WINGED DEATH 203 



just like men, but went to war with men, who threw 

 sand into the dogs' eyes and so bUnded them that they 

 have never to this day been able to fmd their way home. 



Then there was a boy who slew the giant. This 

 demon ate people and cattle until he had cleaned up 

 everything on earth except one woman and her small 

 son, whom he had overlooked. One day he found 

 them and made ready to finish them off, but the small 

 boy by a clever ruse put a lot of red-hot stones down 

 the demon's throat and thus finished off the demon. 

 As the giant was dying he told the boy to cut off his 

 httle finger and his thumb ; and this being done, all the 

 people and cattle issued forth to populate the earth 

 again and they made the boy their chief. 



One of the aged elders told me about the famous 

 Nandi Bear, and assured me he knew of its existence 

 when he was a small child, having heard his father 

 talk about it, while his mother warned him to keep 

 away from the forest when alone, as otherwise the 

 bear would get him. The young chief, a Nandi of 

 more than ordinary intelligence, told me that one of 

 his warriors had been chased by this terrible animal 

 a few nights previous to our talk. I asked him to 

 fetch this man so I could inquire of him about this 

 experience, but he said the warrior in question had 

 gone on a long journey. 



From several descriptions of this beast supplied by 

 the Nandi, it must certainly be a horrible animal. 

 They describe it as larger than a leopard, but not as 

 big as a Hon. Its front legs are longer than the hind 

 ones, after the shape of a hyena. It has sharp claws 

 and is very swift in running, sometimes leaping over 

 bushes fifteen feet high. It has a face like a human 



