The ngábi or nzoge was a cryptid reported from what is now western Tanzania and Uganda. During his East African expedition (1857 – 1859), explorer Richard Burton collected descriptions of it from Musa Mzuri, an Indian trader of Tabora, who claimed that it existed in the Kingdom of Karagwe, on the western shore of Lake Victoria.[1]
According to Musa, the ngábi was an amphibious herbivore capable of killing, in self-defense, using its "short teeth and four tusks about the size of a man's finger." It was reportedly 5 ft (1 m 50 cm) in height and 6 ft (1 m 80 cm) in length, with a calf-like face, a mane of reddish-yellow hair about 1 ft (30 cm) long around its shoulders, five long "nails," and a goat-like tail. The fur of its mane was said to have been used for clothing in Karagwe. An ngábi skin had reportedly once been brought to Tabora by the Arabs, but had been stolen by slaves prior to Burton's arrival.[1]
Burton felt that the description "sound[ed] almost fabulous," but suggested that the ngábi could be a manatee,[1] which are reported from the nearby Upper Congo and Lake Tanganyika under the names mamba and chenuzi.