332 FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 



country, very few of these ever growing at Brass. 

 Tigers and leopards are said occasionally to come 

 into the town and carry off childreH. 



Among the sights of the place, were two na- 

 tives with their faces whitened, and two white 

 feathers stuck at each side of their heads. These 

 fellows go about dancing in a most singular man- 

 ner, and imitating at the same time the roaring 

 of wild beasts. I was told these men were leo- 

 pard-hunters, and were painted white, with the 

 feathers for horns, to represent the devil : for, as 

 we believe Satan to be black, the Africans, on 

 the contrary, represent him as being white. 



While we were here, I had an opportunity of 

 witnessing a native funeral. An elderly man had 

 died a few days befere, and was laid out on the 

 floor of his hut. He had left four wives, who 

 were crying and making a great noise over the 

 corpse, as usual on these occasions, and appa- 

 rently in great distress. The corpse was enve- 

 loped in upwards of one hundred fathoms of 

 calico — two hundred yards ! It had been rolled 

 round the body very tightly, from the neck to 

 the toes ; the head was uncovered, and the whole 

 corpse presented the appearance of a black man's 

 head stuck upright in a bale of cotton. At the 



