AFRICANA.
A. KING AND CO., PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.
[Illustration: I—_Frontis._
THE POSTMAN.
“Literature is likely to be an important means of elevating and purifying
the native. All Africans, from the lad that writes his Grammar exercise
to the postman that conveys a written message in a split wand, have a
liking for _kalata_ (letters).”—Vol. II., p. 261.]
AFRICANA;
OR,
THE HEART OF HEATHEN AFRICA.
BY THE
REV. DUFF MACDONALD, M.A., B.D.,
LATE OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND MISSION, BLANTYRE, EAST CENTRAL AFRICA.
VOL. I.—NATIVE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS.
“The proper study of mankind is man.”
LONDON: SIMPKIN MARSHALL & CO.
EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES & CO.
ABERDEEN: A. BROWN & CO.
1882.
[_All rights reserved._]
TO
H. H. M.
THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED
IN REMEMBRANCE OF
THE GREATEST TRIALS PATIENTLY ENDURED
FOR THE GOOD OF AFRICA.
PREFACE.
Heathen Africa is a wide world, but not so wide as might at first sight
appear. A large part of the continent has been reached by Mahommedanism,
and Christian Missions are everywhere making bold inroads, so that the
portion of Africa left entirely to the light of nature is less than is
often supposed.
My main object is to contribute to a better understanding of the African
heathen, and the reader acquainted with books on the “dark continent”
will perceive that the greater part of the information given in these
pages is entirely new. My knowledge was gained while I worked in the
African Mission field. Unfortunately I arrived at the scene of my labours
to find that the Directors of the Mission had set up a peculiar Civil
Administration which, as might have been expected, soon gave rise to
great difficulties. Hence, although I was labouring with increasing
success, and daily gaining the confidence of the natives, I was suddenly
recalled by the Directors.[1] Although no longer privileged to labour in
Africa, I have still the deepest sympathy with its people, and am led
to publish these volumes in the hope of stimulating Christians to more
hearty endeavours in behalf of this dark land.
A knowledge of these Africans is interesting for its own sake. Besides,
we cannot believe that God has maintained such multitudes of human beings
for so many generations without our being able to learn lessons from them.
It is only when one has had an opportunity of understanding these races
for himself, that he knows how much they require the help of Christendom.
While from that dark land Christians hear the words, “Come over and
help us,” seldom do they realize how urgent is the call. That call is
associated with the shrieks of the helpless slave who is sacrificed at
the tomb of his oppressor, with the last cries of a fond mother poisoned
by a superstitious son, and with the sighing of a wife torn from the home
of her affection and compelled to drag out a miserable captivity among
men whose hands are red with the blood of her kindred. When labouring
in Africa, often have I been asked to explain why I was “so long in
coming” when I knew that its people were living in darkness, and such a
question every Pioneer Missionary may expect to face. I cannot express
the feelings of many a heathen African more touchingly and at the same
time more truly than by quoting the following which comes from Mr. Gill,
a Missionary in the South Sea Islands:—
“At one of the fellowship meetings which the native Christians of the
South Sea Islands had among themselves, an old man rose and said, ‘I
stand among you to-day a solitary and lonely man. Once I had a wife: dear
she was to my heart; she is no more. Once I had five noble sons; they are
all gone. O that terrible night, when my wife went out to the brushwood,
never to return, when my boys left my home to be slain by our deadly
enemies!’ He paused, and there was a deep silence; the tears rolled down
his cheeks. ‘These things do not occur now,’ he again said; ‘Christianity
has put an end to these bloody wars. But there is one thing I want to
ask, Can it be that the Christian people in England have had this Gospel
of peace for many long years, and never sent it to us until now? O that
they had sent it sooner! Had they sent it sooner, I should not be to-day
solitary, sad-hearted, mourning my murdered wife and children. O that
they had sent it _sooner_!’”
As Missions to solitary stations among aboriginal tribes require to be
conducted in a careful and well-defined manner, I have pointed out many
difficulties by which the success of such enterprises is liable to be
impaired.
With reference to the assumption of Civil Jurisdiction, which brought
one or two East African Missions under public notice, I have said little
except where any incident illustrated Mission difficulties or African
customs, and on this subject I must refer the reader to Missionary
Magazines—in particular the _Missionary Review_ for 1882. But lest I
should appear indifferent on the matter, I may, without obtruding the
subject, introduce one or two remarks calculated to benefit the youthful
Missionary. Such a man is generally full of zeal and enthusiasm, and the
last thing in the world that he fears is the danger of being confronted
with misrepresentation or doubtful diplomacy. But such a danger is
possible—it is one thing to go to the heat as the servant of the Lord,
and quite a different thing to go as the agent of a Committee. While
Mission Directors incur some risk by setting up a Civil Jurisdiction, the
real danger falls upon the agents they employ. If any of these agents
say, “I am here commanded to act as a judge or a chief, I am perfectly
aware this is a difficult task, but I am bound to do my best to obey,”
he soon finds he is greatly blamed: and, on the other hand, when a man
reasons, “My superiors have set up a strange organisation here. But
these men are the great Leaders of the Church. They have been studying
Missionary methods before I was born. I have no doubt they understand
their plan. But I cannot understand it: I must leave it entirely alone
and devote all my attention to Spiritual work,”—condemnation as certainly
follows.
Again, when an ordained Minister becomes a Missionary, he is held to lay
aside his ministerial _status_ and become the agent of a committee, while
a Licentiate who is set apart for work among the heathen is “ordained”
in the same sense as a beadle may be said to be ordained—he may talk of
“magnifying his office,” but he holds it only during the pleasure of a
committee who, after he has performed his duties most diligently, may
with the greatest complacency, turn him forth to starve!
Such are some of the difficulties that are thoughtlessly thrown in the
way of Mission work.
There is, however, a more pleasant side to contemplate. I desire to
say with emphasis:—“Savage tribes are _not_ difficult to get on with,
Heathendom is _not_ an unpromising field,” and such is the experience, I
think, of all Missionaries as they go forward, believing that “He shall
have the heathen for His heritage, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for His possession!”
I have pleasure in acknowledging that for several of the illustrations I
am indebted to the courtesy of the Rev. H. Rowley, the talented author of
the Story of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
N.B.—_The figures and letters in brackets refer to the sections (and not
to the pages)._
PAGE
INTRODUCTORY.
