Having personally visited the Upper Congo in the days preceding the establishment of the notorious rubber régime , and being intimately acquainted with the conditions of native life which then obtained, I have watched with profoundest pity and indignation the development of Congo slavery. Old-time conditions of savage barbarity were awful, but it has been reserved for so-called “Christian Civilisation” to introduce the system of atrocious oppression and hopeless despair under which, during the l

       PAGE PREFACE BY DR. H. GRATTAN GUINNESS        5 FOREWORD        9 CHAPTER I HOW WE ONCE LIVED        15 My early days—Life at home—How we fared—Work and play—Our one fear, the cannibals—Iseankótó’s warning—We despise it—We are captured by cannibals—The journey—A horrible meal—The cannibal village reached. CHAPTER II I AM A CANNIBAL’S SLAVE        26 In the cannibal village—Before the council—Our fate—Desire to please my master—How I succeeded—Our fears and their justification—A sad compa

I will tell you how we passed our days in the [ 18 ] time of my childhood. Every one rose with the sun, for our people do not think it good to sleep late, and it did not take long to eat our morning meal of manioca, and anything which had been kept over from the night before. Then we began to scatter, some of the women to the large manioca gardens at some distance in the forest, and others to fish in the river. Sometimes they went fishing for a day only, at other times for as long as a month. Th

Then, pointing with his lips to the forest, he said, “ Ke a lene desa ” (“Go and cut firewood”). I had expected that order, so was ready to set off at once, repeating over and over the few words I had learned, in turn with my own language, so that I should not forget them:— “ Dua na epundu, yela liswa ;” “ dua na epundu, yela liswa ,” I said over and over again, until I felt sure of the words. Then, while I was cutting the wood, “ Ke a lene desa, Nco yo tena nkui ;” “ Ke a lene desa, Nco yo tena

I immediately went and told my father about it, and he arranged with hers about the amount of riches which was to be paid as pledge money on the occasion of our marriage. A spear was passed over as earnest of the other things to come, and that evening I brought home my wife. Her beauty was greatly admired, and according [ 49 ] to our custom I had to make a lot of presents to the people who admired her so much. Every one of the young men thought me very fortunate in securing such a beautiful wife

So when the day came for carrying my basket to the white man I had not the prescribed quantity. I knew that when my turn came to have my rubber weighed the white man would be angry and scold me, but said I, “ Lotango nta wak’ontu ” (“Reproach does not kill a man”), and I did not expect anything worse. But the order was given, “ Etama ” (“Lie down”). I could scarcely believe my ears—I, the son of a chief, to be whipped publicly! It was true. I was placed face down on the ground, my cloth turned b

In order to supply all that was needed the women in the villages had to work very large gardens, much larger than would otherwise [ 65 ] have been necessary; then dig the roots of the manioca; peel and steep it in the river for four or five days; carry it back again to their homes in heavily laden baskets up steep hillsides; pound, mould into long strips, wrap in leaves, bind with creeper-string, and finally boil the tökö or kwanga , our native bread. All this meant much work for our women; fire

Soon after this a day came when my rubber was short weight. I had failed to find a good vine, and though I soaked the rubber in water to make it heavier, the white man noticed and refused to pass it. As a result, I did not return home that night, but spent it and several more in the white man’s prison. I had heard much about this place from Bamatafe and others, who had frequently been in it, and so was not so surprised as I otherwise might have been. Prison to us who are used to an outdoor life

The white man called me, and gave me a book for rubber. In vain I told him that I was only resting in town for a little while, and intended to return to my work for the white men of God; my name was put on the list, and [ 91 ] once more I was obliged to seek for rubber. The conditions were much the same as before, but we were obliged to go further away than ever to find the rubber vines, as they were getting so scarce. After some months of this work, which we all hate, I heard the news that my w

When this sentry, Kebocu, arrived in our village, he found it almost deserted. Only one or two old men and a few women were there; but, my father not being present, his friend, Bomoya, went out to meet the white man’s messenger and inquire what he wanted. Bomoya was closely followed by Isekasofa, another old friend and associate of my father’s. They exchanged greetings with Kebocu and asked his business. “Where is the antelope for the white man’s soup?” he asked. They explained that we had faile

Said he, “We have heard sufficient; we know that these things are bad, why should we hear more?” We were given twenty brass rods each, and told that no one would molest us, and that soon these bad things would be ended, as the palaver would be settled in Europe. So we went home, and waited. We did not expect much, for we had been told the same thing before, and we had given up hoping long ago. But after long time of waiting changes did come once more. Bokakala’s white men of rubber did not come

Many of our people have died from exposure to cold and heat, or from lack of comfort; many others from accidents, such as falling from the rubber vines, and many more from the pestilences of which I have told you. White men, I tell you the truth: we are dying, soon our villages will be put out as a fire that is quenched. And still we are working, still we are slaves to the white men. And we have nothing to look forward to, as far as we can see, except constant work—and death. We have heard that

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