Mystery of the ostrich people

Beyond the southern valley of the Zambezi river in Zimbabwe where buffalo roam under bleached skies and tsetse flies linger on human flesh... Beyond the scattering of bamboo huts where river beds dry up and dirt tracks end and the nearest police outpost is hundreds of miles away...Beyond musiga trees stripped of bark, high up in the Chiruwa hills, you will at last hear the far-off rumbling of drums that belong to a tribe known as the ostrich people because of their V-shaped feet.They are the Vadoma, or two-toed tribe, and they provide an unmatched example of genetic effects in a small population, for they have the condition known as ectrodactyly in which the middle three toes are absent.In reference books you will search vainly for all but the most cursory details of their mysterious existence. Only a handful of men have encountered pure-bred members of the Vadoma.

The first white man to do so was reportedly Charles Sutton, from Banstead, and now he has decided to share his remarkable story.It is a story that begins in 1951 when he decided to emigrate from Surrey. Eyes shut, the young Charles aimed a pin at an atlas and found it embedded in southern Rhodesia. After making extensive enquiries, he was recruited by British South Africa police then posted to several rural stations.
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