We reach the Town of my Owner
Crossing the Mpalabala hills--The head man knocks his toes--It is an
evil omen--He visits the “medicine man”--Finds his brother
dying--Last hours of the dying chief.
The next morning was dull and damp--a weeping morning, and every one
shivered with the cold as they hastily picked up their loads and
prepared for the steep ascent that would take them over a spur of the
Mpalabala mountains. The road was a narrow track, steep and stony; huge
boulders were often in the path, and had to be climbed over or avoided
by detours, thus making the way difficult and tiring. By ten o’clock the
sun was shining brilliantly on the white stones, making the eyes ache
with their glare and the body perspire with their reflected heat. The
men panted beneath their burdens from the heat, and water was very
scarce.
By midday we had passed the steep and wearisome hills of Mpalabala and
were camped in the valley by a pleasant stream.
Just before arriving at the resting-place the head trader unfortunately
struck his toes against a stone, and, being very superstitious, he was
filled with horror at the evil omen. It was the general subject of
conversation as to what this omen predicted. One thought that a wife of
the head trader was dead; another suggested that his house and goods
were destroyed by fire; and thus they prophesied one evil after another
until Satu--the poor fellow who had struck his toes--could hardly rest
at the midday halt; and he certainly put on a very woebegone appearance,
for he had no doubt some great misfortune had befallen him or was about
to happen to him. This fear so played on his mind that he had disturbed
sleep and bad dreams that night; and often started out of a nightmare
screaming that his sister or his wife was dead, or his house was burnt
to the ground.
The next day a large town was reached, and Satu sought out the “medicine
man” there, who was famous through all the countryside for the wonderful
power of his fetish, and the charms he made from it. Satu told him how
he had struck his toes against a stone, and his fear of the evil omen,
and asked the wizard to avert the evil. Some of his companions
laughed[9] at him for wasting his money over such nonsense, while
others, who were more superstitious, advised him to fee the wizard well,
and thus enlist his power to stave off the threatened mischief.
Footnote 9:
See note 7, p. 344.
This particular “medicine man” had a charm which was called
_Kimbaji-mbaji_ (meaning, to-morrow), and any person who came under its
protection could not be harmed because he who wanted to hurt him always
put off the carrying out of his evil intentions until to-morrow, and, as
you know, to-morrow never comes. The special charm used by this wizard
was a shell full of various herbs which had been pounded, mixed and
rammed into it.
The troubled man took a fowl to the wizard, who killed it and poured
some of its blood into the shell, which he then placed on the ground,
surrounding it with eight little heaps of gunpowder. After dancing about
them for a short time, and chanting an incantation over them, he
exploded the powder and blew his whistle vigorously. These ceremonies
aroused the charm to work effectively in the postponement of the evil
spells that were being used against the man. The wizard received twenty
brass rods as his fee; and Satu went on his journey satisfied that the
omen could not now work against him.
Satu, however, found on his arrival home that the wizard’s power was
ineffectual in his case, for his brother, the chief of the town, was
very ill and nigh unto death. Hence their arrival, instead of being
acclaimed with the loud shouting of women and children, and the firing
of many guns, was greeted with the solemn headshakes of the men, the
crying of the women, and the beating of drums by the “medicine men.”
The patient was apparently so bad that as a last resort they had called
all the “medicine men” of the district together in the hope that their
combined force would rescue the man from the malignant influence of the
evil spirit--the _ndoki_ that was killing him. All night long they had
been drumming, shouting, beating gongs, and parading about the town
calling on the evil spirit to desist, but without avail, for the chief
was now dying, and Satu had only just arrived in time to receive his
brother’s last wishes about his property and the names of those who owed
him money, and slaves.
All the goods brought from the coast were piled in the chief’s house so
that he might gloat with dying eyes on his increased wealth, and curse
in strong, passionate language the _ndoki_ who was causing his death.
From my fortunate spy-hole I could with ease view the weird scene. It
was a small hut built of grass and sticks tied neatly and securely
together. There were two doors, but no windows, and the smoke escaped as
best it could through crevices in the walls and roof.
In the far corner, lighted by the flickering flame of the wood fire, was
the chief, lying on a bamboo bed covered with a papyrus mat, and
squatting on the floor were numerous women--the hut was crowded with
them--loudly talking, and freely giving their advice on the best way of
curing the patient. Some suggested one particular charm, others argued
in favour of certain rites and ceremonies; but all were angry with the
witch (_ndoki_) who was regarded as the cause of all the mischief; and
they were unanimous in their demand that the witch should be discovered,
tried by the ordeal, and killed.
In the early hours of the morning the chief died. The female members of
his family, old and young, set up a howl of rage and grief--rage because
the witch had killed their chief, grief because their relative was dead.
The men fired off their guns to frighten away evil spirits, to give
expression to their sorrow, and to inform the spirits in the great,
mysterious forest town, whence all the souls of the dead go, that a
great man was coming to join them.
Upon Satu rested the responsibility of the funeral, and every detail had
to be scrupulously observed, or the spirit of the deceased would trouble
them as a family, and perhaps cause their extinction.