{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_67597/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_67597","id":"gutenberg_67597","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67597","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Health & Medicine","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Pondo (African people)","Traditional medicine -- South Africa","Xhosa (African people)","Zulu (African people)"],"text":"BANTU FOLK LORE\n                         (Medical and General).\n\n\n                                   BY\n                         MATTHEW L. HEWAT, M.D.\n\n\n                           T. MASKEW MILLER,\n                       PUBLISHER AND BOOKSELLER,\n                               CAPE TOWN.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n    CHAPTER                                             PAGE.\n    I.      Bantu Tribes                                   1\n    II.     Some observations of interest in the\n            Folk Lore of the Kaffir                        9\n    III.    Doctors                                       25\n    IV.     Native Practices                              52\n    V.      Surgery                                       85\n    VI.     Midwifery and Children                        97\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBANTU FOLK LORE.\n\nMedical and General.\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nHaving been for some time located in the border districts of the Cape\nColony, and there coming into frequent contact with the natives; I was\nstruck with the fact that there was a large field for investigation,\nand record of the \u201cMedical Folk Lore\u201d of the Bantu tribes, which was\nbecoming more and more difficult of attainment as time went on, owing\nto the fact that the true unsophisticated native was rapidly becoming a\nthing of the past; or if one may put it so, becoming contaminated by\nthe advance of civilization. Under the pressure of Colonial rule,\nMagistrates and Missionaries, the native character and ways are\nchanging. Breeks and petticoats are endowed with positive virtues. They\nare made steps in the ladder that tends upwards, and the old fashioned\nKaffir is fast disappearing.\n\nRed clay and blankets or skins give way to veneer and varnish; outward\nconformity to a kind of civilization knocks off some objectionable, and\nsome quite unobjectionable ways, and leaves the inside man as\nsuperstitious and as ignorant as ever.\n\nThe following pages are the result of an extensive study of the records\navailable on the subject, combined with much valuable information\nsupplied to me chiefly by educated Natives, Missionaries, and a large\nnumber of others, such as some of the Cape Civil Servants, who had to\ndeal with the aborigine in the early days of European occupation of the\ncountry. To all of whom I wish to record my best thanks, more\nespecially to Mr. W. Hammond Tooke for the Chapter on the Bantu Nation;\nMr. Andrew Smith, of St. Cyrus, for assisting in gathering information,\nand for his valuable assistance in the preparing of the Chapter on the\nHerb treatment of Disease; Mr. W. C. Scully, of the Cape Civil Service;\nand to Mr. J. M\u2019tombeni, Native Teacher, for gathering and editing much\nvaluable information from amongst the Kaffirs.\n\nI trust that the result here set forth, which they have assisted in\nproducing, may be of some value, and not wholly disappointing to them.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nBANTU TRIBES\n\n\nThe Bantu race comprises one great family extending over all Central\nand South Africa, South of a line drawn roughly from the Kamerun to the\nPokomo River, but excluding the South West corner\u2014Great Namaqualand and\nWestern Cape Colony\u2014which from time immemorial has been occupied by\nHottentots.\n\nAlthough strictly speaking the term \u201cBantu\u201d is philological, and this\nclassification based on linguistic grounds, and although the different\ntribes it embraces show largely but in varying degrees that they result\nfrom a mixture with oriental or negro blood, yet the similarity of\nspeech, custom and religion, warrant our treating them collectively as\none homogenous ethnological group.\n\nIt is now a generally received opinion that the Bantu originally\nemanated from a region in the Congo basin, probably north of that river\nwhere it receives the tributary Mubangi, and that the Europeans first\nmet the Kaffirs as the vanguard of this invading army when their long\nmarch southward to the furthest extremity of the Continent was nearly\ncompleted.\n\nThe Ova Herero when burying their dead place the corpse with the face\nturned towards the north \u201cto remind them whence they originally came,\u201d\nand the bodies of the Bechuana are made to face in the same direction.\nNo such custom is recorded among the Zulu or Kaffir but we have other\nevidence that the exodus southward of the tribes who fled before the\ndevastation of Tshaka was but the continuance of a migration from a\nmore northerly region.\n\nThe testimony of the Arabian geographer of the tenth century El Masudi\nshows that what we now call the Kaffir tribes had not at that time\nadvanced south of Zanzibar, the country of Zenj as it was then called.\nIn the sixteenth century shipwrecked mariners from Portuguese vessels\nthrown on the inhospitable coasts stretching from Cape Agulhas to\nDelagoa Bay found Kaffirs as far south and west as the Umtata River,\nbut no further. At the end of the seventeenth century however they were\nfound by the Dutch beyond the Great Fish River intermarrying with the\nHottentots.\n\nThe Ova Herero and Ovampo probably represent other branches of Bantu\nwho took a more westerly direction, and the Bechuana formed, it is\nlikely, a more recent wave of invasion, in its turn moving southward\nbut by a more central route.\n\nWhatever the cradle of their race, the Kaffirs are now located in the\nregion situated between the Great Fish River, the Kathlamba or\nDrakensberg mountains and their outlying spurs and subsiding ranges;\nthe northern boundaries of the Portuguese settlements around Delagoa\nBay, and the Indian Ocean. Those tribes most intimately connected with\nthe history of the Cape still occupy territory partly within the bounds\nof the Colony proper\u2014the divisions of Queenstown, Woodhouse Glen Grey,\nCathcart, Stutterheim, Komgha, King Williams Town, East London, Peddie,\nVictoria East and Fort Beaufort\u2014and partly in the region lying between\nthe North Eastern Frontier, Basutoland, Natal and the Ocean and known\nas the Transkeian territories of Tembuland, Pondoland and East\nGriqualand. They are named as follows: Aba-Tembus ama-Mpondo,\nama-Mpondumise, ama-Ntinde, ama-Ngqika, (Gaika), ama-Ndhlambe and\nama-Gcaleka. The three last spring from one large tribe, the\nama-Rarabe, and comprise with the ama-Ntinde the \u201cfighting ama-Xosa\u201d of\nthe Kaffir Wars. These are the tribes to which Dr. Hewat\u2019s researches\nmore particularly refer. Their chiefs trace back their origin to the\ncommon ancestor Zwide who lived about Cromwell\u2019s time, perhaps earlier.\nThere are a few isolated and comparatively insignificant classes who\nhave separated through feuds and quarrels from the main tribes, or have\nmingled with the Hottentots by inter-marriage, such as the ama-Qate (or\nama-Xesibe), ama-Baca, and ama-Gqunuk\u00adwebe; and we must not omit to\nmention the ama-Bele, ama-Zizi, and aba-Mbo classes who were formerly\nlarge tribes occupying at one time Natal and perhaps Zululand and from\nwhom are derived the Fingoes of the Cape Colony\u2014also referred to by Dr.\nHewat\u2014the Natal Kaffirs, the Zulus, and the Matabele of Rhodesia.\n\nThe aba-Xosa and aba-Tembu tribes with whom we first came into contact,\nthe pioneers of the Kaffir advance southward are supposed to show least\nmodified and developed the distinguishing characteristics of their\nrace. Their lighter colour argues a slight admixture of Hottentot blood\nand their intercourse with this race was doubtless considerable. From\nit they have borrowed the clicks which distinguish their speech from\nother Bantu dialects. In other respects their language is archaic and\nfree from phonetic decay compared with that of other tribes such as the\nSwahili. Their pursuits were exclusively those of the hunter and\nherdsman, war and hunting were their pastimes, cattle tending and\ncattle rearing the serious business of their lives. Indeed cattle\nmainly constituted their wealth and everything connected therewith was\ndeemed of the highest importance. Herding and milking were privileged\nlabours jealously confined to the men, who also took much pride in\ntraining oxen for racing purposes.\n\nIt is not surprising to find therefore that their skill as veterinary\nsurgeons was considerable and quite equal to that which Dr. Hewat has\nshown they possess as medical practitioners and surgeons.\n\nMaize or Indian corn [Zea mais, Kaffir \u201cUmbilo\u201d] which the Kaffir\nsomewhat recently used for food in addition to their milk and flesh\ndiet and millet a Kaffir corn [Hotcus sorghum \u201cMabele\u201d] from which they\nstill make \u201cbeer\u201d were grown and consumed to a much greater extent by\nthe Fingoes.\n\nThese refugees (ama-mfengu i.e. wanderers) remnants of the ama-Bele,\nama-Zizi and aba-Mbo who formerly occupied the territory now comprising\nNatal, from which they were driven some seventy or eighty years ago by\nTshaka show a much greater capacity for agricultural pursuits. Besides\ngrowing extensive patches of mealies and millet they cultivated\npumpkins, and some of them the imphie, or wild sugar cane [H.\nSaccharatum.] Moreover in addition to cattle and poultry they reared\nsheep and a small kind of goat. A softer climate and soil more fruitful\nthan are characteristic of Kaffraria south of the Kei River most likely\ninduced these classes to resort to avocations more agricultural than\nthose of the savage Xosa and Tembu tribes.\n\nThere is one tribe mentioned by Dr. Hewat to which I have not yet\nreferred, and that is the Basuto.\n\nThe Basuto speak a dialect so distinct from that of the Kaffir that\nindividuals of these tribes have as much difficulty in understanding\neach other as a Dutchman would have in understanding a German. They are\na branch of the Bechuana group of Bantu which comprises the Barotse,\nBamangwato, Batlapin, Barolong and other tribes. Unlike most of these\nwhich are tribes of pure descent ruled by a succession of hereditary\nchiefs the Basuto is composed of fragments of many fugitive peoples who\nescaped from the armies of Tshaka and Unsilikazi (Moselekatze) and had\ntaken refuge in the mountainous regions of the Drakensberg and Maluti,\nand were welded together into a nation by Moshesh. This chief like\nRomulus of old created a sanctuary for all outcasts and broken men and\nby the judicious use of war and diplomacy not only preserved an\nindependence against the threats and attacks of neighbouring tribes but\ndexterously held his own against both Boer and British. By his astute\nrule for which since his death British control has gradually been\nsubstituted, a country which was once a mere colluvies gentium is now\nas compared with other native territories a well ordered state, the\nhome of a homogeneous population forward in the arts of peace and\nformidable in war.\n\nThe slopes of the Maluti and the basin of the Caledon are depastured by\ncattle or covered with wheat or other grain owned by a peasantry each\nmember of which is a good customer to the Colonial trader and possesses\nhis pony, his saddle and his rifle.\n\nOne must not however jump to the conclusion that the average Mosuto has\nraised himself in intellectual capacity or freedom from sensualism and\nsuperstition far above the other Bantu tribes. Good government has\nhowever so improved his material condition and raised his standard of\ncomfort that it may at least be said that the seeds of civilization are\nsown on favourable soil.\n\nI am indebted to Mr W. Hammond Tooke, of the Cape Civil Service, for\nthe foregoing facts relating to the ethnology of the \u201cBantu Tribes.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nSOME OBSERVATIONS OF INTEREST IN THE FOLK LORE OF THE KAFFIR.\n\n\nBefore proceeding to enumerate and describe the diseases, as recognised\nby the natives, their cures and what the Kaffir believes to be their\ncauses, there are several subjects that are of interest in the study of\nKaffir Folk Lore which I propose shortly to notice.\n\nThe Kaffirs, would be a healthy, long lived people were it not for the\nexcesses of riot they run, in the practice of adultery, drinking,\ndancing, etc. Their mode of living on simple mixed diet, and\npractically entirely in the open air, in a fine climate is exceeding\nfavourable to robust health and longevity and perhaps no nation enjoys,\non the whole, better health.\n\nWhen disease does occur in man or animal it is almost invariably\nascribed by the Kaffir to the agency of human beings, either a living\nperson or as often as not some departed relation who has used\nwitchcraft or \u201cUmtagati.\u201d\n\nEven the vast majority of Mission or school natives who are more or\nless educated, retain this belief, so deep is it rooted in the native\nmind, in spite of the fact that Missionaries have preached against it\nfor years.\n\nThroughout South Africa the practice of witchcraft is a criminal\noffence and severely punished; nevertheless the belief remains, and\nwitchcraft, and \u201cSmelling out\u201d are carried out in secrecy. Many hut\nburnings and solitary murders being undoubtedly traceable to this\npractice.\n\nIt is a well recognised fact amongst those living in the Native\nTerritories that of all the deaths amongst cattle that have taken place\nthere in the recent epidemic of Rinderpest probably nineteen out of\ntwenty have been ascribed to witchcraft.\n\nFrom the foregoing it will be seen that it is, to the Kaffir, possible\nthat anyone may attain power over disease and inflict a fellow being,\nusually by calling in the assistance of the Ghosts of the departed, or\nof natural spirits or demons. It will be observed when studying the\nmethods of curing disease that many of the cures are for the purpose of\ndriving out the bewitching spirit. Just as in the ancient folklore of\nEngland offensive drugs were administered etc. for this purpose so it\nis at the present day in native practice.\n\nThe Natives believe that several agencies are often the chief cause of\ndisease and have much power over the sick person.\n\nThe chief of these are. 1. Icanti. Uhili or Tikoloshe and Im-pundulu.\n2. Im-paka. 3. U-buti (poison).\n\n1. Icanti. U-hili or Tikoloshe and Im-pundulu. These three bodies are\ncombined in their action and any person possessed of any one of them\nmust needs be possessed of all three. They are however three distinct\nbodies.\n\nThey are often used by women and in many instances in order to secure\nthe affection of someone of the opposite sex or of their families.\n\n(a). Incanti in its natural state is a rare water snake which is\nbelieved to have the power of changing its colour or assuming various\nforms resembling different objects and has great powers of fascination.\n\nAny one who comes upon an Icanti suddenly remains motionless and\nspeechless.\n\nThis snake can be preserved in various ways, and is secretly kept by\nsome woman who hands it down to her daughters and they to their female\ndescendants so that disease occuring in a tribe and to which certain\nfamilies are liable (hereditary disease) is ascribed to the influence\nof the Icanti, always be it understood with the assistance of his\nco-workers, the Tikoloshe and Im-pundulu.