THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES OF NORTHERN RHODESIA
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA • MADRAS MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO
THP: MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
Photo E. W. Smith.
THE SUPERIOR ILA TYPE. (See p. 59. )
Notice the three cuts on the temple (a tribal mark), the white impande, the tall head-dress (only partly shown), and the birds' feathers.
THE
ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
OF
NORTHERN RHODESIA
BY
4>*
REV. EDWIN W: SMITH
HONORARY CHAPLAIN TO THE FORCES
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
AUTHOR OF "A HANDBOOK OF THE ILA LANGUAGE," ETC.
CHIEF TRANSLATOR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IN ILA
AND
CAPTAIN ANDREW MURRAY DALE
MAGISTRATE IN THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY'S ADMINISTRATION
, 6i>r)Toiffiv avularuv TTO^WV trtp, d(f>paffr&repoj TrAereu v^pv avtipdiroiaiv.
HOMER.
IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1 920
QIV
G57
598387
5.o . I3L - 54
COPYRIGHT
TO
OUR MOTHERS
PREFACE
As we hope that this work may be taken as a serious con- tribution to African ethnography, it is perhaps best that we should present our credentials and describe briefly our methods of research and the principles that have guided us.
When we entered the Ila country — the one in 1902 and the other at the end of 1904 — neither was a stranger to African life. Mr. Smith had served his Church for four years in South Africa and knew the Suto and (to some extent) the Xosa languages. Mr. Dale, after serving in the Matabele and Bechuanaland campaigns and the Boer War, was for three years (1902-4) Assistant Native Com- missioner of the Wankie district in Southern Rhodesia, knew the Tebele language, and had also travelled among the Tonga people on the north bank of the Zambesi.
Finding ourselves among a people that were almost unknown to the outside world, we threw ourselves into a study of their language and customs, our motive being, not the production of a book of this kind, but simply that we might prosecute our callings as missionary and magistrate to the best advantage. For whether one is to teach or govern, one's first duty is to understand the people. In the course of years we found our stock of information accumulating, and in 1909 we determined to collaborate in a book that should record the results of our research. From that time we continued our investigations deliberately with that end in view. From first to last, this book is, then, the result of some thirteen years' first-hand study.
The completion and publication of the book have been delayed by the War. When news of its outbreak reached us, Mr. Dale immediately left the farm which he had been
x THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
occupying since leaving the British South Africa Company's service in 1910, and obtained a commission in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Mr. Smith returned to England in the following spring and went at once to the Front as chaplain. Captain Dale was severely wounded at Loos in the September advance (1915), and after recovery was invalided out of the army and returned to the British South Africa Company's service. Our manuscript was complete as to material but somewhat chaotic in form in 1915, and revision for publication had to wait until a fitting time. Then further delay ensued as conditions were not propitious for the publication of such a work.
We trust that the co-operation of missionary and magis- trate may prove to be as successful as we have hoped. For ourselves — without wishing to prejudge our own attempt— we think the conjunction a happy one. It is commonly said that clergymen see the best in human nature and lawyers the worst ; if they put their heads together they should be able to see life whole. Too often in Africa there is a certain amount of restraint between the government officials and the missionaries. Such should not be, and we are happy in the knowledge that between us nothing of the kind ever existed. Working along different lines and using different methods, we recognised that our aim was one, and were able cordially and loyally to support each other. And then working in our different spheres, as might be expected, we became familiar with different aspects of the life of the Ba-ila. On his constant peregrinations through the district and in his court, the magistrate was in touch with many things that did not come much in the way of the missionary, who, however, in his more stationary life had his own advantages. After Mr. Dale left the govern- ment service in 1910 and settled on a farm within sight of the Kasenga Mission, we had very frequent opportunities for consultation.
The field was carefully mapped out between us. The sections for which Mr. Smith is primarily responsible are those marked with an asterisk under the chapter heading ; Captain Dale's are marked with two asterisks ; and the chapters in which both have had a share are marked * **
PREFACE xi
or ** *, according as one or the other predominates. But every chapter has been revised by us both in all the stages of writing, and the information collected by the one care- fully checked by the other, so that we may claim the colla- boration to have been of the closest.
We have no need to point out to those who have preceded us in this line the many difficulties we have had to face, and only those know the difficulties who have essayed the same task. The Ba-ila do not readily communicate to a foreigner their ideas and customs ; direct interrogation often fails — generally fails, indeed, except where complete confidence has been won beforehand — for they either profess to know nothing or deliberately give misleading answers. It is only by tactfully leading conversation in the desired direction and not pressing it too far that one succeeds in getting information in this way. We have been assiduous note-takers, not trusting to our memories, and our book is partly the outcome of many hundreds of conversations recorded at the time and carefully collated. Most of what we have written about we have witnessed, and our impres- sions were noted at once. In some instances where we could not see the ceremonies we were able to induce trust- worthy men to dictate us descriptions of them. Neither missionary nor magistrate can afford, as passing travellers sometimes have allowed themselves, to intrude upon the sanctities of native life, and hence there are some things about which we can report only at second hand, but in all such cases we have been careful to get the most reliable evidence.
We aimed at securing a large collection of native texts. The Ba-ila had no written literature ; when we knew them first their language had never been reduced to writing ; and so we had to obtain these texts in one of two ways — either by writing them ourselves from dictation or, in later years, by employing the assistance of young men trained in the mission schools. By far the greater part of our collection was written down by ourselves.
Of our assistants, one, a true Mwila, lived with Mr. Smith for ten years and became very expert in this depart- ment. After having a long conversation with a friendly
xii THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
chief, in the course of which some custom had been discussed, we would instruct this young man, Kayobe, to write down the substance at once, and with training he became able to do this with great accuracy ; then, if some points were found obscure, Kayobe would have further interviews with the chief — who might be more frank with him alone — and bring us the record in writing. Sometimes he would write us spontaneously a long account of something he had known or had discovered for himself. Such accounts, and indeed all we received from him, were carefully checked with others. His help has been invaluable to us, and we are glad to put it on record.
Our other native helper is a son of Sezongo II. of Nanzela, a very intelligent young man, who, besides writing down notes on customs, collected from old chiefs and wrote down a history of his father's people.
We have aimed throughout at drawing information from the old men. We became on friendly terms with many of the elderly chiefs, and in particular with Mungalo of Kasenga, who gave us a great deal of information, and whose death was not only a loss to our book, but was felt with great personal sorrow by us both. None of our native informants, we may mention, spoke English.
These native texts we desired to publish in parallel columns with an English translation, in imitation- of Dr. Galloway's Religious System of the Amazulu, but this has not been found possible. We have quoted the translation largely, and often where no quotation marks are employed our descriptions follow it closely.
Another source of information drawn upon by us is the records of cases tried in the magistrates' courts. With the permission of His Honour the Administrator (whose interest in our work we gratefully acknowledge) and with the hearty co-operation of the officials, we were able to examine and analyse these records. We have quoted many of the cases, changing the names of the parties concerned ; but apart from these illustrations the records were of great assistance in setting us on the track of customs and ideas we did not know of before.
Our work, it will be seen, is not prepared for ordinary
PREFACE xiii
domestic consumption. We have endeavoured to describe the life as it is in actuality, and any one attempting this with frankness must be prepared to see his work confined to a comparatively narrow circle of readers. While not professing to be scientifically trained anthropologists, we have written with such experts in mind, and if we have succeeded in giving them any valuable material for their studies we shall be glad.
At the same time we wish to say that we have studied the Ba-ila, not as curious zoological specimens, but as fellow men and women ; our interest in them is far from being academic. We have devoted some of our best years to their improvement. We believe them to be a people of great capacity, who with sympathetic, patient, firm guidance may advance very far. And in writing our book we have had our successors in view, whether magistrates or mission- aries. They will take up their labours at a more advanced point than that at which we could commence ours ; we trust their success will be proportionately greater than ours. It is a doctrine commonly enough taught in these days, but (if we may assume the preacher's gown for a moment) we would like here to emphasise its truth on all who follow us. We would say to them : learn to look at the world through the eyes of your people, make their language and ways of thinking as much as possible your own, saturate yourself in their folklore. If your studies in preparation for your present task have had to do with law and theology, let your mind now be given to the people, and study them with an ardour equal at least to that you gave to your professional studies. And withal, do not forget that these Ba-ila are flesh and blood and soul as you and we are. It is to help you and so help the Ba-ila that we have chiefly written this book.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the help we have received from colleagues in the Mission and Service and from others, either in the way of items of information, suggestions, or photographs : Mrs. E. W. Smith and Mrs. Price ; the Revs. Arthur Baldwin, W. Chapman, J. W. Price, J. A. Kerswell ; Messrs. F. V. Worthington (late Secretary for Native Affairs), Macaulay, Nicholls, Handley, Heath, Ryan, Earee, Daffarn, Lynch. From the Directors of the British South
VOL. i b
xiv THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
Africa Company we have received encouragement and assistance. Dr. Rivers of Cambridge and Sir H. H. Johnston have kindly read over parts of our manuscript and favoured us with suggestions. Professor Conway of Manchester Uni- versity translated those few sections that we thought better to put into Latin. To all these we offer our thanks.
The small community of British resident in the Kafue districts of Northern Rhodesia has a fine record in the War- proportionate to its numbers, a record second to none. The Administration was embarrassed by the numbers of officials who were eager to leave their posts to join the fighting forces ; many returned to England for the purpose, or joined the expedition under Major Boyd Cunningham that was sent to the German East Africa frontier, an expedition that com- prised almost every man among the settlers who had not already enlisted in other units. Those who remained, while their friends were moving amidst stirring events elsewhere, did equally valuable service in quietly carrying on their work of controlling the erstwhile turbulent tribes. It is a fine testimony, alike to the loyalty of the natives and to the character of the British South Africa Company's rule, that the natives, who readily appreciated the justness of the cause in which the Empire was fighting, not only remained quiet, but served in large numbers as carriers. The natives of Rhodesia and the whole of South Africa, represented by our enemies as groaning beneath the heel of England, never had a better opportunity of throwing off their allegiance than during the preoccupation of Britain in the War ; at least they might have caused very serious embarrassment ; and they remained splendidly loyal. Let that be remembered. Of those whose help we have recorded, Ryan went to command a vessel in the northern seas and do very valu- able work in submarine detection ; Daffarn was early killed on the German frontier ; Macaulay, who had recently retired from the Service after a long career, was killed on the Western front ; Lynch fell, a Lieut. -Colonel and D.S.O., at the head of his battalion ; Handley, after serving through the Cameroons campaign, was twice wounded in France, gained the Military Cross and bar, and finally was killed while leading his company of Coldstream Guards into
PREFACE xv
action ; Heath and Earee both served in France, and the former was wounded. Nor can we forget the two veterans, whose names will always be associated with the early ex- ploration of North-west Rhodesia — Colonel Gibbons and Captain F. C. Selous, D.S.O., who were killed, the one in Gallipoli and the other in East Africa. Little did we think, when first drafting this Preface early in 1914, that we should have to conclude it in this way.
EDWIN W. SMITH. ANDREW DALE.
P.S. — This preface was already printed when news came from Africa that, for me as for others, took the spring put of the year. Andrew Dale died of blackwater fever at Mumbwa, Northern Rhodesia, on May i, 1919. He did not live to see a line of our book in type. It was as a crippled and broken man, without a regret, that, after heroic suffer- ing, he returned to Africa and re-entered the British South Africa Company's service in the hope of setting free a younger and more active man for military duty. It was always his express desire that the personal note should be kept out of our book, and so, though I could and would like to write more of my friend, I refrain. I will only say that of the men I have known none has come nearer my ideal of what a man should be. Happy Britain to have such sons as he to represent her among the backward races !
E. W. S.
UNION CLUB, ROME, June 28, 1919.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTORY NOTE .
PAGE
ix
XXI XXV
THE ENVIRONMENT
PART I CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II HISTORY .
1. PREHISTORIC ....
2. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE BA-ILA
3. CONFLICTS WITH FOREIGN FOES
4. CONTACT OF THE BA-ILA WITH EUROPEANS
APPENDIX: NAMES OF CHIEFS
17 i?
22
25 46
57
CHAPTER III PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS : DRESS AND DECORATION
1. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS .
2. CLOTHING AND DECORATION .
xvii
59
59 96
xviii THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PART II CHAPTER IV
PAGE
BUILDING OPERATIONS AND VILLAGE LIFE . . .109
1. DESCRIPTION OF A VILLAGE. . . . 109
2. LIFE IN A NATIVE VILLAGE. . . .123
CHAPTER V
DOMESTIC ANIMALS . . . . . .127
CHAPTER VI
AGRICULTURE, FOODS, NARCOTICS . . ,. 135
1. METHODS OF AGRICULTURE . . . 135
2. A CALENDAR. . • . . . .140
3. FOODS AND COOKING . . . .142
4. A LIST OF FOODS AND DRINKS . . .149
5. NARCOTICS . . . . . .152
CHAPTER VII
HUNTING AND FISHING . . . . -153
1. METHODS OF HUNTING . . 153
2. METHODS OF FISHING . . . 159
3. SOME HUNTING AND FISHING CUSTOMS : .167
CHAPTER VIII
WARFARE . . . . . . .170
CHAPTER IX
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS ,: . . .180
1. WORK IN IVORY . . . . .180
2. SKIN-DRESSING . . .183
3. STRINGS : - . . . .183
4. BASKETRY . . . . .187
CONTENTS xix
PAGE
5. WORKING IN CLAY . . . .191
6. WOODWORK .... !o6
7. IRONWORK : (a) SMELTING . . 202
8. ,, (b) BLACKSMITHING . . .211
CHAPTER X
LEECHCRAFT ..... 222
1. BA-ILA IDEAS OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY . 222
2. MEDICINES . . . . . . 228
3. DISEASES AND REMEDIES . . '. .231
4. THE CAUSES OF DISEASE . . . . 244
5. SNAKE-BITES, ETC. ..... 245
6. THE USE OF APHRODISIACS, ETC. . . .249
7. AMULETS AND TALISMANS . . . . 250
8. THE PRACTITIONERS: (a) THE DIVINER . . 265 9- » „ (b) THE DOCTOR . . 272
PART III
CHAPTER XI SOCIAL ORGANISATION ..... 283
1. THE FAMILY . . . . . 283
2. THE CLAN . . ... . . . 287
3. THE COMMUNITY . . . . 298
4. SECONDARY SOCIAL GROUPS .... 308 APPENDIX I. : LIST OF MIKOA .... 310
„ II. : LIST OF COMMUNITIES . . -313
CHAPTER XII
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP . 316
xx THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
CHAPTER XIII
I'AGE
REGULATION OF THE COMMUNAL LIFE . 343
1. THE SANCTIONS ..... 343
2. CHISAPI, BUDITAZHI, TONDA .... 346
3. JUDICIAL PROCESSES ..... 349
CHAPTER XIV
ETIQUETTE: THE LAWS OF POLITE BEHAVIOUR . .361
1. SALUTATIONS. ... . . . . 362
2. NAMES ...... 365
3. OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON : (a) BUDITAZHI
OFFENCES ..... 370
4. OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON: (b) MATUSHI . 374
5. THE REGARD FOR TRUTH . . . .378
CHAPTER XV
THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY ..... 380
1. How PROPERTY is ACQUIRED . . .380
2. INHERITANCE ..... 390
3. OFFENCES AGAINST PROPERTY . . . 392
CHAPTER XVI
SLAVERY ....... 398
1. How PEOPLE BECOME SLAVES . . . 398
2. CHARACTER OF THE SLAVERY . . . 408
CHAPTER XVII
THE REGARD FOR LIFE . . . . .413
1. HOMICIDE .' . . . . .413
2. FETICIDE . . . . • . .418
3. INFANTICIDE . . . . . .419
4. SUICIDE . . . . . . 421
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Superior I la Type .... Frontispiece
On the Bwila Plain . . . . . .4
The Kafue River at Mwengwa .... 5
The River Kafue, flowing through the Plain ... 6
Bridge over the Kafue River ..... 7
On the Kafue River ...... 8
" Where Afric's Sunny Fountains " . . . .10
On the Nansenga River . . . . .11
On the Kafue Plain . . . . . .13
A Scene at Kasenga . . . . .15
Grooves in Rock in Batoka Hills, twenty miles south of Kaunga 19 Mukubu, Dr. Livingstone's servant . . . .30
The Nambala Mountain . . . . -37
Leselo, one of our Informants. A Balumbu Type . . 45
Facsimile of a Small Section of Livingstone's Original Map of the Zambesi River Territory made on his Great Journey across Africa, 1853-54 . . . . .48
Mungaila II., Chief of the Bamala . . . .56
The Inferior I la Type . . . . ."60
A Young Mwila wearing the Impumbe. . . .62
An Old-Man-of-the-Woods from Mulendema's . . .64
Chikatakala, " The Polar Bear," a Chief at Kasenga . . 65
A Dwarf ....... 67
A Mixed Ila-Luba Type . . . . .68
Cast of Lower Teeth of a Native . . . .69
Bambala Girls ...... 70
Sewing the Isusu . . . . . .72
xxii THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
I'AGE
Sewing the Isusu . . . . . .73
Some Ba-ila Youngsters . . . . 74
Some Ba-ila Youngsters . . . . -75
Repairing the Impumbe .... 76
After repairing the Impumbe : shaving the Head . 77
The Chief Chibaluma. Mixed I la and Luba Type . . 78
The Chief Chibaluma. Mixed Ila and Luba Type . . 79 Mulungushi ....... 80
A Young Mwila . . . ' . '. . .81
Ba-ila Women and Children . . . . .84
Two Ba-ila Girls . . . . 85
Namushia, Son of Mungaila, Chief at Kasenga . . .88
Namushia, Son of Mungaila, Chief at Kasenga . . .89
Young Ba-ila fresh from the Hairdresser . . .90
The Chief Shimunungu and two of his Men . . .91
A Baluba Type . . . . • • 93
A Mwila ....... 95
A Nanzela Doctor ...... 97
On the March . ... .98
Swimming a River ...... 99
A Mwila Woman . . . . . .100
In Festive Attire . . . . . .102
Ba-ila Warriors . . . . . .103
A War Dance . . . . . .104
Bambwela Type . . . . . .105
A Village at Kasenga . . . . . . 1 1 o
The Chief Shaloba . . t . . i j i
Plan of Lubwe Village . . . . . 112
A Batwa Village . . . . . .115
Principal Hut of the Chief Sezongo at Nanzela . . 117
In a Basodi Village . . ... . . .118
Plan of a House . . . . - . . .119
Ornamentation . .. . . . .120
Plan of Fireplace . . . . . .120
The Fireback . . . . . . .120
Mulendema and his Family at Home . . . .122
The Chief Shaloba and his Band . . . .125
ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii
PAGB
Cattle drinking in the Kafue River . . . .128
The Ba-ila Churn . . . . . .131
Cattle on the Kafue Plain . . . 133
Filling the Grain Bin . . . . . . 1 36
Grain Bins (Matala) . . . . . .138
Balumbu Women stamping Corn . . . .147
Bows and Arrows . . . . . .154
Diagram of Game Trap . . . . .157
A Quick Catch . . . . . .160
Fish-hook ^ . . . . . .161
The Ivhumbo Fish-trap . . . . .162
The Mono Fish-trap . . . . . .163
Plan of the Mielo Weir . . . . .163
Preparing for the Fishing. Making the Isasa . . .164
The Mielo in Position (General View) . . . .165
The Mielo in Position (Nearer View) . . . .166
Plan of the Weir : Kukosola Chimpinda . . .167
Ba-ila Warriors . . . . . .171
A Mimic Fight . . . . . .172
A Mimic Fight: Hurling the Spears . . . 173
A Mimic Fight : The Charge . . . . .174
A Mimic Fight : Spearing the Earth at the End of a Charge . 175
A Mimic Fight : A Group of admiring Female Spectators . 176
Returning from the Fight . . . . .177
The Ivory-turner . . . . . . .. 181
Knots-used by the Ba-ila . . . . .184
Making a Net . . . . . .185
Basketry : Base of the Iniumba . . . .186
Basket-making . . . . . .187
Woman making an Intundu Basket : Laying out the Base . 188
Woman making an Intundu Basket . . . .189
Making a Chizongo Basket (First Stage) . . .190
Making a Chizongo Basket . . . . .191
Pot-making (First Stage) . . . . .192
Pot-making (Later Stage) . . . . .193
Preparing to bake the Pots . . . . .194
Ba-ila Pots . . . . . . '. 195
xxiv THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PAGE
Pipe-heads . . . . . . . 1 96
Ba-ila Pipes and Pipe-heads . . , . . .197
Wood-carver at Work: Making an Indandala Drum . .198
Specimens of Woodwork from Nanzela . . .199
Milk-pails and Bowls from Nanzela . . . .199
Ba-ila Stools . . . . . . . 200
Canoe-making: Shaping the Trunk . . . .201
Canoe-making : the Job complete .... 202
Old Inganzo (Smelting-kilns) ..... 204
Old Inganzo (Smelting-kilns) . . . . . 206
The Smithy . . . . . . .211
The Blacksmith at Work . . . . .213
Some Ba-ila Spears . . . . . .216
Ba-ila Axes . . . . . . .217
Battle-axe (Bukana) . . . . . .218
Blacksmith's Work . . . . . .220
Lukalo, a Leper Woman . . . . 233
Bracelets and Charms . . . . . .251
A Bambala Doctor . . . . . .273
A Doctor's Outfit . . . . ... 275
Part of Chibaluma's Family . . . . .285
A Group of Ba-Lenje from Shitanda .... 290
Father and Sons ...... 306
Government Officials holding a Court at Itumbi . . 353
A Mwila Woman carrying a Water-pot . . .383
An Old Slave Woman ...... 409
Map of a Part of N. Rhodesia .... To face p. xxv
.Shim.fumb.
(MAKONA) J NAMAUMBI ^+*
. .- — >• »Mul«bw«nt»^
ICHILA •Shivwambwl
B A B I Z H I
APART of
NORTHERN RHODESIA
To illustrate "THE ILA'SPEAKING PEOPLES of
Compiled from Official Sources.
Communities thus.KASENGA Government Stations, thus •
Villages thus, Mala Mission Stations, thus t
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
WHO are the " Ila-speaking peoples " ?
Generally speaking, they are the people usually known as the Mashukulumbwe, or, as Livingstone spelt it, Bashu- kulompo. This is not the name by which they call them- selves, but was given them by their neighbours and con- querors, the Barotsi. It has not been easy to find the meaning of this word, but we are inclined to accept the derivation suggested to us by the Rev. A. Jalla of Lealui, viz. two Luyi (Rotsi) words : kushukula, " to brush the hair back from the forehead," and lump-will, " a built-up mass of hair" (Ba-shukula-lumpwili = Ba-shuku-lumpwi) . The reference is to the characteristic coiffure of the people. The Matabele call them Matjokotjoko, in allusion to their manner of speaking. Both these names were given in derision, and the people resent their use ; we have, therefore, not used either of them.
The chief thing that unites them is the language they speak, viz. Ila. We might, therefore, simply call them all Ba-ila ; and indeed we do often include all the sections under this comprehensive title. But, according to native usage, this is not strictly correct. Some of the people consider themselves exclusively entitled to the name ; and in the fol- lowing classification we are looking through their eyes. This in the interests of accuracy ; for practical purposes they can all be regarded as one.
i. The Ba-ila. — According to themselves, the pucka Ba-ila. Their country, called Bwila, as defined by themselves and as delineated on the map, is a small one. Like most African tribal names, it is difficult to determine its meaning. The word Tla, standing alone, may mean several things : it is
xxvi THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
a verb, " to go to " or " go for," and Ba-ila might mean " the people going off." Ila also means " a distended intestine," also " a grain of corn." But none of these is satisfactory. Ila is also one form of the verb zhila, " be taboo, set apart," corresponding to sacer, hagios, haram. It is an old Bantu root : Suto, ila ; Zulu, zila ; Ronga, yila ; Herero, zera ; Nyanja, yera ; Upper Congo, kila ; cf. Ganda, omuzira, a totem. It occurs also in some tribal names, e.g. Bashilange. " they who taboo the leopard." This is, we think, the deriva- tion of the name Ba-ila : " The people who are taboo, set apart " ; they are the Hagioi ; in short, the people. This certainly answers very well to the arrogant spirit of the people.
When in the following pages we speak of " the Ba-ila proper," it is these people we mean.
2. While they themselves restrict the name to the in- habitants of the district denned, there are others outside its limits who also claim to be Ba-ila. Such are the people to the west whom the Ba-ila proper call Bambo, " the western folk," and the Babizhi in the south. They speak Ila and have the tribal marks.
3. The same may be said of the Balundwe, to the south- east. Their dialect is rather different, and they are to some extent intermixed with the Batonga, but they are near enough to have the right to the sacred name.
4. On the north are the Bambala, i.e. " the northern people." Except near the Bwila border, they are somewhat intermixed with their neighbours, Baluba, Batema, and Basala, and their appearance, customs, and language vary accordingly ; but they speak Ila, and so come within the scope of this book.
5. The Basala are somewhat different from the Ba-ila, and probably are later immigrants into this district. There is a Sala language, but it is now largely displaced by Ila.
6. Along the Kafue are the river people, the Batwa. Their name is widely found in Africa : the Bushmen in the south are called Abatwa by the Zulus and Baroa by the Basuto ; there are Batwa on the lower Zambesi, others in the Lukanga swamps of the Kafue, and others farther north on the Congo. The name may mean " aborigines " and
INTRODUCTORY NOTE xxvii
have been applied by the Bantu invaders to the peoples they found in possession. There are many differences between Ba-ila and Batwa. They seem to have a language of their own, but those living near the Bwila speak Ila.
7. There are people in the west on the Nanzela River who call themselves Balumbu, a name which the Ba-ila apply indiscriminately to all foreigners. They are very mixed, but now the language of them all is Ila.
These, then, comprise the Ila-speaking peoples. Beside them, both on the north and the south, the Ba-ila are con- tiguous with tribes with whom, linguistically at least, they are very closely related, and whose history and customs we would gladly have included in our book had we had oppor- tunity of studying them. On the north are the Batema and Walenje (or Beni Mukuni), closely allied peoples, though separated by many small differences, e.g. the Walenje knock out three front teeth, while the Batema file the two front incisors into an inverted V. On the south are the Batonga, or Batoka, a name which covers remnants of many tribes. If we may judge by language, they are nearly akin with the Ba-ila, as also are the Basubia on the Zambesi around Sesheke, though different in physical features and customs. On the contrary, the other neighbours of the Ba-ila — Mankoya on the west, Baluba on the north-west, and Basodi and Bashamba on the north-east — are, as well in language as in other things, very distinct people.
Our readers will kindly bear in mind that Ila is a root- word, and is not, from the native point of view, complete without a prefix. Mwila ( = mu-ila) means a single person of the tribe ; Ba-ila, more than one person ; Bwila ( = bu-ila) is the name of the country. The same three prefixes occur with the same meaning in other tribal names, e.g. mu-lumbu, ba-lumbu, bu-lumbu.
Ba-ila corresponds, then, in form to Englishmen. One does not say " the Englishmen country," and on that analogy it is incorrect, when writing English, to use Ba-ila as an adjective : we should say " the Ila country," " the Ila language," etc. But it is not easy to be always con- sistent in this.
PART I
VOL. I.
CHAPTER I * *
THE ENVIRONMENT
THE Ila-speaking people of Northern Rhodesia inhabit the country lying to the north of the Batoka plateau, above the middle Zambesi, the limits being roughly, both on the north and south, conterminous with the watershed of the river with which the lives of the majority are bound up. Some two hundred miles due north of the Victoria Falls, this river — the Kafue, called by the natives Kavuvu (" Hippo- potamus River ") — leaves the hill country and flows through wide and fertile plains, and these have been the home of the Ba-ila for as long a period as our information extends. On the north the blue hills of Mbala, as seen from Bwila, afford a refreshing change to the eye wearied by the flatness of the plains. These well- wooded hills and valleys are inhabited by the Bambala and Basala, who have the advan- tage of diversified and picturesque scenery, but, on the other hand, as these same hills and valleys are infested by the tsetse fly, have not the wealth in cattle that the plain- loving Ba-ila enjoy. To the south the sandhills and forests of the Bwila border rise gradually, to merge into the Batoka plateau.
Altogether dissimilar from the country surrounding it, as its inhabitants differ from the tribes surrounding them, the Bwila possesses many features peculiarly its own. As the traveller from either the north or the south emerges from the mountainous country which fringes the Kafue plain, he views, stretching far on all sides until lost in the mirage of Africa, a wide expanse of level country, seemingly as flat as a billiard table, and varying in appearance with the
3
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
season : in spring, green and smooth as the sward of an English lawn, russet brown in early winter, but black, bare and forbidding a few weeks later when the grass fires, with an im- petuosity derived from miles of uninterrupted devastation and fanned by the strong easterly wind which blows during the dry season, have swept over it. At this time, described by a pessimistic traveller as "Nature in her most repulsive mood," the sportsman and the naturalist reap rich re- payment for their toil in the flats. The game, large and small, no longer concealed by grass eight and ten feet high, frequents the plain in great numbers, while the welcome shade on the river-bank enables the lover of nature to gaze in amazement and delight upon a profusion and variety of water- fowl and other birds such as can be seen in few other parts of the world.
Keen as is the enjoy- ment derived from a view
CH. i THE ENVIRONMENT 5
of the plains glowing under the noonday sun, for dreamy beauty and romantic charm it is necessary to leave the evening camp-fires and study them when bathed by the rays of the full moon. The eye, aided by the imagination, travels away into the dim distance, while only some stately Borassus palm standing sentinel-like in the night, or the huge limbs of some gnarled and ancient fig tree, interrupt the sight. Towards the latter end of the rainy season the whole aspect is changed. The river is full, the wide plains are one sheet
Photo E. IV. Smith.
THE KAFUE RIVER AT MWENGWA.
of water, the baked paths with their gaping sun-cracks are submerged ten feet deep, and only a solitary dug-out canoe occasionally breaks the silence and the view.
Rising with little promise of its future power close to the sources of the Zambesi and the Congo, the Kafue, first flowing past the infant Hippo Mine, then taking the com- prehensive bend south known as the Hook of the Kafue, and dashing for a time through small hills and thickly wooded banks over a sequence of rapids and cascades, turns at last at its junction with the Musa River near the Whete- zhitezhi Hill eastwards towards its ultimate union with the
THE TLA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
Zambesi, leaving hills and trees behind for a long three hundred miles, and passing numerous native villages, until at last the sight of the handsome Kafue railway bridge, set amidst trees with a background of hills, gladdens the eyes of the expectant tra- veller. Below the bridge it still has eighty miles to go, and its course now passes between pre- cipitous and uninhabited banks and over a series of waterfalls and rapids. The course of the river through the plain is tor- tuous in the extreme, indeed one finds one's canoe facing at times every point of the com- pass. By water the dis- tance is three hundred miles, but a straight line of one hundred and fifty miles covers the country actually occupied by the Ba-ila, their villages and lands extending back some twenty or thirty miles to the south and north of the river.
On the river -bank, as stated, are numerous native villages built of the rudest materials, viz. mealie stalks, reeds, and
CH. i THE ENVIRONMENT 7
grass. These are occupied by the Batwa, who may be termed the Ishmaelites of the Ba-ila, the last and most reluctant to accept European administration in this part of the world. As absolutely at home among their native swamps as the Bushmen are in the desert, they excite reluctant admiration by their prowess as watermen and fishermen, but repulsion by their uncouth and uncleanly methods of life.
The largest Ba-ila villages, commanding readiest access to the richest grazing that springs up after the waters recede,
Photo E. IV. Smith.
BRIDGE OVER THE KAFUE RIVER.
are situated along the edge of the sand forests and jungle bush which border and jut out into the plains on either bank. In these forests, which comprise a large number of useful trees and many varieties of indigenous fruit and berries, the Ba-ila make their lands after their usual improvident fashion, destroying and burning, in making their clearings, much timber for the sake of the potash fertiliser it contains, and after two years moving on to repeat the process else- where. The sandy soil, poor-looking to the eye, yields for a year or two fair crops of maize, millet, and various vege-
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
tables as beans, ground-nuts, and pumpkins, and is especially adapted for cotton, while the gardens cultivated in the rich black alluvial loam of the river-bank repay their fortunate possessors with enormous harvests — always provided they have been sufficiently industrious to plant with the early rains, otherwise the flooded river sweeps everything before it. The Bambala have at their disposal a deep red soil which, with proper cultivation, produces fine crops.
Amongst the endless swamps and morasses of the flats, the home of numerous sitatunga antelope, one in particular
Photo Rev. It'. Chapman.
ON THE KAFUE RIVER.
is worthy of notice, forming as it does a perfect counterpart to that Isle of Ely so famous in our own history. Close to the large influential district of Mala, the headquarters of the Ba-ila (if such a term may be used of a people who acknow- ledge no head), is the island named Makobo. In the form of a rough circle five miles in diameter, full of swamps, lagoons, and reed-beds, and surrounded completely by a river, except in the driest season, it forms a haven of refuge within which the Mala people have often fled from their Matabele and Barotsi foes, taking with them their household goods and swimming their valued cattle across.
CH. i THE ENVIRONMENT 9
At the foot of the ridge of western hills already men- tioned are some boiling mineral springs, named Ndongola, well worth a visit from the traveller. Sulphur being a principal constituent, their efficacy in rheumatic complaints is highly esteemed by those acquainted with them.
One other landmark of interest may be mentioned, the Balumbwa Mountain, used on numberless occasions, like the Nambala mountains, as a place of refuge.
The above form almost the only spots of interest in the district, whose charms centre more in the wild life, both human and animal, contained within it. Almost every spot has its tradition of fray and foray, known often only to a few, and the majority of the more isolated trees mark places of burial or sacrifice.
Some three thousand feet above sea-level the climate for the greater part of the year is equable and mild. Frosts are rarely experienced even on the river-bank, -and never exceed two degrees. During the whole of the dry season, from April to September, strong easterly winds blow in- cessantly, and though unpleasant to a degree from the ash and dust they carry, they nevertheless make the season very invigorating. Actual climatic inconvenience is felt only during the months of September and October immedi- ately before the rains, when the heavens, heavy with masses of lowering clouds betokening the coming rain, are indeed as brass and the nights close and sultry. Even this period has its compensations, for during Rhodesia's " wonder month," as it is beautifully called, the singular sight is witnessed of trees loaded with sweet-smelling blossoms which have not yet put forth their leaves, while the veld shoots out a wealth of gaily coloured and richly scented flowers, making the air heavy with their perfume.
The rains fall first in October and set in earnestly in December, ending usually in March. The rainfall for the year, from imperfect statistics, is on the average thirty inches. A feature of the rains is the cold which so frequently accompanies them.
The flats flood as a rule in late February or early March, the cause being not the local rains, as might be supposed, but the heavy rains higher up the Kafue ; at the time the
IO
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
river fills, the water draining down from the highlands north and south along numerous watercourses, which lose their
Photo E. It'. Smith.
WHERE AFRIC'S SUNNY FOUNTAINS."
depth of bank when they reach the plain, flows out over the flats because the already swollen river cannot carry it away quickly enough. The flats dry during June, after
THE ENVIRONMENT
ii
which month, as already told, the grass fires sweep over the country, doing annually untold damage to the virgin forests, but clearing it of the grass and undergrowth which have hitherto afforded secure retreats to the numerous members of the African felidae which prey upon domestic stock. Every year lives are lost in these fires, which travel with incredible rapidity.
The vast swamps are the breeding-places of millions upon millions of mosquitoes, among which abounds the
Photo E. II'. Sm ilh.
ON THE NANSENGA RIVEK.
ever-to-be-dreaded Anopheles, and malarial fever, as is to be expected in the circumstances, is inseparable from the low-lying Kafue valley.
In seeking in this chapter to give our readers a com- prehensive view of the country it is impossible to pass without mention the wealth of animal life. At certain seasons the earth, the heavens, the waters all teem with life. The largest animals, it is true, are but seldom seen : two herds of elephant on their migrations visit the district annually, following a route centuries old ; and the rhinoceros is found in small numbers both on the north and south
12 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
bank. Hippopotami, which are unusually pugnacious in the Kafue, are still numerous, but have decreased much in late years owing to the campaign waged against them. The smaller fauna are still found in numbers and varieties which rival the famous Athi plains. In the forests bordering the flats, sable, waterbuck, and kudu, the stateliest and handsomest of antelope, are frequently found in company with the graceful rooibok, bushbuck, and steinbok, while the largest of the antelope family, the royal eland, is the most plentiful of all, some herds being of so considerable a size that two or three score little calves are sometimes seen cantering by their mothers' sides at once. On the flats, the wildebeeste, with its grotesque antics, the ungainly hartebeeste, the roan antelope, called by the Dutch the bastard eland, and the zebra are constantly seen grazing to all appearance in one herd, until, on the alarm signal being given, they quickly disentangle themselves and each leader rapidly scours off, taking his herd to safety.
Other " flat " animals are the reedbuck, puku, and lech we. The latter congregate in vast herds after the fires, and may be seen daily, literally not in hundreds but in thousands. The morasses and papyrus swamps are the home of the sitatunga. From his nocturnal habits — necessitated by the abnormal length of his hoof, which, though wonderfully adapted, like the water-fowl's web-feet, to a swampy existence, incapacitates him from running with any speed — and his general wiliness, his handsome spiral horns form a trophy often sought but seldom obtained by the hunter.
With such an abundant food-supply, it will readily be supposed the carnivora are not absent. Lion, leopard, serval, cheetah, wild dog, hyaena, and jackal are constantly hunting their prey. Lions hunt singly or in troops, some- times numbering as many as a dozen. As a general rule, those met unaccompanied are fiercer and more savage than the members of a group. It may be well -to add, however, that there is no animal so uncertain as a lion. Where one might be expected to charge he will frequently slink away, and vice versa. Arrange to wait for him at moonset, and he will make his rounds before you have finished supper. The
14 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
dogmatic sportsman who assures you a lion always does such and such a thing as a rule generalises from one or two experiences. In the Bwila several score of native cattle are annually killed by lions, some of whom pay the penalty of their depredations when the aggrieved owners turn out in force. In one year six lions were speared in fair hunting on the open flat, with two, fortunately not fatal, casualties among the hunters. These lions sometimes make a regular round of fifty miles or more, and the remark is often heard, " To-night they will kill at so-and-so's kraal." After a repetition of such occurrences for centuries the natives have not yet learnt the wisdom of building lion-proof kraals.
The animals mentioned comprise the more important denizens of the forests and plains. Bush-pig and warthog are common, although the former are not often seen. All members of the cat tribe are numerous. Snakes abound in great variety but fortunately cause few casualties ; the mamba, the puff-adder, the African cobra, and a small silver snake named chisambwe are the most deadly, though nearly all are dangerous. Ant-bears, porcupine, ratel, spring-hares all thrive in the sandy bush, which also contains big iguanas or land lizards, and land tortoises.
To deal adequately with the bird life of the district would require a large volume. The writers have good authority for stating that many varieties are still unnamed. Of game birds the largest is the greater bustard, closely followed in point of size by the spurwing goose. Both the greater and lesser bustard are common at certain seasons. The dikkop is always to be found in the forests, with the common guinea-fowl and five kinds of francolin and par- tridge ; quail and button quail arrive in fair numbers, and snipe of two varieties (painted and Jack snipe) are plentiful. Storks of several varieties, cranes, hornbills, and flamingoes are regular frequenters of the flats and ponds, and are daily seen picking up small fish and snails. The beautiful crested crane, after the breeding season, is seen in flocks of forty and fifty. While land birds are plentiful, it is difficult to describe the numbers in which the water-fowl exist. The writers have more than once bagged three couple of duck with a rifle bullet, so dense was the flock. Spurwing geese, " the
CH. I
THE ENVIRONMENT
wood goose," as an early writer described it, from its habit of roosting in trees, Egyptian geese, knob-nosed duck, whistling duck, white-marked duck, and a number of other kinds of duck, widgeon, and teal often hide the sandbanks they frequent. All along the reed-beds fringing the river the attention is arrested by a succession of water-birds — egrets with their handsome plumes, herons blue and white, pelicans, clatterbills, hammerwings, darters, kingfishers of wonderful plumage, ibises, plovers, sea-swallows, gulls — all are seen in
A SCENE AT KASENGA.
succession preying on the marvellous food-supply the river holds for them ; while high over all the handsome fish-eagle with its harsh scream sails around.
The natives who inhabit the country .the main features of which have been thus cursorily described, number some sixty thousand, the female sex predominating in the pro- portion of three to two. When the advantages under which the Ba-ila live — their numerous herds, the abundance of fish, the frequent windfalls of meat, and their productive soil — when these advantages, comprising all an African desires, are remembered, it will be a matter for surprise that their numbers are so small. The reader's surprise will be
16 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES w. i
less by the time he has read this book : he may then wonder that there are any people left. One reason, perhaps the chief, is the unproductiveness caused by the astonishing promiscuity of their sexual relations and the extreme earli- ness of age at which these relations commence. It is no exaggeration to state that from the age of seven or eight a girl, married or otherwise, counts her lovers, who are constantly changing, not singly but by the score. The writers at the time of the first census of the people were amazed to find kraal after kraal inhabited solely by adults, and to receive time and again the same reply, that there were no children, that, much as they wished for them, conception was a very difficult matter.
In this as in many other directions the Ba-ila show them- selves distinct and apart from their neighbours. Certain of their characteristics are directly traceable to the land and the circumstances under which they live. Accustomed to good food and to constant exercise in the swampy flats, they possess fine physique and height, with an undue develop- ment of the lower limbs, showing in this respect an interest- ing resemblance to the Dinkas of the Nile, who live under closely similar conditions. The most feasible explanation of the long cone coiffure is undoubtedly that which attributes its origin to the necessity of keeping each other in sight when hunting or fighting in the thick cane brakes and reeds. To their constant isolation — little travelling is possible while the plains are flooded — may be traced the bluff in- dependence and the self-satisfaction which are so marked in their demeanour. Ndi Mwila ("I am a Mwila ") a young- ster may be heard to exclaim, with as complete self-com- placency as could distinguish any ancient Roman. And they can infuse a tremendous amount of scorn into the word Balumbu, which they employ to describe all outside the pale — European or native, freeman or serf, all are Balumbu, as the ancient Greeks contemptuously classed all Gentiles as fidpfiapoi (" barbarians ").
CHAPTER II *
HISTORY
i. PREHISTORIC
No traces have yet been found in this district of any ancient inhabitants. The nature of the low country does not lend itself to the preservation of such remains, and the hills, where, if anywhere, they might be found, have not yet been fully explored. Just beyond the confines of the district, however, there are some indications of a prehistoric occupa- tion. There is a remarkable cave at Broken Hill in which have been found stone implements, chiefly flakes of white opaque quartz, some showing distinctly chipping, cutting, or scraping edges and notches ; also bones showing cuts or notches, one being chipped into a rough hexagonal form ; pieces of bone, ivory, or horn shaped as if used for digging roots ; and large rounded pebbles of quartzite which must have been brought from a distance and were probably used for breaking up marrow-bones. These were found in connection with numerous animal remains, some of them apparently of extinct varieties.1 Flint implements have also been discovered in the neighbourhood of the Victoria Falls.
