HOW THE MBOUNDOU IS MADE. 1038 
Now they all sat in a circle on the ground; each man 
had a short stick in his hand; and Olanga-Condo was to 
take his position in the centre and drink the mboundou in 
their presence. 
In the mean time I had assisted in the operation of 
making the mboundou, an operation which the drinker — 
does not witness. A few red roots of the plant called by 
them the mbowndou were brought in, and the bark was 
scraped off by several of the natives into a vessel; into 
this a pint of water was poured, and in about a minute 
fermentation took place, and the beverage effervesced al- 
most like champagne. The water soon became quite 
red, and was the very color of the bark when the effer- 
vescing ceased. Two of Olanga-Condo’s friends were 
present- during this operation to see that all was fair. 
DRINKING THE MBOUNDOU. 
When the mixture was ready Olanga-Condo came, 
went to the centre of the circle, and the bowl containing 
