Chapter 14

Hab.Western Abyssinia, Sennaar, Kordofan, and the Nile valley, south to Uganda and British and German East Africa.

Amongst the many zoological discoveries made by the great naturalist and traveller Dr. Edward Rüppell in Abyssinia and the surrounding lands about sixty years ago was the present species of Antelope, which he proposed to call “defassa” from its Amharic name. Rüppell published a figure and description of it in a work which he called ‘Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig,’ and dedicated to the Senate of his native State, the Free City of Frankfort-on-the-Main. After an excellent description of both sexes ofAntilope defassa, Rüppell tells us that it lives in the grassy valleys of Western Abyssinia, round the Lake of Dembea, where it is generally met with in small families of from four to six individuals. Amongst these there is never more than one wholly adult male. What it prefers for food are the leaves and seed-stalks ofHolcus sorghumbesides grasses of every sort. Its gait is rather unwieldy, but it is not very timid. This Antelope, Dr. Rüppell continues, is also met with in Sennaar and Kordofan, where its common name is “Bura”; skins from these districts examined by him in Cairo were recognized as being similar to the Abyssinian “Defassa.” The Abyssinians do not often hunt this species, because so few of them care to eat meat, and its hide is of little value. It is, however, said to be the habitual food of the lions of the district that it inhabits. Rüppell’s specimens of both sexes are now in the Senckenbergian Museum at Frankfort, where Sclater has examined them.

Another great explorer of Eastern Africa, Th. v. Heuglin, met with this Antelope in the bushy and woody valleys of the Qualabat and Mareb, and thence eastwards to where the mountain-range falls off into the lowlands. He found it generally less difficult to approach than other Antelopes, and had many opportunities of shooting it at morning and evening amongst the high grasses that border the woods.

Fig. 32.Head and foot of “Nsumma Antelope” (Speke).(P. Z. S. 1864, p. 102.)

Fig. 32.

Head and foot of “Nsumma Antelope” (Speke).

(P. Z. S. 1864, p. 102.)

Sir Samuel Baker, in his ‘Albert Nyanza,’ alludes to this species as the “Mehedéhet” and gives a figure of the head in the second volume of his work. On arriving at the banks of the River Asua, which flows into the Nile north of the Victoria Nyanza, Baker tells us (op. cit.vol. ii. p. 15) that he “observed a herd of these beautiful Antelopes feeding upon the rich but low grass of a sand-bank in the very middle of the river.” He managed tosecure one of them, which was found to weigh about 500 lbs., and was sufficient to supply a good dinner to the whole party.

ToCobus defassa, we now believe, must be referred the “Nsumma” of Uganda and Madi, a head of which was brought home from his celebrated journey by Speke, and was doubtfully referred by Sclater, in his account of Speke’s Mammals, to the Sing-sing. This head is still in the British Museum, and on comparison of it with a stuffed specimen of the present species shows few points of difference.

Speke notes that the “Nsumma” lies concealed “in the high grasses in the daytime, and only comes out to feed in the evening. The males are often found singly, but the females live in herds. It does not stand so high as the Waterbuck, but is rather more stoutly built.”

We believe that the “Sing-sing” of Jackson, in the volumes of the Badminton Library on Big Game Shooting, is also referable to the present species. Mr. Jackson speaks of it as follows:—“The Sing-sing (also known to the natives as ‘Kuru’) resembles the Waterbuck in habits, but is easily distinguished from it by its darker colour, and by a considerable amount of rufous hair on the top of the head, as well as by an entirely white rump in place of the elliptical white band of the other. The horns are also, as a rule, longer and more massive than those of the Waterbuck, the horns of the latter never growing to the size that they do in South Africa. It is not met with until near Lake Baringo, and extends west to Uganda where it was obtained by Captains Speke and Grant. It is fairly plentiful in the open bush-country of Turkevel; but it does not appear to go about in such large herds as the Waterbuck. I have never seen more than five or six together, and more often a bull and two or three cows.”

On the river running from the north into Lake Stephanie, Dr. Donaldson Smith met with a Waterbuck during his recent journey. Sclater has examined one of the heads that he brought home (see P. Z. S. 1895, p. 868) and has referred it without doubt to the present species.

In German East Africa, Herr Matschie recognizesCobus defassaas well asC. ellipsiprymnusand gives several localities for it on the authority of Neumann and Böhm. The former met with it on the west shores of the Lake Victoria, and the latter near Lake Tanganyika and in Ugalla and Uganda. Böhm in his manuscript says that this Waterbuck reminds one much of a Stag in its appearance and mode of life. It is generally met with in largishherds in which there is only one old male and several younger ones. Sometimes these herds are without females in their company, and occasionally old males are seen alone. They are very fond of water and are often seen standing deep in the mud of the rivers. At the same time they are frequently met with in dry forest and in open savannahs far from rivers. Like our Red Deer, they generally retire into the wood early in the day, even before sunrise, but on the other hand come out again into the open much earlier in the evening. When disturbed in the open country they retire straight into the wood.

