been held, saw a huge clay model (he thought about forty feet long) of some creature which the English-speaking native with him told him was ‘a whale,’ but which was more like one of the extinct saurians of the Oolitic period. He was certain it was like no living creature he knew of. One observer describes circles filled with geometrical patterns traced on the ground, but makes no mention of the animals, except from hearsay. Besides the drawing of these figures, dances are performed by men got up as various animals. This is done by means of real heads carefully preserved and mounted on sticks, while the bodies are represented by calico stretched over wooden hoops. One such figure—say that of an elephant or buffalo—requires several men to move it, of course hidden by the draperies. Other performers wear masks of plaited grass, and are weird figures supposed to represent the spirits of the dead. These dances are held by moonlight; and the explanation generally given is that they are intended to frighten and impress the young people who have that day come of age. What ideas are embodied may be a matter of conjecture, but, for the present at least, nothing certain can be said on the subject. _Note._—Since the above chapter was written, I have learned from a correspondent in Nyasaland that there are secret societies among the Yaos, which practise cannibalism, and that the practice has been spreading of late years. In the absence of further particulars, it is impossible to determine how much of this was ceremonial in origin and how much due to a depraved taste in certain individuals which may have originated in a time of famine. See also Sir H. H. Johnston, _British Central Africa_, pp. 446, 447. CHAPTER V NATIVE LIFE—I. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH Villages. Huts. Birth. Naming. Dress. Childhood’s rights. Games. Plastic art-work. Daily life. I cannot begin this chapter better than by describing one of the villages I know best—those of the Anyanja in the Upper Shiré district.