{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38038/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38038","id":"gutenberg_38038","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38038","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Ethnology -- Africa, West","Fetishism -- Africa, West"],"text":"Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/Canadian Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFETICHISM IN WEST AFRICA\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FETICH MAGICIAN. (With horns, wooden mask, spear, and\nsword; dress of leaves of palm and plantain.)]\n\n\n\n\n  FETICHISM IN WEST AFRICA\n\n  _Forty Years' Observation of Native Customs\n  and Superstitions_\n\n\n  BY THE REV. ROBERT HAMILL NASSAU, M.D., S.T.D.\n\n  FOR FORTY YEARS A MISSIONARY IN THE GABUN DISTRICT\n  OF KONGO-FRAN\u00c7AISE\n\n  AUTHOR OF \"CROWNED IN PALM LAND,\" \"MAWEDO\"\n\n\n  WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  YOUNG PEOPLE'S\n  MISSIONARY MOVEMENT\n  156 FIFTH AVENUE\n  NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\n  _Copyright, 1904_\n  BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS\n\n  Published October, 1904\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nOn the 2d of July, 1861, I sailed from New York City on a little brig, the\n\"Ocean Eagle,\" with destination to the island of Corisco, near the\nequator, on the West Coast of Africa. My first introduction to the natives\nof Africa was a month later, when the vessel stopped at Monrovia, the\ncapital of the Liberian Republic, to land a portion of its trade goods,\nand at other ports of Liberia, Sinoe, and Cape Palmas; thence to Corisco\non September 12.\n\nCorisco is a microcosm, only five miles long by three miles wide; its\nsurface diversified with every variety of landscape, proportioned to its\nsize, of hill, prairie, stream, and lake. It is located in the eye of the\nelephant-head shaped Bay of Corisco, and from twelve to twenty miles\ndistant from the mainland. Into the bay flow two large rivers,--the Muni\n(the Rio D'Angra of commerce) and the Munda (this latter representing the\nelephant's proboscis).\n\nThe island, with adjacent mainland, was inhabited by the Benga tribe. It\nwas the headquarters of the American Presbyterian Mission. On the voyage I\nhad studied the Benga dialect with my fellow-passenger, the senior member\nof the Mission, Rev. James L. Mackey; and was able, on my landing, to\nconverse so well with the natives that they at once enthusiastically\naccepted me as an interested friend. This has ever since been my status\namong all other tribes.\n\nI lived four years on the island, as preacher, teacher, and itinerant to\nthe adjacent mainland, south to the Gabun River and its Mpongwe tribe,\neast up the Muni and Munda rivers, and north to the Benito River.\n\nIn my study of the natives' language my attention was drawn closely to\ntheir customs; and in my inquiry into their religion I at once saw how it\nwas bound up in these customs. I met with other white men--traders,\ngovernment officials, and even some missionaries--whose interest in\nAfrica, however deep, was circumscribed by their special work for,\nrespectively, wealth, power, and Gospel proclamation. They could see in\nthose customs only \"folly,\" and in the religion only \"superstition.\"\n\nI read many books on other parts of Africa, in which the same customs and\nreligion prevailed. I did not think it reasonable to dismiss curtly as\nabsurd the cherished sentiments of so large a portion of the human race. I\nasked myself: Is there no logical ground for the existence of these\nsentiments, no philosophy behind all these beliefs? I began to search; and\nthenceforward for thirty years, wherever I travelled, wherever I was guest\nto native chief, wherever I lived, I was always leading the conversation,\nin hut or camp, back to a study of the native thought.\n\nI soon found that I gained nothing if I put my questions suddenly or\nwithout mask. The natives generally were aware that white men despised\nthem and their beliefs, and they were slow to admit me to their thought if\nI made a direct advance. But, by chatting as a friend, telling them the\nstrange and great things of my own country, and first eliciting their\ntrust in me and interest in my stories, they forgot their reticence, and\nresponded by telling me of their country. I listened, not critically, but\napparently as a believer; and then they vied with each other in telling me\nall they knew and thought.\n\nThat has been the history of a thousand social chats,--in canoes by day,\nin camp and hut by night, and at all hours in my own house, whose public\nroom was open at any hour of day or evening for any visitor, petitioner,\nor lounger, my attention to whose wants or wishes was rewarded by some\nconfidence about their habits or doings.\n\nIn 1865 I was transferred to Benito, where I remained until the close of\n1871. Those years were full of travels afoot or by boat, south the hundred\nmiles to Gabun, north toward the Batanga region, and east up the Benito\nfor a hundred miles as a pioneer, to the Balengi and Boheba tribes,--a\ndistance at that time unprecedented, considering the almost fierce\nopposition of the coast people to any white man's going to the local\nsources of their trade.\n\nAfter more than ten uninterrupted years in Africa, I took a furlough of\nmore than two years in the United States, and returned to my work in 1874.\n\nI responded to a strong demand on the part of the supporters of Foreign\nMissions in Africa, that mission operations should no longer be confined\nto the coast. Unsuccessful efforts had been made to enter by the Gabun, by\nthe Muni, and by the Benito.\n\nOn the 10th of September, 1874, I entered the Ogowe River, at Nazareth\nBay, one of its several embouchures into the Atlantic, near Cape Lopez, a\ndegree south of the equator. But little was known of the Ogowe. Du\nChaillu, in his \"Equatorial Africa\" (1861), barely mentions it, though he\nwas hunting gorillas and journeying in \"Ashango Land,\" on the sources of\nthe Ngunye, a large southern affluent of the Ogowe.\n\nA French gunboat a few years before had ascended it for one hundred and\nthirty miles to Lembarene, the head of the Ogowe Delta, and had attached\nit to France. Two English traders and one German had built trading-houses\nat that one-hundred-and-thirty-mile limit, and traversed the river with\nsmall steam launches in their rubber trade. Besides these three, I was the\nonly other white resident. They were living in the Galwa tribe, cognate in\nlanguage with the Mpongwe. I settled at a one-hundred-and-fifty-mile\nlimit, in the Akele tribe (cognate with the Benga), building my house at a\nplace called Belambila.\n\nTwo years later I abandoned that spot, came down to Lembarene, and built\non K\u00e2ngwe Hill. There I learned the Mpongwe dialect. I remained there\nuntil 1880, successful with school and church, and travelling by boat and\ncanoe thousands of miles in the many branches of the Ogowe, through its\nDelta, and in the lake country of Lakes Onange and Azyingo. In 1880 I took\na second furlough to the United States, remaining eighteen months, and\nreturning at the close of 1881.\n\nMy prosperous and comfortable station at K\u00e2ngwe was occupied by a new man,\nand I resumed my old _r\u00f4le_ of pioneer. I travelled up the Ogowe, one\nhundred and fifty miles beyond Lembarene, ascending and descending the\nwild waters of its cataracts, and settled at Talaguga, a noted rock near\nwhich was subsequently established the French military post, Njoli, at the\ntwo-hundred-mile limit of the course of the river. There I was alone with\nMrs. Nassau, my nearest white neighbors the two French officers five miles\nup river at the post, and my successors at K\u00e2ngwe, seventy miles down\nriver. The inhabitants were wild cannibal Fang, just recently emerged from\nthe interior forest. It was a splendid field for original investigation,\nand I applied myself to the Fang dialect.\n\nI remained at Talaguga until 1891, when I took a third furlough to the\nUnited States, and stayed through 1892, during which time the Mission\nBoard transferred my entire Ogowe work, with its two stations and four\nchurches and successful schools, to the French Paris Evangelical Society.\n\nIn March, 1893, at the request of the Rev. Frank F. Ellinwood, D.D.,\nLL.D., I wrote and read, before the American Society of Comparative\nReligions, a forty-minute essay on Bantu Theology.\n\nAt the wish of that Society I loaned the manuscript to them, for their use\nin the Parliament of Religions at the Chicago Exposition; but I carried\nthe original draft of the essay with me on my return to Africa in August,\n1893, where I was located at Libreville, Gabun, the Mission's oldest and\nmost civilized station. There I found special advantage for my\ninvestigations. Though those educated Mpongwes could tell me little that\nwas new as to purely unadulterated native thought, they, better than an\nignorant tribe, could and did give me valuable intelligent replies to my\ninquiries as to the logical connection between native belief and act, and\nthe essential meaning of things which I had seen and heard elsewhere. My\nignorant friends at other places had given me a mass of isolated\nstatements. My Mpongwe friends had studied a little grammar, and were\nsomewhat trained to analyze. They helped me in the collocation of the\nstatements and in the deduction of the philosophy behind them. It was\nthere that I began to put my conclusions in writing.\n\nIn 1895 Miss Mary H. Kingsley journeyed in West Africa, sent on a special\nmission to investigate the subject of freshwater fishes. She also\ngratified her own personal interest in native African religious beliefs by\nclose inquiries all along the coast.\n\nDuring her stay at Libreville in the Kongo-Fran\u00e7ais, May-September, 1895,\nmy interest, common with hers, in the study of native African thought led\nme into frequent and intimate conversations with her on that subject. She\neagerly accepted what information, from my longer residence in Africa, I\nwas able to impart. I loaned her the essay, with permission to make any\nuse of it she desired in her proposed book, \"Travels in West Africa.\" When\nthat graphic story of her African wanderings appeared in 1897, she made\ncourteous acknowledgment of the use she had made of it in her chapters on\nFetich.\n\nOn page 395 of her \"Travels in West Africa,\" referring to my missionary\nworks, and to some contributions I had made to science, she wrote: \"Still\nI deeply regret he has not done more for science and geography.... I beg\nto state I am not grumbling at him ... but entirely from the justifiable\nirritation a student of fetich feels at knowing that there is but one copy\nof this collection of materials, and that this copy is in the form of a\nhuman being, and will disappear with him before it is half learned by us,\nwho cannot do the things he has done.\"\n\nThis suggestion of Miss Kingsley's gave me no new thought; it only\nsharpened a desire I had hopelessly cherished for some years. In my many\nmissionary occupations--translation of the Scriptures, and other duties--I\nhad never found the strength, when the special missionary daily work was\ndone, to sit down and put into writing the mass of material I had\ncollected as to the meaning and uses of fetiches. Nor did I think it right\nfor me to take time that was paid for by the church in which to compile a\nbook that would be my own personal pleasure and property.\n\nImpressed with this idea, on my fourth furlough to America in 1899, I\nconfided my wish to a few personal friends, telling them of my plan, not\nindeed ever to give up my life-work in and for Africa, but to resign from\nconnection with the Board; and, returning to Africa under independent\nemploy and freed from mission control, but still working under my\nPresbytery, have time to gratify my pen.\n\nOne of these friends was William Libbey, D. Sc., Professor of Physical\nGeography and Director of the E. M. Museum of Geology and Arch\u00e6ology in\nPrinceton University. Without my knowledge he subsequently mentioned the\nsubject to his university friend, Rev. A. Woodruff Halsey, D.D., one of\nthe Secretaries of the Board of Foreign Missions. Dr. Halsey thought my\nwish could be gratified without my resigning from the Board's service.\n\nIn November, 1899, the following action of the Board was forwarded to me:\n\"November 20th, 1899. In view of the wide and varied information possessed\nby the Rev. Robert H. Nassau, D.D., of the West Africa Mission, regarding\nthe customs and traditions of the tribes on the West Coast, and the\nimportance of putting that knowledge into some permanent form, the Board\nrequested Dr. Nassau to prepare a volume or volumes on the subject; and it\ndirected the West Africa Mission to assign him, on his return from his\nfurlough, to such forms of missionary work as will give him the necessary\nleisure and opportunity.\"\n\nOn my return to Africa in 1900, I was located at Batanga, one hundred and\nseventy miles north of Gabun, and was assigned to the pastorate of the\nBatanga Church, the largest of the twelve churches of the Corisco\nPresbytery, with itineration to and charge of the sessions of the Kribi\nand Ubenji churches.\n\nDuring intervals of time in the discharge of these pastoral duties my\nrecreation was the writing and sifting of the multitude of notes I had\ncollected on native superstition during the previous quarter of a century.\nThe people of Batanga, though largely emancipated from the fetich\npractices of superstition, still believed in its witchcraft aspect. I\nbegan there to arrange the manuscript of this work. There, more than\nelsewhere, the natives seemed willing to tell me tales of their folk-lore,\ninvolving fetich beliefs. From them, and also from Mpongwe informants,\nwere gathered largely the contents of Chapters XVI and XVII.\n\nAnd now, on this my fifth furlough, the essay on Bantu Theology has grown\nto the proportions of this present volume.\n\nThe conclusions contained in all these chapters are based on my own\nobservations and investigations.\n\nObligation is acknowledged to a number of writers on Africa and others,\nquotations from whose books are credited in the body of this work. I quote\nthem, not as informants of something I did not already know, but as\nwitnesses to the fact of the universality of the same superstitious ideas\nall over Africa.\n\nBy the courtesy of the American Geographical Society, Chapters IV, V, X,\nand XI have appeared in its Bulletin during the years 1901-1903.\n\nI am especially obligated to Professor Libbey for his sympathetic\nencouragement during the writing of my manuscript, and for his judicious\nsuggestions as to the final form I have given it.\n\nROBERT HAMILL NASSAU\n\nPHILADELPHIA, _March 24, 1904_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                      PAGE\n\n  CHAPTER I\n\n  CONSTITUTION OF NATIVE AFRICAN SOCIETY--SOCIOLOGY                      1\n\n     I. The Country                                                      2\n\n    II. The Family                                                       3\n\n          Family Responsibility.--Family Headship.--Marital\n          Relations.--Arrangements for Marriage.--Courtship and\n          Wedding.--Dissolution of Marriage.--Illegitimate Marital\n          Relations.--Domestic Life.\n\n   III. Succession to Property and Authority                            13\n\n    IV. Political Organization                                          13\n\n     V. Servants                                                        14\n\n    VI. Kingship                                                        15\n\n   VII. Fetich Doctors                                                  16\n\n  VIII. Hospitality                                                     17\n\n    IX. Judicial System                                                 17\n\n          Courts.--Punishment.--Blood-Atonement and Fines.--\n          Punishable Acts.\n\n     X. Territorial Relations                                           22\n\n          Tenure.--Rights in Movables.\n\n    XI. Exchange Relations                                              23\n\n   XII. Religion                                                        25\n\n\n  CHAPTER II\n\n  THE IDEA OF GOD--RELIGION                                             26\n\n    Theology, Religion, Creed, Worship.--Source of the Knowledge\n    of God; outside of us; comes from God; Evolution of Physical\n    Species.--Materialism; Knowledge of God not evolved.--\n    Superstition in all Religions.--Dominant in African\n    Religion.--No People without a Knowledge of at least the Name\n    of God.--Testimony of Travellers and Others.\n\n\n  CHAPTER III\n\n  POLYTHEISM--IDOLATRY                                                  42\n\n    Religion and Civilization.--Worship of Natural Objects.--\n    Polytheism.--Idolatry.--Worship of Ancestors.--Fetichism.\n\n\n  CHAPTER IV\n\n  SPIRITUAL BEINGS IN AFRICAN RELIGION                                  50\n\n     I. Origin                                                          50\n\n          Coterminous with the Creator.--Created.--Spirits of\n          Deceased Human Beings; in Unity, Duality, Trinity, or\n          Quadruplicity.\n\n    II. Number                                                          55\n\n   III. Locality                                                        58\n\n    IV. Characteristics                                                 62\n\n\n  CHAPTER V\n\n  SPIRITUAL BEINGS IN AFRICA--THEIR CLASSES AND FUNCTIONS               64\n\n     I. Classes and Functions                                           64\n\n          Inina.--Ibambo.--Ombwiri.--Nkinda.--Mondi.\n\n    II. Special Manifestations                                          70\n\n        Human Soul in a Lower Animal; the Leopard Fiend.--Uvengwa,\n        Ghost.--Family Guardian-Spirit.\n\n\n  CHAPTER VI\n\n  FETICHISM--ITS PHILOSOPHY--A PHYSICAL SALVATION--CHARMS AND\n  AMULETS                                                               75\n\n    Monotheism.--Polytheism.--Animism.--Fetichism.\n\n    The Salvation Sought: its Kind, Physical; its Source, Spirits;\n    its Reason, Fear.\n\n    The Means used: Prayer, Sacrifices, Charms; Vocal, Ritual,\n    Material, Fetiches.\n\n    Articles used in the Fetich.--Mode of Preparation: A Fitness in\n    the Quality of the Object for the End desired; Efficiency\n    depends on the Localized Spirit; Misuse of the Word \"Medicine\";\n    Native \"Doctors\"; Connection of Fetich with Witchcraft.\n\n\n  CHAPTER VII\n\n  THE FETICH--A WORSHIP                                                 90\n\n     I. Sacrifice and Offerings                                         91\n\n          Small Votive Gifts.--Consecrated Plants; Idols and Gifts\n          of Food.--Blood Sacrifices.--Human Sacrifices.\n\n    II. Prayer                                                          97\n\n   III. The Use of Charms or \"Fetiches\"                                 99\n\n\n  CHAPTER VIII\n\n  THE FETICH--WITCHCRAFT--A WHITE ART--SORCERY                         100\n\n    A passively Defensive Art.--Professedly of the Nature of a\n    Medicine.--Distinction between a Fetich Doctor and a Christian\n    Physician.--Manner of Performance of the White Art.--The\n    Medicinal Herbs used sometimes Valuable.--Strength of Native\n    Faith in the System.\n\n\n  CHAPTER IX\n\n  THE FETICH--WITCHCRAFT--A BLACK ART--DEMONOLOGY                      116\n\n    Distinction as to the Object aimed at in the White Art and in\n    the Black Art.--Black Art actively Offensive.--The Black Art\n    distinctively \"Witchcraft.\"--Witchcraft Executions; claimed\n    to be Judicial Acts.--Hoodoo Worship.--Christian Faith and\n    Fetich Faith Compared.--Deception by Fetich Magicians.--\n    Clairvoyance.--Demoniacal Possession.\n\n\n  CHAPTER X\n\n  FETICHISM--A GOVERNMENT                                              138\n\n    Egbo, Ukuku, Yasi, and other Societies.--Their Power either\n    to protect or oppress.--Contest with Ukuku at Benita, and\n    with Yasi on the Ogowe.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XI\n\n  THE FETICH--ITS RELATION TO THE FAMILY                               156\n\n    The Family the Unit in the African Community.--Respect for\n    the Aged.--Worship of Ancestors.--Family Fetiches; Y\u00e2k\u00e2,\n    Ekongi, Mbati.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XII\n\n  THE FETICH--ITS RELATIONS TO DAILY WORK AND OCCUPATIONS AND TO\n  THE NEEDS OF LIFE                                                    172\n\n    Hunting.--Journeying.--Warring.--Trading; Okundu and\n    Mbumbu.--Sickness.--Loving.--Fishing.--Planting.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XIII\n\n  THE FETICH--SUPERSTITION IN CUSTOMS                                  191\n\n    Rules of Pregnancy.--Omens on Journeys.--Leopard Fiends.--\n    Luck.--Twins.--Customs of Speech.--Oaths.--Totem Worship.--\n    Taboo; Orunda.--Baptism.--Spitting.--Notice of Children.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XIV\n\n  FETICH--ITS RELATION TO THE FUTURE LIFE--CEREMONIES AT DEATHS\n  AND FUNERALS                                                         215\n\n    Sickness, Death, Burial, Modes of Burial.--Mourning,\n    Treatment of Widows.--Witchcraft Investigations.--Places of\n    Burial.--Cannibalism--Family Quarrel as to Precedence in the\n    Burying.--Custom of \"Lifting Up\" of Mourners.--Ukuku Dance\n    for Amusement.--Destination of the Dead.--Transmigration.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XV\n\n  FETICHISM--SOME OF ITS PRACTICAL EFFECTS                             239\n\n    Depopulation.--Cannibalism.--Secret Societies (Ukuku, Yasi,\n    Mwetyi, Bweti, Ind\u00e2, Njembe).--Poisoning for Revenge.--\n    Distrust.--Jugglery.--Treatment of Lunatics.--The American\n    Negro Hoodoo.--Folk-Lore.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XVI\n\n  TALES OF FETICH BASED ON FACT                                        277\n\n     I. A Witch Sweetheart                                             278\n\n    II. A Jealous Wife                                                 281\n\n   III. Witchcraft Mothers                                             284\n\n    IV. The Wizard House-Breaker                                       287\n\n     V. The Wizard Murderer                                            289\n\n    VI. The Wizard and his Invisible Dog                               293\n\n   VII. Spirit-Dancing                                                 295\n\n  VIII. Asiki, or the Little Beings                                    299\n\n    IX. Okove                                                          302\n\n     X. The Family Idols (Ok\u00e2si, Barbarity, The Right of Sanctuary)    308\n\n    XI. Unago and Ekela (A Proverb)                                    318\n\n   XII. Malanda--An Initiation into a Family Guardian-Spirit Company   320\n\n  XIII. Three-Things Came Back too Late                                326\n\n\n  CHAPTER XVII\n\n  FETICH IN FOLK-LORE                                                  330\n\n     I. Queen Ngwe-nkonde and her Manja                                332\n\n    II. The Beautiful Daughter                                         337\n\n   III. The Husband that Came from an Animal                           346\n\n    IV. The Fairy Wife                                                 351\n\n     V. The Thieves and their Enchanted House                          358\n\n    VI. Banga-of-the-five-faces                                        367\n\n   VII. The Two Brothers                                               372\n\n  VIII. Jeki and his Oz\u00e2zi                                             378\n\n\n  GLOSSARY                                                             387\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  Fetich Magician                                           _Frontispiece_\n\n                                                               Facing Page\n\n  Native King in the Niger Delta                                        16\n\n  English Trading-House--Gabun                                          24\n\n  Fetich Doctor                                                         86\n\n  Elephants' Tusks and Palm-leaf Thatch. Two Hundred Miles\n  up the Ogowe River                                                   148\n\n  War Canoe.--Calabar, West Africa                                     174\n\n  Natives Trading in Plantains and Bamboo Building\n  Materials.--Gabun                                                    182\n\n  Travelling by Canoe.--Ogowe River                                    198\n\n  A Civilized Family.--Gabun                                           236\n\n  Njembe. Female Secret Society.--Mpongwe, Gabun                       254\n\n  Ekope of the Ivanga Dance.--Gabun                                    296\n\n  A Street in Libreville, Gabun                                        300\n\n\n  Map of the West African Coast                                          1\n\n\n\n\nFETICHISM IN WEST AFRICA\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nCONSTITUTION OF NATIVE AFRICAN SOCIETY--SOCIOLOGY\n\n\nThat stream of the Negro race which is known ethnologically as \"Bantu,\"\noccupies all of the southern portion of the African continent below the\nfourth degree of north latitude. It is divided into a multitude of tribes,\neach with its own peculiar dialect. All these dialects are cognate in\ntheir grammar. Some of them vary only slightly in their vocabulary. In\nothers the vocabulary is so distinctly different that it is not understood\nby tribes only one hundred miles apart, while that of others a thousand\nmiles away may be intelligible.\n\nIn their migrations the tribes have been like a river, with its windings,\ncurrents swift or slow; there have been even, in places, back currents;\nand elsewhere quiet, almost stagnant pools. But they all--from the Divala\nat Kamerun on the West Coast across to the Kiswahile at Zanzibar on the\nEast, and from Buganda by the Victoria Nyanza at the north down to Zulu in\nthe south at the Cape--have a uniformity in language, tribal organization,\nfamily customs, judicial rules and regulations, marriage ceremonies,\nfuneral rites, and religious beliefs and practice. Dissimilarities have\ncrept in with mixture among themselves by intermarriage, the example of\nforeigners, with some forms of foreign civilization and education,\ndegradation by foreign vice, elevation by Christianity, and compulsion by\nforeign governments.\n\nAs a description of Bantu sociology, I give the following outline which\nwas offered some years ago, in reply to inquiries sent to members of the\nGabun and Corisco Mission living at Batanga, by the German Government, in\nits laudable effort to adapt, as far as consistent with justice and\nhumanity, its Kamerun territorial government to the then existing tribal\nregulations and customs of the tribes living in the Batanga region. This\ninformation was obtained by various persons from several sources, but\nespecially from prominent native chiefs, all of them men of intelligence.\n\nIn their general features these statements were largely true also for all\nthe other tribes in the Equatorial Coast region, and for most of the\ninterior Bantu tribes now pressing down to the Coast. They were more\ndistinctly descriptive of Batanga and the entire interior at the time of\ntheir formulation. But in the ten years that have since passed, a stranger\nwould find that some of them are no longer exact. Foreign authority has\nremoved or changed or sapped the foundations of many native customs and\nregulations, while it has not fully brought in the civilization of\nChristianity. The result in some places, in this period of transition, has\nbeen almost anarchy,--making a despotism, as under Belgian misrule in the\nso-called Kongo \"Free\" State; or commercial ruin, as under French monopoly\nin their Kongo-Fran\u00e7ais; and general confusion, under German hands, due to\nthe arbitrary acts of local officials and their brutal black soldiery.\n\n\nI. THE COUNTRY.\n\nThe coast between 5\u00b0 and 4\u00b0 N. Lat. is called \"Kamerun.\" This is not a\nnative word: it was formerly spelled by ships' captains in their trade\n\"Cameroons.\" Its origin is uncertain. It is thought that it came from the\nname of the Portuguese explorer Diego Cam. The tribes in that region are\nthe Divala, Isubu, Balimba, and other lesser ones.\n\nThe coast from 4\u00b0 to 3\u00b0 N. Lat. has also a foreign name, \"Batanga.\" I do\nnot know its origin.\n\nThe coast from 3\u00b0 to 2\u00b0 N. Lat. is called, by both natives and foreigners,\n\"Benita\"; at 1\u00b0 N., by foreigners, \"Corisco,\" and by natives, \"Benga.\" The\nname \"Corisco\" was given by Spaniards to an island in the Bay of Benga\nbecause of the brilliant coruscations of lightning so persistent in that\nlocality. The Benga dialect is taken as the type of all the many dialects\nused from Corisco north to Benita, Bata, Batanga, and Kamerun.\n\nFrom 1\u00b0 N. to 3\u00b0 S. is known as the \"Gabun country,\" with the Mpongwe\ndialect, typical of its many congeners, the Orungu, Nk\u00e2mi (miscalled\n\"Camma\"), Galwa, and others.\n\nFrom 3\u00b0 S. to the Kongo River, at 6\u00b0 S., the Loango tribe and dialect\ncalled \"Fy\u00e2t\" are typical; and the Kongo River represents still another\ncurrent of tribe and dialect.\n\nIn the interior, subtending the entire coast-line as above mentioned, are\nthe several clans of the great Fang tribe, making a fifth distinctly\ndifferent type, known by the names \"Osheba,\" \"Bulu,\" \"Mabeya,\" and others.\nThe name \"Fang\" is spelled variously: by the traveller Du Chaillu, \"Fa\u00f1\";\nby the French traveller, Count de Brazza, \"Pahouin\"; by their Benga\nneighbors, \"Pangwe\"; and by the Mpongwe, \"Mpa\u00f1we.\" These tribes all have\ntraditions of their having come from the far Northeast.\n\nBefore foreign slave-trade was introduced, and subsequently the ivory,\nrubber, palm-oil, and mahogany trades, the occupations of the natives were\nhunting, fishing, and agriculture. They subsisted on wild meats, fish,\nforest fruits and nuts, and the cultivated plantains, cassava, maize,\nground-nuts, yams, eddoes, sweet potatoes, and a few other vegetables.\n\n\nII. THE FAMILY.\n\nThe family is the unit in native sociology. There is the narrow circle of\nrelationship expressed by the word \"ijawe,\" plural \"majawe\" (a derivative\nof the verb \"jaka\" = to beget), which includes those of the immediate\nfamily, both on the father's as well as on the mother's side (_i. e._,\nblood-relatives). The wider circle expressed by the word \"ikaka\" (pl.\n\"makaka\") includes those who are blood-relatives, together with those\nunited to them by marriage.\n\nIn giving illustrative native words I shall use the Benga dialect as\ntypical. All the tribes have words indicating the relationships of father,\nmother, brother, sister. A nephew, while calling his own father \"paia,\"\ncalls an uncle who is older than himself \"paia-utodu\"; one younger than\nhimself he calls \"paia-ndembe.\" His own mother he calls \"ina,\" and\nhis aunts \"ina-utodu\" and \"ina-ndembe,\" respectively, for one who is\nolder or younger than himself.\n\nA cousin is called \"mwana-paia-utodu,\" or \"-ndembe,\" as the case may\nbe, according to age. These same designations are used for both the\nfather's and the mother's side. A cousin's consanguinity is considered\nalmost the same as that of brother or sister. They cannot marry. Indeed,\nall lines of consanguinity are carried farther, in prohibition of\nmarriage, than in civilized countries.\n\n1. _Family Responsibility._ Each family is held by the community\nresponsible for the misdeeds of its members. However unworthy a man may\nbe, his \"people\" are to stand by him, defend him, and even claim as right\nhis acts, however unjust. He may demand their help, however guilty he may\nbe. Even if his offence be so great that his own people have to\nacknowledge his guilt, they cannot abjure their responsibility. Even if he\nbe worthy of death, and a ransom is called for, they must pay it: not only\nhis rich relatives, but all who are at all able must help.\n\nThere is a narrower family relationship, that of the household, or \"diy\u00e2\"\n(the hearth, or fireplace; derivative of the verb \"diyaka\" = to live).\nThere are a great many of these. Their habitations are built in one\nstreet, long or short, according to the size of the man's family.\n\nIn polygamy each wife has a separate house, or at least a separate room.\n_Her_ children's home is in that house. Each woman rules her own house and\nchildren.\n\nOne of these women is called the \"head-wife\" (\"konde\"--queen). Usually\nshe is the first wife. But the man is at liberty to displace her and put a\nyounger one in her place.\n\nThe position of head-wife carries with it no special privileges except\nthat she superintends; but she is not herself excused from work. In the\ncommunity she is given more respect if the husband happens to be among the\n\"headmen\" or chiefs.\n\nEach wife is supplied by the husband, but does not personally own her own\nhouse, kitchen utensils, and garden tools. She makes her own garden or\n\"plantation\" (\"mwanga\").\n\nThere is no community in ownership of a plantation. Each one chooses a\nspot for himself. Nor is there land tenure. Any man can go to any place\nnot already occupied, and choose a site on which to build, or to make a\ngarden; and he keeps it as long as he or some member of his family\noccupies it.\n\n2. _Family Headship._ It descends to a son; if there be none, to a\nbrother; or, if he be dead, to that brother's son; in default of these, to\na sister's son. This headship carries with it, for a man, such authority\nthat, should he kill his wife, he may not be killed; though her relatives,\nif they be influential, may demand some restitution.\n\nIf an ordinary man kills another man, he may himself be killed. For a debt\nhe may give away a daughter or wife, but he may not give away a son or a\nbrother. A father rules all his children, male and female, until his\ndeath.\n\nIf adult members of a family are dissatisfied with family arrangements,\nthey can remove and build elsewhere; but they cannot thereby entirely\nseparate themselves from rule by, and responsibility to and for the\nfamily.\n\nA troublesome man cannot be expelled from the family village. A woman can\nbe, but only by her husband, for such offences as stealing, adultery,\nquarrelling; in which case the dowry money paid by him to her relatives\nmust be returned to him, or another woman given in her place.\n\n3. _Marital Relations._ Marriages are made not only between members of the\nsame tribe but between different tribes. Formerly it was not considered\nproper that a man of a coast tribe should marry a woman from an interior\ntribe. The coast tribes regarded themselves as more enlightened than those\nof the interior, and were disposed to look down upon them. But now men\nmarry women not only of their own tribe but of all inferior tribes.\n\nPolygamy is common, almost universal. A man's addition to the number of\nhis wives is limited only by his ability to pay their dowry price.\n\nHe may cohabit with a woman without paying dowry for her; but their\nrelation is not regarded as a marriage (\"diba\"), and this woman is\ndisrespected as a harlot (\"evove\").\n\nThere are few men with only one wife. In some cases their monogamy is\ntheir voluntary choice; in most cases (where there is not Christian\nprinciple) it is due to poverty. A polygamist arranges his marital duties\nto his several wives according to his choice; but the division having been\nmade, each wife jealously guards her own claim on his attentions. A\ndisregard of them leads to many a family quarrel.[1]\n\nIf a man die, his brothers may marry any or all of the widows; or, if\nthere be no brothers, a son inherits, and may marry any or all of the\nwidows except his own mother.\n\nIt is preferred that widows shall be retained in the family circle because\nof the dowry money that was paid for them, which is considered as a\npermanent investment.\n\nAnte-ceremonial sexual trials (the ancient German \"bundling\") are not\nrecognized as according to rule; but the custom is very common. If not\nfollowed by regular marriage ceremony, it is judged as adultery.\n\nWhile a man may go to any tribe to seek a wife, he does not settle in the\nwoman's tribe; she comes to him, and enters into his family.\n\n4. _Arrangements for Marriage._ On entering into marriage a man depends on\nonly the male members of his family to assist him. If the woman is of\nadult age, he is first to try to obtain her consent. But that is not\nfinal; it may be either overridden or compelled by her father. The\nfathers of the two parties are the ultimate judges; the marriage cannot\ntake place without their consent, after the preliminary wooing. The final\ncompact is by dowry money, the most of which must be paid in advance. It\nis the custom which has come down from old time. It is now slightly\nchanging under education, enlightenment, and foreign law. The amount of\nthe dowry is not prescribed by any law. Custom alters the amount,\naccording to the social status of the two families and the pecuniary\nability of the bridegroom.\n\nThe highest price is paid for a virgin; the next, for a woman who has been\nput away by some other man; the lowest price for widows. It is paid in\ninstalments, but is supposed to be completed in one or two years after the\nmarriage.\n\nBut the purchase of the woman by dowry does not extinguish all claim on\nher by her family. If she is maltreated, she may be taken back by them, in\nwhich case the man's dowry money is to be returned to him. Not only the\nwoman's father, but her other relatives, have a claim to a share in the\ndowry paid for her. Her brothers, sisters, and cousins may ask gifts from\nthe would-be husband.\n\nIf a husband die, the widow becomes the property of his family; she does\nnot inherit, by right, any of his goods because she herself, as a widow,\nis property. Sometimes she is given something, but only as a favor.\n\nIf she runs away or escapes, her father or her family must return either\nher or the dowry paid for her.\n\nOn the death of a woman after her marriage, a part of the money received\nfor her is returned to the husband as compensation for his loss on his\ninvestment. If she has borne no children, nothing is given or restored to\nthe husband.\n\nIf a woman deserts her husband, her family is required to pay back the\ndowry. If the man himself sends her away, the dowry may be repaid on his\ndemand and after a public discussion.\n\nThere is no escape from marriage for a woman during her life except by\nrepayment of the money received for her.\n\nTwo men may exchange wives thus: each puts away his wife, sending her back\nto her people and receiving in return the money paid for her. With this\nmoney in hand each buys again the wife the other has put away; and all\nparties are satisfied.\n\nA father can force his daughter to marry against her will; but such\nmarriages are troublesome, and generally end in the man putting the woman\naway.\n\nA daughter may be betrothed by her parents at any time, even at birth. The\nmarriage formerly did not take place until she was a woman grown of twenty\nyears; now they are married at fifteen or sixteen, or earlier.\n\nMarriage within any degree of consanguinity is forbidden. Marriage of\ncousins is impossible. Disparity of age is no hindrance to marriage: an\nold man may take a young virgin, and a young man may take an old woman.\n\nThere are no bars of caste nor rank, except the social eminence derived\nfrom wealth or free birth.\n\nOnly women are barred from marrying an inferior. That inferiority is not a\npersonal one. No personal worth can make a man of an inferior tribe equal\nto the meanest member of a superior tribe.\n\nAll coast tribes reckon themselves superior to any interior tribe; and, of\nthe coast tribes, a superiority is claimed for those who have the largest\nforeign commerce and the greatest number of white residents.\n\nA man may marry any woman of any inferior tribe, the idea being that he\nthus elevates her; but it is almost unheard of that a woman shall marry\nbeneath her.\n\nAs a result of this iron rule, women of the Mpongwe and a few other small\n\"superior\" coast tribes being barred from many men of their own tribe by\nlines of consanguinity, and unable to marry beneath themselves, expect to\nand do make their marriage alliances with the white traders and foreign\ngovernment officials. Their civilization has made them attractive, and\nthey are sought for by white men from far distant points.\n\nYounger sons and daughters must not be married before the older ones.[2]\n\n5. _Courtship and Wedding._ The routine varies greatly according to tribe;\nand in any tribe, according to the man's self-respect and regard for\nconventionalities. A proper outline is: First, the man goes to the father\nempty-handed to ask his consent. The second visit he goes with gifts, and\nthe father calls in the other members of the family to witness the gifts.\nOn the third visit he goes with liquor (formerly the native palm wine, now\nthe foreign trade gin or rum), and pays an instalment on the dowry; on the\nfourth visit with his parents, and gives presents to the woman herself. On\na fifth occasion the mother of the woman makes a feast for the mother and\nfriends of the groom. At this feast the host and hostess do not eat, but\nthey join in the drinking. Finally, the man goes with gifts and takes the\nwoman. Her father makes return gifts as a farewell to his daughter.\n\nOn her arrival at the man's village they are met with rejoicing, and a\ndance called \"nk\u00e2nj\u00e2\"; but there is no further ceremony, and she is his\nwife.\n\nFor three months she should not be required to do any hard work, the man\nproviding her with food and dress. Then she will begin the usual woman's\nwork, in the making of a garden and carrying of burdens.\n\nWeddings may be made in any season of the year. Formerly the dry season,\nor the latter part of the rainy, was preferred because of the\nplentifulness of fish at these periods, and the weather being better for\noutdoor sports and plays.\n\nThe man is expected to visit his wife's family often, and to eat with\nthem. Her mother feasts him, and he calls her parents to eat at his house.\n\n6. _Dissolution of Marriage._ By death of the husband. Formerly, in many\ntribes one or more of the widows were put to death, either that the dead\nmight not be without companionship in the spirit world, or as a punishment\nfor not having cared better for him in the preservation of his life.\n\nFormerly the women mourned for six months; now the mourning (_i. e._, the\npublic wailing) is reduced to one month. But signs of mourning are\nretained for many months in dark, old, or scanty dress, and an absence of\nornament.\n\nThe mourning of both men and women begins before the sick have actually\ndied. The men cease after the burial, but the women continue.\n\nAll the dead man's property goes to his male relatives. On the death of a\nwife the husband is expected to make a gift to pacify her relatives.\nFormerly the corpse was not allowed to be buried until this gift was made.\nThe demand was made by the father, saying, \"Our child died in your hands;\ngive us!\" Now they make a more quiet request, and wait a week before doing\nso. Something must be given, even if the husband had already paid her\ndowry in full.\n\nMarriage can be dissolved by divorce at almost any time, and for almost\nany reason, by the man,--by a woman rarely. The usual reasons for divorce\nare unfaithfulness, quarrelling, disobedience, and sometimes chronic\nsickness. There are many other more private reasons. In being thus put\naway the woman has no property rights; she is given nothing more than what\nthe man may allow as a favor. If the woman has children, she has no claim\non them; they belong to the father. But if she has daughters who are\nmarried, she can ask for part of the money which the husband received for\nthem. The man and the divorced woman are then each free to marry any other\nparties.\n\n7. _Illegitimate Marital Relations._ These are very common, but they are\nnot sanctioned as proper. The husband demands a fine for his wife's\ninfidelity from the co-respondent. Cohabitation with the expected husband\nprevious to the marriage ceremonies is common; but it is not sanctioned,\nand therefore is secret.\n\nThe husband of a woman who is mother of a child begotten by another man\ntakes it as his own. If it be a girl, he (and not the real father) is the\nperson who gives her in marriage and retains the dowry.\n\n8. _Domestic Life._ No special feast is made for the birth of either a son\nor a daughter, but there is rejoicing. During the woman's pregnancy both\nshe and her husband have to observe a variety of prohibitions as to what\nthey may eat or what they may do. They cohabit up to the time of the\nchild's birth; but after that not for a long period, formerly three years.\nNow it is reduced to one and a half years, or less. This custom is one of\nthe reasons assigned by men for the alleged necessity of a plurality of\nwives.\n\nDuring the confinement and for a short time after the birth, the wife\nremains in the husband's house, and is then taken by her parents to their\nhouse.\n\nDeformed and defective children are kept with kindness as others; but\nmonstrosities are destroyed. Formerly in all tribes twins were regarded as\nmonstrosities and were therefore killed,--still the custom in some tribes.\nIn the more civilized tribes they are now valued, but special fetich\nceremonies for them are considered necessary.\n\nIn the former destruction of twins there were tribes that killed only one\nof them. If they were male and female, the father would wish to save the\nboy and the mother the girl; but the father ruled. A motherless new-born\ninfant is not deserted; it is suckled by some other woman.\n\nA portion of the wearing apparel and other goods are placed in the coffin\nwith the corpse. The greater part of a man's goods are taken by his male\nrelatives. Formerly nothing was given to his widow; now she receives a\nsmall part. And the paternal relatives of the dead man give something to\nhis maternal relatives.\n\nThe corpse is buried in various ways,--on an elevated scaffold, on the\nsurface of the ground, or in a shallow grave, rarely cremated. Formerly\nthe burial could be delayed by a claim for settlement of a debt, but this\ndoes not now occur.\n\nNo coast tribe eats human flesh. The Fang and other interior tribes eat\nany corpse, regardless of the cause of death. Families hesitate to eat\ntheir own dead, but they sell or exchange them for the dead of other\nfamilies.\n\nThe name given a child is according to family wish. There is no law.\nParents like to have their own names transmitted; but all sorts of reasons\nprevail for giving common names, or for making a new one, or for selecting\nthe name of a great person or of some natural object. A child born at\nmidday may be called \"Joba\" (sun), or, at the full moon, \"Ng\u00e2nd\u00ea\" (moon).\nA mother who had borne nine children, all of whom had died, on bearing a\ntenth, and hopeless of its surviving, named it \"Botombaka\" (passing away).\n\nCircumcision is practised universally by all these tribes. An\nuncircumcised native is not considered to be a man in the full sense of\nthe word,--fit for fighting, working, marrying, and inheriting. He is\nregarded as nothing by both men and women, is slandered, abused, insulted,\nostracized, and not allowed to marry.\n\nThe operation is not performed in infancy, but is delayed till the tenth\nyear, or even later. The native doctor holds cayenne pepper in his mouth,\nand, on completing the operation, spits the pepper upon the wound. Then\nseizing a sword, he brandishes it with a shout as a signal to the\nspectators that the act is completed. Then the crowd of men and women join\nin singing and dancing, and compliment the lad on being now \"a real man.\"\n\nAs natives have no records of births, they cannot exactly tell the ages of\ntheir children, or the time when a youth is fit to marry or assume other\nmanly rights; but by the eighteenth or nineteenth year he is regarded with\nthe respect due a man. He can marry even as early as fifteen or sixteen.\n\nThere are no tests to which he is subjected as proof of his manhood.\n\nA woman may speak in a court of trial, for defence of herself or friends.\nShe may also be summoned as a witness, but she has no political rights.\n\nAged persons are not put to death, to escape the care of them; they are\nreasonably well provided for.\n\n\nIII. SUCCESSION TO PROPERTY AND AUTHORITY.\n\nOnly men inherit. The children of sisters do not inherit unless all the\nchildren of the brothers are dead.\n\nSlaves do not inherit.\n\n\"Chieftains\" (those chosen to rule) and \"kings\" (those chosen to the\noffice) inherit more than their brothers, even though the ruling one be\nthe younger.\n\nA woman does not inherit at any time or under any circumstances, nor hold\nproperty in her own right, even if she has produced it by her own labor.\n\nThere is no supremacy in regard to age in the division of property. The\nthings to be inherited are women (the widows), goods, house, and slaves.\nAn equal division, as far as it is possible, is made of all these.\n\nThe dead man's debts are to be paid by the heirs out of their inheritance,\neach one paying his part. There is no written will, but it is common for a\nman to announce his intention as to the division while still living.\n\n\nIV. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.\n\nThe coast tribes and some of the interior have so-called \"kings,\" who are\nchosen by their tribe to that office.\n\nThere are family cliques for the accomplishment of a desired end, but\nthese are overruled by the tribal king.\n\nThere are headmen in each village with local authority; but they too are\nsubject to the king, they having authority only in their own village.\n\nQuarrels and discussions, called \"palavers,\" are very common. (A palaver\nneed not necessarily be a quarrel; the word is derived from a Portuguese\nverb = \"to speak.\" It comes from the old days of slavery; it was the\n\"council\" held between native chiefs and white slave traders, in the\npurchase of a cargo of slaves.)\n\nThe headmen settle disputes about marriage, property rights, murders, war,\nthefts, and so forth. Their decisions may be appealed from to a chief, or\ncarried further to the king, whose decision is final. Any one, young and\nold, male and female, may be present during a discussion. Usually only\nchosen persons do the speaking.\n\nInstead of a question being referred to a chief or king, a committee of\nwise men is sometimes chosen for the occasion. Public assemblages are\ngathered by messengers sent out to summon the people. The meeting is\npresided over by the king.\n\n\nV. SERVANTS.\n\nThe domestic servants are slaves. Prisoners of war are also made to do\nservice; but on the making of peace male prisoners are returned to their\ntribe; the female prisoners are retained and married. Slaves were bought\nfrom interior tribes. If a male child was born to slave parents, he was\nconsidered free and could marry into the tribe. If the slave mother died,\nthe widower could marry into the tribe. If the slave father died, the\nwidow was married by some man of the family who owned him. There are no\nslaves bought or sold now, but there is a system of \"pawns,\"--children or\nwomen given as a pledge for a debt and never redeemed. Their position is\ninferior, and they are servants, but not slaves.\n\nAlso, if a prominent person (_e. g._, a headman) is killed in war, the\npeople who killed him are to give a daughter to his family, who may marry\nher to any one they please.\n\nA pawn may be sent away by the holder to some other place, but he cannot\nbe sold or killed; but the holder may beat him if he be obstreperous.\n\nDuring slavery days anything earned by a slave was taken to his master,\nwho would allow him a share; also, at other times, the master would give\nthe slave gifts. The slave could do paid labor for foreigners or other\nstrangers, and was not necessarily punished if he did not share his wages\nwith the master, but he would at least be rebuked for the omission. Women\nruled their female slaves. For a slave's minor offences, such as stealing,\nthe master was held responsible; for grave offences, such as murder, the\nslave himself was killed.\n\nCertain liberty was allowed a slave; he could attend the village or tribal\npalavers and take part in the discussion. If a slave was unjustly treated\nby some other person, his owner could call a council and have the matter\ntalked over, and the slave could be allowed to plead his case.\n\nA slave man could hold property of his own; and if he were a worthy,\nsensible person, he could inherit.\n\nIn a slave's marriage of a woman the custom of gifts, feasts, and so forth\nwas the same as for a free man.\n\nIf ill treated, he could run away to another tribe (not to any one of his\nown tribe), and would there be harbored, but still as a slave, and would\nnot be given up to his former owner. A slave could become free only by his\nmaster setting him free; he could not redeem himself.\n\n\nVI. KINGSHIP.\n\nKingship has connected with it the great honor that a son may inherit it\nif he is the right kind of man; but it is possible for him to be set aside\nand another chosen. A son may lose his place by foolishness and\nincompetency.\n\nAttempts to rule independently of the king are sometimes made by cliques\ncomposed of three or four young persons of the same age, who make laws or\ncustoms peculiar to themselves. There is no national recognition of them,\nnor are they given any special privilege.\n\nKings have very little power over the fines or property of others. These\nare held, each man for himself; nor have they the right of taxation; but\nthey have power to declare war, acting in concert with their people in\ndeclaring it and waging it. They administer justice as magistrates, decide\npalavers according to the unwritten law of custom, summon offenders, and\ninflict the punishment due.\n\nTheir dwellings differ but little from those of other persons of like\nwealth and personal ability.\n\nWhen a palaver is called, the king sits as ruler of the meeting and does\nmost of the talking. He provides food for those who come from a distance.\n\nA king may be blamed if a war he has declared ends disastrously. While a\nking's son expects to inherit the title and power, there is no invariable\nrule of succession; he cannot take the position by force. He must be\nchosen; but the choice is limited to the members of one family, in which\nit is hereditary.\n\nIf the chosen person be a minor, another is selected (but of the same\nfamily) to act as regent. The \"incompetency\" which could bar a man from\nkingship, even though in regular succession, would be lack of stamina in\nhis character. The king-elect must make a feast, to which he is to call\nall the people to eat, drink, and play for twenty days.\n\nThere are no higher state forms among the coast tribes, as in civilized\nlands; no union among tribes; no feudal power nor vassals; no monarchy,\nnothing absolute; no taxation, no monopoly. Some of the interior tribes\nformerly had tributes and kingly monopoly of certain products.\n\n\nVII. FETICH DOCTORS.\n\nThey still exist, but it can scarcely be said that they are a class. They\nhave no organization; they have honor only in their own districts, unless\nthey be called specially to minister in another place. They have power to\ncondemn to death on charge of causing sickness. In their ceremonies they\nsend the people to sing, dance, play, and beat drums, and they spot their\nbodies with their \"medicines.\" Any one may choose the profession for\nhimself; fetich doctors demand large pay for their services.\n\n\n[Illustration: NATIVE KING IN THE NIGER DELTA.]\n\n\nVIII. HOSPITALITY.\n\nA stranger is entertained hospitably. He is provided with a house and food\nfor two weeks, or as much longer as he may wish to stay. On departing he\nis given a present. His host and the village headman are bound to protect\nhim from any prosecution while he is their guest, even if he be really\nguilty.\n\n\nIX. JUDICIAL SYSTEM.\n\nSuch a _system_ does not exist. Whatever rules there are are handed down\nas tradition, by word of mouth. There are persons who are familiar with\nthese old sayings, proverbs, examples, and customs, and these are asked to\nbe present in the trial of disputed matters.\n\n1. _Courts._ In the righting of any wrong the head of the family is to\ntake the first step. If the offenders fail to satisfy him, he appeals to\nthe king, who then calls all the people, rehearses the matter to them, and\nthe majority of their votes is accepted by the king as the decision. The\noffenders will not dare to resist.\n\nThere is no regular court-house. In almost all villages there is a public\nshed, or \"palaver-house,\" which is the town-hall, or public reception\nroom. But a council may be held anywhere,--in the king's house, in the\nhouse of one of the litigants, on the beach, or under a large shady tree.\n\nThe council is held at any time of day,--not at night. There are no\nregular advocates; any litigant may state his own case, or have any one\nelse do it for him. There are no fees, except to the king for his\nsummoning of the case. There is sometimes betting on the result; though no\nstakes are deposited, the bets are paid. There is not much form of court\nprocedure. All the people of a village or district, even women and\nchildren, according to the importance of the case, assemble. While women\nare generally not allowed to argue in the case, yet their shouts of\napproval or protest have influence in the decision, and encourage the\nparties by outspoken sympathy.\n\nIf an accused person does not come voluntarily to court, the king's\nservants are sent to bring him. In the court the accused does not need to\nhave some one plead for him, he speaks for himself. Accusers speak first,\nthen the accused; the accusers reply, the accused answers; and the king\nand his aged counsellors decide. Witnesses are called from other places.\nAs there is no writing among untaught tribes, the depositions are by word\nof mouth.\n\nFormerly the accused was subjected to the poison ordeal; indeed, the\naccuser also had to take the poison draught as a proof of his sincerity,\nand that his charge was not a libel. But this custom is no longer\npractised on the coast.\n\nThere is no substitution of any kind, except in rare cases. A guilty\nperson must bear his own punishment in some way.\n\nOaths are common, and are used freely and voluntarily in the course of the\ndiscussion. A man who utters false testimony or bears false witness is\nexpected to be thrust out of the assembly, but it is not always done.\n\nWhen an oath is required, there is no escape from it; he who refuses to\nswear is considered guilty. Sometimes, under bravado, he will demand to be\ngiven \"mbwaye\" (the poison test), hoping that his demand will not be\ncomplied with. When the test is produced, he may seek to escape it by\nrefusing that particular kind and demanding another not readily\nobtainable. But his attempt at evasion is generally regarded as a sign of\nguilt.\n\nIn court, parties are not obstinate in their opinion; they ask for and\ntake advice from others.\n\n2. _Punishment._ If it be capital, the accusers are the executioners.\nDeath is by various modes,--formerly very cruel, _e. g._, burning,\nroasting, torturing, amputation by piecemeal; now it is generally by gun,\ndagger, club, or drowning. For a debt that a creditor is seeking to\nrecover, securities may be accepted. But if the accused then runs away,\nthe person giving the security is tried and punished.\n\nA creditor does not usually attach the property of the debtor, though\noften, in the interior tribes, a woman is seized as hostage. If a long\ntime elapses in deciding the matter, the debtor may be held as prisoner\nuntil the debt is paid. Formerly it was very common for the debtor's\nfamily's property, or even their persons, to be seized as security; and it\nstill is common for a person of the debtor's tribe to be caught by the\ncreditor's tribe, and detained until he is redeemed by his own people.\n\nThe king of the prisoner's tribe is called to help release him. If the\nking himself become a captive, his people combine to collect goods for the\npayment, and meanwhile give other persons in his place to secure his\nimmediate release. Sometimes differences are settled in a fight, by a\nhand-to-hand encounter.\n\n3. _Blood Atonement and Fines._ Revenge, especially for bloodshed, is\neverywhere practised. It is a duty belonging first to the \"ijawe\"\n(blood-relative), next to the \"ikaka\" (family), next to the \"etomba\"\n(tribe).\n\nThe murdered man's own family take the lead,--in case of a wife, her\nhusband and his family, and the wife's family; sometimes the whole\n\"ikaka\"; finally, the \"etomba.\"\n\nA master seeks revenge for his slave or other servants. Formerly it was\nindifferent who was killed in revenge, so that it be some member of the\nmurderer's tribe. Naturally that tribe sought to retaliate, and the feud\nwas carried back and forth, and would be finally settled only when an\nequal number had been killed on each side,--a person for a person: a woman\nfor a man, or _vice versa_; a child for a man or woman, or _vice versa_. A\nwoman (wife of the man killed) does not take the lead in the revenge; his\nfamily must take the lead, her family must join in. They would be despised\nand cursed if they did not do so. The woman herself does not take part in\nthis killing for revenge.\n\nThe avenger of blood may not demit his duty until some member of the other\ntribe has been killed. If a thief has been killed for his theft, blood may\nbe taken for his death. But when that one other life is taken, the matter\nis considered settled; it is not carried on as a feud.\n\nFor a life taken by accident, a life is not required; but some penalty\nmust be paid, _e. g._, a woman may be given as a wife. But, practically,\nin former times it was not admitted that \"accidents\" occurred; any\nmisfortune was adjudged a fault.\n\nFormerly even the plea of self-defence was not accepted. Even idiotic or\notherwise irresponsible persons were held responsible, though sometimes\nthey were ransomed by payment of a woman and goods.\n\nAt present blood is not always required, but formerly no money would have\nbeen accepted as a sufficient penalty. A man would have been despised for\naccepting it. There was no way of settlement except by bloodshed,--a life\nfor a life,--except that, for the life of a woman, a woman and goods of a\ncertain amount and kind might be accepted. When a woman was thus given for\na murdered one, the living woman must not be old, but one capable of\nbearing children. Among the acceptable goods were sheep, goats, and\npottery.\n\nA wound or a broken limb is paid for in goods. These must come not solely\nfrom him who caused the injury; his family, as fellow offenders, must\nassist in paying.\n\nThe man who obtains the woman who is given for a woman killed, retains\nwith her also part of the goods given with her, and part he shares with\nthe family of the murdered one. If, in giving a woman for a murdered one,\nthe offending family is unable to furnish also the required goods, they\nmust sell another of their women in order to obtain those goods. The point\nis that they must give a woman _and_ goods; _two_ women will not suffice.\n\nThe ceremonies in settlement of a blood-feud are as follows: The woman is\npaid in presence of both parties; then the goods are given, counted, and\nreceived. Then both parties retire. In the course of a week the parties\nreceiving the woman and the goods call the other party, and produce a goat\nand kill it in their presence. It is divided equally, and given half to\neach party; and the feud is settled, as by a covenant of peace, over the\ndivided goat (Gen. xv. 10). The woman thus given in settlement will be\nmarried to some one.\n\nThe customs in her marriage are the same as for any other woman.\nSubsequently those who paid her as a fine may come and ask a portion of\ngoods for her as a wife. Not that they have any claim on her as their\ndaughter; but the man who has married her will give the goods they ask\nfor, under the common belief that, unless he does so, the children born by\nher will die early, or at least will not come to years of maturity.\n\nAll misdeeds and offences, even capital ones, may be condoned by a fine in\ngoods, excepting only the murder of a man. This murderer must forfeit his\nlife. These fines are paid with foreign goods, each offence having its own\nregulation price as a punishment.\n\nIn general, the punishment for an injury is the same, whether the injured\none be rich or poor. A man's \"majawe\" are held responsible if he refuses\nto make restitution. If they also refuse, the offended party await a\nsuitable opportunity, and then seize some one and hold him as a hostage\nuntil he is redeemed, for the price of the original offence, every mite of\nit being then exacted.\n\nThere is no right of asylum to any offender within the limit of his own\ntribe. In case of a man visiting, for any reason whatever, in the limits\nof another tribe one of whose members is a fugitive from justice into the\nlimits of the visitor's tribe, this visitor may be seized, and his\ncountrymen asked to extradite the criminal staying in their midst.\n\nCorporal punishment is administered publicly, the townspeople being called\nto witness it, so as to operate on their fears and cause them to dread the\ndoing of deeds which may bring on them such a penalty.\n\n4. _Punishable Acts._ A person is punishable only for an injury committed\nintentionally, not by accident.\n\nFor damages by cattle, the animal may be killed if the damage be\nconsiderable. The injured party may keep and eat the carcass, and the\nowner cannot recover for it. In this respect animals are treated as human\nbeings, their lives being forfeit; and the owner's majawe are held\nresponsible along with him.\n\nPunishments are rated according to the degree of the crime, in the order\ntheft, adultery, rape, murder. Insults are not punishable by law; the\ninsulted insults in return. If a fight results, and wounds are made during\nthe fight, no fine is required.\n\nKidnapping, incest, and abortion are not known.\n\nUnder the slight duty owed to kings, treason can scarcely be said to\nexist. Its equivalent, the betrayal of tribal interests, is publicly\nrebuked, and a curse laid on the offender. If he be a servant, he is\nbeaten and sent away.\n\nThe disturber of the peace of a wedding is expected to express regret, but\nno calamity will follow because of the disturbance. The offence is not\ncommon.\n\n\nX. TERRITORIAL RELATIONS.\n\nThe tribes have fixed settlements wherever foreign governments have not\ntaken possession. Each man may choose for a garden a place that has not\nbeen already occupied. The land is common property for the tribe. But each\nijawe may choose a separate place for itself.\n\nNo man of a tribe has any claim on the soil other than is common to any\nother man of that tribe. He has, however, a claim greater than any\nstranger.\n\n1. _Tenure._ Land is held as common property; it is not bought or sold to\na fellow-tribeman. It may be bought from the confines of another tribe,\nand it is sold to foreigners. A hunter is free to go anywhere, even into\nthe territory of an adjacent tribe. If he kills game there, he does not\nhave to divide. Bee trees and honey are free to any one. The sea is free\nfor fishing only to the coast tribes.\n\nEvery woman has a separate garden; even the wives of polygamists do not\nhave gardens in common.\n\nSoil is free. A family, however, may settle in a limited district, and\nclaim it as theirs as long as they live there; or, leaving it temporarily,\nif they return after a reasonable time, they may still claim it. They\ntemporarily mark their places by trees or stones, as boundary lines. But\nthere is nothing permanent. They prove their right to it by residing on it\nor making a garden from time to time. But their claim may be lost if the\nentire family leave it and go elsewhere. Such a place being vacated, and\nsome one else wishing to occupy it, permission may be granted on formal\napplication to the king. But if an occupant has deserted a place, and no\none else has applied for it, he can resume it as his even after the lapse\nof years.\n\nDwellers on any ground have right to all the trees of fruitage on it, _e.\ng._, palm-nuts, and other natural wild edible nuts. Wells are never dug.\nPeople depend on springs and streams. Springs are free, even though they\nbe on land claimed by others.\n\nA man assists his wife in the clearing of the forest for a garden plot;\nbut she and her servants attend to the planting, weeding, and other\nworking of the garden itself.\n\n2. _Rights in Movables._ The tenant dweller on any particular lot of\nground owns everything on it, except the ground itself. If a foreigner buy\na piece of ground, he may or may not buy the houses, and so forth,\naccording to agreement. The movables on any ground are houses, trees, and\nany vegetables planted.\n\n\nXI. EXCHANGE RELATIONS.\n\nThere is no coin or metal currency, except among the coast tribes, where\nforeign governments have introduced it. Foreign trade-goods are everywhere\nthe medium of purchase and exchange. But there is a sort of currency, in\nthe shape of iron spear-heads and other forms resembling miniature\nhatchets, a certain number of which are given by interior tribes in the\npurchase of a wife. They are used only for this purpose, and are exchanged\nby the parties themselves for the foreign goods required in the dowry.\n\nThey are manufactured by any village blacksmith from imported iron. They\nare not received or recognized by white traders.\n\nFormerly cowry shells were used, even by foreign traders, as a currency;\nand they are still so used in the Sudan. But in all coast tribes purchase\nand sale are effected by foreign-made calico prints, pottery, cutlery,\nguns, powder, rum, and a great variety of other goods.\n\nThe natural products of the country--ivory, rubber, palm-oil,\ndyewoods--and many other native unmanufactured articles are exchanged for\nthese goods. The natural products belong to the men. If a woman should\nfind ivory, she cannot sell it; it belongs to her husband to barter it.\n\nContracts are confirmed in various ways in different tribes. A common mode\nis to eat and drink together, as a sign that the bargain is closed; and it\nwill not be broken. A contract cannot be broken after the price is agreed\nupon, even if only a part of the price is paid; the remainder is to be\npaid in instalments.\n\nIf one overreaches another in a trade, he must take back the imperfect\narticle or add to it. This is true, according to native law, among\nthemselves. Any amount of overreaching and deception is practised toward\nforeigners in a trade, or to members of another tribe; and many foreigners\nare just as guilty in their dealings with the natives.\n\nLoans of trade-goods are constantly made, but the taking of interest\ntherefor is not known. If a borrowed article, such as a canoe, is broken\nor lost, a new canoe must be given in its place. If the canoe is only\ninjured and had been in want of repair, the borrower, on returning it,\nmust repair it and also pay some goods. One going as surety for goods is\nheld responsible.\n\nPawning of goods is commonly practised everywhere.\n\nPeople are generous in making gifts to friends, or donations to the needy;\nbut if a man who has been helped in time of distress subsequently\nincreases in wealth, the one who helped him may demand a return of the\noriginal gift.\n\n\n[Illustration: ENGLISH TRADING-HOUSE.--GABUN.]\n\n\nXII. RELIGION.\n\nReligion is intimately mixed with every one of these aforementioned\nsociological aspects of family, rights of property, authority, tribal\norganization, judicial trials, punishments, intertribal relations, and\ncommerce.\n\nMr. R. E. Dennett, residing in Loango, has made a careful and philosophic\ninvestigation into the religious ideas of the Ba-Vili or Fy\u00e2t nation and\nadjacent tribes bordering on the Kongo. The result of his research shows\nthat the native tribal government and religious and social life are\ninseparably united. He claims to have discovered a complex system of\n\"numbers\" and \"powers\" showing the Loango people to be more highly\norganized politically than are the equatorial tribes, and revealing a very\ncurious co-relation of those \"numbers,\" governing the physical, rational,\nand moral natures, with conscience and with God.\n\nSome traces of the \"numbers with meanings\" are found in Yoruba, where, as\ndescribed by Mr. Dennett, the division of the months of the year, the\nnames of lower animals typical of the senses, and the powers of earth that\nspeak to us represent religious ideas and relations. They err, therefore,\nwho, as superficial observers, would brush away all these native views as\nmere superstition. They are more than mere superstition; though indeed\nvery superstitious, they point to God.\n\nThe particular exponent of religious worship, the fetich, governs the\narrangements of all such relations. It will be discussed as to its origin\nand the details of its use in the subsequent chapters.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE IDEA OF GOD--RELIGION\n\n\nMissionary Paul of Tarsus, in the polite exordium of his great address to\nthe Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill, courteously tells them that he\nbelieves them to be a very \"religious\" people,--indeed, too much so in\ntheir broad-church willingness to give room for an altar to the worship of\nany new immanence of God; and then, with equal courtesy, he tells them\nthat, with all their civilization, with all their eminence in art and\nphilosophy, they were ignorant of the true character of a greater than any\ndeity in their pantheon.\n\nModern missionaries, also, in studying the beliefs and forms of worship of\nthe heathen nations among whom they dwell, while they may be shocked at\nthe immoralities, cruelties, or absurdities of the special cult they are\ninvestigating, have to acknowledge that its followers, in their practice\nof it, exhibit a devotion, a persistence, and a faithfulness worthy of\nChristian martyrs. They are _very_ \"religious.\" Verily, if the obtaining\nof heaven and final salvation rested only on sincerity of belief and\nconsistency of practice, the multitudinous followers of the so-called\nfalse religions would have an assurance greater than that of many\nprofessors of what is known as Christianity, and much of the occupation of\nthe Christian missionary would be gone.\n\nI say _much_; but not all, by any means. For the feeling with which I was\nimpressed on my very first contact with the miseries of the sociology of\nheathenism, entirely aside from its theology and any question of salvation\nin a future life, has steadily deepened into the conviction that, even if\nI were not a Christian, I still ought to, and would, do and bear and\nsuffer whatever God has called or allowed me to suffer or bear or do since\n1861 in my proclamation of His gospel, simply for the sake of the\nelevation of heathen during their present earthly life from the wrongs\nsanctioned by or growing out of their religion. Distinctly is it true that\n\"Godliness is profitable unto all things,\" not only for the life \"which is\nto come,\" but also for \"the life that now is.\" Those in Christian lands\nwho have no sympathy for, or who refuse to take any interest in, what are\nknown as \"Foreign Missions,\" err egregiously in their failure to recognize\nthe indisputable fact that they themselves are debtors for their\npossession of protected life, true liberty, and unoppressed pursuit of\npersonal happiness, not to civilization as such, but to the form of\nreligious belief called Christianity, which made that civilization\npossible. And by just so much as divine law has ordained us each our\nbrother's keeper, we are bound to share the blessings of the gospel with\nthose whom God has made of one blood with us in the brotherhood of\nhumanity.\n\nA pursuit of this line of thought would lead me into an argument for the\nduty of foreign missions. That is not the direct object of these pages.\nTrue, I pray that, as a result of any reader's following me in this study\nof African superstition, his desire will be deepened to give to Africa the\npure truth in place of its falsity. But the special object of my pen, in\nfollowing a certain thread of truth, is to show how degradingly false is\nthat falsity, in its lapse from God, even though I accord it the name of\nreligion.\n\nFor my present purpose it is sufficiently accurate to define theology as\nthat department of knowledge which takes cognizance of God,--His being,\nHis character, and His relation to His Cosmos. Whenever any intelligent\nunit in that Cosmos looks up to Him as something greater than itself,\nunder what Schleiermacher describes as \"a sense of infinite dependence,\"\nand utters its need, it has expressed its religion. It may be weak,\nsuperstitious, and mixed with untruth; nevertheless, it is religion.\n\nWhen a study of God and the thoughts concerning Him crystallize into a\nformula of words expressing a certain belief, it is definitely a creed.\nWhen, under a human necessity, a creed clothes itself in certain rites,\nceremonies, and formulas of practice, it is a worship. That worship may be\nfearful in its cruelty or ridiculous in its frivolity; nevertheless, it is\na worship. Worship is essential to the vitality of religion; without it\nreligion is simply a theory.\n\nTheology differentiates itself from other departments of knowledge, as to\nits source and its effects. For instance, in the study of geography, as to\nits effects, it is comparatively a matter of indifference whether we\nbelieve that the earth is flat or globular, like Booker T. Washington's\nteacher who in his district school was prepared to teach either,\n\"according to the preference of a majority of his patrons\"; or, in\nastronomy, whether we believe that the sun is the stationary centre of our\nplanetary system, or whether, with the late Rev. John Jasper, we assert\nthat the sun \"do move\" around our earth.\n\nBut in theology it matters enormously for this present life, whether we\nbelieve the supreme object of our worship to be Moloch, and infinitely for\nour future life, whether Jesus be to us the Son of God.\n\nAs to the source of theological knowledge, all our other knowledge is\nevolved, systematized, and developed by patient experiment and\ninvestigation. The results of any particular branch of human knowledge are\ncumulative, and are enlarged and perfected from generation to generation.\nBut the source of our knowledge of God is not in us, any more than our\nspiritual life had its source in ourselves. It came _ab extra_. God\nbreathed into the earthly form of Adam the breath of life, and he became a\nliving creature, essentially and radically different from the beasts over\nwhich he was given dominion. Knowledge of God was thus an original,\ndonated, component part of us. It grew under revelations made during the\nangelic communications before the Fall. Revelation was continued by the\nLogos along thousands of years, until that Logos himself became flesh and\ndwelt among us in visible form in His written word, and by His Comforter,\nwho still reveals to us.\n\nI do not feel it necessary here to discuss, or even to express an opinion\nas to the evolution of the physical species. I know, simply because God\nsays so,--and am satisfied with this knowledge,--that \"in the beginning\nGod created.\" As to _when_ that \"beginning\" was, there may be respectable\ndifference of opinion; for it is only a human opinion that asserts _when_.\nAssertion may have apparently very reliable data; but these data often are\nlike the bits of glass, factors in the geometric figures of a\nkaleidoscope, whose next turn in scientific discovery dislocates and\nrelocates in an apparently reliable proof of the existence of another\nfigure.\n\nAs to _what_ it was that God created in that beginning, there may be also\nrespectable difference of opinion. Whether, like Minerva, full armed from\nthe head of Jove, Adam sprang into his perfect physical, mental, and moral\nmanhood on the sixth of consecutive days of twenty-four solar hours each;\nor whether, created a weakling, he slowly grew up to perfect development;\nor whether life began only in protoplasm, and gradually differentiated\nitself into the forms of beasts, and finally into that of man,--back of\nall was a great First Cause that \"created\" in the \"beginning.\" It is all a\nsubject fearfully wonderful.\n\n\"My substance was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret, and\ncuriously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my\nsubstance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were\nwritten, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none\nof them.\"\n\nBut all such assertion, discussion, and attempt at proof I allow only to\nwhat is physical and finite, and is therefore a legitimate subject of\nassertion on merely physical data; for I do not desire to discuss, beyond\nsimple mention, the Spencerian doctrine of evolution, that materialism\nwhich would make thought and soul only successions in a series (even if\nthe highest and best) of evoluted developments. To account for the\nreligious nature in man by evolution I regard as a thing that cannot be\ndone. It is a tenable position held by evolutionists such as Dana,\nWinchell, and the late Professor Le Conte of California, that \"at the\ncreation of man the divine fiat asserted itself, and 'breathed into man\nthe breath of life, and man became a living soul.' Immortality cannot be\nevolved out of mortality. If Spencerian evolution is true, either\neverything is immortal or nothing is immortal; man and vermin in this\nhypothesis go together.\"\n\nMan's soul came to him direct from God, a part of His own infinite life,\nin His \"image,\" and like Him in His holiness. Man's thoughts of God were\nholy. The expression of them in words and acts was his practical religion,\nthe visible, audible link that \"bound\" (ligated) him to God. In this there\ncould be no evolution, unless that, in the many forms and ceremonies used\nin the expression of religious thought (which ceremonies constitute\nworship), there could be, and were, variation, change, development, or\nretrogression.\n\nTherefore I cannot accept the conclusions of those who in their study of\nethnology claim to find that the religious beliefs of the world, and even\nthe very idea of a Supreme Being, have been evolved by man himself _ab\nintra_. They claim that this evolution has been by primitive man, from low\nforms of beliefs in spiritual beings, through polytheism and idolatry, up\nto the conception of monotheism and its belief in the one living God. This\nprocess they claim to be able to follow on lines racial and national,\nunder the civilizations of Chaldee, Greek, Roman, Teutonic, and other\nstocks.\n\n\"Until some human being can be found with a conception of spiritual\nexistences without his having received instruction on that point from\nthose who went before him, the claim ... that primitive man ever obtained\nhis spiritual knowledge or his spiritual conceptions from within himself\nalone, or without an external revelation to him, is an unscientific\nassumption in the investigation of the origin of religions in the\nworld.\"[3]\n\nThe rather I find, in my own ethnological observations during these more\nthan forty years in direct contact with aboriginal peoples, that the\ninitial starting-point of man's knowledge of God was by revelation from\nJehovah himself. This knowledge was to be conserved by man's conscience,\nGod's implanted witness,--a witness that can be coerced into silence, that\nmay be nursed into forgetfulness, that may be perverted by abuse, that may\nbe covered up by superimposed falsities, that may be discolored by the\nblackness of foul degradation, but which can never be utterly destroyed;\nwhich on occasions, like the Titans, arouses itself with volcanic force;\nwhich at God's final bar is to be His sufficient proof for the verities\nand responsibilities of at least natural religion (\"natural\" religion, a\nrecognition of certain attributes of God as revealed in the works of\nnature). This knowledge of God, a treasure hid in earthen vessels, rightly\nused and cherished, was to grow and develop under subsequent divine\nrevelation, so that man might become more and more like his divine\noriginal; or, if abused, neglected, or perverted, it would carry him even\nfarther away from God.\n\n\"Not alone those who insist on the belief that there was a gradual\ndevelopment of the race from a barbarous beginning, but also those who\nbelieve that man started on a higher plane, and in his degradation\nretained vestiges of God's original revelation to him, are finding profit\nin the study of primitive myths, and of aboriginal rites and ceremonies\nall the world over.\"[4]\n\nI do not impeach the sincerity of those students of primitive thought who\nteach that man in his religious beliefs has reached his present monotheism\nby progressive growths from polytheism, or that he has attained his\npresent conception of the very existence of a Supreme Being by a gradual\nemergence from a state of ignorance in which even the idea of such a being\ndid not exist; but I do discount the competency of many of the witnesses\non whose testimony they base their conclusions.\n\nWhatever may be proved in a complete investigation by science into the\narcana of nature,--of arch\u00e6ology and other channels of research,--a\nreverent comparison of these results of finite intelligence will find them\nnot inconsistent with the statements of God's infinite Word. Indeed, that\nWord was not written to make any definite statement on astronomy or\ngeology, or any other human science. The only science of the Bible is that\nof man's relation to his divine Father; its only history a history of\nredemption, as promised to Eve and her seed, the Jewish nation, and as\nfulfilled in the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Apparent conflicts of the\nBible with science are not always real; too often a claim is set up, based\non a single observation, perhaps hastily made, and not verified by a\ncomparison of the variable factors in that observation.\n\nI suppose that it is true that in the theology of even the worst forms of\nreligion there is more or less truth, and almost equally true that in the\ntheology of the best forms there may be somewhat of superstition. This is\nso because, as I believe, all religions had but one source, and that a\npure one. From it have grown perversions varying in their proportion of\ntruth and error.\n\nIn this study of the African theologic ideas I shall endeavor to separate\nthese two--the false and the true--into two divisions: First, Beliefs in\nGod more or less true, which have had their birth in tradition of some\ndivine revelation, which find at least faint echoes in human conscience,\nand which among exalted nations would be formulated into confessions,\ncreeds, and articles of faith. Second, Animism or beliefs in vague\nspiritual beings, which, being almost pure superstitions, cannot, from\ntheir very nature, be accurately formulated, they being the outgrowth of\nevery individual's imagination, and varying with all the variances of\ntime, place, and human thought.\n\nEliminating from any theology its superstitious element, we shall find\nthe highest and truest religion. But if you eliminate from the theology of\nthe Bantu African its superstition, you will have very little left; for,\namong the religions of the world, it comes nearest to being purely a\nsuperstition. So nearly is this true that travellers and other superficial\nobservers and theorists have asserted that the religious beliefs of some\ndegraded tribes were _simply_ superstitions, destitute of reference to any\nsuperior being.\n\nI can readily see how the reports of some travellers--even of those who\nhad no prejudice against the Negro, the precepts of the Bible, or\nmissionary work--could be made in apparent sincerity, when they state that\nnative Africans have confessed of themselves that they had no idea of\nGod's existence; also, their belief that some pygmy and other tribes were\ntoo destitute of intelligence to possess that idea,--that it either must\nbe given them _ab extra_ by the possessors of a superior civilization, or\nmust be developed by themselves as they rise in civilization.\n\nThe difficulty about the testimony of these witnesses in this matter is\nthat, being passers-by in time, they were unable--by reason of lack of\nability to converse fluently, or absence of a reliable interpreter, or of\nbeing out of touch with native mode of thought or speech--to make their\nquestionings intelligible.\n\nOn the heathen side, also, the obsequious natives, unaccustomed to\nanalytic thought, will answer vaguely on the spur of the moment, and often\nas far as possible in the line of what they suppose will best please the\nquestioner. All native statements must be discounted, must be sifted.\n\nI am aware that some missionaries are quoted as having said or written\nthat the people among whom they were laboring \"had no idea of God.\" Even\nRobert Moffat is reported to have held this opinion. If so, it must have\nbeen in the earlier days of his ministry, under his first shock at the\ndepth of native degradation, before he had become fluent in the native\nlanguage, and before he had found out all the secrets of that difficult\nproblem, an African's native thought. Such an unqualified phrase could be\nuttered by a missionary in an hour of depression, in the presence of some\ngreat demonstration of heathen wickedness, and in an effort to describe\nhow very far the heathen was from God. That the heathen had no _correct_\nidea of God is often true.\n\nArnot, who among modern African missionaries has lived most closely and\nintimately with the rudest tribes in their veriest hovels, writes:[5] \"Man\nis a very fragile being, and he is fully conscious that he requires\nsupernatural or divine aid. Apart from the distinct revelation given by\nGod in the first chapter of Romans, there is much to prove that the\nheathen African is a man to whom the living God has aforetime revealed\nhimself. But he had sought after things of his own imagination and things\nof darkness to satisfy those convictions and fears which lurk in his\nbreast, and which have not been planted there by the Evil One, but by God.\nRefusing to acknowledge God,[6] they have become haters of God.[7] The\npreaching of the gospel to them, however, is not a mere beating of the\nair; there is a peg in the wall upon which something can be hung and\nremain. Often a few young men have received the message with laughter and\nridicule, but I have afterwards heard them discuss my words amongst\nthemselves very gravely. I heard one man say to a neighbor, 'Monare's\nwords pierce the heart.' Another remarked that the story of Christ's death\nwas very beautiful, but that he knew it was not meant for him; he was a\n'makala' (slave), and such a sacrifice was only for white men and\nprinces.\"\n\nLionel Decl\u00e8,[8] who certainly is not prejudiced toward missionaries or\nthe Negro, writes of the Barotse tribe in South Africa and their worship\nof ancestors: \"They believe in a Supreme Being, Niambe, who is supposed to\ncome and take away the spiritual part of the dead.\" This name \"Niambe,\"\nfor the Deity, is almost exactly the same as \"Anyambe,\" in Benga, two\nthousand miles distant.\n\nIllustrative of traveller Decl\u00e8's haste or inexactitude in the use of\nlanguage, he apparently contradicts himself on page 153, in speaking of a\ntribe, the Matabele, adjacent to the Barotse: \"The idea of a Supreme Being\nis utterly foreign, and cannot be appreciated by the native mind. They\nhave a vague idea of a number of evil spirits always ready to do harm, and\nchief among these are the spirits of their ancestors; but they do not pray\nto them to ask for their help if they wish to enter on any undertaking.\nThey merely offer sacrifices to appease them when some evil has befallen\nthe family.\"\n\nPerhaps he and other cursory travellers, in making such hasty assertions,\nmean that the native has no idea of the true character of God; in that\nthey would be correct.\n\nThe accounts which some travellers have given of tribes without religion I\neither set down to misunderstanding, or consider them to be insufficient\nto invalidate the assertion that religion is a universal feature of savage\nlife.\n\nHowever degraded, every people have a religion. But they are children,\nbabes in the woods, lost in the forest of ignorance, dense and more\nmorally malarious than Stanley's forest of Urega. In their\nhelplessness, under a feeling of their \"infinite dependence,\" they cry out\nin the night of their orphanage, \"Help us, O Paia Njambe!\" Their\nforefathers wandered so far from him that only a name is left by which to\ndescribe the All-Father, whose true character has been utterly\nforgotten,--so forgotten that they rarely worship him, but have given such\nhonor and reverence as they do render literally to the supposed spiritual\nresidents in stocks and stones. \"Lo! this only have I found, that God hath\nmade man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.\"\n\nOffering in the following pages a formulation of African superstitious\nbeliefs and practice, I premise that I have gathered them from a very\nlarge number of native witnesses, very few of whom presented to me all\nthe same ideas. Any one else, inquiring of other natives in other places,\nwould not find, as held by every one of them, all that I have recorded;\nbut parts of all these separate ideas will be found held by separate\nindividuals everywhere.\n\nAfter more than forty years' residence among these tribes, fluently using\ntheir language, conversant with their customs, dwelling intimately in\ntheir huts, associating with them in the varied relations of teacher,\npastor, friend, master, fellow-traveller, and guest, and, in my special\noffice as missionary, searching after their religious thought (and\ntherefore being allowed a deeper entrance into the arcana of their soul\nthan would be accorded to a passing explorer), I am able unhesitatingly to\nsay that among all the multitude of degraded ones with whom I have met, I\nhave seen or heard of none whose religious thought was only a\nsuperstition.\n\nStanding in the village street, surrounded by a company whom their chief\nhas courteously summoned at my request, when I say to him, \"I have come to\nspeak to your people,\" I do not need to begin by telling them that there\nis a God. Looking on that motley assemblage of villagers,--the bold, gaunt\ncannibal with his armament of gun, spear, and dagger; the artisan with\nrude adze in hand, or hands soiled at the antique bellows of the village\nsmithy; women who have hasted from their kitchen fire with hands white\nwith the manioc dough or still grasping the partly scaled fish; and\nchildren checked in their play with tiny bow and arrow or startled from\ntheir dusty street pursuit of dog or goat,--I have yet to be asked, \"Who\nis God?\"\n\nUnder the slightly varying form of Anyambe, Anyambie, Njambi, Nzambi,\nAnzam, Nyam, or, in other parts, Ukuku, Suku, and so forth, they know of a\nBeing superior to themselves, of whom they themselves inform me that he is\nthe _Maker_ and _Father_. The divine and human relations of these two\nnames at once give me ground on which to stand in beginning my address.\n\nIf suddenly they should be asked the flat question, \"Do you know\nAnyambe?\" they would probably tell any white visitor, trader, traveller,\nor even missionary, under a feeling of their general ignorance and the\nwhite man's superior knowledge, \"No! What do _we_ know? You are white\npeople and are spirits; you come from Njambi's town, and know all about\nhim!\" (This will help to explain, what is probably true, that some natives\nhave sometimes made the thoughtless admission that they \"know nothing\nabout a God.\") I reply, \"No, I am not a spirit; and, while I do indeed\nknow about Anyambe, _I_ did not call him by that name. It's your own word.\nWhere did you get it?\" \"Our forefathers told us that name. Njambi is the\nOne-who-made-us. He is our Father.\" Pursuing the conversation, they will\ninterestedly and voluntarily say, \"He made these trees, that mountain,\nthis river, these goats and chickens, and us people.\"\n\nThat typical conversation I have had hundreds of times, under an immense\nvariety of circumstances, with the most varied audiences, and before\nextremes of ignorance, savagery, and uncivilization, utterly barring out\nthe admission of a probability that the tribe, audience, or individual in\nquestion had obtained a previous knowledge of the name by hearsay from\nadjacent more enlightened tribes. For the _name_ of that Great Being was\neverywhere and in every tribe before any of them had become enlightened;\nvaried in form in each tribe by the dialectic difference belonging to\ntheir own, and not imported from others,--for, where tribes are hundreds\nof miles apart or their dialects greatly differ, the variation in the name\nis great, _e. g._, \"Suku,\" of the Bihe country, south of the Kongo River\nand in the interior back of Angola, and \"Nzam\" of the cannibal Fang, north\nof the equator.\n\nBut while it is therefore undeniable that a knowledge of this Great Being\nexists among the natives, and that the belief is held that he is a\nsuperior and even a supreme being, that supremacy is not so great as what\nwe ascribe to Jehovah. Nevertheless, I believe that the knowledge of their\nAnzam or Anyambe has come down--clouded though it be and fearfully\nobscured and marred, but still a revelation--from Jehovah Himself. Most of\nthe same virtues which we in our enlightened Christianity commend, and\nmany of the vices which we denounce, they respectively commend and\ndenounce. No one of them praises to me theft or falsehood or murder. They\nspeak of certain virtues as \"good,\" and of other things which are \"bad,\"\nthough, just as do the depraved of Christian lands, they follow the vices\nthey condemn. True, certain evils they do defend, _e. g._ (as did some of\nour New England ancestors) witchcraft executions, justifying them as\njudicial acts; and polygamy, considering it (as our civilized Mormons) a\ndesirable social institution (but, unlike the Mormons, not claiming for it\nthe sanction of religion); and slavery, regarded (as only a generation ago\nin the United States) as necessary for a certain kind of property. But\ntheft, falsehood, and some other sins, when committed by others, their own\nconsciences condemn,--closely covered up and blunted as those consciences\nmay be,--thus witnessing with and for God.\n\nWhile all this is true, their knowledge of God is almost simply a theory.\nIt is an accepted belief, but it does not often influence their life. \"God\nis not in all their thought.\" In practice they give Him no worship. God is\nsimply \"counted out.\"\n\nResuming my street-preaching conversation: Immediately after the admission\nby the audience of their knowledge of Anzam as the Creator and Father, I\nsay, \"Why then do you not obey this Father's commands, who tells you to do\nso and so? Why do you disobey his prohibitions, who forbids you to do so\nand so? Why do you not worship him?\" Promptly they reply: \"Yes, he made\nus; but, having made us, he abandoned us, does not care for us; he is far\nfrom us. Why should we care for him? He does not help nor harm us. It is\nthe spirits who can harm us whom we fear and worship, and for whom we\ncare.\"\n\nAnother witness on this subject is the Rev. Dr. J. L. Wilson.[9] Speaking\nof Africa and its Negro inhabitants, he says: \"The belief in one great\nSupreme Being is universal. Nor is this idea held imperfectly or obscurely\ndeveloped in their minds. The impression is so deeply engraved upon their\nmoral and mental nature that any system of atheism strikes them as too\nabsurd and preposterous to require a denial. Everything which transpires\nin the natural world beyond the power of man or of spirits, who are\nsupposed to occupy a place somewhat higher than man, is at once and\nspontaneously ascribed to the agency of God. All the tribes in the country\nwith which the writer has become acquainted (and they are not few) have a\nname for God; and many of them have two or more, significant of His\ncharacter as a Maker, Preserver, and Benefactor. (In the Grebo country\nNyiswa is the common name for God; but He is sometimes called Geyi,\nindicative of His character as Maker. In Ashanti He has two names: _viz._,\nYankumpon, which signifies 'My Great Friend,' and Yemi, 'My Maker.') The\npeople, however, have no correct idea of the character or attributes of\nthe Deity. Destitute of (a written) revelation, and without any other\nmeans of forming a correct conception of His moral nature, they naturally\nreason up from their own natures, and, in consequence, think of Him as a\nbeing like themselves.