The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-11-27
Tho LnSL ISitos,

A traveller says: ''On the evening Of
tho first days journey, we stopped at the
village called ltimba. near the point where
tho Congo bcgius to narrow down from n
breadth OF nine or ten miles to few hum
dred yards. Here, at ltimba, we found
The people just ABOUT to proceed to the OBJ
scquics Of a dead fcllow-to wnsmen, an Old
man apparently Of some social standing.
The chIef and his subjects were in some
pcrpleXity. or late year. 1t has become
'de rlgeur.' since guns were introduced
into the Upper Congo regions, to fire a
salute over the body of the dofunct person,
especially If he be Of any distinction; and
the inhabitants OF this village, possessing
only one pltitnl old fllntlock among them,
and that terribly out OF repair, were hes,-
taling when we arrived as to what course
they should pursuc--whcther they should
charge and fire this one dlIapidatcd gun
aud risk its bursting, or whether the DO.
ceased should be allowed to wend his way
to the land OF spirits unhonored aud unsu.
! lntcd. Seeing their pcrplcxIty, Lieutenant
Ofban volunteered to fire Off round of
twenty cartridges from his Winchester
The chief and his people were dclightod
Could thcro be grcnter honor for the dc
ceased than to receive his farewell saiute
at the hands of white man with his
wonderful gun from Mputo-the mysterI-
ous region beyond the sea--tho unknown
perhaps heaven ltsef2 (for arc not
these white men sons Of heavenly So
thought the old chief, as he led us to scu
The corpse. With an earnest, pleading
t>ne, he took our hands, and said: 'Oa,
you who arc gong home and he pointed
to the pale and peaceful evening Sky, you
| will sond hlm baoh to us will yon not2
You will tell him his hut Ia waiting for him,
his wives will prepare his manloo whito az
cotton cloth, and there shall be Blalafu III
plenty, and goat killed. You will send
! him back. will you not2' This exprcsslon
OF feeling quite took us by surprise. Or.
dlnariy the African chief ls so stolld, 80
thoroughly material, that one never expects
from him anything like sentiment or poetic
ideas. Wo tried as gently as posslble-for
ho appealed to both or us in his Distress
To explain Mt once our utter inability to
rcanlmate this hidoous corpse with the
breath OF lltc. and to encourage him with
vague hopes that all was not In vain, but
he shook his aged, grlzz!ed head sadly at
the confession Of our poworlossness face to
face with death.
The body Of the dead man had been
previously dried and smoked ovor a slow
fire, 80 that tho flesh except upon tho
hands, was shrunken and reduced to
lcathcry covering round the gaunt bones.
The face had been gaudily painted with
scarlet, yellow aud white pigments, and
tho whole body was lncrusted with tho red
dye Of tho camwood tree. Round the noso
and mouth was wrapped u band Of cloth,
and gay-patterned cottonB swathed the
body. For some reason the hands were
WI xyit
as in life. The dead man had bcea placed
in his grave In sitting posture, many
layers Of native cloth lying under him, ana
ready to cover him Oh tho top wcro piles
Of cotton stuffs, received in trade from the
for off coasts, and representing to these
natives q considerable amount OF wealth.
In the vague, half-determinod notions
which the people here have conceived as to
future existence, everything In the spirit
world ls supposed to bo a pale copy OF
things existing on tho earth, 80 that tor
this reason thoy put cloth, vessels OF
pottery, and, III case Of chief, dead
slaves into the graves, In order that the
dccoascd, on arriving in tho Land Of Shades
may not appear unprovldcd with tho necos-
sary means OF making q fresh start IN
now life. Tho grave In which this man
was buried had been dug in hut, and the
head Of the corpse was not moro than two
feet below the surface. Wo could not
ascertain whether tho hut, or rather house
for 1t was u substantial building OF poles
| and thatch-wou!d be abandoned or not.
fancy not, as 1t is only in the case of a
chief that this is done; and the man that
was dead, although rich and influential,
was, after all, only the favorite slave OF
he chief.