{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_76362/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_76362","id":"gutenberg_76362","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76362","summary":null,"tags":["Africa, East -- Social life and customs","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Sociology","Missions -- Africa, East"],"text":"AFRICANA.\n\nA. KING AND CO., PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: I\u2014_Frontis._\n\nTHE POSTMAN.\n\n\u201cLiterature is likely to be an important means of elevating and purifying\nthe native. All Africans, from the lad that writes his Grammar exercise\nto the postman that conveys a written message in a split wand, have a\nliking for _kalata_ (letters).\u201d\u2014Vol. II., p. 261.]\n\n\n\n\n                                 AFRICANA;\n                                    OR,\n                       THE HEART OF HEATHEN AFRICA.\n\n                                  BY THE\n                     REV. DUFF MACDONALD, M.A., B.D.,\n  LATE OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND MISSION, BLANTYRE, EAST CENTRAL AFRICA.\n\n                    VOL. I.\u2014NATIVE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS.\n\n                   \u201cThe proper study of mankind is man.\u201d\n\n                      LONDON: SIMPKIN MARSHALL & CO.\n                       EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES & CO.\n                         ABERDEEN: A. BROWN & CO.\n                                   1882.\n\n                         [_All rights reserved._]\n\n\n\n\n                                    TO\n                                 H. H. M.\n                          THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED\n                             IN REMEMBRANCE OF\n                   THE GREATEST TRIALS PATIENTLY ENDURED\n                          FOR THE GOOD OF AFRICA.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nHeathen Africa is a wide world, but not so wide as might at first sight\nappear. A large part of the continent has been reached by Mahommedanism,\nand Christian Missions are everywhere making bold inroads, so that the\nportion of Africa left entirely to the light of nature is less than is\noften supposed.\n\nMy main object is to contribute to a better understanding of the African\nheathen, and the reader acquainted with books on the \u201cdark continent\u201d\nwill perceive that the greater part of the information given in these\npages is entirely new. My knowledge was gained while I worked in the\nAfrican Mission field. Unfortunately I arrived at the scene of my labours\nto find that the Directors of the Mission had set up a peculiar Civil\nAdministration which, as might have been expected, soon gave rise to\ngreat difficulties. Hence, although I was labouring with increasing\nsuccess, and daily gaining the confidence of the natives, I was suddenly\nrecalled by the Directors.[1] Although no longer privileged to labour in\nAfrica, I have still the deepest sympathy with its people, and am led\nto publish these volumes in the hope of stimulating Christians to more\nhearty endeavours in behalf of this dark land.\n\nA knowledge of these Africans is interesting for its own sake. Besides,\nwe cannot believe that God has maintained such multitudes of human beings\nfor so many generations without our being able to learn lessons from them.\n\nIt is only when one has had an opportunity of understanding these races\nfor himself, that he knows how much they require the help of Christendom.\nWhile from that dark land Christians hear the words, \u201cCome over and\nhelp us,\u201d seldom do they realize how urgent is the call. That call is\nassociated with the shrieks of the helpless slave who is sacrificed at\nthe tomb of his oppressor, with the last cries of a fond mother poisoned\nby a superstitious son, and with the sighing of a wife torn from the home\nof her affection and compelled to drag out a miserable captivity among\nmen whose hands are red with the blood of her kindred. When labouring\nin Africa, often have I been asked to explain why I was \u201cso long in\ncoming\u201d when I knew that its people were living in darkness, and such a\nquestion every Pioneer Missionary may expect to face. I cannot express\nthe feelings of many a heathen African more touchingly and at the same\ntime more truly than by quoting the following which comes from Mr. Gill,\na Missionary in the South Sea Islands:\u2014\n\n\u201cAt one of the fellowship meetings which the native Christians of the\nSouth Sea Islands had among themselves, an old man rose and said, \u2018I\nstand among you to-day a solitary and lonely man. Once I had a wife: dear\nshe was to my heart; she is no more. Once I had five noble sons; they are\nall gone. O that terrible night, when my wife went out to the brushwood,\nnever to return, when my boys left my home to be slain by our deadly\nenemies!\u2019 He paused, and there was a deep silence; the tears rolled down\nhis cheeks. \u2018These things do not occur now,\u2019 he again said; \u2018Christianity\nhas put an end to these bloody wars. But there is one thing I want to\nask, Can it be that the Christian people in England have had this Gospel\nof peace for many long years, and never sent it to us until now? O that\nthey had sent it sooner! Had they sent it sooner, I should not be to-day\nsolitary, sad-hearted, mourning my murdered wife and children. O that\nthey had sent it _sooner_!\u2019\u201d\n\nAs Missions to solitary stations among aboriginal tribes require to be\nconducted in a careful and well-defined manner, I have pointed out many\ndifficulties by which the success of such enterprises is liable to be\nimpaired.\n\nWith reference to the assumption of Civil Jurisdiction, which brought\none or two East African Missions under public notice, I have said little\nexcept where any incident illustrated Mission difficulties or African\ncustoms, and on this subject I must refer the reader to Missionary\nMagazines\u2014in particular the _Missionary Review_ for 1882. But lest I\nshould appear indifferent on the matter, I may, without obtruding the\nsubject, introduce one or two remarks calculated to benefit the youthful\nMissionary. Such a man is generally full of zeal and enthusiasm, and the\nlast thing in the world that he fears is the danger of being confronted\nwith misrepresentation or doubtful diplomacy. But such a danger is\npossible\u2014it is one thing to go to the heat as the servant of the Lord,\nand quite a different thing to go as the agent of a Committee. While\nMission Directors incur some risk by setting up a Civil Jurisdiction, the\nreal danger falls upon the agents they employ. If any of these agents\nsay, \u201cI am here commanded to act as a judge or a chief, I am perfectly\naware this is a difficult task, but I am bound to do my best to obey,\u201d\nhe soon finds he is greatly blamed: and, on the other hand, when a man\nreasons, \u201cMy superiors have set up a strange organisation here. But\nthese men are the great Leaders of the Church. They have been studying\nMissionary methods before I was born. I have no doubt they understand\ntheir plan. But I cannot understand it: I must leave it entirely alone\nand devote all my attention to Spiritual work,\u201d\u2014condemnation as certainly\nfollows.\n\nAgain, when an ordained Minister becomes a Missionary, he is held to lay\naside his ministerial _status_ and become the agent of a committee, while\na Licentiate who is set apart for work among the heathen is \u201cordained\u201d\nin the same sense as a beadle may be said to be ordained\u2014he may talk of\n\u201cmagnifying his office,\u201d but he holds it only during the pleasure of a\ncommittee who, after he has performed his duties most diligently, may\nwith the greatest complacency, turn him forth to starve!\n\nSuch are some of the difficulties that are thoughtlessly thrown in the\nway of Mission work.\n\nThere is, however, a more pleasant side to contemplate. I desire to\nsay with emphasis:\u2014\u201cSavage tribes are _not_ difficult to get on with,\nHeathendom is _not_ an unpromising field,\u201d and such is the experience, I\nthink, of all Missionaries as they go forward, believing that \u201cHe shall\nhave the heathen for His heritage, and the uttermost parts of the earth\nfor His possession!\u201d\n\nI have pleasure in acknowledging that for several of the illustrations I\nam indebted to the courtesy of the Rev. H. Rowley, the talented author of\nthe Story of the Universities\u2019 Mission to Central Africa.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOL. I.\n\nN.B.\u2014_The figures and letters in brackets refer to the sections (and not\nto the pages)._\n\n\n                                                                      PAGE\n\n                              INTRODUCTORY.\n\n    Novelty of the Subject. Effect of Christianity. Difficulty and\n    value of the investigation,                                       1-14\n\n                      CHAPTER I.\u2014FIRST IMPRESSIONS.\n\n    (A) Dress, Tatoos, Ornaments. (B) Weapons. (C) Houses,\n    Beds, Fireplace, Furniture, Live Stock. (D) Climate, Rains,\n    Productions, Famines. (E) Food, Want of Bread, Meals, Unclean\n    Animals, Hospitality. (F) Work, Division of Labour. (F)* Races\n    and Chiefs. (G) Travelling and Salutations,                      15-35\n\n                    CHAPTER II.\u2014ARTS AND LITERATURE.\n\n    (H) Trades and Manufactures, Iron, Baskets, Cloth, Pottery,\n    African Industry. (I) The Learned Professions, Medicine,\n    Divination. (K) Charms. (L) Traditional Literature\u2014its Form,\n    Matter, and Relations to Kindred Traditions,                     36-57\n\n                      CHAPTER III.\u2014NATIVE THEOLOGY.\n\n    (1) Nature of man. (2) Immortality. (3-6) The Gods, their\n    Dwelling Place, their Manifestations; Distinctions. (7, 8)\n    Priests, Village Gods. (9, 10) Polytheism, Selection of Gods.\n    (11, 12) Special Deities, Pathos of Native Theology. (13) The\n    Creation,                                                        58-75\n\n                       CHAPTER IV.\u2014NATIVE WORSHIP.\n\n    OCCASIONS FOR OFFERINGS. _Journey, War or Hunting._ (14)\n    Oracles. (15) Ceremonies. (16, 17) Omens. (18) Rejoicings.\n    (19) _Sickness._ (20) _Famine_, _Dreams_. NATURE OF OFFERINGS.\n    (21-24) Ordinary Offerings. (25-28) Special Offerings, Human\n    Sacrifices,                                                      76-97\n\n                            CHAPTER V.\u2014DEATH.\n\n    (29) Summary. (30) Illness, Physician\u2019s Responsibility. (31)\n    Death, Slaves caught to escort the deceased. (32-38) Mourning\n    Ceremonies. (39) Immolation of human beings. (40) House of\n    deceased taken down. (41) Position of the deceased in the\n    other world. (42, 43) Continuation and end of mourning,         98-112\n\n                    CHAPTER VI.\u2014CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.\n\n    (45-47) Birth, Early Days, Naming. (48-51) Betrothal, Early\n    Training, Amusements, Games,                                   113-124\n\n                         CHAPTER VII.\u2014MYSTERIES.\n\n    (52, 53) Instruction of Girls, Boys, Adults; General remarks,  125-132\n\n                         CHAPTER VIII.\u2014MARRIAGE.\n\n    (54) Procuring a Wife. (55) Ranks among Wives. (56) Adult\n    Marriage, Wedding-day. (57) Woman\u2019s Kingdom. (58) Marriage\n    Contract. (59) Divorce. (60) The Wife\u2019s Surety,                133-143\n\n                        CHAPTER IX.\u2014SOCIAL LIFE.\n\n    (61-63) Native Villages. (64-66) Ordinary Life and Work. (67)\n    Food in common,                                                144-151\n\n          CHAPTER X.\u2014GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.\n\n    (68-72) Headmen and Chiefs. (73-76) Courts of Justice, Trials,\n    and General Treatment of Crime,                                152-164\n\n                      CHAPTER XI.\u2014PERSONAL RIGHTS.\n\n    (77) Slavery. (78-81) Murder and Homicide. (82) Unchastity,\n                                                                   165-174\n\n                    CHAPTER XII.\u2014RIGHTS OF PROPERTY.\n\n    (83-91) Public Property, Land, &c. (92) Private Property.\n    (93) Usury. (94) Petty Theft. (95) Theft and Robbery. (96)\n    Miscellaneous Crimes,                                          175-186\n\n            CHAPTER XIII.\u2014INHERITANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.\n\n    (97, 98) Succession to Property and Titles. (99-101)\n    International Law and War,                                     187-195\n\n                    CHAPTER XIV.\u2014A SLAVE GOVERNMENT.\n\n    (102, 103) The Magololo and their Rule. (104) Cruelties of a\n    Slave Government,                                              196-203\n\n                         CHAPTER XV.\u2014WITCHCRAFT.\n\n    (105) The Poisoned Cup. (106) Witchcraft the cause of Death.\n    (107) Detection and Punishment of Witches, Divination,         204-214\n\n                         CHAPTER XVI.\u2014ETHNOLOGY.\n\n    Ethnological Method, Tribal Customs, East Central Africa,\n    South Africa, West and North Africa, Races of Antiquity,       215-234\n\n                    CHAPTER XVII.\u2014AFRICAN PHILOLOGY.\n\n    A Philosophical Language. Vocabulary, number and nature of\n    African Words. Grammar, as compared with that of the Aryan\n    and Semitic Tongues,                                           235-245\n\n              CHAPTER XVIII.\u2014AFRICAN PHILOLOGY\u2014_Continued._\n\n    Imitation of Sounds and Speech. The _Polyglotta Africana_.\n    Specialties in African Tongues,                                246-257\n\n               CHAPTER XIX.\u2014ESTIMATE OF NATIVE CHARACTER.\n\n    _Physical_: Features, Figures, Powers of Endurance. _Moral_:\n    Truthfulness, Avarice. _Intellectual_: Native Oratory. Effect\n    of their circumstances on Character. Docility in Religion,\n                                                                   258-276\n\n    APPENDIX.\u2014COSMOLOGICAL TALES.                                  277-301\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\nVOL. I.\n\n\n    The Letter Carrier,        _Frontispiece_\n\n    South African making fire,            12\n\n    Liberated Slaves\u2014Blantyre,            15\n\n    The Supelele,                         17\n\n    Native Knives and Arrows,             19\n\n    Native Pipes and Pottery,             40\n\n    Natives in the African jungle,       176\n\n    Women of West Central Africa,        226\n\n    Native Musical Instrument,           272\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\n\nThere are no books, so far as we are aware, that aim at giving a\nsystematic account of the beliefs and customs of any of the tribes in\nEastern Central Africa. Indeed, it is not long since these tribes have\nbeen known at all. Those beliefs and customs are to a great extent\n_Arcana Africana_, and form the main subject of this work.\n\nThose that know how long it takes to become thoroughly acquainted with\nnew races of people will object to a work like this appearing so soon. To\nthis objection we would reply that, after a Christian Mission has been\nestablished for a few years in a district, the views of the people around\nmay become so modified, especially on religion, that it is difficult\nto distinguish how much is native and how much is imported. This is\nspecially true of these Africans. They rapidly throw aside everything\nthat is native, and grasp after the views and customs introduced by the\nforeigner. Even as it was, we often got answers that seemed to be an echo\nof our teaching, but we made a point of rejecting every statement of this\nkind. The reader may rest assured that we have here put before him no\nreligious belief that was suggested or modified by Christian teaching.\n\nAgain, there are some that think it is not possible to give an account\nof native beliefs and customs, because they differ so much in different\ndistricts. The same objection might be raised with reference to English\nbeliefs and customs. A man that wished to give an account of the\nReligious beliefs of the people of England, would find that he had\nundertaken a difficult task, but such an account, so far from being\nimpossible, might be made not only perfectly accurate, but also highly\ninteresting and profitable.\n\nSo in the case of Native Law. We have seen the natives settle their\ndisputes in methods so many and so different, that we might have said\n\u201cThere is no such thing as Native Law\u201d. Might not the very same opinion\nbe expressed with reference to English Law?\n\nAs we tried to reduce Native beliefs to an intelligible form, we were\noften discouraged by finding that one man would make a statement that his\nnearest neighbour would contradict. But as years passed on, I discovered\nthat this accident was not so much the fault of the African, or of his\nbelief, as of the European that questioned him. In many respects there is\na greater fixity of belief in Central Africa than in England, although\nit may be freely admitted that these African customs are subject to\nmany modifications due to local ingenuity and caprice. On the subject\nof Native Law the reader is ever at liberty to read between the lines\nthat _our statements may be often modified_ by a maxim which is but ill\nconcealed in Native Jurisprudence _by the maxim, \u201cthat might is right\u201d_.\n\n\nDIFFICULTIES.\n\nThere are enormous difficulties to overcome before we can be sure that\nour statements are correct. We once knew a man of good abilities try to\nget information on a small section of native customs, and the result\nwas in wonderful disagreement with facts. We were so tickled at the\nproduction that we went to our friend\u2019s informer and read over the\nexpressions one by one, half inclined to ask regarding each \u201cWould you be\nsurprised to learn?\u201d In most cases he was very much surprised indeed! The\ncauses of error are so numerous and subtle as to deserve extended notice.\n\n\nIMPORTING EUROPEAN IDEAS.\n\nOne cause of error is that we mix up what the African tells us with our\nown ideas, which are European. As a consequence of this, we put questions\nto him that he cannot understand. Many of our questions strike the\nAfrican exactly as a question like the following would strike a European,\n\u201cIf seventy miles of the sea were burned, who would be the losers, the\nInsurance Companies? or the Harbour Commissioners? or \u2014\u2014?\u201d If an African\nput this question to a European the European would laugh at him; but\nif the European put it to an African, the latter would be more polite,\nand would think that the European was very ingenious in finding out a\nsupposition that would have never occurred to himself; and although the\nAfrican knows that the difficulty could never arise in his own country,\nyet he feels bound to believe that the poor European is perplexed by\nit, and states what he thinks _would happen_ in Africa on such an\nextraordinary occurrence: thus _he gives an answer_, which the ingenious\nEuropean carefully lays past.\n\nFor instance, a person that had never been out of England would see\nnothing amiss in asking a Makua or a Machinga, \u201cIf a dog were to tear\nyour trousers and your housemaid were to mend them, how much would you\ngive her in addition to her ordinary wages?\u201d Now the native will not\nsay \u201cWe wear no trousers,\u201d \u201cWomen in our country never sew,\u201d \u201cNo one\nreceives wages in our country for domestic service,\u201d \u201cSpecial services\nare not defined, and if they were, the duties of a housemaid would not be\nanything like what they are in England\u201d. Instead of making statements of\nthis kind, which would all be interesting to his questioner, the African\nwill take up the question as it stands, he will consider that it is quite\nworthy of the genius of a European, and will probably answer that the\nhousemaid would get \u201ctwo fowls, one hoe, and a string of beads!\u201d And\nhe may reply without the least hesitation; for if he be a professional\noracle-man, remember he has been trained all his lifetime to answer\nhypothetical questions. He would reason that if a man possessed trousers,\nand servants, yea, a female that obtained wages and had been taught to\nsew, he ought to give her some handsome present for what she did beyond\nher ordinary duties, and then our oracle would state what was his idea\nof a handsome present. His answer is utterly misleading, but he deserves\ncredit for his polite attempt to humour the European, who forthwith\ntranslates the answer into pounds, shillings, and pence!\n\nAnother cause of error is found in\n\n\nNATIVE POLITENESS.\n\nOne evening I questioned a professional judge on a point of native law;\nhe replied by stating what was entirely untrue; when I pointed this\nout he merely laughed at the circumstance; he thought he had invented\nsomething that would appear better to a foreigner. He reminded me of\na Scotch guide who kept telling what was false, because the Southerns\nall liked to hear that some \u201cold king was killed beside the great big\nstane\u201d. Bishop Steere says\u2014\u201cIn Africa they never say _no_, they always\nsay _yes, certainly_; but possibly you are no nearer your object\u201d. One\nmust be careful never to _suggest_ an answer to a native; if the native\nand his questioner are strangers to each other the former will make it a\npoint of etiquette to find out what answer the stranger would like, and\nmay by and by take occasion to compliment him on his cleverness and the\naccuracy of his knowledge! Statements made in answer to direct questions\nare not to be relied on unless the questioner has had years of experience\nin conversation with natives, and knows the subject he converses about.\nWhat is arrived at in an indirect manner is almost always more valuable.\nI lay down these principles as to native evidence with some confidence,\nas I have tried them in hundreds of cases, especially in endeavours to\nfix the exact meaning of native words. One statement where the word\noccurred spontaneously was worth ten statements contrived for the purpose\nof eliminating the meaning.\n\nIn my first efforts to learn African languages I found that a great deal\nof what was said to me, especially by interpreters, was quite useless,\nsimply because the poor fellows were trying to adapt their language to a\nEuropean capacity!\n\n\nNATIVE IDIOMS.\n\nWhen one attempts to obtain information through interpreters, without\nknowing anything of their peculiar idioms, he is liable to the strangest\nblunders. Those that try to speak with him carry their African idioms\ninto English. Natives have great difficulty in knowing the difference\nbetween _before_ and _after_. Boys that have been writing English essays\nfor more than a year, think nothing of writing deliberately about what\nmen did on the earth _before_ they were created. There is another idiom\nstill more fitted to produce confusion, and when an Englishman writes\ndown in a multitude of instances what is the reverse of the truth we are\noften able to point out the cause. He puts to a native the question, \u201cHe\ndid not go, did he?\u201d The native replies \u201c_Yes_,\u201d where an Englishman\nwould say \u201cNo\u201d. Consequently every question put in this form will be\nanswered in a manner that cannot fail to mislead. In the same way natives\nconfound the active and the passive voice in verbs.\n\n\nDISTRACTING CIRCUMSTANCES.\n\nEven after one has become familiar with some of their idioms he cannot\ntrust to all the information that he supposes himself to acquire. I\nhad begun to hold conversations with the natives, in their own tongue,\nabout six weeks after my arrival, and I well remember that I often got\ninformation exactly similar to what Mr Pickwick got from his cabman.\nWhen a native sees a person noting down anything, he makes up his mind\nto say something worth noting! So much did I feel this that at one time\nI endeavoured to keep my book out of sight. While they were unaccustomed\nto it, it introduced into the conversation an element that was very\nunnatural. One plan I took was to have a pencil in my hand which I\npretended to be playing with. I thus got down some new words upon my\nthumb-nail, and was beginning to congratulate myself on the success of\nmy stratagem. After I sat for about ten minutes another man approached\nour group, when my friends hailed him in these words, \u201cCome here and\ntalk with the white man. He is writing on his fingers. He has written\nthree new things already!\u201d After this I saw that such a trick was quite\nuseless. Not only had they seen it all, but they could tell how many\nwords I had written. Great was the laughter that followed, and the new\ncomer examined the guilty thumb-nail!\n\n\nROMANTIC INFORMATION.\n\nI sometimes got romantic information that I was sorry at a later date\nto have to put my pen through. Thus with reference to the High Priest\nof a new government (98), I gathered from one man that the first person\n_seen_ by the chief after his installation became the High Priest of his\ngovernment. I had carefully noted down that a little _boy_ playing in the\nvillage found his way to the house of one important chief on the morning\nafter his installation, and was the first to see His Royal Highness; for\nwhom, as a matter of fact, he now officiates as sacrificer, &c. Then,\n_having taken up_ this meaning of the incident, I was farther informed\nthat the chief made a note of the first _five_ people that he saw in\ncase of the death of any; and my informer was eager to know who was the\nfirst man that I saw after coming to Blantyre. Subsequent information\nthrew discredit on the beautiful story. But the peculiar thing was that I\nfound long afterwards another native make the very same statements. This\nreferred me back to my old notes. All I could say about it was that the\nword I had translated _see_ meant also _find_, that a _boy_ might be over\n50 years for anything that the native word indicated, and that it was not\nclear from my text whether the chief was _seen_ by the boy or the boy by\nthe chief.\n\nMuch of what we have written was not made the subject of special\ninvestigation, except where we found any doubt arise or any verification\nnecessary. Our special object was to obtain such an accurate knowledge\nof the language as would enable us to give a good translation of the\nBible. Most of the knowledge gradually grew upon us as we mingled with\nthe natives, and for the purpose of translation attended closely to every\nword that we heard.\n\nOther parts, especially those that refer to religion, were the subject of\nspecial inquiry. It is walking in the dark for a missionary to endeavour\nto appeal either to the feelings or to the reason of a people whose\nprejudices and beliefs are unknown to him, and how he is to convince them\nwithout appeals to their feelings or their reason I cannot tell. I would\nhave given much to have had an account of those beliefs put into my own\nhands when I left for Africa.\n\nI have tried to make all my statements as accurate as possible, but it\nwould be too much to expect that in such a difficult investigation I\nshould have escaped the influence of these many and subtle sources of\nerror.\n\n\nTHE VALUE OF STUDYING NATIVE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS.\n\nWhat is the use of minute investigations among the ignorant heathen of\nCentral Africa? We reply that such investigations throw light on many\npoints that men of science consider to be of great importance.\n\nTo take a few instances:\u2014\n\n\nI. IN THE SCIENCE OF THE HUMAN MIND.\n\n\n(A) THE SENSES.\n\nSome speak as if men were made at first with the power of perceiving only\na few colours, for instance, black and white, and that by and by they\ntrained themselves to perceive brown. One argument advanced in favour of\nthis view is that many native languages have words for black and white,\nbut no word for brown. Now I knew several languages where the natives\ncalled brown and black by the same word; but they knew that there was\na great difference between brown and black. I found that they could\ndiscriminate every shade of colour that I could discriminate myself.\n\n\n(B) THE INTELLECT.\n\nMany facts that I shall lay before the reader will seem so strange that\nhe may doubt whether these savages have the same minds as Europeans,\nwhether they reason or think in the same way at all. It is true, however,\nthat after one places himself in their circumstances, and tries to see\nand feel as they do, he will understand all their strangeness; he will\neven see that it would have been still more strange if their reasonings\nand conclusions had been different.\n\n\n(C) THE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS.\n\nHave we in Europe so developed ourselves as to become possessors of\nemotions that are entirely wanting in savage Africa?\n\nWe have what is called gratitude: have these heathen? Without any\nhesitation I answer that they have, and that even though we define\ngratitude as being much more than \u201can acute sense of favours to come\u201d.\n\nAgain we have pity. A stranger might think that they were destitute of\nthis. I have said to a boy, \u201cDon\u2019t carry that fowl so, you give it pain\u201d.\nAt this he would laugh. It would become the standing joke for a day or\ntwo. Everyone would be told that the Englishman said that \u201cthe fowl\nwould be sore\u201d. A whole village would collect at the strange report and\nreceive the news with loud laughter. Yet all would admit that it was a\ncruel thing to pain the fowl; but they did not reflect that their method\nof carrying the fowl gave it pain. They were used to their own way, and\nthought no more of the matter than a butcher does of killing an ox. At\nthe same time they have fables in their language, which show a desire to\nenter minutely into the feelings of the lower animals. For instance, they\nrepresent fowls as reasoning on their hard fate in being killed for their\nmaster\u2019s supper.\n\n\n(D) MORAL PHILOSOPHY.\n\nIt has long been disputed whether men have a \u201cConscience\u201d that\ndistinguishes between right and wrong; or whether they merely look at\ncertain actions that please or profit them, and call these actions good\nand the opposite actions bad.\n\nSavages have been referred to on this subject. We have found that they\ndistinguish the good from the evil in the same way as Europeans do, and\nusually agree with our conclusions. They know the difference between an\ninjury of accident and one of intention. As to the moral judgment, \u201cA man\n_ought_ to do such a thing,\u201d \u201cIt is his _duty_,\u201d we find this lesson is\nbrought home to slaves or inferiors by positive law. In others there are\naspirations more akin to the exuberant activities and bright dreams of\nyouth. They would rather ask, \u201cHow can we do best?\u201d as did the Ancients\nwho talked of a _summum bonum_. As the spirit of the world became\nolder and sadder this view gave place, and the idea of \u201cduty\u201d was more\nemphasised by moralists. Spirited Africans savour more of the Golden Age\nof Moral Science.\n\nIt is to be remembered that appeals to savage nations form only a part of\nscientific investigations like the above.\n\n\nII. IN ETHNOLOGY.\n\nOn looking at the many different races that inhabit the earth, some say\nthat they did not all spring from the same stock, others that they did.\nIf we say that they are all of one family we should try to show how some\nbroke away from the rest, and at what time. Now let us make a supposition\nto show how the _customs_ of races might come in here.\n\n[Illustration: SOUTH AFRICAN MAKING FIRE.]\n\nIn LIGHTING A FIRE some tribes rub a stick along a groove; other tribes\nhave an improvement on this, they produce fire by making a little\nnotch or hole in one stick, and whirling the other round very rapidly\nwith the point of it in the notch. Now we may hold that before mankind\ndiscovered the second method, many nations, like the South Sea Islanders,\nwho knew only the first, had broken up communication with the rest of\ntheir kindred; but that the Africans who use the improved method had\nlikely been with the main body of mankind till the time of this great\nimprovement.\n\nAgain, take the case of COOKING. Some tribes have no pots. They boil\nwater by throwing hot stones into a skin. They must have separated very\nearly from their more cultivated brethren. Others waited till some one\nfell on the plan of boiling water in a hollow stone. Others waited on\ntill it was discovered that clay could be shaped into a kind of pot, and\nthen carried this important discovery to the land of their adoption.\nBoiling with hot stones was the only way known to certain American,\nAustralian, and Polynesian tribes; some tribes in Africa also used this\nmethod. The Esquimaux had pot-stones. It seems to have been the daubing\nof these with clay that first suggested pottery.\n\nI have taken down traditions from African natives that point to some\nrecollection of the hollow stone, used either by themselves or some other\nrace; but the tribes here treated of know the value of clay pots. Of\ncourse they are far behind the Indians, who have metal pots.\n\nWith regard to THE CAUSE OF DISEASE there existed a widespread belief\n(held by many tribes in America and Australia, as also by these Africans)\nthat disease came from bones, horns, balls of hair or something of this\nkind. The ancient Egyptians at a very early date considered that disease\nwas to a great extent caused by excess of eating. The inference is that\nthese tribes had not staid long enough to benefit by this wisdom of the\nEgyptians.\n\nOther peculiar customs are spread over many tribes, and might be used\nin a similar manner. Many of these are observances in FAMILY LIFE. Among\nthe Kaffirs a son-in-law must not see the face of his mother-in-law. This\ncustom is found among South American tribes. Sometimes a father has to\nfast after the birth of his child, or take some such method of showing\nthat he recognises that he as well as the mother should take care of the\nyoung stranger.\n\nWhen races are found knowing nothing of the art of writing, and making\nno attempt to use stone or bricks for building, we feel that a wide gulf\nseparates them from the most ancient races of history. Of course it is\nto be remembered that they might have once been aware of such arts. Many\nAfricans, as a matter of fact, have seen Portuguese architecture for\ncenturies without adopting it.\n\n\nIII. IN THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION.\n\nA position has often been maintained that there is no tribe without some\nknowledge of God. This bears on investigations in the science of mind\nand on primitive traditions and ethnology. We do not now dwell on native\nreligion, as it will claim special attention in subsequent chapters.\n\nBesides throwing light on many subjects like the above, a knowledge of\ntribal beliefs and customs is of vital importance to the missionary and\nalso to the trader. Indeed, any attempt to deal with people without\nknowing their customs and beliefs is a mere groping in the dark.\n\n[Illustration: LIBERATED SLAVE-WOMAN, BLANTYRE.\n\n(_Photographed in ordinary Costume._)]\n\n[Illustration: LIBERATED SLAVE-GIRL, BLANTYRE.\n\n(_Trained to Household Work._)]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nFIRST IMPRESSIONS.\n\n\nA.\u2014DRESS, TATOOS, ORNAMENTS, &C.\n\nThe _dress_ of the native is very scanty: sometimes we see full-grown\nmen and women whose wardrobe does not consist of a square foot of cloth.\nWe have even seen the primitive fig-leaves not sewn together, but simply\ntaken down for use, along with the tip of the branches on which they\ngrew. One tribe, called the Mangoni, is fond of wearing skins. Other\ntribes towards the north of Lake Nyassa are still more primitive in\ntheir dress, or rather want of dress. The usual costume in the Blantyre\ndistrict is a piece of calico about two yards broad, and rather longer,\nwhich is put round the middle of the body: the dress of a man does not\ndiffer from that of a woman, except that the latter may occasionally\ncover her breasts. The breasts and arms are usually left quite bare.\nThere is no hat on the head, nor shoes on the feet. When we tried to\ntranslate the words, \u201cIf any man sue thee at the law and take away thy\ncoat, let him have thy cloak also,\u201d we found a difficulty, for if a\nnative were stripped of _one_ garment, he would generally be left in a\nvery helpless condition.\n\nThe chiefs, or principal men, dress as the rest of the people, only\nthey may have a few more folds of calico about their loins. In certain\nfamilies, as in the Abanda family of the Wayao tribe, the chief of the\ndistrict, or of a village, wears a band of cloth round his temples as a\nkind of crown. Before the arrival of the missionaries, shirts, although\nvery rare, were not entirely unknown, and there existed a belief that\nwhile men might wear them, they were not the proper thing for women. Bark\ncloth (H) is extensively made and worn.\n\nThe _tatoos_ (nembo) are sometimes dreadful inflictions, and when the\nlarger marks are made the children roar as if they were distracted.\nThe Angulu have marks like \u201cflies,\u201d the Wayao tribal mark is above the\nnose, the Anyasa make very large rude tatoos, which might be described\nin those words that Henry Salt, the Abyssinian traveller (1814), uses\nwith reference to the Makua, a tribe not far distant, and much spoken of\nby the Wayao, under the name of Makuani. \u201cThe Makua practise tatooing\nso rudely that they raise the marks one-eighth of an inch above the\nsurface.\u201d He writes also:\u2014\u201cThey file their teeth to a point, so that the\nwhole set has the appearance of a coarse saw\u201d. The natives here are fond\nof knocking out a front tooth in order to produce a beauty mark.\n\n_Ornaments_ are worn chiefly by the women in Africa as elsewhere. Beads\nand bangles are in great request. Many have armlets and anklets of brass\nor iron. The most striking female ornament is the lip ring. Little girls\nhave first a small hole (lupelele) bored in the upper lip, in this they\nplace a stalk of grass, which prevents the hole from filling up, next\nthey insert a thicker stalk of grass, then by means of bits of twigs,\n&c., the hole is made larger and larger, till it can receive this ring.\nHardly any female is without it. They say it makes them look \u201cpretty\u201d;\nthe bigger the ring, the more they value themselves! At Zomba, a small\nhole is bored on the side of the nose, and a tack (exactly similar to\nthose large headed tacks or \u201ctackets\u201d used in the sole of a boot), is put\nin. This tack, _chipini_, is made of lead; some of the ladies used to\nexpress much surprise when I showed them that it would write on my book.\n\n[Illustration: NATIVE WOMAN WITH BEADS, TATOOS AND LIP-RING.]\n\nOccasionally, a woman will wear an enormous wig made of beads. The beads\nare so manipulated as to present the appearance of having been \u201cthreaded\u201d\non the hair of the head. Some females do actually thread beads on the\nseparate hairs of their head, but the usual way is to put them on a\ncluster of strings, and then wear like a wig. Sometimes they allow their\nhair to grow till it is very long\u2014it may be sticking up about 8 inches\nabove the head\u2014and then it looks exactly like the fleece of a black\nsheep. But this is unusual, as the natives are obliged, for the sake of\ncleanliness, to shave their heads often. The men have scarcely any beard\nor whiskers. On the shaving of the head for a death (40), not even the\neyebrows are allowed to escape. There is no end of capricious shaving,\nfor instance, they shave one side only, or the whole head except a patch\nin the middle.\n\nCHARMS (_mbiji_) are very often worn round the neck by both sexes. These\nare little pieces of wood like what fill the gourds of the Sorcerers\n(I). They are worn on a small string in the same way as beads.\n\nWe may mention here that great quantities of beads are worn round the\nloins in strings as thick as cart ropes. When a person is from home\nand wishes to buy anything, he falls back upon this portion of his\nproperty which is really his \u201cpurse\u201d. Besides this, a native carries a\nbag (msaku), which may contain a box with lime (swakala), which he uses\nin chewing tobacco: a snuff box is also common. Ladies partake of these\n\u201cregales\u201d to a less extent.\n\n[Illustration: NATIVE KNIVES AND ARROWS.]\n\n\nB.\u2014WEAPONS.\n\nThe men go armed generally with guns. (The country is full of flint\nmuskets marked the \u201cTower,\u201d and introduced by the slave trade.) Often\nthey carry their _bows_ with half-a-dozen arrows. They never go unarmed.\nOne chief used to be fond of carrying a large _spear_, which served as\na kind of staff. Most of them carry knives as well. These weapons are\nnecessary for protection against beasts of prey and other enemies, and\nmay be used where game is seen. The Mangoni carry a shield like the Zulus.\n\nOn coming down from the Lake region to the Portuguese settlements at\nQuilimane, one of the first things that strikes us is, that natives under\nthe Portuguese Government go about without carrying any deadly weapon.\nOn the hills round Blantyre, a man scarcely sits down to sew his wives\u2019\ncalico in his own village without having his bow and arrows by his side.\n\nThey do not seem to be expert marksmen; but they were able to send their\narrows very much farther than I could do, let me try never so hard. They\nwere fond of asking us to competitions of this nature. One time Kumpama\nof Cherasulo challenged us to a shooting match\u2014his arrows against our\nguns! They allowed us, however, to stand too far back, and the arrows of\nhis bowmen fell short of the target. Little boys are to be seen using\ntheir arrows from their earliest years, and they shoot small birds very\ncleverly.\n\nThey use the assagai, but more for thrusting than for throwing. Apart\nfrom war, chances for its use occur when they steal upon a buck before\nhe awakes. A large broad spear is used in killing fish.\n\nSome carry knob-sticks, or staves of a similar nature. They are useful\nfor shaking the dew or rain off the long grass, as well as for defensive\npurposes. Little axes of various kinds are carried in the hand; they\nmay be borne as credentials where a chief has to send by an unknown\nmessenger. The usual African axes are said to resemble those used in\nBritain in the Roman period.\n\n\nC.\u2014HOUSES.\n\nThe houses, or huts (nyumba) in which they dwell, are all round. It is\nmisleading to say that they dwell in them, as they scarcely enter them,\nexcept to sleep, or when driven by bad weather. Sometimes the women boil\na pot inside the house, but often the cooking is done outside; all the\nmeals are eaten outside. When the head of a house has any sewing to do,\nhe does it on a mat before his door, or in the village forum. His wife\ndoes not sew, and most of her occupations (57) are necessarily outdoor.\n\u201cA house,\u201d says the native, \u201cis made to sleep in.\u201d\n\nThe walls form a circle\u2014say about twelve feet in diameter\u2014and are made\nof strong posts, sometimes close to each other, but generally with\nspaces between, where bamboos and grass are brought into requisition.\nThe framework of the roof is placed upon the top of the circle, and some\nthatch is thrown on. The floor and walls are plastered with clay.\n\nTwo doors (mlango) are marked out before they plaster, but one of these\nis generally shut up, and may even be dispensed with. There are no\nwindows. The wall is not above 3 feet high, the roof projects so as to\nform a small verandah in which a person may sit. Sometimes there are\napertures in the wall calculated to let through the muzzle of a gun.\n\nThe houses being occupied chiefly during the night, part of the floor\nis often raised for a bedstead. The bed which is merely a mat made of\nbamboos or reeds, and is not nearly so soft as an ordinary door-mat or\nhearth-rug, is laid on this mound. By the side of the \u201cbedstead\u201d are\nplaced a few logs of wood which form a fire during the night. The head of\nthe house lies nearest to this fire, while his partner is placed on his\nother side, as he remarks, _away from the fire_. Blankets are unknown.\nThe cloth that covers the man during the day may be drawn over him at\nnight. Quite as often he lets it remain round his loins. Occasionally it\nseems as if a little flour had been spilt on the ground beside his head.\nHe will not speak of this to a stranger, but you are on holy ground, and\nlet me tell you in a whisper that it is an _offering to his gods_.\n\nCandles are not used, the logs that smoulder in the fire give a little\nlight. They burn beeswax occasionally, and when light is required, a\nlittle dry grass may be readily obtained. The native retires to rest soon\nafter dark, and is astir at the first streaks of dawn.\n\nThe fire is in the middle of the floor, and there are no holes in the\nroof as in the old Highlands of Scotland. The houses are without any\nchimney whatsoever, and the smoke goes curling about in the roof and\nmay ultimately escape through the thatch or at the doors. The roof is\nbeautifully black and glossy inside, but outside it has an ugly brown\nappearance.\n\nA European finds it a most inconvenient thing at first to enter a native\nhut, the smoke so fills his nose, mouth, and eyes, but when he sits down\nto talk to an invalid, the inconvenience is of course less than when he\nstands upright; at best the atmosphere resembles a London fog. In native\nhuts it is sometimes difficult for a man of ordinary stature to stand\nupright. The doors of the houses are never over 3 feet high. What pigmies\nthe natives must be! We have heard a learned professor arguing that the\nheight of the doors in certain very ancient houses proved that the human\nrace was not degenerating in stature, but this argument, true in many\ncases, would not do here. If the native wants to stand upright, he never\nthinks of trying to do so in his doorway.\n\nThe roof of his house is generally made a store; he goes up from the\noutside, removes part of the thatch, and puts in his corn. Bags of beans\nare hung up round and round on the pillars inside. Sometimes there are\none or two pots filled with beans, and hermetically sealed with clay on\nthe top to preserve such vegetables. There are no fenders or fire-irons\nto be seen. Tables are unknown, and chairs are hardly used at all,\nalthough men clever at wood-work make very small chairs of various\nforms. Implements of agriculture are stowed away in the house, so are\nthe cooking utensils, the man\u2019s bow and arrows, the sleeping mat already\nmentioned, and\u2014our inventory is complete! Some part of the house may be\noccupied by live stock. The fowls are sometimes put up stairs in the\nstore, and sometimes in a corner so as not to disturb the other members\nof the family! But laying-hens (mkolo) and fowls with chickens have very\nspecial privileges, and are not always confined to their corner!\n\nAnother item of importance to the inmates of a native house is the rats.\nThey swarm in all corners after dark. They nibble at the maize that\nis stored in the roof, and also at the feet of their lord and master\nbelow. As we sit in conversation with a number of natives we cannot\nhelp observing their feet. Very generally they are all nibbled round\nthe sides, and, thick though the natives\u2019 skin may be, we can see that\nmany bites have reached the quick flesh. When a person dies in a house\nat night, if the death be unobserved, the body may be terribly eaten by\nthe rats before morning. What is the meaning of tolerating these vermin?\nLeave that to the natives themselves. A great feast day will come. These\nrats will be caught in hundreds, and either eaten on the spot or laid up\nas stored provisions. Some natives set traps in the house even during\nthe close season, but this is not nearly so profitable; for if one or\ntwo rats are caught during the night, the others will eat them, and the\nfondest expectation of \u201cbutcher meat\u201d will be blasted.\n\nAfter calling attention to the fowls and the rats, we have done with the\nlive stock. There are indeed \u201csmaller cattle,\u201d but they are too numerous\nto be specified. They are not a burden to the house itself, but are\ngenerally borne by the other inmates. We have often seen a native sit\npatiently while two or three others kept searching among his hair. A\nfavourite remedy is to shave the head quite bare, and smear the head and\nthe whole body with certain vegetable oils.\n\n\nD.\u2014CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.\n\nThe climate strikes us at first as being much too hot, but after a while\nwe feel it more comfortable. Then we can nearly always anticipate the\nweather. It is quite amusing to hear an arrival from England saying \u201cThis\nis another fine day!\u201d When we meet a man at home, and have nothing to\nsay, we nearly always call his attention to the state of the weather.\nWhen two natives meet each other the usual salutation is\u2014\u201cWhere are you\ngoing?\u201d the weather being so uniform that it may be taken for granted.\nThe temperature in the shade at the hill settlements was hardly ever over\n105\u00b0 or under 42\u00b0, 70\u00b0 being about the average. On the plains the heat\nwas excessive.\n\nThe rainy season begins about October. We have nearly six weeks of very\nhot weather about January without much rain. By and by the sun returns\noverhead again, and we have the latter rains. About April the dry season\nsets in.\n\nOn the productions of the country we may remark that there are fruits\nin almost endless variety in the bush, but they are generally very\nsmall, and few of them are so good that we care to taste them twice. The\n_masuku_ and _mbembu_ are used very much by the natives. Sugar cane,\ntobacco, india-rubber are all to be found growing throughout the country.\nThe natives chew the stalks of the sugar cane, chew and smoke tobacco,\nand relish the apple-like fruit found on the india-rubber vine.\n\nThrifty housewives make various vegetable dishes (maponda) of leaves and\ngrasses that a European would be inclined to despise. In the hot season\nthat precedes the rains sometimes food is very scarce, and then roots and\nherbs still less savoury are called into use. Moreover, there are certain\nedibles of this kind, which are used only in years of famine. Before the\narrival of the missionaries such famines were exceedingly common, but\nthey were not all caused by the climate, many were caused by war.\n\nNature is here so bountiful that, in ordinary circumstances, food is\nno object. The only season associated with hunger is a month or two\nimmediately before the rains. If the rains do not come early, the old\nfood may be quite finished. As soon as the rains begin, vegetable life\nflourishes with such luxuriance that the season of want is immediately\nforgotten. Once or twice in travelling during the season when everything\nis dried up, we have found a little boy sitting weeping on account of\n\u201chunger,\u201d and the expression \u201chunger is painful\u201d (_sala kupoteka_)\nreminds us that most natives know the fact by experience. Much of this is\ndue to the tediousness of their cooking. If a party arrive half starving\nat a village, it may be several hours before anything can be cooked.\nThe people do not keep flour on hand, but mill it as it is required for\neach meal; and as their meals are at 11 at noon and 6 at night, parties\narriving in the interval must tighten their belts. Native travellers\ncould easily sympathise with Esau when he sold his birthright.\n\n\nE.\u2014FOOD AND COOKING.\n\nThe cooking is done by the women; but every native is a born cook. When\na buck is shot out in the bush, even little boys will cook it at once.\nThe staple food at Blantyre is maize; among the Anyasa millet; and at the\nmouth of the Shire, rice. Maize and millet are ground into a fine flour\n(utandi, ufa), which is made into a kind of porridge (ugali, nsima). This\nis eaten without salt, but ought to be accompanied by some relish, as\nbeans or meat. This porridge takes the place of bread in their meals, as\nthe natives make no bread. Another way of using maize or millet is in the\nnative beer (ukana, mowa), the only beverage in common use except water,\nwhich they drink out of the running streams. They drink stagnant water\nalso. Their method of drinking is peculiar, as they literally throw the\nwater into the mouth with their hands.\n\nThe natives have regularly only two meals a-day, but they may eat maize\nstalks or sugar cane or other vegetables from morning till night. There\nare often feasts, as on the occasion of hoeing-matches (65), wakes, and\nmarriage settlements. Beer is used greatly in those cases, and beer\ndrinkings may be got up also without any special occasion. Sometimes\nthey last for several days, the last day (lia kusasula) is specially\ndistinguished for cooking porridge and fowls. Such solid food is not\nexpected on the other days. There is also singing, dancing, and drumming.\nThe exercises generally continue the whole night. The parties that do\nmost to keep up the interest in such dances are paid.\n\nThere are no live stock except the small species of fowls and the rats\nthat we have already mentioned. Some natives keep ducks\u2014Muscovy ducks,\nwhich do not require a pond. Richer people, as village chiefs, possess\ngoats. The Magololo chiefs have sheep and a few cows.\n\nThe Wayao have a superstition against cow\u2019s milk, goat\u2019s milk, and dairy\nproduce of every kind. (In the same way young people will not eat eggs;\nit would make them barren.) They eat hippopotami, elephants, monkeys,\nmoles, beetles, and even caterpillars. They take kindly to meat that has\nbegun to putrify. Yet they make a distinction between what animals are\nto be eaten and what are not. Any creature that will eat the flesh of a\ndeceased human being is unclean. It is msawi (106). For instance, while\nsome eat the raven or kite (likungulu), others protest that it feeds\nabout the graves.\n\nA person could travel far and wide and trust to native hospitality. If we\narrive at a village at the time that the native is taking his meals we\nare invited to partake. A great drawback is that a person not brought up\non native food will be unwilling to risk his health by partaking of their\nfare. It cannot be expected that the traveller will fare better than his\nhost. They soon begin to know people that do not eat freely of native\nfood, and from motives of politeness they are slow in offering it. If we\npass through a village its inhabitants quietly ask some of our native\nretinue whether there is any chance of our tasting the native beer,[2]\nand if it be found that the beer will not be refused, the poor creatures\ngo and search for a cup (if they have one in the whole village). They\njudged that, as we were more familiar with cups than with calibashes, the\ncup would be the more acceptable. The natives that accompanied us on any\njourney were presented with loads of the various fruits of the season.\nIf one wish to stay all night he will get a house to sleep in. Natives\nreceive hospitality quite freely, and are prepared when their host comes\nto their home to treat him in the same way. When a party from one chief\ngoes to visit another chief, one of their credentials is a present.\n\nIt is a breach of etiquette to eat alone if any one be present. When a\nnative is at food he shares it with those around him, indeed he goes on\ndividing till he has only a mouthful left for himself. Etiquette does not\nbind us to partake of their food, but it is a sign of friendship to do so\nas far as possible. The natives have no spoons, and Englishmen would burn\ntheir fingers severely in eating porridge in the fashionable manner.\n\n\nF.\u2014WORK.\n\nThe natives go to work at sunrise, and continue until the sun is\noverhead. After this their day\u2019s work is finished, and they partake of\ntheir first meal. One reason why the morning meal is so late is that it\nwould be difficult to have it ready before the people go out to work.\nIn the afternoon the men sit down and converse. Some do light work, as\nsewing, but a great many remain quite idle. The women will be found\npounding maize. They are nearly as strong and tall as the men, perhaps\nowing to the heavy work they do. By sunset the second meal is ready.\n\nThey have little notion of the division of labour. Natives have not\narrived at such a pitch of education that one of them would spend his\ndays in making the sixth part of a pin. The little girls from their\nearliest years are initiated into all parts of the mysteries of hoeing,\nreaping, milling, and cooking. The men are equally ignorant of the\nadvantages and disadvantages of division of labour. Each man builds\nhis own house, and makes his own furniture. The only trade that can\nmaintain a special existence is working in iron\u2014a trade embracing mining,\nsmelting, and forging. Even in this case most natives know the secrets of\nthe trade; but to be specially successful they need to obtain a charm.\n\nAgricultural work is the great means of a livelihood. It yields a great\nreturn, for every seed the natives sow they expect to reap hundreds. A\nlittle before the rains they begin to hoe their ground. They first clear\nall the trees and wood, which they collect in heaps and burn on the spot.\nThey use no other manure. When they do work for the English they say they\nhoe very slowly, because they are told to hoe deep; but when they hoe\ntheir own land they hoe fast, as a scratch on the surface is considered\nsufficient. When the rains come they plant. After the maize grows they\nset up the soil round the stems as farmers do with potatoes.\n\nEach house has generally what we might call a garden; but the natives\nhave no fancy for flowers. The wild flowers in the wood they recognise\nas being very pretty; but they laugh at any one that plucks them. They\nfancy that a lover of flowers culls them for some charms. The natives\nhave no word for a garden as distinct from a cultivated field or farm,\nbut they have often round their houses little beds of tobacco, great\nquantities of manioc, and several other useful plants. Indian hemp is\nalso much cultivated, and is nearly as bad as opium. Near Mazaro opium is\ncultivated by a Portuguese Company.\n\n\nF\u00b2.\u2014RACES AND CHIEFS.\n\nAs we pass out of Portuguese territory we find ourselves in the country\nof a chief called Matekenya, on the Lower Shire (Chiri). His people are\nthe Achikunda. When we reach the Ruwo or Ruo we are perhaps about two\ndays from Blantyre by land. Here we come to what are called the Magololo,\nwhose paramount chief is Makukani, although many of the others, as\nKatunga and Chiputula, seem to view themselves as independent of him.\nStill they say that if he commands they must all follow him to war.\nThese men though aliens, have established themselves as rulers over the\nAnyasa. There is no Magololo tribe here. Passing through these Anyasa we\nascend to Blantyre, where we find ourselves with a chief called Kapeni,\nwho rules another tribe called the Wayao (Yao), with whom we are best\nacquainted.\n\nThen about Zomba, which is other two days farther on, we encounter the\nMachinga, who speak practically the same language as the Wayao, and this\nlanguage carries us far beyond. Several great chiefs on the east side of\nLake Nyassa are Machinga. Again, when we stand on the south side of Mount\nZomba and look over Lake Chirwa[3] (Shirwa) towards the rising sun we see\nmountains that are peopled by the Angulu (or Walolo).\n\nThe tradition is that the Anyasa first inhabited the land everywhere\nabout Zomba; but that the Angulu, who lived at one time on the other side\nof the river Lujenda, began to fight the Machinga. The Machinga then went\nand encountered the Wayao, who, in turn, pressed on and drove from their\nhome at Zomba the Anyasa tribe, many of whom now live under the Magololo\non the Lower Shire[3] (Chiri), _i.e._, the Shire below the cataracts.\n\nThe Anyasa are also called Anyanja, both words in different languages\nof the district mean river- or lake-people. The word Wayao (or Achawa)\nsuggests a derivation from the personal pronoun. Yao regularly means\n\u201ctheir\u201d (_ipanje yao_ means their property). So the Awa of Achawa is\nidentical with the personal pronoun. I am inclined to interpret the\nname as \u201cThe people that hold their own!\u201d until I find something more\nsatisfactory. The Machinga are really the same tribe, and are called the\n\u201cfighting branch of the Yao\u201d. The derivation of their name is in harmony\nwith this view.\n\nIt is instructive to note the descriptions that these tribes give of\nother tribes that live at a distance, and are barely known to them. I had\nheard such strange particulars about the Makua that I thought they must\nbe a peculiar people; now so they are, but only just as the Wayao are\npeculiar. It was the old story; every race considers itself perfection,\nand points to a mote in the eye of a brother race. The language of the\nMakua is quite similar to Machinga. I travelled to London with a Makua\nwith whom I had little difficulty in conversing.\n\nThere are two great Wayao chiefs in the district of Blantyre, who are\ncalled Kapeni and Kumpama, and whose head quarters are at Mounts Sochi\nand Cherasulo respectively. These are the two large territorial chiefs.\nMkanda of Cherasulo, was at first a headman of Kumpama\u2019s, but rebelled,\nand lives on the southern side of that mountain; an easy day\u2019s march from\nBlantyre. Kumpama\u2019s territory begins about six miles from Blantyre at\na stream called the Luunsu, and extends to the Namasi, on which is the\nold site of the Magomero Mission. The next great centre of population\nas we march to the north-east is Zomba, one side of which is owned\nby Chemlumbe, a Yao chief. The other side belongs to Malemya, a more\npowerful man, who is a Machinga. A little way beyond there is Mount\nChikala, where a still more powerful chief called Kawinga resides; he\nis also a Machinga. If we look towards the south from Zomba we see a\ngreat mountain, Mlanje, this marks the domain of Matapwiri. When we wish\nin Quilimane to ask for a man who speaks Chiyao or Machinga, we ask\nfor a person from Matapwiri\u2019s country. There a Matapwiri is used for a\nsimpleton\u2014one that has not seen the world. It is with this chief that the\nYao of the coast are most associated, as the slave gangs for Quilimane\nused to set out from his village.\n\n\nG.\u2014TRAVELLING AND SALUTATIONS.\n\n\n_Native Roads._\n\nThe native roads are never straight; at best they glide along by an easy\nsuccession of curves. Sometimes the amount of curvature is very annoying.\nThe path is little more than a foot broad. Each side is covered with tall\ngrass, which reaches over the traveller\u2019s head. You can only see four\nor five paces in front, and you can never predict what course the path\nwill take after that. The causes of curvature are numerous. Here a tree\nfell down long ago and lay across the path. While it still lay every\ntraveller went round the end of it, and the original path was abandoned,\nand replaced by grass that no traveller will care to interfere with. At\nanother place the path turned aside to go through a little village; but\nthe village has passed away years ago. At another spot some one had hoed\na field, and made the road go round its border. There are cases too where\nthe path may have deviated to avoid marshes and difficult crossings. On\nmany roads we lose one mile in every five. After the grass is burned, or\nin bad soil where very little grass grows, one may have the pleasure of\ngoing in a straight line; but where the grass is at all represented no\none can pass through it without the greatest exertion. If a person leave\na native path with the idea of taking a short cut, he may get into a\ntangle of long grass and bushes, where his progress will be not more than\none mile in four hours.\n\n\n_Grass Fires._\n\nOne of the best sights in Africa is a large grass fire. No fireworks\nin Britain can for a moment compare with this. Broad plains will keep\nburning for weeks. At the mission on the side of Mount Zomba, which\noverlooked a plain of several days\u2019 journey, the sight of these fires was\nvery impressive. The trees in the country suffer much.\n\n\n_Salutations._\n\nThe natives in saluting each other say \u201cmoni\u201d\u2014a corruption of the English\n\u201cmorning\u201d. So general did this word become that we have heard people\ninclined to fancy that there must really be a native word \u201cmoni!\u201d The\nnative salutation is \u201cmugonile?\u201d \u201cHave you slept well?\u201d Sometimes friends\nwill ask each other \u201cAre you well?\u201d \u201cIs all well at your home?\u201d\n\nA party arriving at a village observes the greatest formality. After\ngetting an introduction to the chief of the village he begins to explain\nthe object of his visit. The explanation is generally most tedious\u2014it\nseems to go from the creation downwards\u2014every step being carefully\ntraced, whether in action or in motive, till the moment of the arrival!\n\nThe natives have the greatest respect for the older people. The title\nof father is given to such. If we ask anything of a younger man about\n30 years of age he will say \u201cI am only a child; ask the old men of gray\nhairs\u201d. All the English are saluted as father; even a white child of\na few months is saluted in the words, \u201cmoni, moni, atati!\u201d (morning,\nmorning, father).\n\n\n_The Inferior Position of Women._\n\nThe women hold an inferior position. They are viewed as beasts of burden,\nwhich do all the harder work. When a woman meets any men on the path\nthe etiquette is for her to go off the path, to kneel (tindiwala), and\nclap her hands to the \u201clords of creation\u201d as they pass. Even if a female\npossess male slaves of her own she observes this custom when she meets\nthem on the public highway. A woman always kneels when she has occasion\nto talk to a man. The custom very rapidly disappeared in the region of\nthe missionaries. When we saw a woman go out of her way, carrying perhaps\nhalf a hundred-weight on her head, with the intention of kneeling down,\nand reflecting, as she must, that with her load she might have difficulty\nin getting up, we have often playfully shouted out, \u201cYou are losing\nyour way; this is the path,\u201d and she took it for granted that she might\ndispense with the clumsy ceremony.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nNATIVE ARTS AND LITERATURE.\n\n\nH.\u2014TRADES AND MANUFACTURES.\n\nThe chief method of obtaining a livelihood is by cultivating the soil.\nNear a lake abounding with fishes, the cultivation of the soil, though\nnot abandoned, may take a secondary place. In districts abounding with\ngame, the men as a rule hand over all agricultural work to their wives\nand slaves. Fishing and hunting are looked on as being more dignified\noccupations than hoeing.\n\n\n_Work in Iron._\n\nSkilled labour is exemplified chiefly in their blacksmiths. Still the\nsmith does not live so exclusively by his trade that he can neglect his\nfarm, and in his operations he has sometimes so many assistants that his\npeculiar position is compromised.\n\nIron is found in many places. It is dug up and brought to a furnace or\nsmall kiln (ng\u2019aso) made of clay. A charcoal fire is kept blazing by\nmeans of clay pipes or hollow bamboos, which communicate with the bottom\nof the kiln, and are used as the pipes of a bellows. For a bellows they\nuse a goat\u2019s skin. Of iron they make hoes, spears, arrow-heads, knives,\n&c. Their hoes have no iron ring for fixing a handle. A hole is bored by\nmeans of a heated iron (there are no drills) in the handle, and the end\nof the hoe is inserted.\n\nWhen a man wants a pocket handkerchief, it is to the blacksmith that he\nmust go. The pocket handkerchief is made of iron and shaped somewhat like\na spoon. The point of it is turned up so as to enter the nostril, and as\nthe native has no pockets, it is hung round the neck.\n\n\n_Wood-work and Basket-work._\n\nThe worker-in-wood has hardly a distinct trade. Nearly every man does his\nown wood-work. They make mortars by hollowing out part of the trunk of\na tree with a bent axe. The work takes about four days. Drums are made\nin the same way\u2014their ends are covered with python skins. Certain drums\nare beaten on the breast; the larger are not lifted from the ground. We\nhave heard the sound of some of those at five miles\u2019 distance. Chairs in\nimitation of animals are cut out of the trunk of a tree; but the legs are\neasily broken, as they run at right angles to the cleavage of the timber.\nSimilarly they make large birds, wooden pillows, and plates.\n\nMany things are made of bamboos (milasi) and reeds (matete). The tribes\non the hills thus make beds and baskets in endless variety. The beds are\nnot clumsy. One can easily \u201ctake them up and walk\u201d. They are mats made of\nthin slips of bamboo, which are sewn together by a bamboo needle. They\nremind us of a Venetian blind, only the slips lie side by side without\noverlapping. They can be folded up in the form of a cylinder and earned\nconveniently under the arm (but the native carries his loads on his\nhead). The borders of their baskets are thin broad pieces of wood, which\nare bent into a circular form, and sometimes curiously carved. A similar\nornamental device, simpler in pattern, is seen on their clay pots. Good\nhats are made of the mlasa.\n\n\n_Bark Cloth, &c._\n\nThey go and strip a tree of its bark, which they soften in water, and\nbeat with an ebony hammer till it forms a cloth. This was the ordinary\nclothing of the people before the missions. Now it is worn above other\nclothes on a rainy day. It very soon tears. The work is very tedious,\nmuch beating being required. One hears the sound of the hammer long\nbefore he comes to the spot. The piece of bark is laid on a large log;\nafter being well hammered, it becomes quite thin. The cloth thus formed\nis much wider than the original piece of bark had been.\n\nCotton grows plentifully. All the natives can make thread of it. One of\ntheir most tedious occupations is to make cloth. They do this in a very\nrude manner, and only make small strips at a time. Each thread has to be\nput separately in its place by the hand. Very few natives have courage\nfor this tedious manipulation; but the cloth when made is strong and\nhighly esteemed; it resembles bath towels.\n\nThey dye the English calico that it may last longer, but they preserve\ngaudy dresses without dyeing. A root is used for soap where the European\narticle cannot be got.\n\nTheir pots are all made of clay by the women. Some of their clay vessels\nare a beautiful red. In their cooking they use no metals; English pots\nand pans speak to them of arts that are far beyond them. Their food is\nboiled in a clay pot, which is propped up on three stones. Another pot is\nturned down to serve for a lid.\n\nMen of considerable skill are called alupa or apalu, and are believed to\nhave strong medicine or charms.\n\nIf any one were to describe our English industries, he could not dispose\nof the subject in a short paragraph. But in Africa these industries do\nnot strike us so much. They are not such a large item in human life.\nWe see none of the working at high pressure that meets us everywhere\nat home. There are no crowds of pale-faced men and girls rushing along\nalmost mechanically in response to some factory bell. There are no poor\nclerks cooped up in dingy counting-houses\u2014no students with aching heads,\ntrying to dispense with sleep. There are no careworn parents whose hard\ntoil barely supports their children. The African has about him an air\nof stillness and repose that is in beautiful harmony with the scenery\naround. His life is not a struggle for existence. He does not care to\nwork against time. Ambition does not drag him behind its chariot wheels.\nIf we were to rank the Africans in classes, we should put down most of\nthem as \u201cgentlemen in easy circumstances\u201d. Their circumstances are easy\nnot because their gratifications are many, but because their wants are\nfew.\n\nThe way in which their industries come before our notice is like this.\nWe take a walk in the country. By the side of some brook we find a man\nor two digging for iron ore. They are surrounded by companions with\nwhom they keep up a cheerful conversation. Some are ready to assist in\ncarrying the ore to the furnace. They carry clay also, which is to be\nplastered on their kiln. How are these loads to be transported? There are\nno carts, no wheelbarrows, and no roads suitable for either. Neither have\nthey any boxes or baskets. What are they to do? One lad darts into the\nbush and cuts a bundle of wands; he then takes his knife and splits each\nwand (if he be not content to use it whole), and there, he says, is his\nbasket. The white man replies, \u201cYes; these wands might make a basket if\nyou had anything to tie them together\u201d. Immediately the youth tears off\nstrips of bark, and exclaims, \u201cHere\u2019s the black man\u2019s rope,\u201d and soon the\nload is tied up in the middle of his basket.\n\nAs we pass along the stream we find indications of agricultural work\nalso, but on these we do not dwell, as it is the more special trades\nwe wish to illustrate. Already we see women washing their grain at the\nstream for we are advancing on little hamlets. Now we hear the peculiar\ntap, tap, tap of the hammer on the bark-cloth, as it mingles with\nthe notes of the birds. Under the trees we can descry a group of men\nsplitting up bamboos and smoothing the slips to form a bed. In a shaded\nverandah we find an old woman or two moulding some soft clay. It looks a\nshapeless mass, but it is \u201cin the hands of the potter\u201d. Each worker has\nfound some ochre, for she is fond of ornamental tints. A potsherd is by\nher, and she has calculated the precise form she will give her vessel.\n\n[Illustration: NATIVE PIPES AND POTTERY.]\n\nSoon we reach the village green. Here we find a number of men sitting\ndoing nothing. It may be that one is sewing a cloth, while the others\nloll upon mats and dreamily watch his hands. An ardent youth may approach\nthe group and astonish us by taking from under his loin cloth a reel\nand some cotton, which he proceeds to make into thread. There are in\nthat dark group all the elements of human nature that we find in busier\nlands. But in African life there is nothing of the bustle and hurry and\nscramble, nothing of the care and worry, the headache and heartache, that\nare found in England.\n\nWe cannot leave the group without asking ourselves, \u201cWhat has all our\nboasted civilisation done?\u201d Are we any happier than these rude natives?\nWe shall see by and by that they are not exempt from hardship and injury.\nTheir valleys and mountains witness many a sorrowful scene. But after we\nhave placed a policeman in every corner, hardship and injury are still in\nour midst. Does it not seem as if there were some bankruptcy about human\nnature? For a hundred generations we have tried all manner of experiments\nwith Governments and Institutions. We have moved them backwards and\nforwards like pieces on a draught board. In all this have we not been\nproving our bankruptcy? We have been diligently trying the most improved\nmethods of book-keeping, but the result has only been to chase the\ndeficit out of one column into another. The deficit is still there!\n\nYes. But above the clouds and storms we have the blue vault of heaven.\nThe pale factory girl, the over wrought mechanic, the anxious student\nmay all have a peace that passeth understanding. As the missionary is\nsurrounded by the heathen, he feels that his message to them has not so\nmuch to do with civilisation. They are not disposed to trouble about\nmechanical improvements in their unsettled land; but in their unsettled\nland they are arrested by an expression like \u201cFear not them that kill\nthe body, and after that have nothing that they can do\u201d. Startling words\nto those that pass their days in fear of them that kill the body! These\nare surely whispers from some other world! Those dark figures have often\ngazed upon \u201cthe heavens above and the earth beneath\u201d without making\nmuch of the vast mystery. They are likely to make more of the Scripture\nmessage. One of the oldest will turn on his mat and quietly remark,\n\u201cFather, if you are speaking the truth, we are all living in darkness\u201d.\n\n\nI.\u2014THE LEARNED PROFESSIONS.\n\nWhat corresponds among the Africans to the clergymen, doctors, and\nlawyers of modern England? It will be found that in Africa these\nprofessions are not distinct, just as in Medi\u00e6val England the monks did\nall the teaching, healing, and advising. With reference to worship we\nshall find that the chief of the country and the chief of a village take\nprominent places.\n\n\n_The Physician._\n\nThe healing art is practised most purely by the Msing\u2019anga. Some of the\nmethods are these:\u2014_Cupping_ by means of a horn, whose end is stopped\nby bees wax. The blood that fills the horn is thrown to the ground, and\nthe disease falls with it. _Counter-irritation._\u2014Sometimes the physician\nwill be content by making a number of incisions chiefly along the legs;\non other occasions he will rub in vegetable ashes. _Administration of\nmedicine_, which consists chiefly of plants and their roots; the Yao word\nfor medicine means also a tree. The natives extract arrows by cutting\nall round the wound. They never amputate in order to heal, but they are\nable to cut off limbs very neatly, and are fond of practising the art on\ncriminals and enemies.\n\nBut a great part of the treatment is by charms. Even where the native\nknows a good cure he looks on it as a charm, and his use of it is\naccompanied by much senseless mummery. This will be understood when we\nremember that diseases are supposed to be caused by witchcraft.\n\n\n_The Sorcerer._\n\nThis brings us to speak of a more terrible member of the learned\nprofessions, viz., the sorcerer, diviner, or witch-doctor (mchisango).\nThe \u201ccup wherewith he divineth\u201d is called chisango.\n\nHe is appealed to after the physician or herbalist has failed. He is\nasked to tell what witch causes the disease. He may find one, and the\nperson that he accuses of witchcraft goes with a present to the sick\nperson, who recovers immediately.\n\nThe diviner may be consulted on any matter. He is the great adviser of\nthe people in all their difficulties. A person goes to him, and puts as\nmany questions as he likes, and receives answers. These conversations\nare very interesting; but all that I have heard are so very intricate\nthat it is impossible to do justice to them in an abridgment. \u201cMy female\nslave has gone away, what am I to do?\u201d The diviner tells what he is to\ndo if she have gone to Cherasulo, and what he is to do if she have gone\nto another place. He mentions what will happen if he goes to ask for her\naccording to the individual that he may ask, &c., &c. Part of the advice\nmay have reference to the spot where he will obtain a medicine helpful in\nhis negotiations.\n\nWhile these diviners give their response they shake a small gourd[4]\nfilled with pebbles, and inspect pieces of sticks, bones, claws, pottery,\n&c., which are in another gourd. They often give sound advice, and they\npretend to get it by this inspection, as it might otherwise give offence\nto their client.\n\nSome of the diviners are the most intelligent men in the country. They\nclaim high fees. One time we told a diviner very candidly our opinion\nof his art, insisting that his advice was sound, and deserved to be\npaid for, but that he knew as well as I that it did not come from the\nwithered-looking contents of the gourd, but from his own judgment. The\nman took no offence, and though he lived at some distance he made a point\nof coming thereafter to our Sabbath meetings.\n\nThese men are the great agents in detecting and trying witchcraft.\nIn one respect they, and not the chiefs, form the judicial tribunals\nof the land, although they play into the hands of the chiefs or any\nrich man that pays handsomely. After they have detected a criminal he\nmust be tried. The trial takes place by the drinking of the poisoned\ncup\u2014mwai. Consequently the diviner had better be on good terms with the\nprofessional \u201cpounder of poison\u201d (mpondela mwai), whose duty it is to\nadminister this poisoned draught to the accused. This, in case of guilt,\nat once convicts and punishes, the poison causes death. In case of\ninnocence the poison is vomited, and the accused is acquitted.\n\nThe witch-detective is at the head of the divining profession, and is\nreferred to in almost every case of death, and sometimes in smaller\ncases, as where life was in danger (107).\n\n\nK.\u2014MEDICINES AND CHARMS.\n\nA great many trees are supposed to have virtues. Each native knows this,\nand becomes to some extent his own doctor. Pain in the stomach is treated\nby the bark of the mbawa; headache by rubbing externally with ashes of\nthe msolo, as also by certain charms put round the temples. The first\nthing a native does in headache is to tie a string tightly round his\nbrow. The symptom of cold and shivering is treated by bathing in \u201cwater\nof the mkako\u201d. For ulcers they use the mlonde. Ulcerated legs is one of\nthe commonest maladies that attack children. For a time English treatment\nof these was brought into discredit, as the children would carelessly\ntear off the dressings and bandages. One native treatment was to tie on\na broad leaf by strips of bark (which serves as their thread), and leave\nit till the sore had improved.\n\nA common war medicine is to eat the heart of an enemy.\n\nMedicine to keep the hunter from danger and to render him successful is\nmuch prized. Elephant medicine they buy from each other at the highest\nprices they can afford. They have many miscellaneous charms\u2014some tied\nabout their bodies, others on their guns. They have a very effectual\narrow poison.\n\nOne time a leopard was killed by strychnia. A chief and his Prime\nMinister came to Zomba Mission very secretly to beg for this \u201cmedicine\u201d;\nit was to be sprinkled into the mortars where the flour of their enemies\nwas pounded. The experiment was trusted to by its promoters as likely to\nbe very successful, a point which was not at all doubtful. Great was the\ndisappointment when the poison was refused.\n\nThe goats belonging to the Mission seemed to get on very well, and Mr.\nBuchanan was beset with many entreaties for a medicine to increase the\ngoats of the neighbouring chiefs.\n\nWhen a fowl hatches, the egg shells that have been forsaken by the young\nbrood are carefully collected and hung up in the house of their owner to\npreserve the chickens from hawks and other dangers.\n\nAfter they have planted their crops, the field is often protected against\ntheft by charms which they buy. Pieces of string, either twisted from\nnative cotton or made of the bark of a tree, are thus used.\n\nOn one occasion Dr. Macklin was called to prescribe for a woman. He asked\nto see her tongue. His quick observation detected at the same time signs\nof excitement and temper about her, and he advised her to try to be\nagreeable with her husband and friends. It appears the woman was a great\nscold; and the natives were astonished to find that the Doctor could\ndiscover this by looking at her tongue! That he had a great \u201ccharm\u201d was\nbeyond all doubt.\n\n\nL.\u2014TRADITIONAL LITERATURE.\n\nThese people have, of course, no writing. We met with many that had never\nseen a book before. The sight of pictures impressed them so much that\ntheir first impulse was to run away supposing that the little painted\nlion or leopard was dangerous. By and by some one in the crowd discovers\nthat this lion is quite thin! He has looked at the back of the paper\nand found that the body of the lion is not there! Some of the boldest,\nafter we assure them of safety, will even put their hands upon him. The\nattitude of old and young is one of utter, speechless amazement.\n\nBut these people are rich in a traditional literature. It meets us in at\nleast four distinct forms. 1. Ndawi or conundrums. Some of them are quite\nshort, as \u201cthe house without a door,\u201d for an egg. An incredible number of\nthese is in common circulation, and known to most boys and girls. I noted\ndown over 150 of them.\n\nThere are other conundrums in the form of a little story.\n\n2. Ndano, or tales. These are also called ndawi, because many of them\nresemble the conundrums in having a double meaning. Some of these, we\nmight almost say most of these, when complete have songs in them, which\nare repeated every now and then at each crisis in the tale. They are\noften recited in this form on public occasions.\n\nI got one old man that was as enthusiastic in his recitals as the old\nHomerids are said to have been. When I was writing to his dictation my\nprivate study became a small theatre. In vain I reminded him that the\nnursery was near! His voice was audible in the outside, scores of yards\nfrom the house. School children stopped their games, and came giggling\nabout, and demure old natives would turn off the public highway and\nadvance in amazement. Yet even so my old man was not satisfied\u2014his\nenthusiasm, he thought, fell short of the occasion, and he introduced two\nyoung women to sing responses to the chants. The natives do not speak of\n\u201ctelling a tale,\u201d but of \u201csinging a tale\u201d (kwimba ndawi).\n\n3. Nyimbo or Songs. These may be extemporised\u2014music, responses and all,\non the shortest notice. But there is a great collection of old songs,\nmany of which can be identified as being the songs of several tales (L.\n2), even where they are used independently. Indeed the singers could\nseldom point to the corresponding tale; it was only when we happened to\nknow the tale before that we could claim the song for it. Still many\nsongs we believe to be quite independent. The music is a simple chant.\nThose that are not reciting join in responses. The language of the songs\nis more difficult than that of the tales, and still more difficult is the\nlanguage of the catch-word literature (L. 4).\n\nMany of their songs aim at being an echo of tuneful nature around them.\nOne beautiful chant imitates a little brook as it goes murmuring down its\nstony channel. The singers intentionally render this song in a subdued\nvoice. I could not find any corresponding tale. It calls up to my mind\nthe idea of a mother sitting with a few children on the bank (chiko) of\na small stream as she has finished her hoeing, and rests for a minute\nbefore going home. She warns the children against the Likwanya or prickly\nbush that grows by the stream. This strain sung so softly has a soothing\neffect, and might well make the children sit down on the bank, engrossed\nwith the sound of the rippling stream imitated in the music.\n\nSung in a company of little girls it is rendered thus\u2014\n\n    _1st Voice._  Likwanya likunyanya ku chiko.\n    _Response._           _Anyanyale._\n\n    _1st Voice._ {    singing    } Likwanya likunyanya ku chiko.\n    _2nd Voice._ {simultaneously.} Anya-nya-nya-le e.\n\n    _1st Voice._ { simultaneous. } Anya-nya-nya-le e.\n    _2nd Voice._ {               } Likunyanya ku chiko.\n\n    _1st Voice._ { simultaneous. } Likunyanya ku chiko.\n    _2nd Voice._ {               } Anya-nya-nya-le e.\n\n    _Response._           _Anyanyale._\n\nAfter this the girls that have sung the parts marked 1st voice and 2nd\nvoice fall back on the response; and a 3rd and 4th voice take these\nparts. All the voices that are not reciting join in the response.\n\nAnother song has reference to a large bird, the ndututu. One voice\ndesignedly imitates its notes as it converses with a few women; while\nanother voice imitates as distinctly the pounding of corn in which these\nwomen are engaged.\n\n4. The fourth form of their literature is in certain catch-word\ncompositions (chitagu), which have double meanings. The following is a\nspecimen when there are two speakers or reciters:\u2014\n\n    THE FIRST SAYS.   THE SECOND SAYS.\n\n    Nda.              Nda kuluma.\n    Kuluma.           Kuluma mbale.\n    Mbale.            Mbale katete.\n    Katete.           Katete ngupe.\n    Ngupe.            Ngupe akane.\n    Kane.             Kane akongwe.\n    Kongwe.           Akongole chimanga.\n    Chimanga.         Chimanje macholo.\n    Macholo.          Gachole wandu.\n\nLong tales are carried on in this way. One effect sought after is to\nbring together words similar in form, but differing in meaning, as if we\nwere to catch up the last word of our sentences thus:\u2014\n\n    Come forward, shew thys_elf_!\n    _Elf_ dost thou call me, vile pretender?\n\nIn this form of literature we meet with plays upon words\u2014an unusual\nphenomenon in unwritten languages. In the conundrums proper (L. 1) we met\nwith only one case of a play on words. We are asked, \u201cWhat is the girl\nthat decks herself?\u201d The word for \u201cdeck\u201d happens also to mean \u201cshine,\u201d\nand the answer is \u201cthe moon\u201d.\n\nHaving now spoken of the forms in which this literature has been handed\ndown we shall say something of its matter or contents.\n\nA great part of it consists of fables regarding the lower animals where\nthe characteristics of these animals are brought out. The rabbit is the\nclever hero of all the tales, much as the fox is in European tales. The\nhyena (litunu) is celebrated for its greediness. The litunu is a large\ncarrion eater, which stands, we think, rather higher than the lion. In\none tale the hyena is always begging food from the lion. The lion makes\na buck climb a tree, so that its shadow is reflected in the water; this\nreflection is pointed out to the hyena, who at once casts himself into\nthe river.\n\nThe following may stand for an example of their tales:\u2014There was once\na hyena and a leopard. They went a journey, and the hyena picked up a\ntortoise, and told the leopard, saying, \u201cSee, I have picked up my[5]\ntortoise\u201d. The leopard said, \u201cGive it me that I may see it\u201d. He gave it\nhim, then the leopard threw the tortoise away. One day they heard that\nthe tortoise was a doctor. Then the hyena and the leopard arranged to\ngo to the tortoise, and beg medicine for hunting. They went, they found\nthe tortoise, and said, \u201cWe have come for medicine for hunting\u201d. The\ntortoise gave the leopard beautiful spots, and the hyena ugly spots,\nbecause the hyena had wished to eat the tortoise; then he gave them horns\nof medicine, and said to them, \u201cIf you find meat that died of itself\nyou must not eat it\u201d. Then the hyena and the leopard went to hunt. On\nthe path they found an animal that had died of itself. The hyena said,\n\u201cLeopard, my friend, behold an animal that has died of itself\u201d. But the\nleopard said, \u201cCome, let us go away\u201d. The hyena said, \u201cPshaw! we must not\neat meat that died of itself?\u201d Then the leopard said to the hyena, \u201cThat\ndoctor said to us, should you find meat that died of itself, you must\nnot eat it\u201d. The hyena said \u201cPshaw! not quite!\u201d The leopard went to the\nbush, but the hyena returned to the doctor, and said, \u201cTortoise, I have\nfound meat that died of itself. Is it a transgression to look at it?\u201d The\ntortoise said, \u201cNo, it is not a transgression\u201d.\n\nThe hyena went to his meat and gazed on it. Then he went back again to\nthe doctor and said, \u201cI have looked at it\u201d. Then he said again, \u201cIs it a\ntransgression to lick it?\u201d The tortoise said \u201cNo\u201d. The hyena then went\nto his meat and licked it. Then he returned again to the tortoise and\nsaid, \u201cIs it a transgression to remove it from the path?\u201d The tortoise\nsaid \u201cNo\u201d. The hyena then went to his meat and removed it off the path,\nand threw it far away. He returned again to the tortoise and said to him,\n\u201cI have removed it\u201d. And the tortoise said, \u201cVery well\u201d. The hyena asked\nagain saying, \u201cIs eating it a transgression?\u201d The tortoise said, \u201cYou\nwill not swallow it?\u201d The hyena said \u201cNo\u201d. Then he went back to his meat\nand ate it, and came back to the tortoise and said, \u201cI have eaten that\nmeat\u201d. But the tortoise said, \u201cYou have transgressed, hyena, you will not\nbe a hunter, but the leopard will be a good hunter, I gave him a horn of\nmedicine\u201d. So the leopard caught much meat, but the hyena did not know\nhow to catch meat. The tortoise had said, \u201cHyena, O chief, your name is\nhyena\u201d.\n\nWe may here note that the naming of the animals is a subject on which\nthey have many legends. The names, too, in most of their legends about\npersons, are significant, and accord with the moral of the story.\n\nIt must not be forgotten that all the natives\u2019 names have a meaning It\nis common for men and women to bear the names of animals; thus we may\nhave a Mr. Cock, Mr. Lion, and so on. We almost think that their children\nwhen hearing these stories for the first time would think of \u201chyena,\u201d\n\u201cleopard,\u201d &c., as being people who bore these names.\n\nSeveral stories relate to fowls and birds. Fowls are stated to have\nbeen at first wild, and after a while to have been domesticated. One\nfowl was visited by a guinea-fowl. The latter was greatly astonished\nthat the housewife threw out food for them\u2014that a comfortable house was\nprovided\u2014and every kindness shewn; but just as all these things were\nfavourably impressing the guinea-fowl the hungry husband returned and\nsaid, \u201cKill that fowl as a relish for my porridge\u201d.\n\nMany such tales evince a wonderful sympathy for animals. The natives are\ngreatly distressed by the visits of a large crow to their crops. Yet they\nhave a tale which makes them excuse the depredations. \u201cOnce on a time a\nchief was puzzled over some case, and could get no advice till a crow\ncame and put matters quite right. This crow was handsomely rewarded by\na gift of beans and other seeds. It proceeded to carry these home, but\ndropped many on the way; now when the crow rifles the native\u2019s fields it\nis looking for some of those lost seeds and their fruit.\u201d\n\nThey have a great many tales embodying theories on the creation of the\nworld, to which we shall allude below (13). The introduction of arts\nand manufactures is also an important theme. We are told of a woman\nthat found people with plenty of corn, but no porridge. They simply\nchewed their grain. This lady produced a mortar and procured flour.\nHollow stones they say gave place to pots, in the same way as caves were\nabandoned for houses. They speak of a time when they hoed with wood. It\nwas after they could use iron knives that they dug down, and could put\nin their posts as they do in their modern houses. The first clothing was\nbark. Death was introduced by a woman who taught two men to sleep; she\nheld one\u2019s nostrils, and he never awoke. \u201cDeath and sleep,\u201d the legend\nremarks, \u201care one word.\u201d\n\nMonkeys were at one time human beings who quarrelled with their friends,\nand went to stay in the bush. Though the natives admit that the monkeys\nare their cousins, they are not slow in pointing out where they differ\nfrom men. We said to one woman who was severely censuring the monkeys for\neating her crop, that she should give them some corn to see whether they\nwould not raise a crop for themselves. She replied that monkeys would not\nleave their seed in the ground\u2014they would pick it up and eat it. It is\nnot everyone that would have fixed so promptly on such a characteristic\ndifference between men and monkeys. They give many tales of experiments\ntried to make human beings out of monkeys, specially in the case of\nwomen that were barren and wanted a child; but, after the most careful\ntraining, these \u201cchildren\u201d always rejoined their own \u201ckind\u201d.\n\n\n_Relation to Tales of Other Lands._\n\nThere are also many wonderful tales regarding people that crossed lakes\nor rivers; but at the time we did not note these so carefully, as we\nconsidered that it was possible that our narrator might modify it in\naccordance with teaching that he had heard from the Scriptures.\n\nSince we arrived in England, however, we find that Bishop Callaway\nhas written down stories exactly similar, and indeed hardly so\ncircumstantial, which he received from the Amazulu. On looking over his\ncollection we find several that correspond, chiefly as regards the most\nstriking feature of the story, with some of ours. This shows what we had\nbeen convinced of long before, that some of these traditions had been\nrecited at a period when the ancestors of the Amazulu and of these Nyasa\ntribes were one people.\n\nThe following is an instance of the kind of resemblance:\u2014In one of the\ntales of Bishop Callaway a young man tries to destroy the cubs of a\nleopard. He kills them one by one; and the point by which the deception\nwas carried out was to hand the cubs to their mother one by one. When\nonly one cub was left he handed this cub several times according to the\nnumber of children. The leopard thought that the same cub handed to her\nthree times was three cubs. In a collection of ours that was sent home in\n1880, and since printed, a \u201crabbit\u201d or fox cheats a lioness by the same\npeculiar strategy.\n\nIn the stories themselves there is little to give us any note of time or\nantiquity. They are liable to modification too in important particulars.\nThus one man will tell a wonderful story of what a hero effected by his\ngun. He judges that a European would despise the hero if he were armed\nonly with a bow and arrows. But another narrator of the same story may\nremark on his variation that guns did not come till long after.\n\nAfter we have had a tale written, we have, in order to obtain\nexplanations, asked the same man to repeat it, and where he had given any\nexpression that seemed to vary from the more usual form of language, we\nhave observed that he kept as faithfully to such expressions as if he had\nbeen reading from a book. We had little doubt that, as he confessed, he\nhad before him some recital that had produced an impression in his early\nyears.\n\nAs to the amount of this species of literature it is difficult to be\ncertain. The number of conundrums (1) we think does not much exceed\n250. I find that I have written out more than 100 tales (2), and I have\nlistened to at least 150 others which I did not write out. I merely noted\nnew words and points in grammar. The traditional songs (3) may be as\nnumerous as the tales. Of the catch-word compositions (4), at least the\nlonger ones, I should not expect to find more than 50.\n\nBefore I left I had difficulty in finding new specimens of 1, 2, and\n4. Mr. Buchanan, in his study of the language, was collecting specimens\nof native literature at the same time, and we had begun to think that\nwe had nearly exhausted the field so far as the more pointed tales\nwere concerned. New reciters generally wished to give us what we had\nalready. Our contributors represented a wide district. My list included\nWayao, Machinga, Anyasa, Angulu, Achipeta, Achikunda, and Awisa. But the\ntales seemed to be common to all these tribes. A Machinga was generally\nfamiliar even with the tales of a native of Quilimane. Where this was not\nso we considered the tale as merely local and of no antiquity.\n\nWe have given translations of several tales in the appendices.\n\n\n\n\nETHOLOGY.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nBELIEFS ABOUT GOD.\n\n\nARTICLES 1-107.\n\nThe following statements on the Ethology or the customs of these races\nare taken from the very words of the natives themselves. Natives are\ngenerally quite agreed as to what their customs are. Where they gave\ndifferent views I have noted both, after finding that both had real\nauthority. I do not think I have admitted any point of importance without\nhaving heard at least four natives on the subject. The statements are\ntranslations, as far as possible, from the _ipsissima verba_ of the\nnegroes.\n\n\n1.\u2014THE NATURE OF MAN.\n\nAn ancient philosopher was asked by his friends when he was dying what\nthey should do with him after his death. \u201cAll very well,\u201d was the reply,\n\u201cif you can catch me.\u201d The Materialist tells us that there is nothing to\ncatch, that there is nothing that runs away from the body at death, but\nthe Spiritualist says, \u201cYou have only the remains of the man there\u2014only\nthe instrument that he used to work with\u201d.\n\nWhat is the position of these African tribes with regard to this\nquestion? They are unanimous in saying that there is something beyond the\nbody which they call spirit (lisoka) or pure spirit (lisokape). Every\nhuman body at death is forsaken by this spirit; but the spirit of a child\nthat dies about four or five days\u2019 of age gets nothing of the usual\nattention (45).\n\n\n2.\u2014IMMORTALITY.\n\n\u201cDo these spirits ever die?\u201d Some I have heard affirm that it is possible\nfor a troublesome spirit to be killed (5, 4). Others give this a direct\ndenial. Many like Kumpama of Cherasulo say, \u201cYou ask me whether a man\u2019s\nspirit ever dies. I cannot tell. I have never been in the spirit world,\nbut this I am certain of, that spirits live for a very long time.\u201d This\nis a good specimen of cautious answers that the natives often give, and\nit expresses the belief that they act on with reference to departed\nspirits.\n\n\n3.\u2014WHO THE GODS ARE.\n\nIn all our translations of Scripture where we found the word GOD we used\n_Mulungu_, but this word is chiefly used by the natives as a general name\nfor spirit. The spirit of a deceased man is called his Mulungu, and all\nthe prayers and offerings of the living are presented to such spirits\nof the dead. It is here that we find the great centre of the native\nreligion. The spirits of the dead are the gods of the living.\n\nBesides lisoka (1) and mulungu there is another word for spirit, viz.,\n_msimu_, which is much used in reference to offerings.\n\n\n4.\u2014WHERE THEY ARE FOUND.\n\nWhere are these gods found? At the grave? No. The villagers shrink from\nyonder gloomy place that lies far beyond their fields on the bleak\nmountain side. It is only when they have to lay another sleeper beside\nhis forefathers that they will go there. Their god is not the body in\nthe grave, but the spirit, and they seek this spirit at the place where\ntheir departed kinsman last lived among them. It is the great tree at the\nverandah (_kwipenu_) of the dead man\u2019s house that is their temple, and\nif no tree grow here they erect a little shade, and there perform their\nsimple rites. If this spot become too public the offerings may be denied\n(40), and the sanctuary will be removed to a carefully-selected spot\nunder some beautiful tree. Very frequently a man presents an offering at\nthe top of his own bed beside his head. He wishes his god to come to him\nand whisper in his ear as he sleeps.\n\nThese gods are not confined to one place. In answer to prayer they can\nprotect a man during a long journey, and return with him in peace. When\nall the villagers are driven from their homes by war these spirits have\npower to go with them to a new village. The spirit of an old chief may\nhave a whole mountain for his residence, but he dwells chiefly on the\ncloudy summit. There he sits to receive the worship of his votaries, and\nto send down the refreshing showers in answer to their prayers.\n\n\n5.\u2014HOW THE GODS GIVE EVIDENCE OF THEIR EXISTENCE.\n\nHow do the natives know that these gods attend to them? How do they judge\nthat their deceased ancestors can see them through the darkness of the\ngrave?\n\n(1) They judge from the way in which prayers have been answered. If they\npray for a successful hunting expedition and return laden with venison or\nivory, they know that it is their old relative that has done it, and they\ngive him a thank offering. If the hunting party get nothing, they may say\n\u201cthe spirit has been sulky with us\u201d (_akwete lupuso_), and refuse the\nthank-offering.\n\n(2) Besides this, their god appears to them in dreams. They may see him\nas they knew him in days gone by. When they dream of the living there\nis nothing wonderful in that; but when they dream of the dead it is the\ndeparted spirit come to visit them. Such a dream impresses them very\nmuch. That being is altogether different since he entered the spirit\nworld. Now he is a god with power to watch over them, and help them, and\ncontrol their destiny.\n\n(3) The appearance of the gods in dreams is still too hazy. Their\ncraving for clearer manifestations of the deity is satisfied through the\nprophetess (_juakuweweta_). She may be the principal wife of the chief;\nin some cases a woman without a husband will be set apart for the god.\n\nThe god comes to her with his commands at night. She delivers the\nmessage in a kind of ecstacy. She speaks (as her name implies) with the\nutterance of a person raving with excitement. During the night of the\ncommunication her ravings are heard sounding all over the village in a\nhigh key.\n\nThe whole hamlet is wrapt in slumber, when all at once the midnight\nstillness is broken by those mad shrieks. The startled inhabitants think\nit is war\u2014slavers have come\u2014their first impulse is to run away. Their\nfear soon subsides. It is the prophetess. They are anxious to hear what\nshe has to say, and return to bed again. Or there may be a great meeting\nin the morning, when the prophetess appears\u2014her head encircled with bhang\nor Indian hemp, and her arms cut as if for new tatoos.\n\nVarious gods reveal themselves thus in various places, either local\ndeities (11), like Mbona of Cholo, or more ordinary gods (25-28).\n\n(4) The gods may appear in animal forms. Some spirits may appear for\nmischief. If a dead man wants to frighten his wife he may persist in\ncoming as a serpent. The only remedy for this is to kill the serpent,\nwhen some go so far as to say that this troublesome spirit is dead, but\nothers say that though the trouble is ended the god is only reduced to a\npure spirit (lisokape).\n\n\n6.\u2014DISTINCTIONS AFFECTING THE GODS.\n\nIt is usual to distinguish between the spirit and the form it takes.\nA spirit often appears as a serpent. When a man kills a serpent thus\nbelonging to a spirit, he goes and makes an apology to the offended god,\nsaying, \u201cPlease, please, I did not know that it was your serpent\u201d. The\ndeparted may assume the form of other animals. A great hunter generally\ntakes the form of a lion or a leopard; and all witches (_asawi_) seem to\nlike the form of a hyena.\n\nThere is also a distinction between the spirit and the spirit\u2019s\nmessenger. The spirit, it is said, will not take the form of a bird,\nbut will send a bird with its message. We have this well illustrated in\nthe legend about Che Ml\u00f3ngolo, which became so popular amongst us at\nBlantyre. A little boy was allowed by his father to accompany a caravan\nto the coast; he picked up some curiosities, for which an Arab gave him\nexceedingly beautiful cloth. His uncle coveted the cloth, abused the boy\nvery much, and ultimately killed him. A little bird flew to his home at\nthe village, and sang on the trees to the women as they pounded their\ncorn, \u201cTi, ti, ti, diridya; Ti, ti, ti, diridya, they have slain Che\nMl\u00f3ngolo because of his cloth\u201d.\n\n\n7.\u2014THE PRIESTS.\n\nA certain amount of etiquette is observed in approaching the gods. In no\ncase can a little boy or girl approach these deities, neither can any\none that has not been at the mysteries (52). The common qualification is\nthat a person has attained a certain age, about 12 or 14 years, and has a\nhouse of his own. Slaves seldom pray, except when they have had a dream.\nChildren that have had a dream tell their mother, who approaches the\ndeity on their behalf. (A present for the god is necessary, and the slave\nor child may not have it.)\n\nApart from the case of dreams and a few such private matters, it is not\nusual for anyone to approach the gods except the chief of the village.\nHe is the recognised high priest who presents prayers and offerings on\nbehalf of all that live in his village. If the chief is from home his\nwife will act, and if both are absent, his younger brother (mpwao). The\nnatives worship not so much individually as in villages or communities.\nTheir religion is more a public than a private matter.\n\nWhen we went to Blantyre we were accompanied by two small boys that had\nlived in Quilimane. One night after we were in bed we were startled by\na terrible screaming. This was heard by a friend who lived in another\nhouse at a short distance from ours, and he came to us judging that we\nhad among us at least a leopard. But the screams were found to have\na different cause. The younger boy wished to carry into practice our\nexhortations about prayer, and for this purpose knelt down on his little\nmat or bed. The older was more cumbered with much serving, like Martha.\nHe wanted to make his bed tidy, and without ceremony threw the little\nworshipper off the mat, telling him that it was not proper for him to\npray, as he was not a white man (msungu). The rudeness gave rise to\nfighting and screaming. We mention the incident to show that the bigger\nboy would hold that he belonged to the village of the white man, and that\nthe white man ought to approach the gods on his behalf.\n\nThe chief of a village has another title to the priesthood. It is his\nrelatives that are the village gods. Everyone that lives in the village\nrecognises these gods; but if anyone remove to another village he changes\nhis gods. He recognises now the gods of his new chief. One wishing to\npray to the god (or gods) of any village naturally desires to have his\nprayers presented through the village chief, because the latter is nearly\nrelated to the village god, and may be expected to be better listened to\nthan a stranger.\n\n\n8.\u2014VILLAGE GODS.\n\nOn the subject of the village gods opinions differ. Some say that every\none in the village, whether a relative of the chief or not, must worship\nthe forefathers of the chief. Others say that a person not related to\nthe chief must worship his own forefathers, otherwise their spirits will\nbring trouble upon him. To reconcile these authorities we may mention\nthat nearly every one in the village is related to its chief, or if\nnot related is, in courtesy, considered so. Any person not related to\nthe village chief would be polite enough on all public occasions to\nrecognise the village god: on occasions of private prayer (which are not\nso numerous as in Christendom) he would approach the spirits of his own\nforefathers.\n\nBesides, there might be a god of the land. The chief Kapeni prays to his\nown relatives, and also to the old gods of the place. His own relatives\nhe approaches himself, the other deities he may also approach himself,\nbut he often finds people more closely related, and consequently more\nacceptable (7) to the old gods of the land.\n\n\n9.\u2014MONOTHEISM, POLYTHEISM, OR PANTHEISM?\n\nAfter we have settled that there is an object of worship, there are\nstill a great many different positions to hold. We might be Pantheists,\nPolytheists, or Monotheists.\n\nThe position of Pantheism is seldom indicated by natives when describing\ntheir religion. We once thought that the class of nouns (in the native\nlanguage) that _Mulungu_ belongs to was an argument in favour of their\nPantheism. One class of native nouns is nearly co-extensive with human\nbeings, and Mulungu is not in this class. But the argument at best is\nweak.\n\nWhile Mulungu means a spirit, it may also be used as a proper name.\nThere are two classes of expressions where it is used as a proper name.\nThe first class points to a kind of Pantheism. Mulungu is said to be\n\u201cthe great spirit (msimu) of all men, a spirit formed by adding all the\ndeparted spirits together\u201d. These and various other expressions of the\nsame kind indicate a grasping after a being who is the totality of all\nindividual existence, and are not unworthy of notice. If they fell from\nthe lips of civilised men instead of savages they would be regarded\nas philosophy. Expressions of this kind among the natives are partly\ntraditional, and partly dictated by the big thoughts of the moment. The\nsecond class of expressions where we have Mulungu used as a proper\nname certainly points to a personal being. By the Wayao he is sometimes\nsaid to be the same as Mtanga (12). At other times he is a Being that\npossesses many powerful servants; but is himself kept a good deal beyond\nthe scene of earthly affairs, like the gods of Epicurus. In the native\nhypotheses about creation \u201cthe people of Mulungu\u201d (wa ku Mulungu) play a\nvery important part. This Mulungu in the spiritual world\u2014the world beyond\nthe grave\u2014is represented as assigning to spirits their various places. He\narranges them in rows or tiers.\n\nAfter making an induction of all that we have heard about Mulungu\n(carefully excluding, of course, every statement that seemed to be in the\nleast modified by Christian teaching), we should say that their religion\nin its worship was practically Polytheism. At the same time the spirits\nare often asked to act as mediators with some higher being. Beyond their\nPolytheism their language contains a few expressions that remind us of\nPantheism, and a great many that speak to us of Monotheism.\n\nThe derivation of the word Mulungu throws some light on the subject.\nHenry Salt (1814) says that among the Makuas it means \u201cthe sky\u201d.\nWe have heard Yao expressions that would prepare us to accept this\ninterpretation; and the Yao word may be sometimes used for rainbow (which\nis either Mulungu or ukunje wa Mulungu): it is singular too that Chilungu\nmeans earthquake. We think a more correct view lies in the derivation\nstated by Bleek, which makes it originally mean \u201cgreat ancestor\u201d.\n\n\n10.\u2014NUMBER OF THE NATIVES\u2019 GODS.\n\nWe saw that every human being has a Mulungu or spirit (2). This position\nevery native will uphold, except perhaps in the case of a young child who\nhas not reached six days of age, and has not been formally introduced\ninto the world or \u201ctaken out of the house\u201d (kopoka m\u2019 nyumba) (44). If a\nchild of six days has been introduced into the world though only a day\nbefore its death, its spirit is entitled to offerings, and receives these\nofferings at least from its parents. When the little child meets the\nparents beyond the grave it will say, \u201cYou remembered me; I saw what you\nwere doing\u201d.\n\nThe spirit of every deceased man and woman, with the solitary exception\nof wizards and witches becomes an object of religious homage.\n\nThe gods of the natives then are nearly as numerous as their dead. It\nis impossible to worship all; a selection must be made, and, as we\nhave indicated, each worshipper turns most naturally to the spirits\nof his own departed relatives; but his gods are too many still, and\nin farther selecting he turns to those that have lived nearest his\nown time. Thus the chief of a village will not trouble himself about\nhis great-great-grandfather; he will present his offering to his\nown immediate predecessor, and say, \u201cOh, father, I do not know all\nyour relatives, you know them all, invite them to feast with you\u201d.\nThe offering is not simply for himself, but for himself and all his\nrelatives. We ask him, \u201cWhat if they quarrel with the other relatives\nabout their share of the feast?\u201d \u201cLet them quarrel,\u201d he replies, \u201cI have\ngiven them enough.\u201d\n\n\n_Key to their view of the Spirit World._\n\nWe may think that the native chief in selecting his predecessor alone,\nhas left all the rest of the people that once lived in his village\nwithout any homage. Here we encounter an important native view that a\nchief represents and is responsible for all his people. If any one wish\nto treat with a native village it is with the village chief that he\nmust deal. If we give a present to a village it is to the village chief\nthat we must give it. This does not prevent us from giving presents to\nany other individual. So it is in the world beyond, which the natives\nconceive to be peopled in the same way as this world. There the old chief\nhas his wives and slaves and companions about him as of yore. To the\nnatives death is the time when they, in like manner, shall be literally\n\u201cgathered to their fathers\u201d.\n\n\n_Nature of Offerings._\n\nThe man that makes an offering regards himself as giving a present\n(mtuka) to a little village of the departed which is headed by its chief.\nThose that are best known to the offerer may get a present themselves,\nbut they will be expected to call the attention of the chief when a\npublic present arrives.\n\n\n11.\u2014LOCAL DEITIES.\n\nWe have seen that people residing in a village worship their deceased\nchief, but when their present chief dies he will become the principal\ngod; more distant relatives give place to successors. But a great chief\nthat has been successful in his wars does not pass out of memory so soon.\nHe may become the god of a mountain or a lake, and may receive homage\nas a local deity long after his own descendants have been driven from\nthe spot. When there is a supplication for rain the inhabitants of the\ncountry pray not so much to their own forefathers as to the god of yonder\nmountain on whose shoulders the great rain clouds repose. (Smaller hills\nare seldom honoured with a deity.)\n\nThe god of Mount Sochi is Kangomba. One tradition regarding him is\nthis\u2014When the Wayao were driving the Wanyasa out of the country,\nKangomba, a Wanyasa chief, saw that defence was hopeless, and entered a\ngreat cave on the mountain side. Out of this cave he never returned; \u201che\ndied unconquered in his own land\u201d. The Wayao made the old tribe retire\nbefore them, but the chief Kangomba kept his place, and the new comers\nare glad to invoke his aid to this day. Their supplication for rain takes\nthe form (Ku Sochi, kwa Kangomba ula jijise) \u201cOh, Kangomba of Sochi, send\nus rain\u201d. The Wayao chief Kapeni often asks some of the Wanyasa tribe\nthat can trace connection with Kangomba to help him in these offerings\nand supplications (7).\n\n\n12.\u2014SUPERIOR DEITIES.\n\nBeyond and above the spirits of their fathers, and chiefs localised on\nhills, the Wayao speak of others that they consider superior. Only their\nhome is more associated with the country which the Yao left; so that they\ntoo at one time may have been looked upon really as local deities. Among\nthese other beings are Mtanga and Chitowe.\n\n_Mtanga_ some distinctly localise as the god of Mangochi, the great hill\nthat the Yao people left. I regret much that I did not see this hill\nbefore leaving Africa, as I have heard so much of it. To these people\nit is all that the many-ridged Olympus was to the Greeks. The voice of\nMtanga, some hold, is still audible on Mangochi. Others say that Mtanga\nwas never a man, and that Mtanga is another word for Mulungu. He was\nconcerned in the first introduction of men into the world (13). He gets\ncredit also for supplying people with seeds, and making mountains and\nrivers. He is intimately associated with a year of plenty. He is called\n_Mchimwene juene_ (very chief).\n\n_Chitowe_ (Siluwi) has not such a good character. He is associated with\nfamine. He is often represented as having one leg, one arm, one side of\nhis nose, and so on\u2014the other half of his body being supplied by beeswax.\nHe is invoked by the women on the day of initiating (kuumbala) their\nfields. The women of a village form a great procession when the new crop\nhas begun to grow. They chant a hymn to Chitowe, imploring him on behalf\nof their crops. Chitowe may become a child or a young woman. In this\ndisguise he visits villages, and tells whether the coming year will bring\nfood or famine. He receives their hospitality, but throws the food over\nhis shoulder without eating it. Chitowe is a child or subject of Mtanga,\nand some speak of several Chitowe who are messengers of Mtanga.\n\n_Mpambe_ is often invoked by the Anyasa at great supplications for rain.\nThis Mpambe in the Yao language is \u201cNjasi,\u201d in English \u201cLightning\u201d. The\nYao say that Mpambe is sent by Mtanga with rain. This is a mythological\nexpression of the fact that the lightning in this quarter is always\nassociated with rain.\n\nThis last example shows how natural it is for man to deify the powers he\nsees around him. At first he is greatly touched with all the emotions of\n\u201cwonder, love, and awe,\u201d as he considers how much he is indebted to the\nshower that makes his food grow. He is ready to fall down and worship.\nWhat shall he worship? The mountain whose lofty summit is clothed with\nthe rain cloud, or the lightning that springs from the cloud? He goes\nover everything he can fairly associate with the rain, and still he is\nnot satisfied\u2014he craves for something that can understand him.\n\nHe looks back to the days of his youth. He remembers a grandfather who\ntold how he had fled from the face of an oppressor, how he had built his\nhome far up near the mountain top, and there brought up his family in\nsafety. By and by as dangers passed away, this ancestor moved farther\ndown the mountain; gradually he increased in power, and in his old age\nfound himself the chief of a clan. Yet he never forgot the days of his\nadventure, and ever pointed proudly to the spot where he had first found\na shelter; and his children\u2019s children, as they listened to the old man\u2019s\ntale, counted the ground holy. The days come when they can see the old\nman no more. \u201cBut does he not still exist? Yea\u2014did we not hear his words\nas we listened to sounds that played about the mountain side? Did we not\nsee him, though it was but for a moment, sitting beside his own home as\nhe used to sit long ago? He wore the very same dress. Did he not appear\nto us in our dreams? There, too, we saw him moving beside his old home.\nYes, he is living on our mountain still.[6] He is taking care of us. He\nknows when we need rain, and he sends it. We must give him something;\nwhen he had corn he always gave us. Now, the poor man has no crop; but\nperhaps his needs are many. We will give him food, we will give him\nslaves, and he will not forget us.\u201d\n\nThere is something full of pathos in the sight of a man invoking his\ndeceased relatives. He has got into great difficulty. None of his friends\ncan assist him, they hardly sympathise with him. His thoughts turn to\ndays when he had no difficulty, to the bright period of which, heathen\nthat he is, he can say, \u201cHeaven is about us in our infancy\u201d. He is so\nsure that if he only had the grey-headed man that smiled on him then, all\nhis difficulties would vanish. That man could understand him, and believe\ngood of him as he did long ago. Could he but reach him across the portals\nof the grave all would be well. Thus, with great earnestness, the native\nturns to the spirits of his fathers.\n\n\n13.\u2014THE CREATION\u2014COSMOLOGY.\n\nThe existence of the world itself is accepted as a fact not to be\nexplained. But there are legends that explain the introduction of the\nsun, moon, and stars, clouds and rain; as also how mountains and rivers\nappeared on the scene. Man, or at least the father of these central\ntribes, sprang from a hole in a rock, from which the lower animals came\nalso. Around this hole there were abundant footprints of all kinds of\nanimals. It was closed by the people of Mulungu, and is now in a desert\nplace \u2018towards the north\u2019 (kumpoto). Subsequent to the appearance of man,\nmany changes occurred specially calculated for his benefit. Thus the\nmist was sent to keep the sun from burning up the crops\u2014an arrangement\nthat would readily commend itself to these philosophical children of the\ntropics.\n\nTheir legends go on to state that the Wayao, Anyasa, Angulu, Awisa\nand others sprang from a common stock, and to explain how the tribes\nseparated through one going to one side of the country and another to\nanother. The chief cause of such separations is said to be war. The Zulus\nand the English belong, they say, to a different stock; where they came\nfrom the natives cannot tell. They have a legend about Zulus (Mangoni)\ncoming out in great swarms near a large river; and another legend about a\nblack man crossing a bridge, as he looked round he was greatly astonished\nto find that a white man (msungu) was following him. The white men are\nrepresented as having staid longer with the people of God (Mulungu),\nand learned more than the black men. With all due deference to the\ntoothless old man who told me that the Zulus are different from the Yao,\nI am strongly of opinion that although their languages are not mutually\nintelligible now, there was a time when their forefathers played together\nby the same streams and hills; but this time is more remote than his\nlegend, which only explained when the Wanyasa separated from his tribe.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nON WORSHIP AND OFFERINGS\u2014OCCASIONS FOR WORSHIP.\n\n    \u201cNone shall appear before me empty.\u201d\u2014EXOD. 23, 15.\n\n\nSTARTING ON A JOURNEY (ULENDO), WAR, OR HUNTING EXPEDITION.\n\n\n14.\u2014PRAYERS AND OMENS.\n\nWhen a man intends to set out on some expedition he goes to the chief\nof his village, and tells him. The chief presents an offering (mbepesi)\nto the spirit of his predecessor. This offering consists of a little\nflour, which he puts down very slowly at the top of his bed, or he may\ngo to the verandah of the house of his deceased brother. As he puts down\nthe offering he recites the words, \u201cMy son has come, he goes a journey,\nenlighten his eyes, preserve him on his journey, escort this child, may\nhe return with his head unscathed (literally \u2018green,\u2019 wa uwisi). Please,\nplease, let him undertake the journey, and be very successful.\u201d\n\nIf the flour do not fall so as to form a cone with a fine point there\nis a bad omen, and the journey is deferred. The remedy for this state\nof matters is to resort to the oracle (chisango) (I). It is seldom,\nhowever, that a bad omen is found at this stage, though some say it\nis possible. The oracle will explain what is the cause of the bad\nomen. Probably the man will be told to \u201ctry again\u201d. If the cone form\nbeautifully on this occasion, then it will be clear that the god wanted\nhim merely to delay for a day or two, and for some good reason; but if\nthe cone still refuse to form, resort is again had to the oracle. The\noracle sets to work, and finds that some deceased relative has a hand in\nthis obstruction. This relative must be propitiated by an offering. Or it\nmaybe that a witch (msawi; Chinyasa, mfiti) is the cause of the trouble;\nthen it is the duty of the oracle to declare who the witch is. This leads\nto a serious state of matters, which will very probably end in the death\nof this witch.\n\nA person cannot go to hunt with any assurance of safety till the witch\nhas drunk the poisoned cup (mwai).\n\nWe were much affected by a case of this kind that came under our notice.\nA village chief, Matope, was led to believe that he was bewitched. First\nhis principal wife became seriously ill\u2014the disease was consumption\u2014she\nwas treated with the usual English remedies, and Mrs MacDonald made a bed\nfor her, which took the place of the hard mat upon which the poor native\nlies down to die. As the native fare is hard as the native bed, and the\npoor invalid could not relish it, we sent her some soup every day, as\nwell as sugar of which she was exceedingly fond. Ultimately the disease\nran its course, going through the same stages as the terrible malady does\nin England. One day the husband came to me and said, \u201cThere is mourning\nat our home\u201d. The simple words revealed at once that the wife of the\nvillage chief was dead.\n\nWe fully expected that, notwithstanding our remonstrances, some one would\nbe accused of causing her death through witchcraft; but perhaps owing to\nthe interest that we had taken in his wife all along, no one was accused\non this occasion. He had four wives besides, and he soon supplied the\nplace of the deceased by buying another wife, who was \u201cvery good to her\nchildren\u201d.\n\nThen a little after, the son of one of his other wives having gone out at\nmidnight, a leopard came upon him and caught his foot just at the door\nof the house as he was running in. The lad was badly bitten, and his\nmother induced Matope to have resort to the usual methods of detecting\nwitchcraft; the result was that Matope\u2019s own mother was pronounced a\nwitch. We were very sorry for the poor woman. She lived in another\nvillage, over the stream from her son\u2019s hamlet. She had always shown\nus the greatest kindness and hospitality. She was fond of joking and\nfun, but this sentence made her an object of dread and aversion. Every\nnative now shrunk from her, and her life became a burden. We tried to\ndo everything for her; we gave her presents; invited her to come and\nsee us, and cautioned her against drinking the poisoned cup. We made\nthe village chief promise that it would not be administered. The result\nwas that there was some delay in drinking the ordeal. We made every use\nof this respite by talking on the matter with Kapeni, the chief of the\ncountry, who was her brother, and who promised to use every influence\non her behalf. Her son, the village chief, was a very successful hunter.\nDuring the delay he could not go to hunt. The superstition was too strong\nfor him. At the same time his mother was anxious to break the spell that\nbound him, she was so sure that she was innocent. She drank the dangerous\ncup and died, and however dearly the liberty was purchased, the hunter\ncould now go forth to his usual pursuit.\n\nSo much for the danger of being suspected of witchcraft, a suspicion\nthat might arise from flour not falling in the form of a cone. But it\nis seldom that a bad omen arises while the chief is in the mere act of\nputting down the flour. After the flour is put down, and has formed a\nshapely cone, he carefully covers it with a pot, and leaves it all night.\nDuring the night he may have a dream about the journey, and this will\ndecide his course. But if he is still undecided he visits his offering\nearly in the morning. Should he find that the cone of flour is broken\ndown on one side (mbali jimo jiwalwiche), that it has not its proper\npoint (lusonga), the omen is bad. The flour is thrown away in the bush,\nthe journey is forbidden by the spirit, and cannot be thought of; and\nthe result is an appeal to the oracle (chisango). But if the flour has\npreserved its conical form the omen is good, the divinity has accepted\nthe present and granted the request. The village chief tells his man to\ngo forth with confidence.\n\nThe Wanyasa depend more upon the dream during night than the appearance\nof the cone. Some of them say, \u201cOf course, the flour will form a cone if\nit is put down carefully, and the cone will maintain its form if the\nrats are kept away\u201d. The Magololo chiefs would not send their children to\nschool until they dreamt.\n\nWhen the chief has decided on the journey he gives his man a thread\n(lupota), which is tied round some part of his person, as a token that\nthe god goes along with the expedition. He may give an oil vessel\n(chisasi) for a similar purpose. The man now takes the necessary supply\nof food (inga) and fire-arms, bids his wives good-bye, and sets forth on\nhis journey.\n\n\n15.\u2014CEREMONIES OBSERVED BY THE WIVES OF TRAVELLERS.\n\nThe village chief may immediately call the wives that are left behind,\nand advise each one to behave with discretion during her husband\u2019s\nabsence, as otherwise she may mar his domestic peace, or even cause\nhis death (82). These wives must observe certain customs during their\nhusbands\u2019 absence. If at any time one of them have a dream she must\npresent a private offering. (In describing the worship connected with\na journey, we have been assuming all along that the expedition is of\ninterest to the village chief. This is nearly always the case, for one\nthing the chief wishes to pray that his villager may be safely restored\nto him). Should a man undertake a journey that is entirely private, then\nhe may perform the offering himself, or ask his wife to do it for him.\nThey would put down the flour, and watch the formation of the cone as the\nchief does. All the particulars connected with the success and failure\nof omens are the same, and if they are relatives of the chief the god\ninvoked is the same. If they are not related to the chief they may pray\nnot to the god of the village, but to the god of their own family.\n\nWhile a woman\u2019s husband is absent she goes without anointing her head or\nwashing her face. She must not bathe, she scarcely washes her arms, she\nmust not cut her hair. Her oil vessel (chisasi) is kept full of oil till\nhis return, and may be hung up in the house or kept by the side of her\nbed. This neglect commences, according to some, as soon as her husband\nhas gone. Others allow the moon \u201cto die\u201d; they wait for the new moon\nbefore they begin this species of mourning (kuwindika). It continues till\nthe husband return.\n\n\n16.\u2014KICKING AGAINST THE STUMPS.\n\nThe expedition has started at last\u2014surely all detention from bad omens\nis at an end. By no means. In a few days the leader of the expedition\nmay appear at the village with all his men. He has hurt his toe on the\nstump of a tree (chisichi)! The natives, in preparing their ground for\ncultivation, cut down nearly all the trees. They do not cut close to\nthe earth as an English forester would do. They find it much easier to\ncut the tree at a thinner part, and leave a stump. Such stumps are all\nover the cultivated land, and are often found on the footpaths. If a\nsuperstitious man strike his foot on one of these at the beginning of an\nimportant journey, he considers it to be ominous of evil.\n\nWhen Julius C\u00e6sar was landing in Africa with his army, he stumbled and\nfell. This was an unhappy omen. But his presence of mind gave it another\nturn. He cried out, \u201cOh, Africa, I embrace thee\u201d. The less superstitious\nnatives calm their fears by a similar method. While some speak with bated\nbreath of the danger of picking up a buck that died of itself, others\nsay \u201cWe always pick them up and eat them, and are very glad to have the\nchance\u201d.\n\nIf a superstitious man kick against the stumps, there is no hope for his\nexpedition, he goes back, and the affair is referred to the oracle in the\nusual way.\n\nA man whose heart is set upon a journey is sometimes wicked enough to\ndisregard an unfavourable omen. His men call his attention to it, and\nhe says \u201cYes, it is a very unlucky thing; we shall go to the oracle as\nsoon as we return!\u201d This is an evasion nearly as bad as that of the Roman\nGeneral, who, when told by the soothsayer that the sacred chickens would\nnot eat, said that he would make them drink, and kicked them overboard.\nWhether the consequences to the native that treats the omens in this\noff-hand manner are always as serious as they were to the Roman we have\nnot heard. The native who has an unfavourable omen is not at ease in his\nmind; but we think that these superstitions will soon be overcome in the\nminds of future generations.\n\n\n17.\u2014ILL-OMENED SNAKES.\n\nSome of the strongest superstitions are associated with snakes. If a\nsnake of bad omen, as a sato (python) or a lukukuti, cross the path\nof a traveller, it is a sign that he will meet with disaster on his\njourney, and at once he returns to his home. But if the traveller is\nalready on his return journey he does not go back, but goes on to his\nvillage expecting to find that everything has gone wrong there. This omen\ngenerally betokens a death at the village. If the snake is seen on the\nright hand, the omen betokens that there is some danger on that side of\nthe road, and similarly if the snake is seen on the left.\n\nRegarding this form of superstition, I once asked a native that strongly\nprofessed his belief in it, whether he would turn back on meeting a snake\nin his way if I gave him a letter for Zomba, and told him that it had to\ngo on quickly. He said, \u201cNo; he would not turn back when a white man sent\nhim.\u201d Why? \u201cBecause,\u201d he said, \u201cyou would laugh at me, and ask why I had\nnot brought the snake home for a specimen!\u201d\n\nWhen a sungula (rabbit) crosses the path it betokens that the chief will\ndie.\n\nThere is a great number of similar superstitions. But it is noteworthy\nthat there is no such superstition about thunder as was among the Romans.\nTo them thunder is ever welcome, associated as it is with refreshing\nshowers.\n\nWhen the men have been gone some days the villagers conclude that the\njourney is prospering\u2014the god is accompanying the party. If the chief\nwant to send out others before this party come back, he must send another\nspirit with them, and there will be no difficulty in finding several\nsuitable escorts among the spirits of his deceased relatives.\n\nAfter the caravan has been gone for some time the villagers begin to\nanticipate its return, and to talk of the wealth that it will bring. It\nmay be a hunting expedition, or a journey to the coast to buy beads and\ncloth, guns and powder, in exchange for ground nuts, slaves, or ivory.\nAs the caravan approaches the village, the news of its arrival goes on\nbefore quick as lightning. All eyes are turned toward the direction\nwhere the long absent ones are expected to appear. Already some of the\nvillagers are rushing forth to meet them. The returning party fires a\nsalute; the guns of the village reply. All are in ecstacies of joy. The\nwomen run out with handfuls of flour, and sprinkle on the heads of the\nreturning heroes. The caravan goes on amid shouts of joy, straight to the\nvillage chief, and deposits the goods under his care.\n\n\n18.\u2014THANKOFFERING.\n\nThe chief immediately makes an acknowledgement to the spirit that\nescorted the party. He goes to one of his wives and asks her for flour\nthat he may present an offering. He puts down part of this flour in the\nsame way as he did when the expedition started. Then he wets the rest of\nthe flour, and puts it down beside the dry portion. This water-and-flour\nis supplementary to the dry offering (mesi gakwe). As he presents it he\nsays, \u201cNow we are happy, my children have come back, you have given us\nmuch.\u201d When he has finished he claps his hands as a salutation to the\nspirit, and retires. This expression of thanksgiving is generally made in\na private manner.\n\n\nPUBLIC REJOICING.\n\nNow begins a season of public rejoicing. The whole hamlet makes high\nholiday. The women may now bathe, and cut their hair, and anoint their\nbodies with oil. So may their returned husbands. During their journey\nthese men had refrained from using salt. They were afraid to use it (82),\nfor they said, \u201cPerhaps our wives are not behaving well in our home,\nand we shall die\u201d. Now the chief prepares a great banquet, and calls a\nmedicine man, who puts a charm into the food; the travellers eat of this,\nand henceforth they may use salt freely.\n\nA large quantity of beer is brewed, and as soon as it is ready the chief\nand all his visitors go to the verandah of the house of the deceased\nchief, where all larger offerings are presented. They carry flour and\nbeer, and perhaps some such offering as tobacco. The chief is the first\nto invoke the spirit saying, \u201cPlease, please, Ching\u2019ombe,\u201d or whatever\nthe name may be, \u201chere is beer for you, drink it, we want to live well\nat our village, and to drink in peace\u201d. He will mention also the happy\ncircumstances connected with the expedition, and hint mildly that when\nanother expedition is necessary they will look for a similar service from\nthe spirit. The sister of the deceased chief will also be an offerer,\nand any others who may be closely related. They first put down a little\noffering of flour, and then each takes a cup of beer to pour on the\nground as a libation. After the others have presented their offerings the\nchief finishes the worship by presenting all that is left.\n\nMany guests may be invited. Any that happen to arrive before the offering\nhas been given will accompany the party that goes to present it. All\nin the village may be present at this offering. It is a kind of public\nworship. Whatever may be the rank of his guests it is the village chief\nhimself that acts as high priest. Even the chief of the whole country\nif present would only stand and look on. As soon as the offering is\nfinished, the beer drinking begins. Great is the rejoicing in the village.\n\nIf an expedition were unsuccessful, if, for instance, some one died or\ngoods were lost, instead of this rejoicing there would be a mourning. The\ngod would be considered to have deceived them, and behaved very badly.\n\nAfter the expedition has been the occasion of a public rejoicing, the\ngod is acquitted of all blame. Yet, strange to say, many successful\nexpeditions of this kind\u2014especially when they have been to the coast with\nslaves and ivory\u2014are the most unfortunate things that could happen to\na district. Soon after the beer drinking is over, the goods have to be\ndivided, and in a large proportion of cases so great contentions arise\nthat the chiefs kingdom is divided also.\n\nOther occasions for approaching the gods occur in cases of sickness (19)\nor famine (20). On these we shall not dwell so long, as the foregoing\nprinciples generally apply.\n\n\n19.\u2014SICKNESS.\n\nWhen a man is ill he puts down an offering to his deceased father or\nmother, saying, \u201cI wish to give you a sacrifice; can you tell us what you\nwant? and I will bring it you\u201d. He first gives this offering himself. He\nmay say, \u201cI am very ill, I wish you to restore me; perhaps a witch wants\nto kill me, restrain this\u201d. Then he looks for a good dream. An offering\nof flour is put at the side of his pillow to tempt the spirit to come. If\nthe spirit come not, he tells the chief of his village, who may give an\noffering in like manner, or he may go at once to the sorcerer (mchisango)\nand say \u201cWe want to see the spirit that has been invoked\u201d. After making\ninquiries, the sorcerer says the spirit wants such and such; then the\nrequired offering is given. If the sick man recover, the matter rests\nthere. In cases that are more serious, the sorcerer will tell him that\nbad spirits (masoka) have got into his house, that some one has bewitched\nthe house and all his usual places of resort, that he must have another\nhouse in the fields. There are other manifest advantages attending this\nretreat from the busy village.\n\nA house in the fields is built and prepared perhaps that very day. We\nhave not known many cases where the invalid ever returned. Sometimes a\npoor consumptive patient, when removed to such a house, is drenched with\nrain, as the thatch is not so good as on the other house.\n\n\nREJOICING ON HIS RETURN.\n\nGreat is the rejoicing on the invalid\u2019s return to the village, if ever\nhe return again. Much beer is brewed. The usual sacrifices are given to\nhis god. The recovered patient says, \u201cNow I am happy, I have health;\ndrink you this beer\u201d. Mats are spread out, he sits down upon one, and the\nphysician (msing\u2019anga) is called to his side. The physician pours beer on\nhis patient, and after that, water, and then begins to shave his head.\nThe physician does not present any offering to the village god; but he\ngives a thank-offering at his own home to his own gods. He returns thanks\nthat \u201che found medicine for yonder sick man\u201d.\n\n\n20.\u2014PUBLIC SUPPLICATION FOR RAIN.\n\nWe have seen how the natives invoke the gods when they pray for a\nprosperous expedition (14) and for health (19). We shall now see what\nthey do when they pray for a good crop\u2014which generally means, in their\ncountry, praying for rain.\n\nWhen there is no rain at the proper season there ensues much distress.\nFamine is dreaded above all other evils. After private offerings\nhave all failed the chief of the country calls a national meeting\nfor supplication. Much beer is brewed and offered to the spirit. The\nchief addresses his own god; he calls on him to look at the sad state\nof matters for himself, and think of the evils that are impending. He\nrequests him to hold a meeting with all the other gods that have an\ninterest or influence in the matter. A council of the gods is believed\nto be held, and if any god act as an obstructive he is specially\npropitiated according to the direction of the prophetess.\n\nAfter the supplication there is a great dance in honour of the god. The\npeople throw up water towards the heavens as a sign that it is water that\nis prayed for. They also smear their bodies with mud or charcoal to show\nthat they want \u201cwashing\u201d. If rain do not come they must wash themselves\nin the rivers or streams. If rain fall, they are soon washed in answer to\ntheir prayers. When the good crop follows, they present as a thanksgiving\nthe first heads of maize and some pumpkins. Before they begin to eat\nthe maize themselves some of the cobs are roasted and offered under the\nprayer tree (4). In smaller crops, as beans, there is no special offering.\n\nIn the South of Africa the power of rain-making has been claimed\ncompletely by the rain-doctors. Even here the sorcerers have a great\npower. Still the chief maintains what we think must have been his\nprerogative in the earliest times. Does this not shew that these races\nare a stage nearer the primitive manners than in the South where such a\npriesthood has been developed?\n\nDREAMS afford another occasion for offerings (41).\n\n\nTHE NATURE OF THE OFFERINGS. GENERAL OFFERINGS.\n\n\n21.\u2014THE NATIVE FLOUR.\n\nOf the ordinary offerings to the gods (which are just the ordinary food\nof the people), flour is the commonest. The natives eat it themselves\nin the form of porridge, but they never present it thus to the spirits\nexcept on the day of a person\u2019s death, or by special request. This\noffering, though common, is not made ready without a great deal of\ntrouble. The poor native woman seems to be occupied at milling flour from\nmorning to night. The process is like this\u2014First, she takes corn from the\ncob, puts it into a mortar with some water, and begins pounding to remove\nthe husks (maseta). These are separated by sifting (kupeta). She next\nputs the husked grain (msokolo) again in the mortar, and does as before.\nBy this time all the husks are off. After this the corn is steeped in\nwater for some time, when it is called mlowe. This she puts into a mortar\nwithout water, and pounds again. When the third pounding is finished, she\nresorts to another process of sifting (kusenyenda) and obtains flour,\nwhich may be broken down to any degree of fineness by repeated pounding.\nMany harder portions (lusenga) need pounding again.\n\nThis native flour is given to the spirits (misimu) either quite dry or\nwith a little water stirred into it.\n\n\n22.\u2014NATIVE BEER.\n\nThe beer is made from maize or millet (D).\n\nIt is not like English beer. It is really a thin gruel, and serves for\nfood as well as for drink. It is a very wholesome beverage for the\nnatives, and it is well that they use it rather than other stimulants.\nThe natives have a great desire for wine or brandy (they apply the\nBrazilian word Kachaso to everything of this kind). We may illustrate\nhow far this craving exists by mentioning how often chiefs and headmen\nrequest Kachaso. Sometimes we have prepared a little tincture of ginger,\nand seen it greedily drunk. Mrs. MacDonald was one day clearing out\nold bottles, a few of which contained lime juice in the bottom, and\nit was sad to notice how the persons that received these bottles were\nentreated by others \u201cto give them some of the brandy\u201d. When a person\nwas thus entreated, even after he had tasted the old rotten stuff, he\nsaid he had only a very little for himself, and hastened away as if\ndetermined to enjoy it alone! When we were on the Kwagwa River, a little\nabove Quillimane, much merchandise was brought, and the first thing\nthat was asked in payment was kachaso. The boatmen between Quillimane\nand the Missions were in danger of doing a great deal of harm in this\nway, as they brought up rum and such stuff, and traded on their own\nresponsibility. Chiefs can procure kachaso readily enough, especially\nfrom the slave traders. One time at Blantyre there was hardly a drop of\nwine for a whole year, but the chief of Sochi had obtained some, and sent\na messenger to us to ask for wine glasses! Another chief that we had\nopened up intercourse with, sent us a bottle of rum as a return present.\nOf course everyone gives things that have thus passed through the hands\nof the natives the cold shoulder, as it is not known what they are made\nof!\n\nThe temptation to drunkenness is one of the most terrible that the\ncountry can be exposed to. The natives go down before this temptation\nat once. A great deal of their drinking is an aping of the manners of\nEuropeans as seen on the coast. We think that the civilisation of this\nrace should be accomplished by total abstainers if possible. People who\ntamper with the natives by offering them brandy or by mixing wine and rum\nthat they may make them drunk for their own amusement, are exceedingly\nthoughtless. In this country, unfortunately, any one can sell as much\nliquor as he likes without paying any license: and the effect of drinking\nbrandy or such stimulants is sometimes very deplorable. One of the\nMagololo Chiefs or Headmen, as reported to me, seemed to go quite mad\nwhen he received a supply of brandy. He went about killing his people\nfor the purpose of amusement, much in the manner of King Mtesa. On\nsuch occasions there used to be a great rush of people to the Mission,\nrepresenting that their chief had drunk brandy, had killed very many of\ntheir friends, and wanted to kill them. They implored the protection of\nthe Mission in the most earnest manner.\n\n\n23.\u2014THE EFFECTS OF NATIVE BEER.\n\nBut the native beer does not produce such serious consequences, although\nmany fights and wars arise out of it. One must drink a great deal before\nit intoxicates, and by the time a man has consumed half a barrel of gruel\nhe will be more inclined to sleep than to quarrel. Should he simply talk\nnonsense, his more sober friends pay little attention to him. At a great\nbeer-drinking the guests may lie down and sleep where they were drinking.\n\nWhat do the natives think of the crime of drunkenness? When asked, \u201cDo\nyou say a man has a bad heart if he gets drunk on beer?\u201d they reply \u201cNo;\nhe may not have a bad heart\u201d. But on further questioning they insist that\nsuch a man has certainly \u201ca very bad head!\u201d\n\n\n24.\u2014BEER AS AN OFFERING.\n\nWe have seen how the flour is used, both as an offering and as a sort of\noracle according to the way in which it falls\u2014according as it forms a\ncone or not. The beer may be used in the same way, both as offering and\noracle. If when poured on the ground it sink into one spot as it would\ndo in sandy soil, then the deity receives it, but if it spread over the\nground there is a bad omen. Beer-drinkings may be held on the conclusion\nof favourable journeys and on many other occasions. Besides there may be\nbeer drinking without any special reason, as when a man wants to treat\nhis friends: but even in this case there is an offering.\n\nAs soon as the beer is ready the man goes to the village chief and\ncarries some with him. The village chief presents this offering to the\nvillage god. There is no special prayer, except \u201cI want that my beer may\nbe sweet\u201d. After the village chief comes back from the offering he drinks\nsome of the beer himself, and declares the feast open. Among others the\ncustom is simply for the brewer of beer himself to put down a little in\nhis own house, with a prayer to the spirit that his beer may be sweet.\n\n\n25.\u2014SPECIAL OFFERINGS.\n\nAll the offerings are supposed to point to some wants of the spirit. If\na spirit were to come saying, \u201cI want calico,\u201d his friends would \u201cjust\nsay that he was mad,\u201d and would not give it. \u201cWhy should he want calico?\nWhat would he do with it? There was calico buried with him when he died,\nand he cannot need more again.\u201d But if the request is at all reasonable\n(as when an old hunter asks animal food), it will be quickly attended\nto, and personal taste carefully consulted. In cases of this kind they\nmay anticipate his wishes. When a deceased smoker wants tobacco his\nworshippers put it on a plate and set fire to it. If a spirit ask a house\nthey will build him one.\n\nIt is a general rule that these special offerings are in answer to\nspecial requests, and such special requests are made known either by the\noracle (chisango), or by dreams, or by the prophetess. The requests of a\nmore serious character, involving the sacrifice of human beings, are made\nknown chiefly through the prophetess (5, 3).\n\nNear Lake Moere the people have idols that represent a departed father or\nmother. They present them with beer, flour, bhang, and light a fire for\nthem to smoke by.\u2014(Livingstone).\n\nWe shall now say a little about such special offerings and the way of\npresenting them.\n\n\n26.\u2014OFFERING OF A FOWL.\n\nThey generally kill the fowl by wringing its neck. Some speak of cutting\nits throat, and making the blood flow down. This is akin to an Arab\nmethod, but as the natives practice their offerings this custom is\nneither essential nor common. When the fowl is killed they simply lay it\ndown at the prayer tree (4). If it be taken away during the night the\nspirit has accepted it. If it be known to have been carried away by a\nleopard, the leopard was commissioned by the spirit, or if the deceased\nwas a hunter he may himself have taken the form of a leopard. The fowl\nmay lie till the ants eat it, and the offerers are quite satisfied. This\nfowl may be given uncooked, or it may be either roasted or boiled as\nindicated in the request made for it.\n\n\n27.\u2014OFFERING OF A GOAT.\n\nA goat may be offered in the same way, only it is not likely that the\nwhole animal will be given, unless the offerer is very rich. One leg is\nusually sent to the spirit, while the remainder is eaten by the villagers\nthemselves. In conversing with natives on these offerings, we have often\ninquired whether the person that advises the offering may not sometimes\nappropriate it, and thus cheat the spirit for whom it was intended. We\nhave often thought that the bones of these offerings might play a great\npart in the superstitions connected with cannibalism and witchcraft\n(107). The same might be said of the bones of human beings (28) that are\nthus sacrificed; but the bones of the lower animals would do as well for\nimposing on natives, who are not anatomists enough to know the difference.\n\nIt is not considered necessary that these offerings be taken away by\nthe spirits. It is sufficient that they are placed there, and that the\nspirits may come and lick them.\n\n\n28.\u2014OFFERINGS OF HUMAN BEINGS.\n\nSometimes the prophetess will announce that the spirit demands the\noffering of a man or a woman. As soon as this intimation has been given\nall set upon the victim that may have been indicated. If wanted for a\ndeity residing on a mountain, the victim is stripped, his garments are\ncut up into narrow bands, with which the legs and arms are secured. The\nvictim is not killed, but tied to a tree. If a beast of prey come during\nthe night and devour the unfortunate being the deity has accepted the\noffering. Where wild animals are not abundant a little house is built on\nthe hill side, and the person with his legs and arms securely fastened,\nis put inside and left to die of hunger.\n\nIf the deity live beside a lake or river, the man or woman, after being\nstripped, and having the legs and arms securely fastened, is tied to a\nlarge stone and thrown into the lake or river. The crocodiles may seize\nthe offering at once, but in any case death is the certain result, as the\nstone prevents the victim from swimming.\n\nThe victims in such cases are usually slaves; but if a freeman were\nto set fire to the grass or reeds beside a lake, and cause a great\nconflagration close to the chosen abode of the deity, he is liable to\nbe offered up to the god that is thus annoyed; but if he be the owner\nof many slaves he can easily redeem himself, one of his slaves will be\noffered instead, and something paid to the prophetess to facilitate the\ntransaction.\n\nThe vast immolations of human beings made at the grave of a chief we\nshall consider under another heading (32).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nCEREMONIES CONNECTED WITH DEATH.\n\n    \u201cQualis vita Finis ita.\u201d\n\n\n29.\u2014TRANSITION FROM THE SUPERNATURAL.\n\nWe have now spoken of the gods\u2014their nature and number\u2014their prophets and\npriests, the occasions of their worship, and the nature of the offerings.\nThis finishes what we have to say on the supernatural. Before descending\nto the natural, we shall cross the dark border-land that lies between.\n\nThis border-land is Death (30-43). By and by we shall reach what we may\ncall the Natural (44 and seq.) By the time we reach section 103 we shall\nhave brought before the reader many things that he may class as the\nUnnatural.\n\nTo shew that there is nothing so very unusual among these African tribes,\nlet us remark that in that model of ancient civilisation\u2014the Roman\nRepublic\u2014prisoners were slain at the tombs of heroes that fell in battle,\nand slaves were sacrificed at the funerals of all rich people. The\nadvance of civilisation allowed such victims to kill each other, when the\ncustom gave rise to the exhibition of gladiators.\n\n\n30.\u2014ILLNESS.\n\nWe have seen already (19) that a sick man may be removed from his village\nto a solitary hut in the fields, and that he may return in good health;\nbut very often when a man leaves his village for this solitude he never\ncomes back. We have mentioned that the diviner or oracle-man may be able\nto cope with the witch who is the main cause of the man\u2019s illness, but\nvery often the diviner fails entirely, and the disease takes its course.\n\nThere is another man, the herbalist or physician (jua sing\u2019anga) that is\noften called in, and to whom we have already alluded; he carries on his\ncures by the use of charms, which in many cases are really medicines (I).\nWhen a person is sick his friends go in search of a physician.\n\nThey generally carry a present for him. He considers for a little, and\ngives his answer which may be, \u201cI refuse to attend this patient; I cannot\ndo you any good. The witch that has taken him on hand has medicine more\npowerful than mine.\u201d On other occasions he is more hopeful, and will try.\nHe goes to the woods and the fields and searches for medicines, and then\ncomes with them to his patient. If the patient recover the mediciner gets\na large fee, but if the patient die he gets nothing; on the contrary,\nan unsuccessful physician may be accused of murder, and we have known a\ngreat fine paid for the crime. We only knew of one case of this kind,\nand the victim was an English doctor. We do not think the occurrence is\nat all so likely in purely native cases. But in other parts of Africa a\nmediciner may pay for the patient\u2019s death with his own life.\n\nAll the natives soon become very disheartened when they fall sick,\nchiefly owing to the fear that they have become the prey of some cruel\nwitch.\n\n\n31.\u2014DEATH.\n\nEvery charm has failed, the attendants see that the end is near, the sick\nman too is aware that he is leaving this world. In civilised countries\nmany a man toils for fame. He would regard himself happy if he were sure\nthat he would be remembered after death. The dying man before us has\nthis fame ready made for him. He knows that after his death he will be\nworshipped as a god. Does this make his death bed happier? Do his last\nthoughts turn with delight to the prospect? Alas, no! The poor man would\nlive longer if he could, and the last desire he expresses is generally\nthis, \u201cYou will take care of my children when I am in the grave,\u201d then he\nenters on the dark journey alone.\n\n\n32.\u2014SLAVES ESCORT THE DECEASED.\n\nDid we say he went forth alone? This shall not be, if his friends can\nhelp it. His death must be concealed for a few minutes. If he be a\nman of some property in slaves, and belong to a certain family of the\nWayao tribe (say to the Abanda or the Amilansi), he will have a great\nmany slaves to accompany him. Some of the attendants leave the dead man\nat once. If any of his slaves are sitting outside the house they are\ntold that their master is better, that he is doing well; but suddenly a\ncapture begins, and many slaves of the deceased are made fast in slave\nsticks. When their master is buried they will be put in the grave along\nwith him.\n\nThis terrible custom does not prevail among all the families of the Wayao\ntribe, but where it does, as many as ten slaves may be killed to follow\nan important chief, and rather fewer to accompany one who is not so rich.\nKapeni, a chief that belongs to the Abanda family, told me that he was\ngoing to give up this custom now because of the English; but not a few\nof the slave refugees at Blantyre have run away from his dominions to\nescape the dreadful fate. Though the chief were opposed to the practice\nhimself, he would not regularly interfere between his people and their\nown slaves or goods. It is said that the slaves must be caught before\nthey have taken part in the mourning. This furnishes one escape for them.\nIf they run away and stay till the funeral rites are over, they will be\ncomparatively safe on their return. But they are liable to be sent after\ntheir master (28) if he should ask for them.\n\nThe practice of sending messengers to the world beyond the grave is found\non the West Coast. A chief summons a slave, delivers to him a message,\nand then cuts off his head. If the chief forget anything that he wanted\nto say, he sends another slave as a \u201cpostscript\u201d.\n\n\n33.\u2014WAILING AT THE DOOR.\n\nIf the man do not belong to the families that require an \u201cescort,\u201d the\nmourning begins as soon as he is dead. There is no stratagem practised\nfor catching slaves. One of his wives has likely been in attendance,\nand she will raise the sad wail, which is heard afar off, and is easily\nrecognised. A great assembly of mourners is soon collected. The mourning\nconsists of plaintive chants, drumming, and dancing. If powder be\navailable a great many guns are fired that people at a distance may say,\n\u201cthere is a mourning in yonder village\u201d. This is called the \u201cmourning\nat the door\u201d of the house (ku mlango), and continues until the deceased\nis buried, which may be in one or two days. In the case of an important\nperson, the mourning at the door may be continued for five or ten days,\nor even for a month. In mourning the Wayao put flour on their heads, the\nAchikunda, I have observed, doing this at what was quite an ordinary\ndance, so far as I could see. The Anyasa put strips of bark round their\narms and various parts of their body. If it be a chief that has died they\nuse strips of cloth instead. One time we tried to buy some badges of\nmourning, made of plaited grass, but were told that the wearers would not\npart with them. They are worn till they fall off.\n\n\n34.\u2014THE UNDERTAKERS\u2014THEIR DUTIES AT THE HOUSE.\n\nSoon after life is extinct the undertakers (awilo) are sent for. They\nare generally two in number. As a rule they are not relatives of the\ndeceased, though from the derivation of their name I think they may have\nbeen so originally (kuwila, compare juakuwilwa, bereaved). Some make\nit a point that the undertakers must not have seen the deceased during\nhis illness, but this is not universally observed. In some families the\nslaves of the deceased are the undertakers, and the slaves of a deceased\nchief may invest his successor with the insignia of office.\n\nThe undertakers wash the body (mtembo) of the deceased. For this purpose\nthey use water from the stream\u2014the ordinary water used at the village\n(if the deceased be a woman her body is first partially washed by female\nattendants). They close the eyes; some fail in this, and are considered\nunskilful. They dress the body in calico, covering it all except the\neyes and the upper part of the face, which may be left uncovered until\nthey are on the point of carrying it to the graveyard. They tie up the\ndeceased in a mat, the very mat which was his deathbed. The Wayao are\nburied with the legs bent, the Wanyasa with the legs straight. When\nall these ceremonies have been finished, the undertakers come out of\nthe house and wash their hands, not in ordinary water but in water of\nmedicine, \u201cbecause they handled a corpse\u201d.\n\n\n35.\u2014PROLONGED WAILING.\n\nIf the wailing is to continue for a long time they procure the bark of\na large tree and encase the body therein. The body is then set in a\nposition nearly upright; a hole is dug in the floor of the house so that\nthe putrid matter may drop (kusulula) into it. Should the body be in\nan advanced state of decomposition, they burn Indian hemp (chamba), and\ncarry beside it on the way to the grave, this is done to neutralise the\nsmell. But in cases of prolonged mourning the deceased is often buried in\nhis own house.\n\n\n36.\u2014DEATH IN WAR.\n\nIf a man be killed in war, his friends, if they can procure his body at\nall, do not \u201cshow it at the village,\u201d but bury it on the war path. If his\nenemies find the body they disembowel it and cut off the head, taking\ncertain parts for charms. Enemies allow no burial, but cast forth the\nmangled remains to the vultures and other carrion eaters.\n\nWhen a man is wounded in an engagement he is carried back, not to his own\ndwelling\u2014there are bad spirits in it\u2014but to a little hut made ready for\nhim in the bush (19) at some distance from the village.\n\nIf a person die through drinking mwai (and this constitutes an enormous\npercentage of the older natives), he is denied the ordinary rights of\nsepulture. Several years ago the burning of witches was practised. At\npresent this would not be done unless the witch refused the poisoned cup,\nwhich she is, on the contrary, most eager to drink to show her innocence.\n\n\n37.\u2014JOURNEY TO THE GRAVE.\n\nWhen the \u2018mourning at the door\u2019 is finished they proceed to the grave. A\nlarge bamboo is passed along the body, and projects beyond the coffin\nor mat (ugono), both behind and before, and the body is carried shoulder\nhigh. One of the undertakers carries at the head, and the other at the\nfeet. The undertakers have the charge of carrying the body to the grave,\nalthough others may assist, but there is not so much changing as is seen\nin Scotch funerals. A large procession of men and women now set forth\nto follow the deceased to his last resting place. They have a drum with\nthem, and march to certain very plaintive and not unmelodious chants.\n\nSome of the men carry hoes to dig the grave, and a small bowl or basket\n(chiselo) to throw out the earth. They carry also an axe to prepare\npalisades for the sides of the grave. The women follow in the rear,\ncarrying some porridge, with the usual relish (mboga), as also a pot\nof beer. It is not every one that is allowed to follow the funeral\nprocession\u2014a person that has not been at the mysteries may not go. Thus\na boy of six years may have a brother or a playmate die, but he will not\nbe allowed to accompany the funeral party. No one that is very closely\nrelated to the deceased will go to the grave. A father will not go to the\nfuneral of his child, nor a husband to that of his wife; but, in cases\nof poverty where there is difficulty in employing undertakers, or if the\ndeath take place on a journey, the nearest relatives have to be present\nat the funeral rites; but in ordinary circumstances, if they follow the\nremains at all, they turn back at the chikomo, that is, the path that\nleads from the village to the main road. A mother is allowed to go to\nthe funeral of her child only if it die in infancy. One reason why the\nchief relative of the deceased does not go to the grave is that he has to\nprosecute the witch that caused the death: going to the grave would unfit\nhim for the task.\n\n\n38.\u2014DIGGING THE GRAVE.\n\nThe grave is not dug nor marked out at all, till the funeral party\narrive. On their arrival the body is laid down on the ground under the\nshade of a large tree, and the grave-digging begins. As hoes are the\nimplements used, the process takes a long time. It often begins about\nnoon, and is not concluded till night. No one enters the grave except the\nundertakers. After a sufficient depth has been reached they bring forward\nthe body to measure whether the size and shape of the grave will exactly\nsuit. After this measuring is completed the body is again laid aside out\nof the hot rays of the sun. By and by other men are at work with an axe\ncutting pieces of trees to form a kind of palisade round the inside of\nthe grave. The shaping of these sticks takes a long time. The structure\nwhen finished resembles the piling used to keep the banks of a river\nfrom falling in or being washed away. It forms the sides of a strong\nwooden house which is erected over the body. When these posts have been\nsecurely fixed two forked sticks are driven into the ground, one at each\nend of the grave. The body is then lowered, and the forked sticks receive\nthe projecting parts of the bamboo that carried it to the grave. The\nbody when lowered is suspended between these forked sticks, and remains\nhanging without touching the ground. Other logs are put above so as to\nform the roof of this strong wooden house, and afterwards the earth is\nfilled in; only before filling it in they have certain articles to bury\nwith the deceased.\n\nThe wooden house is for the purpose of keeping away the witch who caused\nthe death, and who now wishes to eat the flesh of her victim. It serves\nto keep away carrion eaters of all kinds, for the witch may assume the\nshape of a hyena.\n\n\n39.\u2014OFFERINGS AT THE GRAVE.\n\nAlong with the deceased is buried a considerable part of his property.\nWe have already seen that his bed is buried with him, so also are all\nhis clothes. If he possesses several tusks of ivory one tusk or more is\nground (siaga) to a powder between two stones and put beside him. Beads\nare also ground down in the same way. These precautions are taken to\nprevent the witch from making any use of the ivory or beads.\n\nIf the deceased owned several slaves an enormous hole is dug for a grave.\nThe slaves that were caught immediately on his death are now brought\nforward. They may be either cast into the pit alive, or the undertakers\nmay cut all their throats. The body of their master or their mistress is\nthen laid down to rest above theirs, and the grave is covered in.\n\nAfter this the women come forward with the offerings of food, and place\nat the head of the grave. The dishes in which the food was brought are\nleft behind. The pot that held the drinking water of the deceased and\nhis drinking cup are also left with him. These, too, might be coveted by\nthe witch, but a hole is pierced in the pot, and the drinking calabash is\nbroken.\n\nThe man has now gone from the society of the living, and he is expected\nto share the meal thus left at his grave with those that have gone before\nhim. The funeral party breaks up; they do not want to visit the grave\nof their friend again without a very good reason. Any one found among\nthe graves may be taken for a cannibal (107). Their friend has become\na citizen of a different village. He is with all his relatives of the\npast. He is entitled to offerings or presents, which may come to him\nindividually or through his chief. These offerings in most cases he will\nshare with others, just as he used to do when alive (10).