Snakes On The Usangu Plains: An Introduction To Sangu Ethnoherpetology

SNAKES ON THE USANGU PLAINS: AN INTRODUCTION TO SANGU ETHNOHERPETOLOGY

Martin T. Walsh Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, and School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex, U.K.

corrected version of a paper originally published in

East Africa Natural History Society Bulletin, 25 (3): 38-43 September 1995

{NB: the page numbers in this version do not follow those of the published text}

current address: [email protected]

EANHS Bulletin 25 (3), September 1995 ______________________________________________________________________________

1

SNAKES ON THE USANGU PLAINS: AN INTRODUCTION TO SANGU ETHNOHERPETOLOGY This paper is based on notes I made while conducting anthropological fieldwork in the Usangu Plains of south-west Tanzania in 1980-82. I did not make a systematic study of Sangu ethnoherpetology and was illequipped at that time to identify the snakes which I saw and those which were described to me (the same applies to other reptiles, which are not discussed further here). However, while recently re-reading through my field notes and manuscript dictionary of ishisango, the Sangu language, I found that there was sufficient information to identify some of the named varieties which I was told about. I have therefore decided to publish this information, together with some additional observations and comments, in the hope that it will provide a useful starting point for future researchers.

The Usangu Plains The Usangu Plains lie in the eastern Rift Valley just south of Ruaha National Park, at an average elevation of 1,000 metres above sea-level. They take the form of a shallow alluvial basin, covering an estimated total area of 15,560 km2. To the south and west they are hemmed in by the Southern Highlands and the mountain ranges which rise up from the northern shores of Lake Malawi. The streams and rivers which flow down from these mountains join in Usangu to form the Great Ruaha river which meanders out of the Plains to the north-east. There is one wet season, from December to April. This is invariably accompanied by substantial flooding, and the floodwaters often remain until the dry season is well underway. For half of the year, however, from June onwards, most of Usangu takes on a semi-arid aspect. The vegetation of Usangu has been described in outline by Procter (1968) and his classification supported by Charnley (1994), who also provides a detailed description and analysis of recent patterns of ecological change on the Usangu Plains. According to Procter, the Plains host eleven

major habitats with specific vegetation associations, ranging from rivers and permanent wetlands, through seasonally inundated flood-plains and grasslands, to thickets, thorn-bush and woodlands dominated by different tree species. The history of the human population in Usangu and patterns of land use in the Plains have been described by me (1984) and, with particular emphasis upon immigrant groups and pastoral resources, by Charnley (1994).

Snakes on the Usangu Plains As far as I am aware, no survey of Usangu’s herpetological fauna, and of snakes in particular, has ever been undertaken, though I assume that some collections have been made there. Given the wide range of habitats available in Usangu and our general knowledge of snakes and their distribution in this region, it can be assumed that the Plains support a wide variety of snake species. Snakes are certainly everywhere in evidence, as a number of travellers to Usangu have been quick to notice. Marius Fortie, an adventurer who crossed Usangu in September 1934, begins his account of this journey by describing how he shot a five-foot Puff Adder in two. This unfortunate serpent had made the mistake of visiting Fortie while he was in the middle of a taking a bath in a room in the derelict compound of Brandt Mission. Later he was able to brush this incident aside: “On entering Usango I saw the trails so crisscrossed with the tracks of the cobras and vipers which thrive in those hot sandy plains, that when the puff adder interrupted my bath at Brandt I was not much startled” (1938, p.279). Further on in his account he provides us with a more comforting perspective: “Although snakes are numerous, casualties from snake bites are rare because the puff adder, the most common venomous reptile, is so sluggish that it seldom strikes unless actually stepped upon” (1938, p.293).

EANHS Bulletin 25 (3), September 1995 ______________________________________________________________________________

My own experience in Usangu was similar, though I did not see any Puff Adders, which are well camouflaged and whose numbers have probably been considerably reduced since the 1930s in the increasingly populous areas of the southern Plains where people are apt to kill any which they come across. However, when walking the three-hour journey between Igurusi and Utengule, I invariably saw at least one snake crossing the dirt track. On forays into the bush around Utengule and Luhanga I always found it wise to let one of the villagers lead the way, given their greater skill in spotting snakes on or by the path. In Utengule itself, where I lived, I was taught to give a wide berth to any long and thin object I might see on the path at night, and got so used to doing this that for many months after returning to England I would sometimes surprise friends by pulling up with a start in front of twigs on the pavement. On one occasion, now humorous to relate, I had to flee from a latrine when a large dark snake appeared through a crack in the earthen wall. Another incident occurred in a friend’s house. Some time earlier a large snake had been killed in the house while in the process of raiding a nest of hen’s eggs. My friend declared that sooner or later the snake’s spouse would also appear. Sure enough, one night as we were eating dinner, a large snake slithered under the front door, scattering all of those present, including the mother of the household who was sitting on the cement floor with her children. This snake also headed for the hen’s nest, but was dispatched by my friend and another guest with a couple of long sticks. I recorded a few instances of snake bite, but none in which death had resulted. One interesting case of serious snake bite occurred following the appearance of a Sukuma (on other accounts Fipa) snakecharmer in Utengule on 29 March 1981. He drew a large crowd at one of the drinkingclubs in the village when he stood in the middle of the open ground and let two sizeable snakes (described in my notes as ‘cobras’) crawl and intertwine over his body. He was subsequently reported to be

