The Pulaskian., 1915-10-29

quantities, and cocoanuts cultivated along the coast
 Firearms are not supposed to be sold to the natives any more. How ever, they are at liberty to buy gum powder for those still in their posses sion, although bullets are barred. They get around this by taking steel nails, wire and various things, cutting them into bits and using these for bull let's. You can imagine what happens when a human or an animal gets 9 charge of chopped steel nails in his hide.
 Excel American Indians.
 AS archers the African natives ex- eel the American Indian at his best, a thing that surprised me, while as metal workers there is no comparison The Africans still use great numbers of bows and arrows The latter arc three feet long, very heavy, and fit- ted with the most wicked-Iooking barbs of giant proportions that I ever saw. If one of those barbs entered a human, and he survived, it would be necessary to cut him pretty well to pieces in order to get the arrows out of his anatomy. They also use pol son-tipped arrows, which are fatal to anything living that they strike.
 Some of the finest examples of metal working I ever saw are pro- duced by these natives in their crude forges and with the primitive tools they make for themselves. Their bat tleaxes are positive works of art, heavy, but carefully wrought and skill fully finished. Their knives are the finest steel. They have a strange way Of keeping score with these same axes. Whenever an ax has done it's deadly work, be it taking human life or merely looping off finger or ampu- tating an ear by way of emphasis, an- other pair of eyes and another nose are carved on one of the crossbars. And when all the available space has been given over to these ghastly re- minders of bloodshed the ax is cast aside, another is brought into play and a new score started 2
 According to MT. Mcbride, the na- tives are, as a rule, well paid for their services, being given four to six dol lars a month and their rations-rice, dried fruits, etc. They are largely vegetarians, although game of all kinds is plentiful and much is killed for food purposes. The natives con- sider boa constructor delicacy out rivafing chicken, and are not at all particular as to the length of time these giant snakes have been dead before being devoured or the exact manner in which they came to an end Antelope, hippopotamus crocodiles and other tropical denizens inhabit the rivers and the forests, and leopards are so common as to attract little at- tention.
 Bona Is 46 miles up the Congo riv- CT from the coast Matadi, 9 miles further, is the principal seaport From here inbound cargoes are transferred to a railroad running to Stanley Pool, 240 miles distant. beyond the rapids that prevent navigation. Here the freight is placed aboard river steam CTS for distribution along the 5000 miles of navigable waterways that ex- tend into the interior. That short stretch of railway happens to be one of the most remunerative enterprises < in Africa in good times. Every pound passing over the rails-and there is no other way to travels assessed heavily.
 There are about ITO white residents in Bona, most of them Belgian ofil- cials. It is not exactly the place one would select as a health resort Live stock cannot exist there, because 1t contracts the sleeping sickness. Reeves are brought down the coast on sailing vessels, killed as wanted, and when the stock is exhausted others are imported, but no attempt is made at breeding cattle. There being no horses, carriages have no place. In- stead there is single-wheeled chair, called push-push. with native in front to pull and another at the back z to maintain the equilibrium Taxi cab rates are not exorbitant. It is possible to obtain push-push and two natives for six dollars month. or whereabouts.