\n\n\n40.\u2014TAKING DOWN THE HOUSE.\n\n    \u201cIt is unclean. And he shall break down the house ... and he\n    shall carry them (the stones, timber, and mortar) forth out of\n    the city into an unclean place.\u201d\u2014LEV. xiv., 44, 45.\n\nThe day after the remains have been committed to the grave the\nundertakers see to the destruction of the house that was occupied by the\ndead man. The house of the deceased is always taken down whether he died\nin it or not. No one will live in that house on any consideration. The\nspirit (Mulungu) of the deceased would be very angry with the man who\ndid so, and would say, \u201cThis man is glad that I died that he might enter\nmy house\u201d. If he possessed a great many houses it is the house of his\nprincipal wife that he is most identified with. Her house is taken down,\nand the houses of his other wives are left.\n\nThe fabric is demolished very effectually. The foundations are dug out\nof the ground. Any remains of the deceased man\u2019s food, the ashes of his\nfire, and the thatch of the roof are carried away and burned at a cross\nroad (malekano) that the spirit of the deceased, or the evil spirits that\ncaused his death, may enter some of these paths.\n\nWhen the house is broken down, the parts of it not carried away are\nburied, the place where it stood is swept all over, fresh earth is put\non, the spot is considered sacred. All the children are warned that they\nmust not play on this ground. A pot is put down to receive offerings\nof beer, and when any special offering is given to the deceased it is\nusually presented here (4). If this place become too public (as when\nchildren play near and send dust into the pot), the pot will be placed\nunder a tree at a little distance from the village.\n\nThe man may be buried in his own dwelling. In this case the house is not\ntaken down, but is generally covered with cloth, and the verandah becomes\nthe place for presenting offerings. His old house thus becomes a kind of\ntemple (chilisi cha nguo). There may be cases also where the deceased is\nburied in the village, although not in his own house. In such cases a new\nhouse will be raised above the remains.\n\nWhen the house is taken down the funeral rites (mtembo) are finished.\n\nAn important feature in these observances is that the relatives of\nthe deceased have their heads shaved. There are a great many absurd\nregulations that could not be published, with reference to burying the\nhair. Some of it is buried at the place where the house of the deceased\nstood. A second shaving takes place after their hair grows again (43).\n\nWhen a chief or headman dies the village is often entirely forsaken.\n\n\n41.\u2014CANONISED.\n\nThe deceased is now in the spirit world, and receives offerings and\nadoration. He is addressed as \u201cOur great spirit that has gone before.\u201d\n(Msimu wetu wokulungwa ulongolele).\n\nHe has now a certain power over the lives and destinies of his surviving\nrelatives. If any one dream of him it is at once concluded that the\nspirit is \u201cup to something\u201d. Very likely he wants to have some of the\nsurvivors for his companions. The dreamer hastens to appease the spirit\nby an offering.\n\n\n42.\u2014CONTINUANCE OF MOURNING.\n\nBut the mourning, as distinct from the funeral rites, is not yet\nfinished. The surviving relatives do not wash their faces or anoint their\nbodies with oil, neither do they cut their hair until the great day of\nthe second shaving (43). Sometimes they eat no salt, use no warm food,\nand drink no beer. Cases of this kind are among the nearest approaches\nto fasting that we met with in the country. If a friend come to see\nthem he will get his porridge warm, but the mourners wait until theirs\ncool. On the day of the wailing at the door the undertakers may give a\ndispensation from some of these penalties by putting salt in a common\nmess of food. If a man have been absent from this dispensation he must\nfollow customs like the above.\n\nThe duration of this mourning may be two months, or even more. The chief\nof the country, especially if related to the deceased (which he may well\nbe if the deceased was a man of great influence), may have a voice in\ndetermining how long the mourning is to continue. In more humble life the\nrelative of most influence would be consulted.\n\n\n43.\u2014END OF MOURNING.\n\nAfter two or three months have passed, there is a great gathering. This\nis the day on which the mourning is formally ended. Already you hear them\nbeginning to sing \u201cIya! iya! ungolele ukana;\u201d to which the response is,\n\u201cO manja o,\u201d while the undertakers respond, \u201cO Kangolele.\u201d This is, in\nfact, quite a drinking song, like \u201cWillie brewed a peck o\u2019 maut,\u201d and\nshows that the party are not to sit and mourn for ever. On this day much\nbeer is brought, and the deceased\u2019s spirit is especially remembered, and\nis considered to partake in the festivities.\n\nThe undertakers come back. One of their duties is to see to the second\nshaving of the heads of the dead man\u2019s relatives. They take off a little\nof the hair in the front and a little on the back of the head (kukawa),\nand others complete the shaving. The hair is buried again at the house,\nwhere the deceased relative receives his offerings, or in the bush.\n\n\nENTERING ON INHERITANCE.\n\nOn the day of the second shaving the successors of the deceased enter\nupon their inheritance. They take possession of the deceased man\u2019s wives\nand whatever property he may have. This day is a great marriage feast in\none aspect. Now the services of the undertakers are at an end; they have\nbeen feasted sumptuously throughout, and are now paid.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nCHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.\n\n\n44.\u2014BIRTH.\n\nWhen the time of a child\u2019s birth draws near, the mother does not stay\nin her house, or even in the village. Accompanied by one or two female\nfriends, she goes forth to seek the retirement of the great forest. As a\nrule she will soon be able to return, but if the delivery be protracted\nit is usual to apply to a physician, who sends a medicine to drink, which\nis viewed as a charm. Though the native women are generally hardy, it\nwould not do to assume that they are entirely made of iron. Many poor\nwomen suffer severely, and die in the bush, the child being generally\nunborn.\n\n\n45.\u2014THE INFANT.\n\nOn the birth of the child, one of the female friends takes it and carries\nit to the village. The mother is able to accompany on foot. In the case\nof a first-born child, the party is met with considerable rejoicing, in\nwhich the grandmother of the child takes a prominent part, and raises the\nsong, Ngwete chisukulu none sechelele, \u201cI have got a grandchild, let me\nrejoice\u201d. On arriving, mother and child are put into a house, where they\nstay from three to six days. No one enters their abode except the elder\nwomen (achakulungwa).\n\nAfter this there is the ceremony of introducing the child into the\nworld\u2014bringing out the little stranger to public notice. The head of\nthe mother is shaved, as also the head of the child. The child is now\nnamed. Both mother and child come out of the house, and are received with\nrejoicing, at which the elder women are present. The mother has received\na medicine or charm, in which the child has to be washed for a great many\nmonths to come.\n\nIf the child should die before being brought out of the house it receives\nno mourning. The relatives do not shave their heads on account of it,\nnor do they present offerings to its spirit. But if it has been brought\nout of the house, even if it should survive but a very short time, the\nusual mourning is held, and offerings are presented to it, especially by\nthe mother. Such a denizen of the spirit world is supposed to be able to\naffect the fortunes of the survivors; besides, it may be very powerful in\ninterceding with the older spirits (10).\n\nSeveral African customs with reference to young children remind us of the\nwell-known superstition about \u201cChangelings\u201d.\n\n\n46.\u2014NAMING.\n\nThe child receives a name, which it retains until it goes to the\nmysteries. The name is given by the relatives: if a female child is\nbetrothed she may be named by her future husband. The name the child\nreceives may be determined by some circumstance connected with its birth,\nas in the case of Jacob or Joseph, or such Scripture names. Sometimes it\nis named after other relatives of the family, as is the custom in Britain.\n\nThe person who receives a name at the mysteries has some choice in\ndetermining what he will be called. We knew a boy who assumed much at\nhis own instance the name of Kalikalanje, the hero about whom there are\nso many native tales, reminding one of the class of tales that Jack the\nGiant Killer belongs to. All the names of the people are significant.\nEvery name may be assumed to have originally had some meaning, very much\nas every effect has a cause.\n\n\n47.\u2014NAMING EUROPEANS.\n\nOne point where natives show a great deal of cleverness is in giving\nnames to white people. They never talk of a white man by his own name,\nwhich is generally unsuited to their pronunciation. They have an\ninvention of their own, and the new name is generally very happy. It hits\noff some peculiarity in personal appearance, and, over and above this,\nit aims at pointing to some mental habit. After seeing a few efforts of\ntheir naming, we almost become prepared for the theory that physical\nappearance is a reflection of character.\n\nThus they meet with a man who is a miser, they regard his miserliness for\nsome time in silence; at last they begin to take a look round him. They\nwish to discover some of his physical peculiarities. He cuts his hair\nvery close. \u201cAh! we have it now,\u201d and they call him \u201cThe close shaver!\u201d\nWhen an Englishman with any marked peculiarity arrives among them he\ngenerally creates a profound impression. The natives, like the Greeks\nof old, are fond of hearing some new thing. It is often very trying\nto one\u2019s sense of the ludicrous to go about the country with English\ncompanions and hear the remarks and criticisms, while the new comers are\nquite unconscious of what is being said, and feel sure that they are\ncomplimented. If one do not make progress in the native tongue, he may be\nin the country for as long as five years without knowing his native name,\nalthough it is a household word all over the place, and no one speaking\nto the natives would ever think of using anything else.\n\nSome names, again, are general designations, not so much of the\nindividual as his work, and in this way they may be modified, so that the\noriginal meaning is lost. One man had besides his own proper name the\nname of Kasisi or priest. This word means originally shaven, or without\nhair (kabe sisi, or kalibe sisi). It was first applied to the monks with\nreference to their shorn heads. There is a rock that is seen on the\nZambeze at the Lupata mountains, which, at a distance, looks exactly\nlike a monk. The natives call this rock Kasisi. A clergyman will get\nthe name applied to him, and that although there be no baldness in the\ncase. The word is used too of Makukani, who acts as the priest of the\nMagololo, especially when rain is required. But it was entirely unused\nin the native language till the first man with a tonsure appeared on the\nZambeze. He would get it as a nickname, or rather as a name (for they\nwould not necessarily want to make fun of him), and the word would linger\nafter the monks disappeared, and would be applied to any that resembled\nthem in other particulars.\n\nVisitors sometimes throw a great deal of responsibility on those that\nare in the country already. The latter are asked to tell all about them,\nand if there be anything peculiar the danger falls on the old settlers.\nIt is a rule in Africa that where a stranger pays a visit and gets into\ntrouble in his friend\u2019s district, the whole responsibility lies on his\nfriend; the same rule is generally applied when travellers are following\na guide. Though it may seem strange, yet the appearance of many people\nis apt to be deemed \u201cuncanny\u201d. The phenomenon of a person without an\narm, of people able to change the colour of their hair, or \u201cto take out\ntheir teeth and put them in again,\u201d though easily turned to a laugh among\nfriendly natives, especially the young, is nevertheless felt to demand\nexplanation, and might cause serious results among natives disposed to\nquarrel.\n\n\n48.\u2014THE DESTINY OF THE CHILD.\n\nIn civilised countries the destiny of the new arrival is left to unfold\nitself gradually. No definite course is chalked out. In the life of the\ncivilised infant there is consequently a great amount of uncertainty and\nplot interest, especially with reference to marriage, as every romance\nbears witness to. Here this is not the case. Take the instance of a\nlittle girl. All the lovely day dreams, all the pleasures of hope and\npictures of fancy are rudely set aside long before she has reached sweet\nseventeen. While the child is yet unborn she may be sought in marriage.\nThis is often done. Very usually the ardent suitor will wait until it is\nknown whether the child is to be a boy or a girl. Then he begins at once\nto ask for her. He goes with his suit to the Surety (Angoswe), whose name\nwe intended to translate \u201cundertaker,\u201d only the Awilo (34) usurped that\nword. The Surety promises to attend to it, and tells him to come back\nsoon. When he returns in a day or two, if he has not been forestalled,\nthe Surety refers him to the mother. The first comer is almost always\nsuccessful, especially if he bring a decent present, and the infant is at\nonce betrothed. When the mother\u2019s consent is given the future son-in-law\noffers the present which he has taken with him, and promises to keep the\nlittle girl supplied with clothes. Her clothing, of course, is nothing\nbut a scanty loin cloth. It is the acceptance of this cloth and the\nwearing of it that is the great token of betrothal.\n\nThe same word that is used for betrothing a girl is also applied to the\nselecting of a piece of ground for hoeing. A person who wants a new farm\ngoes forth and makes his selection. After doing so he takes bunches of\nlong grass and ties round the trees in that field. Everyone that passes\nknows by the grass put upon the trees that the field has been taken\npossession of. Anyone that interfered with it would be liable to have an\naction brought against him. In the same way the intending husband points\nto the cloth that he has given to the girl, and says, \u201cShe is mine\u201d. If\nany one interfere with her the intending husband may put him to death.\n\nA boy may also be betrothed in his early days. His guardians will try to\nsecure a girl about his own age, by arranging with other guardians that\nmay have a female child to dispose of.\n\nIf a girl have a husband betrothed to her she often cooks food for him.\nBut her claim on him is not of an exclusive nature, as he may have more\nwives than one, while the misfortune of an unhappy union is more bitter\nto her, as she is excluded from others that she might prefer.\n\nIn the Mission School at Zomba there were many couples of twelve years\nand under, that were engaged to each other. The boys could tell what\ngirls they were to marry, and the girls could also point out their\nhusbands. The marriages of the natives are generally very happy. This\nresult gives some countenance to Dr. Johnson\u2019s view that there would\nbe more happiness if all marriages were made by the Chancellor of the\nExchequer. The parents seem never to doubt that they know the \u201cminds\u201d\nof their sons and daughters better than they can do themselves. At the\nsame time I have seen many cases where the girl would have done anything\nrather than marry the man that had been assigned her.\n\n\n49.\u2014INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD.\n\nWhile the mother goes about her ordinary pursuits she carries her\nchild upon her back. Native children learn to walk and to talk much\nsooner than white children do. They are put upon the ground at an early\nstage; little supervision is exercised, and they are accustomed to eat\nhandfuls of mud. There seems to be no very good food for young children,\nconsequently they are suckled for a long time. By and by they get a\nspecies of thin porridge (likoko). No cradles are used; the child sleeps\non a mat. Very often it will be asleep on its mother\u2019s back as she is\nhard at work under the tropical sun.\n\nIt is not common to see a mother beat her child; in fact, there is very\nlittle occasion. There are no clothes to soil, no house to spoil, no\nwindows to smash, no dishes to break, no spoons to lose; the child may\nplay with anything that it can find; it may go where it likes without\ngoing into much danger, and without destroying flower-beds or favourite\nplants!\n\n\n50.\u2014BOYHOOD.\n\nAs the child grows, his life is equally wild and free. He has to pay no\npenalties to the requirements of polite society, he has to go through no\nordeal of being taught to sit properly at table, to hold his knife and\nfork properly, and such things\u2014Simple child of nature, thou hast neither\ntable nor chair, knife nor fork!\n\nHe has no School Board to confine him, his time is all his own; he goes\nforth to swim in the brooks, or play in the woods. There is no clock in\nthe hall that will tell tales about his long stay; he watches the course\nof the great clock in the face of the heavens, which he learns to read\nwith astonishing accuracy. As darkness sets in he must go home (from\ndanger of wild beasts), and may be seen returning to the village. Perhaps\nhe carries a great bag full of beetles or of field-rats, which are to\nserve as a relish (mboga) to his evening meal. Possibly he is laden with\nwild fruits; in any case he has the appearance of brightness and buoyancy\nthat an English child has when returning from a pic-nic. He carries his\nlittle bow and arrows, and is accompanied by two or three companions like\nhimself.\n\nApprenticed to no trade, he is left to acquire what he wishes at his\nown discretion. Still he has some duties. A very common occupation is\nto watch the baboons (majani), and keep them from eating the corn. All\nthis time the boy is picking up a great deal of information. He hears\nthe talk of his elders as he sits with them at their meals, or when they\nare engaged in public counsel; and by and by, for amusement in the first\ninstance, he will take to some little occupation himself. Of course, in\nthis country he can live and become rich (as a native counts riches),\nwithout learning any trade. Hoeing comes naturally to him, but his wives\nwill hoe.\n\n\n51.\u2014AMUSEMENTS (1) TALES, AND CONUNDRUMS.\n\nI was once walking along a native path with a little boy, and when the\nconversation began to flag I proposed a native riddle for him. He turned\nround with a very peculiar look, and asked me if we recited riddles at\nour home. \u201cYes,\u201d was the reply, \u201cand you do it too.\u201d Then he asked, \u201cDo\nyou do it at mid-day?\u201d And by and by, after smothering many conflicting\nthoughts and some irresolution, he began to explain that the old people\nsaid that \u201cif boys recited riddles at mid-day, horns would grow on their\nforeheads!\u201d Tales and conundrums are generally recited after sunset.\nWhile asleep, as our companions thought, in a tent beside the camp\nfires, we have often lain almost bursting with suppressed laughter, as\nwe listened to the tales and conundrums that went round. Natives have\nplenty of such traditional literature, which, accompanied by their shrewd\nobservations on men and manners, makes their society highly interesting.\n\n(2) A very simple method of amusement in the villages is for the children\nto dance or skip along the roads, singing simple songs and choruses (Cf.\nchilewe).\n\n(3) The out-door games are numerous; (indoor games will not be looked\nfor when we remember the size of the houses). One of the commonest is\nplaying at ball (kung\u2019anda mpila). In the usual game there are two sides:\nthe players mix with each other, and the object of each is to throw the\nball so that it will always be caught by one of the same side. If one\nof the other side catch it, the ball changes owners, and the side that\noriginally had it must try to recover it. The side that keeps the ball\nlongest is victorious. It must be thrown up as soon as it is received.\nSometimes the time of throwing is regulated by beating a drum.\n\n\n(4) TOPS.\n\nThey set up maize cobs (isonde), which represent soldiers. The player\non one side has the same number of \u201csoldiers\u201d as his opponent. Each\ndischarges tops (njengo) upon the opposing army, and the man that first\ndemolishes those of his opponent is victorious. Another amusement with\ntops is the same as in Britain, and consists in merely trying how long\nthey can make a top spin. They often shout or sing something as it\nrevolves.[7]\n\n\n(5) DRAUGHTS (NJOMBWA).\n\nA game reminding us somewhat of draughts is very common. Little holes are\ndug in the ground, the players have a certain number of plums. The object\nof one player is to take possession of all the plums of his opponent. We\nhave seen regular boards used for this game about the size of a draught\nboard, but with little holes like those in a bagatelle board. These holes\nare in four rows or lines (nyili). The councillors of Malemya, the chief\nof Zomba, are very fond of this amusement during their beer drinkings.\n\n\n(6) SKIPPING ROPE (CHIWEWE).\n\nThey tie a large bunch of African grass (like a bunch of hay or straw) to\nthe end of a rope. One man swings this rapidly in a circle of which he\nis the centre. The skipper stands within this circle, and must jump over\nthe rope each time it comes round. If he cannot clear the rope in time it\n\u201cties his legs, and he falls and gets laughed at\u201d.\n\nAll these games are for the boys, but they do not forget them when they\ngrow up; in fact, the young men seem to be the most zealous players. The\ngirls have not so much time for play; they are kept constantly pounding\nat corn as soon as they are able to lift the pestle.\n\n(7) Both boys and girls have games, in which they imitate the graver\npursuits of their fathers and mothers (kulinganila misingu jao). They\nbuild little houses, where they go to dwell during the day. Girls in\ntheir play often break down soft stones between harder ones, after the\nfashion that women grind flour. Boys go about with miniature bows and\ngrass arrows (sugumbe). Playing at war and stealing slaves is a common\ngame. In teaching young natives substraction, the illustration found\nsimplest was like this: given a village with 30 people, the slavers catch\n11, how many are left?\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nMYSTERIES.\n\n\n52.\u2014\u201cLITTLE-GO\u201d FOR THE GIRLS.\n\nWhen a girl is very young, scarcely approaching the age of puberty, she\nis taken to one mystery called unyago wa chiputu. The Wanyasa girls are\na little older when they go to this ceremony. Girls until this ceremony\nare called \u201cuninitiated\u201d (wesichana); after it they are \u201cinitiated\u201d\n(wali). The same terms are applicable to boys and young men, although\nmore commonly applied to females. The girl may have been living with her\nhusband even before this mystery. In such cases she gets a special charm\nat the ceremony. The mystery is a very great occasion among these tribes.\nLong before the time a great deal of food is prepared: the women may be\nseen pounding maize for about five days before. It begins at new moon,\nand continues for a month or more. The children to be initiated stay in\nbooths away in the bush. Thousands of people collect from all quarters.\nThere is a great deal of dancing and singing.\n\nThe girls are initiated by a female, who is called the \u201ccook of the\nmystery\u201d (mtelesi wa unyago). Among other things this \u201ccook\u201d gives\nan exhortation in which they are told to be obedient and respectful\nto their elders, and to avoid making any disturbance in the village.\nTowards the close of the ceremony the little girls are put under a roof,\nwhich they can carry on their heads. Ten may be under this at the same\ntime. A great part of the exhortation has reference to the customs of\nthe tribe, especially with reference to marriage duties, and advice is\ngiven in a great many absurd details. Each little girl is told that she\nmust be faithful to her husband, otherwise he will kill her. Although\nthe adultress is liable to punishment by death, this threat goes perhaps\na little beyond the truth. But it is considered prudent to impress the\nmind of the child by warning her of the extreme danger that such conduct\nmight incur. The heads of the girls are shaved, and their bodies anointed\nwith an oil which contains various charms. One hurtful superstition is\nthat when the girl is initiated she must find some man to be with her on\nher return otherwise she will die. The same superstition is implicitly\nbelieved with reference to the boys\u2019 ceremonies. It reminds us a little\nof what Herodotus relates of certain Asiatics. When the girl comes back\nto her home her name is changed, and must not be again mentioned.\n\nThe ordinary fee for this initiation, payable by the guardians of the\ngirl to the \u201ccook,\u201d is about four fathoms of cloth. This is a heavy\nfee\u2014about a month\u2019s wages of a native workman.\n\n\n\u201cLITTLE-GO\u201d FOR THE BOYS (NDAGALA).\n\nThe boys go through a similar ceremony. First there is a dance (kwina) at\na place cleared of the small trees and bushes (lupanda). This dance lasts\nfor two or three days. After this they pass to the initiation (ndagala).\nHere they stay in booths made of cut trees, grass, and bamboos, for about\na month and a-half. The ceremony begins at new moon, and continues until\nnext full moon; but anyone may be initiated sooner if there be a cause\nfor speed. (The Anyasa do not make their males go through this ceremony;\nbut an Anyasa slave taken by the Wayao is put through it even if he be an\nold man and married.)\n\nThe candidates carry their beds with them. They provide themselves with\nsticks like ramrods (mbininga), which are thrown at any one that may\nintrude on their retreat; and if a person should thus be seriously hurt\nthere is no redress. This reminds us of the\n\n    Odi profanum vulgus,\n    Et arceo\n\nof Horace. When they leave the ceremony great care is shown in destroying\nor disposing of these sticks: some are put together at a \u201ccross-road\u201d.\n\nThe chief figure in this ceremony is a man called the \u201crattler of the\ntails\u201d (juakuchimula michila). Tails are possessed of great power as\ncharms. A chief who goes to war seeks for such medicinal tails; the sick\nare restored by them. A house in which ivory is to be stored must first\nbe swept by tails. Belief in their virtues is not confined to one tribe.\nPictures of the Zulu witch-doctors represent these personages as fully\narmed with tails, and there are many other instances in Africa. The man\nthat rattles the tails communicates to the initiated all information with\nregard to the customs of the tribe, and special observations connected\nwith the sexes. He delivers lectures and is said to give much good\nadvice. A person that has not gone through this ceremony is laughed at as\nbeing uninitiated (mwisichana). The lectures condemn selfishness, hence\nwhen one man refuses to share with another a piece of meat he is called\nmwisichana.\n\nNo one must call the initiated youth (wanachikopoko) by his previous\nname. \u201cWhat would happen if any one were to forget this, and call the\nyouth by his old name?\u201d \u201cWhy, he would kill you.\u201d It is a terrible way\nof teasing a Wayao to point to a little boy, and ask if he remembers\nwhat was his name when he was about the size of that boy. Some would not\nmention their old name on any consideration.\n\n\n53.\u2014THE \u201cGREAT GO\u201d (UNYAGO WA CHIMBANDI).\n\nThere is another of these mysteries. It must be remembered that the\nforegoing mysteries are great occasions among the natives, and this one,\nthough in some respects less public and more a family matter is no less\nso. When the \u201cgreater mystery\u201d (unyago wokulu), as the Anyasa call it,\nis to be held, a quiet and peaceful village is converted into a scene\nresembling an old feeing market or a penny wedding. The ceremony is held\nwhen a young woman is with child for the first time; it is attended only\nby women that have borne children themselves. Other women are banished\nfrom the village, and all the males except the husband of the young\nwoman, who must be present if he has not been initiated before.\n\nThe day before the ceremony women may be seen pounding corn for the\noccasion, as they have been doing for several days. A preparation is\nmade that might do for a marriage feast. The young woman that is to be\nthe subject of the mystery is seated before the door of her hut, and her\nhead is smeared over with castor oil. The \u201cCook\u201d seems to superintend\nthis operation, although other women assist. They take the thinner end of\ntheir razor (lukwangulo), and keep poking all along her head while the\ngirl sits quiet and gloomy. That day her head is shaved. Next day there\nis the mystery proper. The Surety (48) has gone to invite other women.\nThe \u201cCook\u201d also invites her friends. The young woman herself (achakongwe\nwene) invites some. There is a very imposing gathering of matrons;\nsongs and dances of the usual indelicate character are the order of the\nday. One of the most conspicuous parties is to be seen with an enormous\npumpkin tied under her dress. The young woman is anointed with oil and\nred ochre (ngama). The ceremony is finished towards night and inside the\nhouse. The fee to the \u201cCook\u201d is two bushels of maize. This is the last of\nthese mysteries. The advice given to the young woman (and her husband)\nis not deficient in quantity; but on its quality we prefer to be silent.\nTo the natives themselves it appears ridiculous as soon as they become\ncritical.\n\nWe have met a Yao far from his own home, and once or twice, in order to\nfind out at what age he had been carried off in slavery, we have asked\nwhether he was at the mysteries; the very mention of the subject nearly\nput him beside himself with laughter. He looks back to the matter as\na comical experience of his life; but at the same time he is rather\nashamed, especially when he thinks that a European knows about it. The\nfollowing from the Zulu tales of Bishop Callaway illustrates a similar\npractice in the South of Africa:\u2014\u201cWhen young men come to the Umgongo\nwhere the ceremonies of puberty are being performed (for when a damsel\nis of age it is then that the filthy custom is practised of all the\nyoung people going there), the house is now a house of sweethearts and\ndamsels where all kind of evil will be spoken; modesty is at an end at\nthat time, and all fearful things are mentioned, which ought not to be\nopenly mentioned, and which, if a man mentioned them by name, he would\nbe regarded as mad. There then all become mad, for there is no one of\nauthority to say, \u2018Do not mention such things\u2019.\u201d\n\nOn this whole subject writers are divided. Some say that the mysteries\ninclude circumcision after the Jewish or Mahommedan custom. Others deny\nthis. The subject has its difficulties, as these rites are supposed to\nbe inviolably concealed by the initiated, who often say that they would\ndie if they revealed them. Mr. Rowley, in his book on the \u201cUniversities\nMission,\u201d makes the remark that the Wayao circumcise. From one native\nI gathered that such was the case; but on subsequent inquiry I could\nnot verify the statement. The Mahommedans, who are pressing into the\ncountry, have, according to Senhor Nunes, a missionary spirit about them,\nbut even at Quilimane the administration of circumcision is confined\nto their prosyletes. The general character of the mysteries is as we\nhave described above. We may also point out that in the initiation of\nmales, figures of the whale (nyamgumi) are made on the ground, and in\nthe initiation of females, figures of leopards, hyenas, and such animals\nas are seen by those that never leave their homes. Flour is sprinkled on\nthe top of these figures; if it fall off soon, there will be war in the\ncountry. Some of the advices given to the Namaquas at similar ceremonies\nis that they must not any longer suck goats!\n\nAt initiation the Bechuana girls are put under the authority of a stern\nold woman, who sets them very severe tasks in order to teach them to\nundergo pain and fatigue. One of their duties is to hold a piece of hot\niron in their hands for some time. We have often been astonished at the\nmanner in which the natives about us used to handle fire. It seemed to\nbecome quite harmless in their fingers!\n\nThe boys in some Bechuana tribes have an ordeal still more severe. A\nnumber of questions are asked, for instance, \u201cWill you herd the cattle\nwell?\u201d When the boy says \u201cI will,\u201d he receives a stroke which inflicts a\ndeep gash in his back. Another question is put to him, which is impressed\non his memory by another terrible blow. If he were to wince under\nthese inflictions he would fail to \u201cpass\u201d. The boys generally acquit\nthemselves marvellously. The cuts inflicted are said to be from 12 to 18\ninches long. Few Europeans would survive the initiation.\n\nFew things better shew the degradation of the African heathen than\nthe fact that instruction at the Mysteries is the only kind of formal\nteaching to be found in his country.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nMARRIAGE.\n\n\n54.\u2014WAYS OF PROCURING A WIFE.\n\n(1) We have already seen that a little girl may be betrothed very early.\nAfter she is grown up, even before she has attended the mysteries, she\nmay go to live with her husband.\n\n(2) If a man succeed a relative that possessed five wives, every one of\nthese women passes over to him by inheritance.\n\n(3) If a man make a raid on a neighbouring village, and carry off some\ngirls, they will become his wives, unless redeemed.\n\n(4) Another way of procuring a wife is simply by buying. Two skins of a\nbuck is a fair price in the Mangoni country. Similarly wives may be paid\nover in settling debts.\n\n(5) Young men are sometimes presented with wives by the masters or\nguardians of the latter.\n\n(6) The case of wooing is treated below (56).\n\nWhen a man\u2019s wife dies he gives an offering to her spirit (cf. 41), and\ngoes to seek another to fill her place. A wife whose husband is dead\nmay not get another so quickly lest he should die also (82). There is\nnothing to prevent a man from marrying his sister-in-law; but no man may\nmarry his sister, a fact that is brought out very distinctly in a common\nnative conundrum, which might be rendered, \u201cWhat is the fruit that you\nmust not pluck, however sweet it may be?\u201d\n\nA couple may marry though they belong to different tribes, and can hardly\ncommunicate except by signs.\n\n\n55.\u2014RANKS AMONG WIVES.\n\nAs a rule a man has one wife that is free, while the other three or four\nare slaves. If he be the chief of a village his wife also gets the title\nof msyene wa musi, or \u201cpossessor of the village\u201d. His other wives are not\ncalled slaves, but ladies of the harem (akusyeto), although their status\nis really that of slaves.\n\nThe chief wife is generally the woman that was married first. There\nmay be exceptions. For instance, if the principal wife be betrothed in\ninfancy to a full grown man, this man will take a female \u201cto fill the\nplace of the betrothed infant\u201d.\n\nAfter being married for a year or two the husband is almost expected to\nget junior wives. These the chief wife, as a matter of courtesy, calls\nher younger sisters (apwao).\n\nWe have seen instances, however, when a great strife arose on the\nintroduction of the other wives, and where the chief wife would threaten\na separation, and carry it out too. But these were instances rather of\nself-will than of conformity to the customs of the country. It is an\nobject of common aspiration to be possessed of five wives.\n\nThe chief wife has the superintendence of the domestic and agricultural\nestablishment. She keeps the others at their work, and has power to\nexercise discipline upon them. The punishment she inflicts for laziness\nis to banish junior wives from meals until hunger bring them to their\nsenses. When a junior wife is very obstreperous her superior may put her\nin a slave stick. The authority of the chief wife is not a matter to jest\nwith. I knew a case of a junior wife that had her infant child promptly\nput upon the fire by this terrible overseer.\n\nWhen a man is severely pressed by some legal action and has to pay heavy\nfines, he begins by selling off his junior wives. When reduced to one\nwife he has reached the highest point of distress. His free wife he\ncannot sell, as she is under the protection of her surety (60).\n\n\n_Plurality of Free Wives._\n\nA man may procure more than one free wife, by inheriting an elder\nbrother. In this case he may often become the possessor of another\nvillage, and thus his free wives need not come into collision. His\nlate brother\u2019s wife may live at her old home, at which her new husband\nwill dwell on stated occasions; at other times he will live at his own\nvillage, where his other free wife continues to reside.\n\n\n56.\u2014ADULT MARRIAGE.\n\nIt is not easy to explain in a short form all the customs with reference\nto marriage. They are so different from what we are familiar with that,\nto make the description less tedious, we shall suppose a case of _adult\nmarriage_, which may easily happen, notwithstanding the custom of\nbetrothal, as a marriage here is not necessarily a union for life.\n\nA man sees a young woman who has apparently no husband; he wishes this\nyoung woman to be his wife. He may talk to her privately, and ask her\nsentiments. If he be favourably received, he will tell his wishes to his\nsurety (48)\u2014this may be his father or uncle, or elder brother, or the\nchief of the village in which he lives. This step is very prudent, seeing\nthat at marriage the man leaves his father and mother, leaves his own\nhome and country, and goes to stay with his wife.\n\nThe woman takes no steps whatever, she returns to her home and says\nnothing\u2014wonders whether the man is in earnest; by and by her suitor,\nafter receiving the sanction of his surety, goes to the country of the\nwoman and asks formally for her hand. The woman\u2019s surety tells him to\ncome back again, and meanwhile communicates with the woman. Next time the\nsuitor comes, perhaps in a day or two, he engages his bride. She is at\nonce his wife.\n\nThe man immediately leaves his own village and proceeds to build a house\nin the village of his wife. As soon as he has finished the door, and\nperhaps before the roof is on, she enters it and lives with him.\n\n\n_Day of entering the house._\n\nThere is no ceremony on the day on which she enters the house (_lia\nkwinjila nyumba_). The elders may be present on this day, and a rich man\nmay signalise it by having some beer; but the rule is that what would\nbe the marriage day with Europeans, passes by without receiving any\ndistinction. The woman simply enters the house that her husband has built\nat her father\u2019s home, and takes with her, pots, baskets, a bed, and some\nflour to make their simple meal. The axe and hoe belong rather to the\nman\u2019s outfit, although the woman will use them oftener than he. One of\nher first duties is to plaster their house.\n\n\n57.\u2014WOMAN\u2019S KINGDOM.\n\nThe wife has the chief part of the hoeing and _cultivation_ of the soil.\nThe husband cuts down trees and may also hoe with her if he have not\nmany wives, in which case he has less occasion to work. She has also to\ngo to the forest with her axe and cut _firewood_ (_ngwi_). The husband\nmay go with her. It is interesting to meet a couple returning from a\njourney for firewood. The man goes first carrying his gun or bow and\narrows, while the woman carries the invariable bundle of firewood on her\nhead. Mrs. Macdonald used to amuse such parties by taking the wife\u2019s load\nand putting it on the husband, telling him \u2018this is the custom of our\ncountry\u2019. It is also the wife\u2019s duty to go to the field for the supply of\nbeans, potatoes, or pumpkins.\n\nOne of the hardest parts of the woman\u2019s work is the _pounding_ or milling\nof the corn. She breaks it down in a mortar by means of a large pestle,\nwhich is a weight in itself. The work is certainly hard and tedious, but\nresults in the formation of a very fine flour.\n\nShe looks to her husband to find her in clothing. When her clothes are\ntorn it is his duty to sew them, and a very serious thing it is for a\nhusband to neglect this work. It may cause a separation. But he finds\nthat her wardrobe is not expensive. If he can get calico at 3d. a-yard\nshe will really cost little more than 2s. per annum. No wonder that she\nexpects her husband to show her some little attention since she does so\nmuch for him. The wife may be described as performing nearly the whole of\nthe ploughing and sowing, the whole of the reaping and ingathering of the\ncrop, the whole of the milling, the whole of the brewing, and the whole\nof the cooking, including the carrying of fire and water.\n\nWhen a woman has cooked her husband\u2019s meal she does not sit down to enjoy\nit with him except they be quite alone. If they sit down together and a\nmale stranger arrive she retires and takes her food apart, and he may do\nthe same when a female comes to visit them (67).\n\n\n58.\u2014MARRIAGE CONTRACT (_chikulundine_).\n\nWe have seen that there is no marriage ceremony on the day that they\nenter their house (56), but sometime after, perhaps when they get\nthe first produce of their new field, there is a meeting to lay down\ncertain rules as to their behaviour in their new relationship (_kuwika\nchikulundine_). The wife\u2019s surety comes to \u2018settle\u2019 her (_ne kuja angoswe\nkwatula alumbuwao_).\n\nThe young wife \u2018cooks\u2019 (_kuteleka_) or brews a great quantity of beer.\nTwo pots are prepared for the surety or sureties of her husband, and\ntwo others for her own surety or sureties. Then there is a great feast\nat which these personages are present to offer their instructions. The\nsureties of the husband (_angoswe wa chilume_) may kill a cock, while the\nsureties of the wife (_angoswe wa chikongwe_) kill a laying hen. Very\noften a part of such fowls is carefully carried to an old surety that has\nnot been able to come.\n\nThese marriage rules (_chikulundine_) prohibit the wife from adultery,\nand bind both parties to resort to the medicine man (_mchisango_) in case\nof sickness or misfortune.\n\nIn Deut. xxiv. 5, it is said, \u2018When a man hath taken a new wife he shall\nnot go out to war, neither shall he be chargeable with any business, but\nhe shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife whom he\nhas taken\u2019. So certain Africans will not go on any warlike expedition or\nact as undertakers (34) when they have a young child.\n\n\n59.\u2014SEPARATION.\n\nThe husband and wife may separate if they can show some reason. The\nreasons for a separation are such as these: (1) If the wife commit\n_adultery_, for one offence she may get off with a reprimand, especially\nin the case of a poor man; but the repetition of the offence generally\ninsures dismissal, if not death. If she be free, she goes back to her\nsurety, if she be a slave, she will likely be sold.\n\n(2) If either speak disrespectfully of the other\u2019s friends there may be a\nseparation.\n\n(3) If a woman\u2019s children all die her husband may leave her.\n\n(4) Where the husband neglects to sew his wife\u2019s clothes, or where the\nwife will not hoe diligently, there may be a divorce.\n\n(5) In cases where they do not please each other, a separation may be\narranged.\n\nWhen they separate, the wife takes away the few domestic utensils which\nshe brought with her, none of which are used by the man. If he gave her,\noccasionally, pieces of cloth to wear she does not pay them back, because\nshe was the \u201ccook of his porridge for him\u201d.\n\nIn all separations, except for serious cases like adultery, the one party\ngives the other a token (_msimbo_), which may be cloth, arrow-heads,\nbeads, or some such current money. The one that begins the strife\n(_juakutanda_), and is the cause of the separation, pays the other.\n\nVery often a husband leaving his wife will give her a male slave, while a\nwife leaving her husband will give him a female slave.\n\n\n_Marriage with Slaves._\n\nIf one of the parties be a slave to the other, the marriage bond is not\nso readily dissolved. Slave spouses must listen to the dictates of\ntheir partners, and where there is practically only one will there can\nbe no collision. The free spouses when tired of their slave partners, or\noffended by them, can dispose of them just as in the case of other slaves.\n\nWe have known many cases of slave wives running away from husbands,\nbut we have not known instances of slave husbands running away from\nfree wives. We might think that where the wives have the upper hand\nin marriage relationships, there is not such a risk of strife as in\nthe ordinary arrangement; only the proportion of free wives with slave\nhusbands is small.\n\nIn no case can a woman, even if she possess many male slaves, have more\nthan one husband. If a wife with a male slave marry a free husband, her\nmale slave is discarded; and if again she should fancy another man, she\nmust devise some reason for separating from this new husband. There can\neasily be found cases where it could be said to a woman, \u201cthou hast had\nfive husbands,\u201d although they would not be contemporaneous.\n\nThe husband on the other hand may have as many wives as he can secure.\nVery generally the head of a village, instead of appropriating for\nhimself every woman that he might have, gives over certain for his\nyounger brothers or male slaves. A Yao Chief is content with ten to\ntwenty wives. Some of the Magololo have 170.\n\nI have been often asked how a man can _maintain_ the scores, and even\nhundreds of wives that Africans are allowed to have. The man finds no\ndifficulty. The more wives he has, the richer he is. It is his wives\nthat _maintain him_. They do all his ploughing, milling, cooking,\n&c. (51). They may be viewed as superior servants who combine all the\ncapacities of male servants and female servants in Britain\u2014who do all his\nwork and ask no wages.\n\n\n60.\u2014PECULIAR POSITION OF A FREE WIFE.\n\nIn the case of a free wife the husband is not responsible for her debts,\nif he were so, it would go hard with her, as she might be sold off to\npay a \u201clegal action\u201d. When a woman gets into trouble the accuser does\nnot go to the husband at all, but to the surety (48). Suppose a woman is\naccused of theft, it is no matter for her husband. The accuser goes with\nsome evidence before the surety. If the evidence be exceedingly little,\nno notice is taken, but if the accuser has a chance of incriminating\nthe woman, the surety will call her, and she must respond, whether the\nhusband be willing or not.\n\nIf she confess to the charge, her surety pays the fine. If she deny the\ncharge, she will appeal to the poisoned cup (_mwai_). If she drink it and\nsurvive, she is innocent, and receives a fine which is paid, not to the\nhusband, but to the surety. When the plaintiff has to pay three slaves,\nthe surety will retain two of them, and out of kindness give one over\nto his relative whose life has been endangered by the ordeal; thus the\naccused woman has a kind of solatium. If she die, her guilt is proved:\nthe plaintiff is entitled to restitution of the stolen goods or their\nvalue, and a fine as well. All this is paid by the surety; the husband\nhas nothing to do in the matter except to observe the customary mourning\n(33) when she dies, but of course the unfortunate woman that dies of the\npoison is only entitled to mangled funeral rites (107).\n\n\n_Family Relationships._\n\nWe may here mention the great difficulty we have at first in\nunderstanding their relationships. The modern European family is founded\non marriage, but the time was, even in Europe, when it was founded\nas much on power. The single fact that families may be founded on\nother grounds than marriage will give the ordinary reader an idea of\nthe difficulty. A native child sees nothing wonderful in claiming to\nhave two or three fathers, and as many mothers. If a man have several\nyounger brothers their children are called his sons, so are his own\ngrandchildren. But the children of a sister are called his nephews. This\nnaming fits very well with their system of inheritance (97). If a man\nhave a brother and a sister, he is called one thing by the brother, but\nquite a different thing by the sister. Again, we cannot give a literal\ntranslation of \u201cJoseph and his brethren\u201d: we require to say \u201cJoseph and\nhis elder brethren and his younger brother\u201d.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nSOCIAL LIFE.\n\n\n61. MAN IN SOCIETY.\n\nHitherto we have looked at the native as an individual or as a member of\na family and have spoken of his birth, training, marriage, and death. Now\nwe shall view him as a member of society.\n\nRarely does a native live a hermit\u2019s life. We did know of men that\nforsook their relatives and lived alone, but they were considered\nmad. Not unfrequently, however, a man and his family live entirely by\nthemselves, independent of the rest of the world. Such cases occur where\ninvading tribes have overrun a country and driven out its people. After\nthe invaders retire, the old inhabitants are afraid to go back, and an\nenormous tract of country is left desolate. Still, in some inaccessible\nnook there is often found a solitary family\u2014a remnant either of the\ninvaders or of the invaded. Usually the natives live in small villages\ncontaining 10 or 12 huts, occasionally in larger villages containing\nthree times as many. They do not like to pack themselves closely. In\ntimes of peace few villages contain more than 100 people. Owing to the\nnative method of cultivation (64), the inhabitants of a large village\nsoon find themselves too distant from their farms. On one small island in\nLake Chirwa, people are massed together to the number of 4000, but they\nsubsist by fishing, and are obliged to live there for protection from\nslavers.\n\n\n62. FOUNDING A NATIVE VILLAGE.\n\nA man wishing to found a new settlement, first takes steps to get out\nof the village he belongs to. He goes to the village chief and says\n\u201cI wish to leave you and form a hamlet of my own\u201d. Should the latter\nobject, he remarks, \u201cRemember, I am not your slave\u201d. In times of peace\nit is inconvenient to crowd people together, and the chief\u2019s consent is\nreadily obtained. In times of war no one cares to form a small settlement\nwhich might become an easy prey to the enemy. In a populous district the\nfounder of a new village makes arrangements with his neighbours regarding\nthe fields he is to farm. Then he chooses the ground and betrothes it\n(tomela). When ready to remove he takes his axe and his grass-cutter and\nmarches to the site of his new home, accompanied by his family who are\nable to carry all the furniture at one journey. In a single forenoon they\nerect temporary dwellings for themselves. They then begin to clear away\nthe bush, the man cutting the trees, and his wives doing the hoeing while\nthe children play beside them. The party find themselves in a pleasant\nlittle world of their own where no one interferes. Their method of\nmanuring the ground by burning the trees on it, makes sad havoc of the\nbeautiful woods. After the hoeing is well advanced they think of erecting\na house. During his wood-cutting the man sets aside the trees that are\nsuitable for building. He also lays past some of the grass for thatching.\nWhen the erection is finished it is carefully plastered by the women,\nand then we have before us the house or hut which is the chief material\nconstituent of the native village. Separate houses for fowls and bins for\ncorn may next be erected (C).\n\n\n63. INCREASE OF VILLAGE.\n\nThe single family may rapidly become a large state. A man with three\ndaughters, one of nine years, another of five years, and another of\nfive days will soon have three able-bodied sons-in-law added to his\nvillage. The girl of nine years likely has her husband already, who now\ncomes and builds a house at her father\u2019s abode, while his young wife\ntries to look as important as she can. The girl of five years may also\nhave crossed the Rubicon, otherwise her husband, if a lad of sixteen\nsummers, will be counting the weary days of single life, and looking\nforward to the time when he may go to dwell with his bride. The girl of\nfive days, if she have not a presumptive husband already, will be given\nto the first applicant, and he will in due time be added to the colony.\nSince a husband, instead of taking his wife from her home must leave\nhis own abode and go to dwell with her (56), daughters are the great\nhope of a rising village. Sons do not cheer their father\u2019s heart in the\nsame way; for their marriage removes them from his settlement and adds\nnothing to his splendour as a village chief. The sons-in-law have all\nseparate dwellings. However large the settlement may become, the man\nthat is first in the field is the chief or headman. In course of time\nhe adorns his position by acquiring wealth. He may shoot some buck and\nget possession of their skins. With these he goes to the Mangoni country\nand buys slaves. An old person he obtains for a single skin, but a young\nslave costs two; and women cost much more than men. The female slaves\nthus bought are his junior wives, and he keeps them busy in hoeing the\nfarm, and all such female duties. The male slaves he employs in farming,\nbuilding, making baskets, sewing garments, and such masculine pursuits.\nHe keeps all these persons strictly at their duties, and at the same\ntime welcomes an opportunity of selling them at a profit. The gain\nthus realised he lays out in purchasing more people. If his daughters\nwere unmarried, he would give them slave-husbands. The natives aim at\n\u201creplenishing the earth and subduing it\u201d. As it is no expense for them to\nrear families, they are all desirous to have many children.\n\nBesides this increase of the village from the chief\u2019s own resources,\nthere may be an accession of freemen. After the settlement is begun,\na man may come to its founder and say, \u201cI wish to live with you\u201d. The\nvillage chief gives him permission and calls him \u201cyounger brother\u201d. The\nnew comer brings his family, builds a house, and cultivates a farm in the\nsame way as his chief.\n\nA freeman may leave his present chief and take up his abode with another,\nwhose subject he becomes. His former chief has no longer any authority\nover him whatsoever. But a man often decamps by night taking with him\nmany slaves belonging to his fellow-citizens; he then goes to some\ninfluential chief who may be only too glad to give the fugitive ground,\nand to establish him as a sub-chief. Freemen who thus leave are detested\nby their former chief, who welcomes every opportunity of shooting or\ncapturing them.\n\nTo retain a runaway slave is to proclaim war with his owner. A chief\nthough not bound to catch a runaway and hand him back, may do so in\norder to show friendship to the slave\u2019s master. A fugitive slave when\nrecaptured is treated unmercifully, hence he almost chooses to die rather\nthan to be sent back.\n\n\n64. VILLAGE LIFE AND WORK.\n\nAs we take a journey into the country we come on a path quite new.\nCuriosity prompts us to follow it. Our natives exclaim, \u201cOh, when did\nthis new settlement begin? How quickly it has sprung up.\u201d We quench our\nthirst at the beautiful stream, and then advance towards the village\ngreen. The hamlet is already large, but we find only two male slaves\nsitting manufacturing a bed. \u201cWhere is the chief?\u201d \u201cHe has gone to drink\nbeer at Masangano\u2019s.\u201d \u201cWhy did you leave your old home?\u201d \u201cChikumbu is\nkilling people, and we wanted to live nearer the Mission.\u201d \u201cAnd where is\nlittle Mpakata that used to come to school?\u201d \u201cHis father sent him to\nwatch the monkeys, but he takes his book with him and reads.\u201d \u201cWhere are\nall the rest of the people?\u201d \u201cThey have gone to carry food from our old\nfields.\u201d When villages are small we find them in the forenoon entirely\ndeserted, and all the doors barred on the outside. In the first year of a\nsettlement the farm is just at the door. Each year it moves farther off,\nfor instead of hoeing the old fields, the natives go beyond them, and\nwithout remorse cut down more of the beautiful trees. Thus they advance\nyear by year till they reach the boundary of another farmer. From him\nthey get permission to go right beyond his farm and hoe on the other\nside. The new fields they plant with their corn and principal crops; the\nold fields they think fit only for beans and crops of small importance.