Chapter XIINative Games and Pastimes

Make-believe games--“Biti” and needle--Game with canna seeds--Hoop game--“Mbele,” or Knife game--The story of “The Four Wonders,” or a puzzle story--Conundrums--“The Adventures of the Twins.”

After the first novelty of our visit had passed away the women and girls went daily, with dull regularity, to the farms; but only those men who were obliged went to the markets for trading purposes, or to the forests for building materials for their houses. The men and lads who were able postponed, out of respect to their visitors, all those occupations that would not suffer from delay, and gave themselves to games, asking conundrums, and telling stories to entertain their visitors.

The children had their make-believe housekeeping, cooking, trading and marketing; the older ones their mimic wars, their mock hunts and their pretended palavers. The small girls had their sticks, or pieces of cassava roots, to represent dolls,[36]and they played with them as such, carrying them tied by old rags to their backs, oron their hips as their mothers had carried the children themselves when babies.

The small boys procured gourds, old tins, reeds and small drums, and imitated a band, and they made about as much music by their efforts as their elders discoursed from ivory trumpets and well-made drums. With bits of sticks, reeds and grass they made toy houses with mud walls; and with pieces of broken saucepans, old tins and any odds and ends they could borrow from their mothers’ houses, they furnished themselves with the necessary articles for their pretend-game of housekeeping, receiving visits from each other, and inviting one another to their make-believe feasts. The older and more active lads played at hockey, on which they expended a great amount of boisterous, if unskilful, energy; and the quieter ones were very expert in using their fingers and toes in making cat’s cradles of many and intricate designs.

Bakula was always selected to find the needle because of his quick ear, whenever the following game was played withbitiand needle: The players were divided into two sides, which we will call A and B. All the players had a musical instrument called abiti, which is a kind ofmarimba. Side A sent out one of its men, and secreted a needle in his absence in full view ofside B, which the one sent out had to find guided only by side B playing simultaneously an agreed-upon note. Side B decided what the guiding note should be.

On the return of the needle-seeker, side B began to play theirbiti, and when the needle-seeker approached near the hiding-place of the needle, the guiding note was played, and as he receded from it the guiding note was left out of the tune.

The needle-seeker had not only to find the needle, but also to name the guiding note. If he found the needle, it counted one game to his side, and either he or another on side A went out again. When he failed in his search then it counted one game to side B, and one on that side went out.

Of course thebitiplayers tried to hide the guiding note by playing rapidly, and covering it with variations on the other metal reeds. A quick ear to catch the repetition, or the absence of a particular note was necessary for this game.

1. SCHOOLBOYS PLAYING HOCKEY.1. SCHOOLBOYS PLAYING HOCKEY.

1. SCHOOLBOYS PLAYING HOCKEY.

2. AT THE GIANT STRIDE.2. AT THE GIANT STRIDE.

2. AT THE GIANT STRIDE.

3. GYMNASTICS.3. GYMNASTICS.

3. GYMNASTICS.

One day Bakula stopped to watch the following game that was being played by some lads. The beautiful, round, black seeds of the canna plant, which grows wild in most parts of Congo, are calledloso, and that is also the name of the game. These seeds are about the size of peas.

The players are divided into two sides, which for clearness we will call A and B, and they form a circle as they sit on the ground. Side A plays first, and the thrower takes about twenty seeds in each hand. He throws them out from his hands alternately, counting, as he throws, one, two, three, and so on up to ten, and the rest he throws helter-skelter over the cleared space in front of him, yet in such a way as not to disarrange the positions of the first ten seeds thrown; but he tries to do it as indifferently as he possibly can.

Now before beginning to throw the seeds, side A has agreed among themselves that seed numberfiveshall be the playing seed; so the seeds having been thrown, one lad on the side A withdraws out of sight and hearing. Then if side B has spotted the playing seedfive, they pick it up and say: “That is the seed, and its number isfive.” That counts as one game to them. If, however, they have not spotted the right seed and pick up the wrong one, then a lad on side A touches the right seed, and the one who left the circle is called back and picks up the seed that was touched by the player on his side. That then counts as one game to them--to side A. Any touching or picking up of the wrong seed by a player is counted as a game to the other side.

