A NATIVE MARKET 35 



buyers were men of the town, or others who had 

 come down from the interior by train or road. 



Though many of the women and men were 

 wearing cast-off or shoddy European clothes, it 

 was pleasant to see that the great majority had 

 not followed this stupid custom, which turns a 

 good black into a poor magpie, and wore either 

 black or striped cotton robes. In the case of the 

 women these were bound tightly round them, 

 tucked in above, just under the arm-pits, and 

 hanging below to near the calves, one hip and leg 

 being left free. The men more often wore just a 

 loin-cloth and a shirt. 



The goods for barter were laid out on a 

 1 Loanga " or papyrus mat on the ground, some- 

 times shaded by a large umbrella. 



There were not many European goods for 

 sale ; Loanda is too full of European and native 

 shops for such wares to be sold in the markets, 

 but the stalls had native pipes, rolls of tobacco 

 and snuff, and much to tempt the native appetite. 

 Here were dishes of food-stuffs, very messy and 

 oily, and dried salt fish ; while between them were 



/ ' 



calabashes of "garapa" or native beer. There 

 were fruits such as bananas and paw-paws, and 

 vegetables like tomatoes, chilli peppers, and sweet 

 potatoes. Everywhere was oil, the product of the 

 palm or the ground-nut. 



Among the natives at the markets were those 

 from round about Loanda, Cabindas and other 

 Congo people from the north ; and Bailundus, 

 Songos. and JUihe men from the interior. All 

 these people speak the Bundu language, but many 



