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Transcriber’s Note:
This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.
Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_.
Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are
referenced.
Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please
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CONGO LIFE AND FOLKLORE
[Illustration: _Photo_] A NATIVE VILLAGE. [_Rev. R. H.
Kirkland_]
[Illustration:
THE MAIN PATH ON WATHEN STATION.
(Note the “Welcome” Banner.)
]
CONGO LIFE
AND FOLKLORE
PART I
LIFE ON THE CONGO
AS DESCRIBED BY A BRASS ROD
PART II
THIRTY-THREE NATIVE STORIES
AS TOLD ROUND THE EVENING FIRES
BY THE
REV. JOHN H. WEEKS
(BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY)
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_
LONDON
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
4 BOUVERIE STREET; & 65 ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD, E.C.
1911
TO
MY COLLEAGUES, LIVING AND DEAD
WHOSE ARDUOUS LABOURS AND FAITHFUL LIVES HAVE
REDOUNDED TO THE GLORY OF CHRIST, AND
TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS KINGDOM IN CONGOLAND
AND TO
THOSE CO-WORKERS IN THE HOME-LAND
WHOSE GENEROSITY, PRAYERS AND KINDLY WORDS HAVE
SUPPORTED, STRENGTHENED AND ENCOURAGED
THEM ALL THESE YEARS, THIS BOOK
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
PREFACE
A brass rod is the money of by far the larger number of the people on
the Lower and Upper Congo. In thickness it is not quite so stout as an
ordinary slate pencil, and varies now in length, according to the tribe
using it, from five inches long on the Lower Congo to an indefinite
length among the more distant tribes of Congo’s hinterland. Originally
the brass wire was employed on the Congo for purposes of ornamentation,
either of the person in the form of necklets, armlets, and anklets, or
of articles they greatly prized and wished to decorate. It was beaten
into ribbons and wound round the hafts of their favourite spears,
paddles, and knives which were only used on gala days; or the wire was
melted down, and, with much skill, made into personal ornaments. I have
seen brass necklets weighing twenty-eight pounds, and have taken from a
woman’s legs brass rings that weighed in the aggregate nearly sixty
pounds. It is probable that at first this brass wire changed hands in
lengths of several fathoms, and gradually pieces of a certain length
were sold at a fixed value, and thus it became in due time the article
of common exchange--the currency, the money of the country.
For a considerable time the writer has been interested in the folklore
and anthropology of the people, and has made long and careful notes on
such subjects, and some of this information he has worked into the
story. For obvious reasons much must be left unwritten[1] in a popular
book; but that which finds a place in the following pages can be
accepted as perfectly trustworthy and true to Congo life. The missionary
and other experiences are founded on fact, the views and prejudices of
the natives are faithfully pourtrayed and are not exaggerated, and the
native superstitions have, as shown here, resulted in innumerable cases
of murder by ordeal, and the killing off of the most progressive
natives, possessors of inventive genius, of irrepressible energy and of
great skill--the best men, who would have been the leaders of their
people and would have left them more advanced than they found them but
for the witch-doctor and the ordeal.
Footnote 1:
It may interest those who would read further on the folklore of the
Lower Congo people that in _Folk-Lore_ (the Journal of the Folk-Lore
Society) for 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 more detailed articles will be
found, which were furnished by the writer.
By writing under the guise of a Brass Rod, worn first round the neck of
one owner and then round the arm of another, the writer has had more
scope, and he hopes has been able to make the scenes from life more
realistic than he could have done by the ordinary method. And the reader
will find that the book deals much more largely with the people of the
country--their habits, customs, views of life and superstitions--than
with the scenery.
The book has been written during the intervals of deputational work; and
its object is to lay clearly before the reader the ingrained prejudices,
the curious views, the tremendous and all-pervading superstitions, and
the mighty forces that have been arrayed against the introduction of
Christianity into that benighted land, and how, in spite of such forces
against it, the evangel of Jesus Christ has triumphed more wonderfully
than our poor faith and often blundering efforts have deserved.
It is hoped that superintendents, Sunday-school teachers, leaders of
Christian Endeavours and of missionary prayer-meetings may find that the
reading aloud of some of these chapters will awaken in their scholars
and hearers a deeper sympathy with missionary work, and that ministers
and teachers will discover in the stories told around the Congo fire,
which form the second part of this volume, _new nails_ upon which to
hang old truths.
JOHN H. WEEKS.
