Unusual African knife or short sword

[colin henshaw]

Here is a recently acquired unusual African knife which has a cross-cultural element to it ... making it of extra interest (to me at least). At first I thought it could be Sudanese, given the crocodile covered sheath, but after a bit of research, take the view it's more likely to be from the Cameroon grasslands area. (Refer : "Panga na visu" by Zirngible & Kubetz).

The blade seems to be an adapted European very large kitchen type knife; length is 50cm the knife by itself. The knife scales are made of dark horn with pressed ? decoration.

Can anyone shed more light on this item, and perhaps the European knife rings a bell with someone ? I can see no markings on the blade, (needs a bit of cleaning).

Thanks in advance for any information, similar examples etc.