Note 150 — Chapter VI

The doors have distinct panels, upon which are seen a leopard, a fish, a serpent, and a land tortoise. The horseman is also common. Mr. Bowen remarks, that one of the carvings was ‘a female figure, with one hand and one foot,’ probably a half Obatala, or the female principle of Nature; ‘and the monster was remarkable for having a queue of very long hair (which no negro can have), with a ball or globe at the end.’ Opposite to this were the symbols of the Lampsacan god, or rather the Yoni Lingam, in juxtaposition. I differ from Mr. Bowen in the opinion that no negro can have long hair; the Fans of the Gaboon River, to mention no other tribe, often wear it falling upon their shoulders.