The daily gazette., 1878-07-20
African uagnates in London

THE KING OF BONNY AND THE LIBERIAN
PREMIER SEEING EUROPEAN CIvILI-
ZATIoN.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.
LONDON, July 29.--The King of Bonny
belongs to the Eboe tribe, and its on
throne which has belonged to his family
for twenty-seven generations. He is
hne-looking man, over six feet high, of
shapely frame, and OF complexion that
in America would be called "saddle
COLOR" though there is not a particle of
European blood in his veins. He was
educated in England, and is not yet 40
years OF age. He has mind well in
formed, acute, and stat, smanlike, and is
entirely absorbed in the work of justly
governing his subjects of .Bonny, who
are just emerging from barbarism. In
conversation 1 have just had with him
he has given me some interesting parti-
cuiars Of his ountry. The King is sur
rounded by a council of seven or eight
chiefs, these being representative of
about twenty chiefs distributed through
the country. Peaceful government in
Bonny means inducing these chiefs to
cooperate and not fail out with each
other The towns and villages have
each its Governor, chosen by agreement
OF its residents with the central Council,
and this local officers chief work is judi
cial From his Magisterial decisions
there exists right Of appeal, and the
King, with his Council, hear the appeal,
and decide upon it. The practice of Of
fering human sacrifices has been so near
ly trampled out that if an instance of it
occurs-as it occasionally does in the
remoter corners of the kingdom-it is
made the subject OF special inquiry and
rebuke.
The chief form in which native super
stition survives is Ill the homage paid to
a small, white, glistening serpent called
the Lomboth, that is, the Leaper. 1t is
beautiful, and its bite is deadly. 1t
climbs trees, whence it sometimes leaps
on its victim beneath, and it leaps from
branch to branch, so as to travel far
without touching the ground
1t is these leaping tree-snakes probably
which have given to monkeys their fran
| tic terror at sight of snake and if in
the anthropoid period any superior mon-
key and monkeyess had gained secur-
er place, defended by precipices from
quadrupedal beasts, they might still have
found one of these Leapers in their
simial Eden. The Eboes who inhabit
| Bonny have a tradition that the He
brews were originally captured in their
country by Egyptian invaders, and they
shrink from explorers coming from that
| region. There are some curious philo-
logical condolences pointing in favor of
their tradition; for instance, they call
the Destroying Angel Abadan, and their
name for sorcery, Obeaism, resembles
the Obe woman or Pythoness, of the
Chile. One belief which the people of
Bonny have closely resembles that of
Plato, as detailed in the vision Of Err the
Armenian; it Is that after death human
spirits are able to return to this world in
any form they choose, and they general
ly choose such forms, animal or human,
as will enable them to avenge the " rongs
they have suffered while encased in flesh
The worst specimens of white men, es.
pecially kidnappers, are sometimes be.
lieved to be the rein-carnatlons of ne.
groes who wish to punish certain per.
sons or tribes by whom they were ill-used
during life. This belief extends among
some tribes which have been visited by
Stanley, and they have no difficulty in
indentifying him as one of these vindic'
tive ghosts.
These learned Africans have perfect
faith in the future of their country. They
report a continual progress among the
people, but they plainly do not think it i,
materially aided by the missionaries
They do not speak with prejudice or ami
mostly against the missionaries, and arr
careful to mention with gratitude thu
services done by some of them. But the,
still feel that what Africa eds is know
ledge rather than creeds. They believ'
that it would be more helpful to tn
negroes if, instead of merely repeating
the command. "Thou shalt not steal,
they were to show them how they cal
unfold the vast resources of their coun
try, and, having gained comfort by hon
est industry, have no need to steal.-
Having both lived in England before ,an'
being now familiar with It's great achieve
ments in science and art, they long TO
the day when such forces as these shall b
, brought to bear on that country. If tn
King of Bonny had been reading the Uni
ted States papers from his cradle to hi
, throne, he could hardly be better inform
!. ed of the exact progress of events ther
during the last twenty years. l nee
hardly add that both he and DIR. Blyde
. are entertained here with the create:
respect by persons of high position
they were the lions of the Caledonia
fancy ball last night, patronized by tn
Queen and conducted by the Scotch NJ
= bility-and an equally cordial receptio
= will be accorded to the United Stat
z negro Senator should he remain here lo1
o enough to participate in the festival
our season.
= DIR. Edward w. Blyden, the Liberia
a Minister, was born in the West Indie
and is much darker than the King
Bonny. He is highly cultivated gent
!,
d hammedanism in that country, five
n which have appeared in recent numbe
of Fraser's Magazine, are the very be
, on their subject which have been pu
:, lished in England. The style is clear al
70 forcible, and the matter be-speaks
II thinker who has thoroughly MASTER
g the subject of which he treats. Accor
If ing to DR.. Blyden, NJ Mohammedanism n
IS only steadily gains ground in Africa, b
Is has many features which particularly a
"a peal to the negro temperament. t
y, Mohammedanism taught the negroes
= of highly rationalized description.
Is paradise is spiritua ized, and its h
u freed from physical terrors. In conv,
u sation with this learned African, he
70 formed ME that superstition In Monroy
Of is rarely or never found among CONVEX
"a to Mohammedanism, while it preva
generally among the converts to Chr
: tianity The Christian negro carries
8 printed prayer or creed in one pock'
D, and his fetish in the other, and us
either inditferently, or both as a char
to ward off evil, or secure his desired en-
DIR. Blyden is himself not Mohamm
v dan; he evidently prefers Christ to M
y hammed, and his testimony to thu gene