AMONG CONGO CANNIBALS
Boloki Man and his Wife
Notice the cicatrice on the man’s forehead and on the woman’s stomach. The brass ring round her neck in some cases weighs as much as 28 lbs. In her hand she is holding a paddle.
PREFACE
The object of the author throughout these pages hasbeen to give an account of his experiences among theBoloki (or Bangala), and a description of the manners,habits, customs, etc., of this interesting people amidst whomhe lived in closest intimacy as a missionary. The author wentto the Congo in 1881, hence his residence in what has beenaptly called “Darkest Africa” covers a period of thirty years—fifteenof which were spent in other parts of the Congo, andfifteen amongst the Boloki people. These pages, however, arenot a record of missionary life and work, but a descriptionof primitive life and native organizations, of Africanmythology, superstition, and witchcraft, and of barbaritiesthat are the natural outcome of the native’s view of life.
The writer, from the very first days of his life amongst theBoloki folk, kept extensive and careful notes of all that he sawand heard around him. The anthropology and folk-lore ofthe people have always been interesting subjects to him; andwhile reducing the language to writing, a task which demandeda clear understanding of the various words in use and the customswhich they often describe, he was gaining an insight intothe native life and mode of thought only vouchsafed to thosewho have won the confidence of a savage people, and are livingin close and sympathetic touch with them.
The author has no particular anthropological axe to grind,but has tried to give in plain language what he has seen andhear