692 Notes on the Ethnology of the Congo. [Aug) 
The Nyam-Nyam and several Congo tribes have a very pect- 
liar knife-boomerang. It is a weapon sharp on all edges of its 
blades, —it might be called a collection of knife-blades. Ite 
kept concealed in the shield, and is thrown with a whirling 
motion, and its wide path and the accuracy and force with which 
it is thrown make it a dangerous weapon. | 
At the Stanley Falls Station, now held by the Arabs, a B 
kind of money is current, called, from its shape, “ spade money, | 
being pieces of iron used as a medium of exchange. The relative 
to silver. Cloth is a very common barter medium, and its mets 
mostly not for dress, but the custom is to wrap the dead it 
‘many folds of cotton goods. Cotton grows abundantly, andé : 
coarse, narrow cloth is made. A 
A stuff exactly similar to Mocha coffee-sacking is woven, and 
highly valued. It is grass-cloth, as it is commonly called; but 
sometimes it is made of the tough outer bark of some kind of 
shrub, and it is woven by men. The staple food of the Cong? 
region is manioc, or cassava roots, which are pounded in mortars 
with large pestles of ivory. Peanuts are also cultivated. Severi 
spoons in the Taunt collection are said to have been used in the 
cannibal feasts of the Arrhuimi River tribes. Pipes’ are madec 
horns, and the bowl is placed on one side. The horn is a 
with water, and the smoke is inhaled by suction at the open ¢™ 
Travellers speak of the extremely intoxicating effect of the p 
bacco and hemp mixture, which is brought out more powert 
by being drawn through water. we 
The customs and beliefs of these Africans with regard to the 
spirit-world are very crude. A belief in evil spirits, witches, 8°" 
and bad luck comprises nearly all of the religious elements f°” 
negro-life. The “doctor” is the interpreter of religion, and tit 
fetish is a safeguard against all harm. There are many Mohal 
medans, who practise a debased form of that worship. It “a 
that no form of religion can withstand the brutalizing effect 
the African nature and the childishness of his temperament. — 
What will be the future of this section of Africa, its relat 
to the world of commerce, and the extent to which it will ii 
fected by modern civilization are difficult problems. While # 
capable of supporting a large population, the climate is malarie™ 
and utterly unfit for Europeans. The African seems tO b 
