Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-15
TWO MISSION ARIE S
NOTES OF A JOURNEY ON THE
CONGO RIVER.
Mr.. Morel Says That They Found the
People Everywhere Groaning
Under Taxation.

two missionaries, Messrs. Bond and Gil
christ. of a journey they took In canoes
last August up the Tkelemba river, small
branch of the great Congo river, never
before visited by any white man but those
connected with the Congo government and
the various interests which have exploited
that particular region" said Mr.. E. ID
Morel of the Congo Memorial Association
today. "Messrs Bond and Gilchrist, botf
of whom have resided many years In the
Congo, speak the Elecko language, Wh1cf
is the language spoken in wide area
embracing the Tkelemba basin. At Bondo
the first village reached the people were
found groaning under the system of pitt
less and exorbitant government taxatlon
The particular form of taxation levied
upon them takes the form of a tax In tsh
a stated quantity of which has to be tak2n
every ten days to Coquilhatville, the near
est government station. Owing to their
primitive appliances, the people have the
utmost difficulty in feeding themselves
their chief means of subsistence is fish
and at the same time meeting the tax
Their houses are neglected, disease due to
poverty is srapidly carrying them on, and
many have actually died of starvation
The old men said to the missionaries:
what have we to live for? Six days
in the week we have to work for the state,
and we have only one day for ourselves
1t is better to die
From Bondo the travellers went to a
larger village of 5000 people, called Bon
zambe. Here the people are taxed In gum
copal by the Tkelemba trust. Every ten
days they had to bring in a specified num-
Der of baskets filed with this precious
product receiving in exchange for basket
worth perhaps IA, rubbishy goods of a
value of sd! They complained of the scar
city of the gum-copal, the oppressive ma
ture of the continual demand, and the total
ly Inadequate remuneration,
The Rubber Tax.
At Bongwambele. the next stopping place,
the traveller found number of N'Gombe
settlements. Here the government rubber
tax was in full swing. Much fighting had
taken place in the neighborhood for years
past. A soldier was found in the village.
His instructions, he said, were to inform
the white government man of the visit OF
any missionary.
Every fortnight, each adult householder
Is required to bring in basket of rubber
as tax" Several men showed Messrs.
Bond and Gilchrist recently inflicted terrible
welts upon their thighs and buttocks re-
suits of foggings with the chicotte, or whip,
made of hippopotamus hide, because their
quota of rubber had been short. When the
canoe arrived alongside the village, it was
deserted. All the inhabitants had fled to
the bush, and were only induced to return
after ascertaining the identity of the trav-
with their babies and such household goods
as they could snatch up in their hasty
fight, they explained that they thought the
missionaries were men of the government
(Bula MatadD.'
After padding one whole day and spend
ing the night in the bush, the marchers
landed at village called Tbenga and went
inland for distance of six miles, All
around were the signs of former numer-
GUS population, in the shape of ruined vii
lagos and abandoned plantations-every-
where picture of desolation and decay.
The travellers learned from few scattered
natives living In constant fear of the raids
or the government soldiers, that the popula-
ton IN the neighborhood had, at one time,
amounted to nearly 10000 souls killed off
In series of rubber hunting raids This
remnant of once fiourishing native settle
ment were taxed In rubber and gumcopal
every fortnight. Here, as at Bongwambale
the natives fled wildly to the bush at the
approach of the missionaries mistaking
them for government officers.
The Same Tales Everywhere.
Pushing onward, the travellers visited
successfully the Boyenge district and settle
ments of the Baroke and Bafoto people, and
everywhere the same pitiful tales of crush
ing and perpetual taxations were given
them. Everywhere they found the people
terror-stricken, miserable and destitute On
the north bank of the river they found the
signs of a large population and from sur
vivors they ascertaned that slaughter con-
sequent upon the enforcement of a rubber
tax was the cause of their disappearance.
AT Konbo, in the Mombike district, they
came upon typical scene. A government
officer with twenty armed soldiers was TAX
ing the census of the village to attribute
the tax" At his approach the people had
scattered to the bush, and fifteen of the
twenty soldiers were securing the neighbor-
hood to seize the first person they could
find few men and women, some ten in
ALL were squatting, terrified to DEATH sur
rounded by the five soldiers and the officer
who was endeavoring to get from them the
Gus houses.
THE missionaries, their tour completed,
walked back overland to their starting
point, passing many desolate sites of ruined
villages en- route