Novelty of the Subject. Effect of Christianity. Difficulty and
value of the investigation, 1-14
CHAPTER I.—FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
(A) Dress, Tatoos, Ornaments. (B) Weapons. (C) Houses,
Beds, Fireplace, Furniture, Live Stock. (D) Climate, Rains,
Productions, Famines. (E) Food, Want of Bread, Meals, Unclean
Animals, Hospitality. (F) Work, Division of Labour. (F)* Races
and Chiefs. (G) Travelling and Salutations, 15-35
CHAPTER II.—ARTS AND LITERATURE.
(H) Trades and Manufactures, Iron, Baskets, Cloth, Pottery,
African Industry. (I) The Learned Professions, Medicine,
Divination. (K) Charms. (L) Traditional Literature—its Form,
Matter, and Relations to Kindred Traditions, 36-57
CHAPTER III.—NATIVE THEOLOGY.
(1) Nature of man. (2) Immortality. (3-6) The Gods, their
Dwelling Place, their Manifestations; Distinctions. (7, 8)
Priests, Village Gods. (9, 10) Polytheism, Selection of Gods.
(11, 12) Special Deities, Pathos of Native Theology. (13) The
Creation, 58-75
CHAPTER IV.—NATIVE WORSHIP.
OCCASIONS FOR OFFERINGS. _Journey, War or Hunting._ (14)
Oracles. (15) Ceremonies. (16, 17) Omens. (18) Rejoicings.
(19) _Sickness._ (20) _Famine_, _Dreams_. NATURE OF OFFERINGS.
(21-24) Ordinary Offerings. (25-28) Special Offerings, Human
Sacrifices, 76-97
CHAPTER V.—DEATH.
(29) Summary. (30) Illness, Physician’s Responsibility. (31)
Death, Slaves caught to escort the deceased. (32-38) Mourning
Ceremonies. (39) Immolation of human beings. (40) House of
deceased taken down. (41) Position of the deceased in the
other world. (42, 43) Continuation and end of mourning, 98-112
CHAPTER VI.—CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.
(45-47) Birth, Early Days, Naming. (48-51) Betrothal, Early
Training, Amusements, Games, 113-124
CHAPTER VII.—MYSTERIES.
(52, 53) Instruction of Girls, Boys, Adults; General remarks, 125-132
CHAPTER VIII.—MARRIAGE.
(54) Procuring a Wife. (55) Ranks among Wives. (56) Adult
Marriage, Wedding-day. (57) Woman’s Kingdom. (58) Marriage
Contract. (59) Divorce. (60) The Wife’s Surety, 133-143
CHAPTER IX.—SOCIAL LIFE.
(61-63) Native Villages. (64-66) Ordinary Life and Work. (67)
Food in common, 144-151
CHAPTER X.—GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
(68-72) Headmen and Chiefs. (73-76) Courts of Justice, Trials,
and General Treatment of Crime, 152-164
CHAPTER XI.—PERSONAL RIGHTS.
(77) Slavery. (78-81) Murder and Homicide. (82) Unchastity,
165-174
CHAPTER XII.—RIGHTS OF PROPERTY.
(83-91) Public Property, Land, &c. (92) Private Property.
(93) Usury. (94) Petty Theft. (95) Theft and Robbery. (96)
Miscellaneous Crimes, 175-186
CHAPTER XIII.—INHERITANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.
(97, 98) Succession to Property and Titles. (99-101)
International Law and War, 187-195
CHAPTER XIV.—A SLAVE GOVERNMENT.
(102, 103) The Magololo and their Rule. (104) Cruelties of a
Slave Government, 196-203
CHAPTER XV.—WITCHCRAFT.
(105) The Poisoned Cup. (106) Witchcraft the cause of Death.
(107) Detection and Punishment of Witches, Divination, 204-214
CHAPTER XVI.—ETHNOLOGY.
Ethnological Method, Tribal Customs, East Central Africa,
South Africa, West and North Africa, Races of Antiquity, 215-234
CHAPTER XVII.—AFRICAN PHILOLOGY.
A Philosophical Language. Vocabulary, number and nature of
African Words. Grammar, as compared with that of the Aryan
and Semitic Tongues, 235-245
CHAPTER XVIII.—AFRICAN PHILOLOGY—_Continued._
Imitation of Sounds and Speech. The _Polyglotta Africana_.
Specialties in African Tongues, 246-257
CHAPTER XIX.—ESTIMATE OF NATIVE CHARACTER.
_Physical_: Features, Figures, Powers of Endurance. _Moral_:
Truthfulness, Avarice. _Intellectual_: Native Oratory. Effect
of their circumstances on Character. Docility in Religion,
258-276
APPENDIX.—COSMOLOGICAL TALES. 277-301
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOL. I.
The Letter Carrier, _Frontispiece_
South African making fire, 12
Liberated Slaves—Blantyre, 15
The Supelele, 17
Native Knives and Arrows, 19
Native Pipes and Pottery, 40
Natives in the African jungle, 176
Women of West Central Africa, 226
Native Musical Instrument, 272
INTRODUCTORY.
INTRODUCTORY.
There are no books, so far as we are aware, that aim at giving a
systematic account of the beliefs and customs of any of the tribes in
Eastern Central Africa. Indeed, it is not long since these tribes have
been known at all. Those beliefs and customs are to a great extent
_Arcana Africana_, and form the main subject of this work.
Those that know how long it takes to become thoroughly acquainted with
new races of people will object to a work like this appearing so soon. To
this objection we would reply that, after a Christian Mission has been
established for a few years in a district, the views of the people around
may become so modified, especially on religion, that it is difficult
to distinguish how much is native and how much is imported. This is
specially true of these Africans. They rapidly throw aside everything
that is native, and grasp after the views and customs introduced by the
foreigner. Even as it was, we often got answers that seemed to be an echo
of our teaching, but we made a point of rejecting every statement of this
kind. The reader may rest assured that we have here put before him no
religious belief that was suggested or modified by Christian teaching.
Again, there are some that think it is not possible to give an account
of native beliefs and customs, because they differ so much in different
districts. The same objection might be raised with reference to English
beliefs and customs. A man that wished to give an account of the
Religious beliefs of the people of England, would find that he had
undertaken a difficult task, but such an account, so far from being
impossible, might be made not only perfectly accurate, but also highly
interesting and profitable.
So in the case of Native Law. We have seen the natives settle their
disputes in methods so many and so different, that we might have said
“There is no such thing as Native Law”. Might not the very same opinion
be expressed with reference to English Law?