_Baptist Mission House,
19 Furnival Street, Holborn._
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE vii
PART I
CHAPTER I
EN ROUTE TO CONGO
_I am packed in a box--Sent to Congoland--My journey on the 1
ocean steamer--Curious names of the Kroo boys--Landed at
Banana--Thrown on the deck of a river steamer_
CHAPTER II
MY JOURNEY UP THE CONGO
_Our captain and tyrant--River scenes--We camp at a 6
trading-station--Native riddles_
CHAPTER III
MY OVERLAND JOURNEY BEGINS
_The white man’s fetish--I am exchanged with others for rubber 12
and ivory--My new companions express freely their opinions
about the white men--Why the white men are on the
Congo--Native suspicions and prejudices_
CHAPTER IV
WE REACH THE TOWN OF MY OWNER
_Crossing the Mpalabala hills--The head man knocks his toes--It 19
is an evil omen--He visits the “medicine man”--Finds his
brother dying--Last hours of the dying chief_
CHAPTER V
A FUNERAL ORGY
_Satu becomes chief--Preparations for the funeral feast--My box 24
is opened--I become a neck ornament--Bakula, my new owner, is
smart, but superstitious--The mourners assemble and present
their gifts--The toilet before eating--Drunkenness and
quarrelling--Corpse is carried to the grave--A white man wants
to steal the ivory trumpets--He is shaved and sent about his
business_
CHAPTER VI
OUR TOWN LIFE
_Streets are irregular--Houses small and draughty--Their 34
reception, dining, and drawing rooms are in the open
air--Their many charms and fetishes--Routine of the
day--Bakula tells a story: “How the Sparrow set the Elephant
and the Crocodile to pull against each other”--Tumbu, a slave,
relates the tale of “The Four Fools”--And Bakula tells: “How
the Squirrel won a Verdict for the Gazelle”_
CHAPTER VII
THE SEARCH FOR THE WITCH
_People believe their chief died by witchcraft--They send for 49
the witch-finder--His arrival and antics--The ceremony of
discovering the witch--Satu’s brother, Mavakala, is
accused--Why was Mavakala accused?--He takes the
ordeal--Proves his innocence--Other tests are forced on
him--He is done to death_
CHAPTER VIII
VISITORS ARRIVE
_The dulness and pettiness of native life--Arrival of two 58
visitors--Bakula questions them about the white man--They
relate the little they know about him--Old Plaited-Beard stirs
the people up against the white man--They exchange their views
about him--They agree to oppose him--The white man is seen
approaching--He is driven from the town and has to sleep in
the bush_
CHAPTER IX
SOME CUSTOMS, GAMES, AND A JOURNEY
_The Luck-giver is called to bring prosperity on the town--His 69
mode of procedure--Satu and some of his people go on a visit
to a great chief--Good and bad omens--The game at
“Antelope”--Bakula narrates a story: “How the Fox saved the
Frog’s Life”--Another lad tells why inquiry should come before
anger--The difficult road--Bakula and his friends dress
themselves--Their mixed wardrobes_
CHAPTER X
OUR RECEPTION AND ENTERTAINMENT
_The welcome of Tonzeka and his people--A case judged--We find 89
the white man in Tonzeka’s town--Tonzeka defends the white
man--He complains of the effect of the white man’s
preaching--A drunken bout_
CHAPTER XI
SATU VISITS THE WHITE MAN
_Bakula goes to the white man to have his wound dressed--White 100
man puts in a good word for the traders--Bakula is touched by
the white man’s kindness--A native dance--An exhibition of
native pride--A long talk with the white man--We gain many new
ideas from our conversation--Bakula has another interview with
the white man and they become good friends_
CHAPTER XII
NATIVE GAMES AND PASTIMES
_Make-believe games--“Biti” and needle--Game with canna 114
seeds--Hoop game--“Mbele,” or Knife game--The story of “The
Four Wonders,” or a puzzle story--Conundrums--“The Adventures
of the Twins”_
CHAPTER XIII
BAKULA ACCOMPANIES AN EMBASSY
_A title reverts to Satu--He sends Old Plaited-Beard to the King 131
with a present--The embassy arrives at the King’s town--Has an
audience in the King’s house--King promises to send a deputy
to install Satu--King dines with the white man and sees a
magic lantern--Bakula and the white man renew their
acquaintance--He sleeps on the Mission Station and hears all
about the King’s household_
CHAPTER XIV
BAKULA STAYS WITH THE WHITE MAN
