THE PEOPLE OF THE CONGO. 295 
from the coast, where it was introduced by the Portuguese 
in the seventeenth century. 
Among the most usually cultivated plants and trees 
may be mentioned the Cajanus indicus, the manioc, the 
sweet potato, maize, ground-nuts, tobacco, the sugar-cane, 
the banana and the oil-palm. Among other Portuguese 
introductions that have reached them from the West Coast 
are the pine-apple, the orange, lime, papaw, and a small 
degenerated cabbage. | 
It is curious to remark that, while nearly all the 
BA-TEKE CHAIR. 
domestic animals of Africa can be traced to an Asiatic 
origin, the cultivated plants of this region should ina 
ereat measure be introductions from America. It is 
difficult to imagine how the people could have lived before 
maize, manioc, ground-nuts, and sweet potatoes were 
brought to the coast of Africa by the Portuguese and 
other European nations since the sixteenth century. The 
discovery of America has profoundly affected the later 
history of the Dark Continent. 
The houses in the Upper Congo villages do not differ 
materially in design or material from those already de- 
scribed on the Lower river. They are all rectilinear and 
