. Land and peoples of the Kasai; being a narrative of a two years' journey among the cannibals of the equatorial forest and other savage tribes of the south-western Congo . could think of. Wegonged messages from the Kasai Companys factory to Jadisvillage, always receiving a reply which indicated that ourmessage had been correctly sent, and Torday and I, eachaccompanied by a signaller, on several occasions carried onconversations at a distance of over a quarter of a mile apart—far enough to test the efficacy of the system. Altogetherthe Batetela gong is one of the most remarkable instrumentsin
. Land and peoples of the Kasai; being a narrative of a two years' journey among the cannibals of the equatorial forest and other savage tribes of the south-western Congo . could think of. Wegonged messages from the Kasai Companys factory to Jadisvillage, always receiving a reply which indicated that ourmessage had been correctly sent, and Torday and I, eachaccompanied by a signaller, on several occasions carried onconversations at a distance of over a quarter of a mile apart—far enough to test the efficacy of the system. Altogetherthe Batetela gong is one of the most remarkable instrumentsin Central Africa, and, where villages are fairly close togetherand so facilitate the transmission of messages, it couldeasily be made use of as a substitute to the telegraph lines,which, of course, have not yet made their appearance so farin the interior. But although Jadi (and for that matterKasongo Batetela) had such perfect means of summoningtheir warriors and of directing the movements of thevarious contingents from outlying villages, their disputecame to an end without bloodshed. Jadi, the ex-soldier,the veteran of the Arab wars, the leader of so many warriors. N [? IN THE BATETELA COUNTRY 69 armed with guns—Jadi, the more powerful chief of thetwo, gave way. Why ? Simply because his people, thoughin superior numbers, felt that they with their muzzle-loaders would be no match for Kasongos old warriors, whowere renowned for their accuracy of aim with the poisonedarrow. The young Batetela loves to take the road with hisgun (usually carried by his wife or child), and he uses theweapon too in hunting ; but he realises the superiority ofthe veteran archer when it comes to the serious business ofthe battlefield. A good bow used by a man who has beenbrought up to its use since childhood is always better thanan inferior muzzle-loader in the hands of a native whoseideas of shooting are usually extremely rudimentary-Accordingly, the more primitive tribes are by no meansnecessar
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