THE DARK CONTINENT.
Yes, the great Buffalo[3] sleeps; his mightiest victory was his
last.
His warriors howl in vain, his necromancers gaze aghast.
Fetich, nor magic wand, nor amulet of darnel,
Can charm back life to the clay-cold heart and limb.
FERDINAND FREILIGRATH.
It is only of late years that much has been known of the people of the
heart of Africa. Explorers have passed through its borders; along its
coasts travelers have wandered, but few have, until recently, pushed
on into the interior. Even to-day there are vast regions unexplored.
Of the millions of peoples inhabiting these parts we know only that
which the Arab slave-dealers, and some native African traders have told
us. The extreme points, North, South, East and West Africa have been
known for many years. The interior, stretching back from Upper Egypt,
and extending clear across to the River Niger, has been but little
traveled by foreigners. From Zanzibar on the south-east, radiating like
a fan, explorers have passed to the great lakes to the north-west, the
Victoria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza, to the west to Tanganyika Lake, and
to the south-west, the Nyassa and Bangweolo Lakes. To the west of these
lakes, saving only the countries lying along the banks of the Lualaba,
Livingstone, or Congo River, along which Stanley traveled, the land is
almost unknown.
Even of the African peoples among whom Europeans have lived, it is
difficult to learn much of their religions. First, because they
have no sacred books, no records, in fact no writing at all. Their
traditions and teachings have all been handed down by word of mouth.
Again, the Africans are unwilling to tell foreigners about their
religious beliefs, customs and worships. It is difficult to gain their
confidence. When one asks them about it, they give evasive answers,
or pretend to know nothing about the matter. This fact has led to
the supposition that some of these peoples had no religious nature
whatever, but that they formed an exception to the general evidence in
favor of man’s religious nature.
Yet travelers have by patient investigation, observation and inquiry
learned considerable. They have compared their conclusions, and have so
been able to give us some idea of the gods and religions of Africa.
The Africans have no buildings of brick or stone, and have no
knowledge, seemingly, of writing. These two facts have been brought
to show that the Africans must have left the rest of the family
of mankind very soon after the Deluge. The Africans are, with the
exception of some of the South Sea Islanders, and the Aborigines of
Australia, the most degraded people on the face of the earth. But
here and there among them are small nations who are intelligent, and
shrewd, and possessed of capabilities which place them above their
fellow-Africans. The African peoples are of all shades of color, from
blackest black to purest white, and just so do they vary very greatly
in point of intelligence. Yet the best are very degraded, and the worst
are but little above the beasts of field or forest. If the Gospel of
Jesus Christ is needed anywhere, it is among the peoples of the Dark
Continent.
[Illustration: A LAWYER OF ZULULAND.]
AFRICAN BELIEF IN A GOD OR GODS.
There are to be found even yet traces of the high position from which
the Africans have fallen in their degradation. One of these traces is
the universal belief in a God or gods. This, of course, is no such
exalted idea of a Supreme Being as is to be found among Christian
nations or even among the better nations of heathens, but still it is
a Great One in whom they believe. This belief is not the result of
reasoning, of observation of the powers of nature or of study of their
own human nature, but is an inborn conception. Apart from revelation,
apart from argument, from cause and effect, from design, from
government or from anything else, men must believe in a God or gods.
Hence we are not astonished at finding that among all the Africans
there is this belief. Many of their ideas of God are horrible, shocking
and revolting, others again attach no evil ideas to their gods, but
exalt them in a very high degree.
PRAYING FOR RAIN.
In South-eastern Africa, along the Zambesi River, the people pray to a
god, with whom they connect no impure traditions or degraded worship.
When in danger of war or famine, they appeal to this god. They call him
Mpambi. The worship is of this kind: When famine is threatened because
rain is withheld, the people of a village resort to a cleared space of
ground, inclosed by a fence. Here a _prayer-hut_ is erected. Women
and men worship together. Generally a princess having in one hand a
basket containing Indian corn-meal, and in the other a pot of native
beer, or Pombi, goes into the hut, where she can be seen and heard. She
puts the basket and jar on either side of her and sprinkling a handful
of meal on the floor, cries, “Imva Mpambi, Adza moula!” (Hear, O God,
and send rain!) The people respond by gently clapping their hands and
chanting, Hear, O God! This is repeated until all the meal is used up.
Then the jar of Pombi is emptied on the floor. The woman then comes out
of the hut, closing the door. Throwing themselves upon their backs,
she and the people unite in praying “Hear, O God, send rain!” Then she
arises, washes herself in a jar of water which stands before the chief.
Then all the women take their calabash cups and throw the water into
the air, with frantic gesticulations.