Ancient workings, evidently for copper, have been found in the vicinity of the King Edward Mine, south-west of Lusaka. From the traces left one gathers that these ancient miners were there in great numbers, but there is nothing to indicate their nationality.
1 Franklin White, Proceedings of the Rhodesia Scientific Association, Sept. 1908.
VOL. I 17 C
i8 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
In the Batoka hills, twenty miles south of Kaunga and three miles east of Shamabuyu, Mr. G. F. B. Handley found and photographed a series of grooves in the solid granite rock ; but there is no indication of what people worked them, nor of their purpose, whether for grinding neoliths or for pulverising gold-bearing quartz.
The Ila-speaking peoples and their neighbours on all sides belong to the Bantu subdivision of the African negroes, and their ancestors in remote times must have come down from the southern Soudan. We are here almost on the median line of the continent and at the junction of tribes seemingly belonging, if we may judge from linguistic evi- dence, to separate lines of immigration. The Ba-ila in the main belong, we think, to the Eastern Bantu, and came into their present domain on the crest of a wave of emigration from the north-east, from the country around the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, where, as we are told, the Bantu found a new motherland, a second focus and radius of de- velopment.1 But they have evidently been influenced by, and to some extent intermixed with, peoples of another section, which, after passing from the north-east through the Congo territory towards the west coast, curled* back again towards the centre of the continent in a south-easterly direction. These statements are made on linguistic grounds. The closest affinities to Ila are found in a line of dialects stretching from the Subia on the Zambesi to the Bemba on Lake Tanganyika, and including midway the Tonga, Lenje, Bisa, and others. Many cult words, such as Leza (" the Supreme Being"), chisungu ("the puberty rites"), are common to these dialects and are not known in the west ; while in Ila we have such words as tonda (" taboo "), evidently brought from the west (cf. the Kele word orunda), and ifuka (" nine "), the root of which (buka) is found only among the West African Bantu.
When and under what conditions these people reached their present home, and what tribes, if any, they dis- possessed, are questions to which their traditions afford no answer. If we had a complete list of all the clans of the
1 Sir H. Johnston, George Grenfell and the Congo (London, 1908), vol. ii. p. 830.
Photos G. f. B. HandUy.
GROOVES IN ROCK IN BATOKA HILLS, 20 MILES SOUTH OF KAUNGA.
20 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
Rhodesian tribes (especially if we had also the traditions associated with the clan names), we should probably be in a better position than we are to trace the tribal movements. For example, this tradition of the Banampongo, unfortu- nately the only one of its kind we have heard, is told by the Banampongo among the Ba-ila and also by a clan of the same name among the Balarnba in the Ndola district, which shows that one section of the Banampongo has at no distant date moved south. The lake mentioned is the Mwine-mbushi, near Kapopo, evidently an old crater, four hundred yards in diameter. This is the legend : Once upon a time the Banampongo (the Goats) had a dispute with another clan, the Batembozhi (the Hornets), over a question of chieftainship ; the Banampongo, having got the worst of it and being ousted from their premier position, planned to destroy themselves in the lake. They set to work to twist a very long rope — men, women, and children. Then they gathered on the lakeside and tied the rope in turn around their necks, and all plunged into the unfathomable depths. A man of another clan, the Banankalamo (the Lions), had married a woman of the Banampongo, and after failing to induce her to refrain from suicide, determined to die with her. They happened to be the last to be tied to the rope ; they were pulled in and on the point of drowning when the man, repenting, cut the rope, and so freed himself and his .wife. She struggled to escape from him, screaming, " Let me go ! let me go ! " but he persevered and brought her to land. This is why to this day the Banankalamo say to the Banampongo, "It is we who saved you from extinction."
When the Ba-ila are pressed to say where their ancestors came from they can only reply bakaseluka (' ' they descended ") . Some of them interpret the word in a crudely literal sense, and would have us understand that their forefathers came down out of the sky, accompanied by animals, buffaloes in particular, which through training became cattle, and also by elephants and birds. On the shore of a lagoon of the Kafue River, at the Government station of Namwala, there is a bank of rock upon which these literalists say the ancients descended, and, in proof, they point to the innumerable
CH. ii HISTORY 21
pits in the weather-worn sandstone. What are these but the footprints of the ancestors, impressed on the rock at the moment of their first contact with earth ? The rock is named Bwengwa-Leza. Others use the word seluka in a more mystical sense as meaning the entry of a spirit into the woman through whom it is to be reincarnate, and in their mouths it means no more than to appear on earth, to be re- born. Ancient chiefs are named as having " descended " into certain districts ; by this the literalists mean that after touching earth at Bwengwa-Leza they separated and settled at those places ; the others mean simply that they were born in those districts. In either case these ancestors are regarded with great reverence ; they are the beni-mashi (" founders of the communities "},mizhimo (" demi-gods "),1 to whom worship is principally rendered.
It might be conjectured that the literalist tradition just mentioned preserves a reminiscence of the first arrival of the Ba-ila from some quarter now forgotten. The beni-mashi in that case would be the leaders of the original immigrants, and if we could trace back to them the line of chiefs from the present day we might be able to estimate approximately the date of the first arrival. We have elicited many of these lists, but cannot vouch for their accuracy. The people's memory is fallible and the lists may be incorrect in several directions : too short, owing to some chiefs having been forgotten as of no account ; or too long, because some are inserted without right ;• one name may indicate several men, or, on the other hand, one individual may be named by several names. For what they are worth we give the names at the end of this chapter. In only two of the districts, it will be seen, have we been able to get more than six consecutive names ; in each case, like the eponymous heroes of the Greek clans, the first named is a demi-god, and if these were the first arrivals it would be impossible to assign the Ba-ila a period exceeding two hundred years. The other type of tradition to which we have referred,
1 These demi-gods do not correspond to Hesiod's fourth generation of created men, avSp&v yp&u'v 6elov ytvos ; nor are they the offspring of mixed human and divine parentage ; the sense in which we use the term will be made clear in a later chapter.
22 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
however, tends to push the matter further back by de- claring that before the demi-gods appeared other spirits had descended for reincarnation. Shimunenga, e.g., of Mala, is said to have had a father, named Munambala, and a mother, Nachilomwe, who came from Kaundu. Of those preced- ing generations no memory survives, arid instead of futilely guessing, it is best to say that we have no idea when the Ba-ila came into the country
2. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE BA-ILA
What has been the history of these people since they first came ? The conclusion we arrive at, after protracted inquiries, is that it has been mostly a ghastly story of war and rapine. As far back as we can trace they have been torn with intestine strife, and, in addition, have been swept and scoured and harried almost to death by incessant raids from abroad. The numbers slain at any time in a single fight may not have been great, but the aggregate during a century or two must have been considerable, while the numbers carried into captivity and the deaths from starvation owing to the destruction of the crops must have immensely swelled the total loss. Add to this such devasta- tions as that caused by smallpox and the perpetual sacrifice of life on suspicion of witchcraft, and the wonder is that the people have not been exterminated.
The Ba-ila have never been a united people, and conse- quently their story may be summed up in the words used by Gibbon of the ancient Britons : they possessed " valour without conduct and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up arms with sudden fierceness, they laid them down or turned them against each other with wild inconstancy, and while they fought singly they were suc- cessively subdued." The examples we give below illustrate the petty origin of these civil conflicts, their long duration, and the light-hearted way in which one section would call in the aid of a foreign foe against its rival. The raider always found it easy to obtain, by promising a share of the booty, the assistance of one community against another. War has not been here, as in other parts of the world, a
CH u HISTORY 23
unifying force, banding all tribes under one head against a common foe ; on the contrary it has perpetuated the divisions by increasing the enmity between communities. All the wars, therefore, have had apparently no effect in raising the people above their former level.
The way in which many of these civil conflicts arose is well shown in the following story from Lubanda Two men, named Shitukula and Mope, had a dispute as to who could run the faster, and to decide the question the elders despatched the one to Bunga and the other to Matwefwe to fetch certain hoes and spears Shitukula accomplished his errand ; they expected Mope's return, but he came not. On his arrival at Bunga that young blood had spanked into the village at top-speed The people, incensed by this breach of good manners set to beating him and burning him alive. The news reached Lubanda, and in great wrath the elders sent off an imprecatory message and followed it up by marching with all their men with the idea of falling upon the Bunga folk at dawn. But the wife of a Lubanda man stole off in the night and warned her friends at Bunga and all left the village. Finding it deserted, the Lubanda people burnt it to the ground. Rallying their forces, the Bungaites met and slew many of the enemy, whereupon the Lubandaites retreated and called upon their allies for help. In the end the Bunga people were victorious, but could not return to their ruined homes until they had paid over sufficient cattle to appease the spirits of the warriors slain there. To this day the feud has not been completely healed.
At Ngabo there was a famous " war " which arose out of a dispute concerning fishing rights. Shankalu's people began to fish in the Inyonzi pool, and the people of Musanana of Namaumbwe, who claimed the pool, objected. Sha- nkalu, determined to press his claim by force, sought aid from Namakubi and Bambwe, while the Lubwe people supported Musanana. A battle was fought at Namaumbwe, and three of Musanana's and two of Shankalu's men were killed. The natives say that although only five were killed it was a big fight. Musanana was driven from the district and lived elsewhere until Lewanika sent one of his indunas
24 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES FT. i
to take him back to Ngabo, and later he succeeded Kachinka as chief at landa.
Another feud of long duration was that between the people of Chiyadila and Nyambo, and as usual the neigh- bours became involved on either side. It arose out of a dis- pute as to the possession of some land. A man named Siatembo had found, while hunting lechwe, what he thought would be a fine site to occupy, so he and his people moved on to it and built the Nyambo villages. The Chiyadila people, living a few miles away, claimed this land, but Siatembo refused either to move or to pay ; consequently there was a quarrel, and whenever the rival villagers met they fought. Siatembo was succeeded by Mwana- monga, he by Mauzwe, and he by Mwezwa, and all the time the fighting went on. Mwezwa called the Byangwe people to aid him and the other party those of Nalubanda. A battle was fought at Nyambo ; the village was burnt, but Mwezwa gained the day and caused the heads of his slain enemies to be cut off and stuck upon poles. Then Mwezwa died, and the present chief took his place and name. He had a rival in Shibulo, who, refusing to acknowledge his authority, was driven out and went to Chiyadila. This added further fuel to the fire and fights continually took place, one side and the other being victorious in turn. Then Mwezwa went to beg the aid of the Barotsi, and Lewanika gave him some of his warriors, by whose assistance the Chiyadila people were driven away. They remained dis- persed among the neighbouring communities, until ulti- mately Mwezwa agreed to accept the indemnity they offered and allowed them to return home. Shibulo, however, refused to pay, and was driven out by Mwezwa ; he lived at Mala until the establishment of English rule put a stop to these conflicts.
These are but illustrations of the unsettled state of the country, which prevailed from ancient times until the last few years. Old men tell us that war was the normal thing and peace unknown. Places are pointed out that in other days were occupied by large communities which have been either exterminated or dispersed. One of these places is some ten miles from Mala, formerly inhabited by the
CH. ii HISTORY 25
Bantuba. They are now extinct. It is no wonder that the raiders when they came had no difficulty in carrying off the cattle and enslaving multitudes, or that at last the Ba-ila should have been compelled to acknowledge a foreign sovereign.
3. CONFLICTS WITH FOREIGN FOES
It is impossible to write a sketch of Ba-ila history without reference to the affairs of their neighbours. And indeed we have to go much farther afield — so far as the Congo territory and even Unyamwezi in the north and Zululand in the distant south. Just as a stone dropped into a pond sets up ripples which radiate in ever-widening circles until they beat upon the encircling banks, so here the emergence of great personalities such as Mushidi in the north and Chaka in the south set forces in motion whose impact upon the Ba-ila has been very disturbing. The following paragraphs, if at times they seem to wander somewhat from the Ba-ila, will illustrate the incessant violent jostling together of tribes which has been going on in Africa from remote times. Probably it is in this way, and not as a peaceful immigration, we ace to conceive the gradual spread of the Bantu from their home in the far north.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the Upper Zambesi valley was inhabited by various clans who bore the name collectively of Balui. Some of the chiefs were of an adventurous spirit, and two of them, with their people called Bambwela, migrated to the north-east seeking fresh hunting- grounds. One of them was 'Kabulwebulwe, who settled near the Upper Kafue, in the region where his descendants still live. The other was named Kale (Kahadi), and he settled farther north on the Lunga, a tributary of the Kafue. He had not been there long before the country was invaded by a strong party of Baluba, from the Lunda country across the Kabompo River, under their six chiefs Kamimbe, Kapidi, Mponda, Nyoka, Kaindu, and Mushima. These had left their homes on account of disturbances made by a Lunda chief named Mukumbi. Kale received the visitors amicably and gave Kapidi his daughter to wife. After a time the friendly relations between the Bambwela and Baluba were
26 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES FT. i
broken by a quarrel between the two chiefs over a question of wearing the impande shell, an emblem of chiefship introduced by the Baluba. The two men came to blows, and war followed. Kapidi was captured and all his hair shaved off. His people had to ransom him. Maddened by the insult, Kapidi resumed the war and killed Kale's younger brother. Fighting went on for about three years, and then the Baluba had to flee. They crossed the Kafue into Ila country, which then extended farther and was more densely populated than it is now. Kale pursued them It is said that Kapidi made a dog, empoisoned it, and sent it to bite Kale. Others say simply that Kale was bitten by a mad dog. Anyhow he died just as he and his people were about to cross the Kafue, and was taken home for bunal. The Baluba chiefs now settled in the neighbourhood of the Mutumbwe Hill until they got to fighting among themselves. But first they had to make good their position among the Ba-ila. A protracted conflict took place, in which the poisoned arrows of the invaders gave them a great advantage, and the Ba-ila were compelled to surrender a considerable stretch of territory.1
The Bambwela settled on the Lunga were not left in peace. There had arisen in the Katanga country an adven- turer named Mushidi (Msidi), called also Mwenda, Mwenda- bantu, Komesa. He was of the Wakalaganza, a principal tribe among the Wanyamwezi, his father being a minor chief under the notorious Mirambo. On one occasion Mushidi visited Katanga instead of his father, who was accustomed to go there trading for copper ; the Katanga chief, Sanga, was at war with the Baluba, and Mushidi helped him with his guns — a new thing there— and defeated them. Mushidi returned home laden with ivory, but came back to stay, and on Sanga's death took his place. He carried war into all the countries around, added Lubaland to his dominions, encouraged refugees from the Lunda country, and until his death at the hands of Captain Bodson in 1892 was a terror to all neighbouring peoples.2 He sent
1 There had evidently been incursions from the Lunda country previous to this. Some say that Munyama (see Chap. XXII.) headed one of these.
* See F. S. Arnot, Garenganze (London, 1889) ; V. L. Cameron, Across Africa, 1877 ; D. Crawford, Thinking Black (London, 1912).
CH. n HISTORY 27
his armies, known to Baluba and Ba-ila as Mapupushi, or Bangalanganza, to invade the countries to the south. They fell upon the Bambwela on the Lunga and scattered them. A chief named Kabimba was slain, and his son, Muyani, escaped to Sitanda, but, being followed, came on to Makunko in Ila territory, and then later settled in the district of Isalama, where he still lives. We have this information from him. By this raid of Mushidi's people more Baluba were pressed forward into the Ila country, and fighting went on between the two peoples which only came to a close on the arrival of Sebitwane.
North of the Ila country to-day are found the Bakaundi, under their chief Kasempa, who also are an offshoot from the great Baluba tribe of the Congo ; their home originally was on the Lukanga, a tributary of the Lualaba, and from there they came south to the Lukanga, a tributary of the Kafue. After a time the chiefship was annexed by Kawambala ; he is said to have been a great chief but jealous of the young men of his family, especially of one Jipumpu (afterwards entitled Kasempa), his cousin, who was a mighty hunter. Kawambala treacherously attacked Jipumpu's village and carried off his wives; in revenge, Jipumpu ambushed him in the forest, and with his own hand sent an arrow through him. A son of Kawambala escaped, though badly wounded, and went to Kamimbe in Mushidi's country, returning after a time with an army against Jipumpu. Jipumpu was suc- cessful for a time but had then to withdraw into the Congo country, where for a year he remained among relatives. Then he returned, swept all before him, and ruled with the title Kasempa. He settled on the Kamsongolwa Hill and gathered around him great numbers of refugees. Mushidi's armies attacked him there, but the position was too strong and they failed. On one occasion at least Kasempa crossed the Kafue on a raiding expedition, and twice sent his men to fight and capture slaves among the Ba-ila. He died in 1907, and was succeeded by a nephew, Kasempa Kalusha.1
We turn now to the tribal movement from the south
1 Kasempa's history was communicated to us by Mr. Hazell, the District Commissioner. The chronology being vague, it is impossible to say what relation in time this account bears to the others given above.
28 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
which has so largely affected the Ba-ila. There is no need to repeat in detail the oft-told story of Sebitwane and the Makololo.1 Suffice it to say that the disturbances caused in South Africa by the Zulu Napoleon, Chaka, resulted both in Umziligazi founding the Matabele nation, and in Sebitwane, a Bafokeng chief of Basuto stock, leaving his home and pushing his way north in search of a peaceful abode. Sebitwane was then a young man of twenty, but so great already was his influence that, it is said, he had 30,000 followers. After being worsted by Umziligazi, the chief of the Matabele, about 1823, he struck north-east ; driven off from Kuruman by the Griquas, he fought his way north through the Barolong and Bangwaketsi, through the Batawana of Lake Ngami, and ultimately reached the Linyanti, which, after two or three years, he followed down till he arrived on the Zambesi opposite Kazungula. It was a great march ; what a pity there was no native Xenophon to tell the story ! North of the Zambesi there was a quarrel between Sundamo, chief of the Basubia, and Sekute, chief of the Balea. The former begged Sebi- twane's help against Sekute, who had his village on the island of Kalai, so he crossed the Zambesi. Then the Makololo (as Sebitwane's people were called) heard of the wealth of the Batonga in cattle, and planned either to conquer them or to rob them after lulling their suspicions by a show of friendship. When he saw the former plan was unfeasible Sebitwane contracted a matrimonial alliance with the Batonga chief Mosokotwane. After a time he collected the Batonga leaders, as if to consult with them about invading the Ba-ila, and while they sat in council unarmed his warriors massacred them with their chief. The herds of the unfortunate Batonga were captured — so many that they could not be numbered. Then Sebitwane went on to the Ba-ila, but on that occasion got no farther than the Mozuma River. The Ba-ila, though defeated by day, returned at night and recaptured their cattle.
1 See Dr. Livingstone, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, 1857, chap. iv. ; A. Jalla, Litaba tsa sechaba sa Marotse, passim (a history of the Barotsi in the Kololo dialect) ; D. F. Ellenberger and J. C. Macgregor, History of the Basuto, 1913.
CH. ii HISTORY 29
Sebitwane settled for a time at Kapoli near Kalomo and imposed his rule upon the tribes around, but the Ba-ila were not easily subdued. He went against them, first to Kasenga, where, after a day's fighting and heavy losses, they were defeated. Thence he went to Kabulamwanda and Mbeza. Having defeated Munyati at the latter place, he proceeded against the Bwengwa people, and thence to the Kafue to deal with the Batwa. He captured some of these unfortunates and compelled them to ferry his army across the river. The Batwa attempted no resistance, but all who could fled into their native swamps. Thence Sebitwane proceeded to Nyambo, where the Ba-ila offered great resistance, but after three days' fighting he defeated them. The Makololo drove off all the cattle, and, it is said, killed all the warriors they could get hold of, as well as the old men and women. Thence he went on as far as Shianamwenda (Longo), the Basala chief tainess, who sub- mitted to him.
An old chief named Mukubu, living in Busala, is one of our informants for much of this history. He is indeed one of the most interesting men we have ever met. He was taken as a lad by Sebitwane from Longo and brought up in Barotsiland. He has described to us the coming of Living- stone and Oswell (" Mandevu ") ; he was present when the fatal accident befell Sebitwane ; he later became Living- stone's servant, travelled with him to the west coast, and was with him when he discovered the Victoria Falls. He accompanied Sekeletu to Chimbulamukoa. Later he went with Livingstone as far as Zumbo. He seems to have had a share in all the subsequent fighting. He piloted the pioneers of the Baila-Batonga mission from Barotsiland to Nkala. He was then sent by Lewanika back to his native district of Busala to act as his representative. We asked him once to enumerate the men he had killed in battle, and with vivid detail he counted up to thirty-six, nearly all slain in single combat ; they included representatives of most of the tribes against whom in his days the Makololo and Barotsi have fought.
While Sebitwane was still at Kapoli he had once again to meet a Matabele impi. He had sent an army under
THE TLA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
one of his captains, Shili, to cross the Zambesi and raid Umziligazi's cattle. He succeeded to some extent, but the
MUKUBU, DR. LIVINGSTONE'S SERVANT.
infuriated Matabele followed hard upon his heels. Hearing of their approach, Sebitwane withdrew to Sachitema and there at the mountain named by the Makololo thaba ea
CH. ii HISTORY 31
basali ("the women's mountain") a battle was fought; it raged all day and all night, and at dawn the survivors of the defeated Matabele fled. The name of the place is derived from the fact that even the women joined furiously in the fight.
Now once again, while Sebitwane was among the Basala, he heard that the Matabele were coming against him. Urged by a native prophet, who declared it to be the spirits' will that he should conquer the Barotsi, or Baloiana as they called themselves, he determined to go west and estab- lish himself in security. His path led through Chiyadila, Makunko, Kabanga, Banamwazi — the people fleeing at his approach — thence through Buchele and landa. He turned aside to fight Kaingu, who fled. Thence he passed through the Mankoya and Matotela countries, and at last reached the Barotsi. At that time they were much divided amongst themselves, but Mobukwano, the chief, made a spirited appeal to them, and was able to get together a large army. At Kataba Sebitwane fought a battle against them, the result of which was the establishment of his ascendancy over them. He now settled at Naliele. He had been there but a month when he heard that the Matabele who had dogged his steps were at hand. They were under the leadership of Ngabe, who, some say, had been exiled by Umziligazi, and was looking for a country in which to settle with his people. At once Sebitwane made one of his masterly strategic movements to the rear. He crossed the Zambesi and went on to the Lueti River. He was there advised that the country ahead contained but brackish water, and that it was a twenty days' journey across those mdbala a letsuai ("salt-plains "). Thereupon he slew many cattle, out of whose hides he made large water-bags, which when filled he loaded upon other oxen, and marched, giving imperative orders for the economical use of the water. After crossing the dreary wastes, Sebitwane, in his incorrigible fashion, fell upon and defeated Salupito, the Mambukushu chief. Mean- while the Matabele were following swiftly after, and before they realised the position, found themselves in the midst of the desert with no water and no food. They had at last to take to chewing their shields, sandals, and other bits of
32 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
dry skin. When they were almost at their last gasp, Sebi- twane fell upon them. There were some women and children among the survivors, and these were kept. Of the men, only ten reached again the bank of the Lueti ; keeping along the bank of the Zambesi, they crossed it at Sesheke and went on to Sekute, the Balea chief, who pretended to help, but marooned them on an island in the Zambesi. They tried to swim to the southern bank, but only one succeeded, and he, Ndoza by name, was the sole survivor, it is said, out of that great impi who got back to Umziligazi. What reception he met with we are not told.
This was not the last time the Makololo and Matabele met in what was really a contest for the dominion over these tribes. The Matabele came again and again, but were always worsted. By the time the last expedition reached the Zambesi Sebitwane was fully master of the whole territory, and was able to patrol the river so effectively that they could not cross, although they had with extraordinary labour brought canoes with them. When they were on the point of starving on the south bank, Sebitwane sent messengers, driving some fat cattle, who asked why they should persist in attacking their chief, who had never done them harm, and who, they added, thinking they might be rather hungry, had now sent them " a little bread." Mukubu, who was there, tells us that Sebitwane sent in fifty oxen, then fifty more, as the Matabele were still hungry, until in all three hundred had been consumed. Sebitwane had conquered : the Matabele never attacked him again.
For five years after the battle of Kataba, Sebitwane was fully engaged in consolidating his rule over the Barotsi and other tribes. By his kindly disposition and wise rule he quickly conciliated the peoples whom the terror of his arms had taught to fear him.
In previous years the Barotsi had sent marauding expeditions against the wealthy cattle -owning Ba-ila. Mulambwa, grandfather of the late Barotsi chief Lewanika, had sent one at least. We are told of a people called the Bashituchila from the far east, who, after raiding the Ba-ila cattle, passed on and informed the Barotsi, inciting them to do the same, but who these were we do not know. And
CH. ii HISTORY 33
now Sebitwane, with the threefold purpose of plundering cattle and establishing and extending his dominion, led or sent three armies at various times against the Ba-ila and beyond.
The first of these, led by his nephew Mpepe, brought back herds of cattle and numbers of slaves, after killing Kaingu and Mushanana, two prominent chiefs. The cattle came mostly from Bambwe and Lubwe. Old men still recall the terror caused by the coming of Mpepe. The Makololo called this ntoa ea makana (" the war of the axes ") because of the battle-axes with which Sebitwane had armed them.
The second raid was named by the Makololo Hoia-hoia, or the Kasenga war, and was noteworthy for the amount of cattle taken at Kasenga and Nyambo. Their leaders were Munangombe, who raided the country south, and Muzazani, who raided that north of the Kafue. An old chief, Nakabanga, now living at Busangu, was, as a lad, one of those carried away captive on this occasion. With others he fled across the river to get away from Muna- ngombe, only to fall into Muzazani's hands on the other side. He was taken to Kazungula, and remained there until on becoming a man he made good his escape. He tells us that Muzazani met on the other side of the Kafue a man named Saidi coming down from the north, who subsequently went to Linyanti. This man, Saidi, is frequently mentioned in the accounts we have received of the old days. The Nanzela people say he visited them, evidently on his return from Linyanti, and passed to the north-east, crossing the river at Kaundu. He is said to have travelled with a large gang of men tied to a chain ; some speak of his constant bowing to earth in the attitude of prayer ; others say he would only eat of an animal whose throat he had himself cut. Evidently an Arab slave-trader. We are inclined to identify him with Sa'id ibn Habib, the slave-trader men- tioned so often in Livingstone's Last Journals, and with the Ibn Habib who, as Livingstone tells us, visited Sekeletu in I854,1 and advised and led him to attack the people at
1 Cameron, in Feb. 1874, mentions this man at Ujiji ; says he had met Livingstone both in Sekeletu's country and Manyuema,
VOL. I D
34 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
Chimbulamukoa. If this be correct, it is the first notice we have of the operations of the Arab slave-traders among the Ba-ila.
The third raid ordered by Sebitwane and conducted by Mpepe was notable by reason of the death of the chief Sezongo.
We must here interrupt our narrative in order to bring up the story of the Nanzela people to the time of Sezongo's death.1 They, like the Baluba, are immigrants from a distance who have won for themselves a residence in Ila territory, but who, unlike the Baluba, have adopted the Ila tongue. They come from Barotsi country in the neighbour- hood of Lealui, and their chiefs claim kinship with the Mu- lambwa mentioned above. Mulambwa's two daughters, Mofwe and Kalube, married, it is said, two men named Kalenge and Mwansha. One of Kalenge's servants went to visit a party of the newly arrived Makololo, and found them catching fish ; they gave him some, and he took a portion to his master. Irritated by the fact that these strangers were poaching on their preserves, Kalenge and Mwansha led their people against them, but, being worsted, they left their home and settled in the district of Mutondo, and subsequently on the Lui. There the Makololo came on them with peremptory orders to return to their homes in the valley, but after much altercation they were allowed to go their way. Kalenge then led his followers from place to place till they reached Mwange on the Nanzela River. At each place, it is said, they slew or drove away the previous inhabitants. They removed to the Kalenge River, and there a certain Shachibinzha rebelled against Kalenge and Mwansha and compassed their death. It is from that circumstance that the river derives its name. Shachibinzha now became chief, and moved his people to Nkumbi in the neighbourhood of Sachitema. There he became famous, but not for long In five years' time Sezongo deserted him and established himself as chief at Nakalomwe. He was a great hunter and grew rich on the proceeds of the elephants
1 We have a short history of these people written for us by Thomas Sezongo, son of Munaswaba, Sezongo II., from information collected by him from the old men, especially Leselo.
CH. ii HISTORY 35
he killed, and all his wealth in cattle, slaves, ivory, and impande shells he lavished upon those who would help him to gratify his revenge or ambition upon Shachibinzha. He executed his purpose and became chief in Shachibinzha's place. He established his villages at Namadindi, between Mwanakaba and Kasamo, and became great in the land. The neighbouring Ba-ila took up arms against the intruder, but were soon glad to leave him in possession of the district he had seized.
It seems to have been at this time that the numbers of his people were reinforced by union with some immigrants from Munga in the Batonga country. He carried on war against his neighbours and added the captives to the number of his subjects. He also bought many people for ivory. This explains why it is that the Nanzela people (Balumbu) are such a mixture of Batonga, Ba-ila, Mankoya, Matotela, Barotsi, and others.
The sudden appearance of about three hundred Mata- bele, fugitives from Sebitwane, caused great perturbation at Nchelenge, but, calling his people together, Sezongo calmly proposed to destroy the unwelcome visitors by stratagem. He prepared a great feast, to which the hungry and un- suspecting Matabele were invited. They responded gladly, and enjoyed a good meal and — beer. After a time Sezongo sent to inspect them, but learnt that the deadly mantembe drink had not yet taken effect. The next inspection revealed the fact that the dreaded Matabele were lying moribund. Then at Sezongo's orders to spare only the children, the men seized their axes and the women their hoes and speedily despatched the helpless fugitives. Only the young boys and girls were kept ; their descendants are still there. The heads were chopped round above the ears and the crania placed in shizongo baskets and taken to the chief to be used as goblets : hence his name Sezongo. The native report of this dastardly massacre invariably ends with a tribute to the chief's prowess : Chobeni kadi mulombwana chinichini (" He was truly very much a man ").
It was at Namadindi that the Makololo army found Sezongo. A very old man told us that he remembers the
36 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
incident, and declares that Sebitwane came in person with Mpepe. Sebitwane, he says, had called upon Sezongo to pay tribute as the Ba-ila chiefs were doing, but Sezongo defied him. The Ba-ila chiefs along the south bank of the Kafue, from Lubwe to Kabulamwanda, for once agreed to combine against Sebitwane in support of Sezongo, but the league dissolved upon the approach of the Makololo, and he was left to face the conqueror's wrath alone. His people were in terror, but he calmly put aside their advice to seek safety in flight, went on with his preparations, and sent out scouts. " They are in clouds, not as men, but as locusts ; let us flee," reported the craven scouts. But Sezongo stood his ground. His younger brother, Shambala, basely deserted with many people, and Sezongo, with a greatly diminished force, found himself surrounded by the Mako- lolo. The little band fought bravely, but it was a hopeless struggle ; after a time their store of spears and arrows was exhausted, and they had only their axes. The Makololo pressed their advantage, but Sezongo refused to yield. Seizing an icheba (a kind of cutlass), he charged them again and again, and clove many heads, and all the time his drums were sounding defiance against the invaders. On he fought, while one by one his followers fell — all save his shamanga (personal attendant) and the drummers. " Don't kill him, take him alive," shouted the Makololo, but, with blood pouring from many wounds, he refused to yield or be cap- tured, and wielded his icheba with such skill and power that the unequal contest was long in drawing to a close. Finally, he was beaten to his knees, and fell pierced with many spears. His shamanga shared his fate, and the drummers were taken alive.
When the Makololo had departed, the fugitives came creeping back to their homes, and sent word to Shambala that his brother was dead. On inheriting the chiefship, Shambala went to live at Kakuse ; after his death his nephew Munaswaba became chief. His first act was to kill all Shambala's councillors ; then he removed to Kasangu and later to Manimbwa, where the tribe still lives. He traded much with the Mambari slavers, not selling people, but buying them for ivory. Like the heroic Sezongo I.,
38 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
he was a great hunter, and in this way used his skill to build up his power. He became a chief of much weight, but was averse from fighting when he could get his way otherwise. The Basanga people, and later they of Lubwe, put in claims to the land that he occupied, and his councillors strongly advised to resist the claims by arms. But he agreed to pay ; the Basanga received two slaves and a hundred hoes, and the Lubwe people a similar amount, and thus he secured indisputable possession of the locality, where his people have lived ever since. Sezongo II., as we knew Munaswaba, died in 1904, and since then his people, who had been getting out of hand during his later years, have become m'uch divided among themselves, largely owing to the weakness of his successors. Sezongo III. died mysteriously, most people said by poison. Sezongo IV. died in prison, where he was serving a sentence for inciting to murder.
Going back to Sebitwane, we may notice here that in 1851 he met Livingstone and Oswell at Linyanti, the first Europeans to visit this part of Africa. He was then, Living- stone tells us, a man under fifty. Into his short life he had crowded an amazing course of adventure and conquest, but now his end was near, and he died in July that year. •It is perhaps worth recording that there is a difference between Livingstone's and the native accounts of his death. Livingstone says : " He fell ill of pneumonia set up by the irritation of some old spear wounds in his chest." 1 The native story is this : Livingstone had a horse named Sekarebe (? Scarab) which Sebitwane was eager to ride, but Living- stone refused, saying it was too wild. Sebitwane persisted, and at last the Doctor yielded. The horse set off at a canter, and Sebitwane rode it to the intense admiration of his assembled subjects. Coming back, the chief whipped it to a gallop, the multitude burst into a cheer, and the horse, making a sudden swerve, threw him. As they picked him up, Sebitwane said, " My children, it has broken me." Next day Livingstone had the people assembled, and asked them whether they blamed him for their chief's accident ; and they exonerated him, saying that Sebitwane had only
1 Missionary Travels, p. 77 ; W. E. Oswell, The Life of W. C. Oswell (London, 1900), vol. i. p. 246.
CH. a HISTORY 39
himself to blame for insisting on riding a horse he had been warned against. Six days later Sebitwane died.1
It was at this time that, as far as we can ascertain, the existence of the Ba-ila first became known to the outside world. They were first mentioned in the following para- graph written by Dr. Livingstone, and published in England in July 1852. The Mambari, he says, came to Sebitwane in 1850, " carrying great quantities of cloth and a few old Portuguese guns marked Legitimo de Braga, and though cattle and ivory were offered in exchange, everything was refused, except boys about fourteen years of age. The Makololo viewed the traffic with dislike, but having great numbers of the black race living in subjection to them, they were too easily persuaded to give these for the guns. Eight of these old useless guns were given to Sebitwane for as many boys. They then invited the Makololo to go on a foray against the Bashikulompo, stipulating beforehand that, in consideration of the use to be made of their guns in the attack on the tribe, they should receive all the captives, while the Makololo should receive all the cattle. . . . The Mambari went off with about 200 slaves, bound in chains, and both parties were so well pleased with the new customers that they promised to return in 1851." 2 Livingstone tells us that on this foray the Makololo met some Arabs from Zanzibar who presented them with three English muskets and in return received about thirty of their captives. Evidently this was the raid referred to on p. 33.
These Mambari, from Bihe in Portuguese West Africa, paid visits subsequently to, and probably before this ; indeed it is only within quite recent years that, under the stress of British rule, they abandoned their piratory excursions. It would be a mistake to suppose that they simply raided slaves or bought them for export or for use on the Portuguese plantations. They seem to have had two objects — slaves and ivory ; where they could they bought both with the
1 This story was first brought to our notice by Mr. F. V. Worthington, and we have since been told it, quite spontaneously, by various old men in different parts of the country.
2 This paragraph was kindly communicated to us by Rev. A. Baldwin, who took it from an old Life of Livingstone. It was originally published in the Missionary Magazine.
40 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
goods they carried with them, but when it was to their advantage they did not mind bartering the one for the other. They bought much ivory from the Ba-ila for slaves. This fact is to be remembered when thinking of the mixed condition of the Ba-ila and the ravages of the slave-trade.
The Mambari had a friend in Mpepe among the Makololo, and he assisted them in their raids among the Ba-ila and Batonga. Dr. Livingstone has described the machinations of this man against Sekeletu, Sebitwane's successor, and his violent death in 1853.
Sekeletu renewed the 'forays upon the Ba-ila, and in 1854-55 extended his travels as far as Chimbulamukoa, in the neighbourhood of the great Lukanga swamp. There had been quarrels among the Baluba chiefs, with the result that fighting took place between the adherents of Mabanga and Kaindu. Kaindu's brother was slain ; and, on the other side, Mabanga was killed and finally his people were driven from their homes. The heir, Shipopa by name, fled for refuge to the chief Chinga Kaingu at Itumbi. There was another fugitive there, an Ila chief named Shimudizhi from Nanungwe, a gentle rascal whose pleasant foible it was to raid his neighbours and put out the eyes of as many as he could capture, until one day they rounded on him and drove him out. These two sent to invite Sekeletu to come to their help ; Ibn Habib put in a word for a foray upon Chimbulamukoa, and Sekeletu, nothing loth, set out with a great army for the Kafue. Once at the river, he divided his forces; one party went up the river in canoes and other parties swept across country. From several old men we have heard of the horror of that time, when, as they said, the nights were lit up by the innumerable camp-fires of the raiders. Villages were burnt, cattle swept away, women and children captured, old people ruthlessly massacred, and great numbers of men killed and taken prisoners. They left behind them a devastated, famine-stricken land. So dire was the famine that, as one old man told us, if a person were lucky enough to find a grain of corn he would jealously hide it in his impumbe till sowing time.
On another occasion Sekeletu sent his generals, Leshodi
CH. it HISTORY 41
and Katukula, to loot cattle from Monze, Banakaila, and other places. The Makololo called this raid Bungwidimba (" a flock of pigeons "), because the looted cattle were very many but very small.
Sekeletu died in 1863 (strangled, says Mukubu) and was succeeded by Mamili, who was driven away by Mbololo, the last of the Makololo dynasty. His reign of cruelty aroused the Barotsi, who had suffered the Makololo yoke all this time, and, led by Sepopa and his captain Njekwa, they expelled Mbololo and exterminated the Makololo, saving the women. The revolution resulted in Sepopa becoming chief in August 1864. In 1866 he sent an ex- pedition against the Batonga, and in 1871 against the Ba-ila.
According to another account he sent no expedition against the Ba-ila, as by now they were paying tribute regularly. His induna in charge of the collection of the tribute, a man named Musisimi, had trouble with the Bwengwa people, and was killed by them while trying to enforce the payment. Sepopa would have led a punitive expedition against them, but was killed by the Barotsi before he could put his plans into execution. Musisimi 's death was avenged by an army led by Lutango.1 Sepopa was succeeded by Mwanawina, the son of Sebeso, his younger brother. In 1878 he ordered a raid upon the Ba-ila. Moku- besa, who was to collect the army, seized the opportunity of overthrowing Mwanawina in favour of Lobosi (Lewanika) . Lobosi, who was born in 1842, was made chief, and, with one lengthy interval spent in exile, ruled until his death in February 1916. His policy, probably inherited from Makololo predecessors, was to extend his empire in all directions and to impose upon all subject-races Barotsi customs and the Kololo dialect, which, although the Mako- lolo had been wiped out, was still the official language. He took young men from the provinces, reared them at his court, and sent them home as his representatives, thoroughly Rotsiized.
1 This information comes from the Barotsi, but the Ba-ila say that Sepopa arrived in person. There seems to be some misapprehension here, for the Ba-ila will have it that Sepopa and Lutango were one and the same, whereas from Barotsi sources we learn that Lutango was Sepopa 's ngambela (chief councillor), and was the leader of the rebellion against him in 1876.
42 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
In 1882 he led an army against the Ba-ila. On arrival at Manimbwa he reassured Sezongo's people, who were terror-stricken at the sight of this great army. ' You are my children, do not fear," he said. " I am going to the Ba-ila and Batonga. If any of you wish to fight, come with us." A number volunteered, and Lewanika pressed on to the Ba-ila, raiding the cattle from Bambwe, Kasenga, Kabula- mwanda, and Bwengwa. On arriving among the Batonga he divided his army, sending one party back under Katema to complete the raiding of the Ba-ila, while he swept through the Batonga country, and so home. Huge herds of cattle were driven off and a great many Ba-ila were left killed, while the Barotsi loss was but small. It was the custom of the Barotsi to decapitate every enemy slain and give his cal- varium as a drinking-cup to a warrior who had distinguished himself in the fight. Armed with guns, kerries, and shields, the Barotsi had no great difficulty in overcoming the Ba-ila, who had only their thro wing-spears. On the return of the expedition to Barotsiland the spoil was divided : slaves, cattle, and other things. Many of the warriors, it is said, had secretly conveyed to their homes a large portion of their booty, so that, after receiving their share as well from the common stock, they became rich at the expense of the Ba-ila.
In 1888 came the final Barotsi razzia, Lewanika's second, upon the Ba-ila. The Rev. F. Coillard has left on record an account of the starting of this expedition. He writes : " The Barotsi, unlike the Makololo, are not a pastoral people. . . . Here all are immolated, without distinction and without special reason, bulls and heifers, oxen and calves. When the herd has vanished, each man looks at his neighbour and raises the cry, ' To the Mashukulumbwe ! ' . . . During the recent troubles the bovine race has been almost literally exterminated in the country. To this unbridled prodigality a famine succeeded ; it was only to be expected. Then as always the cry arose : ' To the Mashu- kulumbwe ! ' " l Mr. Coillard expresses his astonishment at the number of guns possessed by the Barotsi ; they
1 F. Coillard, On the Threshold of Central Africa (London, 1897), pp. 298 et seq.
CH. ii HISTORY 43
were of varied calibre, mostly flintlocks. At the head of the army marched a young girl, chosen by means of the divining-bones, and regarded as the interpreter of the gods, without whom nothing was to be done. Mr. Coillard reckoned that when all the contingents were collected Lewanika would have from ten to twelve thousand men at least. That heroic missionary showed himself a true friend of humanity by striving to the utmost to dissuade Lewanika from his purpose ; it was in vain, but it was owing to his growing influence that this was the last raid that Lewanika organised.
