In this story some liberty is taken with the Kaffir marriage
ceremonies, a description of which will serve as a key to much that is
contained in several of these tales. The whole of the ceremonies are
included in the term umdudo, a word derived from the verb ukududa,
which means to dance by springing up and down, as ukuxentsa means to
dance by moving the upper part of the body. The dance at a marriage is
considered of more importance than any of the others, and is therefore
frequently practised until skill in its performance is attained.
The marriage of a young Kaffir woman is arranged by her father or
guardian, and she is not legally supposed to be consulted in the choice
of a husband. In point of fact, however, matches arising from mutual
love are not uncommon. In such cases, if any difficulties are raised by
the guardians on either side, the young people do not scruple to run
away together, after which their relatives usually come to an
arrangement. Yet instances are not wanting of girls being compelled
against their wishes to marry old men, who have already perhaps five or
six wives. Kaffir ideas of some kinds of morality are very low. The
custom is general for a married woman to have a lover who is not her
husband, and little or no disgrace attaches to her on this account. The
lover is legally subject to a fine of no great amount, and the husband
may give the woman a beating, but that finishes the penalty.
That which makes a Kaffir marriage binding in their estimation, is not
the performance of a ceremony, but the transfer of a certain number of
cattle, as agreed upon, from the husband or his friends to the father
or guardian of the woman. In practice the umdudo is often deferred to a
convenient season, yet the woman is considered not less a wife, and her
children not less legal, provided always that the transfer of cattle
has taken place according to agreement. This system of transfer of
cattle is of great advantage to a Kaffir female. It protects her from
gross ill-treatment by her husband, as violence gives a woman’s
relatives a right to claim her divorce without restoring the cattle. It
creates protectors for herself and her children in the persons of all
the individuals among whom the cattle are shared. And lastly, it gives
her the status of a married woman in the estimation of her people,
whereas, if no cattle are transferred, she is not regarded by them as
having the rank of a wife.
Marriages are absolutely prohibited between people of the same family
title. This peculiarity seems to indicate that the tribes and clans of
the present day are combinations of others that were dispersed before
their traditional history commenced. A man may marry a woman of the
same clan that he belongs to, provided she is not a blood relative; but
he may not marry a woman whose father’s family title is the same as his
own, even though no relationship can be traced between them, and the
one may belong to the Xosa and the other to the Pondo tribe. As an
instance, we will take a man who belongs to, say, the Dushane clan of
the Xosa tribe, and whose family title is the Amanywabe. Among the
Tembus, the Pondos, the Zulus, and many other tribes, are people with
this same family title. They cannot trace any relationship with each
other, but wherever they are found they have ceremonies peculiar to
themselves. Thus the customs observed at the birth of a child are
exactly the same in every part of the country among people of the same
family title, though they may never have heard of each other, while
neighbours of the same clan, but of different family titles, have these
customs altogether dissimilar. All the children take the family title
of the father, and can thus marry people of the same family title as
the mother, provided they are not closely related in blood.
Marriage proposals may come from the father or guardian of the young
woman, or they may first be made by the man himself or the relatives of
the man who wishes to take a wife. The father of a young man frequently
selects a bride for him, and intimates his wish by sending a messenger
to make proposals to the girl’s father or guardian. In this case the
messenger takes some cattle with him, when, if the advances are
favourably received, an assagai is sent back, after which the relatives
of the young people discuss and finally arrange the terms of the
marriage. If the proposal comes from the girl’s father, he sends an
assagai, which is accepted if the suit is agreeable, or returned if it
is not.
When the preliminary arrangements are concluded, a bridal procession is
formed at the young woman’s kraal, to escort her to her future home. It
consists of her relatives and all the young people of both sexes who
can get away. It leaves at such a time as to arrive at its destination
after dark, and endeavours to reach the place without attracting
notice. The bridal party takes with it a cow, given by the bride’s
father or guardian to confer fortune upon her, and hence called the
Inqakwe. This cow is afterwards well taken care of by the husband. The
party has also an ox provided by the same person, as his contribution
towards the marriage feast. On the following morning at daylight the ox
is killed, when a portion of the meat is taken by the bride’s party,
and the remainder is left for the people of the kraal. The bridegroom’s
friends then send messengers to invite the people of the neighbourhood
to the feast, and as soon as these arrive the dancing commences.
In the dance the men stand in lines three, four, or more rows in depth,
according to their number, and at a little distance behind the women
stand in the same order, that is, they are ranged as follows:—
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LINES
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OF
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MEN.
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