| The Mngwa is one of the most feared African | | | | Mngwa is best described in one of Captain Hitchens' |
| Mystery beasts. It is said to be in the form of a giant, | | | | passages where he tells of the situation of the nights |
| as huge as a donkey at times, it has gray fur and is | | | | following an alleged Mngwa attack: |
| said to be marked like a tabby. Most scientists defend | | | | "For nights the whole town lived in fear, and although |
| against the Mngwa saying that it is a known species, | | | | we doubled the police-guards we had difficulty in |
| only that it is of a different color. But, facts have been | | | | getting the men to go on duty. But I have seen those |
| pointed out by those that have had sighting of the | | | | same men rout a lion out of a bush-patch with sticks! |
| Mngwa that the tracks left by the Mngwa are unlike | | | | They swore that this beast was not a lion, nor a |
| the tracks of other known giant felines. This creature is | | | | leopard, but a Mngwa." |
| otherwise called as the Nunda. When translated, the | | | | The existence of the Mngwa is doubtless in the minds |
| name Mngwa means "The Strange One." | | | | of those that have had experienced its power in one |
| Captain William Hitchens is one of the few men who | | | | way or another. The creature is even mentioned in a |
| have written down accounts of the Mngwa. A | | | | popular hunting song that mentions the Lion (Simba), |
| passage on the Mngwa can be found on the Captain's: | | | | the Leopard (Nsui) and the Mngwa as three different |
| African Mystery Beasts. In the article, Captain Hitchens | | | | creatures, proof that there is no confusion in the minds |
| describes the Mngwa as "The Terror of the | | | | of the natives when it comes to the three creatures. |
| Coastlands". He describes the Mngwa as it is retold by | | | | Another account of the Mngwa comes form the |
| the natives. He was a skeptic at the very beginning, | | | | hunter Patrick Bowen who has said that he had once |
| but since he went on many events that attempted to | | | | tracked the Mngwa and recorded it to be like a |
| track down the animal and he has also helped men | | | | leopard but that it was as big as the biggest lion and |
| who have been mauled by the creature, the Captain | | | | that its hairs were brindled. |
| soon became a believer. | | | | There have been no recent recorded sightings and |
| The Mngwa is such a creature that strikes intense | | | | reports of the Mngwa, but it does not mean that the |
| fear in the hearts of many men and women in Africa. | | | | creature does not exist. The lack in recent recorded |
| They swear that the Mngwa is neither a Lion nor a | | | | sighting may just be due to the fact the interest in the |
| Leopard and they fear it much more that those two | | | | African Safari is not as it once was. |
| giant cats. The fear of the residents in response to the | | | | |