Daily Yellowstone journal., 1886-07-14
TERRORS OF FETCH.
suPeRSTITlovs OF THE NATIVES OF
THE CONGO COUNTRY.
Ceremony Performed by the Man Who
"Makes Fet "-When Its Powerful
Aid .. Invoked The Crowaing
Act, OF seal.
Boston Heral1 ]

Like all aboriginal people. the Congo
blacks are very supersttious. but 10 what
extent theS believe in future state can
only he t,njectured They believe 10 the
exs ence of good and lad spirits. which
thcv brlieve are all the time lowering
around, and when one of them dies they
be ieve that his spirit or soul Is seized
upon by ether the good or the bad spirits
and carried away TO become one OF them.
Hence. wien native is dying, his friends
come around fire oil guns. and make
horrible noises, for the purposes of fright
enng oil the evil spirits What effect this
may have on the good spirits is not
stated
Their religious ceremonies are not Of a
propjtatory nature. or for the purpose of
warding o. danger, disease. etc and here
the fetch plays an important part They
do not make human sacrifices like the
Ashantes but when they want any favors
from the invisibles they bring goat or
chicke to the fetch man to be sacrificed.
and are given in return an amulet or
charm, or fetch. as they call IL The
fetch is the terrible, the unknown power,
at once the prosecutor or the ayenger &C
cording as its power is IN oked or
directed This the present informant
llluslIdlcu ny uu iuetuOic.
THE FACTORS .TR ,TE,Y
The utch have factory at Banana
point, which is approached by two roads.
one on each shore side Of the narrow pen.
iusula On the boundary line of their
property. on each road watch house was
established to regulate admiitance from
the outside But the laborers servants
aud "a lorS from outside came 10 in such
numbers. and gave 81 much trouble by
getting drunk aud crea'i g disturbances,
! thai the agen finally thought il best to
make letich, as It is termed on the
boundary line. They employed fetch
mau to make fetch This consisted
FIRST in bringing his let ch or idol on TO the
line. maxim figures in the sand around II.
aud iluurishes or signs around and above
il with his hands and arms. and then
taking chicken. cutting its head oil and
sprinking the blood around This cere.
mony was reformed on each road. in
about twenty -four hours time the news
Of what had been done srread far and
wide. aud so effeciually did II frighlen
the natives that they ceased 20 to the
Dutch factory town thereafter uniess they
had business there. They supposed that
IL they passed hat Ii aud made any
trouble. tney would b sub eel to the pen.
a,ties of the feIich, whatever they might
! be. and they were no doubt all the more
terrible be-, ause their precise nature was
not known
One Of tie chief uses of fetch by the
| factors on the Congo Is to recover stolen
articles Of any value, for unless the loss
be considerable It often costs more to re.
cover it b. this means than il is worth,
though the thief has Invariably to pay the
cost of prosecution II he can be held to
do it. " hen an article has Ice stolen
and the aid of the fetch is invoked. all
the men upon whom suspicion falls are
called out into an open place and made
to stand in semi circle facing the fetch
man. The fetich-which is a kind OF
idol made of wood, representing in rude
carving man or beast. usually with Two
heads-is first placed on cloth on the
ground the fetich man handling il with
the same care and treating it with the
same consideration as IL il were living
sentient being. as undoubtedly the na
| tives generally also regard it. lie then
| delivers kind of harangue 10 the men
in front Of him, telling what has been
stolen and calls upon the thief 10 own up
ana make restitution before he iuyokes
the power and wrath Of the fetch.
EX RN HEA~j RES.
In the ma ,ority of cases, this exhorta.
tion is |tctive. hut II not he gets down
upon his knees and talks and mumbles 10
his idol, making il presents of say bottle
OF gin, iece or more of cloth brass
wire. looking glass. printed cotton hand
kerchiefs etc etc. II 1t will only point
out the ihief-ihe things thus promised
being those agreed upon beforehand with
the loser for the recovery of the stolen
goods Having done this the fetch man
again calls upn the culprit 10 own up.
aud If this appeal does not have the de.
sired effect the fetch man proceeds to
gradually work himself up into state Of
excitement similar 10 that affected by the
Mohammedan dervisbes in their religious
frenlies in the course of whi, II he calls
down all manner of dire calamities and
evil happer ings upon not only the actual
culprit. but his wife, children. parents.
relatives. and even his whole tribe. in
Guiding his chief the same penalties being
invoked also in behalf of any one or more
of the persons who know of the theft and
will mol reveal it
Iuring the continuance Of this incanta-
tion. the fetch man watches the counte.
nances OF the men before him. and Is
quick to note those that may show guilt,
or a guilty knowledge of the act IL Is
rare that the fetch is continued beyond
this point. but IL. as occasionally hap
pens the culprit is still obdurate, the
last act of fetch Is begun, being the mot
serio cnm'c # all Tire fetch man. tiilG-
ing his id j will OF do his h dhiDg, now
Segins to upbrad al abuse il, and. to
larry out his harsh treatln, mt to the end
! begins 10 drive into its Indy AN eight