210 NOTES ON THE MONBUTTU.

and scatter the ashes. All these statements must be received with the greatest reserve, for my informants spoke about burying with hesitation, and I myself never saw a grave. The sions of mourning are shaving off the hair, neglect of care for the skin, and retirement from society. <A stated time of mourning is not observed.

One beautiful feature in the character of this people is the sympathy felt by the women for each other at the loss of their children. Altogether the wives enjoy a much higher social position here than among other Negro tribes; they have to take care of their children and attend to the cooking, but most of the hard work, such as tilling the fields and manufacturing pottery and mats, is done by female servants, and in her own house as well as abroad the wife is treated with the greatest respect. No husband would undertake anything of importance without first consulting his wife, and cases have often happened in which the influence of a wife has brought to nought the counsel of the elders.

The clothing of the men consists everywhere of bark cloth from the bark of a Urostigma, which is called here noggi, but is known to the A-Zandé as rokko, a name which is now used all over the country. The bark cloth is originally of a buff-colour, but it is generally dyed with red wood or humus. It cannot compare with similar materials from Uganda either in fineness of texture or in flexibility. This may partly be accounted for by the mode of preparation, partly also by the fact that the bark is allowed te get old and tough before being worked up. . This process consists of splitting, cleansing of the outer side, stretching and beating with pieces of ivory, exposure in the air and sun to extract the water, and browning. ‘The stretching is effected by beating and by pulling. Furrowing the cloth with fluted mallets is not known anywhere, nor are fancy cloths met with.

While the men wear trousers of bark cloth reaching to the breast, or at all events short drawers or two aprons, none of them, however, being perfectly unclothed, the women’s dress is confined to an extremely doubtful covering in front. In the presence of strangers, women, as long as they sit upon a stool, place the belt in which they carry their children across