A Roman
Catholic Priest In Ka Congo Once Told Me A Legend He Laughed Much
Over, Of How A Fellow Priest Had Enterprisingly Settled Himself One
Night In The Middle Of A Bubi Village With Intent To Devote The
Remainder Of His Life To Quietly But Thoroughly Converting It.
Next
morning, when he rose up, he found himself alone, the people having
taken all their portable possessions and vanished to build another
village elsewhere.
The worthy Father spent some time chivying his
flock about the forest, but in vain, and he returned home disgusted,
deciding that the Creator, for some wise purpose, had dedicated the
Bubis to the Devil.
The spears used by this interesting people are even to this day made
entirely of wood, and have such a Polynesian look about them that I
intend some time or other to bring some home and experiment on that
learned Polynesian-culture-expert, Baron von Hugel, with them: -
intellectually experiment, not physically, pray understand.
The pottery has a very early-man look about it, but in this it does
not differ much from that of the mainland, which is quite as poor,
and similarly made without a wheel, and sun-baked. Those pots of
the Bubis I have seen have, however, not had the pattern (any sort
of pattern does, and it need not be carefully done) that runs round
mainland pots to "keep their souls in" - i.e. to prevent their
breaking up on their own account.
The basket-work of the Bubis is of a superior order: the baskets
they make to hold the palm oil are excellent, and will hold water
like a basin, but I am in doubt whether this art is original, or
imported by the Portuguese runaway slaves, for they put me very much
in mind of those made by my old friends the Kabinders, from whom a
good many of those slaves were recruited. I think there is little
doubt that several of the musical instruments own this origin,
particularly their best beloved one, the elibo. This may be
described as a wooden bell having inside it for clappers several
(usually five) pieces of stick threaded on a bit of wood jammed into
the dome of the bell and striking the rim, beyond which the clappers
just protrude. These bells are very like those you meet with in
Angola, but I have not seen on the island, nor does Dr. Baumann cite
having seen, the peculiar double bell of Angola - the engongui. The
Bubi bell is made out of one piece of wood and worked - or played -
with both hands. Dr. Baumann says it is customary on bright
moonlight nights for two lines of men to sit facing each other and
to clap - one can hardly call it ring - these bells vigorously, but in
good time, accompanying this performance with a monotonous song,
while the delighted women and children dance round. The learned
doctor evidently sees the picturesqueness of this practice, but
notes that the words of the songs are not "tiefsinnige" (profound),
as he has heard men for hours singing "The shark bites the Bubi's
hand," only that over and over again and nothing more.
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