In 1854 Mr. Wilson numbered them
at 100,000. According to local experts they began to press down
stream about 1830, driven a tergo by their neighbours, the
Mpangwe (Fan), even as they themselves are driving the Mpongwes.
But they are evidently the Kaylee or Kalay of Bowdich (p. 427),
whose capital, "Samashialee," was "the residence of the king,
Ohmbay." He places them in their present habitat, and makes them
the worst of cannibals. Whilst the "Sheekans" (Shekyani) buried
their dead under the bed within the house, these detestable
Kaylees ate not only their prisoners, but their defunct friends,
whose bodies were "bid for directly the breath was out of them;"
indeed, fathers were frequently seen to devour their own
children. Bowdich evidently speaks from hearsay; but the Brazil
has preserved the old traditions of cannibalism amongst the
Gaboes.
The Bakele appeared to me very like the coast tribes, only
somewhat lighter-coloured and wilder in look, whilst they again
are darker-skinned than their eastern neighbours from the inner
highlands. Their women are not so well dressed as the "ladies" of
the Mpongwe, the chignon is smaller, and there are fewer brass
rings.
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