Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-20

IL
one that filled me with a sadder, awe than
even the disgusting Borocoon's ground of
the dead. Que of the chief objects, of the l.
explorer in that country is to make friends
with the chiefs, for without them you can
do nothing; for, though they have not great
military power, they have great moral in
flnence over the people of their own VIII
lage. Hence q great many of old coats |
must be provided to dress their sable majes-
ties who generally object to wear a pair of I
ineXpressibles. l made the acquaintanceI I
of chief named Dayoko, who. was the |
most influential man among the Mbonsha |
tribe, His age gave him great authority |
among his own people, and judicious cul-
ture of the marriage; relation had given
the shreWd old fox no end of fathers-in-laWl
in every tribe that surrounded him. Now,
to lose a father-in-law in. Africa means to |
can contidentially send bit of ivory or
barwood to sell, and ON whom you can call
in case of emergency when he can help |
you. =, In fact, the more wives man has
the more power he gains in this way, and |
women are chiefly valuable in political
had married right aud left; bsd begun when
young, and continued ever since. He
was related to one or two great men
in every tribe he could reach. His great
sorrow was that be had no prospect of get
ting Fan woman. This would have made
n
given him one of my old coats which seemed
to please him wonderfully, and which ]
ripped on the back that it might better fit
his body, his Majesty thought it was done
for the purpose of letting the cool breeze
pass through, and expressed his admiration
of c1eyerness of the Ntangani. When l
spoke of going into the Fan country Dayo-
| ko thought my project impossible. should
die on the way and he should have my death
on his soul, which seemed greatly to affect
his Majesty. He insisted i would be muir
dered by the cannibals and eaten. especially
! as there was war on the river, and the tribes
would not let me pass. Seeing that was
determined in my purpose, the old man Sc
lected new tack. This country was full
! of birds and beasts. Why not hunt here!
| He would give me as many men as L re-
! quired. Seeing that remained firm, here
upon he relented, and for fear that should
| 90 and he would not make so much of me
as he calculated. He succeeded in keeping
me few days, but at last we left, but not
before witnessing person put to death for
witchcraft. An old man was in nchogo
(stocks), accused of being sorcerer. L
1 tried to save him, but could not do It,
While in my hut | heard a great noise,
Jumped up, guessing the rascals had
killed the poor old man. l was not
mistaken. They had taken him out on
the banks of the river. | met the crowd
returning with spears, knives, swords and
axes, upon which was the blood of their
victim. In the evening they were again as
quiet as lambs, and as cheerful as they had
never heard of witch tragedy. These tribes
suppose no cruelty is too great to practice
upon wizard aud this kind of legalized
murder does not seem to affect them with
any remorseless feelings. | finally left
Dayoko, who gave me. besides his people,
two of his sons to accompany me. towards
night we reached a Shekiani village. !
never saw the people SO excited as they
were by the appearance of my chests and
: travelling bag. Their cupidity was excited
by what they thought must be fabulous
, riches in my possession, and was told at
once that could not go into the interior
, without paying to the Shekiani town
tribute of six shirts, one hundred tathoms
! of cloth, three great coats and a great
quantity of beads, looking glasses and other
trinkets. This would have entirely ruined
, me, The excitement seemed to increase
the longer I remained in the town. l or
f dered the men TO sleep in nv hut, thinking
that the fear of killing members OF friend
e ly tribe would deter them from firing upor
me during the night. had quietly placed
5 my double barrelled gun and revolyers
g by my side, ready for action, fully resolved
:. to sell my life at as dear rate as possible
4 Meanwhile DayokO's sons went out to pa
h laver with the chief. l did not sleep. AL
= night the crowd surrounded my house
e talking, shouting, singing and exhlolt1ns
= great excitement. At four o'clock they be
: came gutter, and at six o'clock those wht
e were not asleep were still. called tn
a chief, told him my chest contained only
e powder, shot and other things necessary
: lfor nv Journey, gave his Majesty few
If tathoms of cloth, few beads, aud distrib
e uted some tobacco among his big men,
i They all appeared satisfied, and proceed
k ed on nv way. Our destination was on
e of Dayoko's fathers-in- lava chief OF tn
e Mbondemo tribe. After a long journe.
z through the jungle we reached the settle
It ment of Mbene, which welcomed me an
h Dayoko's sous. 1t was the dry season. Th
J; people had come to make settlement, an
e was astonished to find, instead OF the usu
lie al plantation of plantain trees which sur
II round the collection of huts which make
n African village. an immense mass of tim
y Der thrown down, as if hurricane ha
I'd passed through this part OF the forest. Th
TO people had come here to make new plants
is tions, and this was their way of making
ID clearing. So it was with the greatest diff
lie Guilty, and many scratches from thorns an
~ trips from the interposing boughs, that
ne got through this barrier. They could M M
ly have made better wall of defence for tn
h. village. At last when my patience wt
d. entirely gone and my clothes were LITERAL
in hanging in ribbons about me, "
re. arrived at the camp of nj enc.
IN saw at once that if did NJ
he want to starve must move as soon as
tie Lcould from Mbene's camp. l did not like tt
re prospect of living on the nuts OF the foIes
ut To make up for the poor fare, my king
en- friend made me the offer of a wife. d.
ed clined. These Mbondemos were fine lool
he ing men. This was in August. sent baC
Ter Dayoko's men, who had thorough dret
ite to accompany me further, and as there w
is nothing to eat they were obliged to retur
"a They had no fancy, they said, to be eat
he up, and found that the chief was We
he GOOD fellow, and felt quite safe among !
Ike rough but kindly disposed people. foul
est it always the best way to trust the people
i've travelled among. There was the chic
OF white man-the spirit that had come to
yet his guest. When 1 told Dayoka's men
l come back in three months to look for n
.on they said: "Are you going to stay all th
sit time with the Fans ?" The Mbonder
of tribe is allied to the Mbishi, Mit
ent Mbousha, Ibonay, Acoa, are scatter
ace north of the equator, and are exceeding
go nomadic. When l asked Mbeno why
it had moved his village twice, he said:
ard moved it the first time because man dit
Tho and the place was not good any more.
ne, moved again because all the palm trees h
the been destroyed, and we could have no pa
1t wine to get drunk upon" These Fans {
'ir- among the extraordinary tribes l met.
ley Remember the first time that got glmI
res of some of these people. l fou
ere myself halt mile ahead of I
nds companions, and in sight of me
ar kew who lodged me whenever
eZe took aim at him. After watching t
the animal for some time 1 happened to lO
my down, aud, judge my astonishment whe
ln- saw before me Fan warrior, with his t
In wives behind him. l was at first alarm
the by the fear that he would send me one
rhe his poisoned arrows as present. but
of covered my composure when l obsery
5 in that the three were shaking with deaC
lew terror. The elephant shield of the m