4358 Tue Zootocist—M arcu, 1875. 
Extracts from Dr. Livingstone’s Last Journal.—A soko alive 
was believed to be a good charm for rain; so one was caught, and 
the captor had the ends of two fingers and toes bitten off. The 
soko or gorilla always tries to bite off those parts, and has been 
known to overpower a young man and leave him without the ends 
of his fingers and toes. I saw the nest of one; it is a poor con- 
trivance; no more architectural skill shown than in the nest of our 
cushat dove.—Vol. ii. p. 28. 
Soko Hunting.—Four gorillas or sokos were killed yesterday : 
an extensive grass burning forced them out of their usual haunt, 
and coming on the plain they were speared. They often go erect, 
but place the hand on the head as if to steady the body. When 
thus seen the soko is an ungainly beast. The most sentimental 
young lady would not call him “a dear,” but a bandylegged, pot- 
bellied, low-looking villain, without a particle of the gentleman in 
him. Other animals, especially the antelope, are graceful, and it 
is pleasant to see them either at rest or in motion: the natives also 
are well made, lithe and comely to behold, but the soko, if large, 
would do well to stand for a picture of the Devil. He takes away 
my appetite by his disgusting bestiality of appearance; his light 
yellow face shows off his ugly whiskers and faint apology for a 
beard; the forehead villainously low, with high ears, is well in the 
background of the great dog-mouth ; the teeth are slightly human, 
but the canines show the beast by their large development. The 
hands, or rather the fingers, are like those of the natives. The 
flesh of the feet is yellow, and the eagerness with which the natives 
devour it leaves the impression that eating sokos was the first stage 
by which they arrived at being cannibals; they say the flesh is 
delicious. The soko is represented by some as being exceedingly 
knowing, successfully stalking men and women at their work, kid- 
napping children and running up trees with them: he seems to be 
amused by the sight of the young native in his arms, but comes 
down when tempted by a bunch of bananas, and as he lifts that, 
drops the child: the young soko in such a case would cling closely 
to the arm-pit 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 companion, “ Soko has 
caught me!” the soko bit off the ends of his fingers and escaped 
ee 
