82 CENTRAL AFRICAN GAME AND ITS SPOOR. 



CAPE BUFFALO (Bos caffer). 



Characteristics. 

 Larger and more massive horns than the other African buffaloes. 



Native Names. 



Chinyanja Njati. Chitonga Njati. 



Chiyao Njati. SwahiH (Nyasa) . . Nyati. 



Zulu (Ngoni) Nyati. Chibisa Mboo. 



Klruga ruga Mbogo. Chisenga Njati. 



Chikunda Nyati. Chiwemba Mbo. 



Food. 



Leaves of Bango (reed or spear grass). 



Grass. 



Leaves of Ugugu (or Nsenjere), another kind of reed. 



Spoor. 



Like that of cattle but much larger. 



That of a full-grown bull eland may be confused with that of rather a small 

 buffalo, but a full-grown one is bigger than the eland. With a herd there should be 

 no difficulty in distinguishing which is which, as the spoor of the younger eland is 

 much more pointed and only assumes the buffalo shape in an old bull. 



Buffalo also have a cleaner cut spoor than eland and walk flatter footed ; 

 moreover, the droppings are quite different, resembling those of cattle on a larger 

 scale. The maggot of the Mputsi (or Unyamputsi) fly appears in the dung on the 

 second day, which is a sure indication as to its age. 



It would be very hard without this guide to tell the difference between dung 

 deposited, say, the afternoon before in a moist shady spot, and that deposited after 

 sunrise next morning. 



Directly it is dropped, if it is still daylight, the Mputsi fly lays her eggs in it, and 

 these hatch out on the second day, when they may be seen on breaking the dung 

 open, as also the little holes they make in it. 



This fly lays its eggs in no other dung except that of cattle. 



Habitat. 

 Almost always found in elephant country ; that is to say, where there are buffalo 

 there will always be found traces of elephant, either fresh or old. 



