Among Congo cannibals

When living at San Salvador, in what is now known as the Portuguese Congo, in the early eighties of last century, the writer frequently conversed with the natives about the inha...

_Peace_—Bangala tribe—Panic in Bungundu towns—People become friendly—Driven away from Bokomela—Fierce and revengeful natives—Revisit Bokomela—A cordial welcome—Reason for warlik...

Moral way of procuring land—Ground measured—Price asked—Amount accepted—Signing the agreement—Buying a house—An exorbitant price—A house for five shillings and a penny—Well-popu...

“Trade” and “Bangala” languages—Making a vocabulary—Housekeeper and master of works—Natives tell us words—Elements of difficulty—Glib translations—Natives deceive us—Head-men of...

which is peculiar to all Bantu languages, and by no means confined to the Boloki people. The phrases in italics are literal translations of the native terms for expressing their...

Building our house—Armed natives—Their ruse to discover our strength—The reason of their proffered help—A tribal war—Cannibal feast—Taunt us with being cowards and women—We defe...

A Congo lad in England—People doing no work—Erroneous views—A condemnation of “niggers”—Its answer—White employers of black labour—Allowances to be made—Leather-work—String maki...

Stopping the rain—Causing the river to subside—Appeasing water-spirits—Saved by his wit—Debit and credit in killing—Methods of drinking—Purification by fire—Preventing spirits f...

Salutations—Sneezing—Land is communal—River rights—Slaves and their position—Laws of inheritance—Sons given as pawns—Masters’ responsibility—Debtor and creditor—Rules for collec...

Young girls betrothed—The bespoke money—Marriage money—Dressing the new wife—A large looking-glass—A woman can choose her husband—Divorce—No great desire for children—Storage fo...

Precociousness of the children—Teaching the tribal mark—Knowledge of astronomy—Divisions of night and day—Education—Paddling and canoeing—Swimming—Fishing—Hunting—Blacksmithing—...

Dolls—Make-believe games—Mimic war—Model of steamers—Game of hand-thrusting—Hockey—Wheel game—Flipping arrows—Lip-sucking game—Ball game—“Tip-it”—Game with palm nuts—African bac...

A great inland sea—The Boloki and Bantus—The Boloki man—A native retort—Meaning of Bangala—Movements of tribes—Murder of Boloki chief—Refuge in a tree—Boloki raiding—A famous ch...

No paramount chiefs—Head-man rules his own family—Stanley’s “Lord of many guns”—_Monanga_, a term of respect—The alien is robbed—The guest protected—Arrival of canoes—Estimation...

The family judge—The chief judge—Stolen property—Punishment for murder—Adultery—The Court—Native advocates—No oaths administered—Giving the ordeal—Various ordeals—An impartial j...

Ideas concerning rebirth—Ideas concerning white men—A hippopotamus spirit—A prediction—Reticence of natives—Recited round the fire—The origin of man—The sun—A deluge—The destruc...

No army—The family fight—The town fight—The district fight—Procuring volunteers—“Medicine” put on spears—Poison used—No night attacks—Lips of the slain worn by the slayer—Spirit...

Scarcity of animal life—Bush-burning—Game in ancient times—No bush-burning on Upper Congo—Scarcity of game—Absence of prairie lands—Large forests—Division of an animal—Mode of p...

Collecting fish for the Museum—Modes of fishing—By torchlight—Fish-fences—Traps and spoon-nets—Floating buoys and hooks—Fish-spears—Fish poisons—Prohibition with fish traps—Addr...

Ideas of a Supreme Being—His various names—Views of the spirit life—Fetishism—Medicine men and spirits—Black and white magic—Origin of the term fetish—Native crusade against fet...

Surrounded by spirits—The soul leaves the body—Dreams—Bewitching folk—Losing one’s shadow—Disembodied spirits or ghosts—Ghosts enter animals—Deceiving the ghosts—Spirits of dise...

Number of medicine men—How to become a witch-doctor—Mayeya and his long dive—Makwata and his talking spear—A simple trick—Female witch-doctors—Three kinds of witchcraft—Discredi...

Variety of taboos—The totem taboo—The permanent taboo—The inherited taboo—The temporary taboo—Circumcision taboo—Canoe-maker’s taboo—Mourner’s taboo—Cursing a wife—Taboo of symp...

A general name—No sacrifices to them—Preventive charms—Thief’s charm and antidote—Charm for rendering the owner attractive—Helpful charms in war—Modes of dealing with witchcraft...

Three causes of death—By act of God—By another’s witchcraft—By one’s own witchcraft—An explosion—Decorating the corpse—fee to view the body—Smoking the body—Making coffins—Three...

White and black magic—Albinos—Causes of disease—Those easy to diagnose—Non-professional healers—Discovering a troublesome spirit—Various remedies—Cupping—The clyster—Ligatures f...