KEDERU DANCES. 309 



as the species grown by us in the south, dokhn (Penicillaria), 

 eleusine, a great deal of sesame, two species of Lubia, a little 

 Hyptis, and tobacco are the chief plants cultivated. I also 

 noticed large baskets filled with the woody fruits of a gardenia 

 called kirruru, which is cooked and eaten. In physical ap- 

 pearance the Kederii are mostly of a middle height, with well- 

 developed muscles and a good proportion of fat, not, however, 

 being too corpulent. Their heads are rounder than those 

 of the Bari and the Nyambara, and are better proportioned in 

 both diameters, the forehead being more erect. The face is 

 also rounder and less prognathous. The nose is short, and the 

 lips not very pouting ; the feet are small and perfectly flat. 

 The skin is a good deal darker than that of their southern 

 neighbours, although a reddish ground-tone is observable. 

 The hair is sometimes worn partially shorn ; this is, however, 

 not usual, for the short locks are generally plaited with all 

 kinds of ornaments, and, like the body, they are coloured with 

 ochre mixed with oil. The ornaments are very various — from 

 the tails of the genet cat, which the men carry hanging from, 

 their elbows, and the bead earrings worn by both sexes, to the 

 huge iron rings with which they decorate the upper arm ; 

 everything, in fact, is represented which the Negro fancy can 

 invent. The leaf-aprons of the women, often worn only for 

 form's sake, vary, according to individual taste, from a thick 

 bunch of green leaves, which form a real covering, to a simple 

 green twig. The weak, but here very sturdy, sex is very 

 scantily attired, and many of the greasy beauties, laden with 

 iron rings, have absolutely no clothing save their colour. The 

 women appear to enjoy the greatest freedom, and mix on all 

 occasions with the men in a perfectly unconventional manner. 

 The dance, which here also is accompanied by drums and the 

 clapping of sticks, consists of a complete set of really beautiful 

 evolutions, and the tingling of the anklets of the dancers in 

 perfect time adds a new kind of music. I saw a young man 

 being carried round sitting on the shoulders of a comrade ; 

 he was singing and gesticulating with his arms, spread- 

 ing them out above the people, as if blessing them, and was 

 surrounded by a ring of women dancing in a spirited manner, 

 and crying shrilly, Yo, yo ; it was a scene which might have 



