At a village called Bokoto a boy was brought to me with his right hand missing, for I was very anxious to see an original of the photos which are so common in England.  I was indeed beginning to despair of finding one at all for most of the white men had never seen a case, none of the natives understood what I wished and hitherto no missionary knew where one was to be found.  Here however, was a boy with his right hand missing and it had evidently been removed by a sharp instrument, but not I think by a surgeon, for the scars were not such as follow amputation at the wrist joint.  Mr. Clarke acted as interpreter and the following conversation took place.

—­When was this done?

—­During the rubber war when the boy was an infant.

—­Who did it?

—­The soldiers who came from Bofiji.

—­Why did they come?

—­Because the natives had not collected rubber.

—­Where did this take place?

—­In the country behind Bikoro and the mother was killed at the same time as she was carrying away her infant.

Neither the date nor the age of the boy is known, but he appears to be 12 or 13 years of age and his name is Imputela.  Although therefore, no proof can be adduced, for the child of course remembers nothing and only knows what he has been told, there is a possibility that a native soldier may have cut off his hand.  On the other hand, it may have been injured or cut by a native chief.  I mention this case at length, because it was the only one I ever found in a tour of several thousand miles in the interior of the Congo State, although everyone knew I was very anxious to see such cases.  On our way back we call at Inkaka another fishing village.  Behind it a few of the Batoir tribe had temporarily settled.  They are very savage and uncivilised and lead a wandering life, hunting game.  Sometimes they act as professional hunters and are employed by villagers to find them food.  One young fellow was armed with a bow and wooden arrows poisoned at the tip and carefully wrapped in a leaf.  The poison is simply the decomposing matter of dead men or animals.  As long as this is wet, it is most deadly but loses its strength when dried.  For this reason only is the tip wrapped in a leaf.  Death has followed within a few hours of being struck with a poisoned arrow and this is only to be expected, for we know how dangerous it is for surgeons when they wound themselves during an examination of the dead body.  On the way home we found a snake in the water and shot it just at the very moment it had seized a fish and was holding it in its mouth.  Just as we were picking this out another similar one appeared and this met the same fate.  They were bright green in colour and had small heads, but one measured 93 and the other 90 inches in length.