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FETICHISM IN WEST AFRICA




[Illustration: FETICH MAGICIAN. (With horns, wooden mask, spear, and
sword; dress of leaves of palm and plantain.)]




  FETICHISM IN WEST AFRICA

  _Forty Years' Observation of Native Customs
  and Superstitions_


  BY THE REV. ROBERT HAMILL NASSAU, M.D., S.T.D.

  FOR FORTY YEARS A MISSIONARY IN THE GABUN DISTRICT
  OF KONGO-FRANCAISE

  AUTHOR OF "CROWNED IN PALM LAND," "MAWEDO"


  WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS


  YOUNG PEOPLE'S
  MISSIONARY MOVEMENT
  156 FIFTH AVENUE
  NEW YORK




  _Copyright, 1904_
  BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

  Published October, 1904




PREFACE


On the 2d of July, 1861, I sailed from New York City on a little brig, the
"Ocean Eagle," with destination to the island of Corisco, near the
equator, on the West Coast of Africa. My first introduction to the natives
of Africa was a month later, when the vessel stopped at Monrovia, the
capital of the Liberian Republic, to land a portion of its trade goods,
and at other ports of Liberia, Sinoe, and Cape Palmas; thence to Corisco
on September 12.

Corisco is a microcosm, only five miles long by three miles wide; its
surface diversified with every variety of landscape, proportioned to its
size, of hill, prairie, stream, and lake. It is located in the eye of the
elephant-head shaped Bay of Corisco, and from twelve to twenty miles
distant from the mainland. Into the bay flow two large rivers,--the Muni
(the Rio D'Angra of commerce) and the Munda (this latter representing the
elephant's proboscis).

The island, with adjacent mainland, was inhabited by the Benga tribe. It
was the headquarters of the American Presbyterian Mission. On the voyage I
had studied the Benga dialect with my fellow-passenger, the senior member
of the Mission, Rev. James L. Mackey; and was able, on my landing, to
converse so well with the natives that they at once enthusiastically
accepted me as an interested friend. This has ever since been my status
among all other tribes.

I lived four years on the island, as preacher, teacher, and itinerant to
the adjacent mainland, south to the Gabun River and its Mpongwe tribe,
east up the Muni and Munda rivers, and north to the Benito River.

In my study of the natives' language my attention was drawn closely to
their customs; and in my inquiry into their religion I at once saw how it
was bound up in these customs. I met with other white men--traders