Another thing necessary to the young Congo boy was to teach him, not the movements of the clock’s hands, but the crowing of the cocks, the notes of the _nkuku-mpembe_ (name of a bird), and the movements of the sun: 2 a.m. was “the lying fowl”; 3 a.m. “the lying bird”—because they falsely heralded the dawn which was not due until later; 4 a.m. was “the first fowl”; 4 to 5 a.m. “the sun is near”; 5.30 to 6 a.m. “the dawning”; 6 a.m. “the sun is come”; 6.15 to 7 a.m. “the first sun”; 12 noon “the meridian”; 6 p.m. “when the fowls go in,” or “the sun enters”; 11 to 12 p.m. “one set of ribs,” or “one side of a person,” and means that about that time a person turns from lying on one side over on to the other. For all these and many other divisions of the day there were special names or phrases. Then there was a system of counting, and an elaborate mode of stating numbers with the fingers[15] which I must enter into more fully under another heading; suffice it to say that he had to learn to count from one up to ten thousand, and any amount beyond that up to one hundred thousand he had no difficulty in expressing after he had once mastered the system. Footnote 15: See Appendix, Note 3, on Boloki method of counting. The length of time that a child remained under the tutelage of his father depended largely on the character of both, and the strength of will each possessed. There were no bachelor houses in the villages, consequently male and female children belonging to the same mother were brought up together in her house until such times as the boys were old enough to build a house for themselves, if they cared so to do. There was no age limit. I have known big lads sleep in their mothers’ houses; and I have know smallish lads of energy and initiative combine to build a hut for themselves of which they were very proud. From his very boyhood the Boloki was a keen trader. He accompanied his father on all trading journeys as soon as he was able to beat time with a stick in the bows of the canoe, or handle a paddle. In the village he learned the value of different articles, and nothing delighted him more than exchanging what he did not want for something that he needed. While his father was bartering he would eagerly listen, and thus learn how to praise his own goods, and disparage in depreciatory terms the articles which he desired to purchase, so as to lower their prices. Before an article could be exchanged with profit to himself he had many things to learn—the first cost of the article, the time spent in hawking it, the payment and keep of those who helped to paddle him from place to place in search of a buyer—or he would find himself poorer at the end of his trading expedition than he was at the beginning. This was no small part of the lad’s education.