THE NEGROES OF THE EQUATORIAL BELT 347 



The people practise both agriculture and hunting, the women being engaged in field operations, 

 while the men pursue the quarry. The principal agricultural product is eleusine, which is eaten 

 as porridge, and from which, after malting, is prepared a very intoxicating beer. Crops of 

 cassava, sweet potatoes, and yams, and a little maize, are also raised. Tobacco is grown 

 extensively and smoked in clay pipes. Cattle are very scarce, but poultry and dogs abundant. 



These food-supplies are supplemented by the practice of cannibalism. Piaggia, the first 

 European to travel in the country, witnessed the eating of the body of an enemy killed in 

 war; and both Schweinfurth and Junker have collected conclusive evidence of cannibal habits. 



Iron-working and the manufacture of weapons, pottery, basket-weaving, and wood-carving 

 are the main handicrafts. 



Marriage is not based on purchase, but the chief selects a bride when a man applies for 

 one. The marriage is celebrated by a festival, during which the chief, accompanied by his 

 musicians, leads the woman to the house of her future husband. The chief on these occasions 

 is accompanied by the tribal muscians, who play on a primitive guitar, shake bells, and sing. 

 The burial rites retain a custom which is widely but sparsely scattered among Xegro tribes; 

 for the corpse, after being dyed red and adorned with feathers, is placed in a hole at one side 

 of the grave, so that the earth is not thrown directly upon it. Men are buried facing the 

 east and women facing the west. 



The Niam-niam have a profound belief in goblins and evil spirits, and, like many other 

 African tribes, think they especially haunt the forests. Auguries are consulted on all important 

 occasions. 



THE FANS. 



About the year 1850 the tribes along the Gabun coast heard of the arrival in the interior 

 of a tribe of cannibals known as the Fans. These invaders at first held only a few villages; but 



By permission of tlie Universities' Mission to Central Africa. 



LIBERATED SLAVES FROM CENTRAL AFRICA. 



