The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-03-04
THE CONGO.
Impressions Of Afrieab big Rivera
Lonely Place.

broad, sNiit uNsf below, hs AanF0
!, NaieR racing tldeless 10 IA. ga, laf b
III. dl.iano. si..n hank., strsn with III
vivid, luSafiani si,.nness II the tioiae.
! aud not sisn al his ~ the whole "a
/ panse, not a living eirainr, man % bar
! or beast saVr a great black aud white ns
! eagle sailing slowly ia the Empty sly, -n
b phasisihs the LONELINESS. acc.niaating u
b Tor the eagle rumrs H. lir! on the nNui
10 aud ih.H l. nnnr Ia h"lp, This l. lh
Congo,
, Always thea. !. III. lon.lin.ss Then
are towns BONA, Maiadi, banana, ii-ndi
Nolul, san Antnn,a bat they ars bn
small slsyks an the vast landsrai~. sifaw
driii~i and caught ia III. -,idiss oi ih'
! mighty river, The uNsr u Wide, ih'
month manN mile. Wide. there are eniic
ing gfvrn island. and many devious water
! aays that thirty YEAR ago N.W hanni"s
N pirate, there 1, waving srass iar a
IA. eye ran sse. there ar ragged al
palms and rlos.-lcayod hg trrrs hound 10
gcih,f with iNining cfrel,rr aud their az
icAihciy roroanui palms a. which tbs
breath al IA. s-a l. ia. breath IT life
Aud further "n the country changes
the great. high hills clothed with gIas'
breast hugh. rani- dawn Ga The hanks oI
either hand. CLOSING N the nver To IN,
likeness ri a gr,a, lake, aud all these fer
tile hills are 'mliy; there an no smiling
ianns 10 h"cks and hrpis, no traffic on
the water ~ human lie on the land
saw. in tlus. towns lew and Tar between
Aud from Banana. among the man
grove, ~ the mouth. a handful 1T whit,
houses iu.t about to he overwhelmed by
the great fiNrr. tn Matadi. the place OF
stones. Whence STANLEY set forth TO look
for Livingstone. every dweller ia those
towns. h. he black or white, j. for
cigncr, They have come for what they
can get: They are going home a. soon ~
they have got IL. II docs not matter
what their color. the end will be the
same
Bona !, a. cosmopolitan a. >uez itself.
The white men are English. French. Ger.
man, Dane Italian Spanish and the col
orcd people come from all quarters OF the
| Dark Continent There az. Senegale,e.
laboers, cariiers aud trader from the
French colonies. Ga men or liausas. arti
sans. carpenters, and blacksmiths from
the uold Coast. trading \ oruhas from
l.ago, and Bangala -oldiory, their faces
and bodies cut and decorated with dark
/ blue pigment from thousand miles IN
the interior. Every nationality Is there
save the Congo men Themselves There
Is not a single chimbeq of the natives
within miles Of Bona There Is not
tiny village within five and twenty. The
black men a. well ~ the white men are
strangers and sojourners in the land.
For the native does not like the white
man. He ilees before him and the evils
he brings IN hi train He fear him and
he fears still more the black man who
follows. Every vice OF the white man i
doubled and trebled in him. Where the
master is greedy the servant il extortion.
ate; where the white Is careless the black
is deliberately cruel and he gains added
power from the protection OF the white
man The lesson has been driven with
cold steel In their red fezzes and dark
blue smocks the Bangala soldiery parade
the streets of the towns The hot sun
CLEANS ON their bayonets and their white
teeth flash in their fierce dark faces a.
they charge IN mimic warfare. They have
eaten up many towns they would be pitt.
less. mercile%s: no quarter would be given
or expected and though they stop at the
edge OF the parade ground the langnid
white man. to whom they return. seems
hut a feeble barrier between their power
and the people they hold in check They
are only actively aggressive on occasion.
but still. now that the white man has
come. the native has left the river banks |
withdrawn himself as the fish hide from
the fish eagle.
-
years ago. and the traces OF that begin |
ming lie still in the streets Of the towns. |
In Bona to the beauty and Insurance OF
the tropics are added the trimness and
neatness of continental town. II
climbs up a steep hillside and the broad
river flows swiftly at its feet. Its white
houses are imbedded in greenery: roses,
yellow and pink trail over the verandas
the red hibiscus twines itself among them
it, walls are purple with Bouganvilea and
is planted with little gardens, gardens of
feathery palm and glowing flame trees
fragrant Persian lilac and gorgeous Pride
Of Barbados. the seats are shaded by the
heavily scented temple trees, and there is
4 banda band to discourse the music OF
The opera and the boulevard. But every
little pathway in those gardens, many a
street in the town itself, is marked out
With great fat white shells--shells that
,ome from nowhere on the coast but Were
brought from Brazil, ballast in the slave
hips that came over to exploit the Congo
100 years ago.
That was the first trade that came to !,
hese shores, inquitous, but bringing to |
Africa for veal or woe her first glimpse
# civilization, and for all its seeming
esolation trade goes on. not in slaves
low but in palm oil and palm kernels, !
ubber, and ivory. a steamer comes into
he river and seeks out the trading sta /,
ions. lou may see the whole place from
he ship's decks as she lies tied up to :
rec 4 fierce, hot sun pours down on the !
title clearing, glare is reflected from I
he white earth, there is white factory ;
18th shrieking tatterdemalions rolling oil I
asks out of its doors down to the water, G
here is another white house. perhaps v
wo. and a tumbedown shelter or two for
he black helpers There is a white man, t
ometimes two. and the red Union Jack Ii
wing from one of the factories proclaims ii
English white woman on the veranda /
iarks it French or Belgian. for these il
omen dare more than the English !;
In outward sembance the places are all k
like. Around is the dense bush, man s
rove, palm. wild fig and grass breast n
Ugh. Set the station among thick bush j
nd in low land and YOU have Melale or p
ave Noqui. They all seem very much s
lone. very far apart There may be r
by land but it is not evi-
emit They always give one the feeling
nat they are law unto themselves. u
andful of men working for their own az
.grandizement answerable to none. be- Ia
oden to none. bound only to Europe by &C
We steamer that comes once a fortnight M
But at Matadi where the rapids begin lie
III beyond Whlch no ocean-gOlng snip can :,
}, Africa and Europe really meet Here OF
e the depots of both missionaries and tr
aders. here to exchange for the manu- Is
ctured goods of the old world Africa pc
'ings her raw materials. and here the m
lway races into the interior The town
Is none of the glamor of the tropics, to
me of the teeming life of tropical Africa pr
'out it. The land is poor and yellow, be
e steep hillsdes are stony and sterile. |
e sun pours down and the stones re- We
rt and hold the glare. the very paths at
e of rough flags hot to the feet and b
carving to the eyes. The houses are go
ont ,,hitn Ll1illinnS fnnfnriac and ,n;I