EXPLORER’S REMARKABLE DISCOVERY.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1921, Page 12

EXPLORER’S REMARKABLE DISCOVERY.

CANNIBALS. OF EAST AFRICA. The Rev. John Roscoe, who has just returned from East Africa, gave to a “Daily Mail” representative in his little country rectory at Ovington, Thetford, Norfolk, an account of one of the most marvellous journeys ever undertaken by a man of science.

He has brought back curious knowledge and curious concrete things beyond even his own dreams. The things include 50 or so varieties of herbs—some of which seemed to effect miraculous cures for malaria and even the worst venereal diseases—many native poisons, vast cases of fetishes, implements and instruments going back to 2000 8.C., and photographs innumerable of strange and grim ceremonies—some cannibalistic, many quite unknown hitherto.

The knowledge of ritual and custom is a yet stranger store. Mr. Roscoe, one of our greatest ethnologists, went out for the Royal Society and the Government in May last year, and the expedition was most generously financed by Sir Peter McKie, to whom both science and humanity owe great gratitude.

Mr. Roscoe, who is in his 60th year, travelled many thousand miles in the interior on foot and—of all machines—by bicycle, using native paths. He found tribes who lived wholly on milk and nothing else whatever, unless a cow died; and after feeding on that a twelve hours’ fast was imposed.

So vast are their cattle herds that a king regarded 20,000 as a small flock. Another tribe lived wholly on bamboo tips and moles! In anothet the relations always ate the dead, even if they died of smallpox; but these folk, which is hardly surprising, were less healthy than the others, whose women are described as “the fattest \thiiigs ever seen,” while the men are vthin, very athletic, and often well over 6ft. in height. One of the cannibals stated, in evidence that “Englishmen were very tough, but Indians nice and tender.”

The crown of the expedition was six weeks spent with the King of Blmyoro. He has become a Christian, and so* felt it possible to give Mr. Roscoe all his fetishes, an entirely priceless collection, /which throws quite new light on ceremonies going back to 2000 B.C. He also organised a pageant of some 4000 years of ceremonial, such a thing as no man ever saw before. Thousands of natives themselves came to see it—a sort of grand finale to ages of accumulated superstition. »Since the King is also High Priest and the great repository of tradition, he could give away the inmost mysteries, and did: How to bring rain (a miracle that Mr. Roscoe achieved in a forest Holy of holies and •received native thanks!); how to promote all sorts of prosperity—especially plenty of salt; and how to exercise evils.

By his knowledge of local language and earlier visits, Mr. Roscoe, who Was all alone, penetrated many present be liefs and customs that have baulked our rulers and our missionaries. For example, in one tribe girls are betrothed at birth and married at 12 or 14. If they are unfaithful before marriage they are killed. In the ne.vt tribe girls may do as they will until after marriage. Many most elaborale laws of marriage, of morality, of divorce, and of land tenure have been revealed in the course of the journey. The discoveries include valuable commercial news, including an unknown graphite mine of high quality. Mr. Roscoe says lid has material for five years’ work at six hours a day. He is as yet without most of his stores. His herbs and poisons are being tested and analysed by Edinburgh University and by Burroughs and Wellcome. A dozen cases of ethnological valuables are going to the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford. Mr. Roscoe is to give a brief account of his journey to the Royal Society at the annual dinner. The journey started at Mombasa, and the most, dangerous, difficult, and richest part was west and north of the, Victoria Nyanza, and in the triangle be. tween the three great lakes. Mr. Roscoe returned by the Nile, and has much to tell the Egyptologists. i