RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION--_Continued_.
DUTIES OF THE PROPHET -- A PROPHET AND HIS CLIENTS -- PROBABLE
RESULT OF THE INQUIRY -- A KAFFIR’S RELIEF IN CHARMS -- CHARM-STICKS
AND THEIR VARIOUS PROPERTIES -- COURAGE AND THUNDER CHARMS -- A
SOUTH AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM -- LOVE, LION, AND FATIGUE CHARMS -- THE
KAFFIR CATTLE DOCTOR -- ILLNESS OF A CHIEF -- THE WIZARD SUMMONED
-- SMELLING THE WIZARD -- A TERRIBLE SCENE -- KONA’S ILLNESS AND
ITS RESULTS -- A FEMALE PROPHET AND HER PROCEEDINGS -- INGENIOUS
MODE OF EXTORTION -- THE IMPOSTURE DETECTED -- HEREDITARY CHARACTER
OF PROPHECY -- A PROPHETESS AT HOME -- DEMEANOR OF FEMALE PROPHETS
-- SURGERY AND MEDICINE -- A PRIMITIVE MODE OF CUPPING -- A FALSE
PROPHET AND HIS FATE -- A SINGULAR SUPERSTITION -- KAFFIR VAMPIRES --
THE NIGHT CRY -- PROCURING EVIDENCE.
The object for which the Kaffir prophet is generally consulted is the
discovery of witchcraft. Now, the reader must understand that the
belief in witchcraft is universal throughout Africa, and in no part
of that continent is it so strong as in Kaffirland. There is scarcely
an ill that can befall mankind which is not believed to be caused by
witchcraft, and, consequently, the prophet has to find out the author
of the evil. The most harmless discovery that he can make is, that the
charm has not been wrought by any individual, but has been the work of
offended spirits. All illness, for example, is thought to be caused by
the spirits of the departed, either because they are offended with the
sufferer, or because they have been worked upon by some necromancer.
Mr. Shooter has so well described the course of proceeding in such a
case that his own words must be given:--
“When people consult a prophet, they do not tell him on what subject
they wish to be enlightened. He is supposed to be acquainted with their
thoughts, and they merely intimate that they wish to have the benefit
of his knowledge. Probably he will ‘take time to consider,’ and not
give his responses at once. Two young men visiting him, in consequence
of their brother’s illness, found the prophet squatting by his hut, and
saluted him. He then invited them to sit down, and, retiring outside
the kraal, squatted near the gate, to take snuff and meditate. This
done to his satisfaction, he sends a boy to call the visitors into his
presence; when they immediately join him, and squat.
“The prophet asks for his ‘assagai’--a figurative expression for his
fee--when the applicants reply that they have nothing to give at
present; after a while, they will seek something to pay him with.
‘No,’ answers the prophet, not disposed to give credit; ‘you want to
cheat me--everybody tries to do so now. Why don’t you give me two
shillings?’ They offer him a small assagai; but he is not satisfied
with the weapon, and, pointing to a larger one, says, ‘_That_ is mine.’
The man who had brought this excuses himself by saying that it does
not belong to him; but the prophet persists, and it is given. Having
no hope of extorting a larger fee, the prophet says, ‘Beat and hear,
my people.’ Each of the applicants snaps his fingers, and replies, ‘I
hear.’ The beating is sometimes, and perhaps more regularly, performed
by beating the ground with sticks. The prophet now pretends to have a
vision, indistinct at first, but becoming eventually clearer, until he
sees the actual thing which has occurred. This vision he professes to
describe as it appears to him. We may imagine him saying, for instance,
‘A cow is sick--no, I see a man; a man has been hurt.’ While he runs on
in this way, the applicants reply to every assertion by beating, as at
first, and saying, ‘I hear.’ They carefully abstain from saying whether
he is right or wrong; but when he approaches the truth, the simple
creatures testify their joy by beating and replying with increased
vigor.
“The prophet’s simulated vision is not a series of guesses, in which
he may possibly hit upon the truth, but a systematic enumeration of
particulars, in which he can scarcely miss it. Thus, he may begin by
saying that the thing which the applicants wish to know relates to
some animal with hair, and, going through each division of that class,
suggests whatever may be likely to occur to a cow, a calf, a dog. If
he find no indication that the matter relates to one of this class,
he takes another, as human beings, and proceeds through it in the
same manner. It is obvious that a tolerably clever practitioner may,
in this way, discover from the applicants whatever may have happened
to them, and send them away with a deep impression of his prophetic
abilities, especially if he have any previous knowledge of their
circumstances. The following sketch will give the reader a general idea
of the prophet’s manner of proceeding. A few particulars only, as being
sufficient for illustration, are given:--
“‘Beat and hear, my people.’
“They snap their fingers, and say, ‘I hear.’
“‘Attend, my people.’
“They beat, and say, ‘I hear.’
“‘I don’t know what you want; you want to know something about an
animal with hair. A cow is sick; what’s the matter with her? I see a
wound on her side--no; I’m wrong. A cow is lost; I see a cow in the
bush. Nay, don’t beat, my people; I’m wrong. It’s a dog; a dog has
ascended a hut.[1] Nay, that’s not it, I see now; beat vigorously; the
thing relates to people. Somebody is ill--a man is ill--he is an old
man. No; I see a woman--she has been married a year: where is she? I’m
wrong; I don’t see yet.’
