Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-10-16
SEEN ON The CONGO.
Facts Learned by Some OF the
Latest Travellers.


the wor i'd, have Of course discovered
many things of suTpass ng interest TO
the student OF geography and its
kindred sciences 1t Is intended here
TO speak, not of the great discoveries of
sensational Importance, but Of interest
ing facts which have attracted less
attention
About 450 miles above the mouth of
the river the Congo widens into an
almost sea like expanse, and for more
than hundred miles up stream Il is
from five TO twenty miles in width. 1t
Is a curious fact that, tho gh many of
the Congo tribes travel far from home,
the natives along one bank of the
widened street had hardly a particle of
infOTmat ion about the dwellers on the
other shore when the whites first met
them. The great river was a barrier
that news rarely crossed, separating
the tribes almost as completely as
though an ocean stretched between
them. Here hundreds of lovely islands
so impede the view that travellers
skiTting one bank cannot see the other
\ Tor more than one hundred miles, or
course the river is very shallow except
in the channel which are not yet we'll
known, and steamers often run aground
II has occurred that steamers have
passed IN broad daylight without know
ing of each others pr ximity,
Many natives are eager TO learn the
results of exploring expeditions When
the more INTEL gent chiefs understand
that the whites are spying out the land,
they are anxious to learn weather the
lew facts can be utilized to their own
advantage. Thus when Grenfel re-
turned to the Congo from his 260 mile
trip up the Lulongo, the big Chief
Ibengo and his head men We're as in
qusitlve as an American interviewer.
They wished to know how far the
Lulongo could be ascended in canoes,
whether the natives were numerous and
friendly. whether they had ivory aud
slaves TO sell, and so on. Here, as in
OF er parts of the Congo basin, the DIS
coytries of the whites have largely
stimulated the inland trade OF the
natives. They now send canoe trading
parties far up tributaries where they
did not venture b fore the whites
pioneers 4 the way.
Native geographical information has
been T rely serviceable 10 the whites.
COquilhat says that before a native
answers a geographical question he
makes up his mind what answer is de-
sized or expected and replies accord
iDg'y. Won Francois found on some of
tie southern tributaries that informa-
tion given in one village was contra
dicted n the next.
Ore of the sslddest sights seen any
where IS a common spectacle on some
of the large tributaries. The Bangala
and few other large tribes along the
Congo have great demand for slaves to
be killed as sacrifices upon the death of
important persons, or TO be used 10
furnish forth their Cannibal feastS.
Unless they are AZ war the supply Of
slaves often runs short, and they send
expeditions up the Lu Ougo, the
Tehulpa and other rivers 10 buy victims
FOR their ceremonies. Another reason
why they seek the slave markets along
the Congo tributaries IS this, as a rule.
the further they go from the main
river, the CGetPer they can buy slaves.
80 II Is no uncommon sight for eNploT-
erS ascending the tributaries, to meet
PROFESSIONS OF Congo canoes laden with
with slaves, usually male adults going
To their own funerals, and often bound
hand and foot.
They understand fuu well the fate
from which there Is no escafe- The
richer or moTe important the family
which has lost one of its members, the
more numerous must be the victims
who follow him to the grave. This Is
one OF Airica's great cruelties which
the Congo state government IssuppTeSs-
ing wherever It's authority is sufficient
~ established to combat the ancient
evil.
Tie chief reason why natives on the
tributaries are wilder and more DIS
trustful than on the Congo itself is be-
4 faz 10 nF Fs4L-a h.
trouble always to patroniZe the slave
markets, but seize any man they
can.
While women perform most of the
drudgery of the field and house, there
- are certain compensatIonS for the stern
fact thai ..Esv telOng to the fair sex.
Women are not regarded rs lit subjects
for the boiling pot, and Throughout the
Congo basin. where Canni9allsm Is
doubtless practiced to greater--e1Stent
than in any other part of the world,
women as rule are not among the
victims. Then while the lazy men are
exchanging gossip in the village street
the women are pounding gram into
hour or delying in the fields. The rg-
suit is that IN some tribes the women
fully equal the men in muscular de-
yelopment. In the great Baluba tribes
the harmful practice of hemp smoking,
confined To tue men, has made them
conspicuous'y inferior to the womeu in
physique, 30 1t happens that in many
Congo household it is not the man
who "bos es the ranch" Many of the
women are credited with great ability
as scolds, and having the muscle needed
to back up their voluble comp aints,
they lord it over the household as com
pletely as though they were strong
minded CaucaSians.
Some very foIcible methods are en-
ployed for keeping up the price of com
mOdities on thu Congo, y while ago 4
woman's body was found hanging from
n tree on the river bank near Irebu. /,
was learned that the crime Of which
she was accused was that Of sslliu-
provisions too cheap to white men.
II we happened to be on a CongC
steamboat, which, rognding n sharg
bend, came suddenly into view Of score:
OF people who had never heard of a
steamboat or 4 white man, We would
probably regard the actions Of that as
founded crowd rs among the stran es
spectacles We ever SAW. Explorers sal
that every mode Of expressing astOnish
ment IS shown on such occasions, ans
that nc ors would find among these awt
ricken blacks 4 rare chance 10 studl
facial expression. Many stand aut
STARE, Wi Ia eyes bursting from theil
Sockes, and with wide open mouths
which hey presently cover with thei
hands, a common mode Of expressing
unbounde astouishmenr. Olher
stand 4 long time uotiouless, as thOuyl
Tiv eted TO the spot Stll others ar