1870.] THE SOKO. 53 



villainously low, with high ears, is well in the back-ground 

 of the great clog-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 Manyuema 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 to be extremely knowing, 

 successfully stalking men and women while at their work, 

 kidnapping 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 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 Bambarre. 



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 come 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, 