As we tried to reduce Native beliefs to an intelligible form, we were
often discouraged by finding that one man would make a statement that his
nearest neighbour would contradict. But as years passed on, I discovered
that this accident was not so much the fault of the African, or of his
belief, as of the European that questioned him. In many respects there is
a greater fixity of belief in Central Africa than in England, although
it may be freely admitted that these African customs are subject to
many modifications due to local ingenuity and caprice. On the subject
of Native Law the reader is ever at liberty to read between the lines
that _our statements may be often modified_ by a maxim which is but ill
concealed in Native Jurisprudence _by the maxim, “that might is right”_.
DIFFICULTIES.
There are enormous difficulties to overcome before we can be sure that
our statements are correct. We once knew a man of good abilities try to
get information on a small section of native customs, and the result
was in wonderful disagreement with facts. We were so tickled at the
production that we went to our friend’s informer and read over the
expressions one by one, half inclined to ask regarding each “Would you be
surprised to learn?” In most cases he was very much surprised indeed! The
causes of error are so numerous and subtle as to deserve extended notice.
IMPORTING EUROPEAN IDEAS.
One cause of error is that we mix up what the African tells us with our
own ideas, which are European. As a consequence of this, we put questions
to him that he cannot understand. Many of our questions strike the
African exactly as a question like the following would strike a European,
“If seventy miles of the sea were burned, who would be the losers, the
Insurance Companies? or the Harbour Commissioners? or ——?” If an African
put this question to a European the European would laugh at him; but
if the European put it to an African, the latter would be more polite,
and would think that the European was very ingenious in finding out a
supposition that would have never occurred to himself; and although the
African knows that the difficulty could never arise in his own country,
yet he feels bound to believe that the poor European is perplexed by
it, and states what he thinks _would happen_ in Africa on such an
extraordinary occurrence: thus _he gives an answer_, which the ingenious
European carefully lays past.
For instance, a person that had never been out of England would see
nothing amiss in asking a Makua or a Machinga, “If a dog were to tear
your trousers and your housemaid were to mend them, how much would you
give her in addition to her ordinary wages?” Now the native will not
say “We wear no trousers,” “Women in our country never sew,” “No one
receives wages in our country for domestic service,” “Special services
are not defined, and if they were, the duties of a housemaid would not be
anything like what they are in England”. Instead of making statements of
this kind, which would all be interesting to his questioner, the African
will take up the question as it stands, he will consider that it is quite
worthy of the genius of a European, and will probably answer that the
housemaid would get “two fowls, one hoe, and a string of beads!” And
he may reply without the least hesitation; for if he be a professional
oracle-man, remember he has been trained all his lifetime to answer
hypothetical questions. He would reason that if a man possessed trousers,
and servants, yea, a female that obtained wages and had been taught to
sew, he ought to give her some handsome present for what she did beyond
her ordinary duties, and then our oracle would state what was his idea
of a handsome present. His answer is utterly misleading, but he deserves
credit for his polite attempt to humour the European, who forthwith
translates the answer into pounds, shillings, and pence!
Another cause of error is found in
NATIVE POLITENESS.
One evening I questioned a professional judge on a point of native law;
he replied by stating what was entirely untrue; when I pointed this
out he merely laughed at the circumstance; he thought he had invented
something that would appear better to a foreigner. He reminded me of
a Scotch guide who kept telling what was false, because the Southerns
all liked to hear that some “old king was killed beside the great big
stane”. Bishop Steere says—“In Africa they never say _no_, they always
say _yes, certainly_; but possibly you are no nearer your object”. One
must be careful never to _suggest_ an answer to a native; if the native
and his questioner are strangers to each other the former will make it a
point of etiquette to find out what answer the stranger would like, and
may by and by take occasion to compliment him on his cleverness and the
accuracy of his knowledge! Statements made in answer to direct questions
are not to be relied on unless the questioner has had years of experience
in conversation with natives, and knows the subject he converses about.
What is arrived at in an indirect manner is almost always more valuable.
I lay down these principles as to native evidence with some confidence,
as I have tried them in hundreds of cases, especially in endeavours to
fix the exact meaning of native words. One statement where the word
occurred spontaneously was worth ten statements contrived for the purpose
of eliminating the meaning.
In my first efforts to learn African languages I found that a great deal
of what was said to me, especially by interpreters, was quite useless,
simply because the poor fellows were trying to adapt their language to a
European capacity!
NATIVE IDIOMS.
When one attempts to obtain information through interpreters, without
knowing anything of their peculiar idioms, he is liable to the strangest
blunders. Those that try to speak with him carry their African idioms
into English. Natives have great difficulty in knowing the difference
between _before_ and _after_. Boys that have been writing English essays
for more than a year, think nothing of writing deliberately about what
men did on the earth _before_ they were created. There is another idiom
still more fitted to produce confusion, and when an Englishman writes
down in a multitude of instances what is the reverse of the truth we are
often able to point out the cause. He puts to a native the question, “He
did not go, did he?” The native replies “_Yes_,” where an Englishman
would say “No”. Consequently every question put in this form will be
answered in a manner that cannot fail to mislead. In the same way natives
confound the active and the passive voice in verbs.
DISTRACTING CIRCUMSTANCES.
Even after one has become familiar with some of their idioms he cannot
trust to all the information that he supposes himself to acquire. I
had begun to hold conversations with the natives, in their own tongue,
about six weeks after my arrival, and I well remember that I often got
information exactly similar to what Mr Pickwick got from his cabman.
When a native sees a person noting down anything, he makes up his mind
to say something worth noting! So much did I feel this that at one time
I endeavoured to keep my book out of sight. While they were unaccustomed
to it, it introduced into the conversation an element that was very
unnatural. One plan I took was to have a pencil in my hand which I
pretended to be playing with. I thus got down some new words upon my
thumb-nail, and was beginning to congratulate myself on the success of
my stratagem. After I sat for about ten minutes another man approached
our group, when my friends hailed him in these words, “Come here and
talk with the white man. He is writing on his fingers. He has written
three new things already!” After this I saw that such a trick was quite
useless. Not only had they seen it all, but they could tell how many
words I had written. Great was the laughter that followed, and the new
comer examined the guilty thumb-nail!
ROMANTIC INFORMATION.
I sometimes got romantic information that I was sorry at a later date
to have to put my pen through. Thus with reference to the High Priest
of a new government (98), I gathered from one man that the first person
_seen_ by the chief after his installation became the High Priest of his
government. I had carefully noted down that a little _boy_ playing in the
village found his way to the house of one important chief on the morning
after his installation, and was the first to see His Royal Highness; for
whom, as a matter of fact, he now officiates as sacrificer, &c. Then,
_having taken up_ this meaning of the incident, I was farther informed
that the chief made a note of the first _five_ people that he saw in
case of the death of any; and my informer was eager to know who was the
first man that I saw after coming to Blantyre. Subsequent information
threw discredit on the beautiful story. But the peculiar thing was that I
found long afterwards another native make the very same statements. This
referred me back to my old notes. All I could say about it was that the
word I had translated _see_ meant also _find_, that a _boy_ might be over
50 years for anything that the native word indicated, and that it was not
clear from my text whether the chief was _seen_ by the boy or the boy by
the chief.
