HARES— DASSIE— THE GIANT RAT 233 



flight of locusts, but due to their nocturnal habits 

 and inaccessible haunts, they are rarely seen by 

 Europeans. 



Hares, and that curious Uttle creatiu'e the 

 rock rabbit or dassie, are not uncommon, but some- 

 what locahsed. I fancy the Hare is the same as 

 that found in the Nyasaland Protectorate. It is 

 a fine large animal, weighing 6 or 7 lbs., reddish 

 brown in colour, running up to black, streaked with 

 grey, and dirty white vmderneath. In Gorongoza, 

 and in the hilly country south of Shupanga, these 

 hares are very frequently put up. They do not 

 seem to me to be so good as the home-bred 

 variety, their flesh being singularly tasteless. 



The Dassies are not found, so far as I am aware, 

 at a low elevation ; but on the high mountain 

 plateaux of Mlanje, Morumballa, and other liigh- 

 lands they exist in large colonies. 



That curious creatiu'e the Giant Rat is com- 

 mon wherever there are marshes containing the 

 ordinary bango-reed and papyrus rushes. In weight 

 this animal must attain to fully 10 lbs. or over, 

 and is about the size of a large hare. Its body is 

 rat-like in shape, and its tail, though not very long, 

 is quite characteristic of the lamUy to which it 

 belongs. I am informed that its flesh is a great 

 delicacy, but I must confess never to have had 

 the courage to try it. The appearance of this 

 animal, with its great bulk and uncomfortable, 

 bristly coat, is so abnormal, so suggestive of the 

 horrors of a disordered dream, that these con- 

 siderations completely relieve me of the smallest 

 desire to partake of it. 