[1] This, it will be remembered, is one of the evil omens which a
Kaffir fears.
“Perhaps he takes snuff, and rests a while.
“‘Beat and hear, my people. I see now; it’s a boy--beat vigorously. He
is sick. Where is he sick? Let me see--there’ (placing his hand on some
part of his own person). ‘No--beat and attend, my people--I see now.
THERE!’ (indicating the actual place). ‘Where is he? Not at his kraal;
he is working with a white man. How has he been hurt? I see him going
to the bush--he has gone to fetch wood; a piece of wood falls upon him;
he is hurt; he cannot walk. I see water; what’s the water for? They are
pouring it over him; he is fainting--he is very ill. The spirits are
angry with him--his father is angry; he wants beef. The boy received a
cow for his wages; it was a black cow. No; I see white. Where is the
white? a little on the side. The spirit wants that cow; kill it, and
the boy will recover.’”
Fortunate indeed are the spectators of the scene if the necromancer
makes such an announcement, and any one of these would be only too glad
to compound for the sacrifice of a cow, if he could be sure of escaping
accusation as a wizard. In the case of a “boy,” or even of a married
man of no great rank or wealth, such will probably be the result of the
inquiry--the prophet will get his fee, the spectators will get a feast,
and the patient may possibly get better. But when a chief is ill, the
probability is that some one will be accused of witchcraft, and if the
king is ailing such an accusation is a matter of certainty.
In the eye of a Kaffir, any one may be a witch or a wizard--both sexes
being equally liable to the impeachment--and on that subject no man
can trust his neighbor. A husband has no faith in his own wife, and
the father mistrusts his children. As a natural consequence, the faith
in charms is coextensive with the belief in witchcraft, and there is
scarcely a Kaffir who does not carry with him a whole series of charms,
each being destined to avert some particular evil. The charms are
furnished to them by the prophets, and as they never are of the least
intrinsic value, and are highly paid for, the business of a prophet
is rather a lucrative one. Anything will serve as a charm,--bits of
bone, scraps of skin, feathers, claws, teeth, roots, and bits of
wood. A Kaffir will often have a whole string of such charms hung
round his neck, and, to a European, a superstitious Kaffir has often
a very ludicrous aspect. One man, who seems to have been peculiarly
impressible to such observances, had bedecked his head with pigs’
bristles set straight, so as to stand out on all sides, like the quills
of a hedgehog, while round his neck he had strung a quantity of charms,
the principal of which were pieces of bone, the head of a snake, the
tooth of a young hippopotamus, and a _brass door-handle_. Sometimes the
charms are strung on the same thong with the beads, needles, knives,
snuff boxes, and other decorations of a Kaffir’s toilet, but generally
they are considered worthy of a string to themselves.
But the generality of charms are made of various roots and bits of
wood, which are hung round the neck, and nibbled when the wearer feels
a need of their influence. One powerful set of charms is intended for
the purpose of securing the wearer against the feeling of fear, and the
prophets have very ingeniously managed to invent a separate charm for
every kind of fear. For example, if a Kaffir has to go out at night,
and is afraid of meeting ghosts, he has recourse to his ghost-charm,
which he nibbles slightly, and then sallies out in bold defiance of the
shades below. When he has come to his journey’s end, he finds that he
has met no ghosts, and, consequently, he has unlimited faith in his
charm. If he should go into action as a soldier, he takes care to have
his enemy-charm ready for use, and just before he enters the battle
bites off a portion of the wood, masticates it thoroughly, and then
blows the fragments toward the foe, confident that he is thus taking
away from the courage of the enemy, and adding the subtracted amount to
his own. The only misgiving which disturbs his mind is, that the enemy
is doing exactly the same thing, and he cannot be quite sure that the
opposing charm may not be more potent than his own. The prophet rather
fosters than discourages this feeling, because the soldier--knowing
that, if he retreats, he will be executed as a coward--is so anxious to
possess a double share of courage that he will pay largely in order to
secure a powerful charm.
Frequently, when a soldier has been thus disgraced, his friends abuse
the prophet for furnishing so impotent a charm. His reply, however,
is always easy: “He only gave me a goat, and could only expect
goat-charms; if he wanted ox-charms, he ought to have given me a
cow, or at least a calf.” Even if an adequate fee has been paid, the
answer is equally ready--the man was a wizard, and the spirits of his
ancestors were angry with him for troubling them so much with his
conjurations.
