528 A WIFE THROWN IN. 



pack on a man's shoulders ; " and the doctor goes on to assure us 

 that this bride to be was, according to the standard of the realm 

 in which she dwelt, a nice, modest, good-looking young woman, 

 her hair rubbed all over with nkola, a red pigment, made from 

 the camwood, and much used as an ornament. She was accom- 

 panied by about a dozen young and old female attendants, each 

 carrying a small basket with some provisions, as cassava, 

 ground-nuts, &c. The Arabs were all dressed in their finery, 

 and the slaves, in fantastic dresses, flourished swords, fired guns, 

 and yelled. When she was brought to Hamees' hut she de- 

 scended, and with her maids went into the hut. She and her 

 attendants had all small, neat features. The doctor had been 

 sitting with Hamees, and now rose up and went away. As the 

 doctor passed him, he spoke thus to himself: "Hamees Wadim 

 Tagh ! see to what you have brought yourself! ! " 



In this connection we may add that Nsama's people are re- 

 ported to have small well-chiselled features, and many are 

 really handsome, and have nothing of the west coast negro 

 about them, but they file their teeth to sharp points, and greatly 

 disfigure their mouths. The only difference between them and 

 Europeans is the color. Many of the men have very finely- 

 formed heads, and so have the women ; and the fashion of wear- 

 ing the hair sets off their foreheads to advantage. The forehead 

 is shaved off to the crown, the space narrowing as it goes up ; 

 then the back hair is arranged into knobs of about ten rows. 

 They are quite intelligent and evince considerable quickness of 

 perception, and it was not difficult to understand the position 

 which they had gained among the tribes, when tolerably familiar 

 with their characters. They are rather apt students of human 

 nature, and particularly quick to detect the peculiarities of a 

 man ; this was illustrated by their habit of naming those with 

 whom they came in contact in accordance with the character 

 displayed : for instance, they called Hamid bin Mohamad " Tipo 

 Tipo," which means " gather together of wealth," he being the 

 chief actor in the spoiling of the country ; and another who will 

 figure hereafter as conspicuous in the slaving business was 

 called " Kumba Kumba, " a collector of people. But intelligent 

 and brave as they might be, they had become thoroughly afraid 

 of guns. 



