ABSTRACT
The social processes of settlement and the interrelation of town and village have been described in Chapters I and V. Factors of this kind underlie the political organization of Mende society. The earlier pioneers of Mendeland, the hunters, farmers, and warriors, established settlements which grew, with the arrival of fresh family groups, war-refugees, and slaves, into small towns of varying size and importance. The towns, in expanding, developed surrounding villages each of which was connected through kinship, and in other ways, with a particular section of the town’s position.
