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
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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
1
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
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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
2
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
EANHS Bulletin 26 (2), June 1996
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a Swahili name for this snake, which did not
fit into any of the above categories. Again,
without more precise information, it is
difficult to suggest an identification.
The above list is interesting for a number of
reasons. It includes more than half of the
Unguja snake names recorded by
Pakenham, and adds two which are not:
jangasa or jangasa-kima (apparently
equivalent to his nyoka-kima) and nyoka-
mkufu. It does not include the following:

nyoka-mwale, given to Pakenham at
Muyuni for the (Northern) Stripe-
bellied Sand Snake, Psammophis
subtaeniatus (ssp. sudanensis);

mtumia-kuwili (literally ‘the one
that goes both ways’, because of the
superficial similarity between head
and tail), applied to the four species
of Blind Snake, family
Typhlopidae;

kipilili, recorded for the Snouted
Night Adder, Causus defilippi,
which is apparently quite rare.
The apparent absence of names in
either of our lists for some of the quite
common snakes of Unguja, such as the
Brown or Common House Snake,
Lamprophis (Boaedon) fuliginosus, suggests
that they may be subsumed under some of
the same terms. Further research on the
referents of the Swahili terms is required to
establish this for certain.
There is evidently a bias in Unguja
Swahili taxonomy towards more specific
identification of the snakes which are
dangerous to people and their livestock. All
of the snakes which my informant named
were considered by him to be poisonous or
(in the case of the python) harmful in some
other way. Although the Spotted Bush
Snake, Philothamnus variegatus, is not
poisonous, its Swahili name, ukuti, is
probably also extended to immature or
small Green Mambas, Dendroaspis
angusticeps, the larger specimens of which
are called mtunguu. Indeed my informant
3
stated his belief that ukuti and mtunguu are
names for the same snake in different stages
of growth, and from this point of view it is
quite reasonable that both of them should be
feared. Likewise he considered peku
(which Pakenham was given as a name for
the Boomslang, Dispholidus typus) and
jangasa-kima to be size variants of the same
snake, the former growing into the latter,
and it is quite likely that one or both of
these names also refer to more than one
zoological species.
From a linguistic point of view it is
interesting to note that many of the names
of snakes are descriptive in some way,
especially of the snake’s colour and/or
appearance. Three of the Unguja names
appear to be derived from the names for
common plants or parts thereof: ukuti from
Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) fronds,
mtunguu from the Wild Cardamom
(Afromomum angustifolium) and
Pakenham’s nyoka-mwale (the Stripe-
bellied Sand Snake, Psammophis
subtaeniatus) from the Raffia Palm (Raphia
farinifera), called mwale in Unguja Swahili.
Lizards
Pakenham admitted 12 species of lizard
(including five geckos, four skinks and one
chameleon) to his list of those normally
occurring on Unguja. My informant
provided the following five Swahili names:
mjusi: this was the only name for skinks
and geckos which my informant knew,
though he recognised three different kinds
of mjusi, which he said he could distinguish
by colour but not by name. A young man
from Bumbwini in northern Unguja, joining
in our conversation, volunteered the
additional names mjusi-kafiri and gonda.
As Pakenham notes, mjusi-kafiri (the
‘pagan’ mjusi) is applied to geckos, family
Gekkonidae, in general, in contrast to mjusi-
Islam (the ‘Muslim’ mjusi), referring to the
reputedly more handsome and devout
skinks, family Scincidae. Pakenham
records gonda as a generic name for
Mabuya maculilabris, the Speckle-lipped
Skink, and M. striata, the Striped or
Common Two-striped Skink. He reports
EANHS Bulletin 26 (2), June 1996
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that the former is also called
kigorong’ondwa and gonda-mjusi at
Muyuni in southern Unguja, but did not
record any other Swahili names for skinks
or geckos on the island.
kenge: described as a large lizard which
grows up to one pima in length, the distance
between a man’s outstretched arms. This is
the common Swahili name for the Nile
Monitor, Varanus niloticus (ssp. niloticus),
also recorded by Pakenham. While working
in Mseweni I saw a dead juvenile on a path
close to the house in which I was staying,
this being in the midst of the area of
dispersed settlement and orange cultivation.
guruguru: this was described as similar to
kenge, the Nile Monitor, but much shorter
in length, around one foot. Pakenham
records this as the name of the Great or
Rough-scaled Plated Lizard, Gerrhosaurus
major (ssp. major, the Zanzibar Great
Plated Lizard), which is usually 30-40 cm in
length and the only lizard on Unguja which
fits the description given. In the
Makunduchi dialect of southern Unguja it is
called by the cognate term guuguu (Chum,
1994). The distinctive size of this species,
and likewise that of the larger Nile Monitor,
presumably explains why they are clearly
distinguished from smaller lizards by name.
kimalele, or kimbaumbau: these were
given as the local names for chameleons,
though my informant was not sure whether
they referred to different varieties or were
alternative names for a single kind of
chameleon. The scientific classification of
chameleons on Unguja is similarly
uncertain. Pakenham notes that although
most authorities recognise a single species,
Chamaeleo dilepis, the Flap-necked
Chameleon, some distinguish between two
subspecies (C. d. dilepis and C. d.
quilensis), while one author describes the
second of these as a full species (C.
quilensis). Pakenham records that he heard
both of these Swahili names in southern
Unguja, and they also appear in Chum’s
vocabulary of the Makunduchi dialect
(1994): otherwise the most widespread
4
name for chameleons on the island was and
is kinyonga. My informant noted that some
chameleons have a ‘crest’ (a noticeable
feature of the Flap-necked Chameleon) and
speculated that the presence or absence of
this may distinguish between males and
females. He also described chameleon
saliva as being poisonous and liable to
cause ukoma, leprosy, in humans who are
unfortunate enough to come into contact
with it. It is not clear how this belief, which
has widespread correlates in Africa, might
have arisen: although Flap-necked
Chameleons are known to bite, there is no
scientific evidence for their saliva being
harmful in any way.
Other Reptiles and Amphibians
For the sake of completeness it can be noted
that there are no indigenous land tortoises
or terrapins on Unguja island. Mseweni lies
in the centre of the island and its inhabitants
do not fish in the sea or are otherwise
familiar with the different species of turtle
which frequent Unguja’s coasts. I did,
however, also ask about amphibians.
Pakenham recognised 22 species of frog and
toad as occurring on Unguja (one not
confirmed) but my informant only knew one
Swahili name for these, chura (plural
vyura), although he recognised that there
was some difference between the larger
terrestrial varieties and the smaller ones
which climb trees.
Conclusion
Although Swahili is the best-known and
most widely spoken language in East
Africa, comparatively little research has
been undertaken on Swahili ethnozoology
(including ethnoherpetology). Published
dictionaries and compilations like that by
Maimu (1982) generally fail to record the
regional and local dialect variations which
are an essential feature of Swahili
ethnography. Pakenham’s work on
Zanzibar forms an important exception,
though, as the above notes indicate, there is
still a lot of work remaining to be done. I
hope that these notes will encourage others
to take up this task.
EANHS Bulletin 26 (2), June 1996 5
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Acknowledgements Williams, R. O. (1949). The Useful and

