Bkkry — The Sierra Leone Cannibals. 39 



The Poro devil when approaching a town does not wear a distinctive 

 costume ; he is merely accompanied by a large concourse of Poro men and 

 boys, who run about and make a great noise. Upon this alarm reaching the 

 towD, all men not of the Poro order, together with all women and children, 

 must conceal themselves inside their huts, and drop down the mats before the 

 doors and window-spaces. The women have to kneel down indoors and clap 

 their hands. The devil then enters the town, when all noise must cease. The 

 de^il speaks in a discordant way through a piece of hollow stick, having holes 

 cut in its side like a flute ; these holes are covered with spider's webs. Before 

 the boys are brought out from the Poro bush the devH makes a prolonged 

 stay in the town, usually remaining fi'om about seven o'clock in the evening 

 until two or three o'clock in the following morning. At intervals during this 

 time he perambulates the town, blowing this reed-flute in a very doleful way, 

 the meaning of it being that he is presumed to be in the pains of childbirth, 

 for, when the boys go first into the Poro bush, the devil is supposed to be 

 pregnant, and when they come out, the deA"il is said to have given birth. 



A boy has no real name until he goes to the Poro bush, when it is given at 

 his circumcision, as among the Jews. He also receives the Poro markings on 

 both sides of the spine. He is then taught the medicinal use of leaves and 

 herbs, not merely as fetish, but as medicine in our sense of the word. 

 Dancing is an important part of his education. 



When the boys have completed their training and gone through the 

 ceremonies in the juvenile Poro, they are eligible to join in the general or 

 special Poro, in which is formulated the unwritten law of the country. 



Biindu. — The rites of baptism and confirmation are with us common to 

 both sexes ; but, as in other times and countries, so in Africa at the present 

 day, the less civilized the people the more cruel and hidden are the secret 

 mysteries and initiations that are the preliminaries to puberty and the 

 entrance into manhood and womanhood. Amongst all the Mendi tribes, the 

 Sherbros, and the Temnes, the Bimdu is practised. The Bundu is a secret society, 

 the violation of whose privacy — by the black man at least — is punishable by 

 death. The Bundu bush, where its meetings are held, is hidden away in 

 the thick shrubbery ; and here the guis of all classes are trained and prepared 

 for their entrance into womanhood. The coui-se of training is held in the dry 

 season, and lasts thi-ee months or more ; if something goes wrong in the 

 country, it is extended to secure the safety of the giiis : or if the pupil intends 

 to enter the higher ranks of the institution, the instruction is continued for 

 three or more years, and includes dancing to the sound of the segura (or 

 gourd covered with a netting of hard seeds, which is the special musical 

 instrument of the women), or to the tom-tom. 



R.I.A. PROC, VOL. XXS., SECT. C. [6] 