Very few Kaffirs will venture out during the stormy season without a
thunder-charm as a preservative against lightning. This object looks
just like any other charm, and is, in fact, nothing more than a small
piece of wood or root. The Kaffir’s faith in it is unbounded, and, in
consequence of the awful severity of thunderstorms, the sale of such
charms is a very lucrative part of the prophet’s business. We can
scarcely wonder that the Kaffir has recourse to such preservatives, for
he well knows that no art of man can avail against the terrific storms
of that country. Even in our own country we often witness thunderstorms
that fill the boldest with awe, while the weaker-minded of both sexes
cower in abject fear at the crashing thunder and the vivid lightning
streaks. But the worst storm that has been known in England or the
United States is as nothing compared to the ordinary thunderstorms of
Southern Africa--storms in which the native, who has been accustomed
to them all his life, can do nothing but crouch to the ground, and lay
his hand on his mouth in silence. What an African storm can be may be
imagined from the following account by Mr. Cole:--
“Emerging after a few days from these freezing quarters, I found
myself in the plains of the Graaf-Reinet district. It was pleasant to
feel warm again, but what I gained in caloric I decidedly lost in the
picturesque: never-ending plains of burnt grass, treeless, riverless,
houseless--such were the attractions that greeted my eyes. How anything
in the vegetable or animal kingdom could exist there seemed a perfect
mystery. Yet the mystery is soon explained. I was there when there had
been a long-continued drought--one of those visitations to which these
districts are especially subject. One day the clouds began to gather,
the wind fell, the air became oppressively sultry, and all gave notice
of an approaching storm. My horses became restive and uneasy, and for
myself I felt faint and weary to excess. My after-rider looked alarmed,
for truly the heavens bore a fearful aspect. I can conceive nothing
more dismal than the deep, thick, black, impenetrable masses of clouds
that surrounded us. It might have been the entrance to the infernal
regions themselves that stood before us. Suddenly we saw a stream
of light so vivid, so intensely bright, and of such immense height
(apparently), that for a moment we were half blinded, while our horses
snorted and turned sharp round from the glare. Almost at the same
instant burst forth a peal of thunder, like the artillery of all the
universe discharged at once in our ears.
“There was no time to be lost: we struck spurs to our horses’
flanks, and galloped to a mountain side, a little way behind us,
where the quick eye of my Hottentot had observed a cave. In a few
minutes--moments rather--we were within it, but not before the storm
had burst forth in all its fury. One moment the country round us was
black as ink--the next it was a sheet of living flame, whiter than the
white heat of the furnace. One long-continued, never-ceasing roar of
thunder (not separate claps as we hear them in this country) deafened
our ears, and each moment we feared destruction; for, more than once,
huge masses of rock, detached by the lightning blast from the mountain
above us, rolled down past our cavern with the roar of an avalanche.
The Hottentot lay on his face, shutting out the sight, though he could
not escape the sound. At length the rain-spouts burst forth, and to
describe how the water deluged the earth would be impossible; suffice
it, that though we had entered the cave from the road without passing
any stream, or apparently any bed of one, when we again ventured forth
from our place of shelter, three hours later, a broad and impassable
torrent flowed between ourselves and the road, and we had to crawl
along the mountain sides on foot, with great difficulty, and in the
momentary danger of losing our footing on its slippery surface, and
being dashed into the roaring torrent, for about two miles ere we could
find a fordable spot. Two days later these plains were covered with a
lovely verdure.”
Other charms are intended for softening the heart of a girl whom a man
wants to marry, or of her father, in order to induce him to be moderate
in his demand for cows, or of the chief if he should have to prefer
a request. All these charms are exactly alike to the look, and it is
needless to say that they do not possess the least efficacy in one way
or another.
There are some charms which undoubtedly do possess some power, and
others which owe their force to the imagination of the user. The many
charms which they possess against various kinds of fear belong to this
class. For example, if a man meets a lion or a leopard, and nibbles a
little scrap of wood, it is plain that the efficiency of these charms
is wholly imaginary. In many instances this is undoubtedly the case.
If a man, meeting a lion, nibbles a little piece of lion-charm, and
the animal moves off, leaving him unmolested, his fears are certainly
allayed by the use of the charm, though his escape is due to the
natural dread of man implanted in the nature of the inferior animal,
and not to the power of the charm. In battle, too, a man who thinks
that his charms will render the enemy afraid of him is much more
likely to fight with doubled valor, and so to bring about the result
attributed to the charm. In cases of illness, too, we all know how
powerful is the healing effect of the imagination in restoration of
health.
But there are many instances where the material used as a charm
possesses medicinal properties, of which the prophet is perfectly
aware. There is, for example, one charm against weariness, the efficacy
of which clearly depends upon the properties of the material. One of my
friends, who was quite weary after a day’s hard hunting, was persuaded
by one of his Kaffir servants to eat a little of his fatigue-charm. It
was evidently made from the root of some tree, and was very bitter,
though not unpleasantly so. He tried it, simply from curiosity, and was
agreeably surprised to find that in a few minutes he felt his muscular
powers wonderfully restored, so that he was enabled to resume his feet,
and proceed briskly homeward, the extreme exhaustion having passed
away. Imagination in this case had nothing to do with the success of
the charm, and it is evident that the prophet who sold it to the Kaffir
was aware of its medicinal properties.
So deeply rooted in the Kaffir mind is the idea that all sickness
is caused by witchcraft of some kind or other, that even if cattle
are ill, their sickness is supposed to have been caused by some
supernatural power. The first course that is taken is necessarily
the propitiation of the spirits, in order that they may overrule
the machinations of the evil-doer, and preserve the cattle, which
constitute the wealth and strength of the kraal. One of the best oxen
is therefore sacrificed to them with the usual ceremonies, and, when
it is dead, the gall and contents of the stomach are scattered over the
cattle pen, and the spirits are solemnly invoked.
Here is one of these curious prayers, which was obtained from a Kaffir.
