The Witnesses To Whom
He Has Referred Then Rise Up And Tell All They Themselves Have Seen Or Heard,
But Not Any Thing That They Have Heard From Others.
The defendant,
after allowing some minutes to elapse so that he may not interrupt
any of the opposite party, slowly rises, folds his cloak around him,
and, in the most quiet, deliberate way he can assume -
yawning, blowing his nose, etc.
- Begins to explain the affair,
denying the charge, or admitting it, as the case may be.
Sometimes, when galled by his remarks, the complainant utters
a sentence of dissent; the accused turns quietly to him, and says,
"Be silent: I sat still while you were speaking; can't you do the same?
Do you want to have it all to yourself?" And as the audience acquiesce
in this bantering, and enforce silence, he goes on till he has finished
all he wishes to say in his defense. If he has any witnesses
to the truth of the facts of his defense, they give their evidence.
No oath is administered; but occasionally, when a statement is questioned,
a man will say, "By my father," or "By the chief, it is so."
Their truthfulness among each other is quite remarkable;
but their system of government is such that Europeans are not in a position
to realize it readily. A poor man will say, in his defense
against a rich one, "I am astonished to hear a man so great as he
make a false accusation;" as if the offense of falsehood
were felt to be one against the society which the individual referred to
had the greatest interest in upholding.
If the case is one of no importance, the chief decides it at once;
if frivolous, he may give the complainant a scolding,
and put a stop to the case in the middle of the complaint,
or he may allow it to go on without paying any attention to it whatever.
Family quarrels are often treated in this way, and then a man may be seen
stating his case with great fluency, and not a soul listening to him.
But if it is a case between influential men, or brought on by under-chiefs,
then the greatest decorum prevails. If the chief does not see his way clearly
to a decision, he remains silent; the elders then rise one by one
and give their opinions, often in the way of advice rather than as decisions;
and when the chief finds the general sentiment agreeing in one view,
he delivers his judgment accordingly. He alone speaks sitting;
all others stand.
No one refuses to acquiesce in the decision of the chief,
as he has the power of life and death in his hands, and can enforce the law
to that extent if he chooses; but grumbling is allowed,
and, when marked favoritism is shown to any relative of the chief,
the people generally are not so astonished at the partiality
as we would be in England.
This system was found as well developed among the Makololo
as among the Bakwains, or even better, and is no foreign importation.
When at Cassange, my men had a slight quarrel among themselves,
and came to me, as to their chief, for judgment. This had occurred
several times before, so without a thought I went out of
the Portuguese merchant's house in which I was a guest,
sat down, and heard the complaint and defense in the usual way.
When I had given my decision in the common admonitory form,
they went off apparently satisfied. Several Portuguese,
who had been viewing the proceedings with great interest,
complimented me on the success of my teaching them how to act in litigation;
but I could not take any credit to myself for the system which I had found
ready-made to my hands.
Soon after our arrival at Linyanti, Sekeletu took me aside,
and pressed me to mention those things I liked best and hoped to get from him.
Any thing, either in or out of his town, should be freely given
if I would only mention it. I explained to him that my object
was to elevate him and his people to be Christians; but he replied
he did not wish to learn to read the Book, for he was afraid
"it might change his heart, and make him content with only one wife,
like Sechele." It was of little use to urge that the change of heart implied
a contentment with one wife equal to his present complacency in polygamy.
Such a preference after the change of mind could not now be understood by him
any more than the real, unmistakable pleasure of religious services can
by those who have not experienced what is known by the term the "new heart".
I assured him that nothing was expected but by his own voluntary decision.
"No, no; he wanted always to have five wives at least."
I liked the frankness of Sekeletu, for nothing is so wearying to the spirit
as talking to those who agree with every thing advanced.
Sekeletu, according to the system of the Bechuanas,
became possessor of his father's wives, and adopted two of them;
the children by these women are, however, in these cases, termed brothers.
When an elder brother dies, the same thing occurs in respect of his wives;
the brother next in age takes them, as among the Jews,
and the children that may be born of those women he calls brothers also.
He thus raises up seed to his departed relative. An uncle of Sekeletu,
being a younger brother of Sebituane, got that chieftain's head-wife or queen:
there is always one who enjoys this title. Her hut is called the great house,
and her children inherit the chieftainship. If she dies,
a new wife is selected for the same position, and enjoys the same privileges,
though she may happen to be a much younger woman than the rest.
The majority of the wives of Sebituane were given to influential under-chiefs;
and, in reference to their early casting off the widow's weeds,
a song was sung, the tenor of which was that the men alone felt the loss
of their father Sebituane, the women were so soon supplied with new husbands
that their hearts had not time to become sore with grief.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 81 of 295
Words from 83023 to 84084
of 306638
