Partial Civilization 
an acquaintance of his saw the head of a large 
python protruding from a hole in the bank of a 
rivulet. When he cautiously approached, it was 
withdrawn. • The hunter then thrust his foot and 
leg into the hole and after an hour the monster 
had swallowed it up to his knee. The hunter 
then killed the snake by splitting it from his 
knee to his foot with a sharp knife. 
The rocky nature of the soil made the mission 
yard at Abeokuta the favorite haunt of a reptile 
which we dreaded much more than we did the 
leopards of Ejahyay or the pythons of Abeokuta. 
This was the small white scorpion, about three 
inches long. There was another species about 
half of a foot in length and of a jet black color, 
but these were not so dangerous as the innocent 
looking white species. The latter generally came 
out after dark and it was at that time the children 
were most frequently stung. When I would see 
a girl or boy fall suddenly to the ground and 
writhe in speechless agony, I knew what was 
the matter. A missionary was stung one night 
about dark and he screamed and groaned until 
midnight. He said that the pain was indescrib¬ 
able. 1 had some very narrow escapes. Once 
the sting struck the skin without breaking it. 
Even then there was a sharp pain for a few mo- 
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