The great army — great, at least, for Central Africa — swept like a hurricane or a cloud of locusts through the Ila country. In the absence of any cohesion among the various communities resistance was vain. Some desultory fighting took place, and some stragglers from the main bands were cut off, but otherwise the loss among the invaders was very small. Many of the Ba-ila fled to their refuges in the mountains, but Lewanika had divided his army into sections, some of which crossed the Kafue, and escape was almost impossible. Some of the chiefs surrendered without any show of resistance. Shaloba of Lubwe, for example, asked to be allowed to submit and pay tribute, and on receiving permission took a stick and walking through his great herd of cattle divided it into two, handing the larger portion over to the Barotsi. In other cases, as with Shapela on the north bank, the chiefs not only surrendered but gave much help to the invaders. Some showed more spirit. A man named Katimbila was compelled to, ferry a number of Barotsi across the Kafue ; in mid-stream, by an adroit move, he seized a spear, drove it into one of them, capsized the rest into the river and escaped to land. The women suffered with the rest, and many were carried away by their captors. The wife of one chief, Mwashaboya, was so distressed by the death of her husband that she threw herself into the river, saying that she had no desire to live longer.
After leading his men in person — and the sight of him on horseback was a new terror to the Ba-ila — Lewanika returned with the greater part of the army to Barotsiland, leaving another section to complete the devastation in the
44 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
Mbeza district and the hills to the east. At Mbeza this army met with a reverse, for the inhabitants called upon Mapanza and others to help them, and overpowered the Barotsi. Until a few years ago a pile of skulls was ex- hibited as a trophy of victory over the invaders, exhibited, indeed, until an English hunting-party desecrated the sacred enclosure, taking one of the skulls away with them, which so disgusted the natives that they neglected the place afterwards.
This expedition lasted five months, and the invaders returned home in August 1888 with an immense booty in women, children, and cattle. Mr. Coillard was assured that more cattle died on the way than arrived, but even so it would take a month, he said, to distribute the rest after Lewanika had taken his share.
Thus far of the raids from north and west ; now we turn east and south. The Angoni from far-off Nyasaland once at least pushed their forays as far as the Basodi living north of the lower Kafue, but they do not seem to have reached the Ba-ila. Many years ago the Bambala were twice raided by the Bachikundi from Portuguese country south of the Zambesi. Their leader was Kanyemba. Mr. Selous, who met this man in 1877, describes him as "a full-blooded black man . . . who possesses both the will and the power to do immense harm, a slave-trader and a murderer." 1 He seems to have come originally from the lower Zambesi in the Tete district ; he was then living on an island in the Zambesi near the mouth of the Kafue. He had a host of followers armed with flintlocks, and these he sent or led raiding, always taking care to preface a raid by sending a letter to the Governor of Tete complaining of injury done to Portuguese trade and subjects, and asking for a permis de guerre. We have no details of these razzias on the Bambala.
Nor were these all. The Matabele on their expeditions against Sebitwane had heard of the wealth of the Ba-ila in cattle, and directed two of their raids upon them. In the first they reached Bwengwa and went off with much boot}''.
1 F. C. Selous, A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa (London, 1907), pp.
HISTORY
45
In the second they raided all the country on the south of the Kafue, from Kabulamwanda to Nkala. The memory
Photo E. If. Smith.
LESELO, ONE OF OUR INFORMANTS. A Balumbu Type.
of this raid is stili very vivid in the minds of the Ba-ila, and they cannot repress a groan when they recall the immense
46 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES FT. i
herds of cattle captured, the numbers of their people carried off, and the famine that ensued upon the destruction of their crops. There was little opposition to the fierce warriors of Lobengula — Ngwalungwalu, as the Ba-ila call him. When we remarked on this, one old man said : "If you were in a hut and guns were pointed in at you on all sides would you put up a fight ? " Many of the Matabele lost their lives by drowning in the swamps. The B'a-ila drove their cattle through the floods into the islands, and the Matabele, eager in pursuit, though by nature timorous in water, became submerged. Some of their guns were found after- wards when the waters subsided. Many Ba-ila were carried away, and though some escaped subsequently and re- turned to their homes, the majority are still among the Matabele.
In 1892-93 there was another raid of the Matabele, but they did not reach the Ba-ila, as they were swept away by smallpox while among the Batonga. As two of the best impis were on this expedition, their loss was heavily felt in the subsequent war against the British South Africa Company.
A few years later the rinderpest, on its way through Africa, swept across the Ila country, causing huge devasta- tion among the cattle, and thus striking another blow at the Ba-ila in this their tenderest point.
4. CONTACT OF THE BA-ILA WITH EUROPEANS
Who the first European was to enter the Ila country we cannot determine. It may very well be that in early days Portuguese travellers, passing from west to east, or from east to west, traversed this territory; for it appears from what Major Serpa Pinto says1 that the ordinary trade route from
1 Serpa Pinto, How I Crossed Africa (London, 1881), vol. ii. p. 115: "The Biheno pombeiros are accustomed to pass to the north of the Lui, cross the country of the Machachas and at length come upon an enormous river which they call the Loengue. That river they use in their trade journeys, and know it well from its very source. They go down it in their canoes to its mouth, where it assumes the name of Cafucue. ... It is rare to find a Biheno who travels at all who has not been at Cainco." In August 1878 Pinto was at Lealui intending to follow this route and explore the Kaf ue,
CH. ii HISTORY 47
Angola to Zumbo passed through Kaingu, and down the Kafue, but so far as we know there is no record of such travels.
It is certain that in more recent years travellers entered the country and left no record, for the simple reason that they never emerged alive. Mr. Coillard, writing in 1888, says that within the last few years he had heard of Portu- guese traders, of the son of a missionary he knew, and of his partner, a young Englishman, who had been massacred by the Ba-ila:
Dr. Livingstone is the first traveller in this country of whom we have an authentic record, and he passed just outside the confines of the Ila territory. The Balumbu of Nanzela remember seeing him while they were living near Kalomo. Various old men, like Mukubu and Nakabanga, taken when young by the Makololo and since returned to their homes, have spoken to us of meeting and travelling with him ; the impression made upon their minds by him was so strong that they declare he was more than man. He was, as we have seen, the first to write of the Ba-ila ; he met a party of them in the neighbourhood of Monze in 1855. In his original map of the Zambesi, made in 1853- 1854, ne nas incorporated information derived from natives, and on it we can recognise, wrongly placed, the names of Mokobela, Sealoba, and Mosianana : chiefs bearing those titles are still living.
The first white man spoken of by the people as having passed through their country came from the west and travelled east. This seems to have been some fifty-five years ago. He travelled quite alone, without food or arms or attendants. He appeared suddenly at Lubwe, and an old man there has given us a graphic description of the event. He was middle - aged, thin, and pale ; all have remarked upon his paleness, using the word bwalangana, ("transparent"). When his fingers hung down they say
but was prevented by Lewanika. Silva Porto (in 1853-54) followed the route from the West Coast to Naliele (on the Zambesi), then to Kaingu (Cahinga), and to Cahimbe (? Kazembe) and on to the East Coast. See the map in The Lands of Cazembe, translated and annotated by Captain R. F. Burton (London, 1873).
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
you could see the blood flowing into them. • He was evidently in a state of exhaustion upon his arrival at Lubwe, for he sank upon the ground, and feebly pointed to a pipe one of
< K -1
*§ .§
§3 *
« «
the men was smoking. In his pocket he had a small packet of powdered tobacco (opium?), and filling the pipe with difficulty he smoked a few minutes, coughing violently.
CH. ii HISTORY 49
Then he fell back insensible, and they threw water on him. On recovering he struggled to his feet and pursued his journey eastwards. He appeared later at Mala, to the consternation of the people, who fled at the unwonted sight. Nobody could understand him, nor be understood by him ; he would eat none of the food offered to him, and after a short rest he went on his way along the Kafue. The figure of this lonely traveller in mid-Africa is one that appeals to the imagination, and it would be interesting to know his identity and subsequent history.
We have heard that the next to visit the Ba-ila were two travellers named Chingaingai and Mitelo, who came from the west and passed away east. They are said to have been in search of ivory. Some say they were carried in machilas and were Bazungu, i.e. Portuguese, but others affirm they wore long flowing robes and sandals like Arabs. Some thirty to forty years ago three travellers, named by the natives Shimonze, Machenjezha, and Chikwasa, came from the east and went west. They carried long guns and brought goods with which to buy ivory. These appear to have been Portuguese.
The Balumbu of Nanzela also tell of three " Matem- bezhi " who came many years ago from the south beyond Mangwato. They were sportsmen, as is evident from the fact that they took only the trophies of the animals they killed. They may have been either Griqua or Boer hunters.
The earliest traveller actually among the Ba-ila who has left a record was Dr. Emil Holub (1847-1902), a native of Bohemia, who in 1872 went to the Kimberley mines, where he practised as a surgeon. With a companion named Oswald Sollner and Mrs. Holub he arrived at the Zambesi in June 1886 with the intention of exploring the country to the north, and crossing the continent to Egypt ; they were thus the first to set out on the " Cape - to - Cairo " route.1 From Kazungula he passed over the plateau towards the Ila country, via Mapanza, everywhere hearing
1 Dr. Emil Holub, Von der Capstadt ins Land der Maschukulumbe, Reisen im sudlichen Afrika in den Jahren 1883-1887, 2 vols. (Wien, Alfred Holder, 1890). (No English translation.) We have also a local newspaper report of a lecture given by Dr. Holub at Kimberley after his return.
VOL. I E
50 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
the worst tidings of the wild people to the north, and being strongly advised not to visit them. On enter- ing the Bwila he noted that, although four years before Lewanika had taken more than 40,000 head of cattle, it was a loss hardly to be noticed among the great herds that remained. They passed through Mbeza, Kabulamwanda, Kasenga to Busangu. The rascally behaviour of the natives of these last two places, he says, so terrified his servants that one dark night many of them deserted. The Ba-ila came to attack them, but they were on the watch, and the attempt failed. They then endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to maroon them on an island in the Kafue. On the north bank of the river they found " every day an endless torture." Once, they believed, an attempt was made to poison them. On the way from Nyambo to Lulonga many of their possessions were pillaged. They were told of Portuguese living beyond the hills that Holub named the Franz- Josefs Berge, and determined to make their way thither. At Lulonga they left Sollner with the donkeys and most of the remaining goods, while they, Dr. and Mrs. Holub, went forward to explore. Holub's account, in the twenty-fourth chapter of his book, of their adventures on that second day of August makes excellent reading. The night was so black as they stole out of camp at I A.M. fhat, after feeling about with their hands for the path, they had soon to retrace their steps towards the village and wait for dawn, at which, says he pathetically, " I should like to have been able to cry, if only it were possible." At daybreak they followed a path into the swamps, through water breast-deep at times, with thick mud underfoot, so viscid that they lost their boots. On they blundered, slipping, falling, for six hours, Holub at times carrying his wife (who behaved most pluckily throughout), and at last emerged and reached a village. The chief gave them guides, and they went on some distance towards the pass ; but Holub was seized by a presentiment that all was not well, and by dire threats compelled the guides to divulge the chief's instructions. As for the Portuguese — there were none. He awoke to what he be- lieved to be the plans of the Ba-ila : to separate him from Sollner, then to kill them all. He gave the order to return,
CH. ii HISTORY 51
and they waded through the swamp again, this time in two hours. On approaching Lulonga they discovered one of their men hiding in the reeds, and from him heard of the catastrophe that had befallen " the Austro-Hungarian- African expedition." The camp had been attacked, Sollner mortally wounded by spears, and the goods plundered. Holub ascribes it all to Sollner's philanthropy : " The mis- placed confidence he showed them always and everywhere cost him his life." What was immediately valuable to the Ba-ila had been carried off ; books and scientific instru- ments and other things were lying littered about, and among them Holub descried what he accounted most precious of all — diaries. As he warily collected these, the Ba-ila crept up behind, and it seemed that he would be cut off, but Mrs. Holub saved the situation. Beyond saying that she seized a gun and enabled him to escape, Holub is rather vague, and it is at this point, we think, some details supplied by the ratives will fit in most naturally. They say that Mrs. Holub fired and killed one man, fired a second time, and killed both a man and a woman, and that this scared the Ba-ila. Dr. Holub, they add, did nothing, but with his arms full of his precious records he was, as he says himself, helpless. The Ba-ila drew off, and the way was open for their escape. Leaving Sollner's body unvisited and un- buried — if indeed he were already dead, which they do not seem to have ascertained — they set off towards the south. Once the Ba-ila tried to block the path, but a volley into their midst scattered them. After another painful march through swamps they reached the open plain, newly burnt and covered with short thick stubble, across which they made their way. Their bare feet were severely punished, " every step was accompanied by sighs and groans." With the intense heat, thirst, and. hunger they suffered such agonies that after a three hours' march they were giddy and bordering on insensibility. Parties of Ba-ila hovered near, but they were not again molested — by this time they were beyond caring whether they were killed or not — and after nightfall reached the Kafue at the point where they had crossed. They were glad to make a scanty supper off a fragment of half-rotten pumpkin they found in a field.
52 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
They discovered a small canoe on an islet in the stream, but when, for the promise of a gun, one of the men swam over and fetched it they found it useless, for it would hold only one person. A further promise of a double-barrelled gun induced the man to seek another canoe on the opposite bank, and so in twos they reached the islet. Then a fearful storm — very unusual for August — broke out and the high waves seemed to make it impossible to go farther, until at last, spurred by the necessity of getting past the Busangu villages before dawn, Holub ventured to cross. At midnight he stood on the south bank, and at last, twenty-four hours after stealing out of their camp at Lulonga, they were all in comparative safety. Ultimately, on August 22, they reached the Zambesi in an " utterly prostrate and destitute condition."
We get the impression that in all this affair Dr. Holub displayed a lack of courage and tact in dealing with the Ba-ila. We think he was over-suspicious at times, often led astray by his Batonga or Barotsi interpreters, and that if at the first he had been more tactful with the people, had understood them better, and had shown a bolder front, he would have had a milder adventure. Some of the pictures in his book excite us to laughter.
The Ba-ila are very reticent about it, and mostly deny all recollection of Holub. In July 1913 we visited Lulonga and quietly questioned the chief Mwanashimabula ; he is old enough to remember Holub 's visit, but is a newcomer, and eager to deny all responsibility. We learn from him that during Lewanika's raid in 1888 the Barotsi found the chief Zumbwa Shimata (Holub calls him Uschumata- Zumbo) and all his people on an island in the swamps, and surrounded and annihilated them every one. For some time Lulonga was a desolation ; then Musulwe, the over- lord, took this Mwanashimabula from Chomba, installed him as chief, and gave permission to such of his people who wished to remove there, *so that the village might be re- established. But it has never flourished, and remains the most miserable place in the country.
The story of this misadventure greatly increased the dread inspired by other accounts of the Ba-ila, and the next
CH. ii HISTORY 53
traveller was very strongly urged to give them a wide berth. This was Mr. F. C. Selous, the famous hunter. Already in 1877 he had crossed the Zambesi at Wankie, and made his way north to what he called Manicaland, reaching Sitanda in January 1878, the first Englishman to visit that district. He was out to. shoot elephant, but in that respect it was an unsatisfactory trip. It was a very wet season ; he nearly died of fever and starvation, and Sitanda only wished that he might die and leave him in possession of his guns.1 And now in 1888 Mr. Selous again crossed the Zambesi on a hunt- ing trip. He was minded not to enter Ha country, but after leaving the Batonga at Monze's, through some miscalcula- tion, he found himself in the midst of the Ba-ila at Minenga's. To all appearances the people were friendly, and they con- strained Selous to pitch camp in front of the principal village, but notwithstanding their friendly demeanour they had already determined to massacre the whole party. No suspicion of their intention seems to have been enter- tained until in the evening Selous heard that all the women had been sent from the village. An attack was made shortly afterwards ; three guns went off in Selous' face, and a shower of spears poured into the camp. How any of them managed to escape is a marvel. But the long grass around the village favoured them, and into this the survivors made their way. Selous became separated from the others, and after many hair- breadth escapes, during which he lost his rifle, he ultimately reached the Batonga villages and was safe, though almost naked and robbed of nearly all he possessed. An explanation which somewhat palliates the offence as far as the Ba-ila are concerned, is that they were instigated to it by some rebel Barotsi, who thought that Selous was in possession of a large store of gunpowder, which they wanted for use against their own chief.2
1 F. C. Selous, A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa (London, 1907), pp. 301 et seq.
2 F. C. Selous, Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa (London, J893), PP- 216 et seq. Of the Ba-ila, Selous said : " They are a fine sturdy- looking race of men ; very many of them have rather aquiline features and are at the same time lighter in colour than their fellows, and it appears to me that amongst them there is a strong admixture of some other blood than the negro — perhaps Arab or some other North African race," p. 220.
54 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
The next comers, and the first settlers among the Ba-ila, were the pioneers of the Baila-Batonga Mission of the Primi- tive Methodist Church, the Rev. H. and Mrs. Buckenham and the Rev. A. Baldwin, who reached Nkala in 1893, and the Rev. F. and Mrs. Pickering and Rev. W. Chapman, who followed in 1895. 1
Colonel St. Hill Gibbons, in the course of his explorations during 1895-96, passed along the outskirts of the Ila country, visiting Nanzela, Nkala, and Musanana. He formed a very low opinion of the Ba-ila, whom he described as " quite the most hopeless savages it is possible to conceive." ' They live," he added, " in the finest country in Africa." 2
The time was now come when the Ba-ila were to enter upon quite a new period of their history In 1895 the British South Africa Company by treaty with Lewanika extended its operations north of the Zambesi. In 1897 some of the Batonga chiefs sent a deputation to Bulawayo to complain of the white traders who were crossing the Zambesi, and for the purpose of regulating trade and keeping order a station of the B.S.A. police was established near Monze in charge of Captain Drury.
In 1900 Mr. Cecil Rhodes sent Messrs. Gielgud and Anderson to establish a post in the Kafue district, and after marching without any molestation through the Ila country they built a station at Muyanga on the Upper Kafue.
In 1901 came the first, and so far the only, conflict between the Company's officials and the Ba-ila. The trouble arose out of one of those internecine quarrels among the Ba-ila. For some years there had been constant friction between Mungalo, a chief at Mala, and Mungaila of Ka- ntengwa. On the death of Shambamba at Mala, Mungalo was invited to succeed him, but refused on the ground that his guardian spirit had warned him that if he acceded
1 The records of the Mission are found in the following books : Mrs. E. W. Smith, Sunshine and Shade in Central Africa, 1907 ; Rev. W. Chap- man, A Pathfinder in Central Africa, 191 1 ; Rev. A. Baldwin, A Missionary Outpost in Central Africa, 1914 ; Rev. H. J. Taylor, Cape Town to Kafue, 1915 ; Mrs. J. A. Kerswell, Romance and Reality of Missionary Life in N. Rhodesia, 1913 (all published at Holborn Hall, E.G.).
2 A. St. H. Gibbons, Exploration and Hunting in Central Africa (London, 1898), pp. 144-5.
CH. ii HISTORY 55
he would die of smallpox as Shambamba had died. The position was then offered to and accepted by Mungaila. Later on, Mungalo repented or, as he said, his spirit had now- given him instructions to assume the chiefship, and a quarrel was the result, for Mungaila naturally refused to abdicate. Some time afterwards one of Mungaila's men, Mwanankumba, took possession of some of Mungalo's land and began to build on it. As he refused to move, Mungalo attacked him and killed some of his people. Mungaila intervened to support his vassal, and as some of the other chiefs stood by Mungalo the fight became general. After a while Mungaila died — bewitched, it is said — and his younger " brother " took his name and position, while his nephew Shibenzu succeeded him at Kantengwa. Fighting still went on, and Mungaila sent to ask for the help of the European police. It is com- monly said that Mungalo sent two blood-stained spears to the police camp as a challenge, but it seems that the spears really came from Mungaila, who misrepresented the matter to secure the help of the police. Colonel Harding, with other white officers and a host of native allies, marched to Mala ; Mungalo fled, was captured, and sent into exile for some years. Eventually he was allowed to return to Mala. We knew him well. He was a particular friend of one of us, and was one of our chief informants on the history and customs of the Ba-ila. He died, about seventy years of age, in 1911. We do not agree with Colonel Harding's estimate of him : "A lying, servile hypocrite." l
After this incident a police camp was established at Nkala. Then in 1903 civil administration was introduced into the southern Kafue district, and in 1905 Mr. Dale took charge of the greater part of the Ba-ila.
As a result of these movements the anarchic state of the country, as portrayed in the earlier part of this chapter,, came to an end ; intercommunal warfare, raids from the outside, and slave-trading have all become things of the past, and earnest efforts are being made to introduce law and order into the country.
The impression given by this chapter that the relations
1 Colonel C. Harding, In Remotest Barotseland (London, 1905), p. 348. He gives his version of these feuds, pp. 343 et seq.
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
between the Ba-ila and their neighbours have been uniformly hostile for as long a period as can be traced may be modified
MUNGAILA II., CHIEF OF THE BAMALA.
Photo K. It-'. Smith.
later, but it will remain as a true impression in general. The Ba-ila have been little influenced in manner of life by
CH. n HISTORY 57
their contact with other tribes. They have asked only to be left. alone. It is only now that they are beginning to be influenced by foreign civilisation. We can claim that our account of their life has the advantage of being the descrip- tion of a people in their wild, raw state.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II
NAMES OF THE CHIEFS REFERRED TO ON P. 21.
Kasenga. — Shimunenga ruled over Mala, Busangu, Kane, Chikome, Chitumbi, and Kalando. After his death these places to a large extent became separate chiefdoms.
(i)Mala. — Split up among three chiefs, Namawale, Uvhwamba, and Shinyonge. Namawale's successors : Shamalomo I. and Shamalomo II. ; Shinyonge 's : Shibwato (or Fumbu), Chibawe, and Nalubwe ; Uvhwamba's : Shanchidi, Shambamba, Mungaila I., Mungaila II.
(2) Busangu.- — Momba, Namompwe, Mwampwe, Chanaika, and Shimunjele (the two last still living).
(3) Chikome. — Chambwe, Mpumpa, Mungalo I. and Mungalo II.
(4) Chitumbi. — Shikodio, Maika, Shimanza, Kasonde, and now Mukamonga.
Kabulamwanda. — Zambwe, Shakavu, Chikoti, and Chinda.
Kantengwa. — Kantambwe, Shichikoloma, Shitukumba, Na- mamba, Chomwa.
Bambwe. — Sheebelelwa, Shikamulonga, Mukobela L, Shama- kwebo, Shimaluwane, Mukobela II.
Lubwe. — Mwanachiwala, Kalumba, Shepande (Shaloba I.), Munaluchena (Shaloba II.), Shaloba III., Shaloba IV.
Ngabo. — Kachembele, Shimafumba I., Nchindo, Buche, Shimafumba II., Shimafumba III.
Ichila. — Shambowe, Kanyindi, Shabulungu, Nakadiaba, Shivhwambwe, Shimakudika.
Chisosoleke. — Kanza, Mulalu I., Kadimina, Mulalu II., Namawi.
North of the Kafue. — Malumbe (see Chap. XXII.) appears to have ruled over several localities, which after his death passed to different chiefs, e.g. :
(1) Nyambo. — Shimpande, Mwanamonga, Mauzwe, Mwana- nkumba, Mwezwa.
(2) Chifwembe. — Kashize, Lombe, Mwembwa, Chilumbwa, Nakoma, Namabezhi.
58 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES • PT. i
Mafwele. — Bizi, Shamumpo, Muluko, Shikamwe (two years), Mwino, Mponde I., Mivhuba (three years), Manzula, Mponde II.
Kuntuba. — Kantambwe, Shichikoloma, Shitukumba, Na- mamba, Chomwa (people scattered).
Mutenda. — Chongo, Munyama, Mwezhi, Mutinta, Shende, Chikwangula, Mulungushi.
CHAPTER III *
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS : DRESS AND DECORATION
i. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
AMIDST the very considerable variation in physique among these people two distinct types can be traced. One is tall, strongly and splendidly formed ; not inclined to corpulence, but tending rather to leanness ; with long legs, narrow hips, and broad, straight shoulders ; head finely shaped, well set on a longish neck, with clearly marked, but not obtrusive superciliary arches, nose long and rather arched, nostrils •thin ; mouth small, the lips not excessively everted, but tending to be thin like a European's ; hands and feet small, fingers tapering ; in general appearance handsome. The other type is very distinct, in many respects the very oppo- site to the former : short, with large, heavy body, tending to corpulence ; bull - necked ; the features coarse, forehead low ; nose squat, with broad depressed bridge and wide wings ; blubber-lipped, mouth large ; hands and feet gross. This type is as repulsive as the other is handsome. In- dividuals corresponding to these two types are found, and there are numerous gradations between the two. It cannot be said that one type is aristocratic and the other plebeian, for chiefs and slaves are found of both types.
The colour of the skin varies considerably. That of the new-born baby is a dirty yellow ; in some, like that of a child of a very dark European woman ; as early as the second day one can notice it getting darker. Young people and adults vary from chocolate brown to almost black. The skin of the palms, soles, and armpits is always lighter than
59
6o
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
that of the rest of the body. We have repeatedly noticed that people lose much colour when sick. We have never
THE INFERIOR ILA TYHE.
found any albinos among them, such as we have seen among the Basuto and other South African tribes.
As for the eyes, the iris is dark brown or black, the pupil is black, and the sclerotic is yellowish arid cloudy—
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 61
very rarely is it white and clear as in Europeans ; it is probably pigmented as a protection from the glare of the sun.
Individuals are found with " strong " chins, but mostly they are " weak," rounded rather than square, and retreat- ing. There is no firm line of j aw. The forehead is prominent in those who wear the coiffure en cornet ; the weight draws the scalp back, so that the skin is tight. over the frontal region. This gives them a certain open-eyed, staring appearance. The ear is ordinarily small and set far back. The hands and feet are often remarkably small ; we ourselves could rarely put on bracelets worn by chiefs and easily drawn off and on by them. We have seen many of the women with really handsome figures, beautifully moulded arms, and long tapering hands.
The muscular development, both in men and women, is magnificent. Very seldom does one find fat, unwieldy persons. We have often found ourselves admiring their graceful carriage ; they walk as if the whole earth belonged to them. The women's habit of carrying heavy burdens on the head — we have seen them bearing without effort pots of water or bundles of wood which we could hardly lift from the ground — is largely accountable for this in their case. When a woman takes her child out of the skin on her back, where it has been bunched up for some time, she usually straightens out and slightly stretches its limbs, and this also has probably a beneficial effect upon their carriage and lissomeness.
Ba-ila age quickly. This is especially true of the women. A young, plump woman, with rounded breasts, goes to be married, and a year or so later seems to be ten years older and is almost unrecognisable. After childbirth the breasts fall, and in still early life become unsightly, like long bags of leather. The slave women, unkempt, wrinkled, prematurely aged, clad only in bits of rough hide, are piteous creatures : some of them, to look at, might be a hundred years old, in reality they are probably not half that age. The boys develop amazingly after puberty, appearing to shoot up and burgeon out with a rush. It is not easy to tell the ages with any certainty ; only one thing is sure, they are
62
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
younger than they look. The only means of ascertaining a person's age approximately is to relate his birth, or some
A YOUNG MWILA WEARING THE IMPUMBE.
important event in his life, such as his initiation, to one of the few fixed dates mentioned in the previous chapter. We fixed our friend Mungalo's age at about seventy, because
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 63
in 1854, when Sekeletu made his great raid, he had just grown his impumbe and was not yet married, i.e. he was fifteen or sixteen. The oldest man whose age we have ascertained in this rough manner was eighty-five, or there- abouts. The practice of naming children after some promi- nent visitor often helps to fix a date. Thus many children born about 1850 were named Mpepe after that Makololo warrior.
The hair of new-born children is like tow, not curled as on adults, and the colour is distinctly lighter. It very soon changes, to become closely curled and jet-black. On many people the tufts grow very closely together, and when cut short the hair looks like astrakhan ; in others the tufts are spaced, but never to the extent found in the Bushmen.
The Ba-ila proper, as a rule, wear no hair on their faces. One exception is during a period of mourning, when, from the time of the death till the madidila, the final funeral feast, perhaps a year later, the men neither shave nor wash, and the women neither wash nor cut their hair nor shave their head. Older men, who are said to be no longer shinkwela —which means that they are past the age for attracting women — are more indifferent to their .personal appearance, and allow the hair to grow ; such men usually have a beard, mostly only a straggling tuft on the chin. On the younger men the growth is not vigorous, and an occasional shave, say twice a month, is sufficient. The shaving is done with a razor (lumo), native-made ; no emollient is used but cold water. The operation is performed usually by a wife or friend ; not often, through lack of mirrors, by the man himself. The razor is passed right over the head, excepting only where the cone grows : this is called kusakula. Those who do not shave the whole head pass the razor around the margin of the hair on the scalp : this is kupambula. Very occasionally pne meets with a fairly full beard even among the Ba-ila ; if so, it is because the man is in a state of taboo. One man known to us had the reputation of being the strongest wrestler in the country : he boasted that nobody could possibly throw him ; he declined the challenge of one of us on the ground that it was not fitting
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT I
that he should overthrow a white chief. This man's strength was the outcome, it is said, of powerful " medicine," which
. If. Sm,tfi.
AN OLO-MAN-OK-THE-VVOODS FROM MULKNDEMA'S.
would lose its power were he to shave ; shaving was there- fore taboo to him. Beards are more common among the Bambala and the Balumbu, but it is not often that one
CH, III
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
finds so much hair as on the old-man-of-the-woods we photographed at Mulendema's.
Photo E. M-. Smith.
CHIKATAKALA, "THE POLAR BEAR," A CHIEF AT KASENGA.
The younger adults, male and female, periodically remove all hair (mazha) from the armpits and pubes by depilation (kudimensa). Warm ashes are first rubbed on the part, and then the hairs are plucked out with the finger
VOL. i F
66 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
and thumb. Men and women may do this for themselves ; it is a wife's duty to do it for her husband. The other body- hair (mulalabungu) is not removed : it is taboo to do so. Very rarely does one find a young adult with much body- hair, but it increases with age, and some old men are very woolly. Old Chikatakala at Mala had so much white hair on him that we nicknamed him the Polar Bear. A hairy man is called a mutundu, a strong, hale person, the hair being regarded as a sign of robustness. All hair removed is carefully buried, as a rule, to avoid its getting into the hands of warlocks : this does not, as we shall see, forbid its use by the hairdresser. Partial baldness is common, but we have never seen a person entirely bald.
The nails are never cut, but are allowed to grow till they break off. The possession of long nails has become a sign of wealth and position, for if a person has to work it inevitably happens that he breaks his nails ; when you see a man with nails nearly an inch long you may readily conclude that he does no manual work, that is to say, he is a chief. Another motive assigned for the custom is expressed thus, balazanda kuambanya mala (" they want to use their nails to argue with"). It is common among the women, and not unknown among the men, to scratch and pinch each other in course of a dispute.
Contrary to the usual belief with regard to the teeth of savage people, we must confess disappointment with the teeth of the Ba-ila. This opinion is supported by the in- vestigations made by Dr. Hewetson among the Ba-ila and other natives who were labouring at the Wankie coal-mine in igog-io.1 At that time the average death-rate amongst this class of men on the mine was 42 per 1000, excluding accidents, one-eighth due. to scurvy and more than one- half to pneumonia. His theory that both diseases are due to septic teeth has not been established, but he is right in saying that the natives suffer largely from gingivitis. This disease is due to a bacterial invasion of the alveolar tooth sockets and of the gums. The predisposing cause is that
1 W. Morton Hewetson, M.B., etc., " The Causation and Prevention of Scurvy, with Special Reference to Pneumonia," Proceedings of the Rhodesia Scientific Association, vol. xi. part i., 1911 (Bulawayo).
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
67
the staple food being in the form of porridge, there is insufficient exercise for the teeth and gums ; this results in a soft condition of the gums, which become non-adherent to
A DU'AKK.
the teeth and non-resistant to micro-organisms. The soft food gets caught in the crevices and inequalities of the teeth and forms a suitable culture medium. As for the teeth, Dr. Hewetson says, " I have seen more sickening and repulsive sights in old men during the course of my
68
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
examinations than ever I saw amongst the English working classes." This condition of things would seem to be closely
Photo II. W. Smith.
A MIXED ILA-LUBA TYPE.
related to the custom of knocking out the upper teeth. Of the cases of gingivitis on one date, 53 per cent lacked the
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 69
six front upper teeth ; and others lacked a lesser number, or had the teeth filed ; not a single case at that time showed un- mutilated teeth. Amongst the Ba-ila and Batonga labourers, who all knock out the teeth, 13.3 per cent suffered from gingivitis ; among the rest only 5.40 per cent, and the con- dition was always worse and harder to cure among the former. He found it not only in the adults, but in young boys who had the teeth out. He points out, what we have often noticed, that the loss of the upper incisors can have an extraordinary effect on those remaining ; the lower incisors grow, often a
From Proccedit _
CAST OF LOWER TEETH OF A NATIVE.
Showing compensatory curve of incisors, following avulsion in early life of upper incisors and canines.
quarter of an inch above the crowns of the adjacent teeth, upsetting the line and causing want of apposition.
The hair of a child is cut soon after birth, and is there- after allowed to grow until about the weaning time, when it is cut around the head, leaving a long tuft on the crown. This cutting is called kutengula chisumpa, and the wearing of the tuft is kupunga chisumpa. These tufts (shisumpa) make the children look, as to their heads, like Japanese dolls. Both boys and girls have their hair dressed in this fashion.
When the girl's hair has grown long enough, they do it up in the style called buyombo. Strands of the hair are
70 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES FT. i
twisted (kupesa) with powdered ash (inshizhi), then clay from a certain kind of ant-heap (kaumbuswa) , or ochre (chishila) mixed with fat is rubbed into the locks. Mixed fat and ochre are used from time to time to anoint the hair. The girl's coiffure looks nasty to our eyes, but they find it pleasing.
When the girl is in the seclusion of the initiation hut, her hair is done up in one of the styles named shimbulu-
I'hoto Rfi: y. fJers-
BAMBALA GIRLS. (To show hairdressing).
mbumba and shimpuki. There is not much difference between them ; in each case the hair is done up in small knots or rolls with the aid of butele, a paste made from ground-nuts. By the time this gets intolerably untidy she is ready to be shaved, a sign that she has reached adulthood. She may be already married when this is done. The Bambala do the girls' hair up in beads, as shown in the photograph.
Boys also have their hair dressed in the buyombo style. Their hair is allowed to grow, and that on the crown is gathered into a cone, plastered with wax and clay. The
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 71
hair around the base of the cone is shaved off. This cone is named impumbe, and it marks the boy's emergence from childhood. He is now a mukubushi (" a young man "). The impumbe undergoes a further development into the isusu, the tall coiffure peculiar to the Ba-ila, whose construction must be described in detail.
It is February ; the field-work is done for the present, and from now till harvest there is a slack period. This is the time when the young men flock to the hairdresser to have their impumbe transformed into isusu. In every com- mune there is at least one professional hairdresser. We find him seated outside under the eaves of his hut. Several young men are here : some with their heads wrapped in cloths — these are the patients ; others have come to make arrangements for their turns. It is a lengthy process, and a painful ; when the isusu has been built up six inches or so the patient retires for a time to recover. Probably a month will elapse before one is complete. We find the hairdresser busy carrying different men through the various stages. He does not work for nothing : two hoes or their equiva- lent is the fee paid to him, and the patient has to supply the necessary twine and extra hair. Each man has with him a small bundle, on opening which you find a mass of hair collected or purchased by him. One tells you that he purchased with a spear some of the locks of an old man (they are flecked with grey) and his daughter.
One man now takes his place on the ground beside the operator, and, removing his head-cloth, discovers a rough, tousy shock of hair — the impumbe decoiffe. The operator gathers this up in his hand, sorting out the hair beyond the circle of the crown, and ties it up loosely with twine, then with a spear cuts the superfluous hair close to the head. He now prepares to sew (kutunga). He has a bright needle, eight inches long, and a piece of twine made of mukusa (a species of Sanseviera) , with which, after softening by drawing it backwards and forwards across one of the legs of his stool, he threads the needle. He inserts this into the hair, taking up half an inch, and ties the end of his twine tightly around it, then puts his needle, pointing backwards, an inch in front,
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
and draws it up and forward. The stitch is the same as that used in smocking, and when the isusu is finished it presents the appearance of finely-wrought smock- work, the stitches showing no vestige of the white twine. He goes round twice. The needle does not penetrate through the mass of hair, but only through the outer layer, making a crust, as it were, enveloping the hair inside. Having by these two first rows prepared a firm foundation, he now pulls down the temporary twine-tied heap, and carefully spreads the
Photo E. IT. Sn
SEWING THE Isusu.
hair all round. Some, as not required, he cuts off ; at the back, where there is an insufficiency, he adds a bit from the bundle lying beside him. Then he ties the mass up again tightly, smoothing it, poking it, punching it till he has got it symmetrical. He now resumes the sewing. He re- members that the isusu is not to grow out at right angles to the crown, but must rise above the head in a gentle curve, beginning with a bulge backwards and then curving forward. These next rows of stitching are important ; they must be tight and firm and well-shaped, otherwise the isusu will be lop-sided and wobbly. Working now from the back, as
CH. Ill
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
73
he makes the loop of the stitch he introduces into it a lock of hair from the heap beside him, draws the string tight across it, doubles it over, and smooths it down upon the hair above. He goes on adding in this way until near the front ; there he jumps over an inch and a half without stitching : he will fill up the space presently. While he con- tinues his work now, you see the patient wince as every stitch
SEWING THE Isusu.
is pulled tight ; he is beginning to suffer. After four or five more rows, the operator attends to the space left in front ; pressing the whole mass forward, he makes his stitches, drawing the cord very tight : this gives it a firm, forward-tending hold. He goes on riow round and round. When he has done about six inches up, the patient begins to say that he has had enough of it for to-day. " Chanka kubia, chanka kupia " ("It begins to be bad, it begins to burn"), says he. The neat phrase tickles the fancy of the
74
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
onlookers, and they repeat it approvingly, " Chanka kubia, chanka kupia." We are anxioiis to see the whole thing done
as we wait, but that, we are told, is out of the question ; it would cause him such agony that the top of his head would come off. So, wrapping the cloth around the unfinished
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
75
structure, he gives way to the next patient. You notice that the skin around the crown is drawn up and livid, and
congratulate yourself that you are not a Mwila and a slave to barbarous fashion.
Examine the hair lying by the side of the operator. It
76
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
is very fine and curly ; if you pull out a hair and stretch it to take out the curl, you find it measures eleven inches ; it curls up into less than half that length.
The isusu from base to tip is about three feet ten inches high. About half-way up the operator introduces a strip of finely pared sable antelope horn, less than the calibre of a lead pencil at its lower end and tapering away to a very fine point. He continues his sewing around this until about nine inches from the top, when he simply winds hair
Photo n. W. Smith.
REPAIRING THE IMPUMBE.
around the stem and ties it. When this is complete, he lights a wisp of grass and burns off all the fluff remaining on the isusu, mercilessly, roughly, drawing the flame over the strained skin at the base. The patient writhes under this treatment, and groans, " Ndu lono lumamba" (" This is where the war comes in "). The operator simply laughs and goes on.
These characteristic coiffures are not worn for any length of time, maybe only two or three mpnths. They get too uncomfortable and have to be removed. The reason is found in the name given to them in derision by the Balu-
CH. Ill
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
77
mbu, who do not wear them : inganda sha njina, they call them (" lice houses "). The man goes back to the impumbe, and next season has another isusu made.
Old men, as they become partially bald, lose the foundation upon which the impumbe is built, and it falls down behind in a ridiculous little bob, held on only by a few strands of hair.
When men have worn the impumbe for some time, and because of mourning have not been able to attend to their toilet, it gets loose owing to the growing hair, and they visit
Photo E. Jr. Smith.
AFTER REPAIRING THE IMPUMBE : SHAVING THE HEAD.
the hairdresser to have it tightened. He puts in two or three rows of stitches around the base to make it firm, and then shaves the head.
Outside the Bwila proper different styles of hairdressing prevail. One Bambala style is shown in the photograph of Kakua. This is called mampolombwe by the Ba-ila. The hair is allowed to grow long, falling almost to the shoulders, and is twisted into rolls. Others, as seen in the picture of Chibaluma, have their hair in a big mop, shaven in front to give the appearance of a lofty forehead ; the hair is often threaded with beads. A modification of
Photo E. W. Smith.
THE CHIEF CHIBALUMA. Mixed Ila and Luba Type.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
79
this is seen in the coiffure of Mulungushi, another Bambala chief, whose mop of hair, plastered with fat and ochre,
Photo E. If. Smith.
THE CHIEF CHIBALUMA. Mixed Ila and Luba Type.
is solid in appearance and gives some resemblance to the statues of ancient Libyans found in Egypt. Other men have their hair cut short, and this is the usual practice around Nanzela. Where no impumbe is worn, young men
8o THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
often clip their hair into fantastic patterns, squares, triangles,
Photo Rev. IV. Chapman
MULUNGUSHI.
To show one style of Bamhala hairdressing.
diamonds, etc., or train a long tuft over the forehead and shave the rest bare — any way, indeed, that takes their fancy.
CH. Ill
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
81
It is a matter of fashion ; one man sets a new style and the others soon follow.
Photo E. If. Smith.
A YOUNG MWILA. (The same one as on p. 62. )
With regard to attitudes, a favourite way of sleeping is to lie full length on the stomach, with the head turned and VOL. i G
82 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
resting on a bundle or a wooden pillow, or else flat on the ground. This is termed kuona buvhundeme ; to lie flat on the back is kusalama. Wooden pillows are used by those wearing the isusu, and the isusu is tied up with a string to the rafters, so that when the man turns his head he is not inconvenienced by it. Pillows are reckoned taboo to young unmarried men, but the rule is relaxed nowadays. It is the invariable custom for all to sleep stark naked.
Ba-ila use stools (shuna) for sitting on, otherwise they sit on the ground or a log of wood. The stools are mostly low, from three to seven inches in height ; but some people now are the proud possessors of stools as high as ours. There are many characteristic attitudes in sitting, and some of them would be impossible to Europeans, save with great discomfort. Our illustrations will show many of these attitudes better than any verbal description can do ; among them we may note the following : (i) On the buttocks, upon the ground, knees wide apart, legs tucked one under the other. (2) On the buttocks, upon the ground, knees up, legs flexed, shins more or less vertical ; arms resting on the knees, or enclosing the legs with hands clasped below the knees ; or one hand supporting the chin, the other resting on the knees ; or arms folded across the chest and resting on the knees, body drawn forward. (3) Buttocks just off the ground, the upper under surface of the thighs resting on the lower third of the leg above the ankles. (4) On a stool, knees up, arms crossed, one hand on the knee and the other on the opposite arm. (5) On the buttocks upon the ground, legs stretched out in front, or one leg flexed with knee up. (6) Upon the ground, weight of the body on one buttock, legs drawn in on opposite side. (7) On the buttocks, feet crossed, body leaning forward with forearms on the thighs and hands folded. (8) Legs flexed and drawn under, body resting on the heels.
