[Illustration: Funeral at Bumba (Bangala).] From Eastern Africa this primitive race is thought to have spread, in the course of ages, throughout all Central Africa, and probably to have penetrated almost to the southern and western coasts of that continent, changing their physical characteristics according to their environment, and again modifying those characteristics by subsequent intermixture. The numerous Central African tribes, as they exist to-day, exhibit marked differences in height, shape, language, habits, customs, and even in colour, some being an intense black, some of a chocolate hue, some reddish brown, and some of a bronze aspect. The five main divisions, according to Johnston, appear to be: (1) the forest Pigmy; (2) the Bantu; (3) the Nile Negro; (4) the Masai, and (5) the Hamite. The native tribes in the neighbourhood of Leopoldville consist chiefly of the Musserongés, the Kakongos, the Baoilis, and the Mayombés. [Sidenote: Some Tribal Traits.] The Musserongés are difficult of approach. Not only do they hold themselves severely aloof from the white man, they are also very shy and guarded in their intercourse with other native tribes, and are never known to combine with any of them, even when threatened by a common enemy. They are tall, strong, and better-looking than most members of the Negro race, though this commendation must not be taken for a certificate of beauty. They file their teeth to a point, or cut them square, or into semicircles, their object being to provide themselves thereby with a weapon for use as a last resort in a fight, when they literally throw themselves upon their enemies and seize them by the throat with their fangs, as a bulldog might do. They wear their hair short, and indulge in the practice of tattooing, for purposes of ornament, but not to any great extent. Strange to say, the women are taller and stronger than the men, which may perhaps be explained by the fact that all the work of the tribe, except hunting and fishing, falls to their share. The Kakongos and Mayombés are less intensely distrustful, but the Baoilis are markedly hostile to the white man. They have been known to refuse to barter oysters—their principal diet, of which they frequently have supplies largely exceeding their requirements—for European commodities which it has been certain that they ardently desired to possess. [Illustration: Women Beating Rice, Uelle.] [Sidenote: Modes et Robes à la Congo.]