Much of what we have written was not made the subject of special
investigation, except where we found any doubt arise or any verification
necessary. Our special object was to obtain such an accurate knowledge
of the language as would enable us to give a good translation of the
Bible. Most of the knowledge gradually grew upon us as we mingled with
the natives, and for the purpose of translation attended closely to every
word that we heard.
Other parts, especially those that refer to religion, were the subject of
special inquiry. It is walking in the dark for a missionary to endeavour
to appeal either to the feelings or to the reason of a people whose
prejudices and beliefs are unknown to him, and how he is to convince them
without appeals to their feelings or their reason I cannot tell. I would
have given much to have had an account of those beliefs put into my own
hands when I left for Africa.
I have tried to make all my statements as accurate as possible, but it
would be too much to expect that in such a difficult investigation I
should have escaped the influence of these many and subtle sources of
error.
THE VALUE OF STUDYING NATIVE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS.
What is the use of minute investigations among the ignorant heathen of
Central Africa? We reply that such investigations throw light on many
points that men of science consider to be of great importance.
To take a few instances:—
I. IN THE SCIENCE OF THE HUMAN MIND.
(A) THE SENSES.
Some speak as if men were made at first with the power of perceiving only
a few colours, for instance, black and white, and that by and by they
trained themselves to perceive brown. One argument advanced in favour of
this view is that many native languages have words for black and white,
but no word for brown. Now I knew several languages where the natives
called brown and black by the same word; but they knew that there was
a great difference between brown and black. I found that they could
discriminate every shade of colour that I could discriminate myself.
(B) THE INTELLECT.
Many facts that I shall lay before the reader will seem so strange that
he may doubt whether these savages have the same minds as Europeans,
whether they reason or think in the same way at all. It is true, however,
that after one places himself in their circumstances, and tries to see
and feel as they do, he will understand all their strangeness; he will
even see that it would have been still more strange if their reasonings
and conclusions had been different.
(C) THE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS.
Have we in Europe so developed ourselves as to become possessors of
emotions that are entirely wanting in savage Africa?
We have what is called gratitude: have these heathen? Without any
hesitation I answer that they have, and that even though we define
gratitude as being much more than “an acute sense of favours to come”.
Again we have pity. A stranger might think that they were destitute of
this. I have said to a boy, “Don’t carry that fowl so, you give it pain”.
At this he would laugh. It would become the standing joke for a day or
two. Everyone would be told that the Englishman said that “the fowl
would be sore”. A whole village would collect at the strange report and
receive the news with loud laughter. Yet all would admit that it was a
cruel thing to pain the fowl; but they did not reflect that their method
of carrying the fowl gave it pain. They were used to their own way, and
thought no more of the matter than a butcher does of killing an ox. At
the same time they have fables in their language, which show a desire to
enter minutely into the feelings of the lower animals. For instance, they
represent fowls as reasoning on their hard fate in being killed for their
master’s supper.
(D) MORAL PHILOSOPHY.
It has long been disputed whether men have a “Conscience” that
distinguishes between right and wrong; or whether they merely look at
certain actions that please or profit them, and call these actions good
and the opposite actions bad.
Savages have been referred to on this subject. We have found that they
distinguish the good from the evil in the same way as Europeans do, and
usually agree with our conclusions. They know the difference between an
injury of accident and one of intention. As to the moral judgment, “A man
_ought_ to do such a thing,” “It is his _duty_,” we find this lesson is
brought home to slaves or inferiors by positive law. In others there are
aspirations more akin to the exuberant activities and bright dreams of
youth. They would rather ask, “How can we do best?” as did the Ancients
who talked of a _summum bonum_. As the spirit of the world became
older and sadder this view gave place, and the idea of “duty” was more
emphasised by moralists. Spirited Africans savour more of the Golden Age
of Moral Science.
It is to be remembered that appeals to savage nations form only a part of
scientific investigations like the above.
II. IN ETHNOLOGY.
On looking at the many different races that inhabit the earth, some say
that they did not all spring from the same stock, others that they did.
If we say that they are all of one family we should try to show how some
broke away from the rest, and at what time. Now let us make a supposition
to show how the _customs_ of races might come in here.
[Illustration: SOUTH AFRICAN MAKING FIRE.]
In LIGHTING A FIRE some tribes rub a stick along a groove; other tribes
have an improvement on this, they produce fire by making a little
notch or hole in one stick, and whirling the other round very rapidly
with the point of it in the notch. Now we may hold that before mankind
discovered the second method, many nations, like the South Sea Islanders,
who knew only the first, had broken up communication with the rest of
their kindred; but that the Africans who use the improved method had
likely been with the main body of mankind till the time of this great
improvement.
Again, take the case of COOKING. Some tribes have no pots. They boil
water by throwing hot stones into a skin. They must have separated very
early from their more cultivated brethren. Others waited till some one
fell on the plan of boiling water in a hollow stone. Others waited on
till it was discovered that clay could be shaped into a kind of pot, and
then carried this important discovery to the land of their adoption.
Boiling with hot stones was the only way known to certain American,
Australian, and Polynesian tribes; some tribes in Africa also used this
method. The Esquimaux had pot-stones. It seems to have been the daubing
of these with clay that first suggested pottery.
I have taken down traditions from African natives that point to some
recollection of the hollow stone, used either by themselves or some other
race; but the tribes here treated of know the value of clay pots. Of
course they are far behind the Indians, who have metal pots.
With regard to THE CAUSE OF DISEASE there existed a widespread belief
(held by many tribes in America and Australia, as also by these Africans)
that disease came from bones, horns, balls of hair or something of this
kind. The ancient Egyptians at a very early date considered that disease
was to a great extent caused by excess of eating. The inference is that
these tribes had not staid long enough to benefit by this wisdom of the
Egyptians.
Other peculiar customs are spread over many tribes, and might be used
in a similar manner. Many of these are observances in FAMILY LIFE. Among
the Kaffirs a son-in-law must not see the face of his mother-in-law. This
custom is found among South American tribes. Sometimes a father has to
fast after the birth of his child, or take some such method of showing
that he recognises that he as well as the mother should take care of the
young stranger.