Supposing that side A says that seedfive, which side B touched, is not the playing seed, then side B removes it, and one on side A to carry on the cheat touches, say, seedeight, then the lad who left is recalled and, of course, he finds seedfiveis gone, and should he try to help the cheating by picking up another seed he must declare its number, and there is every probability that he will not by chance pick up seedeight, and also declare the same number as the boy who touched it.

To find out the right seed and number the opponents have to watch the throwing for any hesitation at a particular number, or to see if a seed is purposely thrown to one side; they have to listen for any emphasis on a particular number, and also watch the eyes of their opponents to see if they are all looking towards one particular seed.

Again, the lad who leaves the circle must carry away with him a clear plan of how the seeds lay, so that he may be sure of picking up the right one, as any blunder made counts as a game to the other side.

The boys of the town had another game of which they were very fond. It was played with a hoop, and each player had a string two or three yards long and weighted at each end. Sides werearranged which had to take their stand in “towns” from twenty to twenty-five yards apart. The hoop is trundled from side A towards side B, and as it approaches side B all the players on that side throw their weighted strings (or toy bolases) at it so as to entangle it, and the boy whose “bolas” entangles the hoop picks up one end of his string and swings the hoop round and round his head as he walks with it towards side A. Should he deposit it in their town without dropping the hoop from the bolas, it counts one game to side B. If the hoop is either not entangled, or drops while being whirled, the game counts to the other side,i. e.to side A. Sometimes the winner is challenged to whirl the hoop near the ground and to jump over it while spinning without its touching the ground.

If two or more strings entangle the hoop, then the boys owning those strings must carry the hoop between them. The hoop must on no consideration be touched by the hands of those on side B, unless no string entangles it, when it is thrown back to side A and counts as one game to them. After a set of twenty games the other side trundles the hoop. A modification is made in the game by throwing the hoop in the air.

The next game that I observed, and the last that I shall describe, is calledMbele(or Knife). Itis played either by the hands and arms, or feet and legs, or by moving the knees only. The players form a line, and the first lad in the line is called “King.” The “King” when he begins the game faces the lad who stood next to him, and throws out both his hands, draws them back to his breast, waves them in front of himself parallel with his breast, and after making several feints he shoots out one hand. If the lad standing in opposition to him is able to meet the “thrust” three times by throwing out the corresponding hand, the “King” has to take his place at the bottom of the line. If, however, no one in the line is able to meet the “thrust” after three tries, then the last lad in the line is called a “slave,” and stands out of the game.

The “King,” who is generally an expert player, will sometimes go up and down the line until all the players are “slaves” and he wins. Should the “King” be out in going down the line, then when all become “slaves” to another he has the privilege of winning them back, if he can, from the last one in by playing him.

There are many modifications in the game. The movements are very rapid and cause a great amount of amusement, and help to train the eyes and render the limbs very supple.

Among other games played were “touch,” akind of “hunt the slipper,” with a palm-nut as the “slipper”; “tipit” was also played by the boys sitting in a ring and passing a palm-nut from one to another, and the lad in the centre had to catch the boy who really had the nut and they changed places. Hopping the longest on one leg, throwing into a hole, and backgammon were also in vogue at times. A popular game with small boys was to hide a canna seed in one of five little heaps of dirt, and the opponent had to sweep away the four heaps that did not contain the seed and leave untouched the one heap that hid it. Each success counted as a game to the winner, and every failure as a game to the other side.

A never-ending source of amusement for dark nights when they gathered round their fires in the streets, or for cold, rainy nights when they sat in their houses was to be found in their puzzle stories and conundrums. In nearly every town and village were expert story-tellers and propounders of riddles, who were deservedly the recipients of much local praise and fame for their voluntary efforts to entertain their neighbours.

Tonzeka’s town was no exception. Almost every evening, after the meal was over, one or other of these skilled reciters would be called on for a story.

