Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-07-21
CONGO CANNIBALS.
MILLIONS orrHEx IN THE eREATBAsrr
OF THE GREAT RIVER.
4 Strange contradissisn-fAs csnnihais
Are the HighestGrade Natives
The Bsngala Tribe.

says. The practice OF cannibaism "a not
plesssnt subject 10 discuss or contemplate
IN is certain. however, that the recently dis
raveyed facts concerning The man.caters OF
Africa cannot fail 10 attract wide attention,
relating as thew DO 10 part OF the continent
where white enterprises are rapidly develop
ing and where the use OF human hesh ne an
article OF food prevails upon scsie never
heard OF in any other part OF the worio. Inc
canulb.ls Of the Congo Basin undoubtedly
number several millions oil people. Tney
are found along the great river LOT as
fsnc. az about 1000 miles. They thickiy
,,oon,e the banks OF several OF
,be largest Congo tributaries. and their VII
isyes are seen for hundreds OF miles both
north and south OF the main river. They
arr The dominating peoples in nearly or cutie
oue.hsu OF the Congo Basin, andJhey occli-
ny rsther more than onc-half OF the area oil
fhe Congo independent State. III Is among
these tribes, terribly degraded as they are IN
one respect. yet far superior In intelligence
and In capacity for improvement TO many
savage peoples. that traders and missionaries
and The influences of civilized government
sre now pushing. Cannibslism Is being AT
tackled tuits greatest stronghold oy iniiuences
10 which the practice Will certainly succumb
In time, just as In many OF the Paciee islands
It II new known oniy IN tue hhpory OF iol'
mer days Of savsgery.
IRE jacts about the Congo cannibals have
been very slow IN coming TO lieht. In the
Thousand or more pages OF Stenley's last
book the subject Is not mentioned. The eX-
piorer was too busy founding bis twenty sta
lions n add fresh facts TO the details In his
.sDark Continent" about a practice which
many OF the tribes endeavor to conceal. The
Nanyema. the first cannibsl tribe on the
Cougo river who were made kpown To us,
told both Livingstone and stanley that they
did not cat human flesh. When Stanley
found 81 a village above Stanley FANS huo-
dredS Of whItened skulls arranged In rows
around the huts, he was told they were the
skulls OF Sokos or chimpanzees, and that TINS
species OF the ape family was iayorte 1000
among the people. lie offered hundred
cowries for a specimen OF Soko, dead or
slive INIT n was not produced. Two OF the
skulls were taken to England. where Pro-
fessor Huxley pronounced them The skulls
n, a woman and a man. They bore the
marks OF the hatchet that gave the unfertu-
nate prisoners their death, and Stanley SAID
hall the skulls be saw were similarly marked.
THE middle course OF the Congo from
mint ahout 100 miles above Nyangwe TO
iolobo. seme 1000 miles down the river, and
the tributaries on both sides OF this part OF
the river are the regions where nearly all OF
the Congo cannibals are found. Ihey are
not known near the source OF the river nor
near its mouth. The traveller from Lake
Tanganyika to Nyapgwe on the congo
rasses through a country "surpassingly
hesuiiful.v as Livingstone called IL, which is
the home of the canniba Blanyema. When
q slave or carrier belonging to caravan dies
i'm their country they always wish TO bury
the body, Offering grain or vegetables in eX-
change. They make war on the weaker
tribes around them. To one explorer
they justified cannibaism on the
ground that their neighbors were
thieves and ought 10 be eaten.
"Tbey come here" they say, "and
steal our bananas, and so we chase and Kill
and cat them" The country abOunds with
a great variety OF animal and vegetable food,
and Livingstone said there was no reason for
Nanyema cannibalism except deprayed aIl-
petite. It must not be supposed that all OF
the Congo cannibas seek habitually 70 sup
ply themselves with human flesh. Most OF
them. Ike the Msnyema, limit themselves to
eating the bodies OF those who are killed In
hattie or who die. Cameron says the Man.
vienna consider the flesh OF men much supe-
Tior 10 that Of women. Although tue Man.
vienna are far more degraded than many other
hannibal tribes, they are noted for their gen.
tlepess and their physical superiority; and
their handsome women are much sought
after as slaves by the Arabs, who now sup
mort several stations in the Manyema cOun-
inv, and here as well as further down the
Congo are doing much 10 destroy the pTac-
tice Of cannibalism.
