232 After Big Game in Central Africa 



and Congo territories. We shall thus become 

 acquainted with other inhabitants of the bush, the 

 names of which have not yet been mentioned by me, 

 because they exist rather in western than in eastern 

 Africa. 



The impression which these animals, new to me, 

 made upon my first meeting them was rather strange. 

 Kambombe andMsiambiri, who have accompanied me 

 everywhere, and have alternately traversed with me 

 the Ubemba plains and the Manyema hills, the Urua 

 mountains and Stanley Forest, were much amused at 

 the diversity of the species of animals, they who had 

 thought that the whole world was limited to what 

 was known in their own country. The sight of each 

 new species interested them enormously. " What's 

 that over there ? Still another ' nyama ' ! "- " nyama " 

 being the generic name for everything which is game 

 in the Zambesi. If I killed the animal it was 

 an occasion for endless comparisons on the part of 

 my men, such as, "its head is like a hartebeest's," 

 "its tail is like a bushbuck's," "its coat is like a 

 koodoo's." I content myself with taking a note 

 of the name given it by the Swahilis, or natives of 

 the country. 



Once when in the Manyema I saw some buffaloes' 

 tracks which, owing to their size, seemed to be those 

 of females. Leaving the column, I started off in 

 pursuit of them in the midst of a very rugged 

 country covered with vegetation as high as the waist, 

 and in half an hour came in sight of some reddish 

 animals which I took for hartebeests. The buffaloes' 



