ABSTRACT
Nzambi herself the Jesuits identified with the Virgin Mary, which also gives now much difficulty in sorting facts when collecting Fjort Fetish, and having spoken
of the errors of others, I must speak of my own. I found that Mpungu meant a gorilla in that district. Now it was a little interesting to find the Fjorts imagining they had sprung from a gorilla, so I thought it ought to be investigated. I found Mr. Dennett's feelings were hurt in that after all the information I had from him, I was still capable of this error; he said that in the dialects of the south bank of the Lower Congo, Mpungu means a Creator or Father-in the Nlandi dialect it means" something that covers "-and that, as Nkissism was a religion introduced into Kacongo by the Nyangas sent from Fuma Congo, therefore the word, in its religious signification, had no connection with gorillas, but bore the south bank's signification, so I hope you will remember my error when anyone comes and runs up a plausible tale about Fjorts regarding themselves as coming from gorillas, and I think if you will study Nzambi Mpungu, which we have no time to do now, you will agree with me that he is, like all the other great over-gods whom you will meet with on the West Coast-Nyan Kumpong Abasi Bum, &c.,-very intimately associated with the firmament. I do not say he is the personification of the firmament, because this god always lives above it, and you have to bore through the firmament before you can get at him-the boring is usually done by the woodpecker-and I think you know he lives there, because of the noise you hear him making-the thunder. But I must apologise for detaining you so long with Nzambi Mpungu, for he takes, as is usual with his class, next to no interest in human affairs-legal or individual. Occasionally you come across long conversations between him and his consort Nzambi, ,\Tho is always on the worry about earthly affairs. His share in them is coldly cynical, often marked by sound sense, a sort of "If they will do it, whatever does it matter to me?" Now and again he will grant grand things as a gift to her, but by no means always. On one occasion, for example, there ,vas a time of pestilence on earth, and Nzambi sent up to him to ask him to remove it. First she sent the Ngongongo, a wonderful
bird that can fly a wonderful distance, and when he reached Nzambi Mpungu he said, very carefully, "Guarry, guarry, guarry," and Nzambi Mpungu did not understand the language. Then she sent the rockpigeon, who said a good deal but was not understood, and then she sent the ground dove, whom all men understood, and she said :
And Nzambi Mpungu understood her perfectly, but he made no answer.
