ORNAMENTS WORN BY KAFFIR MEN -- BEADS, BUTTONS, AND STRINGS --
FASHIONABLE COLORS OF BEADS -- GOOD TASTE OF THE KAFFIRS -- CAPRICES
OF FASHION -- GOZA’S YOUNG WARRIORS -- CURIOUS BEAD ORNAMENT -- A
SEMI-NECKLACE -- A BEAD BRACELET, AND MODE OF CONSTRUCTION -- A
CHEAP NECKLACE -- TWO REMARKABLE NECKLACES -- ORNAMENTS MADE OF
LEATHERN THONGS -- OX-TAILS USED AS ORNAMENTS, AND INDICATIONS OF
THE WEALTH OF THEIR OWNER -- THE SKULL USED FOR A SIMILAR PURPOSE --
A YOUNG KAFFIR IN FULL DRESS -- CURIOUS DECORATIONS OF THE HEAD --
THE ISSIKOKO, OR HEAD-RING -- KAFFIR CHIVALRY -- PICTURESQUE ASPECT
OF THE KAFFIR -- THE EYE AND THE NOSTRIL -- THE KAFFIR PERFUME, AND
ITS TENACITY -- CLEANLY HABITS OF THE KAFFIR -- CONDITIONS ALTER
CIRCUMSTANCES -- ANOTHER METHOD OF DRESSING SKINS -- THE BLANKET
AND THE KAROSS -- ARMLETS, ANKLETS, AND BRACELETS -- A SIMPLE GRASS
BRACELET -- IVORY ARMLETS, AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION -- BEAD ARMLETS
-- METALLIC ARMLETS -- AN ANCIENT ROYAL ARMLET OF BRASS -- IRON
ARMLETS -- A NEW METAL -- ITS ADOPTION BY THE CHIEFS -- SINGULAR
SUPERSTITION, AND ABANDONMENT OF THE METAL -- DEATH OF THE DISCOVERER.
As to the ornaments which a Kaffir man wears, they may be summed up
in three words--beads, buttons, and strings, all three being often
employed in the manufacture of one ornament. All the beads come from
Europe, and there is as much fashion in them as in jewelry among
civilized nations. The Kaffirs will have nothing to do with beads
that do not form a good contrast with the dark skin of the wearer, so
that beads which would be thought valuable, even in England, would be
utterly contemned by the poorest Kaffir. Dark blue, for example, are
extremely unfashionable, while light azure blue are in great favor.
Those beads which contain white and red are the most valued; and if it
were possible to make beads which would have the dazzling whiteness of
snow, or the fiery hue of the scarlet verbena, almost any price might
be obtained for them in Kaffirland.
The capriciousness of fashion is quite as great among the Kaffirs as
among Europeans, and the bead trade is, therefore, very precarious,
beads which would have been purchased at a very high price one year
being scarcely worth their freight in the next. Still, there is one
rule which may always guide those who take beads as a medium of
barter among savages. The beads should always contrast boldly with
the color of the skin. Now, the average color of a Kaffir is a very
dark chocolate; and if the intended trader among these tribes wishes
to make a successful speculation, he cannot do better than have a lay
figure painted of a Kaffir’s color, and try the effect of the beads
upon the image. Beads cannot be too brilliant for a savage, and almost
any small articles which will take a high polish and flash well in the
sunshine will find a market.
Having procured his beads, either by exchange of goods or by labor,
the Kaffir proceeds to adorn himself with them. In a photograph before
me, representing a group of young warriors belonging to Goza’s army,
three of the men have round their necks strings of beads which must
weigh several pounds, while another has a broad belt of beads passing
over the shoulder just like the sash of a light infantry officer. The
ordinary mode of wearing them is in strings round the neck, but a
Kaffir of ingenuity devises various other fashions. If he has some very
large and very white beads, he will tie them round his forehead, just
over his eyebrows, allowing some of them to dangle over his nose, and
others on either side of the eyes. In “Kaffir ornaments” on page 33,
fig. 1, is shown a sash somewhat similar to that which has just been
mentioned, though it is not made wholly of beads. Its groundwork is a
vast number of small strings laid side by side, and bound at intervals
by bands of different colored beads, those toward the ends being white,
and the others scarlet, pink, or green. Its length is about eight
feet. A small portion is given on an enlarged scale, to show the mode
of structure. The other articles belong to female costume, and will be
described presently.
The group of ornaments illustrated upon page 33 is very interesting,
and is taken from specimens kindly lent me by the late H. Jackson,
Esq. The round article with dark centre (fig. 3) is the first which we
will notice. In form it resembles a hollow cone, or rather a Malay’s
hat, and is made of leather, ingeniously moulded and sewed while wet,
and then kept in its shape until dry. The whole of the interior is so
thickly covered with beads that the leather is quite concealed. The
beads in the centre are red, and the others are white. This ornament
is worn on the breast, and to all appearance must be a very awkward
article of decoration. If the _outside_ had been covered with beads,
it is easy to understand that it would have rested very comfortably on
the breast with its bead-covered apex projecting like a huge sugar-loaf
button. But, as the peak has to rest on the breast, the ornament must
sway about in a most uncomfortable manner.
The ornament at the bottom of the illustration is a semi-necklace, much
in request among the Kaffirs. A string is fastened to each upper corner
and then tied behind the neck, so that none of the beads are wasted
upon a back view of the person. The groundwork of this semi-necklace is
white, and the marks upon it are differently colored. Some of them are
red in the interior and edged with yellow, while in others these colors
are reversed. A narrow line of scarlet beads runs along the lower edge.
The necklace is formed of a sort of network, of which the meshes are
beads, so that as it is moved by the action of the body, the light
shines through the interstices, and has a very pretty effect.
A bracelet, also made of beads, is shown in the same illustration at
fig. 2. The beads are strung on threads, and then twisted together
so as to form a loose rope, very similar in construction to the rope
ring used so much by sailors, and known technically as a “grummet.”
The strings of beads are variously colored, and are arranged with
considerable taste, so that when they are twisted together the general
effect is very good.
There is a more common kind of beads which are called “chalk-white.”
Their only value is that they contrast well with the dark skin of the
wearer. Still, there are many young men who would be only too glad to
have even so simple a set of beads, for beads are money in Kaffirland,
and are not to be obtained without labor. However, ornament of some
kind the young men will have, and if they cannot obtain beads they will
wear some other ornament as a succedaneum for them.
One of these very simple necklaces is in my collection. It consists
merely of nuts, which the wearer could have for the picking. A hole
is bored through each nut, just above the smaller end, so that they
fit closely together, and stand boldly out, without showing the string
on which they are threaded. So closely do they lie that, although
the necklace is only just large enough to be passed over the head,
it contains more than a hundred nuts. The two necklaces which are
represented at the foot of the 39th page, have been selected because
they show how the native artist has first made a necklace of beads and
teeth, and has then imitated it in metal. No. 1 represents a bracelet
that is entirely made of beads and teeth. First, the maker has prepared
six or seven very fine leathern thongs, and has strung upon them black
glass beads of rather a small size. When he has formed rows of about an
inch and a half in length, he has placed in each string a single bead
of a much larger size, and being white in color, spotted with bright
blue. Another inch and a half of black beads follow, and then come the
teeth. These are the canine teeth of the leopard and other felidæ,
and are arranged in groups varying from three to five in number. A
tolerably large hole is bored through the base of each, and all the
strings are passed through them. The maker then goes on with the black
beads, then with the white, then with the teeth, and so on, until his
materials are exhausted, and the necklace finished.
The necklace No. 2 is of a far more ambitious character, and, whether
or not it has been made by the same artificer, it shows that the same
principle has been carried out. The former ornament belonged to a
man who had been skilful as a hunter, and who wore the teeth of the
slaughtered leopards as trophies of his valor and success. He would
also wear the skins, and lose no opportunity of showing what he had
done. But we will suppose that a Kaffir, who has some notion of working
in metal, saw the bracelet, and that he was fired with a desire to
possess one of a similar character. Leopards’ teeth he could not, of
course, possess without killing the animal for himself, because no one
who has achieved such a feat would sell to another the trophies of his
own prowess. So he has tried to imitate the coveted ornament as well
as he could; and though he might not possess either the skill or the
courage of the hunter, he could, at all events, make a necklace which
would resemble in shape that of his companion, be very much more showy,
and possess a considerable intrinsic value.
