St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-08-14
AFRICAN CANNIBALx
Ss0sy OF White Man Who Lived
fffteen Moaths Among Them,

"0 soy Of q White Man Who Lived
Fifteen Months Among Them.
ABOUT year ago report was tele-
graphed over the world that the whites
~ some OF the Upper Congo stations
mad been killed and eaten by cannibsls.
Ahe report was not believed. because a
te" white men had travelled up and
down the river for year or two with.
out discovering evidences of cannibal-
ism except in one tribe. StanltS's re-
Gently published book threw no light on
the subject Of Congo cannibals, though
IL did record the appalling rumor afloat
among some of the tribes that the
whites were very fond of eating black
people. The report that the whites on
the Upper river had become food for
the natives proved false. As was ex-
Pected, and recently good deal of in
formation has been brought back about
the cannibal tribe whose numerous VIII
ha3es line the river for distance of
aoout eight hundred miles from ito
mouth.
The Congo State is on good terms
with this tribe, the Bangallas, and has
station in the midst of them. 1t was
.ne bangallas who sailed out in their
oiS war canoes and gave Stanley the
nercest reception he encountered when
ne tlrst forced his way down the river.
As is usual with cannibal tribes, they
are superior in courage, physique, and
mental ability to the surrounding PEG.
pies. and they lord it over considera-
Die area. Mr.. Westmark. who has
lved among them for fifteen months,
has Just lectured i'm France on their
pecullarities. and chiefly on the prac-
tice OF anthropophagy as it exists
among them.
According to him they engage in tho
practice only upon the death of we'll
to-do or influential men. whose slaves
are killed at the graves of the dec eased
persons, so that they may accompany
their masters and minister to their
wants in the other world. 1t has been
the custom to sacrifice at least twenty
victims at the death of every important
person. Bound hand and foot the poor
wretches are beheaded, and half of
them are buried in the grave of their
master. The bodies of the other ten
are reserved for the big fete that con-
cludcs the funeral ceremonies. Native
peer IN great quantities is prepared
days in advance of the feast. The ,
flesh of their murdered slaves is placed
IN great earthen pots full of water and +,
boiled until half the water il evapor- !
ated. and then the banquet is ready to
begin.
The orgie continues for day or two
until all the refreshments are exhausted !,
and large part of the male popula-
ton is dead drunk. The Congo mis-
slonaries appear to think that the BAN /
gailas are sadly in need of reformatory |
influences, and they intend to establish |
station among them. Mr. Westmark
pakes the interesting statement that ,
although cannibalism has been prac-
tlced to a large extent among the Ban.
gallas, 1T has now considerably dimin.
lshcd on account of the influence of
the whites, and he believes that after
Europeans have lived i'm the country a
little longer it will disappear.
Among the many millions of savages
in Africa there are very few cannibals.
Schweinfurth found that the large
Moubutu tribe on the Welle Makua
were addicted to the practice. 1t also
exists among the Mucelis of Angola,
among the Bangallas of the Upper Con-
60, among some of the natives on the
Aruwimi tributary of the Congo. and
was formerly practiced to small ex-
tent in some parts of South Africa.
As rule, the natives who indulge in
the horrid custom try to conceal it
from the whites who visit them, and
nowhere does it long survive the growth
OF white influences i'm districts where it
has flonrished.- Chicago Tribune.