KING MOMBO’S PLANTATION—WORK OF THE SLAVES IN CLEARING AND CULTIVATING THE FOREST—STRANGE VILLAGE OF THE SLAVES—HOUSES OF THE SPIRITS—REGUNDO’S ACCOUNT OF WITCHCRAFT AND ITS PUNISHMENT—OVENGUA.

In the midst of this forest, far away from their master, lived these slaves of King Mombo, and none tried to escape, because they were sure to be caught by the people of some other tribes, and become the slaves of their captors, and having a good master they knew that it was better for them to be under his protection.

The plantains or cassava or manioc fields were scattered all over the forest. One day, as Regundo and I were seated together, he said, “I am an old man. I rule over the slaves of King Mombo, and tell them what to do on the plantation. My wife and I are Apinjis, and I remember that we passed through several tribes coming down a big river, changing masters at different times until we came to King Mombo. But that was long ago; many rainy seasons have passed away since, for I was then a boy and now I am gray-headed.”

The slaves had a great deal to do to clear the forest. These clearings were in large patches. In some the trees had been cut and burned and only the huge trunks were standing. Thousands of plantain trees had been planted. In some patches or fields the plantain trees were large and bore heavy bunches, some bunches weighing over one hundred and fifty pounds each. In other patches the plantain trees were on the point of bearing; in others the trees were smaller. In a word, the plantations or patches were so arranged as to bear fruit all the year round. The plantain tree, like the banana tree, bears only one bunch and then dies. During its life several shoots spring from the ground from the base of the trunk, and these are transplanted and in time bear fruit. No two crops are gathered on the same spot, for the bunches become quite small. So new parts of the forest have to be constantly cleared for new plantations.

There were also large fields of cassava or manioc. The manioc yields a large return. It is cultivated by cuttings, and one little stem is stuck carelessly into the ground, and produces in a season two or three large roots of the size of a yam. The natives boil the roots. When taken from the ground, they are very poisonous and have to be laid in running streams from three to five days before being eaten. Near the dwellings were large patches of ginger, of sweet potatoes, of yams, Indian corn, tobacco, peanuts, and wild hemp which the natives smoke. The ground in many places was covered with squashes and gourds of different sizes and shapes. There were vines running in every direction. The gourds were used as water vessels, or to hold palm oil and other kinds of vegetable oils made from the nuts of the forest.

These fields were cultivated by the women. Numerous lime trees, covered with limes of different sizes were to be seen in different directions. There were many plants covered with small red peppers.

Almost every day one or two canoes were loaded with the products of the plantations, and with game, and were despatched to King Mombo.

Not far from Regundo’s house was the sacred or holy tree. It was a kind of india-rubber tree, which had grown to its present size from a cutting Regundo had planted years before. The people believed that as long as the tree flourished the place where they lived was a good one for their settlement; but if the tree were to die it would be a sign that the spot had become unlucky, and that witchcraft had taken possession of the place. If the cutting when planted dies, it is an omen that the place chosen will not be a lucky one and in that case the place is abandoned at once.

As usual on such occasions, a powerful charm or “mondah” had been buried by the medicine doctor, with many incantations to keep witchcraft away from the settlement.

“The ‘mondah’ that is buried there,” said Regundo, “was made of three skulls of chimpanzees, five heads of monkeys, three heads of snakes, one leopard’s skull, the talons of several eagles, and charms made by the medicine doctor, of which nobody but he knew the composition. Under the gate or arch through which you passed when you came, another powerful ‘mondah’ was buried by another great medicine-man, who had come from a far country and had been sold to King Mombo. He is now dead, but the power of the ‘mondah’ he made, and which is buried there, is very great.”

Regundo had implicit faith in the powers of these two “mondahs” under the arch and by the india-rubber tree, for he and his wife had always been well since he had settled on that spot.

Not far from Regundo’s house were several little houses, standing by themselves, and not big enough for human beings to live in. Calling Regundo, I asked him what these houses were for? He answered with a great deal of solemnity—“The nearest one to us, which is also the largest, is the house of Okookoo, a great spirit; the second is that of Abamboo, called also Jockoo by some of the slaves; the third one is that of Mbuiri, another spirit; and the fourth is the great and powerful idol Makambi, who watches over us and often talks to us during the night.”

On our way back to his house Regundo said: “Oguizi, we all dread Ovengua.”

“Who is Ovengua, and to what tribe does he belong?” I asked.

“Oh,” replied Regundo, “if he were a man I should not be afraid of him, for I am afraid of no man when I have my gun with me. He is a spirit, and we dread him very much. He is a great catcher of men. He wanders incessantly through the forest, seeking always to kill men. We never see again those who are caught by him. By day he lives in a dark cavern, but at night he roams freely, and sometimes even gets into the body of a man, and beats and kills all those who come out in the dark. When Ovengua gets into the body of a man, that man must be killed and his body burned to ashes—not a single piece of bone must remain, lest a new Ovengua arise from it. When a bad man dies, the bones of his body leave the place where he was left, one by one, and become an Ovengua. There is much witchcraft in our land, Oguizi. You have seen slaves of many different countries here; witchcraft is in their country also. There is witchcraft in all the countries inhabited by the black man.”

Then, after a pause, he added: “Wizards and witches are the worst kind of people, for they bewitch men and women and cause them no end of sickness and trouble, and make them die. The spirit of witchcraft goes into the body of a man or woman, sometimes against his will; but often envy and hatred cause men and women to become wizards and witches. These are so cunning that they carry out their evil designs unknown to the people for months, nay, even for years, and keep on killing and giving bad luck to people without detection. They smile and appear friendly to those they want to bewitch, so they may not be suspected. When witchcraft enters people and gets possession of them, it gives them the greatest power for evil and they can do all they wish. They can make one have a long and painful illness, or make one die suddenly. They can also give one bad luck in hunting and fishing, they can bewitch your food and water and the road upon which you pass. Through witchcraft people sometimes appear in the eyes of other people to be animals or birds.” Then he shouted, with fierceness in his eyes, “Yes, our medicine doctors can find out wizards and witches after they have drunk the ‘mboundou.’”

“What is the ‘mboundou?’” I asked Regundo, though I had of course learned about it at the village of King Mombo.

“It is a tree,” he answered, “that Aniambie, the good spirit, has given to us poor black men to enable us to discover those who possess the power of witchcraft. Our doctors drink the ‘mboundou’ without dying, and when they are under the influence of it, they have the power of divination, and find out who the sorcerers are. Then those accused of witchcraft appeal to the ‘mboundou’ to prove their innocence, and they drink it in presence of the people and of the doctor, who drinks it from the same bowl. If the accused falters and falls to the ground, he is a sorcerer, and we kill him and put him on a road where the bashikouay ant is, or we tie him to a tree and make cuts in different parts of his body, and fill these cuts with those little red peppers that are so strong, or we burn him slowly, or we cut him to pieces as soon as he falls.”

“But,” I said, “Regundo, this is terribly wicked, to make poor creatures die by being eaten slowly by the bashikouay ants, or from the fearful tortures of red peppers in their wounds, or by slow burning. If I were present, I think I would take ‘Bulldog’ with me and shoot the perpetrators of such deeds.”

“But,” Regundo replied, with much animation, “no punishment is big enough for wizards and witches. Our land is full of them. Still,” he added, as if to soften my displeasure and sorrow at such a story, “Oguizi, wizards and witches are almost always sold to the people of other tribes instead of being killed.”