Herr Matschie points out that the present species differs fromC. unctuosusin having the face of a bright rufous colour, and is of opinion that Dr. Noack and Dr. Pagenstecher have wrongly referred the specimens of this species obtained by several German explorers toC. unctuosusandC. ellipsiprymnus.

Our figure of this species (Plate XXXVI.) was put upon the stone by Smit from an original sketch by Wolf which is now in the possession of Sir Douglas Brooke. Unfortunately we have been unable to make out from what specimen it was originally prepared.

August, 1896.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XXXVII.Wolf del. J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.Mrs.Gray’s Waterbuck.COBUS MARIAPublished by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XXXVII.

Wolf del. J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

Mrs.Gray’s Waterbuck.

COBUS MARIA

Published by R. H. Porter.

Kobus maria,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 296 (1859) (Bahr-el-Gazal,Petherick);id.Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 16 (1872);id.Hand-1. Rum. B. M. p. 87 (1873);Gerrard, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 239 (1862);Petherick, Travels in Centr. Afr. i. p. 159 (1869).Cobus mariæ,Ward, Horn Meas. p. 91 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 224 (1893).“Adenota megaceros, Heuglin,”Fitz.Sitz. Ak. Wien, xvii. p. 247 (1855), nomen nudum;Heuglin, Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leopold.-Carol.) xxx. pt. ii. p. 14, t. ii. figs. 7, 8 (1863) (descript. satis acc.);Marno, Reise in der Aegypt. Aequat.-Prov. p. 40 (1878).Kobus megaceros,Marno, Reise im Geb. d. blauen u. weissen Nil, p. 387 (1874).

Cobus mariæ,Ward, Horn Meas. p. 91 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 224 (1893).

“Adenota megaceros, Heuglin,”Fitz.Sitz. Ak. Wien, xvii. p. 247 (1855), nomen nudum;Heuglin, Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leopold.-Carol.) xxx. pt. ii. p. 14, t. ii. figs. 7, 8 (1863) (descript. satis acc.);Marno, Reise in der Aegypt. Aequat.-Prov. p. 40 (1878).

Kobus megaceros,Marno, Reise im Geb. d. blauen u. weissen Nil, p. 387 (1874).

Vernacular Names:—“Abohk” of the Dinkas; “Til” of the Nuehrs.

Height at shoulders about 35–40 inches. General colour dark reddish brown. Forehead and nose dark brown, as are also the inner sides of the fore limbs and breast. Chin and a narrow band along the upper lip white, the latter continuing upwards behind the nostrils and there passing into brown. A spot in front of the eyes and the space between the eyes and ears whitish. This spot is separated from the superciliary stripe by a dark band descending from the base of the horn to the eye. Inside of ears whitish. A white band of hair on the hinder part of the head extends on both sides to the ears and forms a crescent-shaped mark; it then descends the back of the neck and widens into a large white patch above the shoulders. Middle of belly and inner sides of the hind limbs white. Tail long, above like the back, beneath white, tufted end black. A white line round the hoofs. Toes rather longer and stronger than inC. leucotis. Hairs of the cheeks and foreneck elongated and mane-like as inC. ellipsiprymnus, and muffle broad and naked as in that species. Size between that ofC. leucotisandC. lechee.

Horns strongly ringed, long and strong, projecting backwards, diverging in the middle, and approximating again towards the tips. Length along the curve (type specimen) about 27 inches, in a straight line from back to point 19¼ inches, distance between tips 13¾ inches.

Femalesimilar, but hornless, and not so deep in coloration.

The dark, almost chestnut-red general colour and conspicuous white patch on the upper back and nape render this Antelope quite unmistakable.

Hab.Swamps of the White Nile and adjoining rivers.

There can be no question that the great traveller and naturalist Theodor von Heuglin was the first discoverer of this splendid Antelope, which is one of the most strongly marked and most brightly coloured of the whole group. Unfortunately, however, Heuglin, though he gave it a name in 1855, did not take the trouble to publish a description of it until 1863, and meanwhile, as we shall presently see, it was described and named elsewhere.

The native country ofCobus maria, as this Antelope must be called, according to the law of priority now generally followed by naturalists, is the swamps and morasses traversed by the White Nile and the Sobat, Bahr-el-Gazal, and Lower Kir, which are its affluents on the right bank. Here Heuglin tells us it lives in large troops. After describing it he adds that, as in its allies, the hairs on the coat of the male are rather long and on the neck form a kind of mane. The white marking on the sides of the head varies much in form and extent, and is often tinged with reddish or yellowish. The same is the case with the ears. The long horns are twisted in a remarkable manner, so that from the side and below they look rather cork-screw like in shape. The tail, especially at the end, is more tufted and more strongly haired than in other Antelopes of this genus, and reaches down nearly to the heels.

