106 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
ceeding comfort to the latter), and for a native year, 
which is half of ours, they must dwell in the Vivala ya 
Ankimba, or Casa de Feitico, like that which we passed 
before reaching Banza Nokki. They are now instructed 
by the Nganga in the practices of their intricate creed ; 
they are taught the mysteries under solemn oaths, and, 
in line, they are prepared for marriage. Upon the 
Congo they must eat no cooked food, living wholly 
upon roots and edibles ; but they are allowed to enter 
the villages for provisions, and here they often appear 
armed with matchets, bayonets, and wooden swords. 
Their faces and necks, bodies and arms, are ghastly 
white with chalk or ashes ; the hair is left in its original 
jet, and the dingy lower limbs contrast violently with 
the ghostlike absence of colour above. The dress is 
a crinoline of palm-fronds, some fresh and green, others 
sere and brown ; a band of strong mid-rib like a yellow 
hoop passed round the waist spreads out the petticoat 
like a farthingale, and the ragged ends depend to the 
knees ; sometimes it is worn under the axillse, but in 
all cases the chalked arms must be outside. The 
favourite attitude is that of the Rhodian Colossus, with 
the elbows bent to the fore and the hands clasped 
behind the head. To increase their prestige of terror, 
the Jinkomba abjure the use of human language, and, 
meeting a stranger, ejaculate with all their might, 
“ Har-rr-rr-rr-rr ! ” and “ Jojolo ! Jojolo ! ” words mystic 
and meaningless. When walking in procession, they 
warn the profane out of the way by striking one slip 
of wood upon another. They are wilder in appearance 
than the Hindu Jogi or Sanyasi, who also affects the 
use of ashes, but neglects that of the palm-thatch. It 
is certainly enough to startle a man of impressible 
nerves— one, for instance, who cannot enter a room 
without a side-long glance at an unexpected coffin — 
to see these hideous beings starting with their savage 
cry from the depths of an African forest. Evidently, 
also, such is the intention of the costume. 
Contrasting the Congoese with the Goanese, we 
obtain a measure of difference between the African and 
