Congo

“ They have placed the Negro in the midst of the uncovered wealth of a vast and fertile country; of waterways teeming with traffic; of a magnificent forest stored with rubber; timber of great variety, ivory, oil, and fruit; of promising fields of coffee, cotton, cocoa, tea, and sugar; deposits of gold, copper, coal, and iron. This short era of civilisation has created in the Congo over four hundred commercial houses doing a thriving business with Europe; built railways over mountain routes where only Belgian engineers and Belgian capital had the courage and the skill to venture. ”

“ To me, the fact of greatest interest about the Congo is that it is owned, and the twenty millions of people who inhabit it are owned by one man. The land and its people are his private property. I am not trying to say that he governs the Congo. He does govern it, but that in itself would not be of interest. His claim is that he owns it. Though backed by all the mailed fists in the German Empire, and all the Dreadnoughts of the seas, no other modern monarch would make such a claim. ”

“ Will she prove strong enough, wise enough, great enough to bring order out of the chaotic state of affairs into which her late ruler plunged the Congo territories? It would require a bold man to give an unqualified affirmative to this question. Cover several thousand miles of that territory, live for months with the aboriginal tribes, discuss administrative problems with Congo officials, watch the operations, and listen to the conversations of the German and Portuguese merchants—and a permanent Belgian control of the Congo becomes a matter of considerable doubt. ”

“ If the Congo derived its waters entirely from the south side of the mountains which are supposed to form the Belt of Africa, one would naturally suppose that when the rains were confined to the north side of the mountains, the Congo, like the other rivers of Africa, would be greatly diminished in size; and that its waters would become pure. On the contrary, the waters of the Congo are at all seasons thick and muddy. The breadth of the river when at its lowest is one mile, its depth is fifty fathoms, and its velocity six miles per hour. ”

“ The people of Congo are—probably on account of the enervating climate—a very indolent and lethargic race, the women being made to do all the work, while the men lie in the shade and smoke their pipes and drink their palm wine, which they make remarkably well, though not so well as the Bubé tribe of Fernando Po. Their houses are merely huts of the simplest description; a few posts with a roof over them, and twigs woven between them in wicker-work fashion by way of walls, are all that a Congo man cares for in a house. ”

“ Spontaneously, generously, she called on the Congo to have independence in the near future. She faithfully carries out her promise according to methods advised by experience and in the interests of all.
Far from imposing preconceived solutions, she would like the Congo to recommend institutions adapted to local customs and preferences and meeting the needs of the country. Such profound changes pose serious problems. Success requires order, good faith, the desire to make strong and lasting covers. ”

“ But we, who were elected by the votes of your representatives, representatives of the people, to guide our native land, we, who have suffered in body and soul from the colonial oppression, we tell you that henceforth all that is finished with. The Republic of the Congo has been proclaimed and our beloved country's future is now in the hands of its own people. ”

“ The broad interior of the continent, the mighty plateau region watered by the great Congo River and its innumerable affluents, first traversed by the daring Stanley not many years in the past, has been erected into the extensive and promising Congo Free State, under the suzerainty of the king of Belgium. It is the most populous and agriculturally the richest section of Africa, while its remarkable extension of navigable waters give uninterrupted communication through its every part. ”

“ There is a European power which arrogates to itself, in virtue of a discovery of the mouth of the river Congo in the year 1484, the sovereignty of all territory watered by this river and its affluents. I do not speak of the pretensions of this power over all the territory of the west coast of Africa, between 5°, 12 ́, and 8° south latitude—pretensions which have been contested by France, by Holland, and even by England since the slave trade was abolished by conventions between the British and Portuguese Governments. ”

“ The upper dépôt of the Congo lies upon the north bank, accidenté ground, poor, stony, and sandy soil, with rounded, grass-clad hills, The southern is less broken; there are long slopes and waves of land which trend in graceful lines, charmingly diversified, to the uplands, where the old capital, São Salvador, is situated; and upon the undulating blue ridges, distance behind distance, appear markings by Nature's hand, which the stranger's eye can hardly distinguish from villa or village. ”

“ Then I saw the Congo, creeping through the black,
Cutting through the jungle with a golden track.
Exactly as in the first section. Begin with terror and power, end with joy
And the gray sky opened like a new-rent veil
And showed the apostles with their coats of mail.
⁠125
In bright white steel they were seated round,
And their fire-eyes watched where the Congo wound.
And the twelve Apostles, from their thrones on high,
Sung to the tune of “Hark, ten thousand harps and voices”
Thrilled all the forest with their heavenly cry:
“Mumbo-Jumbo will die in the jungle ”

“ Nothing is more astounding in regard to the Congo campaign—to take a very flagrant case in point—than the utter ignorance displayed by those who, while violently denouncing every detail of Congo administration, appear to be totally unaware either of the past history of social evolution, of modern civilisation in Europe, or of the conditions existing in other African countries at the present day. ”

“ The Upper Congo, on the contrary, bathes the territories of many native tribes. Their chiefs have granted stations to the agents of the International Association, which depend upon no European sovereign, but which are modelled upon certain institutions of the Middle Ages, to enable the population of barbarous Africa to participate in the advantages of European civilisation. All the stations which this Association possesses have been acquired peaceably by treaties with sovereign chiefs of the country. It governs them by intelligent men, belonging to all European nationalities. ”

“ Of course you must understand that for the moment I am in the service of the Congo Free State, and a great many people might consider anything I should say in favour of the Congo as being biased; but I can assure you that, in my opinion, it would be impossible for any one to give other than a favourable report on the work of the Free State in the Eastern province. The administration is excellent. The country is quite quiet from the Falls to Tanganyika. The native tribes seem contented and happy, and are paid by the Government for every stroke of work they do. ”