\n\n\"Nor have they any correct notion of the control which God exercises over\nthe affairs of the world. The prevailing notion seems to be that God,\nafter having made the world and filled it with inhabitants, retired to\nsome remote corner of the universe, and has allowed the affairs of the\nworld to come under the control of evil spirits; and hence the only\nreligious worship that is ever performed is directed to these spirits, the\nobject of which is to court their favor, or ward off the evil effects of\ntheir displeasure.\n\n\"On some rare occasions, as at the ratification of an important treaty, or\nwhen a man is condemned to drink the 'red-water ordeal,' the name of God\nis solemnly invoked; and, what is worthy of note, is invoked _three times_\nwith marked precision. Whether this involves the idea of a Trinity we\nshall not pretend to decide; but the fact itself is worthy of record. Many\nof the tribes speak of the 'Son of God.' The Grebos call him 'Greh,' and\nthe Amina people, according to Pritchard, call him 'Sankombum.'\"\n\nThe following testimony I gather from conversations with the late Rev.\nIbia j'Ikenge, a native minister and member of the Presbytery of\nCorisco, who himself was born in heathenism. He stated:\n\nThat his forefathers believed in many inferior agencies who are under the\ncontrol of a Superior Being; that they were therefore primitive\nmonotheists. Under great emergencies they looked beyond the lower beings,\nand asked help of that Superior; before doing so, they prayed to him,\nimploring him as Father to help;\n\nThat the people of this country believed God made the world and everything\nin it; but he did not know whether they had had any ideas about creation\nfrom dust of the ground or in God's likeness;\n\nThat they believed in the existence, in the first times, of a great man,\nwho had simply to speak, and all things were made by the word of his\npower. As to man's creation, a legend states it thus: Two eggs fell from\non high. On striking the ground and breaking, one became a man and the\nother a woman. (Apparently there is no memory of any legend indicating the\nname, character, or work of the Holy Spirit.)\n\nThat there is a legend of a great chief of a village who always warned\npeople not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree. Finally, he himself ate\nof it and died;\n\nThat there was no legend, but, among a few persons, a vague tradition of a\nonce happy period, and of a coming time of good; but he knew of nothing\ncorresponding to the story of Cain and Abel;\n\nThat there is a fable that a woman brought to the people of her village\nthe fruit of a forbidden tree. In order to hide it she swallowed it; and\nshe became possessed of an evil spirit, which was the beginning of\nwitchcraft; That there was some tradition of a Deluge (he was not aware\nof any about the Dispersion at the Tower of Babel);\n\nThat all men believed they were sinners, but that they knew of no remedy\nfor sin;\n\nThat sacrifices are made constantly, their object being to appease the\nspirits and avert their anger;\n\nThat many of the tribes are, and probably all, before they emerged on the\nseacoast, were cannibal (of the origin of cannibalism he did not know, but\nhe was certain it had no religious idea associated with it[10]);\n\nThat there was a legend that a \"Son\" of God, by name Ilongo ja Anyambe,\nwas to come and deliver mankind from trouble and give them happiness; but\nas he had not as yet come, the heathen were no longer expecting him;\n\nThat there was a division of time, six months, making an \"upuma,\" or\n_year_, and a rest day, which came two days after the new moon, and was\ncalled Buhwa bwa Mandanda,--it was a day for dancing and feasting;\n\nThat the dead were usually buried; but persons held in superstitious\nreverence, as twins, Udinge, etc., were not buried, but left at the foot\nof a ceiba, or silk-cotton tree, or other sacred tree;\n\nThat burial-places are regarded with a mixed feeling of reverence and awe;\n\nThat the immortality of the soul is believed in, but that there is no\ntradition of the resurrection of the body;\n\nThat they believe God gave law to mankind, and that, for those who keep\nthis law, there is reserved in the future a \"good place,\" and for the bad\na \"bad place,\" but no definite ideas about what that \"good\" or that \"bad\"\nwill be, or as to the locality of those places;\n\nThat they believe in a distinction of spirits,--that some are _demons_, as\nin the old days of demoniacal possession, this distinction following the\nJewish idea of diaboloi and daimonai.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nPOLYTHEISM--IDOLATRY\n\n\nCivilization and religion do not necessarily move with equal pace.\nWhatever is really best in the ethics of civilization is derived from\nreligion. If civilization falls backward, religion probably has already\nweakened or will also fall. The converse is not necessarily true. Religion\nmay halt or even retrograde, while civilization steps on brilliantly, as\nit did in Greece with her Parthenon, and in Rome the while that religion\nadded to the number of idols in the pantheon. Egypt, too, had her men\nlearned in astronomy, who built splendid palaces and hundred-pillared\nThebes the while they were worshipping Osiris. The dwellers before the\nDeluge had carried their civilization to a knowledge of arts now lost,\nwhile their wickedness and utter wanderings from God's worship caused the\nearth to cry out for a cleansing Flood.\n\nWhatever therefore may be true in the history of civilization--whether man\nwas gifted, _ab initio_, with a large measure of useful knowledge which he\nhad simply easily to put into practice; or whether, as a savage, primitive\nman had slowly and painfully to find out under pressure the use of fire,\nclothing, weapons of defence and offence, tools, and other necessary\narticles and arts--is not important here to be discussed. From whatever\npoint of vantage, high or low, Adam's sons started, we know that they had\nat least tools for agriculture[11] and for the building of houses;[12] and\nthat a few generations later, their knowledge of arts had grown from\nthose which aided in the acquisition of the bare necessaries of life into\nthe aesthetics of music and metallic ornamentation.[13]\n\nBut religion did not wait that length of time for its growth. To the\noriginal pair in Eden, Jehovah had given a knowledge of Himself. They felt\nHis character, they were told His will; and when they had disobeyed that\nwill, they were given a promise of salvation, and were instructed in\ncertain given rites of worship, _e. g._, offerings and sacrifice. They\nknew[14] the significance of atoning blood, and the difference between a\nsimple thank-offering and a sin-offering. All this knowledge of religion\nwas not a possession which man had attained by slow degrees. He started\nwith it in full possession, while yet he was clothed only in the skins of\nbeasts,[15] and before he knew how to make musical instruments or to\nfashion brass and iron. His religion was in advance of his civilization.\nSubsequently his civilization pushed ahead.\n\nWhat were the gradual steps before the Deluge, in the divergence of man's\nworship of God, is not difficult to imagine if we look at the history of\nthe Chaldees, of the Hittites, and of the Jews themselves. Subsequent to\nthe Deluge, from the grateful sacrifice of the seventh animal by Noah, to\nAbraham's typical offering of Isaac, it is not a very far cry to the\nbutchery of Jephthah's daughter or the immolations to Moloch. A\nwell-intended Ed[16] may readily become a schismatic Mecca. An altar of\nDan is soon furnished with its golden calf.\n\nWith this as a starting-point, _viz._, that the knowledge of himself was\ndirectly imparted to man by Jehovah, and that certain forms of worship\nwere originally directed and sanctioned by Him, I wish in subsequent pages\nto follow that line of light through the labyrinths of man's wandering\nfrom monotheism into polytheism, idolatry, and even into crass fetichism.\n\nAbstract faith is difficult. It is so much easier to believe what we see,\nto have faith assisted by sight. Even such faith is not without its\nblessing, but \"blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have\nbelieved.\"[17] Memory is assisted by visible signs; whence the art of\nwriting,--in its usefulness so far beyond the Indian's wampum belts.\nMerely oral law is apt to be forgotten, or its requisitions and\nprohibitions become hazy.\n\nAs the years passed by, and nations, after the dispersion from the tower\non the plain of Shinar, diverged more and more, not only in speech and\nwriting but also in customs, their religious thought began to vary from\nthe simple standard of Adam and Noah. Between those small beginnings of\nvariation and the gulf-like depth of the fetich, there are three\nsuccessive steps.\n\nFirst, retaining the name of and belief in and worship of Jehovah, mankind\nadded something else. They associated with Jehovah certain natural\nobjects. This, it is readily conceivable, they could do without feeling\nthat they were dishonoring Him. They could not see Him; in their\nexpression of their wants in prayer they were speaking into vague space\nand heard no audible response. The strain on simple unassisted faith was\nheavy. The senses asked for something on which they could lean. Very\nreasonable, therefore, it was for the pious thought, in speaking to the\nGreat Invisible, to associate closely with His name the great natural\nobjects in which His character was revealed or illustrated the,--sun,\nshining in strength and beneficently giving life to plants and the comfort\nof its warmth to all creation; the moon, benefiting in a similar though\nless prominent way; the sky, from which spake the thunder; the mountain,\ntowering in its solemn majesty; the sea, spread out in its inscrutable\nimmensity. All these illustrating some of Jehovah's attributes,--His\npower, goodness, infinity,--without impropriety associated themselves in\nman's thought of God, were named along with His name, and were looked upon\nwith some of the same reverence which was accorded to Him. In all this\nthere was no conscious departure from the worship of the one living and\ntrue God. The position to which these great natural objects were gradually\nelevated relatively to God, in the thought of the worshipper, was not as\nyet blasphemous, or in any intentional way derogatory to Him. But the evil\nin this elevation of nature into prominence with God was that there was no\nlimit to the number of objects or the degree of their elevation. From the\ndignified use of sun, moon, sky, and sea, by unconscious degradations\nanimals became the objects of worship--the bull, the serpent, and the cat\n(each illustrative of some attribute), and thence finally objects that\nwere frivolous, ridiculous, or disgusting, which nevertheless were each\nthe exponent of some principle. Even the indecencies of Phallic worship\nhad found their dignified beginning in an attempt to honor the great\nprinciple of life in nature's procreative processes.\n\nBut there came a time, in the multiplying of the objects illustrative of\nGod's attributes, when they, by their very numbers, minimized divine\ndignity. Their constant, visible, tangible presence to the senses began\nnot simply passively to represent God, but actively to personify Him, and\nJehovah was subdivided. He was still the great God; but these others were\ngiven not only a name, but a personality which shadowed Him and dishonored\nHim, by admitting them to fellowship with Him, and regarding Him as no\nlonger alone the great I Am. Though supreme, His supremacy was not\nexclusive; it was comparative. He was over others, who also were gods,\nwith whom He shared His power, and to whom was to be given somewhat of His\nworship. He was not indeed denied, but He was dishonored. He became only\none of the many gods along with Baal and Ashtaroth. But the worship of Him\nwas not abandoned. He was worshipped along with these others, as One among\nmany. And finally polytheism had become the belief of the world, except of\nthe many scattered small communities which, with their priests of the Most\nHigh God, like Melchisedek and Job, held the true light from extinction.\n\"Jehovah\" became a name for the Deity of a nation; each nation, while\nreverencing its own god, not denying power to that of another nation.\nMan's little thought was trying to localize the Deity in its own small\ntribal limits.\n\nPhilistia worshipped its Dagon, but it feared and made trespass offerings\nto Jehovah of the Ark of Israel's Covenant.[18]\n\nNebuchadnezzar, startled by a vision of a Son of God in the flame of his\nfiery furnace, in an hour of repentance could decree that the God of\nShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should not be spoken against.[19] This was\nthe second step in religion's retrograde movement. The personified natural\nobjects were actually worshipped. No longer considered simply as\n_representatives_ of God, they were actually given a part of God's place,\nand were worshipped as God. The prayer was not, \"Jehovah, hear us, for the\nsake of Baal, through whom we plead!\" nor \"O Baal, present our petition to\nJehovah!\" but, flatly and directly, \"O Baal, hear us!\"\n\nHaving reached in their religious thought this position of a belief in\nmany gods, it was a natural and logical result that worship was to be\nrendered to them all. The sacrifices that had been offered to Jehovah\nalone were divided for service to other gods. But it was the same\nreligious sentiment, in both monotheist and polytheist, that prompted the\nrendering of prayer, sacrifice, and other service. The same sense of an\n\"infinite dependence\" that had led arms of weak faith to lay hold for help\non that which was nearest and most obvious, operated with the heathen who\nhad wandered from God, in his petition to his many gods, just as it had\noperated originally with the worshipper of the true God. The sentiment was\nright, the principle was good; only, its application was wrong,--sometimes\nfearfully wrong. Man's religious nature is a force. There are other forces\nin nature that belong to other domains than religion. They are good forces\nif well applied; they become engines of destruction if misapplied or\napplied in excess.\n\nIn all history no misapplied force has wrought more fearful evil than the\nreligious. It made holy even the atrocities of the Inquisition; it\nordained a Te Deum for the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day.\n\nSimilarly mankind found not only justification but propriety in the human\nsacrifices to Moloch, and in the holocausts of the Aztec civilization. If\nin giving a gift of thanks, tribute, admiration, or fear to a human\nfriend, ruler, or employer, we choose that which is good and best in our\nown eyes, so as to win the favor of the being to whom it is given, much\nmore would we strive to please the god in whose power lies our life,\nhealth, and prosperity. It was a logical result, therefore, in choosing\nfor sacrifice on great emergencies, to select the best-beloved child.\nMoloch would be pleased and propitiated by such a valuable gift. The more\nthat the human love was renounced in the agony of the parents' view of\ntheir child's dying struggle, the more favorable would be the response to\nthe worshipper. Under this misapplied religious force an Iphigenia is\nlogical, and the Hindu infant cast to Gunga's wave a fitting offering in\nthe agonized mother's eyes. But how fearfully mistaken! The religion that\nrecognizes and directs such abuse is a \"false religion,\" as compared with\nChristianity; not in the sense that it has nothing good in it, but in the\nfalsity of the objects of its worship and in the cruelty of the rites\nemployed in that worship. In the genera of the sciences there is only one\nspecies of religion, but that one species has many varieties. In this\nsense Calvin is correct if, in speaking of the \"immense welter of errors\"\nin which the whole world outside of Christianity is immersed, \"he regards\nhis own religion as the true one and all the others were false.\" The\nfunction of a comparative study of religions is to point out the\nconnecting line of truth running through the mass of error. Back of all\nthe cruelty and error and falsity in polytheism lie the proper sense of\nneed, the natural feeling of helplessness in the great emergencies of\nlife, and the commendable desire to honor the Being known under different\nnames as Jehovah, Moloch, Jupiter, Allah, Budh, Brahm, Odin, or Anyambe;\nto which Being His children all over the world looked up as the\nAll-Father. But the _descensus Averni_ from the One living and true God\nsoon multiplied gods, dividing among many the attributes that had been\ncentred in the One, and finally carried man's religious thought so far\nfrom God that only His name was retained, while the trust which had\nbelonged to Him alone was scattered over a multitude of objects that were\nnot even dignified with the name \"gods.\" Worship of ancestors was\nestablished. Great human benefactors, heroic human beings, were deified\nand canonized. The whole air of the world became peopled with spiritual\ninfluences; literally \"stocks and stones\" became animated with demons of\nvarying power and disposition; and fetichism erected itself as a kind of\nreligion.\n\nI see nothing to justify the theory of Menzies[20] that primitive man or\nthe untutored African of to-day, in worshipping a tree, a snake, or an\nidol, originally worshipped those very objects themselves, and that the\nsuggestion that they represented, or were even the dwelling-place of, some\nspiritual Being is an after-thought up to which he has grown in the lapse\nof the ages. The rather I see every reason to believe that the thought of\nthe Being or Beings as an object of worship has come down by tradition and\nfrom direct original revelation of Jehovah Himself. The assumption of a\nvisible, tangible object to represent or personify that Being is the\nafter-thought that human ingenuity has added. The civilized Romanist\nclaims that he does not worship the actual sign of the cross, but the\nChrist who was crucified on it; similarly, the Dahomian, in his worship of\na snake.\n\nRev. J. L. Wilson, D.D.,[21] says of the condition of Dahomy fifty years\nago, that in Africa \"there is no place where there is more intense\nheathenism; and to mention no other feature in their superstitious\npractices, the worship of snakes at this place [Whydah] fully illustrates\nthis remark. A house in the middle of the town is provided for the\nexclusive use of these reptiles, and they may be seen here at any time in\nvery great numbers. They are fed, and more care is taken of them than of\nthe human inhabitants of the place. If they are seen straying away, they\nmust be brought back; and at the sight of them the people prostrate\nthemselves on the ground and do them all possible reverence. To kill or\ninjure one of them is to incur the penalty of death. On certain occasions\nthey are taken out by the priests or doctors, and paraded about the\nstreets, the bearers allowing them to coil themselves around their arms,\nnecks, and bodies. They are also employed to detect persons who have been\nguilty of witchcraft. If, in the hands of the priest, they bite the\nsuspected person, it is sure evidence of his guilt; and no doubt the\nserpent is trained to do the will of his keeper in all such cases. Images,\nusually called 'gregrees,' of the most uncouth shape and form, may be seen\nin all parts of the town, and are worshipped by all classes of persons.\nPerhaps there is no place in Africa where idolatry is more openly\npractised, or where the people have sunk into deeper pagan darkness.\"\n\nAlso, of the people on the southwest coast at Loango: \"The people of\nLoango are more addicted to idol worship than any other people on the\nwhole coast. They have a great many carved images which they set up in\ntheir fetich houses and in their private dwellings, and which they\nworship; but whether these images represent their forefathers, as is the\ncase among the Mpongwe (at Gabun), is not certainly known.\"[22]\n\nHaving thus followed the religious thought of mankind in its divagation\nfrom monotheistic worship of the true God, down through polytheism and\nidolatrous sacrifices, to the worship of ancestors, we have reached a\nthird stage, where the worship of God is not only divided between Him and\nother objects, but, a step beyond, God Himself is quietly disregarded, and\nthe worship due Him is transferred to a multitude of spiritual agencies\nunder His power, but uncontrolled by it.\n\nThe details of this stage in the religious worship known as fetichism will\nbe considered in the following chapters.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nSPIRITUAL BEINGS IN AFRICAN RELIGION\n\n\nThe belief in spiritual beings opens an immense vista of the purely\nsuperstitious side of the theology of Bantu African religion.\n\nAll the air and the future is peopled with a large and indefinite company\nof these beings. The attitude of the Creator (Anyambe) toward the human\nrace and the lower animals being that of indifference or of positive\nseverity in having allowed evils to exist, and His indifference making Him\nalmost inexorable, cause effort in the line of worship to be therefore\ndirected only to those spirits who, though they are all probably\nmalevolent, may be influenced and made benevolent.\n\n\nI. ORIGIN.\n\nThe native thought in regard to the origin of spirits is vague;\nnecessarily so. An unwritten belief that is not based upon revelation from\na superior source nor on an induction from actual experience and\nobservation, but that is added to and varied by every individual's fancy,\ncan be expressed in definite words only after inquiry among many as to\ntheir ideas on the subject. These, I find, coincide on a few lines; just\nas the consensus of opinion on any subject in any community will find\nitself running in certain channels, influenced by the utterances of the\nstronger or wiser leaders.\n\n1. It appears, therefore, that some of the spirits seem to have been\nconterminous with the life of Paia-Njambi in the eternities. An eternity\npast, impossible as it is for any one to comprehend, is yet a thing\nthinkable even with the Bantu African, for he has words to express\nit,--\"peke-na-jome,\" ever-and-beyond, \"tamba-na-ng\u00e2m\u00e2,\"\nunknown-and-secret.\n\nAway back in that unknown time existed Paia-Njambi. Whence or how, is not\nasked by the natives; nor have I had any attempt even of a reply to my own\ninquiries. He simply existed. They are not sufficiently absurd to say that\nHe created Himself. To do that He would need to antedate Himself. I have\nmet none who thought sufficiently on the subject to worry their minds, as\nwe in our civilization often do, in effort to go back and back to the\nunthinkable point in time past when God was not. Indeed so little is the\nnative mind in the habit of any such research that I can readily perceive\nhow their \"We don't know\" could easily be misunderstood by a foreign\ntraveller, scientist, or even missionary, as a confession that \"they did\nnot know God,\"--a statement which is true, but not the equivalent of, or\nsynonymous with, that traveller's assertion that the native _had no idea\nof a God_. The native thought, wiser than ours, simply and unreasoningly\nsays, \"He is, He was.\" Conterminous with Him in origin there may have been\nsome other spirits. This has been said to me by a very few persons with\nsome hesitation. But if those spirits were indeed equal in existence with\nNjambi, they were in no respect equal to Him in character or power, and\nhad no hand in the creation of other beings. In the Mpongwe tribe at Gabun\none writer, Rev. J. L. Wilson, D.D., fifty years ago, thought the belief\nexisted that \"next to God in the government of the world are two spirits,\none of whom, Onyambe, is hateful and wicked. The people seldom speak of\nOnyambe, and always evince displeasure when the name is mentioned in their\npresence. His influence over the affairs of men, in their estimation, does\nnot amount to much; and the probability is that they have no very definite\nnotions about the real character of this spirit.\" His character would be\nindicated by his name, O-nya-mbe (He-who-is-bad). This name has sometimes\nbeen used by missionaries to translate our word \"devil.\" Perhaps the idea\nof the word itself came from long-ago contact of this coast tribe with\nforeigners.\n\n2. A second and more recognized source of supply to the company of spirits\nis original creation by Njambi. While this origin is named by some, I have\nnot found it believed in to any very great extent. Even those whom I did\nfind believing it had very vague ideas as to the mode or object of their\ncreation. Of the Creation of mankind, and even of the Fall, almost all of\nthe tribes have legends, more or less distinct, and with a modicum of\ntruth, doubtless derived from traditions coinciding with the Mosaic\nhistory; but of a previous creation of purely spiritual beings I have\nfound no legend nor well-defined story. If such specially created spirits\nexist at all, their relation to Njambi is of a very shadowy kind; they\nare, indeed, inferior to Him, and are in theory under His government in\nthe same sense that human beings are. But Njambi, in His far-off\nindifference in actual practice, does not interfere with or control them\nor their actions. They are part of the motley inhabitants of \"Njambi's\nTown,\" the place of the Great Unknown, as also are all the other living\nbeasts and beings of creation. They also have their separate habitat, and\npursue their own devices, generally malevolent, with the children of men.\n\n3. But the general consensus of opinion is that the world of spirits is\npeopled by the souls of dead human beings. This presupposes a belief in a\nfuture life, the existence of which in the native mind some travellers\nhave doubted. I have never met that doubt from the native himself. While I\ndo not impute to the travellers referred to any desire, in their efforts\nat describing the low grade of intelligence or religious belief of certain\ntribes, to misrepresent, I fully believe they were mistaken, their mistake\narising from misunderstanding. It is not probable that they met, in the\ncourse of their few years, what I have not met with in a lifetime. It is\nprobable that natives had expressed to them a doubt, or even ignorance, of\na general resurrection, and may have said to them, as a few have said to\nme, \"No, we do not live again; we are like goats and dogs and\nchickens,--when we die that is the end of us.\" Such a statement is indeed\na denial of the resurrection of the body, but it is not a denial of a\ncontinued existence of the soul in another life. The very people who made\nthe above declaration to me preserved their family fetich, made sacrifices\nto the spirits of their ancestors, and appealed to them for aid in their\nfamily undertakings. The few who have expressed a belief in transmigration\ndid not consider that the residence of a human spirit in the body of a\nbeast was a permanent state; it was a temporary condition, assumed by the\nspirit voluntarily for its own pleasure or convenience, and terminable at\nits own will, precisely as human spirits during their mortal life are,\neverywhere and by all, believed capable of temporarily deserting their own\nhuman body and controlling the actions of a beast. This belief in\ntransmigration, though not general, has been found among individuals in\nalmost all tribes.\n\nIt being thus generally accepted that all departed human souls become\nspirits of that future that is all around us, there is still a difference\nin the testimony of intelligent witnesses as to who and what, or even how\nmany, of these souls are in one human being. (1) Ordinarily, the native\nwill say in effect, \"I am one, and my soul is also myself. When I die, it\ngoes out somewhere else.\" (2) Others will say, \"I have two things,--one is\nthe thing that becomes a spirit when I die, the other is the spirit of the\nbody and dies with it.\" (This \"other\" may be only a personification of\nwhat we specify as the animal life.) But it has frequently occurred that\neven intelligent natives, standing by me at the side of a dying person,\nhave said to me, \"He is dead.\" The patient was indeed unconscious, lying\nstiff, not seeing, speaking, eating, or apparently feeling; yet there was\na slight heart-beat. I would point out to the relatives these evidences of\nlife. But they said: \"No, he is dead. His spirit is gone, he does not see\nnor hear nor feel; that slight movement is only the spirit of the body\nshaking itself. It is not a person, it is not our relative; _he_ is dead.\"\nAnd they began to prepare the body for burial. A man actually came to me\non Corisco Island, in 1863, asking me for medicine with which to kill or\nquiet the body-spirit of his mother, whose motions were troubling him by\npreventing the funeral arrangements. I was shocked at what I thought his\nattempt at matricide, but subsequently found that he really did believe\nthat his mother was dead and her real soul gone.\n\nSuch attempt to distinguish between soul-life and body-life has not\ninfrequently led to premature burial. The supposed corpse has sometimes\nrisen to consciousness on the way to the grave. A long-protracted sickness\nof some not very valuable member of the village has wearied the\nattendants; they decide that the body, though mumbling inarticulate words\nand aimlessly fingering with its arms, is no longer occupied by its\npersonal soul; _that_ has emerged. \"He is dead\"; and they proceed to bury\nhim alive. Yet they deny that they have done so. They insist that _he_ was\nnot alive; only his body was \"moving.\" Proof of premature burial has been\nfound by discoveries made in the practice of a custom which is observed\nwhen a village has been afflicted with various troubles after the death of\none of its members. The villagers, after ineffectual efforts to drive away\nthe evil influences that are supposed to cause these troubles, decide that\nthe spirit of some dead relative is dissatisfied about something, and\norder the grave to be opened and the bones rearranged or even thrown into\nthe river or sea. On opening the grave, corpses that had been buried in a\nrecumbent position have been found in a sitting position. It is possible\nfor one thus prematurely buried to change posture in a dying struggle;\nfor, mostly, heathen graves are shallow, and are hastily and not always\ncompletely filled in.\n\n(3) Another set of witnesses will say that, besides the personal soul and\nthe soul of the body, there is a third entity in the human unit, namely, a\ndream-soul. That it is which leaves the body on occasions during sleep,\nand, wandering off, delights itself by visiting strange lands and strange\nscenes. On its return to the body its union with the material blunts its\nperceptions, and the person, in his efforts to remember or tell what he\nhas seen, relates only the vagaries of a dream,--a psychological view\nwhich, under the manipulation of a ready pen, could give play to fantasies\npretty, romantic, not unreasonable, and not impossible.\n\nSome who are only dualists, nevertheless, believe in the wanderings of\nthis so-called dream-soul, but say that it is the personal soul itself\nthat has gone out and has returned. Both dualists and trinitarians add\nthat sometimes in its wanderings this soul loses its way and cannot find\nits body, its material home; should it never return, the person will\nsicken and die.\n\n(4) A fourth entity is vaguely spoken of by some as a component part of\nthe human personality, by others as separate but closely associated from\nbirth to death, and called the life-spirit. Some speak of it as a\ncivilized person speaks of a guardian angel. Regarded in that light, it\nshould not be considered as one of the several _kinds_ of souls, but as\none of the various _classes_ of spirits (which will be discussed in a\nsubsequent chapter). To it worship is rendered by its possessor as to\nother spirits,--a worship, however, different from that which is performed\nfor what are known and used as \"familiar spirits.\" Others speak of the\nvague life-spirit as the \"heart.\" The organ of our anatomy which we\ndesignate by that name, they call by a word which variously means \"heart\"\nor \"feelings,\" much like our old English \"bowels,\" the same word being\nemployed equally to designate a physical organ and a mental state.\nConsidering the organic heart as the seat (or a seat) of life, the natives\nbelieve that by witchcraft a person in health can be deprived of his\nlife-soul, or \"heart\"; that he will then sicken; that the wizard or witch\nfeasts in his or her magic orgy on this \"heart,\" and that the person will\ndie if that heart is not returned to him.\n\n\nII. NUMBER.\n\nBut whatever this human soul may be, whether existing in unity, duality,\ntrinity, or quadruplicity, all agree in believing that it adds itself, on\nthe death of the body, as another to the multitudinous company of the\nspirit-world. That world is all around us, and does not differ much in its\nwants and characteristics from this earthly life, except that it is free\nfrom some of the limitations to which material bodies are subject. In that\nspirit-world they require the same food as when on earth, but consume only\nits essence; the visible substance remains. They are possessed of all\ntheir human passions, both bad and good. Men expect to have their wives\nwith them in that future, but I have never heard the idea even named, that\nthere is procreation by spirits in that after-world. Not having believed\nduring this life in a system of reward and punishment, they have no belief\nin heaven or hell. All the dead go to Njambi's Town, and live in that new\nlife together, good and bad, as they lived together on earth. The \"hell\"\nspoken of by some of my informants, I believe, is not a native thought; it\nwas probably engrafted on the coast tribes by the Portuguese Roman\nCatholic missionaries of three hundred years ago.\n\nIf therefore the spirits consist almost entirely of the souls of departed\nhuman beings, how immense their number! Equal in number with all the dead\nthat have passed from this life in the ages gone by, excepting those who\nhave gone permanently into the bodies of new human beings. That form of\nmetempsychosis is believed in. Occasional instances of belief of\ntransmigration into the body of a lower animal do not necessarily include\nthe idea of a permanent residence there, or that the departed soul has\nlost its personality as a human being and has become the soul of a beast.\n\nBut the idea of reappearance in the body of a newly born child was\nformerly believed in, especially in regard to white people. Thirty years\nago I wrote:[23] \"Down the swift current of the Benita, as of other rivers\non the coast, are swept floating islands of interlaced rushes, tangled\nvines, and water-lilies that, clinging to some projecting log from the\nmarshy bank, had gathered the sand and mud of successive freshets, and\ngave a precarious footing for the pandanus, whose wiry roots bound all in\none compact mass. Then some flood had torn that mass away, and the\npandanus still waving its long, bayonet-like leaves, convolvuli still\nclimbing and blooming, and birds still nesting trustfully, the floating\nisland glided past native eyes down the stream, out over the bar, and on\ntoward the horizon of broad ocean. What beyond? Native superstition said\nthat at the bottom of the 'great sea' was 'whiteman's land'; that thither\nsome of their own departed friends found their happy future, exchanging a\ndusky skin for a white one; that there white man's magic skill at will\ncreated the beads, and cloth, and endless wealth that came from that\nunknown land in ships, in whose masts and rigging and sails were\nrecognized the transformed trees and vines and leaves of those floating\nislands. When on the 12th of July, 1866, a few with bated breath came to\nlook on my little new-born Paull, the only white child most of the\ncommunity had seen, and the first born in that Benita region, the old\npeople said, 'Now our hopes are dead. Dying, we had hoped to become like\nyou; but verily ye are born as we.'\"\n\nNot long after I had arrived at Corisco Island in 1861 I observed among\nthe many people who came to see the new missionary one man who quietly and\nunobtrusively but very steadily was gazing at me. After a while he\nmustered courage and addressed me: \"Are you not my brother,--my brother\nwho died at such a time, and went to White Man's Land?\" I was at that time\nnew to the superstitions of the country; his meaning had to be explained\nto me. His thought of relationship was not an impossible one, for many of\nthe Bantu Negroes have somewhat Caucasian-like features. I have often seen\nmen and women at the sight of whom I was surprised, and I would remark to\na fellow-missionary: \"How much this person reminds me of So-and-so in\nAmerica!\" This recognition of resemblance of features to white persons\nliving in America was the third step in my acquaintance with native faces.\nAt first, all Negro faces looked alike. Presently I learned differences;\nand when I had reached the third step, I felt that my acquaintance with\nAfrican features was complete.\n\n\nIII. LOCALITY.\n\nThe locality of these spirits is not only vaguely in the surrounding air;\nthey are also localized in prominent natural objects,--caves, enormous\nrocks, hollow trees, dark forests,--in this respect reminding one of\nclassic fauns and dryads. While all have the ability to move from place to\nplace, some especially belong to certain localities which are spoken of as\nhaving, as the case might be, \"good\" or \"bad\" spirits. It is possible for\na human soul (as already mentioned in this chapter) to inhabit the body of\na beast. A man whose plantation was being devastated near Benita by an\nelephant told me, in 1867, he did not dare to shoot it, because the spirit\nof his lately deceased father had passed into it. Also a common\nobjurgation of an obstreperous child or animal is, \"O na nyemba!\" (Thou\nhast a witch.)\n\nTheir habitats may be either natural or acquired. Natural ones are, for\nthe spirits of the dead, in a very special sense, the villages where they\nhad dwelt during the lifetime of the body; but the presence of the spirits\nof the dead is not desired. It is one of the pitiable effects of African\nsuperstition that its subjects look with fear and dread on what the\ndenizens of civilization look with love and tender regret. We in our\nChristian civilization cling to the lifeless forms of our dead; and when\nnecessity compels us to bury them from our sight, we bid memory call up\nevery lineament of face and tone of voice, and are pleased to think that\nsometimes they are near us. But it is a frequent native practice that on\nthe occasion of a death, even while a portion of the family are wailing\nand to all appearances passionately mourning the loss of their relative,\nothers are firing guns, blowing trumpets, beating drums, shouting and\nyelling, in order to drive away from the village the recently disembodied\nspirit. On consideration, it can be seen that these two diverse\ndemonstrations are sincere, consistent, and, to the natives, reasonable.\nWith natural affection they mourn the absence of a tangible _person_ who,\nas a member of their family, was helpful and even kind; while they fear\nthe independent existence of the invisible thing, whose union with the\nphysical body they fail to recognize as having been a factor in that\nhelpfulness and kindness. This departed spirit, joining the company of\nother departed spirits, will indeed become an object of worship,--a\nworship of principally a deprecatory nature; but its continued presence\nand immediate contact with its former routine are not desired. In\nMashonaland the native fears death by accident or human enmity. \"But a\ngreater dread than this is of a visitation of evil by the spirit of a\ndeparted friend or relative whom he may have slighted while living.\"\n\nA village in Nazareth Bay, the embouchure of one of the mouths of the\nOgowe River, is called \"Abun-awiri\" (\"awiri,\" plural of \"ombwiri,\" a\ncertain class of spirits, and \"abuna,\" abundance).\n\nLarge, prominent trees are inhabited by spirits. Many trees in the\nequatorial West African forest throw out from their trunks, at from ten to\nsixteen feet from the ground, solid buttresses continuous with the body of\nthe tree itself, only a few inches in thickness, but in width at the base\nof the tree from four to six feet. These buttresses are projected toward\nseveral opposite points of the compass, as if to resist the force of\nsudden wind-storms. They are a noticeable forest feature and are commonly\nseen in the silk-cotton trees. The recesses between them are actually used\nas lairs by small wild animals. They are supposedly also a favorite home\nof the spirits.\n\nCaverns and large rocks have their special spirit inhabitants. At Gabun,\nand also on Corisco Island, geological breaks in the horizontal strata of\nrock were filled by narrow vertical strata of limestone, between which\nwater action has worn away the softer rock, leaving the limestone walls\nisolated, with a narrow ravine between them. These ravines were formerly\nreverenced as the abodes of spirits.\n\nWhen I made a tour in 1882, surveying for a second Ogowe Station, I came\nsome seventy miles up river from my well-established first station,\nK\u00e2ngwe, at Lambarene, to an enormous rock, a granite boulder, lying in the\nbed of the river. The adjacent hillsides on either bank of the river were\nalmost impassable, being covered with boulders of all sizes, and a heavy\nforest growing in among and even on them. This great rock had evidently in\nthe long past become detached by torrential streams that scored the\nmountainside in the heavy rainy season and had plunged to its present\nposition. The swift river current swirled and dashed against the huge\nobstruction to navigation, making the ascent of the river at that point\nparticularly difficult. Superstition suggested that the spirits of the\nrock did not wish boats or canoes to pass their abode. Nevertheless,\nnecessities of trade compelled; and crews in passing made an ejaculatory\nprayer, or doffed their head coverings, in respect, but with the fear that\nthe \"ascent\" in that part of the journey might be for \"woe,\" whence they\ncalled the rock \"Itala-ja-maguga,\" which, contracted to \"Talaguga,\" I gave\nas a name to my new station, erected in 1882 in the vicinity of the rock.\nDuring my eight subsequent years at the station I did, indeed, meet with\nsome \"woe,\" but also much weal. And the missionary work of Talaguga,\ncarried on since 1892 by the hands of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00c9vangelique de Paris,\nhas met with signal success.\n\nCapes, promontories, and other prominent points of land are favorite\ndwelling-places of the spirits. The Ogowe River, some one hundred and\nforty miles from its mouth, receives on its left bank a large affluent,\nthe Ngunye, coming from the south. The low point of land at the junction\nof the two rivers was sacred. The riverine tribes themselves would pass it\nin canoes, respectfully removing their head coverings; but passage was\nforbidden to coast tribes and other foreigners. Portuguese slave-traders\nmight come to the point; but, stopping there, they could trade beyond only\nthrough the hands of the local tribe (evidently superstition had been\ninvoked to protect a trade monopoly). A certain trader, Mr. R. B. N.\nWalker, agent for the English firm of Hatton & Cookson, headquarters at\nLibreville, Gabun, in extending his commercial interests some forty years\nago, made an overland journey from the Gabun River, emerging on the Ogowe,\non its right bank, _above_ that sacred point. Ranoke, chief of the Inenga\ntribe, a few miles below, seized him, his porters, and his goods, and kept\nthem prisoners for several months. Mr. Walker succeeded in bribing a\nnative to carry a letter to the French Commandant at Libreville, who was\npleased to send a gunboat to the rescue. Incidentally it furnished a good\nopportunity to demonstrate France's somewhat shadowy claim to the Ogowe.\nAfter the rescue a company from the gunboat proceeded to the Point and\nlunched there, thus effectually desecrating it. Mr. Walker made peace with\nhis late captor, and established a trading-station at the Inenga village,\nLambarene. For years afterward, natives still looked upon that Point with\nrespect. My own crew in 1874 sometimes doffed their hats; but before I\nleft the Ogowe in 1891, a younger generation had grown up that was willing\nto camp and eat and sleep there with me, on my boat journeys.\n\nGraveyards, of course, are homes of spirits, and therefore are much\ndreaded. The tribes, especially of the interior, differ very much as to\nburial customs. Some bury only their chiefs and other prominent men,\ncasting away corpses of slaves or of the poor into the rivers, or out on\nthe open ground, perhaps covering them with a bundle of sticks; even when\ngraves are dug they are shallow. Some tribes fearlessly bury their dead\nunder the clay floors of their houses, or a few yards distant in the\nkitchen-garden generally adjoining. But, by most tribes who do bury at\nall, there are chosen as cemeteries dark, tangled stretches of forest,\nalong river banks on ground that is apt to be inundated or whose soil is\nnot good for plantation purposes. I had often observed, in my earlier\nAfrican years, such stretches of forest along the river, and wondered why\nthe people did not use them for cultivation, being conveniently near to\nsome village, while they would go a much longer distance to make their\nplantations. The explanation was that these were graveyards. Such\nstretches would extend sometimes for a mile or two. Often my hungry meal\nhour on a journey happened to coincide with our passing just such a piece\nof forest, and the crew would refuse to stop, keeping themselves and\nmyself hungry till we could arrive at more open forest.\n\nIn Eastern Africa it is believed that \"the dead in their turn become\nspirits under the all-embracing name of Musimo. The Wanyamwezi hold their\nMusimo in great dread and veneration, as well as the house, hut, or place\nwhere their body has died.\"[24]\n\nBeyond the regularly recognized habitats of the spirits that may be called\n\"natural\" to them, any other location may be _acquired_ by them\ntemporarily, for longer or shorter periods, under the power of the\nincantations of the native doctor (uganga). By his magic arts any spirit\nmay be localized in any object whatever, however small or insignificant;\nand, while thus limited, is under the control of the doctor and\nsubservient to the wishes of the possessor or wearer of the material\nobject in which it is thus confined. This constitutes a \"fetich,\" which\nwill be more fully discussed in another chapter.\n\n\nIV. CHARACTERISTICS.\n\nThe characteristics of these spirits are much the same as those they\npossessed before they were disembodied. They have most of the evil human\npassions, _e. g._, anger and revenge, and therefore may be malevolent. But\nthey possess also the good feelings of generosity and gratitude; they are\ntherefore within reach of influence, and may be benevolent. Their possible\nmalevolence is to be deprecated, their anger placated, their aid enlisted.\n\nIllustration of malevolence in their character has already been seen in\nthe dread connected with deaths and funerals. The similar dread of\ngraveyards in our civilized countries may rest on the fear inspired by\nwhat is mysterious or by those who have passed to the unknown, simply\nbecause it and they are unknown. But, to superstitious Africa, that\nunknown is a certainty, in that it is a source of evil; the spirit of the\ndeparted has all the capacity for evil it possessed while embodied, with\nthe additional capacity that its exemption from some of the limitations of\ntime and space increases its facilities for action. Being unseen, it can\nact at immensely greater advantage for accomplishing a given purpose.\nNatives dying have gone into the other world retaining an acute memory of\nsome wrong inflicted on them by fellow-villagers, and have openly said,\n\"From that other world I will come back and avenge myself on you!\"\n\nIn any contest of a human being against these spirits of evil he knows\nalways that whatever influence he may obtain over them by the doctor's\nmagic aid, or whatever limitations may thus be put on them, they can\nnever, as in the case of a human enemy, be killed. The spirits can never\ndie.\n\nSometimes the word \"dead\" is used of a fetich amulet that has been\ninhabited by a spirit conjured into it by a native doctor. The phrase does\nnot mean that its spirit is actually dead, but that it has fled from\ninside of the fetich, and still lives elsewhere. Then the native doctor,\nto explain to his patient or client the inefficacy of the charm, says that\nthe cause of the spirit's escape and flight is that the wearer has failed\nto observe all the directions which had been given, and the spirit was\ndispleased. The dead amulet is, nevertheless, available for sale to the\ncurio-hunting foreigner.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nSPIRITUAL BEINGS IN AFRICA--THEIR CLASSES AND FUNCTIONS\n\n\nInequalities among the spirits themselves, though they are so great,\nindicate no more than simple differentiations of character or work. Yet so\nradical are these varieties, and so distinct the names applied to them,\nthat I am compelled to recognize a division into classes.\n\n\nCLASSES AND FUNCTIONS.\n\n1. _Inina, or Ilina._ A human embodied soul is spoken of and fully\nbelieved in by all the tribes. It is known in the Mpongwe tribes of the\nGabun country as \"inina\" (plural, \"anina\"); in the adjacent Benga tribe,\nas \"ilina\" (plural, \"malina\"); in the great interior Fang tribes, as\n\"nsisim.\"\n\nThis animating soul, whether it be only one, or whether it appear in two,\nthree, or even four forms, is practically the same, that talks, hears, and\nfeels, that sometimes goes out of the body in a dream, and that exists as\na spirit after the death of the body. That it has its own especial\nmateriality seems to be indicated by the fact that in the Fang, Bakele,\nand other tribes the same word \"nsisim\" means not only soul but also\nshadow. The shadow of a tree or any other inanimate object and of the\nhuman body as cast by the sun is \"nsisim.\"\n\nIn my first explorations up the Ogowe River, in 1874, as in my village\npreaching I necessarily and constantly spoke of our soul, its sins, its\ncapacity for suffering or happiness, and its relation to its divine Maker,\nI was often at a loss how to make my thoughtless audience understand or\nappreciate that the nsisim of which I was speaking was not the nsisim cast\nby the sun as a darkish line on the ground near their bodies. Even to\nthose who understood me, it was not an impossible thought that that dark\nnarrow belt on the ground was in some way a part of, or a mode of\nmanifestation of, that other thing, the nsisim, which they admitted was\nthe source of the body's animation. So far defined was that thought with\nsome of them that they said it was a possible thing for a human being to\nhave his nsisim stolen or otherwise lost, and still exist in a diseased\nand dying state; in which case his body would not cast a shadow. Von\nChamisso's story of Peter Schlemehl, \"the man who lost his shadow,\" in\nactuality!\n\nSo few are the special activities by which to distinguish anina from other\nclasses of spirits, that I might doubt whether they should properly be\nconsidered as distinct, were it not true that the anina are all of them\nembodied spirits; none of them are of other origin. As disembodied\nspirits, retaining memory of their former human relationships, they have\nan interest in human affairs, and especially in the affairs of the family\nof which they were lately members.\n\n2. _Ibambo_ (Mpongwe; plural, \"abambo\"). There are vague beings, \"abambo,\"\nwhich may well be described by our word \"ghosts.\" Where they come from is\nnot certainly known, or what locality they inhabit, except that they\nbelong to the world of spirits. Why they become visible is also unknown.\nThey are not called for, they are only occasionally worshipped; their\nepiphany is dreaded, not reverenced.\n\n\"The term 'abambo' is in the plural form, and may therefore be regarded as\nforming a class of spirits instead of a single individual. They are the\nspirits of dead men; but whether they are positively good or positively\nevil, to be loved or to be hated, or to be courted or avoided, are points\nwhich no native of the country can answer satisfactorily. Abambo are the\nspirits of the ancestors of the people of a tribe or race, as\ndistinguished from the spirits of strangers. These are the spirits with\nwhich men are possessed, and there is no end to the ceremonies used to\ndeliver them from their power.\"[25]\n\nThe ibambo may appear anywhere and at any time and to anybody, but it has\nno message. It rarely speaks. Its most common effect on human lives is to\nfrighten. It flits; it does not remain in one spot, to speak or to be\nspoken to. Indistinctly seen, its appearances are reported as occurring\nmostly in dark places, in shadows, in twilight, and on dark nights. The\nmost common apparitions are on lonely paths in the forest by night.\n\nTo all intents and purposes these abambo are what superstitious fears in\nour civilization call \"ghosts.\" The timid dweller in civilization can no\nmore tell us what that ghost is than can the ignorant African. It is as\ndifficult in the one case as in the other to argue against the unreal and\nunknown. What the frightened eye or ear believes it saw or heard, it\npersists in believing against all proof. Nor will ridicule make the belief\nless strong. However, the intelligent child in civilization, under the\nhand of a judicious parent or other friend, and relying on love as an\nexpounder, can be led to understand by daylight, that the white bark of a\ntree trunk shimmering in uncertain moonlight, or a white garment flapping\nin the wind, or a white animal grazing in the meadow, was the ghost whose\nwaving form had scared him the night before. His superstition is not so\ningrained by daily exercise but that reason and love can divest him of it.\nBut to the denizen of Fetich-land superstition is religion; the night\nterror which he is sure he saw is too real a thing in his life to be\nidentified by day as only a harmless white-barked tree or quartz rock.\n\n3. A third class of spirits is represented by the name _Ombwiri_. The\n\"ombwiri\" (Mpongwe; plural, \"awiri\") is certainly somewhat local, and in\nthis respect might be regarded as akin to the ancient fauns and dryads,\nwith a suggestion of a likeness to the spirits resident in the dense oak\ngroves and the massive stones of the Druid Circle. But the awiri are more\nthan dryads. They are not confined to their local rock, tree, bold\npromontory, or point of land, trespass on which by human beings they\nresent. The traveller must go by silently, or with some cabalistic\ninvocation, with bowed or bared head, and with some offering,--anything,\neven a pebble. On the beach, as I bend to pass beneath an enormous tree\nfallen across the pathway, I observe the upper side of the log covered\nwith votive offerings,--pebbles, shells, leaves, etc.,--laid there by\ntravellers as they stooped to pass under. Such votive collections may be\nseen on many spots along the forest paths, deposited there by the natives\nas an invocation of a blessing on their journey.\n\n\"The derivation of the word 'Ombwiri' is not known. As it is used in the\nplural as well as in the singular form, it no doubt represents a class or\nfamily of spirits. He is regarded as a tutelar or guardian spirit. Almost\nevery man has his own ombwiri, for which he provides a small house near\nhis own. All the harm that he has escaped in this world, and all the good\nsecured, are ascribed to the kindly offices of this guardian spirit.\nOmbwiri is also regarded as the author of everything in the world which is\nmarvellous or mysterious. Any remarkable feature in the physical aspect of\nthe country, any notable phenomenon in the heavens, or extraordinary\nevents in the affairs of men are ascribed to Ombwiri. His favorite places\nof abode are the summits of high mountains, deep caverns, large rocks, and\nthe base of very large forest trees. And while the people attach no\nmalignity to his character, they carefully guard against all unnecessary\nfamiliarity in their intercourse with him, and never pass a place where he\nis supposed to dwell except in silence. He is the only one of all the\nspirits recognized by the people that has no priesthood; his intercourse\nwith men being direct and immediate.\"[26]\n\nThese spirits are sometimes spoken of with the nkinda and ol\u00e2g\u00e2 (Mpongwe;\nplural, \"il\u00e2g\u00e2\"). They all come from the spirits of the dead. These\nseveral names indicate a difference as to kind or class of spirit, and a\ndifference in the work or functions they are called upon to exercise. The\nil\u00e2g\u00e2 are spirits of strangers, and have come from a distance.\n\nWhile the ombwiri is indeed feared, it is with a respectful reverence,\ndifferent from the dread of an ibambo. Ombwiri is fine and admirable in\naspect, but is very rarely seen; it is white, like a white person. Souls\nof distinguished chiefs and other great men turn to awiri. The fear with\nwhich the native regards massive rocks and large trees--the ombwiri\nhomes--need not be felt by white people, who are themselves considered\nawiri, without its being clearly understood whether their bodies are\ninhabited by the departed spirits of the Negro dead, or whether some came\nfrom other sources.\n\nThe awiri are generally favorably disposed, especially to their former\nhuman relatives; but it is necessary to gratify them with religious\nservices constituting an ancestral worship. While some of them reside in\ngreat rocks or trees, others dwell in rivers, lakes, and seas.\n\nAwiri, if they love a person and desire to favor him or her, have the\nspecial power to grant a gift desired by most Africans, _viz._, the birth\nof children. The awiri live mostly in the region of their own former human\ntribe. It is possible, however, for them to go everywhere; but they\nusually remain within their old tribal limits. If, however, a tribe should\nremove or become extinct, their awiri would still remain in that region,\nand would affiliate with the new people who might come to occupy the\ndeserted village sites.\n\nAwiri have a period of inactivity, the cold dry season of four months (in\nwestern Equatorial Africa), May to September. At that time they become\nvery small, inactive, and almost lifeless (a condition of hibernation,\nsomewhat like that of bears; or of inertia, as when a snake casts its\nskin?).\n\n4. There is another class of spirits called _Sinkinda_ (singular,\n\"nkinda\"), some of whom are the spirits of people who in the ordinary\nstations of life were \"common,\" or not distinguished for greatness or\ngoodness. Others of these sinkinda are of uncertain origin, perhaps demons\nwhom Njambi had created, but to whom He had never given bodily existence.\n\nAlmost all sinkinda are evilly disposed. They come to the villages on\nvisits to warm themselves by the kitchen fires or out of curiosity to see\nwhat is going on, and sometimes, temporarily, to enter into the bodies of\nthe living, especially of their own family. The entrance of a nkinda into\na human body always sickens the person. It may enter any one, even a\nchild. If many of them enter a man's body, he becomes crazy.\n\nSometimes the nkinda, when asked who he is, says: \"I am a spirit of a\nmember of your own family, and I have come to live with you. I am tired of\nliving in the forest with cold and hunger. I wish to stay with you.\"\n\nOften when people are sick with fever or cold, the diagnosis is made that\nsome nkinda has come on a visit. If it is of the same family as those whom\nit is visiting, it comes and goes from time to time, to please itself; but\nit is never, like an uvengwa, visible.\n\nSometimes these sinkinda are called \"iv\u00e2vi\" (sing. \"ov\u00e2vi,\" messenger).\nThey come from far and bring news, _e. g._, \"An epidemic of disease is\ncoming,\" or \"A ship is coming with wealth.\" Sometimes the news thus\nbrought proves true. (Is this our modern spiritualism?) In such cases the\ncoming of the nkinda is regarded as a blessing, in that it warns the\nliving of evil or brings them wealth. The information is always carried by\nthe mouth of some living member of the family. If these sinkinda are asked\nby a non-possessed member of the family, \"Where do you live?\" the reply\nis, \"Nowhere in particular. But at evenings we gather about your town, to\nsee you and join in your dances and songs. We see you, though you do not\nsee us.\"\n\n5. _Mondi._ There are beings, \"myondi\" (Benga; singular, \"mondi\"), who are\nagents in causing sickness or in either aiding or hindering human plans.\nThese spirits are much the same as those of the fourth class, except that\nin power they seem to be more independent than other spirits. But they are\nnot always simply passive in the hands of the doctor; they are often\nactive on their own account, or at their own pleasure, generally to\ninjure. They are worshipped almost always in a deprecatory way. They often\ntake violent possession of human bodies; and for their expulsion it is\nthat il\u00e2g\u00e2, sinkinda, and awiri are invoked. They are invoked especially\nat the new moons, but also at other times, particularly in sickness. The\nnative oganga decides whether or no they be myondi that are afflicting the\npatient. When the diagnosis has been made, and myondi declared to be\npresent in the patient's body, the indication is that they are to be\nexorcised.\n\nA slight doubt must be admitted in regard to these myondi, whether they\nreally do constitute a distinct class, or whether any spirit of any class\nmay not become a myondi. The name in that case would be given them, not as\na class, but as producers of certain effects, at certain times and under\ncertain circumstances.\n\nThe powers and functions of the several classes of spirits do not seem to\nbe distinctly defined. Certainly they do not confine themselves either to\ntheir recognized locality or to the usually understood function pertaining\nto their class. These powers and functions shade into each other, or may\nbe assumed by members of almost any class. But it is clearly believed that\nspirits, even of the same class, differ in power. Some are strong, others\nare weak. They are limited as to the nature of their powers; no spirit can\ndo all things. A spirit's efficiency runs only on a certain line or lines.\nAll of them can be influenced and made subservient to human wishes by a\nvariety of incantations.\n\nThere are other names which, while they belong to spirits, apparently\nindicate only peculiarities in spiritual manifestations, and not\nrepresentatives of a class.\n\n1. There may enter into any animal's body (generally a leopard's) some\nspirit, or, temporarily, even the soul of a living human being. The animal\nthen, guided by human intelligence and will, exercises its strength for\nthe purposes of the temporary human possessor. Many murders are said to be\ncommitted in this way, after the manner of the mythical German wehr-wolf\nor the French loup-garou.\n\nThis belief in demoniacal possession of a lower animal must not be\nconfounded with the equally believed transmigration of souls. The former\nis widespread over at least a third of the African continent. In\nMashona-land \"they believe that at times both living and dead persons can\nchange themselves into animals, either to execute some vengeance, or to\nprocure something they wish for; thus, a man will change himself into a\nhyena or a lion to steal a sheep and make a good meal off it; into a\nserpent to avenge himself on some enemy. At other times, if they see a\nserpent, it is one of the Matotela tribe or slave tribe, which has thus\ntransformed himself to take some vengeance on the Barotse.\"[27]\n\n2. Another manifestation is that of the uvengwa. It is claimed to be not\nsimply spiritual, but tangible. It is the self-resurrected spirit and body\nof a dead human being. It is an object of dread, and is never worshipped\nin any manner whatever. Why it appears is not known. Perhaps it shows\nitself only in a restless, unquiet, or dissatisfied feeling. It is white\nin color, but the body is variously changed from the likeness of the\noriginal human body. Some say that it has only one eye, placed in the\ncentre of the forehead. Some say that its feet are webbed like an aquatic\nbird. It does not speak; it only wanders, looking as if with curiosity.\n\nMy little cottage at Batanga is a mile and a half from the three chief\ndwellings of the station. One afternoon in 1902 I went to the station,\nleaving my cook and his wife in charge of the cottage. When I returned\nlate at night, he asserted that an uvengwa had come there. A few yards in\nfront of the door of the house is a mango tree with its very dense dark\nfoliage. The trunk is divided a few feet from the ground. The light from\nthe open door streamed into a part of the front yard, leaving the tree\ntrunk in dark shadow. The woman going out of the door had started back,\nscreaming to her husband that she saw an uvengwa standing in the crotch of\nthe tree and peering around one of the branches. The husband went to the\ndoor. He asserted to me that he also had seen the form. In their terror,\nneither of them made any investigation. Possibly a chalk-whitened thief\nhad taken advantage of my absence to prowl about. But the two witnesses\nrejected such a suggestion; they were sure it was a visitor from some\ngrave.\n\n3. Other spiritual manifestations are spoken of as the personal\nguardian-spirit and the family guardian-spirit. These do not constitute a\nseparate class, but are the special modes of operation adopted by the\nancestral spirit or spirits in the protection of their family. Its\ndescription belongs properly to a later chapter under the name of the\nFamily Y\u00e2k\u00e2 fetich.\n\nThe manner of invocation of all these five classes of spirits, in the case\nof obscure diseases, is very much the same now as what Dr. Wilson\ndescribed fifty years ago. What he saw on the Gabun River tallies with\nwhat I also saw thirty years ago at Benita, and subsequently in the Ogowe.\nEven at Gabun, in the present day, though the Mpongwe have been\nenlightened, the same ceremonies are kept up by other tribes, the Shekani\nand Fang, who have emerged on the coast at Libreville.\n\n\"Sick persons, and especially those that are afflicted with nervous\ndisorders, are supposed to be possessed by one or the other of these\nspirits. If the disease assumes a serious form, the patient is taken to a\npriest or a priestess, of either of these classes of spirits. Certain\ntests are applied, and it is soon ascertained to which class the disease\nbelongs, and the patient is accordingly turned over to the proper priest.\nThe ceremonies in the different cases are not materially different; they\nare alike, at least, in the employment of an almost endless round of\nabsurd, unmeaning, and disgusting ceremonies which none but a heathenish\nand ignorant priesthood could invent, and none but a poor, ignorant, and\nsuperstitious people could ever tolerate.\n\n\"In either case a temporary shanty is erected in the middle of the street\nfor the occupancy of the patient, the priest, and such persons as are to\ntake part in the ceremony of exorcism. The time employed in performing the\nceremonies is seldom less than ten or fifteen days. During this period\ndancing, drumming, feasting, and drinking are kept up without intermission\nday and night, and all at the expense of the nearest relative of the\ninvalid. The patient, if a female, is decked out in the most fantastic\ncostume; her face, bosom, arms, and legs are streaked with red and white\nchalk, her head adorned with red feathers, and much of the time she\npromenades the open space in front of the shanty with a sword in her hand,\nwhich she brandishes in a very menacing way against the bystanders. At the\nsame time she assumes as much of the maniac in her looks, actions,\ngestures, and walk as possible. In many cases this is all mere\naffectation, and no one is deceived by it. But there are other cases where\nmotions seem involuntary and entirely beyond the control of the person;\nand when you watch the wild and unnatural stare, the convulsive movements\nof the limbs and body, the unnatural posture into which the whole frame is\noccasionally thrown, the gnashing of the teeth, and foaming at the mouth,\nand supernatural strength that is put forth when any attempt is made at\nconstraint, you are strongly reminded of cases of real possession recorded\nin the New Testament.\n\n\"There is no reason to suppose that any real cures are effected by these\nprolonged ceremonies. In certain nervous affections the excitement is kept\nup until utter exhaustion takes place; and if the patient is kept quiet\nafterwards (which is generally the case), she may be restored to better\nhealth after a while; and, no matter how long it may be before she\nrecovers from this severe tax upon her nerves, the priest claims the\ncredit of it. In other cases the patient may not have been diseased at\nall, and, of course, there was nothing to be recovered from.\n\n\"If it should be a case of undissembled sickness, and the patient become\nworse by this unnatural treatment, she is removed, and the ceremonies are\nsuspended, and it is concluded that it was not a real possession, but\nsomething else. The priests have certain tests by which it is known when\nthe patient is healed, and the whole transaction is wound up when the\nfees are paid. In all cases of this kind it is impossible to say whether\nthe devil has really been cast out or merely a better understanding\narrived at between him and the person he has been tormenting. The\nindividual is required to build a little house or temple for the spirit\nnear his own, to take occasional offerings to him, and pay all due respect\nto his character, or to be subject to renewed assaults at any time.\nCertain restrictions are imposed upon the person who has recovered from\nthese satanic influences. He must refrain from certain kinds of food,\navoid certain places of common resort, and perform certain duties; and,\nfor the neglect of any of these, is sure to be severely scourged by a\nreturn of his malady. Like the Jews, in speaking of the actions of these\ndemoniacs, they are said to be done by the spirit, and not by the person\nwho is possessed. If the person performs any unnatural or revolting\nact,--as the biting off of the head of a live chicken and sucking its\nblood,--it is said that the spirit, not the man, has done it.\n\n\"But the views of the great mass of the people on these subjects are\nexceedingly vague and indefinite. They attend these ceremonies on account\nof the parade and excitement that usually accompany them, but they have no\nknowledge of their origin, their true nature, or of their results. Many\nsubmit to the ceremonies because they are persuaded to do so by their\nfriends, and, no doubt, in many cases in the hope of being freed from some\ntroublesome malady. But as to the meaning of the ceremonies themselves, or\nthe real influence which they exert upon their bodily diseases, they\nprobably have many doubts, and when called upon to give explanation of the\nprocess which they have passed through, they show that they have none but\nthe most confused ideas.\"[28]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nFETICHISM--ITS PHILOSOPHY--A PHYSICAL SALVATION--CHARMS AND AMULETS\n\n\nEven during the while that man was still a monotheist, as seen in a\nprevious chapter, he had eventually come to the use of idols which he did\nnot actually worship, by the making of images simply to _represent_ God;\nhe had not yet become an _idolater_.\n\nSubsequently, in his farther lapse away from God, when he began to render\nworship to beings other than God, fashioned images to represent them also,\nand actually worshipped them, he became a polytheist and an idolater.\n\nWhen he had wandered still farther, and God was no longer worshipped, the\nknowledge of Him being reduced to a name, a multitude of spiritual beings\nwere substituted in place of God, and religion was only animism.\n\nFarther on, when it seemed desirable to provide local residence for these\nspirits, as had been done for God Himself in temples and costly images,\nthe material objects used for that residence were no longer matter of\nvalue and choice; anything and any place was sufficient for a spirit's\nhabitat. Neither dignity, beauty, nor strength was any longer a factor in\nthe selection. For these objects did not represent the deities in any way\nwhatever. They were simply local residences. As such, a spirit could live\nanywhere and in anything. This is bald fetichism. The thing itself, the\nmaterial itself, is not worshipped. The fetich worshipper makes a clear\ndistinction between the reverence with which he regards a certain material\nobject and the worship he renders to the spirit for the time being\ninhabiting it. For this reason nothing is too mean or too small or too\nridiculous to be considered fit for a spirit's _locum tenens_; for when\nfor any reason the spirit is supposed to have gone out of that thing and\ndefinitely abandoned it, the thing itself is no longer reverenced, and is\nthrown away as useless.\n\nThe selection of the article in which the spirit is to reside is made by\nthe native \"uganga\" (doctor), who to the Negro stands in the office of a\npriest. The ground of selection is generally that of mere convenience. The\nability to conjure a free wandering spirit into the narrow limits of a\nsmall material object, and to compel and subordinate its power to the aid\nof some designated person or persons and for a specific purpose, rests\nwith that uganga.\n\nOver the wide range of many articles used in which to confine spirits,\ncommon and favorite things are the skins and especially the tails of\nbush-cats, horns of antelopes, nut-shells, snail-shells, bones of any\nanimal, but especially human bones; and among the bones are specially\nregarded portions of skulls of human beings and teeth and claws of\nleopards. But, literally, anything may be chosen,--any stick, any stone,\nany rag of cloth. Apparently, there being no limit to the number of\nspirits, there is literally no limit to the number and character of the\narticles in which they may be localized.\n\nIt is not true, as is asserted by some in regard to these African tribes\nand their degraded form of religion, that they worship the actual material\nobjects in which the spirits are supposed to be confined. Low as is\nfetichism, it nevertheless has its philosophy, a philosophy that is the\nsame in kind as that of the higher forms of religion. A similar sense of\nneed that sends the Christian to his knees before God to ask aid in time\nof trouble, and salvation temporal and spiritual, sends the fetich\nworshipper to offer his sacrifice and to ejaculate his prayer for help as\nhe lays hold of his consecrated antelope horn, or as he looks on it with\nabiding trust while it is safely tied to his body. His human necessity\ndrives him to seek assistance.\n\nThe difference between his act and the act of the Christian lies in the\nkind of salvation he seeks, the being to whom he appeals, and the reason\nfor his appealing. The reason for his appeal is simply fear; there is no\nconfession, no love, rarely thanksgiving.\n\nThe being to whom he appeals is not God. True, he does not deny that He\nis; if asked, he will acknowledge His existence. But that is all. Very\nrarely and only in extreme emergencies, does he make an appeal to Him; for\nhe thinks God so far off, so inaccessible, so indifferent to human woes\nand wants, that a petition to Him would be almost in vain. He therefore\nturns to some one of the mass of spirits which he believes to be ever near\nand observant of human affairs, in which, as former human beings, some of\nthem once had part.\n\nAs to the character of the salvation sought, it is not spiritual; it is a\npurely physical salvation. A sense of moral and spiritual need is lost\nsight of, although not eliminated. This is an index of the distance the\nNegro has travelled away from Jehovah before he finally reached the\nposition of placing his trust in a fetich. By just so much as he seems to\nhimself living in a world crowded with unseen but powerful spiritual\nbeings (with whom what a Christian calls \"sin\" has no reprehensible moral\nquality), by just so much he seems to have lost sight of his own soul and\nits moral necessities.\n\nThe future is so vague that in the thought of most tribes it contains\nneither heaven nor hell; there is no certain reward or rest for goodness,\nnor positive punishment for badness. The future life is to each native\nlargely a reproduction, on shadowy and intangible lines, of the works and\ninterests and passions of this earthly life. In his present life, with its\nsavagery and oppression and dominance of selfish greed and right of might,\ngoodness has no reward. It is badness which in his personal experience\nmakes the largest gains. From this point of view, while some acts are\nindeed called \"good\" and some \"bad\" (conscience proving its simple\nexistence by the use of these words in the record of language), yet\nconscience is not much troubled by its possessor's badness. There is\nlittle sense of the sinfulness of sin. There is only fear of possible\nhuman injury by human or subsidized spiritual enemies. This is all the\nsalvation that is sought.\n\nIt is sought by prayer; by sacrifice, and by certain other ceremonies\nrendered to the spirit of the fetich or to other non-localized spirits;\nand by the use of charms or amulets.\n\nThese charms may be vocal, ritual, or material.\n\n(1) The vocal are the utterance of cabalistic words deprecatory of evil or\nsupplicatory of favor, which are supposed in a vague way to have power\nover the local spirits. These words or phrases, though sometimes coined by\na person for himself or herself (and therefore like our slang having a\nknown meaning), are often archaisms, handed down from ancestors and\nbelieved to possess efficiency, but whose meaning is forgotten. In this\nlist would be included long incantations by the magic doctors and the\nIb\u00e2t\u00e2-blown blessing.\n\n(2) Certain rites or ceremonies are performed for almost every child at\nsome time during his or her infancy or youth, or subsequently as occasion\nmay demand, in which a prohibition is laid upon the child in regard to the\neating of some particular article of food or the doing of some special\nact. It is difficult to get at the exact object for this \"orunda.\"\nCertainly the prohibited food or act is not in itself evil; for all but\nthe inhibited individual may eat of the food or commit the act as they\nplease. Most natives blindly follow the \"custom\" of their ancestors, and\nare unable to give me the _raison d'\u00eatre_ of the rite itself. But I gather\nfrom the testimony of those best able to give a reason that the prohibited\narticle or act is literally a sacrifice, ordained for the child by its\nparents and the magic doctor, as a gift to the governing spirit of its\nlife. The thing prohibited thus becomes removed from the child's common\nuse and is made sacred to the spirit. It is therefore a sacrament. Any use\nof it by the child will thenceforth be a sacrilege which would draw down\nthe spirit's wrath in the form of sickness or other evil, and which can be\natoned for only through expensive ceremonies and by gifts to the magician\ninterceding for the offender.\n\nAnything may be selected for an orunda. I do not know the ground for a\nselection. Why one child, perhaps a babe too young to have eaten of the\nto-be-prohibited thing, should be debarred forever from eating a chicken,\nor the liver or any other particular part, or any portion at all, of a\ngoat or an ox or any other animal, I do not know. But that orunda is\nthenceforth faithfully complied with, even under pangs of hunger. It is\nlike a Nazarite's vow.\n\nI have a strong suspicion that where the orunda laid on a woman is a\nmatter of meat, superstition has played into the hands of masculine\nselfishness, and denies to women the choice meat in order that men may\nhave the greater share. My suspicion rests on almost positive evidence in\nthe case of some prohibitions to the women of the Bulu and other Fang\ntribes of the interior.\n\nOn a boat journey in the Ogowe River, about 1878, I camped on the edge of\na forest for the noon meal. My crew of four, members of the Galwa and\nNk\u00e2mi tribes, had no meat. They needed it, for they had rowed hard and\nwell. For myself, I had only a small chicken. I was satisfied with a\nportion of it, and gave the rest to the crew. It would make at least a\ntasty morsel for each, with their manioc bread. Three of them thanked me;\nthe fourth did not touch his share. I felt slightly vexed, thinking my\nfavor was not appreciated, and I asked the cause of his apparent\nsullenness. He said he did not dare to eat of the fowl, as it was orunda\nto him.\n\nOn another journey, in 1876, a young man whom I had picked up as extra\nhand in my boat's crew, when at the noon mealtime we stopped under the\nshade of a spreading tree by the river's bank, instead of respectfully\nleaving me alone with my lunch in the boat, and going ashore where the\nothers were eating, wanted to remain in the boat, his orunda being that\nwhen on a journey by water his food should be eaten only over water.\n\nTwo Ogowe chiefs, near whose villages was anchored the small river steamer\n\"Pioneer,\" on which I was passenger, in 1875, came aboard, and in\ndrinking a glass of liquor with the captain, one of them held up a piece\nof white cloth before his mouth, in order that strangers' eyes might not\nsee him swallow. That was his orunda, probably. Perhaps also the hiding of\nhis drinking may have had reference to the common fear of another's \"evil\neye.\"\n\nThe other, having taken a mouthful, wet his finger in his mouth, drew the\nwet finger across his throat, and then blew on a fetich which he wore as a\nring on a finger of the other hand. I do not know the significance of his\nmotion across his throat. The blowing was the Ib\u00e2t\u00e2-blessing,--an\nejaculatory prayer for a blessing on his plans, probably of trade.\n\nThis word \"orunda,\" meaning thus originally _prohibited from_ human use\n(like the South Sea \"taboo\"), grew, under missionary hands, into its\nrelated meaning of _sacred_ to spiritual use. It is the word by which the\nMpongwe Scriptures translate our word \"holy.\" I think it an unfortunate\nchoice; for the missionary has to stop and explain that orunda, as used\nfor God, does not mean the orunda used by mankind. In the translation of\nthe Benga Scriptures the word \"holy\" was transferred bodily, and we\nexplain that it means something better than good. To such straits are\ntranslators sometimes reduced in the use of heathen languages!\n\n(3) The charms that are most common are material, the fetich,--so common,\nindeed, that by the universality of their use, and the prominence given to\nthem everywhere, in houses and on the person, they almost monopolize the\nreligious thought of the Bantu Negro, subordinating other acknowledged\npoints of his theology, dominating his almost entire religious interest,\nand giving the departmental word \"fetich\" such overwhelming regard that it\nhas furnished the name distinctive of the native African religious system,\n_viz._, fetichism. \"Fetich\" is an English word of Portuguese origin. \"It\nis derived from feitico, 'made,' 'artificial' (compare the old English\nfetys, used by Chaucer); and this term, used of the charms and amulets\nworn in the Roman Catholic religion of the period, was applied, by the\nPortuguese sailors of the eighteenth century, to the deities they saw\nworshipped by the Negroes of the West Coast of Africa.\n\n\"De Brosses, a French savant of the last century, brought the word\n'fetichism' into use as a term for the type of religion of the lowest\nraces. The word has given rise to some confusion, having been applied, by\nComte and other writers, to the worship of the heavenly bodies and of the\ngreat features of Nature. It is best to limit it to the worship of such\nnatural objects as are reverenced, not for their own power or excellence,\nbut because they are supposed to be occupied each by a spirit.\"[29]\n\nThe native word on the Liberian coast is \"gree-gree\"; in the Niger Delta,\n\"ju-ju\"; in the Gabun country, \"monda\"; among the cannibal Fang, \"bia\u00f1\";\nand in other tribes the same respective dialectic by which we translate\n\"medicine.\" To a sick native's thought the adjuvant medicinal herb used by\nthe doctor, and its associated efficiency-giving spirit invoked by that\nsame doctor, are inseparable. In the heathen Negro's soul the fetich takes\nthe place, and has the regard, which an idol has with the Hindu and the\nChinese.\n\n\"A fetich, strictly speaking, is little else than a charm or amulet, worn\nabout the person, and set up at some convenient place, for the purpose of\nguarding against some apprehended evil or securing some coveted good.\" In\nthe Anglo-African parlance of the Coast fetiches are called by various\nnames, but all signify the same thing. Fetiches may be made of anything of\nvegetable, animal, or metallic nature, \"and need only to pass through the\nconsecrating hands of a native priest to receive all the supernatural\npowers which they are supposed to possess. It is not always certain that\nthey possess extraordinary powers. They must be tried and give proof of\ntheir efficiency before they can be implicitly trusted.\"[30]\n\nA fetich, then, is any material object consecrated by the \"oganga,\" or\nmagic doctor, with a variety of ceremonies and processes, by virtue of\nwhich some spirit becomes localized in that object, and subject to the\nwill of the possessor.\n\nAnything that can be conveniently carried on the person may thus be\nconsecrated,--a stone, chip, rag, string, or bead. Articles most\nfrequently used are snail-shells, nut-shells, and small horns of gazelles\nor goats. These are used probably because of their convenient cavities;\nfor they are to be filled by the oganga with a variety of substances\ndepending, in their selection, on the special work to be accomplished by\nthe fetich. Its value, however, depends not on itself, nor solely on the\ncharacter of these substances, but on the skill of the oganga in dealing\nwith spirits.\n\nThere is a relation between these selected substances and the object to be\nobtained by the fetich which is to be prepared of them,--for example, to\ngive the possessor bravery or strength, some part of a leopard or an\nelephant; to give cunning, some part of a gazelle; to give wisdom, some\npart of a human brain; to give courage, some part of a heart; to give\ninfluence, some part of an eye; and so on for a multitude of qualities.\nThese substances are supposed to lure some spirit (being in some way\npleasing to it), which thenceforward is satisfied to reside in them and to\naid the possessor in the accomplishment of some one specific wish.\n\nIn preparing a fetich the oganga selects substances such as he deems\nappropriate to the end in view,--the ashes of certain medicinal plants,\npieces of calcined bones, gums, spices, resins, and even filth, portions\nof organs of the bodies of animals, and especially of human beings\n(preferably eyes, brain, heart, and gall-bladder), particularly of\nancestors, or men strong or renowned in any way, and very especially of\nenemies and of white men. Human eyeballs (particularly of a white person)\nare a great prize. New-made graves have been rifled for them.\n\nThese are compounded in secret, with the accompaniment of drums, dancing,\ninvocations, looking into mirrors or limpid water to see faces (human or\nspiritual, as may be desired), and are stuffed into the hollow of the\nshell or bone, or smeared over the stick or stone.\n\nIf it be desired to obtain power over some one else, the oganga must be\ngiven by the applicant, to be mixed in the sacred compound, either crumbs\nfrom the food, or clippings of finger nails or hair, or (most powerful!)\neven a drop of blood of the person over whom influence is sought. These\nrepresent the life or body of that person. So fearful are natives of power\nbeing thus obtained over them, that they have their hair cut only by a\nfriend; and even then they carefully burn it or cast it into a river. If\none accidentally cuts himself, he stamps out what blood has dropped on the\nground, or cuts out from wood the part saturated with blood.\n\nSitting one day by a village boat-landing in the Benita region, about\n1866, while my crew prepared for our journey, I was idly plucking at my\nbeard, and carelessly flung away a few hairs. Presently I observed that\nsome children gathered them up. Asking my Christian assistant what that\nmeant, he told me: \"They will have a fetich made with those hairs; when\nnext you visit this village, they will ask you for some favor, and you\nwill grant it, by the power they will thus have obtained over you.\"\n\nThe water with which a lover's body (male or female) is washed, is used in\nmaking a philter to be mingled secretly in the drink of the loved one.\n\nWhile, as I have already stated, it is true that anything portable may be\nused either as the receptacle in which the spirit is to be located or as\nthe substance or \"medicine\" to be inserted in it, I wish to insist that in\nthe philosophy of fetich there is always a reason in the selection of all\nthese articles,--a reason which it is often difficult for a foreigner to\ndiscover,--an apparent fitness for the end in view.\n\nArnot[31] refers to this: \"Africans believe largely in preventive\nmeasures, and their fetich charms are chiefly of that order. In passing\nthrough a country where leopards and lions abound, they carefully provide\nthemselves with the claws, teeth, lips, and whiskers of those animals, and\nhang them around their necks, to secure themselves against being attacked.\nFor the same purpose the point of an elephant trunk is generally worn by\nelephant hunters. The bones from the legs of tortoises are much valued as\nanklets, in order to give the wearers endurance, reminding one of the\nfable of the tortoise. The lower jaw-bone of the tortoise is worn by\ncertain tribes as a preventive against toothache. The spine bones of\nserpents are strung together with a girdle as a cure for back-ache.\"\n\nA recent visitor to the Gabun country, in the \"Journal of the African\nSociety,\" makes this criticism: \"When a white man or woman wears some\ntrinket strung about them, they call it an amulet or charm. They ascribe\nto it some virtue, and regard it as a sacred (?) thing; but when an\nAfrican native wears one, white men call it 'fetich,' and the wearer a\nsavage or heathen.\" This defence of the Negro is gratifying, but the\ncriticism of the white man is not quite just. There is this radical\ndifference: to the African the \"fetich\" is his all, his entire hope for\nhis physical salvation; he does not reckon on God at all. The civilized\nman or woman with a \"mascot\" is very foolish in his or her belief in luck,\nbut their mascots never entirely take God's place.\n\nI met at Gabun about 1895 the same criticism from the mouth of a partly\neducated Sierra Leone Negro, who, though a professing Christian, evidently\nwas wearing Christianity hypocritically. His well-educated Mpongwe wife\nwas a member of my church. It was discovered that she had a certain fetich\nsuspended in her bedroom. It was necessary to summon her before the church\nsession; she explained that it was not hers, but her husband's, and\ndisclaimed belief in it. She was rebuked for allowing it in her room. The\nhusband, hearing of the rebuke, wrote me an angry letter justifying his\nfetich. He said in substance:\n\n\"You white people don't know anything about black man's 'fashions.' You\nsay you trust God for everything, but in your own country you put up an\niron rod over your houses to protect yourselves from death by lightning;\nand you trust in it the while that you still believe in God; and you call\nit 'electricity' and civilization. And you say it's all right. I call this\nthing of mine--this charm--'medicine'; and I hung it over my wife's bed to\nkeep away death by the arts of those who hate her; and I trust in it while\nstill believing in God. And you think me a heathen!\" It was explained to\nhim that in the use of the lightning-rod white men reverently recognized\nGod in His own natural forces, but that his fetich dishonored God, ignored\nHim, and was a distinct recognition of a supposed power that was claimed\nto be able to act independently of God; that I trusted to the\nlightning-rod under God, while he trusted to his fetich outside of God.\n\nFor every human passion or desire of every part of our nature, for our\nthousand necessities or wishes, a fetich can be made, its operation being\ndirected to the attainment of one specified wish, and limited in power\nonly by the possible existence of some more powerful antagonizing spirit.\n\nThis, hung on the plantation fence or from the branches of plants in the\ngarden, is either to prevent theft or to sicken the thief; hung over the\ndoorway of the house, to bar the entrance of evil; hung from the bow of\nthe canoe, to insure a successful voyage; worn on the arm in hunting, to\nassure an accurate aim; worn on any part of one's person, to give success\nin loving, hating, planting, fishing, buying, and so forth, through the\nwhole range of daily work and interests.\n\nSome kinds, worn on a bracelet or necklace, are to ward off sickness. The\nnew-born infant has a health-knot tied about its neck, wrist, or loins.\nDown to the day of oldest age, every one keeps on multiplying or renewing\nor altering these life talismans.\n\nIf of the charge at Balaklava it was said, \"This is magnificent, but it is\nnot war,\" I may say of these heathen, \"Such faith is magnificent, though\nit be folly.\" The hunter going out, certain of success, returns\nempty-handed; the warrior bearing on his breast a fetich panoply, which he\nis confident will turn aside a bullet, comes back wounded; every one is\nsome day foiled in his cherished plan. Do they lose their faith? No, not\nin the system,--their fetichism; but in the special material object of\ntheir faith--their fetich--they do. Going to the oganga whom they had paid\nfor concocting that now disappointing amulet, they tell him of its\nfailure. He readily replies: \"Yes, I know. You have an enemy who possesses\na fetich containing a spirit more powerful than yours, which made your\nbullet miss its mark, which caused your opponent's spear to wound you.\nYours is no longer of use; it's dead. Come, pay me, and I will make you a\ncharm containing a spirit still more powerful.\"\n\nThe old fetich hitherto jealously guarded, and which would not have been\nsold for any consideration, is now thrown away or sold to the foreign\ncurio-hunter.\n\nA native heathen Akele chief, Kasa, my friend and host in the Ogowe, in\n1874, showed me a string of shells, bones, horns, wild-cat tails, and so\nforth, each with its magic compound, which he said could turn aside\nbullets. In a friendly way he dared me to fire at him with my\nsixteen-repeater Winchester rifle. I did not believe he meant it; but, on\nhis taking his stand a few paces distant, he did not quail under my steady\naim, nor even at the click of the trigger. I, of course, desisted,\napparently worsted. Two years later, Kasa was charged by an elephant he\nhad wounded, and was pierced by its tusks. His attendants drove off the\nbeast; the fearfully lacerated man survived long enough to accuse twelve\nof his women and other slaves of having bewitched his gun, and thus\ncausing it only to wound instead of killing the elephant. On that charge\nfour of the accused were put to death.\n\nBoth men and women may become aganga on voluntary choice, and after a\ncourse of instruction by an oganga.\n\n\"There is generally a special person in a tribe who knows these things,\nand is able to work them. He has more power over spirits than other men\nhave, and is able to make them do what he likes. He can heal sickness, he\ncan foretell the future, he can change a thing into something else, or a\nman into a lower animal, or a tree, or anything; he can also assume such\ntransformations himself at will. He uses means to bring about such\nresults; he knows about herbs, he has also recourse to rubbing, to making\nimages of affected parts of the body, and to various other arts. Very\nfrequently he is regarded as inspired. It is the spirit dwelling in him\nwhich brings about the wonderful results; without the spirit he could not\ndo anything.\"[32]\n\n\n[Illustration: FETICH DOCTOR. (The triangular patch of hair is the\nprofessional tonsure.)]\n\n\nThough these magicians possess power, its joy has its limitations; for,\nbecoming possessed by a familiar spirit, through whose aid they make their\ninvocations and incantations and under whose influence they fall into\ncataleptic trances or are thrilled with Delphic rages, if they should\nhappen to offend that \"familiar,\" it may destroy them by \"eating\" out\ntheir life, as their phrase is. On Corisco Island, in 1863, a certain man\nhad acquired prominence as a magic doctor; he finally died of consumption.\nHis friends began a witchcraft investigation to find out who had \"killed\"\nhim. A post-mortem being made, cavities were found in the lungs. Ignorant\nof disease, they thereupon dropped the investigation, saying that his own\n\"witch\" had \"eaten\" him.\n\nCaptain Guy Burrows, a British officer, formerly in the service of the\nKongo Free-State, left it unwilling to be a participant in the fearful\natrocities allowed by the King of Belgium; and he has recently made a\nscathing exposure of the doings of Belgian agents that have made the Kongo\na slave-ground of worse horrors than existed in the old days of the export\nslave-trade. He thus jocularly describes what he saw of fetich at the town\nof Matadi on the Kongo, where there is an English Baptist Mission:\n\"Outside the small area, under the direct influence of the mission, there\nis but one deity,--the fetich. The heathen in his blindness, in bowing\ndown to wood and stone, bows, as Kipling says, to 'wood for choice.' He\ncarves a more or less grotesque face; and the rest is a matter of taste. I\ncame across one figure whose principal ornament consisted of a profusion\nof ten-penny nails and a large cowrie shell.[33] But anything will do; an\nold tin teapot is another favorite fetich decoration. I have generally\nfound that the uglier they are, the more they seem to be feared and\nreverenced.\n\n\"The fetich is sometimes inclined to be a nuisance. On one occasion I\nwanted to build an out-house at the far end of a plantation, where tools\nand other implements might be stored. I was told by the chief, however,\nthat this was fetich ground, and that terrible misfortunes would follow\nany attempt to build on it. I tried to get some closer idea of the fetich,\nbut could get no more material information than a recital of vague terrors\nof the kind that frighten children at night. So I began building my\nout-house, during the course of which operation some monkeys came and sat\nin the trees, highly interested in the proceedings. In some indefinite way\nI gathered that the fetich power was regarded as being invested in these\nmonkeys, or that they were the embodiment of the fetich idea, or anything\nelse you please. But I could not have my work interfered with by the\nghosts of a lot of chattering apes, and the fears of those big children\nthe natives; so I witch-doctored the monkeys after an improved recipe of\nmy own,--I shot the lot. Thereafter the spell was supposed to be lifted,\nand no farther objections were raised; but the empty cartridge cases were\nseized upon by the men as charms against any further manifestations in the\nsame place. I am glad to say none occurred; the spell I had used was too\npotent!\"\n\nCaptain Burrows was probably an efficient administrator. But, like many\nforeigners, he evidently chose to ride, rough shod, over natives'\nprejudices, regarding them as idle superstitions, and unable or unwilling\nto investigate their philosophy. I see, however, from his story, that he\nhad gotten hold of a part of the truth. That ground on which he desired\nto build was probably an old graveyard. The native chief very naturally\ndid not wish it to be disturbed. Monkeys that gather on the trees in the\nvicinity of a graveyard are supposed to be possessed by the spirits of\nthose buried there. An ordinary individual would have been forcibly\nprevented had he attempted what Captain Burrows did. He had a foreign\ngovernment at his back, and the natives submitted. Their dead and their\nmonkeys, sacred _pro tempore_, had succumbed to the superior power of the\nwhite man's cartridges. Their only satisfaction was to retain the empty\nshells as souvenirs.