Inconsistent with this is his love of his mother, of which I have spoken before; but it may be mentioned again, for it is the strongest sentiment and the deepest emotion in the mind and heart of the African. He always loves his mother more than his wife. The wife is also expected to love the members of her own family more than her husband; but the love of mother is strongest in the men. She is the one who will defend him against the machinations of his wives and be true to him when all others combine to denounce or to injure him. One day on an English steamer a traveller who was standing on deck and teasing some Kruboys in a boat below remarked to an Old Coaster how very good-natured they were. The Old Coaster told him something to say to one of them that involved a reflection on his mother. The traveller made the remark and was startled and somewhat frightened when the “good-natured” Kruboy turned upon him in a rage, cursed him and threatened to kill him. If he had been ashore he might have paid the penalty with his life. The African, old and young, thinks he has fully justified any violent assault upon another when he says: “He cursed my mother.” Any reflection whether it be more or less serious is called a “curse.” A man also loves his children more than his wife. Often the head-wife is the one who bears the most children. Children are not weaned until the age of three years or thereabouts. During all this period of lactation the husband and wife observe absolute continence in regard to each other, though not necessarily in regard to others. A man has as many wives as he can afford to buy. The idea of marrying “just for love” is laughable. Such an act is sometimes cited as indicating weakness of character. Marriages of “strong-minded” men are controlled by expediency and convenience. In the territory of the Gaboon I know of no man that has more than ten wives; but in the farther interior some chiefs have half a hundred. Yet, though the possession of many wives is the ambition of every man, most of them never possess more than one. The dowry which a man pays for a wife is enormous; and none but the most successful traders are able to earn the amount. A dowry is often kept intact and passed from father to son, doing repeated service. A man may also procure a dowry by the sale of a sister. I have heard Fang boys boasting that they were rich because they had several sisters.