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


were bearded spears and their great shields,
constructed out of the hide of the elephant;
this, when dried and smoked, is hard and
almost as simpenetrable as iron, They were
also covered with "fetishes,"l for all the
negroes believe in charms and also in the
power Of good and evil spirits. The wor
men were even less dressed than the men,
and were also, in proportion, much smaller.
/ believe never saw such ugly women as
these were. They also had their teeth filed,
and carried their babies In a. sling or rest
naderou of bark, across their backs. Such
were, the strange people who crowded.
around me and my guides, and who won
among them. These cannibals seem to be-
long to distinct family, of negroes, and |
all pointed to the northeast as the country /
from which they came. The villages of the |
Fans, from being Situated near the nom
cannibal tribes, seemed to hide their abom- !
Unable practices to some extent; but in the |
interior the worst form of man eating pre-
walls. Human skulls and bones are seen all |
about their villages. The dead, even, are
eaten, up to verify which, l have mention
ed an Instance where a,corpse was stolen in
Equatorial Africa from the cemetery OF the
Inpongue TRIBE and eaten up, These Fans
and Oshebas'were exceedingly warlike, and
are continually fighting against each other.
During all my travels L have tried in vain
to find ruins or remains of buildings to
evated than he is now, but in vain. Trav-
ellers in other parts of Africa have not been
more successful than myself, so we must
conclude that the negroes are now in the
same state that they were in ages past
The question naturally occurs to every one
how such a political disintegration as the
) one have described to you could have hap
pened. We must believe that Africa has
not escaped many political convulsions. fol-
, lowed by great wars and migrations The
, same migratory laws that have governed
I US have prevailed in Africa as among our
{ selves. This migration has been carried
) on from the East to the West. l never
; found eithera tribe or village pointing
3 towards the West as the place from which
ID they had come ! should recommend every
4 traveller to take down different words of
the various languages spoken, so, as to be
able to trace the connection. between the
tribes. / found several words spoken by
the eastern tribes which were common
enough among those in the west. The
} population of Africa has never been so
q dense as to fill up that immense tract of
country. Tribes scattered, migrated, and
y, were lost to each other in the great forest !;
others followed, and came, between them
r. without knowing it, until gradually. the
country became more peopled, and the dit
ferent tribes came more in contact with each
other. A very striking fact is the difference
q in society between the East and West. By
the accounts of such travellers as Burton,
l. Livingstone, Grant, Speke and Baker, we
learn that most of the chiefs are cruel, hav-
ing the right to put to death at will the
/, villages also are continually sacked by the
stranger, and the people carried into sla-
very; if there is no slavery the people
commit raids, burn villages, massacre the
Inhabitants, and then abduct their cattle.
In many districts they both plunder the cat
tie and take the. people into slavery. In
no /
village is large enough, or clan power
tul enough, TO do So. have been much
surprised at the steady decrease of the
population; and here let me raise my
voice i'm defense of the white man, who is
accused of being the cause Iof the decrease
of the blacks wherever he settles. admit
that this is the case to some extent; but
also aver that the decrease in the popula-
ton of the negroes in Equatorial AfricG
! had slowly commenced before the white
| man ever came; and the white. man IL
| coming notices it, but cannot stop it. Pop
ulous villages and tribes l had seen, at {
| second visit had Visibly diminished Now
there the white man had-not penetrated
| clans which were composed of many peo
| pie within the memory of living individu
| ais had dwindled down to nothing. Some
/ had entirely disappeared, and others had .
few. only left. l am not the only one WHIT
| has noticed this decreases other travel
lers have noticed the same thing ant
|. wondered at it. Whatever may be Ou
sympathy, there is no doubt that primitiv,
map, or rather the least gifted tribes o
mankind, must disappear before the highe
intellect. This is not merely theory, bu
| a fact. There are many causes to accoun
! for the decrease of the negro, and thes
have been already fully explained. l thinl
everything tends to show that the negroe
are of great antiquity, although they havt
remained stationary without progressing
in the slightest degree. The working o
iron, considering the very primitive way
in which the work is done, aud how cas-.
it is to find the ore, must have been know
to them from the remotest time. To them
however, has been unknown the ages Q
stone and bronze. As to his futur
!, capabilities, think extreme view
have prevailed among us. Som
hold the opinion that the negro wi
never rise higher than he is; others thin
that he is capable of reaching the highes
state, in fact, that he will become whit
man in time. l, however, do not agre
: with either of these opinions. believe th
negro may become a more useful membe
1 of humanity than he is at present, and tha
he can be raised to higher standard
although, if LETT to himself, he will soon ia
| back into barbarism. We have no eXam
t pie, at all events, to the contrary
e Although a people may be taugl
S the arts and sciences by a nation MOI
SlIted Ghan tney, SUN, unless Gney nave Gl
e power. OF progression in themselves the
1 must invariably relapse in the course
t time to their former state. Of all the Ill
civilized nations, the negro has been four
e the most tractable and docile, and he has
!. number OF good qualities that compensa
Y in measure for his bad ones. We ougl
: ther, fore to be kind to him and eleva
: him. That he will follow in the course
k time the example of other lower races. al
d will finally disappear, L have very lit
Is doubt. n r.. .... ...-