A PAGE OF NATIVE HISTORY
A great inland sea—The Boloki and Bantus—The Boloki man—A native
retort—Meaning of Bangala—Movements of tribes—Murder of Boloki
chief—Refuge in a tree—Boloki raiding—A famous chief—Comets an
evidence of greatness—Tribal marks and meaning.
There is much evidence in favour of the theory that the low-lying
country of the Congo basin was once the bottom of a great inland sea,
with here and there the highest points of land rearing their heads above
the water, and thus forming numerous islands. The pressure and rush of
water gradually wore down the barriers made by the ridge of rocks
running across the river at _Kintamo_, and now forming the Kintamo
Falls, thus draining the country and rendering it habitable. Then came
another silting up, and the lower levels of the country, that had been
covered in the meantime by trees and grass, were again flooded, and
heavy deposits of clay were dropped on to and pressed down the vegetable
growth. When the river was extremely low one year in the Monsembe
district, I noticed for many miles a stratum of vegetable matter, about
three inches thick, with here and there a tree of six inches diameter, a
good eleven feet below the top of the bank. This vegetable layer was not
fossilized, but was extremely hard, and though of a blackish brown
colour, every vein in the leaves, and every line in the grass, was clear
and perfect.
It is highly probable that as the Congo basin was drained the Bantus
pressed down from their northern homes; and the Boloki tribe for greater
security, perhaps, took possession of the Libinza Lake, and enlarged the
islets they found there into places large enough to hold one, two, or
more families.
The Boloki tribe belongs to the great Bantu race that stretches from 6°
north of the Equator to Cape Town, and from the east to the west coast.
The Bantus reach a higher latitude on the western than on the eastern
side of the African continent, and here and there we find dotted over
this vast tract of country small tribes—like the Hottentots, the
Bushmen, the Pigmies, etc.—that are remnants probably of the aborigines
of the country. These portions of tribes, speaking other than Bantu
dialects, have not been absorbed, for geographical and other reasons, by
their more civilized Bantu neighbours during the progress of many
generations; but are there to-day like so many isolated pages of
primitive history.
The Boloki man is above the average height, of sturdy frame,
well-developed limbs, and splendidly proportioned body. When necessity
has demanded it, he has paddled me for fifteen hours with only one short
interval for food; but “on the road” he is not a good walker, for he
finds his rations too heavy a burden, much more a 70-lb. load such as
the Lower Congo man carries with a light heart and step for many days.
In the canoe the Boloki swings his paddle with much grace, and if a drum
is beaten, or a song is sung, the line of twenty paddlers will dip,
bend, and raise their paddles in perfect time to the rhythm of the drum,
or the lilt of the song.
The Boloki man is sociable and of a kindly disposition, but liable to
fits of uncontrollable passion, and is then capable of great cruelty. He
is fond of a laugh, enjoys a good joke, and appreciates a repartee,
which he gives and takes in good humour.
[Illustration:
_Photo by_: _Rev. G. E. Moore_
MANGWENDE—A TYPICAL BOLOKI HEAD-MAN
Running up the forehead will be seen the cock’s-comb tribal mark,
above which is the plait of hair worn by the better-class men, and
on the temple the palm-leaf mark.
]
We make more than three hundred dinners a year off fowls—they are very
cheap, and are the most regular form of fresh meat that we can procure.
Speaking with a native one day, I laughingly twitted him with the
scarcity of fowls and the difficulty of buying any in his village.
He at once retorted: “White man, if all the fowls you have eaten from
our village were to cackle and crow simultaneously in your stomach,
there would be a tremendous noise.” And as he spoke there was a good
humoured twinkle in his eye as he conjured up the noisy scene.
Formerly the term Bangala was applied only to those natives who lived at
Diboko (Nouvelles Anvers), and for forty or fifty miles up and down the
river on either side of them; but in a work published in Brussels called
_Les Bangalas_,[18] the term Bangala is made to cover an area reaching
far east of Bopoto, west of Equatorville, north of the Welle, and south
of the Congo River for some distance. This includes a dozen or more
different tribes, talking as many distinct languages, having various
tribal marks, possessing in many instances very different customs, etc.,
and among whom there is nothing in common except their black skins and
backwardness in civilization. Since seeing the above-mentioned book, I
have preferred using Boloki as a more definite term for denoting the
inhabitants of certain towns on the main river, on the Mobangi River,
and the Libinza Lake. Intermixed with the Boloki towns on the Congo
River are other towns belonging to a hinterland people well known to us
as the Bomuna.
