The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-05-02

fusion among the panic-stricxen men,
struggling up to their necks in the river.
No one could tell the cause of the sud-
den flight. All were shouting at once.
and expecting the next moment to be
nearly overwhelmed by shower of
spears from the banks, where we doubt
ed not the savage Lufembi must be
gathering for an assault on the steam
er. We endeavored to arrest the men
in their scramble, and were just mount
ing the scaling ladder when voices from
the darkness on top of the bluffs and
ringing peal of laughter caused us to
pause. Then came the tones of Bion-
clos voice relating the cause of the
panic, and the shouts of laughter from
the men who a moment before had been
risking their lives in their wild leaps
to the bottom of the river bank drowned
all our attempts at inquiry or reproof
1t appeared from Bionelo, who with
one or two more had not fled when the
first shot was fired, that on searching
for the cause of the disturbance, he had
found our three goats tied up near one
ing grazed during the afternoon, and it
was one of these which had coughed in
its dreams, or while chewing the cud,
that had startled Elenge Mimic, that
brave "young man." his slumbers.
His first thought was Of the Lufembi
and the blood-curdling cough being re-
peated he had answered it with yell OF
fear and pulled the trigger of his
Snider. Then followed the panic, the
hasty shots at an invisible foe and
the indescribably swift descent over the
face of the cliff.
We could not refrain from joining in
the merriment and chatting the unfortu
nate Elenge Mimic. The racking cough
of consumptive goat became quite
popular complaint on board the Flor
ida for the remainder of the evening.
Our next days run was short one,
and we camped at two in the afternoon
alongside a small opening in the forest
of the north bank, where we found dead
wood for fuel, as we'll as numerous ele-
plant and buffalo tracks, but none of
them very recent ones. The river now
was only on an average one hundred
and fifty to two hundred and fifty yards
broad, and it's general direction was al
ways the same, from the southeast.
Continuing our journey next morn
ing, we steamed on at a good speed
without seeing human habitatio or
canoe until the afternoon, when we ar
rived off a village situated on lOw-lying
swamp land at the waters edge, and
consisting of few poor fishermen's
hats. 1t was on the right bank of the
river and opposite the side on which the
Lufembi carried on their ravages.
The few fishermen about were aston
ished at our advent, but they speedily
gathered in fresh recruits from the
forest at the back and adjacent planta-
lions, and became sensible of the beau
ties of few strings of white beads held
up artlessly before their longing eyes.
When to these were added a handful of
cowries and shining tin plate and
spoon the leader Of the assemblage of
savages on shore could only find broken
tones in which to explain his apprecia-
ton of our kindness; and when. later
on, we asked him as to the country
lying ahead of US, he eagerly strove to
impart every thing he knew.
He was of the Balolo, the great race
of Ironworkers (Balolo signifying
''1ron People'), who inhabit the coun-
try bordering on the three affluents of
the Congo-the Ronki, Ikelemba and
Lulungu-but whose true home is at the
head waters of this system of kindred
rivers. The facial and bodily adorn-
ment of the Balolo differs entirely from
the modes of cicatrization of the tribes
dwelling lower down, or along the banks
of the Congo. The men we now en-
countered INDUCED their savage instinct
OF improving upon natures handiwork
by chiseling their features into hard
Jumps resembling Spanish nuts in size
and shape, which were impartially dis
tributed down the forehead to the bridge
of the nose, and on each cheek as we'll
as on the chin.
The shoulders and hollow of the back
were alike covered with these protuber-
ant knots of hard skin and flesh. The
women, in addition to sporting all this
display, revelled in an extra batch or
two of Jumps, scattered down the
thighs, which, if one may except mar
row strip of banana or planatain leaf.
fastened from thong of fiber around
the waist, formed their sole indebt-
edness to art for any covering The
men, on the contrary, wore a strangely
made little grass or palm-fiber cloth,
which terminated in tail behind, to
which was attached piece of monkey
skin, or the fur of some animal. Thew
carried spears and shields, the former
beautifully made of iron, their hats
with shining bands of copper
or brass, and the latter procured from
melting down the brass wire rods used as
currency by Upper Congo tribes. The
younger boys paraded about with bows
and arrows to shoot small birds, or thin,
spears, with which thew
speared fish in the shadows.
1t was our first glimpse of the mystic
rious Balolo, on the borders of whose
realm we now found ourselves, and we
listened with interest to the speech of
the old headman, who spoke to us
through Elenge Mimic, our interpret
er. First, he gave US to understand
that they lived in mortal dread of the
savage Lufembi, and that the ''big"
town of Malinga, to which he belonged,
onlv little further up river, had
lately suffered great deal. Many had
been killed and others carried off into
slavery, but that now all the scattered
Mallnga villages on the other, or Lu-
fembi side of the river, had drawn to-
gether and constructed strong barri-
cade around their united town, and so
had been able to beat off the renewed
attacks of the Lufembi.
In reply to my question whether these