“Hail! friend! thou of this kraal, grant us a blessing, beholding what
we have done. You see this distress; remove it, since we have given you
an animal. We know not what more you want, whether you still require
anything more or not. Grant us grain that it may be abundant, that we
may eat, and not be in want of anything, since we have given you what
you want. This kraal was built by yourself, father, and now why do
you diminish your own kraal? Build on, as you have begun, let it be
larger, that your offspring, still hereabout, may increase, increasing
knowledge of you, whence cometh great power.”
The flesh of the slaughtered ox is then taken into a hut, the door is
closed, and no one is allowed to enter for a considerable time, during
which period the spirits are supposed to be eating the beef. The door
is then opened, the beef is cooked, and all who are present partake of
it. If the propitiatory sacrifice fails, a prophet of known skill is
summoned, and the herd collected in the isi-baya, or central enclosure,
in readiness against his arrival. His first proceeding is to light a
fire in the isi-baya and burn medicine upon it, taking care that the
smoke shall pass over the cattle. He next proceeds to frighten the evil
spirit out of them by a simple though remarkable proceeding. He takes a
firebrand in his hand, puts a lump of fat in his mouth, and then walks
up to one of the afflicted oxen. The animal is firmly held while he
proceeds to masticate the fat, and then to eject it on the firebrand.
The mixed fat and water make a great sputtering in the face of the ox,
which is greatly terrified, and bursts away from its tormentors.
This process is repeated upon the entire herd until they are all in a
state of furious excitement, and, as soon as they have reached that
stage, the gate of the enclosure is thrown open, and the frightened
animals dash out of it. All the inhabitants of the kraal rush after
them, the men beating their shields with their knob-kerries, the
women rattling calabashes with stones in them, and all yelling and
shouting at the top of their voices. The cattle, which are generally
treated with peculiar kindness, are quite beside themselves at such a
proceeding, and it is a considerable time before they can recover their
equanimity. This may seem to be rather a curious method of treating
the cattle disease, but, as the fee of the prophet is forfeited if the
animals are not cured, it is to be presumed that the remedy is more
efficacious than it appears to be.
When a chief of rank happens to be ill, and especially if the king
himself should be ailing, no one has the least doubt that sorcery was
the cause of the evil. And, as the chiefs are given to eating and
drinking, and smoking and sleeping, until they are so fat that they
can hardly walk, it is no wonder that they are very frequently ill. It
thus becomes the business of the prophet to find out the wizard, or
“evil-doer,” as he is called, by whom the charm was wrought.
To doubt that the illness was caused by witchcraft would be a sort of
high treason, and afford good grounds for believing that the doubter is
himself the wizard. For a Kaffir chief always chooses to think himself
above the common lot of humanity--that he is superior to others,
and that he cannot die like inferior men. It is evident, therefore,
that any ailment which may attack him must be caused by witchcraft,
and that, if the evil-doer can be detected, the spell will lose its
potency, and the sufferer be restored to health.
Charms which cause ill-health are usually roots, tufts of hair,
feathers, bits of bone, or similar objects, which have been in the
possession of the victim, or at least have been touched by him. These
are buried in some secret spot by the wizard, who mutters spells over
them, by means of which the victim droops in health in proportion as
the buried charm decays in the ground. The object of the prophet,
therefore, is twofold; first, to point out the wizard, and, secondly,
to discover the buried charms, dig them up, and reverse the spell.
The “evil-doer” is discovered by a process which is technically named
“smelling.” A large circle is formed of spectators, all of whom squat
on the ground, after the usual manner of Kaffirs. When all is ready,
the prophet clothes himself in his full official costume and proceeds
into the circle, where he is received with a great shout of welcome.
Though every one knows that before an hour has elapsed one at least
of their number will be accused of witchcraft, and though no one
knows whether he himself may not be the victim, no one dares to omit
the shout of welcome, lest he should be suspected as the wizard. The
prophet then begins to pace slowly in the circle, gradually increasing
his speed, until at last he breaks into a dance, accompanying his steps
with a measured chant. Louder and louder peals the chant, quicker and
wilder become the steps of the magic dancer, until at last the man
lashes himself into a state of insane fury, his eyes rolling, tears
streaming down his cheeks, and his chant interrupted by shrieks and
sobs, so that the spectators may well believe, as they most firmly do,
that he is possessed by the spirits of departed chiefs.
Then comes the anxious part of the ceremony. The prophet leaps in
great bounds over the arena, first rushing to one part and then to
another, inhaling his breath violently, like a dog trying to discover
a lost scent, and seeming to be attracted to or repelled from certain
individuals by a power not his own. Each Kaffir sits in trembling awe,
his heart sinking when he sees the terrible prophet coming toward him,
and his courage returning as the seer turns off in another direction.
At last the choice is made. The prophet stops suddenly opposite one
portion of the circle, and begins to sniff violently, as if trying
to discover by the sense of smell who the offender may be. The vast
assembly look on in awe-struck silence, while the prophet draws nearer
and nearer, as if he were supernaturally attracted to the object of
which he is in search. Suddenly he makes a dash forward, snatches his
wand of office out of his belt, touches the doomed man with it and runs
off. The hapless victim is instantly seized by the executioners, and
hurried off before the chief in order to be examined.
In the mean while, the prophet is followed by a number of people who
wish to see him discover the buried charm. This part of the proceeding
is very similar to that which has been mentioned. He dances through
the kraal, entering hut after hut, and pretending to be satisfied by
the sense of smell that the charm is not to be found in each place. By
degrees he approaches nearer the right spot, on which he throws his
assagai, and tells the people to dig and find the charm, which, of
course, he has previously taken care to place there. How this part of
the performance is sometimes managed will be presently narrated.