\n\n(b). U-hili or Tikoloshe. A short stumpy creature living in water, half\nman, half animal. The Kaffir has a special belief, attached to this\nU-hili; thus if a woman be fond of her husband and children, she is\ncredited with having been tempted by the Tikoloshe and having resisted\nhis importunities.\n\n(c). Im-pundulu, is supposed to be a bird which can assume the\nappearance of a man. This bird has besides the power of bringing\ndisease, that of bringing down lighting.\n\nIt will thus be seen that the Native recognises hereditary disease, and\nhe believes that the triple association of these three I\u2019canti,\nTikoloshe and Im-pundulu is the chief cause of this hereditary disease\nin a family, being handed down from mother to daughter. Of course it is\nunderstood that these agencies are engaged or induced to act by some\nenemy or some outraged spirit of a departed ancestor.\n\n2. Im-paka. This is a creature resembling a cat, which has the power of\ngetting inside any hut and by scratching the body of a person of\ninoculating him with poison. The Im-paka is bred by wizards and set on\nby them to spread or give disease.\n\nThis is a superstition that exists mostly amongst the Fingoes.\n\n3. Ubuti. (Poison). The usual methods of putting poison in food or\ndrink is here considered the cause. This Ubuti may be used by living\npeople or by the usual and ever present \u201cspirits.\u201d\n\nOther things which are believed to cause disease are:\u2014\n\n4. In-Qumbabane. This is a wand like snake which is believed to be the\nchief cause of fevers. By getting inside a person it eats up the inside\nof the man and so causes his death. Speaking generally as in old\nEnglish lore the methods adopted to get rid of this In-Qumbabane are\naimed at making the host an unpleasant abode for it and thus evil\nsmelling herb are rubbed on the orifices of the body and bitter\nnauseating drugs swallowed.\n\n5. Mamlambo. This is another snake chiefly known by Zulus and used by\nthem as a charm. If not properly used it causes sickness or death, and\nhas come to be looked on as a possible cause of sickness in many cases.\n\n6. Omitting to observe certain ceremonies or rites is supposed to cause\numbrage to the spirits and thus, bring about illness. Thus if the\nfinger of a new born infant is not cut, the infant will be sickly and\ndie young.\n\nIf \u201ccircumcision\u201d in man or \u201cIntonjane\u201d in woman is omitted the\nImishologu (spirits of the dead) are dissatisfied and disease or\nbarren-results.\n\n7. Etc. Certain superstitions are attached by the Kaffir to a number of\nthings or practices; for example.\u2014Heaps of stones, which they call\n\u201cIsivivane,\u201d a stone lifted from the path and placed on the branch of a\ntree; a heap of small dry sticks placed by the road-side; tying the\nlong grass by the wayside into knots; chewing certain leaves, roots, or\nbarks, of certain plants; or wearing these last; crossing certain\nstreams, especially in the case of women or children; washing in or\ndrinking of certain pools or streams; dogs howling at night; owls\nhooting as if from the top of cattle or hut etc.\n\nThey also have superstitions about the bird \u201cBroomvogel\u201d or \u201cIntsikizi\u201d\ne.g.: it is terribly unlucky to kill one; about a cow or ox entering a\nhut or a calf lying down when its mother is being milked; about the\nkilling of the Umntani\u00adzulu or mantis, the insect called the\n\u201cHottentots God\u201d by the Boers. And many other things or acts of like\nnature into the description of which it would be foreign to the present\nsubject to enter.\n\nThe following superstition and practice with reference to the dead\nexisted in the early times, though it is seldom heard of now. When the\nhead of a family died without saying where he was going e.g. suddenly;\nimmediately after his expiring the sons or daughters were compelled to\nplace a piece of old leather or some similar thing between his teeth or\ninto his mouth to show that he had died unhappily, in consequence of\nbeing bewitched. This had the effect of bringing all his acquaintances\nunder suspicion of having bewitched him and the general public were in\ngreat danger of being accused by the \u201cIsanusi\u201d of witchcraft. The death\nof such an one is at once reported at the \u201cgreat place\u201d and the chief\ndespatches a number of men to the kraal to seize and confiscate all his\nproperty and cattle.\n\nThe belief is that a person dying under these circumstances had gone to\na place of punishment; but the Amaxosa have no name for it. They, have,\nhowever a name for a happy place although they cannot describe it.\n\nThe superstitious idea attached to the death above referred to, is that\nthe soul of the dead man, being dissatisfied is likely to inspire his\nchildren or near relatives with a spirit of witchcraft and that they\nare likely to become a public danger in consequence.\n\nThese relatives are therefore forever looked upon with suspicion, and\nare frequently \u201csmelled out\u201d as the cause of bewitching in subsequent\nevents. They are often severely tortured, sometimes fatally, in order\nto get them to confess their sins. One of the chief methods of torture\nis to tie them inside the hut while it is kept filled with dense\npungent smoke.\n\nSuperstition pervades the whole of the Bantu family. They all believe\nin the spirit world and the resurrection from the dead even of the\nlower animals.\n\nThey believe that a new state of things is going to be, only in a\ndifferent way from that generally understood by certain christian\nnations. It will be remembered that at the great \u201cCattle Killing Craze\u201d\nof the Kaffirs, they believed, as told by their seer, that their\nancestors would all come back on a certain day and help them to drive\nthe white people into the sea. So that they would again come to inherit\nthe land.\n\nSacrifices. \u201cIdini\u201d are offered by the \u201cMedicine man\u201d to appease the\nwrath of the offended spirits of ancestors, who are supposed to have\ncaused the sickness of a patient or some such calamity. It being\nthought that they can by thus appealing to the pleasure of the\n\u201cimi-Nyanga\u201d (ghosts), buy them off or secure future immunity.\n\nThe following circumstances are instances of cases demanding\nsacrifices: e.g.\n\n1. Should anyone dream about his ancestors who are dead; that was taken\nas an indication, that they were displeased at some neglect and\ndemanded an \u201cIdini.\u201d\n\n2. Should there be illness either of man or beast, and a doctor\n(Isanuse) be called in and declare, \u201cI see your ancestors. They are\nangry because you have not rendered them their due\u201d; it was understood\nthat an \u201cIdini\u201d was required.\n\n3. Should there be a scarcity of rain, the people would go to the chief\nand say, \u201cWhy do you allow this drought to go on? Why do you not\napproach your ancestors\u201d; when a great sacrifice would be offered.\n\nThe most common method of offering a sacrifice is the following:\u2014\n\nFuel is first prepared, consisting of chips of \u201cSneezewood,\u201d a very\nhard, slow burning wood.\n\nAn ox is slaughtered in the centre of the cattlefold in the afternoon,\nand the blood carried over to the hut of the person, who requires the\nsacrifice. Who, for instance, has dreamt about his ancestors or whose\nrelative is ill, etc., and deposited in a Kaffir basket (these baskets\nare watertight) at the back of the hut. In carrying it, drops are\npurposely allowed to fall on the way, as a guide to the spirits from\nthe hut to the Kaffir kraal, where on the morrow the ceremony is to be\nperformed. The rest of the carcase is carried in sections to the hut,\nand piled up in the centre on sneezewood and laurel twigs.\n\nNext day a fire is made of sneezewood on the spot of slaughter i.e. the\ncentre of the cattle fold and, with the exception of the women\u2019s\nportion, (the inferior pieces) the meat is brought to the fire where it\nis roasted or boiled and around which it is eaten; the internal fat\naround kidneys, etc., \u201cin-thukuhla\u201d being given to the \u201cimi-Nyanga\u201d\n(ghosts) before the general cooking commences.\n\nThe whole of the animal is consumed that day. It is simply astonishing\nwhat an enormous quantity of meat can be consumed by a Kaffir on these\noccasions.\n\nFrequently there is a great deal of Kaffir beer, (an intoxicating\nbeverage brewed by the natives from Kaffir corn), consumed at these\nfunctions, and as a consequence much debauchery, often ending in\nbloodshed occurs.\n\nAt these sacrifices the women have their own little demonstration with\nthe children at the calves\u2019-fold.\n\nIn the case of sacrifices by chiefs on great occasions, carcases are\nsometimes wholly burned.\n\nAmulets and Charms are often worn by the natives, such as:\u2014\n\n1. Necklace of the long hairs of a cow\u2019s tail plaited together. The cow\nfurnishing the hairs is held sacred and never killed or sold.\n\n2. Seeds of the rhiza to keep away convulsions, worn by infants.\n\n3. Pieces of \u201cmooti,\u201d medicinal wood, to keep away disease generally.\n\n4. Leopard\u2019s tooth to make him brave, &c., &c., and such things as love\nphiltres are not unknown to the Kaffir beaux, in spite of the lobolo,\nor purchase system of getting a wife.\n\nThe Drugs that comprise the Native Pharmacop\u0153ia are very numerous and\nvaried, and are dealt with and used as described in subsequent pages.\nSpeaking generally, they are derived mostly from natural products. The\nvegetable kingdom supplies the greatest part in the form of roots,\nbark, wood, leaves, juice, flowers and fruit prepared in various ways\nand used as powders, infusions, extracts, and applications. Medicated\nbaths are much used by some Kaffir specialists.\n\nThose for internal use are most commonly purgatives or emetics, and for\nexternal use vesicants or irritants according to the degree of dilution\nor mode of application.\n\nThe animal kingdom also supplies some remedies, e.g., The skin of a\npython, powdered, used for soothing; Hide of Alligator; Ox Gall; Snake\nvenom with gall. Cantharides beetle (Mylabris), a severe irritant which\nhas caused death in several known instances when administered too\nfreely internally.\n\nMinerals are little used by the natives (although now-a-days Paraffine\nis a great favourite).\n\nThe more valuable remedies have been used by the Herb doctors for ages,\nand a knowledge of their properties transmitted from one to another, so\nthat there is a considerable heritage of experience to justify their\nuse.\n\nWe often find the same herb, perhaps under a different name used by the\nGaikas, Gcalekas, Fingoes, Tembus, &c., for the same malady; conclusive\nproof of the efficacy and ancient origin of its use.\n\nAs the maxim of \u201cNo cure, no pay\u201d is accepted by both doctor and\npatient, worthless remedies are sifted out, and the high fee often paid\nfor a cure tends in the same direction.\n\nThe Materia Medica of the Kaffir is apparently collected at any time,\nand they observe no ceremonies in collecting it, nor do they take note\nof the seasons, moon phases, &c., in so doing.\n\nIn contrast to what one finds in the Folk Lore of other savage races,\nthe Kaffir tribes appear to take very little heed to the phases of the\nelements. They have no astronomical knowledge and except in some few\nauthentic cases of eclipse of sun or moon, carry out their daily life\nuninfluenced by sun, star, or moon.\n\nPerhaps the only seasonal practice known is the habit of the Fingoes in\nearly spring, of taking an emetic, often very strong and lowering the\nsystem.\n\nThe King is the chief Doctor, but with this exception anyone may become\na medicine man or woman.\n\nDomestic remedies are much used amongst the commonality, but such\nthings as appeals to saints or deities do not take place, for the\nKaffir has no saint or deity.\n\nFew Surgical Instruments are used. Knives and needles for scarifying: a\ncupping glass of cowshorn about 6 or 8 inches long are about the only\ninstruments used.\n\nThe cupping glass is used thus. The skin is scarified by needles and\nthe larger end of the horn placed over the wounds. Suction by the mouth\nis then exerted at the smaller end through which a small hole has been\nbored.\n\nIt is the practice of the natives to attend their sick at home and\nexcept in known infectious cases e.g. Small pox, amaas, &c., they are\ncertainly not avoided in any way: quite the contrary, many visits are\npaid by sympathising friends and much assistance offered by them.\n\nIncurables are usually looked on as pensioners of the kraal and\ncharitably treated.\n\nDeformed infants, that is, those born deformed, are generally got rid\nof by order of the chief: usually by leaving them in the open at night\nwhen carnivora make short shrift of them. In addition, there are\nseveral minor abnormalities that are looked upon as evidence of the\nchild being a witch child, and rendering it likely to be got rid of in\na similar way or even openly destroyed. Such conditions for instance,\nas hare lip, obvious squints, born with teeth, arrival of the upper\nincisors before the lower, are looked upon with grave suspicion.\n\nIn case of a death taking place, the hut is burned down, and the spot\nwhereon it stood obliterated as much as possible: it being considered\nbewitched and avoided in consequence.\n\nAt the graveside, for the Bantus bury their dead, much ceremony is\nobserved, and the relations leave offerings for the dead saying, \u201cLook\non us favourably where you are going.\u201d They believe in a vague sort of\nway in a future existence, and that the spirits of the departed have\nsome sort of continuous existence and power over the lives of the\nliving usually exercised for ill. For this reason many ceremonies are\nobserved, which it is foreign to the intention of this essay to\ndescribe in detail, in order to secure that the departed spirit will\nrest in peace and not give future trouble.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nDOCTORS (AMAGQIRA).\n\n\nThe Kaffirs have great faith in the power of their \u201cMedicine man\u201d and\nconsult him on every possible event. They requisition his services for\nsickness and pain, and accident, foretelling and causing the fall of\nrain; as detectives to find stolen or strayed or lost property; to\npoint out criminals and bewitchers; to steer them clear of witchcraft,\nto make them brave in war; to secure their departed spirits rest; and\nso on almost \u201cad infinitum.\u201d\n\nOne day talking to a Fingo headman, a Wesleyan preacher, over the case\nof a sick Fingo woman, and arguing that, after all the District Surgeon\nshould be trusted to know best what to do, as he had had years of study\nso as to recognise and treat disease. I was met by this reason for his\npreferring his native doctor, \u201cOh yes but you see our native doctors\nare taught by God.\u201d\n\nThe \u201cMedicine man\u201d is in all ordinary cases openly called in; but in\ncases where witchcraft is suspected he is (owing to such an accusation\nand its consequences being now-a-days criminal), called by stealth and\nworks in secrecy. He is paid a retaining fee and a good one if\nsuccessful.\n\nSpeaking generally his powers are quite unlimited; although in many\ninstances, some particular Medico will specialize and become famous for\nsome one or group of diseases, his patients often coming great\ndistances to consult him or her as the case may be, for sex makes,\nexcept in a few cases, no difference.\n\nAs a general rule some form of Incantation is used to exorcise the\ndemon of disease, and if the doctor attributes the illness to the work\nof some departed spirit, sacrifices are offered to appease his wrath.\n\nAs one gathers more and more information on the Medicine Man, and\nmedicine practices of the natives, one is struck with the conviction,\nthat, as pointed out by Herbert Spencer, the \u201cMedicine man\u201d as such, is\na natural evolution from the priest, and he is a natural sequence to a\nbelief in ghosts and the continuous existence and influence for good or\nevil of the souls, spirits, ghosts or something else of dead ancestors.\n\nAs one would expect there is a gradual evolution amongst the natives of\nthe Bantu tribes, from the Priest, pure and simple, to the \u201cMedicine\nman\u201d proper; one who leaves the supernatural out of his method of\ntreatment and depends on nature and combination of nature\u2019s products\nfor the cure of disease. Thus we have the \u201cIsanuse,\u201d the witch doctor,\ndiviner of secrets, etc., and on the other hand the \u201cIgquira\nElemicisa,\u201d the herb doctor; some of these latter even going the length\nof specializing different classes of diseases; and the \u201cAwamatambo,\u201d\nKaffir Surgeons.\n\nThe Kaffir Doctor may be of either sex, except in the case of the war\ndoctor, who is always a male; and in the puberty rites of (intonyana)\nand (ubukweta), each sex is treated by a practitioner of like sex.\n\nSome of these \u201cdoctors\u201d inherit, or are taught the knowledge possessed\nby their father or mother, e.g., the Awemiciza; others become so by\nvoluntary submission to rites and training, vide Isanusi, where the\nprocess of Ukutwasa is described. They all carry on their person charms\nof numerous kinds; dried lizards, tiger\u2019s teeth, fish bones, etc.,\netc., etc., that have for them special virtues; and the large majority\nclaim to have power over the demons of disease; for to the\nunsophisticated Kaffir, all disease is caused by \u201cUmtagati\u201d or\nwitchcraft, and although the doctor may rely on his herbs and treatment\nto cure his patient, he is led to practice spells and go through\nincantations to meet the evident expectations of his patients, and\nperhaps more so of the relatives.\n\nTaking a \u201cHerb Doctor\u201d all-round he is often a clever fellow, good at\nthe cure of some diseases, and his methods and principles compare\nfavourably with those ascribed to Aesculapius and Galen in the early\nhistory of medicine.\n\nThe Kaffir uses a pronominal prefixual polysyllabic language, and\nattention to the structure of Kaffir words is necessary in order to\nunderstand the terms applied to the various kinds of Kaffir doctors.\n\n\u201cIsanuse\u201d is a substantive term of unknown origin, meaning a witch\nfinder or witch doctor.\n\nMost of the other names consist of two parts\u2014a distinguishing part\npreceded by Igqira, which means \u201cdoctor,\u201d just as we use the term\nDoctor of Herbs, the Kaffir uses that of\n\n                    Singular               Plural\n                igqira elemicisa      amagqira awemicisa\n              the doctor of herbs.   the doctors of herbs.\n\nand so on.\n\nThe etymology may be briefly shown thus:\n\nSingular\u2014Iligqira, or contracted, i-gqira\u2014the doctor.\n\n                 e     la   imi   cisa    }   elemicisa\n                 who   of   the   herbs   }\n\nPlural\u2014Amagqira.    Plural prefix\u2014ama.\n\n                 a     wa   imi   cisa    }   awemicisa\n                 who   of   the   herbs   }\n\nThere are five classes of \u201cDoctors,\u201d each having sub-classes.\n\n\nA. The Witch doctors.\n\n     1. Isanuse\u2014Diviner of secrets.\n     2. Igqira elemishologu\u2014Spirit doctor.\n     3. Igqira eliligogo\u2014Foreteller of events.\n     4. Igqira elemilozi\u2014Doctor of sounds or whistles.\n     5. Igqira elokuvumisa\u2014Doctor who goes by consent.\n     6. Igqira elamatambo\u2014Doctor who uses bones.\n     7. Igqira elobulongo\u2014Cow-dung doctor.\n     8. Igqira ilixukwazana\u2014The learning student.\n     9. Igqira elokuqubula\u2014The doctor who rubs, etc.\n    10. Igqira elilicamagu\u2014Faith healer.\n\nB. Surgeon or Bonesetter.\n\n        Igqira elokuqapula\u2014The Doctor who inoculates or lets blood.\n\nC. Herb Doctor. Physician.\n\n        Igqira elemiciza\u2014Doctor of herbs.\n\nD. Rain Doctor.\n\n        Igqira elesebe\u2014The doctor who controls the rain bird, \u201cIsebe.\u201d\n\nE. War Doctor.\n\n        Igqira elilitola\u2014The war doctor.\n\n\n\n\nA. THE WITCH DOCTORS.\n\n1. The Isanuse (Umgoma of the Zulus) is a witch doctor, who professes\nto have direct intercourse with the spirit world, and practices\ndivination, or in his language, \u201cUkunuka\u201d or \u201csmelling out.\u201d Their\nassistance and influence is employed in \u201csmelling out\u201d sorcerers or\nbewitchers, \u201cAmagqira\u201d or \u201cAbatakati,\u201d and although they are forbidden\nto practice in the Cape Colony or Natal under heavy penalties if\ndiscovered, they practice secretly and do much harm; mysterious\nburnings of Kraals, etc., taking place after the departure of one of\nthese gentry. Until recently they practiced unrestrained in Zululand\nand Pondoland, and exercised a truly awful power for evil; hundreds and\neven thousands having been \u201csmelled out\u201d and put to death within recent\ntimes.\n\nProbably no more villainous and unmitigated fraud than the Kaffir\n\u201cIsanuse\u201d exists on the face of the earth. Pretending to possess the\nfaculty of divination, he trains his memory and powers of observation\nto an extraordinary degree. Every little circumstance coming within his\ncognisance is hoarded up for future use. Nothing is too trivial, and by\nthe assistance of spies he is kept informed of everything that goes on\nin his clan or tribe. Rich and influential men are, of course, the\nspecial objects of his keenest regard.\n\nNothing is unimportant, and such things as the pattern of a snuffbox, a\ndent in an assegai handle or blade, the number and etc., of shells worn\nin a necklet or charm, are noted for possible use against the owner,\nshould it be advisable to convict him of Sorcery.\n\nScully thus describes an hypothetical case.\n\nLet us suppose that a child is ill, and the friends have decided to\nconsult their Isanuse, and find out who has bewitched him, for, to the\nKaffir, sickness is always due to witchcraft or \u201cUmtagati.\u201d A present\nof a goat or ox or something else is brought, depending on the wealth\nof the individual and the importance of the Isanuse. The friends sit\ndown in front of the Isanuse\u2019s hut, when he, being previously warned of\ntheir coming and its object, comes forth and tells them to \u201cVuma\u201d or\nacknowledge what he says to be the truth. After a time of consideration\nhe will say, \u201cYou have come to find out who has bewitched the child of\n\u2018Sogolima.\u2019\u201d All clap their hands and shout \u201cVuma\u201d \u201cSiyavuma,\u201d we\nacknowledge.\n\nIf a false statement is made, the clapping and shouting is\ninvoluntarily not so emphatic, when he will say, \u201cNo you lie, it is not\nso and so,\u201d when loud shouts of \u201cSiyavuma, Siyavuma mhloko!\nSiyavuma!!!\u201d and clapping of hands will show how his hearers admire his\nwonderful powers.\n\nThe next stage is to say who has been the bewitcher. He points at the\nindividual whom he has decided to incriminate saying, \u201cyou took the\nassegai with the crack in the handle which you mended with a thong of\ngoat hide in the spring last year, and digging in front of the hut of\nthe sick person, buried something (previously and in secret placed\nthere by the Isanuse), by which you bewitched the child.\u201d This\nknowledge of details fills the spectators with dread and wonder at the\npowers of the \u201cdoctor\u201d and convinces his friends, who know that he has\nan assegai, so mended, of his guilt. The subsequent finding of the\nburied charm drives away all further doubt from their minds.\n\nThe accused is then dealt with, by heavy fines or physical torture or\neven death.\n\nNo doubt these individuals come in time, to believe that they actually\npossess magical powers; and certainly it must be allowed that their\nfaculties are often wonderfully trained, with at times startling\nresults, at least startling to the uninitiated.\n\nUsually the Isanuse takes his cue from the Chief as to whom he may\naccuse; but not always; and is of course amenable to bribery from other\nsources.\n\nWomen practice this horrible form of \u201cdoctoring\u201d more than men.\n\nScully from whom I have obtained much information tells how an aged and\nrich Pondo becoming a convert to christianity became a suspect, was\naccused at a smelling out, of treachery to his chief and was hunted\ndown and murdered while fleeing for sanctuary at a Mission Station,\nwithin sight of the missionary, who was powerless to interfere.\n\nMission Stations were respected and acknowledged as \u201cSanctuary\u201d for\npeople smelt out, but they dared never return to their kraals.\n\nThe following description, culled from the same source, of the ordinary\ncourse of action in the event of illness admirably describes what may\nwell have taken place.\n\nA fine baby is born. His proud mother fastens round his neck the seeds\nof the \u201cRhiza\u201d to keep away convulsions, a piece of \u201cMooti\u201d or\nmedicinal wood to prevent illness generally. The father gave a\nLeopard\u2019s tooth to hang on, \u201cto make him brave.\u201d\n\nHe takes measels, followed by chronic cough and wasting \u201cPhtisis.\u201d An\n\u201cIsanuse\u201d is consulted as above described. He decides on the illness\nand advises a certain Gqira. This Gqira (Native doctor) is sent for and\na goat killed for his entertainment. He doses the little patient with\ninfusion of various herbs, frog\u2019s feet, baboon\u2019s hair, lizard\u2019s tails\nand other items of his grotesque pharmacop\u0153ia. He then hangs some\ninfallible charms, tied up in the inevitable bag round the child\u2019s neck\nand departs next morning with an ox or other good fee, promising\ncertain cure: Result nil.\n\nAnother \u201cGqira\u201d a most celebrated practitioner is sent for. This one\nrequires a fat black ox to be killed. With the blood of this animal he\nfreely sprinkles all the members of the family, the little patient\ngetting an extra share. After speaking in most slighting terms of the\nother doctor\u2019s treatment, he makes a powder of burnt bones of several\nkinds of snakes and birds, then, making small incisions with a sharp\nstick across the chest and round the neck, arms and legs of the\npatient, he rubs the powder well into them. After this he applies a\nplaster of fresh cowdung to the sick child\u2019s chest, and wrapping him up\nin the skin of the black ox killed on the previous evening, he carries\nhim out of the hut and lays him in the middle of the cattle kraal. It\nis now noon and until sundown the \u201cGqira\u201d dances and chants around his\npatient in the most grotesque and frantic manner conceivable.\n\nJust at sundown, he falls down in a swoon or fit, foaming at the mouth\nand yelling horribly, presently he comes to, and crawling over to where\nthe poor little child is looking on with horrified eyes from the wraps,\nhe inserts his hands amongst the folds of the skin and extracts a\nlizard about 4 in. in length, and holds it up to the gaze of the\nadmiring and applauding crowd. Here was the cause of the malady, rid of\nwhich the child will at once mend! The mother weeps tears of joy as she\nloosens the child from its unsavoury durance.\n\nThe \u201cGqira\u201d leaves next morning having established his reputation;\ntaking as fees two of the best cattle. Result nil.\n\nAs the child got worse, the mother becomes convinced that someone has\nbewitched him, and goes to consult one of the wizards or witch doctors\n\u201cAwamatambo,\u201d who is believed to be able to foretell the future and\nreveal the secrets of the past, by the method known as throwing the\n\u201cIndawuli\u201d (Dutch, dolossi bones). These are the metatarsal or\nmetacarpal bones of sheep and antelopes variously coloured. They are\nthrown, about a dozen, like dice; and the \u201cGqira\u201d studies them and\nreads the answer.\n\nHis procedure is something thus:\u2014Having been paid his fee, a goat or\nsomething, he sits down with his kaross, throws the \u201cIndawuli\u201d and then\nproceeds.\n\nFirst he recapitulates the disease and details of treatment that have\nbeen adopted, and then accuses someone of witchcraft, someone whom he\nhas a spite against or whom he knows to be suspected. Says the child\nwas charmed by the individual by means of magic medicines which he had\nburned, which drew the lizard and toad and snake, \u201cUhili, Icanti and\nImpundulu\u201d to the mother\u2019s hut and then the child sickened. He predicts\nhis certain death: a self evident fact by this time and which soon\ntakes place, resulting in much trouble in the king\u2019s household and\noften bloodshed.\n\nThe story is told of a great witch doctor being called to cure a girl\nof Epilepsy, which was supposed to be \u201cUmdhlemyana,\u201d sickness caused by\nthe casting of a love spell by a young man in the neighbourhood; also\nof an instance where a child accidently buried in a landslip alive, and\nheard crying is allowed to die unreleased, while witch doctors have\ncattle and then goats driven over the place to appease the \u201cImishologu\u201d\nin whose custody the child was.\n\nThere is another form of \u201csmelling out,\u201d a more fearful affair the\n\u201cUmhlalho,\u201d or in Zulu \u201cIngoboko.\u201d This is a tribal affair, and is\ncarried out in the following manner:\n\nThe chief agrees to the summoning of a great \u201cUmhlalho,\u201d a great public\ndance, to which selected tribes are invited, and must attend. The\n\u201cGqira,\u201d the tribes being assembled, after various incantations and\nprobably working himself or herself (for females often take to this\nprofession) into a frenzy, will single out an individual, or even at\ntimes a whole tribe as a guilty party, by throwing ashes over them.\nThis act being called \u201cUkunuka.\u201d These parties may have been guilty of,\nsay, causing sickness in the king\u2019s household, making one of his wives\nmiscarry, or, in the case of a tribe, having assisted in the escape of\na fugitive.\n\nThose proclaimed guilty at an \u201cUmhlalho\u201d by means of the \u201cUkunuka\u201d\n(throwing ashes), the signs of being \u201csmelled out,\u201d are often summarily\nslaughtered or at least severely punished, often with horrible\ntortures.\n\nIt was an \u201cIsanusi\u201d called \u201cMalakaza,\u201d who was responsible, under the\ndirection of Kreli, for the great \u201cCattle Slaughter of the Kaffirs in\n1856,\u201d by which, according to the Hon. Charles Brownlee, an undoubted\nauthority, it is computed that over 20,000 natives died of starvation\nand other diseases, and 30,000 were forced to seek relief in the Cape\nColony.\n\nAn \u201cInsanuse\u201d goes through a regular course of initiation and education\nafter the following methods:\u2014\n\nHe or she gets an inspiration or has a dream in which he is called to\nvisit a river, near a deep and quiet pool, alone. He is said to be\ncalled by the spirit king of the river, or the \u201cIngwenya,\u201d or\nalligator, with a view to his destruction. He is, however, protected by\nhis guardian spirits, \u201cIminyanga.