{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69558/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69558","id":"gutenberg_69558","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69558","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Travel Writing","Congo (Democratic Republic)","Ethnology -- Congo (Democratic Republic)","Folklore -- Congo (Democratic Republic)"],"text":"------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Note:\n\nThis version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.\nItalics are delimited with the \u2018_\u2019 character as _italic_.\n\nFootnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are\nreferenced.\n\nMinor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please\nsee the transcriber\u2019s note at the end of this text for details regarding\nthe handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation.\n\n\n\n\n                        CONGO LIFE AND FOLKLORE\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: _Photo_]      A NATIVE VILLAGE.      [_Rev. R. H.\nKirkland_]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  THE MAIN PATH ON WATHEN STATION.\n  (Note the \u201cWelcome\u201d Banner.)\n]\n\n\n\n\n                               CONGO LIFE\n                              AND FOLKLORE\n\n                                 PART I\n                           LIFE ON THE CONGO\n                      AS DESCRIBED BY A BRASS ROD\n\n                                PART II\n                      THIRTY-THREE NATIVE STORIES\n                    AS TOLD ROUND THE EVENING FIRES\n\n                                 BY THE\n                           REV. JOHN H. WEEKS\n                      (BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY)\n\n\n\n\n                          _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                                 LONDON\n                      THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY\n          4 BOUVERIE STREET; & 65 ST. PAUL\u2019S CHURCHYARD, E.C.\n                                  1911\n\n\n\n\n                                   TO\n\n                     MY COLLEAGUES, LIVING AND DEAD\n\n             WHOSE ARDUOUS LABOURS AND FAITHFUL LIVES HAVE\n                 REDOUNDED TO THE GLORY OF CHRIST, AND\n            TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS KINGDOM IN CONGOLAND\n\n                                 AND TO\n\n                   THOSE CO-WORKERS IN THE HOME-LAND\n\n            WHOSE GENEROSITY, PRAYERS AND KINDLY WORDS HAVE\n                 SUPPORTED, STRENGTHENED AND ENCOURAGED\n                    THEM ALL THESE YEARS, THIS BOOK\n                       IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE\n\n\nA brass rod is the money of by far the larger number of the people on\nthe Lower and Upper Congo. In thickness it is not quite so stout as an\nordinary slate pencil, and varies now in length, according to the tribe\nusing it, from five inches long on the Lower Congo to an indefinite\nlength among the more distant tribes of Congo\u2019s hinterland. Originally\nthe brass wire was employed on the Congo for purposes of ornamentation,\neither of the person in the form of necklets, armlets, and anklets, or\nof articles they greatly prized and wished to decorate. It was beaten\ninto ribbons and wound round the hafts of their favourite spears,\npaddles, and knives which were only used on gala days; or the wire was\nmelted down, and, with much skill, made into personal ornaments. I have\nseen brass necklets weighing twenty-eight pounds, and have taken from a\nwoman\u2019s legs brass rings that weighed in the aggregate nearly sixty\npounds. It is probable that at first this brass wire changed hands in\nlengths of several fathoms, and gradually pieces of a certain length\nwere sold at a fixed value, and thus it became in due time the article\nof common exchange--the currency, the money of the country.\n\nFor a considerable time the writer has been interested in the folklore\nand anthropology of the people, and has made long and careful notes on\nsuch subjects, and some of this information he has worked into the\nstory. For obvious reasons much must be left unwritten[1] in a popular\nbook; but that which finds a place in the following pages can be\naccepted as perfectly trustworthy and true to Congo life. The missionary\nand other experiences are founded on fact, the views and prejudices of\nthe natives are faithfully pourtrayed and are not exaggerated, and the\nnative superstitions have, as shown here, resulted in innumerable cases\nof murder by ordeal, and the killing off of the most progressive\nnatives, possessors of inventive genius, of irrepressible energy and of\ngreat skill--the best men, who would have been the leaders of their\npeople and would have left them more advanced than they found them but\nfor the witch-doctor and the ordeal.\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  It may interest those who would read further on the folklore of the\n  Lower Congo people that in _Folk-Lore_ (the Journal of the Folk-Lore\n  Society) for 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 more detailed articles will be\n  found, which were furnished by the writer.\n\nBy writing under the guise of a Brass Rod, worn first round the neck of\none owner and then round the arm of another, the writer has had more\nscope, and he hopes has been able to make the scenes from life more\nrealistic than he could have done by the ordinary method. And the reader\nwill find that the book deals much more largely with the people of the\ncountry--their habits, customs, views of life and superstitions--than\nwith the scenery.\n\nThe book has been written during the intervals of deputational work; and\nits object is to lay clearly before the reader the ingrained prejudices,\nthe curious views, the tremendous and all-pervading superstitions, and\nthe mighty forces that have been arrayed against the introduction of\nChristianity into that benighted land, and how, in spite of such forces\nagainst it, the evangel of Jesus Christ has triumphed more wonderfully\nthan our poor faith and often blundering efforts have deserved.\n\nIt is hoped that superintendents, Sunday-school teachers, leaders of\nChristian Endeavours and of missionary prayer-meetings may find that the\nreading aloud of some of these chapters will awaken in their scholars\nand hearers a deeper sympathy with missionary work, and that ministers\nand teachers will discover in the stories told around the Congo fire,\nwhich form the second part of this volume, _new nails_ upon which to\nhang old truths.\n\n                                                      JOHN H. WEEKS.\n\n    _Baptist Mission House,\n        19 Furnival Street, Holborn._\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n PREFACE                                                             vii\n\n                                 PART I\n\n                                CHAPTER I\n\n                            EN ROUTE TO CONGO\n\n _I am packed in a box--Sent to Congoland--My journey on the           1\n   ocean steamer--Curious names of the Kroo boys--Landed at\n   Banana--Thrown on the deck of a river steamer_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n\n                         MY JOURNEY UP THE CONGO\n\n _Our captain and tyrant--River scenes--We camp at a                   6\n   trading-station--Native riddles_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER III\n\n                       MY OVERLAND JOURNEY BEGINS\n\n _The white man\u2019s fetish--I am exchanged with others for rubber       12\n   and ivory--My new companions express freely their opinions\n   about the white men--Why the white men are on the\n   Congo--Native suspicions and prejudices_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n\n                      WE REACH THE TOWN OF MY OWNER\n\n _Crossing the Mpalabala hills--The head man knocks his toes--It      19\n   is an evil omen--He visits the \u201cmedicine man\u201d--Finds his\n   brother dying--Last hours of the dying chief_\n\n\n\n                                CHAPTER V\n\n                             A FUNERAL ORGY\n\n _Satu becomes chief--Preparations for the funeral feast--My box      24\n   is opened--I become a neck ornament--Bakula, my new owner, is\n   smart, but superstitious--The mourners assemble and present\n   their gifts--The toilet before eating--Drunkenness and\n   quarrelling--Corpse is carried to the grave--A white man wants\n   to steal the ivory trumpets--He is shaved and sent about his\n   business_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n\n                              OUR TOWN LIFE\n\n _Streets are irregular--Houses small and draughty--Their             34\n   reception, dining, and drawing rooms are in the open\n   air--Their many charms and fetishes--Routine of the\n   day--Bakula tells a story: \u201cHow the Sparrow set the Elephant\n   and the Crocodile to pull against each other\u201d--Tumbu, a slave,\n   relates the tale of \u201cThe Four Fools\u201d--And Bakula tells: \u201cHow\n   the Squirrel won a Verdict for the Gazelle\u201d_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VII\n\n                        THE SEARCH FOR THE WITCH\n\n _People believe their chief died by witchcraft--They send for        49\n   the witch-finder--His arrival and antics--The ceremony of\n   discovering the witch--Satu\u2019s brother, Mavakala, is\n   accused--Why was Mavakala accused?--He takes the\n   ordeal--Proves his innocence--Other tests are forced on\n   him--He is done to death_\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n\n                             VISITORS ARRIVE\n\n _The dulness and pettiness of native life--Arrival of two            58\n   visitors--Bakula questions them about the white man--They\n   relate the little they know about him--Old Plaited-Beard stirs\n   the people up against the white man--They exchange their views\n   about him--They agree to oppose him--The white man is seen\n   approaching--He is driven from the town and has to sleep in\n   the bush_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n\n                   SOME CUSTOMS, GAMES, AND A JOURNEY\n\n _The Luck-giver is called to bring prosperity on the town--His       69\n   mode of procedure--Satu and some of his people go on a visit\n   to a great chief--Good and bad omens--The game at\n   \u201cAntelope\u201d--Bakula narrates a story: \u201cHow the Fox saved the\n   Frog\u2019s Life\u201d--Another lad tells why inquiry should come before\n   anger--The difficult road--Bakula and his friends dress\n   themselves--Their mixed wardrobes_\n\n\n                                CHAPTER X\n\n                     OUR RECEPTION AND ENTERTAINMENT\n\n _The welcome of Tonzeka and his people--A case judged--We find       89\n   the white man in Tonzeka\u2019s town--Tonzeka defends the white\n   man--He complains of the effect of the white man\u2019s\n   preaching--A drunken bout_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n\n                        SATU VISITS THE WHITE MAN\n\n _Bakula goes to the white man to have his wound dressed--White      100\n   man puts in a good word for the traders--Bakula is touched by\n   the white man\u2019s kindness--A native dance--An exhibition of\n   native pride--A long talk with the white man--We gain many new\n   ideas from our conversation--Bakula has another interview with\n   the white man and they become good friends_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XII\n\n                        NATIVE GAMES AND PASTIMES\n\n _Make-believe games--\u201cBiti\u201d and needle--Game with canna             114\n   seeds--Hoop game--\u201cMbele,\u201d or Knife game--The story of \u201cThe\n   Four Wonders,\u201d or a puzzle story--Conundrums--\u201cThe Adventures\n   of the Twins\u201d_\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIII\n\n                      BAKULA ACCOMPANIES AN EMBASSY\n\n _A title reverts to Satu--He sends Old Plaited-Beard to the King    131\n   with a present--The embassy arrives at the King\u2019s town--Has an\n   audience in the King\u2019s house--King promises to send a deputy\n   to install Satu--King dines with the white man and sees a\n   magic lantern--Bakula and the white man renew their\n   acquaintance--He sleeps on the Mission Station and hears all\n   about the King\u2019s household_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XIV\n\n                     BAKULA STAYS WITH THE WHITE MAN\n\n _The working of a Mission Station--Buying food--The                 148\n   school--Bakula is afraid to enter the school--Repairing the\n   station--Boys work in the gardens--A quarrel, and how it was\n   settled--An evening\u2019s chat with the white man--Rubbing evil\n   spirits out of a man--Sunday\n   service--Congregation--Sermon--Visit to a near town--Religious\n   talk with the King--Boys pray for their white\n   teacher--Witch-doctor\u2019s trick exposed_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XV\n\n                          SATU RECEIVES A TITLE\n\n _The King sends for medicine--He is told to apply to St.            167\n   Catherine--The King\u2019s promise--Bakula bids farewell to his\n   white friend--King\u2019s deputy goes with us to Satu\u2019s\n   town--Ceremony of conferring the title--Killing a\n   leopard--Satu redeems his brother--Releases his niece from a\n   hateful marriage--A story: \u201cAppearances are sometimes\n   Deceptive\u201d--A chief asks for Satu\u2019s niece in\n   marriage--Marriage money is paid--The wedding--Satu gains a\n   new slave_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XVI\n\n                        HUNTING AND BUSH-BURNING\n\n _Manner of bush-burning--Witch-doctor makes a hunting               194\n   charm--Ceremony is carefully performed--Blazing bush and\n   rushing animals--Satu arranges with another chief to burn the\n   bush--Dimbula breaks the law and insults Satu--War is\n   declared--Old Plaited-Beard being unsuccessful accuses Bakula\n   of bewitching him--He tries to restore his luck_\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVII\n\n                      SATU AND HIS PEOPLE GO TO WAR\n\n _Satu as the insulted party makes the first move--He sends an       212\n   embassy to Dimbula--He asks for an apology or offers a\n   bullet--The apology is refused, but the bullet is\n   accepted--The witch-doctor makes a war charm--Mode of\n   fighting--The ridge-pole of chief\u2019s house is captured--Dimbula\n   sues for peace with a white goat--Pays homage to Satu--Blood\n   brotherhood is made_\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVIII\n\n                GOVERNING, MARKETING, AND TRADING CUSTOMS\n\n _The making and enforcing of laws--Fines imposed--Division of       223\n   fines--Congo week of four days probably named after their\n   markets--Raids and robberies--Preparing a caravan for the\n   road--Rules of the road--Arriving at a trading-station--Mode\n   of trading--Goods given and received_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XIX\n\n                      AN ACCUSATION AND THE ORDEAL\n\n _Old Plaited-Beard charges Bakula with stealing--The accusation     240\n   is denied--Bakula declares his disbelief in charms and\n   witch-doctors--Satu saves him from immediate death--The\n   missing cloth is found in Bakula\u2019s house--Tumbu exposes the\n   accuser\u2019s trickery--He is ridiculed--Bakula submits to the\n   ordeal of the boiling oil--His arm is badly scalded--During\n   the night Bakula escapes to the Mission Station_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XX\n\n                            BAKULA AT SCHOOL\n\n _After much nursing Bakula recovers--He becomes a school-boy--He    252\n   struggles with the alphabet--He learns to understand\n   pictures--Routine life--Bakula itinerates with his white\n   man--He does not relish sleeping in the wet bush--He is\n   convicted of sin--He inquires the way of salvation--The lads\n   play a trick on a witch-doctor--Bakula is received into the\n   Church--He returns to his town_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XXI\n\n                          BAKULA\u2019S WORK CHECKED\n\n _The conservatism of the Congo people--Bakula and his scholars      267\n   build a school-house--A missionary visits his town--He\n   encourages Bakula in his work--A \u201cluck fowl\u201d dies--Its death\n   is put to the credit of the missionary\u2019s visit and\n   teaching--The school-house is pulled down--Satu is afraid to\n   interfere--Native way of punishing an unpopular chief_\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXII\n\n                   BAKULA FALSELY ACCUSED AND MURDERED\n\n _Failure of various remedies--Witch-doctor engaged--Diagnosing a    274\n   case--Different \u201cmedicine men\u201d are called in--Bakula denounces\n   their trickery--Suspicion of witchcraft falls on\n   Bakula--Native attempts to rid themselves of death, sickness,\n   etc.--Preparing a corpse for the grave--Bakula is accused of\n   bewitching his mother to death--He is guarded by Old\n   Plaited-Beard through the night--He is taken to the\n   hill-top--He falls and is done to death--Tumbu buries the\n   mangled body of his friend_\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIII\n\n                           I FIND MANY CHANGES\n\n _Mikula while digging the foundations for a brick house             294\n   discovers me--The town is changed--There is daily\n   worship--Observance of the sabbath--Sunday\n   service--Collections for support of teachers--Christian\n   funeral--Visit to the Mission Station--Teaching\n   teachers--Martyrs for the cause_\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIV\n\n                    A MARRIAGE AND A HARVEST FESTIVAL\n\n _A Christian wedding--Grateful offerings--Christianity a great      307\n   boon to the women--Reunion--Various meetings--Lady\n   missionaries conduct services--Auction sale of the\n   gifts--Changed lives--Mikula instructs a stranger in the way\n   of Salvation--Rules for candidates and for Church fellowship_\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XXV\n\n                    MIKULA AT THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL\n\n _Months glide quickly by while working hard--Deacon\u2019s               326\n   meeting--Church-meeting--The kind of candidates who were\n   rejected--Baptismal service--The great meeting of the\n   Church--Election of deacons--The balance sheet--A\n   deficit--Native Christians wipe out the debt--Local missionary\n   meeting--The great communion service_\n\n NOTES TO PART I                                                     341\n\n\n                                 PART II\n\n        NATIVE STORIES TOLD AROUND THE EVENING FIRES IN CONGOLAND\n\n _Introduction_                                                      361\n\n\n                                    I\n\n _How the Fowl evaded his Debt_                                      371\n\n\n                                   II\n\n _Why the Small-ant was the Winner_                                  374\n\n\n                                   III\n\n _How the Animals imitated the Gazelle and brought Trouble upon      376\n   Themselves_\n\n\n                                   IV\n\n _Why the Fowls never shut their Doors_                              379\n\n\n V\n\n _Why the Dog and the Palm-rat hate each other_                      382\n\n\n                                   VI\n\n _The Leopard boils his Mother\u2019s Teeth_                              384\n\n\n                                   VII\n\n _How the Ants saved the Partridge\u2019s Eggs_                           386\n\n\n                                  VIII\n\n _The Leopard sticks to the Nkondi_ (_wooden image_)                 388\n\n\n                                   IX\n\n _How the Mouse won his Wife_                                        391\n\n\n                                    X\n\n _The Gazelle outwits the Leopard_                                   396\n\n\n                                   XI\n\n _The Gazelle punishes the Palm-rat for breaking his promise_        399\n\n\n                                   XII\n\n _How the Crow cheated the Dove and got into Difficulty through      401\n   it_\n\n\n                                  XIII\n\n _How the Civet and the Tortoise lost their Friendship for each      403\n   other_\n\n\n                                   XIV\n\n _The Water-Fairies save a Child_                                    406\n\n\n                                   XV\n\n _How the Squirrel repaid a Kindness_                                410\n\n\n                                   XVI\n\n _The King-fisher deceives the Owl_                                  415\n\n\n                                  XVII\n\n _How the Tortoise was punished for his Deceit_                      416\n\n\n                                  XVIII\n\n _How the Frog collected his Debt from the Hawk_                     419\n\n\n                                   XIX\n\n _How a Child saved his Mother\u2019s Life_                               422\n\n\n                                   XX\n\n _How the Gazelle won his Wife_                                      425\n\n\n                                   XXI\n\n _The Gazelle is at last punished_                                   429\n\n\n                                  XXII\n\n _The Leopard pays Homage to the Goat_                               433\n\n\n                                  XXIII\n\n _Why the Owls and the Fowls never speak to each other_              436\n\n\n                                  XXIV\n\n _How the Elephant punished the Leopard_                             439\n\n\n                                   XXV\n\n _How the Leopard tried to deceive the Gazelle_                      441\n\n\n                                  XXVI\n\n _The Story of two Young Women_                                      443\n\n\n                                  XXVII\n\n _Why the Chameleon cut off his own Head_                            445\n\n\n                                 XXVIII\n\n _Why the Congo Robin has a Red Breast_                              447\n\n\n                                  XXIX\n\n _The Leopard tries to steal the Gazelle\u2019s Wife_                     449\n\n\n                                   XXX\n\n _The Gazelle kills the Flies and Mosquitoes, and outwits the        451\n   Leopard_\n\n\n                                  XXXI\n\n _The Leopard is badly tricked by the Gazelle, Rat, and Frog_        454\n\n\n                                  XXXII\n\n _Why the Small-ants live in the Houses_                             460\n\n\n                                 XXXIII\n\n _The Son who tried to outwit his Father_                            462\n\n INDEX                                                               463\n\n\n\n\n             The following Stories will be found in Part I\n\n CHAP. VI.\u2014       _How the Sparrow set the Elephant and the Crocodile to\n               pull against each other (p. 39); The Four Fools: a puzzle\n                   story (p. 43); How the Squirrel won a Verdict for the\n                                                       Gazelle (p. 46)._\n\n CHAP. IX.\u2014   _How the Fox saved the Frog\u2019s Life (p. 77); Inquiry should\n                                             come before Anger (p. 81)._\n\n CHAP. XII.\u2014   _The Four Wonders: a puzzle story (p. 122); Adventures of\n                                                    the Twins (p. 126)._\n\n CHAP. XV.\u2014              _Appearances are sometimes deceptive (p. 182)._\n\n                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n                                                   _Facing Page_\n\n       A NATIVE VILLAGE                }\n       THE MAIN PATH ON WATHEN STATION } _Frontispiece_\n\n       THE LOWER CONGO RIVER NINETY MILES FROM THE SEA        10\n\n       A CONGO HUT                                            10\n\n       THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL AT NKABA                   58\n\n       JUNGLE PATH THROUGH THE FOREST                         84\n\n       WATHEN: THE BOYS\u2019 QUARTERS                            100\n\n       WATHEN: THE DISPENSARY                                100\n\n       SCHOOL-BOYS PLAYING HOCKEY                            116\n\n       AT THE GIANT STRIDE                                   116\n\n       GYMNASTICS                                            116\n\n       BUSY WASHING                                          128\n\n       RESTING AFTER WASHING                                 128\n\n       SCENES IN CATARACT REGION                             166\n\n       A WITCH-DOCTOR                                        166\n\n       NATIVE ROPE BRIDGE                                    202\n\n       NATIVE BRIDGE                                         202\n\n       WHITE TRADER AND NATIVE TRADERS AND THEIR PRODUCE     236\n\n       THE REV. JOHN H. WEEKS AND HIS BOYS                   252\n\n       CLOTH WEAVING                                         258\n\n       BLACKSMITHS                                           258\n\n       CATS\u2019 CRADLES                                         284\n\n       A PROTECTIVE FETISH                                   284\n\n       DEACONS OF WATHEN CHURCH                              304\n\n       TEACHERS WORKING UNDER THE WATHEN CHURCH              304\n\n       A CHRISTIAN WEDDING                                   312\n\n       CHURCH COLLECTION AT WATHEN                           312\n\n       A NATIVE MARKET                                       332\n\n       BAPTISMAL SERVICE, CHRISTMAS 1905                     332\n\n                                 PART I\n                           Life on the Congo\n                      AS DESCRIBED BY A BRASS ROD\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  THE BRASS ROD\n\n  [_The currency of the Country_]]\n]\n\n\n\n\n                           LIFE ON THE CONGO\n\n                               Chapter I\n                           En Route to Congo\n\nI am packed in a box--Sent to Congoland--My journey on the ocean\n    steamer--Curious names of the Kroo boys--Landed at Banana--Thrown on\n    the deck of a river steamer.\n\n\nI am much older than you think, for it is more than twenty-five years\nago since I was born in a great factory in one of your English towns.\nThe years that have passed since my birthday have been filled with joy\nand sorrow, rest and toil; but in looking back over them I think they\nhave contained more sorrow and toil than rest and joy.\n\nWhen I was born I was very tall--nearly thirty inches high; but instead\nof growing taller I have become shorter, being only[2] eleven inches\nlong now, for my enemies have cut off one little piece after another to\nmelt down for brass ornaments. Folk think more of finery than of\nhonesty. I must not, however, anticipate my sorrows, for they came all\ntoo soon.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  See note 1, p. 341.\n\nSoon after I was born I was put with many other brass rods into a dark\nbox, and nailed in very tightly; for I heard one of the workmen say that\nI was to take a very long journey over sea and land. There was\nfortunately a hole in my box, and looking I saw that we were first put\non a train, and then carried into the hold of a big ship. Soon after we\nwere all packed carefully and tightly in the hold, the steamer began to\nmove, and we could hear the creaking of the rigging and the rattling of\nthe racing engines, and feel the pitching and rolling of the great\nsteamer itself.\n\nI felt very glad when the pitching and rolling stopped, and the cover\nwas taken from the hold, and the beautiful sunshine came streaming in,\nmaking the rats scurry off with their young to dark corners and cracks.\n\nJust then we heard the bang of a cannon and the shrill scream of a\nwhistle; and, wondering what was going to happen next, we heard the\nbabble of many voices, and the patter of naked feet along the deck; and\na voice shouted; \u201cThere, our gang is complete. We don\u2019t want any more,\nand the sooner you others get over the side into your canoes, the better\nfor your health.\u201d\n\nI heard an old palm-oil barrel who had taken this journey many times\nremark to a new one: \u201cWe are now off the Kroo Coast, West Africa, and\nhave taken on Kroo boys[3] to work the cargo and keep the decks clean.\nThat bang of the cannon was to call them, and the whistle was to hurry\nthem.\u201d\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n  See note 2, p. 342.\n\nI do not know how many Kroo boys we engaged; but they were very noisy,\nand gave us many a sleepless night. At four o\u2019clock in the morning,\nwhile we were at sea, they began to rub the decks with stones and scrape\nthe ironwork with knives, talking incessantly all the time; but when we\nwere in port it was worse, for they not only worked the winches right\nover our heads from early morn till late at night, but they came down\ninto the hold, turned us over and pitched us about so that if I had not\nhad a good wooden box round me I should have been badly bent and\nbruised. Some of my friends were smashed to pieces, and some bales I\nknew received deep gashes in their sides, and others I never saw again.\n\nIt was a sad journey, full of partings, for those Kroo boys never came\ninto our hold without tying up some of my friends, and we saw them for a\nmoment hoisted into the air, and over the side they went, into what?--I\nknew later, but not then.\n\nWhat curious names those Kroo boys had! Some of them still linger in my\nmemory, such as: Peasoup, Teacup, Bottle-of-Beer, Brass-pan, Top-hat,\nKettle, Arm-chair, Pen-and-ink, Kiss-me-quick, Flower-vase,\nNapoleon-Buonaparte, and Duke-of-Wellington.[4] I learned afterwards\nthat the reason why they had these names was that their white masters,\nnot being able to pronounce their proper country names when they first\nengaged them, gave them any name that happened to come into their heads\nat the moment, and such names stuck to them all the days of their\nservice on the coast. It was amusing to hear these names called, or,\nwhen one was asked his name, to hear him answer: \u201cMe, massa, me be\nBottle-of-Beer.\u201d\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n  See note 3, p. 342.\n\nThe Kroo boys good-humouredly retaliated by giving their masters names\nthat picturesquely described any peculiarities they observed in them.\nOne they called Big-nose, another Skinny-legs, another Long-legs, and a\nfourth Bald-head. There was more appropriateness in the names they gave\ntheir masters than the names they received from them.\n\nAbout seven weeks after we started my box was tied with others, hoisted\ninto the air, and thrown over the side of the ship into a big boat, and\nwe were rowed ashore and landed at Banana. As we were going a Kroo boy\nspied me through my peephole, and tried hard to drag me out of my\ncomfortable resting-place; but I clung tightly to the others, and thus\nsuccessfully resisted his attempts to steal me. I soon found myself in a\nlarge store filled with huge piles of boxes, bales, and crates, and long\nrows of large bottles filled with rum and other fiery waters.\n\nAfter a few days a white man came into our store, and, sorting out a\nlarge number of cases, bales and bottles, sent them away on the heads\nand shoulders of Kroo boys. For two days they were carrying out loads as\nquickly as they could, and just as I was thinking that I should not be\ndisturbed a Kroo boy came and lifted my box in his strong arms, and,\ncarrying me across the busy, sunlit yard, threw me with much force on\nthe deck of a steamer, and I became unconscious.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter II\n                        My Journey up the Congo\n\n           Our captain and tyrant--River scenes--We camp at a\n                    trading-station--Native riddles.\n\n\nWhen my senses returned I found my box was piled on deck with many other\nboxes like it, and thus I had a fine view. The sun was rising, flooding\nthe river with its brightness, lighting up the distant hills and\nthrowing into sombre shadow the mangrove trees that lined the banks.\nThere was much hustling and shouting on board as the ropes were cast\nloose; and I soon began to feel the throb of the engines, and hear the\nrush of the water as the small steamer pushed its way against the strong\ncurrent that was hurrying the mighty volume of the Congo to the sea.\n\nOn reaching mid-channel I could see that the trading-houses of Banana\nwere built on a narrow tongue of sand, having on one side the Atlantic\nOcean constantly rolling and sometimes madly rushing as though it\ndesired to tear the very tongue out of the mouth of the river; and on\nthe other side the gentle lap, lap of a back current of the river\nitself.\n\nThe Congo is said to be fifteen miles wide at the mouth--from hills to\nhills; but it does not look so wide because of the islands and mangrove\nswamps that hinder a clear view of the whole width, and narrow one\u2019s\nvision to the channel in which you are steaming.\n\nFrom my position I had an easy view of the deck of our small steamer.\nThere were only two white men on board--a captain and an engineer; the\nformer was a short man, who never spoke without swearing, and never gave\nan order without punching or kicking one of the black crew. He had a\nlarge rubicund nose, hideously coloured by frequent applications to the\nbottles that were always on his table. He was privately nicknamed by his\ncrew as Red-nose, and was thoroughly feared and hated by them all. Many\nof them were slaves and could not get away from him, and others had\ncontracted for one or two years\u2019 service, and if they ran away they\nwould have lost their pay; but notwithstanding this some did escape,\npreferring loss of pay to constant brutal treatment.\n\nThe current was too strong to remain long in mid-channel, so the steamer\nwent near to the bank and pushed and fought its way, with much rattling,\nthrobbing and panting, from point to point of the various bays. When the\nwater was too swift to be conquered at one place, the steamer, snorting\nwith defeat, crossed the channel and worked its way up-river on the\nother side.\n\nThere was not much to be seen--no hippopotami, no crocodiles, and very\nfew natives in canoes, and only an occasional trading-station on\nlow-lying, swampy land surrounded by palm-trees, plantain groves and\nvegetable gardens. Here and there men were to be seen fishing with large\noval nets. They stood on the rocks by which the water rushed tumbling\nand foaming in its hurry to reach the sea, and dipped in their nets with\nthe mouths up-stream, and, pulling up the whitebait thus caught, laid\nthem on the rocks to dry. Others made small fences by the river\u2019s bank\nabout eighteen inches apart and three feet long, and into these they put\nsmall scoop-shaped nets, and drew up the small fish that had passed\nbetween the fences.\n\nBy sunset we reached a trading-station belonging to my owners. Our\nsteamer was quickly tied to the bank, and all made secure for the night.\nThe men soon had some fires lighted along the beach, and saucepans of\nfood boiling on them, and pieces of meat roasting in the ashes. Groups\ngathered round the fires, and after a hearty meal of rice, ship-biscuits\nand meat, they became very talkative, and soon started asking riddles.\nSome of these riddles I still remember after all these changeful years;\nand I will try to tell you a few of them.\n\nA Loango man named Tati seemed to know most riddles,[5] and he was\ncalled upon to make a start. After much persuasion he asked: \u201cWhat is\nthis? _The stick is very little; but it has a number of leaves on it._\u201d\nOne after another attempted to give the answer, but as they all failed,\nTati said: \u201cThe answer is--_Market_, because it is a small place, but\nhas a lot of people on it.\u201d They chuckled with delight over the neatness\nof the riddle, and demanded Tati to give them another.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n  See note 4, p. 343.\n\nTati sat in a brown study for a few minutes, and then, looking up, said:\n\u201c_There were five buffaloes; but only four tracks._\u201d Semo, who was\nTati\u2019s rival in this game, instantly cried out: \u201c_Fingers_\u201d as the\nanswer, because while there are five fingers on a hand there are only\nfour tracks, _i. e._ spaces between them.\n\nSemo was then asked to give one, and without a moment\u2019s thought he cried\nout: \u201c_My father\u2019s fowls laid their eggs under the leaves._\u201d All kinds\nof guesses were made; but at last admitting their failure, Semo said:\n\u201c_Peanuts_,\u201d and of course they all saw it at once--peanuts grow under\nthe ground beneath their own leaves.\n\nSemo was called upon for another riddle, and after a short pause he\nsaid: \u201c_I went to a strange town, and they gave me one-legged fowls to\neat._\u201d This one also was too difficult for them to guess, and after many\nattempts Semo had to give the answer, viz. _Mushrooms_, which have only\none stalk (_i. e._ one leg) on which to stand.\n\nSoon after this the talk became general, and gradually died away as one\nby one they rolled themselves in their mats and went to sleep, leaving\nthe fires brightly burning to throw out warmth to the sleepers and to\nfrighten away hippopotami, crocodiles and sundry other creatures. During\nthe night the snorting of hippopotami could be heard as they gambolled\nin the shallow water near the bank; and occasionally the switch of a\ncrocodile became audible as it hurried by in search of food for its\ncruel but never-satiated jaws; many noises also came from the dark\nforest just beyond the settlement, that filled the night with weirdness\nand made the first glow of dawn welcome to men, birds and beasts.\n\n[Illustration: A CONGO HUT.]\n\n[Illustration: THE LOWER CONGO RIVER ABOUT 90 MILES FROM THE SEA.]\n\nJust as the sun peeped above the eastern horizon bells began to ring,\nand the whole station awoke to life. My friends, the crew, hurriedly\ncame from their mats, and were soon carrying bales, boxes and bottles\nashore, under the directions of a white man, and in an hour or so all\nthe goods for that station were discharged, and the steamer was pushing\nits nose against the strong current of brown, oily-looking water to the\nnext up-river station.\n\nThe higher we ascended the river the narrower it became, and the more\npowerful was the rush of water on its ever-scurrying way to the sea.\nWhirlpools opened up at the most unexpected places, making the steamer\nroll and pitch, and straining the engines until they panted and groaned\nin their never-ceasing struggle with the giant current. Twice we were\ntwisted round in a place called the Devil\u2019s Cauldron and carried\ndown-river, but at the third attempt the giant was conquered, and an\nhour or so later we were tied up to a wharf at the highest point on the\nLower River.\n\nJust below us the river narrows between steep hills to a mile and a\nquarter in width, and through that funnel more than twenty thousand\nmiles of rivers empty themselves into the \u201ccauldron\u201d which constantly\nseethes, bubbles and boils with the rush of water tearing over its\nrough, rocky bottom.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter III\n                       My Overland Journey Begins\n\nThe white man\u2019s fetish--I am exchanged with others for rubber and\n    ivory--My new companions express freely their opinions about the\n    white men--Why the white men are on the Congo--Native suspicions and\n    prejudices.\n\n\nThe morning after the steamer arrived all the goods were taken ashore,\nput into a huge store, and arranged in their places. Just opposite the\nstore door was a large image, gaudily coloured and grotesquely ugly. It\nwas a fetish[6] that the white man had bought of a native \u201cmedicine\nman,\u201d and had placed it there in the store to frighten the natives and\ndeter them from stealing. Of course it was no use, for the natives knew\nthat no \u201cmedicine man\u201d would sell a real fetish to the white man,\nconsequently it did not overawe them, nor keep them from thieving when\nthey had the opportunity.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n  See note 5, p. 343.\n\nI had not been in the store many days when the box in which I was packed\nwas carried out and handed over to some natives who had brought some\ntusks of ivory and rubber to the white trader for sale. From what I\nheard it had taken them a long time to settle the price; but directly\nthat had been agreed upon they quickly selected their goods, viz. forty\npieces of assorted cloth, ten barrels of gunpowder, fifteen flintlock\nguns, one box of brass rods, two demijohns or large bottles of rum, five\ncases of gin, and some common looking-glasses, knives, beads and various\nother trinkets.\n\nI was carried, with the other trade goods, to the native\nsleeping-quarters, and found my new owners were not tall men, but wiry,\nlithe, strong fellows, who, after they had bound us with ropes in long\nbaskets, commenced their tedious overland journey to their town far in\nthe interior. Before sunset we had crossed the hills, descended the\nvalley, and forded by means of a canoe the Mposo river. The boys of the\nparty collected wood and fetched water, and very soon bright cheerful\nfires were blazing, and the camp resounded with much chatter and\nlaughter.\n\nMost of the talk was about white men and their strange ways. One laughed\nat them for having such a silly fetish in their store. \u201cWhy, I know,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cthe \u2018medicine man\u2019 who made it; and he told me himself that he\nhad put no strong charms in it, as he was not going to hurt his own\npeople for any white man; but the foolish white man gave plenty of cloth\nand gunpowder for it.\u201d\n\nAnother asked if they knew Fomu,[7] a white man who lived in the next\ndistrict? \u201cWell, he put a weight under his scale, and cheated us for a\nlong time; but we found him out, and at first we would not trade with\nhim again, until some one found a way to punish him for defrauding us.\u201d\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n  Most white men are known to the natives by native names.\n\n\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d asked another.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d answered the first, \u201cwe procured some bananas and coated them\nwith rubber, and sold them to him as solid rubber; and it was a long\ntime before he discovered it, and then we had to cut every lump of\nrubber into pieces; but I think we recovered what he stole from us.\u201d\nThere was a hearty and good-humoured laugh over this playing off of one\ntrick against another.\n\nJust then an old man with a long plaited beard chimed in: \u201cYes,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cI had a friend who lived in a part of the country where, instead\nof using brass rods as we do, they use strings of blue pipe beads as\nmoney--a hundred beads on each string. One day my friend sold some ivory\nto a trader there, and received some packets of beads as part payment;\nbut when he arrived home he found that instead of there being one\nhundred beads on each string there were only sixty. He was cheated out\nof forty beads on every string, and before he could pass them on the\nmarkets he had to make them up to the proper number.\n\n\u201cAfter that no native would deal with that trader unless he gave two\nstrings of beads in the place of one, so he lost in trying to cheat us.\n\n\u201cPish!\u201d exclaimed the old man, \u201cthe white men are cheats! They put heavy\npieces of iron under their scales to rob us; they put lumps of stuff in\ntheir measures to rob us; they give beads in short numbers to rob us;\nwhen we work for them they beat us just before our term is finished so\nthat we may run away without our pay, and when we have carried loads for\nthem they often pretend we have stolen from them so as to have an excuse\nfor not paying us.\u201d\n\nThe old man had worked himself into a rage as he recalled wrong after\nwrong; but his voice was drowned in a burst of laughter that came from a\ngroup sitting round another fire. \u201cWhat are you laughing at?\u201d he shouted\naggressively.\n\n\u201cNot at you, father,\u201d respectfully answered one of the young men. \u201cWe\nare laughing at what we heard yesterday: A trader had treated his house\nboys, his people, and his customers very badly for some time, so some of\nthem met together one evening, went to his house, and stripping him of\nhis clothes, they carried him into the bush, and rubbed him well with\ncow-itch, and then let him go. He had a very bad time; but he has been\nbetter to his people since that night.\u201d\n\nThere was much snapping of fingers and chuckling over this joke played\non the white man.\n\n\u201cFor what purpose does the white man buy rubber and ivory?\u201d asked one of\nthe boys of the old man with the plaited beard.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d replied the old man. \u201cWhen I was a boy we made pestles\nand trumpets of the ivory, and drumstick knobs with the rubber; but I\nthink the white man only buys rubber and ivory to hide the real reason\nof his presence in our country.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d asked the lad.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the old man, with a knowing look in his black eyes, \u201cthe\nwhite man does not like the work of making cloth, hence they come to\nthis country to buy up all the bodies of those who die to send to their\ncountry to make cloth for them. They preserve the bodies in their stores\nuntil there is a good opportunity of sending them away in their\nsteamers; and when these bodies reach Mputu (the white man\u2019s country)\nthe spirits are forced to return to them by the magic of their great\n\u2018medicine men,\u2019 and then they are compelled to work for them as their\nslaves.\n\n\u201cThe white men have very strong magic, surpassing the magic of our\npeople; but if the white men were not here, very few, if any, of our\npeople would die. Why, a friend of mine told me all about it the other\nday. He said: \u2018In the sea there is a hole,[8] and the white man goes in\nhis steamer to this hole and rings a bell, and the water sprites push up\nthe end of a piece of cloth, and the white man pulls on it one day, two\ndays, three days, until he has enough cloth, and then he cuts it off and\nmeasures it into pieces, and binds it into the bales, as we see in their\nstores. But before he leaves the hole he throws into it some bodies he\nhas bought in our country.\u2019 Yes, the white men are very wicked, and\ndon\u2019t you have anything to do with them. Why, all your relatives who\nhave died are now, perhaps, slaves in Mputu, and some day you may be the\nsame.\u201d\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n  See note 6, p. 344.\n\nA thrill of horror went through the gaping crowd as the old man in\ngraphic language and with dramatic gestures told these things. When he\nhad gained his breath he began again.\n\n\u201cThe other day I heard of some exceedingly wicked white men who pretend\nto tell people about God, white men who will give you medicine if you\nask for it, and will teach you in a school how to read and write, and\nwill even take you into their houses and clothe and feed you. Beware of\nthose white men, for they are only trying to secure you, and you will\nsoon die and become their slaves in Mputu. The other white men say: \u2018We\nhave come for rubber and ivory,\u2019 and we receive plenty of trade goods\nfrom them in return for our rubbish; but these very wicked ones say: \u2018We\nhave only come to tell you about the great God, and to help you.\u2019 They\nare more crafty, cunning and wicked than the others. Keep away from them\nalways, or you will quickly die!\u201d\n\nBy the time the old man had finished there was a large circle of\nhorror-stricken natives around him, who, with many a cry of rage and\nhatred against such evil doings, promised never to go near such wicked\nwretches as these white men were, and with many an oath they threatened\nthey would kill them if ever they had the opportunity.\n\nSoon after this the fires were replenished, and men and boys curled\nthemselves in their mats and cloths, and went to sleep dreaming of the\ncruel wickedness of white men. And all through the night the river went\ngliding by to the great Congo and on to the sea to lose itself in the\nwaters of the Atlantic; and it took no warning to the white men who were\nleaving home, friends, and family to tell such as those who slept on its\nbanks of the great and good God.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter IV\n                     We reach the Town of my Owner\n\nCrossing the Mpalabala hills--The head man knocks his toes--It is an\n    evil omen--He visits the \u201cmedicine man\u201d--Finds his brother\n    dying--Last hours of the dying chief.\n\n\nThe next morning was dull and damp--a weeping morning, and every one\nshivered with the cold as they hastily picked up their loads and\nprepared for the steep ascent that would take them over a spur of the\nMpalabala mountains. The road was a narrow track, steep and stony; huge\nboulders were often in the path, and had to be climbed over or avoided\nby detours, thus making the way difficult and tiring. By ten o\u2019clock the\nsun was shining brilliantly on the white stones, making the eyes ache\nwith their glare and the body perspire with their reflected heat. The\nmen panted beneath their burdens from the heat, and water was very\nscarce.\n\nBy midday we had passed the steep and wearisome hills of Mpalabala and\nwere camped in the valley by a pleasant stream.\n\nJust before arriving at the resting-place the head trader unfortunately\nstruck his toes against a stone, and, being very superstitious, he was\nfilled with horror at the evil omen. It was the general subject of\nconversation as to what this omen predicted. One thought that a wife of\nthe head trader was dead; another suggested that his house and goods\nwere destroyed by fire; and thus they prophesied one evil after another\nuntil Satu--the poor fellow who had struck his toes--could hardly rest\nat the midday halt; and he certainly put on a very woebegone appearance,\nfor he had no doubt some great misfortune had befallen him or was about\nto happen to him. This fear so played on his mind that he had disturbed\nsleep and bad dreams that night; and often started out of a nightmare\nscreaming that his sister or his wife was dead, or his house was burnt\nto the ground.\n\nThe next day a large town was reached, and Satu sought out the \u201cmedicine\nman\u201d there, who was famous through all the countryside for the wonderful\npower of his fetish, and the charms he made from it. Satu told him how\nhe had struck his toes against a stone, and his fear of the evil omen,\nand asked the wizard to avert the evil. Some of his companions\nlaughed[9] at him for wasting his money over such nonsense, while\nothers, who were more superstitious, advised him to fee the wizard well,\nand thus enlist his power to stave off the threatened mischief.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n  See note 7, p. 344.\n\nThis particular \u201cmedicine man\u201d had a charm which was called\n_Kimbaji-mbaji_ (meaning, to-morrow), and any person who came under its\nprotection could not be harmed because he who wanted to hurt him always\nput off the carrying out of his evil intentions until to-morrow, and, as\nyou know, to-morrow never comes. The special charm used by this wizard\nwas a shell full of various herbs which had been pounded, mixed and\nrammed into it.\n\nThe troubled man took a fowl to the wizard, who killed it and poured\nsome of its blood into the shell, which he then placed on the ground,\nsurrounding it with eight little heaps of gunpowder. After dancing about\nthem for a short time, and chanting an incantation over them, he\nexploded the powder and blew his whistle vigorously. These ceremonies\naroused the charm to work effectively in the postponement of the evil\nspells that were being used against the man. The wizard received twenty\nbrass rods as his fee; and Satu went on his journey satisfied that the\nomen could not now work against him.\n\nSatu, however, found on his arrival home that the wizard\u2019s power was\nineffectual in his case, for his brother, the chief of the town, was\nvery ill and nigh unto death. Hence their arrival, instead of being\nacclaimed with the loud shouting of women and children, and the firing\nof many guns, was greeted with the solemn headshakes of the men, the\ncrying of the women, and the beating of drums by the \u201cmedicine men.\u201d\n\nThe patient was apparently so bad that as a last resort they had called\nall the \u201cmedicine men\u201d of the district together in the hope that their\ncombined force would rescue the man from the malignant influence of the\nevil spirit--the _ndoki_ that was killing him. All night long they had\nbeen drumming, shouting, beating gongs, and parading about the town\ncalling on the evil spirit to desist, but without avail, for the chief\nwas now dying, and Satu had only just arrived in time to receive his\nbrother\u2019s last wishes about his property and the names of those who owed\nhim money, and slaves.\n\nAll the goods brought from the coast were piled in the chief\u2019s house so\nthat he might gloat with dying eyes on his increased wealth, and curse\nin strong, passionate language the _ndoki_ who was causing his death.\n\nFrom my fortunate spy-hole I could with ease view the weird scene. It\nwas a small hut built of grass and sticks tied neatly and securely\ntogether. There were two doors, but no windows, and the smoke escaped as\nbest it could through crevices in the walls and roof.\n\nIn the far corner, lighted by the flickering flame of the wood fire, was\nthe chief, lying on a bamboo bed covered with a papyrus mat, and\nsquatting on the floor were numerous women--the hut was crowded with\nthem--loudly talking, and freely giving their advice on the best way of\ncuring the patient. Some suggested one particular charm, others argued\nin favour of certain rites and ceremonies; but all were angry with the\nwitch (_ndoki_) who was regarded as the cause of all the mischief; and\nthey were unanimous in their demand that the witch should be discovered,\ntried by the ordeal, and killed.\n\nIn the early hours of the morning the chief died. The female members of\nhis family, old and young, set up a howl of rage and grief--rage because\nthe witch had killed their chief, grief because their relative was dead.\nThe men fired off their guns to frighten away evil spirits, to give\nexpression to their sorrow, and to inform the spirits in the great,\nmysterious forest town, whence all the souls of the dead go, that a\ngreat man was coming to join them.\n\nUpon Satu rested the responsibility of the funeral, and every detail had\nto be scrupulously observed, or the spirit of the deceased would trouble\nthem as a family, and perhaps cause their extinction.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter V\n                             A Funeral Orgy\n\nSatu becomes chief--Preparations for the funeral feast--My box is\n    opened--I become a neck ornament--Bakula, my new owner, is smart,\n    but superstitious--The mourners assemble and present their\n    gifts--The toilet before eating--Drunkenness and quarrelling--Corpse\n    is carried to the grave--A white man wants to steal the ivory\n    trumpets--He is shaved and sent about his business.\n\n\nAs the deceased chief was a very great man it was necessary to postpone\nhis burial for a month or two until fitting arrangements for a grand\nfuneral could be conveniently made, otherwise his spirit would not be\nsatisfied, and trouble would follow.[10] Moreover, if the chief had been\nhurriedly buried like an ordinary man, the whole countryside would have\naccused the family of meanness and selfishness in wanting to keep the\ndead man\u2019s wealth for themselves. Therefore the body was dried, wrapped\nin a cloth and placed in a hut built for the purpose.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n  See note 8, p. 345.\n\nSatu sent to all the markets day after day for miles round, buying up\nevery goat, sheep and pig that was offered for sale. Having collected a\nlarge number of animals he then began to send out invitations to the\nfuneral ceremonies. It was decided that on the eighth _nkandu_[11]\nmarket day the rites should begin. All messengers sent to chiefs with an\ninvitation had to take with them one or two goats, according to the\nchief\u2019s importance, \u201cto feed them and their followers on the journey\u201d to\nthe mourning town.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n  See note 9, p. 345.\n\nAt the commencement of these preparations my box, in which I had\ntravelled so far, was opened, and I should have been sent with many\nother brass rods to the markets in exchange for goats or pigs; but a lad\ntook a fancy to me, and begged to give an old brass rod in my place. My\nnew master, whose name was Bakula, turned over my two ends, and, hooking\nthem together, he wore me round his neck as an ornament, and as he\npolished me brightly every day I was well able to see all that happened\nabout me.\n\nMy new owner was a free-born lad of high spirits, alertness and agility,\nquick at all games, successful in all kinds of sports; but like many of\nhis seniors, held the women and girls in great contempt except when he\nwanted a favour, and then he could cajole and flatter them until their\neyes sparkled with pleasure and they became his slaves. He was, however,\nvery superstitious, had many charms tied about his person, and regarded\nthe \u201cmedicine men\u201d with great awe and admiration. Bakula quite believed\nthat his success in hunting, his smartness at games, and his general\ngood fortune were entirely due to his charms and the regularity with\nwhich he made sacrifices to them.\n\nThe appointed day for the funeral was drawing nigh, so the preparations\nwere pushed on apace. Large quantities of cassava flour[12] were\nprepared and an immense number of _kwanga_[13] loaves were bought at the\ndifferent markets, and demijohns and calabashes of palm-wine were\nordered for the three days\u2019 feasting that were to precede the interment.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n  See note 10, p. 345.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n  See note 11, p. 345.\n\nThe eventful day at last dawned, and during the morning and early\nafternoon chiefs with retinues of wives, followers and slaves were\nconstantly arriving. They came from all quarters and entered the town by\nall the roads leading to it. Bakula seemed to be ubiquitous, for he\ngreeted most of the chiefs as they entered the town, and led them to\nwhere Satu was sitting in state to receive his guests. Those of humble\norigin knelt before Satu and paid homage to him; those of exalted\nposition received homage from him; and those who were his equals sat\ndown on a mat, and solemnly, they and Satu, clapped their hands at each\nother.\n\nEvery chief, head man, and invited guest brought a gift of cloth \u201cto\nwind round the corpse,\u201d and as soon as the salutations were over the\ncloth was presented, piece by piece, to Satu. The present was supposed\nto be in proportion to the giver\u2019s social position. A chief who on\naccount of his importance had received two goats with his invitation\nwould be expected to give three times the value of the goats in cloth,\nand if he fell short of this he was considered mean; but if he went\nbeyond it he was regarded as a generous, wealthy man, and his name would\nbe in the mouths of all the mourners, and he could strut about puffed\nout with pride.\n\nThis cloth, though given ostensibly \u201cto wind round the dead chief,\u201d was\nreally used to defray the expenses of the feast; and happy was the\nfamily which had no crushing debt left at the close of such festivities.\nSatu carefully noted the value of every gift, and although he could not\nwrite, yet at the close of the day he could have told from his\nwell-trained memory the number and quality of every piece of cloth given\nby any chief.\n\nNearly three hundred people had gathered to the funeral, either by\ndirect invitation, or in attendance on their husbands, their chiefs, or\ntheir masters. It was just at the beginning of the dry season,\nconsequently all the cooking and eating was done in the open streets;\nand those who could not find a house in which to sleep considered it no\nhardship to spread their mats and sleep in front of the houses.\n\nSoon after sunset the ordinary folk gathered round the fires watching\nthe women cooking, while the chiefs and head men sat in groups gravely\ntalking local politics or loudly boasting of their prowess in bygone\nhunts and fights. No cloths were laid for the feast, and no tables were\nset and decorated. Everything was in primitive style. Their fingers were\nall the cutlery they possessed, and their loin-cloths were substitutes\nfor serviettes.\n\nJust before the food was served boys and girls went round with\ncalabashes of water, and each guest took a large mouthful, with which he\nwashed his hands, mouth and teeth in the following manner: Having taken\na large mouthful of water, the operator ejected some of it from his\nmouth in a gentle stream on to his hands, which he washed quickly and\nvigorously. With the remainder of the water he cleaned his teeth by\nputting the index finger of his right and left hand alternately into his\nmouth and rubbing them; then, throwing the residue of the water about in\nhis mouth to rinse it, he spat it out. Lastly, drying his hands on his\nloin-cloth or on a bark cloth, he completed his toilet preparations for\ndinner.\n\nIt was an amusing sight to see scores of men sitting on their haunches\nand gravely squirting water on their hands. The puffed cheeks, filled\nwith water; the intent looks, and the care shown to aim the jets of\nwater straight so as not to waste any, made a humorous picture on my\nmind. How simple and how effectual was the operation! I found that this\nhabit of washing hands, teeth and mouth not only preceded each principal\nmeal, but was also repeated after the meal, and largely accounts for the\nbeautiful, healthy teeth possessed by the natives.\n\nBy now the food was cooked, and the women were turning it out into every\nkind of receptacle they could find--wooden dishes, tin plates, baskets,\nsaucepans and washhand basins were all requisitioned. The guests broke\nup into groups of from six to ten persons; and each group received a\nlarge vessel of smoking vegetables, and another of steaming meat and\ngravy.\n\nAt once the fingers were dipped in, and he who could bolt his food the\nquickest got the largest share of what was going.[14] Vessel after\nvessel was emptied, and stomachs visibly distended in the process; but\nat last operations became slower and died away in grunts of\nsatisfaction.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n  See note 12, p. 346.\n\nI noticed that the men and boys ate by themselves, and the women and\ngirls by themselves. In fact, it was considered beneath his dignity for\na man to eat with a woman; and boys of ten would receive their portion\nfrom their mothers and go and eat it with the men. As a rule the women\nhad what was left by the men, or what they could successfully hide from\nthem. During meals little or nothing was said, as each diner thought\neating was more important than talking.\n\nAt the close of the feast the old men sat in groups talking and drinking\npalm-wine. Now and again voices were raised in angry quarrels; for as\nwine entered, prudence retreated; grievances and jealousies were\nremembered, revived and wrangled over again, and some of them had to be\nforcibly restrained from fighting.\n\nThe younger men and women, hearing the drums resounding with their\nrhythmical beating, went off to dance in the moonlight, and the drinking\nand dancing continued far into the night; pandemonium reigned, law and\norder were forgotten, and the stars looked down that night on a town\nthat had changed into a pig-sty.\n\nThese orgies lasted three nights. Through the day the men lounged about,\nsleeping in the shade; the women did no work, but simply gathered\nfirewood and water for cooking the evening feasts. During the day no\nregular meals were taken, but the folk ate bananas, or roasted plantain,\nor a few peanuts, or stayed their hunger on sugar-canes--all, by\nfasting, were preparing for the night\u2019s feasting.\n\nOn the evening of the fourth day, just at sunset, the corpse was carried\nto the grave for burial. The bearers took it first round the town, and\npretended that the corpse was reluctant to leave the town so they had to\nstruggle with it to the burial place, and there they buried it with its\nfeet to the setting sun, and its head towards the east.\n\nAs the corpse was carried by the houses of the principal men they came\nout to greet it, and fire their guns in a parting salute to their late\nchief; and after that farewell from the town the funeral guns were\nloaded and fired in quick succession to inform the spirits in the great,\nmysterious forest town that an important man was coming.\n\nThe Lower Congo natives always buried at sunset for this reason: During\nthe daytime their own towns are deserted, because the women and girls go\nto the farms and do not return until the afternoon; and the men and boys\ngo to hunt or fish, or work in the forest, or trade on the markets, and\ndo not return until the evening. Hence the old, the sick and the\nchildren only are left in the town; consequently any one arriving during\nthat time would find few, if any, to greet them; but if the traveller\nreaches a town between five and six o\u2019clock the folk will have returned\nfrom their various occupations, and at every step he will be greeted by\nthe people. They think that the great forest town of spirits is\nconducted in the same way, and to ensure a welcome to the deceased they\nbury him just before sunset with much firing of guns, blowing of ivory\ntrumpets, and beating of their drums.\n\nJust as the burial rites were completed a white man, a State officer,\narrived. He was greeted, and a house was cleared out, swept and given to\nhim for the night. The white man walked freely about the town that\nevening and enjoyed the hospitality of the people. He watched the\ndances, listened to the native band composed of ivory trumpets and\nvarious drums, and was free to go and come as he pleased. In the morning\nhe repaid their hospitality by demanding the ivory trumpets from them.\n\nThis unreasonable request the natives refused to obey; a fracas ensued\nfollowed by a scuffle, during which the officer was securely tied.\n\nOne party of the natives wanted to kill him and pour his blood on the\ngrave of their buried chief; but another, and stronger, party resisted\nthis extremity, wishing only to punish him for trying to enforce an\nunjust demand. Finally it was decided to shave the man\u2019s head, beard,\nmoustache and eyebrows and send him off.\n\nWhen the officer\u2019s head and face had been reduced to the smoothness of a\nbilliard ball--native shaving is not a gentle process--he was allowed to\nproceed on his way a sadder, and, perhaps, a wiser man. I heard that\never after that encounter with the natives he heartily and thoroughly\nabused them to his compatriots, but he carefully left out of the account\nhis attempt to steal their ivory trumpets.\n\nThe Congos have a proverb that runs thus: In a court of fowls the\ncockroach never wins his case; _i. e._ the verdict of one race against\nanother is to be received with caution.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter VI\n                             Our Town Life\n\nStreets are irregular--Houses small and draughty--Their reception,\n    dining, and drawing rooms are in the open air--Their many charms and\n    fetishes--Routine of the day--Bakula tells a story: \u201cHow the Sparrow\n    set the Elephant and the Crocodile to pull against each\n    other\u201d--Tumbu, a slave, relates the tale of \u201cThe Four Fools\u201d--And\n    Bakula tells: \u201cHow the Squirrel won a Verdict for the Gazelle.\u201d\n\n\nAs soon as the funeral festivities were over, our many visitors returned\nto their towns and villages, and I soon became interested in the normal\nlife of the natives. Our town was not very large, and its houses were\nnot in regular streets. A person would build to suit his own\nconvenience, and in walking from one side of the town to the other you\nwere obliged to wind in and out among the houses. As a rule there was\nplenty of space between the huts, but here and there they were crowded\ntogether and surrounded by grass fences. These enclosed places belonged\nto the chief and his head men.\n\nThe houses were built with grass walls and roofs, all the work being\nvery neatly done. When new they were rain-proof, but very draughty. The\nwalls were only four feet six inches high, and the ridge-pole was about\nseven feet above the ground. The people cooked their food, ate it, and\nsat outside their houses. In the open air they held their receptions,\ntheir social meetings, their palavers, their courts of justice, and\nevery other town and domestic function. The houses were simply for\nsleeping, for storing their goods, and for sitting in on cold, windy,\nstormy days. There was no privacy about the native manner of living, but\neverybody knew everything about everybody else, and a little more\nbesides.\n\nA great number of charms and fetishes were to be found in the town, and\nit seemed as though they had a charm for every imaginable circumstance\nof life. One man possessed a charm to protect his goods, and another had\na charm to help him steal successfully; one owned a charm to bring him\ngood luck in trading, and another wore a charm to aid him in cheating on\nthe markets the folk with whom he traded. One man whom I saw had a charm\nto render him invisible that he might, unseen, hear conversations, and\nenter forbidden places to his own advantage; and many had bought charms\nto keep evil spirits from jumping down their throats.\n\nMy owner, Bakula, wore many charms about his person. One maintained him\nin good health, another helped him in hunting, a third made him a\nfavourite with the women and girls, and a fourth brought him good luck\nin his trading transactions with the other folk in the town. On the\nappearance of every new moon, Bakula would at sunset catch a chicken,\nand, cutting its toe, drop a little blood on each of his charms to keep\nthem in good humour, or otherwise they would not act on his behalf.\n\nEvery morning soon after sunrise the women and girls went to work on the\nfarms, carrying with them their hoes, baskets and babies; and then the\nmen and boys went to the bush and forests to hunt for game, to tap the\npalm-trees for wine, or to gather materials for house building and\nrepairing. Others went to the markets with their pigs, goats, fowls,\nsaucepans, native woven cloth, or any other article they had for sale,\nor desired to exchange for some needed goods.\n\nTowards the middle of the afternoon the women and girls returned laden\nwith food, firewood and water, and at once set about the preparations\nfor the evening meal--the principal one of the day. Then later came the\nmen and boys firing guns in their jubilation, if they had been\nsuccessful in the hunt, and the female population would rush out\nshouting vociferously their congratulations to the hunters, and passing\nremarks on the bush pig or antelope being carried into the town\nignominiously on a pole between two or more bearers. The other men\narrived from the markets with the results of the day\u2019s trading, or from\nthe forests with the building materials they had collected.\n\nAt five o\u2019clock the inhabitants would all be back, and the town would be\nvery lively--the children laughing and playing at their various games;\nthe men lounging about reciting, with more or less boasting inaccuracy,\ntheir doings during the day, and awaiting with keen appetites the\nevening meal. Over all the noises of the village would be heard the\nangry voices of the women quarrelling; but as such disturbances were of\ndaily occurrence among the women, very few took any notice of them,\nexcept to put in an occasional word to incite the women to greater\nefforts with their tongues.\n\nSoon after sundown the food was ready, and the women turning it out into\nbaskets and wooden platters, carried it to their husbands, hiding a\nportion for themselves. If you, my reader, had walked through the town\nthen you would have seen the head of each family, together with his\nsons, male visitors, and friends, sitting around the vessels containing\ntheir food, helping themselves with their fingers, their hands and\nmouths having already been washed. At some little distance the women and\ngirls would be eating their portions, for they were regarded as inferior\ncreatures, entirely unfit to eat with the men, so they ate in a\nhalf-shamefaced, apologetic fashion out of sight of their lords and\nmasters.\n\nAs you stood looking at them one of the boys would ask you to have a\npiece of his pudding, and if you accepted the invitation and took a\npiece you would find it stick to your teeth like toffee.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d the lad would laughingly say, \u201cthat is not the way to eat our\npudding (_luku_).[15] This is the proper way.\u201d And he would pull off a\npiece, roll it in his fingers, dip it in some soup, and opening his\nmouth let it roll down his throat without any chewing; afterwards\nremarking, with a twinkle in his eye: \u201cYou white boys may be very\nclever, but you certainly do not know how to eat pudding.\u201d\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n  See note 13, p. 346.\n\nIt was quite dark by the time the meal was finished, and the numerous\nfires flared and flickered before the houses, lending an air of\ncheerfulness to the scene. The elders gathered around the fire in front\nof the chief\u2019s house, and discussed the politics of the day with much\nearnestness and eloquence. The lads were allowed to stand silently\naround, listening; and while my owner, Bakula, was there, a pompous man\nmade a long, wearisome speech, in which he showed that he thought more\nof himself than his hearers thought of him.\n\nThe speech was full of bombastic platitudes and boastful words, so the\nchief at last pointed at him, saying: \u201cHere is a little fowl trying to\nlay a big egg.\u201d Such was the effect of this proverb that the pompous man\ncollapsed, whilst his audience chuckled and shook their sides with\nlaughter. And amid the laughter Bakula ran off, and we soon joined a\ngroup of young folk who were telling stories round the fire.\n\nBakula was received with shouts of delight, for he was a merry lad, and\nappeared to have among them the reputation for telling good stories.\nHence he was soon called upon for one, and in a lively, pleasant manner,\nand with much dramatic force, he gave them the following account of\n\n  \u201cHow the Sparrow set the Elephant and the Crocodile to pull against\n      each other.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile the elephant was searching for food one day he happened to pass\nnear a sparrow\u2019s nest, and accidentally knocking against the branch,\nnearly threw the eggs to the ground. The sparrow thereupon said to the\nelephant--\n\n\u201c\u2018You walk very proudly, and not looking where you are going, you nearly\nupset my nest. If you come this way again I will tie you up.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Truly you are a little bird,\u2019 the elephant laughingly replied, \u2018and\nare you able to tie up me--an elephant?\u2019 \u2018Indeed,\u2019 the sparrow answered\nhim, \u2018if you come this way to-morrow, I will bind you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018All right,\u2019 said the elephant, \u2018I will now pass on, and will come back\nhere to-morrow to look upon the strength of a sparrow.\u2019 So the elephant\nwent his way and the sparrow flew off to bathe in a neighbouring river.\n\n\u201cOn reaching the river and finding a crocodile asleep at her favourite\nbathing-place, the sparrow said: \u2018Wake up! this is my bathing-place, and\nif you come here again I will tie you up.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Can a little sparrow like you tie up a crocodile?\u2019 the crocodile asked\nher.\n\n\u201c\u2018It is true what I tell you,\u2019 retorted the sparrow, \u2018and if you return\nhere to-morrow I will fasten you up.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Very well,\u2019 replied the crocodile, \u2018I will come to-morrow to see what\nyou can do.\u2019 And with that the crocodile floated away, and the sparrow\nreturned to her nest.\n\n\u201cThe next day the sparrow, seeing the elephant coming, said to him:\n\u2018Yesterday I told you not to come this way again, because you endangered\nmy nest. Now I will tie you, as I warned you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018All right,\u2019 said the elephant, \u2018I want to see what a little thing like\nyou can do.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe sparrow then brought a strong vine rope, put it round the neck of\nthe elephant, and said to him: \u2018Wait a moment while I go and have a\ndrink of water, and then you will see how strong I am.\u2019 To which the\nelephant replied: \u2018Go and drink plenty of water, for to-day I want to\nsee what a sparrow can do.\u2019 So the sparrow went and found the crocodile\nbasking in the sun on the river\u2019s bank.\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh! you are here again,\u2019 she said, \u2018I will tie you up as I warned you\nyesterday, because you do not listen to what you are told.\u2019 \u2018Very well,\u2019\nsneered the crocodile, \u2018come and tie me up and I will see what strength\nyou have.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe sparrow took the end of the rope and tied it round the crocodile,\nand said: \u2018Wait a moment, I will go a little higher up the hill and\npull.\u2019 So away she flew up the hill on to a tree, and from there she\ncalled out: \u2018Pull elephant, pull crocodile. It is I, the sparrow.\u2019 So\nthe elephant pulled and the crocodile pulled, and each thought he was\npulling against the sparrow; not knowing they were pulling against each\nother. All the day long they pulled, until the evening, but neither\nout-pulled the other. And during the whole day the sparrow was crying\nout: \u2018Pull, elephant, you have the strength; pull harder, elephant.\u2019 And\nin the same way she addressed the crocodile.\n\n\u201cAt last the crocodile said: \u2018Friend sparrow, I cannot pull any more,\ncome and unfasten me, and I will never come to your bathing-place\nagain.\u2019 \u2018Wait a little while,\u2019 said the sparrow, \u2018I am going up to my\nvillage.\u2019 And the elephant said, as she drew near: \u2018Now I know you are\nvery strong. Please come and undo me, and I will never come again to\nshake your nest.\u2019 So the sparrow loosened the elephant and then went and\nremoved the rope from the crocodile\u2019s neck; and from that time the\nsparrow has never been troubled by either the elephant or the\ncrocodile.