Full text of "Among the primitive Bakongo; a record of thirty years' close intercourse with the Bakongo and other tribes of equatorial Africa"

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AMONG THE PRIMITIVE BAKONGO

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A Haikkk CiiiE

The Hatcke tribe occupies a part of Stanley Pool. This chief has
a bra<s collar round his neck, a whisk of buffalo hair in his hand— a kind of sceptre with which he

emphasizes the important points in his talk, am
use. In from is a common china ornament he h,

: silting on a leopard's skin
boui'ht at a trading house.

his head,

which he

hich oidy chiefs may

AMONG THE
PRIMITIVE BAKONGO

A RECORD OF THIRTY YEARS' CLOSE INTERCOURSE
WITH THE BAKONGO AND OTHER TRIBES OF
EQUATORIAL AFRICA, WITH A DESCRIP-
TION OF THEIR HABITS, CUSTOMS
&- RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

JOHN H. WEEKS

Correspondent to the Royal Anthropological
Institute &= to the Folk-Lore Society-
Author of "Among Congo Cannibals," &^c. dfc.

With 40 Illustrations $5* a Map

LONDON

SEELEY, SERVICE ^ CO. LIMITED

38 Great Russell Street

1914

BV THE SAME AUTHOR

AMONG CONGO CANNIBALS

EXPERIENCES, IMPRESSIONS, AND ADVENTURES DURING A

THIRTY years' SOJOURN AMONGST THE BOLOKI AND

OTHER CONGO TRIBES, WITH A DESCRIPTION

OF THEIR CURIOUS HABITS, CUSTOMS

RELIGION 6^ LAWS

With 54 Illustrations and a Map. Price ids. net.

" One lives with Mr. Weeks in reading his pages, and with him arrives
at an astonishingly clear conception of the native mind and life."

Manchester Courier.

"Thoroughly interesting throughout."— 3"c(j/j»»a».

"The author gives a most interesting account of many native beliefs
and magical practices which he has carefully observed. . . . The whole
book is evidence of a profound and sympathetic study of native life, and
it contains much that is of considerable scientific value to ethnologists.
. . . Gives an account of native life and thought, on the accuracy of
which the student may implicitly reply. '—.\. C. HAuno.v, D.Sc, P\.S.A.,
&C., in the .Morning Post.

"An admirable record of observations and adventures. ... It has
scientific value as well as great general interest. . . . This excellent
book. . . ."—Daily News.

"An exceedingly interesting and valuable account of a primitive
people." — The Standard.

" Packed with information, and the general reader will scarcely find a
page that will not attract him." — Birmingham Daily Post.

"A fascinating volume. . . . The book contains numerous striking
illustrations. Mr. Weeks writes interestingly, graphically, with a
freedom which makes his volume of the deepest interest to the average
reader. ... A strikingly valuable^ contribution to anthropologics
science. ''■»^Z»t><v-/o<'/C«<r)rr. ; .; • •

" Mr. Weflis writ'*s from an 'inbtiriate knowledge of the people, and
his account o/ t}ipir cu^t,oi}is has a r«a* value for science. ... A book
whictf -s i. pftre'qftinformatipn cji 5ayage.customs."— The Globe.

SEELEY, SERVICE Sf CO., LIMITED

PREFACE

THE kindly reception given to a former work, Among
Congo Cannibals, has encouraged the author to put in
permanent form this record of the customs, habits,
organisations, court life and its functionaries, which he has
carefully noted during the thirty years that he has been more
or less closely in touch with the peoples of the Lower
Congo.

The former work deals with a Riverine Tribe on the Upper
Congo River ; but this book aims at giving a reflection of the
Lower Congo native's mind, a series of word photographs of
his manner of life, his views regarding the various spirits by
which he is surrounded and his method of controlling them ;
and also reminiscences of the old King, who for thirty-two
years reigned nominally over an extent of territory larger than
Wales, but in reality only over a stretch of country the size of
a small English county. The language spoken, Kisi-Kongo, at
the capital, San Salvador, is known, with slight dialectical
differences, throughout the whole of the nominal kingdom of
Kongo, and in some parts even beyond its boundaries, and the
people are designated Bakongo.

The customs, &c., here described are in vogue over the
whole of the Lower Congo, having regard, of course, to local
colouring and conditions, e.g. the ingredients employed to
make a charm in one place may not ail be found in another
locality, so they are replaced by other things ; and in one part
of the country where gunpowder is easily procurable, and
being mysterious in its action, it is largely used to rouse their

304474

vi PREFACE

fetishes to activity, whereas in another part, where gunpowder
is difficult to obtain, and consequently very expensive, the
rattle and whistle, used vigorously, are employed as substitutes,
while in other districts both gunpowder and whistles enter
largely into their ritual. Again, in the sixteenth century the
Portuguese Roman Catholics were dominant in San Salvador
and its neighbourhood, and as a result in that district the cross
(ekuluzu) is now often used as a charm, and the sign of the cross,
made by the naked finger or with a piece of chalk, is frequently
employed in the ceremonies of some cults of fetish men.

The writer has no particular leaning towards any school of
anthropologists, and has not written in support of any party.
He noted down his observations of native manners, &c., from
sheer interest in the people amongst whom his life was cast,
and from an earnest desire to understand them, their outlook
on life, their thoughts respecting their environments, and their
ideas of a future state ; and what he has seen and learned he
has tried to put in clear, terse language before his readers.

These pages are not a record of missionary incidents, but
an account of native life in all its various complex stages from
before birth to after death — the native's work, fights, hunts,
dances, games, stories, and loves; the diseases to which he is
subject, the spirits he must cajole, and the struggles he en-
counters through life.

The writer trusts that the non-specialist will find in these
pages such information as will help him to a fuller, and hence
ajuster, knowledge of the black man in his native life and
home; and the anthropologist will find the facts with which
to weave his theories of the human race.

The author is much indebted to the Council of the Folk
1 ,ore Society for permission to use the articles contributed by
him to their Quarterly Reviews; and to the editor of The
TreoMiry for a similar kindness respecting an article of his —
an African River, that appeared in that magazine. His best

PREFACE vii

thanks are also due to his colleagues, Revs. F. Oldrieve, W.
Wooding, T. Lewis, R. H. C. Graham, S. Bowskill, and Dr.
Mercier Gamble for their kind permission to use the photo-
graphs bearing their names; and to Miss Hartland, Rev.
J. L. Forfeitt, and Sir H. H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., for so
willingly placing their collections of photographs at his service.

JOHN H. WEEKS.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

MY FIRST TRIP ON THE CONGO RIVER

PAGE

Arrival at Banana — Journey in the s.s. Livingstone — Steamer breaks
down — Loses its propeller — Bargain with natives — Journey in
canoe — Meet with hippopotami — Arrival at Musuku — First fever
— Surrounding views of river and hills 17-23

CHAPTER n

JOURNEY TO SAN SALVADOR

Start for San Salvador — Fitting out the caravan — Nature of the
roads — Crossing streams and swamps — Native hospitality — Dew-
laden grass — Welcome at San Salvador — Gift of a pig —
Pleasant memories of the road — We were objects of interest
en route — Night scenes in the villages — Discussions among
carriers — Interesting conundrums for carriers .... 24-31

CHAPTER III

SAN SALVADOR x

The town of San Salvador— King different from chiefs — Visit to the ,
King — His maze-like compound — Introduction to his majesty —
An account of the King's ruse — Rumours of his cruelty — His
regard for Queen Victoria — Method of fighting for the throne —
Supplants another King — Description of the dethroned King . 32-38

CHAPTER IV

COURT ETIQUETTE AND NATIVE FUNCTIONARIES

\ Ceremony of approaching the King — Wives of the King — King's

\ dress— Pages — Power— Court officers— Their names— Their

I duties— Nobles — Buying a title — Installation of a nobleman —

\ Fee to King's representative — Various titles of nobility — Their

\ meaning — Native names 39-49

X CONTENTS

CHAPTER V

REMINISCENCES OF DOM PEDRO V, KING OP KONGO

PAOK
King in mourning — King's size — Receives a present — King dines
with us— His conduct at table— His wives clear his plates —
Hears of England— Private talks with King — His wives go on
strike — Co-operation among his wives — Germans arrive at San
Salvador— King refuses to see them — He hears of an old friend j
— Receives the members of the German Geographical Society — '■
His death 30-59

CHAPTER VI

NATIVE GOVERNMENT AND LAWS

Extent of the kingdom — Its rowdyism — Institution of a better con-
dition — Promulgation of new laws — Punishment of homicides
— Of thieves — They are fairly honest — Retaining a slave — Pro-
cedure in court — Bribery — Dealing with quarrels — Slave able to
free himself— Position of slave children — Debtor and creditor-
Collecting debts— Mode of dealing with a tyrannical chief —
Clubbing together— Some native palavers 60-73

CHAPTER VII

LANGUAGE, IDIOMS, AND PROVERBS

Studying the language — Native interpreters — Their queer statements
— Story of a snake— Character of native language— Its adjectives
— Its verb forms— Its curious idioms— Its proverbs . . . 74-85

CHAPTER VIII

NxVTIVE FOODS, DRINKS, AND MANDFACTURES

Food stuffs — Manioc — Two kinds — Poisonous and non-poisonous —
Methods of cooking — Making bread — Preparing flour— Soft
puddings— Relishes and sauces— One meal a day — Man procures
the meat or fish— Dividing food— Drinks— Pahu wines— Beer —
Malting— Making beer— Wine tapsters — Mats— Pots— Making
threads for cloth

86-93

CHAPTER IX

THE SOCIAL LIFE OP THE FAMILY AND VILLAGE

Arrangement of houses— Their sizes — Results of mother-right on
family life — The clan and the family— Palm trees— Pawning a
relative — Totcmisrj — Position of chiefs — Their revenue — As
judges — The chief's successor — His heir — A woman chief .

94-102

CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER X

CONGO WOMEN AND THEIR WAYS

PAOE

Going to the farm — Women's chatter — Coming from the farm —
Their salutations — Women loom large in native life— The slave
woman — Female characteristics— Barren women — Abortion —
Marks of a good wife 103-110

CHAPTER XI

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD

The baby's " doctor" — Child's toilet — Betrothal of baby-girls — Palm-
frond and its uses — Dreaming about snakes — Rebirth in children
— Meaning of names — Aversion to twins — What the girls do —
The maternal uncle — Mode of frightening children . . . 111-120

CHAPTER XII

NATIVE AMUSEMENTS

Boys love hockey — Moonlight games — Make-believe games — Pigeon
game — "Spider" — Peanut game — "Touch" — Game with ball —
" Towns " — " Hunt the Slipper " — " Bull-roarer " — Gambling —
Dances — Fetish dance — Fleecing a visitor — Conundrums — Jungle
stories 121-140

CHAPTER Xni

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

Effect of mother-right on degrees of affinity— Treating for a wife —
Counting the marriage money — Manner of sharing it — Breaking
the engagement — Carrying off the bride — Marriage feast —
Marriage oaths — Love philtre — Congo women a good investment
— The slave wife — Polygamy and its effects .... 141-150

CHAPTER XIV

SALUTATIONS, BLESSINGS, AND CURSES

Daily greetings — Farewells — Jocular salutations — Their answers —
Paying homage to the King — Homage to a chief — Common
salutations — Doubtful farewell blessings — Cursing a child —
Removing a curse — Cursing a family — Insults .... 151-157

xu CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV

A SECRET SOCIETY— COUNTRY-OF-THE-DEAD

PAQE
Reason for secret societies — Not puberty rites — Names of a secret
society — Their meaning — Starting a lodge — Site of a lodge —
Taking food to the dead — The secret language — Escaping from
the lodge — Life in the lodge — Advantages to the medicine-man
— New names for the initiated — Leaving the lodge — Supposed
ignorance of the initiated — Their lawless conduct — The musical
instrument used in the lodge 158-167

CHAPTER XVI

A GUILD, BACHELOR'S CLUB, AND CIRCUMCISION

Black-mailed by a guild — Guild's master of ceremonies— Rites at
entrance to the guild — Dress of the initiated— Secret language
— Advantages of membership — Bachelors' club — Two modes of
circumcision— Punishments in the lodge — Operation on girls —

, Suggested reason for modification in rites — Effect of over-
lordship 168-177

CHAPTER XVII

BUSH BURNING AND HUNTING

Scarcity of game — Bush burning, a long-standing custom — Method
of burning the grass — Village rights and grass burning — Dangers
to houses from sparks — The hunters' patron — Making the hunting
charm — Visiting grave of great hunter — Hunter's medicine-man
— An oblation of blood — Restoring luck — Division of the meat
— Numerous accidents — Hunter's dog — Rat-hunting — Respect
for leopards 178-189

CHAPTER XVIII

WARFARE AND ITS USAGES
Catalogued according to weapons — The flint-lock gun — Proclaiming
war — Making the war charm — The village dance and fetish —
Fight for the corpse — Making of peace — Blood brotherhood —
Viewing a fight — Story of a tight— Surprised that a fighter was
killed 190-198

CHAPTER XIX

MARKET DAYS AND TRADING

The Congo man a kien trader — Four market days— The five great
markets — Beads and brass rods — Depreciation of the currency
— Keeping accounti- — Market laws — Introduction of the chigoe
— A trading charm — Etiquette of the road — Ivory - Curious
native belief — Slaves — Matabixu — Factory interpreters — Method
of exchange 199-213

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER XX

BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC

PAOE

Meaning of nganga—Oi white art— Of black art— Methods of entering ,:.
the cults— By initiation— By payment— By being imbued with
fetish power— By passing the ordeal — Chief characteristics of
medicine-men— Their power— Theory of black and white magic
—The various witch-doctors— Their ceremonies— Their mode of
working— They maintain the status quo 214-231

CHAPTER XXI

FETISHES AND CHARMS

Widespread belief in charms— The charm bundle— Meaning of nhisi

As many fetishes as spirits— Contents of a bundle of charms

— Charms for every possible purpose — "Various sacrifices to
fetishes — Luck charm— Lightning fetish— Names and functions
of various fetishes — Horn charms — Talking shell— Scarecrows
—Killing spirits 232-244

CHAPTER XXII,

TABOOS, FIRST-FRUITS, AND OMENS

Taboos maintain the status quo — Inherited taboos — Personal taboos
— Temporary taboos — Women's taboos— Taboos relating to
names— To days — To the mother-in-law — To the blacksmith-
Results of breaking taboo — First-fruits — Planting — Omens . 245-253

CHAPTER XXIII

DIAGNOSIS AND DIVINATION

Difficulty of diagnosing — Paucity of symptom-words — Fine work
done by doctors — Two patients — Native "doctors" — Method of
diagnosing — Treattnent of a patient — Decide on witchcraft —
Discovering the witch — Procuring the ordeal — Giving the ordeal
— Various tests — Different kinds of divination .... 254-265

CHAPTER XXIV

DEATH AND BURIAL

Fearless of death because of their superstitions — Fear of witchcraft
— Desire for a grand funeral — Treatment of a corpse — Gathering
goats, &c. — Sending out invitations — An account of Gazia —
Grave-digging fees — Death of a chief — Death of an infant —
Widows — Removing spells — Death by lightning — Suicide-
Sorrow . . , 266-275

xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXV

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

PAOK

Supreme Being— The source of evil— Chalk and its power — The
desire for grand funerals — Forest town of spirits — Sun and
moon theory — As abode of spirits — Theories clash — Shooting
stars as spirits — Degeneration of a spirit — Dreams as spirit
journeys — No compound soul — Necessary beliefs— Sky as a
ceUing — An attempt to reflect the native mind .... 276-288

CHAPTER XXVI

POT POURRI

Paying a caravan — Attempt to bluff — The evil eye — Charm against
the evil eye — The " to-morrow " charm — Dislike to being counted
— Origin of fire — The stars and their names — Water-sprites —
Weave cloths — Have only one eye — Native rapacity — Reason for
their greed — Description of the Congo River .... 289-304

APPENDIX 305-314

INDEX 315-318

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A Bateke Chief

Native Chief, Boma . . . . ,

Suspension Bridge over the River Ambriz

Inscription on Rocks above Matadi .

Present King of Kongo in State

Approaching the King ceremoniously

State Robes of the King of Kongo .

Village in French Kongo .

Congo Nobles

An Ancient Font

Making a Papyrus Mat

Palm-tree Climber

Lower Congo Woman and Child

Native Drummers

The Town Band .

Locust Eating a Mouse

The Nsambi.

A Cat's Cradle .

Members of the Nkimba Secret

A Hunting Fetish Drum .

Fetish Cross used in Hunting

The Nsambi

Ferry across the River Kevilu

Society

Frontispiece

PAOK

112

122

132

142

160

170

178

188

194

XVI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Native Currency Church Collection
Bread Fruit Tree ...
Witch Doctor and his Assistants
The Nlongo Custom, Zombo
Sleeping-sick Patients, San Salvador
Basket-making ....
Fetishes and Charms, Lower Congo
Natural and Artificial Rattles
European Image ....
Native Fetish ....
Graves, Lower Congo
Tombs of the Kings of Kongo .
Animal Fetish with Human Head
Main Road near San Salvador .
Lower Congo Pottery
Washing a Child
Bridge across a Swamp

PASB

202
210
216
222
228
228
24,0
250
260
260
268
272
286
286
290
290
298

AMONG THE PRIMITIVE
BAKONGO

CHAPTER I

MY FIRST TRIP ON THE CONGO RIVER

ON the 13th of January 1882 the s.s. Kinsenibo steamed
round Banana Point, and with much rattling of chains
dropped her anchor in the brackish waters of Banana
Creek. On the port side of our vessel was Banana — a narrow
strip of sand gently lapped on the inner side by the tired
waters that had travelled hundreds of weary miles from the
far interior of Africa, here rushing impetuously over falls,
there madly racing with " white horses " through the rapids ;
here pushing their frothy, fuming way among the boulders and
rocks that frequently, in the cataract regions, tried to impede
their onward haste to the sea, and there purring by a shelving
bank in a quiet bay or gurgling, like a happy child, over the
pebbly shallows ; but with it all ever hurrying of set purpose
to the ocean. No wonder they were weary after their toilsome
journey, and turned into the creek for a rest before renewing
their travels on the bosom of the mighty Atlantic.

Away to the stern of our steamer was the main current of
the great river and its many full-grown tributaries sweeping
with reddish-brown waters to the sea. The current by its
volume and force discoloured the sea for over eighty miles
from the river's mouth, and when the tide turned it scarcely
affected the onward rush of the river"'s course.

The spit of sand forming Banana was long and low, and
was occupied as a receiving and distributing centre by several

13 OUR LITTLE STEAMER

trading houses that had their factories up the river and its
numerous creeks, and stretching north and south along the
sea coast. At that time the most powerful of these houses
was the " Dutch House," at whose table over fifty white men
sat daily, and whose coloured employes reached well intp four
figures. From the deck of the steamer we could look over the
various houses and stores and see the Atlantic waves rolling up
the low, shelving beach, so that Banana with its white roofs,
its frangipanis, its oleanders, its maracujas, its low green
shrubs, and its graceful cocoa-nut palms seemed, in its bright,
sunlit beauty, to be sitting on the water. A pretty sight
from the steamer, and all the more beautiful to us as for seven
weeks we had been looking towards it as the object of our
desires, and the starting-point of our African life and
experiences.

Not long after the anchor dropped, my old college friend,
Mr. Billington, came on board and offered me a passage in
his mission launch, the Livingstone^ as far as our station at
Musuku. The launch was not to start for a few days, but he
invited me to stay with him at the mission-house until all was
ready. I had been wondering how I was to reach INIusuku,
situated about 90 miles up the river, so I gladly accepted the
proffered help.

The Livingstone was a small steam launch about 50 feet
long, 5 feet wide, and of very shallow draught. When she
was fully laden with cargo for up-river stations, and supplied
with coals and provisions for the journey, there was not much
room to spare for the two white men who worked her, and the
unfortunate passenger who in his ignorance had accepted a
passage by her to his station. Through the comparatively
quiet waters of Banana Creek the little launch made her way
with holiday gaiety; Bula Mbemba Point was rounded, and
then came the struggle for every foot of the way. Whatever
speed the Livingstone may have had on the Thames she lost
it on the Congo, for in spite of her fussing and fuming, and
the racing of her noisy engines, it was sunset before we reached
Ponta de Lenha, a factory about 20 miles from Banana.

A BROKEN ENGINE 19

By the afternoon of the second day we steamed into Boma,
and enjoyed the hospitality of a French trading house. We
were not sorry to stretch our legs on the short, wide road that
ran by the river. The three of us who formed the passenger
and crew of the launch more than crowded her carrying
capacity. Where we sat down in the morning there we had
to remain until we arrived at our stopping-place, for if we
moved too freely, or changed our position too carelessly, the
little steamer rocked ominously, and warned us of possible
consequences. Every movement had to be well calculated, and
when it was necessary for one to approach the provision box,
or crawl along to a bit of engine beyond the engineer's reach
from his seat, another of us had to watch his movements and
counteract his weight when the steamer wobbled. Just imagine
sitting abaft the engines — the only place there was for accom-
modation — with the heat from them coming full in your face,
the tropical sun pouring down its fierce rays on and penetrat-
ing through the thin awning above, and the water reflecting
the heat on either side ! We had all the discomforts and none
of the pleasures of a prolonged Turkish bath.

On leaving Boma on the third morning out from Banana
we fully anticipated arriving at Musuku in the early afternoon.
But we had not gone many miles when " crack " went a bolt in
the engine, and our little launch began to rock dangerously in
the turbulent waters. We were negotiating a swiftly-running
stretch of river, and the engineer, in trying to get more speed
out of the engines, had overstrained them, with the result that
a bolt gave way, and our little craft was turned about and
carried down-river like a cork on the waves. At the right
moment an anchor was thrown out, which gripped the rocky
bottom and saved us from a catastrophe.

Ransacking among the spare gear, the only bolt we could
find was too large to fit into the place, so we took turn about
in the broiling heat to file that bolt to a proper size. And all
the time the launch was tugging at her anchor chain fit to
snap it, and rocking and rolling in the treacherous current as
though she would like to turn and lay for ever on her side at

20 IN SIGHT OF MUSUKU

the bottom of the river, where engineers cease from troubling
and weary steamers are at rest.

As soon as possible we were again on our way up-river,
the little launch fighting bravely for every inch of progress ;
and the giant, swirling, rushing current sometimes held her so
tightly in its grip that she could not force her way round some
jutting point that seemed exposed to the whole weight of the
river. She would then cut across the river to the other side,
where she would humbly creep up the quiet water, apologeti-
cally take advantage of any up-current, and, coming in time to
another strong corner, she would remember her past experi-
ences, and instead of fighting the strong water she would cross
the river in search of less turbulent foes on the other side ; and
thus for many a mile she worked her way modestly, but with
much fretting and wheezing, up the great river that in after
years was to play with ocean steamers on her bosom, and in
spiteful moods to twirl them round and round like tops.

By the middle of the afternoon we came in sight of
Musuku, but between us and our landing-place was a great
stretch of water called in the native tongue " angry waters,"
because of the noise they made in swirling and rushing down,
constantly boiling and bubbling, suddenly making whirlpools
in unlikely places, that gyrated with great momentum for
a time, forming deep and ever-widening holes, and then
mysteriously disappearing to reappear in another unexpected
place. The one in charge of the steamer decided that, instead
of crossing that great cauldron of seething water, it would be
wiser to go up a quiet, narrow channel between the mainland
and an island, and coming out above the madly whirling
waters, cross in a calmer stretch of river, and thus gain our
destination without further trouble. But no sooner did we
turn up the (juiet channel than a rock hidden beneath the
water knocked off our propeller ; but there was sufficient way
on the steamer to take us to the bank, and steering for some
trees, we tied up to them as quickly as we touched them.

Between us and Musuku was the island, and we wanted our
friends at the station to know of our whereabouts, so at short

Photo by

Native Chief, Boma

The photo was taken twenty five years ago in a village just behind Boma, which is now the
capital pf Belgian Congo. Fetishes are carved on the King-post, and around the post is a treiich
into which palm-wine and blood weie poured as an offering to the fetishes on the post. The wide
verandah was used for pala- ers.

WE ENGAGE A CANOE 21

intervals we fired our guns and shouted, but as there was no
response we decided that our people had not noticed our little
launch when she came in sight of the station, and that they
probably regarded our guns as the firing of some hippopotami
hunters.

Not long before sunset Ave saw two natives passing in a
canoe on the opposite side of the channel in which we were
wrecked. We called and beckoned to them, and they came
alongside our little steamer and asked us what we wanted.

We replied by asking them if they would take us to
Musuku.

" Yes," they answered, " but what will you pay us ? "

We said that we would give them eight handkerchiefs, and
they, on seeing the bright, gaudy cloth with its grotesque
patterns in red, black, yellow, &c., at once agreed to take us ;
and being eager to handle such handsome pay, cried out ;

" Get into our canoe at once, and we will paddle you to
Musuku."

Well, that was a feat much easier to talk about than to
accomplish by the inexperienced. The canoe was a " dug-out "
— simply a tree that had been felled, shaped at the ends,
rounded at the sides, and dug out in the middle. It oscillated
dangerously, and as we entered the canoe it wobbled so badly
that we expected every moment the light craft would turn
turtle and precipitate us into the water, so we embarked very
gingerly, and when we were seated along the bottom of the
canoe, we bade the men to take their paddles.

We had not proceeded more than a few hundred yards from
our launch — which we now began to regard with affection, and
as a very fortress of security compared to our unsteady canoe —
when we saw on the bank ahead of us some five hippopotami
making for the river. For two days we had been sitting with
our guns to hand on the lookout for these creatures, and had
not seen a single one ; and when we had no desire to meet them
there were five too near to be pleasant. We shouted and
made a noise, hoping to frighten them back to the bush, but in
sheer hippo obstinacy they continued their course to the river,

22 MEET SOME HIPPOPOTAMI

and plunged with much grunting and tremendous splashes into
the water right in front of their noses, and in front of our
canoe. What waves they made ! Eight tons of living, reckless
flesh churning about in the neighbourhood of a frail bark give
the occupants a peculiar flutter about the heart. We expected
every moment to be lifted by one of the brutes and thrown
headlong into the river. Our men paddled hard to pass
quickly the dangerous spot, and as our canoe bounded forward,
one hippopotamus came snorting up on one side, and another
came snorting up on the other side and stared at us with
watery eyes a few fathoms off, but fortunately none came under
us or at us, and after more than two hours of hard paddling we
were not sorry to hear the bottom of the canoe grate on
Musuku beach. The men received their eight handkerchiefs
and went off delighted ; and we were heartily welcomed by
Mr. Crudgington, who had charge of the B.M.S. Station at
Musuku. After a day or so the " captain " returned to his
steamer, and by the help of a sail and the current the launch
returned to Banana.

While at Musuku I had my first taste of malarial fever, the
prelude to a very intimate acquaintance with that malady. My
temperature on this first occasion rose to 106"4 ; and the
discomforts of the fever, the disagreeable conditions in which I
had to bear it, and the nauseating effects of the large doses of
quinine that I was compelled to swallow, remain with me to
this clay. At that time quinine could only be bought loose at
22.y. per ounce. There were no tabloids, no coated pills, no
ovoid gelatine capsules, nor any other form by which to render
it more pleasant to a weak stomach. We tried it in con-
densed milk, in coffee, in Liebig's Extract, and in cigarette
paper, but its bitterness could not be disguised. One in-
ventive genius hit on the expedient of making the powder into
pills with tinct. perchloride of iron. He certainly made pills
that had no nauseating effect, for they would not dissolve in the
stomach; and it was seriously proposed to use the remainder
in lieu of shot — they were hard enough.

Musuku had not been occupied many months. The house,

SITUATION OF MUSUKU 23

stores, and necessary offices were of bamboo walls and grass
roofs. The ground was hard, and unsuitable for kitchen
gardens. Huge boulders and stones of various sizes were
strewn about the place, reflecting the heat, and rendering path-
making almost impossible. The view from the station was
magnificent. There in front was a vast stretch of boiling,
bubbling, swirling water that narrowed into a channel, at the
end of which the hills about Boma could be distinctly seen on
a clear day. In the near distance were the high lands on the
other side of the river ; and looking up-river one could see
Diamond Rock standing almost in the middle of the river, and
the waters that flowed by a thousand towns in the far interior
struck against it, and failing to tear it from its grip, eddied
around it, and raging at its vain endeavour, passed on with
increased fury. And away as a background to the rock were
the hills of Noqui, that ran at such an angle that they appeared
to landlock the river and turn it into a great lake ; and
behind the station were hills that seemed to bar the way to
the hinterland, and stand as sentinels over its hidden and
fascinating mysteries.

CHAPTER II

JOURNEY TO SAN SALVADOR

IT was arranged by my colleagues that I should commence
my missionary life at San Salvador, the capital of the
Kingdom of Kongo, which is situated eighty odd miles
south-east of Musuku — about five days' journey. As Mr.
Hartland was returning to San Salvador to pack his belongings
and settle his accounts prior to working on the main river, it
was thought desirable, although I had not fully regained my
strength after my first bout with malarial fever, that I should
accompany him rather than take the journey alone.

There were no vehicles of any kind on that road, so we had to
use on the journey an animal well known as Shanks' pony —
a willing steed, but not always equal to the demands made upon
it in such a country. There were neither hotels nor restaurants,
consequently we had to take with us all the provisions, &c.,
we needed for the road. In one trunk we packed a few clothes,
into another we put rice and tins of provisions, a third we
filled with knives, looking-glasses, bells, beads, cloth, &c. —
this was our purse, containing the money with which we were
to pay our way : for if I had gone into a village and had
offered a native woman a sovereign for a fowl she would have
said, " Here is a foolish M^hite man offering me a brass button
without holes for a fine fowl ! " but when we presented a
looking-glass or a knife, she was only too delighted to exchange
her fowl for either of them, hence the need of taking a box of
barter goods with us. We tied our blankets, mosquito curtain,
camp-bedstead, and pillows in a bundle and wrapped a water-
proof sheet round them to keep the things dry ; and in a bath
we arranged our pots and pans, our kettle and frying-pan, our
knives and forks, cups and saucers, and in fact all the articles

NATURE OF THE PATHS 25

we required for cooking and eating our food. When these
and various other loads had been prepared we called the carriers,
who, placing them upon their heads or shoulders, started with
us on the road to San Salvador.

Now when a road is mentioned in England, we instantly
think of a wide place upon which navvies have laboured, and
over which steam rollers have passed, making them pleasant
for travelling; but when we speak of a road on the Congo
we mean a narrow path about eight or ten inches wide, winding
like a narrow brownish ribbon in and out of the country,
going over the tops of the hills and dipping down into the
valleys, and losing itself in the streams and swamps; and
the strong tropical rains have poured down on this track,
washing the loose dirt out of it, leaving only the stones
sticking up. For miles on either side of these narrow roads
was tall, stout grass from ten to fifteen feet high, and the
playful wind blowing the grass about interlocked it in such
a clinging embrace that the traveller had to go with his arms
up to force his way, and to keep the grass from cutting his
face or poking into his eyes.

More than once I had in my San Salvador journey a strong
" Kroo-boy," a part of whose duty it was to carry me over the
many streams and swamps that crossed the path. His name
was Napoleon Bonaparte. I do not know how he came by
the name ; but the first time I met him I asked him his name
and he replied in " Kroo-boy "^ English, " My name, Massa, be
Napoleon Bonaparte." Sometimes Napoleon would have me
upon his shoulders, flying-angel fashion, in the middle of a
river, and feeling the rush of water against his legs he would
begin to quake and say, " Massa, I no fit for carry you, I go
let you fall ; "" and I would reply, " Napoleon, I fit for give
you one cup of rice suppose you no drop me." He would then
carefully take a few more paces, and feeling the swirl of water
more strongly about his legs, and the stones slipping beneath
his feet, he would nervously call out in his curious English,
" Massa, Massa, I no fit, I bound for let you fall." Napoleon
often received from me the promise of two or three cups of

26 REACHING A VILLAGE

rice to steady him, before he landed me high and dry upon
the further bank. At times we were not so fortunate, then
both of us went down into the water, and we congratulated
ourselves when it was a stream, and not a nasty, muddy
swamp.

After climbing up and down steep hills, pushing through
tall, entangled grass, traversing plateaus, and crossing streams,
rivers, and swamps for four or five hours with the strong
tropical sun pouring down his fierce rays' upon us, we were
glad to hear that the next village we reached was the place
where we were to spend the night. Crossing a stream of
sparkling water, and winding through some cassava farms, we
entered the village, and our carriers, selecting the largest hut
they could see, put down their loads outside of it, and went in
search of the owner, and said to him, " We have brought some
white men into your village, and their goods are now outside
your door ; will you lend them your house for the night ? "

The native owner was very hospitable, and was quite
willing to lend his house to the passing travellers ; so calling
two or three of his wives he told them to sweep the house
and hand it over to us. The woman came with their native-
made brooms, and pushing together the rubbish of many days,
they carried it away, and after removing their mats, saucepans,
and anything else they would require for the night, they told
us the hut was ready. A native after he has lent his hut does
not care to enter it again until it is properly handed back,
and should he need to do so through having forgotten some-
thing he asks permission with many apologies. The hut
lent was small, but it answered our purpose admirably. In
the morning we returned our goods to their various bundles
and boxes, leaving out a penny looking-glass and two yards of
calico, which we presented to the owner of the house in acknow-
ledgment of his courtesy to us ; and he on receiving the articles
clapped his hands and made a little speech of thanks — the
clapping of the hands was the usual part of the ordinary mode
of thanking a person.

I had always read about white men leading their caravans.

THE WET JUNGLE 27

and being now in a new country I placed myself at the head
of the carriers, and pushed forward through the tall grass,
which at 5.30 a.m. was heavy with dew, and as I forged
through it shaking the grass, the dew fell on me in showers,
and soon my helmet and clothes were soaking wet, and the
water was quelching in my boots. The Congos have a proverb
the translation of which runs thus : " Foolishness comes first
and wisdom afterwards." I had learned my lesson, so the next
morning, instead of preceding the men, I stayed behind with
my colleague until the last carrier had left our night's quarters ;
and the men thus going first knocked against the grass, shook
off' the dew, and left behind a comparatively dry road for us.
And it made very little difference to the men, for they wore
so little cloth that, half an hour after the sun rose above the
hill-tops, they were absolutely dry, whereas we, with our
superfluity of clothes, would have been more or less damp and
uncomfortable most of the day.

After five days of such-like travelling I was glad to have
pointed to me from the top of a hill the mission station of San
Salvador in the distance. As we approached the town we
found that the people had heard of our coming, for they were
lining either side of the narrow road to give us a welcome. As
we passed up between them they pushed back with their backs
the tall grass to make a way for us, and shooting out their
hands they gripped ours, saying: "Kaiyisi Mundele ! Kaiyisi
Mundele ! " (Welcome white man ! Welcome white man !) We
passed quickly between the greeting, excited lines of black
folk and entered the mission-house, and the natives came
crowding in behind us, and standing on tiptoe and with
outstretched necks they peered over one another"'s shoulders
to stare at the new arrival : for a new white man to a central
African town is like a circus to an English village — every one
turns out to gaze at the sight ; and as they stood looking at
me they passed remarks on my personal appearance, and
selected my physical peculiarities for special attention. There
were allusions to my youthful appearance, to my neck and
nose, and the absence of a beard, &c. Of course I was unable

28 GENIAL NATIVES

to understand them, but my colleagues were only too delighted
to give a very literal translation of the observations none too
quietly passed by the facetious onlookers.

By and by the crowd parted, and I saw a couple of lads
struggling bravely with a pig, which after much trouble they
brought to me and said, " The King has heard of the arrival
of the new white man, and he does not want him to complain
of hunger, so he has sent you this pig to remove your hunger
after the long journey."

I looked down ruefully at the squalling, struggling pig,
wondering what it was all about; but one of my colleagues
translated the speech to me, answered it on my behalf, and
accepted the dirty, squeaking animal in my name. I was a
Londoner, and had never owned a pig in all my life before,
and scarcely knew what to do with such a creature ; hence I was
not sorry when two of the school lads removed it from the
house, and promised to look after it, in the hope of one day
eating a fair share of it. Two days after my arrival I went
down with another fever, reaching a temperature of 106"5 ; but
it is not my purpose to record fevers, and let me say once
for all that the highest temperature I ever had during my
long life on the Congo was 107'4, and I had not the slightest
ambition to go higher than that.

Although the road was narrow, rough, and hilly, the
swamps disgusting to eyes and nose, the streams numerous and
very wet — especially when one fell into them, with all his clothes
on, from the shoulders of a tall Kroo-boy — yet I have very
pleasant memories of the various journeys I took in the early
years over that road. For as I became acquainted with the
language I found my personal lads and carriers no mean com-
panions. Their ready sympathy when you fell into a stream ;
their hearty, good-natured laughter at your and their own
mishaps ; their genial chatter, the stories they told, the counti*y
gossip they recounted, and the conundrums they propounded,
all helped to shorten the journey, and smooth the stony ro*d.

A day's journey was from 15 to 20 uiiles, or from six to
eight hours. The usual hour for starting was about 5.30 a.m.,

ALL THE TOWN AGOG 29

and by the time we halted for lunch between 11 and 12 a.m.
the greater part of the journey for the day was over. What
grateful rests they were beneath the pleasant shade of some
trees by a gurgling, sparkling stream ! Down went the loads
with a sigh of relief, and looping their cloths in their belts,
the carriers went up-stream, and after carefully washing their
hands and mouths, the men stooped and threw the water into
their mouths with the fingers of the right hand, or putting
their hands together, little finger to little finger, they dipped
up the water, and drank it with their lips placed between the
thumbs. Some of the carriers would be too exhausted to do
more than drop their loads and stretch themselves on the
ground, and these would beg for a drink from their stronger
comrades — a request never refused, no matter how near or far
the stream might be from the encampment.

The town at which a white man and his caravan spent the
night was always agog with excitement. There was the
bartering for food, the haggling about the price of the cassava,
the plantain, or the peanuts offered for sale, and the worth of
the trade goods offered in exchange; the interchange of news;
but the greatest of all interest to the local natives centred in
the newly arrived white man. The inhabitants of the village
formed a semi-circle round the front of his borrowed hut, and
watched his every movement. He strips off" his jacket, turns
down the collar round his neck, and rolls up his shirt-sleeves
preparatory to a wash; and there are audible remarks about
the whiteness of his skin. They eye him critically at his
toilet. " What is that stuff' he is rubbing on his hands ? " asks
one ignoramus.

" That," replies a much-travelled man, " is what they call
soap (zabau, Portuguese sabao) ; see what a lather it makes."
And there is much amused contempt in his tones as he gives
the bit of information to the untravelled folk in his village.

The ablutions are finished and the white man is now drying
hjj^elf, and while two or three spectators are passing remarks
onthe using of so good a cloth (towel) for such a purpose, a
woman on the outskirts of the crowd asks, " Is that all he is

30 CHATTER ROUND THE FIRES

going to wash ? Why, we wash all over ! " and there is disdain
mingled with disappointment as she puts the question, and a
suggestion that the white man is not so clean as he might be.
The white man's boy does not like the query in the tone, and
as his honour is bound up with his master's, he informs the
crowd generally that his master baths regularly in his own
town. The woman is answered, and the public receives an
interesting item of information, which, by and by, is distri-
buted among the neighbouring villages, and the white man's
reputation for cleanliness is saved.

About 6 P.M. the sun has sunk to rest, and as the evening
grows darker the fires along the village street burn brighter,
and around each fire little crowds gather, the younger members
of which pass the time in laughter and chatter, and the older
ones talk over the day's doings and the politics of the country-
side. Outside the white man's house is also a blazing fire,
around which his personal boys and carriers are sitting. The
white man has arranged with his capita (head carrier) where
they are to lunch and sleep on the morrow. All the carriers
have a say in the matter, for have they not to carry loads
weighing from 50 lbs. to 70 lbs. each according to their pay ?
And a caravan must not go faster than its slowest unit, or walk
farther in a day than its weakest member can reach before
sunset ; otherwise the white man may find himself at night
minus his bed and mosquito curtain, or his case of provisions,
which has happened more than once ; therefore a white man
on the road does well to consult his men about the next day''s
journey.

One perennial theme of discussion among the carriers
around the evening fire was the following query : If I send a
boy to the market to buy some meat (mbiji), and there are
fowls only for sale, should he buy a fowl, or return and say
there is no meat at the market ? The party was sure to split
on this question. There was no word for poultry in the
language. Some would contend that fowl was meat (ynbiji),
others would insist that by meat was meant buffaloes, cattle,
goats, sheep, antelopes, &c., and " not things with feathers on

CARRIERS' TALK 31

them." Their gesticulations were energetic, their voices raised,
their tones threatening, and to one not used to them they
appeared to be on the verge of a tremendous fight ; but some-
one would advance an absurd argument, and they would all
burst out laughing at him, adjourn the debate, and rolling
themselves in their mats, they were soon grunting in sleep.

Another conundrum often propounded and never answered
to the satisfaction of all parties was thus stated : If there were
an antelope grazing on a neighbouring hill, and one man
pointed his finger at it and the animal dropped dead, and
another man glanced at it and the creature fell dead, who was
the stronger person of the two — the one who glanced or the one
who pointed his finger.'' The party would divide on this
problem : some argued in favour of the one who looked and
others backed up the one who pointed ; and as the white
traveller never had the same gang of carriers twice, he would,
among his changing sets of men, find these questions constantly
recurring. They were about as profitable as the wearisome
discussions of the old schoolmen as to " How many angels can
stand on the point of a needle ? " or '' Do angels in leaving one
place and arriving at another have to pass through the inter-
vening place ? "

The Congo Railway is a thin line connecting the Lower
Congo at Matadi with the Upper Congo at Stanley Pool, and
is of incalculable advantage to all the white men at and above
Stanley Pool; but to reach our stations at San Salvador,
Kibokolo, and Mabaya in Portuguese Congo the railway is of
little or no help ; and the mode of travelling to San Salvador
is much the same as it was thirty years ago. The tsetse fly
forbids the use of horses, riding oxen, and mules ; and although
we have introduced the donkey, its life is very precarious, and
consequently the cost is almost prohibitive.

CHAPTER III

SAN SALVADOR

THE town of San Salvador is situated on a plateau 1840
feet above the sea. The stone ruins of a cathedral,
a monastery, and a fortress bear silent witness to the
days when Portuguese Roman Catholics were dominant during
the sixteenth century, both in the town and the district round.
Occasionally, when turning over the soil in our garden, we came
across the broken pieces of old iron bombs, probable tokens of
the exchange of doubtful courtesies that passed between the
Portuguese and the Dutch, who in those far-off days contended
for the supremacy of the African coasts and hinterlands.^ In
these pages it is my purpose to give, as briefly as possible, an
account of what I saw at San Salvador thirty years ago, and
have observed since, of the system of government, and the
election of King, nobles, and chiefs.

An hour or so after my arrival at San Salvador in February
1882, I received the compliments of the King, an expression of
his goodwill, and a proof of his welcome in the shape of a pig,
to which I have already referred.^ The pig was sent ostensibly
" to remove my hunger," but so far as the hunger was con-
cerned there was no need for the pig, for the chief of every
town in which we slept, or even rested, durii)g our five days'
journey, was desirous of presenting Mr. Hartland and myself

1 Those who desire to study the ancient Kingdom of Kongo should
read Duarte Lopez's account, written by Pigafetta in Rome, 15i)l, after a
resid«nce of twelve years in the country, and also the accounts of iiastiau,
Burton, Bentley, Grandy and others, who give more or less lengthy
sketches of the history of the town, taken from the writings of the Portu-
guese priests. See plate facing p. 32, and also Appendix, Note I, p. 305,
for ancient marks on rocks.

' See p. 28.

KING'S NAME 33

with a goat " to take away our hunger," as they put it, but
in reality to receive a return present, which was always expected
to be two or three times the value of the goat. We often
begged them to keep their goats, and, if that was not successful
in damping their ardour "to remove our hunger,'"* we then
told them of the smallness of the present they would receive
as a return " dash," and that never failed.

With the King, however, it was different. We had come
to live in his town, and it would have been an insult to us
if he had not recognised our arrival by the present of a pig —
a goat from him to us would have been too common for the
purpose of showing due respect. The opportunity was taken,
when presents of this kind were made, to give good return
" dashes," for we had our land free, we paid neither rent,
taxes, or tribute to the King, and no levy was made on us for
our use of the natives as workmen and carriers, beyond their
ordinary pay ; and the King guarded our interests, and judged
and punished all who robbed us if the circumstances demanded
an appeal to him. It was, therefore, not only right, but wise,
that we should recognise the King's position, and his kindly
attitude towards us, by showing generosity in our occasional
presents to him.

The day after our arrival my colleagues arranged for my
presentation to Dom Pedro V, " Ntotela, Ntinu a Kongo^'' i.e.
Emperor, King of Congo, whose personal name was Elelo^ and
whose sobriquet, he afterwards informed me, was " loeni w'
ezulu^'' or The great one of heaven.^

A short time before we were ready, we sent to ask an
audience of the King, a ceremony never omitted even when we
became more intimately acquainted with him. Our messenger
soon returned to inform us that the King was willing to receive
us. The pig given the day before was worth three or four
pieces of cloth, but we selected ten pieces of what my colleagues
thought he would like, and wrapped them in a piece of calico.
A lad carried the bundle in front of us as we made our way
to the centre of the town where the King's enclosure was
^ See Appendix, Note II, for a list of the Kings of Congo.

34 CEREMONIAL VISIT

situated. We passed between high grass fences to the "judg-
ing place " (mbaji a kongo) in the middle of the town, where
a huge, wide-spreading tree was growing, beneath the shade
of which all important palavers were held; and crossing this
town square we came to the first entrance to the King''s
enclosure [lumbu), which we found to be a miniature maze,
as we had to negotiate four fences before we arrived at the
central space where the King's house stood.

On entering the first opening in the fence we turned to the
left, then to the right, then to the right again, and found
another opening ; then by turning once to the right and twice
to the left we worked our way back to a position near the
first entrance, where we discovered the third doorway in the
fence ; then turning to the left and again to the right there
was the entrance leading into the courtyard immediately in
front of the King's house. There was a 5-feet pathway between
the fences. At the last entrance we sent a lad to inform the
King that we were now near his house. After waiting a few
minutes we received permission to advance, and found ourselves
in an open space about 15 by 20 yards, with the front door
of the " palace " opposite us. The King's house was large as
native houses went, being about 18 feet wide by 25 feet long.
The walls were of closely-fitting planks, and the roof of
ordinary thatching-grass. Along one wall was a high, wide
shelf covered with ewers, wash-hand basins, decanters, jugs,
mugs, vases, and gaudily-painted china images — the profits of
trading, and presents from chiefs and others. Beneath the
shelf were various trunks, undoubtedly full of trade cloth and
other treasures ; and I afterwards learned that the King's bed-
room was next to the reception-room, and beyond that the
houses for his numerous wives.

We found the King sitting on a wicker sofa, and after
shaking hands with him and receiving his welcome we sat on
three European chairs that had been placed for us in front of
his majesty, and the lad put the bundle of cloth at our feet.
A little conversation then ensued about our journey, health,
and several small matters, then thanks were given for the pig

KING'S GREED FOR CLOTH 35

sent " to remove our hunger," and my colleague, with a smile,
made a sly reference to the King's chronic " hunger for cloth,"
the return present was made, each piece of cloth being slowly
turned over, the King meanwhile feasting his eyes on them and
counting the pieces. He thanked us for our fine present,
expressed his pleasure at seeing the new white man, hoped he
would have good health, &c., and, shaking hands again, we
bade each other good-bye and departed. He was both hearty
and dignified in his welcome and behaviour.

On walking about the town I found that all the headmen
had fences round their houses — not so elaborate as the King's,
but single fences with grass-covered gates, so that passers by
could not spy upon their privacy. Each enclosure contained
all the houses belonging to the headman owning the place —
a house for himself, a house for each of his wives, houses for his
slaves, and very often a visitor's house. Children lived with
their mothers, but when a boy reached the age of twelve he
went to the bachelor's house or club (71ZO a toJco, or nzo
a mhongi). Ordinary folk had no enclosure ; their houses
abutted the roads and paths, and all they did was open to
the full view of any passer by.

In 1859 the King of Kongo was known as the Marquis of
Katende, and as such he visited the Portuguese to ask for
priests to bury his predecessor and to crown himself as King.^
He was then " a handsome, stout, ' middle-aged man, with a
very much better caste of countenance than is usual among the
Congos." 2 When I first met him in 1882 he was about 6 feet
4 inches in height, very stout, being 60 inches round the waist,
and his face badly pitted with the smallpox. He was un-
gainly and awkward in his walk and movements by reason of
his obesity ; he was crafty in his policy, cunning in his dealings
with others, and always sharp enough to play one party off
against another to his own advantage. He was good-humoured,
enjoyed a joke even at his own expense, and was ever ready
to give or take a proverb that half concealed a streak of

^ Monteiro's Angola, vol. i. 211. ^ Ibid, 217.

86 RESTRAINING INFLUENCES

raillery. Personally I have none but pleasant memories of
him.

Inhere were many rumours of his cruelty and blood-
thirstiness. He murdered his own mother in the following
manner: He had a hole dug and put a mat over it, and then
invited her to sit down, and when the mat gave way beneath
her weight, and she fell into the hole, he stood by while she was
buried alive by his orders. Since that time no one will sit on
a mat without first looking under it or removing it to another
place. Whatever he was previously, the desire to be well
thought of by the white men living in his town, and, strange
as it may seem, by Queen Victoria, had a restraining influence
on him, and deterred him from committing many a cruel,
savage deed. How frequently he asked me what Queen
Victoria thought of him, and how often he begged me to
write her on his behalf to send his greetings to her ! He
never would believe that such a letter would not reach Her
Gracious Majesty, and I never humoured him, as I had more
than a suspicion that it was not a letter in reply that he
desired but a rich present. Again and again he said to those
who offended him, " I would kill you but for the white men,"
or, " but for Queen Victoria." He was a strange mixture of
good and evil : full of desires for the right, and of strong, over-
mastering inclinations to the wrong. He was superstitious to
the last degree, his movements were controlled by omens, and
he lived in constant fg^r of being bewitched. He had a stone
given him by a priest, and he was told by the said priest that
he was to lick the stone every morning, for he would not die
until the stone was worn away by his tongue. He died on
February 14, 1891, having reigned about thirty-two years.

When a King of Kongo died it was the custom for the head-
men of the town to say for many months that he was only ill.
When the secret of his death could no longer be kept, it was
announced, and the body was buried with due honours. There-
upon the powerful chiefs of the surrounding district fought
for the throne, and the strongest took it.

The conqueror went to the town of the former King — San

KING'S CRAFTINESS 37

Salvador, which was always neutral — with his family, relatives,
followers, and slaves, and, taking possession of it, he sat in the
King's chair, appropriated his staff of office, and in fact became
King. Of all his predecessor's possessions the new King
received only the staff (mpangni), as it was the insignia of
his kingship, and was regarded as the property of him who
captured the royal office. It was believed that their kingship
was bound up in the staffs, and without its possession, although
they might have all things else, they could not be King. The
family and followers of the new King built their houses round
his to support him in his new position. It is most probable
that the death of the King was told immediately and secretly
by friends at court to each powerful chief in the district, who
at once prepared to fight for the throne ; and when they were
ready for the struggle they gave intimation to the headmen
at San Salvador that the King's death should be announced.

The old King, Dom Henrique Lunga, died in 1858, and
Kiambu of Nkunga seized the capital, San Salvador, and
installed himself as King. Elelo, Marquis of Katende, was a
near relative of the deceased King, and made several attempts
to capture the capital and throne, but his forces were too weak.
He thereupon went to Bembe and asked the Portuguese, who
were working some copper mines at that place, to send some
priests to bury his predecessor (who, however, had already been
buried a considerable time), knowing well that they would be
accompanied by a military force, which he hoped would establish
him on the throne. His ruse succeeded. Soldiers were sent
with the priests, and after a long series of fights Elelo, Marquis
of Katende, was crowned King. The Portuguese occupied the
country, rebuilt the fortress on the south-eastern edge of the
plateau, remained for some seven years, and then abandoned
the district.

I frequently visited Kiambu, the man who was ousted out
of his rightful kingdom by Elelo's ruse. He was a man of fine
presence, tall and dignified, but his mobile face was marred by
wicked, devilish eyes. In the war with the Portuguese he is
said, on good authority, to have killed a white soldier and

38 THE DETHRONED KING

eaten his liver ^ to indicate his hatred of the men — the white
men, who had helped his conquered foe, Elelo, to drive him
out of his capital. At the time I knew him he had one of his
own daughters living in his " enclosure " as his wife. He was
condemned by all the natives for this act of incest, so repellent
to them ; and his excuse was that she was so beautiful that she
could not possibly be his daughter.

Kiambu was never allowed in San Salvador, nor was he
permitted to cross the small river that acted as a boundary to
his land. Just on the outskirts of his town was a large native
hut containing the dried corpse of a near relative. Six
unmarried girls were appointed each month to guard the body,
and keep the house clean ; for he had been told by a native
" medicine man " that he (Kiambu) would die the day after
the corpse was buried, hence in 1883 the body had remained
unburied for over twenty years, and it was not interred until
after Kiambu died some years later. I have a suspicion that
the cost of the funeral festivities, which are very great, had
more to do with the body being left unburied than his super-
stitious fears.

' Some natives think that cannibalism was, at oue time, common in
the country, as there are traces of it yet to be found, in men drinking
the blood and eating the livers of those they have killed in a fight.
This, however, is not a common custom, but it is sometimes done.

CHAPTER IV

COURT ETIQUETTE AND NATIVE FUNCTIONARIES

THERE was much ceremony observed at the King's court.
No one approached him without first seeking his
permission, and no one was allowed to sit on a chair in
his presence except his own near relatives, such as sons and
nephews ; and up to 1884 no native was permitted to own a
European chair even for private use.

Ordinary men approaching the King had to kneel three
times, once just inside the last entrance to the King"'s enclosure,
then near the door of the " palace,*" and lastly, immediately in
front of his majesty; and the last time they knelt, they put
the palms of their hands together, rubbed their little fingers
in the dirt, and then transferred the dirt from their little
fingers to their foreheads or temples and clapped their hands.
This ceremony they repeated three times at the last kneeling-
place; and the King answered by putting the palms of his
hand across each other with the fingers of the right hand well
above the thumb and index finger of the left hand, and waving
them. If the King did not answer thus, or if he thrust out
his foot and waved his toes — which was an insult — the sooner
the man retreated the better for him,^

If a man omitted to send or take the King a share of his
trading profits he would not be favourably received, and might
expect to see his majesty's toes wave instead of his fingers.
Well-to-do chiefs who failed to send him occasional presents
were also coldly received, and the waving toes reminded them
of their delinquencies. No written account was kept, but the
King, like all natives, had a remarkable memory for what was

^ See chapter on Salutations, &c., for a fuller description of paying
homage to, or saluting, the King.

40 KING EATS ALONE

owing to him, and never forgot when a debt was to be paid, or
a present was due. Chiefs and noblemen had to render
homage to the King in the same manner as an ordinary man,
but not every time they went into his presence.

The King possessed twenty-five wives, who lived in an
enclosure at the back of his house, each having her own hut.
Most of them were either the daughters or sisters of headmen,
or of chiefs of the neighbouring towns, and when walking about
the town both men and women would stand aside respectfully
to allow them to pass. No homage was paid to them, but they
were always spoken to and of with much deference by the
common people. Although the King had so many wives he
had only three children by them. Living as I have done for
thirty years in closest touch with the people, my observations
lead me to hold most firmly the opinion that polygamy on the
Congo neither conduces to large families, nor to morality.^

No one ate at the same table with the King, nor was
anyone, except his nephews and counsellors (mbanda-mbanda)^
allowed to sit at the same fire. I have been present more
than once when his majesty has had a tickling in the throat
and has coughed and spluttered to free the passage. All
present clapped their hands most vigorously, and when he
expectorated the sputum was carried away by one of his wives,
and it was either buried or burnt.

In handing anything to, or receiving anything from the
King the person always knelt, and put the palm of his left
hand under his right arm just below the elbow, or if the article
was too large for one hand then both hands, palms upward and
slightly arched, were held out to offer or receive the proffered
object. And in delivering a message to the King, or while
receiving one from him, the messenger had also to kneel.2
It was very rarely that his majesty left his enclosure, but
when he did six of the Doms or headmen of his town carried

^ See Among Congo Cannibalit (Seeley, Service & Co.) by the author,
pp. 134:-13!), for a fuller discussion on the effects of polygamy.

" This same ceremony was observed in handing things to or receiving
things from chiefs, important men, and by children to their fathers.

Photo by

Present King of Kongo in Si

Dr. Mercier Gamble

Dom Manuel Martins Kidttu is the first King under the Portuguese Republic. He is here seated
on his throne in the town square to change the chieftainship of Mputu from a man to a wonian. He
is receiving the Mputu people as shown in the picture belo*'.

Photo by

Approach

REMONIOUSLY

The Mputu people were dissatisfied with the weak policy of their chief, so they asked the King to
replace him by Ditina, a woman of strong character, the widow of a former chief. The crowd
approaches only a few paces at a time, then they salute and the band p'ays. The chieftainess has
a white band on her hat, and the man next to her on the left is the chief who is being deposed.

KING'S STATE DRESS 4i

him in a hammock, even if the distance was only one or two
hundred yards — as from his "palace" to the mission station.
He was so ponderous that he needed the combined strength of
the six men — three at each end of the pole — to carry him with
security and dignity. It was very fortunate for them that he
did not often visit the town.

On state occasions he dressed in the cast-off uniform of a
general, or some other high officer, except the trousers, in which
I never saw him ; but in place of the nether garments, he wore
round his waist and hanging below his knees many yards of
velvet, or other fine cloth ; a cockade and a sword completed
his attire. In his boxes he had many such uniforms — the gifts
of visitors to his town, and the result of trading. On other
than ceremonial occasions one often found him squatting on
the ground in his house, or on a mat in the courtyard, dressed
in a dirty shirt of Oxford print and a loincloth of common
trading print.

Chiefs far and near sent their nephews to be brought up
"at the King's knee," i.e. at court, so as to learn its cere-
monies, its etiquette in receiving visitors, and the best way of
settling palavers. These pages waited on the King, were his
messengers on ordinary occasions, ran his errands, and finished
the food left after they had served him at table. Their uncles
gave a premium to the King, according to their wealth and
position, for taking their nephews (their heirs) ; and occasion-
ally sent presents to them, a part of which found their way
to the King's boxes. These pages undoubtedly had many
small perquisites from those who desired their good offices with
the King. By the chatter of these lads and his councillors'
gossip he was kept well informed of everything that happened
in the town, in the trading factories, and in the missions.
Whenever the King sent a page to us with a message or a
request the lad brought with him an article of the King's
attire as a guarantee that he came from his majesty. Once or
twice they came without such a guarantee, and I sent them
back for a proof that they had come from their master, and I
heard no more about the matter.

42 POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH

The King had full power of life and death. He could kill
a person without trial by simply appointing a man to shoot
the one whose death he desired. This power he used prudently,
for during my residence at San Salvador I heard of only two
who were killed by the King's orders,'and they were lovers of the
royal wives. A headman who was growing too rich and power-
ful he would " eat up " on some pretext or other — generally a
charge of witchcraft — but it had to be done cautiously. He had
no army, so apart from his family, his immediate followers
bound to him by personal interests, and his slaves, he was
dependent on the goodwill of the people and their superstitious
fears of him as the possessor of the great fetish.

Attached to the court were several officers who performed
various duties for the King. The following are their titles and
functions :

The King, when I first knew him, was too old and too obese
to travel with any degree of comfort to himself, or to his
followers, over the rough and hilly roads to the towns of chiefs
to be ennobled. Such a ceremony could take place in their towns
only, so at the court there was an officer whose business it was to
confer titles, as the representative of the King, on those to be
distinguished. His official name was Kapitdu, and for the cere-
monies connected with the conferring of a title see page 45.

Connected also with the court was an officer who theoreti-
cally was supposed never to leave his master's enclosure
(lumbu), hence his name Nehimbu. He was a master of cere-
monies, or a kind of chamberlain. Another officer carried
messages from the King to the chiefs, and to towns, and when
on such embassies he carried the King's staff (jupang-u) with
him as a token of his authority and a proof that he had come
from his majesty, hence his official title was Nernpangii, which
may be freely translated as Staff-bearer. Mbila means to
summon, call out, sindi Ncmhila was the name of the King's
messenger who went to summon chiefs, important headmen,
&c., to the royal presence, and to inform the people of his
majesty's wishes and commands.

Another officer stayed about the King's person to wait on

VARIOUS COURT OFFICERS 43

him and to carry out such important orders as could not be
entrusted to the pages who served the King. His title was
Nejinguzio'ka, and literally meant : One who walks about,
always on the move. Neloto was the lowest in rank about
the court, and the word comes from loto, a spoon, and simply
means Spoonbearer.

The King had a number of counsellors (mbanda-mhanda),
who were selected for their acuteness and wisdom, and were
always chosen from among the people of San Salvador;
but the favourite officer was the Nernfilantu, for he was the
most trusted of all his people, and acted as a kind of Premier,
and the name means literally : One who holds or moves about
the King's head, or the one in whose lap the King puts his
head.

Attached to the court, but outside of it, was a man whose
special duty it was to assess the tax on all trading caravans
passing through the town, or travelling through the near
district. He was to some extent responsible for the safe
conduct of caravans through that part of the country of
which the King was overlord. Of course the larger portions
of the amounts thus collected found their way to the King''s
treasury. The man who held this office in the early eighties
was well known to me under the title of nobility called
Mfutila. Now, mfutila is a payment to or for, and is from
the \Qvh futa = io pay. It is probable that the title means:
Officer of the King"'s taxes, or The one who makes others pay.

Among the chiefs of the town there were many who held
titles of nobility. These titles were conferred by the King
either for services rendered, or for money paid to him — more
frequently the latter. The title became hereditary, and
descended with the chieftainship of the town and the property
to the rightful heir.

A man, we will say, buys from the King the title of
Tulante for one slave and 5000 strings of blue pipe beads.^
If on his death his heir is not rich enough to support the

^ This was the amount actually paid for it by the uncle of the present
holder of the title.

44 RECEIVING A TITLE

title, or does not care to pay the expenses for the cere-
monies connected with his installation, or for some other
reason does not desire it, he can with the consent of the King
sell it to another chief for a stated sum for that chiefs life
time. When this " life-buyer "" of the title dies, his heir cannot
assume the title, unless he procures the permission of the
family originally holding it, and for their consent he must
pay ; and the King cannot confer it without the consent of
the said family. In fact the title reverts to the family that
originally bought it direct from the King, and the head of
that family can resume it, or pass it on as a life title to
another chief. This apparently applies only to certain titles
of which there can only be one holder at any given time.
There can only be one Ttilante, and whenever this title is
conferred, either on the proper heir to it, or on a life-buyer
of it, the King always receives a large present from the
recipient at the time of his installation into the ranks of
nobles.

The ceremony of installation is as follows : The title of
Tulante is to be conferred on a chief whose name is Nlemvo ^
who has inherited the property, the chieftainship of the
town, and the title from his uncle. On the death of the
uncle Nlemvo, the heir, although he had an undisputed right
to the title, yet could not assume it until it was properly
conferred by the King, or his representative ; and Nlemvo
himself did not ask for it until he had gathered sufficient
cloth, goats, pigs, &c. to pay the necessary expenses of the
ceremony. Thus a man might be entitled to a high rank,
and yet be known only as mfumu Nlemvo — chief Nlemvo,
or, as Ngtidi a Nkama Nlemvo = Mother, or origin-of-a-
hundred Nlemvo. The use, however, of Ngiidi a Nkama
before a name seems to point to the fact that the man is
heir to a higher title. Ngtidi a Nkama is often playfully

' In the early eiphties I was well acquainted with Nlemvo's uncle,
and often stayed in his town. Nlemvo, from whom I received these
details^ is still alive — a most intelligent man of about forty-five years
of age.

CEREMONY OF INSTALLATION 45

prefixed to a person's name, especially if he is pompous and
bumptious in his gait and talk.

Nlemvo having collected the necessary goods for the pay-
ment of expenses, and the provisions for the feasts always
observed on such occasions, and having also made all arrange-
ments with the King, on the appointed day the Kapitau
arrived at Nlemvo's town, and was received and treated with
due respect as the King's representative. A good house was
given to him for his accommodation, and a plentiful store of
food was supplied to him. Nlemvo'sown clan, i.e. his mother's
clan, was called, and any of his father's clan who desired to be
present were permitted to do so; but all other clans were
strictly excluded from the ceremony.

The crowd formed a large circle, in the centre of which a
leopard's skin was spread, and a chair placed on it. The
Kapitau went up to Nlemvo, who was sitting among his people,
and hooking the index finger of his right hand in the little
finger of Nlemvo's left hand, he led him up to the leopard's
skin, and walking him round it as far as the tail, told him to
step over that, and then leading him to the front of the chair,
he seated him in it, whereupon the crowd clapped the loosely-
closed fists of their left hands with the palms of their right
hands.

When all was again quiet the Kapitau put on the candi-
date's head some lemha-lemba leaves, and wetting his hands
with palm-wine he pressed the palms to Nlemvo's temples,
to his forehead and back of the head, to his shoulders,
and to his knees ; this he did three times, and then pro-
nounced a blessing : " May you be blessed and lucky, and
when you speak may your words be heard (obeyed) by the
people." ^

Then the Kapitau asked loudly three times : " Do you
know this man's name ? " and the crowd replied each time in
the negative. Whereupon the Kapitau shouted : " Origin-of-
a-hundred Tulante waiting for the mercy (kindness) of

^ Ovwa nsambu yo malmi, wavova diamhu diwa wantu.

46 CEREMONY OF INSTALLATION

Almighty God-''^ The people on hearing this rounded their
mouths, and beat them with the extended fingers of their right
hands, making thereby a long series of " Wo ! wo ! wo ! "
Others fired guns and shouted.

When quiet was restored, the Kapitau told the new noble
to be good to his people, and turning to the crowd, he told
them to obey their chief. He instructed the new Tulante
never to carry anything when walking on the roads, or visiting,
or going to the markets — in fact he was never again to carry
anything like a boy, or common person, except his gun or
stick ; and if he shot a bird or an animal he must not even
carry the game he had killed. Should a person ever meet him
carrying any article except his gun or walking-stick, the said
person had the right to take it away from him, and either keep
it for himself or sell it. Neither might the new noble ever beat
his wife or wives, and if he did, he could be mulcted in a fine
of fowls, or one goat ; and the new noble was never to gather
firewood, or fetch water. A bracelet was then put on Nlemvo's
arm as a sign of his new and important title.

Nlemvo gave the Kapitau and his assistant five pieces of
cloth, one pig, and two goats ; and he sent to the King at San
Salvador seventy pieces of cloth.^ The King was so satisfied
with his present, that he sent a large velvet cloth worth
twenty-five francs to the new Tulante,

The new noble can now be appointed by the King to confer
titles on others; he can also act as a judge in settling matters
between persons, and quarrels between towns ; and for this
judicial work he receives fees that eventually more than refund
all the expenses incurred by the above ceremony of installation.

Tlie following are some of the titles of nobility :

1. Tulante. The present holder of this title cannot give
me its meaning.

' NGUDI A NKAMA TULANTE NINGAMENA NKANICA
NZAMBI A MPUNGU, DEZU. DEZU, untranslated in the text as it
is redundant, is from Portuguese Deos.

^ This was exactly the price given by Nlemvo, who personally gave
me all the particulars.

NAMES OF THE NOBLES 47

2. Luhatabata=^a. strong man.

3. Katendi = o\\e who must fight to the last, and never
give in. This was the title of Elelo, Dom Pedro V, before he
ascended the throne. There is a native saying that runs thus :
" The Katendi's finger-nails must not be cut, or his clan will
die out," ^ i.e. he must always fight and never have his
claws cut,

4. Nl:angampaka=^&. strong man who disregards objections
and difficulties, but goes straight on his way. This was the
title of a former chief of Mpalabala town near Matadi whom
I met several times : and although his town was over eighty
miles from San Salvador yet he sent tribute periodically to
the King,

5. Mpidixipe, from the Portuguese Principe. This noble
was sometimes Premier. The title is of modern introduction,
probably dating from the early sixties, when the Portuguese
set Elelo on the throne, and occupied the town for seven
years.

6. il//M#z/«= payment to or for (see page 43). Assessor,
and collector of taxes on caravans, &c.

7. Kahata ; 8, Masaku ; 9, Nsaku ; 10, Sengele ,-11, NTcondi ;
and 12, Nemwanda, are also titles of high rank, but their
significance has been forgotten. It is possible that in ancient
times, when the Kingdom of Kongo was at the zenith of its
power and glory, the above titles belonged to men of high
rank in the King's household, or system of government, and as
their offices, through the breaking up of the kingdom, have
dropped into desuetude, the meanings have become lost to
the present holders of the titles.

13. Nenkondo. When the exigencies of life demand that
a new law be made or an old one revived, the chiefs of the
district meet together and arrange what the new law shall
be, what fine shall be inflicted for breaking it, and they also
appoint a chief to administer it, to see that it is properly
observed, and to follow with punishment the breaker of it.
All fines received are periodically distributed among the chiefs
^ Katendi katendwa nzala o makanda mamene.

48 NATIVES AND THEIR NAMES

concerned, but the one appointed to administer the law retains
a larger share than that given to an ordinary chief, for he
has all the trouble of guarding the law and enforcing the
fines. This administrator takes the title of Nenkondo.

All the men and women of San Salvador and the im-
mediate district have what they call a '■^ santu"" (from the
Portuguese word, sancto), or as we should call it — a Christian
name. This custom of having a santu'^ is a survival of the
days when the Roman Catholic Church was dominant in
the land, and the converts were given a holy name when
baptized into the Church.

About the time of birth a native name is given to the boy.
Sometimes it is whimsical and without any particular meaning,
at other times it indicates the manner in which the child was
born ; and in some instances the name marks a bit of family
history, such as a time of sorrow, or comfort, or joy — much the
same as the old scriptural names. Later in life, at the age
of twelve or fourteen, the lad can take another name of his
own choice, if he is dissatisfied with his birth-name, and allow
his first name to be forgotten by disuse. While in their teens
they select a sajitu, a Portuguese name Congoised, as Man-
wele== Manuel, Nzwao = Joao = John, &c. ; and the women take
Madia= Maria, &c. To these santus they prefix Dom and
Donna respctively. In San Salvador and its neighbourhood
everybody has a sanUi^ but the farther you travel from San
Salvador the less frequently is the santu found among the
people. Although there is a native ceremony of baptism, yet
it is not often observed, as anyone can change his or her
name, and take a new one, or a sanfu, without following any
rites, and thus save the medicine-man's fee.

Though the possession of Dom and Donna is so common,
yet the use of them is somewhat restricted to the better class
of natives, much the same as our use of Mr., Mrs., and Miss,

* llie ftantu is given by a sponsor, or godfatlier, or godmother, and
the child had to respect liis godparent (ese dm njilu <*««/« = father of the
road to heaven), and to do anytliing wrong to a sponsor is regarded as a
crime. Godparents and godchildren could not marry.

NATIVES AND THEIR NAMES 49

Of some men the natives never spoke without calling them
Dom, and to others the natives never prefixed the Dom except
when they desired to ingratiate themselves, or ask. a special
favour. What is said about the boy and the man, applies
equally as well to girls and women. Men and women, boys
and girls, on leaving the ndemho ^ secret society received new
names which they could use or not as they pleased ; and all
the men and lads initiated into the nkimba guild also received
new names. Thus a man could possess five names, viz. his
birth-name, his selected name, his santu, his ndemho^ and his
nldmha names.

We had then in the San Salvador society, the King, the
counsellors, the nobility, the chiefs of towns, the court officers,
the Doms and Donnas, the common people, and the slaves.
San Salvador itself is known to the natives as Kongo, but to
distinguish it from several other Kongos, e.g. Kongo dia
Mpalabala and Kongo di' Elemba, it is called Kongo dia
Ntotela, i.e. the King's Kongo, as it has from time immemorial
been the residence of the King of the country. Sometimes
it is called Kongo dia Ngunga, i.e. the Kongo of the Bell,
probably because the Roman Catholic priests had formerly a
large bell there, which was rung in connection with their
services.

^ On taking a ndembo name on initiation into the mysteries of this
secret society the "doctor" of the society appointed a man to be re-
garded as the father {ese dia elemba) of the new member. He was treated
with much respect by his " child."

CHAPTER V

REMINISCENCES OF DOM PEDRO V,
KING OF KONGO

OUR first introduction to the King was in February 1882.
We then found him sitting on a wicker sofa in his
" palace," a veritable Tichbourne for size. He was
dressed in a white straw hat, a very dirty white shirt, and a
no less dirty cloth over his knees. He was mourning the
death of one of his wives, hence his dirty, untidy appearance.
She had been dead two months, and was left unburied while
her brother procured the cloth, beads, &c., necessary to inter
her with the pomp and ceremony suited to her position as
a royal wife. During those two months the King had
" mourned," i.e. he had neglected his personal appearance,
wore old and dirty garments, and left his skin unoiled and
undusted with camwood powder. The King, however, was
usually clean in his attire and habits, and on threat occasions
could even be smart in his dress. At a great palaver that
took place in March 1882 he was attired in the following
manner. I quote from notes written at the time. He wore
a loincloth of scarlet and black velvet, a clean white shirt,
a black waistcoat with brass buttons, a scarlet cloth coat with
tails, and a white straw hat. In his hand he held a six-
chamber revolver (unloaded, for he had no cartridges) ; a man
held a large umbrella of red and black velvet over his head ;
and when he stepped forward to speak, his son, carrying a
sword in its scabbard, walked behind him holding a very small
red parasol over his head, vainly endeavouring to shade the
moving mass of flesh.

Having received many small acts of kindness from the
King, I asked him one day in 1882 what personal present I

GIFT OF SOME SHIRTS 51

could make him, and he desired a shirt or two of strong
material; and that they might fit him properly, he lent me
an old shirt from which to take the measurements. He was
of no mean stature and girth, as the following figures will
prove, which I transcribe from my letter to the lady whom I
asked to make the shirts : " The shirts must have cuffs, collars,
and fronts. The sizes are as follows : From shoulder to
shoulder 2 ft. 11 in. Waist 5 ft. 8 in. in circumference. Arm-
holes 23 in. Round the neck 20 in. Arm 1 ft. 3 in. not
including the cuff, which is to be 5 in. long and 9 in. round.
From top to bottom 3 ft. 6 in. I should tell you that the
King is expert with his needle, and his twenty-five wives just as
clever at farming. The folk are often asking what kind of
work Queen Victoria does."

The lady wanted to know if I had made a mistake in the
measurements ; but on being assured that they were correct,
she set to work, and in due time the shirts arrived in San
Salvador. The King frequently asked about the progress
of those garments ; but he was too courteous to express in
words what he must often have thought in his heart — that
they were a long time coming. The old man was delighted
to receive the present, and quickly donned one of the shirts,
and finding it was a comfortable fit, and the work satisfying
his critical eye, he was neither slow nor meagre in his expres-
sions of pleasure and gratitude; and when, three years later, the
lady, the maker of the shirts, arrived in his town, he accorded
her a most hearty welcome, and thanked her personally for
the trouble she had taken and the skill she had shown.

Occasionally we invited him to dinner, and the piece de
resistance was a sucking-pig, which in those days we could buy
for a shilling"'s worth of cloth or beads. Although his house
was less than 400 yards away, he always came in his state
hammock, carried by six of his headmen. Fortunately the
headmen were strong and in the prime of life, otherwise the
King's weight would have taxed them too much. The
hammock was of native cotton, grown, dyed, and woven in a
neighbouring village. It was covered with red cloth, adorned

52 KING AT DINNER

with tassels and bells, and a canopy was arranged to shield the
rider from the sun. As there were no clocks in the " palace "
we asked our guest to come at sunset ; and no sooner was the
sun below the horizon than we heard the shouts of the people
as they accompanied the Kings's hammock to the station. As
he got near we could hear the tinkling of the ferret bells on
the hammock, the hurried, heavy breathing of the hammock-
carriers, and their short, sharp sentences of direction to each
other. They were not at all sorry to lower the hammock at
our door, where we stood ready to receive and welcome him, who,
although black, had come in the most kingly manner he knew,
and was certainly very dignified in most of his ways and words.

The boys quickly put the dinner on the table, and the
King eyed every dish hungrily. I said to him one day when
visiting him in his courtyard, and we were both in a joking
mood, " Do you know what the poorer class of English boys
do when they are invited to a feast ? "

" No," he said, and as he saw me hesitate he asked, " Well,
what do they do ? ■"

" Why, they eat very little all day," I replied, " so as to
have plenty of room for the feast."

The old man rolled with laughter, snapped his fingers,
slapped his thighs, and tears came from his eyes as he said,
" Why, white man, that is what I do, but I did not know
anybody else was cute enough to think of that ; but Mfumu
Weekisi, I am smarter than those white boys, for I don't eat
anything all day when I am coming to take dinner with you
at sunset." After that I could understand the hungry look
in his eyes as he watched the dishes put on the table; and we
always hurried the boys in their operations.

Native provisions of all kinds were very cheap, and by
sacrificing one or two tins of preserved goods we were generally
successful, although lacking the help of a white lady, in work-
ing out a menu of six or seven simple courses. Soup made
of fowl and goat bones with odd bits of meat and seasoning ;
tin of fresh herrings baked or fried ; a roast fowl, stewed goat,
roast sucking-pig, and baked rice pudding with stewed paw-

Photo hy

State Robes of the King of Kongo

Kev. R . H . C. Graham

These robes and the silver sceptre were a present from the K'ng of Portugal in i8S8, when the first
resident governor went to reside in San Salvador. The robes, etc., are State propertj and pass from
the King to his successor. This is Mbenjbe, Doin Pedro VI.

KING AT DINNER 53

paws, were our dishes. Our drinks were limejuice made from
fresh limes, and coffee grown in the district.

I think I can see the old King now sitting on the other
side of the wide table ; squatting on the ground immediately
behind him is a row of five or six of his favourite wives ; and
standing against the wall are the six headmen who carried
the hammock. The doors are crowded with gaping, curious
natives talking in low whispers ; the house-boys are moving
noiselessly with naked feet over the beaten clay floor ; and the
light from our small colza oil lamps, supplemented on this
festive occasion by a couple of candles, throw their soft light
over the table, but scarcely relieve the darkness beyond. And
the white man sitting on one side of the table has the only
white face in all that crowd of black figures.

The King takes a few spoonfuls of soup and passes the rest
down with a piece of bread to his waiting wives, who quickly
and quietly finish them ; the fish he eats all up because it
comes from the white man's country, and his wives pout their
disappointment. We give him a liberal share of fowl, but
that is so common that after selecting the best pieces the rest
is finished by his expectant wives ; goat comes next, but is
treated with as scant courtesy as that bestowed on the fowl ;
and meanwhile the old man turns his eyes repeatedly towards
the roasted pig. That at last is put before us, and we pile
his plate with a liberal portion, which rapidly disappears, and
all the time his wives are making mouths in the semi-darkness.
He grunts assent to more when we ask him, and we again load
his plate. Is not this the moment for which he has lived all
the hours of that long day ? for he had heard that the white
man has bought a pig for dinner. There is nothing that the
white man does but he hears all about it a few minutes after-
wards in his courtyard.

A third time his plate is filled, but before he is half way
through he is conquered, so with a sigh he hands the re-
mainder to his longing wives. He plays with the rice pudding
and stewed native fruit as much as to say, How can one eat
such poor stuff after roast sucking-pig.? We hand down a

54 KING TALKS ABOUT HIMSELF

large dish of food to the wives ; and while we are drinking
our coffee the headmen are clearing up the dishes, with the
aid of house-boys, in the kitchen — the remnants of the feast
are their perquisites, so that there is not a bone left that a
dog would look at twice.

Through the meal the King is too busy to talk much; but
directly eating is over his tongue is loosened, and he tells us
of his travels about the country, of the fights by which he
gained for himself the sobriquet of " the great one of heaven,"
and his earnest wish to send a letter to Queen Victoria. We
on our part relate the wonders of our country, the size of our
great cities, the number of our ships and soldiers, our coal,
iron, and salt mines, the speed and comfort of railway travel-
ing; the wealth, power and majesty of the great white Queen.
His eyes and mouth would open widely in amazement, and,
although he was too polite to ask me if I were lying, yet he
often interrupted me to ask if I were telling the truth, and
I have a dim suspicion that during our earlier acquaintance
he thought I was a magnificent liar in talking about my
country and Queen as I did. Of course his people when
travelling about the country talked of him in exaggerated
terms to the ignorant people in the distant villages. His
twenty-five wives became a hundred, his three children were
multiplied by ten or more, and everything he said and did
was highly coloured. He had heard all about it, and thought
that the white man was naturally doing the same for his
Queen and country.

He would petulantly ask why his country was not rich,
great, and strong, and why they were so poor and foolish
compared to white people. We would point out the baneful
influence of the witch-doctors, and the way in which they
had kept the people from making any progress, killing off
as witches the most progressive men and the inventive geniuses
of the country. We generally finished our conversations with
a talk on Christianity, and not infrequently with family
prayers.

It was our custom to go every Sunday evening to conduct

KING'S WIVES ON STRIKE 55

a short religious service in his courtyard. Sometimes he was
alone except for a few personal attendants, at other times
there would be from fifty to a hundred persons present ; but
whether many or few, he always made me welcome, had a
chair placed for me immediately in front of him so that we
sat almost knee to knee, and would listen most attentively to
all that was said. In his better moods I have seen the tears
trickle down his cheeks as he recalled the murders, &c., of
former years, and on our parting he would bid me come again
quickly ; but in his harder moments I have seen his eyes flash
murderous hate, and his face cloud with fiercest anger at some
remark that touched him to the quick. For some reason he
was very desirous of our good opinion, consequently he curbed
his passion and controlled his savagery in a wonderful manner.
I think he had an idea that we reported his sayings and doings
to Queen Victoria, and he wished that she should hear only
good about him.

On more than one occasion I heard that the royal wives
had gone out on strike by refusing, for the time being, to
cook any food for his majesty. There was an understanding
among them that whenever he was unreasonable in his treat-
ment of one or more of them, the others took sides with
them, and by refraining to cook or do anything for the old
man they soon brought him to reason. At such times his
diet was a few roasted pea-nuts, and that for not one meal
only, but for two or three days. Being very stout, he was not
able to chase his wives and beat them, for they soon ran
beyond his reach ; he dared not send slaves to catch and
handle freeborn women ; and his headmen preferred neither
to help nor to interfere, for Congo women have nasty tempers
and terrible tongues.

One day I passed through his house to the women's quarters
behind, in search of him, and found his majesty in a towering
passion, surrounded by about twenty of his wives. They were
all clapping their hands — an action that always accompanied
the begging of a favour — and beseeching him in pleading tones
not to beat her ; and all the time so closely clustering round

56 TRYING TO PUNISH A WIFE

him that they impeded his movements, rendering it impossible
for him to catch the delinquent wife even if he had been
more agile than he was. Each woman acted her part admir-
ably, knowing that when she did something for which he
wanted to flog her, the others would surround him and thus
protect her. When, however, a general strike took place,
it was impossible for one fat old man to beat twenty-five
strapping women, almost every one of whom would have been
more than a match for him in a fair fight — so his boys roasted
for him a few pea-nuts, or a plantain, and in the meantime
he threatened them with his fetish, and stored up a good
appetite for the tasty dishes that were sure to come when
reconciliation took place.

In June 1884 the King suffered from a large sloughing
ulcer, and I went twice a day to dress the place. Soon after
commencing this bit of medical work on his majesty, he
gave his permission for calling a great witch-doctor to discover
the person who was bewitching the King ; but directly I heard
of this I sent a message to my patient saying that " if he
proceeded with the witch palaver I would not again dress
the sore." He instantly stopped the witch-doctor and sent
him and his people away ; and a few days later a headman,
in thanking me for taking this action, said, " If you had
not been here someone would have been killed as a witch."

Some time before the above incident the King conceived
the idea that much of the sickness prevalent in the town
might be removed by paying more respect to a certain
neglected fetish. He therefore selected some girls and placed
them in a fetish house, where they remained for several weeks
to attend upon and propitiate the fetish. During their stay
in the fetish house they lived upon the uncooked blood of
sucking-pigs and raw fowls, together with a few nuts and roots.
They could not leave the house, and a man was not allowed
to approach it : but they were waited upon by one or two
old women. Just as this ceremony was finished, and his
majesty had rewarded the girls with good presents, his foot
became very much swollen and painful, and every means they

SOME GERMANS ARRIVE 57

took to cure it entirely failed. The old man became very
angry with the fetish for serving him such a scurvy trick
after paying away so much good money on its behalf.

In December 1884, the members of a German Geographical
Expedition arrived at San Salvador and stayed with us in the
mission house. After the excitement of their arrival had
abated, I went and asked the King to see them and to accord
to them a fitting welcome, but he refused to see them. The
Portuguese Padres had been before me, and had told the King
that these white men had come to take his country, that they
were Bulamatadi's (Stanley^'s) white men, and if he saw them it
would be bad for him and his people.

On returning to our house I told them what the King had
said; and our visitors were exceedingly vexed, because the
Padres knew very well who and what they were — Germans
travelling for the Berlin Geographical Society. Dr. Biithner
then brought out a book written by a German traveller,
Bastian, who visited San Salvador in 1861 or 1862, and read
from it some incidents that happened at that time in which the
King took part, and which they thought he would call to mind
if I would tell him ; and they requested me to add that they
were countrymen of the man who was so friendly with the
King.

I went to see the old King again, and said ; " Do you
remember a white man who came to see you about twenty-
three years ago, and you and he made a feast for all the
headmen in the town, and they all became so drunk that they
fell about your courtyard ? Then you and he went with
calabashes and pots of water and poured their contents over
the drunken men while they were lying about on the ground."
I thought the old gentleman would have rolled off his big chair
with laughter ; but on quietening down he asked, " How did
you hear of that ? Why, that white man was my very good
friend ! " I then told him how that white man went home and
wrote a book, and put in it all about the King of Kongo, and
that these white men who had just arrived were his country-
men. When the King heard that he at once said he would

58 RESULTS OF A LETTER

see them ; and the next day he gave them a right royal
reception.

A few days after their visit to the King, Dr. Biithner showed
me a letter published (some time in 1884) in a Belgian paper,
Le Moiivement Geographiqiie, in which the King of Kongo in a
long preamble acknowledges His Majesty the King of Portugal
as his liege lord, &c., &c. It was signed with the King's mark,
and witnessed by all the white men in San Salvador, except
myself. I told the Germans that I had heard nothing of the
letter although I was in San Salvador on the day on which it
was written and signed, and that I doubted its authenticity.
Happening to visit the King a day or so later, I took the said
letter with me, and asked him about it. He was astonished
when he heard the contents of the letter, and in great anger he
arose from the big leather chair in which he was sitting, and
said, " My brother, the King of Portugal, sent me this chair as
a present, and a short time after the head Padre brought me a
letter to sign, saying it was a letter of thanks to the King of
Portugal for this chair, and that is the only letter I ever signed
my mark to, or ordered to be sent." Poor old man ! in saying
" Thank you" for a chair he had signed away the independence
of his country : for the Portuguese used that letter as one of the
arguments upon which they founded their claim to the ancient
Kingdom of Kongo.

The head Portuguese Padre, a Portuguese trader, and a
French trader had signed the letter as witnesses to the King's
mark. A few days after my interview with the King I met the
French trader, and told him I had seen the said letter, that I
was in the town on that date, and was surprised that I was not
asked to sign the letter, for " Am I not a white man ? " The
Frenchman excused himself by saying, " We did not ask you to
witness the King's mark because we felt sure you would not do
it until the King thoroughly understood the real purport of
the letter." I thanked him for his estimate of my ciiaracter,
and gave him my view of the manner in whicii they had
deceived and defrauded the King. One wonders how many
treaties with African Kings have been gained by a like ruse.

KING'S DEATH 59

On February 15, 1891, Dom Pedro V died of apoplexy, and
in due time he was enshrouded in all the uniforms and ex-
pensive clothes given to him by the King of Portugal. Then
came out the cloths that had been hoarded for years, styles and
patterns long forgotten, introduced by traders fifty and sixty
years before, which had filtered up from the coast to the far
interior. From all the wealth he had gathered through a long
reign nothing was saved from the grave, and the cost of his
funeral, except the royal coat and robe, and the silver ware,
which were considered crown property — everything else was
buried to enrich their late owner in the spirit land.

CHAPTER VI

NATIVE GOVERNMENT AND LAWS

WE learn from various sources that in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries there was a strong native govern-
ment that had its centre at San Salvador, and its cir-
cumference touched Kabinda in the north, Angola in the south,
the Sea in the west, and in the east it reached nearly to Stanley
Pool, and away towards the Kasai. In the eighteenth century
this powerful native state gradually broke to pieces. The
divisions into which the kingdom had been divided, and which
had formerly been ruled by the sons and nephews of the King
of Kongo (San Salvador), separated themselves from the central
authority, and became independent of all control. These
provinces also, in course of time, crumpled up, until at last
every chief became a law unto himself and to the people of
his village. The strong raided the weak, the rowdy bullies
oppressed the quiet, peaceable folk, carrying them oft' to sell as
slaves to the white men at the coast. jNIurders were common,
and there was no one who cared to punish the murderers even
if he had the power to do so. Anarchy reigned throughout
the country, and men, women, and children were afraid to
venture far from their towns and villages, for gangs of rascals
were always on the prowl to snap up the undefended, who were
at once sold from town to town until they found their way to
the horrors of the slave hold on a white man's ship. Not a
person thus caught and treated as a slave but was the child,
the mother, the brother, the sister, the father, or the husband
of someone left to mourn bitterly in the far-away hinterland
for those who would never return.

In the early seventies of last century Besekele and Nkabi
began a crusade against fetishes, charms, Sic. ; and they

"CARPET " GOVERNMENT 61

also advocated some draconic laws to suppress the lawless-
ness then prevalent thi'oughout the country. Their sugges-
tions were accepted by village after village, and district after
district ; and it was enacted that all murders and attempts to
murder should be punished by the death of the culprit, no
matter of what rank he might be ; and even murder in self-
defence should be punishable by death, and if a man struck his
mother he should be burnt to death on the market ; that raids,
violence, robbery, and kidnapping should be severely punished
by the chiefs of the district.

They instituted a system of government called the carpet
(nJcuwu), upon which a chief only may sit, and hence " carpet "
became synonymous with lawful authority, and to " spread
the carpet " {i/ala e nkuwu) was to assume lawful authority ;
and to "destroy the carpet" {hangidu e nkuwu) was to
break the law, to commit a serious offence, and to bring about
a state of anarchy. For one of the peculiarities of this
mode of government is this : that when the law, say, against
robbery is broken, destroyed, it no longer exists — it is dead,
and anarchy reigns until the law is mended, is brought back
to life, i.e. until the culprit who destroyed the law has paid
the fine; hence the chiefs are forced to deal with cases
quickly, and enforce payments of all fines at once, and thus
restore the law, otherwise rascals would rob right and left
on the plea that no law exists against robbery — it being
dead, having been killed by the first thief who goes unjudged
and unpunished. I have seen a wdiole district in tumult, and
the chiefs and headmen hurrying to and fro to find and bring
a law-breaker to judgment; and meanwhile, they were fearful
that some rogues would take advantage of the fact that that
law was dead.

To promulgate a law the following method is observed :
The greatest chief in the district assembles the chiefs of the
surrounding villages, and tells them of the necessity for a new
law to punish certain crimes that are being committed ; he
then informs them about the new law and its proposed
penalties. If they agree to it, or to a modification of it, he

62 PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER

kills two or three pigs and divides the flesh among them as a
witness that they have consented to the new law and its
penalties. They then appoint a nerikondo (see page 47) to
look after that law and to seek out the person who breaks it,
and inflict the flne on him, which fine is eventually divided
among the witnessing chiefs according to their status. The
nenkondo can demand aid of any chief while enforcing the
law.

After a law has been accepted the witnessing chiefs will
adjourn to a cross road, and one of their number will state the
law, and then lying on the ground he will rub his mouth in the
dirt, and after striking his knees with the palms of his hands,
he will invoke a curse, terrible in its nature, on the person
who dares to break this law upon which the chiefs have just
agreed. This has such a terrifying effect on the people that
he will be a reckless fellow indeed who risks incurring the curse.

We will deal first with cases of homicide. If for any reason
a man desires to kill another, he must first call the neigh-
bouring chiefs together, and tell them what he wants to do,
and his reasons for wishing to kill the said man. If they
consent he presents them with a pig or two to kill and divide
among themselves as a proof of their consent, and a guarantee
of their support should he afterwards be accused of murder.
This seems to be the only legal way to execute a person who
has made himself impossible in his district by his violence and
rascality.

The man who commits murder must be given up by his
town and family if he has run to them for protection. He is
tried by the chiefs, and, on being condenuied, he is securely
tied until the next market-day. The murderer is then taken
to the crowded market and made drunk with palm wine ; then
the chief man of the district dances round him with a sword,
and flashing and waving it about the culprit's head he makes
a cut in the forehead, and on touching the prisoner for the
third time, someone rushes out of the crowd, and cuts oil" the
murderer's head, and his body is burnt to ashes. By reducing
the body to ashes they believe that they thereby destroy his

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PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER 63

spirit, and thus prevent the spirit from seeking revenge by be-
witching his executioners.

If the murderer does not escape to his town, but runs else-
where, then his family must hunt for him, and failing to
capture him they must pay a fine of 20,000 strings of blue
pipe beads. If the homicide is afterwards arrested and exe-
cuted this heavy fine is not returned to the family, conse-
quently a man does not run far unless he has a grudge against
his family.

Should, however, the man be caught before or soon after
he runs away his family pays a fine varying from 2,000 to 5,000
strings of beads, and on being proved guilty he forfeits his life
in the manner already described. When captured the prisoner
is handed over to the head chief of the district, and should
the prisoner escape from him he is then entirely free from any
further fear of capture or death. The family of the murdered
man does not kill any member of the murderer's family, but they
receive a portion of the fine inflicted {nianga) for homicide.

Should a free man kill a slave, he also forfeits his life.
Mfumu Fofo, a chief near San Salvador, in pride killed his
slave, and although he offered two slaves and a large sum of
money they were refused, and he suff'ered the penalty of death.
Mfumu Fofo's body, however, was not burned, as is the custom
with the corpses of those executed for murder, but it was
given to his family for burial.

Some years ago a certain chief ordered his slave to murder
another chief, promising to protect him from punishment. The
slave obeyed the order and killed his master's enemy. But at
the trial it came out that the chief had instigated his slave
to commit the murder, so he was beheaded and burnt, and
the slave was made drunk, put in an old house, and burnt to
death. In districts far removed from San Salvador there
exists the custom of giving and accepting substitutes to bear
the death penalty.

At one time accidental homicide was not regarded as any-
thing but murder, and was treated accordingly ; but of recent
years it has been recognised, and the man guilty of such an

64 DEALING WITH THIEVES

unfortunate accident pays a small line to the family of the de-
ceased as compensation, and then goes to a certain kind of
medicine- man ^ to be made docile and careful.

In self-defence it is now permissible to take the life of a
madman, but when possible a warning is sent to the family
of the insane person to tell them to guard him more carefully,
and if the family fail to do so the insane can be killed by any
one whose life he threatens. Should the insane kill a person,
the insane himself is not killed, but the family is forced to pay
a ruinous fine for the blood shed. As these people have no
asylums, and no chains for securely tying madmen, it is very
difficult for them to look properly after such, and there is no
doubt that the violently mac are often quietly poisoned, or
removed by some other means. I have noticed that they
suddenly disappear.

A person who commits suicide is not always buried, but
the corpse is thrown out into the bush to be eaten by wild
beasts. Sometimes they are buried at the cross roads.

There are many fetishes and charms whose aid is invoked
to punish with foul diseases and death undiscovered thieves.
Living as I have done for several years in closest touch with
these Lower Congo natives, I can sincerely give them a character
for honesty. There is a certain amount of pilfering of un-
considered trifles ; but, in these later years, no cases of robbery
from us. Among themselves in their ordinary town life they
are fairly honest, and treating us, as they do, as belonging to
themselves, they regard our goods with respect, and any who
robbed us would be looked upon with contempt by his fellows.
But there is no doubt that they thieve from other white men
when they have the opportunity, and the goods belonging to
strangers, black or white, are considered their special per-
quisites if they can be appropriated with a fair chance of
escaping detection and punishment.^

' Nyang' a JAimhe, wliich see on p. 226.

* These remarks refer to ordinary natives, and not to Church members.
A man or woman is expelled immediately from the Church for the slightest
forgetfulness of the difference between iiieum ft tuum.

DEALING WITH THIEVES 65

This propensity for stealing is fully recognised by the
traders, and to guard their goods they hire a native medicine-
man to make a strong fetish for punishing thieves. This fetish
is placed in a prominent position in their stores — generally
opposite the door — and the store is more frequently known by
the name of " fetish" than by that of store. Now unless these
fetishes receive sacrifices of fowls and goats, i.e. unless their
blood is poured periodically over them, the fetishes become
powerless and inoperative, and every native knows and believes
this, so although the fetish may restrain them for a time, yet
after a few months, or even weeks, they will know it has no
further power to work them any harm. '.On the other hand
the native procures a fetish calfed ehunge to help him to
successfully rob the trader, so after all they start level, one
fetish counteracting the other.

The convicted thief must return the stolen article, or its
equivalent, and as much again on top ; and in addition he has
to pay all the expenses of his trial. The receiver of stolen
goods pays one half the fine ; but if a man unwittingly buys a
stolen article at a fair market value, and has witnesses to the
transaction, he is held guiltless, and retains the article, or his
money is returned.

A thief caught robbing a grave is either killed at once, and
his (or her) blood poured over the grave as an oblation to the
offended spirits, or else he is taken to the market and killed
there. Sometimes the head is simply cut off on the market,
and the carcass thrown into the bush or down a chasm ; at
other times the culprit's body is buried to the chin and ex-
hibited thus at the market as an example to others, and
towards evening his head is sliced off. The thing stolen may
not be worth twopence ; but the family of the person buried
whose grave has been robbed is terrified lest the irritated
spirit owning the grave should angrily visit them with some
dire witchcraft.

To retain a runaway slave is considered a theft unless the
slave " eats the goat " (which custom see, p. 72), If the escaped
slave is held by folk of the same clan or a kindred clan to his

66 PROCEDURE IN COURT

owner, the chiefs will meet and order the slave to be returned ;
and if this is not immediately done, the holder of the runaway
slave is compelled to return him and pay another slave in
addition as a fine. If, however, the slave has run away to
another tribe the owner will inform the chiefs of the tribe con-
cerning his escaped slave, and if he is not returned in a
reasonable time reprisals are made on any of the goods and
persons of the defaulting tribe.

In a charge of theft the accuser speaks first and is followed
by his witnesses, then the accused and his witnesses. Having
heard the case the judges take the witnesses of both parties
aside and cross-examine them closely. If the accused objects
to the verdict the court is broken up, and each side selects its
own judge, and they, sitting together, try the case, and from
their verdict there is no appeal. Sometimes the defendant
will put two slaves in the circle and say : " If I am guilty take
those slaves." Now if the plaintift' cannot put two slaves by
their side he loses the case. I have seen a third and a fourth
slave put as a stake, but as the other side could put slave for
slave, the case went on. If the plaintifl' had failed to meet
slave with slave he would have lost. It was a sheer bit of
bluff' on the part of the defendant. If either the plaintiff' or
the defendant declines to take any oath proposed by his op-
ponent it is regarded as a proof of guilt, and the verdict is
given accordingly. Beyond being driven from the judgment
place there is no punishment for a perjured witness.

Should a judge receive a bribe, and fail to secure a verdict
for his client, he must return the bribe, and pay the fine
inflicted on the briber — the loser of the case. Such a judge
is called nempeviW ewnngii^ or the one who draws the whole
affair on himself.

If two men quarrel and cut each other they both pay a
fine to the nsi or country ; but if one only is wounded the
inflictor of the injury pays the fine. Should a man cut off
another's arm, or destroy an eye, the fine (n.s'iku) is given to the
chiefs who made, administered, and enforced the law against
this off'ence. None of it is given in compensation to the

]

FINES FOR SMALLER OFFENCES 67

injured man; and if a pig is paid as the whole or part of the
fine imposed, the wounded man receives a strip of meat from
the belly part of the pig, the head is given to the ofiender, and
the remainder is divided among the chiefs. Whenever a pig
or a goat is paid as a fine the head of the animal goes to the
person fined, and should he pay in francs, which is now
frequently done, then two francs are returned as the "pig's
head." In 1909 I judged a case of forgery and fined the man
ten francs, and when he paid the fine a few days later he
asked for the " pig's head." When a man falsely accuses
another he must pay compensation to the accused. Their
proverb runs : " If you put your neighbour's head in a plate,
and it does not fit him, then the plate fits your head," i.e. you
are guilty of what you accuse him, and must therefore pay up.

A stranger is entertained with house and food as long
as he likes to stay, and on his leaving no presents are expected.
I am afraid this is more theory than fact. If the visitor
breaks the law he is driven away from the village, and if
his clan is known to his entertainers they are asked to pay the
damages. But when native traders sojourn in a town they
are entertained, and on leaving they are expected to give
presents to those from whom they have received hospitality.

A slave, if he has a generous master, may free himself
by giving one slave in payment for himself to his owner ; but
as a rule two slaves — a male and a female — are demanded as
compensation. For every third, sixth, ninth, and so on,
journey a slave makes to the "coast"" for trading purposes
with his master, he receives pay, and these sums thus earned
are absolutely his own. He saves the money, trades with it,
and thus lays the foundation of that personal wealth by means
of which he is able to redeem himself. As a married slave he
receives extra pay for the above journeys.

The master has no rights over a slave's house, and no real
claims to sleep with his slave's wife, although she is also his
own slave; but some masters disregard this rule, and as a
consequence the slaves do not respect their masters' wives.
The descendants of slaves are slaves, but they are not sold

68 COLLECTING DEBTS

as freely as those recently acquired by the family. Failing
heirs the master inherits his slavey's property ; but if the slave
has a family they take the goods of their slave father, and if
they are wise they give their master a fair share.

