33 2 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



it is always with the palms forward, never with doubled fists 

 or the fingers turned backward. A common position is to lean 

 toward a post, with the hand holding to it away up, but only the 

 forearm coming in contact with the post. The negro sedulously 

 avoids touching a tree or the walls of his house with his naked 

 body, for fear of soiling his anointed skin. 



At the special audience we witnessed, a messenger was re- 

 ceived, with a report of a military expedition. He was called 

 Fingamaguha, or bone-gatherer, from his habit of fixing in his 

 curly locks a bone from every fowl he killed. In saluting the 

 chief he put on a sober expression, halted, drew his limbs up, bent 

 his knee so as not quite to touch the ground, and clapped his 

 hands three times. Before approaching the powerful Wama 

 chiefs, the messenger must besmear his body and face with mud 

 and roll in the dust. Among the East Coast negroes the usual 

 salutation consists, besides the customary phrases, in extending 

 the hand. The Wanjamuesi lightly press the palms together and 

 then draw them quickly over one another till only the middle 

 fingers touch, when those fingers are snapped upon the thumbs. 

 The Wama, west of the Tanganyika, in saluting lay their weapons 

 on the ground, bow to the earth, and rub their arms, breasts, and 

 foreheads with dust. 



Women show their respect for the stronger sex by stepping 

 sidewise out of the road and turning their backs to the man ; or 

 else they pass, assuming a position of trying to creep under some- 

 thing. In saluting one another the Wanjamuesi women make a 

 half turn and a straight courtesy. 



The chief beckoned to the messenger by stretching his arm 

 out, with the back of the hand up, and making a motion of 

 drawing with his finger two or three times under the inner part 

 of his hand, as if he would draw the man in. Fingamaguha en- 

 forced his affirmative answer to the first question asked him by 

 moving his chin backward and forward and lifting his eyebrows. 

 Answering no to another question, he raised his shoulders and 

 dropped them instantly. In expressing doubt, the negro draws 

 his shoulders slowly down and inclines his head to one side ; but 

 he is not acquainted with any such sign as that of shaking the 

 head in negation. 



Previous to calling upon the messenger to begin his report, 

 the chief offered him a cup of pombe or beer. The brave re- 

 ceived it, supporting his extended right hand with his left. This 

 using of both hands in acceping a gift even if it be as insig- 

 nificant a thing as a needle is a matter of politeness. It empha- 

 sizes the importance of the present. 



After prostrating himself, Fingamaguha began his story, 

 holding one hand in the other, and accompanying each state- 