_The working of a Mission Station--Buying food--The 148
school--Bakula is afraid to enter the school--Repairing the
station--Boys work in the gardens--A quarrel, and how it was
settled--An evening’s chat with the white man--Rubbing evil
spirits out of a man--Sunday
service--Congregation--Sermon--Visit to a near town--Religious
talk with the King--Boys pray for their white
teacher--Witch-doctor’s trick exposed_
CHAPTER XV
SATU RECEIVES A TITLE
_The King sends for medicine--He is told to apply to St. 167
Catherine--The King’s promise--Bakula bids farewell to his
white friend--King’s deputy goes with us to Satu’s
town--Ceremony of conferring the title--Killing a
leopard--Satu redeems his brother--Releases his niece from a
hateful marriage--A story: “Appearances are sometimes
Deceptive”--A chief asks for Satu’s niece in
marriage--Marriage money is paid--The wedding--Satu gains a
new slave_
CHAPTER XVI
HUNTING AND BUSH-BURNING
_Manner of bush-burning--Witch-doctor makes a hunting 194
charm--Ceremony is carefully performed--Blazing bush and
rushing animals--Satu arranges with another chief to burn the
bush--Dimbula breaks the law and insults Satu--War is
declared--Old Plaited-Beard being unsuccessful accuses Bakula
of bewitching him--He tries to restore his luck_
CHAPTER XVII
SATU AND HIS PEOPLE GO TO WAR
_Satu as the insulted party makes the first move--He sends an 212
embassy to Dimbula--He asks for an apology or offers a
bullet--The apology is refused, but the bullet is
accepted--The witch-doctor makes a war charm--Mode of
fighting--The ridge-pole of chief’s house is captured--Dimbula
sues for peace with a white goat--Pays homage to Satu--Blood
brotherhood is made_
CHAPTER XVIII
GOVERNING, MARKETING, AND TRADING CUSTOMS
_The making and enforcing of laws--Fines imposed--Division of 223
fines--Congo week of four days probably named after their
markets--Raids and robberies--Preparing a caravan for the
road--Rules of the road--Arriving at a trading-station--Mode
of trading--Goods given and received_
CHAPTER XIX
AN ACCUSATION AND THE ORDEAL
_Old Plaited-Beard charges Bakula with stealing--The accusation 240
is denied--Bakula declares his disbelief in charms and
witch-doctors--Satu saves him from immediate death--The
missing cloth is found in Bakula’s house--Tumbu exposes the
accuser’s trickery--He is ridiculed--Bakula submits to the
ordeal of the boiling oil--His arm is badly scalded--During
the night Bakula escapes to the Mission Station_
CHAPTER XX
BAKULA AT SCHOOL
_After much nursing Bakula recovers--He becomes a school-boy--He 252
struggles with the alphabet--He learns to understand
pictures--Routine life--Bakula itinerates with his white
man--He does not relish sleeping in the wet bush--He is
convicted of sin--He inquires the way of salvation--The lads
play a trick on a witch-doctor--Bakula is received into the
Church--He returns to his town_
CHAPTER XXI
BAKULA’S WORK CHECKED
_The conservatism of the Congo people--Bakula and his scholars 267
build a school-house--A missionary visits his town--He
encourages Bakula in his work--A “luck fowl” dies--Its death
is put to the credit of the missionary’s visit and
teaching--The school-house is pulled down--Satu is afraid to
interfere--Native way of punishing an unpopular chief_
CHAPTER XXII
BAKULA FALSELY ACCUSED AND MURDERED
_Failure of various remedies--Witch-doctor engaged--Diagnosing a 274
case--Different “medicine men” are called in--Bakula denounces
their trickery--Suspicion of witchcraft falls on
Bakula--Native attempts to rid themselves of death, sickness,
etc.--Preparing a corpse for the grave--Bakula is accused of
bewitching his mother to death--He is guarded by Old
Plaited-Beard through the night--He is taken to the
hill-top--He falls and is done to death--Tumbu buries the
mangled body of his friend_
CHAPTER XXIII
I FIND MANY CHANGES
_Mikula while digging the foundations for a brick house 294
discovers me--The town is changed--There is daily
worship--Observance of the sabbath--Sunday
service--Collections for support of teachers--Christian
funeral--Visit to the Mission Station--Teaching
teachers--Martyrs for the cause_
CHAPTER XXIV
A MARRIAGE AND A HARVEST FESTIVAL
_A Christian wedding--Grateful offerings--Christianity a great 307