The wretched man who is once accused openly as being accessory to the
illness of his king has no hope of mercy, and yields to the dreadful
fate that awaits him. The nominal examination to which he is subjected
is no examination at all, but merely a succession of the severest
tortures that human ingenuity can suggest, prolonged as long as life
is left in him. He is asked to confess that he has used witchcraft
against his king, but invariably denies his guilt, though he well knows
the result of his answer. Torture after torture is inflicted upon him,
fire applied in various ways being the principal instrument employed.
The concluding torture is generally the same, namely, breaking a hole
in an ant’s nest, tying him hand and foot and thrusting him into the
interior, or fastening him in the ground, and breaking upon him a nest
of large ants, noted for the fierceness of their tempers, and the
agonizing venom of their stings. How ruthlessly cruel a Kaffir can be
when he is excited by the fear of witchcraft can be imagined from the
following account of the trial and execution of a supposed wizard. The
reader must, moreover, be told that the whole of the details are not
mentioned. The narrative is taken from Major W. Ross King’s interesting
“Campaigning in Kaffirland,” a work which describes the Kaffirs of
1851-2:--
“The same Kona, some years before, having fallen sick, a ‘witch doctor’
was consulted, according to custom, to ascertain the individual under
whose evil influence he was suffering; and, as usual, a man of property
was selected, and condemned to forfeit his life for his alleged crime.
To prevent his being told of his fate by his friends, a party of men
left Macomo’s kraal early in the morning to secure the recovery of the
sick young chief by murdering one of his father’s subjects. The day
selected for the sacrifice appeared to have been a sort of gala day
with the unconscious victim; he was in his kraal, had just slaughtered
one of his cattle, and was merrily contemplating the convivialities of
the day before him, over which he was about to preside. The arrival of
a party of men from the ‘great place’ gave him no other concern than
as to what part of the animal he should offer them as his guests. In a
moment, however, the ruthless party seized him in his kraal; when he
found himself secured with a rheim round his neck, he calmly said, ‘It
is my misfortune to be caught unarmed, or it should not be thus.’
“He was then ordered to produce the matter with which he had bewitched
the son of his chief. He replied, ‘I have no bewitching matter; but
destroy me quickly, if my chief has consented to my death.’ His
executioners said they must torture him until he produced it, to which
he answered, ‘Save yourselves the trouble, for torture as you will I
cannot produce what I have not.’ He was then held down on the ground,
and several men proceeded to pierce his body all over with long Kaffir
needles. The miserable victim bore this with extraordinary resolution;
his tormentors tiring, and complaining of the pain it gave their hands,
and of the needles or skewers bending.
“During this time a fire had been kindled, in which large flat stones
were placed to heat; the man was then directed to rise, they pointed
out to him the fire, telling him it was for his further torture unless
he produced the bewitching matter. He answered, ‘I told you the truth
when I said, Save yourselves the trouble; as for the hot stones, I can
bear them, for I am innocent; I would pray to be strangled at once,
but that you would say I fear your torture.’ Here his wife, who had
also been seized, was stripped perfectly naked, and cruelly beaten and
ill-treated before his eyes. The victim was then led to the fire, where
he was thrown on his back, stretched out with his arms and legs tied
to strong pegs driven into the ground, and the stones, now red-hot,
were taken out of the fire and placed on his naked body--on the groin,
stomach, and chest, supported by others on each side of him, also
heated and pressed against his body. It is impossible to describe the
awful effect of this barbarous process, the stones slipping off the
scorched and broiling flesh, being only kept in their places by the
sticks of the fiendish executioners.
“Through all this the heroic fellow still remained perfectly sensible,
and when asked if he wished to be released to discover his hidden
charm, said, ‘Release me.’ They did so, fully expecting they had
vanquished his resolution, when, to the astonishment of all, he stood
up a ghastly spectacle, broiled alive! his smoking flesh hanging in
pieces from his body! and composedly asked his tormentors, ‘What do
you wish me to do now?’ They repeated their demand, but he resolutely
asserted his innocence, and begged them to put him out of his misery;
and as they were now getting tired of their labor, they made a running
noose on the rheim around his neck, jerked him to the ground, and
savagely dragged him about on the sharp stones, then placing their feet
on the back of his neck, they drew the noose tight, and strangled him.
His mangled corpse was taken into his own hut, which was set on fire
and burnt to ashes. His sufferings commenced at ten A. M. and only
ended at sunset.”
Kona, whose illness was the cause of this fearful scene, was a son of
Macomo, the well-known Kaffir chief, who resisted the English forces
for so long a time.
It seems strange that the Kaffir should act in this manner; naturally,
he is by no means of a vindictive or cruel nature. Hot-tempered he
is, and likely enough to avenge himself when offended, by a blow of
a club or the point of an assagai. But, after the heat of the moment
has passed away, his good-humor returns, and he becomes as cheerful
and lively as ever. Even in war, as has already been mentioned, he
is not generally a cruel soldier, when not excited by actual combat,
and it seems rather strange that when a man toward whom he has felt
no enmity, and who may, perhaps, be his nearest relative, is accused
of a crime--no matter what it may be--he should be guilty, in cold
blood, of deliberate cruelty too terrible to be described. The fact
is, this conduct shows how great is his fear of the intangible power
of witchcraft. Fear is ever the parent of cruelty, and the simple fact
that a naturally kind-hearted and good-tempered man will lose all sense
of ruth, and inflict nameless tortures on his fellow, shows the abject
fear of witchcraft which fills a Kaffir’s mind.