Footnote 18:
By M. Cyr. van Overbergh and M. de Jonghe.
The Boloki folk have very hazy ideas about relationship, and scarcely
any two will give the same name to all the relatives, and, moreover, if
you take a list of the names of relations from a young man and put it
away for six months, and then ask the same lad about the same relations
in the same order as before, with your list in front of you, he will
give you another set of names that will not tally with your first one in
several points. I have made many attempts to draw up a complete
list,[19] and if I had been satisfied to take one man and examine him
once only, I might have procured a list of the names of relations that
would have been full, but it would have been inaccurate, i.e. it would
have been that man’s list then, but it would not have been his six or
eight months later, and it would not have been anyone else’s list even
at the time he gave it to me. In this there was no desire to deceive us,
for we found the same difficulty on the Lower Congo.
Footnote 19:
See Appendix, Note 4, page 342.
Among the Boloki there is no historical literature, for not a single
member of the tribe could write until we taught them; but although there
is no written history there has been much oral communication dealing
with the origin of the tribe, the place from whence it came, the
approximate time of the migration, and the reason for it. Their
communications have been handed from father to son, and the facts have
been the constant theme of fireside conversations.
The following incidents connected with the migrations of a large portion
of the tribe from the low-lying Libinza Lake district to the main river
I gathered from a man of about 35 years of age, of good intelligence,
and I have every reason to believe that they are the putting together of
what he frequently heard around the evening fires, as well as what he
learned from his father. Besides, in chatting with other folk, I have
gathered various particulars that confirm his statements, and the
constant antagonism shown by the Bomuna people to the Boloki, and the
geographical distribution of these two tribes, all go to prove the
truthfulness the main facts of this page from native history.
[Illustration:
_Photo by: the Author_A MONITOR
These creatures are very scarce; but our lads killed this one, and
brought it to me before cutting it up for the saucepan. It was 8
feet 7 inches long.
]
[Illustration:
A NATIVE HUT
A native house of the size and shape that we bought for 5s. 1d. The
old man on the right illustrates a method of hair dressing—shaving
the hair so as to show a very round face and high forehead.
]
The Bomuna people, about the middle of the nineteenth century, came from
the bush towns lying in the forest between the Mobangi and the Congo
Rivers, and settled on the bank of the main river. Not being a riverine
people, they had no knowledge of swimming, and possessed no canoes. They
worked their way along the river’s bank from the Monsembe district
up-river until they came to the Ejeba stream, near the village of Nyoi,
which deep stream they passed by means of a stout cane-creeper that
happened to stretch across the water from the overhanging trees. Many
passed, and while others were working their way hand over hand along the
cane creeper it broke, and thus severed the only means of communication
between those on the opposite sides of the stream. Those who found
themselves on the eastern side continued their journey, and founded the
settlements of Diboko (sometimes called Iboko), now Nouvelles Anvers.
Thus the ancient people of Diboko were Bomuna of the tribe of Bobanga,
of whom the chief, Mata Bwiki, is the best known to fame, being the
head-man who encountered Stanley, and on whose land the Congo Free State
built their station of Nouvelles Anvers.
The Bomuna folk left on the western side of the stream settled on
suitable town sites in the Mungala Creek above Monsembe, and along the
banks of the main river below Monsembe. I knew this branch of the tribe
well as being both ignorant and timid in all matters relating to water
and canoes.
Between forty and fifty years ago some Libinza Lake people of the tribe
of Boloki left their swampy island homes under the leadership of
Munyata, and working their way in shallow canoes through the creeks,
they came out on the main river near to Moboko. They paddled down the
river to the Mungala Creek, which at that time was inhabited by Bomuna
people. There Munyata made blood-brotherhood with Munkua, the chief of
the Bomuna, and settled there with his people. The Bomuna at that time
possessed no spears, but did their hunting and fighting with sharpened
sticks, the points of which were hardened in the fire. Munyata presented
Munkua with a spear, and received a fine young woman as a return
present.
