{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69650/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69650","id":"gutenberg_69650","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69650","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Congo (Democratic Republic)","Ethnology -- Congo (Democratic Republic)","Folklore -- Congo (Democratic Republic)"],"text":"AMONG CONGO CANNIBALS\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BOLOKI MAN AND HIS WIFE\n Notice the cicatrice on the man\u2019s forehead and on the woman\u2019s stomach.\n The brass ring round her neck in some cases weighs as much as 28\n lbs. In her hand she is holding a paddle.\n]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n AMONG\n CONGO CANNIBALS\n\n\n\n EXPERIENCES, IMPRESSIONS, AND ADVENTURES\n DURING A THIRTY YEARS\u2019 SOJOURN AMONGST\n THE BOLOKI AND OTHER CONGO TRIBES\n WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR\n CURIOUS HABITS, CUSTOMS\n RELIGION, & LAWS\n\n\n\n BY\n JOHN H. WEEKS\n\n CORRESPONDENT TO THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE AND TO\n THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY\n AUTHOR OF \u201cCONGO LIFE AND FOLK-LORE,\u201d &C. &C.\n\n\n\n\n WITH 54 ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP\n\n\n\n\n PHILADELPHIA\n J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY\n LONDON: SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LTD.\n 1913\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n PREFACE\n\n\nThe object of the author throughout these pages has been to give an\naccount of his experiences among the Boloki (or Bangala), and a\ndescription of the manners, habits, customs, etc., of this interesting\npeople amidst whom he lived in closest intimacy as a missionary. The\nauthor went to the Congo in 1881, hence his residence in what has been\naptly called \u201cDarkest Africa\u201d covers a period of thirty years\u2014fifteen of\nwhich were spent in other parts of the Congo, and fifteen amongst the\nBoloki people. These pages, however, are not a record of missionary life\nand work, but a description of primitive life and native organizations,\nof African mythology, superstition, and witchcraft, and of barbarities\nthat are the natural outcome of the native\u2019s view of life.\n\nThe writer, from the very first days of his life amongst the Boloki\nfolk, kept extensive and careful notes of all that he saw and heard\naround him. The anthropology and folk-lore of the people have always\nbeen interesting subjects to him; and while reducing the language to\nwriting, a task which demanded a clear understanding of the various\nwords in use and the customs which they often describe, he was gaining\nan insight into the native life and mode of thought only vouchsafed to\nthose who have won the confidence of a savage people, and are living in\nclose and sympathetic touch with them.\n\nThe author has no particular anthropological axe to grind, but has tried\nto give in plain language what he has seen and heard, leaving to the\nreader the pleasure of forming his own theories. The reader of these\npages may rest assured that nothing is exaggerated or overcoloured. Had\nthe writer wished he could have described the appalling corruption of\nnative morals, the lack of innocency even among the very young, the\nabsence of virtue among the women, and the bestiality existing among the\nmen. One often felt the need of a moral bath to cleanse away the filth.\nAn intimate knowledge of the natives impresses one with this fact: that\nthe golden age has not yet dawned for them; and that the unsophisticated\nsavage living a _dolce far niente_ existence in happy surroundings has\nnot yet been discovered on the Congo.\n\nHad this been a book dealing with missionary effort among the Boloki,\nthe author would have made due mention of the honoured colleagues who so\nunstintingly shared his labours at Monsembe; but as it is an account of\nthe people themselves, their customs, habits, etc., this must be his\napology for an omission that is due not to forgetfulness of happy years\nof comradeship, spent amid many perils and hardships, but simply to the\nlimited scope of the narrative.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe author is much indebted to the Royal Anthropological Institute of\nGreat Britain and Ireland for permission to use his articles printed by\nthem in their Journal; and for a similar kindness extended to him by the\nCouncil of the Folk-Lore Society. His best thanks are also due to his\nformer colleagues, the Revs. C. J. Dodds and R. H. Kirkland, for their\nready permission to use the photographs bearing their names; to Prof. F.\nStarr, of Chicago University, for permitting the cats\u2019 cradles to be\nreproduced from the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences;\nand to Baron Haulleville, Directeur du Mus\u00e9e du Congo Belge, for\npermission to reproduce here the plates of some of the Congo Fish which\nwere made from specimens collected by the author. To A. R. Wright, Esq.,\nEditor of _Folk-Lore_, and to the publishers\u2019 Reader, the writer tenders\nhis hearty thanks for useful criticisms and helpful suggestions.\n\n JOHN H. WEEKS.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n\n Page\n\n IN SEARCH OF A NEW SITE 27\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n\n SETTLING AT MONSEMBE 38\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n\n STRUGGLES WITH THE LANGUAGE 48\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n\n EARLY DAYS AT MONSEMBE 65\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n\n ARTS AND CRAFTS AND NATIVE INDUSTRY 79\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n\n CUSTOMS: SOME CURIOUS AND SOME CRUEL 96\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n\n SOCIAL LIFE AND ORGANIZATION 107\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n\n MARRIAGE AND CHILD-BEARING 122\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n\n NATIVE EDUCATION 140\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n\n NATIVE GAMES AND PASTIMES 149\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n\n A PAGE OF NATIVE HISTORY 159\n\n\n CHAPTER XII\n\n NATIVE GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES 169\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n\n NATIVE LAWS, CRIMES, AND ORDEALS 179\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV\n\n MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE 197\n\n\n CHAPTER XV\n\n WAR 222\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI\n\n HUNTING 229\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII\n\n FISHING 235\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII\n\n RELIGIOUS BELIEFS 246\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX\n\n THE BOLOKI WORLD OF SPIRITS 261\n\n\n CHAPTER XX\n\n MEDICINE MEN AND THEIR MAGIC 276\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI\n\n TABOOS AND CURSES 294\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII\n\n NATIVE CHARMS AND THEIR USES 302\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII\n\n DEATH AND BURIAL 314\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV\n\n NATIVE DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT 324\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n APPENDIX\n\n\n NOTE 1.\u2014ON YEASTS, FERMENTS, AND BREAD-MAKING 335\n\n NOTE 2.\u2014ON THE BOLOKI VERB 336\n\n NOTE 3.\u2014ON THE BOLOKI METHOD OF COUNTING 339\n\n NOTE 4.\u2014ON BOLOKI RELATIONS OR KINSHIP 342\n\n NOTE 5.\u2014ON NATIVE DISEASES 345\n\n NOTE 6.\u2014ON THE HEALTH OF WHITE MEN ON THE 346\n CONGO\n\n INDEX 350\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n Page\n\n Boloki Man and his Wife _Frontispiece_\n\n A Meal \u201cen route\u201d 22\n\n A new type of Native House 22\n\n A Village Street in Monsembe 34\n\n Group of Mobeka Men 42\n\n Looking up Lake Libinza from Bosisera 42\n\n Our Boat and its Crew 76\n\n A Room in the Monsembe House 76\n\n Pots and Saucepans for sale, Libinza Lake 88\n\n A Native Woman of Wealth 90\n\n Burning Grass for making Salt 92\n\n A Boloki Drinking-bout 100\n\n A Boloki Woman and Child 102\n\n A Memorial to a deceased Head-man 104\n\n Boloki Women preparing an Evening Meal 116\n\n Group of Boloki Women at Mobeka 118\n\n Native Carpenter and his Workshop 150\n\n Model of a State Steamer 150\n\n Group of Libinza Folk 156\n\n Mangwende-a typical Boloki Head-man 160\n\n A Monitor 162\n\n A Native Hut 162\n\n White Ants\u2019 Nest 190\n\n Boloki Boys with Wine Jar 200\n\n Huts built for use during War time 222\n\n A Boloki Shield 224\n\n A Boloki Method of Beheading 226\n\n Tetrodon Mbu 236\n\n Gnathonemus Numenius 236\n\n Genyomyrus Donnyi 242\n\n Protopterus Dolloi 242\n\n A Mungala Creek Village 264\n\n A Libinza Charm for protecting a Village 278\n\n A Charm for increasing the Birth-Rate 290\n\n A Bopoto Fetish for ensuring good health to 308\n Twins\n\n A method of Beheading on the Upper Congo 316\n\n Head-man and his Wife 320\n\n Method of Securing a Prisoner 326\n\n A Boloki woman dressing her Husband\u2019s Hair 326\n\n The Author doctoring a Crocodile-bitten Hand 332\n\n Map for \"Among Congo Cannibals.\" 353\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n AMONG\n CONGO CANNIBALS\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION\n\n\nWhen living at San Salvador, in what is now known as the Portuguese\nCongo, in the early eighties of last century, the writer frequently\nconversed with the natives about the inhabitants of the far interior who\noccupied the banks of the Great Congo River and its tributaries. The San\nSalvador folk assured him that the natives of the mysterious hinterland\nwere \u201chalf fish and half human\u201d; that \u201cfrom the navel upwards they were\nhuman, and downwards they were fish.\u201d No arguments would alter their\nopinion, and no amount of good-natured raillery would shift them from\ntheir position; and they generally clinched the matter by saying: \u201cYou\nhave never seen these people; but some of our grandfathers saw them, and\ntold our fathers about them.\u201d\n\nOne night this general belief that up-river folk were \u201chalf fish and\nhalf human,\u201d received a severe shock from which, I think, it never\nrecovered. A caravan that had been trading towards Stanley Pool returned\nto San Salvador bringing with it a slave woman from far up the river.\nAbout midnight I was aroused to go and see this woman. No one understood\nher language; but she was making vigorous signs, and her owner was not\nsure whether the gestures indicated hunger, fatigue, or illness; so\nthere was nothing for it but to \u201ccall the white man to interpret the\nsigns,\u201d or, perchance to talk with her, \u201cfor these white men know\neverything, therefore let us send for one residing in our town.\u201d\n\nOn arriving at the hut we saw, by the flickering blaze of the fire, a\nfine, well-proportioned woman of splendid physique. Her hair was\narranged in a coiffure, coloured, stiffened, and kept in shape by being\nplastered with palm-oil, and the powder of burnt pea-nuts, or soot. It\nlooked as though she wore a shining black fez on her head, slightly\ntilted backwards. She was probably a Bambala, or a Kiteke woman of that\nbranch of the tribe that lived behind the riverine folk three hundred\nmiles above Stanley Pool.\n\nThe signs were interpreted as denoting some stomach trouble, and after a\nlittle medicine had been given we heard no more about it. During the\nshort time she remained in the town she was the observed of all\nobservers\u2014a curiosity from afar; but her appearance killed once for all\n\u201cthe half human and half fish\u201d theory the San Salvador natives had so\nfondly held respecting the inhabitants of the Upper Congo.\n\nWhen in later years I went to live among the Bangalas on the Upper\nRiver, I found that they held as strange theories about the remoter\npeoples higher up, or north and south of them. They would tell of\nmonsters down south whose chief was a woman[1] with a white skin that\nshone so fiercely that the eyes of those who looked on her were\nscorched; or of people away north who lived in trees and ate raw flesh,\netc., because they did not know how to make a fire; or of folk far away\nin the watery west who lived half their time in the water and had webbed\nfeet like ducks. It would seem as though folk of all climes, of all\nages, and of all degrees of civilization have amused themselves by\npeopling unknown regions with mythical monsters\u2014Cyclops, men whose heads\ndo grow beneath their shoulders, centaurs, mermaids, etc., and that even\nthe savages of barbarous Africa beguiled the long evenings around their\nfires by conjuring up freaks in nature, like the more learned ancients,\nto inhabit the countries beyond their ken.\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n Had the fact that some portions of South Africa were governed by a\n woman\u2014Queen Victoria\u2014filtered through the tribes in this distorted\n fashion?\n\nThere is another peculiarity of the natives, worthy, perhaps, of notice\nin this connection: those who live on the coast always refer to the\nhinterland folk in contemptuous terms as \u201cbush-people,\u201d i.e. ignorant,\ndull, slow in the up-take, or as we say, country yokels, clod-hoppers.\nWhen you arrive in the hinterland you find that dwellers in the large\ntowns speak of those who live in the villages and hamlets as\n\u201cbush-people,\u201d and they put into their tones such contempt that one is\nsurprised to find that they belong to the same tribe and speak the same\nlanguage.\n\nArriving on the Upper River you find also that all riverine peoples\nspeak of the interior folk\u2014those living away from the river\u2014as\n\u201cbush-people,\u201d and utterly beneath their notice. There is no more\nopprobrious phrase that can be flung at a native than to call him a\n\u201cbush-man\u201d in a language that he understands. He will resent it, and if\nthere is the slightest chance of success he will fight over it.\n\nIn June, 1890, after having lived on the Lower Congo at San Salvador and\nMatadi for nine years, I started for the Upper Congo for the purpose of\nseeking out a new site for missionary effort amongst the natives of a\nnew tribe and language. Between the last navigable point on the Lower\nCongo, Matadi, and the commencement of the navigable water on the Upper\nCongo, Stanley Pool, there were 240 miles of very bad, rough road.\n\nSince those days a Belgian company has built a narrow-gauge railway\nrunning between Matadi and Stanley Pool. I cannot pay too high a tribute\nto the splendid courage, persistency and engineering skill exhibited by\nthe Belgians who surveyed the land for the lines at the cost of many\nlives; and built the railway, conquering immense difficulties, and thus\nachieving for themselves a great and deserved financial success. If the\nCongo Free State had sent men of the same kind and class to govern the\ncountry that the railway company sent, and are sending, to build and\ncontrol the railway, we should never have heard about the terrible\natrocities that have taken place, nor should we have heard of\nmal-administration, cruel oppression, and the mutilation of wretched,\nunprotected natives.\n\nThe railway officials treat their native employees honourably and\nhonestly; and although hundreds of our native Christians work on the\nrailway as stokers, guards, brakesmen, storekeepers, and stationmasters,\nI have never heard a single complaint from them against their white\nmasters. They have to work hard, but they are treated justly, and they\nare sure of their pay; and our native Christians are always ready to\nsign contracts with the railway authorities for one or more years.\n\nIn the early eighties the road from Matadi to Stanley Pool was thickly\npopulated, and every hour or two brought the traveller to a large,\ndecently-kept town; but in 1890 the people were mostly gone, and the few\nvillages left on that long stretch of road were small and neglected, and\nthe few remaining people had a wretched, poverty-stricken appearance.\nWhy this change?\n\nIn the meantime the country had become the possession of the African\nInternational Association, which quickly changed into the Congo Free\nState with King Leopold II of Belgium as its ruler. Zanzibaris were\nimported during this period, armed with rifles, and sent up-country to\nfound and occupy the State stations on the Upper Congo. These soldiers\nno doubt were liberally provided with brass rods to buy native food on\ntheir march to Stanley Pool; but they found a people practically\nunarmed, for what were flint-lock guns in the hands of natives\u2014who\ndepended more on the magic of their \u201cmedicine men\u201d for straight shooting\nthan on the accuracy of their aim\u2014against weapons of precision in the\nhands of a trained and unscrupulous soldiery such as were the\nZanzibaris? The results were constant raiding on the part of the\nZanzibaris; looting of unprotected native huts; taking twenty rods\u2019\nworth of food and throwing down only two or three rods in payment; and\noften when there was a white officer in charge, and he was appealed to,\nno redress was obtained by the defrauded native, nor punishment meted\nout to the offender; but frequently the accuser was beaten from the\nwhite man\u2019s presence, thus adding physical suffering and insult to the\nloss of goods.\n\nThere is a probability that the natives were turbulent and swaggering in\ntheir attitude; but it was not until after the first outrages had been\ncommitted by the Zanzibaris that the natives retaliated on every\nfavourable occasion. From what I know of the folk from thirty years\u2019\nexperience of them, I feel sure they were not the first aggressors\u2014they\nhad, and still have, too wholesome a fear of rifles to be that. It was\nonly when they had been treated like rats, having no rights in their own\ncountry, that at last, like rats, they turned at bay with hearts\ninflamed by hatred and revenge. But flint-lock guns could not compete\nwith rifles; and small, untrained bodies of men lacking leaders and\ncohesion could not contend against drilled soldiers who fired bullets\nthat penetrated two or three men, so there was nothing for them but to\nleave their towns on the road, and build away in the forests and valleys\nat some distance from the main track running through the country.\n\nHence what was once a populous trade route, humming with life in the\nearly eighties, had become by 1890 a desolate track that by its lack of\npeople disappointed the new-comer, who in Europe had heard of the\nteeming millions of the Congo, but could not now in 240 miles of road\nfind enough people to fill a decent-sized English village. \u201cWhere are\nthe people?\u201d was the frequent question on his lips.\n\n\u201cThey have left the trade route, and have rebuilt their towns and\nvillages in the woods, the valleys, and the bush-lands for peace and\nsecurity,\u201d was the repeated answer.\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d was invariably the next question.\n\n\u201cBecause the land was cursed with a plague of rascally Zanzibaris, and\nirresponsible white men who feared their soldiers more than they feared\nGod, and who acted unjustly in their dealings with the people.\u201d\n\nLest some of my readers should think that I am unduly prejudiced in the\nabove statements of what took place on the Stanley Pool road, let me\ngive the history of another trade route in practically the same part of\nthe Congo along which people of the same tribe and language lived, and\nfor the same period of time, viz. 1878-1890.\n\nThe pioneers of our Mission in 1878 penetrated the interior from Musuku,\nwhich is about fifteen miles below Matadi, and used that place as a base\nfor nearly five years. In 1883 a better site for their purpose was found\non the top of the hill at Tunduwa (about three miles below Matadi). Our\nearly pioneers[2] found the road between Musuku and San Salvador well\npopulated with hospitable people, with plenty of food, so that there was\nno need to take rations for men, and very little provisions for\nthemselves, and towns were so numerous that a tent was unnecessary.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n Messrs. Comber, Bentley, Crudgington, Hartland, and Grenfell.\n\nWhen we removed our base to Tunduwa the traveller to San Salvador\ndropped down to Noki in a boat, and in two or three hours from Noki he\njoined the Musuku to San Salvador route. It was generally a five-days\u2019\njourney.\n\nWhen I left Musuku in January, 1882, for San Salvador, I found just what\nmy predecessors had found\u2014plenty of villages, abundance of supplies\n(fowls, eggs, goats, vegetables, native bread, etc.), and a hospitable\npeople ever ready to lend us a house in which to pass the night; and for\nall the eight years I knew the road intimately, and traversed it, the\nsupply of food, the number of villages, and the kindliness of the people\nremained the same. Yet during that time there was an increase of traffic\non the road, for our transport grew as our Mission extended; and in the\nmeantime two trading factories\u2014one French and the other Portuguese\u2014were\nstarted and maintained in San Salvador, necessitating a greater number\nof carriers on the road.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. A. Billington_\n A MEAL \u201cEN ROUTE\u201d\n The carriers, tired with a four hours\u2019 journey, on coming to a\n resting-place, drop their loads and stretch themselves for a good\n rest. The personal lads prepare a meal, and as there is a white lady\n in the party a white table-cloth is spread over the rough table in\n her honour.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. F. Dodds_\n A NEW TYPE OF NATIVE HOUSE\n These large, airy wattle and daub houses are taking the place of the\n old-style grass huts that were formerly the usual structures\n throughout the district. They are more healthy, clean, and\n comfortable.\n]\n\nWhat made the striking difference between the two routes\u2014depopulation\nand poverty on the one, continued prosperity on the other? I have\nalready given the causes for the wretchedness and desolation found on\nthe road to Stanley Pool in 1890 and the succeeding years; now let me\nstate, clearly and briefly, the reasons for the flourishing condition of\nthe San Salvador road. The men used for the transport service on the\nlatter route were natives of San Salvador and district, Kroo boys and\nLoangos, they travelled unarmed, they bought their food, and so long as\nthey observed the well-known courtesies of the road they moved freely\nand were unmolested. The carriers thus behaving themselves _en route_,\nthe natives treated them fairly, and often supplied them with water\u2014a by\nno means trifling kindness in a country where there are no water-taps in\nthe houses, and the refreshing drink has often to be carried a mile or\nmore.\n\nThe inhabitants of the various villages knew that if they overcharged\nthe porters, were extortionate in their demands, and surly in their\nconduct, the carriers would give them a wide berth and, by making a\ndetour, leave them severely alone; and thus a regular source of their\nvillage\u2019s wealth would be cut off. Besides, the natives are fond of\nsocial intercourse, giving and receiving news, and these men who passed\nconstantly to and fro between the centre of native life at San Salvador\nand the outside world as represented by the trading stations on the\nriver, were always full of interesting news, and to turn them aside from\na village by outrageous conduct was equal to cutting themselves off from\nthe world, stopping as it were the daily papers and the weekly budgets.\nThis was unthinkable, for natives are sociable folk and like to keep in\ntouch with their fellows.\n\nWhen any serious cases of dispute arose between the carriers and the\nnatives on the road, they were brought to us at San Salvador, and we\nsettled them impartially, justly, and amicably to the satisfaction of\nthe parties concerned.\n\nThe natives who lived near the large rivers that were impassable by\nfording during the rainy season, built bridges across them, and kept\nthem in repair. We white men at San Salvador acknowledged our\nindebtedness for this service by paying an understood sum in barter\ngoods\u2014the traders paying a much larger amount than the Missions[3]\nbecause their transport was heavier\u2014when we heard they had completed the\nbridges. It was no easy task to make these bridges long and strong\nenough, considering the materials and tools the workmen had at their\ndisposal; but it meant for us that the road for our cases, bales, and\nmails was open all the year round, and also that our carriers and goods\nran no risks from swollen, swirling rivers.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n The Portuguese Roman Catholic Mission settled at San Salvador a year\n or more after we had begun our Mission.\n\nIt will be seen from the above that the natives on the San Salvador road\nwere treated very differently from those on the other trade route under\nconsideration, consequently the villagers of the former maintained the\nfood supply, retained their character for hospitality, and continued to\nlive and thrive on the transport line; while the people on the Stanley\nPool route left the track, and starvation, depopulation, and desolation\nwere the results. The Congo natives have a keen sense of justice, and\nthey appreciate straight and honest dealing.\n\nIt was my first intention to add a chapter on the results of the Congo\nFree State\u2019s r\u00e9gime. I refrain, however, from doing so, but desire to\ntouch upon the subject in a few short paragraphs. The charges brought\nagainst the Congo Free State during recent years have, unfortunately for\nthe natives, been proved too true. More than that, they were worse than\ncould ever be published in the daily Press, for no self-respecting\neditor could, or would, have printed in his paper the outrageous and\nabominable details that were brought to light by those who were living\nin the midst of them.\n\nWe hope, and we trust not in vain, that by the accession of King Albert\nand his gracious consort, Queen Elizabeth, to the throne of Belgium a\nbetter day is dawning for the poor, oppressed and downtrodden natives of\nthe Congo; and the news that has come to us from the reformed part of\nthe Congo indicates greatly improved conditions.\n\nIt is tacitly understood just now that we should give the Belgian State\nan opportunity of carrying out its reforms; and although the agitation\nis not being prosecuted with its former activity, that does not mean\nthat we are to relax our former vigilance, nor shall we do so until the\nnatives enjoy those rights which are their proper heritage in their own\ncountry.\n\nWe missionaries are neither ashamed nor repentant, and never will be, of\nthe humanitarian part we played in bringing to light the enormities that\ncame to our notice. We had given up home, the comforts of civilization\nand, rightly or wrongly, we had devoted our lives to the amelioration of\nthe natives, and we could not as men, as Englishmen, as Christian men,\nstand by and see those natives, for whom we had given up all, slowly\noppressed to death for the sake of a clique of men in Europe who were in\na hurry to get rich.\n\nI was among the first to raise my voice against the horrible conditions\nthat prevailed until recently in many parts of the Congo, and my mode of\nprocedure was this: I sent my letter of protest, first to the\n\u201cCommissaire\u201d of my district; if no investigation into the charges was\nmade, then I forwarded a copy of the letter to the Governor-General at\nBoma, and then, if after waiting the necessary length of time there was\nneither inquiry nor redress, the letter, with all particulars, was\nposted to Mr. Morel for publication in the English Press as the last\nresort. The State itself forced us to appeal to the public.\n\nThe Commission of Inquiry selected by King Leopold himself exonerated us\nfrom all blame and thanked us for the part we had taken in the\nagitation, for on investigation we were able to prove to the very hilt\nevery charge we had brought against the administration of the now\ndefunct Congo Free State. It is too late in the day for travellers to\ndeny that atrocities were committed because natives do not talk to them\nabout such things. Let such travellers thoroughly learn the language of\nthe people and gain their confidence and then listen to their story.\n\nThe native does not wear his heart on his sleeve for every crow to peck\nat, and when he sees a white man, here to-day and gone to-morrow, who\nknows little or nothing of his language, hob-nobbing with State\nofficials, he is not going to pour out his heart to such and tell what\nhe has suffered at the hands of the traveller\u2019s white friends.\n\nWhat the Congo needs is a Government not seeking to enrich itself\nto-day, but with visions of a colony the inhabitants of which, in days\nto come, shall rise up and call it blessed; it needs civil officers\nswayed by honourable principles, and controlled by pure, conscientious\nmotives that shall administer impartially righteous laws; it needs\ntraders who shall deal fairly by the people (and some of them do that,\nwe are glad to say), who will exchange the wares, the civilized\nconveniences (not fiery spirits) of Europe for the labour and produce of\nthe natives as a further incentive for them to work, travel, and trade;\nit needs the agriculturist to introduce better methods of cultivating\nthe soil and fostering the resources of the country; it needs the\nmechanic to teach various trades and industries; the educationalist and\nthe Christian teacher to cultivate the mental and spiritual side of the\nnatives\u2014these all working harmoniously together, no one class sneering\nat the other, no one arrogating to himself the work of another, but\nrespecting each other and co-operating for the uplifting, civilizing,\nand Christianizing of the Congo people. We shall then see a people not\ncursing the white man, but blessing him; not cringing before the white\nmaster in grovelling fear and hearts bursting with hatred, but standing\nerect as God intends men to stand; and not downtrodden and oppressed,\ntheir lives a misery to them, but free and happy with the joy of life\npulsating through their veins.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n\n IN SEARCH OF A NEW SITE\n\n _Peace_\u2014Bangala tribe\u2014Panic in Bungundu towns\u2014People become\n friendly\u2014Driven away from Bokomela\u2014Fierce and revengeful\n natives\u2014Revisit Bokomela\u2014A cordial welcome\u2014Reason for warlike\n attitude\u2014Shooting a native for a wager\u2014Monsembe district\u2014Bumba\n people stand to defend their women and children\u2014Quietness dispels\n their fears.\n\n\nDuring the early days of July, 1890, we were busy at Bolobo station,\npreparing for our long journey up-river in search of a new site for a\nmission station. The steamer _Peace_, a vessel 70 feet long by 10 feet 6\ninches wide, and of very shallow draught, was placed at our disposal.\nThe Rev. W. H. Stapleton, who had just arrived from England, was\nappointed to be my colleague; and as Mr. Silas Field had charge of the\nsteamer and crew we were without responsibility respecting them, and\nwere free to land at every available place and investigate its\nsuitability as a centre for our work.\n\nAt this time the Baptist Missionary Society had three stations on the\nUpper Congo\u2014one at Bolobo, about 200 miles above Stanley Pool, another\nat Lukolele, a little over 100 miles farther on, and the third at\nBopoto, more than 400 miles beyond Lukolele, or 700 miles from Stanley\nPool. It was thought desirable to plant a station among the Bangalas at\na point somewhere midway between Lukolele and Bopoto, and thus occupy a\npart of that great unevangelized district inhabited by one of the finest\ntribes on the Congo.\n\nThe Bangalas were reported to be a strong, warlike, cannibal tribe of\nfierce habits, cruel customs, and independent spirit. They would demand\npatience, tact, and the facing of many dangers from those who, without\narms and soldiers, went to live among them. Still, such splendid men\nwere worth winning to better ways, notwithstanding the many possible\nrisks to be encountered in the work. As savages they were feared by\nsurrounding tribes, and if won to Christianity their indomitable courage\nwarranted us in hoping they would become the intrepid heralds of their\nnew faith.\n\nBy July 11th we had packed on board our little steamer the nails,\nprovisions, tools, barter goods, and medicines that could be collected\nfor our new project. A better outfit would have been welcome; but we\nthought it was wiser to start with what we could get together than to\nwait an indefinite period for larger supplies.\n\nTwo days after leaving Bolobo we arrived at Lukolele, and in due time\nLulanga was reached. Lulanga was a large town at the mouth of the\nLulongo River, a fine tributary of the Congo. There our search began. It\ntook us fifty minutes to walk through the town, the houses of which were\nbuilt closely together. We estimated the population at 3000 people.\nThere was then less than a mile of bush, and another town of over 1000\ninhabitants, and about an hour\u2019s walk back from the river were other\nclumps of villages containing, we were informed, more than 2000 persons.\nIt was a good centre for our purpose; but the Congo Bololo Mission had\nestablished some stations up the Lulongo River, and after consulting\nwith their senior missionary at Bonginda (30 miles up the Lulongo), we\ndecided that the town at the mouth of the river they were working should\nreally be their base of operations, and as they promised to occupy it,\nif we did not build there, we left it to them.\n\nAt Lulanga we left the south bank of the Congo, and after two hours\u2019\nsteaming and winding among the numerous islands we had the large\ndistrict of Bungundu stretching before us on the north shore of the\nriver. Picking out the biggest town we could see from the deck of our\nsteamer, we steered our way towards it, and as we drew near we could see\nthe women seizing hold of their children and their fowls, and scurrying\naway with them into the bush as fast as possible; the men also were\ntugging at their goats and sheep to hide them in the bush and woods that\nsurrounded their town, for it was their unfortunate experience that the\nwhite men who came on steamers took fowls, goats, and sheep without\npaying for them.\n\nWhen we landed we could not see a single person. We walked up and down\nthe roads calling upon the people to come out of hiding, to come and\ntalk with us, or sell us some fowls. After a considerable amount of\nshouting an old man put his head round a corner of a house and said:\n\u201cWhite men, if you want to buy any fowls of us, sit down where you are,\nand send your boys; we will sell to them, but not to you.\u201d\n\nWe thereupon handed some looking-glasses, knives, bells, beads, and\ncloth to our boys, and told them that after they had bartered for some\nfowls they were to try to persuade the people to have some conversation\nwith us. After buying a few fowls our lads said: \u201cCome and talk with our\nwhite men. See, they are perfectly harmless, for they are sitting down\nwhere you told them. They are not _bula matadi_ (= State officers). They\nneither desire to fight you nor tie you up. They are _mindele mia\nNjambi_ (= the white men of God, i.e. missionaries). Come and palaver\nwith them.\u201d\n\nAfter much hesitation on the part of the native, and much persuasion by\nour lads, the old man drew near to us, and as he came closer he put out\nhis hand to greet us; but on seeing our white hands approaching his,\nfear took possession of him, and he drew his hand quickly back. At last,\nhowever, we heartily shook his hand and his courage returned. He then\nwent over to a large drum, and beating upon it the women quickly\nreturned from the bush with their children and their fowls, the men came\nback with their goats and sheep, and the town resumed its usual lively\nappearance.\n\nDirectly they learned the purpose of our visit they begged us to live in\ntheir town; they took us up and down the various streets, and pointed\nout all the advantages we should enjoy if we would only build amongst\nthem. We had to allay their importunity by telling them that we could\nnot decide at once to live in their midst, as we wished to go higher up\nthe river and visit other towns and tribes; but if we found their town\nthe most central for our work, we would return to them. And we concluded\nby saying: \u201cWe do not desire, wherever we go in this district, that the\npeople should run away from us as you did; cannot you therefore lend us\none or two of your young men to go with us to reassure the people? We\npromise to return them safely in due time.\u201d\n\nIt was astonishing to us that these nervous, fearful folk who had run\nhelter-skelter from us about two hours before should bring two of their\nyoung men to us, and in their trustful simplicity place their hands in\nours, saying: \u201cHere are two of our people to accompany you, and when you\nhave done with them bring them back again.\u201d\n\nAfter that, whenever we arrived opposite a town, these two men would go\ninto the bows of the steamer and, shouting loudly to the people ashore,\nwould tell them not to be afraid, not to run away, that we were good\nsort of white men, that we were buying fowls at a very good price, and\nif they only stayed they could make some profit out of us. For we were\ngiving the enormous sum of about threepence each in barter goods for the\nfowls, instead of the usual price of twopence.\n\nThroughout the rest of that district we received a hearty welcome from\nthe people, and many pressing invitations to settle in their midst. We\nhad no illusions about these invitations. We fully recognized that the\npeople desired us to live in their towns for reasons quite different\nfrom those that actuated us: our presence would give prestige to their\ndistrict, and especially to the town in which we built; we should be,\nmore or less, a guarantee of security, and freedom from the lootings and\nraids of State soldiers who were already beginning to trouble the people\non the Upper Congo; and it would be an immense advantage to them to be\nable to exchange their food-stuffs, etc., for barter goods at a store in\ntheir neighbourhood, rather than have such weary journeys to take in\ntheir canoes, or go without the needed articles. We understood perfectly\nwell that we were not so boisterously invited because of our message,\nfor of that they knew absolutely nothing, and in their then savage and\nignorant state cared perhaps less than nothing for it.\n\nLeaving the Bungundu district we steamed for many miles along a\nmonotonous stretch of forest, and then reached the thickly populated\nline of Bokomela towns. Selecting the largest we could see, we turned\nour steamer towards it; and, putting our pretty little vessel along the\nbeach in front of the chosen town, we prepared to go ashore. Through our\nglasses we had seen the women and children running hurriedly away, and\nthe bustling activity of the men who lined the bank and stood on the\ntrees overhanging the river. Just as we were about to step ashore we\nnoticed that the men lining the bank above us had raised their spears in\na very threatening attitude, and the old men on the trees had fitted\ntheir arrows to their bows ready to shoot at us. We recognized that we\nwere in a tight corner; we wondered where the spears and arrows would\nstrike us. A false movement would have been misunderstood, and a shower\nof sharp weapons would have been the result. Our pulses raced\ntumultuously, our hearts seemed to thump our ribs; but outwardly we were\ncalm and self-possessed. We did not know until months later how near we\nwere to a horrible catastrophe\u2014to being, in fact, the principal dishes\nat a cannibal feast.\n\nIn the best \u201ctrade language\u201d we could muster we told the excited savages\nwho and what we were. \u201cGo away,\u201d they screamed, \u201cor we will kill you. We\nwant nothing to do with you white men.\u201d\n\nWe tried to explain the purpose of our visit, and asked them to let the\nBungundu men land and talk with them. And all the time we were standing\nunarmed within twenty feet of their upraised spears. There was a deadly\nsilence on the little steamer, and the crew had taken refuge behind any\nand every thing that offered protection from those murderous lances and\narrows.\n\n\u201cGo away,\u201d they shouted more fiercely; \u201cwe will kill the men if they\ncome ashore, and all of you afterwards. We\u2019ll have nothing to do with\nwhite men.\u201d And in frantic unison the excited mob took up the cry of\ntheir head-men.\n\nThere was nothing for it but to push off our steamer and leave the\nplace. It was not until we were beyond the reach of their arrows that we\nbreathed freely, and then fully realizing the whole meaning of the\nincident, and its possibilities of death to us and disaster to our\nplans, we bowed our heads in prayerful thanks to God for His protecting\ncare.\n\nSome months after our establishment at Monsembe, I went down to those\ndistricts in a canoe paddled by a few lads; and those same Bokomela\npeople, hearing, from the song of the lads, that one of the Monsembe\nwhite men was approaching, hurried out in their canoes with fowls in\ntheir hands as tokens of their good-will, and begged me to go ashore.\nWhat was the reason for this strange and pleasant change respecting us?\nIt was this: In the meantime they had heard of our peaceable lives and\nintentions; of our straightforward and honest dealings with the natives\nabout us; that we neither stole things ourselves, nor allowed our people\nto steal; but always bought what we wanted at a proper market value.\nThese facts coming to their knowledge had entirely altered their\nattitude towards us, and had turned former enemies into would-be\nfriends.\n\nOn going ashore they gave me a most cordial welcome, and when quietness\nhad been restored, I said: \u201cSome months ago we came to you on our little\nsteamer, and you drove us away with murderous threats of spearing us.\nWhy was that? We were quiet, peaceable men; why were you in such a\nrage?\u201d\n\nAn oldish man, sitting quietly on a stool near by, arose and said:\n\u201cWhite man, just before you came to us on your steamer, the white men on\na passing steamer shot our chief and some of our people for no reason at\nall. Shot them down while standing quietly on the bank, and for that\nreason we swore to kill the next white men that came our way, and you\nwere the next to come.\u201d\n\nUndoubtedly they would have had their revenge upon us but that God\nplaced His hand over theirs, so that neither spear nor arrow was hurled\nat us. More than once or twice have we seen the spears poised ready for\nthe throw; and every time we have found that some cowardly, dastardly\nwhite men had been before us and, having shot down the natives for no\nreason whatever, had gone off and left the next unsuspecting white men\nwho went that way to bear the brunt of the natives\u2019 mad, but excusable,\ndesire for revenge. Legacies of hatred have been unfortunately left by\ntoo many white men among savage peoples, who regard all white folk as\nbelonging to one tribe, and as one or more of their kinsmen have been\nmurdered by white men, then to retaliate by killing other white men\nwill, they think, balance the account.\n\nAs illustrative of the preceding remarks the following unvarnished story\nis unfortunately too _\u00e0 propos_: A State steamer in 1890 was proceeding\nup a tributary of the Congo, and on its upper deck two white officers\nwere sitting holding a discussion on marksmanship, when they saw, at\nsome distance in front of them, a native standing in his canoe paddling\nit from one side to the other of the river. The two officers instantly\nmade a bet as to which of them could knock the man over. Guns were\nraised and fired, and Captain X. brought down the poor unsuspecting\nwretch and pocketed the stakes;[4] but he left a heritage of hate that\nhas lasted to this day, if there are still alive in that district any\nrelatives of the murdered man, or witnesses of the foul murder.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n In 1890 this incident was common talk in that district. Besides the\n two men who laid the wager, there were two other white men on\n board\u2014captain of the steamer and the engineer. This incident was more\n frequently related as a joke than otherwise.\n\nIt seemed to some of us a righteous retribution when a couple of years\nlater Captain X. himself was shot by his native attendant, whether\naccidentally or purposely nobody knew. Let me say, once for all, that\namong the State officers there were gentlemen of fine, sterling\ncharacter who acted fairly and honourably in all their dealings with the\nnatives; men whose ideals were high, whose motives were good, and who\ndesired nothing better than the amelioration of the tribes with which\nthey came into contact. If such men had been in the majority, and had\nhad a free hand, the pitiful, horrible story of Congo atrocities would\nnever have been written.\n\nAbout twenty-five miles above Bokomela we came upon the Monsembe\ndistrict. There were three bays crowded with large towns, and only two\nmiles beyond Monsembe was a long creek teeming with people. We reckoned\nalso that Bungundu and Bokomela districts would come within the sphere\nof our influence; but before fixing on Monsembe as our centre we went\nstill higher up-river to weigh the possibilities of other places. Town\nafter town we passed of prosperous, healthy, fierce, and barbarous\nsavages. Very often we were amongst them and shaking hands with them\nbefore they had decided whether to welcome or fight us; then seeing two\nfriendly, unarmed white men in their midst they greeted us heartily and\nwere soon bartering fowls, plantain, and various food-stuffs for empty\nbottles, old meat tins, and Manchester goods.\n\nDiboko (or Nouvelles Anvers) was visited; and with our colleagues at\nBopoto we spent a pleasant time. At Bumba we came upon a continuous\nstretch of villages for nearly two miles in length. As we steamed close\nto the bank we observed that the villages were divided by gullies which\nwere bridged by old canoe planks. The folk were quiet, and as the place\nlooked well populated with apparently prosperous people, we decided to\nland.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n A VILLAGE STREET IN MONSEMBE\n This row of houses belongs to one man, and while he may have one for\n himself, he will also have a wife in each hut. Every marriage means\n an additional house, for the Congo native is too cute to put two\n women in one house.\n]\n\nArriving at the extreme upper end of the series of Bumba villages, we\ntied our steamer to a tree on the bank and went ashore. A few miserable,\nhalf-starved dogs barked at us; but there was no one to greet us, or\nobject to our landing. We moved slowly forward, and then we noticed that\nthe virile, young men, armed with spears and shields, were keeping about\nfifty yards ahead of us; that the old men and the sick were crouching\nover their fires warming their hands and keeping up a constant chatter;\nand that there was an absence of women and children in the villages. Now\nwhen there is an absence of women and children in an African town or\nvillage, you may be fairly certain that the men are up to mischief, or\nthink a fight is to the fore. We walked warily to keep ourselves out of\nany possible ambush; and as we came to the gullies dividing the villages\nwe found the planks had been removed, this necessitated our going down\nand up the sides of the gullies. Arriving at the last ditch we started\nto cross it as we had done the others, when we observed a rustle in the\ntall grass on the further side, and looking closely we saw that the bush\nwas alive with armed men with spears gripped threateningly. Just beyond\nthem in the forest were their women and children, and they were standing\nbetween them and possible death or capture as represented, so they\nthought, by the two white men on the opposite side of the gully.\n\nTo have run away would have meant a shower of spears hurtling through\nthe air after us from the excited people, so we sat down and parleyed\nwith them. \u201cDid you ever know,\u201d we asked, \u201cwhite men coming to fight\nwithout soldiers?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d was their ready though surly reply.\n\n\u201cWell, we have no soldiers with us,\u201d was our quick rejoinder. That was\nself-evident, for there were only a few of our personal lads about us.\n\nWith a little more hope in our heart of escaping from another difficult\nfix, we began again. \u201cDid you ever know white men to come and fight\nwithout guns and swords?\u201d was our next question.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d again was their reply. This time a little more friendliness in\ntheir tone, for their fears of a fight were, like ours, passing away.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d we argued, \u201cwe are two white men without guns or soldiers, but\nwith simply walking-sticks in our hands; and are all your men armed with\nspears afraid of two white men with walking-sticks? Come and put up the\nbridge and help us across.\u201d\n\nAfter a short consultation among themselves, some young men replaced the\nplank and helped us over; and the discreet distribution of a few beads,\nspoons, and penny looking-glasses won for us their eternal good-will.\n\nOur return to the steamer was like a triumphal progress. The men shouted\nand danced in very revulsion of feeling to find it was a friendly visit\nand not a fight. Plank bridges were quickly rearranged, and\noutstretched, willing hands steadied us as we crossed them. The old and\nsick who had remained around the fires good humouredly chaffed those who\nhad armed themselves for a battle that never came off. All\u2019s well that\nends well, and the people were as glad as we were that no blood had been\nshed and no wrong committed. They begged us very earnestly to come and\nlive among them.\n\nWe went as far as Ngingiri on the River Luika, and then turned the nose\nof our steamer down-stream. Monsembe was the best centre for our work\nthat we had seen in all the long stretch of river we had traversed above\nLulanga. There we should have ample room for expansion, itineration, and\nout-posts along the north bank from Bungundu to Likunungu\u2014a distance of\n200 miles; we should also have the south bank in our parish from Bolombo\nto Bokatalaka Creek\u2014a stretch of 80 miles; and the creek just above our\nproposed station site was said to communicate with the Mobangi River. We\nestimated the population near to Monsembe, among whom we should be able\nto itinerate on Sundays, at 7000, and throughout the district, lining\nthe river, at 50,000 at the very least. Then there were the hinterland\ntowns, whose populations were as yet unknown. It was a splendid sphere\nof immense possibilities. It was therefore with high hopes and undaunted\nhearts that my colleague and I entered upon our labours among the\ncannibals of Monsembe.\n\nWe returned the men we had borrowed from Bungundu. What a welcome they\nhad on their arrival home! We had been absent so long that the folk had\nalmost given up all hope of ever setting eyes again on their townsmen.\nThey received a suitable reward, strutted about the town in their fine,\nbrightly-coloured new cloths, and I suppose ever afterwards posed as\nwidely travelled men whose words in future were to be taken on all\nmatters relating to riverine geography, tribal marks, and other\nsubjects. Leaving Bungundu we crossed to Lulanga and, picking up the\ngoods we had left there in charge of a Dutch trader who treated us with\nmuch kindness and hospitality, we returned to our future home at\nMonsembe, which for the next fifteen years was to be the centre of our\nworld and the scene of many joys and sorrows.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n\n SETTLING AT MONSEMBE\n\nMoral way of procuring land\u2014Ground measured\u2014Price asked\u2014Amount\n accepted\u2014Signing the agreement\u2014Buying a house\u2014An exorbitant price\u2014A\n house for five shillings and a penny\u2014Well-populated hut\u2014Making\n ourselves comfortable\u2014Cooking difficulties overcome\u2014Present of two\n goats\u2014Inveterate thieves\u2014Afraid of our \u201cbooks.\u201d\n\n\nThe authorities of the Congo Free State had informed us that we could\ntake possession of any plot of land in the district that we cared to\nselect. We did not, however, believe in accepting from a State that\nwhich they had no moral right to give, but in buying from the people the\nground _they only_ had a right to sell us for our station. A few hours\nafter our return to Monsembe we measured out a piece of land one hundred\npaces along the river front by three hundred paces deep, and said that\nin the morning we would buy it of them.\n\nNext morning at six o\u2019clock we found a large crowd gathered to witness\nthe novel transaction of buying and selling land. They formed a motley\nassemblage. Most of the men had two or more spears gripped tightly in\ntheir hands, and broad-bladed, ugly knives of various shapes were\nstrapped in sheaths around their chests with the handles level with the\nbreast-bone. Some wore gaudy cloths, while others had bark-cloth or rags\nthat scarcely covered their nakedness. The women were dressed in\npetticoats made from palm fibres, and these fringes were so numerous and\nshort that the wearers had every appearance of black ballet girls. Their\nfaces were streaked with different coloured pigments, or dusted with\ncamwood powder; and their bodies were rubbed with palm-oil. Beneath the\npaint, the powder, and the grease one found agreeable faces often lit up\nwith really pleasant smiles.\n\nWe asked them how much they wanted for the piece of land, and without\nhesitation they replied, \u201cFive thousand brass rods.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d we said, \u201cwe cannot pay you so large a sum as that, but we will\ngive you one thousand rods now, and another five hundred in six months\u2019\ntime, if you behave yourselves.\u201d\n\nThe head-men consulted apart for a time, and then their spokesman said:\n\u201cWe will accept your offer of one thousand rods now and another five\nhundred in six months\u2019 time, if you will put on top some bottles, some\nknives, spoons, tin plates, looking-glasses, forks, cowries, beads,\ncloth, fish-hooks,\u201d etc. etc., in fact samples of everything they had\neither ever heard about or could recall to mind at so short a notice.\n\nUnfortunately for them we had not such a variety of barter goods as they\ndemanded, and we frankly told them so; but we promised to add some of\nthe articles we did have with us. We cut and counted out the thousand\nrods,[5] tied them up in bundles of one hundred each, and then raked out\ntwo empty pickle bottles from our store and, putting some fathoms of\ncloth, a packet of brass chair nails, a few iron spoons, some trade\nknives, a dozen zinc-framed looking-glasses, a few empty meat tins, the\nground became the property of our Society for about 38s. worth of goods,\nreckoning them at invoice price.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n _Brass rods._ A brass rod at Monsembe at that time was 15 inches long,\n and not quite so thick as a slate pencil. These rods were the currency\n of the district and, in fact, of the whole of the Upper Congo.\n Everything had its price in brass rods\u2014one egg = one brass rod; a fowl\n = ten brass rods; two yards of cloth = twenty brass rods; a male slave\n = 600 brass rods; and a female slave = 2500 brass rods. The brass wire\n for these rods was originally melted down for their brass\n ornaments\u2014anklets, necklaces, armlets, leg rings, hafts of spears,\n paddles, and handles of knives, etc. It was using the brass for this\n purpose that first gave it any real value to them; and then they\n exchanged certain lengths of the brass wire at a fixed price\u2014so many\n fathoms for a goat, etc.; and gradually the lengths of brass wire\n became the medium of exchange, the unit of value, the currency of the\n country. In 1890 the brass rods still retained their value not so much\n as a medium of barter, although they were convenient for that purpose,\n but as the metal from which they made their most popular ornaments. It\n is quite possible that the rods changed hands in fathom lengths, and\n those who came into possession of these lengths, each cut off a little\n piece to procure a bit of brass for nothing, and hence the length was\n gradually shortened, until in 1890 it was 15 inches. The process of\n shortening continued, and in 1905 the standard length was only 11\n inches. In Bolobo it was about 9\u00bd inches, and on the Lower Congo,\n where brass wire was used long before it filtered through to the\n tribes on the Upper Congo, it was from four to five inches only in\n 1905. Of course, with the shortening of the rod, a larger number was\n given for the article to be purchased. Every white man imported his\n brass wire in coils, and cut the rod to the length used in the\n district where he resided. Brass rods are now almost a drug in the\n market, for not only have they been poured into the country in a\n steady stream for the last thirty years, but the custom of melting\n down brass for the manufacture of ornaments has been slowly dying out\n during the last ten years. They desire other things than simply\n ornaments now.\n\nWe then thought it wise to draw up a paper stating we had bought the\nland of the people, the price we had given, and the amount we had\npromised in six months\u2019 time. The document was duly written out, and my\ncolleague and I signed it on behalf of the B.M.S. We then asked two of\ntheir head-men to put their marks against their names on the paper as\nwitnesses to the fact that we had purchased the ground, so that there\ncould not be any future possible dispute about our possession of the\nsite.\n\nAt first they demurred greatly to having anything to do with the white\nman\u2019s \u201cbook\u201d; they were extremely superstitious about the matter; it was\nsomething uncanny, and for all they knew some mysterious evil might be\nthe result of touching that \u201cbook.\u201d It needed much persuasion, and it\nwas only when we pointed out to them that they would have no proof that\nwe owed them five hundred rods that their cupidity overcame their fears,\nand they consented to put their marks.\n\nMata Bombo was the first head-man chosen for this onerous duty. He was\nthe oldest head-man in the town, and had been foremost in the\nnegotiations for the land, in counting the goods, and most clamorous for\nhis share of them. The people therefore rightly thought that he should\nbe the first to undertake the unpleasant duty of putting his mark on the\n\u201cbook,\u201d so they laughingly pushed him forward much against his will.\nWhen he reached the table he was trembling all over from very fear of\nthat \u201cbook\u201d lying there upon it. His hand shook so much that I had to\nput my hand upon his and help him to make his mark. On finishing it he\nput the pen down with a dab, drew himself to his full height, carefully\nstretched out his arms, and finding that nothing had happened to him, he\nwent away apparently satisfied that it was possible to have contact with\nthat mysterious \u201cbook\u201d of the white man\u2019s and not suffer for it. The\nnext witness was a much younger man, who, seeing that nothing had\nhappened to the first, came forward without any urging, picked up the\npen, made his mark and went his way as though he were used to signing\ncontracts every day of his life. Thus the land became ours on behalf of\nour Society.\n\nHaving settled about the site, our next requirement was a house into\nwhich we could move our goods from the steamer, and in which we could\nlive, for it was necessary that the _Peace_ should return immediately to\nBolobo. Looking over the ground we had bought, we saw a native hut that\nwould suit us until we could build a larger and better one. We had\npurchased the land and the trees upon it; but we had arranged with the\npeople that all the houses on our newly acquired site should be removed.\nTo them this was a trifling affair: they ran a knife along a few\nstrings, a dozen men got under the roof, and in a few minutes you would\nsee it walking down the road; a few more men shook the walls, uprooted\nthe posts, and in an hour or so the house was rebuilt on another site.\n\nWe called the owner of the house that we thought would temporarily\nanswer our purpose, and asked him how much he wanted for it. \u201cFive\nhundred brass rods,\u201d was his quick reply. Natives generally ask about\ntwo or three times the value of an article, and I fancy this custom is\nnot altogether peculiar to African people.\n\n\u201cThat is too much,\u201d was our answer to his extravagant demand. \u201cWe will\ngive you two hundred rods for the house, and then you will be well\npaid.\u201d\n\nHe cogitated on our offer for a few minutes, and then lifting his head,\nhe said: \u201cIf you put a tin plate on top of the two hundred rods you can\nhave the house.\u201d So we paid him two hundred brass rods, and a penny tin\nplate; and for the first time in our lives became the owners of house\nproperty.\n\nDirectly we had paid the price the man called his wives (he was the\nhappy (?) possessor of six) to remove their belongings. They brought out\ntheir saucepans, hoes, baskets, mats, drinking-pots, firewood, and the\nrest of their miscellaneous effects; the man carried out his paddles,\nspears, knives, shield, and a few precious glass bottles that had\ncontained pickles, lime-juice, and drinks of stronger brew, and then\ntold us the house was ready for us.\n\nWe really could not expect a mansion for the amount we had paid, viz.\n5s. 1d.; and we found that in order to enter it we had to stoop low,\nlift our feet high, and, being unfortunately stout, we had to turn\nsideways to effect an entry. Arriving inside, by putting up the hand we\ncould touch the ridge-pole, by spreading out the arms and swaying\nslightly we could touch both walls, a few paces took us from one end to\nthe other of the central room, and if we had gone against the wall and\nwanted to stand upright we should have had to put our heads through the\nroof, for the walls were only just four feet high.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _a Dutch Trader_\n GROUP OF MOBEKA MEN\n Mobeka is situated at the mouth of the Mungala River, and the\n inhabitants of that and many other villages in the vicinity belong\n to the Boloki tribe.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n LOOKING UP LAKE LIBINZA FROM BOSISERA\n Lake Libinza is a large sheet of water in the hinterland of Nouvelles\n Anvers. It is studded with numerous islands, and is drained by the\n Ngiri River, which runs into the Mobangi tributary.\n]\n\nThe house, however, had the advantage of two small rooms\u2014one at either\nend of the larger central room. In one of these small rooms we stored\nour tools, nails, and various materials for building our station; into\nthe other small room we put our barter goods and our scanty stock of\nprovisions; and in the central room we arranged our two camp bedsteads,\na table, a trunk or two, our chairs, and when we went in ourselves there\nwas not very much room to spare. That night when we went to bed we\ndiscovered that although the women had removed their pots, hoes, mats,\netc., they had left behind them a large population which we wished they\nhad also taken with them.\n\nTo make our hut more habitable was our first object. We cut away the\nhigh door-sill of sticks, canes, and grass; then in the eaves above the\ndoorway we made a gap in the roof by shortening a few rafters and\nremoving the palm-frond thatch\u2014this gave us an easy means of entrance\nand exit. Then we placed two poles about eight feet from the front of\nour hut, and six feet from each other; a small pole was tied to the\nposts about six feet from the ground, and other thin poles were run from\nthe cross-piece to the roof, and on these we arranged and tied a large\nnumber of fronds from a small species of palm tree\u2014this gave us a fine\nshady porch to our house, which we used as dining-room, study, pantry,\nand reception-room. We routed out a good percentage of the surplus\npopulation from our hut, and on fine days we were not so uncomfortable\nas to have any real ground for complaint.\n\nBut alas on wet days! The discomfort of them has left a lasting\nimpression on my memory. With a tornado the temperature often dropped\nfrom 90\u00b0 down to 65\u00b0 in less than two hours; the strong, stormy winds\nwhistled through the grass walls of our hut; and the rain that fell in\ntorrents percolated through our roof, and in some places, along the\nridge especially, it ran in gentle cascades, anything but pleasant to\nthe owners of such house property to behold. To have made a fire in the\nhouse to warm ourselves, as the natives did, would have meant being more\nthan half choked and blinded by the smoke that would have filled the\nchimneyless house. We eventually found that the best way to weather the\nstorms comfortably was to lie on our camp beds, pull a waterproof sheet\nover us, light a candle, and putting it on a dry spot read until the\ntornado had spent itself.\n\nThere was another difficulty that we had to meet, viz. cooking. It was\neasy enough to boil and fry our food; but boiled meat and fowls after a\nfew weeks somewhat pall; and we had not sufficient fat or lard to fry\nmuch. There was palm-oil in abundance to be bought for a few brass rods,\nbut we had too frequently watched the natives make it to relish food\nfried in it. We therefore bought two native saucepans for a penny each;\nthese were about 10 inches in diameter, 6 inches deep, and semicircular\nin shape. One we stood on three stones, placed an empty sardine tin in\nthe bottom, and, laying a fowl on a tin dish, arranged it on the sardine\ntin, and then turned the second saucepan upside down on the first,\nfitting their edges together. Our fowls baked beautifully in this\nimprovised oven; but the saucepan had a tendency to crack.\n\nLater on we procured an empty paraffin-oil drum, cut out the top with a\nhammer and chisel, laid the drum down, and put in a layer of clay along\nthe bottom side. This clay not only gave us a level surface on which to\nstand our dishes, but also kept the food from burning, and retained the\nheat. We then nailed some tin, procured by flattening out a few empty\nmeat tins, over some pieces of wood, and there we had an admirable door\nfor our new oven. It cooked fowls, puddings, and bread[6] splendidly. No\npatent has yet been sought for these inventions, so all those placed in\na similar predicament are free to use them.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n See Appendix, Note 1, p. 335.\n\nFowls were plentiful, such as they were; but fresh meat (beef, mutton,\nor goat) was a rarity. Consequently we were not at all sorry when two\nhead-men brought us, one day, a goat each as a present. Up to that time\nwe had not received a single present from them, not because the natives\nhad not brought any to us\u2014they would have loaded us with their so-called\ngifts\u2014but we had persistently refused them on principle, knowing as we\ndid that the offerings were simply presented that the givers might\nreceive two or three times their value in return presents, and we had no\ndesire to foster such a spirit of selfishness, and no money to waste on\nfoolish amenities. We had refused so many \u201cgifts\u201d that when these two\nhead-men brought their goats and offered one to Mr. Stapleton and the\nother to myself, we decided to accept them. We had, however, no\nenclosure in which to keep goats, so putting a private mark on them we\nsent them to herd with the other goats of the town.\n\nWe arranged that as the goats were of the same size, we would give\nexactly the same return presents. We reckoned the goats at fifty brass\nrods each\u2014the market value of them; but we decided to give in barter\ngoods the equivalents of one hundred rods each, which we thought was\nsufficiently generous for the occasion.\n\nMr. Stapleton called Dintela, the head-man who had presented him with\nhis goat, and spreading out the goods he made the usual speech of\ngood-will, etc., that the event demanded.\n\nDintela gave him to understand that the present was too small, that\nwhite men who were so rich should give a much larger quantity of goods,\nand that he could not accept such a paltry present. As Mr. Stapleton\nwould not increase the offering, Dintela demanded the return of the\ngoat, and tying a string round its neck he led it away, much disgusted\nthat he had not made so good a bargain out of his present to the white\nman as he had anticipated.\n\nA few days later as Bololi, the head-man who had given me the other\ngoat, was passing across the station I called him into the house, and\nspreading out the goods identically the same as my colleague had offered\nto his head-man, I asked him to accept them as a token of our\nfriendliness, etc., in return for his goat. He made some gestures\nexpressive of his depreciation of the gift, and after a haggling attempt\nto procure an increase of goods, he, to my surprise in view of the\naction of Dintela, collected the articles, put them in his shoulder\npouch, and went off apparently satisfied. The next day when we wanted to\nkill the goat it had disappeared, and we never again set eyes upon it.\nDintela refused the goods and took his goat away; but evidently they had\ntalked over the matter with the other men in the town, and the result\nwas that Bololi accepted the articles and afterwards stole the goat,\nwhich in the eyes of the natives was much the smarter action of the two.\nAfter this, when head-men were too pressing in their offers of friendly\npresents, we related the story of the two goats, and it never failed to\ncure them of their fits of generosity.\n\nWe found them at that time, as the above incident of the goats\nindicates, most inveterate thieves; but a few years later when three\nyoung men of the town broke into our store and stole goods to the value\nof sixteen thousand brass rods, the mass of the people arose in such\nindignation on learning the facts that they tied up the thieves,\nalthough they were free men and not slaves, and, bringing them to us\nignominiously bound, laid them at our feet. And public opinion was so\nunmistakable in denouncing the act, that the young men and their\nfamilies disgorged the whole of what they had stolen from us to the last\nbrass rod.\n\nAt first they absolutely refused to trust us even with the value of an\negg\u2014we had to put the price in their hands as we took the article; but\ngradually they became less suspicious of us. During the early months at\nMonsembe our steamer failed to arrive at the expected time, consequently\nour small supply of barter goods became exhausted; and to be without\nthese articles of exchange in such a country was like being a foreigner\nin a strange land without money. Food, however, was necessary, both for\nourselves and those dependent on us. We told the natives that our store\nwas practically empty, and that we could not pay them then, but would do\nso when we received our goods from down-river. We offered them papers\nstating what we had bought, the price agreed upon, the date, and the\nseller\u2019s name\u2014a kind of promissory note which we promised to redeem on\nthe arrival of our steamer.\n\nThe natives said: \u201cWe will let you have the food supplies that you need,\nbut we will not accept your books.\u201d They called any piece of paper at\nthat time a \u201cbook.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy will you not take our books?\u201d we inquired; \u201cfor we may forget how\nmuch we owe, and to whom we owe it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, you will not forget your debts,\u201d they replied; \u201cand if there were\nany fear of that we should not even then accept your books, but should\nrefuse to let you have the food without the money.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy will you not take our books, then?\u201d we again asked in amazement.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d they said, \u201cif we were to accept your books, and put them in our\nhouses, no rain would fall on our farms, and we should all be starved to\ndeath.\u201d\n\nArgue as we would, we could not move them from their superstitious\nposition in relation to our poor little pieces of paper. By that time\nthey knew our intentions towards them were good, or they would not have\ntrusted us with their fowls, eggs, plantain, and native bread without\nreceiving the barter goods at once, yet they were afraid of the evil\neffects our \u201cbooks\u201d would have on their farms. They thought the magic\nwas in the \u201cbook,\u201d and in spite of our good motives that that magic\nwould work against them directly the \u201cbooks\u201d had passed from us into\ntheir possession. While the \u201cbooks\u201d were in our house we controlled or\nnullified their evil magic, but when they had passed out of our hands we\nhad no further power over their wicked forces, and the natives were\nafraid of not being able to counteract their _black art_, hence their\ncontinued refusal to accept them. It was a curious belief that obsessed\nthem: that men who they firmly believed were kindly disposed towards\nthem should yet have in their possession such \u201cbooks\u201d as would work\nmischief to those for whom they had nothing but friendly feelings. We\ntherefore entered their names in a notebook as we bought the food\nsupplies, and thus keeping an account of what money we owed, and to\nwhom, we were able to settle our accounts with them at a later date.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n\n STRUGGLES WITH THE LANGUAGE\n\n\u201cTrade\u201d and \u201cBangala\u201d languages\u2014Making a vocabulary\u2014Housekeeper and\n master of works\u2014Natives tell us words\u2014Elements of difficulty\u2014Glib\n translations\u2014Natives deceive us\u2014Head-men offer us wines\u2014We are a\n conundrum to our neighbours\u2014Confidence gained at last\u2014Collect nearly\n seven thousand root words\u2014A mode of making derivations\u2014Native\n figures of speech.\n\n\nOn the main river there was a mixed language, commonly called among us\nthe \u201ctrade language\u201d; by means of this _lingua franca_ we were able to\nmake ourselves understood at the various places at which we touched on\nour search for a new site, and it stood us in good stead during our\nearly days among the Monsembe people. There was a large element of\nBobangi in it, some Kiswahili words, and a few Lower Congo words and\nphrases. This \u201ctrade language\u201d has now been supplanted by what is called\nthe \u201cBangala language,\u201d which is a mixture of the languages already\nmentioned, with a smattering of Bangala words thrown in.\n\nFor a considerable time Diboko (Nouvelles Anvers), or as it is most\nfrequently called by white men generally when speaking to natives,\nBangala, was the largest State station above Stanley Pool. A large\nnumber of natives were imported there from all the tribes on the Upper\nCongo, and this heterogeneous mass of humanity, often numbering over two\nthousand soldiers, workmen, and women, held communication with each\nother by means of the \u201ctrade language.\u201d The smartest of the natives in\nthe towns adjacent to Diboko quickly learned this jargon, and used it\nmore or less fluently when communicating with the State soldiers and\nworkmen; and the white men hearing the natives of the neighbourhood\ntalking this lingo jumped to the conclusion that it was their own tongue\nin which they were conversing, and thus called it the Bangala language,\nand by that name it is now generally known on the Upper Congo.\n\nAs it was with the \u201ctrade language\u201d so it is with the \u201cBangala\u201d; it\nvaries considerably with the tribe using it. A Bobangi man when in\ndifficulty for a word or phrase while speaking \u201cBangala\u201d will fill up\nthe hiatus with a word from his mother-tongue; the Bangalas, Bopoto, and\nBosoko peoples will fill up the gaps, each from their own language, so\nthat the \u201cBangala\u201d spoken differs according to the district in which the\ntraveller may be sojourning. A crew running a steamer, or a gang of men\nworking on a station, though they may come from half a dozen different\ntribes, will quickly arrange a lingo of their own, and the white man\nrunning the steamer, or in charge of the station, will easily acquire\nthe resulting patter, and up to a certain point make himself fairly well\nunderstood in all matters relating to the ordinary affairs of steamer or\nstation life. In the near future there will be, no doubt, a language\nformed by a gradual selection of words and phrases from all the great\nlanguages on the river from Stanley Pool to Stanley Falls. Such a means\nof intercommunication will be a great boon to all concerned\u2014black and\nwhite alike\u2014a better understanding will result, and, as a consequence, a\ngreater respect for each other.\n\nDirectly we settled at Monsembe we began to learn the language of the\npeople amongst whom we were living. The \u201ctrade language\u201d was all that\nwas necessary to a passer-by; it answered the purpose of bartering for\nfood and dealing with the trivialities of life; but was absolutely\ninadequate for conveying our message as missionaries, or for dealing\nwith the finer and deeper affairs of the minds, hearts, and souls of our\nparishioners. We _had_ therefore to learn the language, and we had no\ndesire to shirk the drudgery, nor avoid the arduous, persistent effort\nsuch a study demanded, for we regarded it as a part of our work, and not\nthe least interesting part either.\n\nMy colleague, Mr. Stapleton, and I arranged that one should take charge\nof the house, buy the food brought for sale, and prepare the meals;\nwhile the other should look after the workmen, clear the grass away,\nmark out the ground, collect materials for building, and start the\nerection of a larger and more comfortable house than our poor hut. We\nwere to alternate these duties\u2014one was to be housekeeper one week, and\nhead of the works department the next week.\n\nAs I had been in the country nine years the heavier end of the stick\nfell naturally to my lot. I had brought two men and a lad with me from\nthe Lower Congo, one Cameroons man capable of doing rough carpentry had\njoined us at Bolobo, and we had hired two men at Lukolele, so we had\nsome help; but more was necessary, and we were able to engage a few\nnatives\u2014as many as we required\u2014at twenty rods per month as pay, five\nrods per week rations, and one fathom of cloth per month to wear, which\ncame in all to about two shillings, invoice price. This seems very\nsmall, but we were in the heart of Africa where brass rods and cloth\nwere worth, at that period, many times their invoice value, for their\nbuying power was very great, and food was so plentiful and cheap that 12\nlbs. of native bread could be bought for a single brass rod, and a\nlarge-size fish for another rod. The men often requested that we would\nreduce their ration rods and proportionately increase their monthly pay,\nwhich we did.\n\nWhile we were digging the holes for the posts of our larger house, the\nnatives who were curiously watching us, said: \u201cOh, to do that sort of\nthing,\u201d imitating a scooping action with the words, \u201cis _tima_.\u201d So we\nwrote down _tima_ = to dig; when we had finished the hole, they said it\nwas, \u201c_lifoko_,\u201d hence we put down _lifoko_ = hole; when we procured a\npost, they told us its name was _mwete_, and that we recorded as _mwete_\n= a post; on standing the post in the hole they informed us that that\nwas _suma mwete_, and we wrote that down as _suma mwete_ = to stand a\npost in a hole. When we placed the wall-plate on they gave us a word for\nthat; when we brought hammer and nails out of our tool-house they\nacquainted us with the names for those things; when we hammered a nail\nto hold the wall-plate in position they gave us an expression for\nnailing; and if by any accident we hit our finger instead of the nail,\nthey found a suitable expletive for that action also. Night by night my\ncolleague and I added the words together we had procured during the day\nand counted them as eagerly as any miser might his gold, for we\nrecognized in them a means by which we should eventually be able to\ndeliver our message.\n\nIt was very difficult to acquire words for abstract ideas, as courage,\nfaith, love, recklessness, etc.; and it was not easy to procure words\nfor tangible objects\u2014things that we could point to and touch. I remember\non one occasion wanting the word for table. There were five or six boys\nstanding around, and tapping the table with my forefinger I asked: \u201cWhat\nis this?\u201d One boy said it was _dodela_, another that it was _etanda_, a\nthird stated it was _bokali_, a fourth that it was _elamba_, and the\nfifth said it was _meza_. These various words we wrote in our notebook,\nand congratulated ourselves that we were working among a people who\npossessed so rich a language that they had five words for one article.\n\nBy and by we wanted a table brought to us, and selecting a word at\nrandom from our list of five words, each one of which we supposed meant\ntable, we said: \u201c_Benga bokali_\u201d = fetch the table. The boys looked at\nus with considerable astonishment, and, noticing their embarrassment, we\nchecked the list of words and found that one lad had thought we wanted\nthe word for tapping, so he told us _dodela_ = to tap; another\nunderstood we were seeking the word for the material of which the table\nwas made, and he gave us _etanda_ = plank; another had an idea that we\nrequired the word for hardness, that which caused the noise as we tapped\nwith our finger, and he told us _bokali_, and that is what we had told\nthem to bring: _benga bokali_ = fetch the hardness, a feat they could\nnot possibly accomplish; another thought we wished for a name for that\nwhich covered the table, and his contribution was _elamba_ = cloth; and\nthe last lad, not being able, perhaps, to think of anything else, gave\nus the word _meza_ = table\u2014the very word we were seeking. We had to\nscratch out the first four words, leave the word _meza_, and pass on,\nhaving learned a good lesson on the evil results of jumping too quickly\nto conclusions. If the reader knows no German, and should ever happen to\nbe in the company of some five or six Germans who do not understand a\nsingle word of English, let him ask: \u201cWhat is this?\u201d in indifferent\nGerman, and write down their several answers.\n\nIn learning and reducing to writing an unwritten language there are\nalways several elements that increase and complicate the difficulties.\nThere is what is in your own mind as the object for which you are\nseeking a word, and there is what the native thinks is the object for\nwhich you are wanting the word, which two things may be very different;\nagain, when you are searching for a word to embody an abstract quality\nthere is, on the one hand, the meaning you attach to the words you use\nas illustrative of the idea for which you want the word; and there is,\non the other hand, the meaning which your native lad attaches to the\nwords you employ, and the two sets of meanings may widely vary. You may\nunknowingly employ a wrong phrase in your description of the quality you\nare wanting a word to express, and your teacher is either puzzled or\nthrown entirely off the scent, and the result leads to a disastrous\nmistake and, unless corrected later, to a false, misleading translation.\nSuppose you want a word for healthiness; you say that a man walks well\nevery day, paddles for long distances without fatigue, eats his food\nheartily, has no pains in his body, and never needs to go to a\nmedicine-man. \u201cWhat do you call that?\u201d Your helper will consider for a\nmoment, and then reply: \u201c_Abe na bonganga._\u201d\n\nBy and by you go over the description with another person, and he says\nof such a man: \u201c_Abe na nkonjo._\u201d A few days later, in order to check\nthe former teachers, you try another young man, and he tells you: \u201c_Abe\nna nkasu._\u201d\n\nIn due time, however, you discover that _abe na bonganga_ means: he has\na powerful charm; that _abe na nkonjo_ = he has good luck; and _abe na\nnkasu_ = he is very strong; and that _nkuli_ is the proper word for\nhealthiness.\n\nYour helpers have not purposely led you astray, for they have simply\nstated from their point of view how they would regard such a fortunate\nman who can walk, paddle, eat well, has no pains in his body, and never\nneeds medicine\u2014he must possess a powerful charm, or have wonderful luck,\nor be exceedingly strong. When you know the natives better you find they\nrarely talk about their health, hence _abe na nkuli_ = he has\nhealthiness, would not come readily to their minds.\n\nThe difference between our point of view and that of our teachers\naccounts for many of the difficulties we experience in learning a native\nlanguage; and I am afraid that a real appreciation of those difficulties\nhas rendered me somewhat suspicious of those travellers who, after a\nvery short acquaintance with the native language, translate glibly their\ninterviews with the people. Just recently I have been reading a book on\nthe Congo in which the following occurs: \u201c_Bikei yonsono, malami be na\nMputu. Sola \u00e8 koye._\u201d This the author, who frequently takes credit to\nhimself for his knowledge of the native language, translates as follows:\n\u201cAll I say is true, you say I lie. It is finished. I have seen those\nthings; you have not.\u201d Whereas it should be: All things are very good in\nMputu (white man\u2019s country). Truly friend! And the sentence in Bangala\nshould have been written: _Bike binso bilamu be na Mputu. Solo koye!_ No\nCongo native would have been guilty of the grammatical blunders\nperpetrated in the sentence as written by the author. I have frequently\nnoticed that the less a person knows about a native language the more\nfluently and beautifully he will translate it, as he is bound only by\nthe limitations of his own imagination.