2

selling medicine to guard against snake bite on the basis of this performance. Unfortunately, this medicine cannot have been very effective, because shortly afterwards he was bitten by one of his own snakes and had to be rushed to hospital in Mbeya where, it was said, the affected limb was amputated. Sangu observers ascribed his misfortune to witchcraft rather than to the ineffectiveness of his medicine. I assumed that he had failed to milk the snake of all of its venom. I noted more instances of snakes being killed. Although snakes are still a common sight in Usangu it likely, as suggested above in the case of Puff Adders, that their populations are declining in inverse proportions to the increase in human population and land use.

Sangu Ethnoherpetology The Sangu (avasango), the indigenous inhabitants of the Plains, recognise a number of different kinds of snake (injoxa). We should not expect to find a one-to-one correspondence in every case between their names for these and their scientific designations. This is a common feature of folk taxonomies, including the historical and everyday classificatory schemes of English (e.g. Berlin, 1992). It is also a feature of other components of Sangu ethnozoology. In some cases one Sangu term covers more than one zoological species and may even refer to species belonging to more than genus. In other cases the Sangu give different names to different subspecies or colour phases and variants of the same species, including animals of different age and sex (where sexual dimorphism is particularly marked). At the same time it must be said that many Sangu names do correspond to single zoological species, especially in the case of large, common and/or better-known animals. Small and less familiar species, as well as those which are not easily distinguished by zoologists working in the field, are more frequently grouped together. This no doubt also applies to the Sangu classification and naming of snakes, as the following examination of indigenous taxonomy suggests.

EANHS Bulletin 25 (3), September 1995 ______________________________________________________________________________

All of the Sangu names for snakes which I recorded are presented below, together with notes on their identification and other relevant observations. Unless otherwise stated the zoological observations are taken from Easterbrook (n.d.), Hedges (1983), MacKay and MacKay (1985), and Branch (1988). inyatu (noun class 9/10), ilipingang’ombe (5/6). Both of these names appear to refer primarily to the African Rock Python, Python sebae. inyatu is cognate with the term for python in many other Eastern Bantu languages, including Swahili chatu. It was described to me as non-poisonous and I was told that it can sometimes be found in water. Although African Rock Pythons can inflict painful wounds with their teeth, they usually kill their victims by coiling around and asphyxiating them, before attempting to swallow them whole. They rarely attack humans. It is, however a good swimmer, and is known to prey upon crocodiles, fish and other aquatic creatures. ilipingang’ombe was also given as a name for pythons and likewise was said to be sometimes found in water. This is a compound term which literally means ‘the one which stops cattle’ in Sangu, indicating that they are also known to attack livestock. Its designation in noun class 5/6 implies an animal which is large, bad, or both of these, and it may be that ilipingang’ombe is reserved for the larger specimens and inyatu for smaller African Rock Pythons. ilipingang’ombe is also the Sangu name for a rainbow. I was unable to elicit an explanation for this in the field, but it is presumably connected with the Nyakyusa belief that pythons (or at least one mythical variety of them) cause rainbows when they look up to the sky. The same beast is also believed to live near rivers, and some Nyakyusa therefore run away from rivers when they see rainbows (Walsh, in prep.). The Nyakyusa are near neighbours to the Sangu and many of them are recent immigrants to the Plains. The explicit reference of the Sangu name, however, suggests that this is or was also their own belief, though it may have been inherited or