So he set up his forge, and, in a manner which will be described in
a future page, made his own bronze, brass, or bell-metal, and cast
a number of little cylinders. These he beat into shape with his
primitive hammer, and formed them into very tolerable imitations
of leopards’ teeth. Being now furnished with the material for his
necklace, he began to put it together. First, he strung rows of
chalk-white beads, and then a brass tooth. Next to the tooth comes a
large transparent glass bead, of ruby-red, decorated with white spots.
Then comes a tooth, then more beads, and so on, until the ornament has
been completed. In order to give the necklace an air of reality, he cut
a piece of bone so as to look like a very large tooth, and strung it in
the centre of the ornament, so as to fall on his chest.
This is really a handsome piece of workmanship, and when in use must
have a very excellent effect. The colors are selected with remarkable
taste, as nothing can look better on a dark skin than white and ruby.
Moreover, the metal teeth are burnished so as to glisten brilliantly
in the sun, and will dazzle the eye at the distance of some feet. Both
these necklaces are drawn from specimens in the collection of Colonel
Lane Fox.
It is a remarkable fact that good taste in color, if not in material,
seems to be inherent in the race, despite the very small amount of
clothes which either sex wears. When they become partially civilized,
especially if they owe any allegiance to missionaries, they assume
some portion of ordinary European costume. The men, whose wardrobe
is generally limited to a shirt and trousers, have little scope for
taste in dress; but the women always contrive to develop this faculty.
Whether in the gay colors of the gowns which they wear, or whether in
the more sober hue of the handkerchief which they invariably tie round
their heads, they always manage to hit upon a combination of colors
which harmonize with their complexions.
Perhaps it is fortunate that such should be the case, for the
assumption of European costume is, artistically speaking, anything but
an improvement in the appearance of a Kaffir, or, indeed, of any wearer
of a dark skin; and it is a curious fact, that the better the clothes,
the worse do they look. A young Kaffir, wearing nothing but his few
tufts of fur, moves with a free and upright gait, and looks like one of
nature’s noblemen. But the moment that he puts on the costume adopted
in civilized Europe, he loses every vestige of dignity, and even his
very gait is altered for the worse.
The metropolitan reader can easily witness such a metamorphosis by
visiting the Hammâm, or any similar establishment, where dark-skinned
attendants are employed. While engaged in their ordinary vocation,
clad with nothing but a cloth round their loins, they look just like
ancient statues endued with life, and it is impossible to avoid
admiring the graceful dignity of their gestures, as they move silently
about the room. But when any of them leave the room, and put on the
ordinary dress, the change is complete and disappointing, and it is
hardly possible to believe the identity of such apparently different
individuals. In the time long passed away, when Scotland was still
contesting with England, the statesmen of the latter country showed
no small knowledge of human nature when they forbade the use of the
Highland dress, and forced the Highlanders to abandon the picturesque
costume which seems to harmonize so well with the wild hills of their
native land. A Highlander in his kilt and tartan was not the same man
when in the costume of the Lowlander, and it was impossible for him
to feel the same pride in himself as when he wore the garb of the
mountaineer and the colors of his clan.
Many of the young men who cannot afford beads make bracelets,
necklaces, armlets, and anklets from the skins of animals. After
cutting the skin into strips, they twist the strips spirally, so as to
convert them into hollow ropes, having all the hair on the outside.
When made of prettily colored skins, these curious ornaments have a
very good, though barbaric effect. (See page 49.) By cutting the strips
spirally, almost any length can be obtained; and the consequence is,
that the young men sometimes appear with their bodies, legs, and arms
covered with these furry ropes.
Another kind of ornament of which the Kaffir is very fond is the tufted
tail of an ox. A man of consequence will sometimes wear a considerable
number of these tails. Some he will form into an apron, and others will
be disposed about his person in the quaintest possible style. He will
tie one under each knee, so as to bring it on the shin bone. Others he
will fix to leathern loops, and hang them loosely on his arms, like the
curious bracelet worn by Jung Bahadoor when in England. Some he will
divide into a multitude of strips, and sew them together so as to make
fringed belts, which he will tie round his waist, or with which he will
encircle the upper arms. Others, again, will be attached to his ankles,
and a man thus decorated is contemplated enviously by those not so
fortunate.
