trees and our escort of Bakuba cried out, "Muxenge! muxenge!" (meaning
capital! capital!). Just before entering the great town we were halted
at a small guard post consisting of a few houses and some men who were
the king's watchmen. They told me that on each of the four entrances to
the capital these sentries were stationed. A man was dispatched to
notify the king that we were near. In a short while the people came out
of the town to meet and greet us, hundreds of them, and many little
children, too. Some of my caravan were frightened and would run away,
but I told them that the oncoming crowd meant no harm.
N'Toinzide, the king's son, with spear in hand, took the lead and the
interested and excited crowd after getting a peep at me fell in behind.
We marched down a broad, clean street, lined on both sides by interested
spectators jostling, gesticulating, talking aloud and laughing. The
young boys and girls struck up a song which sounded to me like a band of
sweet music and we all kept step to it. N'Toinzide called a halt at a
house which I presume was 15 x 25 feet in size. You could enter the
doors front and back almost without stooping. The house was made like
all the others of bamboo and had two rooms. There were a number of clay
pots of various sizes for cooking and six large gourds for water. My
caravan was comfortably housed. I did not put up my tent, but took my
seat in a reclining chair under a large palm tree in front of my door.
The crowd was immense, but we had them sit down on the ground so we
could get a breath of air.
In the afternoon the king sent greetings, and fourteen goats, six sheep,
a number of chickens, corn, pumpkins, large dried fish, bushels of
peanuts, bunches of bananas and plantains and a calabash of palm oil and
other food.
The prime minister, N'Dola, who brought the greetings, mentioned that
the king would see me next day; also that the king's servants would take
out of the village all goats and chickens which I did not want for
immediate use.
For, said N'Dola, no sheep, goats, hogs, dogs, ducks or chickens are
allowed in the king's town.
In the evening we started our song service and I delivered to them our
King's message. The crowd was great. The order was good. I went to rest
with the burden of these people upon my heart, and thanking God that He
had led, protected and brought us through close places safely to the
"Forbidden Land."
Early in the morning we heard the blast of ivory horns calling the
attention of the people to put on their best robes and be in readiness
for the big parade. I saw there was great activity in the town, men and
women hurrying to and fro. Soon two stalwart Bakuba, with their red
kilts on and feathers in their hats appeared before my house and
announced their readiness to accompany me before King Lukenga.
They noticed an old brass button tied by a string around the neck of one
of my men. Very politely they removed it, saying, "Only the king can
wear brass or copper."
I was dressed in what had once been white linen. Coat, trousers, white
canvas shoes and pith helmet. The officials on either side took me by
the arm; we walked a block up the broad street, turned to the right and
walked three blocks till we came to the big town square. Thousands of
the villagers had already taken their position and were seated on the
green grass. King Lukenga, his high officials and about 300 of his wives
occupied the eastern section of the square. The players of stringed
instruments and drummers were in the center, and as we appeared a great
shout went up from the people. The king's servants ran and spread
leopard skins along the ground leading to his majesty. I approached with
some timidity. The king arose from his throne of ivory, stretched forth
his hand and greeted me with these words, "Wyni" (You have come). I
bowed low, clapped my hands in front of me, and answered, "Ndini, Nyimi"
(I have come, king).
As the drums beat and the harps played the king's sons entered the
square and danced one after the other single handed, brandishing their
big knives in the air. The king's great chair, or throne, was made of
carved tusks of ivory, and his feet rested upon lion skins. I judged him
to have been a little more than six feet high and with his crown, which
was made of eagle feathers, he towered over all. The king's dress
consisted of a red loin cloth, draped neatly about his waist in many
folds. He wore a broad belt decorated with cowrie shells and beads. His
armlets and anklets were made of polished cowrie shells reaching quite
above the wrists and ankles. These decorations were beautifully white.
His feet were painted with powdered canwood, resembling morocco boots.
The king weighed about 200 pounds. He wore a pleasant smile. He looked
to be eighty years old, but he was as active as a middle-aged man.
* * * * *
As the sun was setting in the west the king stood up, made a slight bow
to his people and to me. His slaves were ready with his cowrie-studded
hammock to take him to his place, for his feet must never touch the
ground. His hammock was like the body of a buggy carried on two long
poles upon the shoulders of many men. Through the shouts of the people I
was accompanied back to my resting place. It was the most brilliant
affair I had seen in Africa, but my! I was so glad when it was all over.
The town was laid off east and west. The broad streets ran at right
angles, and there were blocks just as in any town. Those in a block were
always related in some way. Around each house is a court and a high
fence made of heavy matting of palm leaves, and around each block there
is also a high fence, so you enter these homes by the many gates. Each
block has a chief called Mbambi, and he is responsible to King Lukenga
for his block. When the king will deliver a message to the whole village
or part of it, these chiefs are sent for and during the early evenings
they ring their iron hand bells and call out in a loud voice the message
in five minutes. The king desired of his own heart to give me peanuts
for my people. I heard the messengers delivering the word and the next
morning we had more peanuts than we could manage.
There was not a visible light anywhere in the whole town. "A chunk or
two" is always kept smouldering in the center of the house on the clay
floor. The housewife is always careful to have a handful of split dry
bamboo near, and when anyone is stung by a scorpion or snake (which
often happens) they start up a blaze and hunt for the intruder and
medicine.
When there is neither moon nor stars it is truly a land of awful
darkness, and is made more dismal by the yelping of the jackal on the
plain. The moon shines more brightly and beautifully than on Lukenga's
plain. And the beauty is enhanced by the thousands of majestic palms,
and the singing of birds with voices like the mocking bird and the
nightingale. I have sat in front of my house moonlight nights until 12
and 1 o'clock.
Every morning the "courts" and streets were swept. Men who had committed
some offense were compelled to pull weeds and sweep the streets clean.
There is a rule in all Bakuba villages that every man every day sweep
before his own door. The only littered places I observed were at the
four public entrances of the town where markets were held daily at 6
A.M., 12 noon and 5 P.M.--sugar cane, pulp, banana and plantain
peelings, and peanut shells.
When the king's drum taps the signal about 9 P.M. at the conclusion of
the sleep song there is not a sound again in the whole village.
All the natives we have met in the Kasal are, on the whole, honest. Our
private dwellings have never been locked day or night. Your pocketbook
is a sack of cowries or salt tied at the mouth with a string. But now
and then something happens. N'susa, one of the boys of my caravan,
misappropriated some cowries. I called him (in the presence of two
witnesses) in question about the matter. He acknowledged removing the
shells and innocently remarked, "You are the same as my father, and what
is his is mine."
From the great Lukenga plateau as far as the eye can look you see
villages dotted everywhere. You never find a family living alone
isolated from the village. The people live together for mutual
protection from enemies and animals. And usually everybody in a village
is related in some near or distant way; but it does not keep them from
fighting occasionally.
The Bakuba are monogamists. A young man sees a girl whom he likes; he
has met her in his own town or at some other, or perhaps at a market
place or a dance. He sends her tokens of love, bananas, plantains,
peanuts, dried fish or grasshoppers. She in turn sends him similar
presents.
They often meet, sit down on the green, laugh and talk together. I have
seen the girls often blush and really put on airs. He asks her to have
him, if she has no one else on her heart, and tells her that he wants no
one to eat the crop that is in the field but her. The girl and the
parents both agree.
On a set day when the market is in full blast, with hundreds of people
from everywhere, the young man and girl, with their young friends, all
dressed in their best robes, meet and march Indian file through the open
market and receive congratulations from everybody.
The new bride and groom continue their march to the already prepared
house of the young man. A feast of goat, sheep, monkey, chicken or fish,
with plenty of palm wine is served and all is ended with a big dance.
The women of the king's household select their own husbands, and no man
dare decline; and no man would ever be so rude or presumptuous as to ask
for the hand and heart of royalty.
The husband knows that he must cut down the forest and assist in
planting corn, millet, beans, pease, sweet potatoes and tobacco, hunt
for game, bring the palm wine, palm nuts, make his wife's garments and
repair the house. He is never to be out after 8 o'clock at night unless
sitting up at a wake or taking part in a public town dance.
The young man before marriage sends a certain number of well-woven mats
and so many thousands of cowries to the parents of the girl as a dowry.
If they cease to love and must part, even twenty rainy seasons from
marriage, the dowry or its equivalent is returned to the man.
The wife is expected to shave and anoint the husband's body with palm
oil, keep his toenails and fingernails manicured, bring water and wood,
help in the field, cook his food, and take care of the children.
I have had many a man come and ask to buy love medicine. They think
charms and medicine can do anything. I always told them, of course, that
it was a matter of the girl's heart, and charms or medicine could not
help out in their "love affairs."
The Bakuba are morally a splendid people. I have asked a number of
Bakuba what was their real ideal of life, and they invariably answered
to have a big corn field, marry a good wife, and have many children.
We were astounded when we saw the first new-born baby. It was so very
light. But in a few weeks the youngster rallied to his colors and we
were assured that he would never change again.
No baby is born in the regularly occupied house. A small house is built
in the back yard and is surrounded by a fence of palm fronds. No one is
admitted into the enclosure but a few women. The new youngster receives
a bath of palm oil, then the notice is given and all the friends of the
family with jugs of cold water vie with each other in giving mother and
baby a shower bath. The drums beat and the dance in water and mud
continues for hours.
Until you get accustomed to it you would be horrified to see the mothers
stuff their young babies. The mother nurses the baby just as any mother,
but she doesn't think that sufficient. So she has by her side a small
pot of soft corn pone and a pot of water or palm oil. She makes a large
pill from the pone, dips it in the water or oil, and while the baby is
lying on his back in her lap these pills are dropped in its mouth. Then
the mother uses the forefinger to force the collection of pills down its
throat. As the baby resists and kicks, water is poured down its throat
to facilitate the process. If the baby strangles, the mother will shake
him up and down a few times. When the feeding is over, he certainly
looks "stuffed."
The Bakuba children have many games and but few toys. The girls have
wooden dolls made by their fathers, and the boys make from bamboo bows
and arrows. They shoot mice, lizards, grasshoppers, crickets,
caterpillars, butterflies, lightning bugs, etc.
They make mud pies and play market, and tie the legs of May and June
bugs to see them fly around and buzz. They love to play housekeeping.
They are also trained to do some work, as bringing wood, sweeping or
looking after the younger ones. There are no knives, forks or dishes to
wash.
"Baby talk" is not used and the parents speak to the babies just as
though they were speaking to grown-ups.
I have seen the children in the streets drawing with a pointed stick or
their finger on the smooth sand, men, leopards, monkeys, crocodiles,
birds, snakes and other animals.
The boys make a heap of clay and sod it, and with great speed run upon
it and turn a somersault, lighting on their feet. A string of them
together will play "leap frog," and hide-and-seek is great sport with
them. In all these amusements they keep up a song.
There is one thing you will certainly see them doing, both boys and
girls, and that is beating their clenched fists into the hard clay just
as hard as they can drive. A year later you will see them driving their
knuckles against a log or a tree. In this way they become hardened and
are used as a weapon in fights when they are grown. And, too, they can
butt like a goat, so in their family fights they not only use their
fists but their heads.
I spent hours at King Lukenga's and other villages playing with the
little folks and trying to find out what they were thinking about. They
had a name for the sun and moon, names for very brilliant and prominent
stars and ordinary ones. The sun was the father of the heavens, the moon
was his wife, and the stars were their children. The sun after going
down was paddled around in a very large canoe on the great water by men
who were more than human and started in the skies again. They knew that
a year was divided into two general seasons, the rainy (eight moons),
the dry (four moons); though even in the rainy season it doesn't rain
every day and very seldom all day at any time; and in the dry season
there is an occasional refreshing shower.
They knew the names of all the lakes, rivers and small streams. Roots
that were good for medicine or to eat they knew. Flowers and ferns were
called by name. The names of all the many varieties of trees, birds and
animals they knew.
I was surprised to know from Maxamalinge, the king's son, that every
month the king had all the little children of the town before him and he
in turn would talk to them, as a great and good father to his own
children.
The king would have his servants give to each boy and girl a handful of
peanuts. When they were out of the king's quarters there was many a
scrap over these peanuts.
I grew very fond of Bakuba and it was reciprocated. They were the finest
looking race I had seen in Africa, dignified, graceful, courageous,
honest, with an open, smiling countenance and really hospitable. Their
knowledge of weaving, embroidering, wood carving and smelting was the
highest in equatorial Africa.
PILLARS OF THE STATE
WILLIAM C. JASON
Young people are the life-blood of the nation, the pillars of the state.
The future of the world is wrapped up in the lives of its youth. As
these unfold, the pages of history will tell the story of deeds noble
and base. Characters resplendent with jewels and ornaments of virtue
will be held up for the admiration of the world and the emulation of
generations not yet born. Others, thoughtlessly or wilfully ignoring the
plain path of duty, dwarfed, blighted, rejected of God and man, will be
the sign-posts marking the road to ruin.
OATH OF AFRO-AMERICAN YOUTH
KELLY MILLER
I will never bring disgrace upon my race by any unworthy deed or
dishonorable act. I will live a clean, decent, manly life; and will ever
respect and defend the virtue and honor of womanhood; I will uphold and
obey the just laws of my country and of the community in which I live,
and will encourage others to do likewise; I will not allow prejudice,
injustice, insult or outrage to cower my spirit or sour my soul; but
will ever preserve the inner freedom of heart and conscience; I will not
allow myself to be overcome of evil, but will strive to overcome evil
with good; I will endeavor to develop and exert the best powers within
me for my own personal improvement, and will strive unceasingly to
quicken the sense of racial duty and responsibility; I will in all these
ways aim to uplift my race so that, to everyone bound to it by ties of
blood, it shall become a bond of ennoblement and not a byword of
reproach.
THE END
NOTES
BIRD, AUGUSTA--Born in Tennessee. On the clerical force of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Contributor to the
Brownies Book.
BOND, SCOTT--Born in slavery in Mississippi. Now a wealthy farmer in
Madison, Arkansas.
BRAITHWAITE, WILLIAM BEAUMONT STANLEY (1878-)--Author and critic; born
in Boston. Editor of "Anthology of Magazine Verse," published annually,
"The Book of Georgian Verse," "The Book of Restoration Verse,"
contributor of literary criticisms to the Boston Transcript and
magazines.
BRAWLEY, BENJAMIN GRIFFITH (1882-)--Born at Columbia, S.C. A.B., Atlanta
Baptist College, 1901; A.B., University of Chicago, 1906; A.M., Harvard,
1908. Member American Historical Association, American Geographical
Society; author, "Negro in Literature and Art," "Short History of
American Negro" and booklets of verse. Dean of Morehouse College,
Atlanta, Ga.
BROWN, WILLIAM WELLS (1816-?)--Born in slavery in Kentucky. Escaped in
youth to the North. Prominent lecturer in America and England. Author of
"The Black Man," "Clotelle," "The Negro in the Rebellion," "The Rising
Sun," etc.
BURLEIGH, ALSTON W., son of H. T. Burleigh, the well-known composer of
music.
CHESNUTT, CHARLES W. (1858-)--Born in Cleveland, Ohio. Admitted to the
Ohio Bar, 1887. One of the foremost American novelists. Author of "The
House behind the Cedars," "The Wife of his Youth," "The Marrow of
Tradition," etc. Contributor to the Atlantic Monthly and Century
Magazine.
COPPIN, LEVI J. (1848-)--Born at Frederickstown, Md. Bishop of African
Methodist Episcopal Church. In South Africa 1900-1904. Author of
"Observations of Persons and Things in South Africa" and a number of
religious books. D. D., Wilberforce University, 1889. Ordained to
ministry, 1877.
COTTER, JOSEPH S. (1861-).--Educator, author of "Negro Tales," etc.
COTTER, JOSEPH S., JR. (1897-1920)--A youth of great promise who wrote
on a sick bed. Author of "The Band of Gideon," "The White Folks'
Nigger," "Out of the Shadows."
CROGMAN, WILLIAM H. (1841-)--Born on St. Martin Island, West Indies,
A.B., A.M., Atlanta University, 1876, 1879; Litt. D., LL.D., Clark
University, 1901. For many years associated with Clark University,
Atlanta, Ga., as president and professor. Member of the American
Philosophical Association.
CROMWELL, JAMES W. (1846-)--Born Portsmouth, Va. LL.B., Harvard 1874;
hon. A.M. Wilberforce University, 1914. Admitted to Bar, District of
Columbia, 1874. First colored lawyer to appear before Interstate
Commerce Commission. Principal Crummell School, Washington, D.C.;
Secretary, American Negro Academy. Author of "The Negro in American
History," etc.
DOUGLASS, FREDERICK (1817-1895)--Escaped from Maryland as a slave when a
young man. Lectured on abolition in England and America. A noble orator,
a clear thinker, and an untiring advocate of the rights of man.
Published an autobiography in many editions.
DU BOIS, W. E. BURGHARDT (1868-)--Born in Great Barrington, Mass. A.B.,
Fisk University; A.B. and Ph.D., Harvard. Scholar; editor of "The
Crisis"; author of "The Suppression of the Slave Trade," "The Souls of
Black Folk," "Darkwater," etc.
DUNBAR, PAUL LAURENCE (1872-1906)--Born in Dayton, Ohio. Poet; author of
"Oak and Ivy," "Majors and Minors," "Lyrics of Lowly Life," "The
Uncalled," "The Sport of the Gods," etc. Dunbar stands in the forefront
among American poets.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM J.--A Tuskegee graduate who founded the Snow Hill
School, one of most important industrial schools of the country. Author
of "Twenty-Five Years in the Black Belt," etc.
ELLIS, GEORGE W. (1875-1920)--Lawyer and author. While serving on the
American Legation to Liberia, he studied the languages and customs of
the tribes of West Africa, and wrote his books on this subject.
FAUSET, JESSIE R.--A. B., Cornell, A.M., Pennsylvania. Associate editor
of "The Crisis" and the "Brownies' Book." Author of short stories and
verses.
FISHER, RUTH ANNA--A. B., Oberlin College. Has engaged in teaching and
social service work.
FLIPPER, HENRY OSSIAN--Served as lieutenant in American Army. Student
and translator of Spanish.
FLOYD, SILAS X. (1869--)--A.B., A.M., Atlanta University, 1891, 1894;
D.D. Morris Brown College, 1903. Principal of a school in Augusta, Ga.
Author of "Floyd's Flowers," etc. Member, American Association Political
and Social Science and American Historical Association.
GRIMKE, ANGELINA--Teacher in the public schools of Washington, D.C.;
author of "Rachel," etc.
HACKLEY, AZALIA--Musician, pupil of Jean de Reszke. Very successful
teacher and conductor of choruses.
HENSON, MATTHEW A.--Began life as a cabin boy. Twenty-three years
Peary's companion. He was with him at the North Pole. Thoroughly
acquainted with life customs and languages of the Eskimos.
HOLTZCLAW, WILLIAM H.--A Tuskegee graduate who founded the Utica Normal
and Industrial Institute in Mississippi; author of "The Black Man's
Burden," etc.
JAMIESON, R. C. (1888-1918)--Born, Winchester, Tenn. Educated at Fisk
University. Author, contributor to "The Crisis."
JOHNSON, JAMES WELDON--Poet and diplomat. At one time American Consul at
Puerto Cabello, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Author of "Fifty Years and
Other Poems," "An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man." Field Secretary
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
JONES, E. S.--Author of "The Sylvan Cabin and Other Poems."
MILLER, KELLY (1863--)--Born at Winnsboro, S.C. A.M., LL.D., Howard
University, 1901, 1903. Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard
University. Lecturer on race problem. Member Academy Political and
Social Science, American Social Science Association, American
Association for the Advancement of Science. Author "Race Adjustment,"
"Out of the House of Bondage"; wrote chapter on "Education of the Negro"
in report of U.S. Bureau of Education, 1901. Contributor to magazines
and newspapers.
PENDELTON, LEILA A.--Teacher in Washington Public Schools for many
years. Author of "A Narrative of the Negro," "An Alphabet for Negro
Children," etc.
PICKENS, WILLIAM (1881-)--Born in Anderson Co., S.C. A.B., Talledaga
College, 1902; A.B., Yale, 1904; A.M., Fisk, 1908. Won the Ten Eyck
prize for oratory, Yale, 1913. Educator and lecturer. Formerly Dean of
Morgan College, Baltimore. Associate Field Secretary for the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Author of "The New
Negro," "The Spirit of Freedom," etc.
SCOTT, EMMETT J. (1873-)--Born at Houston, Texas. Wiley University,
1905. Secretary of Howard University. Appointed a member of American
Commission to Liberia, 1919, by President Taft. Assistant to Secretary
of War, 1914-18. Author, "The American Negro in the World War," etc.
SHEPARD, JAMES E. (1875-)--Born, Lehigh, N.C. Author, lecturer, founder
of Religious Training School at Durham, N.C. Has traveled in Europe,
Africa and Asia.
SHEPPARD, WILLIAM HENRY (1865-)--Born at Waynesboro, Va. Sent by
Southern Presbyterian church as missionary to Africa, 1890. Exposed to
the Congo atrocities. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
SIMMONS, WILLIAM J. (1849-?)--Born in Charleston, S.C. Boyhood of severe
poverty. AB., Howard University, 1873. Educator, editor, minister,
author "His Men of Mark" which contains biographies of 177 colored men.
STAFFORD, O. O.--Principal of Lincoln Public School, Washington, D.C.
Author of "Animal Fables."
WASHINGTON, BOOKER T. (1858-1915)--Born in slavery. Graduated at Hampton
Institute. Founded Tuskegee Institute. One of the foremost educators
America has produced. Author of "Up from Slavery," "Working with the
Hands," etc.