One evening the following wonderful deeds were related, and aroused a great amount of discussion. I must preface this story by saying: The Congo natives think that anything wonderful, anything out of the ordinary injures their social and domestic life, or, as they say, “spoils their country,” and is consequently to be condemned and punished. Hence the appeal in this story from one to another to decide who had performed the most extraordinary feat, and was, therefore, worthy of the greatest blame.

The narrator called it

“The Story of the Four Wonders.”

"A woman gave birth to a child, who on the day it was born went by itself down to the river to bathe. While there a hunter arrived, who fired his gun.

"‘What are you firing at?’ asked the baby. ‘I am shooting the mosquitoes that are eating my wife’s cassava,’[37]replied the hunter.

"‘Whoever heard of such a thing before?’ said the baby. ‘By shooting mosquitoes you are injuring the country.’

"The hunter denied this grave charge, and accused the baby of upsetting the proper order ofthings by bathing himself on the very day he was born.

"After much discussion they submitted the case to a chief of a neighbouring town. When he had listened to their wrangling, he said: ‘My mouth is locked up in that room, and my wives have taken the key with them to the farms.’

"‘Oh,’ they rejoined, ‘you, by talking when your mouth is fastened up in another room, have destroyed our country, for whoever heard of such a wonder before?’

"After much debate away they went to find some one to settle the matter for them, and by and by they met a man who climbed palm-trees to tap them for palm-wine, and they put the case to him, each accusing the other of disarranging the proper order of earthly ways.

"When they had finished the palm climber said: ‘I fell one day from the top of a palm-tree and broke to pieces, and then I went into the town to procure men to carry all my pieces back to my house.’ They thereupon fell on him, accusing him of spoiling the country by his wonderful feat. They are still arguing out the matter and cannot agree as to which is worthy of the greatest blame."

At the conclusion each actor in this tale ofwonders had his staunch adherents among the little crowd of listeners. Some contended that the baby had performed the most wonderful feat, and was therefore to be greatly blamed. Others stood by the hunter, for “whoever before had heard of shooting mosquitoes?”

“Did you ever hear of a man talking with his mouth locked up in another room?” aggressively asked a backer of that wonder.

“You are all wrong,” shouted a big fellow with a loud voice, “the man who broke to pieces and yet went for carriers to convey the pieces into his town did something that surpassed all the other marvellous deeds.”

Feeling ran high, words were bandied about, innuendoes respecting the sad lack of sense that some folk exhibited were freely exchanged; but during a lull in the throwing of wordy missiles, Bakula said: “I heard a riddle the other day to which you cannot give me the answer.”

“What is it?” asked several, and the noisy discussion on the wonders ceased at once, and all eyes turned on Bakula.

“Our master sleeps behind the thorns. What is it?” he asked, and there was a twinkle of fun in his eye as he propounded the conundrum to them.

One guessed one thing and another somethingelse, and a poor henpecked man suggested it was a woman behind her hoes; but he was instantly annihilated by the remark that if he were bossed by his wives they were not.

They at last called on Bakula to give the solution, and he said, “Our master sleeps behind the thorns is our tongue behind the teeth,” and he saucily continued: “If you don’t let it sleep there you will soon be fighting.”

They rated him good-humouredly for his insolence, and pretended to punch him as a punishment; but promised to let him go if he would state another riddle.

Bakula, on recovering his breath, asked the following conundrum: “There are three men carrying a dead one in their teeth.[38]What is it?” To this a man instantly gave the answer: “A ridge pole held by three king posts.”

The guesser of Bakula’s riddle then gave one as follows: “The slave my father bought on the market is always standing out (or away) from him.” After many guesses had been ventured, Bakula gave the proper one, viz. “Pipe” which always stands out (or away) from the smoker.

Bakula had now to give another riddle, and propounded the following one: “The bird withits head cut off eats up all the food. What is it?” After many wild, unsuccessful attempts one of the men guessed the answer, viz. “Mortar.”[39]The man who gave this correct solution belonged to Tonzeka’s town, and as he said he did not know any conundrums he was asked to give them a story instead, and to this request, after a little hesitation, he acceded by narrating the following tale, called

“The Adventures of the Twins.”