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nTHE FETICH--A WORSHIP\n\n\nWorship is an eminent part of every form of religion, but it is not\nessential to it. True, most religions have some form of worship. But a\nbelief would still be a religion, even if it were so insignificant or so\ndegraded or so indifferent as not to care to express itself in rites or\nceremonies.\n\nFetichism, whose claim to a right to be reckoned as a religion some have\nbeen disposed to dispute, expresses itself by most of the visible and\naudible means used in the cults of other forms of religion.\n\nThe motives also that prompt to the performance of religious rites are not\nto enter into the question whether the beliefs associated with them are\nworthy to be dignified by the name \"religion.\" Motives may vary widely,\n_e. g._, love in an evangelical Christian, pride in a Pharisee, sensual\nlust in a follower of Islam and in a Mormon, and fear in the fetich\nworshipper. Those motives, mixed perhaps with other considerations, are\nthe dominant factor in the government of the religious life of each.\n\nWe have already seen in the previous chapter that the religious thought of\nthe believer in fetichism does not concern his soul or its future. The\nevils he would escape are not moral or spiritual. The sense of a great\nneed that makes him look for help outside of himself is not based on a\ndesire to obey God's will, but on his and some spirit's co-relation to the\ngreat needs of this mortal life.\n\nThe salvation sought being a purely physical one, the thoughts that direct\nthe use of means to that end are limited to physical needs, and largely\nto physical agencies. But not entirely: for one of these agencies, as\nalready mentioned in the previous chapter, is prayer; other agencies are\nsacrificial offerings, and the use of amulet charms, or talismans, known\nas fetiches.\n\n1. _Fetich Worship as performed by Sacrifice and other Offerings._\nSacrifice is an element in all real worship, if by sacrifice, in the\nwidest sense, may be understood the devoting of any object from a common\nto a sacred use, and this irrespective of the actual value of the gift (as\nis the case also with Chinese paper imitation money scattered around the\ngrave, in Chinese funerals). The intention of the giver ennobles it; the\nspirit being supposed in some vague way to be gratified by the respectful\nrecognition of itself, and even to be pleased sometimes by the gift\nitself.\n\n(1) Thus the stones heaped by passers-by at the base of some great tree or\nrock, the leaf cast from the passing canoe toward a point of land on the\nriver, though intrinsically valueless, and useless to the ombwiri of the\nspot, are accepted as acknowledgments of that ombwiri's presence.\n\n\"All day we kept passing trees or rocks on which were placed little heaps\nof stones or bits of wood; in passing these, each of my men added a new\nstone or bit of wood, or even a tuft of grass. This is a tribute to the\nspirits, the general precaution to insure a safe return. These people have\na vague sort of Supreme Being called Lesa, who has good and evil passions;\nbut here (Plateau of Lake Tanganyika), as everywhere else, the Musimo, or\nspirits of the ancestors, are a leading feature in the beliefs. They are\npropitiated, as elsewhere, by placing little heaps of stones about their\nfavorite haunts. At certain periods of the year the people make\npilgrimages to the mountain of Fwambo-Liamba, on the summit of which is a\nsort of small altar of stones. There they deposit bits of wood, to which\nare attached scraps of calico, flowers, or beads; this is to propitiate\nLesa.\n\n\"After harvest, for instance, they make such an offering. So when a girl\nbecomes marriageable, she takes food with her, and goes up to the\nmountain for several days. When she returns, the other women lead her in\nprocession through the villages, waving long tufts of grass and\npalms.\"[34]\n\n(2) Other gifts are supposed to be actually utilized by the spirit in some\nessential way. In some part of the long single street of most villages is\nbuilt a low hut, sometimes not larger than a dog-kennel, in which, among\nall tribes, are hung charms; or by which is growing a consecrated plant (a\nlily, a cactus, a euphorbia, or a ficus). In some tribes a rudely carved\nhuman (generally female) figure stands in that hut, as an idol. Idols are\nrare among most of the coast tribes, but are common among all the interior\ntribes. That they are not now frequently seen on the Coast is, I think,\nnot due to a lack of faith in them, but perhaps to a slight sense of\ncivilized shame. The idol has been the material object most denounced by\nmissionaries in their sermons against heathenism. The half-awakened native\nhides it, or he manufactures it for sale to curio-hunters. A really valued\nidol, supposed to contain a spirit, he will not sell. He does not always\nhide his fetich charm worn on his person; for it passes muster in his\nexplanation of its use as a \"medicine.\"\n\nThat idol, charm, or plant, as the case may be, is believed for the time\nto be the residence of a spirit which is to be placated by offerings of\nsome kind of food. I have seen in those sacred huts a dish of boiled\nplantains (often by foreigners miscalled \"bananas\") or a plate of fish.\nThis food is generally not removed till it spoils. Sometimes, where the\ngift is a very large one, a feast is made; people and spirit are supposed\nto join in the festival, and nothing is left to spoil. That it is of use\nto the spirit is fully believed; but just how, few have been able to tell\nme. Some say that the \"life\" or essence of the food has been eaten by the\nspirit; only the form of the vegetable or flesh remaining to be removed.\n\n(3) Blood sacrifices are common. In any great emergency a fowl with its\nblood is laid at that low hut's door. In time of great danger, an expected\npestilence, a threatened assault by enemies, or some severe illness of a\ngreat man or woman, a goat or sheep is sacrificed.\n\nAt the entrance to a village the way is often barred by a temporary light\nfence, only a narrow arched gateway of saplings being left open. These\nsaplings are wreathed with leaves or flowers. That fence, frail as it is,\nis intended as a bar to evil spirits, for from those arched saplings hang\nfetich charms. When actual war is coming, this street entrance is\nbarricaded by logs, behind which real fight is to be made against human,\nnot spiritual, foes. The light gateway is sometimes further guarded by a\nsapling pinned to the ground horizontally across the narrow threshold. An\nentering stranger must be careful to tread over and not on it.\n\nIn an expected great evil the gateway is sometimes sprinkled with the\nblood of a sacrificed goat or sheep. The flesh is not wasted; it is eaten\nby the villagers, and especially by the magic doctor. Does not this look\nlike a memory of a tradition of the Passover and its paschal lamb? And\ndoes it not suggest some thought of a blood atonement?\n\n(4) I have not actually seen, or even heard of human sacrifices in the\ntribes I have personally visited. But on the adjacent Upper Guinea Coast,\nuntil ten years ago, there were human sacrifices to the sacred crocodiles\nof the rivers of the Niger Delta. In the oil rivers of that same coast\nthere was, until recently, an annual sacrifice (as in the ancient Nile\ndays) of a maiden to the river spirits of trade, for success in foreign\ncommerce.\n\nTreaties with foreign civilized nations have now prohibited this\nsacrifice, but the maiden has not gained much in the change. Instead of\none being sacrificed to a brute crocodile to please the spirit of trade,\nhundreds are prostituted to please brutal, dissolute foreigners.\n\nThe thousands of captives butchered at the \"annual custom\" of Dahomey were\nclaimed by its successive kings, in their answer to the protests of the\nambassadors from civilized nations, to be required as offerings to the\nsafety of the nation, the omission of which would be punished by the loss\nof the king's own life. Fearful as that annual barbarity was, I do not\nthink that those kings should properly be called \"bloodthirsty.\" It was\ntheir religion. All the more dreadful the religion that called for such\ndeeds!\n\nHere, again, the question presents itself whether Africa has gained much\nin the substitution of wicked white representatives of civilization for\nthe heathen black representatives of fetichism. The Kongo River was\nrescued from the cruelties and loss of life in the foreign slave-trade,\nonly to be subjected to greater cruelties, in its miscalled \"Free State,\"\nunder the control of Belgium, at the hands of men like Major Lothaire.\n\nThe following remarks of Menzies[35] on the use of sacrifice by primitive\nman are descriptive of the interior tribes of Africa to-day: \"Sacrifice is\nan invariable feature of early religion. Wherever gods are worshipped,\ngifts and offerings are made to them of one kind or another. It is in this\nway that, in antiquity at least, the relation with the deity was renewed,\nif it had been slackened or broken, or strengthened and made sure.\nSacrifice and worship are, in the ancient world, identical terms. The\nnature of the offering and the mode of presenting it are infinitely\nvarious, but there is always sacrifice in one form or another. Different\ndeities of course receive different gifts; the tree has its roots watered,\nor trophies of battle or of the chase are hung upon its branches; horses\nare thrown into the sea. But of primitive sacrifice generally we may\naffirm that it consists of such food and drink as men themselves partake\nof. Whether it be the fruit of the field or the firstlings of the flock\nthat is offered at the sacred stone, whether the offering is burnt before\nthe god or set down and left near him, or whether he is summoned to come\ndown from the sky or to travel from the far country to which he may have\ngone, it is of the materials of the meal that the sacrifice consists. In\nsome cases it appears to be thought that the god consumes the offering, as\nwhen Fire is worshipped with offerings which he burns up, or when a\nfissure in the earth closes upon a victim; but in most cases it is only\nthe spirit or finer essence that the god enjoys; the rest he leaves to\nmen. And thus sacrifice is generally accompanied by a meal. The offering\nis presented to the god whole, but the worshippers help to eat it. The god\ngets the savor of it which rises in the air towards him, while the more\nmaterial part is devoured below.\"\n\nThe testimony of travellers in other parts of Africa, distant thousands of\nmiles from the West Coast, show that the practice of offerings is almost\nidentical all over the southern third of the continent, the lines of\nlatitude of Bantu tribes being conterminous with their language and their\nreligion.\n\nArnot[36] says that in South Africa, \"when going to pray, the Barotse make\nofferings to the spirits of their forefathers under a tree, bush, or grove\nplanted for the purpose; and they take a larger or a smaller offering,\naccording to the measure of their request. If the offering be beer, they\npour it upon the ground; if cloth, it is tied to a horn stuck in the\nground; if an ox be slaughtered, the blood is poured over the horn, which,\nin fact, is their altar.\" (Ps. cxviii. 27.)\n\nIn that same region, among the Barotse, \"Nothing of importance can be\nsanctified without a human sacrifice, in most cases a child. First the\nfingers and toes are cut off, and the blood is sprinkled on the boat,\ndrum, house, or whatsoever may be the object in view. The victim is then\nkilled, ripped up, and thrown into the river.\"\n\nDecl\u00e8 also[37] describes the religious habits of the Barotse tribes of\nSouthern Central Africa: \"They chiefly worship the souls of their\nancestors. When any misfortune happens, the witch doctor divines with\nknuckle-bones whether the ancestor is displeased, and they go to the grave\nand offer up sacrifice of grain or honey.... They also bring to the tombs\ncooked meats, which they leave there a few minutes and then eat. When they\ngo to pray by a grave, they also leave some small white beads. Whilst an\nEnglishman was journeying to Lialui, he passed near a little wood where\nthere lay a very venerated chief. The boatmen stopped, and having\nsacrificed some cooked millet, their headman designated a man to offer up\na prayer, which ran thus: 'You see us; we are worn out travellers, and our\nbelly is empty; inspire the white man, for whom we row, to give us food to\nfill our stomachs.'\"\n\nAmong the Wanyamwezi, \"Every chief has near his hut a Musimo hut, in which\nthe dead are supposed to dwell, and where sacrifices and offerings must be\nmade. Meat and flour are deposited in the Musimo huts, and are not, as\nwith many other peoples, consumed afterwards. The common people also have\ntheir Musimo huts, but they are smaller than that of the chief, and the\nofferings they make are, of course, not so important as his.\"\n\nThe Wanyamwezi being great travellers, they have numberless ways of\npropitiating the Musimo. \"The night before starting they put big patches\nof moistened flour on their faces and breasts. On the way, if by chance\nthey are threatened with war or any other difficulty, some of them go on\nahead in the early morning for about a hundred yards along the path over\nwhich they are about to travel. Then they place a hand on the ground, and\nthrow flour over it in such a manner as to leave the impression of a hand\non the soil. At the same time they 'wish' hard that the journey may go off\nwell. On the march, from time to time each of them will deposit in the\nsame spot a twig of wood or a stone in such a way that a great heap gets\ncollected. If they halt in the midst of high grass each will plait a\nhandful of grass, which they tie together so as to make a kind of\nbower.[38] In the forest, if they are pressed for time, each will make a\ncut with a blow of a hatchet in a tree; but if they have time, they will\ncut down trees, lop off the branches, and place these poles against a big\ntree; in certain places I have seen stacks of hundreds of them around a\nsingle tree. Sometimes they will strip pieces of bark from the trees, and\nstick them on the branches, and at others they will place a pole supported\nby two trees right over the path. On it they will hang up a broken gourd,\nor an old box made of bark. On some occasions they will even erect a\nlittle hut made of straw to the Musimo on the road itself; but this is\nusually done when they are going on a hunting expedition, and not on a\njourney. Near the villages, where two roads meet, are usually found whole\npiles of old pots, gourds, and pieces of iron.[39] When a hunter starts\nfor the chase, he prays to the Musimo to give him good luck. If he kills\nany big game, he places before the hut of his Musimo the head of the beast\nhe has killed, and inside a little of the flesh.\"[40]\n\n2. Just as worship is an eminent part of religion, prayer is usually a\nchief part of religious worship. But in fetichism, though it undeniably\nhas a part, it is not prominent, and not often formal or public. It plays\na less obvious and less frequent part than either sacrifices or the use of\ncharms.\n\n\"Prayer is the ordinary concomitant of sacrifice; the worshipper explains\nthe reason of the gift, and urges the deity to accept it and to grant the\nhelp that is needed. The prayers of the earliest stage are offered on\nemergencies, and often appear to be intended to attract the attention of\nthe god who may be engaged in another direction. The requests they contain\nare of the most primary sort. Food is asked for, success in hunting or\nfishing, strength of arm, rain, a good harvest, children, and so forth.\nThey have a ring of urgency; they state the claims the worshipper has on\nthe god, and mention his former offerings as well as the present one; they\npraise the power and the past acts of the deity, and adjure him by his\nwhole relationship to his people (and also to his enemies) to grant their\nrequests.\"[41]\n\nFetich prayer may be and is offered without restriction by any one, young\nor old, male or female; but to my knowledge it is seldom used by the\nyoung. A very intelligent woman, a member of my Batanga church, tells me\nthat when she was a child she possessed a fetich supposed to be very\nvaluable, which she had inherited from her father. She says that when she\nwould be going into the forest or where she expected difficulty or danger\nor trouble or was anxious for success, she would hold the fetich in her\nhand, and with eye and thought directed toward it and the spirit it was\nsupposed to contain, would utter a short petition for aid and protection.\n\nBut practically formal prayer is rarely made. Ejaculatory prayer, however,\nis made constantly, in the uttering of cabalistic words, phrases, or\nsentences adopted by or assigned to almost every one by parent or doctor.\nThey are uttered by all ages and both sexes at any time, as a defence from\nevil, on all sorts of occasions,--_e. g._, when one sneezes, stumbles, or\nis otherwise startled, etc.\n\nThe prayers which I have heard were of adults. On a journey, about 1876,\nstopping for a night in a village on the Ogowe River, I saw the venerable\nchief stand out in the open street. He addressed the spirits of the air,\nbegging them, \"Come not to my town!\" He recounted his good deeds--praising\nhimself as just, honest, and kind to his neighbors--as reason why no evil\nshould befall him, and closed with an impassioned appeal to the spirits to\nstay away.\n\nAt another time, about 1879, in another Ogowe village, where a man's son\nhad been wounded, and a bleeding artery which had been successfully closed\nhad just broken open again, and the hemorrhage, if not promptly checked,\nwould probably be fatal, the father ran out of the hut, wildly\ngesticulating towards the sky, saying, \"Go away! go away! O ye spirits!\nwhy do you come to kill my son?\" And he continued for some time in a\nstrain of alternate pleading and protestation.\n\nIn another case I saw a woman who rushed into the street objurgating the\nspirits, and in the next breath humbly supplicating them, who, she said,\nwere vexing her child that was lying in convulsions.\n\nObserve that while these were distinctly prayers, appeals for mercy,\npathetic, agonizing protestations, there was no praise, no love, no\nthanks, no confession of sin,--only a long, pitiful deprecation of evil.\n\nThere are also prayers of blessing. Parents in farewells to their\nchildren, or a chief to his parting guest, or any grateful recipient of a\nvalued gift, will take the head or hand of the child, guest, or donor, and\nsaying, \"Ib\u00e2t\u00e2!\" (blessing), or adding a cabalistic ejaculation, will\nsometimes \"blow\" a blessing. From this custom has arisen the statement in\nsome books of travel that it was an African mode of honoring a guest to\nspit on his hand. It is true that the sudden and violent expulsion of the\nbreath in \"blowing\" the \"Ib\u00e2t\u00e2\" from the tip of the tongue is apt to be\nfollowed by an ejection of more or less saliva, but the kernel of the\ncustom lies in the prayer of blessing accompanying the act.\n\nIn auguries made by the mfumu, or witch-doctor, among the Wanyamwezi, \"the\nmfumu holds a kind of religious service; he begins by addressing the\nspirits of their forefathers, imploring them not to visit their anger upon\ntheir descendants. This prayer he offers up kneeling, bowing and bending\nto the ground from time to time. Then he rises, and commences a hymn of\npraise to the ancestors, and all join in the chorus. Then, seizing his\nlittle gourds, he executes a _pas seul_, after which he bursts out into\nsong again, but this time singing as one inspired.\"[42]\n\n3. The third mode of worship has been already mentioned in a previous\nchapter, _viz._, the use of charms or fetiches. This is the mode most\nfrequently used; and to the descriptions of their forms of preparation and\nmanner, universality, and the various effects of their use, the following\nchapters are devoted.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nTHE FETICH--WITCHCRAFT--A WHITE ART--SORCERY\n\n\nHundreds of acts and practices in the life of Christian households in\ncivilized lands pass muster before the bar of \u00e6sthetic propriety and\nsociety, and even of the church, as not only harmless and allowable, but\nas commendable, and conducive to kindness, good-will, and healthful social\nentertainment; but in the doing of these acts few are aware of the fact\nthat some of them in their origin were heathenish and in their meaning\nidolatrous, and that long ago they would have brought on the doer church\ncensure.\n\nNorse legends and Celtic and Gaelic folk-lore abound in superstitions that\nwere held by our forefathers in honor of false gods and demons. Their\nChristian descendants, to the present generations in Great Britain and the\nUnited States, delight our children with the beautifully printed fairy\ntale, forgetting, or not even knowing, that once, long ago, that tale was\na tale of sin. The superstitious peasant of Germany, Ireland, and other\nEuropean countries, while as at least a nominal son of the church he\nworships God, fears the machinations of trolls and the \"good little\npeople,\" and wards off their dreaded influence by vocal and material\ncharms,--a practice for which the African Negro just emerging from\nheathenism is debarred church-membership. The practice is common to the\nthree,--the untaught heathen, the ignorant peasant, and the enlightened\nChristian,--but its significance differs for each. To the Christian it is\nonly a national or household tradition, without religious or moral\nsignificance, and his belief in the power of the charm is seldom seriously\nheld. To the peasant the practice is also a tradition; it is not his\nreligion, but he thinks that somehow under the divine Providence, in whom\nhe believes and whom he worships in the church, it will be conducive to\nhis physical well-being. But to the heathen it is a part of his religion,\nand leads to the exclusion of the true God, whom he does not know, or at\nleast does not worship.\n\nIn our Christian homes, around the Christmas tree, with all its holy,\nhappy thoughts, we decorate with the holly bush and we hang the mistletoe\nbough, never thinking that the December festival itself was originally a\nheathen feast, and that our superstitious forefathers spread the holly as\na guard against evil fairies, and hung the mistletoe as part of the\nceremonies of a Druid's human sacrifice.\n\nThe superstitious African Negro does precisely the same thing to-day,\nbecause he believes in witchcraft; the holly bush not growing in his\ntropical air, he has substituted the cayenne pepper bush. The witch or\nwizard whom he fears can no more pass over that pepper leaf with its red\npods than the Irish fairy can dare the holly leaf with its red berries.\nSuperstitious acts are thus rooted in us all, heathen and Christian, the\nworld over; only with this great difference,--that to the Christian they\nbear no religious or even moral significance; to the heathen their entire\n_raison d'\u00eatre_ is that they are his religion, or rather part of his\nworship in the practice of his religion.\n\nIn emerging from his heathenism and abandoning his fetichism for the\nacceptance of Christianity, no part of the process is more difficult to\nthe African Negro than the entire laying aside of superstitious practices,\neven after his assertion that they do not express his religious belief.\nFrom being a thief, he can grow up an honest man; from being a liar, he\ncan become truthful; from being indolent, he can become diligent; from\nbeing a polygamist, he can become a monogamist; from a status of ignorance\nand brutality, he can develop into educated courtesy. And yet in his\nsecret thought, while he would not wear a fetich, he believes in its\npower, and dreads its influence if possibly it should be directed against\nhimself. Some church-members thus believing and fearing do wear fetiches,\nclaiming that their use is simply defensive. In their moral thought they\nmake a distinction, which to them is clear and satisfactory in the present\nstage of the enlightenment of their conscience, between the defensive and\nthe offensive use of the fetich,--the latter is a black art; the former is\na white art. Only the heathen and non-Christian element of the community\npractise the black art. They ignore not God's existence, but deny that He\nplays any part in the economy of human life. They believe in evil spirits,\nand that they themselves can have association with them, by which they may\nobtain power for all purposes; they use enchantments to obtain that power;\nand having it, or professing to have it, they exercise it for the\ngratification of revenge or avarice, or in other ways to injure other\npersons. They become, in heart, murderers; and if occasion serve, by\npoison or other means, are willing to become actual murderers. The\ncommunity regards them as criminals, and executes them as such when it is\nproved that they used black art to accomplish the death of some one who\nhas recently died.\n\nThe Christian, of course, will practise none of the black arts, but\nbelieving in their existence and power as permitted to the Evil One under\nthe divine government, he is willing to allow himself to use, as a\ncounter-influence, a fetich of the white art in self-defence.\n\nThe discussion of the morality of this white art is often a difficult\nquestion in the church sessions in the discipline of some offending\nchurch-member. Few of the natives have emerged so far into the light as to\nstand squarely and fully with the missionary in his civilized attitude\ntoward this question of the allowability of a fetich charm under any\ncircumstances. Even the missionary, if he is wise and would not be unjust,\nwill look with the leniency of charity on an offence of this kind in the\ncase of a convert only lately come out of heathenism, which he would not\nor should not exercise toward a fortune-teller or hoodoo practitioner\nunder the broad light of civilization.\n\nIn electing men as ruling elders in the church session, or accepting\ncandidates for the gospel ministry, while a certain degree of\nintellectuality is desired, and a certain amount of education required, we\nlook first and always for the quality of their moral fibre, whether or not\nit be untrammelled by the fetich cult.\n\nA rare and noble example of utter freedom from any such superstitious bias\nwas the late Rev. Ibia ja Ikenge. From his youth, believing in,\nusing, and practising fetich white art, when he became a Christian his\nconversion was so clear and decided that he was soon made a ruling elder,\nwas accepted as a candidate, grew up to licensure as a probationer,\nsubsequently reached ordination to the ministry, and finally became pastor\nof the Corisco church of his own Benga tribe. Honored during his\nministerial life by all classes, foreigners and natives, he died regretted\nby all, even by the heathen whose sins he had unsparingly denounced. But\nthere are few so morally clear as he.\n\nA few years ago, while I was in charge of the Gabun church, in the Mpongwe\ntribe, at the oldest station and outwardly the most civilized part of the\nmission, I was surprised by a charge of witchcraft practice laid against a\nvery ladylike woman who was one of my intimate native friends. I had known\nher from her childhood; had admired her intelligence, vivacity, and\npurity; had unfortunately helped her into a disastrous marriage from\nwhich, as her pastor, I afterwards rescued her with legal grounds for\ndivorce; and subsequently she had married a Sierra Leone man who professed\nto be a Christian. It was discovered that she had hanging over the doorway\nin her bedroom a fetich regularly made and bought from a fetich doctor. On\ntrial of the case, she denied that it was hers, stated that it was her\nhusband's, admitted that she knew of its existence and use, that she\nallowed it to be placed in the usual spot for warding off evil spirits,\nand was not clear in denial of belief that it might be of some use to her\nin that way.\n\nMy three ruling elders looked on the case more lightly than even I was\ncharitably disposed to do, and my own duty as a judge was obscured by my\nfriendship for the accused. It was a great pain for me to have even to\nrebuke a lady I had so loved and trusted. She kept her anger wonderfully\nunder control while in the session meeting; but she resented the rebuke,\nbroke our friendship, and subsequently sought to injure me by slander. If\nthere was any doubt about her complicity with the fetich, there was no\ndoubt about the fact of her effort to injure me. I did not prosecute her\n(as I would have done had she slandered any one else), lest I be suspected\nof making my position of session moderator an engine for personal revenge.\nShe subsequently made a noble reparation. She still affirms that she does\nnot believe in fetich, and remains in \"good standing\" in the church, while\noccasionally hanging a charm on her garden fence for its \"moral effect\" on\ntrespassers.\n\nLately a fellow missionary told me that in a conversation with certain\nnatives, professed Christians, they admitted their fear lest their\nnail-clippings should be used against them by an enemy, and candidly\nacknowledged that when they pared their nails they threw the pieces on the\nthatch of the low roof of their house.\n\nThe missionary was surprised, and, perhaps with a little suspicion or\nperhaps as a test, turning to a man present who had remained silent during\nthe discussion, said, \"And you?--what do you do with your parings?\" He\nhonestly replied, \"I throw them on the roof!\" And this man is an elder,\nand had been advanced to be a local preacher. There is no expectation of\nhis ordination, for though he can preach a good sermon, he is lacking in\nall other abilities desirable in a minister. He is probably fifty years of\nage, and for forty years has been in mission employ of some kind, and\nliving in the mission household much of that time. But this mission\nassociation has not been to him the benefit it would have been to almost\nany one else; for, being of slave origin, he seemed to prefer to keep\naloof from the free-born, grew up without companionship, and is extremely\nsecretive. Though a Christian and a good man, he had not opened his inner\nlife to all the ennobling influences of the light.\n\nA difficulty, admitted by the missionary in judging of the morality of the\nuse of a fetich charm, is the explanation offered by the natives, even by\nsome professedly Christian, that the charm is of the nature of a\n\"medicine,\" and, generally, actually has medicines in it. It is known to\nthe native that civilized and Christian therapeutics recognize a great\nvariety of medicinal articles, solid and liquid, and that they are\nemployed in a variety of ways,--as lotions, ointments, and powders; and\nthat some are drunk, some are rubbed into the skin, and some are worn on\nthe body,--_e. g._, a sachet of sulphur in skin diseases, or of pungent\nessential oils to fend off insects,--and that certain herbs whose scent is\nattractive to fish are rubbed on the fisherman's hook. The missionary\nknows, too, that certain native medicinal plants are used, and with\nefficiency, in precisely these ways and with precisely these reasons as,\nat least in part, the ground for their use.\n\nTruth gains nothing by an indiscriminate denunciation of all native\n\"medicine\"; for the native knows by the personal experience of himself and\nhis observation of others that a given \"medicine\" has helped or cured\nhimself and others. His belief in this case is not a mere theory; it is\nactual fact. The missionary loses in the native's respect, and in the\nnative's trust in his judgment or the value of his word, if he asserts\nunqualifiedly that \"native medicine\" is \"foolishness,\" especially if, as\nwas the case before the desirability of medical missionaries was as\ngenerally recognized by the church as it now is, the missionary was able\nto give him no substitute for the magic doctor. The native Christian's\nsense of justice was aggrieved at being disciplined for the use of a\nmedicine in sickness, which experience told him had been of benefit and in\nplace of which the missionary offered him no other.\n\nThe native's error in his judgment of the case and the missionary's\njustification of his position lay in the idolatrous ceremonies that are\nassociated with the administration of the medicine. In the native's\nignorant mind, and in the distress of his disease, he was unable to see a\ndistinction between the therapeutic action of a drug and the mode of its\nadministration. In fact, to him that mode may be as important a factor\ncontributive to the desired result as the drug itself. In the heathen\nbelief of the native doctor it is admittedly true that the administration,\nnot the drug, is the important factor, both mode of administration and the\ndrug itself deriving all their efficiency from a spirit claimed by the\nmagician to be under his control, which is in some vague way pleased to be\nassociated with the particular drug and those special ceremonies. The\nnative doctor does not understand therapeutics as such. Some one of his\nancestors happened to observe that a certain leaf, bark, or root exhibited\ninternally proved efficient in cases where the symptoms indicated a\ncertain disease which he had failed to cure by his dances, drums,\nauguries, and other enchantments. Not knowing the _modus operandi_ of the\ndrug itself, he had jumped to the conclusion that he had finally happily\nfound the adjuvant herb necessary to please the spirit for whom he had\nbeen making enchantments, without which herb the spirit had hitherto\nwithheld its assistance. And ever afterward the secret of this particular\ndrug was guarded by his family, the knowledge of its tree being handed\ndown as an heirloom, the secret kept as jealously and carefully as the\nrecipe for the proprietary medicine of any quack in civilized lands. In\nhis medical ethics there was no _qu\u00e6 prosunt omnibus_.\n\nThe dividing line of morality between the fetich doctor and the Christian\nphysician is a narrow but deep chasm. The latter knows that, with all his\nskill in physiology and the infallibility of his drug's indication,\nresults lie in the hand of God, with whom are the issues of life and\ndeath, who has sovereignly and beneficently endowed certain plants or\nminerals with properties befitting certain pathological conditions. The\nformer ignores God, and firmly believes that his own enchantments have\nsubsidized the power of a spirit, so that the spirit itself is to enter\ninto the body of the patient, and, searching through his vitals, drive\nout the antagonizing spirit, which is the supposed actual cause of the\ndisease. The etiology of disease is to the native obscure. His attempts at\nexplanation are somewhat inconsistent; the sickness is spoken of as a\ndisease, and yet the patient is said to be sick because of the presence of\nan evil spirit, which being driven out by the magician's benevolent spirit\nthe patient will recover.\n\nThe drug exhibited with the ceremonies by which the friendly spirit is\ninduced to enter the body is entirely secondary and adjuvant, and is not\nsupposed to be any more efficient in producing a cure than was the Old\nTestament incense of the Temple ritual in obtaining an answer to prayer.\n\nBut the drug is often a really valuable medicine, and does cure the\npatient. Yet the native Christian must be forbidden to submit to its use,\nbecause of the invariably associated heathen ceremonies. The magician\nalone knows from what plant the drug came, and he positively refuses to\nadminister it unless its associated ceremonies are carefully observed. For\nthe Christian to consent to do that, is to \"kiss the calves\"[43] of\nidolatrous Israel, or to partake of the \"meats offered to idols.\"[44]\n\nThe manner of practising the white art by the magic doctor may be purely\nritual without his making or the patient's wearing any material amulet,\nbut the performance is none the less fetich in its character.\n\nAccording to the usual procedure an article is prepared with incantations\nreferring to spiritual influences to be worn by the applicant either as a\ncure for an actually existing disease or any other expected danger, or,\nirrespective of disease, for the attainment of a desired object or for\nsuccess in some cherished plan. Its application may be as limitless as the\nentire range of human desire.\n\nThe first step in the process is the selection of an object in which to\nenclose the various articles deemed necessary to attract and please the\nspiritual being whose aid is to be invoked. In this selection it is not\nprobable that superstitious or other moral consideration enters. It is\nsimply a matter of taste as to shape or availability or convenience. The\narticle usually chosen is a horn of a gazelle or young antelope, or of a\ngoat. The ground for the choice is availability; those animals are common.\nThe horns are preserved and are therefore always at hand. They are small,\nlight, and easily carried. They are durable, not liable to rust and decay,\nas would be an article of vegetable origin, and they have a convenient\ncavity.\n\nThe next step in the process is the selection of the substances which are\nto be packed into the hollow of the horn. These are of both animal and\nvegetable origin, but mostly vegetable. They may be very absurd to our\ncivilized view, they may be disgusting and even filthy; but they are all\nranked as \"medicine,\" have actually some fitness to the end in view, as\ndescribed in the previous chapter, and are to be as carefully regarded as\nare the ingredients of a physician's prescription by a druggist. Their\nabsurdity must not militate against the view of them as \"medicine,\" even\nto a civilized mind. We are not to forget that, all superstitious and\nfetich ideas aside, our own pharmacopoeia one hundred years ago\ncontained animal products of supposed therapeutic value that were clumsy,\nannoying, and even disgusting. Indeed, it is only in very modern medicine\nthat the profession have thought it worth while to regard the matter of\nagreeable look and pleasant taste. Homoeopathy, even if we do not all\nbelieve in it, must be given credit for at least eliminating nauseous\ntaste from the attributes of a good medicine, even of an emetic.\n\nFrom the wide range of substances, mineral, animal, and vegetable, the\nmagic doctor takes generally some plant. Indeed, so associated is the\ndoctor's thought of a tree and some spirit belonging to it, that an\neducated and very intelligent native chief at Gabun who still clings to\nmany heathen practices, of whom recently I asked an explanation of fetich\nfrom the native point of view, said sententiously, \"A principle of fetich\ncomes from trees.\" This carried to me very little meaning. I asked him to\nexplain at length. He did so. He said that in the long ago, while still\nhis ancestors knew of God and had not entirely forgotten to give him some\nkind of worship, their medicine men were botanists, and, like Solomon,\n\"spake of trees.\" The herbs and barks they used were employed solely for\ntheir own intrinsically curative qualities. But as people became more\ndegraded and \"like people, like priest,\" the medicine men added a ritual\nof song, dances, incantations, and auguries by which to dignify their\nprofession with mystery. As they grew in power, they added claims of\nspiritual influence, by which to impress their patients with fear and to\nexact obedience even from kings, until finally the idea of a spirit as the\nefficient agent in the cure was substituted for that of the drug itself,\nand fetich belief dominated all.\n\nThe reason for the choice of one tree rather than another in a given case\nof sickness is almost impossible to find out. Perhaps there is a vague\ntradition of the fact that it was used long ago by those who first\nhappened to discover that it had real medicinal quality, and the present\ngeneration continues to use it, though having forgotten what that quality\nwas, or even that it had any intrinsic quality of its own, their etiology\nof disease assigning as the cause of all sickness the antagonistic\npresence of an evil spirit.\n\nThe laity, heathen and Christian, positively do not know from what\nparticular tree the leaf or piece of bark was obtained, and they would not\nbe able to recognize it even if they were allowed to see it. They see only\nthe dry powder or ashes. Even if the heathen laity were able to tell me,\nthey will not do so. Even if they were bribed, I would have no certainty\nthat they were showing me the plant that was actually used; for they would\nknow that I would have no means of comparing specimens or of proving their\ndeception. The native will tell foreigners many things for friendship or\nfor regard, and he enjoys conversation with us; but superstition slams his\nheart's door shut when he is asked to reveal secrets of the spirits. His\nprompt thought is: \"White man's knowledge has given him power. There is\nlittle left of land, authority, women, or wealth in my country that he has\nnot seized. Shall I add to his power by telling him the secrets of my\nspirits?\" Of course the magic doctor will not tell. That would be giving\nhimself entirely away.\n\nEven Christian men and women who have inherited from a parent knowledge of\nsome plant, and who use it rationally for its purely medicinal quality\nwithout any reference whatever to spiritual influences, can barely be\ninduced to tell me of it. The fee they obtain is part of their means of\nliving. They make honest \"medicine\" in the circle of their acquaintances\nfor certain sicknesses for which their drug happens to be fitted. Of a\ncure for any other sickness they know nothing, and must themselves go to\nsome one else who happens to possess the knowledge.\n\nEven by me my native friends--though with their personal respect or\naffection for me they would be willing to do much--do not like to be\nasked. They know that I, in asking for information, expect to utilize it\nin letters or lectures or books. Their secret would not be safe even with\nme, and it may die with them. One of the noblest of my native female\nfriends at Gabun, a Christian, well educated, with only a minimum of\nsuperstition remaining, and no belief at all in fetich, inherited from her\nmother much botanical and medicinal knowledge. I observe her decocting a\nmedicine for a sick friend, and I ask her, \"What medicine is that?\" She\nturns away her usually frank eyes and simply says, \"Sijavi\" (leaves).\n\"Yes, I see they are leaves. But I asked you what they are. Where do you\nget them?\" With eyes still turned away, she only says, \"Go-iga\" (in the\nforest). \"Exactly; of course it's a plant. But is it a tree or a vine or a\nshrub, or what?\" And she looks at me steadily, and quietly says, \"Mi amie\"\n(I don't know). I have long ago learned that \"mi amie,\" though only\nsometimes true, is not always a lie. It is equivalent to our conventional\n\"Not at home,\" or a polite version of, \"Ask me no questions and I'll tell\nyou no lies.\" From my friend it is a kind notification that the\nconversation had better be changed. It having reached this acute stage,\nthe pursuance of it would be worse than useless. I talk about something\nelse, and immediately she resumes her wonted cordiality.\n\nProbably the particular herb selected by the fetich-man does possess some\ntherapeutic value (for cures are effected) of which he does not himself\nknow. He knows that that plant was said by his ancestors to be the proper\none to use in case of a certain sickness, but knowledge of the _raison\nd'user_ has been lost.\n\nThe use of drugs in decoctions is less likely to be merely superstitious.\nThe fresh leaves and barks are recognized. There is not likely to be a\nsecret about them. Whatever of fetich is introduced in the case will be in\nthe mode of administration.\n\nThe next step, the admixture of the ingredients, is secret. They are\nground or triturated, or reduced to ashes, and only the ash or charcoal of\ntheir wood is used. Among the common ingredients are colored earths,\nchalk, or potter's blue clays. Beyond the usual constituents constantly\nemployed, there are other single ones, which vary according to the end to\nbe obtained by the user of the fetich,--for one end, as elsewhere already\nmentioned, some small portion of an enemy's body; for another, an\nancestor's powdered brain; for another, the liver or gall-bladder of an\nanimal; for another, a finger of a dead first-born child; for another, a\ncertain fish; and so on for a thousand possibilities. These ingredients\nare compounded in secret, and with public drumming, dancing, songs to the\nspirit, looking into limpid water or a mirror, and sometimes with the\naddition of jugglers' tricks, _e. g._, the eating of fire.\n\nThe ingredients having been thus properly prepared, and the spirit,\naccording to the magician's declaration, having associated itself lovingly\nwith these mixed articles, they and it are put into the cavity of the\nselected horn or other hollow thing (a gourd, a nut-shell, and so forth).\nThey are packed in firmly. A black resin is plastered over the opening.\nPerhaps also a twine is netted tightly on the top of it. A red\npaint--triturated red-wood mixed with palm or other oil--is daubed on it.\nWhile the resin is still soft, the red tail-feathers of the gray African\nparrot are stuck into it. This description is typical. It would be equally\ntrue if the chosen material object had no cavity, _e. g._, if it were a\npebble or a piece of bark; in which case the sacred ingredients plastered\non it would be held _in situ_ by the twine netting. A hole is bored in the\napex of the horn, and it is hung by a string from the neck, arm, waist, or\nankle of the purchaser, or from his door, roof, or garden fence; or from\nthe prow of his canoe; or from any one of a hundred other points,\naccording to the convenience of the owner or the object to be obtained by\nits use.\n\nThose objects may be, all of them, not only desirable, but commendable,\neven from a Christian point of view. In the exercise of the white art\nthere is no ill-will to or malice against any other known person. The\nowner of the fetich amulet is only using, from his point of view, one of\nthe known means of success in life,--somewhat as a business man in\ncivilized lands uses his signs and tricks of trade to attract and\ninfluence customers.\n\nIt is true that our native convert, in abjuring fetich and refraining from\nthe white art, is at a disadvantage, humanly speaking, alongside of his\nheathen fellow, just as the honest grocer who does not adulterate his\nfoods is somewhat at a disadvantage with the man who does.\n\nThe heathen, armed with his fetich, feels strong. He believes in it; has\nfaith that it will help him. He can see it and feel it. He goes on his\nerrand inspired with confidence of success. Confidence is a large part of\nlife's battle. If he should happen to fail, he excuses the failure by\nremembering that he had not obeyed all the minute \"orunda\" directions that\nthe magician told him to follow. It is entirely in his power carefully to\nobey all directions next time; and then he cannot possibly fail! The\nChristian convert is weak in his faith. He would like to have something\ntangible. He is not sure that he will succeed on his errand. He goes at it\nsomewhat half-hearted, and probably fails. His not very encouraging\nexplanation is that God is trying his faith. That explanation is perhaps\nnot the true one, but it is sufficient as his explanation. But it does not\nnerve him for the next effort; only the strong rise to overcoming faith.\nThe weak ask the missionary whether they may not be allowed to carry a\nfetich only for \"show.\" That \"show\" is for effect on a heathen competitor;\nfor the moral effect on that competitor's mind,--that he should not think\nthat the convert, in becoming a Christian, was at a disadvantage as to\nchances of success in the race with him. But that would be allowing even\nthe \"appearance of evil.\"\n\nIt was actually true, in the early days of mission effort, that converts\nwere oppressed by heathen under the idea that, as the gospel proclaimed by\nthe missionary was a message of peace, all the \"peace\" was to be on the\nChristian's side, and that he dared not strike a blow even in\nself-defence. But we did not understand the angels' song of good-will as\nexplained by the followers of George Fox, and by precept and example we\nallowed the use of force in the defence of right.\n\nAs to the use of fetich by those who did not really believe in it, it was\ntrue that some Europeans, non-Christian men in their trade with the\nnatives, seeing what a power the fetich was in the native thought, and\nknowing that it was exercised against themselves, deemed it a matter\nsimply of sharp practice to adopt a fetich themselves, and play the native\nat his own game. To my knowledge this was done by an Englishman now dead.\nI was intimately acquainted with him; and though his morals were\nobjectionable and his religion agnosticism, I enjoyed his society. He was\na gentleman in manners, intelligent, well-read, interested, in common with\nmyself, in African philology and ethnology, and his river steamers often\ngenerously helped me in my itinerations. His trade interests were large;\nhe spoke the native language well, was practically acquainted with native\ncustoms and native mode of thought. He was a good hater and a firm\nfriend, strict with subordinates to the point of severity, but on\noccasions free-handedly generous. Naturally such a character, while it\nmade for him many friends, developed some enemies. A few hated him, most\nliked him, even while all feared him. To checkmate them on their own\nground and to carry prestige in dealing with the heathen chiefs of wild\ntribes, he caused to be made for himself, and allowed it to be known in\nadvance that he carried, a powerful fetich. The effect was very decided in\nincreasing his power, influence, and trade success, so successful that I\nam not sure but that he grew himself to have some faith in it,--an\nillustration of the oft-noted fact in moral philosophy that non-Christian\ncredulity often leads men's beliefs further than does Christian faith. The\nafter history of my trader friend is a sad illustration of the wings that\nill-gotten wealth develops. His fetich assisted in amassing a fortune\nseveral times over, but it did not retain it for him. He died in pitiful\nwant.\n\nPractice of this white art holds all over South Africa and among all its\ntribes. \"They believe in charms, fetiches, and witchcraft. The latter is\nthe source of great dread to a Mashona, who fears that death or accident\nmay overtake him through the instrumentality of some fellow-being who may\nperchance hold against him a grudge. For the purpose of avoiding these\ncalamities, charms are worn about the person, usually around the neck.\nDivining bones or blocks of wood called 'akata' are thrown by the\nwitch-doctors to discover a witch or evil spirit, and they are also\nemployed to ascertain the probable results of a journey, a hunt, or a\nbattle,--in short, any and all of the events of life.\"[45]\n\n\"The tribes we have passed through seem to have one common religion, if it\ncan be called by that name. They say there is one great spirit, who rules\nover all the other spirits; but they worship and sacrifice to the spirits\nof ancestors, so far as I can learn, and have a mass of fetich medicines\nand enchantments. The hunter takes one kind of charm with him; the\nwarrior another. For divining they have a basket filled with bones, teeth,\nfinger-nails, claws, seeds, stones, and such articles, which are rattled\nby the diviner till the spirit comes and speaks to him by the movement of\nthese things. When the spirit is reluctant to be brought up, a solemn\ndirge is chanted by the people. All is attention while the diviner utters\na string of short sentences in different tones, which are repeated after\nhim by the audience.\"[46]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nTHE FETICH--WITCHCRAFT--A BLACK ART--DEMONOLOGY\n\n\nThe distinction sought to be made by the half-civilized Negro between a\nwhite art and a black art, as a justification of his practice of fetich\nenchantments, lies in the object to be obtained by their use. He vainly\ntries to find a parallel to them in Christian use of fire-arms,--proper\nfor defence, improper for unprovoked assault. The black art he admits is\nwrong, its object being to kill or injure some one else; the white he\nthinks allowable, because with it he acts simply on the defensive. He\nwishes to ward off a possible blow of an unseen foe aimed at himself. He\nprofesses his intention not to strike or take otherwise active measures to\ninjure any known person. After every allowance made, the distinction\nbetween the arts as moral and immoral is not a clear one. They differ only\nin their degree of immorality. The means both use are immoral, not\njustified by the possible goodness of the desired end, and not sanctified\nby the intention of the user. Both use fetiches. Fetich, if it has power\nat all, is not of God; if it is powerless, it is folly. Thus, in every and\nany case, it dishonors God.\n\nBut whatever doubt there might have been as to the allowability of white\nart practice, there is no doubt as to the immorality of black art. It\nalways contemplates a possible taking of life.\n\nThe term \"witchcraft,\" which attaches itself to all fetichism, localizes\nitself in the black art practice, which is thus pre-eminently known as\n\"witchcraft.\" Its practitioners are all \"wizards\" or \"witches.\" The user\nof the white is not so designated. He or she does not deny the use; it is\nopen and without any sense of criminality in the eyes of the community,\nhowever much he or she may endeavor to suppress the fact from the\nknowledge of church officers. But a practitioner of the black art denies\nit and carries on his practice secretly.\n\nThe above distinction is observed by travellers in other parts of Africa,\nas will be seen by the following quotations, which give also an\ninteresting exposition of the ceremonies and practices of the black art in\ndifferent regions:\n\n\"Among the Matabele of South Africa,\" says Decl\u00e8, \"it is well understood\nthat there were two kinds of witchcraft. One was practised by the\nwitch-doctors and the king, such as, for instance, the 'making of\nmedicine' to bring on rain, or the ceremonies carried out by the\nwitch-doctors to appease the spirits of ancestors.[47] The other\nwitchcraft was supposed to consist of evil practices pursued to cause\nsickness or death.\n\n\"According to native ideas, all over Africa, such a thing as death from\nnatural causes does not exist. Whatever ill befalls a man or a family, it\nis always the result of witchcraft, and in every case the witch-doctors\nare consulted to find out who has been guilty of it. In some instances the\nwitch-doctors declare that the evil has been caused by the angry spirits\nof ancestors; in which case they have to be propitiated through the medium\nof the witch-doctors. In other cases they point out some one or several\npersons as having caused the injury by making charms; and whoever is so\naccused by the witchcraft doctor is immediately put to death, his wife and\nthe whole of his family sharing his fate. To bewitch any one, according to\nMatabele belief, it is sufficient to spread medicine on his path or in his\nhut. There are also numerous other modes of working charms; for instance,\nif you want to cause an enemy to die, you make a clay figure that is\nsupposed to represent him. With a needle you pierce the figure, and your\nenemy, the first time he comes in contact with a foe, will be speared.\n\n\"The liver and entrails of a crocodile are supposed to be most powerful\ncharms, and whoever becomes possessed of them can cause the death of any\nman he pleases. For that reason, killing a crocodile is a very heinous\ncrime.[48]\n\n\"While I was in Matabele-land, a crocodile was one day found speared on\nthe bank of a river. The witch-doctors were consulted in order to find out\nwho had been guilty of the deed; and six people were denounced as the\noffenders and put to death with their families.\n\n\"Of witch-doctors there are two kinds.[49] The first deliver oracles by\nbone-throwing. They have three bones carved with different signs; these\nthey throw up, and according to the position they assume when falling, and\nthe side on which they fall, they make the prediction. The other kind\ndeliver their oracles in a slow and very shrill chant. Both are supposed\nto be on speaking terms with spirits. They are in constant request, but\nare usually poorly paid. Their influence, however, is tremendous; and in\nLo-Bengula's time their power was as great as, if not greater than, the\nking's. Lo-Bengula always kept two or three of them near him. Chief among\ntheir works was that of rain-making; this was done with a charm made from\nthe blood and gall of a black ox. No witch-doctors, however, could make\nrain except by the orders of the king. It was a risky trade; for they were\nput to death if they failed in their endeavors to produce rain. Dreams are\nconsidered of deep significance by the witch-doctors. Madmen are supposed\nto be possessed of a spirit, and were formerly under the protection of the\nking.\n\n\"One of the most remarkable ceremonies that used to be performed by the\nwitch-doctors was that of 'smelling out' the witches (wizards?). On the\nfirst moon of the second month of the year all the various regiments\ngathered at Buluwayo, and held a big dance in which the king took part;\nusually, from 12,000 to 15,000 warriors assembled for this ceremony. After\nthe dance the smelling of witches began. The various regiments being\nformed in crescent shape, the king took his stand in front surrounded by\nthe doctors, usually women. Then began a slow song accompanied by a dance;\nthey carried in their hand a small wand. Gradually the song and the dance\nbecame quicker; they seemed to be possessed. They rushed madly about,\npassing in front of the soldiers, pretending to smell them. All of a\nsudden they stopped in front of a man, and touching him with their wands,\nbegan howling like maniacs; the man was immediately removed and put to\ndeath. In this way hundreds of people were killed every year during the\nbig dance. No one, however high his position, was protected against the\nmandate of the witch-doctors, usually the tools of the king, who found in\nthis a way of getting rid of his enemies, or of doing away with those in\nhigh station whose loyalty he had reason to doubt. Other crimes are few\nexcept the ever-present witchcraft. To bewitch an enemy on the Tanganika\nplateau, you scatter a red powder round his hut and a white one near his\ndoor; this never fails to kill.\n\n\"Ordeal by muavi is, of course, flourishing; with the enlightened\nmodification that, if the accused does not die, he can recover damages\nfrom the accuser. In the Mambwe district the muavi is made of a poisonous\nbean.\"[50]\n\nThe same \"medicines,\" the same dances, the same enchantments used in the\nblack art, are used in the professedly innocent white art; the chief\ndifference being in the mission that the utilized spirit is entrusted to\nperform.\n\nSimilarity in witchcraft practices is one of the several grounds held by\nethnologists, as proving identity in origin of the African Negro and the\nAustralian black. To quote from Dr. Carl Lumholtz's book, \"Among\nCannibals\": \"In the various [Australian] tribes are so-called wizards, who\npretend to communicate with the spirits of the dead and get information\nfrom them. They are able to produce sickness or death whenever they\nplease, and they can produce or stop rain and many other things. Hence\nthese wizards are greatly feared. Attention is called to the influence of\nthis fear of witchcraft upon the character and customs of the natives. It\nmakes them bloodthirsty, and at the same time darkens and embitters their\nexistence. An Australian native is unable to conceive death as natural\nexcept as the result of an accident or of old age; while diseases and\nplagues are always ascribed to witchcraft and to hostile blacks. In order\nto practise his arts against any black man, the wizard must be in\npossession of some article that has belonged to him. On Herbert River the\nnatives need only to know the name of the person in question, and for this\nreason they rarely use their proper names in addressing or speaking of\neach other, but simply their class names. I once met a black man who told\nme that he personally had been the victim of strange wizards, and that\never since that time he had been a sufferer from headache. One afternoon\nmany years ago, two wizards had captured and bound him; they had taken out\nhis entrails and put in grass instead, and had let him lie in this\ncondition till sunrise. Then he suddenly recovered his senses and became\ntolerably well; a result for which he was indebted to a wizard of his own\ntribe, who thus proved himself more powerful than the two strangers. The\nblacks call an operation of this kind kobi, and a man who is able to\nperform it, as a matter of course, is very much respected and feared.\"\n\n\"The Ovimbundu race,\" says Arnot, \"of Bihe and the country to the west are\nmost enterprising traders and imitators of the Portuguese. They seem,\nhowever, to retain tenaciously their superstitions and fetich worship.\n\n\"In Chikula's yard there is a small roughly cut image, which I believe\nrepresents the spirit of a forefather of his. One day a man and woman came\nin and rushed up to this image, dancing, howling, and foaming at the\nmouth, apparently mad. A group gathered round, and declared that the\nspirit of Chikula's forefather had taken possession of this man and woman,\nand was about to speak through them. At last the 'demon' began to grunt\nand groan out to poor Chikula, who was down on his knees, that he must\nhold a hunt, the proceeds of which must be given to the people of the\ntown; must kill an ox, provide so many pots of beer, and proclaim a great\nfeast and dance. Furthermore, all this was to be done quickly. The poor\nold man was thoroughly taken in, and in two days' time the hunt was\norganized.\n\n\"Thus I find, as among the Barotse, that divining and prophesying, with\nother religious and superstitious means, are resorted to in order to\nsecure private ends and to offer sacrifice to the one common god, the\nbelly.\n\n\"At another time a man came to Senhor Porto's to buy an ox. He said that\nsome time ago he had killed a relation by witchcraft to possess himself of\nsome of his riches, and that now he must sacrifice an ox to the dead man's\nspirit, which was troubling him. This killing by witchcraft is a thing\nmost sincerely believed in; and on hearing this man's cold-blooded\nconfession of what was at least the intent of his heart, it made me\nunderstand why the Barotse put such demons into the fire.\n\n\"Among the Ovimbundu, old and renowned witches (wizards?) are thrown into\nsome river, though almost every man will confess that he practises\nwitchcraft to avenge himself of wrong done and to punish his enemies. One\ncommon process is to boil together certain fruits and roots, with which\nthe wizard daubs his body, in order to enlist the aid of the demons; and\nthe decoction is then thrown in the direction of the victim, or laid in\nhis path, that he may be brought under the bewitching spell.\"[51]\n\nWe quote again from Dr. J. L. Wilson, \"Western Africa\": \"Witchcraft, and\nthe use of fetiches as a means of protection against it, is carried to a\ngreater extent here [Southern Guinea] than in Northern Guinea, owing, no\ndoubt, to the greater imaginativeness of the people. The marvels performed\nby those who are supposed to possess this mysterious art transcend all the\nbounds of credulity. A man can turn himself into a leopard, and destroy\nthe property and lives of his fellow-men. He can cause the clouds to pour\nout torrents of rain, or hold back at his pleasure.\n\n\"A different article is used here for the detection of witchcraft from\nthat used in Northern Guinea. The root of a small shrub, called akazya, is\nemployed, and is more powerful than that used in the other section of the\ncountry. A person is seldom required to drink more than half a pint of the\ndecoction. If it acts freely as a diuretic, it is a mark of innocence; but\nif as a narcotic, and produces dizziness and vertigo, it is a sure sign of\nguilt. Small sticks are laid down at the distance of eighteen inches or\ntwo feet apart, and the suspected person, after he has swallowed the\ndraught, is required to walk over them. If he has no vertigo, he steps\nover them easily and naturally; but, on the other hand, if his brain is\naffected, he imagines they rise up before him like great logs, and in his\nawkward effort to step over them, is apt to reel and fall to the ground.\nIn some cases this draught is taken by proxy; and if a man is found\nguilty, he is either put to death or heavily fined, and banished from the\ncountry. In many cases post-mortem examinations are made with the view of\nfinding the actual witch; I have known the mouth of the aorta to be cut\nout of a corpse, and shown as unanswerable proof that the man had the\nactual power of witchcraft.[52] No one expects to resent the death of a\nrelative under such circumstances. He is supposed to have been killed by\nhis awkward management of an instrument that was intended for the\ndestruction of others; and it is rather a cause of congratulation to the\nliving that he is caught in a snare of his own,\" and that his own \"witch\"\nhas killed him.[53]\n\nNot every one who uses white art is able also to use the black. Any one\nbelieving in fetich can use white arts, and not subject himself to the\ncharge of being a wizard. Those who desire to go beyond the arts of\ndefence, and gratify their revenge or any other passion by killing or\ninjuring some one else, have generally to purchase the agency of a doctor\nor some one skilled in the black art. Should the means thus employed be\nefficient in causing a death (or seemingly so, by the coincidence of their\nuse and the death itself) and the facts become known, both the doctor and\nthe man who employed him would probably be put to death. Yet,\ninconsistently, the very men who would execute them have themselves used,\nor will some day use, these same black arts for the same murderous\npurpose, and the native doctors will continue in their risky business.\n\nAnd yet, again, inconsistently, every man and woman in the community\ndreads such a charge, and looks askance on those who are suspected of\nbelonging to the Witchcraft Company. For there is such a society, not\ndistinctly organized. It has meetings at which they plot for the causing\nof sickness or even the taking of life. These meetings are secret;\npreferably in a forest, or at least distant from a village. The hour is\nnear midnight. An imitation of the hoot of an owl, which is their sacred\nbird, is their signal call. They profess to leave their corporeal body\nlying asleep in their huts, and claim that the part which joins in the\nmeeting is their spirit-body, whose movements are not hindered by walls or\nother physical objects. They can pass with instant rapidity through the\nair, over the tree-tops. At their meetings they have visible, audible, and\ntangible communication with evil spirits. They partake of feasts; the\narticle eaten being the \"heart-life\" of some human being, who, in\nconsequence of this loss of his \"heart,\" becomes sick, and will die,\nunless it be restored. The early cock-crowing is a warning for them to\ndisperse; the advent of the morning star they fear, as it compels them to\nhasten back to their bodies. Should the sun rise upon them before they\nreach their corporeal \"home,\" their plans would fail, and themselves would\nsicken. They dread cayenne pepper. Should its bruised leaves or pods have\nbeen rubbed over their body-home by any one during their absence, they\nwould be unable to re-enter it, and would die or miserably waste away.\n\nThe attitude of all missionaries toward executions on a charge of being a\nwitch or a wizard has uniformly been distinctly in opposition to them. We\ncharacterize them as murder. The European governments which have taken\npossession of Africa also put down witchcraft, medicine-making, and\nexecution of supposed witchcraft murderers with a strong hand. The natives\nsubmit under pressure of force, but unwillingly. Each man or woman is glad\nof the strong foreign power that protects himself or herself from being\nput to death on a witchcraft charge; but they each complain that the\ngovernment does not execute, nor will allow them to execute, others\nagainst whom they make the same charge. It is undeniably true that were\nthe European governments that have partitioned Africa to withdraw to-day,\nthe witch-doctors, with poison ordeal and fetich killing and witchcraft\nexecution, would promptly re-establish themselves and soon would become\nrampant again. The Christian churches and communities already established\nwould barely hold their own, and would not have an influence extensive\nenough to restrain the forces of evil.\n\nI quote from a recent issue of a Freetown, Sierra Leone, newspaper, edited\nby a Negro, an article written by a Negro on this subject: \"The subject of\n'witchcraft' has been agitating of late the minds of this community, and\nmuch sense and more nonsense has been heard from those who take upon\nthemselves to elucidate the matter. It is a very difficult and delicate\nquestion to tackle at all times, especially when knowledge, which is\nalways the foundation of eloquence, is absent. From the statement of Holy\nScriptures we know that there is such a thing as witchcraft, and the\ntheory is confirmed by the records of English history. It will be a most\ndesirable thing if any person guilty of witchcraft could be convicted by\nmeans that would be convincing in the legal investigation of other crimes;\nit will save the community from many heart-burnings and mistakes.\n\n\"A writer in a local journal recently made the assertion that in any case\nof poisoning in the cities of Europe, steps are taken to trace the poison\nby eminent physicians and detectives employed to hunt up the accused, but\nin our opinion the cases are not analogous. In the case of suspected\npoisoning post-mortem examinations by competent authorities will disclose\nthe fact whether the deceased died of poisoning; unfounded, and in some\ninstances gratuitous, assertions are not without proofs allowed to cloud\nthe life of individuals. A _prima facie_ case once established, the\nsuspect is pursued with the utmost vigor of the law.\n\n\"In this colony [Sierra Leone] most deaths are attributed to the influence\nof witches, and accusation of witchcraft is at once made against\nindividuals without attempt at obtaining evidence.\n\n\"How can it be proved that there is a band of these wicked ones, so as to\nattach credence to the confession of a conscience-stricken member who\nimplicates also a number of coadjutors? The problem is an intricate one,\nand requires thoughtful investigation.\"\n\nThe slaves exported from Africa to the British possessions in the West\nIndies brought with them some of the seeds of African plants, especially\nthose they regarded as \"medicinal,\" or they found among the fauna and\nflora of the tropical West Indies some of the same plants and animals held\nby them as sacred to fetich in their tropical Africa. The ceiba, or\nsilk-cotton tree, at whose base I find in Africa so many votive offerings\nof fetich worship, they found flourishing on Jamaica. They had established\non their plantations the fetich doctor, their dance, their charm, their\nlore, before they had learned English at all. And when the British\nmissionaries came among them with school and church, while many of the\nconverts were sincere, there were those of the doctor class who, like\nSimon Magus, entered into the church-fold for sake of whatever gain they\ncould make by the white man's new influence, the white man's Holy Spirit!\nOutwardly everything was serene and Christian. Within was working an\nelement of diabolism, fetichism, there known by the name of Obeah, under\nwhose leaven some of the churches were wrecked. And the same diabolism,\nknown as voodoo worship, in the Negro communities of the Southern United\nStates has emasculated the spiritual life of many professed Christians.\n\nIt must be admitted, as to this whole matter of witchcraft belief and\nwitchcraft murder and witchcraft execution, however wrong the Negro\nbelief, his sense of justice is aggrieved by the attitude of the foreign\nmissionary and the foreign government. Something should be allowed to that\nsense of justice. Both missionary and government err sometimes, in their\njudgment of individual or tribal crime and in their punishment of it, by\narbitrarily following only civilized law and the civilized point of view;\nignoring or not giving proper weight, in the make up of their judgment, to\nthe degree to which the fetich enters as a factor in native motives and\nacts, and the power with which it influences native thought.\n\nIn Matabele-land, South Africa, after the defeat and death of the king\nLo-Bengula, and the occupation of his country by Great Britain, there was\nan outbreak, the cause of which was not fully appreciated until it was\ntraced to the witch-doctors, who seized the occasion of the ravages of the\nrinderpest, which was at that time devastating the cattle of South Africa,\nto make use of their power. \"Naturally they must have felt, more than\nanybody else, the occupation of Matabele-land by the whites, as it meant\nthe disappearance of their former power. When the rinderpest broke out,\nthey probably persuaded the natives, who understood nothing about an\nepidemic and attributed whatever ill befalls them to witchcraft, that it\nwas the spirit of Lo-Bengula, which was dissatisfied with them and which\ncaused their cattle to die. To appease Lo-Bengula's spirit, it was\nnecessary to fight the whites. They, the witch-doctors, would make\nmedicine to turn the bullets of the white men into water, so that the\nMatabele could not be hurt by them.\"[54]\n\nSimilarly Great Britain with difficulty has suppressed several risings of\nthe Ashantees, and the late so-called \"Hut-Tax\" rebellion in Sierra Leone.\nThe actual force of the natives, in organization, arms, and skill, was\nalmost ridiculous in its inferiority as compared with the thoroughly armed\nand disciplined troops of the British Empire; but the final result, though\nnever doubtful, was attained with much loss of men and funds. The fetich\ndoctor and fetich belief were a _vis a tergo_ with the native horde. Its\nvalue as a factor in the contest had not been reckoned on by the\nforeigner. Whatever motives influenced the native in the contest, in\npatriotism, cupidity, revenge, bravery, they were minor. The grand\ninfluence that nerved his arm and made him perfectly fearless in his\nassaults against weapons of precision, was his deep conviction, more\ncomplete than Christian faith, that he would win. Had not the fetich\ndoctor told him so? Though there had been some apparent failures, in his\nbelief they were only apparent. The real failure was in his own self, his\nnot having followed minutely all the fetich directions. Those directions\nfollowed rightly in the next battle, he _could not_ fail.\n\nThe faith of a Christian does not assure him, in any emergency of life,\nthat he will be successful in his plan; it only certifies him that,\nwhatever be the result, success or failure, of any single act or series of\nacts in life's drama, his own will must be subordinated to God's, who, if\nnot granting his specific wish to-day, will overrule everything in the\nfinal _d\u00e9nouement_ for his best spiritual good.\n\nSimilarly the heathen fetich, mixed with the fatalism of Islam, is an\nexplanation of the splendid recklessness with which the followers of the\nMahdi flung themselves against the sabres and maxims of General\nKitchener's army at Omdurman.\n\nFaith in fetich is a power as long as its devotee believes in its\ninfallibility. When that is gone, his flight or conquest is instant.\nFetich power therefore cannot be invariably relied upon as a motive to\naction. It may sometimes be magnificent. Only Christian faith or civilized\ndiscipline can be sublime, as compared with it.\n\nBut a fetich devotee who has lost his faith in his fetich could never have\nstood with Christian martyrs who knew perfectly well that within an hour\nthey would be torn to pieces in the arena. Their sublime faith looked\nbeyond that arena to the eternal promise. A fetich soldier who has lost\nhis faith in his fetich could never have gone with those who stood head\nerect before certain death in the Alamo fort or who rode in the charge at\nBalaklava. Their elevated motives of patriotism, implicit soldierly\nobedience to order, and the sweet scent of human glory made them discount\nthe value of their own blood. These were motives not only powerful in\nforce, but great in character. The Negro's fetich faith is powerful, but\nnever great.\n\nSomething cognate to this in the comparison of the power and the greatness\nof a motive will explain the persistent fatuity of the Boer in protracting\nhis contest with Great Britain. From the very first, whatever the world\nmay have thought of essential right or justice in the case, the world knew\nthat England would win. The Boer would have been wise to have accepted\ndefeat earlier and made terms with a conqueror who generally has been\nmagnanimous and rarely cruel, rather than invite, by guerilla warfare,\nmeasures severer, harsher, and possibly exterminative. The Boer is a\nChristian, but his faith was of the Mosaic kind that expected the God of\nbattles to interfere visibly in his behalf. The president of the republic\nhad preached that he would do so. The Boer looked on the president as a\nprophet, and believed him. But his faith was an unreasonable one; it was\nfatuous. His bravery, patriotism, marksmanship, and endurance could not\navail. These all tell well for a martyrdom, if martyrdom were desirable or\nnecessary, but they did not tell well for assertion of success.\n\nFrance, overcome by Germany, still was brave and patriotic; but she was\nwise in accepting the inevitable,--wiser than the Negro or the Boer.\nFrance believed in God; so did Germany. But the faith of neither was of\nthe fetich kind. Nevertheless, the fetich faith is magnificent, even if it\nbe fatuous.\n\nFor the apparently cruel side of the black art, _viz._, the killing of\nthose guilty of witchcraft, there is some allowance to be made.\n\nTo the believer in fetich the killing is a judicial act. He does not call\nit a murder, but an execution; and he tries to justify it by an argument\nwhich even the missionary has to admit is correct if the Negro's premises\nin the argument are admitted. As we do not admit both of them, his\nargument falls. But it is difficult to show him that his second premise is\nwrong, and he is unconvinced.\n\nI have several times been thoroughly worsted in my discussion with native\nchiefs on this matter of witchcraft executions. In the early years of my\nmissionary life, while resident on Corisco Island, I followed the practice\nof my predecessor, the Rev. J. L. Mackey, in the effort to prevent such\nexecutions, which were then (about 1863) common. We directed the native\nChristians to notify us of any death, and we would at once go to the\nvillage and endeavor to forestall the almost invariable witchcraft\ninvestigation. The headman, Kombenyamango, of an adjacent village, was a\nlarge, strong, influential, cruel man. There was so little about him to\ncommand my respect that I had shown him but slight deference. Having thus\nhis _amour propre_ wounded, he was unfortunately not on very good terms\nwith me. His aged mother had been failing in health for a long time, and\nfinally had died. Her position, as mother of a chief, had given her much\nrespect in native eyes. The concourse of mourners gathered from a distance\nwas large. Feeling for her death was deep; threats of vengeance for her\ntaking off were loud. I was soon informed that one of her female slaves\nhad been seized under pure suspicion because of her proximity as the dead\nwoman's servant. In her case as a means of finding whether or not she was\nguilty, there had been no ordeal test of drinking the mbundu poison. (On\nthe Upper Guinea Coast it is sassa-wood; at Calabar, the Calabar bean; at\nthe equator, the akazya leaf.) Under torture, being beaten and lacerated\nby thorn bushes, she had confessed herself guilty, was in chains, and was\nsoon to be executed.\n\nOn such occasions, on arriving at the village, there was often an effort\non the part of the chief to deceive the missionary. The chief would either\nassert that he had had no intention of making a witchcraft investigation,\nor would consent now, in deference to his white friend the missionary, to\nabandon his intention, and would forbid any execution. But it would be\nrevealed to us afterwards that at that very moment a victim was in chains\nin that very village, and had subsequently been secretly put to death.\n\nThis day Kombenyamango, though receiving me with sufficient respect, was\nnonchalant. He did not lie. He promptly, in answer to my question, said,\n\"Yes, I have a prisoner here, and I intend to put her to death.\" \"Why?\"\n\"Because she has killed my mother!\" I told him I did not believe his\nmother had died by unnatural means, and I preached to him the usual sermon\non the Sixth Commandment. I was at that time young in my knowledge of\nnative thought and fetich belief. I can see now that to every sentence of\nmy address he could have said Amen, in his believing, as he did, that his\nmother had been murdered, and that this slave woman had broken the Sixth\nCommandment. But, after listening awhile, he became impatient, and said,\n\"Look here! in your country, when a person kills your mother, don't you\ntie a rope about his neck and hang him up, and don't you say you are doing\nright in so doing?\" \"Yes.\" \"Well, that's just what I am going to do to\nthis woman, and I am right.\" \"Yes, you would be right if she has killed\nyour mother; but she has not. The bewitching with which you charge her is\nfoolish.\" (As to the folly, I know now that that was a matter of opinion\nbetween him and me; and he had reason for his opinion.) He replied, \"But\nshe has confessed that she is guilty.\" \"Quite possibly; but still a lie on\nher part, for she would say anything to obtain temporary relief from your\ntorture.\" \"But ask her yourself.\" \"No use to do so in your presence; she\nis afraid of you, and she will not dare to speak to me or contradict you.\"\n\"Well, then, I will bring her; and you take her off there among the\nplantains by yourself, and see what she will say.\" This sounded fair; but\neven so, I had my doubts, for she did not know me. Perhaps they would lie\nto her, and tell her I was confederate with her master, and would order\nher not to alter her confession. And she, in her dazed condition, was\nreally not responsible for anything she might say. She was brought from a\nhut. She was in chains, and yet with her limbs free to walk. There was no\npossibility of her escape; nor of my being able to abduct her, had I been\nunwise enough to attempt it. I led her out of Kombenyamango's hearing, but\nstill plainly in his sight, and kindly said to her, \"Did you do this?\" To\nmy amazement, she said, \"Yes.\" \"But what did you do? If you say you killed\nher, how did you do it?\" She described minutely how, being in attendance\non the old woman, she was often vexed at her petulance, and had been\nbeaten by her for small neglects; how, in her anger, she had desired her\nmistress's death; had collected crumbs of her food, strands of her hair,\nand shreds of her clothing; how she had mixed these with other substances,\nand had sung enchantments with drum and dance, aided by others; had tied\nall these things together on a stick which she had secretly buried at the\nthreshold of the old woman's door, desiring and expecting that she should\nthereby die. By an unfortunate coincidence the old woman had died a month\nor two later; and the slave believed that what she had done had been\nefficient to accomplish the taking of life.\n\nBaffled, I returned to Kombenyamango, and admitted her confession. But I\ntold him that, even so, both he and she were under a delusion; that what\nshe had done had no efficiency for accomplishing a murder; that it was\nimpossible. (Here again was a difference of opinion as to possibility; he\nbelieved his senses. In his life he had seen witchcraft mysteries; I had\nnot.)\n\nIt was useless, even inconsistent, to plead for mercy; I retired\nheartsick. I was morally certain the old woman had died a natural death.\nYet this poor slave woman had had murder in her heart, and had tried to\nmake her murderous thought effective. She was, before God, guilty. She had\nconfessed herself, before man's bar, guilty. (Well for the thousands of us\nwho know ourselves guilty in thought, that we are not to be held by our\nfellow-sinners as guilty in act!) I knew that she was really innocent, but\nI could not prove it. She was taken to sea in a boat, and decapitated; her\nremains were thrown into the sea.\n\nOn another occasion, a year later, also on Corisco Island, a certain\nheathen headman of a village, Osongo, had died. A female slave who was\nsuspected had fled. Her flight was regarded as proof positive of her\nguilt. Our mission premises had always been accorded by the native chiefs\nthe right of sanctuary. A refugee for any offence could not be seized on\nour premises till we saw just reason for \"extraditing\" him. This slave\nwoman had hidden herself in our jungle-thicket adjoining a forest; just\nwhere I did not know. Two freemen--my personal employees, good\nChristians--knew, and secretly at night with my connivance fed her. My\nschool-girls also learned of it. Such a secret is difficult to hide. One\nof the girls, a niece of Osongo, revealed it to another of my workmen,\nMatoku, a slave also of Osongo, and a professed Christian. He, with the\ntraitorous cowardice that makes many slaves informers on each other as a\nmeans of enhancing their own safety with their masters, revealed it to\nAjai, Osongo's brother. Ajai, with a retinue of servants, came to visit me\nin my study. He, with a wily talk about the sadness of his brother's\ndeath, detained me, while the servants broke into the mission premises,\nand, led by Matoku, captured the woman, faint with her days and nights of\nexposure. I discharged Matoku from my employ, and dismissed the niece from\nschool. But the heathen regarded these punishments as slight; they had\nobtained their object. My attempts to plead with Ajai for the woman's life\nwere met with undisguised admission of his fixed purpose to kill her. With\na family as prominent on the island and as wedded to heathenism as was\nOsongo's, and in face of the current that set against the woman, the\ninfluences I was able to employ, and which had at other times resulted in\nsaving some lives accused of witchcraft, proved ineffectual. I was\nprivately told that she was to be put into a boat and carried out to sea\nso as to prevent any interference I might possibly attempt. With a\nspy-glass I saw a native boat shoot rapidly out from beyond a point of\nland half a mile distant. The rowers rested on their oars when they\nreached deep water. She was seized; her head held over the gunwale, her\nthroat cut, and her lifeless body cast into the sea.\n\nShe had a son, a stout lad. Ajai, fearing that he might live to avenge his\nmother's death, had ordered him also to be killed as an accomplice with\nher in the bewitching of Osongo. The tragedy that was being enacted on the\nbeach behind the point of land from which had issued the boat I did not\nsee; but I was told that the lad was seized, his hands and limbs tied to a\nstake, where he was slowly burned to death. A crowd sat on the beach\njeering him, and amused themselves by tying little packets of gunpowder to\ndifferent parts of his body, enjoying the sight of his struggles as the\npackets exploded in succession.\n\nUndeniably there is much jugglery and conscious deception on the part of\nthe magic doctors. How much they really believe in what they say or do no\none has been able to discover; they assert that they are under\nsupernatural influences, and have power given from supernatural sources.\nRarely are any of this priest class converted to Christianity. A few have\nprofessed conversion, and have made a general acknowledgment of\nsinfulness; but they did not like to talk about their divinations; they\ncalled them \"foolishness.\" But evidently there was something about those\ndivinations of which they seemed ashamed and which they wished to forget.\nOnly one have I met who would talk on the subject, and she believed she\nhad been under satanic influence,--not simply as all wicked thoughts are\nsatanic in their character and inspiration, but that she had actually been\nunder satanic possession, and was given by the devil more than mere human\npower. Certainly, if there is in civilized jugglery, fortune-telling,\nclairvoyance, divining, spirit-rappings, theosophy, _et id omne genus_,\nnothing more than sleight of hand, alert observation of facial\nexpression, and mind-reading, the African conjurer almost equals the\ncivilized professional. The native magician does and tells some wonderful\nthings. In one of my congregations an educated woman, a widow, who had\nonly one child, a son grown to young manhood, had subsequently lived in\nsuccession with four other men, three of whom were white, who had either\ndied or deserted her; and she supposed herself past child-bearing. She\ncontracted a secret marriage with a white gentleman, but of it positively\nnothing was known or even suspected by any one. She confessed to me that\none day, being a visitor in a distant place where she was not known, she,\nout of mere curiosity, hired a magician to divine her future. He looked\ninto his magic mirror, and, among many other things which he could\nshrewdly have guessed in a quick study of her character as revealed in her\nlooks, manner, and language, surprised her by describing a white man (whom\nhe had never seen) who, he asserted, was deeply attached to her, and by\nwhom she would become the mother of two children. She suppressed her\nsurprise, and told him that though married four times, she had borne no\nchild in eighteen years. He nevertheless asserted, \"I see them in your\nwomb.\"\n\nWithin five years from that time she did have two untimely births by her\nwhite husband. She told me in her confession that he knew nothing of them,\nthey being miscarriages. She had suppressed from him the fact of her\npregnancy. When subsequently she united with the church, she made these\nrevelations only to me as her pastor, to save herself from public rebuke.\n\nAt another time a woman in Gabun became very anxious about a brother of\nhers who was trading on the Ogowe River, at a place at least three hundred\nmiles distant; no news had come of him. Evil news always flies fast and is\nalways spread publicly. She went to a magician. Divining, he said, \"Your\nbrother is dead.\" \"But where? What? When did he die?\" \"Only recently. I\nsee his body lying bleeding.\" And he described the wounds, the locality on\nthe river, the time, and other details of a country where he had never\nbeen. Two months later news did come, and it agreed in time, place, and\ncircumstances with the divination.\n\nSuch things occur in civilized lands. They are accounted for without any\nreference to, or belief in, demoniac or even supernatural causes or\ninfluences. We call such recondite knowledge telepathy, and leave it for\npsychologists to study its character and application. It has no religious\nsignificance or use. The most devout Christian may believe in it or be\nsubject to its operation. Other cases of telepathy in Africa I have been\ntold of, that had no fetich nor any divination of magic doctor connected\nwith them; but the natives attributed them to some unknown\nspirit-influence.\n\nAn outcome of the witchcraft of fetichism, demonolatry, though not\nnecessarily identical with demoniacal possession, intimately associates\nitself with it as a part of its development. For the Negro belief in such\npossession there is good basis. The Bible recognizes the possibility of\nhuman beings in their free agency making pacts with the devil, in virtue\nof which he was allowed, under divine administration, to share with them\nsome of his supernatural power as prince of the power of darkness, and god\nof this world. Such pacts were condemned by Jehovah as unholy. Those who\nmade them were called witches and wizards; such transgressors were\ndirected to be destroyed. \"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live\"[55] (a\ncommand that does not necessarily prove that the professed diabolical\ncompact was always a real one. The mere professing to have satanic\ncompanionship and aid was an offence heinous to Jehovah's theocratic\ngovernment of his people.)\n\nBut the witch of Endor[56] certainly was a reality; she did \"bring up\"\nreal departed spirits; perhaps only on that one occasion, and then only by\ndirect divine and not satanic power and will, and for a divine object. She\nherself seems to have been surprised[57] at the real success of\ndivinations which formerly may have been, in her hands, only deceptions.\n\nMy native heathen chiefs have good precedent for their witchcraft\nexecutions. New England history cannot wipe out the fact of the Salem\nwitchcraft trials.\n\nDemoniac possessions in supposed lunatics are possible; they were actual\nand numerous in Palestine during the ministry of Christ. Satan was\n\"loosed\" with unusual power, that the Son of God in his contest with him\ncould give to the world convincing proof of his divine origin and\nauthority, even the devils being subject to him. If demoniacal possessions\nare possible during a term of years, they are equally possible for a few\nhours; they never were nor are made by Satan for a good purpose. God, in\nthe days of Christ, for the special purpose of the time, overruled them\nfor the defence of his kingdom; since then, in the hearts of evil men,\ntheir advent is only for evil and by evil.\n\nIf in Christian lands the enchantments of the hoodoo are only jugglery and\nnothing else, it may be that Satan's power is limited under the broad\nlight of Christianity. But in heathen lands, where for ages Satan's power\nhas not only been accepted but also sought, I am disposed to believe that\nsome apparent cases of lunacy are real possessions by Satan, in which\ncases both the physical disease and its associated mental aberration are\nthe effect of the possession. In lunacy pure and simple the mental\naberration is the effect of disease alone,--some mental or physical\ninjury.\n\nThe possibility of a permanent possession by Satan being admitted, it is\neasily possible that the fetich doctors or priestesses may be temporarily\nentered into by satanic power, and that some wonderful things they do and\nsay while endowed with that power are used by the devil to blind men's\nminds against the truth.\n\nIt may be, therefore, that the missionary in his contest with heathenism\nhas literally to fight with the devil, with principalities and powers in\nhigh places, and needs weapons more subtle than Martin Luther's inkstand.\nIf so, he puts his preaching and his work at a disadvantage in deriding\nthe witchcraft side of fetichism, revealed in black art, as simply\n\"folly,\" and reprehensible only as a superstition. It is more than that;\nit is wickedness,--spiritual wickedness in high places. While it is true\nthat it has much that is mere jugglery and charlatanism, it is quite\npossible that it may have something that is diabolically real.\n\nBut all this does not fully justify my Negro chief in putting to death his\nslave, who may or may not have been more than self-deceived and deceiving,\nwho may or may not have had a temporary satanic possession, who may or may\nnot have been guilty of murder before the bar of God or man. That chief\nand all his assistants in the execution, and all other users of the black\nart, had, in the beginning of their fetich life, been users of only the\ndefensive white art; had inevitably grown into the use of the offensive\nblack art, and in all probability at some time or other had used\ndivinations, with and by the aid of witchcraft doctors, for the\ndestruction of others in a similar way and under the same motives as those\nadmitted by my poor slave woman.\n\nMy chief's argument syllogized would be: Whoever kills should be killed;\nthis woman has killed; therefore she should be killed. His first premise\nstands; but neither he nor any of his people had a right to use it;\nconsistently, he and all his should themselves have been at the same bar\nwith the woman; they either had done, or would some day be doing, just\nwhat they were charging her with doing. His second premise may or may not\nhave been true; certainly, the only one who could know whether it was true\nwas the accused herself, and she may have been self-deceived; and her\nconfession should have no standing in court, having been forced under\ntorture. I could not therefore admit his conclusion; and I think that, had\nthe Master stood visibly on Corisco Island that day, He would have said,\n\"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nFETICHISM--A GOVERNMENT\n\n\nIn civilization, under governments other than autocratic, law being made\nand executed, at least professedly, with the consent of the governed, all\nenactments find not only their justification, but also the possibility of\ntheir enforcement, in their support by public opinion. It is the general\nconsensus as to the need of an enactment regarding certain conditions\naffecting the lives or happiness or rights of the majority, that\ncrystallizes opinions into a form of words, and gives authority for the\nenforcement of the decisions expressed by those words.\n\nThis is also partly true even under governments more or less despotic,\nwhere the will of the ruler, not of the ruled, is made the basis of law.\nFew despots are so utterly tyrannical as deliberately to arouse opposition\non the part of their subjects. Even a Nero, who would refuse a petition if\nit happened to run counter to his whim or caprice of the day, would grant\nthat same petition if it happened to coincide with his own whim of another\nday. Even he thought it desirable to pander to the public taste for the\nbutcheries of the amphitheatre, not simply because he himself enjoyed\nthem. Though he could initiate no measure for the real good of Rome, he\nrecognized the necessity of responding to the cry, \"panem et circenses.\"\n\nIn all governments fear is recognized as one of the grounds for the\nenforcement of law. In even the freest nations and under the highest form\nof civilization the public opinion that administers law makes its demand\npartly in the interest of essential right, partly with the instinct of\nself-preservation against the forces of evil, and partly for the\npunishment of wrong. Punishment in itself is not reformatory; it is\nretributive; it is deterrent; it plays upon fear.\n\nIn the native African tribal forms of government, while it would not be\ntrue to say that there is no justice in the customs they recognize, it is\ntrue that the only sentiment appealed to, in the enforcement and even in\nthe enactment of supposed needed measures, is that of fear. Their religion\nbeing one of fear, it is therefore appealed to to lend its sanction and\naid.\n\n\"Fetiches are set up to punish offenders in certain cases where there is\nan intention to make a law specially binding; this refers more\nparticularly to crimes which cannot always be detected. A fetich is\ninaugurated, for example, to detect and punish certain kinds of theft;\npersons who are cognizant to such crimes, and who do not give information,\nare also liable to be punished by the fetich. The fetich is supposed to be\nable not only to detect all such transgressions, but has power, likewise,\nto punish the transgressor. How it exercises this knowledge, or by what\nmeans it brings sickness and death upon the offender, cannot, of course,\nbe explained; but, as it is believed in, it is the most effectual\nrestraint that can possibly be imposed upon evil-disposed persons.\"[58]\n\nAmong the Negro tribes of the Bight of Benin and the Bantu of the region\nof Corisco Island and of the Ogowe River, in what is now the\nKongo-Fran\u00e7ais, there was a power known variously as Egbo, Ukuku, and\nYasi, which tribes, native chiefs, and headmen of villages invoked as a\ncourt of last appeal, for the passage of needed laws, or the adjudication\nof some quarrel which an ordinary family or village council was unable to\nsettle.