When races are found knowing nothing of the art of writing, and making
no attempt to use stone or bricks for building, we feel that a wide gulf
separates them from the most ancient races of history. Of course it is
to be remembered that they might have once been aware of such arts. Many
Africans, as a matter of fact, have seen Portuguese architecture for
centuries without adopting it.
III. IN THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION.
A position has often been maintained that there is no tribe without some
knowledge of God. This bears on investigations in the science of mind
and on primitive traditions and ethnology. We do not now dwell on native
religion, as it will claim special attention in subsequent chapters.
Besides throwing light on many subjects like the above, a knowledge of
tribal beliefs and customs is of vital importance to the missionary and
also to the trader. Indeed, any attempt to deal with people without
knowing their customs and beliefs is a mere groping in the dark.
[Illustration: LIBERATED SLAVE-WOMAN, BLANTYRE.
(_Photographed in ordinary Costume._)]
[Illustration: LIBERATED SLAVE-GIRL, BLANTYRE.
(_Trained to Household Work._)]
CHAPTER I.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
A.—DRESS, TATOOS, ORNAMENTS, &C.
The _dress_ of the native is very scanty: sometimes we see full-grown
men and women whose wardrobe does not consist of a square foot of cloth.
We have even seen the primitive fig-leaves not sewn together, but simply
taken down for use, along with the tip of the branches on which they
grew. One tribe, called the Mangoni, is fond of wearing skins. Other
tribes towards the north of Lake Nyassa are still more primitive in
their dress, or rather want of dress. The usual costume in the Blantyre
district is a piece of calico about two yards broad, and rather longer,
which is put round the middle of the body: the dress of a man does not
differ from that of a woman, except that the latter may occasionally
cover her breasts. The breasts and arms are usually left quite bare.
There is no hat on the head, nor shoes on the feet. When we tried to
translate the words, “If any man sue thee at the law and take away thy
coat, let him have thy cloak also,” we found a difficulty, for if a
native were stripped of _one_ garment, he would generally be left in a
very helpless condition.
The chiefs, or principal men, dress as the rest of the people, only
they may have a few more folds of calico about their loins. In certain
families, as in the Abanda family of the Wayao tribe, the chief of the
district, or of a village, wears a band of cloth round his temples as a
kind of crown. Before the arrival of the missionaries, shirts, although
very rare, were not entirely unknown, and there existed a belief that
while men might wear them, they were not the proper thing for women. Bark
cloth (H) is extensively made and worn.
The _tatoos_ (nembo) are sometimes dreadful inflictions, and when the
larger marks are made the children roar as if they were distracted.
The Angulu have marks like “flies,” the Wayao tribal mark is above the
nose, the Anyasa make very large rude tatoos, which might be described
in those words that Henry Salt, the Abyssinian traveller (1814), uses
with reference to the Makua, a tribe not far distant, and much spoken of
by the Wayao, under the name of Makuani. “The Makua practise tatooing
so rudely that they raise the marks one-eighth of an inch above the
surface.” He writes also:—“They file their teeth to a point, so that the
whole set has the appearance of a coarse saw”. The natives here are fond
of knocking out a front tooth in order to produce a beauty mark.
_Ornaments_ are worn chiefly by the women in Africa as elsewhere. Beads
and bangles are in great request. Many have armlets and anklets of brass
or iron. The most striking female ornament is the lip ring. Little girls
have first a small hole (lupelele) bored in the upper lip, in this they
place a stalk of grass, which prevents the hole from filling up, next
they insert a thicker stalk of grass, then by means of bits of twigs,
&c., the hole is made larger and larger, till it can receive this ring.
Hardly any female is without it. They say it makes them look “pretty”;
the bigger the ring, the more they value themselves! At Zomba, a small
hole is bored on the side of the nose, and a tack (exactly similar to
those large headed tacks or “tackets” used in the sole of a boot), is put
in. This tack, _chipini_, is made of lead; some of the ladies used to
express much surprise when I showed them that it would write on my book.
[Illustration: NATIVE WOMAN WITH BEADS, TATOOS AND LIP-RING.]
Occasionally, a woman will wear an enormous wig made of beads. The beads
are so manipulated as to present the appearance of having been “threaded”
on the hair of the head. Some females do actually thread beads on the
separate hairs of their head, but the usual way is to put them on a
cluster of strings, and then wear like a wig. Sometimes they allow their
hair to grow till it is very long—it may be sticking up about 8 inches
above the head—and then it looks exactly like the fleece of a black
sheep. But this is unusual, as the natives are obliged, for the sake of
cleanliness, to shave their heads often. The men have scarcely any beard
or whiskers. On the shaving of the head for a death (40), not even the
eyebrows are allowed to escape. There is no end of capricious shaving,
for instance, they shave one side only, or the whole head except a patch
in the middle.
CHARMS (_mbiji_) are very often worn round the neck by both sexes. These
are little pieces of wood like what fill the gourds of the Sorcerers
(I). They are worn on a small string in the same way as beads.
We may mention here that great quantities of beads are worn round the
loins in strings as thick as cart ropes. When a person is from home
and wishes to buy anything, he falls back upon this portion of his
property which is really his “purse”. Besides this, a native carries a
bag (msaku), which may contain a box with lime (swakala), which he uses
in chewing tobacco: a snuff box is also common. Ladies partake of these
“regales” to a less extent.
[Illustration: NATIVE KNIVES AND ARROWS.]
B.—WEAPONS.
The men go armed generally with guns. (The country is full of flint
muskets marked the “Tower,” and introduced by the slave trade.) Often
they carry their _bows_ with half-a-dozen arrows. They never go unarmed.
One chief used to be fond of carrying a large _spear_, which served as
a kind of staff. Most of them carry knives as well. These weapons are
necessary for protection against beasts of prey and other enemies, and
may be used where game is seen. The Mangoni carry a shield like the Zulus.
On coming down from the Lake region to the Portuguese settlements at
Quilimane, one of the first things that strikes us is, that natives under
the Portuguese Government go about without carrying any deadly weapon.
On the hills round Blantyre, a man scarcely sits down to sew his wives’
calico in his own village without having his bow and arrows by his side.
They do not seem to be expert marksmen; but they were able to send their
arrows very much farther than I could do, let me try never so hard. They
were fond of asking us to competitions of this nature. One time Kumpama
of Cherasulo challenged us to a shooting match—his arrows against our
guns! They allowed us, however, to stand too far back, and the arrows of
his bowmen fell short of the target. Little boys are to be seen using
their arrows from their earliest years, and they shoot small birds very
cleverly.
They use the assagai, but more for thrusting than for throwing. Apart
from war, chances for its use occur when they steal upon a buck before
he awakes. A large broad spear is used in killing fish.
