This boy had been in their service for some
years, and had learnt Arabic, which he spoke fluently, although with a
peculiar accent, owing to the extraction of the four front teeth of the
lower jaw, according to the general custom. It was of great importance
to obtain the confidence of Loggo, as my success depended much upon
information that I might obtain from the natives; therefore, whenever I
sent for him to hold any conversation with the people, I invariably gave
him a little present at parting. Accordingly he obeyed any summons from
me with great alacrity, knowing that the interview would terminate with
a "baksheesh" (present). In this manner I succeeded in establishing
confidence, and he would frequently come uncalled to my tent and
converse upon all manner of subjects. The Latooka language is different
to the Bari, and a second interpreter was necessary; this was a sharp
lad about the same age: thus the conversation was somewhat tedious, the
medium being Bari and Latooka.
The chief Commoro (the "Lion") was one of the most clever and
common-sense savages that I had seen in these countries, and the tribe
paid far more deference to his commands than to those of his brother,
"Moy," although the latter was the superior in rank.
One day I sent for Commoro after the usual funeral dance was completed,
and, through my two young interpreters, I had a long conversation with
him on the customs of his country. I wished if possible to fathom the
origin of the extraordinary custom of exhuming the body after burial, as
I imagined that in this act some idea might be traced to a belief in the
resurrection.
Commoro was, like all his people, extremely tall. Upon entering my tent
he took his seat upon the ground, the Latookas not using stools like the
other White Nile tribes. I commenced the conversation by complimenting
him on the perfection of his wives and daughters in the dance, and on
his own agility in the performance; and inquired for whom the ceremony
had been performed.
He replied, that it was for a man who had been recently killed, but no
one of great importance, the same ceremony being observed for every
person without distinction. I asked him why those slain in battle were
allowed to remain unburied. He said, it had always been the custom, but
that he could not explain it.
"But," I replied, "why should you disturb the bones of those whom you
have already buried, and expose them on the outskirts of the town?"
"It was the custom of our forefathers," he answered, "therefore we
continue to observe it."
"Have you no belief in a future existence after death? Is not some idea
expressed in the act of exhuming the bones after the flesh is decayed?"
Commoro (loq.). - "Existence AFTER death! How can that be? Can a dead man
get out of his grave, unless we dig him out?"
"Do you think man is like a beast, that dies and is ended?"
Commoro. - "Certainly; an ox is stronger than a man; but he dies, and his
bones last longer; they are bigger. A man's bones break quickly - he is
weak."
"Is not a man superior in sense to an ox? Has he not a mind to direct
his actions?"
Commoro. - "Some men are not so clever as an ox. Men must sow corn to
obtain food, but the ox and wild animals can procure it without sowing."
"Do you not know that there is a spirit within you more than flesh? Do
you not dream and wander in thought to distant places in your sleep?
Nevertheless, your body rests in one spot. How do you account for this?"
Commoro (laughing). - "Well, how do YOU account for it? It is a thing I
cannot understand; it occurs to me every night."
"The mind is independent of the body; the actual body can be fettered,
but the mind is uncontrollable; the body will die and will become dust,
or be eaten by vultures, but the spirit will exist for ever."
Commoro. - "Where will the spirit live?"
"Where does fire live? Cannot you produce a fire (The natives always
produce fire by rubbing two sticks together.) by rubbing two sticks
together, yet you SEE not the fire in the wood. Has not that fire, that
lies harmless and unseen in the sticks, the power to consume the whole
country? Which is the stronger, the small stick that first PRODUCES the
fire, or the fire itself? So is the spirit the element within the body,
as the element of fire exists in the stick; the element being superior
to the substance."
Commoro. - "Ha! Can you explain what we frequently see at night when lost
in the wilderness? I have myself been lost, and wandering in the dark, I
have seen a distant fire; upon approaching, the fire has vanished, and I
have been unable to trace the cause - nor could I find the spot."
"Have you no idea of the existence of spirits superior to either man or
beast? Have you no fear of evil except from bodily causes?"
Commoro. - "I am afraid of elephants and other animals when in the jungle
at night, but of nothing else."
"Then you believe in nothing; neither in a good nor evil spirit! And you
believe that when you die it will be the end of body and spirit; that
you are like other animals; and that there is no distinction between man
and beast; both disappear, and end at death?"
Commoro. - "Of course they do."
"Do you see no difference in good and bad actions?" Commoro. - "Yes,
there are good and bad in men and beasts."
"Do you think that a good man and a bad must share the same fate, and
alike die, and end?"
Commoro.