\n\nWhen we had been living at Monsembe a few months we were much vexed and\ndisgusted to find that the people had been deceiving us considerably\nover their language. One day, while working with the men, I heard a\nnative workman shout out a request to another native labourer. From the\nnature of the work being done I could easily guess what the phrase\nreally meant; but the wording of the sentence was entirely different\nfrom that which they had given us to express the same idea. Going into\nthe house, I brought out my notebook and said: \u201cJust now you called out\nso and so,\u201d repeating the short sentence that was still fresh in my\nmemory. \u201cHow is it we have another set of words in our book?\u201d\n\nA broad smile gradually spread over the native\u2019s face as he replied:\n\u201cWhite man, when you came first to live amongst us we could not\nunderstand the purpose of your coming. We brought you rubber and ivory;\nbut you said, \u2018We do not trade in such things.\u2019 We then brought you male\nand female slaves, and asked you to buy them, and you replied, \u2018We do\nnot trade in slaves.\u2019 We then brought you a large jar of sugar-cane\nwine, but you said that you did not drink wine, and we answered that we\nwould drink it for you, and even then you would not buy it. After that\nwe came to the conclusion that there was some wicked reason for your\npresence in our town, some bad purpose we could not understand, and we\ntherefore arranged among ourselves not to teach you our language, but to\ntell you as many words and phrases as we could belonging to other\nlanguages.\u201d\n\nWe found they had kept their agreement far too well, and as a result we\ndiscovered that a large percentage of the words that we counted as good\ncoin of the realm were nothing but base metal, and had to be thrown out\nof our notebook as utterly useless. Undoubtedly our presence was a great\nmystery to the natives. They could easily understand the reasons why\ntraders and State officers were living in the country; but why men who\nneither traded nor governed should live in their midst was a problem\ndiscussed repeatedly around their evening fires. They had asked us more\nthan once: \u201cWere you bad men in your country that you had to leave it to\ncome and live here in this land?\u201d Or: \u201cIs there no food in your country\nthat you come here and buy only fowls and vegetables of us?\u201d Fowls were\nplentiful and very cheap, costing us often less than twopence each, and\nas it was the only fresh meat we could procure regularly, scarcely a day\npassed without our having a fowl for dinner, hence the point and purpose\nof their question. These inquiries we answered as fully as we could;\nbut, notwithstanding our replies, we remained a puzzle to our neighbours\nand the subjects of many a long and heated talk.\n\nOne day some of the head-men came to us, and after solemnly taking their\nseats on the stools their wives had brought for the purpose, they said:\n\u201cWhite men, we have come to talk a palaver with you.\u201d\n\nOur minds quickly ran over our actions during the last few days, for we\nwondered what offence we had committed to cause such a visit from so\nmany serious-looking head-men. We could not recall any action or any\nwords that were likely to have given umbrage to the natives, so we\nwaited to hear from their lips of some breach of etiquette of which, all\nunknowingly, we had been guilty.\n\nOld Mata Bombo, a tall, straight man of over sixty years, was spokesman\nfor the deputation. \u201cWe have noticed,\u201d he said, \u201cthat you have no wives,\nand we think it would be well for you two white men to marry two of our\nwomen; and we have brought some from which you can make your selection.\u201d\nAnd as he finished speaking he pointed to a row of giggling girls and\nwomen, who while he was talking had lined up a few yards away.\n\nAs seriously as we could, we expressed our thanks for their concern on\nour behalf, and also for their generosity in giving us such a fine array\nfrom which to choose our wives; but continuing, I said: \u201cI have a wife\nin Mputu (white man\u2019s country); and my friend, Mr. Stapleton, has a lady\nthere waiting to become his wife as soon as he returns home. We cannot\ntherefore accept your offer.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is no difficulty,\u201d they all answered in chorus. \u201cYou can marry two\nof these now, and when your white wives come you can send these back to\ntheir families, and there will be no palaver.\u201d\n\nWe, however, persisted in declining with thanks, and at last it dawned\nupon them that we were quite serious in our refusal. The head-men went\noff in a huff, as they expected to make some profit out of the alliance;\nand the women moved away chagrined that their charms had had so little\neffect on us, and, possibly, they were also vexed by the knowledge that\nthey would be, for many a day to come, the butts of much ridicule and\nchaff from the other women of the town and district.\n\nDoubtless this incident added much to the problem concerning us that was\nexercising the native mind. Here are two strong, healthy white men, rich\nlike other white men (the poorest white man is a millionaire in the eyes\nof the natives), building houses in our town, working hard from sunrise\nto sunset, refusing our ivory, and rubber, our slaves, our women, and\nour drink. What are they? They say they have \u201ccome to tell us about\nGod.\u201d But would white men leave home, wives, family, and work in the sun\nas they do just to tell us about God? They say they have \u201ccome to help\nus, to teach us many things and to do us good\u201d; and they offer us\nmedicine when we are sick. How can they help us? What can they teach us?\nHow will they do us good? And as for their medicine, who would be\nfoolish enough to drink it? It might bewitch us. Such were the questions\nsurging through their minds (as we learned later); and there was no one\nsufficiently in their confidence to help to the proper solution of this\ndifficult conundrum. Is it any wonder that they came to the conclusion\nthat we were bad men living in their district for some ulterior motive;\nand the best way to treat us was to humour us in building, keep their\neyes alert to thwart any wicked designs, avoid teaching us their\nlanguage, which we seemed particularly eager to learn, and in the\nmeantime make as much money out of us as they could, either by fair or\ndishonest means, it did not matter which?\n\nMany of these thoughts we surmised from their actions, but their whole\ncourse of reasoning we did not fully learn until very many months had\npassed away, in fact, not until we had gained their entire confidence.\nIn the meantime we tried, in our poor way, to live the life of our\nMaster, Jesus Christ, among our barbarous neighbours, and their\nsuspicions about us gradually melted away. They would come and chat\nfreely with us, and by and by it was no uncommon thing to have three or\nfour lads sitting with us teaching us their language and helping us to a\nright understanding of the rules that govern it; and men passing by\nwould stop, and, listening to the lads for a time, aid in elucidating\nsome knotty point. Patience, love, and straight dealing won their\nconfidence, their disinterested assistance, and at last their love.\n\nEventually, by the help of the people\u2014old and young, for all became\ninterested in the work\u2014we were able to collect close upon seven thousand\nroot words which, with their derivatives, give us a vocabulary of nearly\nforty thousand words.\n\nThese derivatives are produced by very regular rules, which when once\nunderstood, the learner possesses the key to a large treasury of words,\ne.g.:\n\n\n Verb. _Tula._ To do smithing.\n\n Der. Noun. _Motuli._ A smith.\n\n Der. Noun. _Motuliji._ One who causes the\n smithing to be\n\n done, a master.\n\n Der. Noun. _Motuleliji._ One who causes smithing\n to be done for\n another, a foreman.\n\n Der. Noun. _Ntula._ The smithing peculiar to\n one smith, as distinct\n from that of another\n smith\u2014his mode of\n smithing.\n\n Der. Noun. _Lituli._ The kind of smithing\n needed by one article\n as distinct from that\n required by another.\n\n Der. Noun. _Botula._ Skill or ability in\n smithing.\n\n Der. Noun. _Etuli._ The article worked upon.\n\n Der. Noun. _Etulela._ Habit of smithing.\n\n Der. Noun. _Etuleli._ Instrument with which to\n do smithing.\n\n Der. Noun. _Motula._ A smithing, e.g. _Atuli\n motula_, literally, he\n smiths a smithing, i.e.\n he works at smithing.\n\n Der. Noun. _Litulele._ A place for smithing = a\n workshop, smithy.\n\n Der. Noun. _Motuleli._ One who does smithing for\n another, an employee at\n smithing.\n\n\nAnother set of derivatives is made from the reversive form of the word,\nas _kanga_ = to tie, _mokangi_ = a tier, _kangola_ = to untie,\n_mokangoli_ = an untier; and this reversive form can give us derivatives\nbuilt on its idea, as from _kangolela_ = to untie for another, comes\n_mokangoleli_ = one who unties for another; and from the causative\n_kangolija_ = to cause to untie, comes _mokangoliji_ = one who causes to\nuntie; and, again, from the causative of its prepositional form\n_kangolelija_ = to cause to untie something for someone, comes\n_mokangoleliji_ = one who causes a person to untie something for or on\nbehalf of another.\n\nOne could mention the stative and the passive forms of the verb with\ntheir respective prepositional and causative suffixes, each supplying\ntheir own series of derivatives; but I fear the reader would weary of\nthem, and the student of African languages has now at his disposal many\ngrammars of Bantu tongues that will fully satisfy his love for\ncomparative language study. My only desire in these few paragraphs is to\nshow that the natives of the Congo do not talk a gibberish like a lot of\nmonkeys, but have at their disposal a magnificent language that excites\nthe admiration of every student. And it will be seen that such complex\nlanguages are not to be mastered in a few weeks or months by any\nglobe-trotter who has a fancy for African travel, for they demand time\nand constant study to appreciate their finesse, and special linguistic\nability to master their details and accurately define the words\ncollected, and the various derivatives discovered.\n\nIt must not be thought that for every verb all the various derivatives\ncan be found, as for obvious reasons some derivatives are not required\nfrom some verbs, and other derivatives are not required from other\nverbs, e.g. the reversive verb _tulola_ = to undo smithing, can be built\non _tula_ = to do smithing; but as such an idea as to undo smithing is\nridiculous, hence no derivatives founded on the reversive form _tulola_\nare to be met with in the language. Smithing can be spoilt, and for that\nthey have a word, but when once a knife is forged it cannot be unforged,\ni.e. it cannot be returned to iron ore like a knot that can be untied\nand the string resume its original form.\n\nNeither do the natives add to _every_ verb all the prefixes and suffixes\nthat can grammatically be affixed to them. It is very apparent that some\nverbs are complicated with causative, prepositional, tense, and other\nforms, and it is necessary to know for what the polysyllabic word stands\nas a phrase, as there is no time to dissect it while a speech is in\nprogress. This is what I think the native does. He has no words for the\nparts of speech as we have in grammar, he does not know that\n_bakamokangelela ntaba nxinga_ is made up of the nominative pronominal\nprefix _ba_ = they, the present tense progressive _ka_ = ing, the\nobjective pronominal prefix _mo_ = him, the verb _kanga_ = tie, the two\nprepositional suffixes _ela_ = for, and _ela_ = with (the \u201ca\u201d elides\nbefore \u201ce\u201d), and two objective nouns _ntaba_ = goat, and _nxinga_ =\nstring; but he knows that _bakamokangelela ntaba nxinga_ means \u201cthey are\ntying the goat for him with string.\u201d And if you, as a white man, while\nspeaking and translating, try to make new polysyllabic words by a new\ncombination of prefixes and suffixes, then you confuse your hearers (or\nreaders) to such an extent that they do not readily follow you. You will\nhave to educate them to a proper understanding of your new phrases, as\nEnglish folk had to learn Carlyle\u2019s picture-phrases a generation ago\nbefore they could appreciate their force and beauty.\n\nIt seems that in the course of time the various dialects have become\nmore or less stereotyped in the use of certain verbal suffixes, and if a\nspeaker now creates new combinations the hearers do not at once follow\nhim; or it may be that at some period in the past when a dialect was in\nthe making the minds of the people were very active, and the\ncombinations they formed are fixed and remembered, and no new ones are\nbeing made, as the minds of the present generation are less gymnastic;\nor, again, it may be that a man with some pretensions to intellectual\npower created new combinations of verbal suffixes, and impressed them on\nhis generation, and thus superseded other word-phrases as Chaucer\u2019s\nEnglish has been succeeded by a later form, and that by a still later,\nand the forms of speech used by his characters have given place to later\nforms that would have been scarcely understood in his day. However, in\nthe Bantu languages there are such possibilities of infinite\ncombinations that as the natives are now being educated it is impossible\nto foretell what subtleties of thought they will be able to express\naccurately with so plastic and beautiful a language.\n\nThe Boloki dialect, like all the Bantu languages, is alliterative in\nconstruction, i.e. the prefix of the nominative of the sentence becomes\nthe prefix of all the words dependent on it, e.g.:\n\n_ma_toko _ma_na _ma_bale _ma_nene _mama_nsombela we _ma_laba,\n\n (literally)\n\n spoons those two large (which me/bought for) you they are lost\n\n= those two large spoons which you bought for me, they are lost. The\nplural prefix _ma_ of the first word which is the nominative is prefixed\nto all the other words because they are dependent on it. If it had been\nin the singular it would have been _li_toko _li_na, etc. This\nalliterative concord, as it is called, is very helpful to clearness of\nmeaning.\n\nIn the Boloki language there are eight classes of alliterative\nconcord,[7] i.e. all the nouns in the language belong to one or other of\nthese eight classes, and directly the class of a noun is decided its\npronominal prefixes, its possessive and demonstrative pronouns, etc.,\nare at once known also by the fixed rules of usage, or, as we should\nsay, by the grammar of the language, and its plural form is also easily\nascertainable.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n On the Lower Congo there are fifteen classes.\n\n Class 1. _Motu_ = person. _Batu_ = persons, people.\n\n Class 2. _Ndaku_ = house. _Mandaku_ = houses.\n\n Class 3. _Loboko_ = arm. _Maboko_ = arms.\n\n Class 4. _Linkeme_ = _Mankeme_ = guinea fowls.\n guinea fowl.\n\n Class 5. _Bopepe_ = pipe _Mapepe_ = pipe bowls.\n bowl.\n\n Class 6. _Lobeki_ = _Mbeki_ = saucepans.\n saucepan.\n\n Class 7. _Etanda_ = _Bitanda_ = planks.\n plank.\n\n Class 8. _Munke_ = eggs. _Minke_ = eggs.\n\nCollective noun, _nke_ = a lot of eggs, and this makes its plural in\n_manke_ = lots, as _manke mabale_ = two lots of eggs, as a noun of Class\n2.\n\nIt took us a considerable time to work out this classification, as it\nmeant the collecting of a very large number of words and the writing\ndown of their singular and plural forms. It was easy enough to see that\nall nouns beginning with \u201c_e_\u201d made their plurals by turning the \u201c_e_\u201d\ninto \u201c_bi_\u201d; but it was not so easy to decide about the \u201c_lo_,\u201d for we\nfound that some plurals were made by changing the \u201c_lo_\u201d into \u201c_ma_,\u201d\nand others by turning \u201c_lo_\u201d into \u201c_m_\u201d; and when it is remembered that\nthere are sixteen ways of using every adjective, according as it is\nsingular or plural and belongs to one or other of the classes, it will\nbe recognized by the reader that an African language is something to\nstudy and not despise as being \u201conly a nigger\u2019s language.\u201d Of course, it\nis easy to pick up a few words and phrases for ordinary daily use which,\nwhen eked out with gestures, will carry the traveller a long way if he\nhas a factotum quick at sign and thought-reading; but for expressing the\nfiner shades of meaning, and also for receiving the same, an intimate\nknowledge of the language is necessary. I have heard more than one white\nman blame the missionary for \u201cmaking a grammar for the nigger\u201d; whereas\nthe missionary has simply found out the rules by which the \u201cniggers\u201d\ntalk, and written them down in such grammatical terms that others might\nunderstand them.\n\nI have inserted a short note on the verb[8] in the Appendix, and also a\nnote on the Boloki method of counting.[9] But before closing this\nchapter I wish to write a few lines on the figurative mode of speaking\nwhich is peculiar to all Bantu languages, and by no means confined to\nthe Boloki people. The phrases in italics are literal translations of\nthe native terms for expressing their emotions, etc.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n See Appendix, Note 2, p. 336.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n See Appendix, Note 3, p. 339.\n\nWhen a native is worried his _heart is let down_, and should he have a\nchoice of two equally pleasant things his _heart is pulled in opposite\ndirections_; but when the heart has recovered its normal condition after\nsome violent outbreak it is said _to be stopped_, or after some\nperturbing grief they say the _heart is stuck to the ribs_, as there are\nno longer any flutterings.\n\nA greedy, selfish person has a _heart of leaves_, and a person who is\nrecklessly indifferent to all the consequences of his action has _lost\nhis heart_, and one who is lying and treacherous in his ways has a\n_heart that has broken loose_, over which the owner has no proper\ncontrol. Should you be kind enough to comfort a person in a great\nsorrow, your action will be described as _sticking the heart to the\nribs_, and thus keeping it from moving about inside; or if you have\nsoothed a person in distress you are regarded as having _pushed his\nheart down into its place_. When a person is irresolute in mind, and\nundecided as to the best course to pursue, he describes his state by\nsaying, \u201c_My heart is rolling from side to side_,\u201d and the word used\ndescribes a canoe rocking in a storm.\n\nThe moon, as its light begins to appear above the horizon, is said _to\nbe kicking out with its legs_, and when it shows itself above the\nsky-line it is then _unstuck from the earth_. Sunset is called either\n_the sun has become black_, or _the sun has entered_, or _when the fowls\ngo to roost_; and the Pleiades are spoken of as a _crowd of young\nwomen_; and the bright star Venus as it draws near the moon is named\n_the wife of the moon_.\n\nWhen you desire to warn a person you tell him _to throw his eyes about_,\nand a person who frowns is said _to tie his eyebrows_. A conceited\nperson who wants the whole path to himself is scornfully asked, \u201c_Did\nyou plant the earth?_\u201d (i.e. Did you create the world?), as though it\nwere a pumpkin over which he had sole rights of ownership. A lad who\ngives an impertinent answer is described as having a _sharp mouth_,\nwhile one who is not good at repartee is looked upon as having _no mouth\nat all_.\n\nA person who frequently reverts to the cause of a quarrel, or a woman\nwho is constantly nagging, has a word applied to her which means the\n_bubbling up of boiling water_; and one who does not contribute his\nshare to the general talk around the evening fire is likened to the\nuseless _fibrous core of a cassava root_, only fit to be thrown away;\nwhile a person who answers a question not addressed to him is _picking\nup something before it is lost_.\n\nThe native word for an _umbrella_ means a _large bat_. When the eyes are\ndimmed from any cause they are said to _be covered with cobwebs_; and a\nman suffering from hunger says, \u201c_My waist is stuck to my back_\u201d; i.e. I\nam so empty of food that there is nothing to keep the front of the\nstomach from sticking to the backbone. A foolish, credulous person is\nlikened to _a squirrel constantly nodding its head in assent to\neverything that is said_. To become conscious of someone behind looking\nat you is expressed in the phrase: _to feel the back heavy_. The Congo\ncrow has a broad white band round its neck, and when the river is dark\nwith the reflection of the frowning storm-clouds above, and the wind is\nblowing up-river, covering the water with white-crested waves, such\nwaves are called by the natives _a flock of crows_.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n\n EARLY DAYS AT MONSEMBE\n\nBuilding our house\u2014Armed natives\u2014Their ruse to discover our\n strength\u2014The reason of their proffered help\u2014A tribal war\u2014Cannibal\n feast\u2014Taunt us with being cowards and women\u2014We defend some\n visitors\u2014Blood-brotherhood\u2014Inquisitive Congo boys\u2014Medicine and\n \u201cbooks\u201d\u2014Mental powers of Congo lads\u2014Native view of women.\n\n\nWe were about a fortnight erecting the framework of our house and\nfinishing the walls; and then it took us over two months to collect and\ndry local materials for the roof; but in the meantime we made doors and\nwindows, and cut a large number of nine-inch blocks for paving the\nfloor. I thought that these blocks would raise us above the damp earth,\nand would also help to keep away some of the insect and reptile pests\nthat invade a house built on the ground. We did not square the blocks,\nbut simply laid them evenly bedded in puddled clay; and with some native\nmats spread over them they formed a fairly comfortable floor. The blocks\nlasted for more than three years, by which time they began to rot at the\nbottom and sink; but they served their purpose, and then became useful\nas firewood.\n\nThe house that we ran up so quickly was 40 feet long by 18 feet wide.\nThis gave us each a bed-sitting-room 15 feet by 18 feet, a store-room 10\nfeet by 12 feet, and a six-foot passage communicating between the two\nprincipal rooms, and into this passage the front doors opened. In the\nfront of the house we built a large open porch 14 feet by 14 feet, which\nserved the purpose of dining, drawing and reception-room. Thus we had a\nlarge airy house, rain, wind, and sun-tight, which undoubtedly greatly\nconduced to health and comfort during the building of more permanent\ndwellings in anticipation of the coming of our wives.\n\nAt that time the natives never moved many yards from their houses\nwithout three or four spears in their hands, ugly knives in their\nsheaths, and shields on their arms. Armed in this manner they would\nfrequently congregate on the bank, and, shading their eyes with their\nhands, they would look earnestly down the river; and then coming to us\nthey would say, \u201cWhite men, the people in the lower towns are coming up\nto fight you; get out your guns ready and we will help you.\u201d\n\nLooking down the river we could see in the distance many canoes darting\nabout, but as we had given the natives of those towns no reason for\nattacking us, and as we were the guests of another town we knew they\nwould not assail us without collusion with our neighbours; and as our\nneighbours had every opportunity of easily killing two unarmed men if\nthey desired so to do without calling in outsiders to share the loot, we\nthought that the staring down-river, their statements regarding the evil\ndesigns of the lower towns, and their offers of help were simply\nattempts to fleece us of barter goods in payment for their proffered\naid; so we used to get out our binoculars, look down-river, and making\nsome laughing remark, go on with our work.\n\nThis laughter and brave show were more often forced than not, for we\nwere at times puzzled by the apparent earnestness of our neighbours, and\ntheir repeated assurances that they would help us if we would only bring\nout our guns and properly prepare to support them when the attack was\nmade. As a matter of fact, we had only one gun between us, and that was\nin pieces at the bottom of one of my trunks. We had no cartridges, and\nalthough we had cartridge cases, shots, balls, caps, and outfit for\nmaking cartridges, yet we had not a grain of gunpowder; but all this we\nkept to ourselves and refused to make preparations until we were certain\nthe enemy really intended to attack us.\n\nIt was not until some years later that I heard the reason for these\nfrequent demonstrations on our beach; there was a large party, composed\nof the principal head-men in the town, who wanted to kill and rob us of\nour goods, but they were not sure of our resources. \u201cWhat have they in\nthose cases and trunks? Are they full of guns and cartridges?\u201d These\nwere the questions discussed around their fires, hence they hit on the\nruse of pretending the other towns were coming to fight us that we might\nmake a show of such weapons of defence as were in our possession. They\nwere nonplussed by our apparent indifference and calmness, and were as\nmuch puzzled by our quiet attitude as we were by their warlike\ndemonstrations.\n\nAfter their unsuccessful attempts to make us exhibit our force, other\nquestions were agitated: \u201cWhy are the white men so calm and quiet? Have\nthey some wonderful magic or powerful \u2018medicine\u2019 that will kill us all\ndirectly we begin to fight them? What have they behind them that they\nare not afraid when we tell them the people are coming to attack them?\nHave they little guns (revolvers) concealed about their clothes?\u201d\nDoubtless our very calmness not only mystified them, but saved us from\nan attack that would have been disastrous to us, and would have\nfrustrated our plans on behalf of the people. Some nine years before our\narrival at Monsembe I had been told by an old German missionary with\nwhom I was travelling, that a display of force often incited the natives\nto try issues with the sojourner in their midst; and while the above\nincident is a confirmation of the soundness of his advice, we have a\nbetter example of it in Dr. Livingstone, who travelled among the wildest\ntribes and won their confidence and friendship because he moved freely\namongst them unarmed, and unaccompanied by any exhibition of physical\nforce.\n\nOne evening in November (1890), soon after we entered our new house, the\nwhole town was thrown into a state of confusion by the report that some\nof the up-river towns were coming to attack Monsembe on the morrow.\nWomen hurried by with their children, their fowls, and their most\ntreasured belongings, and, putting them in canoes, they paddled away in\nthe darkness to hide them and themselves on the numerous islands\nopposite and below Monsembe; men gathered their spears, knives, and\nshields, and stood in groups near the various roads that connected their\ntown with the upper towns; the bigger lads sharpened sticks and hardened\nthe points in the fire so as to embarrass and annoy the enemy with them\neven if they could not kill; and all through the long night they sounded\ndrums and gongs not only to keep up their own spirits, but to warn the\nfoe that they were on the alert.\n\nAs the sun next morning began to creep above the eastern line of trees\nthat bounded our horizon there was great activity in the town. Men ran\nby with their faces daubed with a thick coating of oil and soot, or\npainted with red, blue or white streaks, their heads adorned with\nfeather caps, and their waists bound tightly with closely woven cotton\nbelts; others had cuirasses of hippopotamus hide protecting their backs,\nand all were in a greatly excited state, waving their spears, shields,\nand knives, and boasting of what they would do to the enemy. The women\nwho had no children, and consequently had not left the town, gathered\nnear our mission house, feeling perhaps more secure there than anywhere\nelse.\n\nSoon we heard the shouts of the combatants, and the occasional bang of a\ngun (there were only three or four flint-locks in the whole town); and\nin came a man with a deep spear wound. He gave an account of the battle,\nand the women screamed in anger, or shouted in derision as his narrative\neither told of a friend wounded or an enemy killed. We dressed his\nwound, and his wives led him away. For nearly two hours we were busy\ndressing wounds to a chorus of screaming and shouting women; and then we\nheard that the attackers had given way, and were in full retreat. By\nthis time the natives of the lower towns had arrived to support their\nneighbours, and they too joined in the pursuit of the beaten foes, whom\nthey followed to their towns, where the fight was renewed until the\nMonsembe people took possession of them.\n\nFor a time the only sounds heard in the town were the low wails of the\nwomen mourning for the slain, or weeping over those who were badly\nwounded; and the songs and shouts of the women whose husbands and\nrelatives had escaped death and wounds. Before sunset the victorious\nparty returned with their loot of goods and prisoners. Goats, sheep, and\nfowls were led or carried by our house; men laden with bunches of\nplantains and bananas, or carrying heavy baskets of peanuts, cassava,\nand native bread; others were weighted down with fish-nets, animal nets,\ndoors, paddles, saucepans, and jars; for anything that would fetch a few\nbrass rods was stolen and formed a part of the procession of\nmiscellaneous oddments that streamed by our house. After raiding the\nenemies\u2019 towns they set fire to the houses, and some told us with glee\nof old and sick folk who had hidden themselves in the dark corners of\ntheir huts who were burnt to death, preferring, apparently, the tender\nmercies of the fire to the cruel death that awaited them if they fell\ninto the savage hands of their ferocious victors.\n\nWhile we were sitting at our tea the last party of returning warriors\nfiled past our house, carrying the limbs of those who had been slain in\nthe fight. Some had human legs over their shoulders, others had threaded\narms through slits in the stomachs of their dismembered foes, had tied\nthe ends of the arms together, thus forming loops, and through these\nghastly loops they had thrust their own living arms and were carrying\nthem thus with the gory trunks dangling to and fro. The horrible sight\nwas too much for us, and retching badly we had to abandon our meal, and\nit was some days before we could again eat with any relish. The sight\nworked on our nerves, and in the night we would start from our sleep,\nhaving seen in our dreams exaggerated processions passing before us\nburdened with sanguinary loads of slain and dismembered bodies.\n\nThat night Monsembe and the neighbouring towns were given up to cannibal\nfeasts, and the next morning they brought some of the cooked meat to the\nstation, and thinking they were doing us a favour, they offered to share\nit with us\u2014the meat looked like black boiled pork. We refused their\noffering with disgust, and told them what we thought of their horrible\ncustom. Long before we settled amongst them we had heard rumours of\ntheir cannibalism, but we regarded the tales as more or less mythical;\nwe could no longer now disbelieve the stories we had heard. And later\nstill there came to our ears a very circumstantial report that the folk\nof the lower part of our district were procuring for their cannibal\norgies the natives of a tributary of the Congo. They gave ivory and\nreceived human beings in exchange, who quickly found their way to the\nsaucepan; and a white trader was the intermediary. However, as soon as\nthe white folk of the district had gathered such evidence as was\nirrefutable they brought such pressure to bear on that white trader and\nhis company (the company was not implicated) that the horrible traffic\nwas stopped. That an educated white man could sink so low as to become a\nwholesale dealer in human flesh to a tribe of African savages is a\npsychological mystery that I must leave others to solve.\n\nAfter the fighting and feasting were over the Monsembe folk lived in\nconstant fear of reprisals. Night after night groups of men were posted\nnear the roads leading from the enemies\u2019 towns, and frequently the gongs\nand drums broke on the night\u2019s silence with their rapid beats, awakening\nthe sleepers who, hastily picking up their spears, knives, and shields,\nhurried by to the scene of the alarm only to find that the sentries\n\u201cthought they saw or heard something\u201d in the adjacent bush. The women\nsometimes came screaming in from the farms avowing they had been chased\nby the enemy. Every rustle of the grass, leaves, or bush was interpreted\ninto a lurking foe; and the nerves of the victors became so jumpy that a\nvoice raised in angry conversation would set the whole town agog with\nexpectation that the enemy had come seeking revenge.\n\nWhen these alarms took place during the day, the fighters would\ndemonstrate before our house, and ask us to bring out our guns and help\nthem to keep off the foe. \u201cYou are living in our town, and you are our\nwhite men. We offered to help you against the lower towns if they came\nto attack you, and now get out your guns and aid us. Why, if you were\nonly to show yourselves the people of the upper towns would run away.\nCome on, our white men, and help us!\u201d\n\nWe pointed out to them that all the people of the district were our\nfriends, and consequently we could not assist one town to fight against\nanother.\n\nThen, finding that arguments and persuasion failed to move us, they took\nto taunting us. \u201cYou are not white men,\u201d they shouted, \u201cyou are women!\nYou are cowards!\u201d And with curled lips and gestures of scorn they\npointed their spears and knives at us.\n\nTheir taunts and gestures of contempt stung us, making the blood surge\nthrough our veins and causing us to go hot and cold by turns. With pale\nfaces, compressed lips, and hands gripping tightly whatever came within\nour grasp, we listened patiently to their sneers. How easy it would have\nbeen to have taken our gun and made some display of helping them! To\nhave walked among them, and to have fired a shot into the bush would\nprobably have satisfied them and would have stopped their sneers; but we\nwere there on behalf of the \u201cPrince of Peace.\u201d How could we, then,\nconsistently help them in their fights? We were there professing that\nall the peoples of the neighbouring towns and surrounding districts were\nour friends; how could we then take up arms against any of them and\nexpect them to believe our professions of good-will or trust again in\nour word? We were hoping to make our station a centre of peace, the\nmeeting-place for all factions; how could we, then, with our hopes and\nprayers, embroil ourselves in their hatreds and wars, or join sides with\nthem even in pretending to shoot down our other parishioners? It was\nvery difficult, but strength was given to meet the emergency, to bear\ncalmly the taunts, the sneers, and the contempt; and from that time we\nwere regarded by all the towns of the district as belonging to no one\nplace, but to all of them, as impartial in our judgments, and just in\nour dealings with all alike.\n\nAbout three weeks after the first outbreak of war the natives of the\nupper towns came to talk over the terms of peace. They landed at our\nbeach as the only neutral spot, and tied their canoes to our posts. The\ndeliberations were long, boisterous, and from the noise that came to our\nears we thought two or three times that they were on the point of\nstarting fresh hostilities. At last the palavering was over and the\nvisitors returned to our station, and bidding us good-bye, they entered\ntheir canoes; but just as they were pushing off the Monsembe people\nbecame excited and threatening in their attitude, and seeing that a\nfight on our beach was imminent, my colleague and I picked up sticks and\ndrove the Monsembe people back from the river front. We insisted on the\nneutrality of our station; we had bought and paid for the land,\nconsequently it was ours, and we would have no fighting on it; if they\nwanted to fight they must go to another part of the beach.\n\nThis attitude of ours was a revelation to our Monsembe neighbours. Here\nwere two white men whom they had taunted with being cowards, women,\netc., standing with simply sticks in their hands to oppose a crowd armed\nwith spears and knives. Two white men with sticks only throwing\nthemselves between them and their enemies, and demanding that no blood\nshould be shed on their land. What power had these white men behind\nthem? So astonished were they that they halted in their treacherous\nattack on their visitors, who, taking advantage of the lull, paddled\nbeyond reach of the uplifted spears, and arrived safely home.\n\nAfter this failure to settle the terms of peace, a go-between\n(_molekaleku_) was appointed and approved by both parties. He was an\noutsider of importance and had the confidence of the clans concerned. He\narranged the terms of peace: all loot and slaves should be retained by\nthe conquerors; but all the free folk captured should be set at liberty.\nThis go-between selected a neutral place for the ceremony of\n_blood-brotherhood_, and was pledged that the meeting should take place\nwithout a renewal of hostilities by either party.\n\nAll the preliminaries having been settled the parties met at the place\nand time appointed; and then a stick called _ndeko_ was procured and\ncarefully scraped, and these scrapings were mixed with salt. The\ncontracting parties\u2014the head-man of each side\u2014clasped each other\u2019s right\nhand with the _ndeko_ between the palms; some incisions were then made\non the arms and the mixture of _ndeko_ scrapings and salt was rubbed on\nthe cuts; each then put his mouth to the incisions on the other\u2019s arm\nand sucked for a few moments, after which one of the contracting parties\ntook the _ndeko_ stick and struck the wrists and knees of the other,\nsaying: \u201cIf ever I break this covenant may I be cursed by having my nose\nrot off.\u201d[10] Then the other took the _ndeko_ stick, and, performing the\nsame ceremony, he called down the same curse on himself should he ever\nbreak the contract. These rites were accompanied by the drinking of much\nsugar-cane wine, and the whole ceremony was called _tena ndeko_ = to cut\nthe _ndeko_ stick.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n Probably lupus. There were a few cases of this disease, and it was\n regarded as a punishment for faithlessness in observing the oath of\n blood-brotherhood.\n\nAfter making _blood-brotherhood_ between the head-men, there was enacted\nanother performance called _bakia lolelembe_: a medicine man took a palm\nfrond, split it and put one half of the frond across the path leading\nfrom Monsembe to the upper towns\u2014the towns of the contracting parties.\nThis was not only a sign that all that palaver was finished, but it was\na fetish having power, it was supposed, to punish anyone who broke the\ntreaty. It was firmly believed that the side that renewed that quarrel\nwould get the worst of it by wounds and death. Perhaps this is the\nhistory of many a tribal fight in Africa\u2014alarm, attack, defeat, pursuit,\ncannibal feasts, and the making of peace by blood-brotherhood.\n\nCongo boys are the most inquisitive animals that I have yet met in\nAfrica. Crocodiles, when boats were new to the Congo, would follow them\nfor hours in their attempts to investigate the strange object; goats and\nsheep were always ready to poke their noses at new things that came\nwithin their purview, but their curiosity was quickly satisfied. Congo\nboys (and in a minor degree the girls also) were never wearied of\nwatching us at work, following us about to see what we would do next,\nand asking about our tools, etc., and why we did this or that in such a\nway, and did not accomplish the same result by some other mode of\nprocedure. They would stand about our table while we were at meals, and\npass critical remarks on our manner of eating, slyly imitating the\naction of our jaws as we masticated our food, or mimic our gestures as\nwe conversed with one another. We seemed to live, move, and pass our\nexistence in the full glare of public gaze like fish in a glass tank.\n\nOne never-ending source of delight to them was to scan our countenances\nas we read. They noticed every alteration of facial expression as the\n\u201cbooks talked to us.\u201d If we burst out laughing at some witticism in our\nreading they would laugh heartily in sympathy with us, and would poke\none another, saying: \u201cThe book is talking some funny thing to them.\u201d\nWhen their shyness had passed away they would ask: \u201cWhat does the book\nsay to make you laugh?\u201d Occasionally the bit of wit came within the\nscope of their comprehension, and of our knowledge of the language, and\nthey would enjoy it as much as we did, showing they had a ready wit and\nenjoyed a hearty laugh; and we felt encouraged, for there is some hope\nfor a people that can laugh joyously and boisterously.\n\nAt times they would creep behind us, and looking earnestly at the open\npage, they would cock their ears to listen intently for any sound, and\nseeing nothing but a blurred page, and hearing no sounds, they would\ninsinuatingly ask: \u201cWhite man, how does the book talk to you? and can\nyou make it talk to us?\u201d We would then explain the system of letters and\nsyllables, etc.; but would, at the same time, express a doubt as to\ntheir ability to learn to read.\n\n\u201cCannot you give us some \u2018medicine\u2019 to make us understand the \u2018book\u2019\ntalk?\u201d they would pleadingly ask of us.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d we replied; \u201cthere is no \u2018medicine\u2019 that can give you such wisdom.\nYou must learn letter by letter, and of course you have no brains for\nsuch work. What is the use of wasting time in teaching you?\u201d\n\nIf we had exhibited any special eagerness to teach them, they would have\nheld back; but chaffing them and pretending that they had not enough\nbrains to learn had the desired effect of putting them on their mettle,\nand they begged us to start school right away. We showed no hurry to\nfall in with their wishes, and this only piqued them and made them more\ndesirous of having a school. At last we acceded to their repeated\nrequests, and told them that on the day that followed the next\n\u201crest-day\u201d (i.e. on Monday next), we would begin school and hold it\nevery morning for five days a week.\n\nThe eventful morning dawned, and with it about twenty lads arrived to\nenter upon the mysteries of the white man\u2019s \u201cbook.\u201d At that time I was\nbusy building a suitable house in anticipation of my wife\u2019s arrival, so\nmy colleague, Mr. Stapleton, took charge of the new school. His room was\nthe school-house. We had written out the alphabet in large letters, and\nhad prepared some slips from which they might copy. We opened a box\ncontaining some slates and pencils. The school-house and apparatus were\nin keeping with the scholars, but the latter brought with them a large\namount of enthusiasm and determination, so what was lacking in school\nfurniture, and in the attire of our pupils, was made up in the\nwillingness and earnestness of the scholars.\n\nThe adults were almost as greatly excited as the boys. They watched\nevery movement of the teacher, and tried to imitate the sounds of the\nvarious letters. As I passed to and fro at my work I could see the door\nand windows crowded by the throng of onlookers, and could hear their\nlaughable attempts at learning. Two hours at this kind of teaching\nthoroughly exhausted my colleague, for there were not only twenty\nsprightly boys to look after, but a crowd of men and women who demanded\nno little attention. In a week or two the newness of the school wore\naway, fewer adults gathered around the doors and windows, and some of\nthe lads, finding that there really was no \u201cmedicine\u201d to drink imparting\nto them book knowledge, no royal road to learning, but that it entailed\ncontinuous effort, gave up coming, and by the end of a fortnight only\nabout half the original class was left\u2014but they were worth teaching, and\nthey persevered until they became good scholars and afterwards teachers\nof others.\n\nDuring nearly thirty years\u2019 teaching of Congo youths, both on the Lower\nand Upper River, I have noticed that up to the age of fourteen or\nfifteen the boys and girls\u2014especially the boys\u2014are very receptive, and\nare easily taught; but after that age comparatively few make real\nadvance in learning. By the age of fourteen they have arrived at\npuberty, and after that they have to make a continuous effort to retain\nany book knowledge they may have received. This may be due in some\nmeasure to their thoughts being centred on other matters, as trade\njourneys, fishing, and hunting on their own account, and later to\nbuilding their houses, looking about for a wife, and procuring the\nnecessary articles for paying the marriage money, and meeting the\nexpenses of the feasts, etc.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: the Author_\n OUR BOAT AND ITS CREW\n This boat\u2014the gift of a friend at Derby\u2014was used in itinerating up and\n down our large parish with its two hundred miles of river frontage.\n]\n\nThe following is probably a great factor in causing their mental growth\nto stop practically at the above age: For generations boys on arriving\nat the age of fourteen or fifteen had learned all their fathers had to\nteach them respecting fishing, hunting, wood-craft, building, paddling,\netc. If they showed a special aptitude for fishing, hunting, etc., they\nfollowed their \u201cbent\u201d in that particular, and became proficient simply\nby practice, and their successes were generally put to the credit of\ntheir charms. They never initiated new ways of building (until after the\narrival of the white man), or new ways of hunting or fishing, etc., but\nonly carried on those modes they had gained from their fathers, and\nwhich were mastered by the time they were fifteen years old. Thus their\nintelligence has attained, for generations, its fullest development by\nthe above age, and now we have to help them over that crucial stage. In\nsome cases it is very difficult, but in other cases we can do so; and in\nsuch there is no limit to the intellectual progress they may make. In\nmany instances they have mastered a good working knowledge of French,\nPortuguese, or English, both spoken and written, and as larger\nopportunities are given, a large number of youths will make such mental\nprogress as will encourage their friends and teachers.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _the Author_\n A ROOM IN THE MONSEMBE HOUSE\n The author\u2019s study and his wife\u2019s drawing and reception-room. The\n walls are made of bamboos, scraped and varnished, and all the\n furniture, except the chairs, was made on the spot.\n]\n\nThe native in his raw state gained such an acquaintance with the\nlanguages of neighbouring tribes as to be able to communicate freely\nwith them; and in many of their folk-lore stories there are sentences\ntaken from other languages and scattered through the tales like French\nphrases in a fashionable novel. We have found, as a rule, that lads who\ncame to us at fourteen or fifteen made very slow progress in our\nschools, and seldom reached the higher classes. They lost heart at their\ndifficulties, and left school\u2014there were exceptions, but such as only go\nto prove the rule. I think it would not be difficult to prove that\nEnglish lads at the age of fourteen or fifteen need constant spurring by\nteacher, father, or guardian, or a much larger proportion of them would\nlose the knowledge they had acquired in their schools.\n\nWhen I had almost finished building the three-room bungalow in which I\nhoped to spend many years with my devoted wife, I began to build a\nkitchen, and the natives, seeing a smaller house being built in\nproximity to the larger one, said: \u201cThat is where the white man is going\nto put his wife, while he will, of course, live in the large house.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d we answered; \u201cthat is the cook-house. My wife will live here in\nthis house when she arrives.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou would not be so foolish, white man,\u201d they inquired, \u201cas to put a\nwoman in this fine house? You will send her to live in that small one,\nwill you not?\u201d And there was a certain amount of anxiety in their tones\nrather indicative of their fear that I was going to upset the proper\norder of domestic life by allowing a woman to live on equality with\nmyself.\n\nThey would scarcely believe me until they saw the stove fixed in the\ncook-house, and my wife installed with me on equal terms in what they\ncalled my \u201cfine house,\u201d which was only a three-roomed cottage with a\nverandah on two sides.\n\nThe Boloki\u2019s regard for women was a strange contradiction. I have seen\nthem walking\u2014man and wife\u2014with their arms around each other\u2019s waist, as\nthough they were a couple of English lovers crossing a common in the\ntwilight. I never saw natives exhibit so much fondling and affection for\neach other as was shown among those erstwhile cannibals. Ninety per cent\nof their quarrels were about women, for every man who had one or more\nwives bitterly resented any interference with his sole proprietorship in\nthem. They would fondle their women, yet treat them contemptuously as\ninferiors; they would fight to assert their rights of ownership in them,\nyet regard them as so greatly beneath them as to send them to eat their\nfood by themselves out of sight; and they would slave to collect\nsufficient goods to pay the marriage money for their free wives, or to\nprocure the price of their slave wives, yet the former they would thrash\nunmercifully, and the latter, for a whim or in a fit of temper, they\nwould murder and fling the corpse into the river, or invite their\nneighbours to feast with them on the body.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n\n ARTS AND CRAFTS AND NATIVE INDUSTRY\n\nA Congo lad in England\u2014People doing no work\u2014Erroneous views\u2014A\n condemnation of \u201cniggers\u201d\u2014Its answer\u2014White employers of black\n labour\u2014Allowances to be made\u2014Leather-work\u2014String making\u2014Bark\n cloth\u2014Basket-work\u2014Pottery\u2014Dyeing and painting\u2014Working in\n metal\u2014Aptitude for learning handicrafts.\n\n\nMany years ago I brought a native lad of quick intelligence from the\nwilds of Congo to my home in London. He noticed the people crowding the\npavements, filling the tram-cars, omnibuses, and trains; and his\nfrequent question was: \u201cHow do all these people live, for they seem only\nto ride and walk about and do no work?\u201d Later he observed that all the\narticles in the various windows of the different tradespeople had prices\nmarked on them, and that money was necessary with which to buy them. He\nhad tried to procure things himself from the shops, and had learned by\nsad experience that not only was money needful for that purpose, but the\nright amount was requisite before he could become the happy possessor of\nthe coveted article so luringly displayed in the window; and then his\nquestion was: \u201cHow do the people get the money with which to buy all\nthose things?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey have to work for their money,\u201d I replied. \u201cSome have to work hard\nfor very little money, others earn more by less laborious work, and\nothers again are fortunate enough to have had fathers who worked hard\nand have left their sons and daughters so rich that they have no need to\nwork.\u201d\n\n\u201cWork hard!\u201d he exclaimed incredulously. \u201cWhy, they only ride, or walk\nabout the streets, or sit in shops eating and drinking. I do not see\nthem at work.\u201d\n\nI fear that if that lad had returned to his country then, he would have\ncarried with him a very poor idea of white folk, and would have regarded\nus as a lazy lot who only walked or rode about the streets, or sat\neating and drinking in shops. It took many a long talk to explain our\nsystem, and when later I had the opportunity of taking him behind the\nscenes into factories, and over buildings in the course of erection, he\nmodified his views and came to understand that the white man _works_. At\nthe back of his mind was the idea, very prevalent among some of the\nCongo tribes, that all our articles of barter are manufactured by the\nblacks, whose dead bodies we have bought in Africa and sent to Mputu\n(countries of the white people), where by the wonderful magic of the\nwhite men the bodies are resurrected, and they are now doing our work\nfor us so that we can walk and ride about with nothing whatever to do.\nIt is the ignorance of one people about another that causes such\nmisunderstandings, prejudices, and erroneous judgments. The lad would\nnever have thought of charging the traders, the missionaries, or\nGovernment officials with laziness, for he saw and understood their\nwork; but these white folk who crowded the streets, filled the vehicles\nand the shops, what work did they do? He could not see it, and his\nsuperficial and mistaken opinion was that they were an indolent lot of\nfolk.\n\nSitting at tea with me one day at Monsembe was the captain of a State\nsteamer. _\u00c0 propos_ of nothing in particular, he exclaimed: \u201cWhat lazy\nfellows these niggers are!\u201d\n\n\u201cTo whom are you specially referring?\u201d I inquired of him.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cbefore coming to your house to tea this afternoon I\ntook a walk through the town and saw some men lounging about talking,\nand others asleep under the shade of some plantain and fig trees.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d I replied; \u201cI know them very well. Some of them have been for\nseveral weeks over on the islands, living in rough shanties, fishing all\nday and smoke-drying their fish over their fires during the evenings.\nThey returned this morning after their long spell on the islands, and\nthey are resting for a few days before starting on another fishing\nexpedition. Another lot of men came in yesterday with that heavy canoe\nin the rough that you saw on the beach. They were away some weeks\nfelling a huge tree, hollowing it out, and shaping it in the rough with\ntheir little axes\u2014a laborious job. Yesterday they floated it home, and\nare now enjoying a well-earned rest before finishing the canoe and\nselling it. What you saw was not an exhibition of laziness, but a\nrelaxation after prolonged arduous work.\u201d\n\nJust then a strongly-formed, well-built young man went past the house.\n\u201cThere, do you see him?\u201d asked my visitor; \u201cI saw him asleep in his\nhammock-chair.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know him,\u201d was my reply; \u201che is one of the head-men of this\ndistrict. His father was wealthy as natives go in this part, and left\nhim enough to give him the equivalent of \u00a3300 a year in your money.\nWould you work if you had \u00a3300 a year coming in?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy Jove, no!\u201d he quickly replied, slapping his knee at the very idea of\npossessing \u00a3300 a year without working for it. \u201cI would have a nice\nlittle house with a fine garden, and I would sit smoking all day in the\nmidst of my flowers.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust so!!!\u201d was my comment.\n\nThe natives of Africa live in an enervating climate, with a temperature\nfrequently nearer 95\u00b0 in the shade than 70\u00b0. They dwell in the midst of\na prolific nature that supplies their vegetable foods with very little\nexertion, and in such environments that their needs are few and easily\nmet. In their natural state there are both lazy and industrious folk as\nin other countries.\n\nWhen the white man arrives he engages his native workman, at so much per\nmonth, for twelve, eighteen, or twenty-four months. For the first time\nin his life the native has to work regular hours, starting and leaving\noff to the deep notes of a bell, or the tap, tap of a drum. At first the\nexperience is novel, and he is most willing and hard-working; but\npay-day is a long way off, his enthusiasm cools as the novelty passes\naway, and then the master will have to look vigilantly and constantly\nafter his hired workman. Give him piece-work and pay him by results and\nyou will see prodigies of labour, for every payment made on those lines\nis an incentive to further effort. The native as keenly enjoys money and\nwhat money brings in extra food, comforts, and prestige as the white\nman, and is as willing to work for them.\n\nThe employer of labour in Africa is the white man, and he desires to get\nas much work as he can for his money, and the employee tries to give as\nlittle of his energy and strength as he can for the pay he is to receive\ntwelve, eighteen, or twenty-four months hence, consequently there is a\nclash of interests; and while the white man has the opportunity, among\nhis friends, of talking loudly about the \u201clazy niggers,\u201d let him sit\nwith the natives round the fire one evening, and he may be surprised to\nlearn that there is another point of view, and that not over-flattering\nto his fairness as a master.\n\nI have frequently asked employers of labour in England whether they were\nsatisfied with the work done for them by their day labourers, and while\nthey readily allowed for exceptions, yet they spoke strongly of such men\nas \u201cdoing as little as possible for their pay.\u201d Every branch of work\nthat it is possible to give out as piece-work is nowadays so arranged.\nWhy? The masters are satisfied, for they get done that for which they\npay; the men are better pleased, for they receive what they earn, and\nthe quickest and most industrious man gains the largest pay, and his\nsuperior energy is not balanced against the laziest man in the shop. Let\nus do justice to the black man. He is the only one who in such a climate\ncan work long hours at a time, and for months at a stretch. All the\nevidences of civilization on the Congo are the results of his energy and\nendurance directed by his white master. He is, however, no fonder of\nwork than the average white man; but like the latter he is willing to\nlabour to increase his comforts in the house, his prestige in the\nvillage, and to meet his obligations as a man, a husband, and a father,\nfor each relationship makes its own demands on his resources.\n\nIn 1890 we opened our Mission station at Monsembe, but previous to our\narrival the natives had not had sufficient intercourse with white people\neither to increase their arts and industries or even to modify them by\nthe introduction of new methods or new tools. The natives then were as\nthey had been for many a generation, and their manufactures were limited\nby the materials at their disposal. In judging of the merits or demerits\nof the manufactures of a tribe, it is necessary to take into\nconsideration the materials to be obtained in their district and the\ntools with which they are compelled, by force of circumstances, to do\ntheir work. Suppose the Lancashire people were restricted in their\nmanufactures to such material as they could obtain from the surface of\ntheir county, and the small supplies that filtered through to them from\nthe adjacent counties by laborious and costly transport over the hills,\nor by canoes on their rushing streams, we should hear nothing of the\ncotton mills, the weaving, the iron works, etc., of that industrious and\nhardy folk. It is what has been brought into the county, what has been\ndug from the bowels of its land, and the machinery and tools that have\nbeen imported into it that have given Lancashire the place it rightly\nholds in the commercial and industrial world. And what has been written\nof Lancashire can also be said of many another county in Great Britain,\nand should be recognized when judging of the merits or demerits of the\narts and crafts of an African tribe.\n\nBefore the arrival of white men at Monsembe it was the practice of the\nnatives to ornament their saucepans with a herring-bone pattern and with\nbands; their knives and spears with parallel incised lines, and with\nherring-bone pattern; their shields being made of basket-work material\nhad often a border of lozenge pattern round the edge. The blades of\npaddles had parallel incised lines, and their canoes had the same kind\nof lines along the outer top edge. Handles of knives and hafts of spears\nwere made in various shapes, and studded with brass nails, or bound\nround with brass ribbon. I never saw any drawings until I had been there\na considerable time, and then they took to sketching on the fronts of\ntheir houses, and on letters they sent to each other. These sketches\nwere of steamers, houses, and people. The drawings were done in\ncharcoal, and when outlining a figure the cock\u2019s-comb tattoo on the\nforehead was usually much exaggerated. They had no idea of perspective,\nbut a sense of humour was often exhibited when \u201ctaking off\u201d a person.\n\nThe hides and skins of animals were employed for various purposes. The\nskin of the hippopotamus was used for cuirasses; that of the buffalo,\nantelope, goat, and sheep for belts, basket-straps, and knife sheaths;\nthat of the monkey, sygale, monitor, mongoose and civet cat for hats,\nbelts, small sheaths, and ornamental aprons, or for containing charms;\nthat of the boa constrictor and other large snakes for belts, sheaths,\nand drum heads. The skin was either stretched and pinned by wooden pegs\non the ground, or laced on a frame. The bits of flesh were cut off, some\nwood ash rubbed on, and then it was left to dry in the sun. If a soft,\nflexible skin was desired, oil was rubbed into the skin after it was\nthoroughly dry. It was not the custom to take the hair off any of the\nskins. Leopard skins were prepared by the above mode, and were usually\npreserved whole as mats upon which chiefs and head-men sat.\n\nIf the owner of an animal wished to sell the flesh in open market the\nskin was not taken off, but the animal was so cut up that a piece of\nskin was left on each portion. The buyer could then see the kind of\nanimal flesh offered for sale, and would know for a certainty whether it\nwas tabooed to him or not. Goats, sheep, and dogs were thus cut up and\nhawked for sale through the villages. This custom of cutting up the\nanimals so that the requirements of taboo might be met accounts for the\ndestruction of a large number of skins in Africa; but when a party of\nhunters captured an antelope it was skinned, or when a family killed a\ngoat or sheep and did not wish to sell any of it, the animal was skinned\nwhole, and the hide was preserved and utilized. Although the skin of the\nelectric fish (_nina_) is more than half an inch thick, I never saw it\nused for any purpose; in fact, the people would not even eat the flesh.\nI once tried to dry the skin in the hot, strong sun, but it became\nputrid before the sun had any effect on it.\n\nThere was a great demand for string, and it was met in the following\nway: The bark of a water-plant, called by the natives _munkungi_, was\nmanufactured into rope and string. The withes were cut into lengths from\n3 to 4 feet long and carried into the town, the bark was then peeled\noff\u2014it strips easily\u2014carefully scraped on both sides by running it\nbetween the edge of a knife and a board, and then spread in the sun to\ndry. The strips were taken in the hand, length by length, and spun by\ntwisting them between the palm of the hand and the thigh of the\noperator. The different threads were then plaited into a string, and\nthese were twisted together into cords three-eighths of an inch in\ndiameter. Sometimes the palm-frond fibres were employed for making the\nfiner strings and twine.\n\nThe strong cords were used for tying up their canoes and bundles; and\nalso plaited into mats about 3 feet long by 1 foot to 1 foot 6 inches\nwide, for crushing the sugar-cane fibre when making sugar-cane wine. The\nbetter-made strings and twines were made into shoulder-bags or satchels,\nand also into fighting-belts. These belts were from 9 to 12 feet long,\nand about 4 or 5 inches wide, and were generally well smeared with pipe\nclay; they were wound round the abdomen just before a fight, and\nafforded a good protection against spear-thrusts. The string was wound\non a wooden spool, and the fish-nets, of all sizes and shapes, were made\nby the ordinary process of netting, the mesh varying according to the\nsize and purpose of the net.\n\nFor some years after we arrived at Monsembe the old folk wore bark\ncloth. A strip of bark 18 inches long by 5 or 6 inches wide, and 1\u00bd\ninches thick was taken from the tree\u2014the wild fig tree, or from a tree\ncalled _ngumbu_. The strip of bark was soaked in water for a time, and\nthen beaten with an ivory mallet as it lay across the palm of the hand.\nThe strip of bark gradually widened to 18 inches, and lengthened to 3 or\n4 feet. Some cloths were very evenly beaten, so that no holes appeared;\nothers were not so well done, and holes and uneven places showed in the\nfinished cloth. _Likuta_ was the name given to the finished cloth. I\nnever saw any weaving among these Boloki folk, but they told me of an\nancient native-made cloth called _pelele_; but I never saw a specimen of\nit, and cannot speak of its texture.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A BANGALA WOMAN\u2019S DRESS\n This is one of about fifteen fringes that a woman wears tied round her\n waist. The more _chic_ the wearer the shorter the fringes are cut.\n They are made from scraped palm leaves.\n]\n\nNot many baskets were made by the Boloki folk, but the most common was a\nwedge-shaped basket of medium texture, and with a capacity of about half\na bushel, used for carrying home farm produce. This was made of split\ncane, of the same thickness and style as the seat of a cane chair. It\nwas a large oval at the mouth running down to a small oval at the\nbottom, and was carried on the back either by a single strap across the\nchest or forehead, or by two small loops through which the arms were\npassed. For soaking their cassava roots long conical baskets were used\nwith lids to tie down. Occasionally I saw their large sugar-cane\nwine-pots covered with stout basket-work, and strong handles plaited on\nto them. Other kinds of baskets found amongst this tribe were made by\nslaves captured or bought from neighbouring districts; and their shields\nof basket-work were, I believe, bought ready-made from other tribes. I\nnever saw one in the making. A very large variety of fish-traps and\nbaskets were made by these folk. Some were over 6 feet in diameter and\nlong in proportion, while others were small enough for a child to\nhandle. They were very dexterous in twisting canes into various shapes\nfor their basket-work, and in making mats from papyrus.\n\nThe pottery made by the Boloki women divides itself easily into three\nkinds: 1. Saucepans of various sizes but only one shape. 2. Wine-pots\nfrom 6 inches high to 2 and 3 feet high and broad in proportion. 3.[11]\nFirepans or hearths for carrying fire in their canoes when travelling.\nThese latter had three prongs overhanging the top of the saucepan, upon\nwhich an ordinary cooking-pot could be placed, and allow of a free\npassage of air to the fire.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n No. 1 was called _lobeki_. No. 2 _mobako_, or a small size _ndubu_.\n No. 3 was named _lokenge_. There were many other names, but they only\n differentiated the sizes, and also showed whether they were well or\n badly made, etc.\n\nThey had no knowledge of a wheel, but built up their pottery on a base\nby rolling the clay between the palms of the hands into long pencils\nabout the size of a finger, and then welding the strip to the base and\nflattening it out with the fingers as they worked round the pot. The\nonly decorations I have seen on their pottery are \u201cchevrons\u201d and\n\u201cherring-bone.\u201d\n\nIn baking their pottery no kilns were used, but firewood was laid\ncarefully on the ground, and the pots arranged on the top, and then\nsmall firewood, twigs, etc., were thrown over the whole pile and the\nfire lighted.\n\nOn the Mobangi River I saw some varnishing done. When the pots were\nsufficiently baked, and while still very hot, they were rubbed over with\nlumps of gum copal. Pots treated in this way were suitable for\ndrinking-vessels, or as dishes in which to place food; but they were\nunsuitable for cooking purposes, for directly the pot got hot the gum\ncopal caught fire. Some, before being rubbed over with the gum copal,\nwere smeared with arnotto dye, and thus showed red through the glazing.\n\nIron ore was imported from the upper reaches of the Lulanga River, and\nsmelted in native crucibles. The furnace was a hole about 18 inches\ndeep, about 15 inches in diameter at the top, and 8 to 10 inches at the\nbottom. Charcoal made from hard woods was the heating medium. The\nsmelting pot with the ore was put in the middle of the furnace, and the\nblast was furnished by native bellows and conducted to the heart of the\nfurnace by a funnel-shaped tube of burnt clay. The bellows were cut out\nof a solid block of wood. There were two holes, each from 8 to 12 inches\nin diameter, which opened below into a common wooden tube which fitted\ninto the above-mentioned clay funnel. Over each of the holes a soft skin\nwas securely tied, and to the centre of each skin was fixed a stick\nabout 3 feet 6 inches long. The operator worked the sticks up and down\nalternately, and the more vigorously he worked the more powerful the\nblast.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n POTS AND SAUCEPANS FOR SALE. LIBINZA LAKE\n A wheel is unknown, but the pottery is generally very perfect in\n shape. The pots are baked, and sometimes glazed with gum copal.\n Those with three prongs are used for cooking while travelling in a\n canoe. The saucepan of food is supported on the three prongs, and\n small firewood is put in the openings.\n]\n\nThe native blacksmith made hoes and axes; knives of various shapes and\nsizes; spear-heads of different kinds, barbed for fishing-spears,\nsmall-bladed ones for fighting, or broad-bladed fancy spears for\npurposes of show when visiting friends and neighbours. He also fashioned\nlarge hooks for catching crocodiles, the razors for shaving the head or\nface, lances for killing hippopotami, knives for household use, gouges\nand chisels for canoe-making, and piercers for matmaking. Unfortunately\nthe introduction of European knives, hoes, and axes has ruined this\nnative industry.\n\nFor some time after we settled at Monsembe the blacksmith would buy up\nthe iron bands from our bales and boxes, and work them up into hoes,\nknives, axes, and spear-heads. The anvil was a block of hard wood, the\nhammer was a bar of iron about 8 or 10 inches long, and 1\u00bc inches\nsquare. They had no pincers, but when the piece of iron was too short to\nhold while working it they made a wooden handle for it, which they\nslipped on and off as required. They knew the process for making steel,\nand could put a very fine edge on their razors, spears, and knives.\n\nLarge brass rings for the neck were made in the following way: The\npotato-like substance of the plantain root was cut into shape of the\ndesired circumference and thickness; this model was surrounded with\nwell-kneaded clay, a funnel-shaped opening being made to let off steam,\nto clear out the charred fibre of the plantain root, and to pour in the\nmolten metal. This mould, when completed, was baked in the fire, and as\nit baked the plantain-root model inside was burnt; the ashes were\ncleared out and the liquid brass poured in. When cool, the mould was\nbroken and the brass ring was well polished by scraping and rubbing, and\n\u201cherring-bone,\u201d and \u201clozenge\u201d patterns were cut on it.\n\nSmall rings were made for the legs and wrists. A ring was put on each\nleg, resting on the ankles; a year or so later another pair of rings was\nadded to the first pair, and so on, until the rings almost reached the\nknees. By gradually adding ring to ring the wearer became used to the\nweight, and the ankles became corneous. I once took more than a dozen\nrings from the legs of a woman, weighing 60 lbs. in all\u201430 lbs. of brass\non each leg. When these heavy rings had been removed the woman seemed\ntop-heavy; her legs were now so light that apparently she had no control\nover them, and she crossed our enclosure like a drunken person. I have\nseen solid brass necklets weighing from 20 to 28 lbs. each. On one\noccasion, while chatting with a chief, I asked him if he buried the\nbrass rings when his wives died, and he at once replied: \u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you remove such heavy, strong rings from the neck of a dead\nwoman?\u201d was my next question.\n\nHe did not reply in words, but he ran his finger round his own neck,\nindicating that under such circumstances they cut off the head in order\nto remove the rings.\n\nLong spiral leg rings were made in the following manner: A bamboo, from\n12 to 15 feet long, was split (bamboo, _Raphia vinifera_, in which there\nare no nodes). The pith, to the desired depth and width, was taken out\nof one half and the molten brass[12] was poured along this channel. This\ngave the operator a long brass rod about the thickness of the index\nfinger, and this rod was carefully beaten round, scraped, and polished;\nand starting from the ankle it was wound round and round the leg nearly\nup to the knee, each circumference of the spiral being made a little\nlarger than the one immediately below it. At the bottom the leglet\nimpinged on the ankle, which bore the whole weight; but at the top it\nhad 2 or 3 inches\u2019 play about the calf of the leg. Brass ribbon was made\nby beating out the brass rods to the required width, and this ribbon was\nused for ornamenting spear and knife handles, the hafts of paddles, and\nknife sheaths.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n Copper (_dikulu_) was known, but I never saw any of it worked, and\n only very little worn as ornaments.\n\nThe social position of a smith among the natives was very high, and he\nwas regarded with as much respect as a professional man is in Europe.\nThe natives thought that the smith was not only wise and skilful, but\nthat he practised witchcraft in order to perform his work properly. No\none was allowed to step over a smith\u2019s furnace, nor blow it with his\nmouth, nor spit into it, as either of these actions would pollute the\nfire, and thus cause bad workmanship. Any person polluting the fire\nwould have to compensate the smith by the payment of a heavy fine. A\nsmith taught his son or his nephew the trade, but would not take an\napprentice on any consideration. He was always known by the name of his\ntrade, and was consequently called _motuli_ = the one who _tula_, or\nworks in iron.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A NATIVE WOMAN OF WEALTH\n She has highly prized beads across her chest, a brass chain around her\n waist from which dangles a large brass bell, numerous brass rings\n round her arms, and brass rings on her big toes. On her legs she has\n spiral brass rings.\n]\n\nHow did the smith procure his brass for the making of rings, etc.? The\ncurrency of the country was the brass rod, and the rods were also used\nfor their brass-work. The brass-worker would collect as many rods as\npossible, and cut from half an inch to one inch off each rod, and thus\nget his material for nothing.\n\nBefore, and for some time after, the arrival of white men salt[13] was\nmade by the natives burning two different kinds of vegetation. (1) The\nthick, succulent stems of a grass[14] that grew in the water along the\nbanks of the river. This was cut in large quantities and heaped along\nthe bank until dry, when it was carried to the town. (2) It was also\nmade from a small plant from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, with thickish\nleaves, no stem, rootlets coming straight from the leaves, with the\nleaves arranged like a rosette. This plant floats on the river in large\nquantities, being torn from the banks by every storm that ruffles the\nriver. The process of manufacturing salt with either the plants or the\ngrass was the same. A large quantity, say of the succulent grass, or\ngrass and plants mixed, was collected on the bank, turned over from time\nto time until thoroughly dry; then it was carried to the town, heaped\nup, and burnt to ashes. A large funnel was made of leaves, folded and\nplaited together, and suspended from a stick. Into this funnel some\nashes were put and water poured on them. The water dissolved the greater\npart of the ashes and percolated gently through the leaves into a\nshallow saucepan, where the moisture evaporated, leaving behind a dirty\nwhite granulated substance which was used and sold as salt. About a\ntablespoonful cost 1\u00bdd. I knew a semi-mad man who ate two tablespoonfuls\nof this salt and died in a few hours from the effect of it.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n Native names for salt, _monana_ and _mokwa_.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n Called by the natives _monkoko mwa njoko_ = sugar-cane of the\n elephant, because it was so juicy.\n\nThe Boloki were very fond of music, and quickly acquired a new tune.\nTheir voices, as a rule, were loud, clear, steady, and flexible, and\nthey sang from the chest. There were harsh, strident voices among them,\nbut they were the exception, and at certain ages their voices broke and\nbecame falsetto. Their singing was mixed, i.e. men and women sang\ntogether, and was generally accompanied by an instrument, or by the\nbeating of a stick on a plank, or the clapping of hands to give the\ntime. In some ceremonies the women sang by themselves, at other times\nthe men by themselves, and very often the two sexes together, as when\ntravelling in their canoes. The companies sang in unison, and recitative\ntime. Many of their songs were a combination of solo and chorus.\n\nWhen paddling their canoes, either a small drum was beaten or a stick\nstruck rhythmically on the edge of the canoe to give time to the stroke\nof their paddles, and to the rhythm of their songs, solos, and choruses.\nAs a rule one sang a solo, and the others took up the chorus. Their\nsongs were generally topical, and as they paddled up- or down-river they\ngave all the latest information of interest to the villages as they\npassed them. I have often been amazed at the rapidity and accuracy with\nwhich news was spread in this way. A canoe leaving Nouvelles Anvers\n(Diboko), where the State had a large station, would carry up or down\nriver all the gossip about the doings and sayings of the white men of\nthe station, accounts of their punitive expeditions, judgments passed on\ncaptives and prisoners, their treatment of the natives who had taken the\ntaxes there, what new white folk were expected and who was leaving for\nEurope, etc. The white officers told their personal boys any item of\nnews, and they passed on the items to their friends; hence in the course\nof an hour or two everybody on a station was acquainted with all the\nspecial bits of information worth knowing.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n BURNING GRASS FOR MAKING SALT\n The proper kind of grass is collected, dried, and burnt. A funnel of\n large leaves is prepared, some of the ashes are put in the funnel\n and water poured over them. This percolates through the leaves, and\n when evaporated leaves a thin layer of salt.\n]\n\nThis singing answered another purpose: it gave warning to the village\nthat a canoe was approaching, and that the folk in it were friendly. A\ncanoe of any size that approached a town without singing and drumming\nwas regarded as an enemy\u2019s canoe, and was treated as such, i.e. spears,\nstones, etc., would be thrown at the occupants of it.\n\nOccasionally a professional singer would visit our town and teach the\nyoung men a new tune. He charged two or three brass rods per person, but\nwould not teach the tune unless he had enough pupils to pay him, and\nthen he would stay a day or two until they had learned the tune\nperfectly; and when once they had caught it they would set their own\nwords to it. A few years ago I wrote in my notebook as follows: \u201cA\nprofessional dancer and singer has recently visited the town, and, like\nso many of his European brethren, he was marked by some eccentricity in\ndress. He wore a belt of red and blue baize about 18 inches wide (the\nusual width is 4 to 8 inches), which made him the observed of all\nobservers. Our professional in walking about the town put on a swagger\nfully in keeping with his position and dignity\u2014his bells tingled, and\nhis monkey and wild cat skins dangled to and fro. He received a large\nfee from a mourning family that engaged him to dance and sing in honour\nof their dead relatives.\u201d\n\nThe native songs may be divided into three classes: (_a_) topical, as\nsung in canoes while distributing news; (_b_) local songs, in which the\nevents of the daily life of the village are temporarily recorded, as the\nbravery, cowardice, unsociability, generosity, meanness, thievishness,\netc., of the men and women of village or town. These local songs have a\ngreat effect on the people, for they crystallize the public opinion\nconcerning an individual, and the African hates nothing so much as being\nsung against or ridiculed in a song. (_c_) Songs at funeral festivities,\nwhen the praises of the dead are sung.\n\nThey borrowed tunes freely from other tribes, and soon learned to sing\nall the European tunes we cared to teach them; but I do not think that\nany sounds affected them like the rhythmical beat of their own drums. To\nthat beat they would paddle vigorously for hours beneath the tropical\nsun; dance perspiringly through a long afternoon, or through a long\nnight; fight recklessly, or drink their sugar-cane wine until their\nstomachs were well distended.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A WOODEN HEAD-REST OR PILLOW\n When the hair has been dressed, at the expense of much time and money,\n the dandy sleeps with his neck on a pillow of this kind to avoid\n disarranging the hair.\n]\n\nThey were clever in making canoes, which were cut out of solid trees,\nsometimes from soft woods, but generally from hard timber, such as\ncedar, mahogany, and even camwood. These canoes were sometimes small\nenough to be handled by a child, and carried by one person, and so\nshallow of draught that they would run easily over a few inches of\nwater; but they were also made large enough to take from 60 to 70\npaddlers, and more than half a ton of cargo. The tree was felled and\nroughly shaped in the forest, and then floated to the town of the maker.\nIt was drawn up out of the river, and a rough shelter built over it to\nshade the worker and keep the canoe from warping. A piece of _Euphorbia\ncandelabra_ was tied to it, and the maker was not to drink water while\nworking on it, otherwise it would leak; and the charm kept it from\ncracking and warded off all evil influences from spoiling it.\n\nThey were also expert in making paddles, handles for axes and hoes, and\nin carving out chairs from solid blocks of wood. These latter had four\nlegs and gracefully curving backs, but cost so much that only chiefs and\nhead-men could afford them; and when they went to a drinking-bout at a\nneighbour\u2019s it was no uncommon sight to see the women carrying the\nchairs and stools to accommodate their lords and masters in comfort\nwhile drinking. The natives, with teaching, made good carpenters, and\nwere always handy with tools. Our advent, with new ideas of building and\nwith many tools the like of which they had never seen before, opened to\nthem fresh channels of industry; and as they lost their fear of the\n\u201cwitch-doctor\u201d and were set free from his accusations of \u201cwitchcraft\u201d\nthey gave vent to their skill by imitating our dwellings, our furniture,\nand other conveniences that they saw about our houses, and had seen us\nmake out of the very materials that they had always had to their hand.\nThey eagerly exchanged fowls and other kinds of food for our tools, and\nwe were always ready to help them. Before our arrival the\n\u201cwitch-doctor,\u201d by threats of \u201cwitchcraft,\u201d killed every aspiration of\nthe people and smothered every sign of inventive genius that exhibited\nitself. To make anything out of the ordinary\u2014any new article\u2014was to be\nregarded as a \u201cwitch,\u201d and trouble was sure to follow any suspicion of\nthat kind. There was no hope for them until they burst the bonds that\nheld them in thraldom to their \u201cwitch-doctors\u201d; but once released from\nthose miserable trammels, no limits can be set to their future progress.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n\n CUSTOMS: SOME CURIOUS AND SOME CRUEL\n\nStopping the rain\u2014Causing the river to subside\u2014Appeasing\n water-spirits\u2014Saved by his wit\u2014Debit and credit in killing\u2014Methods\n of drinking\u2014Purification by fire\u2014Preventing spirits following their\n relatives\u2014Burying women alive with their husband\u2019s corpse\u2014Killing a\n man for a feast\u2014Honouring the dead\u2014Ceremonies at a grave\u2014A monument\n to a chief.\n\n\nIt was raining one day for about three hours when I noticed a\nrain-doctor standing on our beach trying to stop the continuous\ndownpour. He was a tall, upright, old man of very kindly disposition,\nand we had often had joking conversations on this very subject of his\npower to stop the rain. He had frequently, with much emphasis, asserted\nhis possession of such a power, and assured me that one day he would\nprove it to me. It was now raining one of those kinds of rain that seem\nas if it had begun at the Creation and would continue to the crack of\ndoom. From the verandah of my house I saw the rain-doctor pluck a leaf,\nand going to the bank of the river, he placed the leaf on the closed\nfist of his left hand, and after extending the arm towards the quarter\nfrom which the wind was blowing, he waved it to and fro in a semicircle,\nand then struck the leaf with the open palm of his right hand. This\noperation he repeated several times, and at the end of an hour or so the\nrain began to abate and at last ceased. He then came smilingly up to my\nhouse, and said, \u201cYou see, white man, I can stop the rain.