\n\nIn those councils an offender could be proved guilty of a debt or theft,\nor other trespass, and when it was no longer possible for him by audacity\nor mendacity to persist in his assertion of innocence, he would yield to\nthe decision of the great majority against him. But there was no central\ngovernment to enforce that decision or exact from him restitution. The\nonly authority the native chiefs possessed was based on respect due to\nage, parental position, or strength of personal character. If an offender\nchose to disregard all these considerations, an appeal was then made to\nhis superstitious fear.\n\nEgbo, Ukuku, Yasi, was a secret society composed only of men, boys being\ninitiated into it about the age of puberty. Members were bound by a\nterrible oath and under pain of death to obey any law or command issued by\nthe spirit under which the society professed to be organized. The actual,\naudible utterance of the command was by the voice of one of the members of\nthe society chosen as priest for that purpose. This man, secreted in the\nforest, in a clump of bushes on the outskirts of the village, or in one of\nthe rooms of the Council House, disguised his voice, speaking only\ngutturally. The whole proceeding was an immense fiction; they believed in\nspirits and in the power of fetich charms, and they made such charms part\nof the society's ceremonies; but, as to the decisions, all the members\nknew that the decision in any case was their own, not a spirit's. They\nknew that the voice speaking was that of their delegate, not of a spirit.\nYet for any one of them, or for any woman, girl, or uninitiated boy, to\nassert as much would have been death. And those men who would not have\nsubmitted to the same decision if arrived at in open council of themselves\nas _men_, and known before the whole village to be speaking only as men,\nwould instantly submit when once the case had been taken to Ukuku's Court.\nThey carried out that fiction all their lives. Let a man order his wives\nand other slaves to clear the overgrown village paths, they might hesitate\nto obey by inventing some excuse that they were too much occupied with\nother work, or that they would do it only when other people who also used\nthe same path should assist; or if under the sting of a kasa-nguvu (lash\nof hippopotamus hide or manatus skin) they started to do the work, they\nmight do it only partly or very unsatisfactorily. But let the man call in\nthe other men of the village and summon a meeting of the society, the\nrecalcitrants would submit instantly, and in terror of Ukuku's voice; much\nas they might possibly have suspected it was a human voice, they would not\ndare whisper the suspicion. They helped to carry on a gigantic lie. They\ntaught their little children, both girls and boys, that the voice belonged\nto a spirit which ate people who disobeyed him. When the society walked in\nprocession to or from their appointed rendezvous, they were preceded by\nrunners who, with a well-recognized cry and with kasa-nguvu in hand,\nwarned all on the path of the coming of the spirit. Women and children\nhastened to get out of the way; or, if unable to hide in time, they\naverted their faces. The penalty when a woman even saw the procession was\na severe beating; that, however, might be commuted to a fine.\n\nAbout thirty-nine years ago, on the island of Corisco, the then\nheadquarters of the Corisco Mission, there was a long-standing feud\nbetween the Benga tribe, inhabiting that island, and the Kombe tribe,\ndwelling at the mouth of the Eyo River, of the Benita country, fifty miles\nto the north. Benita was also a part of the mission field. The quarrel\nbetween the two tribes greatly obstructed our mission work. Missionaries\nwere entirely safe in travel between the two places, respect being given\nthem as foreigners, and their presence in a boat protected their crews;\nbut it was often difficult to obtain a crew willing to go on the journey\nwithout the presence of a white man. The difficulties caused by the feud\nfell heavily also on the Benga people themselves. The island itself had no\nproducts for trade; ivory, dye-woods, and rubber came from the Benita\nmainland. Many Kombe women had married Benga men, and needed frequently to\nrevisit their own country. Finally, to end the feud, it was agreed that\nthe Kombe Ukuku Society, whose power was held in even greater fear than\nthat of Benga, should come to Corisco and settle the affair.\n\nIt was a day of terror at the Girls' Boarding School, of which I was then\nsuperintendent. As the long, blood-curdling yell of the forerunners on\nthe public path, that ran only one hundred feet from the school dwelling,\nannounced the approach of the procession, the girls fled, affrighted, to\nthe darkness of the attic of the house. After the procession had passed,\nthey ran away secretly in byways to their own villages, feeling safer in\nthe darkness of their mother's huts than in the mission-house; for it had\nbeen reported that Ukuku, besides settling the tribal feud, intended to\nattack the mission work that had been successfully making converts among\nthe Kombe, because any native who became a Christian immediately withdrew\nfrom membership in the society. It had therefore begun to feel a little\nanxious about its safety. I stood at my door and saw the procession pass;\nthey saw me, but, because of my sex, they did not show any displeasure.\nThey were painted with white and other colored chalks that gave a horrible\nexpression to their faces; their look was defiant, and a hoarse, muttered\nchant had, even on myself, a depressing effect. I could well imagine that\nto a superstitious native mind the _tout ensemble_ would be terrifying.\n\nThe procession on its way chose to pass over a road that had by use become\nsomewhat public, but which was owned by the mission; it was only fifty\nfeet past the front door of the house of the senior missionary, the Rev.\nJames L. Mackey. Mrs. Mackey was standing at the door of the house; not\nbeing a Benga woman, she saw no reason why she should retire before Ukuku,\nand stood her ground. Ukuku went to their rendezvous in a rage, and the\nKombe portion demanded the life of the woman who not only had not hidden\nher face in their presence, but had dared persistently to look upon them.\nThis demand was modified by the Benga portion to a fine; its alternative,\nwhipping, not even they daring to suggest for a white lady. This demand\nfor a fine was actually brought to Mr. Mackey, who gave a dignified reply,\npointing out that, as foreigners, white people were not subject to Ukuku;\nthat Ukuku had trespassed on mission private property, and was itself\nresponsible for being seen; that, as a Christian, in no case could he\nrecognize the authority of Ukuku to order or fine him. In reply, Ukuku\nmade the point that it was the government of the country, and that even\nforeigners were bound to obey law. (Corisco actually belonged to Spain,\nbut Spain in no way exercised any visible authority over it.)\n\nThey admitted their trespass on private property, but still demanded the\nfine. Mr. Mackey made no further reply; and of course, as a matter of\nconscience, refused to pay the fine. But it transpired afterwards that\nnative friends, fearful lest matters should come to an ugly pass through\nhis refusal, privately paid the fine themselves. The missionary, unaware\nof this, thought he had triumphed; really Ukuku had, but not\nunqualifiedly, for it was a shock to its power that it should have been\ndisputed at all, even by a white man.\n\nAbout the same time a young slave man who was beginning to attend church\nwith desire to become a Christian, was sitting in a village where was\nbeing held a meeting of the local Ukuku Society. The object of the meeting\nwas to alarm and drive back to a more constant performance of fetich\nobservances some of the villages on which heathenism was beginning to lose\nits hold. In the course of his oracular deliverances the Ukuku priest\nmentioned by name this young man. In his fresh zeal as a convert he made a\nprotest; perhaps duty did not call for even that just at the time, but he\neven went beyond. As he was able to recognize the voice, though disguised,\nand knew who its owner was, he made a fatal mistake in saying, \"You,\nsuch-a-one, I know who you are; you are only a man; why are you troubling\nme?\" He was promptly dragged to the seaside and decapitated.\n\nWhile converts felt the propriety of abandoning their membership in the\nsociety and any participation in its ceremonies, the mission had not\nrequired of them nor deemed it desirable that they should make a\nrevelation of its secrets. But it had occurred in the early history of the\nmission that one young man, Ibia, a freeman, member of a prominent\nfamily, had felt that in breaking away from heathenism and becoming a\nChristian he should cast off the very semblance of any connection with\nevil or even tacit endorsement of it. He knew the society was based on a\ngreat falsehood. As a lad he had believed Ukuku was a spirit; on his\ninitiation he had found that this was not so; but loyal to his heathenism\nand to his oath, he had assented to the lie and had assisted in\npropagating it. He was known for the fearlessness of his convictions, and\nin his conversion he to a rare degree emerged from all superstitious\nbeliefs. Few emerge so utterly as he. He therefore publicly began to\nreveal the ceremonies practised in the Ukuku meetings. At once his life\nwas in danger. The two pioneer missionaries, Rev. Messrs. Mackey and\nClemens, were men of exceptional strength of character and wise judgment,\nand had obtained a very strong hold on the respect and affection even of\nthe heathen. Their influence, united with a small party of Ibia's own\nfamily and a few of the more civilized chiefs, was able to save his life,\nhe being guarded in the mission-house until the fierceness of heathen rage\nshould abate. But, though his enemies presently ceased from open efforts\nto kill him by force, they proclaimed that they would kill him by means of\nthe very witchcraft power he was despising. They said they would concoct\nfetich charms which would destroy the life of his child, and that they\nwould curse the ground on which he trod so that it should sicken his feet.\nNot long afterwards his infant child did die, and one of his feet for more\nthan a year had a painful ulcer. The coincidence was startling, and\nsomewhat triumphant for the heathen; but infant mortality is large even\namong natives, and phagedenic ulcers of the leg are very common. Ibia\nrecognized his afflictions as a trial of his faith permitted by God. He\ncame out of his fiery trial strong, and his life since has been that of a\nreformer, uncompromising with any evil, earning from his own people their\nill-will by his scathing denunciations of anything that savored of\nsuperstition. He became the Rev. Ibia j'Ikenge, member of Corisco\nPresbytery and pastor of the Corisco church; and Ukuku has long since\nceased to exist as a power on the island.\n\nLike all government intended for the benefit and protection of the\ngoverned, Ukuku, when it happened to throw its power on the side of right,\nwas occasionally an apparent blessing. It could end tribal quarrels and\nproclaim and enforce peace where no individual chief or king would have\nbeen able to accomplish the same result. In this connection I quote from\nan editorial in a Sierra Leone newspaper:\n\n\"Much of the ideas of our western civilization as to native African\ninstitutions have been crude and uninformed, based on misconception and a\npredisposition to consider such institutions as an outcome of barbarism\nand savagery, to be treated with unmitigated contempt. But as the light of\nmodern researches is reflected on the question by sympathetic students who\nhave brought an unprejudiced mind to bear on the subject, if haply they\nmight discover the hidden truths underlying the fabric which age, custom,\nand intellect have combined to construct into a national system, it is\nbecoming more and more apparent to those who are interested in the\nmaterial progress of Africa and the Africans and who are believers in the\nfact that native races have a civilization of their own capable of\ndevelopment and expansion on right lines, that the study of such questions\nshould be intelligently and scientifically pursued, and with a purpose to\nhelp those concerned in their onward progress towards the attainment of\nmoral, social, and intellectual liberty.\n\n\"That [some] native [governmental] institutions have wielded, and are\nwielding, a power for good in the several communities belonging to each\ndistinctive tribe, is a fact that cannot be disputed or contested, in the\npast as well as in the present. The Aro of the Yorubas [in the Niger\nDelta], the Porroh of the Mendis [of Sierra Leone], and the Bondo of the\nmixed mass who inhabit Sherbro-land, have and exercise judicial functions\nexemplary and disciplinary in their effects. By their means law and order\nare observed to such an extent that many of the unrestrained and rowdy\noutbursts cowardly indulged in by so-called civilized communities and\npeople are practically unknown.\n\n\"These institutions are connected with and govern the agencies that work\nin the sociology of all communities, such as the marriage laws; the\nrelation of children to parents and of sex to sex; social laws; the\nposition of eldership and the deference to be paid to age and worth;\nnative herbs and medicines, and the duties of the native doctor to the\nother members of the community.\"\n\nOn one occasion in 1861 the Rev. William Clemens took a young Benga man\nfrom Corisco Island to locate him as evangelist in the bounds of a\nmainland heathen tribe where there was some doubt as to the young man's\nsafety. The village chief, though a heathen and entirely uninterested in\nthe religious aspect of the case, was alive to the fact that the presence\namong his people of this young prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the white man would increase his\ntribal importance, and that his people themselves would derive a pecuniary\nbenefit from even the small amount of money that would be spent on the\nevangelist's food. He therefore voluntarily offered to call an Ukuku\nmeeting and have a law enacted that no one should machinate against the\nBenga's life by fetiches of any kind. Mr. Clemens declined the offer. If\nhe accepted Ukuku's authority to defend him, he might some day be called\non to submit to the same power as an authority to punish him. He wisely\navoided an entangling alliance. He told the chief that he preferred to\nentrust his prot\u00e9g\u00e9 to his care and to rely on his promise rather than on\nUkuku's. This compliment put the chief on his mettle; the evangelist's\nprotection became to him a case of _noblesse oblige_.\n\nThe power of this society was often used as a boycott to compel white\ntraders as to the prices of their goods, using intimidation and violence\nafter the manner of trades unions in civilized countries. This was true\nall along the West Coast of Africa wherever no white government had been\nestablished. It ceased at Libreville, in the Gabun country, after the\nestablishment of a French colony in 1843, with a white governor, a squad\nof soldiers, police, and a gunboat. Also at other trade centres such as\nLibreville, Ukuku early lost its position, for the population was too\nheterogeneous and there were too many diverse interests. At the large\ntrading-houses were gathered native clerks and a staff of servants as\ncooks, personal attendants, boatmen, etc., representing a score of tribes\nfrom distant parts of the coast. Whatever obedience they gave to similar\nsocieties in their tribes, they did not feel bound by the local one, to\nwhich they were strangers; and they were disposed, under a community of\ntrade interests with their employers, to disregard the society of the\nlocal tribe, to many of whom they felt themselves socially superior.\n\nBut at Batanga, in what is now the Kamerun colony of the German\nGovernment, the Ukuku Society forty years ago carried itself with a high\nhand. Batanga was not then claimed by any European nation, and the number\nof white men were few. Its trade in ivory was one of the richest on the\nWest Coast of Africa,--so rich that the Batanga people became arrogant.\nSome of them disdained to make plantations of native food supply, and\nlived almost entirely on foreign imported provisions, taking in exchange\nfor their abundant ivory barrels of beef, bags of rice, and boxes of\nship's biscuit. It was a case of demand and supply. The native got what he\nwanted in goods, and the white man obtained the precious ivory. But in the\ncompetitions of trade, fluctuations in the market, and the growing demand\nof the natives for a higher price, there came days when some white man,\nseeing the margin of his per cent of gain becoming too narrow, refused the\ncurrent price. Doubtless often the white men were arbitrary, not only in\nprices but also in other matters. Doubtless, also, the natives were often\nexorbitant in their demands. When the differences became extreme, the\nnative chiefs called in the aid of Ukuku. The phrase was to \"put Ukuku\" on\nthe white man's house. The trader was boycotted. He stood as under a major\nexcommunication. No one should buy from, or sell to him. No one should\nwork for him. He was deserted by cook, steward, washerman, and all other\npersonal attendants. Sentinels stood on guard to prevent food being\nbrought to him, or even to prevent his lighting a fire in his own kitchen\nif he should attempt to cook for himself.\n\nThe white trader generally succeeded in breaking down the interdict put\nupon him by these means, _viz._ (1) He had in his house a supply of canned\ngoods and ship's biscuit, with which he would not starve. (2) His Negro\nmistress almost always remained faithfully with him, secretly assisting\nhim, divulging to him the plans of her own people,--as in the history of\nCortes and the conquest of Mexico. She dared to do this, being tacitly\nupheld by her own family. The position of \"wife\" to a white man was\nconsidered by the natives an honorable one, and was sought by parents for\ntheir daughters. It was an exceptional source of wealth for them. (3) If\nother means failed, the trader could almost always break the boycott by\nbribes of rum. Time was money to him; often, indeed, in a malarial country\nit was life to him. Though time was worth nothing to the natives, the rum\nthey had learned to love became a necessity to them. In cutting the white\nman from their ivory, they had cut themselves from the white man's rum. A\njudicious expenditure of demijohns in proper quarters generally enabled\nUkuku to revoke his own law. Then, perhaps, the white man would make some\nslight concession.\n\nI had an experience of this kind in the Benita country in 1868. I had been\nthere several years. There was growth in the desire for the good things\nthat money can buy, but wages and prices had remained unchanged. I was\nobtaining all I needed of both labor and food without difficulty. Had I\nhad any difficulty, I should naturally have offered more inducement. I was\nnot aware that there was any discontent. None of my employees had asked\nfor a rise, nor had people, in selling their produce, complained of the\nprice I gave.\n\n\n[Illustration: ELEPHANTS' TUSKS AND PALM-LEAF THATCH. TWO HUNDRED MILES UP\nTHE OGOWE RIVER.]\n\n\nSuddenly, one morning, a company of about twenty men, led by an ambitious\nheathen whose manner had always been dictatorial to me and to whom I had\nshown no favor, filed into the public meeting-room of our mission-house. I\nknew them all; none were in my employ, nor were any of them Christians.\nAs if they thought it was hopeless to attempt to obtain anything from me\nby petition or respectful request, they seemed to have decided to stake\nall on a demand and threat. They suddenly and harshly began, \"We've come\nto order you to change prices.\" Naturally I felt nettled and replied that\nI saw no reason why I should take orders from them. They rose in a rage\nand said, \"Then we'll put Ukuku on you--(1) no one shall work for you; (2)\nno one shall sell you food or drink; (3) you shall not go yourself to your\nspring;\" and with a savage yell they left the house. Instantly a great\nterror fell on the native members of my household. Those who were heathen\ndropped work and went to their villages. Those who were Christians came to\nme distressed, saying that they desired to obey me, but they feared the\ninterdict. I relieved the situation for them by excusing them from further\nwork \"till I should call them,\" and refrained from ringing the call-bell\nat the usual work hour.\n\nWith me were Mrs. Nassau, our child's nurse, my sister Miss I. A. Nassau,\nand two native girls, members of another tribe. Nurse was a foreigner, a\nChristian Liberian woman, who was not amenable to the interdict. Some of\nmy Christian employees, though not working, remained on the premises. A\nfew visitors came in the afternoon,--some, as sincere friends, to\nsympathize; some in curiosity, to see how we were feeling; and some as\nspies, to see what we were doing. The interdict, except as an expression\nof ill-will and a possible check to my mission work, did not trouble me.\nAs to food, I had an ample supply of canned provisions, sufficient for a\nlong siege. In refusing to sell me their native products, the people would\nmiss more than I should. As to work, the cleaning of the premises was not\npressing and could safely be neglected. As to drinking-water, enough could\nbe caught from the roof in the almost daily rains. Food and labor were\ntheir own, to refuse if they chose. But the spring was on my premises and\nbelonged to me. To refrain from going to it might be deemed cowardice; at\nleast it would be obeying an order of what Ukuku claimed was a spirit. An\norder from men I might submit to under compulsion; to submit to this\nspirit went against my conscience. After prayer and consideration\novernight, Mrs. Nassau fully agreed with me that it was right I should\nmake a demonstration at the spring. In parting with her next morning, as I\ntook up a bucket to go to the spring, she knew I might not return alive. A\nsandy path led through low bushes to the spring, several hundred yards\ndistant. I saw no one on the way nor at the spring. I filled the bucket\nand was turning homeward, when a spy, armed with a spear, jumped out of\nhis ambush and ordered me to leave the water. As I did not do so, but\nstarted to walk over the path, he stabbed at my back. I thrust the spear\naside and faced him, but walking backward all the time kept my eye\nsteadily on his. He feared my eye (most native Africans cannot stand a\nwhite man's fixed look) and did not attempt to stab me in front, but tried\nto spill the water in the bucket and stab me from behind. But the bucket\nand its contents I guarded, as he struck at it from right to left, by\nrapidly changing it from left to right with one hand and warding off the\nspear with the other. Still walking backward, and keeping my eye on him,\nthe bucket and I reached the house in safety.\n\nHe hastened to the native villages, whence soon I heard a great outcry. A\ncompany of Christian natives came in haste, saying that Ukuku was on his\nway to assault the house, and that they and other young men, even some who\nwere not Christians, would fight for me against their heathen parents if I\ncould provide them powder. I supplied them. Then they bade me hasten and\nfasten all doors and windows.\n\nThe mission dwelling consisted of two houses joined by a covered\nveranda,--one, a one-storied bamboo; the other framed of boards, one and a\nhalf story. Mrs. Nassau was in the latter, closing it. Before I had\nfinished closing the former, the enemies came, and I was alone in the\nbamboo house. Shots rattled against the walls. Through the chinks I could\nsee the young men were guarding all entrances and firing. I think that in\nthis difficult situation, defending me against their own people, they\npurposely fired wide, for no one was even wounded. But their armed stand\nchecked the enemies, who then soon retired. In after years these were\nashamed of their assault, and tried to minimize it, when it was related to\nnew missionaries, by representing that they did not intend to kill me. I\naccepted that as a kindly after-thought. Certainly the spy at the spring\nintended, and tried hard, to kill me. Certainly, also, their gunshots left\ntheir marks on the walls of the bamboo house, and, for aught they knew,\nhad penetrated the thin walls and might have struck me.\n\nThat their interdict had been successfully broken, and that, too, by the\naid of their own sons, was a great blow to the Ukuku party. It was the\nbeginning of the end of its power. Four years later, while I was absent on\nmy furlough, the number of the church-members having largely increased,\ntwo young men, themselves of strong character and imbued with the courage\nof my able successor at Benita, Rev. Samuel Howell Murphy, deliberately\ndetermined to \"reveal Ukuku.\" They walked through a village street openly\nshouting to the women that \"Ukuku is only a man.\" At once their lives were\ndemanded; but so many of their companions stood up for them, and said to\ntheir fathers, \"The day you kill those two you will have to kill all of\nus, for we all say also that Ukuku is only a person,\" that Ukuku was\namazed. Nevertheless the society met. But when the members looked in each\nother's faces, each one knew that in voting to put to death the other\nmen's sons, he was voting also against his own son. The society could have\ndared to kill one or two, but to kill a score! They shrank from it. Every\none thought of his own son thus involved, and the great lie was exposed\nand died.\n\nIn 1879, on the Ogowe River, at my interior station, K\u00e2ngwe, near the town\nof Lambarene, one hundred and thirty miles up the course of the river, I\nhad a similar experience with that same society, known there in the Galwa\ntribe by the name of Yasi.\n\nIn my new work on the Ogowe, I pursued toward that society the same course\nI had followed with Ukuku at Benita. I preached simply the gospel of\nChrist; but it is true that the gospel touches mankind in all their human\nrelations. I therefore was not silent about such sins as slavery and\npolygamy, any more than I would be silent about the sins of drunkenness or\ntheft. All these were practices the evil of which in serious moments most\nnatives would admit, however much they chose still to persist in them. But\nwitchcraft was their religion; they believed in it. To attack it openly\nwould only offend, and I would lose the personal influence which I was\nable to exercise in quiet, private discussions. Yasi, though a falsehood,\nwas their government. To attack it would have simply emptied my church of\nevery heathen auditor, and would have debarred any women or children from\nreceiving further instruction. I could afford to bide my time, for the\nentering wedge of Christian principles to overthrow what I could never\nhave removed by direct onslaught. In conversations with my heathen\nfriends, the native chiefs, in their own houses, when no women or children\nhappened to be present, I would expostulate with them against such a mode\nof government. I told them I would render them respect and even obedience,\nif as persons they should enact laws affecting me as a person, but that I\ncould give neither respect nor obedience to what they knew I knew was a\nlie. They looked troubled, and replied, \"Yes, that's so, but don't tell it\nto the women.\" And I did not. Nevertheless, in my untrammelled\nconversations in the mission-house with my own Christian male employees, I\nwas not careful to be silent if our school-boys happened to be present;\nand these same employees in their own dormitories deliberately and\nintentionally told the boys of the falsities of their tribal\nsuperstitions. They were right. This was Christian principle, working as I\ndesired it should. Inevitably there grew up a generation of lads who began\nto deride Yasi, and said that they would never join the society.\n\nThere came one day a delegation of them led by two Christian young men,\nM\u00e2mb\u00e2 and Nguva, asking my permission to play a mock Yasi meeting. I asked\nthem, \"Will you dare to play that same play in your own villages?\" \"No, we\nwould be afraid.\" \"Then don't do here what you are unable to carry out\nelsewhere. I cannot defend you in your own villages. You are safe here;\nwait until you are stronger and more numerous. Just now your play will\ncreate confusion.\" Nevertheless they did play, with the result which I had\nforetold. The chiefs were deeply enraged. They \"put Yasi\" on my house,\nwhich meant that I was not to be visited nor sold any food. There was a\nreport, also, that the mission premises were to be assaulted with guns.\nThe loss of food supply was a serious difficulty. I did not need any for\nmyself and sister, nor for the two young missionaries, both of them laymen\nwho were visiting me from a sea-coast station, and who could not\nunderstand the case in all its aspects, for they had never met with the\nsociety's power; it did not exist at their station, having been broken\nbefore they came to Africa. But how was I to feed thirty hungry\nschool-boys? I had to send most of them away to their distant homes down\nthe river; and my canoes returned with a temporary food supply that they\nhad been able to buy at places on the route where news of the interdict\nhad not as yet been officially carried.\n\nThe dozen young men who remained with me I armed with guns obtained from a\nneighboring trading-house, and I posted sentinels every night to guard\nagainst sudden assault. I went to the native villages and met a council of\nseveral chiefs. They seemed desirous to keep on friendly terms with\nmyself, but they were angry at their own children. They took me to task\nfor my warlike preparations. These I told them were for defence, that I\nwould use the guns only when they compelled me to do so. Then they\ncomplained that I had taught their children to disobey them. I denied,\nstating that one of the greatest of God's commands which I had taught them\nwas to honor their parents. But I added that the Father in Heaven claimed\npriority even to an earthly parent; and how could children really honor\nparents who were persistently deceiving them about Yasi, who they knew was\nonly a person? They winced, and looking towards some women who were\npassing by, said, \"Don't speak so loud, the women will hear you.\" They\nmade another complaint, _viz._, that I was trying to change their customs;\nthey bade me leave them alone in their customs; I could keep my white\ncustoms, and they would keep theirs. I frankly told them that I would be\npleased to see some of their customs which were evil changed, but that\nneither I nor any other missionary could compel them to change; that,\nnevertheless, these customs would be changed in their and my own lifetime.\nThey were terribly aroused, and swore, \"Never! never! You can't change\nthem.\" \"No, not I; but they will be changed.\" \"Never! Who can or who will\ndo it?\" \"Your own sons.\" \"Then we will kill our own sons.\"\n\nThey seemed to transfer their anger against me to their own children. The\ninterdict against my house was not formally removed, but it was not\nrigidly enforced. I no longer felt it necessary to post sentinels at\nnight, and secretly, at night, a sister of one of these very chiefs sold\nme food for my family. But the heathen rage spread down the river to the\nvillages of the disbanded school children and native Christians. One of\nthese, Nguva, was seized, chained, and offered to Yasi \"to be eaten.\" He\nwas rescued by a daring expedition made by my two lay missionary visitors,\nwho went in my six-oared gig with my twelve enthusiastic young native\nChristian workmen. They went fifteen miles down river, were secretly\ndirected by one of the little school-boys to the village where Nguva was\nchained in stocks, assaulted the village at the mid-afternoon hour, when\nalmost all the men were away, cut Nguva from the stocks, and brought him\nin triumph to my house. But in their retreat up the river they had for a\ndistance of five miles been subjected to a fusillade of native guns from\nboth sides of the river. The river was wide, and they kept in mid-stream,\nand no one was injured. But the consequences of that resort to arms made\nme much trouble after my visitors had safely returned to their seaside\nstation. According to native law, I, and not my guests, was held as the\nresponsible party, and the affair was not satisfactorily settled until\nsome months afterward.\n\nMy prophecy came true; less than ten years later little children were\nplaying Yasi as amusement in the village streets. Nguva became an elder in\nthe church. He is now dead. His chain is a trophy in the Foreign Board's\nMuseum, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City.\n\nM\u00e2mb\u00e2 still lives, working faithfully as a church elder and evangelist.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nTHE FETICH--ITS RELATION TO THE FAMILY\n\n\nIn most tribes of the Bantu the unit in the constitution of the community\nis the family, not the individual. However successful a man may be in\ntrade, hunting, or any other means of gaining wealth, he cannot, even if\nhe would, keep it all to himself. He must share with the family, whose\nindolent members thus are supported by the more energetic or industrious.\nI often urged my civilized employees not to spend so promptly, almost on\npay-day itself, their wages in the purchase of things they really did not\nneed. I represented that they should lay by \"for a rainy day.\" But they\nsaid that if it was known that they had money laid up, their relatives\nwould give them no peace until they had compelled them to draw it and\ndivide it with them. They all yielded to this,--the strong, the\nintelligent, the diligent, submitting to their family, though they knew\nthat their hard-earned pay was going to support weakness, heathenism, and\nthriftlessness.\n\nNot only financial rights, but all other individual rights and\nresponsibilities, were absorbed by the superior right and duty of the\nfamily. If an individual committed theft, murder, or any other crime, the\noffended party would, if convenient, lay hold of him for punishment. But\nonly if it was convenient; to this plaintiff justice in the case was fully\nsatisfied if any member of the offender's family could be caught or\nkilled, or, if the offence was great, even any member of the offender's\ntribe.\n\nFamilies recognized this custom as proper, and submitted to it; for the\nfamily expected to stand by and assist and defend all its members,\nwhether right or wrong. Each member relied upon the family for escape from\npersonal punishment, or for help in their individual weakness or\ninability.\n\nIn getting a wife, for instance, no young man had saved up enough to buy\none. His wages or other gains, year after year, beyond what he had\nsquandered on himself, had been squandered on members of his family. The\nfamily therefore all contributed to the purchase of the wife. Though he\nthenceforth owned her as his wife, the family had claims on her for\nvarious services and work which neither he nor she could refuse.\n\nIf in the course of time he had accumulated other women as a polygamist,\nand, subsequently becoming a Christian, was required to put away all but\none (according to missionary rule), it was difficult for him to do so, not\nbecause of any special affection for the women involved in the dismissal,\nnor for pity of any hardship that might come to the women themselves.\nTrue, they would be a pecuniary loss to him; but his Christianity, if\nsincere, could accept that. And the dismissal of the extra women does not,\nin Africa, impose on them special shame, nor any hardship for\nself-support, as in some other countries. The real trouble is that they\nare not his to dismiss without family consent. The family had a pecuniary\nclaim on them, and the heathen members thereof are not willing to let them\ngo free back to their people. If this man puts them away, he must give\nthem to some man or men in the family pale who probably already are\npolygamists. The property must be kept in the family inheritance. Thus,\nthough attempting to escape from polygamy himself, this man would be a\nconsenting party in fastening it on others. His offence before the church\ntherefore would still be much the same.\n\nFor such concentrated interests as are represented in the family, there\nnaturally would be fetiches to guard those interests separate from the\nindividual fetich with its purely personal interests.\n\nRespect for the family fetich is cognate to the worship of the spirits of\nancestors. Among the Barotse of South Africa, for this worship, \"they have\naltars in their huts made of branches, on which they place human bones,\nbut they have no images, pictures, or idols.\"\n\nAmong the Mpongwe tribes of Western Equatorial Africa, \"the profound\nrespect for aged persons, by a very natural operation of the mind, is\nturned into idolatrous regard for them when dead. It is not supposed that\nthey are divested of their power and influence by death, but, on the\ncontrary, they are raised to a higher and more powerful sphere of\ninfluence, and hence the natural disposition of the living, and especially\nthose related to them in any way in this world, to look to them, and call\nupon them for aid in all the emergencies and trials of life. It is no\nuncommon thing to see large groups of men and women, in times of peril or\ndistress, assembled along the brow of some commanding eminence or along\nthe skirts of some dense forest, calling in the most piteous and touching\ntones upon the spirits of their ancestors.\n\n\"Images are used in the worship of ancestors, but they are seldom exposed\nto public view. They are kept in some secret corner, and the man who has\nthem in charge, especially if they are intended to represent a father or\npredecessor in office, takes food and drink to them, and a very small\nportion of almost anything that is gained in trade.\n\n\"But a yet more prominent feature of this ancestral worship is to be found\nin the preservation and adoration of the bones of the dead, which may be\nfairly regarded as a species of relic worship. The skulls of distinguished\npersons are preserved with the utmost care, but always kept out of sight.\nI have known the head of a distinguished man to be dissevered from the\nbody when it was but partly decomposed, and suspended so as to drip upon a\nmass of chalk provided for the purpose. The brain is supposed to be the\nseat of wisdom, and the chalk absorbs this by being placed under the head\nduring the process of decomposition. By applying this to the foreheads of\nthe living, it is supposed they will imbibe the wisdom of the person whose\nbrain has dripped upon the chalk.\"[59]\n\nIn the Benga tribe, just north of the equator, in West Africa, this family\nfetich is known by the name of Y\u00e2k\u00e2. It is a bundle of parts of the bodies\nof their dead. From time to time, as their relatives die, the first joints\nof their fingers and toes, especially including their nails, a small\nclipping from a lobe of the ear, and perhaps snippings of hair are added\nto it. But the chief constituents are the finger ends. Nothing is taken\nfrom any internal organ of the body, as in the composition of other\nfetiches. This form descends by inheritance with the family. In its honor\nis sacredly kept a bundle of toes, fingers, or other bones, nail\nclippings, eyes, brains, etc., accumulated from deceased members of\nsuccessive generations. This is distinctly an ancestor worship.\n\n\"The worship of ancestors is a marked and distinguishing characteristic of\nthe religious system of Southern Africa. This is something more definite\nand intelligible than the religious ceremonies performed in connection\nwith the other classes of spirits.\"[60]\n\nWhat was described by Dr. Wilson as respect for the aged among the tribes\nof Southern Guinea forty years ago, is true still, in a large measure,\neven where foreign customs and examples of foreign traders and the\npractices of foreign governments have broken down native etiquette and\nnative patriarchal government. \"Perhaps there is no part of the world\nwhere respect and veneration for age are carried to a greater length than\namong this people. For those who are in office, and who have been\nsuccessful in trade or in war, or in any other way have rendered\nthemselves distinguished among their fellow-men, this respect, in some\noutward forms at least, amounts almost to adoration, and proportionately\nso when the person has attained advanced age. All the younger members of\nsociety are early trained to show the utmost deference to age. They must\nnever come into the presence of aged persons or pass by their dwellings\nwithout taking off their hats and assuming a crouching gait. When seated\nin their presence, it must always be at a 'respectful distance,'--a\ndistance proportioned to the difference in their ages and position in\nsociety. If they come near enough to hand an aged man a lighted pipe or a\nglass of water, the bearer must always fall upon one knee. Aged persons\nmust always be addressed as 'father' (rera, lale, paia) or 'mother' (ngwe,\nina). Any disrespectful deportment or reproachful language toward such\npersons is regarded as a misdemeanor of no ordinary aggravation. A\nyouthful person carefully avoids communicating any disagreeable\nintelligence to such persons, and almost always addresses them in terms of\nflattery and adulation. And there is nothing which a young person so much\ndeprecates as the curse of an aged person, and especially that of a\nrevered father.\"\n\nThe value of the Y\u00e2k\u00e2 seems to lie in a combination of whatever powers\nwere possessed during their life by the dead, portions of whose bodies are\ncontained in it. But even these are of use apparently only as an actual\n\"medicine,\" the efficiency of the medicine depending on the spirits of the\nfamily dead being associated with those portions of their bodies. This\nefficiency is called into action by prayer, and by the incantations of the\ndoctor.\n\n\"In some cases all the bones of a beloved father or mother, having been\ndried, are kept in a wooden chest, for which a small house is provided,\nwhere the son or daughter goes statedly to hold communication with their\nspirits. They do not pretend to have any audible responses from them, but\nit is a relief to their minds in their more serious moods to go and pour\nout all the sorrows of their hearts in the ear of a revered parent.\n\n\"This belief, however much of superstition it involves, exerts a very\npowerful influence upon the social character of the people. It establishes\na bond of affection between the parent and child much stronger than could\nbe expected among a people wholly given up to heathenism. It teaches the\nchild to look up to the parent, not only as its earthly protector, but as\na friend in the spirit land. It strengthens the bonds of filial affection,\nand keeps up a lively impression of a future state of being. The living\nprize the aid of the dead, and it is not uncommon to send messages to them\nby some one who is on the point of dying; and so greatly is this aid\nprized by the living that I have known an aged mother to avoid the\npresence of her sons, lest she should by some secret means be despatched\nprematurely to the spirit world, for the double purpose of easing them of\nthe burden of taking care of her, and securing for themselves more\neffective aid than she could render them in this world.\n\n\"All their dreams are construed into visits from the spirits of their\ndeceased friends. The cautions, hints, and warnings which come to them\nthrough this source are received with the most serious and deferential\nattention, and are always acted upon in their waking hours. The habit of\nrelating their dreams, which is universal, greatly promotes the habit of\ndreaming itself, and hence their sleeping hours are characterized by\nalmost as much intercourse with the dead as their waking hours are with\nthe living. This is, no doubt, one of the reasons of their excessive\nsuperstitiousness. Their imaginations become so lively that they can\nscarcely distinguish between their dreams and their waking thoughts,\nbetween the real and the ideal, and they consequently utter falsehood\nwithout intending, and profess to see things which never existed.\"[61]\n\nAll that is quoted above from Dr. Wilson is still true among tribes not\ntouched by civilization. What he relates of the love of children for\nparents and the desire to communicate with their departed spirits is\nparticularly true of the children of men and women who have held honorable\nposition in the community while they were living. And it is also all\nconsistent with what I have described of the fear with which the dead are\nregarded, and the dread lest they should revenge some injury done them in\nlife. The common people, and those who have neglected their friends in\nany way, are the ones who dread this. The better classes, especially of\nthe superior tribes, hold their dead in affectionate remembrance.\n\nI have met with instances of the preservation of a parent's brains for\nfetich purposes, as mentioned above by Dr. Wilson. As honored guest, I\nhave been given the best room in which to sleep overnight. On a flat\nstone, in a corner of the room, was a pile of grayish substance; it was\nchalk mixed with the decomposed brain-matter that had dripped on it from\nthe skull that formerly had been suspended above. I then remembered how,\non visiting chiefs in their villages, they frequently were not in the\npublic reception-room on my arrival, but I was kept awaiting them. They\nhad been apprised of the white man's approach, had retired to their\nbedrooms, and when they reappeared, it was with their foreheads, and\nsometimes other parts of their bodies, marked with that grayish mixture.\nThe objects to be attained were wisdom and success in any question of\ndiplomacy or in a favor they might be asking of the white man.\n\nAround the doctor and his power is always a cloak of mystery which I have\nnot been able to solve entirely, and of which the natives themselves do\nnot seem to have a clear understanding. The other factors in their fetich\nworship have to them a degree of clearness sufficient to make them able to\ngive an intelligible explanation. It is plain, for instance, that the\ncomponent parts of any fetich are looked upon by them as we look upon the\ndrugs of our _materia medica_. It is plain, also, that these \"drugs\" are\noperative, not as ours, by certain inherent chemical qualities, but by the\npresence of a spirit to whom they are favorite media. And it is also clear\nthat this spirit is induced to act by the pleasing enchantments of the\nmagic doctor. But beyond this, what? Whence does the doctor get his\ninfluence? What is there in his prayer or incantation greater than the\nprayer or drum or song or magic mirror of any other person? For,\nadmittedly, he himself is subject to the spirits, and may be thwarted by\nsome other more powerful spirit which for the time being is operated by\nsome other doctor; or he may be killed by the very spirit he is\nmanipulating, if he should incur its displeasure.\n\nBelief in the necessity of having the doctor is implicit, while the\nexplanation of his _modus operandi_ is vague, and he is feared lest he\nemploy his utilized spirit for revenge or other harmful purpose. A patient\nand his relatives who call in the services of a doctor are therefore\ncareful to obey him, and avoid offending him in any way.\n\nThe Y\u00e2k\u00e2 is appealed to in family emergencies. Suppose, for instance, that\none member has secretly done something wrong, _e. g._, alone in the\nforest, he has met and killed a member of another family, devastated a\nneighbor's plantation, or committed any other crime, and is unknown to the\ncommunity as the offender. But the powerful Y\u00e2k\u00e2 of the injured family has\nbrought disease or death, or some other affliction, on the offender's\nfamily. They are dying or otherwise suffering, and they do not know the\nreason why. After the failure of ordinary medicines or personal fetiches\nto relieve or heal or prevent the continuance of the evil, the hidden Y\u00e2k\u00e2\nis brought out by the chiefs of the offender's family. A doctor is called\nin consultation; the Y\u00e2k\u00e2, is to be opened, and its ancestral relic\ncontents appealed to. At this point the fears of the offender overcome\nhim, and he privately calls aside the doctor and the older members of the\nclan. He takes them to a quiet spot in the forest and confesses what he\nhas done, taking them to the garden he had devastated, or to the spot\nwhere he had hidden the remains of the person he had killed. If this\nconfession were made to the public, so that the injured family became\naware of it, his own life would be at stake. But making it to his Y\u00e2k\u00e2,\nand to only the doctor and chosen representatives of his family, they are\nbound to keep his secret; the doctor on professional grounds, and his\nrelatives on the grounds of family solidarity. The problem, then, is for\nthe doctor to make what seems like an expiation. The explanation of this,\nas made to me, is vague. I am uncertain whether the Y\u00e2k\u00e2 of the injured\nfamily is to be appeased or the offender's own Y\u00e2k\u00e2 aroused from dormant\ninaction to efficient protection, or both. The Y\u00e2k\u00e2 bundle is solemnly\nopened by the doctor in the presence of the family; a little of the dust\nof its foul contents is rubbed on the foreheads of the members present; a\ngoat or sheep is killed, and its blood sprinkled on them, the while they\nare praying audibly to the combined ancestor-power in the Y\u00e2k\u00e2. These\nprayers are continued all the while the doctor, who makes his incantations\nlong and varied, is acting. The sanctifying red-wood powder ointment is\nrubbed over their bodies, and the Y\u00e2k\u00e2 spirit having eaten the life\nessence of the sacrificed animal, its flesh is eaten by the doctor and the\nfamily. The Y\u00e2k\u00e2 bundle is tied up again, and again is hidden away in one\nof their huts, care being taken to add to it from the body of the member\nwho next dies. The curse that had fallen on them is supposed to be wiped\nout, and the affliction under which they were lying is believed to be\nremoved.\n\nRecently (1901) a Mpongwe man had gone as a trader into the Batanga\ninterior. He was sick at the time of his going, one of his legs being\nswollen with an edematous affection, so much so that people in the\ninterior, natives of that part of the country, and fellow-traders,\nwondered that he should travel so far from his home in that condition. He\nsaid he was seeking among different tribes for the cure he had failed to\nobtain in his own tribe. Later on, he died. He happened to die alone,\nwhile others who lived with him, one of them a relative, were temporarily\nout of the house. The suddenness of the death aroused the superstitious\nbeliefs of the relative, and he rushed to the conclusion that it had been\ncaused by black art machinations of some enemy. But of the whereabouts or\nthe personality of that enemy he had not even a suspicion. He cut from the\ndead man's body the first joints of his fingers and all the toe-nails, put\nthem in the hollow of a horn, and closed its opening, intending to add its\ncontents to his family Y\u00e2k\u00e2 when he should return to Gabun. Then he waved\nthe horn to and fro toward the spirits of the air, held it above his head,\nand struck it on the back of his own neck, uttering at the same time an\nimprecation that as his relative had died, so might die that very day,\neven as he had died, the unknown enemy who had caused his death.\n\nThere is another family \"medicine,\" still used in some tribes, that was\nformerly held in reverence by the Ban\u00e2k\u00e2 and Bapuku tribes of the Batanga\ncountry of the German Kamerun colony. It was called \"Malanda.\" For\ndescription of it see Chapter XVI.\n\nAnother medicine similar to the Y\u00e2k\u00e2 in its family interest is called by\nthe Balimba people living north of Batanga, \"Ekongi.\" The following\nstatement is made to me by intelligent Batanga people who know the\nparties, and who believe that what they report actually occurred.\n\nAt Balimba, in the German Kamerun territory, lived a man, by name Elesa.\nHe possessed a little bundle containing powerful fetich medicines, so\ncompounded that they constituted the kind of charm known as Ekongi. Like\nAladdin's lamp, and almost as powerful, it warned him of danger, helped\nhim in all his wishes, assisted him in his emergencies, and when he was\naway from it, as it was hidden in one of his chests in his house, caused\nhim to be able to see and hear anything that was plotted against him. Only\nhe could handle it aright; no one else would be able to manage it.\n\nA brother-in-law of Elesa, husband of his sister, knew of this Ekongi, and\nasked Elesa to loan it to him in order that he also might be successful in\nsome of his projects.\n\nNow, the peculiarity of the Ekongi medicine is that it acts for and\nassists only the family of the person who owns it. Elesa refused his\nbrother-in-law, telling him that as they did not belong to the same\nfamily, he would not know what to do with a strange Ekongi, nor would\nEkongi be willing to answer a stranger.\n\nThe brother-in-law knew perfectly well that this was the manner of all\nEkongi medicine; but he was so covetous and so foolishly determined that\nhe hoped that in some way this Ekongi might be of use to him if only he\ncould possess himself of it.\n\nOne day Elesa went off into the forest on a hunting trip, leaving his\nEkongi safely locked in a chest in his house. The brother-in-law obtained\na number of keys, and going secretly to Elesa's house, tried them on the\nvarious chests stored in the back room. Finally a key fitted, and a lock\nturned. Suddenly the lid flew up, and out of the now opened chest jumped\nthe little Ekongi bundle, followed by all the goods that had been packed\nin the chest; and these spread themselves at his feet,--yards of cloth,\nand hats, and shirts, and coats, and a multitude of smaller articles. He\nrejoiced at the success of his effort. His covetousness overcame him. He\nsaid to himself that he would put back Ekongi into the chest, would lock\nit, gather up all this wealth and carry it away; and no one would see\nthem, or know that the chest had been opened by him.\n\nHe started to step forward, but his feet were held fast by some invisible\npower. He tried to stoop down to lay hold of some of the goods within\nreach, but his arms and back were held fast and stiff by the same\ninvisible power. And he realized that he was a prisoner in Ekongi's hands.\n\nOff in the forest Elesa, in his chase, was enabled by his Ekongi to see\nand know what was going on in his house. He saw his brother-in-law's\nattempt at theft, and that his unlawful eyes had looked on the sacred\nEkongi. He abandoned the chase that day, and came back in great anger to\nhis house. There was his brother-in-law rooted to the spot on which he\nstood, the chest open and empty, and the goods scattered on the floor.\n\nElesa controlled his anger, and at first said nothing. He quietly took a\nchair from the room out into the street and sat down on it, opposite to\nthe doorway, as if on guard. Then he spoke: \"So! now! You have looked on\nmy Ekongi! And you have tried to steal! I will not speak of the shameful\nthing of stealing from a relative.[62] That is a little thing compared\nwith the sin you have done of looking on what was not lawful for your\neyes. We are of different families. I will punish you by taking away my\nsister, your wife. You shall stand there until you agree to deliver up\nyour wife, and also an amount of goods equal to what you paid for her.\"\nThe brother-in-law began to plead against the hard terms, and offered to\nput his father into Elesa's hand instead of the wife. But Elesa insisted.\n\nThe brother-in-law's father, at a distant village, possessed also his own\nfamily Ekongi, which enabled him to see and know what was being said and\ndone at Elesa's house. He was angry at the hard terms demanded; according\nto native view, he would defend any one of his family, even if he were in\nthe wrong. A native eye does not look at essential wrong or right; it\nlooks at family interest. His son's attempt at theft did not disturb him.\nIt was enough that Elesa had seized his son as prisoner. He snatched up\nhis spear, and hasted away to quarrel with his marriage relative Elesa.\n\nOn reaching the house, he saw his son still standing helpless, and Elesa\nseated, still pressing his hard terms on him. The father said to Elesa,\n\"You are not doing well in this matter. Let my son go at once!\"\n\nElesa refused, saying, \"He wanted that which was sacred to me. He has\nlooked upon it and has desecrated it. I will not agree that the angry\nEkongi shall let him go free. He shall pay his ransom.\" After a long\ndiscussion Elesa changed his terms, and demanded a money substitute of one\nthousand German marks in silver ($250). The father also receded from his\ndemand that the son should be released unconditionally. And after further\ndiscussion the father, having saved both his son and himself from the\nfirst terms of the ransom, returned again to the question of a person\ninstead of money, and offered his daughter in marriage instead of the\n$250. Elesa accepted. He picked up the now satisfied Ekongi, and put it\nback into the chest; and all the scattered goods followed it, drawn by its\npower. And when the lid was again closed down and locked, the\nbrother-in-law felt his limbs suddenly released from constriction, and was\nable to walk away.\n\nThis was gravely told me by my cook, a member of the Roman Catholic\nchurch, and was endorsed by a woman of my own church, who was present\nduring the recital.\n\nMy friend the late Miss Mary H. Kingsley, on page 273 of her \"Travels in\nWest Africa,\" mentions an incident which shows that she had discovered one\nof these Y\u00e2k\u00e2 bundles, though apparently she slid not know it as such and\nsuspected it to be a relic of cannibalism. It is true, however, that she\ndid come in contact with cannibalism. She had been given lodging in a room\nof a house in a Fang village in the country lying between the Azyingo\nbranch of the Ogowe River and the Rembwe branch of the Gabun River. On\nretiring at night, she had observed some small bags suspended from the\nwall. \"Waking up again, I noticed the smell in the hut was violent, from\nbeing shut up, I suppose, and it had an unmistakably organic origin.\nKnocking the end off the smouldering bush-light that lay burning on the\nfloor, I investigated, and tracked it to those bags; so I took down the\nbiggest one, and carefully noted exactly how the tie-tie (rattan rope) had\nbeen put around its mouth; for these things are important, and often mean\na lot. I then shook its contents out in my hat for fear of losing anything\nof value. They were a human hand, three big toes, four eyes, two ears, and\nother portions of the human frame. The hand was fresh, the others only\nso-so and shrivelled. Replacing them, I tied the bag up, and hung it up\nagain.\" It was well she noticed a peculiarity in the tying of the\ncalamus-palm string or \"tie-tie.\" A stranger would not have been put in\nthat room of whose honesty or honor there was doubt. White visitors are\nimplicitly trusted that they will neither steal nor desecrate.\n\nAnother family medicine in the Batanga region is known by the name of\nMbati. An account of the mode of its use was given me in 1902 by a Batanga\nman, as occurring in his own lifetime with his own father. The father was\na heathen and a polygamist, having several wives, by each of whom he had\nchildren. One day he went hunting in the forest. He observed a dark object\ncrouching among the cassava bushes on the edge of a plantation. Assuming\nthat it was a wild beast wasting the cassava plants, he fired, and was\nfrightened by a woman's outcry, \"Oh! I am killed!\" She was his own niece,\nwho had been stooping down, hidden among the bushes as she was weeding the\ngarden. He helped her to their village, where she died. She made no\naccusation. The bloodshed being in their own family, no restitution was\nrequired, nor any investigation made. The matter would have passed without\nfurther comment had not, within a year, a number of his young children\ndied in succession; and it began to be whispered that perhaps the murdered\nwoman's spirit was avenging itself, or perhaps some other family was using\nwitchcraft against them. A general council of adjacent families was\ncalled. After discussion, it was agreed that the other families were\nwithout blame; that the trouble rested with my informant's father's\nfamily, which should settle the difficulty as they saw best, by inflicting\non the father some punishment, or by propitiation being made by the entire\nfamily. The latter was decided on by the doctors. They gathered from the\nforest a quantity of barks of trees, leaves of parasitic ferns, which were\nboiled in a very large kettle along with human excrement, and a certain\nrare variety of plantain, as small as the smallest variety of banana. To\neach member of the family present, old and young, male and female, were\ngiven two of these unripe plantains. The rind does not readily peel off\nfrom unripe plantains and bananas; a knife is generally used. But for this\nmedicine the rinds were to be picked off only by the finger-nails of those\nhandling them, and then were to be shredded into the kettle in small\npieces, also only by their finger-nails. A goat or sheep was killed, and\nits blood also mixed in. This mess was thoroughly boiled. Then the doctor\ntook a short bush having many small branches (a tradition of hyssop?), and\ndipping it into the decoction, frequently and thoroughly sprinkled all the\nmembers of the family, saying, \"Let the displeasure of the spirit for the\ndeath of that woman, or any other guilt of any hidden or unknown crime, be\nremoved!\" The liquid portion of the contents of the kettle having been\nused in the propitiatory sprinkling, the more solid pottage-like debris\nwas then eaten by all members of the family, as a preventive of possible\ndanger. And the rite was closed with the usual drum, dance, and song. My\ninformant told me that at that time, and taking part in the ceremonies,\nwas his mother, who was then pregnant with him. The Mbati medicine seems\nto have been considered efficient, for he, the seventh child, survived;\nand subsequently three others were born. The previous six had died. Though\ntwo of those three have since died, in some way they were considered to\nhave died by Njambi (Providence), _i. e._, a natural death; for it is not\nunqualifiedly true that all tribes of Africa regard all deaths as caused\nby black art. There are some deaths that are admitted to be by the call of\nGod, and for these there is no witchcraft investigation.\n\nThe father also is dead. My informant and one sister survive. They think\nthe Mbati \"medicine\" was satisfactory, notwithstanding that the sister\nbelieves that their father was secretly poisoned by his cousins, they\nbeing jealous of his affluence in wives and children.\n\nThe last step in the Mbati rite is the transplanting of some plant. A\nsuitable hole having been dug at one end, or even in the middle of the\nvillage street, each person takes a bulb of lily kind, probably a crinum\nor an amaryllis, such as are common on the rocky edges of streams, and\npressing it against their backs and other parts of their body, and with a\nrhythmic swaying of their bodies plant it in the hole. Thereafter these\nplants are not destroyed. They are guarded from the village goats by a\nsmall enclosure, and should at any time the village remove, the plants are\nalso removed and replanted on the new site. Such plants are seen in almost\nevery village.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nTHE FETICH--ITS RELATIONS TO DAILY WORK AND OCCUPATIONS AND TO THE NEEDS\nOF LIFE\n\n\nIn the great emergencies of life, such as plagues, famines, deaths,\nfunerals, and where witchcraft and black art are suspected, the aid or\nintervention of special fetiches is invoked, as has been described in the\nY\u00e2k\u00e2 and other public ceremonies. The ritual required in such cases is\noften expensive, as money is needed for the doctor's fee, for purchase of\ningredients and other materials for the \"medicine,\" and in the\nentertainment of the assemblage that always gather as participants or\nspectators.\n\nThere is also loss in time, little as the native African values time, and\nslow as he is in the expedition of any matter. Houses that should be\nerected and gardens that should be planted are neglected while the rite to\nbe performed is in hand. It may require even a month. During that time\neither the favorable season for building or planting may have passed, or\nthe work has only partly been completed. The division of the seasons into\ntwo rainy (of three months each) and two dry (a short hot and a long cool)\nmake it desirable, as in the temperate zones, for certain work to be done\nin certain seasons.\n\nBut for the needs of life, day by day, with its routine of occupations,\nwhose outgoings and incomings are known and expected, the Bantu fetich\nworshipper depends on himself and his regular fetich charms, which,\nindeed, were made either at his request by a doctor (as we would order a\nsuit of clothes from a tailor), or by himself on fetich rule obtained from\na doctor; and when paid for, the doctor is no longer needed or\nconsidered. The worshipper keeps these amulets and mixed medicines hanging\non the wall of his room or hidden in one of his boxes. But he gives them\nno regular reverence or worship, no sacrifice or prayer, until such times\nas their services are needed. He knows that the utilized actual spirits\n(or at least their influence), each in its specific material object, is\nsafely ensconced and is only waiting the needs of its owner to be called\ninto action.\n\nThese needs come day by day. Almost daily some one in the village is\nhunting, warring, trading, love-making, fishing, planting, or journeying.\n\n_For Hunting._ The hunter or hunters start out each with his own fetich\nhanging from his belt or suspended from his shoulder; or, if there be\nsomething unusual, even if it be not very great, in the hunt about to be\nengaged in, a temporary charm may be performed by the doctor or even by\nthe hunters themselves. This is the more likely to be done if there is an\norganized hunt including several persons. Such ceremonies preliminary to\nthe chase are described by W. H. Brown[63] as performed by an old\nwitch-doctor among the Mashona tribe: \"Fat of the zebra, eland, and other\ngame was mixed with dirt and put into a small pot. Then some live coals\nwere placed on the grease, which caused it to burn, so that clouds of\nthick smoke arose. The huntsmen sat in a circle around the pot, with the\nmuzzles of their old flint-locks and cap-guns sticking into the smoke. In\nunison they bent over and took a smell of the fumes, and at the same time\ncalled out the name of the 'medicine' or spirit they were invoking, which\nwas Saru, saying thus, 'Saru, I must kill game; I must kill game, Saru!\nNow, Saru, I must kill game!'\n\n\"After this performance was finished, each of the candidates in turn sat\ndown near the doctor, to be personally operated upon by him. He placed a\nbowl of medicated water upon the huntsman's head, and stirred it with a\nstick while the latter repeated the names of all the kinds of game he\nwished to kill. This was to ascertain whether or not the hunt was to be\nsuccessful. If any of the water splashed out and ran down over the\npatient's head and face, success was assured. If not a drop had left the\nbowl, then the huntsman might as well have laid aside his gun and assegai,\nfor his efforts would have been doomed to failure.\"\n\nAmong the Matabele of Southeast Africa, \"when they are about to start for\nthe chase, they arrange themselves in a circle at sunset, and the doctor\ncomes with the bark of a tree filled with medicine, and with his finger\nmarks the chiefs on the forehead, in order to give them authority over the\nanimals.\"\n\n_For Journeying._ No journey of importance is made without preparation of\na fetich, to which more forethought and time and care are given than to\nthe preparation of food, clothing, etc., for the way. Arnot[64] describes\nthe process: \"On behalf of a caravan to start for Bihe, Msidi and his\nfetich priests have been at work a whole month, preparing charms and so\nforth. The process in such a case is first to divine as to the dangers\nthat await them; then to propitiate with the appointed sacrifices to\nforefathers (in this case two goats were killed); afterwards to prepare\nthe charms necessary either as antidotes against evil or to secure good.\nThe noma or fetich spear to be carried in front of the caravan, with\ncharms secured to it, was thus prepared. The roots of a sweet herb were\ntied around the blade; then a few bent splinters of wood were tied on,\nlike the feathers of a shuttle-cock. In the cage thus formed, there were\nplaced a piece of human skin, little bits of the claws of a lion, leopard,\nand so forth, with food, beer, and medical roots; thus securing,\nrespectively, power over their enemies, safety from the paws of fierce\nanimals, food and drink, and finally health. A cloth was sewn over all,\nand finally the king spat on it and blessed it. After all these\nperformances they set out with light hearts, each man marked with sacred\nchalk.\"\n\n\"Before starting on a journey a man will spend perhaps a fortnight in\npreparing charms to overcome evils by the way and to enable him to destroy\nhis enemies. If he is a trader, he desires to find favor in the eyes of\nchiefs and a liberal price for his goods.\"\n\n\n[Illustration: WAR CANOE.--CALABAR, WEST AFRICA.]\n\n\n_For Warring._ So implicit is African faith in signs, charms, and\nauspices, that when the sign before going into war is inauspicious, the\nnatives' hopelessness of success sometimes makes them seem almost\ncowardly. Among the people of Garenganze in Southeast Africa, \"when the\nchiefs meet in war, victory does not depend on merely strength and\ncourage, as we should suppose, but on fetich 'medicines.' If some men on\nthe side of the more powerful chief fall, they at once retire and\nacknowledge that their medicines have failed, and they cannot be induced\nto renew the conflict on any consideration.\"[65]\n\nAmong the Matabele, \"before a war the doctors concoct a special medicine,\nand taking some of the froth from it, mark with it the forehead of those\nwho have already killed a man.\"\n\nA native of Batanga recently described to me the war-fetich as formerly\nprepared by his people. The medicine for it is arranged for thus. A house\nis built at least several hundred yards from the village. There will be\npresent no one but the doctor, who eats and sleeps there while he is\narranging with the spirits and deciding on the medicine. After two days he\ntells the people that he has finished it, that his preparations are ready,\nand that they must assemble at his house. He tells them to bring with them\na certain shaped spear with prongs. Men have already gathered in the\nvillage, to the number of several hundred, waiting for the war. The doctor\nchooses from among them some man whom he sends to the forest to get a\ncertain ingredient, a red amomum pod. (It contains the \"Guinea grains,\" or\nMalaguetta pepper, which taste like cardamom seeds, which a century ago\nwere so highly valued in Europe that only the rich could buy them.) Then\nthe doctor and the man, leaving the crowd, go together to the forest with\nknife and machete and basket. They may have to go several miles in order\nto find a tree called \"unyongo-muaele.\" The doctor holds the chewed amomum\nseeds in his mouth, and blows them out against the tree, saying,\n\"Pha-a-a! The gun shots! Let them not touch me!\" The assistant holds the\nbasket while the doctor climbs the tree and rubs off pieces of loose bark\nwhich are caught in the basket as they fall. They then go on into the\nforest to find another tree named \"kota.\" There he blows the chewed seeds\nin the same way saying the same,--\"Pha-a-a! Thou tree! Let not the bullets\nhit me!\" And the assistant, with basket standing below, catches the bark\nscraped down as the doctor climbs this tree.\n\nThey return to the village and enter the doctor's house. No women or\nchildren may enter the house or be present at the ceremonies. The men\nbring into the house a very big iron pot, and the doctor says, \"This is\nwhat is to contain all the ingredients of the medicine.\" Then the doctor,\nwith two other men, takes that spear by night, leaving all the other men\nto occupy themselves with songs of war, while the townspeople are asleep;\nthey go to the grave of some man who has recently died. They dig open the\ngrave, and force off the lid of the coffin. The doctor thrusts the spear\ndown into the coffin into the head of the corpse. He twirls the spear\nabout in the skull, so as to get a firm grip on it with the prongs of the\nspear. He changes his voice, and speaking in a hoarse guttural manner\nsays, \"Thou corpse! Do not let any one hear what I say! And do not thou\ninjure me for doing this to you!\" When the spear is well thrust into the\nskull, he stoops into the grave, and with a machete cuts off the head. He\ngoes away carrying the head on the spear-point. While doing all this, he\nwears not the slightest particle of clothing. They go back to the village\nto the doctor's house; and there they catch a cock, and in the presence of\nthe crowd the doctor twists (not cuts) off its head. The blood of the cock\nis caught in a large fresh leaf. He takes the fowl to the big pot, and\nlets some of its blood drip into it. The head of the corpse is also put\ninto the pot, with water, and all the other ingredients, including the\nspear. The bullets of the doctor's gun are also to go into the pot, which\nis then set over a fire.\n\nAfter the water has boiled the doctor takes a furry skin of a bush-cat,\nand all the hundreds of men stand on one side in a line. He dips the skin\ninto the pot, and shakes it over them. As he thus sprinkles them, he lays\non them a prohibition, thus: \"All ye! this month, go ye not near your\nwives!\" All that month is spent by them practising war songs and dances.\n\nThen the doctor takes the blood that was collected on the leaf, and mixes\nit with powdered red-wood. This mixture is tied up with the human head in\na flying-squirrel's skin. He hangs this bundle up in the house over the\nplace where he sits. The body of the fowl next day is torn in pieces, not\ncut with a knife, and placed in a small earthen pot with njabi oil (the\noil of a large pulpy forest fruit), and ng\u00e2nd\u00e2 (gourd) seeds. An entire\nfresh plantain bunch is cut, and successive squads of the men peel each\nman his small piece with his finger-nails. These also they shred with\ntheir nails, part into the pot, and part on a plantain leaf, as the pot is\nsmall, and all the pieces will be added as the contents of the pot are\ngradually reduced. The doctor himself lifts the pot from the fire, and\nfirst eats of the mess, and then gives each of the men, with his hand, a\nsmall share.\n\nWhen all have finished eating, he opens the bundle that had been tied in\nthe squirrel skin, and with the fibrous inner bark of a tree,\nkimbwa-mbenje (from which formerly was made the native bark-cloth),\nsponges the red rotten stuff on their breasts, saying, \"Let no bullet come\nhere!\" Then, led by the doctor, they march in procession to the town.\nThere he tells the people of the town to try to shoot him, explaining that\nhe does not wish any one to be in doubt of the efficacy of the charm. As\nhe leads the procession, he holds the bundle in his hand, shouting, \"Budu!\nhah! hah! Budu! hah! hah!\" The \"hah\" is uttered with a bold aspiration.\nThis is to embolden his followers. (\"Budu! hah!\" does not mean anything;\nit is only a yell.) The people are terrified, though he is still shouting\nto them to fire at him. He is safe; for he leads the procession to where\nis stationed a confederate, who does fire at him point blank from a gun\nfrom which the bullets have been removed. It is a triumph for him! The\ncrowd see that not only he does not fall dead, but he is not even wounded!\nThe charm has turned aside the bullets!\n\nThe townspeople are then invited to join the procession. They stand up\nwith the doctor and his crowd, and dance the war-dance. When the dancing\nis ended, he takes the bundle and anoints all the townspeople, even the\nwomen and children. And the men go to their war, sure of victory. But the\ndoctor himself does not go; he remains safely behind, saying that it is\nnecessary for him to watch the bundle in his house. Defeat in the war is\neasily explained by saying that some one in the crowd had spoiled the\ncharm by not obeying some item in the ritual.\n\n_For Trading._ One method is described to me by a Batanga native who had\nseen it used by a certain man of his tribe. This man obtained the head of\na dead person who had been noted for his intelligence. This he kept hidden\nin his house, lying in a white basin. To assure himself that it should be\nseen by no one else, he built a small hut in the behu (kitchen-garden),\ndetached from his dwelling, and into which none but himself and wife\nshould enter. There he kept the head in its basin. When he had occasion to\ngo to a white man's trading-house to ask for goods or any other favor, he\nfirst poured water into this basin, mixed it with the decomposed brain\nthat had oozed from the skull, and washed his cheeks in this dirty water.\nHe also took some brain-matter, mixed it with palm-oil, and rubbed it over\nhis hands. Then, on his going to the trading-house, when the white man\nshakes hands with him and looks on his face, he will be pleased and\ngenerously disposed, and will grant any request made.\n\nMy informant told me that when he was a lad he assisted his father in\nusing another method. His father was intimate with white men, trading\nextensively with them in ivory. To increase his credit, he set out to make\na new fetich. He called the son to accompany him to the forest, and handed\nhim a basket to carry. They searched among the trees until they found two\ngrowing near together, but bent in such a way toward each other that their\ntrunks crossed in contact, and were rubbed smooth by abrasion; and when\nviolently rubbing, in a storm, gave out a creaking sound. In that\nmysterious sound inhered the fetich power. He chose the trees, not for any\nvalue in their kind, but because of their singular juxtaposition and their\nweird sounds. He gathered bark from these trees, and the son carried the\nbasketful back to their village. The father fixed the time of arrival and\npoint of entrance so that they should not be seen as they came to their\nhouse. He then went out to the behu (kitchen-garden) and plucked four ripe\nplantains (mehole); and gathered leaves of a certain tree, by name \"boka.\"\nAn earthen pot containing water and pieces of the twin-tree bark was set\nover the fire, and into the pot were finely sliced the mehole and the boka\nleaves. To these were added a certain kind of fish, by name \"hume,\" a\nbottle of palm-oil, gourd seeds, and ground-nuts. All these were\nthoroughly boiled together. When they were sufficiently boiled, he lifted\noff the pot from the fire, not by his hands, but by clasping its hot sides\nwith his feet, as he sat on a low stool, and placed it on the ground.\nSitting by it, he held his face over it, with a cloth thrown over his\nhead, thus inhaling the steam. He remained in this steam bath for about an\nhour.\n\nAt food time he cut two pieces of leaves from plantains, spread them on\nthe ground and sat on them, and ate the mess that was in the pot. While\neating, he uttered into the pot adjurations, _e. g._, \"Let no one, not\neven a Mabeya tribesman, hinder me from the white man's good-will! When I\ngo some day to make my request to the white man, let him grant it!\" When\nhe had finished eating, he told his son to carry the pot into an inner\nroom and deposit it in a large box, which the father opened for that\npurpose. The pot was not washed; it still contained the remains of the\npottage. He told his son to reveal to no one what they had done.\n\nThat very day he heard that his trade friend in the adjacent inferior\nMabeya tribe had obtained an ivory tusk for him. He at once started out\nalone to meet his friend on the way, so as to be sure that it would not be\ncarried to some one else; but not as on other ordinary journeys. He was to\nlook neither to the right nor to the left (as if watchful of possibly\nambushed enemies), nor to look back, even if called by name; but with eye\nstraightforward, to walk steadily to the goal. Before starting, he had\nrubbed some of the pottage mess on his hand and tongue. On reaching the\nMabeya village, his friend did not hesitate or haggle about the price, but\npromptly told him to take the tusk. Before selling it to the white trader,\nhe scraped some ivory flakes from the outside of the tusk, put them into a\ndecanter with two bottles of rum (before foreign liquor was known, native\nplantain beer was used) and pieces of the twin-tree bark. When\nsubsequently he had occasion to go to the trading-house, he first drank a\nlittle from this decanter.\n\nAnother Bwanga-bwa-Ib\u00e2m\u00e2, or trade medicine, is concocted as follows: A\nman who decides to make one for himself does not allow any one but his\nwife to know what he is about to do. He gathers from the forest leaves of\na tree, by name \"kota,\" the skin of a flying-squirrel (ngunye), from some\ndead person the nail from the fourth or little finger (of either hand),\nand the tip of the tongue, some drops of his wife's menses, a solution of\nred-wood powder, and the long tail-feathers of a forest bird, by name\n\"kilinga.\" He then provides himself with an antelope's horn. Having burned\nthe squirrel skin, he puts its ashes into the horn, mixed with the\nabove-named articles, including the feather, whose end is allowed to stick\nout. Then, with the gum of the okume, or African mahogany tree, he closes\nthe mouth of the horn, as with a cork, to prevent the liquid contents from\nescaping. This horn he suspends by a string from his neck or shoulder\nwhenever he takes it with him on a journey. He uses it in his trade\ndealings with both whites and blacks. Before beginning a bargain or asking\na white trader or another person for gifts of goods, he secretly pulls out\nthe feather through the soft gum, and rubs a little of the liquid on the\nend of his nose. When this fetich is not in use, it is hidden in his\nbedroom or other private part of his house. But no one, not even his own\nfamily, is allowed to know where it is kept.\n\nAmong the Mpongwe tribes of the equator in West Africa there are trade\nmedicines that involve actual murder. One of these is called \"Okundu.\"\nLike modern spiritualism, it seeks to employ a human medium to communicate\nwith the dead; but it is unlike spiritualism in that the medium must\nactually be killed before he can go on his errand.\n\nIn the case of a man who seeks to become wealthy in trade and goes to a\nmagic doctor for that purpose, the doctor tells him of the different kinds\nof medicine, and some of the most important things required for each. The\nseeker may choose what he is able and willing to do. For Okundu medicine\nit is required that the seeker shall name some one or more of his\nrelatives who he is willing should die, and that their spirits be sent to\ninfluence white traders or other persons of wealth, and make them\nfavorably disposed toward the seeker, so that they may employ him in\npositions of honor and profit. If the seeker hesitate to do the actual\nmurder, the doctor, by his black art, is to kill the person nominated and\nsend him on his errand. If the fear should occur to the seeker that\nperhaps the murdered relative, instead of devoting himself in the\nspirit-world to the trade interests of his murderer, should attempt to\navenge himself, the subject is dismissed by the doctor's assurance that\neither the spirit shall not know that the death of its body was premature,\nor that he will overrule it for the desired purpose.\n\nI know, personally, a Mpongwe man still living in Gabun who is believed to\nhave done this Okundu. He is of prominent family, and had held lucrative\nservice with white traders. His fortunes began to wane; he fell into debt,\nand white men began to doubt him and hesitated to entrust him. Though\nwearing the dress of a civilized gentleman, he is a heathen at heart. He\nhad a little slave boy. The child suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.\nThose who asked questions received evasive and contradictory answers. A\nvery reliable native told me that it was known that this man had been\ncommunicating with an Okundu doctor, and many believed that the child had\nbeen put to death. But no one dared to say anything openly, and there was\nnot sufficient proof on which to lay an information before the French\ngovernor, only a mile distant.\n\nAnother Mpongwe trade medicine is Mbumbu (which means \"rainbow\"). Old\ntradition said that the rainbow was caused by a forest vine which a great\nsnake had changed to the form of the sun-colored arc. The seeker of wealth\nis aided by the doctor to obtain a piece of this rainbow, which he keeps\nin secret, and can carry hidden with him. By it he is able at any time to\nkill any one of his relatives whom he may choose (of course unknown to\nthem) and send their spirits off to induce foreign traders to give him a\nstore of goods (the children's pot of gold at the rainbow's end?).\n\n_For Sickness._ Among the Mpongwe and adjacent tribes there are three\nkinds of spirits invoked, according to the character of the disease. These\nare Nkinda, Ombwiri, and Ol\u00e2g\u00e2.\n\nIt is clear that these, as explained in a previous chapter, are names of\nspirits, but the same names (as in the case of other fetich mixtures) are\ngiven to the medicines in whose preparation they are invoked. But my\ninformants differed in their opinions whether these names indicate\ndifferent kinds of spirits, or only a difference in the functions or works\ndone by them. One very intelligent and prominent native at first seemed\nuncertain, but subsequently said that \"Nkinda\" indicated the spirits of\nthe common dead; \"Ombwiri\" the spirits of distinguished dead, kings, and\nother prominent men; and \"Ol\u00e2g\u00e2,\" a higher class, who had been admitted to\nan \"angelic\" position in the spirit-world. All, however, asserted that all\nthese are spirits of former human beings. Which kind shall be invoked\ndepends on the doctor's diagnosis of the disease.\n\n\n[Illustration: NATIVES TRADING IN PLANTAINS AND BAMBOO BUILDING\nMATERIALS.--GABUN.]\n\n\nTake the case of some one who has been sick with an obscure disease that\nhas not yielded to ordinary medication: the doctor begins his\nincantations with drum and dance and song. This is sometimes kept up all\nnight, and in minor cases the patient is required to join in these\nceremonies. But in the more mystic Nkinda, Ombwiri, and Ol\u00e2g\u00e2 the sick\nperson sits still, being required to do so as a part of the diagnosis. For\nif after a while the patient shall begin to nod his head violently, it is\na sign that a spirit of some one of these three classes has taken\npossession of him. The doctor then takes him to a secret place in the\nforest, and asks the spirit what kind it is, and what the nature of the\ndisease. The reply, though made by the patient, is not supposed to be his,\nbut the spirit's who is using his mouth. Really the sick, dazed,\nsubmissive patient does not know what he is saying. After this diagnosis\nthe doctor goes to seek plants suitable for the disease. By chance the\npatient may recover. If he does not, the doctor asserts that the spirit\nhad misinformed him, and the ceremony must be performed again.\n\nOne of the physical signs indicating that Ol\u00e2g\u00e2, rather than Nkinda or\nOmbwiri, is the medicine to be used, is vomiting. Hemorrhages from the\nlungs would be included in the Ol\u00e2g\u00e2 diagnosis.\n\n\"Among the Mashonas of South Africa a 'medicine' used is a small antelope\nhorn called 'egona,' in which was a mixture of ground-nut oil and a\nmedicinal bark known as 'unchanya.' The concoction is taken out on the end\nof a stick termed 'mutira,' and administered to the patient by dropping it\ninto his ear. The doctor stated that it was a sure cure for headache.\n\n\"Another horn, four inches long, called 'mulimate,' was for the purpose of\ncupping and bleeding, and is used in this wise: An incision is made with a\nknife into the body, the large end of the horn is placed over the wound;\nthen a vacuum is formed by the doctor's sucking the air out through an\nopening at the little end. The small hole is closed with wax, and the horn\nis left until it has become filled with clotted blood. This is the process\nof curing rheumatism and other maladies, which are supposed by the\nMashonas to be literally drawn out with the blood. Bleeding is practised\nextensively; and I have seen natives bled from arms, legs, body, and head\nuntil they were so exhausted that weeks were required for their recovery.\n\n\"Another important instrument was a brush made of a zebra's tail, among\nthe hairs of which were tied many small roots and herbs possessing various\nmedicinal properties. One of the remedies was known as 'gwandere,' and,\ntaken internally, was a sure cure for worms, so the doctor stated. The\nbrush was called 'muskwa,' this being the name of any animal's tail. The\ndoctor demonstrated its use by operating upon a man in my presence. He\nplaced some powdered herbs in a bowl of water, then dipped the brush in,\nand sprinkled the patient. Next, he performed several magic evolutions\nwith the brush around the patient's body, at the same time repeating, 'May\nthe sickness leave this person!' and so forth. The doctor told me that\nafter this operation the patient was certain of recovery, unless some\nwitch or spirit intervened to prevent it or to cause his death.\"[66]\n\n_For Loving._ Love philtres are common, even among the civilized and\nprofessedly Christian portion of the community. Philtres are both male and\nfemale. If a woman says to herself, \"My husband does not love me; I will\nmake him love me!\" or if any woman desires to make any man love her, she\nprepares a medicine for that purpose. This charm is called \"Iyele.\" The\nprocess is as follows: First, she scrapes from the sole of her foot some\nskin, and lays it carefully aside. Next, when she has occasion to go to\nthe public latrine at the seaside or on the edge of the forest, she washes\nher genitals in a small bowl of water, which she secretly carries to her\nhouse. Then, with a knife, she scrapes a little skin and mucous from the\nend of her tongue. These three ingredients she mixes in a bottle of water,\nwhich is to be used in her cooking.\n\nThe most attractive native mode of cooking fish and meat is in jomba\n(\"bundle\"). The flesh is cut into pieces and laid in layers with salt,\npepper, some crushed oily nut, and a little water. These all are tied up\ntightly in several thicknesses of fresh green plantain leaves, and the\nbundle is set on a bed of hot coals. The water in the bundle is converted\ninto steam before the thick fleshy leaves are charred through. The steam,\nunable to escape, permeates the fibres of the meat, thoroughly cooking it\nwithout boiling or burning.\n\nWhen the above-mentioned woman cooks for the man, her husband, or any\nother for whom she is making the philtre, the water she uses in the jomba\nis taken from that prepared bottle. This jomba she sets before him, and he\neats of it (unaware, of course, of her intention, or of the special mode\nof preparation). It is fully believed that the desired effect is\nimmediate; that, as soon as he has finished eating, all the thoughts of\nhis heart will be turned toward this woman, and that he will be ready to\ncomply with any wish of hers. No objection to her, or to what she says,\ncoming from any other person in the village, male or female, will be\nregarded by him.\n\nI know a certain Gabun woman who boasted of her power, by the\nabove-described means, to cause a certain white man whom she loved (but\nwho was not her husband) to do anything at all that she bade him.\n\nAlso a small portion from that bottle may be poured (secretly) into the\nglass of liquor that is to be drunk by a favored guest. This is practised\nalike on visitors, white or black.\n\nThe process of making a love charm by a man is more elaborate. The\ningredients are more numerous and require more time in their collection.\nHaving fixed his desire on some woman, he decides in his heart, \"I am\ngoing to marry such and such a woman in such and such a village!\" But he\nkeeps his intention entirely secret. He proceeds to make the male charm\ncalled \"Eb\u00e2bi.\" (I do not know the origin of this word; it looks as if it\nbelonged to the adjective \"bob\u00e2bu\" = soft, which is a derivative of the\nverb \"b\u00e2b\u00e2k\u00e2,\" to yield, to consent, to soften.) The first ingredient is\ncoconut oil, which is poured into a flask made of a small gourd or\ncalabash. Then, going to the forest, he gathers leaves of the bong\u00e2m tree.\nAnother day he will go again to the forest, and find leaves of the bokadi\ntree. Then he plucks some hairs from his arm-pits, and puts them and the\nbruised leaves, with some of his own urine, into the flask. This flask he\nthen suspends from his kitchen roof above the itaka frame or hanging-shelf\nthat in almost all kitchens is placed above the fire-hearth. It remains\nthere in the smoke for ten days. Then taking it down, he inserts into it,\ntip downward, a long tail-feather of a large bird called \"koka.\" He is\nready then for his experiment. Any day that he chooses to go to seek the\nwoman, he first draws out the feather, with whatever of the mixture clings\nto it, and wipes it on his hands. His hands he then rubs over his face\nrapidly and vigorously, saying, \"So will I do to that woman!\" He must\nimmediately then start on his journey. This act of anointing his hands and\nface must have been his very last act before starting. And there are\nseveral prohibitions. He must have thought beforehand of all things needed\nto be done or handled, for after the anointing he must not touch any other\nthing. In taking the gourd-flask from above the hanging-shelf he must not\ntouch the shelf. He must not rub or scratch his head. He must not handle a\nbroom. He must not shake hands with any one on the path to the woman's\nvillage. All these prohibitions are in order that the anointed mixture may\nnot be rubbed off, or its effect counteracted by contact with anything\nelse. When he reaches the woman's village, he goes directly to her, and\nclasping her on the shoulder, he rubs his hands downward on her arm,\nsaying, \"You! you woman! I love you!\" Instantly the medicine is operative,\nand she is willing to go with him.\n\nIf it is only a love affair, she goes secretly. If he offers her marriage,\nthere is first the amicable settlement by the council that is then held by\nthe woman's family as to the amount of the dowry to be paid for her.\nPresents having been given to her by him, the woman goes with the man\nwithout further objection. On reaching his house, he points out to her the\ngourd-flask hanging in the kitchen, and tells her, \"Let that thing alone.\"\nBut he does not inform her what it is; nor does she know or suspect that\nit is anything more than an ordinary fetich. Nor does any one else know;\nfor no one had been allowed to see him perform any part of the several\nprocesses of the ritual in compounding the charm.\n\n_For Fishing._ The prescription for making the fetich for success in\nfishing is as follows: Go in the morning early, while the rest of the\nvillagers are asleep, to an adjacent marsh or pond. (Almost all African\nvillages are built on or near the bank of some stream or lake.) Find a\nplace where pond-lilies are growing. Wade into the pond, bend low in the\nwater, and pluck three lily-pads. There are water-spiders, called\n\"mbwa-ja-miba\" (dogs of the water), generally running over the surface of\nthe water at such places; catch four of them. Gather also leaves of\nanother water-plant called \"ng\u00e2ma.\" All these articles leave in the\nvillage in a safe place. When other fishers come in from the sea, go to\nthe beach to meet them; and if they have among their catch a certain fish\ncalled \"hume,\" having three spines, beg or buy it. This you are to dry\nover the fire. Watch the daily fishing until some one has killed a shark;\nobtain its heart, which also is to be dried. Take also a plate full of\ngourd seeds (ng\u00e2nd\u00e2) and some ground-nuts (mbenda); also five \"fingers\" of\nunripe plantains cut from the living bunch on the stalk, and a tumblerful\nof palm-oil. All these above-named ingredients are to be mixed in one pot\n(which must be earthen) and are to be cooked in it. While the mess is\nboiling, sit by, face over the pot, in the steam rising from it, and speak\ninto the pot, \"Let me catch fish every day! every day!\" No people are to\nbe present, or to see any of these proceedings. Take the pot off the fire,\nnot with your hands, but by your feet, and set it on the ground. Take all\nyour fish-hooks, and hold them in the steam arising from the pot. Take a\nbanana leaf that is perfect and not torn by wind, and laying it on the\nground, spread out the hooks on it. Then eat the stewed mess, not with a\nreal spoon, but with a leaf twisted as a spoon. In eating, the inedible\nportions, such as fish-bones, skins, rind, and so forth, are not to be\nejected from the mouth on the ground, but must be removed by the fingers\nand carefully laid on the banana leaf. Having finished eating, call one of\nthe village dogs, as if it was to be given liberty to eat the remains of\nthe mess. As the dog begins to eat, strike it sharply, and as the animal\nruns away howling, say, \"So! may I strike fish!\" Then kick the pot over.\nTake the refuse of food from the banana leaf, and the hooks, and lay them\nat the foot of the plantain stalk from which the five \"fingers\" were cut.\nLeave the pot lying as it was until night. Then, unseen, take it out into\nthe village street, and violently dash it to pieces on the ground, saying,\n\"So! may I kill fish!\" It is expected that the villagers shall not hear\nthe sound of the breaking of the vessel; for it must be done only when\nthey are believed to be asleep. When the bunch of plantains from which\nthose fingers were taken ripens, and is finally cut down for food by\nothers, you are forbidden to eat not only of it, but of the fruit of any\nof its shoots that in regular succession, year after year (according to\nthe manner of bananas and plantains), take the place of the predecessor\nstalk. You may never eat of their fruit.\n\n_For Planting._ Planting is done almost entirely by women. If a woman says\nto herself, \"I want to have plenty of food! I will make medicine for it!\"\nshe proceeds to gather the necessary ingredients. She takes her ukwala\n(machete), pavo (knife), short hoe (like a trowel), and elinga (basket),\nand goes to the forest. She must go very early in the morning, and alone.\nShe gathers a leaf called \"tube,\" another called \"injenji,\" the bark\nof a tree called \"bohamba,\" the bark also of el\u00e2mb\u00e2, and leaves of bokuda.\nHiding them in a safe place, she goes back to her village to get her\nearthen pot. Returning with it to the forest, she makes a fire, not with\ncoals from the village, but with new, clean fire made by the two\nfire-sticks. These, used by natives before steel and flint were\nintroduced, require often an hour's twirling before friction develops\nsufficient heat to cause a spark. The sparks are caught on thoroughly\ndried plantain fibre. Then she builds her fire. She goes to some spring or\nstream for water to put in the pot with the leaves and barks, and sets it\non the fire. All this while she is not to be seen by other people. When\nthe water has boiled, she sets the pot in the middle of the acre of ground\nwhich she intends to clear for her garden until its contents cool. In the\nmeanwhile she goes to some creek and gets \"chalk\" (a white clay is found\nin places in the beds of streams). She washes it clean of mud and rubs it\non her breast. Then she takes the pot, and empties its decoction by\nsprinkling it, with a bunch of leaves, over the ground, saying, \"My\nforefathers! now in the land of spirits, give me food! Let me have food\nmore abundantly than all other people!