Sometimes the prophet is not able to hide a charm in a convenient
place, and is obliged to have recourse to other means. If, for example,
it would be necessary to show that the “evil-doer” had buried the charm
in his own hut, the prophet would not be able to gain access to the
spot, and would therefore have the earth dug up, and try to convey
surreptitiously some pieces of root or bone into the hole. Mr. Isaacs
once detected a notable prophetess in this proceeding, and exposed the
trick before the assembled people.
Some of his immediate followers were ill, and they sent for a
prophetess who knew that the white man did not believe in her powers.
So she sent him a message, saying that, if he would give her a cow,
she would detect the charms that were destroying his people, and would
allow him to be present when she dug up the enchanted roots. So he sent
a cow, and two days afterward had another message, stating that the cow
was too small, and she must have a larger one, or that the difference
must be made up in calico. At the same time she asked for the services
of one of his men, named Maslamfu. He sent the calico, but declined the
latter portion of the request, knowing that the man was only wanted
as a means of gaining information. The expected day arrived, and,
on account of the celebrity of the prophetess, vast numbers of men
belonging to various tribes came in bodies, each headed by a chief of a
kraal. Messenger after messenger came to announce her advance, but she
did not make her appearance, and at last a courier came to say that the
spirit would not allow her to proceed any further until some beads were
sent to her. The chiefs, of whose arrival she had heard, and on whose
liberality she doubtlessly depended, made a collection straightway, got
together a parcel of beads, and sent the present by the messenger.
The beads having softened her heart, she made her solemn entry into
the kraal, followed by a guard of fifty warriors, all in full panoply
of war. The procession moved in solemn march to the centre of the
isi-baya, and then the warriors formed themselves in a line, their
large shields resting on the ground and covering the body as high as
the chin, and their assagais grasped in their right hands. She was also
accompanied by Maslamfu, the very man whom she had asked for, and who
was evidently an old attendant of her own. The prophetess was decorated
in the usual wild and extravagant manner, and she had improved her
complexion by painting her nose and one eyelid with charcoal, and the
other eyelid with red earth. She had also allowed all her hair to grow,
and had plastered it together with a mixture of charcoal and fat. The
usual tufted wand of office was in her hand.
Having now made her appearance, she demanded more beads, which were
given to her, in order that she should have no excuse for declining
to proceed any further in her incantations. She then began her work
in earnest, leaping and bounding from one side of the enclosure to
the other, and displaying the most wonderful agility. During this
part of the proceedings she sang a song as an accompaniment to her
dance, the words of the song itself either having no meaning, or being
quite incomprehensible to the hearers. The burden of each stanza was,
however, simple enough, and all the assembled host of Kaffirs joined in
it at the full stretch of their lungs. After rushing to several huts,
and pretending to smell them, she suddenly stopped before the white
men, who were carefully watching her, and demanded another cow, on the
plea that if the noxious charm were dug up without the sacrifice of a
second cow, the spirits would be offended. At last she received the
promise of a cow, under the proviso that the rest of the performance
was to be satisfactory.
After a variety of strange performances, she suddenly turned to her
audience, and appointed one of them to dig up the fatal soil. The
man was a great muscular Kaffir, but he trembled like a child as he
approached the sorceress, and was evidently so terrified that she
was obliged to lay a spell upon him which would counteract the evil
influence of the buried charm. She gave him an assagai by way of a
spade, a pot for the roots, and directed him successively to three
huts, making him dig in each, but was baffled by the vigilant watch
which was kept upon all her movements. Having vainly searched the
three huts, she suddenly turned and walked quickly out of the kraal,
followed by the still terrified excavator, her husband, and Maslamfu,
and proceeded to a garden, into which she flung an assagai, and told
her man to dig up the spot on which the spear fell. “Being now outdone,
and closely followed by us, and finding all her efforts to elude our
vigilance were vain, for we examined into all her tricks with the most
persevering scrutiny, she suddenly turned round, and at a quick pace
proceeded to the kraal, where she very sagaciously called for her
snuff box. _Her husband_ ran to her, and presented one. This attracted
my notice, as Maslamfu had hitherto performed the office of snuff
box bearer, and I conjectured that, instead of snuff in the box, her
husband had presented her with roots. I did not fail in my prediction;
for, as she proceeded to the upper part of the kraal, she took the
spear from the man appointed to dig, and dug herself in front of the
hut where the people had been sick, took some earth, and added it to
that in the pot; then proceeded as rapidly as possible to the calf
kraal, where she dug about two inches deep, and applied two fingers of
the left hand to scoop a little earth out, at the same time holding the
roots with her other two fingers; then, in a second, closed her hand,
mixing the roots with the earth, and putting them into the pot, saying
to the man, ‘These are the things you have been looking for.’”
[Illustration: (1.) THE PROPHETESS AT WORK. (See page 189.)]
[Illustration: (2.) UNFAVORABLE PROPHECY. (See page 199.)]
