THE BEMBA TRIBE OF NORTH-EASTERN RHODESIA 95
like most of the Central Bantu group to which they belong. They keep no cattle. Tsetse-fly at present prevents their keeping stock over most of the country, but in any case they seem to have no pastoral traditions, whatever they may have had formerly. Thus they have no means of storing wealth as have the Southern Bantu. Their marriage contracts are fulfilled by service and not by the passage of cattle. In the old days military glory and the extraction of tribute from conquered peoples seems to have been the dominant ambition of the Bemba chiefs, and their wealth consisted in the size of their following and the amount of service they were able to command. This fact profoundly influences their position at the present day (cf. p. 116).
The soil of most of this district is poor and it ha§ not attracted white settlement. The staple crop is finger millet (eleusine core-cana)y while some kafir corn, a little maize, legumes, and pumpkins are also grown. The people practise shifting cultivation of a primitive type, and the plentiful supply of land and the lack of any localized natural resources which might attract the inhabitants to settle in one area rather than another all affect the political system. As has been shown, they decrease the strength of local ties as against political or kinship affiliations, and they account for the fact that the power to distribute land is not an important prerogative of leadership in distinction to conditions in most Southern Bantu tribes.
Hunting and fishing contribute a small share of the food-supply only. Organized marketing does not exist, and under modern conditions no cash crop has been found for this area. This fact, together with the absence of opportunities for local employment, forces the adult male population to look for work outside the tribal area, with resultant effects, as will be seen, on the political system of the tribe.
(d) White Administration. The type of white administration introduced in this area is described on pp. 112-20.
777. Bases of Authority
The positions of leadership in Bemba society consist of the following offices: (a) territorial rulers (chiefs and headmen); (b) administrative officers and councillors; (c) priests, guardians of sacred shrines, and magic specialists with economic functions; (d) army leaders in the old days. Succession to all these offices is