The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-01
WHTrE rTcrrMs or C1NNTBAIa
More European Eaten by the Natives OF
the SIobanKi River, Africa.

the mobanKi River, Afrtcn.
The cannibais OF the upper Mobangi River
are again making white mon the victims oil
their appetite for human flesh. According to q
despatch from Antwerp. four Belgian CONNER
clal agents. in the service OF the Antwerp
Trading Company. have recently been killed
and eaten. The Mobangl River is the largest
tributary OF the Congo. and no rivers OF Eu-
rope, except the volea and Danube equal
IL in length or In the volume Of water.
Its 1900 miles OF river banks are dense-
ly peopled, most OF the way. and the In
habltants are the most inveterate cannibals
In the Congo basin. In other parts OF tho
Congo region the first explorers were able to
buy food with heads and brass wire. but along
the Mobangi these articles OF trade were not de-
sired. Give us men to eat" shouted the nn-
tives, and we will give you all the manioc.
goats and chickens you want. We don't want
your trade goods. and we will sell you nothing
except for men"
Grenfell. Van Gele and the other pioneers on
the Mobangl used to tell OF the expeditions
OF large canoes they met. Hundreds Of men
we're padding up and down the river bound
for destinations sometimes scores OF miles
from their starting point. They were not on
the warpath. but were simply on their way to
other tribes to buy slaves for consumption.
and coming home the bottoms Of their canoes
would be covered with poor wretches. bound
hand and foot, whom they had purchased.
About a dozen white men. thus far. have been
killed and eaten by Congo natives. and most of
the victims have been Frenchmen at the French
stations on the Mobangi. The natives have
never made war on the whites for the purpose
of eating them. Too often the Europeans have
been the aggressors. They have shot natives
because they have not supplied the quantity OF
rubber demanded Of them and for other insult
fcicnt reasons: and at last the blacks have
sought revenge by killing white mon. Impera-
tive orders from the governments controlling
the Congo basin have at last secured better
treatment Of the native tribes Mt the hands OF
the white agents.
Many OF the Batetela .ribe fought side by
side with the whites in the recent war with the
Arabs which resulted in the expulsion of all the
Arab slave dealers from the Congo State. The
Batetela cannibals are splendid fighters. but
are among the worst savages who have been
found in Africa. During excursions In the
neighborhood of their town. wrote DIR. Hinde.
Il on more than one occasion saw a public ex-
ecution. When the chief of a town. who is Of
course an absolute monarch. decides that a
man must die. he hands him over to
the people. The man is Immediately torn
to pieces and disappears as quickly as
n hare Is broken mp by a pack of
hounds. Every man lays hold of him at once
with one hand and with the other whips off a
piece with his knife no one stops to kill him
first, for he would. by so doing. lose his piece.
More than once, after a %drumhead court
martial. when a spy or deserter was shot. the
have said to us. Why do you bury
him? It's no use; when you are gone we shall.
of course. dig him up Hanging fetiches over |
the grave with a view to preventing the people
from touching 10 for fear Of magic had no
effect. These people seem to have no form OF
religion whatever. and no fear Of death or
evil spirits. Through the whole of the Bate
tela %coSptry. extending from the Lubefu to the
Luiki and from the Lurimbi northward for |
some five days march. one sees neither gray
hairs nor halt nor blind. Even parents are
eaten by their children on the first sign Of APP
decrepitude. 1t is easy TO under
stand that. under the circumstances. the Bate
tela have the appearance Of a splendid race.
These cannibals do not. as a. rule. file their
front teeth: MOI, do they tattoo the face"
Between 5000 ana 10000 Of these Batetela
fought in the war against the Arabs.
The fact that so, many cannibals were fighting
ment in. his success. THE teaching of the Mo-
hammedan religion" wrote DIR. Hinde. does
not concede that n man whose body has been
can enter into the highest heaven.
only perfect men are admitted. As a
consequence of this belief. the white Arabs and
other faithful followers of Islam would. after n
rebuff. instead Of trying to retrieve the for
tunes of the day. fee from the field with all
speed-not SO much to save their lives
as through fear that their bodies. in the event
Of their falling, would be torn to pieces"