\u201d\n\nAt the close of this story there were many comments on the \u2019cuteness of\nthe sparrow, and some sage remarks. One little fellow said that,\nalthough the sparrow was small, she had more wit and sense than either\nthe big crocodile or the bigger elephant. Therefore we should not\ndespise people because they are small.\n\nThey begged Bakula to tell them another story; but he said he could not\nremember another just then. They, however, pleaded with him, and at last\nhe said: \u201cIf Tumbu will now tell one of his stories, I will try and\nrecall one of mine by the time he has finished.\u201d Tumbu, who was sitting\nat the back, was pushed forward to a place in the centre, near the fire;\nand as the light from the fire fell on him, it revealed a sad face lit\nwith large, intelligent, but pathetic, eyes.\n\nI knew the boy and his sad story. He was a slave who, in a time of\nfamine in his district a few years ago, had been sold by his parents for\na few roots of cassava, and he was forced from his mother, his village\nacquaintances, and brought to this strange town. The boys and girls\ntwitted him with being a slave, and to make matters worse they taunted\nhim with the miserable price that had been paid for him.\n\nHis sensitive spirit brooded in his loneliness over the insults poured\nupon him, and the marks of his deep sorrows were seen on his sad face.\nHe shrank from the gaze of the many eyes that were now fixed upon him;\nbut Bakula had been kind to him, and had often defended him, and he was\nready to bear anything for his hero. Therefore in a glad, shy manner he\nrelated the following adventure, called\n\n                     \u201cThe Story of the Four Fools.\u201d\n\n\u201cA wizard out walking one day met a boy crying bitterly. He asked him\nthe reason of his tears, and the boy said: \u2018I have lost my father\u2019s\nparrot, and if you can find it I will pay you well.\u2019 So the wizard\ncalled a hunter, a carpenter, and a thief, and told them about the loss\nand the reward, and they decided to search for the parrot.\n\n\u201c\u2018Before starting let us show our skill,\u2019 said one of the four. \u2018You,\nthief, go and steal an egg from that fowl without its knowledge.\u2019 The\nthief went and stole the egg, and the fowl did not move. The hunter put\nup the egg as a mark, went a long distance off and proved his skill by\nhitting the egg. After which the carpenter showed his cleverness by\nputting the egg together again. Then they turned to the wizard for him\nto give a proof of his smartness, and after a little time he said: \u2018The\nparrot has been stolen by the people in that vessel.\u2019\n\n\u201cAll four entered their glass ship[16] and after a time caught up to the\nvessel. The thief went on board, and waved his charm, then he took the\nparrot, laid the table, and had a good feast; and when he had finished\neating he picked up the parrot and returned to his glass ship.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n  See note 14, p. 346.\n\n\u201cWhen the people in the vessel found the parrot gone, they gave chase to\nthe glass ship. The captain of the vessel sent down the rain and it\nbroke the glass ship, but the carpenter mended it, and the hunter fired\nat the rain and killed it. The captain sent the lightning and it broke\nthe ship, but the carpenter mended it again, and the hunter fired at the\nlightning and killed it. So they eventually reached the land and took\nthe parrot to the chief\u2019s son, and said: \u2018Here is your father\u2019s parrot.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe lad was so glad to receive it that he told them to select what they\nliked from his wealth, \u2018even to the wonderful fowl which lays beads, or\nanything else you desire.\u2019[17] They chose the fowl and went their way,\nbut they had not gone very far before the wizard said: \u2018It is my fowl,\nfor I told you where the parrot was.\u2019 The thief said: \u2018No, it is mine,\nfor I stole the parrot from the vessel.\u2019 And the carpenter also claimed\nit, as he had twice mended the broken ship. Moreover, the hunter said:\n\u2018Of course it is mine, for I killed the rain and the lightning.\u2019 Thus\nthey argued long and angrily, and as they could not agree, they at last\ndid a thing that was amazingly stupid. They killed the wonderful fowl,\nand divided it into four pieces, each taking his share. Now who out of\nthese four foolish ones should have had the fowl?\u201d\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n  See note 15, p. 346.\n\nThis story excited a great amount of discussion. Some argued that this\none should have had the fowl, and others argued with much gesticulation\nthat another should have taken the fowl. Each character had his\nsupporters; but all agreed that they were four fools not to let the fowl\nlay plenty of beads and share them.\n\nBakula was now asked again to give his promised story; and he told\nthem--\n\n        \u201cHow the Squirrel won a Verdict for the Gazelle.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen the leopard and the gazelle were living in the same town each of\nthem bought a goat--the leopard a male and the gazelle a female. One\nnight the gazelle\u2019s goat gave birth to two kids, and the leopard, being\nvery greedy, went and stole the two kids from the gazelle\u2019s goat and put\nthem with his own goat.\n\n\u201cIn the morning the leopard called the gazelle and said to him: \u2018My goat\nhas given birth to two kids.\u2019 The gazelle was very much surprised at\nhearing this, as male goats do not have kids, and he told the leopard\nso; but the leopard said: \u2018All right, you don\u2019t believe me. We will call\nthe judges and hear what they say.\u2019 So they carried the case to the\ncourt of animals, who acted as judges, and they said: \u2018The kids belong\nto the leopard\u2019s goat.\u2019 For they were very much afraid of the leopard,\nand thought that if they gave the verdict against him he would kill\nthem.\n\n\u201cThe gazelle went and told the squirrel all his troubles and how he was\ncheated out of his kids. \u2018To-morrow morning,\u2019 said the squirrel, \u2018put a\nrope across your town for me to run on.\u2019 So the next morning the gazelle\nput a rope right by the leopard\u2019s house and courtyard, which were full\nof the folk who had judged the case in favour of the leopard. And by and\nby the squirrel came running along the rope at a great rate.\n\n\u201c\u2018Where are you going so quickly,\u2019 asked the leopard, \u2018that you cannot\nrest a little?\u2019 \u2018I am in a hurry to fetch my mother,\u2019 said the squirrel,\n\u2018for my father has just given birth to twins.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Ah! ah!\u2019 laughed the leopard; \u2018can a man give birth to a child?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Can a male goat give birth to kids?\u2019 retorted the squirrel. Whereat\nthe leopard was so angry and felt so much ashamed of himself, that he\nwent right away from the town and never returned, for fear of the\nanimals laughing at him. And the gazelle carried the kids back to his\nown goat.\u201d\n\nWhen this story ended appreciative remarks were made on the wit of the\nsquirrel, and contempt was poured on the clumsy leopard who so foolishly\nthrew away the verdict given in his favour.\n\nBy this time the moon, full and beautiful, was riding high in the sky,\nflooding the village with its soft, silvery light, so Bakula proposed a\ndance.\n\nUp jumped the boys and girls from the different fires; drums were\ncarried out to an open space, seed rattles were tied round the ankles\nand wrists of some of the dancers, and very soon the rhythmic tap, tap\nof the drums were heard and answered by the clap, clap of the dancers\u2019\nhands as they formed two lines--one of girls, and the other of lads, and\nbegan a dance that only ended in the early morning, and when the\nperformers were thoroughly exhausted with their exertions.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter VII\n                        The Search for the Witch\n\nPeople believe their chief died by witchcraft--They send for the\n    witch-finder--His arrival and antics--The ceremony of discovering\n    the witch--Satu\u2019s brother, Mavakala, is accused--Why was Mavakala\n    accused?--He takes the ordeal--Proves his innocence--Other tests are\n    forced on him--He is done to death.\n\n\nDuring the illness of the deceased chief there was a widespread feeling\nin the town that some one was bewitching him, and that therefore the\n\u201cmedicine men\u201d were unable to cure him. At last one of their wizards\nstated plainly that a witch was at work destroying their best efforts;\nand although they tried charms to ward off, and threats to frighten, the\nwitch from pursuing his (or her) wicked purpose, yet their patient\ncontinued to grow worse, and at last died. And now that their chief was\nburied the people demanded that a proper witch-finder should be engaged\nto seek out the witch.\n\nA great witch-finder was called from a distant town, and on his arrival\nI noticed that he was a small, active man with keen piercing eyes that\nseemed to jump from face to face and read the very thoughts of those who\nstood around.\n\nHe was dressed in the soft skins of monkeys and bush-cats; around his\nneck was a necklace of rats\u2019 teeth mixed with the teeth of crocodiles\nand leopards. His body was decorated with pigments of different colours;\nthick circles of white surrounded the eyes, a patch of red ran across\nthe forehead, broad stripes of yellow chased each other down the cheeks,\nbands of red and yellow went up the arms and across the chest, and spots\nof blue promiscuously filled in the vacant spaces. At the different\npoints of his curious dress were bells that tinkled at every movement.\nThe boys looked at him in deep awe, the girls and women cowered away\nfrom him, and the men, though they feared him, greeted him with a\nsimulated friendliness that ill-accorded with their nervousness.\n\nThe witch-finder (or _N gang\u2019 a N gombo_) was supposed to find his own\nway to the town and home of his client; for how could they believe in a\nman\u2019s occult power to discover a witch if he had not the ability to walk\nstraight, without being shown, to the house of his employer.\n\nTo meet this difficulty the witch-finder had one or two apprentices,\namong whose duties it was to question cautiously the messenger, and to\nobtain from him all the needed information about the town, house,\ncircumstances attending the death of the person, and the relations of\nthe townspeople to one another. If the messenger would not, or could\nnot, give the required knowledge, then the assistant accompanied him\nback to his town, and, as he went, he dropped at the cross-roads twigs\nor leaves to guide his master--the witch-finder--right up to the house\nof his client.\n\nThe assistant ferreted out the quarrels of the family employing his\nmaster, and their animosities towards each other, or towards one of\ntheir number. In every family there is to be found at least one who is\nthe object of the suspicion, jealousy or hatred of the family--the\nunpopular member; and all the information thus gathered is secretly told\nto the witch-finder and the disliked person pointed out to him.\n\nOn the appointed day a great crowd gathered. No member of the clan was\nabsent, except those on trading expeditions. The assembled people formed\na great circle, into the middle of which the witch-finder danced and\nchanted to the beat of the drums. It was a hot day and the sun poured\ndown its scorching rays on the performer, making him perspire so\nprofusely that the various colours on his face and body ran into each\nother, adding grotesqueness to his ugliness.\n\nAs he pranced and danced up and down the circle he put question after\nquestion, and was answered by the people with _ndungu_,[18] or\n_otuama_,[19] as he guessed wrongly or rightly about the dead man\u2019s\nways.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n  See note 16, p. 347.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n  See note 17, p. 347.\n\nPresently he elicited the fact that the deceased had had a very bad\nquarrel with some one, and then he discovered that it was with a man in\nthe town. By crafty questions the witch-doctor narrowed the circle of\nexamination, the people, all excitement, really helping him though quite\nunaware that they did so; and at last, in a fandango of whirling skins\nand rotating arms and legs, he brought himself to a standstill in front\nof one of the men, and accused him of being the person who had bewitched\nthe late chief to death.\n\nIt was the unpopular man, Satu\u2019s brother, who was thus publicly declared\nthe witch, and the whole crowd was astonished that they had never\nthought of him before as the monster who used witchcraft to do his own\nbrother to death.\n\nImmediately on the declaration there was a tremendous hubbub of voices;\ninsults were heaped on the accused, he was jostled about, weapons were\nraised threateningly, and each tried to outvie his neighbour in abusing\nthe denounced man as a proof of his own guiltlessness.\n\nAmidst the _m\u00eal\u00e9e_ the accused protested his own innocence, and\ndemanding to take the ordeal, he ran for his gun[20] to shoot the\nwitch-finder who had, by his false accusation, brought all this trouble\non him. But the crafty _nganga_ had received his large fee, and was\nalready well on his way back to his own town. None doubted the _bona\nfides_ of the _nganga_ except Mavakala, the accused man; and how could\nhe prove his guiltlessness except by voluntarily taking the ordeal.\n\nWhat had Mavakala done to draw such an accusation upon himself? On his\nbrother\u2019s death he had cried as long and as loudly as any of them; he\nhad neglected his person, worn old clothes, dressed his hair in mourning\nfashion, gone unwashed, and had carefully observed all the usual\nceremonies of \u201ccrying\u201d for a near relative, and yet they charged him\nwith bewitching his brother to death. Yes, all his neighbours recalled\nthese facts, but they interpreted them now in the light of this serious\ncharge. Of course, he had observed all these rites simply to deceive\nthem. He must have thought them fools to be duped by his proofs and\nprotestations. No, he must take the ordeal, and that quickly, and the\nordeal-giver must be sent for immediately. The whole of Mavakala\u2019s\nfamily was alienated from him, for was he not accused of the most\nheinous crime of which a human being can be guilty--witchcraft?\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n  See note 18, p. 347.\n\nWhat had Mavakala done to render himself so fatally unpopular? That\nevening the declaration of the witch-finder was discussed round all the\nfires, and as Bakula went from group to group I picked up many items of\nthe indictment.\n\nMavakala was an energetic, successful trader, and from each trading\njourney he came back the richer for his enterprise. They were jealous of\nhis wealth; but among themselves they whispered that his increased\nriches were really due to witchcraft and not to his ability; and were\nnot their suspicions justified, for was he not now accused of selling\nhis brother\u2019s corpse to the white traders?\n\nI heard, too, that Mavakala was a skilled blacksmith, and had made good\nknives out of odd pieces of hoop iron taken from old cases, and bought,\nby him, from traders on the river; and had even made hoes and axes out\nof old bale iron. Many other clever things he had done, all of which\nwere now by these superstitious people accepted as proofs of his\nwitchcraft. He had awakened their jealousy by his energy and smartness\nin business; his skill and ingenuity in smithing had aroused their\nsuspicions, and his prosperity had provoked their hatred. In any other\ncountry his ability would have been admired and honoured, but on the\nCongo it was a sign of witchcraft, and always ended in death by the\nordeal.\n\nIt was then I understood the reason for the backwardness of these\npeople. They destroy their leaders and their best men, and the only hope\nof the people is deliverance from the curse of the witch-doctors.\n\nThe next day the ordeal-giver (or _ngol\u2019a nkasa_) arrived, bringing with\nhim the ordeal bark which he had procured from the nkasa tree in the\nfollowing manner. This tree is supposed to have a spirit; hence, when\nthey are about to cut some of its bark for ordeal purposes, they address\nit in these words: \u201cI come to take a piece of your bark, and if the man\nfor whom it is intended is a witch, let my machet bend when I strike\nyou; but if he is not a witch, let my machet enter into you, and let the\nwind stop blowing.\u201d The machet had bent under the blow, and the omen\nbeing against Mavakala the ordeal-giver made his preparations with smug\nsatisfaction.\n\nMavakala, accompanied by many of the men and lads of the town, was led\nto the bare top of a neighbouring hill, where a rough shanty of palm\nfronds was built. The accused was pushed into this, and told to stretch\nout his arms, and not to touch anything. The ordeal-giver pushed a stone\ntowards the poor wretch, with twenty-seven pieces of nkasa bark on it;\nand then he ground each piece of bark and slowly fed Mavakala with the\npowders.\n\nDuring the process the accused man vomited three times, and should\ntherefore have been set free and carried back to the town with shouts of\nhonour; but was not the omen against him? and besides, was he not\nobnoxious to his jealous and superstitious neighbours?\n\nConsequently, when the ordeal-giver proposed that further tests should\nbe applied, there were none to lift up their voices in protest against\nthe injustice of continuing the cruelty.\n\nMavakala was dazed with the narcotic effects of the drug that had been\nforced on him, and his wits were dulled and muddled. He was taken with\nrough hands from the temporary hut and made to stand by himself, a\nswaying, lonely, pathetic figure--a type of all those who have been\npersecuted or have laid down their lives for the sole crime of being in\nthe vanguard of their generation.\n\nWhile Mavakala stood swaying there, six twigs in rapid succession were\nthrown at his feet, and he as quickly had to name the trees to which\nthey belonged. This he did successfully, and then he was told to name\nthe birds and butterflies that were sailing by. Again he unerringly gave\neach its proper name; but now, just when he wanted his eyes to be at\ntheir keenest, he could feel them becoming blurred with the dregs of the\ndrug he had been forced to take. His tormentors called on him to name\nthe ants crawling at his feet. He faltered, stammered confusedly, and in\nstooping, that his poor, hazy eyes might have a better chance to\nrecognize them, he fell, with a moaning cry, to the ground.\n\nIn an instant the heartless, superstitious crowd was on him; sticks and\nmachets, knives and guns, soon did their work on the poor mangled body.\nNone was too poor or mean to kick his carcass and spit in his face, and\nhis bruised, gory corpse was left unburied upon the bare hill-top--a\nfeast for the beasts of the forests and the birds of the air.\n\nBy and by the stars peeped out, half ashamed to look on a world where\nsuch tragedies were enacted, and as they looked they saw that _thing_\nthere upon the bare hill-top. It was covered with wounds, and every\nwound had a tongue that cried to its God, and to their God: \u201cHow long,\nhow long, shall darkness cover the land, and gross darkness the people?\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter VIII\n                            Visitors Arrive\n\nThe dulness and pettiness of native life--Arrival of two\n    visitors--Bakula questions them about the white man--They relate the\n    little they know about him--Old Plaited-Beard stirs the people up\n    against the white man--They exchange their views about him--They\n    agree to oppose him--The white man is seen approaching--He is driven\n    from the town and has to sleep in the bush.\n\n\nThe excitement of the funeral festivities, and of the hunt for and\nmurder of the witch had passed away, leaving a deadly dulness on the\ntown. The men suspiciously snarled at one another, and the women\nquarrelled with monotonous regularity. Their lives were petty, mean, and\nthere was not enough dignity in a whole village to supply one man. For\ngenerations they had lived on a low level, with their eyes, thoughts,\nand hearts on the ground, and apparently the art of looking into the\ninfinite spaces of God above and around them had been lost in their\nanimalism.\n\nDaily the women went to the farms, or to the markets to barter their\nproduce; and the men went to the forests, to the markets, or to the\nhunt.\n\n[Illustration: THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL AT NKABA.]\n\nBut one evening the town was set agog with the news that a white man was\nvisiting the various villages, and would soon arrive in their town. The\nmen who brought this news had much to tell about the coming visitor, for\nhe had spent two or three days in their village. They were the \u201clions\u201d\nof the evening, and their only regret was that they had not larger\nstomachs to accept comfortably all the invitations to the evening meals\nthat poured in on them.\n\nThe visitors had come to transact business with the chief; consequently\nSatu\u2019s fire was the centre that evening of a large and interested\ngathering. Men and lads crowded near the chief and visitors, while the\nwomen and girls hovered about the outskirts of the circle picking up\nsuch scraps of information as filtered through to them.\n\nMy owner, Bakula, was there, and put the first question, or rather\nseries of questions: Who is this white man? What is he like? Where does\nhe come from? What is he doing in this country? And Bakula stopped not\nbecause his curiosity was exhausted, but from sheer lack of breath.\n\nBakula had put into words what all were longing to know, so they sat\nquietly, while one of the visitors said: \u201cWe don\u2019t know who this white\nman is. He is not one of the traders whom we have seen at Mboma,[21] for\nhe is new to these parts, but he speaks our language very well, though\nat times he makes stupidly amusing mistakes. His carriers say that he\ncomes from Congo dia Ngunga[22]--the king\u2019s town away south. He will not\nsell us things like a trader, for he only barters for food for himself\nand carriers, and not for ivory or slaves. He offers to give us\nmedicine, but we are afraid to take it, for who knows but it may bewitch\nus to death. He has invited some of our boys to his school, and has\npromised to teach them to read and write, and also how to make doors,\nwindows and bricks, like white men. He even promised to clothe and feed\nthem; but we shall not let any of them go. What we cannot understand is\nthis: Why should the white man take all this trouble? Why should he\noffer to feed and clothe our children, to teach them, and to give us\nmedicine?\u201d\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n  See note 19, p. 347.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n  See note 20, p. 347.\n\n\u201cI know why they do all these things,\u201d shouted the old man with the\nplaited beard. \u201cThey want to bewitch you; they desire to take your\nspirits away, and then they will buy up your bodies and send them to\ntheir own country to turn, by their great magic, into slaves. You know\nwhat I told you on the road;\u201d and with angry, burning words and vehement\ngestures he repeated to the whole crowd what he had told the few around\nthe fire the first night I spent among them; and then, with foaming lips\nand glinting eyes, he cried: \u201cThis is the kind of white man against whom\nI warned you. If he comes here let us kill him.\u201d\n\nThe women clapped their hands in horror of the wicked white man, and\nheld their children tightly to them, and the men shifted nervously in\ntheir seats, and loosened the knives in their belts.\n\nIf, at that moment, the white man had walked into the town he would have\nbeen murdered, and his mutilated body thrown into the bush.\n\nIt was some time before they had so quieted as to continue their\ninterrogations of the visitors. \u201cWell, you have not told us what this\nwhite man is like,\u201d called a voice from the back of the crowd.\n\n\u201cNo, I have not,\u201d replied the visitor, \u201cbecause Tata stopped our talk\nwith his horrible charges against the white men. This man who is coming\nis a white man, and you have all seen white men. This one is neither\nshort nor tall, he has no beard, but he has tin saucepans to cook his\nfood in, and a funny thing called a frying-pan, which always makes a lot\nof noise when it is put on the fire. He is a dirty white man, for the\ntwo days he was in our village he never washed more than his hands and\nface, and he smells just like all the other white men.\u201d[23] And the\nspeaker and others held their noses with expressions of exaggerated\ndisgust.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n  See note 21, p. 348.\n\n\u201cI do not think he is dirty,\u201d chimed in one of the listeners. \u201cWhen I\nwas last at the coast I asked one of the white man\u2019s boys if his master\nwas dirty, and he said: \u2018No, he takes a bath every day in his house.\u2019\nYou see this white man is travelling, and has no bath-house with him,\nand consequently in front of you he only washes his hands and face.\u201c\n\n\u201cOh, is that it? Perhaps you are right,\u201d answered the visitor in an\nunconvinced voice.\n\n\u201cI will tell you something else,\u201d continued the first speaker. \u201cOnce\nwhen I was at the coast I was talking to one of the interpreters there\nabout this very matter--the smell emitted by white men; and he said:\n\u2018They give off a bad odour, I know, but one day I heard one of the white\ntraders say: \u201cThose wretched niggers do stink badly!\u201d\u2019 So after all it\nmay be that we smell as badly to them as they do to us, therefore we\nmust not complain.\u201d\n\nThe man with the plaited beard eyed the speaker for a few moments in\nangry contempt, and then he burst out at him in such a tirade that I\nfeared his words would choke him.\n\n\u201cYou dog,\u201d he cried, \u201cyou witch, are you in the pay of the white man\nthat you should thus speak for him? You white man,[24] you bewitched our\nchief to death; not Mavakala, I always said he was innocent and he\nvomited the ordeal three times, yet they would kill him; but you are the\nwitch; you sold our chief\u2019s spirit to these cursed white men, and now he\nis slaving for them, and we shall all die through your witchcraft and\ngreed.\u201d\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n  See note 22, p. 348.\n\nBy the time the old man had finished his invectives the two chief actors\nin this scene were standing by themselves in a circle of anxious,\nterror-stricken faces. They were types of the old order and the new--the\nold order, slaves to witch-doctors, charms and superstitions that\ndemanded the continuance of things as they are; the new order, men and\nlads upon whose minds new ideas were dawning and struggling for the\nmastery against their crude, superstitious fears,--men who were yearning\nfor they knew not what, and were restless through strange strivings in\ntheir hearts.\n\nThere, flooded by the glorious, soft moonlight, stood the two men\nglaring at each other. Murder was in their hearts, and their hands were\non their knives. A few moments more and the pent-up feelings of the\nsurging crowd would have burst their strained barriers and much blood\nwould have been shed, for each had his adherents, when Satu, the chief,\nstepped between the two men.\n\nHe was still dressed in mourning for his brother, and the thick coating\nof oil and soot on his face--a sign of his sorrow, had not yet been\nremoved. He was a superstitious man and much travelled, a man in whose\nsoul what-he-had-seen was struggling with his ignorant, superstitious\nfears.\n\nIn a few calm words he poured oil on the turbulent passions of his\npeople. He scouted the idea that because a man related what he had seen\nand heard that therefore he was a witch; and he soothed the old man by\npromising to oppose the white man.\n\nThere was no more talk that night about the coming white man, for very\nsoon after Satu uttered the above diplomatic words the people separated,\nand went either to whisper their fears to each other around their own\nfires, or to spread their mats for sleep. Several times during that\nnight women woke from horrid dreams, screaming that the white man had\nstolen their children, or was trying to throttle the souls out of\nthem.[25] In the morning as the women went to the farms they related to\neach other the dreams of the previous night, but instead of regarding\nthem as nightmares caused by the exciting events of the preceding\nevening, they were taken as undeniable proofs of the devilish designs of\nthe white men to carry out the awful predictions of the old man with the\nplaited beard.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n  See note 23, p. 348.\n\nA few evenings after these happenings the much-talked-about _Mundele wa\nN zambi_ (or white man of God) was seen descending the hill on the other\nside of our valley. The women, screaming, snatched up their children and\nfled; the men beat some loud sounding notes of alarm on the drums; and\nthen, picking up their guns, machets, knives, sticks, and any weapon to\nhand, went hurriedly to bar the entrance to their town. We saw the white\nman hesitate, stand still a moment, and then come on slowly and\ndeliberately. He evidently knew the meaning of those excited thuds on\nthe drum and the screams of the women.\n\nBakula, with a heavy stick in his hand--how he longed to have a gun so\nas to have a shot at those cruel white men!--ran with the men to the\nroad by which the white man must come. As we hurried forward we could\nhear the men discussing what was to be done. Some were for killing the\nwhite man at once, but the majority said: \u201cNo, we will hear what he has\nto say. We will smell out his wickedness first, and then if there is\ncause we will help you to kill him.\u201d Satu said: \u201cWe will neither hear\nhim, nor kill him; but send him back the way he has come.\u201d\n\nThe white man was now mounting the hill. It was a narrow, difficult,\nrough track that led to our town. He was panting by reason of the\nsteepness of the ascent; and seemed utterly wearied with his long\njourney. He saw the ugly demonstration in front of him; he heard the\nyells and screams of rage and defiance; but he came quietly on--a lonely\nman to a surging torrent of wild, uncontrollable passions. His carriers\nand boys hung back, for they were overawed by the threatening aspect of\nthe crowd.\n\nAs he drew near the white man held out his hand as a sign of his\nfriendship; but Bakula, filled with the terrible stories he had heard\nabout white men, struck at the proffered hand, and missed it in his\nblind rage.\n\nThen arose a babble of curses, contradictory shouts, and threats to kill\nhim if he did not go back. They hustled him about like a battledore.\nThey tore his clothes; but he was so mixed up with them that they could\nneither use guns nor machets without great risks to their friends, and\nhe was not worth that. When their fury had somewhat spent itself, the\nundaunted white man calmly asked them for permission to sleep in their\ntown.\n\n\u201cNo, we don\u2019t want you,\u201d the people screamed.\n\n\u201cI have only come to do you good,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cNo, you have not, you have come to bewitch us to death,\u201d they shouted.\n\n\u201cIf I wanted to bewitch you to death I should have brought guns and\nsoldiers, but you see I have neither. I want to speak to you about the\ngreat and good God Who sent His Son into the world to tell you of His\nlove, and to save you,\u201d was his quiet reply.\n\n\u201cYou are a cunning, crafty witch. We want neither you, nor your\ngoodness, nor your talk about God, therefore go away,\u201d they cried.\n\n\u201cIt is nearly dark, and the next town is a long, long way, and my people\nand I are very tired. Let me sleep here outside your town!\u201d he pleaded.\n\n\u201cNo, not here,\u201d they said. \u201cIt is too close to us; go and sleep by the\nstream in the forest.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is cold and damp there, and plenty of fever and mosquitoes are in\nthat place. Let us sleep here, we shall not harm you!\u201d he smilingly\nsaid.\n\n\u201cNo, not here. Down there is good enough for a witch. Keep the fevers\nand mosquitoes away with your magic,\u201d they sneeringly retorted.\n\nSadly and wearily the white man retraced his steps, and as he went down\nthe hill he called his carriers and boys, and that night they put up\nsome waterproof sheets to serve as a tent to protect them from the heavy\ndews and dripping trees.\n\nWell, it might have been worse, and through his God-given calmness the\nwhite man had come out of a very difficult and dangerous position with\nonly a few rents in his clothes and a few bruises on his body. We heard\nmany things about the white man next morning when his boys came up to\nthe town to buy some food from the people.\n\nAll through that night the natives in the town danced around their\nfetishes to keep them alert in protecting them from the white man\u2019s\ndevilry: drums were beaten and gongs sounded to frighten the evil\nspirits away; and guns were occasionally fired to warn off witches, and\nthe lonely white man down in his camp, as he heard the various sounds,\nprayed: \u201cFather, forgive them, they know not what they do,\u201d and\nespecially did he pray for the lad who struck at his outstretched hand.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter IX\n                   Some Customs, Games, and a Journey\n\nThe luck-giver is called to bring prosperity on the town--His mode of\n    procedure--Satu and some of his people go on a visit to a great\n    chief--Good and bad omens--The game at \u201cAntelope\u201d--Bakula narrates a\n    story: \u201cHow the Fox saved the Frog\u2019s Life\u201d--Another lad tells why\n    inquiry should come before anger--The difficult road--Bakula and his\n    friends dress themselves--Their mixed wardrobes.\n\n\nSatu, the chief, wished to have a healthy and prosperous town, and his\npeople were one with him in this laudable desire. Now the only way they\nknew of obtaining their object was to send for the luck-giver (or,\n_ngang\u2019a zumbi_), who possessed a bag of charms consisting of pieces of\nthe skins of various animals and reptiles, bits of herbs, and powders\nconcocted of indescribable messes. These were supposed, when properly\nused, to impart good health to a town, good luck in breeding animals,\nand prosperity in trade. The people clubbed their moneys together, for,\nas all were to share in the good fortune to be conferred by the charm,\nall were expected to give towards its expenses; and as the benefits\nwould be large the cost would also be proportionately great.\n\nI had observed that people who owned little fetishes and expected small\nbenefits only from them made small offerings to them, such as a little\nblood from the foot of a frog, or from the toe of a chicken that cost\nthem nothing. Those who wanted larger boons killed fowls and poured\ntheir blood over their fetishes; and those who wished for greater\nadvantages sacrificed goats every month--their expectations were in\nproportion to their sacrifices.\n\nThe fee having been collected, the luck-giver was called. He was a\nwizen-faced, withered man with small, crafty, shiftless eyes. His\nappearance seemed to belie his cornucopian office; but, perhaps, he\ncould give to others the good fortune that he had apparently failed to\nprocure for himself.\n\nOn his arrival he very carefully selected a hard wood log and cut a hole\nin it, and into this hole he put bits of all the articles from his bag\nso as to make the log an effective charm. A hole was dug in the ground\non the outskirts of the town by the side of the road along which the\nwomen passed when fetching water from the stream. A goat was then killed\nand the head put in the hole, and the fetish stick erected on it--this\nwas supposed to preserve the post from the attacks of the white\nants,--and then the blood from the slain goat was poured over the charms\nin the post; and over the hole containing the charms was tied a piece of\npalm-tree gossamer, which also was drenched with the goat\u2019s blood. Earth\nwas rammed round the stick, and the fetish was now completed, and ready\nto work.\n\nBut there was one prohibition that the luck-giver said must be\nscrupulously observed: nothing tied in a bundle could be brought into\nthe town, or the charm would become ineffective, and its luck-giving\npower destroyed. Women returning with firewood must untie their bundles\nbefore reaching the fetish; men with bundles of thatching-grass must\ntake off the bands; carriers with loads must either loosen all the\ncords, or make a wide detour to avoid the town; and the people must\nremove their girdles and belts.\n\nThis was a very cunning prohibition, for, if the town had good health,\nthe animals bred well, and the trade prospered, then the luck-giver\nreceived all the credit for making such a wonderful charm; but if no\ngood results followed the expense and trouble of setting up such a\ncostly fetish, then some one had broken the taboo and nullified the\nluck-giving properties of the fetish post.\n\nAs the luck-giver was there Satu and some of the head men thought they\nwould invest in a luck charm for their own private use. My owner,\nBakula, longed to speculate in one, and he counted his little store of\nsavings, but found that he had not near enough for the fee, etc.\n\nThe necessary arrangements having been made and the fee paid, Satu and\nthe head men selected strong, young cocks and carried them to the\nluck-giver, who took out of his bag of charms a small portion of each\nand pounded them carefully into a well-mixed paste, and a little of this\n\u201cmedicine\u201d he gave to each cock, and thereupon they became the very\nembodiment of luck and all kinds of good fortune to their happy owners.\n\nAs only rich men could afford such luxuries as these expensive charms\nthe superstitions respecting their wealth-giving powers were fostered\nand maintained. From that time these fowls were treated as fetishes. No\none was permitted to beat or hurt a luck fowl (or _nsusu a zumbi_). It\nwas respected like a chief, and strutted about the town crowing\naggressively, as though it were fully cognizant of its own importance.\n\nThis fetish fowl was supposed to tell its owner of coming events as\ndanger to the town or to himself. By its crow it predicted the future,\nand, as only the owner was able to rightly interpret the crow, he had\ntherefore exclusive information which he could use for his own\nadvantage. I found afterward that when these fowls grow old they are\nkilled and eaten only by their owners, and the charm is given to other\nfowls; and sometimes the charm is put into a billy-goat or into a male\npig, and they are then treated with respect like the fetish fowls, and\ntell their masters by their bleatings and gruntings of future events.\n\nOne day Satu told his people that he was going in eight days to visit\nthe great chief of a distant town, and he asked some of his people to go\nwith him. He had fourteen wives, but he promised to take only six of\nthem. He reckoned to be absent about a fortnight, or, as they put it,\nfour _nkandu_,[26] i. e. sixteen days. Great preparations were made for\nthis visit of ceremony. All who owned bits of finery brought them out of\ntheir hiding-places and furbished them anew. Cassava roots were dried,\npeanuts were shelled, and as the day of departure drew near _kwanga_[27]\nbread was made ready for the journey. Messengers had been sent to inform\nthe chief of the coming visit, and had returned with greetings and words\nof welcome.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n  See Chapter XVIII, on native markets, p. 223.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n  See note 11, p. 345.\n\nThe day at last dawned on which Satu was to pay his important visit to a\nbrother chief. Bakula, with a bundle of Satu\u2019s best cloths, cosmetics\nand trinkets, led the way; then came some ordinary town-folk carrying\nsleeping-mats, food for the journey, small bottles of palm-oil, and\ncakes of camwood powder. Following these was our town band, consisting\nof five ivory trumpets and three drums. Whenever we drew near to a\nvillage or town our band played to notify the folk that some great men\nwere coming. Behind the band came Satu with his six wives, other head\nmen followed with contingents of wives from their harems, and Old\nPlaited-Beard brought up the rear with three of his wives.\n\nWe had not gone very far when a snake darted out of the grass on one\nside of the road, but instead of crossing the path, it turned up towards\nthe oncoming party. Bakula, terrified at the evil omen, called a halt\nand sent word along the line to ask Satu what was to be done.\n\nWhile Satu was hesitating Old Plaited-Beard came up, and as soon as he\nheard of the ill omen he insisted that the whole party should return and\nstart the journey over again. Many protested at this foolishness, but\nothers, swayed by superstitious fears, agreed that the only wise course\nwas to return at once.\n\nFortunately we were not far from our town, and before the sun was very\nhigh we were back at the starting-point, where we rested for a short\ntime, and received the condolences of those left in the town.\n\nIf the snake had only turned the other way it would have been an augury\nof good luck. Bakula, directly he saw it coming out of the grass, should\nhave shouted, and then the snake would have directed its course the\nopposite way. He might have turned, by prompt action, an ill omen into a\ngood augury, and we should have been saved all this trouble.\n\nAfter a rest we again started, and as a bird flew along the path in the\ndirection in which we were going everybody began to laugh and crack\njokes, for this omen of the bird was entirely in our favour.\n\nAbout the middle of the afternoon we reached a village, where we decided\nto spend the night. The chief of this village, being a man of no family,\npaid homage to Satu, and gave him and the other head men houses for the\nnight, but the ordinary members of the party slept in the open. Satu\nalso received from the chief presents of different kinds of food, as\nbunches of plantain, baskets of cassava flour, a few fowls, and two\ndemijohns of palm-wine, which was fizzing loudly with fermentation and\nwas strong enough to make them drunk, only fortunately there was not\nenough of it.\n\nWhile we were resting I noticed the youngsters in this village played an\namusing game called \u201cAntelope,\u201d and they did it in the following manner:\nAll the players but one ran about on all-fours with their faces upwards,\none person alone being allowed to stand up, and he was called the\n\u201cantelope,\u201d and the others were called the \u201chunters.\u201d They scuttled\nabout in this ridiculous attitude, and each tried to touch, or kick the\n\u201cantelope\u201d with his foot.\n\nA large court had been marked out on the ground, and the \u201cantelope\u201d was\nnot allowed to go outside it, and the \u201chunters\u201d tried to hem him in a\ncorner; but when the \u201cantelope,\u201d to avoid being touched, ran out of\ncourt all the \u201chunters\u201d got on their feet and chased him, and he who\nfirst pretended to cut him up with a knife became the \u201cantelope.\u201d\n\nA general _m\u00eal\u00e9e_ usually ensued, for every one pretended to cut him up\nwith shouts of \u201ca leg for me,\u201d \u201chead for me,\u201d \u201csome flesh for me.\u201d The\ngame excited much laughter, and all seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.\n\nAfter the evening meal was over, and the men had lit their pipes and\ngone to hold high converse on politics, woman, and sundry other\nimportant matters, Bakula was called upon by the young men of the party\nto tell a story or two before they rolled themselves in their mats for\nthe night.\n\nNothing loth, he told, with all his usual grace and sprightliness, the\nfollowing story, perhaps suggested by the fact that they themselves were\non a journey. He called it--\n\n                     \u201cHow the Fox saved the Frog.\u201d\n\n\u201cA Frog, having built a nice town, received a visit from several\nwell-dressed young men. The Frog welcomed them, and they very civilly\nanswered his greetings. The Frog asked them where they were going, and\nthey replied: \u2018We are not going anywhere in particular; we are just\nwalking about visiting the towns.\u2019 The Frog called out his thirty wives\nto come and pay their respects to the visitors, and they came out of\ntheir houses and greeted the young men.\n\n\u201cThe wives asked their husband how he came to know them, and he replied:\n\u2018I do not know them, but seeing them well dressed I saluted them.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh! you welcomed them because they are well dressed,\u2019 they retorted;\n\u2018yet ever since we married you we have never received any new cloths\nfrom you.\u2019[28]\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n  It is the custom for a man to give his wife at least one new cloth\n  every year.\n\n\u201c\u2018Never mind,\u2019 he said, \u2018I am well known as a great chief who has built\na whole town and married thirty wives.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh yes,\u2019 they answered, \u2018you are well known; but we work and farm, and\nhave no cloths, only rags, hence you don\u2019t respect us like those who are\nwell dressed.\u2019 The Frog was dumb.\n\n\u201cThe Frog asked the young men where and how he could buy some cloth, and\nthey told him that if he carried some peanuts to Mboma[29] he could buy\nplenty there, and the road was not difficult to find, for if he followed\nthe river he would reach there in a few days. The Frog was glad to hear\nthis, and thereupon he killed six fowls and made a feast for his\nfriends, and told each of his wives to bring him a large basket of\npeanuts in the morning, for he said: \u2018Altho\u2019 I am a big chief of a large\ntown I feel ashamed, because my wives have had no new cloths since I\nmarried them, and they do not dress properly.\u2019\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n  See note 19, p. 347.\n\n\u201cThe next morning the peanuts were brought and tied into a load, and for\nthe journey some food was prepared, and the Frog started, telling his\nwives that he would be back in twenty days.\n\n\u201cOn the third day of his journey the Frog reached a large baobab-tree\nthat had fallen across the road, and while he was considering how he, a\nperson with such short legs, could jump over it, he heard a voice say:\n\u2018If you are a strong man please put down your bundle and save me, for as\nI was on my way to visit my wife\u2019s family this tree fell on me and has\nheld me here for twenty months. Have pity on me and help me now from\nunder this tree.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen the Frog heard this, he at once put down his load and went under\nthe tree, and swelled and swelled until he lifted it and the Snake was\nable to crawl out; then the Frog let the tree down again, and went to\npick up his load to continue his journey. The Snake, however,\nimmediately caught him by the leg, and told him to get ready to be\nswallowed.\n\n\u201cThe Frog said: \u2018What have I done that you should swallow me, for\nalthough I had a right to be paid for helping you, yet I did not ask for\nanything! Let me go on my way to Mboma.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhile they were arguing about this an Antelope arrived, and he was\nasked to judge between them; but when he had heard the whole matter he\nwas afraid to settle the affair properly, for he said to himself: \u2018If I\nlet the Frog go, who is right, but little, then the Snake will kill me.\u2019\nSo the Antelope gave the verdict in favour of the Snake.\n\n\u201cThe Snake quickly said: \u2018Do you hear that? Get ready at once and I will\nswallow you.\u2019 But the Frog cried: \u2018He would have given me the verdict\nonly he is afraid of you.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhile they were discussing this point a Fox arrived on the scene, and\nhe wanted to hear all about it. When the case was laid before him, the\nSnake said: \u2018Am I not in the right, for I am very hungry and want to\nswallow the Frog?\u2019\n\n\u201cBut the Fox would not give the verdict until he had seen the Frog lift\nthe tree, so he said to the Snake: \u2018Release the Frog\u2019s leg and let him\ngo and raise the tree,\u2019 which the Frog did at once.\n\n\u201cThe Fox said: \u2018Truly the Frog is very strong to lift so large a tree.\nNow, Snake, you go under it, and show us how you were lying beneath the\ntree.\u2019 So the Snake went, thinking he would surely win the case as the\njudge was taking so much trouble over it, but the Snake was no sooner\nunder the tree than the Fox called out: \u2018Frog, let go the tree,\u2019 and\ndown it came right on the Snake, holding him so that he could not get\naway.\n\n\u201cThe Fox then said to the Snake: \u2018You are entirely in the wrong, for\nyour friend did a kindness to you in helping you in your trouble, but\nyou want to repay him by a bad deed--you want to swallow him.\u2019\n\n\u201cThereupon they all went away, leaving the Snake under the tree, as no\none would help him again for fear of his ingratitude.\n\n\u201cThe Frog thanked the Fox for saving him, and gave him his load of\npeanuts, and they became great friends.\u201d\n\nAt the close of this story no one had a word to say in defence of the\nSnake\u2019s ingratitude. All thought he was rightly punished in being left\nbeneath the tree to starve to death, and Bakula remarked that:\n\u201cIngratitude is a crime so black that no one ever owned to being guilty\nof it, and everybody is ready to condemn it in others.\u201d\n\nThis story had so swept sleep from their eyes that they begged Bakula to\ntell them another of his stories; but he said he could not recall any\nmore stories that night; and then another lad volunteered, and, with\nmuch laughter, told the following story of the trick a jocular boy\nplayed on two friends. I call this--\n\n                  \u201cInquiry should come before Anger.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnce upon a time a Wine-gatherer and a Fisherman became great friends;\nthey ate together, walked and talked together, and went to work\ntogether; and when one went to collect wine from his palm-trees the\nother would look after his fish-traps in the streams and pools near to\nthe palm-trees; and after their work was finished they would meet in the\nbooth to drink the wine and cook and eat the fish together.\n\n\u201cOne day, while thus eating and drinking, the Wine-gatherer said: \u2018There\nis no one who can break the strong friendship that exists between us\ntwo,\u2019 and the Fisherman assented, saying: \u2018Why, if you had not mentioned\nit, I was going to remark that no one can separate us one from the\nother.\u2019\n\n\u201cA frolicsome boy heard them make this covenant of friendship, and\nlaughingly said to himself: \u2018When they go away I will do that which will\ntest their friendship for each other.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn a short time the two friends returned together to their town, and\nwhen they had gone the boy took the hoop and climbed up the palm-trees,\nand removed all the small calabashes that were placed there to catch the\npalm-wine, and then he went to the pools and streams and gathered all\nthe fish-traps, and put the calabashes in their place, and the\nfish-traps he tied to the palm-trees. Having thus changed them he\nreturned to his town.\n\n\u201cNext morning the Wine-gatherer and the Fisherman awoke, and calling\neach other they started for the valley where their work was, and there\nparted--one to look at his calabashes on the palm-trees, and the other\nto visit his fish-traps.\n\n\u201cThe Wine-gatherer, on arriving at the booth, took his hoop and climbed\na palm-tree, and there he found, not his calabash, but a fish-trap; he\npulled it off and threw it down in anger, and descended the palm. Thus\nhe went from palm to palm and found nothing but fish-traps, which he\ncollected and carried to the booth, and sat down to wait for his friend,\nfull of wrath and indignation.\n\n\u201cWhile this was happening the Fisherman was going from pool to stream,\nfinding nothing but small calabashes floating on the water where he had\nput fish-traps the night before. In great anger he gathered them up and\ncarried them to the booth, and there he met his friend, who said: \u2018Those\ncalabashes, are they not mine?\u2019\n\n\u201cTo him the Fisherman replied: \u2018Those fish-traps, are they not mine?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Why did you put your useless fish-traps in my palm-trees?\u2019 excitedly\nasked the Wine-gatherer.\n\n\u201c\u2018Why did you put your silly calabashes in my streams and pools?\u2019\nretorted the Fisherman.\n\n\u201cAnd without more ado they stood up and beat each other, and cut each\nother, until at last they fell exhausted to the ground.\n\n\u201cAt this moment the mischievous boy arrived, and seeing their plight,\nsaid: \u2018What! are you not friends? Why have you been beating each other?\nI heard your covenant of friendship the other day, and because I wanted\nto try it I went and changed your things. Now you have been quarrelling\nwith each other without talking matters over. Inquiry should come first,\nand anger follow after.\u2019\u201d\n\nThis story elicited many a chuckle from the listeners; but at last,\novercome by sleep, they rolled themselves in their mats and were soon in\nthe land of dreams. The next morning they were astir before sunrise, and\nafter traversing many hills and wading several swamps and streams Bakula\nand his friends reached their noon camping-place, tired, hungry and\ndisagreeable. Everybody threw down his or her load, and stretched\nthemselves in the shade.\n\nIt was a wearisome road. The hills were steep, the paths simply\nrain-washed gutters where all the earth had been swept away by the\ntorrents, leaving only the rough stones sticking up, and often on either\nside of the track was tall grass from ten to twelve feet high that\ninterlocked their stalks when the storm winds played among the hills or\nwhirled through the valleys, so that the travellers as they pushed their\nway forward had frequently to put their arms before them to keep the\npoints of grass out of their eyes and the sharp blades from cutting\ntheir faces.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  _Photo_]     JUNGLE PATH THROUGH THE FOREST     [_Rev. R. H.\n    Kirkland._\n  (Said to be haunted by bad spirits at night.)\n]\n\nHuge boulders like giants\u2019 marbles were strewn about the hill-tops, and\nsome were clinging to the sides of the hills, while others were lying\nabout the valleys as though the players in their games had thrown them\ntoo far. The travellers had, with difficulty, to wind round or clamber\nover them, and every extra exertion was felt in such a tropical heat.\n\nAfter resting they ate some of their _kwanga_ loaves, and, bathing in\nthe turbid river, they picked up their burdens to start again on their\njourney, when Old Plaited-Beard kicked his foot against a stone. A look\nof horror came into his beady eyes at the ill omen against himself.\n\nThe snake omen was against the whole party, but this was against the\nindividual. On a journey like this the omen might mean death at the end\nof the journey to whomsoever it occurred, and the only way to counteract\nits potency in this case was to go right back home and stay there.\n\nOld Plaited-Beard was too superstitious to disregard the portend, and\nwith many a muttered curse on his carelessness he turned his face\nhomewards, having taken the long fatiguing journey to no purpose. No one\nregretted his going, for he was as cantankerous as he was superstitious.\n\nHis wives and followers at first refused to return with him; but the old\nman, infuriated at their unwillingness, poured upon them a torrent of\nabuse, charged them with bewitching him to kick the stone, and\nthreatened them with the curses of his various fetishes in such\ninvectives that they trembled before him, and, gathering their goods,\nfollowed him with hearts full of fear and hate.\n\nWe lost so much time over these events that instead of reaching our\ndestination that evening we were compelled to spend another night on the\nroad. The whole of the next morning was leisurely spent in resting and\ndressing.\n\nSatu and his followers bathed during the morning, using soap-worts,\nwhich lather well, instead of soap. Then one of his wives combed out and\nreplaited his hair, and dusted it with fine camwood powder. Another wife\nvery carefully rubbed his face, body, legs and arms with palm-oil, to\nrender the skin soft and cool; and a third pounded some camwood into a\nfine powder, and, putting it into a coarse mesh cloth, dabbed the oiled\nskin with the cosmetic, giving it a pleasant look and an appearance of\nbeing well groomed. A thick band of brilliant red was drawn across the\nforehead, and Satu went and lolled on a mat to wait for those who had\nnot such expert wives.\n\nThe wives rubbed one another with palm-oil, and dusted each other with\nthe red camwood powder. Bakulu and his friends operated, with the skill\nof experience, on each other, and I came in for such a polishing that I\nshone like gold on my owner\u2019s neck.\n\nThese toilet operations being completed, bundles were untied and a\nmiscellaneous assortment of garments and gaudy coloured cloths were\nbrought to light, and were donned with all seriousness.\n\nThe eight bandsmen were adorned in two old pairs of trousers, three\nwaistcoats, one pair of boots--down at the heels and out at the toes,\ntwo jackets with patches of different colours on the sleeves, and two\npeaked hats that, like their other articles of attire, had seen better\ndays in other climes. The intervals in their dress were filled with\ndiverse pieces of gaily coloured cloth. Satu followed, invested in a\nbright red blanket round his loins, two waistcoats, old and ill-fitting,\nacross his chest, a heavy brown coat on his back, and a large brass\nfireman\u2019s helmet on his head. Behind him came his wives, the foremost of\nwhom carried a red, black and green parasol over her husband\u2019s head. The\nsun blazed, and poor Satu perspired in the costume that had cost him a\nheavy tusk of ivory.\n\nThe other head men were arrayed in soldiers\u2019 coats of diverse ranks and\nregiments--in their selection they had not been captivated by the\nstripes on the arms, but by the colours. Hence you saw a colonel of one\nregiment hob-nobbing with the corporal of another. Bakula wore a cloth\nof gorgeous colours round his waist, a brewer\u2019s cap on his head, one\nstocking (he owned a pair, but had lent the other to his particular\nfriend) on one leg, a boot on the other, and a beaming self-satisfied\nsmile on his face.\n\nFortunately we had not far to go. Up a slight hill, across a plateau,\nand there stood the town we had come to honour with our presence.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter X\n                    Our Reception and Entertainment\n\nThe welcome of Tonzeka and his people--A case judged--We find the white\n    man in Tonzeka\u2019s town--Tonzeka defends the white man--He complains\n    of the effect of the white man\u2019s preaching--A drunken bout.\n\n\nThe whole town turned out to welcome us with shouts, gun-firing,\nclapping of hands, trillings, and the slapping of their open mouths with\nthe palms of their hands. The folk lined the paths leading to their\nchief\u2019s house, and saluted and chaffed us good-humouredly as we threaded\nour way to it preceded by our admired band. Satu\u2019s brass helmet excited\nmuch envy and many remarks. It was the first time such a head-gear had\nbeen seen in those parts, and naturally called for various comments on\nits size, brightness and value.\n\nChief Tonzeka received us heartily, and having exchanged greetings with\nus, showed Satu and his followers the quarters they were to occupy\nduring their visit, and deputed a large number of women to fetch\nfirewood and water, and also cook for us. The women had to supply all\nthe vegetable foods for our meals, and Tonzeka sent them the necessary\nmeat and fish. Tonzeka proved the genuineness of his hospitality by\nkilling a large pig, thus supplying Satu and his people with the meat\nthat all Congos love so well.\n\nWe incidentally heard there was a white man--one of those _Mundele wa N\nzambi_ (white men of God) visiting the town, but we did not see him\nuntil the next evening.\n\nWhile the women were busy preparing the evening meal, Satu and his folk\nforegathered in the chief\u2019s courtyard (_lumbu_) to exchange news, to\ntalk about trade, about politics, and about the different cases that had\nbeen brought to them for settlement as chiefs and head men.\n\nTonzeka gave as an example of the foolishness of the people in his\ndistrict the following case that was brought before him for judgment.\n\n\u201cA pig belonging to the Lumu people was killed by a Manga man on a farm\nbelonging to one of his wives. The Lumu folk demanded payment for the\npig; but this was refused on the ground that any pigs found digging up\ncassava roots on a farm can be killed. After a time the Manga women went\nto work that piece of ground again, and the Lumu women met them there,\nand, being more numerous, took away the hoes belonging to the Manga\nwomen, and claimed the land as their pig was killed on it, and no\ncompensation had been paid for it. That evening the chief of Manga sent\na message to the chief of Lumu, and the messenger carried a gun, which\nhe should not have done, so the Lumu people took the gun away from him\non the plea that he was bringing force into their town.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you settle that palaver?\u201d asked Satu.\n\n\u201cWell, you know,\u201d replied Tonzeka, \u201cthat any pig found on another\u2019s farm\nmay be killed, and in some parts of the country the man who kills it can\ntake half the flesh for the trouble of killing it, and to compensate him\nfor the damage done to his farm; and the other half he sends to the\nowner of the pig. In this part, when a pig is killed for trespassing,\nthe one who kills it leaves it at the place where it was slain, and\nsends to tell the owner what he has done, and he himself has to fetch\nthe carcass, and as he finds it on another person\u2019s farm he has sure\nproof that it has trespassed.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d assented Satu, \u201cI know those are the different customs, and in\nour district we always take half the pig.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d continued Tonzeka, \u201cthis case was complicated because the Manga\npeople allowed their messenger to take a gun with him when he was sent\nwith their message.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was very foolish of them,\u201d said Satu, \u201cbut how did you decide the\ncase?\u201d\n\n\u201cI judged it thus,\u201d answered Tonzeka. \u201cI fined the Lumu people one pig\nfor attempting to claim land which did not belong to them, as the\nkilling of a pig gave them no rights over the land on which it was\nkilled; and I fined the Manga people one goat, as the messenger had no\nright to carry a gun when he went to deliver a message. It was taking\nforce into another\u2019s town, and was also an exhibition of insolence.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou judged wisely,\u201d commented Satu, \u201cand I hope you received a fat pig\nand a large goat for your trouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will be able to judge that for yourselves,\u201d laughingly replied\nTonzeka, \u201cfor the fines[30] only arrived this morning, and you will be\neating the pig for your evening meal.\u201d\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n  See note 25, p. 348.\n\nSatu expressed the hope that he would receive such splendid fines every\nday.\n\nTonzeka then informed his visitors that there was a white man staying in\nhis town, and promised to take his friend Satu to see him.\n\n\u201cI wonder if it is the same one whom we drove out of our town?\u201d queried\nSatu.\n\n\u201cWhy did you drive him away?\u201d asked Tonzeka, with a note of surprise in\nhis voice. \u201cSurely he had done no harm to either you or your people?\u201d\n\nIn an apologetic tone Satu admitted that he had not done them any harm,\nfor they did not give him an opportunity, as they would not allow him to\nenter the town. \u201cBut Old Plaited-Beard told us such horrible things\nagainst the white men that if I had not been there my people would have\nkilled this one. What is he doing in your town?\u201d\n\nTo him Tonzeka replied: \"This white man comes to see us very often, and\ntells us about God, and about His Son Jesus Christ, Who, so the white\nman says, came to die for us on a cross. I don\u2019t understand all his\npalavers; but he washes the sores of old and young, rich and poor, head\nmen and slaves, puts good medicine on them, ties them up with his own\nwhite fingers, and the sores are quickly healed. We understand that! You\nknow my mother was very ill, and we tried one _nganga_ after another,\nbut they failed to cure her, although they \u2018ate\u2019 up a lot of money. Then\nthis white man came on one of his visits, and in two or three days she\nwas fully restored to health by the white man\u2019s medicines.\"\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d remarked Satu, \u201cperhaps he gave her the sickness by his\nwitchcraft, and therefore could easily cure her. These white men are\nexceedingly cunning.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know what you mean,\u201d replied Tonzeka. \u201cThat is what our _ngangas_ do\nto make money out of us. The _ngangas_ by means of their charms and\nfetishes cause our diseases, and they receive fees for doing so; by\ntheir fetishes they curse us or try to cure us, and again they receive\nfees, and thus they become rich by our complaints. This white man did\nnot charge for the medicine, and what is more he gave my mother some of\nhis own food to make her strong.\u201d\n\n\u201cI did not quite mean that,\u201d said Satu, \u201cbut these white men are here to\nbuy up the dead bodies of our relatives, which they store in their\nhouses, and on the first good chance they send them away in their ships\nto Mputu to become their slaves. They have wonderful magic for restoring\nthe spirits to the bodies.\u201d And as he spoke a look of alarm and hate\ncame into his eyes, for he called to mind his fear that his own brother\nand various other relatives were, as he was speaking, toiling in farms\nand forests for their dreaded white masters.\n\nWith an air of superior knowledge Tonzeka said to his honoured visitor:\n\"There was a time when I also firmly believed what you have just stated;\nbut I and many of my people have been to this white man\u2019s station. He\nreceived us very kindly and showed us over his house; and truly, we saw\nno shelves[31] there, and no places where he could keep dead bodies.\nWhen we had an opportunity we entered his stores, medicine-house, boys\u2019\nquarters, and nowhere did we find a place where he could stow away dead\nbodies. After two or three visits we came to the conclusion that these\nfalsehoods had been started by our _ngangas_ to protect their own\ninterests.\"\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n  See note 26, p. 349.\n\nSatu expressed his astonishment at what he had heard; but still\ndoubting, asked: \u201cDid you go into all the rooms in his house, and does\nhe ever send bales and boxes to the coast?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Tonzeka, \u201cI went into all the rooms, for one of the boys\nshowed me every nook and corner one day while the white man was absent.\nHe does not trade, consequently he has no bales and boxes to send to the\ncoast. Friend Satu, do not believe those lies about the white man.\nEvidently ivory and rubber have a value in their country. Why, the white\nman himself showed me a coat and a sheet made of rubber that no water\ncould pass through. I tried them myself; and I understand that in their\ncountry it rains all the year round, for they have no dry season as we\nhave, and if they had no rubber they could not make rubber coats, and\nwould have to stay in their houses every day.\u201d\n\nSatu thanked his friend and said: \"What you tell me about rubber coats\nand sheets quite accounts for the presence of traders in our country;\nbut these \u2018white men of God\u2019 do not trade. Why are they here?\" And a\nlook of sly triumph came into his eyes as he continued: \u201cThey don\u2019t buy\nrubber, they don\u2019t deal in ivory, they don\u2019t trade in anything, and,\naccording to your own statement, they don\u2019t even buy dead bodies. Why\nare they here? That is what I want to know?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is the very question I put to this white man myself,\u201d replied\nTonzeka, \"and I will try to give you his answer. He said: A very long\ntime ago, years and years ago, the people in his country were just like\nthe people are now in our country. They were naked, painted savages that\nlived in huts in their forests. They had spears and knives, and fought\neach other as we do. They had canoes like ours, and wore brass armlets\nand anklets very much the same as ours. They believed in fetishes,\ncharms and _ngangas_; and, to use his own words, his forefathers lived\nwretched lives and died miserable deaths without God and without hope.\nThen some messengers brought to his country the wonderful news about\nGod, about Jesus Christ, and about the great Salvation, and the hearts\nand lives of many thousands were changed and filled with joy and\npity--joy because they were saved, and pity for us who know not of God\u2019s\ngreat love for all, for so great is His love that He freely gave His\nbeloved Son to die for us. Now these people have sent this white man and\nothers like him to pass on the blessings of Jesus and His grand\nsalvation to us, for it seems that this Jesus gave them a command to\npreach the good news to everybody all over the world.\n\n\u201cI spent nearly a whole evening in talking these palavers over with the\nwhite man, and I have told you all I have remembered; but I am afraid I\nhave forgotten a great many of his words.\u201d\n\nAgain Satu thanked his friend, and promised to ponder in his heart the\nwords he had heard, or, as he expressed it: \u201cTo drink water over them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Tonzeka, \u201cI have sent two of my sons to the white man\u2019s\nschool, and they are learning to read, write, do carpentry and to make\nbricks. They are gaining much knowledge, but there is one thing I do not\nlike about this white man.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d eagerly asked Satu.\n\nTonzeka paused a few moments before replying, and then he broke out in a\nself-pitying tone: \"This white man tells me that I am a bad man, because\nI lie, steal, commit adultery and become often very drunk, and in doing\nthese bad deeds I am breaking God\u2019s laws, and shall be punished for\ndoing so. When he talks like that I always feel very uncomfortable, for\nI know that what he says is perfectly true. I never heard before that\nGod had given any laws for us to obey, because, as you know, we have no\nbooks; yet when we get drunk, or thieve, or lie, or do any other bad\naction, something inside tells us that they are wrong and condemns us;\nbut we are not ashamed, because everybody does them. If he would give us\nmedicine, and teach our boys and girls it would be all right, but when\nhe talks God\u2019s palavers I do not like him, for he makes my \u2018heart stand\nup\u2019 with fear.\"\n\nSatu was about to condole with him, but there was a general movement\ntowards the fires, for by now the saucepans were steaming with cooked\nfood, and all the folk were eagerly anticipating the feast of pig and\npudding. Satu turned these matters over in his mind, and remarked to one\nof his head men: \u201cAfter all, there are some disadvantages in having a\nwhite man in one\u2019s town, if he makes us uncomfortable in our hearts;\nand,\u201d he continued, \u201cI am not sure whether Tonzeka is bewitched by the\nwhite man, or is sharing profits with the white man in the sale of dead\nbodies.\u201d\n\nAfter the evening meal Tonzeka gave another proof of his hospitality. He\nopened some cases of trade gin[32] and two demijohns of rum, and invited\nSatu and his party to a drinking bout.\n\nThe fiery liquor quickly induced a quarrelsomeness in the drinkers that\nI thought would cause such murderous fights that the town would be\ndrenched with blood; indeed, Bakula received a nasty cut on his arm, and\nseveral others were wounded and bruised. But this intoxicated madness\nwas fortunately soon succeeded by a maudlin state, in which the\ncarousers embraced each other, shouted senseless sayings, joined in\nribald refrains, and engaged in obscene dances until at last the potions\ngained the mastery and they fell on the ground in sottish sleep--mere\nbreathing logs.\n\nBorne on the breeze from a distant part of the town came the evening\nhymn of the white man and his boys, and distinctly the words were\ncarried to me--\n\n                \u201cGod loved the world of sinners lost\n                  And ruined by the fall;\n                Salvation full, at highest cost,\n                  He offers free to all.\n                    Oh, \u2019twas love, \u2019twas wondrous love!\n                      The love of God to me!\n                    It brought my Saviour from above\n                      To die on Calvary.\u201d\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n  See note 27, p. 349.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter XI\n                       Satu visits the White Man\n\nBakula goes to the white man to have his wound dressed--White man puts\n    in a good word for the traders--Bakula is touched by the white man\u2019s\n    kindness--A native dance--An exhibition of native pride--A long talk\n    with the white man--We gain many new ideas from our\n    conversation--Bakula has another interview with the white man, and\n    they become good friends.\n\n\nThe next morning the sun rose with clear-eyed brightness, oblivious of\nall that had occurred during his absence through the night, for he and\nthe moon never approach near enough to each other to exchange\nconfidences. Notwithstanding the sun\u2019s obliviousness, the results of the\nnight\u2019s debauchery were evident in all who had taken part in it. Some\nate monkey peppers, others bits of kola-nuts as pick-me-ups, and others\ntook a plunge bath in the nearest stream; but headaches, wounds and\nbruises were not easily removed by such means.\n\n[Illustration: _Photo_]     WATHEN: THE DISPENSARY.     [_Rev. J. H.\nWeeks._]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  WATHEN: THE BOYS\u2019 QUARTERS.\n  _Bricks made by schoolboys and buildings erected by old school lads._\n]\n\nDuring the afternoon those who had smarting cuts went shamefacedly to\nthe white man to have them bandaged with his soothing ointments, and\namong those who went was Bakula. He thought the white man would not know\nhim in his \u201cdress costume\u201d; but I saw that the white man recognized him\nat once, though he said nothing at the time.\n\nThe white man carefully dressed the wounds, and then asked them how they\ncame by them.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d they answered, \u201cfor we got madly drunk last night on\ngin and rum, then we had a fight and cut each other. We were too\nstupidly intoxicated to remember which one cut the other, and who\nstarted the quarrel.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sorry the traders sell you such vile stuff. It maddens you when\nyou drink it, and it is the chief cause among you of a great amount of\nsickness, and of a large number of the fights that occur between your\ntowns and villages,\u201d quietly and sadly replied the white man.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d they asserted in chorus, \u201cthe traders are all as bad as the\nthings they sell us.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, they are not all bad,\u201d sharply answered the white man, \u201cand neither\nare all the articles they sell bad. You can buy from them good cloth for\ncovering yourselves, blankets to keep you warm in the cold season, nails\nand tools for building your houses, soap, candles, saucepans, tins of\nprovisions, and many other things that are good, and help to make your\nlives comfortable.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is so,\u201d they assented, \u201cbut when our heads ache with the bad gin,\nwe forget the many good articles we can buy of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know many of those traders,\u201d continued the white man, \u201cwho hate\nselling gin and rum to you, and wish a law[33] could be enforced to stop\nall trade in them; but you are such fools, and will buy drink; and there\nis so large a profit on it that their masters in Mputu make them sell it\nto you.[34] Some of the traders are very good men, and perform many acts\nof kindness to you black people. Do your wives throw away all the\npumpkins in their farms because a few have maggots in them?\u201d\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n  See note 28, p. 349.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n  See note 29, p. 350.\n\n\u201cNo, of course not,\u201d they sheepishly replied; \u201cour wives throw only the\nrotten ones away.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d rejoined the white man, \u201cdo not speak ill of all the traders\nbecause some cheat and rob you; nor condemn all their goods because they\nsell these accursed fiery waters that turn your towns into pandemoniums,\nand you into beasts and fiends. Buy the good articles they have, and let\nthe bad ones alone.\u201d\n\nBakula was astonished that the white man had not accused him of striking\nat his outstretched, friendly hand. He was in a quandary. Did the white\nman recognize him or not? Or was he simply waiting his opportunity to\npunish him for what he was now heartily ashamed? He was fearful lest the\nlatter was the explanation, and he had almost made up his mind to put\nthe matter to the test, and ask the white man; but just then the drums\nbegan to beat, and hurriedly taking farewell of their friend who had so\npatiently dressed their wounds and given them good counsel, they ran\nback to the chief\u2019s courtyard.\n\nTo the native there is something electrical, moving, exhilarating about\nthe beat of a native drum. Directly he hears it his body begins to\ntwitch and sway to and fro in rhythm to the beat, a smile spreads over\nhis face, weariness is forgotten, dull care is thrown to the winds, and\nhe is soon shuffling round the circle, or has taken his place in the\nline, clapping his hands, and singing a chorus in admirable time.\n\nBakula and his townsmen were no exception, for even now in their running\nthey kept step to the beat of the drum. On their arrival they took their\nplace in the line of male dancers. The particular dance to the fore was\ncalled \u201cSala.\u201d A medium drum was used, and the formation was in two\nlines, one of each sex. This dance was characterized by a rapid shaking\nof the whole body; and during it they made up songs about one another,\ncausing endless amusement by their pointed remarks, innuendoes, and\nby-play.\n\nWhile the dance was in progress a member of Tonzeka\u2019s town went over to\nthe drum, and by beating on it carried on a conversation such as the\nfollowing, asking questions and replying to them himself.\n\n\u201cWelcome to you, chief Satu. Are you quite well?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am quite well,\u201d replies the drummer.\n\n\u201cHave you come a long way?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my town is very far away.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you very rich?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I have plenty of wives, slaves, pigs, goats, cloth and money. I am\nso wealthy that I really don\u2019t know how rich I am. I don\u2019t know what to\ndo with my money. It fills my bags, boxes and houses.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you much with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my pouches and bundles are full.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive me some of it, as you are so rich.\u201d\n\nAnd foolish Satu, flattered by this pretended conversation out of his\nusual caution, and in the vanity and pride of the moment, handed over\nsome thirty shillings\u2019 worth of brass rods. Gratified by the largesse\nthe drummer beat away and sang a recitative in praise of Satu\u2019s\ngenerosity, and the object of all this by-play sat swelling with\nself-complacency.\n\nNo sooner did the first drummer drop the drum than Bakula darted\nforward, and with laughing eyes and skilful hands beat out a\nconversation in fulsome praise of Tonzeka; his riches, his prowess in\nwar, his unstinted hospitality--all received their full meed of\nwheedling adulation, and at last came the expected request: \u201cAs you are\nso rich, so great, so generous a man, give me some of your money.\u201d\n\nAnd poor, cajoled Tonzeka had to pass over thirty-five shillings\u2019 worth\nof brass rods, for it would never have done not to surpass his visitor,\nSatu.\n\nBakula went to share his spoils with some friends; and another man took\nthe drum and tapped out flatteries about the different head men with\nvarying success, until he received what he considered a very mean\npresent.\n\nThen the disappointed drummer rapped out a song on stinginess so\nbitingly sarcastic that sharp words were bandied about from side to\nside, and what began as an amusing dance ended in a _m\u00eal\u00e9e_ that\nengendered bad blood between the persons concerned for many a day.\n\nAs soon as the noise had quieted down, Tonzeka offered to take his\nvisitor to see the white man, but through an indefinable fear Satu\nshrank from going in the broad daylight, and promised to accept the\ninvitation after the evening meal. So at the appointed time Tonzeka\ncalled Satu, and together they walked over to the white man\u2019s quarters,\nfollowed by a large number of people.\n\nThe white man had heard of the proposed visit, and with the help of\nboxes and rugs had prepared seats for the coming visitors.\n\nSatu, however, before trusting himself to the improvised chair, lifted\nthe rug, shook the box to test its stability, and then gingerly took his\nseat. There was more than a rumour afloat that the King of Congo had\nmurdered his mother by inviting her to sit on a mat which gave way\nbeneath her. It had precipitated her, it was said, into a carefully\nprepared hole, and directly the wretched woman disappeared, the\nunnatural son ordered her to be buried alive.\n\nThe white man was fully conscious of Satu\u2019s implied distrust, but said\nnothing; and Tonzeka pompously introduced Satu and some of the head men\nwho had accompanied him.\n\nDuring the speech Satu sat uneasily on his seat, casting furtive glances\nat the slim, kindly-faced white man before him. After all he did not\nlook so terrible that a whole town should go frantic with fear of him.\n\nWhen Tonzeka had concluded his speech the white man replied: \u201cI am so\nglad to see Satu, for I have often heard of him, and a few weeks ago I\nwent to visit him, but through some silly prejudice he would not give me\nhospitality, and sent me and my people to sleep in the damp with the\nmosquitoes at the bottom of his hill. Since then I have heard that some\nof his people wanted to kill me, but he would not let them;\u201d and leaning\nforward he took Satu\u2019s hand in his, and said: \u201cI thank you very much for\nnot only saving my life, but the lives of those who were with me. There\nwas a lad who struck at my outstretched hand. This afternoon he came for\nmedicine for a bad cut on his arm, thinking I did not know him. There he\nis, standing with the firelight full on his face. Will he not shake\nhands and be friends?\u201d\n\nAnd, rising, the white man went with outstretched hand to Bakula, who\nwith much trepidation put his hand nervously into the very hand at which\nhe had so cruelly aimed a heavy blow. In broken sentences Bakula begged\nforgiveness, which was freely given.\n\nEverybody now felt thoroughly at home with each other, especially when\nSatu had cordially invited the white man to visit him, promising better\nhospitality next time; and the white man heartily accepted the\ninvitation, promising, on his part, to come soon. Then came a long\nseries of questions about Mputu (the countries of the white man); and\nwhile the white man told them of the great houses with many rooms, the\ninnumerable streets, the broad roads, the trams, horses, and the size of\nthe cities and towns, the audience sat with wide-eyed astonishment,\nbroken only by the snapping of fingers and exclamations of surprise.\n\nAt last one boy put their thoughts into words by asking if the white man\nwas speaking the truth; because, said he: \u201cWe have always believed that\nyou white folk live underneath the sea.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you think that?\u201d laughingly asked the white man.\n\n\u201cFor two very good reasons,\u201d asserted the boy, rather aggressively. He\ndid not like being laughed at before all the others, for he was only\nstating what they all believed.\n\n\u201cState your reasons,\u201d said the white man kindly, for he saw that the boy\nwas hurt by his laughter.\n\nEncouraged thus, the boy said: \"When we stand on the shore at\nAmbrezette, or at any other of the trading-stations on the sea-coast, we\nsee the ships come in, and what do we notice first? Not the big part of\nthe ship at the bottom (the hull), but the stick at the top (the mast),\nand when the ship has discharged all its goods on the beach, and filled\nup again with palm-oil, rubber, ivory, palm-kernels and peanuts, it goes\naway, and the part that we see last is the topmost post. Of course it\ncomes up out of the sea. That is why we first notice the top of the\n\u2018stick,\u2019 and it goes down into the sea; that is why the top of the\n\u2018stick\u2019 is last seen.\"\n\n\u201cYes, that is very good! What is your second reason?\u201d asked the white\nman.\n\n\u201cThe second reason is this: all we people who live on the earth have\ncurly hair; but all you white folk, because you live under the sea, have\nstraight hair. That is because the action of the water has taken all the\ncurl out of your hair.\u201d\n\nThe white man with much difficulty suppressed his laughter, and\nproceeded to give them a simple lesson on the rotundity of the earth.\nThey had all seen eclipses of the moon, and starting from that fact, and\nusing his candle and various articles on the table as his apparatus, he\ntried to show them that only round objects threw round shadows on the\nwall of the adjacent house. They were interested, and pretended to be\nconvinced, but how many of them went to bed that night still believing\nin the flatness of the earth he never knew.\n\nThen came a series of questions, not prompted by impertinence, but by a\nhealthy and natural curiosity. Questions such as: \u201cIs there plenty of\nfood in your country? How many wives have you in Mputu? Were you once as\nlittle as our babies? Have you a mother, father, brothers and sisters?\nDid they turn you out of your country because you are a bad man? How do\nyou make matches? Who makes the cloth and the different articles we see\nin the traders\u2019 stores? How do you make candles, soap, boots, and from\nwhat are they made? Why are you white and we black?\u201d The white man\npatiently answered these questions to the best of his ability; but I\nnoticed that whenever possible he worked his answers round to God\u2019s\npalaver--he told them how a thing was made, that they themselves could\nmake it, and would, by this time, have found out how to make it, only\ntheir witch-doctors taught them that anything new, anything out of the\nordinary, anything that showed skill, was the result of witchcraft, and\nhence they killed off their wise and clever men; and lastly, \"God\u2019s\npalaver, when it enters the heart, sets them free from all their\nsuperstitious fear of the _ngangas_, and gives true wisdom and\nguidance.\"\n\nIt was now far into the night, and Satu was about to rise when the white\nman said: \u201cIt is very late, and I have attempted to answer your many\nquestions. Now I am going to ask you all as a favour to stay while we\nhave prayers.\u201d\n\nSatu very courteously thanked the white man for taking so much trouble\nand for telling them so many wonderful things. They would willingly stay\nto prayers and listen while the white man talked to God; but \u201cExcuse us\nnow, we are tired, and must go to sleep.\u201d The white man looked sadly\ndisappointed, but bade us \u201cto go and sleep well.\u201d\n\nAs we were returning to our quarters some one asked Satu: \u201cWhy did you\nnot stay for prayers?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was afraid the white man\u2019s God would bewitch me; or that the white\nman himself might do so,\u201d answered Satu. That night Bakula could not\nsleep, but frequently I heard him murmur: \u201cHe dressed my wound with the\nsame hand I tried to strike.\u201d\n\nDuring the next morning Bakula and a few of the young men went to greet\nthe white man, whom they found busy washing and dressing sores, and\ndispensing medicine to the sick. Bakula shyly went forward to have his\nwound dressed, and when it was finished the white man asked his name;\nbut Bakula, filled with fear, gave his Santu name[35]--Dom Pedro. \u201cNo, I\ndon\u2019t want your Santu,\u201d said the white man, \u201cbut your proper name. Do\nyou still distrust me? Never mind, tell me when you know me better.\u201d\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n  See note 30, p. 350.\n\n\u201cI will tell you now,\u201d he replied. \u201cI will not doubt you any more. My\nname is Bakula.\u201d\n\nWhen the white man had finished his medical work we all sat down for\nanother talk, and I noticed that Bakula sat very close to his white\nfriend\u2019s chair, and hesitatingly he put the following question: \u201cYou\ntell us your country is very beautiful; that there is plenty to eat;\nthat your parents and brothers and sisters are living there; that you\nwere not turned out for being a bad man. Why, therefore, have you come\nto this country, with its rough roads, its swamps, and its fevers?\u201d\n\nThen the white man unfolded before Bakula and his companions the\nwonderful story of Jesus Christ, from the time He left heaven on His\nmission of Redemption, until He returned to heaven the Author of eternal\nsalvation. The audience listened attentively to this delightfully\nstrange story, and Bakula, looking up, exclaimed in surprised tones--\n\n\u201cWhy, Jesus Christ was just like you! He left all for us, the same as\nyou have done.\u201d\n\nThe white man was strangely and deeply moved as he replied--\n\n\u201cNo, Jesus Christ did not copy me, but I try day by day to imitate Him.\nIt is for His sake, Bakula, that I forgave you, and have tried to return\ngood for evil, love for hate, and am willing to die that you all may\nhear and believe in His great salvation.\u201d\n\nAfter a little more conversation they separated, Bakula and his friends\nreturning to their huts solemnized, for a time, by what they had seen\nand heard; and the white man, calling a few of his lads, went, with his\nmedicines and his message of God\u2019s love, to spend a few hours in a\nneighbouring village.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XII\n                       Native Games and Pastimes\n\nMake-believe games--\u201cBiti\u201d and needle--Game with canna seeds--Hoop\n    game--\u201cMbele,\u201d or Knife game--The story of \u201cThe Four Wonders,\u201d or a\n    puzzle story--Conundrums--\u201cThe Adventures of the Twins.\u201d\n\n\nAfter the first novelty of our visit had passed away the women and girls\nwent daily, with dull regularity, to the farms; but only those men who\nwere obliged went to the markets for trading purposes, or to the forests\nfor building materials for their houses. The men and lads who were able\npostponed, out of respect to their visitors, all those occupations that\nwould not suffer from delay, and gave themselves to games, asking\nconundrums, and telling stories to entertain their visitors.\n\nThe children had their make-believe housekeeping, cooking, trading and\nmarketing; the older ones their mimic wars, their mock hunts and their\npretended palavers. The small girls had their sticks, or pieces of\ncassava roots, to represent dolls,[36] and they played with them as\nsuch, carrying them tied by old rags to their backs, or on their hips as\ntheir mothers had carried the children themselves when babies.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n  See note 31, p. 350.\n\nThe small boys procured gourds, old tins, reeds and small drums, and\nimitated a band, and they made about as much music by their efforts as\ntheir elders discoursed from ivory trumpets and well-made drums. With\nbits of sticks, reeds and grass they made toy houses with mud walls; and\nwith pieces of broken saucepans, old tins and any odds and ends they\ncould borrow from their mothers\u2019 houses, they furnished themselves with\nthe necessary articles for their pretend-game of housekeeping, receiving\nvisits from each other, and inviting one another to their make-believe\nfeasts. The older and more active lads played at hockey, on which they\nexpended a great amount of boisterous, if unskilful, energy; and the\nquieter ones were very expert in using their fingers and toes in making\ncat\u2019s cradles of many and intricate designs.\n\nBakula was always selected to find the needle because of his quick ear,\nwhenever the following game was played with _biti_ and needle: The\nplayers were divided into two sides, which we will call A and B. All the\nplayers had a musical instrument called a _biti_, which is a kind of\n_marimba_. Side A sent out one of its men, and secreted a needle in his\nabsence in full view of side B, which the one sent out had to find\nguided only by side B playing simultaneously an agreed-upon note. Side B\ndecided what the guiding note should be.\n\nOn the return of the needle-seeker, side B began to play their _biti_,\nand when the needle-seeker approached near the hiding-place of the\nneedle, the guiding note was played, and as he receded from it the\nguiding note was left out of the tune.\n\nThe needle-seeker had not only to find the needle, but also to name the\nguiding note. If he found the needle, it counted one game to his side,\nand either he or another on side A went out again. When he failed in his\nsearch then it counted one game to side B, and one on that side went\nout.\n\nOf course the _biti_ players tried to hide the guiding note by playing\nrapidly, and covering it with variations on the other metal reeds. A\nquick ear to catch the repetition, or the absence of a particular note\nwas necessary for this game.\n\n[Illustration: 1. SCHOOLBOYS PLAYING HOCKEY.]\n\n[Illustration: 2. AT THE GIANT STRIDE.]\n\n[Illustration: 3. GYMNASTICS.]\n\nOne day Bakula stopped to watch the following game that was being played\nby some lads. The beautiful, round, black seeds of the canna plant,\nwhich grows wild in most parts of Congo, are called _loso_, and that is\nalso the name of the game. These seeds are about the size of peas.\n\nThe players are divided into two sides, which for clearness we will call\nA and B, and they form a circle as they sit on the ground. Side A plays\nfirst, and the thrower takes about twenty seeds in each hand. He throws\nthem out from his hands alternately, counting, as he throws, one, two,\nthree, and so on up to ten, and the rest he throws helter-skelter over\nthe cleared space in front of him, yet in such a way as not to\ndisarrange the positions of the first ten seeds thrown; but he tries to\ndo it as indifferently as he possibly can.\n\nNow before beginning to throw the seeds, side A has agreed among\nthemselves that seed number _five_ shall be the playing seed; so the\nseeds having been thrown, one lad on the side A withdraws out of sight\nand hearing. Then if side B has spotted the playing seed _five_, they\npick it up and say: \u201cThat is the seed, and its number is _five_.\u201d That\ncounts as one game to them. If, however, they have not spotted the right\nseed and pick up the wrong one, then a lad on side A touches the right\nseed, and the one who left the circle is called back and picks up the\nseed that was touched by the player on his side. That then counts as one\ngame to them--to side A. Any touching or picking up of the wrong seed by\na player is counted as a game to the other side.\n\nSupposing that side A says that seed _five_, which side B touched, is\nnot the playing seed, then side B removes it, and one on side A to carry\non the cheat touches, say, seed _eight_, then the lad who left is\nrecalled and, of course, he finds seed _five_ is gone, and should he try\nto help the cheating by picking up another seed he must declare its\nnumber, and there is every probability that he will not by chance pick\nup seed _eight_, and also declare the same number as the boy who touched\nit.\n\nTo find out the right seed and number the opponents have to watch the\nthrowing for any hesitation at a particular number, or to see if a seed\nis purposely thrown to one side; they have to listen for any emphasis on\na particular number, and also watch the eyes of their opponents to see\nif they are all looking towards one particular seed.\n\nAgain, the lad who leaves the circle must carry away with him a clear\nplan of how the seeds lay, so that he may be sure of picking up the\nright one, as any blunder made counts as a game to the other side.\n\nThe boys of the town had another game of which they were very fond. It\nwas played with a hoop, and each player had a string two or three yards\nlong and weighted at each end. Sides were arranged which had to take\ntheir stand in \u201ctowns\u201d from twenty to twenty-five yards apart. The hoop\nis trundled from side A towards side B, and as it approaches side B all\nthe players on that side throw their weighted strings (or toy bolases)\nat it so as to entangle it, and the boy whose \u201cbolas\u201d entangles the hoop\npicks up one end of his string and swings the hoop round and round his\nhead as he walks with it towards side A. Should he deposit it in their\ntown without dropping the hoop from the bolas, it counts one game to\nside B. If the hoop is either not entangled, or drops while being\nwhirled, the game counts to the other side, _i. e._ to side A. Sometimes\nthe winner is challenged to whirl the hoop near the ground and to jump\nover it while spinning without its touching the ground.\n\nIf two or more strings entangle the hoop, then the boys owning those\nstrings must carry the hoop between them. The hoop must on no\nconsideration be touched by the hands of those on side B, unless no\nstring entangles it, when it is thrown back to side A and counts as one\ngame to them. After a set of twenty games the other side trundles the\nhoop. A modification is made in the game by throwing the hoop in the\nair.\n\nThe next game that I observed, and the last that I shall describe, is\ncalled _Mbele_ (or Knife). It is played either by the hands and arms, or\nfeet and legs, or by moving the knees only. The players form a line, and\nthe first lad in the line is called \u201cKing.\u201d The \u201cKing\u201d when he begins\nthe game faces the lad who stood next to him, and throws out both his\nhands, draws them back to his breast, waves them in front of himself\nparallel with his breast, and after making several feints he shoots out\none hand. If the lad standing in opposition to him is able to meet the\n\u201cthrust\u201d three times by throwing out the corresponding hand, the \u201cKing\u201d\nhas to take his place at the bottom of the line. If, however, no one in\nthe line is able to meet the \u201cthrust\u201d after three tries, then the last\nlad in the line is called a \u201cslave,\u201d and stands out of the game.\n\nThe \u201cKing,\u201d who is generally an expert player, will sometimes go up and\ndown the line until all the players are \u201cslaves\u201d and he wins. Should the\n\u201cKing\u201d be out in going down the line, then when all become \u201cslaves\u201d to\nanother he has the privilege of winning them back, if he can, from the\nlast one in by playing him.\n\nThere are many modifications in the game. The movements are very rapid\nand cause a great amount of amusement, and help to train the eyes and\nrender the limbs very supple.\n\nAmong other games played were \u201ctouch,\u201d a kind of \u201chunt the slipper,\u201d\nwith a palm-nut as the \u201cslipper\u201d; \u201ctipit\u201d was also played by the boys\nsitting in a ring and passing a palm-nut from one to another, and the\nlad in the centre had to catch the boy who really had the nut and they\nchanged places. Hopping the longest on one leg, throwing into a hole,\nand backgammon were also in vogue at times. A popular game with small\nboys was to hide a canna seed in one of five little heaps of dirt, and\nthe opponent had to sweep away the four heaps that did not contain the\nseed and leave untouched the one heap that hid it. Each success counted\nas a game to the winner, and every failure as a game to the other side.\n\nA never-ending source of amusement for dark nights when they gathered\nround their fires in the streets, or for cold, rainy nights when they\nsat in their houses was to be found in their puzzle stories and\nconundrums. In nearly every town and village were expert story-tellers\nand propounders of riddles, who were deservedly the recipients of much\nlocal praise and fame for their voluntary efforts to entertain their\nneighbours.\n\nTonzeka\u2019s town was no exception. Almost every evening, after the meal\nwas over, one or other of these skilled reciters would be called on for\na story.\n\nOne evening the following wonderful deeds were related, and aroused a\ngreat amount of discussion. I must preface this story by saying: The\nCongo natives think that anything wonderful, anything out of the\nordinary injures their social and domestic life, or, as they say,\n\u201cspoils their country,\u201d and is consequently to be condemned and\npunished. Hence the appeal in this story from one to another to decide\nwho had performed the most extraordinary feat, and was, therefore,\nworthy of the greatest blame.\n\nThe narrator called it\n\n                    \u201cThe Story of the Four Wonders.\u201d\n\n\"A woman gave birth to a child, who on the day it was born went by\nitself down to the river to bathe. While there a hunter arrived, who\nfired his gun.\n\n\"\u2018What are you firing at?\u2019 asked the baby. \u2018I am shooting the mosquitoes\nthat are eating my wife\u2019s cassava,\u2019[37] replied the hunter.\n\n\"\u2018Whoever heard of such a thing before?\u2019 said the baby. \u2018By shooting\nmosquitoes you are injuring the country.\u2019\n\n\"The hunter denied this grave charge, and accused the baby of upsetting\nthe proper order of things by bathing himself on the very day he was\nborn.\n\n\"After much discussion they submitted the case to a chief of a\nneighbouring town. When he had listened to their wrangling, he said: \u2018My\nmouth is locked up in that room, and my wives have taken the key with\nthem to the farms.\u2019\n\n\"\u2018Oh,\u2019 they rejoined, \u2018you, by talking when your mouth is fastened up in\nanother room, have destroyed our country, for whoever heard of such a\nwonder before?\u2019\n\n\"After much debate away they went to find some one to settle the matter\nfor them, and by and by they met a man who climbed palm-trees to tap\nthem for palm-wine, and they put the case to him, each accusing the\nother of disarranging the proper order of earthly ways.\n\n\"When they had finished the palm climber said: \u2018I fell one day from the\ntop of a palm-tree and broke to pieces, and then I went into the town to\nprocure men to carry all my pieces back to my house.\u2019 They thereupon\nfell on him, accusing him of spoiling the country by his wonderful feat.\nThey are still arguing out the matter and cannot agree as to which is\nworthy of the greatest blame.\"\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n  Equal to saying: \u201cI am shooting at the gnats that are eating up the\n  turnips.\u201d\n\nAt the conclusion each actor in this tale of wonders had his staunch\nadherents among the little crowd of listeners. Some contended that the\nbaby had performed the most wonderful feat, and was therefore to be\ngreatly blamed. Others stood by the hunter, for \u201cwhoever before had\nheard of shooting mosquitoes?\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you ever hear of a man talking with his mouth locked up in another\nroom?\u201d aggressively asked a backer of that wonder.\n\n\u201cYou are all wrong,\u201d shouted a big fellow with a loud voice, \u201cthe man\nwho broke to pieces and yet went for carriers to convey the pieces into\nhis town did something that surpassed all the other marvellous deeds.\u201d\n\nFeeling ran high, words were bandied about, innuendoes respecting the\nsad lack of sense that some folk exhibited were freely exchanged; but\nduring a lull in the throwing of wordy missiles, Bakula said: \u201cI heard a\nriddle the other day to which you cannot give me the answer.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d asked several, and the noisy discussion on the wonders\nceased at once, and all eyes turned on Bakula.\n\n\u201c_Our master sleeps behind the thorns. What is it?_\u201d he asked, and there\nwas a twinkle of fun in his eye as he propounded the conundrum to them.\n\nOne guessed one thing and another something else, and a poor henpecked\nman suggested it was a woman behind her hoes; but he was instantly\nannihilated by the remark that if he were bossed by his wives they were\nnot.\n\nThey at last called on Bakula to give the solution, and he said, \u201c_Our\nmaster sleeps behind the thorns is our tongue behind the teeth_,\u201d and he\nsaucily continued: \u201cIf you don\u2019t let it sleep there you will soon be\nfighting.\u201d\n\nThey rated him good-humouredly for his insolence, and pretended to punch\nhim as a punishment; but promised to let him go if he would state\nanother riddle.\n\nBakula, on recovering his breath, asked the following conundrum: \u201c_There\nare three men carrying a dead one in their teeth.[38] What is it?_\u201d To\nthis a man instantly gave the answer: \u201c_A ridge pole held by three king\nposts._\u201d\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n  The \u201cforks\u201d cut on upright posts to hold the cross poles are called in\n  Congo _meno_, i. e. teeth.\n\nThe guesser of Bakula\u2019s riddle then gave one as follows: \u201c_The slave my\nfather bought on the market is always standing out (or away) from him._\u201d\nAfter many guesses had been ventured, Bakula gave the proper one, viz.\n\u201c_Pipe_\u201d which always stands out (or away) from the smoker.\n\nBakula had now to give another riddle, and propounded the following one:\n\u201c_The bird with its head cut off eats up all the food. What is it?_\u201d\nAfter many wild, unsuccessful attempts one of the men guessed the\nanswer, viz. \u201c_Mortar._\u201d[39] The man who gave this correct solution\nbelonged to Tonzeka\u2019s town, and as he said he did not know any\nconundrums he was asked to give them a story instead, and to this\nrequest, after a little hesitation, he acceded by narrating the\nfollowing tale, called\n\n                     \u201cThe Adventures of the Twins.\u201d\n\n\u201cMr. Tungi built some houses and then married. When he had been married\nabout a year he started on a journey to some distant markets to buy and\ntrade in peanuts. He had not been gone very long when Mrs. Tungi gave\nbirth to male twins.\n\n\u201cWhen the twins had grown into stout lads their mother told them that\ntheir father had gone to trade at some distant markets, but would be\nreturning soon to his town. They at once decided to go and meet him.\nTheir mother prepared some native bread and other food, and in a few\ndays they set out in search of their father.\n\n\u201cAfter travelling a long way they met a palm-wine gatherer sitting in a\npalm-frond drinking-shelter, who welcomed them and promised to get them\nsome fresh palm-wine. He took his climbing-hoop and together they went\nto the palm-tree. Before ascending the tree the twins were astonished to\nsee the man take out all his bones and lay them on one side, and then he\nclimbed the tree and brought down a small calabash of palm-wine for the\nboys, picked up his bones and put them all back again in their places.\nThe lads asked him why he removed his bones before ascending the\npalm-tree.\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh,\u2019 he said, \u2018if I were to fall I should break them, so I always\nleave my bones on the ground, and then, should I fall, nothing will be\nbroken.\u2019 They drank his palm-wine, thanked him, and after resting a\nwhile started again on their journey.\n\n\u201cThey had not travelled very far when they met two men walking towards\nthem whose feet were turned backwards. The twins asked them what\naccident had twisted their feet in that way.\n\n\u201cThey replied: \u2018It is no accident, but we turn our feet round when\ntravelling to keep our naked toes from knocking against the stones in\nthe road.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe twins had hardly recovered from their surprise when they came\nacross some men whose knees were behind, and others whose arms were at\nthe back, and others again whose faces were at the back of their heads.\n\n\u201cThey inquired the reason for these strange things, and the first said:\n\u2018We have our knees at the back of our legs so that when we fall they\nwill not be cut by the stones.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe next replied: \u2018We have our arms behind us so that if we fall\nbackwards they will hold us up, and we shall not hurt ourselves.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd the last laughingly said: \u2018Oh, we have our faces behind our heads\nso that the long grass by the sides of the roads will neither cut them\nnor get into our eyes as we push our way through it.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Well, this is a funny country,\u2019 cried the twins in amazement, \u2018people\nseem to do whatever they like with their bodies.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn they went again, and during the afternoon they reached the bank of a\nriver, where they rested under a shady tree. While sitting there they\nsaw men and women, boys and girls coming down the hill to bathe, and\nthey noticed that all of them took out their eyes before they entered\nthe water and left them on the bank with their clothes. They inquired\nthe reason for this wonderful thing, and one of the men said: \u2018You see,\nwe bathe here with our mothers, wives and sisters--men and women, boys\nand girls altogether, hence to retain our self-respect and modesty we\nalways take out our eyes before bathing.\u2019 The twins were no longer\nastonished at anything they saw and heard, so they silently assented to\nwhat the man told them.\n\n\u201cThey camped by the river that night, and early next morning renewed the\nsearch for their father. After three or four hours\u2019 travelling over the\nhills, across streams and through dense forests, they arrived at a large\nmarket, where all the people, instead of speaking, were making signs to\none another as they bought and sold their goods. Upon looking at them\nmore closely they observed that none of them had lower jaws, hence they\nwere not able to speak. They could not inquire into this wonder, as no\none was able to talk to them.\n\n\u201cThey pushed on across the market, and after walking another hour or two\nthey reached a large river, where they saw a man, with a very heavy\nload, trying to cross it, and seeing he was in great difficulty they\nhelped him over with his load, and then sat down to have a rest and\nchat. They told the man they were twin sons of Tungi, and were looking\nfor their father, who left his town many years ago to trade in the\ndistant markets.\n\n\u201cThe man said: \u2018Why, I am Tungi, you must be my sons, and I am just\nreturning to my town.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe sons rejoiced in this meeting with their father, and were glad they\nhad helped him over the river, otherwise they would not have known him.\nThey divided the load between them, and soon started for home.\n\n\u201cAs the twins walked with their father, they told him of all they had\nseen and heard during their journey, but they said: \u2018In the market we\npassed this morning we saw people who did all their trading by signs,\nbecause they had no lower jaws. Why was that?\u2019\n\n\u201cTheir father replied: \u2018On the markets in this country there was so much\nrowing, quarrelling and fighting that they made a law that all those who\nwent to market should leave their lower jaws at home; for if folk cannot\ntalk they won\u2019t quarrel, and hence they will have no reason for\nfighting. It is talking and wrangling that lead to rows, riots and\nfights.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe twins and their father reached their town again safely, where they\nwere noisily welcomed and feasted; and the twins frequently narrated the\nmarvellous sights they had seen during their travels.\u201d\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n  The _mortar_ is used for pounding maize, dried cassava, plantains,\n  etc. To the native familiar with the whole process it was a good\n  conundrum.\n\n[Illustration: _Photo_]     BUSY WASHING.     [_Rev. F. Aldrieve._]\n\n[Illustration: _Photo_]     RESTING AFTER WASHING.     [_Rev. F.\nAldrieve._]\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XIII\n                     Bakula accompanies an Embassy\n\nA title reverts to Satu--He sends Old Plaited-Beard to the King with a\n    present--The embassy arrives at the King\u2019s town--Has an audience in\n    the King\u2019s house--King promises to send a deputy to install\n    Satu--King dines with the white man and sees a magic lantern--Bakula\n    and the white man renew their acquaintance--He sleeps on the mission\n    station and hears all about the King\u2019s household.\n\n\nJust as Satu\u2019s visit to Tonzeka was drawing to a close, his departure\nwas hastened by the death of a chief who had bought a life interest in a\ntitle that belonged to Satu\u2019s family.\n\nIt was the custom for a wealthy person to buy of the King the title, we\nwill say, of Tulante, for one slave and five thousand strings of blue\npipe beads. If, on his death, his heir is not rich enough to support the\ntitle, or for some reason does not want it, he can, with the consent of\nthe King, sell it to another chief for that chief\u2019s lifetime. When this\nsecond buyer dies his heir cannot take the title unless he has the\npermission of the family originally holding it, and for that permission\nhe must pay, and the King cannot confer it without the consent of the\nsaid family. In fact, the title reverts to the family that _first bought\nit of the King_, and the head of that family can resume it, or pass it\non as a life title to any other family. Whenever the title is conferred\neither on the proper heir to it or on the life buyer of it, the King\nalways receives a large present from the recipient. It is one of the\nsources of his income. This custom apparently applies only to certain\ntitles of which there can only be one holder at any given time.\n\nThe title that belonged to Satu\u2019s family was Katendi,[40] and as Satu\u2019s\nbrother was too poor to take the title when it fell to him, he had sold\na life interest in it to a more wealthy neighbouring chief.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n  _Katendi Katendwa nzala o makanda mamene_, i. e. Katendi\u2019s\n  finger-nails must not be cut, or his clan will die out: in other\n  words, he must fight to the last, and not submit to humiliations.\n\nSatu was now ambitious to resume the title, so he sent an embassy to\nrequest the King to confer the title on him, and to commission the\nproper court officer to act as his delegate. Satu sent as a present to\nthe King twenty pieces of very good cloth containing twelve yards each,\nthree goats, one large pig, and four barrels of gunpowder.[41] Old\nPlaited-Beard, who was a man of importance in our town, was deputed to\ngive the various articles to his majesty, and ten men and lads\naccompanied him to carry and guard the goods.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n  The whole present was worth about \u00a310 at that time.\n\nAfter a few days\u2019 journey we arrived at Congo dia Ngunga, which is\nsituated on a broad plateau some 450 feet above the surrounding country.\nAlong one side of the hill winds the Mposo river, on two other sides the\nhill falls abruptly to wide valleys, and the fourth side undulates\ngradually down to the town, where we spent our last night on the road\nand where we \u201cdressed\u201d for our entry into the King\u2019s town.\n\nWe arrived about the middle of the morning, and Old Plaited-Beard sent\nat once to beg for an audience with the King. He replied that we might\ncome in the afternoon, for he undoubtedly heard from the messenger what\na fine present we were bringing him.\n\nWhile we were waiting for the call to the King\u2019s house, the elders of\nour party rested in a hut belonging to one of the King\u2019s head men, and\nexchanged the gossip of the country with him; but Bakula paid a visit to\nhis friend the white man, who had a station there, and was very\ncordially welcomed by him.\n\nBakula was shown over the house, the school, the medicine-store and\nother places, and made to feel perfectly at home. He visited the boys\u2019\nhouse, and quickly struck up an acquaintance with two or three lads. He\nasked them innumerable questions, pried into every possible nook and\ncorner, and finally concluded that Tonzeka was right and Old\nPlaited-Beard wrong. Before hurrying back to his party he bade good-bye\nto the white man, and was asked to come and spend a day or two with him\nwhen his business with the King was completed. This he readily promised\nto do.\n\nAbout the middle of the afternoon a messenger called us to the King.\nBakula at once picked up the twenty pieces of cloth, which were wrapped\nin a blanket, and followed Old Plaited-Beard, who strutted grandly in\nfront filled with an enormous sense of his own importance. The others\ncame on behind, and the goats and the pig brought up the rear.\n\nWe made our way towards the middle of the town, where the King\u2019s\n_lumbu_, or enclosure, was situated. We passed between fences to the\n\u201cjudging place,\u201d or _mbaji a Kongo_, in the centre of the town, where a\nhuge, wide-spreading tree stood, beneath the shadows of which all\nimportant palavers were held. Crossing this \u201ctown square,\u201d we came to\nthe first entrance of the King\u2019s _lumbu_, which was a miniature maze, as\nwe had to negotiate four fences before arriving at the central space\nwhere the King\u2019s house stood.\n\nOn entering the first opening, we turned to the left, then right, then\nright again, and found another opening in the fence; then by turning\nagain to the right we worked our way back to a position near the first\nopening, where we found the third opening in the third fence, then\nturning to the left and again to the right, there was the opening\nleading into the courtyard immediately in front of the King\u2019s house.\nThere we waited and sent the messenger to tell the King we had reached\nthe last entrance.\n\nAfter standing there a short time we received permission to advance, and\nfound ourselves in an open space about fifteen by twenty yards in\nextent, with the front door of the \u201cpalace\u201d before us. Old Plaited-Beard\nand those who were unencumbered with the presents fell upon their knees,\nstretched their bodies forward in a profound bow, put their palms\ntogether, rubbed their little fingers in the dust, which they smeared on\ntheir foreheads and temples, and then clapped their hands three\ntimes--not by hitting the palms together, but by arching their hands.\n\nAfter this obeisance they arose to their feet and walked to the front of\nthe house, where they fell again on their knees and repeated the former\nceremony of homage. Again rising they entered the house, and advancing\nto within two or three yards of the King they fell on their knees and\nperformed the third and last act of their homage.\n\nThe King showed his acceptance of the homage by putting the palms of his\nhands across each other in such a way that the fingers of the right hand\nwere placed well above the thumb and index finger of the left, and he\nwaved the extended fingers up and down. If the King had not received our\nhomage thus, but had thrust out his foot and wriggled his toes, the\nsooner we had retreated from his presence and returned to our town the\nbetter it would have been for us. It would have been a sign that the\nKing was angry with us, wished to insult us, and was meditating\nmischief.\n\nAs native houses go the King\u2019s \u201cpalace\u201d was large, being about eighteen\nfeet wide by twenty-five feet long. The walls were of planks, and the\nroof of grass. Along one wall was a high, wide shelf covered with ewers,\nbasins, decanters, china images of dogs, men, and women gaudily\ncoloured, jugs, plates, and common vases--the profits of trading and\npresents from chiefs and others. Beneath the shelf were various trunks,\nundoubtedly full of trade cloth and other treasures.\n\nI afterwards heard that the King\u2019s bedroom was next to the one we were\nin, and beyond that the houses for his twenty-five wives.\n\nWe found the King sitting on a low seat covered with blankets, rugs and\npillows. His full title was Dom Pedro V, Ntotela, Ntinu a Kongo, _i. e._\nDom Pedro V, Emperor, King of Congo. His personal name was Elelo, and I\nafterwards learned that his sobriquet was: Weni w\u2019ezulu, or, The Great\nOne of Heaven.\n\nThe King received us very graciously and inquired about Satu and the\ntown, about trade and the number of people. Old Plaited-Beard answered\ncautiously, for it was not wise to give too much information to his\nmajesty. He then told the King that Satu wished to have conferred on him\nhis family title of Katendi, which his uncle had bought some years\npreviously of his majesty. Then without waiting for an answer, our\nleader beckoned Bakula to come forward with the present. With\nconsiderable nervousness my owner stepped into the space before the\nKing, fell on his knees and paid homage as he had seen the others do,\nand, removing the covering, he presented, on his knees, the cloth piece\nby piece to the august personage, who counted the pieces, felt the\ntexture and commented with satisfaction on the weight and quality of\neach piece.\n\nThe powder, pig and goats were next presented, and he was asked with\nproper expressions of humility to accept the \u201cpoor gift.\u201d This he\ndeigned to do, and promised that on a certain day he would send his\nKapitau to install Satu officially in his title of Katendi.\n\nWe then retired backward out of the house, kneeling and paying homage at\nthe right places, and at last found ourselves winding through the maze\nof fences into the town, well pleased with our reception and impressed\nwith the greatness and dignity of the King.\n\nSoon after our return to our quarters we received a present of some food\nfrom the King, and heard that one head man had been instructed to look\nafter our welfare during the visit.\n\nJust before sunset there was a great stir in the town, and Bakula,\nrunning in the direction of the noise, was in time to see the King leave\nhis _lumbu_. He was about six feet four inches in height, very stout,\nbeing sixty-eight inches[42] round the waist, his face badly pitted with\nthe small-pox, and he was ungainly and awkward in his movements by\nreason of his obesity. He was dressed in a loin-cloth of many yards of\npurple velvet, a scarlet waistcoat with bright buttons adorned his\ncapacious stomach, and a general\u2019s coat covered his back. On his head\nwas a cockade, and from a belt hung a large and heavy sword, which he\nremoved and handed to one of his men to carry.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n  See note 32, p. 351.\n\nIn the square before his _lumbu_ were six of his head men, with a\nhammock gay with bright-coloured cloths. It was rarely now that the King\nleft his _lumbu_, hence there was a large crowd to witness the unusual\nsight. It was with difficulty that he mounted his hammock, and it needed\nthe combined strength of the six _doms_, or head men, to support him in\nit.\n\nFortunately they had not far to carry him--about 150 yards, and they\nlanded him safely but perspiring at the door of the mission-house, to\nwhich Bakula and the crowd followed him.\n\nThe white man, who had invited the King to dine with him that evening,\nreceived his majesty at the door, and after shaking hands with him and\ninquiring after his health, led him to a substantial sofa that stood in\nthe corner of the central room.\n\nThe crowd stood around the door, for the head men allowed only a few in\nattendance on the King to enter. To my owner\u2019s eyes it was a large\ndining-room, and from the door one commanded a view of the whole of it.\n\nThere in the centre stood a large table with a white cloth spread over\nit. On each side a place was laid with knives and forks for one person.\nFrom the roof a lamp was suspended that threw a light over the whole\nroom and revealed the various things on the table, such as some bread,\nbiscuits, jugs of water, and a bottle of lime-juice.\n\nThe table being already laid, the boys quickly brought from the kitchen\nsome soup, sweet potatoes, native greens, a tin of fish, one boiled\nfowl, a piece of boiled pork, a sucking pig roasted whole, a rice\npudding and some stewed native fruit. A native likes to know what he is\nexpected to eat, and the King could not have read a menu if there had\nbeen one. A smile of complacent anticipation covered the King\u2019s broad\nface as his eyes and nose were greeted by the appearance of the roasted\nsucking pig.\n\nAll being ready, the white man invited the King to take his seat at the\ntable. The old man waddled over to the chair, and when he had seated\nhimself, his five favourite wives took up a position on the ground round\nthe back of his chair, while the head men arranged themselves along the\nwall. The white man took his seat opposite the King, and having said\nGrace, helped his majesty to soup.\n\nThe old man took a few spoonfuls and handed the rest down to his wives,\nwho, with suppressed giggling, finished it. Fish followed, and what the\nKing did not eat he passed on to his wives.\n\nThe white man said: \u201cIn England when boys and girls are going to a feast\nthey eat very little during the day, so as to do full justice to the\nfeast provided for them.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that so?\u201d replied the King. \u201cI did not know that was your custom,\nfor,\u201d he laughingly continued, \u201cI have eaten nothing all day in order to\nhave plenty of room for your dinner.\u201d And the old man chuckled because\nhe was \u2019cuter than the white boys, for he had eaten _nothing_.\n\nA plate piled with boiled pork, fowl and vegetables was next handed to\nthe visitor. He worked his way through about half of it, and passed down\nthe remainder to his waiting wives, who finished it with gusto.\n\nThen came that roasted sucking pig. Generous slices of it were laid on a\nplate--no, he did not want vegetables. The meat soon disappeared, and\nthere was nothing but a bone or two this time to hand down to the women.\n\nThe white man, sympathizing with their disappointment, asked the King to\nhave some more. Another large portion was placed upon his plate--yes, he\nwould have some vegetables this time. The meat vanished again--it was\nquite true, the King had eaten nothing surely for a Congo week. The\nplate was loaded a third time with the tasty pork, and the King was at\nlast beaten, for with a sigh he handed more than half a plateful down to\nhis expectant wives, among whom it was quickly shared and eaten.\n\n\u201cWould the King have some rice pudding and stewed guavas?\u201d was the next\nquestion. A look of reproach passed across his majesty\u2019s face, as much\nas to say: \u201cWhy do you have such common things on such an important\noccasion?\u201d But he was too courteous to give expression to his thoughts,\nand asked for \u201ca little, very little.\u201d\n\nOne of the wives, however, lifted her head and formed her mouth into the\nword \u201cPlenty,\u201d and plenty it was that found its way to the King\u2019s plate.\nHe toyed with it a few moments, and his wives cleared the remainder.\n\nThe feast was over. The white man told his boys to share the remnants\nwith the head men and the King\u2019s wives, \u201cfor it is not every day that\nthe King dines with us,\u201d and to clear the table as quickly as possible.\n\nWhile the boys were busy clearing away in a double sense, the King\ninformed his host of the prowess of his early years, when he was lithe\nand active, and was feared throughout all the district for his fighting\nqualities. It was then that he won the nickname of Weni w\u2019ezulu, _i. e_.\nthe Great One of Heaven.\n\nNo sooner were the remains of the feast removed than the white man put a\nblack thing on the table and lit it. It was a magic lantern. A white\nsheet was lowered from the roof, and the light from the lantern turned\nupon it, while the lamp that illuminated the room was put out.\n\nThis caused the King to express some nervous fears, but a few quiet\nwords from the white man pacified him. It appeared that the white man\nhad often given lantern exhibitions in the open air, because there was\nno building large enough to contain the crowds that came to see the\nwonderful pictures; and as the sheet was put for convenience of erection\nover the front of one of the houses, and the breezes caused the sheet to\ngently move, the natives said: \u201cThe spirits came out of the house and\nmoved about on the sheet.\u201d\n\nThe King had heard of these suspicious rumours, and as he could not\nmingle with the crowds, he had asked the white man for a show all to\nhimself. Hence the invitation to dinner and the magic lantern display.\n\nBefore exhibiting the pictures the white man referred to this silly\ntalk, and excused it because the people did not know any better. He\nraised the sheet and showed the King the solid stone wall, explained the\nworking of the lantern, gave the King one of the slides, and told him\nhow the picture was thrown by the strong light on to the sheet.\n\nAfter much persuasion the King put his fingers in front of the lens and\nsaw them magnified on the sheet. He snapped his fingers and saw the\nmovements imitated and enlarged, and at last was quite sure there was no\nwickedness or witchcraft about the whole affair.\n\nThe white man now threw some pictures of London on the sheet and\nexplained them, and they needed a lot of explanation. The tall\nhouses--room above room; the Queen\u2019s palace and her soldiers; the big\nhouses where the judges sat day after day--\u201cIt must be a wicked country\nwhere so many judges have to hear cases every day\u201d; the horses and\nvehicles, and the people--\u201cThe people! Why, they are as numerous in your\nroads as driver-ants!\u201d[43]\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n  See note 33, p. 351.\n\nThe white man then showed a few pictures of the life of Christ, and with\na few words of prayer brought the visit to a close.\n\nThe King, somewhat solemnized by what he had last seen and heard,\nthanked the white man for the dinner and the pictures, and, getting into\nhis hammock, was carried by his six stalwart head men back to his house.\n\nBakula, my owner, had received, by permission of the white man, an\ninvitation from one of the elder school lads to sleep in the mission\ndormitory. Consequently, after the King\u2019s departure, he made his way to\nthe boys\u2019 house and was vociferously greeted by his new friends, some of\nwhom were with the white man when he was driven from Satu\u2019s town. The\nhouse he entered was about twenty feet long by fifteen feet wide. It\npossessed several luxuries, such as a door and windows that moved on\nhinges, an oil lantern hanging from the roof, and beds raised about two\nfeet above the ground.\n\nBakula had been greatly impressed by his visit to the King, of whom he\nhad heard much, but had never seen until that day. After the first\ngreetings were over he began to ply his new friends with many questions\nabout the King, and as a son and a nephew of the King were among the\nschool-lads, he had his curiosity more than satisfied by what he was\nable to learn from them. He was told that many chiefs sent their sons to\nbe brought up at the court of the King, and thus they were able to learn\nthe ceremonies of the court etiquette in receiving visitors, and how to\nsettle palavers. These lads waited on the King, were his errand boys on\nsmall occasions, and finished the food he left after they had served him\nat table.\n\nAttached to the King\u2019s court were several functionaries, as follows:\n_Kapitau_ was a noble whose function it was to confer titles on others\nas the representative of the King, who, being too old and obese to\ntravel with comfort the long, hilly roads, sent this officer in his\nstead, as the chiefs could only be ennobled in their own towns.\n\n_Nelumbu_ was the title of another court officer, who was supposed never\nto leave the King\u2019s _lumbu_, or enclosure. He was a kind of master of\nceremonies, or a chamberlain, and instructed the ignorant how to\napproach the King. After him came _Nempangu_, who carried the staff of\nthe King (from _mpangu_, staff). This officer went on embassies for his\nmaster to chiefs and towns, taking the King\u2019s staff with him as a token\nof his authority, and a proof that he had come from the King. Then there\nwas _Nembila_ (from _mbila_, summons, call), who was the King\u2019s\nmessenger, and was sent to summon chiefs and others to the King\u2019s\npresence and to inform the people of his majesty\u2019s wishes and commands.\n_Nejinguzioka_ (or \u201cone who walks about\u201d) was an officer who always\nstayed by the King, to wait on him and carry out those important orders\nthat could not be entrusted to the lads or pages who served the King.\n_Neloto_ (from _loto_, spoon) was lowest in rank about the court, and\nwas simply the spoon-bearer--probably a taster of the food before it was\ngiven to his master.\n\nAttached to the court, but outside of it, was a head man, whose special\nduty it was to assess the tax on all trading caravans travelling through\nthe town or passing through the near district. He was also to some\nextent responsible for the safe-conduct of caravans through that part of\nthe country of which the King was overlord. Of course the larger portion\nof the amounts in kind received found their way to the King, otherwise\nhis life would have been of little worth. And, lastly, there was\n_Nemfilantu_ (from _fila ntu_, to place the head), the noble best liked\nby the King, the most trusted of his councillors, the one in whose \u201clap\nhe could rest his head.\u201d\n\nDuring his stay in the King\u2019s town Bakula had all these high personages\nshown to him. It was necessary to have them pointed out, as on ordinary\noccasions they were dressed worse[44] than slaves and dependants, so as\nto avoid arousing envy, jealousy, and accusations of witchcraft.\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n  See note 34, p. 352.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XIV\n                    Bakula stays with the White Man\n\nThe working of a mission station--Buying food--The school--Bakula is\n    afraid to enter the school--Repairing the station--Boys work in the\n    gardens--A quarrel, and how it was settled--An evening\u2019s chat with\n    the white man--Rubbing evil spirits out of a man--Sunday\n    service--Congregation--Sermon--Visit to a near town--Religious talk\n    with the King--Boys pray for their white teacher--Witch-doctor\u2019s\n    trick exposed.\n\n\nNext morning, at sunrise, Bakula was aroused by the sonorous tones of a\nlarge bell, and running out of the house he found the white man pacing\nslowly up and down the yard of the mission station, waiting for the\nworkmen to arrive. Bakula greeted his friend with a smile, and an\ninquiry as to whether he had \u201cslept well,\u201d[45] and then stood on one\nside to observe all that happened. Soon the workmen came, rubbing the\nsleep out of their eyes, and the white man, checking them by his\nnote-book, sent some to cut and carry in bundles of thatching-grass,\nothers for fence sticks, and others for posts; three were sent for\npapyrus[46] reeds from which to make native string for repairing the\nfences running round the mission ground, and some were set to work on\nthe station.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n  See note 35, p. 352.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n  See note 36, p. 352.\n\nHaving started the men at their work, the white man sat down to his\nbreakfast. It was not like the dinner to which the King had been\ninvited, for it consisted of porridge, coffee, roasted plantain[47] and\neggs. During this time women and men were gathering with various\narticles for sale, and as soon as the white man had finished his\nbreakfast he went out to barter for the different articles he needed.\nWomen with large baskets of _mfumfu_, or cassava flour, and peanuts went\nwith their goods to the door of a store directly the price was agreed\nupon. Eggs were tested, and a string of a hundred blue pipe beads (worth\na farthing) was paid for each, fowls were bought at from ten to twenty\nstrings of beads each, according to size. Yams, sweet potatoes, greens,\nand small native tomatoes were also purchased with either the ordinary\nblue beads, which were the currency, or with red, olive, opal or any\nother coloured beads that happened to be in stock and took the fancy of\nthe seller. Men with bamboos, mats, and planks bartered them for\ndifferent kinds of trade cloth; and those with goats sold them for\ncloth, blankets, knives, cast-off soldiers\u2019 coats, or large,\nbright-coloured handkerchiefs. Then the white man hurried over to the\nstore, measured out the cassava flour and peanuts, and paid the women\naccording to quantity.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n  See note 37, p. 352.\n\nOn our markets a great amount of time is wasted by haggling over\nprices--the seller asking a ridiculous sum at first, and gradually\nbringing it down to a half or third of the original demand. But I\nnoticed that the white man looked keenly at the article for sale, asked\nthe price, carefully considered for a few moments and then stated the\namount he would give, and the vender either assented to it at once, or\npicked up his goods and left.\n\nThere was one man, a stranger, who had a goat for sale. The white man\nexamined it.\n\n\u201cHow much?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cTwenty-four fathoms of cloth,\u201d replied the man.\n\nThe white man whistled, smiled, and said: \u201cI will give you nine fathoms\nfor it, and that is a fair price.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive me twenty fathoms. I can get that on the market,\u201d avowed the man.\n\n\u201cTake it to the market, then,\u201d advised the white man. \u201cLet me see,\u201d he\ncontinued, \u201cto-day is Nkenge market. You will not have far to go.\u201d And\nwith that he walked on to the next.\n\nA man standing by said to the goat-seller: \"If you stay here all day he\nwon\u2019t change his price. He has only \u2018one mouth.\u2019 On the market you may\nget seven fathoms for the goat, but not more. You should accept the\noffer.\"\n\nHe wisely acted on the advice, received his nine fathoms, and went away\nwith a truer conception of white men\u2019s knowledge of the prices of native\ngoods, and delighted that he had sold his goat before the sun was very\nhigh in the sky.\n\nJust now I heard the big bell ring, and shortly after it was again rung\nloudly, and the boys on the station and others from various parts of the\ntown went hurrying by into the school-house--a long building of mats,\nposts, and thatch, built along one side of the courtyard. There were\nabout sixty boys of various ages present when the white man entered. He\nled them in the singing of a hymn, talked to them a short time about\nGod\u2019s palaver, and then they all bowed their heads in prayer.\n\nAfter this he called out the names of the boys from his book, and\ndivided them into four lots: one group he set to write in books, another\nreceived slates and pencils and wrote down and worked the sums that were\nwritten on a blackboard, another set of boys sat round their white\nteacher and read from books, and over in the corner was a class being\ntaught their letters by a native teacher.\n\nBakula was asked by the white man to enter the school, but my owner was\ntoo fearful of what might happen to him--if he did--to accept the\ninvitation, and at the same time was so interested in all that he saw\nand heard that he could not drag himself away from the door. He asked\nand received permission to remain at his place of observation.\n\nAt intervals the white man walked round the station to see that the\nworkmen had not gone to sleep, or over to some young men who were\nlearning carpentry under the verandah of his house, and needed some\nfurther instruction. Occasionally men came to the door of the school to\ntalk with the white man on matters of business or to seek his advice on\nnative palavers.\n\nAbout the middle of the morning the white man gave a sign, and the boys\nleft the school helter-skelter for a short time of play. Hockey-sticks\nwere quickly brought out, and the station resounded with peals of\nlaughter and the shouts of those at play. Another sign and the boys\nskurried back to the school-house, and were soon engaged in other\nlessons. During the second school the white teacher gave a short talk on\nphysiology, and the boys listened to it with much attention, and asked\nmany questions. It surprised them to hear the number of bones in their\nbody, and the wonderful way in which they were made.\n\nI noticed that the teacher spoke of the foolishness of believing that\nwitchcraft could affect the body, and showed how the witch-doctors\ntricked, deceived and robbed them. They sang another hymn, and repeated\ntogether what I afterwards learned to be the Lord\u2019s Prayer, and the\nschool was concluded. The midday bell rang, the workmen stopped work,\nthe boys went to their house or to the town, and the white man had his\ndinner and rested during the heat of the day.\n\nIn due time (2 p.m.) the bell sounded, and Bakula, full of curiosity and\ninterest, went to see what next the white man would do. He found him\nstanding at the door telling the workmen to continue with the repairs of\nthe fence, and allotting to the boys their work in the garden. At this\ntime about twenty boys lived on the station, some of whom came from\ndistant towns. All of them had their own work allotted to them: thus two\nboys swept, cleaned, and did all the necessary work in the white man\u2019s\nhouse; one boy did the washing and ironing, another did the cooking; one\nboy fetched firewood and water for the cook-house; two boys looked after\nthe goats, cut grass and fed them in the dry season; and one boy fetched\nthe water for the house from the beautiful spring that gurgled out of\nthe ground half-way down the hill-side. The rest of the boys worked on\nthe garden.\n\nBakula could understand boys working about the house, kitchen, and goats\nof the white man; but he could not understand boys working on the land\nlike women and girls; and when he went to look at them, and found them\ndigging with hoes, he asked: \u201cWhy do you do this woman\u2019s work? Are you\ngirls?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d they answered, \u201cwe are not girls. At one time we refused to work\nin the garden, and told the white man that this kind of work was only\nfit for women; but he came and worked with us day after day, and we\nthought that the work a white man was not ashamed to do we black boys\nshould not be ashamed of. Since then we have worked as you see us.\u201d\n\nBakula returned to the courtyard, and found the white man very busy\ndressing sores, and dispensing medicine to the sick, after which he\naccompanied him on a visit to various patients about the town who were\ntoo ill to come to the dispensary. The rest of the afternoon the white\nman spent with the carpenter lads, by whose aid he was building a large\nstore.\n\nBy sunset the white man looked fagged, and I think it was with a sigh of\nrelief that he drove the last nail for the day, and gave the order to\nring the stop-work bell. Just then loud shouts were heard, angry,\npassionate words came on the air, and the white man, hurrying in the\ndirection of the sounds, found a big boy fighting a small one. He\ninstantly separated them, and turning on the big fellow upbraided him\nfor cowardice in striking a little boy, and charged him with breaking\none of the station laws in hitting one smaller than himself.\n\n\u201cHe cursed me and was insolent,\u201d aggressively answered the law-breaker\nin defence of his action.\n\n\u201cYes, I dare say he was cheeky,\u201d said the judge; \u201cbut you know the rule\nof this place is: All big boys that hit little boys must be punished\nwith the cane, and all small boys who curse and are insolent to their\nelders must be brought to the white man for him to cane. There is only\none who punishes on this station, and that is myself. Is it not so?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is the law,\u201d they unanimously assented.\n\n\u201cI have told you repeatedly,\u201d continued the white man, \u201cthat without\nsuch a rule you cannot live happily here. The big ones among you would\nconstantly harry and make drudges of the little ones, and their lives\nwould become unbearable; and the younger ones, too, would irritate you\nolder ones with their curses and impudence. It is a good law, is it\nnot?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, it is a good law,\u201d they all agreed.\n\nThereupon the white man picked up a cane, and gave the law-breaker six\ngood strokes with it on his hands, and turning to the small boy, he\nsaid: \u201cIf you get cursing or cheeking the other lads I will give you a\nthrashing that you will not quickly forget.\u201d\n\nThe boys trooped off to their house. And Bakula, as he accompanied the\nlads, was surprised to hear no angry exclamations against the white man.\nThe majority acknowledged the rule to be a good one, and that the white\nman was absolutely impartial in enforcing it.\n\nDuring the evening my owner, together with eight or ten other lads, went\nto have a chat with their white man. On entering his house we found him\nreading a book and eating roasted peanuts. His evening meal was over,\nand he was just reading and resting. On our arrival he smiled, and\nputting down his book, at once began to chat with us. There had been a\ndiscussion in the boys\u2019 house as to which was the greatest country:\nPortugal, Holland, or England,[48] and as the supporters of each were\nabout equally divided they had come to the white man to settle the\npalaver for them. He listened to our questions, and taking down one of\nhis books, told us the size of each country, the number of people in\neach, and the different kinds of articles made in each place. He then\ntold us a story he had just read, and asked us to tell him one of our\nstories, which the oldest lad amongst us at once did, to our amusement.\nIt was now late, but before wishing our white friend \u201cto sleep well,\u201d we\nall knelt in prayer and thanked the great God for His goodness, and\nespecially for the loving gift of His Son Jesus Christ.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n  See note 38, p. 353.\n\nThe next day was Saturday, so the boys swept up the courtyard, and all\nthe various paths about the station, those also leading to the station\nand the \u201ctown square.\u201d Bakula entered heartily into the work of tidying\nup the place, and by midday all the rubbish had been carried away and\nburnt. The boys had the rest of the day for themselves--some visited\nfriends in the neighbourhood, others played hockey, one group went off\nto the forest in search of wild fruits, and another went rat-hunting in\nthe farms and bush.\n\nWhile Bakula was walking this afternoon through the town he saw a man\nstretched on a mat with a fowl tied to his leg, and a witch-doctor\nvigorously rubbing him. He was a sick man, and the \u201cmedicine man\u201d had\ntold him to bring a fowl before he could attempt to cure him. The fowl\nhad been brought and a string had been tied from a leg of the fowl to a\nleg of the outstretched patient.\n\nThe witch-doctor was now kneeling by the side of the sick man, rubbing\nthe evil spirit out of his arms into his body; then he chased it out of\nthe body over towards the leg to which the fowl was tied; he thereupon\nworked it out of the other leg into that to which the fowl was connected\nby the string, and thus he followed it until he had cornered it near to\nthe string, when suddenly he gave a tremendous push and away it went\nthrough the rest of the leg and through the string into the fowl. The\nwitch-doctor cut the connecting string, wrung the neck of the fowl, and\nthrew it over to his wife to cook for his next meal, for he was not\nafraid of any number of evil spirits that might be in the fowl. The\npractice was that if a patient did not recover after this rubbing out of\nthe malignant spirits, he had to take another and another fowl until he\nwas either cured or his fowls were finished.\n\nThere was no bell at sunrise the next morning calling the men to work;\nbut before the sun was far above the distant tree-tops a bugle sounded\nout over the town.\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d asked Bakula of a companion, for he had never heard a\nbugle before.\n\n\u201cTo-day is Sunday,\u201d his friend replied, \u201cand that is Petelo blowing his\nbugle to remind the people that it is the rest day, and those who want\nto attend the service to hear God\u2019s palaver must not go to the farms.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know what God\u2019s palaver means,\u201d said Bakula. \u201cBut what do Sunday and\nservice mean? I never heard of them before.\u201d\n\nHis informant explained the meaning of the day, and also of the word\nservice. He said that ever since the white teachers had come to live in\ntheir town many of the folk observed the day and attended the service,\nbut others laughed at both and went off to their farms as usual.\n\nBy and by my owner went with the other lads to the school-house, where\nwe found some boys from the town already assembled. The white man came\nin and greeted us, sat down among us and conducted what I afterwards\nlearned was a Sunday-school class. He talked to us about God\u2019s mercy and\njustice, and we asked him all kinds of questions. If we started any\ninquiry that did not belong to the lesson he told us to remind him of it\none evening when we went for a chat with him and he would try to answer\nit then.\n\nWhen the sun was well up the bell was rung for God\u2019s palaver. All the\nboys picked up two or three mats and carried them to the \u201ctown square,\u201d\nwhere they spread them along three sides and placed two of them in the\nmiddle. These preparations being completed, the bell was again loudly\nrung, and the white man, locking up his house, went to the square,\nfollowed by a boy carrying his chair.\n\nBy this time the people had gathered--the women and girls sat on the\nmats along one side, the men and boys on the mats extending along two\nsides. The school-boys arranged themselves on the mats that had been put\nin the middle, against which the white man\u2019s chair had been placed, and\nfinally the King sat on a chair with a few head men about him at the\nentrance to his _lumbu_, or enclosure, which occupied the whole of the\nfourth side. He was gorgeously arrayed in a bright red coat and\nwaistcoat, with a large, bright blue cloth round his loins and a gaudy\nsmoking-cap on his head. Most of the people were dressed in gay-coloured\ncloths and bright beads, and had oily faces. Here and there were young\ndandies who, to enhance their charms, had polished their faces with\nblack lead, or streaked them with lines of scarlet, blue, or yellow\npigments.\n\nIt was a strange, grotesque, pathetic gathering upon which the eyes of\nthe pale-face teacher rested that radiant Sunday morning. The faces of\nthe old women portrayed their greed, jealousy, hatred and vice. From the\nvery youngest girl to the oldest woman there was not a pure, virgin soul\nto be found. Among the older men there was not one but had broken the\nwhole ten commandments, and the younger men and boys who had not broken\nthem all had failed not from lack of inclination, but of opportunities.\nThere at the back sat in scarlet and blue the man who had murdered the\nvery mother who had nursed him and cared for him in infancy and\nchildhood. What message had the teacher for these men and women?\n\nThe white man gave out a hymn, and the schoolboys sang it heartily.\nBakula recognized it as the one he heard in Tonzeka\u2019s town on the night\nof the drunken riot--\u201cGod loved the world of sinners lost.\u201d\n\nThen a strange thing happened: the teacher knelt in prayer, and the men\nand women, boys and girls turned over from their squatting postures on\nthe mats, and bowed their heads while in reverent tones they repeated\nthe prayers phrase by phrase--a confession of guilt, a petition for\nstrength to do right, a note of thankfulness for God\u2019s mercy, and, for\nHis great gift of Jesus Christ, and a request that they might all\nreceive His pardon and salvation. Then came another hymn, and the white\nman spoke to us on God\u2019s readiness to forgive, if we will but repent and\nturn to Him, and he illustrated what he meant by telling us a story out\nof God\u2019s book called \u201cThe Prodigal Son.\u201d Another hymn and prayer and the\nstrange meeting was over. The teacher went and spoke to the King and\ngreeted all whom he passed on his way to his empty house.\n\nSoon after dinner the white man called three or four of his boys, and,\ntaking his long walking-stick, started for Mputu, to hold a service in\nthat town. Bakula met the little party and received permission to join\nit.\n\nPassing through the town, we descended a steep side of the hill, and\ncame to the river Mposo, which we crossed by means of a rickety bridge,\nand a long walk up and down low-lying hills brought us to Mbumba\u2019s town\nof Mputu. Apparently the white man was expected, for the folk gathered\nbefore the greetings between the chief and the teacher were concluded.\n\nA service was conducted similar to the morning one, the chief and people\njoining in the hymns and prayer, and listening attentively to God\u2019s\npalaver. The sun by now was fast sinking, so the white man bade the\nchief and his people good-bye and hurried back to Congo dia Ngunga. On\nthe way out our white companion had chatted freely with us, but now he\nasked us not to talk to him, as he had to think over what teaching he\nshould give the King on his return.\n\nIn our small party was a lad belonging to the town we had just left, so\nBakula asked him if all the rumours of cruelty and murder he had heard\nabout Mbumba were true, for he was notorious throughout the whole\ndistrict for cutting off ears on the slightest provocation, murdering\nfolk for the smallest offences, and stirring up quarrels and war between\ntowns for the most trivial causes. \u201cYes,\u201d admitted the lad, \u201cit is all\ntrue. He cut off my brother\u2019s ear, because, while sitting in front of\nhim one day, he happened to stretch out his legs;[49] and I was present\non another occasion when he ordered a slave to be killed for the same\nsmall offence.\u201d\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n  See note 39, p. 353.\n\nMbumba\u2019s record was that of one \u201cwhose feet were swift to shed blood.\u201d\nHe had listened quietly to the teaching that afternoon, and had begged\nthe teacher to \u201ccome again quickly.\u201d\n\nIt was almost sunset by the time we had climbed the hill and reached the\ntown. On arriving at the entrance to the King\u2019s enclosure the white man\nturned in, we following at his heels. The King, hearing us, called to us\nto enter without ceremony, and we found his majesty squatting on a low\nstool with an empty chair opposite him. He shook hands cordially with\nthe white man and, pointing to the chair, invited him to be seated. And\nsitting there face to face, with only a few boys about them, the white\nman said--\n\n\u201cThe white teachers who first came to live in your town visited you\nevery Sunday evening to explain God\u2019s palaver to you, and for many\nmonths now I have been coming, when well, every Sunday evening for the\nsame purpose. What is it that keeps your heart closed so tightly against\nour message?\u201d Then he pleaded with him to repent of his many great sins\nand seek help and salvation in God. The shadows deepened as the\nconversation proceeded, but it was not too dark to see the tears\ntrickling down the pock-marked cheeks of the old man.\n\nAt last the quiet talk was ended, and the white man, promising to see\nhim again soon, bade the King \u201csleep well,\u201d and returned to the lonely\nstone house that echoed with the voices of those who had lived and\nworked there before him.\n\nSoon after dark the white man\u2019s personal boy came and informed us that\nhis master had taken some tea and gone to bed with a bad fever, and he\nhad sent to say that he could not talk with any of the lads that night,\nand begged them not to make much noise, as his head ached severely. A\nquietness fell upon us all, and although the stone house was some\ndistance off, the boys spoke in whispers for fear of disturbing their\nteacher. When the light was put out that night, one of the elder boys\ntimidly suggested we might pray to God on behalf of their teacher. As no\none dissented he falteringly prayed: \u201cO God, we do not know much about\nyou, for we are foolish and do not learn quickly what our white man\ntells us about you; but we beg you to cure him of his fever, so that he\nmay teach us every day. O God, take a sharp hoe, dig into our hearts,\npull up all the weeds and sow Thy good seed there. In the name of Jesus\nwe beg it. Amen.\u201d\n\nTwo or three days after the above events Bakula heard some shouting in\nthe town, and hurried in the direction of the voices. There, in the\ncentre of a crowd, was a witch-doctor, dancing and prancing about in the\nmost ridiculous, though approved, fashion.\n\nIn his hand was a bunch of feathers, which he flourished in the air and\nthen darted at the grass wall of a hut near by. Every time he threw it\nthe bunch of feathers stuck in the wall, and everybody shouted with\nadmiration because they thought it was a great charm, as otherwise\nsimple feathers would not fly with such accuracy and stick tightly on a\nwall. The witch-doctor danced in triumph, and the crowd of onlookers\nshouted and clapped.\n\nAgain the feathers are thrown, and, wonder of wonders, they stick; but\nbefore the witch-doctor has finished his fandango of exultation, a\nschool-lad darts from the crowd and, grasping the feathers, he drags\nthem from the wall.\n\nA scream of horror arises from the men and women, for they expect him to\nfall dead or paralyzed on the ground as a punishment for touching\nanother\u2019s fetish.\n\nBut, no, there he stands nervously pulling at the feathers; and before\nthe witch-doctor can reach him he extracts from amid the feathers a\nsharp iron prong, and throws it and the feathers at the feet of their\nmaddened owner.\n\nThen the people see the trick that has been played upon them and,\nturning on the witch-doctor, drive him from the town amid hooting,\nhisses and laughter.\n\n[Illustration: A SCENE IN THE CATARACT REGION OF THE CONGO.]\n\n[Illustration: A WITCH DOCTOR.]\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter XV\n                         Satu receives a Title\n\nThe King sends for medicine--He is told to apply to St. Catherine--The\n    King\u2019s promise--Bakula bids farewell to his white friend--King\u2019s\n    deputy goes with us to Satu\u2019s town--Ceremony of conferring the\n    title--Killing a leopard--Satu redeems his brother--Releases his\n    niece from a hateful marriage--A story: \"Appearances are sometimes\n    Deceptive\"--A chief asks for Satu\u2019s niece in marriage--Marriage\n    money is paid--The wedding--Satu gains a new slave.\n\n\nOne day Bakula was chatting with the white man in his house when a head\nman arrived from his majesty, saying: \u201cThe King has many pains in his\nstomach, and he wants some medicine to stop them. Will you send some?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied the white man, \u201cI will not send him any. For several weeks\nI attended the King during his severe illness, and immediately on his\nrecovery he, at the request of the padres, went to their church and\nthanked St. Catherine for his restoration to health. Go and tell him\nthat as he thanked St. Catherine for his recovery, he must now ask St.\nCatherine for medicine to stop the pains in his stomach.\u201d\n\nThe messenger could hardly repress a smile as he said: \u201cThat is only\nfair,\u201d and hurried off to deliver his message.\n\n\u201cWill you not send some medicine?\u201d asked the King\u2019s nephew, who was\nstanding by.\n\n\u201cYes, perhaps by and by, but not just yet,\u201d replied the white man. \u201cHe\nhas eaten too much, and colic is the result. It will not hurt him to\nbear the gripings for a time; and then I will send him some medicine and\nadvice. You know,\u201d continued the speaker, \u201cthat I went at sunrise every\nmorning for five weeks to wash his foul, sloughing sore, and bind it in\nclean bandages; and he was grateful for all that was done for him, and\noften said that I had saved his life, and now I want to teach him that\nthese saints who have rotted away to dust generations ago cannot help\nhim.\u201d\n\nBy now the messenger returned to say that the King will not go to St.\nCatherine again if the white man will send him some medicine at once.\n\nTo him the missionary replied: \u201cTell the King he had better wait a\nlittle longer before making such a conditional promise. St. Catherine\nmay be busy somewhere else, and cannot come to Congo just now, even for\na King. You see, she must have a lot to do in all parts of the world,\nand as she is only a saint, and not God, she cannot be everywhere at\nonce.\u201d\n\nOff went the man with the message, and this time he could not suppress\nhis laughter.\n\n\u201cTell the cook-boy to make some hot water quickly,\u201d said the white man\nto a boy who was squatting near the door.\n\nThe King\u2019s nephew, in apologetic tones, said: \"The King\u2019s position is a\nvery difficult one. He loves Vianga, Yoani, Bentele, Alli[50] and you\nvery much. You English were the first to bring God\u2019s palaver to him and\nhis people, every day you cure them of their diseases with your\nmedicines, and you teach them all kinds of good ways; but the padres\ngive him bales and bales of cloth and many boxes of beads. You know he\nis always greedy for trade goods and fine clothes; and these he receives\nin abundance from the Roman Catholic padres, hence when they asked him\nto go to their church to thank St. Catherine for his recovery, he was\nafraid to refuse them, although he believes in his heart what you\nfrequently told him: that God blessed your medicine to his restoration.\nTo show how he loves you English teachers, listen to what happened about\na month ago. All the padres went to the King and told him that he was to\norder all his people to attend their church, and never again to go to\nyour services. They were angry because their church was nearly empty\nevery Sunday. They threatened to leave the town immediately, and that\nwould mean a stoppage of all their presents, if he did not issue the\norder they requested. The King absolutely refused to command his people\nto attend either service, and said: \u2018They shall be free to go wherever\nthey like.\u2019\"\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n  Revs. T. J. Comber, John Hartland, W. H. Bentley, and H. E.\n  Crudgington.\n\n\u201cI have always felt sorry for the trying position of the King,\u201d said the\nwhite man, \u201cand fully sympathize with him in his difficulties; but he\nis, as we say in English, trying to sit on two stools, and that is\nalways very uncomfortable to the sitter, and most irritating to the\nstools.\u201d\n\nJust then three head men came hurrying into the house to beg again for\nsome medicine, and to promise on behalf of the King that he would never\nagain thank St. Catherine for what she did not, and could not\naccomplish. So the white man called for the hot water, and, mixing a\nglass of physic, sent it to the King.\n\nIn a short time the man returned with the report that the King felt\nbetter directly he drank the medicine.\n\n\u201cWhat was it you gave him?\u201d he asked of the white man.\n\n\u201cOnly some peppermint, hot water and sugar,\u201d replied the missionary.\n\u201cYou tell the King from me,\u201d he continued, \u201cthat he is not to eat so\nmuch.\u201d\n\nBakula informed his white friend that he had come to bid him good-bye,\nfor at \u201ccock-crow\u201d in the morning he and his party would be starting\nback for their town.\n\n\u201cWill you not come and live with me, and let me teach you God\u2019s\npalaver?\u201d asked the white man of the lad.\n\n\u201cFor many reasons,\u201d replied Bakula, \u201cI would like to come and learn to\nread, write, do carpentry and hear more about God; but this station is a\nlong way from my home, and my family will not let me come so far. My\nuncle lives in the Ngombe district, and perhaps they will let me go to\nthe mission school there.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you can learn there as well as here; but I should have liked you\nto live with me,\u201d and there was a note of tenderness in the teacher\u2019s\nvoice, and tears were not far from his eyes as he spoke to the lad. And\nafter a quiet talk with my owner about what he had heard at the\nservices, and expressing the hope that they would see each other again\nsoon, the white man and Bakula separated, never to meet again on earth.\n\nBakula had frequently tried to induce Old Plaited-Beard to have some\nconversation with the white man, but had failed every time, not through\nlack of earnestness and persistency on Bakula\u2019s part; but because of the\nold man\u2019s superstitious fear and hatred of white men. The discussions on\nthe subject had been long and often loud, and when Old Plaited-Beard was\nunsuccessful in proving his charges of witchcraft against the white man,\nor failed in proving that the white man bought up dead bodies and sent\nthem to Mputu, he then fell back on another accusation: that the white\nmen had come to steal their country from them.\n\nOn one occasion Bakula led the white man towards the place where Old\nPlaited-Beard was sitting; but no sooner did the superstitious old man\nsee him coming in the distance than he ran into the inner room of the\nnearest house, and would not come out until he was assured that the\nwhite man had gone.\n\nEarly next morning Bakula and his party, accompanied by Kapitau and some\nfollowers, started on their return journey. On the road Old\nPlaited-Beard and the Kapitau had long talks, and although the\nprejudiced views of the old man were received with coldness by the\nKing\u2019s deputy, yet in one point they agreed, and that was \u201cthat the\nwhite man would rob them of their country and make them all slaves.\u201d[51]\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n  See note 40, p. 353.\n\nWherever we stayed for a night the people paid most humble homage to\nKapitau, as representing the King, and supplied him with plenty of food\nand palm-wine; consequently every evening was spent in feasting and\ndrinking, and there was scarcely a night that the elders of the party\nwent to bed sober.\n\nOn arriving at Satu\u2019s town Kapitau and his companions received a great\novation. The people crowded the road to set eyes on the man who had been\nsent by the great King of Congo to confer a title on their own chief.\nThey vied with each other in shouting, clapping, and beating their\nmouths. Drums were thumped, ivory horns blown, and guns fired; and the\ndin was such that it seemed more like pandemonium let loose for a riot\nthan a friendly welcome to an honoured visitor and guest. To show due\nrespect to the King\u2019s deputy a good house was given him, and an abundant\nsupply of food. In two or three days the party was rested and the\nnecessary preparations for the ceremony were completed.\n\nOn the appointed day a large crowd gathered, composed of Satu\u2019s mother\u2019s\nclan, who were especially called. Those members of his father\u2019s clan who\ndesired to be present were welcomed, but all other clans were carefully\nexcluded. The assembly formed a large circle, in the centre of which a\nleopard\u2019s skin was spread and a seat placed on it.\n\nThe Kapitau went up to Satu, who was sitting among his people, and\nhooking his index finger in the little finger of Satu\u2019s left hand, led\nhim up to the leopard\u2019s skin, and walking him round it as far as the\ntail, told him to step over it. Then, leading him to the front of the\nchair, he seated him in it, whereupon the crowd of onlookers slapped the\nloosely closed fists of their left hands with the palms of their right\nhands.\n\nThe Kapitau put on the new noble\u2019s head some _lemba-lemba_ leaves, and\nwetting his hands with palm-wine, pressed them to Satu\u2019s temples, to the\nback and front of his head, to his shoulders and to his knees. This was\nto make him throb with life, wise in the head, strong in body and legs.\nThis ceremony was repeated three times, and a blessing was pronounced in\nthe following words: May you be happy and lucky, and when you speak may\nyour words be heard (_i. e._ obeyed) by the people. And again the crowd\nshouted and clapped.\n\nWhen the folk had exhausted themselves into quietness the Kapitau asked\nloudly three times: \u201cDo you know this man\u2019s name?\u201d and the people\nreplied each time: \u201cNo, we do not know his name!\u201d Then the King\u2019s deputy\nexclaimed loudly: \u201cIt is _Ngudi a nkama Katendi_.\u201d The men and women,\nhearing this, rounded their mouths with pursed lips, and beat them with\nthe extended fingers of their right hands, making thereby a long series\nof _Wo! Wo! Wo!_ and again the drums were beaten, guns fired, and ivory\ntrumpets sounded until the very air seemed to quiver with discordant\nnoises.\n\nThe Kapitau then instructed the new noble how he was to deport himself\nas a man of high rank. In future he must not, when walking, visiting,\nhunting or trading, carry anything except his walking-stick or gun. In\nfact, he was never again to carry anything like a boy or an ordinary\nman. Should any person meet him bearing any article, save his stick or\ngun, such a person may take away the said article and either keep it for\nhimself or sell it. Should he shoot any game he must send some one for\nit, for if he attempted to bring it into the town himself, the first to\nmeet him may deprive him of his spoils. He must never, under any\ncircumstances, gather firewood or fetch water; and, lastly, the new\nnoble must never beat his wives, and should he so far forget himself as\nto do so, he may be mulcted in a fine of several fowls or one goat.\nThese instructions completed, a bracelet was put on his arm as a sign of\nhis new and important rank.\n\nSatu gave the Kapitau four pieces of cloth and a pig to compensate him\nfor his trouble; and a great feast of pigs, goats and palm-wine was\nprepared for the people in honour of the occasion. The night was\noccupied with gluttony, dancing, immorality and drunkenness, for men and\nwomen, boys and girls were reeling about in maudlin intoxication all\nover the town. Fortunately they had nothing but palm-wine to drink,\nwhich never makes the drinkers quarrelsome, like the fiery waters\nsupplied by traders.\n\nOnly chiefs are permitted to own and use leopards\u2019 skins, and when one\nof these animals is slain there is considerable local excitement as to\nwhich chief will gain possession of the skin by his largesse to the\nfortunate slayer of the brute.\n\nThe other week a leopard was killed in our neighbourhood, and the lucky\nman who shot it had it carried from chief to chief in the district. The\nfront and back paws were tied, and a pole was passed through the legs\nand hoisted on to the shoulders of some men. In this ignominious\nfashion--dangling from a pole--the prize was hawked from place to place.\nOne chief gave four kegs of gunpowder (worth 16_s_.); another gave seven\nblankets (worth 21_s_.); another, who already owned a leopard skin, and\ncould not afford a second, presented eight looking-glasses (worth\n5_s_.); and thus each gave, not knowing what the others had given. Satu\ngave four blankets, three kegs of powder, and two rugs (worth in all\n30_s_.), and thus exceeded the others in generous presents. Directly it\nwas known who gave the largest sum to the leopard slayer, Satu went and\nput his foot on the beast, and thus established his claim to it. The\nanimal was removed and in due time skinned. It could not be flayed until\nit was trodden on by its future owner.\n\nThe leopard after it is killed is always referred to with great respect\nas _Mfumu_, or chief; and after the carcass has made the circuit of the\nchiefs it is carried back to the hunter\u2019s town, and two or three days\nare given wholly to festivities. Guns are fired, drums are beaten, the\npeople dance and sing songs in honour of the slayer of _Mfumu_, and much\npalm-wine is drunk. The leopard is then flayed and eaten. Some ate the\nflesh believing they would become lithe, cunning and strong like the\nleopard, but others refused to eat it from a superstitious fear of\nspots--like the leopard\u2019s--breaking out on their own skins.\n\nThe gifts presented by the various chiefs paid the expenses of the\nfestivities, and Satu sat on this skin when he was invested with the\nhigh rank of a noble. If the skin had been given to a chief out of the\ndistrict in which the hunter killed the animal it would have been\nresented as an insult, and the towns and villages would have combined to\nfight the hunter\u2019s town or enforced the payment of a heavy fine.\n\nSatu\u2019s deceased brother was a very poor trader, and had such frequent\nlosses on his trading journeys that on one occasion he was compelled to\n\u201cpawn\u201d one of his younger brothers to a neighbouring chief to pay his\nmany debts. He had borrowed fifty pieces of cloth on his brother, and\nalthough he frequently afterwards possessed more than that number, and\nin fact died worth more than three hundred pieces, yet he never troubled\nto redeem his brother, but left him in servitude. As a \u201cpledge in pawn\u201d\nthe brother received no pay from the one who held him, no matter how\nhard he laboured.\n\nSatu, on the other hand, was a keen, successful trader, and had\naccumulated a great amount of native wealth. Consequently, as a rich man\nand a noble, he was expected by public opinion to redeem his brother out\nof bondage. One of Satu\u2019s first acts after his dignity was conferred on\nhim was to take the fifty pieces of cloth, a calabash of palm-wine and a\n_white_ goat; and, calling Bakula and others to carry the goods and\naccompany him as witnesses, went to the town where his brother was held\nin slavery.\n\nOn reaching the town he sent for the pawnbroker or holder, who came at\nonce followed by a few friends, who all paid homage to Satu as a great\nnoble. The natives bowed to the King and rendered homage three times at\neach of the three places as they approached; but to Satu they bowed only\nonce at each place as they drew near.\n\nWhen all were seated, the calabash of wine was handed round and solemnly\ndrunk by the two principal men and their witnesses. The fifty pieces of\ncloth were counted out and handed over, and the _white_ goat was\npresented. This _white gift_ was called _nkusw\u2019 a mpemba_, or a being\nrubbed white. On receiving this _white_ goat the man who held the pawn\nin pledge arose to his feet and rubbed some chalk with his fingers by\nthe side of the right ear of the pawn. The ceremony is complete, the\npawn is redeemed, and the chalk is a sign that he is _clean_ from his\nbondage, and there is nothing more against him. Satu and his brother\nembraced each other and returned together to their town. The slur of\nslavery now being wiped out of the family, no one would again taunt them\nwith it.\n\nSatu now turned his attention to help his only niece. It appears that\nwhen she was a baby only one or two days old, a man of middle age\nentered her mother\u2019s house, and dropped a bead into the saucepan that\nstood by the fire, and from which the hot water was taken to wash the\nbaby. The dropping in of the bead gave the man a claim on the girl to\nbecome his wife when old enough. No one else could marry her unless the\ngirl were released by the payment of a heavy sum for breach of custom.\n\nWhen the child, Sono, reached the age of seven, her deceased uncle had\nacknowledged the claims of the \u201cbead dropper\u201d to his niece\u2019s hand by\nasking him to pay ten pieces of cloth as marriage money. He could and\nshould have asked more, but he was in difficulty, and glad to accept any\nsum he could get. As Sono came to realize the small amount that was\ngiven for her, she became angry with her uncle and with the man who\nregarded her as his cheaply bought wife; and this feeling was increased\nby the girls and boys in her town jeering at her for not being worth\nmore than the price of two pigs.\n\nWhen she arrived at a marriageable age she refused to marry the old man,\nand had repeatedly begged her uncle to release her by returning the\nmarriage money and another ten pieces as interest for the use of the\nmoney for the past ten years. Her deceased uncle, who was then the head\nof her family, had refused to part with so much cloth merely to gratify\nthe whim of a girl, and, besides, he always pleaded poverty.\n\nThere seemed no prospect of release for her from a very hateful marriage\nwith an old man who already possessed twelve wives--most of whom had\nbad, quarrelsome tempers, and would make her life miserable. She had\ndetermined to kill herself[52] as her only means of escape; but now that\nanother and richer uncle was head of the family she renewed her appeal\nwith success.\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n  See note 41, p. 354.\n\nThe bridegroom-elect was a crafty old man who thoroughly recognized the\nadvantage of an alliance with so great a family if he could coerce the\ngirl into marrying him, or the possibility of making some money out of\nthe breaking of the covenant should her uncle support her in her\ncontinued refusal of him.\n\nHe therefore feigned surprise when he was requested to release Sono from\nher betrothal to him, and asked in anger: \u201cWas he not great enough to\nbecome a member of Satu\u2019s family! Was he not a great man himself, and\nowned twelve wives! What objection had lord Satu to him?\u201d\n\nSatu did not attempt to argue these matters with the old man, but went\nstraight to the point by asking how much he wanted before he would\nrelease his niece.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d replied the man, \u201cI paid ten pieces of cloth, besides palm-wine,\nand various odds and ends of trade goods, worth in all fifteen pieces,\nas marriage money, and your family has had the use of that amount for\nten years; so I shall not take less than one hundred pieces of cloth to\nrelease her from the betrothal.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a ridiculous price to put on her,\u201d retorted Satu angrily. \u201cI\nwill give you twenty-five pieces, one pig, one keg of gunpowder, one\ncalabash of palm-wine, and one soldier\u2019s coat.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you are now a great chief, and a noble of high rank,\u201d contended the\nold man, \u201cand any one will give sixty pieces of cloth for your niece as\nmarriage money in order to marry into so grand a family. I will not take\na fathom less than ninety pieces. Let me tell you a story of a girl who\nrefused her betrothed for frivolous reasons, and was badly treated by\nher chosen husband.\u201d The old man then related this story, called\n\n\u201cAppearances are Sometimes Deceptive.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnce upon a time a girl was betrothed by her parents to a Mr. Hawk, and\nfor a time she was satisfied with her sweetheart; but by and by she\ncomplained that his face was too black. Her parents tried to teach her\nthat a man was not to be accepted simply because he had a beautiful\nface, nor rejected for only possessing a very plain, black one; but she\nwould not listen to them.\n\n\u201cOne day she put on her ornaments and best cloths, and went to the\nmarket, where she met a young man whose name was Oily-face,[53] because\nit was polished so brightly with palm-oil.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n  See note 42, p. 354.\n\n\u201cMr. Oily-face\u2019s country was a long way off, and when he left home he\nhad a nasty body covered with pimples and scabs, and his eyes bulged\nout. As he passed through the towns he borrowed a face, some hair, new\nteeth and a nice skin; consequently when he reached the market he looked\na very pleasant young man.\n\n\u201cThis Mr. Oily-face saw the girl standing in the market, and said to\nher: \u2018I would like to marry you.\u2019 She looked at him, and seeing he had a\nbeautiful light skin, well-plaited hair, and nice white teeth, she said:\n\u2018All right, come and see my parents.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen they reached her town she said to her family: \u2018Here is a young man\nwho wants to marry me.\u2019 Oily-face looked so bashful, and showed such\nrespect to the girl\u2019s mother, that they were all pleased with him. Very\nsoon they were married, and shortly after started for Oily-face\u2019s\ncountry.\n\n\u201cThey had not gone very far on the road when some one called out:\n\u2018Oily-face, return my hair.\u2019 Another shouted: \u2018Give me back my teeth.\u2019\nIn another town a man requested Oily-face to return the face that he had\nlent him; and another said: \u2018Give me back my stomach and take your own;\nit eats too much.\u2019 Thus at last he was reduced to his own nasty body,\npimply skin and bulging, ugly eyes.\n\n\u201cAfter walking many days they reached their town, and the people came\nround asking Oily-face where he had procured his wife. He told them that\nshe had come from a far country which was ten days\u2019 journey away. They\nwelcomed her, but next morning they surrounded the house wishing to eat\nher.\n\n\u201cShe came outside and said: \u2018Wait, don\u2019t eat me yet; but beat your drums\nand I will dance.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo she danced all day to amuse them, and sang a song about a Mr. Hawk\nbeing very good, with beautiful, curving feathers; and how sorry she was\nfor not accepting him as her husband. Every morning they wanted to kill\nand eat her; but she danced and sang to please them.\n\n\u201cOne day Mr. Hawk passed that way, and, looking down, saw the woman,\nheard her song, and felt full of pity for her. He told her parents of\ntheir daughter\u2019s danger, and promised to save her. Next day, therefore,\nhe flew off, swooped down, and carried her back to her own family, who\nwere glad to receive her amongst them again. After a time she married\nMr. Hawk, and never any more found fault with the colour of his face.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d continued the narrator, \u201cyour niece will be sorry she did not\nmarry me when she is badly treated by some dandy who has borrowed his\nbeauty from other people. Give me eighty pieces of cloth and I will\nrelease her.\u201d\n\nTo him Satu replied, with a laugh: \u201cI will take care that no such dandy\nmarries my niece and carries her off to a distant country. Besides, my\nniece is not so foolish as to make friends with any swells (_etoko dia\nfioti_) on the market.\u201d Satu offered twenty-eight pieces and the other\narticles, and asserted that he would not put another fathom on the\nprice.\n\nThey argued about the affair all that afternoon and for the two\nsucceeding days, and at last it was agreed that Satu should pay\nthirty-five pieces of cloth to the old man, one pig, one keg of\ngunpowder, one soldier\u2019s coat, one gun, and a calabash of palm-wine, and\nthus the palaver was settled to every one\u2019s satisfaction.\n\nA month or two after the release of Sono, a young chief of a\nneighbouring village arrived, followed by a man carrying a large\ncalabash of palm-wine. Bakula greeted him, and walked with him to Satu\u2019s\nhouse. There the young man asked for Satu, who, on appearing, received\nhomage from the chief and inquired his business.\n\n\u201cI very much wish to marry your niece, Sono,\u201d replied the young man,\n\u201cand I have brought a calabash of palm-wine to start the negotiations.\nWill you drink it?\u201d\n\nIf Satu had refused to drink the wine the young chief would have taken\nit away, knowing that there was not the smallest hope of him ever\nmarrying into Satu\u2019s family; but Satu did not refuse the wine; he\naccepted it, and sat down and drank it with the suitor for his niece\u2019s\nhand.\n\nHaving drunk the wine, Satu sent for some food, so that the young chief\nmight refresh himself for his return journey; and without giving him a\ndecided answer he told his niece\u2019s admirer to come back in four days. So\nfar Satu had not pledged himself, but had simply listened favourably to\nthe suit.\n\nOn the appointed day the chief, carrying more palm-wine, returned to\nSatu, who, having drunk the wine, informed the aspirant to his niece\u2019s\nhand that he was quite willing to regard him as a suitable husband for\nSono if all other matters could be arranged; and that the marriage money\nwould be fifty pieces of cloth, two blankets, one pig, fifty brass rods,\nand five round looking-glasses.\n\nThis large sum was asked on the ground that Satu wanted a guarantee that\nthe suitor for his niece was wealthy before he would admit him into so\ngreat a family.\n\nThe young man was staggered at the price demanded; and tried to reduce\nit, without success. He was, however, enamoured of the lady, and at last\npromised to collect the various goods. But it required repeated trading\nexpeditions about the country and to the coast before the young chief\nhad added sufficient to his savings to pay the marriage money and meet\nthe expenses of the wedding.\n\nA few months passed, and Satu received word that the young chief had\ngathered the cloth and other articles; and requesting him to come and\ninspect them. This Satu did, and being satisfied with the quality of the\ncloth and the size of the pig, he arranged to return for the goods on a\ncertain day and to bring the girl\u2019s father[54] to be introduced to him.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n  See note 43, p. 354.\n\nThe day arrived, and with it Satu and the girl\u2019s father, accompanied by\na man carrying their calabashes of palm-wine. The young man called some\nof his friends to help him drink the wine, and to act as witnesses. The\nuncle\u2019s wine was drunk first, as he is always of more importance in\nthese marriage transactions than the father, mother, or even the girl\nherself. After the uncle\u2019s calabash was finished the father\u2019s wine was\ndrunk. The \u201cmoney\u201d was then counted, and the two blankets and one or two\npieces of cloth were given to the father, but the rest was claimed[55]\nby the uncle.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n  See note 44, p. 355.\n\nUp to the present neither the girl nor her mother are supposed to have\nbeen consulted; but he would be indeed a foolish swain who went far in\nthe \u201cpalaver\u201d without knowing something of the girl\u2019s feelings towards\nhim, or sending presents to the girl\u2019s mother.\n\nThis young man was well acquainted with the girl\u2019s favourable regard for\nhim, for had she not received little presents[56] from him? He knew,\ntoo, that his future mother-in-law was on his side, for he had acted\ngenerously towards her; hence, when questioned on the matter, she\nreadily agreed[57] that the marriage could take place at once.\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n  See note 45, p. 355.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n  See note 46, p. 356.\n\nThe young chief had seven wives already, consequently he was well versed\nin the rites and ceremonies of marriage. At these affairs there is\ngenerally a pretence at carrying off the bride; hence on the wedding-day\nthe bridegroom, accompanied by many friends, went to the bride\u2019s town,\nand as they drew near they beat their drums, shouted loudly, fired guns,\nand made as much noise as possible, as though they were attacking the\ntown. There was a sham struggle, and at last the girl was carried off.\nThis great ado was regarded as an honour to the girl, and a proof of the\nbridegroom\u2019s position.\n\nOn returning to his own village the bridegroom told his friends to bring\nthe drums and plenty of palm-wine, and on that and the succeeding three\ndays goats and pigs were killed and eaten, palm-wine was drunk, and guns\nfired. The bride went without food the day before the wedding, and as a\nnew wife she was not allowed to eat in sight of her husband for three\nmonths.\n\nWhen the crowd had gone the elders met and gave the girl into the hands\nof the young chief, and they taught them both in the presence of\nwitnesses. To the young woman they said: \u201cYou are to respect your\nhusband and his family; and you are to behave yourself properly in your\nhouse. You have never had thieving or witchcraft palavers in the past;\ncontinue without them, and conduct yourselves properly towards each\nother.\u201d\n\nTo the young man they said: \u201cYou are to respect your wife and her\nfamily; you must not speak harshly to her, nor treat her as a slave, nor\nstamp on her things, nor tread her beneath your feet.\u201d\n\nThen the young man went to one of the witnesses, and taking him by the\nwrist, rubbed a bullet on the palm of the witness\u2019s hand, and said: \u201cI\nhave heard all the words spoken, and if I destroy the marriage may I die\nby this bullet.\u201d\n\nThe young woman then stepped forward and shyly took the same oath. This\nceremony completed, the witnesses went into Sono\u2019s house and arranged\nthe hearthstones, and instructed the bride in the duties of a wife.\n\nThe young chief, in anticipation of his marriage, had built a house for\nhis new wife, because every wife had her own house in which to live and\nbe mistress. The Congo man is too \u2019cute to put two women in one house;\nperhaps he has learned by bitter experience the unwisdom of it, and no\nmatter how many wives he may be fortunate enough to marry, he builds a\nhouse for each, and one for himself.\n\nSono, coming as she did from a town which was half a day\u2019s journey from\nher new home, had no farm from which she could draw her supplies of food\nfor herself and husband, in supporting whom she had now to take an\neighth share. So a few days after the marriage she went with the other\nwomen, her fellow-wives, and they helped her to clear a patch of ground,\nhoe it, and plant it with seasonable seeds and roots. In return for\ntheir kindness she assisted them in weeding their farms.\n\nIt was the custom for the bridegroom to supply his bride with all the\nnecessary food until her farm was matured and yielding; and from that\ntime to give her meat and fish as frequently as possible, while she\nfound her own vegetable food and a share of his. It was also the man\u2019s\nduty to present each of his wives with at least one good cloth every\nyear, and more if he were a wealthy man.\n\nSono settled down fairly comfortably with her husband and seven\nfellow-wives. She had her farm to cultivate, a house of her own, an\noccasional bit of meat or fish sent her from her husband; what more\ncould she want?\n\nOne morning our town was aroused by the firing of guns and shouts of\n_Nkombo! Nkombo!_ (Goat! Goat!)\n\nBakula ran out of the house and joined most vigorously in the shouting.\n\nWe saw a man covered with perspiration and panting with running. He\nhurried by to the chief\u2019s _lumbu_ or enclosure, and fell at the feet of\nSatu, where he paid most humble homage, covering his face with dirt.\n\nAs soon as he gained his breath he said: \u201cI have been badly treated by\nmy master Dimbula, who frequently beat me severely with his whip. See,\nhere are the marks!\u201d and he showed some deep wales across his back, legs\nand chest. \u201cHe not only thrashed me,\u201d he continued, \u201cbut he robbed me of\nthe small earnings to which by right of custom I am entitled. I have\ntherefore run away from him to you. Will you accept of me?\u201d and he\nlooked beseechingly at Satu, for now his very life depended on the\nanswer. If Satu refused him, and handed him back to Dimbula as a runaway\nslave, it was most probable that his master, in his rage and shame,\nwould kill him.\n\nSatu considered the matter, and at last, to the relief of the poor\nwretch, called for a piece of goat\u2019s flesh, and giving half to the\nslave, ate the other half himself.\n\nThe crowd that had gathered, directly they saw the piece of goat\u2019s meat\neaten, shouted: _Nkombo! Nkombo!_ (Goat! Goat!) and fired off a salvo\nwith their guns.\n\nThe slave was practically now a free man. The piece of goat eaten by\nSatu was a pledge that he would protect the man who had eaten with him\nfrom ever falling again into the hands of his old master, even though he\nhad to use the last brass rod, or shed the last drop of blood he\npossessed, in so doing. And the slave, by the eating of his piece of\ngoat, was bound, as long as life lasted, to Satu as _a free man_.\n\nOn the next market day Satu took the whilom slave and showed him on the\nmarket as one who had \u201ceaten his goat,\u201d and was now no longer a slave.\nDimbula was present, and was chagrined to witness the whole affair; but\nhe was compelled by custom to accept from Satu the merely nominal price\nof a slave. In selling a slave ordinarily the seller gets as much as he\ncan, and generally makes a good profit on the exchange; but in a\ntransaction of this kind he must take what is offered as the equivalent\nof a slave, and be satisfied.\n\nDimbula was a man of ungovernable passions, and it was not the first\ntime that his slaves had escaped from his cruelty by \u201ceating goat\u201d with\nneighbouring chiefs; while, on the other hand, no slaves had ever run to\nhim for protection or to \u201ceat goat\u201d with him. His fierce, hasty temper\nwas well known and feared.\n\nSlaves free in this way take the name of _Nkombo_, or Goat; and these\n\u201cgoats\u201d are very highly prized by chiefs, as they become very faithful\nfollowers of those with whom they have \u201ceaten the goat.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XVI\n                        Hunting and Bush-burning\n\nManner of bush-burning--Witch-doctor makes a hunting-charm--Ceremony is\n    carefully performed--Blazing bush and rushing animals--Satu arranges\n    with another chief to burn the bush--Dimbula breaks the law and\n    insults Satu--War is declared--Old Plaited-Beard being unsuccessful\n    accuses Bakula of bewitching him--He tries to restore his luck.\n\n\nAs the hunting season was drawing near, Satu and his people decided to\nengage a _ngang\u2019 a nkongo_, or the \u201cmedicine man\u201d of the hunting fetish,\nto make for them a powerful charm that would endow them with good luck\nin all kinds of hunting. The time for bush-burning had arrived, when the\ntall grass in their district would be thoroughly dry by reason of the\nlong drought, and would burn like prepared tinder. It is during the bush\nfires and the two succeeding months that systematic hunts are organized.\nIt was therefore needful to prepare the charm as quickly as possible.\n\nThe first thing that Satu and his people had to do was to burn carefully\na belt of grass, a hundred yards wide, right round their town, lest the\ngreat, uncontrollable bush fires should come roaring up before the wind,\nand reducing their dwellings to ashes, destroy also their treasures and\nsavings at the same time. For the purpose of burning this belt a damp\nmorning, heavy with dew, was chosen; then the men and women went with\nsticks and knives, and cut or pushed down the grass all round the\ntown--when the stems of grass are damp they are very pliable and are\neasily pressed down and will remain down as they dry in the morning sun.\n\nThe bush grass is anything from six feet to fifteen feet high, with\nstems as thick as a person\u2019s fingers. When they are burning the steam\ngenerated in the stems causes them to explode with loud, gun-like\nreports, and the force of the explosions sends the burning grass\nhurtling through the air like rockets; hence Satu\u2019s people took care to\npush down the grass so that the stalks pointed away from the houses.\n\nAfter pressing down the grass round the town the wind was watched, and\nwhen it was favourable the broken-down grass was burnt. The men and\nlads, armed with branches, controlled and directed the flames; Bakula\nand the other lads just delighted in this bush-burning season, and\nlooked forward to it with eager anticipation of the sport they would\nenjoy and the game they would secure. In dreams and talk they killed\nmany an animal long before the first grass was fired.\n\nSatu sent Bakula and two other lads to call the _nganga_, who made the\nhunting charms. On reaching his town they found him engaged in\nrefreshing and reinvigorating his fetish. He took a large fowl at\nsunset, and, turning his face towards the setting sun, cut the throat of\nthe fowl and let the running blood fall on the fetish, covering it with\nthe life-blood of the sacrifice. This renewed the strength of the\nfetish, and, refreshing it, enabled it to impart power to various\ncharms.\n\nHe then stood his fetish on the ground and surrounded it with several\nsmall heaps of gunpowder--laying a train from one heap to another. When\nall was ready he exploded the powder, and blew vigorously on his\nwhistle--this aroused the fetish, made it alert and active in performing\nits work. The _nganga_ had the fowl cooked, and ate the whole of it\nhimself, for to sell it or to share it with another would nullify its\neffect on the fetish as a sacrifice.\n\nBakula and his companions stood on one side keenly interested in these\nceremonies, for was not their future success in hunting dependent in\nsome way on these mysterious rites? Bakula, however, since his close\nintercourse with the white man, had begun to doubt the pretended powers\nof these _ngangas_, so turning to his fellow-messengers he asked: \u201cHow\ncan that wooden image, that has to be refreshed with fowl\u2019s blood and\naroused with explosions of gunpowder, cause us to shoot straight in our\nbush lands? And again, how can it make the antelopes and bush pigs come\nour way, instead of going off in another direction?\u201d\n\nHe then told the lads what he had seen in the King\u2019s town respecting the\n_nganga_ with his charm of feathers, and the iron prong hidden in them.\nAnd he concluded by saying: \u201cI begin to think they trick us, take our\nmoney and laugh at us.\u201d The lads could not reply to Bakula\u2019s reasoning,\nbut they had no doubt that the _nganga_ possessed powerful \u201cmedicines,\u201d\nand could do anything he liked; and they told Bakula in a friendly way\nnot to let Old Plaited-Beard hear him talk in this manner, or he would\nquickly accuse him of witchcraft.\n\nEarly next morning they returned with the \u201cmedicine man\u201d to their town;\nand immediately on arrival the _nganga_ set to work to make the\nnecessary charms. It was a busy time with him, and he would not have\ncome so promptly, but Satu was a great noble and could pay well. The\n_nganga_ procured some red camwood powder, some leaves of the\n_lupemba-mpemba_-tree, some young spikes of new _nianga_ grass, some\nparrot feathers, cowry shells, wood ashes, a fore-leg of a bat, some\nsmall shot, and some native _peppers_. These he thoroughly cut up and\nwell mixed, and each hunter filled his small horn with the mixture, and\nsealed the opening with a little rubber. He then received his fee and\nwent.\n\nThe hunters being now in possession of their charms, went to visit the\ngrave of a renowned hunter who had died some years previously. It was\nthe custom that when a great hunter was dying he should draw a thread\nfrom his _mbadi_[58] cloth, and tie it round the forehead or arms of a\nyoung man chosen for the purpose. This person then became the\n_Kimpovela_, or the one who speaks on behalf of others, _i. e._ an\nadvocate; and this advocate was not allowed to marry more than one wife,\nand he must never beat her or he would lose his power as an advocate.\nOnly the man thus selected by the dying hunter could perform the\nceremonies at this grave. When the great hunter died, his hair was cut\noff and buried beneath a large stone near his place of burial, that the\nnatives of the district might always know where the grave was situated.\n\nSatu and his party took with them a calabash of palm-wine and, calling\nthe _Kimpovela_, passed on to the grave of the renowned hunter. The\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n  Cloth made from pine-apple or palm fibre.\n\nadvocate went first and kneeled with his back to the grave and his face\ntowards the hunters, who approached him slowly, stopping every few steps\nto clap their hands. When they reached the kneeling man they spread out\nand sat round the grave, putting the wine and their guns on the ground\nnear by. The _Kimpovela_ then turned towards the grave, and shaking his\nrattle repeatedly, he thus prayed to the deceased hunter: \u201cYou are\nblind, but your ears are not deaf. Oh, ears, hear well! we have come to\nyou, we come kneeling. When you lived in the town you ate and you drank,\nnow we who are left die of hunger; give us male and female animals.\u201d\nWhen this prayer was finished a man put the calabash of wine on his\nshoulder, and the _Kimpovela_, making the sign of the cross,[59] took a\ncup of the wine and poured it as an offering on the grave of the great\nhunter. The rest of the wine was drunk by the hunters sitting around the\ngrave.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n  See note 47, p. 356.\n\nAfter drinking the wine the _Kimpovela_ rubbed a little of the earth wet\nwith the oblatory wine on the forehead, temples, fore-arms, wrists,\nknees and insteps of each hunter; then he took each gun and drew his\nfingers up the butt, and reaching the barrel he snapped his fingers and\nhanded the gun to its owner, who on taking it clapped his hands, sprang\nin the air, and holding the gun in front of him walked backwards a\nlittle way, facing the grave, and sat down to wait for the others. When\nall had finished they fired a salute and sang a song in praise of the\ngreat hunter to the rubbing, grating noise of the antelope drum. More\npalm-wine was drunk, and I am sure that by the time they had exhausted\ntheir wine, if they had seen an antelope not one of them was sober\nenough to have fired straight at it.\n\nAfter these ceremonies were concluded whenever Satu and his people went\nhunting they either took their horns of medicine with them, each\ncarrying his own under his belt, or they wetted the rubber stopper and\nrubbed the butt of their guns with a little of the moisture. This gave\nthem accuracy of aim, or they thought so. By burning the belt of grass\nround their town they had secured their houses against fire, and by\ntheir charms and the visit to the grave of the renowned hunter they had\nensured their future success as sportsmen; they were now consequently\nable to turn their attention to those parts of the bush where\nanimals--antelopes, wild pigs and gazelles--were likely to be found.\n\nA breezy day was chosen, and the hunters, taking their places along the\nportion of bush to be burned, fired the grass as soon as the night dews\nwere dried off. Animals browsing were startled by the roar of flames,\nrushed bewildered before the oncoming fire, and as they ran past were\nshot at by the waiting hunters. While the fire was burning hawks and\nfish-eagles circled above the burning bush, not \u201cto drink in the smoke,\u201d\nas the natives say, but in search of any hapless rats and snakes cut off\nfrom escape by the raging fire. These birds could be seen swooping down\nand carrying off to their lairs such reptiles and rats as their keen,\nhungry eyes detected.\n\nThese bush fires have taken place annually for generations, and\nundoubtedly account for the scarcity of wild game on the Lower Congo,\nthe absence of large reptiles, the shabby appearance of the trees on the\nopen veldt--they scarcely recover from one scorching before the dries\nare on them and another scorching is due--and the luxuriant grass, for\nthe burnt remains of one crop enrich the soil to bear another as\nstalwart as the first.\n\nDuring this season it is very weird to see, night after night, great\nbush fires blazing in different directions. The sky is aglow with them,\nand you smell and breathe a smoky atmosphere for days. Bits of charred\ngrass are carried by the winds in all directions, and the country looks\ndressed in black as though it were mourning with a great sorrow, and the\nsun, as though in sympathy with the earth, hides for days behind the\nclouds of ascended smoke.\n\nDuring the hunts men are often wounded, and sometimes killed, by being\nmistaken for animals as they push through the rustling grass. Then\nfollow recriminations, charges of intent to murder, and long law-suits\nthat ruin the unfortunate family of the man who did not stop to look\nbefore he fired his gun. Sometimes, when a line of men is crawling\nthrough the grass tracking an animal, the trigger of a gun will catch in\nthe stalks, the gun will explode, there will be a scream of a man in the\nagony of death, and the scared owner of the gun will be charged with\nmurder, for there are no accidents in native law.\n\nThe culprit will be fortunate if the deceased is a member of a poor\nfamily, or a slave, for then he will get off with a heavy fine; but if\nthe dead man is a person of importance his life will be forfeited, or he\nwill be sold far away into slavery. He will be lucky if he is not\nshipped to St. Thom\u00e9 or to Principe to work on the plantations.\n\nDuring the bush-burning Satu and his men killed only three wild pigs and\nfour gazelles; but they had a very serious quarrel with a neighbouring\nchief that developed into a war after the hunting season was over.\n\n[Illustration: NATIVE ROPE BRIDGE.]\n\n[Illustration: NATIVE BRIDGE.]\n\nA part of Satu\u2019s land ran by the side of ground belonging to a\nneighbouring chief named Dimbula; and according to custom Satu sent to\nDimbula asking what day would be convenient for burning that part of the\nbush where their properties joined each other. After much palavering the\nday was fixed; but when Satu and his hunters reached the spot they found\nnone of Dimbula\u2019s people there.\n\nIt was against the law of custom for either party to fire the grass\nbefore the arrival of the other side; consequently Satu and his men sat\nwaiting all through the long morning, and about noon they decided to\nreturn home--vexed with having wasted a whole morning. They had not gone\nvery far when they heard shouts, and looking round saw the bush blazing.\nOn hurrying back to the place they had so recently left, they found\nDimbula and his men there.\n\nSatu said: \u201cWe arrived here early this morning according to agreement,\nand we waited until midday, but as you and your people did not come, we\ndid not burn the grass, and were just returning home intending to make a\nnew appointment with you. Why have you broken the custom by firing the\ngrass in our absence?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou think that because you are _Ngudi a nkama Katendi_ that you can do\nand say what you like,\u201d replied Dimbula, with ill-suppressed anger and\nbad logic.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d retorted Satu, \u201cthat is not so, or I would have lighted the bush\nearly this morning, and not have sat here half the day waiting for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me tell you,\u201d shouted Dimbula, \u201cthat my family had the title when\nyour family was too poor to assume it, and was glad to sell the use of\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is true,\u201d said Satu, \u201cbut that is no reason why you should\nburn the grass by yourself when you know my land runs by the side of\nyours.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou think that because you drove a white man out of your town and\nretained my runaway slave, that you can lord it over us,\u201d said Dimbula,\nwho by now was choking with unreasonable rage. In fact, we heard\nafterwards that Dimbula had planned the whole affair as an insult to\nSatu, of whom he was jealous, both as a rich man and as a noble of rank;\nand he also felt hurt because Satu had kept the \u201cgoat\u201d that ran to him\nfor protection.\n\nSatu put down his gun, and with calmness and dignity went up to Dimbula\nand said: \u201cI drove the white man away because I did not know him, and I\naccepted your slave according to native custom; but they are no excuses\nfor insulting me. Listen, I swear by my mother,[60] that if you do not\napologize and pay homage to me by the end of the hunting season I will\nfight you\u201d; and turning his back on Dimbula he picked up his gun and\nwalked away.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n  See note 48, p. 356.\n\nJust as Satu\u2019s party reached the brow of the next hill, Dimbula sprang\nforward and shouted in contemptuous and boastful derision: \u201cO mighty\nchief Satu, can I lend you twenty kegs of powder for the coming fight?\u201d\n\nThe town was all excitement when they heard of the insults that had been\nheaped on their chief, and many of the more fiery ones wished to begin\nthe fight at once; but Satu would not give his consent, and told them to\nwait until the hunting was finished.\n\nA few weeks after the fires were over a fine grass covered the\nhill-sides and plateaus with such delicious fresh verdure that the\nantelopes and gazelles were enticed from the forests where they had fled\nfrom the devouring flames, to browse on it, and so delighted were they\nwith the new sweet crop that they forgot all dangers, and were easily\nsurrounded by hunters and shot down.\n\nIn these hunts native dogs were used, and a \u201cmedicine man\u201d was usually\ncalled to endow them with good tracking powers. The _nganga_ took some\nchalk, some different leaves and the head of a viper. These he mixed\nthoroughly together and made into a bundle. He then took a small portion\nof the bundle and put it in a funnel-twisted leaf, caught a wasp and\npressed its juice into the funnel, put in a little palm-wine, and\nsqueezed the juice of this mixture into each dog\u2019s nose. They then\nbecame good trackers and hunters. The chalk gave them wisdom, the leaves\ngave good health, the portion of viper imparted stealthiness, and just\nas a wasp makes straight for its nest, so the dogs would make straight\nfor the game.\n\nSome of Satu\u2019s people went one day with their dogs to hunt, and had been\ngone most of the day when an antelope was seen by Bakula on the side of\na distant hill. They instantly spread, worked to leeward and gradually\nbore down on the unsuspecting creature. The nearest man fired[61] and\nthe poor animal fell mortally wounded. Directly it fell some grass was\ncut and spread out, and the antelope was laid on it.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n  See note 49, p. 357.\n\nThe hunter who killed it put the butt of his gun to his shoulder and the\nmuzzle on the carcass. A cross cut was made on the stomach, and the\nhunter put his fingers three times to the cut and to his upper lip, then\nagain three times to the cut, and rubbed his fingers each time on his\ngun. The antelope was then removed, and the hunter put the muzzle of his\ngun under the grass and turned it over. The animal could not be cut up\nuntil this ceremony was performed, or the hunter would have lost his\n\u201chunting skill,\u201d and, besides, it established beyond a doubt the\nownership of the antelope.\n\nThe flesh of the animals killed in the hunts is always divided,\naccording to certain well-recognized rules: the kidneys and strips of\nmeat from the back were sent to Satu as chief of the town; one hind-leg\nwas given to the men who were left in the town, and they shared it with\ntheir wives; one fore-quarter was given to the hunters, the heart was\ngiven to the father of the successful hunter, certain portions were sent\nto his mother and aunt, and the rest belonged to the man who killed it.\n\nWhen the antelope was being divided, the bladder was emptied and filled\nwith blood, and in a day or two it was carried to the _Kimpovela_, or\nadvocate, in charge of the renowned hunter\u2019s grave. The _Kimpovela_\nbrought from his house a small wooden cross and fixed it in the grave.\nHe then put the successful bullet in the prepared hole in the cross and\npoured the blood over the cross and the grave as an offering, saying as\nhe did so: \u201cWe thank you for sending us such a fine animal, and hope you\nwill repeat the favour.\u201d Only the blood of antelopes is given in this\nway. Some of the blood was rubbed on their fetish charms, and the end of\nthe antelope\u2019s tail was stuck in the wall over the doorway of the\nsuccessful hunter.\n\nDuring the hunting season Old Plaited-Beard was unsuccessful in his\nhunting--not a single animal fell to his gun, although he had several\nfine opportunities. He was exasperated at his failure, and looked around\nfor the reason why his charms were ineffective. He now recalled to mind\nwhat the boys who accompanied Bakula told him on their return about\ntheir companion\u2019s disparaging remarks concerning the \u201cmedicine man,\u201d his\nfetish, and his trickery. He also remembered his admiration for the\nwhite man, and the attempts he made to bring about a meeting between\nthem. Putting all these things together, he came to the conclusion that\nBakula had bewitched him and his charms, and that consequently he was\nunable to kill any game.\n\nOld Plaited-Beard sent for Bakula and accused him of destroying the\npower in his charms; and when the lad strenuously denied the accusation,\nhe told him what he had sneeringly said in the _nganga\u2019s_ town about\n\u201cmedicine men\u201d and their tricks; of his companionship with the white man\nin the King\u2019s town; and how he who used to wear so many charms had\nthrown nearly all of them away. It seemed a very black indictment.\n\nBakula admitted that he had lost faith in _ngangas_, and told with\ndramatic force of the _nganga\u2019s_ exposed trickery in the King\u2019s town; he\ndid not deny his liking for the white man, for had he not shown kindness\nto him in forgiving him and healing his wound? He assented to the charge\nof throwing his charms away, for he could not see that the messes the\nwitch-doctors put into horns and shells could help them in sickness,\nhunting, trading, or anything else.\n\n\u201cBesides,\u201d he said, \"if I had power to affect the charms made by the\n\u2018medicine man\u2019 for the town, how is it our people have killed pigs,\ngazelles and an antelope?\"\n\n\u201cYou let them shoot the animals, and took the spirit from my charms, so\nthat I could not kill any,\u201d unreasonably argued the superstitious old\nman.\n\n\u201cI am sorry no game fell to your gun,\u201d soothingly replied the lad, \u201cbut\nit was through no fault of mine.\u201d\n\nOld Plaited-Beard looked at the apologetic lad suspiciously, and he\nthought that his very conciliatory attitude was a sign of his guilt. He\nwould have understood him better if the spirited boy had burst into\nloud, angry abuse, recriminations and counter-charges. However, he only\nsaid: \"Don\u2019t do it again. Leave my charms alone and do not laugh at\n\u2018medicine men\u2019 and their fetishes, for you have put me to the expense of\nengaging a _nganga_ to renew the power in my hunting charm.\"\n\nOld Plaited-Beard went next day to the _nganga nkongo_, who made three\nplaits of nine pieces of grass in each plait. He then asked for a piece\nof the last bird or animal his client had killed. The old man took from\nhis shoulder-bag the tail of a gazelle that he had brought for the\npurpose and handed it over to the \u201cmedicine man.\u201d\n\nA hunter always saves a feather or a claw of the last bird he killed, or\nthe tail or hoof of the last animal he shot, and that is why all these\nodds and ends are stuck in the front walls of the houses. At any time he\nmay repeatedly miss, and may require a piece of the last thing he killed\nto restore his luck. The _nganga_ took the gazelle\u2019s tail from Old\nPlaited-Beard and put it on the ground; he then made three little heaps\nof loose gunpowder round it, and chalked a cross near the powder, and on\nthe butt of the hunter\u2019s gun. The _nganga_ exploded the powder; a little\ngunpowder was then put in the gun, and the hunter, standing a few feet\naway, fired at the gazelle\u2019s tail, and blew it from the spot on which it\nwas resting, thus proving that his hunting skill had returned to him. If\nthe tail had not been blown out of its position the \u201cmedicine man\u201d would\nhave repeated his ceremonies.\n\nAfter the old man had knocked the tail away, the _nganga_ took the gun\nfrom him, and put his finger in the dirt where the tail had been, and\nrubbed a little of the earth three times on the hunter\u2019s upper lip; the\nfourth time he put his fingers on the butt of the gun, and ran them up\nthe barrel and snapped them in the air. He then loosened the plaits, and\nshook the grass about the gun. Old Plaited-Beard stepped forward,\nsolemnly clapped his hands, took his gun, sprang into the air, and\nreturned home satisfied that in future he would be more successful. He\nhad never been a good shot, and this season he failed utterly, and put\nall the blame on Bakula, on whom he determined to avenge himself on the\nfirst good opportunity.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XVII\n                     Satu and his People go to War\n\nSatu as the insulted party makes the first move--He sends an embassy to\n    Dimbula--He asks for an apology or offers a bullet--The apology is\n    refused, but the bullet is accepted--The witch-doctor makes a new\n    charm--Mode of fighting--The ridge-pole of chief\u2019s house is\n    captured--Dimbula sues for peace with a white goat--Pays homage to\n    Satu--Blood brotherhood is made.\n\n\nThe hunting season had ended, and Dimbula had neither come to pay homage\nto Satu, nor sent an apology for the insults he had heaped on him.\nDimbula\u2019s attitude, his insolence, his breaking the bush-burning custom,\nand \u201cWhat would Satu do?\u201d were the general topics of conversation on the\nmarkets and around the evening fires. The people belonging to both towns\nswaggered, boasted of their prowess, and insulted each other whenever\nthey met. There was no hope either of Dimbula humbling himself, or of\nSatu relinquishing his claims to homage, or at least his rights to\ncourteous treatment.\n\nAs Satu was the aggrieved party he was consequently the one to make the\nfirst move. Bakula and another lad were chosen to carry a message and a\nbullet to Dimbula\u2019s town.\n\nIt was with much nervous trepidation that they went on their errand. On\narriving at the town they found the chief and his head men engaged in a\ndrinking bout. Bakula delivered his message: \u201cWould Dimbula apologize\nfor his insults and pay homage to Satu as a noble of high rank, or would\nhe accept of the bullet Satu had sent him?\u201d Bakula and his comrade then\nwithdrew out of hearing while the men consulted about the answer that\nshould be returned.\n\nWhen the messengers were recalled, Dimbula said: \u201cWe will accept the\nbullet, as we never intend either to apologize or to pay homage to Satu.\nTell him,\u201d angrily boasted the excited chief, \u201cthat I can let him have\nfifty kegs of gunpowder if he is short of it,\u201d and then followed a\nstring of abusive epithets that I do not care to place on record. The\ntwo lads were glad eventually to find themselves outside the town in\nsafety; and, on reaching home, delivered their message faithfully to the\nwaiting people.\n\nUpon the return of the messengers Satu sent to call in all the\nneighbouring chiefs, except Dimbula, and on their arrival he laid\nclearly before them the reasons of his quarrel with Dimbula, and his\nwish to fight him. After full consideration of the matter the chiefs\ngave their consent to the fight taking place; and thereupon Satu killed\na pig and distributed it among the chiefs. The acceptance of this pig\u2019s\nflesh assured their neutrality, and was a proof of their consent. It was\nnow the business of the chiefs to see that no one went to the assistance\nof either of the towns at war; and thus Satu had gained an open field,\nand feared no interference while he was fighting his enemy.\n\nThe next thing to be done was to send for the _nganga_ who made the war\ncharms. On his arrival Satu and all the men who were to take part in the\nfighting assembled to greet and f\u00eate him, for their success, and perhaps\ntheir lives, depended on his good-humour and his care in making their\ncharms. They told the _nganga_ that they were willing to pay for the\nmost powerful charms he could make.\n\nThe \u201cmedicine man\u201d took a frog and killed it, then he procured some\ntwigs from three different trees--the \u201clembanzau,\u201d the \u201clolo,\u201d and the\n\u201cmfilu\u201d; these four things were carefully burnt together, and the ashes\nmade into a paste by the addition of some water. A little of this paste\nwas put into a large number of snail shells, one of which was given as a\ncharm to each fighting man. Then the men walked round one of the above\ntrees, and on returning to the town some palm-wine was mixed with the\npaste remaining in the saucepan, and all drank of it. After each one had\ndrunk a little of this mess, the _nganga_ took the saucepan down to the\nroad that led to Dimbula\u2019s town, and placed it right in the middle of\nthe path. Each man had then to jump over the pot, and if one had\nstumbled or touched the pot with his foot while jumping he would not\nhave been allowed to go to the fight. The coming war was a popular one,\nso every man jumped carefully and lifted his feet well when he came to\nthe saucepan.\n\nThe twigs used in making this charm were from \u201cstrong medicine trees,\u201d\nand the frog was put in the mixture because they had noticed that the\nfrog\u2019s heart pulsates, or, as they say, \u201clives,\u201d for some time after it\nis taken from the body. This tenacity of life was what the fighters\nneeded.\n\nEarly next morning the warriors assembled in front of the chief\u2019s home,\nand he served out the powder to them. Then the _nganga_ came with a bowl\nof palm-wine, and dipping his fingers in the wine touched the lips of\nthe fighters three times with the front and back of his fingers, and\ntold them not to look back, nor enter a house, but go right away to the\nfight. This he did each morning during the war, for this charm put them\nunder a spell that removed all possibility of harm or danger. And the\nwarriors being now secured from bullets, knives, etc., went off in high\nspirits to the fight.\n\nThe lads, girls and women who were not permitted to go to the fight\nbrought out their most powerful fetish, and placing it in the middle of\na cleared space, danced round it, and as they circled about the ugly\nimage they sang: \u201cYou fetish, you must kill any one who is bewitching\nour fighting men.\u201d Hour after hour, through all the long morning and\nafternoon they assiduously danced and repeated their wearisome and\nmonotonous injunction to their fetish.\n\nMeanwhile, Satu led his men towards his insulter\u2019s town; but in a valley\nthat skirted the hill upon which his enemy\u2019s town was built he saw\nDimbula and his followers drawn up in fighting array. They were arranged\nin a long line behind trees, stones, ants\u2019 nests, hillocks and any other\ncover they could find. Satu took his men to within sixty yards of the\nenemy, and then spread them in a long line. Abusive expressions of\ndefiance were hurled at each other, each side ridiculing the bravery of\nthe other, and asking if they had enough powder for the fight.\n\nWhen they became tired of shouting, they began to fire their guns at one\nanother across the open bush. One man would load, run out and fire his\ngun, and return to cover; then another did the same, and sometimes there\nwas simply a flash in the pan and no report at all. Through the whole of\nthe day they fired at one another in this desultory manner, and not a\nsingle person on either side was hit. Their guns carried only about\nthirty yards with any effect, but they generally fired at a distance of\nabout fifty yards. Again, as the butts of their guns were not pressed\nagainst their shoulders to steady them while taking aim, but held\nagainst the palms of the hands, or against nothing at all, they had free\nplay, and the kick of the guns sent the slugs anywhere but in a straight\nline. In fact Tumbu, a lad, one day was standing well up the hill some\ndistance above the combatants when a spent slug struck him on the leg,\nscratching the skin. You see it was not steady, calm aiming that caused\na bullet to go straight; but the concoction the \u201cmedicine man\u201d put in\ntheir charms, and if the bullets went in any direction but the right one\nit was not their fault, but their charms were not properly compounded,\nor their enemies had more powerful \u201cmedicine.\u201d\n\nThe fighting had lasted some ten days when it was noticed by Satu\u2019s\nparty that their enemy\u2019s firing was neither so frequent nor so loud, an\nevident proof that Dimbula\u2019s boasted supply of gunpowder was running\nshort.\n\nIt was now that a slave belonging to one of Satu\u2019s head men ran forward\nin reckless bravado to fire at the enemy, and was himself struck by a\nbullet in the stomach. A fight with knives and clubbed guns took place\nover the fallen man.\n\nDimbula\u2019s men wanted to secure the body, and Satu\u2019s men resisted the\nattempt for the following reason: If the corpse fell into the hands of\nthe enemy they would cut off the head, and soak it in water until the\nskull was freed of all flesh. Then the victor would either put it in a\nprominent place on a pole as a reproach to the conquered, or he would\nuse it as a drinking-cup. The spirit of a man thus mutilated haunts and\nkills by witchcraft, not the man who slew him, but the members of his\nown family. Thus, on the one hand they fight to preserve the body intact\nso as not to have the vengeance of the spirit falling on them as a\nfamily; and on the other hand they fight to mutilate the enemy\u2019s body so\nthat his family may be done to death by the angry spirit. Hence the\nfight now raged over the body of the fallen man.\n\nBut Satu\u2019s men were too strong, and, at really close quarters, too\nbrave[62] to give way to the insulter of their popular chief, and after\na short, sharp scuffle, in which several were wounded on both sides,\nDimbula\u2019s men took to their heels and bolted towards their town,\nshouting loudly to the women and children to fly to the forest.\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n  See note 50, p. 357.\n\nSatu, calling his men about him, gave chase up the hill and into the\ntown, simply to find it deserted. They raided the houses, taking the\nlittle treasures that had been overlooked in the hurried flight of their\nowners, gathered fowls, goats and pigs, and drove them off to their\ntown; but before leaving they pulled out the ridge-pole of Dimbula\u2019s\nhouse, and carried it away in triumph--for to take the ridge-pole of a\nchief\u2019s house against whom you are fighting is like capturing a royal\nstandard in an English battle.\n\nSatu and his fighters returned with their loot in great jubilation; but\non arriving in their town their victorious ardour was somewhat damped by\nhearing that the slave had died from his wound, and several others had\nsevere cuts and gashes gained in the _m\u00eal\u00e9e_ over the fallen man. The\nowner of the slave was very much annoyed at the destruction of his\nproperty, and said: \u201cHow is it my slave was killed and no one else?\nSurely he was bewitched!\u201d He accused Satu of bewitching him, and the\nchief would have had to take the ordeal to clear himself of the charge;\nbut the slain man was a slave, and no free man or chief ever takes the\nordeal on account of a slave. Satu, however, soothed the vexed man by\npromising to make Dimbula pay for the slave, or give another in his\nplace.\n\nNext morning Satu led his men out again; but no sooner had they begun to\nfire than Dimbula\u2019s voice could be heard shouting: \u201cLuve! luve! luve!\u201d\nor \u201cPeace! peace! peace!\u201d\n\nInstantly upon hearing this cry for peace all fighting, according to\ncustom, must cease; consequently Satu told his men to stop firing. Then\na small company of men coming across the valley could be seen, the\nforemost of whom was Dimbula, and behind him came a neighbouring chief\ncarrying on his shoulders a _white_ goat. Dimbula took the _white_ goat,\nand kneeling in front of Satu, said: \u201cI do not want any more fighting,\nand in token of my submission I offer you this _white_ goat.\u201d\n\nSatu accepted the goat, and said: \u201cI am glad to receive your _white_\ngoat of submission; but I cannot promise you a lasting peace until you\nhave: First, paid homage to me as a noble of rank; secondly, compensated\nmy head man for a slave killed in the fight; and lastly, paid one\nhundred kegs of gunpowder and fifty pieces of cloth to compensate us.\u201d\n\nDimbula begged for better terms, and pleaded poverty, stating truly that\nhe had not the powder and cloth. All the swaggering arrogance of the\nbully had gone out of his tone and demeanour as he cringed on the ground\nbefore his conqueror; and as he crouched there he was seen in his true\ncharacter--a coward.\n\nTo him Satu replied: \u201cThe homage you can pay now while you are kneeling\nbefore me; the slave you can also repay at once to my head man, for I\nknow you have slaves; and for the rest you can hand over one of your\nbrothers and two of your nephews for me to hold in pawn until you have\npaid the agreed price. This is fair, and I have only one mouth.\u201d\n\nDimbula knew that it would be waste of time to plead further, and in his\nheart he was surprised that the conditions were so generous; so\nswallowing his pride he paid homage to his victor as _N gudi a nkama\nKatendi_. He then called one of his slaves and offered him to Satu\u2019s\nhead man, who, being satisfied with his healthy appearance, accepted him\nwith alacrity. He then called his young brother and two nephews, and,\npromising to redeem them as soon as possible, put their hands in Satu\u2019s,\nthus completing the conditions of peace.\n\nIn the meantime, a _nganga_ was called who came with some stalks, leaves\nand palm-wine. He pressed the juice out of the stalks into the wine, and\nwell mixing them he dipped the leaves in the liquid, touched the chiefs\nwith the leaves and sprinkled the rest of the mixture indiscriminately\nover the fighters and people of both sides. Thus peace was established.\nTo ensure this peace for all time, so far as these two men were\nconcerned, the _nganga_ let a little blood from them, and gave each to\ndrink the blood taken from the other; then two needles were solemnly\nburied and the whilom enemies became henceforth staunch friends and\nblood brothers.\n\nDown somewhere in Dimbula\u2019s cruel, bullying, arrogant nature was a soft\nplace for his nephews and brother, for at once he began to trade, nor\ndid he rest until he had gained sufficient to redeem his relatives by\ntaking the hundred kegs of powder, the fifty pieces of cloth, and the\nnecessary three _white_ goats to cleanse them from all taint of slavery.\nBesides, he was eager to reinstate himself with the neighbouring chiefs,\namong whom he had lost his position as a defeated man too poor to meet\nthe terms of peace. And Satu, as a proof of his increasing friendship\nfor Dimbula, gave him back the ridge-pole that had been torn from his\nhouse.\n\n\n\n\n                             Chapter XVIII\n               Governing, Marketing, and Trading Customs\n\nThe making and enforcing of laws--Fines imposed--Division of\n    fines--Congo week of four days probably named after their\n    markets--Raids and robberies--Preparing a caravan for the\n    road--Rules of the road--Arriving at a trading-station--Mode of\n    trading--Goods given and received.\n\n\nFrom this time Satu could not engage in trading expeditions, but devoted\nhimself to governing the country by helping to make new laws or\nadministering old ones. As a noble of exalted rank he presided over the\nchiefs of his district at the big palavers when difficult cases were\njudged, or called them together to give their sanction to new\nregulations.\n\nRecently there had been much quarrelling on the markets, resulting in\nsevere wounds and a few deaths. After much thought and many talks with\nhis head men, Satu determined to stop these fatal fights by making a law\nthat in future no guns should be carried on a market-place nor force\nused during market-time. He therefore sent for all the chiefs of the\ndistrict, and on their arrival laid clearly and forcibly before them the\nnew law and the reasons for it. He also suggested that for every breach\nof the law a fine of three pieces of good cloth should be inflicted.\n\nThis was discussed, and it was finally settled that for taking a gun on\nthe market the fine should be two pieces of cloth, and for originating a\nquarrel the fine should be five pieces, and the defaulter to pay all the\ndamages of the disturbance.\n\nAs soon as this was settled Old Plaited-Beard was nominated as the _N\nenkondo_, or enforcer of the new law; and Satu divided the flesh of\nthree pigs among the assembled chiefs; and they accepted it as a proof\nof their assent to the new law, and their promised aid in enforcing it.\nAfter this the witnessing chiefs went to a cross-road and one of their\nnumber proclaimed the new law. Lying on the ground he rubbed his mouth\nin the dirt, and then striking his knees with his hands he called down a\nbitter curse on any one who dared to break this edict.\n\nThis ceremony has often a very terrifying effect on the people, and he\nwill be a bold fellow who risks the curse.\n\nEach chief returned to his village or town, and told all his people of\nthe new law and its penalties; thus, a day or two after the new rule was\nmade and promulgated at the cross-roads, every one affected by it had\nheard of it.\n\nIt was now the duty of Old Plaited-Beard to follow up quickly any\ninfringement of the new command, no matter who the culprit might be; and\nit was not long before a slave of a neighbouring chief carried a gun on\nto a market and in a drunken quarrel severely wounded a man. Old\nPlaited-Beard, the _N enkondo_, had to bestir himself at once to follow\nup the man who had broken the law.\n\nThis activity was necessitated by a curious view taken by the natives of\nlaws in general. From the time a law was broken until the breaker of it\nwas punished, that particular law did not exist, it was broken, dead;\nhence, for instance, any man could take a gun on a market and shoot\nanother person and go unpunished, because the law against that crime was\ndead and could not be mended or brought again to life until the first\nbreaker of it was punished by paying the penalty. This ensured quick\ndealing with culprits, and impartial administration of the law, for if a\nchief broke the law he was judged immediately like an ordinary man and\npaid the penalty, otherwise anarchy reigned until the law was vindicated\nby the infliction of the fine on the law-breaker. To neglect to punish\nthe chief would mean that any one could repeat the crime with impunity,\nfor the law was dead.\n\nThe slave was quickly caught and brought before the chiefs; but as a\nmaster is responsible for the actions of his slave, it was really the\nowner who was on his trial and had to pay the fine of five pieces of\ncloth and compensate the wounded man. On meeting all the demands the\nmaster received his slave again, and did with him as he liked. The slave\nwas his property in the same sense as his goats, fowls or pigs, and\nafter cruelly punishing the man he sold him away from his wife and\nchildren to a distant tribe of people, and we never saw nor heard of him\nagain.\n\nThe fines imposed on law-breakers are periodically divided among the\nchiefs of the district. They are one source of their income, and repay\nthem for the trouble of administering the laws and governing the people.\nSatu, of course, took a larger share of the fines than the other chiefs.\nHe not only presided over the palavers, but he also acted as treasurer\nand stored the fines until the time of division, and if he had failed to\ngive the other chiefs their proper share at stated intervals, they would\nhave refused to judge cases with him, and the country would have quickly\nbecome unmanageable and disorderly.\n\nA share of the fines, however, would not support Satu as a chief and\nnoble; consequently he had to turn his attention to trading on the\nmarkets and with the white men down at the coast. Bakula on account of\nhis smartness was often employed by his chief to sell pigs, cloth,\ngoats, gunpowder and other goods on the markets.\n\nThere are four days in a Congo week--_Konzo_, _N kenge_, _N sona_ and _N\nkandu_, and these are also the names of the markets held on those days.\nAll the markets on a certain day all over our part of the Congo are\ncalled _Konzo_, and all the markets next day are called _N kenge_, and\nso on. These markets are all held in different places, _e. g._ all the\n_Konzo_ markets are held in different places from all the rest of the\nmarkets on the other three successive days; and these markets are so\narranged that one in four comes within two to five miles of every town\nor village on the Lower Congo.\n\nThus one of the _Konzo_ markets was only four miles from our town; the\nnearest _N kenge_ one was nine miles away from us, but near some other\ntowns, the nearest _N sona_ market was sixteen miles away, and the _N\nkandu_ market was nearly twenty miles distant from us, but not far from\nsome other villages. Again, some of these markets were famous for\ncertain articles that were always to be found on sale at them. For\ninstance, at one _N kenge_ a person could always find pigs, and buyers\nand sellers of pigs consequently travelled to that particular _N kenge_;\nanother _N kenge_ was noted for pots, calabashes and sauce-pans. One _N\nsona_ would be noted for cloth and another for palm-wine. At all the\nmarkets cassava roots, _kwanga_, or native bread, peanuts, beans and\nvarious other food-stuffs were on sale, besides the speciality of the\nmarket.\n\nThere are also five important markets that are held every eight days,\nnot on the same but on the successive eighth days. These are called _N\nkenge_ _Elembelo_, held not far from the King\u2019s town; _Konzo Kinsuka_,\nabout two days north of the previous one; two days farther north is\n_Konzo Kikandikila_; three days north of that is _Konzo Makwekwe_, and\nabout another two days north, but on the other side of the great river,\nis the _N kenge N kila_. Perhaps these great markets are to be found\nwell established much farther north and south of the points I have\nnamed, and are only limited by the boundaries of the old kingdom of\nCongo, which formerly included Landana on the north and Bihe on the\nsouth.\n\nWhile there were stringent laws against fighting, raiding, quarrelling\nand capturing people on the markets, no law could be enforced to guard\nsmall, unprotected parties on the way to or from the markets. Rowdy\nrascals would lie in wait and pounce on any defenceless child or adult,\nand, hurrying them away to some distant place, sell them into slavery,\nto the intense grief of their relatives.\n\nI heard Bakula once tell how his young sister was sent by her mother to\nbuy a saucepan at a market only four miles from home. She had bought the\nvessel and was returning to her town in the company of some neighbours,\nwhen, in a forest, she strayed from the path and was never heard of\nagain, although the whole town turned out to search the forest.\n\nNow and again some of these daring, reckless scamps were caught, and the\nwhole countryside would wreak its vengeance on them, for there was\nscarcely a family but had lost one or more of its members or some of its\ngoods by these kidnappings and robberies.\n\nBakula and some of the men were sent to the various markets far and near\nto buy up rubber and tusks of ivory. Sometimes they would take pigs and\ngoats to sell, and having sold them would then buy what rubber and ivory\nthere were for sale on the market. At other times they would take cloth\nand gunpowder to give in exchange for those products that white men\nbought at the coast--rubber and ivory. Occasionally they had to go to\ndistant markets to buy pigs for cloth, and then travel to another market\nto exchange the pigs for rubber, peanuts and tusks.\n\nThus the rubber and ivory were gradually accumulated by the richer\nnatives, and when enough were gathered a large caravan of men, from\neighty to a hundred and twenty in number, was dispatched to the trading\nhouses at the coast. As the natives could neither read nor write, it\nneeded a clear head and a complicated system of knots and notches to\nkeep a record of what was spent in pigs, goats, cloth and gunpowder in\nbuying up the little stores of rubber and ivory on the markets. A man\nwould tie a knot in a string for every pig sold, another string was used\nfor every goat, another for every keg of gunpowder, and a notch was cut\nin a stick for every piece of cloth. By counting the knots and notches\nhe knew just how much the ivory, rubber and peanuts had cost him; he\nalso knew how much each man would \u201ceat\u201d on the road, and therefore he\nwas quite able to ask of, and only accept from, the white traders a\nprice that would pay for his stuff, meet the expenses of his carriers,\nand leave him a fair margin of profit for his risk of capital and\ntrouble.\n\nAfter months of petty trading on the markets, sufficient rubber, peanuts\nand ivory were collected to warrant a journey to the coast. Satu himself\ncould not go, so he sent one of his head men, and told him how much he\nwanted for the produce he was sending, which would require forty men to\ncarry it. Satu\u2019s agent had ten loads, and neighbouring chiefs and head\nmen joined the caravan with their porters, so that when all were ready\nto start there were nearly one hundred and forty men and lads in the\nparty, and as most had knives, guns or spears they were well able to\nprotect themselves on the long, wearisome road.\n\nWhen all was arranged for the journey a \u201cmedicine man,\u201d named _N gang\u2019 a\nmpungu_, or the Luck-giver, was called. He came with his bag, containing\npieces of leopard\u2019s skin, hy\u00e6na\u2019s skin, lion\u2019s skin, and, in fact, a\npiece of the skin of every strong animal he could procure, and also some\nalbino\u2019s hair; and he carried with him his wooden fetish image with\ngrass tied round its neck, knotted back and front.\n\nThe \u201cmedicine man\u201d sat in the middle of the caravan, which stood round\nhim with their bundles tied ready for the journey, and put the fetish\nimage in front of him. The _nganga_ spoke to the image, telling it to\ngive the traders good luck on the road and at the trading-station. A man\nthen held a fowl by the head and the \u201cmedicine man\u201d took it by the body\nand cut its head off and let the blood drop on the image. After this the\nfowl was cooked and eaten outside the houses; and during and after this\nceremony no one could enter a house or turn back from the road.\n\nThe fowl having been eaten, a shell was brought containing very small\npieces of everything that was in the fetish bag of charms, and this\nshell was placed on the road by which the men had to travel to the\ncoast. Every one in the caravan had then to step carefully over the\nshell, for if any one had touched it he would not have been allowed to\nproceed or he would die on the journey. Having passed safely over the\nshell of charms, we were not to look back or our luck would have been\ndestroyed. Bakula performed these various rites in a very half-hearted\nmanner, for he was losing faith in them.\n\nAs we were starting the members of our party shouted to the people left\nin the town: \u201cGood health to you, and let no one follow us to give us\nbad luck in trading\u201d; and those left behind said: \u201cGood journey to you,\nand do not any of you return to bewitch us, or carry us to sell to the\nwhite traders.\u201d The idea behind these requests was that any living\nperson who is a _ndoki_, or witch, can visit a place by his _nkwiya_, or\nevil spirit, and take a person away, or work them great harm by his\nwitchcraft. Hence they live in constant fear of each other, and all\ntheir charms, fetishes, and witch-doctors are employed in protecting\nthem from one another. Before Bakula reached the shell his mother came\nhurrying towards him, and, pretending to spit on his face, said: \u201cMay\nyou have all that you desire, may you have happiness and good luck, and\nmay your words find favour with the people.\u201d It was her mode of saying\nfarewell to her son.\n\nWe were now fairly started on the road, and as all the omens were in our\nfavour and the _nganga_ had performed his ceremonies without the\nslightest hitch, everybody was in good spirits, and more ready to laugh\nand sing than grumble at the weight of the loads. Many points of\netiquette had to be remembered as we passed through the numerous towns\nand villages on our road to the coast.\n\nOn passing through a village we were not allowed to let our sticks touch\nthe ground or we should destroy the luck of that place and that would\nmean a heavy fine. While in the open country or bush many of the men\nhitched up their cloths (exposing their thighs) to give greater freedom\nto their legs; but on passing through a town they dropped their cloths\nout of respect to the town, or otherwise they would have been taken to\nthe chief\u2019s house and well beaten. In passing through any town every\ncarrier was careful not to put his load on his head, as that was\nregarded as an exhibition of insolent pride, and would have aroused the\nanger of the towns-people, and a fight, with heavy fines, would have\nresulted. If we sat resting on the ground in any town we had to be\ncareful not to shake off the dust from our cloths until we got outside\nthe town, as such an action was regarded as putting a curse on the\nplace.\n\nTolls had to be paid for using all bridges and canoes in crossing the\nlarger rivers in our path; and a tax, according to the number of\ncarriers and the value of their loads, was demanded by the overlords of\nthe districts through which we passed. The non-observance of these\ncustoms and points of etiquette led sometimes to quarrels and fights\nbetween insolent travellers and insulted townsfolk.\n\nOn our arrival at the coast we were met by a native interpreter, who had\nvisited our town and given Satu twenty pieces of cloth on the\nunderstanding that he was to have the privilege of selling our chief\u2019s\n\u201ctrade produce\u201d to one of the white traders. This interpreter showed us\nmuch hospitality, hoping thereby to be seller for the whole caravan.\n\nThe morning after our arrival we sorted Satu\u2019s stuff into three\nlots--ten loads of ivory, eight loads of peanuts, and twenty-two loads\nof rubber. It was decided to sell the rubber first, so the men carried\ntheir loads to the trader\u2019s store accompanied by the interpreter. The\nfollowing conversation then took place, the white man and the\ninterpreter talking Portuguese, and the native trader and the\ninterpreter talking the vernacular--\n\nInterpreter to white man: \u201cHow much for this rubber?\u201d\n\nThe rubber was carefully examined and weighed.\n\nWhite man: \u201cI will give 200 pieces of cloth.\u201d\n\nInterpreter to native trader: \u201cHe will give you 80 pieces of cloth.\u201d\n\nNative trader: \u201cThat is not enough, I want 170 pieces.\u201d\n\nInterpreter to white man: \u201cThey want 250 pieces of cloth.\u201d\n\nWhite man: \u201cThat is too much; I will give 210 pieces.\u201d\n\nInterpreter to native trader: \u201cHe will give you 90 pieces.\u201d\n\nAfter much haggling the white man reached his limit of 220 pieces; and\nafter much talking, lasting nearly the whole day, the native trader\nbrought his price down to 150 pieces, and the interpreter worked his up\ngradually to that amount. Being now agreed, the interpreter told the\nwhite man to take the rubber, and pay 150 pieces to Satu\u2019s agent. Satu\nhad instructed his agent not to take less than 135 pieces of cloth, and\nhad also informed him what goods he was to select from the store. Having\nreceived fifteen pieces more than they anticipated, they reckoned that\nthey had sold to great advantage.\n\nHaving settled the price, we went over to the store to draw the goods.\nArranged round the store were the trade goods: cloths of various\ncolours, lengths and qualities; plates, dishes, basins, ewers, mugs,\ncups, glasses, looking-glasses of different sizes, bright beads of\ngorgeous colours, machets, knives and guns. In another store was a huge\npile of bags of salt, and isolated from the other houses was a store\nfull of gunpowder.\n\nSatu\u2019s agent, according to his instructions, picked out fifty pieces of\ncloth; gunpowder to the value of fifty pieces, and fifty pieces worth of\nbeads, mugs, trinkets, rum and gin.\n\nAll these articles were carried over to the shed in which we were living\nwhile transacting our business with the trader. Then the ivory was sold\nin the same manner, and, the price having been settled, guns, powder,\nliquor, blankets, cloth, etc., were selected up to the agreed amount.\nThe sale of the peanuts was a very simple matter. We put the nuts on the\nscale, and salt was weighed against them, and when they balanced a gaudy\ncoloured plate was put on top and the sale was completed, _i. e._ we\nreceived weight for weight in salt for our peanuts and a make-weight of\na plate on top of each load.\n\n[Illustration: WHITE TRADER AND NATIVE TRADERS AND THEIR PRODUCE.]\n\nEvery article in the white man\u2019s store had a price on it. It was either\nequivalent to one piece of cloth, or to two or more pieces, or so many\nof it equalled the value of one piece. The first kind of cloth taken to\nCongo was probably of a common quality worth about 2_s_. for a piece of\ntwelve yards. By and by other qualities were taken, and they were\nreckoned as equal to one and a half, two, or three pieces of the\noriginal quality. Then the natives wanted other things besides cloth,\nand as they were introduced the traders put a cloth value on them, _e.\ng._ six knives were equal to one piece of cloth, eight looking-glasses\nditto, four strings of one kind of beads, or twenty strings of another\nsort, were priced at one piece; and thus through the whole list of goods\nstocked by the traders.\n\nIf a trader priced his goods high it was quickly known, and his store\nwas avoided by the natives. They always went to that store where they\nreceived the best prices for their produce, where the articles in the\nstore were cheapest, and where they were treated properly.\n\nWe remained ten days at the coast, selling the rubber, peanuts and ivory\nour caravan had brought from the interior. Some of the native traders\nwere dissatisfied with the prices offered by the white trader, or were\nsuspicious that the interpreter was retaining too much for himself, and\nfor these reasons went to other white men and employed other\ninterpreters; others of our party thought the prices of the store goods\nwere too high, and went to those traders whom they thought sold their\nbarter goods at reasonable rates.\n\nIt took us, as I have already stated, ten long, wearisome days of\nhaggling, bargaining and chaffering to dispose of our produce to the\nbest advantage. During this time our food supply was running low, and we\noften had not half enough to eat. Food at the coast was very dear, and\nwe were all glad when our business was concluded and we could turn our\nfaces homeward.\n\nThe return journey was accomplished without any incident more serious\nthan the breaking of a few china ornaments belonging to Old\nPlaited-Beard, who had seen such things in the King\u2019s house and had\ninstructed his men to buy him similar ones with some of the produce he\nhad sent for sale. The man, however, who carried them slipped on some\nhuge boulders while crossing a river, and down he fell, cutting his own\nknees and smashing the fragile contents of his load. The old man, when\nhe saw the results of the accident, did not blame his carrier of\ncarelessness, but rather accused some one of bewitching him and thus\ncausing the destruction of the goods. And with a look of hate in his\neyes and a curse on his lips he threatened to punish the witch.\n\nAll the men and lads of our party were glad to be again among their own\nfamilies. During the whole journey to and from the coast, and while at\nthe trading centre, they had eaten very sparingly, as food was heavy to\ncarry and very dear on the road; but now that they had returned they\nmade amends for lost time and hungry days. Huge dishes of food quickly\ndisappeared, and those who had become thin during the twenty-five days\nof short rations began to fill out again, and those who were feeling\nexhausted by the heavy loads they carried up and down hill and along\nrugged, narrow tracks began, after some refreshing, restful sleeps, to\nfeel strong and active again and ready for the next trading expedition.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XIX\n                      An Accusation and the Ordeal\n\nOld Plaited-Beard charges Bakula with stealing--The accusation is\n    denied--Bakula declares his disbelief in charms and\n    witch-doctors--Satu saves him from immediate death--The missing\n    cloth is found in Bakula\u2019s house--Tumbu exposes the accuser\u2019s\n    trickery--He is ridiculed--Bakula submits to the ordeal of the\n    boiling oil--His arm is badly scalded--During the night Bakula\n    escapes to the mission station.\n\n\nA few days after the return of the trading caravan, the whole town was\nstartled to hear that some one had stolen two pieces of cloth from Old\nPlaited-Beard\u2019s house. He was most emphatic and circumstantial as to\nwhen and where he had left the cloth, and the disappearance of the\npieces. He borrowed a strong fetish from a friend, beat it soundly to\narouse it to action, held it three times above his head that its spirit\nmight rush through the air in pursuit of the thief, held it also three\ntimes head downwards near the ground to enable the fetish spirit to run\nalong the earth after the robber, and then hung it by the neck to the\nroof of his house. Then the old man waited a day or two, but the cloth\nwas not returned.\n\nOld Plaited-Beard fumed in pretended rage about the loss of his cloth,\nand at last accused Bakula of stealing it. The lad indignantly denied\nthe charge.\n\nThe old man said: \u201cEver since you met that white man in Tonzeka\u2019s town\nyou have been a different lad. You do not enter into our fetish\npalavers, you laugh at the witch-doctors, you destroyed the power of my\ncharms so that I did not kill a single animal through the whole of the\nhunting season, you bewitched my carrier, thus causing the breaking of\nall my crockery ornaments, and now you have stolen my cloth.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not guilty of any of these charges,\u201d stoutly maintained the lad.\n\"I have not stolen your cloth! Search my house if you like, for since\nour return from the trading journey to the coast I have not been to a\nmarket, nor have I been out of the town except to bathe in the river, so\nI have had no opportunity of disposing of the cloth. It is true that\nsince the white man put medicine on my wound, and talked to me about\nGod\u2019s palaver I have lost my faith in charms and \u2018medicine men.\u2019\"\n\nA great crowd by now was surging round the two principal persons in this\nstrange scene, and a howl of derision went up from scores of throats\nwhen the brave lad daringly avowed his disbelief in charms and\nwitch-doctors.\n\n\u201cHe is a witch! Give him the ordeal!\u201d shouted some. \u201cKill him!\u201d screamed\nothers, \u201cor he will bewitch all of us.\u201d\n\nAnd women held their children tightly to their bosoms, and begged them\nnot to follow the example of \u201cthat wicked boy.\u201d\n\nSatu came hurrying up to learn the cause of all the excitement, and when\nthe whole case was laid before him he felt a great pity for the lad, and\ndetermined that he should have fair play; for he liked him, and had\nadmired his smartness in trade, and alertness in games, dancing and\nhunting. Besides, he knew that his accuser, Old Plaited-Beard, hated the\nboy for some unknown reason.\n\nWhen, therefore, the mob again demanded either the ordeal or death for\nthe undaunted boy, the chief at once said: \u201cNo, let us search his house\nas he desires, and if we find the cloth in it, then we will have a\npalaver and punish him according to our laws.\u201d\n\nA rush was instantly made for Bakula\u2019s house, where he lived with his\nmother; but no one entered until the chief actors arrived, and then\nSatu, Old Plaited-Beard, Bakula, and one or two others entered the\nhouse; and after searching about the hut for a very short time Old\nPlaited-Beard pulled the two pieces of cloth from a corner of the roof,\nin the dark inner room, where they were concealed by some grass.\n\nThe discovery of the cloth was hailed with screams of laughter, shouts\nof derision, and whistles of contempt. And if Satu had not been there,\nmy poor owner, Bakula, would have been torn to pieces by the infuriated\ncrowd, not because stealing was such a heinous crime in their\neyes--there was not an honest man, woman or youth among the whole mob of\nscreamers and shouters; but the discovery of the cloth in the house was\ntaken as a proof of his witchcraft and utter stupidity.\n\nIn a very short time Satu was seated with his head men ready to judge\nthe case. Old Plaited-Beard sat there with a snigger of triumph on his\nevil face, and Bakula, crestfallen, confused, but undaunted, stood, the\ncentre of all eyes, the object of ridicule and contempt.\n\n\u201cWhy did he not hide the cloth in the bush? Why was he such a fool as to\nleave the cloth in his own house?\u201d were questions everybody was asking.\nThe crowd derided Bakula for being a fool, rather than blamed him as a\nthief.\n\nThe court was held on an open space in the centre of the town, beneath\nthe wide-spreading branches of a wild fig-tree. In a simple case like\nthis there were no advocates, and no sides taken as in a big law-suit.\nOld Plaited-Beard told of the loss of the cloth, of his charging Bakula\nwith the theft, and the discovery of the cloth by himself in the accused\nperson\u2019s house.\n\nBakula strenuously denied the theft, and gave a very clear account of\nall that he had done and the people with whom he had been since his\nreturn a few days ago. He appealed to Satu to state how he had accounted\nfor every yard of cloth he had used when trading on the markets for him,\nand finished by saying that for some reason the _Nenkondo_ (the new\ntitle of Old Plaited-Beard) hated him, and had more than once threatened\nto do him some harm.\n\nOld Plaited-Beard scornfully asked: \u201cDo you think I should steal my own\ncloth and put it in your house?\u201d\n\nJust then a lad, by name Tumbu, asked Satu for permission to speak, and,\ntrembling with excitement, said: \u201cThe other day, when the town was\nnearly empty of people, I was lying down in my house, being too ill to\ngo with Bakula and the other lads to bathe in the river; and while I was\nlying there I saw Nenkondo come along, and, after looking around on\nevery side, enter Bakula\u2019s house, which is right opposite mine. I\nwatched him, and saw that he had something under his cloth; but when he\ncame out the something was gone, for his cloth was flat on his thighs.\nWhy did he go into Bakula\u2019s house? and what did he leave there?\u201d\n\nOld Plaited-Beard was furious, and, choking with rage, he snapped out\nthe question: \u201cIs Bakula a friend of yours?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d bravely answered the lad. \u201cI am, as you know, a slave, and Bakula\nhas always been kind to me. He has given me food when I have been\nhungry, and defended me from the taunts of the other boys and girls of\nthe town.\u201d\n\nBakula, as soon as his friend had finished speaking, instantly sprang\nforward, and said: \u201cI accuse Nenkondo of stealing his own cloth and\nputting it in my house. Tumbu is my witness to that; but there is no\nwitness to show that I have been in his house. He is the thief, not I!\u201d\n\nSatu consulted his head men for a considerable time; but at last said:\n\u201cThere are two persons before us who accuse each other of thieving, and\nit is difficult for us to decide. We will therefore call the _nganga_,\nand will try the case to-morrow by the ordeal of the boiling oil; and\nwhichever one is proved guilty must pay a fine of five pieces of cloth.\u201d\n\nAfter this decision the crowd at once broke up, and that night around\nthe fires there was much speculation as to which of the two would prove\nthe guilty one.\n\nEarly the next afternoon a _nganga_ arrived with a deep vessel filled\nwith palm-oil. This was placed on a fire and attended to, while the\n_nganga\u2019s_ assistants walked about the town. One of these assistants\ncalled to Bakula and asked him to show the way to the stream. When they\nwere a little out of the town the assistant turned, and said to Bakula:\n\u201cIf you will give me fifty brass rods my master will put something on\nyour hand and arm so that the boiling oil will not burn you, and you\nwill be proved innocent. Will you pay me the money?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; I am perfectly innocent of the charge,\u201d replied Bakula, \u201cand if\nthere is any truth in the ordeal, it will show all the people that I am\nguiltless. For many moons now I have doubted witch-doctors, and believed\nthat they tricked us, laughed at us and robbed us.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou had better pay the money,\u201d sneeringly retorted the _nganga\u2019s_\nassistant, \u201cotherwise you will have to pay the five pieces of cloth.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know your way,\u201d replied the lad. \u201cIt is like this: I promise you\nfifty rods, then you go to the other and he promises you sixty, and\nafter that you come to me and I promise seventy rods, and he offers\neighty, and it is the one who eventually gives you the largest amount\nthat wins the case by ordeal. No, I will not promise a single brass rod,\nfor I know I am innocent, and if the ordeal does not prove it I shall\nknow for a certainty that your _ngangas_ are liars and cheats, and your\nordeals trickeries and swindles.\u201d\n\nThe assistant, heaping on him much abuse, and throwing at him many\nepithets of reproach, called him an utter fool, and returned to the\ntown.\n\nLater in the afternoon the drum sounded, and the people hurried to the\njudging-place. Women had not been to the farms that day or had returned\nvery early; the men had not been to either market, forest or bush; and\npeople had come in from the surrounding villages, for everybody who\ncould be there was present, because no one wanted to miss so sensational\na sight as the ordeal by boiling oil.\n\nSatu and his head men sat by themselves a few yards from the saucepan of\noil. Bakula and Old Plaited-Beard were at opposite sides of the circle\nof people that watched the proceedings intently. Old Plaited-Beard was\ncalled first, and approached the saucepan with a jaunty air, smirking\nface, and anticipated triumph in every movement. He submitted his right\nhand and arm to be rubbed with some decoction[63] by the _nganga_; a\npiece of _kwanga_, or native bread, was dropped in the oil, and then,\nwith an insolent flourish, Old Plaited-Beard dipped in his hand and arm\nand brought out the piece of _kwanga_. His skin was not scalded, he had\npassed the ordeal successfully, and was thus proved innocent of the\ncharge.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n  See note 51, p. 357.\n\nOn the plea that the first ceremonial use of the oil had cooled it too\nmuch to be a proper test, the _nganga_ and his assistants heaped fire\nabout the pot, and it was not until the oil began to bubble that the\n\u201cmedicine man\u201d pronounced it ready for the other accused person.\n\nMy owner, Bakula, now went forward with set face and steady step to\nwhere the saucepan of oil was sending up jets of steam. I could feel his\nchest heaving, his breath coming and going in quick, short gasps, his\nbody trembling with the excitement of the hour, and his heart pulsating\nturbulently.\n\nThe tension was great, the sea of faces seemed to crowd about and press\nin upon him; and as he drew near the saucepan he could see the glint of\nhatred and triumph in the _nganga\u2019s_ eyes, but he answered them with a\nlook of defiance.\n\nThe _nganga_ rubbed something on the lad\u2019s arm and hand, and dropped the\npiece of _kwanga_ in the bubbling oil.\n\nEvery head in that great crowd was bent forward, and, as a hush fell on\nthe assembly, every eye was fixed on the lonely, slim, young figure\nstanding before that saucepan of fiery oil.\n\nWithout hesitation, for he was absolutely sure of his guiltlessness,\nBakula boldly dipped his hand in the boiling liquid, but before he could\nreach the _kwanga_ at the bottom of the saucepan, a paroxysm of pain\nseized him and, with a scream of agony, he fell fainting to the ground.\n\nHis friend Tumbu and the chief hurried to him and warded off, by their\nbodies, any intended blows upon the prostrate, unconscious lad; and\nbetween them they carried him to his hut.\n\nWhen Bakula returned to consciousness he was lying on his rough bamboo\nbed, and his mother, with unskilled kindness, was trying to bind up that\nburning arm in poultices of leaves, and Tumbu was weeping by his side.\n\nTumbu told his suffering friend that Satu had paid the five pieces of\ncloth and the _nganga\u2019s_ fee, and the matter was therefore settled.\n\n\u201cAnd,\u201d continued he, \u201calthough everybody in the town thinks you stole\nthe cloth, I know you did not.\u201d\n\nBakula then told his faithful companion how the _nganga\u2019s_ assistant had\ncome to him before the ordeal, and had asked for money; that there was\nno doubt the Nenkondo had given a bribe, and so had passed the ordeal\nwithout a burn; and, emphatically asserted the lad, \u201cAfter this I will\nnever again believe in _ngangas_, nor in charms, nor in ordeals. I am\ninnocent, but look at my arm.\u201d\n\nThe two friends sat talking all the evening, and at last Bakula said:\n\u201cTo-night I am going to escape to the white man\u2019s station. He will heal\nmy scalded arm, and teach me God\u2019s palaver.\u201d\n\n\u201cWait until the morning,\u201d pleaded Tumbu. \u201cDon\u2019t travel in the dark, or\nthe evil spirits will throttle and squeeze the life out of you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho talks about evil spirits?\u201d asked Bakula. \"Only the \u2018medicine men,\u2019\nand perhaps what they tell us about them is as great a lie as their\ncharms, fetishes and ordeals. I will test that to-night as I have tested\ntheir other teaching to-day.\" And a look of undaunted determination came\ninto the brave fellow\u2019s face, which, being seen by Tumbu in the\nflickering firelight, stopped his further arguments.\n\nIt was towards midnight that Bakula took farewell of his mother, and\ncreeping from his house with stealthy steps, passed through the sleeping\ntown and into the darkness of the silent, tangled, spirit-haunted bush.\nWhat lay before him? Would it always be the darkness, the tangled paths\nenvironed with fearful spirits? Or would he come into the light, that\nwould show him the straight, clear road, and, chasing away the evil\nspirits of darkness, reveal the ministering angels of the white man\u2019s\nGod?\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter XX\n                            Bakula at School\n\nAfter much nursing Bakula recovers--He becomes a school-boy--He\n    struggles with the alphabet--He learns to understand\n    pictures--Routine life--Bakula itinerates with his white man--He\n    does not relish sleeping in the wet bush--He is convicted of sin--He\n    inquires the way of salvation--The lads play a trick on a\n    witch-doctor--Bakula is received into the Church--He returns to his\n    town.\n\n\nAfter a long, weary walk Bakula reached his uncle\u2019s town, and, staying\nonly to tell him the news, and show him his scalded arm, continued his\njourney to the mission station. By the time he arrived he was feverish\nand his arm very painful. The missionary in charge of the medical work\nat once dressed the inflamed arm and put the exhausted lad to bed.\n\nFor many days Bakula was delirious, repeating with monotonous\nreiteration his innocence and the dipping of his arm in the boiling oil.\nAt times the missionaries feared he would die; that the strain, the\nscalding, and the fatiguing walk would prove too much for him; but at\nlast he began to recover--skilled treatment, regular food, and careful\nattention triumphed; and the lad was in due time walking about, little\nthe worse, except for the scars on his arm, for the ordeal through which\nhe had passed.\n\n[Illustration: _Photo_]     THE REV. JOHN H. WEEKS AND HIS\nBOYS.      [_Rev. J. H. Weeks._]\n\nBakula, on his recovery, found himself in a new world. When asked if he\nwould like to stay on the station and be taught, he, immediately and\ngladly, accepted the invitation, and was handed over to the white man in\nwhose district[64] his town happened to be.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n  See note 52, p. 357.\n\nBakula had always thought that \u201cbooks talked\u201d to the white men. In\ncommon with other natives he had said, when he saw a white man looking\nat a book and laughing: \u201cThe book is saying something funny to him.\u201d He\nwas therefore disappointed to find that the white teacher gave him no\n\u201cmedicine\u201d to cause him to understand \u201cbook language,\u201d and performed no\nmagic over him to open his ears to the \u201cwhispers of book talk\u201d; but that\nit was a matter of learning properly those curiously twisted and\ncontorted marks called a, b, d, e; and he also found that so many of\nthem changed their appearance when _written_, and again altered \u201ctheir\nlegs and arms\u201d when they grew into _big_ letters that he was puzzled,\nand sometimes feared that he would never know them.\n\nHow elusive those letters were! Just as he had mastered them on the\nprinted sheet they changed themselves on the blackboard; and when he\nwanted to write the \u201cfull-grown ones,\u201d and drew them as he remembered\nthem on the sheet, he was told they were wrong, and had to train his\nhand to all kinds of curves and scrolls. It was like learning four\nalphabets; but by perseverance and attention he conquered them, so that,\nno matter what their disguises might be, he recognized them, and would\nsay: \u201cOh yes, Mr. S; you can curve your back like this, S, or lean half\nyourself on a stick thus, [cursive s], but I know you.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile he had learned to put two letters together and make syllables,\nand from that accomplishment he was led on to connect the syllables and\nform words; and from that point the school work became more interesting.\nNow that the building was showing above the ground he could see the\nreason for all the foundation work. By the time he had been in the\nschool about two years he was nearing the top classes, and, laughing at\nthe mistakes of newer boys, encouraged them, by his own example, to\nconquer their difficulties.\n\nBakula also found there was another language to learn--that of pictures.\nHe had seen pictures at a distance in the houses of the traders, and\nthey had simply been a blurred whole, like the pages of a book written\nin unknown characters. In the house of the white man, where he spent\nmany a pleasant evening, he saw some copies of the _Graphic_.\n\nAt first he was unable to take in a picture as a whole. He held the\nillustrations upside down, or sideways, and more often the wrong way\nthan the right one. In time, order seemed to emerge out of the chaos of\nmarks and lines, then he would pick out a feature and say: \u201cThat is a\nnose, or a mouth, or an eye,\u201d as the case might be, and thus he traced\nout a man or a woman and said: \u201cWhy, it is a person!\u201d He did the same\nwith a house, picking out the details, as a door or window, etc., and\nthe same with scenery.\n\nLater he could take in all the details at once. He had to learn to\nunderstand pictures by the same method that he learned to read--first\nthe a, b, d, then the _t a t a_ = tata (or father), and lastly the whole\nword or sentence at a glance. Sometimes he had to appeal to the white\nman to explain a difficult detail, as a railway, a ship, or a horse; but\ngradually the pictures opened up a mine of information, and introduced\nhim to new worlds of wonder.\n\nA white man laughingly joked him one day about the pain and\ninconvenience Congo women suffered in wearing heavy brass collars round\ntheir necks, and on their legs anklets of great weight in order to be in\nthe fashion; but Bakula quickly turned over the pictures, and finding a\nfashion plate that depicted a woman with a very tiny waist, he seriously\nasked: \u201cWhich is the more ridiculous--to wear a brass collar round the\nneck, or to have a waist like a wasp\u2019s?\u201d\n\nDuring all these months Bakula had worked each day for four hours either\non the farm or in the brick-field--puddling clay, fetching water,\ncarrying the clay, or, as he became more expert, making bricks.\n\nThe life on the station was very regular. At 6 a.m. the boys rose to the\nclanging of a bell, and went to work either on the farm, the\nbrick-field, or in the houses of the missionaries; from 8 to 9.30 was\ntaken for breakfast and a short service, and then each gang of boys\narranged themselves outside the house of the white man who was working\nthe district from which they came. They stood in lines according to\nages. At these parades the white man listened to all complaints, settled\nall palavers, instructed his group of boys in station matters, taught\nthem, when necessary, on points of behaviour, and gave them the tickets\nfor the day\u2019s rations. The hours from 10 to 12 were spent in school, and\nfrom then until 2 p.m. at dinner and play.\n\nThen came two more hours of schooling, and from four o\u2019clock until\nsunset at six[65] the boys engaged in farming, brick-making, or working\nin their masters\u2019 houses. Thus each day there were four hours for work,\nfour hours for school, three hours for eating and playing, and one hour\nfor religious instruction.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n  See note 53, p. 358.\n\nOn Saturdays there was no school, but the boys worked at their various\nemployments or tidied up the station, except from 8 to 10 a.m., when the\nlads had their breakfasts, religious service, and the usual daily parade\noutside the houses of their respective white men. At one o\u2019clock the\nstop bell rang, and every boy received a piece of soap and went off\nafter dinner to do his washing and have a swim in a neighbouring river.\n\nBesides the employments already mentioned there were others, as\nprinting, bookbinding, composing, carpentry, bricklaying, washing and\nironing, cutting out and sewing jackets for the boys on the station,\ncooking, and house-cleaning. For these occupations special lads who\nshowed aptitude were selected and taught, and they received small\nrewards according to their skill and industry.\n\nOn Sundays there were services, and a Sunday-school on the station, and\nall scholars, unless ill, attended them. The missionaries, according to\nopportunity, health and weather, visited the neighbouring towns, both on\nweek-days and Sundays, to hold services in them.\n\nBakula sometimes accompanied his white man on these preaching journeys\nto help in the singing at the services, and to carry a small load. At\none place the people were so hostile that they would not allow the\nlittle party to remain in their village. They were not sufficiently\ncourageous to demonstrate against the visitors with guns and knives, but\nwere superstitious enough to drive them out with abuse, the shaking of\ntheir fetishes, and threats of what they would do if the white man and\nhis boys tried to enter their village. It was a cold, wet evening, and\nthe party was anything but cheerful sitting there in the bush with the\nrain falling in a continuous, monotonous patter about them.\n\nBakula now knew what it was to be misunderstood, and did not relish the\nexperience. His intentions were friendly. Why were the people so\nfoolish! He resented the treatment meted out to him and his white man,\nand, turning to the missionary, he said: \u201cGod is very strong, ask Him to\npunish these people severely for their conduct to us.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: CLOTH WEAVING.]\n\n[Illustration: BLACKSMITHS.]\n\nTo him the teacher replied: \u201cSupposing the white man had asked God to\npunish you and your people for driving him out of your town. Where would\nyou be now? Not sitting there, but dead, without an opportunity of\nhearing of His great love. We will not ask God to punish them; but we\nwill pray that He may do for these people what He has done for you,\nSatu, and your towns-folk: so change their hearts and superstitious\nthoughts about us that another day they will gladly invite us to stay in\ntheir town.\u201d\n\nBefore very long the rain had ceased, some grass and wood were\ncollected, and the white man, soaking a paper with kerosene, and putting\nthe grass and wood over it, soon had a blazing fire that thawed the\nhearts and tongues of the lads. In a few minutes they were laughing and\njoking as though they were in their cosy houses on the station, instead\nof being in the wet bush outside a hostile, inhospitable village with a\nvery superstitious people shaking their charms at them not fifty yards\naway. Bakula never forgot this incident, and his constant prayer was: \u201cO\nGod, open the hearts of the people to understand Thy messengers and to\nreceive Thy message.\u201d\n\nBakula was a great acquisition to the other boys on the station. He\nentered heartily into all their games, was a leader in many of their\nsports, and told them many a story around their evening fires. His\nhumorous, merry ways, his amusing manner in telling a story, his\ncheerful, obliging disposition, his common-sense way of looking at\nthings, his marked ability in school, and his genuine earnestness made\nhim the favourite of all on the station, both white and black. He had\ndiscarded all his charms and had learned that a lad\u2019s position was not\ndue to them, but to his own disposition and willingness to oblige\nothers.\n\nOne morning, when Bakula had been on the station about three years, he\nheard one of the white men give an address on the Parable of the Ten\nVirgins, and the narrative and teaching so stirred his heart with the\nfear that he would be left in the outer darkness, that all through the\nday he was unusually quiet, and at meal-times scarcely ate anything.\n\nAt night he started up more than once from horrid dreams with the awful\nwords ringing in his ears: \u201cI know you not.\u201d For several days he bore\nthis soul agony, and at last resolved to lay the whole matter before his\nwhite friend.\n\nIt was easy to converse with the white man about pictures, _Mputu_, and\nmany other palavers when other boys were about, or even alone; but\nBakula shrank from talking about the inmost feelings of his heart,\nalthough he knew he would be listened to kindly and sympathetically.\nWith much shyness, therefore, he went one evening to his teacher and\nasked for a talk with him. He was received with a smile of welcome and\ntaken into the white man\u2019s room, and the door was shut upon them. The\nwhite man had noticed Bakula\u2019s quietness, had partly surmised the\nreason, and was not surprised at the request for a talk on God\u2019s\npalaver.\n\nNow that Bakula was sitting there he found it difficult to begin. When\nhe opened his mouth no sound issued, for a lump seemed to rise in his\nthroat and block the passage. His friend chatted to him until he felt\nmore at ease, and then he poured out all the pent-up feelings of his\nheart, and gave expression to the thoughts of his long broodings. He\ntold the white man of the address he had heard, of his dreams, of his\nfears that Christ would not know him, and of the many sins of adultery,\nrobbery, cheating, lying and false accusation of which he had been\nguilty. He laid bare his whole previous life in all its ghastly\nwickedness until the white man felt it crowding on and pressing down his\nown soul.\n\nTears rolled down the lad\u2019s cheeks as he asked if God\u2019s Son would know\nsuch a guilty one as he, and could He forgive so many sins? The teacher\nspoke to him quietly and earnestly, read to him various passages from\nGod\u2019s own Word, and, after praying with him, dismissed him to his bed\ncomforted and happy.\n\nIt was very late when Bakula left the white man\u2019s house, but it was\nquite early when he arose next morning from a refreshing sleep. The sun\nwas shining not only on the hills and valleys around him, but also into\nhis heart, and he could not repress one hymn he had learned in school,\nthough he had never fully realized its beauty and meaning until now:\n\u201cJesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so.\u201d\n\nThe boys who occupied the dormitory with him turned and asked: \u201cWhat is\nthe matter with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I had a long talk with the white man last night about God\u2019s\npalaver,\u201d he answered cheerfully, \u201cand I feel very happy now.\u201d And at\nonce he told them of the address, and pleaded with them to prepare for\nthe coming of Christ, so that He might know them on His arrival.\n\nSeveral months passed, during which time Bakula took part in the prayer\nmeetings, and at the services of the Christian Band he often gave a\nshort address. He was eager to accompany the teacher to the various\ntowns in the neighbourhood, and frequently used the scars on his arm as\na text. He then, with soul-earnestness and much eloquence, declaimed\nagainst the trickery and lies of the witch-doctors, the uselessness of\ntheir charms, and the deception of their ordeals.\n\nOn one occasion the white man, Bakula, and some other lads were spending\nthe evening in a town. The service was over, the teacher had retired to\nhis hut, and Bakula and his companions had stretched themselves upon\ntheir mats in another hut that had been lent to them. During the night\nthey were disturbed by the entrance of a witch-doctor, who hid something\nin a saucepan. Thinking he was up to one of his tricks, Bakula removed\nthe thing and put it in another place.\n\nIn the morning the _nganga_, who was employed to destroy the power of an\nevil spirit that was troubling a family in the town, was up early\nshouting at the spirit to desist. He threatened it, fired his gun\nrepeatedly at it, and after much rushing about and wild gesticulations,\nhe declared at last that he had caught the evil spirit. He led the\nsuffering family to the hut he had visited during the previous night,\nand entering it triumphantly, prepared his clients, by his boastful\ntalk, for a great _d\u00e9nouement_; but, behold, the entrapped spirit was\ngone.\n\nWhen the lads, later in the day, brought out the \u201csomething,\u201d they found\nit was tied up in imitation of a corpse, and on opening it, discovered\ninside a piece of _kwanga_, or native bread, and inside that a fowl\u2019s\nbladder full of blood. The lads had a hearty laugh over the incident,\nand their disbelief in _ngangas_ was greatly strengthened by this\nexposure of their trickery.\n\nIf the witch-doctor had found the bundle where he had placed it, he\nwould, after much incantation and dancing, have pierced it with his\nknife, and as the blood flowed from it he would have claimed to have\ntrapped and killed the evil spirit. The deluded family would have paid\nhim a large fee, and after a time, feeling no better, would have sent\nfor another _nganga_ and been deceived in another way. They were saved\nat least the payment of one large fee by the lads to whom they had lent\nthe house.\n\nThe white men on the station watched Bakula very carefully, and often\nspoke about him to each other as one whose life and conduct showed that\nhe was fully fit to be a member of the Church that had recently been\nformed there. But no pressure was put on him, as it was felt desirable,\non account of the persecution all native Christians then suffered, that\nthe request for baptism and Church membership should be entirely\nspontaneous.\n\nAfter many months Bakula applied for baptism and entrance to the Church.\nHe was told of all it might mean to him--persecution, ridicule, and\nperhaps death. But his answers were such that he was duly received into\nthe little Church, and with quivering heart and tears of joyous\namazement in his eyes he partook for the first time of the Lord\u2019s\nSupper.\n\nDuring these years he had paid more than one visit to his home. His\nmother had received him with hearty welcomes, Satu had had long and\nfrequent talks with him about the white men and their teaching, and the\nlads and lasses in the town had regarded his accomplishments in reading\nand writing with awe, envy, and superstitious fear.\n\nOld Plaited-Beard always looked at him askant, with eyes full of hatred\nand malignity; but Tumbu, his slave friend, never left his side during\nthose visits except to sleep. He followed him like a faithful dog, with\neyes full of admiration and humble love.\n\nThe time came at last for Bakula to return to his town and live there.\nHe asked his white friend for a few slates, pencils, reading-sheets and\nspelling-books, as he had decided to start, if possible, a school among\nhis own people. These were gladly given to him, and, taking farewell of\nhis many friends, both black and white, he commenced his return journey.\n\nHow different was this last going from his first coming! The darkness\nhad given place to the light, the tangled, crooked path had become\nstraight, though narrow and rough, and the evil spirits of fetishism no\nlonger haunted his life with terror and horror, for they had been\ndisplaced by the ministering angels of God.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XXI\n                         Bakula\u2019s Work checked\n\nThe conservatism of the Congo people--Bakula and his scholars build a\n    school-house--A missionary visits his town--He encourages Bakula in\n    his work--A \u201cluck fowl\u201d dies--Its death is put to the credit of the\n    missionary\u2019s visit and teaching--The school-house is pulled\n    down--Satu is afraid to interfere--Native way of punishing an\n    unpopular chief.\n\n\nBakula had not been back many days before he asked Satu for permission\nto open a school for the boys in the town. The chief gave his consent,\nbut was very doubtful how the townsfolk would regard the innovation.\n\nFor untold generations they, their fathers, and their forefathers had\ngone on in the same way. They had built their huts with either grass,\nmud, or rough plank walls; they had scratched the ground on their farms\nwith little hoes; and when ill in health, unlucky in fighting, trading,\nhunting or in domestic affairs, they had nearly sixty wizards, or\n\u201cmedicine men,\u201d to reverse their luck by their ceremonies, charms,\nfetishes and magical decoctions. They had kept their accounts with knots\ntied in strings, or notches cut on tallies; they had always hunted in\nthe same way, fished in the same way, traded, travelled, lived and died\nin the same way. What, therefore, was the use of changing now?\n\nThey were a very conservative people that had always killed off the\nprogressives--those troublesome fellows who wanted to introduce new\nmethods of building, new articles of trade, new ideas, and new ways of\nusing old materials. Men who in other countries were called inventive\ngeniuses were accounted horrible witches in Satu\u2019s town. The man who\ndiscovered the method of tapping palm-trees for palm-wine was killed as\na witch; the men who first traded in rubber and ivory were regarded with\nsuspicion, and treated as folk full of witchcraft; and the man who took\nthe first load of gum copal to the traders was told never to take\nanother, or he \u201cwould see plenty trouble.\u201d\n\nIt was in the midst of such a people that Bakula started his school.\nTumbu, of course, attended it. Many other boys came out of curiosity,\nand finding no magic in it, no short-cut to book learning, their ardour\ncooled, and they dropped away; and there were no school inspectors to\ninflict fines and penalties for non-attendance. A few had sufficient\ncourage and perseverance to attend regularly, and these made some\nprogress in the mastery of their letters and syllables.\n\nBakula so enthused his few scholars that at the end of the dry season\nthey decided to band together and build a grass hut in which to hold\ntheir school during the coming rains. It was no small bit of work for a\nfew lads, with poor tools, to undertake. Rafters, king posts,\nstanchions, and wall plates had to be cut in the forests and conveyed\ninto the town on their heads or shoulders; grass must be cut, dried,\ncombed and carried from the bush to the site; and string had to be\nprepared from forest vines and swamp reeds.\n\nThen there was a floor to be raised and beaten, holes to be dug, and all\nthe materials fitted and tied together to form the hut. It was a simple\nstructure with no windows, but a large door that answered all purposes,\nand the boys were proud of it. If you had seen it you might have laughed\nat it; but could you have built a better one with the same tools and\nmaterials?\n\nEvery morning the school was opened with prayer, singing, and the\nreading of a portion from the Gospel of Matthew--the only Gospel then\ntranslated into the language of the people. Occasionally men and women\ncame, and, standing about the door, listened to the simple service. Many\nridiculed the whole palaver; a few, however, were impressed, and came\nrepeatedly; and, encouraged by them, Bakula started a Sunday service;\nbut out of more than 1,500 people in the town, only from ten to twenty\nattended it.\n\nOne day Bakula\u2019s heart was gladdened by the arrival of one of the\nmissionaries on his way from the Ngombe district to the King\u2019s town. He\nwas trying to open up the country, visiting the towns and preaching in\nthem as opportunity offered. Satu welcomed him heartily, and Bakula and\nhis small class of scholars were delighted to see him. The missionary\nexamined the school, and by his presence and words of praise encouraged\nthe teacher and his pupils to continue their efforts.\n\nThe white man had long talks with Satu, and suggested that the next day\na crier should be sent through the town to invite the people to come and\nhear God\u2019s palaver. The time, however, was not ripe for such a service,\nfor only a few responded, and they came more to ingratiate themselves\nwith their chief than to listen to the white man.\n\nThis white man was a zealous teacher, thoroughly in earnest and well\nacquainted with the people\u2019s language. No opportunity was missed by him\nof speaking to the twos and threes. Here he was to be found in\nconversation with some swaggering young men, there talking to a few old\nmen, and again in another place arguing with some of the head men. He\nwas a man of great attainments and wide knowledge, yet he exhibited no\nannoyance as he dealt with their puny reasoning, and unfolded the weak\nplaces in their arguments. He was like a giant handling pigmies,\ntenderly and persuasively. Bakula was sorry when his visitor had to pass\non his way to other towns, and to open up the road across country upon\nwhich his heart was set; but the young teacher never forgot the words of\nencouragement he received from the white man in their private talks.\n\nA short time after this visit the \u201cluck fowl\u201d (or _nsusu a zumbi_)\nbelonging to one of the head men died without any apparent reason. It\nhad probably eaten unwisely, or had been bitten by a snake; but the\nowner put it to the credit of the white men who had just visited their\ntown. Everybody remembered that, immediately after the promised visit of\nthe white man whom they had previously driven out of the town, a pig\ndied.\n\nThey argued thus: \"A white man came to us with God\u2019s palaver, and a pig\ndied soon after he left; another white man came on the same errand, and\nbefore many days had passed a \u2018luck fowl\u2019 died, therefore it was most\nfoolish to have anything to do with God\u2019s palaver.\" They conveniently\nforgot all the pigs and \u201cluck fowls\u201d that had died before the white men\never came near them, and only remembered these two that had died after\ntheir visits.\n\nThere was a great to-do in the town over the unfortunate death of this\n\u201cluck fowl.\u201d The owner raved against the school that had been opened by\nBakula, against the visits of the white men, and against the\nintroduction of new ideas of any kind. The more superstitious folk in\nthe place combined to close the school and pull down the school-house.\nMany were indifferent to the whole matter, and a few were for letting\nthe boys alone. There was much discussion; but the party for the\n\u201cmedicine men,\u201d the fetishes, the charms, and for maintaining the\n_status quo_ being the larger, the noisier, and more dominant faction,\ngained their point, and, while demolishing the school, destroyed as many\nbooks and slates as fell into their possession.\n\nPoor Bakula was nonplussed by this calamity, and the other boys for a\ntime were disheartened; but there is a great amount of grit and\ndetermination in the Congo character, and before long the lads were\nmeeting in Bakula\u2019s house for their lessons and for such teaching as\ntheir young tutor could give them.\n\nSatu, the chief, tried to stem the current of popular feeling and turn\nit away from Bakula, but he failed even to save the school-house. Native\nchiefs have power only to make the people do what they want to do; and\nthey generally have to bow their heads before the whirlwinds of popular\nsentiment and feeling. This was Satu\u2019s case. Neither his heart nor his\nintellect had been awakened by the new teaching, consequently he was not\nyet prepared to suffer either abuse or unpopularity for the sake of\nGod\u2019s palaver and all that it meant.\n\nThe natives have a way of their own in punishing an unpopular chief, as\nthe following incident will show, which I heard a man relate one day to\nBakula with much laughter: There was a chief of a neighbouring village\nwho treated his people very contemptuously, and was always, on one\npretext or another, exacting fowls, cloth or other goods from them. They\nbore patiently with him as long as possible, but at last his\nunreasonable demands became too excessive; so one day they bound him\nsecurely, placed him on a shelf in his own house, made a fire under him,\nand having sprinkled a quantity of red pepper on the fire, went out and\nshut the door.\n\nThe chief sneezed tremendously, and would have died if sufficient pepper\nhad been put on the fire. After a time they took him out of the smoke\nand tied his extended arms to a cross-stick, and would have punished him\nfurther; but he paid a heavy fine, and has been much better since the\nsneezing cure was tried on him.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XXII\n                  Bakula Falsely Accused and Murdered\n\nFailure of various remedies--Witch-doctor engaged--Diagnosing a\n    case--Different \u201cmedicine men\u201d are called in--Bakula denounces their\n    trickery--Suspicion of witchcraft falls on Bakula--Native attempts\n    to rid themselves of death, sickness, etc.--Preparing a corpse for\n    the grave--Bakula is accused of bewitching his mother to death--He\n    is guarded by Old Plaited-Beard through the night--He is taken to\n    the hill-top.--He falls and is done to death--Tumbu buries the\n    mangled body of his friend.\n\n\nA few weeks after the closing of the school, as narrated in the\npreceding chapter, Bakula\u2019s mother fell seriously ill of a chest\ncomplaint. Many remedies were tried, but failed to relieve her. Some\nneighbourly women sat with her by day and attended her at night, and\nnumberless were the sure cures they recommended; but although applied\nthey proved utterly futile. Her family at last decided, much against the\nwish of Bakula, to send for the \u201cmedicine man\u201d who cures by herbs,\nfetishes and charms. He was called _ngang\u2019a wuka_.\n\nAs already stated,[66] each of these various _ngangas_ (and there are\nnearly sixty different kinds) must find his way to the village and to\nthe house of his client without either guidance or instruction, and he\nmust also discover the disease from which his patient is suffering or\nthe cause of death without asking a single direct question.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n  See Chapter VII.\n\nIn due time the \u201cmedicine man\u201d arrived in front of his patient\u2019s house,\nhaving reached it by the usual stratagem of his assistant dropping\nleaves and twigs to indicate the road. He was a stout man with shrewd,\nquick, shifty eyes, and was dressed in the usual fantastic style, and\ncarried a bag of charms slung from his shoulder. He seated himself\noutside the sick woman\u2019s house, and a crowd quickly formed a circle\nround him.\n\nThe native \u201cdoctor\u201d in diagnosing the case could not ask any direct\nquestions of his patient--in fact she was in the house and he sat\noutside; but he met that difficulty thus: He asked a series of indirect\nquestions, and when those present said \u201cNdungu\u201d he knew he was on the\nwrong tack, and when they replied \u201cOtuama\u201d he knew at once he was\nguessing rightly, and the more excitedly they called out the latter word\nthe nearer he knew he was to the truth, and the more indifferently they\nuttered \u201cNdungu\u201d the farther he understood he was from the real\ncomplaint. Hence he started in this way--\n\n\u201cThere are such things as backaches and headaches.\u201d \u201cNdungu,\u201d quietly\nsaid the folk.\n\n\u201cSometimes there are pains in the legs.\u201d \u201cNdungu,\u201d was very coldly\nuttered by the crowd. The _nganga_ recognized that he was on the wrong\nscent; but still he had managed to narrow the circle of affected parts,\nso he began again.\n\n\u201cThere are such things as pains in the arms and thighs.\u201d \u201cNdungu,\u201d\nindifferently replied the people.\n\n\u201cSometimes there are pains in the chest and stomach.\u201d \u201cOtuama,\u201d uttered\nthe poor folk.\n\nHe now knew his patient was suffering either from a bad stomach or\nchest, and he continued to narrow it down in this manner until at last\nhe said: \u201cAh! her chest is very bad.\u201d The people excitedly shouted,\n\u201cOtuama,\u201d snapped their fingers, and looked at the _nganga_ with\nawe-filled eyes.\n\nThe \u201cdoctor\u201d now knew that his patient\u2019s chest was the seat of the\ntrouble. What are the most common complaints of the chest? Hacking\ncoughs, asthma, bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia. So he started off\nto discover the particular disease from which the woman was suffering\nand the part affected. The people coldly said \u201cNdungu\u201d when he missed\nhis guess, or frantically called out \u201cOtuama\u201d; by this cunning process\nhe narrowed the circle smaller and smaller, until at last, to their\nastonishment, he said: \u201cThe woman is suffering from pleurisy (_ntulu_)\non the right side of the chest.\u201d\n\nThe people thought that such a clever man, who had found out all about\nthe disease without being told and without seeing the patient, was just\nthe person to cure the complaint. He was consequently engaged at once\nand well paid. He made no proper examination of the patient, but took\nout some of his herbs and charms, and beating them into a paste told\nthem to rub the woman\u2019s chest with the preparation.\n\nAfter two or three days, Bakula\u2019s mother feeling no better, the family\nsent to _ngang\u2019 a moko_. The messenger who went to her, for this\nwitch-doctor is generally a woman, took with him a red bead which he\ngave to the _nganga_, who put it under her pillow that she might in a\ndream discover the cause of her patient\u2019s complaint--whether it is a\nmere ailment, or a bewitchment by some evil spirit.\n\nThe _nganga_ received her fee of one good fowl and fifty brass rods, and\nthat night placed the bead beneath her pillow; but whether she dreamed\nor not I do not know. However, in the morning she told the messenger\nthat the first \u201cdoctor\u201d was unable to effect a cure because some one was\nbewitching the sick woman, and the family must send for a wizard to kill\nthe evil spirit that was troubling her, and then she would soon recover\nfrom her complaint.\n\nWhen the message was delivered Bakula, who was standing by, at once\ndenounced the cheating trickery of the _ngangas_, and told how he, with\nothers, had exposed one of these spirit-killing wizards in a certain\ntown. He explained the whole process even to the piece of _kwanga_\nwrapped up to imitate a corpse, with the fowl\u2019s bladder of blood inside.\nThe people looked at him with horror-stricken eyes, recoiled from him in\nterror, and with raised fingers accused him of being a _ndoki_, or evil\nspirit, as otherwise he could not have meddled with the _nganga_ and his\nthings and not have suffered for it.\n\nBakula denied the cruel charge; but from that day he was regarded by the\npeople with unfriendly suspicion, and was shunned by them. But for his\nslave friend, Tumbu, and his former scholars he would have led a very\nlonely life.\n\nThe spirit-killing witch-doctor was called, and made the night hideous\nwith his shouts, threats, screams and gun-firing. He worked hard at his\ncraft, received his fee and went; but the poor woman still continued\nill, and, in fact, became much worse--the pain at her right side was\nacute, the breathing difficult, and the fever high. Her moaning was\ncontinuous, and the women who attended her knew not what to do for her\nrelief. They were unskilled nurses and lacked knowledge rather than the\nfeminine qualities of caring for the sick. There were no foods for\ninvalids, no dainties to tempt a patient\u2019s appetite--the sick had either\nto eat what the robust and healthy ate or go without. Many patients have\ndied of hunger rather than of the diseases from which they suffered.\n\nThe practice of the witch-doctor was sheer quackery, and rested more on\nthe exorcism of evil spirits by magical charms, incantations and\nconcoctions, than on a knowledge of physiology, disease and medicine.\nThe wonder was that any one survived the various treatments, and, in\nfact, only the fittest and strongest did recover from serious illnesses.\n\nBakula\u2019s mother continued to grow worse. How he wished they were near\nthe mission station, where she could have the help of those who cured\nhis oil-scalded arm and nursed him so carefully; but the station was too\nfar away! He attended his mother assiduously, and would have done more\nfor her, but the women drove him out of the hut with jeers and curses,\nafter his denouncement of the witch-doctor and their tricks. Poor\ncreatures! they knew no better, they were doing their very best for the\npatient. They were simply safeguarding her from one whom they thought\nwas full of witchcraft.\n\nAnother \u201cdoctor\u201d was called, among whose outfit were several traps\nespecially made for catching evil spirits. Having put a little fowl\u2019s\nblood into each of the traps, he placed them around the doors of the\nhouse in which the sick woman was tossing in her efforts to breathe\nfreely. He then pounded some herbs and chalk together, mixed them in\npalm-wine, and giving the patient this decoction to drink, sat down to\nwatch the entrance of any evil spirit into his traps, disguised as\ncockroaches or spiders. Although he caught and killed several of the\nsupposed evil spirits, _i. e._ several spiders and cockroaches, and\ntherefore, according to his statements, the woman would now recover\nquickly, yet she grew worse.\n\nIn their desperation the family sent for yet another wizard who had the\npower to converse with spirits, and consequently was able to ask them\nwhy they were inflicting so bad an illness on the suffering woman! He\ncame with his fetish, and, before locking himself in a house, told the\npeople that they would see the house shake as he talked with the\nspirits. The family sat around the place listening and watching\nintently.\n\nIn a short time they saw the hut quivering and heard the _bitodi_ fetish\nspeaking and the spirits talking, and the answering voices were male and\nfemale, old and young.\n\nAfter a long consultation between the _nganga\u2019s_ _bitodi_ fetish and the\nspirits (_nkwiya_), the wizard came out, and said: \u201cSome member of the\nfamily is guilty of breaking the country customs, laughing at _ngangas_,\nand throwing his (or her) charms away, consequently this sickness has\ncome as a punishment. This same member has also a _ndoki_ (or evil\nspirit), and whoever it is must bless the patient so as to remove the\nevil influence from her.\u201d\n\nSuspicion instantly fell on my owner, Bakula, for who else had broken\nthe country customs but he! Had he not learned to read! Had he not\naccepted the white man\u2019s palaver, and renounced his charms! Had he not\nlaughed at _ngangas_ and denounced their rites and ceremonies as\ncheating tricks!\n\nBakula was dragged into the hut to bless his mother. He solemnly took\nher right hand and, pretending to spit on it, said: \u201cMay you have\nblessing and good fortune.\u201d Then he was hurried out of the room of his\ndying mother.\n\nThis particular \u201cdoctor,\u201d to prove his _bona fides_, had heated a machet\nred hot three times, and had drawn it each time across his tongue. What\nbetter proof did the natives need than this of the _nganga\u2019s_ magical\npower to converse with spirits? He received a large fee of more than ten\nshillings\u2019 worth of trade goods, and went his way, leaving his victim to\nbear the brunt of the family\u2019s vengeance.\n\nThe _nganga_ had not been gone many hours when the woman breathed her\nlast, and poor Bakula was left motherless. His neighbours and relatives\neyed his sorrow with contemptuous suspicion, and already began to\nwhisper among themselves that he was the _ndoki_ (or evil spirit) who\nhad caused his own mother\u2019s death. They thoughtlessly disregarded the\ntrue affection that the young man had always shown for his mother, his\nreadiness to help her, and his sincere grief now that she was gone. They\nonly considered and repeated to each other what the witch-doctor had\nsaid about breaking the country customs, laughing at wizards, and\nneglecting his charms. They could regard him in no other light than as\nthe real cause of his mother\u2019s illness and death.\n\nFor generations they and their forefathers had believed that disease and\ndeath were unnatural, and would not exist on the earth for a single day\nif there were no wickedly-disposed persons who used evil spirits to kill\ntheir relatives by incurable diseases. They did not know that their\n\u201cmedicine men\u201d covered their ignorance, quackeries and failures by these\ncharges of witchcraft. If a patient recovered, then they inflated\nthemselves with pride and took all the credit of the cure; but if the\npatient died, then witchcraft was at work, a _ndoki_ was \u201ceating\u201d up the\npatient, or by his evil spirit was throttling the spirit of the sick\none. Rich men had bought expensive charms, had sacrificed goats and\nsheep to costly fetishes to keep them strong and alert, to protect their\nowners from the evil influences of the _ndoki_, and yet they had died.\n\nSuch deaths did not shake their faith in charms and fetishes, but rather\nstimulated them to more careful observance of all the rites and\nceremonies connected with them. They knew no better system than that in\nwhich they had been nurtured.\n\nOne night when Bakula was sitting around the fire I heard that two men\nmany years ago had started a crusade against fetishes and charms. They\npreached throughout the Lower Congo that if all fetishes and charms of\nevery kind were destroyed there would be no more disease and death. So\neffective was their condemnation of witchcraft, charms, and fetishes\nthat whole towns and villages made bonfires of their images and charms,\nand children were shaken over the fires to purge them from any charms\nconcealed about their person.\n\nThe deluded natives expected a golden day would now dawn upon them\nwherein there would be no sighing, no tears, no weeping, for disease and\ndeath would be banished from their huts; but, alas! sickness soon came\nand death quickly followed to disillusion them of their bright hopes.\n\nThe only folk who profited by this crusade were the _ngangas_, as they\nreceived large orders for charms and fetishes to replace those that had\nbeen burned. But the preachers were sure of the soundness of their\npanacea for the country\u2019s woes, and they could only account for its\nfailure by charging some of the people with hiding their charms and\nfetishes instead of destroying them.\n\nLater still, two other men who were _ngangas_, calling themselves by\nsome high-sounding titles, started another crusade; this time not\nagainst charms and fetishes, but against evil desires and murderous\nthoughts harboured in the hearts of the people. They proclaimed that\nevery one should confess to them all the witchcraft, hatred, and bad\nthoughts they had in their hearts against others, and those thus\nconfessing should receive a peanut and a sip of palm-wine, and thus\ndisease and death would pass away from their country.\n\n[Illustration: CAT\u2019S CRADLES.]\n\n[Illustration: A PROTECTIVE FETISH.]\n\nLarge numbers flocked to them, paid their fees--five strings of beads\nfor an adult, and two for a child--confessed their hatred, witchcraft,\nand evil thoughts, and received from the hands of the new cult of\n\u201cmedicine men\u201d the peanut and palm-wine, and yearningly hoped that\nsickness had been banished from their district and death destroyed. But\nagain they were quickly undeceived, for disease continued rampant and\ndeath entered hut after hut. The \u201cmedicine men\u201d reaped a great harvest\nof beads, swaggered in wealth, and excused the failure of their system\nby saying \u201cthat the people had not confessed _all_ their witchcraft and\nhatred, and consequently, not being cleansed from _all_, the old state\nof things had continued, and people suffered and died as before.\u201d\n\nThus the people had had their hopes again and again dashed to the\nground, and they had been flung back on their old \u201cmedicine men\u201d and\ntheir fetishes. It has always been a tenet of their religion that\nsickness and death were and are caused by witchcraft, and the most hated\nperson in all the country is he (or she) who, by the ordeal, is proved\nto practise witchcraft. Hold their views, and the tenderest heart will\nhate and kill the witch as mercilessly as they did.\n\nThere is no doubt but that the _ngangas_ received bribes to render the\nordeal non-effective; that the big men of the town incited the ordinary\nfolk to bring charges of witchcraft against their enemies, or those whom\nthey wanted removed from their path; and the witch-doctors themselves,\nby the aid of their assistants, fostered and turned suspicion against\nthose who desired to introduce a new and better state of things into the\ncountry. Their position and gains depended on killing off all such\ndangerous people. Hence the ordeal and the charge of witchcraft were\noften simply acts of murder, according to the customs of the country if\nyou like, but nevertheless murder.\n\nThe whole of the morning following the death of Bakula\u2019s mother was\nspent in decorating the corpse for burial. Beads were twisted round the\ntoes, feet, legs, body, arms, hands, fingers and neck, thus enswathing\nthe whole of the deceased in a casing of glass beads. Fold after fold of\ntrade cloths of different colours and qualities were wound round and\nround the body until it was nearly twice its original bulk. At sunset\nthe corpse was carried to the grave, just outside the town, and laid to\nrest with the hum of town life on one side, and the weird, uncanny\nnoises of the eternal bush on the other; but the soul had gone to that\nmysterious spirit town in the great forest where it would utilize all\nthe cloth and beads in which it had been wrapped.\n\nAll through the day women had wailed and chanted mournful dirges, men\nhad fired off guns amid much laughter and many jokes, and Bakula, with\ntearful eyes, had talked in subdued tones to his slave friend.\n\nHe had often, in the days gone by, conversed with his mother about the\nwhite man\u2019s palaver concerning God and His great gift of Jesus Christ.\nHe had poured out his heart to her, had instructed her in all that he\nhad learned on the station, and had repeated to her portions of God\u2019s\nWord.\n\nHe now recalled the eagerness with which she had heard the words: \u201cGod\nso loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son\u201d; and, \u201cIn My\nFather\u2019s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you\u201d; and\nhe was hopeful of meeting her, not in the mysterious forest town that\nhad so many terrors for them, and which was simply a repetition of their\nearthly life and its sorrows, but in the Father\u2019s house where all tears\nwould be wiped away from their eyes, all sin banished from their lives,\nand all sorrow from their hearts. He grieved not as one without hope.\n\nNot many days after the funeral the witch-finder arrived, dressed in his\nfantastic garb, his body decorated with gaudy paints and pigments, and\nhis bells tinkling at every movement. A crowd quickly gathered and\nformed itself into a long oval, up and down the centre of which he\ndanced. The whole town, with few exceptions, regarded Bakula as a witch,\nand the prancing figure there in the middle knew it. Still, he must give\nhis employers something for their money, so through the whole long hours\nof the afternoon he gyrated perspiringly, threw his arms and legs about\nin the most approved fashion, put question after question and elicited\nsuch answers as confirmed his opinion that it would be extremely popular\nand safe to charge this ridiculer of witch-doctors, this scorner of\nfetishes and charms, this believer in the new religion with the death of\nhis mother--the woman who had just died.\n\nBakula was present throughout the whole performance. Hour after hour he\nstood calmly there. As a member of the family he was compelled to be\npresent; but he took no part in answering the crafty questions put by\nthe grotesque figure dancing before him.\n\nTowards the latter part of the afternoon he noticed that the people were\nwithdrawing from him; they seemed to shun the spot where he stood, all\nexcept his faithful slave friend. He trembled as he observed these signs\nof popular resentment, for he fully recognized their meaning.\n\nTowards sunset the witch-doctor increased his efforts to the admiration\nof the spectators. He leaped in the air, gyrated on his heels, flung his\narms and legs about in amazing circles, crouched and jumped, undulated\nhis body to simulate a python, and in a whirlwind of shaking skins,\ntwirling arms and legs, and sounding bells he brought himself to a\nsudden halt in front of Bakula, and with raised finger accused him of\nbewitching his mother to death.\n\nPoor Bakula! although he had fully expected this charge, he was\ndumbfounded now he stood accused before all the people. He essayed to\nspeak, but no words issued from his parched, dry throat, and he would\nhave fallen if Tumbu had not supported him in his strong arms.\n\nWhy had they accused him of killing his mother by witchcraft? Accused\n_him_ of _her_ death! It was ridiculous, cruel, wicked! Surely no Congo\nmother had ever before been loved by a son as she had been loved! The\nvery teaching he had imbibed had taught him to honour, reverence and\nlove his parents. If he had lied, robbed, lived a loose life and treated\nhis mother with contemptuous indifference like other young men in the\ntown, he would not have stood there charged with killing his mother by\nwitchcraft.\n\nThe crowd surged around him. What ugly, sinister faces were pushed\njeeringly into his! Sticks were raised and knives drawn to strike down\nthe witch; but Satu pushed himself in front of the victim, and demanded\nthat he should not be killed until the ordeal test had been given him.\n\n\u201cHe will escape in the night to the white man\u2019s station,\u201d they shouted.\n\n\u201cNo, he won\u2019t,\u201d said Old Plaited-Beard, \u201cfor I will bind him strongly\nand watch him through the night, if you will hand him over to me.\u201d\n\nThis met with the instant approval of the crowd, and Bakula was handed\nover to the guardianship of his superstitious and merciless enemy.\n\nOld Plaited-Beard, with the help of a few friends, took the accused\nyouth to his hut, and with strong cords bound his hands, feet and legs.\nNo tenderness was displayed in the tying; that the cords cut into the\nflesh was regarded by the tiers with utter unconcern.\n\nTo render escape doubly impossible the prisoner\u2019s neck was securely\nfastened in a forked stick.\n\nAll through the long night the men took it in turns to watch Bakula,\nwho, by reason of his strained position and tortured limbs, had no\nproper sleep, but dozed fitfully in painful semi-consciousness. Now and\nagain he sang in a poor quavering voice the hymns he had learned on the\nstation and had taught his few boys in their little school; occasionally\nhe prayed for strength and comfort, and once he attempted to speak to\nhis captors about the great Saviour--God\u2019s wonderful gift to the world.\n\nIt was not until they threatened to ram a lighted stick into his\nmouth--and held one very near to his lips to emphasize their\nthreat--that he turned from them to sing: \u201cJesus, Lover of my soul, Let\nme to Thy bosom fly.\u201d\n\nEarly the next afternoon Bakula was released from his bonds, and led\naway to the top of a neighbouring hill. The rude hut was quickly built,\nand the victim placed in it with extended arms. The ordeal-giver ground\nthe pieces of bark into powder, and fed the young man with them. Before\nhe had taken many of the powders Bakula began to feel intoxicated by\ntheir narcotic properties. He swayed to and fro like a drunken man, his\nvision became blurred, foam came from his mouth, and at last he fell a\nwrithing heap on the ground. Sticks and knives immediately finished the\ncruel, murderous deed, and the corpse, naked, battered and covered with\ngaping wounds, was left a prey to wild beasts and ravenous birds.\n\nAgain the stars arose and looked with blinking, sorrowful gaze on that\ntragic hill-top--the scene of many an ordeal murder, and as they looked\nthey saw a strange sight: coming across the hill was a lad carrying a\nhoe. He carefully scanned every boulder, tuft of grass and shrub, and at\nlast his eyes fell on the body of the lifeless lad. With a cry he\nbounded to its side and sank prostrate to the ground, and grovelled in\nheart-stricken sorrow by the side of his murdered friend.\n\nWhen his grief had somewhat spent itself Tumbu arose and began to dig a\ngrave for the body of his admired benefactor. It was a fearsome place,\nstrewn with bones--the remnants of many trials by ordeal; and weird\nnoises, trying to the stoutest heart, came on the night air from the\nnear forest. Tumbu started many a time during his self-imposed task, and\nfear gripped his heart more than once; but he steadied himself by\ndriving his hoe deeply into the earth, and working hard to save the body\nof his kind friend from the cruel, sharp teeth of savage beasts.\n\nAt last the grave was deep enough, and then Tumbu, spreading some cloth\nhe had brought for the purpose, laid the body of his friend upon it; but\nbefore wrapping it around him he took the Brass Rod from Bakula\u2019s neck,\nintending to keep it as a memento of his slain friend.\n\nTenderly were the remains laid in the grave, and the earth covered all\nthat was left of my whilom companion and martyred owner.\n\n\n\n\n                             Chapter XXIII\n                          I Find many Changes\n\nMikula while digging the foundations for a brick house discovers me--The\n    town is changed--There is daily worship--Observance of the\n    sabbath--Sunday service--Collections for support of\n    teachers--Christian funeral--Visit to the mission station--Teaching\n    teachers--Martyrs for the cause.\n\n[Fifteen years are supposed to have elapsed between the concealment and\nthe unearthing of the Brass Rod.\n\nThe preceding part of this narrative unfolds the prejudices,\nsuperstitions and evil practices rife on the Congo thirty years ago,\nwhile the following chapters indicate the progress that has been made in\nchristianizing the people and leading them to higher and better things.]\n\n\nAfter burying Bakula on that sad night, Tumbu carried me back to his\nhut; but being afraid to wear me lest he should be accused of robbing a\ndead body, he secretly polished me, and, wrapping me in an old rag,\nconcealed me beneath the earth in a corner of his house, hoping no doubt\nsome day, when all fear of detection had passed away, to take me out and\nwear me in memory of his friend.\n\nHow long I lay buried I know not; but my finder was a sturdily built,\npleasant-faced young man whose name I heard later was Mikula. When he\nhad rubbed me clean of all my accumulated dirt, and found that I was\ngood solid brass, he well polished my sides and wound me in graceful\nrings round his wrist.\n\nI discovered afterwards that my new owner was digging the foundations of\na brick house when he happened upon me. Mikula had been taught on the\nmission station, and had learned there, among other things, the arts of\nbrickmaking and bricklaying, and now he had returned to his home he was\nbusy building a brick house into which he hoped to bring his future\nwife. He had already made and burnt several thousands of bricks, and was\nhurrying forward the building of the walls so as to roof in the house\nbefore the rainy season commenced.\n\nWhat a change had passed over the town! I scarcely recognized it for the\nsame place. Here and there were comfortable brick houses, a few plank\nones, and many others of wattle and daub nicely colour-washed, while the\ngrass huts were larger and very neatly made. And as Mikula walked\nthrough the town that evening I noticed that many of the homes were\nlighted either with candles or lamps, and families--father, mother and\nchildren--were sitting around one common table partaking together of\ntheir food; those families that could not afford artificial light sat\ntogether round their fires.\n\nOccasionally we came upon some who maintained the old state of\nthings--broken up families, the male and female members of which still\nsat and ate their food apart from each other.\n\nAt six o\u2019clock every morning a small bell rang out, calling the natives\nto morning prayers before they started their daily employments. Mikula,\nwho was a deacon of the Church, had charge of the religious work in his\nown town, and performed voluntarily the duties of a pastor of the Church\nand teacher of the school.\n\nAbout a hundred men, women and young people gathered every morning for\nworship--a hymn was sung, a portion of the New Testament was read and\ncommented on, a short prayer was offered either by Mikula or one of the\nChristians, and another hymn brought the simple service to a close.\nAfter that the women went to their farms and the men to their various\noccupations. Who can measure the influence such services exerted over\nthe lives of the folk who attended them? Their horizon was no longer\nconfined to the trivial affairs of their former mean lives, but extended\nto the boundless reaches of heaven and God\u2019s own eternity; their\nthoughts no longer grovelled in the trough of lustful desires and evil\npassions, but were lifted to higher, purer and more spiritual concerns;\nand their aims were no longer wholly selfish--set on attaining many\nwomen and much wealth,--but they gave their time, energy and money that\ntheir heathen neighbours might enjoy the same blessings that had come\ninto their lives, and had transformed them, by a wondrous alchemy, from\nbase metal to beautiful gold.\n\nOn Sundays the Christians refrained from farm work, visiting the\nmarkets, trading, and any other form of labour that would desecrate the\nLord\u2019s day; and a large number of those who were not professing\nChristians also observed the day; but there were still many who clung to\nthe old state of things, who farmed, toiled and traded on that day as\nthough they had never heard of a day of rest.\n\nDuring the Sabbath afternoon the bell rang out, and more than three\nhundred natives attended the service which was held in a large brick\nbuilding that had been raised and paid for by the native Christians\nthemselves. What a pride they seemed to take in their \"House of God\"!\nThe walls were colour-washed and decorated with pictures of the life of\nChrist; the doors and windows, which were of native carpentry, were\nnicely painted, and the roof was of corrugated iron sheets that they had\nbought with their own hard-earned money. There stood their \u201cHouse of\nGod\u201d on the finest site, in the very heart of the town.\n\nWhat a contrast to Bakula\u2019s little grass school-chapel that had been so\nruthlessly destroyed by some of the very people who had laboured to\nerect this new building! Yet the latter, and all it stood for, was the\noutcome of the former.\n\nThat Sunday was a Communion day--the first sabbath of the month. Mikula,\nas deacon-pastor, took the service. Native Christians living in the\nsurrounding villages had walked to this centre to take the Communion.\nThe meetings in their own villages had been postponed, and, headed by\ntheir teachers, some of them had marched across hills and dales, forded\nstreams and waded swamps to be present at that service.\n\nMany of them had walked from five to nine hours from the more distant\nparts of their district. They were in earnest, and expecting a blessing\nthey did not return disappointed. The building was not large enough to\ncontain all who attended, so the overflow sat round the windows and\ndoors that they might share in the service.\n\nHow heartily they sang! What prayers they offered--not wholly for\nthemselves, but also for their neighbours that they too might be saved.\nHow attentively they listened to Mikula\u2019s teaching, on \u201cWhatsoever a man\nsoweth that shall he also reap.\u201d They were an agricultural people, and\nknew the truthfulness of the lessons their teacher enforced with\neloquent directness, and wealth of illustration taken from their own\ndaily work on the farms.\n\nThe first service over, those who were not in Church membership left to\nmake room for those who had come so far to take the Communion. Soon the\nplace was full again, and Mikula, assisted by the teachers, dispensed\nthe bread and the cup. Close upon two hundred that afternoon\ncommemorated the death of their Lord and Saviour.\n\nDuring the former service the usual collection had been made, and at the\nclose of the Communion Service the teachers from the various towns\nhanded over to the deacons the amounts that had been received at the\ngatherings during the previous month. Every Church member was expected\nto give according to his or her ability for the support of the native\nteachers who prosecuted the local missionary work. And the gifts from\nthe different towns and villages were recorded in the deacons\u2019 books,\nand the offerings of the Church members were written in the diaries\nSunday by Sunday by the teachers in charge.\n\nApparently, from what I heard, two things have been recognized from the\nbeginning by the white men who founded the work at the various centres:\n(1) that Congo is too big a land for white men only to evangelize, hence\nthe need for an ever-increasing supply of native teachers and preachers;\nand (2) that if you want a person to appreciate anything, let them pay\nfor it, for what costs nothing is very soon valued at about the same\nprice--nothing; hence every member of the native Church has been taught\nto give freely and generously for the propagation of the gospel among\nthe villages. No native Christian is financially bettered by joining the\nChurch; but it costs him or her something every week to be a member.\nThese gifts are the expression of their appreciation of what Christ has\ndone for them.\n\nI would that Bakula could have attended that Communion Service. He would\nhave felt well repaid for all his toil, anxieties, disappointments and\ndeath. And who shall say that his spirit was not hovering over and\nwitnessing the wondrous sight? How I should have liked to have asked\nabout Old Plaited-Beard, Satu, Tumbu and many another, but the natives\nwere very reticent in speaking about their dead.\n\nI recognized among the communicants some who had been taught by Bakula\nin the old school hut. Of course they were grown into young men, and a\nfew of them were married and had children toddling about their knees.\n\nTwo or three weeks after the Communion described above, a message was\nbrought to Mikula that an old man, a member of the Church, had just\ndied, and would he go and bury him. Mikula fully recognized that this\nwas one of his duties as a deacon of the Church, and readily promised to\nconduct the service on the afternoon of the next day.\n\nOn arriving in the village of the deceased man, Mikula went straight to\nthe house of mourning, and spoke a few kindly, comforting words to the\nwidow who was weeping silently by the corpse of her lost one. A few\nyoung men picked up the body and carried it reverently to the little\nchapel.\n\nIt was an unpretentious building of wattle and daub, colour-washed and\nclean--a house of comfort and strength, a place of worship to the few\nsouls in that village who professed the Christian faith. In front of the\nsmall platform the body was laid, and over it were spread some\npalm-fronds--symbols of joy and victory.\n\nMikula conducted a simple service, and spoke with much tenderness and\nforce to the heathen present, on \u201cFather, forgive them; they know not\nwhat they do.\u201d They listened attentively, and more than one man dated\nhis conversion to that address. At the grave a hymn of triumph was sung,\nand then the poor wasted body was laid to rest with these beautiful\nwords as its shroud: \u201cDeath is swallowed up in victory. O death, where\nis thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, who\ngiveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\nNo drunken orgies, no dissipated feasts, no sensual dances accompanied\nthis funeral; neither was it followed by any smelling out of witches,\nnor charges of witchcraft, nor giving of the ordeal, nor the leaving on\nsome neighbouring hill-top the stabbed body of a murdered man. Death was\nnow dressed in another garb, wore a different aspect, for it was now\nregarded not as the result of malignant witchcraft, but the call of the\nFather to His child to occupy one of the places in the many mansions.\nConsequently there were no howls of rage, no wails of despair, no\nsinister threats of vengeance over the body of the deceased, but the\npalm-fronds, the hymns, the promise of a sure and certain resurrection,\nand the assurance that the absent one was present with the Lord--the\ndead had received eternal life.\n\nMikula hurried forward the completion of his house, as he desired to\nvisit the station for the week of special teaching periodically arranged\nfor teachers, deacons and Christian workers. Soon after we started on\nthe road we were joined at different points by teachers and deacons\nwhose faces, like my owner\u2019s, were turned towards their Jerusalem--the\nMission Station.\n\nWe arrived on Saturday afternoon, and were cordially welcomed by the\nwhite men, not one of whom I recognized as being on the station when\nBakula lived there. I heard that some of them had died and were buried\non the hillside overlooking a quiet peaceful valley, and others broken\nby health, had been compelled to leave the country; but whether dead or\nsick, their work was being prosecuted with zeal by those who had taken\ntheir places.\n\nThe foundations so well and truly laid were now receiving the\nsuperstructure, the cornerstone of which was Christ. Other men had\nlaboured, and these had entered into their labours; would they not all\nrejoice together when the topstone was placed amid the shouts of men and\nangels?\n\nThe lessons began in earnest on Monday morning, and for the next five\ndays the teachers and others present received five hours a day of\nspecial instruction in such subjects as would help them in their work as\nteachers and leaders of the people--sermon-making, pastoral theology,\nChurch history, hygiene, astronomy, geography, and a thorough study of\none of the Gospels. Each attendant had his exercise-book, and\nopportunities were given for taking copious notes. These afterwards\nbecame the bases of many of the addresses they delivered to their people\nin the numerous little chapels dotted about the districts.\n\nThere were early morning prayer-meetings, the usual morning services,\nand public meetings on two or three evenings during the week. Between\nthe lectures the teachers discussed with the white man who had charge of\ntheir particular district the peculiar difficulties of their spheres of\nlabour, and sought counsel and guidance on knotty biblical, doctrinal,\nor other questions.\n\nIt was a busy time for all, white and native teachers alike; but it was\nof untold value to the latter, and undoubtedly exerted a great and\nbeneficial influence on their life and labours. On the Sunday following\nthe week of lectures, the Communion was taken; and the teachers returned\nstrengthened, mentally and spiritually, to their work.\n\n[Illustration: 1. TEACHERS WORKING UNDER THE WATHEN CHURCH.]\n\n[Illustration: 2. DEACONS OF THE WATHEN CHURCH.]\n\nOn Monday morning my owner, Mikula, bought a supply of various simple\nmedicines to take back to his town, and he also asked for and received\nsome slates, pencils, and reading-books to meet the demands of his\nnumerous scholars. By noon he and the others had said \u201cGood-bye\u201d to\ntheir friends, white and black, and were on the road again with their\nfaces turned homewards. Mikula moved with a buoyant step, for his heart\nwas light and happy. His work as a deacon, teacher and preacher had\nreceived the commendation of his white man; and he was returning home to\nbe married--to take to his house, which had cost him so much time,\nthought and labour, the girl of his choice, one who had been taught on\nthe station, was a member of the Church, and sympathized with him in all\nhis work.\n\nDuring the evening, while we were sitting round the fire, the\nconversation turned on the days when much superstitious opposition and\nprejudice existed against the Christian religion, and witch-doctors and\ntheir followers exerted their combined forces to crush it. Mikula told\nof one zealous teacher he knew who travelled the country proclaiming\nGod\u2019s message of salvation, who was seen to enter a town, but was never\nknown to leave it. False and misleading reports were spread concerning\nhim; but after a long period the truth came to light: the evangelist\nwent into the said town to preach, the people seized him, hurried him\ndown the long slope to the river, fastened a great stone to his neck,\nand, hurling him from the rocks, drowned him in the rushing waters.\n\n\u201cA few months ago,\u201d said one of the teachers sitting round the fire,\n\u201cthe people in a town I visited caught me and tied me with my arms\nextended on a cross in mockery of my Master; then they placed me for\nhours out in the broiling sun, so that my mouth and throat became\nparched and dry like the bottom of a saucepan. As the sun went down they\nset me free, and we have a teacher and some Christians now in that town,\nfor they were astonished to hear me praying for them instead of abusing\nthem.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you heard what happened some months ago in the district next to\nours?\u201d asked another. \u201cAn evangelist went into a town, and the natives\ntook him and stretched him on a cross in imitation of our Saviour, and\nthen, spearing him, they cut off his head and flung his body into the\nbush. Christ suffered much for our salvation, and it is to be expected\nthat we shall have to suffer a little for Him.\u201d\n\nAs they sat there round the fire two or three engaged in prayer, and\nsinging softly their evening hymn--\u201cJesus, Lover of my soul, Let me to\nThy bosom fly,\u201d they rolled themselves in their blankets, and there in\nthe open around their fires they stretched themselves in sleep.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XXIV\n                   A Marriage and a Harvest Festival\n\nA Christian wedding--Grateful offerings--Christianity a great boon to\n    the women--Reunion--Various meetings--Lady missionaries conduct\n    services--Auction sale of the gifts--Changed lives--Mikula instructs\n    a stranger in the way of salvation--Rules for candidates and for\n    Church fellowship.\n\n\nA few days after Mikula\u2019s return he was married to the young woman for\nwhom he had built the brick house. In honour of the occasion the church\nwas prettily decorated with flowers, long streamers of vine-like\nbranches and palm-fronds. A bower was made by arching some palm-fronds,\nand beneath this were placed two chairs, tied together, symbolical of\nthe future state of those who were to sit upon them.\n\nThe town was all agog with the excitement of the event, every seat and\nstanding place was occupied, and the doors and windows were crowded with\nblack but smiling faces.\n\nThis was the first time that a deacon-teacher had been married in their\ntown, and as the bride-groom was much honoured by Christians and heathen\nalike for his happy, kindly, obliging disposition and straightforward,\nconsistent life among them, they had come in large numbers to his\nwedding.\n\nThe bride was arrayed in a clean muslin dress of a bright but pretty\npattern--the gift of her white lady teacher as a recognition of her\nhelpful work among the girls during her stay upon the station. The\nbridegroom was dressed in a nice blue loin cloth and white jacket, the\nlatter being the work of one of his neighbours who was expert with the\nneedle.\n\nA fellow deacon had come from a neighbouring town to perform the\nceremony. A marriage hymn was sung and was followed by two teachers\nasking for God\u2019s blessing on those about to be married; then the deacon\nread a translation of the marriage service, during which the bride and\nbridegroom took each other\u2019s hand and solemnly pledged themselves to one\nanother until death. Another hymn and prayer, and the benediction\nconcluded the simple but impressive service.\n\nNo sooner did the newly wedded pair emerge from the church than they\nwere greeted with cheers, shouts and a salvo of guns. Their progress\nhome took the form of a triumphal procession, all the folk vying with\neach other in their expressions of pleasure, their exclamations of\ngoodwill, and the guns banged with such tremendous reports of jubilation\nthat it was a wonder they did not burst their sides.\n\nMikula invited his friends to a great feast of pig and cassava-flour\npuddings, washed down with copious draughts of water, tea and coffee.\nThere was no wine, no drunkenness, and no debauchery; but a happy\nmerry-making that left no bad \u201cafter palavers,\u201d and no unpleasant\nheadaches.\n\nAbout three or four months after the marriage the native Christians in\nMikula\u2019s town and district were very busy in preparing their harvest\nthanksgiving offerings. Many of the women had hoed extra patches of\npeanuts and cassava gardens, the crops from which, when matured, they\nsold on the markets, and the proceeds were given to Mikula for the\ncoming festival. Mats, baskets and saucepans were made and sold for the\nsame purpose. The men also put by a certain portion of their \u201ctrade,\u201d\nand devoted the result to the same object. Others laid aside pieces of\ncloth, hats, umbrellas and various other articles to take with them as\ntheir gifts.\n\nMikula carefully noted all the moneys he received, and everybody\nconcerned was looking forward with eager interest to the arrival of the\nletter that would inform them of the date of the coming religious f\u00eate.\n\nAt last the messenger arrived, the day was proclaimed, and those members\nof the Church and their friends (for everybody--Christian and\nnon-Christian--was welcome to this festival) prepared their baskets of\nfood, their offerings, their children and their clothes for the great\nevent. As they travelled up to the station they met other contingents\ncoming from various districts, near and far. They chatted about the\nnews, compared their gifts, and the teachers and deacons consulted and\ntalked over the progress of \u201cGod\u2019s palaver\u201d at the different centres of\nwork.\n\nOh! wonder of wonders; the men helped the women in carrying the babies\nand the loads of food, etc. A kindly service they never rendered in the\nold days, for then the men swaggered along unencumbered, left their\nwomen to trudge after them as best they could with all the impedimenta\non their backs, heads and in their arms--poor beasts of burden.\n\nThis Christian religion had certainly wrought a great change for the\nbetter in the condition of the women. Instead of being treated with\ncontempt as inferiors, they were respected as equals; instead of\nreceiving the leavings of the men, they now sat at the same table to eat\nwith them; instead of being regarded as mere chattels to be borrowed and\nloaned, ill-treated, cursed and killed, they were cherished as wives;\nand instead of being mere children-bearing, farm-making, food-cooking\nanimals, they were now the companions of their husbands and the sharers\nof their sorrows and joys.\n\nIt was early on Saturday afternoon when we arrived on the station. There\nacross the entrance to the ground was a red banner with these letters in\nwhite on it: \u201cTUKAIYISI\u201d (= Welcome); and that was not the only welcome\nour party received. The white men and their wives greeted us very\nheartily, and showed us houses, and loaned us mats for our use during\nour stay. The women quickly gathered about their lady teachers, and\nquestions, kindly inquiries, and answers were the order of the day. My\nowner, Mikula, recognized, greeted and conversed with many of the young\nmen who were lads at school with him in the old days.\n\nWhat a happy reunion! How longingly anticipated, and how fully\nappreciated! Faces were missed there that were now present in the cool\nglades that border the River of Life; and some few were absent, because,\nthrough heinous sin, they had been cut off from the Church, and were\nashamed to show themselves at this Christian festival of gladness and\nthanksgiving.\n\nOne white man had decorated the church with palm-fronds, plantain-trees,\nfestoons of creepers, flowers and flags. The station had been thoroughly\nswept, the flags streamed from the apex of the church to the ground.\nAnother white man was looking after the comfort of the numerous\nvisitors, allotting to them their sleeping-places, mats, and utensils\nfor fetching water and cooking food. A third was receiving the numerous\ngifts, noting the names of the donors and districts, and arranging the\nofferings in front and around the platform.\n\nWhat a miscellaneous assortment of gifts was there! Heaps of pumpkin\nseeds and peanuts; numerous bunches of plantains and bananas; a pile of\noranges; pieces of cloth of various colours and qualities; umbrellas,\neggs, glasses, fowls, rabbits, parcels of native tobacco, mats--plain\nand ornamented, kwanga loaves of native bread, pumpkins, calabashes,\nbundles of native greens, tomatoes, garden eggs, boxes of gun-caps, tins\nof gunpowder, and bottles of kerosene. Those who could not give garden\nproduce or pieces of cloth presented mugs, plates, wash-hand basins,\nsaucepans of native make, and European enamel-ware; those who had come\ntoo far to carry their offerings in kind, had sold them on the local\nmarkets and brought the results of such sales in francs and brass rods.\nNative tailors, who had made jackets, dresses and cloths ready for\nwearing, presented them as their share.\n\n[Illustration: A CHRISTIAN WEDDING.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  _Photo_]   CHURCH COLLECTION AT WATHEN.   [_Rev. J. H. Weeks_\n  The Collection consists of:--Tin of gunpowder, calabash of gunpowder,\n    bottle of\n  kerosene, eggs, matches, gun caps, a plate, umbrella, mat,\n  cloth, francs, brass rods--in all worth about \u00a33.\n]\n\nNothing came amiss, no gift was too small and no article too mean to\nfind its place among those free-will expressions of a people\u2019s gratitude\nto God--for the poor gave to the point of self-sacrifice, and the\ncomparatively rich gave in proportion to their wealth.\n\nAll through Saturday and Sunday every band of new arrivals gave in their\nofferings. Some had carried their heavy gifts--weighing from thirty to\nforty pounds--over hills, streams and swamps for three and four hours,\nand came up smilingly to unload themselves; and with shy, apologetic\nwords they expressed themselves as sorry that the loads were not\nheavier, but that was all they had to bring.\n\nSunday with its various services passed all too quickly for those who\nhad come such long distances to attend them. The early morning\nprayer-meeting was well supported. A native deacon conducted it, and\nvery earnest were the prayers for a blessing on the missionary work that\nwas so zealously maintained in all the districts, nor were other\nstations and missions forgotten before the throne of grace.\n\nIt was pathetic to hear their pleadings on behalf of relatives and\nfriends still in the darkness of heathenism; and surely the heart of God\nhas been very deeply moved by such prayers, for not a year passes\nwithout scores of conversions and additions to the Church.\n\nThe afternoon service was crowded, and although the building seated over\nseven hundred every place was occupied and the doors and windows were\nfilled with eager listeners as a slim man of medium height, who had\nlaboured among them for nearly fifteen years, preached freely and\nfluently on their privileges and duties as Christian men and women. In\nthe evening a deacon-preacher took the service, and very eloquently did\nhe enforce the lessons given in the afternoon that as redeemed men and\nwomen, ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, heirs of God\u2019s eternal\nglory, it should be their gladsome duty to pass on the blessings they\nhad received to those who were still ignorant of Christ\u2019s salvation.\n\nI ought not to forget the morning service that was conducted by a white\nlady--the wife of one of the missionaries, a woman of large experience\nin the work, of wide sympathies, and, from what I could hear among the\nnatives, a woman much beloved by them all for her unstinted labours.\n\n\u201cWhy does a white woman take a service every Sunday?\u201d I once heard asked\nby a native in whose mental bank there were more sneers than kindly\nthoughts.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d replied a teacher who was sitting by, \u201cthe white men practise\nwhat they preach. They tell us to respect and reverence our wives, so\nthey respect and reverence theirs; they teach us to treat our wives as\nequals, so they treat theirs as equals, hence they have arranged for a\nwhite woman to take one of the two principal services every Sunday. We\nhave therefore always an example of what they inculcate that when God\nmade woman He took a portion, not from the head of man to show that she\nshould be over man, nor from the feet of man to show that she should be\nunder man; but from the middle to teach that she should be equal to\nman--from near the heart to show that she should have his affection, and\nfrom under his arm to show she should have his protection. My white man\ntold me that that was written by one of their famous teachers long ago.\nThey would have that to be the keynote of our treatment of women as it\nis of theirs.\u201d\n\nImmediately after the service on Monday morning one of the white men\nmounted a table and began to sell the various gifts by auction to the\nhighest bidders. The natives, both males and females, entered most\nheartily into the contest. The auctioneer knew the value of the\ndifferent articles and was careful to let nothing go under price.\n\nThe bids were in brass rods, and the rivalry for possession of the\ndifferent articles was very keen. Jokes were cracked, repartees were\nexchanged, innocent pleasantries were indulged in, and amid much\nlaughter one lot after another was knocked down to the successful\nbidders. It was a vivacious scene composed of both sexes of all ages,\ndressed in variegated colours, topped by smiling, black faces, and\nwhite, gleaming teeth.\n\nThe white men took it in turns to act as auctioneers, and at the close\nof the sale it was found that the total sum received for the local\nmissionary work, _i. e._ for the support of native teachers, amounted to\n82,095 brass rods (= \u00a334 3_s._ 6_d._). Everybody was pleased, and that\nnight they sung most heartily, \u201cPraise God, from whom all blessings\nflow.\u201d And thus ended the _matondo_, or harvest thanksgiving festival.\n\nSoon after the final service the natives were bidding each other\n\u201cgood-bye,\u201d and on the road again, with their faces turned homeward. How\nsafe the roads are compared with the bad, old days! Then natives went\narmed with guns and other weapons of defence, now they travel with\nnothing but their hymn-books and New Testaments for days without fear of\nmolestation; woe then to the individual who left his party, for he (or\nshe) was pounced upon by thievish rascals, and was never heard of again;\nthen men and women, boys and girls were captured on the slightest\npretext, and even for penny and two-penny debts, and were sold to end\ntheir days in distant, cruel and unremitting toil as slaves; now boys\nand girls take long journeys in unmolested safety. The Gospel has taught\nthe people that God cares for them, hence they are caring more for each\nother; that He loves them, and thus they are coming to love one another.\n\nHow selfish they used to be! How they grabbed at everything that came in\ntheir way, and held fast to every article they could put their fingers\nupon! How generously they now gave out of their comparative poverty,\nthat the message of God that had transformed their lives, given them\npeace now, and hope for the great hereafter, might be proclaimed to\nothers, that they also might share the same peace and possess the same\nbuoyant, eternal hope. Then their _neighbours_ were their own kith and\nkin only--members of their own families, and they did not hesitate to\ncheat, oppress, enslave or kill any one outside the family to benefit\nthemselves; now they have discovered that their _neighbours_ are the\nmembers of all families, clans and tribes under the sun, and with all\nthe energy of their renewed natures they are trying to put into daily\npractice the golden rule: Do unto others as you would that they should\ndo unto you. Then they stole, lied, swindled and broke every law of man\nand God that they might die wealthy and have a grand funeral that should\nbe the talk of the countryside; now they walk many a weary mile, cross\nmany a difficult stream, wade many a nasty swamp, to preach the news of\nGod\u2019s great salvation, and give generously of their substance to support\nteachers. How marvellous are the workings of God\u2019s grace in the hearts\nof whilom savages!\n\nMikula, my owner, and his party arrived home all the stronger in their\nChristian faith for the service they had attended; and more determined,\nby consecrated lives, by kindly actions, and by trying to live the life\nof Jesus Christ in word and daily deed, to win their heathen neighbours\nto the better life. At the station they had heard that there were more\nthan fifteen hundred members belonging to their beloved Wathen Church.\nFifteen hundred! a large number indeed! They would have sung the\nHallelujah Chorus if they had known it. Yet how few fifteen hundred\nseemed among the thousands upon thousands in these large districts still\noutside the Church.\n\nThere was, however, a growing Christian sentiment, and a better-informed\nconscience manifesting themselves through the whole district, even among\nthe heathen; and these are resulting in a keener perception of right and\nwrong. These are assets that should be placed to the credit of the\nChurch, and promise well for its numerical and spiritual prosperity in\nthe near future.\n\nHad there been any laxity in receiving candidates into the Church the\nnumbers could have easily been quadrupled; but the greatest care was\nexercised, and the strictest investigations made over every application\nfor Church membership. It was quite possible to impose upon the white\nteachers, who could not possibly live in a hundred villages and towns at\nonce; but the candidate could not deceive his Christian neighbours who\nare jealous of the honour of the Church, and who recognize that a pure\nChurch of true men and women means a strong and an aggressive Church;\nwhereas a membership of hypocrites would bring upon them the\ncontemptuous scorn of their heathen neighbours, and would result in a\nweak, emasculated, stagnant Church worthy only of ridicule and\nextinction.\n\nThe natives live open lives in their villages, making their fires in the\nstreets, cooking their food and eating it in the open, talking, working\nand living such unsecluded lives that in a village everybody knows\neverything about everybody else and a little more besides--there is no\nhiding any fact of life from one another, hence when the name of a\ncandidate for Church fellowship is submitted there are sure to be\npresent some who know the life the candidate is living in his or her\ntown.\n\nOne evening, when my owner, Mikula, and his wife were sitting at their\nfire, a stranger from a distant village greeted them, and told the\ndeacon that he had come to converse with him about \u201cGod\u2019s palaver.\u201d\nContinuing, he said: \u201cI have heard the evangelists preach in the\ndifferent villages I have been visiting, about the Saviour Jesus Christ;\nand I have listened to the white men more than once, and my heart is\nstanding up with fear, because I have sinned greatly against God and\nbroken all His commandments. When I think of my many sins and that God\nwill surely punish me for them, I cannot sleep at night. Tell me more\nabout Jesus, the Saviour.\u201d And a look of intense longing came into the\neyes of the inquirer.\n\nMikula unfolded to him clearly and fully God\u2019s way of salvation. He read\npassage after passage from the New Testament to enforce every statement\nhe made; and Mikula\u2019s wife aided him by holding a candle in one hand and\nshading it with the other that the light might fall on the sacred page,\nand occasionally she recalled to her husband\u2019s mind such scriptures as\nwould help their visitor.\n\nLong into the night they sat conversing, fire after fire along the\nstreet died down, and they had heard the good-night greetings of \u201csleep\nwell\u201d as their neighbours retired to rest; but they had again and again\nreplenished their own fire, and had continued their earnest talk on the\ngreatest of all themes--the way of salvation to a sin-stricken soul. At\nlast their visitor said: \u201cI see it--Christ died for me, the just for the\nunjust, the good one for the bad one, the Son of God in place of me--the\nsinner.\u201d And there around the fire the three bowed their heads while\nMikula lifted up his heart in prayer and praise.\n\nThe next evening the visitor again took his seat at Mikula\u2019s fire, and\nafter the usual greetings had been exchanged, said: \u201cI want to join with\nyou Christians and become a member of the Church. Can I join at once?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied Mikula, \u201cyou cannot. You must go back to your village, and\nlive a Christian life there for many months, and prove by your words and\nactions that you are truly sorry for your former bad life, and are now a\nfollower of Jesus Christ. You must be a total abstainer, and by this you\nwill avoid the many temptations to drunkenness. If you like you can now\nenroll yourself as a member of the Blue Cross Temperance Society.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, I will do so now,\u201d assented the visitor. \u201cIt will be hard to\ngive up palm-wine, gin and other drinks, especially at funerals,\nmarriages and on the markets.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know it will,\u201d replied Mikula, as he went for the pledge book;\n\u201cbut there are more than two thousand members of this Temperance\nSociety, and God will help you to live a sober life.\u201d The visitor put\nhis mark against his name in the pledge book, and I heard that his name\nwas Tutula.\n\n\u201cThe next thing that you must renounce is dancing,\u201d continued my owner.\n\"You know our dances lead to adultery, and from that to rows, fights and\nmurder. Therefore it is a rule of the Church that its members should not\ntake part in any of the country dances.\n\n\u201cThen again, you must not call in witch-doctors, nor may you employ them\nfor any purpose whatever. Witchcraft and Christianity cannot mix\ntogether any more than you can mix palm-oil and water. And you must\nthrow away or destroy all your fetishes and charms--a Christian man\nshould trust in God, and not in the paltry, stupid messes prepared by\nwitch-doctors.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Tutula, \u201cI can understand that the temptations to a man or\nwoman engaging in our country dances is very great; and to practise\nwitchcraft and use fetishes and charms would dishonour God. When I\nreturn home I will destroy my fetishes.\u201d And as he spoke he took from\nhis neck and wrists some charms and handed them over to his new friend\nand teacher, who dropped them into the fire that was blazing between\nthem.\n\n\u201cHow many wives have you?\u201d asked Mikula.\n\n\u201cI have seven,\u201d replied Tutula, \u201ctwo of them are old, three of them are\nyoung women, and two of them mere girls.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps you have heard,\u201d said Mikula, \u201cthat the members of the Church\nhave given up the practice of marrying many wives, and those who are\nmarried have been wedded to one wife only by holy matrimony. This is the\nlaw of God.\u201d And he opened his New Testament and read the various places\nwhere this law is clearly stated.\n\n\u201cYes, I know that is the practice of your Christians,\u201d replied Tutula,\n\"and it will cost me a great amount of money to follow it, for, being a\nman of importance in my district, I have had the pick of the females,\nand have given large sums in \u2018marriage money\u2019 for the women I have\nborrowed.[67] Cannot I retain three or four of them?\"\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n  See note 54, p. 358.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered Mikula, \u201cwe deacons and Church members have studied this\npoint very carefully, and the words of Christ are very strong and\ndefinite on the subject. Is it not better to go to heaven having only\none wife, than to be cast into hell with many women?\n\n\u201cThere is one other matter,\u201d continued Mikula, \u201cand I have done: As a\nChristian man who has received pardon for your many sins and a hope of\neternal life through Jesus Christ, you should pass these blessings on to\nothers by giving freely according to your means, and regularly, for the\nsupport of native teachers to proclaim the love of God in Christ Jesus.\nI am a teacher, but I do my work as such without any pay, because I am\nliving in my own town; but there are teachers who are working in towns\nand among peoples not their own, and they must be supported, and what\nthey receive is very little.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thank God in Jesus Christ for all that He has done for me!\u201d fervently\nexclaimed Tutula. \u201cAnd listen! if you will find a good teacher I will\ngive him a house to live in, and pay half the cost of his support, for I\nwant the people in my village and neighbourhood to know of God\u2019s love\nand pardon.\u201d\n\nIn due time a teacher was selected and sent to Tutula\u2019s villages, and he\ntaught Tutula, among others, to read God\u2019s word for himself. Some months\nafterwards I was present with Mikula when Tutula and many of his\nneighbours were baptized and received into the Church; counting wine,\nwomen, witchcraft palavers, and native dances as mere dross that they\nmight win Christ and be found in union with Him.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XXV\n                    Mikula at the Christmas Festival\n\nMonths glide quickly by while working hard--Deacon\u2019s\n    meeting--Church-meeting--The kind of candidates who were\n    rejected--Baptismal service--The great meeting of the\n    Church--Election of deacons--The balance sheet--A deficit--Native\n    Christians wipe out the debt--Local missionary meeting--The great\n    communion service.\n\n\nHow quickly the months glided by! Mikula, my owner, was a busy man of\naffairs. As deacon and teacher he voluntarily gave many days every month\nto his arduous duties--visiting lukewarm members and absentees from\ncommunion, investigating charges brought against such as were accused of\nbreaking the Church\u2019s rules, examining and instructing candidates for\nChurch fellowship, receiving the contributions from Church members,\npaying the teachers of his district their monthly allowances, performing\nthe rites of burial and of marriage, preaching in his own town and\nfrequently visiting other towns and villages to proclaim the Gospel of\nJesus Christ.\n\nBesides all these labours for the Church, he helped his wife by doing\nthe roughest work on the farm, visited many of the markets for purposes\nof trade, for this was his principal means of subsistence--the means by\nwhich he met his various obligations as a man, a husband, and a Church\nmember.\n\nIf he had devoted the whole of his time to trading he would have been a\nrich man. He was \u2019cute, smart, and energetic enough; but he preferred\nlaying up treasure in heaven where neither white ants, nor rats, nor\nmildew could depreciate the value of his wealth.\n\nIt was thus the months passed all too quickly, and brought us to the\ngreat Church Festival held at Christmas-time, and the three principal\nevents of this gathering were the Church-meetings, the baptisms, and the\ncommunion service.\n\nMessengers and letters had been sent to all the deacons and teachers\nspread over the three thousand square miles that comprised the parish of\nthe Wathen missionaries. These letters had informed the officials and\nChurch members of the date upon which they were to assemble, and urging\nthem to come in large numbers.\n\nDuring all the afternoon and evening of the appointed Saturday, groups\nof men and women were continually arriving on the station, and the\nhousing accommodation was taxed to its utmost capacity. The programme\nfor the meeting had been arranged about a month before, and every male\nand female missionary had had their parts apportioned to them; but\nunhappily just on the very eve of the meetings two of the white men went\ndown with very serious fevers, and the depleted little band of white\nfolk had to work the harder to make up for those unfortunately laid\naside.\n\nAt four o\u2019clock on the Saturday afternoon the deacons were assembled,\nand the business to be laid before the coming Church meeting was\nthoroughly examined, such as cases of discipline, fitness of applicants\nfor Church membership, the work, pay, and appointments of teachers to\nnew spheres, or their removal from one place to another, and the many\nother points that demanded attention and investigation.\n\nSoon after seven o\u2019clock the bell rang out calling all those concerned\nto the Church meeting. About five hundred male and female members\ngathered. A hymn was sung, a prayer offered, a portion of Scripture was\nread, the minutes of the previous month were read and confirmed, and\nthen the business of the meeting began--of course, everything was\nconducted in the vernacular, consequently everybody present could enter\nfully into the matters laid before them. After various items of business\nhad been voted upon, the claims of candidates for Church membership were\nscrutinized and voted upon by those present.\n\nWhile they were considering Mr. A.\u2019s desire to join the Church, a member\narose and stated that the applicant had a very bad temper, became\nenraged at the smallest annoyance, and frequently for no reason at all;\nand the speaker thought that the candidate should by properly and\ncontinually controlling his irritable nature get a better temper before\nhe was received into the Church. The other members thought the same, and\nvoted that Mr. A. should wait for a few months and be informed of the\nreason.\n\nA little later the case of Mr. B. was under consideration, when a native\nof his village arose and said that the candidate was a very lazy man,\nlounging about the village all day, living on his wife; and he thought\nthat such a person was undesirable as a Church member. Let him do some\nwork and be honestly industrious for a year and then apply again. The\nvote was taken, and Mr. B. was counted as unworthy of Church membership\nuntil he had changed his lazy habits.\n\nLater still in the evening the name of Mr. D. was mentioned as desirous\nof joining the Church, when a neighbour of his jumped to his feet\nsaying: \u201cMr. D. is in debt to many people in his village and to others\nin the surrounding villages. Now we think that a member of this Church\nshould not be in debt to any one; let him pay all his debts first and\nthen apply for membership.\u201d Hence Mr. D. was informed afterwards that he\nmust go and pay his debts and apply later.\n\nOthers were rejected through lack of knowledge of the fundamentals of\nthe Christian religion; others for using fetishes and charms, thus\nshowing they were not altogether free of their heathen superstitions;\nand others because their lives were not consistent with their Christian\nprofession. But after all this winnowing there were more than twenty who\nwere recognized as worthy of joining the Church.\n\nThe following day, Sunday, commenced with an early morning prayer and\npraise meeting; then at the nine o\u2019clock service the missionary preached\na suitable sermon to the accepted candidates on some of the passages in\nRevelation, where the word \u201covercome\u201d occurs; and at the close the\ncandidates for baptism arose one by one, and in simple language, and,\noften with much nervousness, bore his or her testimony to the pardoning\nlove of God in Christ Jesus that had called them out of the great\ndarkness into His marvellous light. And then we adjourned to the place\nwhere the baptismal rite was to be administered.\n\nThe place was about a mile from the station, and the baptistery was\nformed by the natural widening of the stream into a pool that answered\nthe purpose as though it had been designed especially. The stream came\nfrom an open valley, and, filling the pool, passed beneath the cool\nshelter of some trees that threw a shade over a part of the shore, that\nby a steepish slope led down to the water. This incline was covered with\npeople in their varied coloured dresses and cloths, tier above tier,\nthat were desirous of witnessing the baptisms. Many lads and young men\nhad waded across the water, and had seated themselves on the edge of the\nfarther bank, from which point of advantage they gained an uninterrupted\nview of all that took place. Around the nearer side of the pool,\noccupying positions right on the very edge of the water, were those who\nwere to undergo the rite of baptism--the observed of all observers,\nnervously conscious of all eyes being fixed upon them.\n\nA baptismal hymn was very heartily sung, two deacons offered prayer, and\nthen one by one, the women first, and then the men, the candidates\nentered the pool and were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and\nHoly Spirit--buried with Him in the waters, a symbol that the old,\nheathen life was finished, and raised again--a sign that henceforth they\nwere to lead new lives of faith, purity and love in Jesus Christ.\n\nSoon after ten o\u2019clock on Monday morning the bell sounded forth its\nclamorous call to the great Church meeting. The large building was soon\nfilled with more than six hundred Church members--male and female, who\nhad gathered to elect their deacons for the ensuing year, to hear of the\nprogress of Christ\u2019s kingdom in their large parish, and to have laid\nbefore them a financial statement concerning the income and expenditure\nof the closing year.\n\n[Illustration: A NATIVE MARKET.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  _Photo_]   BAPTISMAL SERVICE, CHRISTMAS, 1905.   [_J. R. M. Stephens._\n]\n\nAll deacons, no matter in what month they were elected, relinquished\noffice automatically at the end of the year, therefore one member of the\nChurch proposed, and another seconded a resolution of thanks to the\ndeacons for their work during the past year. This was carried\nunanimously with much clapping of hands--a purely native mode of\nexpressing thanks whether performed by an individual or a crowd. Then\ntwo others proposed and seconded a request that the retiring deacons be\nasked to take office again for the coming year, with two exceptions. One\ndeacon during the year had broken a rule of the Church, and as it was\nessential for the welfare of the Church that their deacons should be\nblameless in life and character, he was not re-elected. Another deacon\nhad exhibited much incapacity and such an utter lack of zeal in the\ndischarge of his important duties, that he was asked to stand on one\nside to make room for a better man. The rest were re-elected with\nacclamation. Their spokesman replied in a few suitable words, and begged\nthem to remember their deacons always in prayer that they might perform\ntheir difficult duties worthily of the Master they all desired to serve.\n\nIt was felt in consequence of the work extending so rapidly that the\nnumber of deacons should be increased to twenty-five to adequately cope\nwith the work. Men, therefore, of strong character, of long, faithful\nservice, and good Christian lives were chosen and voted to the office to\nmake up the desired number.\n\nThen the missionary who had charge of the Church books wrote on a\nblack-board the number of members in fellowship at the beginning of the\nyear, the number of those who had been expelled for inconsistency, the\nnumber who had passed to the eternal home during the twelve months, the\nlarge number that had been baptized on profession of their faith in\nChrist, and it was shown that those who were enjoying all the privileges\nof Church membership made a grand total of 1674. Here and there over the\nbuilding could be heard ejaculations of \u201cTutondele Mfumu Nzambi!\u201d (\u201cWe\nthank Thee, Lord God!\u201d)\n\nThe white man then put another black-board in position, and wrote on it\nall the offerings from the various districts, the amount of the July\nHarvest Thanksgiving, and sundry other items to the credit of the Church\naccounts--it reached some hundreds of thousands of brass rods. On\nanother black-board he wrote down the cost of the teachers in the\ndifferent districts, and when these were added up there was a large\ndeficit. What were they to do--leave the Church in debt, or withdraw\nsome of the teachers? No, they must wipe that debt off!\n\nAnother black-board was quickly in position to receive their offerings\nfor clearing away the deficit. A white teacher present said: \u201cI will\ngive two thousand rods towards the debt.\u201d But a native deacon arose to\nhis feet and said: \u201cWhite man, we thank you for your kind offer to help\nus; but this is our work for Jesus Christ, and we intend to do it by\npaying that debt ourselves. Christ has done so much for us, that we must\ndo this little bit of work for Him.\u201d\n\nDuring the next hour the missionaries were very busy writing down gifts\nand promises; and gradually the debt shrank until at last it\ndisappeared. They had contributed over \u00a3180 to meet the entire expenses\nof their local missionary work. It was a large sum for poor people; but\nit was an expression of their gratitude to God for all the benefits they\nhad received through the preaching of the Gospel. If it had been\npossible to value all the voluntary work done by deacons and Church\nmembers, the above amount would have been more than doubled.\n\nThat night a missionary meeting was held. The building was full; bright\nand inspiring hymns were sung; and one teacher after another told of the\ndifficulties and triumphs of the Gospel in his part of the district.\nThen two of the white men spoke of the grand results that had attended\nthe efforts of other missionaries at the various stations on the Upper\nand Lower Congo. They summed up by saying: that thirty years ago there\nwas not a single language that had been reduced to writing, now eight\nhad been mastered, and into them more or less of God\u2019s Word had been\ntranslated; thirty years ago and there was not a single person on the\nCongo who knew how to read or write, now there were thousands of men and\nwomen, boys and girls who were reading God\u2019s Word in their own\nlanguages; thirty years ago there was not a single native teacher on the\nCongo, now there were nearly five hundred--two-thirds of whom were\nentirely supported by the free-will offerings of the native Christians,\nand the other third doing voluntary work in their own towns and\nvillages; thirty years ago not a solitary brass rod was given to God\u2019s\nwork--but hundreds of thousands of them were spent on witch-doctors,\nfetishes and charms, now over \u00a3400 a year are given by native Christians\nthat others might hear the glad news of Christ\u2019s redemption; thirty\nyears ago there was not a single Christian throughout the whole length\nand breadth of Congoland, now in fellowship with the B. M. S. Churches\nalone there are nearly 3500 Church members, and God Himself alone knows\nthe great number that has already passed from the Church militant on\nearth, through faith in Christ, to the Church triumphant in heaven that\nis gathering around the great white throne of the Lamb. These are 3500\nfulfilments of God\u2019s promises; 3500 encouragements to continue the work\nwith zeal and aggressiveness; 3500 proofs of the power of the Gospel to\nchange the hearts, and purify the lives of men and women.\n\nIt was about eleven o\u2019clock next morning when that bell called the\nChristians and their friends to the last great meeting of the festival.\nThe building in which the service was held was long, wide and rather\nsquatty, with no claim to beauty or dignity, and no pretensions to\narchitectural elegance; and although in the eyes of men it might\nhonestly be styled ugly, yet in the eyes of angels it must be very\nbeautiful--for it is the birthplace of many a soul.\n\nIt was all too small that day to hold the crowd that pressed into it.\nThe seats soon filled, and the mats that had been spread on every\navailable space quickly received more than their full quota of people,\nand the doors and windows rapidly filled with folk who listened as\neagerly as those who were inside the building. How heartily they all\nentered into the simple service!\n\nThe preacher knew their difficulties, their temptations and their\nweaknesses; he knew the pit of heathenism from which they had been\ndigged; and he knew that they were going back to their towns, villages\nand homes to live among superstitious heathen neighbours, so he preached\nto them with the power born of full and deep conviction from 2 Tim. i.\n12; and they by and by returned home strengthened to continue the fight\nknowing that God was with them, and, therefore, they were on the winning\nside.\n\nThe preaching service over, the non-members left the building, and their\nplaces were immediately filled with those Church members who had been\nstanding round the doors and windows. Over seven hundred persons were\npresent to take the communion.\n\nThe eyes of the white man who officiated dimmed with tears as he looked\nover that crowded assembly of communicants. He thought of those who had\nborne the heat and burden of the day, those who had toiled and died\nwithout knowing of any results to their labour; he thought of those who,\nbaffled and defeated by broken health, had been compelled to retire from\nthe dangerous climate; he thought of those native teachers who had lived\nfaithfully and worked arduously to bring about this grand gathering; and\nhe thought also of that vast number of friends in the homeland who by\ntheir labours, gifts and prayers had made this glorious assembly\npossible. Surely all would ultimately rejoice together in the great,\nglad cry of Harvest Home! Perhaps--who can tell?--the spirits of those\nwho have passed away, missionaries and supporters--white and black\nworkers alike, were, some of them, present at that service and were\nrejoicing together over so numerous a company of ransomed souls.\n\nIt was in a tremulous voice that the white man addressed a few words to\nthose who were to be received in that day, and then he took each by the\nhand and welcomed him and her into fellowship in the name of the Church.\nAfter that a prayer was offered that these new brethren and sisters\nmight ever remain true witnesses for Christ, the Saviour.\n\nA hymn was then sung that the hearts and thoughts of all present might\nbe centred on the purpose of their presence in the gathering--to\ncommemorate the death of their dear Lord until He come.\n\nOne of the deacons prayed for a blessing on the \u201cbread,\u201d and it was then\ndispensed among the communicants, and after they had partaken of it they\nbowed their heads in reverent worship. The cups were then distributed to\nevery member in that great assembly. Another deacon pleaded with God for\na blessing on the cup; and then the missionary arose, and holding his\ncup in his hand, said: \u201cThis cup is the New Testament in My blood: this\ndo ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as oft as ye eat\nthis bread, and drink this cup ye do show the Lord\u2019s death until He\ncome.\u201d\n\nAnd as soon as his tones had died away seven hundred cups were raised\nand drained to the memory of their Saviour, and seven hundred hearts\nbowed in prayer before the Lord. In a little time there arose upon the\nair a song of faith. It was a translation of that incomparable hymn--\n\n               \"There is a fountain filled with blood,\n                 Drawn from Immanuel\u2019s veins;\n               And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,\n                 Lose all their guilty stains.\n\n               \"Dear dying Lamb! Thy precious blood\n                 Shall never lose its power\n               Till all the ransomed Church of God\n                 Be saved to sin no more.\n\n               \u201cThen in a nobler, sweeter song,\n                 I\u2019ll sing Thy power to save,\n               When this poor lisping, stammering tongue,\n                 Lies silent in the grave.\u201d\n\n                            NOTES TO PART I\n\n1. _Being only eleven inches long_ (page 1).--Over a very large part of\nthe Congo soft brass wire of 34 gauge is now, and has been for many\nyears, the currency and the standard of value among the natives. This\nwire was probably, in the first instance, introduced and used for\nornamental purposes, as binding round spears and knives, or beaten out\ninto ribbons of brass for decorating the hafts of their best spears and\npaddles. At first the wire was bought in long lengths of so many\nfathoms, according to the needs of the buyer and the purchasing power of\nthe article he offered the trader in exchange for it. Later they found\nit more easy of manipulation to have it in lengths of thirty inches, and\nthese were shortened by those who had large numbers of them cutting off\na half-inch from each one and melting the small pieces down for brass\nanklets, necklets, and bracelets, thus procuring their brass for\nnothing, _i. e._ cutting off short pieces from each rod and passing the\nrods again into currency at their normal value. So much of this was done\nthat the thirty-inch rod was reduced to twenty-seven inches, and sellers\nof goods consequently demanded more rods of the shorter ones than of the\nlonger lengths.\n\nThis process of snipping off little pieces has gone on for thirty years,\nand the result is that the brass rod has gradually decreased in length\nuntil now, on the Lower Congo, it is scarcely five inches, and among the\nBoloki of the Monsembe district it is only eleven inches, and if the\nintroduction of money does not displace the rod it will become only four\nor five inches in that part also.\n\nOf course, as the rod lessens in length the seller of an article demands\nmore of them for his goods. Thus an article that once cost three rods of\nthirty-inch wire now costs thirty of the five-inch rods; for not only\nhas the rod shortened in length, but through the introduction of so much\nbrass wire into the country during the last quarter of a century it has\ndecreased in value. I hope some day to take the Rod among those people\nwho use an eleven-inch brass rod as their money.\n\n2. _Kroo boys_ (p. 3).--These were natives procured from the Kroo Coast\nto work the cargo on the steamers that ran along the west coast of\nAfrica. Only sufficient white sailors were carried to work the ship from\nstarting port to the Kroo country. On arrival there, the ship fired a\ngun to intimate its need of a gang of Kroo \u201cboys\u201d to handle the cargo.\nThese \u201cboys\u201d were any age from about eighteen to fifty, and in a gang\nthere were generally about forty to fifty \u201cboys\u201d under a head man.\n\nMost captains had a head man who gathered a gang ready by the time his\nship returned from its European port. For example: a ship leaves\nLiverpool, and on arriving at the coast picks up its head man and gang\nof \u201cboys,\u201d who work the winches, man the boats and handle the cargo all\nthe way along the coast and back again to their own country, where they\nare paid off in barter goods, powder, guns, rum and gin at the rate of\none shilling a day. They then rest after their arduous work until that\nship returns, and they engage themselves for another trip. The Congo\nboats now pick up their Kroo \u201cboys\u201d at Sierra Leone on the outward\nvoyage, and drop them there on the homeward journey, and pay them in\ncash at the rate of about one shilling to one and sixpence per day and\ntheir rations.\n\nWhen not in port these Kroo \u201cboys\u201d polished the brasswork, scraped the\niron, cleaned the paint, holystoned the deck, etc.; but when in port\nthey went into the holds, tied up the cargo in slings, hoisted it by\nwinches, put it over the side into boats, and rowed it ashore. They were\nhard-working men who toiled from 4 a.m. until 10 or 12 p.m., only\nresting for their meals of boiled rice, salt beef or fish, and ship\u2019s\nbiscuits.\n\n3. _Peasoup_ (p. 4).--When the writer went to Congo first in 1881 there\ncame on board at the Kroo coast a head man whose name was Peasoup. For\nmany years he had acted as head man for the captain of that ship, who,\nas an acknowledgment of his various good qualities, and as a joke,\npresented him with a brass plate to hang round his neck by means of a\nchain. The following words were engraved on it--\n\n                                PEASOUP\n\n                       Captain Jolly\u2019s Head Man.\n                      A Rogue, Thief, and a Liar.\n\nPeasoup was a tall, thin, grey-headed, bandy-legged man; and I used to\nsee him polish the plate every morning, hang it across his chest, and\nwith knock-knees and bandy legs strut the deck and order his men about\nas proud as any general with a breast hidden by medals.\n\nPeasoup knew English fairly well, but, of course, could not read it; but\nhe would never accept as true the accurate rendering of his much-prized\nbrass plate. Passengers read it correctly to him; but with a laugh he\nwould retort: \"You white men, you no sabbe read them thing properly. Him\nlive for say: \u2018Peasoup, Captain Jolly\u2019s Head Man. Him be plenty, proper,\ngood man.\u2019\"\n\nSince those days Peasoup has passed away, leaving his brass plate as an\nheirloom to his family, and if not melted down into a brass ornament, it\nmay turn up some day as a relic of a joke played by a master on a decent\nservant in \u201cthe good old days\u201d on the West African Coast.\n\n4. _Riddles and conundrums_ (p. 9) were called _ngwala_; _ta e ngwala_ =\nto pour out or ask a riddle; _twasa e ngwala_ = to fetch a riddle here,\n_i. e._ give us a riddle; _nua e ngwala_ = give us the answer, or, lit.,\nto drink the riddle.\n\n_Ngwala_ also means spirits, rum, gin, from a corruption and a\nshortening of the Portuguese word _aguardente_ = _gwaladente_ =\n_ngwala_. The \u201cr\u201d is always turned into \u201cl,\u201d and the \u201cg\u201d takes the nasal\n\u201cn\u201d before it. It is very probable that they pun on the double meaning\nof the word _ngwala_ = riddle, and gin. Hence the usual form of asking a\nconundrum is--\n\n_Ngwala yeye_ = here is gin, _i. e._ here is a riddle.\n\n_Ta e ngwala_ = pour out the gin, _i. e._ state the riddle (or _twasa e\nngwala_ = bring the gin here).\n\nIf those asked cannot give the answer, they say--\n\n_Nua e ngwala_ = drink the gin, _i. e._ give us the answer yourself, as\nwe cannot guess it.\n\nThe natives of the Lower Congo are very fond of this pastime, but one\nneeds to understand the customs, language, and surroundings to properly\nappreciate the conundrums; consequently only a few almost self-evident\nones, or those easily explained, are put in the text.\n\n5. _It was a fetish_ (p. 12).--The early traders on the Congo placed in\ntheir large stores a fetish to deter the natives from robbing them. It\nwas generally a large, gaudily-coloured, hideous image put on the top\nshelf opposite the door, from which position it was supposed to dominate\nand guard the contents of the whole building. Many traders called their\nstore \u201cthe fetish\u201d because of the presence of this ugly figure in it.\n\nThis fetish exercised little, if any, deterrent power over the natives\nfor two reasons: (1) No witch-doctor would waste good \u201cmedicine,\u201d\nprocured with difficulty, on making a fetish powerful for a mere white\nman, and the natives knew this; and (2) supposing the witch-doctor put\nproper \u201cmedicine\u201d into the fetish, yet it needed periodic reinvigorating\nat the hands of the witch-doctor, otherwise it became weak and useless;\nand it would also require a sacrifice, certainly not less frequently\nthan once a month, of either a large fowl or a goat, or it would become\nsulky and not act on behalf of its owner. Now I never heard of a white\nman renewing the energy of his fetish by paying a witch-doctor to\npalaver over it at stated intervals, nor did I ever hear of a white man\noffering a sacrifice to the fetish in his store; therefore while the\ntrader was relying on his fetish to guard his goods, his native servants\nand workpeople were laughing at it as an ineffective carved figure.\n\n6. _In the sea there is a hole_ (p. 17).--Water sprites are supposed to\nmake the trade cloth, and as it is so finely woven the natives think\nthat these particular sprites have only _one eye_, i. e. that the visual\npower of two eyes is focussed in one that it may see to do such fine\nwork.\n\n7. _Some of his companions laughed_ (p. 20).--We are apt to think that\nall natives are equally superstitious, but that is not so. A man may be\na devout believer in charms and fetishes, he may decorate his person,\nhis house, his children, his pigs, his goats and his dogs with as many\ncharms as he can afford to buy, or he may quietly leave all the charms\nand fetishes severely alone, and no one will think the better or worse\nof him; but he must believe in witchcraft, in witches and their occult\npower, or his life will be made wretched with accusations of witchcraft.\nI have known some natives to surround themselves with fetishes and\ncharms, and most scrupulously observe all rites and ceremonies, and I\nhave known others to disregard the whole box of tricks and hold them in\ncontempt.\n\n8. _Burial postponed_ (p. 24).--It is not uncommon to postpone the\nfuneral of an important person for many months, and even years. The\nwriter once buried a man who had been dead for nearly fifteen years. The\npersons responsible put off the expense as long as possible, and it is\nprobable they would not then have interred the corpse, but the King\nordered the family \u201cto finish the palaver.\u201d There was another case of a\nbody being left unburied for over twenty years because the man who was\nresponsible for the cost of the funeral believed that he would \u201cdie the\nday after he buried the corpse.\u201d Many thought that this was only an\nexcuse to avoid the expense. The body was dried, wound in cloth, stored\nin a house specially built for the purpose, and guarded by relays of\nyoung women.\n\n9. _Nkandu_ (p. 25).--See Chapter XVIII on Governing, Marketing, and\nTrading (p. 223).\n\n10. _Cassava flour_ (p. 26).--Mandioc (or cassava) was introduced into\nCongo from South America about the end of the fifteenth or beginning of\nthe sixteenth century. Its native name is _madioka_, an evident attempt\nat saying mandioc. The roots when matured were soaked for a few days in\npools, or streams, by which time they were soft. They were then peeled,\ncut in halves or quarters, and put on stones and small platforms in the\nsun until the pieces were quite dry. After this the pieces were laid out\non shelves over their fires until friable, and they were then easily\npounded in a mortar, sifted through a fine sieve, and the result was a\nvery fine, white flour. Raw mandioc contains prussic acid, but the\npoison is eliminated by heat.\n\n11. _Kwanga_ (p. 26).--The cassava root was soaked, peeled, and cored,\nas under note 10. Then, instead of being dried, it was thoroughly\nkneaded and all lumps removed. The dough-like substance was made into\nlong sausages of various lengths and thicknesses, according to the\ndistricts, or into balls like suet puddings. I have seen the sausages in\none district twenty feet long and two inches thick, and in another\ntwelve inches long and four inches thick. But whatever the shape, the\ndough was wrapped in palm-leaves, or in leaves like the aspidistra, and\nsteamed until well cooked. These _kwanga_ would then keep sweet for\nseveral days. They were sold on the markets, and an average price would\nbe at the rate of four shillings for two cwt.; and four pounds were\nquite sufficient for a man per day.\n\n12. _Bolt his food_ (p. 29).--It was not the custom at ordinary meals\nfor the natives to eat greedily, but on occasions such as this, when all\nsorts of folk were thrown together, each one ate as much as he could\nget. See paragraph on greediness in the Introduction to the \u201cFolk-Lore\nStories.\u201d\n\n13. _Luku_ (p. 38).--The cassava flour is made as under note 10, and the\n_luku_ is prepared in the following way: A saucepan of water is set on\nthe fire, and when the water boils, the cook takes a basket of the flour\nand sprinkles it with one hand in the boiling water and stirs it with a\nstick held in the right hand. This process is continued until the\nporridge is stiff and can be turned out as one whole pudding from the\nsaucepan. When a person is eating it, he breaks off a piece, rolls it in\nhis fingers, dips it in some gravy and then lets it roll down his throat\nwithout masticating, otherwise it will stick to the teeth like toffee.\n\n14. _Glass vessel_ (p. 44).--In the original it is _ekumbi dia pelo_ =\nship of glass; pelo is from the Portuguese _espelho_ = mirror, glass,\netc. Probably glass was first seen by the natives in the form of\nlooking-glasses, and _ekumbi dia pelo_ might be translated--the mirror\nor looking-glass ship.\n\nThe introduction of glass, guns, etc., into their stories are indicative\nof native readiness to expand their tales by the free assimilation of\nnew ideas received from contact with foreigners. This has also had a\nwide influence on their language and fetish religion. This story I first\nheard in 1882 at San Salvador.\n\n15. _Laid beads_ (p. 45).--In San Salvador and district beads form the\ncurrency. They are round blue beads three-eighths of an inch in length\nand about a quarter of an inch thick. One hundred of these beads\nthreaded on a cotton cost, invoice price, one farthing, and one egg cost\none string of beads. It was possible to buy little lots of food for ten\nand fifteen beads. The phrase \u201claid beads\u201d is equal to \u201claid money.\u201d In\nan Upper River story the fowl \u201claid brass rods,\u201d _i. e._ the currency,\nmoney.\n\n16. _Ndungu_ (p. 52) is equivalent to our phrase \u201cyou are becoming\ncold,\u201d and the more indifferently it was uttered by the crowd, the more\ncertain was the witch-doctor that he had guessed wide of the mark. See\nnext note.\n\n17. _Otuama_ (p. 52) is our way of saying \u201cyou are becoming hot,\u201d and by\nthis the witch-doctor knew he was getting very near in his guesses, and\nthe more excitedly it was shouted, the nearer the guesser knew he was to\nthe facts of the case. In Chapter XXII the whole trick is more fully\nexplained. See also preceding note.\n\n18. _Ran for his gun_ (p. 53).--I was talking in 1908 to a former\nwitch-doctor, who told me that he had been threatened three times with\nguns by those whom he had accused of witchcraft, and if he had not\nprecipitately fled he would have been shot. Hence those _ngangas_ who\nengaged in witch-finding always made sure of their fees first, and sent\nthem away by their assistants, hurrying off themselves directly they had\naccused their man. It was dangerous work.\n\n19. _Mboma_ (pp. 59, 78).--In San Salvador and its neighbourhood this\nword meant the south bank of the Congo River from Ennoki to Matadi, or\nsuch trading-stations as existed on that part of the river. This _mboma_\nwas from eighty to ninety miles from San Salvador, and took a caravan\nabout five days to traverse it. Special letter carriers would cover the\ndistance in three days. This word we generally translated \u201ccoast.\u201d\n\n20. _Congo dia Ngungu_, or, in its fuller native form, _Ekongo dia\nNgunga_ (p. 60).--Scattered over the country are several Congos (or\nKongos), as _Kongo dia Mpalabala_, _Kongo dia Lembwa_, etc. To\ndistinguish San Salvador from the other towns bearing the name of Kongo\nit was known by the natives either as _Kongo dia Ntotela_ = Kongo of the\nKing, or _Kongo dia N gunga_ = Kongo of the Bell. The former designation\nreferred to the town as the capital of the country and the residence of\nthe King. The latter name is probably due to the fact that the\nPortuguese Roman Catholics in the sixteenth century built a cathedral\nand monastery there, and used a large bell to call the people to the\nservices. Such a bell would be a wonder to the natives, and quite\nsufficient to cause them to name the town the Kongo of the Bell.\n\n21. _Smell of white man_ (p. 61).--However contemptuously we may talk\nabout the \u201csmell of niggers\u201d or \u201cof Chinese\u201d and others, there is no\ndoubt that we of the white race emit an odour that is very noticeable to\nother races. Repeated bathing and frequent changes of clothes will not\neradicate the odour, for a black man can tell when another black man has\nbeen within a yard of any white man for a short time. Account for it how\nyou will, the black, red, yellow and white races each emits an effluvium\npeculiarly its own and offensive to the others--we must, therefore, bear\nand forbear. We as a white race are used to our own scent and do not\nnotice it, and when one lives a long time amongst black people he\nbecomes accustomed to their odour.\n\nOccasionally I have been with a white man who, in spite of scrupulous\ncleanliness, was very malodorous through suffering from empyreuma; and I\nhave met here and there a native whose smell was especially offensive,\nand it was as objectionable to his black neighbours as to us. The\nnatives have a definite word for such malodorous emanations. Some lads\nhave told me that the perspiration of some white men has made them\nvomit.\n\n22. _You white man_ (p. 63).--A native has just as much objection to\nbeing called \u201ca white man\u201d as a white man has to being called \u201ca\nnigger.\u201d In both languages it is an insult to be resented.\n\n23. _Screaming_ (p. 64).--In the pioneer years of the mission, when\nwhite folk were seldom seen and were always regarded with superstitious\nfear, I was frequently startled out of my sleep by women screaming out:\n\u201cThe white man has stolen my child!\u201d And I have wondered on more than\none occasion whether the half-sleepy folk would in a stupid panic turn\nme out of their town in the middle of the night or do even worse.\n\n24. _Mboma_.--See note 19.\n\n25. _Fines paid for judging_ (p. 92).--All fines received by a native\njudge are periodically divided among the chiefs of the district, who\ncombine to enforce the law. If a pig or a goat is given, then the meat\nis shared out or the market value put into the fund. The money or goods\nare divided according to the rank and influence of the chiefs, and he\nwho might be called the chairman, or principal, received twice as much\nas any of the others.\n\n26. _No shelves_ (p. 95).--Many years ago, after much persuasion, I\ninduced some natives from the Zombo country to come into my house at San\nSalvador. The first thing they did was to scan with much eagerness the\nwalls of my rooms, and on asking them what they were looking for, they\nreplied, \u201cWe have always heard and believed that you white men bought up\nthe dead bodies of the black people, stored them on shelves in your\nhouses, and on the first good opportunity sent them to Mputu (Europe),\nwhere by your wonderful magic you returned the life of the corpses, and\nthey then worked for you as slaves; but we cannot see the shelves.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why did you think we bought corpses?\u201d I asked, with much wonder and\namazement.\n\n\u201cWe can understand why traders come to this country,\u201d they answered,\n\u201cbut we cannot understand why your kind of white men come, for you do\nnot trade, so we think you have some wicked purpose underlying your\npresence in our land.\u201d\n\nBelieving such ghastly things about us, their opposition to us and\nhatred of us were no longer a surprise to me. The wonder is that they\ndid not murder all of us. We have had to live down their prejudices,\nremove their foolish beliefs about us, and turn their suspicions into\nconfidence and love.\n\n27. _Trade gin_ (p. 99).--Whatever ordinary gin may be, \u201ctrade gin\u201d was\nthe vilest concoction of fusel oil and other ingredients that was ever\nput on the market for human consumption. It always made the drinkers mad\ndrunk, and was responsible for most of the quarrels and much of the\nfighting that took place among the natives. I have known a white man\ntake to drinking it and be dead in less than a week, and undoubtedly it\nwas the cause of many deaths among the natives. A dozen reputed pints in\nbottles, case, packing, etc., cost only half-a-crown the lot.\n\n28. _Law against the sale of spirits_ (p. 102).--Since the time\nmentioned in the text a law has been passed limiting the sale of these\n\u201cfire waters\u201d within certain boundaries, and restricting the sale of\nthem, so that neither white nor black can procure them without special\n\u201cpermits.\u201d\n\n29. _Make them sell it_ (p. 102).--Several traders have told me how much\nthey hated selling such vile stuff to the natives; how they had\nprotested against the sale; but that they were compelled to sell them as\nthey yielded such large profits to their employers. Surely the curse of\nboth God and man must ever rest on such gains!\n\n30. _His santu_ (p. 111).--All the men and women in and around San\nSalvador, and a large proportion of those living in the other districts\nof the Lower Congo, have each a _santu_, from the Portuguese word\n_sancto_ = a christian, or sacred, name.\n\nAt birth a native name is given to the boy (or girl), and later in\nlife--at twelve or fourteen--the lad can take another name of his own\nchoice if, for any reason, he is dissatisfied with his birth name, and\nallow his first one to be forgotten by disuse. While in their teens they\nalso select a _santu_ which is a Congoized form of a Portuguese name, as\nManwele = Manuel = Emanuel; Nzwau = Ja\u00f5a = John; Petelo = Pedro = Peter,\netc.; and the women take Madia = Maria = Mary, etc. To their _santus_\nthey prefix \u201cDom\u201d and \u201cDonna\u201d respectively.\n\nIn San Salvador and the near towns every man and woman has a _santu_,\nbut the farther you travel from San Salvador, the less frequently is the\n_santu_ found among the people. Undoubtedly it is a survival of the\n_sancto_ given by the Roman Catholics to those who were baptized into\ntheir Church.\n\nAlthough the possession of \u201cDom\u201d and \u201cDonna\u201d was so common, yet the use\nof them was somewhat restricted to the better class of natives, much the\nsame as our use of Mr. and Mrs. and Miss. Of some men the natives never\nspoke without calling them \u201cDom,\u201d and to others they never prefixed the\n\u201cDom\u201d except when they wanted to ingratiate themselves or ask a special\nfavour.\n\n31. _To represent dolls_ (p. 114).--The girls would often procure pieces\nof firewood or cassava roots to represent dolls, and play with them as\nsuch, carrying them tied to their backs, or on their hips, by old rags,\njust as their mothers carried them when babies. These dolls they washed\nin old saucepans, and held them out for a few minutes in the sun to dry,\nas they themselves had been washed and dried. Then they dressed them in\nstrings of beads and a few imitation charms and re-tied them on their\nbacks.\n\nWhen I first saw this performance--nearly thirty years ago--I felt great\npity for the wee girls having such poor dolls, and sent home to buy a\nfew for them. In due time they arrived, and the first girl I met\ncarrying a cassava root (in shape like a parsnip) I offered her one of\nmy dolls. She looked at it in great consternation--it was something\nuncanny to her. It had legs, arms, body, head and a face just like a\nhuman being. It was only with much persuasion that I prevailed on her to\nexchange her root for my doll. A few days afterwards I heard that my\ndoll was sold on the market at a good price as a white man\u2019s powerful\nfetish. The other dolls remained in the box, although there were many\nrequests for them. We had not gone there to supply fetishes.\n\n32. _Size of the King of San Salvador_ (p. 138).--On August 3, 1882, I\nwrote as follows to a friend in England: \"I have done a very foolish\nthing to-day, for I have promised his majesty that I will ask you to\nmake him three shirts. I have not given him a personal present yet, and\nthought some shirts would be suitable. I want you to buy three different\npatterns of good, strong, showy stuff, with plenty of colour. The shirts\nmust have cuffs, collars and fronts.\n\n\"The measurements are as follows--\n\n\"Across the shoulders, 2 feet 11 inches.\n\n\"Waist, 5 feet 8 inches in circumference.\n\n\"Armholes, 23 inches in circumference.\n\n\"Round the neck, 20 inches.\n\n\"Arm, 1 foot 3 inches, not including the cuff, which is 5 inches long.\n\n\"Cuff, 9 inches round.\n\n\"From top to bottom, 3 feet 6 inches.\n\n\"I should tell you the King is clever with his needle, and his\ntwenty-two wives are just as clever at farming.\n\n\u201cOne boy wants to know what sort of work our Queen does.\u201d\n\nThe shirts had to be larger than above measurements to be loose on him.\n\n33. _Driver-ants_ (p. 144), when searching for food, march four or five\nabreast in a continuous line across country. I have known them to be\nthree days and nights hurrying past a given point, and when disturbed\nthey swarm over the ground. Looking at the crowd of people thrown from\nthe photographic slide on to the sheet impressed the King, and in\ncomparing the numbers of people to driver-ants covering the ground, he\nused a very good simile.\n\n34. _Dressed worse than slaves_ (p. 147).--Except on very special gala\ndays, the chiefs, head men, and freemen dressed in a very poor,\nunpretentious style. This was to avoid suspicion, jealousy, and the evil\neye. Dressing badly, no one would know that they were rich, and\nconsequently would not cast the evil eye on them, nor try to render them\nunlucky, etc., by the aid of witchcraft. The slaves were known as such,\ntherefore it did not matter how well they arrayed themselves; no one\nwould be jealous of them nor try to harm them by paying the fees of\nwitch-doctors. Thirty years ago the casual visitor would, five times out\nof six, mistake the slave for the head man and the chief for a slave, or\npoor man, on account of the difference in their garments.\n\n35. _Sleep well_ (p. 148).--The morning greeting was: _Olele kiambote_ =\nHave you slept well? The answer was: _Ndele kwame_ = I have slept well.\nGood-night was: _Wenda leka kwambote_ = Go and sleep well; and the\nanswer: _Sala leka kwambote_ = Stay and sleep well. To sleep properly\nand soundly was regarded as an infallible sign of good health.\n\n36. _Papyrus string_ (p. 148).--The papyrus (_diwu_) was found very\nplentifully in the many swamps around San Salvador, and was cut in\nlengths of about nine feet. The outer skin was peeled off, when fresh\nand green, in strips of half an inch, one end of the strip was held\nbetween the thumb and index finger of the left hand, and then the right\nhand very quickly twisted the strip, and to keep it from untwisting the\ntwo ends were tied together and it was thrown into the sun. When dry the\nstrip would retain the twist, and, before using, a dozen of the twisted\nstrips were soaked in water to render them pliable. Such string was\ncommonly used for tying fences, and would last nearly twelve months, _i.\ne._ as long as the other materials in the fence. It was very economical\nand durable.\n\n37. _Roasted plantain_ (p. 149).--As a rule, bananas were eaten ripe and\nraw, and plantain green and roasted. Peel a nice large plantain, drop it\nin the hot ashes, turn it from side to side until done, scrape off the\nash-dirt, then split it, rub in some butter and salt, and with a very\nlittle imagination you have a hot roll.\n\n38. _Portugal, Holland, or England_ (p. 156).--In the long ago, Portugal\nwas the only white man\u2019s country known to the natives, and it is just\npossible that Mputu (native name for all white countries) is a\ncorruption and a shortening of Portugal. There were more Portuguese\ntraders in Congo than from any other country; next after them were the\nDutch or Hollandaise, and lastly, in numbers, the English, who at that\ntime were only known as missionaries. The natives consequently thought\nthat Portugal was a larger and more populous place than the other\ncountries, then Holland the next in size, and lastly England, hence\ntheir discussion.\n\n39. _Stretched out the legs in front of a chief_ (p. 163).--To stretch\nout the legs (and show the soles of one\u2019s feet) before any one was\nregarded as extremely rude, and a mark of disrespect which was resented\nby him who had the power. To act so unceremoniously before a king or\ngreat chief was punished by fines, floggings, and sometimes death. It\nwas worse than a man keeping on his hat in the presence of royalty.\n\n40. _Rob them of their country and make them slaves_ (p. 172).--These\nfears were constantly expressed in the early and middle eighties by both\nKing and people. The following is the true history of how one treaty was\nmade with a native king--\n\nIn 1884, a copy of _Le Mouvement Geographique_ fell into my hands, and\nin it was a letter that was said to have been sent by Dom Pedro V, King\nof Congo, to the King of Portugal. In it the former acknowledged the\nlatter as his liege lord and used every expression of fealty, loyalty,\nand submission. I remember that the letter was, at the time, put forward\nas a proof of the righteousness of the Portuguese claim to the Congo;\nand it certainly helped them in gaining a part of what is now called\nPortuguese Congo.\n\nHaving occasion to speak with the King about that time, I asked him if\nhe had written the said letter, and I gave him a translation of it. The\nold man was sitting in a high-back, embossed, leather chair, and rising\nfrom it, he said, \u201cMy brother, the King of Portugal, sent me this chair,\nand I sent him a letter thanking him for his gift, and that is the only\nletter I ever signed my mark to or ordered to be sent.\u201d He had signed\naway his country in saying \u201cthank you for a chair.\u201d\n\nAttached to the letter were the names of the head Portuguese Roman\nCatholic priest, a Portuguese trader, and a French trader, as witnesses\nto the King\u2019s mark. Shortly after reading this letter I met M. D----,\nthe French trader, and told him I had just seen the said letter. I\nreminded him of its date, and asked, \u201cWhy was not I requested to sign\nthis letter, for all the other white men in San Salvador signed it, and\nI was here on that date? Am I not a white man?\u201d\n\nM. D---- answered, \u201cWe did not ask you to witness the King\u2019s mark\nbecause we felt sure you would not do it until the King thoroughly\nunderstood the real purport of the letter.\u201d\n\nI thanked M. D---- for his estimate of my character, and gave him my\nview of the manner in which they had deceived and defrauded the King.\n\nThe King thought he was saying: Thank you for a few presents sent him by\na brother sovereign; but he was signing away his territory to another\npower, and in this way he and his people were defrauded of their true\nrights. They have every reason to hate white men for robbing them of\ntheir country and reducing them to slavery.\n\n41. _Kill herself_ (p. 181).--Suicide was not uncommon on the Lower\nCongo. Both men and women committed it for much the same reason as folk\ndo in England.\n\n42. _Oily-face_ (p. 183).--A lightish skin (not the colour of a\nhalf-caste or an albino\u2019s skin) and an oily face were signs of beauty,\nhence the proverb: \u201cThe toad has an oily face where his father\u2019s sister\nis,\u201d _i. e._ A person is always beautiful to his own family.\n\n43. _Girl\u2019s father of no importance_ (p. 187).--On the Lower Congo there\nis mother-right but no father-right. The children belong to the mother\u2019s\nfamily and not to the father. He has no rights over them, nor does he\narrange for the marriage of his daughters, and he receives a very small\nshare only of the marriage money paid for his daughters.\n\n44. _Rest claimed by the uncle_ (p. 188).--(See also note 43.) The uncle\nwas the head of his sisters\u2019 families and the guardian of their\nchildren, _i. e._ of his nieces and nephews. His eldest sister\u2019s eldest\nson was his heir. He helped his nephews when starting in life, and\nassisted each in paying the marriage money for his first wife, and\narranged for the marriage of his nieces.\n\nHe claimed the great bulk of the marriage money for this reason: Suppose\nhe received \u00a33 for his niece, and after five years she died, her husband\nwould come to the uncle and say, \u201cI gave you \u00a33 for the loan of your\nniece, and she is now dead. I want my money back, and as you have had\nthe use of it for five years I expect 20_s._ interest on top.\u201d Now\nprobably the uncle would not be able to pay this relatively large sum,\nand in lieu of it would give another woman as a wife to the man. In\nanother five years, we will say, the second wife dies, and the husband\ngoes to the uncle and says, \u201cThe second woman you let me have is dead,\nand as you have had the use of my money for ten years I want it returned\nwith 40_s._ interest.\u201d (Sometimes they demand the equivalent of 80_s._\nto 100_s._ interest.)\n\nThe uncle cannot meet so large a demand, so he gives another--the\nthird--woman, and should she die the husband has no further claim either\nfor the capital sum, interest, or another woman. Should the husband die,\nthen his heir has the same claim on the uncle up to three women, or the\nmoney with interest; and if the uncle dies, then his heir who receives\nhis property is responsible for the claims of the husband or of his heir\nup to three women or the money. (See note 54.) As the uncle took the\ngreater risks, it was only right that he should take most of the money.\nWhatever the father received was his absolutely, without any risks.\n\n45. _Girl received little presents_ (p. 188).--After a man has paid a\npart or the whole of the marriage money, he will make presents of cloth,\nfish, meat and trinkets to his betrothed. Should the negotiations for\nher be broken off, he will put an exorbitant value on those presents,\nand complicate matters by his demands. An unbetrothed girl would not\nreceive presents from a young man without the consent of her family, and\nif she did do so without such consent, and the young man applied to the\nfamily for her hand in marriage and was refused, he would demand all his\npresents back, or in lieu of them a most extortionate price. Hence no\ngirl would accept a present from a man unless she knew that her uncle\nand her family regarded his suit with favour. There are, of course,\nuntractable nieces on the Congo as there are unreasonable daughters in\nEurope.\n\n46. _Girl\u2019s mother agreed_ (p. 188).--Every wise young man would by\nvarious presents gain the goodwill of his future mother-in-law,\notherwise she could, under different pretexts, cause the marriage to be\npostponed, and make herself very disagreeable and objectionable when she\ncould no longer hinder it.\n\n47. _Sign of the cross_ (p. 199).--In the latter part of the fifteenth\ncentury the Portuguese Roman Catholics were present in San Salvador, and\nduring the next half-century they became predominant in the local,\npolitical, and religious life of the people. They introduced many\nsuperstitions, images, relics and rites. In the early eighties we saw\nRomish images used as fetishes, relics and the cross used as charms, and\nbaptismal rites practised as a superstitious ceremony. The mark of the\ncross enters largely into the catalogue of the witch-doctor\u2019s\nstock-in-trade.\n\n48. _I swear by my mother_ (p. 205).--In the Congo language there is no\nlack of oath phrases. And these may be divided into four classes--\n\n(1) Swearing by one\u2019s relations, as shown in the text. Any near relative\nmay be substituted for mother. This may be extended into: By my mother,\nmay I never see her deathbed, or may my mother desert me.\n\n(2) Swearing by a notable person or place: By the great King. By Dom\nAlvaro. By the road to Congo. By the path to the tomb of the deceased\nKing.\n\n(3) Swearing by the fetishes; and this may be divided into two classes:\n(_a_) Those who swear by the ordinary fetishes, as: By the lightning\nfetishes (_nzaji_), etc., and (_b_) those who have been initiated into\nthe _ndembo_ guild and swear by the fetishes of this secret society, as:\nMay the _nkita_ cause me to go mad. By the _ndembo_ enclosure. By\nalbinos and dwarfs. These latter are all powerful in the _ndembo_ guild.\n(See _Folk-Lore_, June 1909, p. 189.)\n\n(4) Swearing by God, as: May God punish me.\n\n49. _Nearest man fired_ (p. 206).--Hunting laws were very stringent and\nhad to be carefully observed, or the breaker of them would one day find\nthat no one would accompany him on his hunts nor allow him to join them\nin theirs.\n\nIf a man fires at an antelope and it rushes away, the hunter looks to\nsee if any blood has fallen, or any hairs; if not, it is decided that he\nhas not killed it, although he may have mortally wounded it; if another\nman fires and it drops, it is the latter\u2019s animal. If there is any\ndispute as to whether it was killed by the first shot or the second, the\none who is positive and over-rides all argument must take the heart of\nthe antelope and eat it (not raw). If his shot really killed it all is\nwell, but if not, the eating of the heart will destroy his _kinkongo_,\nor hunting skill. Many a man has relinquished his claim to an animal for\nfear of spoiling his luck.\n\n50. _Brave_ (p. 218).--When the natives fight with spears, knives and\narrows they are courageous, and, knowing how far their weapons will\ncarry, they run in to throw them. They will fight foot to foot with\ntheir knives. To them guns are mysterious things--they pull a trigger\nand there is a puff, a bang, and a bullet or slug flies out, and the\ndistance it will travel is, to them, an unknown quantity. They are not\nacquainted with the science of firearms, and are so overawed by the\nmysteriousness of these weapons that their natural bravery has not full\nplay.\n\n51. _Some decoction_ (p. 248).--The witch-doctor procures some bark of\nthe baobab-tree, presses the juice out of it and rubs this on hand and\narm of the accused person who has well paid him. He can then dare the\nboiling oil with impunity.\n\n52. _In whose district his town_ (p. 253).--The \u201cparish\u201d of Wathen is\n3000 square miles in extent, and is divided into four and sometimes five\ndistricts, according to the strength of the missionary staff for the\ntime being. Each district is in charge of a white man, and all the boys\nattending school on the station from that district are especially in his\ncharge. He looks after their welfare, cares for them, attends them in\nsickness, listens to their palavers, and acts the part of a father to\nthem. All the girls from the same district are in the special care of\nhis wife (if he is a married missionary), and she acts as a mother to\nthem. All matters connected with the Church members and teachers of the\ndistrict are taken first to him, and he settles them upon\nwell-understood principles, and if any extraordinary issue arises he\nconsults his colleagues, and they jointly come to a decision, so that\nall the districts may be governed on uniform lines. He acts also as a\npastor towards all the Church members of his district.\n\n53. _Sunset at six o\u2019clock_ (p. 257).--The nights and days are about\nequally divided, as there are only some fifteen minutes\u2019 difference\nduring the whole year in the time of the sun\u2019s rising and setting.\nCertainly on the Congo there is not that sudden darkness at sunset so\nfrequently stated in books on the tropics, for the twilight lasts from\nthirty to forty minutes.\n\n54. _Women I have borrowed_ (p. 324).--The old word on the Congo for\nmarriage was _sompa nkento_, which means to borrow a woman (see notes 43\nand 44), for which loan the man paid something to the girl\u2019s uncle. All\nmembers of the Church are married by Holy Matrimony, and the word\n_sompa_ (or to borrow) has given place to _kazala_ (to take as a wife).\n\n\n\n\n                                PART II\n                          Congo Folklore Tales\n\n                                   or\n\n                   Stories told round the Congo Fire\n\n                              INTRODUCTION\n                         TO THE FOLKLORE TALES\n\n\n\n\nFor many years I have been collecting folklore stories such as are told\nround the fires of the Congo villages--stories that have been handed\ndown from generation to generation; and are so well known that sentences\nfrom them are often quoted, and have thus become the proverbs with which\nthe natives so freely interlard their talk.\n\nTo have printed all the stories collected would have meant a bulky\nvolume; but these selected for publication are typical of those that\nremain, although every story has its own peculiarity of plot,\nexplanation, or teaching.\n\nBetween most of the stories told on the Upper Congo and those related on\nthe Lower Congo there is, as a rule, this marked difference: the former\ntry to explain why things are as they are, _i. e._ why people steal, lie\nand die; why women run away from their husbands; and why some birds have\nnests and other birds none: the latter are didactic parables. The former\nare explanatory of habits and customs, and the latter contain the wit,\nthe wisdom and the moral teaching of many generations, and sum up their\nview of life--that the cheat will himself be cheated; that the\nunreasonable will be outwitted by craftiness; the tyrant and bully will\neventually be punished, and kindness rewarded with timely succour. I am\nof opinion that the former--the explanatory--stage indicates a more\nprimitive state than the latter or teaching stage, still it would be a\nvery interesting study to decide this point.\n\nThese stories belong to the Lower Congo, and more especially to the\ndistricts around San Salvador (Portuguese Congo), and Ngombe Lutete (or\nWathen in Congo Belge). Some of the Upper River stories I hope to\npublish on a future occasion.\n\nWhile living at San Salvador many years ago, the lads and I, on our\nrecreation evenings, told each other tales, and it was then that I heard\nfor the first time some of these stories; a few others I have culled\nfrom the pages of a native magazine called _Ngonde ye Ngonde_ (= \u201cMonth\nby Month\u201d), printed and published by our Mission at San Salvador; but by\nfar the larger number were written for me by the teachers and boys of\nthe Wathen Mission School to whom I gave exercise-books with the request\nthat they would write out such stories as they could remember, or could\ngather from their friends.\n\nI never suggested a story nor a plot to them, for to me personally they\nwould lose their value if they were the result of any such promptings.\nIt was not until a large number of them had been collected that any idea\nof presenting them in this form entered the mind of the collector. And\nfolklorists may rest assured that the stories here set before them are\ngenuinely native in plot, situation, explanation and \u201cteaching,\u201d and,\nwherever possible, in idiom also.\n\nIn these stories the different birds, insects, reptiles and animals\nspeak, marry, attend markets, transact business and lay their cases for\ndecision before the elders as though they were human beings. The heroes\namong them are endowed with those qualities most admired by the natives,\nwhile those that are \u201cfooled\u201d are the personification of such\ncharacteristics as awaken only their ridicule and contempt. \u2019Cuteness,\ncraftiness and wit are at a premium in these stories, and it is curious\nto note that these qualities seem to be the peculiar property of the\nsmall animals, such as the gazelle, the mouse, the squirrel, etc.; and\nrarely the possession of the larger animals, as the elephant, buffalo\nand leopard; or when two species of the same order--the driver-ant and\nthe small-ant--are brought into rivalry it is the latter that wins; two\nbirds, as in \u201cThe Crow and the Dove,\u201d it is again the weaker one who\ntriumphs in the end.\n\nOn the other hand gullibility, dupability, utter stupidity and lack of\nforesight are associated with bulk, _i. e._ the larger animals are, as a\nrule, thoroughly fooled. They have laughed many a time at the way the\nGazelle \u201cfooled\u201d the Leopard, yet I do not think there was one who would\nnot rather have been the Leopard than the Gazelle--they were not so good\nas their philosophy.\n\nGreediness in eating is condemned by all natives, and it is interesting\nto note that the only time, in these stories, the Gazelle is caught and\npunished it is his greediness that leads to his downfall; and, again, in\nthe story of the Gazelle and the Palm-rat, the latter is choked, not so\nmuch because he broke his promise--that is regarded as \u2019cuteness by the\nnatives--but because he refused to share the palm-nuts with his\ncompanion--an act condemned by all natives. This is a trait well marked\nin the native character. Any one of them will scramble and wrangle for\nas big a portion of anything going as he can get; but once he has it he\nwill share it with any of his family, or his companions, or even with\nstrangers who happen to be present when he is eating it.\n\nAgain and again, when I have given portions of food or salt to a boy,\nthe recipient has shared it equally with his comrades. Here is a monkey\nto be divided among a dozen boatmen. Two of them will be set to clean it\nand divide it into twelve portions, and they will be very careful to\nmake all the divisions equal, because by an unwritten law, which I have\nnever seen infringed, the two who apportioned the meat will not take\ntheir shares until the others have selected theirs. This is a guarantee\nthat all the portions will be alike, otherwise the last would come off\nvery badly. Each as he chooses will select what he considers to be the\nlargest heap; but once he has it, he is quite willing to share it with\nany or all of his comrades.\n\nThere is a delightful absence of proportion in these stories, for in\nthem mice and birds marry young women; a mouse carries the head of a\nleopard in his bag and brags that he has eaten nine leopards, and\nalthough he punishes the elephant and the buffalo he has to cry for help\nagainst the hyena; the gazelle eats whole pigs and goats; and a\nchameleon snarls and the elephant, leopard and other animals run away in\nterror. Nothing is strange or incongruous in a land where witch-doctors\nabounded, and were credited with performing wonders by their supposed\nmagical powers. If you questioned any feat, you were at once told most\nemphatically: \u201cWell, it was done by his magic, or his fetish, or his\ncharm performed it.\u201d\n\nIn all the animal stories in this collection the different animals\nmostly address each other as \u201cuncle,\u201d irrespective of sex; but as this\nwould have been confusing to the reader, I have only retained the term\nwhere it fits the sex of the one addressed. In the Congo language there\nis no gender, and the animals belong to various classes (there are\nfifteen classes in the Lower Congo language); but directly they are used\nin stories, and have human characteristics ascribed to them, they are\nremoved from their different classes and placed in the first, or\npersonal, class, e.g. _Nsexi_ is in the second class, and its pronominal\nprefix is _i_ singular, and _zi_ plural; but being moved into the first\nclass it becomes a person, and its prefix is _o_ singular, and _be_\nplural--the animal is no longer an \u201cit,\u201d but a \u201che\u201d or \u201cshe.\u201d\n\nIncluded in this collection are a few stories that are not animal ones,\nas \"The Water-Fairies save a Child\"--a warning to parents not to be\nunreasonable in their punishments; \"The Story of two Young Women\"--a\nlesson on vanity, and that wealth does not always bring happiness; and\n\"The Adventures of the Twins\"--a whimsical criticism on how human beings\nshould be made in order to avoid the inconveniences, limitations and\ntroubles that attend their present mode of construction.\n\nThe reader must not be surprised to find that some of these stories are\nsimilar to those made famous by Uncle Remus,[68] and the reason is not\nfar to seek. About three generations ago the Congo natives were\ntransported in large numbers as slaves to America, and naturally they\ncarried with them their language and their stories. The _goobah_ in\n_Uncle Remus_ is a corruption of _nguba_, the Lower Congo word for\npeanut; and Brer Rabbit is the gazelle,[69] Brer Fox is the leopard, and\nthe Tar-baby is the fetish called _Nkondi_; but in the Tar-baby a\nconcession is made to civilization, for in Uncle Remus\u2019s account the\nimage is covered with tar to account for Brer Rabbit sticking to it,\nwhereas in what I believe to be the original story the _Nkondi_ image\ncauses the victim to stick by its own inherent fetish power. In \u201cCunnie\nRabbit, Mr. Spider and the other Beef,\u201d there is a story of a Wax-girl,\nwhich has all the elements of the Tar-baby, and here again the wax that\ncauses the sticking is a concession, I think, to civilization like the\ntar.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n  C. J. Harris, in his introduction to _Uncle Remus and His Sayings_\n  (Ward, Lock and Co., 6_d_. edition) mentions Prof. J. W. Powell, of\n  the Smithsonian Institute, and Herbert H. Smith as having found\n  similar stories \u201cin a number of languages, and in various modified\n  forms.\u201d The former among the North American Indians, and the latter\n  among the South American Indians, and one in particular he has traced\n  to India, and as far east as Siam. I would refer the reader to that\n  Introduction for further details.\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n  It is said there are no true gazelles in Africa, whether that is so or\n  not I have found it convenient to translate the Congo word _nsexi_\n  uniformly as gazelle. The _nsexi_ is about eighteen inches high, of\n  slight body, thin legs, whitey-brown stomach, and brownish-grey back,\n  small, sharp-pointed horns, small head, and large pathetic eyes. The\n  _nsexi_ is very agile, and I suppose that the slaves from the Congo\n  finding no such animal in their new home in America, used the rabbit\n  as a substitute--also there are no leopards there, so they transferred\n  his gullibility to the fox, wolf and bear.\n\nAll raw natives would believe that a fetish by its own magical powers\ncould hold tightly its victim without the aid of such extraneous things\nas tar and wax. It is apparent that the narrators have lost faith in the\nmagical powers of their fetish, and have introduced the wax and the tar\nto render their stories a little more reasonable to themselves. It is\ninteresting to note that when Brer Rabbit was thrown among the leaves of\nthe briar bush he unsticks from the Tar-baby, and in the Leopard\nsticking to the _Nkondi_ the Gazelle \u201ccuts some leaves and made a charm\nto set the Leopard free.\u201d One can discover many similarities between\nthese stories and those told by Uncle Remus. There is little doubt that\nmost, if not all, the stories of Remus were told around the Congo\nvillage fires before they delighted the hearts and lightened the burdens\nof the negro slaves on the southern plantations of America. Yet is Congo\nthe original home of these stories? Or have they travelled far by\ndevious ways, perhaps even doubling back in their course, so that their\nreal home is now lost in antiquity, and the road to it obliterated by\nthe swamps of time across which the human family has wandered in its\nmany journeyings?\n\nThe natives in their talk often use phrases from their stories which are\nquite sufficient to recall to the hearers the whole fable and its\nteaching, as \u201csour grapes\u201d with us conjures up the fox looking with\nlonging eyes at the fruit beyond his reach. Many of these concentrated\nsentences have become the proverbs of to-day, and the Lower Congo\nlanguage is rich in such _mots_, and one could, in fact, gain a very\nclear idea of the Congo man\u2019s philosophy from an analysis of the\nsentences culled from their stories which have become their maxims.\n\nIn these pages will be found some puzzle stories, such as \u201cThe Four\nFools\u201d and \u201cThe Four Wonders.\u201d These are propounded and cause no end of\ndiscussion as to which has performed the greatest feat of skill, and\nthus earned the fowl that laid money (_i. e._ beads); and also who had\ncommitted the greatest wrong against the usual order of mundane affairs,\nand thus deserved the most blame. Each fool and each wonder-worker has\nhis adherents, who will argue in his favour with so much vehemence and\ngesticulation that the listener who does not know them will think them\non the verge of a most desperate fight. After long and toilsome journeys\nthe writer has heard his carriers argue about these problem stories far\ninto the night; and they would return again and again to the charge,\neach individual (or party) supporting his favourite character with all\nthe natural eloquence at his command. Night after night they would\nrevert to the same story in order to give expression to the arguments,\nin favour of their views, that had come into their minds through the day\nwhile journeying with their loads up and down the hills. One problem\nstory has furnished them, sometimes, with sufficient discussion to last\nfour or five nights.\n\nThe stories are told round the fire on nights that are too dark for\ndancing. The various groups will arrange themselves round the blazing\nhearths, and after the news of the day has been exhausted, one will tell\na story suggested by some item of news, or the action of a friend, or\nthe saying of an enemy. The story is told with dramatic power and\nforcible eloquence, the narrator acting the various parts and imitating\nthe sounds of the different animals. In some of the stories there are\nchoruses, and these are taken up and sung heartily to the clapping of\ntheir hands.\n\nThere is no greater treat than to listen to a Congo story told in the\noriginal by one of these born story-tellers--the lights and shadows\ncaused by the flickering fire, the swaying body of the narrator, the\nfixed attention and grunts of approval of the listeners, the great dark\nbeyond, the many mystic sounds issuing from the surrounding bush and\nforest lend a peculiar weirdness to the story and its teller.\n\nA father correcting his children will tell them a story to enforce his\nteaching, and though wise words might be forgotten, the story will\nremain in the memory with guiding or deterrent power; sons and daughters\nrepeat these stories to their parents if they think they are not being\nproperly treated according to native ideas.\n\nDuring a lawsuit the native advocates in stating the case for their\nclients will tell stories with great effect, or will illustrate a point\nagainst their opponents by relating a parable suitable to the occasion;\nand the judge will often give his verdict by recounting a fable, and if\nthey do not know one appropriate to the case they will invent one, and\nshould it happen to be a happy invention it will pass from mouth to\nmouth, and thus into the folklore of the district; the current stories,\nknown to all, are a survival of the fittest, and some of them are here\nplaced before the reader.\n\n                          CONGO FOLKLORE TALES\n\n                                   I\n                      How the Fowl evaded his Debt\n\n\nOnce upon a time a cock Fowl and a Leopard began a friendship, and not\nvery long afterwards the Leopard lent some money to the Fowl. It was\narranged that on a certain day the Leopard should receive the money at\nthe Fowl\u2019s residence.\n\nOn the morning of the appointed day the Fowl ground up some red peppers,\nand mixed them with water so that it looked like blood, and when he\nheard that the Leopard was on the way to his house he went into his\ncourtyard and said to his slaves: \u201cWhen the Leopard arrives and asks for\nme, tell him my head has been cut off and carried to the women in the\nfarms to be combed and cleaned.\u201d Then he hid his head under his wings\nand told them to pour some of the pepper water on his neck, which they\ndid, and it fell to the ground like blood.\n\nThe Leopard arrived and asked for his friend the Fowl. The slaves\nrepeated what they had been told, and, on the Leopard hearing it, he\nwished to be allowed a closer view of the marvel, and on beholding the\nred-pepper water dropping to the ground, he thought it was all true.\n\nOn returning later he asked the Fowl how it was done, and the Fowl\nreplied: \u201cWhen you reach your town, you cut off your head, and send it\nto the farm to be combed and cleaned, and there you are.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! thank you, friend,\u201d said the Leopard, \u201cI will astonish the natives\nof my town.\u201d\n\nAway he went to his town, and told all his wives that he had been taught\nsome wonderful magic by his friend the Fowl.\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d they asked.\n\n\u201cWell, my head is cut off,\u201d said the Leopard, \u201cand then you take it to\nthe farm to comb and clean, and then you bring it back.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d they cried in chorus.\n\nThe Leopard sent messengers to all the towns in his district, inviting\nthe folk on a certain day to come and see the wonder. On the day a great\ncrowd of people arrived, and when all was ready the Leopard went into\nthe centre, and his head was cut off, but his legs gave way, and he fell\ndown.\n\nThe head was returned after being combed and cleaned, but when they put\nit on the neck it would not stay there. Thus died the Leopard because of\nhis conceit in thinking he could do all that others did; and also\nbecause he did not use his common sense to perceive the foolishness of\nwhat the Fowl told him. Do not believe all you see and hear.\n\n\n\n\n                                   II\n                    Why the Small-ant was the Winner\n\n\nOne day a fierce Driver-ant[70] and a Small-ant had a long discussion as\nto which of them was the stronger. The Driver-ant boasted of his size,\nthe strength of his mandibles, and the fierceness of his bite.\n\n\u201cYes, all that may be true,\u201d quietly answered the Small-ant, \u201cand yet\nwith all your size and strong jaws you cannot do what I can do.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d sneeringly asked the Driver-ant.\n\n\u201cYou cannot cut a piece of skin off the back of that man\u2019s hand, and\ndrop it down here,\u201d replied the Small-ant.\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t I? All of you wait and see,\u201d said the Driver-ant.\n\nAway he climbed up the man until he reached the back of his hand. At the\nfirst bite of the strong mandibles, the man started, and, looking down\nat his hand, saw the Driver-ant, picked it off, and dropped it dead at\nhis feet right among the waiting crowd of ants.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n  Driver-ant = _Nsongonia_. Small-ant = _Mfitete_.\n\nThe Small-ant then climbed to the place, and gently, softly, with great\npatience he worked round a piece of skin until it was loose, and he was\nable to drop it to the ground. The waiting throng of ants proclaimed him\nthe winner, for he had done by his gentleness and patience what the\nother had failed to do by his strength and fierceness.\n\n\n\n\n                                  III\n                  How the Animals imitated the Gazelle\n                  and brought Trouble upon Themselves\n\n\nOnce upon a time a Leopard gave birth to seven cubs, and she asked the\nJackal to act as nurse for her while she was away hunting.\n\nShortly after the departure of the Leopard the Gazelle arrived, and said\nto the Jackal: \u201cLet us eat one of the cubs and then you will have six\nleft.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do when the Leopard returns?\u201d asked the Jackal.\n\n\u201cOh! I will help you,\u201d quickly promised the Gazelle.\n\nThereupon the Jackal gave up a cub, and then another, and another, until\nat last all the cubs were eaten.\n\nThe Gazelle then tied the Jackal to a tree and said: \"When you hear the\nLeopard coming, shout out loudly, \u2018Murder! Thieves!\u2019\"\n\nIn a little time the Jackal heard the Leopard bounding through the\nforest, and he began to cry out: \u201cWe are robbed! we are robbed! Help!\nThieves!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter? What are you crying about?\u201d asked the Leopard.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d sobbed the Jackal, \u201cI don\u2019t know at all who tied me up, but all of\nyour children are eaten.\u201d The Leopard, on hearing this, was very angry.\n\nThe reckless, daring Gazelle scampered off, and by and by reached a\nplace where all the animals were gambling with dice. A Pigeon gave him\nthe dice to throw, and the Gazelle threw a \u201cLeopard\u201d (the name of a\nwinning throw). \u201cOh, dear me!\u201d said the Gazelle, when he saw his luck,\n\u201cI have eaten seven young leopards, and nothing has happened to me.\u201d\n\nThe other animals thought this was a lucky saying, so they repeated the\nwords every time they threw the dice. The Gazelle warned them not to\nimitate the sayings of others, or trouble would come upon them. But\nthey, thinking he only wanted to keep his good luck to himself, repeated\nthe words more earnestly. The Gazelle slipped away to call the Leopard,\nand begged her not to be angry with what she would hear.\n\nThe Leopard went to the games, and when she heard one animal after\nanother say: \u201cOh, dear me! I have eaten seven young leopards, and\nnothing has happened to me,\u201d she became so angry that she fought with\nthe different animals and killed them all. As for the Gazelle, he took\nhimself out of the way. Thus the animals, through apeing others, lost\ntheir lives.\n\n\n\n\n                                   IV\n                  Why the Fowls never shut their Doors\n\n\nThere lived once a chief who owned a large number of Fowls. On arising\nearly one morning he found that the door of their house had been left\nopen all night. He thereupon woke up the Head Cock and asked why he had\nnot shut the door.\n\nThe Cock replied: \u201cWe did not go to sleep very early last night, as we\nquarrelled over who should shut the door. I told one to do it, and he\ntold another, and at last we became so angry with each other that no one\nwould shut the door, so we went to sleep leaving it open.\u201d\n\nThe owner snapped his fingers in speechless surprise at the Fowl\u2019s\nexcuse, and walked away.\n\nAnother day the chief went to see his wives\u2019 farms and found them all\nclean and well weeded, but the road leading to the farms, which was\nnobody\u2019s work, was choked with tall grass and weeds. That evening the\nchief called out loudly so that all the town could hear: \u201cYou women, I\nwent to your farms to-day, and found the road covered with tall grass\nand weeds. Truly you are near relatives of the fowls, who sleep with\nopen door because each tells the other to shut it. To-morrow all of you\ngo and clear the road.\u201d\n\nWhen the Fowls heard these remarks they were very vexed, and the Cock\nsaid: \u201cYou have heard what our owner has shouted out to the whole town.\nHe has held us up as a bad example to all in the place, yet when I went\nto a neighbouring town the day before yesterday I saw a buffalo rotting\nby the roadside.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy was it rotting there?\u201d asked the Black Hen of her husband.\n\nThe Cock replied: \"When I reached the town the other day I heard that\nDon\u2019t-care, who is the son of Peter Pay-if-you-like, went outside his\nhouse and saw a buffalo; he aroused his companions and told them to go\nand shoot it; but they said: \u2018Go and shoot it yourself.\u2019 \u2018What! am I to\nsee the buffalo and shoot it also?\u2019 he asked. Thereupon Wise-man fired\nat the buffalo, and told another to go and see if it were killed. He\ncame back and said it was wounded; so another went and killed it; but he\nwould not cut it up; and another went and cut it into pieces. Then each\nthought that the other should carry the flesh into the town;\nconsequently it was left in the bush, and that was why the buffalo meat\nrotted at the roadside.\"\n\nThe Black Hen said: \u201cIndeed, is that so?\u201d But the Speckled Hen observed:\n\u201cThat it would be better for human beings if they looked better after\ntheir own business, instead of poking their noses into affairs belonging\nto Fowls, and holding them up as a bad example to their women.\u201d\n\nThe Head Cock said: \u201cThat from that day neither he, nor his children,\nnor his grandchildren should ever shut the doors of their houses, no\nmatter how cold it might be, or what risks they might run of being eaten\nby wild animals.\u201d Thus it is that Fowls never shut their doors at night.\nThey are angry that human beings, who conduct their own affairs so\nbadly, should find fault with the way in which Fowls look after theirs.\n\n\n\n\n                                   V\n              Why the Dog and the Palm-rat hate each other\n\n\nOne day the Dog, the Palm-rat, the Hawk, and the Eagle arranged to take\na journey together, but before starting they agreed not to thwart each\nother in any matter.\n\nThey had not gone very far when the Eagle saw a bunch of unripe\npalm-nuts, and said: \u201cWhen these palm-nuts are ripe, and I have eaten\nthem, then we will proceed on our way.\u201d\n\nThey waited many days until the palm-nuts ripened and were eaten by the\nEagle, then they started again, and by and by the Hawk espied the bush\n(a great space covered with tall grass, canes, and stunted trees), and\nsaid: \u201cWhen this bush is burnt, and I have eaten the locusts, and drunk\nin the smoke from the fire, then we will go.\u201d\n\nSo they waited while the bush dried, and was burnt, and the Hawk ate his\nlocusts, and drank in the smoke from the burning grass, then they were\nready to start again; but when the Palm-rat saw the bush was burnt, he\nsaid: \u201cWe remain here until the grass and canes have grown again, so\nthat I may eat the young canes, for remember we agreed not to thwart or\noppose each other on this journey.\u201d\n\nThey waited there some months until the canes grew again, and the\nPalm-rat had eaten them.\n\nOnce more they started on their travels, and on reaching a large forest\nthe Dog said: \u201cNow I will dry my nose.\u201d\n\nHis companions answered: \u201cAll right, we will go for firewood.\u201d\n\nThe Palm-rat and the Hawk fetched the wood, and the Eagle went for the\nfire. The Dog put his nose near the fire, but every time it dried he\nmade it wet again by licking it. They remained a long time in the\nforest, but the Dog\u2019s nose never became properly dry: it was an endless\njob. His companions became vexed, and the Hawk and the Eagle flew away,\nleaving the Palm-rat and the Dog alone. At last the patience of the\nPalm-rat was exhausted, and he, too, ran away; but the Dog chased him to\nkill him, and this is the reason why the Dog and the Palm-rat hate each\nother. He would not wait until the Dog\u2019s nose was dry.\n\n\n\n\n                                   VI\n                  The Leopard boils his Mother\u2019s Teeth\n\n\nOne day the Gazelle bought some maize at the market, and while he was\nboiling them at home, the Leopard paid him a visit, and asked him:\n\u201cFriend Gazelle, what are you boiling in the saucepan?\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle replied: \u201cI am boiling my mother\u2019s teeth.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed!\u201d exclaimed the Leopard, \u201clet me taste them.\u201d So the Gazelle\ngave him some of the cooked maize, and the Leopard ate them, and thought\nthem so good that he went home and pulled out all his mother\u2019s teeth,\nand put them to boil in a saucepan.\n\nThe Gazelle, passing the house, called in, and seeing the saucepan on\nthe fire, asked the Leopard what he was cooking. \u201cI am cooking my\nmother\u2019s teeth, but they don\u2019t get soft,\u201d answered the Leopard.\n\nThe Gazelle laughingly said: \u201cI meant maize, and you have pulled out and\nare boiling all your mother\u2019s teeth.\u201d The Leopard was so angry at what\nhe had foolishly done, that he drove the Gazelle off and wanted to kill\nhim, but the Gazelle ran away and hid in a log of wood.\n\nThe Leopard, returning from his pursuit of the Gazelle, saw the firewood\nand carried it home, and, as he was splitting it, out jumped a fine dog.\nThe Leopard admired the dog so much that he told his wives never to beat\nit.\n\nOne day one of the wives pointed her finger at it, and the dog was so\ninsulted at having a finger pointed at him that he howled so long and\nloudly that the Leopard came and killed his wife for insulting his dog;\nand thus he killed them one after the other; and when they were all\ndead, the dog changed back into a Gazelle, and ran away laughing at the\nLeopard for his foolishness in mistaking maize for teeth, and a Gazelle\nfor a dog.\n\n\n\n\n                                  VII\n                How the Ants saved the Partridge\u2019s Eggs\n\n\nOnce upon a time a Partridge having laid her eggs, was driven from them\nby a Python, who took possession of them by coiling herself round and\nround the eggs.\n\nThe Partridge, seeing she had been deprived of her eggs, began to call\nfor help. A Buffalo, hearing her, came and asked what was the matter.\n\nThe Partridge said: \u201cThe Python has rolled herself round my eggs, and I\nwant a wise body to save them for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d said the Buffalo, \u201cI will go and stamp on her.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot you,\u201d cried the Partridge; \u201cwhile you are stamping on her you will\nsmash my eggs. I am looking for a _wise body_ to help me.\u201d\n\nThe Partridge continued to call, and the Elephant came asking what was\nthe matter.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d sobbed the Partridge, \u201cthe Python has curled round my eggs, and I\nwant a wise body to save them.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d replied the Elephant, \u201cI will go and smash her to pulp.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot you,\u201d cried the Partridge, \u201cyou will break all my eggs.\u201d\n\nSo one animal after another offered help, but they were rejected, as\nthey could not drive the Python away without endangering the eggs. The\npoor Partridge was at her wits\u2019 end, when an army of Driver-ants arrived\nand inquired the reason of her calling for help. When they heard the\ncause they marched right up to where the Python was, and at once began\nto nip, nip, nip with their strong mandibles, and the Python unrolled\nherself and glided away as fast as she could. Thus the Ants rescued the\nstolen eggs that would otherwise have been broken by the clumsy attempts\nof the Buffalo and the Elephant.\n\n\n\n\n                                  VIII\n                   The Leopard sticks to the _Nkondi_\n                             (Wooden Image)\n\n\nIn the long ago both the Leopard and the Gazelle made new maize farms.\nWhen the ground was ready for planting, the Gazelle put some maize in a\nsaucepan to boil, and hid the rest of his maize in another place. While\nthe pot was on the fire the Leopard arrived, and asked: \u201cFriend Gazelle,\nwhat are you boiling?\u201d\n\n\u201cSome maize,\u201d said the Gazelle, \u201cand when it is cooked I am going to\nplant maize in my farm.\u201d\n\nThe Leopard exclaimed, \u201cIndeed! do you plant boiled maize?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the Gazelle. \u201cI boil all my maize, for then it grows\nbetter.\u201d\n\nThe Leopard returned home at once and rubbed all his maize off their\ncobs, and boiled the maize. The next morning they both went and planted\ntheir maize in their farms. During the following night, however, the\nGazelle went and planted some unboiled maize in the Leopard\u2019s farm.\n\nAfter a few days they went to have a look at their farms, and in the\nGazelle\u2019s the whole of the maize was sprouting well, but in the\nLeopard\u2019s only the raw maize the Gazelle had planted was growing. The\nLeopard could not understand it, for he said: \u201cI well boiled all my\nmaize, and yet it does not grow.\u201d\n\nBy and by the maize was ripe for plucking, and the Gazelle and Leopard\nwent and pulled what they wanted and returned home. For several nights\nafter that the Leopard went stealing maize in the Gazelle\u2019s farm, and\none day the Gazelle said to him: \u201cFriend Leopard, who is stealing maize\nfrom my farm?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d replied the Leopard. The Gazelle carved a wooden fetish\ncalled the _Nkondi_, and put it in his farm.\n\nThe next night the Leopard went and stole some more maize, and as he was\nleaving the farm the Nkondi said: \u201cOh, you are the thief, are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you talk like that,\u201d growled the Leopard, \u201cI will hit you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHit me,\u201d said the _Nkondi_. The Leopard hit him, and his paw stuck to\nthe image.\n\n\u201cLet go,\u201d cried the Leopard, \u201cor I will hit you with my other hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cHit me,\u201d repeated the _Nkondi_. The Leopard hit him with the other\nhand, and that stuck also to the image.\n\n\u201cLet go,\u201d angrily cried the Leopard, \u201cor I will kick and bite you.\u201d\nWhich he at once did, as the _Nkondi_ would not let him go, and his feet\nand mouth stuck to the image; then both the Leopard and the _Nkondi_\nfell to the ground together.\n\nBy and by the Gazelle arrived, and when he saw the Leopard sticking to\nthe _Nkondi_ he said: \u201cOh, you are the thief,\u201d and, having punished him,\nhe cut some leaves and made a charm to set the Leopard free. After that\nthe Leopard never again went stealing in the Gazelle\u2019s maize farm.\n\n\n\n\n                                   IX\n                       How the Mouse won his Wife\n\n\nOn one occasion a daughter was born to a lonely pair, and the father\nsaid: \u201cAny one who wants to marry my daughter must first cut down the\nmahogany tree standing in my garden.\u201d Years passed, and when the father\nwas dying he sent and told his wife that only he who felled the mahogany\ntree could marry his daughter.\n\nBy and by an Elephant arrived, and, sitting down in the town, asked the\ngirl for a drink of water. She poured some water into a calabash and\ngave it to him, and he then asked her: \u201cAre you married?\u201d and she\nreplied: \u201cNo, I am not yet married.\u201d The Elephant said: \u201cI will marry\nyou.\u201d Whereupon the mother called out: \u201cYou can marry her; but you must\nfirst cut down the mahogany tree.\u201d The Elephant took an axe and cut,\ncut, cut until he was tired, and then went and rested under the eave of\nthe house so long that when he went again to the tree it was just as it\nwas before he cut it. When the Elephant saw that, he threw down the axe,\nsaying: \u201cIt is not my wedding, the woman costs too much.\u201d\n\nAs the Elephant was going away he met the Buffalo, and told him all\nabout it, saying: \u201cI came to marry, but I am not able to fell the tree.\u201d\nThe Buffalo picked up the axe and cut, cut, cut, and then rested under\nthe verandah of the house. When he returned to the tree he found it had\ngrown again to its former size. Down he threw the axe and bolted.\n\nAs the Buffalo was rushing away a Lion shouted out: \u201cWhere have you come\nfrom?\u201d The Buffalo stopped and told him all his troubles. \u201cOh,\u201d said the\nLion, \u201cgive me an axe, I\u2019ll marry her.\u201d But the same thing happened to\nhim, and to the Hyena, and to the Leopard also. They all cut at the\ntree, got tired, rested too long, and each ran away, saying: \u201cI came to\nmarry, but the girl is not worth the trouble.\u201d\n\nAs the Leopard was bounding away, a Mouse asked him: \u201cWhat is the\nmatter?\u201d and the Leopard growled out: \u201cI went to marry a woman, but\nwhoever marries her must fell the mahogany tree.\u201d Thereupon the Mouse\nwent and gnawed, gnawed, gnawed without stopping, until at last the tree\ntoppled over and fell to the ground. When the mother saw the tree fall,\nshe said: \u201cMouse, you can sleep here, and in the morning take your\nwife.\u201d\n\nIn the morning they cut up six pigs and twenty loaves, then the Mouse\ntook his wife, and they started on their journey to his town. They\nreached a stream where they camped for a time, and while there the\nElephant arrived, and the Mouse said to him: \u201cSee, this is my wife.\u201d\n\nThe Elephant would not agree to that, but said: \u201cShe is mine, I married\nher.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the Mouse, \u201cshe is mine. Accept of two pigs for dinner.\u201d\n\nWhen the Elephant heard that, he began to beat the Mouse, but the Mouse\nentered his trunk and gave him such pain that the Elephant cried: \u201cCome\nout, and I will give you two pigs.\u201d The Mouse came out, received his two\npigs, and went off with his wife.\n\nThey reached another camping-place, and while resting and eating there,\nthe Buffalo arrived. \u201cWelcome to you, father,\u201d said the Mouse. But the\nBuffalo did not want his welcome, and said he had married the woman, and\nwhen the Mouse would not give her up, the Buffalo hit him on the back\nwith a stick. The Mouse entered the Buffalo\u2019s ear and gave him so much\npain that he bellowed: \u201cCome out, and I will give you five sheep.\u201d The\nMouse came out, received his five sheep, and went away with his wife.\n\nAs they journeyed along they met the Hyena, who said: \u201cWhy, that is my\nwife,\u201d and when the Mouse denied it, the Hyena became very angry, and\nbeat the Mouse about in his weakness and made him cry. The Mouse called\nthe Squirrels, who came and fought the Hyena, and while they were\nfighting, the Mouse hurried off with his wife.\n\nThey travelled until they came to a high plateau, where they met a large\nRat, who said: \u201cGive me that woman.\u201d\n\nTo him the Mouse replied: \u201cI cannot give her, for I have had plenty of\ntrouble to gain her.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d answered the Rat; \u201clet us go to the drinking-booth, and I\nwill give you some palm-wine.\u201d\n\nWhile sitting there the Mouse took a rat\u2019s head out of his bag.\n\n\u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d asked the Rat.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d boasted the Mouse, \u201cI have eaten nine rats, and you will be the\ntenth.\u201d So alarmed was the Rat that he ran away and never said\n\u201cGood-bye.\u201d\n\nAt last the Mouse reached his town and gave his wife a house. There they\nfeasted on the pigs and sheep they had gained on the road. But one day\nthe Leopard paid a visit to the Mouse, and said: \u201cUncle Mouse, let us\njointly make a maize farm.\u201d This they did, and while the Mouse was\nwatching the maize one day, the Leopard tried to run away with his wife.\nThe Mouse, hearing this, invited the Leopard to drink wine in his house,\nand while they were drinking, the Mouse took out of his bag a Leopard\u2019s\nhead.\n\n\u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d asked the Leopard.\n\n\u201cDown in the drinking-booth I killed and ate nine,\u201d said the Mouse, \u201cand\nyou will be the tenth.\u201d The Leopard was so frightened at this, that when\nthe Mouse told him to get into the calabash, he went right in at once.\nThe Mouse put in the cork, and then put the calabash on the fire, and\nthus the Leopard died. The Mouse said: \u201cI will govern in this country,\nfor there is not another chief left.\u201d Thus was the Mouse rewarded for\nhis courage, wit, and perseverance.\n\n\n\n\n                                   X\n                    The Gazelle outwits the Leopard\n\n\nOnce upon a time a Leopard and a Gazelle lived together with their wives\nand families in the same town. One day the Leopard said: \u201cFriend\nGazelle, let us go and buy some drums in the Zombo country.\u201d \u201cAll\nright,\u201d replied the Gazelle; \u201cbut where is the money?\u201d \u201cI have the money\nby me,\u201d answered the Leopard.\n\nThey started, and when they had walked a little way the Leopard growled\nout: \u201cWait here. I must return to the town, as I have forgotten\nsomething.\u201d The Leopard returned to the town and went to the Gazelle\u2019s\nwife and said: \u201cMy friend has sent me for his children.\u201d Mrs. Gazelle\ngave them to him, and putting them into a bag, he returned to the place\nwhere he left the Gazelle. They started again, and when they had\ntravelled a long distance the Leopard saw some honey in a hole in one of\nthe trees, whereupon he said to the Gazelle: \u201cWait for me here while I\ngo to eat the honey, but you must not undo the sack.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle was left to guard the sack, which he untied, and looking in,\nhe exclaimed: \u201cWhy, they are my children!\u201d He put the sack on his back\nand hurried to the town, gave his children back to his wife, and went to\nthe Leopard\u2019s house and said: \u201cMy friend has sent me for his children.\u201d\nMrs. Leopard gave them to him. He put them in the sack and returned\nquickly to the spot where the Leopard had left him. After a time the\nLeopard arrived, licking the honey off his lips, and, picking up the\nbag, away they went again on their journey. By and by they reached Zombo\nand bought some drums, and when the Leopard paid the money for them, he\nwhispered: \u201cDon\u2019t undo the bag now, there are some gazelles in it.\u201d\n\nAs they were returning home they tried the drums. The Leopard beat a\ntune and sang: \u201cThe stupid people go on foolish journeys.\u201d For the\nLeopard thought the Gazelle had helped to sell his own children for\ndrums. The Gazelle then beat a tune and sang: \u201cAt the place where they\nate honey they left their bag of wisdom.\u201d The Leopard did not know he\nhad exchanged his own children for drums.\n\nOn their way home they played and sang in many towns, and received goats\nand pigs as presents for their entertainment. On reaching their town the\nGazelle hurried to his house, and sent off his wife and children to\nhide.\n\nThe Leopard went to his house, and, looking round, he asked his wife:\n\u201cWhere are my children?\u201d \u201cWhy, you sent the Gazelle for them,\u201d she\nreplied; \"and now you ask: \u2018Where are the children?\u2019\" The Leopard went\nin great rage to the Gazelle\u2019s house, but the Gazelle ran away, and as\nhe was escaping, he cried out: \u201cI am the wise Gazelle who has outwitted\nyour craftiness.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                                   XI\n       The Gazelle punishes the Palm-rat for breaking his promise\n\n\nOne day a Gazelle, being very hungry, went in search of food, and saw a\nfine bunch of palm-nuts hanging from a palm-tree; but having only hoofs\nhe could not climb the tree. He therefore went in search of his friend\nthe Palm-rat, and said to him: \u201cI know where there is a fine bunch of\npalm-nuts, and if you will promise to give me some I will show you where\nit is.\u201d\n\nThe Palm-rat readily promised to share the nuts. So together they went\nto the forest, and the Gazelle pointed out the nuts to his friend. With\nhis strong, sharp claws the Palm-rat quickly mounted the palm-tree, and\nfound there three bunches of palm-nuts; but instead of cutting them\ndown, he sat on a palm-frond and began to eat them.\n\nAfter a time the Gazelle shouted out: \u201cFriend Palm-rat, throw me down\nsome of the nuts according to your promise.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d cried the Palm-rat, \u201cwhen I am eating I am deaf, and cannot hear\nwhat is said to me.\u201d And he continued to munch away at the nuts.\n\nThe Gazelle waited a little, and again called out: \u201cPlease throw me some\nof the palm-nuts, for I have hoofs, and cannot climb a tree like you.\u201d\nBut the Palm-rat ate greedily on, and took no notice of his friend\u2019s\nrequest, except to say that he was deaf when eating.\n\nThe Gazelle thereupon gathered some leaves, grass, twigs, and stubble,\nand made a large fire at the bottom of the palm-tree. In a short time\nthe Palm-rat called out: \u201cUncle Gazelle, put out your fire, the heat and\nsmoke are choking me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d replied the Gazelle, \u201cwhen I am warming myself by the fire I\ncannot hear what is said to me.\u201d And he heaped more firewood and dried\ngrass on the fire.\n\nThe Palm-rat, choking with the smoke, lost his grip on the tree, and\nfell to the ground dead. The Gazelle returned to the town and took\npossession of all the goods belonging to the Palm-rat. If you make a\npromise, keep it; and if you want a kindness shown to you, you must do\nkind things to others.\n\n\n\n\n                                  XII\n                   How the Crow cheated the Dove and\n                     got into Difficulty through it\n\n\nA long time ago the Crow and the Dove arranged to go hunting together.\nThey took with them their guns, charms, dogs, and chief huntsman. The\ndogs entered the bush and started an animal which the Dove fired at and\nkilled. Then up ran the Crow shouting: \u201cIt is mine, it is mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the Dove; \u201cI killed it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is mine,\u201d asserted the Crow, and although they tried to argue with\nhim, he would not listen, but only shouted more loudly: \u201cIt is mine.\u201d\n\nAt last the Dove gave way, and thus it was every time they went\nhunting--the Crow always cheated the Dove out of his game by his loud\nblustering cry: \u201cIt is mine. It is mine.\u201d\n\nOne day, while hunting, the Dove accidentally shot the chief huntsman,\nand no sooner did the Crow hear the report of the gun than he came\nrunning and calling out: \u201cIt is mine, it is mine. I shot it,\u201d but on\ndrawing near and seeing the body of the huntsman, he said to the Dove:\n\u201cIt is yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied the Dove; \"you have said \u2018It is mine\u2019 every time I have\nkilled game, and now this is yours also.\" They talked long and loudly\nabout the matter, and at last they laid the case before the elders in\nthe town.\n\nThe elders said to the Crow: \u201cYes, it is yours. You have claimed\neverything before, now take this also, and bury the body properly, and\npay all the expenses of the funeral.\u201d There are many people like the\nCrow, who take all the credit to themselves, and leave the blame to\nothers.\n\nXIII\n\nHow the Civet and the Tortoise lost their Friendship for each other\n\nThe Tortoise and the Civet, although they lived in separate towns, had a\ngreat friendship for each other. Their kindness to one another was known\nto all the neighbours, for they never refused to help one another in\nsickness and trouble.\n\nOne day the Civet heard that her friend the Tortoise had given birth to\na child, so at once she got ready to pay the usual visit. On arriving at\nthe cross-road leading to her friend\u2019s town, she met a Monkey, who asked\nher where she was going.\n\nThe Civet said: \u201cI am going to visit my friend the Tortoise, who has\ngiven birth to a child.\u201d\n\nMonkey said: \"Don\u2019t you go. Her child is very ill, and the \u201cmedicine\nman\u201d says that he must have the tip of your tail with which to make a\ncharm to cure the child, and it won\u2019t be better until he has it. Of\ncourse, if you go it is your own affair.\"\n\nWhen the Civet heard this she became very angry at the insult, and\nreturned at once to her own house. The Tortoise was very indignant at\nthe neglect of her friend the Civet, because from the commencement of\nher illness she never received a visit from her. For a very long time\nthey never visited each other.\n\nBy and by the Tortoise heard that her friend the Civet had given birth\nto a child. The Tortoise said: \u201cAlthough the Civet never visited me, I\nwill not treat her in the same way, for I will go to see her.\u201d\n\nShe started on her journey, and on reaching the cross-roads she met\nMonkey there, who asked her where she was going. On hearing she was on\nthe way to visit the Civet, Monkey said: \"You are truly very stupid. The\nCivet\u2019s baby is very ill, and she has sent for the \u201cmedicine man,\u201d who\nsays he cannot possibly cure the child unless he has the shell of the\nTortoise for a charm.\"\n\nOn hearing this the Tortoise was dumbfounded and filled with fear, so\nshe returned home at once.\n\nAfter a very long time the Civet and the Tortoise met at the funeral\nfestivities of a friend, and they frowned at each other and would not\nspeak. Towards the close of the festivities, the Civet and the Tortoise\ntold the chief and the elders all about their former love for one\nanother, and how the friendship had been broken by each hearing what the\nother wanted as a charm to cure her child.\n\nThe elders restored the love they had for each other, and told the Civet\nand the Tortoise that in future they were not to listen to any tales,\nbut if one did hear anything against the other she was to go and ask her\nfriend about it, and not keep it in her heart. From that time they\nremained fast and true friends.\n\nXIV\n\nThe Water-Fairies save a Child\n\nPedro was a trader in birds, and travelled long distances to buy and\nsell them, and as he often had some left he carried them home to keep\nuntil next market day. Pedro had six children, one of whom was a boy\nnamed Yakob, and the others were all girls. When Pedro was leaving the\ntown one day for a trading journey to a very distant market, he said to\nhis people: \u201cThere are some birds in that house, and if any one lets\nthem out and loses them I will kill him.\u201d\n\nSoon after his father was gone Yakob thought he would like to look at\nthe birds, so went and pushed open the door to peep in, and as he did so\nthe birds flew out and escaped to the forest. Yakob went crying to his\nmother, and told her what he had done. His mother chided him for\ndisobeying his father\u2019s orders.\n\nBy and by Pedro returned from his journey, and, going to the house where\nhe had left his birds, he found they were gone. He was very angry, and\nwanted to know who had let his birds out of the house, and on being told\nit was Yakob, he took the boy, killed him, and threw his body in the\nriver. Some Water-fairies found the body and restored it to life, and\nnursed the boy, fed him, and kept him with them until he grew to be a\nyoung man.\n\nOne day the Water-fairies said to him: \u201cYakob, you had better go for a\nwalk and see the country.\u201d So he took his _biti_[71] and went walking\nand playing his instrument. He met his sisters, and began to sing: \u201cThat\nwhich the father had cut and thought he had killed, stand out of the\nway, girls, and let him pass.\u201d But the sisters did not recognize\nhim--they simply smiled at him for his song. He told them who he was,\nand they returned to their town and told their mother and father that\nthey had seen and spoken with their brother, but their father said: \u201cOh,\nno, it was not your brother, it was only a passer by.\u201d\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n  Musical instrument like a _marimba_.\n\nYakob went back to his fairy mothers, and told them that he had seen his\nsisters, and then he gathered his things together and asked permission\nto return to his own people. They gave him some fine cloths to wear, and\nvarious bells, which they tied on him, so that when he walked the bells\ntinkled and made a pleasant sound; then they gave him a cane, and said:\n\u201cWhen you reach the stream you hit that place and the other place.\u201d\nYakob said: \u201cI thank you with all my heart.\u201d So, bidding them good-bye,\nhe started for his town with only three servants.\n\nWhen Yakob reached the stream he did as he was told, and on beating one\nplace, out came a band of trumpeters with ivory and brass trumpets. He\nhit the other place, and out came a fine hammock and carriers. He got\ninto the hammock and sent messengers to tell the chief that he was\napproaching.\n\nThe chief spread his carpet and sat in his chair amid the clapping of\nhis people, and in a short time the sound of the trumpet was heard and\nthe carriers trotted up with Yakob\u2019s hammock, spread his carpet and\narranged his chair, and then Yakob alighted from his hammock and sat\ndown amid the shouting, drumming, and clapping of the people.\n\nOn taking his seat, Yakob said: \"I am your son whom you killed. What you\nthrew away the Water-fairies picked up, and they have nursed me and kept\nme until this day. There is a proverb which says: \u2018If the Leopard gives\nbirth to a palm-rat he does not eat it.\u2019 You should have punished me for\nbreaking your law, but you should not have killed me.\" The father was\nastonished, and went and kneeled crying before his son, and said: \u201cMy\nchild, forgive me, for I have done wrong.\u201d\n\nYakob\u2019s mother was glad to see her son again; he dressed her in fine\ncloth, and built his own village close by his parents\u2019.\n\nXV\n\nHow the Squirrel repaid a Kindness\n\nThere was once a man named Tunga who had a house, a wife, and a nice\nlittle baby. Tunga used to catch partridges, guinea-fowls, palm-rats and\nsquirrels in his traps, and sometime he would trap three and four of\nthese at once. One day he caught as many as fifteen partridges, and when\nhe took them home his wife said: \u201cWe will save some of these for another\nday, so that our child may not be hungry should you not catch any.\u201d But\nTunga said: \u201cNo, we will eat them all now, for I am sure to catch plenty\nof meat every day.\u201d\n\nSome time after Tunga went to look at his traps, and found only one\nSquirrel in them, and this Squirrel had some bells round its neck, and\njust as Tunga was going to kill it, the Squirrel said: \u201cOh, please don\u2019t\nkill me, and I will help you another day.\u201d\n\nTunga laughed and said: \u201cHow can a little thing like you help me?\u201d\n\nBut the Squirrel pleaded for his life and promised to help the man\nwhenever he was in trouble, so at last Tunga let the Squirrel go. He\nthen plucked some leaves and went home to his wife and told her what he\nhad done. She was very angry, and quarrelled so much about there being\nno food for the baby to eat, that she picked up the child and went off\nto her own family, which lived in a distant town.\n\nThe man waited some days until he thought his wife\u2019s anger had passed\naway, and then he took a large calabash of palm-wine and started for his\nwife\u2019s town. On arriving at the cross roads Tunga met an Imp that had\nneither arms, legs, nor body, but was all head, like a ball. The Imp\nsaid: \u201cLet me carry your calabash for you. You are a great man and\nshould not carry it yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can you carry it, when you are all head and no body?\u201d asked Tunga.\n\n\u201cOh, you will see,\u201d said the Imp, as he took the calabash, balanced it\non his head, and went bounding off along the road in front of Tunga.\n\nAfter travelling a long way Tunga became very tired, so they sat down\nunder a tree to rest, and while they were sitting there a Leopard came\nup, and noticing the palm-wine, asked for a drink, and the man was too\nmuch afraid to refuse it. When Tunga was going to pour out some of the\npalm-wine into a glass, the Leopard said: \u201cI drink out of my own mug,\nnot yours,\u201d and he brought out of his bag the skull of a man, and said:\n\u201cHere is a mug. I have already eaten nine men and you will be the\ntenth.\u201d\n\nPoor Tunga was so filled with fear that he did not know what to do; but\nby and by a Squirrel arrived, and after exchanging greetings he asked\nfor some of the palm-wine, and as Tunga was going to pour it out the\nSquirrel said: \u201cWhat! Have you no respect for me? I carry my own mug,\u201d\nand putting his hand into his bag, he brought out the head of a Leopard,\nand said: \u201cThere, I have eaten nine Leopards, and this one here will be\nthe tenth,\u201d and as he repeated the words again and again very fiercely\nthe Leopard began to tremble, and go backwards until he was in the road,\nand then he turned tail and fled with the Squirrel after him.\n\nTunga waited, and at last he and the Imp started again on their journey.\nHe was now glad that he had been kind to the Squirrel and had saved his\nlife.\n\nOn reaching the town, Tunga and the Imp were welcomed by the people, a\ngood house was given to them, and they were well feasted. After resting\nthere some days, Tunga and his wife started on their return journey\nhome, but before leaving the town Mrs. Tunga\u2019s family gave them a goat\nas a parting present.\n\nWhen they reached the cross-roads Tunga said to the Imp: \u201cI will kill\nthe goat here, and give you your half.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said the Imp; \u201cbut you must also give me half of the\nwoman.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied Tunga; \u201cthe woman is my wife, but you shall have half the\ngoat.\u201d\n\nThe Imp became very angry and called to his friends, and a great crowd\nof Imps came to fight Tunga.\n\nWhile they were wrangling, the Squirrel arrived and asked what was the\ncause of the row. They told him, and he said: \u201cIf we divide the goat and\nthe woman, how are you going to cook them? You have neither firewood nor\nwater. Some of you fetch water, and others go for firewood.\u201d\n\nHe opened his box and gave to some of them a calabash in which to fetch\nwater, but while the water was running into the calabash it sung such a\nmagic tune that the Imps began to dance, and could not stop dancing.\n\nThen the Squirrel opened his box again and let loose a swarm of bees\nthat stung the other Imps so badly that they all bounded away and never\nreturned again to trouble Tunga. Then the Squirrel said to Tunga: \u201cYou\nnow see that if you had not been merciful to me I should not have been\nable to save you from the Leopard and the Imps. Your kindness to me has\nsaved your own life and your wife\u2019s.\u201d Tunga thanked him for his help and\nwent his way home.\n\nXVI\n\nThe Kingfisher deceives the Owl\n\nOne day the Owl and the Kingfisher had a long discussion as to which of\nthem could go longest without food. The Owl proposed that they should\ntry for ten days, and the Kingfisher agreed to it.\n\nThey tied a rope across a stream, and both birds sat on the middle of it\nlooking down into the water. On the third day the Kingfisher began to\nfeel hungry, and observing a fish in the water just below him, he\npretended to fall, caught and gobbled the fish, but as he came up to the\nsurface of the water he cried out: \u201cOh, Uncle Owl, my head turned giddy,\nand I fell into the stream.\u201d\n\nThe Owl replied: \u201cNever mind, let us persevere with our contest.\u201d\n\nBut the Kingfisher continued to have these giddy fits just as fish came\nunder the perch, and the Owl with his sleepy eyes did not notice the\nfish. Before many days had passed the Owl\u2019s body became thin, he lost\nhis strength, fell into the stream and was drowned; but as for the\nKingfisher he flew away, leaving his dead and cheated rival in the\nwater.\n\nXVII\n\nHow the Tortoise was punished for his Deceit\n\nThe Tortoise set his trap, and soon afterwards caught an antelope in it,\nwhereupon he sat down and began to cry with a loud voice. The Jackal,\nhearing his cries, came and asked him what was the matter, and the\nTortoise said: \u201cThere is an animal killed in my trap, and I have no one\nto take it out.\u201d\n\nThe Jackal said: \u201cNever mind, I\u2019ll remove it for you.\u201d So he took out\nthe animal and set the trap again.\n\nThe Tortoise said to him: \u201cGo and get some leaves upon which we can cut\nup the meat.\u201d But while the Jackal went for the leaves the Tortoise ran\naway with the meat to his hole in the rock.\n\nThe Jackal, on his return, called out: \u201cUncle Tortoise, here are the\nleaves;\u201d but the Tortoise rudely cut him short by asking him: \u201cAm I a\nrelative on your mother\u2019s side or your father\u2019s?\u201d\n\nThe Jackal, angry at this insult, cried out: \u201cI will let off your trap;\u201d\nand the Tortoise replied: \u201cTouch the spring with your head, for if you\nput in either your arm or your leg you will die.\u201d\n\nSo the stupid Jackal put his head into the trap and was caught, and when\nhe cried out with pain the Tortoise took his gun and shot him. In this\nway the Civet-cat, the Fox, the rock Rabbit, and the Palm-rat were all\ncaught and killed by the Tortoise.\n\nOne day the Gazelle heard the Tortoise crying, and went and asked him\nwhy he was crying, and the Tortoise said: \u201cSince early morning an animal\nhas been lying dead in my trap because I have no one to take it out for\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut who set your trap for you?\u201d asked the Gazelle.\n\nHe replied: \u201cA passer-by set it for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d kindly said the Gazelle, \u201cI\u2019ll take it out for you\u201d; which\nhe did at once, and setting the trap again he dragged the animal to the\nTortoise.\n\n\u201cGet some plantain leaves that we may divide the meat,\u201d said the\nTortoise; but while he was gone the Tortoise took all the meat to his\nhole.\n\nThe Gazelle, on returning, called out: \u201cUncle Tortoise, here are the\nleaves,\u201d but the Tortoise laughingly asked him: \u201cIs the Tortoise a\nrelative on your mother\u2019s side, or your father\u2019s?\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle was angry at this insult, and said: \u201cI\u2019ll unset your trap.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d shouted the Tortoise, \u201conly do it with your head, and not\nwith your hands or your feet, or you will die.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle, however, poked in a stick, and snap went the spring, and\nout loudly screamed the Gazelle, so the Tortoise thought he was caught,\nand came out of his hole with his gun to shoot him, but the Gazelle\nsprang on the Tortoise, took away his gun and killed him, and then,\ngathering up the meat, he went off to his own town. The Biter is\neventually bit, and he who deceives others will himself be deceived.\n\nXVIII\n\nHow the Frog collected his Debt from the Hawk\n\nThe Hawk lived in sky-land and the Frog lived on the earth. One day the\nHawk paid a visit to the Frog, and said to him: \u201cFriend Frog, will you\nkindly lend me a thousand brass rods, for I am in difficulty for want of\nmoney?\u201d\n\nThe Frog replied: \u201cYour town is up in the sky, and I cannot fly up there\nfor I have neither feathers nor wings.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, you will not need to call for your money, for I will surely bring\nit to you down here, so please lend me the brass rods.\u201d The Frog counted\nout the thousand rods and handed them to the Hawk.\n\nFor six months the Frog heard nothing from the Hawk, neither was any\npart of the debt paid, so one day, seeing the Hawk on a low branch he\nwent to ask for his money, but the Hawk flew away as fast as his wings\nwould carry him.\n\nThen the Frog heard that the Hawk went every _Nkandu_[72] and\n_Nkenge_[72] to market to buy saucepans, so on the following _Nkandu_\nthe Frog\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n  Names of market days.\n\nstarted at dawn for the market-place. He hopped and jumped over the\nground and swam the rivers, and, reaching the market early, he hid\nhimself and waited for the arrival of the Hawk.\n\nIn a little time the Hawk alighted on the market, and, putting down his\nsatchel, he went about buying saucepans. When he had bought a few the\nFrog went and hid himself in one of them, and by and by the Hawk,\nreturning to his town in sky-land, picked up his saucepans, and thus\ntook the Frog with him.\n\nThe Hawk, on arriving home, put his saucepans in the corner of his\nhouse, and when all was quiet and dark the Frog came out of his\nhiding-place, and next morning met the Hawk in a casual way and asked\nhim for his money. The Hawk was so surprised that at first he could not\nsay a word, but at last he exclaimed: \u201cFriend Frog, how did you get\nhere, for you have neither feathers nor wings?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind how I came,\u201d replied the Frog; \u201cbut I want my money.\u201d\n\nThe Hawk began to make excuses, and was so sorry because \u201che really had\nnot the money just then.\u201d\n\nBut the Frog said: \u201cVery well, I shall stay here in your house until you\npay me.\u201d\n\nThen the Hawk remembered that he had just enough to pay him, because he\nwanted to get the Frog out of his house.[73]\n\nThe Frog, on receiving his money, wondered how he was to return to\nearth. He decided to wait until next market-day, and then, creeping into\nthe Hawk\u2019s satchel, was carried off to the market-place, and on arrival\nhe hopped out of the satchel and took a walk round the market, and thus\ncame face to face with the Hawk: \u201cHow did you get here?\u201d asked the Hawk\nin surprise.\n\nThe Frog blinked at him, and said: \u201cWell, I came by the road by which I\ntravelled.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you now?\u201d said the Hawk; and then he went on to say: \u201cI borrowed\nmoney of you because, having no feathers and no wings, I thought you\nwould not worry me for payment, yet you have followed and bothered me,\nand I will never borrow of you again.\u201d\n\nThe Hawk ruffled his feathers and went, and as the Frog jumped off, he\nmuttered: \u201cI will never again lend to folk bigger than myself, for if\nyou ask them for the money they are angry with you, and if you don\u2019t ask\nfor it they think you silly and laugh at you.\u201d\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n  The creditor would live at the expense of the debtor, hence the Hawk\u2019s\n  desire to get rid of the Frog.\n\nXIX\n\nHow a Child saved his Mother\u2019s Life\n\nA man, once upon a time, cleared a large piece of bush, and then sent\nhis wife to plant it with cassava. When the cassava was ready to pull,\nthe bush-pigs and other animals visited the farm and destroyed the\nroots, and it seemed as though the woman would have her trouble for\nnothing. The wife complained about it to her husband, and he went to dig\na large pit in which to trap the wild animals that came stealing in\ntheir farm.\n\nWhile the man was digging the hole an Imp came out of the forest near by\nand asked him what he was doing. Upon hearing he was digging a trap for\nanimals, the Imp said: \u201cLet me help you.\u201d The man, fearing the Imp would\nkill him if he refused, accepted his offer. Thereupon the Imp said: \u201cLet\nus make a bargain. All the male animals that fall into the trap are\nyours, but all the female ones are mine.\u201d The man agreed to this, and\nthey then finished the hole together, after which they returned to their\nplaces.\n\nNext morning they went to look at the hole and found one male pig in it,\nwhich the man took according to their agreement. Every morning they went\nand it was the same--male pigs, antelopes and buffaloes were in the\ntrap, never any female ones, sometimes there were two males and\nsometimes there were five males. The man laughed, and said to the Imp:\n\u201cYou were foolish to make such a bargain, for did you not know that only\nmale animals go about in search of food? You are very foolish.\u201d\n\nThe man took the animals to his town, and all the way home he was\nridiculing the stupid Imp. The wife said: \u201cNow we have plenty of meat,\nbut no cassava bread to eat with it. Tomorrow I will go and dig up some\nroots in the farm with which to make some bread.\u201d\n\nEarly next morning the woman took her basket and her hoe, and went to\nthe farm, leaving her husband at home to look after their little boy.\nWhen the woman had been gone some time the boy began to cry, so the man\npicked him up and followed his wife to the farm to give the child to\nher. As he drew near the farm he heard the Imp gleefully singing: \u201cO my,\nO my, at last I have a female animal in the trap.\u201d\n\nOn reaching the trap the man asked the Imp why he was jumping, dancing\nand singing in that joyful fashion, and when he heard that it was\nbecause there was one female animal in the trap, the man laughed at the\nImp for making so much fuss over _one_ animal; but looking into the pit,\nand seeing his wife there he began to cry, and contended that the Imp\nwas cheating him as a woman was not an animal.\n\nThey became very angry in their discussion as to whether the woman was\nan animal or not, that at last the boy said: \u201cFather, you agreed to the\nbargain that you were to have all the male animals, and he was to have\nall the female ones that fell into the trap; we have had plenty of\nanimals out of the hole, but he has not had a single one. Let him take\nthis one.\u201d\n\nThe Imp, admiringly, said: \u201cIs this wise judge only a boy?\u201d and with\nthat he jumped into the trap to get out his prize, but no sooner had he\ndone so than the boy called out: \u201cLook, father, there is a male animal\nin the trap and it is yours.\u201d\n\nOn dropping down into the trap the Imp had become, according to his own\nstatement, an animal, and consequently belonged to the man. The Imp, to\nsave himself, had to give up all claim to the woman, and thus the child\nby his smartness saved his mother\u2019s life. Never again did the man enter\ninto an agreement until he properly understood all about the conditions.\n\nXX\n\nHow the Gazelle won his Wife\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Gazelle that went in search of a wife.\nWhile journeying he met a beautiful girl, and stopped, and said to her:\n\u201cMiss So-and-so, have you any water?--if so, please give me a drink, for\nI am very thirsty.\u201d\n\nThe girl replied: \u201cYes, sir,\u201d and taking a calabash well ornamented with\nrows of brass nails she gave it to him full of water. He drank eagerly,\nand as he handed the calabash back, he said: \u201cThe water is as nice to\ndrink as the girl is beautiful.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle inquired of her, and finding she was not married, asked her:\n\u201cWill you marry me?\u201d\n\nShe answered: \u201cI don\u2019t know, I must ask my mother.\u201d\n\nSo together they went to seek the mother\u2019s consent. When she heard all\nabout the affair, she said: \u201cIf you want to marry my daughter you must\nfirst bring me the dried flesh of every animal and bird in the forest.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle was at first disconcerted by such a difficult task, but\nsaid: \u201cAll right, I will do it,\u201d and went his way to think out a plan by\nwhich he could win his wife.\n\nThe Gazelle thought of first one way and then another, and at last he\nsought for and found a shell and filled it with various powerful\n\u201cmedicines,\u201d and thus, having made a strong fetish, he started for the\nforest.\n\nHe had not walked very far before a Dove came to him, and said: \u201cBehold,\nthere are ten animals down there; I fired at them, but did not kill a\nsingle one; if therefore you have a hunting-fetish, teach me how to use\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I have the kind of fetish you want,\u201d replied the Gazelle; \u201cbut\nbefore you can learn how to use it you must be killed, roasted and\ndried, and then I will restore you to life and teach you how to use the\nfetish.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Dove, \u201cI am ready to be roasted.\u201d So the Gazelle\nkilled, roasted and dried the silly Dove and took the flesh to his\nstore-room, as the first part of the dried meat he had to give to his\nfuture mother-in-law.\n\nSoon after returning to the forest an Antelope came running up to him,\nand said: \u201cWe hear you have a strong fetish to help hunters to kill\nanimals. Teach me how to use it, for I have had no success in hunting\nfor a long time.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I have such a fetish,\u201d answered the Gazelle; \u201cbut before you can\nlearn about it I must kill, roast and dry you. Then I bring you to life\nagain and teach you the use of the fetish.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo with me whatever you like,\u201d said the Antelope, \u201cso long as I get a\nfetish with which to kill plenty game.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle drew his knife and told the Antelope to lie down on the\nground.\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to do with that knife?\u201d cried the Antelope.\n\n\u201cHow can you be roasted and dried unless you are first killed?\u201d quietly\nasked the Gazelle. So the Antelope stretched himself out, and was soon\nkilled, dried and carried to the store.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d ruminated the Gazelle, \u201cI have found a way to win my wife, for\nthese animals will believe any foolish thing so as to possess power to\nkill others. I must now try a big beast.\u201d\n\nAgain he went to the forest, but he had not gone very far into it before\nhe met a Buffalo running. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d asked the Gazelle.\n\n\u201cI am off to look after my farm, for I have no luck in hunting,\u201d replied\nthe Buffalo.\n\n\u201cI have a strong hunting-fetish,\u201d said the Gazelle; \u201cbut before you can\nuse it I must cut out your heart, and roast and dry you; after that I\ncall you back to life and teach you my fetish, which will give you\nplenty of hunting skill.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said the Buffalo; \u201cbut I am a big person and your knife\nwill not enter my body.\u201d With that he fell on the ground, but directly\nthe Gazelle had thrust his knife into the body the Buffalo cried out:\n\u201cPlease stop! do stop!\u201d but the Gazelle said: \u201cJust wait a moment only,\u201d\nand he pushed in the knife, and the Buffalo died. In a very short time\nthe Buffalo\u2019s flesh was roasted, dried and carried to the store.\n\nIn this way the Gazelle caught and roasted the Lion, the Leopard, the\nElephant and all the other animals and birds of the forest. By and by he\ncarried all the dried meat to the mother of the beautiful girl, and said\nto her: \u201cMy respected mother-in-law, do not be angry because I have been\na long time doing the task you set me. You know all about hunting, and\nthat it is very slow and laborious work. Sometimes one shoots and does\nnot kill; however, here is the meat for which you sent me.\u201d The old\nwoman answered: \u201cI thank you, and now you can take your wife and go your\nway.\u201d\n\nXXI\n\nThe Gazelle is at last Punished\n\nThe Leopard and the Gazelle made a large farm together, and planted\nmaize, sugarcane, cassava and various other things. To celebrate the\nfinishing of their big farm they desired to make a feast. The Leopard\nwished to buy a goat, but the Gazelle said: \u201cA goat is not big enough,\nlet us buy a pig.\u201d A large pig was bought, and when it was cooked the\nGazelle said: \u201cFriend Leopard, let us go and bathe first in the river,\nand then return to eat our feast slowly and enjoy it.\u201d To this the\nLeopard agreed.\n\nWhen they reached the river\u2019s bank each wanted the other to dive in\nfirst, but at last the Leopard jumped into the water and quickly came\nout again.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t know how to dive,\u201d laughed the Gazelle.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d replied the Leopard, \u201cyou dive now and show me the way.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle dived into the water, ran along the bottom of the river,\ncame out near the town, and went quickly and ate up all the boiled pig;\nand then, returning to the river, came puffing and blowing out of the\nwater at the feet of his friend the Leopard. \u201cThere,\u201d said the Gazelle,\n\u201cthat is the way to dive.\u201d\n\nThen they returned together to the town, but when they reached the\nLeopard\u2019s house they found the saucepan empty. The Leopard felt very\nmuch ashamed, because the food had been left in his house. He began to\nbeat his wife for not looking properly after it. Then, turning to the\nGazelle, he said: \u201cUncle Gazelle, I am very much ashamed because the\ncooked meat has been eaten in my house; let us now buy a goat.\u201d\n\nBut the Gazelle said: \u201cYou must pay for the goat yourself, for the pig\nwas eaten in your house.\u201d\n\nThe Leopard took one of his own goats, and when it was cooked, he said:\n\u201cThis time let us eat first and bathe afterwards.\u201d But the Gazelle\nobjected, and would bathe before eating, so the Leopard agreed, and they\nwent together to the river. The Gazelle played the same trick on the\nLeopard, and this he did several times, and each time poor Mrs. Leopard\nreceived a thrashing, and the Leopard killed another goat.\n\nBy and by the Leopard bought a fetish called _nkondi_, and hid it in his\nhouse. When the Gazelle arrived next time he found the door fastened,\nand on trying to open it the _nkondi_ said: \u201cOh, you are the rascal who\ncomes to eat my master\u2019s goat, you thief, get away quickly.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle shouted: \u201cCome out and I\u2019ll hit you.\u201d\n\nThe _nkondi_ began to abuse him, saying: \u201cCome into the house, if you\ncan, you thin-legged one.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle became so angry that he broke open the door, and hit the\n_nkondi_ and his hand stuck; he hit him again, and the other hand stuck;\nhe then kicked him and both his legs stuck fast, and he thereupon butted\nhim with his head and that also stuck.\n\nThe Leopard waited a long time for the Gazelle, and then, thinking he\nwas drowned, he returned to the town. On drawing near to the house he\nheard a great noise, and as he ran he shouted out: \u201cHold the thief\ntightly until I come.\u201d\n\nWhat was his surprise to find the Gazelle held fast by the _nkondi_.\n\u201cOh, you are the thief, no wonder you wanted to bathe first!\u201d said the\nLeopard, as he hit him.\n\n\u201cUnfasten me, Uncle Leopard,\u201d begged the Gazelle.\n\n\u201cNo, I am going to eat first and undo you afterwards,\u201d laughed the\nLeopard. So he sat down and ate and chuckled, and chuckled and ate,\nuntil all the goat was finished; then he unstuck the Gazelle, and gave\nhim a good sound thrashing for the tricks he had played on him, and let\nhim go covered with aches, pains and bruises.\n\nXXII\n\nThe Leopard pays Homage to the Goat\n\nThe natives say that there was a time when the Leopard paid homage to\nthe Goat because of his beard and horns, but he discovered the Goat\u2019s\nweakness in the following manner--\n\nOne day, while the Leopard was cutting a palm-tree for wine, a\nBilly-goat arrived at the wine-booth and bleated loudly: \u201cBe--e,\nLeopard!\u201d\n\nThe Leopard listened, and said, \u201cWhat great chief is that calling me?\u201d\n\n\u201cBe--e, Leopard,\u201d again cried the Goat.\n\n\u201cYes, sir,\u201d answered the Leopard, and descending the palm-tree he went\nsoftly and meekly to his wine-booth and found a person there with a long\nbeard and large horns.\n\n\u201cPour me out some wine,\u201d said the Goat. This the Leopard did at once.\nPouring the wine into a glass, he knelt and offered it to the Goat, who\ndrank it off glass after glass as the Leopard crouched in a humble\nposition before him. This happened several days running--the Goat\nordering the palm-wine and the Leopard offering it on his knees as to a\ngreat chief.\n\nOne day, while the Leopard was paying homage in this way to the Goat, a\nGazelle arrived and stared in surprise at what he saw, and after the\nGoat had gone, he said to the Leopard: \u201cUncle Leopard, do you know who\nthat is?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied the Leopard; \u201cI do not know in the least who it is, but he\nhas a long beard and big horns.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! oh!\u201d laughed the Gazelle; \u201cthat is foolish. Do you not see that you\nare paying homage to empty size? He has no strong teeth for biting hard\nthings and for fighting. If you do not believe me, try him to-morrow.\u201d\n\nNext day the Goat came as usual, and demanded his palm-wine. He found\nthe Leopard and the Gazelle already there in the booth. The Gazelle took\nfrom his bag a kola nut, and, breaking it, he gave one section to the\nGoat, another to the Leopard, and took one himself. The Leopard crunched\nhis section at once with his powerful teeth, and the Gazelle bit his\npart to pieces, but the poor Goat, having no strong teeth, turned his\nsection of the nut over and over in his mouth, first one side and then\nthe other.\n\nThe Gazelle made a sign with his lips to the Leopard, as much as to say:\n\u201cDo you see, he has no teeth. I told you so.\u201d The Leopard thereupon\njumped on the Goat and killed him without a struggle, and from that time\nthe Leopard has never again been afraid of the Goat\u2019s long beard and big\nhorns. A beard and horns do not make a strong animal, but a powerful\nmouth is necessary. Pomposity without real authority will not be\nrespected for very long.\n\nXXIII\n\nWhy the Owls and the Fowls never speak to each other\n\nA Fowl and an Owl became friends, but they built their houses at some\ndistance from each other. One day the Owl heard that his friend was very\nsick, so he gathered some money together and went to pay a visit to the\nFowl. When he arrived he inquired after the health of his friend, and\nfinding he was still very ill he sent for a \u201cmedicine man,\u201d and in due\ntime his friend the Fowl recovered, and the Owl returned to his town.\n\nBy and by the Owl fell ill with a very bad illness, and the news reached\nthe Fowl that his friend was on the point of death. He gathered some\nmoney and went to visit his friend and give him the best advice about\ngetting better. He said to the wives of the Owl: \u201cGet ready some very\nhot water, and pound up some red peppers.\u201d\n\nThe wives did as they were told, and then the Fowl said to the Owl:\n\u201cTake off your clothes and get into the saucepan.\u201d\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t it burn me?\u201d asked the Owl.\n\n\u201cNo, my friend, it will not hurt you,\u201d deceivingly replied the Fowl.\n\nSo he did as his friend bade him, and put himself carefully into the\nsaucepan of hot water. In a short time the Fowl said to the Owl\u2019s wives:\n\u201cTake him out, and pluck his feathers, rub him well with the red pepper,\nand put him on a line to dry, and be sure and not take him down until he\nis thoroughly dry.\u201d Leaving these directions with them, the Fowl went\nhome. After he had left, the Owl died, and the family was so angry at\nthe outrage the Fowl had committed that they desired to punish him.\n\nThe family sent word to the Fowl that on a certain day the funeral would\ntake place, and they invited him to attend it. On the appointed day the\nFowl went with his band and his followers, who were the Leopard, the\nLion, the Dog and the Shrew-mole.\n\nNow the Owl\u2019s family had collected some strong followers who were called\nthe Fox, the Viper, the Boa, the Elephant, the Antelope, and the\nPalm-rat, all of whom were friends of the Owl. By and by they heard the\nFowl\u2019s band playing \u201cThe tail of the Owl is very powerful.\u201d This insult\nto his dead friend made the Owl\u2019s family very angry, so they arranged\ntheir followers in ambush, and told them to be sure and \u201ccatch that\nrascal the Fowl.\u201d\n\nAs the Fowl\u2019s party drew near to the town, out came the Boa from his\nhiding-place to catch the Fowl, but the Shrew-mole squeaked, and the Boa\nsplit all down one side and had to retreat; then came the Fox, but the\nDog fought him and made him run away; then came the Elephant, but the\nLion bit his trunk, and he fled; and the Antelope caught sight of the\nLeopard\u2019s marks and bolted. The Fowl at last arrived in the town, and\nplayed at the funeral of the Owl \u201cThe tail of the Owl is very powerful,\u201d\nand after ridiculing his late friend in this manner, he returned home\nwith his band and followers. The Owls never speak now to the Fowls.\n\nXXIV\n\nHow the Elephant punished the Leopard\n\nThe Elephant and the Leopard lived in the same town and married their\nwives about the same time. By and by the Leopard\u2019s wife gave birth to\ntwo children, and the Elephant\u2019s wife gave birth to one. Some time after\nthis happened the Elephant had to go on a trading journey into a distant\ncountry, so he left his son in the care of the Leopard.\n\nOne day the Leopard, his sons, and the young Elephant all went hunting\nin the big bush. The Leopard showed his sons the animals\u2019 tracks, taught\nthem where to stand and what to do; but as for the Elephant\u2019s son he\ntook no notice of him, did not instruct him, and left him to do what he\ncould.\n\nIn a little time an antelope started up, and the Leopard\u2019s first son\nfired and missed, and the second son fired and also missed. Then the\nantelope ran by where the young Elephant happened to be, and he shot it.\nThereupon the Leopard and his sons ran up and claimed the antelope as\ntheirs, and as the Elephant had no one to take his side he had to give\nway. This occurred three times, and then the young Elephant would not\nhunt with them any more.\n\nAfter some months the old Elephant returned from his long trading\nexpedition, and his son told him all that had happened to him, and how\nhe had been cheated by his guardian. When the Elephant heard it he was\nvery angry, and said: \u201cAll right, I will punish the Leopard for\ndefrauding you.\u201d They then dug a large hole in their house, put some\ntwigs and branches over it, and spread a mat over the whole. Then they\nput the saucepans on the fire, and the Elephant bought some palm-wine\nand asked the Leopard to come and drink with him, which invitation he at\nonce accepted.\n\nWhen the Leopard arrived they told him to sit on the mat, and as he sat\ndown the mat gave way under him, and he fell into the deep hole\nunderneath. The Elephant said: \u201cI left my son with you, and instead of\ntaking care of him you cheated him every time he went hunting with you,\u201d\nand he followed his words by pouring the boiling water over the Leopard.\nThus died the Leopard for being false to his trust.\n\nXXV\n\nHow the Leopard tried to deceive the Gazelle\n\nOnce the Leopard and the Gazelle had a very bad quarrel, and ever since\nthen the Leopard has been trying to catch and kill the Gazelle, but has\nfailed in every attempt.\n\nThe Leopard, having tried many other ways of entrapping the Gazelle, at\nlast pretended to be sick. He rubbed some powdered ironstone on his face\nand instructed his wives to send messengers for the Palm-rat, the\nMongoose, and all the other animals, and also for the Gazelle. When they\nwere all gathered except the Gazelle they went in one by one to see the\nLeopard, and he killed them; but he thought that he had all the trouble\nfor nothing as the Gazelle had not arrived, so he asked his wives what\nthey were to do now to catch the Gazelle. They advised him to send for a\n\u201cmedicine man,\u201d and then the Gazelle would be sure to think he was\nreally ill. While they were searching for a \u201cmedicine man\u201d the Gazelle\narrived, but he would not enter the house.\n\nThe \u201cmedicine man\u201d arrived with his charms, and while he made \u201cmedicine\u201d\nhe sang--\n\n/* \u201cO Gazelle, come where the sick one is, It is your own uncle who is\nill.\u201d */\n\nWhen the Gazelle heard this he answered by a song--\n\n/* \u201cO uncle, come out of the house, Come out into the daylight now.\u201d */\n\nThey tried by every means to persuade the Gazelle to enter the house,\nbut he remained firm, and refused to listen to all their nice talk, and\nat last the Leopard, losing all patience, jumped up and rushed out of\nthe house; but the Gazelle, noticing his anger, sprang away into the\nforest and escaped; but as for all the other silly ones who had been\ndeceived by the Leopard, they were eaten by him.\n\nThe invitations and persuasions of enemies are to be received with\ncaution.\n\nXXVI\n\nThe Story of two Young Women\n\nOnce there were two girls whose uncle told them: \u201cYou are now old enough\nto marry, so you may look out for two young men.\u201d Their hearts were glad\nwhen they received this permission, and very soon they found two lovers.\nThe elder became engaged to a poor man, and the younger to a rich one.\n\nOne day the elder girl paid a visit to her betrothed, and as he was poor\nhe could only give her a common fish to eat and a mat to lie on for a\nbed; but when the younger went to see her rich lover he killed a goat\nfor her supper, gave her a fine bed spread with blankets, and in the\nmorning killed a pig for her breakfast; and when she was leaving to\nreturn to her home he gave her a shawl, a fine piece of blue and white\ncloth, a necklace of beads, and a looking-glass.\n\nThe two sisters happened to meet at the crossroads, and they asked each\nother what presents they had received, and when the younger girl saw the\npoor gift received by the other, she showed her presents with much\nvanity, and laughed at her sister for having such a poor lover. This\noccurred every time they visited their young men--the younger sister\nlaughed to scorn the poverty of the elder sister\u2019s suitor.\n\nAfter due time the day of their marriage arrived, and the rich man told\nall his pedigree, gave a great, fat pig for the feast, and sent his\nbride a piece of velvet, a piece of white cloth, and a piece of satin;\nbut the poor man could only send some fowls for the feast and give his\nbride one piece of ordinary cloth. After the marriage festivities were\nover the new wives went to live in the houses of their husbands.\n\nBefore many days had passed the younger bride committed a small fault,\nand her husband in his anger cut off her ears. She cried out for help,\nbut her family could not help her, as they had consented to the\nmarriage. In a week he was angry about some other small matter, and he\ncut off her nose, and the next time she vexed him with some small\nmistake he cut off her head. Thus she did not live long to enjoy her\nfine things. As for the poor husband, he said to his wife: \u201cIt is not\nuntil death comes to me that we shall separate.\u201d Riches do not always\nbring with them happiness and contentment.\n\nXXVII\n\nWhy the Chameleon cut off his own Head\n\nOne day the Frog, on going to work in her farm, left her two children in\nthe house with plenty of food to eat. She had not been gone very long\nwhen a Chameleon arrived, and took possession of the house and the\nchildren. She dressed them with knives and bells, and made them dance.\nThe Frog, returning from her work, found the Chameleon in her house, and\nwhen she attempted to enter, the Chameleon threatened to tread her into\na pulp. The Frog went crying to the Elephant, and he, on hearing her\nstory, promised to get the Chameleon out of the house with his large\ntrunk, but when he went to the door of the house, the Chameleon snarled\nat him, and he turned and fled.\n\nThe Frog then went to the Leopard and told him of her trouble, and he\nsaid: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I will quickly have her out of the house.\u201d But no\nsooner did he show himself at the door than the Chameleon snarled at\nhim, and he ran away. Thus it was with all the animals. They all boasted\nof what they would do, but were all afraid to do it.\n\nAs the Frog went crying she met a flock of Sparrows, and said to them:\n\u201cFriend Sparrows, go and drive the Chameleon out of my house.\u201d The\nSparrows went in front of the Frog\u2019s house, dried their drums at the\nfire, and as they began to dance they chanted a chorus: \u201cSparrows, when\nyou dance, don\u2019t dance with your heads on.\u201d Some of the Sparrows then\nwent forward, and having put their heads under their wings, they began\nto dance. The Chameleon, looking out of the door, saw this wonderful\nsight, and seeing the Sparrows dancing very nicely without any heads,\nshe thought they had cut them off, and as she was a great dancer,[74]\nand wanted to imitate the Sparrows in their marvellous dance, she cut\noff her own head, and fell dead. The Frog thanked the Sparrows for their\nhelp, and went into the house to nurse her children. What the big\nanimals could not do with all their strength the Sparrows did by their\ncleverness.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n  The natives regard the Chameleon as a great dancer, because while\n  standing still it has a peculiar movement, something like a native\n  dancing.\n\nXXVIII\n\nWhy the Congo Robin has a Red Breast\n\n\u201cKinsidikiti\u201d is a small bird with red round its mouth and red spots on\nits breast. The female has no red spots on the breast, and the following\nis the legend accounting for the difference--\n\nOne day the Robin and his wife found that they had no red-camwood\npowder[75] with which to beautify themselves, so the husband made\npreparations for a journey to Stanley Pool to buy some redwood from\nthose who brought it from the Upper Congo towns to sell at the Pool\nmarkets.\n\nHe was a long time on the road, but at last reached the place only to\nfind that all the redwood for making the powder had been sold to others,\nwho were before him. He tried one trader after another with no success,\nfor all had sold out, but\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n  The powder is made by grinding two pieces of the camwood together. The\n  red paste resulting from the friction is dried, pounded and put into a\n  cloth, and after a person has bathed, and rubbed himself (or herself)\n  with oil the cloth is dabbed on the body, and the fine dust comes out\n  and over the body. The camwood powder is greatly valued as a cosmetic.\n\none said: \u201cI have none to sell, but I can give you a small piece, enough\nfor yourself.\u201d\n\nHe gave him a small piece, and for safety the Robin put it in his\nthroat, as he wanted to take it home to his wife. As he travelled\nhomeward the redwood melted in his mouth and throat, and came out round\nhis beak and through his chest to his feathers, and ever since then he\nhas had a red mouth and breast.\n\n\n                                  XXIX\n             The Leopard tries to steal the Gazelle\u2019s Wife\n\n\nThe Leopard had many wives, but his friend the Gazelle had only one, and\nthe Leopard desired to procure that one, and very often said to himself:\n\u201cI must kill the Gazelle and take his wife for myself.\u201d So he sent a\nmessenger to call the Gazelle, but he was too wise to go, and sent an\nexcuse, saying: \u201cYou tell the Leopard that I am going to market, and\ncannot visit him now.\u201d\n\nIn a very short time another messenger arrived and said: \u201cGo to the\nLeopard, for he is dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! oh! that is very strange,\u201d replied the Gazelle, \u201cthat you who are a\nmourner should be travelling about, but perhaps you are going to buy\npigs for the funeral feast?\u201d\n\nBefore he had finished speaking another messenger came and said:\n\u201cGazelle, your uncle the Leopard is dead, go and wrap the cloth round\nhis body.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the Gazelle, \u201cI will come and bind up the body, but\nfirst I will go and buy some pigs for the funeral festivities.\u201d\n\nWhen the Leopard heard these answers he rushed after the Gazelle that he\nmight kill him, but on turning a corner in the road the Leopard met a\nbeautiful girl; but he did not know that it was the Gazelle who had\nchanged himself into that form. Of her the Leopard inquired: \u201cDid you\nsee a Gazelle pass this way?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my lord Leopard, I did,\u201d she replied.\n\nThe Leopard then said to her: \u201cWould you like to marry me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said, \u201cI would like to marry you, but you have such sharp\nteeth and claws.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d replied the Leopard, \u201ccut them all off.\u201d\n\nSo she at once cut off all his claws, and pulled out his teeth.\n\n\u201cWill you marry me now?\u201d asked the Leopard.\n\n\u201cI would like to,\u201d repeated the girl, \u201cbut for the marks on your chest\nand neck.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, all right,\u201d he said; \u201ccut them all out.\u201d\n\nAnd she cut them away, spot after spot, and mark after mark, and the\nLeopard died. The Gazelle changed back to his proper form, and as he\nwent off he said: \u201cThe Leopard tried to rob me of my one wife, but he\nhas lost his life through his covetousness.\u201d\n\n\n                                  XXX\n  The Gazelle kills the Flies and Mosquitoes, and outwits the Leopard\n\n\nThe Leopard, once upon a time, went cutting the palm-tree for wine, and\nstarted a palm-wine booth in a place infested with mosquitoes and biting\nflies of various kinds; and he made a law that any one who brushed the\nflies and mosquitoes off their bodies while in his booth should at once\nbe killed.\n\nThe Antelope called at the booth one day and asked for a drink of\npalm-wine; but no sooner had he begun to drink it than the mosquitoes\nand flies so swarmed round him and irritated him with their bites, that\nin brushing them off he killed many of them. When the Leopard saw that,\nhe became very angry, and said: \u201cI made a law that whoever came to drink\nin my booth should not brush the flies and mosquitoes away. You have\nbroken my law, and killed many of my insects, so now you must die,\u201d and\nhe jumped on the Antelope and killed him. In this way the Leopard killed\nmany of the animals.\n\nOne morning the Gazelle said to himself: \u201cI must visit my Uncle Leopard,\nand ask him for a drink of his palm-wine.\u201d So he started for the booth,\nand on his arrival the Leopard greeted him, saying: \u201cHow do you do,\nUncle Gazelle?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am quite well,\u201d replied the Gazelle.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d asked the Leopard.\n\n\u201cOh, I came to have a drink of your palm-wine,\u201d said the Gazelle.\n\nThey at once sat down and began to drink together, but very soon the\nflies and mosquitoes came about the Gazelle and sorely worried him; but\nthe Gazelle remembered the Leopard\u2019s law, and wondered how he could\ndrive the flies away and not break the law of the booth. After thinking\na little while, he told the Leopard about a fight that had taken place a\nfew days before. He said: \u201cThe other day we went to fight, and we were\nall wounded, some in the head,\u201d and he rubbed his hands over his head\nand face, \u201csome in the arms,\u201d and he brushed his hands down his arms,\n\u201csome in the legs,\u201d and he passed his hands down his legs, and so over\nthe whole of his body until he had either driven the flies and\nmosquitoes away, or had killed them; but he said, as he slapped his\nsides: \u201cnot one of us was killed.\u201d\n\nIn a short time he was again covered with mosquitoes and flies, and\nagain he told the Leopard of the great fight, and as he did so he\nbrushed off the irritating flies. The Leopard glared at him, and as he\nsprang on him he cried in rage: \u201cYou are breaking my law and killing my\ninsects.\u201d\n\nBut as the Gazelle darted away he shouted: \u201cOh no, I was only telling\nyou where the people were wounded.\u201d\n\n                                  XXXI\n                  The Leopard is Badly Tricked by the\n                         Gazelle, Rat and Frog\n\n\nThe Leopard owned a fine plum-tree,[76] and the Gazelle, while out\nwalking one day, discovered it, and, noticing the fruit was ripe, he\nthrew up a rope which caught on one of the main branches, and was soon\namong the plums. He put some in a bag, and as he turned to descend he\nsaw a Squirrel and her nest on one of the forks of the tree. The\nSquirrel observed the Gazelle, and as she was the Leopard\u2019s watchman she\ntold the Leopard all about the theft.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n  The tree in the story is the nsafu (_canuniensis_) the fruit of which\n  is date shape, but the tree is like a plum in shape, etc.\n\nAs the Gazelle was returning home he saw a Palm-rat weaving, and,\nthrowing a plum at him, it broke the web, whereupon the Palm-rat turned\nangrily on the Gazelle; but on receiving some plums and tasting them his\nanger passed away, and he asked where he could procure some more. The\nGazelle told him to make a bag without any bottom to it, and in the\nmorning he was to come directly he heard his whistle.\n\nThe next morning, directly he heard the Gazelle\u2019s whistle, the Palm-rat\npicked up his bottomless bag and joined the Gazelle. After a short walk\nthey reached the plum-tree, and the Gazelle said: \u201cShut your eyes while\nI climb.\u201d The Palm-rat obeyed the order, and the Gazelle went to his\nrope and climbed the tree.\n\nThe Palm-rat asked: \u201cHow am I to climb the tree?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, knock your head against the tree, and you will soon be up,\u201d replied\nthe Gazelle.\n\nSo the Palm-rat put his claws into the tree and knocked his head against\nit (that is why he has a swollen head), and at last reached the\nbranches.\n\nThe Gazelle told him to pull all the green plums, which he stupidly did,\nand when he put them in his bag they fell through to the ground. When\nthe Gazelle had plucked all the ripe plums he wanted, he said to the\nPalm-rat: \u201cLook and see if the Squirrel is on that fork of the tree.\u201d\n\nThe Palm-rat saw the Squirrel, and while he was looking the Gazelle\nthrew a plum at her, and she cried out: \u201cOh, Leopard, come quickly, the\nGazelle is pulling all your plums!\u201d\n\nWhen the Leopard heard this he came running to the tree, and called out:\n\u201cCome down, and I\u2019ll cure you of your sickness.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d replied the Gazelle; \u201cmy mother has every kind of medicine\nin her house.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome down,\u201d shouted the Leopard, \u201cand I\u2019ll cure you of the shakes.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy mother has a remedy for that complaint,\u201d responded the Gazelle, but\nhe continued, \u201cI\u2019ll come down, and when you hear a thud you will know I\nhave alighted on the ground, but when you hear a patter you will know it\nis my bag.\u201d\n\nThe Gazelle threw his bag, and it fell with a thud, and the Leopard,\nthinking it was the Gazelle, rushed out to find only the bag, while the\nGazelle jumped down the other side and got away.\n\nThe Palm-rat tried to follow the tricky example of the Gazelle, but not\nbeing clever threw himself down with a thud, and was caught and punished\nby the Leopard. The Gazelle played off this trick on several other\nanimals, who were caught one by one by the Leopard and punished for\nstealing his plums.\n\nOne day the Gazelle took the Nkumbi[77] with him to rob the plum-tree.\nOn reaching it he told the Nkumbi to shut his eyes while he climbed the\ntree, but the Nkumbi only pretended to do so, and, seeing the means by\nwhich the Gazelle mounted the tree, he followed in the same way by the\nhanging rope.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n  A very large and clever rat.\n\nThe Gazelle tied up the bottom of his bag, the Nkumbi did the same; the\nGazelle plucked the ripe plums, so did the Nkumbi. The \u2019cuteness of the\nNkumbi was equal to the smartness of the Gazelle.\n\nSays the Gazelle: \u201cLet us throw some plums into that nest.\u201d They did so,\nand roused the Squirrel, who cried out to the Leopard. The Leopard came\nquickly. \u201cCome down here, and I\u2019ll teach you,\u201d he shouted.\n\n\u201cOh no,\u201d said the Gazelle, \u201cmy mother is able to teach me; but if you\nhear a thud, you will know it is I, and if a patter, it is my bag.\u201d\n\nAgain the Gazelle escaped by this ruse, leaving the Nkumbi in the\nplum-tree. The Nkumbi, however, deceived the Leopard by the same trick,\nand got safely out of the tree to the ground; but the Leopard chased him\nto the mouth of his hole, and then began to dig the Nkumbi out with his\nclaws, but was not able to do so; and seeing a Frog he said: \u201cYou are\nvery strong, are you not?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d replied the Frog; \u201cI am a very strong person.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Leopard; \u201cjust watch this hole, and, whatever you\ndo, you must not let the Nkumbi get out while I go home for a hoe to dig\nhim out of his run.\u201d\n\nThe Leopard went off, and the Frog sat down on his haunches to watch the\nhole. By and by the Nkumbi came to the mouth of the hole eating some\npeanuts. \u201cUncle Nkumbi,\u201d said the Frog, \u201cgive me some of what you are\neating.\u201d\n\n\u201cOpen your eyes wide, and come close,\u201d replied the Nkumbi, and at once\nhe changed the peanuts in his mouth for some pepper, and when the Frog\ncame near enough, he blew the chewed pepper right into his eyes. The\nFrog fell over with the pain, and then ran straight to a stream to wash\nthe pepper-juice out of his eyes.\n\nThe Nkumbi took the opportunity to escape from his hole into the forest.\nWhen the Frog had washed the pepper out of his eyes he returned to watch\nthe empty hole, and shortly after the Leopard arrived with the hoe, and\nasked the Frog: \u201cIs he still in there?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the Frog, \u201cbut I had a lot of trouble with him, and,\nbeing very strong, I was able to put him back into the hole.\u201d\n\nThe Leopard began to dig the hole, and the Frog drew off a little way on\nthe side nearest the stream. \u201cHere is an opening,\u201d said the Frog.\n\n\u201cStop it up,\u201d growled the Leopard.\n\nThe Frog shifted nearer the water. \u201cHere is another outlet,\u201d said the\nFrog.\n\n\u201cStop that up also,\u201d replied the Leopard.\n\nThe Frog jumped nearer still to the stream. \u201cOh, here is another hole,\u201d\nhe said, and with that he sprang flop into the water, and cried out: \u201cI\nwatched the hole, but the Nkumbi blew some pepper into my eyes, and\nwhile I was washing it out of them he escaped.\u201d\n\nWhen the Leopard heard that he was so angry that he tried to block up\nthe stream so as to catch the Frog, but the Frog was too quick for him,\nand as he escaped down-stream he cried out: \u201cOh, he threw pepper into my\neyes, and ran off into the forest.\u201d\n\nThe big Leopard was fooled all round by the little animals--the Gazelle,\nNkumbi, and Frog. From that day the Frog\u2019s eyes have bulged out, and he\nis always trying to wash the pepper out of them in the streams and\nrivulets.\n\nXXXII\n\nWhy the Small-ants live in the Houses\n\nThere are many species of ants in Congo, but there are two kinds--the\nSmall-ant and the Driver-ant--that have most to do with the people; the\nformer are to be found in the houses, and it is difficult to keep food\nfree of them, and the latter are the scavengers that scour the country\nin search of carrion; their bite is fierce and tenacious, and is dreaded\nby all who come into contact with them. The characteristics of the two\nspecies of ants are turned to account in the story.\n\nOne day the Driver-ants and the Small-ants were assembled together, and\nthe former said: \u201cWe will govern the country as chiefs.\u201d But the\nSmall-ants objected to this arrangement, and asserted that they were\nquite able to rule the land. The Driver-ants laughed at them for having\nno strength, and while they were discussing the matter an Elder came\nalong and inquired into the matter, and on being told the whole affair,\nhe said: \u201cYou Driver-ants, and you Small-ants, go, and the first who\nbrings a piece of the skin of a man shall rule over the country.\u201d\n\nThe Driver-ants went off and waited at a crossroad, and directly they\nsaw a person coming they crowded out and bit his legs. When the man felt\nthe bites he ran off a little way and pulled the Driver-ants off his\nlegs and killed them, and consequently they were not able to procure a\npiece of skin, although many died in the attempt.\n\nThe Small-ants went into a person\u2019s house and sat there quietly waiting;\nand by and by a man arrived who, while returning from his work, had hit\nhis foot against a stone and raised the skin. He took a knife from the\nwall and sat down and cut off the loose skin, which he threw away. The\nwatching Ants soon found the piece of skin, and carried it to the place\nwhere they had held the discussion with the Driver-ants, and gave it to\nthe Elder as a proof of their wisdom and strength. The Elder gave the\ndecision in their favour, and told them that they were the rulers of the\nland. This is the reason why the Small-ants live in houses, while the\nDriver-ants have to live in the bush.\n\nXXXIII\n\nThe Son who tried to outwit his Father\n\nA son said to his father one day: \u201cI will hide, and you will not be able\nto find me.\u201d The father replied: \u201cHide wherever you like,\u201d and then he\nwent into his house to rest.\n\nThe son saw a three-kernel peanut, and changed himself into one of the\nkernels; a fowl coming along picked up the peanut and swallowed it; and\na wild bush-cat caught and ate the fowl; and a dog met, chased, and ate\nthe bush-cat. After a little time the dog was swallowed by a python,\nthat, having eaten its meal, went to the river and was snared in a\nfish-trap.\n\nThe father searched for his son, and, not seeing him, went to look at\nhis fish-trap. On pulling it to the riverside he found a large python in\nit. He opened it and saw a dog inside, in which he found a bush-cat, and\non opening that he discovered a fowl, from which he took the peanut, and\nbreaking its shell he there revealed his son. The son was so dumbfounded\nthat he never tried again to outwit his father.\n\n                                 INDEX\n                              (TO PART I)\n\n          A\n\n Alphabet, native learning the, 254\n Attempts by natives to rid themselves of sickness and death, 283, 284\n Attendants on the King, 145\n\n          B\n\n Bakula takes a fancy to me, 25;\n   his character, 25;\n   his charms, 35;\n   tells good stories, 39;\n   questions the visitors, 59;\n   strikes at the white man, 65;\n   goes with Satu on a visit, 74;\n   is cut in a drunken row, 99;\n   wound dressed by white teacher, 100;\n   belauds the chief, 105;\n   shakes hands with the teacher, 107;\n   tells his name to his white friend, 111;\n   is astonished at the teaching, 112;\n   accompanies an embassy, 131;\n   goes to see the white man, 133;\n   sees the King of Congo, 137;\n   learns about the King\u2019s Court, 145;\n   sees the station at work, 148;\n   afraid to go into school, 152;\n   sees a witch-doctor performing, 158;\n   attends the white teacher during the Sunday work, 162;\n   exposure of a witch-doctor, 166;\n   returns to his town, 171;\n   begins to lose faith in fetishes, 197;\n   charged with stealing, 241;\n   repudiates charms and \u201cmedicine men,\u201d 241;\n   cloth found in his house, 243;\n   refuses to bribe the nganga, 246;\n   is burnt by the boiling oil, 248;\n   runs away to mission station, 250;\n   learns the alphabet, 254;\n   turned out of a town, 258;\n   prays for the people, 259;\n   convicted of sin, 260;\n   joins the Church, 264;\n   returns to his town, 265;\n   starts a school, 268;\n   school-house destroyed, 272;\n   accused of witchcraft, 289;\n   is guarded through the night, 290;\n   takes the ordeal, 291;\n   murdered, 291;\n   is buried by Tumbu, 292\n Baobab bark juice rubbed on by witch-doctor, 248\n Baptismal service, 331\n Bartering for native produce, 235\n Betrothal bonds, releasing from, 179;\n   customs connected with, 186\n Brass rod, made in factory, 1;\n   shipped to Congo, 2;\n   travels up river, 6;\n   sold for rubber and ivory, 12;\n   travels overland, 13;\n   Bakula takes a fancy to it, 25;\n   Tumbu takes it from Bakula\u2019s corpse, 293;\n   Tumbu buries it, 294;\n   Mikula discovers and wears it, 295\n Burial, christian, 201\n Bush-burning, 194;\n   guarding a town before the bush is burnt, 195;\n   laws relating to, 203;\n   Dimbula breaks the law, 203\n\n          C\n\n Candidates for membership, 319, 321, 329\n Charms, sacrifices to, 26, 36, 70;\n   various purposes of, 35\n Chief\u2019s house, 22\n Chief dies, 23;\n   orgy at funeral of, 24;\n   bearers struggle with corpse, 31;\n   buried at sunset, 31;\n   barbarity of a, 163;\n   way of dealing with a, 273\n Christianity a blessing to women, 310\n Christmas festival, 327\n Church accounts, 334, 336;\n   membership, not easily admitted to, 319, 321, 329;\n   roll, 318, 334, 336\n Collections at services, 299, 309, 312, 316\n Communion services, 298, 300, 338\n Comparisons--old life and new, 297, 301, 310, 316, 317\n Congo River, its width, 7;\n   its current, 7, 11;\n   fishing in the, 8\n Conservatism of the Congo people, 267\n Conundrums, various, 9, 124, 125\n Corpse, fighting for, 218\n\nD\n\n Dance called Sala, 103\n Dangers of the road, 229, 231, 317\n Deacons, election of, 332;\n   native, 298, 332, 334, 339\n Death, natives attempt to free themselves of, 283, 284\n Deficit wiped out, 334\n Devil\u2019s Cauldron, 11\n Diagnosing by native \u201cdoctor,\u201d 275\n Dimbula breaks the rules about bush-burning, 203;\n   insults Satu, 204;\n   is boastful, 205;\n   accepts the bullet, 213;\n   sues for peace, 220;\n   pays indemnity, 221\n Drums, electrical effect of, 103\n Drunken bouts, 30, 99\n\nF\n\n Fighting, mode of, 217\n Fines imposed are shared, 226\n Forest town of spirits, 31, 32\n Funeral orgy, 30\n\n          G\n\n Games, native, \u201cAntelope\u201d game, 76;\n   with the drum Sala, 103;\n   make-believe games, 114;\n   \u201cBiti\u201d and needle, 115;\n   with canna seeds, 116;\n   hoop, 118;\n   mbele (or knife), 119;\n   various, 121\n Generosity of native Christians, 316, 334, 336\n Gifts at a funeral, 27\n Gin and rum, 13\n Goat! Goat! or redeeming a slave, 191\n Governing, 223;\n   making a new law, 224\n Greetings, 232\n\n          H\n\n Harvest home! 338\n Harvest thanksgiving, 309, 312\n Houses, 34\n Hunters take blood of Antelope to the great hunter, 207\n Hunting, 194;\n   charm for, 197;\n   visit to great hunter, 198\n\n          I\n\n Interpreter to Trader, 235\n\n          J\n\n Journey begins, my overland, 12\n\n          K\n\n King of Congo murders his mother, 106\n King of Congo, 131;\n   calls the embassy, 134;\n   his courtyard, 135;\n   his palace, 136;\n   is pleased with the presents, 137;\n   his name, 137;\n   size of, 138;\n   goes to dinner with the white man, 139;\n   eats a large dinner, 141;\n   sees magic lantern, 143;\n   his Majesty\u2019s Court, 145;\n   told to go to St. Catherine, 167\n Kroo boys, their work on steamer, 3;\n   their curious names, 4;\n   give white men names, 4, 7;\n   boy tries to steal me, 5;\n   carries me out of the store, 5\n\n          L\n\n Law, making a new, 224;\n   peculiarity of native laws, 225;\n   fines imposed for breaking a law are shared, 226\n Leopard, ceremony after killing a, 176\n Life, petty and mean native, 58\n\n          M\n\n Markets, 227;\n   risks of attending, 229\n Marriage, Christian, 307;\n   releasing a niece from, 179;\n   sham struggle at, 189;\n   money, paying, 182, 187;\n   feast at, 189;\n   promises, 189\n Martyrs for the cause, 305, 306\n Mavakala, accused of witchcraft, 52;\n   denies his guilt, 52;\n   reason of the false charge, 53;\n   takes the ordeal, 55;\n   vomits it, 56;\n   other tests forced on him, 56;\n   is murdered, 57;\n   carcass left on hilltop, 57\n \u201cMedicine man,\u201d makes fetish for white man, 13;\n   visited by Satu, 20;\n   makes a charm for Satu, 21;\n   fails to cure Satu\u2019s brother, 22;\n   searches for the witch, 49;\n   mode of procedure, 51;\n   accuses Mavakala of witchcraft, 52;\n   makes a luck fetish, 69;\n   rubs out evil spirits, 158;\n   exposure of, 166;\n   makes a hunting charm, 197;\n   makes a war fetish and charms, 214;\n   performs peace rites, 221;\n   makes trading charm, 251;\n   asks Bakula for a bribe, 247;\n   is fooled by school-boys, 263;\n   models of diagnosing, 275;\n   various kinds of, 274, 277, 280, 281\n Mikula finds the brass rod, 275;\n   takes services, 297;\n   conducts a funeral, 201;\n   his marriage, 307;\n   receives the gifts, 309;\n   talks to an inquirer, 320.\n Mission station, working of, 148;\n   buying food, 149;\n   best way of bartering for goods, 150;\n   school, 151;\n   repairing, 153;\n   boys\u2019 work in the garden, 154;\n   rules on a, 155;\n   talk with the boys, 156;\n   Saturday\u2019s work, 157;\n   Sunday\u2019s work--Sunday school, 159;\n   service, 161;\n   visit to a town, 162;\n   talk with the King, 164;\n   employments, 257\n Missionary meeting, native, 335\n Missionary, their talk about, 17;\n   is coming, 60;\n   driven from the town, 66;\n   is defended by Tonzeka, 93-97;\n   dresses the wounds, 100;\n   converses with Satu and his followers, 107-110;\n   native name for, 90;\n   visits Bakula, 270\n Mother of Bakula falls ill, 274\n\n          N\n\n Names given to Kroo boys, 4;\n   white men, 4;\n   missionaries, 90\n Ndoki, an evil bewitching spirit, 22, 23, 278, 281, 282, 283\n Nkwiya, spirit that can leave a person and travel without the body,\n    232, 281\n\n          O\n\n Omens, kicking the foot, 19, 85;\n   snake on the road, 74;\n   cutting ordeal bark, 55\n Out-station work, 296;\n   Sunday at an, 297;\n   Communion at an, 298\n\n          P\n\n Pawn, redeeming a, 178\n Peace, ceremony of making, 220\n Pictures, native learns to look at, 255\n Plaited-Beard warns my companions against white men, 16;\n   angers the people against the coming white man, 60;\n   abuses a visitor, 62;\n   accompanies Satu, 74;\n   kicks his foot and returns to his town, 85;\n   is sent on an embassy, 131;\n   refuses to meet the white man, 172;\n   is not successful in hunting, 208;\n   accuses Bakula, 208;\n   reinvigorates his charm, 210;\n   is made Nenkondo, 224;\n   his crockery is broken, 239;\n   charges Bakula with stealing, 241;\n   submits to the ordeal, 247;\n   guards Bakula during the night, 290\n Prohibition of luck-giver, 71\n Proverbs, 33, 39\n Pudding, way to eat, 38\n\n          R\n\n Redeeming a pawn, 178;\n   a slave, 191\n Riddles, various, 9, 124, 125\n Ridge-pole, taking of chief\u2019s, 219\n Road, dangers of the, 229, 231, 316\n Rules of the road, 234\n\n          S\n\n Sacrifices to charms, 26, 36, 70\n St. Catherine fails to help the King, 167\n Satu knocks his toes, 19;\n   bad omen, 20;\n   visits \u201cmedicine man,\u201d 20;\n   arrives just in time to see his dying brother, 22;\n   arranges burial of his brother, 23;\n   receives the mourners, 26,\n     and their gifts, 27;\n   stops a serious quarrel, 63;\n   orders a luck fetish, 69;\n   goes to visit a chief, 73;\n   his toilet and dress, 86;\n   visits the white man, 106;\n   a long talk, 107-110;\n   afraid of witchcraft, 111;\n   a title falls to him, 131;\n   sends embassy to King, 131;\n   receives his title, 173;\n   redeems his brother, 178;\n   releases his niece from a hateful marriage, 179;\n   his quarrel with Dimbula, 203;\n   demands an apology, 205;\n   goes to war, 212;\n   accused of bewitching a slave, 219;\n   helps Bakula, 242\n Selfishness, heathen, 317\n Sickness, attempt to clear country of, 283, 284\n Smoking a chief, 273\n Superstitions about white men:\n   buying bodies, 16;\n   get cloth from the sea, 17;\n   wickedness of white teachers, 17, 18;\n   a luck-fowl dies, 271\n\n          T\n\n Teachers, need for native, 300;\n   teaching, 303\n Title falls to Satu, 131;\n   ceremony of giving the, 174\n Titles of King\u2019s attendants, 145\n Toilet before meals, 28;\n   before entering a town, 86\n Tolls for bridges, 234\n Tonzeka receives Satu, 87;\n   gives him good entertainment, 90;\n   how to settle a palaver, 91;\n   defends the white teacher, 93-97;\n   is disturbed by the teaching, 95;\n   takes Satu to the white teacher, 106\n Trade goods taken for rubber, ivory, etc., 13\n Trading, 230;\n   fetish for helping, 231;\n   arrival of traders, 234\n Treatment of native chief, 273\n Tumbu sold for food, 43;\n   tells a story, 43;\n   wounded, 217;\n   witnesses for Bakula, 244;\n   tries to comfort Bakula, 249;\n   buries Bakula, 292;\n   takes me from his friend\u2019s body, 293\n\n          V\n\n Visitors arrive, 59;\n   abused by Plaited-Beard, 62\n\n          W\n\n War fetish is made, 214\n Wardrobes, variegated, 87\n Welcomed to the station, 303, 311\n White men, native talk about, 13\n White man\u2019s fetish, 13;\n   puts weight under scale, 14;\n   buys banana for rubber, 14;\n   cheats in paying out beads, 14;\n   is rubbed with cow-itch, 15;\n   wants to steal ivory trumpets but is shaved, 32;\n   accused of being dirty, 62;\n   why they live under the sea, 108;\n   will steal our country, 172\n White woman take services, 314\n Witch-doctors, names of--\n   Kimbaji-mbaji = to-morrow, 21\n   Ngang\u2019a Ngombo = witch-finder, 50, 288\n   Ngol\u2019a nkasa = giver of the ordeal, 55;\n   ngang\u2019a zumbi = luck-giver, 69;\n   ngang\u2019a nkongo = giver of hunting skill, 194, 210\n   Kimpovela, one who speaks on behalf of others, 198\n     prayer of, 199, 207\n   Nganga of war, 214\n   Nganga of peace, 221\n   Ngang\u2019a mpungu = giver of trading and general good luck, 231\n   Nganga who gives oil ordeal, 246\n   Nganga to destroy evil spirit, 363\n   Nganga a wuka = healer, 274\n   Nganga a moko, 277\n   Nganga with traps, 280\n   Nganga a bitodi who spoke to spirits, 281\n   Nganga various, 284\n Women regarded as inferior, 30, 38;\n   condition bettered by Christianity, 310;\n   white woman takes services, 314\n\n           _Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                       ==JAMES CHALMERS==\n               ==His Autobiography and Letters.==\n\n                   By the late RICHARD LOVETT, M.A.,\n              Author of \u201cJames Gilmour of Mongolia,\u201d etc.\n\nSeventh Impression. With 2 Maps and 8 Portrait Illustrations, 511 pages.\n    Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. In padded paste grain, round\n    corners, gilt edges, 6s. 6d. net.\n\n\"Altogether no brighter or more skilful narrative of missionary\nlife--from the subjective as well as from the objective point of\nview--has ever been published than this.\"--_The Spectator._\n\n\"It is the best missionary biography that has appeared during the last\ntwenty years. It is a book that will live and take rank as a missionary\nclassic. It is full of thrills, tremulous with pathos, glowing in its\npassion, and sublime in its tragic ending. A book to be read and re-read\nwhen the enthusiasm of humanity wanes, and we are tempted to let\nfireside heroics take the place of action.\"--_The Daily News._\n\n                        ==GRIFFITH JOHN==\n             ==The Story of Fifty Years in China.==\n\n                      By R. WARDLAW THOMPSON, D.D.\n         (Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society).\n\nFifth Impression. With Two Maps and Sixteen other full-page\n    Illustrations. Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 568 pages, 3s. 6d.\n\n\"No one can read this story without being inwardly refreshed. The mere\nadventure side of it is stirring to a degree. It reveals a Pauline\ndaring and endurance.\"--_Christian World._\n\n\"The story of Dr. John\u2019s life is a very fascinating one, and it is told\nby Dr. Wardlaw Thompson with much literary skill, and excellent taste\nand judgment.\"--_The Westminster Gazette._\n\n                      ==W. HOLMAN BENTLEY==\n          ==The Life and Labours of a Congo Pioneer.==\n                      By his Widow, H. M. BENTLEY.\n\nWith a Photogravure Portrait, Map, and 19 other Illustrations. 466\n    pages, demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. net (by post, 6s. 5d.).\n\n\"This highly interesting memoir forms a worthy tribute to the honourable\nlife and devoted labours of a notable pioneer of Christianity in Darkest\nAfrica, who gave twenty-seven years to missionary work upon the\nCongo.... The book forms an admirably interesting life-story of\nsuccessful mission work.\"--_The Standard._\n\n\"Important in itself as the record of a notable, heroic and consecrated\nlife, important also in the influence which it is sure to have on scores\nof young men and women in our Churches.\"--_The Baptist Times._\n\n                           ==TAMATE==\n        ==The Life and Adventures of a Christian Hero.==\n                    By the late RICHARD LOVETT, M.A.\n\nWith 2 Maps and 15 full-page Illustrations. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt,\n    3s. 6d.\n\n\"Every boy and girl ought to possess it ... a vivid and inspiring\nnarrative.\"--_British Weekly._\n\n\"Tamate emerges from these pages a picturesque personality, with the\nhalo of true romance about him.... Mr. Lovett pictures the man as boys\nlove to have their heroes pictured.... A book which boys will relish and\nadults will enjoy.\"--_Christian World._\n\n\"Not all the ingenuity which is spent on the making of blood-curdling\ntales could devise anything so strange, so terrible as the scenes in\nwhich Tamate bore his part, a part of unfailing courage and\ncheerfulness. He was another Ulysses, shrinking from no danger, but with\na presence of Good Counsel always at his side.\"--_Spectator._\n\n                  ==PIONEERING IN NEW GUINEA==\n\n                           By JAMES CHALMERS.\n\nRevised Edition. With 7 Illustrations, large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s.\n    6d.\n\n\"We do not remember to have ever read a more interesting description of\na savage people.\"--_Glasgow Herald._\n\n\"The work is an admirable one, designed and carried out with skill and\njudgment. The illustrations form a prominent feature among the many\nattractions of a book deserving the most careful perusal and\nconsideration.\"--_Morning Post._\n\n              ==WORK AND ADVENTURE IN NEW GUINEA==\n\n                           By JAMES CHALMERS.\n\nNew Edition. With 7 Illustrations, large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d.\n\nThis work describes seven years of work along the South-Eastern coast of\nNew Guinea. Mr. Chalmers knew more of this country than any other\nEuropean. He spoke the native languages, and his missionary journeys\ngave him much knowledge of native habits, &c. He always travelled\nunarmed, and was several times in imminent peril. The work abounds in\ninteresting and thrilling incidents.\n\n\"An admirable sketch of life and work in New Guinea, where the triumphs\nof Christianity are most indisputably shown.... The book is one of very\ngeneral interest, and should find readers in all ranks.\"--_Yorkshire\nPost._\n\n                         ==JAMES LEGGE==\n                   ==Missionary and Scholar.==\n                  By his Daughter, HELEN EDITH LEGGE.\n\nWith Photogravure Portrait and twenty-two other Illustrations. Large\n    crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d.\n\n\"There is not a dry page in this most fascinating Biography.\"--_Dundee\nCourier._\n\n\"It is an interesting book and a valuable contribution to the history of\nChinese missions.\"--_Athen\u00e6um._\n\n\"A story well worth telling, and sure to find many appreciative\nreaders.\"--_Christian World._\n\n                      ==THOMAS WAKEFIELD==\n         ==Missionary and Geographical Pioneer in East==\n                     ==Equatorial Africa.==\n                          By E. S. WAKEFIELD.\n\nSecond Edition. With Portrait and 10 other Illustrations. Large crown\n    8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d.\n\n\"From beginning to end the work is of absorbing interest.\"--_The\nChristian._\n\n\"No one with a love for the foreign missionary cause will read this book\nwithout a feeling of profound thankfulness for such a devoted worker. We\nmost heartily commend the work to readers of all ages.\"--_Methodist\nTimes._\n\n\"The story is romantic, adventurous, exciting, pathetic, and tragic by\nturns.\"--_Daily News._\n\n\"The information conveyed, the vivid descriptions given, and the heroic\nlife portrayed, all in a style singularly appropriate and suggestive,\nmake the book delightful reading.\"--_Yorkshire Observer._\n\n                        ==HENRY MARTYN==\n                     ==Saint and Scholar.==\n              First Modern Missionary to the Mohammedans.\n                    By GEORGE SMITH, C.I.E., LL.D.,\n   Author of \u201cLife of William Carey,\u201d \u201cLife of Alexander Duff,\u201d etc.\n\nWith a Photogravure Portrait and 9 full-page Illustrations, 580 pages.\n    Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s.\n\n\"Dr. Smith fills up with healthy human detail what before lay in bare\noutline. We have here a Martyn who can talk, laugh, and fall in love\nlike other people, but who, while relating himself wholesomely in this\nway to the rest of his fellows, in what was special to his character and\nwork, still rises to heights that pierce the heavens.\"--_Christian\nWorld._\n\n\"The author knows his subject well, has arranged his materials\nskilfully, and carries the reader pleasantly along to the\nend.\"--_Spectator._\n\n                     ==THE BAGANDA AT HOME==\n         With one hundred pictures of life and work in Uganda.\n                          By C. W. HATTERSLEY.\n\n80 full-page Illustrations, demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 5s. net.\n\n    Mr. Hattersley knows more about Uganda and its people than any\n    author who is just now before the public. Would you know the\n    difference between the Uganda of Mtesa or the Uganda of King Daudi;\n    or how the British administer Uganda; or how the Baganda live from\n    day to day; or how the missionaries have given the people a system\n    of education; or how they marry in Uganda; or how the\n    sleeping-sickness is slaying its thousands; or how the Gospel has\n    won some of the most striking results in the history of Christendom?\n    Then this book will tell you.\n\n                    ==UGANDA BY PEN AND CAMERA==\n                            By C. W. HATTERSLEY.\n\nSecond Impression. With a Preface by T. F. VICTOR BUXTON, 34\n    Illustrations, large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s.\n\n    \"The narrative is a vivid and soul-stirring record of one of the\n    most remarkable movements in the annals of missionary\n    enterprise.\"--_Christian._\n\n    \"Mr. Hattersley\u2019s book is full of interesting details, from\n    which one may get a clear idea of the country and its\n    people.\"--_Spectator._\n\n                       ==AMONG THE TIBETANS==\n                      By ISABELLA L. BISHOP, F.R.G.S.,\n                 Author of \u201cUnbeaten Tracks in Japan,\u201d etc.\n\nWith 22 Illustrations, crown 8vo, cloth, 1s. 6d.; also in paper cover,\n    1s.\n\n    \"This is one of the brightest, most life-like, and most perfectly\n    balanced of Mrs. Bishop\u2019s works.\"--_Spectator._\n\n    \"A delightful book of travel, characterised by all the distinguished\n    writer\u2019s purity of style, vividness of description, and attention to\n    detail, which make her books so interesting and useful.\"--_Record._\n\n                     ==THE CROSS IN THE LAND OF THE\n                               TRIDENT.==\n           ==Or, India from a Missionary Point of View.==\n                            By HARLAN P. BEACH.\n\n                           Crown 8vo, cloth, 1s.\n\n    \"The trident, the three-pronged fork, which appears in every Siva\n    temple in India, has come to be regarded as the symbol of the Hindu\n    religion. This little book deals with missionary work in India, but\n    is in no sense a narrative. It, however, contains much matter which\n    will prove attractive to ordinary readers.\"--_English Churchman._\n\n                    LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.\n\n\n                             Transcriber\u2019s Note\n\n    Endnote 24, which merely cross-references endnote 19, is not\n    referred to directly anywhere in the text.\n\n    Errors deemed most likely to be the printer\u2019s have been corrected,\n    and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the\n    original.\n\n  82.26    [\u201c]Next morning the Wine-gatherer              Added.\n  163      Mbumb[u/a]\u2019s record                            Replaced.\n  395.6    [\u201c]and you will be the tenth.\u201d                 Added.\n  396.8    [\u201c]but where is the money?\u201d                    Added.\n  466.3    models of diagno[s]ing                         Inserted.\n  467.27   takes [me] from his friend\u2019s body              _sic_","title":"Congo life and folklore","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":107449}