On his return to Vienna about the year 1854, besides a series of skins and skulls, Heuglin brought with him an adult living female of this Antelope, which was placed in the Imperial Menagerie at Schönbrunn, but did notlong survive. Its arrival was chronicled by Fitzinger in his Report to the Academy of Sciences of Vienna upon the living animals brought home for the Imperial Menagerie at Schönbrunn by Heuglin, and its proposed name was given as “Adenota megaceros, Heuglin,” but unfortunately no sort of description was added. Nor, so far as we can make out, did Heuglin publish any characters of hisAdenota megacerosuntil the appearance of his article on the Antelopes and Buffaloes of North-east Africa, which was issued by the Imperial Leopoldino-Carolinian Academy in 1863.

Fig. 33.Head ofCobus maria, ♂.(Copied from Ann. Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 297.)

Fig. 33.

Head ofCobus maria, ♂.

(Copied from Ann. Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 297.)

In the meanwhile, however, another explorer of the Nile region had found his way home and brought with him heads of both sexes of the same Antelope. This was Consul Petherick, who after fifteen years passed in these districts[8]returned in 1859, and brought with him a collection of heads and horns of animals, which were acquired by the British Museum through Mr. Samuel Stevens, a well-known dealer in objects of Natural History at that period. Amongst these were good heads of both sexes of the presentAntelope. The late Dr. Gray lost but little time in preparing descriptions of these striking objects, which were published in the ‘Annals of Natural History’ for October of that year. We are indebted to the proprietors of that excellent journal for allowing us to copy the wood-block (fig. 33), which represents the head of the male brought home by Petherick. It thus came to pass that Dr. Gray’s name “maria” given in honour of his wife, “who assisted him in his studies,” takes precedence over Heuglin’s more appropriate designation “megaceros.”

Consul Petherick returned to the White Nile in 1861, on a mission to meet Speke and Grant on their journey northwards. In the first volume of his narrative of this second expedition[9](p. 159) he records having killed a female of this same Antelope on June 15th, 1862, in the country of the Kitch negroes on the White Nile, and adds a figure of the head of the male, which was doubtless taken from the specimen sent home on the former expedition.

Several of the more recent travellers in the Nile districts appear to have also met with this Antelope. Marno (‘Reise im Gebiete des blauen und weissen Nil,’ 1874, p. 387) tells us that he saw a herd near Dabbed Hanakhi on the Bahr Seraf, in 1872, and that it is not uncommon there, and is called “Til” by the natives. In the course of his second journey (see ‘Reise in der Aegyptischen Aequatorial-Provinz’) Marno met with it again in the country of the Kitch negroes on the Bahr-el-Gebel, amongst the beds of papyrus and ambatch, and gives us a figure of its head, which, although not very well drawn, is unmistakable. Schweinfurth in his ’Im Herzen von Afrika,’ p. 68, also claims to have seen large herds of this Antelope on his voyage up the White Nile in about 12° 30´ N. lat., but did not bring home any specimens. Hartmann and von Barnem, as we are kindly informed by Herr Matschie, likewise met with this species on the White Nile and secured a pair of horns which are now in the Berlin Museum.

But the only perfect examples of this scarce Antelope yet obtained are those of Heuglin, of which two (an adult male and young one) are in the Vienna Museum, and a third (an adult male) at Berlin. Herr Matschie has most kindly supplied us with full notes on the last-named specimen, which has also been examined by Sclater.

In his ‘Horns and Hoofs,’ Mr. Lydekker casts some doubt as to the real distinctness ofC. mariafromC. leucotis, but on this point we can assure him there is no room for hesitation. No one who examines our beautiful picture of this species (Plate XXXVII.), drawn by Smit from Mr. Wolf’s original sketch, will for a moment deny its perfect distinctness fromCobus leucotisand from every other known species of the group.

August, 1896.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XXXVIII.Wolf del., J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.The White-eared Kob.COBUS LEUCOTIS.Published by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XXXVIII.

Wolf del., J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

The White-eared Kob.

COBUS LEUCOTIS.

Published by R. H. Porter.

Antilope leucotis,Licht. et Pet.MB. Ak. Berl. 1853, p. 164;iid.Abh. Ak. Berl. 1854, p. 96, pl. iii. (Sobat, Senuaar);Schweinf.Im Herzen v. Afr. i. pp. 213, 214, ii. p. 533 (1874) (Bahr-el-Djur);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. 1887, p. 38;Emin, Reise-brief., pp. 99, 226 (1888);id.Transl. pp. 101, 130, 228;Junker, Travels in Afr. p. 441 (1891).Kobus leucotis,Gerrard, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 239 (1862);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 16 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 87 (1873).Hydrotragus leucotis,Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. 1, p. 175 (1869).Cervicapra leucotis,Baker, Ismailia, ii. p. 531 (1874) (Shooli country).Cobus leucotis,Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 91 (1892), (2) p. 124 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 224 (1893).Adenota lechee,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 296 (1859) (Bahr-el-Gazal,Petherick) (nec ejusd. Knowsl. Men. 1850).Adenota leucotis,Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. ii.) pp. 12, 13, pl. i. fig. 4 (head), 1863 (Sobat R.).Adenota kuletA. wuil,Heuglin, op. cit. pp. 12, 13(?).

Kobus leucotis,Gerrard, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 239 (1862);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 16 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 87 (1873).

Hydrotragus leucotis,Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. 1, p. 175 (1869).

Cervicapra leucotis,Baker, Ismailia, ii. p. 531 (1874) (Shooli country).

Cobus leucotis,Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 91 (1892), (2) p. 124 (1896);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 224 (1893).

Adenota lechee,Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 296 (1859) (Bahr-el-Gazal,Petherick) (nec ejusd. Knowsl. Men. 1850).

Adenota leucotis,Heugl.Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. ii.) pp. 12, 13, pl. i. fig. 4 (head), 1863 (Sobat R.).

Adenota kuletA. wuil,Heuglin, op. cit. pp. 12, 13(?).

Vernacular Names:—Adjelof the Denkos;KulandWuilof the Djengs (Heuglin);Teelof the Shoolis (Baker);Kalaof the Niam-Niams (Junker).

Size smaller and form slenderer than in any of the species hitherto described (height at withers about 34–35 inches). General colour dark brownish fawn; a large patch surrounding the eyes and ears, including the whole of the backs of the latter, another on the muzzle, chin, and upper throat, and the whole of the chest and belly pure white, strongly contrasting with the dark colour of the back. Front of legs blackish; a white ring round the pasterns, just above the hoofs.

Horns slender and graceful, attaining a length of 19 or 20 inches, though but little more than 6 inches in circumference.

Femalesimilar, but without horns.

Skull measurements (♀):—Basal length 9·75 inches, greatest breadth 4·15, orbit to muzzle 6·45.

Hab.Upper Nile, region of the Sobat, Bahr-el-Gazal, and their affluents, extending into the Niam-Niam country.

The first example of this Antelope to reach Europe was transmitted to the Royal Zoological Museum of Berlin by Werne, a well-known German artist and traveller, from the River Sobat in Sennaar. It was characterized as belonging to a new species by Lichtenstein and Peters in a communication made to the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin in 1853, and in the following year was carefully described and figured by the same authors in the ‘Denkschriften’ of the Academy. The type specimen, an adult male, remains mounted in the gallery of the Berlin Museum (where Sclater has examined it), and is, we believe, that from which the original water-colour drawing of Wolf for the accompanying Plate was prepared.

The next traveller who appears to have met with the White-eared Kob was Consul Petherick, who brought home a skin, two heads, and several skulls of this species on his return from the Bahr-el-Ghazal in 1859. These specimens, which are in the British Museum, were at first incorrectly referred by Gray, in his article upon Petherick’s Mammals, toCobus lechee, which, however, is quite a distinct species and never ranges nearly so far north.

Besides the Berlin and British Museums the only other collection that, so far as we know, contains a perfect example of this rare Antelope is the Royal Museum of Turin. Here, as Count Salvadori kindly informs us, there is a fully adult male example ofCobus leucotismounted in the gallery, and standing about 35 inches high at the withers. This specimen was originally received alive from the Sudan, along with other animals, by King Victor Emmanuel, and on its death was presented to the Turin Museum.

Heuglin, in 1861, included this species in his list of the Antelopes and Buffaloes of North-east Africa, and gave a figure of its head, designating the Rivers Sobat and Bahr-el-Ghazal as its localities. It is probable that Heuglin’s “Adenota kul” and “A. wuil,” described as new in the same memoir, should also be referred to the present species; but as the descriptionsare very meagre and, so far as we know, no specimens of these problematical species are extant, this must remain a matter of some uncertainty.

Since Heuglin’s time several other African explorers have met with this Antelope, but we are not aware that, with the exception of Sir Samuel Baker, they have brought home specimens. In the Appendix to ‘Ismailia,’ Sir Samuel placed the name of the present species in the list of animals met with in the Shooli country on the Upper Nile, and Sclater (who examined the specimens brought home by Baker) believes that there were some heads of this Antelope amongst them. Harnier’s description of an Antelope obtained in March 1861, during his voyage up the White Nile (Reise, p. 52, 1866), is apparently referable toCobus leucotis. Dr. Schweinfurth, in ’Im Herzen von Afrika,’ mentionsAntilope leucotisin several places, and in his first volume gives fairly accurate woodcuts of the heads of both sexes. On the lower flats of the rivers of the Niam-Niam country, Dr. Schweinfurth found this Antelope by far the commonest species in the dry season, being met with in large herds of from 100 to 300 individuals. During the rainy season, he tells us, it resorts to the higher forest-bushes and separates into small troops for pairing. He also mentions as a peculiarity of this elegant animal that when running away it springs up into the air after the manner of the South-African Spring-buck, and shows its white rump. The flesh ofAntilope leucotis, he tells us, is one of the best for culinary purposes. The female he describes as being very like that ofCervicapra arundinacea, but recognizable at once by the black on the front limbs.

