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ZOMBO SCULPTURE 121 FIG. 5: Gwen Elen Lewis, BMS (1853–1909). From Hawker, 1911, frontispiece. jects, and the threat to the position of the kitome—were more than once answered with rebellion by the indigenous population. Jan Vansina (1965: 115) describes how wars, plagues, and epidemics decimated the Kongo population in the period between 1642 and 1664. According to the locals, this misfortune was caused by the displeasure of supernatural forces resulting from the actions of Capuchin monks, who were suspected of bewitching people instead of protecting them against the malevolent actions of witches, or bandoki (Hilton 1985: 196). A second wave of evangelization started in the region during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In 1865, the apostolic prefecture of Congo was entrusted to the Fathers of the Holy Spirit (of French origin), who evangelized the west coast until 1888, when they were ejected from the territory of the Congolese Independent State. In the meantime Anglo and American Protestant missionaries began to settle in Central Africa.11 Among these was the British Baptist Missionary Society (BMS), which was founded in 1792 and did its early work in India. Ngemba Kavenadiambuko (1999: 102) writes, “English Baptists were the most important Protestant community in the Lower Congo, where they played a leading role.” In addition to their zeal to spread the gospel among the Africans, BMS missionaries also showed interest in the local geography, language, and traditional habits. They recorded a great deal of interesting documentary material. One of the pioneers in Africa of the BMS was Thomas Lewis (fig. 2),12 a Welshman born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire, on October 13, 1859. He entered Haverfordwest College in 1880 intending to become a missionary (Lewis 1930: 11). After having been accepted by the BMS, he sailed for Africa in February 1883. He worked for several years in Cameroon and was then sent to Angola, where the BMS had recently begun activities. He traveled with Mrs. Gwen Elen (1853–1909) to start a new mission at Kibokolo/Quibocolo, some twenty kilometers south of Maquela do Zombo. The Reverend Edward William Price Evans13 describes his colleague Thomas Lewis as a “leader in three historic events in the development of that great mission—the formation of the church at San Salvadore (the first in Congo), the establishment of the work at Kibokolo, and the opening of the United Training Institute at Kimpese (of which he was the first principal).” Mrs. Gwen Elen was “one of his Cameroon colleagues” (Anderson 1999: 398) and became his second wife. She made herself useful as a nurse, a women’s worker, and a translator. Her experiences are recorded in an autobiography published in 1911 by G. Hawker (fig. 5). Kibokolo was chosen for the site of a BMS mission center— which was to be known as “the Comber Memorial Station”14—because no other society or missionaries were active in the region and the location seemed favorable. It was situated within a populous district and also near a crossroads of important trade routes (Hawker 1911: 213– 214). A more geographically precise description of Kibokolo was published in the magazine The Geographical Journal (1908: 598), which ran the text of Lewis’ lecture “The Old Kingdom of Kongo” that he presented to the Royal Geographical Society. “During my last stay in Africa my headquarters were at Kibokolo, nearly 100 miles by road to the east of San Salvador, and twenty miles to the south of Makela, …. At Kibokolo we are at 3,250 feet, but toward the east there is a gradual depression to the river Nkisi, which is about 2,500 feet.” Reverend Lewis and his wife stayed at Kibokolo for almost seven years.15 The first contacts with the Zombo people in 1898–1899 were rather hostile and it took some years to win their confidence. More than one passage in Gwen Lewis’ biography (Hawker 1911: 202, 208, 217, 227) speaks of a tense relationship, and their new neighbors are described as “a wild, shy, suspicious people, and life at San Salvador with all its crudities seemed like civilisation when compared with the unmitigated barbarism of the Zombo.” The couple also repeatedly expressed their amazement and abhorrence for the excessive presence of “fetishes.” In his later writings, Lewis (1908: 606–607) seems to have adopted a more moderate approach toward power objects and local institutions: “I have satisfied myself, after twenty-five years of life among them, that at the bottom of African fetichism there is the fundamental belief in the existence of God and in the reality of the human soul. … fetichism, as a religion, is based on scientific truth. … everything in connection with native religion is not evil. … the great majority of fetiches and charms are intended to protect from evil, and not to attack innocent folk. … Secret societies, such as the Nkimba, Ndembo, and Nlongo, bind the communities together in one strong army under the command of the witch doctors.” The Longo Ritual (N)longo, the initiatory and educational institution for adolescent boys of the Zombo, seems to have a strong affinity with the better-studied nkanda.16 It appears to be a Kongo version of it or possibly even a Kikongo name for the same institution, which is widespread throughout Central Africa.17 Although the “program” and process of these rites certainly had some local differences, there seems to have been a fixed basic structure. The rites start with the cir-


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