Some carry knob-sticks, or staves of a similar nature. They are useful
for shaking the dew or rain off the long grass, as well as for defensive
purposes. Little axes of various kinds are carried in the hand; they
may be borne as credentials where a chief has to send by an unknown
messenger. The usual African axes are said to resemble those used in
Britain in the Roman period.
C.—HOUSES.
The houses, or huts (nyumba) in which they dwell, are all round. It is
misleading to say that they dwell in them, as they scarcely enter them,
except to sleep, or when driven by bad weather. Sometimes the women boil
a pot inside the house, but often the cooking is done outside; all the
meals are eaten outside. When the head of a house has any sewing to do,
he does it on a mat before his door, or in the village forum. His wife
does not sew, and most of her occupations (57) are necessarily outdoor.
“A house,” says the native, “is made to sleep in.”
The walls form a circle—say about twelve feet in diameter—and are made
of strong posts, sometimes close to each other, but generally with
spaces between, where bamboos and grass are brought into requisition.
The framework of the roof is placed upon the top of the circle, and some
thatch is thrown on. The floor and walls are plastered with clay.
Two doors (mlango) are marked out before they plaster, but one of these
is generally shut up, and may even be dispensed with. There are no
windows. The wall is not above 3 feet high, the roof projects so as to
form a small verandah in which a person may sit. Sometimes there are
apertures in the wall calculated to let through the muzzle of a gun.
The houses being occupied chiefly during the night, part of the floor
is often raised for a bedstead. The bed which is merely a mat made of
bamboos or reeds, and is not nearly so soft as an ordinary door-mat or
hearth-rug, is laid on this mound. By the side of the “bedstead” are
placed a few logs of wood which form a fire during the night. The head of
the house lies nearest to this fire, while his partner is placed on his
other side, as he remarks, _away from the fire_. Blankets are unknown.
The cloth that covers the man during the day may be drawn over him at
night. Quite as often he lets it remain round his loins. Occasionally it
seems as if a little flour had been spilt on the ground beside his head.
He will not speak of this to a stranger, but you are on holy ground, and
let me tell you in a whisper that it is an _offering to his gods_.
Candles are not used, the logs that smoulder in the fire give a little
light. They burn beeswax occasionally, and when light is required, a
little dry grass may be readily obtained. The native retires to rest soon
after dark, and is astir at the first streaks of dawn.
The fire is in the middle of the floor, and there are no holes in the
roof as in the old Highlands of Scotland. The houses are without any
chimney whatsoever, and the smoke goes curling about in the roof and
may ultimately escape through the thatch or at the doors. The roof is
beautifully black and glossy inside, but outside it has an ugly brown
appearance.
A European finds it a most inconvenient thing at first to enter a native
hut, the smoke so fills his nose, mouth, and eyes, but when he sits down
to talk to an invalid, the inconvenience is of course less than when he
stands upright; at best the atmosphere resembles a London fog. In native
huts it is sometimes difficult for a man of ordinary stature to stand
upright. The doors of the houses are never over 3 feet high. What pigmies
the natives must be! We have heard a learned professor arguing that the
height of the doors in certain very ancient houses proved that the human
race was not degenerating in stature, but this argument, true in many
cases, would not do here. If the native wants to stand upright, he never
thinks of trying to do so in his doorway.
The roof of his house is generally made a store; he goes up from the
outside, removes part of the thatch, and puts in his corn. Bags of beans
are hung up round and round on the pillars inside. Sometimes there are
one or two pots filled with beans, and hermetically sealed with clay on
the top to preserve such vegetables. There are no fenders or fire-irons
to be seen. Tables are unknown, and chairs are hardly used at all,
although men clever at wood-work make very small chairs of various
forms. Implements of agriculture are stowed away in the house, so are
the cooking utensils, the man’s bow and arrows, the sleeping mat already
mentioned, and—our inventory is complete! Some part of the house may be
occupied by live stock. The fowls are sometimes put up stairs in the
store, and sometimes in a corner so as not to disturb the other members
of the family! But laying-hens (mkolo) and fowls with chickens have very
special privileges, and are not always confined to their corner!
Another item of importance to the inmates of a native house is the rats.
They swarm in all corners after dark. They nibble at the maize that
is stored in the roof, and also at the feet of their lord and master
below. As we sit in conversation with a number of natives we cannot
help observing their feet. Very generally they are all nibbled round
the sides, and, thick though the natives’ skin may be, we can see that
many bites have reached the quick flesh. When a person dies in a house
at night, if the death be unobserved, the body may be terribly eaten by
the rats before morning. What is the meaning of tolerating these vermin?
Leave that to the natives themselves. A great feast day will come. These
rats will be caught in hundreds, and either eaten on the spot or laid up
as stored provisions. Some natives set traps in the house even during
the close season, but this is not nearly so profitable; for if one or
two rats are caught during the night, the others will eat them, and the
fondest expectation of “butcher meat” will be blasted.
After calling attention to the fowls and the rats, we have done with the
live stock. There are indeed “smaller cattle,” but they are too numerous
to be specified. They are not a burden to the house itself, but are
generally borne by the other inmates. We have often seen a native sit
patiently while two or three others kept searching among his hair. A
favourite remedy is to shave the head quite bare, and smear the head and
the whole body with certain vegetable oils.
D.—CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.
The climate strikes us at first as being much too hot, but after a while
we feel it more comfortable. Then we can nearly always anticipate the
weather. It is quite amusing to hear an arrival from England saying “This
is another fine day!” When we meet a man at home, and have nothing to
say, we nearly always call his attention to the state of the weather.
When two natives meet each other the usual salutation is—“Where are you
going?” the weather being so uniform that it may be taken for granted.
The temperature in the shade at the hill settlements was hardly ever over
105° or under 42°, 70° being about the average. On the plains the heat
was excessive.
The rainy season begins about October. We have nearly six weeks of very
hot weather about January without much rain. By and by the sun returns
overhead again, and we have the latter rains. About April the dry season
sets in.
On the productions of the country we may remark that there are fruits
in almost endless variety in the bush, but they are generally very
small, and few of them are so good that we care to taste them twice. The
_masuku_ and _mbembu_ are used very much by the natives. Sugar cane,
tobacco, india-rubber are all to be found growing throughout the country.
The natives chew the stalks of the sugar cane, chew and smoke tobacco,
and relish the apple-like fruit found on the india-rubber vine.
