26 Wild Life in Central Africa. 



broken my legs by putting them into old ant-bear holes r 

 which are often quite hidden by thick grass growing round 

 them. 



This is a great country for honey, and the natives range 

 the bush looking for it in holes in trees, and sometimes they 

 put out bark tubes for the bees to hive in. They usually 

 collect it in a dirty manner and bring it full of bark and 

 grass chips, and also full of maggots, but it can be strained, 

 and a piece of old mosquito netting is useful for this. As 

 most of the game meat got here lacks much fat, except the 

 eland's, which often has a lot, the system needs two 

 substances, and these are fat and sugar. 



I am certain sugar is a great strengthener for those 

 taking hard bodily exercise ; in fact, one often gets a 

 craving for sweet things ; so nothing could be better or 

 more wholesome than honey, which it is usually easy to 

 procure during the dry season. 



After a spell of looking after the work at my camp I 

 sallied out again on June 2, and came on a herd of zebras, 

 and shot three of them. I cannot say I like shooting 

 these harmless, beautiful animals, and many is the herd I 

 have passed by without harming them, although in some 

 districts they prove a nuisance, as they make a great noise 

 when running, especially on hard, stony ground, and they 

 thus disturb more valuable game. Many is the elephant 

 that has been lost owing to a rushing herd of zebras, for 

 the noise they make frightens other game and makes 

 them bolt too. Many of the natives refuse to eat zebra 

 meat as they say it gives them a rash or itch, and the young 

 children are said to suffer from this rash more than the 

 adults ; but perhaps this skin rash is caused more by over- 

 eating than by the kind of meat partaken of. 



Again, different families of natives eschew the flesh of 

 some species of game. Some will not eat bush-buck, others 

 bush-pig, and so on. This is not a caste prejudice, but 

 purely a personal one. 



Mohammedans will not eat pig and sometimes refuse to 

 touch the animal, and hippo is often barred. In Nyasaland 



