Congo life and folklore

by John H. Weeks

7 Some of his companions laughed (p. [20]).--We are apt to think that all natives are equally superstitious, but that is not so. A man may be a devout believer in charms and fetishes, he may decorate his person, his house, his children, his pigs, his goats and his dogs with as many charms as he can afford to buy, or he may quietly leave all the charms and fetishes severely alone, and no one will think the better or worse of him; but he must believe in witchcraft, in witches and their occult power, or his life will be made wretched with accusations of witchcraft. I have known some natives to surround themselves with fetishes and charms, and most scrupulously observe all rites and ceremonies, and I have known others to disregard the whole box of tricks and hold them in contempt.

8 Burial postponed (p. [24]).--It is not uncommon to postpone the funeral of an important person for many months, and even years. The writer once buried a man who had been dead for nearly fifteen years. The persons responsible put off the expense as long as possible, and it is probable they would not then have interred the corpse, but the King ordered the family “to finish the palaver.” There was another case of a body being left unburied for over twenty years because the man who was responsible for the cost of the funeral believed that he would “die the day after he buried the corpse.” Many thought that this was only an excuse to avoid the expense. The body was dried, wound in cloth, stored in a house specially built for the purpose, and guarded by relays of young women.

9 Nkandu (p. [25]).--See Chapter XVIII on Governing, Marketing, and Trading (p. [223]).

10 Cassava flour (p. [26]).--Mandioc (or cassava) was introduced into Congo from South America about the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century. Its native name is madioka, an evident attempt at saying mandioc. The roots when matured were soaked for a few days in pools, or streams, by which time they were soft. They were then peeled, cut in halves or quarters, and put on stones and small platforms in the sun until the pieces were quite dry. After this the pieces were laid out on shelves over their fires until friable, and they were then easily pounded in a mortar, sifted through a fine sieve, and the result was a very fine, white flour. Raw mandioc contains prussic acid, but the poison is eliminated by heat.

11 Kwanga (p. [26]).--The cassava root was soaked, peeled, and cored, as under [note 10]. Then, instead of being dried, it was thoroughly kneaded and all lumps removed. The dough-like substance was made into long sausages of various lengths and thicknesses, according to the districts, or into balls like suet puddings. I have seen the sausages in one district twenty feet long and two inches thick, and in another twelve inches long and four inches thick. But whatever the shape, the dough was wrapped in palm-leaves, or in leaves like the aspidistra, and steamed until well cooked. These kwanga would then keep sweet for several days. They were sold on the markets, and an average price would be at the rate of four shillings for two cwt.; and four pounds were quite sufficient for a man per day.

12 Bolt his food (p. [29]).--It was not the custom at ordinary meals for the natives to eat greedily, but on occasions such as this, when all sorts of folk were thrown together, each one ate as much as he could get. See paragraph on greediness in the Introduction to the “Folk-Lore Stories.”

13 Luku (p. [38]).--The cassava flour is made as under note 10, and the luku is prepared in the following way: A saucepan of water is set on the fire, and when the water boils, the cook takes a basket of the flour and sprinkles it with one hand in the boiling water and stirs it with a stick held in the right hand. This process is continued until the porridge is stiff and can be turned out as one whole pudding from the saucepan. When a person is eating it, he breaks off a piece, rolls it in his fingers, dips it in some gravy and then lets it roll down his throat without masticating, otherwise it will stick to the teeth like toffee.

14 Glass vessel (p. [44]).--In the original it is ekumbi dia pelo = ship of glass; pelo is from the Portuguese espelho = mirror, glass, etc. Probably glass was first seen by the natives in the form of looking-glasses, and ekumbi dia pelo might be translated--the mirror or looking-glass ship.

The introduction of glass, guns, etc., into their stories are indicative of native readiness to expand their tales by the free assimilation of new ideas received from contact with foreigners. This has also had a wide influence on their language and fetish religion. This story I first heard in 1882 at San Salvador.

15 Laid beads (p. [45]).--In San Salvador and district beads form the currency. They are round blue beads three-eighths of an inch in length and about a quarter of an inch thick. One hundred of these beads threaded on a cotton cost, invoice price, one farthing, and one egg cost one string of beads. It was possible to buy little lots of food for ten and fifteen beads. The phrase “laid beads” is equal to “laid money.” In an Upper River story the fowl “laid brass rods,” i. e. the currency, money.