THE MUNDOMBES. 891 



are of a wild, roving disposition, and very unlike the rest of the tribes inha- 

 biting Angola. Their clothing is principally skins and hides of sheep or wild 

 animals, and they rub their bodies and heads with rancid cow's butter, or oil, 

 with which they are fond of mixing charcoal-dust ; and they are the only na- 

 tives in Angola who wear sandals (made of raw hide) on their feet. They 

 are very dirty, never making use of water for washing ; are generally about 

 the middle height, and ugly in face. The women especially are rarely comely 

 either in face or figure, and they will not live with or intermarry with blacks 

 of other tribes. Their huts are mostly round-roofed and low. They are very 

 independent, and will not hire themselves to any kind of work. The women 

 cultivate the ground for the indispensable mandioca and beans; the men hunt, 

 and tend large herds of cattle that thrive remarkably well in the country, and 

 also flocks of sheep, which they rear for food. 



" Cattle are their principal riches, and are seldom killed for food, except 

 when the owner dies, when, if he be a ' soba ' or chief, as many as three hun- 

 dred oxen have been known to be killed and eaten at one sitting, lasting for 

 several days. On these occasions the whole tribe and friends are assembled, 

 heaps of firewood collected, fires lit, and oxen killed one after the other till 

 the herd is eaten up, not a native moving away from the feast or gorge till the 

 last scrap is consumed. The flesh is cut into long thick strips and wound 

 round long skewers — these are stuck upright round the fires, and the meat 

 only allowed to cook slightly. The meat is eaten alone, without any other 

 food whatever, and without salt, as that would make them drink, which they 

 do not do, as they affirm it would prevent them from eating much meat; the 

 blood, entrails, and the hide, toasted to make it eatable, are consumed, a big 

 feast lasting from ten to fifteen days, or sometimes more. They are fond of 

 dividing their cattle into herds of a hundred head each, and are wonderfully 

 clever at tracing strayed cattle, and also in recognising any they may have 

 once seen. 



" A most singular custom of these natives is that of the women and girls, 

 with their heads covered with green leaves and carrying branches of trees in 

 their hands, and singing in chorus, taking round to all their friends and ac- 

 quaintance any young woman of their tribe who is about to be married ; but 

 the most curious part of the ceremony is the manner in which the interesting 

 young bride is prepared. She is stripped perfectly naked, and white washed from 

 head to foot with a thick mixture of a kind of pipe-clay and water, which dries 

 perfectly white, and in this manner she is taken in procession to visit and re- 

 ceive the congratulation of herfriends. It appears that this extraordinary custom 

 is also common to some hill tribes in India and in the Andes of South America. 



" The richer Mundombes have an odd manner of making their beds. A 

 layer of clay about six or nine inches thick, and about two feet wide, is made 

 in the huts, and when dry constitutes their sleeping place; this they rub over 



