The World of the Great Forest

It so happened that the plantain field which the njokoos had destroyed had been planted by human beings who were cannibals. They were great hunters, very brave and fierce, knew the use of firearms, and had guns with which they shot many njokoos. It was the custom of these men to have their plantations hidden in the forest and far away from their villages. Many of these were so far off that a day's journey was necessary for them to go and come back with a load of plantains on their backs. It was hard work for these men of the forest to make a plantation, for they had first to fell the forest trees, and, when partly dry, to set fire to them, and then to plant the shoots.

Two days after the njokoos had left, some of the women of the tribe to whom the field belonged, came to get plantains to take back with them to feed their people. When they saw that all the plantain-trees had been torn down, and the fruit devoured, and witnessed the havoc the njokoos had wrought, they exclaimed, "The njokoos have been here and eaten up everything. What shall we do to feed our families? " They also saw the footprints of nginas and were filled with fear. They started for their village in great haste, making loud noises to scare the monsters off.