\u201d\n\nOf course he could when there was no more rain to fall. I reminded him\nof his many failures, and the frequency with which he himself had been\ncaught in the rain; but such reminders neither shook his own faith, nor\nthe people\u2019s, in his power to stop the rain.\n\nIf a family were troubled with much sickness, and a witch-doctor said it\nwas due to the dissatisfaction of So-and-so\u2019s spirit (mentioning the\nname of an important and recently deceased member of the family),\nbecause no offering had lately been made to him, then the family would\nkill a slave and send him with a message to their troublesome deceased\nrelative, requesting that he would not cause them any further\nmisfortune. If the deceased belonged to a \u201cbush\u201d or inland tribe, the\nslave would be killed and buried; but if the departed one was a member\nof a riverine tribe, then the slave was tied up and thrown into the\nriver. We induced them to stop this custom, but the more timorous ones\nfor a time compromised the matter either by burying brass rods, equal to\nthe price of a slave, in the grave, or scattering them in the river.\n\nThe occasion was as follows: The river was rising rapidly and flooding\nthe low-lying town of Monsembe, and as the water rose higher and higher\nthe head-men met together to decide what was to be done to cause the\nriver to subside. Passing that way at the time and hearing the subject\nof their discussion, I listened to the conference, which lasted about\nthree hours. They suggested one reason after another for the flood, but\nat last they were unanimously of the opinion that the father of one of\nthe men present was angry with his family for slighting him so long, and\nto show his disapprobation, he had caused the river (River Congo) thus\nto rise, and the only method of securing its subsidence was to throw a\nhuman sacrifice into the river.\n\nWhen they arrived at this decision I asked for permission to speak,\nwhich was readily granted. With my walking-stick I drew an outline of\nthe Congo River, and, putting in some of the larger tributaries, I told\nthem how the rain was falling incessantly in those parts, and that if\nthey wanted to keep the river from rising, the best way was to send\ntheir rain-doctor to Stanley Falls to stop the rain, and thus end their\nanxiety. And as I spoke I pointed to the old man who was sitting among\nthe other head-men.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d they exclaimed in chorus, \u201cour rain-doctor can stop the rain\nfalling in these parts; but his powers will not act in another district.\nOur only remedy is to throw an old man into the river.\u201d Old men were\ncheaper than young ones.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d I replied, \u201cold Mata Bwata (the old chief who was credited with\nthe rise of the river) was a little man, and I am a big man; but one day\nI shall die and shall be buried here in Monsembe, and if so little a man\ncan cause the river to rise so much because he is angry with you about a\nceremony, how high do you think I shall cause the water to rise when I\nshall be angry with you about murdering men and women in this manner?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d they answered, \u201cyou will be able to make the water come right\nabove our heads, and we shall all be drowned. All right, white man,\u201d\nthey continued, \u201cwe know what you mean, and we promise not to throw\nanyone into the river.\u201d\n\nWe found afterwards that they compromised the matter, for when they held\na mimic \u201cnaval\u201d battle (with canoes) in honour of Mata Bwata\u2019s memory,\nto appease his dissatisfied spirit, they scattered six hundred brass\nrods in the river\u2014the price of a slave\u2014in lieu of a human sacrifice.\n\nWhile on this subject of appeasing water-spirits I may relate a very\namusing incident that came to my knowledge, the chief actor in which was\nwell known to me. The folk in the Bombilinga district had been very\nunsuccessful in their fishing, and putting the cause of their\nnon-success down to the wrath of the water-spirits who had turned aside\nthe fish from their traps and nets, they desired to conciliate them.\nWith this object they decided to buy a man and throw him into the river.\nThey bought a man with one eye, who, on account of that deformity, was\nsold cheap, and, tying him, as they thought, securely, they hurled him\nfrom a canoe into the river.\n\nBy some means, however, he got loose and swam ashore, and on his landing\nthe surprised people asked him why he had returned after being\nsacrificed to the water-spirits. His smart reply was: \u201cThe water-spirits\ndid not want any one-eyed folk down there, so they loosened the ropes\nand sent me ashore.\u201d By his wit he saved his life, but another and more\nperfectly formed person was bought and thrown into the river in his\nstead. This happened some years before we went to live in the district,\nbut the one-eyed man I knew very well, and more than one person told me\nof the incident.\n\nUp to the early months of 1890 eight brothers lived at Bonjoko\u2014a town\nthree miles below Monsembe. For some unknown reason their slaves beat to\ndeath the chief of that town. Now slave-owners were held responsible for\nthe actions of their slaves, so the brothers had to flee for their\nlives; but one of them was killed before he could escape, and the others\ncame to Monsembe and built a set of houses with a strong palisade round\nthem. They lived thus for nine months in apparent security. A chief,\nhowever, is worth two ordinary men, and the family of the murdered\nhead-man did not forget that one more life was owing to them, but they\nwaited their time and opportunity.\n\nSome nine months afterwards a Monsembe slave fell from a palm tree and\nwas picked up dead. All that day and the next the other slaves of the\ntown danced and sang at the funeral festivities of the dead man, and\nduring the noise of their crying and chanting dirges some Bonjoko people\nentered the town, rushed into the stockade, and, killing one of the\nbrothers there, they cut open the head of another, and chased a third\none into the bush, where they speared him to death.\n\nIf only one brother had been killed the feud would have ended, and\nreconciliation between the families would have followed; but in affairs\nof this kind they have a credit and debit side, i.e. the chief of\nBonjoko was a great man, so it needed two deaths to expiate his. The\nBonjoko people had killed one brother before the family had escaped from\nthe town, and now they desired to kill one other only to square the\naccount; but being divided in their attack into two or three parties,\nacting independently, neither knew what the other had done or was doing,\ntwo brothers were killed, during the raid, instead of one. Thus the\nBonjoko family owed one life to the brothers, and according to custom\nthey should not have stopped hostilities until there was a clear\nbalance-sheet. The remnant of the brothers could move about freely, and\nneeded no longer to live enclosed in a stockade. It was now the turn of\nthe other family to go in fear of their lives. The brothers took the\nbodies of their slain relatives to Bonjoko for burial; and a short time\nafterwards made blood-brotherhood with the other family, and the blood\nfeud was thus finished.\n\nIt leaked out eventually that the Monsembe head-men, who had little or\nno sympathy with the brothers, had received 1000 brass rods not to\noppose the Bonjoko family when they came for vengeance, although the\nhead-men had accepted large presents from the brothers on the promise of\nprotection and the right of asylum in their town. This treachery was\ncondemned by public opinion, but those who condemned it only did so\nbecause they had had no share of the spoils.\n\nThe principal drink, apart from water, was _manga_ = sugar-cane wine.\nThe canes were cut into two-feet lengths and the outside skin peeled\noff. The juicy pith was put into a long, strong, canoe-shaped trough,\nwhere it was pounded into pulp with heavy pestles. By the side of the\ntrough was a strong cross-stick fixed to two stout uprights, and from\nthe cross-stick was suspended by many loops a cord-plaited mat about 16\ninches wide and 2 feet 6 inches long. At the lower end of the mat was a\nstout stick hanging from the bottom loops of the mat. The operator took\na large handful of crushed fibre from the trough, and placing it on the\nmat he gave a twist to the lower stick, folding the mat over on to the\nfibre, then with both hands he turned the lower stick again and again,\nuntil no more juice could be pressed from the enclosed fibre. The juice\nran from the rope mat into a conduit below, and on into a large jar at\nthe bottom. This process was repeated until all the crushed fibre had\nbeen pressed in the mat. This operation was generally begun about 4 a.m.\nand completed by 8 or 9 a.m. A little old sugar-cane wine was added to\nthe new, and by 3 or 4 p.m. the whole jar, containing from eight to\ntwelve gallons, would be fizzing with fermentation. A jar of four\ngallons could be bought for two yards of calico.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. D. Dodds_\n A BOLOKI DRINKING-BOUT\n Sugar-cane wine is made early in the morning, and by the afternoon it\n is well fermented. A native bell, or drum, is sounded, and the folk\n gather for the carouse. When a drinking-bout lasts several days the\n men have leaves fastened in their hair.\n]\n\nA man would buy a jar of wine and beat his drum in a certain way to call\nhis friends, who, after a few minutes, began to gather from various\nparts of the town, each followed by a wife carrying a stool and some\narticle out of which her husband was to drink. One had a bottle, another\na saucepan, another an old coffee-pot, another a jug, another a glass or\nan enamel mug. A man was chosen to dole out the wine with a small wooden\nbailer, and no matter how large the vessel offered, the recipient only\nreceived so many dips of the bailer, and thus all shared alike.\n\nDuring the sugar-cane season drinking-bouts were common and would last\nfrom eight to ten days. Different head-men would buy on succeeding days\nlarge jars of _manga_, and would beat their drums to call their cronies\nand friends to the \u201cdrink.\u201d They would sit in a circle round the jar of\nsugar-cane wine, and one would solemnly ladle it out, but no one would\ndrink until all were served. Women, who sat behind their husbands at\nthese carousals, drank only what their husbands gave them, and I have\nseen only three drunken women. This was not because the women had any\naversion to drinking or to drunkenness, but because they could not\nprocure the liquor. The making of the \u201cwine\u201d was a laborious process,\nhence, while the women cultivated and prepared the canes, the men made\nthe wine and took care to drink it. Drinking-bouts were always followed\nby a certain amount of sickness, as fever and diarrh\u0153a, and a complete\nloss of appetite for a time. I think the rough, sharp pieces of fibre\nfound in the unstrained wine irritated the bowels and brought on\ndysentery; and the irregular lives they lived during these bouts induced\nfever.\n\nThe majority drank in the ordinary way, but some in a manner peculiar to\nthemselves. One sucked his wine through a reed; another had a cloth\ndropped over his head while drinking; another placed some fine-shredded\ngrass over the mouth of his bottle and quaffed his wine through that;\nanother took a piece of plantain leaf and, making a channel down the\nmiddle, put one end into his mouth and poured the wine out of his bottle\non to the top end of his leaf, whence it ran down the groove into his\nmouth. All these various modes of drinking are rigidly followed out of\nregard to the strict injunctions of some \u201cmedicine man,\u201d who has told\nthem that in order to prevent the return of a sickness from which they\nhave suffered, or to escape certain diseases, they must drink in such\nand such a manner, or not at all. When a man was \u201con the booze\u201d he stuck\na leaf in his hair to show it, and then no notice was taken of any\nstupid or insulting remarks he might make, or of any business\ntransaction he might enter upon.\n\nOne day I saw an old woman whom I knew very well sitting in the centre\nof a ring of fire, and upon inquiry I found that she had had much to do\nwith preparing a corpse for burial, and at the close of the ceremony she\nhad to be purified. A ring of fire made of small sticks encircled her;\nshe took a leaf, dried it, crunched it in her fist, and sprinkled it on\nthe fire, moving her hands, palms downwards, over the fire ring. When\nthe fire had died out a witch-doctor took hold of the little finger of\nher left hand with the little finger of his right hand, and, lifting her\narm, he drew her out of the fire circle purified. She was now supposed\nto be cleansed from all contamination with the dead.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n A BOLOKI WOMAN AND CHILD\n The parallel lines of cicatrices running from the neck to the navel\n are for ornamentation. The ring of solid brass round the neck weighs\n about 12 lbs., but some weigh even 28 lbs.\n]\n\nWalking one day in Monsembe I saw an incident that recalled Burns\u2019 \u201cTam\no\u2019Shanter\u201d to my mind. There had been a death in a family, and the\nrelatives had just performed all the necessary rites and ceremonies, and\nwere returning to their homes. A small trench some twenty feet long was\ndug with a hoe. The relatives took up their position on the side of the\ntrench nearest to the grave, the medicine-man stood on the other side,\nand his assistant was placed at the end of the trench with a large\ncalabash of water. At a signal the water was poured into the trench, and\nwhile it was running the medicine-man took each person by the hand, and\nmumbling an incantation he pulled him, or her, over the running water.\nWhen all had been pulled over, one by one, the water was allowed to run\nuntil the calabash was empty. I asked the reason of the ceremony, and\nthey told me it was to keep the spirit of their deceased, and buried,\nrelative from following them. It was very evident from the rites\nobserved that they thought the spirits could not cross running water.\n\nOne evening I heard a considerable amount of shouting and screaming, and\non going to the scene of the excitement I found two women strongly bound\nwho were weeping most bitterly, and begging to be set free. I asked them\nthe reason for being thus tied, and they replied, \u201cYou know our husband,\nMangwele, is dead. He is to be buried to-morrow morning, and we are to\nbe buried alive with his body. Untie us, white man, and save us from\nsuch a death.\u201d\n\nI knew the custom of the district very well, but had never been brought\ninto contact so closely with it. In every family of importance there\nwere one or two women called _mwila ndaku_, which meant that when their\nhusband died they were to be buried alive with his corpse, unless in the\nmeantime they bore children, when other women took their place. Every\ntime they heard their name it was a reminder of the awful fate that\nawaited them.\n\nFrom my heart I pitied the women, and turning to the members of the\nfamily I pleaded and remonstrated with them in such a way, and with such\nGod-given eloquence, that they at last said, \u201cAll right, white man, we\nwill give up this custom.\u201d They untied the women, who at once began to\ndance about us, relieved that they had been rescued from such a horrible\nfate.\n\nNext morning the men came and asked me to attend the funeral, to see for\nmyself that they really intended to keep their promise. I went, and for\nthe first time in the history of that district a man of importance was\nburied without living women being inhumed with the corpse. Now I knew\nall the wives, children, and slaves of that man, and whenever I asked\nfor them, they were able to show them\u2014a proof that they had not secretly\nburied any after I had left the grave; and as only members of the\nfamily, or slaves owned by the deceased, would follow and attend upon\nthe spirit of the departed, I felt sure that no outsiders had been\nsurreptitiously substituted. From that time they used to request that\neither I or one of my colleagues would attend important funerals, to see\nthat they kept their promise. We were exceedingly glad to stop such a\ncruel custom.\n\nWe were not always successful in our efforts to save life, as the\nfollowing incident will show: The people at Bonjoko determined to have a\ngreat feast. They bought as fat a slave as they could procure, broke his\nlegs and arms, and fed him for three days, while they made a great\nquantity of sugar-cane wine. I made every possible endeavour to save\nhim, but utterly failed to do so, and on the third day he was killed and\nthe horrible orgy was held. That was in the early years of our Mission;\nbut in after years they became heartily ashamed of the whole affair.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n A MEMORIAL TO A DECEASED HEAD-MAN\n A shelter with an open front is erected, and lined with cloth. A rough\n table covered with a cloth is arranged, and on it are placed\n wash-hand basins, bottles, etc., and under it are put stools, large\n wine jars, etc. These things are all \u201ckilled,\u201d that their spirits\n may go to the spirit-land and be the property of the chief thus\n honoured. See page 106.\n]\n\nWhen a man of any position died his wives would throw off their dresses\nand wear old rags (sometimes they would go absolutely naked), pick up\nanything belonging to him\u2014his chair, spear, pipe, mug, knife, shield, or\nblanket\u2014anything that first came to hand, and having covered their\nbodies with a coating of clay, they would parade the town in ones, or\ntwos, or threes, crying bitterly and calling upon him to return to them.\nThey would stop at times in their crying and say, \u201cHe is gone to\nSo-and-so, we will go and find him,\u201d and away they would start off in a\nbusiness-like fashion in their pretended search for him. This parading\nthey would keep up for a day or two, and then women of the town would\nbedeck themselves with climbing plants, vines, leaves, and bunches of\ntwigs, and forming themselves into a procession they would march through\nthe town chanting the praises of the deceased. Men would paint and arm\nthemselves as for a fight, and would imitate the daring acts of the\ndeparted as a warrior; and if he had been remarkable for fighting on the\nriver, they would arrange a sham canoe fight in his honour. Fifteen or\ntwenty canoes, filled with men armed with spears, shields, and guns,\nwould go through all the man\u0153uvres of a mimic river fight, firing their\nguns, pretending to throw their spears, or deflect them with their\nshields, circling round each other amid shouts of their prowess, or\nlaughter at those who, losing their balance, fell into the river. Those\nashore would crowd along the bank and yell out directions, approbation,\nand encouragement to their friends in the canoes. It was an amusing and\ninteresting sight, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed both by actors\nand spectators alike. They called this praising or honouring the dead.\n\nI was asked on one occasion to attend the burial of a prominent man of\nthe district, and was interested in seeing the following rites\nperformed: After the coffin had been lowered into the grave, men came\nforward, and, taking a spear, they called upon the spirits of those whom\nthe deceased had killed in times of war to attend their conqueror in the\nspirit-world, and every time a name was mentioned or an order given a\nthrust was made with a spear. The deceased had killed seven persons, and\ntheir skulls were arranged round the base of the wild fig tree just in\nfront of his house. Different men called on the different spirits, and\nso far as I could ascertain it was those who knew all the particulars of\nthe slain, and the circumstances attending their death, that had to call\non them to attend and obey the deceased. It seemed to me that he gave\ndetails of the person killed in order that the spirits should make no\nmistake as to who was meant, and described the manner of death that\nthere might be no misapprehension about a claim on their service being\nestablished. Some spears and knives were put in the coffin, and some\nbrass rods (the currency) were laid in the grave for the use of the\ndeparted.\n\nSome months later a shelter was built over the grave, with a rough table\nunder it. On this table mugs, bottles, saucepans, plates, etc., were\narranged; and at the sides, and under the table, stools, chairs, large\nwine-jars were put; but everything was \u201ckilled,\u201d i.e. broken. All the\nnatives told me that the articles were \u201ckilled\u201d to keep people from\nstealing them, yet they had an idea that the things thus displayed not\nonly served as a memorial to the deceased, but helped him in some\nindefinable way in the spirit-land. Undoubtedly they had forgotten the\nreason for \u201ckilling\u201d the articles. The stealing reason was not\nsufficient to meet the case, for there was too wholesome a fear of the\nrevenge the spirits could inflict, and detection was too easy for anyone\nto be so foolhardy as to rob a grave. No, this display of useful goods\nserved three purposes: it was a \u201cmonument\u201d to the important man buried\nbeneath it; it was a proof of his own, and his family\u2019s, wealth; and\nlastly, and probably the original object of the articles being placed on\nthe grave, they were conveniences to increase his comfort and prestige\nin the spirit world to which he had gone.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n\n SOCIAL LIFE AND ORGANIZATION\n\nSalutations\u2014Sneezing\u2014Land is communal\u2014River rights\u2014Slaves and their\n position\u2014Laws of inheritance\u2014Sons given as pawns\u2014Masters\u2019\n responsibility\u2014Debtor and creditor\u2014Rules for collecting debts\u2014Rules\n for fighting\u2014The evening meal\u2014Dividing food\u2014Greediness condemned\u2014The\n village dance\u2014The impromptu song\u2014Its effect on various people.\n\n\nRudeness, discourtesy, and lack of sociality are greatly condemned by\nthe Boloki, and will be punished in _longa_, or the nether regions to\nwhich their spirits go after death; hence they are very punctilious\nabout saluting each other whenever they meet, visit, or pass one\nanother. The following are their principal salutations.\n\nMorning:\n\n_Olongo O!_ You are awake. Answer: _Nalongoi O!_ I am awake.\n\n_Obimi O!_ You are out. Answer: _Nabimi O!_ I am out.\n\nLater in the day, when a man is passing a neighbour\u2019s house, he will say\nto the one sitting inside or outside his house:\n\n_Ojali O!_ or _Ol\u2019 o moi O!_ You are alive (exist or sit), or, You are\nthere. Answer: _Najali O!_ or _Nal\u2019 oni O!_ I am alive, or I am here.\n\nIf the resident sees the visitor first he says:\n\n_Oy\u2019 oni O!_ You have come here. Answer: _Nay\u2019 oni O!_ I have come here.\n\nIf the visitor stays chatting for a little time, he says on leaving:\n\n_Nake O!_ I go. And the other responds: _Oke O!_ You go.\n\nIf a man is ill he is greeted thus:\n\n_Okeli boti O!_ You are a little better (_bolau_ is understood).\n\nAfter his illness the greeting is: _Okeli bolau O!_ You are good, i.e.\nYou are better. And the answer to the first is: _Nakeli boti O!_ I am a\nlittle better; and to the second: _Nakeli bolau O!_ I am well.\n\nTo leave out the _O!_ is for the greeting and response to lack\ncordiality, and the emphasis on the _O!_ and the tone in which it is\nuttered are indicative of the feeling those greeting one another have\nfor each other. _Bwanda_ is the word used in greeting a superior, and\nthe answer is _Bika_ (these words have lost their meaning); but a\nsuperior greets an equal with the same salutations as an inferior does\nan equal, i.e.: _Ojali O!_ _Obimi O!_ _Oy\u2019 oni O!_ etc.\n\nThere is another salutation used by a person to an equal, the answer to\nwhich is very various; and, in fact, every person has his own reply\naccording to his circumstances and the way in which he thinks his\nneighbours regard him at the time. One man greets another by saying,\n_Losako_, Blessing on you; and he replies, _Ngai nkumbaku_, I am one who\nis cursed, i.e. the people in the town are always cursing him, or he\nfancies they are. Or the reply may be, _Bansina_, They hate me, i.e. the\nfolk in the town do not like him; or _Ngai nsu ya mai_, I am a fish,\ni.e. Everybody likes me just as everybody likes fish; or, _Nakalela bana\nba ngai_, I am weeping for my children, said by one mourning over some\ngreat misfortune or bereavement. A vain person arrogates to himself a\nphrase indicative of his egotism, while a despondent one uses a sentence\nthat does not truly reflect the attitude of his neighbours towards him,\nalthough in his humility he may think so.\n\nThere is a curious saying after one has sneezed, viz. _Ngai nya, motu\nmosusu_, \u201cIt is not I, but someone else,\u201d and this is accompanied by a\nvigorous clapping of the hands and snapping of the fingers, expressive\nof great astonishment. It means: I am surprised that you want to call\naway my spirit (the spirit is supposed to escape through the nostrils),\nI really am not the person you think I am, but somebody else.\n\nThe natives are fond of water, and bath frequently during a hot day; and\nchildren are bathed regularly twice a day. A mother takes her infant to\nthe river, and, gripping it tightly just under the right armpit, she\ndips it beneath the water. And after holding it there many moments, she\nwill lift it out, and just as it regains its breath to start crying,\ndown it will go again. This is repeated about a dozen times, and then\nrubbing the superfluous water off with the palm of her hand, she holds\nit out in the sun for a few moments to dry. Riverine people can remain\nunder the water for a long time while attending their fish-nets, and\nthis habit they have gained from those infantile experiences, when it\nwas either holding the breath, or drinking a quantity of dirty river\nwater.\n\nThey wash their mouths both before and after meals, and generally carry\na native tooth-brush (a piece of cane three inches long and frayed at\none end) about with them, and use it frequently during the day. To this\nhabit they probably owe the beautiful white teeth so usually found among\nthe natives. Both men and women occasionally pay a hairdresser to comb\nout their hair nicely, and plait it into three plaits\u2014two standing out\nat right angles to the temples and one standing out above the forehead.\nThey also frequently rub their bodies with palm-oil and camwood powder,\nand will sometimes blacken their eyebrows.\n\nThe land surrounding a town belongs to the people who live in the town.\nCertain landmarks, as streams, forests, etc., are agreed upon as\nboundaries. If there is a town near the boundary the land reaches right\nup to the boundary of the next town, but if the town is some distance\nfrom the forest boundary, then the ground between the boundaries is\nneutral land in which the folk of both towns can hunt, cut timber, etc.,\nas they please. Within the boundary the people of the town are free to\nmake their farms and build their houses where they like, provided the\nland is not already occupied by someone else. Priority of occupation is\nthe only title recognized. There is no such thing as unclaimed land. It\nis either within the boundary and is claimed by the town living on it,\nor it is between the boundaries and is for the benefit of the near towns\nas neutral hunting, etc., but no one can sell that land without the\nconsent of those towns that are mutually benefited by it.\n\nIf a slave belonging to a man of the town cultivated a piece of land\nowned by her master\u2019s town, she had full rights over it, and her master\nis careful to see that those rights are not infringed. Of course, she\ncannot sell the ground, but she can sell the farm as a farm and the\nstuff growing on it, and the person who buys the \u201cstuff\u201d can continue to\ncultivate it, if she is an inhabitant of the town owning the land, if\nnot, she can let the produce mature there, and when she has removed the\nsaid produce the land will revert again to the town.\n\nMen, women, and children can own, for the time being, the land that they\nhave cleared for farming purposes; and can own slaves whom they have\nbought or inherited. I have known a case in which a slave owned a slave,\nand that slave\u2014the property of another slave\u2014owned a slave also. When we\nbought a piece of land in 1890, the price given was divided among the\nhead-men in the town according to their importance, and they gave a part\nof their shares to their followers\u2014members of their family, but not to\ntheir slaves. The State told us we could take the plot of land we wanted\nfor nothing; but we recognized the natives\u2019 rights in their land, and\nthus paid them compensation for relinquishing those rights to us. If we\nhad not done so, the natives would have regarded us as interlopers who\nhad stolen their land, and I think their view would have been the right\none.\n\nThe river running by the land belonging to a town is the joint property\nof the townsfolk for fishing purposes. People of other towns are not\nallowed to fish there. There are, however, large tracts of neutral water\nwhere anyone can fish with trap or net, provided no one else is fishing\nin that spot. These fishing rights are so well recognized that men never\nthink of fishing along our bank without first seeking our permission.\n\nSlaves can be sold by their owner; and they can also be killed by their\nmaster, and no one can prosecute him for murder\u2014he has simply destroyed\nhis own property, and \u201csurely a man can do what he likes with his own\ngoods.\u201d Slaves are, as a rule, treated well, for they can easily run\naway, and their owner will then lose the money invested in them. It is\nto the owner\u2019s interest to look properly after them\u2014to house them, to\nprovide them with wives or husbands, and maintain their rights as\nmembers of the community. I have known some few slaves run away; but I\nhave known more than a few to be treated like members of the family. The\nbetter the slaves are treated, the more secure are their masters of\ntheir services and value.\n\nThe eldest son takes his father\u2019s title, and also inherits a larger\nproportion of the property than his brothers. The amount depends on the\nnumber of sons\u2014if there are three sons, the eldest takes a half, the\nsecond son two-thirds of the remaining half, and the last son the rest.\nThe property of a woman goes to her husband, and, failing him, to her\nown sons, or daughters. The sons of a free woman take priority over\nthose by a slave wife. On the Upper Congo father-right is the rule,\nwhereas on the Lower Congo mother-right is the recognized native law.\n\nSons inherit their father\u2019s widows, and in sharing them out it is\narranged for a man not to have his own mother as a part of his share of\nthe women. The son, on becoming possessed of his father\u2019s widows, can\neither keep them as his wives, or, if they are slave women, he can sell\nthem; and if they are free women he can arrange for them to marry\nsomeone else, and keep the marriage money paid for them.\n\nFailing direct male heirs, the daughter (or daughters) takes the estate;\nbut she gives the wives to some of her near of kin, such as male\ncousins, etc., but should there be no direct male or female heirs, the\nfamily clan takes possession of the estate and divides it among\nthemselves.\n\nWhen there are male heirs, and the estate is divided up, the daughter\n(or daughters) takes as her portion the women who were given to her\nfather as her marriage money by her husband; and these she gives to her\nbrother by the same mother as herself, so that that brother receives his\nshare of the estate as a son, and also the women (if still alive) given\nas a marriage portion for his sister. In recognition of this gift the\nfortunate brother will make frequent presents of sugar-cane wine and\nmeat to his sister\u2019s husband, as this increment to his wealth has come\nindirectly from him.\n\nSlaves number about 25 per cent of the population. Some were born\nslaves, others were seized for debt, a few were captured in war, and\nsome had sold themselves to pay their debts, incurred by adultery, or by\nthe loss of a lawsuit, the expenses of which they could not meet. Some\nwere sold to pay the family debts. It is also the custom for a father to\ngive a son in pawn as security for a loan. The status of a pawn is\nsomewhat higher than that of a slave, for he may be redeemed at any\nmoment, and thus again become a free person. The one who holds such a\npawn cannot sell him, nor pass him on to anyone without the consent of\nthe pawner, for the family may arrive with the redemption money, and if\nthe pawn cannot be produced the pawnee will have to pay the family three\nor four times the value of the pawn.\n\nThere are no absolutely independent men and women apart from head-men\nand chiefs. All the rest are attached to head-men as relatives, slaves,\npawns, or by a voluntary surrender of themselves to a chief. If the\nfamily of a free man dies off, or becomes very weak\u2014too weak to defend\nitself against the aggressiveness of the other families in the town,\nsuch a free man attaches himself (and any relatives dependent on him) to\nthe head-man of any one of the stronger families he may select. He then\npractically becomes a member of that family. Their quarrels are his, and\nhis quarrels are theirs. His position is that of a free man owning\nfealty to the head of his adopted family, and he is never treated as a\nslave. If he had tried to stand alone in his weakness some quarrel would\nhave been picked with him by one of the more powerful families, and\neventually he and his would have become slaves. A slave is called\n_mombo_, from _omba_, to buy; a pawn is _ndanga_ = a token; but a free\nman who attaches himself to a chief is called _ejalinya_, probably from\n_jala_ = to live with.\n\nA slave boy is not permitted to use either camwood powder or oil on his\nbody; but should he please his master one day by bringing him a present\nof a fine fish, or a large piece of meat, or some cloth and brass rods\nworthy of his master\u2019s acceptance, his owner on receiving the offering\nwill rub his hands over his slave\u2019s face, and say, \u201cYour skin is very\nbad. Why don\u2019t you rub it with camwood powder and oil?\u201d and from that\ntime he is allowed to use the cosmetic so prized by all the natives.\n\nAs a rule the best dressed men in a town are the slaves, and the worst\ndressed men the masters. They are afraid to parade their wealth for fear\nof charges of witchcraft on account of deflecting other folk\u2019s goods to\ntheir own store; and also a man can more consistently and more easily\nrefuse a loan on the plea of poverty, in old clothes, than he can if he\nis gorgeously arrayed. Of course, on special occasions, the masters will\nwear plenty of good cloth, and decorate their bodies with powdered\ncamwood and oil. A slave can dress his hair like a free man; but if he\nhas a beard he must leave it loose, for only free men are permitted to\nplait their beards.\n\nThe master is responsible for the actions of his slaves. I remember a\ncase in 1892 when a slave attempted the life of the head-man of his\nmaster\u2019s town. His attempt failed, and he escaped to a distant town; but\nthe master was tied up, killed, and eaten. It is not at all improbable\nthat if the master had been a more influential man some other way would\nhave been found to meet the case\u2014a heavy fine\u2014as the attempt was\nunsuccessful. While theoretically a master is liable for his slave\u2019s\ndebts, yet he will repudiate them on the ground that the lender had no\nright to advance goods to a slave without first ascertaining whether the\nmaster will be responsible for the payment for them or not. A slave\nbadly treated by his master breaks the _eboko_, or fetish saucepan,\nbelonging to a witch-doctor. Then the witch-doctor demands such a heavy\nprice from the master, as he is responsible for his slave\u2019s action, that\nhe prefers to leave the slave as compensation in the witch-doctor\u2019s\nhands to paying such heavy redemption money. The sum demanded is usually\nmore than the price of a slave; but public opinion is very pronounced\nagainst a slave who breaks the _eboko_ for insufficient reasons. The\nfear of this has a strong deterrent effect on bad, passionate-tempered\nmasters in restraining them from ill-treating their slaves.\n\nLabour is not regarded as a degradation, and those who are skilled in\nsmithing, canoe-making, etc., not only become comparatively wealthy, but\nare regarded with great respect on account of their skill. Boys like to\naccompany their fathers on fishing and trading expeditions; and girls go\nwith their mothers to the farms as soon as they can walk, and toy hoes\nare given them to play with while on the farm. These journeys to the\nfarms or to the fishing camps are a change to the young folk, and are\nmuch enjoyed by them.\n\nAmong the Boloki there are neither markets nor market-places. If a\nperson has anything for sale he walks through the town calling out its\nname like a London hawker. Sometimes a person catches a fish that is\ntaboo to him, and he will hawk it through the town to try to exchange it\nfor another that he can eat.\n\nIn their business transactions credit is frequently given, and for such\ncredit no interest is expected. To recover a debt a creditor first duns\nthe debtor until he is tired, then he breaks the pots and saucepans, and\nanything he finds outside the debtor\u2019s house, and finishes by telling\nhim that on a certain day he will call again for the money. If the\ndebtor then fails to pay, the creditor will collect a few of his\nfriends, and together they will go and lie in ambush near the farms\nuntil a wife of the debtor comes along, when they will pounce upon her\nand take her to their town. The woman will kick, struggle, and scream\nfor the sake of appearances; but she knows that she will be lightly tied\nand well treated.\n\nThe debtor will hear of the capture of his wife, and, supposing he owes\n1000 brass rods, he will collect the money as quickly as possible, and\ntake it with 500 extra rods, which he will now have to pay to his\ncreditor to compensate him and his friends for the trouble of tying up\nthe woman and the cost of feeding her. As a woman is worth nearly 3000\nrods, it pays the debtor to redeem his property by paying his debt and\nthe sum demanded for expenses.\n\nIf the debt is for 1000 rods the creditor may tie up one woman, but if\nhe ties up two women he puts himself in the wrong, for the value of one\nwoman more than covers the debt and expenses. If the debt is for 3000 or\n4000 rods, the creditor may capture two women, and so in proportion to\nthe debt. It is very seldom that a woman is seized for any sum less than\n500 rods. If the debt is not paid within a reasonable time, the creditor\ncan keep the woman as his wife, or if she happens to be a slave, he can\nsell her. If the debtor has no wives, then a member, or members, of his\nfamily can be seized on the same principle as shown above. Sometimes a\ncreditor will tie up a person belonging to the town of his debtor; but\nthis is rarely done except in cases of hostility between the towns.\nThese debts are generally incurred either in buying a large canoe, or a\nwife, or in losing a lawsuit.\n\nA village may have from twenty to five hundred huts in it, and even\nmore. The rows of houses are generally built in parallel lines to the\nriver; and a head-man possesses one or more lines, according to the size\nof his family or clan. He may have many wives, slaves and their wives,\n\u201cpawns,\u201d and dependents, and consequently own several rows of houses; or\nhe may be the eldest of several brothers who with their wives, slaves,\netc., jointly own several rows of dwellings. The former head-man is a\ngreater man than the latter, he has more prestige in the town, and has\ngreater influence in its palavers, for such a man is the head of a\npowerful family, each unit of which may number more than the brothers,\ntheir wives, and slaves put together.\n\nThe _mboka_ = village, town, locality, may consist of from 20 to 150\nfamilies, numbering anything up to 2000 or 3000 people, or it may mean\nonly one or two families not numbering more than 50 or 60 people; but it\ndoes not matter how large or how small the _mboka_ is, it is\nindependent, self-governing, and recognizes no over-lord. There is the\nhead of the family, whose word is law to his own relatives and immediate\ndependents living in his section of the town. Then there are the heads\nof the families who meet together to arrange the affairs of the town,\nand to decide on any course of action in relation to the neighbouring\ntowns. Some are heads of larger and richer families than others; and\nsuch men necessarily have more influence, and their words carry greater\nweight than the utterances of poorer and smaller men. The lives of the\npeople are rendered pleasant, or otherwise, according to the temper and\nambitions of these head-men.\n\nThe various families forming a town live, as a rule, at peace with each\nother; and if there is a dispute they try to settle it by \u201cholding a\npalaver.\u201d But if the quarrel develops into a fight, then sticks are the\nweapons used, as guns and spears are rarely, if ever, brought out in\nthese miniature \u201ccivil wars.\u201d They combine as a whole against a common\nfoe.\n\nThe family that causes the quarrel leads the van in a war, and if only\nthe offended family attacks the offending family, the other families of\nthe offender\u2019s town stand armed ready to defend their dependents and\nproperty, should the offenders prove unable to repulse the attack. But\nif the offended family brings the several families of its town to attack\nthe offenders, then the other head-men and their followers will join to\nrepel the attack, for it is no longer a quarrel between two families of\ndifferent towns, but a fight between town and town. Thus a family\ncombines to fight a family, and a town to fight a town, and I have known\none case in which a district joined its forces to fight a district.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. J.Dodds_\n BOLOKI WOMEN PREPARING AN EVENING MEAL\n The woman on the right has a mortar and pestle for pounding boiled\n plantain. She has a broad band of hair shaved off in the style of\n the day. The walls show the split bamboos used at the outer lining\n of the hut, then there are an inch or two of grass and another\n lining of bamboos inside, and the whole is tightly laced to the\n uprights of the wall.\n]\n\nThe evening meal is practically the only meal of the day, and every\neffort is made to render it as tasty as possible with the limited\ningredients at the disposal of the woman cook. Cassava figures as the\nprincipal article in every _menu_; and for this meal it is commonly\nprepared by soaking it for three days, and then after peeling, coring,\nand dividing it into quarters, it is steamed, and comes out looking\nwhite and appetizing. Either fish, or meat when procurable, is stewed in\na small saucepan or roasted over the fire, or wrapped in leaves and\ncovered with red-hot embers; but if there is neither fish nor meat, then\na sauce of pounded leaves, red peppers, and palm-oil is concocted, and\nthe whole is washed down with gulps of water. They prefer to keep\nsugar-cane wine for their drinking-bouts and for their cannibal feasts,\nthe latter, in their view, demanding something better than water.\n\nThe food is served first to the elders (male), and if visitors are\npresent they take precedence according to their age. As a rule the\nmembers of a family are polite to one another, and any departure from\nthe usual forms of courtesy is regarded with disapprobation by the other\nmembers of the family. Guests are treated with hospitality, and are\nprotected by the family they are visiting; and I never knew a guest come\nto harm during a visit. Men and women do not eat together, as it is\naccounted immodest and indecent for a woman to eat with a man; and it is\n_infra dig._ for a man to partake of his food with a woman. They eat by\nthemselves at some little distance, and usually out of sight and hearing\nof the men.\n\nIn dividing food, such as meat or fish, the one who divides it takes the\nportion left after all the others have selected their shares, and in\nthis way they have a guarantee that all the portions are equal in size\nand quality. If a saucepan of fish and another of cassava are put before\nfive or six persons for them to eat, no division is made, but all help\nthemselves from the same saucepans, yet each will be very careful not to\neat more than his fair share. But when a fish, or a lump of meat, is\ngiven to half a dozen men, or women, they appoint one to divide it into\nsix lots, and the one to whom this very doubtful honour is given is\ncareful to make all the lots equal\u2014in bone, flesh, and fat\u2014for he knows\nthat the others will choose their portions before himself. Any\ngreediness is condemned, and if persisted in others will refuse to eat\nwith the offender, and he becomes an object of ridicule to the rest of\nthe family and in the village.\n\nThe following story, which I often heard related around their evening\nfires, will well illustrate how the natives regarded any greediness\nabout food:\n\n\u201cMokwete possessed a large number of wives; and one day he made a trap\nand eventually snared an animal which he carried to his town and told\nhis wives to cook. When they had cooked the meat they took him his\nshare, and reserved a portion for themselves. Mokwete ate his meat\nalone, but it did not satisfy him, for having so many wives the portion\nof meat that fell to him was rather small.\n\n\u201cBy and by he killed another animal, and he said to himself: \u2018I kill\nplenty of animals, but get very little meat for myself, because my wives\nare so numerous.\u2019 When he reached the forest near his town he disguised\nhis voice and shouted: \u2018Wives of Mokwete, wives of Mokwete.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey answered, \u2018E!\u2019 thinking it was a spirit calling them from the\nbush.\n\n\u201cThen he said: \u2018When your husband comes with meat, you must not eat any\nof it; if you do, you will die.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn a little time he picked up the animal and went on to the town. The\nwomen cooked the meat and brought it all to him. He asked them why they\nhad not taken any of it, and they told him what they had heard from one\nof the bush spirits. Mokwete ate all the meat, was well filled, and\ncongratulated himself on the success of the ruse. He repeated this trick\nagain and again.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _a Dutch Trader_\n GROUP OF BOLOKI WOMEN AT MOBEKA\n The women are wearing skirts of palm-frond fibre. When \u201cdressed\u201d a\n young woman has fifteen of these skirts on, and then they stand out\n like a ballet-girl\u2019s dress. Some of the older ones have the\n cock\u2019s-comb tribal mark. Those without the tribal marking are\n slaves. The collar on the older woman is of solid brass and weighs\n about 15 lbs.\n]\n\n\u201cOne day Mokwete\u2019s son went into the bush, and while there he heard the\nsound of someone coming, so he hid himself. In a little time a man\narrived and threw something with a thud to the ground, and then he heard\na voice say: \u2018Wives of Mokwete, wives of Mokwete, when your husband\ncomes with meat you must not eat it; if you do, you will die.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe lad, on looking out, saw that it was his father who was deceiving\nhis mothers, and keeping him and the other children from having their\nproper share of the meat. He hurried home and told his mothers all that\nhe had seen and heard, but they disputed his word. However, one of them\nwent to look, and saw that it was really the husband who had been\ntelling them not to eat the meat. She went and told the others, and they\ndecided to run away.\n\n\u201cWhile Mokwete was out hunting one day, his wives broke their saucepans,\nput out their fires and fled; and upon reaching their various towns they\ntold their families why they had left their husband\u2014on account of his\ngreediness\u2014and everybody justified them.\u201d\n\nNow Mokwete would return to a fireless hearth, an empty village, and no\none to cook for him and wait on him. And I have heard the folk snap\ntheir fingers, and say: \u201cMokwete was well punished,\u201d and there was no\none to pity him. \u201cWhen a man buys a fish or a piece of meat he should\nshare it with the wife who cooks it for him; and when he kills an animal\nhe should share it with all his wives.\u201d The children received their\nshare of meat or fish through their mothers.\n\nWhile the hearth is the centre of a woman\u2019s family life, for her\nchildren (if she is fortunate enough to have any) will gather around it\nat sundown to watch the bubbling saucepans on the fire, and her husband\nmay occasionally be found there playing with his youngsters, or chatting\nto his wife, yet the dance is the real centre and expression of the\nsocial life of the village. Is there a death? Then relatives and friends\nwill show their sympathy, not by sitting around talking over the good\nqualities of the departed, but by dancing their best and chanting the\npraises of him who has so lately gone to that mysterious _longa_, or\nnether regions, where all spirits find their home for a time. And\nstanding round the funeral dances will be the whole village, applauding\nthe agile or chaffing the awkward. Is there a marriage? Then relatives\nand boon companions of the old bachelor days are invited, and after the\nfeast a dance is arranged, and although some of the legs will be\nunsteady, through too much sugar-cane wine, yet all present, both\ndancers and spectators, will be in a jovial mood.\n\nOn moonlight nights the drums will be brought out, reed rattles, ferret\nbells, and anything else that will tinkle, will be tied around the\nankles, the men and women will form lines opposite each other, and for\nhours the dancers will jump, twist, and wriggle to and fro in the most\napproved fashion to the tap, tap, or boom, boom of the rhythmic drum.\nAll distinctions are forgotten for the time being. The skilled and the\nunskilled, the poor and the rich, the slave and the free, are all mixed\nin indistinguishable confusion. It is the best dancer, be he poor and a\nslave, who is the cynosure of all eyes and the object of all their\npraises. And as the dance proceeds the dancers sing in unison some\nrecitative song, while the onlookers keep time to song and dance by\nclapping their hands and swaying their bodies to and fro.\n\nThe greedy man, the coward, the thief, the scamp who disregards the\nfeelings of others and rides rough-shod over the social and communal\ncustoms, the man who is accused of witchcraft and refuses to take the\nordeal, and the incestuous, are all put into the songs which are sung at\nthese village dances; and there is no more powerful factor in\ninfluencing the native to good and evil, inciting him to reckless\nbravery, or deterring him from committing some foolish deed, than to put\nhis name into an impromptu song at a village dance. The paragraph in our\nnewspaper is read by comparatively few people, and only a small\npercentage of those who read it know the person mentioned; but the song\nis sung, night after night, by all the village\u2014the very neighbours of\nthe one thus held up to ridicule or honour. The village song inspires\nthe daring deeds in time of war, it brands and shames the cowards, it\nconsiderably restrains the rascals, and maddens to the verge of suicide\nthe fool who so badly treats his wives that they run away and leave him\na cold hearth by which to sit.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n\n MARRIAGE AND CHILD BEARING\n\nYoung girls betrothed\u2014The bespoke money\u2014Marriage money\u2014Dressing the new\n wife\u2014A large looking-glass\u2014A woman can choose her husband\u2014Divorce\u2014No\n great desire for children\u2014Storage for baby spirits\u2014Treatment of\n twins\u2014Snake omen\u2014Woman\u2019s totem\u2014The mother-in-law\u2014Polygamy and its\n results\u2014Monogamy and its results\u2014Better morality\u2014More children\u2014Purer\n women\u2014Better home-life.\n\n\nYoung girls and even babies are betrothed in marriage, and payments made\nfor them long before they are old enough either to understand the\ncontract or give their consent. On the marriage money being completed\nthe man takes a brass bracelet, and in the presence of witnesses he puts\nit on the child\u2019s arm, saying, \u201cThis is my wife.\u201d When the girl arrives\nat a suitable age, and sometimes even before puberty, she is taken by\nher parents, together with some sugar-cane wine, to her husband, and\nhanded over to him; and on the man giving the parents a present the\ntransaction is completed. Should, however, the child die, another is put\nin her place; but if that is impossible, the money is returned.\nSometimes a girl objects to being handed over in this way to a man whom\nshe dislikes, and if her protests are disregarded she will run away to a\nneighbouring town and select her own husband, if she has not already\ndone so, and the parents will have to make the best bargain they can in\nthe way of marriage money with their new son-in-law. They would be at an\nobvious disadvantage, as their customer would already be in possession\nof the \u201cgoods.\u201d\n\nIf a man in search of a wife sees an unattached young woman whom he\nlikes he may speak to the girl or to her father first, and if they\u2014the\ngirl and her parents\u2014are agreeable, he will call his friends as\nwitnesses and go to the father\u2019s house. The girl will then be called\nout, and the man will take his spear, and going into the centre of the\ncrowd he will stick the spear in the ground, and say: \u201cIf the girl loves\nme, let her pull up the spear.\u201d Thereupon the girl will step forward,\nand pulling up the spear she will carry it to her father, saying,\n\u201c_Namojinga_\u201d = I love him.\n\nWhen the girl has pulled up the spear, the man has to pay the \u201cbespoke\u201d\nmoney\u2014a hoe, an axe, a blanket, a looking-glass, a matchet, and a few\nother odds and ends\u2014to the head of the girl\u2019s family. The girl is then\nreserved for him until such time as he can pay the whole, or the larger\npart of the marriage money\u2014equal to about \u00a310, which is approximately\nthe cost of two male and two female slaves. In the meantime he can give\nthe girl small presents, and she may cook and send him an occasional\ndish of food, and often there is cohabitation before marriage, for the\nyoung man regards the girl, and speaks of her, as his wife.\n\nA free man marrying a free woman will have to give her father or family\ntwo male and two female slaves, and neither brass rods nor barter goods\nwill be taken in lieu of them; but as there are so many debts among them\na person will sometimes (and it is not uncommon) pay this \u201cmarriage\nmoney\u201d and marry without a single slave actually passing between them;\ni.e. B wants to marry A\u2019s daughter, so he will go to C and D, who each\nowe him a slave, and will take them to A, who accepts them as his\ndebtors; then B will go to E and F, who each owe him a female slave, and\nthese debtors of B will be taken to A, who accepts them as his own\ndebtors; now C, D, E, and F have no slaves they want to part with, so\nthey, in their turn, will look up some debtors and take them to A, who\nwill again accept these new parties as his own debtors. This was called\n_bwaka nyungu_ = to pass on or throw over a debt (or credit as the case\nmay be) from one to another. I have known more than one case in which\nthe father of the girl has had the debt worked gradually back to\nhimself, and in giving his daughter in marriage he has received nothing,\nbut has paid some of his creditors.\n\nWhen the time arrives for the marriage the parents take some plantain,\ncassava, fish, with various other kinds of food, and a calabash or jar\nof sugar-cane wine, and together with their daughter they go to the\nhouse of the bridegroom and hand over the girl by putting her hand in\nthe man\u2019s hand in the presence of witnesses. These latter, after\ndrinking the wine and sharing in the feast, will dance in honour of the\noccasion, and the ceremony is completed. The food and wine, given by the\nparents, are a proof that the girl is not sold as a slave, but is given\nin marriage as a free woman.\n\nDuring the time the man is collecting the marriage money he will build a\nhouse, if he does not already possess one, and the girl, under the\nsupervision of her mother, will prepare a farm. After the ceremony\ndescribed above is over, the girl borrows all the finery she can of her\nfemale friends, decorates herself with palm-oil and camwood powder, and\nfor two or three weeks walks about the town with her husband\u2014a sign to\nall that she is now his wife. If the man has already a few wives, they\nwill help to \u201cdress her\u201d by the loan of their own trinkets, and will\nlead her about the town as a proof that she is now a fellow-wife and\nbelongs to their husband.\n\nHanging on the wall in my dining-room was a looking-glass 15 inches wide\nby 18 inches high; it was probably the largest looking-glass in that\npart of Africa, and it was one of the \u201csights\u201d of the district.\nFrequently while sitting in my study I would hear the shuffling of many\nfeet and much giggling. On going into the dining-room I would see\nperhaps eight or ten women all laughing and nudging one another, and\nthere in the centre right before the glass would be a well-decorated\nwoman wriggling about in her vain attempt to see both sides of herself\nat once. It was a new wife whom the older wives had brought to view\nherself in the white man\u2019s looking-glass. In the \u201ctrade looking-glass\u201d\nshe could only see small sections of herself, but in this large one she\nhad an expansive view of the whole \u201clandscape,\u201d and her remarks of\nwonder and surprise were causing the onlookers to giggle and to excite\nher to greater efforts to procure broader views of herself. They\nexhibited no jealousy, but regarded her as an acquisition\u2014the new wife\nbeing one more to help keep the husband.\n\nDuring this period the man buys all the food, but when the \u201choneymoon\u201d\nis over the girl takes up her farm-work and settles down to ordinary\nlife. From that time she brings home each afternoon some of her farm\nproduce to prepare for her own and her husband\u2019s evening meal. The\nhusband, however, must find her the fish for such meals as he partakes\nwith her, and should he have a quantity of meat he must be willing to\nshare it with his wives.\n\nFor the poor slave woman there are no preliminary gifts, no \u201cbespoke\u201d\nmoney, no wedding feast and dance, and no \u201choneymoon.\u201d The sum agreed\nupon is paid, and the slave woman is taken to her new owner\u2019s house, or\ngiven as a farm help to his favourite wife. The children of such a\nmarriage are called _mbotela_ = semi-slave, indicating that one of the\nparents is a slave. If a man cannot afford to pay the marriage money for\na free wife, or even to buy a slave, he can hire a slave as his wife,\nand any children born to them belong to the owner of the slave woman and\nnot to the father and mother. Or a man will sometimes borrow a wife of\nanother man for three or six months, and will pay a fixed sum according\nto the length of time he has her; but any children born of such an\narrangement belong to the real husband of the woman.\n\nA man can marry as many women as he can find the marriage money for, but\nto each he must give a house, and all his free wives have equal rights.\nHis slave wives are simply slaves, and he can sell or kill them just as\nhe pleases. Polygamy is very general, and monogamy is the result of\npoverty. Free men, as a rule, do not marry slaves; but the slave woman\nis given in marriage to the slave man, and she thus helps to make him\ncontented with his lot in the town and tribe; she keeps him in food and\nincreases the wealth of her master by bearing children, who are slaves\nand the property of her owner.\n\nWhen a free woman does not want to marry the man who is trying to\narrange for her, she will tell him frankly that if he persists in\nmarrying her, she will run away from him. But if, in spite of this\nthreat, he completes the arrangements, then a few days after the\nmarriage she will escape to a neighbouring town and put herself under\nthe protection of the chief by tearing his cloth. The chief then gives\nthe husband notice of what has happened, and before he can claim his\nwife he has to pay the chief 600 brass rods = 39s. as compensation for\nhis torn cloth. If the husband does not then permit her to marry the man\nshe wants, she runs away again and again, and every time she runs it\nwill cost her husband 600 brass rods. A sensible man will take warning\nby the first threat, and will not complete the marriage.\n\nIf a free woman is badly treated by her husband, she will resort to the\nabove method of making him pay for his ill-treatment of her, and will\nthus force him to use her more kindly. There is also a more drastic way\nof punishing a husband for outrageous conduct towards his wife. After\nrepeated complaints of his ill-usage she will run to the witch-doctor\nand smash his _eboko_, or saucepan of \u201cmedicine,\u201d and in so doing she\nwill commit a great offence. The witch-doctor will hold her until the\nhusband redeems her by the gift of a slave, and the payment of a large\nsum to replace the _eboko_ and make fresh \u201cmedicine.\u201d Having paid the\nmoney\u2014for she is worth more than the total value of the slave and the\nbrass rods\u2014he will treat his wife better in future, or she will again\nbreak the _eboko_. A slave woman who runs away to a chief will be\nbrought back, and her master will beat, kill her, or sell her right out\nof the district, so it is wiser for her to run right beyond his reach in\nthe first instance. I have known women who successfully carried out\nthese various modes of punishing their abusive, bad-tempered husbands;\nand undoubtedly the fact that the women can and will make their husbands\npay in this way renders life more tolerable for them. Without some such\nsystem the wife\u2019s lot would be terrible and impossible.\n\nBreaking the _eboko_, or \u201cmedicine\u201d saucepan, answers another purpose: a\nman\u2019s wife has been stolen from him, and all other means having failed\nto regain her, he goes to the witch-doctor, tears his cloth and breaks\nthe _eboko_. This action calls attention to the case and arouses\nwidespread interest. The witch-doctor must now take up the case, or he\nwill lose his dignity as a witch-doctor, and folk will lose their\nrespect and fear for his _eboko_. So he places himself at the head of a\nmovement to punish the wife-stealer, and the men who would not help the\nhusband volunteer to fight under the witch-doctor; and when the woman is\ncaptured the husband has to pay heavy damages for tearing the cloth,\nbreaking the _eboko_, and for the help of the witch-doctor in the fight.\nThe husband will then try to recover all the damages from the stealer of\nhis wife. It is interesting to note that, both to the husband and to the\nwife, there is such a force available in their utter need. Here and\nthere a man treats his wife with kindness and consideration, and he\nsometimes displays an affection for her that is pleasing to the onlooker\nand an encouragement to those who are working for the uplifting of the\nrace, for it shows of what the men are capable; but to the majority of\nthe men the wife is a passing fancy, a brief passion which is quickly\nextinguished, and all that remains to warm their hearts, and keep them\nfaithful to each other, are the cold, charred embers of a bare\ntoleration for one another.\n\nAbove the age of five years it is impossible to find a girl who is a\nvirgin, and it has been difficult to find a word for virgin in the Congo\nlanguages. The only thing a man can do is to see that his wife does not\ncommit adultery after he has married her, without his consent and\nreceiving due compensation for it. Should she do so, then the adulterer\nis punished, but the woman goes free. If she were punished she would not\nconfess, and without her confession the husband is not able to enforce\nthe fine on the lover. A woman\u2019s word is always taken against the man\u2019s\nmost solemn oath. I have a very strong suspicion that this power is\noften abused, (_a_) by the woman to pay off a grudge against someone who\nhas slighted her, and also to be regarded by the other women of the town\nas one after whom the men run; (_b_) by the husband as a means of\nreplenishing an empty purse\u2014the fine being shared by the husband and\nwife. There are undoubtedly women who remain faithful to their husbands;\nand there are men who treat their wives with kindness and consideration,\nbut from what I observed they are very few indeed. Sometimes in anger\ntwo men will exchange their wives, especially if one man\u2019s wife is\ncontinually running after the other man.\n\nIf a woman does not know, or will not perform, her duties properly as a\nwife, i.e. will not farm, cook, etc., the man can take her back to her\nfamily and receive in return the marriage money he gave for her to her\nfamily; but not the \u201cbespoke\u201d money. Should she die within a few years\nof her marriage the husband can claim another woman, or the return of\nthe marriage money, for his view is that a faulty article has been\nsupplied to him.\n\nWhen a free woman wants to leave her husband, or have a divorce from\nhim, she sends a \u201ctoken\u201d to the man of her choice, who, if desirous of\npossessing her, goes to the husband and tries to arrange the matter. If\nthe husband acts unreasonably in his demands\u2014wants too much marriage\nmoney, or desires the whole sum down at once\u2014then she resorts to the\nexpedient of escaping to a neighbouring chief (as mentioned above), and\nthe husband is quickly brought to his senses. Should the \u201ctoken\u201d sent be\nreturned, she knows that the man does not want her, and if her family\nare unwilling, or unable through poverty, to return the marriage money,\nor think she is unreasonable in seeking a divorce, she has to remain\nwith her husband. To run away, without just cause, to another town, is\nto make her name a byword among her acquaintances, and the native is\nvery sensitive to public opinion, as we tried to show in the chapter on\nSocial Life.\n\nWe have not found the same desire for children, on the part of the\nwomen, as we observed on the Lower Congo. This may be accounted for by\nthe fact that on the Lower Congo the law of mother-right is in full\nforce, and consequently all the children belong to the mother and her\nfamily; while on the Upper Congo father-right is the general custom, and\nthe children belonging to the father, the mother has no particular\ninterest in them.\n\nThe beliefs of a tribe considerably affect their point of view, and this\nis seen in nothing more emphatically than in their beliefs about\nchild-bearing. On the Lower Congo a non-child-bearing woman is the butt\nof the town\u2019s ridicule, she is sneered at, pointed at by all the other\nwomen, and is the object of their scorn. She feels degraded in the eyes\nof all, and however much she may blame her husband, or may try to prove\nthat she is bewitched, yet her shame is bitterly felt and resented. She\nhas failed ignominiously in her one paramount duty to her family. Her\nsterility is the constant theme of her husband\u2019s bickerings; and when\neverything else fails to quicken her or stop her nagging tongue, he has\nonly to hint at this abnormal disability and she is choked with chagrin\nand almost ready to commit suicide.\n\nNow on the Upper Congo among the Boloki it appears that every family\nhas what is called a _liboma_, it may be a pool in the bush, or in the\nforest, or on an island; it may be a creek, or it may be a Bombax\ncotton tree; but wherever the _liboma_ may be it is regarded as the\npreserve of the unborn children of the family. The disembodied spirits\n(_mingoli_) of the deceased members of the family performed the duty\nof supplying these preserves with spirit-children to keep their\nfamilies strong and numerous. They have very misty ideas as to how\nthese _liboma_ are supplied with the spirit-children (or\n_bingbongbo_), but I have a suspicion that underlying the _liboma_ is\nsome idea of reincarnation\u2014some thought there was a rebirth of certain\ndeceased members of the family, and others thought that the\ndisembodied spirits had spirit-children, and these were sent to the\n_liboma_ to be endowed in due time with bodies.\n\nNow if a man does not have a child by his wife, then she is simply\nbarren (they always think it is the fault of the woman), but there are\nno sneers, and no shame. The woman takes her sister to her husband, that\nhe may have a child by her. But if a man has one child by a wife, and no\nmore, he thinks someone has bewitched his _liboma_ by taking the\nfamily\u2019s stock of children from it and hiding them; or, it may be that\nthe other members of the family have bewitched her so that she may not\nbe able to procure another child from the _liboma_, that there might be\nmore for themselves; if, however, none of the family have more than one\nchild by their wives, then some other family, through hatred or\njealousy, has taken by witchcraft the children from their _liboma_ and\nconcealed them, for only the family to which the _liboma_ belongs can\ngive birth to the unborn infant spirits there.\n\nTwins are not frequent, but when they do arrive they demand proper\ntreatment and entail more than ordinary care in the observance of\ncertain duties. Three days after the birth of twins (_masa_) the mother\ntakes them in her arms and dances in front of her house before her\nneighbours, who join in a chorus in which they sing over and over again:\n\u201c_Masa e maolela_\u201d = the twins cry for you. The mother is decorated with\nleaves, sprays, and twigs, the same as for an ordinary birth. These are\nmade into garlands for her head, stuck into her waist-belt, and fixed on\nher wherever it is possible. At this ceremony the names are given, which\nare the same for every pair of twins, and these names are retained\nthrough life. Other folk may change their names according to fancy, but\ntwins never. The first-born is always known as _Nkumu_, and the second\nas _Mpeya_, and whenever you hear either of these names you know at once\nthat the bearer is one of twins.\n\nThe first-born of twins is always carried on the right arm, and the\nsecond on the left arm. Whenever the mother replies to a salutation she\nmust give two answers, one for each child; and should she greet anyone\nshe must duplicate her greeting, that each child may be recognized. She\ncarries the dual idea further than that, for she must eat, not with one\nhand, but with both, that each child may be properly nourished. Presents\nare given in duplicate, or the child not receiving a present will fret,\nbecome ill, and die; and the sickness or death of either child is\nsupposed to arise from carelessness in the observance of these rules.\nThe twins are expected to cry together, rejoice together, and should\nthey lack unanimity in either of these functions of rejoicing or\nsorrowing together, it is because one is sulky on account of one or\nother of the above rules having been broken. When one of the twins dies\nthe mother borrows a baby of the same age, and puts it with the living\ntwin that it may not fret.\n\nWhen a man finds a snake (called _Mwaladi_, a snake with red marks on\nit) lying by his side when he awakes, he regards it as a sign that he\nwill have a child by his wife; and if a woman lying or sitting observes\nthe same snake approaching her, she remains quietly in her position, and\nif it passes near her she sprinkles a little camwood powder over it, and\nregards it as an omen that she will soon become a mother. The child born\nafter such an augury is not treated with any special respect or\ninterest, and no special name is given to it as on the Lower Congo.\n\nI found that when a woman married she brought her totem with her, and\nthen not only observed her own totem but her husband\u2019s also; and the\nchild born to them took the totems of both parents until there was a\ncouncil of both families\u2014the paternal and maternal branches\u2014and then it\nwas generally arranged that the child should observe the father\u2019s totem.\n\nOne day I was interested in watching the following ceremony: The women\nof the village had rubbed themselves well with camwood powder, they had\nalso decorated their bodies with leaves, and tied on sashes of a creeper\nwith small leaves (_nkokolemba_), and danced for a considerable time to\nthe sound of drums, then the lobe of the right ear of the child was\npierced. It was a boy, for if it had been a girl the left lobe would\nhave been pierced (the left is always a token of inferiority). This\nceremony took place during the morning, and was a sign to the _boweya_\nspirit that that child belonged to a family in whose totem the spirit\nwas specially interested. The pierced ear indicated to the spirit that\nthe owner had a claim on its help and protection. These rites were only\nobserved when the family possessed a totem that had a _boweya_ spirit to\npreside over its interests and health, and always took place on the\nfifth day after the birth of the child.\n\nThe father during the pregnancy of his wife is prohibited certain foods,\nand he is neither to hunt nor fish during the pregnancy and confinement\nof his wife, unless she goes to a medicine man and is marked with\ndifferent coloured pigments on the breast, abdomen, shoulders, temple,\nand forehead, and wears two or three charms; these ensure for her a good\ndelivery and a healthy child, and also allow her husband to go hunting\nand fishing. The food prohibitions vary considerably, and while the man\nis observing these taboos he is said to be in a state of _liboi_, a noun\nderived from the verb _bwa_ = to be confined, to deliver of a child. It\nis very probably a remnant of _la couvade_. They have, however, no\ntradition of the man ever having taken the place of the woman by lying\nin bed during confinement.\n\nThere is no adoption into a family, but there is milk-brotherhood, and\nthe milk-brother often receives a portion of the estate; and there is\nalso milk-sisterhood, and when a woman is a milk-sister it is\npermissible, but is regarded as very irregular, for her milk-brother to\nmarry her.\n\nThere are two names given to illegitimate children\u2014_mwana wa ngangi_ =\nchild of a mistress, i.e. a woman who has been hired from her husband or\nfamily for a fixed period at a certain price; and _mpampoka_ = a child\nwhose father is not known. In the former case the child will eventually\nbe owned by the proper husband or guardian of the woman, unless the\nlover made other arrangements, that is, paid a larger fee, at the time\nof hiring his mistress; in the latter case the child will belong to the\nwoman, and hence to her family, and in both cases the child will remain\nwith its mother until it is ten or twelve years of age.\n\nAbortion is produced by the drinking of a decoction made by boiling\n_kungubololo_ leaves, which is said to be very bitter, like quinine.\nAbortion is practised to avoid the trouble incurred by having children,\nor from hatred towards the husband, whom the woman may desire to\ndivorce; for if she has any children by him, her relationship to her\nhusband is so complicated thereby that she cannot easily leave him for\nanother man.\n\nWhen a man divorces a wife who has a child of tender years, the child is\nallowed to remain with her until he or she is about ten or twelve years\nof age, and then is given up to the father, but is permitted to visit\nthe mother should she be living in a neighbouring town or district. The\nfather has the right to kill his own child, and although the act may be\nstrongly condemned by his neighbours and his family, yet they have no\npower to punish him, though it may be a clear case of murder. I may say\nthat I never heard of a father killing his child while I lived amongst\nthem; but the natives assured me that there had been such cases. A\nfather, however, would not hesitate to pawn his children, or even to\nsell them into slavery, if he were in dire straits. As a rule they are\nfairly kind to their children, even to over-indulgence, for it is rarely\nthat they punish them.\n\nPerhaps this will be the best place in which to make a few remarks on\nthe mother-in-law. She and her son-in-law may never look on each other\u2019s\nface. I have often heard a man say, \u201cSo-and-so, your mother-in-law is\ncoming,\u201d and the person addressed would run into my house and hide\nhimself until his wife\u2019s mother had gone by. They can sit at a little\ndistance from each other, with their backs to one another, and talk over\naffairs when necessary. _Bokilo_ means mother-in-law, daughter-in-law,\nbrother-in-law, father-in-law, sister of mother-in-law, brother of\nfather-in-law, wife of wife\u2019s brother, and in fact any relation-in-law.\n_Bokilo_, the noun, is derived from _kila_ = to forbid, prohibit, taboo,\nand indicates that all bearing the relationship of _bokilo_ can have no\nintimate relationship with one another, for it is regarded as\nincestuous; and it is according to native ideas just as wrong for a\ndaughter-in-law to speak or look at her husband\u2019s father, as for the\nson-in-law to speak or look at his wife\u2019s mother. Some have told me that\nthis was to guard against all possibility of cohabitation, \u201cFor a person\nyou never look at you never desire.\u201d Others have said, \u201cWell, don\u2019t you\nsee, my wife came from her womb.\u201d I am strongly inclined to the opinion\nthat the former is the real reason.\n\nI knew a case in which a man married his mother-in-law by marriage. The\nwoman was not his wife\u2019s mother, but his wife\u2019s father\u2019s wife, and as\nsuch was his mother-in-law. I had seen him avoid her many times, and it\nwas thus evident that all the wives of the wife\u2019s father are regarded as\njoint-mothers of the children, and hence mothers-in-law. His wife\u2019s\nfather died, and the man wanted to have one of the wives (i.e. one of\nhis mothers-in-law) as his own wife, so he arranged with a friend to pay\nthe marriage money and take her as his wife, then she, by that marriage,\nbeing no longer his mother-in-law, he was able to take her as his own\nwife. He thereupon paid the money for her and took her to his house.\n\nI cannot close this chapter on marriage and child-birth without putting\non record my observations regarding polygamy and its effects on the\nCongo. Polygamy means monopoly in women, and causes great immorality\namong the natives practising it; and it is now fast dying out within the\nsphere of our influence upon the Lower Congo, and in the neighbourhood\nof our stations upon the Upper. The effect of polygamy was to tie up the\nwomen to a comparatively small number of men who were fortunate (?)\nenough to inherit them, or had procured the wealth with which to pay\ntheir marriage money. There was a constant complaint amongst the young\nand vigorous men of the middle and lower orders that it was almost\nimpossible for them to procure wives. Thus we found a small number of\nmen possessing nearly all the women in a town, having from four or five\nup to twenty-five and thirty each, and a large number of young men who\ncould not secure wives. Moreover, these wealthy men, besides having all\nthese wives, had bespoken most of the young girls, many almost infants;\nfor it was no uncommon thing for girls of three or four years to be\nbetrothed to men of forty and fifty years of age; and as soon as they\nreached puberty the marriage money was completed, and they were passed\nover to their already very much married husbands.\n\nNow my observations of polygamy, both on the Lower and Upper Congo, have\nled me to form a decided opinion that it does not conduce to\nproductivity, but the contrary. Under this system I have never known a\nlarge family. One man had eight wives, and he had five children by one\nand none by the others; another had ten wives and no children; another\nhad twenty-three wives and only one child; another twenty-five wives and\nthree children only; another who had eight wives had three children.\nMapwata, chief of Ntenta in French Congo, had forty wives, but only five\nchildren. In Mfumu Ngoma\u2019s village there were 87 men, 67 married women,\nand only 37 children. In the village of Mbela there were about 60\nmarried women, as shown by the number of houses, and only 28 children,\nand so on _ad lib._\n\nIf you ask a native chief, husband of many wives, how many children he\nhas, he will state an absurd number, not because he desires to deceive\nyou, but for the following reasons: All the children, of his brothers\nand sisters, and all their children\u2019s children, are spoken of as the\nchief\u2019s children, as he is the head of the family, i.e. all the nephews\nand nieces, the grand-nephews and grand-nieces are regarded as a man\u2019s\nown off-spring, besides his own children and grandchildren; many of us\ncould make up large families in this way. And again, the native has a\nvery strong superstition and prejudice against counting his children,\nfor he believes that if he does so, or if he states the proper number,\nthe evil spirits will hear it and some of his children will die; hence\nwhen you ask him such a simple question as, \u201cHow many children have\nyou?\u201d you stir up his superstitious fears, and he will answer: \u201cI don\u2019t\nknow.\u201d If you press him, he will tell you sixty, or one hundred\nchildren, or any other number that jumps to his tongue; and even then he\nis thinking of those who, from the native view of kinship, are regarded\nas his children, and desiring to deceive, not you, but those ubiquitous\nand prowling evil spirits, he states a large number that leaves a wide\nmargin. I have been introduced by young men to men, much older than\nthemselves, as \u201cmy children,\u201d and there was a twinkle in their eyes,\nshowing that they appreciated the humorous absurdity of the situation.\n\nAmong the Congo languages there is no proper word for virgin, for there\nwas not in the old days a pure girl above the age of five. I would,\ntherefore, most emphatically dissent from the oft-repeated fallacious\nstatement that polygamy promotes morality among native tribes; that it\nhas caused widespread immorality on the Congo is truer to the facts.\n\nAfter carefully reviewing all the data I am forced to the conclusion\nthat polygamy is not necessitated by the climate, but is the natural\noutcome of their customs, mode of thought, and view of life. A Congo man\nwill fight, trade, carry heavy loads for long distances, and work, but\nhe will not hoe the ground, that is _infra dig._ to him. He will dig the\nwhite man\u2019s farm, but he will not work land in his own village, so, to\nuse his own words, he \u201chires\u201d or \u201cborrows\u201d a woman to do this for him,\nand the more women he has the less likely is he to go hungry. Again, the\nmore women he has the more important he is, the greater his influence\nand social standing; when a native wants to impress you with the\ngreatness of his chief or the importance of the head of his family, he\ntells you the number of his wives, and he does not mind adding a dozen\nto the sum total.\n\nAgain, chiefs in receiving visits from other chiefs and their retinues\nhad to give free hospitality for long periods. This required a large\namount of food and several women to prepare it daily. Then again, for\ngenerations the women have believed that if they allowed their husbands\nto have intercourse with them between the time of pregnancy and the\nweaning of their children, those children would die. This superstitious\nbelief has been a potent factor in keeping polygamy alive, if it did not\noriginate it. Remember how they procure their wives, and that the\nwoman\u2019s family must replace her in the event of death, consequently the\nfamily has been careful to see that she has not been weakened by\nfrequent child-bearing, lest they should have to give another woman in\nher place. Among some tribes the man had to wait until his wife\u2019s family\ntook him a calabash of palm-wine, and renewed their permission to him.\n\nSome writers think, judging by the tone of their articles, that we\nmissionaries rush pell-mell into a country, and delight in upsetting the\ninstitutions and customs of a place whether they are good, bad, or\nindifferent. This, however, is not true to the facts as I know them.\n\nOur Mission on the Congo commenced its operations in 1878, and it was\nwell on in the eighties before churches were formed, with rules and\nregulations for the guidance of converts. In the meantime a language had\nbeen reduced to writing, much translation work had been done, and a mass\nof information collected about the habits, customs, and view of life\ntaken by the native. \u201cMany men, many minds\u201d is an old saying, and we\nfound it a true one when the time came to deal with native marriage\ncustoms and polygamy in relation to church membership. There was not a\nsingle aspect of this great question but had its exponents; and it was\nnot until after mature consideration, and a careful study of all the\npros and cons, that we came to the conclusion that monogamy was the only\nwise rule to adopt, and we therefore laid it down as a condition of\nchurch membership that one man should have one wife only.\n\nIt is also a rule of the church that no Christian shall receive marriage\nmoney for his daughter, niece, or ward; and no Christian is permitted to\ngive marriage money for his wife, except to a heathen if he asks for it.\nThe reasons for this exception are obvious. We also insist that all\nChristians shall marry either by civil law or \u201choly matrimony.\u201d We are\ninterested in the natives and, rightly or wrongly, we devote our lives\nto them; and if we had desired numbers on the church roll to quote in\nreports rather than the moral and physical well-being of our\nparishioners, we should have made these restrictions less rigorous, and\nentrance to church membership more easy and pleasant for them. Our\nSociety gives us a free hand in dealing with these great problems.