CHAPTER VIII 
THE WATERBUCK (Cobus defassa) 
Arabic— Katamboor 
The stately waterbuck, four-square in build, that recalls 
a Landseer red stag—but on giant scale—comes among 
the first of the bigger beasts that one meets in the Sudan ; 
for it is distributed widely over all the forest-country 
and as far northward as tree and bush extend—that 
is, to the verge of Sahara. Possibly the waterbuck is 
as numerous in Sudan as any other of its larger animals ; 
yet I had half decided to pass it over in silence, since 
careful scrutiny at close quarters satisfied me that the 
waterbuck of the Sudan was precisely identical with that 
of British East Africa and therefore promised no new 
feature, nor required further study. To leave nothing to 
chance, however, I shot one big bull waterbuck near 
Jebel Ahmed Agha, and that specimen confirmed the 
above anticipation. The iron-grey pelt was of slightly 
paler cast than an average, and the white ring that 
surmounts the fetlocks less defined—almost wanting; but 
such are merely individual or perhaps seasonal variations, 
too trifling for consideration. This bull stood 50 inches 
at shoulder and the horns taped 28J inches, with a spread 
of 23 inches between tips. 
Beyond doubt, the initial impression was correct, in 
a general sense; yet it is to the fact that we subsequently 
met with waterbuck in the Sudan of an essentially different 
type that this chapter owes its genesis. 
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