BIRTH AND DEATH 225 



and spearing a giraffe or antelope, but I never 

 came across any similar custom in the part of 

 Angola traversed in 1920. 



The African woman is spared the pain and 

 discomfort in childbirth which so affects her 

 white sister, for in Angola, as elsewhere among 

 primitive peoples, the expectant mother who has 

 gone out to work will sometimes return not only 

 with her baby but with her basketful of produce 

 as well. 



In some tribes, expectant mothers leave their 

 husbands three or four weeks before their con- 

 finement and live in a separate hut ; and in others 

 a wife may not return to her husband till the baby 

 has been weaned. This is one of the causes of 

 polygamy, or an excuse for it, if such was ever 

 required by an African. 



Some years ago in Angola, elderly people when 

 infirm and useless were quietly put out of the way 

 to save the trouble of a long final illness. This 

 does not happen now, but I did not find much 

 sentiment or ceremony expended on the very old, 

 especially if they were women. 



The dead are disposed of in various ways. 

 Some of the south coastal tribes simply throw the 

 bodies into the bush ; others lay them in any 

 convenient hole, often doubled up (Bandombes, 

 Ba Cuandos, Quillenges), and even break the limbs 

 to effect this (Humbes) ; though most tribes bury 

 their dead horizontally. 



There is no common burial-ground in Angola, 

 the dead being often buried under the floors uf 

 the houses. If buried in the open, the grave is 

 r.5 



