EXPLORATION OF THE BAMINGI 201 



the grass to make a camp ; we thought it would be wiser on 

 the whole to have the river at night between us and our 

 newly made acquaintances, for 

 they belonged to the Banda 

 tribe who are well known for 

 their treachery. 



The village consisted of huts 

 scattered among the crops of 

 Indian corn. They were of the 

 usual round shape and made of 

 cane, with conical roofs. In- 

 side they were as dark as pitch 

 and very dirty. A great portion 

 of the space was taken up with 

 logs of wood collected to last 

 the family through the wet 

 season. 



Millet, ground-nuts, beans, 

 chillies, pumpkins, cassada and 

 tobacco grew in small quan- 

 tities round about. The 

 corn had hardly ripened, so 

 the prospect of getting much food did not look very 

 bright. 



The women were most peculiar to look at ; they had small 

 features, and their hair was twisted into a great number of 

 well-oiled strings that fell all round the head like the coat 

 of a poodle dog, and a curved, iron hook projected out of 

 each nostril like the tusks of a pig. Another stuck out 

 through the upper lip, while the lower bulged out round the 



A BANDA WOMAN 