The children of a slave father by a free mother are free
born, for mother-right is the recognised rule on the Lower
Congo ; but those by a free father and a slave mother are
regarded as being above slaves, but below free men : for they
have no family — their mother being a slave. When a female
descendant of the family''s slaves is given as a wife to a man
to replace a daughter who has died, a present is given with
her, lest she be regarded as a slave by her husband ; and this
present is called " a purifying of the blood " {7isul-ulu a menga),
and this removes the slave element in her, and she is hence-
forth treated as a free woman.

There were several ways of collecting debts, of which the
following indicate the worst evils of the old system, a system
which is still in vogue in remote districts:

A creditor, too weak to enforce payment, transferred his
credit to a stronger man, but not for more than the amount
due. The new creditor then sent early one morning to the
debtor's town, and as he stepped from his house he was caught,
tied, and carried away ; and if he could not pay the debt and
an exorbitant sum as interest he \vas immediately sold into
slavery.

If B owed A a debt which the latter could not recover
after much dunning, A would wait his time and catch some
people belonging to B, and to one of them he would give
a fowl and a " hand " of plantain, and send him to B with news
of the capture. If B did not then pay his debt and interest A
had the right to refund himself by selling his captives as
slaves. If A did not send a fowl and a " hand " of plantain to
the debtor, he put himself in the wrong for not giving due
notice of his action, and thus hiid himself open to prosecution
and a heavy fine. If A found that he hud tied up the wrong
people he presented his captives with a pig as compensation
and set them free.

NATIVE PALAVER 69

Another, but a roundabout method of procuring the
settlement of a debt is as follows : A, the creditor, is a weak
man, and the debtor B is a strong man, who would retaliate on
A if the latter captured his people ; but at the same time A
wants his money and interest. A therefore ties up some
people belonging to C, a very powerful man, and then sends C
a fowl and a " hand " of plantain with a full explanation of
the affair. Thereupon C goes to B and compels him to pay
the debt with full interest, and what amount C likes on top to
compensate himself and his people for their trouble and
inconvenience. C would make no palaver with A, knowing he
was well within his rights according to native custom. It
would have been much cheaper for B to have settled with A
rather than with C.

A few years ago a chief, Mampuya of Kinkuzu, called on
me at Wathen station to request that a teacher be sent to
his town. He seemed a very quiet, gentlemanly sort of man,
and I was very much surprised to hear that he had not always
been so deferential and modest, as the following incident in
his life will show : Mampuya at one time treated the people
of his town in a very contemptuous fashion, and was always
extorting, on one plea or another, fowls, goats, and barter
goods from them. At last they could bear his extortions no
longer, so one day they bound him securely, and putting him
on a shelf in his own house, they made a fire under him and
sprinkled a quantity of red pepper on it, and went out,
shutting the door closely behind them. The pungent smoke
filled the hut, and Mampuya sneezed tremendously, and would
have died if sufficient pepper had been thrown on the fire.
After a time they took him out of the smoke, and tied a stick
across his chest to his extended arms with the intention of
punishing still further; but he paid a fine and made many
promises of better behaviour, which promises he has thought
well to fulfil, for the sneezing cure is far from pleasant.^ The
above treatment is also meted out to incorrigible pilferers and
petty thieves.

^ From Congo Life and Folklore, by the author. Religious Tract Society.

70 BANKING AND CLUBBING

Most chiefs inherit their positions from their brothers or
uncles, but in one town I know, Kakongo, they elected a new
chief every year. Jealousy was the cause of this departure
from ordinary custom. If a chief is tyrannical the people are
not allowed to escape to another town. They may " teach "
a chief to rule wisely and treat his people properly by the
above-mentioned pepper cure, but they may not desert him.

They have a system of banking, or mutual help, called
temo. Forty men, say, arrange to pay every certain market
day an agreed sum, and the total on each market day is handed
to one of their number to trade or do with as he pleases.
Sometimes a number of young men will form such a club to
find the marriage money for each in his turn. A failure to
meet one"'s liability when due has often involved the defaulting
party in slavery, and was in the old days a fruitful source of
slave supply. I have known ten lads (and workmen also) club
thus together to give each Saturday their ration money to one
of their number. The result was that for one week in the ten
they lived like princes, and for the other nine weeks they
either starved or begged. Against this custom of clubbing
their rations we set our faces most strongly, but at times it
was too well concealed for us to discover it.

The following cases will clearly illustrate some points in
native law : a pig belonging to the people of Lumweno, a
town near Wathen, was killed by a Mansangi man on a
farm belonging to the Mansangi people. The Lumweno
folk demanded payment for the pig, but this was refused on
the ground that any pigs found digging up cassava roots on
a farm can be killed. After a time the Mansangi women went
to work again on that particular farm, but their hoes were
taken away by the Lumweno women, who were more numerous,
and they claimed the land on the ground that a Lumweno
pig had been killed on it and no compensation paid. The
same evening the Mansangi chief sent a letter to the Lumweno
chief. The messenger carried a gun, which was against native
custom, and so the Lumweno people took the gun away from
him, on the plea that " the messenger was bringing force into

Congo Nobles

Thelad standing is a son of the late King, Dom Pedro V. The one with the
sword is Dom Alvaro, a counsellor ; and the other is the Kapitfiu who installed
the nobles, see page 44. This photo was taken at St. Paul de Loando in the early
eighties, when they were on an embassy to the Governor.

An Ancient Font

Dr. Mercier Gamble

This was recently found near the ruins of the old cathedral, and probably dates
back to the sixteenth century.

NATIVES PALAVER 71

their town." The chiefs of the district settled the palaver by
fining the Lumweno people one pig (worth 32s.) because they
claimed land which did not belong to them, as the killing of
a pig gave them no rights over the land on which it was
killed ; they also fined the Mansangi people one goat (worth
8s.) because the messenger had no right to carry a gun when
he went to deliver a letter. This took place in 1909.

" In June 1908 Mayaji, a chief in the neighbourhood of
Wathen, accused Makuka, a small chief, of committing
adultery with one of his wives, and giving him a venereal
disease by giving her 'medicine' to put on her husband.
Mayaji waited until Makuka visited his town, and without
any proper trial he caught him, and, shutting him in a house,
he threatened to burn him in it. Some of Makuka's people,
hearing of this, went to Mayaji's town unarmed (to have taken
arms would have put them in the wrong), to see if they could
release their chief. Mayaji made an attack on them with
sticks and knives, and severely wounded five of them.

" The whole country side deprecates Mayaji's action, but
before Makuka can fight Mayaji he must call the neighbouring
chiefs together and lay his case before them, and if they
consent to his fighting the other chief, he will give them some
pigs to ensure their friendship and neutrality. They will see
that no other chief goes to help Mayaji, or in that case they
will take Makuka's side. By his pig's meat Makuka enters
into an alliance with the consenting chiefs, and thus gains an
open field and non-interference while he is fighting his enemy.
It may take Makuka many months to collect the necessary
pigs and lay in a stock of gunpowder ; and when all is ready
war will be declared." These notes were written at the time,
but the fight never came off, as the affair was settled by a
" palaver,"

To keep a runaway wife is also regarded as a theft. If a
wife runs to her family, they may keep her for a week or two
while her husband's anger is cooling down ; but they must
then return her with a goat, or three fowls, and some native
bread (Jcwanga), as a peace offering to the husband, even

72 RUNAWAY WIFE

though his ill-treatment may have caused her to leave him. If
the woman absolutely refuses to return then the marriage
money with large interest — from 300 to 500 per cent. — is re-
funded to the man ; but if the husband is notoriously cruel,
public opinion will force him to accept the marriage money
without any interest whatever.

The following incident came under my notice while living
in San Salvador: I treated a woman for a severe cut on the
shoulder, and on inquiry I found that she was the wife of a
neighbouring chief, who, when asked by his wife for permission
to visit another town, knocked her down and cut her with a
knife. A man may beat his wife as much as he likes, but if he
draws even a little blood he is liable to a heavy fine. This
woman came to the King for protection, and when she had been
in the town two or three days, the King sent to the husband,
demanding a heavy amount in beads, which the husband paid ;
but when the King sought to return the woman she was not to
be found, for she had escaped to another chief. As his majesty
had taken up the matter, had received the fine, and the woman
was in his charge, he had either to procure the return of the
woman from the chief to whom she had fled, or compensate
the husband with another woman in her place. The King,
after some considerable trouble, and the payment of a part of
his profits, was able to send the woman back to her husband.
This law, however, makes a man guard and control his passions,
and also deters folk from interfering in the quarrels of others.
She was a free woman ; but if she had been a slave a few cuts
more or less would not have troubled anyone.

In connection with slaves there is a custom that somewhat
ameliorates their condition by ensuring for them decent treat-
ment and proper consideration. A slave badly treated by his
master may run off to another, who will, he thinks, use him
more kindly. On arrival before the selected chief he kneels
before him and pays homage, saying, '' I have come to you
because my master does many bad things to me. Will you
accept of me .'' " If the chief listens to him and decides to
accept of him, he kills a goat, and they eat a portion of it

THE "GOAT" SLAVE 73

together. This is a token that the chief has agreed to
accept him. Guns are fired and the people shout "Nkombo !
Nkombo ! " (Goat! Goat!), and all the town is jubilant
because of the event.

On the next market day the chief takes him and shows him
on the market as one who has eaten his goat, and is no longer
a slave. The old master must accept the ordinary market
value of his former slave : and he is not allowed to take him
again, or buy him for any amount of money. The whilom
slave takes his name from the ceremony of eating the goat, and
is- henceforth called Nkombo (Goat). He is not the slave
of the man who gave him the goat, but is practically a free
man. These " Goats " are very highly appreciated by chiefs,
as they generally become very faithful followers of those with
whom they have eaten the goat. Some chiefs buy costly charms
for the purpose of attracting these " Goats " to them.

CHAPTER VII
LANGUAGE, IDIOMS, AND PROVERBS

ON arriving at San Salvador in February 1882 we had
placed in our hands a list of words that had so far
been collected. The Mission was very young, scarcely
more than two years old ; and much time had been spent in
trying to open a road to Stanley Pool, strength had been ex-
pended in establishing means of regular communication with
a suitable base on the river, and with developing the trans-
port. Besides, there had been frequent fevers, and death had
not been idle, therefore it was not surprising that the number
of words collected was very small, and many were incorrect ;
that there were no grammar notes, and in fact very little to
help a new arrival in learning the native language.'

We found, however, some headmen who knew Portuguese,
and as a Portuguese Grammar and Dictionary were in those
days a part of our outfit, and we had been employing the
tedious seven weeks of our voyage in studying that language,
we set to work to familiarise ourself more thoroughly with it,
that we might use it as a medium for delivering the message
we had gone so far to preach. If any of my readers have ever
employed interpreters under the same conditions, i.e. both the

* Tlie late Dr. Bentley was the linguist of the pioneer party, and to
him all new words and their definitions, all grammar notes, &c., were
given by his colleagues ; and at this time he had in his possession a good
vocabulary of words, and many grammar notes, all in manuscript, which
he afterwanls embodied in his monumental work, Dictionarif mid Grammar
of the Koityo jMiiytittgc, 'I'riibner «fc Co., 1887. Dr. Bentley remained, until
the time of his lamented death in \U05, the philologist and translator /wr
excellence in the Lower Congo language ; but at the time of which the
author writes, Dr. Bentley was living several days' journey from San
Salvador, and had all his MSS. with him. What he did for the Lower
Congo language others have done for the various languages on the Upper
Congo.

INTERPRETERS 75

speaker and the interpreter using a language not their own,
they will appreciate our difficulty; and when it is remembered
that the interpreters were ignorant of the new ideas to be
imparted, and were utterly indifferent to them, it will be
obvious that our difficulties were greatly increased. No matter
how warmly the words might well up from our own hearts,
they lost their warmth, grip and force as they issued from the
lips of our unsympathetic interpreters.

By-and-by as we became better acquainted with the lan-
guage, we discovered that our interpreters, who were native
traders, often gave the congregation an account of their
journeys to and from the " coast," their views respecting the
manner in which the various white traders treated their native
customers, and a comparison of the prices of trade goods at
the different trading establishments. We remonstrated with
them, and they readily admitted their delinquencies and glibly
promised amendment; but the climax was reached when one
Sunday morning the interpreter solemnly gave the audience
an account of a wonderful snake that was " nearly long enough
to go all round the town." It was a marvellous story ! and we
could see from the eyes and faces of the congregation that the
details were most thrilling. We never used those Portuguese
interpreters again; but bent our minds more assiduously than
ever to gain a proper knowledge of the people's tongue.

The Kisi-Kongo language, with more or less dialectical
differences, is spoken over a very wide area, stretching from
Loango in the north to Angola to the south, and from the
sea coast to within twenty miles of Stanley Fool — probably
co-extensive with the ancient Kingdom of Kongo. More than
fourteen thousand root words have already been collected, and
these with their derivatives give a working vocabulary con-
taining between sixty and seventy thousand words, all ex-
pressing some definite shade of meaning. That a people
should employ such a large number of words is no small proof
of their mental calibre, for it must be borne in mind that
these words were in icse, or they would have been forgotten,
as there has been no literature, until recently, in which to
preserve them and keep alive their meanings.

76 AN ALLITERATIVE LANGUAGE

So much has been written and published on Bantu languages
that the student who desires to probe deeply into the subject
has now at his disposal such a number of books as would
form, if collected, no mean library; we propose, therefore,
only to give in a few paragraphs some of the salient points
that will be of interest to the general reader.

The late Dr; Bentley, in his introduction to his Dictionary
and Grainmar of the Kongo Language, gives a graphic descrip-
tion of its reduction to writing, the discovery of the rules,
all unconsciously employed, by which the natives speak their
splendid language, and the difficulties he encountered. Kisi-
Kongo, like all Bantu dialects, is alliterative in the construc-
tion of its sentences, i.e. that the prefix of the nominative
noun of the sentence becomes the prefix of all the words
dependent on it, e.g. :

A;iampwena A'iambote

large good

ezono Aisolokele

yesterday it has turned up.
= My large, good, black coat which was lost yesterday
has turned up.

The singular prefix Ki of the first word, which is the
nominative noun, becomes the initial prefix of the words
in subjection to it. If it had been plural, it would have
been yinkutu yame yampwena, &c. = coats my large, &c.
Though difficult at first to master, and the cause of many
ludicrous and annoying slips, yet it makes for clearness of
meaning.

There are fifteen classes of alliterative concord, and all
the nouns in the language belong to one or other of these
classes; and immediately the class to which a noun belongs
is known, its pronominal prefixes, its possessive and demon-
strative pronouns, &c., are easily constructed by the fixed
rules of usage, jind the plural form is also readily recognised.
There are twenty-nine ways of saying good, bad, black, great,
and every other adjective in the language, i.e. every adjective
has a different singular or plural form according to the par-

Arinkutu

Ariame

coat

iandombe

black

my
Ariavididi
it lost

MANY ADJECTIVES 77

ticular class to which the noun that it qualifies belongs, e.g.
dinkondo (plantain) is a noun of the eighth class, and "good"
in that class is diamhote (plur. mambote), but lubu (mosquito)
belongs to the eleventh class, and " good " in that class is
luambote (plur, twambote) ; and thus through all the classifica-
tions into which the nouns may be divided. The fifteenth
class is the diminutive and has no plural, hence there are
twenty-nine forms instead of thirty.

The verb is very complicated, and to set it out with any
clearness would demand more space than we can afford in
a work that is not a grammar. Suffice H to say, that it is
rich, flexible, and expressive; and that the finest shades of
thought can be clearly indicated, and no practical difficulty
has been experienced in translating the New Testament and
other books, as the Pilgrini's Progress, into the language. It
has an active {baJca^to catch), a passive {bakwa=to be
caught), a middle voice (baJcama— to get caught). It has a
prepositional form (baJdla= to catch for, or with), a causative
(bakisa=to cause to catch), a reciprocal {bakana=to catch
one another), a repetitive {bakulula=to catch again and
again), a reversive {bakula — to uncatch = to let loose), a
reflexive {kubaka = to catch oneself); and sometimes three
or four of these forms are found in combination with a single
verb, e.g. kangiijicmisina— to cause to untie one another for,
or with.

The idiomatic use of many of its words and phrases make
not only for picturesqueness of speech, but also afford an
interesting glimpse of the native way of looking at things ;
and the foreigner must master these idioms before he can hope
to be clearly and easily understood by the people. The
following are a few of their picture-words : the italics are
literal translations of native words and sentences. If a person
asks a question it is no use to say in Congo that you will
think over it and give a reply in a day or two, for such words
would not be understood ; but if you say that you zvill drink
water, and zoill vomit the water in one or two days you will be
immediately understood. To consider a matter is to drink
water, and to give an answer is to vomit the water you are

78 IDIOMS

supposed to have drunk. The verb to see takes the place of
our verb to feel, hence they see hunger, see shame, see tiredness,
see cold, &c.

When speaking about the emotions and feelings various
figures of speech are employed that are both forcible and
expressive : the heart stands up when one is afraid ; to be
contented is to have the heart levelled down, and to soothe or
comfort a person is to knocJx down his heart, i.e. to level it down
to where it should be. A person expresses his disappointment
by saying that his heart is bent hacKicards ; to be determined
about anything is to have the heart tied to the object; our
colloquial phrase " to be in a stew" has its counterpart in the
words that the heart has been put on the fire ; the heart stutters
is the equivalent for vacillation ; to be perfectly frank, hiding
nothing, is to cut open the heart; and to be sorry for one's
evil doings is to turn the heart round.

There are also many interesting expressions used about
anger, and a few examples will illustrate their aptness. To be
sulky or sullen is to have anger insiifficiently cooked; one with
a hasty temper is said to pull out his aiiger ; and of a person
who habitually loses his temper it is said, that he is a native of
the town of Lose-your -temper. An eel {nsomvi) is supj)osed to
possess a very small stomach which is quickly and easily filled,
hence a person quick to anger is said to have the stomach of an eel.

To have a pleasant outward appearance is spoken of as
flattery of the eyes ; to be dumbfounded is to be tied up ; and
to be unable to refute an argument finds expression in the
phrase, Yoil have drunk the pahn-ivine ; to talk incessantly is to
cause words to come in croicds, and one who contradicts himself
talks in smears and blots ; a person who uses obscure language
is said to have his wuj-ds locked up, and evasion is to talk in
halves. To support or agree to a matter is to push on the
water bottle ; and to refuse utterly to give attention is to c.rpel
the request from the cars by shaking tluin violently and noisily
as a dog or goat does : the word for this kind of absolute
refusal is the same as that used to describe I he flaj), flap of the
ears when a dog, or goat shakes its head violently to drive
away the flies.

IDIOMS 79

The feeling of weakness or cramp in the legs after an
illness, is stated by the saying, My legs have been nibbled^ as
though a mouse had been at them ; a thoughtless action
which involves great loss is likened to the wickedness of a fly
that alights for a moment on a carcase, and thus causes it to
go rotten very soon — a small action leading to irreparable
consequences. To shame a person is to grind their self-respect
into small pieces so that it will not cover them ; and to
humiliate a person is to weed up their pride, and to weed up a
persoii's anger is to conciliate him.

A cross-eyed person is said to have his eyes ajar ; and the
rays of light streaming from behind a dark cloud aj-e the legs
of the sun. Did you ask permission to be where you are ? is a
wise way of stating, " I have as much right here as you " ; and
one who acquires a fashion, or conforms to a new condition of
things is said to have swallowed them, they have become so
much a part of himself. When an event takes place the
reason for which is hidden, the perplexed person says, 0?ie and
three, but there is somsthing in the middle, i.e. there is a word
missing, or the cause of these actions is obscure.

Sometimes we come across puns, or a play upon words. The
word for hunger (nzald) is the same as for finger-nails, and
They gave me a good knife to cut my nails is used as the
equivalent for, " They gave me nice food to cut {satisfy) my
hunger." Again, the word for horns {mpaka) stands also for
objection, and when two bullocks, brow to brow, are shifting
their horns about to get a grip and thus push one another
down, the identical phrase, To move the horns about, is used of
two men having an argument — moving their objections about
to floor each other in the discussion.

The wit and wisdom of a people are often found in their
proverbs — those crisp sayings expressed by one which crystallise
the experience of the many. One writer calls them "the
hob-nailed philosophy of the people ; " and another says that
" proverbs are the daughters of daily experience." An African
tribe does not lack experiences because it is savage, and it
speaks well for their intellectual acuteness that we find so
numerous a progeny of such " daughters " existing in the

80 PROVERBS

Lower Congo language. The probability is that many
"daughters"" have died at birth, for until missionaries went
there the people were without a written language in which to
preserve the offsprings of their fancy, or record the birth of a
witty or pointed aphorism.

A proverb loses much of its obviousness, and not a little
of its terseness and force, by translation into another language ;
and when the translation is made from an African language
into a European one the difficulty is somewhat increased.
The environment of the black man, his point of view, his
habit of thought, and his superstitions, touching as they
do every part of his life, all tend to make it anything but
easy to place a white man in such a position that he will at
once appreciate the full flavour of some of the African pro-
verbs. For this reason a large number of them will never be
translated into any European tongue, as they would demand
a long, close study of the black man's life, and a clear under-
standing of what is at the back of the black man's mind, to
appraise their wit and philosophy. Still there are some that
are translatable, as they do not demand any s|)ecial knowledge
on the part of an -English reader to catch their purport, or
understand their teaching, and the following is an attempt' to
put a few of them on record in an English dress.

A blustering, boastful, conceited man is wisely remii led
that the cocks that croxv have only come from eggs ; and when
a man of no importance, a man who thinks far more of himself
than other folk think of him, gets up in a palaver and gives
utterance to " tall talk " until he has bored nearly everybody,
a chief pointing at him will say, There is a little foicl trying to
lay a big egg. I have seen this proverb used with crushing
effect, and it was many a day before the man ventured to
speak again at a palaver. A shallow, foolish person who, al-
though he is beaten in an argument, continues to speak for
the sake of hearing himself talk, is told that he is like an onion
leaf, green and smooth outside but empty inside; and a man
who knows he is wrong but will not accept the arguments of
his opponents is said to be a sick man xcho refuses medicine
because he feels that death is drawing near. But whoti a man

PROVERBS 81

is defeated in a discussion, and has nothing more to say in
his own defence, he uses the expression. You have shot me
in the legs ; if it had been in the head I should run away,
i.e. you have caught me this time; and when a person has
no excuse to offer for a wrong done, he is said to be like a
monkey that blows out its cheeks because it has nothing to say.

Fussy, self-important folk, who desire more consideration
than their position demands, are to be found in Africa as in
other parts of the world. To such people the following plain
question is put : You are a crab ivith only ten legs andyou want
to travel in a hammock, but I am a millepede with a thousand
legs; in what shall I travel ? i.e. do not think so much of
yourself when there are greater folk present. When a dis-
agreeable, contentious person treats his friends badly, he is
asked : The partridge is your enemy, and the cock is your enemy ;
who will tell you of the approach of dawn? The people, having
neither watches nor clocks, are dependent on these and other
birds for heralding the coming dawn ; and the proverb means
that if you make everybody an enemy who will help you in
the hour of need.

The principle that men should be first and boys after, or
respect for elders, is inculcated by the phrase, The elders xvear
the chth first, then the boys get the rags. And the young folk
are txhorted not to laugh at a man who slips down, literally
or otherwise, by the saying, A full-grown man may fall, for his
beard is not made of props. A dissatisfied, restless boy is told
that A silly mouse may leave its hole in anger, but that does not
change it into a rat. When a lad is travelling with a caravan,
and has been on the road some days, he begins to feel tlje pinch
of hunger, through the scantiness of daily rations, and' boylike
he complains of his hunger ; but the elders of the party perti-
nently ask him. Can you carry your house with you and leave your
stomach at home f No, one must have his stomach wherever he
goes, therefore he must put up with the inconveniences of it.
If a boy is punished for stealing, and he is tempted again soon
after, he will reply to his tempter, A big toad can blow four
trumpets, bid the first one I blew made my eyes bulge out, i.e. a
big rogue may be reckless, but a small one must think of the

82 PROVERBS

consequences — you remember what a punishment I suffered for
stealing, I don't want any more.

" When the cat is away the mice will play,"" is expressed
thus : When the leopard has left they eat his cubs, or, In the town
that has no cat the mice play icith the dogs'' bells. " He cut off
his nose to spite his face " is put in this form : He burnt his
house in anger, and now he has nowhere to sleep. And our
proverb of "There is many a slip between the cup and lip*"
has its fellow on the Congo in the saying that The pot that
would have cooked the antelope is broken. The lesson of im-
partiality is enforced thus : Iftzcins are born to you doitt despise
the other of the two ; and the impossibility of doing two things
at once is shown in that A dog 1ms four legs yet it cannot walk
in two roads, therefore you cannot expect me with only two
legs to do what a dog with four never attempts. A load of
salt on another man''s head is easily carried, expounds a truth
readily acknowledged by all, that we bear lightly the burdens
carried by others; and the evils of procrastination are well
exemplified by the sayings, You waited until the sun rose before
you pidled your blanket over you, and. You set the trap after
the rat had passed, i.e. you have postponed until it is too late
what you should have done earlier.

Gossiping is not encouraged, for it works as much harm
there as here, consequently a person is told. If you receive a
message deliver it, but if you are only told an fiffair leave it where
you heard it. He is a talker who turns the king-post round is
said of one whose word is not to be trusted, and such a one is
also described as possessing two mouths. When a man is re-
minded of a wrong he has committed, and goes off in wrath, some
one will call after him, The bald-headed man leaves in anger
{when told of his baldness), hit zvill he grozc any hair where he
goes ? i.e. will a man's customs be changed because he leaves his
friends in anger when told of some foolish or evil thing he has
done .''

A woman likes the meat, let her have the bojws, i.e. a person
who breaks the law should also bear the penalty — the one
should go with the other. When a palm-nut is eaten it leaves
a reddish-yellow smear of oil round the mouth, hence when a

PROVERBS 83

person suffers for the wrong doings of another, the proverb
runs : The fish-eagle eats the palm-nuts hut the lizard has the red-
dish mouth; this refers to the Kolombo lizard, which has a reddish
tinge round the mouth. He who cleared the long grass from
the road opens the xoay far next comers^ i.e. the one who first
commits a wrong opens the way for those who come afterwards,
and his action is the more worthy of condemnation. That
judges should be merciful in dealing out justice is taught in
the proverb, If a leopard gives birth to a palm-rat she does not
eat it, i.e. you should have punished me for breaking your laws,
but you should not have destroyed me, for I am born into your
clan. When a person is convicted because he belongs to a clan
other than that of which the judge happens to be a member,
the folk standing round will say. In a court of fowls the cock-
roach never zvins his case, i.e. the verdict of one race or one
clan concerning another is not altogether free from bias, and
should be received with caution — the fowls always eat the cock-
roaches when they see them.

Foolishness in all its various aspects has its own set of
proverbs to ridicule and condemn it. An utterly stupid person
is likened to a blind man who puts rotten nuts in a bag full of
holes and then takes a dead road, i.e. a blind alley. What combi-
nation of ideas thrown together can more fittingly describe a
gross bungler ? About a man who is smitten with the appear-
ance of a woman and pays the marriage money for her without
knowing anything of her temper, or her ability as a cook or
farm worker, the proverb is used. The mouth bought the pepper,
but was surp'ised at the burning pain — the burning sensation
that comes from eating peppers that are pretty to look at but
are as hot as fire to the taste. When a man either through
carelessness, deceit, or stupidity pretends, or does not know
what he really should know, he is told, The hair belongs to your
head, yet you don't know when it was cut off. Our saying that a
fool learns by experience is thus stated : The fool who wishes to be
thought ivise sets fire to the village grass, and so burns down the
village ; and the phrase that the head drives, the legs go, indicates
utter thoughtlessness.

Should a person be disheartened in an undertaking and

84 PROVERBS

wish to abandon it because of some small difficulty he has
encountered, he is asked, If yoii are building a hoiLse and a nail
breaks^ do yoti stop building or change the nail? That there is
no royal road to learning is fully recognised even in Africa, as
shown by the following proverb : Wis-dom is not a medicine to be
swallowed. The native huts are thatched with a special kind of
grass, and everybody tries to procure it as long as possible, but
sometimes, for various reasons, only short grass is to be found,
and this lack of choice is used as a proverb equal in force to
our English one, " Beggars must not be choosers," and it is as
follows : If you reject the short grass you will be left in the rain.
When a prominent man in a village acts ungenei'ously towards
a little man, the latter says, It is on a small place that one
practises a new dance, i.e. It is well for you that you tried that
trick on me, for if you had treated an equal in the same way he
would have retaliated.

The Congo folk are not so slow of wit as to pass unnoticed
that universal trait of human nature that urges a man to humble
himself in order to attain a desired end, which we often express
in the phrase " He stoops to conquer," and they state it in the
proverb, To enter a calabash the frog makes itself very small, but
once inside it blows itself out so that you cannot expel it.
This proverb was often used of the now defunct Congo Free
State, which, in the early years of its existence, " went about the
country smiling, talking suavely, and giving presents on the
slightest excuse, and afterwards turned round and oppressed
the people" — it got into the calabash and the people could not
drive it out. The idea of substituting " a sprat for a mackerel "
is embodied in the say ng. When we have drunk palm- wine you
are too smart in putting the bitter nut for the kola nut. The
kola nut is rare, dear, and greatly prized as a pick-me-up after
a bout of drinking, and there are other nuts just as bitter as
the kola nut, but, lacking its medicinal properties, they are
valueless as pick-me-ups; and anyone conferring a small
benefit in hope of gaining a great advantage, or anyone trading,
&c., who tries to give an inferior article in place of a better is
said to be giving a bitter nut (ngadiudia) as a substitute for
the kola nut {makazti).

PROVERBS 85

On the Lower Congo the leopard is the king of beasts, and
is always spoken of with respect as lord, chief, &c., and the
saying that lVJie7i the leopard becoines poor he eats mud depicts
a strong, important man reduced in circumstances, or weakened
by disease, so that the "small fry" of the town trifle with him
and treat him with contempt. A man may be masterful and
much feared outside his own house and family, or as a chief
outside his own town, but among his kith and kin he may not
be much esteemed, hence the proverb, The leopards cub does
not respect his father s marks. An oily face is a sign of beauty,
and the native words for father's sister literally mean female-
father, hence the force of the following proverb : The toad has
an oily face in the presence of his father s sister, i.e. a person
is always beautiful to his nearest relatives, and they are ever
ready to excuse his faults and irregularities.

Things are not always what they seem, and appearances
are somewhat misleading. The man who walks through the
village in an old cloth, with skin unoiled, and body rough
for lack of the camwood cosmetic, may possibly be a man of
importance in the place from whence he comes, for TJie garden
egg possesses no clan, split it open and behold it is full of seeds,
and consequently has a large family. A state officer may be
insignificant to look at, and have only a few soldiers with him,
but if you touch him you discover that he has the whole of
the Government's power behind him.

The above proverbs and sayings are typical of many that
are still untranslated which touch on every phase of human
life, thought, and experience. Of course in village life these
proverbs are applied in scores of different \yays only slightly
indicated in the above explanations, for every proverb lends
itself to a variety of applications. We trust that in the un-
folding of these proverbs the readers will recognise that these
uncultured, backward people of the Congo possess some keen-
ness of intellect, a power of observation, and a felicity of ex-
pression that augur well for their future progress in civilisation.

CHAPTER VIII

NATIVE FOODS, DRINKS, AND MANUFACTURES

" TTT" /"H AT do the Congo people eat ? " is a question that
W/ has often been put to me while travelling about
England ; and it would be easy to answer that
cassava prepared in one of several different ways is the staple
food for all the Lower Congo peoples, and of a large propor-
tion of those who live on the Upper Congo ; that palm
kernels, peanuts, plantains, bananas, sweet potatoes, yams,
and maize are eaten as snacks through the day to allay their
hunger until the evening meal is ready, which is the meal of
the day ; that palm oil, pumpkin seeds, crushed red peppers
with peanuts, and various leaves pounded, cooked, and mixed
with palm oil serve as condiments or sauces to render their
sour bread {kxva7iga\ or cassava flour pudding more palatable
and tasty. But I fear in answering thus the inquirer would
gain very little information.

" What is cassava, and how is it prepared ? "" would be the
next questions. The cassava plant is a native of South
America, and has now penetrated to most tropical countries.
It is very rich in nutritive properties, and tapioca and starch
are two of its products so well known in all civilised lands.
By the Brazilians it is known as mandioca^ and it was pro-
bably introduced into Congo by the Portugese during the
sixteenth century where it is known as madioka. INIanioc and
cassava are its alternate names in English, but the latter
is the West Indian name for the tapioca maile from the
manioc roots. There arc two kinds of manioc — the sweet or
non-poisonous, and the bitter, which contains much hydro-
cyanic or prussic acid in its milky juice. This poison, how-
ever, is dissipated by heat in preparing the root for food.

PREPARING MANIOC FLOUR 87

The bitter kind is the more popular because it yields the
better results in cultivation. While the sweet sort is simply
peeled and steamed and is then a good substitute for potatoes,
the tubers of the bitter kind are soaked for a few days in
pools, streams, or water-holes until they are soft. These
water-holes smell so abominably from the constant soaking
of the roots in them that white men lose all desire to sample
the " bread " and puddings made from the roots that have
been taken from them.

After due soaking the roots are taken from the water-
holes, peeled, cored, and kneaded well to the consistency of
a smooth dough. Lumps of this dough about the size of a
melon are enswathed in large leaves and thoroughly steamed
until well cooked. Sometimes the dough is done into sausages
of various sizes according to the custom of the locality, or
into " ropes " from six to fifty feet in length, and about one
and a half inches in diameter. These are also wound round
with leaves and well steamed in large pots. Native bread
{kzvanga) prepared in this way will remain good for many
days, and should the outside become mildewed, it can be
trimmed and the inner part will be wholesome. These
"loaves" vary in price considerably, but an average market
rate is about 200 lbs. for 45., and 4 lbs. are more than sufficient
per diem for a full-grown man.

In the preparation of the manioc flour, the roots, after
being soaked, peeled, split, and cored, are spread on stones
or small platforms in the sun until properly dry. The pieces
are then laid on shelves over their house fires until friable,
and thus they are easily pounded in a mortar, sifted through
a fine native sieve, and the result is a clean, white flour.
When the housewife desires a soft pudding, she puts a pot
of water on the fire, and when it boils she gradually sprinkles
the flour into the water, meanwhile stirring the mass slowly
with a stick, and a lukic pudding is the result. The eater
breaks off a piece of this pudding, rolls it in his fingers, dips
it into a soup or gravy, raises it, and lets it slip down his
throat without any masticating, for if he attempts to bite

88 MODES OF COOKING

it, the pudding will stick to his teeth like soft toffee. The
kwanga loaves are made for journeys; but the lukii puddings
are eaten fresh at their evening meals, and it is surprising
the enormous quantities they can put away. The distended
stomachs of native children are due to the coarseness and
indigestibility of these puddings.

If the housewife has neither fish nor meat with which to
make gravy to ease down the pudding, she will pluck some
manioc leaves, and finely mince them on a corrugated board,
or toothed stick, and cook them with palm oil, and thus make
a palatable dish in which to dip the pudding. Sometimes
a dish of beans or pumpkin seeds is boiled until well mashed ;
and these dishes are much appreciated, as they add considerable
relish to their insipid pudding or sour bread.

When a fairly well-to-do man is travelling he takes with
him as a relish to eat with his kzcanga bread, either white-
bait sun-dried and pressed into cakes, or a relish made by
crushing strong red peppers and peanuts together. A little
of this goes a long way, and if it is not very filling, it tickles
the palate, and gives a sense of warmth and comfort to the
internal machinery. White ants also are caught in large
numbers, and make a sauce which is greatly in favour with
many.

Their various modes of cooking are, stewing, steaming,
boiling, grilling in the ashes (binding the meat or fish in
leaves and dropping the bundle among the red-hot embers
of the fire — the food is thoroughly cooked long before the
leaves are burnt through, and foods treated in this way retain
their full flavours ; it is really paper-bag cookery with leaves
for paper); and lastly roasting by putting a spit through
the article, and turning it over and over above a good fire.
For the steaming process a large saucepan is placed on the
fire and half filled with water, a strainer is fixed in the
saucepan and the food arranged on it, some sections of plantain
leaves are laid over the food, and a pot of the same size as
the first is put over leaves and food, and pressed down until
the rims of the two saucepans meet.

PRINCIPAL MEAL 89

The people as a rale have only one meal a day, and that
is not taken until just after sunset — between 6.30 and 7 p.m.;
but from the quantity of food that disappears on that occasion
they make up apparently for lost time. During the day
they stave off hunger with a roasted plantain and a few
peanuts, or with a banana or two, or a piece of sugar-cane,
or a lump of native bread, &c. Sweet potatoes are regarded
as very inferior food, in fact only fit for women. No one
thinks that he (or she) has had a meal unless he sits down to
a large luku pudding, and something to help it down. Carriers
go for days on snacks, looking to their return to their own
town, after the journey is over, for a proper meal. In the
early eighties the males of the family ate by themselves, and
the females by themselves, and out of sight of the men.
The men thought it beneath their dignity to eat with the
women, so the women took what the men did not want and
ate it alone. This custom in some districts is fast disap-
pearing, and it is now no uncommon thing to see a man
sitting in his house at the same table with his wife and
children.

It is the woman's duty to provide all the vegetable food
for herself, her children (if she has any), and partly keep her
husband, should she be a member of a polygamisfs menage ;
and her husband supplies the meat or fish. If there is neither
to eat at the late dinner, the man cannot blame his wife ;
he has simply failed to give them to her, and he must,
therefore, content himself with the pudding and dish of oil
and leaves, or any other appetiser his wife may concoct by
her culinary art. The polygamist lives with each of his
wives in turn for two or more days according to arrangement
with them, and he then finds the meat or fish for the evening
meal cooked by the wife with whom he is living; and he
must be generous, as his wife for the time being expects her
share of the dainty.

Nothing comes amiss to the native in the way of eating.
Goats, sheep, pigs, and fowls are domesticated ; and he is a
poor man who cannot occasionally buy a little meat, or afford

90 VARIETY OF FLESH FOODS

to feast on one of his own fowls. Elephants, buffaloes, ante-
lopes, palm rats, field rats, and moles are shot or trapped in
farms and forests. Hippopotami, monitors, and crocodiles are
rare on the Lower Congo, but they are caught sometimes ; and
fish abound in the streams. Snakes, river tortoises, white ants,
locusts, grasshoppers, certain caterpillars, and palm-maggots
are eaten with relish, and are regarded among the dainties of
life. Hawks, kites, fish-eagles, pelicans, parrots, and monkeys
are not despised ; but after a brief visit to the pot find their
way to the mouths of the fortunate hunters. The menu is
varied, and includes almost everything, for what one person
under a taboo is prohibited from eating, another will eat with
gusto.

The natives are scrupulously careful in the division of food.
When eating together from the same saucepans, each one is
careful not to take more than his fair share, otherwise he will
soon be known as a greedy fellow, and folk will avoid eating
with him. If anything is to be divided among a certain
number of people, one of them is appointed to divide the
article — say a piece of meat — into equal parts according to the
number of persons to be benefited ; and all those who are to
have a share of the meat take theirs first, and the divider
takes the last share left, hence he is very careful that all the
shares are as near alike as possible. This is a common practice
among all the tribes with which I have mixed.

Savages are often regarded as gluttons, but when it is
remembered that they really have only one square meal a day ;
that when on journeys they live in the poorest and scantiest
fashion possible; that they go long periods without a good
feed of meat ; it is not a matter of surprise that the evening
meal is a large one, and that on some special occasions, such as
a wedding or a funeral, they eat freely and expansively of the
foods put before them. The natives think the white men are
great eaters, because they sit down to at least three meals a
day, whereas they only sit down to one.

There is not a great variety of native drinks from which to
select — there are only palm-wines {malavu\ and beer (mbamvu).

PALM WINES 91

Of the former there are various qualities and flavours
according to the age, &c., of the palms from which the
wine is collected. There is malavu mansamba, which is pro-
cured by cutting the base of the flower of the living palm
(Elceis Guinceensis) and inserting a reed so that the rising sap
percolates through the reed into a calabash fixed to the palm ;
then there is malavu mesoJca, which is got from the heart of
the palm and not from the flower base ; then malavu ynambulu,
which is taken from a fallen palm by cutting a hole in the
trunk, and the sap flows into this hole and is scooped out, but
the supply is very short in duration, as the sap quickly dries
up. When the wine is old and sour it is called dikaya ; and
when not more than twelve hours old it is malavu manswa or
fresh wine. And the last kind of wine is malavu matombe,
taken from the bamboo {RapJiia vinifera), of which in some
valleys there are large quantities growing. These wines, when
drunk fresh and unfermented, are exceedingly refreshing ; but
the natives prefer them fermented — and they generally are
fizzing with fermentation by three or four o'clock in the after-
noon, and then they are intoxicating. When the writer was
living in San Sal vador there was an oldish man who had several
gin-bottles, holding rather less than a pint, and these he kept
filled, and so arranged them that every evening he had one
that was about a week old, and that was enough to make him
thoroughly drunk and quarrelsome. He became such a
nuisance with his shouting and squabbling that the King
ordered him out of the town, and as the man was slow in
obeying, he sent some of his people to pull the man's house
down and conduct him out of the town, which they did.

Tapping the palms for wine is quite a trade by itself. It
requires a special knowledge of palms, and great agility in
climbing, which is accomplished by means of hoops that the
tapster passes round the trunk of the palm-tree and around
his own waist. The roughness of the trunk affords his naked
feet a grip on the tree, and as he ascends he throws himself
forward, raises the hoop a foot or two, falls back on the hoop,
and lifts his feet a step or so. The whole procedure needs

92 MANUFACTURES

care, or he will soon be slipping down the tree. I only know
of two accidents in the districts in which I have lived — one
man fell and was picked up dead ; and the other dislocated his
shouldei', but I was able to set it again in a few minutes.

The beer {mbamvti) is made from maize and manioc. The
maize is malted by placing it on the ground, sprinkling it
with water, and covering the heap with leaves until it sprouts.
When the grain has thrown out rootlets about an inch long,
it is dried by exposure to the strong sun for two or three days ;
in this way it becomes sweet and properly-malted grain. The
manioc is peeled and dried in the sun, and then the sun-dried
manioc and the malted maize are pounded together in a mortar
until thoroughly crushed. It is then mixed with a proper
proportion of water, and the mash thus made is boiled for
twelve hours, strained, and left to cool. It is sweet and not
intoxicating, and this drink is called mulu ; but after three or
four days it ferments, is intoxicating, sour, somewhat acid to
the taste, and becomes the beer (vibamvu) so largely sold on
the markets.

Mats {hmndu) of papyrus are made by peeling off strips
of papyri, drying them in the sun, and threading them
carefully on native-made twine; other mats {mateva) are
woven from strips of palm frondlets, or the bark of a special
kind of tree, and some of these mats have patterns of animals,
and of various figures and designs in black, worked in them
by dyeing some of the strips with a native dye. Water-
bottles and pots of dill'erent sizes and shapes are made by the
women, while the blacksmiths make hoes, axes, knives, &c.
Shoulder bags and caps are knitted with twine; and I have
seen them clean, spin, and wind cotton, and afterwards weave
cloth and hammocks. The ordinary cloth of former times all
over the country was a native woven cloth called vihadi. The
threads were gathered from the leaves of new palm fronds.
These leaves were stripped from the mid-rib and laid one by one
flat on a smooth surface; the bottom end was held firmly by
the finger and thumb of the left hand, with the right hand
a knife was put on the leaflet, as near the holding-place as

MANUFACTURES 93

possible, and then the leaflet was drawn steadily between the
edge of the knife and the board. The skin was thus taken
off the leaf, which was turned, and the operation repeated. In
this way the thready fibres (mpicsu) were left, and after being
dried they were sold on the markets to the weavers of mhadi.
On the introduction of pineapples a thread was manufactured
from their leaves, and this thread is called mafuha, and the
cloth woven with it mbadl za mafuha. The mhadi were woven
on frames in pieces from twelve to fourteen inches wide and
from fifteen to eighteen inches long, being limited only by the
shortness of the threads, as they had no means of joining them
together. Twenty-four of these small cloths sewn together
made one full-sized cloth {nhuta) for a man of importance,
less for an ordinary man, only one or two for a lad. The
texture is so fine that a full-sized cloth will go into the space
of a pint measure. These cloths are still made and worn in
various parts, for as late as 1909 I was able to buy six of them,
and could have had more; but European trade goods are
gradually ousting the native manufactures, and the time is
not far distant when they will be unprocurable.

The blacksmith holds an honourable position among the
natives ; his forge is regarded as somewhat of a sacred place,
his fire must be treated properly, and his anvil is the object
of respect. There is thought to be something of magic in
the skill with which the blacksmith works the iron, hence his
position in village life. In the long ago he made the spears,
the long knives, and arrow-heads for use in their warfare ; but
the introduction of the gun, with its mysterious gunpowder
and unseen bullets, has ousted the old fighting weapons, so
that for more than a generation or two they have neither
been made nor used throughout the Lower Congo. It is
unfortunate that the introduction into the country of trade
knives, hoes, guns, &c., has practically killed smithing as one
of the skilled arts of the people, and the native blacksmith
to-day is gradually passing away into what will soon be the
forgotten past.

CHAPTER] IX

THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE FAMILY
AND VILLAGE

IN San Salvador and the large towns in the neighbourhood,
especially in those belonging to chiefs of importance,
there is some pretence to regular streets or lanes running
between the compounds (himbu, plur. tumhu) of the head-
men residing in them ; but in the smaller towns and villages,
where no fences are erected around the chiefs'" houses, and
consequently neither around the sets of houses belonging
to their headmen, there is no attempt at regularity of build-
ing, but the houses are put here or there to suit the whim
and convenience of their owners. The slaves and wives of the
owner of a compound keep not only the ground inside the
fences weeded and swept, but also the lanes running round it ;
and those whose houses are not enclosed in grass walls, but
are abutting the roads, keep the spaces in front of their
houses free from grass and rubbish, generally sweeping them
every morning, so that the towns and villages usually possess
a very neat appearance. There is no other law for this than
public opinion, and the man whose part {belo) of the town
(evata) is untidy and neglected becomes the butt of his neigh-
bours'' jeers and gibes. The grass immediately at the back of
his house may be high enough to cast its shadow on the roof,
but the front and sides must be clean, weeded, and swept.

The houses are of various sizes, from six feet wide by ten
feet long, to an imitation of a white man's house in length,
breadth, height, and design. They are built mostly of grass
tied securely on poles and mid-ribs of palm-fronds; some are
made of wattle and daub, colour-washed ; many are of planks;
and some may be seen of kiln-burnt bricks. It is not always
the richest man who has the best house : but the most enter-

RESULTS OF MOTHER-RIGHT 95

prising and energetic young men are building more permanent
houses than their fathers, for much has been done in teaching
carpentry, brick-making, brick-laying, &c. The houses, whether
large or small, are very scantily furnished, and this is no great
loss, for the natives delight in the open air, and use their
houses mostly for storing their trade goods, for sheltering
from the rains, and for sleeping.

The law of mother-right is disastrous to the home and
family life : for in a man's household there are as many family
interests as there are wives, as each wife, and any children she
may ha^ve, is an important part of a family that has its centre
outside her husband's compound ; and the families thus repre-
sented may be on friendly terms, or feuds may arise between
them that turn the compound into an arena of snarling women,
quarrelling among themselves, and abusing each other with
tongues well trained in the art of vituperation. In these
rows the petty meannesses, and the delinquencies of each family
are well canvassed, the past history of the members of the
various families are detailed with scornful and contemptuous
comments, and woe betide the woman in whose family a recent
charge of witchcraft has been proved by the ordeal, or one for
whom a small amount of marriage money was paid — she will
wish that she had never been born, and she has been known to
commit suicide in the poignancy of her shame. The husband,
for his own amusement, will sometimes start the blaze by
making a disparaging remark about the family of an unloved
wife to his favourite for the time being, and she will quickly
repeat it, and the sparks catching the dry tinder, the fire will
spread rapidly to others, while the man sits by chuckling and
enjoying the personal abuse that his women-folk, without
selection of words or phrases, are hurling at each other. Such
is the household of a polygamist where mother-right is in
vogue; but where there is polygamy with father-right the
state of things is somewhat better ; still women are women all
the country over, and several women tied to one man do not
make for the harmonious working of family life. However,
where father-right exists the husband is the centre of the
family, the children belong to him, and the families of his

96 CLANS AND FAMILIES

wives are not so much in evidence because they have no claim
on the children, and therefore no reason to be considered in
the household of the man who passes his position and property
on to his own sons and daughters. I have lived for years, in
each case, in close proximity to towns where these different
customs — mother-right and father-right — were in full force, and
I know that the women in the households of the former were
more quarrelsome among themselves than those of the latter :
for the latter household, centring as it did in the husband,
there was more unity of family life, and greater community of
interest.

The difference between eJcarida (clan), and vumu (family,
literally stomach, womb), is that ekanda is the name for all
the families of a clan. The tree is the eJcayida, and the
branches are the vumu. The clan does not originate with the
man, but has its origin only in the woman ; and it is the same
with all the divisions of the clan into families — each division
or sub-division starts from a woman. The clans and families
intermix freely, but the members of a clan are responsible for,
and help each other. The names of some of the clans are as
follows : — KiLUEENE, KiVAXi, Ay'KANGA, KiyTUMBA, Nenlaza,
KiNLAZA. On account of blood relationship a Kinlaza man must
not marry a Kinlaza woman — it would be regarded as incest,
and if unknowingly it took place the marriage would be
destroyed; but as a guarantee for the proper treatment of
their women it is customary, as already stated, for the women
of one clan to marry the men of one other clan only.

Some generations ago a woman, apparently of importance,
gave birth to three daughters — Nkesge, Ntumba, and Lukexe.
Each of these daughters became the head of a clan ; and all
the grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of Nkesge are
called esi Kinkenge= those belonging to, or ottsprings of,
Nkesge; and thus with esi Kintumha, and esi Kilukene. After
several generations other names are added to the clan-name
in order to define the pedigree more clearly. Thus they say of
one clan that they are esi Kintumha-Mvcmba, showing that they
have come from Ntumba through Mvemba ; and in the same way
with esi Kinkenge-Nkumba and esi Kilukenc-Miala, the descend-

Photo by

In the stout cane hoop is a strong slip-knot, which is easily undone, and quickly and securely
re-fastened as the palm-tapster goes from tree to tree. When ascending a tree he throws himself
forward, raises the hoop, takes a step or two, and repeats the operation. He laps the tree for palm-
wine, and also cuts down the bunches of palm-nuts.

CLANS AND FAMILIES 97

ants of Nks^ge through Nkumba, and the descendants ofLuEENE
through Mi ALA. In some instances three names are joined
together, but it is most probable that after a time the first
name is dropped, and the two last, and even only the last,
retained and given as the name of a clan. Any subdivision of
the above clans is called vumu (family) ; and every woman with
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren is considered
to be the originator of a vumu, as all her descendants are
looked upon as coming from her womb. The children born of
family slaves are frequently called grandchildren {ntelcolo);
and when one of these " grandchildren " is given as a wife in
exchange for a female member of the family, a present is given
with her to "wash her blood" {nsukula menga), and thus
remove the slave element, that she may be treated as a proper
wife, and not as a slave. Her children will belong to
the family of her owners, but will be called ana ahwa Kin-
Tceiige^cYaXdren born of a freed woman of the Kinkenge clan,
and not esi Kinkenge =c\a.rx?,\nen.

