A Visit to Banza Chisalia. 123 
region remaining a year or two above ground till 
the requisite quantity of line stuffs has been pro¬ 
cured—the larger the roll the greater the dignity, 
and sometimes the hut must be pulled down 
before it can be removed. Here, as on the Gold 
Coast, we find the Jewish practice recorded by 
Josephus of converting the tomb into a treasury; 
in the case of Mashel some ^600 in gold and 
silver, besides cloth, beads, and ornaments, shared, 
they say, his fate. The missionaries vainly fought 
against these customs, which are evidently of sen¬ 
timental origin— 
“ Now bring the last sad gifts, with these 
The last lament be said; 
Let all that pleased and still may please 
Be buried with the dead.” 
The bier was borne by slaves, as the head men 
would not even look at it; at times the carriers 
circled round, as if to deprecate the idea that they 
were hurrying it to its bourne. The grave was a 
pit fifteen to twenty feet deep, cut like a well, 
covered with stones to keep out wild beasts, and 
planted round with the cylindrical euphorbia by 
way of immortelles . 
I could not find out if the Congoese still prac¬ 
tise the vivi-sepulture so common on the Western 
Coast—the infernal sacrifices of man’s flesh to 
the memory of relatives and ancestors,” as the 
old missioners energetically expressed themselves. 
