Some Beasts and Insects 
were ail in great peril and again screamed with 
terror. Assuring her that we would protect her, 
I rallied my demoralized forces (including my 
own nerves) and went to the rescue of the inter¬ 
preter. A few blows on the head laid out our 
enemy and brought peace once more to our 
household. It proved to be an animal that science 
places in the family of porcupines. It was about 
the size of a large opossum but was more like a 
rat than anything I ever saw that was not a rat. 
The Sierra Leone people call it “ground pig.” 
We roasted it whole and found it to be most ex¬ 
cellent eating. 
The most troublesome of all our nocturnal vis¬ 
itors were the ‘ ‘ driver ” or “ soldier ” ants. They 
are savage and bloodthirsty and their strong, 
sharp nippers enable them easily to tear the flesh 
of any object of attack. When they are on a 
foraging expedition, they place themselves along 
the outside of the living stream and rush fiercely 
at any living thing, however large, that molests 
the workers in their charge. When the line of 
march crosses a path, the soldiers lock their feet 
and nippers together and thus form a strong arch 
under which the other ants march without being 
seen. So long as they are not disturbed, one 
can examine them at his leisure; but if the sol- 
75 