\nWhen they have in this way exhausted the soil in their neighbourhood,\nthey remove altogether, and build a new village in some uncultivated spot.\n\n\n65. THE WORKERS.\n\nThe wives and slaves of a village chief do the greater part of his\nhoeing (62). His sons-in-law are also required to assist. Should a slave\nson-in-law refuse to comply with this custom he is liable to be driven\nfrom his wife: a free son-in-law would get off more easily. It is not\ncommon for the man\u2019s own sons to contribute their aid, but they may do\nso out of kindness. The freemen that settle with a man, and own him as\ntheir chief, are under no obligation to do his farming; they have fields\nof their own: but it is common for a farmer to be assisted by all in\nhis neighbourhood through what is called a _chijawo_, which resembles a\nhoeing match, only there is no competition. The farmer brews an enormous\nquantity of beer. All his friends turn out with hoes, and work hard till\nmidday; after that they drink the beer.\n\n\n66. A DAY\u2019S WORK AND A DAY\u2019S FARE.\n\nThe natives rise at daybreak (6 A.M.) and go off to their fields without\nany food. They work till noon, and then come back to breakfast. Their\nday\u2019s work in the field is now over, and in the afternoon the village\nso recently empty is full of inhabitants. The women are occupied in\npreparing the second meal, while the men may do some of their more\nartistic work (H), though among tribes that have been hitherto hunted\nfrom their homes every twenty or thirty years no high art is to be\nexpected. As the shades of evening gather round the hamlet (6 P.M.) the\nvillagers partake of their second meal, and soon after retire to rest.\n\n\n67. COOKING AND MEALS IN COMMON.\n\nThough each family has a farm of its own, no family eats its food apart\nfrom the others. All the inhabitants of a small village take their meals\nin common. They manage in the following way:\u2014One night Mrs. Kumlomba\nsupplies all the flour, and takes her share of pounding and cooking.\nNext night Mrs. Chipaliko does the same, and next night Mrs. Chendombo.\nAs soon as the food is cooked, it is taken to their husbands and all\nthe other males of the village, who wait for it in the forum. Part is\nreserved for the women themselves, who along with the female children\nmust eat in a different place. A large village is divided into several\nmesses, one part of each mess consisting of the males and the other part\nof the females.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nGOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.\n\n\n68. VILLAGE POLITICS.\u2014THE HEADMAN OR VILLAGE CHIEF.\n\nThe inhabitants of a native village live together on well-understood\nprinciples, whatever may be said of their practice. The village headman\nis their Governor, or rather their \u201cFather\u201d. In describing how a new\nsettlement is founded (62) we supposed that a man went forth alone, and\nwas afterwards joined by others, who were called his \u201cyounger brothers\u201d.\nBut often the founder is from the first accompanied by several friends.\nNow, all these \u201cyounger brothers\u201d form a kind of Parliament. The founder\nof the village, or in other words the village headman, presides over this\nbody, but is not obliged to follow its instructions. Slaves cannot be\nmembers of Parliament, neither have females any voice in the council. So\nmuch is this last fact recognised, that when a mother is asked whether\nthe infant in her arms is a boy or a girl, instead of saying \u201cIt is a\ngirl,\u201d she will reply, \u201cIt belongs to the sex that does not speak!\u201d\u2014an\nanswer which strikes us as implying an unusual definition of the\nfemale sex. A headman does not convene his parliament except when he\nsees occasion. If he think, for instance, that some of his people are\nbecoming too rich, he transfers their goods to himself without making\nany fuss about the matter. But if he wish to engage in war, he considers\nit necessary to assemble his parliament. In the same way if he desire to\ncarry out any public work, as surrounding the village with a stockade,\nhe summons his people to consider the proposal and assist in the\nundertaking. The headman, however, cannot make his villagers hoe his farm\nfor him, or do any such private work (65). Neither does he exact tribute\nfrom them\u2014for who would tax his \u201cyounger brothers?\u201d Still he expects\nthem not only to stand by him in war, but to support his government on\nall occasions, and to render special assistance in the trial of judicial\ncases. After such cases have been debated by his parliament, it becomes\nhis duty to give decision. He may pronounce a capital sentence, or order\nas large a penalty as the fine of four slaves\u2014especially if he be a\nhigher headman (72). But his judgment may be complained of by any of his\nfree subjects (only such appeals are rare, unless by parties that want to\nleave his village altogether). His decision may be revised by some other\nheadman, as the ruler of the village from which his own settlement broke\noff (62); but the ultimate appeal is to the chief of the country. While\nthe village headman settles all smaller disputes without troubling his\nchief, he usually reports graver cases. Where he has any difficulty in\nadministering justice he appeals to his chief for aid, and if such aid\nwere refused, he would have sufficient reason for rebelling. The headman\nis called the \u201cowner of the village,\u201d and when he dies his position is\ntaken by his heir (97).\n\n\n69. THE KING OR CHIEF OF THE COUNTRY.\n\nThe chief is called the \u201cowner of the territory\u201d (msiene chilambo), and\nhas supreme power over every one that dwells within his dominions. It\nis true that he does not personally interfere with all his subjects,\nmuch less with their slaves, but he holds the headmen accountable for\nthe government of their respective villages. He lives in what is called\nthe \u201ccapital\u201d (kumbala), which is inhabited mainly by his wives and\nslaves\u2014a man\u2019s greatness being always measured by the number of these.\nIf he have ten wives, he must have ten huts for them; and he requires\nother huts for his older children and his slaves. These items alone make\nhis village large, and he may have many people besides. He maintains no\nspecial army, for every man in the country is supposed to be a soldier.\nHe rules his own village in the same way as an ordinary headman would do.\nHe often gives considerable authority to his principal slave, who may be\nas important a functionary as Joseph was with his Egyptian master. In and\naround his own village the chief of the country is a terrible power, and\nhis government is supported by the most prompt and severe punishments.\nBut in distant parts of his dominions, where influential headmen live, he\nmay be little known, although as a matter of theory he is supposed to\nsettle all graver disputes even in remote villages. When an appeal comes\nup from a headman\u2019s village, the chief generally decides it himself, but\nhe may refer it either to this headman again or to some other headman in\nwhom he has confidence. In a dispute between the inhabitants of different\nvillages, the respective headmen represent their own subjects, and the\nchief is appealed to. All his decisions are final. Still the chief may\noften have less influence than powerful headmen, and we have known cases\nwhere he simply contented himself with grumbling when his headmen acted\ncontrary to his desire; and in many criminal trials he is eclipsed by the\nsorcerers and pounders of poison.\n\n\n70. GOVERNMENT OF THE COUNTRY.\n\nThe chief governs his whole territory on the same principles as a headman\ngoverns a village (68). He presides over a parliament composed of his\nheadmen, and he deals with this body in the same way as the headmen\nthemselves deal with their own village parliaments. Order is maintained\namong the various classes of his subjects as follows:\u2014(1) Slaves are\nentirely under their own master\u2014they are his \u201cgoods\u201d; (2) Freemen are\nunder their elder brother in the first instance, but they may carry\ntheir cases to the headman of their village, or even to the chief of\nthe country; (3) Headmen are under higher headmen and the chief. Where\na chief sees occasion to interfere with his subordinates, he generally\nconsults his own interest. He will say to a headman, \u201cI see that you have\nbeen behaving badly to that subject of yours. You cannot get on with\nhim; he must leave you and come to dwell in my own village!\u201d The chief\nthus secures another servant.\n\n\n71. HEADMEN.\n\nHeadmen are of various classes. Some are the chief\u2019s blood-relations and\nare called his \u2018younger brothers\u2019. But just as in a village, there may be\nfree-men not related to the headman, so in the chief\u2019s country there may\nbe headmen not related to the chief. They may have come over with a large\nfollowing from a hostile chief, in which case they are called \u201csettlers,\u201d\nor \u201crefugees\u201d (alambi). Or they may be men that have gained the chief\u2019s\nfavour by their services, and been sent to occupy new spots in his\nkingdom. Again, when a large village increases, and sends forth smaller\nhamlets, new headmen arise; but some of these may carry all their trials\nto the mother village, and in this case they are still the subjects of\ntheir \u201celder brother\u201d.\n\nWhen a person has acquired several villages (97), he becomes a higher\nheadman, intermediate between the chief and the owner of a single\nvillage. Each headman lives in the village he likes best, and leaves\nhis \u201cbrothers\u201d to manage his other villages. But a headman of great\nambition often places \u201cbrothers\u201d all around him, decides their cases, and\npractically governs a small kingdom of his own. If he live far from his\nchief, one might suppose that he was quite independent. When a quarrel\narises between the chief of the country and an important headman, the\nlatter may rebel, and found a new kingdom, thus depriving the old chief\nperhaps of one-third of the villages in his dominion. On the other hand,\na headman may keep up the chief\u2019s authority in a district that the latter\ncould not otherwise hold.\n\n\n72. DUTIES OF HEADMEN TO THE CHIEF.\n\nIn all public transactions the headman represents his village. He\nreceives the chief\u2019s orders and sees them carried out. When he kills\nan elephant he sends one of the tusks to the chief. Should he kill\ntwenty elephants he is not expected to give up twenty tusks\u2014two or three\nwould be sufficient. If he shoot a large buck he gives one haunch of\nvenison. For all such tribute he expects to receive a return present\n(generally of a little powder). It is customary for him to invite his\nchief to a beer-drinking, at least once a year, and the latter accepts\nthe invitation. He is expected to attend the chief\u2019s parliament,\nunless he is under an elder brother, in which case he is not allowed\nto speak, except when specially commissioned. Headmen are expected to\nreport all cases of war, but they often attack enemies without telling\ntheir chief beforehand, saying, \u201cLet him hear of the enterprise when\nit succeeds\u201d. Yet this is dangerous unless they are sure of success,\nand well acquainted with the chief\u2019s private sentiments. On reporting\nthe attack they present the chief with part of the booty. In times of\nwar each headman when summoned, must follow his chief\u2019s flag, otherwise\nhis village is burned down, and all that fail to escape are killed or\nenslaved.\n\n\n73. COURTS OF JUSTICE.\n\nCourts of justice are held in every village for trying cases that\noccur among the villagers. These courts are identical with the village\nparliament (68), and the members discuss the cases, some taking one\nside and some the other. The supreme court is regularly held in the\nchief\u2019s village, and tries graver cases. It is identical with the supreme\nparliament of which the village headmen are members. Although the village\nheadmen and the chiefs of the country preside over these courts, yet in\nmany trials their influence is less than that of the sorcerer or the\npounder of poison. Since the natives neither divide their days into\nweeks nor number the days of their \u201cmoons,\u201d they have no stated time for\nholding courts, they just call them as occasion requires.\n\n\n74. TRIALS.\n\nIn a trial the accuser speaks first, and the accused replies. Afterwards\nthe various members of the council (68, 70) give their views. Throughout\nthe speeches there are expressions of approval at the close of each\nsentence, which serve to mark the punctuation. One man keeps crying out,\n\u201cAmao! Atati! Nangolo!\u201d \u201cMother! Father! Parent!\u201d\u2014words extolling the\nwisdom and experience of the speaker.\n\nThe chief or headman on settling a fine does not claim part of it. The\nwhole is paid over to the aggrieved persons, but if they thus obtain\nseveral slaves, they will present the chief with one in consideration\nof his services. The idea of friends paying each other is not agreeable\nto the native mind. Professional men such as sorcerers and physicians\nare paid, but transactions between a superior and his younger brother\ntake the form of presents. The natives show here a beautiful delicacy of\nfeeling that we are apt to overlook, amidst their obtrusive greed. An\nunsophisticated chief will give a goat as a present, where he would scowl\nvery much at the idea of selling it, although it is true that he expects\nthe return present to be greater than the proper price. The services\nof a judge are not such a hard task in this country: as there are no\nnewspapers the chief and his companions feel the need of something to\ntalk about.\n\n\n75. EVIDENCE.\n\nThough witnesses are appealed to, it must not be imagined that cases are\ndecided by their testimony as in England. Let a man be accused of theft,\nand though six witnesses declare that they saw him steal, the case may\nbe as far from a settlement as if there had been no witness at all. The\naccused cries, \u201cI did not steal, give me the poison (mwai) and it will\nprove my innocence\u201d. If his friends think him innocent they support his\ndemand, for an innocent man (they believe) will vomit the poison, and\nthus become entitled to receive a fine. But if they think him guilty\nthey will rather not appeal to the poison, for a guilty man will die in\ngreat pain,[8] and his representatives must make full restitution. The\naccusers of course, insist that the goods should be given back at once.\nThey do not wish to run the risk of the ordeal, for if the thief vomit,\nthey must pay him a fine, besides losing their goods. All the natives\nbelieve that mwai is infallible, while they well know that the testimony\nof their countrymen is not so. Were a judge to attempt to decide a native\ncase by ordinary evidence he would produce the strangest results. The\nprosecutor would come with hundreds of his friends prepared to swear to\nanything that was wanted. The defendant would come in like manner with\nall his friends ready to swear against everything said by the opposite\nparty. Even though the alleged crime should be of the most secret\ncharacter, none of these persons would hesitate to swear that he had been\nan eye-witness. To crown all, each man would attend the trial, \u201carmed to\nthe teeth\u201d. But when cases are decided by the poisoned cup, the natives\nfeel that an element of quiet solemnity is introduced. They see one of\ntheir fellow creatures brought face to face with death. Here we encounter\nthe most deeply rooted faith that these tribes have. If they believe\nin anything, it is in this ordeal. I once asked Kumpama of Cherasulo,\n\u201cWhat would you do if a man stole ivory and vomited the mwai, but was\nafterwards found selling the stolen ivory?\u201d His reply was, \u201cIf the man\nstole the ivory he would not vomit the mwai, the mwai would kill him\u201d. I\nhave made similar suppositions to many natives, and though I carefully\nconcealed my _petitio principii_, they at once pointed out that I was\nsupposing cases that could never occur.\n\n\n76. DISCOVERY AND GENERAL TREATMENT OF CRIME.\n\nSince evidence is of such small importance, how can the natives ever\ndiscover criminals? They cannot use the poisoned cup for mere discovery,\nbecause no freemen can be compelled to drink it without a reason. They\nencounter a peculiar difficulty here, but they have a peculiar remedy.\nTheir method may be explained by showing how it works in the case of\ntheft. When a man finds his goods stolen and can get no trace of the\nthief, he applies to the sorcerer. This personage takes up the case,\ninspects the dry bones in his calabash, and in a short time is able to\ndeclare the thief. The sorcerer usually trusts to his calabash alone, but\noccasionally he makes men lay hold of a stick which after a time begins\nto move as if endowed with life, and ultimately carries them off bodily\nand with great speed to the house of the thief. When his divination is\ncompleted, the sorcerer announces that he has \u201cdetected\u201d (kamula) the\nthief and then formally names him to the owner of the stolen goods. The\nlatter goes to the alleged thief, tells him that he has been detected\nby the \u201coracle\u201d and boldly charges him with the crime. When the theft\nis proved either by the thief\u2019s confession, or by the ordeal (75), the\npursuer demands his goods and a fine besides, and holds the headman of\nthe thief\u2019s village responsible. It is always assumed, and generally\ncorrectly, not only that the headman knows[9] of every theft committed\nby his villagers, but that he has even received part of the plunder.\nWhere the accused party, in spite of the verdict of the oracle denies the\ncrime and survives the poisoned cup, the result brings discredit on the\nsorcerer. As the poison is the infallible test, the sorcerer is proved to\nhave \u201cdetected\u201d the wrong party. He accordingly loses his fee, and the\npursuer is not likely to put confidence in him again. Should the pursuer\nstill hope to recover his goods, he applies to another sorcerer, but the\nlatter must not \u201cdetect\u201d the party that has just been accused. A person\ncannot be asked to drink poison twice for the same charge.\n\n\n_Caught in the Act._\n\nWhen a criminal is caught stealing in a man\u2019s house, the course of\njustice is more speedy. The owner may kill him on the spot, and he\nhas the sanction of the law for doing so. The friends of the criminal\ncannot complain. The thief deserved his doom for he was behaving like a\nbewitcher\u2014he had put himself beyond the pale of human rights, and was in\nthe position of a lion or a leopard. This holds good whether the theft\nis by night or by day, whether the criminal is killed in the house or\nafter a long pursuit. The thief is generally well armed\u2014a circumstance\nwhich makes his capture more dangerous. But the injured party, for the\npurpose of extorting a great ransom, often tries to secure the criminal.\nOn succeeding, he puts the captive in a slave-stick and sends a message\nto the headman of his village, who will be glad to pay several slaves\nin order to redeem his \u201cbrother\u201d. Should the headman refuse to pay the\nransom the unfortunate \u201cbrother\u201d is left entirely in the hands of the\nprosecutor, and is liable to be killed, sold, or retained as a slave.\nWhen it is known to what village the stolen \u201cproperty\u201d was taken, as in\ncases of kidnapping, the injured party applies at once to the headman\nof the guilty village, and if he can get no satisfaction, there arises\na state of war. The prosecutor captures the very first inhabitants of\nthe guilty village that come into his power, and then he keeps them in\nslave-sticks until compensation is made. Here is a case where a lingering\nimprisonment falls on persons that are entirely innocent, the only thing\nagainst them being that they belong to a guilty village.\n\n\nSUMMARY.\n\nAs native law is rather intricate, we give the following summary of\nordinary procedure in criminal cases.\n\n\n_Detection._\n\nThe criminal (1) may be caught in the act, (2) may be known to have the\nstolen goods in his possession, (3) may be detected by the sorcerer, or\n(4) may be convicted on the confession of himself, or (5) the statements\nof his accomplices and others. This last case (5) shows that, after all,\nthe natives cannot exclude testimony, and even in case (3) the sorcery\nmust derive all its value from ordinary evidence. The sorcerer has,\ndoubtless, many agents that are more useful than his calabash, although\nit is for his interest to represent that all other evidence is of little\nvalue as compared with his own inspiration.\n\n\n_Proof._\n\nIn cases (1), (2), (4), no trial is needed. In cases (3) and (5) the mwai\nis appealed to.\n\n\n_Punishment._\n\nThe criminal is either killed or fined; imprisonment is rather a\npreliminary step. In some cases, as in the poison ordeal, a fine is\ndemanded over and above the death. For all fines the headman of the\ncriminal\u2019s village is responsible, but he can repay himself either from\nthe criminal or his relatives. He may even pay the criminal over to the\ninjured party, but in this case he loses a subject who may be related\neither to himself or to some influential man in his village.\n\nThe demand of compensation over and above restitution seems to spring\nfrom the constitution of human nature. A little child deprived of a\ntoy is not content to threaten or revile (or whatever the infantile\nmanifestation of feeling may mean), while the toy is in the hands of the\naggressor. He pours out the same torrent of hostile feeling after the toy\nhas been restored. Besides, there are cases in which _mere_ restitution\nwould not be sufficient compensation for the injury sustained.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nPERSONAL RIGHTS AND OFFENCES AGAINST THEM.\n\n\n77. PERSONAL RIGHTS\u2014SLAVERY.\n\n    \u201cFor he (_i.e._, the slave) is his money\u201d\u2014_Exodus_ xxi. 21.\n    \u201cIf his master have given him a wife, and she have born him\n    sons and daughters, the wife and her children shall be her\n    master\u2019s.\u201d\u2014_Exodus_ xxi. 4.\n\nI once heard a native remark in a village assembly, \u201cA fowl is a fowl,\na goat is a goat,\u2014well, what am I?\u201d It is often maintained that among\nsavages no rights are recognised except rights of property. But although\nnative jurisprudence deals mainly with questions of property, here was a\nsavage using as strong an argument for personal rights as any philosopher\ncould employ.\n\nThere is a great difference between the treatment of a free-man, and\nthe treatment of the \u201cthing\u201d or \u201cflesh\u201d called a slave. The following\nsections (78-102) apply chiefly to freemen, and many points have no\napplication to slaves, for instance, the goods of a deceased slave (if\n\u201cgoods\u201d can be said to possess goods), do not go to his brother but to\nhis master.\n\nThe word for \u201cfree\u201d (mlukosyo) literally means \u201cbelonging to the tribe\nor family,\u201d and shows how slavery was originally viewed\u2014the slaves did\nnot belong to the \u201cfamily\u201d. A freeman becomes a slave when _captured_.\nHe may be captured by an enemy or by one that has a quarrel either with\nhimself or with the village that he belongs to. Freemen may be _enslaved\nby relatives_ or by superiors. Often a man will pay a debt by giving up\nhis own kindred to his prosecutor. Those most liable to this treatment\nare his sisters, after that his daughters, then his brothers, and then\nhis father and mother. In clearing off a heavy debt a native first pays\nover his slaves, next his inferior wives, and then his relatives in the\nabove order. Sometimes one pawns his relatives only, if he cannot redeem\nhis pledges promptly, he may find them sold. A freeman may become a slave\n_voluntarily_, as when he is in want during a time of scarcity. A man may\nalso become the slave of a master that possesses many females in order to\nget a wife from him. A person may be a slave by _birth_. If his parents\nbe both slaves he belongs to their master. When a female slave bears\na child to a freeman, the child belongs not to its father, but to its\nmother\u2019s master.\n\nSlaves become free when redeemed or when their master grants them\nliberty. Persons that have been long in slavery may be redeemed by\nrelatives. Some say that a slave may redeem himself by presenting to\nhis master another slave whom he may have bought or captured in war.\nOther native authorities, especially the older men, deny this most\nstrongly, and no doubt correctly, as everything that a slave can\npossess belongs really to his master. But the older views are now being\nmodified by contact with English Missionaries. Before the arrival of the\nmissions, slaves could obtain nothing except from their master himself,\nwho supplied them with clothing; when the missions came they had an\nopportunity of working for pay.\n\nWhen a slave earns wages, his owner may no doubt claim the whole of\nit, but some masters among the Yao are said not to exercise this right\nto the full extent. They allow the slave to retain a great part of his\nearnings, so much so that he will occasionally remark, \u201cAh! my master\nis poor to-day, I must give him some cloth\u201d. Such masters look with\nsatisfaction on the increasing hoards of their slaves in the same way\nas an English employer delights to see his labourer in a condition of\ncomfort. They will even boast of the rich slaves that they possess. Every\nowner of property finds slavery the most profitable investment. One of\nthe slave\u2019s duties is to procure other slaves (_i.e._, more property) for\nhis master. Each male slave is allowed to build a house for himself. He\nmay also get a wife (59) who, however, may be taken from him again. He is\npolitely called his master\u2019s \u201cchild\u201d (mwanache), the more offensive word\n\u201cslave\u201d (mkapolo) being seldom used. Still the time, the talents, and the\nvery lives of slaves are entirely in their master\u2019s hand. However great\na ransom they may offer, if the master refuse to take it, no one in the\ncountry can legally set them free. The master\u2019s power is absolute. The\nonly check that he feels is this,\u2014he says, \u201cIf I treat my slaves badly,\none day they will find me alone, take courage (mbilimo) and kill me\u201d.\nBut a slave would think twice before adopting such a desperate measure.\nIf he murdered a freeman he would run as fast as Moses ran to Midian, and\nwith as good reason.\n\n\n78. KILLING SLAVES OR WARDS.\n\nIf a master kill one of his slaves, no one can bring a complaint against\nhim. People that hear of the matter merely say, \u201cThat man is very stupid\nto destroy his own property\u201d. The companions of the deceased\u2014his fellow\nslaves\u2014may venture to plead, \u201cWhy did you kill him, he did no adultery?\u201d\nbut the master silences them, by pointing out that the deceased was\nhis \u201cgoods\u201d (chipanje), or his \u201cflesh\u201d (nyama). But after killing a\nslave, the master is afraid of _Chilope_. This means that he will become\nemaciated, lose his eyesight, and ultimately die a miserable death. He\ntherefore goes to his chief and gives him a certain fee (in cloth or\nslaves or such legal tenders), and says, \u201cGet me a charm (_luasi_),\nbecause I have slain a man\u201d. When he has used this charm, which may be\neither drunk or administered in a bath, the danger passes away. In the\nsame manner, if a man kill his younger brother, or anyone under his\ncharge, there is no case against the murderer. For one thing, there is no\nprosecutor, and moreover, relatives may be treated as slaves (77). If a\nman have a fatal quarrel with his ward, he finds it a sufficient excuse\nto say, \u201cThe deceased began it\u201d. But if his ward or even his slave be\nkilled by another party, the guardian at once becomes prosecutor, and\ndoes not rest till he obtains the fullest compensation.\n\n\n79. KILLING ENEMIES.\n\nWhen an enemy is killed, there is a desire to secure portions (_ikawo_)\nof his body (36), which is mutilated accordingly. The parts[10] generally\ntaken are the eyebrows, nose, little finger or toe, and the pudenda. If\nthere be no danger of interruption, the man or woman thus mutilated, will\nbe also disembowelled and the heart plucked out. The portions thus cut\nfrom a body, are roasted or burned till quite reduced to ashes (_sile_).\nThey are then used as charms in various ways. The savage makes tatoos\n(_malaka_) in his arm and rubs the ashes into them. Or he cooks gruel\n(likoko) and stirs the ashes into it. This dreadful mixture of flour and\nflesh, must be lapped with the tongue, as it would be \u201cunlucky\u201d to eat it\nwith the hands. There are several devices for facilitating the lapping\nprocess, such as pouring the mixture from one dish to another and licking\nthe bottom of the emptied dish. Another way of using this weird and\nawful charm, is as an amulet (njil\u012bsi)\u2014the ashes are mixed with castor\noil and sewed up in a small bag, which is worn round the neck or about\nthe loins. I knew one headman whose great success in war was attributed\nto the fact that he had eaten \u201cthe whole body of a strong young man\u201d.\nBut if he had not been protected by powerful charms, such cannibalism\nmight have been dangerous to him. The person that eats a human being is\nbelieved to run a great risk. Even the person that kills a human being,\nthough the victim be only a slave (78), must take certain steps to quiet\nhis conscience. In most cases the murderer tells the chief of the country\nwho procures a charm from his medicine man. Of this charm the chief\nhimself also partakes that he may not be unlucky \u201cbecause of the blood\nthat has been shed in his land\u201d. If the chief sent the person to kill the\ndeceased, he now presents him with a slave or some such reward. So when\na headman makes an attack and kills a party on his own responsibility\n(72), the chief if approving rewards all that went on the expedition.\nHe also kills a goat for them. At this feast they must not eat salt\nuntil a charm is first put in the food. If the chief disapprove of the\nattack, he exacts a heavy fine, which he usually settles as follows:\u2014When\nthe injured parties retaliate, and kill or capture some of the chief\u2019s\nsubjects, he makes this headman pay the relatives for their loss. So when\nthe chief wants to dissuade a headman from dangerous wars, he says to\nhim, \u201cRemember you will have to pay for all the slain\u201d.\n\n\n80. PUNISHMENT OF MURDER.\n\nIf one man slay another, the friends of the deceased are justified in\nkilling the murderer on the spot (76). But if they catch him alive they\nput him in a slave-stick, till compensation be made by a heavy fine of\nfrom 4 to 20 slaves. When the fine is paid the life of the murderer is\nnot demanded, but several of the slaves obtained in compensation are\nkilled to accompany the deceased (39). The rest of them are retained:\nindeed, the friends of the murdered man look not so much to his sad fate\nas to the possibility of making gain by it. If the murderer escape, some\none connected with him is captured, and a message is sent to the friends\nin this form, \u201cYou have slain our brother, we have caught yours, and we\nwill send him after our brother unless you pay a ransom\u201d. The ransom is\nexpected to include some slaves to accompany the deceased. The captive if\nnot redeemed is entirely at the disposal of the injured party and that\nfor life or death. The above applies to murders occurring among parties\nfriendly toward each other, and living perhaps in the same village. But\nshould a man go to another village and commit murder, the act, if no\nexplanation be granted, is held to be a declaration of war. When the\ninjured village is strong, the other villagers will all be killed or\nenslaved without delay. Where the village is not so sure of its strength,\nits headman goes to the chief of the country and presents him with a\nslave, saying, \u201cI desire your help, I want to punish that other village\u201d.\nIf the chief has already failed to bring the aggressors to reason, he\nreceives the present, promises help, and soon the guilty village is\nannihilated.\n\n\n81. PUNISHMENT OF HOMICIDE.\n\nThe natives are aware of the difference between murder and homicide,\nbut the punishment of the two crimes is often the same. A man enters a\nvillage, puts down his gun which goes off and kills a person. The gun\nis claimed by the friends of the deceased. It is worth several slaves,\nand the owner may be as anxious to redeem it as he would have been to\nredeem his brother. When there is no gun to pledge, the homicide is put\nin a slave-stick and retained just as in murder (80), and the surviving\nrelatives are equally anxious to slay persons to accompany the deceased.\nSome native authorities take a more lenient view of homicide. Instead of\nseizing the party or his gun, they pronounce him quite blameless, and go\nto the sorcerer to discover the bewitcher who has been the real cause of\nthe death. They hold that it is this being that must bear the whole of\nthe responsibility. They use a simile here that is borrowed from hunting\ncustoms. The hunter that first wounds a buck claims it, even though it be\nultimately brought down by another man. The man that brings the buck down\nis only the finder, as it were, of another man\u2019s game (juakupakanila):\nso the homicide only found or brought down the victim that the witch had\nalready destroyed; he is not the cause but the occasion of the death.\nSome insist that although the homicide may protest his innocence and\naffirm that he is the victim of some witch, he must pay damages all the\nsame. I once saw two men tried for a disturbance committed while they\nwere drunk. The person that had supplied them with beer was also brought\nup, and was afraid that he should be supposed to have bewitched the\nbeer. A still deeper terror hovered over his speech, \u201cPerhaps he himself\nand his beer were both bewitched, and used as a cat\u2019s paw by some other\nperson\u201d.\n\n\n82. PUNISHMENT OF UNCHASTITY.\n\nWe already mentioned (56) that a man may have an opportunity of\ncontracting a marriage with an adult female and that he may ascertain her\nsentiments privately. Long ago I was told by one qualified to speak on\nAfrican customs, that a native man would not pass a solitary woman, and\nthat her refusal of him would be so contrary to custom that he might kill\nher. Of course, this would apply only to females that are not engaged.\nA girl with no claim upon her readily agrees to marriage, and the man\nwill marry her although he have several wives already. But if a betrothed\ngirl be seduced, the crime is treated as adultery and may be punished by\ndeath. Her intended husband has a right to kill the guilty man. In cases\nof adultery the injured husband may in like manner kill the seducer. As\nfor the woman, her first offence may be condoned, but subsequent offences\ncause divorce or death. When a wife has been guilty, her husband will\ndie if he taste any food that she has salted. As a consequence of this\nsuperstition a wife is very liable to be accused of killing her husband.\nWhen women are preparing their husband\u2019s food they may ask a little girl\nto put the salt in it. With a faithless wife the husband cannot live\nuntil a third party (mjinjila nyumba) has been with her. The name of this\nparty is concealed from the husband who, from jealousy, might kill him.\nAfter the ceremony, the husband and wife may live together again. Several\nof these observances are explained and enjoined at the mysteries (52). As\nadultery is a crime not easily proven, the native appeal to the sorcerer,\nor the ordeal in such charges has a peculiar significance\u2014it always leads\nto a definite decision.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nRIGHTS OF PROPERTY AND OFFENCES AGAINST THEM.\n\n\n83. PUBLIC PROPERTY.\n\nIn Britain, the land belongs to a proprietor, so that if another person\ngo into the woods and cut a tree, he is trespassing and damaging\nproperty, if he shoot a deer he is a poacher. But among these Africans\none may cut as many trees as he wishes, and hunt as long as he chooses.\nThis is not because the land is common property. In the Yao language the\nchief is expressly called the \u201cowner of the soil\u201d. It is rather because\ntrees are so abundant and grow so fast that the natives are anxious to\nkeep them down. In the same way deer are plentiful, and it is better to\nlet man feast on them than to leave them for the lion or the vulture. The\nnatives seem to be placed on certain spots for the purpose of subduing\nthe country and maintaining their right to exist against the wild animals\naround them, and this must have been so to a much greater extent at the\ntime when these tribes formed their \u2018social contract\u2019. Even as it is,\nman looks a very puny object when placed amidst the vastness of the\nAfrican jungle. Human beings are quite lost among the grass, not to\nmention the trees and bushes. Hence \u201cto catch a man among the grass\u201d is a\nproverbial expression which means to do one an injury in secret.\n\n[Illustration: NATIVES IN THE AFRICAN JUNGLE.]\n\nI shall make a few remarks, first on various kinds of public property\n(84-91), and next on private property.\n\n\n84. LAND.\n\nA man may hoe as much land as he pleases, and for any purpose. He may\nmake trenches for entrapping deer, he may cut up the ground for great\ndistances in search of moles for his dinner, or he may begin to plant and\nmake a farm (62). He must never cultivate ground that has been betrothed\nby another party. But as soon as he hoes a field the ground is entirely\nhis own. He hoes, and plants, and builds, without paying any tax or rent.\n\nIt has been said with reference to various parts of Africa, that the soil\nbelongs to the tribe and that, according to the native idea, no chief\nhas a right to make grants of land. But I found chiefs always willing\nto grant as much land as they were asked for. It would be more correct\nto say that these natives do not know what can be the use of Perpetual\nproperty in land: when _their_ fields are farmed for two or three years,\nthe soil yields a poor return, and they find it necessary to go to new\nground.\n\n\n85. TIMBER.\n\nOne may cut wood wherever he chooses. I knew a chief ask strangers to pay\nfor trees that were cut to make canoes; but he let his own subjects fell\nthe largest trees without demanding any tax.\n\nAt the time of the Mission\u2019s arrival, the Blantyre district was covered\nwith a dense jungle, which contained not only an impassable mass of young\ntrees, but also a sprinkling of old ones. About twenty years before, the\nground had been farmed over by natives who had then cut down the timber\nfor manure and firewood, sparing only those larger trees, some of which\nhad been the prayer trees of their old villages.\n\n\n86. ROADS.\n\nAny person may hoe up a public road. Many a time have I found it\ndifficult to keep the path after a new village had risen in its\nneighbourhood, although I had been familiar with the king\u2019s highway\nbefore. When the owner of a farm puts a bunch of thorns on a path, every\nbare-legged native understands the signal. Still the road cannot be\nclosed altogether, it will take a graceful curve round the side of the\nnew farm. Where it passes through the centre of a large field the farmer\nleaves it alone. It is so hard that he prefers to try his hoe on the\nsurrounding soil.\n\n\n87. MINERALS.\n\nWhere one has a right to hoe at all, he has a right to all the minerals\nthat he may find, but if he dig much iron and make many hoes, he is\nexpected to present some to the chief of the country. No one in this\ndistrict knows about gold or silver. A piece of calico is more valued\nthan all the coins of the Bank of England would be.\n\n\n88. BUILDING MATERIALS.\n\nGrass, reeds, bamboos, and other materials used for erecting huts may be\ncut anywhere. In the dry season the country is covered with grass of\nfrom two to eight feet high, according to the richness of the soil. This\nmass of vegetation will make an enormous blaze. Some set it on fire to\ncatch deer or buffalo, others to catch field-mice, and others for mere\nsport. Anyone may burn the grass, but if the flames spread to a village\nor a corn field, the fire-raiser is responsible for the consequences.\n\n\n89. STREAMS AND RIVERS.\n\nIn this district one may draw water, bathe, or catch fish anywhere. When\na number of men have to cross a stream at a place where they see women\nbathing, they shout out \u201cTravellers! Travellers!\u201d (alendo). So when a\nwoman comes to a stream and sees a man approaching, she will often turn\nback with her water-pot, saying, \u201cPerhaps he wants to bathe\u201d. There are\ncertain superstitions also, and it is very common when walking along a\nstream even in the morning (when no one bathes), to see women emerge\nfrom a village and retreat as soon as they observe men advancing. As to\nfishing, there is no restriction, and the natives use the euphorbia tree\n(mtutu) which kills fish much as lime would do.\n\n\n90. HUNTING.\n\nAny resident or traveller has a right to hunt. On shooting a large buck\nor an elephant, he is expected to send the chief a present. But if he\nbe far from the chief\u2019s principal village he seldom does so. A company\nof native travellers who shoot a buffalo out in the bush far from the\nabodes of men, will use the whole of it themselves. Strangers may be\nimposed on by headmen, who, although loud in making demands, have no\nright to such a present. But their claiming it, shows how much they\nregard themselves as being separate kings. English hunters used to obtain\na great amount of ivory not far from Blantyre, much of it being shot in\nNo-man\u2019s-land. The Mangoni first drove off the Yao, and then receded\nthemselves, leaving the country unoccupied.\n\n\n91. TRAVELLING.\n\nAs a matter of theory, a person may travel in this part of the country\nwithout asking permission, but unless well acquainted with the chiefs and\nthe people, a foreigner will find it awkward to go without a guide. It is\neasy, however, except in times of war, to get a guide from one chief to\nthe next. The right to travel naturally implies the right to hunt; arms\nmust be carried for protection and may be used to obtain food.\n\n\n92. PRIVATE PROPERTY.\n\nWere a native to count over the items of his property he would give a\nlist like this:\u2014(1) His chief wife, whom, however, he cannot sell (60).\n(2) Inferior wives (masulila) with their children. (3) Female slaves not\nrelated to him (achambumba pa mlango pao), who may be given as wives to\nhis male slaves. (4) Male slaves (achachanda), who, although valuable in\ntimes of war, fetch lower prices than females. (5) His money, _i.e._,\ncloth and beads (which except in the neighbourhood of the Mission are\nsmall items of native property): arrow-heads, hoes, and indeed most\narticles are used in bartering. (6) Implements and weapons\u2014axes, hoes,\nmortars, baskets, guns, spears, &c. (7) Houses, crops, fowls. In this\nlist he may include his sisters or other relatives, who are to a great\nextent at his disposal (77). If rich, he may possess also a tusk of\nivory, or a few goats. When an attack is made a native that saves his\nlife has little to lose. The greater part of his property can run with\nhim and carry all his moveables. Each wife takes a child on her back, and\na basket with all her goods on her head. The houses are left, but the\nparty can make a shelter in a few minutes. The crop is the man\u2019s greatest\nloss, the roots and leaves of the jungle do not taste so well as his\nporridge.\n\n\n93. BORROWING AND LENDING.\n\nThe natives are fond of borrowing from each other. If a school-boy\npossess an unusual dress, it goes round the whole of his companions.\nOften a native begs for cloth, and when told that he has enough, he\nreplies, \u201cAll that I am wearing is borrowed\u201d. Likely this statement is\nfalse, but the custom of borrowing is so common as to make the falsehood\nplausible. If a woman at Quilimane lend a pot, she expects on its return\nto receive something for the use of it, but the more primitive natives\nabout Blantyre lend \u201choping for nothing again,\u201d in the shape of interest.\n\n\n94. PETTY THEFT.\n\nMany cases of pilfering dealt with by village headmen we might call petty\nthefts. Natives possess so little property that nearly all stealing from\nthem comes under this head. Plucking the ears of corn in a field is not\ncriminal. The person that takes a cob of maize leaves the stalk so as to\nconvey a well-known meaning to the farmer, who as he looks at the signal\nis able to say, \u201cOh! it is a poor man that has eaten because of hunger,\u201d\nor \u201cIt is my friend that has helped himself\u201d. But if the smallest article\nbe taken by an enemy, a disturbance arises. Natives are fairly honest\namong each other. When one is plundered by a companion he exclaims,\n\u201cIf you had stolen from a white man, then I could have understood it,\nbut to steal from a black man\u2014\u2014\u201d. Several articles were once carried\noff from the Mission Station. As a rule, when theft is mentioned, the\nnatives say stealing is \u201cvery bad,\u201d \u201csome black men do not know how to\nsteal, other black men are very bad\u201d. But one little fellow, on this\noccasion, took a milder view of the matter and said to his instructor,\n\u201cBlack man very poor, ma\u2019am\u201d. Among the older natives, however, a\ntendency to extenuate is seldom found, and often we see cases like that\nmentioned by Livingstone, where a person had to drink mwai for taking\na few ears of corn. One circumstance that makes even petty theft very\nheinous in the eyes of the native is that the thief is identified with\nthe Bewitchers (106). He uses \u201cmedicine\u201d like them, and employs \u201chorns\u201d\nin the same way. He has a charm (chitaka) that enables him to go to a\nsleeper at night and ask, \u201cWhere are your hoes? Where are your beads?\u201d\nSo complete is his power over his victims, that he makes them answer all\nsuch questions without waking, and so secure does he feel that he cooks\nporridge and takes a meal before leaving the plundered house. So much\nis thief-medicine believed in that few venture to steal without seeking\nthe proper charm. Hence it is that a thief becomes an object of disgust,\nand may lose his life for taking a few articles which he might have got\nby simply asking the owner. The native view about witches modifies the\nwhole civil code. Any offence may be brought under the terrible crime of\nwitchcraft. If a wife run away it is easy to convince her husband that\nshe would not have done so but for powerful \u201cwitchery\u201d used against her.\n\nThe following statement sent me by Mr. Buchanan of Zomba will further\nillustrate the law of theft:\u2014\n\nAfter mentioning that \u201ca man found stealing is in the position of a\nbaboon, hy\u00e6na, or hog, etc., and is as liable to be shot down as any\nof these animals,\u201d Mr. Buchanan says, \u201cKasanda, one of my gaffers, had\ncharge of a gang of women who were carrying clay from a swamp about a\nmile distant, and I allowed him a gun partly because kidnapping was rife\nat the time, and partly because he had seen an eland as he went to the\nclay hole the previous day. When returning in the evening he heard a\ncrashing noise in a clump of sugar cane just over the stream. Crossing\nas quickly and as quietly as possible, he reached the spot unobserved,\nand found a man tying up a large bundle of cane. He challenged the\nthief, presented the gun, and had the case been his own, or had he been\nserving a native chief, he would most undoubtedly have given the rascal\nits contents, but knowing that the English discouraged such customs, and\ndoubtful how I would look on such an act, he allowed the man to escape.\nThe following day I sent for Kalimbuka, showed him the bundle of cane,\nand stated what had happened. Several of his counsellors accompanied him,\nand all were unanimous in asserting that according to native law Kasanda\nhad committed an egregious blunder in not shooting the thief dead. While\nstrongly objecting to this mode of procedure, I earnestly enquired if\nsuch was really the law of the country, and found that it was. I remember\ntoo that when Mr. Macdonald and I went to visit Malemya, his prime\nminister told us of an instance in which this law had been carried out to\nthe bitter end. A man from Chikala had stolen yams belonging to Malemya\u2019s\npeople, the owners lay in wait, and the thief returning a second time\nwas shot dead. But when a man detects a thief in his field during the\nday, and knows the thief well, he need not shoot or capture him unless\nhe likes. He may march to the man\u2019s village, ask the chief to turn out\nhis men, and then point out the depredator, who, if not redeemed, becomes\nthe lawful property of the man who owned the stolen stuff (it matters not\nwhat it be).\u201d\n\n\n95. THEFT AND ROBBERY.\n\nAll the above-mentioned classes of property (92) are liable to be\npilfered, and among these tribes it is perhaps human beings that are\noftenest stolen. We do not now dwell on theft as we have taken it\nto illustrate the general treatment of crime (76). When the injured\nparty demands redress, the refusal is a declaration of war. Robbery\nwith violence and bloodshed is a declaration of war almost under any\ncircumstances.\n\n\n96. MISCELLANEOUS CRIMES AND PENALTIES.\n\nBesides direct breaches of the 6th, 7th, and 8th commandments of the\nDecalogue, which are all punishable by death, there are many other crimes\nrecognised and punished by native law. Burning a neighbour\u2019s house,\nsetting fire to the bush and destroying his crops, and trespassing so as\nto cause damage, are instances that have suggested to the native the _lex\ntalionis_. To the question \u201cWhat would you do if your neighbour destroyed\nyour crop?\u201d comes the prompt reply, \u201cI would take his,\u201d and many injuries\nor accidents that result in the loss of property are settled accordingly.\nAbusing another person\u2014defamation of character\u2014is also paid back in kind,\nunless the stronger party give the other a beating to the bargain. To be\ncalled a liar is rather a compliment, but to be called a bewitcher is\nmuch resented. When a woman charges another with adultery, the fight is\noften furious; they bite and scratch each other till they are covered\nwith blood and the dust or mud of the highway.\n\nFines may be paid in slaves or any other kind of property except ivory.\nAn offender may be bound over to keep the peace. When convicted of some\nmisdeed, he presents his superior with a spear, saying, \u201cKill me if I\noffend you again\u201d. The token is common between slaves and their masters.\nIn reviewing native punishments we find that almost every offence may be\npunished by death, but when an offender is not redeemed, the particular\npunishment is left to the headman of the injured party. For instance,\nif a headman of Kumpama\u2019s go and say, \u201cChenyono has killed a subject of\nmine; I have caught a subject of his and want to kill him,\u201d the chief\u2019s\nanswer will be, \u201cHe has done you wrong, do according to your heart\u201d (poli\nmtima wenu). The punishment is thus inflicted not by the criminal\u2019s\nown chief but by the injured party, and it may fall, not on the guilty\nperson, but on one connected with him. It is when a man transgresses\nagainst his own village-chief that _personal responsibility_ is brought\nhome to him. When he transgresses against another village, his own chief\npays for him. Of punishments inflicted for small offences by superiors\non their own wards, imprisonment in a slave-stick is common, and may\nbe inflicted by a husband on his wives, or by the chief wife on her\nsubordinates. _Beating_ is another punishment. When a slave is sent to\nkeep off the monkeys, and lets them eat the corn, he will taste the rod:\nso will a child, or even a younger brother. These beatings when inflicted\nare very severe, but they are rarely needed, slaves being generally\nobedient, and young people respectful. _Justice is evaded_ by running to\nthe country of a hostile chief. It is common (as it is prudent) for a\nfugitive to steal something from his present chief as a gift to the man\nthat receives him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nINHERITANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.\n\n\n97. INHERITANCE.\n\n    \u201c... the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a\n    stranger; her husband\u2019s brother shall go in unto her and take\n    her to him to wife.\u201d\u2014DEUT. xxv. 5.\n\nWhen a man dies, part of his goods is buried with him, part goes to pay\nthe precentor at the wake, and to feast the undertakers and friends.\nBesides these and such like funeral expenses, there is the cost of the\nlegal investigation into the cause of death, and this item if not repaid\nby damages from the bewitcher (107), will be the most expensive piece\nof mourning. The remainder of his property (92), including his wives\nand children, passes on, without any government tax, to his heir. The\nnearest heir is his eldest brother, who obtains complete possession.\nThis is no hardship to younger brothers, who will succeed in their turn.\nFailing a brother, there comes the eldest sister, not indeed herself\nbut her son, so that the next heir after a man\u2019s younger brother is his\nnephew (mwipwagwao). By this custom a man\u2019s own children are purposely\nset aside. When we tell the natives about the English law of succession,\nthey say that it is \u201cvery stupid\u201d. They want to be sure that the heir\nreally has the family blood in his veins, and they cannot trust that\na man\u2019s sons answer to this description. The same laws of inheritance\nare found in various parts of Africa\u2014as for instance among the Ashanti\non the Western Coast. Any will that attempted to strike at this custom\nwould be at once set aside. Where writing is unknown, written wills are\nimpossible, but no will would be recognised except perhaps in the case\nof some trifling matters. If the rightful heir be a minor (_i.e._, a\nmere child), some one takes the inheritance till he comes of age. The\nfirst-born always has the precedence, the younger brother being nothing\nwhile the elder is alive. We saw an amusing illustration of this in the\ncase of our own two children. On the birth of the first, the relatives of\nthe chief Kapeni patronised him and even proposed a wife for him, while\nall the natives called him little Kapeni. But the second child they took\nno notice of, he was merely \u201cthe younger brother of little Kapeni\u201d. The\nheir pays any debt that may be on the inheritance, he also takes the risk\nof the \u201cwitchcraft\u201d trial. If his predecessor died by witchcraft, he\nreceives a large fine from the bewitcher\u2019s estate, but if his predecessor\ndied by the poison (mwai), he pays a fine to the bewitched persons, or\ntheir representatives. The great majority of the natives are the victims\nof witchcraft one way or other. They either die of witchcraft themselves\n(106), or are poisoned because they bewitched some one else. On the day\nof entering on his inheritance the heir marries not only the inferior\nwives, but the chief wife of his predecessor (43). Should she have\nproperty her sureties look after her interest. A married woman, if free,\nmay have property\u2014she may be a herbalist, or a \u201ccook\u201d at the mysteries,\nor she may make money by her flour and fowls. When a wife dies possessing\nwealth, her husband to keep off the \u201csurety\u201d (48), asks a younger sister\nto marry him, and take charge of (kwachinga) the children. If he cannot\nsucceed in this, the goods may be divided, part going to the husband and\npart to the sureties of the wife.\n\n\n98. SUCCESSION TO THE CHIEFTAINSHIP.\n\nThe order of this succession is the same as in ordinary inheritance.\nThe chief\u2019s nearest heir is the eldest of his brothers (97), who will\nbe younger than the chief himself, otherwise he would have had a prior\nclaim to the title. Next to younger brothers come nephews, but not the\nsons of a brother, who are really reckoned the sons of the chief (60).\nOccasionally natives set aside this order of succession. The parties\nconcerned are\u2014(1) The deceased man\u2019s slaves. (2) His wives and children,\nmany of whom are also slaves. (3) Headmen related to the chief. (4)\nHeadmen not related to the chief. The 3rd class are not impartial judges,\nbecause some of them may be candidates for the throne. The 4th class,\nhowever, often do much to settle disputes. But strange to say, it is the\nslaves and wives, the 1st and 2nd class, that raise the loudest voice.\nThey are a numerous and powerful body, and may contain some of the old\nchief\u2019s best fighters. On the death of the former Malemya of Zomba, there\nsurvived a younger brother Kumtaja, who, so far as birth went, was the\nrightful heir; but there was also a nephew called Kasabola. Kumtaja urged\nhis claim, but the slaves (achachanda) disliked him, and so did many of\nthe headmen (alambi). Moreover, all the wives of the old chief desired\nKasabola, and quoted a saying of the deceased chief in his favour. The\nAlambi said, \u201cIf Kumtaja enter Malemya\u2019s village, all that reside there\nwill run away,\u201d and accordingly Kasabola was made \u201cMalemya\u201d. Still it\nis dangerous to tamper with the law of the land. Kumtaja set up an\nindependent kingdom, taking to him such headmen as would go; and had\nthere been a division among the wives or slaves, he might have claimed\nall that wished to adhere to him.\n\nAt an installation there are several ceremonies, which, however, vary\namong different tribes. The new chief first gets a severe lecture, in\nwhich he is told that he must be hospitable and not beat his people too\nmuch. Afterwards he is formally installed in office (34). His temples\nare girt with the brow-band (ndawila), which he will henceforth wear on\nevery formal occasion. He is then called by his new name, and received\nwith songs of rejoicing. His assumption of the name is much dwelt on.\nWhen old Kapeni of Sochi became chief in the distant Yao country, before\nhis tribe migrated, the songs and the response, \u201cAwo Kapeni \u2019wo\u201d (that\nis Kapeni), produced an impression that is fresh in the memory of his\npeople to this day. The chief may appoint a high priest (jua mbepesi) of\nhis government, who is also called his captain. It is the duty of this\nman to carry the chief\u2019s banner and lead his army. The chief seldom goes\nto battle; \u201che stays behind to supply powder and deal with deserters\u201d.\nAnother duty of the high priest is to find out whether war is to be\nsuccessful, but if he fail to get a favourable answer, the chief himself\npresents the offering, for just as every headman is the priest of his\nvillage (7), so the chief is the real high priest of the country. If the\narmy go forth and be thoroughly defeated after the offerings declare\nvictory to be certain, the people simply say, \u201cOur God has deceived us\u201d.\nWhen the chief has a beer-drinking, his priest or captain brings out the\nbeer to the guests, and tastes it to show that it is not poisoned. In\nthe case of English visitors, the Magololo headmen taste all the food\nthemselves, but at Kapeni\u2019s capital his priest generally performs the\nceremony. When there is a witch-dance at a place where the chief cannot\nattend, the priest is sent to represent him, and takes a prominent place\nin beating the drums. Many ceremonies seen at a chief\u2019s installation are\nobserved when any one succeeds to a village. Moreover, since it is only\ncertain families that have brow-bands, a headman may wear the badge where\nhis chief has no right to do so. Headmen don it when presiding at trials,\nor when they go to a beer-drinking in full dress!\n\n\n99. INTERNATIONAL LAW.\n\nDisputes between a master and his slave, between a governor and his ward,\nbetween a headman and his villager, or between a chief and his headman,\nare easily settled by the power of the Superior. But disputes between\ndifferent villages are more puzzling. If a man of Chingota\u2019s kill a man\nof Matope\u2019s in Chuma\u2019s village, the three headmen may be involved only,\nwhen all belong to one chief, reference is ultimately made to him. But\nwhen they belong to different chiefs the case is rendered more dangerous,\nas their respective chiefs may become parties. The following instances\nshow how cases between chiefs are settled. If a subject of Malemya be\nkilled in a village of Kapeni\u2019s by men of Kumpama,[11] Malemya expects\nKapeni to catch the criminals and hand them over to him; and Kapeni\nmust do so, otherwise he becomes a party to the crime. Kumpama sends a\nmessage to Kapeni asking, \u201cWhere are those men of mine that went to your\nterritory?\u201d and Kapeni refers him both now and in all subsequent steps of\nthe dispute to Malemya. The chief of a country thus takes cognisance of\ncrimes committed in his land not by punishing the guilty parties himself,\nbut by handing them over to the injured. Again, suppose that Malemya\u2019s\nmen when carrying goods for Kapeni were plundered by subjects of Kumpama,\nif the deed be done in Malemya\u2019s territory, Malemya takes the matter up,\nbut if the goods be once out of his territory, Kapeni becomes prosecutor.\nIn either case Kumpama is asked to surrender the thieves, and is liable\nto punishment, either because he is a party to the theft, or because he\nfails to govern his kingdom in the proper way.\n\n\n100. GENERAL REMARKS ON NATIVE LAW.\n\nAs law is a subject of great complexity in all countries, it must not\nbe supposed that we have settled every question. In a native dispute\ndifficulties may arise regarding the form of prosecution, the form of\nevidence, the proper court, the position and members of that court,\nand in short at every step. These _special_ difficulties are settled\naccording to the merits of each case: and cannot be here solved without\ntreating the subject with a minuteness that would be too tedious for the\nmost ardent student of African customs.\n\n\n101. WAR.\n\nAs war may begin in Africa without any provocation at all, trivial\nreasons are quite sufficient to produce bloody feuds. Hence, quarrels\nthat in civilised countries would be mere law suits become occasions\nfor war. A chief _declares_ war by killing or kidnapping some of his\nenemies. He may either find them on a journey, or send an expedition to\ntheir villages. Deeds of this kind proclaim that a messenger sent to the\naggressor will be either slain or sent back mutilated, the two parties\nare now declared enemies, and all friendly intercourse is at an end. War\nmay be declared on a travelling party by simply calling out \u201cngondo\u201d\n(war). The natives _conduct_ war by making a series of attacks in order\nto plunder or to destroy by fire and sword. The Yao chiefs say that\nthey do not attack by night\u2014\u201cto attack by night is a sneaking piece of\nconduct fit only for the Anyasa and the Achipeta\u201d. But they can explain\nwith great relish the method of night attack. A band of men go to an\nenemy\u2019s village when the people are all in bed. They carry sticks finely\nsharpened at the point (songa), and place them in the ground right before\nthe hut doors, and in such a way that a native coming hastily out of\nthe house in his usual dress will run one of them into his body. After\nsetting this trap, the invaders apply fire to the various houses, and\nthen look on with loaded guns. Sometimes they tie up the doors before\nsetting the houses on fire, but unless their animosity be very deadly,\nthey will not burn all their foes. It is more profitable to capture the\nwomen and children for sale. The boldest of their enemies will be the\nfirst to rush forth to investigate the disturbance, and once they have\nimpaled themselves on the sharp-pointed sticks, their wives can easily be\ncaptured.\n\nA war may _end_ in various ways. One of the parties may be entirely\nbroken and driven from the country, their wives and children becoming\nslaves. Or the weaker may succeed in buying a peace. Two hostile chiefs\nmay continue beside each other for many years, afraid to risk anything\nmore serious than kidnapping. Since the natives trust greatly to war\nmedicine, a small chief that long maintains his position against a\nstronger, and occasionally gains a battle, is believed to have a powerful\n\u201cmedicine,\u201d and is feared accordingly. Native wars frequently cause more\ndeaths through famine than through actual slaughter. All natives confess\nthat war is \u201cbad,\u201d but strangely enough each race values itself upon its\nmilitary powers. Even the Achipeta, although they have been completely\nvanquished by the Mangoni, will boast, \u201cIn our country we know nothing\nbut war\u201d.\n\nNatives jump and swing their guns about by way of making a war dance,\nbut these evolutions being originally adapted for their long spears, are\nunsuitable for guns. The Mangoni, like the Zulus, have a special training\nfor war.\n\nNative fights remind one of the days of Homer. A good tongue is as\nessential as a good spear. So long as a combatant has courage to demand\nhis rights, the fact that the enemy has \u201ceaten\u201d a number of his followers\nis regarded as mere by-play.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nA SLAVE GOVERNMENT.\n\n\n102. THE MAGOLOLO.\n\nAs an illustration of a Slave Government, we shall here insert a few\nremarks on the Magololo, who are half-a-dozen men that came with Dr.\nLivingstone a journey of \u201cmany moons\u201d from the south of the Zambeze\u2014from\nthe land, which on maps of Africa is marked Makololo. Hitherto we have\nspoken of chiefs and headmen ruling among free people. The native word\nfor \u201cfree\u201d means \u201cbelonging to the tribe,\u201d and implies that persons\nfalling into the power of another tribe lose their rights. The Anyasa\nunder the Magololo are in the hands of aliens, by whom they are\nconsequently treated as if they were captives. When not promptly obeyed,\na Magololo cries, \u201cAll the Anyasa are my slaves\u201d; hence although he\nhas many good points about him, his government is severe, and he is\nmore suspicious than the Yao chiefs who rule their own kinsmen. \u201cThe\nMagololo,\u201d according to Mr. Rowley (277), \u201csprung all at once from a\ncondition little removed from bondage to that of lords of the creation.\nWhen left by Dr. Livingstone, they had little but their guns and\nammunition. With guns they knew themselves to be formidable. They hunted\nthe slavers far and near, released captives and took the plunder. The\nwomen thus released they took for wives, the men and boys they kept for\nslaves. They had no sheep, goats, nor corn, but the Anyasa had, and as\nin their own country, the possession of cattle by a neighbour is a good\n_casus belli_, they were prepared to make war on the Anyasa for their\nflocks and corn, if the latter did not yield them without resistance.\nThe Anyasa yielded, and thus arose the bleating of sheep and goats, the\ncackling of fowls and the well-stocked houses of corn in the Magololo\nhabitations.\u201d \u201cIt was a great mistake on the part of Dr. Livingstone to\nleave the Makololo at Chibisa\u2019s unprovided with everything but arms. They\nwere identified with the English\u2014they adopted our name in their raids.\u201d\nThe remark that these men are identified with the English holds true\nto this day. Chiputula, one of the Magololo, was viewed by Matekenya\nas a \u201cchild\u201d or \u201csubject\u201d of the English, and Matekenya often put the\nquestion, \u201cWhat will the English do if I kill Chiputula?\u201d The latter\nused to be constantly entreating us to send messages to Matekenya: and\nDr. Macklin once brought up a \u201cson\u201d of Matekenya to conclude a peace\nwith Chiputula. \u201cMangokwe talked of driving them out of the country, but\nthey would have driven like sheep five times the number of Anyasa that\nMangokwe could have brought against them, and so he appeared to think\n...\u201d (2nd edition, p. 278). \u201cThey had plundered the country on all sides,\nand so great was the terror of them that the Anyasa were afraid to come\nto us with food. It was necessary, therefore, to take vigorous measures,\nand catching one of them (in the act of stealing), I laid hold of a stick\nand gave the fellow a good thrashing.\u201d\n\nThe writer describes how they continued amenable to the authority of\nthe English. When the Scotch Missions settled in Central Africa, these\nMagololo readily sent their sons first to the Free Church Mission, and\nsubsequently to Blantyre, which was nearer their home. This was due to\ntheir previous acquaintance with the \u201cEnglish\u201d. Some Magololo children\ncame to Blantyre about a month after my arrival. But I wrought steadily\nin school for three years afterwards, before Kapeni, the Yao chief, sent\nhis sons.\n\nDuring the time of flight and famine, the beginning of which is described\nby Mr. Rowley, some headmen of the Anyasa fled towards Tete, but the most\nimportant died. People died without any reason (lulele), there was quite\na dying (chaola) among the race. Then the Magololo \u201cgot in their fingers\u201d\n(kwinjila yala). They took possession of the children of the deceased,\nthey killed others and took their families also. They had no right to\nact in this way, but they relied on their power, which increased every\nday till they could claim all the Anyasa on the lower Chiri for their\nsubjects. These helpless people have suffered exceedingly from war, and\nhave been enslaved in all directions. Near Blantyre many of them reside\nas slaves among the Yao. At Zomba there is an important Anyasa headman\nwho although possessing several villages, is under a Machinga chief.\nEven on Lake Nyassa (Nyasa) itself, most of the unfortunate tribe are\nunder Yao or Machinga rulers. On an island in Chirwa many of them are\npacked together to escape slavers (62).\n\n\n103. GOVERNMENT OF SLAVES.\n\nIn their normal state, the Anyasa have the same customs as the Yao\n(1-102), but under the Magololo they are governed like prisoners of war.\nIn a Yao village the people are ruled by a headman of their own kindred\n(62), who has power to try all village cases. Among the Magololo there\nare no such headmen, the leading man in the village is merely a sort of\noverseer or taskmaster, put there by the chief and possessing no civil\nor criminal jurisdiction. While the Yao are not compelled to hoe their\nchief\u2019s fields, the Magololo villagers cannot begin to cultivate for\nthemselves till they have first \u201cfinished the chief\u2019s farm\u201d. After doing\nthis, the overseers and the villagers under them may begin to cultivate\nground for their own sustenance. At all times they may cut trees for\ntheir own fires. When they make canoes these are not for themselves,\nbut for the chief. While the Yao have village parliaments, the Magololo\nare autocrats, who keep their people at arm\u2019s length. A subject of the\nMagololo, on killing a buck carries the whole animal to the capital.\nHe gets back two legs, and the chief keeps the rest. The chief in like\nmanner takes all the ivory, and gives the poor hunter only a small\npresent of cloth. While among the Yao each woman has a surety (48),\nthe Magololo dispose of female children as masters dispose of slaves\n(59, 92). They even try to make all the children of their subjects live\nwith themselves\u2014a measure which alienates the more respectable of their\npeople. By the Magololo all refugees are expressly received as slaves\neven though they were free before.\n\n\n104. PROOF AND PUNISHMENT.\n\n\n_Ordeals._\n\nThe Magololo prepare mwai, call their people in great numbers and command\nthem to drink it. Several die in one day, who were therefore bewitchers\nand deserved their fate. I have seen so many who have drunk mwai with\nthe Magololo and recovered, that I am inclined to think either that\nthe poison is of a milder type, or that it is not fairly administered.\nAlthough the Yao are not compelled to drink it, except for strong\nreasons, among them the chance of recovery is smaller.\n\nInvestigation by torture is one of the saddest things that the Magololo\npractise. It is often employed in cases of alleged adultery. When a\nMagololo suspects his wives of this crime, he places a stone in a jar\nof boiling water or oil, and orders them to fetch it up with their\nbare arms. He then judges of their guilt by the amount of injury they\nsustain. When a woman is thus convicted, he makes her confess who seduced\nher. In vain does the helpless creature protest that she is innocent.\nNotwithstanding that her arm is severely scalded, she is subjected to\nthe most cruel torture by a kind of \u201cthumbscrew\u201d (mbanilo) which is\napplied to her head. A small tree (katela) is partly divided along\nthe middle, the skull of the poor woman is inserted as if it were a\nwedge for splitting the tree still farther. Great pressure is exerted\nby forcing the halves of the tree together with the aid of pulleys. The\ninstrument works like a gigantic nut-cracker, and during its operation\nthe chief and his assistants look on with calm satisfaction, and suggest\nthe name of her seducer. When the woman, under this torture, indicates\nthat the man is guilty, he is put to death without a trial. Should he\nplead that he knows nothing of the crime, the chief takes no notice of\nhis protestation. Perhaps the woman herself is quite guiltless, and has\nbeen convicted solely by the ordeal. The Yao used to apply this method\nof torture (kuwana) to a bewitcher in order to extort a confession.\nThe bewitcher was first proved guilty by the oracle, and then had his\nhead squeezed till he told where he had buried his horns. But now the\ndetective both proves the guilt and finds the horns (107). Among the Yao\nat present this process of torture is seldom applied to free people.\n\nEven in serious cases the Magololo may refuse to give any trial \u201cbecause\nthe accused was their slave\u201d.\n\n\n_Crimes and Punishment._\n\n_Petty theft_, as of a fowl, is punished among the Magololo by flogging\nwith whips of elephant hide. There is no formal trial. If the criminal\nsays he has not stolen, the chief says he is a liar, which, to do the\nchief justice, is often the case. Cropping a thief\u2019s ears, and cutting\noff his fingers, are also practised. Few Yao take such decided measures\neven with their slaves. For _theft_ of anything more valuable the\npunishment is death. A man that steals a sheep or a goat is stabbed and\nthrown into the river. On other occasions he is flogged to death with\nwhips of elephant hide. \u201cBut do they always want to kill a thief when\nthey flog him?\u201d \u201cNo, sometimes they stop before he is dead, and then the\nman\u2019s companions remark, \u2018You have been very fortunate to-day!\u2019\u201d At other\ntimes a thief is made a public _example_, in which case he has his hands\nand his feet, or one or more of these members, cut off, and is placed in\nthe forum for \u201ctwo days\u201d. After this he is killed and thrown into the\nriver. We asked, \u201cBut does not the man bleed to death in a short time?\u201d\n\u201cNot always,\u201d was the reply, \u201cbut the place where he sat is covered\nwith his blood, and the chief kills a goat, which is disembowelled on\nthat spot\u201d. The Yao do not often kill or mutilate in this way except in\ncases where they can get no compensation: but when they catch an enemy,\nthey cut off his hand and tell him to go home and show how he has been\nreceived.\n\n_Adultery_ with their own wives the Magololo all punish with death.\nBut when the crime is only among their people, their punishment is\nnot uniform. Chiputula inflicts capital punishment on all adulterers,\nremarking that \u201cnext day they would interfere with his own wives\u201d.\nMakukani, when one of his men complains against another, may order the\naccused to hand over his wife for a week or more to the accuser.\n\nWhen one of these chiefs wishes to make an example of an adulterer, the\nmethod is as barbarous as can well be conceived. The victim has his\nhand or some other part of his body cut off, and he is then compelled to\neat it. I was unwilling to believe this, till I met men that had been\neye-witnesses on several occasions, and then it appeared that the custom\nwas notorious. We asked, \u201cWhy do the criminals consent to eat part of\ntheir bodies?\u201d The reply was, \u201cThe chief persuades (nyenga) or cheats\nthem to do so. They think that if they eat, he will allow them to live.\u201d\nBut in all such cases execution soon follows.\n\nThe practices of the Magololo not only furnish an illustration of how\nindividual slaves and captives are treated, but show how a strong\ngovernment in a barbarous land may \u201cgrind\u201d its subjects. After a chief\nhas been successful in many wars, he begins to think that both his slaves\nand his own kinsmen derive all life and property from him, and hold these\nprivileges during his pleasure.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nWITCHCRAFT.\n\n\n105. THE POISONED CUP (MWAI.)\n\nThe poison so often referred to in connection with native trials is made\nfrom the bark of the mwai tree, which grows plentifully throughout the\ncountry. The dose is about two gills, and is prepared by a pounder of\npoison (1). The accused, it is said, has a voice in the selection of the\npounder, but so implicitly is the ordeal believed in that the natives\nthink it is of little consequence who \u201cpounds\u201d it; still most tribes\nseem to have a milder concoction for trivial offences. The drug may be\ntaken by proxy\u2014it may be administered to a dog or a fowl or some animal\nrepresenting the accused. In this case the animal is tied by a string to\nthe criminal. If it survive, the accused is innocent, if it die, he is\nguilty. This method of administering the ordeal is more humane, and is\nallowed in smaller offences. It is much used by the natives that live\nnear the coast. Indeed, the inhabitants of Quilimane believe in the\nordeal as implicitly as the tribes of the interior, and although they\nhave been in contact with Europeans for centuries, they were accustomed\nwhen called before a Portuguese judge to swear on the mwai instead of the\nBible.\n\n\n106. WITCHCRAFT (USAWI.)\n\nWe have now described so many native customs that it is time to set our\nexamination paper that the reader may satisfy himself as to his progress\nin African lore. We therefore propose the following question, \u201cWhen\na man is killed by a wild beast, do the natives think he died by the\nhand of God?\u201d If the reader can answer this, he has studied the subject\nwith profit, and he would be able to answer many similar questions.\nFor those who are doubtful we shall submit our own view. In the first\nplace, the question as Christians understand it, is quite unintelligible\nto the native. We have reason to believe that in the times of his\nphilosophising, the idea of a Supreme Being rises before his mind, but\nthat Being is to him \u201ca God afar off\u201d who takes nothing to do with the\nordinary course of events, and from whose hand, therefore, death or\nmisfortune never comes. We must try then to interpret the question as\nthe native does (3), and we are thus led to enquire whether death comes\nfrom the hand of the Departed Spirits. Now undoubtedly these spirits\nhave great power. Under their auspices journeys are successful, by their\nassemblies famine is averted, through their influence death is driven\naway. Yet it is not so much their business either to cause evil or to\nprevent it, as to indicate whether evil be coming. The departed spirit\nmay have to answer a question like this, \u201c_If_ Saul come down, and _if_\nI remain here, will the men of Keilah deliver me up?\u201d Now by giving a\nfalse answer, the spirit may bring about the death of his worshippers.\nYet it is not the spirit that kills them\u2014the real cause of all such\nmischief in this lower world is the Bewitcher. When we remark that the\ngod is quite as much to blame, the natives say, \u201cThere is no use of\nblaming the god. _He did not set the horns._\u201d It is on the Bewitcher\ntherefore that all responsibility lies.\n\nThe word \u201cBewitcher\u201d (msawi) carries with it two ideas\u2014the person so\ncalled (1) has power or knowledge sufficient for the practice of occult\narts, and (2) is addicted to cannibalism. The second meaning is the\nmore prominent. Let a person eat a morsel of his deceased friend, and\nthough he be the feeblest and dullest-looking creature in the world he\nis msawi This throws light upon the native view of witchcraft. Witches\nkill a victim for the purpose of eating him: not only so, but every man\nthat dies even what we call a natural death is really killed by witches.\nThese terrible beings visit their victim when asleep (94) and instil\na powerful poison into his ears. They carry out their infernal tricks\nchiefly by means of horns (misengo.) Of themselves these horns may be\nharmless, being merely the horns of small buck, and if a bewitcher were\nto die after burying these weapons, they would have no evil influence.\nBut as a matter of fact, such horns are always dangerous, for the witches\nhold a council beforehand with regard to killing their victim and sharing\nhis flesh, and although the witch that buries the horns may die, the\nsurvivors are able to carry on the plot to its termination.\n\nHence when any native dies, his friends are certain that he has been\nslain by witchcraft, and at once call in the witch-detective, who will\ndiscover the guilty witches and remove their dangerous horns.\n\n\n107. THE WITCH-DETECTIVE (MAVUMBULA).\n\nAlthough a male detective has appeared in the past history of these\ntribes, all the witch detectives that I have seen were female. They are\nin one aspect the most important personages in the country. At present\ntwo reside at Lake Chirwa; they belong to the same fraternity, one is\ncalled Chipembere (Rhinoceros), and the other Tambala (Cock). Many speak\nas if the office now belonged entirely to females. A native in ordinary\nconversation often remarks, \u201cIf I have any misfortune I will go to the\nwoman,\u201d and when pronouncing a person guilty, the terrible functionary\nends her speech with the words, \u201cThus saith the woman\u201d. The detective\nwhen called to investigate a case of death, appoints a day for the\nceremony. She goes with a strong guard of armed men, and although her\nmeetings are frequent, people crowd to them from great distances. Her\napproach causes as much excitement as a public execution would do in a\nquiet English town, with this difference, that the assembled multitude\ncannot tell who will be the victim. At sunrise the drums begin to beat\nand are heard over the whole country side; about three hours after, all\nthe villages in the district are deserted. Their inhabitants, men,\nwomen, and children, are to be seen hurrying to the \u201cwitch dance\u201d. On\narriving they sit in a circle, and leave a large space in the centre\nfor the \u201cWoman\u201d. She is waited for with breathless anxiety. After a\ntime wild screams are heard, and there rushes before the spectators the\nmaddest-looking person conceivable. A stranger concludes at once that one\nwitch has been captured already and is now driven before the detective.\nThe wretch looks as if she were haunted by all the Furies and Demons of\nPagan Mythology. Heir face, breast, and arms are marked with patches of\nblood-red. Her head is covered, not with short negro wool, but with snaky\ntresses which hang down her back. Her loins are girt with leopard skins.\nHer legs are overhung with \u201crattles,\u201d which sound at every step. In her\nhand she grasps a scourge of tails, which she waves wildly about her. Her\neyes roll and stare in her fierce frenzy. She is evidently surrounded by\nfiends, which though invisible to others, are dreadful realities to her.\nWith them she maintains a desperate struggle, ever trying to beat them\noff with her scourge. After wrestling thus she utters shrieks of the most\nunearthly character, and with a terrible bound dashes into the circle,\nand we have before us the witch-detective herself. Once in the middle\nof the crowd, she shouts and rants, sings and dances, eats grass and\nchews branches for several hours. Of her chants some are common in the\ndistrict, others in the Walolo language, contains a sound of the letter\n_r_ that the Yao cannot pronounce. She chaffs them for their awkwardness,\nand notwithstanding the grave nature of her ceremony, she succeeds in\ndrawing smiles from the multitude. In some of her chants she boasts of\nher power. \u201cLet the bewitcher become a leopard or a carrion crow yet,\u201d\nshe cries, \u201cthere can be no escape.\u201d A large part of the crowd are in a\nstate of terrible suspense. Each person knows that from three to five\npeople will be \u201cdetected,\u201d and what if he be among the number? The first\ntime I was at a witch-dance I was not free from concern! The bewitchers,\nhowever, will either be relatives of the deceased or persons that have\nhad a quarrel with him.\n\nAs the decisive moment arrives, the detective asks the hand of every one\nin the crowd as she chants the appropriate words:\u2014\n\n    \u201cPasa manja Chipembere (Give Chipembere your hand).\n    Pasa manja Chipembere.\u201d\n              _Response._\u2014\u201cE, e, e, e, e, e, e.\u201d\n\nThe instant she touches the hand of a bewitcher she leaps back with a\nterrible start and utters a wild scream. Another method of detecting\nis by smelling, and this she brings into use at various stages of the\ninvestigation. Soon after feeling the hands of the spectators, she\nretires from the scene literally drenched with sweat. She has found out\nthe whole secret. But the triumph of her art is not yet fully disclosed,\nand soon she proceeds to reveal where the witches have hid their horns.\nTaking a hoe and a pot of water, she marches off for the purpose,\nfollowed by hundreds of the crowd whose curiosity is most intense, and\nwho begin to share her savage manner. She goes to the forum, to the\nstream that supplies the villagers with water, and to their various\nhouses. At a spot where she wishes to dig she pours out water to soften\nthe ground. During her digging, she groans, shrieks, and gesticulates,\nin the most frantic way. She succeeds in finding the horns most readily.\nOne set she digs up at the stream, \u201cthey were placed there to bewitch\nthe water drunk by the deceased\u201d. Another bunch she finds under a tree\nin the village. She looks up, and pointing to some fading branches at\nthe top, she exclaims, \u201cNo wonder that this tree has begun to wither\u201d.\nEvery spectator is dumb with astonishment and terror. No one will dare to\ntouch these horns. It would be fatal to do so. They were buried by the\nbewitchers, and are the very means by which the deceased was killed. All\nare greatly relieved when these potent spells are removed by the \u201cWoman,\u201d\nwho will doubtless find them useful on another occasion.\n\nThe witch-detective always spends one night at the village where she is\nemployed. She is then permitted to wander about at midnight, under the\npretence of going to watch the graves. Should she find any one out of his\nhouse at that hour, she catches him and brings forward this suspicious\ncircumstance against him. To be found at night by the witch-detective is\none of the most unfortunate things that could happen to any man. Even if\nhe has not been already recommended as a victim, he is certain to be now\namong the guilty. While the detective goes about at midnight among the\nhouses, she is supposed to be unknown to the witches. Sometimes she begs\nfor food, and the witches, thinking she is one of their own fraternity,\ngive her some human flesh. This hospitality she ungratefully rewards,\nfor the flesh said to be thus procured she produces as evidence against\nthe person that gave it.\n\nBesides horns, the detective may dig up arms, legs, and other portions of\nhuman bodies in suspicious places in or near the houses of the witches.\nThe whole process of unearthing is of a nature to satisfy a craving\nfor magic, and if more harmless, would be intensely humorous. There is\nno saying what the witch-detective may \u201cfind,\u201d and she seems as much\nsurprised at her discovery as any of the spectators!\n\n\n_Midnight Feasts._\n\nAny witch may join in eating a person that has been killed by the agency\nof others; indeed, most of the witches in the country are believed to\ncome to a great feast when one of their number has robbed the grave of\nits prey. Here is a description of such midnight feasts translated from\nthe very words of a native:\u2014\u201cThey cook the body at night, when everyone\nis asleep, in a pot with water and salt. They eat it with their porridge\nas a relish in the same way as they would eat a fowl. They go and bury\nthe bones. They take the head and singe off the hair, and go to the\nstream and wash it with water and take out the brains and cook them. They\ndisembowel the body and eat all the entrails after washing them at the\nstream.\u201d If a body is kept in a house until putrefaction has done its\nwork, \u201cthe witches are cheated of their meat\u201d. This is one reason why\nthe body of a person of rank is kept in the house for a long time after\ndeath. The witch-detective, or rather the mwai, kills only the person who\nbewitched the deceased and those that consented to his death beforehand.\nThose that partook of the feast are not so guilty, but they generally\ncome with a present to the detective and justify themselves by saying,\n\u201cWe only followed the meat\u201d. One of the exploits of witches, according\nto Kapeni, is to make milk come down a straw in the inside of a house.\nWe mention this because it resembles witch-stories in other lands. When\nwitches are caught by the detective, no one will speak to them. Generally\nthey are some helpless creatures whom a relative wishes out of the way.\nThey must soon drink the mwai, which is certain to prove fatal to some of\nthem. The credit of the witch-detective would suffer if they all survived.\n\n\n_Death by mwai._\n\nThe person that dies by mwai, whether the crime be theft, adultery,\nmurder, or witchcraft, is denied the ordinary funeral rights. The body\nis either cast into a cave, or hung on a tree for the vultures. No\ncoffin (34) is allowed, and the ordinary grave-cloth is denied. Much\nof the effects of the deceased goes to paying the prosecutor, who has\na large account with the witch-detective. It may, however, be the\nprosecutor himself that succeeds to the bewitcher\u2019s inheritance. This\nwhole superstition casts a dark shadow over the closing days of the\npoor native. If we pass over slaves (who may be killed to escort their\nmaster) and young children, we do not hesitate to say that in many\ndistricts one half of the natives are killed by mwai. On every occasion\nof what we call natural death, there is at once an investigation by the\nwitch-detective, and the result is that at least one individual dies.\n\nTowards the last year of my own residence in Africa there occurred\nten deaths of persons that I was well acquainted with. Of these, four\ndied by violence, three by natural causes, and three by mwai. Of the\nthree that died by natural causes two were living with the English, and\ntheir friends were not allowed to be avenged on any bewitcher, so that\nwe believe that the proportion of deaths by mwai is really larger. We\nhave sometimes wondered that the chiefs did not check the operations\nof the sorcerer, but the following from Lady Barker will throw much\nlight on their position. A Kafir chief said, \u201cYou ask me to put down\nthe witch-doctors, but you forget the circumstances of my country. You\nEnglishmen have gaols, policemen and soldiers; I have none of these\nthings, and if I were to prohibit \u2018smelling out\u2019 there would be no check\nwhatever upon the criminal classes.\u201d\n\nOn first finding myself face to face with the above agency of heathenism,\nI began to reason against it. In my first efforts I took very strong\nground, not only denying that witchcraft was possible, but asserting that\nI did not believe in cannibalism. I even ventured to argue that when\nthese tribes spoke of \u201ceating each other\u201d they \u201cdid not and could not\nmean\u201d that a man literally ate his fellows. But it is a dangerous thing\nto give a native lessons in his own language, and I was soon convinced\nthat they \u201cdid not and could not mean\u201d anything else. But they were\ngenerally very fair in controversy. They were unanimous in rejecting my\nviews about cannibalism\u2014\u201cwas not human flesh as sweet to the bewitcher as\nmonkeys, beetles and caterpillars were to other people?\u201d But they were\nwilling to admit that the detective while prowling about at midnight\nmight busy herself in burying horns, and they laughed heartily when I\nvolunteered to unearth as many horns as they wanted if they allowed me\nthe same privilege. I am not without hope that the deception may soon\ncome to an end, for the little boys and girls that lived with us used\nlatterly to get up a mock witch-dance for their own amusement, and they\nacted on hints most willingly given by the \u201cwhite man,\u201d and implying that\nthe witch-detective buried the horns herself.\n\n\n_Divination._\n\nThe following method of divining as described by Mr. Buchanan may\nconclude this chapter:\u2014\n\n\u201cA common custom amongst the Machinga is divination (kupenda). Few will\nventure to go a distance of ten miles without first assuring themselves\nthat no danger is to befall them on the way. Men going from Zomba to\nBlantyre seldom forget to try the \u2018Chipendo\u2019 before starting. One mode\nof divining is by means of the root of a small bush. This root is about\nthe thickness of a pencil, and three bits of it about two inches long are\nusually employed. Most men carry these lots or roots with them when on\na journey, and carefully preserve them when at home. A man wishing to\nknow whether he may proceed in safety takes these bits of root and lays\nthem carefully on the ground, placing the third above the other two. He\nthen declares his intention of going to a certain place, and asks whether\nthere is any hindrance. After retiring a few paces he returns to take his\nanswer from the position in which the roots are now lying. If they have\nremained as he placed them his journey is to be prosperous, but if they\nhave been separated it is to be unsuccessful, and he will not set out.\nOr the diviner may use only two roots\u2014a method often resorted to by a\ntraveller who comes to cross roads. He places his knife in a horizontal\nposition, and lays the two roots against the blade. The traveller then\nstands pointing to one of the roads and says \u2018Shall I take this one?\u2019\nand if the roots remain still fixed he takes it, but if they fall to the\nground he chooses the other path. In the event of a man being without a\nknife he may use the palm of his hand or the side of a tree.\n\n\u201cAnother and more complicated method consists in boiling the roots and\nmixing the entrails of an adder with the water.\u201d\n\nThis use of the entrails is suggestive in an ethnological point of view.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nAFRICAN ETHNOLOGY.\n\n\nIn trying to settle whether tribes are of the same race the Ethnologist\nturns his attention to such points as (1) their language, (2) their\ncustoms and beliefs, and (3) their physical characteristics. Though in\nthis chapter we refer only to the second of these particulars, we may\nremark that on the evidence of language alone we can decide that the\nWayao, Walolo, Anyasa, Achikunda, Machinga, Mangoni, Makua, and others\nin their neighbourhood, are sprung from common ancestors, and that all\nthese tribes are of the same race as the majority of the tribes found\nsouth of the Equator, which have been grouped together as the Bantu.[12]\nThe other important inhabitants of South Africa besides the Bantu are the\nHottentots and Bushmen, who again have been often classed together. The\nHottentots and Bushmen seem to have been first in the Continent. Then the\nBantu came into the middle of them, and split them into two sections.\nOne section (Hottentots and Bushmen) is found in the South, the other\nsection (represented by tribes like the Akka) is found in the North. As\nto the time when the Bantu established themselves in South Africa there\nis little to guide us. It is said that the Kafirs were forcing their way\ndown by the West Coast at the time when the Portuguese were settling on\nthe East Coast. It seems clear that Santos on one side of Africa and\nMerolla on the other both mingled with this great people.\n\nAfrican Ethnology is a vast subject, and in treating it some have been\nled to maintain that there was once a continent to the east of Africa,\nwhich has become submerged. The traditions common among these African\ntribes to the effect that the Bantu came from the North tempt us to look\nnorthward along the map of Africa with the view of discovering whence\nthey came. On examining the tribes of Northern Africa, we find that one\nobstacle has been put before the Ethnologist by Mahommedanism, which,\npressing into the country by the seventh century, changed the ancient\ntribal customs. On the other hand, the customs of certain ancient races\nlike the Egyptians have been preserved by history.\n\nPutting aside language for the present, we shall note the customs of\nvarious African races. This besides pointing to certain ethnological\nconclusions, will throw light on the customs that have been laid before\nthe reader, and may increase the interest in those tribes. Taking our\nstand in the Nyassa region, we shall, after glancing at customs of\nEastern Africa supplied by earlier missionaries, look towards the South,\nthe West, and the North in succession; and then conclude the chapter\nwith notes on ancient races that might have had contact with the African\nBantu.\n\n\nEAST CENTRAL AFRICA.\n\n_Santos_[13] (1586) remarks: \u201cThe people bewail their dead by dint of\ndrumming, and desist from leaping and dancing only when fatigue obliges\nthem to cease (33). They regard their king as the favourite of the souls\nof the dead, and think that he learns from them all that passes in his\ndominions (1). The Portuguese delivered from their dreadful slavery a\nnumber of women and children whom this wretch kept with a number of men\nin pens for the purpose of killing and eating them in succession (79,\n106). They acknowledge a God who, both in this world and in the world\nto come, measures retribution for the good or evil done in this.\u201d [This\nlooks, I fear, somewhat like reading our ideas into their language.\nStill, natives might easily fancy that the old chief to whom they go at\ndeath will treat his subjects much as he did in this life.]\n\nThe Rev. H. Rowley, of the Magomero Mission, gives an account of a public\nsupplication for rain amongst the Anyasa (20). In conducting war, \u201cThe\nYao,\u201d he says, \u201cleft their camp before daybreak, marched direct to the\nprincipal village, destroyed that, and fired the others which lay in\ntheir line of march home. The difficulty was to get messengers to the\nYao.... When we asked our own men to be the messengers, they put their\nhands instinctively to their throats\u201d (101).\n\nIn a case of accidental death \u201cit was difficult to convince one party\nthat it was an accident, and both that witchcraft had nothing to do with\nit\u201d (86).\n\n\nSOUTH AFRICA.\n\nThe Zulu and Kafir have customs so similar to the Yao that I refer only\nto a few, some of which are quoted on account of the difference.\n\nThey do not eat fowls, ducks, or eggs, lest they should be barren\n(D). They conceal birth-names (52). A man must not see the face of\nhis mother-in-law. The eldest son succeeds his father. They bury in a\ncircular hole, placing the body in a sitting posture. On returning from\na funeral they get a charm administered to them. A spirit may come back\nas a snake (5). Their Witch-doctors and Fetishmen are more set apart from\nthe people than those in Eastern Central Africa. Feathers, claws, teeth,\npieces of wood, &c., are charms. Prophets smell a person to see whether\nhe speaks the truth. The witch is believed not to eat the body taken from\nthe grave, but to use it as a charm.\n\nA recent account of one of the southern Bantu tribes, the _Amandebele_,\nwhich was formed of 30 or 40 smaller tribes, is given by Thomas, from\nwhich we take the following customs:\u2014\n\nThe first to \u201cbleed\u201d a field with his pick possesses it (48). Soldiers\ngoing to war charm themselves before and after the expedition (14, &c.).\nAn invalid is removed from the village to a field (19). At funerals\nthere is an offering of cattle, and the deceased is introduced to his\nfather, grandfather, and others. In cases where the spirit of a deceased\nfriend enters an invalid, this spirit gets a sacrifice: sometimes the\nparticular animal wanted by the spirit is named. The dead may be changed\ninto elephants, buck, lions, snakes, &c. Hence offerings are given to\nsuch animals.\n\nMr. Thomas carefully distinguishes two classes of professional men that\nare often put together: one is the class of diviners, each of whom is\ntrained by an older diviner. The other class is the common _izinyanga_,\nand includes self-taught physicians and those doctors that are priests\nas well as physicians (I). Witchcraft is carried on and punished in ways\nsimilar to what we have described (107), and yet with important points of\ndifference. Their traditions on cosmology state that when men came out\nof the earth they found the animal and vegetable kingdoms prepared for\nthem, and that they received the opposite messages of life and death.\nThis last statement refers to the chameleon legend common among the Bantu\n(_Appendix_, Tale 15).\n\n\nWEST CENTRAL AFRICA.\n\n_Merolla_ (1682) says:\u2014\u201cThe people ate serpents. They had an oath by\nwhich a person\u2019s limbs were bound tighter or looser to force out the\ntruth. [In \u00a7 104, we saw this principle applied to the head]. They did\nnot approve of marrying in _facie ecclesi\u00e6_, for they must be satisfied\nbefore marriage whether their wife will have children, and whether she\nwill prove diligent in her work and obedient. When the fault proceeds\nfrom the wife\u2019s side, the present that was made by the husband is\nrestored; when the fault is on his side, he recovers nothing (59). When\nthe father receives the present he complains not even if it should be\nsmall\u2014for that would look like selling his daughter; but he asks in\npublic beforehand how much the man will give. [This is more like the\nKafir custom than the Yao (48)]. Sometimes a man leaves a concubine to\nhis kinsman (54, 43). The wife waits at table on her husband; after he\nis satisfied he gives the rest of the food to her, and she shares it\nwith her children (67). Whilst children are young they are bound with\nsuperstitious cords made by the wizards (45). They are put down naked on\nthe ground; when they can move, a bell is tied to them, to show where\nthey have gone. The fields are planted round with stakes, which being\nbound with bundles of herbs by the wizards, will kill any thief (K). When\nthey have private quarrels, they do not decide them singly, but each man\ngets as many friends as he can. The parties meet, begin to argue quietly,\nproceed to invectives, and lastly they fall to it \u2018helter-skelter\u2019. [We\ncould give no better account of many native trials in Eastern Africa.]\nOn a death, the kindred collect: hens are killed; they besprinkle the\nhouse of the deceased with the blood, and throw the carcases on the top\nof the house, to prevent the soul of the dead from coming to give Zumbi\nto any future inhabitants (40). The dead person is believed to summon\nothers out of this world (41). They weep over the dead, if not naturally\nthey hold Indian pepper to their noses, which causes the tears to flow\nplentifully. When they have howled and wept for some time, all of a\nsudden they pass to mirth, feasting at the expense of the person that is\nnearest akin to the deceased (43). Many abominations take place after\nthese feasts. The Giaghi offer human sacrifices to the dead (28). Burial\nplaces are in the fields, and have something placed over them\u2014_e.g._,\nhorns or earthen pots (39). The poorer people wrap their dead in straw\nmats. All are given to \u2018idolatry\u2019 and the eating of man\u2019s flesh (106).\nIf any person whatsoever pass by where the guests are eating, he or she\nthrusts into the ring and has an equal share with the rest (D). Their\nwives work in the fields till noon, and must get their husbands\u2019 food\nready, and wait till he finish\u201d (57).\n\n_Battel_ (1590\u2014Angola and adjoining countries) writes:\u2014\u201cThe Gagas ate\ntheir captives, except those under fourteen years of age. The women draw\nout two teeth above and two below (A). A dead man has his hair dressed,\nand is put on a seat in a vault dug in the ground. Two of his wives are\nput by him with their arms broken, then the vault is covered up. The\ngreatest part of his goods is buried with him (39). Every month there is\na meeting of his kindred, who mourn and kill goats and pour the blood and\npalm-tree wine on the grave. [The Yao have dances every month, when the\nmoon is full; on other occasions there would be difficulty in lighting\ntheir great ball-room.] They suffer no white man to be buried in the\nland. The body is thrown into the sea about two miles from the coast.\n[Unless where the English possess land, or are well known, this custom\ncan be traced in East Africa. On Lake Nyassa, at least one English body\nhad difficulty in obtaining a grave. In the same way some of the deceased\nMagomero missionaries were exhumed. In keeping with this is the custom of\ncarrying about bodies for long distances, as in the case of Livingstone\nand some Portuguese.] If a person denies a charge, he drinks a root\n(Imbando), which kills him if he is guilty. _No one on any account dies\nbut they kill another for him._ They believe that some one bewitched the\ndeceased (106). Many times 500 men and women come to drink Imbando\u201d (104).\n\n_Bosman_ (1700\u2014Bosman\u2019s Guinea) mentions 5 classes of people: (1) kings,\n(2) chief men who take care of a city or village, (3) those that have\ngot riches, (4) the common people, (5) slaves. [This exactly applies to\nthe Eastern tribes.] In their salutations the first question is, \u201cHow\ndid you sleep?\u201d to which the reply is, \u201cVery well\u201d (G). At Fida, if any\nvisit his superior, he falls on his knees, kisses the earth, claps his\nhands. [Here we find kneeling and clapping the hands.] The women suckle\nthe infants for two or three years. Child-bearing is not troublesome;\nhere is no long lying-in nor expensive gossiping or groaning feasts\n(44). The chief handiwork is smithery. They have no notion of steel.\nA hard stone is their anvil, and they have a pair of tongs, a small\npair of bellows, and three or more pipes (H). When they begin a war,\ndrive a bargain, travel, or attempt anything of importance, their first\nbusiness is to consult their false god by means of their priest, who may\ntell them to offer sheep, &c. [14. Another resemblance to the Zulu and\nKafirs. Among the simpler Yao, a man may be his own priest.] Questions\nmay be put to the idol, which are answered in this way:\u2014About 20 bits of\nleather are shuffled by the priest; if those indicating success come much\ntogether, success is announced (I). Public general religious exercises\nare customary on account of great drought (20). They kill a cock or a\nsheep to their god in words alone: for when it is dead they immediately\nfall upon it, tearing it to pieces with their fingers (27). Most of them\nbelieve that after death they live in another world in the same character\nas here; but they have no idea of future rewards or punishments (10).\nThey drive devils out of villages (107). Children don\u2019t inherit their\nfather\u2019s goods (97). If a woman is with child for the first time, rich\nofferings are made to the false god to obtain her safe delivery (53).\nThey call in medicine men when sick, who prescribe offerings to deities.\nThey have medicaments of the roots, branches, and gum of trees, and about\n30 different herbs (I).\n\nFrom various other writers on Western Central Africa we gather the\nfollowing facts:\u2014\n\nWhen a child is 7 days old, the parents make a small feast, imagining\nthat the infant is past its greatest dangers; and in order to prevent\nevil spirits from doing it any mischief, they strew all the ways with\ndressed victuals to appease them (44).\n\nIf a man like a virgin, he tells the most considerable among her\nrelations, who goes to her house and asks her of her relations, who, if\nshe is not before promised, seldom deny the request: then the bridegroom\nclothes his future bride with a rich suit of clothes and ornaments (48).\n\nA man contracts with his wife when she is under age (48), and afterwards\ncarries her forcibly to his home amidst her struggles and shrieks. A\ndower is reserved for her, so that, in case of widowhood, she may be able\nto buy a husband (59). When a present is paid to her parents, the bride\nis led to her husband\u2019s hut, and he sends her for water, wood, and other\nnecessaries. One of the wives is the superior (55). Adultery is punished\nby selling both offenders. The husband may turn off an unfaithful wife at\npleasure; he makes her take all her children with her, unless he want to\nkeep any himself (59). Wives do all the hard work, do not eat with their\nhusbands, and are in great subjection. They name the child by shaving\nits head and rubbing it with oil (46). The women carry the children on\ntheir back as they go about their ordinary work. Many writers \u201cimpute\nthe flat noses and pot bellies to this mode of carriage\u201d. As soon as a\nperson dies the neighbours are collected by loud cries and lamentations.\nThey cry over the dead for several days. They give the deceased about\na twelvemonth\u2019s provisions, and make a point of securing the body from\ncarrion-eaters (38). The brothers, sisters, and relations take possession\nof the goods of the dead man, and leave little to his children (97). If\nthe deceased be a man, his wives shave their heads. [40, 43. All the Yao\nshave the head for any deceased relative.] If they drink liquor belonging\nto a European that they do not know, they ask him to drink first that\nthey may see that there is no poison (98). They use no bread, but eat\nthe flour of their various grains. They use the Indian corn when green,\nroasting it on the coals\u2014or make flour by pounding in mortars. The\nhouses are like beehives, and have pointed roofs: persons of quality\nhave palisades round them. The domestic utensils are only earthen pots,\ncalabashes, and baskets (C). They use bows, poisoned arrows and assagais.\n\n[Illustration: WOMAN OF WESTERN AFRICA POUNDING MEAL.]\n\nThe Mahommedan negroes of the West Coast practise circumcision in some\nplace remote from a village (52).\n\nThe above customs of the Western African are taken from the older writers\non the subject. After coming into contact with Europeans the natives are\napt to change their more primitive manners. They are fond of discarding\nround huts in favour of square. The above illustration shows a basket\nvery different from the East African ones, all of which are carried on\nthe head.\n\n\nNORTHERN CENTRAL AFRICA.\n\nThe BONGO believe that evil and not good comes from spirits. Old people\nprocure roots in the forest glades at night to destroy others. The\nNubians, besides having superstitions of their own, confirm them in all\nthis. Old women are compared to hyenas, and believed to enter their\nbodies by night. The dead are put in a crouching form\u2014as prescribed in\nthe law of Islam (_Schweinfurth_). Among the NYAM-NYAM no bodies are\nrejected as unfit for food except those that died of a cutaneous disease.\nThe eldest son of a chief succeeds his father. Chieftains rarely lead\ntheir armies (98). A man that wishes a wife goes to a chief or sub-chief,\nwho endeavours to procure one (48). The women eat alone in their own\nhuts. The game \u201cmungala\u201d is played sometimes on a board, sometimes with\nholes in the ground (51, 5).\n\nThe BALONDA (Livingstone) ratify friendship by partaking of each other\u2019s\nblood. They believe in a kind of supreme deity. When they take a poison\nordeal they hold up their hands, as if to appeal to a great judge above.\n[It will be observed that the last clause is an inference.] They have\nidols, and a cross-road is considered sacred (40).\n\nThe WANYAMWESI have also a ceremony of making \u201cblood-brothers\u201d.\n\nThe WAGANDA have a stringent code of etiquette. A man that makes any\nmistake in saluting the king is executed at once. The account given\nby Speke of the chief of Uganda shows what a terrible curse a strong\ngovernment may become (104). A powerful chief kills scores of people in\ncold blood, till the thing becomes an established custom, and ceases to\nbe wondered at. Stanley\u2019s details are equally instructive. When a warlike\nexpedition is thought of, the sorcerer flays a child, and lays its body\non the path as the soldiers pass forth to battle.\n\nThe GANI go quite naked, but instead of sitting on the ground as most\nnatives do, they carry a small stool. In this district mothers wash their\nchildren and then lick them dry with their tongues as cats do. Towels are\nno part of native appliances.\n\nAmong the OBBO, when a man dies, his relatives take off his hair and wear\nit in his memory.\n\nThe DJOUR country resembles the Yao in being infested by the\n_tsetse-fly_, which kills cattle; consequently the people, though with a\ntaste for agriculture, have nothing except goats.\n\nIn many tribes the women wear no clothing till marriage. The birth of\ntwins is often considered unlucky; among the Ishogo the mother of twins\nis forbidden to speak to any but relatives for six years.\n\nThe APINGI offered Du Chaillu a \u201ctender and fat\u201d slave for his \u201cevening\nmeal\u201d.\n\nAmong the FANS (Ba-Fan) the executed wizards (_cf._ 107) are eaten, and\ncannibalism (according to Reade) is made no secret.\n\nAmong ABYSSINIANS (like the Gallas, Samali, &c.) we find customs like the\nfollowing:\u2014\n\nChildren are circumcised the eighth day. The baptismal name is concealed,\nto prevent an evil spirit from taking possession of the party. They have\ncivil marriages which are readily dissolved. On a death the relatives\nof the deceased shave their heads. There is much \u201cwailing,\u201d for which\nprofessionals attend, and a funeral banquet.