\u201d While he is at the river he is\ninstructed by the \u201cIhili,\u201d a sort of fairy who also guards his\ninterests. He begins to see visions, and is supposed to have some\nintercourse with spirits. In this stage of his initiation, or as it is\ncalled \u201cUkutwasa,\u201d he is known as \u201cElemishologu,\u201d analogous to the\ncondition of a medical student. He, however, does some practising on\nhis own account even now.\n\nLater he pays in kind or in service, a superior or full fledged doctor\nto complete his education; this stage being called \u201cUku penleleliva,\u201d\nand eventually becomes a full fledged member of one or other or perhaps\nseveral of the numerous classes of native doctors or \u201cAmagqira\u201d\n(singular, \u201cIgqira\u201d).\n\nThe fees paid to these \u201cAmagqira\u201d vary considerably. They usually take\nthe form of cattle or other live stock or agricultural produce, and\nseem to depend on the case and the wealth of the individual seeking\nassistance.\n\nThe general plan is to pay fees as follows:\u2014\n\n1. A small fee, about 5s., to get him to speak.\n\n2. The after payment to a regular practitioner is \u201cUmkonto,\u201d a visiting\nfee for diagnosing the disease or advising a specialist.\n\n3. \u201cUmlandu.\u201d Fee for actual attendance, generally an animal, large or\nsmall; only given if the treatment proves successful.\n\nA truly excellent method of remuneration, and which might be followed\nin more civilized communities.\n\nThis \u201cInsanuse\u201d is therefore a sage or diviner, who treats all kinds of\ndisease, often by charms and incantations, calculated to drive out the\nevil spirits (for to him all disease is caused by \u201cUmtagati,\u201d or\nwitchcraft), and frequently by the use of herbs and drugs. He does not\npractice surgery.\n\n\n\n\nA 2.\n\nSingular. I-gqira elemishologu. e-la-imishologu. The doctor who (is) of\nspirits. Plural. Ama gqira Awemishologu. A-wa imi shologu. The doctors\nwho (are) of spirits.\n\n\nThis is a spirit doctor, one who professes to see and be guided by\nspirits. He is really the (medical) student stage of the \u201cInanuse,\u201d and\nhas gone through the initiation \u201cUkutwasa,\u201d only. He has still to pass\nhis \u201cUku Penleleliva\u201d to become an \u201cIsanuse.\u201d Many, however, remain at\nthis stage, and are recognised as diviners and spiritualists.\n\n\n\n\nA 3. Igqira Eliligogo (e-la-igogo\u2014who is \u201cIgogo?\u201d i.e., and observer.\nPlural\u2014\u201cAma-gogo\u201d).\n\n\u201cIgogo,\u201d is a native name for a sort of antelope, which usually, when\nseen, is gazing or observing.\n\nThe title is applied to an individual, who foresees or foretells coming\nevents. Some of them, from continued observations, are very able in\nestimating chances or judging of future events by present and past\nfacts, and so come to have quite a reputation as seers. They will be\nasked such things as: \u201cWill the rains be early, late or severe? Will\nthe crops suffer from hailstorms? Is an enemy to be expected, when and\nfrom where?\u201d They pretend to be told by dreams and visions that which\nthey reveal, and some of them go through forms of incantations, e.g.,\nthrowing certain roots on a fire, &c., while using passes and phrases.\n\nAs the Kaffir prophets, like other prophets, are often wrong, the term\n\u201cIgogo\u201d is sometimes used to mean a pretender.\n\nThey, as a rule, receive no fees.\n\n\n\n\nA 4.\n\n               Singular.                       Plural.\n            Igqira elemilozi.             Amagqira alemilosi.\n       (The doctor of Whistlings).\n\n\u201cUmlozi\u201d means a whistle or whistling sound. A doctor of whistlings is\none who pretends to hear a whistling noise about, e.g., in the roof of\nthe hut, which gives him the instructions required as to which charms,\nroots, drugs, &c., are good for a certain case, and where to find them.\nHe is a sort of ventriloquist and physician; does not practice surgery;\nis paid the usual fees; and is usually a Fingo.\n\n\n\n\nA 5.\n\nIgqira elokuvumisa (A doctor who goes by consent). Plural\u2014Amagqira\nAwokuvumisa.\n\nThis is a consulting practitioner who does not use medicines. He will\nfind out what the disease is, and directs the patient to a regular\npractitioner; or he will point out the sorcerer or bewitcher.\n\nThe method adopted by this individual is described under Isanusi. He,\nhowever, is a specialist in this line. He finds out by getting the\npeople collected around him to Vuma, or consent to various assertions\nmade by himself, and judges by the loudness of their Vuma and clapping\nof hands, whether he is near the truth or otherwise. See Isanusi.\n\n\n\n\nA 6.\n\nIgqira elamatambo (The doctor of bones.) Plural\u2014Amagqira Awamatambo.\n\nThis is a class of practitioner chiefly found amongst the Basutos, who\npretends to find out things by the manner in which his \u201cIndawuli\u201d (Cape\nDutch\u2014Dolossi bones) fall when thrown.\n\nThese \u201cIndawuli\u201d may be thus described:\u2014\n\n\n1. Two flat pieces of bone, roughly carved, i.e., the king and queen.\n2. Two others, usually thicker pieces, and of the metatarsus of a calf,\n   also ornamented, i.e., the ox of the king and queen respectively.\n3. Eight metacarpal bones of sheep, i.e., the common people.\n\n\nHe proceeds thus:\u2014Holding the bones in his hands, held horizontally,\nwith a turn of the wrist, he throws them on the ground as one would\nthrow dice. He looks at their relative position. Should they give no\nindication he throws again. This time perhaps they lie favourably. The\nking touches one of the common people, and the queen is looking in that\ndirection. He then proceeds to give his opinion.\n\nThese doctors are frequently very shrewd and possessed of wonderfully\nwell trained memories.\n\nBy observation and information of spies, they know everybody\u2019s\nbusiness, and of every event, and by reasoning are often able to judge\ncorrectly. There are well-known instances, where the information\nreceived from these Amagqira has led to the discovery of lost or stolen\ngoods or cattle, after apparently all other means have been tried in\nvain.\n\n\n\n\nA 7. Igqira elobulongo, Amagqira awobulongo, (the doctor, who is of\ncowdung).\n\nThis individual employs moist cowdung, often taken fresh from a\nrecently slaughtered beast, to draw out the evil spirits that are\ncausing the disease. He proceeds thus:\u2014A ball of cowdung is secured\nover the affected parts, and after a time removed by the Igqira, who\nproduces from it by sleight of hand some charm, such as a lizard,\npreviously had handy for his purpose. These are the \u201cIzidlanga,\u201d\ndiseased parts of the body or charms that have been put into the\npatient by the evil spirits or bewitchers.\n\n\n\n\nA 8.\n\nIgqira Ililixukwazana. Plural\u2014 Amagqira Amaxukwazana.\n\nThis is a witch doctor of much inferior kind to the \u201cIsanusi,\u201d whose\nmethods he adopts. He is a learner of little experience and may become\nan \u201cIsanusi\u201d later on.\n\n\n\n\nA 9.\n\nIgqira Elokuqubula, Uku-qubula\u2014to fall upon, to attack.\n\nPlural\u2014 Amagqira Awokuqubula.\n\nThis is a term used to designate the practitioner who professes to draw\nout the malady by rubbing or grasping with the hand or sucking with the\nmouth. They often also use herbs and leaves as applications, and, as in\nthe case of the \u201cAwobulongo\u201d (cowdung doctor), frequently produce\nthings as the cause of the disease, the presence of which they have\npreviously arranged. Thus an Igqira Elokuqubula will suck over a\npainful joint after having well rubbed it, and produce from his mouth a\nsnake or lizard, previously placed there, as the cause of the disease\nand pain.\n\n\n\n\nA 10.\n\nIgqira Elilicamagu. Plural\u2014 Amagqira Amacamagu.\n\nThese are seers, foretellers and faith healers, their practice and\ntreatment corresponding greatly with the faith healers of more\ncivilized lands.\n\nThe following is a description given me by an educated native, who\nclaimed to have been cured of mortification, \u201cUbulima,\u201d in this way.\nThe doctor collects the patients friends and makes them vuma, i.e.,\nconfess to the disease, he then orders the slaughtering of a certain\ncow, which he will most minutely describe, though he is supposed never\nto have seen the herd. The cow is found and made a living sacrifice of.\n\nThe beast is bound and thrown, and the people round, led by the doctor,\nstab it on the navel and belly, and while the poor brute bellows from\npain, the doctor and people shout out \u201cYou are well;\u201d \u201cGet up,\u201d etc.,\netc., and in some miraculous way the patient is immediately cured of\nhis pain. Another Agqira is then called in to complete the cure by\nmeans of herbs, &c., which frequently produce vomiting and purging.\n\n\n\n\nB. SURGEONS, BONESETTERS, &c.\n\n        Igqira Elokuqapula.       Amagqira Awokuqapula.\n        Uku-qapula, means to inoculate or to let blood.\n\nThese Kaffir specialists show a considerable surgical skill. They are\ncalled in for all surgical complaints.\n\nIn most cases the surgeon exhibits internal as well as external\nremedies, using purgatives and emetics freely to assist healing and\nrelieve pain.\n\nBlood-letting, as his name implies, is frequently had resort to by the\nnative surgeon. Thus, I know of a case where one of these Awokuqapula\non his own initiative incised the temporal artery for persistent\nneuralgia.\n\nBlood-letting by means of incisions or scarifications is frequently\nused to relieve deep seated pain. A common method of treating pleuritic\npain is to scarify over the ribs and rub in some irritant.\n\nThe native Surgeon, whether taught by outside practice or not, it is\nhard to say, resorts to venesection as one of his routine methods of\ntreatment for violent fevers. He usually selects one of the veins of\nthe forearm, using direct pressure to stop the h\u00e6morrhage when he\nconsiders that his patient has lost enough.\n\nA cupping instrument called \u201cLuneka\u201d and needles \u201cIzinthlum\u201d are used\nby the Kaffir Surgeon for acupuncture and bleeding in such cases as\nsnake bite, pleurisy, etc.\n\nSurgical cases of any degree are put in clean huts and usually on the\ntop of a hill, thus shewing that the Kaffir appreciates the value of\nfresh, clean surroundings: and the ashes of plants (carbon) used for\nwounds shows a spontaneous knowledge, that an antiseptic is of value in\nassisting healing.\n\n\n\n\nC. THE HERB DOCTOR (Physician).\n\n          Igqira elemiciza.    Amagqira awemiciza.\n              (The doctor, who is of herbs.)\n\nThe herb doctor is simply a Kaffir practitioner and differs in no\nessential respect from the European \u201cherbalist,\u201d only, he employs South\nAfrican herbs and drugs.\n\nSome of them devote their attention to one disease or to some small\ngroup of maladies, and by close observation and long experience, as\nalso by benefitting by transmitted and traditional knowledge, they\nacquire fame as specialists and experts in the cure of disease; and\npeople send for them, or go to them from great distances, and often\nreward them very liberally if they be successful.\n\nIt is not uncommon for the isanuse (witch doctor) to practice also as\nan igqira elemicisa (herb doctor).\n\nAs a witch doctor he administers emetics (see later) which have no\nrelation to the healing art, but as a herb doctor he acts on the same\nprinciples as the others do and may be skilful as such. He is at any\nrate not more grossly inconsistent than the Roman augurs were.\n\n\n\n\nD. THE RAIN DOCTOR.\n\nIgqira elesebe. The term elesebe (who is of isebe) is derived from\n\u201cisebe\u201d a bird, this bird being the being from which the doctor is\nsupposed to receive the rain.\n\nA doctor who has passed his initiation (ukutwasa) is supposed to have\ncommunication with things in the water, or with wild animals; but this\nindividual claims to hold communication with a bird.\n\nThere are birds well-known, which by their actions or calls indicate\nthe approach of rain; thus we have Egyptian vulture; the turkey buzzard\nwhich does so by its \u201cbooming\u201d and the South African rain bird by its\ncall \u201cbok\u2014ma\u2014keri.\u201d\n\nSome men of great natural observing powers are skilful in weather signs\nand probably the rain doctors are no fools in this respect, and hold\noff with various excuses when their natural barometer stands at \u201cvery\ndry.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nE. THE WAR DOCTOR.\n\nIgqira elilitola. (the doctor who is of war.) Plural. Amagqira amatola.\n\nIn time of war, before proceeding to battle the companies are doctored,\neach soldier being submitted to the process.\n\nThe war doctor (Itola) always a man, is sent for and prepares a large\nvessel of war medicine, with much ceremony and incantation, and of this\neach warrior partakes, and is in consequence considered immunised from\nthe danger of his enemies\u2019 weapons (always, be it understood, provided\nhe be at peace and in the good graces of his departed ancestors.)\n\nThese ancestors have sacrifices offered to them by every warrior,\nincluding the king and chief indunas on the eve of battle. Many curious\npractices take place at such a time which it is outside the province of\nthis essay to describe. They are, however, very interesting, as\nevidence of various superstitions believed by the Kaffir.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nNATIVE PRACTICES.\n\n\nA. Medicine. Diseases known to Natives: Native names: supposed causes\nand recognised cures.\n\nIn dealing with this subject I have as far as possible compiled\ninformation received from a large number of individuals, chiefly Native\nchiefs, educated Natives, Missionaries, &c., and, as in soliciting\ninformation terms understood by such had to be used, I have continued\nto use the same terms, classifications and nomenclature of disease,\netc.\n\n\u201cIcesina,\u201d Fevers. Natural Diseases.\n\nThere is a wand-like snake called \u201cIn-Gum-babane,\u201d which is supposed to\neat up the man inside and thus cause death. The Kaffirs try to stop the\nentrance of the snake or to arrest its progress by using bitter and\nstrong smelling herbs, which they administer internally, as well as by\nrubbing well all round the orifices of the body, mouth, nose, anus,\netc.\n\nA general method of treatment for these fevers as well as other\nconstitutional diseases is called \u201cUku Nyakamisa Imbiza\u201d (to wet a\npot).\n\nThis is carried out in the following way:\u2014\n\nRoots of several kinds of medicinal plants are collected, placed in a\ngourd, covered with water and allowed to soak. Of which infusion\nrepeated doses are administered to the patient. The supply of the\ninfusion is kept up by adding more water until the roots either shoot\nor putrify. The patient is then given a severe purge and emetic and is\nexpected to be cured.\n\nMeasles. I-Masisi. Scarlatina. I-Rashalala, or more usually Ungana.\nThese two diseases are considered as one, scarlatina being the more\ngrave.\n\nTreatment:\u2014a Fresh goats dung, \u201cIngqata,\u201d is taken and boiled in goats\nmilk and this drunk hot in cupfulls. It helps to bring out the rash and\ncause profuse perspiration. The remaining dung is dried, powdered,\nmixed with fat and rubbed all over the body. b. Wormwood (Um-hlonyane)\nis also sometimes used for steaming the patient, and if the throat be\nbad, infusions are gargled, made from a mucilaginous wood the (Indlebe\nyemvu) Helichrysum appendiculatum (Less).\n\nc. The leaves and shoots of (Um-pafa) wait-a-bit thorn tree, are\nboiled, the steam inhaled and the concoction gargled.\n\nd. The throat may be fomented and poulticed.\n\ne. The poison taken from a snake, mixed with gall (from the snake) and\nclay is also given in small quantities by some doctors.\n\nMealie-meal porridge and meat-soups are allowed and solids forbidden.\nSo it is in all fevers.\n\nSmallpox. In-gqakaqa, as in the case of Measles.\n\nTyphoid Fever. I-cesina Seronya.\n\nThis is the typical Kaffir fever disease, caused by the entrance of the\nsnake, In-qumbabane and its eating the patient up inside.\n\nTreatment:\u2014a. The patient is steamed, dosed, and rubbed all over with\nwormwood (Unhlonyane), the dosing being very liberal. All intended to\nprevent the snake killing the man and to drive it out of him.\n\nb. The following herbs are also used as the infusions of their\nroots:\u2014I-tshongwe (Xysmalobium lapatifolium) Dutch: Bitter wortel, and\nubuvumba (Withania somnifera.)\n\nThe residuum of any of the above infusions is well rubbed over the\norifices, to prevent the In-qumbabane from entering in numbers. The\ncouch and hut are strewn with the leaves of evil smelling plants and\neven nicotine has been used to rub round the orifices, principally the\nanus, through which the snake usually enters and the I-qwili (Alepidea\namatymbica), an evil smelling plant is similarly used.\n\nDiet as in fevers generally.\n\nMemo. Owing to the practice of throwing refuse and excreta about the\nneighbourhood of kraals, this disease, as might be expected, often\noccurs in epidemics.\n\nAnthrax. I-dila. A disease well-known to the natives, and treated by\ntheir doctors with great success.\n\nIt is contracted by the natives feeding on the meat of anthractuose\ncattle. So confident are the natives in their power to cure the\ndisease, should it appear, that they have little hesitation in eating\nthe infected meat; a fair proof of the success of their doctors\u2019\npractice. The procedure is this:\u2014Generally speaking, be as early as\npossible, for should the pustule, which under their treatment should\nrise properly, be allowed by delay to subside, a native doctor will not\nundertake the case, as he considers it useless to do so.\n\nA decoction of two bacteria killing plants, and controlled by a\nsedative plant, is given internally in oft repeated doses. Externally a\npaste of the leaves of the same plants is put around, not on the\npimples, to limit the local disease and prevent the inflammation\nspreading. The pustule itself is treated by dropping the juice of a\nsedative plant on it. It is left uncovered and freely exposed to the\nair, and the application made from time to time until the scab falls\noff. The Kaffir believes, and experience has been his guide, that the\npustule must be left alone, and meddling with it, either by incision,\nexcision or irritation is dangerous treatment.\n\n1. Internally: The usual prescription is:\u2014\n\nBlepharis Capensis (Ubu-hlungu basig\u00adcawa) leaves and roots one part:\nCluytia hirsuta (Ubuhlungu bedila), leaves one part and Monsonia ovata\n(Igqita), two parts. Use about 5oz. of this mixture made into a\ndecoction of a pint and take about a tablespoonful 6\u20138 times daily till\nrecovery.\n\n2. Externally.\n\nBlepharis Capensis 2 parts, Cluytia and Monsonia one part each. Rub up\nto paste with lard and apply all round the pustule.\n\n3. Locally.\n\ni.e. On the pustule. The juice squeezed from the green leaves of\nMonsonia.\n\nWithania somnifera (Ubu vumba) is sometimes used instead of Monsonia.\n\nAnother method sometimes adopted is to use the Cluytia alone.\nAdminister an infusion, and apply a soft paste of the leaves all over\nthe affected part.\n\nOther drugs used are:\u2014a Matricaria nigell\u0153folia, (Um-hlonyane womlambo)\n(river wormwood) used in the same way as the Cluytia.\n\nb Xanthoxylon Capense, (um-Nungumabele) (wild cardamon), mostly taken\nas a condiment with the anthractuous beef to disinfect it.\n\nc Teucrium Africanum (Ubu-hlungu benyushu) same as Xanthoxylon.\n\nd Solanum nigrum, (Umsobo) and\n\ne Lippia asperifolia, (in-Zinziniba).\n\nThese two last are risky and poisonous.\n\nMalaria. Inkatazi tonizimba, a disease sent by dissatisfied ancestors.\n\nTreatment. Sacrifices, singing, and dancing are practised round the\nsick to satisfy the ancestors.\n\nVomitives and purgatives are used and by some the Lasiosiphon Meisneri,\none of the \u201cSnakebite\u201d drugs is used, the dose being \u00bd\u00a0oz. of the dried\nroot taken as an infusion.\n\nMalaria is not a prevalent disease amongst the Kaffirs owing\nprincipally to the fact that their kraals are always built on high\nground.\n\n\n\n\nB. CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES.\n\nSyphilis. I-gcushiuva or I-hashe elingwevu (grey horse) to be\ndistinguished from I-hashe (gonorrhoea) which latter is treated by\nfomentations and is not common.\n\nThe leaves of the Paramelia conspersa, (Ubu-lembu belitye) a lichen of\nvery bitter taste, are used in infusion, and the dry powder used on the\nsores, or mixed with fat as an ointment.\n\nIn the same manner Cisampelos campensis or the Solanum melongena,\n(Um-tuma) or the Withania somnifera, (Ubu-vumba) may be used and are\nbelieved to have cured many cases.\n\nThe natives state that this disease was introduced by the white man,\nand certainly it is within the knowledge of many that even in the last\ntwenty years its prevalence has greatly increased among the tribes,\nprobably due to the common use of drinking and other utensils and the\nclose and often overcrowded life led at night in the huts.\n\nAnother undoubted cause of spread is the lewd practices which\naccompany, of late years, the ceremonies of Intonyane and Abakweta at\npuberty.\n\nLeprosy. I-qenqa or In-Gqinda, said to be caused by suddenly seeing the\nIcanti in his natural form in the river. This suddenly seeing something\nis called \u201cUkwalama\u201d and a person who has thus seen the Icanti must not\ntalk until he has been doctored lest he take some disease such as the\nI-qenqa.\n\nSome of the Kaffir doctors blame Hottentots (an altogether different\nrace) for having introduced leprosy among them from the Cape Colony. It\nis certainly a disease of comparatively recent occurrence amongst the\nKaffir.\n\nTreatment. If seen in the early stages the leaves of the Umsolo omkulu,\na plant found in marshy places, are bruised and boiled. The decoction\nis drunk and used as a lotion locally.\n\nUnder this treatment the sores are said to diminish or even disappear.\n\nNote. From what I can gather the skin manifestations, are, as one would\nexpect, confused with other skin diseases such as eczema psoriasis &c.\n\nMortification. Uku fa (death.)\n\nA case of spreading gangrene of the hand came under my notice which was\ntreated by a Native doctor, my patient refusing resolutely to have the\nhand amputated. The method of his doctor was the following: In the\nfloor of a small hut a hole was dug four feet deep by one foot diameter\nand this filled with soft dung, taken, warm from the intestine of an ox\nkilled for that purpose. The patient was laid on his side and his arm\nfixed down in this hole where it was kept for ten days; the patient in\nthe meantime being fed freely of the ox\u2019s meat and soup, as well as\nbeing freely supplied with Kaffir beer. The doctor was practically\ncontinuously in attendance all the time. Result, gangrene stopped and\nspontaneous amputation at the seat of the disease, lower third of the\nforearm. He informed me that the bones stuck out when his arm was\nwithdrawn and some sinews were adherent to the diseased hand. The bones\nwere forcibly broken off and the sinews cut. When I saw the wound it\nwas healing very slowly and he came to me to see if some salve would\nnot heal it.\n\nGangrene of parts after accident, or foul sores are all treated with\npoultices, powder or ointments made from the Um-sintsi (large Kaffir\nbroom), Withania (Ubu-vumba) etc.\n\nScurvy is unknown to the native in his uncivilised state, and owing to\nthe large proportion of his diet being vegetable, it must be of\nextremely rare occurrence.\n\nRheumatism, Gout. Isi-dlanga or in-dubula. These are not differentiated\nthough fairly common, especially, however, amongst the natives who,\nowing to their going at times near the European villages, are forced to\nwear European costumes, usually terribly dilapidated. If called\nin-dubula it is supposed to be ideopathic, due to natural causes, and\nthe name is that used to distinguish a small hairy insect, the patient\nfeeling as if it were this insect gnawing at his joints.\n\nTreatment: In these cases one of the \u201cAmgqira Awokuqubula\u201d is called\nin, and he, after rubbing etc., applies his mouth to the part and sucks\nout the disease, spitting out one of these insects as proof of his\nsuccess. Or one of (Amagqira-awobulongo); cow-dung doctors, who\napplying his cow-dung poultice with much ceremony, will when removing\nit later, also produce an ocular proof of his having got away the\ntormentor.\n\nThe Kaffirs have for generations been in the habit of using the leaves\nof the Um-gcunube (Salix Capensis) or Cape river willow for the cure of\nrheumatic pains. This is a curious fact, when one realizes that these\nleaves are rich in \u201cSalicin\u201d the very drug used as a specific in modern\nmedicine.\n\nScrofula. I-hashe. This is a fairly common disease, looked upon as due\nto bad blood or weak parents.\n\nTreatment: A very large variety of herbs is used by the Amagqira\nAwemiciza for this disease either as a paste to external manifestations\nor internally in infusion. The best known are:\u2014\n\n\n    Um-Bangandlela           \u2014Heteromorpha arborescens\n    Um-Pafa                  \u2014Ziziphus mucronata\n    I-Yeza lehashe           \u2014Bulbine asphodeloides\n    I-Rubuxa                 \u2014Pentanisia variabilis\n    Um-Sintsana              \u2014Erythrina Humei\n    Um-Tumana                \u2014Solanum Capense\n    I-Yeza lehashe (No. 2)   Thunbergia Capensis\n\n\nEach or all of these drugs, amongst others is used for I-hashe or if a\nrunning sore (I-quita) Scrofula, multiple running swellings, or\nenlarged glands.\n\nCancer. Isi-hlava or Um-hlaza a name given to all sores that refuse to\nheal or continue to spread.\n\nMumps. Uqilikwana. The following curious practice is the only method of\ntreatment I can find. The sufferer finds the burrow of a hare and\nstooping down, calls down the hole \u201cQilikwana! Qilikwana! Nika Kum\u201d\n(Mumps! Mumps! get away from me) and then walks straight home without\nlooking back. A cure follows in time!\n\n\n\n\nC. TUMOURS AND NEW GROWTHS.\n\nIli-fa, plural Ama-fa, supposed to be collections of bad or useless\nblood.\n\nTreatment: When small they are pressed frequently by the teeth of a\nmenstruating or suckling woman. When large and having resisted this\nlast treatment they may be incised or even excised; (Treated by\nUkutyadwa, which means to cut open). If painful they are poulticed.\n\n\nBoils. I-tumba are specially recognised and treated by poulticing. The\ndischarging pus is believed to be bad blood and its removal a great\ngood to the person\u2019s system.\n\n\n\n\nD. RESPIRATORY ORGANS.\n\nBronchitis, Consumption, Isifuba, the chest; a generic term used\ngenerally to indicate a complaint with a cough.\n\nConsumption is only recently known although, painful to relate, it is\nnow becoming rather prevalent.\n\nTreatment. Various decoctions are used and usually in large quantities.\nThe plants Umsintsana (Erythrina Humei), Ubu-vumba (Withania\nsomnifera), Um-pafa (Ziziphus mucronata), Undende, Um-kwenkwe\n(Pittosporum virideflorum), Ise-dikele (Lasiosiphon Meisneri),\nUm-bungosh (Eichensteinia interrupta). The root of this last boiled in\nmilk has a great reputation. It has, however, to be used with caution\nas it is liable to cause severe headaches. Um-hlonyane (Artemisia Afr),\nI-colocolo (Helichrysum nudiflorum), Umtumana (Solanum Capense),\nIn-dlebe yemvu (Helichrysum appendiculatum), In zinziniba (Lippia\nasperifolia), I-tyolo (Clematis brachiata), etc., are all used in the\nform of decoction or infusion in chest cases with cough or in Umbefu\n(Asthma.) The leaves may be smoked or burned in a closed hut and so\ninhaled.\n\nIn cases where there is pain as well as cough as in Pleurisy, I-hlaba\n(a stitch) the roots and bark of Um-nungumabele (Xanthoxylon Capense)\n(wild cardamom) are boiled and freely used.\n\nThe skin over the pain is freely incised and scarified \u201cUkuqapula\u201d and\nthe powdered dry root of the Xanthoxylon well rubbed in. This local\ntreatment is called \u201cUku faka umhlabelo.\u201d\n\nNote: Special inquiry elicits the fact, that except where European\ninfluence has intervened poultices are not used in chest complaints\nwithout local pain.\n\n\n\n\nE. CIRCULATORY SYSTEM.\n\nHeart Disease, Aneurysm are not specially recognised as such.\n\nMothers Marks. \u201cIsifo\u201d are looked upon as the result of some item in\nthe ceremony of the \u201cIntonjane\u201d (menstruation ceremony), or marriage\nceremony of the mother having been omitted. The mother is often sent\nback to the parents, who have to return the lobola (price of a wife\npaid by the husband to the parents); or the child is weaned at once,\ndoctored by incantations, etc., the while the mother confesses her sins\nbefore the people. No local treatment is adopted but should the mark be\nconspicuous and persist, the infant during life is looked upon as one\nspecially marked out by the ancestral spirits and may in time become a\ngreat sorcerer (Isanuse).\n\nA curious practice is sometimes carried out with the idea of preventing\nthis viz.: the periodical use of severe purging by the mother by means\nof the tuberous root of the Um-Nyangi (Phytolacca stricta).\n\n\nVaricose Veins. Umtambo omkulu wyazi occur usually in pregnant women,\nand are treated by other women by cupping, sometimes by incision or\nrubbing, or cold affusions.\n\n\n\n\nF. SKIN DISEASES.\n\nItch. Uku-rauzela is not usually distinguished from intolerable itching\n(Um-babane) and both are treated by washing the parts and rubbing in\nanimal fats; or applying Iyeza lomlambo, a parisiticide; or umtuma, one\nof the solanums of similar action.\n\n\n        Eczema.      Um solo or Um-lambo.\n        Psoriasis.   Umkondo.\n        Leprosy.     In gquinda.\n\n\nAre all looked upon as different manifestations of the same disease,\ncaused by coming across the Icanti. Vide \u201cLeprosy.\u201d\n\nTreatment is described under leprosy.\n\nAnother method of treating these diseases chiefly Eczema is to gather\nthe little cones of mud raised on the banks of a stream by a small crab\nor worm and rub the sores with the mud; or to collect specimens of all\nthe available riverside medicinal herbs, boil them, and with this\ndecoction freely bathe and massage the patient, after which the\nremainder is taken to that part of the river where the sick man is\nsupposed to have been smitten, and there thrown in while the sick man\nshouts something equivalent to \u201cDon\u2019t stare at me with those eyes.\u201d\n\nLupus. Isitshangubo is treated thus:\n\na. Pieces of sneezewood (Umtote) are burnt and the resinous juice\n(Incinde) which exudes from the ends of the stick is rubbed into the\nspot while still warm. As it dries on it forms a covering, which in\ntime falls off with a scab. If needed the process is repeated.\n\nb. The fleshy branches of the Isi-hlehle (a kind of Euphorbia usually\nfound in clusters on the ground) are bruised and the milky juice, very\ncaustic in action, carefully rubbed on: the process being repeated from\ntime to time.\n\nPsoriasis. Umkondo, attributed to the sufferer having crossed the track\nof the Icanti (see leprosy).\n\nTreatment. Umsolo omkulu, a plant resembling the Ityolo is used here.