The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-08-17

]
light upon the dark and saw
age conditions that encOm
/ pass them One OF the teachers OF the
American Baptist Missionary Union, In
| his annual report, tells OF a recent in
cident that occurred far up the Congo
| River among the natives living around
the shores Of Lake Tumba. only a short
| distance south OF the big river.
Early one Sunday morning. as the
missionary and his wife were prepar-
| Ing for the duties OF the day. they
/ heard a shout from the lake An old
man was seen seated In a canoe, which
| a number OF stalwart fellows were
| padding as fast as they could toward
| the little river that carries the waters
Of the lake TO the Congo. a few miles
north. The old man was crying in a
frantic and despalrlng voice:
"Mpebe ma Monkasa."
These were the names by which the
80 lssiOnary and his wife are known TO
the natives. The old fellow called
them again and again, till he saw the
white man and his wife standing on
the beach. Then hc shouted to them:
"Oh, come and save me! They are
taking me away to Kill and eat me-"
The missionary understood the sltua-
tion at once. The place Is not more
than a days travel from the mouth Of
the great Mobangi tributary OF the
Congo. The banks Of the Mobangi are
lined with cannibal tribes, and 1t is
one Of the greatest hOtbeds Of canni-
ballsm. Explorers have often told Of
the canoes sent out from these tribes
10 the districts a little south Of the
Congo for no other purpose than to
buy slaves or steal men 10 carry away
10 their homes for their cannbal
feasts. Here was an old friend Of the
missiOnary's who had fallen into the
power Of these savage forIgcrs. Not
moment was 10 be lost, for the canoe
was shooting past the station and rap.
idly approaching the foot Of the lake.
At word from the white man half
dozen young blacks launched a canoe
in the lake and piled their paddles with
all their might II was an exciting
chase. The cannibals, seeing they
were pursued, rcdoubed their ener.
gics 10 reach the river a few miles
north Of them. 1t was "A boat race in
dead earnest, and the stake was Il
human life. There were six of the
pursuers and only four of the fugitive
canoemen. The chasing party had
larger sum total of muscle and this
advantage began TO tell Slowly the
missionary boat gained on the canni-
balls, who saw at last that they would
certainly be caught before they reached
the river, Then they padded like mad
for the shore, and the pursuers were
only few boat lengths from them as
they run their canoe up on the beach.
The cannibals Jumped out and three
of them made their escape into the
woods, carrying with them a consider
able quantity Of brass wire, the form
of money they use In buying slaves.
The fourth man was made a prisoner
and was taken back to the missionary
settlement with the poor old captive
who was now trembling with joy as n
few moments before he had quaked
with fear. The missionary says that
If he mad not called for help he would
probably have been killed before night
The expected then happened. OF
course the SavaSes did not relish the
idea of returning to their people with
out any victim and with one of their
party missing. The white man felt
certain they would try 10 ransom their
Comrade, and, sure enough the crest.
fallen mancaters after a little while
appeared within hailing distance
They had brass wire, they shouted,
and how much did the white man want
in exchange for their friend. He
wanted all they had, and after consid
cradle parleying lot of wire was
brought half way to the station. The
old man said he was sure this wire
was all his captors had i'm the canoe,
and finally il was accepted and the
prisoner released. The men probably
made their way as best they could
back To their tribe. The wire was
worth only 81. but the missionary says
this was enough TO keep the old man
in food for over nine months, and the
fair inference is that the cost of living
on the upper Congo has been reduced
to n bedrock basis
The Congo State is vigorously sup
pressing cannibalism as far as its in
fluence extends. and therefore the ma
tives who indulge in the practice no
longer dare, i'm accordance with their
former custom, TO send large eXpedi-
tions out TO buy slaves. Now and
then. however. a small party engage in
the hazardous business. hoping by the
smallnesS Of their numbers To escape
the attention of the whitcs.-New
York Sun