Among the Zulus the lightning and thunder were represented as coming
from “The Lord in Heaven.” If lightning struck and killed the cattle
the people were not distressed. It was said “The Lord has slaughtered
for Himself among His own flock. Is it yours? Is it not the Lord’s? He
is hungry; He kills for Himself.” If a village is struck with lightning
and a cow is killed, they say “This village will be prosperous.” If a
man is killed, thus they said, “The Lord has found fault with him.”
When they pray for rain, the heads of the village select some black
oxen (like the black clouds which bring rain) and one is killed in
sacrifice. Its flesh is eaten in the house in silence. The bones are
burnt outside of the village. After this a song is sung, or hummed, for
no words are used.
THE HOTTENTOTS’ GOD, GOUNJA GOUNJA.
The Hottentots call God “Gounja Gounja” or “Gounja Ticquoa.” They are
said to have no divine worship, and few, if any, religious ceremonies,
and, in their savage state, appear a very stupid race, almost void of
the power of reason, without any knowledge of divine subjects, and but
a vague notion that there is one great Lord of all, and likewise an
evil spirit, a devil. They observe a yearly festival when the seven
stars appear together, at the beginning of summer. The parents wake
their children when these stars appear, and go with them into the
fields, where they dance and sing. Their song is, “O Ticquoa, thou
Father over our heads, give us rain, that all our fruits may ripen and
we may have food in plenty.”
THE BUSHMEN’S GOD.
The Bushmen believe that there is a god in the sky, whom they call
Kaang, or chief. One of the Bushmen says of his countrymen: “They
perform a kind of religious worship to two rocks, the one representing
a male, and the other a female. When going out to hunt, they implore
the aid of these deities to provide them with food. First they go to
the male rock, and strike it with a stick. If it sounds, they believe
the report is heard in _Heaven_, and they will have success; but
if they get nothing, they repair to the female rock, which they think
is inhabited by a malicious spirit, and beat it well, upbraiding it,
saying: ‘Why do you by your hidden arms cause all the game to be shot
dead so that we can find none.’”
[Illustration: KING COFFEE’S PROTECTING GOD.]
All the tribes of Western Africa show some belief in gods. The
Mohammedans and the Portuguese and English traders have of late years
affected the peoples’ notions to some extent; but from the descriptions
of earlier travelers we can see what their belief was. In Sierra Leone
they called God “Canou;” on the Gambia River, they called their god
“China.” The Niam-Niams call their god “Noro.”
Among the Africans are found many traditions of the origin of the world
and of men. Among the Zulus, the following tradition is held, which
will serve as a specimen:
ZULU TRADITION OF THE ORIGIN OF MEN.
Umkululu, the first man, had his origin in a valley of this world,
where there was a bed of reeds. He sprung from the bed of reeds, and a
woman (a wife) sprung from the same bed of reeds after him. They had
but one name, that of Umkulunkulu; and men sprung from Umkulunkulu by
generation. All things, as well as Umkulunkulu, sprung from a bed of
reeds; everything, both animals and corn coming into being with him. He
looked upon the sun when it was finished, and said: “There is a torch
which shall give you light, that you may see.” He looked on the cattle,
and said: “There are cattle; be ye broken off, and let the cattle be
your food; eat their flesh and drink their milk.” He looked on wild
animals, and said: “That is such an animal; that is an elephant;
that is a buffalo.” He looked on the fire, and said: “Kindle it, and
cook, and warm yourself, and eat meat when in has been dressed by the
fire.” He looked on all things, and said: “So-and-so is the name of
everything.”
Among the Basutos there is a legend that men and animals came from the
interior of the earth, out of an immense hole.
GOOD AND BAD SPIRITS.
Between the Supreme Being and man, the Africans believe that there are
a vast number of spirits. They are not afraid of God, but they have an
intense dread of these spirits. They believe that God is too far off to
hurt them much, but they believe that the world of spirits is around
them. Even when God does send lightning or thunder, for instance, it
is because the spirits bring them down. To their imaginations these
spirits people the darkness with hideous shapes, poison the light with
their presence, sweep over the plains in the forms of wild beasts, fill
the forests, inhabit trees, live on the tops of the mountains, and in
the secluded recesses of caves and valleys; make their homes in the
sea, the lakes and the rivers; the air is full of them, the earth teems
with them; fire is not free from their presence, and human beings are
possessed by them. To them, also, they attribute the sorrows and the
sufferings, the misfortunes, and, in most cases, the deaths of mankind.
[Illustration: THE PRIESTS’ TRICK OF RAISING AN IDOL OUT OF
THE EARTH.]
