The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 26

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26

lie under the houses or in storerooms. Not a single
article has been stolen since the board closed the
station, and herein lies the subject of our palaver.

“The old chief of the town of Fula wished to see
the ‘big chief? from America, wished a ‘palaver.’
Ié was a weird scene —the two missionaries from
Libreville, the ‘big chief? from America and his

wife, the group of natives from the town of Fula,

with the old chief in the center, all standing under
the great breadfruit tree near the mission-house,
discussing the question of the mission-property.
The old chief declared that he had not permitted
even a board to be taken. He had kept his people
from taking even as much as a shoe-latchet. He
wished many missionaries to come and sit down
there, for his people needed a teacher. Mr. Marling
had been a good man; did we have any more such
men? But he could not keep his people off our
property much longer. We must do something.

“The ‘big chief’? from America promised him
that something should be done. In two moons there
would be a palaver at Batanga (mission-meeting) ;
in eight moons another palaver at New York; then
he would hear from us. It was interesting to watch
the face of the old man as the interpreter translated
these words. He had an honest face, and his frank
statement of his inability to keep the property intact
much longer was truly African and worthy of all
praise. The palaver over, we invited him on board
the Dorothy and ‘dashed’ him four pieces of blue
cloth and one of red and two bottles of pomade.
He went away as pleased as a little child with a
néw.-toy. -. --.. - -- : mete tani

“The second palaver was at Zamelega on the
Gungwe River, about thirty-five miles from Libre-
ville. On landing, we noticed a certain coldness in
our reception. Many men stood aloof; others
scowled at us; still others sought to interrupt our
service. In all the Fang towns we visited we were
received most cordially save here. The few Chris-
tians in the town came to the service, but most of
the people did not. When we reached the canoe
preparatory to leaving, we found out the cause of
the trouble, and a palaver ensucd.

“The canoe which we used in going ashore from
the Dorothy had been obtained on trial the week
before from a man known to the mission. He said
he owned the canoe. It was taken by the missionary
on trial and was to be paid for if it proved satis-
factory. A man at Zamelega claimed that the canoe
belonged to him. Hence the palaver. One native
sat on the bow of the boat with a gun. ‘Three others

.

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

stood on the banks with guns. The entire popula-
tion of the town stood on the rising ground by the
beach, and at times all talked. The spokesman was
a chief from Gaboon, a shrewd, wily old man, who
talked very loudly and made many gestures. He
was at Zamelega collecting taxes. The French
Government requires the owner of each house to
pay a certain tax, and each man not owning a house
must pay a poll-tax. The Gaboon king was assisted
by a native of the town, who also talked much.
Through our interpreter we protested that this was
not our palaver. We would take the canoe to Libre-
ville, turn it over to the government, and have the
matter settled by a judicial process. They would
not listen to any such proposition. The French
commandant was in the town assisting in the col-
lection of taxes, and we called him in. He, too,
failed to see our side of the palaver, and matters
were getting very warm, when one of the Christian
Fang offered to lend us his canoe, and we agreed
to leave the canoe under dispute in Zamelega, on
consideration that the French official would give us
a receipt for it.

“On reaching Libreville, we learned that the
man who lent the canoe to the mission was having
a palaver over the getting of a wife, and the owner-
ship of the canoe was probably in some way asso-
ciated with the palaver. His story is of interest as
illustrative of African customs.

“The father of the man who claimed to own the
canoe, which we left unwillingly at Zamelega, died,
leaving two children, a son and daughter. The
mother was sold by a maternal uncle to another man,
and a dowry of guns or boats or goats was given in
payment. The uncle then took the daughter, his
niece, to wife. By native law — custom — the
brother had the right to sell the sister. In lieu of
this the uncle gave to the brother — his nephew —
a wife. Meanwhile the mother died. Her second
husband demanded from the uncle the dowry he had
paid. He failed to get it and to satisfy his claim
seized the wife of the son. The son, whose wife
was stolen, was so deeply grieved that he went to
the town where his stepfather and the stealer of ‘his
wife lived and stole a wife from that town. The
town was Zamelega, and every man in the town was
up in arms to avenge the theft. Meanwhile the-
stolen wife with the husband went to Gaboon, the
husband hoping that his uncle, the cause of all the
trouble, would rectify matters. No such happy issue
was in store for him. He was arrested and thrown
into prison, but afterwards released and moved to: