Natives of Congo Develop Dangerous Craving for Liquor; Marriage Contract Rests on Sufficient Quantity of Goats

"The happiest people in the world, in my belief, are the natives of the Congo," asserted P. T. L. Putnam '25, who has just returned home to Boston after a year spent in the wilds of equatorial Africa, where he has been studying the life and customs of the negroes. "And so I'm not at all sure that the entrance of civilization into the jungle will benefit them.

"Although dwelling in the midst of constant hardships, and often unable to get enough food, the natives are remarkably carefree and good natured. But they seem to learn the white man's vices more readily than his virtues. They have developed such a dangerous craving for liquor that there is a prohibition against selling it to them. In fact, about the only way in which civilization has helped them is that the Belgium government has wiped out the ancient bloody tribal wars which once roared through the land."

Mr. Putnam left in October, 1927, as assistant to F. R. Wulsin '12 who had been sent to make anthropological studies in the French Soudan. Entering through the Belgium Congo, Mr. Wulsin was so impressed with the opportunity for research work that he left his associate there to carry out the task. Mr. Putnam spent all last year making observations and collecting native implements and products, which have already been sent to the University Museum.

"Marriage conditions are among the most unusual features of the tribal life. All a man has to do to obtain a wife is to present her parents with enough goats. The number of his wives is limited only by his wealth; most of the negroes have three or four, while the richest may have as many as 500. On the other hand, divorce is just as easy as marriage; if the woman is dissatisfied, she simply leaves her husband and returns home without ceremony, if she gives her former mate the sum paid for her.

"The conflict between the ancient tribal religion and the modern manners being adopted is often ludicrous. The African negro has no deity, but, in its place, a host of superstitions. These assume every possible form and apply to every thing. For instance, the wife of the chief is supposed to spit on the gun to insure success in the hunt. When I once failed to bag my game it was suggested that one of the women had failed to spit, and should be imprisoned! In another case the same man who drives a Ford in the afternoon may feel secure from a snake bite if the medicine man pretends to take a handful of ants from his mouth, for ants are supposed to be the poison."