The Sunday Oregonian., March 15, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 8, Image 54

TIIE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, MARCH 15, 1903,
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BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.
UNFCRIj your fans and take out
your kerchiefs to hide your blushes'
We are about to have a stroll
among the Kavirondo, who Inhabit the
eastern shores of Lake Victoria, on the
western edge bf British East Africa.
These people are all more or less naked,
and some of the sights we dare not de
scribe. We have our cameras with 'us,
but Postmaster-General Moyer will not
allow our films to go through the mails,
and no newspaper would publish ail the
pictures we take.
We are in the heart of the continent,
o near the equator that a day's march
to the north would enable us to straddle
It, but so hlph above the sea that the
leather 1s by no means unpleasant. We
ere on the wide Gulf of Kavirondo and
fin the eastern cd-e of the greatest frosh
water lake of the world. That tslaud
vtudded sea in front of us is Victoria
tNyanza, and over there at me northwest.
Joss than a week's march on foot and
less than two days by the smalt steamers
which ply on the lake. Is Napoleon Gulf,
-nut of which flows the great River Nile.
"With the glass you may see the hippo-
jpotamusea swimming near the shores of
Kavirondo Bay, and behind us are plains
covered with pastures, and spotted with
it roves of cattle, antelope and gnu, and
also the queerly thatched huts of the
stark-naked natives.
The plains have a sparse growth of
tropical trees, and looking over them we
can catch sight of the hills which stead
ily rise to the Mau Kscarpment, beyond
which is the great Rift Valley, and still
farther east are the level highlands of
British Kant Africa, the whole extending
on and on to Mom bos a, a distance as
great as that between New York and
Cleveland to the Indian Ocean. It was
at that point that I entered the conti
nent, and I hve been traveling for days
Jn coming the ftM miles which lie between
Ms and the ocean.
A Future Metropolis.
Port Florence is the terminus of the
Vganda railroad, and it Is destined to be
one of the great cities of East Central
Africa. "When the Cape to Cairo trunk
Una is completed there will probably be
r branch running from here through
Uganda to connect with it, and all the
commerce of the vast region about Lake
Victoria will flow by steamer to this
point and down the I'ganda railway to
the sea. As it is now, the trade 1 greatly
Increasing, and ivory, hides, grain and
rubber from German Kast Africa, the
Vpper Congo and the lands to the north
of the lake are shipped through here to
the coast. The cars come right down to
a wooden wharf which extends well out
into tho Kavirondo gulf. On the lake are
several small steamers, which have been
brought up here in piec and put to
gether, and they are no bringing in
freight Xrom aJl parts of this big inland
cea.
As to Tort Florence itself, it is a little
tin town with practically no accommoda
tions for travelers. The only place to
atop is a dark bungalow, or rt house,
.put up by the government, and tho only
tores' are those of a few Hindu traders.
The Kuropeans consist of some soldiers
belonging to the King's African Rifles,
of the government officials and of some
employes of tho railroad.
The officiate put on great airs. Among
the passengers who came in with me
yesterday was a judge who win settle the
disputes among these half-naked natives,
lie was met at the cars by some soldiers
nd a gang of convicts in chains. The
latter had come to carry hie baggage and
other beiongings to his tin house on the
bill and each was dressed in a heavy
iron collar with Iron chains extending
from It to his wrists and ankles. Never
theless he was able to aid In lifting the
boxes and in pushing them off on trucks,
prodded ip to his work all the while by
the soldiers on guard.
A Naked Nation.
But let M8 take our feet in our hands
and tramp about through Port Florence.
later on we may march off into the coun
try through which I traveled for about
6o miles on my way here. In .Port Flor
ence itself e may now and then see a
man with a blanket wrapped around him,
and the men frequently wear waict cloths
behind or in front. Outside of this they
are stark naked, many of them wearing
absolutely nothing except plugs in their
ears, strings of beads about their waists
and rough wire rings on their wrists nd
ankles. All have skins of a dark choco
late brown. They have rather intelligent
features, woolly hair and lit and noses
like thoa-j of a negro. They belong to the
HhiUu race family and are among the
best formed bf the peoples of Africa.
Boma one has said that traveling through
their country is like walking through
mi lea of living statuary, and I have seen
thousands of such statues on my way
here. ,
Take these Kavirondo men who have
gathered about me just now as I write.
