The Minor Tribes and the Mpongwe. 63 
ethnical divisions of Benga, and Shekyani; the 
Urungu, the Nkommi, the Dongas or Ndiva, and 
the Mbusha, and 3. the Mpongwe and the tribes 
of the interior. Lastly, there are only three peo¬ 
ples of any importance, namely, the Mpongwe, 
the Bakele, and the Fa^. 
The Mpongwe, whom the French call “ les 
Gabons,” are the aristocracy of the coast, the 
Benga being the second, and the Banoko and 
Bapuka ranking third. They are variously esti¬ 
mated at 5,000 to 7,000 head, serviles included. 
They inhabit both sides of the Gaboon, extending 
about thirty-five miles along its banks, chiefly on 
the right; on the left only seawards of the She¬ 
kyani. But it is a wandering race, and many a 
“ mercator vagus ” finds his way to Corisco, Cape 
Lopez, Batanga, and even Fernando Po. The two 
great families on the northern river bank are the 
Quabens and the Glass, who style themselves kings 
and princes ; the southern side lodges King Wil¬ 
liam (Roi Denis) near the mouth, and the power¬ 
ful King George, about twenty-five miles higher 
up stream. There are also settlements scattered 
at various distances from the great highway of 
commerce to which they naturally cling, and upon 
the Coniquet and Parrot Islands. 
Barbot (iv. 9) describes the “ Gaboon blacks ” 
as “commonly tall, robust, and well-shaped;” 
they appeared to me rather below the average of 
