trees with intertwined branches, while the habitations are everywhere encircled by verdant clusters of bananas and oil-palms. Although there are no towns, the population is very dense, being estimated by Schweinfurth at about one million. In other words, in a space some 4,000 square miles in extent, the number of inhabitants, nearly two hundred to the square mile, would be one-fourth greater than the average in France.

The Monbuttus differ greatly in physical appearance from their neighbours, being distinguished by almost Semitic features and often even by a perfectly