A "TARTARIN" OF MOZAMBIQUE 53 



two members of which, Frenchmen like himself, 

 were more or less professional hunters. One of 

 these poor fellows died of black- water fever ; 

 another is said, probably untruly, to have died 

 from the effects of strychnine, through approaching 

 a poisoned and dying lion incautiously and being- 

 bitten in consequence. The third probably still 

 lives, famous as a big-game hunter. 



After dinner the Commandant sent for the 

 heads or Sovas of neighbouring villages, and 

 questioned them as to the varieties of game in 

 the neighbourhood, and especially with regard to 

 the giant sable; and now the value of the sable 

 skull we had brought came in, 



In England I had been told that the big 

 sable was called " Sambakalop;o " in the country 

 of the Luimbe tribes, where these animals had been 

 shot by Captains Varian and Blaine the year 

 before. " Sambakalogo ' : meant nothing to the 

 people of the Melanje district, who could also 

 make little of the photographs of ordinary sable 

 shown them, calling them "Malanka" (roan 

 antelope). The moment, however, the natives saw 

 our fnnnt sable skull, they all said " Kohvab, 

 'Colwaly which is apparently the district name for 

 this arirnal. 



It was not surprising that they mistook my 

 photograph of a 39-inch sable (a good head for 

 Portuguese East Africa, where it had been shot) 

 for a roan antelope, as the shapes of these two 

 animals and their horns are very similar, though 

 the roan does not usually carry horns of more 

 than 30 inches. The giant sable, however, the 



