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Show Cannibals of Africa and Their Deeds By CAPTAIN GUY BURROWS Formerly Commandant Congo Free Stato j fP own species, 6ecms to show that a certain degree of intelligence was first attained." With thts may bo compared the remark of Peschel that the custom la most prevalent among tribes distinguished by a certain so clal advance. While Instances of resort to human flesh as food in times of famine are widely diffused, tho most common cause soema to bo the well-known superstition su-perstition that by eating the heart or other part of an enemy, to which the practice is often restricted, his prowess prow-ess Ik assimilated aod acquired. A true note is struck when the writer we have quoted 6ays that this habit, begun be-gun from some necessity, is "afterwards "after-wards persisted in from choice." n 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 Foe- Ibbtezbkzi N THE main rny obser- w ' vatlons upon the de- I grading vice of ranni- A balism agree with those j ot other explorers. Liv- , 'jjfJUrjSi v-- iogston for a long time jfcyui553 refused to believe in k8fjSv the practice until the P fjjlw'y i inexorable logic of M fcSKw 1 farts forced conviction E IrxTVi on D'ra when he came BWA ' in contact with the B m i Man'cma- Poth Mr- 5 ill II lHalll Herbert Ward, the au-Rju(iu.ll5;i- ' thor a noto on "Tbe kWMiixvi'iail origin and Distrlbu lion of Cannibalism," and Mr. S. I Hlnde, author of "The Kali ot tho Congo Arabs," allude to it. In noting tho various theories we must remember that, with few exceptions, excep-tions, the lower animals will not devour de-vour their own kind. "Dor will not eat dog" is an old 6aylng, but we know that if one wolf falls in a pack pur.su- to attract my notice as they passed my tent. In reality most of them are ashamed of being cannibals, and are much confused con-fused if interrupted In their grewsome work. Nearly always after a fight, when they have cut up the fallen and are bringing in the flesh, they will carefully conceal their tracks, so that if you wish to pass through in the some 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 mtiat 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 tip 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; canni-bals; 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 BaJolo. whose dwelling is on the hanks of the Ruki river, and among the swamps of Ma-linga. Ma-linga. Other branches of tho 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 ia known on this matter in central Africa. (Copyright, 19. by EonJ. R Hampton ) how Shakespeare gained his knowledge knowl-edge of "the anthropodhagi, and men whoso heads do grow beneath their shoulders." Did ho mean cannibals and stunted dwarfs? Wo shall never get to tho root of his 6hicvd omniscience. omnisci-ence. 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 Lcopoldvillo, tho chief station on the Upper Congo, is obliged to keep a regular guard at the cemetery, ceme-tery, an the Bangala are constantly coming and going, against whom several sev-eral cases of body-snatching have been proved. This rractice became nt one time so common that nothing short of 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 foast is not killed outright Three days beforehand his limbs are broken, after which he is placed chin-deep chin-deep in a pool of water, his head being be-ing 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. Hlndo tells the following story, which will servo 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 de-livered up to Justice at Bangala for having eaten two of their number during the voyage up to the falls. 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 mis&Ing, and. upon making inquiries, tho captain was informed in-formed that they had died in the night, and had been burled on shore. This, however, did not satisfy him. 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 accident, she would be presently pres-ently 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 tho 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 a strip of human skin The skulls are stuck up on posts around the village. These central Af rican 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 uncon-cerned and apathetic about the whole affair, ho was carried to one side by the men nearest him. 1 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 did not matter. I berated them for their insubordination insubordina-tion 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 re-mained with me for a considerable time; but tho two men, as well as many of the others who had heard of , llehman to cross the Manyema country, coun-try, traveled through the district in company with a party of Arab slave-traders, slave-traders, under whose protection he placed himself in 1S69 not from choice, but as the only means by which it was possible for him to penetrate pene-trate into those dangerous parts. The Journey was protracted; halts were long and frequent, and so he was enabled en-abled to watch closely the habits, haunts and customs of tho Manyema people. LIVINGSTON'S TESTIMONY. Very slowly and with great reluctance reluc-tance Livingston became convinced that, from whatever cause their cannibalism canni-balism 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 tho 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 company of Manyema men to be far superior in shape of head, and generally in physi cal form, to the whole Anthropological society." This unnatural practice- stands by itself, seeming not in any way to affect af-fect or retard the development of the better emotions. Thus, tribes to whom cannibalism is quite foreign are in many cases moro bloodthirsty and far less advanced, both morally and social- Inc a sleigh the rest of the pack will stop to eat him, and thst 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 patlefy their craving crav-ing in this terrible way. Sailors in a boat or on a raft have killed their fellows fel-lows for food, and it is a sailor's grew-some grew-some tradition that the liver nlone 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 tho youngest young-est In the boat Our laws lay It down that under no circumstances is it lawful law-ful to take a fellow creature's life; but hunger and tho dread of death will override all law and Induce such fearful tragedies. In the practices I am about to describe, de-scribe, however, hunger is not a factor; fac-tor; BuperBtltlon