Emin, in his ‘Reise-briefen,’ refers in several passages toAntilope leucotisas met with on the Upper Nile. Dr. W. Junker, in his ‘Travels in Africa,’ records the capture of a “Kala Antelope,Antilope leucotis,” as far south as the Upper Welle (about 3° 30’ N. lat.), near Mount Madyanu, and gives a figure of it in his text. Looking to this and to what Dr. Schweinfurth has told us, we must assume that the present Antelope extends beyond the water-parting of the Nile and Congo down to the banks of the Welle.

December, 1896.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XXXIX.J. Smit del. & lith.Hanhart imp.Thomas’ Kob.COBUS THOMASIPublished by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XXXIX.

J. Smit del. & lith.

Hanhart imp.

Thomas’ Kob.

COBUS THOMASI

Published by R. H. Porter.

Kobus leucotis,Scl.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103 (nec auctt.) (Uganda,Speke).Kobus kob,Ward, Horn Meas. p. 91 (1892);Lugard, E. Africa, i. p. 538 (1893) (Buddu and Kavirondo);Jackson, Big Game Shooting, i. p. 296 (1894);Scott Elliot, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 341 (Albert-Edward Lake).Adenota kob,Matschie, Säug. Deutsch Ost-Afr. p. 126 (1895).Adenota koba,Matschie, op. cit. p. 147 (1895).“Cobus thomasi, Neumann,”Sclater, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 868 (Kavirondo);Ward, Horn Meas. (2) p. 128 (1896).Adenota thomasi,Neumann, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 192.Cobus kob,Scott Elliot, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 341 (Lake Albert-Edward).

Kobus leucotis,Scl.P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103 (nec auctt.) (Uganda,Speke).

Kobus kob,Ward, Horn Meas. p. 91 (1892);Lugard, E. Africa, i. p. 538 (1893) (Buddu and Kavirondo);Jackson, Big Game Shooting, i. p. 296 (1894);Scott Elliot, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 341 (Albert-Edward Lake).

Adenota kob,Matschie, Säug. Deutsch Ost-Afr. p. 126 (1895).

Adenota koba,Matschie, op. cit. p. 147 (1895).

“Cobus thomasi, Neumann,”Sclater, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 868 (Kavirondo);Ward, Horn Meas. (2) p. 128 (1896).

Adenota thomasi,Neumann, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 192.

Cobus kob,Scott Elliot, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 341 (Lake Albert-Edward).

Vernacular Name:—NsunnuorNsunuof the Waganda (Speke,Lugard,&c.).

Size about as inC. leucotis, but form thicker and heavier (height at withers of an adult male 35½ inches). General colour rich fulvous. Area round eyes and another round bases of ears whitish; back of ears fulvous, with an indistinct tipping of black; hairs of inner surface of ears white. Muzzle, lips, chin, chest, belly, and inner sides of forearms and thighs white. Front of fore legs from middle of forearms downwards with a strongly defined black line, which broadens at the knees and pasterns; hind legs with a similar black mark, but only reaching up from the hoofs halfway towards the hocks. Remainder of limbs fulvous, an indistinct whitish ring just above the hoof; back of pasterns thickly hairy.

Horns thick and strongly curved, attaining a length of about 17 or 18 inches.

Femalesimilar, but without horns.

Skull measurements (♂):—Basal length 10·4 inches, greatest breadth 4·6, orbit to muzzle 6·3.

Hab.Kavirondo and Uganda.

Thomas’s Kob, as it has been lately proposed to call the representative of this group of Antelopes in Kavirondo, Uganda, and the adjoining districts of Africa, after one of the authors of the present work, has been known for many years; but it has been unfortunately confounded withCobus leucotis,C. vardoni, andC. kob, and has only been recently recognized as a distinct species. Although not unlike the White-eared Antelope, it is really much more nearly allied to the Kob of West Africa, of which it is in fact a larger form. From the Poku (Cobus vardoni) it is at once distinguishable by its black legs.

The first specimens of Thomas’s Kob that reached England were two heads brought home by Speke on his return from his celebrated East-African expedition in 1863. These were examined by Sclater, and in his report on the Mammals of the expedition (P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103) were erroneously referred toC. leucotis. But a re-examination of one of the specimens, which is now in the British Museum, has convinced us that it is undoubtedly referable to the present species. Speke remarks that this Antelope, of which the native name is “Nsunnu,” is “found in Uganda, Unyoro, and Madi, but never south of those countries. They roam about in large herds in the thick bush and grassy plains, but never go far from water.”

So far as we know, the next example that reached Europe of the present species was that of an adult male received by the British Museum from Mr. F. J. Jackson in 1891, from which our figure (Plate XXXIX.) has been taken. This specimen was mounted and placed in the Mammal gallery, and named at firstC. vardoni, and afterwardsC. kob. Other examples of the same Antelope were subsequently received at South Kensington from Mr. Gedge, Capt. Lugard, and Mr. Scott Elliot, and referred to the Kob. Mr. Gedge’s specimens were obtained in Uganda, Capt. Lugard’s on the south-west coast of the Albert Nyanza, and Mr. Scott Elliot’s near the Albert-Edward Lake.

In the autumn of 1895, Herr Oscar Neumann, the distinguished German traveller and naturalist, came to the British Museum for the purpose of examining the Mammals in the collection, and of comparing them with the specimens he had himself obtained during his journeys through German andBritish East Africa in 1892–5. Herr Neumann, who visited the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle at Paris for the same purpose, found during his researches at these places that the so-called “Kob” of East Africa was essentially different from the true Kob of Western Africa. Thomas in this country, and M. Poussarges in France, had also come to the same conclusion: Thomas from an examination of specimens of the trueCobus kobrecently obtained by Capt. Lugard on the Niger, and M. Poussarges from a comparison of a specimen of the present Antelope procured by M. Decle in Uganda with the original types of Buffon’s “Kob.” Herr Neumann therefore proposed to call the new Eastern species after Mr. Thomas, and designated as its type Mr. Scott Elliot’s specimen from Uganda, to which he affixed the specific namethomasiin MS. But the preparation of Herr Neumann’s description was unfortunately delayed, and was not transmitted to the Zoological Society of London for publication until January 1896. In the meanwhile, Sclater, supposing from the delay that the description in question might have been sent to some periodical in Germany, had exhibited a mounted head of the same Antelope (obtained by Mr. E. Gedge on the eastern shores of Lake Victoria, as hereafter mentioned) and had given its name as “Cobus thomasi, Neumann, MS.” This, therefore, was actually the first publication of the species under its present name, and it may possibly be a moot point for experts in questions of priority whether Mr. Gedge’s specimen ought not really to be considered the “type.” It is satisfactory, however, that both the possible “types” are in the British Museum, so that no international complications can arise from such a controversy.

The “Kob” of Uganda, as Mr. F. J. Jackson in his excellent chapter on Antelopes in “Big Game Shooting” calls this species, following the then prevalent opinion as to its identity, “is first met with in British East Africa near Mumia’s, in Upper Kavirondo. Here I saw a small herd on three consecutive days on the banks of the Nzoia, quite near to the same place. As I was after Hippos at the time, and never got near the Antelopes, I mistook them for Impalas, and paid no further attention to them, until one day Mr. Gedge brought in the head of one he had shot, and I at once recognized my mistake. On going out specially to get one or two I found them plentiful. This beast is rarely seen more than 300 or 400 yards from water. It is very shy, and unless found in long grass (about the only covert there is, excepting ant-heaps, in the places it haunts) is very difficult tostalk. It is extraordinarily tough, and requires a great deal of killing. When wounded it takes to the reeds along the river-banks and in the swampy hollows, but when only alarmed prefers to keep to the open for safety. This Antelope is evidently plentiful near the shores of Victoria Nyanza, as nearly all the Waganda canoes are ornamented on their high projecting prow with its frontlet and its horns. These beasts are usually found in small herds, consisting of a buck and three or four does. I have also seen one herd of some twenty-five, consisting entirely of bucks.”

Mr. Ernest Gedge has kindly favoured us with the following notes on this Antelope:—“My experience of these animals has been but small, owing to their extremely local distribution. I first encountered them in Upper Kavirondo, to the west of Mumia’s, in the vicinity of the Nzoia River, in the month of November. On another occasion I saw them near the Nile, when on an elephant-hunting expedition in Uganda, and again in the province of Buddu to the N.W. of the Victoria Nyanza.

“As far as my experience goes it would seem that these are water-loving animals, and not to be found except in the vicinity of swamps and rivers.

“The times at which specimens may best be secured are the early morning and towards sundown, when the animals leave the shelter of the high reeds and thickets (in which they appear to lie up during the heat of the day) and come to their feeding-grounds. Four or five is the greatest number I have ever seen at one time, more generally they are met with singly or in pairs.

“They are not very difficult to stalk, as they are generally near covert, or on broken ground of some kind, favourable to the hunter, and, moreover, they have not the shy, suspicious nature of the Hartebeest, unless some of the latter happen to be in their vicinity, in which case they become more difficult to approach.

“Their tenacity of life is very great, and unless disabled at once the chances are against the hunter, the impenetrable nature of the swamps and jungles to which they fly when wounded precluding all hope of pursuit.

“Their colour is a rich rufous, turning to white on the belly and inside the thighs, the females being somewhat lighter in colour than the males. Their whole appearance is handsome and well proportioned, whilst the head makes an exceptionally graceful trophy. I would mention that the last specimen I procured was a single buck, which I shot in the vicinity ofBerkeley Bay on my return from Uganda in 1893. It was lying at the edge of a papyrus-swamp, and as it sprang off at my approach a lucky snap-shot secured for me the finest head I possess of this Antelope.”

Fig. 34.Head ofCobus thomasi, [♂].(P. Z. S. 1895, p. 869.)

Fig. 34.

Head ofCobus thomasi, [♂].

(P. Z. S. 1895, p. 869.)

