[228] Schuit, a boat, in Dutch.
[229] This sentence is introduced on the authority of Duarte Lopez (Pigafetta, p. 22). The other tree referred to by Battell is the mfuma, or cotton-tree (see Tuckey, Narrative, p. 225). Dr. Falkenstein, however, affirms that the soft wood of the baobab is that usually employed for making canoes (“dug-outs”).
[230] Battell, I have no doubt, never employed the word “Bramas” (Bramanes in Portuguese, Brahmans). D. Lopez (Pigafetta) must be held responsible for the statement that the inhabitants of Loango were originally known as Bramas. Surely this cannot be (as supposed by Degrandpré) because of the red and yellow stripes with which the women in Loango paint their foreheads in honour of a certain fetish, and the similarity of these with the marks of the votaries of Siva in India.
[231] Dr. Bastian (Loango Expedition, vol. i, pp. 158, 202, 232) mentions offerings of this kind. Thus the skull of an animal killed in the chase is placed before the fetish.
[232] Mbongo, cloth (Bentley’s Dictionary).
[234] Restrictions upon the use of certain articles of food are imposed by the doctor (nganga), even before the child is born (mpangu), and upon the sick (konko). The things forbidden to be eaten are called nlongo, and it is believed that a disregard of this taboo entails most disastrous consequences (Bentley, Dictionary, pp. 353, 389). In Loango things forbidden are called Shin, or thina (Dennett, Folk-Lore, p. 138).
[235] Any place guarded by a “charm,” such as a shell, a bit of cloth, or the like, is respected by the natives as being protected by the nkishi (Dennett, Folk-Lore, pp. 6, 18).
[237] This bell is called Shi-Ngongo, and the Maloango alone is allowed to order it to be struck. Thus, when a messenger is sent round the town, striking this Shi-Ngongo, the people know that it is the voice of Maloango which speaketh. It is thus quite likely that a thief, under these circumstances, should be frightened into restoring stolen property. (From a letter by Mr. Dennett.) See also [note], p. 20.