Thrifty housewives make various vegetable dishes (maponda) of leaves and
grasses that a European would be inclined to despise. In the hot season
that precedes the rains sometimes food is very scarce, and then roots and
herbs still less savoury are called into use. Moreover, there are certain
edibles of this kind, which are used only in years of famine. Before the
arrival of the missionaries such famines were exceedingly common, but
they were not all caused by the climate, many were caused by war.
Nature is here so bountiful that, in ordinary circumstances, food is
no object. The only season associated with hunger is a month or two
immediately before the rains. If the rains do not come early, the old
food may be quite finished. As soon as the rains begin, vegetable life
flourishes with such luxuriance that the season of want is immediately
forgotten. Once or twice in travelling during the season when everything
is dried up, we have found a little boy sitting weeping on account of
“hunger,” and the expression “hunger is painful” (_sala kupoteka_)
reminds us that most natives know the fact by experience. Much of this is
due to the tediousness of their cooking. If a party arrive half starving
at a village, it may be several hours before anything can be cooked.
The people do not keep flour on hand, but mill it as it is required for
each meal; and as their meals are at 11 at noon and 6 at night, parties
arriving in the interval must tighten their belts. Native travellers
could easily sympathise with Esau when he sold his birthright.
E.—FOOD AND COOKING.
The cooking is done by the women; but every native is a born cook. When
a buck is shot out in the bush, even little boys will cook it at once.
The staple food at Blantyre is maize; among the Anyasa millet; and at the
mouth of the Shire, rice. Maize and millet are ground into a fine flour
(utandi, ufa), which is made into a kind of porridge (ugali, nsima). This
is eaten without salt, but ought to be accompanied by some relish, as
beans or meat. This porridge takes the place of bread in their meals, as
the natives make no bread. Another way of using maize or millet is in the
native beer (ukana, mowa), the only beverage in common use except water,
which they drink out of the running streams. They drink stagnant water
also. Their method of drinking is peculiar, as they literally throw the
water into the mouth with their hands.
The natives have regularly only two meals a-day, but they may eat maize
stalks or sugar cane or other vegetables from morning till night. There
are often feasts, as on the occasion of hoeing-matches (65), wakes, and
marriage settlements. Beer is used greatly in those cases, and beer
drinkings may be got up also without any special occasion. Sometimes
they last for several days, the last day (lia kusasula) is specially
distinguished for cooking porridge and fowls. Such solid food is not
expected on the other days. There is also singing, dancing, and drumming.
The exercises generally continue the whole night. The parties that do
most to keep up the interest in such dances are paid.
There are no live stock except the small species of fowls and the rats
that we have already mentioned. Some natives keep ducks—Muscovy ducks,
which do not require a pond. Richer people, as village chiefs, possess
goats. The Magololo chiefs have sheep and a few cows.
The Wayao have a superstition against cow’s milk, goat’s milk, and dairy
produce of every kind. (In the same way young people will not eat eggs;
it would make them barren.) They eat hippopotami, elephants, monkeys,
moles, beetles, and even caterpillars. They take kindly to meat that has
begun to putrify. Yet they make a distinction between what animals are
to be eaten and what are not. Any creature that will eat the flesh of a
deceased human being is unclean. It is msawi (106). For instance, while
some eat the raven or kite (likungulu), others protest that it feeds
about the graves.
A person could travel far and wide and trust to native hospitality. If we
arrive at a village at the time that the native is taking his meals we
are invited to partake. A great drawback is that a person not brought up
on native food will be unwilling to risk his health by partaking of their
fare. It cannot be expected that the traveller will fare better than his
host. They soon begin to know people that do not eat freely of native
food, and from motives of politeness they are slow in offering it. If we
pass through a village its inhabitants quietly ask some of our native
retinue whether there is any chance of our tasting the native beer,[2]
and if it be found that the beer will not be refused, the poor creatures
go and search for a cup (if they have one in the whole village). They
judged that, as we were more familiar with cups than with calibashes, the
cup would be the more acceptable. The natives that accompanied us on any
journey were presented with loads of the various fruits of the season.
If one wish to stay all night he will get a house to sleep in. Natives
receive hospitality quite freely, and are prepared when their host comes
to their home to treat him in the same way. When a party from one chief
goes to visit another chief, one of their credentials is a present.
It is a breach of etiquette to eat alone if any one be present. When a
native is at food he shares it with those around him, indeed he goes on
dividing till he has only a mouthful left for himself. Etiquette does not
bind us to partake of their food, but it is a sign of friendship to do so
as far as possible. The natives have no spoons, and Englishmen would burn
their fingers severely in eating porridge in the fashionable manner.
F.—WORK.
The natives go to work at sunrise, and continue until the sun is
overhead. After this their day’s work is finished, and they partake of
their first meal. One reason why the morning meal is so late is that it
would be difficult to have it ready before the people go out to work.
In the afternoon the men sit down and converse. Some do light work, as
sewing, but a great many remain quite idle. The women will be found
pounding maize. They are nearly as strong and tall as the men, perhaps
owing to the heavy work they do. By sunset the second meal is ready.
They have little notion of the division of labour. Natives have not
arrived at such a pitch of education that one of them would spend his
days in making the sixth part of a pin. The little girls from their
earliest years are initiated into all parts of the mysteries of hoeing,
reaping, milling, and cooking. The men are equally ignorant of the
advantages and disadvantages of division of labour. Each man builds
his own house, and makes his own furniture. The only trade that can
maintain a special existence is working in iron—a trade embracing mining,
smelting, and forging. Even in this case most natives know the secrets of
the trade; but to be specially successful they need to obtain a charm.
Agricultural work is the great means of a livelihood. It yields a great
return, for every seed the natives sow they expect to reap hundreds. A
little before the rains they begin to hoe their ground. They first clear
all the trees and wood, which they collect in heaps and burn on the spot.
They use no other manure. When they do work for the English they say they
hoe very slowly, because they are told to hoe deep; but when they hoe
their own land they hoe fast, as a scratch on the surface is considered
sufficient. When the rains come they plant. After the maize grows they
set up the soil round the stems as farmers do with potatoes.
Each house has generally what we might call a garden; but the natives
have no fancy for flowers. The wild flowers in the wood they recognise
as being very pretty; but they laugh at any one that plucks them. They
fancy that a lover of flowers culls them for some charms. The natives
have no word for a garden as distinct from a cultivated field or farm,
but they have often round their houses little beds of tobacco, great
quantities of manioc, and several other useful plants. Indian hemp is
also much cultivated, and is nearly as bad as opium. Near Mazaro opium is
cultivated by a Portuguese Company.
F².—RACES AND CHIEFS.