boon to the women--Reunion--Various meetings--Lady
missionaries conduct services--Auction sale of the
gifts--Changed lives--Mikula instructs a stranger in the way
of Salvation--Rules for candidates and for Church fellowship_
CHAPTER XXV
MIKULA AT THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
_Months glide quickly by while working hard--Deacon’s 326
meeting--Church-meeting--The kind of candidates who were
rejected--Baptismal service--The great meeting of the
Church--Election of deacons--The balance sheet--A
deficit--Native Christians wipe out the debt--Local missionary
meeting--The great communion service_
NOTES TO PART I 341
PART II
NATIVE STORIES TOLD AROUND THE EVENING FIRES IN CONGOLAND
_Introduction_ 361
I
_How the Fowl evaded his Debt_ 371
II
_Why the Small-ant was the Winner_ 374
III
_How the Animals imitated the Gazelle and brought Trouble upon 376
Themselves_
IV
_Why the Fowls never shut their Doors_ 379
V
_Why the Dog and the Palm-rat hate each other_ 382
VI
_The Leopard boils his Mother’s Teeth_ 384
VII
_How the Ants saved the Partridge’s Eggs_ 386
VIII
_The Leopard sticks to the Nkondi_ (_wooden image_) 388
IX
_How the Mouse won his Wife_ 391
X
_The Gazelle outwits the Leopard_ 396
XI
_The Gazelle punishes the Palm-rat for breaking his promise_ 399
XII
_How the Crow cheated the Dove and got into Difficulty through 401
it_
XIII
_How the Civet and the Tortoise lost their Friendship for each 403
other_
XIV
_The Water-Fairies save a Child_ 406
XV
_How the Squirrel repaid a Kindness_ 410
XVI
_The King-fisher deceives the Owl_ 415
XVII
_How the Tortoise was punished for his Deceit_ 416
XVIII
_How the Frog collected his Debt from the Hawk_ 419
XIX
_How a Child saved his Mother’s Life_ 422
XX
_How the Gazelle won his Wife_ 425
XXI
_The Gazelle is at last punished_ 429
XXII
_The Leopard pays Homage to the Goat_ 433
XXIII
_Why the Owls and the Fowls never speak to each other_ 436
XXIV
_How the Elephant punished the Leopard_ 439
XXV
_How the Leopard tried to deceive the Gazelle_ 441
XXVI
_The Story of two Young Women_ 443
XXVII
_Why the Chameleon cut off his own Head_ 445
XXVIII
_Why the Congo Robin has a Red Breast_ 447
XXIX
_The Leopard tries to steal the Gazelle’s Wife_ 449
XXX
_The Gazelle kills the Flies and Mosquitoes, and outwits the 451
Leopard_
XXXI
_The Leopard is badly tricked by the Gazelle, Rat, and Frog_ 454
XXXII
_Why the Small-ants live in the Houses_ 460
XXXIII
_The Son who tried to outwit his Father_ 462
INDEX 463
The following Stories will be found in Part I
CHAP. VI.— _How the Sparrow set the Elephant and the Crocodile to
pull against each other (p. 39); The Four Fools: a puzzle
story (p. 43); How the Squirrel won a Verdict for the
Gazelle (p. 46)._
CHAP. IX.— _How the Fox saved the Frog’s Life (p. 77); Inquiry should
come before Anger (p. 81)._
CHAP. XII.— _The Four Wonders: a puzzle story (p. 122); Adventures of
the Twins (p. 126)._
CHAP. XV.— _Appearances are sometimes deceptive (p. 182)._
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
_Facing Page_
A NATIVE VILLAGE }
THE MAIN PATH ON WATHEN STATION } _Frontispiece_
THE LOWER CONGO RIVER NINETY MILES FROM THE SEA 10
A CONGO HUT 10
THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL AT NKABA 58
JUNGLE PATH THROUGH THE FOREST 84
WATHEN: THE BOYS’ QUARTERS 100
WATHEN: THE DISPENSARY 100
SCHOOL-BOYS PLAYING HOCKEY 116
AT THE GIANT STRIDE 116
GYMNASTICS 116
BUSY WASHING 128
RESTING AFTER WASHING 128
SCENES IN CATARACT REGION 166
A WITCH-DOCTOR 166
NATIVE ROPE BRIDGE 202
NATIVE BRIDGE 202
WHITE TRADER AND NATIVE TRADERS AND THEIR PRODUCE 236
THE REV. JOHN H. WEEKS AND HIS BOYS 252
CLOTH WEAVING 258
BLACKSMITHS 258
CATS’ CRADLES 284
A PROTECTIVE FETISH 284
DEACONS OF WATHEN CHURCH 304
TEACHERS WORKING UNDER THE WATHEN CHURCH 304
A CHRISTIAN WEDDING 312
CHURCH COLLECTION AT WATHEN 312
A NATIVE MARKET 332
BAPTISMAL SERVICE, CHRISTMAS 1905 332
PART I
Life on the Congo
AS DESCRIBED BY A BRASS ROD
[Illustration:
THE BRASS ROD
[_The currency of the Country_]]
]
LIFE ON THE CONGO
Chapter I
En Route to Congo
I am packed in a box--Sent to Congoland--My journey on the ocean
steamer--Curious names of the Kroo boys--Landed at Banana--Thrown on
the deck of a river steamer.
I am much older than you think, for it is more than twenty-five years
ago since I was born in a great factory in one of your English towns.
The years that have passed since my birthday have been filled with joy
and sorrow, rest and toil; but in looking back over them I think they
have contained more sorrow and toil than rest and joy.
When I was born I was very tall--nearly thirty inches high; but instead
of growing taller I have become shorter, being only[2] eleven inches
long now, for my enemies have cut off one little piece after another to
melt down for brass ornaments. Folk think more of finery than of
honesty. I must not, however, anticipate my sorrows, for they came all
too soon.
Footnote 2:
See note 1, p. 341.
Soon after I was born I was put with many other brass rods into a dark
box, and nailed in very tightly; for I heard one of the workmen say that
I was to take a very long journey over sea and land. There was
fortunately a hole in my box, and looking I saw that we were first put
on a train, and then carried into the hold of a big ship. Soon after we
were all packed carefully and tightly in the hold, the steamer began to
move, and we could hear the creaking of the rigging and the rattling of
the racing engines, and feel the pitching and rolling of the great
steamer itself.
I felt very glad when the pitching and rolling stopped, and the cover
was taken from the hold, and the beautiful sunshine came streaming in,
making the rats scurry off with their young to dark corners and cracks.
Just then we heard the bang of a cannon and the shrill scream of a
whistle; and, wondering what was going to happen next, we heard the
babble of many voices, and the patter of naked feet along the deck; and
a voice shouted; “There, our gang is complete. We don’t want any more,
and the sooner you others get over the side into your canoes, the better
for your health.”
I heard an old palm-oil barrel who had taken this journey many times
remark to a new one: “We are now off the Kroo Coast, West Africa, and
have taken on Kroo boys[3] to work the cargo and keep the decks clean.
That bang of the cannon was to call them, and the whistle was to hurry
them.”
Footnote 3:
See note 2, p. 342.
I do not know how many Kroo boys we engaged; but they were very noisy,
and gave us many a sleepless night. At four o’clock in the morning,
while we were at sea, they began to rub the decks with stones and scrape
the ironwork with knives, talking incessantly all the time; but when we
were in port it was worse, for they not only worked the winches right
over our heads from early morn till late at night, but they came down
into the hold, turned us over and pitched us about so that if I had not
had a good wooden box round me I should have been badly bent and
bruised. Some of my friends were smashed to pieces, and some bales I
knew received deep gashes in their sides, and others I never saw again.
It was a sad journey, full of partings, for those Kroo boys never came
into our hold without tying up some of my friends, and we saw them for a
moment hoisted into the air, and over the side they went, into what?--I
knew later, but not then.
What curious names those Kroo boys had! Some of them still linger in my
memory, such as: Peasoup, Teacup, Bottle-of-Beer, Brass-pan, Top-hat,
Kettle, Arm-chair, Pen-and-ink, Kiss-me-quick, Flower-vase,
Napoleon-Buonaparte, and Duke-of-Wellington.[4] I learned afterwards
that the reason why they had these names was that their white masters,
not being able to pronounce their proper country names when they first
engaged them, gave them any name that happened to come into their heads
at the moment, and such names stuck to them all the days of their
service on the coast. It was amusing to hear these names called, or,
when one was asked his name, to hear him answer: “Me, massa, me be
Bottle-of-Beer.”
Footnote 4:
See note 3, p. 342.
The Kroo boys good-humouredly retaliated by giving their masters names
that picturesquely described any peculiarities they observed in them.
One they called Big-nose, another Skinny-legs, another Long-legs, and a
fourth Bald-head. There was more appropriateness in the names they gave
their masters than the names they received from them.
About seven weeks after we started my box was tied with others, hoisted
into the air, and thrown over the side of the ship into a big boat, and
we were rowed ashore and landed at Banana. As we were going a Kroo boy
spied me through my peephole, and tried hard to drag me out of my
comfortable resting-place; but I clung tightly to the others, and thus
successfully resisted his attempts to steal me. I soon found myself in a
large store filled with huge piles of boxes, bales, and crates, and long
rows of large bottles filled with rum and other fiery waters.
After a few days a white man came into our store, and, sorting out a
large number of cases, bales and bottles, sent them away on the heads
and shoulders of Kroo boys. For two days they were carrying out loads as
quickly as they could, and just as I was thinking that I should not be
disturbed a Kroo boy came and lifted my box in his strong arms, and,
carrying me across the busy, sunlit yard, threw me with much force on
the deck of a steamer, and I became unconscious.