[Illustration: BRACELETS. (See page 52.)]
[Illustration: APRON OF CHIEF’S WIFE. (See page 51.)]
[Illustration: IVORY ARMLETS. (See page 46.)]
[Illustration: NECKLACES--BEADS AND TEETH. (See page 37.)]
The very fact of possessing such ornaments shows that the wearer must
be a rich man, and have slaughtered his own cattle. It is hardly
possible to obtain cow tails in any other method; for the owner of a
slain cow is sure to keep the tail for himself, and will not give so
valuable an ornament to another. For the same reason, when the cow has
been eaten up, its owner fastens the skull on the outside of his hut.
Every one who passes within sight can then see that a rich man lives in
that dwelling. Even when the tails are sold to Europeans, an absurdly
high price is asked for them. One of these arm-tufts is now before me.
The skin has been stripped from the tail, leaving a thong of eighteen
inches in length above the tuft of hair. This thong has then been
cut into three strips of half an inch in width, and the strips have
been rolled up spirally, as already described. As the slit is carried
to the very end of the tail, the tuft is spread open, and therefore
looks twice as large as would have been the case had it been left
untouched. Each of these tufts representing a cow, it is evident that
the possession of them shows that the owner must be wealthy enough,
not only to possess cows, but to have so many that he could afford to
slaughter them.
An illustration on page 43 represents a Kaffir who is both young and
rich, and who has put on his dress of ceremony for the purpose of
paying a visit. Under such circumstances, a Kaffir will exercise the
greatest care in selecting ornaments, and occupy hours in putting them
on to the best advantage. Among the furs used by the Kaffir for this
purpose is that of the Angora goat, its long soft hair working up
admirably into fringes and similar ornaments. Feathers of different
birds are worked into the head dress, and the rarer the bird and
the more brilliant the color the better is the wearer pleased. One
decoration which is sometimes worn on the head is a globular tuft,
several inches in diameter, formed from the feathers of a species of
roller. The lovely plumage of the bird, with its changeful hues of
green and blue, is exactly adapted for the purpose: and in some cases
two of these tufts will be worn, one on the forehead and the other
on the back of the head. Eagles’ feathers are much used among the
Kaffirs, as, in spite of their comparatively plain coloring, their firm
and graceful shape enables the wearer to form them into very elegant
head dresses. Ostrich feathers are also used for the purpose, as are
the richly colored plumes of the lory; but the great ambition of a
Kaffir beau is to procure some feathers of the peacock, of which he is
amazingly vain.
On such occasions the Kaffir will wear much more dress than usual; and,
in addition to the quantity of beads which he contrives to dispose upon
his person, he ties so many tufts and tails round his waist that he may
almost be said to wear a kilt. He will carry his shield and bundle of
spears with him, but will not take the latter weapons into the host’s
house, either exchanging them for imitative spears of wood, or taking a
simple knobbed stick. Some sort of a weapon he must have in his hand,
or he would feel himself quite out of his element.
When the “boy” has at last obtained the chief’s permission to enter
the honored class of “men,” he prepares himself with much ceremony for
the change of costume which indicates his rank. The change does not
consist so much in addition as in subtraction, and is confined to the
head. All unmarried men wear the whole of their hair, and sometimes
indulge their vanity in dressing it in various modes; such as drawing
it out to its fullest extent, and stiffening it with grease and shining
powders, so that it looks something like the wigs which bishops used to
wear, but which have been judiciously abandoned. If particular pains
are taken with the hair, and it happens to be rather longer than usual,
the effect is very remarkable. I have a photographic portrait of a
young Zulu warrior, whose hair is so bushy and frizzled that it might
be taken for that of a Figian; and as in his endeavors to preserve
himself in a perfectly motionless attitude, he has clenched his teeth
tightly and opened his eyes very wide, he looks exactly as if all his
hair were standing on end with astonishment.
Proud, however, as he may be, as a “boy,” of his hair, he is still
prouder when he has the permission of his chief to cut it off, and at
once repairs to a friend who will act as hairdresser. The friend in
question takes his best assagai, puts a fine edge upon it, furnishes
himself with a supply of gum, sinews, charcoal powder, and oil, and
addresses himself to his task. His first care is to make an oval ring
of the sinews, about half an inch in thickness, and then to fit it on
the head. The hair is then firmly woven into it, and fixed with the
gum and charcoal, until the hair and ring seem as if they were one
substance. Oil or grease is next liberally applied, until the circlet
shines like a patent leather boot, and the ring is then complete.
The officiating friend next takes his assagai, and shaves the whole
of the head, outside and inside the ring, so as to leave it the sole
decoration of his bald head.
The ring, or “issikoko,” is useful for several purposes. It answers
admirably to hold feathers firmly, when the courtier decorates his head
for ceremony, or the soldier for war. It serves also more peaceful
uses, being the usual place where the snuff spoon is worn. This mode of
dressing the hair has its inconvenience, for the ring continually needs
to be repaired and kept in order. As to the “issikoko” itself, it is
too hard to be easily damaged; but as the hair grows it is raised above
the head, and, when neglected for some time, will rise to a height of
two inches or so. Moreover, the shaven parts of the head soon regain
their covering, and need again to be submitted to the primitive razor.
No man would venture to appear before his chief with the head unshaven,
or with the ring standing above it; for if he did so, his life would
probably answer for his want of respect.
The reverence with which a Kaffir regards the “issikoko” is equal to
that which an Oriental entertains for his beard. Mr. Moffatt mentions
a curious illustration of this fact. A warrior of rank, an “Induna,”
or petty chief, was brought before the king, the dreaded Moselekate,
charged with an offence the punishment of which was death. He was
conducted to the king, deprived of his spear and shield. “He bowed
his fine elastic figure, and kneeled before the judge. The case was
investigated silently, which gave solemnity to the scene. Not a whisper
was heard among the listening audience, and the voices of the council
were only audible to each other and to the nearest spectators. The
prisoner, though on his knees, had something dignified and noble in his
mien. Not a muscle of his countenance moved, but a bright black eye
indicated a feeling of intense interest, which the swerving balance
between life and death only could produce. The case required little
investigation; the charges were clearly substantiated, and the culprit
pleaded guilty. But, alas! he knew that it was at a bar where none
ever heard the heart reviving sound of pardon, even for offences small
compared with his. A pause ensued, during which the silence of death
pervaded the assembly.
“At length the monarch spoke, and, addressing the prisoner, said: ‘You
are a dead man; but I shall do to-day what I never did before. I spare
your life, for the sake of my friend and father,’ pointing to where I
stood. ‘I know that his heart weeps at the shedding of blood; for his
sake I spare your life. He has travelled from a far country to see me,
and he has made my heart white; but he tells me that to take away life
is an awful thing, and never can be undone again. He has pleaded with
me not to go to war, nor to destroy life. I wish him, when he returns
to his own home again, to return with a heart as white as he has made
mine. I spare you for his sake; for I love him and he has saved the
lives of my people. But,’ continued the king, ‘you must be degraded
for life; you must no more associate with the nobles of the land, nor
enter the towns of the princes of the people, nor ever again mingle
in the dance of the mighty. Go to the poor of the field, and let your
companions be the inhabitants of the desert.’
“The sentence passed, the pardoned man was expected to bow in grateful
adoration to him whom he was wont to look upon and exalt in songs
applicable only to One, to whom belongs universal sway and the
destinies of man. But no! Holding his hands clasped on his bosom, he
replied: ‘O king, afflict not my heart! I have incited thy displeasure:
let me be slain like the warrior. I cannot live with the poor.’ And,
raising his hand to the ring he wore on his brow, he continued: ‘How
can I live among the dogs of the king, and disgrace these badges of
honor which I won among the spears and shields of the mighty? No; I
cannot live! Let me die, O Pezoolu!’ His request was granted, and his
hands tied erect over his head. Now my exertions to save his life were
vain. He disdained the boon on the conditions offered, preferring to
die with the honors he had won at the point of the spear--honors which
even the act which condemned him did not tarnish--to exile and poverty
among the children of the desert. He was led forth, a man walking on
each side. My eye followed him until he reached the top of a high
precipice, over which he was precipitated into the deep part of the
river beneath, where the crocodiles, accustomed to such meals, were
yawning to devour him ere he could reach the bottom.”