3

borrowed in the past (it may even have been borrowed by the Nyakyusa from the Sangu). imulalu (9/10). I would probably not have recorded this name if it had not been for the fact that I killed one in Utengule on 11 May 1981. I noticed it on the floor of my house at night just as I was preparing to go to bed. It lay curled up in front of the only door to the house, blocking my way out. Lacking a stick or other suitable implement, I chopped it in two with a machete. Local opinion held that it had probably come into the village to escape the seasonal drying up of the surrounding Plains and into my house to escape the increasing cold. My cursory notes indicate that it had a purple and black back and white belly. It was fairly long but only the thickness of a thumb. I was later told that it was very poisonous. However, I would now tentatively identify it as a Purple-glossed Snake, Amblyodipsas sp., and therefore relatively harmless. injoxa nyalulemba (9/10). This name means ‘green snake’ and is probably a generic term for the Green or Bush Snakes, Philothamnus spp. It was described as a green snake of pencil-thickness which is not very poisonous and usually flees from people. I saw one on 28 June 1981 climbing a tree near a house at the edge of Utengule. It was very thin and very bright green in colour. These descriptions fit the Green or Bush Snakes very well. Different species are quite difficult to distinguish and the only certain way is by scale counts. It would therefore not be very surprising if the Sangu, like other East African peoples, grouped them under the same name. injoxa nyaluhanjala (9/10). This name means ‘firewood snake’, referring to the resemblance between the snake when motionless and a relatively thick and long branch of firewood. The only other information which I recorded on this snake is that it is very poisonous and capable of ‘standing up’. This last observation implies a cobra of some description, following their habit of lifting the forebody and spreading a hood when threatened. I would tentatively identify this with the Egyptian Cobra, Naja

EANHS Bulletin 25 (3), September 1995 ______________________________________________________________________________

haje, which is the right shape and size and has a variable coloration which might be taken to resemble firewood in different stages of drying and possibly with lichens on the bark. The Egyptian Cobra is also reported to sham death and this could account for the motionlessness which increases its resemblance to firewood. imfwila (9/10), ilifwila (5/6), ilipingankwale (5/6). The description of the snake which goes by one or other of these three names (they are equated by the Sangu themselves) leaves little doubt that their usual referent is the Black-necked Spitting Cobra, Naja nigricollis. imfwila has cognates in other Eastern Bantu languages, including Swahili (fira, also swila), and in which it usually describes the same and/or closely related species. I was told that it is a black snake which spits venom into the eyes and also bites, though its attacks are not lethal because local medicine is available to counteract the poison (sufficient doses of which are lethal to humans according to the literature). ilifwila is the augmentative and emphatic form of the same name, and may be used to refer to larger specimens. ilipingankwale means ‘the one which stops the francolin’ and suggests that these birds, Francolinus spp., are among its items of prey (Procter, 1968, records the presence of three species of francolin in Usangu, the Red-necked Spurfowl, F.afer, the Coqui Francolin, F.coqui, and Hildebrandt’s Francolin, F.hildebrandti). I was told that it is large, has a red throat, and sometimes climbs trees. These are all characteristics of the Blacknecked Spitting Cobra, which in East Africa usually has a patch of salmon pink (sometimes deep red) scales below the neck which are clearly visible when it rears up to spit. It is possible that ilipingankwale usually refers to larger specimens which have this patch of colour. Otherwise one of my informants specifically identified ilipingankwale with ilifwila. The one-time Southern Highlands Provincial Commissioner, J. E. S. Griffiths, recorded seeing a large spitting cobra on the road to Rujewa (diary entry for 20 August 1958), and I saw at least one Black-necked Spitting

4

Cobra, though of normal dimensions, while living in Usangu. ilipili (5/6), imili (9/10). This is the Puff Adder, Bitis arietans. The usual form of the Sangu name is ilipili, which also has cognates in many closely related Bantu languages, including the Swahili pili or piri. It was described to me succinctly as short, fat and very poisonous, and not surprisingly is therefore put in the augmentative noun class. imili is a form of the same name in class 9/10, which is the usual class designation for snakes. I only heard this term used once in Utengule. This was when a man was reported to be in some pain after having been bitten by a snake while working in his rice plot (this was in the second week of November, 1981). I listened to an argument about the kind of snake which had bitten him: according to one side it was an ‘ilipilu’ (presumably misheard for ilipili), and according to the other it was imili. This suggests that ilipili and imili are considered to be different kinds of snake, though I have no more information on this point. imoma (9/10), imuhando (9/10, or possibly umuhando, 3/4). The first of these terms has cognates in other Eastern Bantu languages, including Swahili (moma), which refer to the Gaboon Viper, Bitis gabonica, and related species. imoma was described to me as being similar to ilipili, the Puff Adder (B.arietans), being more or less the same colour, but longer and more dangerous. This could conceivably apply to the Gaboon Viper, although its colouring and pattern are quite distinct to close observers. In East Africa it is usually found in forests or on forest margins, and while Usangu lacks this kind of habitat, it is possible that isolated specimens make their way down to the Plains from the forested escarpments in the south and west. An identification with the Gaboon Viper would also suit the description of imuhando, which I was told was the most poisonous snake in Usangu, causing instant death to unlucky victims. Fortunately for snake-haters it is said to be very rare. I was also told that it can make a sound like a cock crowing. It

