Wichita eagle., 1889-12-13

capped by unnecessary qualifications and de-
void of its colloquial freshness.
"Here," continued tho traveller, pointing
to group of weapons that had as the central
point of their raylike arrangement a canni-
balls skull, ''are the assegai or spears used by
the natives. You will observe that they are
of various shapes, some being long and slen-
der and others short and broad. They indi-
cate different tribes. In close quarters-as,
for instance, night attack-the natives use
a short and heavy assegai, but in advancing
to open battle their favorite weapon IS the
long assegai, with which at thirty yards they
can hit anything as big as a D0tch cheese.
They are also expert with the bow and ar
row, of which here are several murderous
looking specimens of the kind they showered
at me while coming down the Congo on sew
eral occasions"
care the natives brave fightersg'
They are like all savages; If the minority
is small, they are bold, but where the num-
bers are equal, they usually take to cover
and fight from the bush. As to personal
bravery, there is plenty of it, some Of the
chiefs. being specially feared and distin-
guished in this respect. Stanley speaks of
one of them whom he encountered in 1875,
Mirambo by name"
This broad, sickle shaped weapon" said
Mr.. Ward, resuming his description, lis an
executioner's knife, used to kill and dismem
Der victims preparatory to roasting. A sin
gle blow generally answers the purpose. The
metal is fashioned from the native ore by
blacksmith, of which there is one in nearly
every village, and as you may notice is not
tempered, but this seems to make little differ
ence for the savages are SO much in the
habit of cutting up each other that they
rarely strike bone. They are good anato-
mists in this respect. Their ingenuity is
further illustrated by this curiously formed
spoon which has been beaten into its present
shape from broad bladed assegai
THAT they have an idea of the luxuries of
life is shown by these articles" said Mr..
Ward, turning to a large center table filed
with bric-a-brac that would make a collector
envious. Here is a bracelet composed Of
human teeth taken from the skulls Of those
who have been done to a turn on the spit.
There were hundreds of them, all more or
less blackened by the action Of fire and smoke,
but / looked in vain for one that wasdecayed,
or by any other sign showed that it once be-
longed to some unfortunate missionary.
Here is another bracelet made from beans
and worn upon the ankles. When the ma
tives dance and stamp their feet, the peculiar
ringing rattle Of the beans serves in a meas
ure to mark the time. This is one Of their
musical instruments, and its construction in
dicates that the natives have rude notion
of the harmony that may be produced by
striking longer and shorter wires resting
upon bridge like that Of violin. By push
ing theso in and out of their rest, you change
the key and get vibratory notes that are
more or less accurate, and are by no means
displeasing. This goddess you see here is
represented as tickling one of these African
zylophones and producing celestial harmony"
Mr.. Ward has a quiet humor about him that
comes out with the utmost gravity.
Here are pair of trumpets carved from
ivory tusks that must originally have weighed
hundred pounds each 10y Lave been
bored out and ornamented, and in the hands
of a professional can make a noise that is
diabohcal; a pipe, also carved with consid-
cradle taste and showing a knowledge of the
use of edge tools The tobacco is indigenous
and is prepared by drying and puiverixing.
In an emergency it is not bad. The natives
are habitual smokers. The baskets, shields,
cloth, head dresses and other objects around
you indicate more or less ingenuity in braid
ing and weaving. This bell, so like COW
bell in sound and shape, tintinabulates in
some of the native ceremonies, but is never
necessary in calling the folks to a cannibal
dinner
Here is one Of their sovercoats'-generally
worn around the loins-six strings and q tas-
sell The African dude who dons it is as much
in full dress as if he wore a postage stamp
and smile The women are even more
thinly clad than the men, although the style
varies in different tribes. One of the fashions
is to slit the upper front lip and insert under
it what may be called lip block about the
size Of quarter of dollar and an inch thick
The effect is rather peculiar upon stranger,
and conveys the idea that the wearer has
been punched in the mouth by a bruisar. So
little value is put upon ivory by the natives
that it is used for a great number Of pur-
poses. Here, for instance, is an ivory pestle
for cracking their grain and other articles
1t weighs probably two pounds, and its mar
ket value in England would be very consid-
cradle. This ball of native India rubber
makes very serviceable drumstick. Charms
and fetiches of various kinds abound, and
many Of them are unique In shape and struct-
with some orgie or sacrifice"
Among the photographs in the collection
was a large sized picture Of Tippoo lib. the
famous slave trader, a friend Of Stanley and
the general ''boss" of the natives in his neigh
borhood. 1t represents thick Tipped black
man, say 65 years of age, with good natured
smile on his countenance not unmixed with
cunning, and net unlike in general features
thousands of old negroes who may be seen in
the south In commenting upon this noted
character, Mr.. Ward said:
''Tippoo lib is only nickname. His real
title is Hamad Ben Mohammed 1t was my
fortune 10 remain at Stanley Falls as his
guest for a month, and therefore know him
well. He is not as black as he is painted
Until Stanley took him in hand on his first
expedition Tippoo lib was quite an unim-
portant parsonage. Since then he has visited
the sultan's court at Zanzibar, received from
that functionary a sword of Office, which
gives him q high magisterial character in
the interior, and become an important fac
tor In African affairs There is no doubt
that he is responsible for much of the shed
ding of blood between the tribes, for the raids
made upon villages in order to obtain cap
tives and exact ransom in ivory tuSks and
many other outrages, but from his point of
view it is matter of business. Lie many
people in authority, he makes the poor play
piper to the rich, and thus has accumulated
considerable wealth This consists chiefly Of
slaves and guns, which are rented 10 Arab
they agreeing to pay Tippoo for
their use in the ivory obtained on their ex-
petitions He then sends the ivory TO Zanzi-
4 l. / e