The San Francisco call., 1904-02-07


Copyright. 1905. by Joseph 3. BowieA)
uin describe the customs Of the ma
tves as ] found them. and IL any OF
my descriptions differ in some points
from those OF other travellers It will be
because We have seen variations Of the
same general customs.
Religious customs are rather vague,
Tor the good reason that there is very
little religion. The nnngonga, or medi-
cine man. is virtually the priest Of the
tribe. / thought at first that he was
an unmitigated fraud. and so he some
times is, bat he is also an institution
and plays no unimportant part in Sc
curing the observance. Of the laws and
traditions Of his tribe. There is more
method in his madness than at first
sight appears, and many Of his absurd
looking ceremonies may be founded on
reasons that we do not know. One
thing about the medicine man is certain
he knows how to keep a welI-stocked
harder. The best Of the fish and game
are given TO appease the angry spirits,
and he knows where they go.
] recall an amusing instance IN which
the racket Of the medicine man was
worked TO good purpose. one evening I
had given my men a goat for supper.
I'ulee. my trusted man, was the son Of
the mingonga Of his tribe. and there
fnfe knew the ropes. He saw that there
was not enough goat for them all, so he
suggested that as they were far from
home the NYamma Of N'Zoppa might
ina gine he was forgotten by them and
DE angry unless they showed him the
pleasant attention OF a goat supper.
Now the NYamma is q great beast,
who does all the dirty work for Mop
pa. such as killing men, tipping their
canoes. making mortal mans life mis-
erable for him. In the water he is called
X GOndera, and swims like a crocodile.
When on land men call him the Ma
mUtu. but wherever he may be the ma
tiVes always feed him. The supper was
prepared in great sOlemnity. Dulee and
his little brother, Wassy, were selected
10 feed il TO the N'Yamma. ] watched
with interest At about 10 o'clock that
night 1 heard a peculiar noise in the
bush. I called Dulee to me. He was
al excitement and spoke in a whisper.
asked him what that noise meant, and
he answered il was the N'Yamma Of
NZoppa eating the goat. All the time
the queer noise was going on in the
dark bush. It sounded like some one
talking through his nose. I went out to
the men and looked them over; they
were trembling and excited, but Wassy
vas gone. Upon asking where he was
fhey replied that he was at the chiefs
10 get water.
] seized my revolver and went into
The bush after the WANNA, remark
ing I was tired Of furnishing suppers
Tor him and meant 10 kill him. Before
/ made ten steps Dulee had caught me
and was holding me back. What was
going 10 do2 The N'Yamma would
kin me. He fairly prayed me not to
60 What an actor Dulee would make!
But ] must kill the N'Yamma. I could
play the part OF an actor too. In my
pretended excitement cooked my re-
volver and dragged DuIee forward
nearer the beast. Fearing I would
shoot and knowing that the N'Yamma
@as Wsssy. Dulee confessed. wassy
WIS there. and not after water. I said
ao more. but went to my bed.
ID the morning I asked Dulee il the
NTamma liked his dinner. Yes, It was
al gone. They had taken it to him in
q covered Dot. the cover tied on with
niashinga, to keep out dogs, monkeys
and any wild animal that might be
Vr0Wling about. N'Yamma had eaten
The meat without taking off the lid.
Then I accused Dulee Of eating it. For
a long time he stuck TO his story, but
al last owned up and explained how
Wassy made the noise by putting two
fingers in his nOstrils and then talking.
Dulee begged me not 10 tell the other
men, as il was a professional secret
which they had learned from their
father, and the men would be angry II
they knew how they had been tricked.
Funeral customs vary somewhat in
different parts OF Africa, but most of
the variations can be traced to the
operation oe foreign influences. Near
Brssssvillc, where cannibalism has
been long a thing Of the past. thay
embalm their dead by wrapping them
in native cloth, using abundance OF
cam wood TO paint the body red. and
placing It between each layer Of cloth.
after which the body is left to smoke
over a slow fire until the first rain.
During the dry season it may smoke
Tor months After this process 1t looks
like an Egyptian mummy. I believe the
natives got this custom from the Egyp-
stianas or perhaps the Egyptians got 4
from them. They put the body in q
sarcopha gus-looking box, cut from the
trunk Of a tree, but the white ants
leave nothing Of a mummy or box in q
few months after interment. The death
of a chief-provided he is a great chief
lis always kept secret as long as pos
sible. or until after the crown prince
ias been fairly installed; this usually
takes place the same Cay.
When a big chief is buried accord
ing TO ancient rites his favorite wives.
slaves and even his advisers are placed
in the grave with him. I arrived at
Bosagee rapids a few days after Ban
ga. chief Of the Dendys. had been
9suried with great pomp and cere-
fllony. Fourteen OF his favorite wives
and twenty slaves were buried with