ONE BRIGHT SPOT IN THE CONGO.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2481, 17 May 1909, Page 8

ONE BRIGHT SPOT IN THE CONGO.

(By Fannie Sprague Talbot.)

So much has been written of the Congo and about the atrocities which have attended the arbitrary reign of King Leopold that the world has come to regard the so-called free state as a very unhappy land. Nevertheless, there is a part of it where the natives are happy, work willingly and aie treated humanely. Mrs Mathilda Frcdenckson has lived for twenty-one years in Sona Bata, Lower Congo, which is two hundred and sixtytwo miles inland from the mouth of the great river. She is a Baptist missionary and associated with her in the little mis son station known as Kifua-pronounced Kif.wah, with the accent on the first syllahle—is her husband, Peter Fredenckson, who has labored there for twenty-seven years, he being one of the first mission-

aries sent to that part ot Ainca. Nothing has ever been written of these natives, of their tribal ceremonies and family customs. Therefore, her narration is all the more interesting. In statine the natives arc small, in color brown, although now and then one may be seen who » very black. Nothing is worn by citliei sex' except a clout, which is usually made of white linen. Occasionally the garment n iwrthot abbreviated, consisting only ot a waist string with a fringe ot grasses Their arms and wrists are covered with bands of brass and iron and about tht.l necks hang strings of beads, corwiss native shells—and china buttons, these being prized most of all. The men have m the past worn their hair short, but now it is the fashion for both men and women to wear a most elaborate coiffure of pulls and braids, several days being required Units proper arrangement. The native huts are built with grass walls, thatched roofs and mud floors, and when dirtv they are torn dowii and new ones constructed elsewhere. In consequence, native villages arc constan.ly changing their location. 1 he _ head o a family dwells in a hut containing one big room'and an alcove bedroom, while each wife has a hut for herself and children, for .polygamy is the rule in Congo. 1 he wealthier the man the more wives has lie ; therefore it is considered a great honor to be one of many wives. \ wife costs only seven dollars in that part of the world. The marriage contract is made not by the girl’s father, but by her mother’s brother, and she is usually purchased on the instalment plan, they have no wedding celebration. When the last payment is made the maiden seats herself on a grass mat in front of the uncle’s hut beside the bridegroom, and to the latter the uncle passes a cup of palm wine. The bridegroom drinks therefrom, then gives it to his bride, who coqucttishlylakes a sip, then tosses the cup and its contents over bis head and darts a\\a\ into the palm fields. He at once proclaims to the village folk that he has fulfilled In> p,n-t of the marriage contract and all join him in his search for the bride. When found she is carried to the lint prepared for her and immediately begins to work in the adjoining garden plot. If cither the husband or wife wishes the marriage contract annulled the only procedure necessary is the forfeiture of the money. Slave women, however, arc bartered* away like any other chattel I pon the death of a husband all the wives and children and property possessions revert to his younger brother. Housekeeping does not play a very important part, in the lives of the women of Congo. There is no sweeping to ho done, nor dusting, for they have no furniture. They use grass mats for hods ami for chairs and they always cat out of doors. Just outside the entrance to the hut there is a little space brushed very smooth ar 1 clean with a dried palm leaf and about this the family gather at meal time. Hu a big banana leaf the meat is plated am. smaller banana leaves serve as plates. A iwt of soup is dipped into by each member when his turn comes to use the one spoon passed around for that purpose. Many a family has no spoon, an orange or lemon peel taking its place. Sometimes, too, a leaf is fashioned into a cone to servo as a substitute. Forks are unknown, but there are knives crudely made from iron. The few dishes are wo\on straw receptacles, oddly shaped and picttily dyed. The individual members ot the family, including the small children, took for themselves out of doors, the utensils bein"- a'l sizes. A wife is never privileged to eat with her husband. If he wishes it the children may; but custom forbids lie:even to look at him while he is partaking of food. Their bread is made from the manioc root, and on it they cat peanut butter. Peanuts and sweet potatoes are among the staple food products. These natives cat field rats, grasshoppers, Hying ants, locusts and caterpillars, the women ami children going out with baskets searching for them as American housewives wander around in springtime in quest of greens. They arc great meat-eaters. While they do not know what beef is, as cattle ire never kept here, they consume in quantities the flesh of the wild hoar, the elephant, the hippopotamus, and one or two species of antelope. When huutois return to the village with their game it is apportioned among all the families. The men arc fond of both fishing and hunting. They use spears for the big game and for the smaller Hint-lock guns which they load with sharp stones and pebbles, palm kernels, and hits of melted iron. . . There are no stores nor shops in the villages, but throughout the Congo countrv there is a market system which enables one to purchase, certain supplies on a certain day at a certain market place. There a week consists of four days, Nsona, Nkondu, Kongo, and Nkenge, and each market is named for the day of the week on which it is open. The women do all the work in the guldens, in which are raised yams and peanuts, the men turning their attention to the plantations or the plots where they plant corn and cultivate palm trees for nuts, oil,, and wine, also bananas and plantains. They have no beasts ot -undent, and their only implement tor barrowin'' the soil is a hand-hoe. Many ot the villagers are engaged in carving idols and fetiches out of ivory and wood, thus trade is taught by the witch doctors who have a great hold upon the natives. 1 hey arc supposed to heal the sick with chaims and mysterious decoctions, and to be able to dispel evil spirits. One of the ceremonies peculiar to these neopie of Lower Congo is that held over an infant on the day when it is one month old. The witch doctor arriving at the entrance of the hut, proceeds to chant and dance and go through all sorts of weird incantations for the purpose ot driving away the evil spirits supposed to have attended ■ the child since its birth. He then enters and brings forth the baby and its mother, to be seen for the first time since the accouchment by the villagers, and thereafter the feast is spread. A new-born baby is bathed often, sometimes twenty times a day, and as a consequence only the strongest survive the ordeal. The little tots are cither rocked to sleep on the' mother’s lan or gently rolled on a grass mat the while she chants monotonously or shakes a rattle made from a shell into which plant seeds have been thrown. The children are bright and vivacious and learn easily. Home government is very lax, consequently little respect is manifested for parents. Old people are regarded as burdens and put out of the way. They are taken out in an open field to starve or pushed from a precipice and left on the rocks below dead or alive. When a person dies in the home some member of the family goes at once through the village, be it night or day, and cries out the news, whereupon all the old women congregate about the dead body, under which a slow firo is built,

