ART. 17 EAST AFRICAN VERTEBRATES LOVERIDGE 6 



Tabora, on the Central Railway, 530 miles from Dar es Salaam. 



Tindi, in Shinyanga district ; that is, due north from Tabora. 



Tulo, south of the Central Railway at a point about 120 miles 

 from Dar es Salaam, 



Zanzibar, an island 40 miles northwest of Dar es Salaam. 



The Dodoma district is for the most part a very arid region. This 

 is particularly the case with regard to Dodoma itself, situated in a 

 sandy, thorn-bush area whose flat monotony is only reHeved by rocky 

 kopjes which form centers for mammalian life, particularly for the 

 larger carnivora, such as leopards and hyenas. 



The resident population are essentially a pastoral people, devoted 

 to their herds of cattle and goats and sufficiently opulent to be some- 

 what indifferent to augmenting their income by capturing wild ani- 

 mals. Nevertheless, the bulk of the collection, more particularly the 

 birds, was secured by these people, who came in from all the villages 

 within a day's walk of the township. 



The chief tribe inhabiting the Dodoma district are the Wagogo, 

 whose origin is somewhat obscure and still a matter of debate among 

 ethnologists. As already indicated, their wealth consists of flocks 

 and herds ; in these they invest any money they derive from other 

 sources and the natural increase of the animals constitutes the inter- 

 est on their investment. In times past they protected their herds 

 from attacks by lion and leopard but to-day they not unnaturally 

 look to the Government to destroy such creatures for them. 



They appear to cultivate a minimum amount of maize, rice, or 

 other cereal and thus through the failure of a rainy season, having 

 no reserves, they may be plunged into famine. In the past their 

 herds have suffered from the same cause. One of the functions 

 of government is to anticipate such seasons and have a supply of 

 food on hand. 



Around their cultivated plots, locally called "shambas," they make a 

 fence of piled-up thorn bushes to keep out the ungulates, which would 

 otherwise make short work of any produce. Unfortunately the 

 hedges provide a refuge for a rat (ArvicantMs ahyssinicus neumanni) 

 which makes its burrows beneath them in comparative security. 

 The wily dikdik also often manages to creep through the defense, 

 and the custom is prevalent in some parts to leave gaps at intervals 

 in the hedge with a deadfall set above it. As a tribe the Wagogo 

 are poachers rather than hunters; their favorite method for securing 

 game is to dig pits on game trails or to scare the animals over ground 

 where they have prepared concealed pits. 



They are adepts at snaring birds and as a result guinea fowl are 

 scarce near large centers like Dodoma. It is not to be wondered at that 

 young herdsmen, with time hanging heavy on their hands, occupy 

 themselves in setting snares. A more serious cause for the disappear- 



