Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/245

 CONGO 241 tribes are very venomous. The sting of the banzo is said to be mortal ; the proboscis of the insondi penetrates the trunk of the ele- phant and inflicts madness and death. The imports are chiefly cloths, stuffs, carpets, and hardware and earthenware from Europe, to- gether with fruits, grain, and various other kinds of American produce from Brazil. The exports consist principally of ivory, furs, and slaves, who were formerly shipped annually in large numbers to the western world. Congo was once exceedingly populous, but the rav- ages of the slave trade for three centuries have so wasted and diminished the people that the statements of the early Portuguese missiona- ries relative to its ancient populousness are now often discredited. One of these relates that a king of Congo marched against the Portuguese at the head of 900,000 men ; but Tuckey found no town with more than 600 inhabitants. The Royal Guard. natives of Congo are of ordinary stature. Their color and features are less strongly marked than those of most other negroes, but they are both more indolent and less intelligent than the generality of their race. Polygamy is tolerated among them, but adultery is se- verely punished. Slavery is the penalty for all crimes save murder, the perpetrator of which is put to death. When a chief dies, they kill a certain number of slaves propor- tioned to his rank, that he may have attend- ants in the other world. The people practise fetish worship. They are unacquainted with the plough, and prepare the ground for the seed by scratching it with a hoe. The rights of property are rigidly observed among them, and its subdivision is sometimes carried to such excess that three or four persons will own a fowl or a hog between them. Society in Con- go may be said to consist of the following class- es: 1. The chenoos, or chiefs, and their fami- lies. The dignity of chenoo is hereditary in the female line; when a chief dies he is suc- ceeded not by his son, but by a brother or ma- ternal uncle. The chenoo is little distinguished from his subjects by his dress or dwelling. His sceptre is a small staff of black wood, in- laid with lead or copper. 2. The mafoofo, who collect the revenue and carry on trade. 3. The foomoos, or farmers, who have houses and lands of their own, two or three wives, and a few slaves to work for them. 4. Fishermen and laborers, who have no property of their own. 5. Domestic slaves, who are said to be not transferable, except when guilty of some great crime. The kingdom of Congo is divided into several provinces, each of which has its lanza or capital and chief, who owes feudal allegiance to a lord paramount at the capi- tal, Congo-banza, or San Salvador, near the Lilundo, about 50 miles from the sea. This potentate is styled the lindy of Congo ; but, though once very formidable, he is now un- able to check the encroachments of the provin- cial and village chenoos, most of whom are practically independent, and frequently at war with each other and the lindy. Congo was discovered in 1484 by the Portuguese, under the command of Diogo Cam, who soon after- ward made settlements and erected forts along its coast. The language is said to resemble that of the Caffres and Bechuanas. CONGO, or Zaire, the largest river of western Africa S. of the Niger. It has also been called the Barbela, but the native appellation is Moienzi Enzaddi, " the great river," or " the river that absorbs all other rivers." Its source is unknown, but tradition among the natives places it in a marsh situated near the equa- tor, about Ion. 18 E. It flows into the At- lantic ocean near Point Padron, near lat. 6 S., Ion. 13 30' E., and is from 7 to 10 m. wide and more than 160 fathoms deep at its mouth, with a velocity of between 4 and 5 knots an hour. The Congo has been as- cended by Europeans to a distance of 280 m. inland. In the lower part of its course it exceeds 5 m. in width, and, with the exception of a portion called the narrows, maintains a breadth varying from 1 to 4 m. throughout its whole known extent. The narrows extend some 40 m. above a point 140 m. from the coast, where the tide is still perceptible, caus- ing a rise and fall of from 12 to 16 inches. Here the river flows turbulently between steep banks of rock not more than 500 yards apart, and is obstructed by rapids and the so-called Yellala, or cataract, of which the fall, how- ever, is only 30 ft. in 1,500. Geographers esti- mate that the Congo drains an area of 800,000 sq. m. Regarding the depth of the river as 60^! ft. and its breadth as 9,000 ft., which are be- lieved to be fair approximations, the outflow of water is 1,800,000 cubic feet per second. This is greater than that of the Mississippi