“Mr. Tungi built some houses and then married. When he had been married about a year he started on a journey to some distant markets to buy and trade in peanuts. He had not been gone very long when Mrs. Tungi gave birth to male twins.

“When the twins had grown into stout lads their mother told them that their father had gone to trade at some distant markets, but would be returning soon to his town. They at once decided to go and meet him. Their mother prepared some native bread and other food, and in a few days they set out in search of their father.

“After travelling a long way they met a palm-wine gatherer sitting in a palm-frond drinking-shelter,who welcomed them and promised to get them some fresh palm-wine. He took his climbing-hoop and together they went to the palm-tree. Before ascending the tree the twins were astonished to see the man take out all his bones and lay them on one side, and then he climbed the tree and brought down a small calabash of palm-wine for the boys, picked up his bones and put them all back again in their places. The lads asked him why he removed his bones before ascending the palm-tree.

“‘Oh,’ he said, ‘if I were to fall I should break them, so I always leave my bones on the ground, and then, should I fall, nothing will be broken.’ They drank his palm-wine, thanked him, and after resting a while started again on their journey.

“They had not travelled very far when they met two men walking towards them whose feet were turned backwards. The twins asked them what accident had twisted their feet in that way.

“They replied: ‘It is no accident, but we turn our feet round when travelling to keep our naked toes from knocking against the stones in the road.’

“The twins had hardly recovered from their surprise when they came across some men whose knees were behind, and others whose arms wereat the back, and others again whose faces were at the back of their heads.

“They inquired the reason for these strange things, and the first said: ‘We have our knees at the back of our legs so that when we fall they will not be cut by the stones.’

“The next replied: ‘We have our arms behind us so that if we fall backwards they will hold us up, and we shall not hurt ourselves.’

“And the last laughingly said: ‘Oh, we have our faces behind our heads so that the long grass by the sides of the roads will neither cut them nor get into our eyes as we push our way through it.’

“‘Well, this is a funny country,’ cried the twins in amazement, ‘people seem to do whatever they like with their bodies.’

“On they went again, and during the afternoon they reached the bank of a river, where they rested under a shady tree. While sitting there they saw men and women, boys and girls coming down the hill to bathe, and they noticed that all of them took out their eyes before they entered the water and left them on the bank with their clothes. They inquired the reason for this wonderful thing, and one of the men said: ‘You see, we bathe here with our mothers, wives and sisters--men and women, boys and girls altogether, hence toretain our self-respect and modesty we always take out our eyes before bathing.’ The twins were no longer astonished at anything they saw and heard, so they silently assented to what the man told them.

“They camped by the river that night, and early next morning renewed the search for their father. After three or four hours’ travelling over the hills, across streams and through dense forests, they arrived at a large market, where all the people, instead of speaking, were making signs to one another as they bought and sold their goods. Upon looking at them more closely they observed that none of them had lower jaws, hence they were not able to speak. They could not inquire into this wonder, as no one was able to talk to them.

“They pushed on across the market, and after walking another hour or two they reached a large river, where they saw a man, with a very heavy load, trying to cross it, and seeing he was in great difficulty they helped him over with his load, and then sat down to have a rest and chat. They told the man they were twin sons of Tungi, and were looking for their father, who left his town many years ago to trade in the distant markets.

“The man said: ‘Why, I am Tungi, you must be my sons, and I am just returning to my town.’

“The sons rejoiced in this meeting with their father, and were glad they had helped him over the river, otherwise they would not have known him. They divided the load between them, and soon started for home.

“As the twins walked with their father, they told him of all they had seen and heard during their journey, but they said: ‘In the market we passed this morning we saw people who did all their trading by signs, because they had no lower jaws. Why was that?’

“Their father replied: ‘On the markets in this country there was so much rowing, quarrelling and fighting that they made a law that all those who went to market should leave their lower jaws at home; for if folk cannot talk they won’t quarrel, and hence they will have no reason for fighting. It is talking and wrangling that lead to rows, riots and fights.’

“The twins and their father reached their town again safely, where they were noisily welcomed and feasted; and the twins frequently narrated the marvellous sights they had seen during their travels.”

