OCR Text |
Show BURIED WITH THEIR HUSBAND Wives of Members of the Darau Tribe of the Congo Are Interred With the Corpse. The P,nrun tribe In tho Congo district dis-trict of Africa havo a number of 8trnngo nnd horrible customs, hut of them all their burial customs aro tho most terrible. When n man dies n largo grnvo Is dug. Tho corp'io nnd his wives these may bo nnywhero from two to twenty nro escorted to the hole with wild music nnd the Interested In-terested nttendnnco of tho entire tilbc. The chief wlfo Is thrust Into the hole, nnd tho corpse Is then lowered. The second wlfo follows. The dead man's relntlvcs then proceed to break tho arms and legs of tho two wives so they cannot got out of tho hole. The head of tho corpse Is placed In tho lap of tho head wife, and the feet In the lap of tho second wife. Tho rest of tho wives nro then thrust Into the hole, their limbs broken, and they aro forced to sit In n clrclo about the corpse nnd Its humnn supporters. Tho priest chnnts n fow words, nnd overyono falls to with rudo shovels, dishing earth Into tho hole. They never nev-er stop until tho grave Is full nnd the corpso and tho living wives burled far under tho earth. Tho howls of the wives with their broken limbs nnd fear of the tcrrlblu death aro drowned by the hanging of drums and tho yells of tho delighted tribe. |