Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 237, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1910 — Cannibals of Africa and Their Deeds [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cannibals of Africa and Their Deeds

By CAPTAIN GUY BURROWS

Formerly Commandant Congo Free State

N THE main my observations upon the degrading vice of cannibalism agree with those of other explorers. Livingston for a long time Refused to believe in the practice until the inexorable logic of facts forced conviction on him when he came in contact with the Manyema. Both Mr. Herbert Ward, the author of a note on “The Origin and Distribu-

tion of Cannibalism,” and Mr. S. L. Hinde, author of “The Falk of the Congo Arabs,” allude to it. In noting the various theories we tnust remember that, with few exceptions, the lower animals will not devour their own kind. "Dog will not eat dog” is an old saying, but we know that if one wolf falls in a pack pursuing a sleigh the rest of the pack will stop to eat him, and that certain snakes will devour each other. Fierce hunger has driven men of our own race, as a last resource in the pinch of hunger, to satisfy their craving in this terrible way. Sailors in a boat or on, a raft have killed their fellows for food, and it is a sailor’s grewBome tradition that the liver alone in such case should be eaten, as being the most digestible. This theory came out with horrible vividness in the trial of the men of the Mignonette, who were indicted and convicted of manslaughter for the Slaying of a boy, who was the youngest in the boat. Our laws lay it down that under no circumstances is it lawful to take a fellow creature’s life; but hunger and the dread of death will override all law and induce Buch fearful tragedies. In the practices I am about to describe, however, hunger is not a factor; superstition and depraved appetite being the sole incentives. There Is an extraordinary religious sentiment connected with this custom. As we have said, the flesh of relatives is never eaten, and some tribes forbid the use of human flesh to all women. That a cannibal can be kind and affectionate I and others have observed, and no evil results seem to Tollow from the habit; indeed, from sanitary and scientific points of view, there seems to be no reason why the flesh of man, properly cooked, should not be nutritious. The wonder comes in when we find, as did Livingston, that in countries rich in foods, animal and farinaceous, the awful custom is continued. I HUNGER ABOVE ALL LAWS. Food superstitions are many and mysterious, but they will all give way under the pressure of hunger; thus a good Jew will never, if he can help it, eat the flesh of pig or blood; but if he were so driven by force of circumstances that he had nothing else to eat, he assuredly would devour them sooner than starve. So, too, a good Roman Catholic eats no meat on Friday; but such fasting would be foolish and impossible if life itself were at stake. These and other considerations (such, for instance as the love of a Red Indian for a “rib-roast*’ of dog) indicate that the real origin of cannibalism was hunger and that by a process of heredity and warlike proclivities it grew into a cult. The people who practice it see in it no wTong; so that nothing but punishment and the gradual progress of civilization can be expected to eradicate the evil. Happily it is now slowly disappearing, and the natives are beginning to be ashamed of a practice which degrades them in the eyes of those with whom they desire to stand well. Notwithstanding its obvious and vital interests, writers on equatorial Africa, who must of necessity have encountered races among whom this practice was a part of every-day life, seem, intentionally or otherwise, either to have misled their readers or to have slurred over all unpleasant details. None seem to have gone to any pains in order to establish the accuracy of the statements they put forward, or to confirm bare assertions founded either upop hearsay or conjecture. On the plea of wishing to avoid a distasteful subject, and quite ignoring its social and scientific aspect and Value, many travelers have deliberately suppressed their notes, or still worse, have gone out of their way to give false information—fearful lest the truth should offend. HISTORY OF CANNIBALISM. Much has, however, been said by various writers on wbat may be called the theoretical side of cannibalism; by which I mean speculation as to its origin, its history and its effects upon the people who practice it In a geographical journal for July, 1893, we find the following words: “Cannibalism ‘seems to have prevailed to a considerable extent among primitive inhabitants of Europe, and still more in America. The fact that no traces of it dating back to paleolithic times, while the lower animals rarely devour their own species, seems to show that a certain degree of intelligence was first attained.” With this may be compared the remark of Peschel that the custom is most prevalent among tribes distinguished by a certain social advance. While instances of resort to human fiesh as food in times of iamine are widely diffused, the most common cause seems to be the well-known superstition that by eating the heart or

