318 ASHANGO-LAND. Chap. XVI. 



in the dark something which soon after I recognised 

 as a human being. My Ashango man called to her, 

 telhng her not to be afraid. I was then told that 

 she had lost her husband a few days before, when 

 they lived in the now deserted village which I had 

 seen on my way hither. She had over her forehead 

 a broad stripe of yellow ochre. 



I desired my Ashango guide to ask the women 

 where they buried their dead ; but he told me I had 

 better not ask the question, as they might get fright- 

 ened, and the woman who had just lost her husband 

 might cry. 



I gave the poor widow some beads, and then left 

 them again ; my old friend Misounda (for she told 

 me her name) inviting me to come back in the after- 

 noon, as the men would then have returned from the 

 woods. I accordingly returned in the course of the 

 afternoon, but no men were to be seen. 



On a subsequent visit, I found the village deserted 

 by the women as well as by the men — at least, as we 

 approached it, the women, who had heard us, ran 

 into their huts ; among them I caught sight of my 

 old friend Misounda running to hide herself This 

 was doubly disappointing, as I had flattered myself 

 that I had quite tamed her. When we entered the 

 village not a sound was to be heard, and the branches 

 of the trees had been put up at the doors of all the 

 huts, to make us believe that the people had all gone 

 into the woods. My Ashango guide shouted aloud, 

 " We have come to give you more beads ; where are 

 you ? " Not a whisper was heard, no one answered 

 our call ; but there was no room for any mistake, as 



