Remarkable Congo Chief.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 7 August 1914, Page 2

Remarkable Congo Chief.

In a White Paper issued containing correspondence respecting the affairs of the Congo, Vice-Consul Castens gives an account of a tour along the eastern border of the Kasai district, during which he visited Kabinda, a place of much political importance owing to its being the home of Lupungu, chief of the Basongi, and one of the most powerful chiefs in the Congo. Mr. Casteas gives a brief history of tkis remarkable individual : "He is a villain-ous-looking native, having but one eye, and a countenance scarred by smallpox. Lupungu has had an extraordinary career, for as a child he was abandoned by his but was afterwards adopted by a subchief called Senti, whose son is Lupungu's Prime minister to-day. When a young man he dressed himself up in fantastic garb, and persuading the natives that his blind eye gave him the power of dealing with the occult, he soon collected a good many followers. Assisted by Arabs, he made war upon Ms lather, whom he conquered. He was forthwith installed as chief of the Basongi, a position he has held ever since, and has 50,000 natives in his territory. He possesses some 300 wives, and readily pays the tax of two francs per wife demanded by the State, for he is rich, by virtue principally of the tribute paid him by his subjects."