210 NOTES ON THE MONBUTTU. 



and scatter the ashes. All these statements must be received 

 with the greatest reserve, for my informants spoke about bury- 

 ing with hesitation, and I myself never saw a grave. The 

 signs of mourning are shaving off the hair, neglect of care for 

 the skin, and retirement from society. A stated time of 

 mourning is not observed. 



One beautiful feature in the character of this people is the 

 sympathy felt by the women for each other at the loss of their 

 children. Altogether the wives enjoy a much higher social 

 position here than among other Negro tribes ; they have to 

 take care of their children and attend to the cooking, but most 

 of the hard work, such as tilling the fields and manufacturing 

 pottery and mats, is done by female servants, and in her own 

 house as well as abroad the wife is treated with the greatest 

 respect. No husband would undertake anything of importance 

 without first consulting his wife, and cases have often happened 

 in which the influence of a wife has brought to nought the 

 counsel of the elders. 



The clothing of the men consists everywhere of bark cloth 

 from the bark of a Urostigma, which is called here noggi, 

 but is known to the A-Zande as roJcko, a name which is 

 now used all over the country. The bark cloth is originally 

 of a buff-colour, but it is generally dyed with red wood or 

 humus. It cannot compare with similar materials from Uganda 

 either in fineness of texture or in flexibility. This may partly 

 be accounted for by the mode of preparation, partly also by 

 the fact that the bark is allowed to get old and tough before 

 being worked up. This process consists of splitting, clean- 

 sing of the outer side, stretching and beating with pieces of 

 ivory, exposure in the air and sun to extract the water, and 

 browning. The stretching is effected by beating and by pull- 

 ing. Furrowing the cloth with fluted mallets is not known 

 anywhere, nor are fancy cloths met with. 



While the men wear trousers of bark cloth reaching to the 

 breast, or at all events short drawers or two aprons, none of 

 them, however, being perfectly unclothed, the women's dress is 

 confined to an extremely doubtful covering in front. In 

 the presence of strangers, women, as long as they sit upon a 

 stool, place the belt in which they carry their children across 



