the last resources of all are wigs and toupets of stained pine-apple fibre.  The comb is unknown, its succedaneum being a huge bodkin, like that which the Trasteverina has so often used as a stiletto.  This instrument of castigation is made of ivory or metal, with a lozenge often neatly carved and ornamented at the handle.  The hair, always somewhat “kinky,” is anointed every morning with palm-oil, or the tallow-like produce of a jungle-nut; and, in full dress, it is copiously powdered with light red or bright yellow dust of pounded camwood, redwood, and various barks.

The ears are adorned with broad rings of native make, and, near the trading stations, with French imitation jewellery.  The neck supports many strings of beads, long and short, with the indispensable talismans.  The body dress is a Tobe or loin-cloth, like that of the men; but under the “Namba,” or outer wrapper, which hangs down the feet, there is a “Siri,” or petticoat, reaching only to the knees.  Both are gathered in front like the Shukkah of the eastern coast, and the bosom is left bare.  Few except the bush-folk now wear the Ibongo, Ipepe, or Ndengi, the woven fibres and grass-cloths of their ancestry; amongst the hunters, however, a Tanga, or grass-kilt, may still be seen.  The exposure of the upper person shows the size and tumidity of the areola, even in young girls; being unsupported, the mammae soon become flaccid.

The legs, which are peculiarly neat and well turned, are made by art a fitting set-off to the head.  It is the pride of a Mpongwe wife to cover the lower limb between knee and ankle with an armour of metal rings, which are also worn upon the wrists; the custom is not modern, and travellers of the seventeenth century allude to them.  The rich affect copper, bought in wires two feet and a half long, and in two sizes; of the larger, four, of the smaller, eight, go to the dollar; the brass are cheaper, as 5:  4; and I did not see iron or tin.  The native smiths make the circles, and the weight of a full set of forty varies from fifteen to nineteen pounds.  They are separate rings, not a single coil, like that used by the Wagogo and other East African tribes; they press tightly on the limb, often causing painful chafes and sores.  The ankle is generally occupied by a brass or iron chain, with small links.  Girls may wear these rings, of which the husband is expected to present a considerable number to his bride, and the consequence is, that when in full dress she waddles like a duck.

Commerce and intercourse with whites has made the Mpongwe, once the rudest, now one of the most civilized of African tribes; and, upon the whole, there is an improvement.  The exact Barbot (iv. 9) tells us “the Gaboon blacks are barbarous, wild, bloody, and treacherous, very thievish and crafty, especially towards strangers.  The women, on the contrary, are as civil and courteous to them, and will use all possible means to enjoy their company; but both sexes