It Y
Their figures are ebony, and some of them
look as though' they might have been cut
from block marble by the hand of a sculp
tor. Ixvok at those three brown bucks at
my left. They are as straight as Michael
angelo's famed sfatue of David and about
as well formed. See how firmly they
stand on their black feet. Their heads
are thrown back and two have burst out
laughing as I turn my camera toward
them. They are stark naked, with the
exception of those bands of beads ahput
the waist and their anklets' and bracelets.
I can follow every muscle with my eye,
and they seem the perfection of physical
manhood. That nude fellow next me has
a coil of wire tabout hia biceps and there
is a pound of wire on his right wrist. He
is smoking a pipe, but it just hangs be
tween his teeth, which shine out bright
and white as he smiles.
The man next him has two brass rings
On each of his black thumbs, bands of
telegraph wire around his wrists and two
wide coils of wire above and below the
biceps of his left arm. He has five wire
bands about his neck, circles of wire
under each knee, and great anklets of
twisted wire resting on each of his feet.
As I look I can see the calloused places
where the wire has worn into his Instep,
and this is worse on that third man,
whose anklets are loaded with twisted
wire. The latter must have several
pounds on each leg. and the wire on the
right leg extends from the foot to the
middle of the ealf.
Now look at their heads. The first man
has short wool which hugs the scalp,
and the other two have twisted their
hair so that it hangs down about the
head like the snakes of the Medusa.
Deerskin Aprons.
I stop for a moment and aBk the men
to turn around in order that I may get
a view from the rear. They are not
quite so naked as I had supposed. Each
has an apron of deerskin as big as a
lady's pocket handkerchief fastened to
his waistband behind. The aprons are
tanned with the fur on, and are tied to
the belts with deerskin straps. As far
as decency goes they are of no value
at all, and they seem to be used more
for ornament than anything else.
Turning now to other men in the party
about me. 1 see that almost all are simi
larly clad, although a few have skins
thrown around their shoulders, and some
have more jewelry. One or two wear a
piece of cotton cloth and a very few
have waist cloths. I have no trouble in
getting the men to pose. They have
gone without clothes from time imme
morial, and think that the use of them
is decidedly foolish.
Where tho Women Wear Tails.
Let us turn our cameras now on the
women. They are by no means so fine
looking as the men. They are shorter
and not so well formed. Still, they are
all there. The younger girls are clad
In bead waist belts, and the older ones
have each a taasel of fiber tied to a gir
dle about the wajpt. This tassel Is
fastened just at the small of the back,
and it hajigs down behind. At a short
distance It looks like a cow's tail. I
am told that It is an tndisDensabl
article of dresa for every married wom
an, and tnat it is improper for a stran
ger to touch it. Sir Harry Johnston,
who governed these people, says that
even a husband dares not touch this cau
dal appendage when worn by his wife,
and if. by mistake, it is touched, a goat
must be sacrificed or the woman will die
from the insult.
Some of the native women here in Port
Florence wear little aprons of liber about
six inches long, extending down at the
front. I can see dozens of them so clad
all about me, and for a penny can get
any of them to .pose for my camera. The
young girls have no clothes at ail. and
this is the custom throughout the coun
try. Indeed, farther back in the Interior
the fringe aprons are removed and both
sexes are clad chiefly In jewelry of wire
of various kinds.
The strangest thing about the nudity
of these savages is that they are abso
lutely unconscious of any wrong jn It.
Such of them as have not met Europeans
do not know they ar- naked; and a mar
ried woman with her tail of palm fiber is
fully dressed. A traveler tells how he
tried to educate a gang of naked young
women whom he met out in the country
by cutting up some - American sheeting
and giving each a piece. The girls looked
at the cloths with interest; but evidently
did not' know what to do with them.
Thereupon the white man took a strip
and tied It about the waist of one of the
party. Upon this the other girls wrapped
their pieces about their waists, but a
moment later they took them off. saying:
"These are foreign' customs and we do
not want them." - ,
Queer Marriage Customs.
During my stay in the Kavirondo coun
try I have gone out among the illages
and have seen the natives in their homes
and at work. The land is thickly popu
lated and the people are good-natured
and quiet. One can go anywhere without
danger and there is no trouble in getting
photographs of whatever one wants.
I am surprised at the great number of
married women. This rule as to married
women wearing tails gives one a knowl
edge of the condition of every woman he
meets. If the tail is on one knows the
woman is married and If not that she is
single.
The Kavirondo girls marrry very early.
