FAN KNIFE AND AXES. 1. Tomahawk.-2. Knife three feet long.-3. Sheath.-4. War-axe. "Never was the whole coast so bare! "Never were difficulties so great! "There have been fights, captain! "And fever, captain! "And floods, captain! This point settled, they produce their "good books," which are certificates of character, in which some captain or other white trader who is known on the coast vouches for the honestythe great honesty and entire trust-worthinessof the bearer. It is not worth while for a fellow to present himself without a certificate, and the papers are all good; because, when "the bearer" has cheated, he does not apply for a "character." Now these certificates help him to cheat. When he finds the need of a new set of papers, he conducts himself with scrupulous honesty toward two or three captains. These, of course," certify" him, and then he goes into the wildest and most reckless speculations, upheld by the "good books," which he shows to every captain that comes. Now, while they are pretending that nothing is to be bought, that there is no ivory on the coast, all this time the lying rascals have their hands full, and are eager to sell. They know the captain is in a hurry. The coast is sickly. The weather is hot. He fears his crew may fall sick or die, and he be left with a broken voyage. Every day is therefore precious to him; but to the black fellows all days are alike. They have no storage, no interest account, no fever to fear, and, accordingly, they can tire the captain out. This they do. In fact, often, if they have an obstinate customer to deal with, they even combine and send all the trade a day's journey up river, and thus produce a fair show of commercial scarcity. At last, when high prices have been established, when the inroads of fever on his crew or the advance of the season have made the poor captain desperately willing to pay any thing, the ivory comes aboard, and the cunning black rascals chuckle. In this wretched way no less than 150,000 pounds of ivory, besides quantities of palm-oil, ebony, and barwood are collected on this limited stretch of coast each year. The It is not strange that an enterprising man should tire of this, and leave the coast for the strange interior. The rivers are highways as far as they go. When they fail, the travelers' luggage is strapped on the backs of women, who support the load by an awkward band wound round the head. There are no beasts of burden. savage wild bull of these plains has never been tamed; horses are unknown; and the journey must be made on foot. Happy the poor traveler if he does not starve on the way; for game is scarce. "Not even a monkey or a rat!" exclaims hungry Du Chaillu, looking with greedy eyes and watering mouth at a half-roasted snake, twenty-five feet long, which his unscrupulous party are devouring; and cursing in his heart those qualms which forbade him to partake with them. At every new town our traveler reached he was the object of wonder not unmixed with FAN BOWMAN. alarm. His white face-tanned, we imagine, to |ies between neighboring villages; and our trav what we should call a dark bronze; his shoes, eler not only found his quarters in the Fan capwhich were usually supposed to be his feet; his ital surrounded by human remains, but was clothes; and, above all, his long, straight hair, witness to the division of the spoils of a deceased excited by turns the awe and admiration of cu- villager. We have heard Captain Burton relate, rious and rankly-smelling crowds; till, at last, with savage glee, how a tribe on the eastern when he reached the ultima thule of his first coast, determined to conquer another which ofjourney, an astonished warrior fell down at his fered unexpected resistance, on the field of batfeet, in mortal terror, to worship him as a spirit. tle ate the hearts of their enemies in the presThis was among the Fans, a tribe remarkable ence of a number of prisoners, who, being afterfor the most disgusting species of cannibalism ward released, carried the terror of this tale which has ever been witnessed or recorded. They to their nation, who immediately submitted. eat habitually the corpses of persons who die a "They could stand being killed," said the redoubtable captain, "but to be eaten struck them with terror." But here was a tribe who eat human flesh habitually, and that of a peculiarly disgusting quality. We shall not forget the incredulous smile with which a dinner party received this relation from the lips of Mr. Du Chaillu, who, quickly perceiving the doubt, capped it with an instance which seemed quite too horrible to be true: "A party of Fans who came down to the sea-shore once to see the sea actually stole a freshly buried body from the cemetery, and cooked it and ate it among them; and another party took another body, conveyed it into the woods, cut it up, and smoked the flesh, which they carried away with them." THE BASHIKOUAY ANT, MAGNIFIED TO TWICE ITS NATURAL natural death-that is, by disease! It seems that they refrain from eating their relatives and townsmen, but carry on a regular traffic in bod Several months afterward we found ourselves one day in Mr. Du Chaillu's museum, and were introduced to the Rev. Mr. Walker, long time a missionary on the Gaboon station, and were by him assured of the literal truth of this story, which no one would before believe. These disgusting cannibals are a finely built |