44 THE CONGO.
j 188 22 Accordingly, at two p .m ., the principal elders of
Inganda* Upper Irebu were gathered together in council in one
corner of an open place. I and my three interpreters
near me occupied another corner. At another Corner
- Mangombo sat alone with his long staff ending with
a brazen spade.
“ The Malafu fee must be paid first.,” said one of
the elders. I had almost forgotten the judge’s fee,
and I hinted to Msenne and Umari that my fee must
be large.
Fifty brass-rods were distributed among the elders.
One hundred and twenty were gravely handed to me
as my share.
Mangombo recited the story of the war, recounting
his losses, and drawing pathetic pictures of the losses
incurred by Upper Irebu. The elders then suggested
their ideas as to what should be done to stay the
hostilities, and that it was a great pity that the disputants
should go on killing one another.
I followed last, and decided that the war must stop.
Said I : “ Magwala and Mpika have both agreed that
they will leave the case in my hands; you Mangombo
must do the same. The war lies in the obstinacy of
Mangombo alone. Mpika lost five men, but he kept
his eyes open, and revenged himself on the Iboko by
taking eight captives. Mangombo sought to redress his
losses by making war upon Mpika. If he wanted to
pay the Bangala for the blood they had shed, why did
he not go to Iboko, and keep his eyes open there, instead
of hurting his friend? The Nzambi (Grod) is angry,
PEACE-MAKING. 45
and he has lost nine more of his men. Say, it is
enough. Mpika and Magwala offer their hands in inganda
friendship to Mangombo. Grive the pledge of peace,
and bury the war. Bula Matari has spoken ! ”
The council of elders applauded, and Mangombo
yielded to the general cry of peace, and gave the pledge
demanded. My interpreters were instantly sent away
to central Irebu to bring the pledges of peace from the
Capulets of that quarter. These pledges were two pieces
of unbleached domestic, one gourd of palm-wine, one
keg of damp gunpowder, and one broken musket from
each faction. Then four elders from Upper Irebu who
were neutrals, and four neutrals from central Irebu took
charge of the peace pledges,-and in the centre of the
plain behind Irebu, which was the usual battle-field, a
hole was dug in the ground, and the articles were
interred. Salvoes of musketry from each rank of the
combatants .were fired over the grave of the war, and
Irebu was saved from the horrors of internal strife, for
many long years, I hope.
The next day we spent in mutual visits through
Irebu, ;
This large town, or congeries of. villages, built so
close together, that to a stranger there would appear
|to be no, distinctive limits between them, occupies the
left bank of the Congo, and the left bank of the
Lukanga, running along the bank for a distance of
pve miles, and having a depth inland of two
miles. The population I estimated at 15,000 souls.
Jrebu has also its suburbs, and if the villages inland