A Manual of Belgian Congo

Oâcttell Unioerattg SItbtaty Dtlfaca, Ntm ôrfe BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 Date Due r-^-^xt^tsiyr^ Mi^\fi lajGIlO QQi^nmSi b—8; r 3 1924 077 094 401 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924077094401 : ; ; I.D. 1213 A MANUAL OF BELGIAN CONGO Compiled hy the GeograpJiwal Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty LONDON PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C. 2, and 28 Abingdon Street, London, S.W. 1 37 Peter Street, Manchester ; 1 St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff ; 23 Forth Street, EDiNsaRGH or from E. PONSONBY, Ltd., 116 Grafton Street, Dublin. Price 7s. 6d. net Printed under the authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office By Frederick Hall at the University Press Oxford 12.^ l^^ 4. '^y îX . T\0-^^ -i>^): }^. B'-v^ta. ) ^^^ > ^' •<, .. ( ' J-, I ' - O v\ .f i Kfl z, f c,-- -M^'.,!.-'' lYA^^'\3 a\ \V CONTENTS i.'HAI'. PAGE Inteoduction 7 I. Fbontiees 12 II. Physical Geography 27 III. Climate 60 IV. Vegetation . 71 V. Fauna . 87 VI. Native Eaces 92 VII. Conditions of Native Life. 106 xVIII. Political Organization 123 IX. Cultural Conditions . 131 X. Religion and Ceremonial . 14G XI. Agricultural and Forest Products 155 XII. Minerals 202 XIII. Communications .... 217 XIV. Foreign Trade .... 261 V XV. Government and Administration 276 ^XVI. Conditions affecting the DE?ELorMENT of THE Congo 299 Index . 320 MAP Communications Map at end BELGIAN CONGO INTEODUCTION The greater part of our information regarding the Belgian Congo is derived from the work of explorers and travellers, the reports of officials of the Belgian Government, and the researches of investigators in various branches of science. Despite the great mass of this material, however, our know- ledge of the country is still very imperfect. "When the immense area of the region (about 910,000 square miles), the difficulties of communication within it, and the comparatively limited resources at the disposal of the authorities are taken into consideration, this fact is by no means surprising, but it renders difficult any attempt to give a systematic and co- ordinated account of the country as a whole. No detaile'H and accurate topographical survey, for example, has yet been made, and the nature of the surface-forms over large areas has never been properly described. Geological investigation has in the main been confined to those districts which are believed to be rich in mineral wealth, and even there it has seldom advanced beyond the preliminary stages. Within recent years a number of reports by officers of the Service agricole have provided much useful information regarding the soils of certain localities, but in proportion to the total area of the colony these reports are relatively few in number and limited in extent. A small number of meteoro- logical stations have been established, but their records as a rule extend back for only two or three years and form but a scanty basis for generalization. On the flora and fauna of the country some valuable research has been done by the Musee du Congo beige and by various scientists acting inde- pendently of it, but many years must elapse before such a survey as they have begun can be satisfactorily completed. The same is true of the state of ethnical inquiry : some of the tribes have been studied in great detail, but of others there is H INTEODUCTION of scarcely a word. The investigation of the economic wealth the country has naturally received more attention. Various have companies to whom concessions have been granted the explored their lands more or less thoroughly, although im- results have in many cases not been made public. More portant perhaps are the investigations made by the Service of agricole into the distribution and cultivation of plants economic value and the suitability of certain areas for the development of a pastoral industry.' The chief mineral areas have probably been located, but their extent and value can in most cases only be guessed at. With regard to communications a systematic study of many of the waterways has still to be made, and before the development of the railway system can be undertaken on an extensive scale the best routes have to be determined. Position and Extent The Belgian Congo is situated in the basin of the Congo in Equatorial Africa, and lies between the parallels of 5° 20' N. and 13° 40' S., and between the meridians of 12° 10' E. and 31° 30' E. Its area is estimated at 910,000 square miles. The original idea in the foundation of the Congo Indepen- dent State was that it should include the whole basin of the Congo, but various political circumstances have restricted the present Belgian colony within somewhat narrower limits. On the northern frontier all the land drained by the right- bank tributaries of the Bomu, the Ubangi, and the Congo as far as the Cataracts belongs either to French Equatorial Africa or to the Cameroons. Below Manyanga, however, Belgian territory extends to the right bank of the Congo, and includes not only the drainage area of that river, but part of that of the Chiloango, as well as the basins of several smaller streams which flow directly to the Atlantic. In the north-east the frontier coincides with the Congo-Nile watershed from the sources of the Bomu almost to Lake Albert, but in the east a narrow strip of country which extends- southwards as far as the sources of the Euchuru falls within the basin of the Nile. Farther to the south the eastern and southern shores of Lakes Kivu and Tanganyika, which drain to the Congo, belong either to East Africa or to INTRODITCTIQN 9 Rhodesia. To the squth of Lake Mweru also, where the Luapula marks i^h.0 frontier, part of the Congo ,basip belongs to Rhodesia. The eastern part of the southern fronlîer follows the Gongo- Zambezi divide, but w;est of the Kasai this ceases to be the case, and many of the tributaries of that river rise upori and drain a considerable part of the plateau of Portuguese Angola. The total area of the basin of the Congo is estimated at 1,425,000 square miles, that of the Belgian Congo at 910,000 sqviare miles. When the area of those relatively small parts of the colony which are not drained by the Congo is deducted and allowances are made for probable ,iriaccuracies in the figures given, it is seen that the Belgian Congo includes between 60 and 65 per cent, of the whole basin of the Congo. The area of Africa is estimated at 11,262,000 square miles, and the Belgian Congo is therefore a little less than one-twelfth the size of the whole continent. General Considerations The Bejlgian Congo is a region of great geographical interest. The low sandstone plateau which forms the central part of the colony is surrounded on all sides by highett peripheral regions which are of more varied geological formation, and are sometimes rich in mineral wealth. The basin which is thus formed lies on both sides of the equator, and this fact is of the greatest importance in regard both to climate and veger tation. The central region has a uniformly high temperature with rain at all seasons of the year ; on the periphery the annual range is greater, and in the south at least there is a well-marked dry season. The characteristic features of the vegetation are therefore the dense forests, of the equatorial districts and the savannas and steppes of the surrounding uplands. Human activities are profoundly modified by these conditions. In the forest the struggle for existence is on the whole severe, the opportunities for agriculture are restricted, and man has often to devote a considerable part of his time fq hunting or fishing ; on the savanna the conditions are more favourable, th^ cultivation of the land presents fewer difficulties, and a more civilized life is frequently possible ; the inhabitants of the steppe are sometimes engaged in pastoral pursuits. ; 10 INTEODUCTION The development of the country is also affected to some extent by the same geographical factors. In the forest the exploita- tion of natural products, such as rubber, palm-oil, and copal, and the establishment of plantations in which tropical plants may be cultivated are the chief pursuits of the white man the uplands on the other hand contain considerable stores of mineral wealth, and European interests there are mainly con- cerned with its development. The problems connected with the civilization and development of the Belgian Congo are both numerous and hard of solution. In the forested region, and to some extent elsewhere, the natives live, and will for long be compelled to live, in- small and more or less isolated communities. No common interest unites these different groups, and indeed they are frequently at enmity with one another. Under European control law and order can no doubt be established in the country, and a certain amount of help can be given to the native. But to raise him from the low state of civilization in which he at present exists, to educate him, and to improve his moral and social outlook will be a task of the greatest difficulty.

Load more