246 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



the colour of cocoa-nut matting, but the natives sometimes 

 dye it a deep red or black. 



Like the Bou-Bou girls, the marriageable maidens of the 

 Yakomas wear black twine in their hair, but to an exaggerated 

 extent, and in many cases there is so much of it that the 

 ends are wound on a stick like a big ball of twine that weighs 

 twenty pounds and is carried under the arm. It has a very 

 quaint and pretty effect. 



The Yakomas are fine iron -workers ; their heavy spears 

 show a finish which is truly remarkable. They make 

 good soldiers and are recruited by both the Belgians and 

 French. 



Good clay pots are made by the women, who also occupy 

 their time with fishing. At one village we came to we saw 

 a group fishing with their open wicker-work baskets like 

 shrimping-nets ; several of them in line were dragging the 

 bottom, and as they caught the small fish, they popped 

 them into a little basket fastened to their forehead. 



The virile appearance of the Yakomas is striking, and 

 their prosperity is shown by the number of large villages ; 

 there is one where we stayed close to the Kotto river, which 

 is over a mile in length. 



On December 23 after passing the Setema Rapids we 

 pulled up near a village on the left bank, and as the 

 natives told us there was plenty of game we decided to stay 

 and get meat for our Christmas dinner ; otherwise, with the 

 exception of tea, we had nothing to keep it with, for all our 

 stores had given out. There was still a certain amount 

 of cloth left and a few small trade goods, such as beads 

 and razors. For our presents to the " boys," we gave 



