ABSTRACT
Diverting the interests of a large group of bachelors from illicit sexual adventures there were in each village a number of women who as communal wives were licensed to soften the rigours of the marital code. The hohombe or village-wife was not an institution peculiar to the Lele. Among the Dinga, Pende and Mbunda something similar was reported. The Reverend Father Hyacynth Vanderyst wrote in 1922 that polyandry was widespread among the Dinga between the Loange and the Kamtsha rivers.