EANHS Bulletin 25 (3), September 1995 ______________________________________________________________________________

was not linked to the imoma by anyone I spoke to, though I did not ask if it was. imuhando could also conceivably describe the Gaboon Viper, which is capable of producing a loud and deep hissing noise when disturbed. However, on one occasion I also recorded the compound name imfwila muhando, suggesting a relationship, real or perceived, with the Black-necked Spitting Cobra. Further research is therefore required to establish the precise reference of these terms (imoma, imuhando) and whether or not Gaboon Vipers occur in Usangu as I have suggested they may. I did not record any other Sangu names for snakes, except for the mythical serpents umutila and inyamfwila, which I discuss elsewhere (Walsh, in prep.). Almost all of the terms I did record refer to common and/or notably poisonous species. This may have been a function of my failure to probe more deeply, or alternatively may reflect the fact that most Sangu only know the names of the species which they are most likely to meet and those which they feel are most likely to pose a threat to their lives. A Kukwe (Nyakyusa) woman told me that there are only four kinds of snake (i.e. four named varieties that she knew of) in Unyakyusa, in the hills and plains to the south of Mount Rungwe, south-east of Usangu. If, however, a much longer Sangu list exists, then it should not be too difficult to elicit it. The more difficult task will be to establish the zoological referents of Sangu names.

5

poison out. The ‘Black Stone’ is really a piece of carbonised bone, and these are supplied to Roman Catholic missionaries by a mission procure in Belgium (Shorter, 1979). As far as I knew no one in Utengule had one - the White Fathers were infrequent visitors - and people were a little disappointed that I did not have one myself. There are presumably many other local treatments which I did not record. A fuller account of these and other aspects of Sangu ethnoherpetology must await future research and publication. I hope that the notes I have provided in this paper will form a useful starting-point for this work.

Acknowledgements My research in Usangu in 1980-82 was funded by the then Social Science Research Council of Great Britain, with additional support from the Smuts Fund and Wolfson College in the University of Cambridge. I am very grateful to my hosts in Utengule and all those who provided me with information on snakes and related subjects, in particular Eliuter Shinangonele, Betitha Mwakalinga, and Ngwila Simuhongole. I would also like to thank Ray Abrahams and Alison Redmayne for their encouragement, advice and other help over the years since I began work on the Sangu, and Susan Charnley for sending me a copy of her unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. None of them, of course, is responsible for the evident shortcomings of this paper.

Conclusion There are other dimensions of Sangu ethnoherpetology which I have not described above. Among these are indigenous treatments for snake bite. One treatment I was told about used the roots of a short grass called ilidilimbuli (said to be known as nsindu in Nyakyusa). These are chewed and rubbed onto the bite, and can also be carried around as a protective charm against snake bite. Some people drink their own urine as a cure for snake bite. Others extolled the virtues of the ‘Black Stone’, which is applied to the site of (bleeding) punctures and stings and reputed to draw the

References Berlin, B. 1992. Ethnobiological Classification: Principles of Categorization of Plants and Animals in Traditional Societies. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Branch, B. 1988. Field Guide to the Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. London: New Holland. Charnley, S. 1994. Cattle, Commons, and Culture: The Political Ecology of Environmental Change on a Tanzanian

EANHS Bulletin 25 (3), September 1995 ______________________________________________________________________________

Rangeland, unpublished dissertation, Stanford University.

Ph.D.

Easterbrook, M. S. n.d. A Book of East African Snakes. Nairobi: Westland Sundries. Fortie, M. 1938. Black and Beautiful: A Life in Safari Land. London: Robert Hale. Griffiths, J. E. S. 1958-59. Personal diary, 4 August 1958 to 11 March 1959 (written during tenure as Southern Highlands Provincial Commissioner), Mss.Afr.r. 190, Rhodes House Library, Oxford. Hedges, N. G. 1983. Reptiles and Amphibians of East Africa. Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau. MacKay, A. and MacKay, J. 1985. Poisonous Snakes of Eastern Africa and the Treatment of their Bites. Nairobi: privately published. Procter, J. 1968. ‘The Birds of the Usangu Plains: A First Checklist, with Notes on Ecology and Distribution’, Tanzania Notes and Records, 69, 1-14. Shorter, A. 1979. Priest in the Village: Experiences of an African Community. London: Geoffrey Chapman. Walsh, M. T. 1984. The Misinterpretation of Chiefly Power in Usangu, South-west Tanzania, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Cambridge. Walsh, M. T. 1985. Shisango Dictionary, unpublished manuscript. Walsh, M. T. (in prep.). ‘Snakes Between the Lakes: The Mythical Serpents and Magical Snakes of South-west Tanzania’, unpublished paper. ___________________________________ Martin T. Walsh, Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, and School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex, U.K. (current [1995] address: Zanzibar Cash Crops Farming Systems Project,

6

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources, Forodhani, P.O.Box 2283, Zanzibar, Tanzania).