\nThe leaves are, bruised, put into a vessel covered with water and\nstirred briskly and for a time (Ukupehla). After much stirring a\nthickish lather as of soapsuds rises and this is applied externally,\nthe liquor being taken in ounce doses frequently repeated.\n\nThe roots of the Ipuzi-lomlambo (Gunnera perpensa; river pumpkin) are\nsometimes prepared and used in the same way.\n\nThe Um-nyanji (Phytolacca stricta), a vomitive, used much in chest\ncases and also in snake poisoning is sometimes administered in small\ndoses and also applied externally.\n\nWarts. In-tsumpa.\n\nTreatment a. The milk of the Isihlehle a species of Euphorbia is\npainted on the wart, and causes it to wither. b. The juice (Incinde)\nwhich comes out of Sneezewood twigs (Um-tote) when they are burned is\nused similarly. c. When large, a fine piece of hide is firmly tied\nround them and they in time fall off.\n\nBaldness. Ubu-Nquyi (a bald person In-Nquyi).\n\nNo treatment is used and a bald person is considered wise and eloquent\nin speaking, and likely to be rich; but curiously enough he is expected\nto become so by sly and cunning means not necessarily of a high moral\nstandard.\n\nThere are few Bald Kaffirs.\n\nAmaas. A disease fairly common amongst Kaffirs, occuring in epidemics\nand variously described by medical men as Small-pox i.e. in its severe\nforms, or chicken-pox, in its milder manifestations. Many hold that it\nis a disease sui generis.\n\nThe treatment adopted is the same as in a case of Smallpox.\n\nRingworm. a. The leaf pulp and yellow juice of the In-gcelwane (Aloe\nsoponaria) is well rubbed into the patches. b. A paste of the green\nberries of the Um-sobo (Solanum nigrum) similarly. c. A paste of the\ngreen berries of the Ubu vumba (Withania somnifera) d. The milky juice\nof the In-tsema, a large wild bulb.\n\nThe natives are very successful in their treatment of this disease,\nwhich is fairly common amongst them, and believed by them to be caught\nfrom a dog. Dogs are found everywhere where Kaffirs do congregate, and\ncertainly, if one is to judge by the appearance of the curs one sees\nabout a Basuto or Fingo kraal, they are a very likely source of skin\ndisease.\n\n\n\n\nG. NERVOUS SYSTEM.\n\nParalysis. I-dumbe is attributed entirely to supernatural causes and\nfor its treatment the Isanuse (witch-doctor) is called in to find out,\n\u201cwho has bewitched him.\u201d The bewitcher may be severely dealt with.\n\nEpilepsy. (Fits) Isi-tutwani is recognised as a constitutional disease\nand treated by the Igqira elemiciza (herb doctor). His method is as\nfollows:\u2014a. Various Herbs are mixed, which administered in decoction,\nact as a strong emetic. A sheep is killed and the dung from its\nentrails is rubbed all over the patient\u2019s body. He is now made to stand\nup in a hole made in a large ant-heap, Isi-duli (in Kaffirland these\nant-heaps are often very large), and the emetic administered till\nvomiting is induced, the remainder being poured over him to wash off\nthe dung. The hole is then covered up and the disease supposed to be\nleft there. He now goes home, and avoids this spot for ever afterwards.\nShould this treatment fail the following is adopted.\n\nb. The sick man is treated as before, only at home in his hut. The\nrefuse, i.e. vomited matter and washed off dung is burned in a brisk\nfire and the ashes used as Umhlabelo, medicine used in lancing\n(Ukuquapula) in the following way.\n\nAn incision is made above the forehead, the blood being collected\ncarefully and subsequently buried at the threshold of the hut; and this\nUmhlabelo well rubbed into the incision.\n\nc. Another method I have had described is to lance the temple, collect\nthe blood and having caught a hare and lanced its head between the\nears, to rub the patient\u2019s blood into the wound and let the hare go\nfree, the spectators and patient not daring to see the hare depart.\nSimilarly a cock may be used (failing the hare), its beak soaked in the\nblood and it allowed to go free.\n\nd. A most prized, and secret cure for \u201cfits\u201d is the administration of\nabout a tablespoonful of a decoction in goats milk of the leaves of\nExomis oxyrioides. This is a method used in the domestic medicine of\nthe back-country Boer, who calls the bush \u201cHonde bos\u201d (dog bush) and is\nsaid to be very successful.\n\nN.B.\u2014the watery decoction of this is dangerous and strongly soporific.\n\nInsanity. U-gezo. Three varieties are recognised.\n\n1st U-gezo proper, probably mostly delirium or convulsions, which is\ntreated the same way as \u201cIsi-tutwani\u201d epilepsy. Here also the herb\nUm-nyanji (Phytolacca stricta) and other emetics are used till the\npatient is utterly prostrate, when he is left to slowly recover, while\nbeing fed on goats milk.\n\n2nd A form of madness known to attack those who are in the initiation\nor student stage for the position of Isanusi, when they are supposed to\nbe in communication with the \u201cImi-shologu\u201d departed spirits. During the\ninitiation the candidate is hypnotised by the Isanuse and made to see\nand converse with these spirits, as it is from them that all his\nknowledge comes when in practice. As one would expect, the impressions\nof the lessons are at times lasting and unhinge the minds of weak ones,\nwho continue to have delusions and are then considered to be possessed\nby their departed ancestors. In the treatment of this, therefore, every\nendeavour is made to propitiate these ancestors, by sacrifices and\nofferings, mostly with the assistance of one of the witch doctors. In\nthe old days of Chacka a case is recorded as occurring, and after\ntreatment had failed either to kill or cure, the maniac was sent to\njoin his ancestors by order of the king (the greatest doctor). A truly\nsummary method of at once appeasing the offended spirits and getting\nrid of a troublesome customer.\n\n3rd. Uku-posela, evidently Acute Mania, attributed to being bewitched\nby some one having a grudge, and the process of smelling out \u201cUkunuka\u201d\nas described previously is gone through.\n\nTetanus. Supposed to be due to having crossed the path of the Icanti\n(water snake) or Inamba (python) and the plants used in snakebite are\nadministered as well as the usual observance of ceremonies calculated\nto appease the wrath of the ancestor whom the snake represents.\n\nSunstroke. Uku-zolika or Uku-hlatywa lilanga, is well recognised and\nfairly common amongst the workers of the fields.\n\nTreatment. 1. The sufferer is placed in as cool a place as is\navailable, soused with cold water, and drugged with emetics and\npurgatives.\n\n2. Seated in a cool spot on the ground his finger and thumb tips are\nfreely incised so that he may bleed, and he is dosed freely with\nUbuhlungu (teucrium Capense), a carminative snakebite cure.\n\nToothache. Ama-zinyo. The Kaffirs say that in the old days this was\nunknown, and they attribute it now to eating food cooked and hot.\n\nTreatment. Small doses and local application of Ubuhlungu benyoka\n\u201cAcocanthera venenata\u201d a nervine tonic and favourite snake-bite cure\nare used; or the sufferer chews the bark of the Um-nungumabele\n(Xanthoxylon Capense) and expectorates the juice; or a paste may be\nmade of the powdered bark and placed in the hollow tooth (this is\nanother favourite snakebite and anthrax drug). Other plant drugs used\nin much the same way are:\u2014\n\n\n    Ubuhlungu besigcawu (Blepharis Capensis)\n    Um-tumana (Solanum Capense)\n    Isi-dikili (Lasiosiphon Meisneri)\n    Root of Indegofera potens.\n\n\nAll having distinct antiseptic and an\u00e6sthetic values.\n\nThe Kaffir surgeon or domestic sympathiser tries to extract the\noffending tooth by means of a strip of thong tied to it.\n\nSpeaking generally the Kaffirs have splendid teeth and take great care\nof them by frequent cleansing.\n\nHeadache.\n\na. I-yeza Elininyama (Anemone Caffra) is used; the root being dried,\npowdered and used as a snuff. Should this fail the upper rootstalk is\nburned and the smoke inhaled; while a paste of the leaves is rubbed\ninto or bound on the affected part.\n\nb. Um-hlavutwa (Ricinus communis) is also used externally as a paste\nand internally in decoction.\n\nA common practice is to bind the head firmly with a thong.\n\n\n\n\nH. DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.\n\nThrush. Ama-vila, said to be caused by the child eating green mealies\noff the cob and leaving its saliva on a cob that is accidently burnt;\nor putting its father\u2019s pipe into its mouth.\n\nTreatment. The mouth is frequently washed out, either with an infusion\nof the leaves of Isi-duli (Brachyl\u00e6na elliptica) or an infusion of\nMimosa bark.\n\nQuinsy. Um-qala. Gargles are used of hot infusions of Isi-duli, Mimosa,\nor bitter olive tree, etc.\n\nDiphtheria. I have no record of this disease being recognised by the\nKaffir as anything but sorethroat Umqala, if it occur at all.\n\nDyspepsia and Indigestion. I-dliso.\n\nBelieved to be caused by eating poisonous foods, and usually treated by\nemetics e.g. In-kamamasane (Euphorbia pugniformis) one of the class of\ndrugs known amongst the natives as Intsema, acting as a severe emetic\nand purge. The juice tapped from the living stem of these plants is\ncollected in maize meal and made into a bolus to be swallowed; about\nhalf a drachm of the drug being taken at a time. As this is nearly as\nsevere as croton oil, the action is easily to be understood and in a\ncountry and nation where at times great overfeeding and gorging is\npracticed, such a treatment is a valuable asset.\n\nAnother favourite purge is Um-gwali (Euclea lanceolata), the bark of\nthe roots being used.\n\nColic. Uku kunywa or I-honya.\n\nTreatment. a. The Powdered root of In-nyongwane, (Deconia anomala) is\nadministered in cold water.\n\nThis plant is also put to a curious use by the Kaffir. When visiting a\nstrange place he eats some of it, believing that if he gets poisoned\nfood he will immediately vomit it.\n\nb. The knobs from the roots of the in-dawa (Cyperus) are used, either\nchewed as they are or as an infusion of the powdered knob. It has an\naromatic pungent taste.\n\nc. The powdered root of I-qwili (Alepidea amatymbica) is also used for\ncolic or abdominal pain, a teaspoonful to a dose.\n\nIn larger doses this drug is an emetic and purgative, in smaller a\nstomachic.\n\nd. Um-bangandlela (Heteromorpha arborescens) is also used in infusion.\n\nPurgatives are used and sometimes injections. This is one of the\ndiseases which lend themselves so well to the treatment of the Amagqira\nAwokuqubula or doctors who use massage and sucking accompanied by\nincantations, and profess to produce, in the form of a lizard, frog, or\nsomething, the cause of the disease.\n\nThe Awobulongo, cow-dung doctors are also successful in this illness.\n\nStitch. Ili-hlaba is treated by rubbing the part and administering\ninfusions of the root of the Ili-bulawa (Seb\u00e6a crassul\u00e6folia), a bitter\nastringent used also in dysentery and colic.\n\nVomiting. In-hlanzo, caused by bewitchment or poisoning is arrested by\ncopious draughts of hot water followed by purgatives.\n\nDysentery or Diarrh\u0153a. Uxaxazo referred to gastronomic errors and\ntreated by:\n\na. I-yeza lezikali (Pelargonium reneforme) administered hot as a\ndecoction in milk of the powdered root, about a teaspoonful of the\npowder.\n\nb. Um-tuma (Solanum Capense) as in (a).\n\nc. I-gqita (Monsonia ovata). Much used and valued in this disease. It\nis sedative and astringent and now used as a tincture in the\narmamentarium of most colonial physicians, and by some considered very\nvaluable in Typhoid fever.\n\nJaundice. I-nyongo (bile) believed to be due to too long continuance of\nthe same diet.\n\nTreatment: Diet is changed and purgatives administered.\n\nGallstone and its colic are not recognised.\n\nConstipation. Uku-qunjeliva.\n\nTreatment: 1. Sometimes enemata are administered. The method adopted\nbeing, to insert the smaller end of a cowhorn, with the point cut off,\ninto the bowel and having filled the horn with the required liquid to\nblow with the mouth applied to the other end and so empty the horn of\nits contents into the bowel.\n\n2. Many purgatives are known and used, the chief being a. Um-quali\n(Euclea lanceolata) of which the bark of the roots is used.\n\nb. In-kamamasane (Euphorbia pugniformis) The milk from the stem is a\ndrastic cathartic, and like croton oil an escharotic.\n\nc. Um-hlaba (Aloe ferox). The long fleshy leaves of this plant are\nbroken off and hung up in a sun over a vessel. The juice which collects\nis dried in the sun, and being mixed with meal or clay is used in the\nform of a pill.\n\nIn some parts the juice of this aloe is used by the natives, dropped\ninto the eye, for purulent ophthalmia.\n\nThere are many other cathartics known to and used by the native doctors\nas well as domestically.\n\nObstruction of the bowels. Uku-quina.\n\nTreatment: All the usual cathartics may be tried and they failing, the\nrubbing doctor \u201cIgqira-elokuqubula,\u201d may be called in who massages the\nbelly. If he fails the person must be bewitched; when the witch doctor\nis requisitioned to see the end of the chapter and have someone\npunished for the result.\n\nPeritonitis. Inflammation of the bowels is treated generally as colic\nand fever.\n\nDropsy. I can get no authentic record of this being recognised. One\ninformant calling it \u201cIgalimoya\u201d gives as a method of treatment used\nthe injection and administration by the mouth of infusions of\nUtangazano (Cucumis Africanus) a wild cucumber, which is a hydrogogue\ncathartic.\n\nPiles. U-mzi.\n\na. Charms are used to cause their disappearance, e.g., I-kubalo or lika\nMlanjeni (Pelargonium pulverulentum) of which the leaves are chewed.\n\nThese leaves were given to the warriors in the Kaffir Wars of 1850, as\nwar medicine, by the great witch doctor Mlanjeni, to charm away the\nBritish bullets, and make the guns miss fire. Kaffirs were found, dead\non the field, who had these leaves chewed in their mouths.\n\nb. Another method of treatment is to mash into a pulp the rootstalk of\nthe Isi-kolokoto (Sansevieria thyrsiflora) and use the pulp locally and\ninternally.\n\nThread worms. Izlio.\n\nTape worm. I-palo.\n\nRound worms. Intshulube.\n\nThese are all grouped for treatment as worms and submitted to the same\nkind of treatment. As they are very common amongst the Kaffirs there is\na very large variety of remedies.\n\nThe following are a selection from many more.\n\n1. Iyeza lentshulube (Hibiscus trionum.)\n\n2. Isi-kolokoto (Sansevieria thyrsiflora), of which the root is used.\n\n3. Ikalana (Aloe tenuior) one of the best of these drugs. It is\ncathartic as well as taenicide and non-poisonous in ordinary doses. For\ntape worm a decoction of the roots is taken on an empty stomach, after\npurgation.\n\n4. Um-fincafincane (Leontis leonurus), the leaves and flowers are used\nin decoction or powder.\n\n5. I-dolo lenkonyana (Rumex Eckloni) of which the roots are taken,\nboiled in sweet milk.\n\n6. Um-muncwane (Oxalis Smithii). A handful of the dried bulbs is boiled\nin milk and the decoction drunk.\n\n7. In-nyinga (Agremonia Capensis) a paste of the leaves with sour milk.\n\n8. A decoction of a mixture of Um nukambeba (Myeris inequalis), of\nUm-nungumabele (Xanthoxylon Capense) and of Um-nquma (olive) is used.\n\n9. Crushed pumpkin seeds are also used. About 30 seeds slightly roasted\nbeing the usual dose.\n\nKidney Disease is unknown; but urinary troubles are treated. Thus for\npainful micturition and difficult as well as scanty or thick urine a\ndecoction of the root of Um-tumana (Solanum Capense) may be tried.\n\nGeneral Debility. Tonics are used by the igqira elemiciza thus:\n\n1. I-tshongwe (Xysmalobium latifolium) of which the root is infused and\nthe liquor which is exceedingly bitter, drunk.