other part of an enemy, to which the practice Is often restricted, his prowess is assimilated and acquired. A true note is struck ,when the writer we have quoted says that this habit, begun from some necessity, is “afterwards persisted in from choice.” In Manyemaland and other districts of the Congo Free State human sacrifices and religious rites are wholly distinct from cannibalism, which is persisted in deliberately. Livingston, who was the first Englishman to cross the "Manyema country, traveled through the district in company with a party of Arab slavetraders, under whose protection he placed himself in 1869—-not from choice, but as the only means by which it was possible for him to penetrate Into those dangerous parts. The journey was protracted; halts were long and frequent, and so he was enabled to watch closely the habits, haunts and customs of the Manyema people. LIVINGSTON'S TESTIMONY. Very slowly and with gFeat reluctance Livingston became convinced that, from whatever cause their cannibalism might have originated, it had then nothing to do with superstition or religious rites. The natives made no endeavor to conceal their liking for human flesh, and the great traveler could no longer close his eyes to a self-evident fact. Since the country was full of animal and vegetable food, and starvation was an impossible plea, cannibalism could alone be accounted for by the assumption that it was the result of a depraved appetite, or the outcome or greediness. “Yet,’ said Livingston, “they are a fine looking race; I would back a companv of Manyema men to be far superior .in shape of head, end generally in physical form, to the whole Anthropological society.” This unnatural practice stands by itself, seeming not in any way to affect or retard the development of the better emotions. Thus, tribes to whoa cannibalism is quite foreign are in many cases more bloodthirsty and far less advanced, both morally and socially, than others openly addicted to it. It does not follow at all that because the natives of the interior evince a liking for human flesh they are, on the whole, inferior to those woo treat the practice with contempt and abhorrenceft On this subject Mr. Herbert Ward, author of "Five Years Among the Congo Cannibals," makes the following statement: “It must not be supposed that the cannibal tribes of the interior are altogether brutal in every action of life. On the contrary, I have observed more frequent traits of affection for wife and children than are exhibited in the conduct of domestic affairs among the people of the lower or Ba Congo country, who are not cannibals.” Thirf remark coincides so exactly with my own observations that I am glad to quote it in full. PIGMIES NOT CANNIBALS. The same argument applies also to the dwarfs or pigmy races of Central Africa, who are of a very low type. They build the worst huts of any people in the district; they have no arts, nor do they till the soil. Nomadic to the utmost degree, they subsist almost by hunting, trapping and fishing. Yet they will starve sooner than eat human flesh. In this I am confirmed by Cassati, who, in his “Ten Years in Equatorial Africa,” gives ample testimony, instancing a fight, and the reveling of the victors as they feasted on the bodies of the slain, while their allies, the pigmies, weary as they were from fighting, scoured the country round searching for vegetable food. Dr. Parke, by the way, in his book, “Experiences in Equatorial Africa," inclines to the opinion that cannibalism among the dwarfs does not exist, though they do not make a general

practice of it. “My pigmy,” he says, “tells me that the people of her tribe rarely eat human flesh, and are ashamed of doing so.” The doctor, however, made no attempt to verify this assertion, and frankly I do not believe it is at all reliable. I have lived among the pigmies at various times, and have had excellent opportunity ,for studying their character and customs, but I have never encountered a_single case of cannibalism among them, nor did I ever hear of one. If an Isolated Instance should have occurred I have no hesitation in saying that it was the result of imitation, for the pigmies are very prone to Imitate their neighbors i both in peace and war. It is a nice literary question as to how Shakespeare gained his knowledge of “the anthropophagi, and men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders.” Did he mean cannibals and stunted dwarfs? We shall never get to the root of his shrewd omniscience. The practice of body-snatching from the cemeteries is frequently resorted to in the Bangala country, where the inhabitants are habitual cannibals. As a consequence Leopoldville, the chief station on the Upper Congo, is obliged to keep a regular guard at the cemetery, as the Bangala are constantly coming and going, against whom several cases of body-snatching have been proved. This practice became at one time so common that nothing short nf capital punishment had any effect in putting a stop to it. MEN KILLED FOR FOOD. The Bangala, besides feasting on the bodies of those slain in battle, are also in the habit of killing men for food. Their method of preparation is a cruel one, but it is curious, and one is inclined to think there must be some hidden origin and history behind it. The prisoner or slave who is to grace the feast is not killed outright. Three days beforehand his limbs are broken, after which he is placed chindeep in a pool of water, his head being fastened to a log so that he may not be drowned. On the third day he is taken out and killed. This process is supposed to make his flesh more tender, but it is difficult to see how the Bangala can have arrived at this conclusion. Mrs. S. L. Hinde tells the following story, which will serve to illustrate the man-eating propensities of the Bangala: “When I was returning from Stanley Falls on my homeward Journey six of the crew were in irons on board ship, whom the captain delivered up to justice at Bangala for having eaten two of their number during the voyage up to the fafls. I was not at the trial, but the captain told me that two of the crew had fallen ill on the upward voyage, and had been allowed to rest for a short time. On the next ration day these two men were missing, and, upon making inquiries, the captain was informed that they had died in the night, and had been buried on shore. This, however, did not satisfy him, and having his own suspicions he searched the ship and discovered parts of the men, smoke-dried and hidden away in the lockers of the six Bangala, whom he was then handing over to the authorities.” The ordinary native preparation of human flesh for food is not so elaborate as that observed by the Bangalas, but is nevertheless carried out with great care. The body is first decapitated and cleaned out, after which it is held over an ember fire and thoroughly singed, until every trace of hair has been removed. Then it is carefully cut up into joints, and is cooked —as much as is wanted for immediate consumption—in large pots, the rest being thoroughly smoke-dried over a greenwood fire. But the natives will eat as much as possible while they can, for they are improvident In everything, taking no thought for the

