120 
A Visit to Banza Chisalla. 
had lost their fear, and brought their exomphalous 
little children, who resembled salmon fry in the 
matter of umbilical vesicles, to be patted by the 
white man; a process which caused violent screams 
and in some cases nearly induced convulsions— 
the mothers seemed to enjoy the horror dis¬ 
played by their hopefuls. There is little beauty 
amongst the women, and settled Europeans prefer 
Cabinda girls. The latter have perhaps the most 
wiry and wig-like hair on the whole West African 
coast, where all hair is more or less wiry and wig¬ 
like. Cloth was less abundant in the village than 
a smear of red; the bosom even after marriage 
was unveiled, and the rule of fashion was shown 
by binding it tightly down. The rich wore arm- 
lets and leglets of staircase rods, brass and copper, 
like the metal gaiters and gauntlets of the Gaboon 
River. The only remarkable object was the 
Quesango, a wooden effigy of a man placed in 
the middle of the settlement: Battel mentions it 
amongst the “ Gagas or Guides,” and Barbot 
terms it “ Likoku Mokisi.” Three faint hurrahs, 
a feeble African echo of England like the 
“hoch!” of Vienna, and the discharge of a four- 
pounder were our parting honours. 
We returned via the gateway between the two 
islets. On the south-eastern flank of Chisalla 
is a dwarf precipice called Mbondo la Zumba 
and, according to the interpreters, it is the 
