STRANGE CUSTOMS OF SAVAGE RULERS. 
283 
and stone, so that the eye can scarcely bear the rays that flash on 
every side as he moves in the sunbeams. He then seats himself, 
and makes a speech to the people. When it is finished, he rises, 
while all the people crouch to the ground, stretches his hands over 
them, and makes certain prescribed gestures, which are considered 
as the royal benediction. A long series of banquets and revelry 
ends the proceedings. 
At the present day, the Congo king and great men disfigure 
themselves with European clothing, such as silk jackets, velvet 
shoes, damask coats, and broad-brimmed hats. But, in the former 
times, they dressed becomingly in native attire. A simple tunic 
made of very fine grass cloth, and leaving the right arm bare, 
covered the upper part of the body, while a sort of petticoat, made 
of similar material, but dyed black, was tied round the waist, and 
an apron, or “sporran,’’ of leopard skin, was fastened to the girdle 
and hung in front. On their heads they wore a sort of hood, and 
sometimes preferred a square red and yellow cap. Sandals made 
of the palm tree were the peculiar privilege of the king and nobles, 
the common people being obliged to go hare-footed. 
WIVES WHO RECEIVE VIGOROUS ATTENTION. 
The wives in Congo are tolerably well off, except that they are 
severely beaten with the heavy hippopotamus-hide whip. The 
women do not resent this treatment, and indeed, unless a woman 
is soundly flogged occasionally, she thinks that her husband is 
neglecting her, and feels offended accordingly. The king has the 
power of taking any woman for his wife, whether married or not, 
and, when she goes to the royal harem, her husband is judiciously 
executed. 
The people of Congo are—probably on account of the enervat¬ 
ing climate—a very indolent and lethargic race, the women being 
made to do all the work, while the men lie in the shade and smoke 
their pipes and drink their palm-wine, which they make remarkably 
well, though not so well as the Bube tribe of Fernando Po. Their 
houses are merely huts of the simplest description; a few posts with 
a roof over them, and twigs woven between them in wicker-work 