The natural end of this exposure was, that she was obliged to escape
out of the turmoil which was caused by her manifest imposture; and it
is needless to say that she did not ask for the cows.
The female professors of the art of witchcraft go through a series of
ceremonies exactly similar to those which have been already described,
and are capable of transmitting to any of their descendants the
privilege of being admitted to the same rank as themselves. As may be
gathered from the preceding account, they perform the ordinary duties
of life much as do other women, whether married or single; and it is,
perhaps, remarkable that, so far from celibacy being considered a
necessary qualification for the office, neither men nor women seem to
be eligible for it unless they are married. When once admitted into the
college of prophets, the members of it always endeavor to inspire awe
into the public by the remarkable style of adornment which they assume;
and they are considered at liberty to depart from the usual sumptuary
laws which are so strictly enforced among the Kaffir tribes, and to
dress according to their individual caprice. One of the female prophets
was visited by Captain Gardiner, and seems to have made a powerful
impression upon him, both by her dress and her demeanor.
“This woman may be styled a queen of witches, and her appearance
bespeaks her craft. Large coils of entrails stuffed with fat were
suspended round her neck; while her thick and tangled hair, stuck over
in all directions with the gall-bladders of animals, gave to her tall
figure a very singularly wild and grotesque appearance. One of her
devices, which occurred about six months ago, is too characteristic
to be omitted. Tpāi had assembled his army, and was in the act of
going out to war, a project which, for some reason, she thought it
necessary to oppose. Finding that all her dissuasions were ineffectual,
she suddenly quitted the place, and, accompanied only by a little
girl, entirely concealed herself from observation. At the expiration
of three or four days, she as mysteriously returned; and holding her
side, apparently bleeding from an assagai-wound, pretended to have
been received, in her absence, from the spirit of her late husband
Maddegān, she presented herself before Tpāi. ‘Your brother’s spirit,’
she exclaimed, ‘has met me, and here is the wound he has made in my
side with an assagai; he reproached me for remaining with people who
had treated me so ill.’ Tpāi, either willingly or actually imposed upon
by this strange occurrence, countermanded the army; and, if we are to
credit the good people in these parts, the wound immediately healed!
For several months subsequent to this period, she took it into her
head to crawl about upon her hands and knees; and it is only lately, I
understand, that she has resumed her station in society as a biped.”
One of the female prophets had a curious method of discovering an
“evil-doer.” She came leaping into the ring of assembled Kaffirs, with
great bounds of which a woman seems hardly capable. It is possible
that she previously made use of some preparation which had an exciting
effect on the brain, and assisted in working herself up to a pitch of
terrible frenzy. With her person decorated with snakes, skulls, heads
and claws of birds, and other strange objects--with her magic rattle
in one hand, and her staff of office in the other--she flew about the
circle with such erratic rapidity that the eye could scarcely follow
her movements, and no one could in the least anticipate what she would
do next. Her eyes seemed starting from her head, foam flew from her
clenched jaws, while at intervals she uttered frantic shrieks and yells
that seemed scarcely to belong to humanity. In short, her appearance
was as terrible as can well be imagined, and sure to inspire awe in the
simple-minded and superstitious audience which surrounded her. She did
not go through the usual process of smelling and crawling, but pursued
her erratic course about the ring, striking with her wand of office
the man who happened to be within its reach, and running off with an
incredible swiftness.
The illustration No. 1, on page 188, represents her engaged in her
dread office. She has been summoned by a rich chief, who is seen in the
distance, lying on his mat, and attended by his wives. The terrified
culprit is seen in the foreground, his immediate neighbors shrinking
from him as the prophetic wand touches him, while others are pointing
him out to the executioners.
There is very marked distinction between the Kaffir prophetess and
an ordinary woman, and this distinction lies principally in the gait
and general demeanor. As has already been observed, the women and
the men seem almost to belong to different races, the former being
timid, humble, and subdued, while the latter are bold, confident, and
almost haughty. The prophetess, however, having assumed so high an
office, takes upon herself a demeanor that shows her appreciation of
her own powers, and walks about with a bold, free step, that has in it
something almost regal.
In one point, both sexes are alike when they are elevated to
prophetical rank. They become absolutely ruthless in their profession,
and lost to all sense of mercy. No one is safe from them except the
king himself; and his highest and most trusted councillor never knows
whether the prophetic finger may not be pointed at him, and the
prophetic voice denounce him as a wizard. Should this be the case, his
rank, wealth, and character will avail him nothing, and he will be
seized and tortured to death as mercilessly as if he were one of the
lowest of the people.
Mixed up with these superstitious deceptions, there is among the
prophets a considerable amount of skill both in surgery and medicine.
Partly from the constant slaughter and cutting-up of cattle, and
partly from experience in warfare and executions, every Kaffir has a
tolerable notion of anatomy--far greater, indeed, than is possessed by
the generality of educated persons in our own country. Consequently, he
can undertake various surgical operations with confidence, and in some
branches of the art he is quite a proficient. For example, a Kaffir
prophet has been known to operate successfully in a case of dropsy, so
that the patient recovered; while in the reducing of dislocated joints,
the setting of fractured bones, and the treatment of wounds, he is an
adept.
