A striking institution of the Congo region is that of the Jinkemba, which, curious to say, is unnoticed by Tuckey.  It is not, however, peculiar to the Congo; it is the “Semo” of the Susus or Soosoos of the Windward Coast, and the “Purrah” of the Sherbro-Balloms or Bulloms, rendered Anglice by “free-masonry.”  The novitiate there lasts for seven or eight years, and whilst the boys live in the woods food is placed for them by their relations:  the initiation, indeed, appears to be especially severe.  Here all the free-born males are subjected to the wrongly called “Mosaic rite.”  Merolla tells us that the wizards circumcise children on the eighth day (like the Jews), not out of regard for the law, but with some wicked end and purpose of their own.  At any time between the ages of five and fifteen (eight to ten being generally preferred), boys are taken from their parents (which must be an exceeding comfort to the latter), and for a native year, which is half of ours, they must dwell in the Vivala ya Ankimba, or Casa de Feitico, like that which we passed before reaching Banza Nokki.  They are now instructed by the Nganga in the practices of their intricate creed; they are taught the mysteries under solemn oaths, and, in fine, they are prepared for marriage.  Upon the Congo they must eat no cooked food, living wholly upon roots and edibles; but they are allowed to enter the villages for provisions, and here they often appear armed with matchets, bayonets, and wooden swords.  Their faces and necks, bodies and arms, are ghastly white with chalk or ashes; the hair is left in its original jet, and the dingy lower limbs contrast violently with the ghostlike absence of colour above.  The dress is a crinoline of palm-fronds, some fresh and green, others sere and brown; a band of strong mid-rib like a yellow hoop passed round the waist spreads out the petticoat like a farthingale, and the ragged ends depend to the knees; sometimes it is worn under the axillae, but in all cases the chalked arms must be outside.  The favourite attitude is that of the Rhodian Colossus, with the elbows bent to the fore and the hands clasped behind the head.  To increase their prestige of terror, the Jinkomba abjure the use of human language, and, meeting a stranger, ejaculate with all their might, “Har-rr-rr-rr-rr!” and “Jojolo!  Jojolo!” words mystic and meaningless.  When walking in procession, they warn the profane out of the way by striking one slip of wood upon another.  They are wilder in appearance than the Hindu Jogi or Sanyasi, who also affects the use of ashes, but neglects that of the palm-thatch.  It is certainly enough to startle a man of impressible nerves—­ one, for instance, who cannot enter a room without a side-long glance at an unexpected coffin—­to see these hideous beings starting with their savage cry from the depths of an African forest.  Evidently, also, such is the intention of the costume.