342 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Even the hunter should realize that the 

 present tendency toward curtailment of 

 his shooting activities will result in ulti- 

 mate benefit even to himself. We cannot 

 expect long to maintain any adequate 

 supply of wild ducks if we continue^ to 

 levy on the breeding stock by shooting 

 more birds each year than there are birds 

 hatched and reared in that year. No busi- 

 ness man expects to continue drawing 

 checks against his bank account unless 

 he continues to make deposits in favor of 

 that account. 



At Lake Merritt abundant opportunity 

 is still afforded the true sportsman who 

 wishes to match his skill against the speed 

 of flying birds. If "the outing in the 

 open is the thing, and not the amount of 

 blood-stained feathers in the bag," then 

 by substituting a speedy shutter and lens 

 for his gun, and fast plates for shells, he 

 may "pull trigger" to his heart's content 

 without destroying creatures which are 

 more useful alive than dead, or depriving 

 his fellow-citizen of something which is 

 common property. 



CURIOUS AND CHARACTERISTIC CUSTOMS 

 OF CENTRAL AFRICAN TRIBES* 



By E. Torday 



Member oe the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Member oe the Council oe the 



Folk Lore Society, etc. 



With Photographs by the Author 



DURING my seven years of travel 

 in the African wilds I have en- 

 countered few peoples possessing 

 stranger customs and presenting more 

 curious contrasts than the Bambala tribe, 

 who reside in numerous village communi- 

 ties on the banks of the Kwilu River, a 

 southern tributary of the Congo. 



Each village is under its own chief, 

 who holds the position by virtue of his 

 wealth and is succeeded at his death by 

 the next richest man of the tribe. His 

 principal function is to act as money- 

 lender to his subjects. No tribute is paid 

 to the chief, but he has a right to the ribs 

 of every human being killed for food and 

 to the hind legs of each animal killed 

 during the great hunts. If a chief is 

 young enough, he acts as leader in war; 

 otherwise one of his sons takes his place. 



Intermediate between the chief and the 

 ordinary freemen is an hereditary class 

 called muri, who may not eat human flesh 

 nor yet the meat of fowls. They are dis- 

 tinguished by an iron bracelet and a spe- 



* Tin's article, revised and edited, is based 

 upon the author's "Camp and Tramp in Afri- 

 can Wilds," a record of adventure, published 

 by the J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. 



cial head-covering of cloth, which may 

 not be removed by any one under penalty 

 of death, even if the offender did not in- 

 tend to touch it. 



The bracelet of a muri passes at death 

 to the nephew (sister's son), who suc- 

 ceeds to the dignity, and the heir must 

 steal the skull of his uncle. The corpse 

 is buried for some two months, then the 

 skull is exhumed, painted red, and placed 

 in the house its owner used to occupy. 

 The nephew must gain possession of it at 

 night without being observed, and, after 

 hiding it for a few days in the bush, take 

 it home to his hut. 



If a muri is killed in war, his bracelet 

 is sent home, but the skull has to be stolen 

 as before from the hostile village. The 

 chief privilege of a member of this class 

 is the right to a portion of each animal 

 killed in hunting. 



POISON TO PROVE THE JUSTICE OE ONE'S 

 CAUSE 



In disputes, where two people of the 

 same village are concerned, a poison or- 

 deal is employed as judge. Whether a 

 man is accused of witchcraft, parricide, 

 or of some minor offense, he declares 



