Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-06-27
PEOPLE OF B0LOBO.
ONE OF THE MOST CRUEL RACES
OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Their Chief Delight is Human Sucri-
flcc-Barbarous Ceremonies
Slaughter OF Slavcs-Thc
"ClIarm Doctor"

Al w esterh Africa aD0unds. Elephants,
butfaloes, hippopotami, untclopcs, will
pigs, and guinea fowls, red legged par
fridge and quail anon. the birds, are to
he met with in abundance on the grassy
plains or among the forcstcd hills of this
district, which is known as Bolobo. and
Is populated by Il large and influential
tribe OF Keen traders. These people, al
though not actually cannibals, are, ac-
cording to Herbert Ward in the Le1iqer,
one of the most cruel races met with in
this part Of Central Africa.
They seem to take the kccnest delight
in the sacrifice Of human life, and the
execution OF their slaves is considered au
advertisement of their wealth. As this
is Il thickly pcoplcd country, some dark
decd o! bnroIrsm is takin. place almost
every day, in connection with their i'll
human ceremonies. Sometimes slaves are
decapitatcd upon the death of chief
so that their spirits may accompany tint
Of the deceased potcntatc into the other
world, to add prestige in the form of II
spiritual rctinuc. At other times, Il slave
is brutally slaughtered by an enrayed
master, for some slight act OF disobc-
dicncc.
One of their most cruel ceremonies is
that i'll connection with the settlement of
long standing disa9rcemcnts. 1t often
happens that two sections of tribe, for
some fanily reason, entertain bitter
Srudgc against each other. This bitter
ness lasts until perhaps one or more Of
the Influential members die, when the
rest Of the community, weary of the fcud,
decide amongst themselves to come to a
settlement. a council Of inquiry is ac-
cordingly held and the most influential
chiefs of the surrounding country IRE in
vitcd to attend, and the representatives
of the two parties ut variance have then
the opportunity OF stating their case, and
receiving verdict ut the hands Of the
assembled chiefs, who decided which
party is guilty, and inilict n fine accord
ing to the nature OF the case. And when
this has been satisfactorily concluded,
some incident is required by both parties
to remind them of the covenant. Very
often, on these occasions, II slave is pur.
cliGscd; the bones of his arms and lc"s
are broken; he is carried to some open.
wcil-known road, generally cross road,
n hole is dug, and he is placed in it, the
earth being filled in and well troddcn
down around him, 50 as just to leave his
head above the surface. Any person
found giving him either food or water is
liable TO be served in the same way, and
so he is left to die lingering, painful
death.
The greatest enemy to the slaves
happiness is the Nganga Nkssi, or
"cllarm-doctorn 1t is the same there
as with the Bakongo tribes of the cataract
region of the Lower Congo. Upon the
death of any one of importance it is al
ways supposed tina, some evil influence
has been at work, and it is to the
"charn-doctor" that the duty is delegated
of finding ont the offender. As a rule.
some poor slave is selected, ana more
often than not, suffers deat! in conse.
qucncc
1t is not difficult to distinguish the
Ngnnga Nkissi. He wears variety OF
heavy anklcts and bangles, which are
composed of brass, iron, copper, and al
ways has many bells hung around his
waist, i'll addition to which he is decorated
with little packets Of bcleathcrcd charms
hanging under his arms. He is invaria-
bly, adorned with different colored paint
stripes about his body and arms, and as
sumes deep and husky tone Of voice.
Unless engaged in professional duties,
the charm doctor rarely speaks to any
one. The welfare of whole village is,
to certain extent, in this mans hands.
as he issupposed TO beposscsscd of super
natural power, his aid is constantly being
sought. When two villages are about to
make war all the charm doctors are par
ticularly busy in making charms and
finding out 10y means of mysterious COM
munings with the spirit world whlt is
likely to he tic result of the fight. Some
warriors are anxious to have charm that
VIII protect them from Il spear thrust :;
others from gun shot; and some drink
II magical compound that will save them
from an arrow wound. They visit the
nganga, state their wants, and, after
paying his demands, receive in return
some snail charm with full instructions
rs to their future course of life. These
charms consist, as Il rule, of small pieces
OF stone, beads, shells, dried flies, nuts
and beans, i'll fact, any rubbish that the
fetish-man can scrapc together. Some OF
each of these articles are tied up in Il
small piece of cloth, into which three or
four feathers are placed, to give them
something of mystic appearance; it is
then attached to string and hun.
around the warriors shoulders; hut this.
however, is not in itself sufficient; there
are restrictions and slight devotional du.
tics to attend to. For instance, the ict.
ish-man will instruct client, before eat.
ing in the morning, to put mark of red
chalk on his face; and, before drinl;in .
to tic piece Of string around his bis
toe, and stick bean in between hi.
second and third toes; hold q knife il
his hand, and have somebody close h,
with his eyes shut, and another to poke
at him with the branch of tree.
With respect to actual knowledge o
medicine and surgery, these charmed
tors sometimes display great skill, NOR,
especially i'll the extraction of bullet.
a man has, perhaps, several slugs sho
into him; some of them more or les
Il Il