bananas, and as he lifts that, drops the child; the young Soko, in such a case, would cling closely to the armpit of the elder. One man was cutting out honey from a tree, and naked, when a Soko suddenly appeared and caught him, then let him go; another man was hunting, and missed in his attempt to stab a Soko; it seized the spear, and broke it, then grappled with the man, who called to his companions, ‘Soko has caught me!’ The Soko bit off the ends of his fingers, and escaped unharmed. Both men are now alive at Bambarré.” [Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG SOKO. (_Copied by permission from the Engraving In Livingstone’s “Last Journal.”_)] “The Soko is so cunning, and has such sharp eyes, that no one can stalk him in front without being seen; hence, when shot, it is always in the back; when surrounded by men and nets, he is generally speared in the back too, otherwise he is not a very formidable beast. He is nothing, as compared in power of damaging his assailant, to a Leopard or Lion, but is more like a man unarmed, for it does not occur to him to use his canine teeth, which are long and formidable. Numbers of them came down in the forest, within a hundred yards of our camp, and would be unknown but for giving tongue like Fox-hounds; this is their nearest approach to speech. A man, hoeing, was stalked by a Soko, and seized; he roared out, but the Soko giggled and grinned, and left him as if he had done it in play. A child, caught up by a Soko, is often abused by being pinched, and scratched, and let fall.” [Illustration: SOKO HUNT. (_After a Sketch by Dr. Livingstone._)] “The Soko kills the Leopard occasionally, by seizing both paws and biting them, so as to disable them; he then goes up a tree, groans over his wounds, and sometimes recovers, while the Leopard dies. At other times both Soko and Leopard die. The Lion kills him at once, and sometimes tears his limbs off, but does not eat him. The Soko eats no flesh; small bananas are his dainties, but not maize. His food consists of wild fruits, which abound, and of these one is like large sweet sop, but indifferent in taste. The Soko brings forth at times twins. A very large Soko was seen by Mohamad’s hunters, sitting picking his nails; they tried to stalk him, but he vanished. Some Manyuema think that their buried dead rise as Sokos, and one was killed with holes in his ears, as if he had been a man. He is very strong, and fears guns, but not spears. He never catches women.”