At the age of five or six the boys do not stay longer with their mothers. Some bigger boys having built a house, the small boys just breaking loose from parental restraints go to them, and beg to be allowed to live with them. They in turn promise to find them in firewood, and to be their little retainers pro tem. These boys’ houses are called _mbonge_. I turned up late at night (eight o’clock) in a native town, having made a forced march. I had never visited there before, and not liking to rouse the chief at such an hour, I went to the _mbonge_, and asked the boys whether I and my two attendants might sleep there to save fuss and trouble, as I must be off again at daybreak. ‘Oh, you are Ingelezo, are you? come in; yes, we are glad to see you, so often we have heard of you, and now we see you. We are very pleased.’ This was kindly spoken; so, stooping through the low doorway, I entered a roomy house. Some ten boys had just finished supper, and squatted round a smoky fire. I was glad to stretch out on the papyrus mat they gave me, keeping low down, to avoid the smoke which otherwise almost blinded me. I had with me half a fowl, a small bell (1¼_d._), and three strings of beads. A boy spitted my fowl over the fire, while my attendants dozed, for they were worn out with the long march of the day. I begged some plantain, and a lad went to the door, and shouted, ‘Bring some plantain to the _mbonge_.’ A kindly woman brought some. When my meal was ready I asked for a pinch of salt and some water; they shouted for these, and got them. Having finished my meal, I coiled up in my blanket; and next morning, giving them the bell and three strings, thanked them, and so we parted. The boys of the _mbonge_ are well attended to; for to get the name of ‘stingy’ is the first step towards the terrible rumour of witch. The constant activities of trade tend to develop the intellectual faculties of the people. Cute, long-headed men, with wonderful memories, having no account books or invoices, they ask you sensible questions; and if you can speak their language, an hour’s chat may be as pleasant with them as with some whiter and more civilised folk. If you have a bargain to drive with them, you need all your wits and firmness; while if they are stronger than you, or have no reason to respect you, they will have their way. Clever in pottery and metal work, making hoes and knives, casting bracelets, anklets, and even bells from the brass rods of trade, beating out brass wire, and ribbon, they strike you at once as being of a superior type.