Cannibal tribes are regarded with fear and
adherence bv all who are not addicted TO the
practice. Had It not been for the terror with
which the Congo men eaters Inspired their
carriers, Livingstone or Cameron, instead OF
Stanley, woul1 have solved the problem OF
the Congo. This adherence of cinniballsm
extends from sea to sea, Horace Waller
wrote OF the tribes OF Lake Nyassa that 1t
was common TO bear them speak OF tribes far
away who eat human bodies, "and on every
occasion the fact Is related with the utmost
horror and disgust"
The denselv-wooded regions between Ny
Ingwe and Stanley Falls are the homes OF
many Thousands of cannibsls. The NMeg-
"a, the Was0ngOrO Memo, and the Bakuma
are the best known among these fierce tribes.
A large part Of the territory they inhablt
has not been visited, but IN some OF their
villages along the river human skulls are
found lining the streets. and human thigh
bones, ribs, and vertebr@ ale piled up 10 the
garbage heaps. "Ah, we shall eat Wsllml
meat TO-DAY " was the cry with which they
sailed forth aud there to do battle with STAN
lev. At Stanley Falls he sank into the river
the bodies Of two Of his men whom they had
killed TO keep them out OF the clutches OF
the eannlbals. These tribes, who few
wears ago swarmed by thousands along the
river, have now buried themselves IN the
forests, the Arabs having taken complete pos.
session Of the river banks between Nyangwe
and stanley Falls.
-Four months ago Mr.. Herbert Ward
paddled In A canoe for hundreds OF miles
down the Congo from Stanley's permanent
camp at Yambuga on the Aruwimi. lie
wrote from the lower river to friend ID
England have sent you large number
OF drawings, some OF cannibals, and have
now actually seen plenty OF DISTANCES OF
cannibaism." After three years pm the Con-
90 Mr.. Ward had at last come actually into
contact with the practice. Three years ago
when Grenlell and Won Francois were las
cending the Congo their Lukolela guide told
them thst Aruwimi cannibaIs captured three
of Stanley's Zanzibaris. who were part Of
she garrison at the Belgian station near the
mouth OF that river. Two Of the uniortu'
mates had been eaten, but the third, who
happened TO be very thin, was reserved
for fattening, and during this pro-
cess be managed TO escape 10 Ban-
gala. The explorers old not believe the
story, but they aiterwSrd learned that II was
true. The Arnwimi is one Of the hot-beds OF
canniballsm. Lieutenant Wester tells OF one
king 10 this country who ate nine OF bis own
wives. At Yambumba, ouly about thirty
mites below the stanley camp at Yambuga, OF
which we 30 often hear, some 5000 people
live who ornament their cabins with human
skulls. while many gnawed bones Of their
eaptiyes are found in the dSbI7s OF their
cuisine. Major Bartielot and Messrs. Ward
aud Rose are the only white men who have
spent much time in this region, and after
Stanley Is safely through his troubles they
will probably throw considerable light on the
subject OF Aruwimi canlbalism for the bene-
fl OF anthropologsts.
A few hundred miles further down the
river are the Bsngala, whose great villages
ere estimated by Grenieil to contain ,OOC
people. Though among the most Doted oil
Cougo cspnibals, they are regarded by the
officials OF The Congo State ~ the most use
fui, intelligent, aud tractable OF the natives,
and hundreds Of them are in the service oil
the Stale IS soldiers, station laborers, and
steamboat bands. CanniDaism among them
according 10 Lieutenant wester, IS parl
OF their festivities. Upon the death OF any