Vol. IX, No. 2.) Fr. Kriek among the Abors (1853). 119 
[NV.S.] 
thinks fit; his daily work is cut out, discussed and officially 
decreed by the majority of the council. Hence, every evening, 
between 10 and 11 o’clock, boys are sent about the village 
shouting at the top of their voices : ‘‘ To-morrow, tiger hunt ! 
‘To-morrow fishing! To-morrow, field Jabour! To-morrow, 
‘““genna, t.e. obligatory holiday !”’ 
These injunctions are obeyed to the letter, for this people p. 193. 
is as law-abiding and respectful to the powers that be, as it is 
proud of its liberty. To call a Padam a slave is an insult that 
would make this proud mountaineer gnash his teeth and grasp 
at his bow. 
The council-house is also used for extraordinary gatherings 
convoked to deal with a sudden emergency, such as was my 
men above 17 or 18. All of them, except the married men, 
sleep at the barracks. : 
The Padams are hunters by taste, and farmers by neces- 
sity; yet, they are excellent cultivators. The roads are planted 
on both sides with fruit-trees. The only farming-tools they 
know are their arms and their hands, and their backs are their 
only means of transport. Yet their granaries are well stored 
with rice, gums, maize, bobossa and several other products. | 
The bow is their favourite weapon, and they use it with 
great dexterity. It is their vade-mecum, the first toy of the p. 194 
child, who shoots from morning till night. 
m el one 
But if their dwellings are roughly built, their athena 
Our admiration. Their construction is solid ; the floor 18 3 Fe 
network of rattan palm twigs, and so elastic that it yields to 
the pressure of the foot and rises like a spring. 
« ommerce is insignificant. The following are the pagent ak 
animals: Ist, the mitou or wild cow, SO ee a pete es 
sively reared for the slaughterhouse ; 2nd, small ros at 
much appreciated by the Padams; 3rd, fowls; 4th, dogs, s 
and lean, but excellent hunters. 
Rice and herbs form their staple food; they aM me 
without either salt or butter. Meat and fish are 
