In Case Of An Elephant
Being Killed, He Also Takes A Share Of The Meat, And Claims One
Of Its Tusks As His Right; Further, All Leopard, Lion, Or Zebra
Skins Are His By Right.
On merchandise brought into the country
by traders, he has a general right to make any exactions he
thinks he has the power of enforcing, without any regard to
justice or a regulated tariff.
This right is called Hongo, in the
plural Mahongo. Another source of revenue is in the effects of
all people condemned for sorcery, who are either burnt, or
speared and cast into the jungles, and their property seized by
the grey-beards for their chief.
As to punishments, all irreclaimable thieves or murderers are
killed and disposed of in the same manner as these sorcerers;
whilst on minor thieves a penalty equivalent to the extent of the
depredation is levied. Illicit intercourse being treated as
petty larceny, a value is fixed according to the value of the
woman - for it must be remembered all women are property. Indeed,
marriages are considered a very profitable speculation, the
girl's hand being in the father's gift, who marries her to any
one who will pay her price. This arrangement, however, is not
considered a simple matter of buying and selling, but delights in
the high-sounding title of "dowry." Slaves, cows, goats, fowls,
brass wire, or beads, are the usual things given for this species
of dowry. The marriage-knot, however, is never irretrievably
tied; for if the wife finds a defect in her husband, she can
return to her father by refunding the dowry; whilst the husband,
if he objects to his wife, can claim half-price on sending her
home again, which is considered fair, because as a second-hand
article her future value would be diminished by half. By this
system, it must be observed, polygamy is a source of wealth,
since a man's means are measured by the number of his progeny;
but it has other advantages besides the dowry, for the women work
more than the men do, both in and out of doors; and, in addition
to the females, the sons work for the household until they marry,
and in after life take care of their parents in the same way as
in the first instance the parents took care of them.
Twins are usually hailed with delight, because they swell the
power of the family, though in some instances they are put to
death. Albinos are valued, though their colour is not admired.
If death occurs in a natural manner, the body is usually either
buried in the village or outside. A large portion of the negro
races affect nudity, despising clothing as effeminate; but these
are chiefly the more boisterous roving pastorals, who are too
lazy either to grow cotton or strip the trees of their bark.
Their young women go naked; but the mothers suspend a little tail
both before and behind. As the hair of the negro will not grow
long, a barber might be dispensed with, were it not that they
delight in odd fashions, and are therefore continually either
shaving it off altogether, or else fashioning it after the most
whimsical designs. No people in the world are so proud and
headstrong as the negroes, whether they be pastoral or
agriculturalists. With them, as with the rest of the world,
"familiarity breeds contempt"; hospitality lives only one day;
for though proud of a rich or white visitor - and they implore him
to stop, that they may keep feeding their eyes on his
curiosities - they seldom give more than a cow or a goat, though
professing to supply a whole camp with provisions.
Taking the negroes as a whole, one does not find very marked or
much difference in them. Each tribe has its characteristics, it
is true. For instance, one cuts his teeth or tattoos his face in
a different manner from the others; but by the constant
intermarriage with slaves, much of this effect is lost, and it is
further lost sight of owing to the prevalence of migrations
caused by wars and the division of governments. As with the
tribal marks so with their weapons; those most commonly in use
are the spear, assage, shield, bow and arrow. It is true some
affect one, some the other; but in no way do we see that the
courage of tribes can be determined by the use of any particular
weapon: for the bravest use the arrow, which is the more dreaded;
while the weakest confine themselves to the spear. Lines of
traffic are the worst tracks (there are no roads in the districts
here referred to) for a traveller to go upon, not only because
the hospitality of the people has been damped by frequent
communication with travellers, but, by intercourse with the semi-
civilised merchant, their natural honour and honesty are
corrupted, their cupidity is increased, and the show of firearms
ceases to frighten them.
Of paramount consideration is the power held by the magician
(Mganga), who rules the minds of the kings as did the old popes
of Europe. They, indeed, are a curse to the traveller; for if it
suits their inclinations to keep him out of the country, they
have merely to prognosticate all sorts of calamities - as
droughts, famines, or wars - in the event of his setting eyes on
the soil, and the chiefs, people, and all, would believe them;
for, as may be imagined, with men unenlightened, supernatural and
imaginary predictions work with more force than substantial
reasons. Their implement of divination, simple as it may appear,
is a cow's or antelope's horn (Uganga), which they stuff with
magic powder, also called Uganga. Stuck into the ground in front
of the village, it is supposed to have sufficient power to ward
off the attacks of an enemy.
By simply holding it in the hand, the magician pretends he can
discover anything that has been stolen or lost; and instances
have been told of its dragging four men after it with
irresistible impetus up to a thief, when it be-laboured the
culprit and drove him out of his senses.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 3 of 207
Words from 2024 to 3057
of 210958
