the party with whom the king is bound to advise on all important affairs. It is customary for men in high positions, the king's relatives, chief Balaguns, and so forth, to construct in front of their houses certain turret-like contrivances, called by them akabi. The king offered Onoshoko to construct akabis in front of his house, as his position and rank demanded them. "No," said the old man, "Onoshoko is well enough without akabis. Let not any one be able to say, from my example, that he too must have akabis: honor belongs to the king only." He is the only man in the kingdom who is privileged to approach the king without prostrating, nevertheless he insists on doing so, explaining his conduct always by the remark that he, in his respect to the king, would ever be an example for others to copy. The king himself, determining not to be outdone, whenever Onoshoko enters the palace-yard, prostrates to the old man; and it is common for those about the palace to see one of them stealthily approaching the other, in order first to assume this position of respect.
Except with the few Africans who have been brought under the influence of Christianity, polygamy is universal. A man's position in society is estimated either by his bravery in war, or his wealth; and he can only manifest the latter by the number of his
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