morrow, and being ignorant of the most elementary principles of domestic economy. WOMEN SELDOM VICTIMS. When prisoners are taken it is very unusual to kill the women for food; though If a woman is unable to keep up with the tribe on a march she is shown no mercy, but is killed and cut up for food on the spot. This, bad as it is, may be kinder than leaving her to die slowly of starvation in the bush, or to become the prey of wild animals that infest the forest; and the blacks never encumber themselves with sick or lame on the march. It is the same on man-hunting expeditions among tribes that hunt for food. The women are not sought after at such times, but I have no doubt that if a woman were shot by aeeident, she would be presently devoured. The heads of those killed for food, as I have already said, are rejected, but the teeth are extracted and serve to make ornaments, such as necklaces and armbands, which are worn by the women. The hair, too, when it is not the thick wool of the negro, is used for plaiting into ornamental strips. Very often the skin is removed from the body of the victim, and is made into drum-heads. In this'fashion they are, if report is true, followed by the ladies of Paris, who, according to the latest fad, are said to carry books or purses bound in i a strip of human skin. The skulls are stuck up on posts around the village. These central African cannibals have not the belief which is held by others that to eat the heart of any enemy will give them his courage, or that by eating his arms they receive his strength. While I was conducting a punitive expedition against the Mabode, I saw

a boy hit in the shoulder by a bullet from one of the muzzle-loading, guns that are used by the natives, such as they receive in bartering with the traders. Looking supremely unconcerned and apathetic about the whole affair, he was carried to one side by the men nearest him. I called the men UP and told them to take him up to the camp where the other wounded were lying. They objected that he was only a boy and it aid not matter. I berated them for their insubordination and saw my order carried through. But for some time afterwards the men continue to grumble, saying I might just as well let them have the boy for killing when the work of the fight was done. The boy recovered, and remained with me for a considerable time; but the two men, as well as many of the others who had heard of the circumstance, were highly disgusted with me. and labored long under a sense of having been the victims of gross injustice. ~ ' DEAD ENEMIES EATEN. I saw another side of cannibalism during the same campaign. I was sitting outside my tent in the cool of the evening, after camp had been pitched, watching the men get their food ready. The day’s work had been a hard one, and a good many on both sides had been left dead on the scene of the fight; there were also a large number of wounded, and fewer men to get through the camp fatigue work, so we were not clear until nearly dark. Presently in the deepening gloom a man passed me, with a packet on his shoulders, neatly done up in banana leaves. I asked him what he was carrying. “Food,” he said; “food for the men.” I asked what food it was, and he replied that it was banana food. As a matter of fact he and several of the other men were going continually to and fro from the scene of the fight, cutting up the bodies and bringing them down in small parcels so as not to attract my notice as they passed my tent. In reality most of them «re ashamed of being cannibals, and are much confused if interrupted in their grewsome work. Nearly always after a fight, when they have cut up the fallen and are bringing in tfieT flesh, they will carefully conceal their tracks, so that if you wish to pass through in the same direction they will pretend to tell you a much better way. “This is a bad path, infested with snakes and wild beasts. It is quite dangerous, and you must cross a wide river, etc., etc. But over there, there is a very fine, clear, easy path,” and so on. But they will never let you pass the place where they are cutting up the bodies, If they can possibly prevent you by guile or force. The Bateke tribe, whose home is in the neighborhood of Stanley Pool, Are not as a rule to be considered cannibals; but the allied tribes, the Apforu, and the Bateke of the French Congo, follow this practice to some degree, as do a section of the Balolo, whose dwelling is on the banks of the Rukl river, and among the swamps of Malinga. Other branches of the same tribe show no signs of it The whole question is wrapped in mystery, but the authorities I have quoted, and my personal observations, practically cover all that is known on this matter in central Africa. (Copyright, 1909, by Benj. B. Hampton.)

CELEBRATING A VICTORY—COOKING THE FALLEN ENEMIES IN THE BACKGROUND.