I ARRIVE AMONG THE CANNIBALS--THEIR SPEARS, BOWS, AND
BATTLE-AXES--THEY TAKE ME FOR A SPIRIT--THEIR KING SHAKES WHEN HE
SEES ME--I GIVE HIM A LOOKING-GLASS--IT ASTONISHES HIM.
We were, at last, near the Fan country. We had passed the last Mbichos
village, and were on our way to the villages of the _man-eaters_.
I remember well the first Fan village I approached. It stood on the
summit of a high hill in the mountains. All its inhabitants were very
much excited when they perceived we were coming towards it, through the
plantation path; for the trees around the hill had been cut down. The
men were armed to the teeth, as we entered the village, and I knew not
whether hundreds of spears and poisoned arrows might not be thrown at
me, and I be killed on the spot. What dreadful spears those cannibals
had; they were all barbed. Each man had several in his hand; and,
besides, had a shield made of elephant's hide, to protect himself with.
Others were armed with huge knives, and horrible-looking battle-axes,
or with bows and poisoned arrows.
Wild shouts of astonishment, which, for all I knew, were war-shouts,
greeted me as I entered the village. I must own that I felt not quite
at my ease. How wild and fierce these men looked! They were most
scantily dressed. When they shouted, they showed their teeth, which
were filed to a point, and coloured black. Their open mouths put me
uncomfortably in mind of a tomb; for how many human creatures each of
these men had eaten!
How ugly the women looked! They were all tattooed, and nearly naked.
They fled with their children into their houses, as I passed through
the street, in which I saw, here and there, human bones lying about.
Yes, human bones from bodies that had been devoured by them! Such are
my recollections of my first entrance into a village of cannibals.
The village was strongly fenced, or palisaded; and on the poles were
several skulls of human beings and of gorillas. There was but a single
street, about two-thirds of a mile long. On each side of this were low
huts, made of the bark of trees.
I had hardly entered the village when I perceived some bloody remains,
which appeared to me to be human. Presently we passed a woman who was
running as fast as she could towards her hut. She bore in her hand a
piece of a human thigh, just as we should go to market and carry thence
a joint or steak.
This was a very large village. At last we arrived at the palaver house.
Here I was left alone with Mbéné for a little while. There was great
shouting going on at a little distance, at the back of some houses. One
of them said they had been busy dividing the body of a dead man, and
that there was not enough for all.
They flocked in presently, and soon I was surrounded by an immense
crowd. Not far from me was a ferocious-looking fellow. On one arm he
supported a very large shield, made of an elephant's hide, and of the
thickest part of the skin, while in his other hand he held a prodigious
war-knife, which he could have slashed through a man in a jiffy.
Some in the crowd were armed with cross-bows, from which were shot
either iron-headed arrows, or the little, insignificant-looking,
but really most deadly darts, tipped with poison. These are made of
slender, harmless reeds, a foot long, whose sharpened ends are dipped
in a deadly vegetable poison, which these people know how to make.
These poisoned darts are so light that they would blow away, if simply
laid in the groove of the bow. Hence they use a kind of sticky gum to
hold them.
The handle of the bow is ingeniously split; and, by a little peg, that
acts as a trigger, the bow-string is disengaged. The bow is very stiff
and strong, and sends the arrow to a great distance. As you see by the
representation of a Fan bowman, they have to sit down and apply both
feet to the middle of the bow, while they pull with all their strength
on the string to bend it back.
These little poisoned arrows are much dreaded by them, and are very
carefully kept in little bags, which are made of the skin of wild
animals.
Some bore on their shoulders the terrible war-axe. A single blow of
this axe suffices to split a human skull. I saw that some of these
axes, as well as their spears and other ironwork, were beautifully
ornamented.
The war-knife, which hangs by their side, is a terrible weapon. It is
used in hand-to-hand conflict, and is designed to be thrust through the
enemy's body. There was also another sort of huge knife used by some of
the men in the crowd before me. It was a foot long, about eight inches
wide, and is used to cut through the shoulders of an adversary. It must
do tremendous execution.
A few of the men had also a very singular pointed axe, which is thrown
from a distance. When thrown, it strikes with the point down, and
inflicts a terrible wound. They handle it with great dexterity. The
object aimed at with this axe is the head. The point penetrates to the
brain, and kills the victim immediately.
The spears were six or seven feet long, and are ingeniously adapted to
inflict terrible wounds. They are thrown with an accuracy and a force
which never ceased to astonish me. The long, slender staff fairly
whistles through the air; and woe to the man who is within twenty or
thirty yards of their reach.
Most of the knives and axes were ingeniously sheathed in covers made
of snake or antelope skins, or of human skin. These sheaths were slung
round the shoulder or neck by cords, which permit the weapon to hang at
the side, out of the wearer's way.
These Fan warriors had no armour. Their only weapon of defence is the
huge shield of elephant hide, of which I spoke to you. It is three and
a half feet long, by two and a half feet wide.
