Ornaments.-The dress is decorated with various kinds of ornaments, which are worn principally by the men-hides thrown about the shoul ders, long hanging tails of animals (fi/. 94, jig. r, middle figure), strings of beads around the neck and breast, necklaces of teeth or of buffalo leather, and bracelets and anklets of metal (fi. SS, Ar. 19; P/. 94, J7 s, 6) or of ivory (pl. 96, fig. 2; pi. 97, fig. 5). Often they wear a row of such things around the arm or leg (p1. 94, fig. 6); these are not rarely welded on, and are sometimes of a great weight. The. Monbuttus wear similar heavy rings about the neck. Their ornaments are a source of great pleasure to the Negroes, and in some places there are rules in this' line as to what appertains to each rank. The Negroes are not more vain than any other people in a state of nature, only they give a more lively utterance to their pleasure.
Pmi housebnilding of the Negroes is very uniform: on a cylindrical foundation of clay or plaited work, the latter being generally cemented with clay on the inside, rests a pointed or conical roof which is braided of straw or palm-leaves, generally overlapping. The shape of the roof, which is often decorated, as among the Niam-Niam, varies: some times it is rather flat (p1. 99, fig. 2), then again pointed (//. 93,fig. 6, background) or round 94, fig. 6). The houses have but one door and no windows: the door is often so low that the inhabitants must crawl through it; consequently, the interior is full of smoke and bad air, but it is generally clean. The fuel in many places consists of dried cow-dung.
The Monbuttus arrange a seat on the central pillar of the house where it projects above the roof. Among the Monbuttus, Schweinfurth saw artistically-built halls one hundred feet in length, forty feet high, and fifty feet broad. In the west, among the Ashantees, artistic buildings are found. It is well known that cities of from ten to eighty thousand inhabitants exist in the northern Negro countries. They are built in the Mohammedan style of architecture, and are fortified with walls, gates, and strong castles. The dwelling-houses are constructed of air-dried bricks. Some nations—for instance, the Krns—build their houses on piles; by others only the granaries or the smaller huts in which they sleep are constructed in that manner (fi/. 90, figs. zo, The huts are frequently collected into villages (p1. 92, fig. 20; p1. 93, fig. 6, a Fulah village); in the less civilized regions they are located together on farms or in small hamlets. The farm premises generally con tain several huts—one for the master of the house, others for the women, others for the animals; among the Niam-Niam and other tribes one for the immature boys, who sleep together, and smaller ones for the storage of etc. villages The smaller towns and villaes are often fortified with walls or palisades (p1. 92, fig. 20); often the villages have a separate fort, such
as we met with in South Africa, which serves as a residence of the chief (p. 9o, fig. 9). In many Negro villages in the east and west there are secluded privies or ditch-like sewers. The household goods are simple. The family sleep ou the floor, blocks of wood serving as pillows; the nobles both in the east and west have chairs or stools (p1. 89, fig. 7); the weapons, pots (p1. 92, fig. r8), or whatever else they may possess are kept either in or in front of the house.
Farm Buildings.—Plate 99 (fig. 2) shows the farm of a chief of the Musgus in Central Africa: the bell-shaped buildings to the right and in the background, constructed, as well as the enclosing wall, of clay, arc granaries, which are built in a great variety of shapes (p1. 90, fig. Jo). On all the farms we also find open sheds, under which the inhabitants cook, tie their cattle, sit and talk, etc. (comp. pl. 92, fig. 20; fi/. 99, fig. 2); and the village of Fernando Po (pi. 90, fig. 7) is composed entirely of such protecting roofs. The semi-globular huts so frequently met with in South Africa are rarely found here, but we see them in Soudan (pl. 92, Ag. 20), and also on the upper Nile.
Agriculhtre and about the villages are the fields and plantations. All Negro peoples are agriculturists, some to a greater extent than others. Farming is rarely conducted by the men, generally by the women and children or the slaves. The implement most frequently used is a hoe (p1. 88, Jig. 19, background). This hoe is a very useful tool and fully suffices for the tropic soil of Africa (\Vaitz). In the west, where the art of transplanting is known and the fields are drained, ploughed regularly, and weeded, the Sarrars, Krus, many of the Mandingoes and Fulah, are the best agriculturists; in the east the Bongos, Shilinks, and Mittus.
chief nutritive plant from Cape Verde to the White Nile is the doura (Sorg/um); other grains are rice on the western coast (Sarrar, Krn), and maize almost everywhere. Other plants are beans, groundnuts (Arachis), the manioc, batatas, yams, a species of Arun/ the root-bul bs of which are edible, bananas, sugar-cane, various members of the gourd family, and two kinds of ruslica and AT. labacllm. In the west they successfully grow cotton as a fibre-plant, and,on the upper Nile a species of fig the bark of which is used for dress materials. Flowers are also cultivated here and there in the vicinity of the houses. It is strange that of all the most important nutritive plants scarcely any originated in Africa: sorghum, millet, rice, batatas, and arum originated in Asia; arachis, manioc, and tobacco in America (Decandolle).