THROUGH FRENCH UBANGI 49 



the other, while his children and a patriarchal ram 

 wander between the two. 



We had previously expressed to him our wish to 

 visit his wives, of whom he keeps some 250, but, 

 unluckily, there was a shortage of a couple of score or 

 so, which perhaps accounted for his unwillingness to 

 spare the remainder from their allotted tasks. Any 

 way, there were none ready to receive a formal call, 

 and we had to rest satisfied with watchino- them at 

 work — preparing soup, boiling bark for dye, or pound- 

 ing grain. Little sentiment is lavished on these ladies, 

 who are kept busy in the fields or in domestic occupa- 

 tions, nor can their somewhat sparse attire of loin- 

 cloths and beads cost much in wealth or care. Despite 

 the fact that he has so many wives, the Lamido has 

 only twenty children, ten of each sex ; but of these, 

 two boys alone have claim to the succession. Each 

 wife owns a separate series of three or four rooms, built 

 into the outer wall, and the compound is therefore 

 very large. It contains a network of streets, stables 

 for horses, sheep and goats, as well as further human 

 habitations. 



A great deal of the life of the place is lived on the 

 roofs, which are made accessible by means of palm- 

 trunk ladders with branching arms. Niches are cut in 

 them for foothold, and, once up, it is easy to spring 

 across the narrow streets from one roof to another, 

 though there is danger of a sudden fall, for the 

 thatch-covered mud crumbles perilously at the edges. 

 We spent a long time wandering about the palace 

 precincts, and were about to take leave of our royal 

 host, when our attention was arrested by the reitera- 

 tion of weird noises. On inquiry, we learnt that 



D 



