Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/54

 The natives remain confined to their huts, abstain from ablutions and almost from food, and even cease to till the land. For several months the body is preserved in a house facing the palace, adorned with a symbolic effigy of the sovereign, to which are religiously offered the usual daily meals. After the limbs have been

first broken and then dried, the remains are covered with a coating of clay and wrapped in strips of cotton and a silk shroud. Everybody contributes his share, until at last the swathed mummy-pack fills the whole width of the mortuary dwelling. When the remains are ultimately borne to the consecrated place of burial, the funeral procession must be made in a straight line, so that all the