The names of towns often indicate the origin and position
of their inhabitants, e.g. all branches of the Nsaku-Miala call
their towns Vunda ; but this must not be pushed too far, as
some of the meanings have now lost their significance, e.g.
Kinganga towns were those whose inhabitants were believers in
the priests (who called themselves nganga), and those who
lived in the towns named Kolo were slaves of the priests. The
meanings of both these names refer to the sixteenth century,
when the Roman Catholic priests were all-powerful, and not to
the present time, although the names continue to this day,
pointing to the present dwellers in those towns as the probable
descendants of the former believers, and slaves, of the priests.

Palm trees and nsqfu trees {canuarensis) belong to the
planter and to his heirs for ever, and they thus become
inheritable property like wives and wealth. The palms and
nsafu on an old town site belong to those who abandoned the
site ; but this right at times falls into abeyance, and anyone is
allowed to gather the fruit ; if, however, a famine should come
the real owners can forbid any person taking the fruit belonging
to those trees, and they will enforce their rights by invoking

98 REDEEMING A PAWN

a curse, by means of a fetish, on those who steal from their
trees. Brothers can disown and disinherit one another, and
this largely accounts for the divisions (belo) in a town, and
also for the number of small villages dotted about the country.
The severance is absolute, and no help is rendered by one to
the other in any quarrels, fights, and palavers that may arise.
An uncle can also disown his nephew and thus keep him from
inheriting his wealth and position.

Sometimes a man is very hard pressed for money, or
desires to raise some with which to start trading, hoping to be
successful enough to repay in the near future. Such a
borrower gives his creditor a nephew, or a brother, or a sister
to hold as a pledge (nximbi). He is not permitted to give his
own child, as he (or she) belongs to his mother's family, and
he has no control over him. When the borrower has collected
enough to redeem the pawn, he takes the money, a calabash of
palm wine, and a white fowl, or a white goat to his creditor.
The money is paid, the wine is drunk, and the white fowl, or
goat, is presented to the creditor. This white gift is called
" a being rubbed white " {nkiisxca mpeuiba), for the man
who holds the pledge rubs some chalk with his fingers by
the side of the right ear of the pawn, and his redemption is
completed, the chalk being a sign that he is clean, and there
is nothing against him. If however, the borrower cannot
collect sufficient money to redeem his pledge, he will take a
calabash of palm wine and a goat to the lender and ask for the
remainder of the price of the pawn he holds. Upon that
being paid the goat is killed ; one half is divided among the
witnesses to the transaction, and the other half is given to
the creditor, and the pawn is no longer a free person but a
slave belonging to the family of the purchaser. A pawn does
not receive any pay from the person who holds him in pledge ;
but he can work independently of his master, and can pay
from his earnings the amount for which he was pledged, jilus
fifty per cent.; and the master on receiving the total and
interest must give a ivhite goat to his former pledge " to rub
on the chalk," as a token that he is free.

Among the Upper Congo tribes it is j)ossible to gauge

TOTEMISM 99

approximately the proportion of slaves in a town by the
tribal mark seen on the faces of the men and women, boys and
girls — those having other marks than the tribal mark of the
district are slaves ; but on the Lower Congo, where no tribal
marks are used, it is more difficult to apportion the number
of slaves to the population. As stated elsewhere, it is possible
for a slave to redeem himself; but it is very rarely done, for a
slave has seldom the ambition or the desire to be free, or the
care and forethought to save his money for such a purpose.

A clan will combine against another clan to protect its
members against being raided and carried off as slaves ; and in
less important affairs the members of a family {vumii) will join
together to help one of their number in any trouble, such as
paying a debt or a fine. The goods of the whole family are
to a certain extent held in common — this is the theory, but
the person needing help must be a persona grata to the
family before those possessing the means will have the money
to give or lend.

With regard to totemism, after very careful inquiries I have
come to the conclusion that while at one time it may have
been in force in this region, the only indication of such preva-
lence still surviving is to be found in certain clan names of
which up to the present I have been able to procure the
following: esi kia jstu mia NzENZE=ihe people belonging to
the heads of the mole-cricket. These are proud of their
name because the mole-cricket (nzenze) always sticks up its
head even when being cooked : but these same people hunt,
cook, and eat the mole-cricket, esi Kimfulu^ the tortoise
people ; and they catch and eat tortoise in common with others.
ESI KiNANOA — the cowrie-shell people, who live in a town near
Kitovola not far from Tumba railway station. It is quite
possible that these names have nothing to do with a survival
of totemism, but are simply clan names, and may even be
sobriquets. There is nothing to hold the family and clan
together but the recognition of a common origin from some
female progenitor.

A town comprises many families, and these are not
necessarily of one clan, but may be representatives of several

100 CONGO CHIEFS

clans who for various reasons find it convenient to live in that
particular town. Palavers that are strictly family affairs are
settled by the families concerned ; and those that affect the
well-being or otherwise of the whole town are dealt with by
the heads of the families with the chief at the head of their
council. In times of war all the families join together, under
the chief, to repulse the common enemy ; and the chief on
these occasions serves out the gunpowder and arranges the
mode of fighting, either of attack or defence, and leads his
men in the fight. He alone can sue for peace, and either
accept or refuse the terras offered ; or, being victor, he can
receive the " white goat " of peace offering from the conquered,
and make blood brotherhood with the enemy.

The Congo chief, especially as I knew him in the old days,
was a quiet, dignified man, who knew his position, estimated
himself highly, and received with proper pride the homage due
to him from those who were of lower rank and birth. The
homage he demanded from others, he willingly paid to the
King, and to those nobles who were above him in rank. There
was here and there a young, impetuous, reckless chief who for
a time defied the conventions of his office, but he was soon
brought to book, and was ultimately glad to submit to those
rules that regulate the relationship between a chief and his
people. With Belgium ruling over one part of the Lower
Congo, and Portugal governing the other part, the position of
a chief has been modified ; some of the older families have been
supplanted, and others have been put in their places who are
more amenable to the new state of affairs, or have ingratiated
themselves with the white masters. I have known many chiefs,
and regard with respect and kindly feeling not a few.

The chiefs proper are the descendants of noble families;
and each one is head of the people living in his town. He
owns the ground upon which the town is built, the neighbour-
ing plateaus, the farm lands, the woods, and the streams.
During the time that the various families live in his town, they
may hunt in the bush and forest, and cultivate the farm lands
belonging to their chief, but on leaving the town to live else-
where they have no further rights and privileges in those lands.

POWERS OF A CHIEF 101

He allots to the women the ground necessary for their farms,
shows them new farm sites when the old are exhausted
(manuring has never been practised), and receives from each
woman, in times of good harvest, a small portion of the pea-
nut harvest of her farm. This tax is paid when there is a
superabundance, but is neither recognised nor demanded in
times of scarcity. A share of the palm wine gathered from
the palm trees on his land is regularly given to him for the
use of his household. He has a right to a portion of every
animal slain within the limits of his territory, whether killed
by his, own people or by the folk of a neighbouring town — its
death on his estate establishes for him a right to certain
recognised portions. He receives a full share of all tolls paid
for any bridges built by his people over neighbouring rivers,
and a proportion of the fees paid by travellers — white and
black — for being ferried in canoes by his people over rivers too
wide to be spanned by such bridges as the natives can build.
When a market is established on his ground he receives
nothing for it ; but if a roadside market is opened on a main
or caravan route that happens to run across his land, he
receives a small toll in recognition of his rights. He also
receives all fines inflicted for breaking any of the laws of his
town, and a share of those fines that are levied upon those who
break the laws of the district in which he lives.

The Congo chief is the magistrate for his town or village.
All quarrels between two or more of his people are submitted
to him for arbitration ; and he either " teaches " the disputants,
or inflicts a fine as the case demands. In complicated disputes
his principal men advise him ; and when the trouble is between
one of his own people and a person belonging to another town,
then the two chiefs with their headmen judge the case. In
quarrels involving whole villages, the overlord of the district
sits as chief judge, while minor chiefs act as a kind of jury, or
advisory council. Whilst undoubtedly there is a great deal of
bribery, and false swearing, yet there are unwritten rules for re-
gulating lawsuits. Moreover, the fines imposed are not arbitrary,
the result of passion, or the whim of the moment, for when a law
is promulgated the fine for breaking it is stated at the same time.

102 CHIEF'S SUCCESSOR

If the chief is a great one, an overlord, having wide
influence, he levies an ad valorem toll on all trading caravans
passing through his district, and for this he guarantees pro-
tection. He must be moderate in his demands, or the native
traders will make a wide detour to avoid his territory ; but
his demands on the white traveller are often anything but
moderate and reasonable.

On the chiefs death a brother, by the same mother, takes
his position as chief, and failing a brother, then his nephew.
Whilst the chieftainship goes to a brother, the property is
inherited by the nephew — the eldest son of the eldest sister —
and failing a nephew, then the brother or sister, by the same
mother, succeeds to the estate of the deceased. Should there
be none, the wealth is distributed equally among the members
of his family. Neither a child nor a wife inherits anything.
If the wife has lent the husband any money, as is often the
case, that is refunded to her ; or if she has put some money
into a trading scheme of her husband's, that capital is paid
back to her — she has in these loans a first claim on the estate.
The property of the maternal aunt goes to her husband at her
death ; and it is possible for the maternal uncle to will that his
property should be divided among his brothers and sisters, by
a declaration to this effect before witnesses ; but if he has a
pet nephew he wills all to him, and then on his decease the
nephew winds up the corpse in the dead uncle's personal estate
of cloth, buries the body, and places his uncle's crockery on his
grave ; then he takes over the real estate of his late uncle's
slaves and wealth, and assumes the position of chief. When
there is neither brother nor nephew to take the position of
chief, then a sister, by the same mother, or a niece can become
chief of the town with all its burdens and emoluments. I have
known more than one woman who was a chieftess in their own
rights ; but I have only met one acting as a chief, and I have
cause to remember her, for when I visited her town, tired and
hungry, she kept me waiting more than two hours while she
dressed in her finest cloth, beads, and paint to receive me in
pro{)er style, and show me a house in which to rest and sleep
during my sojourn in her town.

CHAPTER X

CONGO WOMEN AND THEIR WAYS

AT any time between six and eight o'clock in the morning
/-\ you can hear the rattle of brass anklets as the women
and girls pass your bungalow to their farms. Poised
on their heads are baskets, each containing, maybe, an empty
calabash, or' a hoe ; a few of the women have pipes in their
mouths, and here and there a mother is carrying her baby
tied on her back by an old cloth, or leading a toddling child
by the hand. For the most part the women are silent, and
the earlier the hour the less garrulous are they who compose
the procession of farm workers. Similar streamlets are flowing
from the town on all sides, for the farms lie in the valleys and
on the sloping hill-sides in all directions round the town.

Should you visit the farms during the morning or early
afternoon you will see the women busily engaged in weeding
the mounds of manioc, maize, and pumpkins, or hoeing and
planting the manioc stems, or splitting the pumpkins and
drying their seeds in the sun, or grubbing up the ground-nuts
and spreading them to dry, according to the season of the
year. Each woman works on her own farm ; but here and
there, where two or three women have united their forces and
are working together, you can hear that their tongues are
as busy as their fingers. Their amours, of the present and
the past, are more than hinted at, and to hear their boastful
talk you would judge them to be the objects of numerous
intrigues ; but their statements respecting such matters must
be taken cum grano sails : or it may be that the latest witch-
craft scandal is the subject, being canvassed with much
freedom of expression, and with many phrases of surprise and
invective; or some woman is cursing with bitter tongue the
thief who has robbed her farm, and she is neither choice in

104 FRIENDLY DISPOSITION

her language, nor reticent in her accusations ; and in a neigh-
bouring farm a shrill voice can be heard denying the in-
nuendoes, and replying to the insinuations in vehement terms
and loud curses. Most mothers work with their babies tied
on their backs, for there are too many rumours, true and false,
of children being carried off by wild animals or killed by
snakes, &c., to leave them under the shade of the tree, unless
it happens to be quite close to the plot of land being worked.

If you are walking out to the farms in the late afternoons,
pushing your way through the tall grass that encircles the
towns and villages, you will meet the women returning from
the farms with baskets of food upon their heads, bundles
of firewood in their arms, and calabashes of water tied on their
backs, or, if they have babies on their backs, the water is
balanced among the food in their baskets. They are laughing
and chatting, for their tongues have been loosened by much
exercise through the day ; and as they catch sight of your
well-known white face, they facetiously greet you with
" Have you slept well, uncle ? " or " father ? " or " grand-
father ? " according to their age, or what they suppose yours
to be. They are quite willing to crack a joke with you, and
if you know their proverbs, or the niceties of their language,
you will find them smart at repartee. They stand aside in
the grass to let you pass along the narrow path, and each will
give a greeting, or make an inquiry after your health, or
throw out a laughing comment on your clothes or personal
appearance as you go by ; but if you are a stranger their
tongues are tied, and your passage will be a silent one. They
will stand aside out of respect for your white fiice, and as
you pass they turn their faces away, and look at you furtively
out of the corners of their eyes. To the friendly white man
whom they know their greetings are kindly and pleasant ; but
to the unfriendly white man they have nothing to sav, and
their averted faces are a " cut-dead " about which there is no
mistake.

The return of the women seems to rouse the town to life.
The old, the young, and the sick, that have been drowsing in

LIFE OF THE VILLAGE 105

the shade through the hot hours of the afternoon, come out
of their cool hiding-places to greet the women, and scan with
hungry, inquisitive eyes the contents of the baskets that are
now on the ground ; and the men and boys, having returned
from their work in the forests, or from hunting, or from the
markets, add their voices and laughter to the noises of the
reawakened town. Above the hum of talk can be heard the
shouts of wrangling women, and two or three loud, shrill-
voiced women abusing each other are quite sufficient to
dominate all other sounds. If you walk across the town about
sunset you will notice the men and elder lads busy finishing
some mats, or building a house, or sitting about waiting for
the evening meal, while the women and girls, for the most
part, are engaged in various cooking operations, but occa-
sionally you will see some old women shelling peanuts or crack-
ing pumpkin seeds, and retailing the gossip culled from the
market, farm, or village that they have visited during the day.
Women loom large in Congo village and town life, and
their position has both its advantages and disadvantages.
There are women that stand out prominently as dominant
factors in native life — women of a type that in other and
civilised lands would be leaders of Society, centres of political
intrigue, or the something around which would crystallise a
special coterie, a cult, or a salon. They state their opinions
freely and forcibly, they criticise unreservedly the actions of
the men, and they express in no unmistakable terms their
views of what should, or should not, be said and done in the
" palavers " that are occupying the attention of the chief and
headmen of the town — their words carry weight, and frequently
turn the scale in favour of this or that course of action.
Sometimes, being of noble family, they are present at the
" palaver " ; but more often they speak loudly as they sit at
the open-air fire, and when they speak every other sound is
hushed, and their voices carry far on a still night, and the
chief and the headmen hear and profit by the advice thrown
on the night air ; and it is curious how many men at the next
palaver hold similar views that jump with those that, a night

106 THE SLAVE WOMAN

or so before, were flung by a strong-minded woman at the
stars.

The free woman of ordinary intelligence, of average skill in
farming and cooking, has in all things that pertain to women
pretty much her own way ; but the slave woman is the chattel
of her owner, to be beaten without redress, to be abused with-
out the power of replying, and to be passed from hand to hand
without the opportunity of protesting against her fate. Any
day she may be called upon, at the mere whim of a man, to
give up her children, her village acquaintances, and her hard-
worked farm, to start life afresh in a town both distant and
strange.

The Congo woman reflects as readily her temporary circum-
stances as a river does the bright sunshine or the passing cloud.
When in health, her farm yielding well, and her market
transactions are profitable, her mouth is full of laughter ; but
the slightest ill-health, or the smallest reverse, and her spirits
drop to zero, her face is drawn and smileless, and her temper
uncertain. She will respond quickly to a kindness; but a
supposed affront will arouse her bitterest resentment, and in
her anger she will do and say things that will amaze the
impartial onlooker, and astonish herself in calmer moments.
She is swayed by various superstitions and omens, and is a
great asset to the witch-doctor, and no small source of his
wealth and prestige. She can be a bitter enemy and a faithful
friend, and will fight tenaciously for the side upon which she
arrays herself. She is very conservative in her outlook, and
the status quo of her village and home life has no stauncher
supporter ; but once win her to other views and there is no
more self-sacrificing adherent to be found anywhere, for she
will give her time, her strength, and her money to promote
that which she believes to be right, and neither sneers, nor
ridicule, nor persecution will damp her ardour, or turn her
from her purpose.

In the heathen village she is encouraged by her mother, and
taught by the customs of the place, that before betrothal,
and even after she is bespoken, intercourse with the lads and

BARREN WOMEN 107

bachelors is both legitimate and natural ; but when as a
married woman she becomes enceinte she will suppress herself,
control her passions, and treat men as utterly non-existent for
three years or more. This she does on the supposition that it
will be beneficial for her child, but it exhibits a power of self-
control for which she receives little credit from members of a
higher civilisation, who often ignorantly regard her as being
little, if any, better than a mere animal.

A barren woman on the Lower Congo is ridiculed by the
women of her district, and is treated with scorn by her own
family, for she has failed to add her quota to the maintenance
of the clan. Her name is bandied from mouth to mouth in
the village song, her life is rendered intolerable by the sneers of
her neighbours, and suicide has not infrequently been the
result of the treatment meted out to her. If, however, she can
prove that her husband is to blame, she can procure a divorce
from him, and he then becomes the butt of the village wits.

On the Lower Congo mother-right has been in vogue for
untold generations, and this has fostered the idea that it is the
sole duty of a woman to give birth to children that her family
may not die out, but rather rise in importance with the increase
of its members. It is to enlarge her family that she was loaned
to the man ; the children belong to her eldest brother, and it is
her eldest son who will become heir to her brother's property,
and to his position also if there is no brother's brother to take
the place of the deceased. Wherever I have found mother-
right in full force on the Congo, I have observed that the
women keenly desire to bear children, and those customs are
fostered and strengthened that maintain and meet this desire.

When a barren woman has tried charms and fetishes of
various kinds and they have failed her, she goes to the medicine-
man {ngang' a nkau) who is at the head of the secret society
called the country-of-the-dead {nxv-a-fwa^ see p. 158) ; and he,
having procured certain leaves the names of which are kept a
profound secret, squeezes their juice into palm wine, which she
drinks. She remains in the " doctor's " town a considerable time.
Or, if a lodge of this society is started in her district, she will

108 METHODS OF ABORTION

enter it and spend many months there, during which she is
supposed to die, and in due time she is restored to life with all
her functions in a normal condition, i.e. fit to bear children.
Or she may arrange with her husband for a strong, healthy
man to visit her, and should she bear a child, her husband will
regard it as his own and will treat it as such ; and the woman
can claim a divorce if she wishes to leave the husband.

After the above remarks it may seem strange that there
should be various methods of procuring abortion ; yet there
are times when a woman does not wish to be a mother, as
when her hatred towards her husband more than counter-
balances her longing for children : or, when she is desirous of
shielding an illicit lover. It must be remembered that in a
country where polygamy is recognised a large number of virile
young women are often tied to an old man, hence when such
wives stray from the paths of native virtue they will submit
to such means as will hide their shame, protect the child from
scorn, and save their lover from the payment of a heavy fine.
They may go to a medicine-man, but this is not very probable,
as such visits are soon noised abroad, and will in time reach
the ears of the husband. They resort mostly to the" juice of
manioc leaves, or to a large dose of common salt, or to a
small piece of nsele-nsele root, powdered and drunk with water
or palm wine, or to eating manioc leaves that have been
soaked in water for many days. The leaves are astringent, and
the root causes severe diarrhoea.

When an unmarried woman has a child, no fine is paid
by the man, but the child is never allowed to call him father,
although they may both be living in the same town. The
child belongs to the woman's family, is known to all as a
" child of adultery " (mwan a ziimba), and is spoken of as such.
The other children taunt him by saying, " You have no father,
you came from a tree." In the Ngombe Lutete district the man
has now to pay a fine for adultery.

At one time it was the custom for women and girls to
live apart periodically in a special house (;j:ro a 7isa7iga) so
as to isolate them from all contact and converse with men.

SEPARATION HOUSES 109

When they stopped building these separation houses such
women confined themselves to the more obscure part of the
house {ngudi a nzo), and used their own door, in the back
wall, for exit and entrance. During these times a woman
is not permitted to cook her husband''s food, nor food for any
male member of her family ; neither is she allowed to touch
anything belonging to a man, nor return a man's salutation.
If she has to pass near where some men are sitting who are
likely to give her the equivalent of " Good morning," or " Good
evening," she deliberately puts her pipe in her mouth, and
gripping it firmly with her teeth she makes it stick out straight
in front of her, as a sign that she may not answer, for she is
regarded as unclean. In a large number of towns and villages
the women are counted unclean every morning until they
have bathed ; and in these towns it is reckoned exceedingly
bad taste for an unwashed woman to speak to a man — any
man ; and many a woman has been thrashed for laxity in the
observance of this rule.

Some cases of incest are known, but it is very rare. When
committed with a sister, or with a father's wife, the punishment
is either death or banishment. One of each kind came to my
knowledge, and they were both banished from the town : one
has not been heard of for thirty years, and the other has not
been allowed to return to San Salvador for nearly twenty
years. Sometimes, but rarely, a man commits this crime
with his mother-in-law, while his v/ife is alive, and may want
to take her as his wife after his wife — her daughter — is dead.
This is not permitted, and the man is liable to be tied and
whipped very severely ; and such a man would find it difficult
to procure another wife in a disti'ict where he is known.

Women who are enceinte have many whims and fancies,
which their husbands do their best to supply. Tadpoles are
much sought after and enjoyed by women in this condition,
and they are also very fond of the red earth of ants' nests.

If a man is very hospitable and entertains many friends,
his wife will perhaps be afraid that her husband will not eat
sufficient food to satisfy himself, and if she is a good wife.

110 GOOD AND BAD WIVES

caring for her husband, she reserves and hides an extra portion
for him to be eaten after his visitors have gone. Such a
woman is regarded as a paragon of thoughtfulness, as is also
the other kind of woman who, when her husband is in diffi-
culties with a creditor, will not allow herself to be induced to
leave him for the creditor in payment of the debt owing,
although her family gives its consent for her to do so, and
even tries to persuade her. Such an opportunity is taken
advantage of by too many women, for such marriages {hngo
hcampela) are somewhat common.

CHAPTER XI

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD

THE Congo baby on the first day of its birth is nearly
white, with a slight greyish tint in its skin, but every
day it becomes darker, until in a few weeks it assumes
the rich brown coffee colour of its parents. The Congo baby
is surrounded with various charms, and is the object of many
superstitious rites. In anticipation of its arrival a female
"doctor" (called ngang a nkamha) is sent for, who pro-
cures pieces of different kinds of fish and animals which she
cooks together. Then she threads a necklace of beads with a
univalve shell in the centre, and into this shell she puts a
little chalk, a certain leaf, a pinch of salt, and a portion of
the prepared stew. The prospective mother must pass her
tongue every morning across the opening of the shell, to
ensure an easy delivery of a healthy child used to all kinds of
food. The expectant mother having received her charm, the
" doctor " feeds her with some of the stewed fish and meats ;
and then a curious custom follows, of the reason for which no
one can inform me. A fowl is cooked and a leg of it is
put on one side for the eldest child of the prospective mother
(or, failing a child, for her sister or next nearest relation).
The child must pretend to steal it, and as he runs away those
members of the families who are present make a feint of
catching him, and shout after him "Thief! Thief!" After
the birth of a child the husband must not, and will not, go
near the house for three weeks or a month.

The new-born babe is washed with warm water ; and a
woman, other than the mother, nurses the child for one day.
When, however, the mother goes to the farm leaving her baby
in the town, it is nursed in a friendly way by any woman who

112 BESPEAKING AN INFANT GIRL

has a child of similar age. It is thought that if the child
belonging to the friendly nurse is older, her milk will be too
strong for the younger baby, and will cause it to vomit. As
soon as the child is old enough it eats roasted cassava, or pea-
nuts, which have been masticated first by the mother, and the
child is not weaned until he is about three years old : a bitter
decoction is then put on the breast to disgust the child.

By the side of the fire in the house of a new-born child
there is always a pot ^ of hot water, and the man, old or young,
who drops the first bead into it any time during the first two
days can claim the baby, if a girl, as his future wife. The
bead must be dropped in within two days after the birth, and
may be dropped in by a parent on behalf of a son. Only a
member of those clans into which the girl may marry will
attempt to establish a claim in this manner. Although the
marriage money will not be paid until later, yet no one else
will be allowed to marry her. A man of the wrong clan,
or a stranger (though it is unlikely that a stranger will be
able to enter the house) who puts the bead into the saucepan
will have it returned to him ; but if there is neither kinship
nor clan reason, nor any other real objection why the person
dropping in the bead should not eventually marry the girl, he
will bitterly resent the return of the bead as a gross insult.
The saucepan, however, is well guarded during these two days,
and only a very small percentage of the girls are bespoken in
this maimer. A bead given in this way is regarded as a gift
to the girl, and enables the giver to set up an exclusive claim
to her hand when she arrives at a marriageable age ; but when
that time comes the man will have to pay the marriage money
usually demanded for a girl of her position. Or, if that
amount is placed at an absurdly high figure, and is conse-
quently prohibitive, the man can claim the return of his
"gift," and he can legally demand such a high rate of interest
that a lawsuit may be necessary to settle the affair.

The house in which a birth takes place is for the time
being called kialukaji, a name that indicates that it is a
' Tliis special pot is oilled 7Utnisilu'a.

^^s^\

Lent by

Lower Congo Woman and Child

Rev. J. L. Forfeit t

This is a typical Lower Congo woman. The upper front teeth are removed, which was a more
common custom thirty years ago than now. The fringed cloth was, at one time, the only article a
woman wore, and it was tied round the waist exposing the right thigh. The cloth was sewn by the
men, and it was the duly of a good husband to give occasionally a new cloth to each of his wives.

SAFEGUARDING A BABY 113

place where a child is being suckled. Immediately on the
birth of the baby a new middle frond of a palm is cut, shaken
out, and placed over the door to protect the infant from two
kinds of dangers. Should a quarrel arise in the town, or an
enemy attack the town, no one would dare to molest a house
thus guarded by a palm frond ; and it warns off those people
who eat the animal which is taboo to the new baby's family,
for such must not enter the house : for example, if the taboo
(in this instance called mpangic) of the child's family is
hippopotamus meat, then any one who eats that animal must
refrain from entering the house, or the child will become
sickly, and perhaps die. In about a month the palm frond
is removed, as the baby, by that time, is regarded as strong
enough to be unaffected by such malign influences. Women
sometimes suffocate their children, but unless this is done
before the child cries, it is treated as murder and punished
accordingly.

If a woman, while enceinte^ dreams of running water, snakes,
or water-sprites (ccimbi), she believes that her child will be
an incarnation of a water-sprite. The sprites inhabit the
streams, and the snakes live among the stones near the water-
courses, hence to dream of snakes or running water is equiva-
lent to dreaming of the water-sprites themselves. Therefore,
directly such a child is born, a cloth is tied round it and no
one is permitted to know its sex, except the " doctor," until
it receives its name. A few days after the birth of the child a
particular kind of " doctor " ^ is called, who starts a dance which
lasts all night, and is accompanied with much drinking and
drumming, and the firing of many guns if the family is suffici-
ently wealthy. A bower of palm fronds is erected as a shelter
for the father, mother, and baby ; and all the plates, dishes,
and pots used during the accouchement are placed near the
booth. At dawn the " doctor " takes a plate of palm wine,
and, dipping some leaves in it, he sprinkles the baby, the

^ Named ngang' a nkisi. (^A:m = fetish, charm, amulet.) This
"doctor" is always called upon to perform his ceremony when there
is anything unusual or abnormal about the birth of a child.

114 A SPRITE CHILD

mother, and the father, after which he asks the crowd three
times if they know the child's name. They answer, " No,
we do not know the name." Thereupon, the " doctor " shouts
out, " It is Lombo." At once the people make a noise by
clapping the palms of their hands on their open mouths.

The folk, on hearing the name Lombo, know that, the child
is a girl, for if it were a boy its name would be Etoko ; and
they also know from the name given that the mother has
dreamed either of running water, or snakes, or water-sprites.
The " doctor " receives a fee of one fowl, fifteeen strings of
beads, and all the utensils that were placed near the booth at
the commencement of the ceremonial dance^ All the girls
called Lombo and the boys named Etoko are supposed to be
incarnations of water-sprites, or possess in some strange way
the orenda, or nature, of the snake.

When the child grows up, it receives presents from its
relatives and neighbours on account of its sprite nature. The
sprites are supposed to endow one thus born with various
powers and fairy gifts, and hence the presents are given to
Lombo and Etoko children to gain the good-will of these
incarnations or favourites of the sprites. It is believed that
they have the power, not only of imparting good luck, but also
of inflicting many misfortunes ; and the presents are given to
obtain the former and avert the latter from the givei's; and
the whole of the " christening "" ceremony is to make the sprite-
child amenable to the ordinary rules of life. The lemba-kmha
leaves used in the ceremony are only employed by a " doctor "
when something uncanny is to be counteracted in the person
subjected to the rite, as in the case of a madman, a homicide,
&c. These children become quickly aware of the deference
paid to them by their families and neighbours, and they
develop into arrogant little pests, as they find that their
demands are not refused.

Snakes are either under the special protection of the
water-sprites, or are incarnations of them, and, on account of
this connection, snakes are not killed or hurt in a house where
these sprite-children have been born ; and neither Lombo nor

REBIRTH 115

Etoko children are allowed to kill snakes, lest they should
murder one of their own kith and kin. They do not drive
them from their houses, and the snakes, apparently conscious of
their immunity, are very frequently found in the houses of
men and women called Etoko and Lombo. Again, the most
vulnerable part of a snake is its head, and people must not
strike these sprite-children on the head. There is an indefin-
able but clear connection in the native mind between the
water-sprite, the snake, and the Lombo and Etoko children.

I It is believed that the only new thing about an infant is
its Dody. The spirit or soul of the child is thought to be old,
and to have belonged either to a deceased person, or to a
living person, or, as stated above, to a water-sprite. For this
belief they give two reasons. They notice that the child
speaks at an early age of strange matters the mother has never
taught it, and this they regard as the old soul talking in the new
body ; and again, if the child is like a relative it is thought to
have the soul of the person it resembles, and that person being
now soulless will soon die. Hence in Congo, to say that a
baby is like anyone, is not regarded as a compliment, and is
anything but pleasing to that person, for you have observed
what they have been trying to hide from themselves — the
likeness, which proves that the child has their souls, and that
they themselves will soon die. Neither may you say that the
baby is "fat" (maji), for they' think you want " to eat it" in
spirit, and as a result the baby will quickly die; nor may you
praise it as a fine child, for the evil spirit (ndoki) will hear
you, and take it away, i.e. it will die; and for the same
reason parents never count their children lest the evil spirit
should hear them and remove one or more by death. You
may speak of it as a " stout " (mpongo) child without giving
any offence.

A baby that presents its feet first at birth is always called
Nsundi, no matter what its sex may be; but a few years
later, the above ceremony as for a sprite-child takes place, and
a more suitable name is chosen by the boy or girl. A child
born with six fingers is called Ngonga; and should a

116 CHILDREN AND THEIR NAMES

woman bear a child a considerable time after the way with
women has ceased, that child is known as Mavakala all through
life. A child born with teeth is named Mavasavasa, and
such an abnormal event is placed to the credit of a fetish
power. The first child of twins is always called Nsimba,
and the second Nzuji ; and the first baby born by a mother
after twins takes the name of Nlandu, and the second after
twins that of Lukombo. An albino always takes the name
of Ndundu, and is believed to be the incarnation of a water-
sprite, and as such is supposed to possess much power.
He is not worshipped but is greatly feared by the people,
for he not only causes humpback and rheumatism, but he
can also cure these and various other complaints and de-
formities. When he dies his spirit does not go to the
forest like the spirits of ordinary people, but returns to
the water. A child born by the same mother after an
albino, and having light eyes and skin, yet not a true
albino, is named Lubela. Thus to hear these names is to
know at once the birth-history of the person bearing them
(see page 129 under the Ekinu dance for other names of a
special character).

Because of the extra trouble they entail, the Lower Congo
women do not take kindly to twins, hence it is the general
practice to starve one of them. When a twin is thus starved,
or dies a natural death, a piece of wood is roughly carved to
represent a child, and it is put with the living twin that it
may not feel lonely. Should the second child die the image
is buried with it. The corpse of a twin is placed on leaves
and covered with a white cloth, and is buried at the cross
roads like a suicide, or a man killed by lightning. It is re-
garded as a hateful thing, and is buried in the most dishonour-
able of all graves.

A Congo mother is not long in washing and dressing her
baby. She simply holds it over a saucepan of warm water,
and throws the water over the kicking, screaming babe with
her hand ; she then shakes off the superfluous water and the
bathing is finished. The dress consists of a string of beads

CHARMS FOR BABIES 117

round the waist, and a few charms tied on various parts of
the body. These charms are to protect it from those diseases
to which Congo babies are subject. There are horns and
shells into which the " doctor " has put strange messes ; and
there are beans, leaves, and twigs that are supposed to pre-
serve the child from stomach-ache, convulsions, wind, and
diarrhoea. Should the mother die the living child is buried
with the corpse; and very often the babies suck for hours at
the dead breasts, before the time of burial arrives. The
reason for this is, that no woman wants the trouble of bring-
ing up a child which will, by and by, be claimed by the child's
own family ; and she will also be held responsible by the
child's family for anything that may happen to the baby
while it is in her care. This is one of the by-products of
mother-right. Their cruelty is more often the outcome of
their superstitious fears, and of their clashing customs, than
from a delight in causing pain and suffering.

Some anxious mothers, after the birth of a child, send
for a witch-doctor {ngang' a munkanda = trsiips), who brings
with him a number of small, conical basket traps — hence the
name of his order. These he carefully places all round the
doors of the house to catch any evil spirits (ndoJci) that may
try to get into the house, and enter the child to kill it. The
" doctor ■" looks at the traps every morning, and if he finds
a cockroach or spider in any one of them, it is looked upon
as a proof that he has caught an evil spii'it in the very act
of entering the house to harm the child. Evil spirits can
disguise themselves in any convenient form, and the "doctor"
before setting the traps puts in something to attract the
insects. If before birth a "doctor" says that the child's hair
is not to be cut until he comes, then they wait for him, and
on his arrival he squeezes the juice of some leaves over the
hair, and then cuts it.

When a girl is old enough, i.e. about six or seven years of age,
she helps her mother in the house, in cooking, and in farm work.
She fetches the water from the nearest stream, which means
from ten to forty minutes' walk according to distance. Water

118 THE GIRL HELPS HER MOTHER

kept in the house all night is thrown away in the morning,
hence the fetching of a fresh supply is a daily necessity, and in
the dry season it often means a very cold journey, in the early
morning, to an almost naked girl. On her return she sweeps
the house, which is an easy task where there are no carpets to
shake and no furniture to dust and polish — a broom is run
over the earthen floor and it is finished. As a rule the fire
is kept burning all night, for the heat warms the sleepers, and
the smoke drives away the mosquitoes ; but should the fire
go out it is the girl's duty to relight it. This is not so easy
as it appears ; for she must not take fire from another hearth
lest she gives her family any disease from which the people
are suffering from whom she procures the lighted stick to re-
kindle her own fire. The introduction of matches has simpli-
fied the process, but where such European luxuries have not
yet penetrated the girl must use the flint and steel, or know
for a certainty of a thoroughly healthy family from whose
hearth she can take, without fear of evil consequences, a little
fire to restart her own.

After her morning duties, the girl takes her hoe, basket,
and calabash and accompanies her mother to the farm, where
she hoes, plants, weeds, and reaps according to the season,
under her mother'^s guidance ; and in the evening she assists
in cooking the evening meal, which is the principal one of the
day. A thoughtless mother, who does not teach her daughter
these various duties against the time she has a house and farm
of her own, is condemned by all the village folk ; and a girl
who neither cooks nor farms properly will bring a very low
price in the marriage market; and "going cheap'' she is the
butt of much ridicule, and the subject of taunts, jeers, and
impromptu village songs.

The girl remains under the protection of her mother
until her marriage; but should the mother die, she is sent to
her maternal uncle, who becomes her sole guardian and the
arbiter of her fate. The girl's mother, should she be alive,
has much to say regarding the disposal of her daughter's hand ;
and the prospective bridegroom who does not conciliate her

THE BOY AND HIS FATHER 119

with small presents and thus seek to win her consent to the
marriage, may succeed in winning his bride, but he will have
in his mother-in-law a veritable vixen who will undermine his
domestic peace by constantly trying to set her daughter against
her husband. I have known of more than one separation be-
tween husband and wife take place for no other reason than
this.

The boy is taught by the father to set traps for farm rats,
wild animals, and birds ; and he also teaches him to buy and
sell on the markets, to trade, to carry loads, to build, to sew
his own clothes, and to be able to sew his wife's (or wives')
clothes too. The girls are not taught to sew, for the rough,
hard hoeing of their farms soon stiffens their fingers, and renders
them unfit to hold a needle. The son, if properly trained,
visits the different towns and districts in the neighbourhood
of his home, and becomes more or less expert in the matters
that he should know as a man.

When the lad is about fourteen or fifteen years old the
boy's maternal uncle brings a calabash of palm wine to the
father and claims the lad. The father has no power to
withhold him from going with his uncle, but the lad himself
can refuse to go, and thus elect to remain under the tutelage
of his father as long as he likes. Until the uncle comes with
the palm wine the lad is under the protection of his father,
who is responsible for him to the boy's family, but on the
boy going with the uncle, the father's responsibility is ended.

A father is not allowed to appropriate his children's goods,
nor may he take possession of any wealth they have inherited
from their mother, nor can he take his wife's money. If he
is pressed for money he can borrow from his wife, if she is
willing ; and very often they each put a certain amount of
capital into a trading venture, and share accordingly ; and
should the husband die first, the wife has priority of claim on
his goods up to the amount lent, or the capital put into the
trading concern. On the other hand, a woman can take the
man's (her husband's) goods and need not repay the debt.
Where mother-right exists the position of free women is in

120 FRIGHTENING CHILDREN

some respects greatly in advance of those tribes where father-
right is the rule.

A father may prosecute his child, but a child is not per-
mitted to institute a lawsuit against his father; and for this
reason there is a strong public feeling that a father should
treat his children properly, as they have no redress.

There is something very pleasing and lovable about Congo
children. When they have once conquered their fear of our
white faces and strange clothes, they become very trustful,
confidential, and ever ready with a smile that is often winsome.
Before they knew us they were constantly threatened with
" The white man is coming to take you away " ; and many a
child in Congoland has been frightened into obedience, or
startled into quietness, by the horrible words, " Here is the
white man," or " I will give you to the white man," and other
phrases in which the white man looms as the bogey. Later
on, in their teens, they become wilful, passionate, and difficult
to manage, for the father exercises little or no control over
them — they do not belong to him, and the mother is often
weak and allows them to have their own way. As Christianity
and civilisation bring better influences to bear on their home
life, and effect more control over their hearts and lives, many
of the repulsive lines now seen in the faces of the men and
women — largely the result of wild, ungoverned passions — will
be eliminated, and the pleasant faces of childhood and youth
will be seen in later life, and even in old age.

CHAPTER XII

Nx\TivE amuse:ments

THERE is not a great variety of games known to the
natives. Hockey is played all over the Lower Congo,
and in recent years it has penetrated to some parts of
the Upper River. The lads are intensely fond of the game,
and no matter how long their journey has been, or heavy
their loads, they will, a few minutes after arriving at a resting-
place, look around for a suitable piece of ground, and finding
it, thev will start a game of hockey. At Wathen station,
where a fine open space has been utilised as a playground,
hockey is played on every available opportunity, and a great
amount of energy is expended on the game. The boys cut
their own sticks in the forest, and make their own rough
wooden balls, and arrange sides as we do ; but there is little
science in the game, as they do not care to keep to their places,
but like running all over the field. On arriving at San
Salvador in the early part of 1882 I found the boys of that
generation just as keen on hockey as the lads of the present day.
On moonlight nights they play a game called mbele. This
is played by both sexes joining together, and to the beat of
drums and singing. This game, however, led to so much
adultery and its attendant " palavers," that when the Christian
Church was formed, the native members desired that there
should be rules to the effect : that no Church members
should play mixed mbele, i.e. the males should play by them-
selves, and the women and girls by themselves in another part
of the town ; and that, as the drums badly excited them,
causing them to lose all self-control, the game should be played
without the beating of drums. The making of these rules
has led to greater morality among those who observe them —

121

122 MAKE-BELIEVE GAMES

and they are very numerous ; and any Church member breaking
them is disciplined by his fellow-members.

The boys and girls have their make-believe games, such as
cooking, feasting, and marketing. It is pleasant to watch them
on such occasions. How seriously they walk to their make-
believe markets, and chaffer as they have seen their elders do,
for the mock goods exposed for sale ! Then, outside some
rudely erected toy hut, built by the boys, they cook their pre-
tended food on fireless hearths in odd bits of broken saucepan
rescued from the rubbish heap, and inviting their child friends,
they sit down to eat their imaginary feast with much laughter,
and probably with as much relish as the real ones. Perhaps
they have raided their mothers' baskets and shelves, and thus
their imaginations are aided by a few real nuts, a piece of
sugar cane, and a lump of native bread.

Some of the boys have visited the State Station with their
fathers or brothers, and have seen the soldiers drill ; and
nothing will satisfy them but to drill the small fry of the
village. There they are in a line marching along the village
street with sticks for guns, an old kerosene tin for a drum, and
three or four reeds for trumpets. How self-consciously they
strut along, with what marvellous flourishes the instruments
play ; but proudest of them all is he who drills them by
shouting words that are neither French nor Congo, but are the
nearest imitations he can produce to the sounds he heard on
the white man's parade-ground. He does not know what they
mean, neither does his regiment, but they turn this way and
that way and are boisterously happy. Sometimes with a few
empty provision tins they will start a band, and jokingly
serenade you, but a little salt will please them, and they will
take themselves and their so-called music to another place,
feeling well repaid by your small present — for salt is as much
appreciated by Congo boys and girls as chocolates are by
English children. Congo, however, is a toy less country, a land
where children are not catered for; but notwithstanding that
the youngsters by their boisterous laughter and merry shouts
seem to extract a great amount of joy out of life.

"THE YOUNG PIGEON" 123

For the names and movements of some of the games that
follow I am indebted to Dr. Bentley.^ There is a game
played by two children called, " The Young Pigeon " {mwan''
eyembe). The left hands are held, and with the right hand
each rubs his own ribs, whilst the supposed mother bird sings
this little ditty :

" mwana a eyembe The young pigeon

Kameneno nsala ko ; Has not yet grown feathers ;

E himbu kemenwa e nsala The day when the feathers are

grown
Ku mputu kekwenda To the white man's country

shall go
O eyembe papa e papa." The pigeon, flap, flap.

The "young pigeon" coos an accompaniment, and when
the song is finished, the players clap their right hands over and
under the interlocked left hands, which are then separated,
and each claps his own hands together and strikes his right
thigh, after which they lock hands and commence again.

There is another game called " Spider" {esanga ngungu),
which is played by a number of children joining hands and
dancing round a youngster (the spider) in the middle, who
tries to seize one of the dancers by the leg and drag him
down. The victim, as he is seized, cries out : " Alas ! alas !
I have stepped on a thorn under the water."

Chorus of all the other dancers. Pull it out.

Victim. I would have pulled it out, but my knife is blunt.

Chorus. Try and go to sleep.

Victim. I have repeatedly tried to sleep but failed.

Chorus. Count your followers {i.e. think of those belonging
to you).

Victim. I have tried again and again but they are so
numerous they cannot be counted.

Chorus. Try once more.

Victim. I have a relative, Bukusu, the Bukusu who wears

'^ Bentley's Dictionary and Grarnmar of the Congo Language, p. 492.
Trubner & Co., 1887.

124 NKENKA

seven necklaces ; had he brought with him a pumpkin leaf
mixed with a cabbage leaf it would have soothed it.

The one caught proceeds to mention all the other dancers
in the same way. (A knife is always used to extract a thorn
from the sole of the feet, as the skin is very hard, and needs a
sharp knife to cut the corneous skin round the thorn to get a
grip of it.)

A game called NTcenka is played by the boys and girls
digging a hole (ewulu) about twenty inches deep by about four
inches in diameter. This is half filled with peanuts (ngicba),
and then filled with earth well rammed in. The midrib {mhasa)
of a palm frond is made into a fork (nsoma) with several
prongs. The fork is driven through the dirt into the peanuts
below, and if, on being pulled out, it has a peanut on it the
fortunate driver wins all in the hole. Each player puts an
equal portion of peanuts in the hole.

The children hide a small, hard, brightly-coloured seed in
one of five little heaps of sand or dust. The one whose turn
it is to play has to level down four of the heaps, leaving intact
the heap containing the seed. Should he succeed he has the
privilege of hiding the seed. A tally of successful guesses is
kept by making a mark {soneJca e sinsu) with the finger on the
ground.

For lads there is a game of touch with the feet on all
fours with the back undermost called Nlckndi. A large court
is marked out on the ground, and the "hunters" {nkongo)
chase the "antelope" {nkayi), who is not allowed to run
outside the court. The "hunters" run about on all fours
with their faces uppermost ; and in this ridiculous manner
they hurry around after the " antelope," who is the only one
permitted to stand up. The hunters try to hem him in a
corner ; but if the " antelope " to avoid capture runs out of
the court, then they all get up on their legs and follow
after him, and the one who catches him first and pretends to
cut up the "antelope" takes his place in the court. It
causes a great amount of laughter and excitement, as every
" hunter " makes a pretended cut at the " animal " with shouts

A BALL GAME 125

of " The head for me," " A leg for me," " Some flesh for me."
They tumble on one another like a scrimmage in football.
Sometimes a rule is made that there shall be no chasing
beyond the court, and if the " antelope " breaks the bounds,
the first " hunter " who sees him cries out, " The antelope
has broken loose," and takes his place as " antelope."

A number of players sit on the ground in a circle with
their legs stretching before them. One of the players puts
a ball (esomba) on his knees, and with one leg jerks the
ball, and rolls it on to the knees of his neighbour. Should
the ball fall to the ground, the player who thus fails to
pass on the ball must go into the centre of the ring and
dance for the amusement of the others. This game is called
Dibulungu.

When a fresh bean-pod is put out in the sun it will
warp and turn over as it dries, and this has suggested the
name for a game called Titi Jcia lukasa, or pod of a bean.
The players form a ring, each grasping loosely with his right
hand the left wrist of his neighbour. One of the players
then lifts his right leg over his right arm as it holds the
left arm of his neighbour, then he passes his left leg in the
same way over his right arm. He now stands facing his
two neighbours, his arms crossing at the back with the left
arm uppermost; then by passing his left arm over his head,
he turns round and assumes his former position in the circle.
Each player does this in turn, and the clumsy become the
butt of ridicule to the others.

The fruits of the croton plant (Jatropha curcas) lend them-
selves to a game named Vif a mhuta. A number of lads
divide themselves into two sides, each player having a good
supply of croton fruit, which are about the size of a chestnut.
The sides stand about forty yards apart, and in the middle
each builds its own " town " — little piles of croton fruit,
four in a pile and one " town " for each side. They then
take up their position at their own respective ends, and each
side, with its store of crotons, pelts the " town " belonging to
the other side, and when one " town " is knocked down they

126 "HUNT THE SLIPPER"

rush on the losing side and throw crotons at them, and then
the melee becomes general, and crotons are flying in all
directions. As accidents often occur in the last rush the
game is forbidden in some towns,

A game somewhat similar to "Hunt the Slipper," but
called by the natives Nduku, is played thus : the players form
two sides and sit in lines feet to feet. A cloth is thrown over
the legs, and a small article is passed from one to another
under the cloth, every one rummaging about as though pre-
tending to pass it. A player on the opposite side challenges
one on the playing side by saying, " Confess " {fungima), and
attention being given to him, the leader on the playing side
asks, " On whose head ? " {ku ntu a nani). And the person thus
challenged guesses who has the article. If he is right the
article is handed to his side, and it counts one game to his
side.

There is "Blind Man's Buft"" (iV;imma), which is usually
playedin the house; another kind of "Hunt theSlipper" (NJcaridi
a ngongo), in which a palm-nut is passed round the ring of
players, and the one in the centre pounces on the person who
he thinks has it, and they change places if he is right. Then
there is hopping the longest time (Nsongongo), and " Touch "
{Ejio).

In a former work ^ the writer has given a full description
of Mbele, a game which is very popular all over the Congo ;
also of a hoop game {Lungungii) ; and of searching for a needle,
directed by the playing of a Biti ; and the game of Loso^ played
with the canna seeds.

There is a bull-roarer {Ngwingwing~iVe) made from a bamboo
or a piece of wood. It is regarded only as a plaything.
Women, and also men and children, put their hands over their
faces when a person approaches who is twirling one of thenj,
but this appears to be only from fear of the many accidents due
to buUroarers coming oft' their strings, and flying into the faces
of those who happen to be near. String games, or cats'

1 Congo Life inid Folklore. Jolm II. Weoks. Relifjjious Tract Society,
1911.

GAMBLING GAMES 127

cradles are to be found, but they are not very common. " Odds
and Evens " (called Mpinji, and also Nxibidi) is sometimes played
— the odds are named one {Mmosi)^ and the evens, two {yole).

There is a gambling game {Wad'i) played by adults and
young men, with eight discs {mpanza), either of calabash or
crockery, having one side white and the other coloured. They
are rattled in the hands and then thrown (the thrower is nte,
the throw is f e mpanza, for the discs to fall white side up is
sengoka, and coloured side up hukama). When the pieces are
thrown, if even numbers turn white side up, 2, 4, 6 or 8,
the player loses, and such a throw is called zole, and when 8
whites turn up it is named Z;a^/a. When odd numbers or no
white sides show, 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, the player wins. The winning
throws have certain names. No whites is called mayembe
(pigeons) ; 1 coloured is ?na7i^a= snake's sting, 3 or 5 coloured
is 7i^ = leopard, 7 coloured same as 1, manga. It is at this
game the natives often lay heavy stakes, and sometimes slaves.

There is another game called Kulukuta, which is played in
the same way as Wadi, but instead of money being staked, the
loser has to eat an arranged number of chilli peppers, some-
times as many as ten. Occasionally the players will stipulate
that the pepper shall be rubbed in the eyes of the loser, a cruel
arrangement, causing excruciating pain to the unfortunate
loser. When a player has lost ten times in succession he is
excused all further penalties.

Every kind of event gives an occasion for a dance. If a
serious illness excites general sympathy, and a desire to help, a
dance is arranged, and the whole night is spent in gyrating
round a drum. If there is to be a fight, a dance is started,
and through the night they circle about a fetish image, calling
upon it to work confusion and death among their enemies. If
a victory is to be commemorated, the drums beat a joyful,
defiant note, and, firing their guns and waving their knives,
amid much laughter and covered with perspiration, they shake
their bodies and try to excel each other in their antics. A
birth, a death, a restoration from a severe illness, a return
from a long journey, or the start for a journey, all demand a

128 DANCES

dance ; and if there is no such ostensible reason, then they will
find one, or dance for the mere love of it. They are danced
into the world at their birth, and they are danced out of it at
their death.

