A very remarkable feature of the country is the stone under-ground houses in Rua. They are very extensive, running along mountain-sides for twenty miles. The door-ways, in some cases, are level with the ground, in others, a ladder is needed to climb up to them. Inside, these houses are very large, and in one part a rivulet flows. They are probably natural formations, though there are many indications of their being artificial.
It is a widely-spread superstition that if a child cuts its upper front teeth before the lower it is unlucky, and it is therefore killed. If a child be seen to turn from one side to the other in sleep, it is killed. A child having any of these defects is called an Arab’s child, because the Arabs have none of these superstitions. Such children are readily given to the Arabs, fearing ill-luck, “milando” or guilt to the family if they be kept. They never sell their children to slavers, but part with them to avoid the misfortunes they apprehend, their fears being caused by these superstitious notions.
If Casembé dream of any man twice or three times the man is supposed to be practising secret arts against his chief, and is accordingly put to death. If one be pounding or cooking food for him, silence must be invariably preserved. At Katanga the people are afraid to dig for gold, because, as they believe, it was hidden there in the earth by “Ngolu,” which means, as the Arabs say, Satan, and also departed spirits.
The fear of death among this people is universal and very strong. They never molest the wagtails, believing, if one be killed, death would visit and destroy them. The whydah birds are protected by this same superstitious notion that death would ensue if they be harmed. The people are everywhere degraded and oppressed by these and similar notions, which seem very absurd to us, and yet, after all, are not much more unreasonable and silly than some of the superstitions that are cherished by people in civilized countries. Are there not many believers still in the efficacy of the horse-shoe over the door? Who would not rather see the new moon over his right shoulder, as the token of better luck than if seen over the left? Do not multitudes forbear to undertake a journey or any new enterprise on Friday, because they regard it an unlucky day?
Unless he has swilled beer or pombé to excess, Casembé is a chief of very considerable good sense. His decisions often evince an independence and wisdom that show him to be worthy of his place at the head of the people. The Arabs are enthusiastic in his praise. A case of crim. con. was brought before him involving an Arab’s slave. An effort was made to arrange the matter privately by offering cloths, beads, and another slave. The complainant declined every proposition; but Casembé dismissed the case by saying to the complainant, “You send your women to entrap the strangers in order to get a fine, but you will get nothing.” This verdict was exceedingly gratifying to the Arabs, and the owner of the slave especially.
Kapika, an old chief, had charged his young and handsome wife with infidelity, and in punishment thereof had sold her as a slave. But the spectacle of a woman of high rank in the slave-gang greatly excited the ladies of Lunda, and learning from her that she was really a slave, they clapped their hands on their mouths, in a way peculiar to them and expressive of horror and indignation. The hard fate of the young chieftainess evoked the sympathy of all the people. Kapika’s daughters brought her refreshments, offers were made by one and another to redeem her with two and even three slaves; but Casembé, who is very rigorous in his treatment of all violations of chastity, said, “No; though ten slaves be offered, she must go.” Possibly a fear that he might lose his own queen, if such infidelities were not severely punished, may have led him to his stern and inexorable decision. Pérembé, the oldest man in Lunda, had a young wife who was sold as a punishment; but she was redeemed. The slave-trader is undoubtedly a means of making the young wives of some of these old men faithful to their marriage.
The people, however, are not kindly disposed toward the slave dealer, who is used as a means of punishing those who have family feuds,—as a wife with her husband, or a servant with his master. In cases of jealousy, revenge, or real criminality, they are the ready instrumentalities for effecting the just or the unjust punishment. The slaves are said to be generally criminals, and are sold in revenge or as a punishment.
The incident narrated below indicates the belief of the Africans in a future state,—a belief, however, around which cluster the darkest and saddest superstitions. The reader will see how the miseries and wrongs of their life shaped and colored their anticipations of the life to come. The hope of avenging the barbarities they endured inspired them with a sort of ghastly satisfaction, so that they blended songs with their sufferings.
“Six men slaves,” as Livingstone relates the incident, “were singing as if they did not feel the weight and degradation of the slave-sticks. I asked the cause of their mirth, and was told that they rejoiced at the idea of coming back after death, and haunting and killing those who had sold them. Some of the words I had to inquire about; for instance, the meaning of the words, ‘To haunt and kill by spirit power’; then it was, ‘Oh! you sent me off to manga (sea-coast), but the yoke is off when I die, and back I shall come to haunt and to kill you.’ Then all joined in the chorus, which was the name of each vender. It told not of fun, but of the bitterness and tears of such as were oppressed, and on the side of the oppressors there was a power.—There be higher than they!
“The slave owner asked Kapika’s wife if she would return to kill Kapika. The others answered to the names of the different men with laughter. Her heart was evidently sore: for a lady to come so low down is to her grievous. She has lost her jaunty air, and is, with her head shaved, ugly; but she never forgets to address her captors with dignity, and they seem to fear her.”