A kind of cupping is much practised by the Kaffirs, and is managed in
much the same way as among ourselves, though with different and ruder
instruments. Instead of cupping glasses, they use the horn of an ox
with a hole bored through the smaller end. The operator begins his work
by pressing the large end of the horn against the part which is to be
relieved, and, applying his mouth to the other end, he sucks vigorously
until he has produced the required effect. A few gashes are then made
with the sharp blade of an assagai, the horn is again applied, and
suction employed until a sufficient amount of blood has been extracted.
As the Kaffirs are acquainted with poisons, so are they aware of the
medicinal properties possessed by many vegetable productions. Their
chief medicines are obtained from the castor-oil plant and the male
fern, and are administered for the same complaints as are treated by
the same medicines in Europe and America. Sometimes a curious mixture
of surgery and medicine is made by scarifying the skin, and rubbing
medicine into it. It is probable the “witch doctors” have a very much
wider acquaintance with herbs and their properties than they choose to
make public; and this conjecture is partly carried out by the efficacy
which certain so-called charms have on those who use them, even when
imagination does not lend her potent aid. Possessing such terrible
powers, it is not to be wondered at that the prophets will sometimes
use them for the gratification of personal revenge, or for the sake of
gain. In the former case of action, they are only impelled by their own
feelings; but to the latter they are frequently tempted by others, and
an unprincipled prophet will sometimes accumulate much wealth by taking
bribes to accuse certain persons of witchcraft.
How Tchaka contrived to work upon the feelings of the people by means
of the prophets has already been mentioned. Mr. Shooter narrates
a curious instance where a false accusation was made by a corrupt
prophet. One man cherished a violent jealousy against another named
Umpisi (_i. e._ The Hyæna), and, after many attempts, succeeded in
bribing a prophet to accuse his enemy of witchcraft. This he did in a
very curious manner, namely, by pretending to have a vision in which he
had seen a wizard scattering poison near the hut. The wizard’s name, he
said, was Nukwa. Now, Nukwa is a word used by women when they speak of
the hyæna, and therefore signified the same as Umpisi. Panda, however,
declined to believe the accusation, and no direct indictment was made.
A second accusation was, however, more successful, and the unfortunate
man was put to death. Afterward, Panda discovered the plot, and in a
rude kind of way did justice, by depriving the false prophet of all his
cattle, forbidding him to practise his art again, and consigning the
accuser to the same fate which he had caused to be inflicted on his
victim.
The Kaffirs very firmly believe in one sort of witchcraft, which is
singularly like some of the superstitious of the Middle Ages. They
fancy that the wizards have the power of transforming the dead body of
a human being into a familiar of their own, which will do all their
work, and need neither pay nor keep.
The “evil-doer” looks out for funerals, and when he finds that a
body has been interred upon which he can work his spell without fear
of discovery, he prepares his charms, and waits until after sunset.
Shielded by the darkness of midnight, he digs up the body, and, by
means of his incantations, breathes a sort of life into it, which
enables the corpse to move and to speak; the spirit of some dead wizard
being supposed to have entered into it. He then heats stones or iron
in the fire, burns a hole in the head, and through this aperture he
extracts the tongue. Further spells are then cast around the revivified
body, which have the effect of changing it into the form of some
animal, such as a hyæna, an owl, or a wild-cat; the latter being the
form most in favor with such spirits. This mystic animal then becomes
his servant, and obeys all his behests, whatever they be. By day, it
hides in darkness; but at night it comes forth to do its master’s
bidding. It cuts wood, digs and plants the garden, builds houses, makes
baskets, pots, spears, and clubs, catches game, and runs errands.
But the chief use to which it is put is to inflict sickness, or even
death, upon persons who are disliked by its master. In the dead of
night, when the Kaffirs are all at home, the goblin servant glides
toward a doomed house, and, standing outside, it cries out, “Woe! woe!
woe! to this house!” The trembling inmates hear the dread voice; but
none of them dares to go out or to answer, for they believe that if
they so much as utter a sound, or move hand or foot, they will die,
as well as the person to whom the message is sent. Should the wizard
be disturbed in his incantations, before he has had time to transform
the resuscitated body, it wanders through the country, powerful, a
messenger of evil, but an idiot, uttering cries and menaces, but not
knowing their import.
In consequence of this belief, no Kaffir dares to be seen in
communication with any creature except the recognized domestic animals,
such as cattle and fowls. Any attempt to tame a wild animal would
assuredly cause the presumptuous Kaffir to be put to death as an
“evil-doer.” A rather curious case of this kind occurred in Natal.
A woman who was passing into the bush in order to cut wood, saw a
man feeding a wild-cat--the animal which is thought to be specially
devoted to the evil spirit. Terrified at the sight, she tried to escape
unseen; but the man perceived her, pushed the animal aside, and bribed
her to be silent about what she had seen. However, she went home, and
straightway told the chief’s head wife, who told her husband, and from
that moment the man’s doom was fixed. Evidence against a supposed
wizard is always plentiful, and on this occasion it was furnished
liberally. One person had overheard a domestic quarrel, in which the
man had beaten his eldest wife, and she threatened to accuse him of
witchcraft; but he replied that she was as bad as himself, and that
if he was executed, she would suffer the same fate. Another person
had heard him say to the same wife, that they had not been found out,
and that the accusers only wanted their corn. Both man and wife were
summoned before the council, examined after the usual method, and, as a
necessary consequence, executed on the spot.