Both married and single women participate in all the
dances, except the hunting dance, which is only for men. As
will be noted, some of the dances take place at night and
continue until the dawn appears; such dances are usually in
connection with their fetishes, and are danced through the
night because the spirits are then abroad, against whom they
are invoking the power of their fetishes. Other dances are for
moonlight evenings, or for the glare of the bonfire, and others,
such as the dance after a victory, are only performed during
the daylight.

All kinds of drums are used — long and short, ovoid, oblong,
and round. They are either beaten by the hand, or with a
stick, or vibrated by friction. The drum and the beat indicate
the kind of dance, as particular drums are used for certain
dances. To European eyes there is not much " poetry of
movement" about their dances. There is a raising of the
shoulders, a wriggling of the buttocks, a quivering of the
posterior, and a throwing up of the legs, with occasional jumps
in the air. The movements are sometimes suggestive and
obscene, and in one or two dances the opposite sexes embrace,
such dances leading to much immorality.

In their dances there are two formations — the circle, and
opposite lines. In the former they dance round a drum or
a fetish image, or both ; one or both being placed in the centre
of an open space, and the men and women join, without any
order, in clapping their hands, chanting a chorus, and shuffling
one behind the other ; in the latter two lines are formed — one
of men and the other of an equal number of women. The
drum is placed at one end of the line, and all begin to clap,
chant, shuffle, and wriggle together. A man then advances,
dancing, and a woman from the opposite line advances a few
paces, and they dance thus a few moments, usually a yard or
so apart, but sometimes they approach nearer and strike their

FETISH DANCES 129

abdomens together, then they retire, and others take their
places, and so on right down the lines ; and thus they proceed
over and over again. Those waiting for their turn to advance
clap their hands, chant, and wriggle their bodies in a peculiar
undulating movement until they shuffle towards their partners
in the centre.

The following are the names and particulars of various
dances. In their chants and choruses so many obsolete words
are used that the singers themselves do not know their meaning.
They seem to have become mere nonsense phrases that fit the
rhythm of the beaten drum.

1. The EMnu is a fetish dance which continues all night
with much palm wine drinking. It is a circular dance, and is
performed while the " doctor " {ngang' a lemhe) is making
medicine for his patient. The fetish is put in the middle of
the circle, and the drum behind the patient. The drum is
beaten, the rattle shaken, and the people sing a chorus which
literally translated is : " Chalk which gave me life on the
Ngoyo Road " (Luvemba luampene o rmyo o njela Ngoyo).
Ngoyo is a name for Kabinda, a country north of the Congo
River, and this ceremony and song are said to have been
introduced by a Kabinda " doctor " who visited this part of
the country, but the original sense has been lost.

If the MbamU fetish is used the chorus sung is : " Oh !
these storms, that Mbambi fetish " {Ngwa e tembwa' yi mbamhi
yimd). Again the real meaning is lost, and perhaps some of
the original words. As the drum is beaten the " doctor "
drives the fetish power into the sick man, and he, being excited
by the drumming, rattling, and singing, jumps on the nearest
roof, tears handfuls of grass from it, and leaps on and off the
roof like a madman. The " doctor "" after a time drops the
juices of certain leaves and stems on him to soothe and quieten
him. The sick man is then supposed to get better, and having
had the fetish power put into him, he himself becomes a
" doctor," and can practise curing others. When a woman, in
this manner, comes under the sway of the fetish power she
becomes a female " doctor," and takes the name of nengudi.

180 FETISH DANCES

This Ekinu dance is performed at the christening ceremony
of a sprite child, when the doctor is called to remove the evil
that may be in the child on account of its being an incarnation
of a water-sprite (see page 113).

There is also a similar dance and ceremony observed over
girls with the names of Nkenge and Nsona, and boys with the
names of Lubaki and Mbaki, but the reason for the performance
of the ceremony is lost in their case. Nkenge and Nsona are the
names of two market days, and are given to such girls as are
born on those days. There must be something special about
some of the four days of their week, as in some districts they
never bury on either Nkenge or Konzo, but only on Nsoiia and
Nkandu. There are, therefore, children born on certain days
who require an all-night dance to free them from some evil,
and other days upon which the dead may not be buried. Have
they lucky and unlucky days ?

2. The Nloko dance, which means reinoving of witch power
(from loka=io bewitch, and its reversive, lokola), is a circular
one, and is performed for the following reasons : (a) If a
person has been ill for a very long time, and one after another
of the " doctors " has failed to cure him ; the various " doctors "
then bring their fetish images, charms, and drums, all of which
they place in the centre, and the adult men and women dance
round them ; and after a time they form a procession and
parade the streets of the village. These circular dances and
parades continue alternately all through the night, and it is
supposed that the sum total of all the strength of the fetishes
present will destroy the witch who is retarding the recovery of
the patient. The evil spirits being about at night, that is
assumed to be the best time to deal with them. (6) As a war
dance, i.e. before a fight begins and as it proceeds (see under
Warfare, page 192).

3. The Nsundi is danced in the daytime, or in the evening
moonlight, by men and women, boys and girls. A very high
drum is used, and the men wear skins, or cloths in imitation of
skins, and these are thrown about by the knees and thighs of
the wearers as they jump about in the dance. The dancer who
swirls his skins about in the most approved fashion is praised

FETISH DANCES 131

as the best performer, hence this dance is always executed in a
good light. The formation is in two lines one opposite the
other.

4. The Etutu is a very old dance, and in it the friction drum
was used, but is now reserved for the " witch-finder " ; besides
the friction drum, some drums and reed pipes or whistles
formed the band. Now a large drum with a big hole in the
bottom, to make it sound well, is employed instead of the
friction drum. The dancers carry long sticks in their hands,
with bells, or anything that jingles, fixed to the top ends. It
is danced by a line of men and a line of women, who work their
shoulders as well as their legs. This dance is also known by
three other names. Through the skin head of the friction drum
{d'nigwiti) is a strong cord knotted at the end to keep it from
being pulled through, and at the other end is a smooth stick.
The fingers are wetted and the stick drawn through them, and
the drum head vibrates, giving out a peculiar note as the stick
slips through the fingers. A similar dance to this is the Lu-
ngondongo, but with a different beat on the drum and another
chorus for chanting.

5. To the outsider the Sala dance is the most interesting of
all the native dances, for this reason, if for no other, that it
shows the oneness of human vanity all the world over. A
medium drum is used, and the formation is in two lines, one of
each sex. They make up songs about one another, and the
dance often ends in a general fracas. In this dance the follow-
ing exhibition of pride frequently takes place : During the
dance the chief or important man arrives, and someone not
belonging to his family or town goes to the drum, and by
beating carries on a conversation with himself — asking ques-
tions and replying to them. Thus he begins : " Welcome to you,
Chief A. Are you quite well.?" "lam quite well," replies
the drummer. " Have you come a long way ? " " No, only
from my town." " Are you very rich ? " " Yes, I have plenty
of wives, slaves, pigs, goats, cloth, and beads. I am so rich
that I do not know how rich I really am. I do not know what
to do with my wealth. It fills my bags, boxes, and houses."
" Have you much money with you ? " " Yes, my shoulder-

132 FLEECING A VISITOR

bags and bundles are full." " Give me some of it, as you are
so rich," and so on in fulsome flattery. The foolish chief, in
the vanity and pride of the moment, and to win the admiration
of those present, will hand over a sum equal to fifteen or
twenty shillings, or more — a large amount for these people.

After this, one of the men who came with Chief A will
then go to the drum and carry on a similar conversation about
the chief of the town, or some other chief present (but not his
own chief), and draw money out of him. If the largesse is
mean and disappoints the drummer, tap, tap will go the di-um
and a song on stinginess will be beaten out and words will
be bandied about from side to side ; and what started as an
innocent dance will end in a general row, and bad blood
will be engendered for many a day to come. But, if the
gift is generous, fulsome praise and honeyed flattery will be
beaten on the drum, and everybody will be pleased.

Some time ago a band of players and dancers went from
Vianga to Matadi (both these towns are in the Ngombe Lutete
district near Wathen) to entertain Chief Dimbu and his folk.
The Vianga folk had an idea that they would be meanly treated,
so they laid their plans accordingly. They called a prominent
Matadi player, and arranged with him to praise the Vianga
people in the usual way, and one of the Vianga men would
give him twenty francs, which amount he was to return in
consideration of a percentage of what the Matadi chief would
give. The plan worked well for the Vianga players and their
accomplice, for Chief Dimbu, seeing twenty fi'ancs given, felt
compelled to surpass that, and eventually handed over thirty
francs to the Vianga dancers. This was not the first time that a
plot of this kind was arranged and carried to a successful issue.
6. The Boela is a circular dance to the beating of a medium-
sized drum. The cloth worn for it is first held under the
armpits, then the belt is tied tightly round the waist, and the
upper part of the cloth is allowed to fall in folds. 7. The
Nsanga is danced after a fight in which no one has been either
killed or wounded. There is no formation of circles or lines,
but just a crowd of folk who shout, wave knives, and fire off
guns to the sounding beat of a big drum. 8. The Madinviha

CONUNDRUMS 133

is a circular dance performed to the playing of the marimba
only. 9. The Nkongo or hunter's dance is mentioned under
hunting (on page 182).

10. The Ngoni a nkanu, as its name indicates, is danced at
the talking of big palavers. At a great palaver the advocates
or orators, who state the cases for their clients, speak for many
hours, and to give them an occasional rest, and to revive the
flagging interest of the onlookers, a drum is beaten and a
woman dances for ten or fifteen minutes. Ejieta is the
finishing-oft' movement in a line dance, and means to go round
for a turn or two in a circle as a wind-up to the dance.^

On dark nights when dancing is not desired, or on cold,
rainy days when the folk wish to sit around their fires, they
pass the time in asking conundrums of each other. The word
for a riddle is ngwala, and this is also the word for gin ; and
in the giving, receiving, &c. of a conundrum there is a play on
the double meaning of the word. The person who desires to
propound a conundrum starts thus :

Ngzvala y eye =here is gin, i.e. here is a riddle.

Ta e ngwala= pour out the gin, i.e. let us have the
riddle (or twasa e ngioala^hxmg the gin).

If the people asked cannot state the answer, they say to
the propounder of the riddle : Nua e ngicala^drmk the gin,
i.e. give us the answer, for we cannot guess it.

It will be obvious that for a proper appreciation of the
force of their conundrums it is necessary to have a knowledge
of their customs, and especially of their language, consequently
one cannot give more than two or three examples of such as
are easily explained. The phrases in italics are the conun-
drums and their answers: 1. You can open the baslcet of a
water-syrite^ hut you cannot shut it. Answer : Palm-nut^ when
once broken it cannot be mended. 2. My mother made a farm
and threw up two heaps. Answer : Sun and moon. 3. A little
branch hut a hundred pigeons feed on it. Answer : Market^

' Other names for dances are : Ntuta, Kinkuhula, Nkomho, Makuta,
Ngwinda, Nzoko, and Manyanga, b\it these are more or less modifications of
those already mentioned, or mere local names for dances with a slightly-
different movement.

134 JUNGLE STORIES

which is small in size but has a lot of people on it. 4. They
are not hy the same mother but their names are alike. Answer :
Lunguba-nguha ( = small wild peanuts), and nguba ( — ordinary
cultivated peanuts). 5. A dead ticig carries that xchich has life.
Answer: Wine-gatherer'' s hoop^ by which he walks, or climbs,
up the palm tree.

Another amusement for around the fire is the telling of
jungle stories in which animals speak and act as human beings,
and express the wisdom and craftiness of the tribe in word and
deed. These stories are told with much dramatic action, and
the movements of the animals speaking are often imitated.
In the book ^ already referred to, the writer has given an
account of the stories, and examples of forty of them ; and as
an illustration of them he transcribes one of them here.

" I. How THE Sparrow set the Elephant and the Crocodile

TO PULL against EACH OTHER

" While the Elephant was searching for food one day he
happened to pass near a Sparrow's nest, and accidentally knock-
ing against the branch, he nearly threw the eggs to the ground.
The Sparrow thereupon said to the Elephant :

" ' You walk very proudly, and not looking where you are
going; you nearly upset my nest. If you come this way again
I will tie you up.'

" ' Truly you are a little bird,' the Elephant laughingly
replied, 'and are you able to tie up me — an Elephant.?'

"'Indeed,' the Sparrow answered him, 'if you come this
way to-morrow, I will bind you.'

" ' All right,' said the Elephant. ' I will now pass on, and
will come back here to-morrow to look upon the strength of a
Sparrow.' So the Elephant went his way, and the Sparrow
flew off' to bathe in a neighbouring river.

" On reaching the river, and finding a Crocodile asleep at
her favourite bathing-place, the Sparrow said : ' Wake up !
this is my bathing-place, and if you come here again, I will
tie you up.'

* Congo Life and Folklore, pp. 361-463. John H. Weeks. Religious
Tract Society, 1911.

JUNGLE STORIES 135

" ' Can a little Sparrow like you tie up a Crocodile ? ^ the
Crocodile asked her.

" ' It is true what I tell you,' retorted the Sparrow, ' and
if you return here to-morrow I will fasten you up.'

" ' Very well,' replied the Crocodile, ' I will come to-
morrow to see what you can do.' And with that the Crocodile
floated away, and the Sparrow returned to her nest.

" The next day the Sparrow, seeing the Elephant coming, said
to him, ' Yesterday I told you not to come this way again, because
you endangered my nest. Now I will tie you as I warned you.'

" ' All right," said the Elephant. ' I want to see what a
little thing like yon can do.'

" The Sparrow then brought a strong vine rope, and putting
it round the neck of the Elephant, she said to him, ' Wait a
moment while I go and have a drink of water, and then you
will see how strong I am.' To which the Elephant replied,
' Go and drink plenty of water, for to-day I want to see what
a Sparrow can do.' So the Sparrow went and found the
Crocodile basking in the sun on the river's bank.

" ' Oh ! you are here again,' she said. ' I will tie you up
as I warned you yesterday, because you do not listen to what
you are told.' ' Very well,' sneered the Crocodile, ' come and
tie me up and I will see what strength you have.'

" The Sparrow took the other end of the rope and tied
it round the Crocodile, and said, ' Wait a moment, I will go
a little higher up the hill and pull.' So away she flew up the
hill on to a tree, and from there she cried out, ' Pull Elephant,
pull Crocodile. It is I, the Sparrow.' So the Elephant pulled,
and the Crocodile pulled, and each thought he was pulling
against the Sparrow; not knowing they were pulling against
each other. All day long they pulled, until the evening, but
neither outpuUed the other. And during the whole day the
Sparrow was crying out, ' Pull, Elephant, you have the strength ;
pull harder, Elephant.' And in the same way she addressed
the Crocodile.

"At last the Crocodile said, 'Friend Sparrow, I cannot
pull any more ; come and unfasten me, and I will never come
to your bathing-place again.'

186 JUNGLE STORIES

"'Wait a little while,' replied the Sparrow; 'I am going
up to my village."" And the Elephant said as she drew
near, ' Now I know you are very strong. Please come and
undo me, and I will never come again to shake your nest.''
So the Sparrow loosened the Elephant, and then went and
removed the rope from the Crocodile's neck ; and from that
time the Sparrow has never been troubled by either the
Elephant or the Crocodile,"

The following three stories have not been published before,
and are illustrative of native thought. There are probably
no true gazelles in Africa, but the name gazelle is more sug-
gestive of the small, gentle, timid creature called by the natives
nsexi than the name antelope would be, hence I have used
gazelle as a translation of the word nsexi.

II. The Gazelle punishes the Leopard for Greediness

One day the Gazelle and the Leopard went for a walk
through a forest in search of palm-grubs. As they were
passing down one of the paths they saw a fine bunch of
palm-nuts, and the Leopard said, " Friend Gazelle, wait here
while I climb the tree and cut down the nuts."

With his strong, sharp claws the Leopard soon mounted
the palm tree and found there three bunches of ripe nuts, but
instead of cutting them down, he sat on a frond and began to
eat them.

By and by the Gazelle shouted out, "Throw me down
some of the nuts." And to this request the Leopard replied,
" When I am eating palm-nuts I cannot hear anything."

The Gazelle waited a little time, and then called out again.
"Please throw me some of the nuts, for I have hoofs and
cannot climb a tree like you." But the Leopard ate on greedily,
and took no notice of his friend's request.

The Gazelle went and gathered some firewood and grass,
and made a large fire at the bottom of the palm tree. In a
short time, the Leopard cried out, " Uncle Gazelle, put out
your fire ; the heat and smoke are choking me." The Gazelle,
however, answered him, saying, "When I am warming myself

JUNGLE STORIES 137

by the fire I cannot hear anything " ; and he threw some more
wood and grass on the fire. The Leopard, choking, lost his grip
on the tree, and fell to the ground dead. The Gazelle returned
to the town and took possession of all the Leopard's goods.

III. The Gazelle and the Leopard go to
Market together

One day the Leopard found a market where peanuts were
in great demand, and the price given allowed of a large profit.
But this market was always held very early in the morning,
and there was a law that anyone who brought charcoal on to
the market would be put to death. The Leopard returned at
once to his town, and bought up a large quantity of peanuts,
which he tied into a load ready for carrying to the market.
When all was ready he asked the Antelope (mpalanga) to
go with him, and upon the Antelope consenting to do so, the
Leopard collected a lot of charcoal and tied it up in a bundle
to resemble the load of peanuts.

The next morning the Leopard gave the heavy load of
peanuts to the Antelope, and carried the light load of charcoal
himself. That night they reached the town quite near to the
market, where the people gave them a large quantity of palm
wine to drink. The Leopard said, "Friend Antelope, we
will drink all the palm wine, and then we shall sleep well."
And he supplied his friend with wine, but took very little
himself. At last they went into the house to sleep, and when
the Leopard saw that the Antelope was fast asleep, he changed
the loads, putting his own in place of the Antelope's.

In the morning they started early for the market, each
picking up his load from the places they had put them over-
night. On reaching the market the Leopard opened out his
peanuts and quickly sold them. While he was selling them
the Antelope wanted to open out his bundle also, but the
Leopard stopped him, saying, " Wait until I have sold mine,
then sell yours."

By and by the Antelope opened his bundle and out fell the
charcoal. Directly the people on the market saw the charcoal
they ran on the Antelope, tied him up, and prepared to kill

138 JUNGLE STORIES

him. The Leopard said to them, " You will give me the
head, for it belongs to me." The head was cut oft' and given to
the Leopard, who after eating it returned to his town. When
he arrived there they asked him, " Where is your companion
who went with you to the market ? " " He got stealing on the
market," replied the Leopard, " and the people killed him."

Each time the Leopard visited the market he returned with-
out his companion, for he played the same trick on everyone,
until at last all in the town were afraid to go with him. One
day the Leopard went to the Gazelle, and said to him, " Uncle
Gazelle, will you go with me to sell peanuts at the market.'*"

" No," replied the Gazelle, " for I have plenty of work
to do."

The Leopard, however, would not take his refusal, but said,
" Please, Uncle Gazelle, go with me, and we shall be back in two
or three days, and you can then finish your work." So the
Gazelle promised to accompany the Leopard to the market.

When they started the Leopard gave the Gazelle the
bundle of peanuts to carry, and at first he would not carry
them, but wanted the other load. The Leopard, however,
assured him that his load was too heavy for him to carry, and
they began their journey. About noon they reached a stream,
and the Gazelle proposed that they should have a swim. The
bundles were put down by the side of the road, and they went
along the bank of the stream, and found a good pool.

The Gazelle said, " L^ncle Leopard, I am going to dive into
the water ; you count and see how long I am under the water."

" All right, I will count," replied the Leopard. The'^Gazelle
dived, and then walked along under the water to where the
bundles were placed, and undoing the Leopard's load, he saw
the charcoal in it; quickly tying it up again he returned to
where he had left the Leopard. " Oh ! Oh ! " said the Leopard,
"you know how to dive."

They reached the town where they were to sleep, and
the people welcomed them, and gave them plenty of palm
wine. " Uncle Gazelle," said the Leopard, " let us drink it
all, and then we shall sleep soundly." " Very well," replied the
Gazelle ; and they each pretended to drink deeply, and at

JUNGLE STORIES 139

sunset they ate their food and went into the house to sleep.
In a very little time the Gazelle snored loudly, and the
Leopard, hearing the snores, got up and changed the bundles ;
but the Gazelle saw him out of his half-shut eyes. He waited
a long time until he was sure the Leopard was asleep, and then
he changed the bundles again.

In the morning they awoke early and went to the market,
the Leopai'd thinking all the time that the Gazelle had the
bundle of charcoal. On arriving at the market the Gazelle
opened his bundle at once and sold all his peanuts. When
the Leopard saw the peanuts he commenced to quake with
fear, and did not want to open his bundle ; but the people
wished for peanuts so badly that they insisted on him opening
his load, and selling his peanuts. They said, " Why do you
bring peanuts to market, and then want to carry them away
again ? "" and in anger they took the bundle from him and
opened it, and out fell the charcoal. They jumped on the
Leopard, tied him up, cut off his head, and gave it to the
Gazelle, who then returned to his town, and told the people
there all that had happened to him on the road, and how the
Leopard had been the cause of many of their friends being
killed at the market because of his treacherous trick ; and
they all rejoiced at the Leopard's death.

IV. The Monkey and the Leopard's Daughter

There was once in the forest a Leopard, whose daughter
was the most beautiful in all the country. She was a good
hunter, very fleet of foot, and her marks were very bright and
clear. All the animals wished to marry her, but the old
Leopard wanted to keep her skill for himself; he therefore
refused all offers for his daughter, until the animals all came
to him and insisted that he should set a test, and let the
winner marry the daughter.

The Leopard then divided some land into equal-sized
patches, and said that his daughter should be the wife of the
one who could eat everything green in a patch between the
sunrise and sunset of one day.

On the appointed day all the animals gathered to watch

140 JUNGLE STORIES

the one who desired to try first for the beautiful Leopard.
The first to make the attempt was a small Antelope, but he
tripped round the patch, and ate daintily the youngest and
tenderest tips only of the shoots; and by the end of the day
no one could see that any animal had been feeding on it.

The next to try was a Goat, and though he could eat
almost anything, even he failed to clear the patch. Then
came the wild Pig, and he ate very greedily and made a big
clearance along one side of the patch. He ate and grunted
until he could not stand, and then he laid down and ate,
but he had to stop before the patch was cleared. The Elephant
then took his turn, and although he could tear up the grass by
the roots, he also failed to eat everything green on his patch.

The animals were going away in anger from the old
Leopard, who was jeering them because they had failed to win
his daughter, when a little blue-ftxced Monkey sprang forward
and said, "Please, Uncle Leopard, let me try." All the
animals forgot their anger, and began to laugh at the Monkey
for thinking he could succeed where they had all failed. The
Leopard, however, consented to his having a try for the great
prize. " I am always a thirsty little animal," said the Monkey,
*' so to-morrow when I am eating my patch you will let me go
and drink water?" He looked so small, and it seemed so
impossible for him to win, that they assented to his request.

Next morning the crowd of animals gathered to see the
Monkey eat ; but during the night the Monkey had gone
through the forest collecting all his friends and relatives, and
hiding them near the place of trial. As the sun rose the
Monkey began to eat his patch, and after a time he went off" to
the stream for a drink, and one of his friends took his place in
the patch. This continued all day long — as soon as one
Monkey was full he went to drink water, and another took his
place, and as the sun was getting very near to the ground the
Monkey ate the last blades of grass and leaves, and was pro-
claimed the winner of the beautiful Leopard as his wife. He
married her and took her away to his town.

CHAPTER XIII

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ^

THE young man in search of a wife must observe certain
customs regulating his choice. He must not marry any
of his father's wives ; or his sister ; or his maternal
cousins ; or his maternal nieces ; or the children of his sister ;
or his wife's sister, either before or after his wife's death ; or
his mother-in-law ; or his niece's step-mother ; or his step-
sister, for by the marriage of his father with his step-sister's
mother they have become brother and sister ; or his own
children. Among those not within the degree of prohibition
are second cousins, and the daughter of his daughter, and the
reason for the latter is that she belongs to her mother's family
and not to his family. Where father-right exists the degrees
of affinity and prohibition are very similar to our own ; but
where mother-right is strictly observed, as on the Lower
Congo, the degrees of affinity are closer and more extensive on
the mother's side than on the father's. The maternal relative
he must not marry, he is alloAved to marry, if she is only a
paternal one. There is no hard and fast rule, but it is
generally understood that the sons and daughters of one clan
should marry the daughters and sons of one other clan only,
and not intermarry with several different clans. By thus inter-
marrying within the limits of one clan they think better
treatment is ensured for the women of each clan.

Observing the above limitations, the young man who wants
to marry is not restricted in his choice to the women of his
own town or clan, but is free to select whom he likes. Having
set his heart on a certain girl, he is not allowed to speak to
her, or offer her any presents ; but to gain her, the first thing
See Appendix, Note III, p. 306, for list of kinship terms.

142 THE UNCLE

he has to do is to take a calabash of palm wine to the girPs
maternal uncle (ngudi a nkazi), and mention to him the desire
of his heart. Should the uncle listen favourably to his suit,
he thanks the young man for the wine, and drinks it ; but this
does not pledge him in any way to give him his niece in
marriage, it is simply a sign of goodwill. Having drunk the
wine, the uncle sets food and drink before the young man, and
without giving him a decided answer, he tells him to return on
a stated day.

On the appointed day the young man, carrying more palm
wine, revisits the girl's uncle, who having drunk the wine states
whether he is willing or not for him to marry his niece.
Should he be willing he informs the aspirant to his niece's
hand that he wants, as marriage money, 100, 200, or more
packets of blue pipe beads, according to the position of the
girl's family and the suitor's wealth (in a packet there are
one hundred strings of one hundred beads each, costing about
two shillings).^ This is a guarantee that the girl will be properly
treated. The word to marry is sompa= to borrow, to hire,
and this is the essence of the contract ; the man borrows or
hires the woman, and in return for the use of the woman he
lends, on his part, a certain amount of money to the woman's
family. One of the results of such a contract is that their in-
terests are rarely identical. The amount demanded as marriage
money is often haggled over and reduced ; but she is a proud
girl for whom a larger sum than usual is paid.

The man now counts over such wealth as he has in hand,
applies to his family to help him, and sets about trading,
working, &c. to make up the deficiency ; and when some
months later the uncle is informed that the marriage money
is ready, either in beads or their equivalent in goats, pigs,
powder, cloth, &c., he takes some palm wine and goes to the

^ About 1855 Nlemvo's father paid only fifty-five small, oval-shaped,
red beads for his wife (Nlemvo's mother). Sucli beads were then very
scarce and dear, but are now only worth ten a penny. In 1883 a woman
cost about thirty pieces of cloth, worth 2s. Vtd. invoice price, and G.v. at
San Salvador.

tenth

Locust Eating a Mouse

For/eitt

The locusts had swept the district of Ngangila clean of vegetation, and then becoming hungry
they started on insects, etc., and this locust was found with a mouse in its mandibles. The original
is in the liritibh Museum.

THE MARRIAGE MONEY 143

young man's town to count the marriage money. This is not
done without much chaffering about the value in beads of the
goats, pigs, &c., but being satisfactorily accomplished a day is
fixed for introducing the girl's father to his future son-in-law ;
and on that occasion both the uncle and the father take cala-
bashes of palm wine to the suitor, who, calling his friends as
witnesses, they all drink first the uncle's wine, and then the
father's, after which the marriage money is paid, and the
father, receiving his small portion, drops entirely out of all
subsequent proceedings. So far as the uncle, the father, and
the intending bridegroom are concerned the marriage arrange-
ments are completed ; but they cannot be consummated until
the mother gives her consent. If the mother thinks that the
girl is not old enough, i.e. that her daughter's breasts are not
properly formed, she withholds her permission. The girl may
cook and take food to her intended husband, but if he commits
fornication with her, without the consent of her family, he
forfeits all the money he has paid on her account, and no chief
will take his side to justify or help him. The people use a
proverb respecting this kind of fornication : " The sugar-
canes are rotten at the roots," i.e. the man is bad at heart.

The man seeking to marry soon, finds it wise to conciliate
the girl's mother, and gain her consent with small presents,
and much show of respectful deference ; otherwise, although he
will eventually receive the girl for whom he has paid the
marriage money, he will have in his mother-in-law a termagant
whose spiteful tongue will quickly destroy his domestic peace,
for by her constant nagging she will set her daughter against
him. While investigating domestic quarrels I have again and
again traced them to the mother-in-law, and then by further
inquiry it has come to light that the primary cause was that
the man was disrespectful to his future mother-in-law, and had
not recognised her by small, dutiful gifts.

A woman is not permitted to break her engagement of
marriage with a man. Should she, after betrothal, exhibit a
strong desire to resist the wishes of her family, they will tie
her up and send her bound to her husband. If, however, she

144 THE FIANCEE

wins them over, they can break off' the engagement by return-
ing the marriage money, and by paying one or two pigs as a
fine. Should the man desire to break oft' negotiations, he must
forfeit what he has paid on account, and also pay a fine of a
pig or goat, according to his circumstances, to the chief of the
girl's town. In the San Salvador district there were two girls
who were betrothed to be married to two men in the neigh-
bourhood. When the girl's mother was dying she called her
son, their brother, and told him that if ever he left the district
he was to take his sisters with him. By and by he wanted to
live in the Ngombe Lutete district, about five day's journey
from his home, so he called the two men and off'ered to return
the marriage money they had paid, but as they refused to ac-
cept it he had to obtain two other women and give them to
the men as substitutes for his sisters, and with each woman he
gave a pig, which was called " changing the name.""

Just before marriage the man will ask his fiancee how
many men she has been with since her betrothal. The number
of men before her engagement does not count. She may deny
that she has slept with any, but no one will believe her, and,
if she persists in the denial, he will threaten to test her by the
" ordeal of the bracelet " (see page 264). She will then confess
that she has been, say, with five men. The man, thereupon,
goes to the girl's family and complains that they have not
looked properly after her, for their daughter confesses that she
has slept with five diff'erent men, whose names are So-and-so.
The family calls these men, and if they acknowledge the truth-
fulness of the girl's statement they are mulct in a fine ranging
from five to twenty-five shillings in beads or their equivalent.
If they repudiate the charge as false they arc compelled, by
public opinion, to drink the "nkasa" ordeal, and thus prove
their innocence. In charges of this kind a woman's word is
always taken before a man's; and there is no redress for the
man under such an accusation except to take the ordeal, and if
it proves him guiltless, he can claim heavy compensation from
his accusers.

Among fairly well-to-do and rich families there is generally

THE WEDDING FEAST 145

a pretence of taking the wife by force. When all is settled the
bridegroom goes on the appointed day with a few of his male
friends to the bride's town ; and as they draw near they fire
guns, shout, and make as great a noise as possible. This is an
indication of the bridegroom's importance, and a method of
honouring the bride. On arrival at the girl's house there is
a sham struggle, and at last the girl is carried off kicking,
screaming, and protesting. This is what is called carrying, or
lifting the woman (nata nkento). On reaching his own town,
the bridegroom tells the young men to fetch the drums and
plenty of palm wine. The festivities last from two days to a
week, according to the wealth of the bridegroom ; great crowds
gather, much wine is drunk, many goats and pigs are killed and
eaten, and there is a frequent firing of guns. The bride goes
without food on the day before her marriage ; and the new wife
must not eat in the presence of her husband for three or four
months ; and even after this time has passed a woman rarely
eats before her husband, but takes her food round the corner
out of sight of the male members of her family, and eats it
either by herself, or with the other women and girls, and the
male children that are not old enough to eat with the men.
In fact men and youths consider it beneath their dignity to eat
with women and girls.

When the festivities are over, and the guests have gone,
the elders meet and give the girl into the hands of the new
husband, and they instruct them both in the presence of
witnesses. To the woman, they say : " You are to respect
your husband and his family, and you are to behave properly
in your house." Then turning to the man they say : " You
are to respect your wife and her family ; you must not speak
harshly to her, nor treat her as a slave, nor stamp on her
things, nor tread her beneath your feet." And speaking again
to the woman, they continue thus : " And you woman, you
have never had thieving or witch-palavers in the past, continue
without them, and conduct yourselves properly towards each
other."

Thereupon the man goes to one of the witnesses, and taking

146 THE CEREMONY

him by the wrist, he rubs a bullet on the palm of the witness's
hand, and says: "I have heard all the words spoken, and if I
destroy the marriage, may I die by this bullet."" The woman
also takes the same oath. When this ceremony is completed
the elders enter the house of the newly-married couple to
arrange the hearthstones, and to teach the bride concerning
her duties as a wife ; and also to see if the bridegroom is able
to consummate the marriage ; and should he be unable, the
marriage is broken off and the money returned. Sometimes,
on account of the shame, the marriage is not dissolved, but the
husband finds a suitable young man and permits him to have
intercourse with his wife, and should there be a child it is
treated by the husband as his own. After instructing the bride
and her husband the girPs relatives are sent off with all due
respect and with suitable presents. When the wife gives birth
to a child the father at once informs her family. It must be
remembered that where mother-right prevails the whole purpose
of the marriage arrangements is to increase the woman's family,
not the man's, and anything that helps to the attainment of this
object is sanctioned, and, on the other hand, everything that
stands in the way is used as a reason for breaking off the marriage.
The above describes the ordinary course that the marriage
negotiations take when a girl either likes the man, or, thinking
that one man is as good as another, treats the affair with
indifference. A man can generally tell whether or not he is
acceptable to the woman upon whom he has set his heart ; but
should he have any doubt on the matter, or if he is desirous of
an intrigue with a married woman, he goes to a medicine-man
(of the mbumha order; vilnLmba= secret^ mystery, magic), and
buys a love philtre. The medicine-man takes a bit of fowl's
claw, a piece of a certain shrub, a part of a particular kind of
water reed that has a root with a turpentine odour [nsaku-
nsaku), a piece of a large Calabar-like bean {ngongo), and some
seeds of a small gourd ; these ingredients he pounds and mixes
well together, and puts into a bottle of palm wine and hands
to his client, who takes the first opportunity of giving a portion
secretly to the woman whose love he desires. If she drinks it,

POLYGAMY 147

she will leave all to follow the man who paid for its prepara-
tion. The women have no love-philtre to attract the love of
the men they want,

A man may marry as many women as he can find the
marriage money for. By marrying several women he expects
to receive some profit from his share of his daughters' marriage
monies ; and as will be seen below, the wife is always worth
another woman, if she dies, or the money paid for her, and then
if she has daughters there is a share of their marriage money ;
so a man in marrying stands to gain considerably, and lose
nothing. While the man can have as many women as he can
afford, the woman, however, can have only one man ; and if
another man commits adultery with her, he has to pay a heavy
fine to her husband. Around San Salvador the husband keeps
the fine ; but in other parts the fine is divided between the
husband and his relatives. If the woman is sterile the man can
return her, and he receives either another woman from her
family, or his marriage money is returned. Mutual recrimina-
tions on this subject is the cause of much unhappiness among
the married folk on the Lower Congo ; but on the Upper
Congo, where father-right is the rule and other views of child-
bearing prevail, the matter is treated with indifference,

A woman on the Congo is the best gilt-edged security in
which a man can invest his surplus wealth. Pigs, goats, and
fowls may die, slaves run away, speculations in trading expedi-
tions may prove a failure, and thus he loses his money ; but he
rarely if ever loses the money he has invested in a wife.
Should she die he takes a calabash of palm wine and going to
her family, i.e. to her maternal uncle's family, he informs them
of the death, and demands another wife in the place of the
deceased. If the family has not another woman free for this
purpose then the marriage money must be returned in full;
but in making up the sum the woman's father does not return
the share he received, and the amount is collected without his
help. Arising out of this custom is a proverb running thus
" The father ' eats "* the money, but the uncle pays it," i.e. One
has the pleasure, but another bears the trouble.

148 A LOAN

Should, however, the husband die first, his family takes the
woman and she becomes the wife of one of his brothers ; if she
afterwards dies the one who has her for wife goes with a calabash
of palm wine to her maternal uncle, and asks for another wife,
or failing that the marriage money, paid by the deceased
brother, must be returned in full. This woman, or her
marriage money, is the inheritance he has received from his
dead brother. A second woman can be demanded on the death
of the first, and a third woman on the' death of the second, but
after the third woman dies all further claims die with her.
Of course, if the money is returned in full on the death of the
first wife, the contract is finished. The reason for these
demands is that the children of the wife do not belong to the
husband, but to the wife's family, and he has been breeding
children to increase another family than his own. He has
lent his money simply as a guarantee of good treatment of the
woman loaned to him, and from her death it is apparent that
she was not a sound article, therefore she must be replaced, or
the goods lent on her returned in full. If afterwards it is proved
that she died by witchcraft, that is not his affair; she and her
family should have protected her properly by charms, and the
employment of an efficient witch-doctor. A husband is not
responsible for keeping his wife in good health ; he neither pays
for her charms, her medicines, or her "doctor's" bill. She
does not belong to him, but is only loaned to rear children
for her family. This aspect of the marital relationship is
apparent from the following custom : When a woman be-
comes enceinte her family forbids all further intercourse with
her until she has weaned the child — a period of three or four
years — and then they take a calabash of wine to the husband,
and renew their permission. They believe that intercourse
during this period will harm the child, and dry up the supply
of milk, so that the baby will die from lack of proper nourish-
ment.

When a slave woman, whose owner belongs to one clan, is
married into another clan, she and her children do not belong
to the latter clan, for, it is said, " The clan name is not sold

SLAVE WOMEN 149

with the fee paid for the woman." At any time the children
can return to their mother's owner's clan, and take up their
privileges of clanship. Such children are called ana akwa
Kinlaza {Kinlaza being the name of the clan) ; but children born
of a free woman of the Kinlaza clan are known as est Kinlaza.
Just as a free woman's children belong to her brother, so a
slave woman's offspring — when she is married and not sold —
belongs to her master, who occupies in regard to her the same
position as a brother to a free woman.

A suckling baby is not charged for when its slave mother
is sold. If the price of a slave woman is 70*. and she has a
babe at her breast no extra money is given for her. " You
cannot buy a woman's milk " is the reason given for not paying
any extra price. When the child is old enough, it may return
to its father if it likes, but the father has no claim upon the
child. The same rule is observed in the selling of sheep, pigs,
and goats with suckling young ; no extra sum is charged, but
a man having such for sale would wait until the young one was
old enough to leave its mother. The child of a slave mother,
even by a free father, is a slave, and goes with the property ;
but the offspring of a free woman by a slave father is free, and
shares any property, because the family is counted through the
mother.

Is there much, or any, happiness in these polygamous
marriages? I have watched them closely for many years, I
have frequently in my capacity of impartial adviser had to
listen to the stories of their domestic discords, and recurring
quarrels, and for one really happy union there are ninety-nine
unhappy ones. There is in many cases a passion for a time,
but it quickly burns out, and then the man and woman are
fortunate if they can tolerate each other, and cross one another's
path in the family round without constant bickering and
nagging. When one or the other is meek and submissive the
union remains in force until death severs the bonds ; but when
both the man and the woman are strong-willed and obstinate
the tolerant spirit disappears, and a snarling, cat-and-dog life
is the result. Where the woman's family has money to spare

150 UNHAPPY MARRIAGES

they step in, and paying back the marriage money with an
extra sum as interest, they release the woman from her miser-
able position. As a rule, in these marriages, there is no affec-
tion to begin with, and generally a lack of that mutual respect
that might help them to bear with one another, hence in ninety-
nine of these marriages out of a hundred there is an absence of
all that we understand by domestic felicity. They are ignorant
of anything better, and the majority of the women and the
men stolidly accept things as they are concerning their marital
relationship. The Christian Church, however, has introduced
monogamy as a rule of membership, and this has opened up a
new vista to the Congo women ; and as they have looked
upon the life of these monogamous homes, there has been re-
vealed to them the vision of a happier home life, and a
pleasanter marital relationship.

In a former work,^ I fully discuss the relation of polygamy
to morality and child-bearing, and it is not necessary to repeat
here about the Lower Congo people what I there stated while
writing of the Upper Congo, for I then had the people as a
whole in mind ; but since writing that work, I have come
across Junod's book,^ and I find from his careful and extensive
study of polygamy among the Thonga tribe he fully confirms
my view that polygamy does not tend to morality, nor does it
make for large families.

* See Among Congo Cannibals, p. 134 et seq., published by Seeley,
Service & Co., for a full discussiou of this question.

2 Life of a South African Tribe, p. 273, by Henri A. Junod.

CHAPTER XIV

SALUTATIONS, BLESSINGS, AND CURSES

THE Congo people are very punctilious in their greetings
of each other, and any carelessness either in saluting or
responding is considered rude and discourteous in the
extreme, and is consequently resented. To greet is monana=
to see one another, or Tcayisa—to welcome.

On meeting the question is asked, " Have you slept ? "
{olele kzcakic e P), and the answer is, " I have slept" {ndele
hxmrne) ; or, " Have you eaten ? " (odidi IcxvaJai e ?), and the
suitable answer is, " I have eaten "" (ndidi kzcame). The tone
and emphasis put on the interrogative particle e indicates the
amount of goodwill and friendliness existing between the
persons thus greeting. Sometimes the equivalent of " good ""
{kivamhote) is introduced into both the question and answer,
but it scarcely takes the place of the amount of feeling that
can be put into the e of interrogation. Occasionally as a greet-
ing, especially to white folk, a mongrel "Good morning" is
heard expressed thus, " Morning good " {mene mene ambote) ;
but it is not so natural and pleasing as the proper native greet-
ings, and is not encouraged by those who desire to maintain
all that is best in native customs and ways.

On parting, those leaving say, " Abide well " (sala kiabiza),
and those staying behind respond, " Go well "" (zeenda Mabiza) ;
but women on bidding adieu to men and to women use in the
place of Mabiza a word (miangana) that means prettiness, smart-
ness, niceness. Hence their way of saying " Abide well," and
" Go well" is sala miangana, and nda miangana. Those who
are leaving the village for a journey, or returning to their
homes in another village, go round to their friends and ac-
quaintances to bid them farewell (kanina), and those whose

151

152 SALUTATIONS

friends are leaving "send them straight" {xind'ika), and if
they are desirous of showing special courtesy to the departing
ones they escort them on the road {jila mu njila). If it is
evening, the farewell phrase is, " Remain, and sleep well " {sala^
leka kiabiza), and the response is, " Go, and sleep well " {wenda,
leka kiabiza). To sleep well is regarded as a sign of good
health, and to eat is also an indication of the same.

Men on returning from a journey, or on a visit to the town,
are greeted with " We welcome you " (tukai/isi), or " We bless
you " {tiisambundi), and the reply is a very respectful, " Yes,
sir " (ingeta, or inga). Sometimes the greeting will be, " We see
each other "" {tumonana), when each person will clap three times.
No answer is given to a greeting that is considered to be im-
pertinent. When strangers or young friends pass one another
on the road a jocular greeting is given, which is equal to
" Divide up, give something" (mikaija), and is a joking way of
saying, " Stand and deliver," To this there are several answers,
such as, " I have nothing in my bag or I would give it to you " ;
or, " If you eat an antelope save me the skin," To a jocular
use of " We bless you" {tusambxvidi) the equally joking answer
is given, "I am on the tip of a palm frond"; and a laughing
reply to a woman"'s greeting of, " We wish you prettiness "
{tumiangana) is, "I have not anointed myself with palm oil,
or I might look pretty."

When an ordinary man goes into the presence of the King
of Kongo, he kneels on the ground at three points, at the en-
trance to the courtyard, at the door of the " palace," and im-
mediately in front of the King inside the house. The King
can see each of the former positions from his seat in the palace.
At the last place the man claps [sakila nkofi) four times. The
first clap {bimba mbimbu) is to call attention to himself and
to the fact that he is about to render homage {kujida) to his
majesty. He then puts the palms of his hands together, rubs
his two little fingers on the ground (xika o ntoto), and with
them makes a dirt mark {sono) on his forehead, temples, nose or
lips, and claps his hands three times ; this ceremony he repeats
three times. And to each series of three claps the King re-

AT COURT 153

spends by laying his right hand across the palm of his left,
palm to palm, so that the four fingers of the right hand are well
above the side of the left hand, and those four fingers he waves
to and fro. This indicates the acceptance of the homage
{tamhida e hensawji) by the King ; but if the man has displeased
him in some small way, or is a mere nobody, the King will
simply extend one hand and wave the fingers in a careless, in-
different fashion. The man, receiving such disrespectful notice
of his homage, will carefully review his actions to find out
wherein he has offended his majesty, and he will perhaps re-
member that he made certain profits on a trading journey, or a
business transaction, and had forgotten to send the King a share
— the matter is quickly and wisely remedied. Should the King
for some big reason resent the homage being paid to him, he
will thrust out his foot and move his toes as a sign of his anger,
and for the man who sees the Kings's toes move instead of his
fingers, the sooner he removes himself out of the King\s pre-
sence, and the greater distance he goes, the better it will be for
his health, unless he is able to send an exceedingly large present
to appease the wrath of the King.^

Slaves and very common people will go through the form
of paying homage at each of the three places at which they
kneel as they approach the King ; and even an ordinary man
will do it, if he thinks that by this extra show of servility he
can ingratiate himself with the King. Chiefs and nobles will
sometimes make a perfunctory show of paying homage by a
kind of bow as they approach him, and then sitting down in
front of him and rubbing their fingers in the dirt and clapping.
His near relatives will sit down and simply clap. His wives
according to their position, and the degree in which they are
in his favour, will be more or less ceremonious in the observance
of the rites of homage.

When an ordinary man salutes a chief, he performs the
above ceremony twice only, and the chief answers twice in the
same manner as the King. To a high noble, who is not the

^ This method of paying homage to the King is mentioned very briefly
in the chapter on "Court Etiquette and Native Functionaries."

154 COMMON SALUTATIONS

chief of a village or town, the ceremony is observed once only.
Near relatives of the King may sit on seats, chairs, &c., in his
presence, but all others must sit on the ground : mats or skins
are allowed, but nothing that will raise them above the earth.
Thirty years ago the King would not permit a man to own a
European chair for use in his own house in the town ; a man
who exchanged a goat for one with a trader he threatened to
accuse of witchcraft unless he got rid of the chair, which he
accordingly did.

When equals and relatives meet, they clap once only to
each other, slightly stooping as they do so. It should be
stated that a native clap is different from our clapping — they
slightly arch the hands and bring them together across each
other so that the top of the right thumb is at the base of the
left thumb, the concussion of the air thus enclosed giving a
different sound to our smacking when we clap our hands.
Strangers meeting simply clap hands to each other; and I
have seen the following salutation between acquaintances : the
men met and deliberately sat down, they clapped to each other,
crossed their hands so that the right and left hands of each
took the right and left hands of the other, they raised their
hands and dropped them loosely. This clapping and touching
of hands they solemnly repeated three times, and then began
to talk.

On saying good-bye to each other, they pretend to spit on
the forehead and hands of the departing one, and on some
grass, which after being spat upon, they stick in the hair of
the beloved one leaving them. The former is to bring good
luck, and the grass is to keep away evil spirits.

There are two kinds of spitting: 1. Taulwila nsamhu is to
spit a blessing, or to express a blessing by pretending to spit
on the beloved one, as a parent on a child, Si.c. When this is
done the one %vho blesses says, " May you possess all that a
person should have, may you have blessings and good luck, and
may your words find favour with the people." {Ovwa kiuma
kiavwidi rnuntu, ovwa nsamhu yo malau, xvata diamine ditoixda
muntu). This form of blessing is gret^tly valued by children,

BIDDING FAREWELL 155

but it is not lightly given by the parent. 2. Taulwila mete
is to expectorate saliva at anyone, and being equal to a curse
it is bitterly resented by the person spat upon.

When a number of people ai-e leaving a town to build
elsewhere, or to live in another village, the folk remaining wish
them good health, good journey, luck, &c., and finish by
saying, " Do not any of you return to bewitch us." Those
leaving reciprocate the good wishes, and wind up with the
remark, " Do not any of you follow us to bewitch us."" And
when a caravan is starting on a trading expedition, the members
of it say to those left in the town, " Good health, and let no
one follow us to give us bad luck in trading," and those left
behind reply, " Good journey, and do not any of you return to
bewitch us, or carry us to sell to the white trader." The idea
underlying these requests is that a living person who is a
witch (ndohi) can visit a place by his evil spirit {nkwiya)^
and take a person away by witchcraft. The spirit {nkxvlya)
can leave its possessor for evil purposes when he is either asleep
or awake, and can travel any distance to accomplish its object.
The shell (evuvu) of the person is left behind while his spirit
takes the journey. The people in the town, or belonging to
the caravan, will see the shell — the body, the semblance of the
man who is a witch — with them, and acting like a human
being, yet his spirit, they believe, has gone on its evil errand.
Hence these requests to each other not to be followed and be
bewitched.

To curse (siba) a child or a near relative who is very bad,
obstinate, or self-willed, the curser cuts off a piece of his own
cloth, wraps some of his hair in it, and burning the little
bundle, he says, " You shall never have children, or you shall
never become rich." The children are terribly afraid of these
curses, and every cut, accident, illness, or bit of bad luck is
placed to the credit of the curse. Perhaps after a time the
boy (or girl) alters his conduct, and becoming more amenable
to his father's wishes, he expresses a desire to have the curse
removed. The father puts three small heaps of dust on each
knee, and as the child kneels down before him, the father says,

156 CURSES

" I forgive you ; I did not curse you in my heart, but only with
my tongue, and now from this time have many and strong
children, and become rich." The lad shakes or blows off each
heap of dust from the knees, and the curse is removed. Should
the father die before the lad wishes to have the curse removed
he seeks out a namesake of his father, with whom the latter
was on friendly terms, and taking a fowl to him, he asks him to
remove the curse, which he does in the way described as though
he were the father.

Should a girl want to marry a man of whom her family
does not approve, or refuses to marry one whom they think
suitable, and persists in her opposition to their wishes, they
put a curse on her (dia e kandu — eaX a refusal), which is an
absolute and final refusal to agree with her wishes, and a ban
or interdiction on her desires ; and such an one is called the
child of the curse (mwan' a kandu). And here again every bit
of misfortune that may befall she puts down to the curse that
is on her. Lads who desire to take a course in opposition to
their parenfs wishes are also banned by the same curse. We
have had boys in our Wathen school who have had two or
three small illnesses, or some nasty knocks while playing at
hockey (such cuts and wounds were common to all the lads
plaving), who have come to us and said that they were
" children of the curse " as they had come to school against
the expressed wishes of their parents, and that they would not
be well, or they would not escape the whacks at hockey, until
they had returned home, and gained their families'' consent to
attend school. The same superstition prevails among adults
who are persisting in a course opposed either to their family or
to the wishes of the village folk.

The most solemn way of cursing a family, a clan, or a town,
and of promulgating a law is that curse {kandu) pronounced
at the junction of two roads, and confirmed by rubbing the
mouth in the dust, and striking the knees with one's hands.
No one will risk the terrible misfortune that will follow the
breaking of a law thus proclaimed ; and any family, clan, or
town thus cursed will tremble until they either procure its

A GRAVE INSULT 157

removal, or secure the services of a great medicine-man to
nullify its effect.

To hit or kick against another's foot in passing, if in-
tentional, is equal to a curse, and will cause a bad quarrel ; but
if it is done accidentally the man asks for pardon, and will turn
round and lightly touch the foot again, to undo, or nullify the
curse. Hence a person in walking out of a sitting crowd will
be most careful to avoid, if at all possible, stepping over the
legs or feet of others. To place one's hand on the shoulder ot
another person while rising is also resented as an insult. The
showing of the sole of the foot to a person is considered ex-
tremely rude, and to touch another with the sole of the foot is
bitterly resented. For showing the sole of the feet when sitting
before a great chief, people have been beaten, enslaved, and
even killed. Visitors who have been sitting in a town must
not brush the dust and dirt off their clothes until they get
outside the town, as such an action is regarded as putting a
curse on the town. Among adults, both men and women,
reviling, abusing, cursing and swearing are very common — the
women being especially glib with their tongues, and there is a
wide vocabulary at their disposal. Among boys and girls the
most common curse is, " Cry for mother," which means, " May
your mother die and give you cause for mourning." I have
seen small boys maddened by the repetition of such a curse,
and in their rage they have rushed at boys twice their size in
an attempt to fight them for uttering such things about their
mother.

CHAPTER XV

A SECRET SOCIETY— COUNTRY-OF-THE-DEAD

THE raison d'etre for the Congo secret societies is lost in
the dim and distant past. It may be that they were
started to hold in check some tyrannical chiefs who
were oppressing the people, or to give mutual protection to
their members from the exactions of an upstart class of nobles
who wished to grind down the common people, or to afford
their members mutual support against charges of witchcraft
and the evil designs of witch-doctors, or to rid the country of
witches, who were regarded as the cause of death, disease, and
troubles ; or it may be they were organised to render aid to
their members in their travels about the country for trade and
other purposes, like some of our present-day guilds in Europe.
On the other hand, they may have originated from a desire to
oppress rather than to resist oppression, from a wish to extort
money from non-members, and to levy illegal tolls on trade
caravans — as the nkimha guild used to do ; or to gain an
opportunity to satisfy lustful passions — which opportunity they
certainly had in the ndembo society.

There was cohesion amongst the members of the various
branches of a society ; but not between the members of the
different societies. Membership in one guild gave no privi-
leges in another guild. The members of each society were
called nganga,OY "the knowing ones."" Sometimes there was a
veneer of mystery spread over their actions, their languages,
and their rites and ceremonies, and in some cases a good deal
of fetish palaver. With their mysteries I do not think they
deceived any but themselves, and, if the uninitiated natives
accepted their statements and recognised their privileges, it was
from fear and not from faith. The spread of missionary

158

NAMES OF THE SOCIETY 159

teaching and education, and the opening up of the country by
the influx of so many white men, have given a fatal death-thrust
to these guilds, so that one seldom hears of them now, whereas
twenty-five years ago they were a fruitful subject of con-
versation.

It is stated by some travellers that the ndemho and
nkimba secret societies have to do with circumcision, or
puberty rites ; but after a careful investigation over a lengthy
period, and many conversations with members of those guilds,
I have not found that they have anything to do with either of
them.

The first secret is known as either ndemho, or nkita, or
nsi a fwa. Ndembo is probably a derivative of the verb
lemba, which means to deliver from the influence of evil
and from the spells of sorcery. It will be seen that those who
enter ndembo do so to escape from an epidemic of sickness, or
to cure themselves of some malformation, or disease, or to have
their functions restored to a normal condition that will enable
them to give birth to children. Nkita is a fetish that is re-
sponsible for all crooked and deformed things. Any abnormal
event, such as a child being born by presenting its feet first,
is put to the credit of nkita. Nkita is the power in the
lodge that can remove deformities, and as infecundity is re-
garded as abnormal and a deformity, the sterile person, man or
woman, has only to enter the ndembo lodge to have the disgrace
removed. This is done by giving the initiated a new body.
And the third name used for this society is nsi a fzca., and
means the country-of-the-dead, because those who were initiated
into it were supposed to die, and remain dead for a period
varying from six months to three years.

The ndembo guild was very widespread throughout the
Lower Congo, but I never met with it anywhere on the Upper
River. To start a branch of this Society it was necessary to
have an albino (or some hair of an albino), who, whether a child,
lad, or an adult, was the acknowledged fetish head of it.
Failing an albino then the hair of such was procured, and the
part was supposed to have the magical powers of the whole, or,

160 REASONS FOR STARTING A LODGE

to state it, perhaps, more fairly, the presence of the albino's
hair in the lodge was to the natives a guarantee that the magi-
cal, curative powers of the albino were really present. The
doctors of the nkau order were at the head of the lodges be-
longing to this secret society.

The ostensible reason for starting a ndemho society in a
district was an epidemic of sickness, and the idea was to go into
the ndembo lodge to die and after an indefinite period to be
resurrected with a new body not liable to the disease then
troubling the country side. A dearth of children was also
another cogent reason for starting a ndembo society ; and it was
believed that good luck in having children would attend those
who entered and "died ndembo." But the underlying idea
was the same, i.e. to get a " new body " that would be healthy
and perform its functions in a normal manner.

The lodge (vela) was always located in a large, dense forest,
and the entrance to it was a properly-made gate of planks
painted yellow, blue, and red. The site selected was stockaded
with palings to keep out intruders, and was within easy access
of water. The uninitiated might walk on the public road
across the forest, but if they were found on the bye-paths or
hunting in the forest, they were caught, flogged, and heavily
fined, and sometimes killed. The uninitiated were not allowed
to look upon those who were said to "die ndembo," and there-
fore when the initiated were going about the forest outside the
lodge, or were on their way to a neighbouring stream, a drum
was beaten to keep the common folk away, and to warn off all
possible Peeping Toms.

When the lodge was ready to receive tho.se who desired
to enter it, a witch-doctor {ngangu) gave the sign, and the
person to be initiated fell in some public place — such as a
market or the centre of the town — and feigned death. A funeral
cloth was then spread over him or her, and he was carried
to the entrance (mpimzu) of the stockade, and the " doctors "
themselves carried the novice into the lodge or collection of
huts. The novice was then said to have " died ndembo."
When the novice fell to the giound the "doctor" beat the
earth round the " dead" with plantain stalks, chanted incaiitii-

The Nsambi

I^e7j. F, Oldrieve

This is the only musical instrument allowed in the " lodge "oi the
secret society of the Country-of-the-dead, when the supposed dead
engage in their dances.

^-'•"'^y A Cat's Cradle P'oj r sta.,-

Prof. Starr collected over sixty different designs in cats' cradles among the Congo tribes. The
above is a Lower Congo one known as ihe Ghosts' beds.

MEMBERS SUPPOSED TO DIE 161

tions, fired off guns, and danced about in a most fantastic
fashion. This undoubtedly excited the emotionally inclined
persons present, and one after another would fall in pretended
death, and sometimes hysteria was induced that resulted in
some falling into a true cataleptic state. Young people and
adults of both sexes would drop, feigning death, to the number
of 50, 60, 100, or more until the lodge was full. Those ac-
quainted with the emotional, impressionable nature of the
negro will have no difficulty in recalling similar instances of
widespread hysteria at so-called revivals in the West Indies,
and exhibited also in voodooism.

In the lodge the inhabitants were supposed to die, and
their bodies to decompose until of each body only one bone
remained, and of those particular bones the " doctors" had to
take the greatest possible care. The people who had relatives
in the lodge had to take a fair quantity of food every day or
two to feed, so it was said, the " doctors " who turned the
bodies as they decayed, and guarded the various bones after the
flesh had rotted away. If the relatives had neglected to take
food, but were members of a powerful family, i.e. a family able
to avenge foul play, then their relative in the lodge had a
special " resurrection " all to himself, or herself, and was
returned to the town and specially instructed by the " doctor ""
in the things he should know, and the secrecy to be observed.
If the neglected one, however, belonged to a small, weak
family, he or she was taken away and sold in some distant
market or town, and as a consequent fear of this possibility
those having relatives in the ndemho lodge were very careful
to contribute a fair share of food to the common stock.

" No cloths are worn in the lodge, for ' there is no shame
in ndemho'' ; the bodies of the novices are rubbed with red
ochre, arnatto red, or powdered camwood. Both sexes live
together, and the grossest immoralities are practised ; in this
respect, however, some districts are worse than others, but the
King of Kongo, long before missionaries went to his town, had
prohibited the custom in and around San Salvador, as too vile
to be permitted ; and for the same reason it is not allowed in
some other places.

162 THE SECRET LANGUAGE

" In the lodge an attempt is made to teach a secret language.
The vocabulary is small, and very feeble in ingenuity. Some
articles are called by fancy names, many being very simple in
construction: the eye is called nembwejw = ihe lord of sight;
the ear Jiengzcnla= the lord of hearing. Many words are ob-
scured by adding a prefix ne to them, with I'wa at the end of
the word: nediambidzva—dtainbu=Si word, or palaver. A few
fancy verbs are substituted for the commonest actions, as
yahJa for ]cwenda=io go,"^ and so forth.

" Kizengi is the name for the language of the ndemho
society. Where there is no special word the ordinary Congo
word is preceded by the syllable we, and when it is desired
further to hide it Iwa is added, e.g. ke diambti ko mbazi tukxcenda,
i.e. * all right, we will go to-morrow,' appears thus : ke nedi-
ambulwa ne ko ne kiayi kia nengimdiL yalala tukwenda ne
ngyakbla.'''"^ Then follows a list of thirty or forty words and
their meanings. I may say that during my investigations I
have checked these observations of Dr. Bentley and found them
correct.

If a person tried to run away from the lodge he (or she)
was brought back and the escapade was forgiven once ; but if
he attempted it a second time he was taken away to some far-
distant town by night and sold as a slave. A goatskin was
put over the head of the unfortunate one, so that he might not
be recognised if they had to pass a town or market during the
day, or if they met his relatives on the road. The ''doctors"
gave out that the " ghosts " {matombola) had taken him away,
and although they had searched the forest thoroughly they
could not discover his body. When a person really died in
the lodge his relatives were also told that the "ghosts" had
stolen the person's body, or the bone that represented the body.^

When a woman was enciente before entering the lodge, or

^ Bentley, Pioneering on the Congo, vol. i. p. 286 ; 1900.

* Beutley, Appendix to the Dictionary and Grammar of the Congo
Language, 1895.

^ My friend, Dr. Mercier Gamble, has two spikes that were used for
driving up the nostrils of those who tried to escape from tlio lodge.
This was resorted to when selling the runaway as a slave was too risky
to attempt.

GROSS LIFE OF THE LODGE 163

became so while in there, and eventually gave birth to a child,
they could perceive the illogic of a " dead woman " giving
birth to a baby, so to remove that difficulty they said, " The
child broke through the stomach of the woman directly she
' died,' " and to prove their assertion thev showed a large scar on
the woman's stomach. This scar was made by putting some
gunpowder on the stomach and exploding it. The burn gave
a large cicatrix which lent colour to their story.

The life lived in the lodge by the men and women, and
boys and girls, was a purely animal one, in whch they gave full
license to their lowest passions. Obscene dances were encour-
aged by the •' doctors," and the sexes were allowed to mix as
freely as their worst passions prompted. On account of the
gross immoralities practised, these places at times excited the
better class of people to rise against them and clear them out
of their districts. I came across one lodge in 1883 about half
a day's journey south of San Salvador. It was in a dense part
of the forest, with a gaudily-painted entrance about 200 yards
from the path.

As the fee for entering or " dying ndembo " was small,
only one fowl per person, and on leaving 100 strings of blue
beads (the fowl and beads were worth in all about three
shillings), the advantages to the " doctors " for starting and
running such a place are not at first apparent. A certain
amount of trouble and outlay were necessary, at least in
commencing a lodge. A few huts had to be built for the first
batch of novices, even if the later arrivals built the rest.
There was the stockade to erect, and the planks and pigments
for the gateway to be paid for by some one. The " ndembo
doctor ^ had to have subordinate " doctors " or assistants to
help him in looking after the initiated, and to guard them
from escaping, &c. I think the following are among some of
the possible advantages accruing to the " doctor," the albino,
and the assistants from instituting a ndembo lodge : the folk
took good supplies of food to their relatives who had " died
ndembo"; and the " doctor" and his helpers had the pick of
the food for themselves, as they were the only ones who could
go where the food was deposited. They had free quarters as

164 MEDICINE-MAN'S PROFITS

long as the lodge lasted, which might be six months or three
years. The surplus food was sold on the market, and they
shared the money. Any uninitiated persons caught near the
stockade or on the bypaths of the forest were fined heavily ;
and any novices who repeatedly tried to escape were sold as
slaves, and very probably others who did not try to get away
were sold to enrich the "doctor" and his accomplices — it was
so easy to say that the "ghosts" had taken such persons.
Then, again, as the novices feigned death very often on the
markets, and had on their best clothes and ornaments when
they entered the lodge, and as they lived in nakedness in the
lodge, and were supplied with new clothes by their friends when
the time came for their " resurrection," their clothes and orna-
ments became the perquisites of the "doctor "and his assist-
ants. Lastly, all those who had been under the " doctor " in
the lodge most probably became his clients and called for his
aid whenever they were sick, &c., after leaving the lodge, and
in that way he built up a profitable business connection.

" Ndemboy under the spell of which they had passed, is
considered to be a powerful fetish ; twisted roots and singular
distortions of plant life are the symbol of ndemho — hunch-
back, club-foot, and other malformations, are attributed to
ndemho. At times ndemho is spoken of as being something
more than a fetish ; it is said that he haunts certain woods as
a demon, and I have been warned not to go into those woods,
lest I too should suffer at the hands of the demon." ^

Those initiated into this secret society receive new names,
which they retain for life, for they are of a very complimentary
character — implying fair, beautiful, light-skinned, &c. There
are certain names peculiar to this society, and there are others
that are never used. While living in the lodge a member may
not be accused of witchcraft, nor is he supposed to be suscep-
tible to the witchcraft of others. But when the members have
left the lodge and are living in the town, they are in the same
position as other people as regards witchcraft. This accords
with the ordinary practice, that no absentee from a town can
be charged with witchcraft.

' Beatley, I'iuneeriuij on the Couyo, vol. i. p. 2157.

PROCESSION OF THE INITIATED 165

As already stated, the duration of a lodge is very indefinite
— from three or six months to two or three years. It must be
remembered that the lodge is started to counteract an epidemic
of sickness, and when the epidemic has passed away there is
no longer any ostensible reason for its continuance, and there-
fore a day for the "resurrection" is fixed by the "doctor.""
Again, the food supply may fall off for various reasons: the
epidemic having passed, the folk refrain from taking food to
the lodge, and thus they give a hint to the " doctor " to
" resurrect "" their relatives ; or too many novices may be taken
by the " ghosts," and those outside stop the supplies and thus
close the place; or the relatives of the novices may, after a
few months, become weary of travelling long distances every
day or two with heavy baskets of food and bunches of plantain,
so the general supplies become indifferent and irregular, and the
"doctor" takes the hint and appoints the "resurrection" day.

Parents and relatives pay the fee of 100 strings of beads
each for those belonging to them in the lodge, and send fine
clothes for them to w^ar, and camwood powder to redden their
skins as a sign of beauty. It is announced well in advance
that at a certain market, in the neighbourhood of the lodge, the
initiates, now called knowing ones, will appear. The whole
country-side assembles to witness the sight, to welcome and
receive their relatives " back to life." By and by the sound
of music is heard, and the procession approaches ; all the in-
dividuals in it are dressed in bright, showy clothes, skins well
dusted with camwood powder, and with tassels of palm fibre
dangling from their arms. The procession marches round the
market-place with stolid, indifferent faces. In the crowd
parents recognise their children in the procession, and boys
and girls point out their sisters and brothers, and excitedly
call out their names ; but not a face in the procession lights up
with recognition, not a muscle moves to express delight, for
these " resurrected " ones are not supposed to know anything
of their former life, or relatives and friends. Any one showing
feeling or recognition is liable to a flogging, or a heavy fine, or
in some cases even death. They have been well schooled for
this hour, so the procession solemnly passes round the crowd.

166 IGNORANCE OF THE INITIATED

There may be in the throng a mother or a sister, not seen
perhaps for a year or more, but no sign must be made. Some
scan the gathering for faces that are absent, for faces that will
never appear again on the market-place, and the sorrow of death
and bereavement pierces the heart of the initiated one in the
procession, but no tear must fall, and no relaxation of the face be
shown. At last the march round is finished, and the " doctors "
introduce the " resurrected " ones to their relatives and friends.

Those who " die ndembo " are supposed not to know any-
thing, or anybody they knew previous to their entrance into
the lodge. They pretend not to know their parents, or their
brothers and sisters, or their relatives, friends, and former
acquaintances. Their mother tongue is new to them, and
their town, houses, roads, &c. are all supposed to be wiped clean
from their minds. The "doctors" introduce them to their
parents, families, &c., tell them the names of the various people
about them, show them about their towns, point out to them
the various paths — " this one to the river where you get water,
this to the forest, this to the farm, and these to the different
markets," and so on ; and they also teach them the names of
the articles about the house and village, and their uses. A
heavy punishment is laid upon those who in a careless, forgetful
moment show that they know anything or anyone not brought
to their notice by one of the " doctors." Sometimes the punish-
ment is a severe beating, and at other times the fine of a fowl,
or a goat, or a pig is inflicted, and even death threatened and,
I believe, it has been actually visited upon those who by negli-
gence divulged the secrets of the society.

After leaving the lodge the initiated are accompanied, for
a time, by one of the " doctors." They demand gifts of the
people they meet, want everything they see, act like children
or lunatics, a.nd try to s.eize the thing they desire, and, if it
is refused, will attempt to beat or even kill the person who
refuses them. If the "doctor" is with them he will stop
them at once, not allowing them to go to extremes, for he is
responsible for their actions while with them. If, however,
the "doctor" is not with them the person attacked may defend
himself with any weapon he has to hand. These initiated folk,

LAWLESSNESS OF THE INITIATED 167

who have only recently left the lodge, are supposed to be
children just "resurrected,"" not knowing any better. They
are irresponsible, and not accountable for their actions. So
well do they play their part that food has to be masticated
for them, and they have to be fed like babies. This pretended
irresponsibity opens the door for many abuses. Two or three
of these ndemho folk may meet an unarmed, uninitiated person
and rob him, giving a part of the proceeds of their robbery
to the " doctor " for vanishing at the convenient moment.
Quite recently I was speaking to a man who was thus attacked
near Saji Salvador by two ndemho folk, but he was able to beat
them off. The " doctor " demanded a fine from him for beating
them, but he refused to pay it, and put in a counter-claim
against the "doctor" because he was drinking in the town
instead of looking after his people. He did not receive com-
pensation, but neither did he hear any more about the fine.

After a short time the excitement of the " resurrection "
and the interest in the resurrected ones passes away, and they
are expected to know better, and are dealt with according to
the laws of the district if they play any more tricks.

In the lodges drum and horn trumpets are not allowed, for
it would be somewhat absurd to play such instruments to the
" dead." But when the inmates of the lodges desire to dance,
a comparatively quiet instrument called nsambi is used. It is
harp-like in tone, and is played with a small piece of splinter.
The accompanying sketch was made from a small one in my
possession. The music would not be heard very far in the forest,
but it served the purpose of giving time to the dancers. This
musical instrument must never be seen by the uninitiated. The
strings are called minza, and are made by scraping down the
hard outer bark or casing of the palm tree. The player is named
nemhimbi. When any of the novices left the lodge for fetching
firewood, water, &c. a drum was beaten to warn the uninitiated
not to enter the forest, but the drum was never taken inside the
stockade. In the Ngombe Lutete district the ndembo society
goes by the name of Jcimpasi, and in the Zombo district east of
San Salvador, there are many obscene things done as the proces-
sion marches round the market-place on the " resurrection " day.

CHAPTER XVI

A GUILD, BACHELOR\S CLUB, AND
CIRCUMCISION

WHEN at Mpalabala, a town near Matadi, in 1889 I
had my first sight of the nJcimba — a secret society for
males only. I then saw six of the brotherhood in
their queer dress quite near to the house in which I was stay-
ing, and heard their strange trill mingled with yells, screams,
and the rustling of their grass skirts. On one occasion I had
to pay them black mail for permission to pass with my carriers.
This I should not have done had not my carriers been returning
by the same route a few days later without me, when they
would have had to face alone the full vengeance of the guild,
so for their sakes I submitted to be fleeced.

Dr. Bentley in his Pioneeiing on the Congo, vol. i. page
282, has the following account of the nkimba guild, which as it
contains nearly all the information I have gathered, I tran-
scribe in full. One or two other items of importance that I
have gained deal with a mode of entrance to the lodge, and the
" doctor " who presides over it. At the head of every lodge
was a " doctor " of the ebaku order, who superintended the
spinning of the novices who wished to be initiated into the
nkimba mysteries. Ebaku means an old man, an elder, and
it was his duty to look after the novices while they were in the
lodge, and to teach them the arts of the guild, the way to make
the peculiar trill of the guild, and the secret language. And
when the novice was ready to enter the lodge, this " doctor '"
spun him round and round until he became giddy and fell un-
conscious to the ground, and in that state he was carried into
the lodge. This was the most common method of stnpetying

THE FEE AND DRESS 169

the candidate, and not by the administration of a drug, which
was the exception. The "doctor" also taught his pupils how
to make their skirts of palm frond or dried grass on the hoops.

To quote Dr. Bentley: "The nkimba custom appears to
have been introduced from the coast in comparatively recent
times, and spread up the Congo for some two hundred miles,
and for some fifty miles south of it. Its professed object is
the suppression of witchcraft, and the catching of witches. It
resembles Freemasonry in many respects, and like its European
cousin, delights in enshrouding itself in mystery.

" The initiatory fee is two dollars' worth of cloth and two
fowls. This paid, the novice presents himself at a ' home ' in
the jungle away from the town. He is given a drug which
stupefies him, and when he recovers consciousness he is in the
'home.' He finds his fellow nl'imba wearing a crinoline of
palm frondlets, and their bodies whitened with pipeclay. No
one is allowed to speak the local dialect, a made-up language
of their own being spoken ; and the novice who ventures to
speak anything else is soundly beaten. The secret language is
fairly well developed ; many of the words are modifications of
Kongo words, others are very different. The grammatical
rules of Kongo are very closely followed. A nkimba friend at
Stanley Pool, finding that I knew some words, enabled me to
complete a list of about 200. He was far from home, so he
ventured to break the rule of the guild ; had it been known, it
would have cost him his life, for the secret is very closely kept.
Five words and a sentence will suffice for an example of the
character of the secret language.

English,

Kongo.

Nkimba.

A feather

Lnsala

Lusambwa

To give

Vana

Jana

Togo

Kivejida

Diomva

Animal fit for food

Mbki

N/iubusi

Maize

Masa

Nzimvu (perhaps from
nge7nvo = the beard
of maize).

170 SUPPOSED OCCUPATION

English. Fetch us some water to drink.
Kongo. Bong' o maza tzmnua kxveto.
Nkiiiiba. Dinfila ngolnnnea tutefa Tcubwefo.

"Only males are admitted to the guild. They live apart
for a period varying from six months to two years, and in this
time they thoroughly learn the secret language. They always
wear their distinctive dress and paint ; and in the daytime
they wander in the woods and jungle, where they are supposed
to dig for roots, and learn the botany of charms and spells.
Sometimes they hang about the main roads and molest pas-
sengers, beating them with sticks ; hence when their strange
trill call is heard, everyone runs away and hides. They are
much feared by the uninitiated, and in the early days of our
transport they were a trouble to our carriers. If they catch
any one, there must be no resistance to robbery, or a severe
beating and heavy fine will be the result. At night they rush
yelling about the town and neighbourhood, pretending to
hunt for witches, and woe betide the common native caught
outside his house. The simple people rejoice that there
is such an active police against witches, maladies, and all
misfortunes.

" When the period of initiation is over, the nkimba becomes
a full brother (mbwamvu anjafa), and returns to ordinary
life. His brother nkivihas help him in trade, travel, and
difficulties, and many advantages accrue to him. It is a clique
which hangs well together; in this the guild is much like
Freemasonry. So far so good ; but there is another side to it :
it is a gross imposition, and its effect is to bind a man more
closely to superstition and heathen custom, any attack upon
which is an attack upon his craft and guild. It is a good
thing that it is now dying out, and that nkimhas are seldom
seen in many parts where once they were common ; but in old
times the custom had its uses in checking the greed and
violence of chiefs, and establishing a helpful brotherhood among
a wild and wicked people. At the same time, the guild could
become a tyranny, and in some places it sought to monopolise

MEMBERS' POWER 171

trade. The first opening up of the country seemed to spread
the guild ; but now that there is so much security in the land,
it has become unnecessary, and is fast becoming obsolete. The
nTcimba mystery has nothing to do with circumcision, as some
have said."

The following passage, also from Bentley's Pioneering on the
Congo^ vol. i. p. 451, is interesting as showing the widespread
influence of the nkimba guild when it was in full force :

" The next day Messrs. Comber and Hartland went up to
the Vunda towns on the hills. As they drew near, the natives
came in force to attack them. Comber shouted to them to
come and talk. Their only reply was ' Go away ! ' He told
them he wanted to build on the headland ; but they would not
hear of it. ' Go away ! go away ! '' was all that they would say.
Comber did not like to take ' No "* for an answer, and began to
walk towards them. They spread out and prepared for a
serious attack. Just as things began to be critical, a man of
Manteke, who had been engaged by Comber, ran forward
towards the people. He was a nkimba, and uttered the strange
trill of the guild. Guns were lowered, and they gathered
round him, for more than half the warriors were brother
nkimbas. By the nkimbcis influence hostilities at once ceased,
and the natives, on finding that the white men could talk their
language and wished to do them no harm, gave permission
for the building of the station on the site desired by the
missionaries."

The nzo a mbongi^ or nzo a toko, was a house for lads
and unmarried men, or bachelor's club. Boys, on reaching
the age of twelve, had to live in such a house, whether cir-
cumcised or not, and, if uncircumcised, had to take the next
opportunity of submitting to the rite. The small boys fagged
for the big ones, fetching firewood and water and keeping the
place clean. If they refused to do this work, their faces
were tied up, and they were not allowed to sit near the fire, or
to join in the talk of the others. The boys were permitted to
hold conversation with their mothers, sisters, and families, but,
on receiving their share of the family food, they had to take it

172 BACHELORS' HOUSE

to the men's house and eat it there. Boys went from these
houses to the circumcision lodge, and returned after the lodge
was broken up at the end of the season. There was no special
teaching beyond listening to the talk of the older, unmarried
men. The boys had not to reveal what they saw there. Un-
betrothed girls visited the house in the dark by arrangement
with the young men, but were not allowed to talk about the
secrets of the place. Many of those who lived in the house did
not know who came and went in the dark. The unbetrothed
girls from an early age up to puberty had free ingress to these
houses at night, and their parents encouraged them to go, as it
" showed they had proper desires, and later in life they would
bear children." Thirty years ago such club-houses were to
be found in all the large villages, but since the spread of
Christianity they have passed away. Not only have Christian
parents set their faces against the continuance of these
bachelor clubs as a part of their village life ; but heathen
parents also helped to put them down, for they noticed that as
monogamy displaced polygamy the man who could only marry
one wife desired her to be as pure as he could obtain her, and
the girls belonging to villages where such club-houses existed
were at a discount and were left unsought in marriage.

There are two modes of circumcision followed — that in
vogue around San Salvador, and that observed by the people
in and around Ngombe Lutete. It may be that there are
various other modifications in other districts. We will
describe the San Salvador customs first.

A large house or lodge (vela) is built in the centre of the
group of towns from which the boys are to come upon whom
the rite is to be performed. It is built by the men of the
district on some exposed hill, separated from any one town, but
not far from a stream. When all is ready, the lads are received
by the " doctor,*" who is a recognised member of the eseka, or
lubwiku order. If the former the lodge is called eseka (prob-
ably from seka=io sharpen), and, if the latter, it is called
lubwiku. Both establishments may be running in the same
neighbourhood simultaneously, and the number of lads who go

THE RITE IS COMPULSORY 173

to either place depends on the fame and popularity of the
" doctor " practising there. The time for performing the rite
is the cold season — May to October. The boys while in the
lodge are supplied with food by their mothers and relatives,
and the " doctor " and his assistants maintain themselves out
of the provisions taken to the lads ; thus he and his people have
free quarters for five months. The fee paid for the operation
is five strings of blue pipe beads for each boy, costing in London
twopence, but worth about sixpence in San Salvador.

Should any lads be unwilling to go, they are taken by force
and carried to the lodge by their relatives, but such force is
rarely necessary, as most of the lads willingly submit themselves
to the rite, and those that are not very willing to bear the
pain are laughed into submission by the jeers of their com-
panions. On being circumcised every boy has a new name given
to him, which they can retain after they leave the lodge if they
so desire. Some admire their new names so much that they
keep them, while others, who receive what they consider to be
ugly names, relinquish them directly they leave the lodge.
One boy is told off to look after the fire and to take care that
it never goes out. The foreskins are simply buried, and the
wounds are washed daily. There are certain restrictions placed
upon the lads, for they are not allowed to see their mothers,
sisters, or any women and girls during the months they are in
the lodge. The fire must never go out, and there must not be
any fights, rows, or quarrels between them while in the lodge.
Neither guns nor knives are permitted in the lodge, and all
charms and fetishes must be left outside.

Should the fire go out the mother of the boy who had the
care of it has to pay a fine of one fowl ; and anyone Avho takes
a knife, a gun, or a charm into the lodges renders his mother
liable to the same fine. When the penalty is incurred, and is
not forthcoming at once, the " doctor " and the lads living in
the lodge go between 11 and 12 o'clock one night and sit
outside the mother's or relative's house, and drum and sing
until the fine is paid. But, if after four or five hours of
drumming and chanting the fine is not brought to the " doctor,"

174 PUNISHMENTS

he threatens to break up the lodge, and leave all the lads on
the offender's hands, to attend to their wounds, &c. This
threat, however, is always effective.

Should any of the boys in the lodge fight among themselves,
their punishment is to sit in the stream during the night.
The " doctor,"" the assistants, and the lads sit on the bank
singing and drumming, and the shivering lads in the water
have to take up the chorus. Sometimes the quarrelsome boys
are led to the top of a bleak hill, and being stripped, they are
made to lie in a nude condition on the cold, damp ground.
The nights during the cold season are extremely chilly and the
dews are very heavy, and there is no doubt that some boys
have died, and others have suffered all their lives, as the result
of these stupid punishments.

Boys enter the lodge at different times during the season,
but all leave together ; and when the time arrives for aban-
doning it, quite a fair is held. Parents and friends come from
all the surrounding villages, decked in their best clothes and
ornaments, to welcome back their sons to home and village life.
Guns are fired, trumpets blown, and drums beaten, and singing
and dancing are well in evidence on these festive occasions.

About the eselca " doctor " there is no fetish idea associated
— with him it is a simple, surgical operation ; but about the
elo7igo, humbi, and luhwiku " doctors " there is much fetish
ceremony, and powerful fetishes are supposed to help them in
their operations. For example, when the Inbiciku lodge is burnt
down at the end of the season the " doctor " is tied to the
centre post of the house, but by the aid of his strong fetishes
he escapes unhurt from the burning house. The only reason I
have ever had given me for practising this rite, is that the
women prefer those men who have observed it, and will not
marry those who are uncircumcised. In some districts a man
who has not submitted to this ceremony is not allowed to sit
down with other men, hence the practice is universal in those
places.

Around Ngombe Lutete, which is due north of San Salvador,
the practice is by no means general. The operation is some-

SECOND METHOD OF OPERATING 175

times performed two or three weeks after birth, sometimes at
the age of ten or twelve, and in other cases even at the age of
twenty. The kumbi doctor performs the operation, and charges
each boy two brass rods. While the lad is undergoing it, he
must not be seen by the women, and when circumcised, he must
not, for a certain time, go into the kitchen or place where the
women do their cooking, i.e. he must not associate with women
and girls. When the operation is over, the boy digs a hole
about eighteen inches in diameter, and about the same in depth.
He then procures some large, hard-skin beans, and makes them
very hot in the fire ; these are put into the hole, and the boy
lies across the hole above the hot beans, and is steamed for
some time, after which he goes off to wash in a stream. Some
grass stems are then burnt, and the ashes rubbed on the wound,
and he thereupon enters his house and waits until he is well,
when he puts on a new cloth and the affair is finished.

In the Zombo country, east of San Salvador, the ceremonies
and restrictions observed are very similar to those around the
King's capital of San Salvador, with these modifications, that
the Zombo lads live in the lodge for a year or more; they
observe many fetish ceremonies, and are not allowed to speak
to anyone, or to eat anything outside the lodge, during the
whole time ; there is much dancing, and the nights are made
hideous with wild music ; and on special occasions they put on
masks of various shapes, and go dancing, into the towns and
market-places, and ask for money of the women, who, when they
find the yelling, screaming, grotesque figures gesticulating
about them, are frightened into satisfying their demands.

I find that some operation is also performed on girls, but
my informants cannot tell me what it is, as it is a well-pre-
served secret between the kumbi " doctors " and the girls. All
they can tell is that the house is built on a platform, as the
girls are not permitted to touch the ground, and in this house
the girls live, sing, and dance for some three or four months.
The kumbi " doctor " visits them occasionally to instruct them
in marital matters ; and they are attended to by the women of
the village. The girls think, and are taught by their mothers

176 OPERATION ON GIRLS

and the women generally to believe, that unless they undergo
this operation or ceremony they will have no children.

In the books of old travellers, who have written on the
Lower Congo, one often comes across the phrase casa de tinta^
or nzo a tinta, i.e. house of paint, and they refer to the vile
customs and immoralities practised in these " paint houses."
It is probable that these writers refer either to the ndemho
lodge, the gateway to which is very gaudily painted, or to the
kiimbi house where the girls go, and where they daub them-
selves with red camwood powder. Their description of the
vile practices pursued in the " paint house " v juld well fit
either the one or the other ; but I am rather inclined to think,
for several reasons, that they had the kumbi house in their
minds when they wrote.

Around San Salvador, in the area that is influenced by the
court of the King of Kongo, and throughout which he exercises
his power as overlord, it is very noticeable that the ceremonies
relating to the ndembo secret society, and to the rites of cir-
cumcision, are more elaborate than in the districts far removed
from the court. It may be that in the old days the same
elaboration was to be found throughout the whole Kingdom of
Kongo ; but as the area of the King"'s effective rule shrunk, the
ritual became more lax, until now, in those parts where the
King is only a shadow without substance, and a name without
force, only a few shreds of ceremony remain. Or the reason
for this difference may be that where the King, or some great
chief, exercises a strong overlordship there is more cohesion
among the people and a greater sense of security, hence in the
San Salvador and Zombo districts it is possible to have a joint
lodge with its restrictions, rules, and ceremonies, for a large
area ; whereas in the Ngombe Lutete district, where the people
are broken up into very small groups under petty chiefs, there
are no connnon lodges for the candidates of circumcision.

In relation to this overlordship of the King of Kongo, it is
worthy of note that the nkirnba guild was ineffective in the San
Salvador districts, for the King levied a toll on all caravans
passing through his dominion, and in return he protected them

MODIFICATIONS IN CEREMONIES 177

from being fleeced by others in that area ; hence the nMmba
guild never gained ground around San Salvador, but was
powerful in those districts where small chiefs were always
bickering and fighting each other. I would suggest that
elaborate ceremonies in primitive secret societies, witchcraft
palavers, &c., are either the result of, or in response to, an
elaborate court ceremony ; and that for their continuance there
must be a certain amount of security and cohesion among the
people. Is it not possible that the fluctuations in the peace
and cohesion of a tribe have affected considerably their customs
and modified ^ae ceremonies with which they are observed, and
that the institutions of primitive peoples for these reasons have
not that permanency with which they are often credited ?

CHAPTER XVII

BUSH BURNING AND HUNTING

BY August, towards the end of the long rainless season,
the tall jungle grass is dry and ready to burn ; and it is
during this time of grass burning that one form of
hunting is pursued throughout the Lower Congo. It is most
probable that their method of combining hunting with bush
burning accounts for the comparative scarcity of large game
throughout this part of Africa. When one recalls the de-
scriptions of those who have hunted in South Africa, we are
inclined to say that this part of West Africa is lacking in
animal life, yet such an assertion would not be quite accurate.
I have travelled on foot over 2,000 miles up and down the
Lower Congo, and I have seen only one antelope, and the foot-
marks of a few elephants ; and the native hunters I have known
have not been very successful, considering the amount of energy
and time they have devoted to the pursuit of game. On the
other hand, I have heard occasionally of herds of elephants,
and rumours of herds of buffaloes have reached my ears, and
the natives have the names for bush pigs and many species of
antelopes; but notwithstanding all this I should not recom-
mend the Lower Congo to a keen sportsman, for the gims of
the natives and the periodical bush burning have, at least,
made the animals exceedingly shy, if not scarce.

When the custom of bush burning first commenced, will
probably never be known ; but there are evidences that the
annual bush fires have been in vogue for several generations,
for when I arrived on the Congo in 1882, it was a thoroughly
and properly organised afiair with its rules and laws well recog-
nised throughout the country for regulating it. The rainy
season is from the middle of October to the middle of May —

178

3 E
-oS

« 3

■"^

S.-S
•Ota

-^s

6:s

OWNERSHIP OF LAND 179

a few days more or less. There is a short dry season in
January and the torrential downpours are in March and April.
December is the hottest month in the year, the temperature
often being 105° in the shade ; and June is the coldest month
in the whole twelve, the thermometer frequently showing 65°
in the shade. During a storm the temperature sometimes falls
20 or 25 degrees in less than two hours.

The whole of the land is owned by one or other of the
chiefs, and the boundary of one chiefs property is the begin-
ning of the next chiefs estate. Streams are good lines of
demarcation, and when these are absent, or not convenient,
then gashes are cut in the paths to mark off the confines of
one chiefs land from another. Forests are the common
property of those chiefs whose boundaries touch them, and in
those forests such chiefs and their peoples have rights of hunt-
ing, the gathering of firewood, and the felling of timber for
house building.

Each chief suits his own convenience for firing the grass
belonging to him ; but if there is a possibility of his grass
setting fire to the bush belonging to another chief, then the
natives of both towns meet and agree on a day for burning
those stretches of bush land which are contiguous to each other.
To disregard this law is to court a war in which the ofi'ending
party, being entirely in the wrong, will lack the sympathy of
the neighbouring chiefs.

When the time for grass burning draws near the people
select a morning when the vegetation is limp with heavy dew ;
and they break and push down the grass all round the town for
one or two hundred yards, taking care to bend the grass so that
the stalks point outward from the houses. Another suitable
morning is chosen, and then this belt of broken-down grass is
carefully fired. The men have branches to control and, if
necessary, to beat out the flames should the adjacent unbroken
grass catch fire. This belt round the town having been burnt,
the people feel that their homes are secure from the onrush of
the flames when the time comes for firing the bush.

The grass-burning season is a great time for the people

180 METHOD OF GRASS BURNING

The men clean, oil, and load their guns, the lads procure
knives, the boys cut heavy sticks and borrow spare hoes, and
even the girls and women are all excitement in anticipation of
the various species of rats they will capture in their holes. The
grass is anything from six to fifteen feet high, and many of the
stalks are as thick as one"'s fingers; and as there has been no
rain since the middle of May, the grass is withered, and dry,
and when the sun has licked off the dews, it is as ready to
take fire as tinder.

One morning when the wind is blowing from the town, the
hunters take their places along the sides of the strip of bush
to be burnt. The grass is fired, and any animals — antelopes,
wild pigs, bulFaloes, or palm rats — that may be concealed in the
tall grass run helter-skelter from the rushing, crackling flames,
and as they pass near the hunters they are fired at by them.
Fish-eagles, kites, and hawks circle above the flames to pounce
upon any snakes, rats, or lizards that are driven from their
hiding-places; and before the ground has time to cool again,
after the fire has passed, the women, girls, and boys are swarm-
ing over it hunting for rat-holes, so that they n)ay dig them
out, and feast on these much-prized delicacies.

During the grass-burning season the air is filled with smoke ;
you taste smoke, smell smoke, breathe smoke, and the eyes often
smart with smoke. The smoke ascends in great clouds, and
hanging like a pall, it hides the sun for days, and gives the sky
a dull, monotonous appearance that wearies and irritates you.
Sometimes for two or three days there is no wind to stir the
murky air, and it becomes heavy and vitiated, and you long for
a stinging tornado or a torrent of rain to purify the nauseous
atmosphere. When there is a slight breeze, and it blows from
the direction of the fire across your station, it comes laden
with charred pieces of grass, which are carried into your house
through the doors, windows, and ventilators, and the housewife
finds her furniture quickly covered with burnt grass. At night
it is a grand sight to see the hills in the distance outlined in
living flames; and when the thick grasses are burning they
generate such an amount of steam in their stalks that causes
them to explode with loud, gun-like reports, and the force of

HUNTING MONTHS 181

the explosions sends the burning grass hurrying through the
night air like flaming rockets. More than once I have had to
put lads on the grass roofs of our houses, to throw off, or stamp
out, the burning grass as it fell on them. This season is always
an anxious time where there are grass roofs, for the wind may
veer at any moment, and the sparks that were falling harmlessly
in the bush far away on the other side of the fire, may be swung
round and dropped on the place containing your household
treasures, and destroy all that you have of home in the great
wilderness.^

Hunting proper (called vda in some districts and wela in
others) begins in September and ends in November. During
these months the grass is short, because by the end of August
the old, tall grass has been burnt to the ground, and the new
grass has not reached any height. At the beginning of the
hunting season the hunters call a medicine-man [ngcmg' a
nJcongo), who possesses a hunting fetish, for him to make a
suitable charm which will give them good luck in killing all
kinds of game ; and the charm he then supplies is supposed to
be effective for a whole year. For the making of the proper
charm the " doctor " needs various ingredients, such as a piece
of camwood, some special leaves, the new sprouts of the manga
grass, some parrot's feathers, a few cowrie shells, a little wood
ash, the foreleg of a bat, some red peppers, and some small
shot. He cuts all these up in small pieces, and having
thoroughly mixed them, he fills some small antelopes' horns
with the strange compound, and securing their ends with
rubber he hands one to each hunter.

When a famous hunter dies, the natives are very careful
to mark the position of his grave ; and to ensure its being
properly remembered, the hair of the renowned man is cut off
and buried near the grave with a large stone on top to indicate
the position. When such a hunter is lying on his deathbed
a thread is drawn from his native-made cloth (mbadi, made
from palm fibre), and tied round the forehead or arms of a
young man chosen for the purpose, who from that time is

^ We had one station burnt to the ground by one of these bush fires
in the early history of our mission.

182 HUNTING CHARM

known as the advocate {kimpovela = the one who speaks to
another on behalf of someone else). This "advocate'"' may
marry only one wife, whom he must never beat or he will lose
his power; but should he want more than one woman, the
extra ones are called "lovers" (makangu), and never wives
(nkaza). This may be a survival of a Portuguese Catholic
idea that a certain amount of holiness was required for the
proper exercise of a priest's functions.

When the hunters have finished making their charms they
next visit the grave of a great hunter. There was one such
grave just outside San Salvador, and I often saw them at this
ceremony, and rumours of their success in hunting sometimes
came to me. The " advocate " goes first and kneels with his
face towards the hunters, and his back to the grave. The
hunters then approach him slowly, stopping every few steps to
clap their hands ; and on reaching the kneeling advocate, they
spread themselves out and dance round the grave to the " rub,
rub " of the antelope drum (see plate, page 178). They have
brought with them a calabash of palm wine, which they place
on the ground and their guns alongside. The " advocate "
then turns towards the grave, and, shaking his rattle, he prays
thus : " You are blind but your ears are not deaf. Oh ears,
hear well ! we have come to you, we come kneeling. AVhile
you lived in the town, you ate and you drank, now we who are
left die of hunger; give us male and female animals." ^

A man then raises the calabash of palm wine to his shoulder,
and the "advocate," standing in front of him, makes the sign
of the cross, and then taking a cup of the wine he pours it out
on the grave as an oblation to the renowned hunter to whom
he has prayed. The remainder of the wine is drunk by the
hunters sitting in a circle round the grave. When the palm
wine is finished the "advocate" rubs a little of the earth
moistened with the oblatory wine on the forehead and temples
of each hunter to give them cunning in tracking the animals;
on the forearms and wrists to give steadiness of aim ; on the

' III the native language the words are as follows : W^u/'wa kin nieso,
kwa/wa kin viatu ko, o viatn nkelo! Tunzidi ku luuibn, twizidi kii/it-
kamena, ova wnkain oku 'vata, dia wadidenge, niia watiHuiuTticnge, nwau
twasaUi fwa langala ; se utukuyila nkento ye inbakala.

HUNTING CHARM 183

knees and insteps to give them swiftness in chasing their game.
After giving these magical powers to the hunters he takes each
gun and rubs across the butt, and draws his fingers up the
butt, and, on reaching the barrel, he snaps his fingers, and
hands the charmed gun to its owner, who on taking it claps his
hands, jumps in the air, and, holding the gun in front of him,
he walks backwards a little, facing the grave, and sits down
and waits for the others. When all have been through this
ceremony they fire a salute, sing in praise of the deceased hunter,
rub the antelope drum, and drink more palm wine. These
hunters from this time until they kill an animal must abstain
from all intercourse with women, or the magic will not work.

When they go hunting they either take their horns of
"medicine" with them, each carrying his own under his belt,
or they wet the rubber stopper and rub the butt of their guns
with a little of the moisture. When a party of hunters has
been successful in killing an antelope the blood is caught in the
animaPs bladder and carried to the " advocate," who brings out
of his house a cross, such as is shown, page 189, and sticks it
in the ground near the great hunter"'s grave at which the cere-
monies above described were observed. The blood is poured
over the cross as an oblation to the deceased hunter who has
heard their request and given them such success. The little
hole in the middle of the cross is called the " heart," and in it
the successful bullet is put, and the hole filled with blood.
The cross is always well cared for in the house of the " advo-
cate"; and he also has charge of the "antelope" drum^ used
for making the hunting charm at the beginning of the season.
The body of the " antelope " is hollow, and forms the drum.
The skin, which is that of the harness antelope, is tightly
drawn over the drum, and the hair is removed from the skin
along the opening in the back of the figure, making it vibrate
more easily when the notched bamboo is rubbed by either stick.
The solid stick gives a deep note when rubbed hard along the
back, and the split bamboo gives sharp, rattling notes. The
knees in the original animal drum are, as shown in the plate,

* A drum of this description the writer brought from CongOj and it
is now in the British Museum.

184 GRATITUDE FOR SUCCESS

at the back of the front legs instead of in the front — a mistake
of the native workman. Such a drum is always a part of the
" advocate's " outfit.

Having poured the blood over the cross placed near the
grave, the hunters repeat the following words: "We thank
you for sending us such a fine aninial, and hope you will repeat
the favour." Only the hlood of antelopes is offered in this
manner. Some of the blood is rubbed on their fetish charms,
and the end of the tail is stuck in the wall, over the doorway
of the house belonging to the fortunate hunter. We shall see
later the reason for thus taking care of this part of the animal.

The man who fires first at an antelope as it rushes past,
looks to see if any blood has fallen, or any hairs. If there is
no sign of blood or hairs, then he has not killed it, although
he may have mortally wounded it; if, when the next man fires,
the animal drops it belongs to him. Should there be any
dispute as to whether the animal was killed by the first shot
or the second, the one who is positive and overrides all argu-
ment must take the heart of the antelope and eat it (not raw) ;
then if his shot really killed the animal all is well, but, if not,
the eating of the heart will destroy his hunting skill ( = his
MnJcongo). Many a man has relinquished his claim to an
animal for fear of thus spoiling his luck. If two or more men
fire simultaneously at an animal and kill it, they divide the
flesh between them and give the heart to the dogs. At San
Salvador the hunter eats the heart of the animal he is sure he
has killed, but in the Ngombe Lutete district the heart is
given to the hunter"'s father.

If the man who ate the heart of the antelope whose death-
shot he disputed with another hunter becomes unsuccessful in
his next ventures, he takes a fowl to the other man who claimed
to have killed the animal, and gives it to him, and that is called
" paying back the heart." It is really a tacit acknowledgment
that the other man shot it ; and on giving the fowl, the skill
or luck is supposed to return. In the district where the heart
is given to the hunter's father, if afterwards he becomes a bad
shot, he tells his father of his lack of success, and the father
chews some red camwood, and expectorates the blood-coloured

DIVIDING THE ANTELOPE 185

saliva, and that is regarded as " giving back the heart," and
the hunter thus regains his luck.

When an antelope is killed, the hunters spread some grass
on the ground and the animal is laid on it. The successful
hunter puts the butt of his gun to his shoulder, and the muzzle
on the carcass, thus signifying his right to it. A cross-cut
is made on the stomach of the animal, and the hunter puts his
fingers three times in the blood and to his upper lip, then
another three times, and rubs some blood on his gun each time.
The antelope is removed, and the hunter, putting his gun under
the grass, turns it over. The animal must not be divided until
this rite is performed, or the hunter will lose his skill. The
animal is thus divided : the kidneys and the pieces from
along each side of the backbone are given to the chief of the
town ; one hind hg is given to the men left in the town, and
they share their portions with their wives; one shoulder is
divided among the hunters ; the heart is given to the father of
the successful hunter, if it is the custom of the district to do so ;
and the rest belongs to the man who killed it. If, however, the
animal has been slain on land belonging to another chief, i.e.
not on ground owned by the hunters' chief, then one leg is
given to him in recognition of his rights over that part of the
country. When an " advocate " kills an antelope he must give
the loins to his wife, otherwise he will lose his power of impart-
ing good luck to those hunters who seek his help.

It sometimes happens that a hunter has a run of very bad
luck, and misses every animal that crosses his path. He may
have " paid back a heart " and is still unsuccessful ; he at last
goes to a medicine-man {ngang' a nlwigo), who makes three
plaits of nine pieces of grass in each plait. He then asks for
a piece of the last bird or animal his client killed. A man
always keeps a feather or a claw of the last bird he shot, or
the tail or hoof of the last animal he killed ; and that is why
these various odds and ends are stuck in the front wall of his
house. At any time he may repeatedly miss his game, and
need a bit of the last thing he shot to restore his luck. So
we will suppose that our unsuccessful hunter, who desires to
regain his luck, takes a claw of a hawk to the " doctor " as a

186 RENEWING THE CHARM

part of the last trophy of his gun. The " doctor " puts the claw
on the ground and arranges three heaps of loose gunpowder
round it, and chalks a cross near the powder and on the butt
of the hunter's gun. The " doctor " then explodes the powder ;
and putting a little gunpowder into the gun, he hands it to
the hunter, who standing a few feet away fires at the claw, and
if it is blown away then his hunting skill has returned to him.
The "doctor"" takes the gun, and putting his finger in the dirt
where the claw was, he rubs a little of the earth three times
on the hunter's lips, and the fourth time he runs his fingers up
the gun and snaps them. He now loosens the plaits of grass
and shakes them about the gun that it may fire properly
through the grass. The hunter claps his hands, takes his gun,
and jumping in the air, he goes his way after paying his fee.