Fieldwork in Mseweni (22-26 May 1995)
was undertaken as a part of a study of
Ndijani Farmers’ Research Group by the
Zanzibar Cash Crops Farming Systems
Project in collaboration with other sections
of the Zanzibar Ministry of Agriculture,
Livestock and Natural Resources. I am
grateful to my hosts and colleagues in
Mseweni, and especially to my principal
informant, whose name I refrain from
publishing out of respect for his privacy.
Ornamental Plants of Zanzibar and
Pemba. Zanzibar: Zanzibar Protectorate.
___________________________________
Martin T. Walsh, Natural Resources
Institute, Chatham, and School of African
and Asian Studies, University of Sussex,
U.K. (current [1996] address: Zanzibar
Cash Crops Farming Systems Project,
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Natural Resources, Forodhani, P.O.Box
2283, Zanzibar, Tanzania).

References
Branch, B. (1988). Field Guide to the
Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern
Africa. London: New Holland.

Chum, H. (1994). Msamiati wa Pekee wa

Kikae: Kae Specific Vocabulary.
Uppsala: Nordic Association of African
Studies.

Johnson, F. (ed.) (1939). A Standard

Swahili-English Dictionary. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.

Krapf, L. and Rebmann, J. (1887). A Nika-

English Dictionary (edited by T. H.
Sparshott). London: Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Maimu, M. (1982). Kamusi ya Wanyama na

Nyoka wa Tanzania: A Glossary of
Animals and Snakes of Tanzania. Dar es
Salaam: Tanzania Publishing House.

Pakenham, R. H. W. (1983). ‘The Reptiles

and Amphibians of Zanzibar and Pemba
Islands (with a Note on the Freshwater
Fishes)’, Journal of the East Africa
Natural History Society and National
Museum, No.177.

Pakenham, R. H. W. (1984). The Mammals

of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands.
Harpenden: privately published.