210 THE OTANDO AND APONO EEGION. Chap. X. 



yards or more from tlie water's edge. Now and 

 then the prairie reaches to the water-side. The 

 grass-lands extend in a north-west and south-east 

 direction, and the numerous negro-vilJages are gene- 

 rally built in the prairie. Some of the wooded 

 islands or isolated patches of forest are many miles 

 in length ; the prairies are covered with tall grasses 

 and shrubs, without any mixture of bushes or trees. 

 Tlie soil of the forest tracts is generally more fertile 

 than that of the prairies, and it is within their 

 shades that the plantations of the people are situ- 

 ated. The Otando villages round Mayolo are sur- 

 rounded by groves of plaintain-trees ; and the broad 

 magnificent leaves of these trees form a striking 

 contrast with the grass that surrounds them. 



I have little to remark respecting the Otando 

 people. They are a branch of the Ashira nation, 

 speaking the Ashira language, and having a similar 

 physical conformation to the people of that tribe, 

 together with the same superstitions, customs, arts, 

 warlike implements, and dress ; but they do not 

 seem to be so industrious in the manufacture of the 

 grass cloth. 



I found many of the people not very dark-skinned. 

 They had various fashions as regards their teeth. 

 Many file the two upper incisors in the shape of 

 a sharp cone, and the four lower ones are also 

 filed to a sharp point. Others file the four upper 

 incisors to a point. A few among them have the 

 two upper incisors pulled out. They tattoo them- 

 selves on the chest and stomach, but keep the face 



