70 
skill of the impostor, and liberally reward him with 
presents. 
The burial of the dead is a religious occasion, and 
is conducted with peculiar ceremonies. Upon the 
decease of a person, the nearest relatives are invited 
to the house; the hair and beards of the men being 
shaved, and a cap placed on the heads of the women 
in token of mourning, they first wash the body, and 
then adorn it with bracelets, rings, and chains of gold, 
set with coral and other ornaments, wrapping round it 
several pieces of the finest cloths: then the parents, 
friends and slaves assemble round the corpse in a body, 
and bemoan the deceased with great lamentations; the 
women alternately bewailing and dancing, and the men 
performing exercises of arms; while another party, in an 
adjoining apartment, extol the praises of the deceased, 
proclaim his public loss, speak to him as if living, and 
ask the reason of his dying;—whether he had not 
gold, silver, iron, cattle, slaves, or riches sufficient? 
The first day is spent in this tragi-comic interchange 
of grief and mirth, and the whole company is enter¬ 
tained at night. A tree is next selected for the coffin, 
and, a cow or ox being killed, some of the blood is 
sprinkled upon the tree, and prayers are offered up 
that it may not split, or hurt any one in falling. 
Being cut about a foot longer than the corpse, 
it is split down the middle and scooped out, after 
which it is fit for use; and the corpse being depo¬ 
sited in it, and fastened down, it is carried by six 
men to the Amounouque, or sepulchre, belonging 