and depraved appetite appe-tite being the sole Incentives. There Is an extraordinary religious sentiment senti-ment connected with this custom. As we have said, the flesh of relatives is never eaten, and some tribes forbid the una of human flesh to all women. That a cannibal can be kind and affectionate affec-tionate I and othera have observed, .and no evil results seem to follow Jfrom the habit;. indeed, from sanitary and scientific points of view, there seems to be no reason why the flesh of man, properly cooked, 6hould not be nutritious. The wonder comes in when we find, as did Livingston, that In countries rich in foods, animal and farinaceous, tho awful custom is continued. ly, 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 wno treat the practice with contempt and abhorrence. abhor-rence. On this subject Mr. Herbert Ward, author of "Five Years Among the Congo Cannibals," makes the follow ing 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 ob-served more frequent traits of affection affec-tion for wife and children than are exhibited In the conduct of domestic affairs among the people of the lower or Pa Congo country, who are not cannibals." This 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 tho dwarfs or pigmy races of Central Africa, who are of a very low type. They build the worst huts of any people peo-ple In tho 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 hla "Ten Years In Equatorial Africa," gives ample testimony, tes-timony, instancing a fight, and the reveling of the victors as they feasted on the bodies of tho slain, while their allies, tho pigmies, weary as they were from fighting, scoured the country coun-try round searching for vegetable food. 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 fleeh of pig or blood; but if he were so driven by force of circumstances circum-stances that he had nothing else to eat, he assuredly would devour thorn sooner than starve. So, too, a good Roman Catholic eats no meat on Friday; Fri-day; but such fasting would be foolish fool-ish 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) ,'ndicate that the real origin of canni-'hallsra canni-'hallsra was hunger and that by a process pro-cess of heredity and warlike proclivities proclivi-ties it grew into a cult. The people who practice it see in It no wrong; so that nothing but punishment and the gradu.nl progress of civilization can be expected to eradicate the evil. Happily Hap-pily it is now slow ly disappearing, and tho natives are beginning to bo ashamed of a practice which degrades hcm in the eyes of those with whom they desire to stand well. Notwithstanding its obvious and vital Interests, writers on equatorial Afrlra, who must of necessity have encountered en-countered races among whom this practice was a part of every day life, te'tti. Intentionally or otherwise, cither to have misled their readers or to have slurred over all unpleasant details. None eeem to have gone to any palna in order to establish the accuracy ac-curacy of the statements they put forward, or to confirm bare assertions t- i i CELEBRATING A VICTORY COO KING THE FALLEN ENEMIES IN THE BACKGROUND. and having his own suspicions he searched the ship and discovered parts of tho men, smoke-dried and hidden away in the lockers of the six Ban-gain, Ban-gain, whom be was then handing over to the authorities." The ordinary native preparation of human flesh for food is not so elaborate elab-orate es that observed by the Bau-galau, Bau-galau, but is neverthelesH carried out with great care. The body is first decapitated de-capitated and cleaned out, after which it Is hold over an ember fire and thoroughly thor-oughly singed, until every trace of hair has been removed. Then it is carefully cut up into joints, and is cooked ns much as is wanted for immediate im-mediate consumption In large pots, the rest being thoroughly smoke-dried over a greenwood flre. But the natives will eat as much as possible while they can, for they are improvident In everything. Uklng no thought for the morrow, and being ignorant of the most elementary principles of donie-tlc donie-tlc economy. WCW1EN SELDOM VICTIMS. When prisoners are taken it Is very unusual to kill the women for food; the circumstance, were highly disgusted disgust-ed with me, and labored long under a sense of having beeu the victims of gross lujustlce. DEAD ENEMIES EATEN. I saw another side of cannibalism during the same campaign. I was sitting sit-ting outside my tent in the cool of the evening, after camp had bren pitched, watching the men get their food ready. The day's work had been a bard 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 Pres-ently In the deepening gloom a man passed roe, with a packet on his shonlders. neatly done up in banana leaves. 1 asked him what he was carrying. car-rying. '"Food," he said; "food for the men.' I asked what food it was, and he replied that it wa8 banana food. As a matter of fact be and several of the other men were going continually to and fro from the scene of the fight, cutting up tho bodies and bringing them down in small parcels so as not Dr. Parke, by tho way, in his book, "Experiences In Equatorial Afrlra," Inclines In-clines to the opinion that cannibalism among the dwarfs does not exist. I though they do not make a general practice of it. "My pigmy," he says, "tells me that the people of her trlbo 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 oppor-tunity for studying their character and customs, but I have never encountered encoun-tered 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, Imita-tion, for the pigmies are very prone to Imitate their neighbors both in peace and war. It is a nlco literary question aa to founded cither upon hearsay or conjecture. conjec-ture. On the plea of wishing to avoid a distasteful subject, and quite Ignoring Ignor-ing its social and scientific aspect and . value, many travelers have deliberately deliberate-ly suppressed their notes, or still worpe, 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 what may be called the theoretical side of cannlbaltbuj; by which I mean speculation aa to Its origin, Its history and Its effects upon the people who practice it In a geographical geo-graphical Journal for July. 1K93, we lind the following words: "Cannibal-Ism "Cannibal-Ism seems to have prevailed to a con-s'derable con-s'derable extent among primitive inhabitants in-habitants 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 |