Chap. XIII. APONO WEAPONS. 257 



kept in cylindrical quivers made of the bark of a 

 tree, and not in bags. 



Their spears, also, are different from those of the 

 Fans, and are similar to those described by Burton, 

 Grant, Speke, and other travellers, as used by the 

 tribes of Eastern Equatorial Africa.* They are 

 much heavier and clumsier than the spears of the 

 Fans, and cannot, therefore, like them, be thrown to 

 a distance. The head is lance-shaped, without barbs, 

 and a foot in length. In fight they are used for 

 thrusting, at close quarters. Swords are the most 

 common weapons with these people ; they might, 

 however, be more properly termed sabres than 

 swords, being curved, and having wooden handles. 

 The metal of which the blades are made, although 

 pretty well tempered, by means of the charcoal used, 

 is full of flaws. Some of the people use round 

 shields made of wicker-work. Each of my Apono 

 porters carried a sabre, besides his bow and quiver 

 of arrows. The possession of a sword is a mark of 

 manhood with these people, and all the young men 

 think it honourable to obtain a sword before they 

 acquire a wife. In fact, the chief things coveted by 

 the young dandies of the tribe are a sword, a grass- 

 web cap of the country, and a handsome dengui^ or 

 garment of striped grass-cloth. The red worsted caps 

 which I carried, as part of my stores, immediately 

 drove their native caps out of fashion, and, indeed, 

 created a perfect furore. It was a sure way of gain- 

 ing the good will of an Apono man to present him 

 with one of these caps, 



* ' Adventures in Equatorial Africa,' p. SO. 



S 