Photo]BUSY WASHING.[Rev. F. Aldrieve.

Photo]RESTING AFTER WASHING.[Rev. F. Aldrieve.

Chapter XIIIBakula accompanies an Embassy

A title reverts to Satu--He sends Old Plaited-Beard to the King with a present--The embassy arrives at the King’s town--Has an audience in the King’s house--King promises to send a deputy to install Satu--King dines with the white man and sees a magic lantern--Bakula and the white man renew their acquaintance--He sleeps on the mission station and hears all about the King’s household.

Just as Satu’s visit to Tonzeka was drawing to a close, his departure was hastened by the death of a chief who had bought a life interest in a title that belonged to Satu’s family.

It was the custom for a wealthy person to buy of the King the title, we will say, of Tulante, for one slave and five thousand strings of blue pipe beads. If, on his death, his heir is not rich enough to support the title, or for some reason does not want it, he can, with the consent of the King, sell it to another chief for that chief’s lifetime. When this second buyer dies his heir cannot take the title unless he has the permission of the family originally holding it, and for that permission he must pay, and the King cannot confer it without the consent of the said family. Infact, the title reverts to the family thatfirst bought it of the King, and the head of that family can resume it, or pass it on as a life title to any other family. Whenever the title is conferred either on the proper heir to it or on the life buyer of it, the King always receives a large present from the recipient. It is one of the sources of his income. This custom apparently applies only to certain titles of which there can only be one holder at any given time.

The title that belonged to Satu’s family was Katendi,[40]and as Satu’s brother was too poor to take the title when it fell to him, he had sold a life interest in it to a more wealthy neighbouring chief.

Satu was now ambitious to resume the title, so he sent an embassy to request the King to confer the title on him, and to commission the proper court officer to act as his delegate. Satu sent as a present to the King twenty pieces of very good cloth containing twelve yards each, three goats, one large pig, and four barrels of gunpowder.[41]Old Plaited-Beard, who was a man of importance in our town, was deputed to give the various articles to his majesty, and ten men andlads accompanied him to carry and guard the goods.

After a few days’ journey we arrived at Congo dia Ngunga, which is situated on a broad plateau some 450 feet above the surrounding country. Along one side of the hill winds the Mposo river, on two other sides the hill falls abruptly to wide valleys, and the fourth side undulates gradually down to the town, where we spent our last night on the road and where we “dressed” for our entry into the King’s town.

We arrived about the middle of the morning, and Old Plaited-Beard sent at once to beg for an audience with the King. He replied that we might come in the afternoon, for he undoubtedly heard from the messenger what a fine present we were bringing him.

While we were waiting for the call to the King’s house, the elders of our party rested in a hut belonging to one of the King’s head men, and exchanged the gossip of the country with him; but Bakula paid a visit to his friend the white man, who had a station there, and was very cordially welcomed by him.

Bakula was shown over the house, the school, the medicine-store and other places, and made to feel perfectly at home. He visited the boys’ house, and quickly struck up an acquaintance withtwo or three lads. He asked them innumerable questions, pried into every possible nook and corner, and finally concluded that Tonzeka was right and Old Plaited-Beard wrong. Before hurrying back to his party he bade good-bye to the white man, and was asked to come and spend a day or two with him when his business with the King was completed. This he readily promised to do.

About the middle of the afternoon a messenger called us to the King. Bakula at once picked up the twenty pieces of cloth, which were wrapped in a blanket, and followed Old Plaited-Beard, who strutted grandly in front filled with an enormous sense of his own importance. The others came on behind, and the goats and the pig brought up the rear.

We made our way towards the middle of the town, where the King’slumbu, or enclosure, was situated. We passed between fences to the “judging place,” ormbaji a Kongo, in the centre of the town, where a huge, wide-spreading tree stood, beneath the shadows of which all important palavers were held. Crossing this “town square,” we came to the first entrance of the King’slumbu, which was a miniature maze, as we had to negotiate four fences before arriving at the central space where the King’s house stood.

On entering the first opening, we turned to the left, then right, then right again, and found another opening in the fence; then by turning again to the right we worked our way back to a position near the first opening, where we found the third opening in the third fence, then turning to the left and again to the right, there was the opening leading into the courtyard immediately in front of the King’s house. There we waited and sent the messenger to tell the King we had reached the last entrance.

After standing there a short time we received permission to advance, and found ourselves in an open space about fifteen by twenty yards in extent, with the front door of the “palace” before us. Old Plaited-Beard and those who were unencumbered with the presents fell upon their knees, stretched their bodies forward in a profound bow, put their palms together, rubbed their little fingers in the dust, which they smeared on their foreheads and temples, and then clapped their hands three times--not by hitting the palms together, but by arching their hands.

After this obeisance they arose to their feet and walked to the front of the house, where they fell again on their knees and repeated the former ceremony of homage. Again rising they entered the house, and advancing to within two or threeyards of the King they fell on their knees and performed the third and last act of their homage.

The King showed his acceptance of the homage by putting the palms of his hands across each other in such a way that the fingers of the right hand were placed well above the thumb and index finger of the left, and he waved the extended fingers up and down. If the King had not received our homage thus, but had thrust out his foot and wriggled his toes, the sooner we had retreated from his presence and returned to our town the better it would have been for us. It would have been a sign that the King was angry with us, wished to insult us, and was meditating mischief.

As native houses go the King’s “palace” was large, being about eighteen feet wide by twenty-five feet long. The walls were of planks, and the roof of grass. Along one wall was a high, wide shelf covered with ewers, basins, decanters, china images of dogs, men, and women gaudily coloured, jugs, plates, and common vases--the profits of trading and presents from chiefs and others. Beneath the shelf were various trunks, undoubtedly full of trade cloth and other treasures.

I afterwards heard that the King’s bedroom was next to the one we were in, and beyond that the houses for his twenty-five wives.

We found the King sitting on a low seat covered with blankets, rugs and pillows. His full title was Dom Pedro V, Ntotela, Ntinu a Kongo,i. e.Dom Pedro V, Emperor, King of Congo. His personal name was Elelo, and I afterwards learned that his sobriquet was: Weni w’ezulu, or, The Great One of Heaven.

The King received us very graciously and inquired about Satu and the town, about trade and the number of people. Old Plaited-Beard answered cautiously, for it was not wise to give too much information to his majesty. He then told the King that Satu wished to have conferred on him his family title of Katendi, which his uncle had bought some years previously of his majesty. Then without waiting for an answer, our leader beckoned Bakula to come forward with the present. With considerable nervousness my owner stepped into the space before the King, fell on his knees and paid homage as he had seen the others do, and, removing the covering, he presented, on his knees, the cloth piece by piece to the august personage, who counted the pieces, felt the texture and commented with satisfaction on the weight and quality of each piece.

The powder, pig and goats were next presented, and he was asked with proper expressions of humility to accept the “poor gift.” This hedeigned to do, and promised that on a certain day he would send his Kapitau to install Satu officially in his title of Katendi.

We then retired backward out of the house, kneeling and paying homage at the right places, and at last found ourselves winding through the maze of fences into the town, well pleased with our reception and impressed with the greatness and dignity of the King.

Soon after our return to our quarters we received a present of some food from the King, and heard that one head man had been instructed to look after our welfare during the visit.

Just before sunset there was a great stir in the town, and Bakula, running in the direction of the noise, was in time to see the King leave hislumbu. He was about six feet four inches in height, very stout, being sixty-eight inches[42]round the waist, his face badly pitted with the small-pox, and he was ungainly and awkward in his movements by reason of his obesity. He was dressed in a loin-cloth of many yards of purple velvet, a scarlet waistcoat with bright buttons adorned his capacious stomach, and a general’s coat covered his back. On his head was a cockade, and from a belt hung a large and heavy sword, which he removed and handed to one of his men to carry.

In the square before hislumbuwere six of his head men, with a hammock gay with bright-coloured cloths. It was rarely now that the King left hislumbu, hence there was a large crowd to witness the unusual sight. It was with difficulty that he mounted his hammock, and it needed the combined strength of the sixdoms, or head men, to support him in it.

Fortunately they had not far to carry him--about 150 yards, and they landed him safely but perspiring at the door of the mission-house, to which Bakula and the crowd followed him.

The white man, who had invited the King to dine with him that evening, received his majesty at the door, and after shaking hands with him and inquiring after his health, led him to a substantial sofa that stood in the corner of the central room.

The crowd stood around the door, for the head men allowed only a few in attendance on the King to enter. To my owner’s eyes it was a large dining-room, and from the door one commanded a view of the whole of it.

There in the centre stood a large table with a white cloth spread over it. On each side a place was laid with knives and forks for one person. From the roof a lamp was suspended that threw a light over the whole room and revealed the various things on the table, such as some bread,biscuits, jugs of water, and a bottle of lime-juice.

The table being already laid, the boys quickly brought from the kitchen some soup, sweet potatoes, native greens, a tin of fish, one boiled fowl, a piece of boiled pork, a sucking pig roasted whole, a rice pudding and some stewed native fruit. A native likes to know what he is expected to eat, and the King could not have read a menu if there had been one. A smile of complacent anticipation covered the King’s broad face as his eyes and nose were greeted by the appearance of the roasted sucking pig.

All being ready, the white man invited the King to take his seat at the table. The old man waddled over to the chair, and when he had seated himself, his five favourite wives took up a position on the ground round the back of his chair, while the head men arranged themselves along the wall. The white man took his seat opposite the King, and having said Grace, helped his majesty to soup.

The old man took a few spoonfuls and handed the rest down to his wives, who, with suppressed giggling, finished it. Fish followed, and what the King did not eat he passed on to his wives.

The white man said: “In England when boysand girls are going to a feast they eat very little during the day, so as to do full justice to the feast provided for them.”

“Is that so?” replied the King. “I did not know that was your custom, for,” he laughingly continued, “I have eaten nothing all day in order to have plenty of room for your dinner.” And the old man chuckled because he was ’cuter than the white boys, for he had eatennothing.

A plate piled with boiled pork, fowl and vegetables was next handed to the visitor. He worked his way through about half of it, and passed down the remainder to his waiting wives, who finished it with gusto.

Then came that roasted sucking pig. Generous slices of it were laid on a plate--no, he did not want vegetables. The meat soon disappeared, and there was nothing but a bone or two this time to hand down to the women.

The white man, sympathizing with their disappointment, asked the King to have some more. Another large portion was placed upon his plate--yes, he would have some vegetables this time. The meat vanished again--it was quite true, the King had eaten nothing surely for a Congo week. The plate was loaded a third time with the tasty pork, and the King was at last beaten, for with a sigh he handed more than half a plateful downto his expectant wives, among whom it was quickly shared and eaten.

“Would the King have some rice pudding and stewed guavas?” was the next question. A look of reproach passed across his majesty’s face, as much as to say: “Why do you have such common things on such an important occasion?” But he was too courteous to give expression to his thoughts, and asked for “a little, very little.”

One of the wives, however, lifted her head and formed her mouth into the word “Plenty,” and plenty it was that found its way to the King’s plate. He toyed with it a few moments, and his wives cleared the remainder.

The feast was over. The white man told his boys to share the remnants with the head men and the King’s wives, “for it is not every day that the King dines with us,” and to clear the table as quickly as possible.

While the boys were busy clearing away in a double sense, the King informed his host of the prowess of his early years, when he was lithe and active, and was feared throughout all the district for his fighting qualities. It was then that he won the nickname of Weni w’ezulu,i. e. the Great One of Heaven.

No sooner were the remains of the feast removed than the white man put a black thing onthe table and lit it. It was a magic lantern. A white sheet was lowered from the roof, and the light from the lantern turned upon it, while the lamp that illuminated the room was put out.

This caused the King to express some nervous fears, but a few quiet words from the white man pacified him. It appeared that the white man had often given lantern exhibitions in the open air, because there was no building large enough to contain the crowds that came to see the wonderful pictures; and as the sheet was put for convenience of erection over the front of one of the houses, and the breezes caused the sheet to gently move, the natives said: “The spirits came out of the house and moved about on the sheet.”

