Last year during preparation for the
Weird Weekend I came across an article in The Society of Malawi Journal vol 37
(1) 1984 pp 40-52 (but pages 41-42 are now missing) titled `Mythical and Real
Snakes of Chitipa District` by Bruce J. Hargreaves of the National University of
Lesotho. Today`s blog is a highlight of the most interesting points of this
article.
CHIWURA OR
UCHURA
The Lambia name uchura applies not
to a snake , but is a general term for frogs. I have heard it specifically
applied to the genus Xenopus. Charles Nicholas Kayuni said that uchura kills
snakes. Chiwura is a frog which, according to Luxun C.Mlenga, sits in a hole
with its mouth open and eats any snake which enters. He added that it eats any
snake, no matter what the size, but that flying snakes cannot be caught this
way. (1)
THE BIG SPOTTED
SNAKE
Luxun Mlenga described a “big black
and white-spotted snake which is 1 ½ feet wide and twenty yards long” . He said
that if it crosses a stick of nyongampembe (Steganotaenia araleacea, the carrot
tree) it dies. He also added that it puts its head down if it sees twins.
(2)
ITIWA
Itawa is a snake which looks like a
tortoise according to Luxun Mlenga. He did not say that it flies nor did he
associate it with the tortoise which is used for flying in witchcraft. Happy
Ngosi added that itiwa is found in the Mafinga Ridge and has two heads
protruding from the coils of its body. The Mafinga Ridge is noted for its
snakes…When I wished to take to the Chitipa Secondary School Exploring Club
there in 1968 I had great difficulty. Fortunately one of the students had a
father who worked in the Forestry Department and had been up the ridge…When I
asked to borrow the District Council lorry however I was told that we should not
go because of the “snake” which lives in the “lake” on top of the ridge. (There
is a marsh above Chisenga which feeds into a river which becomes a waterfall
above Mulembe but there is no true lake.) (3)
PYTHONS
When I was skinning the python
(mentioned previously in the text-R) , Dalia Nachilima warned her son Nicholas
Kayuni not to touch it. I was told that touching a python leads to stunting of
growth and wasting away Since Nicholas was one of shortest children in his class
he could hardly afford to take chances…Happy Ngosi referred to the python as
isato and said that there are two
types: forest residents and those which live outside the forest. The forest
residents are darker in colour, less aggressive and feed on small animals such
as goats and calves. Those outside the forest sometimes live in streams but come
to land for food. They are lighter in colour and are
aggressive.
I was shown caves and prayer groves
in Chitipa District where pythons were said to dwell. It is almost certain that
in the past prayers for rain and fertility involved offerings to such
pythons…Ngosi told me orally that there is one kind of python that bleats like
a goat. (4)
BLIND BURROWING
REPTILES
…P.Malanga recorded the belief that to meet “ a snake
which seemed to have no head” was bad luck or an indication that one`s relative
had died. He added that to remove the bad luck you had to meet an animal known
as tumbatumba (Tumbuka) (5)
SMALL GREEN
SNAKES
Godfrey Mwanja said that manimani is like leaves (mani
in Chiŵandia) and stays in them. He added that it is fast, small and long.
Happy Ngosi said there are two types of these snakes, a forest resident which is
big and deep green in colour and a resident outside the forest which is small
and light green in colour . (6)
REFERENCES
- J. Bruce Mythical and Real
Snakes of Chitipa District p. 40
- Ibid p.
40
- Ibid p.
40
- Ibid p.
44-45
- Ibid
p.45
- Ibid p.
48
