CANNIBALISM. 193 



ness and svininetrv : to this their roomy huts, their stools 



■/ * ft ' 



and forms, as well as their ironwork, bear witness. 



There is naturally not much here that can be termed agricul- 

 ture, unless, for the sake of euphony, one can call the planting 

 of bananas, manioc, sweet potatoes. Colocasia, occasionally yams, 

 and much tobacco '-'agriculture." Nature has distributed her 

 gifts so prodigally over the land, and made the maintenance 

 of the individual so easy and free from toil, that methodical 

 work is unnecessary. Indeed, it is just this that is the cause 

 of the standstill in the social development of the people. 

 The only species of corn which are brought under cultiva- 

 tion are maize and eleusine ; the former is found almost every- 

 where and in great quantities, the latter only in the eastern 

 part of the country, and there only to a limited extent. The 

 banana is everywhere the staple food of the people, and every 

 variety of it grows here. Fresh and dried, green and ripe, 

 for cooking or made into wine or beer, it is always the 

 favourite fruit. Cattle do not exist here ; even sheep and 

 goats are only to be found in the !Mabode country — I saw 

 some fine goats from there. Flesh is therefore an article of 

 luxury, be it that of a fat guinea-pig, of a dried-up ape, or 

 of a deceased relative. Ever since the invasion of the Arabs, 

 cannibalism has been carried on with the greatest secrecv, at 

 any rate in the neighbourhood of the stations, and the good old 

 times have long since passed by when one could buy for copper 

 rings as many skulls as one desired. It was only with the 

 greatest difficulty that I managed to procure an almost com- 

 plete Akka skeleton and a few skulls. It may be quite other- 

 wise away from the stations ; at any rate, the following incident 

 proves how deep-rooted this evil custom is amongst these 

 people. TVhen I asked an Akka, who had lived many years 

 in our stations in the north, and who was returning home 

 to Monbuttn, whether he was glad to go home again, he 

 said without hesitation that he had long since become tired 

 of "beef." 



On the southern bank of the Gadda I found that a little 

 band of Akka were temporarily established right among the 

 Momvii who cultivate Gambari's fields. As I have previously 

 given some account of the gipsy life of these pigmies of the 



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