% UP AND DOWN THE CONGO RIVER I T was Henry M. Stanley who solved the mystery of the Congo (picture, No. 148), the mightiest in volume of all the rivers of Africa. Here at Matadi it is deep and placid, like an arm of the sea; but Stanley followed it from its sources, westward through forest and jungle, discovering its tremendous falls and rapids, where it pours over the tableland of Central Africa on its way to the ocean, until with his weary, starving company he reached Boma, a few miles below the place shown in the picture, August 9, 1877. When Stanley spoke of his last glimpse of the Congo as he sailed for England, he said: “I felt my heart suffused with gratitude to Him whose hand had protected us, and who had enabled us to pierce the Dark Conti¬ nent from east to west, and to trace its mightiest river to its ocean bourne.” As soon as Stanley had revealed the secret of the Congo, the whole world began to take an interest in that region. What is to be found beyond the bend of the river? Who lives there? Well, here is a partial answer to these questions (picture, No. 253). This man is a type of the thousands who live along the banks of the Congo. “One of the finest tribes on the Congo,” says one of our mis¬ sionaries, “is the Balolos. They are powerfully and finely developed.” The skulls of the Congo people are very thick; the hair, which is crisp and curly, is dressed in many fashionable ways. The mouth is large and thick, and full of excellent teeth, though the natives have a fashion of filing them away. These people are divided into many small tribes, though at Uganda Stanley found M’tesa, a king who had an army of 10,000 men. The Congo natives think that tattooing is a great addition to per¬ sonal beauty (picture, No. 142). The tattooing on the back of chief Nkonsi’s daughter was done in this way: the flesh was cut with a sharp knife in the desired form, and the wounds were kept from healing by constant irritation, so that when they did heal the marks were left in permanent ridges. The heathen women of the Congo have most of the hard work to do, and when a man dies, his wife is sometimes buried alive with him. Along the banks of the Congo are many native villages (picture, No. 161). They are rude and filthy, just what you might expect from such ignorant and degraded people. One of the most remark¬ able facts in the history of the Congo is, that as soon as Stanley dis¬ covered its course there were Christian men and women ready to go at once to these squalid homes and teach the people Christianity and civilization. There are many varieties of trees in the African forests, and per¬ haps one of the most valuable, at least to the natives, is the palm (pic¬ ture, No. 228). It furnishes fruit; the bud at the top yields a sort of cabbage-like vegetable, and the juice is used for liquor. The picture shows how the man gets to the top of the tree. The Congo is a mighty river, but its navigation is broken by great falls and rapids for long distances. Before the railroad was built, all goods had to be transported around the rapids on the backs of carriers (picture, No. 158). When our missionary, Henry Richards, first tried to get to Stanley Pool, in the early days of the mission, he thought he would try donkeys as carriers, but he was not very suc¬ cessful. The donkeys, when they felt like it, would sit down in the middle of a stream, bales and all. One of them lost its footing on a steep hill. “All I could see,” says Mr. Richards, “was hoofs and bales flying through the air, till the donkey was suddenly stopped by a pro¬ jecting tree.” There are many sad sights to be seen in Africa, but none is sadder than the natives who have been mutilated by the officials of the Bel¬ gian Government (picture, No. 259). Even little children have their hands or feet cut off, if the village they belong to does not bring in enough crude rubber to pay the tax demanded by the government. This cruel treatment makes the work of our missionaries all the harder, for the people think that all the whites are united to oppress them. The picture of Dr. Leslie and his children (No. 250) illustrates several things about a missionary and his work. First, you see the kind of a man who leaves the comforts of the home land to go into the wilds of Africa. You can hardly imagine how r much a Christian doctor is needed there. The people are so ignorant and superstitious that they treat those who are sick in the most cruel manner. Dr. Les¬ lie has helped thousands of such unfortunates. Then, he has gone on a long journey far into the interior of Africa, to find a place for a new mission station. Some of his adventures on this journey were thrilling. He was several times in the midst of a howling mob of sav¬ ages who threatened to kill him; more than once he expected to be struck down or shot the next moment, but still he kept on, and his life was spared to return to Banza Manteke, the station on the Congo. This picture, too, will help you to understand why there must be a home in America for the children of missionaries, where they can es¬ cape the dangers of the tropical climate. The things that belong to civilization have a part in mission work. Here is a sewing machine (picture, No. 251) giving its message to the Congo people. The girl who is dressed in white, and is running the machine, is one of the girls at our mission school at Ikoko. The girls there are taught to sew, to make their own clothing, and other garments which they sell. Those who are gathered about the ma¬ chine are natives from the surrounding country, who will go back to their villages and tell the story of the wonderful sights they have seen. And so, little by little, a great change is taking place on the banks of the Congo, a change which is shown by such a picture as this last one of our story (No. 167). And the more missionaries we send, and the more mission schools we support, the faster will this good change go on. HOW TO USE THE ORIENT PICTURE STORIES O RIENT PICTURE STORIES should always be used In connec¬ tion with the ten Orient Pictures referred to in each story. There are various methods of using the stories in the Sunday school class, a few of which are here suggested : I. The teacher may read, or better still, tell the story to the class, and show and explain each picture at its proper place. The printed paragraph under each picture should be carefully noted, as the items found there are not usually emphasized in the story. 