I am told they are often betrothed at tne
age of 6 years, but that in such case the
girl stays with her parents for five or six
years afterward. All marriages are mat
ters of bargain and sale. The parents
sell their girls for a price, and a good
wife can be purchased for 40 hoes, 20
goats and a cow. In the early betrothals
the suitor pays part of the fixed sum
down and the rest in Installments until
all is paid. If the father refuses to give
up the girl when the time comes for mar
riage, the payments having been made.
v ,sv. 7rrif '
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. , PREHISTORIC SKULL COMPARED WITH 81 LEI Z INDIAN SKI LL.
ALBANY. Or.. March 10. (Sp.claJ.) J. G. Crawford, a local photographer, who na, attained a wide refutation as an
archaeologist, recently found on YaQulna Bay a skull of a man of one of the lowest order of prehistoric race.. He be
llevea the discovery of considerable scientific Importance and has prepared photos of the cranium to send to the Smith-,
eonian Institution at Washington. Z. C.
. The skull was found on Klnf Point, which extends into the south side of Vaijuina Bay. about half way between the
towns of Yaqulna and Newport. On the northeast corner of Kins', Point :is a prehistoric burylne round, which was
started by some of the Mound Builders and which- was later used as a cemetery by Indians. Several years ago Mr.
Crawrord excavated part of a prehistoric mound lit- the vicinity of the present discovery, which led him to belleva that aa
ancient race of Mound Builders had- occupied that place. -
On February 8 Mr. Crawford again excavated on King's Point and found this cranium, lit says it is undoubtedly the
sltnll of a cannibal Mound Builder ana That In accordance with the custom of- those prehistoric races only a partial burial
of the head was made. That explains the present 'condition of the cranium. -
The skull Is from live-sixteenth to one-third of an Inch in ' thickness, and when compared, with the Neanderthal. Spry.
Engis and Pithecanthropus It Is fully as low in the intellectual region as any of them. The cranium is from one of the
lowest orders of prehistoric races of which any remains or relics were ever found In this country.
Frank Carpenter
Writes of
An Odd Tribe of
Black Savages
in East
Central Africa
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J2ZEEPT 2T0ILJLLZT1LE AEROZf OF
the suitor organizes a band of his friends
and captures her and carries her homn.
A man usually takes his wife from a dif
ferent village from that in which he
lives, and when he comes with his band
to the bride's village her gentlemen friends
often resist the invasion and fight the
suitor's party with sticks. At such times
the girl screams, but I am told she
usually allows herself to be captured.
I am told that old maids are not popu
lar and that the average Kavirondo girl
is just as anxious to be married as are
our maidens at home. Indeed, she Is
usually very anxious, and if she does not
get a bid In the ordinary way she will
pick out a man for herself and arrange
to have herself offered to him at a re
duced rate. I understand there are plenty
of plump maidens now on the bargain
counter.
Another queer marriage custom here Is
as to one's wife's sister. The man who
1 J ,
gets the first girl in a family is sup
posed to have the .say as to all the
younger ones as they come to marriage
able age. Polygamy Is common here, and
a man may thus have several sisters
among his wives.
They Are Good Girls.
One would suppose that these Kavi
rondo girls might be rather loose in their
morals. I am told that they are not so,
and that they rank much better in this
regard than the maidens of Uganda, the
province adjoining, nearly all of whom
wear clothing. Virtue stands high here,
and Infractions of the laws regarding It
are severely punished. This is less so
now than in the past. -, Divorces are not
common, but a man can divorce his
wives if he will. One curious custom is
that if a husband and wife have a
quarrel, and she leaves the hut and he
shuts the door after her, that action
) .
-
alone is considered equivalent to 'ax. di
vorce and the woman sjoes back to her
own people at once.
Kavirou'do Villages.
But let us go out Into the country
and look at some of the Kavirondo vil
lages. I have visited many and have
had no trouble whatever in sroina; Into
the houses.' There are many little set
tlemonte scattered over the plains be
tween here and the hills, with foot
paths runninsr from village to village.
The most of the settlements are small,
a dozen huts or so forming a good
sized one. The houses have walla of
mud, with cone-shaped roofs, thatched
with grass. The doors are so low that
one has to crawl into them: and many
a house ia not more than seven feet
high from the mud floor to the top
of the cone.
The roof usually extends out be
yond the. walls of the hut, covering a
sort of veranda, a part of which is in
closed and a part open. There are
poles outside which support the roof
or the veranda.
