The other method of building villages is to have one long street, with a row of houses on each side, rectangular in shape.  They are about twenty-five or thirty feet in length, and about twelve to fifteen feet in width.  Six or eight posts are used to join the material of the sides to.  The roofs are flat.  Three rooms are allowed to each house.  The two end rooms are larger than the centre one, where the door opens out into the street.  Sometimes these rooms are plastered, but it is seldom; and then it is in the case of the well-to-do class.[72]

We said, at the beginning of this chapter, that the government in Africa was largely patriarchal; and yet we have called attention to four great kingdoms.  There is no contradiction here, although there may seem to be; for even kings are chosen by ballot, and a sort of a house of lords has a veto power over royal edicts.

“Among the tribes which I visited in my explorations I found but one form of government, which may be called the patriarchal.  There is not sufficient national unity in any of the tribes to give occasion for such a despotism as prevails in Dahomey, and in other of the African nationalities.  I found the tribes of equatorial Africa greatly dispersed, and, in general, no bond of union between parts of the same tribe.  A tribe is divided up into numerous clans, and these again into numberless little villages, each of which last possesses an independent chief.  The villages are scattered; are often moved for death or witchcraft, as I have already explained in the narrative; and not infrequently are engaged in war with each other.

“The chieftainship is, to a certain extent, hereditary, the right of succession vesting in the brother of the reigning chief or king.  The people, however, and particularly the elders of the village, have a veto power, and can, for sufficient cause, deprive the lineal heir of his succession, and put in over him some one thought of more worth.  In such cases the question is put to the vote of the village; and, where parties are equally divided as to strength, there ensue sometimes long and serious palavers before all can unite in a choice.  The chief is mostly a man of great influence prior to his accession, and generally an old man when he gains power.

“His authority, though greater than one would think, judging from the little personal deference paid to him, is final only in matters of every-day use.  In cases of importance, such as war, or any important removal, the elders of the village meet together and deliberate in the presence of the whole population, which last finally decide the question.

“The elders, who possess other authority, and are always in the counsels of the chief, are the oldest members of important families in the village.  Respect is paid to them on account of their years, but more from a certain regard for ‘family,’ which the African has very strongly wherever I have known him.  These families form the aristocracy."[73]

Here are democracy and aristocracy blended somewhat.  The king’s power seems to be in deciding everyday affairs, while the weighty matters which affect the whole tribe are decided by the elders and the people.  Mr. Reade says of such government,—­