Chap. XV. ISHOGO VILLAGES. 289 



and out of my lodgings. The planks of which the 

 doors are made are cut with great labour by native 

 axes out of trunks of trees, one trunk seldom yieldiug 

 more than one good plank. My hut, an average- 

 sized dwelling, was twenty feet long and eight feet 

 broad. It was divided into three rooms or compart- 

 ments, the middle one, into which the door opened, 

 being a little larger than the other two. 



The wealth of an Ishogo man, contained in his 

 hut, consists of numerous baskets and dishes or large 

 plates made of wicker-work, and a large stock of 

 calabashes to contain water, palm oil, and palm wine, 

 all which are suspended from the roof. The baskets 

 and wicker-work plates are made either of reeds or 

 of the rind of a kind of wild rotang, divided into 

 thin strips. The calabashes are hardened by long 

 exposure to smoke, in order to make them more 

 durable. A highly-valued article is the cake of 

 tobacco, carefully enveloped in leaves and suspended, 

 like the rest of the property, from the roof. Numerous 

 cotton-bags and cooking-vessels are hung about, or 

 stored away, and on the walls are the bundles of the 

 cuticle of palm-leaves, of which their bongos are 

 woven. 



The Ishogos are a peaceful tribe, and more in- 

 dustrious than tribes who live nearer the sea-shore. 

 Yery few of them bear scars or signs of hostile 

 encounters. Offensive weapons are not common ; at 

 least they are not carried about on ordinary occasions. 

 I saw very few spears and bows and arrows carried 

 in that way, but swords are more general, and they 

 carry these along with them in their friendly visits 



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