Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/37

INHABITANTS OF ANGOIA. 19 practices. They never omit, however, to supply their dead with boots or shoes iu the European fashion, doubtless to lighten their toilsome journey to the unknown world beyond the grave. The Mu-Shicongos, who claim to have sprung from the trees, have scarcely any domestic idols in their huts, but nearly all natural objects are for them ** fetishes," and every unexplained phenomenon seems to them an awe-inspiring prodigy, or the work of some potent magician. The world of spirits rules all mundane affairs. Women who have long remained childless, or who have lost a firstling, make solemn vows to devote their new-born offspring to the service of the fetishes, and from their early childhood these future priests learn from the great fetishists the occult arts, such as how to beat the magic drum, to utter the spells and incantations, to make the proper gestures and contor- tions required for conjuring the spirits, or causing and dispelling bodily ailments. Amongst the liambas, the rite of circumcision is attended by a long period of trials for initiation into the state of manhood. During this period the young men, formed into temporary republics in the recesses of the forest, dwell entirely apart from the rest of the tribe, absorbed in the study of the magic virtues of tlie herbs, trees, and animals, and in concocting the various " medicines," which they are required to carcfullj' preserve during their whole life as a protection against all misfortimes. They cannot return to the world until properly furnished with all these powerful charms. The king of the Bambas, whose ancestors were invested with the office of commander-in-chief by the emperor of Congo, is said to be now the keeper of the great fetish who dwells in a sacred grove inaccessible to all strangers. This mysterious being remains invisible, even to his worshippers themselves, and although he is supposed to be mortal, his priests gather up his remains, and from these the god springs ever into new life. All the members of the tribe are said to irnve in the same way to pass through a " temporary death," and it is reported that when the priest shakes hh calabash, full of all sorts of charms, the young men are thrown into a cataleptic sleep, falling like dead bodies on the ground. They remain in this state for three days, then returning to the life which they henceforth consecrate to the worship of the fetish by whom they have been resuscitated. Some, however, wake up in a drowsy state, only gradually recovering the memory of their previous existence. But, whatever be the practices of the Bamba magicians, it stems probable that they really possess this power of throwing the young men into a comatose state outwardly resembling deaih. Those who have not passed through this ceremony of the new birth are universally despised and forbidden to join in the tribal dances. In the midst of the Mu-Shicongos are scattered some Ma-Yumbu commu- nities, resembling in every respect the other Ma-Vumbus who are met north of the Congo, and who are equally distinguished by their Semitic features. According to the local traditions, the southern Ma-Vumbus, who are all members of influential families, have been settled in this region from time immemorial.