\n\nNow we find that Christian teaching and monogamy have conduced to\nstricter morality among the people, and also to an increase in the\nbirth-rate. In the old days there was in every village on the Lower\nCongo a house called _Mbongi_, or _Nzo-a-matoko_ (house for young men),\nwhere the lads and unmarried men slept. Girls from an early age had free\ningress to these houses, and their mothers encouraged them to go. These\nhouses have been cleared out of all the villages where there is any\nChristian influence at work, and even from heathen villages also, for\nthey have been greatly influenced by the purer public opinion of recent\nyears. Now that monogamy is practised by so many, the young men know\nthat in due time they will be able to secure a wife, and they desire to\nreceive her as pure as possible, hence the closing of these village\nbachelor houses even in the heathen towns. Christian parents also use\ntheir best endeavour to preserve their daughters in innocency.\n\nWe have within a stone\u2019s-throw of Wathen Station a Christian village\nwhere monogamy is the rule without exception. There are twenty-four\nmarried women living there with their husbands, and they have between\nthem fifty-seven children now living (noted in 1908), and five have\ndied, making in all sixty-two births. Some of these have only been\nmarried eighteen months or two years, and there is no doubt that as the\nyears go by there will be many more children born to these twenty-four\nwives. Now the same number of women tied to one man would not have had a\ntenth of the children. Again, we have throughout our districts a large\nnumber of teachers, many of whom are married, and most of them have\nchildren\u2014one, two, or three, according to the length of time they have\nbeen married. There is another noticeable thing, that in the Christian\nvillages, i.e. the monogamous villages, there are plenty of children,\nwhile the same cannot be said of the heathen in polygamous villages.\nSome seem to think that polygamy spells large families and a fair state\nof morality; but on the Congo, and I speak of what I know, polygamy\nmeans a very low birth-rate and an absolute lack of morality and common\ndecency. Polygamy is giving place to monogamy, and that means a higher\nmorality, a purer and more self-respecting womanhood, and the\nintroduction of a truer affection between the husband and the wife which\nwill result in a better and more healthy home-life for the children, and\nwill lead to the coming of a brighter day on dark, oppressed Africa.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n\n NATIVE EDUCATION\n\nPrecociousness of the children\u2014Teaching the tribal mark\u2014Knowledge of\n astronomy\u2014Divisions of night and day\u2014Education\u2014Paddling and\n canoeing\u2014Swimming\u2014Fishing\u2014Hunting\u2014Blacksmithing\u2014The girls\n learned farming\u2014Cooking\u2014Hair-dressing\u2014Mat and saucepan\n making\u2014Charms\u2014Taboos\u2014First-fruits\u2014First teeth\u2014No moral\n training\u2014Great liars and thieves\u2014Capable of truth and honesty.\n\n\nThere were no schools to attend until the white men went to live in\ntheir district; but the lads accompanied their fathers and elders and\nlearned by imitation, by listening to the talk on the road, in the canoe\nand around the camp fire, and by special instruction. Most lads of 14 or\n15 knew the names of the innumerable fish in their river and creeks,\ntheir habits, and the best mode of catching them. They also knew the\nnames and habitat of most bush animals, either by experience or repute;\nthe names of the birds, insects, trees, plants, etc., were all well\nknown to them and easily distinguished. The village life was so open, so\nlacking in privacy, that almost every function of the body was performed\nwithout any attempts at secrecy, hence observant young eyes drank in all\nthat came within the purview of their vision, and boys and girls of a\ntender age were precocious in their knowledge of those matters which are\nleft to a much later period in civilized countries.\n\nTattooing was begun in earliest childhood by the parents, but not more\nthan sufficient to show that the child belonged to the tribe. Later on\nthe boys and girls were urged to cut their own tattoos, and were taught\nto bear the pain unwhimperingly. I have seen boys and girls sitting by\nthe river\u2019s edge summoning up the necessary courage to make the\nincisions, and when they failed to do so they were ridiculed by the\nothers until at last they would run the knife, by the aid of a bit of\nlooking-glass or the reflection in the river, along the old lines in the\nforehead. At the age of 18 or 20 the person\u2014man or woman\u2014who wished to\nbe thought fashionable would work away every week or so, cutting the\nflesh deeper and putting wads in the cuts to cause the flesh to stand\nup, until they had a veritable _likwala_, or cock\u2019s comb, which would be\nthe envy of those who had not attained to such a fine decoration.\n\nThere was another pain they were taught to bear patiently, and that was\nthe chiselling of the upper incisors to V-shaped points. Some only had\ntwo cut, while others had all the upper incisors done. This operation\nwas supposed to improve their appearance. I said once to a native, \u201cYour\nteeth are like a dog\u2019s,\u201d and his quick retort was, \u201cWell, your teeth are\nlike a bat\u2019s.\u201d I suppose he preferred being like a dog, to having teeth\nlike a bat. They paid two brass rods for cutting the teeth, and two\nbrass rods every time they bit the operator. The eyelashes also were\npulled out as an aid to beauty.\n\nThey picked up a little astronomy from their elders. Venus was called\n\u201cwife of the moon\u201d; a shooting star was \u201cfetish fire\u201d; a cluster of\nstars (Pleiades) was a \u201ccrowd of young women\u201d; the \u201cMilky Way\u201d was \u201cthe\nroad of floods and drought.\u201d Both on the Lower and Upper River the\nnatives connect the \u201cMilky Way\u201d with the abundance and scarcity of\nrains; they say that when the \u201cMilky Way\u201d is bright, clear, and well\nseen there will be plenty of rain. Three bright stars in Orion\u2019s belt\nwere named the \u201cthree paddlers\u201d; and the five stars near each other in\nOrion were regarded as the \u201cbundle of thunder or lightning.\u201d In the\nconstellation Lepus there is a set of five stars thus :*:, and these\nwere said to resemble a man\u2014the top star being the head, the two lower\nstars the hands, and the two bottom stars the feet. When this set of\nstars, called _kole_, reached the meridian the natives did more planting\nthan at any other season. This _kole_ was so well recognized by the\nnatives that we used the word as an equivalent for our word year.\n\nThere is a legend that the moon was once a python and made a road for\nitself on the earth. Some adventurous trappers, however, snared it, but\non noticing there was no more moonlight they let it go, whereupon it\nsprang into the sky and never again returned to earth. When there is no\nmoon, some say that the python has gone on a long journey, and others\nthat it dies every month. There is much shouting and gesticulating on\nthe appearance of a new moon; and those who have enjoyed good health ask\nthat it may be continued, and those who have been sick ascribe their\ncomplaint to the coming of the new moon, and ask it to take away bad\nhealth and give them good health in its place.\n\nHere, as on the Lower Congo, many believe that the sun returns from the\nwest to the east during the night to be ready to rise in the morning.\nThey were taught that the stars were a species of large fire-flies that\nformerly existed on the earth, but have now gone into space, and that\nthe comets are signs that a great chief has recently died.\n\nAnother thing necessary to the young Congo boy was to teach him, not the\nmovements of the clock\u2019s hands, but the crowing of the cocks, the notes\nof the _nkuku-mpembe_ (name of a bird), and the movements of the sun: 2\na.m. was \u201cthe lying fowl\u201d; 3 a.m. \u201cthe lying bird\u201d\u2014because they falsely\nheralded the dawn which was not due until later; 4 a.m. was \u201cthe first\nfowl\u201d; 4 to 5 a.m. \u201cthe sun is near\u201d; 5.30 to 6 a.m. \u201cthe dawning\u201d; 6\na.m. \u201cthe sun is come\u201d; 6.15 to 7 a.m. \u201cthe first sun\u201d; 12 noon \u201cthe\nmeridian\u201d; 6 p.m. \u201cwhen the fowls go in,\u201d or \u201cthe sun enters\u201d; 11 to 12\np.m. \u201cone set of ribs,\u201d or \u201cone side of a person,\u201d and means that about\nthat time a person turns from lying on one side over on to the other.\nFor all these and many other divisions of the day there were special\nnames or phrases. Then there was a system of counting, and an elaborate\nmode of stating numbers with the fingers[15] which I must enter into\nmore fully under another heading; suffice it to say that he had to learn\nto count from one up to ten thousand, and any amount beyond that up to\none hundred thousand he had no difficulty in expressing after he had\nonce mastered the system.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n See Appendix, Note 3, on Boloki method of counting.\n\nThe length of time that a child remained under the tutelage of his\nfather depended largely on the character of both, and the strength of\nwill each possessed. There were no bachelor houses in the villages,\nconsequently male and female children belonging to the same mother were\nbrought up together in her house until such times as the boys were old\nenough to build a house for themselves, if they cared so to do. There\nwas no age limit. I have known big lads sleep in their mothers\u2019 houses;\nand I have know smallish lads of energy and initiative combine to build\na hut for themselves of which they were very proud.\n\nFrom his very boyhood the Boloki was a keen trader. He accompanied his\nfather on all trading journeys as soon as he was able to beat time with\na stick in the bows of the canoe, or handle a paddle. In the village he\nlearned the value of different articles, and nothing delighted him more\nthan exchanging what he did not want for something that he needed. While\nhis father was bartering he would eagerly listen, and thus learn how to\npraise his own goods, and disparage in depreciatory terms the articles\nwhich he desired to purchase, so as to lower their prices. Before an\narticle could be exchanged with profit to himself he had many things to\nlearn\u2014the first cost of the article, the time spent in hawking it, the\npayment and keep of those who helped to paddle him from place to place\nin search of a buyer\u2014or he would find himself poorer at the end of his\ntrading expedition than he was at the beginning. This was no small part\nof the lad\u2019s education.\n\nThe boy, as a part of his training, had to learn to handle his paddle\nwith agility, gracefulness, and accuracy. There were clumsy paddlers who\nwere the butt of their companions\u2019 ridicule, but there were others who\nso swung their paddles as to excite the admiration of the onlookers. As\na child his father gave him a toy paddle and taught him how to\nback-water, to steer, and to move his paddle in unison with others. Nor\nwas this all, for there were over fifty words and phrases he had to\nlearn dealing with canoeing. There were the words for canoes of\ndifferent sizes and shapes, from the large canoe that would take fifty\npaddles and a heavy cargo to the shallow marsh canoe that would skim\nover the surface of a six-inch pool. There were the names for the\nvarious parts of the canoe\u2014stern, bows, middle, sides, etc.; for\nbeaching, launching, steering, turning sharp round corners, or guiding\nthe canoe to a landing-place. There were names for a patch on a canoe,\nfor the usable part of a broken canoe, for the haft and blade of his\npaddle, and for their various sizes. These and many other things about\ncanoes he had to know before his education was completed.\n\nThe Boloki boys, living near the river as they did, learned to be good\nswimmers. They started swimming at so early an age that they regarded it\nas a natural action as much as walking. Canoes were often upset in the\nstorms or turned over by a hippopotamus, therefore it was necessary for\na lad to know how to save himself. The hand-over-hand stroke was most\ncommon, and they kicked out with the legs. They trod the water very\nwell; but they always dived feet first, never head first. When a canoe\nwas upset they were very dexterous in turning it over, bailing it out,\nputting their possessions (such as were floating) back into the canoe,\ncatching their paddles, and then climbing into their frail canoe again\nwithout upsetting it. This I have seen them do repeatedly, and often\nsent out a canoe to help them, but before it arrived they would be\nsitting in their canoe smiling. The girls learned both to swim and\npaddle; but the same skill in either accomplishment was not expected of\nthem as of the boys.\n\nThe boys went with their fathers on fishing and hunting expeditions.\nThey were taught how to make the various fish-traps and nets, and the\nbest places to put them in the river, creeks, or pools, and also how to\nbait and cast the hook. There were curious kinds of traps to make that\nwould allow the fish to enter, but rigidly bar their exit; long\nfish-fences for closing up the mouths of creeks, or run for forty yards\nby the river bank; nets to be woven, which when cast with the right sort\nof twist would entangle the unwary fish. They had to learn to watch the\nriver for the best time for setting the traps and fixing the fences.\nThey had to remember to address their father and the other fishermen as\n_Mwele_,[16] for if the water-spirits heard their proper names they\nwould turn aside the fish from the nets, and they would have ill-luck in\ntheir expedition. There were the names of a score of traps, nets, and\nmodes of fishing to keep in mind.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n This name is given to all fishermen while fishing, and just as they\n leave the river with their catch, or bad luck will follow.\n\nIn hunting there was much knowledge to be gained, for not only were the\nhabits of the different animals to be thoroughly understood, but also\nthe proper charms to be used, and the necessary ceremonies to be\nobserved to counteract the adverse influences of the bush-spirits who\nwere always on the prowl to render their hunting futile. For\nhippopotami, elephants, and antelopes, spring-traps were made and placed\nin the proper tracks. Occasionally holes were dug and sharpened sticks\nand iron prongs were fixed upright in them, and then the holes were\ncovered very lightly with sticks, leaves, etc. (I often shudder, even\nnow after many years, at the narrow escape I once had while hunting from\nfalling into one of these traps.) For hunting crocodiles and bush-pigs\nspears were most commonly used, and the lads learned to throw them with\nforce and accuracy. I have seen lads stand at a distance of from 60 to\n80 feet and put spear after spear, with great precision, into an upright\nplantain stalk not more than 5 inches in diameter.\n\nIf the lad had a blacksmith or a witch-doctor as a relative, then these\nprofessions were opened to him. The former commanded respect because of\nhis skill and usefulness; but the profession of the latter was not only\nvery lucrative, but gained the respectful fear of the people, for did he\nnot control those evil spirits that were always troubling the folk? And\nagain, a witch-doctor was never charged with witchcraft, hence the lad\nwould know in learning the tricks of that trade he would never have to\nundergo the ordeal, and might, if he were cunning enough, live on the\nbest of the land.\n\nThe girl in the course of her education went as a child with her mother\nto the farm, and with her small hoe helped her mother to weed, and as\nshe grew older she would hoe and plant. There were the various kinds of\ncassava to learn, and their characteristics and appearances; the best\ntime of the year for planting according to the position of the _kole_ in\nthe sky, and the best sort of soil, and when it was unprofitable to\nplant an old farm, and better to start a new one.\n\nThe girl had also to learn the sundry ways of cooking cassava\u2014for there\nwere several\u2014all entailing much time and thought. The modes of boiling,\nsteaming, grilling, smoking, or baking fish and meats. She had to become\nexpert in making up tasty messes with leaves and palm-oil, caterpillars,\npalm maggots, etc. She should know how to shave the head, comb out and\nplait hair, massage the skin, and decorate the face and body with\nvarious pigments and camwood powder, for these would be expected of her\nby her future husband. She had to learn to make her own dresses from\npalm-frond fibre, and if she desired to be \u201cchic,\u201d then she must dye\nthem to the fashionable colour. If she wanted extra pocket-money, then\nshe might master the mysteries of papyrus mat, and saucepan making, or\neven turn her hand to the art of basket-making. The more she knew of\nthese various accomplishments the better chance she had of securing the\nman she wanted for a husband.\n\nWhat a mass of information the girl collected about fetishes, charms,\nand medicine men! The proper charms to protect her farm produce, to ward\noff the evil eye from casting bad luck on her farming; the right charms\nto keep her in good health, and render her attractive to the village\nlads. She had to store her mind with a knowledge of the best charms to\nuse to allure her lover to her side, to preserve her during pregnancy,\nto ward off sickness from her child, to retain her position as the\nfavourite wife, and to keep away those many evil spirits that seemed to\nhem her in on every side. Both boys and girls had to remember the family\ntotems, and the family and personal taboos; what they should do and eat,\nand what it was necessary for them to avoid doing and eating. Then there\nwere the first-fruits of the fish they caught, the animals they killed,\nthe foods they planted, and the various articles they made which had to\nbe given to their parents or nearest relatives, otherwise bad luck would\nfollow them. The first teeth that came out had to be carefully hidden,\nfor if they were found by anyone no other teeth would come in their\nplace.\n\nAlthough there was much physical training to make them efficient in\nhunting, fishing, farming, etc., and much mental training to gain a full\nknowledge of all that boys and girls should know, yet there was no moral\ntraining. From early age to puberty boys and girls had free access to\neach other. Public reprobation was only visited upon those who committed\na wrong so clumsily as to be found out. I have heard them speak\nadmiringly of one who, while working for a white man, robbed him so\ncleverly as not to be discovered, and such a one would bring back to his\ntown the proceeds of his robbery and boastfully describe how he\ncommitted it; on the other hand, I have heard them call the unsuccessful\nthief a \u201cfool,\u201d not bad nor wicked, but _elema_ = stupid, fool, etc. We\ncould not discover any words for virtuous or vicious; a person either\nhad \u201cgood ways\u201d or \u201cbad ways,\u201d but these referred more to the presence\nor absence of rudeness, disrespect to superiors, or greediness, than to\nany moral or immoral qualities. For lying and stealing a child was not\npunished unless the lie or the theft inconvenienced the parent in some\nway. As a result of the lack of any moral training while young we found\nboth men and women most unblushing liars and thieves. I have seen the\ntail of a fish sticking out of a man\u2019s cloth, and he asseverating with\nmany oaths that he had neither touched nor seen the fish, until the\nfisherman who had been robbed pointed to the fish-tail sticking out well\nin view beyond the thief\u2019s cloth; and when convicted he laughingly said,\n\u201cI don\u2019t know how the fish got there.\u201d Yet they were capable of telling\nthe truth and being honest, as I discovered later.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n\n NATIVE GAMES AND PASTIMES\n\nDolls\u2014Make-believe games\u2014Mimic war\u2014Model of steamers\u2014Game of\n hand-thrusting\u2014Hockey\u2014Wheel game\u2014Flipping arrows\u2014Lip-sucking\n game\u2014Ball game\u2014\u201cTip-it\u201d\u2014Game with palm nuts\u2014African\n backgammon\u2014Gambling game\u2014Teetotums\u2014Hoop game\u2014Cat\u2019s cradle\u2014Water\n games\u2014Spear-throwing\u2014Bull-roarers\u2014Imitating movements of animals.\n\n\nThere are not many games, but such as there are train the eye in\nquickness, the hand in precision, and the body in agility.\n\nSome little girls take pieces of stick or cassava roots to represent\ndolls, or, as they call them, _bana_ = babies, and tying them on their\nbacks with an old rag they play with them as such. An English doll is\ntoo uncanny, too much like a human, for them to play with; they do not\nunderstand it, and put it away, or their elders take it away and sell it\nas a powerful fetish. Parents fond of their children make small paddles,\nbaskets, and hoes in imitation of their own, and the youngsters play\nwith them when they accompany their mothers to the farms, or their\nfathers in the canoes. Toy hoes and baskets are given to girls only, toy\nfish-traps to boys; but toy paddles to both boys and girls.\n\nThe boys of the village plait basket-work shields about 3 feet long and\n8 inches wide, and with stout water-grass and young plantain stalks as\nspears and clubs, and imitation wooden knives in their belts, they take\nsides in a great sham fight, and amid much laughter and good humour a\nmimic battle is waged until one side is driven from the field\u2014the\nvillage street. Such \u201cfights\u201d are interesting to watch, for the\nmovements of the more than half-naked bodies are swift, precise, and\ngraceful, and undoubtedly help to keep them in good form; and the\naccuracy with which they hurl their imitation spears is a fine display\nof dexterity.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n NATIVE CARPENTER AND HIS WORKSHOP\n This young man is only one of several expert carpenters trained on our\n Monsembe stations.\n]\n\nBesides mimic war, the youngsters have their make-believe games of\nmarketing, cooking, feasting, and housekeeping. The more expert among\nthe lads make toy steamers in imitation of those running on the river;\nand it is interesting to see two lads approaching from opposite\ndirections pulling their \u201csteamers\u201d behind them. As they pass each other\nthey whistle three times as a salute to one another, then comes a long\nwhistle as a sign to stop, and the \u201csteamers\u201d are supposed to stop at a\nbeach, and the two boys, who are acting as captains and wearing any old\nhat they can find for the occasion, approach each other, raise their\nhats, bow, shake hands, and then jabber for a few moments in bits of\nFrench and any of their own syllables that sound to them like French;\nthen come the ceremonies of parting, and the whistling of a pretended\nfarewell from the \u201csteamers,\u201d and the _shu! shu! shu!_ of the working\nengines. The lad pulling the steamer is engine, whistle, pilot,\nsteersman, and captain all combined, and seems to enjoy it. The best\nmodel has the largest crowd of followers after it. These boys are\nsplendid actors, and the whole scene just enacted is a fine, humorous\nimitation of the actions of State steamers and captains meeting on our\nbeach. A hat is as necessary almost as the \u201csteamer,\u201d for it has to be\ntaken off when the bow is made, and if a boy does not possess a hat, or\ncannot borrow one, he will make a good imitation of a helmet or a straw\nhat out of papyrus pith and plantain leaves.\n\nThe following is a list of the games[17] played among the Boloki boys\nand girls:\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n For Lower Congo games I would refer the reader to _Folk Lore_, Vol.\n XX, 1909, p. 457, where the writer has given a full description of\n them.\n\n1. _Ndangu_, hand-matching game. (Lower Congo _ta mbele_ is slightly\ndifferent.) The players form two lines (_mabenge_) facing each other.\nThe first player A faces the first of the opposition line B; A throws up\nboth hands and brings them down with a clap (_esaku_), and then darts\nout one hand. B does the same\u2014claps his answers (_tambola_), and if B\u2019s\nhand meets A\u2019s hand, A is wounded (_ajwe mpota_), and if A receives\nthree wounds (_mpota iatu_) he dies (_awe_). That is to say that if B is\nquick enough, or lucky enough, to throw out a hand to meet A\u2019s thrust,\nthen instead of being wounded he wounds A, and three wounds count a\ndeath\u2014A goes to the bottom of his own line. If, however, the hands do\nnot meet, then B is wounded and A passes on to the next, and the next,\nuntil he wounds all in B\u2019s line or is himself killed; if he is killed,\nthen the next boy to A tries until he is either \u201ckilled\u201d or has been\ndown B\u2019s line. Those who are \u201cdead\u201d stand at the bottom of their line.\nAfter all the \u201cmen\u201d in A\u2019s line have played, B\u2019s line starts, and should\nhe lose any \u201cmen\u201d they are redeemed in the following way: A\u2019s line lost,\nsay, five, and B\u2019s line lost, say, four, A counts four of his five as\nredeemed, and B counts his four as redeemed, thus over the first bout B\nhas lost none, and A has lost one \u201cman.\u201d The game proceeds until all on\none side are killed. The sharpest players stand at the top of the line,\nand are much admired for their prowess.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n MODEL OF A STATE STEAMER\n The lads holding the model made it out of bamboo, papyrus pith, and\n the potato-like substance of the plantain root. The lads delight to\n pull these toy steamers through the villages and imitate the white\n captains, with their make-believe salutes, etc.\n]\n\n2. _Ta mbali_, or hockey (Lower Congo _ta mbadi_), is probably a recent\nintroduction by steamer lads from the Lower Congo, as the Monsembe boys\nhad no open spaces for such a game until they played on the cleared\nopening in front of our station. I found hockey played most vigorously\nat San Salvador du Congo when I arrived there in the early part of 1882.\n\n3. _Nkeka_, or wheel. The potato-like substance of the plantain root is\ncut into a wheel, and the players arm themselves with long, sharpened\nsplinters (_mbenge_) of bamboos; they divide themselves into two\nparties, which place themselves at about 30 or 40 yards from each other.\nParty A throws the wheel (_kula nkeka_) along the ground towards party B\nat the other end (_nsuku_), and as the wheel rolls towards them the boys\nof B throw their splinters at it, and if all miss, side A chants: \u201cThud,\nthud, thud, bad marksmen, die like a gazelle\u201d (_Ju, ju, ju, bamai babi,\nbawa na npambi_); if some miss and some hit, those who hit sing: \u201cWe\nhave hit the wheel right through the rim\u201d\u2014the most fatal part (_Yeke,\nyeke, nakeke na ndende na mimpesa_); if two hit they say, \u201cBrothers\ntruly\u201d (_Jimi be_); if they all hit they sing, \u201cIt is absolutely lost\nand done for,\u201d i.e. It is no good looking for slaves from this side\n(_Mampasa malambasana_). To win: Should B party hit the wheel with three\nsplinters, then three of A party become slaves, i.e. they stand out of\nthe game until they are redeemed; but if on the return of the wheel to A\nparty that party hits it with four splinters, they thereby redeem their\nthree slaves and place one of the other side in slavery. This continues\nuntil one side is in total slavery. The game excites great enthusiasm,\nand encourages precision in throwing.\n\n4. _Ngenza._ A game in which small bamboo arrows are flipped at the\nfleshy mid-rib of the plantain leaf. Sides are taken, and the side with\nthe best marksmen wins.\n\n5. _Epapunga._ They make a sucking noise with the lower lip inside the\nupper, and the one not able to do it in unison with the others\n(_lembwaka lokela_) is \u201ckilled,\u201d i.e. drops out until all are killed\nexcept the last, who becomes the winner.\n\n6. _Ntamba._ A kind of ball game. A ball (_lingendu_) of leaves is made\nand thrown up, and is kept in the air by beating it with the palms of\nthe hands.\n\n7. _Nkulu-nkulu._ Two lines of boys sit on the ground opposite each\nother; the first lad of each line is called _moloi_ (husband), the rest\nare called _bali_ (wives). Each wife on the playing side interlaces her\nfingers, thus forming a hollow with the palms of her hands. The\n\u201chusband\u201d takes a small article and, passing his hand rapidly up and\ndown the line of hands, he drops the article into one of the arched\nhands. The opposition has now to discover who has the article, and the\nfollowing conversation takes place.\n\nOpposition says:\n\n\u201c_Baninga-baninga_\u201d (You players).\n\nPlayers: \u201c_Eh!_\u201d\n\nOpp.: \u201c_Bankutu bengi_\u201d (name of some leaves).\n\nPls.: \u201c_Eh!_\u201d\n\nOpp.: \u201c_Ba nyango ya bilulu_\u201d (They are bitter leaves).\n\nPls.: \u201c_Eh!_\u201d\n\nOpp.: \u201c_Obe na nkulu, abete mungita_\u201d (He who has the article make the\nsound of thunder).\n\nPls.: \u201c_Kilil\u012b!_\u201d (imitation of rolling thunder).\n\nOpp.: \u201c_Bakunguika_\u201d (Make it again).\n\nPls.: \u201c_Kilil\u012b!_\u201d\n\nOpp.: \u201c_Motu yona_\u201d (That person).\n\nIf the person thus pointed out is the hider of the article, he shows it,\nand his side loses, and the opposition side takes its turn; if, however,\nhe has not the article, then the one who has it says, \u201c_Eh! nabuti\nmwana_\u201d (Oh! I have given birth to a child), and shows the article. It\nthen counts one game to them, and is called _mwana wawi_ = one child.\n\n8. _Liba._ A game with palm nuts (and this very often precedes _peke_,\nor backgammon). In _liba_ they throw up a palm nut, and then before it\nfalls they swoop up with the right hand as many palm nuts as they can,\nand put them down to catch the descending nut before it touches the\nground. The one who picks up most in an agreed number of throws wins the\ngame.\n\n9. _Peke_ (kind of _mancala_, or African backgammon). A number of holes\nare made in a circle on the ground, and the players either take as many\npalm nuts as they can in so many handfuls, or procure them as in _liba_\n(see game 8); then they put one nut into each hole, and the one whose\nnuts pass the holes of the other\u2019s, wins; if his nuts fall short of the\nother\u2019s, he loses. The game is very complicated, and its rules little\nunderstood by any European.\n\n10. _Lobesi_, or the game of pitch-and-toss with six counters. The\ncounters are called _mbesi_; the light side of the counter is _nke_, the\ndark side is _mpili_. The stakes (_libeta_) are taken up when the\ncounters in three throws either fall dark side up (_mpili_), or light\nside up (_nke_), or three of each (_miu matu_ = three eyes). The person\nputting down the stakes is _mobeti wa libeta_, the place of playing is\n_ekali_, and the turn to play is _ngala_, and _pula_ is to demand a\nsecond set of throws with the _mbesi_. In this game there is always a\nlarge amount of gambling for brass rods and anything else of value, in\nfact, slaves are sometimes staked on the throw. I never knew it to be\nplayed except for gambling purposes.\n\n11. _Nsoko._ In this game it is necessary to make a table (_juku_) of\nfour lengths of plantain stalks, two 3 feet long, and two 2 feet long,\nand these are so placed as to make an oblong, and the space is filled\nwith earth or sand in a concave shape, and on this concave bed some\npieces of plantain leaves are smoothly spread. The teetotums are made\nfrom the large Calabar (_nsoko_, hence the name of the game) beans. A\nhole is bored through the middle of each bean, and through the hole is\npushed a splinter of wood to form a peg \u00be in. long on the under side,\nand about 3\u00bd inches on the upper. This is called the _mundindi_. The\n_juku_ and the _nsoko_ being prepared, the players, as many as can sit\nat the table, take their places, and one having taken the _mundindi_\nbetween the extended palms of his hands, he rubs it to and fro to give\nit momentum, and then he drops the teetotum on the table, where it spins\nrapidly. In the meantime another has done the same, and on the two\nrevolving tops colliding, one is knocked out and becomes the property of\nthe one whose teetotum is left on the \u201cboard.\u201d If both are knocked out\nthey begin again. If one teetotum holds the \u201cboard\u201d for a round, the\nowner of it is _monzo_ (the best spinner). He who procures the most tops\nbelonging to the others is the winner.\n\n12. _Molangu_ (hoop). The lads take sides, each side having a town\n(_mboka_) about 30 yards apart; and each lad has a piece of string from\n6 to 8 feet long weighted at the ends. All being ready the hoop is\nrolled along from town A towards town B, and as it approaches a lad\nsteps out and throws one end of his string at the hoop, and lets the\nstring run freely from his hand. His object is to entangle his string\nabout the hoop. When the hoop stops and falls, he goes and picks up one\nend of his string and swings the hoop round his head as he takes it back\nto the throwing side A. If he succeeds he has repulsed the enemy, and it\ncounts as one game to his side. If he misses the hoop, then the enemy\nhas entered his town, and it is reckoned as one game to the town A, and\nthe town B has to roll the hoop towards their opponents. If the hoop\nhappens to come off the string while being twirled, then the side of the\ntwirler loses, and he has to take the hoop back to his own town and\nthrow it to the town of the enemy. Each lad steps out in turn for a\nthrow of the hoop, and for a throw at the hoop.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By permission of - Prof. F. STARR.\n This Design is called Sanduku, or Box.\n]\n\n13. _Nka_, or cat\u2019s cradle, is well known to the lads and lasses, and\nmany an hour is spent in working out the different designs on their\nfingers and toes. The following are the names of a few patterns: (1)\n_Moleki na nkusu_, snare for a parrot, because of its similarity to a\nsnare; (2) _Mwana muntaka_, girl, because of its large, oval shape; (3)\n_Mwana lele_, boy, because it has a small waist; (4) _Julututu_, spider;\n(5) _Nkungu_, a triangular pattern. There is a very large number of\ndesigns, but some children are more expert than others in forming them\naccurately and easily.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By permission of - Prof. F. STARR.\n This Design is named Ndako, or House. If the picture is turned upside\n down the Pitch of the Roof will be clearly seen, the Ridge-pole and\n Wall-plates.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By permission of Prof. F. STARR.\n Called by the Natives: Narrow Roads through the Farms.\n]\n\n14. _Nsau ya mai_, or water games, of which the following three are\nspecimens: (1) _Nkoli_ (crocodile). An active boy represents a\ncrocodile, and diving beneath the water tries to catch the feet of his\ncomrades, and others try to capture him. If they succeed in so doing\nthey thereupon pretend to kill him and cut him up; but if he catches a\nplaymate they exchange places. (2) _Tasana_ (to find one another). One\ndives and remains quiet under the water, while another searches for him.\n(3) _Munteko_ (game of touch in the water). If one lad fails to catch or\ntouch another, the others sing, \u201c_Otenda tendaka yau nzala ya nkabu_\u201d\n(You will not grow, you eat greedily, but are always hungry). The boy\nbecomes angry at this taunt, and renews his efforts to catch one of\nthem. The Boloki are good swimmers, great divers, and can remain under\nthe water for a long time; and undoubtedly these water games help them\nto become so much at home in the river.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n GROUP OF LIBINZA FOLK\n These men are having a small drinking-bout and a little music. The\n band consists of one drum, one trumpet, and one iron gong played by\n the man at the end of the row.\n]\n\nThe elder lads often brought out their thin, well-balanced fighting\nspears, and having selected a growing plantain with a stalk about 5\ninches in diameter, they would stand from 60 to 80 feet away and launch\ntheir spears in turn at the stalk. I have seen them pierce the stalk\nright through again and again. I have tried spear-throwing, and it is\nnot so easy as it looks. There is a knack in holding the spear-haft well\ndown across the palm of the hand, so that the whole force of the arm is\nconveyed to the spear. The lads, when they saw my poor attempts at\nspear-throwing, used to say laughingly to me, \u201cAh, white man, if you\nwould fight us with spears, and not with guns, we would soon wipe you\nout.\u201d\n\n_Bull-roarers_ are known and made; but the elders do not like the lads\nto play with them, and give as their reason: \u201cYou are calling the\nleopards.\u201d This is because the whirl of the bamboo makes a sound like\nthe growling of a leopard.\n\nThe young girls have an interesting little dance in which they form a\ncircle around one of their number, who is on all fours in the centre. As\nthe girls in the ring sing about the different animals, as the leopard,\nthe hippopotamus, the crocodile, the elephant, etc., the girl in the\nmiddle imitates the movements of the animal, and she receives praise or\nridicule according to her ability to imitate the movements accurately.\n\nThe men and women take very little part in any of these games (except\nthe men at _lobesi_), but they monopolize a large share in all the\ndances, and in most of the dances the sexes are mixed. Wrestling of a\nrough-and-ready kind is indulged in by the lads; and round the fires of\nan evening stories are told with dramatic power, and conundrums are\npropounded and answered. Although Congo is practically a toyless land,\nand so far as the adults are concerned the children are not catered for,\nyet from their loud laughter the young folk seem to extract a great\namount of pleasure out of life. The boys delight in talking a slang\nlanguage of their own manufacture, which is called _jimu_. They select a\nsyllable, say \u201c_sa_,\u201d and insert it between the syllables of the words\nthey use, so _mboka_ = village becomes _mbo-sa-ka_ = _vil-sa-lage_. They\nacquire great glibness in this kind of talk, and enjoy the fun that it\nbrings in mystifying others.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n\n A PAGE OF NATIVE HISTORY\n\nA great inland sea\u2014The Boloki and Bantus\u2014The Boloki man\u2014A native\n retort\u2014Meaning of Bangala\u2014Movements of tribes\u2014Murder of Boloki\n chief\u2014Refuge in a tree\u2014Boloki raiding\u2014A famous chief\u2014Comets an\n evidence of greatness\u2014Tribal marks and meaning.\n\n\nThere is much evidence in favour of the theory that the low-lying\ncountry of the Congo basin was once the bottom of a great inland sea,\nwith here and there the highest points of land rearing their heads above\nthe water, and thus forming numerous islands. The pressure and rush of\nwater gradually wore down the barriers made by the ridge of rocks\nrunning across the river at _Kintamo_, and now forming the Kintamo\nFalls, thus draining the country and rendering it habitable. Then came\nanother silting up, and the lower levels of the country, that had been\ncovered in the meantime by trees and grass, were again flooded, and\nheavy deposits of clay were dropped on to and pressed down the vegetable\ngrowth. When the river was extremely low one year in the Monsembe\ndistrict, I noticed for many miles a stratum of vegetable matter, about\nthree inches thick, with here and there a tree of six inches diameter, a\ngood eleven feet below the top of the bank. This vegetable layer was not\nfossilized, but was extremely hard, and though of a blackish brown\ncolour, every vein in the leaves, and every line in the grass, was clear\nand perfect.\n\nIt is highly probable that as the Congo basin was drained the Bantus\npressed down from their northern homes; and the Boloki tribe for greater\nsecurity, perhaps, took possession of the Libinza Lake, and enlarged the\nislets they found there into places large enough to hold one, two, or\nmore families.\n\nThe Boloki tribe belongs to the great Bantu race that stretches from 6\u00b0\nnorth of the Equator to Cape Town, and from the east to the west coast.\nThe Bantus reach a higher latitude on the western than on the eastern\nside of the African continent, and here and there we find dotted over\nthis vast tract of country small tribes\u2014like the Hottentots, the\nBushmen, the Pigmies, etc.\u2014that are remnants probably of the aborigines\nof the country. These portions of tribes, speaking other than Bantu\ndialects, have not been absorbed, for geographical and other reasons, by\ntheir more civilized Bantu neighbours during the progress of many\ngenerations; but are there to-day like so many isolated pages of\nprimitive history.\n\nThe Boloki man is above the average height, of sturdy frame,\nwell-developed limbs, and splendidly proportioned body. When necessity\nhas demanded it, he has paddled me for fifteen hours with only one short\ninterval for food; but \u201con the road\u201d he is not a good walker, for he\nfinds his rations too heavy a burden, much more a 70-lb. load such as\nthe Lower Congo man carries with a light heart and step for many days.\nIn the canoe the Boloki swings his paddle with much grace, and if a drum\nis beaten, or a song is sung, the line of twenty paddlers will dip,\nbend, and raise their paddles in perfect time to the rhythm of the drum,\nor the lilt of the song.\n\nThe Boloki man is sociable and of a kindly disposition, but liable to\nfits of uncontrollable passion, and is then capable of great cruelty. He\nis fond of a laugh, enjoys a good joke, and appreciates a repartee,\nwhich he gives and takes in good humour.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. G. E. Moore_\n MANGWENDE\u2014A TYPICAL BOLOKI HEAD-MAN\n Running up the forehead will be seen the cock\u2019s-comb tribal mark,\n above which is the plait of hair worn by the better-class men, and\n on the temple the palm-leaf mark.\n]\n\nWe make more than three hundred dinners a year off fowls\u2014they are very\ncheap, and are the most regular form of fresh meat that we can procure.\nSpeaking with a native one day, I laughingly twitted him with the\nscarcity of fowls and the difficulty of buying any in his village.\n\nHe at once retorted: \u201cWhite man, if all the fowls you have eaten from\nour village were to cackle and crow simultaneously in your stomach,\nthere would be a tremendous noise.\u201d And as he spoke there was a good\nhumoured twinkle in his eye as he conjured up the noisy scene.\n\nFormerly the term Bangala was applied only to those natives who lived at\nDiboko (Nouvelles Anvers), and for forty or fifty miles up and down the\nriver on either side of them; but in a work published in Brussels called\n_Les Bangalas_,[18] the term Bangala is made to cover an area reaching\nfar east of Bopoto, west of Equatorville, north of the Welle, and south\nof the Congo River for some distance. This includes a dozen or more\ndifferent tribes, talking as many distinct languages, having various\ntribal marks, possessing in many instances very different customs, etc.,\nand among whom there is nothing in common except their black skins and\nbackwardness in civilization. Since seeing the above-mentioned book, I\nhave preferred using Boloki as a more definite term for denoting the\ninhabitants of certain towns on the main river, on the Mobangi River,\nand the Libinza Lake. Intermixed with the Boloki towns on the Congo\nRiver are other towns belonging to a hinterland people well known to us\nas the Bomuna.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n By M. Cyr. van Overbergh and M. de Jonghe.\n\nThe Boloki folk have very hazy ideas about relationship, and scarcely\nany two will give the same name to all the relatives, and, moreover, if\nyou take a list of the names of relations from a young man and put it\naway for six months, and then ask the same lad about the same relations\nin the same order as before, with your list in front of you, he will\ngive you another set of names that will not tally with your first one in\nseveral points. I have made many attempts to draw up a complete\nlist,[19] and if I had been satisfied to take one man and examine him\nonce only, I might have procured a list of the names of relations that\nwould have been full, but it would have been inaccurate, i.e. it would\nhave been that man\u2019s list then, but it would not have been his six or\neight months later, and it would not have been anyone else\u2019s list even\nat the time he gave it to me. In this there was no desire to deceive us,\nfor we found the same difficulty on the Lower Congo.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n See Appendix, Note 4, page 342.\n\nAmong the Boloki there is no historical literature, for not a single\nmember of the tribe could write until we taught them; but although there\nis no written history there has been much oral communication dealing\nwith the origin of the tribe, the place from whence it came, the\napproximate time of the migration, and the reason for it. Their\ncommunications have been handed from father to son, and the facts have\nbeen the constant theme of fireside conversations.\n\nThe following incidents connected with the migrations of a large portion\nof the tribe from the low-lying Libinza Lake district to the main river\nI gathered from a man of about 35 years of age, of good intelligence,\nand I have every reason to believe that they are the putting together of\nwhat he frequently heard around the evening fires, as well as what he\nlearned from his father. Besides, in chatting with other folk, I have\ngathered various particulars that confirm his statements, and the\nconstant antagonism shown by the Bomuna people to the Boloki, and the\ngeographical distribution of these two tribes, all go to prove the\ntruthfulness the main facts of this page from native history.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: the Author_A MONITOR\n These creatures are very scarce; but our lads killed this one, and\n brought it to me before cutting it up for the saucepan. It was 8\n feet 7 inches long.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A NATIVE HUT\n A native house of the size and shape that we bought for 5s. 1d. The\n old man on the right illustrates a method of hair dressing\u2014shaving\n the hair so as to show a very round face and high forehead.\n]\n\nThe Bomuna people, about the middle of the nineteenth century, came from\nthe bush towns lying in the forest between the Mobangi and the Congo\nRivers, and settled on the bank of the main river. Not being a riverine\npeople, they had no knowledge of swimming, and possessed no canoes. They\nworked their way along the river\u2019s bank from the Monsembe district\nup-river until they came to the Ejeba stream, near the village of Nyoi,\nwhich deep stream they passed by means of a stout cane-creeper that\nhappened to stretch across the water from the overhanging trees. Many\npassed, and while others were working their way hand over hand along the\ncane creeper it broke, and thus severed the only means of communication\nbetween those on the opposite sides of the stream. Those who found\nthemselves on the eastern side continued their journey, and founded the\nsettlements of Diboko (sometimes called Iboko), now Nouvelles Anvers.\nThus the ancient people of Diboko were Bomuna of the tribe of Bobanga,\nof whom the chief, Mata Bwiki, is the best known to fame, being the\nhead-man who encountered Stanley, and on whose land the Congo Free State\nbuilt their station of Nouvelles Anvers.\n\nThe Bomuna folk left on the western side of the stream settled on\nsuitable town sites in the Mungala Creek above Monsembe, and along the\nbanks of the main river below Monsembe. I knew this branch of the tribe\nwell as being both ignorant and timid in all matters relating to water\nand canoes.\n\nBetween forty and fifty years ago some Libinza Lake people of the tribe\nof Boloki left their swampy island homes under the leadership of\nMunyata, and working their way in shallow canoes through the creeks,\nthey came out on the main river near to Moboko. They paddled down the\nriver to the Mungala Creek, which at that time was inhabited by Bomuna\npeople. There Munyata made blood-brotherhood with Munkua, the chief of\nthe Bomuna, and settled there with his people. The Bomuna at that time\npossessed no spears, but did their hunting and fighting with sharpened\nsticks, the points of which were hardened in the fire. Munyata presented\nMunkua with a spear, and received a fine young woman as a return\npresent.\n\nMunyata, the Boloki chief, was apparently a very grasping man, for\nalthough he had several wives he coveted more, and was always asking\nMunkua for one of his. For a time Munkua occasionally gave one; but\nMunyata let it be known that any woman who ran to him would be retained,\nand so much was the Boloki chief admired and feared, that one after\nanother of the wives of Munkua escaped to him, until at last only one,\nhis favourite, or principal (_nkundi_) wife was left, and she was\neventually stolen from him by Munyata. So exasperated was Munkua by this\ntreatment that, taking advantage of the first opportunity that offered,\nhe speared Munyata to death.\n\nOn the murder of Munyata the Boloki folk came out in crowds from the\nLibinza Lake to avenge the death of their head-man, and so successful\nwere they with their iron spears against the sharpened sticks of the\nBomuna that, although more numerous, the latter gave way before their\nfierce onslaught. Many escaped, but some took refuge in a high bombax\ntree. The tree was surrounded by the Boloki, who threatened to starve\ntheir enemies to death unless they submitted; and apparently after some\npalavering the entrapped people had the privilege accorded to them of\nselecting their own future owners. Thus one would say, \u201cI will take\nSo-and-so as my master,\u201d and on his request being agreed to he would\nclimb down the tree and take his place among the followers of his new\nmaster. In this way they divided themselves among their conquerors, and\nit seems from all accounts they were well treated by the Boloki.\n\nOther contingents of the Boloki came out on to the main river and\nwrested sites from the Bomuna at Monsembe, Lobengu, Maleli, and\nBokomela, and up-river at Bombilinga. In the meantime the Diboko Bomuna\nhad increased in numbers, had become possessed of canoes, and had\nlearned the way to manage them. Their numbers also had been greatly\naugmented, and their passions inflamed by those who had escaped from the\nMungala Creek before, and during, the fight caused by the death of\nMunyata. These Diboko Bomuna so harassed and fought the Mungala Creek\nBoloki that numbers of them fled up-river (undoubtedly passing behind\nthe islands to avoid their enemies at Diboko), and established\nthemselves at Mobeka, at the mouth of the Mungala River many miles above\nDiboko. When first we went to live at Monsembe a very high tree that\nstood on the bank at the bend of the river was pointed out to me as\ntheir post of observation when watching for the Diboko Bomuna.\n\nThe Boloki tribe in 1890 possessed the following districts on the north\nbank of the Congo: Mobeka, at the mouth of the Mungala River,\nBombilinga, the Mungala Creek towns, Monsembe, Lobengu, situated in the\nMangala Creek, Moleli, Bokomela, and Bungundu. On the south bank they\nowned Bokumbi, Libulula, and Bolombo. At some time or other the people\nof Bungundu, Bokomela, Moleli, and Lobengu were called Mangala, and gave\ntheir name to the creek in which their principal town was built. Perhaps\nthere was a powerful family called Mangala, and this has been corrupted\ninto Bangala; or the Mungala River was supposed to be the original home\nof these people, and as _mu_ means place, locality, and _ba_ means\npeople, it was easy to call the people the Bangala. I am rather inclined\nto the latter reason for the origin of the term among white people, but\nthe natives themselves never used the name Bangala.\n\nNear to Mobeka are the Ngombe people, who are also called Bokumbi, and\nthis tribe in 1908 was becoming mixed with the neighbouring tribes; and\nas they are being absorbed into them they no longer call themselves\nNgombe or Bokumbi, but appropriate the names of the peoples whose\nlanguage they learn and whose tribal mark they imitate. The hinterland\nfolk of Diboko belong to the Mokulu tribe, and the Bomuna of Diboko to\nthe Bobanga tribe; others in between the Boloki towns down to Bokomela\nretain their old name of Bomuna. Below Bokomela is the Mbonji tribe that\ncame originally from the bush. The Baloi on the Mobangi River are Boloki\nfrom Lake Libinza.\n\nThe Libinza Lake is a large sheet of shallow water that drains itself,\nby the Ngiri River, into the Mobangi, and retains its distinctive colour\nfor many miles. Islands have been slowly made with great labour, and\nthey need constant watching or they will be washed away by the annual\nfloods. The folk drove stakes around any slight elevations shown at low\nwater, and then dug up clay and mud from the bottom of the lake and put\ninside the stakes, and thus formed an island. These islands are small,\nbut they are numerous, and are often linked together by bridges. There\nare some large islands, but most of them are small. The lake was thickly\npopulated in the nineties with expert fishermen and saucepan-makers; and\nthey often came out in parties of twenty and thirty to fish with their\npeculiar box-shaped nets, and to sell their fish, their saucepans, and\n\u201cfire-pots\u201d to the riverine people for cassava roots. They frequently\ncamped on our beach, and thus we saw much of them. The Libinza folk\nlived chiefly on plantains, as cassava would not grow in their swampy\nsoil, hence they always exchanged their wares for cassava; and this may\nhave been one of the reasons why Munyata came out from the lake, to\nestablish a centre of exchange for cassava roots.\n\nThe tribe near the river always ridicules the tribe behind in the bush,\nas the Boloki laugh at the Bomuna, and the Bomuna at the Ndobo people\nfurther behind. The Boloki are proud of their name and their origin; and\nthe neighbouring tribes acknowledge their courage and endurance, and\nprefer their friendship to their enmity. The following is an instance of\ntheir bravery and the long distances the Boloki men paddled on their\nraiding expeditions: In the beginning of 1891 there was a big fight in\nour vicinity, and on inquiring the cause we learned that the reason for\nthe fight between these Boloki towns was this: A year or two before our\narrival the Boloki of the Monsembe district paddled over 300 miles\nup-river and raided the Bopoto riverine towns, carrying off a quantity\nof loot and a number of captives; and the unsatisfactory division of the\nspoils culminated in the fight that cost some few lives.\n\nAbout 1870 there lived at Mobeka (one of the Boloki towns) a chief who\nstyled himself _Monoko mwa Nkoi_, or Mouth of a Leopard, for he boasted\nthat, like that animal, he never let go any person unfortunate enough to\nfall into his clutches. He was the terror of the district, and a message\nfrom him made a whole town quake with fear; and a demand from him was\ninstantly obeyed from apprehension of the consequences. He was a man of\nwar, a cruel warrior who held life cheap; and he burnt down many a town,\nscattered the people, or took them as slaves. On one of his raids among\nthe Bopoto towns (which district is about 130 miles above Mobeka) he was\nmortally wounded and carried back to his town, where he died. About the\ntime of his death a large comet appeared, which was described by my\ninformant as being \u201clike a large star with a hat on it.\u201d It was seen for\nthree nights in succession, and was regarded as a sign of the greatness\nof Monoko mwa Nkoi.\n\nAbnormal appearances in the sky are either the evidences of the death of\nsome great chief whom they do not know, because he lived and died among\na distant tribe, or are a proof of the greatness of a chief who has died\nwithin the limits of their own district. I have also known them to blame\na lad, recently buried, for the tornado that was rushing across their\nvillage, shaking their huts and uprooting their plantains and bananas.\nThey abused him in unmeasured language, and expressed the hope that he\nwould be \u201chumbugged\u201d in the nether regions. Emanya of Diboko is the name\nof another fighter whose cruel exploits are the subject of conversations\naround the evening fires.\n\nThe tattoo marks give indications of tribal movements, and also some\nidea of the various component parts that go to the making of a village\ncommunity. I have noticed three kinds of tattooing among the Boloki. (1)\nA single line of elliptical punch-marks running from temple to temple\njust above the eyebrows. (2) A cock\u2019s comb (called _likwala_) running\nfrom the tip of the nose in some, and from between the eyebrows in\nothers, to the crown of the head. (3) A cock\u2019s comb plus a palm leaf on\neach temple, or some other marking. When you look at the profile of a\nman his tattoo stands out like a cock\u2019s comb, hence the name.\n\nThe first kind of tattooing\u2014line of elliptical punch-marks\u2014is to be\nfound only on the old men and women, indicating that they are probably\nsome of the original contingent of Libinza Lake people who forced a\nfooting on the main river. They cling to the Libinza tribal mark, being\nproud of their kinsfolk and their origin. The second tattoo is seen on\nboys and girls, and on men and women from 35 downwards, and shows that\nthe new marking had come into fashion when they were young, and was\nsufficiently in favour to supplant the old Libinza marking. On men and\nwomen from 35 to 45 there were (in 1900) slight traces of the Libinza\nmarks, but the cock\u2019s comb was the more prominent tattoo. Whence did\nthey borrow the cock\u2019s-comb tattoo? is a question I have often asked\nmyself; or did they originate it as a distinctive mark of their own as\nthey became a separate tribe and the ties binding them to the Libinza\npeople gradually faded? The third set of marks is to be found on the\nslaves, who imitate the tattoo of their masters. Hence the Mongo tribal\nmarks\u2014lumps the size of a bean on the nose and across the forehead\u2014will\nbe seen on a man in conjunction with the cock\u2019s comb; or the palm leaf\non the temples\u2014mark of a tribe on the upper Lulanga River\u2014and the cock\u2019s\ncomb. Slaves captured or bought young allow their distinctive tribal\nmark to disappear, and try to work up a good-sized cock\u2019s comb like\ntheir owners, so as to be regarded as belonging to the same tribe as\ntheir masters.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII\n\n NATIVE GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES\n\nNo paramount chiefs\u2014Head-man rules his own family\u2014Stanley\u2019s \u201cLord of\n many guns\u201d\u2014_Monanga_, a term of respect\u2014The alien is robbed\u2014The\n guest protected\u2014Arrival of canoes\u2014Estimation of native\n character\u2014Good memories\u2014Learning to read pictures\u2014Timid and\n superstitious\u2014Lack of reverence\u2014Pride\u2014Greedy and mean.\n\n\nAmong the Boloki there are no paramount chiefs. Each town has its set of\nfamilies that prefer living together, and each family has its head\ncalled _mata_, who is the eldest son, and who as eldest takes the title\nand the largest share of the estate. At any time a family is at liberty\nto break away from the rest and live by itself on a new site. The _mata_\nmay be a man with wives, slaves, and followers numbering from 200 to 300\nand even more, or the _mata_ may not be able to muster more than fifteen\nor twenty people; yet as head of his family he possesses the same title\n(_mata_) as the more powerful ones.\n\nStanley in his books on the Congo uses many phrases about Mata Bwiki of\nDiboko (now Nouvelles Anvers) that favour the idea that he was an\noverlord, or lord paramount of the district; but that was not so. _Mata\nbwiki_ simply means Head-man Plenty, or Plentifulness. Stanley, I think,\ngives as its meaning, \u201cLord of Many Guns,\u201d but his name then should have\nbeen, _Monanga wa bibau biki_ = lord of guns many. Stanley on his\nmemorable journey happened to go ashore at the landing-place belonging\nto Bwiki\u2019s family, and he as head of his family took the lead in\nStanley\u2019s reception. If Stanley had landed half a mile above or half a\nmile below that particular spot he might never have heard of Mata Bwiki.\n\nThe word _monanga_ is used in a restricted way as meaning a free-born\nperson, either male or female. It also is employed as a term of respect\nand means \u201clord,\u201d and frequently is equivalent to Mr., Monsieur, etc. It\nis attached to the name of any man to whom or of whom you wish to speak\nwith deference and respect. We are always addressed as _monanga_, but\nnever as _mata_; and many of the more wealthy natives who are not _mata_\nare spoken of as _monanga_, and all who are entitled to be called _mata_\nhave a right to be addressed as _monanga_, but they prefer the former\ntitle. _Mata_ is distinctly the hereditary designation of the eldest son\nand points to him as the head of his family, and _monanga_ a courtesy\ntitle of respect.\n\nThe _mata_ then governs all matters relating to his own family, and from\nhis decisions there is no appeal. Undoubtedly he calls together the\nelder folk of his family to counsel him on important affairs; and these\nhead-men of the village meet under the wild fig tree, or in the palaver\nhouse, and decide village matters as between family and family, and also\ntheir policy towards other villages in the district. There is an\nunwritten code of laws dealing with most offences, and by these the\nheads of the families judge each other and the members of their own\nfamilies.\n\nThe status of a person in the family and town council depends on whether\nhe is entirely free-born, or slave-born, or partly so. A child of slaves\nis a slave, and as such his advice is never sought; a child of a slave\nfather by a free woman, or of a slave woman by a free father, is a\nsemi-slave (_mbotela_), but the position of the latter in the family\nlife is much higher than that of the slave, yet of course he does not\nrank so high as the child born of free parents. Birth alone constitutes\nmembership of the family and tribe. A slave who redeems himself (a very\nrare occurrence, for all that a slave earns belongs to his master) will\nbe tolerated in his attempts to pass himself off as a member of the\ntribe; he may affect the tribal mark, and also plait his beard, etc.,\nand his wealth may win respect, but being of no family he will have no\ninfluence in the palavers of the village.\n\nIn dealing with an alien it is not considered wrong to rob, beat, abuse,\nor even murder him, unless he has come on a visit, for trade or other\npurposes, to someone in the town. He will then be under the protection\nof his host, and receiving the hospitality of his host he will also\nreceive the hospitality of the town and neighbourhood. The host will\nhave a _casus belli_ against anyone who molests his guest; and a\nvillage, on the other hand, will hold a host responsible for the\noffensive actions of his guest. Men and women travelling alone, or in\ntwos and threes in places where they are not known, run the risk of\nbeing captured. Such defenceless travellers hide by day and travel by\nnight to their destinations.\n\nGreen, in his _Shorter History of England_, says that \u201cin ancient times\nthe painted British savage on approaching a village sounded a horn to\nwarn the villagers of his coming, otherwise he would have been treated\nas an enemy who tried to surprise them by stealth.\u201d Among the Boloki it\nis the custom that when a canoe containing six or more men approaches a\ntown they have to beat a drum and sing to notify the folk of their\ncoming, otherwise they are treated as enemies and lay themselves open to\nan attack. For a canoe of strangers from other towns and districts to\napproach a town unannounced by drum and song is regarded as an act of\nwar. If their coming is peaceful, why are they afraid to drum and sing?\nI have seen the crew of such a canoe badly handled for omitting these\ncourtesies, and but for our presence some of the travellers would have\nbeen speared.\n\nThe _mata_ in the performance of his duties as head-man has to guard, in\nthe interests of his family, all those palm trees and _nsafu_\n(_canuarensis_) trees that have been planted by his forebears. The\nproprietary rights in these trees are by inheritance, or by planting\nthem, and the rights in them are handed on from father to son in the\nproper line of heirship. They are sources of wealth to a family, and the\nmembers of a family support their chief man when those rights are\ninfringed.\n\nThe head-man in the government of his family holds a very difficult\nposition when sitting in judgment on a relative, for such is the\ncharacter of the family life that if he fines the delinquent he will be\npunishing himself indirectly\u2014the family stands or falls together.\nRobbery, adultery, wounding, and murder when committed within the limits\nof one\u2019s own family will receive the strong disapprobation of the other\nmembers, but there is no punishment that the _mata_ can inflict unless\nthe offender is a boy, and then a sound thrashing will be administered;\nfor will they not be punishing themselves if they insist on the\ninfliction of a fine and to whom can the fine be paid? The fine imposed\nwould have to be paid by the family to itself. The _mata_, therefore, in\nruling his family exercises his greatest tact in maintaining the various\nunits of which it is composed in the friendliest relation to each other\nand to himself. Then he has to keep a strong hand on the family slaves,\nfor he and his family will be held responsible for whatever offences\nthey commit against other families; and if they fight and quarrel\namongst themselves, his only wise course is to sell them and buy others\nwho may not be so contentious.\n\nI never came across a more democratic form of government on the Congo\nthan that of the Boloki tribe. There is no prestige of birth to help, as\namong the Lower Congo chiefs, for his subjects are of the same blood as\nhimself\u2014except his slaves, and they are his property and not his\nsubjects. He has no position of priesthood (as the family \u201cmedicine\nman\u201d) to inspire with awe those who owe fealty to him as head-man; and\nthere is no position he can gain in any secret society that will inspire\nwith fear of him the other members of his family. His position is no\nsinecure, and while his trouble is great his perquisites are few.\n\nPerhaps this will be the best place to attempt an estimate of the Boloki\nfolk who thus live in families each under the rule of a head-man, and in\nvillage communities governed by elders or head-men. Their memories are\nexceedingly good respecting the debts owing to them, but with regard to\nthe debts they owe they have, or pretend to have, very bad memories\u2014it\nis for the creditor to keep in mind the debts owing to him, and to bring\nthe proofs at the proper time.\n\nThere are occasionally cases of insanity among them, some caused by\nuterine trouble, and others are the results of sleeping-sickness. If\ninsanity is of long duration and the patients are destructive or\ntroublesome, they are quietly put out of the way. I only met with one\nman who ran amok. He had had a very serious illness, and either the\nillness or the decoctions given to him to effect his cure made him\ntemporarily mad. He cut down all the plantain trees in his path, and\ndestroyed everything he came near; the people cleared out of his way,\nbut being a man of importance he got off without any payment of damages.\n\nWhen I went first to live among the people of Monsembe I had with me a\nroughly bound volume of the _Illustrated London News_. It was very\ninteresting to watch the development of their artistic faculties. At\nfirst they looked at a picture and asked what the marks were; they held\nthe picture anyhow, and looked at it from any point that might be\nconvenient to them without any regard to the picture being right side\nup, or upside down, or any other way. By and by they began to pick out\nthe features, one by one, and say, \u201cWhy, it is a man!\u201d They would pick\nout the doors, windows, walls, etc., and remark, \u201cWhy, it is a house!\u201d\nAfter a time they would drop this spelling out, as it were, of the\npicture and say, \u201cA man, a woman, a house,\u201d etc., at once. Later on,\nthey would take in the whole of a picture at a glance. I suppose it is\nin this way we learn pictures in our childhood\u2014spell them out. It was\ninteresting to watch the same process in young men, women, and adults.\n\nI remember one day a man was looking at a picture of the members of the\nL.C.C. gathered in their council chamber. He asked what it meant, and I\nexplained the significance of the assembly. He could only see well with\none eye, and with that one he very carefully scanned the whole of the\npicture for two or three minutes, and then he asked in an incredulous\ntone of voice: \u201cThis is a picture of men met to talk palavers, but where\nare their spears and knives?\u201d The natives never talked palavers without\nhaving their spears and knives ready to hand, hence the doubt expressed\nin his question and voice.\n\nThe native has immense respect for force, but totally despises\ngentleness. He likes to be treated with kindness and consideration, but\ninstead of regarding such treatment as an expression of your goodness he\nconsiders it a sign of your weakness, and will behave accordingly. If\nyou point out to him that you treat him with kindness and expect some\nconsideration in return, he will acknowledge that that is fair and\nright, and will for a time try to act more thoughtfully, but soon the\nbetter feeling will pass away unless you constantly remind him of his\nmany deficiencies\u2014of all that he has to learn and all that he needs to\nbecome.\n\nTo teach a native that he is your equal in all things is not to incite a\ndesire on his part to emulate you, but rather tends to cause him to\nregard you with disrespect and contempt. The native knows he is not your\nequal, and he thinks you must have a despicable twist in your vision,\nand some bad, ulterior motive, if you think that he is your equal and\nwish him also to believe the same. I teach him that he is a creature of\nGod as I am, that the Redeemer died as much for him as for me, and that\nGod will judge him righteously, and will show neither of us favour or\ndisfavour on account of the colour of our skins. At the same time, the\nrelation between teacher and taught must be maintained, and he must be\nmade to understand in how many ways he must be changed\u2014morally,\nintellectually, and socially; and that before he can take his place\namong civilized and Christian men he must rise out of his degrading\nsuperstitions, control his lusts, govern his passions, and strive after\nall that is good, noble, and beautiful. He will admit that you are his\nsuperior in every way, but unless you firmly insist on his taking his\nright position as a learner he will conduct himself towards you with\nless respect than he pays to the smallest and poorest chief in his\ndistrict, and in a short time your influence will be gone and you will\nwonder why.\n\nTreat the native with respect, and insist on receiving the same from\nhim; treat him with firmness, decision, masterfulness, and he will go as\na rule as far as you want him to go. Faithfully keep all your promises\nand fulfil all your threats, therefore never make a promise you do not\nintend to redeem, and never threaten a thing you are not able, on the\nface of it, to perform, i.e. treat the native with gentle firmness,\npersuasive force, and masterful consideration, and you will get the best\nout of him, and cause him to respect himself while respecting you.\n\nThe native can love and he can hate; but he is neither a good lover nor\na strong hater. His affections are neither steady nor permanent. He\nwill, however, remember a wrong committed against him much longer than a\ngood deed done to help him. He is moved more by fear of pain, by loss of\nmaterial profit, and by public opinion than swayed by principles and\narguments. He will float with the stream rather than continually\nstruggle against it; but at the same time he can obstinately and\ndoggedly follow a course that will result in physical pain, financial\nloss, and ridicule if he is once persuaded that his ultimate interests\nlie in that direction.\n\nHe is not lacking in gratitude, but he is afraid of displaying it lest a\nfavour be asked of him in return. When you visit him he will remind you\nof the fact that you mended his broken leg or cured his disease, not to\nmake it the basis of a generous act towards you, but rather as a plea to\nprocure something extra out of you by awakening your further interest in\nhim.\n\nIn some districts you will find he is more a liar than a thief, and if\nyou investigate you will discover that the fines imposed for thieving\nare such as to deter him from following his inclination to steal. In\nother districts, where the native laws are more lax, he will excel both\nin thieving and lying, but he will readily admit they are vices worthy\nof stringent punishment, and will express his regret that the thief\nstole either from you or from himself, and at the same time he will be\ndoing his best to rob you.\n\nBefore the unknown and mysterious he is timid and very superstitious. He\nwill regard you as a _god_, and yet try to fight you; he will\nsuperstitiously believe that you have wonderful occult powers that can\nstop the rain, cause pestilence and plagues, and yet he will not attempt\nto conciliate you, but will savagely shout at you to clear out of his\ntown and take your witchcraft elsewhere. When fighting with a gun he is\ntimid, nervous, and apparently very cowardly, because he does not\nunderstand the mysteries of gunpowder; but give him a shield and a spear\nand his bravery is evidenced by his boldness in a fight, and his utter\nindifference to wounds and death. The mysterious overawes, paralyses\nhim, but superstitious fears will often arouse the very demon of cruelty\nand vindictiveness, and incite to boldness and recklessness.\n\nHe lacks reverence, but is easily filled with awe and overcome by\nwonder. The stars in their courses make for him no song around the\neternal throne; but the smoke ascending from his great bush-fires\nforming a halo round the sun will make him quake with fear because it is\nan omen of evil. The movements of the sun and the moon awaken no\nadmiration in him; but exhibit some poor conjuring trick, or a shilling\nmechanical toy, and his eyes and mouth are not big enough to express his\nwonder.\n\nHe is prouder than Lucifer is reputed to be, and will resent the\nsmallest slight put upon his so-called dignity. In a fit of overweening\nvanity he will sacrifice everything he possesses, and destroy all his\nfuture prospects to satisfy the pride of the moment. His family may be\ninsignificant, his town paltry, himself small and dirty, but touch his\npride and he will act as though he were _un grand seigneur_. He himself\nmust be the judge of what hurts his pride, not you. He has his own code\nof honour and etiquette, difficult at times for you to understand, hence\nyou wonder at some of the exhibitions of his pride.\n\nHis memory is well trained, and his powers of observation keen and\nminute; his ability to adapt himself to his surroundings is wonderful,\nand his imitative faculties are remarkable; but he lacks power of mental\nconcentration and logical thought. His physical powers are highly\ndeveloped\u2014he will carry a heavy load, from 70 lbs. to 80 lbs., up and\ndown hill and across broken country, or paddle a heavy canoe hour after\nhour, without exhibiting much fatigue; but he cannot, or will not,\nfollow a line of thought, metaphorically speaking, for twenty yards. His\nreasoning and reflective faculties are stunted, undeveloped, for they\nhave been exercised upon nothing more profound than the very alphabet of\nexistence. He knows that two and two make four\u2014that certain results\nfollow certain causes, but that a series of causes will produce a series\nof results complicated and wide-spreading in their effect he cannot\ngrasp. He has no power of deduction, and little or no faculty for\nproducing a well-developed plot or involved plan.\n\nWith those who have a right to a share of meat or cloth, etc., he will\nbe most scrupulous in dividing the article into equal portions,\nforgetting no one; but to those who have no right to a share he will be\nniggardly, mean, selfish, and grasping. His apparent generosity is\ninnate selfishness, for he only gives that he may receive more in\nreturn, and be the giver black or white he will complain bitterly if the\nreturn present is not so large as his greed imagined it should be.\nPerhaps this trait in his character may be accounted for by his desire\nto have a grand funeral\u2014the talk of the village or the countryside. For\nthis he will save and scheme, lie and steal, rob his neighbours, his\nwives, and his children to hoard up cloth, etc., for his own burial,\nthat he may have a good start in the spirit-land.\n\nHe has a wonderful power of imitation, but he lacks invention and\ninitiative; but this lack is undoubtedly due to suppression of the\ninventive faculty. For generations it has been the custom to charge with\nwitchcraft anyone who has commenced a new industry or discovered a new\narticle of barter. The making of anything out of the ordinary has\nbrought on the maker a charge of witchcraft that again and again has\nresulted in death by the ordeal. To know more than others, to be more\nskilful than others, more energetic, more acute in business, more smart\nin dress, has often caused a charge of witchcraft and death. Therefore\nthe native to save his life and live in peace has smothered his\ninventive faculty, and all spirit of enterprise has been driven out of\nhim.\n\nIn the foregoing sketch I have generalized, and have not allowed for the\nexceptions that are always to be found to every rule. Anyone who has\nlived among the natives, and has known them intimately, will supply\nexamples of those who were kind, generous, grateful, of others who were\naffectionate, devoted, unselfish, and again of others who were patient,\nbrave, faithful, and persevering; but these exceptions show that they\nare capable of being possessed by the noblest virtues and swayed by the\nhighest and purest motives. Generations of superstition and moral\ndegradation have not entirely obliterated from among them examples of\nkindness of heart and generosity of feeling, and these examples assure\nus that with proper care and cultivation such virtues and graces may\nbecome more widespread.\n\nThose of us who teach the native in the workshop and the school find\nthrough stirring up his moral and mental depths many undesirable\nqualities coming to the top, and these we repress; but, on the other\nhand, pleasant traits also exhibit themselves, and these we try to\ncultivate. The beneficial results may not be obvious to the unseeing eye\nin the first generation, and perhaps not in the second, but they will\nmanifest themselves in due course. The civilization of England is the\noutcome of a thousand years\u2019 teaching and training, and you cannot\nexpect us to attain the same results in a generation or two. It is, at\nleast, unfair of those who boast of their \u201csuperiority\u201d to criticize us\nfor not accomplishing in a generation with \u201cinferior\u201d material what it\nhas taken a score of generations to accomplish in their own case.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n\n NATIVE LAWS, CRIMES, AND ORDEALS\n\nThe family judge\u2014The chief judge\u2014Stolen property\u2014Punishment for\n murder\u2014Adultery\u2014The Court\u2014Native advocates\u2014No oaths\n administered\u2014Giving the ordeal\u2014Various ordeals\u2014An impartial judge\n needed\u2014White man as judge\u2014A selection of cases.\n\n\nIt has already been stated in a previous chapter that the _mata_ or\nhead-man of the family dealt with all matters relating to his own\nfamily, and against his verdict there was no appeal; and also that the\nheads of the several families forming a town would meet together and\narrange the affairs of their various families; but it sometimes happened\nthat these \u201cheads\u201d disagreed, and there was a need to call in some\noutsider to settle the case.\n\nIn every district there is a chief who is appointed by the towns of the\ndistrict to act as chief judge in all important matters\u2014at palavers\nbetween family and family, and town and town. At the time of his\nappointment the \u201cheads\u201d of all the families living in the district who\ndesired to come under his jurisdiction cut down his plantain and banana\ntrees. This action gave him a _casus belli_ against all the towns that\nacknowledged him as a judge. By cutting down his plantains he became the\noffended party, and as such had the right of aggressive action against\nthe offenders. Now, it was the custom that the people of the offending\ntown must not go to fight the offended town, but must wait for the\noffended ones to attack them\u2014the offenders. No subsequent quarrel could\nbe taken up until the first was settled. Hence the chief appointed as\njudge might enrage a town by his decision, and might call on the other\ntowns to help him in enforcing his verdict, yet the said town could not\nattack the chief judge\u2019s town because of the old-standing and unsettled\npalaver of cutting down his plantains and bananas. This ensured to the\nchief judge immunity from quarrels with the people who did not like his\ndecisions, and his immunity from all such quarrels was a guarantee that\nthere would be a certain amount of justice and impartiality in the\nverdicts given. He was paid to act as judge by those who sought his\nservices, and the fees remunerated him for his temporary loss from his\ndestroyed plantains and bananas.\n\nThere is an unwritten code of rough-and-ready laws to guide the head-men\nand chief judge in deciding cases. Stolen property found on anyone can\nbe claimed by the owner, and the possessor made to pay a fine unless he\ncan prove by witnesses that the article was either given to him or he\nhad bought it. The giver or seller then paid the fine, and in addition\nreturned the money he received of the buyer. The thief, besides\nreturning the stolen article or replacing it, pays, as a fine, an amount\nequal to the value of the goods stolen, and the robbed person will\nretain a part of the fine and give the rest to those who helped him to\nenforce the verdict.\n\nWhen an article is stolen the owner walks through the town calling out a\ndescription of it, and invoking on the thief all the fetish curses that\ncome to his mind. These curses are often so frightful as to intimidate\nthe thief, and frequently the stolen goods are secretly replaced. When\nit is farm produce that has been purloined, say some cassava, the robbed\nwoman ties a piece of cassava in the cleft end of a stick, and fixes\njust below it a piece of _Euphorbia candelabra_, a powerful charm. This\nshe carries through the town, calling out her loss and invoking horrible\ncurses on the thief, and as she shouts she whacks her fetish stick, with\nanother piece of wood, to arouse it to action against the robber.\n\nWhen something valuable, such as a piece of cloth or a large knife or an\naxe, is lost, and the owner has a shrewd suspicion that a certain man is\nthe thief, he can accuse that man, and if the man denies the theft his\naccuser can demand that he shall take the ordeal and thus definitely\nsettle the matter. To refuse to take the ordeal is an admission of\nguilt. Should the test go against the accused he will have to replace\nthe stolen article, pay a fine, and all the expenses of the ordeal\ndrinking. But should the test establish his innocence, the accuser then\nhas to compensate the accused and pay the fees of those who administer\nthe ordeal. As a rule, there are not many accusations brought on mere\nsuspicion; they prefer to discover the stolen property on the thief, or\ntrace it back to him through those who have received it or bought it of\nhim.\n\nIf a slave kills a slave, the owner of the murdered slave can demand two\nand even three slaves in place of the one killed; and he can then slay\nthem all in revenge or retain them as his own slaves, just as he likes.\nFor the murder of a free man the blood of a free man, or men, has to be\nshed. There is no distinction between premeditated and accidental\nhomicide. Life has been taken, and it is regarded and dealt with as\nmurder. Drunkenness and madness are no excuse for committing crimes.\n\nAdultery is a personal injury, for the offender has used something that\ndoes not belong to him without the consent of the owner. The fine for\nadultery is from 100 to 300 brass rods\u2014from three to nine months\u2019\nordinary wages\u2014according to the position of the husband and the\noffending party. I have never heard of mutilation as a punishment for\nadultery among the Boloki. I have seen it stated that an ear is cut off\nas a punishment for this offence. I travelled constantly among them for\nfifteen years, and only occasionally saw either a part or the whole of\nan ear cut off, but I was always told on inquiry that that was a\npunishment for _repeated thefts_, and those thus mutilated _were\nslaves_. Free men were fined for thefts and adultery, not mutilated. I\nhave known men to be financially ruined through having to pay fines for\nrepeated acts of adultery; but if the ear-cutting were the punishment\nthere would not be a single man with both ears, for there is not a\nmorally pure one among them.\n\nThe family avenges all cases of assault on any of its members, no matter\nwhether it is physical violence, abduction, rape, adultery, theft, or\nanything else; and no one has a right to pardon the offender except the\ninjured person or family. Retaliation in kind, when possible, is the\nessence of justice among the natives\u2014an eye for an eye, a cut for a cut,\na bump for a bump, and a life for a life. When retaliation is\nimpossible, compensation by fines is enforced. I have seen a lad\ncarefully measure a cut that he might inflict one of a like size on his\nenemy.