304 
PUNCTILIOUSNESS OF THE BALONDA. Chap. XVIL 
Our chief guide, Intemese, sent orders to all the villages 
around our route that Shinte’s friends must have abundance of 
provisions. Our progress was impeded by the time requisite for 
communicating the chief’s desire, and consequent preparation of 
meal. We received far more food from Shinte’s people than 
from himself, Kapende, for instance, presented two large baskets 
of meal, three of manioc-roots steeped and dried in the sun and 
ready to be converted into flour, three fowls and seven eggs, with 
three smoke-dried fishes; and others gave with similar liberality. 
I gave to the headmen small bunches of my stock of beads, with 
an apology that we were now on our way to the market for these 
goods. The present was always politely received. 
We had an opportunity of observing that our guides had 
much more etiquette than any of the tribes farther south. They 
gave us food, but would not partake of it when we had cooked 
it; nor would they eat their own food in our presence. When 
it was cooked they retired into a thicket, and ate their porridge; 
then all stood up, and clapped their hands, and praised Intemese 
for it. The Makololo, who are accustomed to the most free and 
easy manners, held out handfuls of what they had cooked to any 
of the Balonda near, but they refused to taste. They are very 
punctilious in their manners to each other. Each hut has its 
own fire, and when it goes out they make it afresh for themselves 
rather than take it from a neighbour. I believe much of this 
arises from superstitious fears. In the deep, dark forests near 
each village, as already mentioned, you see idols intended to 
represent the human head or a lion, or a crooked stick smeared 
with medicine, or simply a small pot of medicine in a little shed, 
or miniature huts with little mounds of earth in them. But in 
the darker recesses we meet with human faces cut in the bark of 
trees, the outlines of which, with the beards, closely resemble 
those seen on Egyptian monuments. Frequent cuts are made 
on the trees all along the paths, and offerings of smaU pieces of 
manioc-roots, or ears of maize, are placed on branches. There 
are also to be seen every few miles heaps of sticks, which are 
treated in cairn fashion, by every one throwing a small branch 
to the heap in passing; or a few sticks are placed on the path, 
and each passer-by turns from his course, and forms a sudden 
bend in the road to one side. It seems as if their minds were 
