53 ( 



Great and Small Game of Africa 



expanding bullets. In any case an assegai is useful, as a wounded beast may 

 break back and stand at bay in a " fast " bush, and the timely use of such a 

 weapon might then save many of one's pack from a mauling. 



F. Vaughan Kirby. 



Nyasa Bush-Pig (Sus chxropotamus nyasee) 



Native Name, Ngurwme 



The so-called Johnston's bush-pig is known from a skull sent home 

 by the author of this article, obtained at Deep Bay, on the north-west 

 coast of Lake Nyasa. But the present writer has seen alive several speci- 

 mens of bush-pig in Nyasaland which differed from the ordinary Sus 

 chceropotamus typicus by being of a brighter coloration. The coarse hair 

 of the body was permanently spotted and striped with yellowish white, and 

 the white mane, bordered with black hairs, over the neck and ridge of the 

 back was longer and whiter than in the ordinary bush-pig. It is possible, 

 therefore, that these are the outward characteristics of this bush-pig. 

 Osteologically, this animal represents the link between the true pigs (Sus) 

 and the bush-pigs (Potamochcerus). The head is longer than in the ordinary 

 bush-pig. Though the specimen from which Johnston was determined 

 was obtained on the north-west coast of Lake Nyasa, the living specimens 

 which the present writer refers to the same were seen on Mount Mlanje, 

 in the south-east corner of Nyasaland. It is probable that the range of 

 Johnston's bush-pig, therefore, is the north-eastern portion of the Zambesi 

 basin. The natives do not, so far as the writer knows, distinguish between 

 the two forms, but call both of them Nguruwe. This word, or a vocable 

 like it, is the common root for bush-pig throughout Bantu Africa. It is 

 usually, though not always, applied to the domestic pig, whereas there is 

 invariably a different and distinct name for the wart-hog. The natives 



