When We Arrived At Any Village The Women All Turned Out
To Lulliloo Their Chief.
Their shrill voices, to which they give
a tremulous sound by a quick motion of the tongue, peal forth,
"Great lion!" "Great chief!" "Sleep, my lord!" etc.
The men utter
similar salutations; and Sekeletu receives all with becoming indifference.
After a few minutes' conversation and telling the news,
the head man of the village, who is almost always a Makololo,
rises, and brings forth a number of large pots of beer.
Calabashes, being used as drinking-cups, are handed round, and as many
as can partake of the beverage do so, grasping the vessels so eagerly
that they are in danger of being broken.
They bring forth also large pots and bowls of thick milk;
some contain six or eight gallons; and each of these, as well as of the beer,
is given to a particular person, who has the power to divide it
with whom he pleases. The head man of any section of the tribe
is generally selected for this office. Spoons not being generally in fashion,
the milk is conveyed to the mouth with the hand. I often presented
my friends with iron spoons, and it was curious to observe
how their habit of hand-eating prevailed, though they were delighted
with the spoons. They lifted out a little with the utensil,
then put it on the left hand, and ate it out of that.
As the Makololo have great abundance of cattle, and the chief is expected
to feed all who accompany him, he either selects an ox or two of his own
from the numerous cattle stations that he possesses at different spots all
over the country, or is presented by the head men of the villages he visits
with as many as he needs by way of tribute. The animals are killed
by a thrust from a small javelin in the region of the heart,
the wound being purposely small in order to avoid any loss of blood,
which, with the internal parts, are the perquisites of the men who perform
the work of the butcher; hence all are eager to render service in that line.
Each tribe has its own way of cutting up and distributing an animal.
Among the Makololo the hump and ribs belong to the chief;
among the Bakwains the breast is his perquisite. After the oxen are cut up,
the different joints are placed before Sekeletu, and he apportions them
among the gentlemen of the party. The whole is rapidly divided
by their attendants, cut into long strips, and so many of these
are thrown into the fires at once that they are nearly put out.
Half broiled and burning hot, the meat is quickly handed round;
every one gets a mouthful, but no one except the chief has time to masticate.
It is not the enjoyment of eating they aim at, but to get as much of the food
into the stomach as possible during the short time the others
are cramming as well as themselves, for no one can eat more than a mouthful
after the others have finished.
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