574 



BANTU NEGROES 



I '-"■fife 



iron wire are wound on to the 

 forearms of the women, and 

 sometimes also on the upper 

 part of the arm underneath the 

 grass rings. Bracelets of iron 

 are also worn by both men and 

 women. Sometimes the women's 

 bracelets are of peculiar shape, 

 something like a horseshoe 

 brought to a point. Iron rings 

 are placed on any or all of the 

 fingers and sometimes on the 

 thumb. A wire girdle is worn 

 round the waist, and into this 

 is thrust a small flap (or in the 

 case of the women a very short 

 petticoat) of bark-cloth. The 

 men will sometimes wear a piece 

 of cloth or skin passed between 

 the legs and brought up at the 

 back and in front through the 

 wire belt, thus forming a seat 

 behind and a small covering in 

 front. The men among the mountain Bakonjo often wear nothing in front 

 which answers any purpose of decency, and confine their clothing mostly to 

 cloaks of monkey, baboon, or hyrax skin thrown over the shoulders or over 

 one shoulder. The mountain Bakonjo set great store by the hyrax, and in 

 pursuit of this little animal they climb up Buwenzori as far as the snow 

 level. Both species of hyrax on Kuwenzori have thick woolly fur, and the 

 little skins are sewn together to form cloaks and mantles for the otherwise 

 naked people. A large baboon will occasionally furnish a fine fur cape, 

 and a man thus accoutred has a wild aspect, with his shoulders bristling 

 with this long coarse mane. 



The houses of the Bakonjo are neatly made, and offer in design more 

 resemblance to those of the forest agricultural Negroes in that they have 

 a porch in front of the door. The structure of the house and roof is one 

 building ; it does not consist of circular walls on which is poised the 

 separate funnel-shaped roof. Numerous pliant but strong, smooth branches 

 or saplings are placed in the ground round the circular site of the hut. 

 They are upright to the height of four feet above the ground, and then 

 are slightly bent over towards the apex of the roof. Horizontal bands of 

 withes and many additional upright sticks convert this skeleton of the 



318. A MIKOXJO (SHOWING BABI 



SKIN MANTLE) 



