Bangala Women.
Polygamy.
It is the general opinion of competent observers that polygamy will for many years survive the extinction of cannibalism. Nothing but the spirit of Christianity will overcome that evil. The native mind cannot be induced by ordinary argument to see any wrong in it. Why a man should not have just as many wives as he can afford to buy and keep is too much for his comprehension. He regards woman as created solely for his pleasure and profit, and trades in her accordingly. He buys her from her father for one or two goats or a cow; she becomes the mother of his children, and prepares and cooks his food for him. That is her career, and she shares it with as many other wives as her husband’s inclination and resources permit him to buy. When she dies she is buried—sometimes. Certain Central African tribes regard burial after death as a superfluous ceremony for women, and place their bodies where they will be devoured by hyænas and vultures. From two to three wives is the average quantum of the ordinary Central African barbarian, and between thirty and forty for a chief.
After their prodigious effort and expense in suppressing the slave trade, the Belgians set to work to weld into a homogeneous civilised State a vast region full of warring tribes with attributes such as these, utterly oblivious to all sense of right and truth as readers of these pages understand these words.
A Reflection.
Looking at the Congolese as they were in 1876, and again as they are in 1905, who can honestly deny that King Leopold has, so far, well performed his arduous mission?
CHAPTER XIV
THE CONGO PUBLIC FORCE
To Maintain Order.
The State’s military organisation is constituted by what is called the Congo Public Force (Force Publique). It had its origin in the necessities of the International Association before the State had gone far along its difficult way. It was recruited from the blacks of Zanzibar and along the West Coast at Lagos, Sierra Leone, Elmira, and Accra. The first troops were, therefore, foreigners—Zanzibaris and Haussas. Their foreign origin was, in a sense, an element of security to the Association when it had to direct repressive measures against some of the Congolese tribes. The Zanzibaris and the Haussas had great military aptitude and, lacking sympathy for the Congolese, were generally loyal to their commanders. They loved an enemy from the instinct inherent in savage natures.
The maintenance of this early body of troops was exceedingly expensive for the young State. Besides food, uniform, and medical attendance, these mercenaries received one franc twenty-five centimes a day. Moreover, on the expiration of their term of service they were sent back to their homes at the expense of the Government. As the term of their engagement was only three years, this obligation formed an important addition to their cost.