252 customs. [1839 



their comfort. ; but they seem wholly unable to profit by this 

 streak of good fortune. 



Of government they have little or no knowledge. They 

 have chiefs among them, but the distinction is merely nomi- 

 nal, and the respect paid to them is only personal. Their 

 habits are gregarious, rather than social. They live together 

 in families, or tribes, holding everything in common except, 

 their women, and rove about from one place to another, 

 usually confining themselves to a circuit of fifty or sixty 

 miles in extent. Frequent conflicts take place between the 

 rival tribes, and encounters between individuals are not of 

 rare occurrence. The former are not very bloody ; neither 

 are the latter, except when the feelings of the parties are very 

 much embittered, or the injury sought to be avenged is es- 

 teemed of a very grave character. They have a sort of duel, 

 frequently resorted to for the redress of personal affronts, which, 

 though not in accordance with the code of honor, is certainly 

 less harmless than pistols at ten paces : — The challenged party 

 offers his head, with the crown uppermost, to the challenger, 

 who strikes him a blow with a waddy, sufficient to drive in 

 the skull of a white man. The other party then returns the 

 compliment, and thus they continue alternately striking each 

 other, till one or the other is satisfied. 



Women are considered and treated in the same manner as 

 goods and chattels. They are sold or given away by their 

 friends, without consulting their inclinations or wishes. The 

 natural consequence is, that all the finer affections are blunt- 

 ed, and parental tenderness, and filial love, are almost un- 

 known among them. Polygamy is commonly practiced ; but 

 the men are exceedingly jealous, and infidelity is punished 

 with great severity. 



When the boys arrive at the age of puberty, they are 

 '• made into young men," as the settlers say, after a strange 

 fashion. An evening or two previous to the time appointed for 

 the ceremony, a dismal wailing cry is heard in the woods, pro- 

 ceeding from some of the old men of the tribe or family, which 

 the lads are told is the voice of the Bulu, or spirit that 