The King had heard of these suspicious rumours, and as he could not mingle with the crowds, he had asked the white man for a show all to himself. Hence the invitation to dinner and the magic lantern display.

Before exhibiting the pictures the white man referred to this silly talk, and excused it because the people did not know any better. He raised the sheet and showed the King the solid stone wall, explained the working of the lantern, gave the King one of the slides, and told him how the picture was thrown by the strong light on to the sheet.

After much persuasion the King put his fingers in front of the lens and saw them magnified on the sheet. He snapped his fingers and saw the movements imitated and enlarged, and at last was quite sure there was no wickedness or witchcraft about the whole affair.

The white man now threw some pictures of London on the sheet and explained them, and they needed a lot of explanation. The tall houses--room above room; the Queen’s palace and her soldiers; the big houses where the judges sat day after day--“It must be a wicked country where so many judges have to hear cases every day”; the horses and vehicles, and the people--“The people! Why, they are as numerous in your roads as driver-ants!”[43]

The white man then showed a few pictures of the life of Christ, and with a few words of prayer brought the visit to a close.

The King, somewhat solemnized by what he had last seen and heard, thanked the white man for the dinner and the pictures, and, getting into his hammock, was carried by his six stalwart head men back to his house.

Bakula, my owner, had received, by permission of the white man, an invitation from one of the elder school lads to sleep in the mission dormitory.Consequently, after the King’s departure, he made his way to the boys’ house and was vociferously greeted by his new friends, some of whom were with the white man when he was driven from Satu’s town. The house he entered was about twenty feet long by fifteen feet wide. It possessed several luxuries, such as a door and windows that moved on hinges, an oil lantern hanging from the roof, and beds raised about two feet above the ground.

Bakula had been greatly impressed by his visit to the King, of whom he had heard much, but had never seen until that day. After the first greetings were over he began to ply his new friends with many questions about the King, and as a son and a nephew of the King were among the school-lads, he had his curiosity more than satisfied by what he was able to learn from them. He was told that many chiefs sent their sons to be brought up at the court of the King, and thus they were able to learn the ceremonies of the court etiquette in receiving visitors, and how to settle palavers. These lads waited on the King, were his errand boys on small occasions, and finished the food he left after they had served him at table.

Attached to the King’s court were several functionaries, as follows:Kapitauwas a noblewhose function it was to confer titles on others as the representative of the King, who, being too old and obese to travel with comfort the long, hilly roads, sent this officer in his stead, as the chiefs could only be ennobled in their own towns.

Nelumbuwas the title of another court officer, who was supposed never to leave the King’slumbu, or enclosure. He was a kind of master of ceremonies, or a chamberlain, and instructed the ignorant how to approach the King. After him cameNempangu, who carried the staff of the King (frommpangu, staff). This officer went on embassies for his master to chiefs and towns, taking the King’s staff with him as a token of his authority, and a proof that he had come from the King. Then there wasNembila(frommbila, summons, call), who was the King’s messenger, and was sent to summon chiefs and others to the King’s presence and to inform the people of his majesty’s wishes and commands.Nejinguzioka(or “one who walks about”) was an officer who always stayed by the King, to wait on him and carry out those important orders that could not be entrusted to the lads or pages who served the King.Neloto(fromloto, spoon) was lowest in rank about the court, and was simply the spoon-bearer--probably a taster of the food before it was given to his master.

Attached to the court, but outside of it, was a head man, whose special duty it was to assess the tax on all trading caravans travelling through the town or passing through the near district. He was also to some extent responsible for the safe-conduct of caravans through that part of the country of which the King was overlord. Of course the larger portion of the amounts in kind received found their way to the King, otherwise his life would have been of little worth. And, lastly, there wasNemfilantu(fromfila ntu, to place the head), the noble best liked by the King, the most trusted of his councillors, the one in whose “lap he could rest his head.”

During his stay in the King’s town Bakula had all these high personages shown to him. It was necessary to have them pointed out, as on ordinary occasions they were dressed worse[44]than slaves and dependants, so as to avoid arousing envy, jealousy, and accusations of witchcraft.

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