As we pass out of Portuguese territory we find ourselves in the country
of a chief called Matekenya, on the Lower Shire (Chiri). His people are
the Achikunda. When we reach the Ruwo or Ruo we are perhaps about two
days from Blantyre by land. Here we come to what are called the Magololo,
whose paramount chief is Makukani, although many of the others, as
Katunga and Chiputula, seem to view themselves as independent of him.
Still they say that if he commands they must all follow him to war.
These men though aliens, have established themselves as rulers over the
Anyasa. There is no Magololo tribe here. Passing through these Anyasa we
ascend to Blantyre, where we find ourselves with a chief called Kapeni,
who rules another tribe called the Wayao (Yao), with whom we are best
acquainted.
Then about Zomba, which is other two days farther on, we encounter the
Machinga, who speak practically the same language as the Wayao, and this
language carries us far beyond. Several great chiefs on the east side of
Lake Nyassa are Machinga. Again, when we stand on the south side of Mount
Zomba and look over Lake Chirwa[3] (Shirwa) towards the rising sun we see
mountains that are peopled by the Angulu (or Walolo).
The tradition is that the Anyasa first inhabited the land everywhere
about Zomba; but that the Angulu, who lived at one time on the other side
of the river Lujenda, began to fight the Machinga. The Machinga then went
and encountered the Wayao, who, in turn, pressed on and drove from their
home at Zomba the Anyasa tribe, many of whom now live under the Magololo
on the Lower Shire[3] (Chiri), _i.e._, the Shire below the cataracts.
The Anyasa are also called Anyanja, both words in different languages
of the district mean river- or lake-people. The word Wayao (or Achawa)
suggests a derivation from the personal pronoun. Yao regularly means
“their” (_ipanje yao_ means their property). So the Awa of Achawa is
identical with the personal pronoun. I am inclined to interpret the
name as “The people that hold their own!” until I find something more
satisfactory. The Machinga are really the same tribe, and are called the
“fighting branch of the Yao”. The derivation of their name is in harmony
with this view.
It is instructive to note the descriptions that these tribes give of
other tribes that live at a distance, and are barely known to them. I had
heard such strange particulars about the Makua that I thought they must
be a peculiar people; now so they are, but only just as the Wayao are
peculiar. It was the old story; every race considers itself perfection,
and points to a mote in the eye of a brother race. The language of the
Makua is quite similar to Machinga. I travelled to London with a Makua
with whom I had little difficulty in conversing.
There are two great Wayao chiefs in the district of Blantyre, who are
called Kapeni and Kumpama, and whose head quarters are at Mounts Sochi
and Cherasulo respectively. These are the two large territorial chiefs.
Mkanda of Cherasulo, was at first a headman of Kumpama’s, but rebelled,
and lives on the southern side of that mountain; an easy day’s march from
Blantyre. Kumpama’s territory begins about six miles from Blantyre at
a stream called the Luunsu, and extends to the Namasi, on which is the
old site of the Magomero Mission. The next great centre of population
as we march to the north-east is Zomba, one side of which is owned
by Chemlumbe, a Yao chief. The other side belongs to Malemya, a more
powerful man, who is a Machinga. A little way beyond there is Mount
Chikala, where a still more powerful chief called Kawinga resides; he
is also a Machinga. If we look towards the south from Zomba we see a
great mountain, Mlanje, this marks the domain of Matapwiri. When we wish
in Quilimane to ask for a man who speaks Chiyao or Machinga, we ask
for a person from Matapwiri’s country. There a Matapwiri is used for a
simpleton—one that has not seen the world. It is with this chief that the
Yao of the coast are most associated, as the slave gangs for Quilimane
used to set out from his village.
G.—TRAVELLING AND SALUTATIONS.
_Native Roads._
The native roads are never straight; at best they glide along by an easy
succession of curves. Sometimes the amount of curvature is very annoying.
The path is little more than a foot broad. Each side is covered with tall
grass, which reaches over the traveller’s head. You can only see four
or five paces in front, and you can never predict what course the path
will take after that. The causes of curvature are numerous. Here a tree
fell down long ago and lay across the path. While it still lay every
traveller went round the end of it, and the original path was abandoned,
and replaced by grass that no traveller will care to interfere with. At
another place the path turned aside to go through a little village; but
the village has passed away years ago. At another spot some one had hoed
a field, and made the road go round its border. There are cases too where
the path may have deviated to avoid marshes and difficult crossings. On
many roads we lose one mile in every five. After the grass is burned, or
in bad soil where very little grass grows, one may have the pleasure of
going in a straight line; but where the grass is at all represented no
one can pass through it without the greatest exertion. If a person leave
a native path with the idea of taking a short cut, he may get into a
tangle of long grass and bushes, where his progress will be not more than
one mile in four hours.
_Grass Fires._
One of the best sights in Africa is a large grass fire. No fireworks
in Britain can for a moment compare with this. Broad plains will keep
burning for weeks. At the mission on the side of Mount Zomba, which
overlooked a plain of several days’ journey, the sight of these fires was
very impressive. The trees in the country suffer much.
_Salutations._
The natives in saluting each other say “moni”—a corruption of the English
“morning”. So general did this word become that we have heard people
inclined to fancy that there must really be a native word “moni!” The
native salutation is “mugonile?” “Have you slept well?” Sometimes friends
will ask each other “Are you well?” “Is all well at your home?”
A party arriving at a village observes the greatest formality. After
getting an introduction to the chief of the village he begins to explain
the object of his visit. The explanation is generally most tedious—it
seems to go from the creation downwards—every step being carefully
traced, whether in action or in motive, till the moment of the arrival!
The natives have the greatest respect for the older people. The title
of father is given to such. If we ask anything of a younger man about
30 years of age he will say “I am only a child; ask the old men of gray
hairs”. All the English are saluted as father; even a white child of
a few months is saluted in the words, “moni, moni, atati!” (morning,
morning, father).
_The Inferior Position of Women._
The women hold an inferior position. They are viewed as beasts of burden,
which do all the harder work. When a woman meets any men on the path
the etiquette is for her to go off the path, to kneel (tindiwala), and
clap her hands to the “lords of creation” as they pass. Even if a female
possess male slaves of her own she observes this custom when she meets
them on the public highway. A woman always kneels when she has occasion
to talk to a man. The custom very rapidly disappeared in the region of
the missionaries. When we saw a woman go out of her way, carrying perhaps
half a hundred-weight on her head, with the intention of kneeling down,
and reflecting, as she must, that with her load she might have difficulty
in getting up, we have often playfully shouted out, “You are losing
your way; this is the path,” and she took it for granted that she might
dispense with the clumsy ceremony.