Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/544

 right to consult the tutelar deity in cases of emergency. In virtue of his divinity, the ruler of U-Rua is also theoretically the husband of all his female subjects except his mother, while in virtue of their royal blood his own sons are allowed to plunder the people at pleasure. At the ruler's death a number of his women are doomed to accompany him beyond the grave, which is dug in the bed of a river diverted from its course. Here is first killed the second wife, whose duty it is to watch at the feet of the dead; then the bottom is covered with living women, on whom is laid the corpse, after which, on the closed pit, are massacred a number of slaves, and the river is restored to its bed, so that the last resting-place of the dread monarch be for ever concealed from mortal eye. Human sacrifices are also

made for secondary chiefs, while the common people are thrown into the bush, or else seated in a grave with the right hand index finger pointing heavenwards.

The U-Rua country is one of the richest in the interior of Africa. The soil is extremely fertile, and in the mountains are found deposits of iron, cinnabar, silver, and even rock-oil. Most of the natives are distinguished by their intelligence and skill as craftsmen, and Cameron describes a native cabin which would be a work of art even in Europe. Much artistic taste is also displayed in the marvellous head-dresses, the endless varieties of which reveal the special character of each individual. Each clan has also a special animal, whose spoils supply the gala robes worn when they present themselves before their sovereign. As in the