and weep and wail. They remain there for weeks simulating grief and drinking palm wine. When at last the body is removed it is taken to a wood, and all the relatives, friends, and acquaintances surround the shallow grave, each in turn advancing to tie about the naked body a bit of cloth, at the same time delivering some message. The bigger the cloth offering the greater the honor to the dead. Sona Bata is in the Stanley Pool district, five degrees south of the equator, where the sun’s rays are always horizontal, causing the climate to be most unhealthful. The average temperature is 90 degrees, although in the cold season, which extends from May to October, it falls to 53 degrees. _ Mosquitoes are swarming about all the time, carrying malaria germs. Another dreaded malady is the sleeping sickness inoculated by tho tsetse lly. , . The natives are fond of the mission-

aides, supposing them to have been sent direct from Heaven, and are quick to imitate them in their way of doing things, as the following incident will Illustrate. The native huts have only one opening, that is the doorway, but the missionaries, in building their board houses thatched with grass, always add windows. Mr Frederickson possesses a camera, and, after developing the negatives, he throws away the plates,* which are eagerly ftwMdwd up by tbc natives, who polish them carefully, then place them in holes made in the mud walls of their huts, and proud indeed are they who are fortunate enough to possess these windows. The people of the Lawer Congo never had a written language until the missionaries went among them. Now they arc taught to read and write it and have a geography, physiology, and a number of other books translated for them. Ibe study of French is made compulsory by the Government. In addition to the sixty-day pupil who attend the. mission school there are forty orphan children who arc cared for by the missionaries. They live in lints which they build for themselves. They also make their own clothes, and the boys enjoy the task more than do the girls. The former wear a sleeveless shirt that conics to the hips and a loin cloth trimmed with jrayf colors, for which they evidence a fondness, while the latter have dresses made in Mother Hubbard style. They arc musically inclined and at night time sit outside their little huts, fingering gui-tar-like instruments made of wood, with iron hands, from which they elicit music most weird.