418 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



adjacent towns, who, in turn, hand over their dead 

 to them. As they are not particular, and will eat 

 any corpse, no matter what disease the person died 

 of, it seems strange that they enjoy such excellent 

 health, for they are certainly the finest looking 

 race on the West Coast, except perhaps the 

 Moslem tribes. 



The Fans cultivate a rough kind of tobacco, 

 and smoke it in iron pipes, mixed wdth the 

 leaf of an aromatic herb, which somewhat re- 

 sembles the daffodil, and has a remarkably pungent 

 flavour. 



Hunting is the favourite pastime of the men, 

 and almost their only occupation, for the women 

 till the ground and do all the household drudgery. 

 Cloth was not much in demand amongst the Fans, 

 who are not yet suificiently civilised to care for un- 

 necessary luxuries. My costume was very simple, 

 consisting only of a flannel shirt, kilt, and boots; 

 but I was somewhat amused at N'miamba advising 

 me to take off my clothes, and let my servants 

 carry them for me, that being her idea of making 

 myself comfortable. I suppose that she found 



