The Upper Ubangi.--Banzyville to Yakoma.
Banzyville has been built on a beautiful site at a double bend of the
river. Opposite is the French Post of Mobaie and between them roars a
rapid. The country on each side is hilly, while the soil is rocky, great
boulders of granite and quartz lying about in isolated grandeur. We
reach the Post on the morning of September 26th and are met by Captain
Auita, an Italian, who is the Zone Chief here. The buildings are
arranged on two sides of a square, the other two being formed by the
river as it turns to the left, and the open space is covered with gravel
which makes a welcome change from sand and clay while the house placed
at our disposal looks particularly inviting after a week of tents and
the small launch. Everything is wet through and has to be spread out on
the gravel to dry under nature's great fire. Unfortunately some of the
skins, which perforce have been left in cases for a week, under water
one minute and baked in the sun the next, have hopelessly rotted and
have to be thrown away. Next morning we interviewed numbers of native
Chiefs who were all very anxious to exchange lances and other
curiosities for European clothes. All were content with _Bulamatadi_,
although some grumbled at the necessity to find porters and paddlers.
This is evidently one of the most populous districts in the whole Congo,
for on all sides, both at the river edge and on the hill tops, are large
villages consisting of tent-shaped huts and _shimbeks_, or square open
sheds, under which the natives sit and sleep most of the day. Besides
rubber, great quantities of rice are grown here, the plantations
extending parallel to the river for more than two miles. Here men,
women, and children are at work and those near the road come forward,
give a military salute and shake hands, a custom peculiar to this part,
for hitherto the women have not saluted and only the chiefs offered the
hand. Many of the people have thin lips and Semitic noses and most are
well made. As usual, if one meets a husband and wife, the former strolls
ahead with a spear or stick, while the latter follows carrying a baby
riding on one of her hips, tied on by her wrap of cloth, and with a
heavy load of wood or food-stuff on her head. We cross the river in the
evening and dine with Captain Meilleur at Mobaie. The French villages
are identical with those on the State side, but the natives are, if
possible, still more idle.
Next morning much rubber is brought into Banzyville. Strings of natives,
each with a little basket-full of this substance, march into the square
and sit down in lines on the gravel. The baskets are then weighed on a
yard arm and the weights entered in a book by Captain Auita until a
record of the whole has been made when the chattering throng departs to
a shed near by where five cooks have been hard at work preparing dinner
for them. The natives here are paid in cloth at the rate of 50 or 60
centimes a kilogramme according to the quality of the rubber and
although each man is supposed to supply only one kilogramme a month some
of the villages here send in more than a ton in that time.
Mr. Fernaka, the second in command, arrived on the 28th after marching
for thirty days in the interior over unexplored ground. He said it was
mostly marsh land containing a few villages from which the inhabitants,
seeing the white man approach with his soldiers, fled into the bush. At
first indeed the natives are always fearful of the whites, but in a
short time are willing to trade and soon become very friendly. The
native, in fact, quickly acquires absolute confidence in Europeans and
his fear at first is, obviously, only the fear of the unknown. It is
rather amusing to see the children in villages where few white men have
penetrated, run shrieking with terror to their mothers when a strange
looking person, with a white face and clothes appears. At the sound of
the launch whistle also many children run away. One of the soldiers, a
sergeant of some years' standing who accompanied Mr. Fernaka on his
arduous march, unfortunately contracted dysentery and arrived at
Banzyville only to die. We attend the funeral, the absolute simplicity
of the ceremony being very impressive. All the troops here, perhaps
seventy or eighty marched with reversed arms to the cemetery after the
buglers sounding the Last Post and lined up opposite the grave. The
order was given to present arms, the coffin was lowered, each person
present threw a handful of earth into the grave and all was over. Far
into the night, however, one could hear the mournful dirge the soldiers
were chanting for their dead comrade. Hunting here is difficult although
game abounds, the grass being high enough to conceal antelopes and
everything else except elephants. After a walk through rough country and
water for six hours without success, I was glad to get into my hammock
and was jogged back home by perspiring natives, who took turns to carry
their burden and changed about every ten minutes. Altogether the hammock
is not comfortable, and it is obviously useless hunting here until the
grass is burnt. Next day, being very tired and stiff, I pass the time
looking through _Civilisation in Congoland_ again. Having now visited
many of the places mentioned in that book, the difficulties which beset
a writer who publishes a work on a country he has never seen, become
very apparent. In fact, it gives no more idea of the condition of the
Congo than a file of the Police News would convey an impression of
English civilisation. When one has visited some hundreds of villages and
seen perhaps a million of natives, most of whom seem cheerful and
contented, one marvels indeed how such absolutely false reports of the
condition of the country can have originated. On the other hand, it is
impossible to travel several thousands of miles in the Congo--especially
in the unfrequented parts--without constantly wondering what is the
extraordinary power which enables a few hundred white men, not only to
govern as many million blacks, but to open up and develop a country as
large as the continent of Europe, which a few years ago was absolutely
unknown.
We can dismiss at once the idea that the native is suppressed by
military despotism, for the Posts are isolated and the number of troops
in them merely sufficient to guard property and stores, that is to say,
to fulfil the duties of policemen in England. At any moment the
thousands of natives who live in or near the Posts, could overwhelm
these small forces long before help could arrive from the next
Government Station, in many cases a week's journey distant. The fact
that they do not do so, is at least negative evidence that the white men
do not ill treat the people. There is however, much positive evidence
that the native has, not only a great respect, but also an affection for
his new rulers, and it is not difficult to understand the reason, when
we compare his fate before the advent of the Europeans with his
condition at present.
In each village was a Chief or Chiefs, freemen and slaves who passed
their lives hunting and fighting other tribes. The sole property of the
Chiefs and freemen were their huts, canoes, and slaves, and the rude
instruments they used in war and hunting. The unfortunate slaves were
bought and sold, captured in war and were often killed and eaten. One
slave was worth so many goats, lances, or knives, and one large canoe
would buy several women. Legislation rested with the Chiefs and trial by
ordeal was common, but always so arranged that the result could be
controlled by the judge. This is not the place however, to describe
these interesting, if horrible practices.
Now at present the people are rich beyond the wildest dreams of their
ancestors for the value of the property of the great Chiefs has greatly
increased, since they have dealt with Europeans. Again the Chief of a
small village containing 1000 men supplies 1000 kilogrammes of rubber
each month to the State for 50 centimes a kilo. To collect this amount
takes two or three days; each year therefore the village receives £240
for collecting a substance of no value at all to the natives whose daily
routine in the meantime is scarcely affected at all. The natives used
ivory chiefly to make war horns, but some of the Chiefs had so much that
they constructed fences of fine points round their mud huts little
thinking that in the white man's country, those useless tusks would be
worth a small mountain of salt. Now they exchange them for clothes,
cloth, salt, and other useful commodities. The lucky owner of a canoe,
it is true, can no longer buy three or four slaves with it, but he can
use it to transport produce or to catch fish, for which he is well paid.
Again compare the lot of the slave in the past with his present
condition. He was liable to the most terrible fate at any moment; now he
can enter the army, work in the plantations or remain safely in his
village and do a few hours' work each month. There is however, another
force acting which we should hardly expect would affect the mind of a
savage. He is greatly influenced by a desire to ascend the social
ladder at the summit of which, is of course, the white man, and anyone
having direct dealings with him, at once knows himself to be superior to
the naked cannibal of the forest. The servant, or _boy_, of the white
man, holds a high rank and considers himself to be quite another species
of man than his cousin, who is still uncivilised. So also the soldiers
and workers in the plantations, who come into daily contact with the
officials. All the most intelligent and ambitious natives are thus drawn
away from their primitive condition of life and become attached to their
masters, who give them cloth to wear and beads with which to beautify
themselves. The most important Chiefs are as anxious indeed to appear
like Europeans, as a prosperous native of Sierra Leone, is to wear
patent boots and carry a silk umbrella. There is one near here named
Bayer, a young man of much intelligence and business capacity, who has
built himself a brick house, dresses like a European, and is a proud man
when he is asked to smoke a cigar on the verandah of the mess. The
Chiefs are, however, never asked to eat with the Europeans, a
distinction which is both necessary and wise.
[Illustration: YOUNG SANGO GIRLS AT BANZYVILLE.]
It daily becomes more and more obvious that the white man is greatly
respected and that his word is absolutely trusted. What he says is true
and what he promises, he does. The native appears to respect these
characteristics perhaps all the more because he is so lamentably
deficient in them himself.
It is indeed the respect caused by moral not physical force which
enables a few Europeans to govern this great country with success, and
permits one or two white men to live securely with a few soldiers in an
isolated Post surrounded by thousands of natives most of whom are
savage cannibals.
There are, however, many difficulties yet to be surmounted, and among
them is the arrangement of a satisfactory currency. This was brought
home forcibly on October 1st when according to weekly custom, the people
in the villages around brought in food for the Post. Many women appeared
with large bunches of bananas for which as a rule, they are paid by
beads. In this prosperous part the heads of the women are already fully
adorned with beads and most of their household ornaments also, so they
demanded cloth instead.
The question of the currency is a very difficult one. There is the
danger of flooding the banks of the Congo with mitakos, and the banks of
the Ubangi with beads. In other words these articles which function as
money are not used as rapidly as they are supplied, and a lady whose
limbs are already weighted with brass rings and whose head is heavy with
beads, wishes for some other payment. There is a warehouse at each of
the State Posts in which cloth, clothes, beads, salt, and many other
commodities likely to be of use to the natives are kept, but it is
manifestly impossible to give as wages to each individual the particular
object he desires at the particular moment. The objection to beads and
mitakos, does not apply to salt and cloth, the former being at once
consumed, and the latter being worn out in course of time. Nevertheless
it is not well to have a currency which is continually being formed only
to be destroyed. The money currency, already existing in the Lower Congo
will, however, in course of time be extended, but there are still many
difficulties in the way. Francs and centimes will of course be of no
use to the natives, unless Stores are still kept at the State Posts at
which they can buy whatever they wish. This great question is, however,
occupying the careful attention of the Government, and will no doubt be
settled as satisfactorily as many others have been which were equally
difficult.
Sunday is always an interesting day in a State Post, for the Chiefs with
many followers come in for a friendly chat and to ask advice. October
2nd was particularly exciting for a new Chief had been elected in a
village near Banzyville, and great rejoicings consequently followed.
Singing, shouting, dancing and a general hubbub, went on from morning to
night, and if the desire to make a noise is any criterion of happiness,
these people must be the happiest in the world. There are many forms of
dances; sometimes each one shuffles his legs without moving more than a
foot or two and then swings his arms, head and body solemnly backwards
and forwards; sometimes a number will form a ring, and one after the
other will leap into it and rapidly rotate themselves; but whatever the
form, all seemed to be keenly excited and to enjoy it thoroughly.
The natives near the Ubangi have a very distinctive tatouage. It
consists of five elevated knobs of skin which form a straight line
continuing the line of the nose up the forehead. These are formed by
making for each knob two parallel incisions in the skin about half an
inch apart and lifting the flap between. A piece of ivory is then
inserted under the flap and left in until the wound has healed, the
result being a knob of skin elevated above the level of the rest of the
surface. All the tatouage in the Congo consists in raising the skin in
this manner, but in each district the design is different. Simple
tatooing by pricking in colours does not appear to be practised at all.
Fishing here is very simple and very effective. Large baskets tapering
to a point and open at the broad end are fixed by ropes, or rather by
the strong vines which function as ropes here, just at the top of the
rapids and the water rushes through with great force. The fish are
carried into the baskets, but cannot pass through or return against the
current, and are then simply speared and lifted out. They have firm,
white flesh and are good eating.
On October 3rd the Chief of the Banzas comes to the Post to call. He is
a fine, intelligent-looking man and rules his people, who are very
numerous, admirably. In this part of the Congo, the chieftainship
descends from father to son, but in some districts the succession passes
through the family of the wife of the Chief.
Numerous petty Chiefs drop in to the Post at intervals during the day
and are rather a nuisance, for they are always begging for clothes and
offering lances and presents in exchange. They do not realise that one
does not carry a superfluity of clothes when travelling, or that one or
two lances are quite sufficient to keep as curios. Probably they think
we are traders for we are not _bulamatadi_, and no one I believe, has
ever ascended the Ubangi on a pleasure tour before. The newly-elected
Chief was very anxious to be given a suit of clothes as he had none and
wished to make an impression on his new subjects. He described with many
gestures, that he was elected with much beating of drums, which indeed
was only too true and said he always intended to remain a great friend
of the State. After that, of course he had to be given some clothes. The
system of giving _tips_. indiscriminately is however, carried much too
far in the State, and if it is not stopped, will soon prove to be a very
heavy tax on the white man. Every native demands a tip on every possible
occasion whether he has done a service or not, and if he has done some
work and is only paid his due, is as discontented and abusive as a
cabman who has only received his legal fare.
There are many native thieves all over the Congo--one of them actually
penetrated into the house of Captain Auita at midday in bright sunshine
and stole a spear and a native knife. He was however, soon caught and
marched off to prison. Trials by ordeal used to be very common among the
natives. A favourite method was to give a dose of strychnine to a fowl
and if it died, the accused was guilty, but if it lived, he was
innocent. The wretched fowl, feeling in any case very ill, walked about
wondering at the excitement and followed by the complainant shouting
"die, die, die, fowl" and the defendant shouting "live, live, live,
fowl." The strength of the solution was always arranged by the judge so
the verdict was known to him beforehand. A curious instrument to take
the place of a jury, is a nut through which a piece of fibre has been
passed in such a way, that when it is held vertically, the nut slides up
and down. By a curious twist of the fibre however, it is possible to
prevent the nut falling. At the trial, the nut is raised to the top of
the string and if it stays there, the accused is innocent, but if it
falls, he is guilty. Here again, the judge can make the machine decide
either way at his will.
Among the many objectionable insects of the Congo is the _jigger_, a
kind of sand fly which burrows under the skin, usually of a toe, and
deposits eggs in a sack there. Unless these are removed an abscess
forms. The natives sit about calmly removing jiggers from each other's
feet with needles, and show considerable skill in this small operation.
It is necessary therefore never to move about with bare feet, for the
boys carry them into every place.
Much ivory comes into the Post at intervals, the points sometimes
weighing 70 or 80 lbs. each. The State preserves the elephant very
strictly, and the export duty on tusks above 6 kilos in weight, is 21
frs. per kilo. Still it is not likely that the Congo will continue to
yield such large quantities of ivory, for the elephant only bears one
offspring in three years and the growth of the baby is very slow. There
is a baby elephant here one year old. He stands about 4 feet, 6 inches
high, and has no sign of tusks at present. He is fed on rice, milk and
bananas and is a playful little fellow. A tame ape here fears the
elephant very much and at his approach at once clings to the native who
tends him or climbs over his shoulder, so as to place the boy's body
always between himself and the elephant.
On Monday October 10th we prepare to continue our journey up river. We
shall now require six or seven canoes, as they are not so large as the
ones lower down and our crews, servants, escort and camp followers total
up to nearly two hundred. Captain Auita sends a few State capitas with
us and Captain Meilleur lends us some French soldiers belonging to the
1st Senegalese Tirailleurs, a splendid set of fellows, very smart in
their khaki uniforms. We can, therefore, land with impunity on either
side of the river, _i.e._ in the French or the State Congo, and be able
to communicate with the Chiefs, for it will be rather difficult perhaps
to feed so many people.
Next day we start amid the most terrific din. Each of the seven canoes
carries one or two tom-toms and some have also native bells. All the
capitas and most of the paddlers shout orders to each other which no one
regards, even if they hear them, while the friends of the paddlers howl
farewells from the beach. At length however, the baggage is arranged and
the little fleet starts in single file, for each canoe hugs the bank.
Before half an hour had elapsed my canoe struck a rock and stuck on it.
Fortunately we were not travelling faster than two miles an hour, or a
hole would have been made in the bottom. As it was, it was necessary for
half the crew to go overboard, stand on the rock, and lift the canoe
off. Never was a ship so speedily lightened, and in a few moments we
were once more afloat.
The river now passes through a kind of gorge not more than half a mile
wide and continues between hills clad with long grass but after an hour
or two, it widens out again and the banks become low. The heat is great
and the unceasing blows on the tom-tom within three feet of one's ears
are very annoying, but if it is stopped, the crew no longer keep good
time, and the boat, therefore, travels very slowly. The singing, on the
other hand, is by no means unpleasant. One of the crew sings a solo, a
kind of recitative, the words being an extempore criticism, as a rule,
of the white passenger, and then the whole join in chorus in perfect
harmony. The music is now wild and weird, now passionate and joyful, but
always natural. There is nothing of the catch penny type of ditties,
which become popular in England and America, in these savage African
songs, nor are they in the least like Chinese or Indian music. The
instruments are rudimentary; simple zithers, rattles, bells and a kind
of guitar, but it is probable that all these, except the bells, have
been introduced by the Europeans or Arabs.
On we creep slowly until we reach the island of Ya which belongs to the
State. All the other islands, except Bamu, being no man's land. Here we
land at a large village and while the boys are arranging the camp, we
see that our party are all fed. The Chiefs are requested to provide
food, and soon nearly two hundred women appear, each with a wooden
vessel containing a ration of kwanga, palm oil, salad, bananas,
plantains, fish, meat, or a general mixture. These they deposit on the
ground and stand at attention each behind the meal she has prepared. The
sergeants and capitas distribute the rations among the soldiers and
paddlers, and at an order of the Chief, the whole crowd disappears into
the huts. Then we eat our dinner, consisting of the usual chicken and
eggs, have a game of two-handed bridge and turn in.
Suddenly shrieks are heard coming from a hut and we order the sentry to
discover the cause. He soon appears with one of our paddlers, who states
that another one stole his ration, and when he endeavoured to get it
back, beat him severely. We order him therefore more food, and decide to
investigate the case in the morning.
Next day after giving cloth to the Chiefs in payment for the food, we
send for the youth who made so much noise in the night. A poleman now
stated that the boy had stolen his loin cloth and that therefore he had
beaten him. This story contradicted the other and further native
evidence complicated the story still more, so after explaining to the
poleman that he had no right to beat the boy, even if he were one of his
crew, and that if such a thing occurred again, he would be severely
punished, we decided to take no further action.
One of the French soldiers now appeared and told a romantic story. He
had found a long lost blood sister in the village, the mutual
recognition being confirmed by the tribal marks. Both had been sold as
slaves when children; he had drifted into the French native army and she
had married one of the subjects of the State. Now she wished to leave
her husband and go away with her brother, who was willing to pay
compensation for her loss if necessary. As this seemed to raise some
delicate questions, we refused to take any step, except to report the
matter to the proper authorities.
After these delays, we started up the river, lined on both sides by
thickly populated villages. About midday an excited crowd stopped us at
one of these and asked for our help. As everyone shouted at once and
probably no one told the truth, it was difficult to discover what was
the matter, but some women were missing from the French Congo and an
elephant from the State, and the natives on each bank wished the white
men to punish those on the other. As private travellers, of course we
could take no action, even if we had wished, and continued on our way
already two or three hours late. At length at 6 p.m., Zinga is reached,
a large village with a fine plantation, and here we camp.
Just above the village the rapids are so strong that it is dangerous to
take the canoes up charged, and it is necessary to carry all the baggage
for about three miles across country until smooth water is reached
again. The capitas wished to attempt the ascent with the canoes full,
for the native dislikes carrying, more than anything else. We explain
that if it is necessary for the white men, who can swim, to walk, how
much more necessary is it to carry the baggage, which would at once sink
if the canoes capsized. However, this did not convince them and
Europeans who have had accidents on the river say, that although the
whole crew, who all swim like fishes, go to the assistance of the white
man when a canoe capsizes, not one will take the trouble to rescue the
baggage. Probably the native, whose personal property is limited to a
loin cloth, thinks all other possessions are useless vanities and not
worth troubling about. The view here is very beautiful, the river taking
a double bend between hills which are well wooded and traversed by
mountain torrents of clear water hastening to join the main stream
roaring in its rocky bed below. Numerous pintades are usually found
here, the finest game bird for eating in the whole of Africa, and I go
ahead of the bearers to search for them, but see nothing of interest.
[Illustration: THE STATE POST AT DJABIR.]
By 8 a.m. the canoes have all passed the rapids, and are charged again,
so once more we make a start. Soon another rapid is reached which it is
impossible to negotiate with the paddles. Some of the crew therefore, go
overboard and standing on the rocks up to their waists in water,
literally lift the boat up foot by foot until the top is reached.
After this the river widens again and the current is not so strong. One
of the canoes is now reserved as a kitchen and carries the goats,
chickens and other food. It is interesting to watch Luembo sitting
smoking his pipe over the fire as he cooks the lunch. Nothing disturbs
his calm serenity and he goes on philosophically making soup even in the
roughest water. When lunch is ready we stop by the bank, the kitchen
comes alongside and the hot, strong soup is very acceptable, for it is
impossible to eat much in the heat of the day.
At night time we decide to stop at the mouth of the Koto river, where is
a post of the Trading Company of that name, and the two agents there
kindly extend hospitality to us. Some of the natives here show well
marked Semitic features and a few, oddly enough, have eyes shaped like
the Chinese. They are all ready to bring rations for the paddlers and
accept payment without comment. Indeed, the native never says "thank
you," but as he speedily lets you know when he is dissatisfied, silence
obviously means contentment. The Company has a rubber plantation and a
well kept farm with cows, pigs and sheep which live healthily here.
The Koto river is almost as large as the continuation of the Ubangi and
rises far away up north. Passing it we continue ascending between banks,
on which villages are practically continuous the whole way until we
reach Gumba, a large village on the French side with a hospitable Chief
and a mud guest house. In this we store the baggage and arrange to sleep
on the verandah which has fortunately a water-tight, roof for the almost
daily tornado happened to be of an unusually violent description. The
lightning is practically continuous and of a vivid, blinding green
colour; the thunder sounds as if whole streets have been struck and
knocked down, while the rain descends like the stream of a shower bath.
The Chief's house in this village is oblong, but at the two ends of the
roof, spire-like tops are affixed, similar to those on the rest of the
huts in the village. They are not ornamental nor useful, but interesting
as marking a native characteristic on a house copied from those in the
Government Posts.
Next morning it was still raining hard, so we waited in the dry without
anxiety, as we knew the journey to Yakoma would only take five or six
hours, but about 10 a.m. having emptied the canoes, which were full of
water, we arranged the baggage and made a start. Village succeeded
village, in which were numerous people elaborately decorated with beads
and paint, but not otherwise covered. All the Chiefs were well disposed
and presented eggs or chicken, and took the cloth or salt offered in
return without grumbling. About midday we reached the commencement of
the Yakoma village, which extends for some miles along the bank. Most of
the crew were evidently well known here and several lived in the
village. Their well-meaning friends therefore, jumped on to the canoes
as they passed or swam out to them and took the paddles and poles from
their tired comrades. With a greatly augmented company, with the canoes
dangerously deep in the water, with tom-toms beating, bells ringing,
bugles sounding and people shouting, we arrived at Yakoma about 5 p.m.
on October 15th thus completing a voyage along the whole length of the
Ubangi river.