166 
CHARACTER. 
defend themselves very skilfully against the blows of their 
adversaries with large shields made of elephant's hide. I 
have been assured that they are not accustomed to make 
slaves^ but kill their prisoners without mercy. 
The Bagos have no king ; each village is governed by 
the oldest of the inhabitants^ who settles their disputes, 
though they have, like the Landamas, a Simo, who performs 
the functions of chief magistrate upon important occasions. 
They are a jovial people, and fond of drinking ; persons 
of both sexes often assemble round a large calabash of palm- 
wine, and do not leave it till it is empty. They are great 
eaters, and their diet principally consists of dried fish, swim- 
ming in palm-oil, which renders it so disgusting, that a Eu- 
ropean could not touch it. When they kill a sheep, they 
mix the skin and entrails, unwashed, with the stews which 
they make : they also eat snakes, lizards, and the monkeys 
which they catch. 
The Bagos never visit their neighbours, neither have 
they occasion to do so, for their own country produces 
abundance of every thing requisite for the subsistence of 
any really temperate man. They cannot imagine that any 
nation is better off, and believe themselves superior in every 
respect to all others. I could not gain any information as to 
their ideas of the Deity; that they have some idea of a 
Supreme Being, however, is certain ; for when they hear 
thunder they dance and sing, to a drum, and say that God 
is rejoicing, and that they rejoice with him.'^ 
Their houses are large and convenient ; many families 
live together; and the members of each sleep upon the same 
bed ; with the exception, however, of the head of the family, 
* Some inhabitants of Kakondy, acquainted with the manners of 
the Bagos, informed me that they make gods of any thing that comes into 
their hands, such as a ram's horn, a cow's tail, a reptile, etc., and sacri- 
fice to them. 
