278 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
woman, after nipping the head off a maungo, give 
the remainder to her child to suck as a teat. 
The natives of many tribes such as the Mwera, 
Macua, Wangindo and Amatengo, evince a decided 
partiality for the flesh of puff-adders and pythons. 
These delicacies are usually toasted on a spit over 
the embers of a fire, but occasionally enter into the 
composition of a curry, the principal flavouring 
ingredients of which are bissari, chillies, ginger and 
cloves, and these constituents (excepting of course 
the puff-adder and python) are used by my cook in 
preparing a curry for myself. 
The Upanga and Ubena, two tribes living to the 
north-east of Lake Nyassa, are extremely fond of the 
flesh of dogs, while porcupines are considered a 
delicacy by many natives, who dig the animals out of 
their holes and spear them. I have often eaten 
porcupine flesh and consider it an excellent food. 
The natives of many tribes among whom I have 
lived are very partial to ants, using them for food 
only in the rainy season when they are winged. 
They either eat the insects alive, after plucking off 
the wings, or crush and mix them with water or 
monkey-nut oil, and having stewed the resultant 
paste over a fire, use it as a relish. There are 
several varieties of ants, but they all go under the 
Mahometan name of njeremba. 
The Atonga and Sokeri tribes, dwelling about the 
