Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1879-10-09

which was held in great reverence.
The idol was placed in the midst of a
dense Jungle, and it had for.wife one
of the sisters of the fefgfing sover-
ign. Under the principal chief were
smaller chiefs, who collected and
paid over to the sovereign tribute.
He had seen this tribute come in,
and some of it must have comezfrom
distant parts of the country There
was. q numerous. class of wiz
ards in the country who did a large
trade in idols and charms. Many OF
the wizards were ventriloquists, and
in this way the idols were made to
give answers to the questions put to
them. Caste was very clearly defin-
! ed in the race. No one dare sit
down IN the presence of the chief
without permission, WHICH was very
! seldom granted. LII one case, wAere,
hthe travellers presence, q native
had
20 4~NEGLECTED, ETIQUETTE,
Severe punishment was about to be
Inflicted, but the traveller saved the
Offender, Authority was maintainI
ed 'by Inutilaton. Hands, feet, ears.
and noses, were mutiiated, and the
natives did not seem to mind it
much. One woman had cut Off her
town ears This. WOMAN was one of
! Kasongo's wives; he had about l 200
OF them. She asked permission to
mutilate herself, and she did it at
I once. The bOdy-guard of the chief
was composed to a great extent, oi
y mrtifatedpeopIe, whose affection for
the chief seemed in no way decreas-
cd ;,indeed, it would appear that mu-
tilation strengthened their regard fol
their chief. A laugh. The name
of The IDOL was Kungwe Banza, and
profound reverence was shown to it.
Fire was obtained by friction from q
fire block, and in one case n chiet
used the shin bone of one of the 9TH
er chiefs who had been conquered
The dress of the people was very
simple, consisting Of an apron
Members of the royal family wore
three large skins, and Junior mem
GERS of the family wore aprons o
green monkey skins. The hair dress
lug of this people was curious, vary
, ing more with districts than wifi
rank. In some cases it was worked
up into four ring plaits crossed a
/, the top of the head like a ,croXa,- am
surrounded at the bottom with :fbans
of cowries or other shells. Siewer
were inserted in the hair, one end O
, which could be used in tattooing
. The people were not a hairy race
: but they managed to groW.7thei
boards long, and plated them hike
Chinaman' pig tail, usually pattin
at the end of each lump of mud t
| weight it. Some OF the boards reach
ed to the waists. The women, no
having boards to amuse themselve
with, were tattooed extensively
:. Tattooing usually commenced at til
age OF seven. and mG Ghtabe eohplet
c "a about the age Of twelve Or ,foul
teen, which was
THE TIME FOR MARRIAGE.
Beautiful patterns were used, an
the tattOoing was done inzraised cut
Y Sometimes husband, when lhe- ws
dspleased with his wife, cut off a
these raised pieces, and the woma
K could not appear in public again
- she was not received into society III
til she was re- tattooed. He saw OF
, of their weddings, which was yel
curious. The festivities lasted Sc
81 eral days. A ring was formed of q
natives, two men with big drums b.
ing in the middle. The drums we
D. played and the people round dauceC
N The bride was brought out, dresst
" in feathers and other finery, on Il
no shoulders of two or three womel
~ she was taken into the middle of Il
- ring, and was jumped up and dow
on the shoulders OF the women. II
Il bride threw shells and beads abou
for which there was q scramble,
- :. the possession of them was suppo
ed to confer luck: Ultimately t
49, husband came into the ring, and pl
\ ting the bride under his arm 1carri,
J, her off. Laughter The means
communication was by drum sigma
They had call On the drum for e,
rybody's name, and could ask gu,
4 tons AND convey intelligence sov
III hundreds of miles, and receive "a
swers almost Immediately. In "
messages were. constantly sent enc
nous distances TO bring up. reinf0rt
ments or to stop their coming. L
- mass Of the people lived in luts
dry land, but there were one or t
.e exceptions to this. He saw t
~ lakes on which people were living
huts. In one case the people b
-- covered over the long grass growi
in. the water with earth, and on Il
4 had built their huts in the other
7 = huts we're built on piles. The |.
, guage of the country belonged to
., same broad family which stretch
across the large belt Of Africa t
'rk versed by him, and the grammar v
se- on the same principles as the gra
4 mar of the Swaeli. -
----.--