MEN OF THE TREES 



are content with one wife. The usual dowry paid at the 

 time of marriage is a pair of elephant tusks, which are 

 not so much appreciated for their intrinsic value, but 

 rather because they are a proof of the skill and bravery 

 of the bridegroom. If a maiden is beautiful and skilful 

 she will command a very large pair of tusks, and the 

 young man who is fortunate enough to win her may have 

 to hunt many months before he can find ivories worthy 

 of her. 



The girls and women wear their hair long and plaited. 

 They are well set up, with boyish figures. They carry 

 themselves gracefully when walking, and yet have the 

 stride of a man. The woman is far more the comrade of 

 her husband; she is treated as an equal and will often 

 hunt with him, or take her turn to hunt alone, while the 

 man will stay at home and mind the baby. It is even quite 

 a common thing to find a brother and sister hunting to- 

 gether, for at an early age the equality of the sexes, both 

 as regards responsibility and usefulness, is recognized, 

 and the young lad of seventeen or eighteen does not re- 

 gard it as infra dig to be seen about with his sister, whom 

 he will often take with him on a long hunting trip. 



When hunting together, the forest dwellers have a 

 code of signs and sounds which closely resemble the notes 

 of birds or the noises made by animals common in their 

 particular part of the jungle. Their imitation of birds 

 and animals in the forest is so accurate that it deceives the 

 animal that they are tracking, and yet can be recognized 

 by their clansmen. Once, for my special entertainment, 



72 



