LOWER GUINEA.
Southern, or Lower Guinea, begins at the equator. It is generally
understood to include the maritime coast line of West Africa. For about
fifteen hundred miles it extends in a north and south direction from the
head of the Bight of Biafra to Cape Frio.
On the northern part of the coast, out from the high peaks of the
Cameroons, which stand on a peninsula of the mainland, are four volcanic
islands in line.
The largest of these is Fernando Po, which belongs to Spain. Its
perfectly conical summit, which rises to an elevation of over ten
thousand feet, is wooded completely over. Its harbor of Clarence Cove is
one of the most picturesque points in West Africa. At one time it was a
place of banishment for political offenders from Spain.
Prince's Island, which has been compared to a volcanic garden, and St.
Thomas, beyond it, whose lofty peak rises over seven thousand feet above
the sea, belong to Portugal. The little rugged island of Annobon, which
is the last of the chain, belongs to Spain.
The section around the Cameroon peaks has, within a short period, been
occupied by the Germans. Near the equator, on the coast of Lower Guinea,
the Spaniards have some small settlements in the beautiful Bay of
Corisco, and on the promontory of San Juan, which adjoins it. The
French, too, hold not only the inlet of the Gaboon, but a large portion
of the coast, together with an extensive inland section, which was ceded
to them by the Berlin Conference, when the Congo State was established.
[Illustration: A NATIVE OF THE GABOON RIVER.]
One of the chief negro tribes of West Africa, the Fans, occupy the coast
line of Lower Guinea. They are a fine race, but are pronounced
cannibals. Since they have come in contact with Europeans this revolting
practice has been less prevalent.
The Fans have long been famed for their skill in forging weapons and
making poisoned arrows. These occupations have declined since the advent
of Europeans.
Du Chaillu, the explorer, relates his experience upon arriving at one of
the Fan villages. So alarmed were the men, women, and children, that
they fled in terror the moment they perceived the white "spirit," as
they called him.
In his journal he writes: "If I was not frightened, I was at least as
much surprised by all I saw as the Fans could be. These fellows, who now
for the first time saw a white man with straight hair, were to me an
equal surprise, for they are real, unmistakable cannibals. And they were
by long odds the most remarkable people I had thus far seen in Africa.
They were much lighter in shade than any of the coast tribes, strong,
tall, well made, and evidently active; and they seemed to me to have a
more intelligent look than is usual to the African unacquainted with
white men."
He describes these people as almost without clothing. Such as they had
was made from the soft inside bark of a tree, while from the waist was
suspended the skin of some wild animal. Their teeth were filed, which
gave the face not only a ghastly but a ferocious appearance; and, in
addition to filing, some had blackened the teeth.
The hair, or rather wool, was pulled out into long, stiff, thin plaits;
and on the end of each, white beads or rings of copper or iron were
strung.
Some of these natives wore caps made of feathers. Others wore long
queues. These were made of their own wool, lengthened out by a kind of
tow, which had been dyed black and mixed with it. This gave the wearers
a very droll appearance.
Over the shoulders they wore suspended the huge, long knife of the
country, and in their hands they bore spears and an immense shield made
of elephant hide. About their necks they wore various charms and
ornaments, which rattled constantly as they walked.
The shield the Fan carries is made of the hide of a very aged elephant.
Only the part which lies across the back of the animal is used. It is
dried and smoked, and thus rendered as hard and impenetrable as iron.
The shield when finished is about three feet long and two and a half
feet wide.
The charms, or fetiches, which are worn suspended around the neck by the
Fans, consist of the fingers and tails of monkeys; human hair, skin,
teeth, and bones; clay, old nails, copper chains, shells; feathers,
claws, and skulls of birds; pieces of iron, copper, or wood; seeds of
plants; and ashes of various substances. This belief in charms indicated
to Du Chaillu the highly superstitious nature of the people.
The women of the Fan tribe wear still less clothing than the men. They
are small and hideously ugly. They wear their teeth filed like the men,
and, in place of clothing, decorate their bodies with red dye.
The babies of this tribe were carried by the mothers in a sling, or
rest, which was made of the bark of a tree and worn suspended from the
neck.
Du Chaillu writes of these people that they crowded about him as soon as
they became convinced that he meant them no harm, calling him "spirit,"
and examining every detail of his person and dress that he would permit
them to touch. They seemed especially impressed by his hair and feet.
They could not sufficiently admire the former. On his feet he wore
boots, and, as his pantaloons hid the tops of these, they very naturally
drew the conclusion that his boots were his feet, and expressed wonder
that they should be of so different a color from his face.
Their color is dark brown, rather than black, and they tattoo themselves
more than any of the other tribes north of the equator, though south of
it there are tribes that pursue this practice to a much greater extent.
The men do not disfigure themselves as much as the women, who take pride
in the many blue lines and curves with which they cover their bodies.
Their cheeks, too, they mark with various designs, and to add to their
hideous appearance they wear in their ears huge copper and iron rings,
which are so heavy as to weigh down the lobes to an ugly length.
The men of this tribe are very expert blacksmiths. The tools they make
are rude, but they are far superior to those made by any other African
tribe. Their weapons are very effective. Their battle-axe is a terrible
instrument. One blow from it will split open a human skull. Another
weapon is a singular pointed axe. This is thrown from a distance, very
much as the American Indian used the tomahawk when on the war-path.
The war knife carried by this tribe is a cruel weapon when used in a
hand-to-hand conflict. When not in use it is worn suspended from the
side. Another deadly weapon is a huge knife, over a foot long and
two-thirds of a foot wide. This is used to cut through the shoulders of
an enemy.
The spears, which are fully seven feet long, are thrown with wonderful
skill and accuracy to the distance of thirty yards. Crossbows are used
in war and on hunting expeditions. Some of the larger arrows, which are
used in the hunt, are about two feet in length, and are tipped with an
iron head resembling the sharp barbs of a harpoon.
Some of the axes and knives are decorated with a kind of scroll work.
This is wrought in iron with graceful lines and curves, showing
considerable artistic taste on the part of the native workmen.
The most deadly of all weapons used by the Fans is a small,
insignificant-looking rod of bamboo. It is not more than a foot long,
and is simply sharpened at one end. This is the famous poison arrow, a
single pin's point prick of which means death. The poison for these
arrows is obtained from the sap of a plant which grows in the forests.
The point of each arrow is carefully dipped several times in the sap and
allowed to dry, when it turns a red color.
These arrows are carried in a small bag made from the skin of some wild
beast. They are much dreaded by the tribes at war with the Fans, for
they can be thrown with great force at a distance of fifteen feet, and
with such velocity that they cannot be evaded. There is no possible cure
for a wound inflicted by one of these deadly yet harmless-looking
missiles. Death soon follows in its wake.
In addition to skill in iron work, the Fans show considerable ingenuity
in making vessels of clay. These they make surprisingly regular in
shape, considering that they have no lathe, like ordinary potters.
Just beyond the low coasts above the delta of the Ogowe lies the hilly,
thickly wooded shore of Loango. Here oil palms, gum trees, copper,
ivory, coffee, cotton, and bananas are found in abundance.
The great river Congo, or Zaire, forms a line of division across West
Africa; and the coast lands south of this line are very different from
those which lie north of it.
In place of the lagoons and swamps, backed by evergreen forests, which
lie north of the great river, level sandy bays appear along the shores
farther south, and the forest vegetation is more distant from the coast;
so that only long stretches of coarse grass, with here and there a tall
tree, are seen from the ocean.
Behind the coast plain, however, the land rises in terraces, each of
which is marked by a change of vegetation, from the first, with its
larger shady trees and broad-leaved grasses, to the second, in which
creeping plants abound, clasping the biggest trees with a mass of
foliage and flowers, up to the third, where the plains are covered with
gigantic grasses. Each of these changes of level corresponds to a change
of climate, from the hot coast land up to the cool interior.
Here, in the Congo State, under the rule of the King of the Belgians, we
find Banana Point, Boma, Vivi, names familiar to us in our reading of
the Congo River district. Higher up the river, we find Leopoldville, on
Stanley Pool, the principal station amongst the many that dot the river
along this part of its course.
All the country for a great distance south of the river was once subject
to the king of Congo, from whose dominion the river is named; his
capital became the center from which the early Jesuit missionaries
spread cultivation and industry far and wide.
Here they built the cathedral and monasteries of San Salvador, the
ruins of which still exist, and by their influence extended the
territory of the king of Congo.
On their expulsion, however, the kingdom gradually diminished, till its
territory now includes little more than the neighborhood of the capital;
though its king still controls several of the chief trade routes to the
interior.
Portuguese West Africa is generally called the Province of Angola. It is
divided from north to south into five districts. Each district has its
chief town corresponding to it in name.
In former times the slave trade was the main traffic of this coast.
Since the cessation of that traffic the ivory trade has also declined.
The groundnut is now largely cultivated for the oil it yields. Coffee
grows wild, cotton is cultivated, and palm oil is brought down the
Kuanza River in considerable quantity. Iron has long been smelted in the
district of Cazengo, a little north of the Kuanza, and copper and gold
appear in small quantity in many parts.
Most of the smaller kinds of game abound, but the elephant has
disappeared from the mountain districts.
The capital of the colony is St. Paul de Loanda. It is mainly a European
town, situated on a fine bay. It has large houses roofed over with
tiles. The open verandas, so characteristic of these houses, give an
artistic and beautiful finish to them, and are a source of pleasure and
comfort to the owners, since they give free admission to the cool sea
breezes.
Benguela, a large port on the coast, was formerly one of the great slave
marts, from which thousands of unfortunates were sent to Brazil and to
the island of Cuba. Mossamedes lies farther south. It is a pretty town,
built of stone houses and commanded by a fort. Ambriz is the northern
port, but is sadly neglected, and presents a desolate picture of ruin
and decay.
It is a matter of much interest to note the spread of Christianity in
different sections of the dark continent, which, once shrouded in the
gloom of superstition and barbarism, now receive the light of the
Gospel. To quote from a daily paper:--
"Along the west coast of Africa there are now about two hundred and
twenty-five churches, forty thousand converts, one hundred thousand
adherents, three hundred schools, forty thousand pupils. Thirty-five
languages or dialects have been mastered, and parts of the Bible and
other books have been printed in these languages, while it is estimated
that eight million of the natives have more or less knowledge of the
gospel of Christ."