Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/237

 Customs of the Lower Congo People. 201

By the nkimba's influence hostilities at once ceased, and the natives gave permission for building the Station on the site the missionaries had desired.

The " nzo a mbongi " or " nzo a toko " was a house for lads and unmarried men, or bachelor's club. Boys, on reaching the age of 12, had to live in such a house, whether circumcised or not, and, if uncircumcised, had to take the next opportunity of submitting to the rite. The small boys fagged for the big ones, fetching firewood and water and keeping the place clean. If they refused to do this work, they had their faces tied up, and were not allowed to sit near the fire or join in the talk of the others. Boys were permitted intercourse with their mothers, sisters, and family, but, on receiving their share of the family food, had to take it to the men's house and eat it there. Boys went from these houses to the circumcision lodge, and returned after the lodge was broken up at the end of the season. There was no special teaching beyond listening to the talk of the older unmarried men. The boys must not reveal what they saw there. Unbe- trothed girls visited the house in the dark by arrangement with the young men, but were not allowed to reveal the secrets of the place. Many in the house did not know who came and went in the dark. Girls were encourased to go by their parents, or " later in life they would bear no children." Twenty-five years ago there were such club-houses in all important villages, but, since the spread of Christianity, these houses have passed away.

John H. Weeks.

B.M.S. Wathen, Thysville, Congo Beige.

{To be continued^