334 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



are very expert in catching them with nets, spears, 

 traps, and lines. The Bayansi carry on a great trade 

 in smoked fish. 



The main food, however, is vegetable, especially 

 the banana and plantain. Cassava, maize, and sweet 

 potatoes are also extensively grown. The domestic 

 animals are few, including the goat, dog, pig, fowl, 

 and rarely sheep. 



South of the Balolo, who occupy the region within 

 the great bend of the Congo about the lower course 

 of the Kasai and some of the other southern affluents, 

 follow the great nations of the Bakuba, Bakete, and 

 Baluba. The Bakete are probably the oldest settlers 

 in the district. They were broken up first by the 

 invasion of the Bakuba from the north-east: this 

 direction is indicated by the traditions among the 

 Bakuba, and is confirmed by many points of re- 

 semblance with the tribes of the Xorth-eastern Congo 

 Basin. The Baluba, on the contrary, came from the 

 south; they were the latest arrivals, and are the 

 dominant race in the Kasai Basin. They have been 

 described in detail by Wissmann. The nation may be 

 divided into two sections: the Western Baluba, known 

 as the Bashilange, are weaker, more ugly, and more 

 mixed than the Eastern Baluba; the relation between 

 the two groups is analogous to that of the Western 

 and Eastern Bakongo. The main point of interest 

 about the Bashilange is their cult of hemp; the great 

 secret or religious society in this nation is known as 

 the Bena-Riamba, or caste of the "sons of hemp." 



This association appears to have grown out of 

 a general political and social movement which had 

 its rise about the year 1870, when a large section 

 of the Bashilange (properly Tushilange) became 

 divided into two hostile factions on the question 

 of admitting foreign traders (Angolan Portuguese from the west, Zanzibar Suahili from the 

 east) into their territory. The king having sided with the young or progressive party, the old 

 people, here as elsewhere ""Conservatives," were defeated with great slaughter and driven 

 eastwards beyond the Lulua. Thus the barriers of seclusion were broken down, commercial 

 relations were established with the outer world, and the custom of riamba (bhang) smoking, 

 already prevalent on the Zanzibar coast, was introduced with many other innovations. It was 

 thus that the Tushilange justified the description given of them by Wissmann, who called 

 them "a nation of thinkers, with the interrogative 'why' constantly on their lips." 



Social arrangements among the Upper Congo tribes depend on the conditions of public 

 safety. Polygamy prevails, every man having wives according to his wealth and rank. There 

 are no nuptial ceremonies, and marriage is by purchase or capture, the bridegroom often 

 arranging the alliance by making his father-in-law a present, providing the bride with her 

 marriage outfit, and bearing the cost of a family feast. Funeral rites are simplified by the 

 extensive practice of cannibalism: this is especially prevalent on the Upper Congo, where the 

 dead are nearly always thus disposed of. Chiefs are as a rule formally buried, and the body is 

 supplied with various utensils, and a quantity of cloth, beads, or other article of currency. 

 These goods are broken or damaged either to ensure their dying and going to the spirit-world, 



A CONGO NATIVE, WITH PRIMITIVE STRINGED 

 INSTRUMENT. 