As elsewhere, there are men who take advantage of the superstitious
condition of their fellow countrymen, and make gain of it. Three
priests once assured their followers that they could raise an idol out
of the ground, and would do it the next day. During the night they dug
a hole, in which they placed a lot of dried peas and an idol’s head
and shoulders. They covered all up carefully. Just before daylight
they took some water and poured it upon the peas. The people gathered
early in the morning to see the priests keep their promise. They came
forth, and, as the peas gradually swelled, began their incantations
and murmurings, and, of course, very soon the idol appeared, and the
deluded people were abundantly satisfied.
THE SPIRIT IN THE INSECT.
The Hottentots believed that the good spirits sometimes came in the
form of a winged insect, having a green back, a belly speckled with
white and red, and with two horns. They worshiped this insect wherever
they found it.
If this insect alighted on a Hottentot he was looked upon as a man
without fault, and distinguished and reverenced as a sacred person
ever after. His neighbors gloried that they had such a favored mortal
amongst them, and published the fact far and near. The fattest ox
belonging to the kraal was killed as a thank-offering, and all the
people kept festival for days. The case was in every respect the same
if the insect alighted upon a woman; she was regarded as a sanctified
person and the delight of the spirit.
The son of a German, who had given leave to some Hottentots to turn
their cattle upon his land, was amusing himself one day in the kraal,
when this insect appeared. The Hottentots immediately ran tumultuously
to adore it, while the young German ran to catch it, in order to see
what the effect would be amongst them. He seized it in the midst of
them. The cry of agony was general when they saw it in his hands. They
stared with distraction in their eyes at him and at one another. “See,
see, see!” said they. “What is he going to do? Will he kill it?” They
were wild through apprehension of its fate. “Why,” said he, “do you
make such a hideous noise; and why are you in such agony about this
paltry creature?” “Ah!” they replied, with utmost concern, “it is a
divinity. It is come from Heaven. It is come on a good design. Do not
hurt it; do not offend it. We are the most miserable wretches on earth
if you do. This ground will lie under a curse, and the crime will never
be forgiven.” This was not enough for the young German, who determined
to carry the experiment a little further, and made as though he
certainly intended to maim or destroy it. On this the people ran about,
and screamed as though they were frantic; they fell prostrate on the
ground before him, and with streaming eyes and loudest cries besought
him to spare the creature and give it its liberty. Having sufficiently
tested the reality of their belief in this insect-god, he let it fly,
and they shouted in all the transports of joy.
FETICH WORSHIP.
A fetich is some material object in which a god or a supernatural power
is supposed to dwell. An idol is a representation of a god. Fetichism
is the lowest form of idolatry. Fetichism and witchcraft go together.
The fetiches guard against the power of witches, and this is their
primary object. They act as charms or amulets, and are worn on all
parts of the body to keep off disease; are placed around the houses,
villages or fields to keep off hurtful influences. The fetiches are
of various sorts; the reeds of certain plants, the roots of certain
trees, the horns of a diminutive deer, the claws and teeth of lions and
leopards and other sorts of animals, slips of wood fantastically
notched, knuckle-bones, beads and a kind of white stone being most
commonly used. Amongst the Kaffirs, whose belief in witchcraft is
intense, faith in the virtues of fetiches is, as a natural consequence,
equally great. You rarely meet with a Kaffir who does not carry with
him a whole series of charms. These, of course, are furnished by the
witch-doctors and prophets, and as they are not of the least intrinsic
value, and are highly paid for, the business of making fetich is
a profitable one. To a European a superstitious Kaffir has a very
ludicrous appearance, as the following description of a man who seems
to have been peculiarly impressible to the value of fetich will show.
His head was richly bedecked with pig’s bristles, set straight, so as
to stand out on all sides like the quills of a hedgehog, with many
feathers on his head, while around his neck there was strung a great
number of charms, the principal of which were fragments of bone, the
head of a snake, the tooth of a young hippopotamus, and an old brass
door-handle.
[Illustration: A YOUNG FETICHIST.
Showing some of the various trinkets and amulets upon which
dependence for an increase of sanctity and safety is placed
by the devout.]
[Illustration: A CAZEMBE FETICH MAN.]
The Africans believe that there are lucky fetiches which guarantee
them success in all their undertakings. They respect one another’s
fetiches, and will not attack an enemy when they think that he has a
fetich superior to their own. They are therefore very ready and eager
to discover wherein special excellence may lie. A fetich of supposed
superiority will command a high price.
[Illustration: DECORATED FETICHIST.]
[Illustration: THE JU-JU HOUSE, OR TEMPLE OF SKULLS, AT
BONNY, WEST AFRICA.
After devouring the bodies of their victims, the priests of
the people of Bonny were wont to take the skulls and place
them in the walls of their temples.]
A HORRIBLE FETICH.
When hard pressed in war, and in danger of being utterly overthrown,
in some parts of Africa, the people--like the king of Moab, who
sacrificed his own son when the battle went against him, in order to
move the compassion of his adversaries, or to inspire them with terror,
or as a sacrifice to offended gods--will make horrible fetiches of
human beings. Perhaps the most astounding instance of such a practice
occurred in West Africa. The king of Bonny having been defeated in
battle, retreated to his principal town, and finding that it was in
imminent danger of being attacked, called together his magicians in
order that they might aid him in repelling his enemies. They were equal
to the emergency. The people were assembled in front of the principal
gate of the town. Two holes were dug in the ground close to each other.
The wizards then begun their operations, and when the people had been
wrought up by their proceedings to a pitch of unreasoning excitement,
so that they were ready to perpetrate any act no matter how horrible,
the chief of the wizards pointed to a girl who was standing amongst
the spectators. She was instantly seized, and, under his direction,
her legs were thrust into the holes that had been prepared for this
purpose, which were then filled up with earth so that she could not
extricate herself from them. Then a number of men brought lumps of
wet clay, which they built around her body in the form of a pillar,
kneading them closely as they proceeded, until she was entirely covered
over. This device produced the desired effect, for so terrified were
the hostile tribes at what they regarded as an invincible fetich--or
greegree, as the fetich is called in West Africa--that they dared not
attack the town, and, like the kings of Israel and Judah, after the
sacrifice of the king of Moab’s son, they withdrew from the further
prosecution of the war, and returned to their homes.
The clay pillar, with the body of the girl within it, stood for several
years where it had been erected, and served effectually to preserve the
town from being again attacked or in any way troubled by its enemies.
STANLEY AND THE AFRICANS’ FEAR OF FETICH.
The Africans have a superstitious dread of writing and regard it as a
bad fetich. When the African traveler, Stanley, had almost finished his
journey through the Dark Continent, he was one day making some entries
in his note-book. This book contained all the important results of
his great journey. Seeing him writing the savages surrounded him and
demanded that he destroy the “tara-tara,” as they called it, lest it
should injure them. They said that those black lines on the paper would
bring sickness and death to them and their animals unless the book was
burned. The savages were determined to get the book. Only by a trick
could he save either the book or his own life. He went to his tent and
managed to exchange his note-book for a copy of Shakespeare’s works.
This he burned “to please his friends,” as he told them.
[Illustration: IDOLS WITH MIRRORS IN THEIR BODIES.]
The Africans have idols of all shapes and sizes and made of all sorts
of materials. Some of these are provided with looking-glasses in
their stomachs, but for what purpose we do not know. They have a few
god-houses or huts. Their continent is dark not only because peopled
in the main by peoples whose skins are dark, but because the light of
religion seems almost to have died out and darkness to have covered the
land and all of the people.
WITCHCRAFT.
[Illustration: A WITCH DOCTOR.]
To polygamy and slavery add witchcraft superstitions, and the
degradation of Africa is properly called “desperate” degradation. It
may be doubted whether polygamy and slavery are as great obstacles to
civilization as are these superstitions. These are interlaced with the
whole structure of African society. No one is supposed to die from
natural causes; disease is charged to witchcraft. No one is killed
in war, in hunting, by drowning or mischance, but it is charged to
witchcraft. The witches must be found out and tortured to confession
and death.
“I was asked,” says Du Chaillu, whose representations of witchcraft
superstitions are abundantly confirmed by other travelers and
missionaries, “to go and see an old friend of mine, Mpomo, who was
sick. They had spent the night before drumming about his bed to drive
out the devil. But I soon saw that neither drumming nor medicine would
help the poor fellow. The film of death was in his eyes. He held out
his hand to me and feebly said: ‘Chally, save me, for I am dying.’
“He was surrounded by hundreds of people, most of them moved to tears
by their friend’s pitiable condition. I explained to him, that I had
no power to save him; but he and all around had the conviction that if
I only wished I could cure him. They followed me to my house, asking
for medicine. Not to seem heartless, I sent him something to make his
remaining moments easy. At the same time I warned them that he would
die and they must not blame me. When I awoke the next morning I heard
the mournful wail which proclaimed that poor Mpomo had gone to his long
rest. The cry of the African mourners is the saddest I ever heard. They
mourn literally as those who have no hope.