Munyata, the Boloki chief, was apparently a very grasping man, for
although he had several wives he coveted more, and was always asking
Munkua for one of his. For a time Munkua occasionally gave one; but
Munyata let it be known that any woman who ran to him would be retained,
and so much was the Boloki chief admired and feared, that one after
another of the wives of Munkua escaped to him, until at last only one,
his favourite, or principal (_nkundi_) wife was left, and she was
eventually stolen from him by Munyata. So exasperated was Munkua by this
treatment that, taking advantage of the first opportunity that offered,
he speared Munyata to death.
On the murder of Munyata the Boloki folk came out in crowds from the
Libinza Lake to avenge the death of their head-man, and so successful
were they with their iron spears against the sharpened sticks of the
Bomuna that, although more numerous, the latter gave way before their
fierce onslaught. Many escaped, but some took refuge in a high bombax
tree. The tree was surrounded by the Boloki, who threatened to starve
their enemies to death unless they submitted; and apparently after some
palavering the entrapped people had the privilege accorded to them of
selecting their own future owners. Thus one would say, “I will take
So-and-so as my master,” and on his request being agreed to he would
climb down the tree and take his place among the followers of his new
master. In this way they divided themselves among their conquerors, and
it seems from all accounts they were well treated by the Boloki.
Other contingents of the Boloki came out on to the main river and
wrested sites from the Bomuna at Monsembe, Lobengu, Maleli, and
Bokomela, and up-river at Bombilinga. In the meantime the Diboko Bomuna
had increased in numbers, had become possessed of canoes, and had
learned the way to manage them. Their numbers also had been greatly
augmented, and their passions inflamed by those who had escaped from the
Mungala Creek before, and during, the fight caused by the death of
Munyata. These Diboko Bomuna so harassed and fought the Mungala Creek
Boloki that numbers of them fled up-river (undoubtedly passing behind
the islands to avoid their enemies at Diboko), and established
themselves at Mobeka, at the mouth of the Mungala River many miles above
Diboko. When first we went to live at Monsembe a very high tree that
stood on the bank at the bend of the river was pointed out to me as
their post of observation when watching for the Diboko Bomuna.
The Boloki tribe in 1890 possessed the following districts on the north
bank of the Congo: Mobeka, at the mouth of the Mungala River,
Bombilinga, the Mungala Creek towns, Monsembe, Lobengu, situated in the
Mangala Creek, Moleli, Bokomela, and Bungundu. On the south bank they
owned Bokumbi, Libulula, and Bolombo. At some time or other the people
of Bungundu, Bokomela, Moleli, and Lobengu were called Mangala, and gave
their name to the creek in which their principal town was built. Perhaps
there was a powerful family called Mangala, and this has been corrupted
into Bangala; or the Mungala River was supposed to be the original home
of these people, and as _mu_ means place, locality, and _ba_ means
people, it was easy to call the people the Bangala. I am rather inclined
to the latter reason for the origin of the term among white people, but
the natives themselves never used the name Bangala.
Near to Mobeka are the Ngombe people, who are also called Bokumbi, and
this tribe in 1908 was becoming mixed with the neighbouring tribes; and
as they are being absorbed into them they no longer call themselves
Ngombe or Bokumbi, but appropriate the names of the peoples whose
language they learn and whose tribal mark they imitate. The hinterland
folk of Diboko belong to the Mokulu tribe, and the Bomuna of Diboko to
the Bobanga tribe; others in between the Boloki towns down to Bokomela
retain their old name of Bomuna. Below Bokomela is the Mbonji tribe that
came originally from the bush. The Baloi on the Mobangi River are Boloki
from Lake Libinza.
The Libinza Lake is a large sheet of shallow water that drains itself,
by the Ngiri River, into the Mobangi, and retains its distinctive colour
for many miles. Islands have been slowly made with great labour, and
they need constant watching or they will be washed away by the annual
floods. The folk drove stakes around any slight elevations shown at low
water, and then dug up clay and mud from the bottom of the lake and put
inside the stakes, and thus formed an island. These islands are small,
but they are numerous, and are often linked together by bridges. There
are some large islands, but most of them are small. The lake was thickly
populated in the nineties with expert fishermen and saucepan-makers; and
they often came out in parties of twenty and thirty to fish with their
peculiar box-shaped nets, and to sell their fish, their saucepans, and
“fire-pots” to the riverine people for cassava roots. They frequently
camped on our beach, and thus we saw much of them. The Libinza folk
lived chiefly on plantains, as cassava would not grow in their swampy
soil, hence they always exchanged their wares for cassava; and this may
have been one of the reasons why Munyata came out from the lake, to
establish a centre of exchange for cassava roots.