The word “issikoko,” by which the Kaffir denominates the head-ring,
is scarcely to be pronounced, not by European lips, but by European
palates; for each letter _k_ is preceded, or rather accompanied, by a
curious clucking sound, produced by the back of the tongue and the roof
of the mouth. There are three of these “clicks,” as they are called,
and they will be more particularly described when we come to the
subject of Kaffir language.
Under nearly all circumstances a Kaffir presents a singularly
picturesque figure--except, perhaps, when squatting on the ground
with his knees up to his chin--and nothing can be more grateful to an
artistic eye than the aspect of a number of these splendid savages in
the full panoply of all their barbaric magnificence. Their proud and
noble port, their dusky bodies set off with beads and other brilliant
ornaments, and the uncommon grace and agility that they display when
going through the fierce mimicry of a fight which constitutes their
war dances, are a delight to the eye of an artist. Unfortunately, his
nose is affected in a different manner. The Kaffirs of all ages and
both sexes will persist in copiously anointing themselves with grease.
Almost any sort of grease would soon become rancid in that country;
but, as the Kaffirs are not at all particular about the sort of grease
which they use, provided that it _is_ grease, they exhale a very
powerful and very disagreeable odor. Kaffirs are charming savages, but
it is always as well to keep to the windward of them, at all events
until the nostrils have become accustomed to their odor. This peculiar
scent is as adhesive as it is powerful, and, even after a Kaffir has
laid aside his dress, any article of it will be nearly as strongly
scented as the owner. Some time ago, while I was looking over a very
fine collection of savage implements and dress, some articles of
apparel were exhibited labelled with tickets that could not possibly
have belonged to them. The owner said that he suspected them to be
African, and asked my opinion, which was unhesitatingly given, the odor
having betrayed their real country as soon as they were brought within
range of scent.
[Illustration: (1.) YOUNG KAFFIR IN FULL DRESS. (See page 41.)]
[Illustration: (2.) GIRL IN DANCING DRESS. (See page 53.)]
A few years ago, I assisted in opening a series of boxes and barrels
full of objects from Kaffirland. We took the precaution of opening the
cases in the garden, and, even in the open air, the task of emptying
them was almost too much for our unaccustomed senses. All the objects
were genuine specimens, not merely made for sale, as is so often the
case, but purchased from the wearers, and carefully put away. The owner
of the collection was rather humorous on the subject, congratulating
us on our preparation for a visit to Kaffirland, and telling us that,
if either of us wished to form a good idea of the atmosphere which
prevailed in a Kaffir hut with plenty of company, all we had to do
was to get into the empty cask, sit at the bottom of it, and put the
lid on. Several of the articles of clothing were transferred to my
collection, but for some time they could not be introduced into the
room. Even after repeated washings, and hanging out in the garden,
and drenching with deodorizing fluid, they retained so much of their
peculiar scent that they were subjected to another course, which
proved more successful,--namely, a thorough washing, then drying, then
exposure to a strong heat, and then drying in the open air.
This extremely powerful odor is a considerable drawback to an European
hunter when accompanied by Kaffir assistants. They are invaluable as
trackers; their eyes seem to possess telescopic powers; their ears
are open to sounds which their white companion is quite incapable of
perceiving, and their olfactory nerves are sensitive to any odor except
that which themselves so powerfully exhale. But the wild animals are
even more sensitive to odors than their dusky pursuers, and it is
popularly said that an elephant to leeward can smell a Kaffir at the
distance of a mile. All are alike in this respect, the king and his
meanest subject being imbrued with the same unctuous substance; and
the only difference is, that the king can afford more grease, and is
therefore likely to be more odoriferous, than his subject.
Yet the Kaffir is by no means an uncleanly person, and in many points
is so particularly clean that he looks down with contempt upon an
European as an ill-bred man. The very liberal anointing of the person
with grease is a custom which would be simply abominable in our
climate, and with our mode of dress, but which is almost a necessity
in a climate like that of Southern Africa, where the natives expose
nearly the whole of their bodies to the burning sunbeams. Even in the
more northern parts of Africa the custom prevails, and Englishmen who
have resided there for a series of years have found their health much
improved by following the example of the natives. In England, for
example, nothing could be more absurd than to complete the morning’s
toilet by putting on the head a large lump of butter, but in Abyssinia
no native of fashion thinks himself fully dressed until he has thus put
the finishing touch to his costume. Setting aside the different effects
of the sun upon a black skin and a white one, as long as European
residents in Southern Africa are able to wear their cool and light
garments, so long can they dispense with grease. But, if they were
suddenly deprived of their linen or cotton garments, and obliged to
clothe themselves after the fashion of the Kaffirs, it is likely that,
before many weeks had elapsed, they would be only too glad to resort
to a custom which has been taught to the natives by the experience of
centuries. Had not the practice of greasing the body been productive of
good, their strong common sense would long ago have induced the Kaffirs
to dispense with it.
In this, as in all other matters, we must not judge others by
supposing them to be under similar conditions with ourselves. Our
only hope of arriving at a true and unbiassed judgment is by mentally
placing ourselves in the same conditions as those of whom we are
treating, and forming our conclusions accordingly. The knowledge of
this simple principle is the key to the singular success enjoyed by
some schoolmasters, while others, who may far surpass them in mere
scholarship, have failed to earn for themselves either the respect or
the love of their pupils.
Men, as well as women, generally possess cloaks made of the skins of
animals, and called karosses. Almost any animal will serve for the
purpose of the kaross maker, who has a method of rendering perfectly
supple the most stiff and stubborn of hides. The process of preparing
the hide is very simple. The skin is fastened to the ground by a vast
number of pegs around its edges, so as to prevent it from shrinking
unequally, the hairy side being next to the ground. A leopard skin thus
pegged to the ground may be seen by reference to the illustration of a
Kaffir hut, on page 155. The artist, however, has committed a slight
error in the sketch, having drawn the skin as if the hairy side were
upward. The Kaffir always pegs a skin with the hairy side downward,
partly because the still wet hide would adhere to the ground, and
partly because he wishes to be able to manipulate the skin before it is
dry. This plan of pegging down the skin is spread over the whole world;
and, whether in Europe, Africa, Asia, America, or Australia, the first
process of hide dressing is almost exactly the same. The subsequent
processes vary greatly in different quarters of the globe, and even
in different parts of the same country, as we shall see in subsequent
pages.
The frontier Kaffirs, and indeed all those who can have communication
with Europeans, have learned the value of blankets, and will mostly
wear a good blanket in preference to the best kaross. But to the
older warriors, or in those places to which European traders do not
penetrate, the skin kaross still retains its value. The ox is the
animal that most generally supplies the kaross maker with skin, because
it is so large that the native need not take much trouble in sewing.
Still, even the smaller animals are in great request for the purpose,
and the karosses made from them are, to European eyes, far handsomer
than those made from single skins. Of course, the most valued by the
natives are those which are made from the skins of the predaceous
animals, a kaross made of lion-skin being scarcely ever seen except on
the person of sable royalty. The leopard skin is highly valued, and the
fortunate and valiant slayer of several leopards is sure to make their
skins into a kaross and their tails into an apron, both garments being
too precious to be worn except on occasions of ceremony.
As to the various adornments of feathers, strange head dresses, and
other decorations with which the Kaffir soldier loves to bedeck
himself, we shall find them described in the chapter relating to
Kaffir warfare. There is, however, one class of ornaments that must be
briefly mentioned; namely, the rings of different material which the
Kaffirs place on their wrists, arms, and ankles. These are sometimes
made of ivory, often of metal, sometimes of hide, sometimes of beads,
and sometimes of grass. This last mentioned bracelet is perhaps the
simplest of them all.
