Chap. XIX, STORY OF AKEXDA MBANI. . 393 



Arondo said, " Father, why do you say I shall not 

 die ? for, if you fear death, you may be sure it 

 will come." '•' She had hardly said these words than 

 she expired. Then all the people mourned, and 

 Redjioua said, " Now my daughter is dead, Akenda 

 Mbani must die also." 



The place where people are buried is called Djimai ; 

 the villagers went there and dug a place for the 

 two corpses, wdiicli were buried together. Redjioua 

 had a slave buried with Arondo, besides a tusk of 

 an elephant, rings, mats, plates, and the bed on 

 which Akenda Mbani and Arondo slept ; the cutlass, 

 the hunting bag, and the spear of Akenda Mbani 

 were also buried. The people then said, "Let us 

 cover the things with sand, and make a little mound; 

 When Agambouai (the mouth-piece — the speaker of 

 the village) heard of this, he said to Redjioua, 

 "There are leopards here." Then Redjioua said, 

 " Do not have a mound over my child's burial-place, 

 for fear that the leopards might come and scratch the 

 ground and eat the corpse of my child." Then the 

 people said, " Let us then dig a deeper hole," and 

 they took away Arondo and Akenda Mbani, and 

 placed both on stools, and then dug and dug, and 

 put back the things that were to be buried with 

 Arondo, and then laid her in her place. Then thev 

 came to Akenda Mbani, who then awoke and said, 

 " I never go twice to the same place ; you put me in 

 the tomb and you took me away from it, though 

 all of you knew that I never go to the same place 



* AVliou an African is ill, his friends consider it will cause his death to 

 say he will die. 



27 