This specimen, of which, by the kindness of the Zoological Society, we are enabled to reproduce the original figure from the ‘Proceedings,’ has recently been presented by Mr. Gedge to the British Museum.

Herr Neumann gives the localities of this Antelope as “Kavirondo, Ussoga, Uganda, Unyoro, Albert Lake, and, finally, Simiu River, at the south-east corner of Lake Victoria,” where it was obtained by Herr Langheld.

December, 1896.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XL.Wolf del. J. Smit lith.Hanhart imp.Buffon’s Kob.COBUS KOB.Published by R.H.Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XL.

Wolf del. J. Smit lith.

Hanhart imp.

Buffon’s Kob.

COBUS KOB.

Published by R.H.Porter.

Le Kob,Buff.Hist. Nat. xii. pp. 210 & 267, pl. xxxii. fig. 1 (1764) (Senegal);Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 102.Antilope kob,Erxl.Syst. R. A. p. 293 (1777);Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 124 (1780);Gatt.Brev. Zool. i. p. 84 (1780);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 234 (1804);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 187 (1816);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1240 (1818);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 457 (1822);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 375 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 463 (1829);Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 617 (1839);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 435 (1844), v. p. 432 (1855);Fraser, Zool. Typ. pl. xx. (1849);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. pp. 190 & 199 (1853).Cerophorus(Gazella)kob,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.Adenota kob,Gray, Knowsl. Men. p. 14, pls. xiv. & xv. (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 129;id.Ann. & Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 211 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 96 (1852);Gerrard, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 238 (1862);Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. 1, p. 174 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 17 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 87 (1873);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 130 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 159 (1892);Matschie, MT. deutsch. Schutz-geb. vi. p 17 (1893) (Togoland).Cobus kob,Lyd.Field, lxxvii. p. 980 (1891);id.Horns and Hoofs, p. 224 (1893);Scl.P. Z. S. 1895, p. 688;Ward, Horn Meas. (2) p. 127 (1896).Antilope forfex,H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 221, v. p. 334 (1827) (from Pennant’s “Gambian Antelope”);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 289 (1836);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 110 (1845).Antilope adenota,H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 223, v. p. 335 (1827);A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 209 (1834);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 110 (1845).Kobus adansoni,A. Sm.Ill. Zool. S. Afr. text to pl. xxix. (1840).Antilope annulipes,Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. x. p. 267 (1842).Adenota buffoni,Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. 1, p. 174 (1869)[10].

Le Kob,Buff.Hist. Nat. xii. pp. 210 & 267, pl. xxxii. fig. 1 (1764) (Senegal);Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 102.

Antilope kob,Erxl.Syst. R. A. p. 293 (1777);Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 124 (1780);Gatt.Brev. Zool. i. p. 84 (1780);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 234 (1804);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 187 (1816);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1240 (1818);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 457 (1822);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 375 (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 463 (1829);Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 617 (1839);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 435 (1844), v. p. 432 (1855);Fraser, Zool. Typ. pl. xx. (1849);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. pp. 190 & 199 (1853).

Cerophorus(Gazella)kob,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75.

Adenota kob,Gray, Knowsl. Men. p. 14, pls. xiv. & xv. (1850);id.P. Z. S. 1850, p. 129;id.Ann. & Mag. N. H. (2) viii. p. 211 (1851);id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 96 (1852);Gerrard, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 238 (1862);Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. 1, p. 174 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 17 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 87 (1873);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 130 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 159 (1892);Matschie, MT. deutsch. Schutz-geb. vi. p 17 (1893) (Togoland).

Cobus kob,Lyd.Field, lxxvii. p. 980 (1891);id.Horns and Hoofs, p. 224 (1893);Scl.P. Z. S. 1895, p. 688;Ward, Horn Meas. (2) p. 127 (1896).

Antilope forfex,H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 221, v. p. 334 (1827) (from Pennant’s “Gambian Antelope”);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 289 (1836);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 110 (1845).

Antilope adenota,H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 223, v. p. 335 (1827);A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 209 (1834);Reichenb.Säug. iii. p. 110 (1845).

Kobus adansoni,A. Sm.Ill. Zool. S. Afr. text to pl. xxix. (1840).

Antilope annulipes,Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. x. p. 267 (1842).

Adenota buffoni,Fitz.SB. Ak. Wien, lix. 1, p. 174 (1869)[10].

Vernacular Names:—Æquitoonof the Joliffs, andKobof the Mandingos, at the Gambia (Whitfield, fideGray).

Similar in general character and markings toC. thomasi, but size much smaller, form slenderer, and markings less strongly defined. The black leg-markings are present, though not so deeply black as in the last species, and are succeeded below by a white ring round the pasterns, separating them from the hoofs. Back of pasterns hairy.

Horns much smaller than in any of the allied forms, only attaining a length of about 14–15 inches.

Female.Similar, but without horns.

Skull measurements (♂):—Basal length 9·5 inches, greatest breadth 4·45, orbit to muzzle 5·9.

Hab.W. Africa, from the Gambia to the Niger.

In the twelfth volume of his celebrated ‘Histoire Naturelle,’ the great French naturalist Buffon distinguished two Antelopes from Senegal as the “Koba” and the “Kob.” Of the difficulties experienced by subsequent authors in deciding what Buffon’s “Koba” really was, we have already spoken in our article onDamaliscus korrigum(Vol. I. p. 60). But as regards the “Kob” there can, we think, be no question that Buffon’s “Kob, ou petit vache brune de Sénégal” is clearly the same as that which we now callCobus kob, and propose to designate in English “Buffon’s Kob,” to distinguish it from its fellows of the same group.

Erxleben, in 1777, seems to have been the first writer to Latinize Buffon’s vernacular name as “Antilope kob.” In this he was followed by most of the early systematists, who, however, added nothing to our knowledge of the animal. Little more, in fact, was known of this Antelope until about 1827, when a fresh description of it was published by Hamilton Smith in Griffith’s edition of Cuvier’s ‘Animal Kingdom,’ taken from a pair of animals thenliving in the Menagerie at Exeter Change. Colonel Hamilton Smith, being uncertain whether this was the true “Kob” of Buffon, gave it a new name,adenota, derived from the small gland situated on its back ἀδἡν,glandula, and νῶτος,dorsum). There can be no doubt, however, that Hamilton Smith’s description of hisAntilope adenota, which is accompanied by a very fair figure of the male, refers to Buffon’s Kob. Another name bestowed upon this Antelope by Hamilton Smith, in the same work, wasAntilope forfex, based on Pennant’s “Gambian Antelope.”

The first specimen of the Kob Antelope that reached Europe alive, so far as we know, was that presented to the Zoological Society of London by Mr. John Foster in 1836, which was subsequently figured in Fraser’s ‘Zoologia Typica’ (plate xx.). Fraser tells us that it lived about three years in the Society’s Gardens. This is no doubt the specimen that is referred to by Ogilby as the “Kob of Buffon” in his remarks printed in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1836 (page 102). Although Ogilby’s references to it are not very comprehensible, this fact is clearly established by what Fraser says in his ‘Zoologia Typica.’

Shortly after this period living specimens of this Antelope were obtained at the Gambia and brought home for the Knowsley Menagerie by Whitfield, Lord Derby’s collector. Upon these animals Gray established hisAntilope annulipesin 1842, but in the letterpress to the ‘Gleanings’ Gray admitted that they were really referable to the present species. Gray states that a fine pair “had been at Knowsley for some years,” and adds that they are called on the Gambia “Æquitoon” by the Joliffs and “Kob” by the Mandingos. On plates xiv. and xv. of the ‘Gleanings’ good coloured figures of the male, female, and young of this species will be found, taken from drawings made from life by Waterhouse Hawkins. From this it would appear that the Kob, like many other Antelopes, bred in those days at Knowsley.

We cannot ascertain that any living examples of the Kob have been received by the Zoological Society subsequently to that obtained in 1836 as already mentioned; but a female, which was formerly living in the Zoological Garden of Amsterdam, is now in the gallery of the Leyden Museum, and in August 1895 Sclater saw a fine male of this species in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris (see P. Z. S. 1895, p. 688) and another male in the private collectionof the late Mr. Sharland at Tours. These two animals, we have been informed, were imported together from West Africa.

From Senegal and the Gambia the Kob extends through the interior of West Africa to Togoland, where it has been obtained by the German collectors inland from Bismarckburg and far into the Niger territory. As regards the latter locality, Sclater has examined a pair of horns of the Kob obtained by Capt. A. F. Mockler-Ferryman at Ibi, on the Benué, in the autumn of 1889, when he was travelling with Major Claude Macdonald’s expedition up that river; and Capt. Mockler-Ferryman has kindly supplied us with the following note on them:—“The Antelopes, from a male of which this pair of horns were taken, were fairly plentiful everywhere in the open park-like country of the Benué, and, so far as I can remember, were exactly similar in habits to Vardon’s Antelope, as described by Selous. These horns measure 17½ inches in length along the curve. The females of this Antelope had no horns.”

In 1895 Capt. Lugard during his expedition to Bornu obtained a skin and two skulls of this Antelope at Lukoja on the Niger, and presented them to the British Museum. It was the examination of Capt. Lugard’s specimens that first convinced Thomas that the Uganda Kob (subsequently namedCobus thomasi) belongs to a different species. The specimens previously in the National Collection (a male and female from the Gambia, collected by Whitfield) were both immature, and consequently of little use for accurate comparison.

Our figure of Buffon’s Kob (Plate XL.) was lithographed for Sir Victor Brooke by Smit from a coloured drawing by Wolf, but we have not been able to ascertain from what specimen the drawing was originally taken.

December, 1896.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLI.J. Smit del. & lith.Hanhart imp.The Poku.COBUS VARDONI.Published by R. H. Porter.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XLI.

J. Smit del. & lith.

Hanhart imp.

The Poku.

COBUS VARDONI.

Published by R. H. Porter.

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