A Kisukuma hunting song from Tanzania. The hunter imagines, with some sympathy, the last thoughts of the wild pig he has killed with his trap.
I killed a wild pig in the trap.
It cried,
Where is my father?..
Hunting Song
A Shona poem from Zimbabwe, sung by men hunting game in the bush. The names mentioned are all places, where different types of game are found.
Come on, men, let’s go hunting with the dogs,
Our dogs of Murewa, it’s their lucky day!..
Buffalo
A Yorùbá Ìjálá (hunter’s poem) from Nigeria (see also Hunters’ Salutes). The poem describes vividly the buffalo’s attributes of speed and terrifying strength.
Buffalo, we salute you:
Butterfly of the savannah…
The Honeybird
A poem of the Hurutshe people from South Africa. The honey-bird (also called the honeyguide or the hunter’s friend), will lead a hunter to a bee hive so that when he has taken the honey-combs the bird can eat the grubs.
Bird of the thorn apple trees,
Bird with more kind-heartedness than a chief…
Hunters Prayers
A prayer of the San bushmen, calling to the Moon to assist the hunter the following day. In the prayer the hunter describes how he will steal the yolk of an ostrich’s egg while the ostrich is actually sitting on the nest.
Ho moon lying there,
Let me early tomorrow see an ostrich…
Is the Chief greater than the Hunter?
An Akan song from Ghana, sung by professional hunters. The song’s argument is that hunters, with all their skills and bravery, are greater than chiefs, who depend on hunters for their luxuries.
Is the chief greater than the hunter?
Arrogance! Hunter? Arrogance!…
