Stanley's Adventures in the Wilds of Africa: A Graphic Account of the Several Expeditions of Henry M. Stanley into the Heart of the Dark ContinentHeadley, Joel Tyler
History
Stanley's Adventures in the Wilds of Africa: A Graphic Account of the Several Expeditions of Henry M. Stanley into the Heart of the Dark Continent
Headley, Joel Tyler
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904
"The Wasawahili, of course, through their intercourse with
semi-civilization, present us with a race, or tribe, influenced by a
state of semi-civilized society, and are, consequently, better dressed
and appear to better advantage than their more savage brethren farther
west. As it is said that underneath the Russian skin lies the Tartar, so
it may be said that underneath the snowy dish-dasheh, or shirt of the
Wasawahili, one will find the true barbarian. In the street or bazaar he
appears semi-Arabized; his suavity of manner, his prostrations and
genuflexions, the patois he speaks, all prove his contact and affinity
with the dominant race, whose subject he is. Once out of the coast
towns, in the Washensi villages, he sheds the shirt that had half
civilized him, and appears in all his deep blackness of skin,
prognathous jaws, thick lips--the pure negro and barbarian. Not keenest
eye could detect the difference between him and the Washensi, unless his
attention had been drawn to the fact that the two men were of different
tribes.
"The next tribe to which we are introduced are the Wakwere, who occupy a
limited extent of country between the Wazaramo and the Wadoe. They are
the first representatives of the pure barbarian the traveler meets, when
but two days' journey from the sea-coast. They are a timid tribe and a
very unlikely people to commence an attack upon any body of men for mere
plunder's sake. They have not a very good reputation among the Arab and
Wasawahili traders. They are said to be exceedingly dishonest, of which
I have not the least doubt. They furnished me with good grounds for
believing these reports while encamped at Kingaru, Hera and Imbiki. The
chiefs of the more eastern part of Ukwere profess nominal allegiance to
the Dwians of the Mrima. They have selected the densest jungles wherein
to establish their villages. Every entrance into one of their valleys is
jealously guarded by strong wooden gates, seldom over four and a half
feet high, and so narrow, sometimes, that one must enter sideways.
"These jungle islets which in particular dot the extent of Ukwere,
present formidable obstacles to a naked enemy. The plants, bushes and
young trees which form their natural defense, are generally of the
aloetic and thorny species, growing so dense, interlaced one with the
other, that the hardest and most desperate robber would not brave the
formidable array of sharp thorns which bristle everywhere.
"Some of these jungle islets are infested with gangs of banditti, who
seldom fail to take advantage of the weakness of a single wayfarer, more
especially if he be a Mgwana--a freeman of Zanzibar, as every negro
resident of the island of Zanzibar is distinguished by the Washensi
natives of the interior.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account