“ Middle Congo, 259,000; Ubangi-Shari, 2,130,000; Chad, 885,000. The country is peopled by diverse negro races, and, in the regions bordering Lake Chad and in Wadai, by Fula, Hausa, Arabs and semi-Arab tribes. Among the best-known tribes living in French Congo are the Fang (Fans) , the Bakalai, the Batekes and the Zandeh or Niam-Niam. Several of the tribes are cannibals and among many of them the fetish worship characteristic of the West African negroes prevails. Their civilization is of a low order. ”

“ Not only has geographical acquaintance with the Congo Basin revealed the wealth of the vast regions it comprises, but European commerce, which was blocked at a short distance from the coast, has penetrated the heart of Africa, in countries hitherto utterly unknown. Civilisation, in divers forms, has made no less progress, and has been permanently established in the very centre of Africa. ”

“ From the intersection of the lines named, at which point French Congo is at its narrowest, the frontier runs north and then east until the Shari is reached in 10° 40′ N. The Shari then forms the frontier up to Lake Chad, where French Congo joins the Saharan regions of French West Africa. The eastern frontier, separating the colony from the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, is the water-parting between the Nile and the Congo. The Mahommedan sultanates of Wadai and Bagirmi occupy much of the northern part of French Congo (see Wadai and Bagirmi) . ”

“ The Congo has a length of more than three thousand miles. The maritime region of the Congo River basin is restricted in its character. For a few miles inward the ground has an upward slope; then the traveler is confronted by ridge upon ridge of hills, which gradually assume the character of high mountains.
The Congo rushes on through this mountainous section, as though through one of our western cañons, till it reaches Stanley Pool. Here the channel becomes much broader, the stream attaining a width of five miles, with an extraordinary depth of water. ”

“ That is part of the animal instinct of self-preservation. Whites and blacks always approach one another for the first time with a general sentiment of distrust. Little by little they learn to know one another, and this sentiment disappears.
The Congo was in truth the darkest part of Africa. To-day with its forests pierced and open, its routes, its stations, it is in advance of all other African States. Take the French Congo, German East Africa, Portuguese West Africa, and compare them! The Congo State prospers in a greater degree than any other part of the black continent. ”

“ The natives of the Congo basin are not idolators, and as they know of no means of communicating with Nzambi (God) , they betake themselves to charms. A Congo boy grows up, and sees every one with his charms. One man boasts that he has a charm that will make him rich, and he ties to it a little strip of every piece of cloth he buys; others have charms to keep away witches, against theft or sickness, to stop or to bring rain—charms which enable them to cure sicknesses, or to perform the office of witch-doctor, of Nganga-a-moko, or to discover theft. ”

“ You will see on your map that the great northern bend of the Congo is like a bent bow, and far below it is the string of the bow—the Sankuru—pieced out at one end by the Kassai River, which unites it with the Congo, while the other end stretches far across, almost to the other end of the bow. Dr. Wolf's discovery added almost 800 miles of navigable waters to the Congo basin, stretching almost due east to central Africa. ”

“ Indeed, the King of Congo is the only chief who maintains his style and title; the others have become extinct during this century. We find then the whole country in a state of disintegration; every town a separate state, and its chief, to all practical purposes, independent. ”

“ They are a very low class of native indeed. That is the territory which the Belgians have so successfully opened up for the rubber trade. In that opening-up process they have had, as I say, [Pg 432] to contend with absolutely the lowest class of natives in Africa at the present day. As you travel through the Congo you cannot help feeling—at all events any one like myself, who has been through the British tropical colonies—that the amount of general advancement and civilisation in the Congo Free State is far ahead as compared with our own. ”

“ Thus suddenly there arose a Catholic kingdom south of the valley of the Congo, which lasted three centuries, but was partially overthrown by invading barbarians from the interior in the seventeenth century. A king of Congo still reigns as pensioner of Portugal, and on the coast to-day are the remains of the kingdom in the civilized blacks and mulattoes, who are intelligent traders and boat builders. ”

“ The Sovereign of the Congo Free State adheres to a gospel of labour of which he is personally the greatest exemplar in Europe. His Majesty’s industry is in motion at five o’clock every morning. It gathers force as the sun rises, and subsides only when his ministers and attendants have retired. ”

“ Were the Congo properly managed, it would be one of the richest territories on the surface of the earth. As it is, through ignorance and cupidity, it is being despoiled and its people are the most wretched of human beings. ”

“ Concerning the Congo standing army of 14,000 natives, as to which some criticism is uttered by the same persons, we need only indicate that the State Government is so well respected in the Congo Basin that it is able to control its vast territory with only seven soldiers to every 625 square miles. ”

“ The Congolese law protects the natives in the enjoyment of the lands that they occupy, and in fact not only are they not disturbed in that enjoyment, but it even extends their cultivation and their plantations in proportion with their necessities. Manifold are the measures taken by the Congo State in order to safeguard the natives against all spoliation:
“‘No one has the right to dispossess the natives of the lands which they occupy.’ (Order of 1st July, 1885, Article 2.) ”

“ I can attribute this superiority of the Congo region only to the labours of an old civilization now obsolete; none but a thick and energetic population could have cleared off the forest, which at one time must have covered their mountains. ”

“ Maxwell, there are other testimonies to the magnitude of the Congo, shewing it to be a river of the first class, and larger probably than the Nile. In a journal (which the editor has seen) of an intelligent and respectable naval officer, Captain Scobell, who visited the coast of Africa in the year 1813, in H.M. sloop of war the Thais, the Congo is described as "an immense river from which issues a continued stream at the rate of four or five knots in the dry, and six or seven in the rainy season." ”