Robert Gregory was proud of his house. A Colonial Bishop, passing
through on his way to England, stayed with Gregory; in his
bread-and-butter letter he wrote:
"... I think your house the most beautiful and unique in Central
Africa...."
Unique perhaps it was, but scarcely beautiful.
When all is said and done, it was merely the ordinary bungalow of which
one finds examples all over Africa. In size it was very modest, having
only a hall, with a dining-room on one side and a bedroom on the other.
There were in addition various excrescences, termed locally "lean-to's."
One of these was a pantry, another a storeroom, a third a bathroom, and
so on. No, it must have been to the interior decorations that the Bishop
referred.
Gregory hoped to marry when next he went to England. During his last
visit to the old country, on leave, he became engaged.
The woman of his choice had once remarked to him: "I do hope you have
heaps and heaps of curios."
On his return to Africa Gregory began to collect curios, and now he had
indeed "heaps and heaps" of them. You see, he had his excuses.
On the walls of the hall were trophies of assegais and shields. These
trophies were arranged in the approved armoury manner; that is to say, a
shield in the centre with assegai blades radiating from it in all
directions.
Flanking each of the principal trophies were lesser ones, composed of
battle-axes in groups of two or three. These battle-axes were
murderous-looking things. The heads of some were crescent-shaped, others
were merely wedges of metal.
In the intervening spaces were a variety of knives remarkable chiefly
for their sheaths, which were curiously shaped and carved. There was a
dado, too, round the wall, made of arrows arranged head downwards
towards the floor. These were surmounted by bows fixed horizontally to
the wall; they completed the dado, as it were.
On the other two sides ancient guns of various makes and ages took the
place of the arrows. There were flint locks, Tower muskets, Portuguese,
French and German smooth-bore rifles, gaily decorated by native owners
with bands of highly polished copper round the barrel and brass-headed
nails driven into the stock.
On a shelf, which ran round the hall a few feet from the ceiling, were
specimens of native pottery. Some were highly coloured, others dull red.
All had curious patterns scratched on them, done before baking, and most
of them bore fire marks and other evidence that their makers were
somewhat lacking in the potter's skill. The shapes, however, were
pleasing.
The dining-room held a miscellaneous collection. The principal objects
were musical instruments, chiefly of the harmonica variety, strips of
hard wood suspended over gourds of different sizes. In the bad old days
human skulls were used in place of gourds. But there were many others,
both string and wind instruments, and some rattles.
In this room was also a collection of snuff boxes; nearly all of them
were minute gourds, differing one from another in decoration. Some were
completely covered with gaily coloured beads affixed cunningly and in
pleasing patterns. Some were banded with beads, which gave them the
appearance of small school globes. Others, again, were simply carved in
relief, whilst a few were decorated with plaited brass, copper, or iron
wire. All were very neatly made.
Occupying a space between a window and a door was a unique collection of
snuff spoons. These were nearly all made of bright metal. Not only do
the natives use them for taking snuff, but also for preparing to take
snuff and for recovering after snuffing. To be quite plain, they use
them as our snuff-taking ancestors used their bandannas. They have yet a
third use, namely, scraping the skin on a hot day.
The only reason why Gregory had so many of these nasty little implements
was that they were so neatly made and in such diversity of pattern.
In the spaces usually occupied by pictures were specimens of the native
weavers' art, very highly coloured cloths of coarse texture. On shelves
over the doors and windows of his dining-room were pots, mugs, bowls,
and platters of carved wood. The patterns were curiously like those one
finds on early pottery dug up in such quantities and in so many spots
along the shores of the Mediterranean. A kaross or skin blanket was
thrown over the back of almost every chair and covered the one settee.
There was hardly anything of European manufacture in the hall and
dining-room. Even the tables and chairs were native made and of country
timber. In place of carpets, the floors were covered with rush and reed
mats ornamented with strange patterns done in brightly dyed bark and
fibre.
The bedroom alone held nothing but European furniture.
The collection was certainly a remarkable one--I have not attempted a
complete inventory--and Gregory had taken great pains to arrange it, as
some would say, artistically.
One day five natives arrived carrying a letter addressed to Gregory. It
was from a woman, Chief in her own right. It ran as follows: