THE LATOOKA TRIBE.
THEIR LIVELY AND PLEASANT DISPOSITION -- SINGULAR HEADDRESS --
WEAPONS -- THE ARMED BRACELET AND ITS USE -- LATOOKA WOMEN AND
THEIR DRESS -- THE CURIOUS LIP ORNAMENT -- BOKKÈ AND HER DAUGHTER
-- WEALTH OF THE LATOOKAS -- INGENIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE VILLAGES --
TARRANGOLLÉ, THE CAPITAL OF LATOOKA -- CONDITION OF THE WOMEN --
BOKKÈ AND THE SOLDIER -- MODE OF GOVERNMENT -- ABSENCE OF RELIGIOUS
IDEAS -- SKILL AT THE FORGE -- THE MOLOTE, OR IRON HOE -- FONDNESS
FOR CATTLE -- REPULSE OF A RAID, AND A LATOOKA VICTORY -- THE DRUM
SIGNALS -- FUNERAL CEREMONIES -- THE STRANGE DANCES -- LATOOKA BELLS.
The Latooka tribe inhabit a tract of country on the east of the
Nile, lat. 40° N. Equally warlike when war is needed, they are not
the morose, inhospitable set of savages we have seen some of their
neighbors to be, but are merry, jocose, and always ready either for
fighting, laughing, or playing.
The dress of the Latookas is at once simple and complicated. The men
wear but little dress upon their bodies, but bestow a wonderful amount
of attention upon their heads, the proper tiring of which is so long a
process, that a man cannot hope to dress his head perfectly until he
has arrived at full age. Indeed, from the time that a Latooka begins
to dress his head at least seven or eight years must elapse before his
toilet is completed. The following account, given by Sir S. Baker,
affords an excellent idea of the Latooka headdress.
“However tedious the operation, the result is extraordinary. The
Latookas wear most exquisite helmets: all of them are formed of their
own hair, and are of course fixtures. At first sight it appears
incredible, but a minute examination shows the wonderful perseverance
of years in producing what must be highly inconvenient. The thick,
crisp wool is woven with fine twine, formed from the bark of a tree,
until it presents a thick net-work of felt. As the hair grows through
this matted substance, it is subjected to the same process, until, in
the course of years, a compact substance is formed, like a strong felt,
about an inch and a half thick, that has been trained into the shape of
a helmet. A strong rim, of about two inches deep, is formed by sewing
it together with thread; and the front part of the helmet is protected
by a piece of polished copper; while a plate of the same metal, shaped
like the half of a bishop’s mitre, and about a foot in length, forms
the crest.
“The framework of the helmet being at length completed, it must be
perfected by an arrangement of beads, should the owner be sufficiently
rich to indulge in the coveted distinction. The beads most in fashion
are the red and the blue porcelain, about the size of small peas. These
are sewed on the nape of the felt, and so beautifully arranged in
sections of blue and red, that the entire helmet appears to be formed
of beads; and the handsome crest of polished copper, surmounted by
ostrich plumes, gives a most dignified and martial appearance to this
elaborate head-gear. No helmet is supposed to be complete without a row
of cowrie-shells stitched round the rim, so as to form a solid edge.”
Necklaces of metal are also worn by the men, and also bracelets of
the same material. Each warrior carries in addition a most remarkable
bracelet on his right wrist. This is a ring of iron, round which are
set four or five knife-blades with points and edges scrupulously kept
sharp. With this instrument they can strike terrible blows, and, if
in action the spear is dropped, the wearer instantly closes with his
enemy, and strikes at him with his armed bracelet. The other weapons
of the Latooka tribe are a strong lance, or a short mace, mostly made
of iron, and a shield about four feet long by two wide. The shields
are generally made of buffalo hide, but the best are formed from the
skin of the giraffe, this combining the two qualities of lightness and
toughness. Bows and arrows are not used by the Latookas.
The women take comparatively little pains with their toilet. Instead of
spending their time in working up their woolly hair into the felt-like
mass which decorates the men, they shave their heads entirely, and
trust for their ornaments to beads, paint, and tattooing. Like the
belles of more Southern tribes, the Latooka women extract the four
incisor teeth of the lower jaw; and the favorite wife of the king told
Lady Baker that she would really not be bad-looking if she would only
remove those teeth, and give herself a coat of grease and vermilion.
Bokkè, the queen in question, with her daughter, were the only
good-looking women that were seen in that country; the females being
strangely large, coarse, and powerful. On bodily strength they pride
themselves, and each woman makes it a daily task to carry on her head
a ten-gallon jar to the water, fill it, and bring it back again,
the distance being seldom less than a mile. Their dress is rather
remarkable. It consists of a leathern belt, to which is attached a
large flap of tanned leather in front, while to the back are tied a
number of thongs, two feet or more in length, which look at a distance
exactly like a horse’s tail.
The most fashionable feminine ornament in the Latooka country is a
long piece of polished crystal, about as thick as a drawing pencil. A
hole is bored in the under lip, and the ornament hung from it. Sir S.
Baker commended himself greatly to Bokkè and her daughter by presenting
them with the glass stem of a thermometer that had been accidentally
broken, and his gift was valued much as a necklace of brilliants would
be by European ladies. In order to prevent this ornament from falling,
a piece of twine is knotted upon the end that passes through the lip.
As the lower teeth are removed, the tongue of course acts upon it, and
when a lady is speaking the movements of the tongue cause the crystal
pendant to move about in a very ludicrous manner. Tattooing is mostly
confined to the cheeks and forehead, and consists chiefly of lines.
The men are also fond of decorating their heads with the feathers of
various birds, and the favorite ornament is the head of the crested
crane, its black, velvet-like plumage, tipped with the gold-colored
crest, having a very handsome appearance when fixed on the top of the
head.
When Sir S. Baker was encamping among the Latookas, he could not
purchase either goats or cows, though large herds were being driven
before him, and he was therefore forced to depend much on his gun for
subsistence. The feathers of the cranes, ducks, geese, and other birds
were thrown over the palisade of his encampment, and, during the whole
time of his visit, the boys were to be seen with their heads comically
dressed with white feathers, until they looked like huge cauliflowers.
The longest feathers were in greatest request, and were taken as
perquisites by the boys who volunteered to accompany the sportsman, to
carry home the game which he shot, and then to pluck the birds.
In general appearance, the Latookas are a singularly fine race of men.
They are, on an average, all but six feet in height, and, although
they are exceedingly muscular and powerful, they do not degenerate
into corpulency nor unwieldiness. The expression of the countenance is
pleasing, and the lips, although large, are not of the negro type. The
forehead is high, the cheek-bones rather prominent, and the eyes large.
It is thought that their origin must have been derived from some of the
Galla tribes.
The Latookas are rich as well as powerful, and have great herds
of cattle, which they keep in stockades, constructed after a most
ingenious fashion; as many as ten or twelve thousand head of cattle
being often herded in one town. Knowing that there are plenty of
hostile tribes, who would seize every opportunity of stealing their
cows, the Latookas always pen them in very strong stockades, the
entrance to which is only a yard or thereabouts in width. These
entrances are arch-shaped, and only just wide enough to allow an ox
to pass through, and from the top of each arch is hung a rude kind of
cattle bell, formed from the shell of the dolapè palm nut, against
which the animal must strike as it passes in or out of the stockade.
The path which leads from the entrances is no wider than the door
itself, and is flanked at either side by a high and strong palisade,
so that, if an enemy were to attack the place, they could hardly force
their way along passages which a few men could guard as effectually as
a multitude. Through the village runs a tolerably wide street, and into
the street open the larger entrances into the cattle enclosures, so
that, if the inhabitants desired, they could either remove their oxen
singly by the small doors, or drive them out in herds through the gates
that open into the central street.
Thus it will be seen that the aspect of a Latooka town is very
remarkable. It is surrounded by a very strong palisade, in which are
several doorways. Through the centre of the village runs the main
street, upon which all the cattle-pens open, and the rest of the
interior is traversed by lanes, so narrow that only one cow can pass
at a time. The various gates and doors of the village are closed
at night, and carefully barred with branches of the thorny mimosa.
Sometimes these villages are so large as to deserve the name of towns.
Tarrangollé, the capital of the Latookas, comprised at least three
thousand homesteads; and not only was the whole town surrounded by a
strong iron-wood palisading, but each homestead was fortified in like
manner.
The wives of the Latookas seem tolerably well off in comparison with
their married sisters of other tribes. They certainly work hard,
and carry ponderous weights, but then they are so tall and strong,
that such labor is no very great hardship to them. That they are not
down-trodden, as women are in too many parts of Africa, is evident from
the way in which they comport themselves. On one occasion one of the
armed soldiers belonging to the Turkish caravan met a woman, who was
returning from the water with her heavy jar on her head. He demanded
the water, and, when she refused to give it him, threatened her with
his stick. Bokkè, the pretty wife of Commoro, seeing this proceeding,
went to the rescue, seized the soldier by the throat, and wrested his
stick from him, while another woman twisted his gun out of his hand.
Several other women came running to the spot, threw the man down, and
administered a sound pommelling, while others poured water down the
muzzle of his gun, and plastered great lumps of wet mud over the lock
and trigger.
Wives are purchased in Latooka-land for cows, and therefore a large
family is a sure step to prosperity: the boys becoming warriors, who
will fight for their tribe; and the girls being always saleable for
cows, should they live to womanhood. Every girl is sure of being
married, because, when a man begins to procure wealth, the first thing
that he does is to buy a wife, and he adds to the number of his wives
as fast as he can muster cows enough to pay for them.
When Sir S. Baker passed through the country, the great chief of
the Latookas was named Moy. He had a brother, named Commoro, and,
although in actual rank Moy took precedence of his brother, Commoro
was virtually the king, having far more influence over the people
than his brother. Commoro was really deserving of this influence, and
was remarkable for his acuteness and strong common sense. Without his
exertions the Latookas would certainly have assaulted the caravan, and
great slaughter must have ensued, the natives having learned to despise
guns on account of a victory which they had lately gained over a party
of slave-stealers. He had a long argument with his visitor respecting
the immortality of the soul, and resurrection after death, but could in
no way be convinced that a man could live after death. Had he had even
any superstitious feelings, something might have been done with him,
but, like many other sceptics, he flatly refused to believe anything
which is without the range of his senses.
The familiar illustration of the grain of corn planted in the earth
was used, but without effect. He was quite willing that the grain in
question should represent himself, but controverted the conclusion
which was drawn from the premises. The ears of corn filled with grains,
which would spring up after the decay of the original seed, were not,
he said, representatives of himself, but were his children, who lived
after he was dead. The ingenuity with which he slipped out of the
argument was very considerable, and, as Sir S. Baker remarks, “it was
extraordinary to see so much clearness of perception combined with such
complete obtuseness to anything ideal.”
The Latookas are very good blacksmiths, and excel in the manufacture
of iron hoe-blades, or “molotes” as they are called. This instrument
is also used as money. The bellows are made on the same principle
as those used by the Kaffir tribes, but, instead of using merely a
couple of leather bags, the Latooka blacksmith employs two earthenware
pots, and over the mouth of each pot is loosely tied a large piece of
soft, pliable leather, kept well greased to insure its softness. A
perpendicular stick about four feet in length is fastened to the centre
of each skin, and, when these are worked rapidly up and down, the wind
is forced through earthenware tubes which communicate with the bottom
of the pots.
The tools are very simple, a large stone doing duty for an anvil, and
a smaller for a hammer, while a cleft stick of green wood is used by
way of pincers. Great care is taken in shaping the molotes, which are
always carefully tested by balancing them on their heads, and making
them ring by a blow of the finger. When used for agriculture, the
molotes are fastened to the end of wooden shafts, seldom less than
seven, and often ten, feet in length, and thus a powerful leverage is
gained.
Although the Latooka is generally ready for war, he is not a born
warrior, as is the case with many tribes. The Zulu, for example, lives
chiefly for war; he thinks of it day and night, and his great ambition
is to distinguish himself in battle. The Latooka, on the other hand,
seldom wages war without a cause which he is pleased to think a good
one; but, when he does, he fights well. The chief cause for which a
Latooka will fight to the death is his cattle. He will sometimes run
away when a powerful party makes a raid on his village, and carries off
his wives and children for slaves; but if they attempt to drive off his
cattle, the spirit of the noble savage is set a-blaze, and he is at
once up in arms.
A curious example of this trait of character occurred during Sir S.
Baker’s residence in Latooka-land. One of the Mahometan traders (who,
it will be remembered, are the very pest and scourge of the country)
gathered together a band of three hundred natives, and more than a
hundred of his own countrymen, for the purpose of making a raid upon a
certain village among the mountains. The men ran away, and the invaders
captured a great number of women and children, with whom they might
have escaped unmolested. Unfortunately for them, they were told of a
large herd of cattle which they had missed, and accordingly returned,
and began to drive off their spoil.
The Latookas had witnessed the capture of their wives and children
without attempting a rescue, but the attack on their beloved cattle was
too much for them, and they poured out of their hiding places like a
swarm of angry wasps. Maddened with the idea of losing their cattle,
they bravely faced the muskets with their spears and shields, and
clustered round the invaders in resistless numbers. Each man, as he
advanced, leaped behind some cover, from which he could hurl a lance,
while others climbed up the rocks, and rolled great stones on their
enemies. The attack was so sudden and simultaneous, that the Turks
found themselves beset on all sides, and yet could hardly see a man at
whom they could aim.
They fled in terror down the path, and, mistaking in their haste the
right road, they turned aside to one which led to a precipice five
hundred feet in depth. Seeing their danger, they tried to retreat, but
the ever-increasing multitudes pressed closer and closer upon them,
forced them nearer to the precipice, and at last drove them all over
it. Not a man escaped, and although a few turned and fought with the
courage of despair, they were hurled over the precipice after their
comrades. The artist has represented this victory on the next page.
This was the victory over fire-arms which had inspired the Latookas
with such contempt for these weapons, and had it not been for Commoro’s
mediation, they would have attacked the English party. That subtle
chief, however, well knew the difference between assaulting an
assemblage of Turks and Africans among the rocky passes and attacking
in the open country a well-armed party commanded by Europeans. Such an
attack was once meditated, and Sir Samuel Baker’s account of it gives
an excellent idea of the Latooka mode of warfare. The reader must
remember that the war drum is an institution throughout the greater
part of Central Africa.
“It was about five P. M., one hour before sunset. The woman who usually
brought us water delivered her jar, but disappeared immediately after,
without sweeping the courtyard, as was her custom. Her children, who
usually played in this enclosure, vanished. On searching her hut, which
was in one corner of the yard, no one was to be found, and even the
grinding-stone was gone. Suspecting that something was in the wind, I
sent Karka and Gaddum-Her, the two black servants, to search in various
huts in the neighborhood to observe whether the owners were present,
and whether the women were in their houses. Not a woman could be found.
Neither woman nor child remained in the large town of Tarrangollé.
There was an extraordinary stillness, where usually all was noise
and chattering. All the women and children had been removed to the
mountains, about two miles distant, and this so quickly and noiselessly
that it appeared incredible.”
Commoro and Moy were then sent for, and said that the Turks had behaved
so badly, by robbing and beating the women, that the people were much
excited, and would endure it no longer; and, not being accustomed to
any travellers except slave-dealers, they naturally included Sir S.
Baker’s party in that category. Commoro, however, took his leave,
saying that he would do his best to quiet the people.
“The sun set, and, as is usual in tropical climates, darkness set in
within half an hour. Not a woman had returned to the town, nor was
the voice of a man to be heard. The natives had entirely forsaken the
portion of the town that both I and the Turks occupied. There was a
death-like stillness in the air. Even the Turks, who were usually
uproarious, were perfectly quiet; and, although my men made no remark,
it was plain that we were all occupied by the same thoughts, and that
an attack was expected.
“It was about nine o’clock, and the stillness had become almost
painful. There was no cry of a bird; not even the howl of a hyæna: the
camels were sleeping; but every man was wide awake, and the sentries
well on the alert. We were almost listening to the supernatural
stillness, if I may so describe the perfect calm, when suddenly every
one startled at the deep and solemn boom of the great war drum, or
nogara! Three distinct beats, at slow intervals, rang through the
apparently deserted town, and echoed loudly from the neighboring
mountain. It was the signal! A few minutes elapsed, and, like a distant
echo from the north, the three mournful notes again distinctly sounded.
Was it an echo? Impossible!
“Now from the south, far distant, but unmistakable, the same three
regular beats came booming through the still night air. Again and again
from every quarter, spreading far and wide, the signal was responded
to, and the whole country echoed these three solemn notes so full of
warning. Once more the great nogara of Tarrangollé sounded the original
alarm within a few hundred paces of our quarters. The whole country
was up. There was no doubt about the matter. The Turks well knew those
three notes to be the war signal of the Latookas....
[Illustration: (1.) THE LATOOKA VICTORY. (See page 456.)]
[Illustration: (2.) GORILLA HUNTING. (See page 543.)]
“The patrols shortly reported that large bodies of men were collecting
outside the town. The great nogara again beat, and was answered, as
before, from the neighboring villages; but the Turk’s drum kept up
an uninterrupted roll, as a challenge, whenever the nogara sounded.
Instead of the intense stillness, that had formerly been almost
painful, a distinct hum of voices betokened the gathering of large
bodies of men. However, we were well fortified, and the Latookas
knew it. We occupied the very stronghold which they themselves had
constructed for the defence of their town; and the square, being
surrounded with strong iron-wood palisades, with only a narrow
entrance, would be impregnable when held, as now, by fifty men well
armed against a mob whose best weapons were only lances.
“I sent men up the watchmen’s stations. These were about twenty-five
feet high; and, the night being clear, they could distinctly report the
movements of a large mass of natives that were ever increasing on the
outside of the town, at about two hundred yards distance. The rattle
of the Turk’s drum repeatedly sounded in reply to the nogara, and the
intended attack seemed destined to relapse into a noisy but empty
battle of the drums.”
Toward midnight Commoro came in person, and said that the nogara had
been beaten without his orders, and that he would try to quiet the
people. He admitted, however, that, if the exploring party had not
been on their guard, an attack would really have been made. After this
business, Sir Samuel very wisely determined to separate entirely from
the Turks, and therefore built himself a camp about a quarter of a mile
from the town, so that the Latookas might not again think that the two
parties had a common interest.
On the following morning the women appeared with their water jars as
usual, and the men, though still excited, and under arms, returned to
their homes. By degrees the excitement died away, and then they talked
over the affair with perfect frankness, admitting that an attack was
meditated, and rather amused that the intended victims should have been
aware of their plans.
The Latookas are not free from the vice of thieving, and, when employed
as porters, have exercised their craft with so little attempt at
concealment, that they have deliberately broken open the parcels which
they carried, not taking any notice of the fact that a sentry was
watching them within a few yards. Also they would occasionally watch
an opportunity, slip aside from the caravan, and sneak away with their
loads.
Funeral ceremonies differ among the Latookas according to the mode
of death. If a man is killed in battle, the body is not touched, but
is allowed to remain on the spot where it fell, to be eaten by the
hyænas and the vultures. But should a Latooka, whether man, woman,
or child, die a natural death, the body is disposed of in a rather
singular manner. Immediately after death, a shallow grave is dug in the
enclosure that surrounds each house, and within a few feet of the door.
It is allowed to remain here for several weeks, when decomposition is
usually completed. It is then dug up, the bones are cleaned and washed,
and are then placed in an earthenware jar, and carried about a quarter
of a mile outside the village.
No particular sanctity attaches itself either to the bones or the spot
on which they are deposited. The earthen jars are broken in course of
time, and the bones scattered about, but no one takes any notice of
them. In consequence of this custom the neighborhood of a large town
presents a most singular and rather dismal aspect, the ground being
covered with bones, skulls, and earthenware jars in various states
of preservation; and, indeed, the traveller always knows when he is
approaching a Latooka town by coming across a quantity of neglected
human remains.
The Latookas have not the least idea why they treat their dead in this
singular manner, nor why they make so strange a distinction between
the bodies of warriors who have died the death of the brave and those
who have simply died from disease, accident, or decay. Perhaps there
is no other country where the body of the dead warrior is left to the
beasts and birds, while those who die natural deaths are so elaborately
buried, exhumed, and placed in the public cemetery. Why they do so
they do not seem either to know or to care, and, as far as has been
ascertained, this is one of the many customs which has survived long
after those who practise it have forgotten its signification.
During the three or four weeks that elapse between the interment
and exhumation of the body funeral dances are performed. Great
numbers of both sexes take part in these dances, for which they
decorate themselves in a very singular manner. Their hair helmets are
supplemented by great plumes of ostrich feathers, each man wearing as
many as he can manage to fasten on his head, and skins of the leopard
or monkey are hung from their shoulders. The chief adornment, however,
is a large iron bell, which is fastened to the small of the back, and
which is sounded by wriggling the body after a very ludicrous fashion.
A faithful representation of one of these dances is given the reader on
page 465.
“A large crowd got up in this style created an indescribable hubbub,
heightened by the blowing of horns and the beating of seven nogaras of
various notes. Every dancer wore an antelope’s horn suspended round
the neck, which he blew occasionally in the height of his excitement.
These instruments produced a sound partaking of the braying of a donkey
and the screech of an owl. Crowds of men rushed round and round in a
sort of _galop infernel_, brandishing their arms and iron-headed maces,
and keeping tolerably in line live or six deep, following the leader,
who headed them, dancing backward.
“The women kept outside the line, dancing a slow, stupid step, while a
long string of young girls and small children, their heads and necks
rubbed with red ochre and grease, and prettily ornamented with strings
of beads round their loins, kept a very good line, beating time with
their feet, and jingling the numerous iron rings which adorned their
ankles to keep time to the drums.
“One woman attended upon the men, running through the crowd with a
gourdful of wood-ashes, handfuls of which she showered over their
heads, powdering them like millers: the object of the operation I could
not understand. The _première danseuse_ was immensely fat; she had
passed the bloom of youth, but, _malgré_ her unwieldy state, she kept
up the pace to the last, quite unconscious of her general appearance,
and absorbed with the excitement of the dance.”
These strange dances form a part of every funeral, and so, when several
persons have died successively, the funeral dances go on for several
months together. The chief Commoro was remarkable for his agility in
the funeral dances, and took his part in every such ceremony, no matter
whether it were for a wealthy or a poor man, every one who dies being
equally entitled to the funeral dance without any distinction of rank
or wealth.
The bells which are so often mentioned in those tribes inhabiting
Central Africa are mostly made on one principle, though not on
precisely the same pattern. These simple bells evidently derive their
origin from the shells of certain nuts, or other hard fruits, which,
when suspended, and a wooden clapper hung within them, can produce a
sound of some resonance.
The next advance is evidently the carving the bell out of some hard
wood, so as to increase its size and add to the power of its sound.
Next, the superior resonance of iron became apparent, and little bells
were made, shaped exactly like the before-mentioned nuts. This point
once obtained, the variety in the shape of the bells is evidently a
mere matter of caprice on the part of the maker.
One form approaches nearer to our familiar type of bell than any other,
and really bears a very close resemblance to the strangely-shaped bells
of Siam or Burmah. Instead of being flattened, as are the others, it is
tolerably wide, and is so formed that a transverse section of it would
give the figure of a quatrefoil.