\n\n2. Ubu-hlungu benyushu (Teucrium Africanum) a few grains of the dried\nbark being a dose.\n\n3. In-dawa (Cyperus.) The knobs which grow on the roots, have a strong,\nbitter, pungent and aromatic flavour. These are used for this condition\nas also for colic.\n\n4. Ubu-hlungu bedilia (Cluytia hirsuta) of which the leaves are chewed\nor taken in infusion.\n\nA person suffering from prolonged debility unrelieved by treatment,\nnaturally (for a Kaffir) comes to believe that he is under the malign\ninfluence of someone around him who is working on him by means of\nwitchcraft, and journeys are taken to get away from the spell. Thus in\na way the idea of \u201cChange of Air\u201d is practiced.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nSURGERY.\n\n\nFractures. The Kaffir Surgeon (Igqira Elokuqapula) is fairly expert in\nsuch cases and carries out a routine treatment. The usual drawing out\nof the limb is performed, replacing any noticeable deformity. It is\nthen held in position while the surgeon makes three parallel incisions\nover the seat of fracture. Into these incisions he rubs the ashes\nderived from burning the roots of certain plants \u201cawatunga\u201d of which\none is the plumbago. The limb thus treated is then bound firmly with\nstrips of the inner bark of the mimosa tree which form an excellent\nsplint material. Some surgeons profess to know a \u201cbone root\u201d which\ntaken internally promotes rapid healing. I have been unable to identify\nthis. It is just possible that this incising and rubbing in of charcoal\nacts as a counterirritant and thus prevents inflammatory mischief of\ndeeper structures. The selection of carbon in preference to other\nsubstances shows at least a rudimentary knowledge of an antiseptic\nsubstance being preferable.\n\nInternally purgatives are administered to promote healing and ease\nrestlessness.\n\nDislocations. Are not generally differentiated from fractures.\n\nHealing Wounds. Sufferers from extensive wounds are usually taken to\nthe top of a neighbouring hill and there kept in a newly built hut. (It\nwould seem that some tradition had taught these people that wounds heal\nbest in fresh air and cleanly surroundings).\n\nIn-kubele (Kaffir generic name for healing plants) are frequently used,\nthus:\u2014\n\na. The wound is sometimes dressed by the application of the leaves of a\nsmall white Lily soaked in brandy or Kaffir beer.\n\nb. The leave of the Ungcelwane (Aloe latifolia) is cut open and the\ninner surface applied to the wound. The juice of this is pungent and\nhas a marked healing effect.\n\nc. Swollen and inflamed wounds are poulticed with U-nomolwana (mallow\nleaves in paste), which soon reduces the inflammation or brings the\nabscess to a point. When the wound is cleaned in this way it is washed\nwith a decoction of mallow leaves made in an earthenware vessel (not a\nmetal pot) and an application made of one of the in-kubele (healing\nplants), e.g., The leaves of the Pelargonium alchemilioides in the form\nof a paste.\n\nI have the record of a man with a perforating ulcer of the foot, who\nrefused amputation and who was ultimately cured by a Kaffir surgeon.\n\nd. Callous ulcers or slow healing wounds are treated by applying the\njuice of the Isi-dikili (Lasiosiphon Meisneri), which acts as a pretty\nconsiderable irritant and answers its purpose admirably. It is also\nused internally in infusion as an alterative and blood purifier.\n\ne. The leaves of the Iyeza lezikali (Pelargonium-reniforme) when boiled\nyield a mucilage that is applied on and around wounds to protect them\nfrom flies which in this climate rapidly breed maggots in unhealthy\nsores.\n\nf. The leaves of the Ubu-shwa (Venidium arctotoides) are used for\ncallous ulcers after they have been scarified.\n\ng. A paste of the leaves of I-dwara (Senecio latifolium) is used.\n\nh. Um dambiso (Senecio concolor) also used in the form of a paste of\nthe mashed leaves.\n\ni. An ointment made by boiling in lard the leaves of the Ubu-vumba\n(Withania somnifera) is frequently applied in painful cases.\n\nBurns. The following is a graphic description of the mode of treating\nburns, given me by a Fingo. It is certainly not a gentle one. Here is\nthe case of a child who through carelessness has fallen into the fire\nand lies screaming. It is found on examination to have a severely\nburned arm and shoulder. The father takes the case in hand. He goes out\nand secures some in-kubele (healing plants) and one or two mealie cobs\n(the centre of the Indian-corn cob after the grain has been removed).\nHe has some water boiled and is now ready to commence operations. The\nchild is laid over his knee, while the mother stretches out the injured\narm and holds it firmly. The whole of the charred and injured tissues\nare firmly rubbed off with the mealie cob, which has been soaked in the\nhot water, until the wound is considered clean.\n\nThe screams of the child are not considered of any importance compared\nwith the scraping process which must be thorough.\n\nThe wound is then freely dressed with the leaves or mashes used in\nhealing wounds.\n\nTumours and Abscesses. Ama-fa, quba or i-tumba are looked upon as\ncollections of bad blood growing out. They, especially if painful are\ntreated by poultices of various herbs (vide healing wounds) and if they\npoint are frequently incised and evacuated.\n\nLarge tumours are not touched and are considered, in some tribes, to be\ndue to the touch of a bewitcher.\n\nLightning Stroke. The Basutos attempt resuscitation in cases of\napparent death from lightning stroke. They lay the person on his back,\nextend his arms and make rythmical traction on the tongue, the while\nthe body and limbs are being well rubbed. Amongst most tribes a person\nkilled by lightning is looked on with great awe and as a rule no one\nwill touch him. The Isanusi is called, and after many incantations and\npurifyings, a hole is dug near him and the body rolled into it. The\nspot is then \u201cIsitshu,\u201d sacred and enchanted. The whole kraal is then\nput in \u201cCoventry\u201d and no communication allowed with anyone, neighbours\nor visitors, for months. An isanuse is then engaged, paid a large fee\nand proceeds to purify all the people in the kraal by means of\nceremonies and incantations.\n\nA beast, cow, ox etc., killed by lightning is treated in the same way\n(buried whole and untouched), and the kraal avoided.\n\nThe isanuse in purifying the inhabitants of a kraal for \u201clightning\nstroke\u201d enchantment, doses them freely with Is-cimambilo (Pentanisia\nvariabilis) which, as its name implies, extinguishes the fire.\n\nThe Grahamstown Journal remarking on a recent case says. The reason why\nthe corpse of the native, struck by lightning, had been allowed to rot\nin the road for a week was because nobody could be found to bury it. No\nKaffir would go near it, as they say, if they meddle with anything\nstruck by lightning, or indeed go near it, not only will ill-luck\nattend them always afterwards, but their very lives will be in danger\nfrom the \u201cfiery bolts of Jove.\u201d\n\nIn Tembuland the lightning had been unusally active, one hot season,\nand had killed several cattle. The natives would not allow any stranger\nto enter their kraals, and if by chance anyone got in he had to stay\nthere. No food was given to strangers and they were warned off. This\nwas the inhospitable state of affairs till the Amagqira had done their\nduty and driven off the lightning.\n\nThe natives say the lightning is really a bird which they call\n\u201cImpundulu\u201d or the lightning bird.\n\nThis bird appears as such only to women; but as lightning it darts down\nand lays a big egg, where it strikes, which eggs bring ill-luck to the\nneighbourhood where it is laid.\n\nThe only way to circumvent the bird, is to stand ready with a kerrie\n(club) and hit right through the flash. (Putting salt on its tail in\nfact). Needless to say that no one has ever succeeded in killing one\nyet. The Isanusi is supposed to dig for this egg in order to destroy\nit, but so far none has been demonstrated to the common public. Great\nhopes are entertained for the future! The possession of the egg would\nbring great good fortune to the possessor.\n\nIn olden times the \u201cdoctor\u201d was a really clever man in many cases,\nwould come and do work for a bull, cow, or even heifer; but now the\n\u201cDoctors\u201d have sadly deteriorated, and first his fee of a bottle of\nbrandy, three shillings, and a roll of tobacco must be paid before he\nwill fix up the case.\n\nNeed we remark doctors are now not so much used or respected. Down near\nAlexandria in 1894, we know of only one hut being burnt down in the\nwhole year. That hut, the doctors say was burned down by the lightning\nbird. The lightning struck near the huts of two men. They rushed out\nand began digging for all they were worth; but failed to find the eggs.\nThen one of them called in an Isanuse, and his place and himself were\n\u201cdisinfected,\u201d he paying besides the usual fee a bull calf. The other\nman had no brandy, no money, no tobacco, and the doctor loved him not.\nThe former is a wealthy native now, owns a lot of cattle, and has two\nwagons and plenty of wives and children; the latter man\u2019s hut was burnt\ndown a week afterwards, and his little store of fifty bags of grain,\ntotally destroyed. Of course the lightning bird as I said before \u201cfired\nthat hut.\u201d\n\nOpththalmia. I-ndloloti.\n\nTreatment. a. The fresh juice of the umhlaba (Al\u0153 ferox) is dropped\ninto the eye with good effect.\n\nb. U-tywala bentaka (Lantano salvi\u00e6folia) in the form of an infusion of\nthe fresh leaves or at times the dried leaves is used. It is very\nastringent, causes much smarting and only used in severe cases.\n\nc. The juice pressed from the leaves of U-watile (Hippobromus alata) is\ndropped into the eye; or by some, these leaves are chewed and the\nsaliva applied.\n\nd. Iyeza bamehlo (Scabiosa columbaria) in infusion of the root.\n\ne. I-ran (Urtica) nettle. Of this a paste is made of the leaves and\nused externally.\n\nOther affections of the eye are not specialised.\n\nSnake-bite is a very common occurrence and one in the treatment of\nwhich the Native is fairly expert.\n\nI should before describing the treatment, notice the curious fact that\nthe native never wastes a snake. One seen is pursued till killed, then\nits gall bladder is emptied and the gall mixed with the venom from its\nvenom sacks, and these mixed with clay into a bolus, which is then in\npart or whole, swallowed, usually in two doses of a day\u2019s interval. The\nimmediate effect is one of pleasant somnolence, and according to the\nNative, the ultimate effect and that aimed at, is more or less complete\nimmunity from the dangers of snake-bite for the future.\n\nSome Natives as a result of this practice acquire immunity and will\nhandle poisonous snakes with a freedom from fear, only accounted for by\na conviction of its being safe for them to do so.\n\nThe general method of treatment is:\u2014\n\nThe bitten limb is at once tied with a thong or anything available\nbetween the body and the bite and the wound freely incised and bled. A\nnative cupping-glass \u201cluneka\u201d (a cow\u2019s horn open at either end, suction\nby the mouth being applied at the smaller) is then thoroughly used. The\npatient is in the meantime dosed freely with one or other of the\nnumerous snake-bite cures, a mash of the leaves being finally put on as\na poultice.\n\nIn some tribes a pit is dug, and filled with bushes, which are burnt.\nThe ashes are rapidly raked out, and the bitten man rolled in skins\nplaced in it so as to induce an excessive perspiration, while plant\ninfusions are freely administered. Not a bad attempt at a domestic\nTurkish bath.\n\nThe snake-bite plants most commonly used by the Kaffirs are:\u2014\n\n1. Um-fincafincane (Leontis leonurus) chiefly used by the Fingoes.\n\n2. Ubu-hlungu benyushu (Teucrium Africanum) chiefly used by Gcalekas,\nTembus and Pondos.\n\nIt is interesting to note that to some extent the native Igqira\nrecognises the difference of bites by different snakes, using a\ndifferent species of Leontis for different cases.\n\n3. Ubu-hlungu-bemamba (Melianthus comosus) is a valued cure amongst the\nPondos and Gaikas. This bark of the root is used.\n\nThis plant is also used for other poisonous bites e.g. The intojane, a\npoisonous caterpillar, of the shaggy tarantula, this latter being very\ncommon in the thatch of huts.\n\n4. Ubu-hlungu besigcawu (Blepharis Capensis) is also used, as its name\nimplies for tarantula bite.\n\n5. Isi-dikili (Lasiosiphon Meisneri) in doses of \u00bd\u00a0oz. of dried root\noften repeated. This plant is also used by the Gaikas as a gargle in\nsore throat and a paste for open sores.\n\n6. Ubu-hlungu benyoko (Acocanthera venenata) a very poisonous plant. A\nsmall piece of the leaf is rubbed up in cold water and administered. It\nproduces violent vomiting. Several deaths are directly traceable to the\nuse of this highly dangerous plant.\n\nProfessor Sir T. Fraser of Edinburgh has extracted the active principle\nof this and describes it (Acocantherine) as a glucoside, which\npowerfully increases the systolic act of the heart, killing in this\nway.\n\nThe Bushmen use this juice as an arrow poison.\n\n7. Ubu lembu belitye (Parmelia conspersa) is a lichen. Scraped off the\nrocks it is used for snake and other venomous bites.\n\n8. Ili-bulawa. (Seb\u00e6a crassul\u00e6folia) has been used with success in\nrecorded cases of puff-adder bite.\n\n9. Um-nungumabele (Xanthoxylon Capense). A decoction of the tree root\nis used.\n\nThere are also many others.\n\nKaffir beer is used as a stimulant in cases of collapse.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nMIDWIFERY AND CHILDREN.\n\n\nChildbirth is an exceedingly simple process, as a rule with the Kaffir;\na native woman only allowing it to interfere with her duties for a few\nhours. Abnormal labours are seldom heard of.\n\nShould any difficulty arise, a severe rubbing is sometimes resorted to\nby the women in charge.\n\nWhereas this statement holds good for the commonality and some tribes,\nyet in others, e.g.: The Basutos, the time and method of childbirth is\nvery different.\n\nThe woman when near her time returns to the kraal of her father, who\npays the expenses if any, and of her mother, who is chief\nsuperintendent of details. Some expert old women of the tribe acts as\nmidwife.\n\nA special hut is built and kept carefully clean. On the floor is spread\na thick layer of dry cowdung to collect the lochia etc., and the woman\nusually sits near this in a crouching position. She may, however, be on\nher knees or even lying down. A firm band is tied above the uterus (to\nkeep it from rising) and this is tied lower down after the birth.\n\nThe child is received into the hands of an assistant; and the umbilical\ncord, usually forcibly torn asunder several inches from the child\u2019s\nabdomen. The cord may, however, be cut or sometimes chewed through by\nthe midwife. The abdomen is, during the birth, rubbed and pressed, and\nthe back assisted by an assistant.\n\nIn very serious cases and only in extremis an Igqrira elemicisa is\ncalled in, who however, seldom does much more than administer herbs.\n\nTo facilitate labour, and strengthen the uterine contractions, the\nnatives administer the root of the Um-kanzi (Typha latifolia).\n\nOther herbs are used also for the purpose, one igqira being in the\nhabit of getting his patient stupefied by much smoking of dagga (Indian\nhemp).\n\nTwo months after the birth of the child the mother reappears in public;\nbut should the child be still-born, after a shorter interval.\n\nSo much for the mother who usually recovers without much trouble.\n\nThe Newborn Infant is, to say the least of it curiously treated.\n\nDr. Casalis in recording the birth of 490 Basuto Children, states that\nof these 160 die in infancy, and one is not surprised when one\nconsiders the trying ordeals of their first few days of life.\n\nNo sooner is the baby born than the points of its fingers are bled for\nluck. The infant is then held in the smoke of a slow fire of aromatic\nwoods till it sneezes or coughs to show that it is not bewitched. Then\ncommence its ablutions. It is first thoroughly rubbed all over with a\nsolution of cowdung and then rubbed clean as possible and rolled in the\nskin of a goat or sheep recently killed.\n\nThen commences a course of treatment that is in violation of all laws\nof nature and propriety.\n\nInstead of the infant being allowed to use the mother\u2019s milk\n\u201camasabele,\u201d they give it sour curdled milk (a sort of koumiss or\ncalabash milk) from the cow, the same as that used by adults. This they\nforce down the throat of the poor little mortal by blowing it into its\nmouth and compelling it to swallow. This is continued for three days,\nand as a result the bowels become much distended and bowel complaint,\noften ending in death, frequently results.\n\nThey do this as they believe that the new \u201cAmasebele\u201d new mother\u2019s milk\nwould cake in the stomach, corrode it, and cause premature decay.\n\nSo that if a child be sickly the doctor often ascribes it to the child\nhaving been fed on mothers\u2019 milk too early, which must be purged away\nby a course of medicine.\n\nAt the end of three days the infant is allowed to take the amasebele or\nbreast milk. During these three days if necessary, the breasts are\nmilked by hand.\n\nThe Kaffir, not content with the above extraordinary treatment is in\nthe habit of administering drugs to the newborn infant.\n\nThus on the day of its birth as a purgative, an infusion made by\nsteeping in cold water the tubers of the U-jyane (Chlorophyton comosum)\nis administered. This is a common infantile aperient but when it is not\nobtainable, a paste of the leaves or an infusion of the leaves of the\nU-sikiki (Salvia scabia) is administered for the same purpose.\n\nThe Zulus have some curious practises, with regard to children.\n\nAt the age of about ten days the first \u201ccharm\u201d is worked. It consists\nof partly burying the infant at some spot near where lightning has been\nknown to strike. The hole need not be more than a few inches deep. The\nmother places her naked infant in the hole, when the Isanuse chewing\nsome medicine roots, squirts it over the child, muttering an\nincantation as he does so.\n\nThe child is then taken up by the father, who is usually present, and\nhanded to the mother. When the ceremony is over, on leaving the spot,\nno one dare look back, lest the efficacy of the charm be spoiled. This\noperation is supposed to instil courage into the unwitting heart of the\nlittle one; such courage, that even when lightning, the most fearful of\nall Silos (beasts) is flashing on every side, and the thunder roars as\nif the very earth would burst, he or she may not momentarily close an\neye.\n\nThe temporary burying of a child at a later age is thought to be a\ndeterrent of diseases more especially of fevers and colds.\n\nMothers of children take their little ones, of any age up to five or\nsix years, early in the morning some little distance from home, and dig\nholes in which each child is placed separately, and into which earth is\nthrown until the child can only move its arms and head, the body being\nin an upright position. The mothers then walk away, singing songs and\nbehold them from afar, when they return and release them.\n\nAnother charm to prevent sickness is one which is sometimes called\n\u201cUmtshopi.\u201d\n\nYoung maidens are here the performers. When \u201cUmtshopi\u201d is to be played,\nthese maids rise early in the morning and go to some brook or riverside\nwhere grows, a kind of long, broad leaved rush, which they pull, and\nfashion into a fantastic kind of dress, thus:\u2014\n\nA rope is plaited sufficient to go round her waist, on this she works\nthe reeds, so as, to form a fringe or kind of kilt which will touch the\nground when she moves. Another is made to fasten round the chest under\nthe arms, and a third thickly worked is worn round the neck so as to\nconceal the arms and bust. A hat is then made in the same manner, only\nthe rushes are burned so as to stand up, thus giving the girl in this\ngreen costume, the appearance of a moving bunch of grasses.\n\nEach girl being thus arrayed, they set out on a round of calls to the\nkraals of the neighbourhood. Each chants a weird song, dancing,\ngyrating in a most fantastic manner, frequently increasing the effect\nof their grotesque appearance by wild whoops and unearthly yells, until\nthe smaller children begin to scream of sheer fright; for now the\nmothers forcibly lay down on the ground all the younger ones, who\ncannot be persuaded to do so, and an Umtonjane jumps over each one,\nfrom the tiny mite just learning to crawl, to urchins of from twelve to\nfourteen years of age.\n\nAfter all the little ones of the kraal have been \u201cjumped\u201d the\nperformers go off and kindling a fire, burn their \u201cUmtshopi,\u201d a process\nof some difficulty and duration owing to the greeness of the reeds. Any\ngarment or ornament which a girl may happen to wear while playing\n\u201cUmtshopi\u201d must be burnt, otherwise the efficacy of the charm is quite\ndestroyed.\n\nAmong the charms practiced to prevent sickness from visiting a kraal is\nthe \u201cUmkuba\u201d or custom of the girls herding the cattle for a day. No\nspecial season of the year is chosen for this custom. It is merely\nenacted when diseases are known to be prevalent. On such an occasion,\nall the girls and unmarried women of a kraal rise early in the morning,\ndress themselves entirely in their brothers\u2019 or men\u2019s skins, and taking\ntheir \u201cknobkerries\u201d and sticks, open the cattle pen or kraal, and drive\nthe cattle away from the vicinity of the homestead, none of these\nsoidisant herds returning home until sunset, when they bring the cattle\nback. No one of the opposite sex dares go near the girls on this day,\nor speak to them.\n\nSeriously deformed children are left in the open veldt with the hope\nthat the spirits, who bewitched them will relent and either cure them\nor take them away. Usually carnivora manage the latter alternative.\n\nThe method of doctoring children though curious is on the whole\nrational.\n\nWhen the child is sick, emetics or purgatives are used. If the former,\nthe usual way of laying the child on its back and holding its nose is\nadopted. If the latter, a decoction is prepared, a short piece of small\nreed is obtained. The mother takes the liquor into her mouth and\ninserting one end of the reed into the child\u2019s fundament, blows the\nmixture into the bowels giving the picanini what she thinks sufficient.\n\nThe Placenta is burned, with the lochia mixed with cowdung, and as far\nas I can find out there is no superstition attached to its disposal\nsuch as exists in the Highlands of Scotland and in Ireland. The infant\nis first rolled in a fresh goat skin and no special treatment of the\nnavel adopted.\n\nMother\u2019s Milk. Deficiency is almost unknown, but a foster mother is\nusually ready to supply the needful in such a case.\n\nWhen the infant dies, or is still-born, the breasts are emptied by the\nmother or an older child and allowed to dry up as soon as possible. No\nherbs are used specially for that purpose.\n\nPregnancies. Dr. Casalis gives some useful statistics on this subject\namongst the Basutos.\n\n100 women, chosen hap-hazard, had 490 children, 215 boys, 275 girls, of\nwhich 330 were alive and 160 dead.\n\nOf the 100 women, 30 had from 8\u20139 children; 62 had from 3\u20136; and 7 from\n1\u20132.\n\nSix had twins, and only one was sterile, but as many as 45 had aborted\nat one time or another during her child-bearing period. And he remarks\n\u201cThe relative frequency of girls to boys is not abnormal; nor is the\nnumber of pregnancies unusually large, in fact one would expect a\nlarger amongst savages, were it not for the fact that here a mother\nsuckles her babe for two years, and so usually avoids pregnancy for\nthat period. The Sesuto have a proverb, \u2018Many babes spoil the womb.\u2019\u201d\n\nSterility, is extremely rare and a great disgrace to Mosuto woman, who\nwill do anything rather than be considered sterile.\n\nThe general practice of Kaffir tribes is to send the sterile wife back\nto her father if she prove sterile after a fair trial; and to demand\nback the \u201clobola\u201d i.e. her cost price.\n\nTwins are not looked upon with favour although if they be females they\nare welcomed.\n\nIn this connection, one must remember that the female is the labourer,\nand when she marries, her father receives several head of cattle as\n\u201clobola,\u201d or purchase price of his daughter: hence their welcome.\n\nMiscarriages are mostly attributed to witchcraft, but the sufferers\ntherefrom are sometimes treated medicinally.\n\na. The Um-kwinti (Gazania pinnata) is drunk in infusion of all its\nparts.\n\nb. The Isi-kolokoto (Sansevieria thyrsiflora) an infusion of the root\nbeing used.\n\nc. The In-gcelwane (Bulbine latifolia) of which a decoction of the root\nand stalk is taken.\n\nMenstruation. The first arrival of this, the average age being 14\nyears, is made the occasion of great ceremonies, which vary, however,\ngreatly in different tribes, thus:\u2014Amongst the Sesutos, the maiden is\nsent to the Native school (kept for the purpose by a woman), and turned\nin what is known as a \u201cBale.\u201d Much difficulty is experienced in finding\nout what exactly takes place; but from what one gathers, there is no\nremoval of parts, as in circumcision in the male. The result of the\ntreatment is that the labia minora are considerably elongated,\nsometimes very much so, and the female thus converted into an animal of\nlust and desire. It is notorious that the Basuto women are excessively\nimmoral. According to them adultery is not an immoral act, unless there\nhas been complete possession.\n\nHo fuba in Sesuto (adultery) means to have complete intercourse, and if\nfollowed by conception is punished usually by fining. A few head of\ncattle or less, clearing the culprit even if she be a wife.\n\nPapali (play), however, is an innocent flirt, and here the elongated\nlabia minora comes into use.\n\nAn old Basuto once said \u201cWere it not for this custom all our woman\nwould repeatedly become pregnant, and thus spoil their children.\u201d\n\nChiefs frequently lend their wives to their headmen, that they may\n\u201craise children to their kraal.\u201d\n\nAmong the Zulus and most of the other Bantu tribes the custom is\ndifferent.\n\nThe maid is confined with others in a separate hut. She has her own mat\nto lie on, made of a peculiar kind of grass called \u201cNxopo,\u201d her own\ncooking pot and eating utensils. Only her nearest female relatives are\nallowed to approach. She never touches flesh with her hands, using for\nthis purpose a forked stick, and she never uses milk.\n\n(This practice of never using milk at menstrual periods is almost\nuniversal throughout the Bantu races and most strictly adhered to. I\ncannot find out any stated reason for it.)\n\nShe is not allowed to go near the father\u2019s hut, nor to wander near the\nkraals of the calves or cattle, or the other huts.\n\nA special beast is killed for her, and the first cut, viz.:\u2014A slice\nfrom between the right shoulder and the ribs is reserved for her use.\nNo one is allowed to use the meat before her share is removed.\n\nOn the tenth day she covers up her face and goes to her home, preceded\nby her nurse. Sour milk (a sort of Koumis) is poured out for her. She\ndrinks some, gargles her throat and spits it out on to some dry\ncowdung.\n\nHer nurse follows suit and then runs out, calling out \u201cSo and so has\ndrunk milk, so and so has drunk milk.\u201d\n\nThe second stage, that of rejoicing and, sad to relate, general\nimmorality then commences. The friends are called together and the\ngirls now \u201cIntonyani,\u201d dress themselves in fantastic fashion in reeds,\ngo through wild dancing with much feasting and dancing and excitement.\nThen follow orgies impossible in civilization. The old people go to\ntheir huts, content to leave these newly fledged maidens and the youths\nof the gathering to spend the night together. Free love becomes the\norder of the day. Complete connection is not supposed to take place,\nand should a girl conceive as a result, the reputed father may be\nforced to marry her, and pay a fair premium \u201clobola\u201d to the father.\nThis is not, however, essential, a fine often being accepted.\n\nDuring the few days of this \u201cIntonyane\u201d festival the \u201cIntonyanis\u201d go\nabout from kraal to kraal. It is now the custom of the mothers to lay\ntheir scared infants on the ground for the girls to jump over them,\nthus performing \u201cUmtshopi\u201d i.e. charming away sickness.\n\nAfter their ceremonies all the articles including dress, hut, fork,\nmat, &c., &c., of the \u201cIntonyane\u201d used during the ceremony must be\nburned.\n\nCircumcision \u201cUbukweta\u201d is universally practised amongst the Bantus.\nIts origin is lost in antiquity, and it is held by many as proof that\nthe Bantu is the descendant of peoples, who emigrated from central Asia\nand are allied to the Jewish nations.\n\nThis rite is performed on the boys at puberty, and is partly civil, in\nthat it introduces boys to the rights of manhood; and partly religious\nin that it imposes on them the responsibility of conforming to all the\nrights and ceremonies of their superstition.\n\nIt is performed by one of the old men of the tribe by cutting. The\ninstrument used being by no means sharp; but the wish to be, or appear\na man, prevents signs of suffering. The hemorrhage is stopped by\napplication of astringent juices mixed with clay; or in some tribes by\nwinding from the point of the glans up round the penis a long strip of\npliable goat skin, which article is afterwards much valued and\ncarefully preserved.\n\nA number of youths from the same kraal are done at the same time, and\nduring the healing process are set apart from their fellows in a\nlocality some distance from the kraals, where they must provide for\nthemselves in every way. They are then called \u201cAbakweta\u201d and keep many\nrestrictions and observances, which I do not propose to describe here,\nsuffice it to say that when the soreness passes off, they are allowed\nunlimited licence, and as a consequence the rite has very much\ndegenerated into an unthinkably immoral custom. Free love with the\nAbakweta not being considered improper amongst the young women and\n\u201cIntonyane.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nThe foregoing pages prove, I think, to us that the Kaffir races, as\nrepresented by their \u201cAmagqira,\u201d possess no mean amount of knowledge of\ndisease and its treatment, and their extensive use of herbs show in an\nastonishing degree, the valuable information which the tribes possess\nof the therapeutic actions and uses of the vegetable kingdom as it\nexists in those parts of the country which they inhabit.\n\n\n                            FINIS","title":"Bantu Folk Lore (Medical and General)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":20223}