There is no sitting position reckoned taboo, but it would be blameworthy for a girl or woman to assume a position in company by which she might expose herself ; she would be called a namafunze (" worthless creature "). Women are always very particular when sitting down to wrap their skin-petticoats well around their legs. Such rules do not
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 83
apply to men, who normally went naked, and who even now, when usually to some extent clothed, are quite careless as to exposing themselves. At Nanzela and among the Ba- mbala the men, who have always been used to dressing, exercise almost as much care as the women do.
While standing, men can hold themselves very erect if they wish, but at ease they assume very lackadaisical atti- tudes, lolling against something as if utterly weary. The feet are in most men turned slightly inwards, but there is not often seen a marked introversion of the big toes. Men standing talking to one have a curious habit of scratching their sides like a monkey. A very characteristic Ba-ila attitude is to stand on one leg, drawing the other up and resting the foot on the other thigh. The reason for this only became appar- ent to us one day when, after marching painfully for a long distance in deep water through a grassy swamp, we found ourselves adopting the same attitude unconsciously as the best, and indeed the only, way of resting. With the Ba-ila, accustomed to the swamps, it has become habitual.
In micturition both sexes assume a crouching attitude, but men often stand, and women too, with legs apart. In defaecation they all crouch.
We shall have occasion later to describe the gesticular language, but may insert here a few notes on the expression of the emotions. They are free in gesticulation and often express a sentence in a sweep of the hand. As pointing with the hand is considered rude in a village, they indicate direction by shooting out the lips, sometimes in a very amusing manner. To express surprise, hold the face with both hands, the fingers extended on the cheeks, with the thumbs under the angles of the jaw ; shake the head slowly from side to side and say, " Mawe! Mau'e ! " To express surprise, rebuke, or a half-amused shock to the feelings, loosely clench the left hand, hold the chin with the fore- finger over the mouth and the thumb under the chin ; shake the head slowly from side to side. To express disgust, avert the face and hold the hands up, palms outwards, as if pushing a thing away, and say, " Pe ! Pe ! Pe ! " putting as much horror as possible into those monosyllables. To express delight, boys jump round on one leg, wave the
84
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
other in the air, clap the hands and cry, " Ha! Ha ! " To express shyness, young girls especially cover the left cheek
and eye with the left hand ; boys stand with eyes and head averted. When in pain one clasps the left hand over the
CH. in
right, and then the right over the left, and cries while wringing the hands in this way, " Ndafwa ! Ndafwa! " ("I
Two BA-ILA GIRLS.
Photo E. W. Smith.
am dying! I am dying!"). Another attitude in pain is to sit on the ground, with the head between the knees, and rock backwards and forwards. A woman crying for
86 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT,I
her child walks upright, arms hanging at her sides, hands clenched, and wails, " Mawe mwanangu I Mawe mwanangu ! " (" Alas, my child ! Alas, my child ! "). A slave does obeis- ance and shows gratitude by first clapping hands and then lying flat on the ground and rolling his head in the dust. To express innocence, one throws out both hands and arms repeatedly, as if repudiating a charge. A mother expresses love for her child often by pressing its head to her side. They do not kiss as we kiss, but a mother will run her lips over her child's face, which no doubt means the same. A man whose anger is aroused in discussion throws his elbows well back, clenches his fists, and stretches his neck as far as possible in the direction of his opponent, and while 1 istening to him grunts ' ' Eh / " at every other word . An angry woman clutches, if possible, the hair of her opponent, and slaps and scratches in swift succession, her eyes blazing, and screeches in proper termagant style. To express " there is none " in answer to a question, a person raises the left hand, with the palm upwards, to the level of the breast and slowly waves it from side to side, or raises both hands, throwing them outwards to right and left.
•The nose is blown by closing one nostril with a finger and blowing down the other, then repeating the action for the other nostril. The mucus is ejected on the ground and is covered with sand by a movement of the foot. Then the nose is wiped with the hand and the hands rubbed together to cleanse them. Pocket-handkerchiefs, of course, are not used. The Balumbu have, as a substitute, a small spatula- shaped instrument hung round the neck on a chain and used to scrape out the nostrils.
As for physical power, both men and women are strong. The women, accustomed from early youth to carrying heavy burdens and to manual labour, are powerful ; in a tug-of- war we have seen a team of eighteen women easily and repeatedly vanquish a picked team of twelve hefty young men. Neither party would consent thereafter to another match with the numbers equalised, the women content to rest on their laurels, and the men afraid for their amour- propre lest they should be beaten (as they might have been) ; as things were they could always say the odds against them
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 87
had been too heavy. Where the men lack is not in muscular power so much as in spirit. Once they have made up their minds, they can display astonishing activity and endurance, but the spirit is weak. We have endeavoured to get them interested in athletic sports — at first with not much success, for competing in running and jumping was too much like hard work, but later with some display of sportsmanlike qualities. On these occasions they have competed for prizes, but we have never found that, as a result, they instituted competitions in their villages. The prize was the thing, not the having gained it. We have not, as we should, kept records of these competitions. In the last one we held, four young men out of twenty succeeded in jumping a height of four feet eight inches ; they could have jumped another four inches, but their hearts failed them when we raised the line. It must be noted that they were not trained for jumping. On the same day in the spear-throwing test three young men out of thirty threw spears sixty- three yards. The farthest we have seen a spear thrown is seventy-five yards. Young boys of fourteen throw up to fifty yards.
We have known men travel on foot fifty and sixty miles in a day. The Ba-ila do not like carrying loads, but on many occasions we have gone on tour for three or four weeks, travelling from fifteen to twenty-five miles a day, accom- panied by carriers with loads weighing from forty to fifty pounds. The regulation load is fifty pounds ; we have known men, however, to carry seventy-five pounds nearly a hundred miles in five days. This carrying is very hard work ; it has been reckoned that it approximates nearly to that of a stevedore, which is perhaps the heaviest labour known. Loads are carried either on the head (when there is no impumbe or isusu) or on the shoulder ; either bare or bound in the fork of a branched pole ; preferably they divide the load and balance the two parts on either end of a straight stick (kukudika), or two men carry a double load on a pole, one in front, the other behind (kutembeka). When carrying a load on the shoulder they like to have a stick over the other shoulder to support it (kudingatizha] . In addition to the regulation load, carriers always have things
88
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
Photo E. IV. Smith.
NAMUSHIA, SON OF MUNGAILA, CHIEF AT KASENGA.
of their own, blankets, food, fish, tobacco, pots, perhaps another ten or fifteen pounds. They come in from a long march in good spirits, shouting and singing ; one or two will, if necessary, go back some distance to help a comrade in with his load, and after a meal they will perhaps spend two or three hours dancing.
Great eaters as they are, they can endure hunger well ; they can go two days on the march without food, merely tightening their belts. This, however, is only when they can get water ; thirst exhausts them much more quickly than hunger.
They stand heat well, and that without hats or other headgear. Still, if possible, they avoid exer- tion in the heat of the day ; during the hot season before the rains it is a common practice to rise at 2 or 3 A.M., when taking a journey, so as to go as far as possible in the cool of the morning. Cases of heat-stroke are met with, especially among the babies carried in the heat on their mothers' backs, with just their
CH. Ill
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
89
heads, or the tops of them, exposed above the carry- ing-skin.
Cold shrivels them up ; they are the most miser- able of beings on a bleak winter's day. And yet we have often noticed this : on a bitterly cold night, with the thermo- meter at or near freezing- point, a man would strip off what scanty clothing he had on, roll it up as a pillow, cover himself with a thin cotton blanket, and go soundly asleep, while we lay sleepless and shivering in a tent under two or three blankets. Again, you will see men emerge before sunrise from their warm huts and sit exposed in the chilly air around the ash -heap to have an early morning smoke. So that perhaps after all they do not feel the cold as much as Europeans do.
Their eyesight is good, though not, in our opinion, superior to that of average white men. They are, of course, accustomed to the wide open plains and great distances, and the way in which they can detect an object a long way off seems very wonderful to a
Photo E. W. Smith.
NAMUSHIA, SON OF MUNGAILA, CHIEF AT K.ASENGA.
go
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. 1
new-comer. But after we had grown accustomed to the veld we often found that we could spot a buck as well as most, and better than many ; and to our joy a dispute
Photo C. Earee.
YOUNG BA-ILA FRESH FROM THE HAIRDRESSER.
as to whether a far -distant object were bush or buck has often been decided in our favour. Where we have had sometimes to acknowledge ourselves beaten is in the quick sight needed in tracing the faintly visible spoor of a wounded buck by means of a drop of blood here
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 91
and a crushed leaf there ; at this some of the men, particu- larly Nanzela men, excel, though they are not the equals of the Bushmen. This applies only to more or less trained
men ; the majority, until practised, are no better than Europeans. Their sense of hearing is acute. One is amazed sometimes to notice how readily they catch a message shouted from a distance. This also is probably a matter of use. The sense of smell is much less acute. Indeed we
92 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
have wondered sometimes, when fighting our way through heterogeneous stenches, whether they had this sense at all. It is impossible to dogmatise on these points in the absence of precise psychometric data : we can only give our im- pressions. And with regard to the sense of touch, we should say that it is less developed than in refined • Europeans, probably because the epidermis in a nude state is thicker. We have often been amazed by the way they handle live coals, picking them up with their fingers and putting them into their pipes with apparently no inconvenience to themselves.
As is natural, the Ba-ila of the plains are not good hill- climbers, for their feet soon give out on stony ground. The Bambala, with harder feet, are better in this respect, but, on the other hand, are soon overcome when they descend to the plains and sandhills.
Ba-ila who live near the rivers make excellent swimmers. They are taught when young in the shallow pools that accumulate in the rainy season. The Batwa of the Kafue are so much at home in the water that they are almost amphibious.
The Ba-ila cannot be called a cleanly race, either in their persons or their homes. Men on the march lose no oppor- tunity of jumping into streams and pools, but at home, especially when living some distance from rivers, they rarely bathe. Any one, male or female, who washes once a month does well. A substitute for water is butter or castor oil (prepared from the seeds of the plant, which grows plentifully in some districts) rubbed into the skin for the double purpose of cleansing and softening it. We have known people excuse themselves for not washing on the ground that they had no butter, and the excuse is a valid one, because after washing the skin cracks on exposure to the sun unless an emol- lient is used. A good many of them employ fibrous sticks, of which there are three varieties in use, for brushing the teeth ; on experimenting with these we found them excellent for the purpose, the only drawback being the way the fibres stick in the mouth. From what we have already said about the teeth it may be readily concluded that this is not carried out as fully as is desirable ; nor is it a universal
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 93
practice, most people being content with rinsing out the
A BALUBA TYPE.
Photo E. IV. Smith.
mouth before eating. Their scanty clothing is never cleansed, save when they have to wade through water or are caught
94 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
in the rain. The stench from a crowd of closely seated perspiring Ba-ila on a hot day is rather sickening to a European, but the body odour (bwema), as distinct from the effluvium from breath and unwashen clothing, is not pro- minent. They do not, they say, smell the bwema of each other, and smile at the idea of being able to distinguish friends in the dark by their odour alone. It is certainly more pleasant to sit in company with naked, or semi-naked Ba-ila than with clothed natives, but none of the Ba-ila has caused us such distress as certain South African natives, who leave behind a tainted atmosphere when they go from a room.
Perfumes are not used by the Ba-ila, but at Nanzela a pleasantly scented powder, called lukumba, is made of mixed roots and leaves and used to make the body fragrant.
Village conditions are very disgusting. Heaps of filth lie everywhere, and, with decaying meat and fish and cattle manure, make a visit to a village anything but a pleasure to one sense at least. There are no places set apart for the purposes of nature, except it be the shade of a particularly fine tree just outside the village. To commit a nuisance in the immediate vicinity of a house is forbidden, but done. To commit it within a hut, especially on a bed, is taboo ; we have known a claim to be made against a little boy who, taken ill in the night, had been unable to get farther than the hut door. Children are taught to go outside the stockade, but, like their elders, do not go far.
These people leave their bodies very much as nature made them. They, unlike their neighbours the Mankoya, do not practise circumcision, but there is an analogous rite to be mentioned later. The girls also have private opera- tions, to be described in another chapter.
The tribal marks of the Ba-ila are two : first, three slits (mapobe) cut on the temples ; and, second, the knocking out (kubanga) of the four upper incisor teeth, sometimes the two canines as well. The latter has no connection with the puberty rites ; it may be done before, while the boy or girl is only eight or ten years of age, or after, when they are sixteen. There is nobody especially set apart for the operation ; any person can do it, though, as a rule, a man
CH. in PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 95
will not do those closely related to him. When once a man in a village starts knocking out teeth he very soon has a number of youngsters awaiting their turn. No preparation
Photo E. If. Smith. A MWILA.
To show teeth knocked out.
is made. The boy sits down between the operator's knees, which grip his head like a vice. The man takes an inkansho, a short iron chisel used by the blacksmith, inserts its edge between two of the teeth, and hammers sideways, first on one side and then on the other side of the tooth, until it
96 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. i
comes away, root and all ; once the first is out the others follow easily. For a youngster to clutch the hands of the operator is kuditaya, i.e. he renders himself liable to be enslaved ; for him to scream or show cowardice is to expose himself to the derision of the onlookers. Ba-ila are very sensible to ridicule, and, as a rule, no bodily compulsion is necessary to induce the youngsters to submit to the operation. A boy or girl with all the teeth in is the butt of the village ; " Beware zebra, he bites," they call after him, and sooner than face the scoffing the youngster submits. The people cannot explain the origin of the custom ; all we have heard is what Holub reported thirty years ago, that they take out their teeth so as not to resemble zebras but cattle.
The three cicatrices on each temple are made as a dis- tinguishing mark. If a child is sick they may cut these incisions with a razor and put on the cupping horn, re- opening them on subsequent occasions till well-marked scars are left. If a young man has grown up without having them made he will have them done as inkwela (" decora- tions ") . The men also have some cuts on the forehead called intanuzho.
The women practise cicatrisation more than the men. The misolo are a line of vertical scars on the loins beneath the skin petticoat. The incisions are first made while the girl is young, and repeatedly opened, and medicine rubbed in, until the scars become very large. They are hardly to be regarded as ornaments, seeing they are hidden ; their purpose is to act as a stimulus in ihejeu de V amour. Women have also other cuts inside the thighs.
Large prominent keloids on the body, as seen in some of the Bambala, are regarded as ugly by the Ba-ila.
The Balumbu, unlike the Ba-ila proper, perforate their ears and insert a ring (kaseka) made of wire, or a bit of grass (kasanga) , or a stud made of two buttons (imbuta) .
2. CLOTHING AND DECORATION
The Ba-ila, like the Fuegians, " are content to be naked, but anxious to be fine," or at least it is true of the men, who until quite recently wore no vestige of clothing. This
CH. in
CLOTHING AND DECORATION
97
custom was supported and encouraged by the women, who much preferred to have the men naked. Nowadays cotton
Photo E. W. Smith.
A NANZELA DOCTOR.
prints are worn around the waist ; many wear trade-shirts ; but the only European covering really popular is the blanket. The Bambala and Balumbu men, who never went naked, wear softly dressed pelts of small animals such as the tiger-
VOL. I H
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
cat; jackal, etc. The skins of the lubo, lion, and leopard may be worn only by chiefs. From the Barotsi has come the mubinda, a loincloth, tucked under the belt behind, and one end drawn between the legs and through the belt in front, so that the ends hang down over the knees, behind and before.
The women, on the other hand, have always been scrupulous in covering the lower part of the body. It is a
ON THE MARCH.
serious offence for a woman, either on purpose or by accident, to allow her skin petticoat to slip off. Their garment is a single one — the nicely dressed skin of the Lechwe doe, usually fastened around the waist, and sometimes under the armpits, by means of the miombo, the protruding leg-skins of the animal. The breasts are usually and without self- consciousness left bare. Outside the Bwila proper women wear calico around the waist, and a long stretch of brightly coloured print is tied on one shoulder and hangs gracefully around the figure, leaving the arms free. Where Barotsi
CLOTHING AND DECORATION
99
influence has made itself felt, a woman may wear a pleated petticoat of stout print, sewn by her husband, and, beneath, a thick girdle of beads.
Children run about naked ; the girls begin early to wear small skins or bits of cloth.
Much more has to be said about the ornaments worn. A distinction is drawn by themselves between kusama, to clothe, and kusakila, to adorn oneself. Objects purely
Photo G. H. Nicholls.
SWIMMING A RIVER.
ornamental are called inkwela. Besides these many things are worn, not for decoration, though they may be decorative, but as misamo (" medicines"). Others again are shabwami ("regalia"), showing authority; others are shalumamba ("war -toggery "); and others have significance as the reward and sign of bravery.
Let us see a woman dressed for some festive occasion. Her head is freshly shaven and anointed with butter. If it can be secured, she has a new skin petticoat. Around her waist she wears the mukaku. This is made by plaiting
IOO
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
palm-leaf strips into a band, two and a half inches wide, and long enough to encircle the body. Along the two edges and
Photo n. W. Smith
A MWILA WOMAN. Wearing the mukaku and carrying the ceremonial hoe.
in the centre are three rows of large beads, the outside rows white, the middle row blue. Dangling down in front are strings terminating each in a small bell, made by doubling
CH. in CLOTHING AND DECORATION 101
over a piece of thin iron, perforated with numerous small holes. These give a jangling sound as the woman moves. If iron bells are not to be had, small shells (bwididi) take their place. Among the Bambala this ceremonial belt takes another form and is called chiawala. Upon a cord around the waist are suspended numerous strings, each threaded with seven or eight inch-long sections of a thick reed-like grass ; these give a rustling sound as the woman walks and dances. On her arms the woman wears bracelets. If she is the wife of a chief, she will have inkaya (" ivory bangles "), perhaps six on each arm ; otherwise a dozen or so brass- wire bangles (intasa). Above the elbows she has several other brass-wire armlets, or others made of copper- wire twisted closely around a basis of fine grass. On most of her fingers she wears rings (mambaminwe, inwenwe) of brass-wire beaten out thin. She wears also leglets of thin wire, two under each knee ; and anklets of thick brass-wire. Around her neck is an inkonde of two or three rows of beads fitting close ; or else (or as well) a necklace (inshambwa madinga) hanging more loosely, with a tassel of beads suspended below. Over one shoulder and under the opposite arm is a strap of hide to which is attached a small horn containing ' ' medicine "to scare away witches . Hanging in front , between her breasts, is the impande, the round base of a shell. She has around her head a mushini, i.e. a fillet of beads, or a strap of hide, or some other thing. Often the women ornament their heads with brightly coloured flowers. Lastly, in her hand she carries a light, beautifully made hoe, the mutaka, not for use, but for ornament.
Two other girdles may be worn by women : the mwambo, a leather strap put on after childbirth to preserve the figure ; and a strap (mwangachamba) tied around the chest above the breasts.
Children have bracelets prettily made of plaited grass (kangungwa).
Many of the ornaments worn by men are the same as the women's. A chief may have seven or eight inkaya on each arm, of a heavier pattern than those worn by women. They weigh from 2\ to 3 ounces each. Their use is not now restricted to the chiefs, but all may wear them who can
102
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. I
afford to purchase them. Enterprising traders have intro- duced a celluloid imitation which has sold in thousands. It is an interesting example of the hold of fashion upon the Ba-ila that the first trader who introduced these bangles had the whole stock left on his hands ; they were rejected by the people because of some minute variations in colour and shape from the accepted pattern ; while another trader, whose manufacturer was careful to imitate with scrupulous
IN FESTIVE ATTIRE.
fidelity the ivory bangle sent to him as a pattern, realised a small fortune from the sale.
The men wear rings, leglets, and armlets, as do the women, but not anklets. They also wear the impande, on the arm, around the head, or suspended around the neck ; a chief may be seen wearing seven or eight of them. These also have been imitated in celluloid and porcelain by European manufacturers. We remember the disgust of one of the early purchasers when his imitation impande, for which he had paid a high price, happened to fall into the fire and disappeared in a gust of flame.
CH. in
CLOTHING AND DECORATION
103
The coiffure has much attention given to it by the young bloods. The impumbe has in recent years been ornamented
Fhoto M. A. Dajffarn.
BA-ILA WARRIORS.
with brass chair-nails purchased from the traders. Time was when one or two nails sufficed them, but now the fashion is to crowd on as many as possible. In front of the impumbe and isusu is fixed a small ball, made of feathers (shilongo)
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
with a spike. Feathers are also worn ; the long black cock's feather (munimba) and the crest of the crane (kola
A WAR DANCE.
ka busanga) are merely decorations ; but the feather of the Plantain - eater (Induba) is a sign that the happy wearer has been successful in killing a man, a lion, a leopard, or an eland. These feathers used to be awarded
CH. in
CLOTHING AND DECORATION
105
by the chiefs, and their possession was accounted great glory. In a revolting murder of a foreign native that
Photo I-:. If. Smith.
BAMBWELA TYPE.
occurred some time ago, the offender alleged his motive to be that he wanted to be entitled to wear the induba
106 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES *.*
feather. Blue-jay feathers (Chikambwe) are also a sign of valour.
One instrument carried always in the impumbe and isusu is the insonde, a long needle which has many and varied uses, chief among which the scoffer would say is to tickle up the denizens of the coiffure.
When arrayed in their war-toggery the men present a very fine wild appearance. The chiefs put on their leopard and lion skins, tied around the loins with most of the skin hanging behind, or wrapped around their shoulders. Warriors, as if disdaining soft raiment, wear around their loins a piece of hard dry hide, and also belts called mabamba, similar to the women's mukaku. Encircling the arms they have indioka, i.e. zebra or wildebeest manes, and around the neck a ruff of the mane of a lion or old baboon. In his hand the warrior carries a bunch of spears, also a long stick sur- mounted by a tuft of long feathers like a mop, called ingala sha mabungabunga ; or a mwiko, made of an elephant's tail, or, if the real article be not procurable, an imitation made of palm-leaf. These were waved to disconcert the aim of an opponent, and the man who after each spear was avoided coolly swept the ground with the mwiko was much admired. Each man probably has an axe as well, a kembe or chibanga, or a proper battle-axe called bukana. When arraying themselves as for war, the Ba-ila paint themselves with a white substance and throw over themselves ash from the big heaps in the cattle kraal.
Another ornamentation, also useful in making a noise, worn by men who dance the machacha dance, is a number of dry globular seed-pods (masangusangu] tied around the legs above the ankles.
Among the rare and treasured possessions of some of the chiefs are large white beads of glass, called mai (" eggs "). They are said to have been introduced a great many years ago by the Mambari, and were the first European articles seen by the Ba-ila. They were traded for ivory. We are told that in ancient days the Ba-ila had no cattle, and they first bought them with these beads from the people of Chimbulamukoa and Mongwe, on the upper reaches of the Kafue, where to-day no cattle are found because of the tsetse fly.
PART II
107
CHAPTER IV *
BUILDING OPERATIONS AND VILLAGE LIFE
i. DESCRIPTION OF A VILLAGE
WHILE Ba-ila villages may vary considerably in size — some containing three or four huts and half a score inhabitants, and others upwards of two hundred huts and a thousand people — in plan and methods of construction they are generally uniform. In form they are circular or somewhat horseshoe-shaped, the huts being built round the circum- ference, while the space in the centre is used as a cattle-pen. Another uniform feature is that the house of the chief or headman is built on the east side of the village, his door facing the setting sun and immediately opposite the main entrance. From this circumstance, and not by its size, it is always easy to recognise the chief's dwelling ; one can also fairly gather, from the relation of the position of the main entrance to that of the setting sun, an idea of the time of the year when the village was planned. There is no esoteric reason for placing the chief's hut (by which we mean the hut of his principal wife) immediately facing west ; it is simply a matter of the head of the village having the most convenient site. As the prevailing winds come from the east he is sure of shelter as he sits by his door, equally from the bitter blasts of winter and the scorching sirocco of the period just preceding the rains.
For description here we may select as fairly typical the village of the chief Shaloba at Lubwe.
It stands at the summit of a gentle slope overlooking the great Kafue plain. On three sides there is no outlook, as
109
CH.IV BUILDING OPERATIONS & VILLAGE LIFE in
the forest hems it in closely, but on the north-west there is .a view not often surpassed in the country. Through a break
Photo E. IV. Smith.
THE CHIEF SHALOBA.
in the bush you look out over the plain to the line of blue hills on the horizon beyond the river ; and your gaze wanders
112
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
over the vast expanse and is arrested only by the line of trees skirting the river bank. In the early morning the horizon is lost in a dense white mist rising from the stream and swamps ; presently as the sun gains in power the mist begins to vanish and the tree-tops appear, phantom-like, hanging in the air. Soon it is all dispersed, and at midday you see the great plain palpitating in the heat. It is in the
' ° °f ° °. °^>°°'°'0-c---
":d\ I6./
PLAN OF LUBWE VILLAGE.
A = Central space. B = Main entrance. C, C = Entrance to cattle-pens. D = The mizhimo huts.
K =The chiefs enclosure.
F = The chief's principal wife's hut.
G = The chiefs private hut.
H = Trees.
late afternoon that the charm of the scene is greatest and the tints on plain and hills are most enchanting. The beauties of the landscape are lost upon the Ba-ila, who when they pronounce this inshi imbotu ("a fine country"), are thinking most of all of the magnificent pasturage for the cattle, of which the people of Lubwe have one of the finest herds in the land.
CH. iv BUILDING OPERATIONS & VILLAGE LIFE 113
In this village there are about 250 huts, built mostly on the edge of a circle four hundred yards in diameter. Inside this circle there is a subsidiary one occupied by- the chief, his family, and cattle. It is a village in itself, and the form of it in the plan is the form of the greater number of Ba-ila villages which do not attain to the dimensions of Shaloba's capital. The open space in the centre of the village is also broken by a second subsidiary village, in which reside important members of the chief's family, and also by three or four miniature huts surrounded by a fence : these are the manda a mizhimo (" the manes' huts "), where offerings are made to the ancestral spirits. Thus early do we see traces of the all-pervading religious consciousness of the Ba-ila. Again, as we pass through the main entrance, we observe two small enclosures, one on each side of the gateway, where an offering is made to the spirits and a prayer offered for the protection of the cattle as they wander grazing. And before the first stick of the village was planted, or ever a hut marked out, a solemn offering of a beast was made to these same spirits, the guardians of the village.
Around the circle the huts are placed close together, the spaces between them being filled with poles. At intervals there is placed a forked stick which provides a strait and subsidiary means of ingress and egress, called kasena, " little space." The space between the forks being only a foot wide, these entrances are evidently not intended for stout people ; but being not easily distinguished they were very useful in the days of sudden and nocturnal attacks on the village. The great entrance is four or six yards wide, and ordinarily is not closed. The entrances to smaller villages, and to the subsidiary units of larger villages, are closed by means of long poles placed vertically, resting upon and locked by others placed horizontally.
A large village such as this is composed of a number of smaller units, each built on the same plan as the chief's enclosure, their size depending upon the number of the owner's family and adherents and cattle ; if the last are absent there is no cattle kraal. These separate enclosures are named mikobo. Within them, as within the chief's enclave, the huts do not open into the cattle-pen, but there VOL. i I
ii4 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
is a low fence separating them. People may sit in the cattle- pen, the chief may have his breakfast there, and with his councillors decide the village disputes, but it is within this fence in front of the huts that the village life flows. Narrow openings allow of direct communication between the mikobo. The huts vary in size and character as do the villages, there being a world of difference between the small hovel of a careless nobody and the spacious dwelling of a chief. The principal hut here, that belonging to Shaloba's great wife, is forty feet in diameter ; others measure twenty, fifteen, twelve feet, some less. They vary somewhat in material ; the villages in the midst of the plain, e.g. at Nyambo, are built almost entirely of reeds and grass, because wood is so very scarce ; in or near the forest poles are used, and, of course, the huts are so much the more substantial. The principle of construction is the same in all cases. Here we see, as elsewhere, the strict division of labour between men and women, each sex taking its cus- tomary share in the building operations. The men cut the poles and reeds, the women cut the grass and dig out clay for plastering. The first process is to mark out the hut (kufundulula) ; this is done by the men. Tying one end of a string, the length of the radius of the hut, to a stick planted at the centre, the man fastens the other end to another stick, and with it describes a circle. Then with a hoe a narrow trench (mwimbi) is dug along this line. The upright poles (mazhilo) are then planted in this trench. They vary in length according to the energy and position of the builder : in some cases they measure six feet, in others ten or twelve. If poles are plentiful they are set close together, forming when bound and plastered a very solid wall ; but generally the man is content to place a pole every foot or so, and to fill up the spaces with reeds or grain-stalks. An opening is left for the doorway ; there is no window. The uprights are now bound together with withes (imbalo) tied at intervals of a foot or two with string made of bark (lozhi). Along the top of the wall a layer of several withes is strongly tied to act as a wallplate (lubalo Iwa chilongolongo) , Over the door, at a height of about four feet, is bound a transom (chikota- mino), and the space between it and the wallplate is filled
n6 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
in with sticks (bulebo). A stout log is placed as a threshold (chikunguzho) . That completes the framework. The struc- ture so far completed, called Iwampa, is often left for months, with a temporary covering of grass if it is inhabited, until the near approach of the wet season stirs them to putting on the roof.
In the construction of the roof there is a difference in method between the true Ba-ila and the Balumbu. The former plant a long straight pole (musemu) in the centre of the hut to support the roof. The upper end of this is cut into a long tenon which pierces a disc of wood, eighteen inches or two feet in diameter, through the centre. The principal rafters (matungisho) are now prepared by being adzed at the thick end and a hole being drilled there ; they are then placed in position, with the thick end resting on the disc and the other on the wallplate. The two ends are, now bound to the disc and wallplate respectively, in the former case the string passing through the hole already made. When these are all in position they are bound together with withes and bark-string, and other poles are pushed in to fill up the spaces round the circle. The over- hanging ends of the rafters are then cut even (kukonkolola) . The distance which these are allowed to overhang varies considerably. The eaves are often short ; generally they are some two feet in length, and forked poles are planted beneath them for support, thus forming a narrow verandah. In a hut de luxe a secondary set of rafters is built in, one end resting on the wallplate and the other on a verandah plate supported on forked sticks, thus forming a roomy portico about nine feet wide surrounding the hut.
At Nanzela the musemu and its disc are not used except when imitating the Ba-ila in building large huts. Three or four principals (matungisho) are tied together on the ground at the thick pointed ends, and then hoisted on to the wall- plate. After being stretched apart and bound to the wall, a basket-work of withes is woven around the poles at the apex, and into the interstices are pushed masondo, secondary rafters, the weaving being continued until the poles are firmly bound together at the summit. Withes are then tied on at intervals along the rafters, and smaller subsidiary
CH.IV BUILDING OPERATIONS & VILLAGE LIFE 117
poles (mapomo) are pushed in until the spaces are filled up. This forms a very neat, and, if the poles be strong and well fitted, a firm roof which may last ten years or more. In building a small house, and the grain bins, the roof is made complete on the ground and then hoisted into position.
The wall and roof being finished, the men may rest until the women have accumulated a pile of clay in the interior of the hut. This is often a laborious business, for it may
PRINCIPAL HUT OF THE CHIEF SEZONGO AT NANZELA.
mean carrying the clay in baskets from an ant-heap a mile or more from the village. Often a suitable termite hillock is found close outside the village, and in course of time a great pit is excavated there by successive diggings. The clay is mixed with chopped grass and water, and then the men give the first coat of plaster to the wall. This operation is named kumata, and involves filling up the interstices with sticks, so that the clay may adhere and completely cover the interior. Previous to completing this, palm fronds are taken and cut short, leaving split sections which when
n8
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
inserted at intervals between the poles provide receptacles for holding pots and other things.
The plastering finished, the men may rest again while the women put on the second and finishing coat — this is named kushingulula — and, according to their skill, form the mouldings which are such a feature of nicely built Ba-ila huts. The men can then complete the exterior by thatching. This is done in an unskilful manner, the grass being simply thrown on and tied, with the root-ends upwards ; they
Photo Rni. If. Chapman.
IN A BASODI VILLAGE. To show style of houses.
begin at the apex and work downwards ; the layers of grass overlap, but there is no attempt at brushing.
The extremity of the musemu projects above the apex, and sometimes is crowned with an earthen pot. One pot indicates that the owner of the hut has killed a man, a lion, or a leopard, two pots that he has killed two, and so on. In some villages you may see as many as fifteen pots crowning the huts of a man and his wives. Other men who cannot aspire to the dignity of pots put in their place the heads of game they have killed. This custom does not prevail at
CH. iv BUILDING OPERATIONS & VILLAGE LIFE
119
Nanzela (save occasionally in imitation of the Ba-ila), where a neat pinnacle of grass (sonkoto) crowns the apex. On some Ba-ila huts one sees a number of sticks projecting from the thatch at different angles. These are a memorial of the spears which the owner fended off in battle, and one can tell approximately from the angle which part of the body escaped impalement. Here is a man at Mala with no less than eleven such sticks ; he says that he fended off that number of spears in the fight between Mungalo and Mungaila.
Inner Outer Room ( F ) R°<>m
A, \ = Chil>engelele. B = Screen.
PLAN OF A HOUSE.
C = Seat.
D = Fireplace.
E = The ipupi.
F = Grain receptacles.
The exterior of the hut is left unplastered, except around the doorway, and there the plaster forms the base for various ornamental mouldings.
Just within the doorway a framework of wood is built up around the opening and plastered over, so that the wall appears to be a foot or more thick. This canopy around the doorway is named chibengelele , and upon it the women have scope for their ingenuity and artistic skill. One of the commonest decorations is three lumps of clay repre- senting the two mammae with an impande shell between. On some huts outside is a representation of a rayed sun.
I2O
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
Others have representations of the Itoshi monster, with its flat head and the fins with which it grasps its victims. The knots upon it are tupande tupande, small impande shells, a purely conventional decora- tion of the beast.
Entering a finished hut, you find yourself in dense darkness, for no light can enter except through the narrow doorway. When your eyes become accustomed to the gloom
ORNAMENTATION.
ORNAMENTATION.
you may see on the left a screen, made like everything
else of poles plastered over with clay, and immediately
behind is a small platform used as a seat by day and bed
by night. Around the face of it is a snake and impande
moulding. Next to this is the fireplace, moulded of
clay in the shape shown
in the sketch plan, and
standing about a foot from
the ground ; the spaces
(A, A) are for the fire, and
the pots stand upon the
edges. Behind the fireplace PLAN OF FlREPLACE. THE FlREBACK.
is a semicircular fireback of
clay, upon which once again the ubiquitous snake appears.
Over the fireplace is erected a platform called lupango, on
which firewood is stored.
Continuing our progress around the hut, we come next to another ipupi ("low platform"), upon which stand the large beer pots. Each of these has its stand, moulded so that the bottom of the round pot can rest in it. Around the wall are various contrivances for hanging up the owner's posses- sions. From the roof is suspended the inkata, a basket- work container in which is put the churn calabash (insua), or a pot of milk ; immediately above it, and on the string by which it is suspended, is slung a half-sevction of a calabash, a clever device to keep the rats from the milk. From the roof are suspended many other things, among which are
CH. iv BUILDING OPERATIONS & VILLAGE LIFE 121
bundles of " medicines." Against the wall stands a rack for the spears, with a narrow trough of wood at the foot to receive the points of the blades. Dividing the hut in two is a wall about six feet high, consisting of a number of long clay grain receptacles, named shumbwa, standing upon a platform, and with the interstices between them plastered up. These are filled and sealed, and when required the grain is taken out of a small hole punctured near the foot. Over the head of the shumbwa a narrow flat cornice is plastered, and this is decorated. The snake pattern pre- dominates, and often one finds rude paintings of animals — cattle, eland, lions, leopards, etc. — reminding one in their outlines of Bushman paintings. In some cases there are also attempts at representing in colours the patterns of European fabrics. The colours used are ash, charcoal, and differently tinted clays. The cornice is surmounted by a serrated moulding. At the farther end of the partition there is a doorway leading into the inner chamber, called chimpetu, the furniture of which is simply a bed, consisting of a platform of sticks covered with skins. The floor of the hut is slightly below ground level, and is made of ant- heap clay beaten down hard.
A well-constructed, nicely decorated hut looks very well when new, but the walls and roof inside soon become covered with a thick deposit of soot, as there is no outlet for the smoke of the fire other than the door ; the frail mouldings chip off, the colours of the paintings fade, and before long the hut presents a dilapidated appearance. The practice of keeping the young calves in the hut does not improve it. The termite plays havoc with all buildings constructed of timber. The houses become infested with vermin. Every village swarms with enormous rats, which are so voracious that they nibble at the sleeping children's fingers and toes and eat pieces out of the adults' coiffures and the horny soles of their feet. Old houses also get infested with the inkofu ("tick"), a very unpleasant insect. Of recent years the chigoe (the so-called " jigger ") has reached the Bwila. And all things considered, it isjio wonder that after a few years' residence in one spot the people are glad to build a new village on another site.
122
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
A polygamist erects a hut for each of his wives, he being too wise to risk having two women under one roof. The central hut belongs to the nabukando ("chief wife"), and the others are ranged on either side. Near the central hut the chief has his own private hut where he sleeps. To this he invites his wives for three or four nights according to his fancy, taking care, however, not unduly to favour one at the expense of the others, or there will be disturbances in his household. The children sleep in the various huts on the bed or on the
Photo E. IV. Smith.
MULENDEMA AND HIS FAMILY AT HOME.
To show Baluba style of house.
floor, the boys in the outer and the girls in the inner chamber. The young unmarried men have their hut, and the young women theirs.
The huts we have described are general among all these peoples, but the enclosed village being mainly for the purpose of harbouring cattle, in the tsetse-fly areas the villages are not so uniform. A more primitive form of hut is seen on the outskirts of the district, and sometimes as a temporary dwelling in the Bwila itself. These makanka, as the Ba-ila call them, consist simply of a number of poles stacked into
CH. iv BUILDING OPERATIONS & VILLAGE LIFE 123
a conical form, tied at the apex, and covered over with grass, roof and walls being in one. Among the Bambala who have come into contact with the Baluba, another form is found, a cross between the makanka and the Ba-ila hut. The back part is built like the former, but in front a wall is erected of poles and clay, and the roof poles are sloped from those behind on to the top of this wall.
2. LIFE IN A NATIVE VILLAGE
To gain an insight into native life one needs to spend some time in a village. If you pitch your tent within the enclosure of a friendly chief, you may use your eyes and ears to great advantage and without hindrance. Ba-ila are mostly very hospitable, and we have often been thus enter- tained. Shaloba, the chief of the village we have described, was frequently our host. He was a slightly built old man, with thin aristocratic face and a fine dignified manner. His chief wife, Ntambo, was a tall handsome woman, arrayed during our visits in a splendid leopard skin, and she always exerted herself to make us and our followers at home. There was never any question in our mind as to the mutual affection between these two ; they were evidently fond of each other. If a particularly witty remark were made, he would call her and repeat it for her benefit. If anything were given him he would summon her to admire it, and if a present were made to her he would show almost childish delight in the compliment to her. When other men were present it was against etiquette for her to eat with him, but in the evening, after all visitors had gone, she would produce some tasty dish, and they would sit and eat it together in Darby and Joan style.
What you will see in a village depends largely upon the season of the year. In the times of field-work very few people are in the village, for they are busy in the lands some distance away. In winter you will not expect to be called early, though- Dr. Holub's remark that these people do not rise till ten o'clock is not correct. In the hunting season you may be awakened long before it is light by the drums calling up the hunters. Ordinarily, about 7 A.M. you are
124 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
aroused by the voice of an elder calling the boys to let out the calves to the cows, and soon afterwards you will find the boys and girls sitting with the men around the fires of cattle dung in the kraal. Here is the chief getting his breakfast. A woman brings him a dish of thick porridge (inshima), together with a relish in the shape of some meat and gravy. This is placed between his feet as he sits, and calling the boys and men to share his repast, he and they break off pieces of the porridge and eat, after dipping them in the gravy. The cattle go out about nine, each herd accompanied by the herdsmen. The people now disperse for the work of the day. At this cold season of the year there is not much to be done, but the women have to trudge off several miles to the fields to bring in some of the grain stored there. Those at home are busy preparing the food for the day. The men go out to cut poles ; they go off with their dogs hunting, or they simply wander about the village or loll under the verandahs smoking and chatting with their friends. For the boys and girls life is not hard. There are many errands to run, water and firewood to be fetched, and they have to take turns in herding the calves and goats. But there is plenty of time for games. The babies, like little black naked balls, roll about with the puppies in the dust, or their sisters carry them about.
Take a walk around the village and see what is going on. Here is a woman busy cupping a friend who is suffering with headache. Here is the blacksmith shaping an axe- head amid a crowd of onlookers. Here is the ivory-turner busy with his lathe. This man is occupied in carving a spear-shaft, and this in repairing a drum-head. Here are women making pots and weaving baskets. There is always something of interest to see in a village.
You will find the chief sitting near the door of his hut surrounded by men. For him at least the day is a busy one. Newcomers are continually arriving. Each one takes his place and waits for a lull in the conversation, when the chief greets him and asks his news. If he has any business he tells it, and it is fully and exhaustively discussed by all. One man has bought a cow, and its qualities and price and the details of the bargaining serve to while away an hour.
CH. iv BUILDING OPERATIONS & VILLAGE LIFE 125
Another reports the loss of some cattle, and after all the possibilities of their whereabouts have been argued the chief sends men out to seek for them. Into the midst of the assembly there comes a man who is greeted with roars of laughter ; he has just come from the hairdresser, but his coiffure, instead of standing erect, is lying over to one side. As he takes his seat a friend begins to straighten it for him, shoving it this way and that, while all business is stopped and the court laughs at his grimaces and shouts encouraging
THE CHIEF SHALOBA AND HIS BAND.
Photo K. IV. Smith.
remarks to the manipulator. More serious matters engage their attention. There has been a fight between two men about a woman ; they are both present, and shout out their accusations and defence, while the chief calmly listens, and at the end invites opinions from the elders and gives his judgement. Another man brings a claim for adultery ; another for some land. So it goes on. At intervals one of the chief's wives brings some refreshment, each of them seeming to vie with the others to produce the tastiest possible dishes. All are invited to share in these. Then other cases come. Some young men are just home from the mines and
126 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
bring a quarrel they had while working in the pit, and an elder charges one of them with swearing at his wife. The young men get excited and talk one against the other, until the chief sends them off, telling them to be good boys and not bother him with such trivial things. So on and on, while the sun declines in the west and the visitors gradually disperse. The chief wins our admiration, for though manifestly tired, he shows no sign of impatience, but listens to all. We sympathised with Shaloba one day when, after listening to cases from early morning, a man came up with a long story just as he was about to have his evening meal. He turned to us and said: " Bwami mbuzhike" (" Chief dom is serfdom, to be a chief is to be a slave").
