The World of the Great Forest

A ntoto, with his elongated weasel-like form, stretched his short legs, and, looking at his dirty reddish-brown spotted skin, as he lay in the hollow of his tree, said: "Many kinds of ntotos inhabit this great forest where I was born. How we ichneumons hate these horrid creeping crawling creatures, the omembas! We kill them every time we have a chance. We show them no mercy, for often when we starve it is owing to them. They eat the prey upon which we feed. We are not even afraid of the biggest of them,-those that feed on kambis, ncheris, or ngoas."

Leaving his place, he walked along slowly through the jungle, and listened, hoping to hear the noise made by omembas crawling among the fallen leaves. After a short ramble, he saw among the leaves one of the worst kind of omembas inhabiting the forest. He was short and very thick, with a skin much the color of the soil and leaves. He had a large triangular-shaped head, with a short horn rising from the end of his nose. His mouth possessed terrible fangs surrounded by bags filled with most deadly poison, which cause death in a very short time.