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SWAHILI ETHNOHERPETOLOGY:
NOTES FROM CENTRAL UNGUJA
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 
, 26 (2): 18-22 June 1996
{NB: the page numbers in this version do not follow those of the published text}
current address:
kisutu@hotmail.com
 
EANHS Bulletin 26 (2), June 1996 ______________________________________________________________________________ 1
SWAHILI ETHNOHERPETOLOGY: NOTES FROM CENTRAL UNGUJA
The following notes are intended to supplement the ethnoherpetological data included in R. H. W. Pakenham’s study (1983) of the reptiles and amphibians of Zanzibar, in particular the Swahili names of snakes and other reptiles he recorded for Unguja (formerly Zanzibar) island. The notes are based upon information provided by a young man (aged in his mid-20s) at Mseweni in central Unguja on 24 May 1995. The hamlet of Mseweni (or Ndijani Mseweni, as it is often called) lies in the centre of the island, south of the main Zanzibar-Chwaka road and less than 10 km north-west of the Jozani Forest. This is currently one of the most rapidly developing agricultural areas of Unguja: in recent years many farmers have moved from the nearby plantation areas to settle and cultivate a wide variety of crops (including orange trees) on the semi-coral rag
uwanda
 land which was formerly used for shifting cultivation and largely covered with bush. Nonetheless, some patches of forest remain in the Ndijani area, and the large “rice valley” of Cheju, just to the south of Mseweni, adds to the diversity of local habitats. My informant, like other inhabitants of Mseweni, spoke the standard Unguja dialect of Swahili, though some influence from the southern and eastern dialects of the island is apparent in the local terminologies for flora and fauna. The ethnoherpetological information presented here was recorded in the course of an informal discussion about the fauna of the Mseweni area and only later (sometime after my stay in Mseweni) compared with the data provided by Pakenham. While this is not an ideal procedure for research of this kind, it was the only one which time and other tasks allowed. Ideally I would also have interviewed other, and perhaps more knowledgeable, informants. However, given the general paucity of published material of this kind - Pakenham’s careful recording of local names being the exception rather than the rule - I hope that the following will be of some use, if only to encourage more thorough research by others.
Snakes
Pakenham recognised the presence of 23 species of snake on Unguja, though it is difficult to tell from his account how many of these might be found in the Mseweni area. In addition to the general term for snakes my informant recalled seven named varieties and also referred to an eighth which he was unable to put a name to. These are listed below, together with his observations and my own comments. In this and subsequent sections I have mostly followed the nomenclature in Pakenham (1983), adding his subspecies names in parenthesis (assuming that these in particular are liable to change). Alternative English names are taken from Branch (1988).
nyoka
: the general term for a snake and any member of the suborder Serpentes.
chatu
: this is the common Swahili name for the African Rock Python,
Python sebae
, also recorded by Pakenham. My informant described this as the only snake without a poisonous bite, although it can swallow chickens, goats, calves and even humans. He also stated that it can live in a hole underground for a whole year, only coming out on just one day to feed. Reports from other farmers in the area indicate that pythons are most often encountered in the well-watered Cheju valley, where irrigated and rain-fed rice are cultivated.
ukuti
: this was described as a relatively small green snake. Pakenham gives
nyoka-kuti
 and
nyoka-ukuti
 as Unguja names for
 
EANHS Bulletin 26 (2), June 1996 ______________________________________________________________________________ 2
the Spotted Bush (or Wood) Snake,
Philothamnus semivariegatus
 (ssp.
semivariegatus
). In the Standard Swahili dictionary (Johnson, 1939) it is suggested that this name for the snake is derived from the Swahili term for the side frond of a coconut leaf (also
ukuti
; plural
kuti
): when on the tree these are similar in colour and length to the snake (or at least green variants thereof).
mtunguu
: described as a larger version of the
ukuti
, yellow or bright green in colour. Pakenham was given this name at Muyuni, in southern Unguja, for average-sized specimens of the Green Mamba,
 Dendroaspis angusticeps
: the largest ones were called
shangauka
. Given the suggested botanical derivation of the name
ukuti
, an analogous etymology can be posited for
mtunguu
: this also being the local name of the Wild Cardamom,
 Afromomum angustifolium
, which has long green stems similar in length to the Green Mamba (for a description and illustration of this plant, which is common in the Jozani Forest, see Williams, 1949).
peku
 (plural
mapeku)
: according to my informant a grey-coloured snake which is particularly fond of (hen’s) eggs and is most commonly found in the ‘home garden’ areas (
viamboni
), where there are many tall plantation trees. At Jambiani, in south-east Unguja, Pakenham was given this as the name of the Boomslang,
 Dispholidus typus
, a snake which may vary considerably in colour.
 jangasa
, or
 jangasa-kima
: described as a large version of the
 peku
, which is black in colour and is found in the larger forests and areas of thick bush. My informant said that the name
 jangasa-kima
 refers to the fact that they are apt to attack monkeys by  jumping up or flying through the air at them:
kima
 is the Unguja name for the White-throated Guenon or Sykes’ Monkey,
Cercopithecus mitis
 (ssp.
albogularis
), which is very common on the island (Pakenham, 1984). Pakenham did not record these names, but at Chwaka and Muyuni was told about a big black tree snake called
nyoka-kima
, reputed to be very aggressive, and which he suggested might be identified as either the Green Mamba,
 Dendroaspis angusticeps
, or the Boomslang,
 Dispholidus typus
. Given the similarity of names and descriptions, there seems little doubt that
 jangasa-kima
 and
nyoka-kima
 have the same referent(s).
mkufu
, or
nyoka-mkufu
: this snake, said to be very poisonous and therefore dangerous, was described as having black and white stripes on its body like a
mjusi
 (a gecko or skink, see below). The Swahili name presumably refers to this pattern and coloration,
mkufu
 being a metal chain. Pakenham does not record this name. It appears, however, in cognate form in the Rabai dialect of Mijikenda, spoken in the hinterland of Mombasa on the Kenya coast (Mijikenda and Swahili being closely related languages). The Rabai
nyoka-mukufu
 is glossed as “the chain-snake”, and described as having a body like an iron chain (Krapf and Rebmann, 1887). In the absence of more precise information it is difficult to say which species either the Unguja or the Rabai name might refer to.
kobra
: this name was used for a snake which my informant described as black in colour, possessing a hood and capable of standing up. He did not know of any other name for this snake nor, apparently, was aware that this was a loan-word from English. Pakenham records the presence of two species of cobra on Unguja, the Forest or Black-lipped Cobra,
 Naja melanoleuca
, and the Mozambique Spitting Cobra,
 Naja mossambica
 (ssp.
mossambica
). He does not, however, give a Swahili name for them. The lack of an indigenous name - or at least one that was known to our informants -may well be a function of the fact that these snakes are comparatively rare on the island. [
unnamed
]: another snake, which my informant had seen once in a nearby forest, was described as being long and thin and having a mixed pattern of different colours, including khaki and black. He did not know

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