Before this the cattle are home and the boys have brought in the calves. The young calves are hoisted out of the huts and taken to their mothers. When the milking is done, it is time for the evening meal. The fires blaze up, and the men gather here and the women there. After supper the chief takes his diversion in a way that will very likely send you to bed with a severe headache. The drummers come up, three or four of them, and the player of the budimba, and as they strike up the wives come to the front of the hut to dance. They keep this up to a late hour, dancing and singing with keen enjoyment. Outside in the square the boys have kindled a fire of grass and impressed a drummer to play for them. They shout, they skip about and frolic as only boys can, jumping through and over the fire, and beating up clouds of dust. Presently young men and women join them, and, standing on opposite sides of the fire, begin dancing in a way that reminds us of some of the country dances seen^at home. Then comes silence. The village is asleep.
CHAPTER V
* *
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
ABOVE all their possessions, above kith and kin, wife or child, the Ba-ila, with few and occasional exceptions, love and value their cattle. An old and tried hunter of the authors', named Kambango, often relates the following story. When he was a small boy the Barotsi invaded the country. As their approach drew nearer and nearer the neighbours began to flee, either driving their cattle into the fatal fly district or abandoning them. His old father, urged to follow their example, stoutly refused, saying that he could not desert his cattle. Finally, the Barotsi arrived at the village, a last appeal proved fruitless, a gallant but hopeless resistance was made, and after killing two of his assailants the old man lost his cattle and his life.
While of course it is manifest that the utility of the cattle is the mainspring of their affection for them, it is not to be disputed that they inspire them with some idea of beauty ; indeed it might be said that the first gleams of appreciation of beauty that penetrate their natures are gained from their cattle. For a long time our efforts to induce the old men to utilise their numerous oxen as beasts of burden, to draw waggons or ploughs, excited genuine indignation. They neither ride them nor work them. " How could I be so cruel as to m?ke them work ? " said old Shaloba to us. The suggestion that some overburdened old slave woman might gain relief was received as beside the point altogether.
Their ideas of beauty often appear strange enough to a European. It is stated that the origin of the practice of
127
128 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
knocking out their front teeth was in order to resemble their cattle. Horns that hang down and swing, or that are otherwise distorted, excite high admiration, and an ox or cow is bought for its beautiful voice. Nor is their admiration merely verbal. The writers have often known a large but ugly ox exchanged for one shapelier, though smaller. To render an admired beast still handsomer, it is decked with ruffs, necklaces, or bells. A high compliment to a friend or wife or lover is to name an animal after them, and it is
Photo E. IV. Smith.
CATTLE DRINKING IN THE KAKUE RIVER.
considered an act of discourtesy to part with this particular beast, which it is customary to ornament in the manner described.
All cattle are named, and their peculiarities and points form the subject of endless discussion. In addition to being named, each animal bears the special brand (chando) of the owner, in the shape of ear-marks. Sometimes these ear- markings are of the crudest, a half or quarter ear simply being cut off ; with others much care is taken, and tiny slits are made to form combinations or patterns. The marking of the beast of another, or the adoption of another's mark, is, of course, a heinous offence.
CH. v DOMESTIC ANIMALS 129
The cattle sleep in the big pens described in the previous chapter, though at the smaller villages the pen is often represented by reeds and poles with gaps between them. Outside may often be seen the pole with a small horn on top containing buvhumo, " medicine " to protect the cattle from lions. Inside the kraal one's attention is arrested by the large grey mounds of ash, the mikwashi. Constantly re- plenished with dry ordure, the fires seldom go out. Here in the pungent smoke the cattle crowd to shelter themselves from the bites of the mosquitoes ; and here around the warm heaps the morning pipe is enjoyed by the elders of the village, cases are settled, and the evergreen topic of the cattle is discussed.
The cattle are usually milked before going to pasture ; occasionally they are sent out to feed on the dewy grass and return .to be milked. Morning and evening during the whole operation the big drum is beaten ; at Shaloba's village four drums of different owners are often sounding at once. The cows perfectly understand the significance of the drum-beats. After the milking the cattle remain in the flats the whole day, accompanied by the herds, who carry their spears, pipes, vessels full of porridge, and possibly a native piano or two to while away the time. At about three or four in the afternoon the cattle, full to repletion, return and stand about in the vicinity of the village ; at dusk they file slowly in through clouds of penetrating dust, and the evening milking commences.
We have seen that the Ba-ila are always ready to make a brave stand in defence of their cattle. Occasions fre- quently arise, particularly before the burning of the grass, when their readiness is sharply tested. Well over a hundred head are annually taken by lions, and the ensuing meeting between the owners and the marauders is invariably accom- panied by casualties on both sides.
As far as we have been able to gather, the cattle of the Ba-ila are of the ordinary native African kind, improved by the introduction of big stock from the Barotsi and Lake Ngami countries, and suffering deterioration constantly from interbreeding. The ill effects of this latter practice are very marked. In a small herd half-a-dozen young
VOL. I K
130 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. H
two - year - olds may be constantly seen performing their functions unrestrained. Yet the Ba-ila understand and practise castration of the young males. No connection with the Zebu or humped cattle of India is apparent.
The cattle owned by the Ba-ila amount to about seventy thousand, and are yearly increasing. Large though the number is, it is as nothing compared to the number before the rinderpest, when, we are told, the raiding of forty thousand -made no apparent impression on the herds re- maining. The largest owners possess as many as six hundred. Few cattle are sold, as the Ba-ila have an exagger- ated idea of the value of their oxen, and have always been encouraged by their European advisers to retain their cows. A very large number of oxen is killed at the funeral feasts ; probably as many as two thousand annually. In every herd will be found some oxen, few or many according to the status of the owners, conspicuous fqr their size. These are the masunto (" funeral oxen "). They await their master's death, and are intended to provide the feast for his relations and mourners. Their hides form the grave bed. Great efforts are made, and high prices paid, to obtain them, and once secured they are not parted with. As many as a hundred head are killed at the funeral of a big chief ; this was the number at Shaloba II. 's funeral. Cows are seldom killed ; their value in the domestic economy is too great.
One of the familiar sights of village life is a native seated on the ground lazily rocking to-and-fro a large calabash. This is the churn (insua), of which every hut has at least one. Where the chief wife has allotted to her use as many as thirty cows, and her sisters fewer in proportion, of course many more churns are required. Sour milk (mabishi), curds (bwanda), and whey (menzhambwe) are daily articles of diet, and to the use thus made of milk the Ba-ila largely owe their fine physique. Butter is constantly churned, and is used for anointing their bodies even more than for cooking or eating.
The cows form a large proportion of the chiko given for each bride, and are also continually changing ownership to pay fines and damages. Of the skins of oxen, belts, bags, beds, and skin petticoats are made.
CH. V
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Annually two events of importance occur in the life of the herd which are marked by a good deal of ceremony. When the supply of drinking-water at the village grows scanty and the pasture poor, a departure is made for the
Photo E, W. Smith.
THE BA-ILA CHURN.
river -bank : this is called kuwila. The herdsmen dress bravely, if fantastically, for the occasion, the young bloods with their spears charge to and fro, the women shriek, and with the drums beating vigorously, the cattle leave the pen and make down to the river, there to remain until the ponds
132 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. H
are filled again and the young grass has sprouted. On the occasion of making a new post (lutanga) at the river, a young ox is sacrificed in the gateway and an offering of meal made to the spirits, north, south, east, and west. If the site is the time-honoured one, merely a distribution of tobacco is made to the herds.
On the return to the village a few months later a similar ceremony is practised. This is called kubola. Milk and butter are stored up for the occasion, the women grind large quantities of meal, and after the young men, bedaubed with white clay and decked in their war ornaments, have brought the cattle safely home, a big feast is made.
The cattle are singularly free from disease. Fluke annually kills a certain number, and in some years appears in a virulent form. Redwater occasionally breaks out. Anthrax has appeared in late years. The cows at intervals suffer from contagious abortion. These, with calf-scour or diarrhoea, are practically the causes of the death of all cattle which are not seized by lions and crocodiles, or are not killed at funerals. Old age, of course, claims many victims. The Ba-ila are good cattle-masters, and exercise more intelligent care of their cattle than most natives, and to this fact and the suitability of the Kafue valley for cattle must be ascribed the herds' immunity from disease. Of herbal or other remedies they are almost entirely ignorant. A poisonous water grass known as kankolwa grows in some pools, and is to be carefully avoided. Tulp is unknown.
Having always been struck by the affection shown by the Ba-ila for their cattle, we once asked a prominent man whether they did not mourn for them as they mourn for their deceased friends and relations. His answer, recorded by us verbatim at the time, is interesting. Said he : " When an ox dies by natural causes or is killed by a wild beast, we simply skin it ; the owner, however much he loves the beast, does not summon people to assist him in weeping for it. No. As soon as it dies, the owner simply distributes the joints, keeping his own portion, and they eat. In the eating of the beast is where the weeping comes in. If one eats and asks, ' What meat is this we are eating ? ' or if it be a visitor who asks, some one will reply, ' The beast is
CH. V
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
133
an ox,' and just there upon the asking they will lament, saying, ' So-and-so's beast is destroyed, it is dead.' And the owner of the ox in the same way laments while eating the meat of it; says he, 'My ox is destroyed, it is dead.' That is all ; he who is bereft of a beast does not mourn by shrieking aloud, ' Mawe, Mawe.' No : only just by saying, ' It is destroyed, it is dead.' Still at the same time he eats the meat. That is the mourning for cattle, a mourning which ends in the cooking-pot. It is like to a person who
CATTLE ON THE KAFUE PLAIN.
gets his honey spilt on the ground. When it is spilt, the owner cries, ' My honey is spoilt.' At the same time he gathers up what he can and eats it. Or if one has his fat spilt, he cries, ' My fat is spoilt.' Some of what is spilt he will anoint himself with. One who is hungry takes out his seed-corn and eats, and while eating says, ' My seed-corn which I eat is destroyed.' So of the matter you ask about, it is said, This is the mourning for the oxen ; that which you eat is not destroyed, that which you do not eat is what is destroyed."
It is difficult to imagine the Ba-ila without their cattle, and it is sincerely to be hoped that they may long remain
134 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
in possession of them. They are a hostage for their good behaviour. Should calamity or plague befall them, the seeds of unrest and dissatisfaction now latent and subdued would find a fruitful soil.
Other domestic animals kept by the Ba-ila are dogs, goats, sheep, fowls, and pigeons.
The dogs are very numerous, every village swarming with them. They are miserable creatures, gaunt, half- starved, noisy, cowardly, with pointed ears and bushy tails ; they howl, but do not bark. They have to fend for them- selves, and are regarded with little or no affection. An exception must be made in the case of the hunting dogs, which are well taken care of. The Ba-ila admire a fine dog, and often would be willing to give a European an ox for a good one. We knew one chief who was quite a dog- fancier, and ascribed his affluence to his dogs.
Goats and sheep are more numerous among the Bambala than in the Bwila, as the country is more suited to them. Both are of an inferior breed.
The fowls are remarkable for their tiny size ; the hens are very prolific, and very good mothers. They roost where they can, the only provision for their comfort being little conical laying-places. The eggs are no larger than pheasant eggs.
Pigeons are largely kept by the Bambala, and not so much by the Ba-ila. Cotes are built for them on tall plat- forms in the villages, and they are well cared for. Why they are kept is rather a mystery to us, for they serve no utilitarian purpose as far as we can see. The only reason ever given is that the people like to see them.
CHAPTER VI * * *
AGRICULTURE ; FOODS ; NARCOTICS
i. METHODS OF AGRICULTURE
THE dweller in a civilised country has great difficulty in realising the close relation of the savage to the soil. The produce of the world pours into the Homeland from all quarters. The deficiency from one quarter is supplied by the surplus from another, and therefore famine, the actual absence of foodstuffs, is unknown.- Amongst a savage people if, whether from a drought or a deluge, the crops fail, no degree of purchasing power can supply the deficiency ; hunger is speedily and actually felt.
When brought face to face with these facts it becomes easy to understand the eagerness with which a native will seek for the aid of one who has obtained reputation as a rain-maker, and the readiness with which he submits to be gulled by the pretender. Few travellers in Central Africa have not been appealed to for rain, and although occasion- ally a spirit of mischief has been allowed play, the majority emphatically disavow any connection with the occult arts.
The acquaintance of the Ba-ila with the principles of agriculture is very slight ; of fallowing, rotation of crops, manuring, seed selection, they know nothing. They have, however, learnt by experience the best way of cultivating the simple crops they grow and industriously labour in the light of that experience.
Many endeavours have been made to induce them to improve their methods, so far without result. There is nevertheless a growing tendency to observe and enquire,
135
136 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
and as soon as one consents to make a start he will be followed by a host of imitators.
Their present methods are extremely wasteful, both of labour and land. A man desirous of hoeing a garden selects a piece of land, preferably in the bush, that commends itself to him and his wife, arguing very sensibly that if it will grow timber it will surely grow grain. Should the land fall within the boundaries of another kraal or district he simply asks permission to cultivate, and it is readily and freely given, no such custom as paying rent being known to the
Photo E. W. Smith.
FILLING THE GRAIN BIN.
Ba-ila. It must be understood, of course, that he acquires no proprietary rights in this way. Matters being arranged, he, before winter is too far advanced, in order that the hot months before the rains may render the wood combustible, armed with a small hatchet, lops off all the branches of each tree in the field and then piles them carefully around the base. After allowing them to dry for two or three months he sets fire to the heaps, and the ground is free for the wife to commence her labours. The charred stumps of the trees are left standing. While the native is aware of the fertilising power of the ash, it must be admitted that he utilises fire as the readiest method of getting rid of the timber.
CH. vi AGRICULTURE; FOODS; NARCOTICS 137
When the sweet scent of the - violet blossoms of the mufufuma tree fills the air and the Pleiades are visible in the East after sunset, the wife recognises that the time has come for her to commence her labours. Assisted by the members of her household she starts to hoe the ground, stacking the grass and rubbish in large heaps until dry enough to burn, her husband meanwhile hoeing his own little patch. As soon as the ground is hoed it is sown. The seed may lie in the ground two or three weeks waiting for rain, and as a result sprouts readily after a good shower. Should the shower be a scanty one the seed rots and the field has to be resown.
When the first young shoots appear, the tiresome work of watching commences. Pheasant (properly, francolin) are extraordinarily plentiful, and an extraordinary nuisance ; so clever are some of them that they will follow the marks of the hoe and scratch up the fresh grain before it .has sprouted. Unless for the space of ten days — by which time the mealies are firmly established — the field is constantly watched, it has to be sown again and again. When the mealies are safely over this first stage but little more is done to them ; two hoeings when the weeds are six to eight inches high suffice to keep them clean, after which the owner has to be constantly on the watch against the depre- dations of monkeys and baboons by day and bush-pigs by night.
A curious incident came to our notice in the beginning of 1905. Grain was scarce, and the people were expectantly awaiting the new harvest. In the Bambwe district a man was lying in wait one night for bush-pig ; hearing the mealies rustling and cracking he cautiously crept up to the place, and seeing a dark object hurled his spear at it. The figure fell, and rushing up in triumph he found to his horror that the object was a slave woman who had been creeping through the garden gathering green mealies to appease her hunger.
While the main cereal crop of maize or sorghum is ripening, the family dig fresh plots for beans or potatoes, or for sowing the following year.
The first year's crops are invariably small, being what
138 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
they style bukunku, realising that the soil is not yet properly weathered and sweetened. The second crop is usually a good one ; the third gives warning that another stretch of primeval bush must be attacked and burnt, while the late garden relapses into jungle.
When the joyous time of harvest arrives all the people flock to the gardens, and stripping the cobs from the stalk, first husk them, and then tying two or three together by the sheaths put them into baskets for conveyance to the granaries, or, if the produce of a small plot and required
Photo E. W. Smith.
GRAIN BINS (MATALA).
for early consumption, to some tree near the village in the branches of which they are hung. The ears of the millet and sorghum are cut off, and the stalks, after being uprooted, are laid on the ground. There are three kinds of grain bins in use, one of which, the shumbwa, has been described already in connection with the huts. The masumpila are temporary cylindrical bins built of grain-stalks in the fields for the purpose of receiving the grain until it can be conveyed to the permanent granaries. These are called matala, and in many cases, owing to the white ants, have to be built afresh every year. The men, whose duty it is to cut the poles, build a cylindrical framework of wattles and poles
CH.VI AGRICULTURE; FOODS; NARCOTICS 139
upon four cross-pieces supported on forked sticks of some size. The women meanwhile cut the grass for thatching. The framework completed, the roof is built on the ground and lifted into position and thatched after the framework has been plastered with clay and filled with grain. As a finishing touch the women mould pairs of mammae, with the impande between, upon the bin in various places, and encircle the bin with a moulded figure of a serpent. The appearance presented by a number of these grain-bins is, as shown in the photograph, decidedly quaint. Some of the maize is strung on ropes of bark or hide in huge bundles named inkunku. Ground-nuts are stored on high platforms in the village.
From whence the people derived the grains they sow is a question the answer to which is lost in the mists of ancient time. It is generally agreed among writers upon Africa that the varieties of sorghum sown are indigenous, but that maize and tobacco are importations probably introduced by the Portuguese. It can only be remarked that if this is correct the importations must have been made many centuries ago, since those things are now universally distributed through the continent. The natives have no knowledge of or traditions on the subject, beyond saying that Leza caused these gifts to descend ; and doubtless they enjoy their porridge and their pipe none the less for lack of knowing whence they come.
An interesting custom at the commencement of the rains must be noted. The people on the day after the first rain do no work ; this is kutonda Leza (" taboo the Rain-giver ") ; the idea is that any field-work done that day is an offence against him, which would prejudice the success of the sowing.
One of the beliefs of the Ba-ila is that certain persons have chesha, a lucky-hand for sowing, and their services are in general request. Should the pumpkins sown by such a person fail to set after all, and rot when half-formed, one of the specked fruits is placed where a path divides into two, and the first comer who steps over the diseased fruit will convey the disease away to his own garden.
The Ba-ila have no such feast of the first-fruits as the Zulus and other southern tribes have. Each man before
140 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES w. H
eating of the new harvest— this is kusoma — makes an offering to his ancestral spirit of fresh cobs, which he places above the door and in the rafters, thereby expressing his gratitude and his hope of similar blessings in the future. It is bad form to celebrate the harvest in this way in the absence of your wife ; and until you have celebrated it and tasted of your own first-fruits you do not accept any present of new grain from another.
The gardens of a family as a rule occupy about three acres of land, and their harvest returns range from three to five bags (i.e. 600-1000 Ibs.) an acre. Lobengula, chief of the Matabele, always allowed a divorced woman three bags of grain for her subsistence until the next harvest. It is evident, therefore, that the Ba-ila are amply fed in a normal season. Their favourite grain is undoubtedly maize (mealies) of a very small mottled variety. A few on the red soil grow sorghum, and a large number millet. In addition, they grow sweet potatoes of three kinds, planting the runners in large mounds, beans of two kinds, one a bush variety and one bearing as the peanut underground, peanuts, marrows, gourds for household use and for making churns, pumpkins, and a tuber called miseza, which slightly resembles a Jerusalem artichoke. Cassava, introduced from the west, is largely cultivated by the Nanzela people, and is slowly, very slowly, making its way among the Ba-ila. Its ad- vantage as a foodstuff is great, for it is easily propagated, branches of the plant being merely stuck into the ground, it requires a minimum of attention, and it is not subject to the ravages of the locust.
Some years ago an attempt was made to introduce cotton- growing amongst the natives. It was already growing wild in some parts. Considerable enthusiasm was aroused, and a few bales grown entirely by natives fetched io^d. a Ib. on the Liverpool market. For some reason, the experiment when successfully inaugurated was allowed to fall through.
2. A CALENDAR
The year is reckoned by the Ba-ila to commence with the rising of the Pleiades. Their division of it into months,
CH.VI AGRICULTURE; FOODS; NARCOTICS 141
or rather moons (miezhi) will be dealt with in another connection ; here we give a brief conspectus of the work done in the different seasons. This must be taken as approximate only. The work is governed by the rains, and as these vary in amount, and to some extent in time, from year to year the work may be accelerated or retarded accordingly.
SEPTEMBER. — The men roof and thatch huts. Cattle taken to the outposts (kuwila}. People begin to go off to the fields (kuonzoka). • The imbula fruit begins to ripen. Cassava planted. Maize planted in the malembwe, i.e. in the gardens on the river-bank. Lwando fishing (see p. 161), also in pools left from last season. The Shimunenga festival at Mala (see Chap. XXII.).
OCTOBER. — Clouds begin to gather ; field-work pushed ahead. ' Men busy with the luvhuna, trees cut in fields. Mawi fruit ripens. People plant the kaubwiubwi, i.e. maize, sorghum, and millet in the dry soil before the rains come. Also ground-beans and miseza. Fishing still in pools. A few showers fall.
NOVEMBER. — Early rains. People busy planting all grain. They begin to eat pumpkins from the malembwe. Forest fruits ripe.
DECEMBER. — Rains on, with perhaps a break. Weeding in fields. Planting the namutompo, i.e. grain intended to be harvested after the rest. Sweet potatoes planted. Harvesting the malembwe. The shikisu and mangvhuma fruits ripen. Cattle return to the villages (kubola). The ikuo fishing.
JANUARY. — In a heavy season the flats fill up. Fields are being hoed. Men begin tofunga, i.e. visit the hairdresser (see p. 71).
FEBRUARY. — Slack month. Heavy rains. The imbula fruit ceases.
MARCH. — In an average j^ear the flats fill up the first week. At the end of the month, the women begin to harvest the maize, and the men to build the matala. But the natives say, the work of the month is — eating. New fields (bushinde) prepared for next year. At Nanzela the girls' initiation begins.
142 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
APRIL. — Begin to harvest peanuts and build the plat- forms for storing them. Millet harvest.
MAY. — Sorghum harvest. Festivals of Bulongo and Nachilomwe at Mala (see Chap. XXII.).
JUNE. — May still be harvesting nuts. Cold this month ; not much work done. (Men getting anxious about the hut tax, which is payable July I.)
JULY. — If a new village is to be built, women begin to cut grass. The men lobokezha mile, i.e. gradually collect bundles of building-poles, and set about it in earnest when the grass is collected. When the veld-fires begin the men go hunting. The mielo fishing (see p. 163).
AUGUST. — Beginning to get warm. Houses built. Cas- sava planted. Pumpkins planted in malembwe. Lwando fishing (see p. 161).
3. FOODS AND COOKING
The Ba-ila know how to make fire by friction, but it is only necessary to resort to the practice when they are at a distance from habitations, for in the villages fires are always burning. There seem to be no occasions upon which all fires are extinguished and new fire has to be got by friction. After a funeral, when all the ashes from the mourners' fires are collected and thrown away, the outside fires are put out, but the hearth-fires remain in the huts. Fires are made in the huts, each of which has its fireplace. For a hut to have no fire in it is reckoned very bad, not only for the con- venience of the living, but also for the comfort of the family ghosts who live in the hut. The coldness and darkness of a fireless house has a special name — kanekezhi.
There are few ceremonial observances and taboos in con- nection with fire. It is taboo to take a firestick (chishishi) from the hearth and carry it into another house ; should this be done the lady of the house would shikula, i.e. get out of favour with her husband and be divorced. No men- struating woman may tend a fire or carry water or food. When the owner of a house has musamo, " medicine " for protection, it is taboo for any one to take fire or water out of his house after sunset. If he wants to light his pipe, or
CH.VI AGRICULTURE; FOODS; NARCOTICS 143
drink water, he must enter the hut himself for the purpose. It is also taboo under such circumstances to carry into the hut an uncovered water-vessel or pot of meal ; but the taboo can be removed by first sprinkling a little of the water or meal outside the threshold.
When it becomes necessary to make fire by friction, two sticks are taken to make the drill. The lower one is called chikazhi (" the female ") and has a small hole drilled in it ; it is taken from any suitable tree. The other is named the lupika (" the twirler ") and is regarded as a male ; any suitable stick can be used, the best is from the namunku- lungu tree. Bits of dry grass or rag are used as tinder, and placed near the chikazhi to receive the spark which is care- fully nursed into a flame. The lupika is taken between the palms and twirled ; it is a tiresome process, and gener- ally two or three men have to take turns before a flame is produced.
Ordinarily in a village fire is conveyed (kulapa] by carrying live coals on a potsherd. When going on a short journey into the veld it is the duty of one member of the party to carry a supply of fire in this way.
The customary fuel is wood, of which in most parts of the country there is a plentiful supply, but in some places it has to be fetched from afar. In the Butwa, where no trees are found, the people have to burn reeds and grass. Kraal manure is not much used as fuel except in the mikwashi.
When the veld is on fire precautions are taken by clearing away grass around the village ; this is done by carefully burning the grass and keeping the fire well under control by beating with sticks. Houses, and sometimes whole villages, are frequently burnt through carelessness.
Cooking is done in the living-hut or outside. When the fire is outside there is no fixed hearth, but stones (where there are stones) or moulded lumps of hard clay or the small conical heaps of the kambuswa ant are used to support the cooking-pot.
Nature has very bountifully provided for the necessities of the Ba-ila. Famines caused by drought do occur, but the destitution is never absolute on account of the wild animals and the wild fruits that can be used as food. Locusts,
144 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
it may be mentioned here, used in our early days of residence to give much trouble, but in more recent years seem to have disappeared entirely.
The staple foods of the Ba-ila are porridge (inshima) and sour milk (mabishi). In the tsetse-fly districts the latter, of course, is unobtainable, and the lack of it is seen in the wretched condition of the children, and cannot fail to affect the physique of the adults. While these are the staple foods there is a very large variety of others, varying from season to season. Towards the end of the old year, and early in the new, say from December to February, when the grain supplies have run out or become scanty, a large purple berry known as shikisu is the sole article at many meals. Yet in a good season there is an abundance of other food at the beginning of the year. In the first week of January 1915 we were passing Kasamo, and saw in the evening (too late to photograph) a long string of men, women, and children returning to the village from fishing in the flats. Many of them were bearing the fishing-traps, and others baskets full of fish. The whole place was reeking with drying fish. At the same time there was another procession coming in from the riverside gardens (malembwe) laden with big baskets of green corn and pumpkins. Fish may be said to be a staple food at this time of the year. When the crops are ripe the green corn gives way to meal, made by stamping or grinding, and cooked in the form of porridge. Later, when the water in the flats subsides and hunting becomes easy, a flesh diet fills the greater part of the bill- of-fare. Later still, when game ceases to be killed, the fruit harvest proper commences. In addition to the four species of grain many vegetables are grown, and these form the solid diet at many meals. Milk in one form or another, and beer in several forms, are the drink of the country. When the rules for the upbringing of youths were stricter than they are now, the herd-boys lived almost exclusively on curds and whey, only getting porridge by stealth from their mothers.
These people enjoy meat above all things. " Ndafwa inkosha " ("I am suffering from meat-hunger ") is the complaint one hears most frequently from their lips. All
CH. vi AGRICULTURE; FOODS; NARCOTICS 145
portions of an animal, save only the genitals of a female, are eaten. The munyopani, the lower bowel and flesh around it, is considered a delicacy. Blood is eaten in the coagulated state ; it is cooked with salt ; only it may not be eaten by any one who is liable to bleeding at the 'nose, a prohibition extended also to the sweetbread. The varieties of buck in the district number a score and are all eaten, and there are numerous small animals and birds also used for food. This statement has to be qualified, however, by reference to the numerous totem and other taboos to be described subsequently. And we shall presently draw attention to the fact that the Ba-ila proper refrain from eating certain animals that are eaten by Bambala or Balumbu.
A meal consisting of ten pounds of meat is considered a fair one, and probably more is consumed in an all-night sitting. Fowls are eaten frequently, but eggs seldom ; if the latter are eaten it is immaterial how nearly they ap- proximate chickens, indeed the more nearly an egg is a chicken the better — all the more meat. But the people prefer to allow the eggs to hatch.
Set meals at regular times, as we know them, are not the custom of the Ba-ila. Two or three meals of a kind are taken daily — morning, noon, and evening, or morning and evening only. The wife cooks a certain quantity, varying according to the supplies and her energy at the moment, and awaits the arrival of her husband from work or hunting. The eating is soon over, in little more than five minutes on ordinary occasions. The sexes eat separately, but the rule is not absolute, except that women may not eat in company with male visitors ; one often sees man, wife, and children sitting and eating together. No preliminary rite is per- formed ; except that a person visiting at a relative's will first scatter a little food on the ground as an offering to the family ghosts. With a pot or two in front of them, one of thick porridge, and another of relish, each dips in his or her fingers, takes up a mouthful of porridge, dips it into the gravy or other relish, and eats in turn. When you wish to honour a visitor you give him a choice dish (kumusa- pwidila) : porridge cooked with sour milk and butter, and a
VOL. I L
146 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
pot of gravy and meat. Having eaten at home they move round amongst their friends and relatives and partake as a matter of course of any food they find being eaten. As fresh supplies in time of plenty are constantly ready somewhere, it is impossible to estimate the quantity eaten by a person in a day. Three pounds of grain is considered an ample ration for employees.
The Ba-ila have no ovens or frying-pans ; their only cooking utensil is the earthenware pot, and consequently their methods are confined to boiling or stewing, and roasting on the embers. All their food is cooked in one or the other of these methods.
When they are on a journey, or there is no time or energy or facility for preparing flour, they often boil and eat the grain whole. This is called musozha. It is not a wholesome method, as, owing to insufficient mastication, the hard covering of the grain is not broken up and is not digested.
Meal is prepared by stamping (kutwa) or by grinding (kuzhia) . In stamping, use is made of a large wooden mortar and pestle (inkidi, munsha). When a woman sets herself, as many of them do, to prepare a fine white flour, the pro- cess is somewhat lengthy, and involves winnowing and re- stamping, there being quite a vocabulary of words to describe the various stages. The grinding is done between two stones on a platform erected under the eaves of the hut. The lower stone (ibwe) is surrounded by a basin-like con- trivance of clay to catch the meal and grain slipping away unground. Holding the upper stone, cylindrical in form (impelwe), in both hands, the woman grinds the corn, which she places in front of the stone, backwards and forwards, till it falls out as meal into the basin. This is at once ready for use, no winnowing being thought necessary ; it must contain minute particles of stone dust which cannot be good for the intestines.
Porridge is made by adding some flour gradually to boiling water in a pot over the fire ; it is stirred up, and as soon as the stirring-stick stands upright in the mass the cooking is deemed sufficient, and the porridge is ready for eating.
CH. vi AGRICULTURE ; FOODS ; NARCOTICS 147
Beans, small marrows, leaves, and other vegetables are boiled.
Fish are spitchcocked by means of a stick passed through
Photo E. It'. Smith.
BALUMBU WOMEN STAMPING CORN.
from mouth to tail and broiled, the spit resting on two short forked sticks before the fire. Small fish are boiled, large fish, such as barbel, are cut up and boiled, or roasted in the embers.
Meat is broiled on the embers. Hunters on cutting up
148 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
an animal eat titbits from the still quivering flesh after roasting them in this way for a few minutes. Meat is also stewed in pots.
Slices of pumpkin are broiled in the rind or boiled. Peanuts are roasted in the hot ashes in the shells, or are shelled and boiled, or are crushed and boiled with other things.
There are two varieties of cassava, the farinaceous roots of which are eaten ; one is sweet and can be cooked and eaten straightway, but the bitter kind contains hydrocyanic acid, and must be steeped in water to remove the poison. The roots are not made into flour, but are either eaten raw or are boiled or roasted in the ashes.
Some fruits are cut up, dried in the sun, and kept for use later. A few foods, such as peanuts, miseza, sorghum, and a kind of maize are cooked and then preserved in cala- bashes and pots. To do this is kuampula, and the preserved provision is called shidyo shampule ; it is highly esteemed for its sweetness. A person who is in a hurry to unseal and eat these delicacies has a special name given him ; he is called a shizwazwale.
Salt as an article of diet is much prized by the Ba-ila, and is perhaps the thing they lack most. Nowadays they can buy fine salt in the European stores, but left to their own devices the only way they can get it is by filtering and evaporating the saline soil of certain localities. The Basanga district is the chief salt producer. A long wooden trough, like a canoe, is hollowed out of a tree-trunk. Baskets, called inshika, are placed four or five in a row upon sticks put across the trough. The baskets are filled with the earth, and water poured on which drains through into the trough, carrying the salt with it. The solution is evaporated in potsherds over fires, and the salt gathered into baskets, a foot long and 3 inches in diameter. Such baskets are a form of currency. Five of them were the price of a male calf, three of a sucking calf, and twenty of a heifer.
The Bambala make salt from the kampokompoko, a plant growing on the river-banks It is gathered, dried, and burnt ; water is run through the ashes, the solution is evaporated, and the saline deposit collected.
CH. vi AGRICULTURE; FOODS; NARCOTICS 149
Beer is made from various materials. Imbote (" honey beer ") is made of mankanza a mana, the honeycomb full of young bees, mixed with honey and water. The mixture is placed in a narrow-mouthed calabash (iloba), and set near a fire or in the sunshine to ferment ; next day it is ready for drinking, or if there is need it can be made in the morning and drunk the same evening. It is said to be very intoxicating.
Beer made from grain is of three kinds, differing in the degree to which they are fermented ; one (ibwantu, chibwantu namala) is mild, the others (bukoko, funku) are stronger. To brew beer is kukumba. The following is the process for brewing funku. To prepare the malt (bumena) grain is put into a calabash with water, covered over and left three days ; the water is then poured off, and leaves from the munto tree are put with the grain for the purpose of making the malt "fierce" (lemana). This is left for another two days. Then other grain is soaked, and next day is dried, made into fine flour, boiled with water, and set to cool. The malt is crushed and added to this and well worked up with the hands, and left all next day. On the following day the mixture is cooked, and gets the name mozhozho. Next day it stands, and on the following day other malt is added ; it is now matimba. The same day other grain is stamped and soaked in water ; next day it is crushed and boiled ; this is the kakonde, which is added to the matimba. Then other meal is cooked and mixed up well : this is muwa, and is added to the matimba. Next day the product is funku, and ready to be consumed. It is highly intoxicating.
4. A LIST OF FOODS AND DRINKS
The following is a fairly complete list of the things con- sumed by the Ba-ila. Note : * means that the article is used by some people only, and is taboo to others ; ** by Balumbu only, not by Ba-ila proper ; *** by Bambala only, not by Ba-ila proper ; **** by boys only, more or less stealthily.
Cultivated Grain. — Mapopwe (maize), macheme, kolwe, matuba (sorghums), masi (millet), and lubele (a kind of eleusine). Of these the Ba-ila proper prefer the maize, the Bambala the sorghum, and the Balumbu the millet.
150 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. H
Uncultivated Grain. — Chitonga and muswenge : two wild varieties growing in the swamps ; they are palatable and largely eaten by the Batwa.
Pumpkins, Marrows, Gourds, various kinds. — Ipushi, mungu, impungu, kampande, muntemba, namundalanga, matanga (melon), makoa (cucumbers).
Other Cultivated Things. — Imbata, kandolo (sweet potatoes), miseza (a small tuber), inyemu (peanuts), imbwila (ground pea), intalabanda (beans), makamba (cassava).
Leaves of Wild Plants used as vegetables. — Ipububu, mupika, mpampachiubo, impoko (also chewed raw), lutende, bunkululu, ihubu, sonkwe, namukalakanyemu, ibondwe.
Various Wild Roots and Bulbs. — Intonge (roots of the chisa- kabale palm, eaten raw, boiled or roasted) ; mantembe, manko- longwa, busala (poisonous bulbs, cut up and steeped in water three or four days, dried and ground) ; impuzha, inyani (roots, chewed raw) ; inkobwa (root of a tree, chewed raw or roasted, remains spat out) ; makweyo, imbe (water-lily roots, eaten raw or cooked) ; imangu (a water plant, peeled, and the inside eaten raw).
Wild Fruits. — Matobo, chibumbu (seeds picked out) ; inkuzu (wild fig), imbula, isole, imbu, chibulanshi, shikisu, chisombwe, chivubika ; munsansa (wild grape), mangomba ; mawi, metu (hard-rind wild oranges) ; mankomona (palm fruit) ; bunguntanga (a wild marrow, seeds taken out, stamped and added to relish, meat, or vegetable) ; intumbulwa ; malolo (may not be roasted) ; chilumbalumba (sucked and the seed spat out), inshushu,1 insekwa ; mabuzu 2 (baobab fruit), bufumbo, mabungo.
Various Dishes. — Chimbulu cha masi (millet cooked whole with powdered peanuts) ; budyodyo (ground peas and beans cooked together) ; chindambwa (porridge made of meal and powdered peanuts) ; kayobe, katongola (peanuts broken up, cooked with salt) ; museta (bits of mankomona fruit beaten up with nut meal and salt, 'eaten raw) ; mangvhungvhuma (pea- nuts boiled in their shells).
Animals eaten. — Chinengwe (ant-bear), munyati * (buffalo), nkuntula (bush-pig), inzuzhi (cerval), chibila (coney), nakasha* (duiker), musefu * (eland), muzovu * (elephant), sulwe* (hare), konze*(hartebeest),chivhubwe (hippopotamus), mwaba* (jackal), ngombani (klipspringer), namutentaula (kudu), nanja (lechwe), shimidima* (lemur), shumbwa* (lion), shiluwe* (leopard), sokwe* (monkey) , shilumba (muirkat) , nakaf wif wi * (oribi) , chibawe (otter) ,
1 Ripens in the rainy season. It is taboo to roast it in the rainy season, lest the grain should dry up.
2 It is taboo to suck the seeds ; you should soak them in water, stir and drink, otherwise a crocodile will bite you.
CH.VI AGRICULTURE; FOODS; NARCOTICS 151
nanzeli (pallah), chaminungwe (porcupine), shikisunu* (puku), mucheka** (python), fungwe (rat el), naluvwi* (reedbuck), she- mpela (rhinoceros), chilumbulumbu (roan antelope), katanta (sable antelope), polongwe (elephant shrew), shichinzobe (situtunga), kanyimba (skunk), namunkwize (spring-hare), shikonzo (squirrel), timba (steinbok), fulwe (tortoise), mukulo* (waterbuck), shankodi (wart-hog), munyumbwi (gnu), chibizi* (zebra), inshimba (genet), chinao (wild-cat), shimatuya (a long-haired, genet-like animal), mwalangane (white-tailed, badger?), malama* (cheetah), shilu- fukwe ** (mole), imbeba *** (field-rat), chiwena ** (crocodile), nabulwe (iguana), inkwikwi (locusts), inswa (termites in flying stage);
Birds eaten. — Kanzambwa (bittern), shimampodio (black- capped bulbul), tumbwe (bush-shrike), shichiboba (bustard), shikakonze (buzzard eagle), nyungwe * (capped wheat-ear) ; lukobo (cattle egret), inkwizhikwizhi (common bulbul), namuwane (crested crane), lubutwi (dikkop), milondwe (diver), shichi- nshainshai (Egyptian goose), ikobozhi (great white egret ),shikwaze (fish eagle), moze (flamingo), kwale (francolin), lubangwa (grey hornbill), inkanga (guinea-fowl), shinamambwe (heron), inanda- nanda (jacana),icheche (Jardine's babbler), shapidio**** (kestrel), bimbe**** (kite), shichinkotwe (knob-nosed goose), shikulekule (lapwing), chidiongwe (long-tailed shrike), shikabila (marabout stork), shiakotomanuma (paradise widow bird), kazhimusha (painted snipe), shifundwe (pelican), inchoya (pochard), kanko- wulu (red-crested korhaan), kanchele**** (redwing, if eaten by adults they would chelumuka, i.e. become destitute), shijingongo (sand grouse), chivhwevhwe (Senegal concal), nachisekwe (spur- winged goose), nakakodio (stork), shimombampako (striped king- fisher), shikandyondyo (Temminck's courser), shimowe (lesser toucan), shibwididi (wild duck), inzhiba, inkwidimba, kalu- ngunzhiba (pigeons), intite (a tiny bird), busokoshi (fink), indea (a blackbird).
Fish eaten. — Imbavu (bream), mubondo (barbel), chisekele, intungu, kalongwe, mulopwe, mulumbu, muzonzwe, shaluzuke,* shimbembe,* shimulele, inkungwe, pata, inzanzhi, shichokochoko.
Drinks. — Menzhi (water), mukupa * (fresh milk), menze( whey), menzhambwe (whey and water), muhama (mixture of honey and water), imbote (honey beer), mema (palm wine), luswazhi (made from unripe imbula fruit, beaten up in a mortar with water, stood near fire or in sun ; after a day or two forms a pleasant non-intoxicating drink), mangvhuma (outside of palm-fruit cut off and boiled : when cool the liquid is drunk), mabuzu (seeds of baobab soaked in water and the liquid drunk) , chibwantu namala, ibwantu, bukoko, funku (beers) ; various other fruits are steeped and the liquid drunk (mawi, chongola, shikisu, and bufumbo).
152 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
5. NARCOTICS
Tobacco is largely grown, especially among the Bambala, and is of a good quality, but they are very ignorant of the proper means of curing and preparing it. The seed is sown towards the end of the rainy season immediately under the shade of the hut roof, and the plants are transplanted when big enough to a fertile patch, preferably an ant-heap. No care is taken to pinch the suckers or to curtail the number of leaves, and the plants are allowed to set seed. They have two ways of preparing it. The kind called nalubotu or mukweka, is made of short leaves, pounded in a mortar and turned out in flat cakes ; this is very strong. Namakati, from long-leaved plants, is cooked and made into large sausage-shaped lumps, weighing ten pounds or more. They use pipes, with earthenware bowls and long reed stems. In smoking (kufweba) a piece of tobacco is broken off the lump, placed in the bowl with a live coal on it ; after a few whiffs the pipe is passed on to a companion. Both men and women smoke.
Snuff (intombwe) is made of tobacco and mudidima wa makweyo, the long flower-stalks of the water-lily. These stalks are plaited, cut up, and dried in sherds over a fire, and the residue ground up with tobacco. The glands of the kanyimba (skunk) are often added as a flavour. Snuff is carried in small globular seed-pods.
Hemp (lubange) is also extensively grown, and is smoked in a kind of narghile : made with a large earthenware bowl, and a calabash stem, filled with water, through which the smoke is drawn. The hemp provokes coughing and makes the smoker insensible, and, if persisted in, senseless. It is a common thing when passing through a village to hear the characteristic violent coughing and wild exclamations coming from a hut in which one of these smokers is intoxicating himself. As he coughs and smokes he talks to his pipe: " Inzhimika. Mufubu ati ulakumbila kudya " (" Make me unconscious ! The fool says he asks for food," — as if any one needs food when he can get hemp !). So we heard a man exclaim one day.
CHAPTER VII * * *
HUNTING AND FISHING
i. METHODS OF HUNTING
LIVING amidst the wealth of game that has been described in a previous chapter, it would be surprising if the Ba-ila were not, as they are, keen lovers of hunting.
Though indulging in several methods of hunting, it is undoubtedly the chase which most appeals to them, when with their couple of spears and the assistance of three or four mongrel lurchers they, by endurance and perseverance, actually run down their quarry.
Hunting is followed more or less the whole year after purely native methods.
A few there are, who, armed with the primitive but efficient six-foot bow and poisoned arrows, or with ancient muzzle-loader, stalk their game after European fashion. The fiercest animal is soon laid low when pierced with the slender arrow whose tip has been smeared with a mixture of fat and the ground seeds of the bulembi creeper.
The only form of native hunting abhorrent to the sports- man is that followed when the rains set in in earnest and the ground becomes boggy and soft. The natives then manoeuvre to drive their game towards these treacherous patches, and as the unfortunate animals flounder and sink they stab them one after the other. By these cruel and unsportsmanlike means a whole herd of zebra or wildebeest is frequently exterminated. A case is known to the writers where the natives, tired of killing, contented themselves at last with depriving a dozen or more living zebra of their tails for fly-whisks, and left them fast imbedded in the mud.
153
154
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
It is only a year since seven hippopotami were actually killed in this manner.
Photo E. It'. Smith.
Bows AND ARROWS.
It is at this time, just when the flats are beginning to fill, that the big hunts occur, when the inhabitants of several
CH. vii HUNTING AND FISHING 155
districts combine, to the number of several hundred men, to surround the herds of lechwe, which are slowly retreating before the deepening water. The unfortunate game, actually and not metaphorically between the devil and the deep sea, are speared sometimes by hundreds. The most repre- hensible feature of these " slaughter hunts " is that, as the lechwe skin is the favourite petticoat of a Mwila woman and as the rams are too large to be used for the purpose, it is the does that the destruction is primarily aimed at. There is little doubt that the Government will by degrees regulate this destruction. Against the unfortunate lechwe the campaign is directed the whole year round. As the water deepens and the numerous watercourses become impassable, the light hunting dug-out, drawing 3 inches of water, comes into use ; propelled by long 10-foot poles, it flies over the flooded flat and rarely returns as lightly laden as it went. An expert hunter will frequently kill half a dozen in a morning, if possible all does. As the year rolls on and the water recedes, the combined bands from the different kraals return and repeat their tactics. Having a perfect knowledge of the lie of the land and the depth of the water, it is not difficult to repeat their success. It might be thought that now for a period the lechwe would enjoy rest. On the contrary, the most harassing time is yet to come. When the flats are dry and burnt, the young bloods pour out on to the flats, accompanied by their dogs, and day after day chase the lechwe, still pursuing the harmless does, who being without horns cannot inflict the injury on the dogs that the rams can. At the same time the old hunters dig lines of cleverly concealed pitfalls in the vicinity of the water. While the lechwe hunting badly needs regulation, it is possible to blame the native too severely, who but follows the course he has pursued for centuries in endeavouring to obtain meat for his family and a skin dress for his wife.
It is, however, a mistake to argue or suppose that these methods have been followed to the same degree for cen- turies. The writers have known men who, previous to the European occupation, had never been twelve miles from their village for fear of capture or death. It is the security
156 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. H
engendered by the European occupation that has let loose these hundreds or thousands of hunters on the lechwe, and their invariable success cannot fail very seriously to diminish the numbers of this beautiful antelope.
It is due to the natives to admit that there are those amongst them not less backward in following far more dangerous methods of hunting. Among these the old hippopotamus hunters, now fast vanishing, must be given the palm. The hunter, generally a middle-aged man, accompanied by a youth expert with the paddle, was accus- tomed to keep watch on a herd of hippo, who enjoy above all things a siesta on the water in the middle of the day. When one was observed isolated and sound asleep, the two shoved off in a tiny light dug-out canoe. The old man standing in the bow, armed with his heavy hippo spear with a shaft two inches thick and with a paddle between his feet, waited motionless while his assistant in the stern, with imperceptible strokes, without noise or ripple, brought the canoe within striking distance. The old man then launched his spear with all his force deep into the broad back, and while the monster hurled himself out of the water with a tremendous roar, seized his paddle and, both re- versing, assisted his companion to paddle the canoe to safety. If the first blow had been skilfully directed the hippopotamus soon exhausted himself by his struggles, the attack was repeated, and the end came quickly.
A more prosaic method of killing was by means of a trap, not the ordinary harpoon trap released with a spring and suspended to a tree under which a well-worn hippo-path passes, but apparently a local invention. At some favourite grazing place a number of stout poles four or five feet long were arranged in two parallel lines ; at the end was a keen small blade about three or four inches long projecting upwards. Sooner or later, the hippopotamus grazing round and accustomed to snap all growth or dead wood amongst which he moved, brushed into the commonplace-looking trap, the keen blade penetrated, and his struggles to shake off the pole simply caused the heavily weighted blade to penetrate deeper.
The Ba-ila make far less use of traps and nooses than
CH. vii HUNTING AND FISHING 157
most other native tribes, probably because in so rich a game country more straightforward methods give better results. The toze or noose-trap is employed by the herds and small boys for catching doves, f rancolin, and guinea-fowl, and at certain times of the year large numbers of spurwing geese are taken by its aid. The madiba, in which a stone is used for the ordinary fall-trap, is also much used by the little boys. The trap shown in the sketch is set in a path in the forest to catch small antelope. A young sapling (mweto) is bent over, and to its end a strong cord attached, the extremity of which is formed into a noose (mafwiza). This is buried in a small hole (kadindi] in the ground, care- fully covered over with bits of bark (mapapo) and then
Kaponiponi Mafwiza
Impopo DIAGRAM OF GAME TRAP.
earth. Attached to the cord, above the loop, is a shorter string terminating in a small piece of wood tied crosswise (kaponiponi) which is hitched into the angle formed by the monono and impopo, two pieces of wood which constitute the trigger. If an animal steps on the hole it depresses the monono, releases the trigger, the sapling straightens itself, and the noose catches round the foot of the animal, which finds itself jerked into the air a prisoner. The inkolongo is a cylinder of wood fastened to the cord to prevent the animal from releasing itself by biting through the cord. We have more than once, through stepping inadvertently on to a trap, found ourselves in this ignominious position, with one leg in the air fast, and quite helpless till released by our boys. The practice of digging pitfalls has largely fallen into disuse of late, viewed as it is with strong disfavour by
158 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
European sportsmen, who object to being suddenly pre- cipitated into a deep hole, even if a stake or spear at the bottom is lacking. In the old days, advantage was taken of thick bush, the resort of eland, buffalo, and koodoo, and pitfalls extending for a couple of miles were skilfully dug. In the not infrequent event of a capture the meat was divided between the owner of the pit and the finder.
The success with which the natives and their dogs pursue the lech we has already been dilated upon. This success is no less marked with other animals in the forest. In many places the wart-hog is almost exterminated, while roan and eland frequently fall victims, — these two species particu- larly because, disdaining to run from the dogs, they stand at bay, ignorant of the two-legged hunter with his darts panting behind.
When, as often happens, the pig seeks refuge in a burrow, the hunter rejoices : his quarry is secure. Otherwise the pig stands a very sporting chance. His peculiar trot takes him over the ground at a pace that taxes the powers of a good pony if the going is at all rough. Having stopped the earth with a few thorns or branches, a smoke-fire generally brings the pig to the waiting spear, otherwise he has to be dug out. Knocking out his small axe blade, the hunter inserts it in the handle sideways, and thus obtains a hoe wherewith to dig, and in a few minutes all is over.
A stranger visiting the Ila country will be struck by the number of men bearing scars on their bodies ; on making enquiries he will learn that many are the result of encounters with a lion or leopard. These honourable scars are gained either as the result of chance encounters, or as the outcome of a determined effort to save the precious cattle. Two such encounters were brought to our notice last year, when a solitary herd came upon a lion and a leopard respectively. In each case the beast was vanquished and slain. In each case also was the herdsman mauled by the beast, with fatal results. Some three years ago, the cattle of the chief Mwezwa of Nyambo were grazing at night in the vicinity, when a lion caught and killed a cow. Four young men in the morning went out to bring in the meat. On arriving at the carcase they found the lion still in possession. With-
CH. vn HUNTING AND FISHING 159
out hesitation they attacked him and kept up the fight until three had been mauled and bitten ; the fourth then went for assistance. These occurrences are repeated year after year. The Ba-ila boast with reason that they are not afraid of lions. The people of Makuzu are renowned for their prowess in this direction. This present year at Nalubanda a lion attacking their cattle was fought and killed, first mauling two of his assailants ; a third man received in his own chest a spear meant for the lion and succumbed to his wound. These are deeds worthy of men, and it is impossible to withhold our admiration and respect from men performing them.
We have known men who have a special feud against the fierce beasts. If a man's relation has been mauled, and more especially if he has been killed by a lion or leopard, he declares his unfailing enmity against the whole species, and loses no opportunity of killing them.
Possibly the remark may not be taken amiss if we urge those who feel they have hardly the right to risk their lives in following dangerous game — those who have given hostages to fortune — to leave them alone altogether. No sportsman has the right to fire at dangerous game if he is not prepared to follow it to the bitter end in thick covert. White men are still scarce in some parts of the territory, and tales of men, happily rare, throwing down their rifles after firing, and running, or of a camera which had to be recovered the next day, seriously diminish the prestige of the white race. The writers well remember the interest with which enquiries were made as to the nationality of a man who safely and comfortably shot two buffalo from a tree. It is sufficient
to add that he was not a Briton.
•
2. METHODS OF FISHING
The Kafue, its lagoons and tributaries swarm with fish, and the Ba-ila make extensive use as food and merchandise of the fish which they catch in enormous numbers by means of ingenious contrivances. At certain seasons one meets long processions of men, women, and children coming up. from the river all laden with fish. We counted once fifteen
i6o
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
baskets each containing over a hundred bream of about three pounds weight — over two tons of fish as the result of one day's fishing. Of bream there are twelve varieties, two of barbel, and tiger-fish, ground-fish, and mud-fish complete another round dozen.
The simplest way of fishing is to wade into a shallow pool and grope with the hands for the fish hidden away in the mud at the bottom.
The Ba-ila use hooks called mavwezhi — the generic name
Photo E. W. Smith.
A QUICK CATCH.
being tulobo — and as bait (bupo) bits of meat or fish. The ivwezhi is a hook -of iron, 2f inches long and i| inches across, tapering to a point without a barb. They do not angle as we do. The hook is tied by a strong string to reeds on the river-brink, and there being no float it sinks as far as the line allows. The fisher returns at intervals to examine it. Or the baited hook is tied by a string to a bundle of reeds and thrown into the stream. The fisher watches its progress down stream, and when he has reason to think a fish is caught he goes in a canoe to pull in the hook.
Fish are speared with the barbed fish-spears (miumba)
CH. vii HUNTING AND FISHING 161
in different ways. Two men go along in a canoe, one paddling, the other armed with a fish-spear elongated by means of a reed attached to it. As the canoe glides along he shoots the spear into the water at random, sliding the long shaft through his hand so as to keep control over it. Most times he gets nothing, but it is astonishing to see the number of fish they can impale in an hour in this fashion.
In the early part of the rainy season when the dry watercourses begin to fill and join company again with the river, the fish, so the natives say, come out of the rivers into these tributaries to chela, i.e. to find food. Whether that be actually so or not, certain it is that the fish are there in great numbers, and the people take advantage of it. Hundreds of men armed with miumba wade up and down these streams, prodding as they go, and in a very short time go off laden with fish, immense barbel for the most part. Often this fishing takes place at night, by torchlight. This method is named ikuo. In August or September the pro- cess is repeated in the large pools left by the last season's floods, and once again they gain a rich harvest.
They have also ways of constructing weirs for entrapping fish. Small streams, which later on will dry up, are dammed (kushinkidizha) so as to allow only some of the water to escape ; as the stream dries the fish are unable to get away, and are simply scooped up above the dam. Among the rocks on the bank of the Kafue the spaces are blocked, and as the river falls many fish are stranded in the same way.
The Balumbu have a method not employed by the Ba-ila proper. In the spring (September or October) they make a Iwando, a long open-work reed mat, attached to which is a supplementary mat, called masambala, to prevent the fish from jumping over. This is sunk upright in the river and kept vertical by means of weights, called manda, formed of large lumps of hard ant-heap covered with grass. Men wade along in the river pushing this mat in front of them, and gradually edge in towards the bank, enclosing a number of fish, which are then scooped out. Before they start pushing the Iwando, the fish-doctor, carrying a potful of " medicine," steps into the water in front of
VOL. I M
1 62
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
the mat — mu chidimba they call it — fills his mouth with "medicine " and spits it round about ; he then offers a prayer : " Twakabomba ! Uchibosha Leza watuabila bachiwena inswi shinjishinji ! " (" We are humble before Thee. Make good, O Leza, and give to us crocodiles and many fish "). It happens
Photo P.. /r. Smith.
THE IVHUMBO FISH-TRAP.
sometimes, of course, that in pushing the Iwando they enclose a crocodile ; this causes great excitement and pro- vides great sport ; it is looked upon as a good omen for the fishing, as they believe that where a crocodile is there also are many fish.
Fish-traps are employed largely by the Ba-ila. The
CH. VII
HUNTING AND FISHING
163
ivhumbo (or izhizhi) is in the form of a conical basket, made of light sticks and bark-string. In using these, people
K A F U E
Holes for caught fish
THE MONO FISH-TRAP.
wade into pools and shallow water and place them over fish. The fish are removed by hand out from the apex of the trap.
A more elaborate trap is the mono, shaped similarly to the ivhumbo, but more elongated and with an inside trap- door called buvhwazhi. The fish entering the wide open end find them- selves unable to get out again. The miono are arranged in numbers at the confluence of the Kafue and one of the lagoons. The plan and photographs will show the arrangement. This form of weir is called mielo. The fish which get into the reed -mat enclosure, the doors of which are left open for a time, are scooped out with nets or speared ; from the traps they are taken out by hand. As they are taken out they
are tied together by the gills into bundles and thrown into' small pools dug out in the bank, and so kept fresh until required by the curers at work near by. We have watched many thousands of fish being taken out of such a place and cut up and dried on the bank.
The net used by the Ba-ila is a prawn net called Iwanga —
PLAN OF THE MIELO WEIR.
164
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
the generic name is lutele — the framework consisting of a long forked stick bent into a rough oval shape. Two of these are seen lying on the miono in the photograph (p. 166). On the Nanzela River another form of weir is con- structed at the time of the rise and overflow of the river. As it rises the water flows into the watercourses running across the flats, which during the dry season are empty. The people make long mats of reeds (masasa) and fix them across a watercourse so that the fish attempting to regain
Photo E. IV. Smith.
PREPARING FOR THE FISHING. Making the has*.
the river are caught. The mats are kept in position by means of stakes driven into the ground. They are arranged in a V-shape pointing towards the river ; at the apex an open space is left between them, and another mat is placed around the opening in the position shown in the plan. The two enclosures thus formed are named manda (" houses"), and in them the fish are held. The fishers enter the water above the mat and prod about with their spears, impaling what fish they can. They also spear the fish in the manda. Some of them lean over and catch the imprisoned fish in their hands, but this is at the risk of seizing a nasty little
i66
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
fish called shichokochoko (Synodontis macrostigma, Blge.), which shoots out a sharp spike on its back and causes a painful wound. In a few hours hundreds of fish of all kinds are caught. This method is named kukosola chimpinda.
Farther down the river is a break in the bank, through which when the water rises it pours in a swift flood. There is no definite watercourse at this point, but the water spreads out over the low-lying ground. Great quantities
Photo K. II ". Smith.
THE MIELO IN POSITION (NEARER VIEW).
of fish are carried in this flood ; the men simply walk about in the shallow water and spear them.
Lastly, we may mention the fish-poisons scattered in the pools in winter and spring ; these are made by pounding up certain wild bulbs, tinde and kanyangalakata, and the bark of the chiwezeze. We have never seen this operation, but are told that it is very efficacious, the poison making the fish senseless ; they say it especially affects the eyes of the fish, causing them to burst. This method of fishing is named kutwila.
Fish not required for immediate consumption are dried,
CH. VII
HUNTING AND FISHING
167
either in the sun or over fires. They are split lengthwise, heads and tails are not removed, but the insides are taken
A.A. The Manda C.C. Supporting posts
Dotted lines show the mats
PLAN OF THE WEIR : KUKOSOLA CHIMPINDJ.
out. The natives not only consume great quantities of this dried fish themselves, but trade with it among the people living away from the river.
3. SOME HUNTING AND FISHING CUSTOMS
We have never had the opportunity of watching the cutting up of an elephant, but, sitting once in company with some old Nanzela hunters, we asked and obtained the following description of the process. The motive under- lying the rites is to prevent the ghost of the deceased elephant from taking vengeance upon the hunters, and to induce it to assist them in bringing the same fate upon other elephants. When the elephant is dead the hunter runs off and is chased in mock resentment by his companions. Then he comes back and climbs upon the carcase, bearing " medicine " which, after chewing, he ejects into the wound and anus ; in doing this he crawls about over the body. He then stands up and executes a dance upon the carcase, his companions surrounding the elephant and clapping their hands in greeting and congratulation. They then proceed to cut
168 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
up the carcase. A beginning is made by cutting out the fat in the hollows of the temples : from its quantity and quality they judge the condition of the animal. They then open the abdomen and remove the intestines. The linings of the cavity are carefully separated and spread out to dry ; they are called ingubo (" blankets "), and are intended for presentation to the bodi, the ladies of the community. They then cut through the diaphragm : through the opening the hunter puts his head, seizes the heart in his mouth, and drags it out. He does not eat it, but the biting is to give him strength in future hunting. Having removed the contents of the thorax, they attack the head. There is some special significance attached to the nerve of the tusk, called kamwale (" the maiden "). It is carefully abstracted and buried under the site of the camp-fire. It is not to be looked upon by the tiros in hunting — they are called bana (" children ") ; all the time it is being handled they must turn away their heads, for were they to see it they would meet with misfortune. Having now completed their work, they return to the village, beating their axes together and singing. The people on hearing the noise flock to meet them, and a great feast, with plenty of beer, is made. But first an offering is made to Leza (" the Supreme Being "), to the mizhimo (" the ancestral spirits "), and to the ghost (muzhimo) of the deceased elephant which has accompanied them to the village. Addressing this last they say : " O spirit, have you no brothers and fathers who will come to be killed ? Go and fetch them." The ghost of the elephant then returns and joins the herd as the guardian of the elephant who has " eaten its name." Observe that they regard the elephants as acting as men act : one dies and another inherits his position, " eats his name," as they say.
Before a man can be admitted into the brotherhood of elephant hunters he must undergo a process of being doctored. Gashes are cut in his right arm and " medicine " is rubbed in to give him pluck ; and other " medicines " are administered to enable him to approach his quarry without being seen.
As we shall see later, there are certain taboos put on the hunters and fishermen ; here we may describe what takes
CH. vii HUNTING AND FISHING 169
place at the Iwando fishing. The men leave the villages and encamp on the river-bank, and until the fishing is over they are forbidden to have commerce with their wives or other women. If in the midst of the fishing a man should return home to take a bundle of fresh fish and should break this rule, the effect would at once be seen, for the next time the Iwando was pushed along there would be no fish taken. When this happens they say, " Umwi waleta masoto ku Iwando " (" Some one has brought a (sexual) transgression to the Iwando"). The diviner is called in to detect the wrongdoer and he is driven away. " Medicine " is then brought to cleanse the Iwando, and if all is well the next pushing gives a good catch.
CHAPTER VIII * *
WARFARE
THE conditions of life amidst which the Ba-ila existed until the close of last century — a life in which the elders were perpetually either on the defensive or offensive — naturally familiarised them at an early age with the idea of warfare. These ideas, however, differ very widely from those of our own race. When their attacks consisted largely of ambuscades and surprises, and their defence in precipitate flight, it would be unreasonable to expect or seek for the true fighting spirit. The dogged, straightforward methods of fighting which we prize so highly are not to be found amongst the Ba-ila, who do not profess to understand them, but on the contrary fully appreciate and follow the maxim that he who fights and runs away may live to fight another day. To die in the last ditch would appear to almost all of them the height of folly. They themselves hold the view, and act upon it, that courage is shown, or a man's heart is strong, as they put it, under certain circumstances only. The brave on land may be a coward on the water. The man who will charge boldly close up to a lion may shrink from the same action towards his fellow-man or an angry buffalo. This view is easily comprehended. The European seeks to habituate his mind to the idea of death in any form, and to school himself to face it boldly. To the native the thought of it is dreadful, and though, as we have shown, they are not devoid of courage of a high order, certain conditions to which they are accustomed are necessary to enable them to show it, and the native face to face with peril to which he is not accustomed loses heart immediately.
170
CH. VIII
WARFARE
171
The youngsters become quickly familiar with the sight of mimic fights and the constant kwenzha-iug they see at
Photo E. Jlr. Smit/t.
BA-ILA WARRIORS.
every festival or funeral stimulates them to try and show off their agility and speed in imitating the actions of their elders. Kukwenzha is the term applied to imitative acts of charging, casting the spear and dodging those of the
172
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
enemy which take place on every occasion of importance when people are gathered before whom the young men may show off.
The mimic fights we have often seen, and they form a most realistic spectacle. As many as four hundred young men face each other, armed with reeds or spear-shafts, and arrayed as we have already described on p. 106. While the drums boom the notes of the war-dance, the men work
Photo G. H. Nicholls.
A MIMIC FIGHT.
themselves up by shouts, shrieks, whistlings, and lululuings, which last when used by women mean welcome but by men defiance. On the signal, the two ranks charge, and the air is dark with darts ; they retreat and gather fresh missiles — those thrown by their opponents. Again they rush forward, and as they retreat a form is seen lying on the ground twisting in agony with a spear apparently through his body. The one side rush forward to " mak siccar," his friends to save and drag him away. The two sides seem about to
CH. VIII
WARFARE
173
close, but their spear is no thrusting weapon, and the supply runs short ; the attack is relinquished, and the wounded man seized and hastily dragged to the rear. Should the efforts of his friends be vain, a man imitates the action of hacking off his head with a blunt battle-axe to take as a trophy, the while rolling his eyes, bloodshot from excitement, from side to side, on the alert for an attempt at rescue. The whole spectacle is most realistic ; the writhings of the apparently injured man are so life-like that the European
Photo G. H. Nicholls.
A MIMIC FIGHT : HURLING THE SPEARS.
spectator is impelled to rush forward to his aid, quickly to sink back into his seat amidst the laughter of the native spectators around him. The actors have without doubt often taken part in the real thing.
In addition to the practice afforded by these mimic fights, the youths gained valuable experience in marching and scouting by accompanying their elders on makodi (" raids "). When anxious for a little diversion, two or three comrades would start off through the bush, and some days' march away would lie in wait on a path until some women and
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
children came along. These they would seize as slaves, ensuring silence by blows and threats, and drive them through the veld to their homes. The danger of successful pursuit was very slight as the start gained before the captives were missed was too considerable. Should an armed man, or men, come along, to the shame of the Ba-ila it must be said that he, or they, were usually stabbed in the back.
Photo G. H. \iclwlls.
A MIMIC FIGHT : THE CHARGE.
Many men are alive to-day who gained great renown through these raids.
As the following story will show, the odds were not always with the big battalions. A certain man left a kraal accompanying his mistress. He was seen by some one, who said, " Let us follow and kill him." As they drew near him in the flat the woman said, " There are people coming." The man entered a copse and cut a staff, another he obtained from an ant-heap, because he had no spears, only an axe.
CH. vni WARFARE 175
In the meantime two of the pursuers seized the woman, and the others addressed them, saying, " Why do you seize the woman ? It is not she we came out to slay." The man thereupon emerged full speed out of the copse and charged them as they were grouped together. He threw his staff, and they derided him, saying, " Truly he mocks himself to-day." Again he struck, hitting a man, who fell down. He seized his spears and chased the others, killing
Photo G. H. \icholls.
A MIMIC FIGHT : SPEARING THE EARTH AT THE END OF A CHARGE.
five of them and recovering his mistress, after which he left them alone.
It remains to describe the methods pursued in warfare. Strangely though it may appear after the instances of treachery we have given, the Ba-ila displayed certain sport- ing, if not chivalrous, instincts preparatory to their biggest fights. Frequently a formal challenge was sent, and, if accepted, an arrangement was made to fight on a given day at a certain spot. Since the advent of the British adminis- tration application has more than once been made to the officials by antagonistic villages for " one day's, just one
176
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
day's " encounter on the flats. On other occasions the challengers would pass in battle array outside and some distance from the kraal of their opponents, in order, so it was explained, not to disturb the domestic life of the village. Before the actual fighting certain ceremonial observances took place, the principal being a solemn sacrifice to the
Photo G. H. Nicholls.
A MIMIC FIGHT : A GROUP OF ADMIRING FEMALE SPECTATORS.
muzhimo of the district, with prayers for victory and a safe return. All sexual intercourse was avoided, and the women were instructed to remain chaste while their husbands were away fighting, lest harm should befall them. They were also forbidden to throw anything at one another for fear lest their relations should be speared, or to imitate any kind of blow. They were also forbidden to dance, the period until
WARFARE
177
the safe return of the warriors was assured being one rather for mourning than for rejoicing. The fighting men looked to their weapons, arrayed themselves as we have described already, and smeared themselves with ash and white earth. As each man advanced to the fight he chewed " medicine " to render himself invisible.
When opposed to their fellow-Ba-ila the method was
Photo G. H. Mckolls.
RETURNING FROM THE FIGHT.
fairly straightforward. Charge and counter -charge as described in the paragraph on mimic fights followed in quick succession. No quarter was given, and each enemy, whether already dead or not, was promptly beheaded, the skull being taken home and exhibited as a trophy at the kraal. The testicles were cut off, and afterwards added to a relish (chidisho) and eaten. If eaten by a coward he would at once vomit, but a brave warrior would have his heart strengthened.
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N
178 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
Intertribal fights lasted a long time, each party gathering the spears thrown by their opponents. If it was desired by one side quickly to bring the matter to an end by a sharp decisive combat, the shafts of the spears were half sawn through and thus broke on descending.
It is obvious that against the Matabele with their short stabbing spears and the kerrie-armed Barotsi, who all carried war shields, the Mwila was entirely helpless when his supply of light casting-spears was exhausted. It is comical to observe the chagrin and disgust with which a Mwila will describe some old fight and tell how, all the spears having been caught on the hide shields, thwack would descend a kerrie on some defenceless head.
Many chiefs placed " medicine " all around their district for the discomfiture of attacking parties, and other "medicine " was placed on old trees so that the knees of the enemy might weaken and the defenders overtake and slay them.
On returning from a successful fight great rejoicings took place at the kraal. Each warrior bathed his face in a brew of " medicine," and each father sacrificed individually to his ancestral spirit. The first sacrifice was made to the demi-god of the district ; the heads of the slain enemies were placed before him with a prayer of thanksgiving : " Thou hast stood by us. We are not dead but alive, and have slain our enemies by thy help. See here are the heads of our foes." The chief slaughtered oxen with which to feast his warriors. We are acquainted with two young men who, afraid to engage with the enemy, hid their spears in the mud of a pond, and were held up to the derision of the kraal by being refused any part in the feast.
Among the Balumbu similar customs were in vogue. The testicles of a slain foe were cut off, and, we under- stand, thrown away, the motive being that as the testicles are bumi, i.e. the life, the cutting of them off meant killing the man utterly. After a fight the warriors returned to the chief's village carrying the heads of the slain enemies. Next morning the drums beat bukadi, the warriors turned out, and the chief distributed honours. As each man's name was called he sprang out into the open and executed a kind of Salome dance with the head or heads he had
CH. vin WARFARE 179
brought home. This is called kufumba. Then he knelt down and placed his trophy before the chief. The chief retained some of the heads and distributed others, together with induba feathers, to the bravest warriors. He who brought no trophy did not funiba, nor he who had only killed a boy or woman. The heads retained by the chief were stored in the manes' hut, and on great occasions were brought out and the warriors fumba'd with them. Often the heads were chopped round above the ears and the calvaria used as goblets. This is kupampa. The warriors had to be cleansed. The doctor went round to the slayers and' put a little "medicine" on each man's tongue, atamukodi uyayiwa (" that the person slain might not trouble him"). Another cleansing process is called kupu- pulula. The warrior was bathed in the fumes of certain medicines burnt in a sherd : the ashes were afterwards placed in a koodoo horn and planted at the threshold of his hut to drive off the ghost of the person he had killed.
CHAPTER IX *
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
THE handicrafts of the Ba-ila are restricted, to some extent by the paucity of the materials at their disposal, but more by their lack of enterprise and skill. There are materials, such as cotton, which they do not know how to use, but which either grow wild or might easily be cultivated. The industries may be grouped under the categories of the materials employed : animal stuffs such as ivory and skins ; vegetable such as wood, grass, and bark ; and mineral such as clay and iron. Another classification is according to whether the industry is professional, such as ivory-turning, iron-smelting, and smithery ; or whether it is domestic, such as pottery and basketry.
i. WORK IN IVORY
This is a trade severely restricted to a few individuals by the cost and scarcity of the raw material, and by the amount of skill required. We have seen fine pieces of work, such as fly-whisk handles and knife-shafts, wrought by men of neighbouring tribes, but the only articles made of ivory by the Ba-ila are bangles (inkaya). These are turned (kucheka) on a lathe from a section of elephant tusk. The lathe is of rude construction, but the quality of the work done is excellent. The tusks are bought from hunters and are valued in cattle ; a tusk of about twenty pounds weight being priced at about five cows, say £15. The form of the lathe is shown in the sketch and photograph. The frame- work consists of two pieces of hard wood 2 feet 6 inches long,
1 80
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
181
3 inches thick, and 2 inches wide ; towards each end these are perforated for the cross-pieces (B, B), which are inserted and kept tight by means of wedges. Midway along the length of the pieces A, A, there are two angle-irons (D, D), the shorter side being inserted into the frame and the longer jutting out into the centre of the framework.
THE IVORY-TURNER.
The ends of these, which oppose each other, are pointed. These form the poppets of the lathe. They are inserted into the block of wood (E) which carries the cylinder of ivory (F) . Around this block on the turner's right hand is passed the leather thong of the bow (G) by means of which the block is rotated ; immediately in front is the tool-rest (H), a bar of wood secured by pegs to the framework.
182
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
B
B
H
In beginning his work on a piece of solid ivory, the turner bores a small hole at each end, into which the points
of the poppets (D, D) are inserted. Before doing so he must, by knocking out the wedges (C, C) and the pegs in the tool-rest, separate the sides of the lathe ; having adjusted the block of ivory, he replaces the wedges and makes all fast. Then, squatting on the ground, he clutches the bow in his right hand and holds a tool with his left ; to secure it in position he places his foot upon the rest with the tool under his big toe. Then he works the bow.
The first operation in turning a bangle is to cut out the core of the block of ivory, leaving a hollow cylinder. This is then secured on the block of wood (E), which, of course, was not required while he was cutting the solid block. He then cuts the ivory through of the width required, and at the same time turns the mongo, the raised " backbone " on the bangle. The tools used are a hammer and variously shaped miengo ("carving tools "). The latter include cutters and a kind of hooked tool — simply a piece of iron bent round at the end — used as a gouge, all of them mounted in wooden handles. The cutters are of different sizes with variously bevelled edges.
As with other trades, ivory-turning is regarded by the Ba-ila not so much as a matter of talent as of " medicine." The man procures medicine to give him skill, and periodically has to wash his face in a certain decoction to keep his eyes sharp, so that he may not run his chisels awry. It was a source of immense amusement to the turner and onlookers when one of us tried his hand at the lathe. Seeing that
CH. ix VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 183
we had no " medicine," how could we expect to manipulate the lathe and tools ?
2. SKIN-DRESSING
The Ba-ila are ignorant of the art of tanning ; nor are they as expert as the Barotsi and Bechuana in dressing and sewing skins. In this work the cleverest hands are among the Balumbu, who have been influenced from the west. The skins of animals are the most natural things for use as clothing, and the preparation of them consists simply in making them as soft and flexible as possible. Heavy hides, such as those of cattle, zebra, and the largest antelope, are not so easy to work, and are therefore not so much used as the skins of smaller antelope. The lech we skin, for its size, softness, and beauty, is the one preferred for the women's dress ; lion and leopard skins, and those of the smaller carnivora, as well as those of other smaller animals, are all employed for dress or ornament.
The process is a simple one. The fresh skin is pegged down on the ground and all particles of flesh are removed. It is afterwards scraped with a knife or spear-blade (kuzwa- buluzha), rubbed with a stone or lump of ant-heap (kumwaila), and finally worked between the hands (kusuka), with or without fat, until it is as soft as kid. Holes made by the spear in killing or skinning the animal are sewn up or patched by means of thread made from fibrous plants or fine sinews, those of the duiker, eland, roan, and hartebeest in particular. Except at Nanzela, no attempt is made at sewing skins into karosses.
3. STRINGS
Twine for all purposes is made from various fibres without any mechanical aid, simply by rolling or twisting between the hands or on the thigh. The action is called kupesa. To make a three-ply cord is kulundulula. A coarse thread for sewing is sometimes made in this way from wild cotton, but the arts of spinning and weaving are not known.
184
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
Two varieties of a fibrous plant named mukusa are much used for making string. One variety, mukusa-mpumpa, grows in the mopani forest in the form of spikes one or two
i. Knnunffa.
2. Reef-knot.
3. Slip-knot (Inkosowe).
4. Used in the lusamba, etc.
5. Netting-knot. 6. Noose (Bufwizu).
KNOTS USED BY THE BA-ILA.
feet high : the spike is torn into strips, which are used without further manipulation to tie up bundles. From the other variety, named mukusa-matwi , which has flat fleshy leaves with hard edges, an excellent thin twine is made by beating the leaves to remove the pulp and rolling the fibres,
CH. IX
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
185
which are about twelve inches long, on the thigh, other fibres being added to make the length. The two-ply twine thus made is used in sewing, especially in sewing the head- dress ; a three-ply twine is also made. The fibre from the plant called lukukwa is also used in this way.
The inner bark of many trees is used for binding purposes, especially in building, the best being from the mozha, mushiwe, mubombo, mutondo, and munga trees. The bark is ripped off in large sections, beaten with sticks to separate
MAKING A NET.
the outer from the inner layers, and the latter is then cut into long strips, tied end to end, and used moist. The inner fibrous bark of the baobab (mukuzu] is also made into string and used for sewing skins.
Of all plants the palm provides the Ba-ila with their most useful materials. There are three palms that grow in their country : the stately borassus (kalala-ngvhuma) , the hyphoene (kalala ka mankomona), and the raphia (mansene). Chisakabale is the name given to the borassus and hyphoene when the leaves and nothing, or only a very small part, of the trunk are above ground. Its large fan-like leaves, formed of follicles radiating from a centre,
i86
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
provide useful fibre. The strong and flexible midrib (mongo) of the follicle is much used in making baskets. The rest of the folliole is split into strips and called lubale. They also are used in basketry ; and by chewing them to make them soft and then rolling them on the thigh a useful cord is produced.
Photo K. W. Smith.
BASKETRY : BASE OF THE INTUMBA.
(Reduced about one-third.)
The knots used by the Ba-ila call for no description beyond the illustrations given.
The strong nets for fishing are made of mukusa twine. The knot employed is the same as in England. The operator sits as shown in the picture, and works on a cord stretched between his two big toes. He uses no gauge, but regulates by eye the size of the mesh.
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
187
4. BASKETRY
The Ba-ila have four kinds of basket-work, two of a coiled pattern, and two twilled and twined. The first three are made by women, the fourth by men.
Photo E. W. Smith.
BASKET-MAKING.
I. The intumba is made of lubale coiled on a foundation of about ten strands of a fine tough grass called mankuntu. The sewing is done with a needle about 3! inches long, with a large oval eye. The woman starts by tying three or four strands of lubale into a knot, and then, passing her
i88 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
needle through this base, begins to introduce the grass. She continues over-sewing, passing her needle through the lubale in the lower coil from the inside outwards. The base is some 4 or 5 inches in diameter, and from it the basket slopes upwards and outwards, growing gradually in circumference. These baskets are of various sizes, but are of a uniform shape ; no attempt is made at fancy-work, such as lids and handles. This kind will hold water.
Photo E. W. Smith.
WOMAN MAKING AN INTUNDU BASKET : LAYING OUT THE BASE.
2. The chimb alamashasha is a coiled basket very similar to the intumba, the only difference being that whereas in the intumba the lubale is coiled evenly in every row, in this pattern it is spaced alternately in each row, showing the grass foundation beneath ; this is done by sewing first through the lubale on the lower row and on the next through the grass. This pattern is much inferior in strength to the former.
3. The intundu is the basket par excellence of the Ba-ila, and is made wholly of lubale. The warp and weft elements
CH.IX VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 189
of the base, each consisting of four or five narrow strips of
Photo E. IV. Smith.
WOMAN MAKING AN INTUNDU BASKET.
the midrib of the palm-leaf, are laid out on the ground ; they are twilled, the weft passing over and then under the
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
FT. II
warp. There being four to eight of warp and the same number of weft elements they make a square base ; around which by means of a buttonhole stitch the operator sews a border to hold all in place. The long strands that jut beyond this border are then bent upwards to form the warp of the sides. The weft is made up of two thinner strips of lubale, one being passed behind and the other in front of two (after six or seven rows, one only) of the warp strands. The base is,
Photo E. H'. Smith.
MAKING A CHIZONGO BASKET (FIRST STAGE).
then, what is technically called twilled, and the sides twined work. As the sides progress, other strands are worked into the warp to fill up the angles. By the time it is finished, the basket has become circular in shape. A rough triangle and lozenge pattern is made on the sides by passing the weft over two of the warp-strands instead of over one. The basket is finished off by binding along the edge a withe surmounted by two or three strands of the palm-leaf midrib. These baskets, when well made, are strong and pretty.
4. The chizongo is a basket with open-work sides used for carrying potatoes, fish, etc. Unlike the others, this basket is made by men. In structure it is similar to that of the intundu, but the warp is made of reeds. Strips of
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
191
reed are twilled on the ground to make a base : to do this reeds are slit down one side and flattened out. After binding round the base, the operator splits each reed into four pieces, bends them upright, and twines lubale in and out, leaving spaces between the strips of reed.
Besides these baskets they make flattish round trays, called lukwi, for winnowing. The funnel of the calabash
Photo E. If. Smith.
MAKING A CHIZONGO BASKET.
churn is also made of basket-work. In both cases the style is that used in the intumba.
5. WORKING IN CLAY
In most villages of any size there are women who can make pots, and some of them are adepts in the art. They know nothing about pottery wheels, but are able by hand to make very neat, symmetrical, and serviceable pots. Pot-clay (muntanango) is found in most places. The woman prepares the clay by kneading it well, and to increase its strength she grinds up old potsherds and adds the powder to the clay. She takes a stone, or a flat lump of ant-heap,
THE IL-A-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
as a base, and sits down with it between her knees. She then breaks off a lump of clay and shapes it into a ring
Photo E. W. Smith.
POT-MAKING (FIRST STAGE).
about 2 inches thick and of a circumference according to the size of the pot desired. This is placed on the base and four or five other rings are built up one upon the other.
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
193
The woman then takes a mealie cob or a piece of wood or bone, and, holding it in one hand, draws and scrapes the
Photo K. IV. Smith.
POT-MAKING (LATER STAGE).
clay upwards, gradually thinning out the wall ; with the
left hand she supports and moulds into shape the other
side of the wall. In this way the body is made. When
VOL. T o
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
she comes to the neck, she adds more clay and shapes it. The pot is now in the rough, except for the bottom ; she then sprinkles it with water and smooths the surface. This done, she wraps a piece of moist cloth round the base and leaves it in the shade to dry. In two days or so it is sufficiently dry to be handled, and then, taking away the cloth, she inverts the pot and draws in the clay of the sides so as to fill up the space left. This done, she moulds the bottom, making a. slight indentation with her thumb in the
Photo E. If. Smith.
PREPARING TO BAKK THE POTS.
centre to assist the pot in standing upright. Lastly, she spends time in indenting patterns around the neck by means of her thumb-nail and a bit of bone or stick. The pot is now set aside to dry.
When perfectly dry the pots are burnt. A hole is dug and the pots carefully piled and covered with strips of dry bark. One short burning is sufficient. As a finishing touch some of the white ash is rubbed over the patterns around the neck. We have never seen any one who knew how to glaze her pots. In general pattern Ba-ila pots do not vary much : the difference is in dimensions and in the size of the
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
195
mouth. There are large beer-pots set up in the huts holding several gallons — these are scarce, as making and burning require no small amount of skill : one may see them repaired by sewing — and all sizes down to the small dishes for eating from, all on the same general style. In naming their pots the Ba-ila describe functions ; the same pot may have different names according to the use to which it is being put at the time. The large, narrow-necked pot for carrying water is called intesho (i) ; the same when larger and used
Photo K. II'. Smith.
BA-ILA POTS.
for holding beer is called italo (2) . A small wide-mouthed pot used for cooking vegetables is called munkomba (3) ; a larger one for porridge is ibia. The same pot if used for beer is called chipempa (4). Other small pots to contain cooked food are called chibia chitentu (5). A smaller pot, like a dish, used to serve up meat and vegetables is called lusulu. The generic name is chibia.
The earthenware pipe-bowls made by the Ba-ila potters — men in this case, not women — are the prettiest articles of their manufacture. They are decorated with moulded heads of various animals, hippopotami, buffaloes, eland,
196 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
etc. ; the forelegs of the animals form a stand on which the pipe rests on the ground. The bowl itself is scored with lines, cross-hatched, as shown in the photos. The potter spends much time and patience in making them. The bowls are mounted on a special kind of reed, 3 feet or so long, ornamented with wirework.
6. WOODWORK
The Ba-ila are not skilful in working wood. Here and there one finds an adept, but most of the wooden utensils, drums, canoes, stools, bowls used by them are made by
Photo E. W. Smith. PIPE-HEAPS.
Barotsi and Mankoya workmen, parties of two or three of whom occasionally go through the country from village to village making and selling what is required.
Excellent timber grows in the country, especially in the northern districts. Certain kinds are adapted for special purposes. The mopani (mwani) is the best of all for building purposes, especially when cut in the wet season and soaked in water for some weeks, for it then becomes hard and almost proof against the ravages of the termite and borer insect. The great thorn tree (ihunga) has a soft wood, and is much used for canoes. Miikushi, mulombe, and mulubu- lulwa are all soft woods, much used for mortars, drums, and stools, the mulombe in particular, a light, open-grained timber with a dark heart, being excellent for the purpose.
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
197
Two dark hardwoods, muse and mwangula, are used for walking-sticks and spear -shafts. The handsome ibula provides an admirable timber for many purposes. The
Photo E. H'. Smith.
BA-ILA PIPES AND PIPE-HEADS.
muntuntumba is much used for making drums. The mutondo is used especially for axe-shafts. And there are many others.
The native workmen have no sense of joinery : they use neither nails nor pegs, nor mortise and tenon in their
198
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
work. The only way they have of joining one piece of wood to another is by means of stitching. Thus, if a tree of sufficient length for a canoe is not procurable they may make it in two sections fitting end-wise. Holes are then burnt through the wood by means of a hot iron, and tough cord threaded through and drawn tight to complete the joint. And if the gunwale is too low, a strip of wood may be stitched along its edge to heighten it. Otherwise, all
Photo K. If.
WOOD-CARVER AT WORK : MAKING AN INDANDALA DRUM.
they make is cut out of solid blocks of timber. As may be gathered from some of the objects illustrated, this entails a vast amount of patient and laborious toil. The tools used are axes, chisels, adzes, and spear-blades. With these they hollow logs of wood into cylinders of various shapes and dimensions and convert them into drums of different kinds (see Chap. XXV.). They also hollow out mortars for stamping grain, and milk-pails, carving the bases into various forms. They also carve dishes and bowls (mitiba), often with close-fitting lids. The stools (shuna) and wooden pillows are of many forms, and a clever workman takes
CH.IX VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 199
great pains in making them objects of beauty as well as of
Photo E. IY. Smith
SPECIMENS OF WOODWORK FROM NANZELA.
Photo E. IY. Smith.
MILK-PAILS AND BOWLS FROM NANZELA.
use. Perhaps the most artistic of these wooden utensils
200
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
are the spoons. Our old friend Mungalo was an adept at the work, and with the simplest of tools — an adze, two or three small chisels, and a spear-blade — would carve them by the score out of unpromising-looking bits of wood. The handle is surmounted by some figure — a human or animal head.
The largest objects made of wood are the canoes (mato). The size depends, of course, on the tree chosen, and that depends largely upon the purpose of the prospective owner.
Photo E. It'. Smith.
BA-ILA STOOLS.
Whether for a long, narrow, hunting canoe or a broader canoe for carrying purposes, a tree of corresponding size is chosen after some search and anxious consultation. It perhaps entails a long bargaining if the tree is owned by another person, certainly a quarrel if it is taken without the owner's permission. The tree is felled, cleaned of its boughs, cut into the length required, and then the work- men with their axes proceed to rough-hew it into shape. When the outside is shaped to their satisfaction they hollow out the interior. The sides are an inch or so thick at the gunwale, thicker towards the bottom. The canoes are
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
2OI
destitute of keels, rudders, thwarts, and rowlocks. They draw but little water. Some are so narrow that it is impossible to sit down in them. Others have a beam of 2 or 2 1 feet. The large canoes will carry ten people, the smallest only two. Often when loaded there is a freeboard of only a couple of inches, and it is no unusual thing for a sudden lurch to fill the canoe with water and sink it under the occupants. The canoes are propelled by means of paddles (inkashi) about 7 or 8 feet long, shaped out of a solid
oto K. Ryan.
CANOE-MAKING : SHAPING THE TRUNK.
piece of wood, and terminating in a blade, heart-shaped, 9 inches by 5, or oblong. A nicely-made paddle is a precious object : if the blade is 5 inches wide it means, of course, that it has to be shaped out of a log that width, and perhaps 8 feet long.
The ornamentation of woodwork, earthenware, and iron qbjects is not at all elaborate, few and simple designs being used. Around long things such as spear-shafts, the tangs of axes, and the handles of spoons, they incise series of parallel rings, and perhaps round off the angles. On the flat surfaces of stools, etc., they often execute a black
202
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
and white diamond pattern. The wood is first charred to make it black and then white diamonds are cut out. On pots and wooden utensils a series of triangles is drawn, enclosed within a border of parallel lines : the triangles are all scored across by oblique lines running alternately in opposite directions. Or irregular spaces are marked out with containing lines and the interior filled with cross-hatch- ing. Terminals are ornamented with human or animal heads or other objects, carved or moulded. Sometimes to
CANOE-MAKING : THE JOB COMPLETE.
amuse his friends or himself a man will carve a human figure out of a piece of wood.
7. IRONWORK : (a) SMELTING
Iron-ore is not found within the limits of Bwila, strictly speaking, and a large proportion of the iron used is imported from Bunduwe (Butotela) country, the people of which are famed for their ironwork. The Bambala, especially in the hills around Shanaobi, smelt iron for local consumption and trade with their neighbours, and we will describe the process as carried on there.
CH. ix VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 203
The principal figure in the industry is the munganga wa butale (" the iron doctor "), who is also called chibinda, a word which seems to mean " maker." His is a rare pro- fession. Its secrets are jealously guarded and handed down from father to son. It is largely a matter of knowing the different kinds of misamo (" medicines ") ; how far the doctor is credulous we cannot say, but the people believe it would be impossible to extract the iron without the " medicines." " Misamo yasanduzha lubwe bube butale," they say (" The medicines transform the ore into iron ").
The industry is not carried on all the year round, but only in the spring. In the winter the men of the villages make preparations by cutting down the trees from which the charcoal is to be made. The trees used are the mabanga and mikoso, because of their good burning qualities.
When the time appointed arrives the doctor is sum- moned, and comes with his medicines and paraphernalia. On his arrival he takes charge of the proceedings. A company of men is sent out to dig the ironstone on the hill -sides. They quarry (kupwaya] the stone, digging it out with strong, heavy axes turned in the handle (kusakila twembe} to form picks. The stones are then broken up into small pieces (kusansaula) . This done, they weave strong receptacles (bisangadi, shisekelele] , and carry the stone off to the village.
Beer is made in considerable quantities, and when it is consumed they commence the smelting operations. Some go to draw water ; others seek an ant-hill with good strong clay for moulding. They build there a long temporary shelter (chilao) in which to live while the work is going on. The camp is generally arranged in a certain order thus :
(N.)
a f, a. Ant-hill.
b. Shelter.
i. Doctor's quarters.
' '_ _ 2. His " wife's " quarters.
\J \J \J \J ^ j^ men's quarters.
c c c c ~'
.„ c. Kilns. (fc>.)
Some of the men dig out clay from the ant-hill and others
hollow out four shallow holes in a straight line, around
204
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
which the kilns (inganzo) are to be built. The clay is put into these holes and puddled. While they are doing this the doctor empties a pot of beer, mixed with " medicines," into the holes. The clay is then thrown into a heap, the men shouting " Kabufwa butale " (" Let the iron die ") while doing so. Then they commence moulding (kubumba) a hollow cone about 5 feet high and 6 feet in circumference at the largest part ; the clay wall is about 3 or 4
OLD INGANZO (SMELTING-KILNS).
inches thick. Four of these inganzo are, as a rule, built in a line. The shape is shown in the photographs.
The men, in moulding, take a lump of clay, shape it in their hands into a long roll and lay it on the others, thus gradually building up the wall bit by bit. The lower part of the kiln, where it bulges, is called the belly (ifu). It is gradually narrowed to the top. Along the upper edge they place old clay spouts horizontally, with one end jutting over ; these are arranged all round as a base on which to form the lip of the kiln, which is called the Iwala. The lip is supported by a number of poles planted in the ground around the kiln. In front, as an additional support, a pole
CH.IX VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 205
is fixed on a projection in the wall (called lukombo, or navel). When built, the wall is neatly smoothed over.
When the wall is about a foot high, they bring two children, a girl and a boy, from the village and put them into the kiln. The doctor gives each a bean (imbwila), which they are to crack in their mouths and swallow. The bean cracks with a noise (kulukuta), and when they hear it all the men raise a loud shout, " Yalukutila momo ! " ("It cracks in there ! "). The cracking of the bean has some connection in their minds with the crackling and roaring of the fire, and is supposed to conduce to the proper smelting of the iron. After they have performed this ceremony, the children return home, and it is said that, being thus early brought into relationship on an important occasion, they should thereafter marry.
While the kilns are being built, some of the men set to work to prepare the indicia, the spouts of clay. They cut poles about the thickness of one's arm and 5 feet long, and round them evenly ; these are the mibumbyo on which the spouts are to be moulded. And they gather a plant called Shikantyo, which when put into a small pit and beaten into a pulp with a pestle (mwansha) produces a slimy viscous (lelumuka) substance which is used to lubricate the mibumbyo. Women from the village prepare the clay, making it very fine, and men carefully mould it round the poles ; when finished, they are rubbed in chaff (bungu) to make the clay dry and firm. Thanks to the Shikantyo rubbed on the poles they are easily drawn out, and hollow cylinders about 4 feet long are thus formed. These are the inchela.
In arranging these in the kiln four openings are made near the base, one on each side, north, south, east, and west. Four of the inchela are arranged, two above and two below, on the west side ; this, where the iron will be taken out, has the name of muchabo ; on the east two are put called muntanda ; and one each north and south called tupululu. Clay is carefully replaced around the inchela to close the holes. The inchela slope downwards into the kiln, but those from opposite sides do not meet.
Other men go out to make the charcoal (kubunga
206 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
mashimbi). The wood cut in the winter is collected in heaps. In the afternoon, when the sun is lessening, they set fire to the heaps. They have already collected piles of clay and a quantity of twigs and branches ; and now in the middle of the night they go back to where the fires are burning down. Each man takes a bundle of twigs to shelter his face from the intense heat and rushes forward to throw it on the fire. They can then cover the fire, thus damped down somewhat by the branches of trees, with earth. This
Photo" Rev. S. D. Gray.
OLD INGANZO (SMELTING-KILNS).
is left about four days ; then they return and dig out the charcoal. They weave long receptacles, called miembo ("trumpets "), in which to carry the charcoal to the kilns. All is now ready for packing the kilns.
During the time the smelters (bashinganzo) are sojourning in their shelter they are in a state of strict taboo (bqlatonda chinichini). If one wishes to visit the village, he must on no account have connection with his wife. He may not enter his house — in particular he may not sit on his bed- but squats down at the door, where, if his wife cooks him food, he must eat it. And the women staying in the village
CH. ix VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 207
may not wash, nor anoint themselves, nor put on any orna: ments (shintu sha nkwela] that might attract the notice of men. They are, as we were told, in the same state as recently bereaved widows. Should a man transgress by having intercourse with his wife or any other woman, they say the smelting would be a failure. If the fire does not burn properly, and the ore is found to be not rightly smelted, they know that somebody has done wrong. It is easy, of course, to put blame on somebody. The doctor professes, by examining the stuff, to detect the defaulter who handled the ore, and who then has a rough time of it at the hands of his fellows. They call him a warlock (mulozhi) and accuse him of bewitching the iron.
While the men are moulding the kilns they may not drink any water, but only namenze.
If while sleeping in the shelter one of the men should dream of a woman and have an emission (kudisubild), he must on no account conceal the matter from his fellows. The doctor then takes steps to purify (kusalazha) him. He cuts two leafy branches and plants them at the crossing of two roads so that they meet overhead making a bower. The man is made to sit there, and the doctor, after going through various incantations, sprinkles him with certain " medicines." The man must then run along one road, through the bower, and then along the other. In this way he is cleansed of his impurity.
The doctor himself is taboo. He has nothing to do with his wives or other women during the time of the operations. As one man said to us, " All adultery, in fact everything but bad language and stealing, is taboo to him and to us." He selects one of the men whom he calls mwinangu (" my wife"), but it means no more than that "she" has to cook food for him. The doctor may not cut his hair nor be shaved all the time.
No menstruating women may come near the camp, nor any one wearing a dark cloth, for dark or black is unlucky.
When our informant, quoted above, says that bad language is not prohibited, he is thinking specially of the songs that are sung during the operations. They are mostly
208 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
of a lewd nature. We give the substance of several we have noted :
1. Kongwe na Malaba ushia, Wandweza Kongwe. Kongwe na Malaba ushia, Wandweza Kongwe ! Ndakamuyana Kongwe Kafudila mudilo. Kongwe ulalweza.
Literally taken this is innocent enough :
" Kongwe and Malaba the black, Kongwe horrifies me ; Kongwe and Malaba the black, Kongwe horrifies me ! I found Kongwe blowing the fire. Kongwe horrifies me."
Kongwe stands for clitorisjeminae (mukongo) and Malaba for the labiae (mashino).
2. Wainda kule, wainda kule, Ni twakukundaula, Wainda kule, wainda kule, Ni twakukundaula, Wainda kule.
" Pass away at a distance, pass away far, — you whom we had repeated connection with ; pass far away, pass far away, — you whom we had repeated connection with, pass far away."
This is the song they break into when they see a woman passing by at some distance.
3. Leta munwenwe ku mulomo wa nchela, Kudi insambo ;
Leta munwenwe ku mulomo wa nchela, Kudi insambo.
" Bring the pole to the orifice of the inchela ; there is cleansing medicine there ! "
4. Bachibinda, tulaya, Tulayan'abo, tulakupanda ; Mwanabo ashale, Webona yasumbula kubila.
" O doctors, we are going, we are going off with them, we are going to get medicines. Let their child stay and see whether the kiln will tell him it is boiling."
5. Shampala yamwandauka, Yaba ya chidimo, yamwinya.
" The man with the bare glans, it's all split, it has become of the spring, it makes him defaecate."
CH.IX VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 209
6. Shampala, kwinda kule, Kano kadimo nka bayumbi, Takuletelwa chinombo Chakunombokela mudinso.
" O man with the bare glans, pass far away ; this little work belongs to the smelters ; a glans which would strike you in the eye must not be brought here."
7. Bwabila we !
Bwabila bunyanja nsambo, Buno bwanga budiweme Nkalubula mo nkashi ne mwana, Bwabila bunyanja nsambo.
" Oh, it is boiling, it is boiling, the medicine ; when this physic is ready I shall free a woman and a child ; it is boiling, the medicine."
8. Nu watuka bayumbi Wakonkomeka mukongo, Mashino chikemamba, Ulakakudimya maila.
" You who curse the smelters ! Your clitoris is grown tremendously, your labiae will be hoes with which you can cultivate your grain."
9. Nkwidi midimo ku bayumbi, Nkwidi midimo, nkwidi midimo. Ku bapwaya lubwe, kwidi midimo. Eya, mwayana mikondo ya lubwe, Mwaanka kualala.
Bana chibinda na mukashimwine Kwabolwa bakalowa mabwe.
" There is work to the smelters, there is work, there is work ; to those who quarry the stone, there is work. Yes, you find the foot- prints of the stones, you begin to rejoice. Children of the doctor tell it out, they have returned home who bewitched the stones."
On the morning of the day when the kilns are to be packed the doctor goes along some distance into the veld, chewing medicines ; he sits down there, facing the east and glaring with wide, staring eyes (watutulula menso) . Presently he returns, and the great business commences. The drugs he has been chewing are to be spat out on to the stone in the kiln. When the kiln is opened you can see the medicine on the iron ! Without it, no iron ! The packing is done almost entirely by the doctor, but all hand him charcoal
VOL T p
210 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
and stone as required. After putting some charcoal at the bottom, a fire is lighted, and then they pile up the stone and charcoal in alternate layers until the kiln is full. "Medicines" are put in also. What these are we do not know, except that two of them consist of a piece of hippopotamus hide and some guinea-fowl feathers. The reason for these is that the fire makes a loud harsh noise like the cry of a hippo and guinea-fowl, and somehow, therefore, those " medicines " promote the burning. Near the top of the kiln the doctor puts more fire and char- coal. At the top of all he puts some pieces of split wood slantwise ; these are called intoba and have some mystic signification.
After the doctor has put in the first lot, his " wife " puts some in. The beginning of the packing is called kuyumbika. The men, while the packing is going on, are called basakwa. The fire is taboo, and must not be named mudilo (" fire "), but is called mukadi (" the fierce one "). By praising it thus, evidently they think it will burn the more fiercely. They speak of it as " boiling " (kubila).
As the fire begins to crackle and roar there is great excitement. "Waluluma! Wahiluma! Wachitatu!" ("It roars, it crackles ! It roars, it crackles ! It makes tu tu tu tu ! ").
If the firing has been properly done, by the late afternoon the doctor, after repeatedly examining the interior through the inchela, announces that all is finished. In taking out the iron, they remove the inchela, making large holes on the four sides of the kiln. A big hole is dug on the west (muchabo) to receive the debris. Men then push poles into the three other openings, rake out the debris (kufukuzha), and work the iron out towards the opening on the west. It is pushed out some way from the kiln and then hacked with axes to remove the slag adhering to it. The lump of iron is called mutanda. When the stuff is removed from it, it is, while still hot, plunged into water.
The doctor, after the operations of the afternoon, goes out at night into the veld. On his return he goes to his house in the village, and taking a musebe (" a rattle ") he begins to shake it and sing.
CH. IX
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
211
The lump of iron is afterwards broken up, and a smith with his bellows melts it and makes it into ingots, which are turned into axes, etc., or sold.
8. IRONWORK : (6) BLACKSMITHING
A visit to the blacksmith. We find the blacksmith (mufuzhi) in the smithy (chifudilo), a roughly built shelter, without walls, but covered to protect the workers from the
Photo F.. W. Smith.
THE SMITHY.
sun, erected in an open space in the village. He is at work when we arrive. The assistant is working the bellows (mavhuba). These consist of two shallow wooden bowls, each with an elongated tube — hollowed out of a solid block, placed side by side, and kept together by a piece of hide around the tubes. The bowls (mitiba) are covered loosely with a soft piece of skin (impapa) , tied around the rims with cord ; in the centres are fastened small sticks (tusamo) to act as the handles of the bellows. The mindi, as the pro- jecting tubes are named, are inserted into the enlarged mouth of a baked earthenware tube (inchela), the base of which is in the fire. By working the sticks up and down,
212
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
the operator sends a continual blast through into the fire. This is the arrangement :
a.a. The mitiba.
b.b. The impapa.
c.c. The tusamo.
d. The inchela.
The fire of charcoal is made in a hollow scooped out of the floor.
Other tools are lying about. There is the large hammer (inyundo), shaped thus :
Bumpando
One end of the head is blunt and is used for striking (butwisho), the other end is chisel-shaped (bumpando) and used for cutting. There is a smaller hammer (chikoma) with two blunt ends. There is a pair of tongs (lukwasho), and a small chisel of iron (inkansho). The anvil (itako) is a large stone embedded in the ground. To hold a pointed piece of iron, he cuts a short stick, into the end of which he burns a hole with the object to be held, and thus makes a temporary handle called chimina.
We find the smithy occupied by half-a-dozen people. Some of them are here for a gossip ; others have business — little jobs of their own for which they require the assistande of the smith.
We learn, on inquiring, that iron is rather scarce at present. The supplies from Bunduwe and Bumbala are
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
213
for a time exhausted, and use has to be made of old articles : they are re-fashioned. At the moment the demand is for spears, especially for fish-spears. A customer has brought an old hoe to be made up into spear-heads. By the side of the blacksmith as he squats (he does all his work squat- ting) are four fish-spears he has completed, all but the barbs. And he is engaged on a piece of iron 10 inches long, about 2 wide, and f inch thick (the remains of the hoe). Taking this in his pincers he puts it into the forge. When red-hot,
Photo E. II'. Smith.
THE BLACKSMITH AT WORK.
he takes it out and hammers it with the nyundo on the stone ; he has to do this a great number of times, and it gradually takes shape. He is lengthening it, and presently is able to cut it in two — one piece for a fish-spear and the other for an ibezhi spear.
A man comes along with a hoe which does not work quite to his liking. He holds it over the fire for a few minutes to soften the gum holding the blade in the handle, and removes the blade. He explains to the smith that it does not spring rightly when he is using it ; he wants the tang rounded more to the axis of the blade. The smith by a few dexterous strokes soon does this, but on trying it
214 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. H
the fastidious owner is not satisfied, and the smith tries again. This time the man is satisfied and proceeds to refit his hoe in the shaft (kukwila). For this purpose he has brought some roots of the mwanzu tree, from which, after warming it on the coals of the forge, he scrapes the bark. These scrapings he fills into the hole in the shaft, and then heating the tang drives it firmly home. The stuff acts as a glue or cement to fix the tang firmly. To do this is kupomba.
Another customer is after iron bullets (chidyanga). We note there are two kinds of these : the round ones, about f inch diameter, called imbwila, are of the shape and size of the bean of that name ; the others are mitopo, of about the size of a Martini-Henry bullet, but flat at both ends. These are cut from a solid piece of iron.
Here comes the old musician of the village — the chief's budimba player. He is going fishing to-night and has a fish-spear to put in order. He has the head and a new shaft, what he wants is a new intale — the iron binding at the end of the shaft. He brings a piece of rough iron with him : the smith tells him to put it in the fire and beat it roughly into shape. He sets to work rather awkwardly and before long has beaten it into a band, narrowing at both ends. The smith now takes it in hand ; embedding the chisel-end of his large hammer in the ground and using the blunt end as an anvil, and working with the chikoma, he soon completes and hands it back to the owner, who now takes the blade of his axe, and bends the band (after making it red-hot in the fire) around the tang, hammering it so as to make a neat cylinder. He then takes the new shaft, heats the spear-head in the fire, and burns out the hole to receive the tang. He pomba's this as described above, and then fits the band around it to keep it tight.
All this time the smith has been working at his spear- head. It is now beaten into the shape required, and he proceeds to flatten the blade. He puts it on the butt of his inyundo and beats it with the chikoma, leaving the midrib (mongo) and a sharp edge (buchesi). The spear-head is not put in water to temper it, lest it should break when used. Nor is the hoe ; but an axe-head is. In the intervals while
CH. ix VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 215
the spear-head is in the forge he is making the barbs (mala) on the fish-spears : to do this he uses the inkansho chisel, cutting the barbs in the cold, each with a stroke of the chikoma. The head of the 'spear is rectangular in section, and he makes the cuts along each edge, so that there are four lines of barbs : they stop about i£ inches from the point. They are cruel-looking things.
The operations just described do not exhaust the smith's work. What else does he make ?
The spears of the Ba-ila are in some variety. Here are the names and functions of twelve of them.
1. The Kapula — called also impula namadiinza (" the silencer"). This is a hunting spear, and is used for finishing off a wounded beast.
2. The Lukona. — This has three barbs on one side and one on the other. It takes its name from the fact that it is inherited (kukona) by a nephew from his uncle. This is a war spear.
3. The Mumba, the making of which is described above. It is used for spearing fish and also in war. They say of it, in the latter capacity, " Ng'ukwete cholwe ku lumamba " (" It is the one which has good fortune in war"). It is the first to be thrown by the warrior out of his bundle.
4. Chanza cha mpongo (" the head (with horns attached) of a goat " — so called from some fancied resemblance). It has two barbs and a long rectangular shank, each edge being cut into short barbs. It is used in hunting and fighting.
5. Shichokochoko — so called because supposed to resemble the fish of that name, which has an erectile spike on the back. The barb is 2 inches long and is curved backwards. It has a long blade, like the kapula, but a longer shank armed with two barbs.
6. The Impengula. — This has a short, stout shaft, at the butt of which is a chisel-edged digger projecting li inches from the butt. The blade is long and broad. Too heavy to throw, and only used at close quarters in fighting or hunting, this spear is a useful weapon.
7. Chinkoshi — so called from some resemblance to a mealie cob. The blade is broad, the shank armed with barbs like the fish-spear.
8. Shikamimbia (" the swallow ") — used in war and hunting. The shank is cut like a mumba.
9. Chimpata — so called from resemblance to the fish of that name. It has a broad blade, with very little shank. It is used in hunting, and thrown by a strong man inflicts a ghastly wound.
2l6
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. II
10. Kabezhi — a long-bladed, short-shanked spear, deriving its name from its common function of cutting and carving (kubeza) : it is used in hunting.
I
3456 7 8
SOME BA-ILA SPEARS.
10 n 1-2
Photo E. II'. Smith.
11. Inkombo ("the navel") — has one long barb. Used in hunting.
12. Shitwichinkoshi. — It has a long shank, heavily barbed
CH. IX
VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS
217
like the chinkoshi, and a short blade like a shikamimbia (in the
photo one is broken off). If without the barbs, it is called shitwi.
The different parts of a spear are : lusako, the shaft :
mtishishi, the tang ; buchesi, the edge ; insonga, the point ;
rhoto 11. Ii: Smith.
BA-ILA AXES.
mongo, the midrib ; intale, the binding. The shaft may be made of several woods, the best is said to be mulnba.
Besides the spears, the smiths make many other things, chief of which are the following :
2i8 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
The axes are of three kinds, but are all constructed in the same way. They consist of a haft of tough wood and a blade. The blade varies in shape and terminates in a spike, which fits into a hole in the haft-head.
The kembe is an axe designed for ordinary rough work. The shaft is heavy and club-shaped, to give weight. The blade is narrow. It is not glued into the hole, but can be dislodged (kukula) easily by a knock ; then by turning and replacing the blade the owner has an adze.
Photo ]•:. II'. Smith.
BATTLE-AXE (BUKANA}.
The chibanga is an axe designed for lighter work, or merely to be carried as a European would carry a walking- stick. Various forms are shown in the photo : one of them is constructed, in two portions, wholly in metal, and the upper end of the shaft is carved into the figure of a human head. Many of these axes are beautifully made, with graceful hafts and ornamental blades, sym- metrical, and evenly balanced. In one we measured the blade was 3 inches at the widest points, with a total length of 8| inches, and the haft was 20 inches long. The blade was set into the haft at an angle of about 20 degrees ; the
CH.IX VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 219
haft, somewhat bow-shaped, rising i inch in i6|. The centre of balance was about 4 inches from the head. The whole weighed about a pound.
The bukana ("battle-axe") is made like the chibanga, but with a differently shaped blade and a rather stouter haft. The haft is often covered with wire- work.
The hoes of the Ba-ila consist of a broad blade of un- tempered iron, slightly curved, terminating in a spike which is set into a shaft. The blade has a total length of about 12 inches ; it is about 6 inches wide along the cutting edge, and tapers to 4 inches at the top. The spike is 3 inches at the base, and tapers to | inch. The razors (imo) made by the smiths are thinly beaten out and spatula-shaped, about 2 inches by i^ inches. Tongs (lukwasho) for picking up live coals from the fire to light pipes with, consist of two narrow pieces of iron, welded at one extremity, with a close-fitting ring which slips up and down. They often have a roughly made chain attached. Adzes (imbezo) for wood-carving are made on the same principle as the axes and hoes, with a shorter haft and a chisel-shaped blade. Bells of various kinds (ingonji) are made by some, and also fish-hooks (see p. 160).
We were frequently asked what clan we belonged to ; and when we tried to explain that the English were no longer divided into clans, but that the name Smith indicates that one's forefathers were blacksmiths, they have replied, " We know that clan ; it is the Benelubulo," and on the strength of that we have been welcomed as brothers by some of the famous smiths. We have taken every oppor- tunity of watching some of these friends at work and of inquiring as to their business, but are not sure that we have learnt all the secrets of the art. One of them gave us the following account of the way in which a smith learns his trade. " This is how he begins," he said. " He finds in his heart a great desire, and is always thinking about blacksmithing. Then he begins a little experimenting, but does not make a good job of it — no, the things he makes are all ill-shaped. Nevertheless, he does not throw it up in disgust, but goes on, and in the course of time masters it. As for using medicines in the craft, all he does is to
220 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
protect himself. He procures ' medicine ' that is called
Photo K. IV. Smith.
BLACKSMITH'S WORK.
1. Razors (Into).
2. A pair of tongs (Lukwasho).
3. An adze (Imbezo).
4. A hoe blade
5. A hoe
\ (larnba).
chinjidizha, i.e. ' that which shuts me in,' so that a man
cii.ix VARIOUS HANDICRAFTS 221
may not with impunity make him out to be a warlock on account of the things which he forges. It acts thus : If any one says of the smith, ' That man aspires to be a chief through his art/ i.e. he is using magic means in it with the purpose of destroying the chief and taking his place, then God sees that he is wishing to cause his fellow- man's death, and he so acts that the traducer himself dies ; his medicines return upon himself and he dies ; that is how those warlocks die. Smithery is a thing in- herited. If your father was a smith, then you will follow in his steps. When you die, your son will take up the trade. That is the ' medicine ' of the blacksmith."
CHAPTER X
LEECHCRAFT
THE word musamo, which we shall have to use constantly, and which we roughly translate " medicine," connotes, like the Latin medicamen, medicamentum, and the Greek (frappa/cov, not only various medicinal remedies proper, but also, and much more, many things whose power we should call magical. The difficulty is to separate the two. From the native point of view there is no difference : musamo is musamo whatever use it may be put to ; and as we are trying to look at things through their eyes, we will follow their example here. This chapter may be regarded as an introduction to Chapter XX.
i. BA-ILA IDEAS OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
As hunters, the Ba-ila are used to cutting up animals as well as cattle ; on occasion, as we shall see, they also cut, or used to cut up human bodies ; hence they are familiar with the shapes of, and have names for, the various organs.
The following are distinguished and named :
Head — mutwi ; skull, ingongolo ; brain, bongo ; nose, inango ; nostrils, manango ; bridge of nose, mushishi, mo- mbombo wenango ; cavities of nose, manshonya ; jawbone, mwezhi ; chin, chilevu ; cheek, itama ; forehead, inkumu ; external occipital protuberance, inkwezu ; back of head and neck, mukoshi ; temples, mapobe ; hair on the head, masusu ; ear, kutwi ; eye, dinso ; pupil of eye, imboni ; eyebrow, chikowe ; eyelash, inkowe ; orifice of mouth, mulomo ; lips, milomo ;
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 223
cavity of mouth, kanwa ; uvula, katambulanshima ; neck, inshingo ; tongue, mulaka ; tonsil, kapopo ; teeth, meno ; canine teeth, mambwidi ; molar teeth, bachabanda ; traqhea, ikulumino ; gullet, mumino ; Adam's apple, imbobelo.
Trunk. — Body, mubidi, luseba ; thoracic cavity, kango, chamba ; ribs, invhwabuti ; spine, mongo ; spinal cord, ino- kunoku ; clavicle, mubale ; hollow above clavicle, intesho ; ilium, ikungu ; sacrum, muzhindo, chikanu ; coccyx, inunu ; lumbar region, bukome ; waist, chibunu ; back, inuma ; umbili- cus, lukombo ; umbilical cord, ludila ; abdomen, below navel, ibumbu ; above navel, ifu ; hair on body, boza ; hair on abdomen, mulalabungu ; breast, lukolo ; teat, kanunkelo ; axilla, inkwa ; heart, mozo ; lung, ifufwe ; diaphragm, luambanyama ; stomach, ifu ; liver, muni ; pancreas, mubenzhi ; spleen, ibenzhi ; kidney, insa ; bladder, isubilo ; gall-bladder, isubilo dia ndulwe ; bowel, bula ; anus, inyo ; buttocks, matako.
Genitalia. — Male, bulombwana ; female, bukaintu ; penis, intoni ; prepuce, ipapa ; glans, impala ; fraenum preputii, shitetengwe ; testicles, mabolo ; os pubis, chinena ; hair on pubes, mazha ; labiae, mashino, malepe ; vaginal orifice, intoto ; vagina, mupulu ; clitoris, mukongo ; uterus, izhadilo.
Upper Limb. — Shoulder-blade, ibesho ; between shoulder- blades, luwezu, indelo ; muscles of arm, mubondo ; arm, kubokp ; fleshy part of upper arm, insafu ; humerus, musangi ; forearm, mukono ; hand, itashi ; finger, munwe ; fist, imfunshi ; nail, Iwala ; palm of hand, lukombazhi ; elbow, lukokola ; knuckle, inungo.
Lower Limb. — Leg, kulu, mwendo, itende ; hip, impasa ; hip- joint, kasolo ; femur, mwindi ; marrow bones of leg and arm, momo ; calf, intumbu ; shin, mumwansangu ; knee, ivhwi ; toe, kalulome ; ankle bone, impongolo ; foot, chiumba ; tendo Achillis, mushisa.
Fluids of the Body. — Blood, buloa ; perspiration, ibe ; saliva, mate ; gall, indulwe ; urine, mushu ; semen, bwenze ; menstrual flow, luswa.
They name also certain points which they regard as vital spots, where a wound would be dangerous if not fatal. Thus : chipande cha nshingo, the bony protuberance at the back of the neck ; kasukilo, above the knee, where the femoral artery is ; umpepe, above the ankle, where the post-tibial artery is ; mubondo, on the arm, where the brachial artery is ; and makalansa, in the region of the kidneys. They do not distinguish arteries from veins, nor either from nerves, but in thus giving these special names
224 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
to vital points they have, as will be recognised, localised some of the most dangerous places for wounds and blows.
From the list given it will be seen that they give names to all the prominent parts of the body, but of the functions of the internal organs they are almost completely ignorant. The parts they assign to the organs in the economy of the body are psychical rather than physiological, i.e. they regard them more as the seats of emotions than of vital processes. This does not, however, apply to all.
Thus, the pupil of the eye (imboni) is associated with sight. The reflection of external objects in the pupil con- stitutes vision. Should there be no reflection, the imboni is dead ; the man is blind. They recognise the difference between long and short sight, and say of a man with the former, " Alalampa menso akwe" ("His eyes are long"). There is thought to be something baneful in the direct glance : one who stares at another is considered as plan- ning, or actually to be causing, some evil ; he is called muzumo-a-menso (" hard-eyed ").
The back of the head and neck is named makoshi. They swear by it — " Aza makani shikaamba dinji, n.ku ku makoshi kutadibonwa " (" By the back of my head, which I cannot see, I will never speak of it again ").
A remarkable feature of the Ba-ila physiology is that so many of the organic processes are ascribed to creatures called bapuka, a word of wide meaning, applied to insects, reptiles, and fabulous animals.
Thus, within the ears they suppose to dwell bapuka called bashimpulukutwi, whose function is that of hearing. They are born with a person and remain with him as long as he retains the faculty of hearing ; but it is not deafness that kills them — it is their death that causes deafness. When a man says " Ndafwilwa bashimpulukutwi " ("I am bereft of my bashimpulukutwi"), he means that he is deaf. Earache is said to be caused by the restless movements of these bapuka ; balapuka (" they stir about "). Temporary deafness, as caused by the discharge of a gun close by, means that they are stunned — " Ndafwa ingungu," says the man. Ear-wax is supposed to be produced by them. And when a man hears good news he says, "Makani mainu !
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 225
Bashimpulukutwi babotelwa " (" Fat tidings ! The bashi- mpulukutwi are delighted ").
Another mupuka is the shiu, who lives within the mastoid process, the bony protuberance behind the ear, which is named inganda ya shiu (" shiu's house"). If a man receives a heavy blow behind the ear, it kills shiu and also the man himself. They say that from the mouth there are ducts (inshinga) leading up to {he ear ; these are called bashikamilongwe oba shiu, and when a man has eaten something particularly tasty, and feels a sensation going upwards from the mouth to the ear, he declares that these bashikamilongwe are delighted. What they thus describe is really, of course, the branch of the vagus called " the alderman's nerve."
The tongue and lips are the organs of speech, and a rapid impulsive speaker is named muba ku mulaka, or muba ku mulomo (" light-tongued " or " light-lipped ").
They are familiar with the appearance of the brain, for in war the calvarium of an enemy was hacked off (ku- pampa), taken as a token to the chief, and used as a drinking- cup ; and they have some slight idea of the brain as a seat of mental life. Thus of a stupid person they say, " Bongo bwakwe mbubiabe "'(" His brains are bad ") . " Warm-brained ' ' is the epithet applied to a fearless person : " Ulakasala a mutwi, ulapia bongo " (" He is warm on the head, his brains are hot"). But the brain is not regarded as the original source of our thoughts ; they arise mu chamba (" in the chest ").
They have noticed the pulsating (shabwa] ducts (inshinga} going up the neck and appearing on the temples, and it is these nshi shitola matelaishi " which convey the thoughts " from the chest to the brain. The chest generally is the seat of thought and feeling. A person with " a heavy chest " (shichamba chilemu) is a forbearing person ; a truthful person is named shichamba (" Mr. Chest ").
In a particular sense, the heart is regarded as the seat of mentality. The passions centre there and all thought radiates from it. To say " Ndatelaika mu chamba " ("I think in my chest ") is only another way of saying " in my heart." In a word, as the proverb has it, " Mozo ngu sungwe " (" The
VOL. I O
226 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
heart is the prompter"). Hence such expressions as the following: " Uina mozo" ("He has no heart"), said of a quick-tempered person; mukando-mozo (" a big heart") is one who keeps up resentment against another with whom he has quarrelled ; a shimozomufwafwi (" a short-hearted person ") is one quick at picking a quarrel ; on the other hand, shiswezha-mozo ("a clean-hearted person") is one who is patient, forbearing. The heart is also the seat of the affections and virtues. A muzumo-mozo (" a hard- hearted person ") is, as amongst ourselves, one without natural affection; but a mubongvhu-mozo ("a soft-hearted person ") is kind and gentle. A muba-mozo (" a light- heart ") is one with many faults, a thief, a liar, etc. ; while a mulema-mozo (" a heavy-heart ") is a virtuous person. To say of a person ' ' Mozo wakwe ngwa bwami " (" He has a kingly heart " — literally, " His heart is of chieftainship ") means that he is a trustworthy person. The heart is also the seat of purpose. A shimozomwi is " a single-hearted person," intent upon one thing ; while to say of any one " Udi miozo yobili " ("He has two hearts") means that he is unstable. Thoughts and desires come from the heart . " Ndafwa chisushi ku mozo " ("I am dead of a desire in the heart ") is to express a strong longing for something. It is in his heart that a man feels astonishment: " Ndavhwa mozo" ("My heart comes out ") or " Chankusha mozo " ("It takes out my heart ") is said when a man is startled, amazed.
The heart is felt beating in the chest and also at the fontanelle in children — called lubwebwe, and also a mozo ("the place of the heart"). The heart shares with the genital organs the seat of vitality. It is the heart which breathes (uzoza ngu mozo) ; and any one hit on the head a mozo will probably die. The genitals are called ku bumi ("at the life") ; of a person injured in that region they say, " Tchita na ulapona ukuti chilwazhi chidi ku bumi " ("There is no telling whether he will live, for the sickness is at the life ").
The processes of reproduction are ascribed to certain bapuka. It is a mupuka in the male that secretes the semen, and impotence is caused by its ceasing to function. It is thought that the eggs of the domestic fowl, fat, and
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 227
katongola (a dish made up of ground-nuts) will thus prevent the mupuka from working, or at any rate by becoming fixed in the loins will block the passages. Impotence is regarded as a great misfortune. Boys are allowed to test themselves upon women ; should it prove that a boy is impotent, the woman will wax angry and make a claim upon him for, as they say, "cursing her" (wamutuka] . If a man becomes impotent after marriage, his wife can claim divorce and the return of the goods given for her; she reports to her relations that the man is mwana budio (" nothing but a child ") so that she cannot conceive by him.
The impotent man or boy goes to the doctor, who treats him. The medicine takes the form either (a) of an emetic which is supposed to reopen the blocked passage, or (b) a certain drug is twisted into a thread and passed into the urethral orifice, left there for a time, and then drawn out, bringing, it is said, the obstruction with it. The man is then cured. By testing himself on a woman secretly he proves his cure and then can find a wife.
In a woman there are said to be two of these bapuka, the one male, the other female. The male is an inert creature, but upon the female depend all the generative functions. It is present in an immature girl, but only in a rudimentary state ; it grows as she grows, and when the first menstruation takes place it is said mupuka wamupa maloa ("the mupuka has given her blood"). The name given to this female mupuka is Chibumba (" the moulder," from kubumba, to mould) ; it is regarded as personal, as is shown by the pronoun used with it, wa not cha. It is so named because it forms the child in the womb. It lies within the uterus, with its head in the orifice. When in the coitus the semen reaches so far the Chibumba catches it in its mouth ; it has no power of reaching beyond the orifice. Having secured the semen, it closes the orifice, licks the semen and rolls it over and over, and in that way forms it into a foetus. At the time of delivery the mupuka is reluctant to let go its creature, and the pangs of childbirth are said to be caused by its struggles in attempting to hold it back. Sometimes it curls itself up around the orifice of the uterus, determined to prevent
228 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. H
the child's escape, and in that case parturition is protracted. The woman's relations then consult a diviner, who diagnoses that the mupuka is angry, and directs them to secure the necessary medicine from a doctor whose name he gives them. The medicine is administered, and forces the mupuka to relax its hold. Chibumba not only tries to prevent the child from being born, but does so with the fell purpose of devouring it. It sometimes happens, of course, that after protracted labour the child is born with a harelip, or with ears or other parts incomplete, and these are pointed to as evidence of the way in which the mupuka partially devours children.
Barrenness is supposed to be due to the lethargy or debility of Chibumba ; it is so lazy or so weak that it will not or cannot close the orifice of the uterus and perform the moulding process. The diviner, on being consulted, assigns this as the cause of the woman's failure to conceive, and medicine is administered to stir the mupuka up, to strengthen and energise it.
On the other hand, if a woman has a succession of protracted confinements, or if she be so unfortunate as to have all her children die in early infancy, steps are taken to kill Chibumba outright ; medicine is given to that end, and as a result, of course, the woman does not again conceive.
2. MEDICINES
The Ba-ila have an extraordinary faith in musamo, " medicine." They have medicines for everything. They would say with Ovid, " Tantum medicamina possunt." Not only have they remedies, as we have, for various diseases, but also prophylactics. And, further, where we rely upon practised skill in different arts, they pin their faith to medicines ; thus, there are medicines to give skill in shooting, in turnery, etc. There are also medicines to ensure good luck. It is a common thing for a European, with the reputation of being a good shot, to be asked for musamo to ensure the man's gun always killing. People ask for medicine to wash their eyes with, so that they may be able to read. There are therefore, from our point of
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 229
view, two great divisions in their pharmacopoeia : (a) drugs for curing diseases, (b) charms. But the people do not draw any distinction ; and it is impossible in all cases for us to say whether the action of any medicine is properly thera- peutic or only magical.
It is difficult to suppress a smile on the enumeration of these medicines, many are so palpably absurd ; but if a native could express himself he would say that the basis of his faith in medicine was much the same as our own, viz. experience. Our therapeutical science is still largely empirical ; we cannot always explain how precisely a drug acts, all we know is that it does have a certain effect. A Mwila would be equally at a loss to explain the action of many of his medicines, but he believes he has the same right to believe in them as we have to believe in ours. A logical European would say, " That a few puffs of your mufwebabachazi will kill a man I can believe ; that your kabwengwe will relieve the inflammation caused by snake poison in the eye I have the best of reasons for crediting ; but since the world began it was never known that a man grew rich simply by wearing a charm round his neck." The two categories stand on quite a different footing — to us, but not to a native. A man smoked mufwebabachazi and died ; a man wore the charm and grew rich— what better proof do you want of the efficacy of the two misamo ? The distinction between post hoc and propter hoc is one that he does not understand. If you ask him, further, whether So-and-so who wears the charm is not still a very poor and unfortunate creature, he will readily agree, and go on to explain, probably, that somebody with stronger medicine is secretly working against him, overcoming the virtue of the charm he is wearing. All failures meet with a ready explanation ; their faith in " medicine " is not thereby in the least dispelled.