Besides their weapons, many of the men wore a small knife, as a
table-knife, or jack-knife.
From this description of the men by whom I was surrounded, you may
judge with what amazement I looked around me, with my guns in my
hands. It was a grand sight to see such a number of stalwart, martial,
fierce-looking fellows, fully armed, and ready for any desperate fray,
gathered together.
Finer-looking savages I never saw; and I could easily believe them to
be brave; and the completeness of their war-like equipments proved that
fighting is a favourite pastime with them. No wonder they are dreaded
by all their neighbours!
Here was I, at this time only a lad, alone in the midst of them.
Presently came the king, a ferocious-looking fellow. His body was
naked. His skin in front was painted red, and his chest, stomach, and
back were tattooed in a rude but effective manner. He was covered with
charms, and he wore round his neck a necklace made with leopard's
teeth. He was fully armed. Most of the Fans wore queues; but the queue
of Ndiayai, the king, was the biggest of all, and terminated in two
tails, in which were strung brass rings. His beard was plaited in
several plaits, which contained white beads. His teeth were filed sharp
to a point. He looked like a perfect glutton of human flesh.
I looked around me in a cool, impassive manner. Ndiayai, the king,
fairly shook at the sight of me. He had refused to come and see me, at
first, from a belief that he would die in three days after setting eyes
on me. But Mbéné had persuaded him to come. Ndiayai was accompanied by
the queen, the ugliest woman I ever saw, and very old. She was called
Mashumba. She was nearly naked, her only covering being a strip of
cloth about four inches wide, made of the soft bark of a tree, and dyed
red. Her body was tattooed in the most fanciful manner; her skin, from
long exposure, had become rough and knotty. She wore two enormous iron
anklets, and had, in her ears, a pair of copper rings, two inches in
diameter. I could easily put my little fingers in the holes through
which the earrings passed.
The people looked at me, wondered at my hair, but never ceased to look
at my feet. "Look at the strange being," said they to each other, "his
feet are not of the colour of his face, and he has no toes!"
Finally, the king said to Mbéné that, when surrounded by his people, he
was not afraid of anybody.
I could well believe him. When fighting they must look perfect devils.
When night came I entered my house, and looked about to see how I could
barricade myself for the night; for I did not fancy putting myself
entirely at the mercy of these savage Fans. Their weapons had been
sufficient to show me that they were men who were not afraid to fight.
I told Mbéné to send for Ndiayai. The king came, and I presented him
a large bunch of white beads, a looking-glass, a file, fire-steels,
and some gun-flints. His countenance beamed with joy. I never saw such
astonishment as he exhibited when I held the looking-glass before
his face. At first he did not know what to make of it, and did not
want to take the glass, till Mbéné told him that he had one. He put
his tongue out, and he saw it reflected in the looking-glass. Then
he shut one eye, and made faces; then he showed his hands before the
looking-glass--one finger--two fingers--three fingers. He became
speechless, and with all I had given him, he went away as "happy as a
king"; and "every inch a (savage) king" he was.
Shortly afterwards, Mashumba, the queen, thinking that probably I had
something for her, also came and brought me a basketful of plantains.
They were cooked. At once the idea rushed into my mind, that perhaps
the very same pot that cooked the plantains had cooked a Fan's head in
the morning; and I began to have a horrible loathing of the flesh-pots
of these people. I would not have cooked in their pots for the world.
A little after dark, all became silent in the village. I barred my
little bit of a door as well as I could with my chest, and, lying down
on that dreadful Fan bed, I placed my gun by my side, and tried hard,
but in vain, to go to sleep. I wondered how many times human flesh had
entered the hut I was in. I thought of all I had seen during the day,
which I have related to you. The faces of those terrible warriors, and
the implements of war, were before my eyes though it was pitch dark.
Was I afraid? Certainly not. What feeling was it that excited me? I
cannot tell you. It was certainly not fear; for if anyone the next
day had offered to take me back where I came from, I should have
declined the offer. Probably I was agitated by the novel and horrible
sights that had greeted my eyes, and which exceeded all my previous
conceptions of Africa. Now and then I thought that as these men not
only killed people, but ate them also, they might perhaps be curious to
try how I tasted.
Hour after hour passed, and I could not get to sleep. I said my bed
was a dreadfully bad one. It was a frame composed of half a dozen
large round bamboos. I might as well have tried to sleep on a pile of
cannonballs. Finally, I succeeded in going to sleep, holding my gun
tightly under my arm.
When I got up in the morning, and went out at the back of the house, I
saw a pile of ribs, leg and arm bones, and skulls, piled together. The
cannibals must have had a grand fight, not long before, and devoured
all their prisoners of war.
In what was I to wash my face? I resolved at last not to wash at all.
[Illustration: ENTRAPPING THE ELEPHANT.]