“In the afternoon I heard talk of witchcraft. On the day Mpomo was
buried proceedings were begun to discover who had bewitched him. A
great doctor was brought from up the river, and for two nights and
days incantations were repeated. On the third morning, when old and
young, male and female, were frantic with the desire of revenge, the
doctor began his final incantations. Every man and boy was armed with
spears, or guns, or axes. The whole town was possessed by a thirst for
human blood. For the first time I found my voice without authority.
I could not even get a hearing.... At a motion from the doctor, the
people became still. This silence lasted about a minute when the loud
voice of the doctor was heard: ‘There is a very black woman who lives
in a house,’ describing it, ‘she bewitched Mpomo.’ The crowd, roaring
and screaming, rushed frantically for the place indicated. They seized
upon a poor girl named Okondaga, the sister of my good friend and guide
Adouma. Waving their weapons over her head, they tore her away to the
water-side, bound her with cords, and then rushed back to the doctor
again.
“As poor Okondaga passed by in the hands of her murderers, she saw me,
though I had turned away not to be seen, for I could not help her. I
heard her cry out, ‘Chally, Chally, do not let me die!’ It was a moment
of agony; I was minded to rush into the crowd and rescue the poor
victim. But I should only have sacrificed my life, without helping her.
So I hid myself behind a tree, and, I confess it, shed bitter tears.
“Presently silence fell once more upon the crowd. Then the voice of the
devilish doctor again rang over the town, like the croak of a raven,
‘There is an old woman in a house,’ describing it, ‘she bewitched
Mpomo.’
“The crowd rushed off and seized a niece of King Quenguesa, a
noble-hearted and majestic old woman. As they crowded about with
flaming eyes, she rose proudly from the ground, looked them in the face
unflinchingly, and motioning them to keep their hands off, said, ‘I
will drink the mboundou, but woe to my accusers if I do not die.’ She
was escorted to the river without being bound. She submitted without a
tear or a murmur.
“A third time the dreadful silence fell upon the town, and the doctor’s
voice was heard: ‘There is a woman with six children. She lives on a
plantation toward the rising sun. She, too, bewitched Mpomo.’ Another
furious shout, and in a few moments they brought to the river one of
Quenguesa’s slaves, a good woman, whom I knew. The doctor now, in
a loud voice, recited the crime of which these women were accused.
Okondaga, he said, some weeks before, asked Mpomo for some salt, and he
refused her. She had said unpleasant things to him, and had by sorcery
taken his life.
“Then Quenguesa’s niece was accused. She had no children, and Mpomo had
children. She envied him, and had bewitched him.
“Quenguesa’s slave had asked Mpomo for a looking-glass. He had refused
her. Therefore she had killed him with sorcery. As each accusation
was repeated, the people broke out into curses. Even the relatives of
the poor victims were obliged to join in this. Every one rivaled his
neighbor in cursing, each fearful lest luke-warmness should expose him
to a like fate....
“The victims were put into a large canoe with the executioners, the
doctor, and a number of the people, all armed. Then the tam-tams were
beaten, and the mboundou quabi was prepared. Mpomo’s eldest brother
held the poisoned cup to his sister’s lips. At sight of it poor
Okondaga began to cry, and even Quenguesa’s niece turned pale, for the
negro face has at such times a pallor quite perceptible. The mug of
mboundou was handed to the old slave woman, then to the royal niece,
and last to Okondaga. As they drank the multitude shouted: ‘If they
are witches let the mboundou kill them, if they are innocent let the
mboundou go out.’
“Suddenly the slave woman fell down. She had not touched the bottom of
the boat before her head was hacked off by a dozen swords. Next came
Quenguesa’s niece. In an instant her head was cut off, and her blood
was dyeing the waters. Meantime poor Okondaga staggered, and struggled,
and cried, vainly resisting the working of the poison in her system.
Last of all, she fell. Then all became confused. A random hacking
ensued, and in an incredibly short time the bodies were cut in small
pieces which were cast into the river.
“After this the crowd dispersed to their houses, and for the rest of
the day the town was silent. Some of these rude people felt that the
number in their almost extinguished tribe was becoming less, and the
dread of death filled their hearts. In the evening poor Adouma came
secretly to my house, to unburden his sorrowing heart. He, too, had
been compelled to take part in the dreadful scene. He dared not refrain
from joining in the curses heaped upon his poor sister. He dared not
mourn publicly for her. I comforted him as well as I could, and I spoke
to him of the true God, and of the wickedness of the conduct we had
witnessed. He said at last, ‘O Chally, when you go back to your far
country, America, let them send men to us poor people to teach us from
that which you call God’s mouth,’ meaning the Bible. I promised Adouma
to give the message, and I now do so.”
God pity poor Africa! May the Light of the Sun of Righteousness soon
shine on her dark land!