During the hunting season gun accidents are very common.
A man hears a rustle in the grass, and thinking it is an animal,
fires, and finds when too late that he has severely wounded a
fellow-hunter. At one time death or slavery was the punish-
ment for such an accident; but now the firer of the gun is
mulct in a very heavy fine. The punishments meted out for
such injuries have always depended largely on the importance
of the person wounded, and the position of the one responsible
for the accident. The guns often burst, from the excessive
amount of powder used, causing considerable damage to the
firer ; and in fact, scarcely a hunting season passes without
some cases coming to one or other of our hospitals. Loaded
guns are sometimes placed near the tracks of animals, so that
when the animal passes it touches a string and shoots itself.
The one who fixes the gun in such a position should give full
particulars to all concerned, and although this is done, yet
accidents happen and legs are badly wountled with slugs — often
bits of twisted brass wire, which poison the wounds and cause
great mischief. Such casualties have caused many big palavers,
and feuds between families that have lasted many a year.

There is a special medicine-man {ngang' a ngani) for
the dogs, so as to make them good hunters. The Congo
breed of dogs is exceedingly poor, for no new blood was in-
troduced for generations, and thus their curs deteriorated

THE HUNTER'S DOG 187

through constant inter-breeding in a very limited area. The
Congo dogs have short hair, stand up-ears, long noses, and are
very cowardly. When a man wants his dog to love and follow
him, he washes his feet and armpits in water, and gives the
water to the dog to drink, and then, it is said, it will
track him anywhere and for any distance. But when a man
desires that his dog should be a good hunter, he calls the
above-mentioned " doctor," who takes some chalk, the head of
a viper, various leaves, and mint, which he mixes and makes
into a bundle. A small portion of this he puts into a leaf
twisted into a funnel, and catching a wasp, he presses its juice
into the funnel, and putting in a little palm wine, he squeezes
the moisture from this mixture into the dog''s nose, and behold,
it is a good hunter and tracker of animals. Wooden bells are
tied round the necks of dogs while hunting, that the hunters
may know of their whereabouts in the bush, and not fire at
them in mistake for game.

The following incident, which occurred in the Ngombe
Lutete district in May 1908, well illustrates their superstitions
regarding dogs. A good hunting dog was missing, and after
two days'" search it was found dead in the bush, and was at
once buried. A day or so after the men went hunting, but
their dogs seemed spiritless, indifferent in their search for
game, and not at all keen of scent (the grass is very high and
the bush thick at this season); so the hunters thought that
the spirit of the dead dog was affecting the living dogs, because
they had buried it with so little ceremony, and the only way to
increase the interest of the living dogs in their work was to
appease and comfort the spirit of the dead dog that they had
buried so unceremoniously. The hunters went and surrounded
the deceased dog's grave, and solemnly fired volley after volley
until they considered that they had propitiated the dead dog's
spirit. The usual mode, however, of burying a good hunting
dog, is to wrap it in the skin of an antelope it has killed, and
inter it at a cross road, and not in the bush.

During the few weeks that the grass remains short, the
village boys go farm-rat hunting — these farm-rats are pretty
little brown creatures with black stripes. They live on nuts

188 BOWS AND ARROWS

and roots, and their flesh is delicious, as I know from experi-
ence. My boys often during this season came from the farms
with a dozen or twenty of these farm -rats apiece in their
baskets; and being very short of food, they persuaded me to
try some. Their habits are clean and their food wholesome,
but their name and looks prejudiced me against them ; that
repugnance, however, once overcome, I am afraid that the
boys at times regretted their powers of persuasion, for I often
had a meal from their catch. The same may be said for a
species of mole-rat, and the large palm-rat — they are good
eating. No self-respecting boy w^ould eat the dirty, common
house-rat. They often told me that the lazy boys who did eat
them got a scalp disease that affected the growth of the hair
on the head, causing the hair to become tufty, like a badly-
kept lawn, i.e. with little tufts of hair, and the scalp showing
between ; and certainly I knew one boy who ate house-rats and
had a head of hair of that description.

Several boys with their miniature bows and arrows, and
their small conical traps, would go together to the farms, and,
finding the rat tracks, they would place their traps in them.
Then making a wide detour, they would enclose a large space
of an acre or two, and walk in, kicking the grass and shouting.
The startled rats would make for their runs ; but these little
creatures have a way of running and stopping for a moment,
and this habit is so well known by the boys that they walk in
with their arrows fitted to their bows ready to fire, and directly
a rat pauses, a dozen or more arrows are let loose at it, and the
owner of that arrow which pierces a vital part claims the spoil.
Should the rat escape the arrows, it darts along its track into
the basket trap, which is built after the manner of the toy
known as a Siamese link, and if the rat once enters it, the more
it struggles the firmer it is held.

The boys make a fetish from pieces of wood about three
inches long, to bring them good luck in rat and squirrel
hunting. Such a charm is called nambica. A boy takes from
three to six pieces of wood of exactly the same length, and
cuts notches in them which must correspond. These he hangs
by a string round his neck, or at his girdle; and he pours a

I I

Fetish Cross used in Huxiing

When an antelope has been killed, the fatal bullet is put in the hole as
shown, and blood is poured over it as an offering. The original is in the

The Nsambi

The only instrument allowed in the secret society's "lodge"
It is a hollow case laced together, with stout canes to draw the :
by scraping strips of palm bark to the required thinness.

Rev. F. Longland

o which the initiated may dance,
rings taut. 'J'he strings are made

RESPECT FOR LEOPARDS 189

little of the blood of every rat and squirrel he kills on to this
iiambwa charm as a thank-offering for his success.

Leopards are regarded with great respect, for they work
considerable havoc among the goats and sheep, and they are
not averse to visiting the fowl-houses and levying a heavy toll.
People also are taken by them, hence there is much jubilation
when a leopard is killed. The fortunate hunter has it carried
through the towns of his district, and the principal chiefs give
him presents as a recognition of his bravery — each trying, accord-
ing to his wealth, to outvie the others in generosity. When
it is known which chief has made the largest gift to the lucky
hunter, that chief goes and puts his foot on the leopard, and thus
establishes a claim to its skin, and this act is greeted with much
firing of guns, beating of drums, and dancing round the prostrate
beast. Until this ceremony of treading on the animal has been
observed it cannot be skinned. The leopard after it is slain
is always spoken of as "lord," " chief" {mfumu).

After the skinned carcass has been returned to the hunter's
town, two or three days are spent in festivities, accompanied
with gun firing, drum beating, and the chanting of songs, in
honour of the "slayer of the chief" {mvondi a mfurmi); and
much palm wine is drunk. The carcass is eaten by those who
care to feast upon it ; but many abstain from eating it, for
fear of having spots come out on their skins similar to leopard
spots. To take or sell a leopard skin outside the district in which
it is killed would be resented as an insult and cause a fight.

While I was in the Ngombe Lutete district in 1908 a
leopard was killed, and the carcass was carried to the old and
real chief of the district {Mpiodi of Nkondi), who gave the
hunter the largest donation, viz. 60 francs in silver ; another
chief gave one tin of gunpowder and two European rugs,
worth in all 22 francs ; another gave 15 francs, and several gave
10 francs each. As there were, however, three important chiefs
who gave good presents, the skin was divided, and a piece
presented to each. In the San Salvador district the old custom
is still maintained, and no modification such as this is per-
mitted ; but petty local jealousy was the cause of this alteration
of the custom in a district where there is no great overlord.

CHAPTER XVIII
WARFARE AND ITS USAGES

IN dealing with this aspect of the native's life, I scarcely
know how to classify him — as brave or cowardly. It may
be best to catalogue him according to the weapon he uses
in the fight. The Lower Congo man with his flint-lock gun is
ridiculous, and is to be regarded more as a joke than condemned
as a coward ; but the Upper Congo man with his spear against
spear can render such a good account of himself that we would
rather have him on our side than arrayed against us. I have
seen the native make war with both kinds of weapons, and I
would prefer to fight twenty natives with guns than two armed
with spears.

The spear is wielded by the Upper Congo men (only a tribe
here and there uses the bow and arrow) ; but the flint-lock
gun is the only fighting weapon used in warfare by the Lower
Congo people, and it is about the latter that we are writing.
According to an ancient sixteenth-century account, the
weapons of the Lower Congo warrior at that time consisted of
bows, arrows, axes, swords, spears, daggers, and shields; but
these have been entirely superseded by paltry, cheap, flint-lock
guns, introduced by traders, the barrels of which, in most
cases, have been fashioned out of old gas-piping, and frequently
do more damage to the person firing them than to the one at
whom they arc fired. The stock and fixings are in keeping
with the barrel. The powder used is generally adulterated, and
is warranted to make more noise and smoke than do damage —
such powder has little carrying power, and less penetrating
force. The bullets are bits of twisted brass wire, broken iron
ore, stones, or pieces of metal broken small enough to go down
the barrel.

100

THE CONGO GUN 191

When the gun is loaded for firing, the fighter does not
press the butt into his right shoulder and look along the
barrel as he takes aim ; but he holds the butt of the gun
against the palm of his half-extended right hand, and, without
taking aim, he pulls the trigger with a finger of his left hand.
By this mode of firing he guards his eyes from the sparks of
the powder as it flashes in the pan, and his head from being
blown off should the barrel burst from the excessive charge of
powder forced into the barrel ; but the aim being unsteady and
uncertain, the object fired at is more secure than the objects in
its immediate vicinity. The Congo gun will not carry more
than about fifty yards, but the combatants, when firing, stand
about a hundred yards from each other, and the result gener-
ally is an almost bloodless war. I have known over two
hundred men fight thirty-two, and after these unequal sides had
fired at each other for two and a half days, one man was struck
on the ankle by a spent plug, which penetrated the flesh so
slightly that I was able to remove it with my pen-knife.

The King at San Salvador can proclaim war with a town
without consulting anyone, even his head-men ; but a chief in
his district who wants to fight another chief must gain the
permission of the King first, and then the consent of the
district chief; and to ensure their neutrality he presents a pig
to the King, and a larger or smaller portion of a pig to the
other chiefs according to their status. Chiefs living in distant
localities would not consult the King, but only the chiefs of
their districts, and divide the pig, or pigs, among them. A new
palm-frond shaken out, and put in a prominent place on a
house or on a town, is used by a person or a town to indicate
absolute neutrality in any local war, and ensures respect by the
antagonists.

On the declaration of war between two towns, a strong
charm is made by the medicine-man killing a frog which he
burns with the twigs taken from three special trees (the lem-
banzau, the lolo, and the mfihi), and the ashes of these four
things are made into a paste by the addition of some water.
This paste is put into small snail shells, one of which is given

192 WAR CHARMS

as a charm to each fighting man. The men then walk round
one of the above-named trees, and on returning to the town
some palm wine is mixed with the paste remaining in the
saucepan in which it was compounded, and all drink of it.
After each man has drunk a little of this concoction, the
medicine-man takes the pot down to the road leading to the
town which is to be attacked, and stands it in the road.
Every fighting man who proposes to go to the war must jump
over the saucepan, and if one stumbles, or touches it with his
foot, he is compelled to remain at home, for the omen shows
that if he goes to the light he will be killed. The frog is used
in compounding this charm, because the natives have noticed
that the frog's heart " lives " (i.e. pulsates) for some time after
it is taken from the body — an evidence of that tenacity of life
which they hope will be imparted to them. During the whole
period of the war the men are not allowed to have any inter-
course with women, or the charm will be nullified.

In another district other means are used, as follows : they
send for a medicine-man (of the ekmba order),^ who takes
some palm wine in a wooden plate or bowl, and, dipping his
fingers in the wine, he touches the lips of the fighters with the
front, the back, and then the front again of his fingers ; and
tells them that they must neither look back, nor enter a house,
but go right away to the fight ; hence this ceremony is per-
formed immediately before they set out for the enemy's
town. This particular charm places them under a spell, so
that they have no need to fear any possibility of harm or
danger.

The men, women, and children who remain at home procure
the nzaji fetish (said to cause lightning), or the mbamhi fetish
(able to give a horrible disease), or the vibanr:angx)Ia fetish
(wooden image able to give severe pain), whichever they can
borrow, or, the one in which they have the greatest faith; and
they dance the nloJco dance to remove or destroy any witch-

' Z,ew6a = soothe, appease, remove evil spells, and is a protective
charm from violent death hy an enemy. ^'«HJM - violent death — the
war fetish used to kill the enemy. Each has its own fetish -man.

THE KILLED 193

craft that may be employed against their friends in the fight ;
and as they gyrate round and round the fetish they shout:
" You fetish, you must kill anyone who is bewitching our fight-
ing men." For it must be remembered that any man killed in
a fight does not die by bullet or knife, but by witchcraft.

Should a man happen to be killed during the attack, the
fight rages round the corpse for its possession, and often in
fighting for the body several others are killed by knives and
sticks used at close quarters. If the corpse falls into the enemy's
hands, they cut off the head, and, after soaking it in water
until the -skull is cleaned of all flesh, they fix it on a pole and
place it at the entrance to the victor's town, or in a prominent
position on a hill — as an emblem of shame to the conquered.
Sometimes the skull is cleaned and used by the victor as a
drinking cup. The reason why they fight so fiercely for the
body is that, if the head is cut off, the spirit of the slaughtered
man will haunt, and by witchcraft kill, not the man who slew
him, but the members of his own family. Thus, on the one
hand, they fight to preserve the body intact so as not to have
the vengeance of the spirit falling on them as a family, and on
the other hand they strive to mutilate the enemy's body that
his famil](^may be done to death by the spirit owning the head-
less body. " On returning victorious from a fight there is much
dancing and firing of guns.

Sometimes the towns fighting will exhaust their stock of
gunpowder before either side has gained any advantage over
the other. A truce is then made for two or three months while
they lay in another supply, and on the appointed day they will
start firing again at each other. I have known this to happen
more than once, and in those localities gunpowder has advanced
in price. At other times they have agreed to postpone the
commencement of a fight until each side has a good supply of
powder, and this also has sent up the price of powder through-
out the district.

When two towns, A and B, are fighting, and it is noticed
that B, the smaller of the two, is losing, then the neighbour-
ing friendly chiefs will advise the chief of B to sue for peace

194 SUING FOR PEACE

with a white goat {nkombo a maboJco). Should he agree to
this proposal, a white goat is bought, and one of the chiefs
carries it on his shoulders to the scene of the fighting, the chief
of B leading the way by walking immediately in front of the
one carrying the goat. On drawing near to the fighting place
they call out loudly, "Peace! Peace! Peace!" {Luve ! Luve!
Luve!). And upon hearing those words the fighters must
stop at once. The chief of B takes the goat, and kneeling
before the chief of A, he says, " I do not want to fight." The
chief of A must accept the goat, and there is no more fighting
until the case has been arbitrated upon properly by the local
chiefs.

If it is an unconditional peace, not to be followed either by
a lawsuit or by arbitration, a medicine-man is sent for who
brings with him some stalks, leaves, and palm wine. He squeezes
the juice out of the stalks and leaves into the palm wine and
mixes them ; and then dipping the leaves in the mixture, he
touches the two chiefs with the liquid and sprinkles the rest
among the fighters and inhabitants of the two towns who are
present, and thus peace is established.

The making of blood-brotherhood after a bad quarrel, or
after a fight between towns, is performed as follows : If it is a
quarrel the two opponents, if a war, the chiefs of the towns
fighting, have a little blood taken from each of them, and each
drinks the blood taken from the other; then two needles are
solemnly buried, and a lasting peace is thus made, and the
whilom enemies become staunch friends and brothers — more
than that, they are one, for have they not each other's blood in
their bodies.? It may be that the burying of the needles is a
remnant of " the burying of the hatchet."

In September 1882 1 was tramping about, with seven men
and some lads as carriers, in the Madimba district, south of San
Salvador; and on Friday, September 29, I left Sengene with
the intention of sleeping at Mputu, and then turning ofi" to
spend a few days in Mbangu before starting home to San
Salvador. However, we had not left Sengene far behind when
we heard that two towns were fighting right in our path. We

Lent by

Rev. J. L. Forfeiit

Ferry Across the River Kwilu

These dug-out canoes are used for crossing rivers too wide to bridge and too deep to ford. Both
natives and white men pay a small toll for the convenience.

AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE 195

changed our road, but on reaching the next town, the folk
called out to one of my carriers, " Lema, Lema, your town is
fighting, and if you go on you will be killed."

Resolving, if possible, to carry out our programme, I changed
my carrier, but we had not proceeded very far when we met
some men who said to my carriers (who were all San Salvador
men, except the carrier, Lema, whom we had left behind),
" Don't go that road ; the King has sent some men to fight, and
if the enemy see you they will try to shoot some of you."

My carriers were heavily laden and unarmed, so to force
them forward, with the probability of meeting armed enemies,
would have been extremely unfair to the men. There was
nothing for it but to return to San Salvador by a roundabout
way, so as to avoid an attack being made on my carriers. There
were six towns fighting one, and knowing the combatants well
I had not the slightest fear that they would interfere with me ;
but I was anxious about my men.

In the town where we heard the news that the King had
sent a few men to the fight, we were able to procure a guide
to take us by a circuitous track to San Salvador, as the proper
road ran right among the towns that were fighting. There
was no slow walking now; not a single man lagged behind,
each man pressing on the heels of the next in front. It was
not a pleasant walk, for the guide stopped frequently and
raised his hand for silence while he listened for any rustling in
the tall grass through which we could not see a dozen feet.
Then the guide loaded his gun ready for an emergency, and
after that he stopped often to look to the priming, and on we
would go again — pushing our way through the thick, entangled

For an hour and a half we walked to the firing of the
combatants as we made the detour to give them a wide berth ;
and at one place, from the top of a high hill, we could see the
fighting in the valley below. They were formed in two
opposite lines, each being well covered by trees, boulders, &c.
We could see a man loading his gun, then he walked forward,
pointed his gun in the direction of the enemy, and fired, after

196 AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE

which he hurried back to cover; then another went and
repeated the former's action, and so on up and down the line.
The lines were more than two hundred yards apart, and no
fighter went in close enough to the other side for his gun to
send a bullet among the enemy. The grass hid them from one
another, and the only chance of damage was for two men to
meet accidentally in the si)ace between the lines, when they had
gone forward to fire ; but apparently they listened too carefully
for every rustle in the grass. The surprise to me is, not that
there are so few killed in their fights, but that anyone is killed.
I stood looking for some time, and although many guns were
fired and there was plenty of flashes, smoke, and noise, not a
single fighter fell, and we heard afterwards not a solitary wound
was inflicted.

In that walk we had to break our way through bush and
jungle to elude any of the enemy who might remember that we
had San Salvador men in our caravan, and that we were behind
them and unarmed. We all reached San Salvador in the late
afternoon, nothing the worse for our adventure than a good
appetite and badly blistered feet.

What was the reason for this fight ? It was not until some
time after that I heard all the particulars, and they are inter-
esting, as illustrating the native mode of thought and action in
these matters.

Tulante Bidi was the chief of Lemvo, a town about fifteen
miles south of San Salvador. About 1880 Bidi's nephew,
Nlemvo, became the personal boy of a missionary living at
San Salvador, who some time later brought him to England,
but not without first receiving permission from the King.
When Bidi heard that his nephew had left for England, he
accused the King of selling him to the white man, and despaired
of ever seeing his nephew again. The King, however, assured
him that it was all right, that he was responsible for the lad, ami
would see that he returned in due time. Bidi had to comfort
himself with this assurance, and knowing the King as he did,
and being ignorant and superstitious about the white man, it was
not much consolation that he received from the King"'s words.

A CASUS BELLI 197

Months passed by and the grass-burning season arrived,
and as Bidi wanted to burn a patch of bush that lay along the
boundary of his own land and that belonging to another chief,
he, according to custom, sent word to the said chief, and
arranged to meet him and his people at a certain time on a
stated day, that the hunters of both towns might burn the
grass together, and jointly hunt the animals driven out by the
fire, Bidi and his people arrived at the appointed place, but
no Kimpanza people were there, and after waiting a consider-
able time Bidi and his men started back for their town. They
had not proceeded very far on their way when the other chief
arrived, and, without waiting or calling, he fired the bush.
This was both an unlawful and discourteous act.

On seeing the smoke, Bidi and his men returned and asked
why they had fired the bush without them, and had so insult-
ingly broken the custom of the country. The Kimpanza people
asked him who he was, and what could he do, and twitted him
with having his nephew taken away by the white man ; that he,
a chief, had sold his nephew for cloth. No sooner did Bidi hear
this taunt than he ordered his men to fire on the others. There
was a fight, but no one was killed. The Kimpanza people told
the King, who gave them permission to fight, and told them to
"go and fetch the ridge-pole of Bidi's house." To take the
ridge-pole of the chiefs house against whom you are fighting
is something like capturing the standard in an English battle.
This the Kimpanza people tried to do but failed, although
several towns joined their side, and only one other town took
Bidi's side.

The skirmishing lasted some weeks, and then a man on Bidi's
side was killed, and that stopped the fight. The man killed
was a slave, and his owner said, " How is it my slave was killed
and no one else ? Surely he was bewitched." And he accused
Bidi of bewitching him, and Bidi would have had to drink the
ordeal ; but the slain man was a slave, and no free man or chief
takes the ordeal on account of the death of a slave ; conse-
quently the owner could not press the accusation.

Some months after the fighting was over Bidi's nephew.

198 A CASUS BELLI

Nlemvo, returned to San Salvador from England. The King
treated him well, but said that, on account of Bidi's complaint
and attitude, Nlemvo could not proceed to his uncle's town
until the uncle had paid him a girl slave, and five thousand
strings of blue pipe beads. In the meantime Bidi had died,
and his brother, who succeeded him, had to pay the slave, and
Nlemvo paid the beads, and thus ended a fight that for several
weeks embroiled and disturbed a district the size of a small
English county.

CHAPTER XIX

MARKET DAYS AND TRADING

IT is acknowledged by all who know him that the Congo
native is a born trader. He is ever keen to drive a bargain

to his own advantage, and unwearying in his pursuit of
profits. -Those who do not know him misjudge him as lazy,
but I doubt very much if his accusers would take his long
journeys and carry his heavy loads to procure the wherewithal
to meet his obligations as a man, a father, and a husband.
After long trading journeys he has his holiday — his rest-time,
in which to recuperate himself from the starving diet of the road,
and the strain of carrying up and down hills a very heavy load ;
but he must work to meet his expenses. And besides, every
native is ambitious to have a grand funeral, one that will be
the talk of the country-side for many a day to come. With that
ever in view, he attends the markets far and wide, and when
he has gathered sufficient produce he takes the long, toilsome
journey to the "coast"" to dispose of his goods to the white
traders. No one accuses the members of the Stock Exchange,
or the shopkeepers of the Strand, of laziness, because they do
not till the earth to grow wheat or cabbages ; neither should
the black man be charged with idleness because he is not
always found with a hoe in his hand. There are both lazy and
industrious men to be found among the natives, and the latter
are in the majority.

Native traders, having collected articles of trade, such as
goats, pigs, sheep, various kinds of farm produce, palm wine,
slaves, and manufactured goods, take them to the markets,
which are four in number, viz. Konzo, NJcenge, Nsona, and
Nkandu, these have given their names to the four days
that comprise the Congo week.^ All the markets held on a
^ See Appendix, Note IV, p. 808, " Times and Seasons."

199

200 MARKET DAYS

certain day all over the Lower Congo are called A'oJtzo, and all
the markets held the next day are named Nkenge. These
markets are all held in different places, e.g. all the Konzo
markets are held on different sites from all the markets held on
the three successive days. These market-places are so arranged
that one in four will be within two or three miles (sometimes
much closer) of a town, the next day's market may be ten miles
away from the first town, but near some other town or towns,
and the next from fifteen to twenty miles, and the next perhaps
twenty-five miles away from the first town. Thus every village
throughout the whole of Lower Congo has at least one market
during the week within a reasonable distance of its doors. If,
many years ago, a family moved into a part of the country far
distant from all the markets, then they established one on a
neutral site, and tried to make it popular to induce others to
attend it; and on whatever day they started it, it took the
name of all the other markets held on that day, and came in
its proper order.

Besides the market-day name as mentioned above, the
natives often affix to them the name of a prominent town or
place near which they are held, to distinguish them from all the
other markets of that name held on that day, e.g. Nsona
Ngungu is the Nsona market held near the town of Ngungu ;
and the Nsona Kiyenji is held near the town of Kiyenji.
Thus, if a man of Ngombe Lutete district said that he was
going to Nsona, everyone would know that he was going to
visit the nearest market of that name ; but if he stated that he
was going to Nso7ia Ngungu, they would know at once that he
intended walking thirty miles across country to trade on the
market of that name, near the Thysville railway station.
Again, some of these markets are more famous than others
for certain articles that are always to be found for sale on
them. For instance, at one Nkenge you can always be sure of
finding pigs for sale, hence those trading in pigs consequently
travel to that particular Nkenge ; another Nkenge will be noted
for pots, pipes, water- bottles, and various kinds of pottery ; a
certain Nsona will be famous for the amount of trade cloth,

FIVE GREAT MARKETS 201

and another for the quantity of gunpowder always for sale ;
but although at these markets there may be large quantities
of the one article for which the market is noted, yet there will
also be food, &c., for sale. Other markets are very general in
their character, having a little of everything exposed for sale
— sugar-cane, cassava roots, cassava flour, native bread, cloths,
knives, flint-lock guns, pots, baskets, tobacco, sweet potatoes,
yams, dried meats, fowls, trinkets, necklaces, &c. &c.

There are also five great markets that are held every eight
days, not on the same but on the successive eighth days. These
are named Nhenge Nkila, which is held in French Congo, just
north of the main river ; Konzo Makwekwe, held in Ngombe
Lutete district; Konzo Kikandikila, held about three days
south of VVathen mission station ; Konzo Kinsuka, near the
boundai-y of the Portuguese and Belgian Congos ; and Nlienge
Elembelo, not far from San Salvador. There is thus a line of
these great markets, the gathering-places of large crowds of
people from very wide areas, held every eighth day, stretching
from San Salvador right through the country, and crossing the
river into what is now known as French Congo ; and it is very
probable that they run south to Angola, and well north into
Landana, i.e. that they are only limited by the boundaries of
the old Kingdom of Kongo, which formerly included both those
places ; and it may be that they also run east and west. In
the old days these eighth-day markets were the chief places for
native-made cloth (rnbadi), and for the fibre (mpusu) employed
in its manufacture.

Before the coming of the white man the articles used for
bartering purposes on the markets were : native cloth (tilca
i/ambadi), made in very small pieces from two to three inches
wide and from six to eight inches long ; native-made knives
{mhele za mfudila) ; hoes (nsengo), and various other small things
made by hand. After the arrival of the white man the currency
changed to red beads {mbembc), thick black beads {matadi
mankolo), and blue glass beads {nzimhu za ndomhe — or nzimbu
for short). The latter are so fi-eely and plentifully used that
they are really the equivalent for money, and the standard of

202 ARTICLES FOR BARTER

all prices, especially around San Salvador. In the Ngombe
Lutete district brass rods were more popular than beads, and
thus became the currency, the medium of barter, and the
standard of prices. Thirty odd years ago the brass rod then
in use was twenty-seven inches long, but now it is scarcely five
inches. Those who came into the possession of a number
of brass rods cut a half inch off each, so as to procure for
nothing the brass for his or her ornaments, and then passed
the shortened rods into circulation, and others cut off pieces
for the same purpose. Suddenly they awoke to the fact that
there was not so much brass in their rods — that they were short ;
but there were so many in circulation that they agreed to take
the short rods by giving, and receiving, an increased number
for the cloth or goats, &c., for sale. The process of shortening
still went on, together with the consequent giving of an in-
creased number for an article, so that now the rod is as short
as it can get without entirely vanishing altogether. Thirty
years ago a good fowl could be bought for two or three rods ;
but a hundred and fifty would now be given of the very small
rods for the same size fowl. Along with the shortening of the
rod has also been the pouring into the country, by many
steamers, of hundreds, if not thousands, of tons of the brass
wire used for cutting into rods, and this factor has also helped
to increase the cost of native produce, and decrease the buying
power of brass rods. In fact, brass rods, and, in a minor de-
gree, blue pipe beads, are a drug in the market, and the white
man, who only has these kinds of money in his store, will
either have to starve, or give such prices for his food that he
will find the cost of living in a first-class European hotel
much cheaper. He must have now all kinds of good cloth,
clothes, enamel ware, trinkets, jewellery, in fact, a multiple
store in miniature to supply the demand : and if he has some-
thing the native wants, and no other trader has it, he can de-
mand almost any price in reason. European money is gradually
gaining ground, and in the near future will probably supplant
this present mode of barter.

Before the arrival of missionaries, the natives did not know

ACCOUNTS 203

any way of writing down their business transactions. All ac-
counts respecting debits and credits were retained in the
memory; and as their memories were sometimes at fault,
especially in regard to what they owed to others, there were
frequently bitter quarrels and fights among them, which often
led to lawsuits and big " palavers." One way of helping the
memory was to tie knots in a piece of twine. A man on a
journey would tie a knot in a piece of string for every day he
was on the road, and thus know for certain at the end of his
travels how many days he had been en route. If two or more
men wished to meet on a certain day, say, fifteen days hence,
they would each take a piece of string and tie fifteen knots in
it, and as each day passed they would cut off a knot, until at
last they would see that the appointed day had arrived. For
counting months, or native weeks, i.e. sets of four market days,
they would cut notches in a stick — a notch for every month, or
every week, as the case might be. For counting tens, pieces of
grass or palm-nuts or pellets of clay were used, whichever
might be handy at the time of counting; but sometimes a
mark with the finger was made on the ground. Our ordinary
old English tally was known and used, i.e. notches cut across a
piece of wood, and then the wood split down the middle, each
of the two parties concerned in the transaction it recorded,
taking one-half of the tally stick. In counting tens, they
counted three, then two, and put those together to make five ;
then another three and a two, and, putting those together,
they pushed them over to the other five and thus made a ten ;
and having made a series of tens they counted them in threes
and twos, and fives to make the ten tens, i.e. a hundred — a
clumsy method, but it was necessary in order to check each
other's counting.

There is, and has been for many years, a firmly-established
law that no force of any kind, under any circumstances, shall
be used on the markets — no raiding, no thieving of goods, and
no capturing of people — that is, that the market-place must be
regarded as absolutely neutral ground. At one time not a
single weapon of any description was allowed within the

204 JIGGERS

boundaries of the markets. The infringement of any of these
rules brought down on the ofl'ender the vengeance of the whole
country-side. There are traditions of such offenders, but their
punishment was such as to deter others from following in their
footsteps. Sometimes rowdy, reckless rascals would meet small
unprotected parties on the way to market, and would rob them
of their goods, and even steal some of the people and sell them
on a distant market or at the " coast."

When the white men had built their stations, or factories,
at the " coast "" (and coast here means notonly the sea shore, but
also the banks of the River Congo from the Noqui to Matadi),
the natives took peanuts, palm kernels, ivory and slaves to
them in exchange for salt, gunpowder, flint-lock guns, trade
cloth, &c. ; and about 1877 they started the rubber trade. It
was about that time that the chigoe ^ (or jigger) appeared : for
apparently it was brought to the district of San Salvador from
the sea coast by those who had travelled there with rubber for
sale. It was then called " the insect beneath the skin " {nta?ida\
and as they noticed that these insects hopped about after they
came from under the skin, they called them the bounding or
jumping insect {ntaiKV a ndangica) ; and they have always asso-
ciated them with rubber, which bounces about. It is now more
commonly known by the natives as dedc. It is the Pulex
penetrans.

When a caravan of native traders is ready to start for the
white man's trading factory, they call a luck-giving medicine-
man. The medicine-man of this particular cult has a luck-
giving bag of charms, containing pieces of leopard's skin,
hyaena's skin, lion's skin, and, in fact, a piece of the skin of
every strong animal he could procure, and also some albino's
hair. The name for this charm is mpungu, which means mighty
all-powerful ; and sometimes these things were put into an image
{sole = 3^ figure with grass tied round its neck, knotted back
and front) as being more easy to carry. This medicine-man is
supposed to have the power of making his customers to be
specially favoured by women, slaves, and also by his family and
• Sec Aj>i)eudix, Note V, p. ;}()'.), "'J'he Chigoe."

A POWERFUL CHARM 205

friends, and very fortunate in trading. Those people who by
us are regarded as being the special favourites of Dame Fortune
are, in this part of Congo, thought to be in possession of this
bag of charms or the image containing them.

The price for this charm is one slave, and as only rich
people can afford to give that price, the idea is consequently
fostered that such a fetish really gives good luck to its happy
owner. This medicine-man can not only impart good luck to
his clients, but, if paid, he can remove good luck from his
client's enemies, and overwhelm them with misfortune ; he has
only to tap on the image, and hold it up and down three times
and hang it outside his house, and away its spirit will fly to
ruin the person against whom it has been invoked.

On the arrival of this medicine-man he sits down in the
middle of the caravan, which stands round him with their loads
tied ready for the journey, and puts the image in front of him.
He speaks to the fetish image, telling it to give the traders
good luck on the road, and at the trading factory. A man
then takes a fowl by the head, and the medicine-man holds it
by the body, cuts off its head, and allows the blood to drop on
the image. This is to appease and refresh the fetish power in
the image. The fowl is then cooked, and divided among the
traders who are going on the journey, for them to eat. This
fowl is cooked and eaten in the open air, and during and after
this ceremony no one must go into a house or turn back from
the road. The fowl having been eaten, the medicine-man
places a shell containing very small bits of everything in the
bag of charms, and this he puts in the road leading out of the
town by which the caravan will travel to the " coast." Every
person in the caravan — man or woman, boy or girl — must step
over this shell, and if anyone touches it with his foot he is not
allowed to proceed, for according to the omen he will die on
the journey ; and after stepping over the shell no member of
the party must look back or he will destroy his luck. Some,
in order to keep the powerful luck-giving fetish in a good
humour, sacrifice a goat to it every month, whether they go on
a journey or not. The blood is poured over the image, and

206 ON PASSING THROUGH A VILLAGE

the flesh is eaten by the trader and his family, for it must not be
sold — only a comparatively rich man can afford such an oifering.

The members of a caravan when passing through a town
must not let their sticks touch the ground, or they will destroy
the luck of the town, and thus lay themselves open to a heavy
fine. To avoid this most carriers put their staffs across their
right shoulders and under the end of their loads, which are
usually carried through a town or village on their left shoulders.
The carriers while travelling in the open country or bush hitch
up their cloths to their girdles, thus exposing their thighs, to
give greater freedom in the moving of their legs, but on passing
through a village or town they must drop their cloths out of re-
spect for the people, and for the sake of decency, otherwise they
will be taken to the chiefs house and beaten. Neither may
carriers when passing through a town carry their loads on their
heads, as that would be resented by the inhabitants of the
town as the height of haughtiness and pride, and arousing
the anger of the people, would result in a fight and the imposi-
sion of a heavy fine.

While en route to the trading factory, the above customs
have to be carefully observed, and in addition payments are
made for the use of bridges crossing unfordable rivers, and for
the ferrying canoes employed in taking the caravan over deep,
wide rivers. When passing through the principal towns of
the districts, or the country belonging to a great overlord, a
toll must be paid to ensure protection. On payment of the
tax, the chief receiving it is responsible for the safety of the
caravan ; and the tax is fixed according to the number of the
carriers in the caravan, and the value of the goods they carry,
llubber and ivory pay a heavier tax than peanuts and palm-
kernels. The tax must be reasonable, or otherwise native trailers
will make wide detours to avoid exorbitant chiefs. The Zombo
traders, paying toll to the King of Kongo at San Salvador,
travelled with their produce as far as Noqui, a matter of ten days""
journey ; but as a rule a caravan rarely went more than six or
seven days from home, and if there was a white trader within
that limit so much the more profitable to them, and the better
selection of trade goods from which to choose ; but if there

IVORY 207

were no white traders within the sphere of safe travelling, then
they sold their goods to other native traders, who carried them
nearer the coast, and thus the produce of Central Africa filtered
through more than one middle-man to the white traders for
shipment to Europe. And as each middle-man received a
profit out of the transaction, it was to their interest to keep
the white man from penetrating through to the interior of the
country and dealing direct with the natives. The belt of
middle-men round Africa have done much to keep it a closed
and unknown continent — their profits were in danger.

In the old days some trade was done in ivory, but not much,
as it was thought that the person who sold ivory, sold in the
hollow part of the tusk the spirit of the people of his town.
If a man took a tusk to the " coast," and while he was away
a person died in the town, the trader on his return was accused
of witchcraft, and had to take the ordeal, although it was, and
is, the usual custom not to charge an absentee with bewitching
any person in his village. A powerful chief sold ivory in spite
of this superstition, but even he was careful not to sell large
quantities for fear of public opinion, and the above consequences
of the ordeal.

During the rainy season of 1883 and 1884 not much rain
fell on the towns and farms behind Noqui and Ango-ango ;
and the folk of that district said that those carrying ivory
through their country to the white traders at the above places,
were carrying in the cavities of the tusks the bodies of dead
people to sell to the traders, and the said dead bodies destroyed
their luck, and consequently they had no rains. They stopped
all trade between the hinterland and the trading factories at
the above places. The writer was on the road between San
Salvador and Noqui, travelling towards the latter place, when
his carriers heard that the Noqui people had caught a native
trader taking ivory to a trading-house for sale. They took the
ivory away, and cut the unfortunate man^s mouth literally from
ear to ear. The writer's carriers were so alarmed at this that
he had to make a wide detour and pass through Mpalapala to
reach his friends at Tunduwa station. This shutting of the
road continued so long, and injured trade so much, that the

208 A STRANGE BELIEF

traders of Noqui and Ango-ango joined forces, marched on the
towns and burnt them down. One white trader was killed in
the fight, but the road was eventually opened again.

The writer, while living at San Salvador, was visited by some
Zonibo natives, and after much persuasion he induced some of
the bolder ones to enter his house. One of the first things
they did was to look carefully round the walls of the rooms.
On questioning them, we learned from them and others that
they were looking for the shelves upon which we were supposed
to store dead bodies until we had an opportunity of sending
them for shipment to the " coast " ; and their idea was that we,
as well as white traders dealing in ivory, bought the dead
bodies of the natives, and sent them to Europe, where, by some
means, they were resuscitated, and worked for us as slaves.
Hence their fear to enter, their close scrutiny of the walls for
storing shelves, and their surprise at seeing no dead bodies.
The fact of our being missionaries did not allay their suspicions ;
and the other fact, that we never traded in ivory or anything
else, nor ever sent anything to the " coast," did not allay their
fears. They regarded us with greater dread, as they thought we
were so subtle as to hide our real reason for living there — the
buying of dead bodies, under a show of kindness and goodness. It
took a weary time to disarm suspicion, and gain their confidence.

With regard to rubber, the natives at first did not know
that it was of any value, and consequently they were slow to
use it as an article of trade, although there were numerous
vines in the forests. They thought it was of no commercial
value ; but as soon as they found it was saleable, they tapped
the vines, boiled the sap, and carried it, at first secretly, to the
trader. The reason for this secrecy was that those who intro-
duce any new article of trade, ike. have had to j)ay for their
cleverness by becoming the objects of a suspicion that often
ended in a charge of witchcraft and death. There is a rumour
that the man who first discovered palm wine forfeited his life
as a witch ; and there is a district well known to the writer where
gum copal was found to have a commercial value, but through
superstitious fear a prohibition was put on its sale by the chiefs
and the majority of the peo})le, and the man who discovered its

SLAVES 209

value was threatened with the ordeal if he persisted in selling
any more. Since then education and enlightenment have spread
in that district, and the more progressive folk would disregard
the prohibition, but unfortunately they are afraid to sell it in
any quantities lest the authorities should hear of it, and demand
the article in part payment of their taxes, and their last state
thus become worse than their first. Other articles of great
commercial value like cotton, and an oil-giving seed {Sesamum
Indicum)^ have been suppressed for the same reason; but we sin-
cerely hope that the Belgian Government by the wiser methods
they have introduced (wiser and better than those that prevailed
under the disastrous regime of the now defunct Congo Free
State), will so win the confidence of the people that they will
fully reveal the resources of their country, and co-operate with
one another in the development of them for the benefit of all.

Besides selling ivory and rubber, slaves were also sold to
the white traders, especially at the sea coast. Those sold as
slaves varied in character, age, and sex. Inveterate thieves,
men who committed adultery and could not pay the fine
imposed, lawless rascals who broke the laws of their districts
and were too poor to pay their fines, folk kidnapped while
going to or from a market, those who tried to escape from the
secret society, those too weak to resist the tyranny of the
strong bully, found their way to the trading houses as chattels
of barter. A family would also sell one of its members to
clear itself of debt, and a bankrupt would be carried off to
clear himself of debt by the sale of his body. Sometimes these
debts were not legitimate ones in the sense of being a proper
business transaction between two persons for, say, a thousand
brass rods, equal with interest to forty or fifty shillings ; but
a mean advantage taken of a temporary difficulty, e.g. a man
one day wanted ten brass rods to finish a purchase. He
borrowed the rods, and the lender might hate the man, and
sell him within a day or two as a slave, or he might transfer
the debt to an enemy with the same evil result — slavery for
life for the sake of ten brass rods ; and it has been done for
even two brass rods — worth a penny. Those who were proved
by the ordeal to be guilty of witchcraft, and those who were

210 ARTICLES OF BARTER

murderers, could not be sold as slaves, nor could they be re-
deemed at any price by their families — they had taken life
and must pay a life.

On the arrival of the caravan at the trading factory, and the
price for the produce having been agreed upon, the " money "
the native traders received comprised the following articles :
salt (mungwa), cloth (niele), plates (mahnga), dishes and basins
{mbamnga), mugs, cups, and glasses {kopo\ gunpowder {tiya
twa mpiitu—yfh.W.e man's fire), &c. Guns (mata) were sometimes
bought; those with short barrels were called lung'' e hwnbi, and
those with long ones nJcomhn ^ goaX, probably because they cost
the price of a goat. In a trader''s store there were more than
sixty different articles of barter, and in these days the number
has greatly increased, as has already been mentioned.

In the old days (and only recently has the custom ceased)
the white man gave to all trading caravans a demijohn (large
or small, according to the amount of produce sold) of gin or
rum as a pi-esent. It may be interesting to note here the
derivation of a word that has now travelled all over the
country, and is used as an equivalent for present, free gift, tip,
bakshish, &c., viz. matabixu. It is made up of two Portuguese
words — matar, to kill, and bkha, a serpent or snake. It was
the practice of the Portuguese trader to give a customer a tot
of rum to kill, as they phrased it, the serpent or snake, i.e. a
biting in the stomach. By and by this word was applied to
any make-weight given on the top of an agreed price, and
hence to a present, gift, or tip, in recognition of little services
rendered.

Attached to each trading house is an interpreter {linguut-
tere), who is engaged and paid by the manager of the factory
to act as a medium between himself and the native traders.
Living in the villages near trading centres like Nocjui, San
Salvador, &c., are trade brokers (also called Unguisteres), who
make long journeys into the hinterland, where by their presents
to various native traders and chiefs they work uj) a connection
among them. I have known one such broker to give away
between 150 and 200 pieces of cloth, besides all the cost of his
caravan in food and pay, in the hope that he might sell for

THE FACTORY INTERPRETER 211

them when they came with produce for sale to the white
traders in his part of the country.

The factory interpreter receives a monthly wage from his
master, and he is expected to use all his persuasive powers with
the native traders to induce them to sell their produce to his
employer only, and his master will give him an extra com-
mission if he is successful ; and he can also draw something
from the deal by representing to the native that the white
trader has offered less than he really has. The interpreters
often entertain prospective customers of their masters, and not
infrequently give the members of the caravan a demijohn of
palm wine to gain their goodwill. Among the interpreters,
and also among the brokers, there is keen rivalry for the
opportunity of acting as the medium of the deal — the inter-
preter fighting to keep his lucrative position by introducing
the trade to his own employer, and the broker trying to
procure the business that he might recoup himself for his heavy
outlay. The white traders never appear on the scene until
the native enters his compound or his store with the produce
for sale ; but it is more than probable that they were pulling
the strings through their touts to draw the trade to their own
particular factory ; and I must say, that from all the accounts
I have heard both from native and white traders about each
other, they never used other than legitimate means.

The native trader and the carriers loaded with his pro-
duce arrive at the Noqui, and he is met by the broker Avho has
visited his town in the interior, and who, by his presents and
glibness of tongue, has received the promise to act as his
salesman, as his intermediary with the white trader. The
broker conducts his client to the white trader, and a conversa-
tion such as the following will take place — the white trader
and the broker talking Portuguese to one another, and the
broker and native trader talking only in the Congo language :

Broker to white man : " How much for these tusks ? "

They are carefully examined and weighed, and then the
white man replies to the broker : " I will give 400 pieces of
cloth for them " (a piece of cloth, invoice price, costs from
1*. 6d. to 2*., that is about the price of a standard piece of a

212 NATIVE TRADER AND BROKER

certain quality of 12 yards to the piece, probably the first
kind introduced by the early traders).

Broker to native : " He will give you 180 pieces."
Native to broker : " That is not enough, I want 450 pieces."
Broker to white man : " 'ITiey want 500 pieces."
White man : " No, that is far too much, I will pay 420."
Broker to native : " The white man says that he will give
you 210 pieces."

After more haggling the white man reaches his limit of
450 pieces ; and after much talking, lasting perhaps a whole
day, the native trader brings down his price to 360 pieces, and
the broker works his up gradually to that amount. This
chaffering may last three or four days, but the price being
now agreed upon, the broker tells the white man to pay them
360 pieces, which he does in articles from his store : a case of
beads may equal eight pieces, a common gun one piece, a better
gun three pieces, a fine cloth four pieces, a demijohn of rum four
pieces, a case of a dozen bottles of gin ^ two pieces, and so they
work through the whole of the 360 pieces, taking out looking-
glasses, gunpowder, cloths of various patterns and qualities.
The native trader takes these goods back to his own locality
and sells them retail on the various markets in buying small
quantities of produce, at a profit of from 100 to 150 or more
per cent. He must be a smart man to remember the cost of
the ivory, the expenses of his journeys to and from the " coast,"
the value of the goods he is taking to sell in his own district,
and many other things, such as food for his carriers en route,
taxes to the chiefs through whose towns he has passed, and
tolls for bridges and canoes, or he will have a loss instead of a
profit at the end. Having sold his ivory, he sells his rubber,
peanuts, &c. in much the same way — the broker always leaving
a margin for himself

After the native trader has left with his caravan, the
broker takes the difference between the highest prices
mentioned by the white man for the produce, and the actual
prices paid to the native trader, which, in the above illustra-

' For some years now spirits luive not been carried for sale to the
natives beyond the Mjmizo River, three miles from Matadi.

CURRENCY 213

tion, on the ivory alone is ninety pieces, and on the whole of
the business done may reach 156 pieces. This helps to refund
him for his disbursements among his clients, for the expenses
of his journeys, and for his trouble.

Sometimes the native trader wants more than the broker
can aflbrd to give, and he will go off to another white man and
use another broker, or that white trader's interpreter, who,
having given him little or nothing by way of presents, can,
therefore, agree to give him a higher price for his produce.
The native trader is 'cute enough to work one broker against
another. Sometimes the broker himself will recognise that
the white man is not oflering a fair price, or that he has not a
good assortment of goods in his store, or that their prices are
higher than those at the stores of other traders, and he will
take his client to another white man's factory.

This system of trading has already died out in some districts,
and is fast disappearing in others ; and in another generation
it will become obsolete, and that is one of the reasons why I
have described it in such detail. Men now are often paid in
francs for their work on the railway, at the Government offices,
and by the traders and others ; and with these francs they can
buy, in the many shops that have been opened, the articles
they desire. Such shops will also accept produce, and will pay
for it either in francs or trade goods. On the markets francs
and half francs are accepted in payment, but the copper coins
— from five centimes upwards — for some reason, are not
acceptable to the natives ; and for small purchases, brass rods
and beads hold their own. At all mission stations, no pro-
duce — ivory, rubber, &c. — for export is accepted, neither is
money in any form taken, but the barter goods are used for
buying fowls, goats, and native foods of every kind, for paying
carriers, and workmen. They are not there as traders to buy
and export produce; but use barter goods in lieu of money, to
meet their household and station expenses; and they are in-
creasingly using francs to meet those demands, which find their
way to the shops of legitimate traders ; and they will be glad
when francs altogether supplant the clumsy, time-wasting
method of buying by barter.

CHAPTER XX

BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC ^

THE word nganga covers a wide range of meanings,
such as medicine-man, sorcerer, exorcist, witch-finder,
wizard, fetish-priest, witch-doctor, diviner, fetish-
man, &c., but not one nganga exercises all these functions.
The term is also applied to those persons who have been
initiated into the mysteries of the secret societies, and may
then be translated as the knowing ones, but such initiates rarely
act as medicine-men : and it is not necessary for a proper
nganga to be a member of either of these societies. Each
expert works in his own particular line, and rarely takes a
case outside of it ; and it will be seen from the names of the
various medicine-men, that their functions are usually well
defined. There are about fifty different classes or orders of
medicine-men, and some of them are referred to in the various
chapters dealing with different phases of native life, and in
those places their names are given and their operations are
described, hence only those medicine-men not already mentioned
will be found in this chapter.

Most of the medicine-men are engaged in what might be
called the "white art" in magic and divination, e.g. they use
their supposed skill in attempting to free the people from the
malign influence of evil spirits, and to cure various diseases.
It would be surprising if, during generations of practice, they
had not found some remedies for some of the diseases thev are
constantly treating. There is a great amount of faith-cure of
persons suffering from neurotic and imaginary disorders, who

^ This cliapter should he read in conjunction with the chapter on
" Kelif^ious lieliefs" in Atnotig Congo ('annihalx, pp. 'J46-2()(), hy tht»se who
dchire tlie full account of Conji^o fetishism and niedicinc-men. Tlie
chapters are complementary.

WHITE MAGIC 215

pay " doctors " to dance and chant around them ; and cures
are often effected by change of scene ; a person living in the
same village month after month, attending the same markets,
seeing always the same small circle of acquaintances, becomes
poorly, out of health, &c., and goes off to a medicine-man
living at a village some hours' journey away, and remains there
for a month or six weeks, with the result that they feel better
for the change, and return home in improved health. One
should be chary of condemning wholesale all the methods em-
ployed by the natives for curing themselves of their ailments
and diseases. It will be seen that most of the medicine-men
can use their fetishes and charms in what we may call the
" black art," i.e. they can employ their supposed skill in
bringing evil and disease on the enemies of their clients.

Men and women on becoming ngangas do not take new
personal names, except those belonging to the secret society of
the " Country-of-the-dead," and they are always called nhau ;
and those desiring to engage in the profession of the witch-
doctor enter the different orders by various doors.

By initiation. The witch-finder, the most powerful and
wealthy order among the ngangas, has an assistant (esamba),
but before he can be a fully-recognised witch-finder he must
learn all the tricks of his master, and it takes a clever and
sharp-witted fellow to do that. Besides being cunning, he
must be fearless— afraid of nothing and nobody, for his life
will often be threatened by those whom he accuses of witch-
craft. When the time comes for the assistant to receive full
power, his master puts his fetish in the centre of a circle, and
his drum near to his pupil. He beats on his drum, shakes his
rattle, and tries to drive his fetish power into his assistant.
If the pupil sits stolidly taking no notice of the drum-beating
and rattle-shaking, the master says his assistant is not fit to
be a witch-doctor; but if the pupil sways to and fro to the
rhythm of the beaten drum, jumps about like a madman, and
does all kinds of stupid things — as they suppose under the
influence of the fetish power that has entered him — he is
pronounced a fully-initiated witch-doctor, being now possessed

216 METHOD OF ENTERING A CULT

by the fetish power of his master, from whom he has aheady
learned the secret of his tricks.