\" Then she again sets the pot in the\nmiddle of the proposed plantation. She takes from it the tube leaves\nand puts them into four little cornucopias (ehongo), which she rolls from\nanother large leaf of the elende tree. She sets these in the four corners\nof the garden. Whenever she comes on any other day to work in the garden,\nshe pulls a succulent plant, squeezes its juice into the ehongo; and this\njuice she drops into her eye. To be efficient, this medicine has a\nprohibition connected with it, viz., that during the days of her menses\nshe shall not go to the garden.\n\nWhen her plants have grown, and she has eaten of them, she must break the\npot. Having done so, she makes a large fire at an end of the garden, and\nburns the pieces of earthenware so that they shall be utterly calcined. It\nis not required that she shall stay by the fire awaiting that result. She\nmay, if she wishes, in the meanwhile go back to her village. She takes the\nashes of the pot, mixes them with chalk in a jomba (bundle) of leaves,\nwhich she ties to a tree of her garden in a hidden spot where people will\nnot see it.\n\nAnother strict prohibition is required of her by the medicine, _viz._,\nthat she is not to steal from another woman's garden. If she break this\nlaw, her own garden will not produce. The jomba is kept for years, or as\nlong as she plants at that place, and the chalk mixture is rubbed on her\nbreast at each planting season. From time to time also, as the leaves of\nthe jomba decay or break away, she puts fresh ones about it, to prevent\nthe wetting of its contents by raid or its injury in any other way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nTHE FETICH--SUPERSTITION IN CUSTOMS\n\n\nThe observances of fetich worship fade off into the customs and habits of\nlife by gradations, so that in some of the superstitious beliefs, while\nthere may be no formal handling of a fetich amulet containing a spirit,\nnor actual prayer or sacrifice, nevertheless spiritism is in the thought,\nand more or less consciously held.\n\nIn our civilization there are thousands of professedly Christian people\nwho are superstitious in such things as fear of Friday, No. 13, spilled\nsalt, etc. In my childhood, at Easton, Pa., I was sent on an errand to a\nGerman farmhouse. The kind-hearted Frau was weeding her strawberry bed in\nthe spring garden-making, and was throwing over the fence into the public\nroad superfluous runners. I asked permission to pick them up to plant in\nmy own little garden. She kindly assented, and I thanked her for them,\nwhereupon she exclaimed, \"Ach! nein! nein! Das ist no goot! You say, 'Dank\nyou'; now it no can grow any more!\" I was too young to inquire into the\nphilosophy of the matter. Surely she would not forbid gratitude. I think\nthe gist of what she thought my error was, that I had thanked her for what\nshe considered a worthless thing and had thrown away. I do not think she\nwould have objected to thanks for anything she valued sufficiently to\noffer as a gift.\n\nThe difference between my old Pennsylvania-Dutch lady and my \"Number 13\"\nacquaintances, and my African Negro friend is that to the former, while\nthey are somewhat influenced by their superstition, it is not their God.\nTo the latter it is the practical and logical application of his religion.\nTheirs is a pitiable weakness; his a trusted belief.\n\nIt would be impossible to enumerate all the thousands of practices\ndominated by the superstitious beliefs of the Bantu,--practices which\nsometimes erect themselves into customs and finally obtain almost the\nforce of law. Many of these are prevalent all over Africa; others are\nlocal.\n\n\nRULES OF PREGNANCY.\n\nEverywhere are rules of pregnancy which bind both the woman and her\nhusband. During pregnancy neither of them is permitted to eat the flesh of\nany animal which was itself pregnant at the time of its slaughter. Even of\nthe flesh of a non-pregnant animal there are certain parts--the heart,\nliver, and entrails--which may not be eaten by them. It is claimed that to\neat of such food at such a time would make a great deal of trouble for the\nunborn infant. During his wife's pregnancy a man may not cut the throat of\nany animal nor assist in the butchering of it. A carpenter whose wife is\npregnant must not drive a nail. To do so would close the womb and cause a\ndifficult labor. He may do all other work belonging to carpentering, but\nhe must have an assistant to drive the nails.\n\nIn my early years on Corisco Island, and while I was expecting to become a\nfather, I was one day superintending the butchering of a sheep. It was not\nnecessary that I should actually use the knife; that was done by the cook;\nbut I stood by to see that the work was done in a cleanly manner, and that\nin the flaying the skin should be rolled constantly away, so that the hair\nshould not touch the flesh. In the dissection I assisted, so that the\nflesh should not be defiled by a carelessly wounded entrail. My servant\nwas amazed, and said my child would be injured. He was still more shocked\nwhen Mrs. Nassau herself came to urge haste and to secure the liver for\ndinner.\n\nAmong the station employees on Corisco in 1864 was an ex-slave, a recent\nconvert, whose freedom had been purchased by one of the missionaries. The\nnative non-Christian freemen begrudged him his position as a mission\nemployee; for his wages were now his own, and could no longer be claimed\nby his former master. Some of his fellow-servants, freemen, put off on\nhim, as much as they could, the more menial tasks. It was incumbent,\ntherefore, on the missionaries to see that he was not oppressed by his\nfellows. Clearing of the graveyard was a task no one liked to have\nassigned to him; and it was often thrown on poor Evosa. One day a newly\narrived missionary, the Rev. George Paull, the noblest of my associates\nthese forty years, who just then knew little of the language or of native\nthought or custom, ordered Evosa to take his hoe and clean the cemetery\npath. Evosa bluntly said, \"Mba haye!\" (I won't). \"You won't! You refuse to\nobey me?\" \"Mba haye!\" \"Then I dismiss you.\" Evosa went away, much cast\ndown. Some of his fellow-Christians came to me saying they were sorry for\nhim, and asked me to interfere. \"But,\" I said, \"he should obey; the work\nis not hard.\" \"Oh! but he can't do it!\" \"Why not?\" \"Because his wife is\npregnant.\" Immediately I understood. Evosa may not have believed in the\nsuperstition, but for all that, if he did the work and subsequently there\nshould be anything untoward in his wife's confinement, her relatives would\nexact a heavy fine of him. We had not required our converts to disregard\nthese prohibitions, if only they did not actually engage in any act of\nfetich worship. I was careful to say nothing to the natives that would\nundermine my missionary brother's authority; but privately I intimated to\nMr. Paull that I thought that if he had been fully aware of the state of\nthe case, he would not have dismissed the man. He was just, and reversed\nthe dismissal. Evosa was pardoned also for the bluntness of his refusal;\nit was a part of his slavish ignorance. In conclusion, I warned him that\nhe should have explained to Mr. Paull the ground of his refusal, and\nshould have asked for other work. He had not supposed that the white man\ndid not know; and the asking of excuse is a part of politeness that has to\nbe taught. Almost every new missionary makes unwise or unjust orders and\ndecisions before he learns on what superstitious grounds he is treading.\nNot all are willing to be rectified as was my noble brother Paull.\n\nIn the burial of a first-born infant the lid of the coffin is not only not\nallowed to be nailed down, but it must not entirely cover the corpse; a\nspace must be left open (generally above the child's head); the\nsuperstition being that if the coffin be closed, the mother will bear no\nmore children.\n\n\nOMENS ON JOURNEYS.\n\nAlmost every traveller in Africa, in publishing his story, has much to say\nabout the difficulties in getting his caravan of porters started on their\ndaily journey. His detailed account of slowness, disobedience, and\ndesertions is as monotonous to the reader as they were distressing to\nhimself. Did he but know it, the fault was often largely his own. The man\nof haste and exactitude, that has grown up on railroad time-tables,\ndemands the impossible of aborigines who never have needed to learn the\nvalue of time. Anglo-Saxon, Teutonic, and even Latin diligence expects too\nmuch of the happy-go-lucky African. The traveller fumes, and frets, and\nworks himself into a fever. He would gain more in the end if he would\n_festina lente_. He would save himself many a quarrel or case of\ndiscipline (for which he earns the reputation of being a hard master; and\nfor which, further on in the journey, he may be shot by one of his\noutraged servants) if he only knew that superstition had met his servant,\nas the angel \"with his sword drawn\" met Balaam's ass, \"in a narrow place\";\nand that servant could no more have dared to go on in the way than could\nthat wise ass who knew and saw what his angry master did not know.\n\nMr. R. E. Dennett, for many years a resident in Loango among the Bavili\npeople, and author of \"Seven Years among the Fjort,\" recognizes this in \"A\nFew Signs and Omens,\" contributed recently to a Liverpool weekly journal,\n\"West Africa.\" What he says of the Fy\u00e2t (Fiot) tribes is largely true of\nall the other West African tribes. \"They have a number of things to take\ninto consideration, when setting out upon a journey, which may account\nfor many of those otherwise inexplicable delays which so annoy the white\nman at times when anxious to start 'one time' for some place or other.\n\n\"The first thing a white man should do is to see that the Negro's fetiches\nare all in order; then, when on the way, he must manage things so that the\nfirst person the caravan shall meet shall be a woman; for that is a good\nsign, while to meet a man means that something evil is going to happen.\nThen, to meet the bird Kna that is all black is a bad sign; while the Kna\nthat has its wings tipped with white is a good sign.\n\n\"The rat Benda running across your path from left to right is good; from\nright to left fairly good; should it appear from the left and run ahead in\nthe direction you are going, 'Oh! that is very good!' but should it run\ntowards you, well, then the best thing for you to do is to go back; for\nyou are sure to meet with bad luck!\n\n\"See that your men start with their left foot first, and that they are\n'high-steppers'; for if their left foot meet with an obstacle, and is not\nbadly hurt, it is not a bad sign; but if their right foot knocks against\nanything, you must go back to town.\n\n\"See that you do not meet that nasty brown bird called Mvia, that is\nalways crying out, 'Via, via'; for that means 'witch-palaver,' and strikes\nconsternation into your people. Nobody likes to be reminded of his sins or\nwitch deeds, and be condemned to be burnt in the fire; and that is what\n'via' means.\n\n\"Then there is that moderately large bird with wings tipped with white\ncalled 'Nxeci,' also reminding one of 'witch-palaver,' and continuously\ncrying out, 'Ke-e-e,' or 'No.' You had far better not start.\n\n\"Take care also to shoot the cukoo o Nkuku before it crosses your path;\nfor if you allow it to pass, you had better return; it is a bad omen.\n\n\"Then, concerning owls: see that your camp at night is not disturbed by\nthe cry of the Kulu (spirit of the departed), that warns you that one of\nyou is going to die; or that of the Xi-futu-nkubu, which means that you\nmay expect some evil shortly. On the other hand, let the Mampaulo-paulo\nhoot as much as it likes; for that is a good sign.\n\n\"Then look out that the snake Nduma does not cross your path; for that is\na sign of death, or else of warning to you that you should return and see\nto the fetich obligations the iron bracelet Ngofu reminds you of. Examine\nyour men, and ask those who wear the bracelet the following questions:\nHave you eaten the flesh of anything (save birds) on the same day that it\nwas killed? Have you pointed your knife at any one? Did you know your wife\non the Day of Rest (Ns\u00e2na, Sunday)? Have you looked upon a woman during a\ncertain period of the month? Have you eaten those long 'chilli' peppers\ninstead of confining yourself to the smaller kinds?\n\n\"You must send those who have not the bracelet, together with those who\nhave not been true to ngofu, back to town, to set this 'palaver' right.\nTake great care of your fowls, and see that you have no ill-regulated cock\nto crow between 6 P. M. and 3 A. M., as that means that there is a palaver\nin town to which your men are called, so that it may be settled at once.\n\n\"Then, there is that large bird Knakna, whose cry warns your men that\nthere is something wrong with the fetich Mabili ('the east wind,' on the\ngateway at the east entrance to each town), and this knowledge will hang\nas a dead weight on all their energies until they have just run back to\ntown to see what the matter may be.\n\n\"Get your men to sleep early, lest they should see the 'falling stars';\nfor it means that one of their princes is about to die, and that is\ndisquieting. Then don't let it thunder out of season; for that portends\nthe death of an important prince.\n\n\"And if you determine to go out fishing, and meet the rat Benda (as above\nnoted), go or not, as the signs command you. If you meet the bird Mbixi\nthat sings 'luelo-elo-elo,' go on your way rejoicing; or when the little\nbird Nxexi, true to nature, sings 'xixexi,' all is well; but when it\nsings, 'tietie,' go back, for you will catch nothing.\n\n\"Then there is the wild dog Mbulu; well, that must not cross your path at\nstarting. You laugh? Well, so did Nyambi, the brother of my headman,\nBayona; and what happened? Nyambi had come down from the interior with his\nmaster; and after a short stay was ordered back to his trading post, his\nmaster saying that he would follow him shortly. A friend handed him a son\nof his for him to educate, and to attend upon him; in fact, to be his\n'boy.' Everything being ready, he set out from Loango; and the first thing\nthey met on the road was the wild dog. Now Nyambi was a plucky Bantu and\ntook no notice of this warning, but continued on his way. On reaching the\nforest country in Mayomba, the boy entrusted to him ran away. Nyambi, true\nto his trust, came after him back to his town, to see that the boy was\nonce more placed in the care of his father, and so to avoid any further\ncomplications. Then he once more started on his way, and, nearing the\nforest country again, was bitten severely on the foot by a snake. He tied\na rag around his leg just under the knee, and another just above his\nankle, and squeezed as much blood as he could from the wound itself. Then\nhe hobbled into the nearest town, and waited there for assistance from his\nfamily, to whom he had at once despatched a messenger. They sent men and\nwomen to bring him back to Loango, where he arrived in a very weak\ncondition, and with a fearful sore on his foot,--an awful warning to all\nthose who will not take the omens sent to them in earnest! What! you still\nlaugh? Well, there is no hope for you; you are too persistent, and have\nnot read the story of the rabbit and the antelope, and of the trap laid\nfor the former.[67] And if you keep on laughing at these superstitions of\nthe natives, don't blame any one if they call you a 'rabbit,' and refuse\nto follow you in your wanderings through their land. Most haste is very\noften worst speed in Africa; and the white man who ignores all but\nphysical difficulties does well to stay his impatient hand when about to\nstrike his most provoking and apparently dilatory black carrier, who is\nbeset by endless moral obstacles retarding his progress as no physical\ndifficulties can.\"\n\nWhen I was beginning my pioneering of the Ogowe River in\nSeptember-November, 1874, I had with me one Christian coast native. I\ncompleted my canoe's crew with four heathen Galwa, placed myself under the\npatronage of the Akele chief Kasa, resided in his village, and bought from\nhim a site, Belambila, for my mission station, about a mile distant from\nhim. Daily I went with my crew in the canoe to work at the building of a\ntemporary house on the Belambila premises. One day a water-snake crossed\nthe canoe's bow, and I struck at it. The Christian looked serious, and the\nfour heathen laid down their paddles. It was sufficiently disastrous that\nthe snake had crossed our path; I had made matters worse by attempting to\ninjure it. They said, \"You should not have done that.\" \"Why?\" \"Because\nsomewhere and sometime it will follow us and will bite us. Let us go back\nto Kasa's.\" I refused, and insisted on our proceeding with the day's work.\nI might better have yielded to their request. It was as if I were under an\nAncient Mariner's curse. My snake was as bad as his albatross. My men\neither could not or would not. Everything went wrong. They worked without\nheart and under dread. What they built that day was done with so many\nmistakes that I had to tear it down. I did not fully appreciate at that\ntime, but I do not now think that they were intentionally disobedient or\nrecalcitrant. Just as well compel a crew of ignorant sailors to start\ntheir voyage on a Friday. The fear of ominous birds and other animals is\nover all Africa. In Garenganze, according to Arnot, \"many have a\nsuperstitious dread of the horned night-owl. Its cry is considered an evil\nomen, which can only be counteracted effectually by possessing a whistle\nmade out of the windpipe of the same kind of bird.\n\n\n[Illustration: TRAVELING BY CANOE.--OGOWE RIVER.]\n\n\n\"Jackals, wild dogs, also are very much disliked. The weird cry of one of\nthese animals will arouse the people of a whole village, who will rush out\nand call upon the spirit-possessed animal to be quiet and leave them, or\nto come into the village, and they will feed and satisfy it.\n\n\"When travelling, they are careful to notice the direction this animal may\ntake. Should its cry come from the direction in which they are going, they\nwill not venture a step farther until certain divinations have been\nperformed that they may learn the nature of the calamity about to befall\nthem.\"[68]\n\nThe chameleon is an object of dread to all natives wherever I have lived.\nI have never met, even among the most civilized, any man or woman who\nwould touch one. For friendship, or to make a sale, they would bring it to\nme at the end of a long stick, in my various efforts at zo\u00f6logical and\nother collections.\n\nThe millepedes they also dread. I handle them with impunity, and my little\ndaughter, on the Ogowe, in 1888 did so too, under my example. But her\nyoung Negro companions soon made her afraid. True, the adult millepede\nejects a dark liquid which stained my hands and which natives said was\npoisonous if taken internally. (That I never tested.)\n\nA native friend, one of my Batanga female church-members, a sincere\nChristian, of bright mind but limited education, told me recently (1902)\nof her belief in the chameleon as a bad omen. She was visiting relatives a\ndozen miles north. Word was sent her to return, as another relative, a\nwoman in my Bongaheli village, was dangerously ill. Her host told her to\ngo, and advised her to gather on the way a certain fern, parasitic on\ntrees, that is used medicinally in the disease of which the woman was\nsick. My friend started on her day's journey, came to the tree, and was\nabout to pluck the ferns when she observed a chameleon clasping the tree;\nit stood still and looked at her. She instantly left the tree, abandoned\nthe ferns, went back to tell her host that a chameleon was in possession\nof them and had stared at her, and that it was useless to gather the\nmedicine, for she was sure their relative was dead. And she resumed her\njourney, coming back to Bongaheli in order to attend the mourning. It was\ntrue; the relative was dead, and the mourning had begun. Her belief was\nnot shaken when I reminded her that that chameleon was only doing just\nwhat all chameleons do when they are not walking, and when confronted by\nany one. They all clasp the branch on which they happen to be, and stare\nat their supposed pursuer, if unable to escape.\n\n\nLEOPARD FIENDS.\n\nFormerly a strange superstition said that on him who should kill a leopard\nthere would come an evil disease, curable only by ruinously expensive\nceremonies of three weeks' duration, under the direction of the Ukuku\n(Spirit) Society. So the natives allowed the greatest ravages, until their\nsheep, goats, and dogs were swept away; and were aroused to self-defence\nonly when a human being became the victim of the daring beast. The carcass\nof a leopard, or even the bones of one long dead, were not to be touched.\n\nWhile I was living at Benita, about 1869, the losses by leopards became so\ngreat that, in desperation, some of the braver young men, under my\nencouragement, determined that the depredator should be caught. (Nothing\nwas just then said about what should be done with it when caught.) A trap\nwas built in one of the villages, and baited with a live goat. Soon a\nleopard was entrapped. What to do with it was then the question. Some\nfavored leaving it alone till they could ask permission of Ukuku to kill\nit, even if they had to pay heavily for the permission. Others, who had\nheard me laugh at their superstition, proposed that I should be asked to\nshoot it. They came at night; I willingly and promptly went with my\nWinchester repeating rifle, which could easily be thrust into the chinks\nbetween the logs of which the trap was built. When the animal was shot,\ncame the question, Who should remove it? None would touch it. Among my\nemployees were two young men of another tribe with whom that superstition\ndid not exist. With their aid I lifted the carcass upon a wheelbarrow, and\ntook it to a place where I could comfortably skin it. Some objected to my\nretaining the skin. They wanted the whole animal put out of sight. But the\nmajority agreed that the skin should be my compensation for my rifle's\nservice. Then a deputation carefully followed me out on the prairie, to\nsee that the spot where the skinning was to be done was not near any of\ntheir frequented paths. After the flaying was complete, what was best to\ndo with the carcass? The majority objected to its being buried, fearing to\ntread over its grave. So I sent the two young men in a canoe, to sink the\ncarcass out in the river's mouth toward the sea. Even then there were\nthose who for two weeks afterward would eat no fish caught in the river.\n\nWith this fear of the leopard was united a superstition similar to that of\nthe \"wehr-wolf\" of Germany, _viz._, a belief in the power of human\nmetamorphosis into a leopard. The natives had learned, from foreigners who\nwere ignorant of the fact that there are no tigers in Africa, to call this\nleopard fiend a \"man-tiger.\" They got their fears still more mixed by a\nbelief in a third superstition, _viz._, that sometimes the dead returned\nto life and committed depredations. This belief was not simply that\ndisembodied spirits (mekuku) returned, but that the entire person, soul\nand body (ilina na nyolo), rose temporarily from the grave, with a few\nchanges (among the rest, that the feet were webbed). Such a being, as\nmentioned in a previous chapter, was called \"Uvengwa.\" At one time, while\nI was at Benito, intense excitement prevailed in the community: doors and\nshutters were violently rattled at night; marks of leopard's claws\nscratched doorposts; their tracks lay on every path; women and children in\nlonely places saw their flitting forms, in the dark were knocked down by\ntheir spring, or heard their growl in the thickets. It was difficult to\ndecide, in hearing these reports, whether it was a real leopard, a leopard\nfiend, or only an uvengwa. To native fear, they were practically the same.\nI felt certain that the uvengwa was a thief disguised in a leopard skin.\nUnder such disguise murders were sometimes committed. By bending my thumb\nand fingers into a semi-closed fist, I could make an impression in the\nsand that exactly resembled a leopard's track; and this confirmed my\nconclusions as to the real cause of the phenomenon.\n\nThe pioneer of the Gabun Mission, Rev. Dr. J. L. Wilson, in 1842, found\nthe wehr-wolf superstition prevalent among all the tribes of Southern\nGuinea. The leopard \"is invested with more terror than it otherwise would\nhave, by a superstitious apprehension on the part of the natives, that\nwicked men frequently metamorphose themselves into leopards and commit all\nsorts of depredations, without the liability or possibility of being\nkilled. The real leopard is emboldened by impunity, and often becomes a\nterrible scourge to the village he infests. I have known large villages to\nbe abandoned by their inhabitants, because they were afraid to attack\nthese animals on account of their supposed supernatural powers.\"\n\nAt Gabun, about 1865, there still remained a jungle on one side of the\npublic road that constituted the one street of the town of Libreville, as\nit followed the curve of the bay for three miles. There were frequent\nalarms and occasional murders along lonely parts of that road. The natives\nbelieved that the leopard fiend was a beast; the French commandant\nbelieved it was a human being. He had the jungle cut away. Since then, no\nmangled bodies have been found there.\n\nAmong the Garenganze people, in 1884, Mr. Arnot often chid them \"for their\nwant of bravery in not hunting down the many wild animals that prey around\ntheir towns, carrying off the sick people, and frequently attacking and\nseizing solitary strangers. They excused themselves by explaining that\nthese wild animals are really 'men of other tribes,' turned, by the magic\npower they possess, into the form of lions, panthers, or leopards, who\nprowl about to take vengeance on those against whom they are embittered.\nIn defending this absurd theory, one man said it was not possible for a\nLuba and a Lamba man to go out into the country together without one\nstealing a march on his neighbor, getting out of sight, and returning\nagain in the form of a lion or leopard, and devouring his travelling\ncompanion. Such things, they say, are of daily occurrence amongst them;\nand this foolish superstition leads them not only to tolerate the wild\nanimals about, but almost to hold them sacred.\"\n\nThis particular superstition still exists extensively. As late as 1898, it\nis stated of the Barotse of Southeast Africa: \"They believe that at times\nboth living and dead persons can change themselves into animals, either to\nexecute some vengeance or to procure something that they wish for: thus a\nman will change himself into a hyena or a lion in order to steal a sheep,\nand make a good meal off it; into a serpent, to avenge himself on some\nenemy. At other times, if they see a serpent, it is one of the 'Matotela'\nor slave tribe, which has thus transformed himself to take some vengeance\non the Barotse.\"[69]\n\n\nLUCK.\n\nThere exists a custom, even among the civilized, for the seller of an\narticle to hold back a small portion after his price has been paid. When I\nfirst met with this custom, I was indignant at what seemed like stealing;\nand yet it was so open, and without any attempt at concealment, that I was\namazed. One who brought for sale a bunch of plantains twisted off and took\naway one of its \"fingers.\" Another who had just been paid for a peck of\nsweet potatoes deliberately picks off one tuber. Another who brought a\ngazelle for sale would not complete the bargain till I had consented that\nhe might remove the gall-bladder and a portion of the liver. I learned\nthat all these were for \"luck\": in order that the garden whence came that\nplantain bunch or potato should be blessed with abundance; and the\nhunter, that he might be successful in his next hunt. The gazelle is\ncredited with being a very artful animal, the cunning being located\nespecially in the liver.\n\nOne might ask why, if those pieces are so needed for luck, the owner did\nnot take them before selling, and while they were still his own and under\nhis entire control. I do not know their exact thought; but the statement\nwas that the chances of good luck were greater if the pieces of plantain,\npotato, meat, etc. were abstracted after the article had actually passed\nout of the seller's possession.\n\nOn the Ogowe, at Lake Azyingo, in 1874, I was present at the cutting up of\na female hippopotamus which a hunter had killed the night before. By favor\nof the native Ajumba chief, Anege, I was allowed to see the ceremonies.\nThey were many; of most of them I did not understand the significance; and\nthe people were loath to tell me, lest I should in some way counteract\nthem. Even my presence was objected to by the mother of the hunter (he,\nhowever, was willing).\n\nAfter the animal had been decapitated, and its quarters and bowels\nremoved, the hunter, naked, stepped into the hollow of the ribs, and\nkneeling in the bloody pool contained in that hollow, bathed his entire\nbody with that mixture of blood and excreta, at the same time praying the\nlife-spirit of the hippo that it would bear him no ill-will for having\nkilled it, and thus cut it off from future maternity; and not to incense\nother hippopotami that they should attack his canoe in revenge. (Hippos\nare amphibians, but are generally killed in the water.) He kept choice\nparts of the flesh to incorporate into his luck fetich.\n\nMr. Arnot mentions the same custom in Garenganze: \"One morning I shot a\nhyena in my yard. The chief sent up one of his executioners to cut off its\nnose and the tip of its tail, and to extract a little bit of brain from\nthe skull. The man informed me that these parts are very serviceable to\nelephant hunters, as securing for them the cunning, tact, and power to\nbecome invisible, which the hyena is supposed to possess. I suppose that\nthe brain would represent the cunning, the nose the tact, and the tip of\nthe tail the vanishing quality.\" The stomach of the hyena is valued by the\nOvimbundu (of Southwest Africa) as a cure for apoplexy.\n\n\nTWINS.\n\nMr. Arnot states that in Garenganze \"cases of infanticide are very rare.\nTwins, strange to say, are not only allowed to live, but the people\ndelight in them.\" Though they are not regarded as monstrosities deserving\ndeath, as among the Calabar people on the West Coast, it is nevertheless\nconsidered necessary that certain preservative ceremonies should be\nperformed on the infants and their parents.\n\nMr. Swan, an associate of Mr. Arnot, describes a ceremony he was\nunexpectedly made to share in while on a visit to the native king Msidi:\n\"My attention was drawn to a crowd of folk, mostly women, who approached,\nsinging and ringing a kind of bell. They formed in lines opposite to us.\nIn front of the rest were a man and woman, each holding a child not more\nthan a few days old. I learned that the little ones were twins, the man\nand woman holding them being the happy parents, who had come to present\ntheir offspring to the king. They wore nothing but a few leaves about\ntheir loins,--a hint to Msidi, I suppose, that they would like some cloth.\n\n\"After chanting a little, an elderly woman came forward, with a dish in\nher left hand and an antelope's tail in her right. When she reached Msidi,\nI was astonished at her dipping the tail in the dish and dashing the\nliquid over his face. Msidi's wife had a like dose. But my surprise\nincreased when she came to us and gave us a share. What was in the dish I\ncannot say, but it struck me as possessing a very disagreeable odor. This\ndiscourteous creature was the Ocimbanda (fetich doctor). She did not cease\nher dousing work till she had favored all sitting around. The king then\nwent into the house, and his wife came out with some cloth, which she\ntied around the mother's waist; and then a piece of cloth was given to the\nhusband. The friends had brought some native beer; and when Msidi came\nout, he went to one of the pots, filled his mouth, spouting the beer in\nhis wife's face; she did the same to him, after which the spouting became\ngeneral.... They told me it was their custom to act thus when twins are\nborn.\"\n\nIn the Benga tribe, thirty-five years ago, I observed that if one of a\npair of twins died, a wooden image was substituted for it on the bed or in\nthe cradle-box, alongside of the living child. I strongly suspected\nAnimism in the custom; but some Christians explained that the image was\nonly a toy, so that the living babe should not miss the presence of an\nobject resembling its mate.\n\nNames of twins are always the same, in the same cognate tribes. In Benga\nthey are always Ivaha (a wish) and Ayenwe (unseen). These names are\ngiven irrespective of sex. But not every man or woman whom one may meet\nwith these names is necessarily a twin. They may have inherited the name\nfrom ancestors who were twins.\n\nAll over Africa the birth of twins is a notable event, but noted for very\ndifferent reasons in different parts of the country. In Calabar they are\ndreaded as an evil omen, and until recently were immediately put to death,\nand the mother driven from the village to live alone in the forest as a\npunishment for having brought this evil on her people.\n\nIn other parts, as in the Gabun country, where they are welcomed, it is\nnevertheless considered necessary to have special ceremonies performed for\nthe safety of their lives, or, if they die, to prevent further evil.\n\nIn the Egba tribes of the Yoruba country they become objects of worship.\nAs in other parts of Africa where twins are preserved, they are given twin\nnames; which, of course, differ in different languages. Among the Egbas\nthe first-born is Taiwo, _i. e._, \"the first to taste the world,\" and the\nother Kehende, _i. e._, \"the one who comes last.\"[70] About eight days\nafter their birth, or as soon as the parents have the money for the\nsacrificial feast, they invite all relatives on both sides, neighbors and\nfriends together. Various kinds of food are prepared, consisting chiefly\nof beans and yams. A little of each kind of food is set apart with some\npalm-oil thrown upon it, and the small native plates or basins containing\nit are set before the children in their cradle. They are then invoked to\nprotect their mother from sickness, to pity their parents and remain with\nthem, to watch over them at all times. I quote in this connection the\nfollowing from a West African newspaper:\n\n\"After the ceremony an elderly man or woman who has been a twin is called\nupon to split the kola nuts, in order to find out whether the children\nwill live or die. This is their way of asking the god or goddess to answer\ntheir requests (and it is singular that this throwing of kolas may be done\nrepeatedly until the reply is favorable to the inquirer). Thus: if a kola\nnut is split into four parts in throwing it down, they say, \"You Idol,\nplease foretell if the children will live long or die.\" If all the four\npieces of the kola fall flat on their backs, or all flat with their faces\nto the ground, or if two of them fall with their faces downward and the\nother two upward, then in each of those cases the reply is favorable, and\nit means they will live long and not die. But if three pieces of the kola\nshould turn their faces to the ground and only one fall flat on its back,\nor if the three pieces should turn their faces upward and only one\ndownward, the reply is unfavorable, and it means that the children will\ndie before long. In such cases they continue throwing the kola nut\nindefinitely until they obtain their wish; or, in rare cases of total\nfailure, the subject of inquiry is reserved till a future time, when they\nhope the idol may speak more favorably. Thus, twin children are worshipped\nevery month.\n\n\"In some cases, where the parents have the means, an invitation goes round\nto as many twins as they can get to partake of the sacrificial feasts. Of\ncourse, the people enjoy themselves at the feast.\n\n\"The twins have everything in common; they eat the same kind of food and\nwear the same dress. If one of them should die, the mother is bound to\nmake a wooden image to represent the dead child. This kind of image is\ngenerally about a foot in length, and is made of Ire wood, which is\nflexible and durable. It is carved in such a manner as to represent the\nhuman anatomy.\"\n\nThese images, substitute for a dead twin, are used very extensively among\nall the tribes of Africa. Various reasons are given for their use: that\nthe surviving twin shall not be lonely; that the departed one may be sure\nit is not forgotten; and other reasons. The images are retained as family\nfetiches, to ward off evil from the mother.\n\n\"If both children should die, the mother must have two wooden images, and\nregard them as her living children; she worships them every morning by\nsplitting kola nuts and throwing down a few drops of palm-oil before them.\nOf course, the occasional feasts follow in their due course, and as\noftentimes as she may happen to see them in her dreams.\n\n\"If they should live, and both are males, they make engagements and marry\nat the same time. If one is male, and the other is female, their dowry\nmust be given the same day; the parents believe that if things done for\nthem are not alike or do not go together, one will soon die.\"[71]\n\n\nCUSTOMS OF SPEECH.\n\nSuperstition mingles in customs of speech. There is the custom of Kombo,\nexisting to-day. Something about the act of sneezing is considered\nuncanny. A phrase or a cabalistic word, intended as an adjuration or a\nprotestation in the nature of a prayer for protection or blessing, is very\ncommonly ejaculated by one who sneezes and sometimes when one stumbles.\n(In the old despotic days of native kings, in the Benito region, if a\nking, on first emerging from his house in the morning, should happen to\nstumble, he would order the nearest person in sight to be killed.) That\nword is uttered by an adult for himself, by a parent or other relative\nfor an infant child. It may be an archaism whose meaning has been\nforgotten. Generally the Kombo is an epigrammatic phrase invented by the\nindividual himself, and to be used only by him.\n\nSometimes, instead of a phrase, the single word \"Kombo!\" as representing\nthe custom, is uttered.\n\nSome forty years ago the ejaculation, before the invariable \"Mbolo\"\nsalutation was uttered, that was used by visitors to the Mpongwe king on\nthe south side of the Gabun estuary, was, \"What evil law has God made?\"\nThe response was, \"Death!\" Little as the heathen natives liked to talk of\ndeath, their use of that word to their king was in the nature of a good\nwish that he might escape the universal law. And the \"Mbolo!\" (gray hairs)\nthat followed was a wish that he might live to have gray hairs.\n\nHis son, an educated man and a nominal Romanist, is now saluted quite as\nformally, but the ejaculation has been changed to a more respectful and\nChristian recognition of God.\n\n\nOATHS.\n\nBlasphemy of the Divine name, so fearfully common in professedly Christian\ncountries, is almost unknown to the African heathen. Though the native\nname for God, Anyambe, is improperly used in names of persons (which is\nnot intended for disrespect), it is not often actually blasphemed. An\nequivalent blasphemy, is occasionally practised in the misuse of the name\nof their great and sacred spirit-society. In the Benga tribe \"Saba?\" and\n\"Sabali?\" used interrogatively, mean only \"True?\" \"Is that so?\"; but, used\npositively, they are of the nature of an oath, especially when the\nsociety's name (Ukuk) was added: \"Saba n' Ukuku\" (True! by Ukuk!).\n\nOn the Ogowe River, in the Galwa tribe, the name of that society was\nIsyoga, more commonly spoken of as Yasi. In the initiation into it the\nneophytes were taught a long and very solemn adjuration, that could be\nuttered only among the initiated, as an oath; but they were allowed\ncommonly to use simply its title \"Yasi,\" the utterance of that one word\nbeing accompanied by a downward sweep of the right hand over the left arm\nfrom shoulder to hand. It was not permitted to women to speak this word.\n\nIn no tribes with which I have lived was this \"By-the-Spirit\" oath used so\nmuch as among the Galwa of the Ogowe. It became monotonously frequent, in\nand out of season, in all conversations and on the slightest assertion or\nthe simplest excitement.\n\nI became very tired of \"Yasi! Yasi! Yasi!\" and that sweep of the right\nhand, for the doing of which the canoe paddle or a tool was laid down.\nAnd, by the way, the more of a liar a man was, the more frequent and\nvociferous was he in his persistent use of \"By Yasi!\"\n\n\nTOTEM WORSHIP.\n\nTotem worship is found in Africa, though nothing at all to the extent to\nwhich it existed among the Indian tribes of the United States, and\nespecially Alaska.\n\nIn Southern Africa it exists among the Bechuanas (who, however, are not\npure Bantu); not in the form of carving and setting up poles in their\nvillages, but in the respect which different clans give to certain\nanimals, _e. g._, one clan being known as \"buffalo-men,\" another as\n\"lion-men,\" a third as \"crocodile-men,\" and so forth. To each clan its\ntotem animal is sacred, and they will not eat of its flesh. In some parts\nthis sanctity is regarded as so great that actual prayer and sacrifice are\nmade to it. But in most of the Bantu tribes this totem idea does not exist\nas a worship. Indeed, the animal (or part of an animal) is not sacred to\nan entire clan, but only to individuals, for whom it is chosen on some\nspecial occasion; and its use is prohibited only to that individual. Only\nin the sense that it may not be used for common purposes is it \"sacred\" or\n\"holy\" to him.\n\n\nTABOO.\n\n\"Taboo\" is a Polynesian term, and indicates that which man must not touch\nbecause it belongs to a deity. The god's land must not be trodden, the\nanimal dedicated to the god must not be eaten, the chief who represents\nthe god must not be lightly treated or spoken of. These are examples of\ntaboo where the inviolable object or person belongs to a good god, and\nwhere the taboo corresponds exactly with the rule of holiness. But\ninstances are still more numerous, among savages, of taboo attaching to an\nobject because it is connected with a malignant power. The savage is\nsurrounded on every side by such prohibitions; there is danger at every\nstep that he may touch on what is forbidden to him, and draw down on\nhimself unforeseen penalties.[72]\n\nThis idea exists very largely in the Gabun and Loango coasts: as described\nin a previous chapter, the custom is there called \"orunda\"; _e. g._, such\nand such an animal (or part of an animal) is \"orunda,\" or taboo, to such\nand such a person.\n\nThe Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries to the Kingdom of Kongo, more\nthan two hundred and fifty years ago, found this custom \"of interdicting\nto every person at their birth some one article of food, which they were\nnot through life, upon any consideration, to put into their mouths. This\npractice was regarded [by those Roman Catholic priests] as specially\nheathenish, and was unconditionally\" forbidden.\n\nExplanation may here be found why a church which two hundred years ago had\nbaptized members by the hundreds of thousands, with large churches, fine\ncathedrals, schools, colleges, and political backing, and no other form of\nChristianity to compete with it, shows in Kongo to-day no results in the\nmatters of civilization, education, morality, or pure religion. Its\nbaptism was only an outward one, the heathen native gladly accepting it as\na powerful charm. For each and all his heathen fetiches the priest simply\nsubstituted a Roman Catholic relic. The ignorant African, while he learned\nto bow to the Virgin, kept on worshipping also fetich. The Virgin was only\njust another fetich. The Roman Catholic priests were to him only another\nset of powerful fetich doctors. They commanded that, instead of the\norunda, \"the parents should enjoin their children to observe some\nparticular devotion, such as to repeat many times a day the rosary or the\ncrown, in honor of the Virgin; to fast on Saturdays; to eat no flesh on\nWednesdays; and such other things as are used among Christians.\"\n\nA similar substitution was made in the case of a superstition of the Kongo\ncountry which exists universally among all African tribes to-day, _viz._,\n\"to bind a cord of some kind around the body of every new-born infant, to\nwhich were fastened the bones and teeth of certain kinds of wild animals.\"\nIn place of this, the Roman Catholic records enjoin \"that all mothers\nshould make the cords with which they bound their infants, of palm-leaves\nthat had been consecrated on Palm Sunday, and, moreover, guard them well\nwith other such relics as we are accustomed to use at the time of\nbaptism.\"\n\nThus the heathen, in becoming a baptized \"Christian,\" left behind him only\nthe name of his fetich ceremonies. Some new and professedly more powerful\nones were given him, which were called by Christian names, but which very\nmuch resembled what he had been using all his life. His \"conversion\"\ncaused no jar to his old beliefs, nor change in its practice, except that\nthe new fetich was worshipped in a cathedral and before a bedizened altar.\n\n\nBAPTISM.\n\nForty years ago, on Corisco Island, I found the remains of a custom which\nresembled baptism.[73] Before that time it was very prevalent in other\nparts of the Gabun country, whose people probably had derived it, like\ntheir circumcision, from East Africa and from Jewish traditions. As\ndescribed at that time, \"a public crier announces the birth, and claims\nfor the child a name and place among the living. Some one else, in a\ndistant part of the village, acknowledges the fact, and promises, on the\npart of the people, that the new-born babe shall be received into the\ncommunity, and have all the rights and immunities pertaining to the rest\nof the people. The population then assemble in the street, and the\nnew-born babe is brought out and exposed to public view. A basin of water\nis provided, and the headman of the village or family sprinkles water upon\nit, giving it a name, and invoking a blessing upon it, such as, that it\nmay have health, grow up to manhood or womanhood, have a numerous progeny,\npossess much riches, etc.\"[74] The circumcision of the child is performed\nsome years later.\n\n\nSPITTING.\n\nThe same Benga word, \"tuwaka,\" to spit, is one of the two words which mean\nalso \"to bless.\" In pronouncing a blessing there is a violent expulsion of\nbreath, the hand or head of the one blessed being held so near the face of\nthe one blessing that sometimes in the act spittle is actually expelled\nupon him.\n\nThis blessing superstition exists among the Barotse of South Africa (whose\ndialect is remarkably like the Benga). \"Relatives take leave of each other\nwith elaborate ceremony. They spit upon each other's faces and heads, or,\nrather, pretend to do so, for they do not actually emit saliva. They also\npick up blades of grass, spit upon them, and stick them about the beloved\nhead. They also spit on the hands: all this is done to warn off evil\nspirits. Spittle also acts as a kind of taboo. When they do not want a\nthing touched, they spit on straws, and stick them all about the\nobject.\"[75]\n\n\nNOTICE OF CHILDREN.\n\nRecently (1903), in passing through a street of Libreville, I saw several\nwomen sitting on the clay floor of the wide veranda of a house. In their\narms or playing on the ground were a number of children. I was attracted\nby their gambols, and stopped on my way, and having saluted the mothers, I\nbegan to notice the children. The women knew me by sight, but I was a\nstranger to most of them. I thought they would be pleased by attention to\ntheir children. There were seven of them; and I exclaimed, \"Oh! so many\nchildren!\" And I began counting them, \"One, two, three, four--\" But I was\ninterrupted by a chorus from the mothers, of \"No! no! no! Stop! That is\nnot good! The spirits will hear you telling how many there are, and they\nwill come and take some away!\" They were quite vexed at me. But I could\nnot understand why, if spirits can see, they would not know the number\nwithout hearing my count. Perhaps my enthusiastic counting brought the\nnumber more obviously to the attention of the surrounding spirits.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nFETICH--ITS RELATION TO THE FUTURE LIFE--CEREMONIES AT DEATHS AND FUNERALS\n\n\nWhen a heathen Negro is sick, the first thing done, just as in civilized\nlands, is to call the \"doctor,\" who is to find out what is the particular\nkind of spirit that, by invading the patient's body, has caused the\nsickness.\n\nThis diagnosis is not made by an examination and comparison of the\nphysical and mental symptoms, but by drum, dance, frenzied song, mirror,\nfumes of drugs, consultation of relics, and conversation with the spirit\nitself. Next, as also in civilized lands, must be decided the ceremony\nparticular to that spirit, and the vegetable and mineral substances\nsupposed to be either pleasing or offensive to it. If all those cannot be\nobtained, the patient must die; the assumption probably being that some\nunknown person is antagonizing the \"doctor\" with arts of sorcery.\n\nFearing this, all the family relatives and friends come, having been\ninformed by a messenger of the state of the case. They speak to and try to\ncomfort the sick, as would be done in civilization. But to believers in\nfetich their coming means more than that. They have come from distant\nplaces as soon as the news had spread that their relative was seriously\nill, without waiting for summons. Their coming is, indeed, a necessary\nmark of respect for the sick; but it may happen, too, in case of the sick\nman's dying, that it would be a proof for them of their innocence if a\ncharge should come up of witchcraft as the cause of death. The neglect to\nmake this prompt visit of condolence would be resented by the sick should\nhe recover, or, in case of his death, in the days when witchcraft arts\nwere more common, would have been held as a proof that the absentee had\npurposely absented himself, under a sense of guilt.\n\nIn the sick man's village there already has been a slight wailing the\nwhile that he is dying. Before life is extinct, and while yet the sick may\nstill be conscious though speechless, a low wail of mourning is raised by\nthe female relatives who have gathered in the room.\n\nThese visitors have sat quietly in the sick-room while the patient was\nstill conscious. To a foreigner that quiet is very strange in its\noppressive silence and in the stolidity of faces (at other times\nexpressive), whose very reason for being present is supposed to be the\nexpression of sympathy. Only a few assist in the making of food or\nmedicine for the patient, even when the medicines are not fetich. All the\nothers are spectators, smoking, lounging, dozing, or, if conversing,\nspeaking in a low tone. At the first report that death has actually come,\nthe women break into a louder wail.\n\nBut about a quarter of an hour is spent by some of the old members of the\nfamily, testing to see whether life is really extinct. When that fact is\nfully certified to the crowd in the street, the wailing breaks forth\nunrestrainedly from men, women, and children. The moment that death is\ndeclared, grief is demonstrated in screams, shrieks, yells, pitiful\nsupplication, and extravagant praise by the entire village.\n\nShortly after this first frantic outburst quiet is ordered, and the\narrangements for burial begin. The body is bathed and the limbs are\nstraightened. The stomach is squeezed so as to make the contents emerge\nfrom the mouth in order that decomposition may be delayed and the body\nkept as long as possible. The time will vary according to the necessity of\nthe case and the social position of the dead. Usually the corpse is\nretained only one day; but in case of a prominent person as many as five\ndays, and in case of kings in some tribes, _e. g._, of Loango, the rotting\ncorpse, rolled in many pieces of matting, is retained for weeks.\n\nWhen the washing and vomiting have been done, the corpse is dressed in its\nfinest clothing. The bed-frame is often enlarged so that many of the\nchief mourners may be able to sit on it.\n\nThe body is generally taken from the bed and laid on a piece of matting on\nthe floor. The chief female mourner is given the post of honor, to sit\nnearest to the dead, holding the head in her lap.\n\nDuring the time until the burial the women keep bending the joints of the\ncorpse to prevent the body becoming stiff. The day before the burial (but\nif in haste, on the very day of the death) the coffin is made. During the\nmaking the mourning which had been resumed is again bidden to cease, in\norder that the spirit may be pleased with the wooden house that is being\nconstructed for it. For the same reason the wailing is again intermitted\nwhile the grave is being dug. Those who are digging it must not be called\noff or interrupted in any way. When begun, the job must be continued to\ncompletion.\n\nAfter the grave is completed, when they leave it and go to arrange the\ncoffin, they must put into the excavation some article, _e. g._, a stick\nof wood, as a notice to any other wandering spirit not to occupy that\ngrave.\n\nWhen all these preparations are complete, the corpse is laid in the\ncoffin, and some goods of the deceased, such as pieces of cloth and other\nclothing, are stuffed into it for his use in the other world. If the\ndeceased was addicted to smoking, a pipe and tobacco are laid in the\ncoffin, or if accustomed to spirituous drink, some liquor is often placed\nthere, either native palm-wine or foreign rum.\n\nRecently, while the Rev. F. S. Myongo, a native clergyman, was visiting on\nCorisco Island, he saw a mother put into a coffin a bundle of salt for her\ndaughter to eat in the future world.\n\nIf the deceased was a rich man, the people of his mother's side do not\nallow him to be buried without their first being given a part of his\nproperty by the people of the father's side.\n\nIf there be a suspicion that he has been killed by witchcraft, and yet not\nenough proof to warrant a public charge and investigation, the relatives\ntake amomum seeds (cardamom), chew them, and put them into the mouth of\nthe dead, as a sign that the spirit shall itself execute vengeance on the\nmurderer, and that the survivors will take no further steps. It is a\n_nolle prosequi_ of a judicial case.\n\nAll being ready, the lid of the coffin is nailed down, except in the case\nof a first-born only child, as has been stated.\n\nIn former days, before coffins were used, the bamboo tatta of the\nbed-frame, the pandanus leaf mat, palm-fibre mosquito-net, and other\nbedding were all rolled about the corpse as it lay, and were buried with\nit.\n\nWhile the corpse is being arranged in the coffin, the women have resumed\ntheir wailing. The coffin is lifted by strong men and hurriedly taken to\nthe grave, the locality of which varies in different tribes,--sometimes in\nthe adjacent forest, sometimes in the kitchen-garden of plantains\nimmediately in the rear of the village houses, sometimes under the clay\nfloor of the dwelling-house. With the men who are carrying the coffin may\ngo some women as witnesses.\n\nFormerly also slaves carried boxes of the dead man's goods, cloth,\nhardware, crockery, and so forth, to be laid by the body, which in those\ndays was not interred, but was left on the top of the ground covered with\nbranches and leaves.\n\nIn carrying the coffin to the grave it must not be taken through the\nvillage street but by the rear of the houses, lest the village be\n\"defiled.\" As a result of such \"defilement,\" all sorts of difficulties\nwill arise, such as poor crops from the gardens and short supplies of\nfish.\n\nThe coffin is laid with the face of the dead looking eastward. During the\ninterment people must not be moving about from place to place, but must\nremain at whatever spot they were when the coffin passed, until the burial\nis completed.\n\nThe digging of the grave, the carrying of the coffin, and the closing of\nthe grave are all done only by men. When these have finished the work of\nburial, they are in great fear, and are to run rapidly to their village,\nor to the nearest body of water, river or lake or sea. If in their running\none should trip and fall, it is a sign that he will soon die. They plunge\ninto the water as a means of \"purification\" from possible defilement. The\nobject of this purification is not simply to cleanse the body, but to\nremove the presence or contact of the spirit of the dead man or of any\nother spirit of possible evil influence, lest they should have ill-luck in\ntheir fishing, hunting, and other work.\n\nDuring the time of these burial and other ceremonies the women have\nrefrained from their mourning.\n\nWomen who have babes must not go along the route that was taken in the\ncarrying of the coffin, lest their children shall become sick.\n\nWhen all parties have returned from the grave, the wailing is resumed.\nThey all mark their faces with ashes, and then begins the regular official\nkwedi (mourning). During the continuance of this, pregnant women and\nmothers with young children are not allowed to come near lest evil happen\nto them. To prevent any possibility of the just-departed spirit injuring\nany children of the village, leaves of a common weed, k\u00e2l\u00e2k\u00e2hi, are laid\non their heads.\n\nThe day after the funeral a decoction is made of the bark of a well-known\ntree, bolondo. With it the doctor sprinkles the people, their houses,\ntheir utensils and weapons, and the two entrances to the village. During\nthe ceremony the people are shouting an ejaculatory prayer, \"Goods!\nPossessions! Wealth! Do not allow confusions to come to us!\" this is\ndistinctly a petition that the spirit should bring to them goods or help\nthem to obtain wealth; \"Let us have food!\" and many other similar cries\nfor good things. What remains in the vessel of the decoction of bolondo\nbark after the general sprinkling is carried to the ends of the village\nstreet, and emptied there, as a prevention against the entry of evil\nspirits.\n\nAlso there is made a mixture of scrapings of bolondo, powdered red-wood,\nand chalk. This is rubbed on the cheeks of the people to keep off the evil\nspirits. It is rubbed also, for that same purpose, on the walls of\nhouses.\n\nThe cutlass (machete) and native hoe that was used in the digging of the\ngrave are washed with the bolondo decoction after having been left exposed\nto rain over night.\n\nThen one of the houses of the village is chosen as the ndabo ya kwedi\n(house of mourning). The mourners are to sit only in that house. If they\nshould eat in any other house, the spirit of the dead would come and eat\nwith them and would make them sick. During the days of kwedi the men go in\nthe mornings to fish; while they are away at the work, the weeping is\nintermitted lest in some way it spoil the fishing.\n\nThe bedstead in the house of mourning must be constantly occupied, even\nduring the daytime, by some persons sitting there, lest the spirit come to\ntake any vacant space; and the house itself must not, by day or night, be\nwithout some occupant. The near relatives, when one has occasion to go out\nof that house, must not go unaccompanied, lest the spirit follow them and\nattempt to resume earthly companionship and thus injure them.\n\nIf it was a great man who has died, an occasional dance is held during the\nprescribed mourning time to please his spirit, which is supposed to be\nwalking around and observing what is done.\n\nThe kwedi formerly lasted a month, or, for a prominent person, a month and\na half.\n\nPeople who while they were living were supposed to have witch power are\nbelieved to be able to rise in an altered form from their graves. To\nprevent one who is thus suspected from making trouble, survivors open the\ngrave, cut off the head, and throw it into the sea,--or in the interior,\nwhere there is no great body of water, it is burned; then a decoction of\nthe bolondo bark is put into the grave. (The bolondo is a poison; even a\nlittle of it may be fatal.)\n\nWhen affairs are going wrong in the villages, and the people do not know\nthe cause, offerings of food and drink are taken to the grave to cause the\nspirit to cease disturbing them, and prayers are made to it that it may\nthe rather bless them.\n\nIf the deceased was a very important person, the kwedi is interrupted on\nthe fifth day, for the selection of his successor as chief or king. This\nceremony is called \"ampenda\" (glories). The successor is placed on the\nvacant seat or \"throne\"; and songs are sung in his praise. But first, a\nherald is sent to the forest, or wherever the burial was made, to call the\ndead to come and dispute his right to the throne, if he be not really\ndead. The herald stands and calls on the dead by name, \"Such an one!\" This\nhe does slowly once, twice, thrice, until five times. He returns, and\nreports to the waiting assembly, \"He is really dead. I called five times,\nand he did not answer.\" Then, this herald, standing in the street before\nall the people, praises the dead for all his good deeds, and blames for\nsome of his bad ones. He turns to the chosen successor sitting on the\nthrone, and asks pardon for the candor he is about to exercise: \"To-morrow\nI will bow to you and take off my hat, but to-day I will tell the whole\ntruth about you.\" Turning to the crowd, he says, \"The man who is gone was\ngood, and he has given us this new man. We hope that he too will be good.\nYou all help me now to tell him his bad points.\" Then, addressing the new\nchief, he specifies, \"You have a bad habit of so and so.\" And the crowd\nresponds affirmatively, \"Bad! cease it!\" After this, when the herald has\nended his own list of rebukes, any one else may call him aside and tell\nhim of any other evil of which he knows, and ask him to direct the new\nking to reform it. This ceremony was particularly observed by the\nMpongwe-speaking tribes of the Gabun country. In the presence of the\ndomination by foreign governments, but little of it now exists there or in\nany other tribes to the north.\n\nIn the improvised songs and ejaculations of the kwedi period the goodness\nand greatness of the dead are recounted. The praise is fulsome,\nexaggerated, and often preposterously untrue. Some declare their\nhopelessness of ever again seeing any joy. Supplications are shrieked by\nothers for the departed to come back and reanimate the dead body. By most\nthe wailing is a song in moans. Men tear their garments; women dishevel\ntheir hair; all take off their ornaments, and disfigure their faces with\nashes or clay. The female relatives reduce their clothing to a minimum of\ndecency. In all tribes formerly, and in some interior tribes still, the\nwives are made naked, and compelled to remain so for months, especially if\nthey were known not to have been as submissive as is expected in the\nslavery of savage African marriage.\n\nDuring my early days in the Ogowe, about 1876, a native Akele chief, Kasa,\nwho had been my patron at my first residence in the Ogowe, Belambila, died\nafter I had removed to my second station, K\u00e2ngwe. I made a ceremonious\nvisit of respect and condolence about a month after his death, for Kasa,\nthough a heathen and often cruel, to me had been true and helpful. His\nfamily appreciated the compliment of my visit. I looked around the room,\nand missed his wives. I did not know that they had been divested of all\nclothing. I asked for them. A man hastened to go out and call them. I\nwondered somewhat at the delay in their coming. I was afterward told that\nthough they were accustomed to the disgrace of nakedness before native\neyes, they did not wish to meet mine, for I had always treated them\nrespectfully. A half-dozen of them sidled into the room, each carrying in\ntheir hands, as their only protection, a plate, and quickly huddled\ntogether in a corner of the room. I as quickly dismissed them, telling\nthem I had not known of the rule under which they were living.\n\nIn the Batanga interior, among the Bulu-Fang tribe, where women at all\ntimes wear scarcely any clothing, most widows are still required to go\nperfectly naked, sometimes for a whole year.\n\nAll this wailing and mourning, while sincere on the part of some, is by\nmost simply a yielding to the contagion of sympathy. By some it is a mere\nformality, and with many even a pretence.\n\nIn the older days, before Christianity had obtained any influence, or\nbefore foreign governments had exercised power to force away barbarous\nrites and compel civilized ones, when almost every death was regarded as\ndue to the exercise of black art, and was always followed by a witchcraft\ninvestigation and by the putting to death of from one to ten so-called\n\"witches\" and \"wizards\" (in the case of kings, fifty to one hundred), no\none, except the doctor and his secret councillors, knew on whom suspicion\nfor the death might fall, and all were quick to be demonstrative in their\ngrief, whether real or feigned, as a means of warding off the dreaded\naccusation against themselves.\n\nThough those witchcraft executions have ceased wherever foreign power\nexists, the wailing is still as demonstrative, either as a sign of real\ngrief or as a mere custom; and the mourning after burial continued for\nweeks (or even months) is an enormous evil. Wives and husbands abandoning\ntheir duties to their own villages; children either slighted at their own\nhomes or idly helping to swell the confusion at the town of mourning; men\nneglecting their fishing, and women neglecting their gardens,--all these\nvisitors are an expensive draft on the hospitality and resources of the\ntown of kwedi, or on their other relatives who may happen to be living\nnear. Inevitably there is not enough food for all, and they stanch their\nhunger by immoderate drinking of foreign alcoholic liquors.\n\nAfter the first paroxysms of grief, in a few days the mourning is reduced\nto a perfunctory wail by the women for a short time each morning and\nevening. The remainder of the day is spent in idle talk, which always runs\ninto quarrels; and the nights in dances, which generally end in dissolute\nrevelry. A month of mourning lays up a list of assignations and intrigues\nthat result in trials for adultery and broken marriage relations.\n\nThe feelings in the hearts of the mourners are very mixed. The outcry of\naffection, pleading with the dead to return to life, is sincere, the\nsurvivor desiring the return to life to be complete; but almost\nsimultaneous with that cry comes a fear that the dead may indeed return,\nnot as the accustomed embodied spirit, helpful and companionable, but as a\ndisembodied spirit, invisible, estranged, perhaps inimical, and\nsurrounded by an atmosphere of dread imparted by the unknown and the\nunseen. The many then ask, not that the departed may return, but that, if\nit be hovering near, it will go away entirely.\n\nFew were those who during the life of the departed had not on occasions\nhad some quarrel with him, or had done him some injustice or other wrong,\nand their thought is, \"His spirit will come back to avenge itself!\" So\nguns are fired to frighten away the spirit, and to cause it to go off to\nthe far world of spirits, and not take up a residence in or near the town\nto haunt and injure the living.\n\nNevertheless, the kwedi is kept up, if for nothing else than to satisfy\nthe self-complacence of the dead. It is believed that the dead, sometimes\ndissatisfied with the extent or character of the mourning ceremony, have\nreturned and inflicted some sickness on the village, for the removal of\nwhich other ceremonies have to be performed.\n\nThus far acts which are dictated by natural feelings, good and otherwise,\nhave been dealt with; but there are a multitude of other ceremonies,\nvaried in different tribes and never the same in any one tribe, which are\nperformed under the direct influence of religious duty as well as\nsuperstitious fear. What has been thus far described is especially true of\nthe Mpongwe, Benga, and Batanga tribes of western Equatorial Africa,\ntypical for most Bantu tribes of the continent. The following quotations\nafford a comparison of the burial customs of savages in other regions with\nthose I have observed:\n\nLumholtz,[76] describing the burial customs of Australia, writes: \"The\nnatives in the neighborhood of Portland Bay, in the southwestern part of\nSouth Australia, cremate their dead by placing the corpse in a hollow tree\nand setting fire to it.... The natives of Australia have this peculiarity,\nin common with the savages of other countries, that they never utter the\nnames of the dead, lest their spirits should hear the voices of the living\nand thus discover their whereabouts. There seems to be a widespread belief\nin the soul's existence independently of matter. On this point Fraser\nrelates that the Kulie tribe (Victoria) believes that every man and animal\nhas a muriep (ghost or spirit) which can pass into other bodies. A\nperson's muriep may in his lifetime leave his body and visit other people\nin his dreams. After death the muriep is supposed to appear again, to\nvisit the grave of its former possessor, to communicate with living\npersons in their dreams, to eat remnants of food lying near the camp, and\nto warm itself by the night fires. A similar belief has been observed\namong the blacks of Lower Guinea. On my travels I, too, found a widespread\nfear of the spirits of the dead, to which the imagination of the natives\nattributed all sorts of remarkable qualities. The greater the man was on\nearth, the more his departed spirit is feared.... An old warrior who has\nbeen a strong man and therefore much respected by his tribe, is, after his\ndeath, put on a platform made with forked sticks, cross-pieces, and a\nsheet or two of bark; he is hoisted up amidst a pandemonium of noise,\nhowling, and wailing, besides much cutting with tomahawks, and banging of\nheads with nolla-nollas. He is laid on his back with his knees up, like\nthe females, and the grass is cleared away from under and around. The\nplace is now for a long time carefully avoided, till he is quite\nshrivelled, whereupon his bones are taken away and put in a tree.\n\n\"The common man is buried like a woman, only that logs are put over him,\nand his bones are not removed. Young children are put bodily into the\ntrees.\n\n\"The fact that the natives bestow any care on the bodies of the dead is\ndoubtless owing to the fear of the spirits of the departed. In some places\nI have seen the legs drawn and tied fast to the bodies, in order to hinder\nthe spirits of the dead, as it were, from getting out to frighten the\nliving. Women and children, whose spirits are not feared, receive less\nattention and care after death.\n\n\"In several tribes it is customary to bury the body where the person was\nborn. I know of a case where a dying man was transported fifty miles in\norder to be buried in the place of his nativity. It has even happened\nthat the natives have begun digging outside a white man's kitchen door,\nbecause they wanted to bury an old man born there. In Central Queensland I\nsaw many burial-places on hills. Such are also said to be found in New\nSouth Wales and in Victoria. These burial grounds have been in use for\ncenturies, and are considered sacred.\n\n\"In South Australia and in Victoria the head is not buried with the body,\nfor the skull is preserved and used as a drinking-cup. It is a common\ncustom to place the dead between pieces of bark and grass on a scaffold,\nwhere they remain till they are decayed, and then the bones are buried in\nthe ground.\n\n\"In the northern part of Queensland I have heard people say that the\nnatives have a custom of placing themselves under these scaffolds to let\nthe fat drop on them, and that they believe that this puts them in\npossession of the strength of the dead man.\n\n\"A kind of mummy dried by the aid of fire and smoke, is also found in\nAustralia; male children are most frequently prepared in this manner. The\ncorpse is then packed into a bundle, which is carried for some time by the\nmother. She has it with her constantly, and at night sleeps with it at her\nside. After about six months, when nothing but the bones remain, she\nburies it in the earth. Full-grown men are also sometimes carried in this\nmanner, particularly the bodies of great warriors.\"\n\nW. H. Brown, in \"On the South African Frontier,\" describes a burial in\nMashona-land: \"When a member of the community dies, he or she, as the case\nmay be, is usually buried under a shelf of rock in a reclining position,\nwith arms folded and legs doubled up. In some districts, where heaps of\nrocks are scarce, I have seen graves made in large ant-heaps. As a rule, a\nsmall canopy or thatched roof is built over the grave, and under this it\nis common to see placed, as an offering, a pot of beer and a plate of\nsadza. The beer evaporates, and the ants eat the sadza; but, to the\nMashona mind, the disappearance is due to supernatural causes. At the\nburial the near relatives of the deceased cry aloud. I was camping one\nnight near a village where a child died. The obsequies took place next\nmorning between dawn and sunrise. The mother cried loudly while the\nceremony was proceeding, but her wailing ceased soon after the funeral,\nand there was no more noise made over it. I went into the village about\ntwo hours later, and saw some men, women, and children quietly sitting\naround the hut in which the death had taken place, and looking very\nsolemn. The child was about two weeks old, and the cause of death was\nattributed by the Mashonas to the fact that the mother had not given beer\nto her grandfather when he wanted it at his death.\n\n\"If a woman's husband dies, and she afterwards procures another, the new\nman takes up his abode in the hut of the dead one, becomes owner of his\nassegais and battle-axes, and assumes his name. Whether or not the second\nhusband is supposed to enter into possession of the spirit of the\ndeceased, I could not discover. Some Mashonas have told me that they\nbelieve that the spirits of their departed relatives enter the bodies of\nanimals, particularly those of lions.\n\n\"At the end of the lunar month during which a death has taken place, the\nsurviving partner, man or woman, kills a goat, and its meat is cooked, as\nwell as quantities of other food, and a large amount of Kaffir beer is\nbrewed. The people gather from the neighboring kraals, and an all-night\nfeast and dance ensue.\n\n\"Monthly 'dead-relative dances,' which are called 'machae' are very\ncommon; and if no one has been accommodating enough to die during the\nmonth, the feast and dance may be held in honor of some one who departed\nyears before.\"\n\nA similar dance is held in the Gabun region of West Africa, partly as a\nconsolatory amusement for the living, near the close of whatever\nprescribed time of mourning. It is called \"Ukukwe\" (for the spirit), as if\nfor the gratification of the hovering spirit of the dead; but in many\nplaces in that region this dance has lost all reference to or for the\ndead, or even any connection with a time of mourning, and has become\nsimply a common amusement.\n\nIn the Bihe country of Southwest Africa,[77] \"death is surrounded by many\nstrange and absurd superstitions. It is considered essential that a man\nshould die in his own country, if not in his own town. On the way to\nBailundu, shortly after leaving Bihe territory, I met some men running at\ngreat speed, carrying a sick man tied to a pole, in order that he might\ndie in his own country. I tried to stop them; but they were running, as\nfast as their burden would allow them, down a steep rocky hill. By the\nsick man's convulsive movements I could see that he was in great pain,\nperhaps in his death throes; hence the great haste. If a Bailundu man dies\nin Bihe, the Bihe people have to pay the Bailundu heavily for the shameful\nconduct of the Bihe demons in killing a stranger; and _vice versa_.\n\n\"When a man dies at home, his body is placed on a rude table, and his\nfriends meet for days round the corpse, drinking, eating, shouting, and\nsinging, until the body begins actually to fall to pieces. Then the body\nis tied in a fagot of poles and carried on men's shoulders up and down\nsome open space, followed by doctors and drummers. The doctors demand of\nthe dead man the cause of his death, whether by poison or witchcraft; and\nif by the latter, who was the witch? Most of the deaths I have known of in\nNegro-land were from pulmonary diseases, but all were set down to\nwitchcraft. The jerking of the bier to and fro, causing the men bearing it\nto stumble hither and thither, is taken as the dead man's answer; thus, as\nin the case of spirit-rapping at home, the reply is spelled out. The\nresult of this enquiry is implicitly believed in; and, if the case demands\nit, the witch is drowned.\"\n\nAmong the Barotse of South Africa[78] \"funerals take place at night, and\ngenerally immediately after death, while the body is still warm. If the\nperson, when alive, possessed the skin of an animal, they wrap the body in\nit, and also in a plain mat, and then bury it near the hut. But death\ninspires them with a mortal terror, and thus the hut of the dead man is\nnearly always abandoned. Anything that has been used for the burial, such\nas the wood on which the corpse was carried, is left near the grave. It is\nthe fashion to display great external signs of grief, howls and cries of\nlamentation and the like. Formerly the graves of chiefs were distinguished\nby elephant tusks turned toward the east. All cattle belonging to the\ndeceased are killed; and any animal of which he was particularly fond,\nsuch as the cow whose milk he drank, is killed first. They bury in the\nkraal itself those who died in the kraal; but whenever it is possible, the\ndying are taken out and laid in the fields or forest. There are two\nreasons for this: first, they think that away from other people is a\nbetter chance of the invalid making a recovery; and, secondly, wherever\nthe person dies he must be buried; therefore, if possible, far from their\nhabitations. When a man dies, visits of condolence are paid to the\nrelatives, the visitors bringing a calf or a head of cattle as a mark of\nsympathy, which is killed and eaten as a kind of consolation. The night\nafter the funeral is passed in tears and cries. A few days later, the\ndoctor comes and makes an incision on the forehead of each of the\nsurvivors, and fills it with medicine, in order to ward off contagion and\nthe effect of the sorcery which caused the death. They place on their\ntombs some souvenir of the profession or vocation of the defunct; for\nexample,--if he had been a hunter, horns or skins; if a chairmaker, a\nchair; and so on. Over the grave a sacred tree is planted. The tree is a\nkind of laurel called 'morata.'... A man will kill himself on the tomb of\nhis chief; he thinks, as he passes near by, that he hears the dead man\ncall him and bid him bring him water. These natives believe in\ntransmigration of the soul into animals; thus, the hippopotamus is\nbelieved to shelter the spirit of a chief. Nevertheless, they do not\nappear very clear that the soul cannot be in two places at once; else, if\na chief has become a hippopotamus in the Zambesi, why should one slay\none's self to bring water to his tomb?\"\n\nPerhaps Decl\u00e8 was not aware of a widespread belief in a dual soul,\nconsisting of a \"spirit,\" that, as far as known, lives forever in the\nworld of spirits, and a \"shadow\" that for an uncertain length of time\nhovers around the mortal remains. Some, as already mentioned in a previous\nchapter, also name a third entity, the \"life,\"--that which, being \"eaten\"\nby sorcerers, causes the living being to sicken, and which the sorcerer,\nif detected, can be compelled to return to its owner. Miss Kingsley\nthought also she had discovered a belief in a fourth entity, the\n\"dream-soul.\" But this, though doubtless believed in as that which\nsometimes leaves the sleeping body and goes on distant wanderings, is the\nsame as the \"spirit,\" during whose temporary absence the body continues\nits breathing and other physical motions, in virtue of the presence of its\nsecond and third soul-entities.\n\nThe funeral practices of all the tribes, with very few exceptions, over\nall Africa, however much they may and do vary, contain all of them, as\nshown by the preceding quotations, a decided belief in, and fear of, the\nintelligent and probably inimical activity of the spirits of their dead.\nThey include also the custom of the burial with the dead man of more or\nless of his property, together with the destruction of such things as\ncannot be conveniently placed in the grave,--clothing, crockery, utensils,\nwives, slaves, trees of fruitage, etc.\n\nEven among the civilized and enlightened, while of course there would be\nno excessive destruction of property, nor murder of widow or slave, an\nextravagant amount of wearing apparel is stuffed into the coffin (which is\nsometimes made large for that purpose) as a sign of the importance of the\ndead, and of the sacrifice the love and grief of the living are willing to\nmake.\n\nThe residence of the transmigrated spirit is probably not a permanent one.\nThe Wa-nya-mwesi of East Africa \"believe in transmigration both during\nlife and after it. Thus, according to them, a sorcerer can transform\nhimself into a wild animal to injure his enemies; but in such cases the\nchange is not permanent, and the soul does not remain in its new\nhabitation.\"[79]\n\nLeaving out of view the immense difference, caused by the absence of\nChristianity, in the moral life of native Africa, as compared with that of\nthe United States, there is no one thing that more painfully strikes me,\nin the low civilization of the former, than their customs for the dead. It\nwould occupy too much space to recount at length all the reasons the\nnatives give for their sometimes apparently heartless ceremonies. The true\nexplanation lies in their belief in witchcraft and their fear of spirits.\n\nFrom the testimony of travellers, burial customs are much the same all\nover Africa. What I have written is my personal knowledge of what prevails\non the West Coast, in the equatorial regions, and especially in the\nportion lying along the course of the Ogowe River,--a river that was first\nbrought to public notice through the writings of Paul Du Chaillu, the\njourneys of a British trader, Mr. R. B. N. Walker, and subsequently by the\nthorough explorations of Count P. S. De Brazza.\n\nThere are in Africa social distinctions of rich and poor, higher and lower\nclasses, just as there are, and always will be, all the world over, the\nclaims of communism to the contrary notwithstanding. These distinctions\nfollow their subjects to the grave,--just as, in our own civilization, one\nis laid in the sculptured cemetery and another in the Potter's Field.\n\nThe African burial-grounds are mostly in the forest, in the low-lying\nlands and tangled thickets along the sea-beach, or the banks of rivers.\nHills and elevated building-sites are reserved for villages and\nplantations. If a traveller, in journeying along the main river of the\ncountry, observes long reaches of uncleared thickets, he will probably be\ncorrect in suspecting that these are burial-grounds. His native crew will\nbe slow to inform him of the fact or to converse on the subject, unless to\nobject to an order to go ashore there.\n\nSome of the interior tribes bury all their dead under the clay floors of\ntheir houses. The living are thus actually treading and cooking their food\nover the graves of their relatives.\n\nThis mode of burial is reserved as a distinction, in the case of some\ncoast tribes, for a very few of their honored chiefs, or for a specially\nloved relative.\n\nOver or near the graves of the rich are built little huts, where are laid\nthe common articles used by them in their life,--pieces of crockery,\nknives, sometimes a table, mirrors, and other goods obtained in foreign\ntrade. Once, in ascending the Ogowe, I observed, tied to the branches of a\nlarge tree extending over the stream from the top of the bank, a wooden\ntrade-chest, five pitchers and mugs, and several fathoms of calico prints.\nI was informed that the grave of a lately deceased chief was near, that\nthese articles were signs of his wealth, and were intended as offerings to\nspirits to induce them to draw to the villages of his people the trade of\npassing merchant vessels.\n\nA noticeable fact about these gifts to the spirits is that, however great\na thief a man may be, he will not steal from a grave. The coveted mirror\nwill lie there and waste in the rain, and the valuable garment will flap\nitself to rags in the wind, but human hands will not touch them. Sometimes\nthe temptation to steal is removed by the donor fracturing the article\nbefore it is laid on the grave.\n\nActual interment is generally given to all who in life were regarded as at\nall worthy of respect. Native implements for excavating being few and\nsmall, the making of a grave is quite a task; it is often, therefore, made\nno deeper than is actually sufficient for covering the corpse. This,\naccording to the greatness of the dead or the wealth of the family, is\nvariously encased. Sometimes it is placed in a coffin made of the ends of\nan old canoe; or, more shapely, of boards cut from the canoe's bottom and\nsides; or, even so expensively as to use two trade-boxes, making one long\none by knocking out an end from each and telescoping them.\n\nSometimes the corpse is cast out on the surface of the ground, and perhaps\na pile of stones or brushwood gathered over it. Sometimes it lies\nuncovered. Sometimes they are cast into the river.\n\nMany years ago, I was ascending the Ogowe River in my boat, painfully\ntoiling against the current. I had unwisely refused the wish of my crew to\nstop for our mid-day meal at a desirable ulako (camping-ground), as the\nhour was too early; and I determined to go on, and stop at some other\nplace. But I regretted presently; for, instead of finding forest and high\ncamping-ground, we came to a long stretch of papyrus swamp; and, after\nthat, to low jungle. We pulled on for another mile, the sun growing\nhotter, along the unsheltered bank, and we growing faint with hunger as\nthe hour verged to noon. Becoming desperate, I directed the crew to stop\nat the very first spot that was solid enough for foothold, intending to\neat our dry rice without fire. Presently we came to a clump of oil-palms.\nTheir existence showed solid ground, and I seized the rudder and ran the\nboat ashore. The crew objected, hungry though they were, that \"it was not\na good place\"; but they did not mention why. I jumped ashore, however, and\nordered them to follow, and gather sticks for fire. As they were rather\nslow in so doing, and I overheard murmuring that \"firewood is not gotten\nfrom palm trees\" (which is true), I set them an example by starting off on\na search myself.\n\nI had not gone far before I found a pile of brushwood, and, rejoicing at\nmy success, I called out to the crew to come and carry it. While they were\ncoming, I stooped down and laid hold of an eligible stick. But an odor\nstartled me; and the other sticks that I had dislocated falling apart,\nthere was revealed a human foot and shin, which, from the ornaments still\nremaining about the ankle, I suppose was a woman's. My attendants fled;\nand I re-embarked in the boat, sufficiently unconscious of hunger to await\na late meal that was not cooked until we reached a comfortable village a\nshort distance beyond. My crew then explained their slowness to obey me at\nthat clump of palm trees, by saying that they knew it looked like a\nburying-place.\n\nA less respectful mode of burial (if, indeed, the term be not a misnomer)\nis applied to the poor, to the friendless aged who have wearied out the\npatience of relatives by a long sickness, and to those whose bodies are\noffensive by a leprous or otherwise ulcerous condition. Immediately that\nlife seems extinct (and sometimes even before) the wasted frame is tied up\nin the mat on which it is lying, and, slung from a pole on the shoulders\nof two men, is flung out on the surface of the ground in the forest, to\nbecome the prey of wild beasts and the scavenger \"driver\" (Termes\nbellicosa) ants.\n\nOf one tribe in the upper course of the Ogowe, I was told, who, in their\nintense fear of ghosts, and their dread of the possible evil influence of\nthe spirits of their own dead relatives, sometimes adopt a horrible plan\nfor preventing their return. With a very material idea of a spirit, they\nseek to disable it by beating the corpse until every bone is broken. The\nmangled mass is hung in a bag at the foot of a tree in the forest. Thus\nmutilated, the spirit is supposed to be unable to return to the village,\nto entice into its fellowship of death any of the survivors.\n\nSome dead bodies are burned, particularly those of criminals. Persons\nconvicted on a charge of witchcraft are \"criminals,\" and are almost\ninvariably killed. Sometimes they are beheaded. I have often had in my\npossession the curved knives with which this operation is performed.\n\nSometimes torture is used: a common mode is to roast the condemned over a\nslow fire, which is made under a stout bed-frame built for the purpose. In\nsuch a case almost the entire body is reduced to ashes. When I was\nclearing a piece of ground at Belambila in the Ogowe in 1875, for the\nhouse which I afterward occupied, my workmen came on a pile of ashes,\ncharcoal, and charred bones, where, they assured me, a criminal had been\nput to death.\n\nA barely mentionable method of disposal of the bodies of the dead is to\neat them. That is possible only in a cannibal country. That it was actual\nwas known among the Gabun Fang fifty years ago, and among my Ogowe Fang\ntwenty-five years ago. None ate of their own dead; adjacent towns\nexchanged corpses. Women were not allowed to partake. The practice was\nconfined to the old men. One such was pointed out to me at Talaguga in\n1882. He robbed graves for that purpose.\n\nAmong the coast tribes of the Gabun region of West Africa cremation is not\nknown, nor are corpses thrown out on the ground. Under the influence of\nforeign example, the dead are coffined, more or less elaborately,\naccording to the ability of the family; and the interment is made in\ngraves of proper depth. In some of these tribes a locality of low, dark,\ntangled forest, not suitable as site for a village or for a plantation, is\nused as a public cemetery.\n\nAmong the tribes of Batanga in the German Kamerun territory, though the\npeople are civilized, the old unsanitary custom of burying in the\nkitchen-gardens immediately in the rear of the village, and sometimes\nactually in the clay floor of the dwelling itself, is still kept up, even\nby the more enlightened natives. The Christians are not in numbers\nsufficiently large in any family to control all the burial ceremonies of\nits dead members. The strange spectacle is therefore presented of a\nmixture of Christian ritual and fetich custom. In my own experience at\nfunerals of some children of church-members at Batanga, the singing of\nhymns of faith and hope by the Christian relatives alternated with the\nhowling of half-naked heathen death-dancers in an adjoining house. And\nwhen I had read the burial service to the point of beginning the march of\nthe procession to the grave, perhaps only a few rods distant, the heathen\nremained behind; and while I was reading the \"dust to dust\" at the\ngrave-side, they would be building a quick fire of chips and dried leaves\non the exact spot where the coffin had last stood in the village street.\nThe ashes they would gather and incorporate into their family fetiches, to\ninsure fertility to the mother and other near female relatives of the dead\nchild.\n\nAlso, in the Gabun region, there is the remains of a custom, practised\nespecially by the Orungu tribe of Cape Lopez, of a pretended quarrel\nbetween two parties of mourners on a question whether or not the burial\nshall actually be made, even though there is no doubt that it will be, and\nthe coffin is ready to be carried. This contest concluded, a second\nquarrel is raised on a question as to which of two sets of relatives, the\nmaternal or the paternal, shall have the right to carry it. Very recently\nthis actually occurred at the town of Libreville, and on the premises of\nthe American Presbyterian Mission, the fight being shamefully waged by\nyoung men who formerly had been professing Christians. They had been given\npermission to bury a young man in our Protestant cemetery. The missionary\nin charge of the station heard a great hubbub on the path entering the\nmission grounds, as if a fight was in progress. Going to investigate, he\nfound an angry contest was being carried on, under the old heathen idea\nthat the spirit of the dead must see and be pleased by a demonstration of\na professed desire to keep him with the living, and not to allow him to be\nput away from them. The contest of words had almost come to blows, and the\nvictors had set up a disgraceful shout as they seized the coffin to bring\nit to the grave.\n\nAnother custom remains in Gabun,--a pleasant one; it may once have had\nfetich significance, but it has lost it now, so that Christians may\nproperly retain it. Just before the close of the kwedi, friends (other\nthan relatives) of the mourners will bring some gift, even a small one,\nmake a few remarks appropriate to it and to the circumstances of the\nreceiver, and give it to his or her mourning friend. It is called the\n\"ceremony of lifting up,\" _i. e._, out of the literal ashes, and from the\nsupposed depths of grief. For instance, if the gift be a piece of soap,\nthe speech of donation will be, \"Sit no longer in the dust with begrimed\nface! Rise, and use the soap for your body!\" Or if it be a piece of cloth,\n\"Be no longer naked! Rise, and clothe yourself with your usual dress!\" Or\nif it be food, \"Fast no longer in your grief! Rise, and strengthen your\nbody with food!\"\n\n\n[Illustration: A CIVILIZED FAMILY.--GABUN.]\n\n\nAs to the status of the departed in the spirit-world, though all those\nAfrican tribes from old heathen days knew of the name of God, of His\nexistence, and of some of His attributes, they did not know of the true\nway of escape from the evils of this present life, of any system of reward\nand punishment in the future life, nor of any of the conditions of that\nlife. That they had a belief in a future world is evidenced by survivors\ntaking to the graves of their dead, as has been described in the preceding\npages, boxes of goods, native materials, foreign cloth, food, and\n(formerly) even wives and servants, for use in that other life to which\nthey had gone. Whatever may have been supposed about the locality or\noccupations of that life, the dead were confidently believed to have\ncarried with them all their human passions and feelings, and especially\ntheir resentments. Fear of those possible resentments dominated the living\nin all their attempts at spiritual communication with the dead.\n\nAs to the locality of the latter, it was not believed that all of them\nalways remained in that unknown other world. They could wander invisibly\nand intangibly. More than that, they could return bodily and resume this\nearthly life in other forms; for belief in metempsychosis is a common one\namong all these tribes. The dead, some of them, return to be born again,\neither into their own family or into any other family, or even into a\nbeast.\n\nWho thus return, or why they return, is entirely uncertain. Certainly not\nall are thus born again. Those who in this present life had been great or\ngood or prominent or rich remain in the spirit-world, and constitute the\nspecial class of spirits called \"awiri\" (singular, \"ombwiri\").\n\nBut these awiri are at liberty to revisit the earth if they choose,\ntaking a local habitation in some prominent natural object, or coming on\ncall to aid in ceremonies for curing the sick. Other spirits, as explained\nin a previous chapter, are sinkinda, the souls of the common dead; and\nil\u00e2g\u00e2, unknown spirits of other nations, or beings who have become\n\"angels,\" all of these living in \"Njambi's Town.\"\n\nAs to Father Njambi Himself, the creator and overseer of all, both living\nand dead, every kind of spirit--ombwiri, nkinda, ol\u00e2g\u00e2, and all sorts of\nabambo--is under His control, but He does not often exercise it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nFETICHISM--SOME OF ITS PRACTICAL EFFECTS\n\n\nDEPOPULATION.\n\nOne of the effects of witchcraft beliefs in Africa is the depopulation of\nthat continent. Over enormous areas of the country the death rate has\nexceeded the birth rate. Much of Africa is desert--the Sahara of the\nnorth, and the Kalahari of the south--with estimated populations of only\none to the square mile. Another large area is a wilderness covered by the\ngreat sub-equatorial forest,--a belt about three hundred miles wide and\none thousand miles long, with an estimated population of only eighteen to\nthe square mile (among whom are the Pygmy tribes); and these not scattered\nuniformly, but gathered chiefly on the banks of the watercourses, the only\nhighways (except narrow footpaths) through that dismal forest.\n\nThe entire population of Africa, including all nationalities,--Copts of\nEgypt, Moors and Berbers of the north, Arabs of the east, Abyssinians,\nPygmies, and Cannibals of the centre, Negroes, both Bantu and Negroid, of\nthe west, south, centre, and east,--probably do not number two hundred\nmillion. Of these, the Negroes probably do not amount to one hundred\nmillion. German authorities variously estimate the population of their\nKamerun country at from two to five million, and they have been vigorously\nreducing it by their savage punitive expeditions in the interior. The\nFrench authorities of the Kongo-Fran\u00e7ais estimate theirs at from five to\nten million.\n\nThe population of the great Kongo River was much overestimated after the\nopening of that river by Stanley. Its people were massed on the river\nbanks, and gave an impression of density which subsequent interior travel\nhas not verified. To walk slowly in an hour over a mile of road that\nconstitutes the one street of a town; to count the huts, and allot such or\nsuch a number to each, would give a sufficiently accurate census of one\nthousand or perhaps two thousand to that town. But that place is the\ncentre of travel or traffic of that region. A half-day's journey on any\nradius from that town through the surrounding forest would confront the\ntraveller with scarcely any other evidences of human habitation. Towns of\nthe thousands are not the usual sight; rather the villages of one hundred,\nand the hamlets of twenty, excepting in the Sudan, in the Yoruba and other\ncountries of the Niger, and in the large capitals of Dahomey and other\nGuinea kingdoms. There walled cities of from fifty to one hundred thousand\ninhabitants are known.\n\nThese congested districts help to lift the average that would be made low\nby the paucity in the wilderness and desert portions. Probably the\npopulation of the entire continent was much greater two hundred years ago.\nDepopulation was hastened by the export slave-trade. Livingstone estimated\nthat, on the East Coast, for every slave actually exported, nineteen\nothers died on the way. The foreign slave-trade has long ceased, except\nfrom the Upper Nile down through Egypt and Arabia, and from the Sudan\nacross the Sahara to Morocco. But far worse than Arab slave-trade are the\ndiabolical atrocities, committed during the last fifteen years and\nactually at the present time, in the Kongo, under white officers of the\nmiscalled \"Free State,\" and with the knowledge and allowance of the King\nof Belgium.\n\nBut, aside from all these and other civil and political causes, the fetich\nreligion of Africa has been a large part of its destruction. It has been a\nMoloch, whose hunger for victims was never satisfied: as illustrated in\nthe annual sacrifice of hundreds and thousands by the priests of the kings\nof Dahomey and Ashanti; and the burial victims at the funerals of great\nkings, as in Uganda and all over the continent. If the destruction of such\nhuman victims is not so great to-day as it was twenty years ago, due to\nenlightenment by Christian missions and forceful prohibition by civilized\ngovernments, the spirit of and disposition to destruction is not\neradicated; it is only suppressed. It is so deep seated and ingrained as a\npart of religion, that it is among the very last of the shadows of\nheathenism to disappear after individuals or tribes are apparently\ncivilized and enlightened. Under transforming influences the native has\nbeen lifted from dishonesty to honesty, from untruth to truth, from\nimmorality to virtue, from heathenism to Christianity; and yet there still\nclings to him, though he no longer worships the fetich, a belief in and\nfear of it. The presence of foreign governments can and does prevent\nwitchcraft murder for the dead; but if these governments were withdrawn\nfrom English Sierra Leone, French Kongo-Fran\u00e7ais, and other partitions of\nAfrica, the witchcraft ordeal and murder would be at once resumed. And no\nwonder. Inbred beliefs, deepened by millenniums of years of practice, are\nnot eliminated by even a century of foreign teaching. Costume of body and\nfashion of dress are easily and voluntarily changed; not so the essence of\none's being.\n\nUnder the assurance that a consecrated charm can be made for the\naccomplishment of any purpose whatever, it results that almost every\nnative African heathen, in hours of fear or anger or revenge, has made, or\nhas had made, for himself amulets, or has performed rites intended to\ncompass an injury to, and perhaps the death of, some other person. Should\nthat other die, even as long a time as a year afterward, it will be\nbelieved that that fetich amulet or act caused the death.\n\nIt follows, therefore (although even heathen natives do, in rare cases,\nsay of a death, \"Yes, Anzam took this one,\" _i. e._, that he died a\nnatural death), that almost universally at any death which we would know\nas a natural one, surviving relatives and friends make the charge of\nwitchcraft, and seek the witch or wizard, by investigation involving, in\nthe trial, torture, or ordeal by poison, fire, or other tests. For every\nnatural death at least one, and often ten or more, have been executed\nunder witchcraft accusation.\n\nI have pleaded for the lives of accused when I believed them innocent, and\nwhenever I was informed that an investigation was in progress, I said to\nthe crowd assembled in the street, \"When you kill these three people\nto-day, do I see three babies born to take their place in the number of\nthe inhabitants of your village?\"\n\nThe Balengi on the Benita River, among whom I travelled in 1865-70, were\nthen a large tribe. It is now very small, exterminated largely by\nwitchcraft murders for the dead. The aged, defenceless, and slaves are\ngenerally selected as victims. But no one is secure. Relatives of a chief\nwho during his life may have seemed envious of his power, are often\nsuspected and put to death.\n\nFor the determination of a doubtful cause of decease post-mortems are\nmade, but not on any rational basis or with any knowledge of anatomy. In\nthe autopsy of an ordinary person the object is to find among the bowels\nor other internal organs some sign which the doctor-priest may declare to\nbe the path of the supposed sorcery-injected destroying spirit. In case of\na magician, the object is to see whether his own \"familiar\" had \"eaten\"\nhim. Cavities in the lungs are considered proof positive that one's own\npower has destroyed him. The fimbriated extremities of the fallopian tubes\nof a uterus are also declared to be \"witch.\" Their ciliary motions on\ndissection are regarded as a sign that the woman was a witch. In proof,\nthe native doctor said to me, \"See! those are the spirit-teeth. Don't you\nsee how they move and extend in desire to catch and eat?\" It was in vain\nthat I declared to him that if that was true then every woman all over the\nworld was a witch, and that he was bound to go ahead and kill them all;\nfor that God had made no woman without those things. (Was this \"doctor's\"\nidea the same reason for which the old anatomists called those fimbri\u00e6\n\"morsus Diaboli\"?)\n\nIn Garenganze, among the Barotse,[80] \"the trial for witchcraft is short\nand decisive. If one man suspects another of having bewitched him,--in\nfact, if he has a grudge against him,--he brings him before the council,\nand the ordeal of the boiling pot is resorted to. My proposal is that if\nthey consider it a fair trial of 'whiteness' or 'blackness' of heart, as\nthey call it, then let both the accuser and the accused put their hands\ninto the boiling water. The king is strongly in favor of this proposal,\nand would try any means to stop this fearful system of murder which is\nthinning out many of his best men; but the nation is so strongly in favor\nof the practice that he can do nothing. An old friend of mine, Wizini, who\ntook quite a fatherly care and interest in me, for some peculiar reason of\nhis own, was charged with witchcraft. He pleaded earnestly to be spared\nthe terrible trial, and was reprieved because of his years, but banished\nfrom his people and country for life, for no other reason than that a\nneighbor had an ill feeling against him. Had he been first to the king\nwith his complaint, he might have gotten his neighbor burned or banished\ninstead of himself.... Their punishments are very cruel. Burning alive is,\namong the Barotse, a common occurrence; also tying the victim hand and\nfoot and laying him near a nest of large black ('driver') ants, which in a\nfew days pick his bones clean.\"\n\nBut it is well to repeat my own qualification of most statements about\n\"African\" customs, which Arnot makes in connection with the above, that,\n\"when manners and customs are referred to, the particular district must be\nborne in mind. Africa is an immense continent, and there is as much\nvariety in the customs of the different tribes as in their languages.\nCertain tribes take delight in cruelty and bloodshed; others have a\nreligious fear of shedding human blood, and treat aged people with every\nkindness, to secure their good-will after death. By other tribes the aged\nwould be cast out as mere food for wild animals.\"\n\nThe testimony of Decl\u00e8[81] as to the tribes of South-Central Africa is:\n\"You would suppose that the African expected everybody to live forever,\nsince his one explanation of death is an immediate recourse to witchcraft.\nIt is hardly an exaggeration to say that every natural death entails a\nviolent one as its consequence. Along with witchcraft and the inevitable\naccusation of sorcery when one dies, goes the custom of 'muavi,' the\nordeal by poison.... It is plain what complete domination this practice\nhas got over the native mind. The reason is that he thoroughly believes in\nits efficiency. My own porters have constantly offered to submit to the\nordeal on the most trivial charges. Of course, this thorough belief in\n'muavi' hands the native over completely defenceless to the witch doctor.\nThe doctor can get rid of anybody he likes to. Besides this, he is a kind\nof public prosecutor; that is to say, that when he accuses any man or\nwoman of sorcery, he is not obliged, like any ordinary accuser, to take\nthe poison himself.\"\n\nThe \"ordeal\" or test of the innocence of a person accused of practising\nwitchcraft or of having caused the death of any one (except in places\nwhere Christianity has attained power), is almost the same now as that\ndescribed by Rev. Dr. J. L. Wilson, and subsequently by Du Chaillu, as\nexisting fifty years ago on the entire West Coast of Africa. On the Upper\nGuinea coasts it is called the \"red water.\" \"It is a decoction made from\nthe inner bark of a large forest tree of the mimosa family.\" At Calabar a\nbean was used, an extract of which since has been employed in our\npharmacopoeia, in surgical operations of the eye.\n\nIn the Gabun country the bark and leaves of a small tree called \"akazya\"\nare used. Farther south, in the Nk\u00e2mi (miswritten, \"Camma\") country, it is\ncalled \"mbundu.\"\n\nThe decoction itself is supposed to have almost sentience,--an ability to\nfollow, in the various organs of the body, like a policeman, and detect\nand destroy the witch-spirit supposed to be lurking about.\n\nAccused persons sometimes even demand that they be given the ordeal. This\nan innocent person could fearlessly do, feeling sure of his innocence,\nand thinking, as any honest person in a civilized country charged with\ntheft would feel, that it was perfectly safe to have his house searched,\nsure that no stolen article was secreted there. So here the ignorant\nnative is willing to take this poison, not looking on it as what we call\n\"poison.\"\n\nPeople who know that they have at times used witchcraft arts will\nnaturally be unwilling to undergo the test; but if the charge is made\nafter a death, an accused is compelled to drink. \"If it nauseates and\ncauses him to vomit freely, he suffers no injury, and is at once\npronounced innocent. If, on the other hand, it causes vertigo, and he\nloses his self-control, it is regarded as evidence of guilt; and then all\nsorts of indignities and cruelties are practised on him.... On the other\nhand, if he escapes without injury his character is thoroughly purified,\n... and he arraigns before the principal men of the town his accusers, who\nin their turn must submit to the same ordeal, or pay a large fine to the\nman whom they attempted to injure.... There is seldom any fairness in the\nadministration of the ordeal. No particular quantity of the 'red water' is\nprescribed.\" The doctor, by collusion and family favoritism, may make the\ndecoction very weak; or, influenced by public feeling inimical to the\naccused, he may compel him to swallow a fatal amount; or he may save his\nlife by a subsequent emetic.[82]\n\n\nCANNIBALISM.\n\nAfrican cannibalism has been regarded as only a barbarism; but for many\nyears I have strongly suspected that it had some connection with the\nNegro's religion. It may be a corollary of witchcraft.\n\nDecl\u00e8 intimates the same:[83] \"I do not mean such cannibalism as that of\ncertain Kongo tribes, or of the Solomon Islanders, who kill people to eat\nthem, as we eat game. With such tribes I did not come in contact. But\nthere is another form of cannibalism less generally known to Europeans,\nand perhaps even more grisly, which consists in digging up dead bodies to\nfeast on their flesh. This practice exists largely among the natives in\nthe region of Lake Nyasa.[84] I know of a case in which the natives of a\nvillage in this region seized the opportunity of a white man's presence to\nbreak into the hut of one of these reputed cannibals, and found there a\nhuman leg hanging from the rafters. This incident shows that cannibalism\nis practised; but also that it is not universal with the tribes among whom\nit is found, and is condemned by the public opinion of those who do not\npractise it. But public opinion in Africa is not a highly developed\npower.... The real public opinion is witchcraft. And, indeed, in the case\nof cannibalism, the real public opinion tends to shield the perpetrators,\nbecause they are reputed to be sorcerers of high quality.\"\n\nRev. Dr. H. C. Trumbull, in his \"Blood Covenant\" (1893), while gathering\ntestimony from all nations to illustrate his view of the universality of\nblood as representing _life_, and the _heart_ as the seat of life, as a\npart of the religious rite of a covenant, comes incidentally on this same\nidea of cannibalism as having a religious significance, or at least, as I\nhave expressed above, as a corollary of witchcraft. This will explain why\nthe African cannibal, in conquering his enemy, also eats him; why the\nheart is especially desired in such feasts; and why the body of any one of\ndistinguished characteristics is prized for the cannibal feast. His\nstrength or skill or bravery or power is to be absorbed along with his\nflesh.\n\nTrumbull[85] quotes from R\u00e9ville, the representative comparative\nreligionist of France: \"Here you will recognize the idea so widely spread\nin the two Americas, and indeed almost everywhere amongst uncivilized\npeople (nor is it limited to the uncivilized), that the heart is the\nepitome, so to speak, of the individual,--his soul in some sense,--so\nthat to appropriate his heart is to appropriate his whole being.\"\n\nA constant charge against sorcerers in West African tribes is that they\nhave made a person sick by stealing and eating the sick one's \"heart,\" and\nthat the invalid cannot recover till the \"heart\" is returned.\n\nAlso, see Trumbull:[86] \"The widespread popular superstition of the\nVampire and of the ghoul seems to be an outgrowth of this universal belief\nthat transfused blood is revivifying. The bloodless shades, leaving their\ngraves at night, seek renewed life by drawing out the blood of those who\nsleep, taking the life of the living to supply temporary life to the\ndead.... An added force is given to all these illustrations of the\nuniversal belief that transferred blood has a vivifying power, by the\nconclusions of modern medical science concerning the possible benefits of\nblood-transfusion. The primitive belief seems to have had a sound basis in\nscientific fact.\"\n\nHistories of our American Indians are full of incidents showing how the\nheart of a captive who in dying had exhibited bravery in the endurance of\ntorture, was promptly cut in pieces and eaten, to absorb his courage.\n\n\"The Ashanti fetichmen of West Africa, apparently acting on a kindred\nthought, make a mixture of the hearts of enemies mingled with blood and\nconsecrated herbs, for the vivifying of the conquerors.\"\n\n\"In South Africa, among the Amampondo, one of the Kaffir tribes, it is\ncustomary for the chief, on his accession to authority, to be washed in\nthe blood of a near relative, generally a brother, who is put to death on\nthe occasion, and has his skull used as a receptacle for blood.\"[87]\n\n\nSECRET SOCIETIES.\n\nAnother outcome of witchcraft belief is the formation of secret societies,\nboth male and female, of crushing power and far-reaching influence,\nwhich, in one aspect of their influence, the governmental, were the only\nauthority, before the intrusion of foreign powers, which could settle a\nfierce personal dispute or enforce intertribal peace. But their\npossibilities for good were overbalanced by their actualities of evil.\n\nAmong these societies I have, in a previous chapter, mentioned as\ngovernmental agencies the Egbo of the Niger Delta, Ukuku of the Corisco\nregion, and Yasi of the Ogowe. There is also in the Gabun region of the\nequator, among the Shekani, Mwetyi; among the Bakele, Bweti; among the\nMpongwe-speaking tribes, Ind\u00e2 and Njembe; and Ukuku and Malinda in\nthe Batanga regions.\n\nA detailed account of the ceremonies of an initiation into Malinda is\ncontained in Chapter XVI.\n\nIn a previous chapter I have mentioned my own coming in contact with Ukuku\nand Yasi.\n\nAll these societies had for their primary object the good one of\ngovernment, for this purpose holding the fetich in terror; but the means\nused were so arbitrary, the influences employed so oppressive, and the\nrepresentations so false, that they almost all were evil. Most of them are\nnow discontinued as a tribal power by the presence of foreign governments,\nthe foreign power having actually come in conflict with some of them, as\nin the case of England recently with the Aro of Nigeria; or, where they\nstill exist, they have degenerated to mere amusement, as Ukukwe, in Gabun;\nor are kept up as a traditional fashion, as Njembe.\n\nBut they all exist, as described by Rev. Dr. Wilson a generation ago, and\nare at this very present among the tribes of the interior, where foreign\ngovernment is as yet only nominal.\n\nMwetyi \"is a great spirit, who is supposed to dwell in the bowels of the\nearth, but comes to the surface of the ground at stated seasons, or when\nsummoned on any special business. A large flat house of peculiar form is\nerected in the middle of the village for the temporary sojourn of this\nspirit. The house is always kept perfectly dark, and no one is permitted\nto enter it, except those who have been initiated into all the mysteries\nof the order, which includes, however, almost the whole of the adult male\npopulation of the village.... When Mwetyi is about to retire from a\nvillage, the women, children, uninitiated lads, and any strangers who may\nbe there at the time, are required to leave the village.\"\n\n\"Ind\u00e2 is an association whose membership is confined to the adult male\npopulation. It is headed by a spirit of that name, who dwells in the\nwoods, and appears only when summoned by some unusual event,--at the death\nof a person connected with the order, at the birth of twins, or at the\ninauguration of some one into office.... If a distinguished person dies,\nInd\u00e2 affects great rage, and comes the following night with a large posse\nof men to seize the property of the villagers without discrimination. He\nis sure to lay hands on as many sheep and goats as are necessary to make a\ngrand feast, and no man has any right to complain.... The institution of\nInd\u00e2, like that of Mwetyi, is intended to keep the women, children, and\nslaves in subjection.\"\n\n\"Njembe is a pretty fair counterpart of Ind\u00e2, but there is no\nspecial spirit nor any particular person representing it.\" Its power\nresides in the society as a body, and rests on the threat of the\nemployment of fetich medicines to injure recalcitrant persons. Only women\nare admitted to it. A very considerable fee is demanded for admission to\nmembership. Formerly it was considered an honor to be allowed to be\ninitiated; now, to perpetuate itself, it compels young women to enter it,\nespecially if they have made derogatory remarks about Njembe. The\ninitiation then becomes a kind of punishment. Strange to say, young women\nthus compelled to enter accept the society, and become zealous to drag\nothers in. The initiation occupies about two weeks, and is accompanied\nwith harsh treatment. Njembe has no special meeting-house. They\nassemble in a cleared place in the centre of a jungle, where their doings\nare unseen by outsiders by night or day. Nothing is known of their rites,\nexcept that they dance in a nude state, and the songs of their dances are\nopenly heard, and are often of the vilest character.\n\n\"They pretend to detect thieves, to find out the secrets of their\nenemies,\" to direct women in pregnancy, and in other ways claim to be\nuseful.\n\n\"The object of the institution originally, no doubt, was to protect the\nfemales from harsh treatment on the part of their husbands.\"\n\nAs a rule, the Mpongwe women say that every woman should be in the\nNjembe Society; so, at a certain age of a girl, they decide that she\nshall \"go in.\" But she is not always put through all the ceremonies at\nonce. She may be subjected to only a part of the initiation, the remainder\nto be performed at another time.\n\nThe special occasion for an initiation may be perhaps because the spirit\nof some recently dead member wants a new one to take her place; or if any\nyoung woman has escaped being initiated during her youth or if she is\ncharged with having spoken derisively of Njembe, she may be seized\nby force and compelled to go through the rite.\n\nThe entire process so beats down the will of the novices and terrorizes\nthem, that even those who have been forced into it against their will,\nwhen they emerge at the close of the rite, most inviolably preserve its\nsecrets, and express themselves as pleased.\n\nJust before the novices or \"pupils\" are to enter, they have to prepare a\ngreat deal of food,--as much as they can possibly obtain of cassava, fish,\nand plantains. Two days are spent, before the ceremonies begin, in cooking\nthis food. They make big bundles of ng\u00e2nd\u00e2 (gourd seed) pudding, others of\nground-nuts and odika (oily kernel of the wild mango), pots of odika and\nfish boiled, boiled hard plantains, and ripe plantains beaten into rolls\ncalled \"fufu.\" This food is to be eaten by them and the older members of\nthe society the first night.\n\nThose older ones, as a part of the hazing which they always practise,\ndeceive the new ones by advising them in advance: \"Eat no supper this\nevening. Save up your appetite. All this food you have prepared is your\nown, and you will be satiated at the feast to-night.\" This is said in\norder to play a hard joke on them. But sometimes a more tender-hearted\nrelative will pity them, and will privately warn them to eat something,\nknowing that they will be up all night, and that the older members intend\nto seize and eat what these \"pupils\" had prepared for themselves, allowing\nthe latter to be faint with hunger.\n\nThat evening the society goes into the adjacent jungle, the spot selected\nincluding a small stream of water. There they clear a small space for\ntheir ceremonies. They dance all night, part of the time in this camp, and\npart of the time in the street of the town, but always going back to the\ncamp at some early morning hour.\n\nOn the second day they come to town, dance there a little while, and then\ngo back to the forest. They beat constantly and monotonously, without\ntime, a short straight stick on a somewhat crescent-shaped piece of board\n(orega) that is slightly concave on one side. It makes a clear but not\na musical note; is heard quite far, and is the distinctive sign of the\nNjembe Society. No other persons own or will strike the orega\nmusic.\n\nIn the part of the ceremonies that are public in the village street, a man\nis invited to assist by beating on a drum, a matter in which women here\nare not expert. This drum does not exclude the orega, several of which\nmay be beaten at the same time; at least one must be kept sounding during\nthe whole two weeks by one or another of the candidates, or if these\nbecome exhausted, by some other member of the society.\n\nOne of the first public preparations is the bending of a limber pole\n(ilala) as an arch, or two branches, their tops woven together, over the\npath entering the village. They are wreathed with lycopodium ferns, and at\ntheir bases are stuck a young, short, recently half-unfolded palm-leaf,\npainted with Njembe dots of white, red, and black. At the distance\nof a few hundred feet may be another ilala; indeed, there may be several\nof them on the way to the camp.\n\nWhile dancing during the first few days, the society occupies itself with\npreparations, unknown to the public, for their \"work\" in the camp. Thither\ncome older members from afar, especially those related to the candidates.\n\nCertain women skilled in the Njembe dances and rules are called\n\"teachers.\" The first step which an already initiated member takes to\nbecome a \"teacher\" is to find and introduce a new recruit, with whom she\nmust again go through all the rites of initiation more severely than at\nher first experience. She makes herself perfect in the lessons impressed\non her by impressing them on the new pupil. The prospective \"teacher\" has\nthus to endure, in this second passage through the rites, all and more\nthan is put on the novice. Little as is known of these rites, it is\ncertain they are severe.\n\nIn the singing, each song is known by its own descriptive motions. The\nmotion mentioned is to be actually performed, however difficult or\nimmodest it may be. Generally the immodest portions are reserved for the\nseclusion of their camp; but the words sung at the camp can be heard at\nthe village, so that all hear them,--men, women, and little children.\n\nOne common public song has for its refrain, \"Look at the sun\"; while that\nsong is being danced, the candidate must gaze steadily at the hot sun,\neven if it be blinding. Most of the \"rules\" (and the teacher may invent as\nmany new ones as she chooses) are purposely hard in order to make the\ncandidate suffer, and as part of the process of breaking her will, and\nensuring secrecy by a reign of terror.\n\nAlso most of the nights the candidate (or several of them if there are a\nnumber) must spend hours in keeping a fire burning in some part of the\nforest. That fire, once started, must be kept burning day and night during\nthe whole two weeks. A girl who in ordinary times would be afraid to go\nout into the forest alone at night, will, under the Njembe\ninitiation, go out in storm and rain to see that the fire is not\nextinguished. Sometimes the teacher will lighten the task for her by\naccompanying her; or some one, pitying, will help to gather the dead wood\nwith which the fire is kept smouldering.\n\nThere are also rules for the breaking of which there are fines, _e. g._,\n\"When you are dancing in public during the initiation, do not laugh\naloud.\" Another rule is that no salutation is to be given or received, nor\nthe person or even the clothing of a visitor touched by a candidate.\n\nThe teacher must be quick to imitate, in this her second \"degree\" or\npassage through the rites, the rapid motions of the skilled older one who\nis teaching her and her new recruit.\n\nIn order to increase the severity, the pupil, though she may be already\nwearied, is required to repeat her dance before every newcomer or\nspectator. The teacher will start the beat of the orega and take a few\nsteps of the dance, and then stop and rest comfortably, the tired pupil\ntaking the orega and continuing the dance.\n\nIf pupils are sulky or shy, their teacher and other older members will\nscold them: \"Go on! dance! You may not stand or rest there! Go on! You!\nthis girl with your awkwardness! Do you own the Njembe?\" Sometimes a\npupil is sulky or stubborn, or, disheartened, begins to cry. No mercy is\nshown her. Others, in anxiously trying to follow motions, will make absurd\nmistakes, and bring down on themselves the derision of the spectators.\nSome pupils really like the dancing, and endeavor to learn quickly. Such\nas these are praised: \"This one knows, and she will some day be a\nteacher.\"\n\nIt is expected that the relatives of the pupils will be present and\nencourage them with some little gifts.\n\nIt is remarkable how well the secrets of the society are kept. No one has\never been induced to reveal them. Those who have left the society and have\nbecome Christians do not tell. Foreigners have again and again tried to\nbribe, but in vain. Traders and others have tried to induce their native\nwives to reveal; but these women, obedient to any extent on all other\nmatters, maintain a stubborn silence. Nothing is known outside of the\nsociety of their doings in their camp, except that they are all naked, lay\naside all modesty, make personal examinations of each other's bodies, sing\nphallic songs, and indulge in the hardest, severest, and most violent\ninsults and curses heaped up in assumed wrath as jokes on each other. It\nis really a school in which to learn the fine art of using insults and\ncurses which will be utilized outside the society, upon other persons on\noccasions of real anger. No man can equal these women in their volubility\nand bitter tirades when really angry. It is Billingsgate in its glory.\n\nAfter keeping up the ceremonies for a number of days, the society chooses\none for their \"last.\" The day preceding it, they go out in procession with\nbaskets, kettles, and basins, from village to village, still singing, the\nsong being adapted for their errand of begging, and still beating the\norega, to get offerings of food, or gifts of rum, tobacco, plates, and\ncloth. (In a civilized religious worship this would be the taking up of\nthe collection.) At each village on their route any member of the society\nwill direct one of the new pupils to dance, as an exhibition of her\nrecently acquired ability. She does not hesitate, but asks, \"Which dance?\"\nThe teacher replies, \"I will show you,\" and starting a few steps measured,\nshe stops, and the designated pupil takes it up.\n\nDuring the initiation the pupils are required to go bare-footed; and if\nthey have been wearing dresses, the dresses are taken off and only a\nnative cloth worn. But a slight concession has occasionally been made in\nfavor of some mission-school girls when forced into Njembe, who,\naccustomed to dresses, were allowed to wear them when walking in this\npublic collecting procession.\n\nThe night of the day on which they come back from this collecting of gifts\nis the \"last night.\" Dancing is then done by all, both by the teachers and\nthe pupils.\n\nIt is not known who is leader. One is spoken of as the \"Mother,\" but it\nis not known who she is. The chief teacher is seen whenever they come from\ntheir camp, and is known by the colored chalk markings different from\nothers.\n\n\n[Illustration: NJEMBE. FEMALE SECRET SOCIETY.--MPONGWE, GABUN.]\n\n\nThe next morning, the morning of the \"last day,\" all go out fishing, young\nand old, along the river or sea beach. This fishing is done among the\nmuddy roots of the mangrove trees. They gather shell-fish of different\nkinds. But whatever they do or do not obtain, they do not return till each\none has caught a small common snake which lives in holes at the mangrove\nroots. The sound of the orega (which is still constantly beaten) seems\nto act as a charm, and the snake emerges from its hole and is readily\ncaught; or the hand is boldly thrust into the hole in search of the\nreptile. In starting out on this fishing the new members do not know that\nthey are to handle snakes. They go as on a happy fishing excursion.\nReally, it is their final test. They are told to put their hands into\nthese holes, and not to let go of the \"fish\" they shall seize there. The\nnovice obeys, but presently screams in alarm as she feels a snake-like\nform wriggling about her hand. Her teacher terribly threatens her; she\nbegs to be excused, dares not let go, and is compelled to pull out the\nsnake twining about her arm. They all then return to the camp, each with\nher snake in her basket. It is not known what is done with these snakes.\n\nThe teacher is to be paid for her services. As the pupils come from\ndifferent villages, each one has to ask her teacher's permission to go to\nher relatives to collect the fee. This is done a few days before the final\nday. They are allowed to go, but with an escort to watch them that they\nbreak no rule of the initiation. They do not go into the houses, nor do\nthey speak. They stand in the street. Those who escort them have to do the\ntalking, thus: \"We have come to collect our money, as the Njembe\nwill soon be done.\" If they get a plenty, the pupils are glad; otherwise\nthey have to stand in the hot sun uncovered, except by their crown-like\nwreath of lycopodium fern. It is a trying and humiliating position for any\ngirl whose people are poor or unwilling. She must stand there till some\none of her people shall contribute what the escort deems sufficient.\n\nHaving collected each her fee for the teacher, the pupils go back to her\nat the village, and seat themselves on the ground under the eaves of the\nhouses on one side of the street, each with her pile of goods near her.\nThe teacher eyes these piles, and selects the girl who apparently has the\nmost, to be the first to begin to pay. Just previous to this, stalks of\namomum are laid down in the street, parallel to each other, about eighteen\ninches apart, in number according with the teacher's random guess of the\nnumber of articles in the chosen pile. Then she lays the articles of the\npile, one by one, on the amomum stalk. Then another of the teachers seizes\nthe hand of the girl who owned these goods, and swinging her from side to\nside, runs with her rapidly over that line of goods, herself stepping\ncarefully on the interspaces, but apparently trying to confuse the girl\ninto stepping on and breaking some one of the articles, _e. g._, a mirror\nor a plate. This ordeal safely passed, the goods of that girl are accepted\nand put aside near the teacher. The goods of each of the other new girls\nare treated in the same way, and laid, one by one, on the amomum stalks.\n\nThe number of some girl's articles may not equal the standard set by the\nfirst, and there may be not enough to cover every stalk. In that case the\nteacher will allow some article, _e. g._, a head of tobacco-leaves, to be\nopened and its separate leaves used to piece out the number. Nevertheless,\nshe will demand that something be added. It is an anxious time for the\npupils, watching to see whether their fee is accepted. Sometimes the\nteacher, seeing that a girl's pile of goods is small, will not even\nattempt to count or divide it, but, looking at it, sneeringly says, \"I see\nnothing here! Sit you there in the sun till some one brings you more!\"\n\nThe last act of the \"last day,\" before adjourning, is a public dance\ncalled Njeg\u00e2 (Leopard). For that, the members of the society, and most\nspectators, dress up in fine clothes. It is performed in the afternoon,\nand visitors go to see it. The \"Leopard\" is done by the teachers, two at a\ntime. All these pairs must have their faces painted, each in a different\nstyle, no piece of skin left untouched.\n\nIn beginning the Leopard dance, one of the pair imitates a leopard\nsneaking around the corners of the houses; while the other one, waiting,\nhas collected perhaps a dozen of the members as her \"children,\" whom she\nas their \"mother\" is to guard from the \"leopard.\" This teacher-mother\nbegins a song, \"Children! there is the leopard in shape of a person,\"\nadding as a refrain the word, \"Mbwero! mbwero! mbwero!\" which is repeated\nrapidly as a warning that the leopard is coming, ending with, \"my\nchildren!\" They sing, and step backward and forward to a drum\naccompaniment. While these \"children\" are in great pretended excitement,\nthe leopard is advancing slowly, steadily, and nearer from the ogwerina\n(rear of the houses) into the street, with extended tongue, and growling.\nWhen the mother sees this, her dance step grows quicker, and she backs and\nmotions to her children behind her, they imitating all her steps. The\nleopard advances with a swaying step in time with the music, and then\nsuddenly dashes forward, and catches one of the children, and sets her\naside. This is kept up by the leopard till most of the children are\ncaught, only one or two being left. The mother then seems very much\nexhausted, with a sad slow step; but the leopard at last catches the\nothers. Now that her children are all dead, the mother is aroused to fury.\nThe conflict remains between her and the leopard. And \"mother\" must\nfinally kill \"leopard.\" The dance becomes very much more rapid; the two\napproach nearer and nearer. Mother has a stick like a sword, and finally\nshe kills leopard with a light blow. This coup is received by a shout from\nthe spectators of \"o-lo-lo!\"\n\nThen another pair are selected to go through the parts of mother and\nleopard again. Sometimes one will refuse to act, or to be mated with the\nother one. Then, like a singer in civilized lands, she is met with\nentreaties from the crowd, \"Do act! You know so well how to do it!\" And\nthen she yields. If at the last there is remaining only one teacher who\nhas not done the act, one of those who has already performed will mate\nwith her.\n\nAt night, the last work of the society is to put out their fire. If the\nleader has come from a distant village, she wants to go, and she will\nextinguish the fire that night; or, if she lives near, she may choose to\nwait several days longer. But during that time the dancing and singing are\nnot kept up, for the society has adjourned.\n\nWhatever else is unknown of the objects of Njembe, it is known that\nit is a government. It was formerly much more powerful than it is now. At\nLibreville, Gabun, thirty years ago, no woman dared to speak against it.\nMission school-girls, feeling themselves secure on the mission premises,\nsometimes in their school-girl talk foolishly made disparaging remarks\nabout it. When this reached the ear of Njembe, those girls would\nsome day be caught when they were visiting their villages, and forced\nthrough the rites. Parents did not dare interfere, and missionaries had no\nauthority to do so.\n\nIn one case, however, a missionary did make a successful interference. The\ngirl did not belong to Mpongwe (the tribe of Gabun); she was a slave-waif\nthat had been picked up by the mission, and therefore, in a sense, the\nmission's daughter. The senior missionary, Rev. William Walker, was a\ntall, powerful, utterly fearless man, and his custom was always to carry a\nheavy cane. That day, the Njembe lessons that were being given to\nthe abducted girl had only begun in the village street; she had not yet\nbeen taken to their secret camp. Mr. Walker strode among the women and\nlaid hold of the unresisting girl. When some women attempted to drag her\naway, he brought down his cane heavily at random over any head or shoulder\nwithin reach of his long arm; and the girl was glad to be led back to the\nmission. The rescue was successful. Mr. Walker's use of force was\njustifiable as against Njembe's forcible abduction of the girl; and\nhis parental position in the case would have justified him if the women\nhad made any complaint against him before the local French magistrate on\ncharge of assault.\n\nIn a somewhat similar case, more recently, Njembe sued a missionary,\nhe having assaulted them when they refused to remove their distressingly\nnoisy camp from a too great proximity to the mission grounds. The\nmagistrate dismissed the case, resenting Njembe's existence as a\nsecret society, and its assumption of exercise of governmental authority.\n\nRecently also a native man was successful in thwarting Njembe. A\ncertain native Christian woman had escaped being forced into Njembe\nduring her youth; and by her being very much in mission employ during her\nadult years, Njembe had ceased to threaten her. Her daughter, of\nabout eighteen years of age, though not a Christian, had also, by her\nmother's care of her, escaped, though often threatened. A cousin of this\ndaughter had been put through the rite while her father was away on a\njourney. And now this cousin was trying to induce the daughter to enter.\nThe daughter refused, and perhaps may have made some slighting remark.\nThis remark her cousin reported to Njembe; and some intimations were\nmade that the young woman would be seized. The father of the cousin had\nformerly been a church-member, is educated and gentlemanly. Though he had\nfallen away from the church, he had no desire to see his niece dragged\ndown. He spoke severely to his daughter about the excitement she was\ntrying to raise, and threatened to call in the aid of the French Chief of\nPolice. The firm stand taken by him and also by the young woman's mother\nwas efficient in preventing her seizure by Njembe. Both these\nparents are of unusual strength of character and advance in civilization.\nWithout their efficient backing, this young woman would have been forced\ninto Njembe.\n\nRev. J. L. Wilson,[88] wrote of Njembe almost fifty years ago:\n\"There is no spirit, so far as is known, connected with this association,\nbut all its proceedings are kept profoundly secret. The Njembe make\ngreat pretensions, and as a body are really feared by the men. They\npretend to detect thieves, to find out the secrets of their enemies; and\nin various ways they are useful to the community in which they live, or,\nat least, are so regarded by the people. The object of the institution\noriginally, no doubt, was to protect the females from harsh treatment on\nthe part of their husbands; and as their performances are always veiled in\nmystery, and they have acquired the reputation of performing wonders, the\nmen are, no doubt, very much restrained by the fear and respect which they\nhave for them as a body.\"\n\nMost of the above description is, after so many years, true now, except\nthat the power of and respect for the society is lessened by the\npermeating leaven of a Christian mission and by the dominance of a foreign\ngovernment; but even in that same region, in portions where these two\nforces are not in immediate contact with the community, Njembe still\nis feared.\n\nIt is true, also, that there is no special spirit belonging to\nNjembe, but when the society has occasion to investigate a theft or\nother crime, it invokes the usual il\u00e2g\u00e2 and other spirits.\n\nIt is also still true that in the tribes where Njembe exists women\nhave much more freedom from control by men than in tribes where it does\nnot exist. But even if it has been thus a defence to women against man's\nseverity, it undeniably has been an injury to them by its indecent\nceremonies and phallic songs. Such things may make men fear them, but also\nmake it impossible for men to respect them.\n\nThose songs I myself have heard when the Njembe camp was in a jungle\nnear to a village. The male generative organ was personified, and, in the\nsong addressed to it, the name of a certain man, who was known by the\nsingers to be at that very time in the adjacent village, was tauntingly\nreferred to. Even immoral men were overwhelmed with shame at the\nshamelessness of the women. And yet those same women, when their\nNjembe adjourned, resumed in their individual capacities their usual\napparent modesty which, as a collective body, they had cast aside. Little\nhas been printed of Njembe's secret proceedings more than Dr. Wilson\nwrote fifty years ago.\n\nPaul Du Chaillu makes a short statement that he was allowed to witness a\npart; and he describes a hut containing a few almost nude old women\nsitting around some skulls and other fetiches. Doubtless he saw what he\nasserts. But, unusual as were his opportunities, and large as was his\npersonal influence with his \"Camma\" (Nk\u00e2mi) native chiefs, it is positive\nthat what was shown him was only a little of Njembe, if indeed it\nwas Njembe at all.\n\nOther white men, with, indeed, perhaps less tact than he, but of greater\nmoney power and larger trade opportunities, failed to see anything.\n\nSome twenty-five years ago two Germans (now dead) trading in the Gabun\ndetermined secretly to spy out Njembe.\n\nThe merchant, the head of the trading-house, was a well-educated\ngentleman, and his clerk was an active, intelligent young man. Both knew\nnative customs well, and both spoke the Mpongwe language fluently. Each\nhad a native wife, and being generous and liberal-handed, had many native\nfriends; but they had been unable to bribe any Njembe women, even\ntheir own wives, to reveal anything.\n\nOne dark night when the society was in session in a small jungle not far\nfrom their trading-house, they went secretly and cautiously through the\nbushes. They had not approached near enough to the circle of women around\nthe camp-fire to actually recognize any of them (it would have been\ndifficult to recognize their painted faces even by daylight); and they\nreally did not see anything of what was being done. Somehow their approach\nwas discovered, either by information treacherously carried from some one\nin their retinue of household servants, or by being seen by one of the\npickets of the camp, or by the breaking of a branch as they crept through\nthe trees, or, possibly, by their white odor carried on the wind,--odor\nwhich to Africans is almost as distinct as is Negro odor to the white\nrace.\n\nNjembe raised a frenzied cry, and started to seize them. The two men\nfled desperately through the thick bushes. The clerk was recognized, and\nhis name was called out, and the other was assumed to be his employer.\nThey escaped to the safety of their house. Njembe did not dare\nassault it, French policemen being within call; but next day word was sent\nby the society denouncing them both, laying a curse on them, and plainly\nsaying that they should die. If the threat had been that the means of\ndeath would be magic, these gentlemen would have laughed; but the women\ndid not hesitate to say that they would poison them in their food. This\nwould be entirely possible, even without collusion among the several men\nand boys that ranged from steward to cook and waiters as their household\nservants; though, if need were, some of these servants would sooner be\ntreasonable to the white master than dare to refuse Njembe. The case\nwas serious. The older man, as a dispenser of wealth to the entire\ncommunity, was, even in Njembe's eye, too valuable to be killed; his\nwife, herself a Njembe woman, interceded for him, and the curse was\nremoved from him on the payment of a large fine. But the curse was doubled\nover the poor clerk. Njembe would listen to no appeal, nor accept\nany bribe for him, as they had actually seen him at their camp.\n\nIt is a fact that shortly after this this clerk did fall into a decline,\nwith strange symptoms which no doctor understood nor any medicines seemed\nto touch. He became weaker and weaker, and his life was despaired of.\nNjembe openly boasted that it was killing him.\n\nI do not know why an appeal was not made to the local French authorities.\nPerhaps because the merchant did not wish to give more publicity to his\nescapade; perhaps because it would be difficult to prosecute a society, no\nindividual Njembe woman appearing to be responsible.\n\nTo save his clerk, the merchant offered to pay a very large sum.\nNjembe having had a partial revenge, having demonstrated its power,\nand standing victorious before the community, was induced to accept. It\nwas never known publicly how much was paid. The curse was withdrawn, and\nthe clerk immediately began to recover; but it was some months before the\nevil was entirely eradicated from his system.\n\nBeyond Dr. Wilson's and Du Chaillu's short statements about Njembe,\nI have seen nothing else in print, except the mere mention of the\nexistence of the society by several African travellers. What I have\nwritten in the above I have obtained piecemeal at various times from\ndifferent men and women, Christian and heathen; but all of them spoke with\nhesitation, and under promise that I should mention no names.\n\n\nPOISONING FOR REVENGE.\n\nThere are native poisons. It is known that sometimes they are secretly\nused in revenge, or to put out of the way a relative whose wealth is\ndesired to be inherited. This much I have to admit, as to charges of\n\"bewitching\" and so-called \"judicial executions,\" therefore, that in the\ncase of some deaths they are actual murders, and that the perpetrator\ndeserves to be executed. But it is rare that the proof of guilt is clear.\nI have to be guarded in my admission of an accused person's guilt, lest I\ngive countenance to the universal belief in death as the result of fetich\nagencies. I explain to my native questioner: If what the accused has done\nin fetich rite with intent to kill had any efficiency for taking away\nlife, I allow that he shall be put to death; if he made only fetiches,\neven if they were intended to kill, he is not guilty of this death, for a\nmere fetich cannot kill. But if he used poison, with or without fetich,\nthen he is guilty.\n\nBut even so, the distinction between a fetich and a poison is vague in the\nthought of many natives. What I call a \"poison\" is to them only another\nmaterial form of a fetich power, both poison and fetich being supposed to\nbe made efficient by the presence of an adjuvant spirit.\n\nNot all the deaths of foreigners in Africa are due to malaria. Some of\nthem have been doubtless due to poison, administered by a revengeful\nemployee. Very many white residents in Africa treat their servants in\noppressive and cruel ways. Even those who are not cruel are often\nautocratic and arbitrary. In a country that has little law to hinder, and\nno public opinion to shame them, some white men treat the natives almost\nas slaves, cheating them of their wages, cursing, kicking, striking,\nbeating, and otherwise maltreating and even mutilating them. Some are kind\nand just; but even they are at times severe in enforcing their authority.\nSo it could occur that even a kindly-disposed foreigner might have his\nlife attempted by an evil-disposed employee whose anger he had aroused.\n\nIn general, the Bantu natives of Africa are patient, long-suffering, and\nnot easily aroused to violence, but taking their revenge, if finally their\nendurance is exhausted, by robbing their master of his goods or otherwise\nwasting his trade; abandoning him in sickness, so that he dies really of\nneglect, or, when his boat upsets in the surf of the sea, making no effort\nto rescue him.\n\nThe Bantu tribes are less revengeful and more amiable than the Negroes of\nUpper Guinea, or the tribes of Senegal and of the Sudan, with their\nmixture of Arab blood and Mahometan beliefs.\n\nAn English traveller recently, in the Igbo country of Nigeria, in\ndiscussing the native belief in occult forces, says: \"It is impossible for\na white man to be present at their gatherings of 'medicine men,' and it is\nhard to get a native to talk of such things; but it seems evident to me\nthat there is some reality in the phenomena one hears of, as they are\nbelieved everywhere in some degree by white men as well as black. However\nthat may be, the native doctors have a wide knowledge of poisons; and if\none is to believe reports, deaths from poison, both among white and black\nmen, are of common occurrence on the Niger. One of the white man's often\nquoted proverbs is, 'Never quarrel with your cook'; the meaning of which\nis that the cook can put something in your food in retaliation if you\nmaltreat him.\n\n\"There is everywhere a belief that it is possible to put medicine on a\npath for your enemy which, when he steps over it, will cause him to fall\nsick and die. Other people can walk uninjured over the spot, but the\nmoment the man for whom the medicine is laid reaches the place, he\nsuccumbs, often dying within an hour or two. I have never seen such a case\nmyself; but the Rev. A. E. Richardson says he saw one when on the journey\nwith Bishop Tugwell's house-party. He could offer no explanation of how\nthe thing is done, but does not doubt that it is done. Some of the best\neducated of our native Christians have told me that they firmly believe in\nthis 'medicine-laying.'\"\n\nThe most distinct instance of attempt at poisoning which I have met was\nrelated to me in March, 1902, by Mr. H. L. Stacey, of the English\ntrading-house of J. Holt & Co. Ltd. I took the following statement from\nhis own lips, and he gave me liberty to use it publicly. He has since\ndied, and his death was sudden.\n\nMr. Stacey was a gentleman of courteous manner and of good education;\nfearless, universally kind, and generally just in his treatment of the\nnatives. He was a Christian in his belief, and endeavored to be one in his\nlife. His truthfulness is beyond doubt, thus making his statement entirely\nreliable.\n\nHe had his headquarters at Bata, with native sub-traders scattered north\nand south and up the Benita River, some twenty-three miles south of Bata.\nThere came to him for employment a Lagos man, by name Croly or Crowley. He\nspoke English well, could read and write, had quite a display of manner,\nand made himself very useful by his apparent devotion, faithfulness, and\nhonesty. All this deceived Mr. Stacey, who thought he had obtained a\nvaluable servant; and rewarded him by giving him a sub-factory at Lobisa,\na few miles up the Benita River. To have a factory of one's own is the\ngoal of the ambition of every white trader's employees.\n\nMr. Stacey had also a Benga sub-trader on the river at Senje, some ten\nmiles above Lobisa. This Benga went to Bata and reported to Mr. Stacey\nthat Crowley was wasting his goods in riotous living and extravagant\ngiving. While the Benga was away, Crowley falsely told the native Fang,\nwho had been paid in advance by the former to collect india-rubber for\nhim, that the Benga had been dismissed, was in jail, and would never come\nback, and induced them to sell to himself the rubber they had collected\nfor the Benga. When the Benga returned to his post, and asked his Fang to\npay their debt, they told him of the deception Crowley had practised on\nthem. There was, therefore, a triangular quarrel, the Benga suing the Fang\nfor their debt to him, the Fang denouncing Crowley for his cheat, and\nCrowley angry at the Benga for informing Mr. S. on him.\n\nJust at this stage of affairs Mr. S. came on one of his usual visits of\ninspection to Senje. The Fang immediately sent secretly a deceptive\nmessage down to Crowley, saying that Mr. S. wished to see him. As soon as\nhe came, the Fang began to fight him. Notwithstanding Crowley's dishonesty\nto him, Mr. S. magnanimously defended his life, locked him for safety in\nthe Benga's bedroom, and then made the quarrel a quadrilateral by\nprotesting to the Fang against their assaulting his premises. His\ncontention with them was \"talked\" in public \"palaver,\" and finally was\namicably settled. During the \"talk\" a lad came to Mr. S. excitedly, saying\nthat Crowley was spreading \"medicine\" in the bed of the Benga, with intent\nto kill the latter. This aroused again the indignation of the Fang. But\nMr. S. laughed down their anxiety, telling them that he was not afraid of\n\"medicine\" (he thought it was only fetich); that fetich could not kill a\nwhite man; and that, to prove it, he would that night sleep in that bed,\nand the Benga should sleep elsewhere. When all was settled, he got Crowley\nquietly away, and sent him down river to his Lobisa house, with\nexpectation of dismissal. At night Mr. S. awoke with a great pain in his\nabdomen, a great sense of constriction in his chest, skin hot, and body\ntortured with shooting pains. Only his head was clear and free from any\ndistress. The symptoms were not those of malarial fever. The next day his\nlimbs were paralyzed. The natives said that Crowley had scattered in the\nbedding and through the mosquito net a poisonous powder.\n\nMr. S. was taken helpless in his canoe down river, on the way passing very\nnear Lobisa, to a house on the sea-beach near the river's mouth. Believing\nthat Crowley had attempted the life of the Benga, Mr. S., while lying\nsick, sent word to the adjacent Spanish Government Post for two soldiers\nto come and arrest Crowley. (Mr. S. had been informed that C. was on his\nway to him.) For C., when he saw Mr. S. lying sick in his passing canoe,\nsurmised what had happened, and was afraid the Fang would follow him to\nLobisa and assault him there. So he had closed his house and fled,\nfollowing Mr. S. He was coming with a double purpose: first, to plead with\nMr. S. against dismissal; second, as he promptly had heard of Mr. Stacey's\nsleeping in the poisoned bed and being sick, he feared arrest and was\nready also to make the murder plan complete, if his plea for mercy was\ndenied. To this end he came prepared with a handful of the powder.\n\nBefore he had reached the house where Mr. S. was, the two soldiers had met\nand arrested him, and were taking him to jail. He asked permission first\nto be allowed to see his \"master.\" So they brought him to the sick-room,\nwhere he made many protestations of friendship and devotion, and plead for\nmercy. Mr. S. rebuked the soldiers for hesitating in their duty, and for\nhaving brought their prisoner there, and bade them take him away to the\nmagistrate; then he fell back on his pillow exhausted, and lay with closed\neyes, only semi-conscious. The soldiers went out of the room, leaving C.\nclinging to the bed. He fell on his knees by Mr. S.'s head, as if still to\nbeg for pardon. Mr. S. felt C.'s hand insinuated under the bed cover near\nhis pillow, and suddenly opened his eyes, to find C.'s closed hand near\nhis face. He struck away the hand. A quantity of dark powder fell on the\npillow near his nose. Half suffocated, by an effort he shouted to the\nsoldiers, who came and took C. away. Mr. Stacey's little waiter-boy, who\nhad also come in at the shout, was horrified to see the poison-powder on\nthe pillow. He snatched away the pillow, threw the powder out of doors,\nand told the soldiers. They, without waiting for official judgment at the\nPost, gave C. twenty-five lashes at once. Farther blows, twenty-five at a\ntime, were given him while waiting in jail for Mr. S. to get well enough\nto appear against him. Subsequently the _Chef de Poste_ appointed a day\nfor the hearing; but Mr. S., in his devotion to the trade interests of his\nemployers, asked that the day be postponed, as his sub-traders needed just\nthen much supervision. So the _Chef_ dismissed the matter, seeming to\nthink that if Mr. S. regarded his trade as of more importance than the\ndefence of his life, it was no business of the government to hold the\nprisoner; and took no farther interest in it.\n\nHaving been given, in instalments, an aggregate of two hundred lashes, C.\nwas discharged. He wandered about that region gathering a little food,\nwithout friends, feared and hated, and not allowed by some even to enter\ntheir villages.\n\nThe reputation of the Lagos powder as a powerful agent in destroying life\nhas been known for years among the equatorial coast tribes. Reports of it\nare well known among white men on the steamers. It is believed in, not as\na superstition, nor as a fetich, but as a powerful poison. Clerks and\nother workmen from Lagos are not welcomed in the Gabun region, as are\nclerks from other parts of Upper Guinea, for fear of their carrying that\npoison with them.\n\n\nDISTRUST.\n\nAs a result of the universal employment of fetiches in African tribes,\nthere is no confidence between man and man. Every one is in distrust of\nhis neighbor; every man's hand against his fellow.\n\n\"The natives of Africa, though so thoroughly devoted to the use of\nfetiches, acquire no feeling of security in consequence of using them.\nPerhaps their only real influence is to make them more insecure than they\nwould have been without them. There is no place in the world where men\nfeel more insecurity. A man must be careful whose company he keeps, what\npath he walks, whose house he enters, on what stool he seats himself,\nwhere he sleeps. He knows not what moment he may place his foot or lay his\nhand upon some invisible engine of mischief, or by what means the seeds of\ndeath may be implanted in his constitution.\"[89]\n\nBecause of this lack of confidence, the natural affections and the duties\nof the dearest relations are perverted. Wives afraid of husbands, and\nhusbands afraid of wives; children afraid of parents, and parents afraid\nof children; the chief of the village uncertain of his people; and the\nentire community that must live and eat and associate together, living and\neating and associating with a constant secretly entertained suspicion of\neach other.\n\n\nJUGGLERY.\n\nWhile in some of the rites performed by the native doctor-priest there is\nreal diabolism, _i. e._, communication with Satan, and certain wonders are\nperformed through the Prince of the Power of Darkness, I am disposed to\nbelieve that in most cases the \"doctor\" is self-deceived, certainly in\nmany cases I believe him to be a deliberate deceiver. The native so-called\n\"prophet\" is probably an artful mind-reader; and the fortune-teller, like\nour own fortune-tellers, a skilful observer of the subject's tones,\nmanner, and unguarded admissions in conversation which give ground for\nshrewd guessing.\n\nArnot[90] says: \"These professional diviners are no doubt smart fellows,\narch-rogues though they be. The secret of their art lies in their constant\nrepetition of every possibility in connection with the disaster they are\ncalled upon to explain until they finally hit upon that which is in the\nminds of their clients. As the people sit around and repeat the words of\nthe diviner, it is easy for him to detect in their tone of voice or to\nread in their faces the suspected source of the calamity.\n\n\"A man had a favorite dog which was attacked by a leopard, but succeeded\nin escaping with one of its eyes torn out. To ascertain the reason of this\ncalamity, the owner sent to call one of these diviners. When he arrived,\nto test him, he was told that a disaster had befallen my acquaintance, and\nwas asked to find out by divination what it was. The diviner with his\nrattles and other paraphernalia, and dances, and other movements to occupy\nattention, after the manner of jugglers, asked leading questions of the\nspirit he was professing to consult, but really he was watching the faces\nof his audience for their unconsciously given assent or dissent. Thus, in\nsuccession, he found that the misfortune, whatever it was, was not to a\nhuman being; then not to certain families; then to some object possessed\nby a certain man; then that it was not about an ox nor about a goat; then\nthat it was about a dog; then, after certain other possibilities, was it\nconnected with a leopard? So excited were the audience that they forgot\nthat they had been 'giving themselves away,' and when the diviner asked\nthe spirit, 'Was it a leopard?' they shouted with admiration at his\nsupposed skill. After a whole day of such proceedings the diviner\ntriumphed by announcing 'that the spirit of the father of one of the man's\nwives had been grieved at the man's long absence from his town and family,\nand had employed the leopard to tear the dog's eye as a gentle reminder\nthat it was time he should go back to his own village.'\"\n\nIn connection with the Yoruba custom of parents of twins having images\ncarved of their dead twins, \"the carving of those images is a flourishing\nand money-making trade. If the parents of the dead child are in\ncomfortable circumstances, the carvers tell them that they have seen in\ntheir dreams the dead twin, and that he or she has asked them to send such\nand such clothes, articles of food, money, etc.\n\n\"Sometimes they say the twins appeared to them in the forest when they\nwent to cut the Ire-wood to be carved, and bade them not to venture it. In\nsuch cases special sacrifices must be offered before taking any steps. In\nthis way months pass before the carving is complete; during which time\nthe carvers demand of the parents whatever they feel they are capable of\nsupplying them with.\"[91]\n\nIn the Corisco region, some thirty years ago, I knew a native sorcerer who\nachieved quite a reputation because he could perform the thimble-rig\njuggler-trick of making a leaf appear and disappear between two plates.\n\nOne of my associates in the Ogowe, the late H. M. Bachelor, M.D., had\nbrought with him from the United States a few tricks of \"parlor magic.\" He\nquite astonished my school-children by swallowing and subsequently\nvomiting up a penknife, and by passing a threaded needle through the thigh\nof one of the boys. Dr. B. did the tricks so artistically that even I did\nnot detect the deception about the penknife; and the boy solemnly asserted\nthat he felt the needle travelling through his leg. The exhibition was a\nhappy one in revealing to the natives how an evil-disposed sorcerer would\nbe able to deceive them.\n\nA lady of the West African Mission of the American Board says: \"I once\nwitnessed the performance of a witch-doctor on one of my visits among the\nvillages. The chief of the country was sick, and the doctor was giving him\na massage treatment. By sleight of hand he seemed to draw from the\npatient's side chicken's claws, feathers, bones, sticks, pebbles, etc.\nSome \"witch,\" it was supposed, had caused these things to grow in the\nman's body with intent to kill. It was evident to the astonished crowd\nwhich had gathered around, that their king would probably get well, now\nthese things were removed. The doctor's bill was promptly paid,--a\nthousand balls of rubber, ten pieces of cloth, and a large pig. An ox was\nslaughtered, and a beer drink indulged in to celebrate the occasion and to\nappease any offended spirit.\"\n\n\nTREATMENT OF LUNATICS.\n\nThe insane being supposed to be physically and mentally possessed by an\nintruding spirit, their actions are necessarily not considered to be the\noutcome of their own volitions. This view does not always, in the native\nmind, relieve a lunatic of the burden of the consequences of his acts.\n\nThere is great diversity, therefore, in the treatment of the insane in\ndifferent districts and in different tribes. In some regions a tribe holds\nto the following reasoning: This person is possessed by a spirit. That\nspirit is occupying his body and using his voice and limbs for some\nreason. If we interfere with this person's doings, then we will be\ninterfering with the spirit and may bring evil on ourselves. Therefore it\nis considered proper to make offerings and some degree of worship to the\nincarnated spirit. But it is not true that the lunatic himself is an\nobject of worship. The gifts and sacrifices are made solely to and for the\nspirit; the prayer of the petitioners being that it may refrain from\ninciting the possessed person to do them evil, and in the hope that it may\nconclude to depart and leave the patient and them alone.\n\nIn other places this same belief of possession leads to a very different\nlogical conclusion. The thought is: This person is possessed by an evil\nspirit; if we allow him to remain, that evil spirit will do us only evil;\nlet us put this man, who is thus being utilized for evil, out of the way,\nand perhaps in so doing we may get rid of the possessing spirit also. So\nthe lunatic is put to death. The manner of death sometimes chosen is a\ncruel one, as if thereby the spirit itself might also be injured or\nincapacitated to do further evil. Observe that this cruelty is not\ndirected against the demented human being, but against the indwelling\nspirit. The maniac in being put to death is sometimes beaten with clubs,\nsometimes burned, sometimes drowned, as if the evil possessing spirit\nmight itself be fractured or charred or sunk.\n\nThe forms of lunacy I have seen are mild, rarely maniacal. The lunatics I\nhave met in the Gabun region were both men and women. Among women I have\nthought a cause was uterine complications; among both men and women,\nexcessive use of tobacco; in two cases of men the cause was\nhashish-smoking. These last were characterized by a deep melancholy; all\nthe others were marked by absurd hallucinations. Undeniably, in two cases\nin Gabun, the paroxysms were influenced by the stage of the moon.\n\nThe only medication of which the natives know is exorcism by fetich with\ndrum and dance, baths and purgatives. When a person is discovered to be\ncrazy, he is taken to the doctor, who gathers medicinal barks and leaves,\nmakes a very hot decoction, and puts it under a seat on which is placed\nthe patient. Both seat and patient are covered by a cloth, and he is\nsubjected to a severe sweating process. During this time the doctor calls\nout to the supposed possessing spirit, \"Who are you? who are you?\" Perhaps\nthe sick man will say (his voice supposed to be under control of nkinda),\n\"I am So-and-so.\" The doctor replies, \"Eh! you So-and-so! leave him, or I\nwill catch you and put you in prison.\" The prison is a section of\nsugar-cane stalk with its leaves twined together; and the doctor is\nbelieved to be able to confine the nkinda there. And it remains there\nindefinitely; but it may be released by the will of the doctor, who will\nchoose to free it some day unless he is paid not to do so. Sometimes the\ncrazy person has so many sinkinda that he becomes a maniac, losing all\nsense of shame or even of hunger. In such a case he is tied till he\nbecomes quiet and the doctor announces that the sinkinda have all gone\nout. The patient is then washed, and the doctor with song and drum calls\non good sinkinda to come and enter, and directs them to take care of the\nman's body.\n\n\nTHE AMERICAN NEGRO VOODOO.\n\nWhen the Negro was brought to America as a slave, he brought with him a\nvariety of African things, some good, some bad.\n\nWhen hurried upon the slave-ships in the Kongo or at Lagos, the slave tied\ninto a little package, hung among his other fetich treasures, seeds of his\nfavorite foods. At least one of these seeds survived, in the West Indies\nand thence to the United States, with a native name \"gumbo.\" It is the\nokra (Abelmoschus esculentus), that exists all over Africa, and has spread\nover the United States.\n\nGround-nuts--\"pea-nuts\" (Arachis hypogea), which botanists claim to be a\nnative of South America--have been grown from time immemorial all over\nAfrica, and, in the Loango country bordering on the Kongo River, by the\nAshira and some other tribes are used as their staple article of food,\nrather than the plantain (Musa sapientum), or \"manioc,\" cassava (Jatropha\nmanihot). It is an important export from those regions and from the Gambia\nto-day. If the nut itself was not carried from Africa to America, its\nnative name was; that name is \"mbenda,\" and it was corrupted to \"pindar\"\nin parts of the Southern States.\n\nThe evil thing that the slave brought with him was his religion. You do\nnot need to go to Africa to find the fetich. During the hundred years that\nslavery in our America held the Negro crushed, degraded, and apart, his\nmaster could deprive him of his manhood, his wife, his child, the fruits\nof his toil, of his life; but there was one thing of which he could not\ndeprive him,--his faith in fetich charms. Not only did this religion of\nthe fetich endure under slavery; it grew. None but Christian masters\noffered the Negro any other religion; and, by law, even they were debarred\nfrom giving him any education. So fetichism flourished. The master's\nchildren were infected by the contagion of superstition; they imbibed some\nof it at their Negro foster-mother's breast. It was a secret religion that\nlurked thinly covered in slavery days, and that lurks to-day beneath the\nNegro's Christian profession as a white art, and among non-professors as a\nblack art; a memory of the revenges of his African ancestors; a secret\nfraternity among slaves of far-distant plantations, with words and\nsigns,--the lifting of a finger, the twitch of an eyelid,--that\ntelegraphed from house to house with amazing rapidity (as to-day in\nAfrica) current news in old slave days and during the late Civil War;\nsuspected, but never understood by the white master; which, as a\nsuperstition, has spread itself among our ignorant white masses as the\n\"Hoodoo.\" Vudu, or Odoism, is simply African fetichism transplanted to\nAmerican soil.\n\n\"It is almost impossible for persons who have been brought up under this\nsystem ever to divest themselves fully of its influence. It has been\nretained among the blacks of this country, and especially at the South,\nthough in a less open form, even to the present day, and probably will\nnever be fully abandoned until they have made much higher attainments in\nChristian education and civilization. In some of the plantations of the\nSouth, as well as in the West Indies, where there has been less Christian\nculture, egg-shells are hung up in the corners of their chimneys to cause\nthe chickens to flourish; an extracted tooth is thrown over the house or\nworn around the neck to prevent other teeth from aching; and real\nfetiches, though not known by this name [perhaps \"mascots\"?], are used\nabout their persons to shield them from sickness or from the effects of\nwitchcraft.\"[92]\n\nWhile on a furlough in the United States in 1891, I visited a town in\nSouthern Virginia, and by invitation of the Negro pastor of the African\nchurch addressed them on foreign missions. Somewhat at a loss what\nattitude to take toward a Negro audience in speaking to them of Africa, I\ncandidly asked the pastor what I should say. He bade me speak exactly as\nif I was addressing an educated white assembly. I did so. In describing\nnative African virtues and vices, I mentioned their fetichism, and\nremarked that it was the same that obtained in the United States; and lest\nmy hearers might think I was personally attacking them, I added, \"down\nSouth in Georgia and Louisiana.\" The bench of elders sitting just in front\nof me broke out, \"And jist around hyar, too.\"\n\nI had read Cable's \"Creole Tales.\" One of his characters is sick with a\nstrange vague affection whose symptoms medicine had failed to reach. He is\nsuperstitious, and one morning he wakes in horror at finding a dead frog\nsecreted under his pillow. That fetich was no novelist's conjecture; it\nwas true to life. About 1894 or 1895, while I was alone in charge of Gabun\nStation, for three successive mornings when I opened the front door, I\nfound a dried frog leaning against the threshold. I did not care enough\nabout it to inquire its significance or to ascertain who put it there.\nSince then I have found that it is not used as a fetich by people of the\nGabun region, but probably by Upper Coast people. I remember that at that\ntime I had three Bassa workmen from Liberia whom I suspected of stealing\nand who then suddenly deserted my service. I think they placed the frog\nthere, either to injure me or to prevent my following up their theft.\n\n\nFOLK-LORE.\n\nAn attractive survival of African life in America are \"Uncle Remus's\"\nmystic tales of \"Br'er Rabbit.\" They are the folk-lore that the slave\nbrought with him from his African home, where in village hut and forest\ncamp often have been told to my own ears similar weird personifications\nbefore Harris had actually written them. There being no rabbits in West\nAfrica, \"Br'er Rabbit\" is an American substitution for \"Brother\" Nj\u00e2\n(Leopard), or Brother Iheli (Gazelle), in Paia Njambi's (the Creator's)\ncouncil of speaking animals.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nTALES OF FETICH BASED ON FACT\n\n\nThe view-point of the native African mind, in all unusual occurrences, is\nthat of witchcraft. Without looking for an explanation in what\ncivilization would call _natural_ causes, his thought turns at once to the\nsupernatural. Indeed, the supernatural is so constant a factor in his\nlife, that to him it furnishes explanation of events as prompt and\nreasonable as our reference to the recognized forces of nature. Mere\ncoincidences are often to him miracles.\n\nIn the large mass of materials which I gathered from all native sources of\ninformation for the formulation of the philosophy of fetichism, as\npresented in the former part of this work, I found many remarkable tales\nsome of whose incidents were probable, and which to me were explicable on\nnatural grounds, but which my native friends believed were the effect of\nwitchcraft power. I did not dispute them. To do so would either have\nclosed their lips or made them omit the witchcraft element from any\nsubsequent stories they might narrate to me. I thus secured these tales as\na purely native product.\n\nI did not use a note-book, fearing that its presence would hamper the\nfreedom of the story-teller, but listened carefully and wrote down the\ninterview immediately at its close. Not all knew that I was writing for\npublication. That knowledge would have interfered with the simplicity of\ntheir utterances. Of my several informants, some were ignorant, some\nheathen, some Christian, only a few well educated. Of the most intelligent\nof my informants, two allowed me to take notes as they were speaking, and\nI really wrote from dictation; they considerately spoke slowly, so that I\nshould miss nothing, while I wrote rapidly and at the same time had to\ntranslate their language into English. Of those two, one was able to give\npart of the interview in English. The thoughts in these stories are\nentirely native. So are most of the words. I tried to retain the\nnarrators' own structure of sentences, sacrificing a little of English for\nthe sake of native idioms. The prevalence of short words is due to my\neffort at exact translation of their own words. Occasionally I have used\nlonger words of Latin origin because I had forgotten their word, and in an\neffort to repeat their idea. The shortness of the sentences is due to the\nnatives' graphic and animated style of speaking. Long sentences are\nforeign to their mode of speech.\n\nThe following two stories are illustrative of the native belief, mentioned\nin Chapter IV, that we possess not only our physical body, but also an\nessential or \"astral\" form, in shape and feature like the body. This form,\nor \"life,\" with its \"heart,\" can be stolen by magic power while one is\nasleep, and the individual sleeps on unconscious of his loss. If the\nlife-form is returned to him before he awakes, he will be unaware that\nanything unusual has happened. If he awakes before that portion of him has\nbeen returned, though he may live for a while, he will sicken and\neventually die. If the magicians who stole the \"life\" have eaten the\n\"heart,\" he sickens at once, and will soon die.\n\n\nI. A WITCH SWEETHEART.\n\nA certain man loved a woman whom he expected to marry. He visited her\nregularly. Whenever he intended to visit her, he always notified her thus:\n\"I will be coming such a day\" or \"such an hour.\" Then she would say,\n\"Yes.\" But it happened on a particular day when he told her, \"I'll be\ncoming to-night,\" she said, \"No, not to-night, wait till next night.\" He\nreplied, \"No, for I will come to-night.\" But she refused, \"No, I do not\nwant you to come to-night.\" Then he asked, \"What is your objection?\nHitherto you have let me come when I pleased. What is the matter\nto-night?\" So she said, \"I do not want you to come, because I will be\nabsent to-night.\" \"Where are you going?\" he asked. To this she gave as\nanswer only, \"Don't come! I don't want you to come!\" So the man said, \"All\nright! I will not come. If you don't want me, then I'm not coming.\" So he\nleft her, very much surprised at what she had said, and began to think\nsomething was going wrong; he thought he would like to know for himself\nwhat it was.\n\nThis woman was one of those who belonged to the Witch Society, and engaged\nin its plays. But the man had not suspected this, and did not know that\nshe was one of those who played.\n\nThe native belief is that when a witch or wizard has seized some one to\n\"eat\" his \"life\" or do him other harm, if there be a non-society witness\nhidden or in the open, the odor of that witness weakens the witch power,\nand the attempt at witchcraft fails.\n\nThis man, not suspecting the real state of the case, but in order to know\nwhat was going on with the woman, came softly and hid near her house,\nwhere he might be able to see whether any one went in or came out. Soon he\nheard the door of her house open. He saw her come out of the house without\nany clothing, and she quietly pulled the door to after her and closed it,\nand then walked away from the place. All this the man saw, but he said\nnothing. He stood outside waiting, waiting until she should return. After\na long while, as he was tired standing, he thought he would go into the\nhouse and hide himself somewhere. It was not long after this that he heard\na little noise outside, and looking through the apertures of the bamboo\nwall saw her and others with her, men and women. Some of them were\ncarrying the form of a man on their shoulders. Others spread out on the\nground green plantain leaves, and stretched the form on the leaves. Each\nof the party had a knife, and they began their work of cutting the form\ninto pieces. While thus occupied, they saw that their knives would not\npenetrate. Some of them began to step around, peeping into recesses as if\nthey were looking for something. Still trying to cut, their knives seemed\ndulled; no one of them could succeed in cutting out a single piece. So\nthey stopped, and began to sharpen their knives, and again tried to cut,\nusing more force in their efforts. They worked rapidly, for they had to\nhasten, as there were signs of approaching day.\n\nAs they still were unable to make any incisions after the sharpening of\nthe knives, they thought it very strange, and began to suspect that some\none was near witnessing what they were doing. So some of them began to\nsearch in different directions; they sniffed to detect the odor of a\nperson. This they did over and over again, and came back, and again\nsharpened their knives, and again they failed. And then they would again\ngo around, sniffing for a human being.\n\nAt last, as it was near morning, they had to give up their intention of\ncutting into this form. So they had to take it up again on their shoulders\nand carry it back to where they had brought it from, and lost their feast.\n\nThen the woman came back to her house, very much disappointed and excited.\nThough it was still dark, it was so near daybreak that she did not go to\nbed, but took a light, and began to hunt all through her house, having at\nlast begun to suspect that perhaps her lover was there. Finally she found\nhim where he was hiding. She was very angry, saying, \"Who told you to come\nhere? What brought you? And when did you come? Did I not tell you not to\ncome to-night?\" But he turned on her, saying, \"But where have you yourself\nbeen? And what have you yourself been doing? I came here expecting to find\nanother man here. But that is not what I saw!\"\n\nShe trembled, saying, \"Have you been here a long time?\" And he\nsignificantly said, \"Yes, I have!\" Then, furious, she said, \"Now you have\nseen all that we were doing, and you have found me out! And as you have\ndiscovered that I am engaged in witchcraft, and lest you tell others about\nit, you shall see that I will put an end to your life! You shall not go\nout of this house alive!\" So she pulled out her knife. But the man was\nquite strong, and though he had no weapon, made a hard fight. He was\nstronger than the woman, was able to get away from her, and left the house\njust before daylight.\n\nFrom that day their friendship was broken; neither cared again to see the\nface of the other. The man informed on the woman. But she was not\nprosecuted; for no one was able to make specific complaint that they had\nlost their \"heart-life.\" That form had been restored to its person\nunrecognized and uninjured. No one out of the society, not even the victim\nhimself, knew of the attempt that had been made on him.\n\n\nII. A JEALOUS WIFE.\n\nA man of the Orungu tribe in the Ogowe region had several wives, of whom\nthe chief, commonly called the \"queen\" or head-wife, had no children. This\nwas a grief to her and a disappointment to the husband. But one of his\nyounger women, who had now become his favorite, had a baby, and the\nhead-wife was jealous of her.\n\nThe husband still retained the older one as the bearer of the keys and in\ndirection of the other women, though he was beginning to doubt her, as he\nsuspected her of witchcraft. But he said nothing about it, not being sure.\n\nIt is believed that witches can enter houses without opening doors or\nbreaking walls, and can do what they please without other people knowing\nof it at the time. So one night this man and his young wife were sleeping\nin the same bed with their little babe. Suddenly, after midnight, the\nmother happened to wake up startled. She missed her baby from the bed. She\nlooked and looked all over the bed from head to foot, and did not find it.\nThen she was frightened, woke up her husband gently, and told him in a\nwhisper, \"The child is missing! I don't see the child!\"\n\nThe husband told her to get up and light a gum-torch (for there were coals\nsmouldering on the clay hearth used as a fireplace), that they might look\nfor the child. She did so, and both hunted, looking under the bedstead and\nelsewhere, but did not find the child. Then they examined the windows and\ndoor; for perhaps the child had been taken out by some one. The door and\nwindows were all properly fastened. The mother was very much troubled; but\nher husband, keeping his own counsel, advised her not to scream or make a\nnoise, but said, \"Let us go back to bed, but not to go to sleep; and let\nthe room be dark again.\" So the wife put out the torch, leaving the room\nin darkness; and they returned to bed. Then the husband said, \"Maybe we\ncan prove or see something before morning\" (for he suspected); and he\nadded, \"Whoever or whatever has taken the child out so secretly, will\nsecretly bring it back. So we must not sleep, but watch.\"\n\nSo both lay awake in bed for a few hours. Then, just before morning, while\nit was still dark, they heard a little noise outside near the house, like\nthe rustling of wings and the panting of breath. They were both anxious,\nand had their eyes wide open. Soon they saw the room flashed full of a\nbright light from the roof. [Witchcraft people are noted for having a\nlight which they can thus flash.] Then the wife, as soon as she saw the\nlight, quietly nudged her husband; and he returned the pressure, to let\nher know that he was aware, and also to intimate that she should continue\nsilent as himself; and they pretended to be sleeping soundly.\n\nSoon they saw the figure of a woman descend from the low roof, but with no\nhole in the roof. The figure came to the bedside and lifted up the edge of\nthe mosquito-net with one hand, in the other holding a child. As soon as\nshe attempted to put the baby back in its place, between the father and\nmother, the father, as he was the stronger, and nearer to the figure on\nthe outside of the bed, got up quickly, and seized both hands of the woman\nbefore she had time to let go of the child and escape from the room. He\nsaid aloud to the mother, \"Get up! Your baby has been missing. Now light\nthe light, and we will see the person face to face who has taken the child\nout!\"\n\nThe young mother did so, and they discovered that it was the head-wife who\nhad brought in the child.\n\nThen, when the father felt the body of the babe, it was limp and burning\nwith fever.\n\nAs it was so near daylight the father did not delay, but began at once to\nmake a fuss, and shouted for the people of the village to gather together.\nAnd he began a \"palaver\" (investigation) immediately. When all the people\nhad assembled to hear the palaver, both the father and the mother related\nwhat had passed during the night, about their missing the child, and its\nreturn.\n\nThe head-wife, being accused, was silent, having nothing to say for\nherself; for she was both ashamed and afraid to confess that she had been\neating the life of the baby. But all the people knew that such things were\ndone, and they believed that this woman had done with the baby whatever\nshe wanted to do while she had it outside that night.\n\nThen the father of the child tied up the head-woman, and said to her, \"Now\nI have you in my hands, I will not let you go until you give back the\nbaby's life, and make it well again.\" [The belief is that if the\n\"heart-life\" has not been eaten the victim can recover.] This she was not\nable to do, for she had eaten its \"heart.\" So the next day the baby died.\nAnd the husband executed that head-woman by cutting her throat.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe above incident was told me at Libreville by a very intelligent Mpongwe\nas having actually occurred in the Gabun region. It is fully believed that\nwalls are no obstacle to the passage of the bodies of those possessing the\npower of sorcery. The \"light\" spoken of I have seen. I do not know what it\nwas. From a small point it would flash with starlike rays. It was carried\nby a man, who disappeared when pursued. A Christian native told me that he\nonce pursued it, and caught the bearer with a torch concealed in a hollow\ncylinder; the flashing was caused by his thrusting it in and out of the\ncylinder.\n\n\nIII. WITCHCRAFT MOTHERS.\n\n(On an itineration in my boat on the Ogowe interior, in 1890, I came to a\nvillage of the Akele tribe, whose inhabitants were in an intense state\nof excitement. All the men were brandishing guns and spears or daggers;\nwomen were gesticulating and screaming; the loins of all were girded for\nfight; and a few only of the older men and some strangers were appealing\nfor quiet.\n\nAmong the latter was a native trader of the Mpongwe coast tribe. His trade\ninterests made for peace. I knew him, as he had received some education in\nour Gabun school.\n\nI saw that in such confusion it would be useless to attempt to ask a\nhearing for my gospel message. I did not wait to inquire the cause of the\nday's commotion, and passed on to another village.\n\nSubsequently the Mpongwe man told me the story. Though slightly educated\nand enlightened, he was not a Christian and believed in fetiches. His\naccount, therefore, was from the heathen standpoint. I cannot repeat his\nown wording, but the outline of the story is exactly his.)\n\nIn that village were two slave women, each married to a free husband. Each\nwas expecting to become a mother,--No. 1 in three months, and No. 2 in six\nmonths. They were friends; and, unknown to their husbands, were members of\nthe Witchcraft Society, and were accustomed secretly to attend and take\npart in the society's midnight meetings and plays. Just what is the nature\nof those plays is not quite certain, but it is known that wild orgies of\ndancing constitute a part of them.\n\nThese two women, that they might be freer for their dancing and other\nmovements, were accustomed, in going to the meetings, to divest themselves\ntemporarily of their unborn babes. This they were able to do by witchcraft\npower, in virtue of which the possessor can pass, or cause any one else\nto pass, uninjured through any material object, as a ray of light passes\nthrough glass.\n\nThis they did on their way to the meeting-place on the edge of the forest.\nThey laid their babes on the grass in a secluded spot, and resumed them on\ntheir return. As they did so, No. 1 observed that hers was a male, and No.\n2 that hers was a female. They did this many nights in succession.\n\nSubsequently No. 2 began to be envious of No. 1 in the possession by the\nlatter of a male child. The husband of No. 2 had been very anxious for a\nson. She knew that if she could present him with a son he would be very\nproud, and would enlarge her position and privileges in the family. So,\none night, she did not wait for her friend No. 1 to return with her, but,\nexcusing herself from the play, came back on the path alone. Coming to\nwhere the two babes were lying, she deliberately exchanged her own girl\nfor the boy of No. 1.\n\nThe latter stayed very late at the play,--so late that, as she hasted\nhome, fearful lest the morning light should find her on the path (a\ndangerous thing to a witch-player), on coming to where the babes had been\ndeposited, she snatched up the remaining one without examining it, and,\nsupposing it to be hers, resumed the natural possession of it.\n\nShortly after this, the nine months of No. 1 were fulfilled, and she bore\na child which, to her surprise, she saw was a female. She made no remark,\nas she immediately suspected what had been done. She waited three months,\nuntil the days of No. 2 also were fulfilled. At the birth of the child of\nNo. 2 there was great rejoicing by the husband in the possession of a son.\nHe made a great feast, and called together a large gathering of people.\nAmong them was not invited the woman No. 1; for she and No. 2 were no\nlonger friendly, though neither of them had said anything.\n\nIn the midst of the rejoicings No. 1 made her appearance, though\nuninvited, and striding among the guests, went silently into the bedroom,\ncarrying a three-months-old female babe. She went to the side of the bed\nof No. 2, laid down the female child, saying, \"There's your baby!\"\nsnatched up the male infant, saying, \"This is mine!\" and strode out of the\nroom into the street and on the way to her house.\n\nA scream from No. 2 startled the crowd of guests; word was passed that the\nboy was being stolen, and No. 1 was pursued and brought back; but she\ndesperately refused to give up the boy. The whole village was at once\nthrown into confusion.\n\nThat was the state of affairs on the day that I arrived there. My\ninformant told me that he and others induced the crowd to quiet, by saying\nthat the matter could better be settled by a talk than by guns, by sitting\ndown in council than by standing up in fight.\n\nOn being brought before the council or palaver, No. 1 was calm and firm.\nShe still held to the boy-baby. She said she was willing to be judged, but\ndemanded that No. 2 should also be made to confront the council. The sense\nof guilt of the latter made her weak and unable to face the friend she had\nwronged.\n\nCharged with stealing, No. 1 made a bold speech. She said, \"Yes; I have\ntaken my own! If that be stealing, I have stolen!\" And then she told the\nwhole truth of the witchcraft plays of herself and No. 2. The latter,\novercome with shame for her crime, did not deny; she admitted all. And No.\n1 closed her defence by saying, \"So this other woman has nothing about\nwhich to make complaint. She has her child, and I have mine, and that\nsettles the matter.\"\n\nThe crowd was amazed, and the husbands were ashamed at finding that their\nwives were witches. The husband of No. 2 was no longer disposed to fight\nafter his wife had admitted that the boy-baby was not her own. The matter\nwas dropped, as no one was really harmed. Neither husband was disposed to\nfine the wife of the other for her witchcraft, as both were guilty.\n\nThe guests ate the feast, but the host had no satisfaction in its now\nuseless expenditure except that it was considered sufficient reparation to\nthe husband of No. 1 for his own wife's original theft.\n\n\nIV. THE WIZARD HOUSE-BREAKER.\n\n(The incidents narrated in the following three stories, The Wizard\nHouse-Breaker, The Wizard Murderer, The Wizard and his Invisible Dog, my\ninformant asserted were actual occurrences; Nos. IV. and VI. occurring in\nthe Gabun region, and the parties known. The witchcraft part of the\nstories consists in the strange light which wizards and witches are said\nto possess; it is under their control to display or hide, and it gives\nthem power to overcome time and space. The scene of No. V. is on the Ogowe\nRiver.)\n\nThere were a husband and wife who had been married a number of years. She\nhad a child, a little boy. The husband had a brother; and this brother had\ntaken a strong fancy to the woman, and wanted to possess her. Secretly he\nwas asking her to live with him. But the woman always refused, saying,\n\"No, I do not want it!\" Then this brother's love began to change to anger.\nHe cherished vexation in his heart toward the woman, and asked her, \"Why\ndo you always refuse me? You are the wife, not of a stranger, but of my\nbrother. He and I are one, and you ought to accept me.\" But she persisted,\n\"No, I don't want it!\"\n\nThe brother's anger deepened into revenge. He possessed nyemba (witchcraft\npower), and determined to use it.\n\nOne day this woman had to go to her plantation; and she arranged for the\njourney, taking her little boy with her. Before she left the village to go\nto the plantation, she told the townspeople, \"I will remain at the\nplantation for some days, to take care of my gardens; for I am tired of\nlosses by the wild beasts spoiling my crops.\" But the other women said,\n\"Ah! your plantation is too far; it is not safe for you to be by\nyourself.\" But she said, \"I cannot help it; I have to go.\" She was brave,\nand persisted in her plan, and made all preparations. On a set day, with\nher basket on her back, her child on her left hip, and her machete in her\nright hand, she started. She went on, on, steadily; reached the\nplantation, and rested there the remainder of that day with her child.\nAfter her evening meal she shut the door of the hut and went to bed. The\ndoor was fastened with strings and a bar, for the plantation hamlets had\nno locks.\n\nShe awoke suddenly about midnight, and thought she heard a noise outside.\nShe listened quietly. Then she heard the sound again. Presently she\ndiscovered by the noise that some one was trying to climb upon the top of\nthe hut, for the roof was low. Soon, then, she observed that this person\nwas trying to break open the palm-thatch of the low roof. She still lay\nquietly. But she remembered a big spear which the husband always kept in\none of the rooms of that hut; so she slowly got out of bed, and very\nsoftly went to the corner of the room where the spear was standing, and\nreturned to bed with it.\n\nThe breaking of the thatch continued. Soon she saw the room filled with a\nstrange light, and then she saw a man trying to enter the roof head\nforemost. She bravely kept still, and watched his head and shoulders\nenter. She could not see his face, and did not know who he was. But she\ndid not wait for certainty; she thrust the spear upward at the man's head.\nImmediately the figure disappeared, and she heard a heavy thud as he fell\nto the ground into the street outside.\n\nShe now began to be frightened; she no longer felt safe, and dreaded what\nmight happen before morning. So she began to get ready to return to town\nthat very night. She girded her loin garment, fastened the cloth for\ncarrying her child, took her machete, hasted out of the hut, and started\nfor her village. In her fear she ran, and rested by walking. Thus,\nalternately running and walking, she reached the village so exhausted and\nweak with loss of sleep that when her husband's door was opened she fell\nfainting on the floor. He and others were alarmed, and asked, \"What?\nWhat's the matter?\" As soon as she was able to speak, she told the whole\nstory. They asked her, \"Did you see the person? Do you know him?\" She\nsaid, \"No; only one thing I know: it was a man, and he fell into the\nstreet.\"\n\nSo, when daylight came, the husband and others went to the plantation to\nsee whether they could find the man. When they reached the plantation,\nthey were very much surprised to see that the man was this brother. He was\nlying dead, with the spear in his neck.\n\nThe husband was not vexed at his wife for the death of his brother; he was\npleased that she had so well defended herself.\n\n\nV. THE WIZARD MURDERER.\n\n(My informant asserted that this really happened in the Ogowe.)\n\nThe parties are a husband and wife, their two little children, and a\nyounger brother of the husband. One of the children, a boy, was a lad old\nenough to understand affairs.\n\nThe brother-in-law loved the woman, and secretly tried to draw her\naffections to himself; but to all his solicitation she gave only\npersistent refusal. Thus matters went on, he asking and she refusing; and\nthen his love turned to hatred.\n\nIt happened one day that the husband and wife had a big quarrel of their\nown. The wife was so angry that she said she would leave him, take the\nchildren, and go to her father's house. But that home was far away, and\ncould not be reached in one day. Other women tried to prevent her going,\nas she would have to spend the night in the forest on the way; but she\ninsisted.\n\nLeaving her clothing and other goods, she started off with the two\nchildren, a little food, and her machete. Trying to make the journey in\none day, she walked very fast. But when the sun had set, and soon darkness\nwould fall, the lad said, \"Mother, as we cannot reach there to-night,\ndon't you think we'd better stop and arrange a sleeping-place before\ndark, and let the spot be a little aside from the public path?\" The mother\nsaid, \"Yes; that is good!\" Then she gave the babe to the lad to hold,\nwhile she with her machete began to cut away bushes and clear the ground\nfor a convenient sleeping-spot. After she had cut away some bushes, the\nlad watching her, saw that she was clearing a space larger than was needed\nfor herself. He asked her, \"Do you intend that we all shall sleep in that\none place,--you and baby and I?\" The mother said, \"Yes.\" But he said,\n\"Why, no! Fix two places,--I by myself, and you and baby in another\nplace.\" The mother replied, \"No, I cannot let you sleep alone in this\nforest; I want you near me.\" However, the lad insisted: \"But if anything\nhappens to us in the night, then we will be lost all together. I am not\nwilling that we should be all in the same place.\"\n\nSo the lad began to search for a place for himself, and came to a big tree\nwhich was not very far from his mother's chosen spot. He called her to\nhim, and said, \"I have found a good place. Just you clear for me behind\nthis big tree, and dig a trench for me to lie in, just below the level of\nthe ground.\" The mother did so.\n\nAfter the two spots were cleared, they ate their little evening meal, and\nnight came. Then the lad said, \"Now I go to lie in the trench, and you\nsprinkle leaves over me to hide me, and then you go to your\nsleeping-place. And if anything happens to me at night, I promise I will\nnot cry out; I will remain silent. And you promise that if anything\nhappens to you, you also will not cry out, nor call to me.\" The mother\nagreed, and both went to sleep.\n\nNot long after this, both were awakened by a strange flashing light, and\nthe mother saw some one coming to the place where she was lying. Then the\nlight was suddenly extinguished; and she saw a man near her, and\nrecognized that he was her brother-in-law. She was exceedingly alarmed,\nknowing that he did not come with good intent. In her fright she hoped to\ngain time by pretending to be friendly with him. So she exclaimed, \"Oh! My\nyoung husband! Now you have come after me, so that your brother's wife\nwill not have to sleep in the forest alone. Now we will make friendship\nand be good friends.\" But he replied in anger: \"Friends, you say? You\nshall see what kind of friends I will make with you to-night! You, the\nwoman who hates me! Where is the lad?\" She, determined to shield the\nchild, said, \"The lad did not come with me; he preferred to stay in town\nwith his father.\" The man replied, \"You are not telling me the truth. Tell\nme where the lad is!\" But she persisted in her statement, \"He is left in\ntown with his father.\"\n\nThen the man walked about in search of the lad, going even very near to\nwhere he was lying awake in the trench. But the leaves hid him, and his\nuncle did not discern that the ground had been disturbed. Returning to the\nwoman, he said, \"Good! you are telling the truth. I don't see the lad. But\nnow I am ready to attend to you. You shall see.\" So he approached the\nwoman to seize her. She was so paralyzed with fear that she neither\nattempted to run away, nor, though her machete was lying near, did she lay\nhold of it. Even had she done so, she was too weak with her journey to\ndefend herself. The man snatched up the babe that still was sleeping, and\nlooking around for a rough, projecting root, violently flung the babe\nagainst it. It made no cry; and both he and the mother supposed it was\ninstantly killed. Then he drew his machete, which he had made very sharp,\nand began to cut and slash the woman. She pleaded and cried for help; but\nthere was no help near. She fell, covered with wounds, and died on the\nspot. All this the lad saw and heard. After killing the mother, the man\nbegan again to search for the lad, but did not find him; and, as it was\nnow after midnight, he left the place to go back to town.\n\nSoon after he was gone, the lad, exhausted with terror and fatigue, fell\nasleep. But he awoke again in the early daylight. Arising from his trench,\nhe went with grief and distress to see the two corpses. Looking at his\nmother's blood-covered form, he saw that she was dead. Looking at his\nbaby brother lying on the root, he took up the little form, sobbing, \"Only\nI am alive. Even this little child was not spared. Am I to go on my\njourney all alone?\" Examining the limp body still further, it seemed still\nto show signs of life; and he said to himself, \"I think I will try to save\nit. I am strong enough to carry it to my mother's people, to whom I shall\ntell this whole story.\"\n\nSo he took up the cloth in which his mother had carried the child,\nadjusted it for himself, placed the unconscious form in it, and started on\nhis journey. A short distance beyond brought him to a brook. Before he\ncrossed it, he stooped to take a drink of water. Then examining the little\nbody again, he felt that it was not stiff and was still warm. Said he,\n\"Ah! perhaps it has a little life! I better give it a drink.\" So he tried;\nand the baby drank. He rejoiced. \"So perhaps it will be alive. I better\nbathe it.\" And he did so. Then he crossed the brook, and journeyed on.\nBefore he reached his grandfather's village, he crossed another brook, and\nbathed the babe, and gave it a drink as at the first brook.\n\nOn his arrival at the village the people were surprised to see him without\nhis mother. His grandfather at once wanted to know his story and why he\nhad come there alone. Said he, \"Please, before I tell my story, try to\nsave this baby.\"\n\nAfter the people had looked to the baby's needs and saw that it might\nlive, they gathered together to listen to what the lad had to say. When\nthey had heard his account, they started back with him to find his\nmother's corpse. They took it up and carried it to her husband's village,\nthere to hold palaver over the death. As soon as they reached the village,\ninstead of announcing themselves as visitors to the husband, they went\nstraight to the brother-in-law's house. They found him sitting in the\nveranda. They laid the corpse at his feet. This so startled him that a\nlook of guilt showed on his face. Looking at the party who had brought the\ncorpse, he saw among them the lad; and at once he felt sure that this lad\nhad been a witness of his crime. He lost his self-control, and began to\nscold, \"What do you put this thing at my feet for? Take it away!\"\n\nThen all the townspeople gathered around him, being horrified at the news\nof the woman's death. The husband called them all to a council, and the\npalaver was held at his house. There the grandfather and the lad told the\nwhole story.\n\nThe brother-in-law began to enter a denial; but the husband said, \"No, you\nare guilty! and because we are brothers, and we are one, the guilt is also\nmine; and I will confess for you. You are guilty. Your actions show it.\nWhy did you become so angry as soon as you saw the corpse at your feet?\"\n\nBut the wife's family said to the husband, \"We have no quarrel with you.\nWe want only the person who killed our sister, and a fine of money for our\nloss.\"\n\nThen the husband said, \"You are right; this man killed her. Take him, and\nfor a fine take his slaves and other property. He has deliberately\ndeprived me of a wife, and my children of a mother. Take all he owns.\" It\nwas so done; and the assemblage dispersed.\n\n\nVI. THE WIZARD AND HIS INVISIBLE DOG.\n\n(This, my informant asserted, actually happened at the town of Libreville,\nGabun.)\n\nOne night a young woman was alone in her house. She was married; but, that\nparticular night, the husband was absent.\n\nAfter she had gone to her bed for the night, she slept, but not very\nsoundly. Half awake, she thought she heard something moving in the front\nreception-room (ikenga). She had lowered the lamp in her bedroom, but it\nstill gave enough light for her to see. She slightly opened the\nmosquito-net on one side and began to look and listen. But she saw no one\nnor anything unusual in her room. But as the door between her bedroom and\nthe reception-room was slightly ajar, she looked toward its opening, and\nthought she saw a figure moving in that room. She felt sure there was some\none there. So she stepped softly out of the bed, and peeped through the\nnarrow opening of the door. Sure enough, there was a man.\n\nShe was frightened, but controlled herself. She was puzzled to know how he\nhad got into that room, whose outer door she knew she had fastened before\nshe went to bed. She crept quietly back to her bed, and then began to\nshout, \"Who is that? How did you get in? I see you!\" There was no answer.\nThe figure ceased moving, and stood still. The woman again cried out, \"Who\nare you? When did you come in? What do you want?\" The man replied in a low\nvoice, \"It is I!\" She rejoined, \"Who is 'I'? Are you only 'me'? Who are\nyou? How did you succeed in entering? Go out!\" So he apparently opened the\ndoor and went out. She was so frightened that she did not immediately\nfollow him, nor did she make a public outcry.\n\nAwhile afterward she recovered self-control, and arose and went into the\nouter room, and assured herself that the outside door was fast, as she had\nleft it. She believed he had entered the closed door by witchcraft art.\n\nThe next morning she told her village people the story; but she was afraid\nto mention the man's name (for she knew who he was), because many people\nthought he possessed power as a wizard, and she feared he would revenge\nhimself on her. She told his name only to her mother.\n\nNot long afterward he came again to her house when she was alone at night,\nbut did not enter. He came to the outside wall against which he knew her\nbedstead stood. Lying there, she could see his form through the cracks in\nthe bamboo wall. She saw this as she happened to awake from sleep. She saw\nhis figure standing still, and she heard a sound as of the tinkling of a\nbell moving about, such as natives tie to the necks of their dogs in\nhunting. The wizard had brought with him this time a small invisible beast\nto whose neck the invisible but audible bell was attached; and she heard\na sound along the bottom of the wall, as if the animal was scratching a\nhole for its master's entrance. This time she was so alarmed that she\nscreamed aloud to the people of the village; and then, through the chinks\nin the wall, she saw passing by in the street the figure of the same man.\n\nThe very next day the woman began to be sick of a fever. For several days\nshe was quite ill, and people began to be alarmed for her. Her sickness\ngrew very much worse. Her people sent for a Senegal man, living in\nLibreville, who had quite a reputation as a doctor in that kind of\nsickness. When this doctor came, she was able to speak only in a low\nvoice, and she recounted to him what had happened. He asked her to mention\nthe precise spot on which the man had stood outside of the wall of her\nhouse. She described to her mother the particular spot, and the mother\ntook the doctor to show him. He scraped up clay from the place and mixed\nit in a small bowl of cold water. He directed that after she had been\ngiven a bath morning and evening this muddy water should be rubbed over\nher body. She said that when it was thus rubbed over her skin, her flesh\ntemporarily felt as if it was paralyzed.\n\nHer sickness continued more than a month, and then she recovered. Soon\nafter her recovery the man who had attempted to enter her room, and who\nwas suspected of having caused her sickness by witchcraft art, suddenly\nleft Gabun, and went to another country.\n\n\nVII. SPIRIT-DANCING.\n\nAntyande, a Mpongwe woman of the town of Libreville, Gabun, is a leader of\na company of ten or a dozen women in a certain native dance called\n\"ivanga,\" which is performed only by women. Some dance it only as an\nexhibition of their gymnastic skill; others mix with it fetich and\nwitchcraft arts, and claim that their movements are under spirit power.\nAntyande, more than the other women of the company, uses witchcraft in her\nperformances. She seems almost to glide through the air, alighting on the\nknees of sitting spectators without giving them the impression of weight,\ngyrating on small stools without moving the stools from their position,\nand making many other wonderful physical contortions in an exceedingly\ngraceful and easy manner. She even goes to graveyards at night,\naccompanied by three or four men and women, to get what they call the\nspirits of the dead. It is said by some of the men who have gone there\nwith her that they do not understand what she does, but that it is so very\nstrange and awful that they are afraid. The reason why she goes for these\nabambo (ghosts) of the graves is that she may be spry and alert, and able\nto do with her body whatever she pleases. She claims also to be\naccompanied by a leopard and a bush-cat that are visible to her but not to\nothers. As these animals are noted for their quick and agile movements,\nand are under her witch-power control, they are able to impart to her\nthese qualities.\n\nIn January, 1902, she was dancing her ivanga, and there was a woman among\nthe spectators who had been drinking to the point of intoxication. In her\nfoolishness she determined to help Antyande by assuming to be directress\nto keep the spectators in order. But, being drunk, she could not do so;\nshe only made disorder. In attempting to make matters straight she only\nmade them crooked. Antyande asked her to get out of her way. Many, also,\nof the spectators begged the woman to cease interfering; but she would\nnot, and finally she vexed Antyande by spoiling her movements in getting\ntoo close in front of her. Antyande's patience was exhausted, and she\nsuddenly revealed a secret that astonished many even of her intimate\nacquaintances, saying, \"Whoever is related to this drunken woman, please\ntell her to get out of my way while I am dancing, because my dance is not\na mere gymnastic exercise. I have leopards and bush-cats about me, and if\nshe comes too near me, and the tails of these animals should twist around\nher legs, then she will get a sickness: and if that happens, her people\nmust not hold me responsible for it, for I have given you this warning.\"\nThis surprised many of the people; for they had supposed she was nothing\nmore than an unusually graceful dancer, and that her success was purely\nphysical. Now, publicly, she admitted that the power in her limbs and body\ncausing her graceful undulations was a supernatural one. So some of the\nwomen laid hold of the drunken woman, and induced her to get out of the\nway.\n\n\n[Illustration: EKOPE OF THE IVANGA DANCE.--GABUN.]\n\n\nWhile dancing, Antyande wears a wide belt called \"ekope,\" which is made\nwith white and red stripes, and adorned with fringes of small bells in\nbands like sleigh-bells. It is known that her ekope has been heard and\nseen moving as if in the rhythm of a dance in her own room when she was\nnot visibly there. Those who heard the sound of its bells would think she\nwas there practising the dance; but when they went to look, they saw it\nmoving, but did not see her. A few months afterward, a report came at\nnight to the villages that Antyande was very much excited and could not\nsleep; that she had gone to her room for the ekope, and that it was not\nthere. So she began to make a great fuss, and begged her associates to\nkeep watch and go with her to search for the missing ekope. Some of these\nfriends were willing; others were not, and these went to their beds. She\nthen went to other villages and told the people there: \"My ekope has gone\nout on a promenade. Have you seen it?\" These people were among the chief\ndancers of her band. But they told her they did not know where the ekope\nwas. So she began to ejaculate a prayer: \"Oh, please, you went out for a\nwalk; come back to me, for if you do not return, then I am lost. It will\nbe death to me.\" Just before daylight, as she was still wandering about\nwith her friends, and singing ivanga songs to attract her ekope, suddenly\nshe and two of her friends heard the tinkling of the bells among the\nbushes lining a certain road which passes by a Roman Catholic chapel. They\nall went in the direction of the sound of the bells, and entering a\ncluster of the bushes, they saw the ekope moving to and fro. She was so\nglad to see it, and she bade one of her companions to go and get it. But\nthe woman was afraid, and refused, saying, \"Me! Oh, no! Go and get it\nyourself!\" So she went to it, singing her ivanga song, seized it, and\nbrought it to her house.\n\nAs she is noted for her grace and skill in that particular dance, another\nwoman, by name Ek\u00e2mina, asked her to give her power such as hers, as she\nalso wished to be leader of another band of ivanga dancers. Antyande\nassented, saying, \"Well, do you want spirits with it?\" The other replied,\n\"Yes, I want two.\" So the two women, with a young man to escort them, went\nat night to the graves and obtained the two desired spirits. It is these\nwhich give them spirit power. When under their influence, their bodies are\nthrilled with a new essence which makes them very light and causes them to\nact and speak as if insane. The two women came back to Antyande's village,\nand she performed all the magic ceremonies that Ek\u00e2mina wanted.\n\nSome time after this, when Ek\u00e2mina had practised much and had danced\npublicly several times, people began to say to her that she danced very\nwell, and soon she was invited to give exhibitions in various places.\n\nOne day it happened that the two women had arranged to dance on the same\nnight, each with her own party, at villages quite distant from each other.\nAntyande asked Ek\u00e2mina to give up her play for that night and join with\nher, \"for,\" said she, \"I want to make mine grand; and you wait for yours\nanother day.\" But Ek\u00e2mina was not willing. Antyande tried to get her to\nchange her mind, and was very much displeased because she refused. Ek\u00e2mina\nsaid, \"I will not give up, for my dance is by special invitation at\nA\u00f1wondo village, so I have to go.\" (Libreville is three miles long; one\nend is called \"Glass,\" and A\u00f1wondo is at the other end.) Ek\u00e2mina lived at\nGlass, and on her way to A\u00f1wondo she had to pass the village of Antyande.\nThe latter said to herself, \"As Ek\u00e2mina is not willing to do as I wish,\nand I was the one who gave her this power, I will watch her as she passes,\nand see what I will do.\" So, when Ek\u00e2mina passed at night with her party\nto A\u00f1wondo, Antyande watched her chance as Ek\u00e2mina neared her. She went\nbehind her, and did some magic act which would make the latter powerless\nto dance and not be aware of her loss of power. When Ek\u00e2mina reached\nA\u00f1wondo and commenced her play, she was not able to dance at all. She\ntried till midnight, and failed. She suspected that Antyande was the cause\nof the failure, for the latter had not been friendly since their\nunsatisfactory talk. So she took a portion of her party that same night\nback to Antyande's village, told the latter her trouble, and begged her,\n\"Please, if you have taken away the power, give it back, so I may finish\nthe dance to-night.\" Antyande said, \"No; you would not listen to me. I am\na chief dancer, and you are praised as the same. Go and dance!\" Ek\u00e2mina\nsaid, \"But please give me back the power; I am not able to dance without\nit.\" Antyande replied, \"No, go to the graveyard and get other spirits\nthere for yourself.\" So there was no dance done by Ek\u00e2mina that night.\n\n\nVIII. ASIKI, OR THE LITTLE BEINGS.\n\nPeople believe that Asiki (singular \"Isiki\") were once human beings, but\nthat wicked men, wizards and witches, or other persons who assert that\nthey have memba (witchcraft powers), caught them when they were children\nand could not defend themselves, nor could their cries for help be heard\nwhen playing among the bushes on the edge of the forest. These wicked\npersons cut off the ends of the children's tongues, so that they can never\nagain speak or inform on their captors. They carry them away, and hide\nthem in a secret place where they cannot be found. There they are\nsubjected to a variety of witchcraft treatment that alters their natures\nso that they are no longer mortal. This treatment checks their entire\nphysical, mental, and moral growth. They cease to remember or care for\ntheir former homes or their human relatives, and they accept all the\nwitchcraft of their captors. Even the hair of their head changes, growing\nin long, straight black tresses down their backs. They wear a curious\ncomb-shaped ornament on the back of their head. It is not stiff or\ncapable of being used as a comb, and is made of some twisted fibre\nresembling hair. The Asiki value it almost as a part of their life.\n\nThese Asiki will sometimes be seen walking in paths on dark nights, and\npeople meet them coming toward them. It is believed that in their meeting,\nif a person is fearless by natural bravery, or by fetich power as a wizard\nor witch, and dares to seize the Isiki and snatch away the \"comb,\" the\npossession of this ornament will bring him riches. But whoever succeeds in\nobtaining that \"comb\" will not be allowed to remain in peaceful possession\nof it. The poor Isiki will be seen at night wandering about the spot where\nits treasure was lost, trying to obtain it again.\n\nIt happened in the year 1901 that there was a report, even in civilized\nGabun, about these Asiki,--that two of them were seen near a certain place\non the public road at that part of the town of Libreville known as the\n\"Plateau,\" where live most of the French traders and government officers.\nA certain Frenchman, who is known as a freemason, in returning from his 8\nP. M. dinner at his boarding-house to his dwelling-place, observed that a\nsmall figure was walking on one side of the road, keeping pace with him.\nHe accosted it, \"Who are you?\" There was no answer; only the figure kept\non walking, advancing and retreating before him.\n\nAlso, a few nights later, a Negro clerk of a white trader met this small\nbeing on that very road, and near the spot where the Frenchman had met it,\nand it began to chase the Negro. He ran, and came frightened to his\nemployer's office, and told him what had happened. His employer did not\nbelieve him, laughed at his fears, and told him he was not telling the\ntruth. The very next night the Frenchman, the trader, and other white men\nand Negro women were sitting in conversation. The trader told the story of\nhis clerk, whereupon the Frenchman said, \"Your clerk did not lie; he told\nthe truth. I have myself met that small being two or three times, but I\nmade no effort to catch it.\" The women told him of the comb-ornament which\nAsiki were believed to wear, and of the pride with which Asiki regarded\nit, and the value it would be to any one who could obtain it. Then the\nFrenchman replied, \"As the little being is so small, the very next time I\nsee it I will try to catch it and bring it here, so that you can see it\nand know that this story is actually true.\"\n\n\n[Illustration: A STREET IN LIBREVILLE, GABUN.]\n\n\nOn a subsequent night they two--the Frenchman and the trader--went out to\nsee whether they could meet the Isiki. They did not meet with it that\nnight; but a few evenings later the Frenchman went alone, and met the\nIsiki near the place where it had first been seen. The Frenchman ran\ntoward it and tried to catch it; but it being very agile eluded his grasp.\nBut, though he failed to seize its body, he succeeded in catching hold of\nits \"comb,\" and snatched it away, and ran rapidly with it toward his\nhouse. It did not consist of any hard material as a real comb, but was\nmade of strands resembling the Isiki's hair, and braided into a comb-like\nshape. The little being was displeased, and ran after him in order to\nrecover the ornament. Having no tongue, it could not speak, but holding\nout one hand pleadingly and with the other motioning to the back of its\nhead, it made pathetic sounds in its throat, thus inarticulately begging\nthat its treasure should be given back to it. On nearing the light of the\nFrenchman's house it retreated, and he showed the ornament to other white\nmen and some native women. (So positive was my informant that the names of\nthese men and women were mentioned to me.) He said to the trader, \"You\ndoubted your clerk's story. Have you ever seen anything like this in all\nyour life?\" They all said they had not. It was reported that many other\npersons hearing of it went there to see it.\n\nFrom that night the little being was often seen by other Negroes. It was\nalways holding out its hand, and seemingly pleading for the return of its\n\"comb.\" This made the Negroes afraid to pass on that road at night. The\nFrenchman also often met it; it did not chase him, but followed slowly,\npleading with its hands in dumb show, and occasionally making a grunting\nsound in its throat. This it did so persistently and annoyingly that the\nFrenchman was wearied with its begging, and determined that the next night\nhe would yield up the \"comb.\" But he went prepared with scissors. He found\nthe little being following him. He stopped, and it approached. He held out\nhis hand with the ornament. As the Isiki jumped forward to snatch at it,\nthe Frenchman tried to lay hold of its body; but it was so very agile\nthat, though it had come so near as to be able to take the comb from the\nFrenchman's hand, it so quickly twisted itself aside as to elude his\ngrasp. He however succeeded in getting his hands in its long hair, and\nsnipped off a lock with his scissors. The Isiki ran away with its\nrecovered treasure, and did not seem to resent the loss of a portion of\nits hair. This hair the Frenchman is said to have shown to his companions\nat their next evening conversation, and I was given to understand that he\nhad sent it to France. It was straight, not woolly, and long.\n\nThese Asiki are supposed not to die, and it is also believed that they can\npropagate; but so complete has been the parent's change under witchcraft\npower that the Isiki babe will be only an Isiki and cannot grow up to be a\nhuman being.\n\nIt is asserted that Asiki are now made by a sort of creative power (just\nas leopards and bush-cats are claimed to be made, and used invisibly) by\nwitch doctors.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI am only writing these tales, I am not explaining them. Some of the\nstatements in the above story are too circumstantial to be denied. But\nthere is a wide margin for uncertainty as to what one might see after the\nconviviality of an 8 P. M. West African dinner. In my sudden leaving of\nGabun in June, 1903, I had not time to interrogate the men and women named\nas having seen the Isiki's tress of hair.\n\n\nIX. OKOVE.\n\n(The incidents of this story really occurred, and independent of the\nfetich belief in okove power, are true. At the request of my native\ninformant the names of the two tribes are suppressed, for the sake of the\nliving descendants of the two kings.)\n\nThere was an old king of one of the principal tribes of West Equatorial\nAfrica who had great power and was held in great respect and fear; there\nwas none other his equal.\n\nHe had brothers and cousins. One of these cousins had a servant, a slave,\nwho had been bought from an interior tribe. It happened that this man had\nnot always been a slave, but in the tribe from which he had been sold he\nwas a freeman. The charge on which he had been sold by his own tribe was\nthat of sorcery and witchcraft murder, the death penalty for which had\nbeen commuted to sale into slavery. He was deeply versed in a mystery of a\ncertain fetich or magic power called \"Okove.\" He possessed it so\npowerfully that no one was able to overcome him in contests of strength,\nand people were greatly afraid of him.\n\nSo his owners intended to get rid of him by selling him out of the\ncountry. To do this, they planned to catch him in the daytime; for he\nexercised his okove power chiefly at night, when he could change himself\ninto a powerful being ready to overcome any one who should resist him.\n\nOne night when this great king, who also possessed the okove power (though\nit was not generally known), went out to inspect, he saw a big tall man\nwalking up and down near his premises. The king said to him, \"Ho! who are\nyou?\" The man answered, \"It is I.\" The king asked, \"Who is I?\" The man\nreplied daringly, \"I have already told you that I am I.\" So the king asked\nagain, \"Who are you? Where did you come from? And what are you doing\nhere?\" The man said, \"I go everywhere, and do what I please at other\npeople's places, and so I have come here.\" The king commanded him, \"But,\nno, not at this place. This is mine. Go back to your own!\"\n\nThe slave gave answer, \"No! that is not my habit. No one can master me!\"\n\nThe king again ordered him, \"Go!\" He flatly refused, \"No!\" The king then\nsaid plainly, \"Are you not willing to leave my premises?\"\n\nHe replied, \"No, I never turn away from any one. I go away when I please.\nWhen I am ready, I will go back to my place.\" At this the king,\nrestraining himself, slowly said, \"Be it so!\" and turned away, leaving the\nslave standing in his yard.\n\nThe next day the king sent word for his cousin the owner of the slave to\ncome; to whom, when he had arrived at the house, the king told how he had\nseen the man at night. And he inquired, \"What does he do? Why does he\nleave his place on the plantation and come to my place at night?\" The\ncousin was surprised to hear this, exclaiming, \"So! indeed! he comes here\nat night?\" Then he went back to his house, and calling the slave, asked\nhim about this matter. \"Do you go around at night, even to the king's\nplace?\" The man said, \"Yes.\" His master said, \"Why do you do that? Do you\nhear of other lower-caste people daring to go to the king's at night?\" He\nanswered, \"No; but it is I who do as I please.\" His master told him, \"No;\nyou better return to the plantation, and live among the other slaves.\" He\nreplied \"I will go, but not now.\" His master asked him, \"But what are you\nwaiting for?\" He only repeated, \"Yes; but not now.\"\n\nThe very next night, on the king's going out as usual, he found this slave\nagain at his place, and said to him, \"So! you here again?\" The man\nreplied, \"Yes; just what I told you last night, that I do what I please,\nand I can master anybody.\" Then the king said, \"I warn you plainly, clear\noff from my place!\" He replied, \"No, I do not intend to clear out; but I\nam ready for a fight.\"\n\nThe king asked, \"You really want a fight with me?\" The man answered, \"Yes,\nI am ready for it.\" Said the king, \"It is well.\"\n\nThe fight began, each with his full okove power. In such contests, the\npower is able to change the contestants' bodies to many forms. The slave\nwas quick in his use of them. His first change was to the form of a big\ngorilla. This also the king met. As the fight went on, the next form was\ninto that of leopards. The fight went on, with frequent changes; the slave\nalways being the first to change. After a while the slave seemed to be\ngrowing tired, and the king asked him, \"Are you through?\" He answered,\n\"No, only resting.\" Again the fight was resumed. Finally, the slave took\nan eagle's form; the king did the same.\n\nPresently the slave seemed to hesitate, and the king said, \"You said you\nwanted a fight. Well, let us go on with it.\" They continued; but the slave\nseemed to be exhausted, and the king said, \"Now, are you willing to leave\nthe place?\" He answered, \"No; my fatigue is not yet so great as to make me\nleave your place.\" The king had held his power in reserve, and had been\ntolerant of the man's audacity; but he now resumed his human form, took\nhis gun (the slave had none), and aiming it, off it went, and wounded him.\nBeing wounded, the slave had to acknowledge that he was overcome, and he\nhad to go. When morning came, the slave was not able to get up to go about\nhis work, and remained in bed. The gun-shot wound was a small one, and he\nwas conscious that he was dying of some other cause. He sent some one to\nthe master's house to ask him to come. When his master came, he said, \"Ah!\nmaster! I have something to say to you. Please plead for me!\" The master\nsaid, \"Plead for you! For what?\" The slave then told him, \"I went around\nlast night to the king's place. He told me to leave, and I was not willing\nto do so. So we had a great fight. And I am conquered. But please plead\nfor me, that he may make me well.\"\n\nThe master replied, \"Did I not advise you not to go there, but rather to\nstay at your plantation?\" He assented. \"But please plead, and I will stay\nat the plantation.\"\n\nThe master answered, \"I do not think the king will be willing to help\nyou.\" Nevertheless, being a cousin, he went privately to the king, and\ntold him all that the slave had told him. The king refused, saying, \"No,\nI am not going to do anything for him. He must die.\" The next day the\nslave was dead.\n\n\n(Another illustration of that king's okove power was narrated to me.)\n\nThere had been ill-feeling between this king's tribe and an adjacent\ninferior tribe who had killed two of the king's chief men without cause,\ncoming suddenly upon them at night in their fishing-camp. The king's\npeople were very much troubled about it, and asked to be led to war. But\nthe old king said, \"You young people don't know anything. If you go to\nwar, there will be much blood shed on both sides. Leave the matter with\nme. I will attend to it myself.\"\n\nSo at night he went by himself to the town of the king of the offending\ntribe, and remained there waiting in ambush on the path. Early next\nmorning four of the women belonging to that town had gone to their gardens\nwith their baskets to get food. The old king followed them secretly. After\nall of them had filled their baskets, two lifted them upon their backs and\nstarted to return to their town. The other two were just stooping (as is\nthe custom in lifting burdens, leaning forward on one knee in order to\nplace their backs against the basket, with a strap passing around the\nbasket and over their foreheads), when the king came behind then and\nstruck their necks with his okove. They instantly died in that stooping\nposition.\n\nThe two women who had gone on ahead reached their town without knowing\nwhat had happened to the other two. They waited in town a long time for\nthe two absent ones to come. But when they did not make their appearance,\nthe people began to ask those women about the other two. They said they\nknew nothing about the delay, only that they had left them ready to come\nand preparing to lift their baskets. The townspeople, anxious because it\nwas late in the day, went out to search for the women. They found them on\nthe path, dead by their baskets. They examined their bodies for some mark\nor wound or sign of a blow. There was none. This very much perplexed them,\nfor they did not suspect the cause of their death. They carried the dead\nbodies to town. The next night the king went again to that same town, and\nhe happened to meet the other king at the boat-landing of the town. So the\nold king made complaint to the other why the servants of the latter had\nkilled his two chiefs. The other made no reply, having no justification of\nwhat his people had done.\n\nThen the old king said, \"As your people have done this, there is war\nbetween us\"; and he struck him with his okove. And he added, \"Do you know\nthat I have already begun war with your people? Did you not find two of\nyour women dead yesterday at your gardens? I killed them. But I am not\nthrough with you. I want you to pay a fine, and I want the man who killed\nmy two chiefs, for the lives of the two women are not equivalent to those\nof my two chiefs.\"\n\nThe other king felt he was conquered by some unseen power, and did not\nresist. He agreed to give up the murderer and pay a fine. The next day he\nhad the murderer caught and brought before a council. He told them that\nthe old king of the other tribe wanted the life of that man and a sum of\nmoney for the lives of his two chiefs.\n\nThey began to collect on the spot goods and food of all kinds, and many\nthings of little value, with which to make simply the appearance of a full\ncanoe. They tied the prisoner, put him in the canoe, and went with him and\nthe goods to the old king. He received them.\n\nBut at night he went again to the other king, and began to rebuke him,\nsaying that what he had sent was not sufficient. The other made a protest:\n\"I have given you enough,--the lives of the two women, the one man, and\ngoods equivalent to two more lives. I have thus given you five for your\ntwo.\"\n\nBut the old king, in tribal pride, reckoned the sex and social position of\nhis two men greater than any five of an inferior tribe, and said, \"How\ndare you speak to me like that? You shall surely die!\" He struck him with\nhis okove, and went away.\n\nThe next day the other king was not able to leave his bed and sent for\nmany of his people to come, saying that he had a special word to speak to\nthem. They came, and he told them all about the death of the two women,\nand all that had occurred between him and the old king. \"And now,\" he\nsaid, \"I am dying. We are overcome. It is useless to resist. I want you to\nremember, as long as the world stands, never to fight or quarrel with the\ntribe of that king.\"\n\nThen he turned his face to the wall and died.\n\n\nX. THE FAMILY IDOLS.\n\n(To a village on the St. Thom\u00e8 or left bank of Gabun Bay, or \"River,\" away\nup a winding mangrove stream, and on the edge of the forest that was\nbroken by pieces of prairie, I went, in February, 1903, to visit a friend,\na sick Christian woman, who was in the care of a relative of hers named\nAdova.\n\nThere were only five huts in the village. At the first one from the edge\nof the prairie, which was assigned to me in which to sleep, on a bench\noutside under the low eaves, was a roughly carved wooden idol, about\nfourteen inches in height. From the dressing of the hair of its head, I\nsupposed it to be intended for a female. Its loins were covered with a\nnarrow strip of cloth. Near it was what could scarcely be recognized as a\ndog, its head looking more like a pig's, and its tail more like an\nalligator's. The figures were chalked and painted; and near them were a\nfew gourd utensils for eating and drinking, and some medicinal barks.\n\nSubsequently, at night, in a curtained-off corner of my room, I saw three\nlow baskets, in each of which was a pair of wooden images not six inches\nhigh. They were chalked, and adorned with strips of various-colored cloth.\nIn each basket also was a wooden hourglass-shaped article that seemed\nintended for a double bell. Pieces of medicinal barks filled up the spaces\nin the baskets. The images were relics of ceremonies held over twins born\nlong ago in the family.\n\nAt the other end of the village, in a very small roughly built hut, open\non one side, were two other idols,--one, a male, standing and chalked and\npainted. The female in an ornamented box was not visible; near them was a\nnondescript animal.\n\nThe story of these idols, as told me by my friend (who has since died), is\nmore especially connected with this pair.)\n\nPART I. OK\u00c2SI.\n\nIt was made by a Loango man, a fetich doctor, very many years ago. The\nMpongwe family that to-day owns these relics had sent south to Loango, to\nthe Fi\u00e2t or Ba-Vili tribe, to bring to Gabun for this special purpose this\ncelebrated magician.\n\nWhen he arrived, the chief of the family who had summoned him went with\nhim off to the forest, with all the medicines, and so forth, which the\nLoango man had brought. This occurred on that same left side of the\n\"river\" where I was visiting.\n\nThe magician began to explain everything in the way of directions about\nthe medicines that were to be put into the hollow of the abdomen of the\nidol (and which to-day is still covered by a small round mirror fastened\nover it). After explaining all these matters, he gave also all the orunda\n(prohibitions), _viz._: The idol must not be allowed to fall on its face;\nit must have a small hut for shelter from rain and sun: it must be given a\nlight at night, at least of coals of fire. After this, he began to carve\nthe idol. After making the male of the pair, and before making its female,\nhe made a duplicate of the male, exactly like it, except that it was only\nan imitation without any magic power; and, instead of medicines, only\npowdered charcoal was put into the hollow in its abdomen, which, however,\nwas to be covered with glass, exactly as the real one.\n\nWhen these two idols were finished, the two men, the magician and the\nchief of the family, went with them far into the forest. The Loango said,\n\"I will put these here, and when we go back to your town I will give the\npower of ol\u00e2g\u00e2 [a certain kind of spirit] to one of your women. If she\nreceives it properly, she herself, without knowing our path, will come to\nthis forest, and will make no mistake in choosing the real idol from the\nimitation; and she will bring it to me in the town.\" (It is a rule with\nthe native sorcerers that if the one who aspires to the power should make\na mistake in this choosing, she must pay a fine of from $60 to $100.)\n\nWhen all was arranged, the Loango man said, \"Now let us go back to town.\"\nSo they turned back. But when they had gone half of the way, he said to\nhimself, \"This Gabun man now knows everything, and where the idols are,\nand which is the real one. It is his sister who wishes to receive the\npower; he will go and tell her everything, and she will make no mistake,\nnot by reason of her possessing power, but by his private information.\" So\nthe Loango said, \"Go you to the town, await me there; I will come soon.\"\nAnd he turned back into the forest by himself, took up the two idols from\nwhere he had laid them down, went in another direction and hid them there,\nand then returned to town.\n\nHe then gave the power to the woman, and said, \"Go and bring the ol\u00e2g\u00e2.\"\nShe started, went with only a little power, and was going at random; but\nbefore she had gone half-way, she came under the full power. Then she\nturned her face right and left, and gave an ol\u00e2g\u00e2 yell, seeking to know\nwhich way the power would lead her. At once then she knew which was the\nway; and she went running and shouting frantically, under the influence of\nthis power, to the precise spot, and took up the real idol, making no\nmistake about the imitation one. Holding it aloft, she returned, shouting\nand dancing, under the Delphic frenzy. She entered the town singing and\ndancing in the street, and then laid the idol at the feet of the Loango\nman. He took it, and knew it was the right one. He then went to the forest\nand brought also the other, the duplicate. When he returned, he went with\nit and the real one to the ogwerina (backyard) to show to the Gabun man\nthe slight difference in the two (which he knew by a private mark). In\ndoing this he had to take off the little mirrors and show the difference\nbetween the medicines and the charcoal. And he again closed the mirrors.\nThen, just to test the woman, the magician said to her, \"Go and bring me\nthe idol I have left in the ogwerina.\" She went there, still under the\npower, and with a frenzied scream seized the right one and brought it to\nhim. He was half glad and half disappointed; for had she mistaken, he\nwould have received more money.\n\nThen the townspeople held a great dance, and the Loango taught them\nspecial songs for the ol\u00e2g\u00e2. The female of the pair of idols had also been\nmade about the same time as the male, but with no special ceremony.\n\nAll being finished, the magician named his fee for his services, was paid,\nand went back to Loango.\n\nThis idol was intended as a family fetich, to protect the family at night,\nand to kill any one who would attempt to injure any of the members. The\nname of this male of the pair was Ok\u00e2si.\n\nThe name of the other one, that was under the eaves of the hut in which I\nslept, was K\u00e2k\u00e2-gi-b\u00e2l\u00e2-dyambo-gi-b\u00e2l\u00e2-ve. These are Shekyani words,\nand mean \"A-great-log-may-rot-but-a-spoken-word-dies-never.\" That meant\nthat if an enemy came and injured any one in the town, the wrong would\nnever be forgotten and would surely be avenged. That idol might almost\nstand for a statue of Vengeance.\n\nThe above proverb comes from a tale of a cruel old Shekyani chief.\n\nPART II. BARBARITY.\n\nOnce there was a very powerful Shekyani chief named Ogwedembe. He had many\nsons and daughters and slaves and slave children and nieces and nephews.\nHe had also a brother. His principal delight was in fighting and killing.\n\nOgwedembe used to go out on excursions, and would say to his company, \"Now\nwe are out of town.\" That meant that all restraint was cast aside, and\nthat he was ready to kill the first person they might meet, even without a\ncause.\n\nOne day when they were out and were passing through a thick forest, they\nsaw a man up a tree who had come for palm-wine and had filled two of the\ngourd-bottles used for that purpose. So Ogwedembe shouted to him, \"Indeed!\nwhat are you doing there? Have you not heard that Ogwedembe and his\nbrother are out of town? Come down quickly and meet us here!\"\n\nThe man did not dare disobey, and came down. Ogwedembe took the gourds,\nand said, \"You may have one; I and my brother will drink the other.\" After\nthe drinking, Ogwedembe stripped the man of his clothing, leaving him\nstanding naked and trembling. In his terror the man did not attempt to\nescape.\n\nOgwedembe drew his knife, and repeated his questions, \"Who told you to\ncome here? Did you not know that Ogwedembe and his brother were out in the\nforest? Now I will fix you; and you can carry the news to your town that\nOgwedembe and his brother are in the forest.\"\n\nHe then seized a portion of the man's body, and with his butcher-knife\nhorribly mutilated him. The man started, bleeding, to go to his town, and\ndied on the way.\n\nThe section of country in which Ogwedembe's portion of the Shekyani tribe\nlived was south of Gabun, toward the Orungu people at the mouth of the\nNazareth branch of the Ogowe River. Sometimes he and his brother would\ntravel in their war canoes all the way from their place, and, passing\nGabun, would go on northward to attack the Benga of Cape Esterias without\ncause and in sheer ruthlessness.\n\nSome of his daughters and sisters were married to Mpongwe chiefs at Gabun.\nAt times his daughters and nieces would go and visit him. They would be\nreceived with firing of guns and other great demonstrations, and on\nleaving would be laden with presents.\n\nAbout twenty years ago one of his sisters, named Akanda, died in the prime\nof life. She lived at Gabun, her husband a Mpongwe. (She was the mother of\nAdova, my hostess, who is apparently about sixty years of age, and has a\nyounger brother apparently about thirty years of age.) So, when that\nsister died, Ogwedembe came to Gabun, on the St. Thom\u00e8 side, to the\nfuneral. My sick friend happened to be there at the time (for, by family\nmarriage, she is a cousin to Adova) and saw the old chief.\n\nOgwedembe, according to native custom, demanded of the husband a fine for\nhis sister's death (as if due to lack of proper care of her). When that\nwas paid, as a sign that no ill-will was retained, Ogwedembe was to give\nthe widower another wife.\n\nDuring this discussion Ogwedembe kept saying, \"I wish my sister had not\nbeen married to a Mpongwe, for it is not your custom to shed blood for\nthis cause. But I feel a great desire to kill some one. If this had been a\nShekyani marriage, I would have gone from town to town killing as I\nchose.\" The Mpongwe replied, \"But we have no such custom.\" He answered,\n\"Yes, I know that. I only said what I would like to do, though your tribal\ncustom will not allow me to do it.\"\n\nHis demand of a fine being finally yielded to and paid, to show his\npeaceful intentions, he gave the husband one of his daughters, a widow who\nhad with her two children,--a son and a daughter,--and who afterward bore\nhim other children.\n\nOgwedembe's bloody instincts were suppressed at that funeral, and he\nremained awhile after the close of the mourning ceremonies, making\nfriendly visits among his Mpongwe sons-in-law, and then went back to his\nShekyani country.\n\nA short time after that the eldest daughter of that woman Akanda (my\nhostess Adova) and her husband Owondo visited Ogwedembe. He made a great\nwelcome for them, with dancing and rejoicing of various kinds. Every day\nhe sent his people to fish and hunt, to obtain food for Adova and the\nchildren she had with her.\n\nBefore Adova left, Ogwedembe called his principal wife and his\ngrandchildren, and said, \"When I die, you who are here in Shekyani, do not\nremain here, but go to Gabun and live with Akanda's children all the rest\nof your life.\" When he finally died, they obeyed and came to St. Thom\u00e8,\nof Gabun, bringing their idols with them.\n\nThe one female image that was under the eaves of the house in which I\nslept was for guarding their families; but the three sets of twins were to\nprevent their mothers from becoming barren.\n\nPART III. THE RIGHT OF SANCTUARY.\n\n(It was an ancient and universal custom that a refugee, by clasping the\nknees of the king of any other tribe, could claim his protection. The king\nwas bound to accept the claim. The obligation he thus assumed was sacred.)\n\nWhile Adova was there at Shekyani country, visiting Ogwedembe, there came\nto him an Orungu man with a little slave boy, carrying a box. As soon as\nthey entered the town, both of them came to Ogwedembe, and kneeling and\nclasping his feet, claimed his protection, and promised voluntarily to be\nunder his authority.\n\nThe old chief, without asking the cause of their flight or their reason\nfor coming to him, assented, and summoned the town to make the Ukuku\n(Spirit-Society of Law) ceremony of installing the man and his slave boy\nas members of their Shekyani tribe.\n\nAdova and her husband were very kind to this adopted \"brother,\" and he at\nonce became exceedingly intimate with them.\n\nAt night this new man had been assigned to the house occupied by\nOgwedembe, in a room near him, so that he could watch him that he should\nnot run away, now that he belonged to Ukuku. But it was not known that\nthis man possessed all the power of nyemba (sorcery). Ogwedembe also had\npower for fighting, and a certain amount of knowledge that warned him not\nto be deceived by sorcerers.\n\nAfter two days, on the third night, this man rose, and tried to go to\nOgwedembe's room, to put some witchcraft medicine on him. But Ogwedembe\nsaw him coming, rose, seized his staff, walked toward the man in the\ndarkness, and struck him violently on the head. The man fell. But neither\nof them uttered any word, nor made any outcry.\n\nVery early in the morning Ogwedembe got up, went out, and sat on the\nveranda of his house. He called to Adova, \"Come, I want to tell you\nsomething.\" She came, and he said, \"I had a bad dream last night. If any\none comes to you to-day to ask you to make medicine for a sore head, do\nnot do it.\" \"Who is it?\" she asked. He refused. \"No, I will not tell you.\nBut I know that before to-day is over some one will come to you, but do\nnot help him.\"\n\nThe Orungu got up late that day and looked and felt dull. When he left his\nroom, he sent his boy to call Adova. The boy went. She came to him. He\nsaid, \"Can't you find medicine for a headache? I did not sleep well. My\nhead pains too much.\" She said, \"I do not know a medicine for that kind of\nheadache.\" The old chief was sitting near, and, looking significantly at\nthe Orungu, said to Adova, \"Yes, that is right.\"\n\nThe next night the man said, \"I do not wish to sleep here to-night. I will\ngo to an adjacent village, and will be back in the morning.\" \"Well, go,\"\nassented Ogwedembe, \"but be sure to be back in the morning.\" And the man\nsaid, \"Yes.\"\n\nScarcely had he left the town to go to the other village, when there came\nto Ogwedembe three people from a certain Orungu town carrying a message\nfrom their Orungu chief, thus: \"The chief sent us, saying, 'Please give up\nthis man who came to you and who claimed your protection. Give up the man.\nYou do not know his habits; they are the habits of a worm that in eating\nspoils only the best. He, with his sorcery, always aims at killing the\ngreatest. If you do not give him up, there will be war; for our chief has\nhad this same demand made on him from a third chief whose people this man\nhas been killing, and our chief will have to make war with you.'\"\n\nOgwedembe laughed. \"You say 'war' to me? That is nothing to me. You cannot\ndo it. War cannot touch me.\"\n\nWhen the message of the Orungu chief was being sent to Ogwedembe, some of\nthe attendants on the delegation had awaited half-way on the route, and\nonly the three had brought the message. Ogwedembe said to these three\nmessengers, \"Go and call your chief, and we will talk about it.\"\n\nThe chief came. (All this while the man was away at the other village, not\nhaving kept his promise to return.)\n\nOgwedembe said to the Orungu chief, \"It is impossible. The law is sacred.\nI will not give him up.\" But in his heart he felt, \"I am protecting a\nsorcerer who has tried to kill me; better I take the money for his\nextradition, and send him away.\" He and the chief went on discussing. The\npoint was made that the sorcerer having himself broken his obligation, by\nattempting to injure his adopted father, relieved that father of his Ukuku\nduty of protection.\n\nOgwedembe began to yield, and to name the number of slaves that should be\ngiven him as the price of giving up the man. The Orungu chief demurred to\nthe price: \"It is too much!\" So Ogwedembe brought down the price to six\nslaves,--three slaves, and three bundles of goods equal to the price of\nthree slaves. And it was so settled. Then the Orungu chief said, \"I will\ngo in haste to my town to get you the goods; but as to the three slaves,\nthis man's boy must be counted as one of them.\"\n\nThere was a dispute over this, Ogwedembe claiming that the boy was not\nguilty of any crime, and that his right to protection still existed. The\nOrungu insisted that the boy, being a slave, must follow the fortunes of\nhis master, must be extradited as one with him, and then would of their\nown will be released by them from the penalty of his master's guilt.\nOgwedembe consented. So the Orungu chief and his people went to get the\ngoods, on the promise that Ogwedembe would have the man caught and ready\nto be delivered to them.\n\nAt once Ogwedembe sent word to the man to fulfil his promise of returning\nto the town, and told his sons to be ready early next day to have the man\ncaught and tied, ready for delivery on arrival of the goods.\n\nNext day Ogwedembe, seeing the man coming to him, came out of his house to\nmeet him, and speaking ewiria (hidden meaning), called out to his people,\n\"Sons, have you tied up the bundle of bush-deer meat?\" \"Oh yes, father,\nwe'll have it ready just now,\" as they came running to him. Then they\nsuddenly fell upon the man, dragged him inside the house, began to strip\noff his clothing, and tied him. He at once knew that there was no mercy,\nand he did not resist; but he said to his boy, \"Call me Adova and her\nhusband.\"\n\nBut she knew he was naked, so she told her husband to go and hear what the\nman had to say. Owondo went, and the man said, \"Owondo, I have no friends\nhere; only you and Adova have been kind to me, so I call you my friend.\nUntie this small strip of cloth I have about my waist. I have four silver\ndollars there. I am going to die. These dollars are of no use to me; you\nand your wife take them. My box is in Adova's care; she must have the few\nthings in it.\" So Owondo untied the girdle, took the money, and went out.\n\nShortly afterward the Orungu people came, bringing the goods and slaves,\nand took away the man. He was taken by the three messengers to the\nhalf-way camp, where they had left their attendants. There were no houses\nthere for shelter, and only their mosquito-nets as tents. They stopped\nthere with the intention of passing the night, and next day of going on to\ntheir Orungu town.\n\nWhen it came evening they began to prepare their sleeping-places, and at\nbedtime one by one they went to lie down. A large branch from an\noverhanging tree fell very near the bed of one of the Orungu leaders,\nwhich was adjoining that of the sorcerer. So they all said, \"Ah! we see\nwhat is being done by his arts. If this has begun so soon, who knows what\nwill happen before morning? Let us start at once.\"\n\nSo they all made ready that very night, and went out of the forest, down\nto the beach, and got into their boat (as they had come part of the way by\nsea).\n\nNot long after they had started the sea became very rough. Soon the boat\ncapsized, broke to pieces, and all their goods were lost. They all escaped\nashore, but the sorcerer was missing. They waited on the beach until\ndaylight, and then found his loin cloth washed ashore. (His hands had been\ntied.) They believed that he had caused the storm, and was willing to die\nwith them in the general destruction rather than survive to be put to\ndeath by the torture to which sorcerers were usually subjected.\n\nSo these people sent back word to Ogwedembe and to the nearer villages to\nlet them know what had happened to them, and they returned to their Orungu\ncountry by land.\n\nThe little slave boy, who had been left with Ogwedembe as one of the three\nto be given as the price of extradition, was shortly afterward given by\nhim as a present to the sick friend I was visiting that day. She stated\nthat he was a most faithful servant and affectionate attendant on her\ninfant daughter. He stayed with her, and died in her service a few years\nlater, about 1883; and she mourned for him, for she had treated him, not\nas a slave, but as a son.\n\n\nXI. UNAGO AND EKELA-MBENGO.\n\n(In the presence of theosophy, telepathy, thought-transference,\nastrophysics, and wireless telegraphy, the following Benga legend has at\nleast a standing-place. It was written more than forty years ago by an\neducated native in the Benga dialect. I translate it into English,\npreserving some of the native idiom.)\n\nUnago and Ekela were great friends. They lived, Unago at Mbini in Eyo\n(Benito River); Ekela at Jeke in Muni (the river Muni, opposite\nElobi islands in Corisco Bay. The two rivers are at least forty miles\napart; Ekela is supposed to make the journey in two hours.)\n\nThey were accustomed, if one killed a wild animal, to send for the other.\nOne day Unago killed a hog. Then he sent for his friend Ekela. He at Mbini\nsaid, \"Oh, Chum Ekela! start you out very early in the morning hither.\nCome to eat a feast of pig.\" And his children would say, \"Father, your\nfriend at Jeke, and you right here, will he hear?\" Said he, \"Yes, he\nwill hear.\" And so Ekela, off there, would say to his children, \"Do you\nhear how my friend is calling to me?\" His children answered, \"We do not\nhear.\" Says he, \"Yes, my friend has called me to eat pig there to-morrow.\"\n\nBefore daybreak Ekela takes his staff and his fly-brush and starts. When\nthe sun is at the point of shining at Corisco, he reaches Mbini. Unago\nsays to his children, \"Did I not say to you that he can hear?\"\n\nAnd so they eat the feast; the feast ended, they tell narratives. In the\nafternoon Ekela says, \"Chum, I'm going back.\" Unago says, \"Yes.\"\n\nHaving left him after escorting him part of the way, this one goes on, and\nthat one returns. When Ekela, going on and on, reaches clear to\nJeke, then day darkens. When his children see the lunch which he\nbrings, then they believe that he has been at Mbini.\n\n\nA PROVERB: MANGA MA EKELA.\n\n(Manga means \"the sea\"; secondarily, \"the sea-beach\"; thirdly, by\neuphemism, \"a latrine,\" or \"going to a latrine.\" For the sea-beach is used\nby the natives for that purpose, they going there immediately on rising in\nthe morning. They stay, of course, but a short time. If one should stay\nvery long, this proverb would be used of him, because Ekela, when he went,\nstayed and made a journey of fifteen or twenty miles.)\n\nEkela was accustomed, if he started out early to the seaside in the\nmorning, to say, \"I am going to manga\"; then he went on and on, clear on\nto Hondo (a place at least fifteen miles distant). Passing Hondo, his\n\"manga\" would end only wherever he and his friend Unago met. There having\ntold their stories, they then each returned. This one went to his village,\nand that one to his village. When Ekela was about to go back to his\nvillage, then he would leave his fly-brush at the spot where he and his\nfriend had been; and when he would arrive at home, he would say to his\nchildren, \"Go, take for me the fly-brush which was forgotten of me, there\nat the sea, on the place where I was. Follow my foot-tracks.\" When the\nchildren went, it was step by step to Hondo, and the foot-tracks were\nstill farther beyond.\n\nThe children, wearied, came back together unto their father, and said, \"We\ndid not see the brush.\" When he went another morning, then he himself\nbrought it.\n\n\nXII. MALANDA--AN INITIATION INTO A FAMILY GUARDIAN-SPIRIT COMPANY.\n\n(Manjana was my cook at Batanga in 1902. He is a young married man with\nseveral small children. He is of a mild, kindly disposition, obliging and\nsmiling, without much force of character, slightly educated, civilized in\nmanner and dress, but without even a pretence of Christianity; at heart a\nheathen, though a member of the Roman Catholic church, into which he\nconsented to be baptized as the means of obtaining in marriage his wife,\nwho had been raised in that church.\n\nHis Romanism sat lightly on him, for he voluntarily attended my Protestant\nevening-prayers, taking his turn with others in reading verses around in\nthe chapter of Scripture for the day; then he liked to take part in the\ngeneral conversation which followed about native beliefs and native\ncustoms.\n\nY\u00e2k\u00e2, or family fetich, is no longer, at Batanga, a matter of dread, even\nto the heathen; so Manjana was not afraid to tell me freely what happened\nwhen he was initiated into it as a lad. I wrote down his story hastily, as\nsoon as he left that evening. I later wrote it out in full, while it was\nall fresh in my memory. I could not exactly reproduce his graphic native\nwords, so I did not attempt them. The description is my own. But I\nfollowed exactly the line of his story, and used only his thoughts. He\nsaid:)\n\n\"I knew that a house was being built on the edge of the forest, a short\ndistance from our village. I and other lads and young men assisted the\nstrong adult men who were building it. But I did not then know for what\npurpose or why it was being built. I remembered afterward that no girls or\nwomen were either assisting or even lounging about it, watching the\nprocess of building and chatting with the workmen, as when other houses\nwere built. I did not know that they had been told not to look there. I\nremembered afterward that the house was located separately from the other\nhouses of the village, but that did not just then strike me as strange.\nSomewhat similar houses had been built, as temporary sheds in making a\nboat or canoe. Such houses are built rapidly, and not with the same care\nas is used in the erection of dwellings. So it did not occur to me as\nnoticeable that this house was finished in the short time of two weeks.\nOne gable of it was left open.\n\nNor did I connect its erection with the fact that a prominent man of our\nfamily had died just two weeks before. I know now that, in the manner of\nhis death, or in things that happened immediately afterward, the elders of\nthe family had seen inauspicious signs that made them fear that evil was\nbeing plotted against us. As I now know, some six or eight of our leading\nadult male members of the family had had a secret consultation, and had\ndecided that Malanda should be invoked.\n\nI did not then know much about Malanda. I knew the name, that it was a\npower, that it was dreaded; but how or why I had not been told.\n\nI know now that while this house was being built one or two other men were\ncarving an image of a male figure; also, that when the house was\ncompleted, that very night some of those elders had secretly disinterred\nthe corpse that had been already two weeks in its grave, and had brought\nit to that house. There they had extracted two teeth, and had fastened\nthem in the hollowed-out cavities representing the eyes of the image, and\nhad hidden them there by fastening over them, with a common resinous gum\nof the forest, two small pieces of glass. And they had stood the image,\npainted hideously, on the cover of a large box, made of the flexible inner\nbark of a tree, at the closed end of the house.\n\nThen they had cut off the head of the corpse and had scooped out its\nrotten brains. These they had mixed with chalk and powdered red-wood and\nthe ashes of other plants, and had tied up the mixture carefully in a\nbundle of dry plantain leaves. I already knew and had seen such things\nregarded as very valuable \"medicine,\" used to rub on the forehead or other\nparts of the body. Then they had tied the headless corpse erect against a\nside wall of the house, keeping its arms extended by cross pieces of wood.\n\nThe first that I knew that anything unusual was about to occur was early\none morning, just after the completion of the house, when the voices of\nthe elders were heard in the street, \"Malanda has come!\" The women and\ngirls were frightened. They knew they were not to look at Malanda. And we\nlads were oppressed with a vague dread that subdued us from our usual\nboisterous plays. We knew the name \"Malanda.\" It was a power, it was\nmysterious. Mystery is a burden; it might be for good or for evil.\n\nImmediately all the adult men went into the forest. In about an hour they\nreturned, bearing on their shoulders a long, large log of a tree. They\ncast it into the middle of the street, facing the sun. The hour was about\n8 A. M.\n\nThey sternly ordered about twenty of the young men and lads to sit down on\nthe log. The mystery that had burdened me now fell heavier. Our mothers\nand sisters were afraid to look on us, even with sympathy. These men were\nour fathers and uncles and elder brothers, but their voices were harsh,\ntheir faces set with severity, their eyes had no light of recognition as\nrelatives, and their hands handled us roughly. I was dazed and helpless in\nmy own village and among my own relatives, but not a word of pity nor a\nlook of even kindness from a single person! Each of the twenty also was\ntoo occupied with his own destiny to speak to a fellow victim. As far as\nour treatment was concerned we might have been slaves in another tribe.\nWith no will of our own we blindly did as we were bidden.\n\nWe were told to throw our heads back, bending our necks to the point of\npain, and to stare with unblinking eyes at the sun. As the sun mounted all\nthat morning, hot and glaring, toward the zenith, we were sedulously\nwatched to see that we kept our heads back, arms down, and eyes following\nthe burning sun in its ascent. My throat was parched with thirst. My brain\nbegan to whirl, the pain in my eyes became intolerable, and I ceased to\nhear; all around me became black, and I fell off the log.\n\nAs each one of us thus became exhausted or actually fainted, we were\nblindfolded and taken to that house. On reaching it still blindfolded I\nknew nothing that was there. I smelled only a horrible odor. The same\nrough hands and hard voices had possession of me. Though blindfolded, I\ncould feel that the eyes that were looking on me were cruel.\n\nIt was useless to resist, as they began to beat me with rods. My outcries\nonly brought severer blows. I perceived that submission lightened their\nstrokes. When finally I ceased struggling or crying, the bandage was\nremoved. The horror of that headless corpse standing extending its rotting\narms toward me, and the staring glass eyes of the image overcame me, and I\nattempted to flee. That was futile. I was seized and beaten more severely\nthan before, until I had no will or wish, but utter submission to the will\nof whatever power it might be, natural or supernatural, into whose hands I\nhad fallen.\n\nWhen all twenty of us had been thus reduced to abject submission, we were\ntreated less severely. Some kindness began to be shown. Our physical wants\nwere looked after and regarded. Food and drink were supplied us. I\nobserved an occasional look of recognition. I began to feel that I was\nbeing admitted into a companionship. There was something manly in the\nthought of being entrusted with a secret to which younger lads were not\nadmitted and from which all of womankind were debarred. This gave me a\nsense of elevation. There were some people whom I could look down upon! It\nbegan to be worth while to have suffered so much. I began to be accustomed\nto the corpse of my relative. True, I was a prisoner; but the days were\nrelieved by a variety of instructions and ceremonies practised over us by\nthe doctor.\n\nAt first we were, in succession, solemnly asked whether we were possessed\nof any witchcraft power (\"o na jemba?\" Have you a witch?) Elsewhere we all\nwould have indignantly denied having any such evil doings. But in the face\nof that corpse, under the presence of the unknown power to which we were\nbeing introduced, in the hands of a pitiless inquisition, and with the\nobliteration of our own wills, we did not dare lie. Would not the power\nknow we were lying? We told what we imagined to be the truth; some\nadmitted, some denied.\n\nThe Y\u00e2k\u00e2 bundle was opened; some of its dust was added to the\nbrain-mixture (already mentioned). Of this compound an ointment was made.\nOn the breasts of those who denied were drawn commendatory longitudinal\nlines of that ointment. On the breasts of those who admitted were drawn\ncorrective horizontal lines with the same mixture. Instructions\nappropriate to our respective condition, as witch possessed or\nnon-possessed, were given by the doctor.\n\nWe were interested also in watching the digging of a pit in the floor of\nthe house. When this had reached a depth of over six feet, a tunnel was\ndriven laterally under one of the side walls, and opening out, a rod or\ntwo beyond, where a low hut was built to conceal it. Into this tunnel the\ndoctor and three or four of the strongest of the elders carried the\ncorpse, and left it there for about ten days, the doctor passing much of\nthat time with it.\n\nAfter we had been in the house almost twenty days, although still\nconfined, I did not feel that I was a prisoner; I was deeply interested in\nseeing and taking part in this great mystery. I no longer dreaded the\ndead. Even if physical pain were yet to be inflicted on me, I would take\nit gladly as the price of a knowledge which ministered to manly pride. I\nwas being made a sharer in the rights and possession of the family\nguardian-spirit.\n\nA few days after this the corpse, now reduced almost to a skeleton, was\nbrought up from the tunnel, and bisected longitudinally. The halves were\nlaid a few feet apart, parallel and a short distance away from the two\nsides of the house. We were gathered in two companies against the walls,\nand were told to advance toward each other, carefully stepping over, and\nby no means to tread on, our half of the remains. And the two companies\nmet in the centre.\n\nWe now felt we were free, though not formally told so. We had made a\nfearful oath of secrecy. We preferred to remain and assist in the final\norder of the house. The doctor and elders now disarticulated the skeleton\n(for such it was, the man being dead now at least five weeks, and the\ndecomposed flesh having almost all fallen away). The bones were put into\nthe bark box on which stood the image. They were an addition to the\ncontents of the Y\u00e2k\u00e2, or family fetich. Then, at the close of three weeks'\nconfinement in the house, we emerged in procession, the elders bearing the\nbox and the image on the top, and proceeded to the village street. There\nthe box and image were set; and a joyous dance was started with drum and\nsong, with all the people of the village, male and female. A sheep or goat\nwas killed, and a feast prepared. While the dance was going on, the elders\naround the box were bowing and praying to the image on their knees. From\ntime to time a man would parade by, lifting his steps high and bowing low,\nand as suddenly erecting himself and strongly aspirating, \"Hah! hah!\" And\nthe village was glad, for it felt sure no evil could now come to it. I was\nsafe, and ready, at the next time of danger, to assist in torturing the\nnext younger set of lads, for was I not a freeman of the family\nguardian-spirit?\n\nThe box and image were stowed away in a back room of the village headman's\ndwelling, who would often take a plate full of food to it, as a sacrifice,\nand sometimes an offering of cloth or other goods; and the village felt\nsafe.\n\nNevertheless, the house was not torn down; it stood empty and unused. But\nif, even a year later, evil still fell on the village, the elders knew\nthat something about the Malanda had not been rightly performed. And it\nmust all be done over again with the next dead adult male (never a female)\nand with a new lot of neophytes.\n\nA woman may be subjected to a part of the above ceremonies if she is\nsuspected of witchcraft, or if, on examination, she confess to using black\nart. To purge her of this evil, and to counteract the consequences of what\nshe may have done, she is taken to the little hut over the end of the\ntunnel, and some of the above described ceremonies are performed over her;\nbut she is never taken into the house, nor into the presence of the\ncorpse.\n\n\nXIII. THREE-THINGS CAME BACK TOO LATE.\n\n(The following narrative was told me by a Batanga native Christian woman\nwho, herself less than thirty years of age, is a great-granddaughter of\nthe man one of whose wives was the witch of this story. I bade her, in\ngiving me the account, to speak, not from her present Christian standpoint\nand her only slight superstitious bias, but from the full heathen\nview-point. The confusing mixture of singular and plural pronouns\nreferring to the witch is an exact reproduction of my informant's words.)\n\nThe great-grandfather was a heathen and a polygamist. He had four wives.\nOne of them was a member of an interior tribe, the Boheba, more heathenish\nand superstitious than his own Batanga coast tribe. Unknown to him, she\nwas a member of the Witchcraft Society, had power with the spirits, and\nthey with her, attended their secret night meetings, and engaged in their\nunhallowed orgies.\n\nThe husband, though not a member of the society, had acquired some\nknowledge of witchcraft art, and, though without the power to transform\nhimself, as wizards did, was able to see and know what was being done at\ndistances beyond ordinary human sight.\n\nOne night she arose from her bed to go and attend a witchcraft play. She\nleft her physical \"house,\" the fleshly body, lying on the bed, so that no\none not in the secret, seeing that body lying there, would think other\nthan it was herself, nor would know that she was gone out. In her going\nout she willed to emerge as Three-Things, and this triple unit went off to\nthe witchcraft play. The husband happened to see this, and watched her as\nshe disappeared, saw where she went, and, though distant and out of sight,\nknew what she was doing. So he said to himself, \"She is off at her play; I\nalso will do some playing here; she shall know what I have done.\"\n\nAmong the several things of which followers of witchcraft are afraid, and\nwhich weaken their power, is cayenne pepper. So this man gathered a large\nquantity of pepper-pods from the bushes growing in the behu\n(kitchen-garden), and bruised them in a mortar to a fine soft pulp. This\nhe smeared thoroughly all over the woman's unconscious body as it lay in\nher bedroom. He left not the smallest portion of her skin untouched by the\npepper,--from her scalp, and in the interstices of her fingers and toes,\nminutely over her entire body.\n\nMeanwhile, with the woman at her play, the night was passing. The witches'\nsacred bird, the owl, began its early morning warning hoot. She prepared\nto return. As she was returning, the first morning cock-crow also warned\nher to hasten, lest daybreak should find her triple unit outside of its\nfleshly \"house.\" So the three came rushing with the speed of wind back to\nher village. Her husband was on the watch; he heard this panting sound as\nof a person breathing rapidly, and felt the impulse of their wind as she\nreached her hut and came in to re-enter their house.\n\nHe saw her approach every possible part of the body, seeking to find even\na minute spot that was not barred by the pepper. She searched long and\nanxiously, but in vain; and in despair they went and hid herself in a\nwood-pile at the back of one of the village huts, waiting in terror for\nsome possible escape.\n\nAll this the husband saw silently. When morning light finally came, he\nknew that this wife was dead, for her life-spirit had not succeeded in\nreturning to its body within the specified time. It was therefore a dead\nbody. But he said nothing about it to any one, and went off fishing.\n\nAs the morning hours were passing while he was away and the woman's door\nof her hut was still closed, his children began to wonder and to say,\n\"What is this? What is the matter? Since morning light our father's wife\nhas not come out into the street.\" After waiting awhile longer, their\nanxiety and curiosity overcame them, and they broke in the door. There\nthey saw the woman lying dead. They fled in fear, saying, \"What is this\nthat has killed our father's wife?\" They went down to the beach to meet\nhim as he returned from fishing, and excitedly told him, \"Father, we have\nfound your Boheba wife dead!\" The man, to their surprise, did not seem\ngrieved. He simply said, \"Let another one of my wives cook for me; I will\nfirst eat.\" Still more to their surprise, he added, \"And you, my children,\nand all people of the village, do not any of you dare even to touch the\nbody. Only, at once, send word to her Boheba relatives to come.\"\n\nThis warning he gave his people, lest any of them should sicken by coming\nclose to the atmosphere that the witch had possibly brought back with her\nfrom her play.\n\nBy the time he had finished eating, the woman's relatives had arrived.\nThey were all heavily armed with guns and spears and knives, and were\nthreatening revenge for their sister's death.\n\nThe man quietly bade them delay their anger till they had heard what he\nhad to say; and took them to the woman's hut, that they themselves might\nexamine the corpse, leaving to them the chance of contamination.\n\nThey examined; they lifted up the body of their sister, and searched\nclosely for any sign of wound or bruise. Finding none, but still angry,\nthey were mystified, and exclaimed, \"What then has killed her?\" And they\nseated themselves for a verbal investigation. But the man said, \"We will\nnot talk just yet. First stand up, and you shall see for yourselves.\" As\nthey arose, the man said, \"Remove all those sticks in that wood-pile. You\nwill find the woman there.\" So they pulled away the sticks; and there they\nfound Three-Things. \"There!\" said the husband, \"see the reason why your\nsister is dead!\" At that the relatives were ashamed, and said,\n\"Brother-in-law! we have nothing to say against you, for our eyes see what\nour sister has done. She has killed herself, and she is worthy to be\npunished by fire.\" (Burning was a common mode of execution for the crime\nof witchcraft.)\n\nIn her terror at being unable to get back into her mortal body, the\nThree-Things, all the while she was hidden in the wood-pile, had\nshrivelled smaller and smaller until what was left were three deformed\ncrab-shaped beings, a few inches long, with mouths like frogs. These,\nparalyzed with fear, could not speak, but could only chatter and tremble.\n\nSo the relatives seized these Three-Things, and also carried away the\nbody; and, followed by all the people of the village, they burnt it and\nthem on a large rock by the sea.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThat rock I pass very often as I walk on the beach. At high tide it is cut\noff from the shore a distance of a few yards; at low tide one can walk out\nto it. It is only a few hundred yards from our Batanga Mission Station.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\nFETICH IN FOLK-LORE\n\n\nThe telling of Folk-lore Tales amounts, with the African Negro, almost to\na passion. By day, both men and women have their manual occupations, or,\neven if idling, pass the time in sleep or gossip; but at night,\nparticularly with moonlight, if there be on hand no dances, either of\nfetich-worship or of mere amusement, some story-teller is asked to recite.\nAll know the tales, but not all can recite them dramatically. The audience\nnever wearies of repetition. The skilful story-teller in Africa occupies\nin the community the place filled in civilization by the actor or\nconcert-singer.\n\nThis is true all over Africa. In any one region there are certain tales\ncommon to all the tribes in that region. But almost every tribe will have\ntales distinctive to it. It is part of native courtesy to ask a visitor to\ncontribute his local story to the amusement of the evening.\n\nSome of these tales are probably of ancient origin, as to their plot and\ntheir characters. I am disposed to give the folk-lore of Africa a very\nancient origin. Ethnology and philology trace the Bantu stream from the\nnortheast, not by a straight line diagonally to the southwest, but the\nstream, starting with an infusion of Hamitic (and perhaps Caucasian) blood\nin the Nubian provinces, flowed south to the Cape, and then, turning on\nitself, flowed northwestward until it lost itself at the Bight of Benin.\nThat blood gave to the Bantu features more delicate than those of the\nnorthern Guinea Negro.\n\nThat stream, as it flowed, carried with it arts, thoughts, plants, and\nanimals from the south of Egypt. The bellows used in every village smithy\non the West Coast is the same as is depicted on Egyptian monuments. The\ngreat personages mentioned as \"kings\" are probably semi-deified ancestors,\nor are even confounded with the Creator. It may not be only a coincidence\nthat the ancient Egyptian word \"Ra\" exists in west equatorial tribes\n(contracted from \"rera\" = my father) with its meaning of \"Lord,\" \"Master,\"\n\"Sir.\" In these tales the name Ra-Mborakinda is used interchangeably with\nthe Divine Name, Ra-Nyambe.\n\nBut it is true that a doubt can be raised against the antiquity of some of\nthe tales, in which are introduced words, _e. g._, \"cannon,\" \"pistol,\"\narticles not known to the African until comparatively modern times. And in\nthe case of a few, such as No. V., the origin is in all probability\nmodern. In No. V. the reader at once turns in thought to \"Ali Baba and the\nForty Thieves.\" There the internal evidence is positive, either that the\nstory was heard long ago from Arabs (or perhaps within the last hundred\nyears from some foreigner), or there may have been an original African\nstory, to which modern narrators have attached incidents of Ali Baba which\nthey have overheard within the last fifty years from some white trader or\neducated Sierra-Leonian.\n\nBut it would not necessarily condemn a tale's claim to antiquity that it\nhad in it modern words. Such words as \"gun,\" \"pistol,\" \"stairway,\"\n\"canvas,\" and others may be interpolations. It was probably true long ago,\nas is now the case, that narrators added to or changed words uttered by\nthe characters. Where in the plot some modern weapon is named, long ago it\nwas perhaps a spear, club, or bow and arrow. When Dutch and Portuguese\nbuilt their forts on the African shore three hundred years ago, some\nbright narrator could readily have varied the evening's performance by\nintroducing a cannon into the story. Such variations necessarily grew; for\nthe native languages were not crystallized into written ones until the\ndays of the modern missionary.\n\nIn recitation great latitude is allowed as to the time occupied. Brevity\nis not desired. A story whose outline could be told in ten minutes may be\nspread over two hours by a vivid use of the speaker's imagination in a\nminute description of details. A great deal of repetition (after the\nmanner of \"This is the house that Jack built\") is employed, that would be\nwearisome to a civilized audience, but is intensely enjoyed by the\nAfrican, _e. g._, where the plot calls for the doing of an act for several\ndays in succession, we would say simply, \"And the next day he did the\nsame.\" But the native lover of folk-lore will repeat the same details in\nthe same words for the second and third and even fourth day. In my\nreporting I have omitted this repetition.\n\nI have purposely used some native idioms in order to retain local color.\nAfrican narrators use very short sentences. Africans in many respects are\ngrown-up children. One of their daily recognized idioms finds its exact\nparallel in the speech of our own children. Listen to a civilized child's\nanimated account of some act. They repeat. The native does so constantly.\nHe is not satisfied, in telling the narrative of a journey, by saying\ncurtly, \"I went.\" His form is, \"I went, went, there, there,\" etc. His\ndramatic acting keeps up the interest of the audience in the twice-told\ntale.\n\n\nI. QUEEN NGWE-NKONDE AND HER MANJA.\n\nA king, by name Ra-Mborakinda, had many wives, but he had no children at\nall. He was dissatisfied, and was always saying that he wanted children.\nSo he went to a certain great wizard, named Ra-Mar\u00e2nge, to get help for\nhis trouble.\n\nWhenever any one went on any business to Ra-Mar\u00e2nge, before he had time to\ntell the wizard what he wanted, Ra-Mar\u00e2nge would say, \"Have you come to\nhave something wonderful done?\" On the visitor saying, \"Yes,\" Ra-Mar\u00e2nge,\nas the first step in his preparations and to obtain all needed power,\nwould jump into fire or do some other astonishing act.\n\nSo, this day, he sprang into the fire, and came out unharmed and strong.\nThen he told Ra-Mborakinda to tell his story of what he had come for.\n\nThe king said, \"Other people have children, but I have none. Make me a\nmedicine that shall cause my women to bear children.\" Ra-Mar\u00e2nge replied,\n\"Yes, I will fix you the medicine; and after I have made the mixture, you\nmust require all of your women to eat of it.\" So the wizard fixed the\nmedicine, and the king took it with him and went home.\n\nHis queen's name was Ngwe-nkonde; and among his lesser wives and\nconcubines were two quite young women who were friends, one of whom lived\nwith the queen in her hut as her little manja, or handmaid.\n\nAs soon as Ra-Mborakinda arrived, he announced his possession of the\nmedicine, and ordered all his women to come and eat of it. But Ngwe-nkonde\nwas jealous of her young maid, and did not wish her to become a mother.\nSo, early in the morning, she purposely sent the manja away to their\nmpindi (plantation hut) on a made-up errand, so that she might not be\npresent at the feast.\n\nAt the appointed hour the king spread out the medicine, and called the\nwomen to come. They each came with a piece of plantain leaf as a plate,\nand assembled to eat, and Ramborakinda divided out the medicine among\nthem. Then the other of the two young women remembered her friend the\nmanja, and observed that she was absent. So she quickly tore off a piece\nof her plantain leaf, and divided on it a part of her own share of the\nmedicine, and hid it by her, to keep it for the manja, so that she could\nhave it on her return from the mpindi. In the afternoon, when the manja\nreturned, her friend gave her the portion of the medicine, and she ate it.\nSoon after this, all these women told Ra-Mborakinda that they expected to\nbecome mothers.\n\nAfter a few months he announced to them that he was going away on a long\ntrade-journey and that he would not return until a stated time. He gave\nthem directions that in the meanwhile they should leave his town and go to\ntheir parents' homes and stay there until his return.\n\nNow it happened that all these women had homes except the little manja;\nher parents were dead, but she remembered the locality of their deserted\nvillage.\n\nSo Ra-Mborakinda left to go on his journey, and all the expectant mothers\nscattered to the homes of their parents, except the manja, who had to\nfollow with the queen to her people's village. But soon after their\narrival at Ngwe-nkonde's home, the latter began to treat her maid cruelly;\nand finally, in her severity, she said, \"Go away to your own home and\nsojourn there,\" the while that she knew very well that her manja had no\nhome. Her thought and hope were that the manja would perish in the\nwilderness.\n\nAs the maid knew the spot where her home had been, she left Ngwe-nkonde's\nvillage, and started into the forest to go to her deserted village. On\narriving there, she found no houses nor any remains of human habitation.\nBut there was a very large fallen tree, with a trunk so curved that it was\nnot lying entirely flat on the ground. Under this enormous log she sat\ndown to rest, and it gave her shade and shelter. She accepted it as her\nplace at which to live and slept there that night. When she awoke in the\nmorning, she saw lying near her food and other needed things; but she saw\nno one coming or going. A few days later on awaking in the morning she saw\na nice little house with everything prepared of food and clothing and\nmedicines and such articles as would be needed by a mother for her babe.\nShe stayed there, and in a few days gave birth to a man-child. Each day in\nthe morning she found, prepared for her hand, food and other needed things\nlying near.\n\nSo she stayed there a long time till her baby was able to creep. When the\nbaby had grown strong, she knew it was the time that Ra-Mborakinda had\nappointed for the return of his women to his town. She finally gathered\ntogether her things for the journey next day. That night, before she had\ngone to sleep, suddenly she saw a little girl standing near her, and she\nheard a voice which she remembered as her mother's saying, \"I give you\nthis little girl to carry the babe for you. But when you go back to\nRa-Mborakinda, do not allow anyone but yourself and this girl to carry the\nchild; if you do, the girl will disappear.\" So the next morning they\nstarted on their journey, the young mother and baby and the girl-nurse.\n\nDuring this while each of the other women had also born her baby, and they\nwere now preparing to return to Ra-Mborakinda's town. But of them all none\nhad born real human beings, except the manja and her young friend. All the\nothers had born monstrosities, like snakes, frogs, and other creatures.\nNgwe-nkonde had born two snails, of the kind called \"nk\u00e2la.\" (It is a very\nlarge snail.)\n\nSo that day Ngwe-nkonde was coming along with her nyamba (a long scarf)\nhung over her right shoulder, and her two snails resting in the slack of\nthe scarf, as in a hammock, over her left hip, and supported by her left\narm. When the manja reached the cross-roads, she found the queen waiting\nthere. Her object in waiting there was to know whether her maid was still\nin existence.\n\nOn seeing the manja, Ngwe-nkonde pretended to be pleased and said, \"Let me\nsee the child you have born;\" and she stepped forward to take the baby\naway from the little girl-nurse. Manja, in her fear of her mistress and\naccustomed to submit to her, forgot to resist. Ngwe-nkonde saw that the\nbabe was healthy and attractive, and she coveted it. She exclaimed, \"Oh,\nwhat a nice child you have born! Let me help you carry it!\" The moment she\ntook the baby, the girl-nurse disappeared. Ngwe-nkonde deposited the babe\nin her scarf, and gave the two snails to her manja, saying, \"You carry\nthis for me!\" She did this, intending to cause Ra-Mborakinda to think that\nthe baby was her own; she had no intention to return it to its real\nmother; and the manja did not dare to complain.\n\nSo they went onward on their journey to the king's town.\n\nAll the women, as they arrived there, saluted each other, \"Mbolo!\" \"Ai!\nmbolo!\" \"Ai!\" and each told her story and showed her baby. Then they all\nbrought their babies to the King Ra-Mborakinda, that the father might see\nhis children. In the king's presence Ngwe-nkonde took out the baby boy\nfrom her scarf and placed it at her breast to nurse. But the child turned\nits head away and would not nurse, and did nothing but cry and cry. Poor\nlittle manja did not dare to claim her own, and she took no interest in\nthe snails to show them to the king. For a whole day there was confusion.\nThe baby boy persisted in rejecting Ngwe-nkonde's breast and kept on\ncrying, and the snails were moaning.\n\nNot knowing what to make of this trouble, Ra-Mborakinda went again to\nRa-Mar\u00e2nge. The wizard laughed when he saw the king coming with this new\ntrouble, for, by his magic power, he already knew all that had happened.\n\"So!\" he says, \"you have come with another trouble, eh?\" And at once he\njumps into the fire, and emerges clean and strong.\n\nThen the king informed the wizard what his difficulty was. And Ra-Mar\u00e2nge\ntold him, \"This is a small thing. It does not need medicine. Go you and\ntell all your women each to cook some very nice food; then, sitting in a\ncircle, each must put the nice food near her feet. All the babies must be\nput in a bunch together in the centre, and you will see what will happen.\"\n\nSo Ra-Mborakinda went back to his town and told the women to follow these\ndirections. They all did so, except the queen and her manja. The former\ndid not put the baby boy in the bunch of the other babies, but retained\nhim on her lap, and tried to make him eat of her nice food. But he only\nresisted, and kept on crying, and the manja, in her grief and\nhopelessness, had not prepared any nice food, only a pottage of greens,\nwhich she thought good enough for her present unhappiness.\n\nThe king seeing that the wizard's directions were not fully followed by\nthe queen, compelled her to put the baby down in the company of the other\ncreatures, and then he and all the mothers sat around watching what would\nhappen.\n\nSoon all the children began to creep, each to its own mother. The two\nsnails went to Ngwe-nkonde, and began to eat of her nice food. The little\nbaby boy crept rapidly toward the manja, and began with satisfaction to\neat of the poor food at its mother's feet.\n\nThat was a revelation to the king and to all the other mothers. They were\nsurprised and indignant that Ngwe-nkonde had been trying to steal the baby\nfrom the manja; Ra-Mborakinda deposed her from being queen. And the other\nwomen shouted derision at her, \"Ngwe-nkonde! O! o-o-o!\" and drove her from\nthe town. She went away in her shame, leaving the two snails behind, and\nnever returned.\n\nAnd the king made the manja queen in her place. And the story ends.\n\n\nII. THE BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER.\n\nThere was a married woman, a king's daughter, by name Maria, who was very\nbeautiful. She had a magic mirror that possessed the power of speech,\nwhich she used every day, particularly when she desired to go out for a\npromenade. She would then take this mirror from its hiding-place, and\nlooking at it, would ask, \"My mirror! is there any other beautiful woman\nlike myself?\" And this mirror would reply, \"Mistress! there is none.\"\n\nThis she was accustomed to do every day until she became jealous at the\nvery thought of ever having a rival.\n\nSubsequently she became a mother, and bore a daughter. She saw that the\nchild was very beautiful, more so than even herself. This child grew in\ngracefulness; was amiable, not proud; and was unconscious of her beauty.\n\nWhen the daughter was about twelve years of age, the mother dreaded lest\nher child should know how attractive she was and should unintentionally\nrival her. She told her never to enter a certain room where she had her\ntoilet. And the mother went on as formerly, looking into her mirror, and\nthen going out to display her beauty.\n\nOne day the daughter said to herself, \"Ah! I'm tired of this prohibition!\"\nSo she took the keys, and opened the door of the forbidden room. She\nlooked around, but not observing anything especially noticeable, she went\nout again, locking the door. And the next day, the mother went in as\nusual, and then went out for her walk. After the mother had gone, the\ndaughter said again to herself, \"No! there must be something special about\nthat room. I will go in again and make a search.\" Looking around\ncarefully, she noticed a pretty casket on a table. Opening it, she saw it\ncontained a mirror. There was something strange about its appearance, and\nshe determined to examine it. While she was doing so, the mirror spoke,\nand said, \"Oh, maiden! there is no one as beautiful as you!\" She put back\nthe mirror in its place, and went out, carefully fastening the door. The\nnext day, when the mother went as usual to make her toilet and to ask of\nthe mirror her usual question, \"Is there another as beautiful as I?\" it\nreplied, \"Yes, mistress, there is another fairer than you.\"\n\nSo she went out of the room much displeased, and, suspecting her daughter,\nsaid to her, \"Daughter, have you been in that room?\" The girl said, \"No, I\nhave not.\" But the mother insisted, \"Yes, you have; for how is it that my\nmirror tells me that there is another woman more beautiful than I? And you\nare the only one who has beauty such as mine.\"\n\nDuring all these years the mother had kept the daughter in the palace, and\nhad not allowed her to be seen in public, as she dreaded to hear any one\nbut herself praised. Then the enraged mother sent for her father's\nsoldiers, and delivering the girl to them, she commanded, \"You just go out\ninto the forest and kill this girl.\"\n\nThey obeyed her orders, and led the girl away, taking with them also two\nbig dogs. When they reached the forest, the soldiers said to her, \"Your\nmother told us to kill you. But you are so good and pretty that we are not\nwilling to do it. You just go your way and wander in this forest, and\nawait what may happen.\"\n\nThe girl went her way; and the soldiers killed the two dogs, so that they\nmight have blood on their swords to show to the mother. Having done this,\nthey went back to her, and said, \"We have killed the girl; here is her\nblood on our swords.\" And the mother was satisfied.\n\nBut in the forest the girl had gone on, wandering aimlessly, till she\nhappened to reach what seemed a hamlet having only one house. She went up\nits front steps and tried the door. It was not locked, and she went in.\nShe saw or heard no one, but she noticed that the house was very much in\ndisorder; so she began to arrange it. After sweeping and putting\neverything in neat order, she went upstairs and hid herself under one of\nthe bedsteads.\n\nBut she did not know that the house belonged to robbers who spent their\ndays in stealing, and brought their plunder home in the evening. When they\nreturned that day, laden with booty, they were surprised to find their\nhouse in neat order and their goods arranged in piles. In their wonder\nthey exclaimed, \"Who has been here and fixed our house so nicely?\"\n\nSo they prepared their food, ate, drank, and slept, but they did not clean\nup the table nor wash the dishes.\n\nAnd the next day they went out again on their business of stealing.\n\nAfter they were gone, the girl, hungry and frightened, crept out of her\nhiding-place, and cooked and ate food for herself. Then, as on the first\nday, she swept the floors and washed up the dishes. And then she cooked a\nmeal for the men to have it ready against their return in the late\nafternoon; and again she occupied herself with the arrangement of the\ngoods in the rooms. Then she went back to her hiding-place.\n\nWhen the robbers returned that day and laid down their booty, they were\nagain surprised to find not only their house in good order, but food ready\non the table. And they wondered, \"Who does all this for us?\"\n\nThey first sat down to eat; and then they said, \"Let us look around and\nfind out who does all this.\" They searched, but they found no one.\n\nThe next day they armed themselves as usual to go out, leaving the table\nand their recent load of stealings in disorder.\n\nWhen they had gone, the girl again emerged from her hiding-place, and, as\nbefore, cooked, ate, washed up, swept, arranged, and prepared the evening\nmeal.\n\nAgain the robbers, on their return, were still more astonished, as they\nexclaimed, \"Whoever does this? If it is a woman, then we will take her as\nour sister. She shall take care of our house and our goods, but none of us\nshall marry her; but if it is a man, he must be compelled to join in our\nbusiness.\"\n\nThe next day, when they were all going out on their ways, they appointed\none of their number to remain behind, hidden, who should watch, and thus\nthey should know who had been helping them.\n\nWhen they had gone, the girl, ignorant that one had been left to watch,\ncame out of her hiding, and began to do as on the other days. When she\nwent outdoors to the kitchen [kitchens here are all detached] to cook, the\nwatcher came in sight. She was frightened, and began to run away; but he\ncalled out, \"Don't be afraid! Don't run, but come here! What are you\nafraid of? You are not doing anything bad, you have been doing us only\ngood. Come here!\" She stood and said, \"I was afraid you would kill me!\"\n\nHe came to her, saying, \"What a beautiful girl to look at! When did you\ncome here, and who are you?\" So she told him her story. And when she had\nfinished all the housework, she sat down with this man to await the coming\nof the others. When the others came and saw the two, they said to him, \"So\nyou found her?\" He replied only, \"Yes.\" Looking on her, they exclaimed,\n\"Oh, what a beautiful girl!\" To calm her excitement, they told her, \"Do\nnot be alarmed! you are to be our sister.\"\n\nSo they took all their goods and put them in her care, and herself in\ncharge of the house. Thus they lived for some time,--they stealing, and\nshe taking care for them.\n\nBut one day, at the palace, the wicked mother began to have some uneasy\ndoubts whether her soldiers had really obeyed her orders to kill her\ndaughter, and thought, \"Perhaps the child was not really killed.\" She had\na familiar servant, an old woman, very friendly to her. To her she\nrevealed her story, and said, \"Please go out and spy in every town. Look\nwhether you see a girl who is very beautiful; if so, she is my daughter.\nYou must kill her.\" The old woman replied, \"Yes, my friend, I will do this\nthing for you.\" So she went out and began her spying.\n\nThe very first place at which she happened to arrive was the robbers'\nhouse. There being no people in sight, she entered the house, and found a\ngirl alone. On account of the girl's great beauty, she felt sure at once\nthat this was her friend's daughter. The girl gave her a seat and offered\nhospitality. The old woman exclaimed, \"Oh, what a nice-looking child! Who\nare you, and who is your mother?\" The girl, not suspecting evil, told her\nstory.\n\nThen the old woman said, \"Your hair looks a little untidy. Come here, and\nlet me fix it.\" The girl consented; and the old woman began to braid her\nhair. She had hidden in her sleeve a long sharpened nail. When she had\ncompleted the hair-dressing, she thrust the nail deeply into the girl's\nhead, who instantly fell down, apparently dead. Looking at the limp body,\nthe old woman said to herself, \"Good for that! I have done it for my\nfriend.\" And she went away, leaving the corpse lying there, and reported\nto the mother what she had done. The mother felt sure her friend had not\ndeceived her.\n\nWhen the robbers returned that day, they found the girl lying dead. They\nwere very much troubled. They began to examine the corpse, to find what\nwas the cause of death, but they found no sign of any wound; and instead\nof the corpse being rigid, it was limp; there was perspiration on the head\nand neck. So they decided, \"This nice life-looking face we will not put in\na grave.\" So they made a handsome casket, overlaid it with gold, and\nadorned the body with a profusion of gold ornaments. They did not nail on\nthe lid, but made it to slide in grooves. Supposing the body liable to\ndecay, they placed the coffin outdoors in the air; and to keep it out of\nthe reach of any animals, they hung it by the halliards of their\nflag-staff. Every day, on their going out and on their return, they pulled\nit down by the halliards, drew out the lid, and looked on the fresh,\napparently living face of their \"sister.\"\n\nOne day while they were all out on their business there happened to stray\nthat way a man by name Eserengila (tale-bearer), who lived at the\ntown of a man named Ogula. Coming to the robbers' house, he saw no one;\nbut he at once observed the hanging golden box. Exclaiming, \"What a nice\nthing!\" he hasted back to his master Ogula, and called him. \"Come and see\nwhat a nice thing I have found; it is something worth taking!\" So Ogula\nwent with him, and Eserengila pulled down the gilded box from the\nflag-staff. They did not enter the house, nor did they know anything of\nits character; and they carried away the box in haste, without looking at\nits contents, to Ogula's, and put it in a small room in his house.\n\nSome days after it had been placed there Ogula went in to examine what it\ncontained. He saw that the top of this coffin-like box was not nailed, but\nslid in a groove. He withdrew it, and was amazed to see a beautiful young\nwoman apparently dead. Yet there was no look or odor of death. As she was\nnot emaciated by disease, he examined the body to find a possible cause of\ndeath; but he found no sign, and wondering, exclaimed, \"This beautiful\ngirl! What has caused her to die?\"\n\nHe replaced the lid, and left the room, carefully closing the door. But he\nagain returned to look at the beautiful face of the corpse; and sighed,\n\"Oh, I wish this beautiful being were alive! She would be such a nice\nplaymate for my daughter, who is just about her size.\" Again he went and\nshut the door very carefully. He told his daughter never to enter that\nroom, and she said, \"Yes\"; and he continued his daily visits there.\n\nAfter many days Ogula's daughter became tired of seeing him enter while\nshe was forbidden. So one day, when he was gone out of the house, she said\nto herself, \"My father always forbids me this room; now I will go in and\nsee what he has there.\" She entered, and saw only the gilded box, and\nexclaimed, \"Oh, what a nice box! I'll just open it and see what is\ninside.\"\n\nShe began to draw the lid out of its grooves, and a human head was\nrevealed with a splendid mass of hair covered with gold ornaments. She\nwithdrew the lid entirely, and saw the form of the young woman, and\ndelightedly said, \"A beautiful girl, with such nice hair, and covered with\ngolden ornaments!\" She did not know why the girl seemed so unconscious,\nand began to say, \"I wish she could speak to me, so we might be friends,\nbecause she is only a little larger than I.\" So she gave the stranger's\nsalutation, \"Mbolo! mbolo!\" As no response was made, she protested, \"Oh, I\nsalute you, mbolo, but you do not answer!\" She was disappointed, and slid\nback the cover, and went out of the room. Something about the door aroused\nthe suspicions of her father on his return to the house, and he asked her,\n\"Have you been inside that room?\" She answered, \"No! You told me never to\ngo there, and I have not gone.\" Next day Ogula went out again, and his\ndaughter thought she would have another look at the beautiful face.\nEntering the room, she again drew out the lid, and again she gave the\nsalutation, \"Mbolo!\" There was no response. Again she protested, \"Oh, I\nspeak to you, and you won't answer me!\" And then she added, \"May I play\nwith you, and fondle your head, and feel your hair? Perhaps you have lice\nfor me to remove?\" [one of the commonest of native African friendly\nservices among both men and women]. She began to feel through the hair\nwith her fingers, and presently she touched something hard. Looking\nclosely, she found it was the head of a nail. Astonished, she said, \"Oh,\nshe has a nail in her head! I'll try to pull it out!\"\n\nInstantly, on her doing so, the girl sneezed, opened her eyes, stared\naround, rose up in a sitting posture, and said, \"Oh, I must have been\nsleeping a long time.\" The other asked, \"You were only sleeping?\" And the\ngirl replied, \"Yes.\" Then Ogula's daughter saluted, \"Mbolo!\" and the girl\nresponded, \"Ai, Mbolo!\" and the other, \"Ai!\"\n\nThen the girl asked, \"Where am I? What place is this?\" The other said,\n\"Why, you are in my father's house. This is my father's house.\" And the\ngirl asked, \"But who or what brought me here?\" Then Ogula's daughter told\nher the whole story of Eserengila's having found the gilded box.\nThey at once conceived a great liking for each other, and started to be\nfriends. They played and laughed and talked and embraced, and fondled each\nother. This they did for quite a while.\n\nThen the beautiful one was tired, and she said, \"It is better that you put\nback the nail and let me sleep again.\" So the girl lay down in the box,\nthe nail was inserted in her head, and she instantly fell into\nunconsciousness.\n\nOgula's daughter slid back the lid, and went out of the room, carefully\nclosing the door. She now lost all desire to go out of the house and play\nwith her former companions. Her father observed this, and urged her to\nplay and visit as she formerly had done. But she declined, making some\nexcuses, and saying she had no wish to do so. All her interest lay in that\nroom of the gilded box and beautiful girl. Whenever her father went out,\nshe at once would go to the room, draw out the lid, and pull out the nail;\nher friend would sit up, and they would play, and repeat their friendship.\nOgula's daughter, seeing that her friend's desire for sleep was weakness\nfor want of food, daily brought her food. And the girl grew strong and\nwell and happy.\n\nThis was kept up many days without Ogula knowing of it.\n\nBut it happened one day, when the two girls were thus sitting in their\nfriendship, they continued their play and conversation so long that\nOgula's daughter forgot the time of her father's return; and he suddenly\nentered the room, and was surprised to see the two girls talking. She was\nfrightened when she saw her father. But he was not angry, and quieted her,\nsaying, \"Do not be afraid! How is it that you have been able to bring this\ngirl to life? What have you done?\"\n\nShe told her father all about it, especially of the nail. Then Ogula sat\ndown by the girl of the gilded box, and asked the story of her life. She\ntold him all. Then he said, \"As your mother is the kind of woman that\nsends people to kill, and I am chief in this place, I will investigate\nthis matter to-morrow. I will call all the people of this region, and\nthere will be an oz\u00e2z\u00e2 (palaver) in the morning; and you shall remain, for\nyou are to be my wife.\"\n\nThe next day all the country side were called,--the wicked mother, the\nsoldiers, the old woman, and everybody else (except the unknown robbers).\nThe palaver was talked from point to point of the history, and, just at\nthe last, this beautiful girl walked into the assemblage, accompanied by\nOgula's daughter.\n\nAs soon as Maria saw her daughter enter, she started from her seat, looked\nat the old woman, and fiercely said to her, \"Here is this girl again! not\ndead yet! I thought you killed her!\" The old woman was amazed, but\nasserted, \"Yes, and I did. I kept my promise to you!\"\n\nThen the girl sat down, and Ogula bade her tell her entire story in the\npresence of all the people. So she told from the very beginning,--about\nthe magic looking-glass, about the soldiers, about the robbers' house, and\non till the stay in Ogula's house.\n\nThen all the people began to shout and deride and revile, and threaten\nMaria and the old woman. This frightened the cruel Maria and her wicked\nfriend, and they ran away to a far country, and never came back again.\n\nSo the beautiful young woman was married to Ogula, and was happy with his\ndaughter as a companion.\n\nBut the robbers, in their secret house, not having heard of the oz\u00e2z\u00e2,\nkept on mourning and grieving for their lost sister, not knowing where\nshe had gone or what had become of her. And so the story ends.\n\n(The above story is probably not more than two hundred or two hundred and\nfifty years old; the name \"Maria\" doubtless being derived from Portuguese\noccupants of the Kongo country.)\n\n\nIII. THE HUSBAND WHO CAME FROM AN ANIMAL.\n\nRa-Nyambie in his great town had his wives and sons and daughters, and\nlived in glory.\n\nHe had a best-beloved daughter, by name Il\u00e2mbe. There is a certain fetich\ncharm called \"ngalo,\" by means of which its possessor can have gratified\nany wish he may express. Ngalo is not obtainable by purchase or art; only\ncertain persons are born with it. This Il\u00e2mbe was born with a ngalo. While\nshe was growing up, her father made a great deal of her and gave her very\nmany things,--servants and houses, according to her wishes. When Il\u00e2mbe\nhad grown up to womanhood, she said, \"Father, I will not like a man who\nhas other wives. I shall want my husband all for myself.\" And the father\nsaid, \"Be it so.\"\n\nAs years went on, Il\u00e2mbe thought it was time she should be married, but\nshe saw no one who pleased her fancy. So she took counsel with her ngalo,\nthinking, \"What shall I do to get a husband for myself?\"\n\nShe decided on a plan. Her father's people often went out hunting. One\nday, when they were going out, she said to them, \"If you find some small\nanimal, do not kill it, but bring it to me alive.\"\n\nSo they went out hunting, and they found a small animal resembling a goat,\ncalled \"mbinde\" (wild goat). They brought it to her, asking pardon for its\nsmallness, and said, \"We did not find anything, only this mbinde.\" She\ntook it, saying, \"It is good.\" Then turning to one of the men, she bade\nhim, \"Just skin this very carefully for me\"; and to another of the\nservants, \"Bring me plenty of water, and put it in my bathroom for a\nbath.\" Each of these servants did as he was bidden,--this one flaying the\nanimal, that one bringing the water. When the one had finished flaying,\nand brought the entire flesh to her, she said, \"Just put it into this\nwater for a bath.\" She left it there two days, soaking in the water. The\nskin she put in a fire, burned it to black ashes, and carefully saved all\nthe ash. This she did not do herself, but told a servant to do it,\ncautioning him to lose none of it. When it was brought to her, she wrapped\nit up with care, and put it safely away so that none of it should be lost.\n\nOn the third day she spoke to her ngalo, \"Ngalo mine, ngalo mine, I tell\nyou, turn this mbinde to a very handsome-looking man!\" Instantly the\nmbinde was changed to a finely formed man, who jumped out of the bath-tub,\ndressed very richly.\n\nThen Il\u00e2mbe called one of her servants, and bade, \"Go to my father, and\ntell him I wish the town to be cleaned as thoroughly and quickly as\npossible, because I have a husband, and I want to come and show him to\nyou; so my father must be ready to greet us.\"\n\nThe father summoned his servant Ompunga (Wind), who came, and at once\nswept up the place clean.\n\nIl\u00e2mbe went out from her house with her husband, he and she walking side\nby side through the street on the way to her father's house. All along\ntheir route the people were wondering at the man's fine appearance, and\nshouting, \"Where did Il\u00e2mbe get this man?\" When she reached her father's\nhouse, he ordered a salute of cannon for her. He was much pleased to see\nthe man with the crowd of people, and received him with respect.\n\nHaving thus visited her father, Il\u00e2mbe returned to her own house with her\nhusband, the people still shouting in admiration of him. The news spread\neverywhere about Il\u00e2mbe's fine-looking husband, and there was great praise\nof them. They lived happily in their marriage for a while, but trouble\ncame.\n\nIl\u00e2mbe had a younger sister living still at her father's house. One day\nIl\u00e2mbe changed her mind about having a husband all to herself, and\nthought, \"I better share him with my younger sister.\" So she went out to\nher father to tell him about it, saying, \"Father, I've changed my mind. I\nwant my younger sister to live with me, and marry the same man with me.\"\n\nHer father, though himself having many wives, said, \"You now change your\nmind, and are willing to share your husband with another woman. Will there\nbe no trouble in the future?\" She answered \"No!\" He repeated his question;\nbut she assured him it would be agreeable. So she took her sister (without\nconsulting the husband, as he was under her control, by power of her\nngalo), led her to her house, and presented her as a new wife to her\nhusband.\n\nThey remained on these terms for some time without any trouble. But as\ntime went on, the report about that handsome man went far, and finally\nreached Ra-Mborakinda's town. Another woman lived there, also named\nIl\u00e2mbe, of the same age as the other, and she was unmarried. This Il\u00e2mbe\nsaid to herself, \"I am tired of hearing the report about this handsome\nman. I will go, though uninvited I be, and see for myself.\" So she tells\nher brother and some of his men, \"Take me over there to that town, and I\nwill return to-day.\" She told her father the same words: \"I am going to\nsee that man, and will return.\" When this Il\u00e2mbe got to the other Il\u00e2mbe's\nhouse, the husband was out, but the wife received her with great\nhospitality; and the two sisters and their visitor all ate together. Soon\nthe husband came, and the wife introduced the visitor. \"Here is my friend\nIl\u00e2mbe come to see you.\" \"Good,\" he said. Then it was late in the day, and\nthe visiting Il\u00e2mbe's attendants said to her, \"The day is past; let us be\ngoing.\" But she refused to go, and told them to return, saying that she\nwould stay awhile with her friend Il\u00e2mbe.\n\nBut really, in her coming she was not simply a visitor and sightseer; she\nintended to stay and share in the husband. As her brother was leaving, he\nasked, \"But when will you return? and shall we come for you?\" She said,\n\"No; I myself will come back when I please.\" When the evening came, the\nhostess began to fix a sleeping-place for her visitor, showing her much\nkindness in the care of her arrangements.\n\nThe second day the hostess observed something suspicious in the manner\nwith which her husband regarded the visitor; he said to his wife, \"Here is\nyour friend. Speak to her for me. Are you willing to do that?\" She looked\nat him steadily, and slowly said, \"Yes.\" So at evening she spoke of the\nmatter to her visitor, who at once assented.\n\nWhen Il\u00e2mbe parted with her husband before retiring, she said to him, \"Go\nwith this new woman, but do not forget your and my morning custom.\" [That\nwas their habit of rising very early for a morning bath.] He only said,\n\"Yes.\" They all retired for the night.\n\nThe next morning the hostess was up early as usual, and had her bath, and\nwas out of her room, waiting. But the man was not up yet, nor were there\nany sounds of preparation in his room. So Il\u00e2mbe, after waiting awhile,\nhad to call to waken him. He woke, saying, \"Oh, yes, yes, I'm coming!\"\n\nThe next day it was the same, he staying with the new Il\u00e2mbe and rising\nlate in the morning. The fourth day his wife said to him, \"You have work\nto do, and you do not get up to do it till late.\" He was displeased at her\nfault-finding. When she saw that, she also was displeased.\n\nSo when he went to the bathroom she followed him there. On the way she had\nsecretly taken with her the roll of black powder she had kept from the day\nof his creation.\n\nWhile he was bathing, she turned aside, without his noticing it, and\nopening the roll of the powder, took out of it a little, and held it\nbetween her finger and thumb.\n\nWhile he was dressing, she came near, stooped down, and rubbed the powder\non his feet. They suddenly turned to hoofs. He began stamping his hoofs on\nthe floor, surprised, and saying, \"Wife, what is this?\" She said, \"It is\nnothing. You have finished dressing. Go out.\" He began to plead; she\nrelented, and by her ngalo's power changed the hoofs back to feet. They\nboth went out of the room and had their breakfast, and that day passed.\nBut at night he again abandoned his wife for the new Il\u00e2mbe, and next\nmorning he was up later even than on the previous days. He had to be\ncalled several times before he would awake. He began to grumble and scold,\n\"Can't a person be left to sleep as long as he desires?\" And when he and\nthe new Il\u00e2mbe came from that bedroom, she joined in the man's displeasure\nat his having been disturbed. He went for his bath. The wife followed, and\nused the powder as she had done the day before, turning his feet to hoofs.\nHe begged and pleaded. She again forgave him, and fixed the feet again.\nAnd they two came out of the bathroom and had their breakfast as usual. He\nwent to his work, and the day wore on. At night he again deserted his\nwife. The next morning there was the same confusion in arousing him as on\nthe other days.\n\nHis wife accompanied him to the bathroom as usual. While he was in the\nbath, and before he was done bathing, she left the room, and told the new\nIl\u00e2mbe, \"You sit down near the bathroom door. You will see him come out.\"\nThe visitor replied, \"It is well\"; and she sat down. And Il\u00e2mbe went into\nthe bathroom again.\n\nWhen the man got out of his bath, as soon as he attempted to dress\nhimself, Il\u00e2mbe, without saying anything or making any complaint, went\nbehind him, and having the whole roll of powder with her, she opened the\nbundle, flung it on his back, and said, \"You go back to where you came\nfrom!\" Instantly he was changed to a mbinde, and he began to leap about as\na goat. Then Il\u00e2mbe cried out to the other Il\u00e2mbe at the door, \"Are you\nready to receive him? He's coming!\" and she opened the door. Out ran the\nmbinde, leaped from the house, dashed through the town and off to the\nforest, the people shouting in derision, \"H\u00e2! h\u00e2! h\u00e2! So, indeed, that\nhandsome man was the mbinde that was taken to Il\u00e2mbe's house!\"\n\nThen the wife said to the other Il\u00e2mbe, \"Did you see your man? Call him!\nThat's he running off there!\" The next day Il\u00e2mbe said to the visitor,\n\"Send word for your people that they may come for you.\"\n\nThe following day they were sent for, and they came to Il\u00e2mbe's house.\nAfter they had arrived, Il\u00e2mbe sent word to her father, \"Have your place\ncleaned, I am coming to enter a complaint.\" The father replied, \"Very\nwell!\" Ompunga came and swept the place. Seats were prepared in the\nstreet. Il\u00e2mbe summoned the visitor and her people, saying, \"Let us all go\nto my father's house.\"\n\nSo they went there, and Il\u00e2mbe made her complaint, telling all from the\nbeginning: how she obtained a husband; how the other Il\u00e2mbe had come; how\nshe received her kindly; how she even had been willing to share her\nhusband with her, but how the new Il\u00e2mbe had monopolized instead of simply\nsharing; and how things had become so bad that she had to send the man\nback to his beast origin. Turning to the visiting people, she said, \"I\nhave nothing more to say except that your sister Il\u00e2mbe is not going back\nto your town, but has to be my slave all the days of my life.\"\n\nSo the king's council justified her, and pronounced the judgment just. The\npeople scattered to their homes. And the two sisters went to their house,\nwith the other Il\u00e2mbe as their slave.\n\n\nIV. THE FAIRY WIFE.\n\nIn his great town, King Ra-Mborakinda, or Ra-Nyambie, lived in glory with\nall his wives and sons and daughters. Some of his great and favored sons\nhad large business and great wealth. But there was one of the sons, named\nNkombe, whose mother was not a favorite wife of the king, so this Nkombe\nwas poor. Everything went against him, and his life was quite miserable;\nonly, he had a gun, and he knew how to shoot; that was all. So he thought,\n\"I'm tired of this kind of life. I better leave and go off by myself.\"\n\nHe gathered together the few things that belonged to him,--a few plates\nand pots, and his gun and ammunition,--and went away. He went far into the\nforest, and with his machete began to clear a little place for a\ncamping-ground (olako).\n\nHe fixed up his camp, and next morning went out hunting. When he began to\nfeel hungry, he turned back to cook his food. On his return he had fresh\nmeat with him; this he cooked, set it on the table, and ate. After eating,\nhe cleared off the table, washed the dishes, brushed up the floor, and the\nnew meat that was left he put on the orala (drying-frame) for next day's\nuse. So that day's work was done.\n\nNext day he again leaves the camp, and with his gun is off again to his\nhunting. At noon he comes back with his meat,--antelope, or wild pig, or\nwhatever it may be. He cooks his food, eats; and that day's work is done\njust as the day before.\n\nSo he did many days. After each day's work he was so tired and felt so\nlonely he wished he had a mother or some one to do for him.\n\nUnknown to him, since he had come to that olako, there was a woman named\nIl\u00e2mbe, who belonged to the awiri (fairies), who secretly had observed all\nthat he did. One day she thought to herself, \"Oh, I am sorry for this man;\nI think that as I have the power I will turn myself into a human being and\nhelp him, for I do not like to see him suffer.\" So she said to herself,\n\"To-day I will cause Nkombe to be unsuccessful, so that he shall kill only\nntori (a big forest rat), and I will hide myself in ntori.\"\n\nSo Nkombe hunted long and far that day, and saw nothing worthy of being\nshot. He was getting hungry, and murmured, \"Ah! I have not been able to\nkill anything to-day.\" But presently he saw ntori pass by, and he said,\n\"Well, I'll have to take this small animal, ntori!\" He shot it, and took\nit with him to his camp. When he reached the olako, as he had other meat\non the orala, and was in a hurry, after singeing and cleaning ntori, he\nthrew it on the orala, and took the older dried meat, and began to cook it\nfor his supper. He went on with his usual day's work, as it took only a\nlittle while to arrange ntori on the orala.\n\nNext day he went out as usual on his hunting journey. While he was away,\nand before he returned, Il\u00e2mbe had crept out of the head of ntori. She\nbrushed up the camp, and made everything neat and clean. She began to\ncook, taking meat from the drying-frame. She cooked it very nicely, and\nate part,--her share, just enough to satisfy her appetite. Then she crept\nback into ntori's head, as she knew Nkombe must be about starting back.\n\nLate in the afternoon Nkombe returned with some wild meat. He took down\ndried meat from the orala, leaving his fresh meat unattended to, for he\nwas in a hurry to cook, being hungry. He went to his little hut to get\nplate, kettle, and so forth. To his surprise, on the table was everything\nready, food and plate and drink. He exclaimed, \"What word is this? Where\ndid this come from? Is this the work of my mother's spirit? She has pitied\nme and has come and done this. I wish I knew where she came from.\"\n\nThis occurred during three successive days, just the same each day. Nkombe\nwas puzzled. He wanted to find out, and decided to go to the great\nprophet, Ra-Mar\u00e2nge. The prophet saw him coming, and greeted him, \"Sale!\n(Hail) my son, sale!\" \"Mbolo,\" replied Nkombe. Ra-Mar\u00e2nge continued, \"What\ndid you come for? What are you doing?\" \"I come for you to make medicine,\nthat you may prophesy for me about a matter I want to find out.\"\n\nRa-Mar\u00e2nge said, \"Child, I am old, and do not do such things now. I have\ngiven the power to Ogula-ya-impazya-vazya\" [so called because his body was\nall-covered-by-a-disease-of-pimples]. \"Well, where shall I go to him?\" The\nprophet replied, \"He is not far.\"\n\nNkombe starts to go to Ogula-ya-impazya-vazya, who presently sees him\ncoming. As soon as Nkombe reached him, Ogula-ya-impazya-vazya said, \"If\nyou come to me for medicine, good, for that is my only business; but if\nfor anything else, clear off!\" \"Yes, that is what I came for.\"\n\nSo Ogula-ya-impazya-vazya began to kindle his big fire. Nkombe was\nsurprised, not knowing what was to be done with the fire. The next minute\nhe sees Ogula-ya-impazya-vazya throw himself into the flames. Nkombe was\nstartled and afraid, thinking, \"Is this man going to kill himself for me?\"\nThe prophet rolled himself several times in the fire in order to get the\npower. Some of his pimples on his body burst in the flame; and he jumped\nout, ready with his power to do the medicine. He said, \"Hah, repeat your\nstory; I am ready!\" Nkombe told all his story,--how he had worked for\nhimself, and how for a few days past he had been helped by some one, and\nwanted to know who it was, if Ogula-ya-impazya-vazya would please tell\nhim. \"Hah, that's a small matter for me!\" So the prophet told him, \"You\nkilled ntori for yourself a few days ago, and this being is a woman who\nhas come to be your wife, and has hidden herself in ntori.\" \"But,\" said\nNkombe, \"how shall I be able to catch her, so that she shall be a real\nwoman, for I do not see her?\"\n\n\"I'll let you know how. Go back and hunt all the same for three days. On\nthe fourth day go out as usual, but do not go hunting. Hide near the\nolako,--near, but not where you will be seen.\" Then the prophet gave\nNkombe a prepared powder, and told him to keep it carefully. He gave him\nalso a small cornucopia (ozyoto) full of a bruised medicinal leaf, and\ntold him, \"Go and put these two medicines in a secret place near your\nolako. On the fourth day have these two medicines with you where you hide.\nWhen you see her come out, and while she is doing your work, you will run\nand seize her, and say to her, \"You are my wife.\" She will not understand\nyour language, and will murmur and shake her head and resist. But when you\nhold her fast, sprinkle the powder all over her body. Then take the ozoto,\nand squeeze some of the juice in her nostrils, eyes, and mouth. She will\nbegin to sneeze. Repeat the words, 'You are my wife, my wife!' Then she\nwill understand you, and will yield.\"\n\nSo Nkombe took the medicines, and obeyed directions; hid the medicines and\nhunted the three days, his heart bursting with anxiety to get the days\ndone that seemed so long. At last the three days were over and the fourth\nday came.\n\nNow the woman, by the power that was with her, knew all these things; she\nknew she would be caught that day.\n\nAfter Nkombe had left in the morning with the medicines, had hidden\nhimself, and was waiting for the hours to pass, the woman, hesitating on\nher fate, did not come out quickly as on the other days. But finally\nNkombe saw the pieces of meat on the frames shake. And out of ntori's head\ncame a beautiful woman with clean soft skin. He could hardly restrain\nhimself. She went on with all the usual work,--cooking, and so forth. But\nthat day she did not divide nor partake of the food, but put all of it on\nthe table. When he saw she had finished, and was washing her hands\npreparatory to jumping back into ntori on the orala, he came out of the\nbushes, and stepping cautiously but rapidly, rushed to seize her. He\ncaught her. She began to resist, and he followed the prophet's directions.\nThe woman at first was murmuring and sobbing, and Nkombe was trying to\ncalm her with the words \"My wife.\" Finally, under the powder, she quieted.\nWhen the juice was dropped into her mouth, she was able to speak his\nlanguage. She told him all her story,--how she had pitied him, and had\nentered into ntori, and everything else. \"But,\" she said, \"there is one\nmore thing I must tell you. I have come indeed to be your wife, and I have\nthe power to make you rich or poor, happy or unhappy. I will give you only\none rule: Be good to me, and I will be so to you; but never say to me that\nI came from the low origin of a rat's head.\" Nkombe exclaimed, \"No, no!\nYou have done so much for me, I could never so humiliate you.\" \"You speak\nwell, but be very careful not to break your promise.\" So they ate and\nfinished the day's work.\n\nNext day the woman wanted to build a town by word of her power. She said,\n\"Mwe [Sir] Nkombe, surely you will not live in an olako all your life.\nLook for a site for a town, and mark it with stakes for its length and\nwidth.\" Nkombe was puzzled. He had a wife, but where would he get\nmaterials for a house; for he was as poor of goods as he was before? Being\ntroubled, he made no reply to his wife, and did not go to mark a site. At\nnight they retired, Nkombe still troubled about the building of a town;\nbut Il\u00e2mbe was smiling in her heart, for she knew what she would do. So\nshe made him fall into a deep sleep. She went out at night a short\ndistance, and chose a good town-site. She spoke to her ngalo (a\nguardian-spirit charm), \"Ngalo mine, before morning I want to see all this\nplace cleared, and covered with nice houses, and all the houses furnished\nand supplied with men and maid servants.\" And she returned to bed.\n\nBefore daybreak everything was ready, as Il\u00e2mbe desired. The ngalo had\nmade the olako disappear, and Nkombe and wife were sleeping inside their\nnice house. When morning came, Nkombe did not know where he was, nor even\non which side to get out of bed. He exclaimed, \"What is this word?\" \"You\nare in your own house and in your own town.\" So both went out to inspect\ntheir town and their servants. Nkombe did not know how well to thank her,\nso glad was he.\n\nLater the wife became a mother, and a son was born. Nkombe called this\nfirst-born Ogula. Again, a daughter was born. Then the wife told her ngalo\nto bring ships of wealth. The next day ships were seen coming. Nkombe went\non board and had a conversation with the captains. They stayed a few days,\nand then sailed away, leaving Nkombe a cargo of wealth. Another time ships\ncame, and Nkombe went off on board as before; and these ships sailed away,\nalso leaving wealth. Other children were born to them. Children of a fairy\nmother are called \"aganlo\"; they grow very fast, and are very wise.\n\nOther ships came. One day one comes, and Nkombe, having gone on board,\nhas there a convivial time, stays all day, and returns nearly drunk. The\nwife says to him, \"Nkombe, often you come from ships looking in this way,\nand I do not like it. I have spoken with you often, that if a food or a\ndrink is not good in its effects, it is better to leave it off. But you do\nnot care for my words.\" Nkombe, under the influence of liquor, was vexed\nwith her, rebuked her, and began to use hard words with or\u00e2wo (insult):\n\"You--you--this woman who--but I won't finish it.\" Soon, however, he took\nup the quarrel again, saying, \"A person can know from your manners that\nyou came out of--\" The wife said, \"When you are drunk, you say half\nsentences; why hold back? Say what you want to say.\"\n\nHe shouted angrily, \"Yes, if I want to say it, I will say it! It was my\nown ntori that I killed. If I had not killed it, would you have come out\nof it?\" Then Il\u00e2mbe said, \"Please repeat that; I do not quite understand\nyou.\" He repeated it. She exclaimed, \"Eh!\" but said no more, and waited\nuntil morning, when he would be sober.\n\nSo early in the morning she told him to get up, so that she could do her\nhousework. She did the morning's work, washing things neatly but rapidly.\nThen she called her sons and daughters, and in their presence said to\ntheir father, \"You said so-and-so yesterday; now I am off and with my\nchildren.\"\n\nNkombe knew he had said the forbidden words. He pleaded for mercy; but she\nreplied, \"No, you broke your promise.\" The two elder children pleaded for\ntheir father: \"It was only once. Though a bad thing, it cannot break a\nmarriage. Forgive it.\" But the mother persisted, \"No!\" Then the two elder\nones said they would not leave their father.\n\nSo she said to him, \"Now be thankful you have these two. If it was not for\nthem, I would put you back where you were just as I found you; but for the\nsake of these two children, I leave some of my power with them.\" Then to\nthose two she said, \"You will call on me for help when you have need, and\nI will be near to help you.\"\n\nSo she took the two younger ones, and said to their father, \"As this place\nis quite open, Nkombe, sit you here and see me depart.\" Nkombe did so. He\nand the two older children watched the mother and the two younger ones\nwalk down the path from the town. They went to the bank of the river, and,\nwading in, disappeared in the river depths.\n\n\nV. THE THIEVES AND THEIR ENCHANTED HOUSE.\n\nRa-Mborakinda had his big town of men and women and children, all in good\ncondition. But a kind of plague came upon the people suddenly, killing\nmany. In a short time it destroyed most of the inhabitants, and finally\nbut few were left.\n\nSo one of the elder sons said to a younger one, \"Let us flee for our\nlives!\" This elder brother's name was Ogula, and the younger brother's\nname was Nkombe. When Ogula had thus said, \"Let us flee for our lives,\"\nNkombe agreed. Ogula took as his servant a boy, and together with Nkombe\nthey went out. They went aimlessly, not following any particular plan, but\nvaguely hoping to happen on any place.\n\nThey went, went, wandering on, on, till they came to a small hut, almost\ntoo miserable for a dwelling. But in their extremity they said, \"Oh! there\nis a house! Let us go to it; maybe we'll find shelter there.\" So they\nwalked up to it, and, to their surprise, saw there an old man mending a\npiece of canvas.\n\nHe saluted them, and asked them where they came from. They told their\nstory, and Ogula asked the old man whether he would, of his kindness, give\nthem shelter. He said, \"Yes, if you are willing to do as I tell you; for\nliving here is hard, and there is nothing to eat. I have to cut firewood\nand carry it to the city (osenge) far away, and sell it there. That\ncity belongs to a big merchant.\"\n\nOgula said, \"Yes; we are willing.\" So the next day Ogula himself and\nNkombe and their servant set themselves ready for work. After they had cut\ntheir firewood, they asked the old man the way to the city. He directed\nthem. They went, sold their firewood, and brought food. This they did\nmany times, cutting firewood and going to the city and buying food; and\nthey each built a house of their own near the old man's hut.\n\nBut after a while Ogula began to tire of this kind of life; so he said to\nhimself, \"If I only had a gun, I could go hunting. But even without the\ngun, I will go out and see what I can see.\" So he went out alone, not\ncalling his brother or his servant to go with him. He went and went, on,\non, for a half-day's journey, till he happened to come to a large house\nbuilt in a very strange style, having no door at its side and with a flat\nroof. The place looked clean, as if kept in order by people. He approached\ncautiously; but looking around, he saw no one at all. He said to himself,\n\"Who owns this place? Surely some one owns it, for it is so clean; but I\nsee no one here. I won't leave this place to-day till I know who lives\nhere.\" He decided to retire a little and climb up a tall tree overlooking\nthe house and watch from there. He was very hungry, having had no food\nthat day, but he still decided to wait and see what was about the house.\n\nAfter he had been up the tree a long while, late in the afternoon he saw a\nnumber of men coming. He saw one of them climb up the side of the house to\nthe roof, where was a trap-door. All of the men had bundles of goods. The\nfirst one who had climbed to the roof spoke a few words to the door as he\nstood before it, and the two parts of the door flew open of themselves.\nThen the other men climbed up with their bundles, and went into the house.\n\nAll this Ogula could see from his tree-top. He said to himself, \"Now I am\nhungry, and must go, for I have seen enough to-day. I see that this house\nis occupied, and by men, and how they enter; it is enough for to-day.\" He\nthought it time to move before any of the people should come out of the\nhouse. He came down rapidly, and went back to the little hut of the old\nman.\n\nWhen he got to his own house, his brother Nkombe asked, \"Where have you\nbeen all day?\" Ogula said, \"I was tired of working, and took a walk to the\nforest, and missed my way.\" But he did not tell his brother the story of\nwhat he had seen.\n\nOgula then ate a little and went to bed, though it was not very late. He\nwent thus soon to bed, for he wanted to go early next day to inspect the\nbig house again. So, very, very early, before daylight, Ogula was up and\noff, for he did not wish his brother to ask him where he was going.\n\nHe remembered the way to the big house, and went directly there. He\nclimbed his tree. He looked and saw that the door of the house was open.\nHe waited a little while, and then saw the men climbing out of the door.\nTheir leader was the last; he spoke a cabalistic word, pressed his foot on\nthe threshold, as the two sides of the door folded together, and it was\nclosed.\n\nAfter they had been gone quite awhile, Ogula thought he would try to enter\nthe house, first seeking what was the way to open it. He said to himself,\n\"I know they have goods there, for I have seen them carried in.\" So he\ndescended from the tree, and going to the house, climbed up the side. When\nhe got to the top, he searched for something by which the door could be\nopened. He saw nothing like a key or lock or handle. Then he remembered\nthe words he had heard the leader use, and thought, \"Perhaps they were the\nmeans by which the door was opened.\" So he uttered the words, \"Y\u00e2ginla\nmie, k\u00e2 nungwa, aweme!\" (Obey me, and thyself open!) and, to his\nsurprise, the door flew open. Then he went down the flight of steps\nleading below to the interior of the house. He was startled when he saw\nthe room full of all kinds of money and goods and wealth that any one\ncould wish to have. One could have taken away a great deal without its\nabsence being noticed, so abundant was the amount.\n\nOgula thought, \"Isn't this fine! But I must be quick, lest the owners of\nthis house catch me here.\" So he took a cloth, and put into it a few small\narticles and a quantity of cash. He tied up the bundle, went up the\nstairway, and walked out of the door which he had left open. At the top he\nremembered the word \"Nunja!\" (Shut!) which the leader had used for\nclosing. He spoke it; and the door shut. He hasted away, and back to the\nhut of the old man. He did not enter it, but went to his own house and\nthere hid the bundle. He told no one anything, neither the old man nor his\nservant nor even his brother. Soon the brother came over from his house,\nsaying, \"Brother! I looked for you this morning; you must have gone out\nvery early.\" \"Yes, I went out early, for I am tired of seeing so little;\nso I went out to see what I could see.\"\n\nThe next day he did the same. On this trip he took not only money from the\nhouse, but some fine clothing for himself to wear. As before, on emerging\nat the top of the house, he spoke the word \"Nunja!\" the door closed, and\nhe was away again, no one having seen him. When Ogula got back to his\nhouse, Nkombe asked him the same question of the day before, \"Where have\nyou been?\" and he made only the evasive answer. But Nkombe began to be\ntroubled. He feared something was wrong, and he determined to find out\nwhat was the matter. So he decided to get up next morning just as early as\nOgula. The reason that Ogula did not tell Nkombe was because the latter\nhad a bad jealous heart, and was very covetous of money. So early in the\nmorning Ogula was off. He did not know that Nkombe had any thought of\nfollowing him. But as soon as Nkombe saw Ogula start, he followed him\ncautiously, so that he might find out what his brother was doing.\n\nOgula walked on straight and rapidly, and never looked behind, for he had\nno suspicion that he was being followed. When he got to the house, as\nusual he ordered the door to open, and descended inside. While he was\nbeginning to select the things he wanted to take, to his surprise he saw\nNkombe also descending the stairway. Ogula said, \"Nkombe! what is this?\nWho showed you the way? Who told you to come here? I am troubled to find\nyou here; for this will be the end of you! I knew it was not safe for you\nto come here. What I took was for us both.\"\n\nNkombe said, \"No! you hid it from me. I have found it now. I will be rich\nfor myself.\" By this time Ogula had tied up his bundle ready to go out.\nBut Nkombe was snatching up a large quantity from every side. Ogula said,\n\"Nkombe! be quick! You do not know how to shut that door, and it will not\nbe safe for us to be found here by those people.\" But Nkombe was not\nsatisfied with one bundle, he was still gathering up other bundles. Ogula\nwearied of waiting and begging of Nkombe to come, so he said he must go\nand leave him, saying, \"Now, Nkombe, it is not safe to wait longer. I have\nwaited for you and begged you to leave with me; so I go alone. You cannot\nget out with all those bundles.\"\n\nBut Nkombe would not listen. So Ogula went out, and spoke the word that\nclosed the door, leaving Nkombe in the house. However, being anxious for\nhis brother, Ogula did not go away, but climbed his tree to see what would\nhappen.\n\nWhen Nkombe had entered the house, he had with him a big, sharp knife.\n\nOgula waited outside till those people should come. Soon they came. The\nleader did as usual, being the first to climb to the house-top and to\norder the door to open. The door flew open, and the leader descended. As\nsoon as he entered, he found another man, Nkombe, in the house. The leader\nasked, \"Who are you, and how did you get in here?\" Nkombe did not reply,\nbut drawing his knife, plunged it into the leader's neck. With one outcry\nthe man fell dead. By this time some of the other men had climbed up and\nwere about to enter. When they got inside, they saw their leader lying\ndead, and this stranger standing armed. One of the men drew his pistol and\nshot Nkombe. [Observe the pistol; all these folk-lore stories disregard\nanachronisms or even impossibilities.] They carried his dead body to the\nroof, and threw it off to the ground. All this Ogula saw, looking from the\ntree-top down into the house.\n\nThen those people began to be perplexed and suspicious, saying, \"This is\nnot the work of only one, for we found the door closed on our arrival. So\nthis person inside must have had some associate outside. How shall we find\nit out?\"\n\nThey began to plan, each one with his proposition. One said, \"Let us go\nand bury the dead body.\" Another, \"Let us leave it and go on with our\nbusiness, and if on our return the body is missing, that will be a proof\nthat a partner has taken it. Then we will get on the track and find where\nthe body was taken.\" And they agreed that he whose plan proved successful\nshould be their new leader. So they closed the door, left Nkombe's dead\nbody lying, and went off on their usual business.\n\nAfter they had been gone quite a while, Ogula came down quickly from the\ntree. He tried to carry the body of his brother without dragging it so as\nnot to leave any sign of a trail. And he did not follow the path, but\nwalked parallel with it among the bushes. He hid the body, and then went\naway to his house. He called his servant, telling him that Nkombe was\ndead, and that he wanted him to come help bury the body. He did not call\nthe old man, but only told him that his brother was dead.\n\nHe and the servant went to the spot where he had left his brother's body.\nThey carried it far into the forest, buried it, and then went back to\ntheir house.\n\nWhen the thieves came again to their house, they missed the dead body, so\nthat part of their plan had proved true; and they said to the one who had\nproposed it, \"You were right. You are our leader. What is your next\norder?\" He said, \"To-morrow we will not go out to do our business, but we\nwill go out to hunt for this other man.\"\n\nThe next day they went, and scattering searched on all paths to see\nwhether they would meet with some one or see some house. Some of them who\nwere on a certain path came to the huts of the old man and Ogula. The\nfirst person they saw was the old man sitting in his doorway. They stopped\nand saluted. They asked him a few questions, and then consulting together\nagreed to return to their house and come back next day, hoping to find out\nsomething from the old man. They went back to their house. Previous to\nthis, from the time that Ogula had been stealing goods he had built with\nhis servant a little village of his own some distance from the old man's\nhut. On this first coming of the thieves, Ogula, hidden in his house, had\nseen them, and he said to himself, \"As they now know of this place, I\nbetter go away, for fear this thing be found out, and they kill me as they\ndid my brother.\" So at night he left that house and went off to his\nvillage.\n\nIn the morning of the next day, when the thieves came, they brought\nliquor, for they had planned that they would make this old man drunk, that\nhe might talk when he was foolish with liquor.\n\nThey came to the old man's and saluted him. They sat and conversed, asking\nhim, \"How many people are here? Are you always living alone?\" At first he\nreplied, \"Yes, I live alone.\" \"But you are so old, how do you get your\nfood by yourself? Would you like to taste a nice drink? We are sorry for\nyou in your lack of comforts.\" \"Yes, I would like to taste it.\"\n\nSo they opened their liquor, drank a little themselves, and gave to him.\nAfter he had drunk he became talkative, and began conversation again: \"Oh,\nyes, you asked me if I lived alone. But not quite alone. There is a young\nman here.\" The thieves were glad to hear him talk, and gave him more\nliquor. He drank; they asked more questions, \"You said there was another\nman with you; where is he?\" Then the old man repeated the whole story of\nthe coming of the brothers, to the death of one of them; and added, \"A few\ndays ago one of them came to tell me he was going to bury his brother; but\nI do not know when or how he died.\" So they asked the old man, \"You know\nwhere he was buried?\" \"No.\" \"But where is that living brother?\" \"Oh, he\nhas just left me, and is gone to his new place not very far away. I have\nnot been there, but you can easily find it.\"\n\nThey consulted among themselves. \"As this other man may hear of what we\nare about, we will go away to-day, disguise ourselves, and to-morrow seek\nfor his place.\" So they all left.\n\nNext day two or three came disguised, and found Ogula's new house in the\nafternoon. He did not recognize their faces. He welcomed them as strangers\nand treated them politely. They asked, \"Is this your house? Do you live\nalone?\" He answered straightly, but did not mention his brother. But they\nfelt they had enough proof of who he was, and left. But before they left\nthey had observed the number and location of the rooms and the shape of\nthe house. In the house was a large public reception and sitting room, and\nfrom it were doors leading to the servant's room and to a little entry\nopening into Ogula's room.\n\nThe next day Ogula and his servant were doing their work of refining the\ngum-copal they had gathered for trade; it was being boiled in an enormous\nkettle. When this copal was melted, the kettle was set, with its\nboiling-hot pitchy contents, in that little entry. In the afternoon came\nthe whole company of thieves, all disguised. They said, \"We have come to\nmake your acquaintance, and to relieve your loneliness by an evening's\namusement.\" Ogula began to prepare them food. They sat at the food, eating\nand drinking; had conversation, and spent the evening laughing and\nplaying. At night most of them pretended to be drunk and sleepy, and\nstretched themselves on the floor of the large room as if in sleep.\n\nOgula also had been drinking, and said he was tired and would go to bed.\nBut his servant was sober; he saw what the men were doing, and suspected\nevil. He thought: \"Ah! my master is drunk, and these people are strangers.\nWhat will happen?\" So when the lights were put out and he was going to\nbed, he left open the door of the little entry and locked the door of his\nmaster's room. After midnight the thieves rose and consulted. \"Let us go\nand kill him.\" They arose and trod softly toward Ogula's room. Not quite\nsober, they missed the proper way, stepped through the open door of the\nlittle entry, and stumbled into the caldron of copal. It was still hot,\nand stuck to their bodies like pitch. They were in agony, but did not dare\nto cry out. They all were crawling covered with the hot gum, except the\nlast man, who had jumped over the bodies of those who had fallen before\nhim; and he ran away to their house.\n\nBut Ogula was sleeping, ignorant of what was going on.\n\nIn the morning the boy, who also had slept, on opening the house, found\nthe kettle full of tarred limbs of dead human bodies. He knocked at\nOgula's door and waked him. But Ogula said, \"Don't disturb me, I am so\ntired from last night's revel.\" \"Yes, but get up and see what has\nhappened.\" Ogula came and saw. Then he told the lad that but for him he\nwould have been dead. Ogula thenceforth took him as a brother. Then he and\nthe boy had a big work of throwing out the bodies of the thieves. Ogula\nwas not afraid of a charge of murder, for the thieves had tumbled\nthemselves into the scalding contents of the kettle. He had enough wealth,\nand did not go again to the thieves' house.\n\nBut that one man who had escaped was wishing for revenge, yet was afraid\nto come to Ogula's house by himself. Time went on. Ogula remained quiet.\nBut his enemy still sought revenge, waiting for an opportunity.\n\nGradually, too, Ogula had forgotten his enemy's face; for the thieves were\nmany, and all disguised, and he would be unable to distinguish which one\nhad escaped.\n\nOn a time it happened that this thief went far to another country; and\nwhile he was there, Ogula also happened to journey to that very town. The\nlad had said, being now a young man, \"May I go too?\" \"Yes, you may, for\nyou are like a brother. You must go wherever I do.\" On the very second day\nin the town the two, Ogula and the thief, met. The thief recognized Ogula;\nbut Ogula did not recognize him, and neither spoke; but the young man,\nwith better memory, said to himself, \"I have seen this man somewhere.\" He\nlooked closely, but said nothing.\n\nThe next day the thief made a feast. He met Ogula again on the street and\nsaluted him, \"Mbolo! I am making a feast. You seem a stranger. I would\nlike you to come.\" \"Yes; where?\" \"At such-and-such a place.\" \"Yes, I will\ncome. But this attendant of mine is good, and must be invited too.\" \"Yes,\nI have no objections.\" Next evening the feast was held, and people came to\nit. The thief placed Ogula and his servant near himself. There was much\neating and drinking. The thief became excited, and determined to kill\nOgula at the table by sticking him with a knife.\n\nAll the while that the thief was watching Ogula, the servant was watching\nthe thief. Presently the latter turned slightly and began to draw a knife.\nThe servant watched him closely. The thief's knife was out, and the\nservant's knife was out too. But the thief was watching only Ogula, and\ndid not know what the servant was doing. Just as the thief was about to\nthrust at Ogula, the servant jumped and thrust his knife into the thief's\nneck. The man fell, blood flowing abundantly over the table. The guests\nwere alarmed, and were about to seize the servant, who pointed at the\ndrawn knife in the man's hand that had been intended for his master; and\nthen he told their whole story.\n\nSo the guests decided that there was no charge against Ogula and his\nservant, and scattered. The next day Ogula and his servant left. As he\nknew that that man was the last of the company of thieves, he said, in\ngladness, \"Now! Glory!\" Then he thought, \"All that wealth is mine, since\nthis last one who tried to take my life is dead.\"\n\nAs he had seen enough of the world by travel, he decided to stay in one\nplace. He would call people to live with him in a new town which he would\nbuild for them around that enchanted house of the thieves, which he took\nas his own with all its wealth. And he lived long in that house in great\nglory, with wife and children and retainers and slaves.\n\n\nVI. BANGA OF THE FIVE FACES.\n\nRa-Mborakinda lived in his town with his sons and daughters and his glory.\nOne son was Nkombe, and another Ogula, whose full name was\nOgula-keva-anlingo-n'-ogend\u00e2 (Ogula-who-goes-faster-than-water); but\nthey were not of the same mother.\n\nOgula grew up without taking any wife. He became a great man, with\nknowledge of sorcery. One day his father said to him, \"Ogula, as you are a\nbig man now, I think it is time for you to have a wife. I think you had\nbetter choose from one of my young wives.\" Ogula replied, \"No, I will get\na wife in my own way.\" So one day he went to another osenge\n(clearing) of a town which belonged to a man of the awiri (spirits; plural\nof \"ombwiri\"), _i. e._, one who possessed magic power, and obtained one of\nhis daughters. Her name was Ik\u00e2gu-ny'-awiri.\n\nHe brought the girl home to his father's house, where she was very much\nadmired as \"a fine woman! a fine woman!\" She was indeed very pretty. Then\nOgula said to her, \"As you are now my wife, you must be orunda (set apart\nfrom) to other men, and I will be orunda to other women, even if I go to\nwork at another place.\" And she replied, \"It is well.\"\n\nAt another time Ogula said, \"I think it better for us to move away from my\nfather's town, and put my house just a little way off.\" After the new\nhouse was finished they moved to it, and lived by themselves. Ogula had\nbusiness elsewhere that compelled him to be often absent, returning at\ntimes in the afternoons. Whenever Nkombe knew that Ogula was out, he would\ncome and annoy Ik\u00e2gu with solicitation to leave her husband and marry him.\nOgula knew of this, for he had a ngalo (a special fetich) that enabled him\nto know what was going on elsewhere. The wife would say, \"Ah, Nkombe! No,\nI know that you are my husband's brother; but I do not want you!\" Then,\nwhen it was time for Ogula to return, Nkombe would go off. That went on\nfor many days; Nkombe visiting Ik\u00e2gu whenever he had opportunity, and the\nwife refusing him every time. It went on so long that at last Ogula\nthought that he would speak to his wife about it.\n\nSo he began to ask her, \"Is everything all right? Has any one been\ntroubling you?\" She answered, \"No.\" He asked her again, and again she\nsaid, \"No.\" Thus it went on,--Nkombe coming; Ogula asking questions; and\nthe wife, unwilling to make trouble between the two brothers, denying.\nBut one day the trouble that Nkombe made the wife was so great that Ogula,\nwith the aid of his ngalo, thought surely she would acknowledge. But she\ndid not; for that day, when he came and called his wife into their\nbedroom, and asked her, she only asserted weakly, \"No trouble.\" Then he\nsaid, \"Do you think I do not know? You are a good wife to me. I know all\nthat has passed between you and Nkombe.\" And he added, \"As Nkombe is\nmaking you all this trouble, I will have to remove again far from my\nfather's town, and go elsewhere.\" So he went far away, and built a small\nvillage for himself and wife. They put it in good order, and made the\npathway wide and clean.\n\nBut in his going far from his father's town he had unknowingly come near\nto another town that belonged to another Ra-Mborakinda, who also had great\npower and many sons and daughters. One of the sons also was named Ogula,\njust as old and as large as this first Ogula. One day this Ogula went out\nhunting with his gun. He went far, leaving his town far away, going on and\non till he saw it was late in the day and that it was time to go back.\n\nJust as he was about returning he came to a nice clean pathway, and he\nwondered, \"So here are people? This fine path! who cleans it? and where\ndoes it lead to?\" So he thought he would go and see for himself; and he\nstarted on the path. He had not gone far before he came to the house of\nOgula. There he stood, admiring the house and grounds. \"A fine house! a\nfine house!\"\n\nWhen Ogula saw Ogula 2d standing in the street, he invited him up into the\nhouse. They asked each other a few questions, became acquainted, and made\nfriendship; and Ogula kept Ogula 2d for two days as his guest. Then Ogula\n2d said, \"They may think me lost, in town, after these two days. Thanks\nfor your kindness, but I had better go.\" And he added, \"Some day I will\nsend for you, and you will come to visit me, that I may show you\nhospitality.\"\n\nOgula 2d went back to his place. He had a sister who was a very\ntroublesome woman, assuming authority and giving orders like a man. Her\nname was Banga-yi-baganlo-tani (Banga-of-five-faces). Though her father,\nthe king, and her brother were still living, she insisted on governing the\ntown. When any one displeased her, or she was vexed with any one, she\nwould order that person to lie down before a cannon and be shot to pieces.\nThe father was wearied of her annoyances, but did not know what to do with\nher.\n\nAs Ogula 2d had left word with Ogula that he would invite him on another\nday, he did so. Ogula accepted; but as the invitation was only to himself,\nhe did not take his wife, but went by himself, and was welcomed and\nentertained.\n\nWhen it was late afternoon, he was about to go back, but Ogula 2d said,\n\"You were so kind to me; do not go back to-day. Stay with me.\" And Ogula\nconsented.\n\nIn asking Ogula to stay, Ogula 2d thought, \"As his wife is not here,\nperhaps he will want another woman. I have my sister here; but if I first\noffer her, it will be a shame, for he has not asked for any one\" [an\nactual native African custom, to give a guest a temporary wife, as one of\nthe usual hospitalities. The custom is not resented by the women].\n\nAll this while Ogula had not seen the sister. When they were ready for the\nevening meal, Ogula 2d thought it time to call his sister to see the\nguest. She fixed herself up finely, clean, and with ornaments. She came\nand sat in the house, and there were the usual salutations of \"Mbolo!\"\n\"Ai, mbolo!\" and some conversation.\n\nWhile they were talking, Banga had her face cast down with eyes to the\nground. And when she lifted her eyes to look at Ogula, her face changed.\nFrom the time she came in till meal-time, she made a succession of these\nchanges of her face, thinking that Ogula would be surprised, and would\nadmire the changes, and expecting that he would ask her brother for her.\n\nShe waited and waited; Ogula saw all these five changes of her face, but\nwas not attracted. They went to their food, and ate and finished. And\nthey talked on till bedtime; but Ogula had said nothing of love. Banga was\nannoyed and disappointed; she went to her bed piqued and with resentful\nthoughts.\n\nThe next morning Ogula said it was time to go back to his wife. When he\nwas getting ready to go, Banga said to him, \"Have you a wife?\"\n\nHe answered, \"Yes.\" She said, \"I want her to come and visit me some day.\"\nAnd Ogula agreed. He went, and returning to his house, told his wife that\nBanga wanted to see her.\n\nAfter Ogula was gone, Banga asked her brother about Ogula's wife. \"Is she\npretty?\" And he told her how finely the wife had looked. Banga was not\npleased at that, was jealous, and waited till Ik\u00e2gu should come that she\nmight see for herself. \"I will see if she is more beautiful than I with my\nfive countenances.\" Subsequently Banga chose a day, and sent for Ik\u00e2gu.\nShe dressed for the journey, and Ogula, not being invited, took her only\nhalf-way.\n\nWhen Ogula's wife arrived, Banga saw that it was true that she was pretty,\nand of graceful carriage in her walking, and she did not wonder that her\nhusband was charmed with her. But she hid her jealousy, and pretended to\nbe pleased with her visitor. Ogula's wife did not spend the night there;\nwhen she thought it time to go, she said good-bye, and turned to leave.\n\nWhen she had gone, Banga was planning for a contest with her. She said to\nherself, \"Now I see why that man made me feel ashamed at his not asking\nfor my love,--because his wife is so beautiful. She shall see that I will\nhave her killed, and I shall have her husband.\"\n\nSo after a few days she sent word to Ogula's wife, \"Prepare yourself for a\nfight, and come and meet me at my father's house.\"\n\nBut the wife said to Ogula, \"I have done nothing. What is the fight for?\"\nNevertheless, she began to prepare a fighting-dress, and before it was\nfinished another messenger came with word, \"You are waited for.\"\n\nSo she said, \"As it is not a call for peace, I had better put on a dress\nthat befits blood.\" So she dressed in red. After she was dressed she\nstarted, and Ogula went with her, to hear what was the ground of the\nchallenge.\n\nAs soon as they got to the town, they found Banga striding up and down the\nstreet. Her cannon was already loaded, waiting to be fired. When Ogula\nwanted to know what the \"palaver\" was, Banga said, \"I do not want to talk\nwith you; I only want you to obey my orders.\"\n\nBut Ik\u00e2gu wanted to know what the trouble was, and began to ask, \"What\nhave I done?\" Banga only repeated, \"I don't want any words from you; only,\nyou come and lie down in front of this cannon.\" Ik\u00e2gu obeyed, and lay\ndown, and Banga ordered her men to fire the cannon.\n\nBy this time Ogula, by the power of his ngalo, had changed the places of\nthe two women. When the cannon was fired, and the smoke had cleared away,\nthe people who stood by saw Ik\u00e2gu standing safe by her husband, and Banga\nlying dead. All the assembled people began to wonder, \"What is this? What\nis this?\"\n\nSo Banga's father called Ogula, and said, \"Do not think I am displeased\nwith you at the death of my daughter; I too was wearied at her doings. So,\nas you are justified, and Banga was wrong, it is no matter to be\nquarrelled about.\"\n\nAnd Ogula 2d said to Ogula, \"I am not vexed at you. You had done nothing.\nShe wanted to bring trouble on you, and it has come on herself. I have no\nfight with you. We will still be friends. But do not live off in your\nforest village by yourself; come you and your wife to live in this town.\"\n\nSo Ogula and his wife consented, and agreed to remove, and live with Ogula\n2d. And they did so without further trouble.\n\n\nVII. THE TWO BROTHERS.\n\nRa-Mborakinda has his great town, and his wives, and his children, and the\nglory of his kingdom. All his women had no children, except the loved\nhead-wife, Ngwe-nkonde (Mother of Queens), and the unloved Ngwe-vazya\n(Mother of Skin-Disease). Each of these two had children, sons, at the\nsame time. The father gave them their names. Ngwe-nkonde's was Nkombe, and\nNgwe-vazya's was Ogula. Again these two women became mothers. This time\nboth of them had daughters. Ngwe-nkonde's was named Ngwanga, and\nNgwe-vazya's was Il\u00e2mbe. A third time these two bore children, sons, on\nthe same day. These two sons grew up without names till they began to\ntalk, for the father had delayed to give them names. But one day he called\nthem to announce to them their names. What he had selected they refused,\nsaying that they had already named themselves. Ngwe-nkonde's child named\nhimself Osongo, and Ngwe-vazya's Obengi. And the father agreed.\n\nThese two children grew and loved each other very much. No one would have\nthought that they belonged to different mothers, so great was the love\nthey had for each other. They were always seen together, and always ate at\nthe same place. When one happened to be out at mealtime, the other would\nnot eat, and would begin to cry till the absent one returned. Both were\nhandsome in form and feature.\n\nWhen Ngwe-vazya's people heard about her nice-looking little boy, they\nsent word to her, \"We have heard about your children, but we have not seen\nyou for a long time. Come and visit us, and bring your youngest son, for\nwe have heard of him and want to see him.\"\n\nSo she went and asked permission of Ra-Mborakinda, saying that she wanted\nto go and see her people. He was willing. Then she made herself ready to\nstart. As soon as Osongo knew that his brother Obengi was going away,\nhe began to cry at the thought of separation. He said, \"I am not going to\nstay alone. I have to go too, for I am not willing to be separated from my\nbrother.\" And Obengi said the same: \"If Osongo does not go with us,\nthen I will not go at all.\" Then Ngwe-vazya thought to herself, \"No, it\nwill not do for me to take Osongo along with me, for his mother and I are\nnot friendly.\" And she told Osongo that he must stay. But both the boys\npersisted, \"No, we both must go.\" So Ngwe-vazya said, \"Well, let it be so.\nI will take care of Osongo as if he were my own son.\" And Ra-Mborakinda\nand Ngwe-nkonde were willing that Osongo should go.\n\nSo they started and went; and when they reached the town of Ngwe-vazya's\nfamily the people were very glad to receive them. She was very attentive\nto both the boys, watching them wherever they went, for they were the\nbeloved sons of Ra-Mborakinda. She was there at her people's town about\ntwo months. Then she told them that it was time to return home with the\ntwo boys. Her people assented, and began to load her and the boys with\nparting presents.\n\nThey went back to Ra-Mborakinda's town, and there also their people were\nglad to see them return, for the children had grown, and looked well. The\npeople, and even Ra-Mborakinda, praised Ngwe-vazya for having so well\ncared for the children, especially the one who was not her own.\n\nThis made Ngwe-nkonde more jealous, because of the praise that\nRa-Mborakinda gave, and because of the boys' fine report of their visit\nand the abundance of gifts with which Ngwe-vazya had returned. So\nNgwe-nkonde made up her mind that some day she would do the same, that she\nmight receive similar praise. She waited some time before she attempted to\ncarry out her plan. By the time that she got ready to ask leave to go the\nboys had grown to be lads. One day she thought proper to ask Ra-Mborakinda\npermission to go visiting with her son. Ra-Mborakinda was willing, and she\ncommenced her preparations.\n\nAnd again confusion came because of the two lads refusing to be separated.\nOsongo refused to go alone. But afterward he, knowing of his mother's\njealous disposition, changed his mind, and said to Obengi, \"No, I think\nyou better stay.\" But Obengi refused, saying, \"No, I have to go too.\"\nOsongo then told him the true reason for his objecting. \"I said this\nbecause I know that my mother is not like yours. So please stay; I will\nbe gone only two days, and will then come and meet you.\" But Obengi\ninsisted, \"If you go, I go.\" And Ngwe-nkonde said, \"Well, let it be so; I\nwill take care of you both.\"\n\nSo they went. When they reached the town of Ngwe-nkonde's family, the\npeople were glad to see them. She also was apparently kind and attentive\nto the lads for the first two days. On the third day she began to think\nthe care was troublesome. \"These lads are big enough to take care of\nthemselves like men.\"\n\nShe did indeed feel kindly toward Obengi, liking his looks, and she\nsaid to herself, \"I think I will try to win his affections from his mother\nto myself.\" She tried to do so, but the lad was not influenced by her.\nWhen she noticed that he did not seem to care for her attentions, she was\ndispleased, began to hate him, and made up her mind to kill him.\n\nAll the days that the lads were there at the town they went out on\nexcursions to the forest, hunting animals. As soon as they came back they\nwould sit down together to chat and to eat sugar-cane [with African\nchildren a substitute for candy].\n\nNgwe-nkonde knew of this habit. After she had decided to kill Obengi,\non the next day she had the sugar-cane ready for them. She rubbed poison\non one of the stalks, and arranged that that very piece should be the\nfirst one that Obengi would take. He had taken only two bites, and was\nchewing, when he exclaimed, \"Brother, I begin to feel giddy, and my eyes\nsee double! Please give me some water quickly!\" Water was brought to him.\nHe took a little of it. Others, spectators, became excited, and began to\ndash water over his face. But soon he fell down dead.\n\nThen Ngwe-Nkonde exclaimed to herself, \"So I've been here only five days,\nand now the lad is dead. I don't care! Let him die!\"\n\nBy this time Osongo had become greatly excited, crying out, and repeating\nover and over, \"My brother! Oh, my brother! Oh, my same age!\" His mother\nsaid to him, \"To-morrow I will have him buried, and we will start back to\nour town.\" Osongo replied to her, \"That shall not be. He shall not be\nburied here. We both came together, and though he is dead, we both will go\nback together.\" The next morning Osongo said to his mother, \"I know that\nyou are at the bottom of this trouble. You know something about it. You\nbrought him. And now he is dead. I charge you with killing him.\" She only\nreplied, \"I know nothing of that. We will wait, and we shall know.\"\n\nThey began to get ready for the return journey, and some of the people\nsaid, \"Let a coffin be made, and the body be placed there.\" But Osongo\nsaid, \"No, I don't want that; I have a hammock, and he shall be carried in\nit.\" So they prepared the hammock, and placed in it the dead body.\n\nAs to Ngwe-Nkonde, Osongo had her arrested, and held as a prisoner, with\nher hands tied behind her, and he took a long whip with which to drive\nher. And they started on their journey.\n\nOn the way Osongo was wailing a mourning-song, and cursing his mother, and\nweeping, saying, \"Oh, we both came together, and he is dead! Oh, my\nbrother! Oh, my same age! Obengi gone! Osongo left! Oh, the children of\none father! Osongo, who belongs to Ngwe-Nkonde, left, and Obengi, who\nbelongs to Ngwe-Vazya, gone!\" And thus they went, he repeating these\nimpromptu words of his song, and weeping as he went. As they were going\nthus, while they were still only half-way on their route, a man,\nEserengila (tale-bearer), one of his father's servants, was out in\nthe forest hunting. He heard the song. Listening, he said to himself,\n\"Those words! What do they mean?\" Listening still, he thought he\nrecognized Osongo's voice, and understood that one was living and the\nother dead.\n\nSo he ran ahead to carry the news to the town before the corpse should\narrive there. When he reached the town, he first told his wife about it.\nShe advised him, \"If that is so, don't go and tell this bad news to the\nking; a servant like you should not be the bearer of ill news.\" But he\nstill said, \"No, but I'm going to tell the father.\" His wife insisted,\n\"Do not do it! With those two beloved children, if the news be not true,\nthe parents will make trouble for you!\" But Eserengila started to\ntell, and by the time he had finished his story the company with the\ncorpse were near enough for the people of the town to hear all the words\nof Osongo's song of mourning.\n\nObengi's father and mother were so excited with grief that their people\nhad to hold them fast as if they were prisoners, to prevent them injuring\nthemselves. The funeral company all went up to the king's house, and laid\ndown the body of his son; and Osongo's mother, still tied, was led into\nthe house.\n\nThe townspeople were all excited, shouting and weeping. Some began to give\ndirections about the making of a fine coffin. But Osongo said, \"No, I\ndon't want him to be put into a coffin yet, because when my brother was\nalive we had many confidences and secrets, and now that he is dead, I have\nsomewhat of a work to do before he is buried. Let the corpse wait awhile.\"\nSo he asked them all to leave the corpse alone while he went out of the\ntown for a short time.\n\nThen he went away to the village of Ra-Mar\u00e2nge, and said to him, \"I'm in\ngreat trouble, and indeed I need your help.\" The prophet replied, \"Child,\nI am too old; I am not making medicine now. Go to Ogula-y'-impazya-vazya,\nand repeat your story to him; he will help you.\"\n\nRa-Mar\u00e2nge showed him the way to Ogula-y'-impazya-vazya's place. He went,\nand had not gone far when he found it. Going to the magician, Osongo said,\n\"I'm in trouble, and have come to you.\" As soon as he had said this,\nOgula-y'-impazya-vazya made his magic fire, and stepped into it. Osongo\nwas frightened, thinking, \"I've come to this man, and he is about to kill\nhimself for me\"; and he ran away. But he had not gone far, when he heard\nthe magician's nkendo (a witchcraft bell) ringing, and his voice calling\nto him, \"If you have come for medicine, come back; but if for anything\nelse, then run away.\" So Osongo returned quickly, and found that the old\nmagician had emerged from his fire and was waiting for him. Osongo told\nhis story of his brother's death, and said he wanted direction what to do.\nOgula-y'-impazya-vazya gave him medicine for a certain purpose, and told\nhim what to do and how to do it.\n\nWhen Osongo came back with the medicine, he entered his father's house,\ninto the room where his brother's corpse was lying, and ordered every one\nto leave him alone for a while. They all left the room. He closed the\ndoor, and following the directions given him by Ogula-y'-impazya-vazya, he\nbrought Obengi to life again.\n\nNow came a question what was to be done with Ngwe-nkonde, the attempted\nmurderess. It was demanded that her throat should be cut, and that her\nbody, weighted with stones, should be flung into the river. \"For,\" said\nOsongo, \"I will not own such a mother; she is very bad. Obengi's mother\nshall be my mother.\" It was decided so. And Ra-Mborakinda said to\nNgwe-vazya, \"You step up to the queen's seat with your two sons\" (meaning\nOsongo and Obengi).\n\nAnd Ngwe-vazya became head-wife, and was very kind and attentive to both\nsons.\n\nAnd the matter ended.\n\n\nVIII. JEKI AND HIS OZ\u00c2ZI.\n\nRa-Mborakinda had his town where he lived with his wives, his sons, his\ndaughters, and his glory.\n\nLord Mborakinda had his loved head-wife, Ngwe-nkonde, and the unloved one,\nNgwe-lege. Both of these, with other of his wives, had sons and\ndaughters. Ngwe-nkonde's first son was Nkombe, and she had two others.\nNgwe-lege also had three sons, but the eldest of these, Jeki, was\na thief. He stole everything he came across,--food, fish, and all. This\nbecame so notorious that when people saw him approach their houses they\nwould begin to hide their food and goods, saying, \"There comes that\nthief!\"\n\nJeki's grandfather, the father of his mother, was dead. One night, in a\ndream, that grandfather came to him, and said to him, \"Jeki, my son,\nwhen will you leave off that stealing, and try to work and do other things\nas others do? To-morrow morning come to me early; I have a word to say to\nyou.\" Jeki replied, \"But where do you live, and how can I know the way\nto that town?\" He answered, \"You just start at your town entrance, and go\non, and you will see the way to my place before you reach it.\"\n\nSo the next morning Jeki, remembering his dream, said to his mother,\n\"Please fix me up some food.\" [He did not tell her that the purpose of the\nfood was not simply for his breakfast, but as an extra supply for a\njourney.] The food that was prepared for him was five rolls made of boiled\nplantains mashed into a kind of pudding called \"nkima,\" and tied up with\ndried fish. When these were ready, he put them inside his travelling-bag.\nThen he dressed himself for his journey.\n\nHis mother said, \"Where are you going?\" He evaded, and said, \"I will be\nback again.\" So he went away.\n\nAfter he had been gone a little while, he came to a fork of the road, and\nwithout hesitation his feet took the one leading to the right. After going\non for a while he met two people named Isakiliya, fighting, whose forms\nwere like sticks. [These sticks were abambo, or ghosts. In all native\nfolk-lore, where spirits embody themselves, they take an absurd or\nsingular form, that they may test the amiability or severity, as the case\nmay be, of human beings with whom they may meet. They bless the kind, and\ncurse the unkind.] He went to them to make peace, and parted them; took\nout one of his rolls of nkima and fish, gave to them, and passed on. They\nthanked him, and gave him a blessing, \"Peace be on you, both going and\ncoming!\" He went on and on, and then he met two Anty\u00e2 (eyes) fighting. In\nthe same way as with the Isakiliya, he went to them, separated them, gave\nthem food, was blessed, and went on his way.\n\nAgain he met in the same way two Kumu (stumps) fighting, and in the same\nway he interfered between them, made peace, gave food, was blessed, and\nwent on his journey. He went on and on, and met with a fourth fight. This\ntime it was between two Poti (heads), and in the same way he made peace\nbetween them, gave a gift, was blessed, and went on.\n\nHe journeyed and journeyed. And he came to a dividing of the way, and was\npuzzled which to take. Suddenly an old woman appeared. He saluted her,\n\"Mbolo!\" took out his last roll of nkima, and gave it to her. The old\nwoman thanked him, and asked him, \"Where are you going?\" He replied, \"I'm\non my way to an old man, but am a little uncertain as to my way.\" She\nsaid, \"Oh, joy! I know him. I know the way. His name is\nRe-ve-nla-g\u00e2-li.\" She showed him the way, pronounced a blessing on\nhim, and he passed on. He had not gone much farther when he came to the\nplace.\n\nWhen the old grandfather saw him, he greeted him, \"Have you come, son?\" He\nanswered, \"Yes.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the grandfather, \"I just live here by myself, and do my work\nmyself.\" And the old man made food for him. Then next day this grandfather\nbegan to have a talk with Jeki. He rebuked him for his habit of\nstealing. Jeki replied, \"But, grandfather, what can I do? I have no\nwork nor any money. Even if I try to leave off stealing, I cannot. I do\nnot know what medicine will cause me to leave it off.\" Then said the\ngrandfather, \"Well, child, I will make the medicine for you before you go\nback to your mother.\" So Jeki remained a few days with his grandfather,\nand then said, \"I wish to go back.\" The grandfather said, \"Yes, but I have\nsome little work for you to do before you leave.\" So Jeki said, \"Good!\nlet me have the work.\"\n\nThe grandfather gave him an axe, and told him to go and cut firewood\nsufficient to fill the small woodshed. Jeki did so, filling the shed in\nthat one day. The regular occupation of the old man was the twisting of\nropes for the lines of seines. So the next day he told Jeki to go and\nget the inner barks, whose fibre was used in his rope-making. Jeki went\nto the forest, gathered this material, and returned with it to the old\nman.\n\nThe next day the grandfather said to Jeki, \"Now I am ready to start you\noff on your journey.\" And he added, \"As you gave as reasons for stealing\nthat you had neither money nor the means of getting it, I will provide\nthat.\" Then the old man called him, took him to a brook-side, and reminded\nhim that he had promised that he could make a medicine to cure him of his\ndesire to steal.\n\nThe grandfather began to cut open Jeki's chest, and took out his heart,\nwashed it all clean, and put it back again. Then they went back to the\ngrandfather's house. There he gave Jeki an oz\u00e2zi (wooden pestle), and\nsaid, \"Now, son, take this. This is your wealth. Everything that you wish,\nthis will bring to you. Hold it up, express your wish, and you will get\nit. But there is one orunda (taboo) connected with it: no one must\npronounce the word 'salt' in your hearing. You may see and use salt, but\nmay not speak its name nor hear it spoken, for if you do things will turn\nout bad for you.\" \"But,\" the old man added, \"if that happens, I will now\ntell you what to do.\" And he revealed to him a secret, and gave him full\ndirections. When the grandfather had finished, he led him a short distance\non the way, and returned to his house. He had not prepared any food for\nJeki for the journey, for he with the oz\u00e2zi would himself be able to\nsupply all his own wishes.\n\nJeki goes on and on, and then exclaims doubtfully, \"Ah, only this oz\u00e2zi\nis to furnish me with everything! I'm getting hungry; so, soon I'll try\nits power.\" He went on a little farther, and then decided that he would\ntry whether he could get anything by means of the oz\u00e2zi. So he held it up,\nand said, \"I wish a table of food to be spread for me, with two white men\nto eat with me.\" Instantly there was seen a tent, and table covered with\nfood, and two white men sitting. He sat down with these two companions.\nAfter they had eaten, he spoke to the oz\u00e2zi to cause the tent and its\ncontents to disappear. They did so. This proved for him the power of his\noz\u00e2zi, and he was glad, and went on his way satisfied.\n\nFinally he reached his father's town, whose people saw him coming, but\ngave him no welcome, except his mother, who was glad to see him. But most\nof the people only said, \"There! there is that thief coming again. We\nmust begin to hide our things.\" After Jeki's arrival, in a few days,\nthe townspeople noticed a change in him, and inquired of each other, \"Has\nhe been stealing, or has he really changed?\" for shortly after his return\nhe had told his mother and brothers all the news, and had warned the\npeople of the town about the orunda of \"salt.\" In the course of a few days\nJeki did many wonderful things with his oz\u00e2zi. He wished for nice\nlittle premises of his own with houses and conveniences, near his father's\ntown, supplied with servants and clothing and furniture. These appeared.\nSoon, by the wealth that he possessed, he became master of the town, and\nruled over the other children of his father. He obtained from that same\noz\u00e2zi, created by its power, two wives,--Ngwanga and Il\u00e2mbe, who were\nloving and obedient. He also bought three other wives from the village,\nwho were like servants to the two chief ones. He confided his plans and\neverything to the two favored ones who had come out of the oz\u00e2zi.\n\nIn the course of time he thought he would display his power before the\npeople, and for their benefit, by causing ships to come with wealth. So he\nheld up the oz\u00e2zi, and said, \"I want to see a ship come full of\nmerchandise!\"\n\nPresently the townspeople began to shout, \"A ship! a ship!\" It anchored.\nJeki called his own brothers and half-brothers, and directed, \"You all\nget ready and go out to the ship, and tell the captain that I will follow\nyou.\" They made ready, and went on board, and asked, \"What goods have you\nbrought?\" The captain told them, \"Mostly cloth, and a few other things.\"\nThey informed him, \"Soon the chief of the town will come.\" And they\nreturned ashore, and reported to Jeki what was on board. He made\nhimself ready and went, leaving word for them to follow soon and discharge\nthe cargo. The ship lay there a few days, and then sailed away. Then\nJeki divided the goods among his brothers and parents, keeping only a\nsmall share for himself.\n\nThus it went on: every few months Jeki ordering a ship to come with\ngoods. As usual, he would send his brothers first, they would bring a\nreport, and then he would go on board. Sometimes he would eat with the\nship's company, sometimes he would invite them ashore to eat in his own\nhouse.\n\nAll this time no one had broken the orunda of \"salt.\" But, to prove\nthings, Jeki thought he would try his half-brothers, and see what were\ntheir real feelings toward him. So the next time he caused ships to come\nwith a cargo of salt only. At sight of the ships there was the usual shout\nof \"A ship! a ship!\" The brothers went aboard as usual, and found what the\ncargo was. The half-brothers returned ashore immediately, and began to\nshout when they neared Jeki's house, \"The ships are full of salt!\" He\nheard the word, and said to his mother and to his two chief wives, \"Do you\nhear that?\"\n\nThe half-brothers came close to him, and exclaimed, \"D\u00e2gula [Sir], the\nships are loaded with nothing but salt, salt, salt, and the captain is\nwaiting for you.\" Jeki asked again, as if he had not heard, \"What is it\nthe captains have brought?\" And they said, \"Salt.\" So he said, \"Let it be\nso. To-day is the day. Good! You go and get ready, and I will get ready,\nand we shall all go together.\"\n\nThen the two chief wives looked very sorrowful, for they felt sure by his\nlook and tone that something bad was about to happen.\n\nFirst he ordered a bath to be prepared for himself. It was made ready, and\nhe bathed, and went to dress himself in the other room, where his goods\nwere stored. When he had entered, he called his own two brothers and the\ntwo wives, and closed the door. He began to examine a few of his boxes.\nOpening a certain one, he said, \"Of all my wealth, this was one of the\nfirst. Now I am going to die. But as it is always the custom, a few days\nafter the funeral, to decide who shall be the successor and inheritor,\nwhen that day arrives, come and open this particular box. Do not forget to\ntake the cloth for covering the throne of my successor from this box.\"\n\nInside of that box was a small casket, holding a large black silk\nhandkerchief. He kept the secret received from his grandfather, and did\nnot tell them what would happen when they should come to get cloth from\nthe box. They understood only that on the throne-day they were to open the\nbig box and the little casket it contained. Then he told them, \"Now you\nmay go out.\" They went out. Jeki shut the door, and began to dress for\nthe ships. But, before dressing, he took out the black silk handkerchief\nfrom the small box, and rubbed it over his entire body; and, carefully\nfolding it, put it back again in the casket and closed it. Then he was\nready to start. And they all went off to the ships, he with the oz\u00e2zi in\nhand. He, with his own brothers, was in a boat following the boat of his\nhalf-brothers.\n\nHe raised a death-song, \"Ilendo! Ilendo! give me skill for a dance!\nIlendo! Ilendo! give me skill for a play!\" This he sang on the way,\njumping from boat to boat. He said he would go on board the ships, but\nordered all his brothers not to come. His plan was that they were to be\nonly witnesses of his death. He boarded one of the ships, and went over\nthe deck singing and dancing with that same Ilendo song. Then he jumped to\nthe deck of the next vessel.\n\nAs he did so, the first one sank instantly. On the second ship he sang and\ndanced, and jumped thence to the third, the second sinking as the first.\nOn the third ship he continued the song and dance; he remained on it a\nlong while, for he caused it to sink slowly. When the water reached the\nvessel's deck, the brothers in the boats were looking on with fear. His\nown brothers began to cry, seeing the ship sinking, for they knew that\nJeki would die with it. When it sank, the boats went ashore wailing,\nand took the news to the town.\n\nBut the half-brothers were not really mourning; they were planning the\ndivision of Jeki's property. All the town held the kwedi (mourning);\nbut after the fifth day the half-brothers told their father that it was\ntime for the exaltation of a successor to Jeki, the ceremony of ampenda\n(glories). Ngwe-nkonde's first-born son, Nkombe, said, \"I will be the\nfirst to stand on the throne, and my two brothers will be next.\" Jeki's\ntwo brothers refused to have anything to say about the division. They\ndetermined they would remain quiet and see what would be done. And the two\nwives of Jeki said the same.\n\nWhen the half-brothers came to the house of mourning, they began to\ndiscuss which of these two women they would inherit. Then one of the two\nwives said, \"Oh, Ngwanga, we must not forget what Jeki told us about\nthe box, now that the people are fixing for the ampenda!\"\n\nSo the two brothers of Jeki and the two women went inside the room,\nshut the door, and began to open the big box to take out the little\ncasket. By this time the people outside had everything ready for the\nceremony of the ampenda. The two women now opened the casket, took out the\nblack handkerchief, and unfolded it. And Jeki stood in the middle of\nthe room, with his oz\u00e2zi in his hand. Their surprise was great; their joy\nextreme. In their joy they ran to embrace him.\n\nThe people outside were very busy with their arrangements. Nkombe already\nhad taken the throne, having painted his face with the little white mark\nof rule, and given orders to have the signal-drum beaten; and the crowd\nbegan to dance and sing to his praise.\n\nJeki sent his youngest brother, Oraniga (last-born), saying, \"Just go\nprivately and tell my father about me, that I have come to life. And I\nwant him to have the whole town swept, and to lay bars of iron along the\nstreets for me to step on from this house to his. Say also that\nNtyege (monkey) must continue his firing of guns and cannon; then I\nwill come and meet my father.\"\n\nOraniga did so; and the father said, \"Good!\" and Oraniga returned. The\nfather gave the desired orders about the sweeping and the iron bars and\nthe firing of cannon; but the people at the throne-house did not know of\nall this.\n\nThen Jeki and his two wives and two brothers dressed themselves finely\nto walk to the father's house, and marched in procession through the\nstreet. A few of the people saw them, wondered, and asked the drums to\nstop, exclaiming, \"Where did they come from?\" The procession went on to\nthe father's house, and Ntyege kept on with the cannon firing.\n\nOn reaching his father's house, Jeki told him he had something to say,\nand the father ordered the drum to cease. All the people were summoned to\nthe father's house to hear Jeki's words. He said, \"Father, I know that\nI am your son, and Nkombe is your son. You all know what Nkombe has done,\nfor he was at the bottom of this matter; so now choose between him and me.\nIf you love him more, I will go far away and stay by myself; but if you\nlove me, Nkombe must be removed from this town.\"\n\nSo the father asked the opinion of others. (For himself, he wanted to have\nJeki.) Nkombe's own brothers said he ought to be killed, \"for he is not\nso good to us as Jeki was.\" So they bound Nkombe, and tied a stone\nabout his neck, and drowned him in the sea.\n\nAnd everything went on well, Jeki governing, and providing for the\ntown.\n\n\n\n\nGLOSSARY\n\n\nA.\n\nAbuna, abundance.\n\nAganlo, children of mixed mortal and fairy birth.\n\nAkazya, a poisonous tree.\n\nAmie, do not know.\n\nAnlingo, water.\n\nAnty\u00e2 (sing. inty\u00e2), eyes.\n\nAnyambe, the Divine Name.\n\nAweme, yourself.\n\nAyenwe, unseen.\n\n\nB.\n\nB\u00e2b\u00e2k\u00e2, consent thou.\n\nBehu, kitchen garden.\n\nBenda, a kind of rat.\n\nBia\u00f1, medicine.\n\nBob\u00e2bu, soft.\n\nBohamba, a certain medicinal tree.\n\nBoka, a certain medicinal tree.\n\nBokadi, a certain medicinal tree.\n\nBokuda, a certain medicinal tree.\n\nBolondo, a poisonous tree.\n\nBong\u00e2m, a certain medicinal tree.\n\nBotombaka, passing away.\n\nBuhwa, day.\n\nBwanga, medicine.\n\n\nD.\n\nD\u00e2gula, Mr., a title of respect.\n\nDiba, marriage.\n\nDiy\u00e2, the hearth; a household.\n\nDiyaka, to live.\n\n\nE.\n\nEb\u00e2bi, a male love philtre.\n\nEgona, a small antelope horn.\n\nEhongo, a cornucopia.\n\nEkongi, a guardian-spirit fetich.\n\nEkope, a girdle.\n\nEl\u00e2mb\u00e2, a certain medicinal tree.\n\nElinga, a basket.\n\nEtomba, tribe.\n\nEvove, harlot.\n\nEwiria, words of hidden meaning.\n\n\nF.\n\nFufu, mashed, boiled ripe plantains.\n\n\nG.\n\nGo, to, in, at.\n\nGreegree (gris-gris), fetich amulet.\n\nGumbo, okra.\n\nGwandere, a medicine for worms.\n\n\nH.\n\nHaye, will not do.\n\nHume, a certain fish.\n\n\nI.\n\nIbambo (pl. abambo), ghosts.\n\nIb\u00e2t\u00e2, a blessing.\n\nIga, the forest.\n\nIguga, woe.\n\nIheli, a gazelle.\n\nIjawe (pl. majawe), blood relative.\n\nIkaka (pl. makaka), family name.\n\nIlala, an arch; a stairway.\n\nIlina (pl. malina), soul.\n\nIna, my mother.\n\nIninla (pl. anlinla), soul.\n\nInjenji, a certain leaf; fault.\n\nIsakiliya, kindling-wood.\n\nIsiki (pl. asiki), a dwarf changeling.\n\nItaka, a kitchen hanging-shelf.\n\nItala, a view.\n\nIvaha, a wish.\n\nIvenda (pl. ampenda), glory.\n\nIyele, a female love philtre.\n\n\nJ.\n\nJa, of.\n\nJaka, to beget.\n\nJoba, the sun.\n\nJomba, meat cooked in a bundle of plantain leaves.\n\nJuju, an amulet.\n\n\nK.\n\nK\u00e2, and you.\n\nKasa, a lash.\n\nKeva, to surpass.\n\nKilinga, a kind of bird.\n\nKimbwa-mbenje, native bark-cloth.\n\nKna, a kind of bird.\n\nKnakna, a large kind of bird.\n\nKoka, a large kind of bird.\n\nKombo, a superstitious ejaculation.\n\nKonde, queen.\n\nKota, a certain tree.\n\nKulu, a kind of spirit.\n\nKumu, a stump.\n\nKwedi, time of mourning.\n\n\nL.\n\nLale, my father.\n\n\nM.\n\nMabili, an east-wind fetich.\n\nMba, not I.\n\nMbenda, ground-nut.\n\nMbi, I.\n\nMbinde, a wild goat.\n\nMbolo, gray hairs; a salutation.\n\nMbulu, a wild dog.\n\nMbumbu, rainbow.\n\nMbundu, poison ordeal.\n\nMbwa (pl. imbwa), dog.\n\nMbwaye, a poison test.\n\nMehole, ripe plantains.\n\nMiba, water.\n\nMie, me.\n\nMonda, witchcraft medicine.\n\nMondi (pl. myondi), a class of spirits.\n\nMpazya, skin disease.\n\nMulimate, a small horn for cupping.\n\nMusimo, spirits of the dead.\n\nMuskwa, a medicinal brush.\n\nMutira, a medicinal stick.\n\nMvia, a kind of bird.\n\nMwana, a child.\n\nMwanga, a plantation.\n\n\nN.\n\nNa, with.\n\nNdabo, house.\n\nNdembe, young.\n\nNduma, a kind of snake.\n\nNgalo, a guardian-spirit charm.\n\nNg\u00e2ma, a water plant.\n\nNg\u00e2nd\u00e2, gourd seeds.\n\nNg\u00e2nde, moon.\n\nNgofu, an iron fetich bracelet.\n\nNgunye, a flying-squirrel.\n\nNguwu, hippopotamus.\n\nNgwe, mother.\n\nNjabi, a wild oily fruit.\n\nNjeg\u00e2, leopard.\n\nNk\u00e2l\u00e2, a large snail.\n\nNk\u00e2nj\u00e2, a marriage dance.\n\nNkendo, a magician's bell.\n\nNkinda (pl. sinkinda), a class of spirits.\n\nNs\u00e2n\u00e2, Sunday.\n\nNsinsim, a shadow.\n\nNtori, a large forest rat.\n\nNtyege, a monkey.\n\nNungwa, open thou.\n\nNunja, shut thou.\n\nNyamba, a scarf slung over the right shoulder, in which to carry a babe.\n\nNyemba, witchcraft.\n\nNyolo, body.\n\n\nO.\n\nOdika, kernel of the wild mango.\n\nOganga, doctor.\n\nOgend\u00e2, a journey.\n\nOgwerina, rear of a house.\n\nOkove, a powerful fetich.\n\nOkume, African mahogany tree.\n\nOkundu, a kind of fetich for trading.\n\nOl\u00e2g\u00e2 (pl. il\u00e2g\u00e2), a class of spirits.\n\nOlako, a camping place.\n\nOmbwiri (pl. awiri), a class of spirits.\n\nOmpunga, wind.\n\nOrala, a hanging shelf over a fireplace.\n\nOraniga, last-born.\n\nOr\u00e2wo, insult.\n\nOrega, the Njembe secret society drum.\n\nOrunda, a prohibition; taboo.\n\nOsenge, a cleared place in the forest.\n\nOv\u00e2vi (pl. iv\u00e2vi), messenger.\n\nOwavi (pl. sijavi), a leaf.\n\nOzy\u00e2zi, a pestle.\n\nOzyoto, a cornucopia.\n\n\nP.\n\nPaia, my father.\n\nPavo, a knife.\n\nPeke, ever.\n\n\nR.\n\nRera, my father.\n\n\nS.\n\nSaba, an oath.\n\nSabali, an oath.\n\nSale, hail!\n\n\nT.\n\nTamba, the womb.\n\nTube, a certain leaf.\n\nTuwaka, bless; spit\n\n\nU.\n\nUdinge, a great person.\n\nUkuku (pl. mekuku), spirit; secret society.\n\nUkwala, a machete.\n\nUntyanya, a medicinal bark.\n\nUnyongo, a medicinal tree.\n\nUpuma, a period of six months.\n\nUtodu, old.\n\nUvengwa, a phantom.\n\n\nV.\n\nVeya, fire.\n\n\nY.\n\nY\u00e2ginla, _imperative_, hear thou.\n\nY\u00e2k\u00e2, a family fetich.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Gen. xxx. 15-16.\n\n[2] Gen. xxix. 26.\n\n[3] Trumbull, Blood Covenant, p. 311.\n\n[4] Trumbull, Blood Covenant, p. 4.\n\n[5] Garenganze, p. 79.\n\n[6] Rom. i. 28, margin.\n\n[7] Rom. i. 30.\n\n[8] Three Years in Savage Africa, p. 74.\n\n[9] Western Africa, p. 209.\n\n[10] I am strongly disposed to think that, in its origin, there was a\nsacrificial idea connected with cannibalism.--R. H. N.\n\n[11] Gen. iv. 2.\n\n[12] Gen. iv. 17.\n\n[13] Gen. iv. 21, 22.\n\n[14] Heb. xi. 4.\n\n[15] Gen. iii. 21.\n\n[16] Joshua xxii. 34.\n\n[17] John xx. 29.\n\n[18] 1 Sam. vi. 3.\n\n[19] Dan. iii. 29.\n\n[20] History of Religion, pp. 129 _et seq._\n\n[21] Western Africa, p. 207.\n\n[22] Wilson.\n\n[23] Crowned in Palmland, p. 234.\n\n[24] Decl\u00e8.\n\n[25] J. L. Wilson.\n\n[26] J. L. Wilson.\n\n[27] Decl\u00e8.\n\n[28] Wilson, Western Africa.\n\n[29] Menzies, History of Religion, p. 33.\n\n[30] Wilson, Western Africa, p. 212.\n\n[31] Garenganze, p. 237.\n\n[32] Menzies, History of Religion, p. 73.\n\n[33] Those nails were not mere \"ornaments.\" They were the records of the\nnumber of persons who had been transfixed by death or disease under the\npower of that fetich idol. A similar custom is known in the West Indies\nand in the southern United States. For every pin stuck into a wax figure\nintended to represent the person to be injured, some sickness or other\nevil will fall on him. Wilkie Collins also utilized this superstition in\nhis novel, \"I say, No.\"--R. H. N.\n\n[34] Decl\u00e8.\n\n[35] History of Religion, pp. 65, 69.\n\n[36] Garenganze, p. 77.\n\n[37] Three Years in Savage Africa.\n\n[38] I saw the same on the Ogowe.--R. H. N.\n\n[39] These piles I have found at almost every village I have visited.--R.\nH. N.\n\n[40] Decl\u00e8, p. 346.\n\n[41] Menzies.\n\n[42] Decl\u00e8.\n\n[43] Hosea xiii. 2.\n\n[44] Acts xv. 29.\n\n[45] Brown, On the South African Frontier, p. 113.\n\n[46] Arnot, Garenganze, p. 106.\n\n[47] This would be what I have denominated the \"white art.\"--R. H. N.\n\n[48] In that part of Africa.--R. H. N.\n\n[49] Really, only a difference in administration.--R. H. N.\n\n[50] Decl\u00e8, Three Years in Savage Africa, pp. 152, 154, 294.\n\n[51] Arnot, Garenganze, p. 115.\n\n[52] And, similarly, I have known the fimbriated extremities of the\nfallopian tubes in a woman held up as a proof of her having been a witch.\nThe ciliary movements of these fimbri\u00e6 were regarded as the efforts of her\n\"familiar\" at a process of eating. The decision was that she had been\n\"eaten\" to death by her own offended familiar.--R. H. N.\n\n[53] Wilson, Western Africa, p. 398.\n\n[54] Brown, On the South African Frontier.\n\n[55] Ex. xxii. 18.\n\n[56] I Sam. xxvii. 11-15.\n\n[57] Verse 12.\n\n[58] Wilson, Western Africa, p. 275.\n\n[59] Wilson, Western Africa, p. 393.\n\n[60] Ibid.\n\n[61] Wilson, Western Africa.\n\n[62] To a native African that is a much greater wrong than stealing from\nother people, particularly from foreigners.--R. H. N.\n\n[63] On the South African Frontier, p. 214.\n\n[64] Garenganze, p. 207.\n\n[65] Arnot.\n\n[66] Brown, On the South African Frontier.\n\n[67] Tale 23, p. 93, my \"Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Fjort.\"\n\n[68] Arnot.\n\n[69] Decl\u00e8.\n\n[70] See \"Niger and Yoruba Notes.\"\n\n[71] From a West African newspaper.\n\n[72] Menzies, History of Religion, p. 71.\n\n[73] See an illustration of it on p. 102 of my \"Crowned in Palm-Land\"; an\ninfant is lying on a plantain leaf in the street.\n\n[74] Wilson, Western Africa.\n\n[75] Decl\u00e8.\n\n[76] Among Cannibals, pp. 278-279.\n\n[77] Arnot, Garenganze, p. 116.\n\n[78] Decl\u00e8, Three Years in Savage Africa, pp. 74-79.\n\n[79] Decl\u00e8.\n\n[80] Arnot, p. 76.\n\n[81] Three Years in Savage Africa, p. 512.\n\n[82] Wilson.\n\n[83] P. 513.\n\n[84] I know of its occurring on the Gabun and Ogowe rivers on the West\nCoast.--R. H. N.\n\n[85] P. 107.\n\n[86] P. 115.\n\n[87] Trumbull, p. 129.\n\n[88] Western Africa, p. 397.\n\n[89] Wilson, Western Africa.\n\n[90] Garenganze, p. 107.\n\n[91] Niger and Yoruba Notes.\n\n[92] Wilson.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPassages in italics are indicated by _italics_.\n\nThe original text contains letters with diacritical marks that are not\nrepresented in this text version.","title":"Fetichism in West Africa : $b forty years' observation of native customs and superstitions","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":142666}