\n\nLobo, the Abyssinian missionary, was cupped by a native by three cups of\nhorn about half-a-foot long (I).\n\nThe GALLAS have a god called Wak. Their priests divine by the fat of\ngoats and intestines. It is honourable to kill an alien, to kill a\ncountryman is criminal. On death the relatives feast on the cattle. Wood\nthat has been burning a little is put on the grave. If the wood grow the\nman is happy in the world beyond (_Krapf_).\n\nThe ARABS are found everywhere in Northern Africa, and their customs are\nbetter known: still I shall note a few for the sake of comparison.\n\nBoys are named at the ceremony of circumcision. This is about their\nseventh year among the Turks. Some make it the 13th after the analogy\nof Ishmael (compare 52). Whatever is touched by a corpse is defiled\n(34). They pay visits to the graves of the dead; pilgrimages are a great\nfeature in their religion. There are a few superstitions connected with\nthe use of salt, _e.g._, when an infant is named, some may be put into\nits mouth. An assemblage of families all from a common stock forms a\ntribe\u2014the government is paternal (62).\n\n\nRACES OF ANTIQUITY.\n\nIt would be interesting to determine to which of the ancient nations\nknown to history these Bantu tribes are most related. For light on this\nquestion we must look at the great nations of antiquity that had most to\ndo with Africa.\n\nThe first race that we find in African history is the ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,\nwhose country, Mizraim, is named after one of the sons of Ham. Whether\nthey pressed farther south at an early date it is difficult to determine.\nIt would have been strange if they had not: they had enterprise enough to\nbuild the pyramids. As dynasty succeeded dynasty, many that were driven\nbefore invaders in those barbarous times may have discovered that the\nworld was wide. It is agreed, however, that in the 18th dynasty, about\n1400 B.C., Sesostris found tribes in Nubia, Abyssinia, Senaar, &c., and\nsubdued them. It is instructive to note that about 718 B.C. Egypt had a\ndynasty of Ethiopian kings; and that about 600 B.C. Necho, an Egyptian\nking, sent a Phenician fleet down the Red Sea, which appeared in the\nMediterranean three years after\u2014having sailed round Africa.\n\nThe next of the ancient races that may be mentioned in connection with\nAfrica is the PHENICIANS or CANAANITES. Before Homer\u2019s time they had the\ncommerce of the Mediterranean. By the time of Solomon they were making\nvoyages down the Red Sea to a place called Ophir, regarding which there\nhave been many theories. In connection with one of these, we quote the\nfollowing from Baines. Speaking of the long-sought ruins in the land\nof Ophir, he says:\u2014\u201cThey are extensive, and one collection covers a\nconsiderable portion of a gentle rise, while another, apparently a fort,\nstands upon a bold granite hill. The walls are still thirty feet in\nheight, and are built of granite hewn into small blocks about the size\nof our bricks, and put together without mortar. The most remarkable of\nthese walls is situated on the very edge of a precipitous cliff, and is\nin perfect preservation to the height of thirty feet. The walls are about\nten feet thick at the base, and seven or eight at the top. In many places\nthere remain beams of stone, eight or ten feet in length, projecting from\nthe walls, in which they must be inserted to a depth of several feet,\nfor they can scarcely be stirred.\u201d This explorer finds Ophir in Southern\nAfrica.\n\nThe JEWS had contact with most of the nations of antiquity, and it is\nsaid that the kings of Abyssinia were descended from Solomon, through the\nQueen of Sheba, who on her return was accompanied by many Jews. It is\nalso maintained that numbers of Jews found refuge in Abyssinia at various\nperiods. The Abyssinians, as their name implies, are a mixed race.\n\nHerodotus mentions a party of young men that travelled through the desert\nand went on till they came to a black people who lived by a large river\nwhich flowed westwards.\n\nOn comparing the customs of the modern tribes of Africa with those of\nthe Ancient Egyptians, the Phenicians, or the Jews, we find many points\nof difference. Still there are points of similarity also. In describing\nAfrican manners we have already noted many agreements with old Jewish\ncustoms. The customs of the Canaanites need not detain us long. Even in\nthe time of the Patriarchs this race could make seals and graven images,\nhad silver money, and could dye purple. It may be mentioned, however,\nthat they believed themselves to have sprung from slime; while the\nworship of Ashtaroth involved the pollution of the young of both sexes,\nand Moloch demanded sacrifices of children. Divination was also practised.\n\nIt is interesting to note the following particulars regarding Ancient\nEgypt:\u2014\n\nThe civilisation of Egypt did not come down the Nile\u2014the black people\nfrom the land of Cush being represented on Egyptian monuments as\nPharoah\u2019s servants. The Egyptians are akin in customs to the Asiatics.\nSome say the Egyptians and Indians are of the same origin (_cf._\nPrichard).\n\n_Weapons, Tools, &c._\u2014The old Egyptians had bows, shields, javelins,\nand slings. [The latter we have not seen among Eastern Central African\ntribes, but their hoes and wooden pillows resemble the Egyptian.] The old\nEgyptians pounded in stone mortars with metal pestles, and knew something\nof glass-blowing 3500 years ago\u2014a trade which our African pupils\nconsidered \u201ctoo wonderful\u201d. Young children were carried at their mother\u2019s\nbreast, rarely at her back as in Central Africa.\n\n_Offerings, &c._\u2014The people inquired whether the deceased deserved the\nrites of burial Weapons, &c., were buried with him (39). When mourning,\nthey abstained from \u201cthe bath, wine, delicacies of the table, or rich\nclothing\u201d (49). (The priests in their purifications excluded _salt_ from\ntheir meals, ... shaved the head and the whole body every third day.)\nThey called on the deceased according to the degree of relationship, as\n\u201cO my father\u201d. A dirge was chanted to the sound of a tambourine. Mummies\nwere kept in their houses in order that relations might have their\ndeceased with them. (So the Romans gave funeral oblations to their dead,\nflowers, libations, and victims.) The offerings to the dead were similar\nto the ordinary oblations in honour of the gods. Offerings were made to\nOsiris in name of the deceased after the burial.\n\nThe first fruits of the lentils was placed on the altars of the Egyptian\ngods (20). The offering of first fruits was an offering of obligation.\nOfferings of wine (24), oil, bread (21), salt, were offerings of\ndevotion. Ears of new corn were parched at the fire. There is some\ntestimony to the effect that human beings were sacrificed.\n\n_Mysteries._\u2014Circumcision was practised from the earliest times, and when\nit was administered instruction was given in the mysteries. One part of\nthe initiation was to see the figure of the god (53).\n\n_Oracles_ were consulted on all important occasions (14). Dreams were\nregarded with religious reverence (15), and thus the gods told the proper\nremedies for disease (Diodorus). But it was known that most diseases\nproceed from \u201cindigestion and excess of eating\u201d. Bodies were examined to\nfind the causes of death (Pliny).\n\nWomen suspected of infidelity drank a cup of bitter water to prove\ninnocence or guilt (107). The king was the chief of the church and of the\nstate (7).\n\nOn studying tribal customs we find that much similarity arises from the\nvery constitution of human nature. Circumstances also exert a great\ninfluence. Races are so modified when they obtain cows, horses, or\neven the rudiments of a calendar, that we are at once puzzled by the\ndifference between them and the rest of their clan. Besides, we must\never remember the enormous influence of the individual. A whole tribe\nlike the Ovambo derived the habit of squirting water in the face to\nprevent witchcraft from one king. If a stray man settled in Negroland\nwith two or three wives 3000 years ago, the descendents of this person\nwould now count by millions on millions! What are now large African\ntribes evidently descended from an ancestor that lived not so many\ncenturies ago. The whole tribe naturally follows and develops certain\ncharacteristics of this ancestor, and as it keeps aloof from other\ntribes, it soon has distinct peculiarities in speech and customs. Even in\nEngland almost each county has certain peculiarities, a fact which will\nillustrate to what a great extent such developments may grow among tribes\nthat have no written literature, and no means of keeping up communication\nwith their neighbours. Often have I wondered, as I gazed on these African\nmountains and valleys, what tales they could tell, if they only found\na tongue. Much, I believe, may be yet learned by the study of native\nlegends and mythologies, which frequently condescend on names; but after\nall, there are many secrets which will remain undisclosed until those\nmountains and valleys give up their dead.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nAFRICAN PHILOLOGY.\n\n    \u201cThere is a notion that African languages are rude and\n    imperfect. They are no such thing.\u201d\u2014BISHOP STEERE.\n\n\nWhat makes one language more perfect than another? What is a\nphilosophical language? We judge a language by the way in which it\nfulfils its purpose: its great purpose being to express thought.\nEvery language is a means of expressing thought by words. In\none tongue we express certain thoughts easily and conveniently,\nwhich in another we have to express in a cumbrous manner. Thus\ninstead of saying \u201cinapplicabilities,\u201d we might have to say\n\u201cthe-plural-condition-of-not-being-able-to-fold-one-thing-into-another\u201d.\nTo express thought words must be used in a particular way: the words\nthemselves are the vocabulary, the particular way in which they are\nused is the grammar. In estimating a language, we must consider (A) its\nvocabulary, (B) its grammar.\n\n\nA. THE VOCABULARY.\n\n1. _The Number of Words._\u2014(_a_) A language may have too many words. In\nEnglish, multitudes of words have been taken from other tongues. Thus\nwe have the numeral _one_, and also _unit_ (Latin) and _monad_ (Greek).\nUnless such words are necessary, there is a loss of simplicity, which is\nfelt by a foreigner trying to learn the language; and which we could make\napparent to ourselves by introducing from three other languages three\nadditional words for _one_, with all their derivatives. So long as such\nnew words indicate different shades of meaning, their presence shows\nfertility in thought; but where they do not each indicate a separate\nand necessary meaning, they encumber the language. As writing is the\nchief means of giving permanency to unnecessary words, we find that an\nunwritten language like Yao is not thus burdened, and seldom uses two or\nthree words where one might do. There are, however, cases of apparent\nexcess. We have a word for _his elder brother_, and quite a distinct word\nfor _his younger brother_. Many such cases, however, arise really from\ndeficiency\u2014there is no word in the language for _brother_. Again, we have\nwords for _my younger brother_, _your younger brother_, &c., but no word\nfor _younger brother_.\n\n(_b_) A language may have too few words. I have never seen Africans of\nthe same tribe trying to talk with each other and breaking down for want\nof vocables. They have always language enough to express their ideas. But\nthey have often to use circumlocutions. Instead of saying a _pen_ they\nspeak of a (thing) with which to write or mark. It would be unfair to\nexpect the Yao to have a name for _ice_, any more than the English have\na name for anything they don\u2019t know of, but every language should have\neasy methods of forming new words where they are wanted.\n\nWhile sufficient for ordinary purposes, the words of a language may be\ntoo few for exact translation. The English vocabulary enables us to\nspeak of: (1) Objects (and actions) in the material world. (2) Relations\nbetween these objects; such relations are numerous. (3) Things and\nrelations in the mental world, which are named through analogies in the\nmaterial world, for material things are more readily named than mental.\n(4) Besides there are the names of Science. In names of the 1st kind, Yao\nis as full as English. In names of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th kinds, where a\ngreater abstraction is implied, it falls short. An African, while able\nto perceive all such relations, &c., does not find it necessary to name\nmany of them. Even though he named all that he observed, his names would\nbe lost, for in the absence of writing, few words acquire fixity except\nthose in general use. Take the word _grey_; present a grey object to a\nYao, and he calls it black or white, but as a matter of fact, he knows\nperfectly that it is different from either of these colours. In English\nwe speak of a man as being good, upright, straightforward, true, honest,\nhonourable, just, strict, religious, pious, holy, pleasant, courteous,\n&c.; but in Yao there are not names for so many shades of character, and\none or two words must do service for the whole list. We shall not wonder\nat this if we consider how many of the above epithets have been taken\ninto the English language from other tongues. A modern mission to our\nSaxon ancestors would have found their vocabulary as poor as we find the\nAfrican.\n\n2. _The Nature of the Words._\u2014Where one language has an easy word,\nanother may express the same idea (_a_) by a word dreadful to\npronounce\u2014\u201ca vocable sufficient to splinter the teeth of a crocodile\u201d; or\n(_b_) by a cumbrous combination of words.\n\n(_a_) The Yao words are easy to pronounce, the rule being that every\nconsonant is followed by a vowel. But they are longer than English\nwords. If a Yao had to say _transubstantiations_, he would say\n_tiransubisitantiation(i)si_. Again, where we say \u201cYou believed him,\u201d he\nprefers to say \u201cYou-him-believed,\u201d in one word.\n\n(_b_) A language may have a cumbrous combination of words. When the\nRomans had to work with their numerical notation of IX. and XI., we can\nexcuse them for not making much of simple multiplication and division. So\nwhen the Yao express 99 by _makumi msanu ni makumi mcheche kwisa msanu ni\nmcheche_,[14] we may expect that their numerical system will not care to\ngo any farther!\n\n\nB. GRAMMAR.\n\nWhat parts of speech are first used? Interjections like _ah!_ and\nimitations of sounds like \u201ccrow\u201d come very soon. Now, when children utter\nthe word \u201ccrow\u201d what is its nature? Is it a noun meaning the sound, or\nis it a verb in reference to the production of the sound, or is it too\nindefinite to be classed? When it does become definite, it is certainly\nmore like a noun or a verb than anything else. The only other part of\nspeech that might come into competition is the adjective; but if we look\nat what the adjective does in Grammar, we see that it already implies the\nnoun.\n\nThe noun and the verb are the parts of speech that are most readily\nobtained,\u2014that lie nearest to hand in nature. But the nouns and verbs\nthat we meet with generally go far beyond the individual. Such a word\nas house, though denoting a single object, could not have been formed\nwithout abstraction. This position is illustrated in any text-book on\nLogic under the Logical notion. The word \u201chouse,\u201d while denoting a\nspecial object, implies that this object has certain characteristics. Yet\nthe degree of abstraction is greater for other parts of speech. To take\nan illustration. We know that \u201cJohn built houses,\u201d and that \u201cJohn did not\nenter these houses\u201d. Now, we might state these two ideas without anything\nfarther; but most languages bring in another idea, thus, \u201cJohn built\nhouses _but_ he never entered them\u201d. The new idea marked by _but_ arises\nfrom contrasting the other two ideas, and could not exist till both of\nthem existed. So we cannot speak of a good house till we know of a house,\nneither can we speak of \u201cbuilding well,\u201d or \u201cbuilding for a friend\u201d till\nwe first know about \u201cbuilding\u201d.\n\nThus, the more concrete words are the nouns and verbs; adjectives and\npronouns are less so, while adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions\nare very abstract, and are often so few in many languages as to be\nclassed together as particles. The concrete words describe the easier\nthoughts, the primary modifications of thought, the abstract words\ndescribe secondary or more abstract modifications of thought. Hence, as\nwe might anticipate, we find the Yao language well supplied with nouns,\nverbs, and even pronouns, but as we go beyond these to adjectives, the\nsupply is less, and still less as we pass on to adverbs, prepositions,\nand conjunctions. The scarcity of prepositions and conjunctions often\ndiscourages the European who studies the language. It is a great shock to\ndiscover that the English words _to_ and _from_ are represented by one\nand the same native word!\n\nWe shall now show how the Yao language deals (1) with the principal parts\nof speech, (2) with the subordinate.\n\n1. The chief thing to note regarding the _principal parts of speech_ is\ntheir inflexion. The fewer the inflexions, the greater is the simplicity.\n\n(_a_) _Inflexion for Concord._\u2014We have\n\n    IN ENGLISH.   IN LATIN.\n\n    good hill     bon_us_ mons\n    good tree     bon_a_ arbor\n    good field    bon_um_ arvum\n\nThe change in the adjective (like good-us, a, um) is cumbrous, and is\nseldom necessary. A boy trying Latin at school mistakes in saying _bonus\narbor_, but he has little chance of being misunderstood. Yao gives ten\nconcords of this kind with their plurals. This is a severe infliction,\nalthough we can generally tell by inspection what concord is required.\n\n(_b_). _Inflection for Government._\u2014English nouns have one inflexion for\ncase, Latin nouns have six. The Yao noun has no inflexion of the same\nkind, but it modifies the verb so as to indicate its relation to the\nnoun. These modifications correspond in number (ten) with the concords.\n\nThe advantage of many inflexions is that related words are marked so\nclearly that they may be separated from each other or have their order\nchanged. The Yao could speak of ten nouns and say _that_ is hard,\n_that_ is soft, &c., without ambiguity, where our word _that_ (which\nnever changes) is powerless. Again, in English we cannot say \u201cthe sire\nthe son addressed\u201d. In Latin, _sire_ and _son_ are so marked that the\nmeaning is unmistakeable in any order. But such advantage is small. So\ngreat explicitness as inflected languages mark at every step, is seldom\nnecessary. The Yao, then, as compared with English, takes too much\ntrouble with the principal parts of speech. Its process of fitting out\nnouns and verbs (which affects also adjectives and particles), is too\nminute and cumbrous.\n\n2. Coming now to the more abstract and _subordinate parts of speech_, we\nfind that while the English language has many of these, the Yao language\nhas not; and to make up for the want it throws more work on the principal\nparts of speech. In English we say, \u201cto build a house for him\u201d; the Yao\nmodifies the verb \u201cbuild\u201d till it means \u201cbuild-for,\u201d and dismisses the\npreposition. In most of these cases the English language has an advantage\nlike that which arises from the principle of division of labour in other\nmatters.\n\nWe shall now sum up these results, and add a few more in the following\ntable:\u2014\n\n  -------------------+----------------------------+--------------------+\n                     |      ENGLISH.              |      LATIN.        |\n  -------------------+----------------------------+--------------------+\n  SYLLABLES          | May end with consonant     | May end with       |\n                     |                            |  consonant         |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  PLACE OF ACCENT    | Not uniform                |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  VOWEL SOUNDS       | Numerous                   |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  INFLEXIONS FOR     | At end (of words)          | At end             |\n    NUMBER IN        |                            |                    |\n    NOUNS            |                            |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  DUAL NUMBER        | Traces of (_both_)         | Traces of (_ambo_).|\n                     |                            |  Common in Greek   |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  CASE INFLEXION     | Only in pronouns           | Highly developed   |\n  (Nouns or Prons.)  |                            |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  CONCORD INFLEX.    | Only in pronouns           | Much used          |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  CHARACTER OF       | Pronouns are masc.,        | Masc., fem., and   |\n    THE CONCORD      |  fem., or neut.; but       |  neuter            |\n                     |  the distinction disappears|                    |\n                     |  in the plural             |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  RULES FOR APPLYING | According to sex           | Faintly indicated  |\n    THIS             |                            |  by the termination|\n    CONCORD          |                            |  of the noun       |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  NUMBER INFLEXION   | At end; rare               | At end, almost     |\n    IN VERB          |                            |  superseded by     |\n                     |                            |  the inflexion     |\n                     |                            |  for person        |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  CONCORD INFLEXION  | None                       | None (exc. when    |\n    IN VERB          |                            |  a verb is made    |\n                     |                            |  up of participle  |\n                     |                            |  and auxiliary)    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  INFLEXION FOR      | Rare; at end               | General; at end    |\n    PERSON           |                            |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  INFLEXION OF       | None                       | None               |\n    VERB TO INDICATE |                            |                    |\n    ITS OBJECT       |                            |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  INFLEXION FOR      | At end. When words         | At end             |\n    MOODS AND        |  are put at the beginning  |                    |\n    TENSES           |  they retain their         |                    |\n                     |  independent character,    |                    |\n                     |  and are called            |                    |\n                     |  auxiliaries               |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  MODIFICATIONS OF   | Few                        | Many               |\n    ACTION GENERALLY |                            |                    |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  USE OF ADVERBS,    | Large                      | Fewer prepositions |\n    PREPOSITIONS,    |                            |  than in           |\n    & OTHER          |                            |  English owing to  |\n    PARTICLES        |                            |  case inflexions   |\n                     |                            |                    |\n  COMPOUND WORDS     | Numerous                   | Numerous           |\n  -------------------+----------------------------+--------------------+\n\n  -------------------+------------------+----------------------------------\n                     |    HEBREW.       |    YAO.\n  -------------------+------------------+----------------------------------\n  SYLLABLES          | Preference for   | Natives find difficulty in\n                     |  open syllables  |  pronouncing syllables ending\n                     |  except where    |  with a consonant: theirs all\n                     |  accented        |  end with a vowel.\n                     |                  |\n  PLACE OF ACCENT    |                  | Great uniformity (nearly always\n                     |                  |  on the penult in Chinyasa).\n  VOWEL SOUNDS       |                  | Few.\n                     |                  |\n  INFLEXIONS FOR     | At end           | At beginning.\n    NUMBER IN        |                  |\n    NOUNS            |                  |\n                     |                  |\n  DUAL NUMBER        | Used             | No trace: _e.g._, a word like\n                     |                  |  _both_ is translated by _all_\n                     |                  | (all the two).\n                     |                  |\n  CASE INFLEXION     | Traces found     | Entirely absent.\n  (Nouns or Prons.)  |                  |\n                     |                  |\n  CONCORD INFLEX.    | Used             | Exceedingly numerous.\n                     |                  |\n  CHARACTER OF       | Masc. and fem.   | No trace of masculine or feminine\n    THE CONCORD      |                  |  inflexion even in pronouns: but\n                     |                  |  distinctions like (1) personal\n                     |                  |  or personified, (2) impersonal;\n                     |                  |  the latter being subdivided into\n                     |                  |  names of objects in nature,\n                     |                  |  collective, abstract,\n                     |                  |  ampliative, diminutive, &c.\n                     |                  |\n  RULES FOR APPLYING | Faintly indicated| Almost infallibly indicated by\n    THIS             | by the termin-   |  the beginning of the noun.\n    CONCORD          | ation of the noun|\n                     |                  |\n  NUMBER INFLEXION   | At end and at    | At beginning.\n    IN VERB          |  beginning       |\n                     |                  |\n  CONCORD INFLEXION  | Used             | Used.\n    IN VERB          |                  |\n                     |                  |\n  INFLEXION FOR      |Gen.; at beginning| General; at beginning.\n    PERSON           |  and end         |\n                     |                  |\n  INFLEXION OF       |Pronomenal        | General, and used to distinguish\n    VERB TO INDICATE |  suffixes        |  definite and indefinite objects.\n    ITS OBJECT.      |                  |\n                     |                  |\n  INFLEXION FOR      |At beginning and  | At beginning (and end).\n    MOODS AND        | end              |\n    TENSES           |                  |\n                     |                  |\n  MODIFICATIONS OF   |Not so many for   | Numerous. instead of an adverb\n    ACTION GENERALLY | moods & tenses,  |  _not_, there is a complicated\n                     | but modifications|  negative inflexion.\n                     | of action        |\n                     | are expressed    |\n                     | often by modific-|\n                     | ations of verb   |\n                     | instead of adv.  |\n                     |                  |\n  USE OF ADVERBS,    |                  | More work is thrown on the\n    PREPOSITIONS,    |                  |  principal parts of speech, and\n    & OTHER          |                  |  particles are not much used.\n    PARTICLES        |                  |\n                     |                  |\n  COMPOUND WORDS     |                  | Hardly any except in names; but\n                     |                  |  derivative nouns can be formed\n                     |                  |  very readily.\n  -------------------+------------------+----------------------------------\n\nWe select Latin and Hebrew, because the one is of the Aryan family of\nlanguages and the other of the Semitic.\n\nWhat is a family\u2014and when are languages said to belong to the same family?\n\nLanguages, like everything else, are classed with reference to\nsimilarity. The similarity may be in grammar, or in vocabulary, the\nformer kind of agreement being the more decisive. Let us take an example\nof agreement in vocabulary. In the Aryan group of languages the word\nfor five is _pantshan_ in Sanscrit, _pente_ in Greek, _quinque_ in\nLatin, _pump_ in Welsh, _funf_ in German, and _fif_ in Anglo-Saxon.\nAgreements of this kind go to prove that the languages belong to one\ngreat family. Next we reach the conclusion that the races that used\nthem had a common ancestry who dwelt in an old \u201cAryan home\u201d. But can we\nprove that the Semitic languages have any kinship to the Aryan? Some\ntry to do so by looking for coincidences in certain words, as in the\nnumerals. For instance, the Hebrew for five is _chimasha_. Has this any\nrelation to _pantshan_? In looking at the Yao language we often find\ncertain coincidences. If the Yao had ever derived a word for five from\n_pantshan_, they would have put a vowel at the end, and further, they\nwould have treated the beginning of the word as being less important\n(just as the Greeks treat the end of the words as of less importance).\nNow, it is singular that the Yao word for five is _msano_, the Swahili\n_tano_, the Chinyasa _sanu_, and the Nyamwesi _nhanu_!\n\nResemblances of this kind, if numerous and not accidental, would point\nus towards a time when all \u201cthe earth was of one language and one speech\u201d.\n\nAs we have already hinted, the Bantu family of languages, to which the\nYao belongs, fills nearly the whole of Southern Africa. Besides the\nBantu people there are the Hottentots. As early as 1850 we find Dr. W.\nH. J. Bleek writing, \u201cThe Hottentot language is to me at this moment of\ngreater interest than any other. The facts have now so increased upon me\nand offer such strong analogies, that there is no further doubt in my\nown mind, that not only the Coptic but also the Semitic and all other\nlanguages of Africa (as Berber, the Galla dialect, &c., &c.), in which\nthe distinction of the masculine and feminine gender pervades the whole\ngrammar are of common origin\u201d. Although the Yao is a genderless language,\nmuch of its folk lore resembles the Hottentot. Dr. Bleek has published 42\nHottentot tales. I have heard amongst the Yao, tales corresponding to 16\nor 18 of these.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nAFRICAN PHILOLOGY.\u2014(_Continued_).\n\n\nBefore stating the peculiarities of the Yao language, I shall illustrate\nthe subject by reference to the speech of children. This form of\nillustration applies to unwritten languages generally; and although\nnot much alluded to in books on Philology, it is, I venture to think,\nexceedingly important, not only for the theory of language, but for\nthe guidance of persons that are confronted with unwritten tongues.\nWhile children are learning to speak, their slowness comes not entirely\nfrom the intellect, but from want of command of the vocal organs. On\nencountering a word that they cannot pronounce, they frame a word of\ntheir own which they employ instead. In imitating the word _table_,\na child may say _dodo_, a sound which at first sight seems to have\nno relation to the word \u201ctable\u201d. Yet the child employs it uniformly,\nand often for more than a year. Such imperfect imitations are not by\naccident: they follow laws similar to those principles that operate in\nchanging the same original sound into the _quinque_ of Latin, the _pump_\nof Welsh, and the _five_ of English.\n\n_Form of Words._\u2014The syllable easiest for a child is a single consonant\nfollowed by a vowel. For _basket_ a child says _tase_; for _purse_, he\nsays _tuse_. Where two consonants come together, as the _sk_ and _rs_ of\nthese words, the child throws out one of them. He also drops the final\n_t_ in _basket_, and obtains a syllable ending with a vowel; and where no\nvowel exists he supplies one, as in _tuse_ for _purse_ (purs).\n\n_Beginning of Syllables._\u2014Some maintain that we cannot begin a syllable\nwithout a consonant, or at least an aspirate like what the Greeks wrote.\nChildren seem to be exceptions as they leave out a difficult consonant\nand begin with a vowel\u2014_that_ becomes _at_ as well as _tat_ but even in\n_at_ there exists the kind of aspirate contended for. In the Yao language\nsyllables almost always begin with a consonant. Here arises an important\nprinciple of spelling. I should not like to decide whether we ought to\nwrite _Ya-o_ or _Ya-wo_. The natives themselves had no writing till we\ntaught them, and on words like _Yao_, my best pupils were divided. Some\npronounced and spelt _Yao_, others _Yawo_. I believe that the sound at\nfirst was _Yawo_, and etymology in many cases bears out my conclusion.\nBut in course of time the original _Yawo_ may be rendered _Yao_, as an\noriginal h_onest_ has become _onest_.\n\n_End of Syllables._\u2014It is not so easy to end a syllable with a consonant.\nThe child\u2019s earlier syllables end with vowels as _papa_. The difficulty\nof pulling up the voice at once is seen in the utterance of certain words\nlike rock, especially by Scotchmen who often unconsciously pronounce as\nif the word were _rocka_. All Yao syllables end with a vowel.\n\n_Parts of Speech._\u2014The language of childhood shows that man observes\nthings before he observes the relations between them. Nouns and verbs\ncome before the other parts of speech, but when first employed they\nare more like interjections. The imperative of the verb, which is as\nnear to an interjection as may be, forms a large element in infantile\nspeech: thus adjectives when first used are in effect imperatives or\ninterjections. The expression _Doto dad_ (doctor bad) is synonymous\nwith _Doto, go-way_ (doctor, go away). Whether nouns or verbs come\nfirst is hardly worth discussing, because it is misleading to apply the\ndistinction of parts of speech at a stage where speech has no parts. But\nit may be noted that what we call nouns are used by the child like verbs:\nthus, _No tair_ (chair) means \u201cDo not put me on the chair\u201d.\n\n_The Meaning of Nouns._\u2014Nouns at first denote individuals like _papa_,\n_mamma_. But the child by and by sums up in these words a great deal of\nmeaning, and if he were placed in a world where he saw no white woman\nbut his mother, the next female that appeared he would call mamma. So if\nthe only animal he is acquainted with be a dog, he at first calls goats,\nsheep, or rabbits all dogs.\n\n_Inflexion of Nouns._\u2014A child sees no need of inflexions, and forms his\nfirst sentences accordingly. He says _more man_ for _more men_, _see\nmore camel_ for _see more camels_. After he feels the need of a plural,\nhis first impulse is to express it by old materials, and then _see more\ncamel_ is used where the meaning undoubtedly is _see the camels_ or _see\ncamels_. The possessive case is similarly dispensed with: for _John\u2019s\nbook_ we get _John boop_. This has a strong relevancy in the explanation\nof African tongues, where _Kumlomba brother_ is used for _Kumlomba\u2019s\nbrother_.\n\n_Adjectives_ are at first used exactly like nouns. We tell a child _it\nis hot in there_, and he says _hot in \u2019ere_, and immediately adds _fire\nin \u2019ere_, thus showing that he considers _hot_ as a substitute for the\ncorresponding noun. Moreover adjectives, on their first appearance, are\noften used to make compound nouns in which the adjective meaning is lost.\nThe child says, _Dem dood-doy_ for _James is a good boy_. _Dood-doy_ is\nreally one word, and is rather a noun than an adjective. This explains\nwhy it is that in African tongues simple adjectives are very few. In the\nYao language, adjectives being so unimportant, have no inflexion for\ncomparison. _Articles_ are entirely dispensed with by children. _Look at\nthe man_, _look at a man_, are both rendered _ook man_.\n\n_Pronouns_ are not easily understood at first. A child hears the words,\n_Come, and I will bathe you_: by and by he asks for his _bathe yow_,\n_bathe-you_ being understood as a single word, which he construes as\na noun. It is long before he says _I did it_; he says _James did it_\ninstead. Also for _my boot_ he says _Dem toot_ (James\u2019 boot). Indeed, the\ninterrogative pronoun _who_ seems to be understood before the personal\npronouns.\n\n_Relative pronouns_ come very much later. Hence in African tongues they\nare poorly represented. They resemble conjunctions, and are introduced\ninto the vocabulary of childhood, we believe, even later than they.\n\n_Verbs._\u2014Children are fond of viewing a complex phenomenon as an action.\nWhen we tell a child to look at the men tying on a sail, we call forth\nthe expression _tat tying on_ for _that is a tying on_. The subject\nand object are thus ignored in comparison with the action itself. So\nin African tongues the verb is of overwhelming importance. Besides the\nimperative, one part of the verb frequently used in childhood is the\nparticiple: as _James eating food_ for _James is eating his food_. The\n_eating_ is used as a noun or an infinitive. The infinitive is largely\nused in Yao to express action in general, and the indicative mood is\nformed from it.\n\n_Adverbs_ are by children often used as imperatives, as _quick!_ (Adverbs\nof place as well as demonstrative adjectives are soon used in company\nwith vocal gestures.) Negation is early expressed by putting _no_ before\nverbs or nouns, as, _Doto no go_, for _the doctor did not go_, _no home_,\nfor _we will not go home_.\n\nOften adverbs make but one idea with the adjective or verb that they\nare attached to, as _go-away_. The same thing is seen in the case of\nprepositions. _Put on your coat_ is rendered _tut on toat_ and even\n_ton toat_, _pu_ falling out and _ton_ being used for a verb. So, _put\noff your coat_ is _toff toat_. This principle illustrates what has been\ncalled applied verbs and causative verbs. A neuter verb like _put_ is\nmade transitive by placing another word like _on_ after it, and this\nother word is liable to become part of the verb, as if _put on_ was\nthe transitive form of _put_. The principle is of the greatest use\nin explaining African derivative verbs. Again, children often omit\nprepositions. _Look man_, is used for _look at a man_; _man \u2019os_ for _a\nman on a horse_.\n\nAs regards _conjunctions_, simple people like children are often content\nto express one idea or sentence at a time. When they have to join two\nideas or sentences they put them side by side without any connecting\nword. _James and papa_ becomes in the infantile language _James, papa_.\n\nIn the same way, connecting words like the logical copula, are at first\nomitted, as _Dem dad boy_, for _James is a bad boy_. The tendency to omit\nthe copula, throws light on the earlier use of adjectives. When the child\nsays _bad-boy_, the expression is to be taken as a single word, and we\nmay call it a noun. But often the child sooner understands, _boy bad_,\nthe equivalent to him, of _the boy is bad_; which thought is ultimately\ndeveloped as it is written, though at first the child views it as being\nthe equivalent of _boy, go away_.\n\nUnwritten languages are marked by a peculiar _graphicness_, arising\npartly from the omission of connecting words, and partly from other\ncauses. The expression, \u201cif you be sufficiently warm, you will be\nsufficiently braw (well-dressed),\u201d is very weak, when compared with the\nproverbial \u201cwarm enough, braw enough\u201d. A savage, or a child, would feel\nit very tame to say, \u201cif you do not cover your well, some one will walk\ninto it\u201d. He would say, \u201ccover your well, a man will go into it, plump!\u201d\nInstead of an intangible, \u201cone cannot say what one would think, if one\nfell into a well,\u201d the more natural language of childhood is, \u201cI cannot\nsay what I would think, &c.,\u201d or, \u201cyou cannot tell what you would think,\n&c.\u201d Instead of \u201che stabbed him very deeply,\u201d we have, \u201che put the knife\ninto him that length!\u201d\n\nThe above remarks on the imitation of sounds and speech by infants,\nbesides illustrating an unwritten language, will enable a reader, to\nwhom the subject really is new, to understand how languages that are of\nthe same family, may yet differ immensely. It is to be remembered that\ndifferent individuals imitate differently. While some find it easier to\nthrow out consonants, others put them in, as some men find it easy to say\n_Amelia-r-an_ for _Amelia Ann_. Again, children often modify their vowels\nto compensate for some consonant they cannot pronounce. When a child says\n_tate_, for _blanket_, the _a_ is emphasised through an effort to embrace\nthe _n_. Some African races say Nyansa, others Nyasa, with the _a_ so\nmodified that we might write, Nyaasa, or Nyassa.\n\nLike children beginning to speak, certain races have few consonants, and\nare obliged to throw much work upon them. Thus one tribe had to call\nCaptain Cook, the first Englishman that they met, Taptain Toot, making\nthe _t_ do duty for the _c_ (_k_).\n\nWhen we think of the various ways in which a language may be modified,\nwe are much struck by studying a work like Koelle\u2019s _Polyglotta\nAfricana_, which points to striking affinities, traceable among African\ntongues. Moreover, such works are liable to be at first obscured through\nmisleading data. Perplexity is caused by words from languages that had\nnot been perfectly studied at the time. Thus where there are two words\nfor \u201cwoman,\u201d the philologist may hear only one, which instead of being\nthe proper instrument for tracing affinities, may be derived from another\nword within the special dialect. Again in one language an old word for\n\u201cwoman,\u201d may have been superseded, although some derivatives from it yet\nremain. As more languages are gradually reduced, a rich harvest awaits\nthe philologist in Africa.\n\nThese illustrations from the speech of children, include nearly all\nthat will be expected from one giving a general account of an African\nlanguage. We are aware of the danger of converting illustrations into\nprinciples without stating their limitations: as did the man who wanted\nto prove that all speech was but a development of the utterances of the\nlower animals. After making observations on two of his children, he found\nhis theory much confirmed; but when he tried the third child, its first\nutterance was, \u201cDon\u2019t tease, go away\u201d. This wonderful sentence brought\nhis theory into discredit; but it is clear that I may claim this child in\nconfirmation of what I have adduced. Its first utterance is made up of\nimperatives, and this on our principles, is just what it ought to be!\n\nIt remains only to give a short account of points not yet touched on.\n\n_Sounds._ Vowels and consonants are much modified for euphony. The\nconsonant changes may be exemplified in connection with the letter _n_,\n_e.g._, ku-n-lola becomes kundola; and in ku-n-sosa the _n_ is entirely\ndropped, but the preceding vowel is lengthened, and the word might be\nwritten kuusosa. In this way,\n\n    n-l becomes nd, n, l, or nil\n    n-f    \u201d    f\n    n-m    \u201d    m\n    n-n    \u201d    n\n    n-s    \u201d    s\n    n-u    \u201d    u\n    n-ng   \u201d    ng\u2019\n    n-j    \u201d    ny\n    n-k    \u201d    ng\n    n-t    \u201d    nd\n    n-w    \u201d    mbw, &c., &c.\n\nIn African spelling, some advocate the disbanding of _j_ and _ch_ in\nfavour of _tsh_ and _dzh_, but the changes of _ch_ and _j_ after the\nletter _n_ afford an argument against writing these letters _tsh_ and\n_dzh_ in the Yao language. Thus, for kunchondelela (kuntshondelela) we\nhear kunjondelela (kundzhondelela), and not kundshondelela. But such\nquestions turn greatly on expediency.\n\n_Words._\u2014An English word like _loved_, is found to consist of two\nelements, a simpler word _love_, and the ending _d_. If the simpler word\n_love_ be not traced farther back it is called a root. The other element\n_d_ indicates the modification of the root. In order to give an account\nof such a word we have to explain (1) the root, (2) the modification of\nit. The modification of it by the addition of _d_ is well explained when\nwe have found that _d_ is for _did_.\n\nBut how do roots arise? A great many are imitations of sounds in nature,\nothers may be utterances which were at first accidentally associated with\ncertain objects.\n\nYao words we may explain in the following manner. In the case of kulemba\n(to write, mark), we may suppose that the root _lemb_ or rather _lembe_\nexpresses the sound made by some scratching instrument. Hence we have\n_lemba_ the shortest form of the verb. From this verbal root we may form\nten nouns which express different meanings and fall into ten classes.\nStrangely enough these classes correspond to a great extent with the\nclassifications of the noun stated in some English grammars (see Bain\u2019s\nGrammar). They may be exemplified as follows:\u2014\n\n     1 { Mlemba, a writer             } (personal)\n       { Ju-akulemba, one that writes }\n     2 Ulembe, writing, marking (abstract)\n     3 Ndembile (nembo), a writing\n     4 Chilembo, a great mark (ampliative)\n     5 Lilembo, a mark }  names of natural objects\n     6 Lulembo, a mark }\n     7 Kalembo, a little mark (diminutive)\n     8 Kulemba, writing (verbal noun or infinitive)\n     9 Pakulembila, a place-for-writing-at, desk\n    10 Mukulembila, a-place-for-writing in, office\n\nThese ten classes of nouns may be formed in connection with every verb.\nThe 2nd class, besides embracing abstract nouns includes the names of all\ntrees that begin with _m_; while the third class embraces the names of\nbirds and animals, especially such as appear in flocks; as deer, sheep;\nand the words in this class have now no plural though there is some\nevidence that they had a plural formerly.\n\n_Sentences._\u2014A noun in a sentence demands the concord of adjectives,\npronouns, and verbs. This is the only important concord in the language.\nThe absence of gender is a great peculiarity. A native may make a long\nspeech about a person while his audience do not know whether it is a man\nor a woman that is spoken of. Again, when a native speaks of persons\nit may be impossible to tell whether he means one person, or several.\nOriginally, the singular of the third person was distinct from the\nplural, but by the use of a plural of excellence one man is habitually\nspoken of as _they_. This is a refinement of politeness.[15] In the same\nway the English language employs _you_ instead of _thou_: these natives\ngo farther on the same lines, throwing away not only number, but person\nalso. In England, where the question is asked \u201cwhere are you going\u201d the\nreply will be \u201cI am going to _your_ house\u201d. The African for the same\nmeaning would reply \u201cI am going to _his_ house\u201d. Traces of the same\nrefinement exist in England: thus, instead of \u201cWhat do you want\u201d we may\nhear \u201cWhat does _his_ Reverence want?\u201d\n\nThe following will show the method of tense formation. The present\nindicative, I love, may be analysed into I-a-loving or I-to-love (person,\npreposition, and verb). The perfect tense, indicating completed action,\nis made up of the root meaning love, and an affix which seems to be akin\nto a demonstrative pronoun, and signifies that the action is _there_ or\n_at a distance_ now. One future tense is formed from a participle with a\nnegative, so that I shall love = I-a-loving but-_not-yet_.\n\nThese are the three leading tenses, but the fertility of tense forms is\namazing\u2014thus we have a tense for \u201cWhy should I neglect to love?\u201d Yao has\na great wealth of participles, which seem to be wanting entirely in\nChinyasa.\n\nDerived verbs are numerous. From a word leka, _to leave_, we have lechela\n(for lekela) _leave for_; lechesya and lekasya (whose terminations remind\none of the Greek idso) with _causative_ meanings; lekana (= leka na;\nna = with) _leave each other_, or _together_; lekanya, _separate_ with\ncausative lekanisya; as also lekwa and lecheka with passive and neuter\nmeanings.\n\nIn the study of these languages we are often reminded that what are\nnow to us familiar words, were really formed with much difficulty, and\nwe are not so ready to laugh at the Etymologist who derived the Latin\nword _nihil_ for _nothing_ from a _bean_, as if it originally meant\n\u201cnot a single pea\u201d! In some African dialects there is great difficulty\nin getting a word to translate \u201cnothing\u201d. Yet, after all, the English\nlanguage has not much to boast of here; some of these dialects can also\nfurnish a derivative word like no-thing.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nESTIMATE OF NATIVE CHARACTER.\n\n    \u201cThe savage is essentially cruel, not having the least regard\n    for the sufferings of others, and inflicting the most frightful\n    tortures with calm enjoyment. As for morality, as we understand\n    the word, the true savage has no conception of it, and the\n    scenes which nightly take place in savage lands, are of such\n    a nature that travellers pass them over in discreet silence.\n    Honesty in its right sense is equally unknown, and so is\n    truthfulness, a successful theft, and an undetected falsehood,\n    being evidences of skill and ingenuity, and by no means a\n    disgrace.\u201d\u2014T. G. WOOD\u2019S _Nat. Hist. of Man_.\n\n\nIn speaking of Native Character we begin with the PHYSICAL side.\nThe _features_, despite thick lips and flat noses, are by no means\nunpleasant. The forehead is well formed. At first all black faces seemed\nalike, but this was because the blackness was then strange to us, and not\nbecause the faces wanted variety: after returning from a long stay among\nnegroes, we felt the same difficulty in distinguishing white faces.\n\nTheir _figures_ are tall and graceful. Some of the men are six feet\nhigh, while few can be called little. The women, owing to their out-door\nwork, are strikingly tall and strong. After becoming accustomed to their\n\u201cwant of dress,\u201d one feels that natives are seen to most advantage in\ntheir own costume. They don\u2019t look well in garments of the ordinary\ncoat-and-trousers description,\u2014coloured shirts, or even white shirts with\nred borders suit better.\n\nTheir _powers of endurance_ are very great. Men and women will carry\nsixty pounds on the head, and walk at a brisk pace for two days\u2019 journey\nof forty miles. As they march thus under a burning sun, their whole\nbody is covered with beads of perspiration, yet they do not succumb. In\nestimating the value of certain Roman Generals, Livy was careful to note,\nthat they had the power of enduring hunger for a long time. The Yao would\nhave merited his praise, for they possess this power in an extraordinary\ndegree. They will march for days without any \u201costensible\u201d means of\nkeeping themselves alive. On occasions when we misjudged distances, and\nwere obliged to pass about 20 hours (mostly of great exertion) without\nfood, our anxiety about our companions, was met by the polite assurance\nthat \u201cthey had eaten\u201d. They even contrived to turn the sympathy the other\nway by saying, \u201cWe are used to hunger, but the white man will faint\u201d. The\nwhite man might endure hunger nearly as long, but the native has this\nadvantage\u2014when food comes he has an enormous capacity for quantity, he is\na \u201cdreadful eater,\u201d while the white man can scarcely taste a morsel. The\nnatives can also endure the burning thirst of this land. On a long day\u2019s\nmarch, they pass all the streams in the morning without drinking: it is\nnot till three or four o\u2019clock in the afternoon that they become thirsty.\nBut the white man may drink by the end of the first hour, and then he\nbecomes \u201cdemoralised\u201d for the day. As he continues the hot march his\nthirst increases but he cannot quench it. He arrives at a clear rippling\nbrook, hastily puts a stone under his knees\u2014a drinking jug is a mockery\nnow, he must get at the stream itself\u2014still he is never quite satisfied.\nHe craves the drinking for its own sake. After imbibing a great quantity\nof water, he is grieved that he cannot go on drinking more, and no sooner\nhas he left one stream than he begins to long for another. The unpleasant\ncraving continues till the sun begins to sink in the west. He may avoid\nthe torture by abstaining from drinking at first, only to exercise this\nself-denial, it is almost imperative to shut the eyes when passing a\nstream! Some natives suffer in the same way, but they are chiefly boys.\n\nWhen much exhausted the natives light a pipe, each takes one or two\nwhiffs and passes it on to his neighbour. In a few minutes all are\ninspired with fresh energy. In work that they do not like, they very soon\ncomplain of fatigue, but in other cases, even when asked to rest, they\nredouble their energies, while they make the whole welkin ring with some\nwild song. They are never so tired that the sight of game does not rouse\nthem to every energy necessary for pursuit.\n\nThe natives are vegetarians not of choice, but of necessity. Few can\nprocure much flesh, and they avoid milk and eggs on superstitious\ngrounds. They are, therefore, in the opinion of some, deficient in\nmuscle. They certainly do not excel in doing work that requires a dead\nstrain, but this is due to want of practice\u2014they are not used to such\nwork. At their own homes they never require to raise heavy stones or\nweights, and their naked legs and arms are out of keeping with the task.\nConstant exposure of their bodies to the elements, renders them very\nhardy. This feature in the African has almost become proverbial. \u201cFrom\nconstant usage, the soles of his feet are defended by a thickened skin as\ninsensible as the sole of any boot. He will walk with uncommon unconcern\nover sharp stones and thorns, which would lame a European at the first\nstep.\u201d\n\nMr. Wood remarks that, \u201cTheir state of health enables them to survive\ninjuries which would be almost instantly fatal to an ordinary civilised\nEuropean,\u201d and mentions a wonderful case of two young girls that were\nremoved from a heap of corpses. \u201cOne had received 19 stabs with the\nassegai, and the other 21. They survived their dreadful wounds, reaching\nwomanhood, though both crippled for life.\u201d \u201cThe dreaded \u2018stick\u2019 of\nthe Orientals, would lose its terrors to a Kaffir, who would endure\nthe bastinado with comparative impunity.\u201d The same writer speaks of a\nHottentot wagon-driver who fell under the wheels of his wagon. One of the\nfore-wheels passed over his neck, and as the wagon was loaded with some\ntwo tons of firewood, it might be supposed he was killed on the spot. He\nwas not only alive, but had the presence of mind to roll out of the way\nof the hind wheel. In answer to anxious inquiries, he said he was not\nmuch hurt, except by some small stones which had been forced into his\nskin, and which he asked a gentleman to remove. In Africa we often saw\ninstances of endurance, which would make us exclaim with Buffon, that\ncivilised man does not know his own powers.\n\nJudged by a European standard, these natives would not be commended for\n_cleanliness_. Their habit of smearing the body with oil or grease,\nis very repugnant. When a boy was cooking our dinner, he delighted to\nput his fingers into the fat and smear his whole body. \u201cKafirs,\u201d says\nMr. Wood, \u201care charming savages, but it is always as well to keep to\nthe windward of them, at all events, until the nostrils have become\naccustomed to their odour.\u201d Judged by an African standard, this habit\nwould be highly approved; for a European when obliged to dress like a\nnative, feels the necessity for his grease!\n\nAs they lie about on the ground their bodies and scanty dresses become\nvery dirty. In some districts they bathe a great deal. Our pupils at\nZomba availed themselves of the beautiful stream daily. Bathing in the\nmorning is avoided; the streams are then cold, especially on the hills.\nBut when a traveller rests by a brook at mid-day his native companions\ngenerally bathe.\n\nPassing now to the MORAL side of their character I shall first point to\ntheir great want of _truthfulness_. \u201cTelling lies\u201d is much practised\nand is seldom considered a fault. The way in which it comes before\nthe European is like this. He enters the country with half-a-dozen\nbath-towels expecting them to last for a long time. In a few weeks the\nmajority of them have disappeared. He then begins to open his eyes, and\nin a short time he sees his \u201cboy\u201d making off with the last of them.\nI have been much amused at the earnestness with which the new-comer\nwill exclaim: \u201cI actually saw him take it and found it in his hands,\nand yet he denied\u201d! In such cases the denial of the native is made\nall the stronger. What is wanting in probability must be supplied by\nboldness. The negro often thinks that he is flattered by being accused of\nfalsehood. So, when natives wish to pay a high compliment to a European\nwho has told them an interesting story, they look into his face and say\n\u201cO father, you are a great liar!