Wambuba Cannibals 



As may be seen from my photographs of them, the Wam- 

 buba cannibals look their part, the women adding to their 

 repulsiveness by piercing both top and bottom lips, and in- 

 serting small brass rings. The chief's wives wear a heavy 

 iron carved collar weighing about five pounds, a relic of the 

 old slave days, which has now become a kind of token of 

 affectionate submissiveness on the part of the wife. In the 

 same photograph can be seen the type of house in vogue with 

 the Wanandi, Wambuba and some of the Bakonjo natives, 

 this form of hut being found in the forest region of the Semliki 

 valley and the adjoining portion of the Congo — Semliki 

 watershed. 



The maranaceous leaves with which these huts are 

 thatched being very tough and durable in texture, form an 

 ideal, completely watertight roofing, far superior to grass, 

 lighter, less verminous and less likely to catch fire, and are, 

 moreover, used for thatching purposes all over the Ituri 

 forest. The specially shaped huts I have referred to, however, 

 are not found outside the districts inhabited by the tribes 

 mentioned.* 



Among the curious customs of the Wanandi and Wambuba 

 natives is that of loading their babies with wire neck rings 

 and charms until the poor infants can scarcely breathe, and 

 the friction of the ornaments wears the skin raw ; as they are 

 handed down from generation to generation as kind of 

 heirlooms, matters are made worse by the collection of filth 

 and vermin they contain. 



Salt and meat are the two great luxuries that these people 

 will move heaven and earth to obtain. Over and over again 



* The same shaped hut is found amongst the Bakonjo inhabiting the high 

 western slopes of the Ruwenzori Mountains outside the forest region. Here 

 they are thatched with banana stems, not with leaves. 