By payment to a ngang' a mhambi (see page 223) of one
thousand strings of blue pipe beads and a fowl, after recovery
from an infectious disease by means of the fetish image belong-
ing to this particular " doctor." In return for the fee special
instruction is given in the "medicines" used, and method of
procedure. If, however, the patient is clever enough to
recognise the herbs, &c., given to him, and to imitate the
ceremonies, he may set up as a " doctor" of this order without
the payment of any fee.

Bv being imbued with fetish power in the ekinu dance.
This is a fetish dance during which the " doctor " tries to drive
into his patient or into his pupil the fetish power. For this
particular dance see page 129.

By passing successfully the ordeal for witchcraft. In
March 1909 I met a man who had formerly been a witch-
finder {ngang' a ngomho). He had been accused four times of
being a witch, and each time he had vomited after drinking the
ordeal infusion, thus proving his innocence. After the fourth
ordeal he informed his friends that he himself would begin
business as a witch-finder; and he became in much request, and
was never again himself accused. On one occasion he was
chased by an accused person who threatened to shoot him ;
but his principal professional difficulty was to find unerringly
the grave of the person killed by a witch. If death is believed
to be due to witchci-aft, no trace is left of the grave, and the
pointing out of the place of interment is regarded as the crucial
test of the occult powers of this kind of witch-doctor.

The profession is therefore open to any shrewd, artful, and
energetic person, either rich or poor, bond or free, and is not
confined to either sex. As a rule, the witch-doctor is a lithe
and active person, for it is often necessary to dance for hours
to excite the crowd to the required pitch; he has restless,
sharp eyes that jump from face to face of the spectators; he
has an acute knowledge of human nature, and knows almost
instinctively what will please the surrounding throng of on-

Lent hy

Witch-doctor and his Assistants

Miss Hariland

The witch-doctor himself is weirdly decorated wiih charms, skins, feathers, and chalk. One
assistant has a rattle, and the other a small ivory trumpet, and to the sound of these instruments
the witch-doctor dances when in search of the witch responsible for the illness of his client, or the
death of a person.

POWER OF THE WITCH-DOCTOR 217

lookers ; but his face becomes after a time ugly, repulsive, and
the canvas upon which cruelty, chicanery, hatred, and all devilish
passions are portrayed with repellent accuracy.

When performing, blue, red, white, yellow, and any other
colour he can procure are plastered in patches, lines, and circles
upon his face and the other exposed parts of his body ; thick
circles of white surround the eyes, a patch of red across the
forehead, broad stripes of yellow are drawn down the cheeks,
bands of red, white, or yellow run down the arms and across the
chest, and spots of blue and other colours are put on promiscu-
ously to fill up, according to no rule other than his own crude
taste, and the colours available. His dress consists of the
softened skins of wild animals, either whole or in strips, feathers
of birds, dried fibres and leaves, ornaments of leopard, crocodile,
or rafs teeth, small tinkling bells, rattling seedpods, and any-
thing else that is unusual and wearable. The effect attained is
extremely grotesque, but to the native these things are the
proper pai-aphernalia of a witch-doctor and a sign of his power.
To inspire the native with awe and fear this get-up is absolutely
necessary, for, if a witch-doctor arrived at the scene of his
operations in the ordinary garb of a native, he would be scouted
and turned out of the town.

The witch-doctor is the arbiter of life and death, for not
only is the victim he selects led away to drink the ordeal, but
so implicitly do the people believe in him that, when he says
that his patient will die, this invariably happens, as the friends
begin at once to prepare for the funeral, and instead of feeding
the patient they dig his grave and send to call his relatives to
the obsequies. The medicine-man has said that he will die, so
what is the use of wasting time and good food on him ?

The witch-doctor is consulted about a child before birth, at
birth, and throughout its childhood and youth, during illness
to drive away the evil spirits causing the sickness, after the
death of a first wife to purify the widower, after death to dis-
cover the witch who caused it, and at burial to ensure that the
deceased will not return to trouble the family. Even after
death and burial the spirit of the departed one can be controlled

218 WITCH-DOCTOR AND TABOO

by the medicine-man, and destroyed by him if it does not
behave itself decently.

The witch-doctor puts the native under taboo, and removes
it at the proper time ; he makes the hunting, trading, and war
" medicine " to ensure good luck ; he brings the rain when there
is a drought, or stops it when the fields are being inundated
with abnormal storms ; he makes the fetish for the caravan to
carry on the road that will soften the heart of the white trader,
so that he will give a good price for the produce offered for
sale ; he also makes the charms that will protect a whole town,
or an individual, or an animal. There is no condition of life
that he is unable to affect either for good or evil, and his
services must not be despised or some dread catastrophe will
follow. Such are the pretensions of the Congo witch-doctor,
and over the natives he wields tyrannical power.

There are two terms that contain the whole theory and
practice of the Lower Congo medicine-man's black and white
art. When a man has been injured by a known or unknown
enemy and wishes to inflict on him disease, misfortune, or
death, he selects a medicine-man who possesses a fetish that has
control over certain diseases, and pays him a fee to loka e nkisi,
i.e. to curse anyone by the aid of a charm or fetish. The fetish
is beaten with a stick, raised in the air three times, and held
head downwards three times near the ground, told what to do,
and then hung up outside the invoker's house, and the spirit of
the fetish flies ofl'to obey its orders. This is the simple modus
operandi followed by all medicine-men, who invoke their fetishes
to use their various powers against the enemies of their
customers. Any ordinary man who owns a fetish can curse an
enemy with it by performing the same ceremony ; and if a man
has not a fetish of his own powerful enough to satisfy his hatred,
and does not want the expense of engaging a medicine-man, he
can, for a small sum, borrow for a short time a strong fetish,
and with it curse his enemy. When this ceremony is performed,
it is not necessary to mention a name, but siniply "the thief
who stole my goods,"" or " my enemy who sent me bad luck," or
" the one who bewitches nie with this bad disease," as the case

BLACK AND WHITE ART 219

may be ; and this is the whole science of the Congo medicine-
man's " black art."

Nearly all diseases, bad luck, misfortune, sorrow, and death
are caused by witcho-aft, i.e. by some one using a fetish to curse
{loka e Jikisi) a person or a member of his, or her, family.
For example, if a piece of cloth is stolen, the owner pays a
medicine-man to curse the unknown thief. Should the thief
hear of it, and through fear of the curse return the cloth, he
will pay the owner compensation, and will ask the medicine-
man to soothe or appease the fetish, and thus remove its curse
{lembola^e nMsi) from working against him. Suppose the thief
does not hear that the robbed man has paid a witch-doctor to
curse him, or he hears of it, but feels so secure in his disbelief
in fetishes, or has such faith in the protective power of his own
charm, that he retains the cloth, then the spell will work either
against him, or against one of his family. Hence when a man is
suffering from a disease, no one knows whether that disease is the
result of a curse invoked on his own evil doings, or on a member
of his family, who has injured some one so badly that they
have paid to have the curse invoked that has brought the
disease.

A robbed man will sometimes fee the " Hon doctor" (p. 227
infra) to curse the unknown thief with severe lung trouble ; by
and by a man in the neighbourhood is troubled with a chest
complaint, and, all other remedies failing, he asks the "lion
doctor ■" to use his good offices with the " lion " fetish to
appease and soothe it so that the curse may be removed, and
he may be cured. From the native point of view it is evident
that either the sick man himself, or else one of his family, ig
the thief, or why does the man suffer from such a complaint ?
The same medicine-man practises his black magic to invoke his
fetish (loJca e nlcisi) to curse a man with a disease, and he uses
his white magic to soothe his fetish {lemhola e iikisi) to remove
the curse, i.e. cure the man ; and he thus draws pay from both
parties. Hence to invoke malignant powers against an enemy,
and to soothe and appease the said powers on behalf of a client
by various rites and ceremonies so that they will remove the

220 MAKING A VILLAGE FETISH

curse, are the opposite arts of the same medicine man, and he
employs the same fetish for both purposes.

Some of the medicine-men in the following list are common
to the whole of the Lower Congo, others are known only in
certain localities, and others are known by one name in one
district, and another title in another part of the country. It
will be observed tliat some are apparently more beneficent than
malignant in their operations, but it may be stated as an axiom
that the more malignant a medicine-man can be for evil, the
more beneficent and powerful he can be in removing curses and
thus curing diseases. The powerful fetishes that give the worst
complaints are also supposed to be able to cure them when
properly appeased by rites and ceremonies.

One of the most popular medicine-men is he who goes by
the name of ngang a zurnbi — the luck-giving medicine-man.
Should a town desire to have good luck in health, in trading,
in breeding animals, and success in its rivalry with other
towns in hunting, farming, &c., the inhabitants contribute
towards feeing a luck-giving medicine-man to make for them a
strong town charm {nkind' a evata). On the arrival of the
medicine-man with his bag of charms, a plain post of a certain
kind of wood {lembanzau) is procured, and a hole is cut in the
top. Into this hole some of the zumbi charm is put, and a
piece of palm gossamer is tied over it. A hole is then dug in
the ground just outside the town by the side of the road which
the women pass when fetching water from the stream. A goat
is killed, and its head is put in the hole and the fetish stick is
placed on it, as it is supposed to preserve the stick from the
attacks of the white ant. The earth is rammed tightly round
the stick, and the goafs blood is poured over the hole in the
stick, thus bathing the charms in blood. The town charm is
now complete and ready to work, but there is one prohibition
that must be scrupulously observed — nothing tied in a bundle
may enter the town, or the charm will become non-effective.
Women returning with fire-wood must untie the bundle before
reaching the " town charm"; men with bundles of grass for
thatching must unfasten them ; carriers with loads must loosen

FETISH FOWL 221

the cords, or make a wide detour; and people must remove
their girdles or belt. No sacrifice is offered regularly to this
charm, but, should some misfortune happen to the town or
people, they refresh or renew the energies of the charm by
pouring some more blood over it. Sometimes the fetish post
is placed in the centre of the town.

A man will invest, sometimes, in a zumbi charm for his own
exclusive use. The fee, however, is so extravagantly large that
only rich men can pay it, and hence the idea of its power to
bring riches to its owner is fostered. The zurnhi charm is at
times put into a fowl, a goat, or a pig, and such a fowl or
animal is never sold or killed, and it is never stolen, as no one
will dare to steal the fetish belonging to another person.
Male animals only are invested with this zumbi power, and
when the animal grows old the power is transferred to another.

poA

There is to be found in the towns what are called zumh'i
fowls {nsusu a zumbi) ; and the possessor of such a charm
selects a fine healthy cock and gives it a portion of the zumbi
charm to swallow. That fowl then becomes his fetish, and he
treats it as such. No one is allowed to beat it, or offend it by
driving it away, and it is respected like a chief. The zumbi fowl
tells its owner of coming events, such as danger to the town or
to himself, and by its crow it also foretells the future ; and in
that way brings luck to its owner, as only he can understand the
information given by its crow, and is thus able to take advan-
tage of it. When the fowl becomes old the ztimbi charm is
given to another,';and the first one is killed and eaten by its owner.
Drums and rattles are used for driving the zumbi power into a
person, but the fowl simply swallows a piece of the charm.

The zumbi is a bundle of charms, or an image into which
some of the charms have been put, or a fowl, or animal as
indicated above. The power of this charm is derived from the
great mpungu charm ; and the fowl of zumbi, fowl of the image
{sole), and the fowl of the mpungu are all the same in their
operations, getting their powers, however, originally from the
last— wpim^«= all-powerful, mighty.

M-Uother very powerful medicine-man is he of the nzaji

222 LIGHTNING FETISH

{ngang a nzaji) fetish. Thunder is supposed to be made by
this fetish, which also has the lightning under its control ; and
both lightning and a thunderbolt are known by the name of
the " dog of the nzaji. " {mbw a nzaji). This fetish is repre-
sented by an image, and is believed to have tremendous power.
When a person has been robbed, and cannot discover the thief,
he sends for the medicine-man of this particular cult, who
brings his wooden image, and asks each suspected person if he
or she has stolen the article. If they all deny the theft, he
then goes outside the house and taps several times on the
stomach of the image, and after raising it and lowering it three
times, the nzaji is thus incited to strike the thief with lightning
on the first possible opportunity.

The fear of this curse is so great that a thief will return
the stolen article, secretly if possible, or openly rather than
risk so terrible a punishment. The nzaji curse is then nullified
in the following way : the person or family under the ban
tells the medicine-man to bring his image, and he pours some
palm wine into the hole in the stomach of the image, stirs the
wine well, and gives it to the person or persons to drink. This
drinking of the mixture {nua mbozo) renders the participants
immune from death by lightning, and from a skin disease
called the fire of God (tiya tzma Nzambi), which is supposed to
be given by this fetish to those who are under its ban.

Should several members of a family die either by lightning
or become affected by the skin disease, the family goes through
the ceremony of marrying the nzaji fetish into the family, or
one of its members becomes a fetish-man of this cult, and thus
the whole family comes under the benign influence or protec-
tion of the nzaji (this is called tuntuka nzaji). It is believed
that if the fetish is brought into close kinship or intimate re-
lationship by one or other of these ceremonies, that it will
have pity on its family, and no other member will suffer from
its curse. It must be remembered that, when the nzaji curse
is put on a thief, the thiers family is included in that curse;
and if the family has a strong suspicion that one of its members
is the thief, they try to protect themselves in the above

MARRYING A FETISH 223

manner, and undoubtedly the thief often protects himself by
taking advantage of the antidote to the curse.

The fetish-man of another cult {ngang a vibamhi) owns an
image that gives and cures deep-seated ulcers (mbad). Some
time ago a man living in a town near San Salvador had some
of these ulcers which the medicine-men could not heal although
many were engaged for that purpose. They said that they
were caused by the mbambi fetish, and to cure the man it was
necessary to marry the fetish into the sick man's family, when
it would take pity on him. The fetish-man of this particular
cult was sent for, and on arrival he placed his drum in the
centre of the crowd that had collected in the middle of the
town. A boy and girl were selected to represent the family.
The girl was put oh the ground with her back supported by
the drum, and the fetish man beat away at his drum until the
girl swayed to and fro with the rhythm of the beating : then,
of a sudden, she jumped up and ran to a house opposite,
climbed over it, and as she went, pulled out, in her frenzy,
handfuls of grass. Her actions showed that she was under the
spell of the fetish, which had taken possession of her. The
same operation was repeated on the boy,i but, being too young
to know what was expected of him, he sat stolidly still, and at
last was replaced by an older boy, who very quickly re-enacted
the girPs performances. The mbambi fetish was then regarded
as a member of the clan, and was expected to withdraw his
displeasure from his " relative." The patient, however, was
never cured of his disease, and died a short time after the
above ceremony.

There are evil spirits {iikwiya) that cause diseases, bad
luck, and death, therefore it is necessary to have a fetish-man
{ngang' a nhwiyd) who can control, punish and even destroy
them should there be occasion to do so : for the evil spirit
(nkwiya) is that by which the witch (ndoki) is possessed. It is
the business of the medicine-man of this cult to ascertain what
spirit it is that is troubling the sick man or the unfortunate
family, and then he tries to drive it away by cursing, threaten-
^ This boy, now a man, related this incident to me.

224 CURSING A SPIRIT

ing, and firing his gun at it, and, as a last resort, he digs up
the body of the deceased person whose evil spirit is accused of
being the cause of the illness or epidemic and burns it.^ By
burning the body it is believed that the spirit is effectually de-
stroyed, but this is done only when the evil spirit of the person
is persistent in its attacks on the health and comfort of the
individual or family. Before employing such extreme measures
they will often call in a fetish-man of another class {ngang'
a bitodi), who calls on the spirits, and tries to persuade or
exhort them to leave the sick man alone. Sometimes he will
chase the said spirits out of the town, and, getting them near
the bush, he will fire his gun repeatedly at them to drive them
away. Being something of a ventriloquist, he has the trick of
throwing his voice in different directions, answering himself in
assumed tones,and keeping up conversations with the evil spirits;
and, as the natives hear these different voices talking in mumbling
sentences, they think this medicine-man is well worth his fee.
— —Chest ajid lung coniplaints are very common, so they
have a medicine-man {ngang' a rmmkanda) of the traps to
deal with them. He has a bundle of charms and some small
traps. The bundle contains powdered chalk, palm nuts, and
small garden eggs, and on the outside are various leaves, herbs,
and six small traps. If the person suffering from a chest
complaint spits blood, the medicine-man takes some leaves and
some chalk powder, crushes them together, and after adding
a little palm wine, he gives the mixture to his patient to
drink. Then he puts several of the traps {nkandci) about the
door of the sick person''s house, or room, having first put a
little fowl's blood or some sweet herbs in them to attract
insects, spiders, cockroaches, ^c.

In the morning he looks to see if anything has entered the
traps, and if he finds a cockroach is right at the end of one of
them, he knows that the witch belongs to a distant branch of
the family, and without any compunction he crushes the cock-
roach, believing that the sickness will now pass from his patient
to the witch represented by the cockroach, and his patient will
' See p. 243 for otlicr metliods (.f dealing; witli the spirits of the dead.

CATCHING A WITCH 225

now get better. If, however, the cockroach is only half way up
the trap, he knows the witch is of very near kinship to his
patient, and, as he does not want to pass the sickness on to a
near relative, he warns the cockroach and lets it go. Should
a cockroach be found in the trap next morning, he believes it
is the same one (or, if it is a spider, that it has only changed
its form) ; he will either warn it and threaten it more strongly
and let it go, or he will keep it shut up a few days without
food, and will watch to see if a near relative of the patient
becomes thin (i.e. dying through having his soul so imprisoned
in the trap that it cannot return to the body), and, if no one
becomes thin and ill, he will vehemently threaten the witch in
the insect and let it go. Should he find an insect in the trap
on the third morning, he kills it at once, as it is evident that
the witch is very persistent and should be punished. It is
immaterial if the insect is found in a different trap each time.

When the medicine-man squeezes the insect in the trap,
someone else gets the illness of the patient, and, as this is the
only way to catch this complaint, it is evident that the first
patient received it by trying to bewitch some one else. This
is supposed to be the only way in which this lung trouble is
imparted and cured. It is interesting to note that witches can
travel about disguised as insects, and that the folk they repre-
sent suffer in proportion to the suffering inflicted on the insects.
In this fetish-man we have the black and white art operating
at one and the same time — in curing and giving a complaint.

The most powerful and most feared of all the fetishes in
the catalogue belongs to the medicine-man who has the
mbanzangola fetish. It is a wooden image, and is always
retained in the possession of the witch-doctor, as it is too
powerful to pass into the hands of a layman. A private
person can buy other fetishes, but no private individual may
own a mbanzangola fetish. If a person desires to cause pain,
disease, or death to another, he goes to a medicine-man of
this fetish order, and, havirjg paid a fee, he drives in a nail or
knife where he wants his enemy to feel the pain. A knife-stab
in a vital part means a painful death to the man's enemy ; a

226 A POWERFUL FETISH

nail in the shoulder, elbow, or knee means excruciating agony
in one or other of those joints, and indicates that the man
does not want to kill his enemy, but only wishes him to have
rheumatism, abscesses, or such minor ailments. These fetish
images are often found stuck over with nails, knives, and other
sharp instruments. This is probably the only fetish image in
connection with which there is no " white art" practised — it is
neither a protective fetish nor a curative one, but is always
used to inflict pain. On the other hand, I have heard that the
nails, &c., driven into this image are offerings for benefits
received ; and it is possible that someone suffering from pain in
a part of his body has driven in a nail in a corresponding part
of the image, to pass on the pain to an enemy whom he may
think sent it to him, hence he may regard such a nail as an
offering for a benefit he hoped to receive.

Dropsy of the stomach is to be found occasionally, and a
person suffering from such a complaint sends for the medicine-
man of the vmsaku cult, who on his arrival calls together
the relatives of his patient, and to some of them he gives light
branches, to others rattles, and to one of them the fetish image
masakic. The fetish-man puts the drum by the side of his
patient, and while he is playing it, the relative who has the
image beats it and calls on it to cure the patient, and punish
those who are causing the disease by their witchcraft ; those
with the rattles shake them vigorously, and those with the
branches beat the body of the sick man. After keeping up
this performance for some time, the medicine-man leads them
outside the town, and the branches are all heaped together
and left. He then procures some sweet-smelling herbs and
boils them in a large pot, which is put under the patient.; a
large blanket is put over the man and the saucepan, and thus
the sick man takes a vapour bath and perspires freely. This
process is repeated many times.

The word lemba means to tame, soothe, make gentle, and
the fetish-man of this order (ngang' a lembe) is called upon to
ratify unconditional peace between towns and chiefs that have
been at war (see chapter on Warfare). If a man has accidentally
killed another, he has to pay compensation to the family of the

CURING INSANITY 227

deceased ; and then the homicide is taken to this kind of
medicine-man, who procures a saucepan of pahn wine and
presses into it the juice of certain stems and leaves. He then
dips his hands into the mixture, and puts the palms of his wet
hands to the forehead and back of the homicide's head, then to
his temples, and lastly on all the joints of his body. This
makes the homicide gentle and careful {olembamene). Should
a hunter happen to kill his dog, he must go to this medicine-
man and pass through this ceremony, or next time he will kill
a man. No one will hunt with him unless he observes this rite.

The medicine-man also treats any cases of madness. The
patient is well tied with ropes and taken to him carrying a
lighted stick and a fowl on his head. The medicine-man takes
five branches of five different trees, dips them in water, and
repeatedly strikes the patient with them, saying, " Evil spirit,
come out of him " {nki&'iya vaika muna yandi). He then
takes the lighted stick from the head of the insane person,
and plunges it in water, and as the fire goes out so the
bad spirit goes out of the man. Thereupon the fetish-man
cuts the ropes and hands the madman back to his family.
When a madman " runs amok " his family are told, and if they \^
do not fetch him and look after him properly he is killed ; but J
in the old days it was usual to kill quickly a hopelessly insane
person. The fetish man who treats such cases as these is called
ngang' a 7w6?(/i= madness.

We have already given one method of dealing with chest
complaints (page 224), but there is another medicine-man
{ngang" a nhosi=\ion) who has the reputation of curing the
more severe forms of lung complaints, such as pleurisy, pneu-
monia, &c., and a person suffering from a disease of this kind
goes to, or sends for, a doctor of this class, who cuts a long,
thin, exposed rootlet of a tree, and binds it tightly round
the patient's chest. The " doctor " then searches for a bunch
of palm -nuts on a palm tree that has never been cut before for
palm-nuts, and, having found the first-fruits of the palm tree,
he takes some of the nuts and tears the oily fibre off with his
teeth — a knife must not be used — meanwhile walking round
the palm tree. Two of the nuts, freed of their oily fibre, are

228 TREATING SLEEPING-SICKNESS

hung from the rootlet round the man's chest, one near each
breast, and then the oil from the fibre is pressed out, mixed
with pahii wine, and rubbed well into the patient's chest.
-'-"^ There are many cases of sleeping-sickness ; and the patient
suftering from this terrible complaint goes to the medicine-man
for sleeping-sickness {ngang' a manimba), who gives him a purge,
and then something hot to drink with pepper mixed in it.
Sometimes he drops pejjper-juice in the patient's eyes to
keep him awake, and lets blood every four days. He also
scarifies the back and legs, and rubs in a mixture of limejuice
and gunpowder, and stands the patient for a short time in the
sun. Very often a low state of health exhibits some of the
symptoms of sleeping-sickness, and such cases are helped by
any course of medicine in which the sufferer has faith, and
these so-called cures foster the belief of the people in the
power of this kind of" doctor "" to relieve and cure real cases of
sleeping-sickness. Although I have watched carefully I have
never known him to cure a patient who, beyond all doubt, had
the dread complaint.

When a married couple have lost their children by death
they send for the manga fetish-man, and on his arrival, the
woman holds a " hand " of plantain on her head with the right
hand, and to her left hand a rope is tied, and she is led by a
man who cries out, "" I have a person for sale." The fetish-
man says, " Bring the woman here and I will buy her that she
may bear children." The seller demands 3,000 strings of beads,
and the medicine-man pays three single beads, and takes the
woman, whereupon he throws away the plantain, saying,
" Remove these plantains, for they are the reason why she does
not bear healthy children, because she is carrying them on her
head." He cuts the rope and a feast is made, after which he
puts a taboo on her, and the ceremony is finished. This manga
fetish-man does for the people in the Ngombe Lutete district
what the moko " doctor " practises around San Salvador (see
page 259).

The medicine-man who owns the mpongo fetish prepares in
saucepans some protective charms wiiich work by making an
enemy forget his evil intentions. Should a person want to rob

Photo hy

"Wx'. patients are set to builii their own house, where they live while under treatment. The
picture well illustrates the materials, and the methods, of erecting an ordinary native house.

Baskrt Making

The Congo women are skilful basket niaker=. They prepare their own materials, and
often work designs in red and black. These, like the above house builders, are sleeping-
!-ick patients. It is always wise to keep such patients busy.

THIEF'S FETISH 229

another under his very eyes, he uses the charm prepared and
sold by this medicine-man, and under its spell he enters a
person's house, and either he or an accomplice engages the victim
in an interesting conversation, so that he becomes forgetful of
all else, and in that state of oblivion he is easily robbed.

Any person suffering through ill-health from lack of energy
sends for the nkonzo ( = nervous energy) medicine-man, or for
the malunga ( = smithy, forge) medicine-man, who rubs two
pieces of iron down the legs and arms three times; he then
takes some green grass and rubs it into shreds, and puts some
fire in the middle, and some sweet herbs on the live embers.
He blows on it until there is a good smoke, and then passes
the smoking herbs three times round the legs of the patient as
he, or she, stands astride. When a woman is in birthpangs
and has not sufficient strength, they seat her on two stones
and perform the above operation. This fetish comes from the
smithy, and consequently no one will steal from a forge or he
will lose his nervous energy.

The medicine-man with the ngundu fetish attempts to cure
hernia with fomentations of hot leaves, purgatives, and palm
wine mixed with certain juices. The ngobila medicine-man pos-
sesses an image that has power to discover thieves, and recover
stolen property. It gives the thieves any and every kind of lung
trouble, from which they cannot be cured until they have made
restitution for the robbery. And the ehunze medicine-man
attends a person with fits, apoplexy, or the ague shivers of fevers.
He makes a leaf funnel and squeezing the juices of certain
leaves into it, he drops the mixture into the eyes. The maninga
medicine-man owns a fetish that causes a man to become very
thin and weak, and it is also supposed to cure the complaint.

The rain-stopping medicine-man {ngang' a hcJcandit) has a
small bundle of " medicines " (which bundle is called lukandu),
which he places on the ground and surrounds with several
small heaps of gunpowder. He shakes his rattle, explodes the
powder, and blows his whistle three times, and then the rain
will neither be so frequent nor so abundant. The rainbow is
one of the signs of the effective working of this medicine-man ;
and when the people see it they think the charm is successful,

280 RUNNING WATER

and the rain will not fall again for some time. Should these
means, however, not succeed, salt is put on the jire ; but this
last charm must be used with great care, for it may entirely
stop the rain for the rest of the rainy season, so it is used only
when other means have failed. The medicine-man, on the day
that he is going to invoke the power of this charm, must neither
drink water nor wash himself. To cause rain to come after a
long drought, the fetish-man takes certain leaves {hdemha-lcmha)^
and puts them into a stream and dives under the water, and
when he returns to the surface the rain will soon fall.

In the ceremony of the last medicine-man that we shall
mention there is an echo of the old Scottish belief that spirits,
&c., will not cross water, as illustrated in Burns"' Tam o' Shunter.
This medicine-man (ngang' a maladi), when a person has re-
covered from certain serious sicknesses, as dropsy, sleeping-
sickness, kc, brings his fetish, which originally came from the
Baladi country (in French Congo), and removes from the patient
the taboo of " not crossing the road "" that was imposed on the
sick man while ill. He takes his patient to a cross road, draws a
chalk mark on the road, digs a trench, puts water into it, and he
takes the patient, by interlocking the little fingers of the right
hands, and helps him over the water three times. The taboo is
removed, and the sickness is not able to follow the man across the
water. Should a woman give birth to sickly children that q uickly
die, the same ceremony is performed, and the complaint from
which she was suffering that caused the death of her cliildren
will not follow her across the little stream of runiiing water.

It will be observed that in this list of medic-ine-men, and
from those mentioned in the various chapters dealing with
other aspects of native life, that there is a fetish-man for
every known disease, and also one for every possible emergency
of life. The native is afraid to take a single important step in
any direction from birth to death without first consulting the
medicine-men, and invoking the aid of their fetishes. When a
man is not helped by one, he, as a rule, does not blame him,
but thinks that the diagnosis is wrong, and that the disease, or
misfortune, is not under the control of his particular fetish.
His faith, however, in the medicine-men is unaffected, so he

FETISH-MAN'S POWER 231

simply changes one fetish-man for another, hoping that the
new one will have a fetish to meet his case.

It will be observed that in the ceremonies of some fetish-
men white magic is more evident than black, and in others that
black magic is more prominent than white, and that nearly
every one practises both the black and white art by the
invocation of the same fetish in a slightly different way ; by
dealing with his fetish in one way he invokes it to curse a
person with disease and misfortune, and by following another
mode of procedure he tries to soothe and appease his fetish,
that it may in a good humour give his client the health and
good luck that he desires.

In the early years of the Baptist Mission on the Congo, the
natives had little or no faith in our medicines, because we ad-
ministered them in a simple and straight-forward way. If we
had had recourse to trickery we might have made large sums
for our mission funds, but, although our medical knowledge was
very limited, and we had no doctors for very long among us, yet
our remedies have so gained in favour that at one station alone
(Wathen) a sum of nearly £20 is taken annually for medicines,
and natives come long distances to be treated in our hospitals.
Medicine is not given to those whom we know can afford to pay
for it.

The fetish-men have largely maintained the continuity of
native customs, for, when baffled in curing a person, they have
frequently put their failure at the door of a broken taboo, or a
slighted " country custom " ; they are also largely responsible
for crushing any inventive genius the people have shown by
putting public calamities, such as an epidemic of sickness, to
the account of any inventor who might be known at the time ;
and they have hindered all progress by charging with witch-
craft anyone who was more skilful in work, or more energetic
and shrewd in trading, than his neighbours. The fear of being
charged with witchcraft has been so great and continuous that it
has hampered and destroyed every attempt at advancement, and
nullified every progressive step, and there was little hope of the
native attaining any position in civilisation, or any betterment
of his conditions of life, until he lost faith in his fetish-men.

CHAPTER XXI

FETISHES AND CHARMS

NOT many years ago the belief in fetishes, charms, and
amulets was widespread throughout the whole of the
Lower Congo. Everyone had his or her charm worn
somewhere about the body, or carefully guarded in basket or
box, or hanging from a rafter of the house ; and some had
several charms for various purposes. Many of the more wealthy
had their special charms and fetish images, for which they paid
large sums, to which they offered periodic sacrifices, and by
which they were supposed to have gained their wealth, and
their favourable positions in the localities in which they lived.
In many large districts these charms no longer possess their
former power to influence the life and thought of all the people,
or even the majority; but the Lower Congo, i.e. the country
between Stanley Pool and the sea coast, is so immense, that
there are still large areas untouched by white men, where fiiith
in fetishes and charms which, a generation ago, was common to
the whole country, continues to linger, and will for many a day
to come ; and in the distiicts where the white man and his
teaching are dominant factors in the life of the natives, there
are some who still cling to their charms and believe in their
power. A superstitious belief in charms, amulets, mascots, &c.,
is most difficult to eradicate : it is hydra-headed in its virility
and numerous manifestations.

Every medicine-man has a bundle of charms (ebiuida dia
mfula)^ which by some is kept intact, but most of them put a
])ortion of this charm bundle into an image {tekc)^ and the
image having received a bit of all the charms in the bundle into
its head or stomach, it (the portion of charms) becomes tlie
brains, the intelligence {nkinda) of the image which is thus
transformed into a fetish {nk'txi). Each medicine-man has his

THE FETISH 233

own special mixture of charms which he puts into his own
image, which he calls by a name that distinguishes his particular
cult from those of all other medicine-men, and the name by
which his order and his fetish are known indicates the diseases,
&c., which he is supposed to control. In a large district there
may be one, two, or more members of each order of witch-doctors
operating.

The word jiJcm means an image, a horn, a shell, and in fact
it is a generic term applied to anything into which a medicine-
man has put a little bit of every charm in his bundle ; and it is
not an effective nJcisi until it has passed through his hands.
He uses certain ceremonies, and incantations, and an article
that could formerly be kicked from place to place becomes a
powerful fetish, that can protect a pig, a man, a caravan of
traders, or a whole village ; and as these medicine -men are well
paid for making them, a large part of their wealth is derived
from manufacturing them. A wooden image that may be
bought for a yard or two of common calico, can be made into a
strong fetish that will cost the buyer forty or fifty yards, or
even the price of a slave.

The charms in the bundles are composed of such articles as
those among which the spirits delight to live, or upon which
they like to feed ; portions of the charms from the bundles,
with the same object of pleasing the spirit, are put into images,
horns, &c., so as to induce the spirits to enter and abide in
them, and thus come under the control of the witch-doctor who
owns the bundle or image, and be obedient to his behests ; and
the buyer of a strong fetish is supposed to have a similar con-
trolling power over the spirit that it pleases.

The witch-doctor of every fetish cult can give and cure a
disease, or ensure certain good or bad luck, hence there are as
many witch-doctors with their fetishes as there are spirits to be
appeased and controlled ; and when a new disease appears, or a
new calamity is to be averted, a new cult of witch-doctors
comes into existence, with new fetish power to control the spirit
that is responsible for it. Sometimes a witch-doctor will come
forward with a fetish of such pretensions that he claims to

234 CONTENTS OF CHARM-BUNDLE

supersede all other cults and their fetishes, and render the
exercise of their powers unnecessary ; but their day is as brief
as their arrogant pretensions are great, and as the fraud is
quicky discovered they soon pass into oblivion, leaving the
older and less pretentious orders more firmly established than
ever : e.g. some few years ago a witch-doctor visited the towns
round San Salvador with a new power, called the " divine fetish ""
(nklsi a khiiambe), and promised that all who confessed their
witchcraft, i.e. all the evil they had in their hearts against any-
one, and paid him to perform certain rites, should never die.
He and his assistants reaped a rich harvest for a short time, but
when their clients died like others, the bubble burst, and that
particular cult and its fetish dropped into disfavour and neglect.
Here are the contents of a charm bundle opened by my
friend, the late Dr. Bentley ; " It is an open bag, 7x4 in., with
shoulder-straps, cleverly made of cotton, and appears to be a
succession of button-hole stitching, one row on another; it is
like close crochet- work. There is a neat zigzag pattern on it,
and the bag is quite a work of art. It has been often smeared
with blood, and there are one or two mud-like patches on it of
chewed kola-nut. What with blood and kola-nut, it is a filthy
article. A monkey's tail is attached to it. Inside is a bundle
wrapped in palm-fibre cloth. We draw it out carefully, for it
is full of a pungent white aromatic powder. After sneezing and
coughing, we proceed with our examination. The powder is
dry pipe-clay mixed with pepper. There is found in it a small
goat's horn, stuffed with pipe-clay, in which a small brown nut
shines. The point of the horn is bored, and three loom -knots
of palm-fibre hang as a tassel. Next, some feathers from the
breast and wing of a guinea-fowl ; two small bags and cuttings
of leopard skin, a small dried chameleon, some wing-cases of a
stag beetle, a small antelope"'s horn, some Musa nuts, some tre-
foil coils of cane, a palm thorn, some beads, chips of ironstone,
a scarab beetle, two tiny round pebbles, and a blue Jaquirity
bean. The powder and ' mysteries'* would fill a tumbler."^

1 Pioneering on the Congo, by W. H. Bentley, p. 2.57. Religious Tract
Society, 1900.

CHARMS OF VARIOUS POWERS 235

The nMsi (fetishes, charms) are made to meet every con-
ceivable contingency. They have them for making a thief
invisible so that he may steal with impunity, and also for de-
tecting such thieves ; for procuring the advantage in trading
transactions ; for making children obedient, and dogs faithful
and good hunters ; for guarding a farm, and helping a person
secretly to rob a farm ; for aiding one to kill his enemy, at
the same time protecting him from his murderous assaults ;
for giving children, or keeping a person from having a child :
for preserving a person on the road, the river, or in the town,
as well as to bring bad luck to others on their journeys; for
making a gun fire straight, and the guns of others aim
crookedly. There is no good wish a native may have for his
own advantage, but what he can buy a nJcisi to aid him in its
attainment, and there is no evil desire that he may have for
the misfortune, sickness, and death of his neighbours, foes, and
relatives but what he can procure a nMsi to accomplish them.

If a nMsi fails to perform its office, it must either have a
sacrifice off'ered to it, or have its power renewed by the witch-
doctor who first made it, or by a member of the same cult, i.e.
it is either sulky because it has been neglected, or it is weak
from loss of power. The sacrifice removes the sulkiness and
restores it to good humour, and the witch-doctor restores its
power. When it is desirable to wake up a nMsi, it is beaten
with a stick, then put on the ground and surrounded by
several small heaps of gunpowder which are exploded, a whistle
is blown vigorously, and the nMsi is held over the smoke, and
thus becomes alert to perform its particular functions.

I do not think that there is any idea of worship when a
sacrifice {Mmenga) is made to a fetish, and certainly no prayers
are offered with the sacrifice. The root idea is that in some
way the sacrifice renews the power in the fetish image, or
bundle of charms. It refreshes the fetish, and enables it to
perform more effectively its office of protector of its owner,
punisher of his enemies, and imparter of good fortune. A
fowl or a goat is killed, and its blood is poured over the image
or charm ; for these sacrifices are made not only to images.

236 SACRIFICES TO FETISHES

but also to bundles of charms. Sometimes the toe of a fowl is
cut and the blood is allowed to fall on the fetish, and even the
toe of a frog is cut, and used as a sacrifice. If the fetish is to
be kept up to its full power, the sacrifice should be made
regularly7.>.g". at every new moon, or on certain market days,
and the larger the favours expected the more costly must be
the sacrifice. The fetish receiving only the drippings from a
fowl's or a frog's toe cannot be expected to confer large
favours. At the same time some nkisi can only impart small
favours, and consequently it would be waste to give them large
sacrifices, such as a fowl or goat. Other fetishes, owned by
wealthy men, give great good fortune, and their rich owners
can afford to offer goats and fowl and expect large favours in
return. The flesh of a sacrifice must not be sold, but eaten
by the man who offers it and the members of his clan. Sunset
is the usual time for offering the sacrifice, and the person who
kills and offers it turns his face towards the sun. A pig is
never offered as a sacrifice, although they are more plentiful
than goats. My informants could not guess the reason for
this restriction ; but I think it is probably reckoned unclean,
for the planter of the pumpkin seeds is not allowed to eat it,
just before and during the season for planting them.

The following is a list of their fetishes, charms, and
amulets; and in drawing up the catalogue I shall avoid as
much as possible repeating what has been written on the subject
in the chapter on Black and White Magic — in that chapter
you have the operators, and in this, the tools, or means by
which they are supposed to do their work. Or it may be
stated in another way : that these are the names of the spirits
that like to dwell and feed on the ingredients put into these
fetishes and charms and thus come under the control of the
persons owning the fetishes, each of which possess their names.
The fact that there may be in use simultaneously 1,000 charms
of one particular name, as there are many fetish-men of each cult
living in different parts of the country, should be no difficulty in
accepting this suggestion, for the spirits may be either ubiquitous,
or there may be a large number of each order of spirits.

THE LUCK CHARM 237

The rnpungu bundle contains pieces of the skins of every
strong animal obtainable, and some albino's hair, which is sup-
posed to be a very powerful charm. As this bundle is rather
awkward to carry about, pieces of all the contents of the charm
bundle are put into a hole in the head of an image, which then
becomes a sole fetish, able to make its possessor acceptable to
people with whom he comes into contact, either as traveller,
trader, master, or lover. A person whom we regard as the
special protege of Dame Fortune, they think has a sole fetish
The price of one of the fetishes is a slave, and a goat must be
sacrificed to it every new moon. The animal is held over the
image, its throat is cut, and the blood is allowed to flow over
the fetish.

There is an image that goes by the name of nzqji that
causes the lightning, and strikes with lightning those who have
offended its clients. It also imparts and cures skin diseases
(see page 221) ; but the most usual purpose to which it is put
is to tame slaves and bind them to their masters. A little
palm wine is put into a hole in the stomach of the image, and
mixed with herbal charms ; then the slaves are brought, and
each gives a promise not to run away, or leave his or her
master under any circumstances without permission. They
each drink a little palm wine that has been mixed in the fetish
image, and after that they will not dare to escape for fear of
being struck by lightning, or being infected with a terrible
skin disease.

When a person wants to steal he takes an ebiinze fetish
image, and placing it on the ground, he makes four small heaps
of gunpower round it, and says, " Close So-and so's eyes that he
may not see, and his mind that he may not know." Then he
explodes the powder, whistles with a small horn, and starts on
his stealing expedition, believing that he will not be detected.
Nevertheless, he uses all his cunning to avoid being seen. This
fetish is used to steal from white and black alike, either by
direct, robbery, or causing the victim to pay twice for the same
article. The word ehunze means a sickness something like
apoplexy, and the medicine-man of the ebimze order gives and

238 ALBINO'S HAIR

cures this disease. It is most probable that a thief uses this
kind of fetish for his purpose, that his victim may become
helpless to guard his property, or recognise the thief. Another
charm patronised by thieves is the ebunge bundle, which is
supposed to render their actions invisible to the onlookers.
Jugglers and witch-doctors employ it for the same purpose,
that their methods of performing their tricks may not be ob-
served by their patrons. It is also supposed to make the
fighters in a war invulnerable through causing them to be
invisible to the enemy. To counteract these charms, and to
protect property, a pad {iminkatd) of old native cloth is twisted
and placed on the article to be guarded, and the thief who then
takes anything thus protected will suffer from swollen fingers.

The hairs of an albino are sold as very powerful charms,
and will fetch fancy prices when they are scarce, as they enter
largely into the ingredients of numerous charms; and if the
witch-doctor who starts the secret society of the Country-of-
the-dead cannot procure an albino to live in the lodge, he must
have some of an albino's hair, or there will be no effective charm
to induce his clients to join the society. An ordinary person
always buries his hair cuttings and nail-parings, for if an enemy
procures them he can make with them a powerful charm (called
nkisi a kindoki) that will cause sickness or death to the person
who formerly owned them. After the charm is made a few
hairs and nail-parings are put in the food or drink, and death
quickly follows.

A person who has swollen feet and arms, or a backache,
goes to a man or woman who has been initiated into the great
secret society of the Country-of-the-dead, and buys a special
charm (JeJce) made of black plantain seeds (Strclitzia), which are
threaded on a string and tied round the affected part. But if
an uninitiated person uses this charm without having bought it
of a member of the secret society, instead of curing the com-
plaint it will become worse. These seeds are mixed with, or
put round, other charms to intensify their powers.

The mpindi image is carved with a large scrotal hernia
(mpiki), which it causes in those who couje under its malignant

PROTECTING FRUIT TREES 239

spell. It is used as a charm to keep people from crossing a
farm, and it is then represented by a hoe handle stuck in the
ground, with some manioc cores in a piece of old basket tied
to it. Any person crossing a farm thus protected will become
subject to this complaint, but for obvious reasons women are
not affected by this charm. For protecting fruit trees, farm
produce, food left in the house, the signs of a curse (kandu) are
used. Anything will answer the purpose, and it gives any kind
of sickness to the thief who disregards it ; e.g. a hoe handle
stuck in the ground with some manioc cores tied to it will
make the thief very thin and ill. A stick with colours daubed
on it will cause the farm thief to have a large swelling (goitre) on
the neck ; or if the thief is a woman, and is enceinte at the time
of stealing, her child will be badly formed. An old basket
hung in a fruit tree, or against a door, will give backache to
the thief, or cause him or her to become sterile. A stone
hung in a little palm-basket with some creepers twisted round
it, and suspended from a nsafu fruit tree, will give the person
Mho steals from it, or even attempts to climb the tree, a severe
form of hernia. If a person is called away from his meal, he
will pretend to spit on it, and no one will dare to touch the
food while he is away. These various things are not charms
in themselves, but are tokens, or warnings (like "Trespassers
will ^ be Prosecuted ") put up by the owners of the goods, to
inform the thief that a curse is on those things, and what kind
of complaint he will get if he risks the curse. They consider it
unfair to put a curse on the stealing of an article and not
indicate it in some way.

Horn charms seem to be used in three ways : {a) carried as
ordinary amulets ; (6) occasionally, or regularly, licked by the
owner to give him the qualities of the animals and " medicines,'"
portions of which have been rammed into it by the medicine-
man ; (c) the plug is removed, and the finger having been
wetted and rubbed on the " medicine " in the horn, what-
ever adheres to it is smeared on gun, knife, &c. to make it
powerful in accomplishing its purpose. The " medicines "" in
{a) may be a mixture of all sorts ; in {b) are pieces of meat.

240 THE SMITHY IS SACRED

fish, vegetables, chalk, ^c; and in (t) are pieces of the skins of
strong and fierce animals, and powerful vegetable poisons.

When a man or woman desires a child they take either a
red bead, or a string of blue pipe beads, and put it round the
neck of an image called madia { = maria\ which is in the Roman
Catholic Church (called by the natives nzo a wA;m= house of
fetishes) which is in San Salvador, or else go to one of their
medicine-men, or to the lodge of the secret society of the
Country-of-the-dead. A charm made of anything, and worn
about the body to preserve the wearer from evil spirits, mis-
fortune, or sickness, is named nlcandikilica^ and the crosses,
metal discs, little pictures, &c., given by Roman Catholic
priests to be worn by the native adherents of their faith
are also called by the same name.

The general term for both male and female images is telie.
It is thought to have been introduced by the Batgke people,
who are clever in wood-carving. It is easy to recognise the
district from which an image comes, or the locality in which
it has been used as a fetish, because the carver generally
imitates in the making of the image the salient characteristics
of his clan, as mode of hair, dress, or beard, &c. The native
smithy is considered a sacred place, and if anyone steals from
it, he will either contract hernia, or become ill and strength-
less; and should a person so far forget himself as to sit on
the anvil he will get swollen legs for his thoughtlessness. The
nkonzo charm is taken from the smithy. It consists of two pieces
of iron, some shredded grass, a live ember, and some sweet-
smelling herbs, and they are supposed to have the power to
restore to health a person who is weak from any cause.

If a child is suffering from fever, the mother will make a
few small incisions on the left side of the child, and catching
a toad {kiwiila)^ she slightly cuts it, and rubs the cuts of the
toad on the incisions she has made in the child's side so that
the blood of child and toad intermingle. The toad is released,
and if it dies the child will also die; sometimes a chicken is
used instead of a toad. A sick man takes a fowl, cuts its toe,
and licks the blood — he takes the life of the fowl into himself.

Byp

Fetishes and Charms

the Bafitist Missionaiy Society

Lower Congo

The images are fetishes of various powers ; the dagger has a fetish image as a handle ; the horns
contain charms for helping hunters; the small bundles are amulets; and the necklace, composed
of odds and ends, is powerful to protect the wearer from all harm. One image has "strong
medicine " sealed in its stomach ; and whoever drinks wine from the hole in the stomach of the big
fetish, is protected from its curse.

TALKING SHELL 241

The fowl is tied up and fed until the man is well, but if the
fowl dies the man will die. A person must never spit into the
fire, or he will suffer from a sickness in which the blood
becomes thin, the hair turns red, and he will suffer from dropsy
of the stomach. A leaf from the ngindu-ngindu tree is so
powerful that it will counteract the evil influences of all charms
and fetishes ; and should a medicine-man find a leaf of this
tree in his house he will have to reinvigorate all his charms,
for the presence of this leaf nullifies them and renders them
useless.

The charm used by the moko medicine-man, by which he
ascertains the disease of his patient and the best means of
curing it, is a bundle tied up in native cloth, and suspended in
a net, and from the middle of the bundle protrudes the long,
strong beak of a heron. The stock-in-trade of another
medicine-man is a univalve shell (nkodia) with some small stones
in it, and over the opening of the shell is a plaster of clay with
two fowPs feathers sticking in it. The owner shakes the shell
so that the rattling of the stones is heard by all present, and
then he puts the shell to his ear, and it tells him the disease
of his patient and the best means of curing it, or whether or
not the accused person has committed the adultery with
which he is charged, or the name of the thief who has robbed
his client.

The hollow bag of a mushroom {diya) is worn round the
neck as an amulet to keep the wearer from forgetting, i.e. it
is a charm against a bad memory ; and a shell with charms in
it, called Mmhaji-mhqji (=" to-morrow") , is employed to
cause your enemy to put off his evil intentions towards you
until to-morrow, and as to-morrow never comes you are thus
able to escape his malice. There is a fetish that causes the
stoutest person to become a skeleton no matter how much he
may eat ; another that imparts pneumonia, pleurisy, and other
chest complaints; another that causes scrofula; another that
is supposed to give deep-seated ulcers. There is also a fetish
image by the power of which love-philtres are made; and
another that gives asthma, bronchitis, &c. The mportgo pot

242 SCARECROWS

is a saucepan partly filled with water and placed in the bush
near the entrance to a town as a protective fetish. The
medicine-man when he prepares this charm puts something
into the water to make it fizz, and the folk think it is very
powerful because " the water boils without fire." It is employed
to make an enemy forget to do evil to those who are protected
by it. There are thirty other different fetish images and
charms of various powers, and used for a large variety of
purposes ; but as many of them are incidentally mentioned
in other chapters it is not necessary to repeat the informa-
tion here.

Just as we use scarecrows {kakungii) in England, so the
people do on the Congo, and these are often mistaken for
charms. Four faces are roughly carved on pieces of wood, and
put, one at each corner of a peanut field, to frighten away
antelopes. To drive away predatory birds, the feathers of
birds are scattered about, and bunches of feathers are tied to
strings so that they wave to and fro in the breeze. To keep
monkeys away from the farms, the owners paint the near trees
with various bright colours; and in some farms bunches of
grass are tied to resemble a man, and to make the resemblance
stronger, an old gun or a piece of wood roughly carved to
represent a gun is put over the shoulder of this straw figure,
which is called mama =ioo\.

Fetishes can be hired at so much per day. A man is sick
and thinks that a certain fetish will do him good, so he sends
a fee to its owner, and the fetish is brought and fixed near the
patient, who then looks at it, talks to it, and asks it to use its
power to cure him. The fetish must be returned next day or
another day's hire sent, for the fetish will not benefit the man
unless it is his property. If the fee is a fowl then when the
fowl is killed its blood is poured over the fetish image or
bundle. If the person sent to hire a fetish happens to fall in
the road while he is carrying it, then he must lie there until the
medicine-man who owned the fetish comes and picks him and
the fetish up from the ground. For this mishap he nmst pay
a goat to the medicine-man to restore the fetish to its former

KILL