\u201d\n\n_Avarice_ is strong in these people, and prompts to much cheating. A\nnative comes to the Mission store to sell eggs. When asked if they are\nfresh, as a matter of course he says they are. The storekeeper after\ntrying them in water declines to buy, and the native calmly retires. He\nhas been outwitted on this occasion and that is all, he hopes to play\na better game next. He carries his eggs home, and carefully lays them\npast. A few weeks after, learning that this storekeeper is absent, he\nforthwith takes his eggs, hastens to the new storekeeper, declares that\nthey are fresh, and succeeds in selling! In making a bargain the native\nhas but one principle, he tries to get as much as he can. As avarice\nand selfishness are often too strong for the civilised man, we must not\nexpect too much from the savage. Still, the natives have many motives\nagainst a wretched greed. The teaching at their Mysteries condemns the\nwretch who \u201cconcentres all on self\u201d. Again, the members of a community\nhave their meals in common, and when a stranger arrives at a village\nhe is treated with the greatest hospitality. One night I came upon a\nvillage at the side of a wood, just as its two male inhabitants were\nbeginning their evening meal. I was accompanied by twelve boys, two of\nwhom were close by me, and at once received an invitation to supper. I\nexpected that the men would be much puzzled when they found out the real\nnumber of their guests. But no. As soon as the other ten boys came out of\nthe wood, they invited them likewise, gladly giving up their own meal to\nmy party. Knowing that the hungry men would have to wait till more food\ncould be cooked, I could not but admire their strict adherence to native\ncustom under such difficulty. It would have demoralised them to offer\npayment, but I quietly sought an opportunity of meeting their daughters\nand presenting them with a quantity of beads. Still, it may be doubted\nwhether the natives on the whole are more generous than Europeans. Their\ninsecurity makes them lazy, their laziness makes them poor, they have\nlittle to give, and expect a large return for a small present. In our\nfirst contact with the Portuguese after emerging from the atmosphere of\nthe native kings, we were received with great hospitality, and, having\nbeen so long used to the natives, I became concerned about repaying the\nkindness, when one of our party said, \u201cWhy, you are among Christians now,\ndon\u2019t think you are dealing with some old chief who gives for the purpose\nof getting\u201d.\n\nAny _novelty_ has a great attraction, though the emotion of fear\nsometimes overpowers that of wonder. A white man, sitting quietly after\nhis day\u2019s march with a crowd of people round him, proceeds to light\nhis candle. In a few moments there is a terrible stampede. Shrieks of\nterror drown the laughter of the traveller\u2019s native retinue. What can\nit mean? Why, he has struck a match! As soon, however, as the first\nscare is over, the crowd increases and comes nearer. When satisfied\nthat there is no danger, the old men ask to see more of the wonderful\nlittle fire-stick; and by and by, all admire it so much that if the\ntraveller were to listen to their entreaties, he would sit lighting\nmatches all night. When the Missionaries first came into the country,\nthe revolver produced a profound impression; it was looked upon as a\nsupernatural weapon, the idea being that its possessor could fire without\never requiring to reload. Certain powerful chiefs near Nyassa, on being\nshown some revolver practice, at once put their hands to their throats\nand said to the Missionaries, \u201cYou are the kings of this country\u201d. Such\nan impression as this, gives the Missionary a breathing time till the\nnatives become acquainted with him. If they thought him quite defenceless\nmany would kill him at once, especially if he had any goods. But apart\nfrom revolvers, the very appearance of a white man at first inspires\nthe native with fear. Nor is this strange, for if a black man had shown\nhimself in any quiet English hamlet before its inhabitants knew that\nnegroes existed, there would have been a terrible scare. So, when a white\nman appears in an African village, natives that are unfamiliar with such\nspecimens of humanity take to their heels! But gradually their fears\nsubside, and they come to look at the man. They examine his long hair,\nhis hat, his umbrella, his boots and his stockings, and when he goes away\nthey follow him, and he can see that they will soon become his friends.\nThe children are particularly drawn to the stranger: while those who rank\nhighest as sorcerers are most influenced by superstitious fear.\n\nThe emotions of _tenderness_ and _sympathy_ are strong among some, while\nothers are as callous as can be conceived. But few of them would say with\nHobbes, that \u201cpity is a weakness, and that the best men have least of\nit,\u201d for on one occasion, where a mourner produced a copious supply of\ntears by taking snuff, the others administered a grave rebuke, telling\nhim that, \u201chis was no true sorrow\u201d. Usually their grief for their friends\nis intense. In this respect (as throughout the whole emotional side of\ntheir nature), they resemble children. They are easily impressed, but\nthey do not keep grief longer than grief keeps them.\n\nThe _humorous_ side of a subject has great attractions for the natives.\nIn cases where there is any disposition to quarrel, one joke is\nworth ten arguments. They are always polite enough to laugh at the\nEnglishman\u2019s jokes, especially if he speak with a half serious air. In\nany discussion, it is the humorous side that they most appreciate. In the\ncourse of a conversation with Kapeni and his people, about the custom\nof killing slaves to accompany the dead, after trying the arguments\nthat most readily suggest themselves, I pointed out that the slaves\nwere big powerful men, while the deceased was very weak, and that if a\nquarrel took place beyond the grave, the deceased would have no chance\nagainst them. They laughed immoderately at this, and when reporting the\ndiscussion to their friends, they dwelt chiefly on the idea that slaves\nwould be as good as their master \u201con the other side of the grave,\u201d and\nmight avenge their death. In conversation with each other they have a\ngreat capacity for presenting the laughable side of events. It often\nhappens that a stranger regards the natives as beings to be patronised\nand amused by; so much does he consider himself superior to them. Now as\nmight almost be expected, they view the new-comer in the very same light!\nMost of them humour him and allow him to treat them as children, but all\nthe same, they amuse themselves at his expense after he is gone, and,\nindeed, while he is present, if they know that he cannot understand their\nspeech. They are careful not to laugh if there be any danger of giving\noffence. Once at the close of an open air meeting, an Englishman happened\nto get up on the trunk of a large tree, which one often sees used for a\nseat in the native villages. The log revolved, and the man fell heavily\non the ground. Yet the whole meeting looked as grave as if the accident\nhad been part of the programme.\n\nTheir _anger_ though sometimes violent, soon exhausts itself: but where\nthe passion cannot be readily gratified, it may settle into a lasting\nenmity. Many people, especially headmen, will not visit a village two\nmiles distant on any account; rather than pass through it, they will\nfetch a wide circuit, and that although their children and dependents\nvisit the place quite freely. The negroes are very cruel, and sometimes\ntake a positive delight in inflicting the greatest tortures they can\ndevise. They reserve much of this for enemies from whom they would expect\nthe same treatment themselves.\n\nOf their INTELLECTUAL powers I venture to speak very highly. I knew a\nnumber of boys that came to school at the ages of from twelve to fifteen,\nwithout knowing a single letter, and in six weeks, they could, after\na little consideration, read any word in their language. This they\naccomplished without any unnatural cramming. There were many school\nchildren whose progress I watched with great interest, and who, I am\ncertain, if they had enjoyed the usual training, could have taken no mean\nplace among the Cambridge Wranglers.\n\nThe natives possess great powers of _argument_. Though some are swayed\nby feeling and admit irrelevant matter, others stick well to their\nsubject, and soon pull up a debater that changes his ground. In public\nspeeches they use a style more elaborate than in ordinary conversation.\nMany English speeches are so different from ordinary talk, that to one\nwho only knows English conversationally, they seem to be in another\nlanguage. So native speeches may be greatly polished, and lose much of\nthe bluntness of conversation. Public speaking is much practised, as an\nimportant meeting may last for days. Many of the speakers have a tone of\nquietness and self-possession that any orator might envy; others believe\nin loud words and bold gestures. An excited native orator presents an\nappearance never to be forgotten. I have one before my mind just now. He\nstands near an ant-hill, and at the close of each stirring sentence, he\nmakes a wild rush to the top. \u201cAre we all to be killed,\u201d he cries, \u201cby\nChekakamila?\u201d Having said this, he runs up the hillock. Coming back he\nconfronts his audience and resumes at the pitch of his voice, \u201cIs he to\ncome and catch our wives and children? We\u2019ll go and kill him! We\u2019ll go\nand eat him!\u201d The orator again runs up the ant-hill. He continues in the\nsame strain till his hearers also begin to rush about and brandish their\nweapons in frantic excitement.\n\nNatives have the bump of _locality_. I once lost my way when about nine\nmiles distant from any dwelling. I was accompanied by a little boy, who\nfollowed wherever I led. After wandering for some time, I sat down in\ndespair, unable to tell the direction I wanted. I asked the boy whether\nhe knew the way, and to my great surprise he said he did. Advancing to a\nsmall knoll, the little fellow caught a glimpse of a distant mountain.\nHe looked at it carefully for a few moments, and then marched off with\nconfidence. For more than an hour I followed in great anxiety, fearing\nthat he might be in the wrong direction. But whenever we escaped from the\ndenser parts of the jungle, he stopped to gaze intently at some hill.\nThis gave me confidence, and when at last I found myself on a native\npath, I could not sufficiently admire my youthful guide.\n\nWe often hear the expression \u201cI don\u2019t believe in a nigger\u201d. It is common\nto assert that negroes have no redeeming quality. But much of this severe\ncriticism springs from prejudice. The African is physically superior\nto most of the Indians that we see along the Mozambique coast, and I\nam materialist enough to hazard the opinion that this superiority will\n\u201cmean something\u201d in the long run. As it is, these Africans are not\nmere animals composed of greed and selfishness. They often shew great\nbravery and devotedness. I can point to one man who saved my life on\nthree separate occasions at the risk of his own. Every one that tries\nto understand these negroes, will acknowledge that the better natives\nhave in their breasts all the qualities that constitute the hero, and\nonly want favourable circumstances for their development. But this is a\ngreat want. No doubt there are in Africa, natural differences both among\nindividuals and among tribes. Mr. Rowley says, \u201cCompare an ordinary Yao\nwith an ordinary Anyasa, and the former is at once seen to be physically\nsuperior\u201d. \u201cA phrenologist would say, that firmness and self-esteem\npredominated, but that caution which prevails to a deformity among the\nAnyasa was barely evidenced.\u201d The difference between the Yao of the\nhills, and the Anyasa of the plains is so very great, that I could\ngenerally tell a man\u2019s tribe by his appearance. But admitting natural\ndifferences to the fullest extent, we cannot ignore the effect produced\non the natives by their circumstances and customs. The institution of\nslavery is demoralising in the extreme. The master is a cruel tyrant,\nthe slave is a thief, a liar, and a miserable coward. The government of\nthe country has also a deplorable influence. Where it is weak, it gives\nthe people no protection, where it is strong, it preys upon them. There\nis nothing to keep the headman of a village from robbing his people,\nand many a bitter complaint have I heard on the subject. Speke has some\ninstructive observations on the African. \u201cHe works his wife, sells his\nchildren, enslaves all he can lay hands on, and, unless when fighting\nfor the property of others, contents himself with drinking, singing, and\ndancing. They store up nothing beyond the necessities of next season,\nlest their chiefs or neighbours should covet and take it from them.\u201d He\nadds, \u201cIf some government could be formed for them, like ours in India,\nthey would be saved, but without it, I fear there is little chance. For\nat present the African can neither help himself, nor be helped by others,\nbecause his country is in such a constant state of turmoil.\u201d Owing to the\nunsettled state of their land, they are victims of fear. The men never\ngo unarmed, the women and children never venture far from home without\na guard. A great proportion of their villages are built far up the\nmountains, for security against their neighbours. Hobbes says that men\nare naturally distrustful of their fellows\u2014witness the barring of doors\nat night. Such distrust is greater here, and well it may. It is not that\nthey fear for their property; that is too small to deserve anxiety! They\nfear for dear life\u2014though they lie down quietly at night, they may awake\nto receive a mortal wound, and see their wives and children carried into\nslavery. One in this country finds a meaning in prayers for protection,\nthat he does not realise in a civilised land. These circumstances of the\nnative develop also a peculiar kind of patience and servility. He looks\non injustice and hard treatment as something to be expected at every step.\n\nSuperstition also has a dismal influence. Throughout his whole life the\nnative is haunted by the dread of being bewitched. As he grows older\nthe shadows become darker\u2014he has now escaped \u201cthe evil eye\u201d so long,\nthat he is judged guilty of witchcraft himself, and the few last days\nof his life are made unspeakably bitter. What a dreadful cry comes from\nthe old men or women that are convicted by the witch-detective! Forsaken\nby friends, disowned by relatives; and detested by the whole community,\nthey appeal with confidence to the poison. Oh! how must the iron fetters\nof superstition crush the very soul, when the victim finds recovery\nhopeless, and knows that in a few hours his dishonoured body will be\ncast forth to the vultures, and that his name will go down to posterity\ncovered with infamy.\n\n[Illustration: MUSICAL INSTRUMENT (WITH IRON KEYS).]\n\nThe _musical tastes_ of the natives may here be alluded to. Many villages\nhave in the forum a large piano with wooden keys, while men often carry\na smaller instrument with iron keys. The native musical scale is not\nthe same as ours, and although there is a certain method about the\ninstruments, it is rare to find two of them tuned exactly the same way.\n\nOther traits of native character will appear when we describe our life\namong them.\n\nAs a Missionary with the Bible in his hand looks on the natives, he\nseriously ponders how the truth can, humanly speaking, be most readily\ncommended to them. His first aim must be to reach their intellects.\nThey stand before him as a people that are entirely unbelievers, and\nwho cannot be blamed for being so. How shall they believe without a\npreacher? It is well when they state plainly that they disbelieve and\npoint out their reasons, but alas! they often assent to everything from\nmere politeness. Still, they are well able to appreciate the narrative\nparts of the Scriptures. Persons fond of doctrine in its purest form\nthink that the tales of Joseph and his brethren, of Saul and David, are\nso much packing in the sacred volume, but on coming into contact with\nthe strong unsophisticated intellect of the savage, one becomes alive\nto the sublimity and power of this part of Scripture. These natives\nreadily understand the Old Testament; familiar as they are with a state\nof civilisation, where a \u201cyounger brother\u201d may be sold like Joseph, where\na chief (like Saul) hunts a rival among mountains and caves, and where a\nheadman thinks nothing of dividing a child to settle a dispute. A person\nin Britain thinks it almost incredible that a king could break promises\nlike Pharoah; but to the subjects of an African chief, the narrative of\nthis is the merest commonplace, while they feel that such falsehood in\nthe prince would rather call forth the applause of his people so long as\nit seemed to be in their interest. Our pupils had often to write about\nthese Scripture subjects in their own words. When they wrote on English\naffairs their remarks were extremely ludicrous; but by reading their\nBible themes I have benefited as much as by studying a commentary. Again,\nthey can understand and appreciate _parables_. They are all familiar with\nthis species of literature, since many of their own tales have double\nmeanings. The natives of course hold no theory of the universe that\nexcludes _miracles_. In their own tales they have the miraculous and look\nfor some teaching in connection with it, a habit which they may be taught\nto carry with them in using the Scripture records. In my first effort at\ntranslating Jonah, my little tutor thought there was some mistake and\nchanged my proposed version. He felt it would be more natural for Jonah\nto \u201cswallow the fish\u201d. But it was a \u201cgreat fish!\u201d Still the same answer\ncame. \u201cNo, a very great fish like a crocodile.\u201d The dark countenance\nturned fully round upon me, and the sharp eyes regarded me with a strange\nquiet stare. He approved of my original rendering, and wondered what I\nwould venture on next. Perhaps he thought I was \u201cfar gone\u201d or perhaps I\nhad come near something he had heard before. They have themselves a story\nof a man that was caught by a crocodile and effected his escape while\nlaid past till the crocodile should be hungry. Their literature also\ncontains some stories regarding the division of the waters of a river or\nlake, while one tale would pass for an account of Jethro\u2019s interview with\nMoses.\n\nThe Africans have a liking for ontological speculation. Being ill one\nday, I asked one of our best students to speak to the people, when,\nto my utter disappointment, he dashed into an explanation of \u201cthree\npersons in one God\u201d; but what surprised me most of all was that the\npeople listened to him with the greatest attention. I felt that there was\nhere the working, of a mode of thought that the Western mind has seldom\nsympathised with. The discussion seemed to have such a practical interest\nto them that I could not but think of the butchers of Alexandria, who,\nduring the early Church controversy, when asked the price of mutton,\nwould make some remark about Trinity in Unity. Little did the lecturer\nknow what an amount of thought had been bestowed on this subject, and yet\nhe showed he had been thinking himself, for every statement he made had\nevidently passed through the crucible of his own mind.\n\nOur older pupils formed the habit of asking me about everything in\nthe Bible that they did not understand, and I have watched them with\nbreathless interest as they read passages bearing on \u201cFree-Will\u201d. But\nthey were never \u201cpulled up\u201d by this subject, although I fancied that one\nboy came very near the difficulty. They would doubtless hold that God\ncould foresee, much as a wise man can. It was a subject where to them\n\u201cignorance was bliss,\u201d and I could not be so cruel as to suggest the\ndifficulties that encompass this antinomy (as Kant calls it). Still, it\nmight not have been such a puzzle to these young lads, as they had not\nlived in a country where will is evoked in a struggle with the elements.\nAgain, where the vast majority are entirely at the disposal of guardians\nor slave-masters, a species of resigned fatalism is apt to be developed.\nOnce when translating the sermon on the mount, \u201cBe not anxious for\nto-morrow; sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,\u201d I was admonished,\n\u201cDon\u2019t tell them that; their sin lies the opposite way. They never think\nof to-morrow at all!\u201d Such is the fact, these creatures of God have\nlittle or no anxiety. Like the bird of the air and the beast of the\nforest, they \u201cbelieve and live\u201d.\n\n\nEND OF VOL. I.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\nNATIVE TALES LITERALLY TRANSLATED.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\n\n1. PEOPLE.\n\nPeople came from _kapilimtiya_ [an unsteady (soft) stone][16]. There\ncame forth two, a man and a woman, and they married and had children.\nThen there was seen another man who was sick, being a leper, who had\ncome from _kapilimtiya_. The sick man sent the woman to draw water, then\nhe opened a bag and took out maize and millet. On this earth there was\nno grass,[17] and he said, \u201cYou two may sleep in a cave\u201d. The sick man\ndied, and the other man put an offering on the ground[18] saying, \u201cYou\nhave left us here, now give us grass\u201d. So grass grew and trees; and his\nchildren grew and had children; hence the tribe of the Yao.\n\n\n2. THE SUN.\n\nIt came to pass that two men went to the hunting-field and arrived at a\ncave. One said, \u201cHere is heat!\u201d The other said, \u201cIs this fire?\u201d He said,\n\u201cI don\u2019t know, come and help me to search\u201d. They began to search in the\ncave. One peered and saw the sun[19] in the cave. Then he said, \u201cLook!\nlook!\u201d his companion said, \u201cCome, let us run away\u201d. The other said, \u201cI\nwill look,\u201d and he went into the cave and put away a stone, then the sun\nburned him and he died. His companion said, \u201cPlease, please, don\u2019t burn\nme\u201d (by this time the grass was on fire). The stone being thus removed,\nthe sun went on high.\n\n\n3. THE MOON.\n\nOut here there lived Machelenga, and he said, \u201cI want a firefly to make\na lamp of\u201d. A great man said, \u201cCome, I\u2019ll shew you a good fire\u201d. And he\nsaid, \u201cIt is a good fire this\u201d\u2014it was just the moon. Then he took the\nmoon and put it in a pot. And he said, \u201cMy children, don\u2019t take off the\ncover of this, it contains my fire. I go to the garden.\u201d[20] So he went\nto the garden. The children then went to fetch the fire, then there was\nlight with a brightness! And he said, \u201cMy fire has come out, they have\nbrought it out of the pot\u201d: and he said to them, \u201cMy children, where is\nthe fire?\u201d And they said, \u201cWe\u2014no\u201d.[21] And he said, \u201cDon\u2019t meddle with\nthe place where I have put my fire\u201d. And they said, \u201cWe understand\u201d.\nAnother day he said, \u201cGood-bye,[22] let me go down to the garden,\u201d and\nhe staid for the night at the garden.[23] One of the children then took\nthe moon, which burned him, and flew away to settle right on the top of\nthe hill.[24] The father awoke and looked out and said, \u201cOutside there\nis light,\u201d and he ran and said, \u201cBut now, see! is not my fire gone? Seek\nladders, take it thence.\u201d So they climbed the mountain; though they tried\nthus to go to fetch it they failed. The child fell down a precipice. The\nfather next tried to climb, then the moon flew, going up to the clouds,\nand he said, \u201cNow it is gone, it is settled in the clouds. Now my\nenemies will see quite well, because you have taken out my fire.\u201d\n\nHis wife said, \u201cYour moon has killed my child for me; I do not want to\nsee the moon\u201d. She went to another country, she looked on high and the\nmoon was still there, and she was weary and said, \u201cDig a pit for me,\u201d and\nthey dug a pit. Then the woman went in and the man covered it over. The\nwoman died in the pit.\n\nYonder moon was the fire of Machelenga.[25]\n\n\n4. STARS.\n\nIt came to pass that the children of Mkwilima[25] said, \u201cWe will go\nto play,\u201d and they arrived at the sands, and found many stones, and\nthey threw them at each other. Their father said, \u201cMy children, do not\nstrike each other, stones will pain you\u201d. Then a stone was thrown, and\none child was struck on the head and fell; and the stone ran away and\nleapt forth and became fixed on high. People looked, and behold! the\nstone was visible, and Mkwilima said, \u201cMy children, there I told you,\nbehold the stone that killed your companion, behold! now it is on high\u201d.\nWhen the rain fell particles of it kept floating filling the heavens\neverywhere.[26]\n\n\n5. [27]CLOUDS.\n\nMwangalika sent his son, and said, \u201cIn this country there is sun now.\nPlease, please go and burn with fire.\u201d Then the fire smoked, and\nMwangalika said, \u201cNow I want the smoke to be clouds, that my children may\nstay in the shade;\u201d then it went on high.\n\n\n6. [27]WIND.\n\nA great man had a daughter, and she said, \u201cFather, in this country I am\nhot, I sweat\u201d.\n\nThen her father said, \u201cCome here, my child, I have pity, I will blow with\nmy breath,\u201d so he blew, and thence came wind.\n\n\n7. RAIN OR LIGHTNING.\n\nThe lightning (rain, ula)[28] flashed and killed a man, then it ran on\nhigh, and they said, \u201cPlease, please, rain but you have killed people\u201d.\nThe rain said, \u201cNow I am sorry, I have done wrong, but I want to send\nwater that you may _drink at the mourning_\u201d, and the people said, \u201cYes,\nlet us consent\u201d. The water of the rain then descended.\n\n\n8. THE BOW OF THE LIGHTNING.\n\nThe bow of the lightning came from on high and struck a hill, then came\nMtanga, and said, \u201cMy bow for killing meat\u201d. The chief at that land said,\n\u201cLet us see you killing\u201d. He picked up an arrow, threw on high and killed\nfour stars, and said, \u201cI have killed this meat, let me give you to eat\u201d.\nHe said, \u201cGive me that I may look at it\u201d. He received it and looked, and\nthere was just a flash-flashing. He said, \u201cThe meat of my shooting you\ncannot eat. That comes from on high. But watch what I shall do in the\neating of it.\u201d He boiled water, and filled a great pot, and picked up the\nstars and put them in the pot and stirred them, and then they actually\nfound cooked flesh. He said, \u201cTaste it now\u201d: when he ate it he found it\nsweet like honey.\n\nHe said, \u201cLend me, friend, the bow that I may shoot\u201d; but he was killed\nby his shooting. Mtanga (12) then said, \u201cMy bow is dreadful\u201d. When Mtanga\nwent away, it was not seen where he went, and he put up his bow on high.\n\n\n9. MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS.\n\nMtanga came to the Yao country, and he said, \u201cThis country is bad because\nit is without a hill\u201d. The inhabitants said, \u201cWhat will you do?\u201d and he\nsaid, \u201cI will press out mountains\u201d. They said, \u201cHow will you press them\nout?\u201d He said, \u201cI will press them out at night\u201d. They said, \u201cCome, let\nus sleep in the houses\u201d. At night then passed Mtanga, and came to make a\nmountain spring forth. Then he took away his leg when he had pressed out\none mountain, and went and pressed out another.\n\nIn the morning when people arose, they found that mountains were standing\nforth (in one place a mountain sprung up, in another place a mountain\nsprung up). He said, \u201cWhen you thought of me, you supposed I told a lie.\nI am from \u2018God,\u2019[29] Chitowe sent me. This country I have now made right.\u201d\n\nHe then said, \u201cI will now press forth water, let us dig a river,\u201d then he\nbrought down rain, and the water flowed in the river.\n\nIn the beginning[30] this country was all a plain, and Mtanga put it\nright: there was no water and he pressed it forth.\n\n\n10. COOKING POTS AND MORTARS.\n\nLong ago \u2018God\u2019 said, \u201cMy children, I gave you food\u201d. He gave them also a\npiece of iron[31] ore. Then he said, \u201cDraw water, boil it on the fire\u201d.\nThen he said, \u201cThis is a cooking pot\u201d. The iron ore was lost, and \u2018God\u2019\nsent Namawelenga, and he said, \u201cNow I want to dig clay,\u201d and they\nmanufactured cooking-pots.\n\nPeople used to roast (their corn), and there came a woman and she brought\na short piece of wood. She said, \u201cI am hungry, I want porridge\u201d. They\nrefused at the village, saying, \u201cAt our home, no; there is no porridge\u201d.\nShe said, \u201cThere is maize\u201d. They said, \u201cWe have much maize\u201d. Then she\nbrought out her small reed and said, \u201cGive me maize\u201d; and she put it\nin her (piece of) wood and set to pounding. When she pounded she said,\n\u201cWell, this is called a mortar, now pound and eat\u201d.\n\n\n11. HOES, KNIVES AND AXES.\n\nPeople hoed with wood[32] and there came a certain man who said, \u201cI have\npity, let me give you things-to-hoe-with\u201d. They said, \u201cGive us\u201d. He said,\n\u201cBring fire,\u201d and they brought fire, and he took iron ore and put on the\nfire. They collected much fire, and pieces of ore were melted, and they\ntook a stone and beat it, and it was smelted to make a hoe.\n\nKnives and axes came together. People said, \u201cWe sleep outside,\u201d and there\ncame a man and gave them; he said, \u201cWith this axe cut trees, take the\nknife, dig down, use it as a pick, and put in your posts\u201d.[33]\n\n\n12. BASKETS.\n\nHe said, \u201cWhere do you put your food?\u201d They said, \u201cWe put it on the\nground,\u201d and he said, \u201cBut seek for the _mneche_,\u201d (a soft tree), and\nthey sought for it and prepared it (there were no bamboos then). He said,\n\u201cTake now your maize, put it in the baskets\u201d. When they found bamboos\nthen they plaited them: then were made things for holding their goods.\n\n\n13. CLOTHING.\n\nThere were some that did not wear clothes, and a certain man came and\nstript off bark, and the males wore it. Then he produced a hammer from\nhis bag, and said, \u201cCut down a _mjombo_ tree,\u201d and he stript it. Then he\nset to hammering, and beat out the juice, and put the bark in the sun\nto dry. Then he took it and said, \u201cTry to put it on,\u201d and the females\nclothed themselves. Bark-cloth then abounded in this land.\n\n\n14. DEATH.\n\nThis country was one where people did not die, and there came a woman\nthat could not walk. People lived without sleep, and the woman said\n\u201csleep,\u201d and two persons slept, then she caught one by the nostrils, and\nthe other continued to breathe, and she said, \u201cArise,\u201d the one arose and\nthe other died. She said, \u201cI am sorry, I have done wrong, I caught one by\nthe nostrils, he can not breathe, now mourn\u201d (for him). Then the people\nmourned, and continued three days. Afterwards they said, \u201cCarry him away,\ndig a grave and bury him,\u201d and they buried him.\n\nPeople then discovered sleep; death and sleep are one word; they are of\none family.\n\nThe woman that could not walk wrought mischief.\n\n\n15. MORTALITY,[34] THE CHAMELEON (NALWII) AND THE SALAMANDER (MLALU).\n\nThe chameleon was sent to the graves to say, \u201cWhen people die they may\nreturn\u201d (to their homes). He went off and was passing along the road.\nAfterwards the salamander was called to go to the graves, and say, \u201cWhen\npeople die they must not return\u201d. The salamander ran and arrived quickly\n(while the chameleon was still on the way), and said, \u201cWhen people die\nthey must not return\u201d. Next morning the chameleon appeared. He said,\n\u201cWhen people die, they may return\u201d. Those at the grave said, \u201cNo, the\nsalamander came and he told us the truth\u201d. Then he (the chameleon) went\nback to report at the village (from which he was sent), and said, \u201cThe\nsalamander was first. He gave the order, \u2018When people die they must not\nreturn\u2019.\u201d Those at the village said, \u201cHow silly! You were stupid, O\nchameleon, you should have made haste.\u201d\n\n\n16. OFFERINGS.\n\nA person hoed his field (lit. food), and there came a blind man and said,\n\u201cYou do not eat your corn, what prevents you?\u201d He said, \u201cThe corn is\nwithout an offering\u201d.[35] The blind man said, \u201cI can give the offering\u201d.\nThen he put his arm in his bag, and took out of it flour, and the man\nthat hoed said, \u201cDo it yourself, give an offering that you may see with\nyour eyes\u201d. The blind man said, \u201cPlease, please, I want to see, help me,\nO mother!\u201d Then his blindness went away and he saw. Then the man that\nhoed the garden said, \u201cNow you are able to see\u201d. Then the farmer plucked\nfive maize cobs, and said, \u201cPlease, please, a blind man told me about\nthe offering, I now want that my maize may be abundant\u201d. So the Yao when\ntheir child dies say, \u201cPlease, please, I give this offering for you which\na blind man gave us\u201d; the sick then have health. In this way the Yao\ncontinue (to exist).\n\n\n17. BOWS AND GUNS.\n\nThere was a man with three children, one was mad, and he bit, and his\nfather caught him and put him in a slave-stick. Then he said, \u201cFather, I\nwant you to cut wood for me,\u201d and he cut the wood. And he said, \u201cFather,\nnow I want a nail\u201d (the iron pin of the slave-stick), and he brought a\nnail and gave him. In the same way he brought strips of bark, and he (the\nson) bent the wood with the cords. His father loosed him and he ran to\nthe bush and returned at night and pierced his mother with the nail.\nShe said, \u201cMy husband, my son whom you loosed has pierced me\u2014pierced me\nwith a bow\u201d (something bent). These people then sought bows, and carried\npieces of iron, and sought that madman; but he died in the bush. The\npeople remained with the bow.\n\nHere there were no guns, then came the people of Misiri[36] and gave to a\nman (who lived) long ago. The gun came with the people of Misiri.\n\n\n18. CANNIBALISM.\n\nThere was a certain man, Malyawandu,[37] and an appetite for meat came\n(to him), and his wife cooked porridge with vegetables for a relish. He\nsaid, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t want to eat vegetables\u201d. So she killed a fowl for him,\nbut he refused and said, \u201cLook for a knife for me,\u201d and he cut himself on\nthe leg and roasted for himself on the fire. And she said, \u201cMy husband\neating this meat alone!\u201d[38] He said, \u201cDelicious meat\u201d. The man then\ndied of that wound. And the woman said, \u201cI will look at the flesh of my\nhusband, I will eat it\u201d.\n\nHer children said, \u201cMother eating father!\u201d and she said, \u201cCome! taste\u201d.\nOne child received it and ate, and said, \u201cGive me more\u201d. It told its\nfriends that human flesh was delicious. Then they began to kill each\nother.\n\nAt present they say, \u201cWe must not eat people\u201d. Those that eat people are\ncannibals (\u00a7 106, 107).\n\n\n19. MEDICINE.\n\nA certain man was sick; he said, \u201cI shall dig up moles\u201d. Then he found\na root which was in a hole, he struck it with the hoe, and took it away\nfrom the tree and placed it so.[39] Then he killed two moles, and another\nmole ran away. Then the sick man sat down there to look, and it returned\nand carried the root and chewed it and spat on the other moles that were\ndead and they got life. The sick man then said, \u201cIs this medicine? Those\ndead moles have risen again.\u201d The mole said, \u201cThis is medicine, do you\ntake it when you are sick, chew it that you may have health\u201d. Then he\nwent away to the village and chewed it and had health. Then others said,\n\u201cGive your friends that they may have health\u201d. Then medicine abounded in\nthis land.\n\n\n20. FLEAS.\n\nPeople died and went to the graves and became \u2018Itowe,\u2019 and \u2018God\u2019 came and\nsaid, \u201cYou Itowe come all here,\u201d and they came all round. Then he gave\nthem little bags, and said, \u201cYou go abroad with these and give people\u201d.\nThey all received them. Some had a bag of fleas, and others of seeds,\n&c., &c. When they came abroad here then people refused the bag of fleas,\nbut wanted the bag of seeds. So they gave the seeds and returned, but on\nthe way they opened the other bags and threw the fleas away.\n\n\n21. FISHES.\n\nThere was a woman, and she took bark-cloth and tore off a long strip\nand put on as a loin-cloth, and said, \u201cNow let us go to the stream and\nbathe\u201d. (In the waters there were no fishes.) The woman had untied her\nloin-cloth, and she said, \u201cGive me my loin-cloth to wash\u201d. As she was\nwashing it the water took the loin-cloth from her, and she said, \u201cMy\ncompanions, my loin-cloth is lost\u201d. Her companions said, \u201cSit down, let\nus go to seek it, that you may wear your clothes\u201d. The woman then sat at\nthe water naked; then she saw it coming, it having become a fish. And she\nsaid, \u201cI have seen wonderful things; I saw my loin-cloth like an animal\u201d.\nThen they took it, and saw that it was a fish, and they took a knife and\nopened it at the breast. Then they found inside the eggs of fish (nat.\nidiom), and threw them into the water, and they brought forth many fishes.\n\n\n22. BIRDS.\n\nThere was a man that had two children, and they said, \u201cWe want a bow\u201d.\nTheir father made them a bow. And he said, \u201cDon\u2019t go throwing at each\nother\u201d. One stood like this, and took a grass wand, threw it at his\ncompanion, and struck him in the eyes, and he died. His father then ran,\n\u201cMy son, you have killed your brother\u201d; and he took the grass, and it\nsaid, \u201cYour son threw me; I have killed a man. Now I don\u2019t want to stay\nhere below,\u201d and it flew and lighted on a tree, and became a bird. And\nthis is the origin of birds.\n\n\n23. ELEPHANTS.\n\nThe elephants lived along with men, and the children took them out to\neat grass in the plain. Then an elephant killed one child, and another\nran saying, \u201cFather, father, an elephant has killed my companion\u201d. His\nfather said, \u201cWell, I want to go and kill it\u201d. And he carried his bow\nand arrows and went to shoot it, and he shot it, and it died. The others\nthen ran away, saying, \u201cWe have done wrong; now our master is killing\nus\u201d. So they ran away to the bush, and people kept encountering them and\nshooting them, saying, \u201cYou killed a person at the village\u201d. Hence there\nwas enmity against them.\n\n\n24. LIONS.\n\nThe lion was a cat dwelling with people. Then it sprung to catch a fowl\nThe next day it sprang to scratch the baby. Then its master said, \u201cI will\nkill you,\u201d so it ran away to the bush. Whereupon it was at enmity with\npeople.\n\n\n25. THE SERPENT.\n\nThere was a man that hoed a garden and planted cassava, and took\nbark-cloth and twisted, and took thorns and put through this bark-cloth,\nand said, \u201cBark-cloth, I place you in my garden; bite those that come to\nsteal\u201d. So he went to hang the bark-cloth[40] in his garden. Then came a\nthief and took hold of a cassava plant, and the thorns pierced him, and\nthat lad said, \u201cWar\u201d. It said, \u201cMy master left me in the garden, saying,\n\u2018If people steal cassava, bite them\u2019.\u201d The person died. Then came the man\nand said, \u201cBark-cloth, you have bitten a lad; you have a bad heart\u201d. Then\nit went away in the bush, and when it saw people it bit them. Hence came\nthe serpent.\n\n\n26. BABOONS.[41]\n\nA woman bare three children, but the children stole from the owner of the\ncountry, and he killed two. Then the woman ran away, and the other child\nwent away. Her friends said, \u201cCut your hair\u201d.[42] She said, \u201cNo, the\nchief killed my children\u201d. And she said on seeing the maize of others,\n\u201cThat maize is ours\u201d. On her running away hair grew on all her body. That\nfur of the baboons was the hair of the head, those legs were arms.\n\n\n27. OTHER ACCOUNTS.\n\nSome tell one way, others another way\u2014telling and telling.\n\n_Heavenly Bodies._\u2014\u2018God\u2019 made the stars and the moon and the sun\nlikewise. All things in this world were made by \u2018God\u2019. The sun gave way\nto fierceness, and said, \u201cLet me shine and destroy people\u201d. God refused,\nand took rain and cooled down the sun.\n\n_Wind._\u2014\u2018God\u2019 placed a spinning-top on the summit of a mountain, hence\nthe wind.\n\n_Rain._\u2014People who died became \u2018God,\u2019 and they said, \u201cCome, let us give\nour children rain\u201d. Others refused, and said, \u201cCome, let us make pots and\nfill them with water\u201d. And they said, \u201cCome, let us break another pot;\nlet us give our children rain\u201d.[43]\n\n_Animals._\u2014At first the lion was a man; a man died and became a lion. So\nof the elephant.\n\n\n28. ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF MAN.\n\nAt first there were not people but \u2018God\u2019 and beasts. There was a\nChameleon, and he wove his fish-trap; when he had woven it, he went to\nsnare in the river. The day after he went to take it out, and he found\nfishes therein. He took his fishes to the village to eat them. Again in\nthe morning he went early and found that otters had entered the trap and\neaten the fishes, and he said: \u201cTo-day I have bad luck. I just found that\nthe otters had eaten my fishes. I do not know whether to-morrow I shall\nfind they have eaten them again.\u201d Then he departed to the village, empty,\nwithout fishes, and he went to sleep. When it was dawn, he went early\nagain, and found man, male and female, entered into the trap.\n\nHe said, \u201cTo-day have entered things that are unknown. I wonder whether I\nshould take them.\u201d Mlungu (\u2018God\u2019) was staying down here, before he went\naway to heaven. And he said, \u201cFather, behold what I have brought to-day\u201d.\nAnd He (\u2018God\u2019) said, \u201cPlace them there, they will grow\u201d. Man then grew,\nboth male and female. But his father said, \u201cGather the people together,\nand call your master\u201d. \u2018God\u2019 was called, and he came and said, \u201cNow,\nChameleon, where have you brought these from?\u201d He said, \u201cBut they entered\nmy trap\u201d. Then Mlungu said, \u201cWait till I call my people,\u201d and he went\ncalling all the beasts of the earth and all the birds. They assembled.\nWhen they came, their Master said, \u201cWe have called you for those curious\nbeings that the Chameleon went to bring in his trap\u201d. All the beasts\nsaid, \u201cWe have heard\u201d. (They had not a word to say.)\n\n\u201cNow let us go to our home.\u201d So the beasts all went to their homes. And\nMlungu said, \u201cNow good-bye, let me go home\u201d.\n\nThe day after they actually saw these people (the new creatures) making\nfire[44] (by friction). When they made fire, they set it a blazing,\nand found a buffalo and killed and roasted it on the fire, and it was\ncooked. And they kept eating all the beasts in this way. Again Mlungu\ncame, saying, \u201cChameleon, I told you that you introduced puzzling beings\non the earth here. See now my people are finished. Now how shall I act?\u201d\nThey actually saw the bush at their verandah burning with fire. Now the\nChameleon ran away, and Mlungu ran away. The Chameleon ran for a tree.\nMlungu was on the ground, and he said, \u201cI cannot climb a tree\u201d. Then\nMlungu set off and went to call the spider. The spider went on high and\nreturned again, and said, \u201cI have gone on high nicely,\u201d and he said, \u201cyou\nnow, Mlungu, go on high\u201d. Mlungu then went with the spider on high. And\nhe said, \u201cWhen they die, let them come on high here\u201d.\n\n(On this, the lightning when it came down destroyed a tree because the\nChameleon ran to a tree.)\n\nAnd behold, men on dying go on high in order to be slaves of \u2018God,\u2019 the\nreason being that they ate his people here below.[45]\n\n\n29. NTEMBE, THE BROTHER OF THE \u201cSPIRIT\u201d.\n\nNtembe came to the mysteries; and people said, \u201cA great one has come, let\nus go to see him\u201d. They found him sitting on a stone and he said, \u201cHave\nthese people come\u201d\u2014(he spoke through his nose so). They said, \u201cYes, we\nthought we should go and see the great Ntembe the owner of this land\u201d.\nHe said, \u201cYou are welcome, I have come myself, I have come to teach the\nmysteries\u201d. Then came a serpent and he twisted it round his head, and\nwhen people passed they were bitten and died. And people complained\nsaying, \u201cThe serpent will destroy us all\u201d. \u2018God\u2019 came saying, \u201cYou have a\nbad heart, you are killing (my) children\u201d. He said, \u201cTake them away and\ndwell with them, I Ntembe am here\u201d. \u2018God\u2019 then took the children and went\non high with them, and they were happy. Ntembe then became a mountain.[46]\n\n\n30. THE THREE WOMEN.\n\nThere were three Women with their children, and they went to the water.\nWhen they reached it, one of them was cheated by her companions who\nsaid, \u201cThrow your child into the water, we have thrown our children into\nthe water\u201d. But they had hidden their children under a tree. So their\ncompanion threw her child into the water, and a crocodile swallowed it\n(but did not kill it). Then her companions began to laugh at her and\nsaid, \u201cYou have thrown your child into the water! We were only cheating\nyou.\u201d Then she wept and said, \u201cWhy did you cheat me?\u201d Her companions went\nto the village to tell her mother, and said, \u201cYour daughter has thrown\nher child into the water\u201d. When her mother heard them she said, \u201cCan it\nbe true!\u201d Her companions said, \u201cYes\u201d. So her mother wept in great sorrow.\n\nBut her daughter climbed a tree and said, \u201cI want to go on high,\u201d and\nthe tree grew much and reached upwards. She met many leopards and they\nasked the girl and said, \u201cWhere are you going\u201d? The girl said, \u201cI want\nmy child; my companions cheated me and said, \u2018Throw your child into the\nwater. We threw ours into the water.\u2019\u201d The leopards said, \u201cIndeed!\u201d and\nthey showed her the way, saying, \u201cYou will come to the Nsenzi who will\nshow you the way again\u201d. So the girl went on and met the Nsenzi and they\nasked, \u201cGirl, where are you going\u201d? The girl replied, \u201cI want my child,\nmy companions cheated me saying, \u2018Throw your child in the water\u2019\u201d. Then\nthe Nsenzi showed her the way and said, \u201cGo, there you will meet the\nMazomba\u201d (large fishes?). The Mazomba said, \u201cWhat do you want, my girl\u201d.\nThe girl said, \u201cI want (to know) the way\u201d. The Mazomba said, \u201cWhere to\u201d?\nThe girl said, \u201cThe way to Mlungu (God)\u201d. The Mazomba said, \u201cWell, be\nstrong in your heart\u201d. The girl said, \u201cYes, Masters, I understand\u201d.\n\nThen she came to the village of Mulungu and Mulungu asked the girl,\n\u201cWhat do you want\u201d? The girl said, \u201cMaster! I want my child. My comrades\ncheated me saying, \u2018Throw your child into the water,\u2019 I threw it in, and\na crocodile swallowed it\u201d.\n\nThen Mulungu called the crocodile and the crocodile came. Mulungu[47]\nsaid, \u201cGive up the child,\u201d and it delivered it up. The girl received\nthe child and went down[48] to her mother. When her mother saw that her\ndaughter brought the child she was much delighted and gave her much cloth\nand a good house.\n\nWhen her companions saw that she had fetched her child they asked\nher, \u201cHow did you fetch your child?\u201d Their companion said, \u201cI went to\nMulungu\u201d. When her companions heard that she fetched it from Mulungu,\nthen they threw their children in the water, and also climbed the tree,\nwhich grew quickly, quickly.\n\nThen they met the Leopards. The Leopards asked, \u201cWhere are you going\u201d?\nBut the girls were obstinate and said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want you to question us.\nNo.\u201d The Leopards left them, and they went on and met with the Nsenzi who\nsaid, \u201cWell, where are you going\u201d? But the girls began to abuse them.\nThey went on and came to the Mazomba. The Mazomba said, \u201cWell, where are\nyou going\u201d? The girls said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want you to ask us\u201d.\n\nThen they came to Mulungu. Mulungu said, \u201cWhat do you want\u201d? The girls\nsaid, \u201cWe have thrown our children into the water.\u201d But Mulungu said,\n\u201cWhat was the reason of that\u201d? The girls hid (the matter) and said,\n\u201cNothing\u201d. But Mulungu said, \u201cIt is false. You cheated your companion,\nsaying, \u2018Throw your child into the water,\u2019 and now you tell me a lie.\u201d\n\nThen Mulungu took a bottle of lightning, and said, \u201cYour children are in\nhere\u201d. The girls took the bottle, and the bottle made a report like a\ngun. The girls both (lit. all) died.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] Since then the Church altered their decision, and practically found\nthat it was groundless.\n\n[2] Livingstone says this is the most wholesome form in which they use\ntheir corn owing to their rude cookery.\n\n[3] Ch is the proper spelling, but sh has gained acceptance. The Arabs\ncannot pronounce the ch; while the natives cannot pronounce the sh.\n\n[4] Stanley calls the sorcerer \u201cthe gourd-and-pebble man\u201d.\n\n[5] Native idiom.\n\n[6] This principle in human nature is fully recognised in philosophy.\nButler in his \u2018Analogy of Religion\u2019 speaks of it as the principle of\ncontinuance, remarking \u201cthat we believe a thing remains as we left\nit, except where we have any reason to think it is changed\u201d. Dr. Bain\nrecognises the same belief in our postulate that \u201cnature is uniform,\u201d\nalthough he holds that the tendency in question gets its great value from\n\u201cexperience.\u201d\n\nBeyond this there is a tendency to find a place, as we have assumed\nabove, for anything that has passed beyond our ken. We saw this in the\ncase of a little child that was separated from youthful playmates. When\nasked \u201cWhere\u2019s Nyama?\u201d at first he pointed in a definite direction. As\nthe journey proceeded he became quite at a loss, and shook his head over\nthe question in sadness. Much farther on it was asked whether Nyama was\nnot in yonder steamer, and the suggestion gave intense satisfaction, and\never after instead of shewing despair over the question he would brighten\nup and say, \u201cShe is in another steamer\u201d.\n\n[7] East African Tales, by Rev. Duff Macdonald. (Blackwood) Page 9.\n\n[8] When mwai is not vomited it is fatal, and the symptoms that appear in\nsuch cases, are said to resemble those of dysentery.\n\n[9] It is characteristic of Native Law that it throws all responsibility\non Superiors. In illustration of this principle I may mention an\napplication of it that occurs very naturally to these natives, and which\nthey have urged upon me again and again. When I spoke to them of a day of\njudgment they remarked, \u201cOn that day we shall plead that we are the white\nman\u2019s sons, and you, father, will not forsake your children\u201d.\n\n[10] Stanley in _How I Found Livingstone_, mentions that the natives in\nUnyanyembe, on killing an enemy, eat \u201cthe skin of the forehead, the lower\npart of the face, the forepart of the nose, the fat over the stomach and\nabdomen, the genital organs, and a bit from each heel\u201d. Hence we see that\nAfrican tribes, although living far apart, practice similar forms of\nmutilation.\n\n[11] These names happen to be real, but are used only as counters.\n\n[12] The word for _people_ is among some of these tribes _antu_, among\nothers _wandu_, among others _abantu_, &c., hence has arisen the word\nBantu.\n\n[13] These statements do not occur consecutively in the authors quoted.\n\n[14] Tens five and tens four, to this comes five then four. The inflexion\nof certain adjectives, and the negative inflexion of the verb, are also\nfelt cumbrous by a European.\n\n[15] A certain kind of politeness comes natural to the African. Seldom\nwill he say anything to irritate a neighbour, knowing as he does, that in\na country where there is little law, a neighbour may kill him without any\nscruple, and get absolution by paying over a few slaves.\n\n[16] The Africans have a widespread tradition that man sprung in this\nway from the earth. The world is viewed as a house with three stories.\nThe higher story, the region of the sky, is now occupied by Mulungu, and\nthe sun, moon, &c. We inhabit at present the second story, but we came\noriginally from \u201cthe first flat\u201d. But all races did not come at the same\ntime. According to the Kafirs, the white man staid till he cast off the\nskin of imperfection\u2014much as a snake casts its skin. When a man dies, \u201che\nis summoned by those that are beneath\u201d. This might be explained by saying\nthat he joins the dead who are buried beneath, but Bishop Callaway thinks\nthat such expressions intimate an old faith, now no longer understood, in\na Hades or Tartarus.\n\n[17] _i.e._, to make a house, grass being a main constituent of a native\nhut.\n\n[18] They postulate that some one died before man could find any being to\npray to. This is in accordance with their theology.\n\n[19] Of course they think the sun is not bigger than a plate.\n\n[20] Or \u201cfield\u201d where he raised his food.\n\n[21] A good specimen of native truth. The narrator assumes that the\nchildren will lie, and that the father will take it as a matter of course.\n\n[22] The native good-bye is managed thus: The person that goes away\nfrom his friend says \u201cStay,\u201d while his friend replies \u201cGo\u201d. In their\nintercourse this is not always a mere form. If a party with goods have\nrested at a village whose chief is powerful, and covets their goods, they\nare much relieved when he says \u201cGo!\u201d\n\n[23] There are little huts in the fields where people stay to drive away\nsuch animals as would destroy the crops.\n\n[24] In this simple nursery tale Perspective is ignored, but this will\nbe excused by one who has observed how strikingly the moon rising over a\nhill resembles a distant grass-fire.\n\n[25] His name implies that he was clever. The 3rd story reminds one of\nthe Indian widow who refuses to survive her husband.\n\n[26] Here the sky is likened to a great lake, and the stars are the\n\u201cgolden sands\u201d of \u201cAfric\u2019s sunny fountains\u201d.\n\n[27] V. and VI. seem pointless, except that the etymology and the form of\nthe native words are made to support the simple theories.\n\n[28] Rain, lightning and thunder seem to be almost inseparably associated\nin the minds of the native. If a peal of thunder is heard, when we ask\nwhat it is, the reply is \u201crain\u201d.\n\n[29] Chitowe is generally represented as inferior in power to Mtanga.\nThis passage would lead us, therefore, to understand that Chitowe called\nin Mtanga because he could not put the country right himself. The Yao as\nthey contrast their hilly district with the flat burning plains around\nmay well thank Mtanga.\n\n[30] Native philosophers accept the existence of the world as an ultimate\nfact.\n\n[31] Does this point to the use of \u2018the pot-stone\u2019? The native values his\npresent methods as an advance on something more primitive.\n\n[32] Compare the hoeing of the Hottentots.\n\n[33] _i.e._, to form the sides of the native hut.\n\n[34] This tale exists among both the Kafirs and the Hottentots, and is\none of the most noteworthy.\n\n[35] The offering of \u2018first fruits\u2019 had not been presented.\n\n[36] Described as staying in the north. The word also means craftsman.\nMost of these names are mere adaptations for the story.\n\n[37] _i.e._, Man-eater.\n\n[38] A breach of etiquette. (67.)\n\n[39] The narrative shews how.\n\n[40] They have a custom of putting charms round their crops this way (see\nK).\n\n[41] All the African races seem to have similar stories about the origin\nof monkeys.\n\n[42] She would be expected to make herself bald in mourning for her two\nsons.\n\n[43] Compare the ancient expression, \u201cWho can stay the bottles of\nheaven.\u201d\u2014Job xxxvii. 38.\n\n[44] Man is the only animal that can make fire. It is common to set fire\nto the bush with the view of catching game.\n\n[45] Mulungu is here said to have lived once on the earth, and to have\nleft it because of men. The Chameleon is introduced here as well as in\ntale No. xv.\n\n[46] Such metamorphoses are very common in native tales.\n\n[47] The narrator pronounces sometimes Mlungu, sometimes Mulungu.\n\n[48] Here as in xxviii. and xxix. \u2018God\u2019 is on high. He is reached after\na journey through a trilogy of Beasts, Birds, and Fishes. Compare with\nthis, one native view that the sky is a great lake.","title":"Africana; or, the heart of heathen Africa, Volume 1 (of 2) : $b Native customs and beliefs","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":79016}