342 ETHNOLOGY 



which the relatives of the departed dip their fingers. 

 He andhis colleague then proceed to consume the bird 

 with the exception of one leg, which is suspended 

 by means of a piece of string in the doorway of the 

 dead man's house to be touched on arrival by any 

 of the friends or relatives who may not have had 

 time to attend the obsequies. The reason for this 

 singular custom is that, as these latter suppose that 

 the spirit of the deceased must be wrath with them 

 for not assisting at his funeral, they make peace by 

 touching the fowl's leg, symbolising the " catching 

 of the leg " of an oifended person whereby in many 

 parts of Africa apology is tendered and a desire for 

 peace expressed. 



Mourning is general for eight days, and dancing 

 to the music of drums continues nightly. Much 

 pomb^ or native beer is drunk, and the occasion is 

 often made the pretext for excesses of a discredit- 

 able character. Black or dark blue cloth is worn 

 as mourning, usually wrapped round the head. At 

 the end of the eighth day the mourning is 

 abandoned, and the near relations shave their 

 heads. A ceremonial washing in the river now 

 takes place, and the proceedings terminate ; but for 

 some time thereafter relatives who were in different 

 parts of the country at the time of the death are 

 continually arriving to touch the fowl's now dried-up 

 leg, and manifest their grief and condolence. No 

 more heartless act can be attributed to a Zambezian 

 than neglect to visit and mourn with his bereaved 

 relations. 



Should death occur as the result of unknown 

 and presumably unnatural causes, the Kambaiassa 



