The Van Buren press., 1897-01-23
SMOKING TIE DEAD.
Various Methods of Disposing OF LATE se'
mented Relatives In the French congo

yarious Methods of Disposing OF Late s%s
mented Relatives In the French congo.
The natives of the French Congo haFt
different methods of burial. A aea'
slave is simply thrown into the push ~
food for hyenas and other "ild oeas.7
There was place of this kinti wltiilh
A quarter of mile of the Old miasiol
house near Mayumba and the first ms
sionaries collected the bones ana buflee
them. The body of a convicted criminal
who is killed by the witch doctor WIZ
easswood, is also thrown away.
Common persons are buried the day
after death in one of the huts in the
town. A hole about eight inches deel
is dug and lined with leaves. Then I
mat about five feet long and three Il
four feet wide is put in, and the body
after being wrapped in five yards OF cot
ion cloth, is placed on it and covered
with another mat, more leaves, ana tn
soil that was taken from the excavation
This burial is only temporary, until il'
witch is found who caused the death
This takes days or weeks, the time &c
pending largely upon the pay the doctor
receives. If the pay is large, he take
a longer time, because there VIII pe
plenty of rum for him, and this IS aboel
all he cares fer. II the relatives art
poor. the doctor soon finds the witch
and then the body OF the dead man u
placed in a grave on the edge OF TIT
forest
This grave is deeper than the first, ant
after it is filled, sticks are fastened
across it, and if stones are available
these are used to secure the grave. II
is necessary to do this or the hyena'
would soon find the body. Rich persons
have monument over their graves, but
common folk cannot afford this. They
place some of the dead persons prop.
erty upon the grave instead. a plate.
a pitcher, and a spoon usually are the
articles one finds. These things are
sacred. No one will steal them, moi
even exchange them for broken ones.
Kings and rich persons are not buried
SO soon. 1t often takes weeks, months
and even years before they rest in theil
graves. Their bodies are preserved il
a kind of way, and since the natives
seem able to stand any amount of all
kinds of offensiveness, it does not mat
ter to them at all how much time elapsef
before the burial takes place. Many
Yards of cloth are wound around the
body, sometimes as much as GO yards oil
more, and after this the body is place.
in a box as large as possible. One that
we furnished for Mongoyy Gernandt
measured seven feet long by two anc
one-half feet wide and three feet deep
This box is put into new hut and lett
there until the witch is found and killed
and until the relatives bring enough
presents to fill the coffin. After all this
is accomplished the late lamented is al
lowed to rest in peace.
There is still another way of disposinl
of the dead. The body is cut into pieces
and tied in wrappings made of paln
leaves, and then hung up inside hut
and smoked, the smudge being KEEP
going day and night. King Jim MOO
nah, of Coango, who diedin the spring o
1887, was not buried when we left in 1885
The relatives had not enough valuabl,
presents to put into the coffin, SO they
delayed the funeral. This old king
son and daughter both died and WERE
buried while his body was beinf
smoked. Perhaps he is not buried yet
1t is a strange fact that the native
never put rum into coffin, even if thel
have "a great deal of it IN their posses
sion. Funerals are very noisy affairs
Dancing, drinking and shooting are TIN
order of the day. The shooting is don
at sunrise and sunset, to keep the spiri
of the dead from returning. The ma
tives believe in a spirit world. TIL
| dead have town just like the living
| and live in the same manner, marry ant
are given in marriage, buy and sci
make war with one another, in fact
carry on all the yocations of life in thei
world, which is invisible.
The cloth and other things are place.
| in the coffin to give the rich a start i
| the spirit world. The natives say tina
there are ghosts, and for this reaso
they are great towards after dark.
has often happened that the native
have robbed the graves of white peopl,
to carry away parts of the body, in mos
cases the head, because they beliey
there is great merit in this, and tina
any chief who has a white mans hea
in his possession can withstand all foe
These things do not happen quite $
often now, because there are more Ell
ropeans there, and the graveyards al
more carefully protected.-N. Y. Sun.