The huts are' uaually built around an
open space and are joined by fences of
rough limbs and roots, so that eacli
collection of huts forms a stockadein
which the animals belonging tothe
village can be kept at night. Dome
times a village may be made of a num
ber of such circles, each collection of
huts belonging to one family. One
of the huts i3 for the polygamous hus
band and one for each of hie wives.
But let us go inside one of the houses
and see how it looks. We stoop low as
we enter. The floor i of mud. with a
few skins scattered over it.. The skins
are the sleeping-places. Notice that
little pen at the back, littered with
dirt? That Is where the goats sleep.
The chickens are put In that tall bas
ket over there in the corner, and are
covered up until morning. There Is
practically no furniture, except a few
pots. - The cooking Is done in clay
vessels over that Are in the center of
the hut, and the food is served In small
baskets, the men eating first, and the
women taking what .Is left.
Outside each hut, under the veranda.
Is the mill o the family. It consists
of a great stone, with a hole chipped
out of the center. The women grind
Indian corn or sorghum seed in such
mills, pounding or rubbing the grain
with a second stone, just a little small
er than the hole. In the grinding bits
of the stone come off and are mixed
with the meal, often causing diseases
of chronic Indigestion.
Towns of the Dead.
I understand some of the - older
Kavirondo villages are nothing but
cemeteries, and that there are little
towns each hut of which contains one
or more dead bodies and nothing else.
The people are superstitious and want
He Got Into the Wrong Bank
pieces for New York magazines
and things, "by some strange and unpre
cedented chance I had got hold of a mat
ter of $350 all at one and the same tlma
it looked big to me. By an even more cur
ious chance there wasn't anything that 1
really needed to do with the money, so
I decided that I'd bank It.
"Now I knew In a general way that in
order to put money In a bankyou've got
to be known and give your pedigree and
look respectable and all that, and I
hated to approach a bank without any
sort of credentials. Therefore, I went to
the business manager of a certain maga
zine which occasionally prints pieces that
I write, and asked him what I'd better do.
" 'Simplest thing in the world," said he.
"I'll give you a note to our bank.'
"That sounded fine to mo. He wrote me
the note and I started for the bank a good
deal tickled over how easy the little de
positing proceedings had been made.
"The bank to which I had the note la in
Wall street. I asked the uniformed man
who was standing around where I'd find
the receiving teller's window, and he
pointed that window out to me. I got
into line and watched the teller take in
money.
"I must own that I was a bit stalled to
note the great size of some of the de
posits he was receiving. Why,' fellows
were giving the -money to him by the
satchelful. But I had my note in my
pocket and I remained complacent enough
with that consciousness.
"When I reached the receiving teller 1
passed In my note, and the receiving tel
ler, a decidedly civtl young man, opened
it and read It. Then he looked at me,
after which he read the note again, this
time with a sort of puzzled expression on
his countenance. I didnt see why the re
ceiving teller should be puzzled over such
a simple matter. But puzzled be seemed.
He rang a bell and the uniformed man
who'd directed me to that window ap
peared. " 'Show this gentleman to the office of
the cashier,' said the receiving teller to
the uniformed man. aa .the same time re
garding me with a pleasant smile; and
the uniformed man led me down the pas
sageway and took me behind a railing,
where there waa a handsome gray-haired
gentleman sitting at a desk.
"The handsome gray-haired gentleman
received me cordially and invited me to
be seated. I handed him my note, which
the receiving teller vhad returned to me,
and he leaned back In his chair and read
it carefully. Then he. too, looked puz
zled after he'd read the note a second
time. Then he looked at me pleasantly
over the tops of his spectacles.
" 'Ahem!' said the handsome gray-
to be buried in the same places lo
which they have lived. When a chief
dies his body Is interred in the center"
of his hut. He Is placed In t) gr'
In a sitting posture. Just de enough
to allow his head and neck lie above
ground. The head is thenv""ed wlt
an earthen pot. and thls's left there
until the ants get In ar" elean off the
skull. After this theik"!! burled
close to the hut or ithln it. and the
skeleton Is taken ttA "! reburled on
some hilltop or otT sacred place.
Ordinary peopleare buried In their
own huts lying r Iheir right sides with
legs doubled upunder the chin. Such a
hut Is then ley and forms a monument
to the dear rVtartfd- understand that
where there lave been epidemic diseases
one may sometimes tind a whole village
of such huts qccupled only by the dead.
