TIANG 
93 
HARTEBEESTS OF THE SUDAN 
(True Hartebeests— Bubalis) 
Whereas in British East Africa the true hartebeests compose 
one of the most conspicuous elements in its fauna, in the Sudan, 
on the contrary, they are rather conspicuous by their absence, 
their place therein being taken by the allied genus of Damaliscus , 
of which the tiang, just described, forms the prevalent type. 
Three species of the true hartebeest, nevertheless, find 
place in the Sudan game-list, as follows:— 
(i) Jackson’s Hartebeest.— Although in the forest-region 
of Kordofan I only thrice met with these big antelopes, yet 
further south, in the steppe-country by Lake No, they become 
numerous. 
In the Bahr-el-Ghazal province beyond, Jackson’s becomes 
the predominant species and may be seen in hundreds in such 
localities as N.W. of Rumbek, west of Wau on the Dem Zubeir 
road, and to the N. and N.E. of Tonj, associated with tiang, 
white-eared cob, waterbuck, and gazelle, as well as with giraffe 
and ostriches in lesser numbers. The saddle-backed lechwi 
extends up the Tonj River so far as swamp and sudd-like 
conditions prevail. Tonj is, in fact, an excellent hunting-ground, 
quite healthy, and in the dry season practically free from 
mosquitoes. Round ’Mvolo lies a haunt of elephants, the 
great pachyderms sometimes invading the settlement and 
evoking frantic appeals by telegram — until the beasts have 
broken down the wires! 
South of the Sudd also, Jackson’s hartebeest is plentiful. 
All seen by myself in that region certainly belonged to this 
species, an animal I knew well in British East, and which it is 
difficult to mistake. These Nilotic “ Jackson’s ” have neverthe¬ 
less been described as differing in some trifling detail from the 
typical form, and a subspecific title of more than doubtful 
value has been assigned to them . 1 
1 Personally I reject such differentiations on two grounds. First, all 
are based upon inadequate evidence and material—such, for example, as 
a flat skin or two ; on a few skulls with or without masks, and so on, but 
ignoring the life-conditions and economies of the creatures themselves, 
such factors being unknown to many of the describers, and apparently 
