet. In this instance 
the bullet had struck the spine, but had not sufficient 
power to break the bone, after passing through the 
hard muscles and tough hide of the water-buck at 
a distance of about 220 paces. 
Two of these splendid animals formed a welcome 
addition to the hard fare of the expedition, and they 
were quickly divided among the men. 
There is an antelope in the marshy country of 
the White Nile which I have never met with 
elsewhere. This is rather larger than an ordinary 
donkey ; a jet-black colour, with a patch of pure 
white across the withers. The crown of the head 
is white, also a white ring around the eyes; the 
chest is black, but the belly is white throughout. 1 
The horns of this species are from about 28 to 
32 inches in length, and they bend backwards 
in a peculiarly graceful curve, unlike any other 
antelope. The coat is rather coarse and long, 
approaching that of a goat. The coat of all antelopes 
that frequent marshes and the neighbourhood of 
water is more or less coarse; this is very marked 
in the ellipsiprymna. 
I have before remarked that animals and birds 
vary in their degrees of shyness and difficulty of 
1 This is the Kobus Maria of Gray, or Megaceros of 
Heuglin. 