The bullrings are left until they fall to
pieces.
Kavirondo Cattle.
Tly"se Kavirondo are a stock-rearing
peplile. I see their little flocks of sheep
ad goats everywhere, and frequently
ass droves of humped cattle. The ani
mals are fat. They graze everywhere over
the plains, being usually herded. Every
drove hag a flock of white birds about it.
Some of the birds are on the ground, and
some are perched on the backs of the
rattle eating the Insects and vermin they
find there. They are the rhinoceros birds,
which feed on the files and other insects
which attack those great beasts, and
which by their flying warn them of the
approach of danger. The cattle are driven
into the villages at night or Into small
lnclosures outside. The women do the
milking, but I am told they are not al
lowed to drink the milk, although they
may mix it with flour into a soup.
Rich Lands Farmed by Natives.
This Kavirondo country Is very rich.
All over the plains from here to the moun
tains the trees have been cut off, but tho
ground is covered with luxuriant grass.
Near the villages are little patches of
cultivation. The natives raise peanuts.
Indian corn and millet like sorghum. I
see them everywhere digging up the black
soil. They are naked, and are almost as
dark as the dirt they are hoeing.
In the vicinity of Lake Victoria and all
along the Uganda railway large tracts of
land have been taken up by Kuropeans.
and some of this Is being -.iched and
drained. I understand that It Is the in
tention to turn the whole into on great
cotton plantation, and see no reason why
that should not be done. This country Is
right on the equator and the elevation,
which is about 4000 feet above the sea,
makes It well fitted for cotton. It is too
hot for white men to do Bteady out-of-doors
work; but the plantations could be
handled by the native labor. The
whites who take care of themselves are
reasonably healthy. This is especially so
of those who live on the high lands, the
lower places being malarious and pro
ductive of fever.
Port Florence, British 'Kast Africa.
haired gentleman, not disagreeably, but
in a nice, banker-like way. "Might I er
Inquire, Mr. Penphlst, without seeming,
to be unduly inquisitive, as to how er
largo a er balance you would usually be
carrying?"
"Well, that was a civil enough question
nothing Inquisitive about it.
" 'Why, sir.' I said to the handsome
gray-haired gentleman, I am opening an
account with a matter of some $350, but
I shall no doubt make some additions to
that within the next few months, and
probably I shall carry a balance of well,
say, ITiOO or tmo right along.'
"The kindly cashier with the gray hair
fairly beamed upon me.
"Er just so. Just so," said he, twiddling
his thumbs. 'We feel complimented. Mr.
Penphis-t, we really do, that you should
have come to us. And it is unfortunate
er really unfortunate that we are so ut
terly lacking in facilities for taking care
of accounts of such a character.
" 'You see, Mr. Penphlst. our fawtitutlon
is of er a sort of special character. It
Is used as a depository by Well, per
haps I should put it in a more clear man
ner. I say It to you quite in confidence,
you understa-nd, Mr. Penphlst, but we
have only 1600 depositors on our books,
and these 16ft0 depositors aggregate bal
ances amount all the time to a matter of
1110.000.000.'
"Well, that was about enough. I saw
the light then. I'd drifted into a million
aire's bank on the careless credentials of
a business manager who'd written me
that note no doubt in a thoughtless mood.
"The gray-haired cashier acted bully
about it. He recommended a fine bank to
me 'one that combines perfect responsi
bility with the necessary facilities for
handling accounts like er yours, Mr.
Penphist,' he added.
"For all of the cashier's nlceness. I
walked out of there Into the cold gray
light of Wall street feeling like a good
deal of a human caterpillar.
"I didn't go to the bank recommended
to me by the cashier. Didn't have the
nerve to visit any more banks. I've got
62 left now of the (350, but I'm going to
use that as a nest egg, and maybe some
day even yet I'll have a bank account."
Supposing;.
New Orleans Times-Democrat,
flupposln every star with edges
Scallopy like shells
Should really be a raisin cake
All filled with lovely smiles.
Bo rich and soft and buttery
They'd quickly mftlt away
The moment one Just touched the tongue
If o. what would you say?
Supposin' that the yellow moon
Was really lemon pie.
With white meringue of broken clouds
Plied up upon It high.
8upposin every boy and girl
Could fly through air at night.
They'd gobble donn the stars and moon.
And where would be our light?