Far away in Africa, near where the pygmies live, there is a great river
called the Kongo. The land on either side of this river for many miles
is called the Kongo Valley.
There are hundreds of miles of great woods in this valley. These woods
are not like our woods. They are very thick with vines and plants.
There are also a great many kinds of trees.
In the woods are birds with very bright colors. There are birds called
sunbirds. Often green, yellow, scarlet, and purple feathers are found
on these birds. What a pretty sight it must be to see them flit about
in the sun!
There are also many kinds of pretty flowers in the woods. These
flowers are as gay in color as the birds.
Many tribes of negroes live in the Kongo Valley. They live in huts
made of mats. The mats are made of strong grass. The grass is first
twisted into cords. Then the cords are braided into mats.
The people also use mats for their beds; but they do not put the mats
on the ground. They tie them to a frame raised a little above the
ground.
[Illustration: Kongo Negroes at a Mission School.]
These negroes also make baskets, bowls, pots, and wooden spoons. The
bowls and pots they make out of clay.
It is very warm all the year round in the Kongo Valley. So the people
wear very little clothing. They rub their bodies with palm oil.
They have a funny way of wearing their hair. While they are young
their hair is braided. Then it is twisted into all sorts of knots and
shapes. They do not untwist it, but keep it so always. They think
these queer knots and shapes are very pretty.
[Illustration: A Kongo Village.]
The women do all the hard work. They cook the food. They do the other
housework. They plant the corn and beans.
[Illustration: Headdress of Kongo Women.]
The men spend a great deal of time in fishing. They also hunt and kill
elephants to get their tusks for ivory. There are many elephants in
the Kongo Valley. They roam about in large herds. It must be a hard
task to kill an elephant!
One of the tribes in the Kongo Valley is called the Bangala tribe. The
men are tall and strong and fierce. They are always fighting with
other tribes. This makes the other tribes very much afraid of them.
The negroes of this tribe have a strange way of making friends with a
white man. They will do him no harm if he is willing to be their
"blood brother."
This is the way they make a white man their blood brother. The black
man takes a limb of palm tree which has two branches. With one branch
in his hand, he falls on the ground before the white man. The white
man takes hold of the other branch. Then the black man splits the limb
into two parts with his knife.
After this is done, an old man of the tribe comes to the white man and
the black man. He puts the white man's arm over the black man's arm.
When their arms are together, he makes a small cut in each arm. He
makes this cut to draw blood. Then the old man puts salt and the dust
of banana leaves into the blood, and rubs both arms together. The
black man and the white man are then blood brothers.
These people have also a strange way of taking care of their canoes.
When they are not using them, they keep them under water. They say
that the canoes will last longer if kept under water.