\n\nGuardians can use the women left to their wards as their own wives, and\nmay trade with their ward\u2019s goods without paying any interest; but when\nthe ward reaches his majority he can demand the right number of women\nfrom his guardian, and the exact amount of goods left in his charge. If\nthe guardian dies in the meantime, then his heir will take the\nprivileges and obligations of the guardianship, and reserve out of his\ninherited estate the amount due to the ward. Uncles and heads of\nfamilies will act as guardians for minors left with property, and they\nwill have to render a proper account of the amount received when the\nminor becomes old enough to look after his own affairs. If a minor\ninherits a \u201cpalaver\u201d from his father, the guardian cannot \u201ctalk\u201d it, but\nthe case has to wait until the minor is old enough to conduct the affair\nhimself. I have known cases to be postponed for this reason for fifteen\nand twenty years.\n\nSome years before we went to live at Monsembe, a free man and head of\nhis family was accused of witchcraft. He agreed to take the ordeal, but\nas all the members of his family were absent from the town, he wished\nthe trial to be postponed until their return. This the accuser would not\nsanction, and pressed and taunted him so that at last he took the ordeal\nand died from its effects. The deceased\u2019s family returned, and were\nastonished to learn of the death of their \u201chead.\u201d They threatened to\nkill the accuser, as they contended that their \u201cfather\u201d had not had a\nfair trial, and that he had a right to demand the postponement of the\nordeal until their return. It resulted in a big palaver being talked,\nand the accuser and his family were compelled to promise fifteen slaves\nto the family of the murdered man as compensation. The last of the\nslaves was paid some eighteen years after the affair occurred, and I saw\nhim taken by my house in 1904 to be handed over in completion of the\nimposed fine.\n\nThe court is generally held beneath the shade of a spreading wild fig\ntree. The head-men who act as jury sit at the top of the square; the\nplaintiff, his witnesses and followers sit on one side; the defendant,\nhis witnesses and followers sit on the opposite side; and the bottom of\nthe square is left open for neutrals, onlookers, and for those coming\nand going.\n\nBefore the proceedings begin the plaintiff and defendant will each take\ntheir party of followers on one side, but in different parts of the\ntown, and state tersely their case to them, and then distribute from 200\nto 600 brass rods among them according to the importance of the case. It\nis their duty to clap their hands and applaud every point made by the\none who hires them, and to laugh ironically at the arguments of the\nother side. These followers will be gathered from any of the men\nbelonging to the neighbouring towns who happen to be drawn together to\nhear a \u201cbig palaver\u201d and pick up a few brass rods. They are in honour\nbound to applaud their own side, and to remain as long as the case lasts\nthat day. If the case goes into the second and third days, then\n\u201crefreshers\u201d have to be given to the crowd of followers each day. Some\nwho have urgent business cannot attend the second day, but there are\nothers to take their places who were not able to be present on the first\nday. I have seen from 150 to 200 followers on each side, most of whom\nhad no interest in the case beyond the three or four rods they received\nfor shouting on one side or the other. There was a fiction that they\nwere genuinely interested supporters of the side they took; but I have\noften been present when the rods were divided among them, and know for a\nfact that the majority did not care which side won. They always made\nsure of their rods before they shouted and clapped.\n\nIf the man who has a case is not a good speaker he can engage an\nadvocate (_ntendeko_ = go-between) to speak on his behalf for a fee of\nfrom 200 to 300 brass rods a day. Such men are natural orators, and it\nis a pleasure to hear them speak and see their graceful actions.\n\nWhen all is ready the parties take up their positions opposite each\nother, and the plaintiff will open the proceedings by stating his case,\nand calling on witnesses, if he has any, to confirm his statements. The\nspeaker holds in his hand a small bunch of palm-frond leaves, and as\neach point is rounded off he lays a leaflet on the ground in front of\nhim. When he makes a telling point against his opponent his followers\nclap their hands, shout, laugh, and snap their fingers at each other,\nand the wits of the party hurl quips, jokes, gibes, and proverbs at the\nopposite side, and try to look as though it were impossible to lose such\na strong case so lucidly stated. These breaks give the speaker a\nbreathing time in which to collect his thoughts and gain strength for\nthe next point. So the speaker will go on stating point after point\nuntil there are twelve or fifteen leaflets on the ground, all lying in\nthe order of his arguments. Before sitting down he will briefly state\nthe argument that each leaflet represents, and it is rarely that he\nmakes a mistake in the order, and if he does those sitting close by will\ninstantly correct him.\n\nIf not too late in the day the defendant states his case, combating his\nopponent\u2019s arguments, calls his witnesses, puts down his leaflets one by\none, and rests while his followers indulge in bantering the other side.\nInterruptions are frequent, noisy, and often come to the verge of\nviolence. At a biting sarcasm, or a bitter retort, spears and knives\nwill shake (for all the men present are well armed), and more than once\nI have been sent for to intervene at a critical moment and to stop\nbloodshed or a general _m\u00eal\u00e9e_. Many a time has an old chief come to my\ndoor and said: \u201cWhite man, they are fighting; come and stop them.\u201d And\nmy wife has often thought I was badly wounded in the scuffle, for in\npushing my way among them the red camwood powder would be transferred\nfrom their bodies to my coat, and would show up like blood on my white\ngarment.\n\nThe jury of head-men, after the defendant has finished, withdraw to go\nover the evidence pro and con, and to consider their verdict; and on\ntheir return a couple of men with fine wood-ashes, or powdered camwood\non leaves, take up positions\u2014one near the plaintiff and the other near\nthe defendant. The appointed chief judge will sum up the case and give\nthe verdict, say, in favour of the defendant, and instantly the man\nsitting near him will rub, with more vigour than gentleness, the\nwood-ashes or camwood powder over the face of the winner as a sign to\nall that he is acquitted of the charge brought against him. He will\nleave the mess on his face for days as a proof, to all and sundry, of\nhis acquittal. The loser of the case refunds the winner all his\nexpenses, pays the judge and jury of chiefs, and is a poorer if not\nsadder and wiser man.\n\nThere appears to be no cross-examination of witnesses, no guarantee of\ntruthfulness, and no punishment for perjury. Each side starts away in\nthe far-distant past, and drags in as much irrelevant matter as\npossible, and thus fogs, confuses and entangles the case to the best of\nhis abilities. The ordeal is at times resorted to in order to decide\ninvolved cases, and from the results of the ordeal there is no appeal.\nSometimes, after one or two days\u2019 hearing, the jury is not able (or is\nafraid) to decide a case satisfactorily in favour of either side, and\nthen it is dismissed\u2014each side bearing its own expenses.\n\nThere is nothing resembling an oath administered to witnesses, and there\nare no modes of punishing perjury, hence witnesses are seldom called\nupon to give evidence in a case, and when they are put forward no one on\nthe opposite side and no judge accepts their statements as true. In\nordinary cases the judge and jury of head-men decide the case on their\nown knowledge of the affair (and the arguments of the plaintiffs and\ndefendants), for they are fully in touch with all local matters, and\nonly local cases are laid before them. In complicated palavers they\nresort to the ordeals, which are as follows: (1) _Nka_ (Lower Congo\n_nkasa_), which among the Boloki was the outer reddish skin of the\nrootlet of a certain tree carefully scraped off.\n\nA few years ago I had the opportunity of witnessing a rather complicated\ndiscussion and cross-accusation settled, to the satisfaction of all the\nnatives present, by the parties concerned drinking, or rather eating,\nthe ordeal. The trial took place on neutral ground, i.e. in a section of\nthe town midway between the sections in which lived the parties who were\nconcerned. The court-house was a wide-spreading wild fig tree that threw\na shade over the whole of the gathered crowd, which formed an oblong\nfigure. The plaintiff stood at one end with his supporters, the\ndefendant at the other with his, and the two sides were occupied by\nneutral spectators and sympathizers.\n\nThe case was as follows: The plaintiff had two slaves run away, and\nafter some days he heard that these slaves had escaped in a canoe\nbelonging to the defendant, so he accused the latter of aiding and\nabetting their escape, and wanted him to pay the price of the slaves.\nThe defendant, on the other hand, desired the plaintiff to pay him back\na canoe, or the price of it, as he said it had been stolen by the\nplaintiff\u2019s slaves. For three hours they discussed the matter and tried\nto arrange an amicable compromise; this, however, was impossible, as\neach wished to get the best of the bargain. From the very nature of the\ncase it was impossible to call witnesses, although many persons spoke on\neither side. At last it was decided that the parties should take the\nordeal (_nka_). Each was so confident of the righteousness of his claims\nthat he was willing and eager to eat his portion of the poisonous drug\nto support them. The plaintiff was a short, thick-set young man troubled\nwith elephantiasis, and from that and his apparent nervousness he was\ngreatly handicapped in the trial. The defendant was a tall, thin, wiry\nman about fifty years of age, who had, I think, often taken the _nka_\nbefore, and was inured to it.\n\nThe ordeal drug used was the outer skin of the rootlets of a tree that\nwas to be found up the Lulanga River\u2014a tributary that enters the Congo\nRiver on the south some forty miles below the Monsembe district. When\nscraped off the rootlets it is very fluffy and of a deep scarlet colour.\nTwo \u201cmedicine men\u201d prepared equal portions of the _nka_. There was about\na tablespoonful in each portion. The accused had first choice, after\nwhich each \u201cmedicine man\u201d with a portion of the _nka_ in the palm of his\nhand took up his position by the side of his client, and at a given\nsignal the portions of the ordeal were simultaneously held to the mouth\nof the two opponents, and at the same moment they began to chew the\ndrug. After chewing for a few moments each washed it down with gulps of\nsugar-cane wine.\n\nAfter taking the ordeal the men were not allowed to sit down, nor to\nlean against anything, nor even to touch anything with their hands. The\nordeal given in the above quantity blurs the vision, distorting and\nenlarging all objects, makes the legs tremble, the head giddy, and gives\na choking sensation in the throat and chest. In fact, it gives all the\nsymptoms of intoxication, and a few more besides. The one who first\nbecomes intoxicated and falls down loses his case, and the one who\nresists the effects of the drug and controls himself the longest wins.\n\nAbout five minutes after they had taken the ordeal one of the \u201cmedicine\nmen\u201d stepped into the centre with a plantain stalk in his hand, about 2\nfeet 6 inches long and from 3 to 4 inches in diameter. He flourished the\nstalk about a little and then placed it in front of the plaintiff for\nhim to step over. The plaintiff went forward boldly, stepped over the\nstalk, and returned to his place. This he repeated six times without his\nfeet once touching the stalk. The defendant had then to go through the\nsame test, which he did laughingly, throwing his legs and arms about in\nall directions. This was done occasionally for the next thirty minutes,\nand by that time the plaintiff began to show signs of intoxication. His\nsteps faltered, his eyes brightened and glared, and it was with\ndifficulty that he raised his feet over the stalk. Then the \u201cmedicine\nman\u201d began to mock him by pretending to put the stalk close to his feet\nand tantalizingly drawing it back. Forty minutes after taking the _nka_\nthe climax came. The \u201cmedicine man\u201d threw the stalk to the defendant,\nwho caught it in his hands and carried it to the centre of the crowd,\nwhere, firmly fixing his feet on the ground, he carefully stooped\nforward and placed the stalk with both hands in a straight line, then\nslowly raising himself he returned to his place. The plaintiff then went\nto pick up the stalk, but no sooner did he lean forward than a spasm of\npain seemed to seize him, and he would have fallen in a heap on the\nground had not a man who for the last twenty minutes had followed him\nclosely caught him in his arms and quickly carried him to his house.\n\nNo sooner did the crowd of neutrals see the fall of one of the opponents\nthan with a bound they jumped to their feet, and with spears and knives\nraised in the air they danced, shouted, and sang around the winner. Some\nrubbed dirt, others ashes, and others red camwood powder on the fellow\u2019s\nface\u2014a sign that he had won the case. They hoisted him on the back of a\nfriend and accompanied him to his hut, and there he distributed 400\nbrass rods among the throng of his admirers who swore they had helped\nhim to win his cause. He sat outside his house all the rest of the day\nwith his face smeared, so that all could see that he had won, and could\ncongratulate him. The plaintiff had to pay him two slaves and a canoe as\ndamages.\n\nThe next day both the plaintiff and the defendant were walking about the\ntown, and seemed none the worse for swallowing so powerful and dangerous\na drug. They apparently had no enmity towards each other, but chatted\nfreely and laughingly over the events of the previous day.[20]\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n On the Lower Congo the ordeal is given only to the accused, and if he\n does not vomit it, then it is fatal, and the man falling is beaten and\n stabbed to death as guilty of witchcraft.\n\nWhen one remembers the amount of corruption and bribery among these\npeople\u2014that the most familiar words on their lips are \u201clie\u201d and \u201cliar,\u201d\nand the most frequent question is, \u201cIs it true?\u201d and the answer, \u201cIt is\ntrue, or cut my throat\u201d\u2014the wonder is that they can settle a palaver in\nany way.\n\nTo drink the ordeal and be either right or wrong according to its action\nsettles the affair once for all, ends all possible deadly feuds and\nbloodshed, and saves many a man from what is worse than death, viz. an\never-present, anxious fear of what his enemy or enemies will do to him.\nIf a man accuses another of giving him a disease, or of causing the\ndeath of his wife by witchcraft, how can the accused disprove such a\ncharge? Not by talking, no matter how much he may swear that he is\ninnocent. If he calls the head-men together, he knows the verdict will\nbe given in favour of the one who pays the most; if he runs away he will\nsoon be captured by some other town and probably sold to furnish a\ncannibal feast; if he runs to a friendly town he will lose caste, he\nwill be treated with contempt as a coward, and his life rendered\nmiserable. So he boldly steps forth and takes the ordeal and the affair\nis settled. Is the ordeal in his favour? Then he claims and receives\nheavy damages. Does the ordeal go against him? Then he pays the damages,\nif wealthy enough, or, if poor, he sells himself, or if he is already a\nslave then his master pays for him; but whatever be the result, that\npalaver is decided once for all. No stigma attaches to the man who is\nproved guilty by the ordeal, for \u201cone can have witchcraft without\nknowing it.\u201d Moreover, no one lightly brings a charge of witchcraft\nagainst another, for, if the ordeal test goes against the accuser, the\ndamages for compensation are so very heavy as to deter frivolous\naccusations.\n\nThe administration of the _nka_ is reserved for very complicated civil\ncases and for serious charges of witchcraft; but there are other ordeals\nused for minor charges of witchcraft and for various other offences.\nThey are as follows:\n\n_Epomi_ and _mokungu_ are both trees. The juice from the bark of these\ntrees is pressed out and dropped into the eye of the accused, and if the\nsight is destroyed the accused is guilty. The _epomi_ juice is more\npowerful than the _mokungu_. The _nka_ and _epomi_ are for witchcraft\nand serious charges of theft and adultery, but the _mokungu_ is used\nonly in the more trivial charges. In each case the accused can refuse to\nsubmit to the ordeal unless the accuser takes it with him, hence the\njuices of these trees are rarely employed. When a \u201cmedicine man\u201d charges\na person with being a witch, the accused cannot demand that the\n\u201cmedicine man\u201d shall take the ordeal with him.\n\nAnother test is as follows: Three boys are accused of thieving, which\ncharge they indignantly repudiate; three young plantains are then\ncut\u2014one to represent each boy\u2014and the juice of the _mokungu_ bark is\npressed into the centre of each plantain stump left in the ground. Now\nit is usual that when a plantain is cut it will, in a few hours, send up\nfrom its centre the beginnings of a fresh growth; but if one of the\nthree plantain stumps does not begin to sprout afresh by the next\nmorning, the lad represented by that plantain is the guilty one; if two\ndo not sprout, then there are two thieves, and if none sprout, then all\nthe three lads are regarded as guilty. On the other hand, if all three\nsprout as usual, then the lads are proved to be innocent of the\naccusation. The _mokungu_ juice destroys the eye, so in mercy the \u201ceyes\u201d\nof the plantain are used as substitutes for the eyes of the lads, and it\nis probable that the juice when well pressed in retards for a short time\nthe sprouting of the plantain.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n WHITE ANTS\u2019 NEST\n White ants are a constant menace to the woodwork in houses, to stores,\n and to books. At one of our stations sufficient clay was procured\n from a white ants\u2019 nest to make 250,000 bricks. It is splendid\n material for that purpose.\n]\n\n_Lingola_ is a word denoting the giving of the ordeal to a medium\n(_moyengwa_), and after a certain time, when the ordeal begins to work,\nthe name of a man who is supposed to be the witch is called out, and if\nthe medium stumbles over the plantain stalk put in his path while this\nname is \u201con the card\u201d the owner of the name is regarded as guilty; but\nif the medium does not stumble the man is innocent, and another name is\ncalled, and the process is repeated until the witch is found or the\neffects of the drug have passed away from the medium.\n\n_Mai ma mungunga_ = water of the bell. This is used by the \u201cmedicine man\nof the bell.\u201d A person is very ill and charges some members of his\nfamily with bewitching him. They deny the accusation, and he thereupon\nchallenges them to drink water that has been dipped up in the \u201cmedicine\nman\u2019s\u201d bell, which will not hurt them if they are innocent, but will\nkill them if they are guilty of the charge. Anyone who refuses to drink\nfrom the bell is regarded as guilty. What constitutes guilt in such\ncases? Simply a strong desire that a person might die; and how often in\ntheir uncontrollable anger have they wished for one another\u2019s death;\nhence occasionally an over-sensitive person will refuse to drink out of\nthe bell for fear of the consequences.\n\nBy frequently drinking the ordeal drug one becomes immune from its\neffects, and I have noticed that old people who have taken it many times\nnever feel intoxicated by it; but young people, who were not used to it,\nfell quickly from its narcotic effects on their system. I have no doubt\nthat the administrators of the various ordeals were open to bribery and\nother influences, and could, and would, dilute the ordeal for one in\nwhom they were interested.\n\nThe natives were dissatisfied with the way their \u201cpalavers\u201d were\nsettled. Their cost, the long time it took to talk them, and the unfair\nfavouritism of the head-men made them wish for some better mode of\ndealing with their affairs. About 1897 and 1898 they frequently asked me\nto act as judge, as they felt that I should be absolutely impartial in\nmy verdicts, but I objected to do so, because I had no power to compel a\nman to appear before me; and, again, I had no soldiers to enforce any\nverdict I might give, and thus I should waste my time in listening and\ntrying to settle their palavers.\n\nAfter some time it was arranged that the two persons wishing me to\narbitrate on their case should each bring me a fowl as a token that they\ndesired me to settle their dispute, and were willing to abide by my\ndecision. This giving of a fowl weeded out the trivial cases that would\nhave wasted my time, and yet was not prohibitive, for whereas a fowl\ncost only from 10 to 20 brass rods each, the payments under the old\nmethod ran into 500 rods or more. Moreover, I gave them to understand\nthat directly I heard that a verdict had been defied, not another case\nwould I judge until the said verdict had been honoured. I must in all\nfairness say that although I judged many scores of cases not a single\nverdict was disregarded.\n\nThe court-house was the verandah of my house, about 8 feet wide and 50\nfeet long. Neither knives nor spears were allowed on it or near it. I\ngenerally sat on a chair in the middle of the verandah\u2014on either side\nwere the opposing factions, and many onlookers were on the ground below.\nThere was generally sitting near by a man with some wood-ashes or red\ncamwood powder in a leaf, ready to rub it on the face of the winner.\n\nOnly one was allowed to speak at a time, and the talking was confined to\nthe points at issue. A few questions well put would often throw such a\nlight on the matter under consideration that the plaintiff himself would\nfeel that his claim was preposterous. As a result of this plan very few\ncases took more than half an hour. When cases were talked in the town\neverybody was permitted to speak, and often they spoke all together. A\nthousand extraneous things were dragged in to the hiding and confusing\nof the real point, and sometimes they would be all day over a very small\nmatter, and then not settle it. I have known them to fight over the\nirritating gibes they threw at each other, and I often had to separate\nthe combatants\u2014a little stern authority and a few jokes have quieted\nthem down; but it was much easier and better to act as arbitrator and\nsettle the palaver than to have frequent quarrels and rows.\n\nI kept a record of many cases, and I herewith transcribe a few for the\nbenefit of my readers, as they throw considerable light on the native\nlife and mode of thought.\n\nCase I. The plaintiff said that many years ago his brother was very ill,\nand went to the defendant\u2019s father\u2019s town for medicine. When he was\ndying the sick man took a long flat pod and struck his friend, the\n\u201cmedicine man,\u201d across the ankle. For this the \u201cdoctor\u201d demanded from\nthe family of his deceased patient a slave, three pots of sugar-cane\nwine, two spears, and some brass rods. The plaintiff paid the goods at\nthe time, but now he wished to have them returned on the ground that:\n(1) No medicine was made and given to his brother, i.e. the patient died\nbefore he could be treated; and (2) That since white people had come he\ncould see that it was stupid to follow such customs.\n\nThe defendant acknowledged the debt on behalf of his father (the\n\u201cdoctor\u201d), who was dead. He admitted that the above statement was\ncorrect, and that the custom was quite general in this part of Congo,\nand was recognized by all. It seemed to be one way of making a codicil\nto a will, or a mode of leaving property to an outsider who legally did\nnot inherit anything, but who, on account of his technical assault, had\na legal claim for compensation to be paid out of the deceased\u2019s estate.\n\nI told them that I could not interfere with palavers that had happened\nso long ago; but in future when a man was dying and wanted to leave an\noutsider any of his property, he was to call some of his family and\ndirect them to give So-and-so certain goods after his death. Only such a\nbequest would be recognized. Their own custom was a good one, viz.: A\ntoken was given in the presence of witnesses, and the article or\narticles named. The eldest son was then informed of the token, the\nperson to whom it was given, and the nature of the goods bequeathed.\nAfter the testator\u2019s death the token was taken to the eldest son, and\nthe property handed over in the presence of witnesses.\n\nCase II. A man of about 45 years of age complained that a young fellow,\nthen present, had a woman belonging to him and would not give her up. By\na series of questions the following facts were elicited: The plaintiff\u2019s\nmother was living in a bush town; goods were being continually stolen\nfrom her house, until at last she went and consulted a \u201cwitch-doctor\u201d\nwho resided in a river-side town. She desired to take the ordeal (_nka_)\nto discover whether she had unwittingly stolen and hidden her own\nproperty, or someone else had been the thief.\n\nWhen the \u201cwitch-doctor\u201d was about to administer the _nka_ the woman was\ndissuaded by her friends from taking it. The \u201cwitch-doctor\u201d thereupon\nwent to the woman\u2019s husband and demanded a slave on the ground that he\nhad prepared the ordeal which the wife had not taken, and by her refusal\nto take it she was bringing contempt on his fetish. The husband\nacknowledged the justice of the claim and paid a female slave as\ncompensation. The plaintiff now wanted that slave or another returned.\n\nThe defendant admitted the facts as stated, but said it all happened\nlong before he was born. The plaintiff said it took place before they\nhad ever heard of white people, and when he was a little boy (or about\n1868). I dismissed the case with costs\u2014one fowl from each party.\n\nCase III. Lokangi was a lad of about 14 years. He went one day in a\ncanoe with some young men to take the monthly tax to Diboko (Nouvelles\nAnvers). While on the way a crocodile attacked the canoe, which was\nupset, and the whole party of six paddlers was thrown into the river.\nThe crocodile caught Lokangi, and he was seen no more.\n\nLokangi\u2019s family, the plaintiffs in this case, accused the leader of the\ncanoe party of bewitching the crocodile to take Lokangi and leave all\nthe others; they argued that he must have bewitched the crocodile to do\nso, for why were none of the others seized? The defendant admitted that\nLokangi had been killed in the manner stated, but strenuously denied\nhaving bewitched the beast to take the lad.\n\nI went carefully and patiently into the whole palaver of such\nsuperstitions, and at the close gave the verdict in favour of the\ndefendant.\n\nCase IV. Plaintiff said the defendant owed him one woman, some spears,\nand 3000 brass rods. The defendant denied the debt. On examination it\nwas proved that the defendant\u2019s father owed the above-stated amount to\nthe plaintiff, but the father was dead, and the defendant (an only son)\nhad inherited his father\u2019s goods.\n\nI laid it down as a principle that the inheritor should pay the debts\nowing by the person whose estate he inherited, and if the amount of the\ndebts exceeded the sum inherited he should not be responsible for the\nwhole of the debts, but should divide the property received among the\ncreditors; but if the property exceeded the debts, he should pay the\ndebts and keep the surplus for himself. The case was thus settled, in\nfavour of the plaintiff, to everybody\u2019s satisfaction.\n\nCase V. Plaintiff said he owed the defendant 1000 brass rods, but as he\ndid not pay up quickly the defendant lay in wait and caught his two\nwives who had gone together to fish among the islands; that by right of\ncustom he should have taken only one and let the other go.\n\nDefendant admitted the statement made as correct, but said that he had\ngone so often to the plaintiff\u2019s town to collect his debt, and had been\nput off with such unreasonable excuses, that he was angry and took the\ntwo women instead of one.\n\nI pointed out: (1) That the price of a woman was 2500 rods, but the debt\nwas only 1000, and the expenses (fees to the men who helped him) only\n500, making in all 1500, and the value of one woman more than covered\nthis amount. (2) In tying up two women he had greatly exceeded the debt,\nand had thus put himself in the wrong.\n\nVerdict for the plaintiff. One woman to be returned at once, and the\nother to be delivered up on payment by the plaintiff of 1800 rods; the\ndefendant to lose thus 200 rods for tying up two women when one well\ncovered the debt and expenses.\n\nCase VI. Motuli, the plaintiff, said he owed the defendant a woman, and\nin payment of the debt he handed over a woman large with child, of which\nhe, Motuli, was the father. The child was now two years old, and he\nwanted the child to be handed over to him.\n\nThe defendant allowed that all the above was true, but said that as the\nchild was born after the woman came into his possession, the child was\nhis.\n\nI pointed out to Motuli: (1) That he was wrong to give his wife, by whom\nhe was expecting a child, in payment of a debt. (2) He should have made\nan agreement at the time with his creditor respecting the ownership of\nthe child. (3) That if the woman had died in child-birth he would have\nrefused to pay another in her place, so as the creditor took her and the\nrisks with her the child should remain with its mother. Motuli thus lost\nthe case and was very angry.\n\nCase VII. Bodia, the plaintiff, said he bought a wife of the defendant\nand had one child by her, which was now three years old; that when his\nwife had a second child she died in delivery, and now the mother and\nsecond child were dead. He wanted either the money returned, or that the\ndefendant should pay him another woman.\n\nDefendant admitted that all the statements were true, but said that\nBodia had had the woman a long time and he could not see that he was\nresponsible for her death.\n\nI explained to Bodia: (1) That every woman who had a child had it at\nsome risk to her life. (2) That he had owned the woman for four years,\nand she had farmed, cooked, and borne him one child; and as he had\nbrought her into the position that caused her death, he himself must\naccept the loss. (3) His first child was properly born and grown up\nhealthy, so there was no malformation of the womb. Verdict for the\ndefendant.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV\n\n MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK LORE\n\nIdeas concerning rebirth\u2014Ideas concerning white men\u2014A hippopotamus\n spirit\u2014A prediction\u2014Reticence of natives\u2014Recited round the fire\u2014The\n origin of man\u2014The sun\u2014A deluge\u2014The destruction of the world\u2014Fifteen\n folk-lore stories.\n\n\nThere were misty ideas, but no definite belief, concerning the rebirth\nof their deceased ancestors. A few years before Stanley descended the\nCongo there was a general belief extant among the Boloki that many of\ntheir ancestors would appear in another form, and yet would be\nrecognizable by similarity of features to those whose _appearances_ the\nspirits took. When the white men arrived this belief seemed to be\nconfirmed by the fact that the natives often thought they saw a likeness\nin the features, walk, or gestures of some of the white men to dead men\nwhom they knew. I myself have often been surprised and amused when a\nmotion, a glance, or some little peculiarity among these folk has called\nvividly to mind some person I knew at home. There was one man I never\nmet without having a certain uncle of mine recalled to mind, and another\nperson\u2014a girl\u2014always by an indescribable something reminded me of a girl\nI knew in England.\n\nWhen we came here in 1890 my colleague was thought to resemble a chief\nwho had died some time before, and I was thought to be like another\ndeceased chief belonging to a family that had a hippopotamus for its\nomen (not totem, that is another word); and this view was confirmed by\nmy firing on two successive nights at a hippopotamus that came prowling\nabout our beach, for the animal sent me a message.[21]\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n See Chapter XIX, p. 266, for full details.\n\nWe found a prediction extant that white men would come, and some of them\nwould be like chiefs who had died; but this slight suspicion of a belief\nin reincarnation may, I think, be accounted for by rumours of the white\nmen having filtered through from the coasts. The Boloki thirty-five\nyears ago were a strong, war-loving people who travelled far and wide on\nthe river; and slaves were bought and exchanged from widely different\nparts, and, of course, carried with them the news and rumours, true and\nfalse, of their last residences. This factor in the disseminating of\nreligious belief, and the interweaving of those beliefs into what is\noften a patchwork system of belief, has not always been properly allowed\nfor in dealing with the superstitions of African races.\n\nSoon after we opened our station in August, 1890, I tried to procure\nsome native stories from the boys, but failed in every attempt. I felt\nsure, however, that they had folk tales, and therefore persevered,\nthough nearly two years passed before I was successful. One evening, in\nthe early months of 1892, some boys sat on the floor of my house talking\nwhile I was busy writing. After a time I noticed that one was talking\nand the others listening intently. I made a mental note of the\ncircumstance, and the next day I asked the lad to write out on a slate\n(for in the meantime we had taught them to read and write) the palaver\nhe had told the boys on the previous evening. He did so, and I found it\nwas a native story. I gave him a few brass rods, asked him to write some\nmore, which he did; and in a short time I had four or five boys writing\nstories on my verandah, and very often one boy who knew a story, but\ncould not write, sat and told it to one who could, and then shared the\nspoil. We have between sixty and seventy native stories, and most of\nthem were handed down by one chief who, although he died long before we\ncame here, was spoken of to us with respect on account of his wide\nknowledge of the ancient myths[22] and customs. Most of the stories we\nprinted in a book and used it as a reading-book in the classes. There\nwere many stories about men, women, and animals, and to each story a\nmoral was attached.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n In the chapter on Religious Beliefs will be found some information on\n their ideas of a Supreme Being; and in Chapter XIX, on spirits and\n mythical monsters that inhabit the islands and forests.\n\nThe stories were told on moonless nights around the village fires when\nit was too dark to dance and play, or around the camp fires when\ntravelling and fishing. The stories relate the cunning way in which some\nanimals outwit others\u2014generally the smaller ones outwitting the larger\nand more cumbersome; that the biter is himself bit, and the bully\noverwhelmed with ridicule. Many of the stories try to account for the\npeculiarities observed in nature, as why birds build nests in certain\nways, or have no nests at all; the enmity among the various animals; the\npresence of dogs and fowls in the towns; the cause of death and the\norigin of fire. Some stories would well illustrate the text: \u201cBe sure\nyour sin will find you out\u201d; while others are absurdly comic, and many\nof them dirty.\n\nA line from some of the stories was often used as a proverb, or to call\nup the situation described in the story as a warning to a person not to\noverreach another, or he himself may fall. No European elements were to\nbe found in them, as they were procured before we could talk freely with\nthe natives, and certainly before our teaching had in any way influenced\ntheir thoughts and modes of expression.\n\nMany of the stories were recited for amusement, but most of them were\ntold as true, even the amusing ones; and they undoubtedly embody the\nwit, wisdom, and philosophy of life. Some are only remarkable for the\nway in which they account for the present state of affairs in the\nphysical and moral worlds; others give a clear insight into the mind of\nthe native, and his view of the spirit-world; and these stories were at\ntimes narrated in their \u201cpalavers\u201d to enforce a point and drive home a\nmoral.\n\nI did not meet, among the Boloki, with any stories or legends regarding\nthe origin of man, of the sun, of a deluge, or of the destruction of the\nworld. There were stories of folk with tails, but not of animal\nancestors; of dwarfs and frightful monstrosities\u2014all heads and no\nbody\u2014but not of giants. When the end of a rainbow touches a town a death\nis sure to occur there, and the bright red after-glow occasionally seen\nat sunset indicates the death of a chief. I have already given the\nlegend about the moon having once been a python.\n\nThe following are a few typical stories,[23] and in translating them I\nhave kept as near the original as possible. No ideas have been added,\nand no plot has been altered, but the translator has tried to give in\neasy English a true representation of the stories.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n The stories given are of course Boloki stories; but the writer has\n published some forty Lower Congo stories in _Congo Life and\n Folk-Lore_, R.T.S. 5s. net.\n\nIt must be remembered that the morals appended to the stories were put\nthere by the natives when they wrote them down for me; and when I was\nsitting with them around their fires and hearing them relate the stories\nI noticed that the moral was always given, and frequently formed the\nsubject of comment, and of angry curses being called down on the one who\nwas credited with starting such bad customs.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n BOLOKI BOYS WITH WINE JAR\n This well illustrates the methods of wearing a cloth by the male folk.\n Either a string is tied round the waist and the cloth hung\u2014back and\n front\u2014over it, or the corners are tied at the side. The wine jar has\n a capacity of several gallons. There are not more than two or three\n in a large village; but they are freely lent.\n]\n\n\n STORY I\n\n _The Adventures of Libanza; or, a Boloki version of\n Jack and the Beanstalk_\n\nLibanza and his sister, Nsongo, started on their travels in the long\nago, and as they journeyed Libanza changed himself into a boy covered\nwith yaws. A man out hunting turned aside from his party of hunters, and\nmeeting Libanza and his sister, he exclaimed: \u201cI have found some\nslaves!\u201d He thereupon took possession of them and led them to the\nhunting camp.\n\nTheir new master and the other hunters were there for the purpose of\nsnaring monkeys, and although their master caught some, yet he was not\nvery successful. So one day Libanza said to him: \u201cGive me the snares,\nand let me try to catch some monkeys.\u201d\n\nBut as he appeared to be such a poor, weak boy covered with yaws, the\nmaster laughed at him, and twitted him with his smallness. However, on\nbeing repeatedly asked, the master gave the boy the snares, and he\ncaught thirty monkeys in a very little time, and brought them back to\nthe camp to be divided among the hunters.\n\nWhile the hunters were busy dividing the monkeys, Libanza and his sister\ntook some meat and ran away. After journeying for a long distance they\ncame near to a large town, and again Libanza turned himself into a boy\ncovered with yaws.\n\nThe people of the town were pounding sugar-canes for making sugar-cane\nwine; but a man seeing them claimed them as his slaves, and brought them\nand sat them on the end of the large wooden mortar in which the other\nmen were pounding up the canes.\n\nAfter a time Libanza said: \u201cGive me a pestle,[24] so that I may crush\nthe canes.\u201d But the people laughed that so small a lad should make such\na request.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n The pestles for crushing sugar-canes are like heavy clubs, made of\n hard wood, and weigh from 20 lbs. to 30 lbs. each.\n\nHowever, after he had repeatedly asked, they gave him a pestle, and\nLibanza used it with such vigour that it snapped in two. They brought\nhim two others, and taking one in each hand he pounded so strongly that\nthey also broke; and thus he broke all they had in the town except the\nlast one, and with that he ran away, and the people feared to follow\nhim.\n\nAs they travelled, Nsongo caught sight of a person in the distance and\nwanted to marry him; but on being called the person would not come to\nher. So Libanza changed himself, first into a shell and then into a\nsaucepan, and followed the man; but in these disguises Libanza was not\nable to catch the man for his sister because he ran away filled with\nfear.\n\nLibanza then turned himself into the handle of an axe, and when the man\ncame to pick up the handle, Libanza caught him and led him to his\nsister. Now this person had only one leg and simple stumps for fingers;\nand Nsongo, on a closer view observing these deformities, refused to\nhave him for a husband.\n\nLibanza and his sister, Nsongo, resumed their wanderings, and on passing\na palm tree Nsongo saw a bunch of ripe palm nuts, and she implored her\nbrother to ascend the tree and cut down the nuts. Libanza climbed the\npalm tree, and as he ascended it the palm tree grew higher and higher\nand higher, until the top was hid in the heavens,[25] and there Libanza\nalighted, leaving his sister down below on the earth.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n The word used here is _bolobo_ = the upper regions, of which place\n they had very hazy ideas. About the lower regions\u2014_longa_\u2014they always\n spoke more definitely, and would describe what took place there.\n\nWhen Nsongo was left on the earth she heard a rumbling noise, which she\nthought was her brother, Libanza, scolding up above. She called a\n\u201cwizard,\u201d and asked him how she could rejoin her brother.\n\nThe \u201cwizard\u201d said: \u201cYou must call a Hawk, and tell him you want to send\na packet to your brother, Libanza; and then tie yourself up into a\npacket and put yourself on the roof of a house, and when the Hawk sees\nit he will say, \u2018That is surely the parcel I am to take,\u2019 and the Hawk\nwill carry you up above.\u201d\n\nNsongo did as she was told by the \u201cwizard,\u201d and the Hawk saw the bundle\nand picked it up; but twice on the way the Hawk rested and tried to open\nthe parcel, and would have done so, but at each attempt he heard a deep\nsigh proceed from the interior of the bundle, and desisted.\n\nAt last the Hawk reached the place where Libanza was, and said to him,\n\u201cHere is a packet which your sister has sent to you.\u201d Now when Libanza\nessayed to undo the parcel, out came his sister.\n\nLibanza became a blacksmith, and there was in that country a person\nwhose name was Ngombe, and because he swallowed people every day he was\nalso called Emele Ngombe (Ngombe the Swallower).\n\nWhen Libanza heard about this Swallower of people, he called his bellows\nblower, Nkumba (Tortoise), and they heated an ingot of iron. Now as the\nSwallower was passing the smithy he made the sound \u201cKililili,\u201d and\nLibanza mocked him by saying, \u201cAlalalala.\u201d Ngombe the Swallower then\nasked: \u201cWho dares to ridicule me?\u201d And again he murmured, \u201cKililili.\u201d\nAnd Libanza answered him by saying: \u201cNgalalala,[26] I am anjaka-njaka\nlokwala la lotungi, Libanza, the brother of Nsongo.\u201d\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n This is the full name of Libanza. It means: The one who makes things\n with force and noise and runs off with them, whose scraped\n finger-nails are tied with cane, he who is Libanza the brother of\n Nsongo.\n\nThe Swallower went at Libanza with his mouth wide-stretched to gulp him\ndown, and as he went his lower jaw dragged along the ground. Libanza\nstirred the molten metal, the Tortoise blew the bellows, and as the\nSwallower rushed forward with his mouth wide open Libanza threw the\nliquid metal right into the gaping jaws, and the Swallower of people\nfell dead.\n\nThere are several folk-lore stories that have crystallized for us their\nideas concerning Libanza, and it is interesting to note that such\nstories are called _Mabanza_ (plural form of Libanza), and these contain\na statement of some of the doings of Libanza, whereas their word for\nfable, parable, story is _mokulu_. The common opinion was that Libanza\nlived on the earth, and was the first to go into heaven. His origin,\nlife, and adventures as told in their folk stories are briefly as\nfollows:\n\nLibanza\u2019s mother (names of father and mother were never given) gave\nbirth first to elephants, the various kinds of bush animals, the\ndifferent varieties of flies and insects, and to the amphibia; then his\nmother told him to come out, but before Libanza would do so he ordered\nhis mother to scrape her finger-nails; when she had done this he threw\nout spears, shield, a chair covered with brass nails, and finally came\nout himself.\n\nLibanza\u2019s father, according to another folk story, was trapped and\nkilled while stealing some _nsafu_ fruit for his wife. And he acquainted\nhis wife of his death by causing a fetish horn he had left with her to\noverflow with blood. As soon as Libanza was born he inquired about his\nfather and the manner of his death, and set himself to punish the one\nwho had killed him, which after a series of futile attempts he finally\naccomplished by slaying the murderer of his father. Then comes the story\nof his own adventures, which reach their climax in the destruction of\nthe Swallower of people.\n\nIt is not at all improbable that Libanza is the name of some great chief\nwho by his resource and courage delivered the people from great peril\nand oppression, and around whose name have gathered many myths, and to\nhim is ascribed great magical power. In the original story much magic is\nperformed to meet the various difficulties that arise, as changing\nhimself into different shapes, making horns and saucepans move and\nspeak, and resurrecting broken and dead animals. No moral qualities were\nascribed to Libanza, but he was regarded as being very strong, and rich.\nWhen our steamer, the _Peace_, made her first journey up-river, the\nBoloki of Monsembe told me that they thought it was \u201cLibanza going to\nSingitingi (Stanley Falls) to visit his sister Nsongo.\u201d They could hear\nthe noise of the engines, but as they could see no paddles they thought\nthat \u201cthe river _mingoli_ (water-spirits) were pushing the steamer\nalong.\u201d\n\n\n STORY II\n\n _The Fowl and the Hippopotamus; or,\n the Cause of the Enmity among Birds and Animals._\n\nA Fowl, on returning from a trading journey, hid one of his legs under\nhis wing and said: \u201cI sold my leg for two thousand brass rods in the\ntowns I have been visiting.\u201d\n\nA greedy hippopotamus, hearing this, said: \u201cIf the Fowl could receive\ntwo thousand brass rods for his small leg, how much shall I receive for\nmine?\u201d So calling some of his friends they entered a canoe and paddled\ndown-river to the towns. On arriving, the leg of the Hippopotamus was\ncut off, carried ashore, and sold for a large number of brass rods.\n\nWhen the Hippopotami returned to the canoe, after selling the leg, they\ndiscovered that their friend had bled to death, so they picked up their\npaddles in great anger and returned to their town.\n\nOn arriving at their town they sought out the Fowl and charged him with\nthe death of their friend, for they said, \u201cBecause of your lying\ndeception he went and sold his leg.\u201d\n\nIn their anger they called on the Hawks and Kites to swoop down and\ncarry off the chickens belonging to the Fowls; and they told the wild\nbush-cat that whenever he found the door of the Fowl-house open he was\nto creep in and kill the Fowls.\n\nIn this way so many Fowls were killed, that in defence the Fowls called\non the Crocodiles to bite the Hippopotami and wound them to death; and\nthey asked Man whenever he saw a Hippopotamus to hurl his spear at it\nand kill it. Thus, through the Fowl\u2019s one deception, enmity, quarrels,\nand death were first introduced among the birds and animals.\n\n\n STORY III\n\n _The Punishment of the Inquisitive Man_\n\nMotu made a large garden, and planted it with many bananas and plantain.\nThe garden was in a good position, so the fruit ripened quickly and\nwell. Arriving one day at his garden he found the ripe bunches of\nbananas and plantain had been cut off and carried away.\n\nAfter that he did not go once to his garden without finding that some of\nthe fruit had been stolen, so at last he made up his mind to watch the\nplace carefully, and hiding himself he lay in ambush for the thief.\n\nMotu had not been in hiding very long before he saw a number of\nCloud-folk descending, who cut down his bananas, and what they could not\neat they tied into bundles to carry away. Motu rushed out, and, chasing\nthem, caught one woman whom he took to his house, and after a short time\nhe married her, and gave her a name which meant Favourite.\n\nAlthough Favourite had come from the Cloud-land she was very\nintelligent, and went about her housework and farming just like an\nordinary woman of the earth. Up to that time neither Motu nor the people\nof his village had ever seen a fire. They had always eaten their food\nraw, and on cold, windy, rainy days had sat shivering in their houses\nbecause they did not know anything about fire and warmth.\n\nFavourite, however, told some of the Cloud-folk to bring some fire with\nthem next time they came to visit her, which they did. And then she\ntaught the people how to cook food, and how to sit round a fire on cold\ndays.\n\nMotu was very happy with his wife, and the villagers were very glad to\nhave her among them, and, moreover, Favourite persuaded many of the\nCloud-folk to settle in her husband\u2019s village.\n\nOne day Favourite received a covered basket, and putting it on a shelf\nin the house she said to her husband, \u201cWe are now living with much\nfriendship together; but while I am away at the farm you must not open\nthat basket, if you do we shall all leave you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d replied the husband, \u201cI will never undo it.\u201d\n\nMotu was now very glad in his heart, for he had plenty of people, a\nclever wife, and the villagers treated him as a great man. But he had\none trouble: Why did his wife warn him every day not to open the basket?\nWhat was in that basket? What was she hiding from him? And foolish-like\nhe decided to open it. Waiting therefore until his wife had gone as\nusual to the farm he opened the basket, and\u2014there was nothing in it, so\nlaughingly he shut it up and put it in its place.\n\nBy and by Favourite returned, and, looking at her husband, she asked\nhim: Why did you open that basket?\u201d And he was speechless at her\nquestion.\n\nOn the first opportunity, while Motu was away hunting, Favourite\ngathered her people, and ascended with them to Cloud-land, and never\nagain returned to the earth.\n\nThat is how the earth-folk received their fire and a knowledge of\ncooking; and that is also how Motu through being too inquisitive lost\nhis wife, his people, and his importance as a big man in the village.\n\n\n STORY IV\n\n _Mbungi and his Punishment_\n\nMbungi one day said to his wife: \u201cDig up some cassava, prepare it, and\ncut down some plantain, for we will go hunting and fishing.\u201d\n\nThe wife did as she was told, and in a short time everything was ready\nfor the journey. They put their goods into a canoe and paddled away to\ntheir hunting and fishing camp.\n\nAfter resting, the man went and dug a hole and set his traps; and the\nnext morning he found an antelope and a bush-pig in the hole. These he\ntook to the camp, cut up, and gave to his wife to cook. By and by when\nall was cooked she brought the meat to her husband, and as she was\ntaking her portion he said: \u201cWait, I will ask the forest-folk (or\nspirits) if you may eat it.\u201d\n\nHe went and pretended to ask the forest-folk, and brought back a message\nthat if she ate the meat the traps would lose their luck and catch no\nmore animals. In this way the selfish husband had all the meat for\nhimself and his wife went hungry.[27] Mbungi found many animals in his\ntraps, and the woman, because of the prohibition, did not have her share\nof them.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n A person considered he had not made a meal if he had no meat or fish\n to eat with his cassava.\n\nOne day the woman made some fish-traps and set them, and on her return\nto the camp the husband wanted to know where she had been, but she\nrefused to tell him. Next day she went to look at her traps and found\nmany fish in them, which she brought to the camp and cooked. Mbungi,\nhowever, returned unsuccessful from his traps; but when he saw his\nwife\u2019s fish he laughed and said: \u201cBring the fish here for me to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cWait,\u201d answered the woman, \u201cI will ask the forest-folk if you may eat\nthe fish.\u201d And she brought back a reply that he was not to eat the fish,\nfor if he did so the fish-traps would lose their luck.\n\nIt was now Mbungi\u2019s turn to be hungry. Days and days passed and he\ncaught no more animals; but his wife always had plenty of fish. He\nbecame very thin and angry. One day he drew his large knife, and cutting\noff the head of his wife he buried the head and the trunk together in\nthe ground, and departed for his town.\n\nMbungi had not gone very far on his way when he heard a voice shouting:\n\u201cMbungi, wait for me, we will go together!\u201d He wondered who was calling\nhim, so he hid himself, and in a little time he saw the head of his wife\ncoming along the road calling after him.\n\nHe went, and catching the head he cut it into small pieces and buried it\nagain; but before he had gone far he heard it shouting: \u201cMbungi, wait\nfor me, we will go together!\u201d He cut and buried it again and again, but\nit was no use, it continued to follow and call after him.\n\nMbungi reached his town, and his wife\u2019s family asked him: \u201cWhere is your\nwife?\u201d \u201cOh, she is coming on behind,\u201d he replied. They accused him of\nkilling her, but this he strongly denied. While he was denying the\ncharge of murder the head came right into the town; and when the family\nsaw it they immediately tied up Mbungi and killed him.\n\nThis was how murder was first introduced into the world.\n\n\n STORY V\n\n _Why the Fowl and Dog are abused by the Birds_\n\nThere was a time when all the birds and animals lived in the sky. One\nday it was very rainy and cold\u2014so cold that they were all shivering. The\nbirds said to the Dog: \u201cGo down and fetch us some fire to warm\nourselves.\u201d\n\nThe Dog descended, but seeing plenty of bones and pieces of fish lying\nabout on the ground he forgot to take the fire to the shivering birds.\n\nThe birds and animals waited, and the Dog not returning they sent the\nFowl to hasten him with the fire.\n\nThe Fowl, however, on arriving below, beheld plenty of palm nuts, pea\nnuts, maize, and other good things, so he did not tell the Dog to take\nup the fire, and did not take any himself.\n\nThis is the reason why you can hear of an evening a bird that sings with\nnotes like this, \u201c_Nsusu akende bombo! nsusu akende bombo!_\u201d which\nmeans, The Fowl has become a slave! the Fowl has become a slave!\n\nAnd the Heron sometimes sits on a tree near a village and cries, \u201c_Mbwa\nowa! mbwa owa!_\u201d = Dog, you die! dog, you die![28]\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n I have often heard these birds, and their notes quickly suggested the\n phrases quoted above, and undoubtedly gave rise to the story.\n\nThis is why you hear these birds jeer at and abuse the Fowl and Dog,\nbecause they left their friends to shiver in the cold while they enjoyed\nthemselves in warmth and plenty.\n\n\n STORY VI\n\n _The Eagle leaves the Tortoise in the lurch_\n\nA Leopard had three young children, and she asked the Tortoise to take\ncare of them while she was away hunting.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Tortoise, \u201cI will nurse them for you.\u201d\n\nSo the Leopard went hunting, and after a time she returned with some\nmeat which she wished to give to her children.\n\n\u201cNo, no, do not open the door,\u201d whispered the Tortoise, \u201cyour children\nare asleep. Throw the meat in at the window.\u201d The meat was passed\nthrough the window, and the Leopard went off hunting again.\n\nWhile the Leopard was gone the second time, an Eagle came to the\nTortoise and said: \u201cFriend Tortoise, let us make blood-brotherhood.\u201d\n\nThe Tortoise agreed, and the friendship was properly made. After a short\ntime the Eagle asked the Tortoise for one of the children to eat, and\none was taken, and they ate it between them.\n\nBy and by the Leopard returned again from the hunt with some more meat;\nbut the Tortoise pretended that the children were asleep; so the meat\nwas again put through the window, and off went the Leopard to hunt in\nthe forest.\n\nThe Eagle then came and begged for another child, and receiving it he\nwent and ate it on a high tree.\n\nWhen the Leopard returned next time, she insisted on seeing the\nchildren, but the Tortoise said: \u201cYou stop there and I will show them to\nyou at the window.\u201d\n\nThe Tortoise then took up the only child left, and holding it at the\nwindow he said, \u201cThat is one.\u201d He put it down and held it up again, and\nsaid, \u201cThat is two.\u201d Then he showed it again at the window for the third\ntime, and said, \u201cThat is three.\u201d The Leopard, thereupon, went away\nsatisfied.\n\nThe Eagle came again and asked for the \u201cother child to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do,\u201d asked the Tortoise, \u201cwhen the Leopard returns and\nfinds all her children are gone?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I will take care of you,\u201d said the Eagle reassuringly; \u201cI will fly\nwith you to a high tree.\u201d The last child was given and eaten, and then\nthe Eagle took the Tortoise to the branch of a very high tree.\n\nShortly after the Eagle had carried off the Tortoise the Leopard\nreturned, and finding all her children gone she wept very loudly for\nsome time; then looking about her she saw the Tortoise on the top of a\ntree.\n\nThe Leopard gnawed at the tree, and just as it was going to fall the\nTortoise called out to his friend, the Eagle, to help him. The Eagle\ncarried him to another tree. The Leopard gnawed that one; so the Eagle\nremoved the Tortoise to another high tree; but the Leopard gnawed that\nalso.\n\nThe Tortoise called for his friend, the Eagle; but the Eagle replied: \u201cI\nam tired of helping you, take care of yourself,\u201d and off he flew,\nleaving his friend in the lurch, and never returned again. The tree\nfell, and the Leopard killed the Tortoise. That is why the bush animals\nare afraid to hurt the Leopard\u2019s children.\n\n\n STORY VII\n\n _The Kite breaks his promise to the Tortoise_\n\nWhen the Tortoise and the Kite made blood-brotherhood the Kite said:\n\u201cFriend Tortoise, now that we have become brothers, catch an electric\nfish for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cFriend Kite,\u201d replied the Tortoise, \u201cwhen you see a skin floating on\nthe river you will know that I have caught the fish you desire. Swoop\ndown and take it; and, friend Kite, thou art one who lives in the air,\ntie up the wind and bring it to me.\u201d\n\nBy and by the Tortoise killed an electric fish (_nina_), and set it\nfloating on the river. When the Kite saw it he said: \u201cAh, there is the\nfish my friend Tortoise has sent me.\u201d He thereupon dropped to the river,\npicked up the fish, and carried it away to a high tree, where he ate it.\n\nThe Tortoise waited a long time, but the Kite never brought him the\nwind; so seeing the Eagle one day fishing by the river bank he said to\nhim, \u201cCome here, friend Eagle,\u201d and when the Eagle had alighted on a\nbranch near by, the Tortoise continued: \u201cWell, my friend the Kite and I\nmade blood-brotherhood, and he asked me to send him an electric fish,\nand I asked him to bring me the wind, and he agreed to this bargain. I\nhave sent him his fish, but he has not brought me the wind. When you see\nthe Kite remind him of his promise.\u201d\n\nThe Eagle met the Kite next day on the top of a tree and said to him:\n\u201cWhen you make blood-brotherhood with a person you should keep your\npromise to him. Why don\u2019t you take the wind to the Tortoise?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have not yet tied it up,\u201d said the Kite as he flew off.\n\nThe Tortoise waited, but the Kite not coming he went ashore, climbed to\nthe roof of a house, and tied himself into a bundle like a parcel of\nfish.\n\nThe Kite, seeing the bundle and thinking it was some fish, he swooped\ndown on it and carried it away to a tree, and while he was undoing the\nbundle the Tortoise said: \u201cFriend Kite, you have deceived me, and you\nhave broken your promise. Where is the wind you agreed to bring to me?\u201d\n\nThe Kite was so alarmed that he dropped the Tortoise and flew away. And\nbecause of his broken promise to his friend he has lost the power to\nsail on the wind like the Eagle; but has to constantly flutter and flap\nhis wings.[29]\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n To break a promise made at the time of making blood-brotherhood is\n considered very bad, and is regarded as certain to bring punishment.\n\n\n STORY VIII\n\n _Why the Plantain-eater did not build a Nest_\n\nThe Plantain-eater is a gaudy-plumaged bird, not quite so large as a\nCockatoo. It is called by the natives _Lukulukoko_. Its notes are,\n_Kulu!_ _kulu!_ _kulukoko!_ hence the natives say, \u201cIt is always talking\nabout itself.\u201d\n\nAll the birds built nests so that when it rained they could enter them\nand remain dry. The Plantain-eater, however, never troubled to build a\nnest, but when the rain fell in torrents he went to a neighbour and\nsaid: \u201cLet me come into your nest out of the rain.\u201d\n\nBut his neighbour answered him: \u201cNo, go and cut some palm fronds and\nbuild your own nest.\u201d\n\nThe Plantain-eater, at this reply, went off crying: \u201c_Kulu!_ _kulu!_\n_kulukoko!_ Wait until the rain stops, and then I will fetch fronds to\nbuild my nest.\u201d\n\nBy and by the rain ceased and the neighbours called out:\n\u201cPlantain-eater, the rain is finished, now get your fronds for nest\nbuilding.\u201d\n\nBut the Plantain-eater said: \u201cI will stop where I am, and when it rains\nI will raise my shoulders and put my head under my feathers, and the\nrain will not hurt me.\u201d\n\nThe next time it rained, however, he found it was very unpleasant to be\nout in it; and again he asked to be allowed to enter a neighbour\u2019s nest,\nbut he was driven off. Thus it always happened that when it rained he\nintended to build a house; and when it was fine he said he did not need\na house, but would put his head under his feathers.\n\nAnd that is why the Plantain-eater is seen jumping from branch to branch\nin the rain, trying to enter other people\u2019s nests, making all kinds of\npromises in the rain, and only talking loudly and boasting in the fine\nweather of what he will do.\n\n\n STORY IX\n\n _Why the Water-snake has no Poison_\n\nWhen the Python had given birth to all the snakes she said to them: \u201cYou\nhave no poison now, but another day I will call you, and give to each of\nyou a proper share of poison.\u201d\n\nAfter a time the day arrived, and the Python called all her children to\nreceive the promised gift. The green snake, the viper, the whip-snake,\nthe diamond-headed snake all arrived, and each received his share of the\npoison so as to defend himself from his enemies. Wherever these snakes\nwent on a journey everybody jumped out of their way, for if they did not\nthey were bitten and suffered much pain.\n\nThe Water-snake, however, instead of obeying his mother\u2019s call, went off\nto the river to fish. By and by he became tired of fishing, and thought\nhe would go and hear what his mother the Python wanted.\n\nAs he went he met the other snakes returning, and heard that they had\nreceived their gifts from their mother. On his arrival he asked her for\nhis share of the poison.\n\nBut the Python said: \u201cNo, I called you, and instead of coming you went\nfishing, so now you have lost your share of the poison through\ndisobedience.\u201d\n\nThat is why the Water-snake is only laughed at when he bites, and no one\nthinks of moving out of his way, for he has no poison through\ndisregarding his mother\u2019s call.\n\n\n STORY X\n\n _How the Squirrel outwitted the Elephant_\n\nThe Squirrel and the Elephant met one day in the forest and had a big\ndiscussion about forest matters. At last the Elephant sneeringly said:\n\u201cYou are a Squirrel, you are only a little bit of a thing. Can you hold\neither my foot or my leg? No, you are too small to touch even one of my\nlegs!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may be a big thing,\u201d retorted the Squirrel, \u201cbut can you keep on\neating palm nuts as long as I can?\u201d\n\nAfter much talk they decided to collect bunches of palm nuts, and when\nall was ready they sat down to the eating contest. Before beginning,\nhowever, the Squirrel had secreted a number of his friends in the forest\nnear by.\n\nThe Elephant began the contest by putting a bunch of palm nuts into his\nmouth; but the Squirrel took the nuts one by one and ate them. And when\nthe Squirrel was full he made some excuse and slipped away, and another\nsquirrel took his place. In this way Squirrel after Squirrel exchanged\nplaces with each other unnoticed by the Elephant, who continued to eat\nall the morning, and the big pile of palm nuts grew smaller and smaller.\n\nAt last the Elephant asked: \u201cAre you full, friend Squirrel?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered the last Squirrel, \u201cI feel as though I had only just\nbegun.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that so?\u201d grunted the Elephant. \u201cWell, you are a wonderful little\nthing. Why, I am getting fuller and fuller.\u201d\n\nAfter that they went on eating again.\n\nIn the afternoon the Elephant asked again: \u201cFriend Squirrel, are you\nfull yet?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied the last Squirrel, \u201cI have not eaten half enough yet.\u201d And\nhe took up some more nuts to eat.\n\nThe Elephant had not room for more than a sigh; and towards sunset he\nsaid: \u201cI am full, and cannot eat any more palm nuts.\u201d\n\nThus the Elephant confessed he was beaten, and ever after that he\nrefrained from annoying and ridiculing his friends and neighbours\nbecause they were smaller than himself.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe natives are very careful not to taunt slaves about their condition,\nor to twit a person about poverty or lowly birth. It is considered to be\nthe acme of rudeness to remind another that he is not so fine a fellow\nas you are, or as he thinks he is. Of course, folk often lost their\ntemper and said bitter things to each other. The following story shows\nthe punishment that fell to a man because in his anger he was rude to\nhis slave wife.\n\n\n STORY XI\n\n _Rudeness and its Punishment_\n\nThere was a man once who built a house on an island and went fishing in\nits creeks and pools. He plaited a large number of fish-traps, and set\nthem in good places for catching fish.\n\nOne morning he went to look at the traps and found one full of fish, and\namong the fish was a Lolembe.[30] He took them to his house, and then\nwent to another part of the island to visit some other traps; but on his\nreturn he found some food cooked and placed in a saucepan by the fire.\nIn his surprise he called out, \u201cWho has cooked this food?\u201d but there was\nno answer. All night he pondered this wonder in his heart, for he knew\nhe was alone on the island.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n _Notopterus afer._\n\nThe next morning he pretended to go to his traps, but turning back\nquickly he hid himself behind his house and watched through an opening\nin the wall. By and by he was amazed to see the Lolembe turn into a\nwoman, who at once began to cook the food, whereupon the man showed\nhimself to her and said: \u201cOh, you are the one who cooked my food\nyesterday!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she replied. They were married, and in due time the woman gave\nbirth to two boys and a girl; and they lived with much contentment on\nthe island.\n\nOne day the man said to one of his sons: \u201cYou come and help me with the\nfish-traps,\u201d and away they went together to look at the various traps.\n\nThe lad was a lazy, disobedient boy who would not listen properly to\nwhat was told him, so when the father wanted to empty the water out of\nthe canoe and told him to go to the right side, the boy went straight to\nthe left side, because it was nearer to him than the other side. The\nfather became very vexed, and beating him in his anger, he said: \u201cYou\nare too lazy and too proud to do what you are told. Do you know that\nyour mother came out of one of these fish-traps, for she was only a\nLolembe?\u201d\n\nThe boy on hearing this went crying to his mother, and told her all his\nfather had said. The mother soothed him, but in her heart she said: \u201cMy\nhusband jeers at me because I am only a Lolembe, yet I have been a good\nwife to him; perhaps some other day he will call me worse names, and\nwhen we return to the town everybody will know that I came out of one of\nhis fish-traps. I will return to my own place in the river.\u201d\n\nShe thereupon fell into the river, and changing into a Lolembe she swam\naway. \u201cTherefore,\u201d says the native storyteller, \u201cnever taunt a person\nwith being a slave.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe next two stories are illustrative of the native reason for the loss\nof eternal life, or why people die, instead of continuing to live for\never on the earth.\n\n\n STORY XII\n\n _Nkengo fails to obtain lasting life_\n\nNkengo was the son of Libuta, and he noticed that the people were dying\ndaily in great numbers. So one day he called out loudly: \u201cYou\nCloud-folk, throw me down a rope!\u201d\n\nThe Cloud-folk heard and threw him a rope. Nkengo held on to it and was\npulled up to the Cloud-land.\n\nWhen he arrived there Nkengo had to wait one day, and in the morning the\nCloud-folk said to him: \u201cYou have come here to receive lasting life\n(_lobiku_) and escape from death. You cannot make your request for seven\ndays, and in the meantime you must not go to sleep.\u201d\n\nNkengo was able to keep awake for six days, but on the seventh day he\nnodded and went to sleep. The Cloud-folk woke him up, saying: \u201cYou came\nhere to receive lasting life and escape from death. You were able to\nkeep awake six days. Why did you abandon your purpose on the seventh\nday?\u201d They were so angry with him that they drove him out of Cloud-land\nand lowered him to the earth.\n\nThe people on the earth asked him what had happened up above, and Nkengo\nreplied: \u201cWhen I reached Cloud-land they told me that in order to gain\nlasting life I must keep awake for seven days. I did not sleep for six\ndays and six nights; but on the seventh day I nodded in sleep; whereupon\nthey drove me out, saying: \u201cGet away with your dying; you shall not\nreceive lasting life, for every day there shall be death among you!\u201d\n\nHis friends laughed at him because he went to receive lasting life and\nlost it through sleeping. That is the reason why death continues in the\nworld.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe following story also gives the reason for the continuance of death\nin the world. It was told me by a friend who lived for many years among\nthe Balolo tribe at Bolengi (Equatorville district), about fifty or\nsixty miles below Monsembe.\n\n\n STORY XIII\n\n _The Two Bundles_\n\nWhile a man was working one day in the forest a little man with two\nbundles\u2014one large and one small\u2014went to him and asked: \u201cWhich of these\ntwo bundles will you have? This one\u201d (taking up the large bundle)\n\u201ccontains looking-glasses, knives, beads, cloth, etc.; and this one\u201d\n(taking up the little bundle) \u201ccontains lasting life.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot choose by myself,\u201d answered the man; \u201cI must go and ask the\nother people in the town.\u201d\n\nWhile he was gone to ask the other people some women arrived, and the\nchoice was put to them. The women tried the edges of the knives,\nbedecked themselves in the cloth, admired themselves in the\nlooking-glasses, and without more ado they selected the big bundle and\ntook it away. The little man, picking up the small bundle, vanished.\n\nOn the return of the man from the town both the little man and his\nbundles had disappeared. The women exhibited and shared the things, but\ndeath continued on the earth. Hence the people say: \u201cOh, if those women\nhad only chosen the small bundle, we folk would not be dying like this!\u201d\n\n\n STORY XIV\n\n _The Spider regrets her Marriage_\n\nThere was a Spider who lived with her parents in their town. She was\nunmarried, and it was very difficult to find a husband for her as she\nwas so hard to please.\n\nOne young man asked her father for her in marriage, but he said: \u201cYou\nmust ask her yourself.\u201d And when he said to her: \u201cI love you. Will you\nbe my wife?\u201d she replied, \u201cNo,\u201d in such a way that he went back to his\nhouse very angry.\n\nAnother young man came, and she said: \u201cI refuse all husbands, for I am\ngoing to remain as I am.\u201d\n\nAfter a time another suitor came, and when the Spider declined him he\nsaid: \u201cYou refuse all offers of marriage from us; but a person will come\nwho will not be a proper person at all, for he will have changed himself\nto look like a nice man. You will marry him, and you will have much\ntrouble on going with him, for he will take you to his country, which\nwill be far away, and you will regret that you have refused all of us.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe quiet!\u201d she shouted; \u201cyou are angry because I will not marry you,\nand that is why you threaten me.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said he, \u201cyou think I am telling you a lie,\u201d and away he\nwent to his town. Now this was the Python who spoke to the girl.\n\nThe Python waited in his town for some time, and then he changed himself\ninto another and nicer form and paid a visit to the Spider, and said to\nher: \u201cSpider, I have come to marry you.\u201d\n\nThe Spider asked him: \u201cDo you love me or not?\u201d\n\nHe answered her: \u201cI love you,\u201d and they were married.\n\nAfter a time he said: \u201cSpider, we must return to my town.\u201d And he\ndeceitfully told her that he lived in a fine town, and was very rich. He\nalso promised his father-in-law that he would return in six months\u2014a\npromise he never intended to keep.\n\nThe Spider and her husband started on their journey, and went on and on\nand on for two months, and the wife became very tired with the long\nwalk.\n\nAs they were nearing their town a person said to her: \u201cThe one who is\ntravelling with you is not a real person, but a snake that has changed\nitself to look like a person. Do not believe in him.\u201d\n\nThey reached the husband\u2019s town, which she found was simply a tree with\na large hole in it. The husband changed back to his snake form, and\ncoiling himself up in the hole he left his wife to do the best she could\noutside.\n\nThe Spider was very angry, and repented having been so stupid as to\nrefuse all the nice young men of her own town to be deceived by this\nsnake from a distance. The poor Spider became very thin and would have\ndied, only someone helped her back to her father.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe custom of making blood-brotherhood was very common on the Upper\nCongo. The ceremony has already been described in a previous chapter,\nand therefore it is not necessary to go again into detail. During the\nperformance of the rite the contracting parties who exhibited any doubt\nof each other\u2019s faithfulness in properly observing the bond would put\none another under a prohibition or taboo, and so long as they carefully\nobeyed the prohibition the blood bond remained in force.\n\nIn the following story the birds enter into this blood bond, and the\npeculiarities of each are regarded as prohibitions placed on them during\nthe ceremony. There are many such stories accounting for the physical\nidiosyncrasies of various birds and animals.\n\n\n STORY XV\n\n _The Heron and the Parrot are unbelieving_\n\nWhen the Heron and the Parrot entered into the bonds of\nblood-brotherhood the Heron put the Parrot under a ban, saying: \u201cFriend\nParrot, you must always remain in the tree-tops, and never alight on the\nground. If you do so you will not be able to fly again, for you will be\ncaught, killed, and eaten; and even if you are not killed the folk who\ncatch you will tame you, and you will lose your power to fly again in\nthe air.\u201d\n\nThe Parrot said: \u201cFriend Heron, you must never build a house to sleep in\nit; if you do you will die.\u201d\n\nAfter some time the Heron began to doubt the words of the Parrot, and he\nsaid to himself: \u201cPerhaps my friend told me a lie about sleeping in a\nhouse. I will test his words, and if I die my family will know that the\nwords of the Parrot are true, and they will never sleep in a house.\u201d\n\nThat evening the Heron entered a house (nest), and next morning his\nfamily found him lying dead. Ever since that time the Herons have always\nslept on the branches of the trees.\n\nThe Parrot also doubted the power of the Heron\u2019s prohibition, and said\nto himself: \u201cI will alight on the ground, and if I am unable to fly\nagain my family will know the Heron\u2019s words are true ones.\u201d\n\nSo down the Parrot flew, and alighting on the ground he found there\nplenty to eat, but when he tried to rise again he was not able to use\nhis wings. Some people caught him and tamed him, and he remained a slave\nin their town.\n\nThat is the reason why the Parrots always fly high above the tree-tops\nand never alight on the earth, because of the prohibition of their\nfriend the Heron.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe writer has many more of these stories, but the above are fairly\ntypical of the lines upon which they run, although every story has its\nown little plot and exhibits some characteristic trait of native mind\nand habit.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XV\n\n WAR\n\nNo army\u2014The family fight\u2014The town fight\u2014The district fight\u2014Procuring\n volunteers\u2014\u201cMedicine\u201d put on spears\u2014Poison used\u2014No night\n attacks\u2014Lips of the slain worn by the slayer\u2014Spirit of the\n slain\u2014Mode of attack\u2014Prisoners\u2014Women a cause of quarrels\u2014War\n omens\u2014War dance\u2014Spears and flint-lock guns.\n\n\nOne can hardly dignify the quarrels and fights that occur among the\nBoloki and their neighbours by the name of war. There is no army and no\norganization, but all the men and lads take part in the fight that\naffects their family or their town. Their fights may be divided into\nthree classes\u2014the family fight, the town fight, and the district fight.\nThe second and third generally arise out of the first.\n\nThe family fight. If a family has a quarrel with another family in the\ntown neither guns, spears, nor knives are used in the fight that\nfollows, but always sticks. I do not mean to say that no man ever draws\nhis knife on another in a town quarrel; but that when two families in\nthe same town deliberately fight each other they use only sticks as\ntheir weapons. They have talked until they are tired; it is not a case\nfor the ordeal; and the ordinary methods of judging a case have failed,\nso they resort to sticks, and the party driven off the \u201cfield\u201d by sheer\nweight of blows is the loser. The losing side then pays up and the\naffair is ended. The other families in the town scarcely ever take\nsides, but look on and enjoy the performance.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n HUTS BUILT FOR USE DURING WAR TIME\n The Monsembe people for several weeks were threatened by some\n neighbouring villages with an attack, so they abandoned their\n houses, and built a number of these huts on the beach, and on the\n land side erected a strong palisade to protect themselves.\n]\n\nWhen a family in one town has a fight with the family of another town,\nthen spears, knives, and guns are freely used. If family A of X town\ngoes to fight family B of Z town, then the other families in Z will\nstand ready armed to assist their neighbours should they not be able to\nrepulse the enemy; and should the other families in Z town help the B\nfamily to drive out A family, then the other families in X town will\nhelp A family on its next venture into the enemy\u2019s town, and what was\noriginally a family feud becomes a fight between two towns. It may\nhappen that B family has not the sympathy of the other families in Z\ntown, and they will stand by and see that family driven out and their\nhouses raided; or it may also happen that the A family has not the\nsympathy of the other families in X town, and they will not join forces\nwith it to fight the folk who have repulsed them.\n\nThis is put to the test in the following way: The head of the defeated\nfamily puts a plantain leaf over his shoulder one evening and walks\nthrough the town calling out the reason for the fight, the family\nagainst whom he is fighting, and asking that volunteers who are willing\nto help him will meet next morning outside his house ready armed to\naccompany him. Very often no one turns up, and the man has to consider\nwhether his own family has any chance of success if it prosecutes the\nfight alone, or whether some other way cannot be found of settling the\naffair.\n\nIf, however, the head of the family is an important man of known bravery\nwho can command a large following of slaves and relatives, and there is\nevery prospect of success, then a large number of volunteers will turn\nup the next morning. I have often seen a man going through the town with\na plantain leaf across his shoulder calling for supporters. Sometimes\nthey were such unimportant men that they were laughed at for their\ntrouble.\n\nWhen the families in Z town see A family returning to the assault with\nso many volunteers they will at once go to the assistance of their\nhard-pressed neighbour, for the honour and safety of the town are now at\nstake, and the affair now becomes a town fight.\n\nA town fight. The X town goes _en masse_ to fight the enemy, leaving\nbehind only the women, the children, the aged, and the sick. If X town\nis driven back by Z town and is unable to defend its position, then the\nwomen and children are carried off, the aged and sick are killed, the\ntown raided, everything portable is removed, and the houses burnt to the\nground; but if the X folk, although driven back, are able to defend\ntheir town they will set sentries for the night; and next day they will\nsend their biggest head-man with a plantain leaf over his shoulder to\ncall up volunteers from the other towns with whom they are friendly, and\nthen it becomes a war between district and district.\n\nWhen men go to fight distant towns their wives are expected not to\ncommit adultery with such men as are left in the town, or their husbands\nwill receive spear wounds from the enemy. The sisters of the fighters\nwill take every precaution to guard against the unfaithfulness of their\nbrothers\u2019 wives while they are on the expedition.\n\nSome fighters put fetish \u201cmedicine\u201d on their spears to give precision of\naim; others rub them with a vegetable poison made from the burnt ashes\nof _munsansangu_ leaves; and others go to the medicine man of the\n_ndemo_ to render them invisible to the enemy.\n\nIt is impossible to keep the arrangements for an attack secret. There\nare always friends and relatives who will inform their friends, etc., on\nthe other side, and the drums are beaten and the fighters prepare for\nthe attack. The head of the family whose quarrel it is arranges the\nfight and leads the van with his own slaves, family, etc. If necessary\nhe takes counsel with the heads of the other families helping him.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. W. H. Stapleton_\n A BOLOKI SHIELD\n The man is a Monsembe slave of the Mongo tribe. The shield is strongly\n plaited of dyed grasses and ornamented round the edge with skins. It\n is used more for deflecting spears than for receiving them. At the\n back is a wooden plate about half the length and width of the\n shield, to which the basket-work is laced.\n]\n\nI never knew them to make a night attack. They would often lie in ambush\nand capture, if possible, those who fell into the trap, and kill those\nwho tried to escape. Attacks were often made in the early morning, soon\nafter three o\u2019clock. No scouts were employed, but when necessary\nsentries were placed, and when they became sleepy they aroused two of\ntheir comrades to take their places. The fighting was not worthy of the\nname of a battle, but was simply an affray, a _m\u00eal\u00e9e_, in which there\nwas no order and no words of command. No truce was allowed, but when one\nside was tired of the fight, or was getting the worst of it, they sent\nfor a go-between (_molekaleku_) to arrange a meeting and the terms upon\nwhich blood-brotherhood could be made.\n\nA man of conspicuous bravery who kills a man in a fight receives\ncongratulatory presents, and at drinking-bouts the first mug of\nsugar-cane wine is served to him as long as he retains such\npre-eminence, and he has no difficulty in procuring volunteers to aid\nhim in any of his personal quarrels. When a man kills his opponent in a\nfight he cuts off his head and removes his lips, which latter he\nthoroughly dries in the sun, and then sticks them over with brass chair\nnails and wears them as an ornament with as much pride as a decoration\nis worn by the civilized soldier\u2014it is the man\u2019s medal for bravery. The\nskull of the slain man is put at the base of a palm, or other tree just\noutside the victor\u2019s house, and when the victor dies the spirit of the\nconquered and slain man is called upon to do service to the spirit of\nthe conqueror in _longa_, or the spirit-world.\n\nThe Boloki when attacking a town will often divide into two parties, and\nwhile one division attacks the place in front by water, the other makes\na detour over land and attacks the rear. When chasing the enemy they\nthrow their light, thin, fighting spears in the air, and these, turning,\ncome down head first and pierce the shoulders, and I have known some to\nenter the top of the arm and come out at the elbow. For warding off\nspears they use grass-plaited shields, fine-woven cotton belts wound\nround and round the waist, and some have cuirasses of hippopotamus hide\nto cover the back. The cuirass fastens in front, and at the fastening\nthere is generally a dagger in a sheath, which is easily drawn. There\nare a few flint-lock trade guns among them, but they rely on their\nlight, thin spears and knives of various lengths and shapes. Lads who\ncannot obtain spears use sticks with sharpened points that have been\nhardened in the fire, and with these they harass the enemy. When\nfighting they wear skin hats, more as a protection against cuts than for\nornament; and the whole face is blackened with a thick paste of oil and\nsoot, or oil and burnt ground nuts, and the eyes are surrounded with\ncircles of chalk or white clay. This is to disguise them from their\nenemies. The Boloki, among the Congo people, are acknowledged to be the\nfiercest and the bravest in a fight, and are greatly feared by the other\ntribes.\n\nPrisoners taken are held to ransom, and if not ransomed they are\nretained, sold, or killed, according to the whim of the captor. The\nfirst prisoner taken by a man is given, as a first-fruit, to the man\u2019s\nfather, or, failing him, to his nearest relative. Women very often\nbecome the wives of their captors. Prisoners captured in war belong to\ntheir captors, and the same applies to all kinds of spoils. The bodies\nof enemies are carried when possible from the \u201cfield\u201d and eaten at a\ngeneral feast. If the prisoners are not redeemed they become slaves, and\nwhile the young ones amalgamate with their conquerors, and often become\na part of the families of their owners, the elder ones who have their\nown tribal marks well defined never take other than a servile position\nin the towns of their masters.\n\nThe chief cause of quarrels and fights on the Congo is about women, and\nalthough the ostensible reason may be a drunken row or a debt, yet if\nyou push the matter to its real origin you will in nine cases out of ten\nfind a woman at the bottom of it. Directly after blood-brotherhood is\nmade all is friendly so far as seeming outward appearances may show; but\nI know from experience that the conquered are only awaiting their\nopportunity of revenge.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A BOLOKI METHOD OF BEHEADING\n The victim here lies on the ground with a plantain stem under the\n neck. This plantain stem supports the neck for a clean cut through,\n but does not damage the edge of the knife.\n]\n\nThere are certain omens that demand careful attention during war time.\nTo some, if a snake during war goes in front towards the enemy it is a\nsign that success will attend their undertaking, but if the snake comes\ntowards them the omen is against them. To others, if the _muntontwa_ (a\nsmall active bird with a long beak) flies towards the enemy the omen is\nin their favour, but if it comes from the direction of the enemy it is\nnot to be disregarded or some calamity will surely overtake them. To\nmost natives it will be a bad sign if a man kicks his foot against\nanything in the road. Sometimes the stronger-minded ones laugh away the\nfears of those who are inclined to turn back if the omens are against\nthem; but it more frequently happens that they turn _en masse_, probably\nglad to postpone the fight.\n\nAfter a fight, in which some of the enemy are killed, only the _men_\nmeet to engage in the _bonkani_ dance. The men dance with their spears\nand knives, and any goats, sheep, dogs, or fowls that approach the\ndancers are instantly speared, cooked, and eaten. As a man beats the\ndrum one after another of the dancers advances, and in a solo tells of\nhis exploits during the late fight, which exploits are more often in the\nimagination than on the field of battle; but they vie with one another\nin \u201cdrawing the long bow\u201d on such occasions.\n\nAt times they use the following divination to ascertain the results of a\nproposed fight: A saucepan of marsh or forest water is procured and some\n\u201cmedicine\u201d is put into it. The saucepan is placed on the fire, to which\nnone but the operators have access, and then, after due time, they say\nto this _likato_ (saucepan of water with \u201cmedicine\u201d in it), \u201cWill they\nkill us in the fight?\u201d If the water boils up and fills the saucepan,\nthen it is an omen that some of them will be killed, so they abandon the\nwar; but if the water keeps low they ask, \u201cShall we kill some of them in\nthe fight?\u201d Then if the water rises in the saucepan it is an omen that\nsome of the enemy will be killed, and the war is prosecuted; but if the\nwater does not boil over it indicates that they will not kill any of the\nenemy, consequently the proposed fight is dropped. This test is applied\nseveral times before it is considered satisfactory.\n\nI have seen natives fight both on the Lower and Upper Congo. On the\nLower Congo flint-lock guns are used, and do almost as much harm to the\nfirer as to the one fired at. Through being so flimsily made a heavy\ncharge of gunpowder will often cause the old gas-pipe barrels to\nexplode, and a large number of our hospital accidents are from guns\nbursting in hunting and fighting. The firer holds the butt of his gun\nagainst the palm of his right hand, consequently when the gun jerks in\nfiring, the bullet goes anywhere but at the object aimed at unless that\nobject is very near. I have known over two hundred men fire at about\nthirty for a whole day and only one man was wounded in the ankle by a\nspent slug. Their guns will not carry far, and they stand at long\ndistances from one another and fire.\n\nOn the other hand, the Boloki, relying as he does on his fighting spear,\nruns in to throw it, and many wounds are inflicted in a very short time.\nOn the Lower Congo a person is seldom killed in a fight with guns; but\namong the Boloki there is never a fight between town and town without\nseveral deaths.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI\n\n HUNTING\n\nScarcity of animal life\u2014Bush-burning\u2014Game in ancient times\u2014No\n bush-burning on Upper Congo\u2014Scarcity of game\u2014Absence of prairie\n lands\u2014Large forests\u2014Division of an animal\u2014Mode of preserving\n meat\u2014Omen of success or failure\u2014Taboo on trap makers\u2014Fetishing\n hunting-dog\u2014Spears used for some animals\u2014String nets for others.\n\n\nThose parts of the Congo with which I am acquainted are not teeming with\nanimal life, so far as my experience goes. I cannot claim the r\u00f4le of an\nardent sportsman, yet I carried my gun many a weary mile in search of\nsupplies for my table, nor did I often return unsuccessful.\n\nThe natives, both on the Upper and Lower Congo, give much time to\nhunting, and are fairly successful when there is game about. Undoubtedly\nthe annual grass-burning on the Lower Congo has gradually and surely\nreduced the game, so that a party of hunters does not now bring home an\nantelope once in two months, although they might be out almost every\nday. In August, September, and early October hundreds of miles of bush\nare burnt to the ground. Every town has its own \u201cbush,\u201d and after\nburning a circle round their town to secure it against fire when the\n\u201cbush\u201d is blazing before a rushing wind, the town-folk arrange to fire\none \u201cpatch of bush\u201d after another, until the whole country is black with\ncharred grass stumps. When a patch is burnt it is surrounded by the\nchief and his men owning it, and they shoot down the antelopes,\nbush-pigs, palm-rats, gazelles, etc., as they rush by in terror from the\noncoming flames. This annual bush-burning has been going on for\ngenerations, and accounts for the scarcity of animal life on the Lower\nCongo.\n\nIn a book[31] I have before me there are evidences that animal life was\nvery prolific at the time of the narrator\u2019s visit to the Kingdom of\nCongo. He gives various accounts of the mode of hunting then followed on\nthe Lower Congo, but does not mention any bush-burning, so apparently\nthis mode of hunting came into vogue at a later date. He also speaks of\nthe lion and zebra as being plentiful; these now, however, are never\nseen on the Lower Congo. He mentions the tiger (?) as being very\nnumerous and fierce; but as he gives the native name\u2014_engoi_\u2014we know\nthat he is speaking of the leopard, which is regarded still as a royal\nbeast, and is always spoken of as _mfumu_ (lord).\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n \u201cA Report of the Kingdom of Congo from the writings etc. of Duarte\n Lopez by Filippo Pigafetta, in Rome 1591.\u201d\n\nOn the Upper Congo are many hippopotami\u2014in a quiet side channel in 1890\nwe counted over one hundred of these huge beasts on a single sandbank;\nand as we passed the noise of our steamer frightened them. They took to\nthe water, churned it in their alarm, and thumped the bottom of our\nsteamer repeatedly. Crocodiles are very numerous, and are frequently\nkilled from the decks of steamers passing up and down the river. They\nare more cautious than formerly, and make for the river on the slightest\nalarm. Many water-birds are to be seen along the banks, and in the\nquieter creeks and channels monkeys of various species sit chattering in\nthe trees. The numerous steamers that now run up and down the river and\nits larger tributaries have frightened the hippo, the crocodile, and\nmonkeys from the main channels to the smaller ones, and the hunter must\nnow go by canoe, boat, or small launch up these unfrequented water\nbypaths if he is in search of sport.\n\nThere is no bush-burning on the Upper Congo, for the greater part of it\nis forest land, with here and there an open glade of forty or fifty\nacres in extent. Animal life, however, is not prolific, and this may be\naccounted for, perhaps, by these reasons: There are no great prairie or\nbush-lands where animals can breed in comparative security, and the\nEquatorial district for hundreds of miles is periodically flooded. About\nevery ten or eleven years the banks are under water. I have had to go\nabout my own station in a boat, and I have eaten antelopes and bush-pigs\nthat were caught and killed just off our station in the over-swollen\nriver. In August, 1890, the river at Monsembe was eleven feet below the\nbank, but every year its highest rise was higher than the previous year,\nuntil in November, 1896, and again in 1897, the river was running under\nour houses. Then for a few years its highest watermark was lower than\nthe preceding year; and in 1903 it took the turn, and the country was\nflooded again in 1908. During the 1896 flood we learned from the natives\nthat the river \u201cwas flooded like this when So-and-so was a boy that\nheight.\u201d We judged that to be about ten years before.\n\nThese floods have undoubtedly helped to keep down the animal life of the\nEquatorial district, and, in addition, it is probable that forest lands\nare not such good breeding-places as the open veldt lands of South\nAfrica, where the enemy cannot so easily take an animal by surprise.\n\nThere are in every Boloki town two or three men who are the recognized\nhunters, either because of their success, their swiftness of movement,\ntheir accuracy of aim, or their daring courage. These men are the\nleaders in the hunt, and always receive a larger share of the spoil than\nthe ordinary man.\n\nThe owner of the slain animal is he whose spear first enters a vital\npart, and though the others have a share according to their importance,\nyet he takes the largest portion for himself. Various relatives,\nhead-men, and chiefs have rights over certain parts of an animal killed\nby a relative or a member of the town. These portions vary considerably\nwith the different families and towns. A child takes a leg or a shoulder\nof the animal slain by his father, a mother receives the belly-piece or\nthe neck from her successful son. These bespoke portions that belong to\nthe family are called _bilelo_. The head-man of the town receives the\nhead or a leg, and his portion is called _motando_. After the fortunate\nhunter has met these claims, and has given his companions in the hunt a\npiece each, there is often not much left for himself. There is no close\nseason for hunting.\n\nThe boundaries of the town are well defined, and the islands belonging\nto a town are well known to all the other towns in the neighbourhood. If\nan animal is killed on ground owned by a town other than that to which\nthe huntsman belongs, he has to send a portion of it\u2014generally the\nhead\u2014to the chief who claims the land.\n\nThe only mode I observed among them for preserving the meat is that of\nthoroughly drying it, or smoking it, over a fire. As a rule not much\nmeat is preserved in this way, as the animal is usually eaten all up in\nthree or four days. Those who have more than they can eat are always\nwilling to sell some of it to the less fortunate, and buyers are\nnumerous.\n\nMen going to hunt carry their special charms with them, either on their\nperson or on their spears. These charms are almost as numerous as there\nare huntsmen; you will scarcely find two men in a party who have faith\nin the same kind of charm. But there are certain ceremonies performed in\nwhich all the huntsmen take part.\n\nIn the case of a special hunt, say for killing elephants, a medicine man\nwas called who took two or three days to perform an elaborate ritual and\n\u201cmake medicine.\u201d This only occurred once during my residence at\nMonsembe, and then the hunt was not successful. Although I inquired\nabout what the medicine man did, the people were too suspicious of me to\ninform me about his proceedings. I found later that the natives thought\nthat the spirits of the deceased who inhabited the forests had power to\nturn the animals aside from the traps and thus render them ineffective,\nso the first thing to be done when arranging a hunt was to call the\nmedicine man of the mat. This medicine man brought his mats, charms,\nsome saucepans and calabashes. He set up his mat, and entering the\nenclosed space he went through secret rites that lasted from one to\nthree days. During these secret ceremonies he caught the spirits of the\nlocality where the trap was set (or was to be set), and shut them up in\na saucepan, or secured them safely in a calabash.\n\nAgain, all those concerned in the hunt had to chew red pepper and the\npulp of the _nsafu_ fruit, and if anyone refused to eat this mixture or\ncould not spit it out properly it was taken as an adverse omen and the\nhunt abandoned. When the medicine man had secured the spirits in his\nsaucepan or calabash, and the omen was satisfactory, the man who started\nthe proceedings and two or three friends went and put up the spear-trap.\nFrom the time of setting the trap until an animal was killed in it and\neaten, these men abstained from all intercourse with women, otherwise\nthe luck would be bad and their trap unsuccessful. The same prohibition\nwas enforced on hunters who made traps (_motambu_ = noose-traps) for\nbush-pigs and burrowing animals.\n\nThe natives are not good trackers. I very often hunted with them, and\nafter a short time I was able to track the game as quickly as they. They\nrelied more on the animal running into a trap, or into a noose, than\ntracking them down and spearing them. They never went tracking for long\ndistances like the North American Indians, but simply for a mile or two\nround their own towns. Undoubtedly the various chiefs owning the ground\nand demanding certain parts of the animals killed on their land\nrestricted the tracking and hunting to small areas for setting traps\nonly, and consequently their tracking instincts were not developed.\n\nThe medicine man of the mat takes the dog selected for hunting purposes\nand puts into its mouth and nose the juice pressed from a crushed shrub\ncalled _mumpongo_, and this makes the dog keen of scent and courageous\nin the hunt. When such a dog dies it is not eaten like other dogs, but\nis buried in a mat like a child, for it is a fetish dog, and hence it is\nsupposed to have a kind of spirit which, if not properly treated, can\nbring bad luck on its former owner.\n\nFor hippopotami, elephants, and antelopes spring traps were placed\nacross their tracks. These traps are made by putting two stout uprights\nabout four feet apart, one on either side of the track; then a stout\ncross-piece is tied at about twelve feet from the ground. To the middle\nof this cross-piece and right over the track is fixed a heavy log of\nwood; and into the downward end of the log is placed a strong, sharp,\nheavy spear or prong. The log is so arranged that when the string which\nstretches across the path is touched by the passing animal, down comes\nthe log, and four times out of six the spear enters the body of the\nbeast. I once saw the body of a man who, while running in the forest,\nhad inadvertently touched the spring of one of these traps. The spear\ncaught him in the back of the neck, passed through his body, and came\nout between his legs. Such traps were called _mbonga_. Occasionally\npit-traps are made, but it is seldom that anything is found in them.\n\nIn hunting the larger bush animals, and also crocodiles, the spear is\nthe most common weapon, and this is hurled with great precision and\nswiftness. But in hunting smaller game, as the small antelopes, coypus,\nor palm-rats, bush-pigs, and gazelle-like animals, long string nets are\nemployed. These nets are placed in a semicircle near where the animal is\nsupposed to be, and then the hunters carefully beat the bush, driving\nthe game before them into the net. Most of the hunting-spears are light,\nwith a small blade and thin shaft, and some have barbs along either side\nof the blade.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII\n\n FISHING\n\nCollecting fish for the Museum\u2014Modes of fishing\u2014By\n torchlight\u2014Fish-fences\u2014Traps and spoon-nets\u2014Floating buoys and\n hooks\u2014Fish-spears\u2014Fish poisons\u2014Prohibition with fish\n traps\u2014Addressing the fisherman\u2014Penalties\u2014First-fruits\u2014Portion given\n to head chief.\n\n\nFish is very plentiful in the Congo and its tributaries. The writer was\nasked a few years ago by the authorities of the Natural History Museum,\nLondon, if he would undertake to collect Congo fish for them. This he\nreadily consented to do, and was glad of the opportunity of rendering\nthem any assistance in his power on the understanding that it should be\nno expense, for transport, etc., to his Society. The Museum authorities\nsent him the necessary preserving spirits and the tanks. The latter he\nfilled with fish, labelled them and forwarded them to M. G. A.\nBoulenger, who has charge of the Ichthyological Department at the\nNatural History Museum. The natives themselves became interested in\ncollecting fish, and brought me their catches to see if there was a fish\namong them that I had not put into the \u201cbox\u201d; and when later the Museum\nauthorities sent me about fifty plates, beautifully engraved, of the\nCongo fish that I and others had sent to them, nothing delighted the\nnative lads more than looking over those plates and talking about the\nfish represented by them.\n\nI started collecting in the following simple way: In 1893 we had no\nfish-hooks on the station, but the boys asked my wife to give them some\npins with which to make hooks. This we did, on the condition that the\nyoung fishermen brought their catches to us and allowed us to take one\nor two fish for my bottle. The fish they caught by such primitive means\nwere, of course, rather small, about the size of one\u2019s fingers; but I\nsoon had two pickle bottles full of various kinds of fish. These bottles\nI brought home in 1895 and gave to the Natural History Museum, and\nseveral new species were found in that small, unpretentious collection.\nThis led the Museum authorities to ask me to collect larger fish, which\nI gladly did.\n\nI was much interested in noticing the various modes of fishing pursued\nby the different tribes on the Congo, and will here give the results of\nmy observations: (1) Fishing by torches at night. Fishermen in twos and\nthrees would light a bunch of grass, or an old mat, on a dark night and\nwould walk quietly along the river\u2019s bank, holding the light well up\nwith one hand so as to attract the fish, and having in the other hand a\nlong knife or spear well poised, ready to strike any fish that was\nattracted by the bright light. I never saw them catch a fish in this\nway, but they must kill one occasionally, or they would not trouble to\nspend their time in this manner. This mode of fishing was common to all\nthe peoples right along the river. (2) During certain seasons of the\nyear\u2014May and November\u2014the Congo itself and its numerous tributaries,\ninlets, and creeks are flooded with heavy rains. The watershed of the\nCongo River is extensive enough to benefit by the rainy seasons both\nnorth and south of the Equator; hence the two rises in the year\u2014May and\nNovember.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _By permission: Mus\u00e9e du Congo Belge_\n TETRODON MBU\n This fish has the power, when irritated, of distending itself\n enormously, and becomes covered with small spines. This is its mode\n of defence, for when swallowed by a larger fish it at once inflates\n itself in its enemy\u2019s throat, who has either to expel it or choke.\n]\n\nAt flood times fences are built across the smaller creeks and streams.\nThese fences are so closely woven that none but the smallest fish can\npass. As soon as the water falls, which it generally does in six or\neight weeks, those who built the fences go and search the shallow water\nand mud for any fish that may have been shut in the trap. In this way\nlarge quantities of various kinds of fish are caught, which, being\ncleaned and thoroughly dried in the smoke over a slow fire, help them\nmuch by rendering their sour cassava more palatable. During the time\nthat the river is subsiding the people catch snails, and cut them up to\nfeed the fish in these creek traps, and also in any ponds and pools left\non the islands by the receding river. At flood time many of the islands\nare one and two feet under water, and as the river goes down large pools\nare left in the hollows. These are claimed by those people who, as the\nwater shallows, fatten the fish with snails and cassava parings, and in\ndue time they bail the remaining water out of these pools and catch the\ngasping fish left on the muddy bottom. The mud-fish and siluroids are\ncaught in large quantities in these pools and ponds. Both these modes of\nfishing are common to the whole river above Stanley Pool.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _By permission: Mus\u00e9e du Congo Belge_\n GNATHONEMUS NUMENIUS\n This curious fish, with a proboscis like an elephant\u2019s, is to be found\n on the Upper Congo. The long snout is used for searching for snails,\n worms, and insects in the mud. The eyes are protected by a\n transparent covering.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A LONG FISH-TRAP\n The mouth is put up-river, and partitions in it are so arranged that\n fish can enter, but cannot get out. See page 241.\n]\n\n(3) On the Upper Congo, where the water is shallow and the banks slope\ngradually and regularly, the natives select a suitable place and drive\nin a number of wooden stakes forming a large semicircle, the ends of\nwhich touch the bank at from 15 to 20 yards from each other. They then\nfasten long bamboo nets to the stakes, thus enclosing a large sheet of\nwater. A large number of light branches and leaves are loosely thrown\nover the surface of the enclosed water; the up-river end of this\nfish-trap is left open for the fish to pass in where they find shade.\nSnails and cassava parings are cut up and thrown in to fatten the fish\nand induce them to stay. As the river rises more branches are thrown on\nthe enclosed water, and the fish gliding along the bank enter, and are\ncharmed by the cool shade and food they find there.\n\nAs soon as the river begins to fall below the top of the net the opening\nis shut. At this stage the natives frequently spear fish by probing with\ntheir fish-spears among the branches and grass inside the trap. In a few\nweeks the river falls, and the branches are carefully removed, and a\nnumber of women and boys and girls enter the water with cone-shaped\nbaskets about 2 feet high, 18 inches in diameter at the mouth, and an\n8-inch opening at the top. These baskets they lift up and down in the\nwater, placing the bottom firmly each time on the river-bed, and from\nthe feel they can tell whether a fish is enclosed or not. They catch\nfish frequently in this way, and then they put their hand through the\ntop opening and grip it. If the fish is too large for that, then a spear\nis passed through and the fish pinned to the ground. See page 239.\n\nAround the outside of the fence will be a number of canoes, occupied by\nmen and lads fishing with large string nets fastened to stout canes of\ncalamus palms. With these they spoon the water and often bring up a\nfish. After a time the large bamboo-net fence is slowly pulled up the\nsloping bank, sweeping before it and enclosing in its narrowing space\nany fish that may have escaped the spears, nets, and traps, until it is\ndrawn right up the bank. The whole scene is very animated, men and\nwomen, boys and girls\u2014a score or more of them\u2014laughing, jesting, joking\nmost noisily, splashing each other, scrambling, swimming, kicking,\nfighting, and diving in their efforts to catch the fish they feel\ngliding between their legs or slipping through their fingers. Many go as\nmuch for the fun as for the fish.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n See page 241.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n See page 238.\n]\n\n(4) Fish-hooks, probably first introduced by white men, are in general\nuse all along the river. The hook is baited with cassava, or earth\nworms, or the entrails of fowls. It is thrown into the river to lie on\nthe bottom until it is found and swallowed by a hungry fish. I have seen\na fish weighing 20 pounds caught in this way. The end of the line is a\nrunning noose placed round the angler\u2019s wrist. I once saw a boy about 14\nyears old jerked off the bank into the river by a fish that had\nswallowed his hook, and then in fright had suddenly started off. The\nboy, taken by surprise, lost his balance and toppled into the river; he\nand his fish, however, were soon pulled out.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n ANCHORED FLOAT WITH BAITED HOOK\n]\n\nThe following is another mode of using the fish-hook: A crescent-shaped\nfloat of light wood (generally ambash) is prepared, and a cord is fixed\nacross from horn to horn; from this cord hangs a string with the baited\nhook at the end. This float has a heavy stone fastened to it at the end\nof a long cord. The fisherman goes into the middle of the river, drops\nthe stone anchor (to keep the float from being carried away by the\ncurrent), arranges the float and hook, and returns to land in his canoe.\nAs long as he sees the horns of his float above water he knows that no\nfish is on the hook. When a fish takes the bait and swallows the hook,\nit overturns the float in its attempts to escape, and when the fisherman\nsees the rounded bottom of his float above water he knows that a fish is\ncaught on the hook. I have seen fish weighing close on 40 pounds caught\nby this ingenious method.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n SINGLE AND DOUBLE FISH TRAPS\n See pages 241-2\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n FISH SPEAR WITH DETACHABLE HEAD\n]\n\nThroughout the whole length of the river the natives use large\ncone-shaped traps made of split canes and bamboos. These traps vary in\nsize from 6 feet to 12 feet in length, and from 2 feet to 7 feet in\ndiameter at the mouth. The sides run straight for two-thirds of the\nlength, and then taper off to a point. Inside are several partitions\nrunning in semicircles and at an obtuse angle to the sides, so that it\nis easy for the fish to enter; but if they try to escape, the sharp,\nirregular ends of the canes forming the partitions probe them, and\neffectually turn them back. These large basket-like traps are weighted\nand dropped into deep water with their mouths upstream. Some have only\none smaller circle of canes arranged inside a larger. There is also\nanother trap having the same diameter for its whole length, and a mouth\nat each end with a smaller cone-shaped partition arranged in each\nopening, so that fish coming from opposite directions can enter.\n\nFish-spears are of different shapes, but their hafts are always\nlong\u2014from 10 to 12 feet\u2014and tapered towards the end. Sometimes the\nhandles are of sticks, and sometimes of bamboos. The fish-spear is often\na simple prong, sometimes an ordinary spear shape, but the commonest\nform is the barbed\u2014single, or double, or triple. The two former are\nalways tightly fixed in their handles, but the barbed kind is always\ndetachable, having two or three yards of string loosely wound round the\nhandle near to the spear-head. This allows the barbed head of the spear\nto remain in the fish, and the handle to float and show its whereabouts.\nI think the only reason for this difference is that the barbed\nspear-heads are scarce and costly, and on account of the detachable\nhandles they are not so likely to lose them.\n\nFish poisons are used. One was the milky juice of a leguminous, hairy\nplant, called _botoko_ (probably _Tephrosia toxifera_), which was\ncrushed and thrown into the streamlets and creeks and has the effect of\npartially stupefying the fish. The other was the juice of the Euphorbia,\nnamed by the natives _kokotulu_.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _By permission: Mus\u00e9e du Congo Belge_\n GENYOMYRUS DONNYI\n This remarkable fish is to be seen in different parts of the Upper\n Congo. It feeds on molluscs, worms, and maggots. Its eyes are\n protected by a transparent covering which permits it to probe among\n heaps of river refuse.\n]\n\n(5) The Libinza people, to whom I have referred several times, make the\nlargest nets, and fish in a more business-like way than any tribe I have\nseen on the Upper Congo. These nets are of a large mesh, and are made\nentirely of native string. In shape the net is like a box without a lid.\nIt is 15 feet long, about 8 feet wide, and from 3 to 4 feet deep.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _By permission: Mus\u00e9e du Congo Belge_\n PROTOPTERUS DOLLOI\n The mud-fish\u2014partly fish, partly reptile, with its rudimentary fins,\n breathes by gills and lives like a fish when there is plenty of\n water in the creeks and river; but when the river subsides it\n burrows in the mud, which soon bakes into a hard cake, and there the\n mud-fish passes the dry season rolled up and in a torpid condition.\n]\n\nThis is a fair average size; there are many larger than this, and some\nsmaller.\n\nSoon after dark the Libinza fishermen select a suitable place\u2014a sandbank\nwith three or four feet of water on it. The net is fixed by one end and\nthe two sides, being tied to stakes driven in the sand; the other end\nwas allowed to lie on the bottom of the river. Having fastened the net,\nthey form a wide semicircle at some distance from the loose end of their\nnet, and at a signal they begin to beat the water with their hands and\nfeet, gradually working up to the open end and driving the startled fish\nbefore them. This operation is frequently repeated through the night,\nand as a result large quantities of all kinds of fish are brought to the\ntown next morning. For this kind of fishing the river must be fairly\nshallow.\n\n(6) The Basoko people have another mode of fishing by means of a string\nnet 30 feet long and 5 feet high. The two ends are fixed to sticks;\nalong the upper edge of the net were floats of pith-wood, and along the\nbottom edge were weights of burnt fire-clay. The men go out in a canoe,\nand at a likely place the net is unrolled, and one man slips over the\nside of the canoe with one end of the net which, by means of the stick,\nhe fastens upright in the bed of the river; the other man then jumps\ninto the river with his end of the net and makes a wide detour\u2014the\nfloats buoying up one edge and the weights sinking the other. The second\nman having made as wide a detour as the length of the net permits,\nsweeps round the fixed end and winds the net closely round and round,\nentangling in its meshes any fish caught inside the circle of its sweep.\nI have seen many fish caught in this manner.\n\n(7) The Bopoto people have another mode, which appears more clumsy than\nit really is. A light frame of poles about 8 or 9 feet square is covered\nwith a fine mat of bamboo laths closely woven together. One side of this\nframe is hinged to the side of the canoe so that it moves freely. The\ntwo upper corners of the frame have ropes attached to them. The two\nfishermen hold the frame upright while a third paddles them into\nmid-stream; then the frame is lowered by the ropes until the top end is\n12 or 14 inches under the water, and the canoe is then allowed to drift\nwith the current. By and by a fish swims over the submerged net, and the\nmen, who are watching, pull quickly at their ropes, up comes the net,\nand down tumbles the fish into the canoe.\n\nIt is a curious fact that one tribe never imitates another in its\nprincipal mode of fishing. I have seen an Upper River native make and\nuse a cast net such as he had seen the Accra carpenters use; but I never\nsaw a man of one tribe imitate a man of a neighbouring tribe in his\npeculiar mode of fishing. They have traps common to all, but each tribe\nhas its own principal mode peculiar to itself. I have twitted a native\nof Monsembe about not following, or even trying, the successful mode of\nfishing pursued by the Libinza people, and he has replied: \u201cWe could not\ncatch fish like them even if we tried; that is their way, and we have\nours.\u201d\n\nFishermen while making their traps (_moleke_) are prohibited from all\nintercourse with women, and this prohibition continues until the trap\nhas caught some fish and the said fish has been eaten, otherwise they\nwill have no luck in fishing. This abstinence may last some few weeks,\nor only a few days. The Boloki folk in the old days often threw old men\nor women into the river to appease the water-spirits (_mingoli_), that\nthey might be more successful in fishing.\n\nWhile a man is fishing, and immediately on his return from fishing, he\nis called _mwele_, no matter who he may be. The river is supposed to be\nfull of spirits, and if these hear the proper names of the fishermen\nthey can so work against them that they will catch little or no fish,\nconsequently the fishermen desire to hide their identity under the\ngeneral name of _mwele_.\n\nAgain, when a man lands with his fish the buyer must not address him by\nhis proper name, but as _mwele_, or the spirits will hear it, and either\nmark him as one against whom they will exercise their influence another\ntime, or they will impoverish the fish just caught, so that the man\u2019s\nchances of a good price will be lost. Hence the fisherman can make the\nperson who breaks this rule either pay him heavy damages, or compel him\nto sell the fish in the village at a good price and thus restore his\nluck.\n\nThe first-fruits of a lad\u2019s fishing are given to his nearest relatives.\nWhen this is not possible, then other fish are given later on. Very\noften a share of the first catch of every season is similarly given to\nthe parents or nearest relatives. A part of the fish caught is given to\nthe head-man of the town to which the fisherman belongs. This was\nregarded as one of the perquisites of his position, and the\nnon-observance of custom is bitterly resented.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII\n\n RELIGIOUS BELIEFS\n\nIdeas of a Supreme Being\u2014His various names\u2014Views of the spirit\n life\u2014Fetishism\u2014Medicine men and spirits\u2014Black and white magic\u2014Origin\n of the term fetish\u2014Native crusade against fetishes\u2014Bundle of\n charms\u2014Its contents\u2014Sacrifices to fetishes\u2014Rise and fall of\n witch-doctors\u2014An attempt to define fetishism\u2014Natives very religious.\n\n\nWe have found a vague knowledge of a Supreme Being, and a belief in Him,\nvery general among those tribes on the Congo with which we have come\ninto contact. In each case the natives\u2019 ideas of the Supreme Being were\ngathered and noted long before our teaching had influenced their views\nor increased their knowledge concerning Him. Before we could preach our\nviews we had to learn their language, and while learning their language\nwe necessarily received\u2014in the definitions of the words we were learning\nfrom them\u2014their ideas of that great Being who created the world. We\nfound their knowledge of Him was scarcely more than nominal, and no\nworship was ever paid to Him.\n\nOn the Lower Congo He is called _Nzambi_, or by His fuller title _Nzambi\na mpungu_; no satisfactory root word has yet been found for _Nzambi_,\nbut for _mpungu_ there are sayings and proverbs that clearly indicate\nits meaning as, most of all, supreme, highest, and _Nzambi a mpungu_ as\nthe Being most High, or Supreme.\n\nOn the Upper Congo among the Bobangi folk the word used for the Supreme\nBeing is _Nyambe_; among the Lulanga people, _Nzakomba_; among the\nBoloki, _Njambe_; among the Bopoto people it is _Libanza_, which word is\nalso well known among the Boloki people, and was probably introduced by\nslaves from Bopoto. At Yakusu, near Stanley Falls, the word used is\n_Mungu_, which is a shortened form of the Swahili word _muungu_, and\nthis may contain the root of the Lower Congo word _mpungu_. It is\ninteresting to note that the most common name for the Supreme Being on\nthe Congo is also known, in one form or another, over an extensive area\nof Africa reaching from 6\u00b0 north of the Equator away to extreme South\nAfrica; as, for example, among the Ashanti it is _Onyame_, at Gaboon it\nis _Anyambie_, and two thousand miles away among the Barotse folk it is\n_Niambe_.\n\nThese are the names that stand for a Being who is endowed with strength,\nwealth, and wisdom by the natives; and He is also regarded and spoken of\nby them as the principal Creator of the world, and the Maker of all\nthings. Some think Him so perfect in all His works that semi-sane\npeople, crooked sticks, and deformed persons and animals are placed to\nthe credit of a subordinate divinity\u2014a demiurge called _Kombu_.\n\nBut the Supreme Being is believed by the natives to have withdrawn\nHimself to a great distance after performing His creative works; that He\nhas now little or no concern in mundane affairs; and apparently no power\nover spirits and no control over the lives of men, either to protect\nthem from malignant spirits or to help them by averting danger. They\nalso consider the Supreme Being (_Nzambi_) as being so good and kind\nthat there is no need to appease Him by rites, ceremonies, or\nsacrifices. Hence they never pray to this Supreme One, they never\nworship Him, or think of Him as being interested in the doings of the\nworld and its peoples.\n\nDuring the whole thirty years of my life in various parts of the Congo I\nhave heard the name of the Deity used in the following four ways only:\nAmong the Lower Congo people, when they desire to emphasize a statement\nor vouch for the truthfulness of their words, they use the name in an\noath. When in extreme trouble they cry out: \u201cI wish _Nzambi_ had never\nmade me!\u201d or when in great distress: \u201c_Nzambi_, pity me!\u201d Also on the\nLower Congo there is the phrase _lufwa lua Nzambi_ = death by God, i.e.\na natural death as distinctive from death by witchcraft; but this view\nof death is not so frequently heard on the Lower Congo as among the\nBoloki people, where _awi na Njambe_ = he died by God, i.e. there is no\nwitchcraft about the death of the deceased, nor anything pointing to\nwitchcraft about the accident that caused the death, is often heard.\nThese are the only phrases which suppose that the Supreme Being has\nanything to do with the world. They are generally employed in the case\nof poor folk when they die, as no one wants the trouble and expense of\nengaging a witch-doctor to seek out the witch.\n\nAbout four years ago I asked a most intelligent native, whose age was\nabout 45, if he could recall any prayer that was offered to the Supreme\nBeing (_Nzambi_) by his family or any natives before the coming of the\nmissionaries. He sat quietly for a few minutes and then answered: \u201cNo,\nbut a woman in great distress would say, \u2018_Nzambi_, pity me,\u2019 not\nbecause she thought she would receive pity, for we all believed _Nzambi_\nwas too far away to hear us or think of us, but because it was a saying\namongst us for such times of distress.\u201d\n\nAmong the Lower Congo people the belief exists that when there is a halo\nround the moon it is a sign that the Supreme Being is there confirming\nthe residence in that cool place\u2014hence state of happiness of some\nspirits which have just arrived; and when the halo is round the sun,\nthen those who have recently lost relatives or friends by death will\ntremble and wail, because that halo round the sun is an indication to\nthem that the Supreme Being (_Nzambi_) is there confirming the\npunishment that has consigned the late departed to the hot place\u2014hence\nstate of unhappiness. There is a proverb that shows the lastingness of\nthis punishment: \u201cThe bad people are tortured like a locust on the\nburning grass; it wants to die, but is kept alive.\u201d These comprise the\nonly ideas concerning the Supreme Being that I have ever heard\nexpressed, either on the Lower Congo or among the Boloki natives.\n\nOn the other hand, there is a seeming contradiction of the moon and sun\ntheory, as stated in the preceding paragraph, by another belief extant\namong the Lower Congo people, viz. that all the souls of the departed go\nto a great spirit-town in the forest, and that is the reason why burials\ntake place at sunset. The natives argue thus: During the day folk go to\nfarms, to market, to work in the forests, etc., and the town is left\nempty; in the evening the inhabitants have returned from their different\noccupations, and are ready to accord a welcome to any visitor; thus also\nthe spirit-town: all the spirits are away at their different employments\nand do not return until the evening, and if the deceased were buried\nduring the morning or early afternoon there would be no one in the town\nto welcome him. These differing beliefs appear to be co-existent, and\nthe natives, if they perceive their inconsistency, have not offered any\nexplanation. I once pointed out the contradictory nature of these\nbeliefs to a smart native with whom I was conversing on the subject, and\nhis reply was: \u201cSome believe one thing, some believe the other, and some\npeople believe both.\u201d\n\nAmong the Boloki people there is a general and firm belief in a\nspirit-world, or nether region (called _longa_). It is supposed to be\nsomewhere down below. From many natives I have received the same\ndirection, always accompanied by the same action and words, viz. they\nhave pointed with their fingers to the ground, saying, \u201cIt is down\nunderneath there.\u201d In the nether regions the conditions of existence\nappear to be similar to those in the villages and town, with this\nexception, that a man may be too high in the social scale to be punished\non earth, but he cannot escape punishment in the nether regions for the\ndisagreeable qualities he has exhibited on earth. Within a few hours of\nan unpopular head-man\u2019s death, I have heard the ordinary natives\nlaughingly say to one another as they have snapped their fingers in\nglee: \u201cHe is being punished now.\u201d Who allotted the punishment and saw to\nits infliction I could never ascertain. Juries of head-men on earth sat\nto decide difficult cases; and it may be that they thought juries in the\nnether region sat on cases and allotted the necessary punishment.\n\nThe firing of guns, shouting, wailing, beating of drums and such noises\nare heard in the nether regions, and give notice to the inhabitants\nthere of the approach of another disembodied spirit. The louder the\nnoise the greater is the expectation of those in the spirit-land of\nseeing a great man arrive. The spirits of the departed wait about the\nentrance to the nether regions to greet the one about whose departure\nfor their abode so much fuss is being made.\n\nThe soul of a living person is called _elimo_, but on the person\u2019s death\nhis soul becomes a disembodied spirit named _mongoli_; and the Boloki\nspirits after sojourning for a time in the nether regions leave that\nplace and wander about the rivers and creeks, doing all the harm they\ncan to the living by flooding their villages and keeping the fish from\nentering the nets and traps. The spirits of the Bomuna people, and of\nthe bush-people generally, are supposed to roam about the forests,\nturning the animals from the traps and nets set to snare them, not to\nsave them from death, but to show their hatred of the folk living in the\ntowns.\n\nAre these disembodied spirits turned out of the spirit-land as a\npunishment? Natives believe that the spirits of bad men are punished in\nthe nether region\u2014by bad they mean a disagreeable, unsociable,\ndisobliging, greedy, rude, discourteous person. The ghost of such a one\nwill return to trouble his whilom neighbours, and it is against his\ndisagreeable qualities as a man that they have to guard now that he is a\nspirit. There are many stories about the doings of the disembodied\nspirits\u2014their tricks and their mode of revenge\u2014which will be related in\nsubsequent chapters. The foregoing paragraphs give, I trust, a clear\nstatement of the natives\u2019 ideas of the Supreme Being and their views of\nexistence after death, so far as I have been able to collect their\nthoughts and beliefs during a long and intimate intercourse with the\npeople.\n\nWe now come to a larger subject\u2014larger because it holds a more important\nplace in the life and thought of the native\u2014I refer to fetishism. If\nfetishism is a form of religion, then the Boloki people, like all other\ntribes on the Congo, are a very religious folk. In obedience to fetish\ntaboo and custom they exhibit a devotion and persistency worthy of a\nbetter cause; in subjection to the demands of their witch-doctors they\ncut themselves, deny themselves many kinds of pleasant food, and pay\nheavy fees, even to the impoverishment of themselves and families. But\nall this is done through their abject fear of the various malignant\nspirits who, so their medicine men inform them, have power over them for\nthe time being. It may be one spirit to-day and an entirely different\none next month, according to the sickness, misfortune, or particular\nkind of bad luck from which the man is suffering; or a man may for\ntwenty years possess good health and good fortune, and consequently he\nwill need neither the medicine man nor his rites and ceremonies; or it\nmay be that a man thinks \u201cprevention is better than cure,\u201d and in such a\ncase he will fee the medicine men to appease on his behalf such evil\nspirits over whom they profess to exercise control, or to prepare for\nhim certain charms to destroy their wicked designs.\n\nNo single witch-doctor pretends to control all the evil spirits, or\nconfer immunity from all diseases, or remove all misfortunes, or impart\nevery kind of good luck. Hence on the Lower Congo there are about fifty\ndifferent kinds of medicine men,[32] and among the Boloki some eighteen\nvarieties of them, each supreme in his own particular branch. The order\nis not confined to men only, for many women are to be found in its\nranks. Some medicine men are supposed to be stronger than others, and,\ncontrolling more powerful spirits, they either avert greater evils or\nconfer larger benefits, and consequently receive more respect and richer\nfees for their services.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n See _Folk-Lore_ for Dec. 31st, 1910, p. 447, for a complete list of\n Lower Congo medicine men and their various functions written by the\n author.\n\nIt is a misrepresentation to depict the Congo native as \u201cbowing down to\nwood and stone.\u201d He never worships his fetishes; he exhorts them to do\nhis bidding; he commands them to do that for which they were made, and\nhe is not backward in arousing them to alertness by whistles and\nexplosions of gunpowder, or to activity by whacking them with a stick.\n\nNo native of any tribe I have met ever assigned creative powers to his\nfetishes, or respected them as the representatives of a deity. The\nfetishes were made yesterday at his bidding and expense by the\nwitch-doctor, and to-morrow, if they fail in their purpose, they will be\nconsigned to the rubbish heap, or left neglected on some shelf in his\nhouse. The native lives and moves, so he believes, surrounded by evil\nspirits which, on account of their own malignant natures or at the\ninstigation of his enemies, are constantly trying to work him harm, and\nthe only means known to him of counteracting the evil, or of appeasing\nthe malignant power, is the medicine man with his powerful fetishes,\ncharms, and ceremonies.\n\nThere are two phrases that contain the whole theory and practice of the\nCongo medicine man\u2019s black and white magic. By the black magic he\nprofesses to incite an evil spirit by means of a fetish to inflict a\nsickness or some other misfortune on an enemy; and by white magic, to\nappease the evil spirit through the medium of the fetish, so that the\nsickness or bad luck shall be removed from one\u2019s self or one\u2019s family\nand friends. The same medicine man uses the same fetish to curse a man\nwith disease, or to cure the man so cursed, hence he often draws fees\nfrom both parties.\n\nTo curse a person by the aid of a fetish is called _loka e nkisi_. The\nfetish is beaten with a stick, informed what it is to do, and then hung\nup outside the invoker\u2019s house, and the spirit of the fetish flies off\nto obey its orders. This is the simple _modus operandi_ followed by all\nthe witch-doctors on the Lower Congo, who invoke their fetishes to\nemploy their various powers against the enemies of their clients.\n\nTo soothe and appease the spirit of the fetish so that it will remove\nthe curse from working by so conciliating the fetish power, or the\nspirit the fetish is supposed to control, that it will work for the\nmedicine man\u2019s client and not against him, is called _lembola e nkisi_\n(= to soften, tame a fetish), and the ceremony is as varied as there are\nmedicine men, for each branch of the profession has its own special\nrites to observe.\n\nNow fetishes on the Lower Congo are either images, bundles, or large\nhorns, and these as a rule are owned by the medicine men. Smaller\nfetishes and charms are made by them for various purposes and sold to\nthe natives. Sometimes a wealthy man will buy a powerful fetish and use\nits power entirely for himself; at times a poorer man will pay a good\nfee to a medicine man to borrow his fetish, or the rich man\u2019s fetish for\none or two days, so that he may have the entire attention of the spirit\nit controls. A rich man will sometimes buy a powerful fetish as a\nspeculation, and make a good profit by hiring it out for a fee, and the\npoorer man will pay the fee, hoping to reap good results to his bodily\nhealth or to his prosperity by having the undivided interest of the\nfetish at his service.\n\nThe term fetish comes from the Portuguese word _feiti\u00e7o_, and the early\nnavigators of the West African Coast were Portuguese, who carried with\nthem amulets and charms, i.e. _feiti\u00e7os_, in the form of crosses, beads,\nimages, etc., that had been blessed by their priests. And when these\nancient navigators saw the natives wearing shells filled with some\nmixture, or displaying on their persons some articles with which they\nwere unwilling to part even for costly gifts, what was more natural for\nthem than to regard such objects as something akin to their own\n_feiti\u00e7os_? And \u201cas they discovered no other traces of religious worship\nthey concluded that this outward show of regard for these _feiti\u00e7os_\nconstituted the whole of the negro worship.\u201d[33]\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n I am indebted to F. Max M\u00fcller for much in this paragraph. See\n _Hibbert Lectures_, p. 61. 1878.\n\nThe native word on the Lower Congo for fetish (_nkisi_), and among the\nBoloki (_bonganga_), means an image, a horn, a shell, a saucepan, etc.,\nand, in fact, anything into which a medicine man has put a part of his\n\u201cmedicine\u201d from his store bundle; and it is not an effective fetish\nuntil it has been through the hands of the medicine man and received its\npower from him. No one witch-doctor makes all the fetishes, but every\none has his own speciality, in the making of which he is accounted an\nexpert.\n\nOn the Lower Congo the native offers periodic sacrifices to his fetish\nto keep it in a good humour, otherwise through sulkiness it may refuse\nto help him; or he returns it to a medicine man to renew its energies\nwhen it proves too weak for his purpose; he explodes gunpowder around it\nto arouse it to proper alertness that it may attend to its owner\u2019s\naffairs; or he beats it to make it subservient to his wishes, but he\nnever worships it, nor does he ever pay homage to it. Among the Boloki\nsugar-cane wine is poured over the fetish to render it amenable to its\nowner\u2019s wishes, and it is threatened if it does not act quickly on its\nowner\u2019s behalf; and while the Boloki fears his fetish in a way, yet he\nnever worships it.\n\n\u201cAbout 1872 some natives of Loanda came through the country preaching a\ncrusade against fetishes of all kinds, inducing the natives in town\nafter town to destroy all their fetishes, assuring them that since death\nand sickness came by the exercise of the black art, which everyone fully\nbelieves, if then every fetish were destroyed and no more made there\nwould be no more suffering and death. Far and wide the most strenuous\nefforts were made to accomplish the destruction of _all_ fetishes to\nthat happy end.\u201d[34] In 1909 a man with whom I was conversing told me\nthat he as a child was shaken over the fire during this campaign to\ndestroy any fetishes he had about his person. He well remembered this\ncrusade against fetishes, and said that when the people became ill and\ndied as usual, the originators of it said: \u201cIt is because some of the\npeople have not destroyed all their fetishes.\u201d\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n See Dr. Bentley\u2019s Appendix to the _Dictionary and Grammar of the Congo\n Language_, 1895, on p. 849, under the word _Kiyoka_.\n\nOn the Lower Congo every witch-doctor has a bundle of medicines or\ncharms (called _ebunda dia mfula_) which is the source of his power and\nthe spring from which he draws his supplies for making his own great\nfetish, and the charms, amulets, and minor fetishes for his clients.\nThis bundle is a conglomeration of powdered chalk, crushed red pepper,\nwood ashes, bits of the skins of strong animals, claws and beaks of\nstrong birds, heads of snakes, poisonous plants and beans, various\nherbs, and any other mess the medicine man can collect together. A\nportion of this bundle is put into the head of the fetish image (and\nsometimes into the stomach), and becomes the brains, intelligence\n(_nkinda_) of the fetish.\n\nWhen a medicine man uses his fetish on behalf of a client, he takes a\nlittle of the bundle and puts it into a horn or shell and ties it round\nhis patient\u2019s neck, telling him that while wearing it he must not eat\nthis or that article of diet, or he must not do certain things. In due\ntime the medicine man goes to receive his fee, and on receipt of it he\nremoves the special charm from the neck of his patient, and at the same\ntime takes off the taboo. If the person does not pay, then the medicine\nman leaves him under the taboo, and perhaps adds others. The Congo\nmedicine man never has any bad debts.\n\nNo native thinks the fetish he uses is possessed of divine power, nor\ndoes it represent a deity to him, and he uses no language about it that\nwould lead one to suppose that for a moment he in his own mind invests\nit with divinity. What is the fetish to him? It is something in which a\nportion of the _mfula_ bundle has been put which has imparted to it its\nown mysterious power\u2014to him any portion of the bundle contains the power\nof the whole.\n\nWhat then is the bundle? It is composed of the skins of strong animals\nwhich are thereby represented, and their combined strength is conserved\nin it; there are pieces of the skins of cunning animals, and their\nunited craftiness and cuteness are imparted to it; there are portions of\nstrong, swift birds that sail on tireless wings through the air, and\nthey give to it their power of flight; there are various poisonous\nplants and beans that lend their qualities of harming the human body\nwhen used against the enemy of a client; there are beneficial herbs and\npowders that are supposed to cure the person who uses it for his\nrecovery from a disease; and there is generally powdered chalk,\nsymbolical of brain matter, that gives intelligence to the whole mass. I\ndo not think the native mind goes farther back than the _bundle_, which\ncontains for him representations of all those qualities that he fears\nand admires, and whose combined forces overawe him. And should he go\nbeyond that bundle it is only to the animals\u2014the lion, the leopard,\netc., whom he fears; the eagle, the hawk, and the falcon whom he admires\nand wonders at for their flight through space; and to those plants and\nherbs whose mysterious powers he dreads.\n\nThe native supposes that the medicine men have some occult method of so\nmixing these qualities and forces together in the bundle that they\nbecome active agents in flying through the air and seeking out the\nenemies of their clients, or of destroying those who are bewitching\nthem, or of curing those who seek their aid. All the medicine men do not\nhave all the skins, powders, herbs, etc., in their charm bundles, but\neach procures what he thinks will make the desired combination for his\npurpose. It is quite probable that the medicine men and the more\nintelligent natives believe that by mixing the skins, plants, chalk,\netc., in different ways they induce different spirits to take up their\nabode in the various fetishes, because they like the mixture prepared\nfor them, and in thus taking up their residence in them, or being\ninfluenced by them, the medicine men gain power over them.\n\nThis view is supported by the following considerations: The fetish when\nfirst made is only a piece of wood and can be bought for a few pence;\nbut after the witch-doctor has put a portion of the charm bundle into it\nthe price for it is considerable\u2014from a few shillings to a few\npounds\u2014according to what it is expected to do. Sacrifices are offered,\nnot to the piece of wood, but to the spirit now dwelling in it, or over\nwhich the charms in it have some influence. These sacrifices range from\nan occasional drop of blood from a frog\u2019s foot to a goat every new moon,\nthe blood of which is poured over the fetish, and the flesh of the\nsacrificial goat must not be sold, but eaten by the sacrificer and his\nfamily and friends\u2014the larger the benefits expected, the more costly and\nregular the sacrifice. The sacrifices are to keep the spirits in good\nhumour. The portion of the bundle put into the fetish is after a time\nplayed out, becomes stale, and loses its power of attracting the spirit\nto it, i.e. the fetish becomes ineffective, so the owner of it takes it\nto a medicine man to have it refreshed by renewing the charms from the\nbundle; and then if it is still inactive, i.e., if the owner\u2019s luck is\nstill bad, or his health continues unsatisfactory, he throws the fetish\non one side and tries the fetish of another branch of the profession,\nthinking that the former\u2019s mixture of ingredients has no further power\nto attract the spirit to his fetish, or the fetish does not influence\nthe particular spirit that is able to help him.\n\nThe Boloki medicine men have a \u201cbag of tricks\u201d made of very similar\ningredients to the charm bundle, and regarded in much the same way. The\nonly difference being that on the Lower Congo the witch-doctors largely\nuse images (called _teke_[35]) into which they put the portions of the\nbundle, while among the Boloki the fetish power is imparted to any\narticle that comes conveniently to hand. During fifteen years\u2019 residence\namong the Boloki people I saw only two very crudely made images in use\n(they are now in Horniman\u2019s Museum), and those I bought easily for a few\nbrass rods, showing that they valued them very lightly as receptacles\nfor fetish power.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n The Kiteke people are experts in carving figures of men and women, and\n many of the images so frequently found years ago on the Lower Congo\n received the name _teke_ for that reason. The Bakongo also make their\n own images, but they are cruder than the Kiteke ones.\n\nAs already stated, there are nearly fifty different kinds of medicine\nmen on the Lower Congo, and about eighteen among the Boloki. It is not\nto be thought for a moment that all these medicine men sprang\nsimultaneously into existence, or that they are the product of only one\ntribe; they are undoubtedly the evolution of many generations, and a\nfree appropriation from neighbouring tribes of fetish ceremonies, etc.,\nthat appealed to them through being made widely known by some famous\nmedicine man of the time. The Congo native has always been ready to try\na new fetish, hoping thereby to gain some advantage to his fortune and\nhealth.\n\nThe following is probably the rise of many branches of the medicine\nman\u2019s profession now, or recently, in vogue: A quick-witted, observant\nman noticed that a certain herb, or a certain mode of procedure, such as\nmassage or inducing perspiration by steaming, was beneficial to a\npatient suffering from a certain disease. If he had given the herb in a\nsimple way without any hanky-panky, or had done a little medical rubbing\nwithout any ceremonies, or had given a vapour bath without ostentatious\nand mysterious rites, the natives would not have regarded him as a _bona\nfide_ medicine man, and he would have procured very little business. In\norder to protect his discovery and to draw patients he surrounded it\nwith the hocus-pocus of fetish rites and ceremonies, and thus started a\nnew class of \u201cdoctors\u201d that had its day. It is more than probable that\nmany medicine men and their fetishes have risen in power, have had wide\nfame and much popular support, have then fallen into disrepute and have\nbeen abandoned in favour of new ones; and, if the truth were known, as\nmany if not more kinds of medicine men have been forgotten than are now\nremembered.\n\nThe following is an account of the rise and fall of one fetish order in\nvery recent years: A few years ago a medicine man appeared in Portuguese\nCongo with a new fetish called _nkisi a kiniambe_ = the divine fetish.\nThe witch-doctor and his fetish with its high-sounding name visited all\nthe towns round about San Salvador. The ceremony was a form of communion\nprepared with small slices of cassava, pea nuts, and palm-wine. The\nrecipient had first to pay one string of beads for a child and five\nstrings for an adult, and he or she confessed all their witchcraft\npalavers, i.e. all the evil desires they had in their hearts, for the\nsickness or death of anyone. After this confession the medicine man gave\nthem a piece of cassava, a pea nut, and drop of palm-wine, and he also\ngave them a promise that they should never die. When, however, the\nrecipients died the witch-doctor said it was because they had not made a\nfull confession of their witchcraft. He and his accomplices reaped a\nlarge sum of money from the natives\u2019 fear of death and the promise of\nimmunity from it; but the medicine man promised too much, and\nconsequently his fetish was soon in disrepute and quickly neglected.\n\nWhile we find a dim knowledge of a Supreme Being among all the Congo\ntribes, we also find co-extensive with it an elaborate system of\nfetishism, which I would define as those means employed by the Congo\nnatives for influencing the various spirits by which they believe\nthemselves to be surrounded, either to act on their own behalf by giving\nthem good luck and good health, or to act against their enemies by\nsending them misfortune, sickness, or death. Their system of belief has\nits basis in their fear of those numerous invisible spirits\u2014invisible to\nthe ordinary man, but not to the medicine man\u2014which are constantly\ntrying to compass their sickness, misfortune, and death; and the\nBoloki\u2019s sole object\u2014and the same may be written of his near and distant\nneighbours on the Congo\u2014is to cajole or appease, to cheat or conquer,\nand even destroy the troublesome spirits, hence their witch-doctors with\ntheir fetishes, their rites, and ceremonies. If there were no spirits to\nbe circumvented there would be no need of medicine men as middlemen, and\nno need of fetishes as mediums for getting into touch with the spirits.\n\nTheologically speaking, the Congo natives are utterly void of religion,\nfor they neither worship the Supreme Being nor their fetishes as\nrepresenting a deity; but if \u201cthe belief in and a measure of obedience\nto a potent being or beings not ourselves is an early minimum of\nreligion,\u201d[36] then the Congo folk are very religious, for they\ncarefully obey the taboos put on them by their witch-doctors in the name\nof their fetishes; they invoke the power of the spirits by exploding\ngunpowder around their fetishes, and by whistling to them and beating\nthem; they try to appease them by frequent sacrifices; and they have\ndances about some of the fetishes, during which they call upon them, or\nthe spirits they influence, to protect their fighting-men and destroy\ntheir enemies.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n See Mr. Andrew Lang in _Folk-Lore_ for December, 1911, p. 412.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX\n\n THE BOLOKI WORLD OF SPIRITS\n\nSurrounded by spirits\u2014The soul leaves the body\u2014Dreams\u2014Bewitching\n folk\u2014Losing one\u2019s shadow\u2014Disembodied spirits or ghosts\u2014Ghosts enter\n animals\u2014Deceiving the ghosts\u2014Spirits of disease\u2014Spirit of\n wealth\u2014Spirits of crocodiles\u2014Leopards\u2014Spirits of unborn\n babes\u2014Monsters on the islands\u2014Forest sprites\u2014Cloud-land folk\u2014Spirits\n in spears\u2014In canoes\u2014In trees.\n\n\nThe Boloki folk believe they are surrounded by spirits which try to\nthwart them at every twist and turn, and to harm them every hour of the\nday and night. The rivers and creeks are crowded with the spirits of\ntheir ancestors, and the forests and bush are full also of spirits, ever\nseeking to injure the living who are overtaken by night when travelling\nby road or canoe. I never met among them a man daring enough to go at\nnight through the forest that divided Monsembe from the upper villages,\neven though a large reward was offered. Their invariable reply was:\n\u201cThere are too many spirits in the bush and forest.\u201d\n\nIn the following pages I shall attempt to give, as succinctly as\npossible, an account of the various spirits that trouble the Boloki\nworld, their powers and their limitations. The information has been\ngathered from various natives in conversation around their fires, or\nfrom talks when travelling with them by canoe and boat; and may be\naccepted as reflecting the native opinion respecting those spirits by\nwhich they suppose themselves to be surrounded.\n\nThe embodied spirit or soul (_elimo_) is dreaded almost as much as the\nother spirits. In dreams the soul visits various scenes, and no matter\nhow quickly the dreamer is aroused the soul can always return in time to\ntake its place in the awakened person. With regard to dreams, some of\nthe natives believe in them, and bad dreams are often accepted as omens\nto warn them against going on journeys, and fishing and hunting\nexpeditions that would be either fruitless or disastrous.\n\nWhen a person faints, or becomes unconscious, massage with water is\nused, and on the patient reviving it is said that the soul has returned.\nThe soul travels about to bewitch people, and some of their charms are\nmade on purpose to destroy such wandering spirits. These wicked souls\ntravelling about with such sinister motives are regarded as witches\nworthy only of death, and some of their witch-doctors reap a rich\nharvest in trying to kill them. A seriously sick person fancies he sees\na relative or neighbour in a dream, and at once believes that the\nwitch-soul of his relative has come to throttle the life out of him, so\nhe pays a witch-doctor a goodly fee to kill the prowling spirit, or\nprotect him from its malignant assaults.\n\nI noticed that the mouths and nostrils of the recently dead were always\nplugged and tied, and to my questions on the subject I always received\nthe same reply: \u201cThe soul of a dying man escapes by his mouth and nose,\nso we always tie them in that fashion to keep the spirit, as long as\npossible, in the body.\u201d\n\nThe shadow of a person, his reflection in water, or in a looking-glass,\nand more recently a photograph, is called by a word (_elilingi_) that is\noften used interchangeably with the word for soul (_elimo_). They\nrepeatedly informed me that a \u201cdead person casts no shadow,\u201d and that\ntherefore he has no soul, hence to say that So-and-so has no shadow is,\nwith them, equivalent to saying that he has no soul, i.e. that he is\ndead. These two words were frequently employed when speaking of the\nsoul, and also of the shadow of a person; but the word for soul\n(_elimo_) is never used for the shadow of a tree, house, animal, etc.,\nbut they speak of a fallen house or a fallen tree as having no shadow,\ni.e. they cast no shadows\u2014a sign that they are dead.\n\nIf for some reason a man does not see his shadow reflected when he looks\ninto some water, he thinks someone has taken his spirit away, and that\nhe will soon die. Even if at midday he does not see his shadow, because\nhe is standing on it\u2014the sun being absolutely vertical at noon so near\nthe Equator\u2014he will go to a witch-doctor, who will make medicine that he\nmay recover his shadow or soul. I once asked a chief to sit for his\nphotograph a second time, and he laughingly refused, on the ground that\nI had sent his soul once to the white man\u2019s country, and he could not\nlet me have it again. And it was a considerable time before he consented\nto sit again.\n\nThe most troublesome spirit, however, with which the native has to\ncontend is the disembodied spirit (_mongoli_). Directly the soul\n(_elimo_) leaves the body it becomes a disembodied spirit (a _mongoli_),\nand this distinction should be carefully borne in mind.\n\nIt is generally believed that the disembodied spirit of a good man\u2014good\naccording to the native code of morals\u2014remains in the nether world\n(_longa_); but that of a bad man is punished in the nether regions and\ndriven out. Then if the spirit belongs to a member of a bush-tribe (or\nto one whose family originally came from the bush), it will inhabit the\nforests or bush-lands, and unless properly appeased by gifts or\nconquered by charms it will turn aside animals from the hunting-traps\nand try to spoil all hunting operations. If the spirit belongs to a\nmember of a riverine tribe, then, after being turned out of the nether\nworld, it haunts the river and creeks and endeavours to hinder\nsuccessful fishing. Hence it is no uncommon thing, when a village fails\nin its fishing, for the inhabitants to join their brass rods together to\nbuy an old man or old woman\u2014old and therefore cheap\u2014and throw him (or\nher) into the river to conciliate the water-spirits. Hence, also, all\nthe care taken by a fisherman to conceal his name while fishing under\nthe general term _mwele_,[37] lest the disembodied spirit of an enemy\nshould hear it and, recognizing him, keep all the fish from his traps\nand nets.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n The natives can give no meaning to this word, and from their use of it\n to hide a name it is something like our phrase: Mr. So-and-so.\n\nSometimes these spirits can be heard walking through the forests, and\nthe noise they make is called _bie-bie_; and at times they visit the\ntown and cause \u201ca rustling in the grass roofs, as though searching for a\nplace through which to drive their spears.\u201d The land and water are full\nof these disembodied spirits, hence the timorous folk are afraid to\ntravel by night. Certain witch-doctors can see these spirits, and when\nthey are mischievous they pretend to capture them and secure them in\nsaucepans and calabashes.\n\nMen may become the mediums by which these spirits hold communication\nwith the living, generally to the advantage of the medium, as the\nfollowing incident will illustrate: Baloli, the head-man of his family,\ndied, and was buried in the usual way. Some time afterwards his younger\nbrother, Mangumbe, became subject to frenzies, during which his brother\nBololi spoke his oracles through him. Mangumbe admired and coveted the\nwives of a certain man in his town and tried to buy them, and failing in\nthat he desired to exchange others for them, but their husband refused\nall offers.\n\nOne day Mangumbe worked himself into a frenzy, and when he was supposed\nto be under the influence of his brother\u2019s spirit he said that a certain\nman (giving the name of the man whose wives he coveted) must get rid of\nhis wives or they would cause his death by a serious and fatal illness.\nThen Mangumbe went to a friend and told him to treat with the husband\nfor the wives. The husband, now thoroughly afraid of his wives, was\nquite willing to sell them at a cheaper price than Mangumbe had\npreviously offered for them. By this cunning trick he became the owner\nof the women he wanted.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n A MUNGALA CREEK VILLAGE\n At the time the picture was taken the folk were dispirited by heavy\n taxes and many deaths, hence the neglected appearance of the houses.\n Meeting the demands of the taxes in food, etc., left them little or\n no time to look after their own affairs. These taxes are better\n adjusted now to the number and condition of the people.\n]\n\nOn one occasion Mangumbe wanted to buy my arm-chair. I told him the\nprice as a bit of information, as I had no intention of selling the\nchair. He doubted my word. I told him that I had heard that he held\ncommunication with his brother\u2019s spirit, and if he wanted to know the\nprice of goods in England he had better ask his brother\u2019s spirit to go\nthere, learn all it could, and come back and inform him of the prices of\nthe various articles. Mangumbe shook his head sadly and said: \u201cHis\nspirit cannot travel so far, it keeps just around this district only.\u201d\n\nThe people firmly believed that Mangumbe held counsel with his brother\u2019s\nspirit, and when he acted as a medium they were quite willing to accept\nall that he said. Ordinarily he was little respected by the people; he\nwas of mean appearance and of petty, shabby ways, and had no command\neven over his own people, and yet when acting as a medium in a _s\u00e9ance_\nhe was feared, obeyed, and his word received without the slightest\ndemur.\n\nWhen a spirit is speaking through a person, who is usually a member of\nthe disembodied spirit\u2019s family, the medium does not always talk in the\nlanguage of the present day, but in the archaic language known only to\nthe old people. When the medium is a youngish man, i.e. one not familiar\nwith the ancient language, he then expresses his oracles in the ordinary\nspeech, but with sufficient of the archaic forms to lend mystery to the\ncommunication.\n\nI have seen the medium work himself into a frenzy, shout, tremble all\nover, his muscles quiver, his body undulates, perspiration breaks out on\nhis forehead, and foam gathers about his mouth, and his eyes roll; and\nwhen thoroughly under the spell of the spirit he gives utterance to\noracles that are implicitly believed by the people. All these _s\u00e9ances_\nare performed in the open and in broad daylight, the medium sometimes\nsitting alone in the centre of a crowd; but when much agitated and\nswaying considerably, he has one or two of his wives near to catch him\nshould he fall.\n\nSometimes one of these spirits takes possession of a hippopotamus and\nvisits the towns on the river-banks, and when that occurs the family to\nwhom the spirit is supposed to belong puts a small saucepan of\nsugar-cane wine and a little food for its refreshment on its nightly\nvisit; and as the food and wine are both gone in the morning (there are\nplenty of dogs about), the natives assured me that the spirit in the\nanimal had partaken of them. The spirit also, at times, enters a\ncrocodile and visits a town; but the hippopotamus is the more common\nform.\n\nOn one occasion a hippopotamus came off our beach for a few nights. I\ncould only hear it, as it was too dark to see it; but on the chance of\nwounding it fatally I fired in the direction of the sound. I fired on\ntwo successive nights, and during the next day some natives came and\ntold me that that particular hippopotamus was possessed by the spirit of\na member of such and such a family, and that the said spirit had sent a\nmessage to the head of the family, telling him that he was to inform me\nthat I should only waste my bullets as it was impossible to kill a\nspirit-possessed hippopotamus, and asking him to request me not to fire\nagain, as he (the hippopotamus) only wanted to visit the town peaceably\nfor his offering of sugar-cane wine and food.\n\nI told them that I would have another shot or two; but they assured me\nthat I should not hit it. They did not doubt my marksmanship, as they\nhad seen me bring down many birds on the wing, and they knew that I\nscarcely ever went to shoot monkeys and guinea-fowls without bringing\none or more back with me. They did not doubt my skill with the gun, but\nthey doubted the power of a bullet to kill a spirit-possessed animal.\n\nThe hippopotamus, however, never came again, consequently I had no\nfurther opportunity of testing the point at issue. I was much interested\nin learning from this incident that spirits not only took possession of\nhippopotami, but could thus communicate with their living relatives.\n\nAccording to the native idea these spirits (_mingoli_) are everywhere,\nand are ever ready to pounce on any living person, and either carry him\naway captive or inflict a disease on him, or kill him; consequently his\nlife is one long drawn-out fear of what the spirits may next do to him;\nand his many witch-doctors, fetishes, and ceremonies are to control,\nappease, circumvent, and perhaps conquer the spirits. The spirit of a\ndeceased enemy can inflict an illness on a family, a member of which had\nwronged him when in the body. Fortunately, these spirits are limited in\nthe area of their operations and can be deceived. The witch-doctor can\ncork them up in calabashes, can cover them with saucepans, and when\nnecessary, if the fee is large enough, he can destroy them.\n\nA man I knew well was sick for a long time with some internal complaint,\nand after other means had failed to cure him he was told by a\nwitch-doctor that he was troubled by a bad spirit, and he advised him to\ngo right out of the district beyond the sphere of its operations and\nremain there until he was better. The man had no friends to whom he\nmight have safely gone, so he left his house at dead of night, taking\nonly two of his wives with him, and telling no one of his destination\nlest the spirit should hear it. He went as far as he safely could from\nhis own town and donned a woman\u2019s dress, and assuming a woman\u2019s voice he\npretended to be other than he was, in order to deceive the spirit should\nit search for him.\n\nThis also failed to cure him, and in time he returned to his town, but\ncontinued to dress and speak as a woman, and every time he ate or drank\nhe first scattered a portion of his food and drink behind him for the\nspirit to eat, and eating be appeased. The food best liked by these\nspirits is the heart of any animal, but it must be boiled, minced, and\nmixed with cassava.\n\nThe witch-doctor can see the disembodied spirits, and those persons who\nhave the occult power (called _likundu_) can also see them. The natives\ntell me that these spirits are like people in appearance\u2014they come into\nview, pass, and are lost to sight like ordinary beings. They have quiet\nvoices, and eat monkey peppers (_amomum_), and drink sugar-cane wine;\nbut if the stems of the monkey pepper are put across a path the spirits\ncannot pass over them. It is a curious belief that these spirits may eat\nthe fruit of the monkey pepper, and yet cannot step over the stalks of\nthe same plant. On the Lower Congo red peppers are used for the same\npurpose of blocking a road to spirits; and in ancient Britain the red\nholly berries were used for keeping evil spirits out of the huts and\nhouses of those who feared them.\n\nThere are indications that the sight of the spirit is very defective,\nbut its hearing is very keen, consequently a man\u2019s name is never\nmentioned while he is fishing, for fear the spirits will hear and turn\nthe fish from his traps. One would think that if the spirits can see and\nrecognize a fish they could also recognize a fisherman; but there are\nmany gaps in native logic.\n\nAs the spirit of a bush-man is supposed to wander in the bush after\nleaving the nether world, any human offering made to appease it is\nburied on the edge of the forest; but an offering to the spirit of a\nriverine man is thrown into the water.\n\nThese offerings are made with the object of gaining the good-will of a\nfather or grandfather; but there is no ancestral worship, as beyond the\nfourth generation the ancestors are forgotten, or are regarded as being\nineffective in their anger. There is no regularity in these offerings,\nbut they are made when other means have failed to avert a calamity, such\nas the flooding of a river, or to ensure a positive good, such as a\nlarge catch of fish.\n\nA homicide is not afraid of the spirit of the man he has killed when the\nslain man belongs to any of the neighbouring towns, as disembodied\nspirits travel in a very limited area only; but when he kills a man\nbelonging to his own town he is filled with fear lest the spirit shall\ndo him some harm. There are no special rites that he can observe to free\nhimself from these fears, but he mourns for the slain man as though he\nwere a member of his own family. He neglects his personal appearance,\nshaves his head, fasts for a certain period, and laments with much\nweeping.\n\nAbnormal events are often placed to the credit of the spirit of a man\nrecently deceased. A few hours after the death of a young man whom I\nknew a furious storm broke on the town, blowing down plantain trees and\nworking great havoc in the farms. It was stated in all seriousness by\nthe folk that the storm had been sent by Mopembe, the lad\u2019s name. We had\nfor dinner one day the shoulder of an antelope, the history of which\nwill further illustrate the above statement: Three days before we had\nthat piece of antelope on our table, Mumbamba, an old head-man, died.\nAfter his death his relatives came from various towns to mourn at his\ngrave. On the morning of our antelope dinner three canoes of men and\nwomen were coming up-river, with the object of expressing their grief at\nthe grave, when they happened upon a large antelope caught in the grass\nof an islet that had lodged against a fallen tree in the river. The\nmourners killed the antelope, dragged it into the canoe, and gave\nMumbamba the credit of sending them an antelope to eat as an expression\nof his favour; thus spirits can send good as well as evil upon those who\nare left on the earth.\n\nWe find, then, among the Boloki three words for soul, spirit, and ghost.\nThe first, _elimo_, is the embodied soul that is able to leave the body\nduring sleep, it visits people and places in dreams, travels about, and\nperforms actions, as throttling an enemy. This, I believe, is the only\nword they have for soul. There is then the _elilingi_, a shadow, shade,\nreflection that a dead man, or dead thing, does not possess, and a\nliving man can lose and have restored by a witch-doctor, and this word\nis also used in a restricted sense as being synonymous with _elimo_.\nAnd, lastly, there is _mongoli_, a disembodied soul, a spirit, a ghost\nof the bush, forest, and water that sends evil and good upon the\nliving\u2014more often evil than good\u2014which it is necessary to appease with\nofferings of food, of trade goods, and of human beings.\n\nThe natives are subject to various serious sicknesses which they think\nare caused by spirits, and each sickness has its own spirit (or _bwete_,\nplural, _m\u0113te_), hence the native names[38] for debility, an\u00e6mia,\nrheumatism, sciatica, ague fevers, and sleeping-sickness are not only\nthe names of diseases, but really denote the names of those spirits\nresponsible for sending them. They cannot tell me from whence these\nspirits emanate, but the only means of luring them out of the body of\nthe patient is to set up for some of them specially prepared posts, for\nothers a saucepan of small sticks, and again for others a saucepan of\nmedicine water.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n See Appendix, Note 5, p. 345, for the native names of the diseases.\n\nFor debility, rheumatism, sciatica, and ague they erect a post (called\n_etoli_) about 4 feet long, peeled of its bark, shaped to a point at one\nend, and daubed with yellow pigment; this is marked with red and blue\nspots, and stuck upright in the ground with about 2 feet 6 inches\nshowing. For the spirit of sleeping-sickness they prepare a saucepan in\nwhich they put small sticks, and the whole is decorated with yellow,\nred, and blue spots and stripes. For the spirit of another form of\nsleeping-sickness a saucepan of bush-water is prepared, and the pot\nornamented with various colours. The saucepan of sticks is called\n_muntoka_, and that of the bush-water is called _eboko_. The latter is\nbroken, as described in another chapter, by a badly treated slave, or an\nill-used wife, to obtain redress for his or her wrongs.\n\nThese decorated fetish posts and saucepans often have little shelters\nbuilt over them which are coloured with various paints, and every time\nthe owner takes a meal he throws some of his food on the roof of his\nhouse for the spirits to eat. From time to time he pours sugar-cane wine\nover the posts, or into the saucepans. There is no ancestral worship in\nthis, but an appeasing of the spirits of the diseases. Not to make these\nofferings is to invite a return of the spirit or spirits to the body of\nthe owner, i.e. to have a relapse. I have known a man to have four of\nthese posts and saucepans. This indicated that he had had several\ncomplaints, or had had his one and only complaint wrongly diagnosed.\nPersons who have never suffered from these serious illnesses, and they\nare numerous, never trouble to prepare either a saucepan or a post.\n\nWhen there is much sickness in a family, not confined to one or two\nmembers only, but a kind of family epidemic, it is said to be caused by\na spirit (named _mweta_) left, or sent, by a deceased relative as a\npunishment for failing to observe some fetish taboo, or for not having\nshown due respect for the deceased when he was buried by having a proper\nceremony, or for not keeping his memory alive by occasional mimic fights\non land or water, or by the gifts of brass rods and slaves. Sometimes\nthe family is conscious that they have properly observed all these\nthings, and then they know that their deceased relative has sent the\nspirit of family sickness maliciously, or through jealousy of their\napparent prosperity.\n\nThese spirits, when they are troubling a family, can be driven into\nanimals by the witch-doctor and killed by him; and as a proof of his\nprowess he will exhibit a bleeding head, and assure the family that they\nneed no longer worry as he has killed the animal which was possessed by\nthe spirit, and it is therefore punished, killed, and will not bother\nthem again. Sometimes the witch-doctor will drive the spirit into a\nsaucepan, or calabash, and either kill it or imprison it.\n\nThe Boloki man, like folk of other climes and colour, is not averse to\nwealth, so he has his spirit for giving wealth (called _ejo_). Now a man\nwho desires to become rich pays a large fee to a certain kind of\nwitch-doctor, who then uses his influence with the spirit on behalf of\nhis client, who must in all future gains set apart a portion for it; but\nshould he fail to do so, the spirit has power to punish him. The goods\nare given to the witch-doctor to pass on to the spirit.\n\nThis spirit can assume any shape it pleases, and entice a person down to\nthe river, where it returns suddenly to its proper form and jumps into\nthe river with the enticed person. This person is then either killed by\nthe spirit, or held at ransom for a slave or his equivalent. How the\nransom is paid no one could tell me, although I put the question to\nvarious natives at different times. The person thus enticed is he who\nhas not paid his proper dues to the spirit.\n\nWhen a person has received the medicine or charm of this spirit, and has\nbecome wealthy by its luck-giving power, he takes the nail-parings and\nhair-cuttings[39] of a woman and makes medicine with them; the woman\nthen quickly dies, and her spirit goes to the wealth-giving spirit as an\noffering for its help. He is said to pass her on as a gift to the spirit\nof wealth. If a man is saved, when a canoe is swamped and his companions\nare all drowned, he is regarded as having given them to the spirit\n(_ejo_) to save his own life. Should a man be successful in fishing or\ntrading without any apparent reason, and shortly after his success his\nwife falls ill and dies, he is said to have given his wife to this\nspirit as an acknowledgment of his increased wealth. The ordeal is often\nadministered to prove or disprove these accusations; but marvellous\nstories are told about the wealth-giving power of this spirit, and as\nonly rich men can afford to pay the fee to the witch-doctor in the first\ninstance, the fact of their wealth fosters the superstition.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n This is one of the reasons why a person always hides his, or her,\n nail-parings and hair-cuttings, as \u201cpowerful medicine\u201d can be made\n with them to the disadvantage of the owner.\n\nThat some men are stronger than others in wrestling, and able to\novercome those who try to hold them, is well recognized by the natives,\nbut instead of its being an indication of greater strength and fitness\nit is placed to the credit of a spirit (called _embanda_). When this\nspirit takes possession of a man it enables him to throw his enemy; it\nstrengthens the legs of its possessor, and weakens by pain the legs of\nits owner\u2019s opponent. He who possesses this spirit is always successful\nin capturing one or more prisoners in a fight, and can cause the death\nof many members of any family he hates.\n\nThe word _jando_ stands for the peculiar characteristics of the animal\nto which it is prefixed, i.e. a man successful in fishing is said to\nhave the peculiarities of a crocodile, for this creature is regarded as\nbeing quick in catching fish; and a person swift and cunning in fight\nand flight has the qualities of a leopard. These qualities or spirits\nare not gained by eating either of these creatures, but are procured,\nfor a few, from the witch-doctor by some occult intercourse with the\ncrocodile and leopard. It is also affirmed by the natives that a person\ncan become so possessed by the spirit (_jando_) of a crocodile or of a\nleopard that he will let himself loose occasionally on his neighbours,\nand thus preying in spirit on them many will die.\n\nOne of the functions of the disembodied spirits is to supply certain\nplaces in the forests, or trees, or creeks with the spirits that are to\nenter unborn children. These spirits of unborn children (called\n_bingbongbo_) can make boys and girls thin and weak, but are to be\nappeased by the proper kind of medicine man preparing a suitable feast\nfor them. These spirits are supposed to crowd the pools in the forests,\nthe shallow ponds on the islands, the many creeks of the river, and even\nto people the great bombax trees to be found here and there along the\nriver\u2019s bank. Every family has its own special preserves (called\n_liboma_) where the spirits are waiting for bodies in which to appear as\nbabies.\n\nNext to the spirits in the terror they cause to the natives is a\nmythical monster (_engenenge_) inhabiting the islands. He is represented\nas having many heads and no body, and is greatly dreaded by those who\nhave to camp on the islands during fishing and travelling; and the\nnatives tell many stories of visits they have received from him. Next to\nthis many-headed monster is a mythical person or spirit (named\n_nyandembe_) who is mentioned in the folk-lore stories as having caused\nthe death of Libanza\u2019s father, but was eventually killed by him as a\npunishment. He is thought by the natives to have been very strong and\nrich; but being dead he is no longer feared.\n\nThere is a race of folk who live somewhere above, as the word indicates\n(_ba_ = people, and _likolo_ = above), but up-river and all the country\neast of them is also called _likolo_; and it is most probable that the\nword _likolo_ in the above phrase had originally that meaning, but as\nthe natives pushed their journeys higher and higher up the river and\nheard of peoples like themselves still higher up, they removed the\n_balikolo_ from a locality beyond their district to a place _above them_\nin the sky.\n\nThese Cloud-folk are said to have tails, and are very fond of ripe\nplantains, and in the folk-lore stories they descend on the banana farms\nsolely to eat and carry off the ripe fruit. There is a legend that the\nBoloki people bought their first fire[40] from the Cloud-folk in\nexchange for a young woman. Previously to that \u201cwe cooked our food in\nthe sun, or ate it quite raw.\u201d These Cloud-land folk are not regarded as\nspirits, but the natives always speak of them as a great nuisance, and\nas something uncanny and in possession of supernatural power.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n See also the folk-lore story, \u201cThe punishment of the inquisitive man,\u201d\n page 205.\n\nThere is a class of supernatural beings that inhabits the forest and\nbush (named _baijamba_ = people of the bush). They are often appealed to\nin the folk stories to decide what a person should or should not eat;\nand also to judge on a point of etiquette or custom. They are not looked\nupon with much dread, and no one speaks of them as having done any harm\nto the folk who visit the forests. They seem to be friendly spirits, or\nsprites, that are always at hand when wanted, and they just as readily\ngive their verdict in favour of a mean trick as support a ruse to outwit\nthe meanness.\n\nWhen a man is under the sway of the disembodied spirit he takes his\nspear and, tying some dried plantain leaves to it, he holds it before\nhim with his left hand; and as he trembles with the excitement of the\nspirits in him the spear shakes and rustles the leaves until the spirits\ngo out of him into the spear, and it then becomes a fetish spear and his\nluck is bound up in it. This spear, henceforth, may not be touched by\nanyone but himself, and it is carefully guarded by its owner, for to\nlose it is to fail in all his undertakings. These spirits are passed\ninto hunting-spears, fighting-spears, and fish-spears, and although they\nare especially effectual in their own particular line, they also have a\ngeneral influence on the man\u2019s luck. It is also asserted that a rich man\nwho has the spirit of wealth (_ejo_) passes that spirit into his canoe,\nand this enables him to make successful trading expeditions and other\njourneys to his own advantage.\n\nI found only one tree that is supposed to have a spirit, and that is the\ntree used for ordeal purposes. When a person wants to take the rootlets\nof the ordeal tree (_nka_), he first selects the tree, then spreads a\nleaf on the closed fist of his left hand, and strikes it with the palm\nof his right hand. If the leaves on the tree tremble in response, he\nknows the tree is strong and fit to use; but if they remain quiescent,\nit is a sign that the ordeal property (_nka_) is weak and unfit for its\npurpose, so another tree is sought, until he finds one that responds in\nsympathy to the striking of the leaf.\n\nThe life of the native, surrounded as he is by all these various\nspirits, would be intolerable, unthinkably so, were it not for his many\nwitch-doctors, who have power to control the spirits, and even kill\nthem, and his many charms that protect him from their many malignant\ndesigns, or enlist their power on behalf of the wearers and users of\nthem. Which came first\u2014a belief in the spirits, or the witch-doctors to\ncircumvent them? I am disposed to think that the witch-doctors are\nlargely responsible for the creation of these various spirits to account\nfor their numerous failures in warding off sickness and death. With\nthese witch-doctors, however, we must deal in another chapter.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XX\n\n MEDICINE MEN AND THEIR MAGIC\n\nNumber of medicine men\u2014How to become a witch-doctor\u2014Mayeya and his long\n dive\u2014Makwata and his talking spear\u2014A simple trick\u2014Female\n witch-doctors\u2014Three kinds of witchcraft\u2014Discredited\n witch-doctors\u2014Fear of the witch-doctors.\n\n\nThere is not so great a variety of medicine men (_nganga_)[41] among the\nBoloki as among the Bakongo of the Lower Congo, nor is the _modus\noperandi_ of bewitching people and of removing the witchcraft so well\ndefined. Among the Boloki the medicine man is much in evidence, but he\nis not regarded with much awe or respect. The office is hereditary, and\nit is difficult for a person to become a medicine man who has not\nalready a near relative in the profession. The old medicine man teaches\nhis son the tricks of his trade free of all charges; and when a novice\nis considered efficient he undergoes the following test: Something is\nhidden and he has to find it, and having discovered the secreted article\nhe must then perform a magic ceremony, such as killing an animal\npossessed by a spirit\u2014a trick he has easily learned from his father, and\nafter that he blossoms out as a fully qualified medicine man.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n _Nganga_ means medicine man, witch-doctor, doctor, wizard, soothsayer,\n sorcerer, magician, etc.\n\nIf a person in whose family there has been a medicine man desires to\njoin the profession he goes to an old witch-doctor, and on paying a\nheavy fee he is taught as though he were a son, but he must pass the\nusual tests as above; if, however, a person in whose family there has\nnever been a medicine man wishes to join the profession, he is deterred\nfrom so doing by being told that he must first kill all the members of\nhis family by witchcraft, as offerings to that spirit (_mweta_) of the\nparticular branch he desires to join. This results in the man refusing\nto become a witch-doctor, and even if he were so callous as to still\nwish it, his family would not allow him to proceed, as they believe they\nwould fall victims to his witchcraft. Thus the secrets of the profession\nare retained in a very few families. Still, I have known a slave\nbelonging to a Boloki man become a great medicine man by pretending to\nperform a wonderful feat, which was as follows:\n\nMayeya, for that was the man\u2019s name, went one day with a lad in a canoe\nacross the river. By and by the lad returned without Mayeya, and on\nbeing asked where he was, the lad replied: \u201cMayeya fell from the canoe\ninto the river, and since then I have not seen him.\u201d\n\nSeven days after this Mayeya walked up from the river into the town\ndressed in his best cloth, etc. The people gathered around him asking\nhim where he had been, and he solemnly informed them that he had been\nunder the river for the whole of the seven days, consulting with the\nwater-spirits, and that now he was a witch-doctor. The people believed\nin him, and flocked to him with cases from all the neighbouring\nvillages, towns, and districts, and by his many and large fees he became\nso wealthy that he was able to pay ten men and two women\u2014one woman is\nequal in price to four men\u2014for his ransom, and then became a slave-owner\nhimself and a man of wealth.\n\nOne day I heard Mayeya boasting outside my house of the seven days he\nhad spent under the water in company with the water-spirits; so going to\nhim I said: \u201cMayeya, I hear you have lived under the river for seven\ndays.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he said, \u201cI have.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d I replied, \u201cI will give you five thousand brass rods\u201d\u2014the\ncurrency of that district\u2014\u201cif you will remain under the water here in\nfront of my house while I count them.\u201d\n\nHe answered: \u201cI cannot do it just now, but I will return on another day\nand do it for you.\u201d Whenever I met Mayeya after that I always reminded\nhim of his promise to stop under the river while I counted the rods.\n\nThe people at last used to urge him to accept my challenge and offer of\n5000 brass rods. They argued with him, saying: \u201cYou have remained under\nthe water for seven days, surely you can stay under it while the white\nman counts five thousand, for you know he counts very quickly. Go and\nget your five thousand rods, and then you will be able to buy two more\nwives.\u201d\n\nMayeya, however, put them off with first one excuse and then another,\nuntil at last they chaffed him about it, laughed at him, and expressed\nthe doubt as to whether he had stayed under the water half a day, much\nless seven whole days and nights.\n\nAs he still continued to make excuses the natives lost faith in him, his\npractice fell off, and the last I saw of Mayeya was his coming to borrow\nof me 100 brass rods, for he was in difficulties. To his request I\nreplied: \u201cNo, you have cheated many people out of their money, and done\nto death many a person by your false accusations of witchcraft; I will\nnot lend you a single brass rod, but there are five thousand waiting for\nyou if you will only remain under the water while I count them.\u201d\n\nI was seated one day among some natives when they began to talk of the\nwonderful things Makwata (who was present) could do in making his spear\nshake and talk.\n\nNow I never laughed at the pretensions of the natives, no matter how\nabsurd they might be, nor did I ridicule their views, thoughts, and\nexpressions. Perhaps that was the reason why they spoke so frankly to\nme, and tried to explain their ideas about things in general. I always\ndealt with them seriously and sympathetically.\n\nI turned to Makwata and asked him whether he could do the wonderful\nthings his companions were talking about or not. He very emphatically\nasserted that he could \u201cmake his spear shake and talk.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n A LIBINZA CHARM FOR PROTECTING A VILLAGE\n Spirits causing sickness have been driven out of the patients into\n this hut, where food is thrown to them. The sticks forming the walls\n are dyed red, and ornamented with yellow spots. The elegance of the\n hut and the daily sprinkling of food help to make the spirits\n contented with the place.\n]\n\n\u201cI suppose,\u201d I said, \u201cyou will stand near the spear, or put the spear in\na lot of grass.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he replied, \u201cI will stick my spear on the bank by the river, and I\nwill sit here.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d I answered; \u201cI will give you five hundred rods if you do\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can do it in my town,\u201d he asserted, \u201cbut not here.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d I said; \u201cI am coming to visit your town next Sunday, and\nwill bring the rods with me.\u201d But when I went to the town at the\nappointed time, Makwata was not there; he had, however, left me a\nmessage to say that he would bring his spear up to Monsembe and do the\nwonderful performance there.\n\nSeveral weeks passed away, and while talking to some natives on the\nverandah of my house I saw Makwata pass, so I called to him and asked if\nhe had brought his talking spear, for the 500 rods were ready.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he replied, \u201cI have not brought my spear.\u201d\n\nTurning to my native companions I said: \u201cYour witch-doctors will never\ndo their tricks before me, although I offer them many brass rods; but my\nwife and I will do a trick before you without payment. I will put three\narticles on the verandah, my wife shall go into her bedroom, and when\nshe comes out she will tell you which article you touched.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d they said in chorus; \u201cshe is not able to do that.\u201d\n\nThe articles were arranged in a line, my wife went to her room, one of\nthe things was touched, and she came and pointed out which they had\ntouched. \u201cLet her do it again,\u201d they requested. It was done again and\nagain, until one young man thought he had fathomed the trick, and he,\nwith much excitement, said: \u201cMama looks through the window. Let someone\ngo into the room with her.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d I at once acceded to their request, and two native women\naccompanied my wife, and on their return the natives asked: \u201cDid Mama\nlook through the window?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d the women replied; \u201cshe went right to the other side of the\nroom.\u201d\n\nMy friends were nonplussed. They could not see through the trick, and\nmany came in ones and twos afterwards and asked me how many fowls or\ngoats did I want to teach them the trick. They never again boasted in my\npresence of what their witch-doctors could do.\n\nThere are some quasi \u201cdoctors.\u201d Men and women who have recovered from a\nserious complaint set up to cure that particular sickness. They use\nmassage with hot or cold water, or no water at all, and simple herbs,\nand there is no doubt that they do a considerable amount of good.\n\nThere are female witch-doctors who perform the same rites as the male\nones, such as the witch-doctors who conduct their ceremonies either\nenclosed in a mat or out in the open; but the one who cures an\u00e6mia and\ndebility, makes the necessary \u201cmedicine\u201d for pregnant women, attends\nconfinements, and takes certain cases of sickness among men is always a\nfemale. Each is more or less famous in his own line, and with one or two\nexceptions rarely goes beyond his own limits.\n\nThere is the general practitioner, who is not a specialist as the other\nmedicine men are. He is regarded, however, as knowing more than the\nothers, with the exception of the one who performs in a mat. He uses all\nkinds of herbs, prepares the different charms for warding off diseases,\nand cures divers complaints; but he never attempts to exorcise spirits\nor to find witches. He is called by the natives _nganga ya mono_, i.e.\nthe medicine man who uses medicines, herbs, or charms. His fees are\ncomparatively small, and he is consulted in the first stages of an\nillness in the hope that he will be able to effect a cure, and thus save\nthe larger fees demanded by other branches of the profession.\n\nWhen rain is falling, and for some reason or other it is not desirable,\nthe rain-doctor takes a small leaf and puts it on the closed fist of his\nleft hand, and extending the arm in the direction from which the rain is\ncoming he waves it to and fro in a semicircle; he then strikes the leaf\nwith the open palm of the right hand, and should the leaf burst at the\nfirst smack the rain will stop in \u201cone paddling,\u201d i.e. the time paddlers\npaddle on one side of a large canoe before changing to the other\nside\u2014this is about twenty minutes; if the leaf does not burst at the\nfirst smack but at the second, then the rain will not stop for \u201ctwo\npaddlings,\u201d i.e. forty minutes, and so on; but if the leaf does not\nburst at all after repeated slaps, then the rain will not stop for a\nvery long time. When rain is threatening, this ceremony is performed in\norder to ascertain how long it will be before the rain will fall. If the\nleaf breaks at the first blow the rain will begin to fall in twenty\nminutes, and so on to two blows and three blows. They will start a\njourney or remain at home according to the indications of this\nperformance. The lads have often asked me to postpone a journey because\nthe divination of the leaf predicted rain.\n\nWhen a storm threatens to break during the funeral festivities of a man\nthe people present will call the beloved child of the deceased, and\ngiving him (or her) a lighted ember from the hearth with a vine twined\nround it, they will ask him to stop the rain. The lad steps forward and\nwaves the vine-encircled ember towards the horizon where the storm is\nrising, and says: \u201cFather, let us have fine weather during your funeral\nceremonies.\u201d The son after this rite must not drink water\u2014he may drink\nsugar-cane wine\u2014nor put his feet in water for one day. Should he not\nobserve these prohibitions the rain will fall at once.\n\nWhen it is desirable to have rain the native takes down from the shelf\nsome sticks which have \u201cmedicine\u201d bound round them and plunges them into\nwater mixed with arrowroot leaves, and then the rain will soon begin to\nfall. It is rarely that they have to resort to the rain-doctor to bring\nrain, as the rains fall with great regularity all the year round; they\nemploy him more frequently to predict when the rain will stop, or to\nstop it with his charms. On the Upper Congo throwing salt on the fire\nwill cause a superabundance of rain to fall, but on the Lower Congo salt\nis a charm for stopping the rain.\n\nWhen a family is troubled with much sickness or frequent deaths the\nmedicine man of the mat (_nganga ya bwaka_) is engaged, who, on his\narrival, puts some stakes in the ground and ties a mat round them, thus\nmaking an enclosure in which he sits while performing his ceremonies. A\nstring is stretched from the roof of his client\u2019s house to one of the\nstakes of this mat enclosure, and the end of the string drops inside;\ndried plantain leaves, twigs, etc., dangle from the string, and outside\nthe mat sit some young men and lads with drums and horns, and the\nvarious folk interested in the rites stand or sit around.\n\nWhen all is ready the medicine man enters his enclosure and pulling the\nstring, he shakes the leaves and the lads beat their drums and blow\ntheir horns, and the men and women sitting around chant a chorus in\nadmirable time. Directly the leaves stop shaking the drummers and\nsingers understand it as a sign for them to remain quiet. The medicine\nman then begins to speak to the various spirits, and answers himself in\nassumed voices, thus pretending to hold conversations with them. As\noften as he feels tired with his efforts he shakes the leaves, and the\ndrums are beaten, and the folk chant until he has recovered his breath,\nwhereupon he starts the pseudo-conversations again. These conversations\nhe maintains through the whole day (sometimes for two or three days),\nbut generally towards the afternoon of the second day he comes out of\nthe enclosure holding a bleeding head in his hand, and assures the\nfamily that he has killed the animal in which the troublesome spirit was\nresiding, and now the family will no more be afflicted with sickness and\ndeath. To vary the ceremony the medicine man sometimes rushes out of the\nenclosure into a house, or behind a house, or into the adjacent bush as\nthough in chase of something, and he returns with a bleeding head, and\nsays that he has slain the spirit-possessed animal.\n\nIt is this medicine man who searches for the witch (_moloki_) in the\nfamily of the sick one. If a layman charges another with witchcraft the\naccused can demand that the accuser shall drink the ordeal with him; but\nif this witch-doctor charges a person with witchcraft he himself will\nnot take the ordeal, and no one expects him to do so. The accused must\ntake the ordeal alone, and should he (or she) fall repeatedly he is\ncondemned, and is left either to die as the result of the large doses of\nordeal or is hung on a tree. The corpse is left unburied\u2014it is the body\nof a witch, the most hated being in all Congoland.\n\nThis medicine man of the mat in killing a spirit troubling a family\nworks hard and earns his money. After spending several hours a day in\nthe mat discussing with the spirits and trying to discover which is\nmenacing the family, he at last decides on one, and when the right\nmoment arrives the medicine man makes a terrific noise inside the mat,\nas though he were fighting for his life. Shouts, screams, derisive\nlaughter, whacks, thuds, and smacks proceed from the interior of the\nmat, and at last the witch-doctor rushes out panting and sweating\nprofusely, holding in his hand a bleeding head, and declaring that he\nhas killed the animal possessed by the particular spirit that was\ntroubling the family. With the bleeding head he rushes to the river and\nthrows it far out into the running water. The family is supposed now to\nrecover its health, the medicine man pulls down his mats, receives his\nfee, and departs.\n\nWhat is the bleeding head? On one occasion some of our school lads\nchased one of these medicine men who came from his mat with a bleeding\nhead. He ran for the river, but they headed him off, and in desperation\nhe ran to a pool of water and threw the head into it. The boys entered\nthe water, and bringing it out they found it was a lizard\u2019s head. On\nanother occasion it was a rat\u2019s head. Thus the family had paid a big fee\nto have a rat or lizard killed, and the bleeding neck shown to them. Up\nto that time the folk had always believed that it was some mysterious\nanimal which the medicine man dug up from the ground inside his mat,\nkilled by his occult power and threw into the river so that it could\nnever more harm his clients.\n\nThis medicine man who operates in a mat is the most feared and respected\nof all the witch-doctors. It is believed that he can see the disembodied\nspirits, i.e. ghosts, also the souls of people, and the different\nspirits of disease, and hold communication with them. He bottles in\ncalabashes or imprisons in saucepans the local spirits that will\notherwise hinder the hunters trapping the wild animals; he makes the\ndogs keen hunters with his charms and medicines; he gives the reasons\nfor the floods, and indicates the best way to cause them to subside; and\nhe also has very close dealings with the spirit of wealth.\n\nThere is another class of medicine men that scorns to perform its\nceremonies inside a mat, but practises its craft in the open before all\nthe people. These are called (_nganga ya libanda_) medicine men of the\nopen, outside. A family suffering from much sickness has called in one\nmedicine man after another without experiencing relief, and they may\nhave had even the \u201cmat witch-doctor\u201d and felt no better after having\npaid him his large fee, so now they try again with this one who works in\nthe open.\n\nHe arrives dressed in monkey skins, bush-cat skins, etc., and well\ndecorated with charms. Men beat drums, sing chants and choruses; the\nmedicine man dances about, working himself into a frenzy. He peers here,\nthere, everywhere, looking for the spirit that is troubling the family.\nHe sees it in a plantain tree, hurls his spear at it, but no, he misses\nit; he sees it on the roof of a house and away darts the spear, only to\nmiss it again. He prods his spear into the different parts of the\noutside of the house, but he misses the elusive spirit every time; he\nis, however, working it towards the doorway. At last the spirit takes\nrefuge in the house, the medicine man springs forward with alacrity,\nenters the house, darts his spear in all directions, yelling loudly and\nscreaming terrifically; then a frightful cry is heard, and in a few\nmoments the medicine man comes out with the blade of his spear well\nsmeared with blood. He has killed the spirit, or rather the animal\npossessed by the spirit.\n\nI have often watched this performance, and they always killed these\nanimals possessed by spirits _in_ the house. I often wondered why, and\nfrom whence came the blood on the spear. The son of one of these\nmedicine men told us that when his father wanted blood to smear over his\nspear-head, he dug his finger-nail into his gum and procured from thence\nthe blood for the purposes of this trick. On showing the spear thus\nstained with blood he asserted that he had destroyed the spirit that was\ntroubling the family, he received his fee, and went. The semi-darkness\nof the native hut rendered a trick of this kind quite possible.\n\nWe have seen in the preceding chapter on spirits that certain spirits\ncause certain diseases, and that the names of many diseases are really\nthe names of those spirits that are supposed to cause them. To deal with\nthe spirit of extreme debility there are \u201cdoctors,\u201d who are always\nwomen, and these are engaged to treat both men and women suffering from\nthis complaint. The \u201cdoctor\u201d in dealing with this spirit dances, chants,\nand shakes a rattle, until the patient says he has the spirit (_bwete_)\nof debility stirring in him; he knows it by the way it jerks and sways\nhis body. The medicine woman prepares the post (_etoli_) and invites the\nspirit to go and reside in it and not trouble the patient any more.\n\nThese female \u201cdoctors\u201d attend the women of certain totem families, whose\nchildren five days after birth have their ears pierced; such families\nare supposed to be patronized by a parturition spirit (_bwete bwa\nboweya_) that will help the child to grow strong, fat, and healthy if\nits ears are pierced on the fifth day with the proper dance and\nceremony; but will cause the child\u2019s death if the mother when _enceinte_\ndoes not use the proper medicines under the guidance of this female\n\u201cdoctor,\u201d or does not have its ears pierced in the proper way.\n\nWhen a man is troubled with a sickness which has failed to yield to\nother means, or one in whose family there has been a death and he cannot\nafford to hire a witch-finder, he goes to a medicine man whose fee is\ncomparatively small, for his operations are simple and his paraphernalia\nsmall. He, on being hired, brings out his fetish saucepan of water, and\nplacing it in a good position he pours some sugar-cane wine by its side,\nfor souls or embodied spirits are very fond of this drink. He then calls\nthe spirits by putting a leaf on the closed fist of the left hand and\nstriking it with the palm of the right hand; thereupon they show\nthemselves one by one in the fetish saucepan (_likenge_), into which\nonly the witch-doctor is allowed to look.\n\nA spirit appears, turns, and shows its face when challenged to do so,\nand shakes its head negatively, and as the showing of the face is\nregarded as a proof that it belongs to an innocent person, it is told to\npass. By and by a spirit appears in the saucepan that persistently\nrefuses to show its face after being repeatedly ordered to do so by the\nmedicine man, therefore he stabs it with a splinter of bamboo, and the\nowner of that spirit, who is the witch, is now supposed to die very\nsoon, and thus release this medicine man\u2019s client from its malign\ninfluence. It is interesting to note that a person\u2019s soul can be called\nfrom him by a witch-doctor, for the word used in this connection is\n_elimo_, and that means the _soul_ of a living person. It is also\nnoteworthy that they expect more truthfulness in the soul of a person\nthan in the person himself.\n\nThe Boloki folk, like others more advanced in civilization, are very\nanxious to know about the future, so they have a soothsayer whose\nspecial function it is to predict coming events. This diviner dances to\nthe beat of drums and chants, the chorus being taken up by all who are\npresent. When he has worked himself and his audience up to a certain\npitch of excitement he looks into his fetish bag of medicines, and from\nwhat he sees there he foretells war, or the reverse, its success or\nfailure, and other events, such as the success or non-success of a\ntrading expedition, fishing and hunting parties, etc.\n\nThe natives, both male and female, are not always successful in their\nlove affairs, hence they have a special medicine man who makes their\nlove philtres. A woman takes the nail-parings, hair-cuttings, and chewed\npith of the sugar-cane of the person whose love she desires, to this\nparticular \u201cdoctor.\u201d He makes them into a medicine which, after well\ndrying, he pounds into a powder. This powder the woman takes and blows\nover the object of her love while he is asleep.\n\nThe man procures the nail-parings and hair-cuttings of the woman he\nloves, and carries them to this maker of love philtres; but instead of\nthe powder being blown over the sleeping object of his passion, he mixes\nit with sugar-cane wine and gives it to her to drink. A slave will use\nthe same method to gain an easier time from his master or mistress; and\nthis philtre is also used on people to cause them to forget a wrong or\ngrant a request.\n\nThere are to be found among them witch-doctors to help them in every\nemergency of life, and not the least curious is the one who aids them to\nvanish in the midst of danger. The medicine man who thus serves them\ntakes his name from the charm he makes, which is rubbed on the body, or\ntied on the wrist or leg of his client, who, when thus protected, can\nwalk right among his enemies, and if they catch him they find only his\ncloth in their hands, for the person in the cloth has vanished. This\ncharm (called _ndemo_) is largely used in times of war, as the possessor\nof it can fight and kill without being seen by the enemy, and it is also\nin great favour with thieves. The charm consists of a yellow pigment\nrubbed on the temples, or \u201cmedicine\u201d mixed with the pigment and fixed to\nbrass wire and tied round the wrist, the leg, or the waist.\n\nThey frequently told me of the wonderful power of this charm in\nrendering a thief invisible; but they never accepted my challenge to put\nthe matter to the test. I offered to allow any one of them to keep any\narticle he could steal in my rooms; the conditions were that I was to be\nin the room and the thief was to take the article while I was present\nand yet be invisible to me\u2014I should simply see the thing move,\napparently of itself, out of the room. They said it could be done, but\nthey never proved it.\n\nWhen there is smallpox in a district the nervous go to a medicine man,\nwho makes small cuts on his client\u2019s body and sucks out some blood,\nwhich he spits on to a leaf and examines very carefully. If some small\nthreads are seen in the blood, the \u201cdoctor\u201d points them out to the\nothers present, and says that \u201cas I have sucked out the witchcraft\n(_likundu_) the person will not die, although he may become infected\nwith smallpox.\u201d Should no threads be seen and by and by the person\ncatches smallpox, his relatives will tell him that he cannot recover\nunless he confesses to having bewitched one or more persons. Under\npressure of constant nagging the patient will confess (and who among\nthem has not desired the death of one or more enemies and\nacquaintances?) to his mother, or father, or to an intimate friend, that\nhe has bewitched several persons, and will even mention them by name;\nand after this confession he may become better.\n\nIt is a very crafty performance. The person\u2019s blood is sucked, and the\nthreads are shown, and if he does not have smallpox, then the \u201cdoctor\u201d\nhas the credit of having drawn all the witchcraft out of him. If,\nhowever, he has smallpox, then he has his own witchcraft in him and that\nhas caused the illness, and the only way to ensure recovery is to\nconfess his guilt\u2014this exonerates the \u201cdoctor.\u201d If no threads are seen\nin the blood and the person has smallpox, then his own witchcraft has\ngiven it, and he must confess; and here again the \u201cdoctor\u201d is cleared.\nNow if a person has not been operated upon by the \u201cdoctor\u201d and gets\nsmallpox, he must confess to bewitching others, and should he recover,\nwell, his confession has cured him; should he die, then either he has\nnot fully confessed, or someone else has bewitched him to death. If a\nperson does not catch smallpox, then he is not bewitched by anyone, and\nhe himself has no witchcraft.\n\nDuring an epidemic of smallpox at Monsembe in 1893 it was absolutely\nimpossible to isolate patients, for, according to their belief regarding\ninfectious diseases\u2014that no one would have it unless he were bewitched\nto have it\u2014there was no need for isolation. I have seen the hut of a\npatient literally crowded with women, lads, and girls, giving advice and\nshowing sympathy with the sick. Many died from the loathsome disease.\n\nThis particular \u201cdoctor\u201d also looks at the arteries in the stomach of a\ndead person to discover whether the person died by his or her own\nwitchcraft, or by the witchcraft of another. For full details see the\nchapter on \u201cDeath and Burial,\u201d where it deals with death by witchcraft.\n\nA person suffering from sleeping-sickness has his own special \u201cdoctor\u201d\nto look after him. He scarifies the body of the patient with numerous\ncuts, and then sprinkles hot water over him, rubs pepper paste into the\ncuts, and puts a drop or two of pepper juice in each eye. This\npractitioner is called by the natives _nganga ya luwa_\u2014the medicine man\nof sleeping-sickness, or of the spirit that causes that complaint.\n\nThere are many cases of debility, lack of energy, and an\u00e6mia in which\nthe symptoms are somewhat similar to sleeping-sickness, such as\ndrowsiness, no desire to move about, loss of appetite, etc. Such cases\nare greatly benefited by the massage of warm water and pepper paste, and\nby the change of scene and life necessitated by the visit to the\n\u201cdoctor\u2019s\u201d village; and when the patients return to their own towns\nafter four or five weeks\u2019 treatment, much better and sometimes quite\nwell, they are regarded by the natives as cured cases of\nsleeping-sickness. The pepper juice in the eyes causes great agony, but\nit keeps the patient awake and moving about. The \u201cdoctor\u201d puts various\ntaboos on his patients, both as to what they shall eat and how their\nfood shall be cooked.\n\nMy wife had a girl about fifteen years of age who fell a victim to\nsleeping-sickness. She was smart in her house-work, intelligent and\nquick in school, and neat and clean in her person. She gradually lost\nher smartness, forgot all she gained in school, and became dirty and\nslovenly in her dress, etc. She also had a temperature every morning of\nabout 100 degrees that yielded to no treatment. It was an undoubted case\nof sleeping-sickness, but as it occurred in 1894 not much was known of\nthe complaint, and there were very few suggestions as to treatment.\nThose suggestions, however, we followed, and the patient became no\nbetter for tonics, bromide of potassium, etc. I was then told about this\nkind of \u201cdoctor,\u201d and finding there was nothing really objectionable in\nhis mode of procedure I asked the girl if she would like to undergo his\ntreatment. She readily expressed her wish to be put under him, and\nseemed to have great faith in him. The girl went, and I watched the\ntreatment with much interest. At first she brightened up under the\npepper massage, but at last she died in our house, for finding the\ntreatment failed we brought her, at her own desire, back to our house.\n\nIt is needless to say that I never came across a single case of true\nsleeping-sickness cured by this class of \u201cdoctors.\u201d There are some\ncurious contradictions about this complaint. In some cases there is loss\nof appetite, and in others a ravenous hunger; in some great drowsiness,\nand it is almost impossible to keep the patient awake, in others entire\ninsomnia; in some saneness to the last, but others exhibit insanity and\neven violent madness.\n\nWhen a boy or girl is very thin and weakly, his father kills a monkey,\nor buys a large piece of meat or a big fish and sends for the medicine\nman, who has a reputation for conversing with the spirits of unborn\nchildren (called _bingbongbo_), and interpreting their demands. On his\narrival he shuts himself up in one of his client\u2019s houses and is heard\nto speak with these spirits. After a time he comes out and tells his\nclient that the spirits complain because he has never given them a\nfeast, and that if he desires to see his son improve in health he must\nat once prepare one for them.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n A CHARM FOR INCREASING THE BIRTH RATE\n The scarcity of children in the Libinza Lake villages alarmed the\n inhabitants considerably, so they paid a large sum to a witch-doctor\n to set up this fetish that their progeny might be increased.\n]\n\nThe father gives the monkey, meat, or fish he has procured ready for\nthis demand. It is cooked and the medicine man takes the food on a plate\ninto the house, puts it down on the floor and, coming out, shuts the\ndoor. After a time he again enters the house, brings out the plate and\nshows that the food has partly disappeared, and that the edge of the\nplate is smeared with the food (there are always plenty of rats and mice\nin a native hut). This is accepted as evidence that the spirits have\npartaken of the feast, and the patient will get better as the offering\nhas been accepted. The medicine man gives the patient a new name\u2014if a\ngirl, Bolumbu, and if a boy, Loleka.\n\nThe spirits of unborn babies are supposed to be supplied to the family\npreserves (called _liboma_) by the disembodied spirits of the deceased\nmembers of the family. These are responsible for keeping the preserves\nwell filled with spirits awaiting birth. The preserves may be a pool on\nan island, a pond in the bush or forest, or a great bombax tree.\n\nThe \u201cdoctor\u201d who deals with madness has simply a saucepan of water in\nwhich he mixes some medicines, and the patient immerses his face every\nday in it, and then he drops some juices from plants into his eyes until\nthe person is cured of his madness. Madness is called _mokalala_, and\nthe \u201cdoctor\u201d who treats it is named by that title also\u2014the \u201cdoctor for\nmadness.\u201d\n\nWhen the death of a prominent man has occurred, and the \u201cdoctor for\nwitchcraft\u201d has inspected the entrails of the deceased and has stated\nthat the departed one was bewitched to death, the family then calls in\nthe witch-finder to point out the person guilty of that detestable thing\ncalled witchcraft. The usual fee is one slave, but if the witch-finder\nis a very famous one he will demand and receive two slaves. He insists\non receiving his fee before he begins operations, as he may have to rush\noff with undignified haste directly he has pointed out the witch, for\nthe accused person does not always take the charge quietly, but\nsometimes rushes off for spear or gun to kill his accuser, hence the\ndemand for the fee first.\n\nThe people gather on the appointed day in a large circle, and the\nmedicine man, dressed as a woman in skins and cloths fantastically\narranged, his face, legs, and arms decorated with pigments of various\ncolours, takes his place in the centre and dances throughout the whole\nof the first day to the beat of drums. Towards the end of afternoon of\nthe second day he points out the witch, and then hurries at once to his\nwaiting canoe. The accused must take the ordeal and abide by the result.\nThe \u201cdoctor of the mat\u201d very often performs this ceremony of discovering\nthe witch.\n\nThere is another class of medicine men who scrape their eyes with the\nsharp edge of the sugar-cane grass, which operation clears the vision\nand enables them to see spirit witches afar off and frustrate their evil\ndesigns. He pretends to see the witch at night running off with the soul\nof a person, and this soul he rescues and restores to its owner. The\nnext day the medicine man will go to the owner of the soul he rescued\nand say: \u201cLast night I saw a witch spirit running away with your soul,\nand I stopped it or you would be dead by now.\u201d And then he demands a\npresent, which is at once given through fear; for if they refuse to\nsatisfy this medicine man he will allow the witch spirit to escape\nanother time with the soul, and death will be the result.\n\nNow a man who has many and powerful enemies needs someone to help him,\nand there is a special branch of the profession created on purpose to\nrender him assistance. Such a man goes to a proper medicine man, who\nwill give him a medicine that will overawe or soothe his enemies so that\nthey will no longer desire to work him any harm. They will become\nsubject to his will and influence. This medicine man (he goes by the\nname of _nganga y\u2019 elembia_ = overawe, subdue, soothe) also initiates\nhis clients into various tricks for striking awe into the onlookers that\nthey may fear their power, and respect them accordingly.\n\nWhen a man is ill, or has lost a relative by death, he may in his\nvexation accuse the other members of his family of witchcraft. They of\ncourse indignantly deny the charge, so the accuser challenges them to\ndrink the water from a fetish bell. Should anyone refuse to drink from\nthe fetish bell he is regarded as guilty of witchcraft. If, however,\nthey agree to accept the challenge the particular kind of medicine man\nwho operates with the fetish bell is called, and on his arrival he gives\nto each person a draught to drink from his fetish bell. And it is firmly\nbelieved that the one guilty of witchcraft will soon die from the\neffects of the bell medicine, whereas the innocent will suffer no\ninconvenience from it.\n\nIt will be seen from the above-mentioned medicine men that the natives\nhave a medicine man to help them in every emergency of life, and also\none to control, soothe, or destroy every kind of spirit that is likely\nto do them any harm personally, and bring any sort of misfortune or\nill-luck upon them. However, witchcraft is at the bottom of all their\nfears, and it will be noticed that the majority of the different\nbranches of medicine men deal with, or pretend to avert, that most\ndreaded and hated thing witchcraft.\n\nThere are three kinds of witches among the Boloki people, viz. the\n_active_, that is the person who fees a medicine man to kill his enemy\nor procures some medicine to do him to death. The _passive_, that is the\nperson who in a temper, or because of some grievance, wishes So-and-so\nwere dead, or in a curse shouts at his tormentor and oppressor: \u201cMay you\ndie quickly\u201d; but takes no active measures to procure the death of the\nsaid person. There is scarcely a person who has not wished for the death\nof one or more persons; and when the ordeal of the fetish bell is\nadministered and the drinker of the \u201cbell water\u201d has not desired the\ndeath or illness of that particular person he feels secure; but if he\nhas desired the death of that person he feels nervous, doubtful, refuses\nto drink the ordeal and is accused of witchcraft or drinks it and\nperhaps dies from sheer fear. The third kind of witch might be called\nthe _self-inflicted_ one, that is, a person in utter misery desires to\ndie, and the witchcraft works in him and he dies; the natives think that\nmany people die by their own witchcraft. On the Lower Congo I found no\nidea of suicidal witchcraft among the people.\n\nI think many of the medicine men thoroughly believe in themselves; and\neven those who assert that they see spirits or have performed such\nwonders as living under the water for seven days, or making their spear\nshake and talk relate the incident so often that they come to believe\nthat they really did it. Many of the people before we went there had no\nfaith in the medicine men; but they were afraid to oppose or ridicule\nthem for fear of being charged with witchcraft, so they pretended to\naccept all that was said and done by them. Our presence inspired many\nwith the courage to test the witch-doctors, and finding them frauds they\nturned from them with contempt.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI\n\n TABOOS AND CURSES\n\nVariety of taboos\u2014The totem taboo\u2014The permanent taboo\u2014The inherited\n taboo\u2014The temporary taboo\u2014Circumcision taboo\u2014Canoe-maker\u2019s\n taboo\u2014Mourner\u2019s taboo\u2014Cursing a wife\u2014Taboo of sympathy\u2014Father\u2019s\n curse on a child\u2014Kicking a person\u2019s foot\u2014Various curses\u2014Different\n oaths\u2014Giving tokens.\n\n\nTaboos are the prohibitions and restrictions put on things and actions\nby the witch-doctor during and after an illness, by the family totems,\nand temporarily by the individual himself. They are the \u201cthou shalt\nnots\u201d of fetishism. To disobey them is to risk dire consequences to\nhealth of body, to success in expeditions, and to one\u2019s luck. Among the\nBoloki the outraged spiritual powers are supposed to avenge themselves\non the breakers of the taboo. The taboos send their ramifications into\nevery part of native life, thought, and action. There is not a single\narticle of food that is not taboo to someone, there is not a place that\nhas not been tabooed at some time or other, and there is not a possible\naction that has not been, or is not, affected by taboo. When a\nwitch-doctor tells his patient that he is not to eat goat\u2019s meat, then\ngoat\u2019s meat to that man is tabooed, forbidden, unlawful for that man to\neat; and should he break the taboo by eating goat\u2019s meat, then he\nbelieves that a serious relapse will follow and probably death.\n\nThe taboos are many and various, but most of them fall under the\nfollowing heads: The _totem taboo_ (called _mokumbu_) is not so evident\nto the casual observer among the Bololi people, and I might say among\nCongo people generally, as it is in other parts of the world. One family\nthat I know may not eat a certain snake, and another may not eat fowls.\nIf the men of these families kill and eat their totems they will become\nthin and weak; the women will not only become thin but sterile; and the\npregnant woman who breaks her totem taboo will be delivered of a weak\nchild, who will remain thin and undersized all his life.\n\nTo another family a tree with small edible fruit (named _mwenge_) is a\ntotem. The tree must not be cut down, nor its fruit eaten, and if by any\nmistake a woman of this family burns it while pregnant she carefully\nsaves the ashes, i.e. instead of throwing them away she puts them in a\nspecial place apart from the usual heap of refuse, otherwise her child\nwill be born emaciated and weakly. Strange to say, the boys and girls of\nthe family before puberty may eat the fruit of this tree without any\nevil consequences.\n\nAnother family has a plant with red leaves (called _nkungu_) as a totem.\nWhen a woman of this family becomes _enceinte_ for the first time a\n_nkungu_ is planted near the hearth outside the house, and it is never\ndestroyed, or the child will be born thin and weak and remain very small\nand sickly. The healthy life of the children and family is bound up with\nthe healthiness and life of the totem tree as respected and preserved by\nthe family. The killing of a fowl by a member of the snake family, and\nvice versa, does not affect the family whose totem it is.\n\nWhen a free woman marries she takes her totem with her and observes not\nonly her own, but also her husband\u2019s totem. And any child born to them\ntakes the totem of both parents until there is a family council of the\npaternal and maternal branches, when it is generally arranged that the\nchild shall in future observe its father\u2019s totem.\n\nThese notes contain all the information I could gather relating to their\ntotems; and I received the impression that the totem taboo is gradually\ndying out. This is also the impression I have about the totems on the\nLower Congo, where one finds only a vestige of what was once probably a\npotent factor in their family life.\n\nThen there is the _permanent taboo_ (called _ngili_). This taboo is put\non any kind of food, as, \u201cYou must not eat goat\u2019s meat\u201d; or, on going to\na certain place, as, \u201cYou must not go across the river to a particular\nisland\u201d; or, on performing a particular action, as, \u201cYou must always\ndrink sugar-cane wine through a reed, never straight out of a vessel of\nany kind.\u201d This taboo must be carefully observed by the person under it\nas long as he lives or serious consequences will follow the breaking of\nit, such as a return of the sickness from which the person was suffering\nwhen placed under this taboo, or a loss of property and life, or the\nsickness and death of a child.\n\nEvery kind of food is _ngili_ to someone, and it is no uncommon sound to\nhear a person going through the town crying out: \u201cExchange for piece of\nantelope.\u201d That means that someone has come into possession of a portion\nof antelope to whom it is taboo, so he (or she) is trying to exchange it\nfor fish or something else that is not taboo to him with someone to whom\nantelope is not taboo.\n\nThis permanent taboo (_ngili_) is very frequently an inherited one. A\nman has, say, elephantiasis and the \u201cmedicine man\u201d says he is not to eat\neither elephant or hippopotamus flesh (both these animals have stout\nlegs), and the man will pass on this taboo to his sons, who will\ncarefully observe it lest their legs become \u201cswollen like an\nelephant\u2019s.\u201d\n\nMilk is tabooed by all and regarded with great abhorrence. Anyone\ndrinking it is considered unclean (_bosoto_) for several days, and is\nnot allowed to eat with his family. They may touch milk, for they milk\nour goats and sheep and carry it to us without suffering any defilement,\nbut it must not touch their lips. A house boy of mine was known to have\ndrunk some water out of a milky glass, and he was not permitted to eat\nwith his family for five days. The natives could give no reason for\nthis, but only stated that it was their custom. The eating of raw eggs\nis also tabooed by all, and the breaker of this taboo is not allowed to\neat with his family for a few days. They eat well-cooked eggs no matter\nhow unsavoury they may be through age. I may say in passing that the\nmore ancient an egg is the better it is liked by the native, and they do\nnot appreciate our preference for fresh eggs. If a native gives an aged\negg to a white man as an expression of gratitude it does not mean that\nhe is giving it because it is bad and worthless to himself, but because\nit is to him better than a fresh egg, and he thinks it is so to you\nuntil he learns better, and then he will bring fresh ones.\n\nThe _temporary taboo_ (_mungilu_) covers a large number of different\ncircumstances that, according to the native view of life, call for a\ntaboo. During pregnancy a woman is placed under a taboo, generally that\nshe is not to eat a certain kind of food\u2014not the same article of food to\nevery woman, but according to the momentary whim of the \u201cdoctor\u201d\u2014and\nthis she observes until the medicine man removes it either on the birth\nof the child or when it is weaned, or the first time the child has its\nhair cut.\n\nSome pregnant women are told not to throw the ashes of their fires away\nuntil their children reach the age of twelve or fourteen. The ashes are\ntherefore carefully gathered and put into a special place. These women,\nhowever, belong to families which have trees and shrubs for totems, and\nfor fear of scattering the ashes of their totem trees inadvertently\nburnt they have to put all the ashes of their fires in a particular\nplace, thus honouring all ashes to avert the possibility of being\ndisrespectful to the ashes of their totem trees.\n\nA witch-doctor may say that on account of a certain sickness the patient\nmust not eat a particular kind of food, and the food he may eat must be\nprepared in a special way, say, cooked in forest water and not in water\ntaken from the river. When, however, the man is better a feast is\nprepared, and then all kinds of food are cooked in the ordinary way,\nincluding the interdicted articles, and the patient partakes of them and\nthe prohibitions are removed.\n\nLads who have been circumcised must remain indoors until the wounds are\nhealed, and during that time they are not to eat the heads and tails of\nfish. When a man is making a canoe he ties a piece of a cactus-like\nplant to the log he is working, and while working on it he must not\ndrink any water, otherwise the canoe will leak. The charm also wards off\nevil influences and keeps the canoe from warping. Members of a deceased\nperson\u2019s family are forbidden to sleep for two or three weeks on their\nordinary beds, and must sleep on leaves spread on the ground. After the\nmourning they have a drinking-bout of sugar-cane wine, to which all the\ntown is invited, after which they return to their ordinary sleeping-mats\non the raised frame. The prohibitions on fishermen and hunters have\nalready been mentioned.\n\nSometimes a man in a rage will put himself under a taboo. A wife by her\nconduct has irritated him beyond all endurance, and at last in anger he\nstrikes on the ground with a stick, and says: \u201cMay I be cursed if ever I\neat food cooked by you.\u201d He is now under a taboo (_mungilu_) not to eat\nfood from that woman\u2019s hands. Such a mode of procedure will bring the\nwoman to her senses, for undoubtedly the taboo and curse go further than\nthe mere non-eating of food cooked by her. It means that he has put a\ntaboo on her and will have nothing more to do with her, or the curse\nwill come on him in the form of a severe disease.\n\nBy and by the woman is sorry for her conduct, and begs the husband to\nremove himself from under the curse by removing the taboo of having\nnothing more to do with her. Should he after a time relent, the curse is\nremoved by the following ceremony, which is called reversing, or\nundoing, of the beating of the ground: A trench is dug while some women\nsing: \u201cRemove the curse, the curse of beating on the ground\u201d (_Bondola\nbondo mobondo bondo_). A spot of red camwood powder is rubbed on the\nwoman\u2019s chest, or as they say, \u201cover the heart,\u201d the taboo and curse are\nremoved and the pair are reconciled.\n\nMen and women to express their sympathy with a sick parent or relative\nwill make a vow, saying: \u201cI will not eat fowls,\u201d or, \u201cI will not go to\n_Lulanga_ until my father is better.\u201d Should the father die, then the\nperson who made the self-imposed taboo must not eat any more fowls, or\nmust never go again to _Lulanga_. These vows are very carefully\nobserved, or a disease will result from breaking them.\n\nA person therefore can be under four taboos, viz.: (1) The totem taboo\n(_mokumbu_) of his family. (2) The taboo (_ngili_), because of a serious\nillness and the desire to avert a relapse. (3) The inherited taboo (also\n_ngili_), to avoid a complaint from which the father suffered. (4) The\ntemporary taboo (_mungilu_) of anger and sympathy.\n\nThis may be the best place in which to mention their curses, for they\nare often interwoven with their taboos. A very common curse employed on\nmost occasions is to strike on the ground with a stick, and at the same\ntime mention the name of the person cursed; and the person thus cursed\nwill have a very bad form of dysentery, and the curser may say: \u201cMay I\nbe cursed if ever I do such and such a thing\u201d; thus the curser will\nbecome subject to the disease should he break his word.\n\nA person curses an adult relative in the following manner: He rubs his\nthighs, bends down, and turns his back towards the one to be cursed and\nshouts: \u201cBe accursed.\u201d This is also done in the face of an enemy as an\ninsolent curse on them. Early morning is said to be the best time for\nmaking it effective. I have seen this performed several times, and the\nperson so cursed has hurled his knife or spear at the curser.\n\nA father, or guardian, curses his child by words, and then the child\nwill neither grow properly nor become wise or rich; but this is only\nresorted to on great provocation. Should the child become penitent and\napologize for his evil ways, he takes a large fish or monkey or a goat\nto his father and begs him to remove the curse. The father accepts the\npresent, and then chewing the stem of a certain shrub (called\n_munsangasanga_), he expectorates the pieces out on to the palm of his\nchild\u2019s hand, saying; \u201cWhat I said I said in anger, and I now remove the\ncurse.\u201d The child is comforted and the two are reconciled.\n\nTo kick or touch a person accidentally, while passing him, with the foot\nis equivalent to cursing him. The person must turn round and slightly\nkick again the person whom he touched with his foot, otherwise bad luck,\netc., will come upon the person kicked. Where we apologize they kick\nagain, and the phrase used for the second kick means, \u201cto reverse the\neffects of the first kick.\u201d They are exceedingly careful not to touch a\nperson with the foot in passing\u2014that brings bad luck, and not to step\nover a person\u2014that is an insult. A person moving out of a sitting crowd\nof folk shuffles his feet along the ground so as to avoid stepping over\nanyone, and will tell those squatting around to draw their feet up out\nof the way so as not to touch them.\n\nThere are other curses used by old and young alike during fits of\npassionate anger, as, \u201cMay you die by witchcraft\u201d; or, \u201cMay you die by\neuphorbia poison\u201d; or, \u201cCry for your mother,\u201d i.e. May your mother die.\nThe last is a curse bitterly resented, and is only uttered when a person\nis greatly exasperated. When a person is undergoing any ordeal test he\nrepeatedly uses the word _ngambu_, which means: \u201cIf I am guilty, let the\nordeal work against me; but if I am innocent, then let my accuser be\naccursed and die.\u201d The _ngambu_ curse is greatly dreaded by all natives.\n\nPromises and oaths are ratified by each contracting party putting a\ncurse on the other should he break his oath; and illness and bad luck\nare often regarded as due to unfaithfulness to one\u2019s oath. Sometimes\ntaboos are put on one another by the contracting parties, and so long as\nthe taboos are carefully observed they are reckoned as faithful to their\npromises and oaths. This is specially so in the covenant of\nblood-brotherhood, and to disregard the taboo is to court either death\nor some great disaster. Many of their folk-lore stories are illustrative\nof the evil consequences resulting from the breaking of\nblood-brotherhood taboos.\n\nOaths are freely used by the Boloki in their conversation, and such\nliars are they that they feel it necessary to back their statements\nwith, \u201cI swear it\u201d (_ndai_). The commonest form of oath is, \u201cCut my\nthroat\u201d (_tena nkingu_), and is always accompanied by the speaker\nwetting his finger and drawing it across his throat. \u201cBy my mother\u201d\n(_nta mama_), and \u201cBy my father\u201d (_nta tata_) are very strong oaths and\nare felt to be binding on the user of them, otherwise disaster will\nfollow if the statements to which they are affixed are not true, or the\npromises to which they are attached are not fulfilled. \u201cTruly so, by my\nmother\u201d (_bwele unko mama_), and \u201cTruly so, by my father\u201d (_bwele unko\ntata_), are not regarded as being so strong as the former two, but they\ninfer that the speaker pledges himself that his words are true,\notherwise his mother or father will suffer.\n\nA piece of stick, tin, or anything handy is cut into pieces, and each\ncombatant or disputant takes a portion as a token that all matters of\ndispute are finished, and he who again starts one of the old quarrels\ncalls down a curse upon himself. This cutting of a token (_tena ndanga_)\nis also done by the party who loses a case. He gives a portion of the\ncut token as an earnest of the payment of expenses, and of the fine\nimposed by those who judged the case, and if he does not redeem it he is\nunder a curse and will suffer accordingly.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII\n\n NATIVE CHARMS AND THEIR USES\n\nA general name\u2014No sacrifices to them\u2014Preventive charms\u2014Thief\u2019s charm and\n antidote\u2014Charm for rendering the owner attractive\u2014Helpful charms in\n war\u2014Modes of dealing with witchcraft\u2014Certain charms for certain\n spirits\u2014For success in fishing\u2014To detect a murderer\u2014To preserve\n goats in health\u2014Giving ordeal to a son.\n\n\nThe general name for fetish, charm, amulet, talisman, mascot, etc., is\n_bonganga_; and this is also the word for the skill or art of the\nmedicine man\u2014that which constitutes him a member of the profession. It\nis, however, difficult to decide whether this skill arises from his own\ninherent intuitions or is imparted to him by his own powerful fetish\u2014the\nword _bonganga_ favours both views. The prefix \u201c_bo_\u201d can indicate the\nthing into which a medicine man has put his power, hence a charm,\nfetish, etc.; and it also denotes a noun of quality, and thus points to\nthe skilfulness, art, etc., or that quality by which the witch-doctor is\nable to perform his magic. It is very probable that both views are\nnecessary for a complete understanding of the word\u2014it is a thing into\nwhich the medicine man has put his power, and it is also the skill, art,\npower, etc., by which he imparts it and by which he works as a\nwitch-doctor.\n\nNo offerings are presented to charms, and there is no mode of\n_refreshing_ them as on the Lower Congo; but when a charm does not act\nas it should the owner takes it back to the medicine man to have some\nmore \u201cmedicine\u201d put into it, as it is thought that the old has become\nineffective through being played out. Images are not used among the\nBoloki, but various articles are employed to conserve the fetish power\nimparted to them.\n\nThe charms belonging to the witch-doctors have been handed down from\ntime immemorial and the various \u201cdoctors\u201d make the amulets, charms,\netc., for the people. The larger the fee the more powerful the charm.\n\nIn writing about the Boloki charms it is very difficult to classify\nthem, for they so frequently overlap each other in their operations. I\nhave collected the names of a large number of their charms, etc., and\nwhen describing some of them I shall have to repeat a little of the\ninformation given under the heading of \u201cMedicine Men and their Magic\u201d;\nbut I will avoid more repetition than is necessary to put the reader in\ntouch with the supposed powers of the charm.\n\nThere are those charms that _help them in dire distress_, and among the\nmost potent of them is the _ekando_, which really means a snag hidden\nunder the water. The owner of this charm can cause a snag to break the\ncanoe of his pursuing enemies. In the excitement of a chase the paddlers\ndo not always look where they are going and will run on a hidden snag,\nand the impact will split the canoe and the charm has the credit for it.\nMany trees topple from the bank into the river, and by and by the jagged\nend of a large branch will be just under water as the river rises and\nfalls, and this favours the belief in the powers of the _ekando_ charm.\nI have been nearly thrown out of my canoe two or three times from\nrunning on a covered snag, and they are a source of considerable danger\nto river steamers.\n\nThe owner of this charm has the power also to call on the hippopotami\nand crocodiles to help him when hard pressed by his foes. Hippopotami\nquite unintentionally, in coming up to breathe, overturn a canoe; and\ncrocodiles have the trick of coming up suddenly by the side of a canoe\nand causing the paddlers to start so violently that they upset the\ncanoe. The crocodile takes a man and goes off.\n\nAnother charm with curious power is the \u201cfetish axe\u201d (_ekoko_). The\npossessor when desirous of eluding his enemies takes the \u201caxe\u201d in his\nhand and beats an island with it, whereupon the island splits and he\npasses through the opening, which at once closes behind him, and he is\nsafe. The numerous creeks and inlets favour this superstition.\n\nAnother charm on much the same lines as the two already mentioned, is\nthe _jelo_ or sandbank. The lucky owner of this charm, when escape from\nthe enemy is otherwise impossible, will take a handful of sand and throw\nit towards his pursuers, and a sandbank will immediately form and stop\ntheir progress until the owner of the _jelo_ charm is far beyond their\nreach. The innumerable and ever-changing sandbanks in the river favour\nthis belief.\n\nOn one occasion the folk were much troubled by steamers calling at\nMonsembe, the crews of which took every opportunity of robbing the\npeople. The natives therefore decided to employ this charm by making a\nseries of sandbanks across the channels, thus preventing the approach of\nsteamers. I informed them that we were expecting our steamer the\n_Peace_, and they must not shut her out or we should run short of\nprovision and barter goods.\n\n\u201cWe will leave an opening for your steamer,\u201d they assured me as they\ncontinued the ceremony.\n\nA couple of days afterwards a State steamer came in sight, the very kind\nof steamer they wanted to keep out. \u201cHow did that steamer pass your\nsandbanks?\u201d I quietly asked.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d they replied nonchalantly, \u201csome mischievous boy must have\nbewitched our line of sandbanks and caused several openings.\u201d I have\nnever found them lacking a loophole out of difficulties of this kind.\n\nThere are various preventive charms to maintain them in good health, to\nward off the return of a sickness, preserve them from wounds, and to\nprotect their property. A cross-stick on uprights (called _mokando_),\nrubbed with red camwood powder and arranged with a noose to catch\nwitches that try to enter a house or village, is regarded as a\nhealth-preserver to a household and to a community. Or a medicine man\ncan take certain stalks, or anything else to hand, and after putting a\ncharm into it he can lay it along or across any path, and neither witch\nnor disembodied spirit desiring to commit evil in the village will be\nable to cross this charm (_jeko_) into the village.\n\nA forked stick (_mutumu_) is carried by a man who has had rheumatism as\na charm against the return of the complaint; but if the stick is touched\nby anyone else, or broken, the man will have a serious relapse. A brass\nring with a few wood knots threaded on it, or a piece of string with\nknots tied in it, are both used for curing and for preventing diarrh\u0153a,\nespecially in children.\n\nThe _mpete_ is a charm to preserve the owner from being wounded in a\nfight, but for it to be effective the owner\u2019s wives must remain faithful\nwhile he is at the war. This name is also given to the brass ornaments\non a State officer\u2019s helmet and uniform, as the natives when first they\nsaw them thought they were charms worn by the white men to preserve them\nfrom wounds, and not as decorations or insignia of rank. There is also a\ncharm that is supposed to render the owner invulnerable to all weapons\nused in fights and quarrels.\n\nA native does not own very much property, but what little he has he\ndesires to keep, so there are charms for that purpose. A plantain stalk\nbound with the proper medicine is a charm to preserve its owner\u2019s canoe\nfrom being swamped in a storm. It is not necessary to have it (the\n_mokombe_) in the canoe at the time, for it can act through any\nreasonable distance of space. The python charm (_nguma_) is regarded as\na powerful charm for protecting wealth and slaves; and should either be\nlost it has the reputation of restoring them quickly to their owner.\n\nThere is a general charm (_nseka_) for preserving property from robbery\nand destruction. It is made of anything according to the preference of\nits user, as shells, leaves, skins, etc. Such a charm is frequently\ncarried through the town to notify that something has been stolen and to\nbring a curse on the thief, and then it is partly made of the same\nmaterial as the thing stolen. Charms are placed round the farms to mark\nthe boundaries of a field belonging to one woman from that of another,\nand also to protect the produce from thieves. The charms then employed\nseem to be almost anything; but those most frequently seen are large\nunivalve snail shells, bivalve shells like mussels, pieces of cactus,\nbits of rags, old calabashes, etc., these are all tied on sticks stuck\nin the ground and the charms dangle to and fro in the breeze.\n\nWhen a woman runs away, her husband takes her nail-parings and\nhair-cuttings, which he has gathered for this and other purposes, to a\nmedicine man, who puts them into a skin with medicine and returns them\nto him. The husband with this charm in his possession takes a leaf,\nspreads it on the closed fist of his left hand and strikes it with the\npalm of his right hand, and says: \u201cIf my wife stops to eat at the place\nto which she has run, let her die quickly.\u201d The same ceremony is\nperformed to ensure the return of a runaway slave, or to inflict harm on\nanyone with whom the owner of this special charm (named _likunda_) has\nquarrelled; consequently natives carefully destroy all their\nhair-cuttings and nail-parings so that no one may gain power over them.\n\nThe thief has a charm\u2014a simple yellow pigment\u2014to rub on his temples to\nhelp him steal cunningly and successfully; but if a man desires to\nprotect his property from this kind of thief he procures a very long,\nbroad-bladed knife with curved points, and on this he smears stripes of\nyellow pigment, and then a serious sickness will come upon the robber\nwho steals from the owner of such a powerful charm (named _lingundu_).\nThis charm is also used for two other purposes: when it is put near the\ndoor of a sick man it will kill the witch that tries to enter; and a\nmedicine man also uses it to cut the soul (_elimo_) in half to cause the\ndeath of his client\u2019s enemy. As the yellow pigment renders the thief\ninvisible, so it also renders the knife invisible, so that the witch not\nseeing it blunders on it and fatally cuts itself; and the soul cannot\nsee it, and can be executed by it when in the hands of the witch-doctor.\n\nHow does a native account for a man (or woman) being successful in his\nundertakings, fortunate in his circumstances, and acceptable and popular\nwith folk generally? Well, the secret of it is that he has a charm\n(named _montala_) which operates powerfully in his favour. It is a\nbundle, a horn, or a hollow piece of bamboo with medicine in it. It\nrenders its owner very attractive to women, to slaves, and to the\npeople, and thus he is successful. Handsome, healthy, prosperous men are\nsupposed to be what they are on account of the benefits bestowed by this\ncharm.\n\nWhen a son or daughter is about to leave home for another town, or to\ntravel and trade, the father or near relative chews the leaves of a\ncertain shrub, spits them out on to another leaf and mixes some camwood\npowder with the mess, and the son, or daughter, has to rub a little of\nthis mixture (_makako_) on his body every day, otherwise he will not\nfind favour with those among whom he may live or travel. Neither a son,\nnor a daughter, will travel without his charm. The ingredients of the\nlove-charm, or philtre, have already been given (see the chapter on\nMedicine Men), and also the methods of effectively employing them.\n\nIt is also necessary, according to the native view of life, to have\ncharms to help them in war, in rows, and among their enemies. There is a\nclass of charms that enables them to go into the midst of their foes and\nyet escape, although they wish to capture them. By one charm the native\nbewitches the enemy; by another he excels the enemy in craftiness and\ncunning; by another he overawes and fascinates them so that they forget\ntheir hatred; and by another he becomes invisible to them. Each man\npatronizes his own particular charm, some having more faith in one than\nin another. There is also a charm, specially procured from a spirit and\ncosting a goodly fee, that always enables its owner to capture one or\nmore prisoners in a fight, and then helps him to disappear with his\ncaptives if too closely pursued by the enemy. The mud-fish is called\n_njombo_, and this name is given to a charm that imports the slippery\ncharacteristics of the eel-like mud-fish. The owner of this useful charm\nis as difficult to hold as an eel, and consequently it is much in demand\nby fighters and thieves, as it enables them to slip out of the hands of\ntheir captors.\n\nWitchcraft plays a large part in native life, therefore we find among\nthem various means of finding witches and counteracting their malignant\npowers. The simplest and cheapest method is to give a drink of water\nfrom the fetish bell to the suspected persons\u2014the innocent are not hurt\nand the guilty one dies. Then there are the fetish saucepans of water\nused by the medicine men, in which the witches and evil spirits are\nsupposed to appear and those proved guilty of witchcraft are destroyed.\nIn each case the different spirits are called to the ordeal of the\nsaucepan by the witch-doctor putting a leaf on the closed fist of his\nleft hand and striking it with the palm of his right hand. If the leaf\nbursts, the spirits have heard and come at his bidding; but if the leaf\ndoes not break after three smacks, he desists, as the spirits are\nrecalcitrant. When he wants a particular spirit he calls its name as he\nstrikes the leaf.\n\nWhen there is much sickness in a family the medicine man of the mat is\nsent for and he, after studying the matter, says: \u201cThere is a charm\nworking against the family.\u201d He erects his mat to form an enclosure and\ngoes through a ceremony of much drumming and chanting, and by and by\ndigs a hole inside his mat and gets out the charm (named _ekundu_),\nwhich is a saucepan containing animal and fish bones and brass links.\n\nThe pot and contents are said to belong to the evil spirit of a deceased\nrelative who desires to trouble the family. The brass links, one or\nmore, represent those members of the family who have been done to death\nby the evil spirit (_mweta_) since the decease of the wicked relative.\n(The medicine man knows how many have died in the family since the death\nof the said relative.) After removing the malignant charm from the\nground, the evil spirit of the departed one has no more power over the\nfamily. Sometimes this ceremony is performed in the open, but it needs\nmore cunning to deceive the spectators.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n A BOPOTO FETISH ENSURING GOOD HEALTH TO TWINS\n When twins are born the placent\u00e6 are put into two old saucepans that\n are then raised on forked sticks and placed on either side of the\n road leading to the village. This is a sign to passers-by that twins\n have been born, and to destroy any evil influences entering the town\n that might harm the twins.\n]\n\nThere are three charms that are regarded as being very acceptable and\npleasing to the spirits of disease, so much so, that by a little\npersuasion the medicine man can coerce them to leave their patients and\ntake up their residence in the charms provided for the purpose. The\nmedicine man procures a four-foot post, removes its bark, shapes it\nbluntly at one end, and paints it yellow with spots of red and blue.\nThis charm (_etoli_) is erected near the house of the person who is\nsuffering from either debility, or rheumatism, or lumbago, or ague\nfever, and the spirit of the complaint goes into the post, and in order\nto keep it there, i.e. to avoid a relapse, the man throws some food on\nthe roof, protecting the post from the weather, for the spirit to eat,\nand pours some sugar-cane wine over the post for the spirit to drink,\nand occasionally a little camwood powder is rubbed on the post to keep\nthe spirit in a good humour. As these charm-sticks are the\nresting-places of spirits, the nicer they are made the better satisfied\nwill the spirits be to reside in them instead of troubling the patient.\n\nBesides the charm-post there are two charms made of saucepans for\nreceiving the spirits of disease and holding them in pleasant captivity.\nThey are both decorated with spots of yellow, blue, and red. One (the\n_eboko_) is simply filled with water from the bush, and the other\n(_muntoka_) has a number of small sticks in it. The former is used for\nretaining the spirit of a virulent form of sleeping-sickness, and the\nlatter for that of a milder type. In both cases food, drink, and camwood\nare supplied to the spirits residing in them; and small roofs of grass\nare built over them to protect them from the weather. Especially in the\ncase of the coverings for the saucepan charms, the protecting shelters\nlook like miniature huts, and a casual observer could easily believe\nthat they have something to do with ancestral worship, whereas they are\nsimply the dwelling-places of disease-giving spirits, and are charms to\nprotect their owners from having serious relapses.\n\nWhen a man is very unsuccessful in spearing fish, although his\nopportunities have been good, he thinks that this lack of success is due\nto a pregnant woman in his family who has not performed the rites called\n_mumbamba_, in which small cuts are made on certain parts of the body\nand camwood powder and medicine are rubbed into them. When this ceremony\nis observed his luck will change, so he thinks. If, however, he cannot\ndiscover such a woman in his family, he believes that there is one who\nis hiding the fact, and consequently the charm is against him. This is\noften a way of covering one\u2019s ill-success.\n\nMurder is a very rare occurrence among the Boloki, i.e. secret murder. I\nnever heard of a case during the fifteen years I was with them. Open\nfights and murder were not at all infrequent, but I suppose that there\nmust have been cases of secret murder, or they would not have a ceremony\n(called _moselo_) for detecting the murderer. This fetish ceremony is\nperformed in two ways: (_a_) A relative takes the nail-parings and\nhair-cuttings of the murdered man to the witch-doctor, who makes some\nmedicine with them, after which he says that the man was murdered by\nsomeone in the village. A saucepan of water is taken and placed on the\nground in the said village, and each inhabitant holds his or her hand\nover it, and the one whose shadow is seen at the bottom of the saucepan\nis the murderer. (_b_) The nail-parings and hair-cuttings of the\nmurdered man are rolled in palm gossamer, tied and laid on the ground,\nas representing the unknown murderer, in front of the witch-doctor, who\nsays: \u201cIf this man eats, or drinks, or walks in this country again, let\nhim be cursed by this ceremony.\u201d Then the witch-doctor brings his knife\ndown and cuts the bundle (_moselo_) in half. If shortly after this a\nperson becomes suddenly ill of a serious complaint and dies, he is\nregarded as guilty of the murder, and his death is taken as a proof that\nthe spell has worked.\n\nWhen cassava roots are dug up from the farm they are put into a\nwater-hole to soak for a few days until they become soft. Should a woman\nfind that her roots are being stolen from the hole she takes a piece of\ngum copal, and fixing it in the cleft of a split stick she puts it on\nthe side of her cassava hole, and at the same time calls down a curse on\nthe thief. Should the thief be a man he will henceforth have no luck in\nfishing, and should it be a woman she will have no more success in\nfarming.\n\nEvery canoe before being launched for the first time is struck on the\nstern by the maker or owner with his axe, \u201cto take away the weight.\u201d It\nwill then be light to paddle, easy to beach or to launch, for its dead\nweight has been removed by the blow with the axe.\n\nThere is no distinct word for evil eye, but one person is able to\nbewitch (_loka_) the farm of another so that the produce, maize,\ncassava, sugar-cane, etc., will not grow. To counteract the effects of\nthis bewitchment the owner of the farm calls a witch-doctor, who knocks\na stake into the farm, and if a person is bewitching the farm the stake\nis supposed to enter that person, and she or he will soon die unless\nthey abandon their wicked designs.\n\nWhen through this same form of witchcraft goats die off, or will not\nbreed, the owner seeks someone who for a consideration will look after\nthem, and the owner will then _pretend_ to sell them to him, so that the\none who is bewitching them will stop his evil practices, as they now\nbelong to someone else. It often happens that the goats being removed to\nnew pastures become more healthy and breed, and this is sufficient proof\nthat someone was formerly bewitching them. If, however, the owner cannot\nfind anyone whom he can trust to look after his goats he calls a\nmedicine man, who takes a young palm, splits it into two equal parts,\nand places one on each side of the road; and then when the witch spirit\ncomes that way and passes between the pieces of palm it will become sick\nand die.\n\nThe general belief is that only one in the family can bewitch a member\nof the family; and who will go to the trouble of bewitching one of his\nown family unless he is to benefit by the death of the bewitched person?\nAnd who benefits by the death of a father or a brother? Why, the son or\na brother. Consequently, when father is very ill, the son is regarded\nwith suspicion, and after trying all other means, such as calling in the\nvarious medicine men to drive out the sickness, the patient will, as a\nlast resort, give his son the ordeal, but not enough to kill him. Should\nhe vomit it he is innocent, that is proved beyond doubt and no harm is\ndone; but if he does not vomit the ordeal, and becomes dazed and\nstupid\u2014well, he is simply the medium by which the occult powers are\nworking on his relative, and the ordeal will clear such dangerous powers\nout of his system, and being no longer able to work through him as a\nmedium the father or brother will recover. The lad is tended until the\neffects of the ordeal drug have passed away, then he is warned not to\nallow his body to be used again for such purposes and he is set free;\nand he is looked upon by his playmates in the village with as much\ncuriosity as a boy just out of hospital with a broken leg. The boy\u2019s\nexcuse is, and it is readily accepted by all, that he was full of\nwitchcraft and did not know it.\n\nI know a case of a cheeky urchin who received a box on the ears from his\nuncle, and the youngster turned round and said: \u201cI will bewitch you.\u201d\n\nShortly afterwards the uncle fell sick, and in spite of remedies and\n\u201cdoctors\u201d he continued ill; but at last he made the boy take the ordeal,\nand not vomiting it he was considered guilty of bewitching his uncle.\nThe boy was well thrashed, and his father had to pay 200 brass rods to\nthe medicine man for administering the ordeal. This punishment was\ninflicted not because the ordeal proved that the lad was guilty, but\nbecause of his insolent threat, and to teach him to let other folk\nalone. The uncle pulled up his houses and went to live at the other end\nof the town beyond the lad\u2019s influence.\n\nThis uncle soon after married another wife, who had a young brother who\nwas a scholar in my school. One day the uncle came asking me for this\nlad that he might give him the ordeal. I refused to hand him over for\nsuch a purpose, and \u201cBesides,\u201d I said, \u201che does not belong to your\nfamily,\u201d for I had not heard of the marriage.\n\n\u201cYes, he does,\u201d the man replied; \u201cI have married his sister, and he is\nbewitching me through his sister, who is now my wife. My nephew, who\ntook the ordeal some time ago, says that he has passed on the witchcraft\nto my young brother-in-law.\u201d It thus appears that a mischievous boy can\nsay that he has passed on his witchcraft to another lad and so bring\ntrouble on that youngster. This uncle was continually bothering me about\nthese lads, and at last, to avoid further trouble, I sent them, with\ntheir full consent, to work on one of our other stations many miles\ndown-river, and the uncle was much relieved.\n\nThe uncle in his new locality surrounded himself with many charms, but\nhe did not live many years. He was not physically strong, and every\ncharm he possessed was to guard him from a complaint, or to preserve him\nfrom witchcraft.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII\n\n DEATH AND BURIAL\n\nThree causes of death\u2014By act of God\u2014By another\u2019s witchcraft\u2014By one\u2019s own\n witchcraft\u2014An explosion\u2014Decorating the corpse\u2014fee to view the\n body\u2014Smoking the body\u2014Making coffins\u2014Three kinds of graves\u2014Killing\n slaves\u2014Burying women alive\u2014Signs of mourning\u2014The nether\n world\u2014Suicides\u2014Funeral dance for a man\u2014Dance for a woman.\n\n\nThere are three causes of death well recognized among the Boloki: To die\nby an act of God; to die by another\u2019s witchcraft; and to die by one\u2019s\nown witchcraft. On the Lower Congo the first and second causes of death\nare acknowledged, but I never heard there of a person dying by his, or\nher, own witchcraft.\n\nIn cases of accidental death, as caused by the swamping of a canoe in a\nstorm, they say that God has caused the death. There is a certain amount\nof fatalism in this statement; but other accidents in which they observe\nwhat they consider exceptional circumstances, as the upsetting of a\ncanoe by a hippopotamus or by a crocodile, they place to the account of\nwitchcraft. Thus a canoe swamped in a storm is \u201can act of God,\u201d but a\ncanoe upset by a crocodile is \u201can act of witchcraft,\u201d as no crocodile\nwill upset a canoe unless it is told to do so by a witch, or unless a\nwitch has gone into the creature and compels it to commit the outrage;\ntherefore it is necessary to discover the witch and punish the person\nwho harbours such an evil spirit. The word for sorrow is _nkele_, which\nreally means anger, indignation, and the idea is that they are \u201cangry\u201d\nthat their relative has been done to death by the witch. I tried very\nhard, but I found no other word for grief, sorrow, etc., at the death of\nanyone than this word _nkele_ or anger\u2014a very suggestive sidelight on\nthe native view of death.\n\nOn the death of a sick man the body is opened, and the arteries\nconnected with the liver are examined by a witch-doctor, and if they are\nfull, or only one is empty, then the deceased was bewitched to death,\ni.e. he died by witchcraft (_awi moyengwa_); and consequently someone is\naccused, and the ordeal is administered to one person after another\nuntil the guilty party is discovered, i.e. until someone succumbs to the\nordeal, and falls intoxicated by it to the ground.\n\nThere is another view of death held by the Boloki folk, and expressed in\nthe phrase _awi na likundu_, which means that the person died by his own\nwitchcraft, or he (or she) tried to kill someone else by witchcraft, and\nthe other person\u2019s protective charms, etc., were too strong, and it has\nresulted in the bewitcher\u2019s own death. The word _likundu_ literally\nmeans smartness, craftiness, skill, occult power, being too clever.\n\nThe witch-doctor decides the matter, for he holds a kind of post-mortem\non the corpse, and if the arteries near the liver are empty, then the\nman died as a result of his own witchcraft. If one artery only is empty,\nthat counts for nothing and is disregarded, but if four or five are\nempty the witch-doctor says: \u201cThat,\u201d pointing to one, \u201cis the secret\npower by which he so skilfully made canoes, or worked at his smithing\u201d\n(according as the man was a canoe maker or blacksmith); \u201cthat one is the\npower by which he was successful in fishing\u201d (or hunting, and so on);\n\u201cand that other one is the power by which he bewitched people, hence\nsomeone with stronger occult power has overcome and killed him, or he\nhas died by his own witchcraft.\u201d\n\nIf only one artery is empty, that is allowable, as a man must have skill\nto do ordinary things like other folk, but if several are empty, then he\nhad more than his share of cleverness, or occult power, and no one\npities him in his death.\n\nThe following is an illustration of the wide-reaching effects of\nwitchcraft among the natives of Africa: Some years ago the steamer\n_Matadi_ was lying off the English Trading House at Boma, and one night\nthe whole town was aroused by a terrific explosion. It was found on\ninvestigation that the gunpowder on board the s.s. _Matadi_ had\nexploded, and two or three white people and forty \u201cKroo boys\u201d (men\nengaged on the Kroo coast to work the cargo) were killed. During the\ninquiry that followed it came out that the \u201cKroo boys,\u201d while searching\nthe hold with a naked light, had accidentally set fire to the powder.\nMany months afterwards we heard incidentally from other \u201cKroo boys\u201d that\na big witch palaver had been held in the Kroo country and over fifty\npeople had been done to death for bewitching the \u201cKroo boys\u201d to death on\nthe s.s. _Matadi_ by causing the explosion of the gunpowder by their\nwitchcraft. The Kroo coast is many hundreds of miles from the Congo, and\nthe probability is that not one of those who died by the ordeal in the\nKroo country had ever been in Congoland.\n\nRelatives attend the sick and nurse them faithfully; and it is a sign of\ntrue friendship to visit a sick acquaintance, or to send regularly and\ninquire after his health. The women are so fond of attending the sick,\ni.e. sitting in the house, suggesting charms, remedies, etc., and giving\nadvice, that they often neglect their farm work and various duties.\n\nWhen a man of any importance dies, those who are expert in the art of\ndecorating corpses attend and decorate the body with coloured pigments,\nbeads, cowry shells, and fine cloth; and the artists charge two brass\nrods per person to view the body. The family supply the cloths,\npigments\u2014arnotta dye, chalk, red camwood powder, blue and yellow earths,\nbeads, shells, bottles, and looking-glasses. The figure is often fixed\nin a sitting position with a bottle in one hand, as though drinking, and\na looking-glass in the other, as though he were admiring his\ndecorations. They aim at posing the figure in as natural a position as\npossible, but the effect is ghastly on a civilized mind.\n\nThe artists give their time and skill to the family for a small fee, and\ntake as their perquisites the brass rods paid to view the picturesque\n(?) corpse. The side of the house is removed\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A METHOD OF BEHEADING ON THE UPPER CONGO\n This scene was arranged for the photo. In the real thing a sapling is\n pulled over and the rope tied, so that when the sapling is released\n it springs up and draws the neck of the victim taut.\n]\n\nto give more light on the body, and the wall removed forms, with several\nmats, the screen enclosing the decorated corpse. People come from miles\naround to view the sight, and the more original the pose the richer the\nharvest of brass rods gathered by the lucky artists. The pigments and\nbarter goods on a decorated body cost approximately 1000 brass rods, or\nabout \u00a33, a very large sum for these people, but from their point of\nview it is worth the expenditure, for by giving the deceased such a fine\nsend-off to the nether regions they give no excuse to his spirit to\ntrouble them later with diseases and misfortune.\n\nAs a rule the body is buried within three days after death, and by that\ntime it is very necessary. When, however, for various reasons\u2014as lack of\nmeans to provide a good funeral\u2014it is not convenient to bury the\ndeceased so soon, they take out the entrails and bury them, place the\ncorpse on a frame, light a fire under it, and thoroughly smoke-dry it;\nand in this way they are able to keep it for a more convenient time\u2014this\nmay be a matter of weeks, and even months. The dried body is tied in\nmats, put in a roughly-made hut, and a fire is occasionally made under\nit. Another mode is as follows: The body is tied in mats and buried in\nan ordinary but shallow grave, a big fire is made on the top of the\ngrave to dry up the moisture in the body, and to preserve it. At a more\nsuitable time a coffin is made and the corpse buried properly; this is\ncalled _likaku_.\n\nCoffins are often made out of old canoes by men who go about the\ndistrict for that purpose. Considering the material and tools they are\nwell made, the various pieces fitting closely together.\n\nThese native \u201cundertakers,\u201d on arriving at the place where their\nservices are required, put up a fence of mats so as to make a private\nworkshop. They charge so much for the job and are kept in food and\ndrink, and any dogs, goats, etc., that push open the mats and enter the\nworkshop are liable to confiscation if their inquisitiveness causes them\nto persist in entering after they have been driven away twice.\n\nThe coffins are sometimes lined and covered with cheap cloth, but more\noften they are stained with arnotta dye and ornamented with yellow and\nblue pigments. All the materials are supplied by the family.\nClumsily-made native nails, or wooden pins, are used, unless they can\nprocure nails from the nearest white man. Sometimes the parts are laced\ntogether. Poorer folk are rubbed with oil, and red camwood powder, bound\nround with cloth, and tied up in a mat; and those who are very poor are\nsimply tied in their sleeping-mats; a corpse is rarely thrown into the\nriver or bush.\n\nWhen the time for burial arrives the coffin is carried round the town on\nexhibition, then the corpse is placed in it, and men convey it to the\nplace of interment, followed by relatives, male and female\u2014not\nwives\u2014friends and townsfolk generally; the wives remain behind to\ncontinue the mourning. A person often dies away from his house, and\nsometimes away from his town. The body is brought home and buried\u2014if a\nfree man or woman\u2014in his or her house; but a slave is buried on the edge\nof the bush, or in any convenient place.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n GRAVE FOR A WEALTHY MAN\n]\n\nThe graves are of three kinds: (1) When the grave is dug deep enough a\ncutting is made at the side in which to lay the corpse so that the earth\ndoes not press on the body, thus:\n\n(2) A notch is cut in the earth along the two sides about two feet from\nthe bottom of the grave, and planks or sticks are laid across after the\nbody is put in position, and the earth is thrown on the sticks. (A and B\nare notches or ledges to take planks or sticks.) By this means also the\nearth is kept from contact with the coffin.\n\n(3) An ordinary straight-sided hole, and the earth put on the body. 1\nand 2 are for important men\u2014those whose families can afford to pay for a\ncoffin, and they do not want it spoiled at once by having the\nclay\u2014generally very wet\u2014thrown on it; and No. 3 is for the common\npeople.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n GRAVE FOR A WEALTHY MAN\n]\n\nThere is no special time for burying, and no particular position for the\ngrave and corpse. I have known them to bury their dead at different\ntimes, in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Mostly bodies are buried\nin one or other of the houses (or very near to them) belonging to the\ndeceased, consequently the position of the grave depends on whether the\nhouse runs east and west, or north and south, or whether the row of\nhouses owned by the deceased is parallel or at right angles to the\nriver.\n\nIn the old days it was the custom to kill two slaves and put one under\nthe head as a pillow and one under the feet of the corpse. In every\nfamily of importance there was a slave wife who went by the name of\n_mwila ndako_, and it indicated that she was to be buried alive with her\ndead husband. If, however, this wife had a child before her husband\ndied, then another woman took her place\u2014a young woman was generally\nselected for this doubtful honour. The number of wives buried in the\ngrave was in proportion to the man\u2019s wealth and importance, but he\nalways made certain of one\u2014the _mwila ndako_. We were able eventually to\npersuade them to abandon this custom, but it was not until we had gained\ntheir confidence and good-will by long residence among them.\n\nA man while mourning for a relative or a wife wears rags, or an old\nstring fish-net, and allows his body to go unrubbed with oil and camwood\npowder. Utter disregard of one\u2019s personal appearance is a sign of great\ngrief for the departed. At times men wear women\u2019s dresses instead of\ntheir own in token of their sorrow, and they shave off only half the\nhair of the head, or tie the hair up in little bunches or knots and\nshave the hair off the spaces between the knots; and some rub their\nbodies with clay. The modes are many and various, according to the\nnearness or remoteness of the relationship. In some cases they exhibit\nreal sorrow, but in the majority of cases there is more noise and show\nthan true grief.\n\nRarely does a man give way to crying; and if his dearest friend dies\n(not his relative) he exhibits no sign of mourning, not because he does\nnot feel sorry, but because he does not desire to attract attention to\nhimself as a person who mourns for one who is not his relative. It would\nbe most unusual, and besides, if he has signs of mourning about him, the\nfolk will be constantly stopping him and inquiring of him which of his\nfamily is dead.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: Rev. R. H. Kirkland_\n HEAD-MAN AND HIS WIFE\n This man was, to some extent, responsible for the transport of State\n goods and messages between Nouvelles Anvers on the Congo and\n Bosisera on the Lake. The woman has the spiral rings on her legs,\n and her feet are greatly swollen by reason of the heavy rings.\n]\n\nDuring the first few hours after a woman\u2019s death nearly all her female\nrelatives and neighbours cry as though their hearts are broken; but the\nnext day they commence dancing, and continue to do so at short intervals\nfor five or six days. The husband hires a professional dancer to act as\nmaster of the ceremonies.\n\nUpon the death of a man his widows cry and drink water mixed with clay,\neither dress themselves in a few leaves or strip themselves absolutely\nnude and rub dirt on the body (sometimes only half the body is covered\nwith clay and the other half left its natural colour, giving a very\ngrotesque appearance to the mourner), then taking something belonging to\ntheir late husband they parade the town in pretended search for him.\n\nAfter the funeral they sit in their houses, or inside a rough grass\nscreen, for five or six days, until the sister of the deceased man gives\nthem permission to leave their houses, and then for about six weeks or\ntwo months they walk only in the \u201cbush,\u201d and if they hear anyone coming\nthey hide, and during this time they may not walk about the town. Then\nfor another three months they wear long, untidy-looking grass cloths. If\ntheir late husband was a great hunter, then the widows will not eat meat\nduring the period of mourning; but should they during this period \u201clive\nwell,\u201d the deceased man\u2019s sister or daughter will upbraid them for not\nmourning properly, and the folk in the town will regard them as callous,\nhard-hearted women, and the public opinion of the district will condemn\nthem. The new widows are not supposed to go to the farms or engage in\nany of their former occupations, and as their visits to the farms are\nvery irregular their supply of food is meagre, so they are said \u201cto\nfast\u201d during the period of mourning. At the end of the mourning and\nfasting they wash, don their better dresses, and are distributed among\nthe heirs of their deceased husband, i.e. among his sons.\n\nAt the funeral of a man there is more or less firing of guns, according\nto the importance of the deceased. This they say is to ensure for him a\ngood entrance into the nether world, a place situated somewhere below.\nThe departed spirits in the nether world, hearing the firing, gather\nabout the entrance to welcome the new arrival. Some say that the spirit\nof the deceased \u201chovers near the entrance\u201d (others say \u201cnear to the\nbody,\u201d) while they decorate the body, dig the grave, kill the slaves,\nprepare the wife who is to accompany him; then comes the firing, the\nentrance to the nether world, and the welcome. If the deceased was a\ngreat fighter the family arranges a sham fight in his honour, and these\nsham fights occasionally take place for two or three years.\n\nThe names of the dead are freely mentioned for a few weeks after death,\nand such names are even passed on to children if there is any likeness\nof the child to the deceased; and some natives have a misty idea of the\npossibility of the rebirth of the deceased in the child who bears the\nlikeness.\n\nIf a slave commits suicide his master will throw his body into the\nriver; but a free man who commits suicide is buried in a shallow grave\nwith little or no ceremony, because he has died by his own hand.\nSuicide, however, is extremely rare among the Boloki. Women are buried\nwith the same ceremony as a man, and in accordance with their position\nin the town.\n\nThere are two dances that should be mentioned in connection with their\nfuneral rites: The first is named _ebala_. Directly a man of any\nposition dies the family orders sugar-cane wine, which takes a few days\nto prepare in any large quantity. As soon as the wine is ready a large\nhardwood drum is beaten, and the men and women dance for three days and\nnights, or as long as the wine lasts. Lines are formed and a man leaves\nthe line and advances, and a woman leaves the line opposite and advances\nto within a yard of the man, there they wriggle, shuffle their feet,\nshake their bodies for a few moments, and return to their places, and\nanother couple advance, and thus all down the line over and over again.\nIt is a regular wake, accompanied by much drunkenness and immorality\u2014the\nformer openly, the latter under cover.\n\nThe second dance is _muntembe_, from _ntembe_ = stems of cassava plants.\nWhen a woman dies who is held in much honour by the other women in the\ntown as a good farmer, one who has taught them much and frequently about\nfarming, and under whose leadership they have been successful in their\noperations, the other women will, a few days after such a one\u2019s death,\nform a procession, decorate themselves with leaves, twigs, and creepers,\nand dance and chant her praises through the town. At the close of the\ndance they go in a body to the farm of the deceased woman and hoe and\nplant a large patch of cassava for the use of her family. The family\nsupplies the dancers with sugar-cane wine for this festivity.\n\nIn 1890 I saw in Bonjoko\u2014a town just below Monsembe\u2014the entrance, 6 feet\nby 8 feet, to a house paved with skulls; and it was customary not only\nto use skulls in this way, but also to put the skulls of enemies at the\nbase of palm trees and to use them as foot-stools. The desire was, by\nthese indignities, to insult the fallen enemy and to maintain some hold\non the spirits of those slain in war that they might attend their\nconqueror in the spirit-land.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV\n\n NATIVE DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT\n\nWhite and black magic\u2014Albinos\u2014Causes of disease\u2014Those easy to\n diagnose\u2014Non-professional healers\u2014Discovering a troublesome\n spirit\u2014Various remedies\u2014Cupping\u2014The clyster\u2014Ligatures for\n snake-bites\u2014Snake-men\u2014Rubbing things out of a patient\u2014Ignorance of\n physiology\u2014White man\u2019s difficulty\u2014Dangers of buffalo-hunting\u2014Ravages\n of crocodiles\u2014Escaping crocodiles.\n\n\nThe medicine man\u2019s white magic, i.e. those means employed for curing the\npeople of their mental and bodily ailments, may, to us, seem foolish and\ninadequate, but there is nothing to condemn in its practice except that\nit often deceives the people. Whether the medicine man deceives\nhimself\u2014believes in himself or not\u2014is another matter.\n\nUndoubtedly, through generations of inherited knowledge concerning\nherbs, etc., they possess some remedies that do their patients good; and\nthere are many faith cures\u2014the results of an implicit belief in the\nmedicine man and the means he uses. I have noticed that the Congo\nmedicine man cures just that class of ailments that the different\nbranches of \u201cfaith healers\u201d cure in Europe and America.\n\nThe Congo system of _white magic_ is founded on quackery, but like\nquackery in other parts of the world the remedy sometimes meets the\ndisease, and such successes are remembered and talked about, while the\nmany failures are forgotten. _Black magic_, i.e. those means employed\nfor inflicting pain, misfortune, and death on an enemy, is to be found\nin all parts of the Congo. Although _black magic_ is so widely\npractised, yet it is condemned by the natives in as strong language as\nthat used by the white man. Every native condemns it in everybody else,\nand excuses it in himself. Those who practise it must do so in secret,\nor the hatred of the village and the district will fall upon them.\n\nIn the Appendix will be found a fairly complete list[42] of the diseases\nfrom which the people suffer. In addition to the complaints there\nmentioned, the natives suffer from stomachache, toothache, soreness of\ngums, sympathetic buboes, ulcers caused by jiggers (chigoes), etc., the\nchildren from wind, teething, convulsions, etc.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n See Appendix, Note 5, page 345.\n\nThere are rare cases of albinos (_yeme_), and they are regarded with\nrespect, and although they marry, yet there are many women who, through\nfear, refuse to have them. The skin is a dirty white with a distinct\ntint of pink in it. The hair is curly and very light, with a glint of\nred, and the eyes are red and intolerant of light. Albinos are somewhat\nrepulsive looking, and one is glad to turn the eyes quickly in another\ndirection. Those I have seen were men, well-developed and healthy\nlooking, except that the skin had a pimply rash on it, which may have\nbeen due to the strong rays of the sun on a delicate skin. They suffer\nconsiderably from the direct rays of the sun on their skin, probably as\nmuch as a white man would suffer who had to go about in tropical Africa\nin a nude condition.\n\nAmong the people there are cases of auburn hair, but the eyes are not\ndifferent from those of other people. With the exception of\nsupernumerary toes and fingers, the deformities I have seen have been\ndue to disease. People with a sore on the under part of the heel often\nwalk on the toes, or side of the foot, so long that at last they are\nunable to walk properly.\n\nThe Boloki attribute diseases to several causes, such as broken taboos,\ncurses, witchcraft, to disembodied spirits (_mingoli_), to the spirits\nof disease (_m\u0113te_), i.e. those spirits that give individual complaints,\nto those spirits (_mieta_) that give family complaints or epidemics, and\nto the spirit (_ejo_) of wealth, which inflicts severe diseases, and\nwhen the sufferer dies he (or she) is regarded as taken by this spirit,\nor, as sacrificed to the spirit of wealth.\n\nThe general name for medicine is _mono_, and it may mean a daub of\nsimple pigment on the affected part, a poultice of leaves, or a\ncomplicated concoction that has taken a long time to prepare and some\nthought to arrange.\n\nIt will be seen from a study of their diseases that they fall into\ntwo classes: (1) Those of which the symptoms are observable and\neasily diagnosed, as diarrh\u0153a, insanity, etc.; and (2) Those of\nwhich the symptoms are difficult to diagnose, as great debility,\nsleeping-sickness, etc. The former are regarded as simple\nsicknesses, called _bokono_; but the latter are put to the credit of\nthe various spirits, or to the malignant influence of witchcraft.\nWhen the sickness is simple (_bokono_), herbs are employed,\nmedicines prepared, and taboos imposed on the patient; when,\nhowever, the illness is caused by one or other of the spirits, then\na medicine man whose work it is to deal with that particular spirit\nis called. The functions of the various witch-doctors have already\nbeen described, and also of the spirits that either send or impart\ndiseases. Some sicknesses are especially regarded as the result of\nbreaking a covenant and falling under the curse that follows, as\ndysentery; or as the result of a broken treaty, as wounds and death\nin a fight; or as the consequences of a wife\u2019s unfaithfulness while\nthe husband is away at a fight, as severe wounds.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by_: _the Author_\n METHOD OF SECURING A PRISONER\n The taller lad tried to escape from his master, but was captured and\n handcuffed. The smaller lad, whose loyalty was undoubted, was a\n slave of the same master. For several weeks they were fastened to\n each other.\n]\n\nDuring my residence among the Boloki, although many folk submitted to\nthe ordeal for various reasons, and among others for bewitching people,\nyet I heard of only one or two taking it for bewitching a person to\ndeath. The verdict generally given by the witch-doctor is: He died by\nhis own witchcraft while trying to bewitch someone else. And many a time\nI have heard the friends of the deceased protest against this charge\u2014for\nthey considered it an insult to the memory of their departed friend\u2014and\ninsist that he died \u201cby an act of God.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A BOLOKI WOMAN DRESSING HER HUSBAND\u2019S HAIR\n It it one of the duties of a wife to comb out and plait her husband\u2019s\n hair. Sometimes she shaves the head, forming crescents, squares,\n diamonds, etc., according to the pattern in fashion at the time.\n]\n\nIn simple complaints medicines are prepared from herbs for inward and\noutward applications, fomentations are applied, and massage is employed,\nand in many cases charms and amulets are supplied to the patient. In the\nmore serious kinds of illness, as smallpox, dropsy, etc., a person who\nhas recovered from the sickness very often sets up as a healer of the\nsame\u2014for who knows better how to cure an illness than he (or she) who\nhas had it?\n\nThese healers of specific diseases are not witch-doctors, nor are they,\nby the natives, respected as such; and if they fail to cure, the patient\nis removed to a medicine man as the last resort. The fees of the former\nare as moderate as a quack doctor\u2019s compared with the fees of a\nprofessional man. Of these healers there is a large number, and it is\nimpossible to give an outline of their practices, for each follows his\n(or her) own method, and tries to keep that method a secret; and even\nwhen fomentations or herb decoctions are used, the ingredients are known\nonly to the compounder. Simple massage is a favourite operation, and\nseems to be much enjoyed by the patients; and its curative qualities are\nnot placed to the credit of friction, warmth, or magnetism, but to the\nfetish power of the rubber.\n\nAs stated above, most of the diseases in the list are regarded as\n_bokono_ = simple sickness, illness, complaint; and it is only when they\ndo not yield to ordinary, simple treatment that they are viewed more\nseriously as the result of witchcraft, or possession by one or other of\nthe spirits, e.g. an ulcer shows itself, and is treated with\nfomentations, etc., but it happens that the ulcer spreads and drains the\nstrength of the patient; a medicine man is called in, and the cause\nsought for either in witchcraft, the breaking of a taboo, the operation\nof a curse, or in the malignant action of a spirit. The complaints\ncalled debility, sleeping-sickness, very bad rheumatism, ague fever, or\nboils, are supposed to originate in one of these ways, and it is the\nobject of the medicine man to discover in which way, in order to use the\nright means.\n\nThe witch-doctor beats his drum near the patient, talks excitedly,\nchants various phrases, the sense of which the people often do not\nunderstand, but the lilt of the metre, together with the rhythm of the\ndrum, causes the patient to sway to and fro and has an hypnotic effect\non him.\n\nWhen he is worked up to the right pitch the medicine man asks him: \u201cHave\nyou eaten anything?\u201d i.e. Have you broken a taboo? The patient takes no\nnotice.\n\n\u201cHave you done anything?\u201d i.e. Have you broken a covenant and so come\nunder a curse? is the next question, but the man takes no notice.\n\n\u201cAre you bewitched?\u201d or, \u201cAre you bewitching anybody?\u201d To these\nquestions no answer is given.\n\n\u201cHave you a spirit (_bwete_)?\u201d The patient jerks and twitches his body,\nbeats his arms, and sways more vigorously, and thus it is known that the\nsufferer is possessed by a certain kind of spirit.\n\nThe next thing is to discover whether the spirit is that of debility,\nsleeping-sickness, etc., and that point being decided by the jerking of\nthe patient\u2019s body as the questions are put to him, the medicine man\nproceeds to make the necessary charms and put the man under the proper\ntaboos. The whole of this ceremony of diagnosing a patient\u2019s case is\ncalled _mobalu_.\n\nThere are modifications of this ceremony in which only rattles are used,\nand not drums, and many women sing and shake rattles round the patient,\nwho lies in the middle of the ring, well anointed with oil; or there may\nbe only a few present, and the drum is beaten and the patient taken\ninside a mat enclosure with the medicine man, but the principle is the\nsame.\n\nThe following are some of the remedies employed: _Kuta_ is to heal\nquickly the cuts of a badly wounded man by placing him on a shelf and\nlighting a fire under him, so that the smoke enters the wounds. _Ngele_\nare leaves for drawing boils and abscesses to a head. _Moteba_ leaves\nare boiled and rubbed on a person suffering from sleeping-sickness.\n_Longele_ = a brass rod; some medicine is tied to a brass rod, and it is\nthen worn to strengthen the arm or the leg\u2014some wear it for rheumatism.\n_Makulu matuki_ leaves are good for sores and wounds, and the juice of\nthe leaves is dropped into sore eyes to heal them; and some eat the\nleaves to induce pregnancy. _Makalala_ are small sticks of powerful\n\u201cmedicine\u201d for soothing the violently mad. There is a word, _yengola_,\nwhich means to kill or drown a person who is too ill to recover.\n\nCupping (_nyunya_) is often practised. Sometimes it is simple bleeding\nby snicking the part affected, and at other times it is cupping proper\nwith horn and suction. The part to be benefited is cut with a knife, and\nthe large bottom end of a horn, which has a hole at the small upper end,\nis put over the cuts. The operator puts a pill of clay or soft wax into\nhis mouth, sucks at the hole, and with his tongue puts the wax pellet\nover it. This he repeats until the air in the horn is exhausted, and\nthen the blood will run freely from the cuts.\n\nThe clyster (called _njango_) is used for relieving pains in the\nstomach. A calabash is filled with water in which some herbs have been\nboiled. The patient lies on his stomach and a reed is inserted, and the\nliquid in the calabash is poured into the reed; but sometimes they use a\ncalabash with a very long neck, and this is inserted, and the liquid\nallowed to gravitate into the bowels.\n\nLigatures are tied\u2014one above and the other below the wound\u2014for a\nsnake-bite, some bitter plant (_bololo_) is given to the bitten person\nto chew. A medicine man also \u201cscrapes the wound to remove the teeth left\nby the snake.\u201d There are persons, and even families, who handle snakes\nwith impunity, and these are supposed to possess snake medicine. Such a\nperson is called if the patient is suffering severely from a snake\u2019s\nbite, and on his arrival he and the bitten person clasp each other\u2019s\nright wrist, and the snake-man will beat the other\u2019s arm to drive the\npoison (_ngenge_) from him into himself. I have never heard of a death\nfrom a snake-bite, but I have seen nervous people very much scared after\nbeing bitten by a snake.\n\nThere is another mode of curing a sick person called _bowa_. The patient\nlies on his back and the medicine man, taking a saucepan of boiling\nwater, kneels by the side of his patient. He shakes some leaves over\nhim, dips his hand into the water, rubs the stomach of the sick one, and\nin a short time shows a palm nut, as having come from the patient. This\nperformance is repeated again and again, and each time a palm nut, or a\nstone, or a piece of iron is shown as coming from the patient, and is\ntaken as evidence that the sickness is being expelled.\n\nNatives endure the heat much better than the cold. The palm-oil and red\ncamwood powder used so freely as a cosmetic protect their bodies from\nthe direct rays of the sun, and are also, I believe, a protection from\nthe cold air and light showers of rain; but a really cold, sunless day\nseems to crumple them up, and they lose all energy. Blood-poisoning is\nvery rare, and wounds from knives and spears heal rapidly.\n\nThe natives are practically ignorant of physiology, and their firm\nbelief for generations that diseases are due to witchcraft and evil\nspirits has kept them from making any progress in the study of that\nscience. I remember many years ago a man coming to me complaining of an\nacute pain in his side, which he regarded as the presence of an evil\nspirit in him. After due consideration I thought it was probably due to\na touch of pleurisy, and administered a flying blister (a lotion applied\nwith a feather) to the place, and told him to go to bed. Early next\nmorning the man came hurrying to me, and pointing to the blister that\nhad come up in the night, he said: \u201cWhite man, look where the evil\nspirit has come out.\u201d He thought that as all pain had gone, and there\nwas a blister over the place where it had been, the evil spirit had come\nout there, and the blister was the result of its exit.\n\nOne of the greatest difficulties we encounter on the Congo is that of\ndiagnosing a disease. The natives have never been in the habit of\ndescribing their symptoms, consequently when we commence medical work in\nany new district we are at a great disadvantage, and it takes long\ntraining before the people will clearly state the nature of their pains,\nor anything that will really help us to diagnose their complaints. While\nin the language we find the names of a large number of diseases, yet it\nis very poor in words describing symptoms, and this paucity of\nsymptom-words arises from the fact that for centuries the witch-doctors,\nin their own interests, have fostered the belief that complaints are\ncaused by evil spirits which they alone can drive out of them. Not only\nis there this lack of words describing symptoms, but there is a\nreticence on the part of the patient to explain his pain, etc., as he\nthinks that the \u201cdoctor\u201d who has any pretension to healing a person\nshould certainly be able to discover what is wrong. Their witch-doctors\ndo not closely question their patients, but at once proceed to the cure;\nwhy, therefore, should the white man make so many inquiries?\n\nOn the Lower Congo we have a large number of gun accidents. The cheap,\ncommon guns, the barrels of which are usually made out of old gas-pipes,\nfrequently explode and do much damage to the firer. Occasionally during\nthe hunting season one hunter mistakes the rustling in the grass made by\nanother hunter as the movements of an animal, and fires in the direction\nof the noise, only to find, when too late, that he has wounded a\nfellow-hunter. Very often when crawling through the grass after game the\nhammer of the gun catches in the grass, and in pulling it free the gun\ngoes off, and the man behind receives the full charge into his body, and\nthe lifeless corpse is carried back to the town; or, if severely wounded\nand not dead, the man is brought to us for treatment.\n\nBoth on the Lower Congo and the Upper there are serious accidents from\nbuffalo-hunting\u2014more to be dreaded than leopard-hunting. One case\nbrought to us on the Upper Congo was that of a man who had fired at a\nbuffalo which took refuge in a clump of trees. He thought, after waiting\na time, that he had killed it, but on venturing to investigate too\nclosely the infuriated, wounded animal came out at him and tossed and\ntumbled him about in its rage as a cat does a mouse. It was at last\nfrightened away by the hunter\u2019s companions, and when they brought him to\nus it took me nearly an hour and a half to sew him up and bandage his\nmany wounds\u2014he querulous and abusive all the time, complaining that I\nwas giving him more pain than the buffalo did. He, however, made a good\nrecovery and was duly grateful.\n\nOn the Upper Congo the crocodiles inflict the greatest damage on the\nnatives. Here is a canoe with a few folk paddling quietly along, when a\ncrocodile shoots up by its side so suddenly that the occupants are\nstartled, and leaning too much to one side to get as far as possible\nfrom the ravenous jaws, they upset the canoe, the brute takes one and\ngoes off. There is much wailing, a charge of witchcraft, and perhaps\nanother death is the result.\n\nA considerable amount of fishing is done by the women in the shallow\nwaters, and while they are thus busily occupied the crocodile has its\nopportunity. I have often met women who have asked me for medicine for\nwounds on their legs, and on looking at them I frequently found that the\nwounds were teeth marks. On inquiring how they came by them, their\nanswers, generally given nonchalantly, were always the same: \u201cA\ncrocodile caught me by the leg while I was fishing.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you escape from the creature?\u201d would be my next question.\n\n\u201cOh, I rammed my thumbs into its eyes,\u201d was the invariable reply, \u201cand\nit let me go, and I was able to escape.\u201d And suiting the action to her\nwords the woman would turn round and show me how it was done. It needed\ngreat presence of mind, and undoubtedly those who did not possess it\nwere carried off; and those also who were caught in such a way that it\nwas impossible for them to turn, were dragged under water, drowned, and\neaten at leisure.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _Photo by: Rev. C. J. Dodds_\n THE AUTHOR DOCTORING A CROCODILE-BITTEN HAND\n The native was working at a log in the river running by his village\n when a crocodile came up by the side of the log and caught his hand.\n]\n\nOne morning a woman left Monsembe in a small canoe to fish on the\nshallow bank of a neighbouring island. As she had not returned by sunset\nabout twenty men came to borrow our large canoe that they might go in\nsearch of her. About 9 p.m. they returned, and by their shouts in the\ndistance we learned that they had found the missing woman. On landing\nher we discovered that she was severely wounded with crocodile bites\u2014the\nworst case I had ever seen. We set to work to clean the wounds, and\nsewing up some we bandaged her and left her as comfortable as we could\nfor the night. We afterwards heard the story of her adventures.\n\nIt appears that while fishing she saw a crocodile coming for her, so she\nran for a tree, and as she climbed the brute raised itself and snapped\nat her, tearing her fingers, her thighs, and legs, but not getting a\nsufficient grip of her to pull her down. There she sat, wounded,\nbleeding, and faint with hunger and loss of blood, through the long day,\nwith the crocodile lying in wait at the foot of the tree. Occasionally\nshe cried out, but there was no one near enough to hear her shouts. She\nat last heard the paddles of the canoe and the calls of the men, and,\nresponding to them, she guided them to the tree where she was sitting.\nAs the men neared the tree they heard the splashing of the water as the\nbrute made off in the darkness. She fully recovered, and after a time\nseemed none the worse for her painful experience.\n\nAt Boma I saw the skin of a crocodile that measured 25 feet long. The\ntrader who killed it showed me twenty-two brass armlets and anklets,\nweighing 11\u00bd lbs., that had been taken from its stomach, a proof that in\nthe course of its life it had killed and eaten several people. But there\nare times when the laugh is on the other side. A colleague of mine fired\nfrom a steamer at a crocodile that apparently was asleep on the sandy\nbank of the river. The bullet struck the head, and as the beast did not\nmove everybody thought it was killed. Some of the steamer\u2019s crew jumped\ninto the water, swam ashore, and just as they caught hold of the tail to\nturn the creature over preparatory to cutting it up, the crocodile\nregained consciousness (for it had only been stunned by the bullet\ngrazing the top of the head) and started for the river. Such a\ntug-of-war was never witnessed before\u2014there was the crocodile struggling\nto gain the water and some men hauling it back by the tail, while\nothers, quickly procuring some chunks of wood, were beating the\nreptile\u2019s back to break it. The men won the contest, and that night\nfeasted on their enemy the crocodile.\n\nAt all our stations we have good dispensaries, and at some,\nwell-equipped hospitals; and we do our best to alleviate suffering and\nsave life. As non-medical missionaries we can always comfort ourselves\nwith the thought that what we do medically for the natives is far better\nthan they can do for themselves, or have done for them by their medicine\nmen. We are glad, however, to say that we have now three fully qualified\ndoctors in our Mission, whose up-to-date scientific knowledge, joined to\ntheir kindly sympathy with the natives, is doing much to relieve pain\nand save life. Our only regret is that we have not a doctor on every\nstation.[43]\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n See Appendix, Note 6, page 346, for statistics of white people\u2019s\n health.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n APPENDIX\n\n\n NOTE 1.\u2014ON YEASTS OR FERMENTS\n\n _Bread-making_\n\nOn the Lower Congo, where palm-wine was easily procurable, I have often\nmade bread by using one tumbler of palm-wine to one of lukewarm water,\nwith some sugar to counteract the sourness or acidity of the wine, and\nsalt to taste. This was mixed with flour into a dough about 8 a.m.,\ndivided into two lumps, put into two well-floured or greased tins, and\nplaced out in the sun to rise, with a cloth over them to keep away dust\nand dirt. About 11 or 12 o\u2019clock the loaves would have risen well, and\nwere ready for baking.\n\nIf palm-wine can be bought regularly, then it can be used for every\nbatch of bread; but if the supply is doubtful, or very irregular, then a\nknob of the dough\u2014about the size of an egg\u2014should be taken from the\ndough before it is divided into loaves, put into a mug, covered and\nplaced on one side. This lump of dough will rise, and in two or three\ndays, when the next batch of bread is required, it can be thoroughly\nmixed with a pint of warm water, a tablespoonful of sugar, some salt\n(and, if you have it, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda), and the process\nis completed, and with this yeast you can make the bread as though using\nfresh palm-wine.\n\nAt Monsembe, however, there was no palm-wine, but plenty of sugar-cane\nwine, so we used that with very good results. Sugar-cane wine should be\nstrained through a fine cloth before using, otherwise the fibres left in\nthe wine will irritate the stomach and give rise to serious\nconsequences.\n\nThe following, however, is the most satisfactory leaven that has yet\nbeen discovered on the Congo, where it is becoming a general favourite,\nand is fast ousting palm-wine as a leaven: Take a pint bottle and put\ninto it two tablespoonfuls of flour, one tablespoonful of castor sugar\n(or its equivalent in lump sugar), a teaspoonful of salt, nearly fill\nthe bottle with warm water, thoroughly shake until well mixed, lightly\ncork, and stand it in a warm corner of the house. Occasionally stir the\nmixture, and on the fourth or fifth day it will sing with fermentation.\n\nI found the following the best method for making bread with this leaven:\nWhen the contents of the bottle were singing with fermentation I took\nthe bottle in the evening (about 5 or 6 o\u2019clock), and, well stirring the\nfermenting mixture, poured it into a wash-hand basin, leaving at the\nbottom of the bottle some of the liquid\u2014about two fingers deep. Into the\nbasin was then put a half-pint of lukewarm water, a small teaspoonful of\nsalt, and two lumps of sugar; the cook boy thoroughly stirred into this\nmixture some flour to the consistency of a batter. He generally beat the\nbatter for ten or fifteen minutes\u2014the more it is beaten the lighter will\nbe the bread. A towel was spread over the basin, and it was put away in\nthe cupboard.\n\nI then took the bottle, measured into it flour, sugar, salt, and warm\nwater as before, shook it well, and put it back in its place. On account\nof having left in the bottle a little of the old leaven the new\npreparation would be ready in two days, and it should be used then, or\nnot later than the third day. A family of two or three persons will soon\nfind how much bread they need for two days and can add more or less\nwater to the leaven poured into the basin.\n\nIt will be found next morning that the batter or sponge put away in the\ncupboard has almost filled the basin with a fine dough. To this sponge\nadd flour, well knead it into a medium stiff dough, put in two tins,\nplace out in the sun (or if a cloudy day stand near the kitchen fire),\ndrop a thin cloth over the tins to keep dust away, and in three or four\nhours the dough will be well risen, and then bake. This always gave us\nsplendidly light bread. An occasional pinch of bicarbonate of soda\ndropped into the bottle will neutralize acidity. A good, neutral bread\nis a great boon, and helps to keep one in good health.\n\n\n NOTE 2.\u2014ON BOLOKI VERB\n\nThe verb in the Boloki language has the eight following forms: Active,\nPassive, Stative, Causative, Prepositional, Reciprocal, Reflexive, and\nRepetitive.\n\n\n Active kanga = to tie.\n\n Passive kangama = to be tied.\n\n Stative kangwa = to be in a tied\n state.\n\n Causative kangija = to cause to tie.\n\n Prepositional kangela = to tie for or with.\n\n Reciprocal kangana = to tie one another.\n\n Reflexive _mikanga_ = to tie oneself.\n\n Repetitive _kangelela_ = to tie again and\n again.\n\n\nThe moods of the verb are: Infinitive, Imperative, Indicative,\nSubjunctive, and Purportive.\n\nInfinitive mood is made by prefixing _lo_ to the verb: _najingi lokanga_\n= I desire to tie.\n\nThe imperative is _kanga_, and a more emphatic form _kangaka_ = tie. The\nimperative hortative is formed by _leme_ = let, followed by the present\nsubjunctive, as _leme nakanga_ = let me tie.\n\nThe indicative is _nakanga_ = I tie.\n\nThe subjunctive, (_te_) _nakanga_ = (that) I may tie.\n\nThe purportive, _naye nokakanga_ = I am come to tie.\n\nThe tenses are as follows:\n\n\n Indicative pres. _nakanga_ = I tie\n indefinitive\n\n Indicative pres. _nakakanga_ = I am tying.\n indefinitive continuous\n\n Indicative pres. perfect _nakangi_ = I have tied.\n\n Indicative pres. perfect _nakakangi_ = I have been\n continuous tying.\n\n Indicative past _nakangiki_ = I tied.\n indefinite\n\n Indicative past _nakakangiki_ = I was\n indefinite continuous tying.\n\n Indicative past perfect _nakangaka_ = I had tied.\n\n Indicative past perfect _nakakangaka_ = I had\n continuous been tying.\n\n\nThe past imperfect and progressive tenses made with the aid of the verb\n\u201cto be\u201d are as follows:\n\n\n _Nabeki nakangi_ = I tied in time near past.\n _Nabeki nakakangi_ = I was tying in time near past.\n _Nabaka nakangi_ = I tied in time far past.\n _Nabaka nakakangi_ = I was tying in time far past.\n\n\n Indicative future _naakakangi_ = I shall\n indefinite tie.\n\n Indicative future _naakakanga_ = I shall be\n indefinite continuous tying.\n\n Indicative future _naakakangaka_ = I shall\n perfect have been tying.\n\n Indicative future _naikakanga_ = I am just\n immediate about to tie.\n\n Narrative tense _ekangele_ = I tied.\n\n Narrative tense _ekakangele_ = I was\n continuous tying.\n\n\nThere are only three conjugations to be found, and these are formed on\nthe final vowel of the root:\n\n\n SIMPLE VERB. PERFECT. PASSIVE.\n _kanga_ _kangaka_ _kangama_\n _bete_ _beteke_ _beteme_\n _kolo_ _koloko_ _kolomo_\n\n\nIt will be interesting to the reader, before closing this very short\nnote on the verb, for me to give an idea of the number of verbs that can\nbe built up on a single verb by the aid of affixes which can all run\nthrough the various tenses already mentioned. The seven given in the\nfirst paragraph of this note are not repeated here:\n\nActive transitive. _Kanga_ = to tie.\n\nPassive and prepositional. _Kangemela_ = to be tied for (a purpose).\n\nPassive and causative. _Kangimija_ = to cause to be tied.\n\nPassive, prepositional, and causative. _Kangemelija_ = to cause to be\ntied for (a purpose).\n\nActive, reciprocal, and prepositional. _Kangenela_ = to tie one another\nfor (a purpose).\n\nActive, reciprocal, prepositional, and causative. _Kangenelija_ = to\ncause to tie one another for (a purpose).\n\nThere are many other combinations in use, but these twelve will give\nsome idea of the possibilities of the verb and its prefixes and\nsuffixes. It will be noted that although the passive of _kanga_ is\n_kangama_, yet in the above examples the vowels sometimes become _e_ and\nsometimes _i_, this is because the vowel _e_ in _ela_ (see first\nexample, the passive and prepositional form given in the preceding\nparagraph) changes the final _a_ of _kangama_ into _e_ as _kangamela_,\nand has a retro-active force in turning the initial _a_ of the passive\nsuffix also into _e_; _kangama_ is really _kangaama_, but as one _a_\nelides another it becomes _kangama_, and _kangemela_ is really\n_kangamaela_, but _a_ elides before _e_, so it becomes _kangamela_, and\nthe _e_ in the penultimate demands that the other _a_ of the suffix\nshould become _e_ also, hence we have _kangemela_. The same euphonic law\ndemands that _kanga-ama-ija_ should become _kangimija_, and\n_kanga-ana-ela_ should become _kangenela_.\n\nThere is also an intensive form of the verb that is best expressed in\nEnglish by a suitable adverb:\n\n_Kata_ = to hold; _katatala_ = to hold tightly; and this has a causative\n_Katitija_ = to cause to hold tightly.\n\n_Kana_ = to push in; _kanalala_ = to be pushed in too much, _kaninija_ =\nto cause to go in too far.\n\n_Ama_ = to press; _amamala_ = to be pressed too far: _amimija_ = to\ncause to be pressed too much.\n\n_Tamba_ = to stand out; _tambambala_ = to be standing out conspicuously,\nand the causative _tambimbija_ = to cause to stand out well in sight.\n\nIn the above are very good examples of what I call, for the lack of a\nbetter word, the retro-active power of their euphonic laws for\nharmonizing the vowels.\n\nBy the aid of so plastic a verb we had no difficulty in expressing the\nfinest shades of meaning in the New Testament\u2014a part of which is\ntranslated into the Boloki language\u2014and in translating other books for\nthe benefit of the natives.\n\n\n NOTE 3.\u2014ON BOLOKI METHOD OF COUNTING\n\nThe numerals from 1 to 5 are declinable. The letter in brackets is the\nparticle that changes according to the class of the noun used, e.g. two\npersons would be _batu_ (_ba_) _bale_ = persons two but two cloths would\nbe _bilamba_ (_bi_) _bale_ = cloths two.\n\nThe numerals are: 1, (_y_) _awi_; 2, (_i_) _bale_; 3, (_i_) _atu_; 4,\n(_i_) _ne_; 5, (_i_) _tanu_; 6, _motoba_; 7, _nsambu_; 8, _mwambi_; 9,\n_libwa_; 10, _jumu_ or _mokangu mwawi_ = one tying; 11, _jumu_ _na_\n(_y_) _awi_; 12, _jumu na_ (_i_) _bale_; 20, _mikangu mibale_; 30,\n_mikangu miatu_; 40, _mikangu mine_; 50, _mikangu mitanu_; 60, _mikangu\nmotoba_; 70, _mikangu nsambu_; 80, _mikangu mwambi_; 90, _mikangu\nlibwa_; 100, _nkama_ or _munkama_; 200, _minkama mibale_; 1000, _nkutu\nyawi_; 2000, _nkutu ibale_; 10,000, _mokoko_; 20,000, _mikoko mibale_.\n\nThe meaning of _mikangu mibale_ (20) is, two tyings. 10 is often called\n_mokangu mwawi_ = one tying, from _kanga_ = to tie. It is the custom of\nthe natives to roll their 15-inch brass rods (the currency) into a\nseries of rings about 1\u00bd inches in diameter, and these they run one on\nanother, like split rings, until there are ten linked together, and they\ncall that _mokangu mwawi_ = one tying = 10.\n\nThe ordinal numerals are:\n\n\n _Motu wa bo_ = The person who is first, or the\n first person.\n\n _Motu wa bane_ = The person who is four, or the\n fourth person.\n\n _Motu wa motoba_ = The person who is six, or the sixth\n person.\n\n _Motu wa libwa_ = the person who is nine, or the\n ninth person.\n\n _Motu wa mikangu mibale na wawi_ = twenty-first person.\n\nTo use a word of another class we will take _elamba_ = cloth.\n\n _Elamba ya bo_ = the cloth that is one, or the first\n cloth.\n\n _Elamba ya bine_ = the cloth that is four or the\n fourth cloth.\n\n _Elamba ya motoba_ = the cloth that is six or the sixth\n cloth.\n\n _Elamba ya mikangu miatu na bibale_ the cloth that is thirty and two,\n = or the 32nd cloth.\n\nThe fingers are constantly used in counting. If a man wants to say\nthirty-four he will say _mikangu_ (= tyings = tens) and hold up three\nfingers for those to whom he is speaking to say _miatu_ (= three), _na_\n= and, hold up four fingers for them to say (_i_) _ne_ (= four). The\nletter in brackets changes according to the class of the noun\nunderstood. By this means they ensure their hearers following and\nunderstanding them, and no one can afterwards plead that they did not\nhear the price properly, as any discrepancy between the number mentioned\nby the hearers and the number of fingers held up would be corrected at\nthe time.\n\nThe way in which the Boloki folk use their fingers is somewhat\nirregular, and for the sake of clearness I draw two hands and number the\nfingers 1 to 10\u20141 to 5 left hand, and 6 to 10 right hand. 1 and 10 are\nthe thumbs. The right hand is used more than the left.\n\n_One_ is expressed by doubling 6, 7, 8, and putting 10 over them, thus\nleaving 9, the index finger, standing alone.\n\n_Two_, by doubling down 6 and 7 and putting 10 over them, thus leaving 8\nand 9 standing.\n\n_Three_, by doubling down 9 and putting 10 over it, leaving 6, 7, and 8\nstanding.\n\n_Four_, by putting 10 at the bottom of the division between 7 and 8,\nthat causes 6 and 7 to come forward a little, so the hand is turned\nabout that the two sets of two fingers may be clearly seen.\n\n_Five_, the whole of the fingers of the right hand are left standing\nwith the palm turned towards the person to whom you are speaking.\n\n_Six_, by doubling down 2 on the left hand and putting 1 over it, so\nleaving 3, 4, and 5 standing, and doubling down 9 on the right hand and\nputting 10 over it, so leaving 6, 7, and 8 standing, thus making two\nsets of three fingers.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n LEFT HAND - RIGHT HAND\n]\n\n_Seven_, the same as 4 with the right hand and doubling down 2 on the\nleft hand and putting 1 over it, thus making a 4 and a 3.\n\n_Eight_, by working the right hand as under 4 and putting 1 at the\nbottom of the division between 3 and 4, and twisting the hands about so\nthat the four sets of two fingers may be clearly seen.\n\n_Nine_, by holding up the fingers of the right hand as under 5 and\nputting 1 at the division between 3 and 4, and twisting the left hand\nabout to show the two sets of two fingers.\n\n_Ten_, by holding all the fingers of the two hands with the palms\ntowards the auditors, and every folding down of the fingers and\nre-spreading of them means another 10. _Second way_\u2014by clapping the\nhands together, and every clap stands for 10. _Third_, and more frequent\nmethod\u2014by holding out the fist of the right hand, and every decided\nshake of the fist stands for ten.\n\n_Eleven_, by shaking the right fist and holding up one finger as\ndescribed under one.\n\n_Twelve_, by shaking the right fist and holding up two fingers as\ndescribed under two; and so on.\n\nThe toes are very rarely used in counting. I have only seen them used\nwhen counting 20,000, and then the man stretched down and put the\nfingers of both hands on the toes of both of his feet and said: _mikoko\nmibale_ = 20,000. Sometimes, when trying to give me an idea of vast\nnumbers, they would say: \u201cIt will take all our fingers and toes to tell\nyou,\u201d i.e. tens of thousands.\n\nFor addition and subtraction under 10 they use their fingers, but for\nhigher numbers they use palm nuts, or anything suitable to hand. This is\nnot because they are incapable of adding and subtracting mentally, but\nbecause they are so suspicious of each other that they want an ocular\nproof that the sum is right, and that neither one is getting the better\nof the other. Those who know figures and can run through their\narithmetical tables accept each other\u2019s sums, but in transactions with\nthe untaught they resort to the fingers and palm nuts for counting.\n\nThey always count by fives and tens, e.g. if a person wants to make up\n26 brass rods he will take 3 rods and then put 2 with the 3 and push\nthat 5 on one side, he will make another 5 in the same way, and then put\nthe two fives together, making 10, and then make two more fives and put\nthose together, keeping, however, the tens separate, then another 5 is\nmade by the 3 and 2 process, and at last 1 put down. Then the two tens\nare counted, and the 5, and lastly the 1.\n\n\n NOTE 4.\u2014ON BOLOKI RELATIONS OR KINSHIP\n\nThe accompanying lists I received about the same time from two different\nyoung men of fair intelligence, and after I had written the two lists\ndown I called both the young men and read over to them their different\nnames for the same relative. They each argued that what they had given\nwas the right one, and the other was wrong. I have found the same\ndifficulty on the Lower Congo. It is impossible to procure a list of any\nreal value. My colleagues find it much the same among other tribes.\n\nThe natives of Monsembe are unanimous respecting the terms for mother =\n_nyongo_; father = _ango_ and _tata_ (_ango_ is only used by a son to\nthe one who begot him, _tata_ is used by a slave to his master, by a son\nto his father, and I have heard it used by a mother to her son. It seems\nto be a term of respect in its wider use); brother = _nkaja_; sister is\nalso _nkaja_ (a sister calls her brother _nkaja_, and a brother calls\nhis sister _nkaja_; but if a girl speaks of her younger sister, or elder\nsister, she uses the words _mojimi_ for the younger one and _motomolo_\nfor the elder only; the boy uses the same words for younger or elder\nbrother); younger sister or younger brother, _nkaja mojimi_; elder\nsister or elder brother, _nkaja motomolo_ (_nkaja_ is never used in\nspeaking of the same sex as the speaker, i.e. by a sister of a sister,\nor a brother of a brother); wife = _mwali_; husband = _moloi_; child =\n_mwana_; male child = _mwana lele_, i.e. son; female child = _mwana\nmuntaka_, i.e. daughter; grandparent = _nkoko_; great grandparent =\n_nkokolele_; great great grandparent = _ndalola_; but a grandchild is\n_nkoko_, and so with a great grandchild = _nkokolele_, and great great\ngrandchild = _ndalola_.\n\nAll agree in the above names for the relationships indicated, but the\nfarther you get away from those degrees of relationship the more\nconfused the native becomes, and the more contradictory will be his\nstatements. The terms of relationship are employed in addressing each\nother, but personal names are also used without any hesitation. The only\nexception is this: When two persons of the same name speak to or of one\nanother they never mention the name, but say, _ndoi_ = namesake. The\nnames of the dead are freely mentioned, and even passed on to children.\nNo genealogies are kept, and in two or three generations all ties of\nnear relationship are lost; and if, here and there, remembered, are\nnon-effective except where a man can get a drink of sugar-cane wine, or\na feed by recalling kinship.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n LIST OF WORDS FOR RELATIVES\n\n \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u252c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n ENGLISH \u2502 WORDS GIVEN BY \u2502 WORDS GIVEN BY\n \u2502 LUTOBA \u2502 INTONGI\n \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u253c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n Mother\u2019s brother \u2502_mojika_ \u2502_mojika_ and _nso\n \u2502 \u2502 mama_[44]\n Mother\u2019s brother\u2019s son \u2502_nso nyango_[45] \u2502No name, but takes\n \u2502 \u2502 name of _mojika_ on\n \u2502 \u2502 his father\u2019s death\n Mother\u2019s brother\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_nso nyango_ \u2502Called by personal\n son \u2502 \u2502 name until death of\n \u2502 \u2502 father and then\n \u2502 \u2502 _mojika_\n Mother\u2019s brother\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_nkaja_ \u2502No distinctive name\n daughter \u2502 \u2502\n Mother\u2019s sister \u2502_mama_ \u2502_mama moti_[46]\n Mother\u2019s sister\u2019s son or \u2502_mojimi_ or \u2502No distinctive name\n daughter \u2502 _nkaja_ \u2502\n Mother\u2019s sister\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_mojimi_ or \u2502No distinctive name\n son \u2502 _nkaja_ \u2502\n Mother\u2019s sister\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_mojimi_ or \u2502No distinctive name\n daughter \u2502 _nkaja_ \u2502\n Father\u2019s sister \u2502_tamwalimoto_ \u2502_tamwalimoto_\n Father\u2019s sister\u2019s son \u2502_bola_ \u2502_mwana wa\n \u2502 \u2502 tamwalimoto_[47]\n Father\u2019s sister\u2019s \u2502_nkaja_ \u2502_mwana wa tamwalimoto_\n daughter \u2502 \u2502\n Father\u2019s sister\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_wa mwa \u2502No distinctive name\n son \u2502 nyango_[48] \u2502\n Father\u2019s sister\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_nkaja_ \u2502No distinctive name\n daughter \u2502 \u2502\n Father\u2019s brother \u2502_tata_ \u2502[49]_ta mungwende_, or\n \u2502 \u2502 on his father\u2019s\n \u2502 \u2502 death he is called\n \u2502 \u2502 _tata_ or _tata\n \u2502 \u2502 elenge_[50]\n Father\u2019s brother\u2019s son \u2502_mojimi_ \u2502No distinctive name\n Father\u2019s brother\u2019s \u2502_nkaja_ \u2502No distinctive name\n daughter \u2502 \u2502\n Father\u2019s brother\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_mojimi_ \u2502No distinctive name\n son \u2502 \u2502\n Father\u2019s brother\u2019s son\u2019s \u2502_nkaja_ \u2502No distinctive name\n daughter \u2502 \u2502\n Brother\u2019s child \u2502_mwana_ \u2502_mwana_\n Brother\u2019s child\u2019s child \u2502_mwana_ \u2502_mwana_\n Grandfather, grandmother,\u2502_nkoko_ \u2502_nkoko_\n grandchild \u2502 \u2502\n Great grandfather, great \u2502_nkokolele_ \u2502_nkokolele_\n grandmother, great \u2502 \u2502\n grandchild \u2502 \u2502\n Great great grandfather, \u2502_ndalola_ \u2502_ndalola_\n great great \u2502 \u2502\n grandmother, great \u2502 \u2502\n great grandchild \u2502 \u2502\n \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2534\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n _nso mama_ and\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n _nso nyango_ are practically the same, as the second word in each\n phrase means mother, and _nso_ = bowels; and the idea is: the one who\n comes from the same womb as my mother; the word _nso_ is only used of\n maternal relatives.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n _mama moti_ = the little mother.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n _mwana wa tamwalimoto_ = child of _tamwalimoto_.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n _wa mwa nyango_ = of or from the little mother; _mwa_ is the\n diminutive particle.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n _ta mungwende_ = one who stands in place of another.\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n _tata elenge_ = young or boy father.\n\n_Mama_ is not an introduced word, as we found it in full use on our\narrival; and although it was often used about one\u2019s own mother, yet it\nhad the same meaning, as applied to a female relative, mistress, or\nmother, that _tata_ has to a male relative, master or father.\n\nBy \u201cno distinctive name,\u201d I mean no term indicative of relationship.\nThey were known by their personal name only.\n\n\n NOTE 5.\u2014ON NATIVE DISEASES\n\n _List of Native Diseases and their Native Names_\n\n1. Scrotal hernia, _liboke_ denotes an early stage, and the word also\nmeans a parcel, bundle; _benda_ is a later stage when the hernia is\nlarge; and _likuku_ the last stage when the hernia reaches the knees. I\nhave seen two or three examples of the last stage.\n\n2. Paralysis from sickness, _boboku_. I never saw a case of this.\n\n3. Smallpox, _kokotu_. We had an epidemic of this disease in 1893. Some\npeople died, and others carry the marks to this day.\n\n4. Bad diarrh\u0153a, _bolete_, is supposed to be the result of a curse.\n\n5. Bleeding at the nose from any cause, _bolongo_.\n\n6. Insanity, _bomwa_; mild insanity in which there is extreme\nfoolishness, _lemana_.\n\n7. Madness of a violent character, _mokalala_.\n\n8. Idiocy, _bowewe_ and _ewelewete_.\n\n9. Asthmatical wheezing, _yoko_ and _likoko_.\n\n10. Cough, _ekok\u00f3tu_. Coughs and colds are very common.\n\n11. Crack in skin, _etena_. This is common and very troublesome,\nespecially when on the sole of the foot, as the hard skin takes months\nto heal.\n\n12. Crippled limb, _etengumwi_. This is very rare and results from a\nwound received in a fight, or from a burn, or from walking on the toes,\nheel, or side of the foot when there is a crack in the sole.\n\n13. Nervous condition, _jita-jita-jita_, i.e. twitching.\n\n14. Bad fever, _molungi juku-juku_ = heat, or fire plenty plenty. Fevers\nare common among the natives and yield to simple treatment. The\ntemperature often goes very high.\n\n15. Great debility, _lela_.\n\n16. Poor state of health, indicated by frequent crops of boils breaking\nout on various parts of the body, _libembe_.\n\n17. Patches of pustular sores, _lifwanja_.\n\n18. Sore throat, _lilele_.\n\n19. Yaws, _lingala_, mostly used in the plural, _mangala_.\n\n20. Puffy condition of the body, probably a form of dropsy, _lontutu_.\n\n21. Blindness, _lulanda_; not common.\n\n22. Sleeping-sickness, _luwa_, _yobi_, and _makwata_.\n\n23. Form of non-infectious leprosy in which the skin becomes a sickly\nwhite, indurated, cracked, and peeling. It is found generally on the\nhand and the arm below the elbow, _munkana_.\n\n24. Very bad rheumatism, _yambaka_. Persons suffering from this\ncomplaint must not burn the wood of a certain tree called _lobaka_, or\nthe pain will become more acute.\n\n25. Intestinal worms, _munsobi_, and _munsembe_.\n\n26. Dysentery with much blood, _mwajakongo_.\n\n27. Ague fever, _nyankili_.\n\n28. Chest complaints of all kinds, as pleurisy, pneumonia, etc., are\ncalled _ntulu_ = chest; to feel or suffer from such is _oka ntulu_ =\nhear, i.e. feel the chest. It is also called _mobanji_ = side, ribs.\n\n29. Elephantiasis, _mungita_; not very common.\n\n30. Abscesses and severe boils, _litunganaka_.\n\n31. Umbilical hernia, _muntolu_; very common.\n\n32. Scabies, _mputu_.\n\n33. Fits and convulsions, _bonsinga_.\n\n34. Sciatica, and extreme debility, _yombi_.\n\n35. Boil, _ndala_; very frequently found.\n\n36. Mild form of rheumatism, _mokoko_.\n\n37. Cataract of the eye, _elalei_ and _molondo_; common.\n\n38. Blindness in one eye, _muntelele_; occasionally found.\n\n39. Ganglion on back of hand and wrist, _etai_.\n\n40. Deafness, _l\u014dko_; very seldom noticed.\n\n41. Dumbness, _mbubu_. I never met with a case, but the fact that a word\nis known for it shows that the complaint is occasionally to be found\namong the people.\n\n42. Venereal diseases, _lisabu_.\n\n\n NOTE 6.\u2014ON HEALTH OF WHITE MEN ON THE CONGO\n\nPerhaps the following statistics respecting the health of white people\non the Congo will interest the reader. I have kept careful notes during\nthe last thirty years, and the figures may be accepted as accurate. The\nfigures refer only to Missionaries of the Baptist Missionary Society.\n\nOne hundred and ten men have joined the Mission since its inception in\n1878 until December 31st, 1911.\n\n Of these: died 38\n\n Left for various reasons 8\n (not through health)\n\n Left through personal 15\n health\n\n Left through wife\u2019s health 6\n\n \u2014\u2014\n\n 67\n\n Still in active service. 43\n\n \u2014\u2014\n\n Total 110\n\n\n Died during first year on 13\n the Congo\n\n Died during second year on 3\n the Congo\n\n Died during third year on 7\n the Congo\n\n Died during fourth year on 3\n the Congo\n\n Died during fifth year on 1\n the Congo\n\n Died during sixth year on 2\n the Congo\n\n Died during seventh year on 2\n the Congo\n\n Died during eighth year on 1\n the Congo\n\n Died during ninth year on 1\n the Congo\n\n Died during tenth year on 1\n the Congo\n\n Died during twelfth year on 1\n the Congo\n\n Died during sixteenth year 1\n on the Congo\n\n Died during twenty-sixth 2\n year on the Congo\n\n \u2014\u2014\n\n 38\n\n\n Of the above men, died of h\u00e6maturic 9\n fever\n\n Of the above men, died of malarial 19\n\n Of the above men, died of dysentery 2\n\n Of the above men, died of other 6\n diseases\n\n Died in a London Hospital from 1\n cancerous growth in the stomach\n\n Died in England from embolism (clot 1\n in the blood-vessels of the brain)\n\n \u2014\u2014\n\n Total 38\n\n\nDuring recent years we have found it advisable for men to remain out\nonly for a first term of two years instead of three years, and\nafterwards four years instead of five years as formerly.\n\nDuring the same period 79 ladies have joined the Mission. Of these:\n\n Died 19\n Left as widows 11\n Left for personal health 11\n Left for husband\u2019s health 4\n \u2014\n 45\n\n Still in active service 34\n \u2014\n Total 79\n\n\n Died during the first year on the 5\n Congo\n\n Died during the second year on the 1\n Congo\n\n Died during the third year on the 2\n Congo\n\n Died during the fourth year on the 5\n Congo\n\n Died during the sixth year on the 1\n Congo\n\n Died during the eighth year on the 2\n Congo\n\n Died during the eleventh year on 1\n the Congo\n\n Died during the fourteenth year on 1\n the Congo\n\n Died during the twenty-sixth year 1\n on the Congo\n\n \u2014\n\n 19\n\n\n Of the above ladies, died of 5\n h\u00e6maturic fever\n\n Of the above ladies, died of 7\n malarial fever\n\n Of the above ladies, died of 3\n puerperal fever\n\n Of the above ladies, died of 1\n meningitis\n\n Of the above ladies, died of 1\n abscess on the liver\n\n Died from typhoid fever at 1\n Eastbourne\n\n Died from some brain trouble in 1\n America\n\n \u2014\n\n 19\n\nDuring the first years of our Mission we lost the most of our men\nthrough bad houses, poor food, and ignorance of the proper treatment of\nfevers, etc. From 1878 to 1890 we lost in _twelve years_ 20 men by\ndeath; but during the _twenty years_ from 1891 to 1911 we have lost 18\nmen, although we have had in the field on active service twice, and\nsometimes thrice, as many men as in the earlier twelve years. The first\nyears cost us most dearly while we were buying our experience. I might\nsay that we are total abstainers, but are willing to take alcohol\nmedicinally; and the smokers and non-smokers are about equally divided.\nEvery man and woman must undergo a very strict and careful medical\nexamination before being accepted by the Committee of the Society.\n\nIt will be seen that the first year of a man\u2019s life on the Congo is the\nmost crucial one, and the next trying year is the third, i.e. at the\nbeginning and end of a man\u2019s first term of service. We have altered the\nfirst term to two years. In the case of the ladies the first year and\nthe fourth are the crucial ones. The ladies\u2019 first term of service has\nalways been two years, then one year at home. The figures point to the\nearly months of the first and second terms as being most fatal. It will\nbe noticed that the ladies have stood the climate better than the men;\nbut they have never roughed it as the men, nor do they ever have to\nexpose themselves in doing the kind of work that necessarily falls to\nthe men\u2014looking after building, transport, etc.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n INDEX\n\n\n Accidents, 331, 333\n\n Adultery, 128, 161\n\n African International Association, 20\n\n Albinos, 325\n\n Ancestors, 268\n\n Arts and crafts, 83;\n leather-work, 84;\n string-making, 85;\n bark-cloth, 86;\n pottery, 87;\n metal-work, 89, 90;\n salt-making, 91;\n songs, 93;\n carpentering, 95\n\n Astronomy, knowledge of, 141;\n beliefs _re_ sun, moon, and stars, 142\n\n\n Bangala tribe, the, 18, 27, 161;\n language, 48;\n station, 48;\n district, 161\n\n Bantu tribe, the, 159, 160\n\n Bark-cloth, 86\n\n Barter, system of, 143;\n and currency, 39\n\n Belgian mal-administration, 20;\n atrocities, 24, 25\n\n \u201cBespoke\u201d money, 123\n\n _Blood-brotherhood_, 72, 73, 100, 226\n\n Blood-feuds, 99, 181\n\n Bokomela tribe, the, 31, 32\n\n _Bolobo_, 202\n\n Bomuna tribe, the, 161, 162, 163, 250\n\n Bonjoko, 99\n\n \u201cBooks,\u201d superstitions concerning, 40, 46, 47, 74\n\n Boys, training of, 143, 145\n\n Brass rods, 39 n.\n\n Bread-making, 335\n\n Bride-price, the, 123\n\n Building, methods of, 65\n\n Bumba, 34, 35\n\n Bungundu Tribe, the, 28, 29, 30\n\n Burial alive, 103, 320, 319;\n burial customs, 104, 105\n\n Bush-burning, 229, 230\n\n \u201cBush-people,\u201d the, 19\n\n\n Cannibalism, 31, 69, 70, 78, 104\n\n Charms, 145, 146, 147, 232, 255, 280, 287, 302\n\n Child-bearing, beliefs concerning, 129, 130, 131\n\n Children, twins, 130, 132, 133, 141, 273, 290\n\n Circumcision, 298\n\n Cloud-folk, 274\n\n Coffins, 317\n\n Congo boy in England, 79\n\n Congo Free State, the, 20\n\n Congo, reforms in the, 25;\n Bolobo Mission, 28;\n Basin, 159;\n River, 161, 236\n\n Cookery, difficulties of, 44;\n native, 117\n\n Corpses, decoration of, 316;\n smoking of, 317\n\n Counting, Boloki method of, 142, 339-348\n\n Court of justice, 183\n\n Crimes, native, 179\n\n Curiosity, native, 74\n\n Curses, native, 299-301\n\n Customs, 26, 102, 103;\n marriage, 122, 171, 179;\n burial, 314\n\n Crocodiles, 332\n\n\n Dancing, 119, 120, 227, 321\n\n Death, three causes of, 314;\n life after, 321\n\n Diboko (_Nouvelles Anvers_), 48, 161, 163\n\n Diseases, 269, 325, 344, 345;\n diagnosis of, 330\n\n Disembodied spirits, 250, 263, 267\n\n Divorce, 128\n\n Dogs, hunting, 233\n\n Dreams, 262\n\n Drunkenness, 101\n\n\n _Eboko_, 114, 126\n\n Education, 75, 140, 143\n\n Explosion, an, 316\n\n\n Families, social status of, 170\n\n Feasts, 104\n\n Fetishes, 252-256;\n fetish bell, 292, 302\n\n Fish collecting for the Museum, 235;\n traps, 236-244\n\n Floods, 231\n\n Folk-lore, 197-221\n\n Food, 117, 160\n\n Funeral ceremonies, 322\n\n\n Game, 230, 231\n\n Games, 149-158\n\n Goats, present of two, 44\n\n Government, democratic, of Boloki tribe, 172\n\n Government, ideal of European, 26;\n native, 169\n\n Graves, 318\n\n\n Healers of special diseases, 327\n\n Hospitality, 117, 137\n\n Hospitals, 334\n\n Houses, native, 43\n\n Human sacrifices, 97, 263\n\n Hunting, 145, 229-234\n\n\n Immorality, 147\n\n Inheritance, laws of, 111, 182\n\n Insanity, 173, 291\n\n Islands, 165\n\n\n _Jando_, 272\n\n Judge, the chief, 179\n\n Justice, native ideas of, 182;\n court of, 183-186;\n author as judge, 192;\n typical cases, 193-196\n\n\n Kiteke tribe, the, 257 n.\n\n\n Labour, 114\n\n Libinza Lake, 161, 162, 163, 165\n\n Land, communal rights of, 109\n\n Language, \u201ctrade,\u201d 48;\n Bangala, 48, 50-54, 57-64, 336, 339\n\n Laws, native, 170, 179\n\n Leather-work, 84\n\n Leopold II, King of Belgium, 20, 25\n\n _Longa_, 107, 202, 249\n\n Love philtres, 286\n\n Lower Congo, the men of, 160, 162, 230, 246, 251, 254, 257, 267, 276,\n 230, 314, 335\n\n Lupus in the Congo, 73 n.\n\n\n Makwata and his talking spear, 278\n\n _Manga_, 100, 101\n\n Mangumbe, 264\n\n Massage, 327\n\n _Mata_, 122, 170, 171;\n Bwiki, 163, 169\n\n Matadi, 19\n\n Mayeya\u2019s long dive, 277\n\n Meat, mode of preserving, 232\n\n Medicine men, and witch-doctors and magic, 95, 97, 102, 103, 232, 251,\n 258\n\n Medicine, native, 327, 276, 280, 284, 293, 311, 324\n\n Metal-work, 89, 90\n\n Migration of native tribes, 162\n\n Milk-brotherhood, 132\n\n Mission on the Congo, 137\n\n Mokwete, story of, 118\n\n _Monanga_, 170\n\n Monogamy, 138, 139\n\n Monoka mwa Nkoi, 166\n\n Monsembe District, the, 34, 36, 159, 163, 231\n\n Monsters, mythical, 273\n\n Mourning, signs of, 320, 321\n\n Moon, beliefs concerning, 142, 248\n\n Mother-in-law, the, 133, 134\n\n Mungala Creek, the, 163, 164;\n river, 164\n\n Munyata, murder of, 164\n\n Murder, punishment for, 181;\n detection of murderer, 310\n\n Musuku, 22\n\n\n Natives, characteristics of, 17, 23, 24, 25, 117, 174, 176, 177\n\n Nether world, the, 321\n\n Nouvelles Anvers Station, 48, 161, 163\n\n Nursing the sick, 316\n\n _Nzambi_, 247\n\n\n Omens, 131, 226, 227, 233, 262\n\n Ordeals, poison, 182, 185-189;\n various, 190, 191\n\n\n Palavers, 191\n\n _Peace_, the steamer, 27\n\n Pictures, learning to read, 173\n\n Pioneers, early Christian, 22 n.\n\n Polygamy, 125, 134, 135, 136, 139\n\n Portuguese Roman Catholic Mission, 24 n.\n\n Pottery, 87\n\n Purification, rite of, 102\n\n\n Raiding expeditions, 166\n\n Railways, the narrow-gauge, 19\n\n Rain-doctors, 96, 280\n\n Religious beliefs, 246, 249, 250, 251, 252, 254, 255, 257, 258, 263\n\n Reincarnation, belief in, 130, 198\n\n River rights, 110\n\n Rivers: Congo, 161, 237;\n Mobangi, 161;\n Welle, 161;\n Nrgiri, 165;\n Mungala, 164\n\n\n San Salvador, 17, 22, 258\n\n Salt-making, 91\n\n Salutations, 107\n\n Skulls, use of, 323\n\n Slaves, 110, 111, 113, 125, 170\n\n Sleeping-sickness, treatment, 289\n\n Smallpox, native cure for, 288\n\n Smith, a native, 90\n\n Snake omen, the, 131, 226\n\n Songs, native, 92, 93, 120\n\n Spirits: belief in, 98, 250, 261;\n disembodied, 263;\n fear of, 266;\n deception of, 267;\n effect of, 268;\n of disease, 269, 325;\n transference into criminals, 271, 282;\n of wealth, 271;\n of the bush, 274;\n transference into spears, 274;\n in trees, 275;\n of the saucepan, 286;\n possession, 328\n\n Sport, native, 144, 239\n\n Stanley Pool, 19\n\n String-making, 85\n\n Suicide, 322\n\n Superstitions, 40, 46, 131, 167, 176, 197, 227, 232, 248, 323\n\n Swimming, 144\n\n\n Taboos, 84, 114, 294;\n permanent, 196;\n temporary, 297;\n removal of, 298, 326\n\n Tattooing, 140, 141, 167\n\n Teeth, chiselling of, 141\n\n Theft, 147, 175, 180;\n detection of thief, 310\n\n Time, system of reckoning, 142\n\n Trade and currency, 114, 115, 143\n\n Trade routes, 21, 22\n\n Trading factories, 22\n\n Transmigration, 197\n\n Traps, game, 145, 233, 234, 236\n\n Tribal marks, 167\n\n Totems, 131, 132, 147, 294\n\n Twins, treatment of, 130\n\n\n \u201cUndertakers,\u201d native, 317\n\n Upper Congo, 17, 49, 129, 230, 237, 246, 280, 332\n\n\n Villages, 115\n\n Virgins, 136\n\n Vocabulary, collecting a, 50-54, 57-61\n\n\n War, tribal, 68, 116;\n the family fight, 222;\n the town fight, 224\n\n Weapons, 227, 228\n\n Wine: sugar-cane, 100, 254, 322, 335;\n palm, 335\n\n Women: native treatment of, 77, 78, 95;\n widows, 111, 117;\n family life, 119;\n marriage, 122-126;\n divorce, 128;\n quarrels about, 226;\n disposal of widows, 111, 321;\n mourning of widows, 321;\n rights of wives, 125;\n loan of wives, 125;\n self-defence of wives, 126;\n exchange of wives, 128, 264;\n inherited wives, 182;\n white, 347\n\n Workmen, native, 81, 82\n\n\n Zanzibaris, the, 20, 21\n\n\n\n\n WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD. PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n[Illustration:\n\n MAP FOR \u201cAMONG CONGO CANNIBALS.\u201d\n SHELEY, SERVICE & CO., LIMITED, 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET. LONDON.\n (Click on map for larger version.)\n]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n \u25cf Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n \u25cb Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.\n \u25cb Typographical errors were silently corrected.\n \u25cb Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only\n when a predominant form was found in this book.\n \u25cb Text that:\n was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);\n was in bold by is enclosed by \u201cequal\u201d signs (=bold=).","title":"Among Congo cannibals","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":120661}