258 THE MARCH THROUGH APONO-LAND. Chap. XHI. 



Like the Ashiras, the Aponos are industrious 

 weavers of grass-cloth, which forms the clothing of 

 both sexes. The cloth is woven in small pieces with 

 a fringe, called bongos, and is sometimes beautifully 

 fine ; when several bongos are sewn together, the 

 garment is called a dengui ; the women wear only two 

 pieces, or bongos, one on each side, secured at the top 

 over the hips, and meeting in front at the upper edge. 



It might be supposed, from the frequency with 

 which I met with villages on the march, that the 

 Apono country was thickly inhabited, especially as 

 the villages were large, a few of them containing 

 about a thousand inhabitants. But it must be recol- 

 lected that the high-roads, or pathways, along which 

 we were obliged to march, were the roads leading 

 from one village to another. I travelled, therefore, 

 through the peopled part of the country. Away 

 from these main pathways there were vast tracts of 

 prairie and some wooded land remaining in their 

 original desert condition. 



Upon the whole, I liked the Aponos, and got on 

 very well whilst in their country. They showed 

 themselves to be honest, and were faithful in carrying 

 out the engagements they entered into with me, in 

 spite of the numerous palavers we had. I lost none 

 of my property by theft whilst I was amongst them. 



The village of Mokaba is large and well-arranged ; 

 its site, as I have before remarked, is picturesque, 

 and, in short, it was the prettiest village I have ever 

 seen in Africa. There are upwards of 130 houses or 

 huts, which, as in other West-African villages, are so 

 arranged ns to form one main street. But, in Mokaba, 



