Smyrna times., 1878-11-20
The Country Of the Blacks.
\ NATIVE AFRICANS AsToNIsHMENT AT SEEING WHIT
MEN.

The following extract from stanlcy's Dark Cont
nent gives vivid idea of how native African and
white man look at each other " strive therefore
to interest myself in my gross and rudly-shapcd
brothers and sisters. Almost bursting into laugh at
the abSurdity, turn toward an individual whose age
marks him out one to whom respect is due say to
him after the common manner of greeting:
My brother. SIT you down by me on this mat and
let be friendly and sOcable:" and as | say it
currency of the land. one look at his hand as he
tended it made me think could carve betterlOok
ing hand out of piece of rhinocerous hide.
While speaking looked at his face, which is like
an ugly and eXtravagant mask, clumsily manutactur
ed from. dark brown coarse material. The lips
proved the thickness of the skin which nature had
endowed him with and by the ObStinacy with which
mouth was but ul-defned though capacO,ls and
garnshed with full compliments Of welpreserved
teeth His nose was So fiat that Inquired i'll per
tectly innocent manner as TO the reason for such
feature.
All said he with sly laugh, at is the fault Of
my mother who, when | was young, bound me too
tightly to her back His hair had been compelled to
obey the capTiciOus fashion of his country, and
therefore worked up into furrOws and ridges and
bearing curious resemblance to the formation of the
land around ChombOo. wonder If the art grew by
pcrccivng natures fashion and mould of the country
Descending from the face which, crude, large
featured, rough heWn as it was bore witness of the
much sly humOr and kindly disposition my eyes
fastened ON its naked body. Through the ochreous
daubS detected strange freaks of prickng on it,
circles ana squares crosses and traced with wonder
the many hard lines and Fuckers created by age,
weather, i'll usage and rude Keeping.
His feet were mOnsrouS abOrtiOnS with Solcs as hard
as hOos and his legs as high up as his knees were
paScrcd with successive strata of dirt his loin
or the queer girdlng tackle need not be described
They were absolutely appalling good taste and the
most ragged British bcggar NcOpOitan aZZarOnc is
Sumptuously, nay rcgaly, clothed in comparison 10
| this king in UhOmbO.
If the old chief appeared So unprcposseSsing how
| can paint without offence to my humber brothers
and sisters who stood around us? As looked at the
array of faces could only comment to myself-ugcI
-ugliet. As looked at their nude and filthy bodies
and the general indccency of their nakcdncss cjac
uated, fearful" as the sum total of what might
with propricty say and what indeed is sufficiently
| descriptive
| And what shall say Of the hideous and queer ap
pendagcS that they wear about their waists tags
monkcySEin and bits of gorilla bone, goathu shells
strange tags To stranger tackle? and Of the thing.
| around their ncckS-brain of mice, skin of viper
| ladders fork and blind worms sting And how
| strangely they SMELL all these queer man-likC
creatures who stand regarding me! Not silently; on
the contrary there Is loud interchange of comments
upon the whites appearance Il manifestation o
broad interest To know whence come. whittier | an
going, and what is my business And no sooner ar,
the questions asked than they are rePliedto y such
pretend to know. The replies were followed v long
| drawn replies of "Wa-a-aa antur c'Mcu"j " Eha-u .
| and these are men,
| Now imagine this while we whites are loftily dis
putting among ourselves as TO whether the being
before us are human. here were these creatures aC
tually expressing strong doubts to whether W
| whites are men!
A dead silence prevailed for a short time durin
which all the females dropped their lower Jaws ia
down and then cried out again:
| "Wa-a-a-a-antu!" ("MenrD The lower jaws indeed
dropped 50 low that when in posture of refiectio
they put their hands up 10 their chins it really locke
rs II they had done so to lift the jaws up TO thei
proper place and to sustain them there. And in thG
position they pondered upon the fact that there
men white all over in this queer, queer world.
| The open mouths gave one chance to note tn
healthy state and ruby color of the tongues palate
and gums, and above all the admirable order an
| brilliant WhitenesS Of each set OF teeth