273 
TEAVELS IN CENTEAL AFEICA. 
containing sufficient clay to make it firm,, the soil stood admi- 
rably. 
Regarding all the proceedings^ and having encountered nothing 
hut civility^ and fancying my presence to some^ if not to all,, might 
be unpleasant^ I retired to my tent about noon^ scorched and 
parched from my morning^s exposure to the heat of a fierce sun. 
To my agreeable relief^ dispelling all ideas of intrusion that I had 
formed, at one p.m. a venerable grey-headed negro, with a calm 
and confiding smile on his countenanee, came to invite me* to 
witness the funeral, and, following him, I took up my position on 
the brink of the grave, from whence I could see the advaneing 
procession. 
The uncovered corpse was carried on a strong wicker frame 
borne on the shoulders of half a dozen men, preceded by a number 
of women, then came the wives of the deceased, and their atten- 
dants ; a strictly silent crow d followed, the women only chanting 
to the accompaniment of the tom-toms. One-third of the distance 
had scarcely been accomplished when the active wives, tearing 
themselves from the grasp of their guardians, for the last time led 
the van, indulging in a succession of the before-mentioned somer- 
saults, until the goal was reached. On the arrival of the corpse, the 
almost frantie mourners clutched it convulsively, and were with the 
utmost difficulty withdrawn from the body, when the poor ereatures 
made a hard struggle to throw themselves into the grave. The 
dead was lowered to his last home without further demonstration or 
ceremony, beyond a wild rolling of the drums. The body was laid 
on the right side in a bent position, as if asleep, at the farthest ex- 
tremity of the low vault. A ligament of bark was tied to the little 
finger of the left hand, and the other extremity was drawn to the 
surface, and there attached to a peg driven in the ground. The con- 