Men who have been fortunate enough to kill an elephant, and rich enough
to be able to use part of the tusks for their own purposes, generally
cut off a foot or so from the base of each tusk for the purpose of
making armlets, at once trophies of their valor and proofs of their
wealth. The reader is perhaps aware that the tusk of an elephant,
though hard and solid at the point, is soft at the base, and has only
a mere shell of hard ivory, the interior being filled with the soft
vascular substance by which the tusk is continually lengthened and
enlarged. Indeed, the true ivory is only found in that portion of the
tusk which projects from the head; the remainder, which is deeply
imbedded in the skull, being made of soft substance inclosed in a shell
of ivory.
It is easy enough, therefore, for the Kaffir hunter to cut off a
portion of the base of the tusk, and to remove the soft vascular
substance which fills it, leaving a tube of ivory, very thin and
irregular at the extreme base, and becoming thicker toward the point.
His next business is, to cut this tube into several pieces, so as to
make rings of ivory, some two or three inches in width, and differing
much in the thickness of material. Those which are made from the base
of the tusk, and which have therefore a large diameter and no great
thickness, are carefully polished, and placed on the arm above the
elbow, while those of smaller diameter and thicker substance are merely
slipped over the hand and worn as bracelets. There is now before me a
photographic portrait of a son of the celebrated chief Macomo, who is
wearing two of these ivory rings, one on the left arm and the other on
the wrist. A necklace, composed of leopard’s teeth and claws, aids in
attesting his skill as a hunter, and for the rest of his apparel the
less said the better.
A pair of these armlets is shown in the illustration on page 39. They
are sketched from specimens in the collection of Colonel Lane Fox.
The first of them is very simple. It consists merely of a piece, some
two inches in width, cut from the base of an elephant’s tusk, and
moderately polished. There is no attempt at ornament about it.
The second specimen is an example of much more elaborate construction.
It is cut from the more solid portion of the tusk, and weighs very much
more than its companion armlet. Instead of being of uniform thickness
throughout, it is shaped something like a quoit, or rather like a pair
of quoits, with their flat sides placed together. The hole through
which the arm passes is nicely rounded, and very smoothly polished,
the latter circumstance being probably due to the friction of the
wearer’s arm. It is ornamented by a double row of holes made around the
aperture. The ivory is polished by means of a wet cord held at both
ends, and drawn briskly backward and forward.
If the reader will refer to page 33, he will see that by the side of
the conical breast ornament which has already been described there
is a bracelet of beads. This is made of several strings of beads,
white predominating, and red taking the next place. The bead strings
are first laid side by side, and then twisted spirally into a loose
kind of rope, a plan which brings out their colors very effectively.
Metal is sometimes used for the same purpose, but not so frequently
as the materials which have been mentioned. Mr. Grout mentions a
curious specimen of one of these ornaments, which was made of brass.
“I have a rare antique of this kind before me, a royal armlet of early
days, of the Zulu country. It is said to have been made in the time
of Senzangakona, and to have descended from him to Tchaka, thence to
Dingan, thence to Umpande (Panda), who gave it to one of his chief
captains, who, obliged to leave Zululand by Kechwayo’s uprising,
brought it with him and sold it to me. It is made of brass, weighs
about two pounds, and bears a good many marks of the smith’s attempt at
the curious and the clever.”
Brass and iron wire is frequently used for the manufacture of armlets,
and tolerably heavy ornaments are sometimes found of the latter metal.
Some years ago, a curious circumstance occurred with regard to these
metallic armlets. A shining metallic powder was one day discovered, and
was found capable of being smelted like iron, and made into ornaments.
The chiefs were so pleased with this metal, which was more glittering
than iron, that they reserved it for themselves, and gave away their
iron ornaments to their followers. Some little time afterward, a
contagious disease spread through the country, and several chiefs died.
Of course the calamity was attributed to witchcraft, as is every death
or illness among the Kaffir chiefs, and the business of discovering the
offender was intrusted, as usual, to the witch doctors, a strange class
of men, who will be fully described in a future page. After making a
number of ineffectual guesses, they came to the conclusion that the
cause of the disease lay in the new-fangled metal, which had superseded
the good old iron of the past. In consequence of this verdict, the
unfortunate man who discovered the metal was put to death as an
accessory, the chiefs resumed their iron ornaments, and the king issued
an edict forbidding the use of the metal which had done so much harm.