The leader., 1897-01-06
SMOKING TnE DEAD.


nented Relatives In the French Congo.
The natives Of the French Congo havo
different methods of burial. A cca1l
slave il simply thrown into the bush a.
food for hyenas and other wild beasts.
There was a place of this kind within
a quarter of a mile of the old mission
house near Mayumba and the first mis-
sionaries collected the bones and buried
them. The body of a convicted criminal,
who Is killed by the witch doctor with
eastwood, 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 deep
is dug and lined with leaves. Then a
mat about five feet long and three to
four feet wide is put in, and the body,
after being wrapped in five yards of cot
ton cloth, is placed on IL and covered
with another mat, more leaves, and the
soil that was taken from the excavation.
This burial Is only temporary, until thu
witch is found who caused the death
This takes days or weeks, the time de-
pending largely upon the pay the doctor
receives. II the pay is large, he takes
longer time, because there will be
plenty of rum for him, and this is about
all he cares for. II the relatives are
poor, the doctor soon finds the witch,
and then the body of the dead man is
placed in a grave on the edge of the
forest.
This grave is deeper than the first, and
after Il is filed, sticks are fastened
across 1t, and IL stones are available,
these are used to secure the grave. 1t
is necessary to do this or the hyenns
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,
pitcher, and a spoon usually are the
articles one finds. These things are
sacred. No one will steal them, nor
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 their
graves. Their bodies are preserved in
seem able to stand any amount of all
kinds of offensiyeness, it does not mat
ter to them at all how much time elapsea
before the burial takes place. Many
yards Of cloth are wound around the
body, sometimes as much as 60 yards or
more, and after this the body is placed
in box as large as possible. One that
we furnished for Mongovy Fernando
measured seven feet long by two and
one-half feet wide and three feet deep.
This box is put into new hut and left
there until the witch is found and killed.
and until the relatives bring enough
presents to fill the coffin. After all tics
is accomplished the late lamented is al
lowed to rest in peace.
There is still another way of disposing
of the dead. The body is cut into pieces
and tied in wrappings made of PALM
leaves, and then hung up inside hut
and smoked, the smudge being kept
going day and night. King Jim MOO |
iuah, of Coango, who died in the spring OF
1ss7,was not buried when we left in 1895 |
The relatives had not enough valuable |
presents to put into the coffin, so they |
delayed the funeral. This old kings |
son and daughter both died and were
buried while his body was being |
smoked. Perhaps he is not buried yet. |
IL is a strange fact that the natives |
never put rum into coffin, even if they |
have a great deal of it in their posses |
sion. Funerals are very noisy affairs. |
Dancing, drinking and shooting are the |
order of the day. The shooting is done |
at sunrise and sunset, to keep the spirit |
of the dead from returning. The ma
dead have town just like the living,
and live in the same manner, marry and |
are given in marriage, buy and sell. |
make war with one another, in fact. |
carry ON all the vocations of life in their |
world, which is invisible.
The cloth and other things are placed |
in the coffin to give the rich start in
the spirit world. The natives say that
there are ghosts, and for this reason
they are great towards after dark. 1t
has often happened that the natives
have robbed the graves of white people,
to carry away parts of the body, in most
cases the head, because they believe |
there is great merit in this, and that |
any chief who has a white mans head |
in his possession can withstand all foes.
These things do not happen quite so
often now, because there are more Eu'
ropeans there, and the graveyards are
more carefully protected.-N. Y. Sun.
I'M,