82 
The Minor Tribes 
proceedings are kept profoundly secret. At cer¬ 
tain times an old woman strikes a stick upon an 
“ Orega” or crescent-shaped drum, hollowed out of 
a block of wood ; hearing this signal, the worship¬ 
ful sisterhood, bedaubed, by way of insignia, with 
red and white chalk or clay, follow her from the 
village to some remote nook in the jungle, where 
the lodge is tiled. Sentinels are stationed around 
whilst business is transacted before a vestal fire, 
which must burn for a fortnight or three weeks, in 
the awe-compelling presence of a brass pipkin 
filled with herbs, and a basin, both zebra d like 
the human limbs. The Rev. William Walker 
was once detected playing “ Peeping Tom” by 
sixty or seventy viragos, who attempted to exact a 
fine of forty dollars, and who would have handled 
him severely had he not managed to escape. The 
French officers, never standing upon ceremony in 
such matters, have often insisted upon being present. 
Circumcision, between the fourth and eighth 
year, is universal in Pongo-land, and without it a 
youth could not be married. The operation is 
performed generally by the chief, often by some 
old man, who receives a fee from the parents: the 
thumb nails are long, and are used after the Jewish 
fashion P neat rum with red pepper is spirted 
1 “The British Jews,” by the Rev. John Mills. London: 
Houlston and Stoneman, 1853. 
