The Eastern Congo 



than one hundred and twenty-eight victims had been killed 

 and eaten by them, and thus terrorising the neighbourhood. 



Eventually things came to such a pass that the authorities 

 at Stanleyville decided to take action and send a punitive 

 expedition to try and round up this nest of murderers, 

 under the guidance of certain natives who knew their lair, 

 and with Monsieur A. Laurent, the resolute Administrateur 

 of Stanleyville as intelligence officer. The expedition was 

 quite successful as far as it went, but it failed to stamp out 

 this pest — over forty murders having since occurred. 



The expedition consisted of Monsieur Laurent, Lieutenant 

 Patfoort, Judge Wauters, a Roman Catholic priest and seventy- 

 five native soldiers. The Anioto were located in a trackless 

 part of the forest between the Lindi and Aruwimi Rivers, 

 and being taken by surprise in the early morning, ten of them 

 were captured, some shot and a few escaped. Those that 

 were taken prisoners were tried on the spot, and incriminating 

 evidence being found against them, they were immediately 

 hanged. Amongst the belongings of these horrible people 

 were found the instruments of their sect, in several pairs of 

 the steel leopard-claw knives* for attaching to their hands 

 when on murder bent. Some of these gruesome knives con- 

 sisted of four sharpened steel claws for tearing the body, 

 whilst others were straight, three-pronged knives for stabbing 

 their victim to death. Portions of their ceremonial costume 

 which they wear when on their diaboHcal work were also dis- 

 covered. This consists of brown bark cloth stained to the 

 semblance of a leopard skin which is worn round the loins 

 and over the head in the form of a cowl and pierced with two 



* Illustrations of these steel, clawed knives are given in my book, " George 

 Grenfell and the Congo."— H. H. J. 



208 



