Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-08-01
ON THE UPPER CONGO.
Human Sacrifice Among the Ba-yansi.
Beheading n Victim.

Beheading n Victim.
1.-THE revolving custom Of human sacri-
foe,' says Mr.. Glave, lis carried on to a
horrible extent on the Upper Congo river,
principally by the Ba-yanzi tribes. All
slaves, both men and women, are liable
to this barbarity. These people are under
the impression that q man dying in Thu
world is simply transferred to another
there TO carry on exactly the same exist
ence, requiring the same food and attend.
o ace. Upon the death of q chief his rela'
tives or friends kill about half his slaves,
men and women, to go with him, they
say, to attend to his wants, and TO serve
Cor his protection; it being very mira dig.
for a chief to make his entry into the
next world without a certain following.
The ome are strangled; a rope is put
round the neck Of the victim, a man
climbs a tree and ties the rope 10 q
branch, the woman being held up, SO that
when they let her go she is swung in mid
air in her dying struggles; these cause
great merriment among the spectators,
not thinking that at least q great many
of them will share the same fate sooner
or later. The mel are beheaded.
1.-THE victim is seated on a log of wood;
two stakes are then driven into the
ground, one ON each side Of him, and as
high as his shoulder; bands are then put
round his body, inclosing it in these
stakes, then two stakes are driven by his
knees and two by his ankles, one at each
side, and he is securely bound to them
with rope. n ring Of cane is then put
round his neck, with several leaders Of
string, which are drawn up and tied in a
knot above his head; q pliable pole, about
eighteen feet long, is then driven into the
ground nine feet from the mans seat. 1t
is bent down just above the mans head;
a small piece of rope j. fastened TO the top
of the pole, and the other end Of the rope
is made fast To the knot above the mans
head. This being nov at very strong
tension the whole tody is quite immova-
ble, and the neck i stretched to its full
extent. The execuIioner then makes his
appearance. He makes a chalk mark on
the poor fellow neck; then with one
blow sewers the head from the trunk.
The spectators n. this seem to lose all con-
trol over them elves. They tear down
the head from the pole, and there is a
ghastly scrimrIage for it, often resulting
in q free fight.
The Ba-yanzi, however, with all these
cruel customs, are superior TO some Of the
other nations Of the Congo. They make
pottery, neat wooden furniture and other
articles, often decorated with taste, build
neat houses, especially at the town of
Bolobo, and are skilled in working iron
and other metals. flbricating knives and
hatchets, which they sell to the Ba-teke
and the Wa-buma. They are fond Of
music, and the tones of their five stringed
Tyre and Of the marimba. a sort Of dulci-
mer, with thin slips of metal arranged as
keys on a sounding board, are sweetly
sonorous. They cultivate maize, sweet
potato sugar, tobacco, manioc, banana.
the oil palm and ground nuts for trade,
and semi-tropical fruits, such as the orange
and pineapple, Introduced from the Portu-
guese Of the west coast. They have no
horses or oxen and few sheep, but keep
goats, pigs and poultry; they catch fish
in abundance, and preserve them by
smoking.
The Ba-yanzi are not of the negro race.
according TO ~ethnologists, but belong
purely to the .'Bantu" family. which in
cludes the people around Lake Tan
ganyika and Lake Nyassa in Eastern AZ
RIGA and on the Zanbesi. Their skins
are Of a chocolate brown color; they are
well shaped and have abundance of hair,
but usually pluck out the beard. mus
tache, whiskers, eyebrows and eyelashes.
They scar themselves ON the breast, belly
and temples with incised MARKS denoting
the tribe; dye the hair and nails with a
red pigment and stffen their plated
tresses or pigtails with clay and grease;
often stick parrot feathers and various
other ornaments about their persons, and
wear earrings, ~noserings, necklaces OF
bracelets, while one or two pieces Of glass
cloth suffice for the dress Of the ''fashion-
able lady Of Lukuugu."-Nsw York
Graphic.