The tribe near the river always ridicules the tribe behind in the bush,
as the Boloki laugh at the Bomuna, and the Bomuna at the Ndobo people
further behind. The Boloki are proud of their name and their origin; and
the neighbouring tribes acknowledge their courage and endurance, and
prefer their friendship to their enmity. The following is an instance of
their bravery and the long distances the Boloki men paddled on their
raiding expeditions: In the beginning of 1891 there was a big fight in
our vicinity, and on inquiring the cause we learned that the reason for
the fight between these Boloki towns was this: A year or two before our
arrival the Boloki of the Monsembe district paddled over 300 miles
up-river and raided the Bopoto riverine towns, carrying off a quantity
of loot and a number of captives; and the unsatisfactory division of the
spoils culminated in the fight that cost some few lives.
About 1870 there lived at Mobeka (one of the Boloki towns) a chief who
styled himself _Monoko mwa Nkoi_, or Mouth of a Leopard, for he boasted
that, like that animal, he never let go any person unfortunate enough to
fall into his clutches. He was the terror of the district, and a message
from him made a whole town quake with fear; and a demand from him was
instantly obeyed from apprehension of the consequences. He was a man of
war, a cruel warrior who held life cheap; and he burnt down many a town,
scattered the people, or took them as slaves. On one of his raids among
the Bopoto towns (which district is about 130 miles above Mobeka) he was
mortally wounded and carried back to his town, where he died. About the
time of his death a large comet appeared, which was described by my
informant as being “like a large star with a hat on it.” It was seen for
three nights in succession, and was regarded as a sign of the greatness
of Monoko mwa Nkoi.
Abnormal appearances in the sky are either the evidences of the death of
some great chief whom they do not know, because he lived and died among
a distant tribe, or are a proof of the greatness of a chief who has died
within the limits of their own district. I have also known them to blame
a lad, recently buried, for the tornado that was rushing across their
village, shaking their huts and uprooting their plantains and bananas.
They abused him in unmeasured language, and expressed the hope that he
would be “humbugged” in the nether regions. Emanya of Diboko is the name
of another fighter whose cruel exploits are the subject of conversations
around the evening fires.
The tattoo marks give indications of tribal movements, and also some
idea of the various component parts that go to the making of a village
community. I have noticed three kinds of tattooing among the Boloki. (1)
A single line of elliptical punch-marks running from temple to temple
just above the eyebrows. (2) A cock’s comb (called _likwala_) running
from the tip of the nose in some, and from between the eyebrows in
others, to the crown of the head. (3) A cock’s comb plus a palm leaf on
each temple, or some other marking. When you look at the profile of a
man his tattoo stands out like a cock’s comb, hence the name.
The first kind of tattooing—line of elliptical punch-marks—is to be
found only on the old men and women, indicating that they are probably
some of the original contingent of Libinza Lake people who forced a
footing on the main river. They cling to the Libinza tribal mark, being
proud of their kinsfolk and their origin. The second tattoo is seen on
boys and girls, and on men and women from 35 downwards, and shows that
the new marking had come into fashion when they were young, and was
sufficiently in favour to supplant the old Libinza marking. On men and
women from 35 to 45 there were (in 1900) slight traces of the Libinza
marks, but the cock’s comb was the more prominent tattoo. Whence did
they borrow the cock’s-comb tattoo? is a question I have often asked
myself; or did they originate it as a distinctive mark of their own as
they became a separate tribe and the ties binding them to the Libinza
people gradually faded? The third set of marks is to be found on the
slaves, who imitate the tattoo of their masters. Hence the Mongo tribal
marks—lumps the size of a bean on the nose and across the forehead—will
be seen on a man in conjunction with the cock’s comb; or the palm leaf
on the temples—mark of a tribe on the upper Lulanga River—and the cock’s
comb. Slaves captured or bought young allow their distinctive tribal
mark to disappear, and try to work up a good-sized cock’s comb like
their owners, so as to be regarded as belonging to the same tribe as
their masters.
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