Africa and its inhabitants . lingsstiircontinue, for those dwelling on the banks ..f the to take wives from foreign tribes. _ , From the , who are at once wizards, , and ex^x-utunuT*. tb.) 478 WEST AFRICA. endeaTour to protect themselves by many-coloured marks daubed round the orbitsand on other parts of the face. Thus white preserves them from drowning, redfrom wounds, yellow from fire. Unlike most other Negroes, thej are indifferentto jjersonal ornamentation, and despise the meretricious charms of the toilet iawhich so many native tribes spend a great part of
Africa and its inhabitants . lingsstiircontinue, for those dwelling on the banks ..f the to take wives from foreign tribes. _ , From the , who are at once wizards, , and ex^x-utunuT*. tb.) 478 WEST AFRICA. endeaTour to protect themselves by many-coloured marks daubed round the orbitsand on other parts of the face. Thus white preserves them from drowning, redfrom wounds, yellow from fire. Unlike most other Negroes, thej are indifferentto jjersonal ornamentation, and despise the meretricious charms of the toilet iawhich so many native tribes spend a great part of their existence. They displayno taste for art, and even the dance and tam-tamming are reserved for solemnoccasions of national interest. The Ba-Teke occupy the riverain tracts along the Upper Alima and theupland waterparting, which in many places is strcAvn with a white sand giving itthe appearance of a saline waste. Some of the tribes encroach westwards on the Pis. 244.—Dead Tkunks of Palms neak Msuala, on the Congo. i. Ogoway basin, and southwards on the district watered by the Nkheni and theLeiini. They even cross to the left side of the Congo south of Kwamouth, andtheir domain is altogether scarcely less extensive than that of the Bu-Banghi,although the several tribes differ greatly one from the other. The Ba-Teke of theplateaux present maiked contrasts to the Bu-Banghi, both in physical appearanceand social usages. They are less robust, of smaller stature and less stout, most ofthem being so very thin that they have been compared to walking are remarkably frugal, a little manioc and a few grubs or insects picked upon the way sufficing to svipport them even on the march. The women carry longsticks, furnished at the extremity with a little raw hemp, which serves to catch THE BA-TEKE. •I7<J tlie grasshoppers, the Ea-Tekc food, as they arc called. Insects arc taken byfiring the grass, and the Ea-Teke are also partial to smoked toads, although jirefer- Fi
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Keywords: ., bookauthor, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectethnology
