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. They are eminently gregarious
in their eating; and, as they despise any one who eats alone,
I always poured out two cups of coffee at my own meals, so that the chief,
or some one of the principal men, might partake along with me.
They all soon become very fond of coffee; and, indeed, some of the tribes
attribute greater fecundity to the daily use of this beverage.
They were all well acquainted with the sugar-cane, as they cultivate it
in the Barotse country, but knew nothing of the method of extracting
the sugar from it.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 323 of 1070
Words from 92668 to 92982
of 306638
