Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/286

 be traversed in all directions; only expeditions are still very expensive, as the inhabitants of every village expect a present from every white traveller. For several generatious there have been no wars in the district; still every native has his gun, with which he burns much powder, noise and uproar being indispensable elements of all festive gatherings. Islam has not yet reached this region, where the religious

observances are still of a purely Animistic character. But they do not appear to be celebrated with much zeal. The fetishes set up at the entrance of every village and at the cross roads are much neglected. and the tabooed or sacred groves are now mostly reduced to small enclosures, surrounded with skulls of animals and potsherds. In some places even the enclosures have disappeared, and the fetish temple is reduced to a mere diorite boulder brought perhaps in remote times