Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/379

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Note on the Scaly Ant-Eater (Manis temmincki).—To trace the origin of curious native sayings or superstitions concerning animals is always a matter of interest, and there are few animals in this country which have given rise to more of these than the Scaly Ant-Eater, or "Aka," as the natives call it. Among the Mashonas this weird beast, which looks more like a reptile than a mammal in its general appearance, used formerly to be regarded as a special perquisite of the chiefs, and woe betide any venturesome persons who dared to regale themselves on its much-prized flesh, as the punishment for this was death; and, according to most of my informants, the offender was usually killed while asleep, though I failed to find out whether there was any special reason for this. On the other hand, if the lucky finder of one of these animals fulfilled his duty by bringing it to his chief, he was presented with a cow as a reward. The reason for this munificent payment is probably due to the assertion of the Kaffirs that this animal has gold in its entrails. "Not the white man's gold," as one of my "boys" informed me, "but Portuguese gold"; meaning thereby that I was not to expect to find sovereigns, but raw gold. On inquiring further from this youth, who belongs to Chikwakwa's tribe, I was told that the Pangolins were very scarce about his home, and there were only certain Kaffirs who knew how to find them; that they lived principally near the big rivers, and would come out at night to dig in the ground for the gold on which they feed. I had always regarded this eating of gold as more or less of a myth, but recently a wounded Ant-Eater came into my hands, being only the second specimen which I had seen alive, and I was determined to see whether there was any foundation for this curious belief. After the animal had been skinned, I carefully examined the contents of the stomach. This contained numerous heads of a large-eyed termite (Hodotermes), which is common in many parts of the country, but mixed with these was a good handful of quartz pebbles and sand. On seeing this, not only the origin, but also the probable truth of the natives' assertion became obvious at once; for when digging into the nests of ants and termites, and