402 LARGE GAME. chap. viii. 



Porcupines also are common enough in many places, 

 and going out at night after them with dogs, spears, and 

 torches is a favourite amusement of the colonists ; but 

 personally I do not think it can be compared to cane-rat 

 hunting. This animal, one of the greatest pests of the 

 African sugar-planter, takes its name from its strong 

 resemblance to a huge rat. It is, however, a rodent, 

 subsisting entirely on reeds and jungle-grass, and where 

 there is cultivation making great havoc among the canes 

 and maize-gardens. In shape it resembles the animal 

 after which it is called, though its head is rounder, and 

 its tail looks as if it had been docked, and a male will 

 often weigh nine or ten lbs. Its body is covered over with 

 coarse bristles, which in colour and appearance are not 

 unlike those of the porcupine, though not more than an 

 inch long. Several varieties, if not distinct species, exist 

 in different parts of the continent, and have been noticed 

 by various travellers, that mentioned by Schweinfurth 1 as 

 existing in Central Africa appearing, from the web on its 

 hind-feet and the rat-like length of its tail, to deserve the 

 latter name. As food, he says, it "is excellent when 

 roasted ; it is rich, and without being sweet and insipid 

 like that of the rock-rabbit, it is free from any unpleasant 

 flavour ; in quality it is about equal to poultry, whilst in 

 taste it may be described as being intermediate between 

 pork and veal." Skertchly 2 also speaks of the variety 

 found on the west coast as being a " dainty addition to 

 an African bill of fare ; " but the animal inhabiting South 

 Africa is by no means so much appreciated, few Europeans 

 eating it, and the natives, though they do not waste it, 

 caring but little for it. The truth is, that the old ones, 



1 Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 448. 2 Dahomey as it is, p. 124. 