2. The teacher may read the story, and have one or more members of the class exhibit and describe the pictures. 3. The teacher may select some member of the class, and give him the story and pictures to explain. He should have them several days before he is to use them. Where the scholars are old enough to use this method well, there will be added interest. 4. After the story has been used in the class once, the pictures can be very profitably used again by giving them out to the members and asking them to learn all the additional facts they can about the scenes represented in the pictures, and tell it in the class the following Sunday. The price of each Orient Picture Story is 10 cents, including the package of ten large Orient Pictures. A sample copy of an Orient Picture Story, without the pictures, will be sent to any address free. This will help teachers to understand the plan and purpose of the stories. HOW TO ORDER O THER Orient Picture Stories and attractive mite boxes for individ¬ ual and class use in the Sunday school can be obtained from the Sunday School Cooperating Committee at any one of the following ad¬ dresses: The American Baptist Missionary Union, Box 41, Boston, Mass. ; The Woman’s Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, Ford 'Build¬ ing, Boston, Mass. ; The Woman’s Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of the West, 1318 Masonic Temple, Chicago, Ill. 678-1 eO.-2600-11-06 Africa Series—Orient Pictures American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, Boston NO. 142—CHIEF NIKONSI'S DAUGHTER, A CONGO BEAUTY, AFRICA The tattooing here shown is quite elaborate. It is very common among the natives, and is con¬ sidered a mark of beauty. The wristlets and anklets are of brass, are very heavy, and are worn constantly. They can be and are removed whenever the wearer becomes a Christian; but the process is a difficult and painful one. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/orientpicturestoOOamer O ^ co '7! CO -7 H .. *G bo a; co r* rr >+-.2 co i 2 13 o ? ^ cn h ^ — 4 -> c ^ 11*1 •S'3 a; J2 d T - £ co O H - *5 .Ja O rn O co ^ o O -*-> -3 o o ~ o Sp ^ "£* >** 3 r-> 2 o s u .2 C.W "co o 2 b tuo c o d' 0 : CO 4 -> h CD C u •S'-g-S . n v* bfl . o *- ^ o a^! 'O 0) c^c 03 c 3 > 3 S|§ *c3jy d g ■p.^ .0 ^\£ co* •£ - ■*■* «5 fcif > o c * ° J: -C c/2 ^ c/) - fC C/2 _, i> - ^>.2 fC 2 | a c j-i tuO - tc Z c NO. 253 —A TYPICAL AFRICAN Here is a specimen of the people for whom our African missionaries are working. Although this man has heard the gospel story, he is as yet untouched by it, and after one look at his cruel face we are not surprised to learn that he was arrested on the charge of selling one lad into slavery, and of murdering another who was sick and troubled him. By paying heavily for his “ witnesses,” however, he managed to obtain release from the graver charge. Photograph by Rev. Joseph Clark. Africa Series — Orient Pictures American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, Boston TJ c d (D • O.g a w ai-fn O s s U- be < '£ . tu Dh 5 w ^ ►> C: M O P5 oj ( > o ° W O g « 2 J=( O o .s w .2 « a- H .2. & >> & ’ . -- E £ t3 a 3 +j S> T3 .« C > aj Africa Series—Orient Pictures American Baptist p'oreign Mission Society, Boston NO. 259 — TWO VICTIMS OF THE RUBBER TRAFFIC In Belgian Congo, rubber is one of the main sources of revenue to the Belgian Government. It has been secured by the iniquitous method of “ forced traffic.” If the natives did not produce a certain amount of rubber at a set time they were brutally treated and maimed, particularly by cutting off their hands. The barbarous traffic has given rise to the expression “ red rubber,” and influence has been brought to bear by the civilized governments of the world to put a stop to the gruesome business. With the accession of King Albert tothe throne of Belgium it is hoped conditions will be somewhat improved. ' - OR IENI ~T TEN ORIENT PICTURES AND A NING DESCRIPTION MAKE UP BRIGHT RUN- EACH STORY WHAT A MISSIONARY DOES Preaching in the jungle, sailing on the “Gospel Ship,” doctoring the sick, teaching boys and girls, even shooting a wild elephant,—these are all vividly described. LITTLE FOLKS OF FAR AWAY LANDS They don’t seem so far away when you see them at their work and their play, hear about their homes and Sunday schools and watch them pose for the camera. UP AND DOWN THE CONGO RIVER The older children will like this,—the African “beauty,” Dr. Leslie and his stirring story, “ I he hirst Sight of a Sewing Machine,” and other striking pictures and tales. SCENES IN SUNNT INDIA How the sunshine of the chapels and the hospitals is dispelling the darkness of the temples and the heathen festivals—this story tells about it. WHEN THE MISSION SCHOOL BELL RINGS w. Schools of all sorts,—in a bamboo shack in the Philippines, in a tine college building in Burma; football in West China, carpentry in Central Africa. IDOLS AND IDOLATRY A cobra, a monkey and a fetish, not to mention other horrible idols. But see the great Sunday school at Ongole and the mission compound at Tuna. "A JUBILEE IN JUDSON--LAND” SOME WATS OF USING THE STORIES 1. Pass the pictures around the class, describing each in turn. Then distribute them among the scholars to take home. 2. Fell a story from some good missionary book, illustrating it with the pictures. 3. Distribute the pictures beforehand and let each scholar describe his picture in class. 4. Gather the family around you on Sunday afternoon and tell the story of the pictures. Price of each story, IO cents. SUNDAY SCHOOL COOPERATING COMMITTEE American Baptist Missionary Union, Ford Building, Boston, Mass. Woman’s Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, Ford Building, Boston, Mass. Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of the West, 450 East 30th Street, Chicago, Ill. i:.| l.\ M ill, . ir.>