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56 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett
Bikula.
The four royal drums, representing the four fingers on the hand.
Bikula õuaci ku muntu ku fua bikula ku cikila mpe una ba cikila fumu ci.
"The drums that are heard by man only on the death of a great prince, and not at other
times."
Ma Ku Ku.
The three lumps of ant-hill-earth, which women place under their pots to support them
while their food is being cooked.
Ma Ku Ku ba tatu nzunga ku duku ka mpe.
"A pot on three stones does not upset."
When a woman comes with a matet25 upon her head in which bottles of water are
carried, she places them at her husband's feet, and if well educated, salutes him by
clapping her hands three times, and says "makuku batu nzunga kuduku ka mpe."
One day an old lady visited me. She had taken nkasa, the poisonous bark, to prove to the
world that it was not she who had caused death. She was wearing the red collar to show
the people that she had taken nkasa and that successfully.
On one side of this red neck-scarf or collar, which is bound with white tape, were
represented the moon, a native axe and a native hoe, and at the bottom the sun. This
picture gives us the idea of the moon's place in creation, as the woman working with
25 Long native basket made of palm leaves
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