The misamo, as we shall see presently, are of various kinds, mostly the leaves or bark or roots of certain trees and shrubs. The knowledge of many of them is widely spread among the people ; others are the jealously guarded secrets of the doctors. Their names and properties are handed down from parent to child, from doctor to doctor
230 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
Sometimes a man claims to have a medicine revealed to him in a dream by some ghost ; should a cure follow its adminis- tration, that would be quite sufficient to establish its reputa- tion. People suffering from the same disease would get to hear of it, and the man derive profit and fame from its dispensation.
There are many different ways of administering the medicines ; we are speaking now of what may be called drugs as distinguished from charms.
A decoction may be made by beating up the leaves or roots in a mortar and then soaking or boiling them in water. The decoction is drunk, or mixed with food and eaten.
Another method is to put the medicine in a pot of boiling water on the embers ; the patient is then made to sit with the pot between his legs with his eyes fixed upon the water. A skin or blanket is then thrown over him and he is left to sweat. When intense perspiration (chubwi) has been induced, he is uncovered, and cold water, in which medicine has been put, is sprayed over him. This is the Ba-ila equivalent to a vapour bath and is much used in chest complaints.
A variation of this is smoking a patient by burning drugs in a potsherd and making him sit, covered in a blanket, in the fumes.
Cupping, with or without medicines, is largely practised. It is called kusumika. The musuku ("cupping horn") is the hollow horn of a small ox or antelope, about 5 inches long ; at the point a small hole is drilled and covered over with wax. When applying it to the painful part the hole is uncovered, and the operator, after drawing out the 'air with his mouth, replaces the wax over the hole with his tongue, thus establishing a vacuum. Before applying the horn, incisions are made in the skin of the patient with a lumo (" razor "). This is done in the case of headache or other painful affection. Sometimes, especially when the pain is in the chest, a small quantity of medicine is rubbed into the incisions before the horn is applied. The pain is supposed to be drawn out with the blood. You may see a person with three of these horns on at once.
Massage is also employed, with or without accompanying
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 231
drugs. The flesh of the patient is rubbed with the balls of the thumbs and pinched between the forefinger and thumb. In some cases the operator twists leaves around his great toe, and with this massages the patient's chest.
Phlebotomy is sometimes practised, usually without, sometimes with, medicines. The limb is tied above and below so that it swells, and then by means of a razor a vein is opened. This is regarded as a very efficacious operation. The lushinga, or blood-vessel, is looked upon as the cause or carrier of the pain. Toothache is lushinga, neuralgia is lushinga, sciatica is lushinga, and in all such cases it is supposed that if the blood is not drawn the chest will fill with blood and death result.
The simplest remedy, without administration of a drug, is that of tying a string tightly around the head or other part affected.
In skin diseases certain leaves or other drugs are applied by simply tying on, or decoctions are made and used as embrocations.
When a person is ill it is often thought necessary to segregate him from the baneful influences emanating from pregnant women and those who have aborted ; conse- quently a shed is built right away in the forest and there the patient is doctored.
A musamo usually has a taboo associated with it, things a patient must refrain from doing lest it lose its efficacy. Soft meat is prohibited. Very frequently it is sexual intercourse that is forbidden. We remember well the indignation of a man against his son who had been doctored again and again for elephantiasis, and grew no better, but rather worse, because against medical orders he would insist upon pursuing the women. He called him " the village dog."
3. DISEASES AND REMEDIES
We must preface this section by saying that our object being not a scientific classification and enumeration of the diseases these people suffer from — a task for which, indeed, we are not qualified — but rather to exhibit their own ideas of the diseases, we have not attempted, save in a few
232 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
unmistakable instances, to identify the diseases, but have simply enumerated and described them as they would do themselves. We have, however, for convenience, roughly grouped them under such heads as one finds in a medical book.
A Mwila names and describes symptoms rather than diseases. He generally begins by loosely speaking of the part affected, saying, " Ndafwa mutwi " ("I am dead of the head "), " Ndafwa itende " (" I am dead of the foot "), etc.
(a) Specific Infectious Diseases
Chisantula or Bayibayi : mumps. Ground-nuts are threaded on a string with short pieces of grain-stalk and tied round the neck.
Chibombwe or Ibombwe : measles. This often sweeps through a district causing many deaths. The treatment is to smear the patient over with impemba, a white substance found in the flats which is said to be mazhi a nzoka (snake faeces).
Chimbemba : smallpox ; called also, Mukolotila, Nachinkwa, and Mudimakubushu, the last meaning " the digger-on-the- face." This is not endemic, but there have been severe epidemics in the past, the last, in 1893, carrying off hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people. Many recovered, and to-day in any assembly of men pock-marked faces will be seen. Treatment : take a thorn and open the pustules when they are ripe. Then break up a root of the Mukumbia (used in making beer) and foment the sores. Leaves of a certain bush are beaten to a powder and sprinkled over the sores. A decoction from the root of the Mubumbu tree is given to drink. If the eyes are affected, mazhi a ntombela (" excrement of lizards ") is rubbed around them.
Bunono : yaws. A disease characterised by circular rounded excrescences, crowned with yellow matter, on the limbs, trunk, and face. This is very prevalent in many districts. Babies present a pitiable appearance with these loathsome sores around the mouth and on the buttocks. The Ba-ila say the disease came to them, within living memory, from the north-east. It was probably introduced by the slave-traders. Treatment : not known.
Chinsenda : leprosy ; called also Mudilo wa Leza (" the fire of God"). The natives seem to have no idea of its being in- fectious, at least they take no steps towards segregation, except that when the disease appears the patient is ordered to leave his wife and until cured to have no intercourse with her or other
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 233
women. This taboo is ascribed to Leza. Should the leper break
LUKALO, A LEPER WOMAN.
it, his fingers and toes will inevitably rot away. Eland and zebra meat is taboo to him lest his flesh should peel off (motoka). Curiously enough, in view of some modern theories, we have met
234 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
with some who say it comes of eating rotten fish ; if that were so, it should be much more common than it is, for most Ba-ila dearly love a piece of " high " fish. There are some drugs that are claimed to be efficacious in curing the disease. Of these the root of the Mufumbu tree is scraped and a decoction made from it in which the body is washed. A decoction is also drunk that is made from the root of the Mutundumaswe tree. The root of a short shrub named Chipezhabazhike is pounded, wrapped in cloth and smoked, and the bundle is then applied to the sores. The root of the Mululwe tree is also used ; deep incisions are made in the root, which is then soaked in water ; the decoction, which is bitter, is drunk and used as a lotion.
Under this heading we ought also to class malarial fever. Curiously enough, though they suffer largely from it, the Ba-ila have no definite name for it. It is called mwanza, (" severe headache "), or the patient will say he is " dead as to the head " (ndafwa mutwi) ; or " dead as to the whole body" (ndafwa mubidi onse}. One treatment is to chew and swallow the juice of the leaves of the Mungomba tree. Leaves of the Chilalwe tree are also chewed and the bitter juice squirted into the nostrils and ears of the patient. Cupping is also resorted to.
(b) General Diseases
Mushongo is a complaint of which many are said to die, the symptom being that a man suddenly collapses and falls down unconscious. It is supposed to be spread by people out of hatred. A man secures medicine from a doctor which enables him by treading on a person, or on his shadow, or by scraping the basin out of which the person drinks, to give him this disease ; i.e. it is caused by witchcraft. Treatment : the roots of the Chibwebwe tree are scraped, the patient is cupped all over the body, and the scrapings are rubbed into the cuts.
Kafungo ( = Kobe) is another disease whose origin is ascribed to what we should call magical causes. It is associated with abortion. A woman who has aborted is supposed to have it, and is regarded therefore as a very dangerous person. The foetus is buried, but is supposed to be able still to exert its baneful influence. The disease may be contracted by walking near the spot where the foetus is buried, by having connection with the woman, or by smoking her pipe. Before the husband will resume cohabitation with her, she must have connection with another man, to whom she thereby transfers the disease. So
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 235
contagious is it, that a woman who has aborted may not, until she is purified, enter another person's hut. We have seen people said to be suffering with this disease. One man appeared to us to be afflicted with disease of the pelvic bones. He supposed that he had caught the disease by inadvertently walking over the place where a foetus had been buried. A second case was of a woman who was in great torment with a curious complaint in the soles of the feet ; it appeared as if it might be neuralgia. A third case was a man who seemed to have decay of the jaw and cheek bones. Another case reported to us was diagnosed by a European doctor as abscess of the liver. A strong emetic is administered in such a case, and the patient is said to bring up something like an egg ; very possibly such a remedy might really be efficacious. The root of the Kamwaya is crushed in a mortar, soaked in hot water, and applied to the external sores.
Diabana is a febrile condition in- children, said to come in the wet seasons. Roots and leaves of the Shikotamukwa bush are burnt in a potsherd and the child " smoked " in the fumes.
Maimbwe is a form of general debility supposed to be caused by a ghost. The treatment consists in the friends singing (imba) special songs (inyimbo sha maimbwe} to drive the ghost away.
Imbala is another ghost-caused complaint, the symptom being extreme weakness and thinness. A person who, whatever he eats, gets no fatter is supposed to have a malevolent ghost within him which devours the food he takes. Such a man they put into a hut, and girls who have not yet menstruated make a new fire and " smoke " him to drive out the ghost.
Lukoko or Bukola is another disease characterised by extreme emaciation in the patient. This is said to be caused, like kafungo, by walking over a buried foetus (kasowe). There is a remedy, known to very few, but we have not found it.
(c) Diseases of the Respiratory System
Kamuchamba is described as " a spear in the chest " on account of the sharp shooting pains. It is said often to be caused by lifting heavy weights, and the patient spits blood. Treatment : the root of the Shikakoto bush is cut up and cooked in porridge ; the patient is to eat the porridge, leaving the roots.
Manchilinchili occurs in children. To treat it, they cut off the tag ends of the skin in which the child is carried (mondo wa ngubo) and tie up in them insects called Inkofunkofu ; they are then fastened around the child's neck.
Chimanu : pneumonia, is treated by a decoction made of the roots of the Munto tree, drunk by the patient.
Isatabafwi, said to rise from jealousy, hence the name, " that
236 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
which jealous people suffer." It is a cold in the head. A remedy for this and other forms of catarrh is a plant called Kc polamushizhi, a vilely smelling thing. This when snuffed is, as we can testify, efficacious in clearing the nose. Kankwembwa is a chronic cough.
(d) Diseases of the Circulatory System
Ushibangulwa is characterised by swellings in the hands and feet, and is supposed to be caused somehow by the blood being out of order. Treatment : leaves of the Mungomba tree, after being crushed in a mortar and soaked in warm water, are applied to the swellings.
Mununka or Kunokola ("bleeding at the nose"), said to be caused by exposure to the sun. The patient is made to inhale the fumes from the burning bark of a certain tree.
Mozo (" heart ") is the name given to palpitation of the heart. Embedded in the ground one often finds a hard round lump, formed by ants, and called by the Ba-ila Mozo wa nshi (" the heart of the earth "). This is ground up, put in water, and drunk. It is a cure seemingly suggested by analogy : the hard " heart of the earth " will strengthen the patient's heart.
Kalobo is a very severe pain in the chest (? angina pectoris), described as something clutching the heart and pulling it as if to tear it out. This is another disease supposed to be due to witchcraft. Treatment : take a root of the Inganza tree and scrape it. Make some incisions in the skin over the patient's heart and rub in the scrapings of the root. Then put on the cupping horn, tie one end of a string to the horn and the other end to a short stick planted in the ground ; the disease will pass along the cord and be lost in the earth.
Miya (" oaths") is a name given to a complaint supposed to be caused by false swearing. The sufferer bleeds from the nose and mouth, and the ends of his fingers swell and redden as if they would burst. But it must be noted that it is not the false swearer who suffers, but the other man. Thus if A accuses B of taking his things, and B swears falsely that he has never seen them, then A gets this disease. The treatment consists in " smoking " the patient in the fumes from the burning root of the Mupazupazu tree.
(e) Diseases of the Alimentary System
Ikupameno is an affection of the gums. An effective remedy, the natives say, is a decoction made from the root of the Mutimbahula tree, used as a mouth-wash. Also bark of the Shitantasokwe tree is put in hot water and rubbed on the gums.
CM. x LEECHCRAFT 237
Chiteku is a painful affection in the inguinal region of the abdomen. Treatment : take a calabash that has held fat, break and burn it, then rub some of the ash over the place.
Impika : colic pains with vomiting. Treatment : take the tags of a dressed skin, soak them in water, and give the water to the patient to drink.
Chilungula : acute indigestion, with pain in the epigastrium, described as "a knife piercing the heart," accompanied by nausea, and caused by errors in diet. It is treated by giving the patient water to drink in which some ash from the fireplace has been soaked. Or wood-ash is put on the tongue and swallowed.
Mwifu (" in the stomach ") : pains in the abdomen. Treat- ment : chew some leaves of the Shichisu bush and swallow the juice.
Chimbalambala : sores in the mouth of a sucking child ; thrush. A child suffering with this is put on a youngster's back, and with other children they go round the village, singing and eating a cooked mixture of different kinds of grain and beans and nuts. This is said to be very effective in driving away the disease.
Mukamu : a periodical swelling in the right side of the abdomen. Treatment : cook a root of the Mufufuma tree in porridge. When the porridge has been eaten, the fragments of roots are put in water, and it is drunk.
Tukoto : sore throat. Roots of the Shikutwe bush are boiled and the water drunk.
Nanundwe is diarrhoea and general debility in children. The skin is said to peel off.
Chimiongela : colic. Leaves of the Mulama tree are chewed and the juice swallowed.
Chifundo : a swelling in the cheek, said to be caused by jumping over a chifundululo, a mark round a field, and stealing. Roots of the Mupazupazu tree are cooked and rubbed on the cheek.
Lusululu : severe diarrhoea. Roots of the Muzhula tree are cooked in bread and eaten.
Tupopo : quinsy. Leaves of the Mundambi bush are boiled and the decoction drunk hot.
Chipilwe : a disease of the rectum in which the patient loses control of his motions. Medicine is known, but not to us. The patient is stood on his head and the medicine poured in.
Chakwiwe: diarrhoea with vomiting. Leaves of the Indu- lulu and Shishambwalwala bushes are soaked and the water drunk.
238 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
(/) Diseases of the Urinary and Genital Systems
Ishinga or Chishinga : haematuria, accompanied by severe pains in micturition. The flow stops, and with great pain some drops of a red fluid are passed. It is supposed to be infectious ; if you micturate where one has micturated who had this disease you may get it. Treatment : take the root of the Muleambezo tree and cook it in porridge. After the porridge is eaten the remaining root is put in a calabash with water and the water drunk at intervals. Also roots of the Katoze bush are cooked in porridge. Eleven other roots are known as cures of this disease, a decoction being made from them ; also leaves of Chibanze and Mululwe are smoked in a pipe. The head of the patient is lanced (lembaula) and Sangalwembe root rubbed into the incisions. Sufferers from chishinga and mashingabotu (another disease) are not allowed to drink the strong funku beer ; it is taboo.
Chibunu : pains in the lumbar region, may be lumbago or caused by kidney troubles. Treatment : scrape roots of the Sangalwembe tree, make numerous incisions in the skin on the loins, and rub in the scrapings.
Manansa : venereal sores. Extremely common. The roots of the Chipezhabazhike and Mululwe are used as described under " Leprosy."
Isonkola : a disease in men supposed to result from a pubic hair of a woman getting into the orifice of the penis. He gets ulcers.
Ibwalabwala and Chitupa are swellings in the scrotum.
Mafuta (" fat "). If a boy breaks the taboo by eating fat he 'will have a fatty flux from the penis in consequence. The remedy is to eat roots of the Matungabambala tree cooked with meat.
(g) Diseases of Women
Chishanshati : pains after childbirth. Treatment : drink a decoction from the root of the Itende tree.
Chipelwe : also pains after childbirth, but different from the above. Treatment : bufu bwebwe (" stone-dust ") put in water and drunk is said to be efficacious.
Masusu: a disease in young girls. They are forbidden to eat the masusu (" hairs " i.e. barbs) of fish ; if they eat them similar things grow in the vagina and obstruct it. It is a very painful thing ; they are unable to menstruate. They will not get married, as men are afraid of the disease. Treatment : roots of the Chiwayu bush are cooked in porridge, the remains of the roots are then soaked in water and the solution drunk.
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 239
The disease mafuta, described above, also affects young girls who break the taboo. The same treatment is administered.
Impwebwe : another painful affection succeeding childbirth. Treatment: take the bits of clouts of the bashikumbadi ("men- struating women "), cut them up and soak them in water ; drink the solution, or burn them in a potsherd and inhale the smoke.
Mabishi. — When a child dies, if the milk is not taken from her breasts the woman's legs swell. A drug is known which when rubbed on the legs brings out the mabishi (" milk "). Men under certain circumstances get this disease (see Vol. II. p. 44).
Izuba (" the sun ") : the patient has " a white, shiny thing " at the vulva. The remedy is the milk of the Mulundungoma (Euphorbia).
(h) Diseases of the Nervous System
Impolokoso : earache, said to be caused by the bashimpulu- kutwi (see p. 224). Treatment : cook the roots of the Kama- kamala shrub and pour the decoction into the ears.
Shibandilwabana : epilepsy in children. The Chinao, one of the small Felidae, is given this long name, which means, " He that is not to be spoken of before children." This animal is said to be the mukamwini (" owner ") of the disease, as every month when the moon is dark it falls into fits. At the same time those with this disease will behave in the same way. If you kill and touch a Chinao and then embrace your child, it will get the disease. For the same reason you must avoid going amongst children when you are wearing the Chinao's skin. And if a child treads where a Chinao has passed, especially where it has mictu- rated, it will get the disease. If the child names the animal, or any one names it in the child's hearing, izhina dilenjila (" the name will enter ") and the child will get fits. Treatment : the root of the Muchokachimongo bush is put into water to soak ; after a time the solution is poured into the patient's ears. This is more a preventive than a cure. Nothing is to be done while the fit is on. It is believed that the child after passing water will recover.
Kalalu : lunacy. It is said that some lunatics have a great disinclination to light-coloured people ; to see them makes them furious. Lunatics are tied up to prevent their injuring them- selves or others. Roots of the Mundumba tree are cooked and the decoction poured into the patient's ears, as a sedative, when the fits are on.
Mupuka : convulsions in young sucking children ; supposed to be caused by a mupuka coming from the mother's breast.
Kanono : epilepsy, chizuminizha mwana (" that which dries up a child "). This is said to be caused by the Chinao, and also
240 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
by the Chikambwe, the blue jay. It is dangerous for children to see this bird ; by sitting on the roof of a hut in which a child is it causes the disease. Treatment : take leaves of the sensitive plant called Kadikumbati, a feather of the blue jay, and a bit of the skin of the Chinao ; burn them together and rub the ash on the child.
L^lshinga : toothache, neuralgia. Treatment : roots of the Lutende bush are soaked in water and warmed on the fire ; the decoction is applied hot, the patient holding it in his mouth till cold, and then renewing it. The bark of the Namuzungula and Muvhungu trees is used in the same way.
(i) Diseases of the Skin
Kandolo. — If the milky juice of this kind of sweet potato gets on the skin in which a child is carried, it will produce a pustular affection on the child's skin. Treatment : take dung of the hyena, powder it, and sprinkle it on the sores.
Chinzovwe : sores on the under side of the thigh. Treatment : roots of the Kalutenta bush are taken and scraped ; the fine dust is then sprinkled on the sores.
Bune : a painful affection in the feet said to be produced by treading upon cattle-dung or other filth. The feet swell, the patient scratches, but cannot sleep for the pain. Treatment : Miseza are burnt in the fire and then rubbed on the feet and between the toes.
Kanamalumbe : painful blisters full of a clear fluid. Treat- ment : do not lance the blisters for fear of causing ulcers, but rub them with chishila (" ochre ") and they will break. Also take the leaves of the Mutubetube, whitethorn tree, and foment the sores with them.
Chibondo are suppurating sores which attack the inside surfaces of skin in contact. Treatment : roots of the water-lily are burnt, the ashes mixed with fat and rubbed on the sores.
Mafutamabi : a rash on the face and chest. It is said that if not quickly cured leprosy follows. Treatment : scrapings of a root of the Bukuzu (wild fig tree) are put in water and rubbed on the sores.
Chibala : ulcers on the buttocks, said by some to be caused by sitting on the ground where women have been stamping grain in the mortars. The name is applied also to any ulcer of long standing. Treatment : strip the integument off the roots of the Muchokachinongo bush, put it into hot water, and then apply it to the sores.
Mupuka : sores on woman's breast and also on buttocks of children. Treatment : leaves of the Mukomba tree are taken
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 241
and either soaked in hot water and applied to the ulcers, or are dried, powdered, and sprinkled on the ulcers.
Insefu : swellings such as wens on the head and goitre are so called. It is believed that meat of eland (musefu), if distributed by you to a person and he is discontented with the size of his portion, but does not speak out, will cause this complaint not in the grumbler but in his child or relation. Treatment : scrape the root of the Mufumu tree, lance the insefu, and rub in the scrapings. (This cannot always be effectual, for we have seen people with t these swellings for year after year, and they are not cured. Perhaps, however, they do not know of the cure.)
Chiloa : an itching rash. Treatment : scrape roots of the Sangalwembe tree, mix the scrapings with fat and rub into the rash.
Chizengele : a rash something like chiloa on the face and body. Treatment : take leaves of the Mufumbo tree, bruise them in a mortar, dip them in water, and rub on the rash.
Insokelela : sty on the eyelid. Treatment : soak roots of the Infwi bush in water and bathe the eye with the solution.
Inkungwe : the name of this fish is applied to certain ulcers on the buttocks of children, supposed to be caused by their breaking the taboo by eating its flesh. Treatment : roots of the Mutungabambala tree are scraped, put into water, and the decoction applied to the ulcers.
Mambungu : a disease that attacks the soles of the feet — something like a tumour bursting through the skin. Treatment : the brains of a hare are burnt in a potsherd over the fire, the ashes are then mixed with fat and applied.
Bwele : scabies. Treatment : the flowers of the reed are burnt, the ashes mixed with fat and rubbed in.
Bayubayu : sores all over the body, said to be caused by dirt. Treatment : roots of the Kaluya bush are scraped, the scrapings mixed with fat and applied.
Impuu : sores occurring on the shins. They are lanced and salt rubbed in.
Intantamukoa (" it climbs the clan ") : similar to impuu but found all over the body. So called because it goes from relative to relative. Treatment is the same as for impuu.
Shilubidila : an erythema in circular patches on different parts of the body ; said to be caused by the spider of the same name. Treatment : roots of the Mudimbula tree are scraped, the scrapings put in water and applied.
Tuzukuzhi : a split condition of the margins of the skin around the nails. Treatment : your cousin, the child of your father's sister, is to come and take away one piece with his finger- nail and you will be cured.
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242 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
Chisubu : a poisoned arm. The arm swells and is hard and hot ; it breaks, and a lot of pus comes out. Treatment : twigs of the Mwande tree are made into an inkata (" coil "), dipped into hot water and applied again and again to the arm.
Manga : a condition of the heels in which the thick leather- like skin is all cleft and split. Treatment : castor oil seeds (Mabonontelemba) are burnt in a potsherd and the ash applied. They also use hare's brains for the same purpose.
Mafubikila : these are sores made intentionally upon them- selves by children. The youngsters take a piece of cotton (butongi), and after moistening a spot on the arm, light the cotton and put it burning on the place. This is done again and again all up the arm. They do this because they are told that if they do not, when they die Leza will give them flies to eat and nothing more. Children will in play count up these scars, saying, " Chechi nchichangu, chechi ncha Leza " (" This is mine, . . . this is Leza's "). The last one is ncha mwinakwe Leza (" Leza's wife's "). After burning the places they put lizard's dung on to heal the wounds.
Chisubi : a rash that follows shaving. Treatment : leaves of the Mungunya bush are bruised in a mortar, put in water and rubbed over the rash.
Infula : pimples on the face. They are pressed out.
Museza : a wart. They are cut off with the sharp rind of the maize stalk.
Bulangulangu : a rash on the body. Treatment : roots of the Mumbala bush are taken, peeled, and put in water, and then rubbed over the rash.
Mabambu : an abrasion in the crutch, caused by the surfaces of the skin rubbing against each other. Treatment : Lukumba is a mixture of different leaves, bruised up together and dried. The resulting powder is fine with a nice scent. This is sprinkled on the abrasion.
Chimbalambala : a skin disease in small children. To cure it they cook a mixture of maize, nuts, and macheme, adding water to thin it. They then take the child to the cross-roads, wash him in the mixture, and run away with him swiftly. By so doing they leave the disease behind them.
Kufumuka : of the patient they say wafumukwa. This is vesicles on the skin, full of fluid and very irritating. The treat- ment consists in rubbing the skin with the fur of a genet.
Chimamanzuki : sores on the leg. They take the head of the mubondo (the barbel fish), cook it, and rub the fat on the sores.
Imbale : scorched shins caused by sitting too near the fire. Treatment : leaves of the Mukunku tree are crushed and used to foment the shins.
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 243
lute : boil, abscess. Roots of the Muwi tree are cooked and the fluid added to ibwantu (light beer) ; the abscess is fomented with this. They also take leaves of the Mungashia tree, chew them, and put them over the abscess to make it burst.
(k) Various other Diseases
lundu : a chigoe. This insect has found its way in late years to the Ba-ila from the west coast, where it appeared about 1872 from the West Indies. Its scientific name is Dermatophilus penetrans. The Ba-ila use leaves of the Mubangalala bush to foment the sore ; and nicotine is put into the wound.
Kalangati : tongue-tiedness. The cord is cut with a burnt-out piece of charcoal (inshimbi).
Inshikila : hiccough. A small quantity of wood-ash is swallowed, or earth from a mole-hill (itumbo) is put in water and drunk.
Mukubila : enlarged inguinal glands. They know it is caused by some disease in the lower limb. Treatment : you look for an old tumble-down house (chilu) and take a lump of clay from it ; this you put on a potsherd on the fire, and when hot apply it to the swellings.
Inshingo : stiff neck. Treatment : look for grass that is growing in. the hollow of a tree, cook it in water, and apply it hot to the neck.
Kachembele : cramp in the muscles of the feet caused by sitting on the heels too long. The foot is beaten sharply with the fist.
Mukoshi : pain in the muscles of the nape of the neck. Look for water out of the hollow of a tree, heat it, and apply to the muscles and massage them.
Musana : pains in the muscles of the back. Roots of the Ikolankuni tree are cooked with porridge and eaten.
Menso : sore eyes. Treatment : some of the inner bark of the Mutungabambala tree is taken and soaked in water ; after a time the patient holds his eyes, open, in the solution. Also leaves and roots of the Mubangalala tree are put in water and the eyes washed in the solution.
Lupwe : an affection of the eyelids, destroying the lashes. Treatment : bark of the Mulombe tree is cooked and the eyes steamed in the vapour ; when cold the decoction is used as an eye-wash. For sore eyes, a piece of copper (mukuba) is tied over them. Filings of the same are used to put on ulcers.
Luvhumwe : non-closing of the fontanelle (see Vol. II. p. n). Treatment : roots of the Kamampa bush are scraped, mixed with fat, and rubbed on the head. This is not a cure but a preventive,
244 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES • PT. i
used with all children ; if they get the disease they will surely die.
4. THE CAUSES OF DISEASE
We do not pretend to have exhausted the list of diseases and their treatment ; but we have, perhaps, enumerated sufficient for our purpose, which is to illustrate the Ba-iia theories of disease and their methods of dealing with it.
We may now summarise what we have learnt in the preceding section as to their beliefs about the causes of disease.
It will be noticed that disease is regarded as something almost material which can be passed from one person to another and got rid of by washing or other means.
Some diseases come through contact, more or less intimate, with certain dangerous things : things dangerous because of some maleficent quality inherent in them. In some cases there is no actual contact, rather actio in distans. Such things are : (a) animals, e.g. the Chinao and Chikambwe ; (6) dirt ; (c) menstruous women ; (d) a foetus.
Disease is caused also by witchcraft. There need not be any direct contact : the warlock can harm his victim from a distance.
Other disease is caused by breaking a taboo. It is as if the act, e.g. of eating something forbidden, releases some maleficent energy which afflicts the culprit.
This applies not only to actions that are specifically tonda (" taboo "), but also to such things as jealousy, false swearing, trespassing, discontent. The bad action has material consequences.
Other diseases are put down to such natural causes as exposure to the sun.
Then again there are the bapuka.
And there are the ghosts of once living men. Upon this cause of disease we might enlarge considerably, but the subject will meet us again later. Many baffling complaints are ascribed to these agents. We remember one man who informed us that he had a ghost in his ear and desired us to use our syringe to pump it out. Another with a swollen head explained it as due to a dead man who had breathed
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 245
upon him. As we shall see, many sicknesses and deaths are ascribed to the direct action of the ancestral spirits who are offended by neglect. Delirium is supposed to be caused by ghosts (basangushi) speaking inside. If the patient dies, they say the basangushi have taken him away.
Some diseases, again, are ascribed to Leza (God). This is especially the case with virulent disease and plagues.
5. SNAKE-BITES, ETC.
There are several kinds of poisonous snakes in the country, and one frequently hears of people being bitten, and some- times of their dying as a result. The Ba-ila claim to have several efficacious remedies for snake-bites, and there are doctors with the reputation of being able not only to cure but also to immunise themselves and others. From three of these doctors we have derived much information as to their practices.
They recognise the importance of treating the patient immediately after he is bitten. It is not always possible to do this, as the man may be in the bush some distance from the village ; but his companions get him to the doctor as quickly as they can. If it has not already been done, the doctor at once ties a cord tightly above the wound. The bites are generally in the hand, or in the foot ; many instances of the former happen to women as they are clear- ing away grass with their hoes. The doctor then proceeds to treat the patient with drugs. One of these is the root of the Mompelempempe bush. The long thin root is taken and rubbed into the wound and above it ; portions of the root are broken up, put on a potsherd over a fire, and the wound smoked in the fumes. The root and leaves of the Muntamba tree are also used in the same way. Leaves of the Mubangalala tree are chewed and rubbed into the wound. Another remedy is the root of the Mungomba bush, called also Luminanzoka, which is shredded, soaked in hot water, and used to foment the wound. It is also burnt in a potsherd and the wound smoked in the fumes.
These drugs are said to extract the poison, or, as the natives say, " to take out the teeth." After one of the
246 THE ILA-SPEAK1NG PEOPLES PT. n
drugs has been used in this way the patient is given an emetic made from the Musale tree.
There are people who have musamo for snake-bites which they wear around the neck. It is a small black object, neatly covered, perhaps, with beads ; if the man is bitten he takes it off arid rubs it into the wound. The drug is the black root of the Muma tree.
There is a snake, Shimakoma, the African cobra, which has the disagreeable habit of " spitting" at a person who approaches it, and often succeeds in projecting its poison with great precision into the eye. The vitality of this snake is astonishing. A friend of the writers, afterwards un- fortunately killed by a buffalo, shot one of these snakes in his house ; after the brute was shattered it spat at him from five or six yards away and the poison lodged in his eye. If we mention a similar experience which one of us had it is to give a testimony to the knowledge of the native doctors. Bending over his tool-chest one day in search of a tool, one of us came within a foot or two of a Shimakoma lying curled up behind the box. Immediately there was a hiss and the impact of something in the eye. Up till then we had been somewhat sceptical of the native stories of this snake's powers. When the native doctor, hastily summoned by a servant without his master's knowledge, arrived, he found his patient rolling about in great agony. He brought some leaves and twigs of the Kabwengwe bush, which he soaked in warm water, and rubbed round the outside of the eye ; finally, he blew with his mouth into the eye itself. Whatever the effect of the last operation may have been, the writer knows that almost instantaneously he got relief ; the eye, which had been dry and hot, at once began to water profusely, the inflammation subsided, and the pain abated. The leaves of the Mompelempempe bush are also used in such a case, being soaked in water and some of the decoction squeezed into the eye.
It is very difficult to ascertain whether the firm belief of the natives in the efficacy of these drugs is justified when a person is actually bitten by a snake. Undoubtedly people are bitten by dangerous snakes such as the puff- adder (Chipile) ; they swell and show other symptoms of
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 247
poisoning ; and it is equally certain that after being treated with these drugs they recover. Whether they would have recovered without this treatment — either because the poison was attenuate or did not properly enter the system — is just the point we cannot satisfy ourselves about. We have known of people dying when they have not been doctored.
One thing that arouses some suspicion as to the drugs is the claim made by the doctors to use them prophylactic- ally. They say that if you bathe yourself in the fumes of the Mompelempempe no snake will bite you, but will run away at your approach ; and that if you chew the Muntamba leaves and rub your hands with the juice you can lay hold of any snake without danger. Both these drugs have a pungent odour and may possibly have some effect upon a snake, but we have not put it to the test ourselves, nor have we seen a man really in the act of doing so.
A man named Munyuni, well known to us, is one of the doctors famed for his snake cures. He is in the habit of keeping snakes in his hut. We begged him one day to give us an exhibition, and his reply was that at the moment he had not a snake in his possession. However, the same day his wife had noticed a snake enter a hole and had covered it over to prevent its escape. On returning home and learning this he went and pulled it out of the hole, extracted its fangs, and brought it to us in a bag. It was a Munkanga — a green Mamba — about four feet long. The snake was very much alive ; on being taken out of the bag it tried to escape, but he easily caught it ; when he stroked its head it became quite quiescent and lay as if dazed. Munyuni had his two children with him, youngsters about nine and seven years of age, and they played with the snake, opening its mouth and putting its tail into it without exhibiting the slightest nervousness. Their father said they were immune. The fangless snake was, of course, harmless. Munyuni let us into many of the secrets of his trade. He said that he was doctored by his father, just as he has doctored his own children. The process is to take a snake, extract the fangs, cut off the tip of its tail (luminzo), then take a root of the Mushikadilo tree and the root of the Mutumbulwa tree,
248 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
grind them all up together, cut a deep gash between the big toe and the next of each foot, and between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, and rub the substance in. This operation must be repeated at intervals of several years. To take out the fangs, a man chews leaves of the Mushikadilo tree and spits the juice into the snake's mouth. This makes it stupid (wedimbusha) . He then inserts his fingers and wrenches out the fangs.
Munyuni carries with him also a string made up of two impindo (" long fibres ") of the Mutumbulwa tree in readiness for any case that may come along. As soon as he sees the patient he ties this cord tightly above the wound. He then lights a fire and puts the wounded limb very close to it ; he throws the medicines on to the fire and thoroughly smokes the wound. Then he makes a decoction of these two medicines and gives it warm to the patient to drink. This is supposed to drive out the snake's bulovhu ( = buvhuo, the poison or anger) from the body.
A case had recently occurred near by of a young man who had gone out into the forest, chased a little rodent, and plunged his hand into a hole where he supposed it to have taken refuge. But some poisonous snake was in the hole and bit him on the hand. His companions took him home, but it was a long way, and before they reached the village he was unconscious ; he died within three hours of being bitten. We mentioned this case to Munyuni, and he claimed that if he had been sent for he could have cured the man even after he was unconscious. He would have erected a platform over a fire, into which he would have thrown his medicines. He would have taken the Mushikadilo leaves, chewed them, and spat them into the man's ears, nose, and anus. He would have had boys hold him on the platform and thoroughly smoke him in the fumes. The man would have recovered consciousness and been cured. We should like to have seen it done.
Another doctor told us of his method of inoculating. He begins with a young lad. He collects as many heads as he can of various venomous snakes, desiccates them over a fire, and stands the lad in the fumes. Next day he makes in- cisions in the lad's hands, between thumb and forefinger,
en. x LEECHCRAFT 249
and rubs in some of the powder. This operation is repeated at intervals and the boy is said to grow up immune.
6. THE USE OF APHRODISIACS, ETC.
The Ba-ila use several aphrodisiacs, or love-philtres (defixiones), but whether they are really efficacious we cannot say. We can only report what we have learnt from the doctors and others.
When, they say, a man is in love with his wife and she rejects him (wazaza), in order to gain her affections he gets the root of the Mudimbula tree and scrapes it ; he takes also the feathers of the Inzhinge bird, burns them, mixes the ash with the scrapings, and conceals it all in a piece of liver. If she is at her home, the woman's relations are prevailed upon to give her this liver to eat ; if she is at his place, the man manages with guile to get her to eat it.
If a man wants to win the love of a woman, he takes the root of the Chikalamatanga bush and smokes it with tobacco in his pipe. While smoking he calls softly to her, or, if he is in company, he whispers inaudibly, " So-and-so, how I do love her ! Would that she might return my love ! " So on and so on. The effect is telepathic. She dreams of him, and in the morning, as she recalls her dreams, his image haunts her. She begins to think kindly of him. So the natives say.
There are also medicines which women drink or smoke to excite the passions of their lovers ; or a woman neglected by men will resort to these to attract a lover or a husband. There are drugs, of which we do not know the names, one to smoke and another to anoint the body with. As she smokes, the woman charges the drug, saying, " Uwe, musamo, ndakufweba mulombwana akantwale (" O medicine, I smoke you in order that a man may marry me ! "). There is a charm named Mudidila carried by a man, and its effect upon a woman is that from the time she first sees him she weeps (dila), saying, " Would that that man would marry me." So, like Alphesiboeus, they try with magic rites to turn to fire the lover's coldness of mood.
250 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
Another drug is the root of the Mubangalala tree, of which a decoction is drunk by a man who through age or other causes loses his virility. Another aphrodisiac is got from the Ndale, a tree with a dark heart. The doctor cuts into the sides of it and takes out pieces, which are put into beer. The solution is said to have a powerful effect, so much as to keep the man restless and sleepless (wamufubya tulo) .
There are several apparently efficient abortifacients in use among these people. One is the leaves of a short bush named Kahuhimushi. These are chewed by the woman. Another is made thus : the roots of the castor oil plant are put to soak together with the root of the Buchinga bush (which bears a red fruit). The woman drinks some of the warm decoction.
These are used by girls ; by women who do not want to lose their husbands' attentions through being pregnant ; by women who through anger or dislike of their husbands do not want to bear children ; and by a woman who becomes pregnant when suckling a child.
There are many drugs used in midwifery. One midwife who had been called into a case of protracted labour showed us seven drugs she used : they were to be pounded up and a decoction from them drunk warm. Leaves of the Kahulu- mushi are chewed and their juice swallowed. And there are others.
7. AMULETS AND TALISMANS
To what extent the misamo we have already enumerated are really of therapeutical value, or are only of magical effect, we do not presume to say, but we now go on to deal with others which may be specifically classed as charms : amulets and talismans. The difference between these we understand to be that talismans are used to bring good luck or to transmit qualities, while amulets are preventive in their action. The Ba-ila themselves draw such distinc- tions. The generic term musamo embraces all kinds of " medicines " for any purpose whatever ; and they are divided into these classes :
i. Misamo budio : " medicines simply," i.e. drugs.
LEECHCRAFT
251
2. Shinda (sing. Chinda) : amulets. The root of the word is inda, which as a verb (kwindd) means, " to work upon, apply a charm to " ; kwindauka, to do this repeatedly, or by a series of actions. Diinda, the reflexive form, means
Photo E. tr. Smith.
BRACELETS AND CHARMS.
to apply a charm to oneself, or to obtain a charm for one's own use ; and a person who has not as yet availed himself of this means of protection (ut&nakudiinda) is described as muntu budio (" a mere human being," i.e. he is deficient).
3. Isambwe or Insambwe is a talisman, active in
252 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. u
bringing to the possessor cholwe, i.e. luck, prosperity, good fortune, presumably by transferring to him the peculiar energies or qualities inherent in itself. The word is related to kusamba, to wash, bathe, and appears to mean etymo- logically ' ' that in which one is bathed. ' ' Good luck is always associated with cleanness, whiteness. The whitest thing they know, impemba (see p. 232), is a talisman smeared on their foreheads by hunters. In accordance with this idea are the sayings, ulasweya ankumu (" he is clean as to the fore- head," i.e. is fortunate) ; ulasweya mwitashi (" he is clean in the hand,'' i.e. is rich). On the other hand, of an unfor- tunate person they say ulashia munkumu (i.e. "he is black on the forehead ").
4. Shinda may incidentally cause the death of people, but that is not primarily their object. There is another species of musamo, called inzuikizhi, whose function it is to kill and destroy. It is used by the warlocks and witches (see Vol. II. p. 96).
There is another term, bwanga, applied to musamo, not to any particular kind, but is rather a general term, apparently descriptive of its mysterious action. The same root goes to form the name of the doctor, munganga.
It is impossible to exaggerate the part which these misamo play in the life of the Ba-ila. It is not too much to say that apart from them it is impossible to understand any side of their life. They are regarded with an implicit trust that deserves to be called a religion : we speak of them here under the heading of " Leechcraft," but must return to them later when we deal with religion.
Their use constitutes a system of insurance against the ills and calamities of life. Instead of paying an insur- ance premium as we do, and thus robbing burglary, acci- dent, fire, and even death of some of their terrors, the Ba-ila invest in powerful charms, which in their belief will keep them free from violence, robbery, etc. etc. ; and if not altogether from death at least will postpone it, and enable them to determine their mode of life beyond the grave.
Almost every Mwila you meet wears one or more of these charms round his neck or on his arm or head. They are carried in different ways.
CH x LEECHCRAFT 253
A small horn, such as that of a Duiker, is filled with the medicine, and worn round the neck ; this is called a lusengo. A mufuko is a small bag made of snake-skin, and worn in the same way. An armlet is made of the skin of the iguana (Nabulwe) and filled with drugs. Some medicines are not worn but suspended in the hut, or, more often, under the eaves. One of our friends among the chiefs has the following suspended thus on his verandah : medi- cine to keep his people together, so that they may not stray ; medicine to prevent his cattle from being eaten by crocodiles ; medicine to increase the number of his cattle ; medicine to give his hunting dogs speed. Another friend of ours, a minor chief, has a miniature bow and arrows hanging in his hut ; when we asked him about it he explained that he shot these arrows in various directions to induce people to come from those quarters to swell the numbers of his own adherents, which indeed were scanty.
We ourselves have been presented at various times with medicines in the shape of bracelets, etc., by friends anxious for our welfare. One old chief transferred from his arm to ours an armlet of Nabulwe skin, containing, he said, bits of the pounded roots of the Kafwebwe, Mulota, and Muhumbane bushes — also the remains of any insect the doctor saw running about him just as he was sewing them up — which was a sure preventive of all kinds of witchcraft. The composition of this, he informed us, was revealed to him in a dream by a Musangushi. On another occasion he quietly slipped into our hand a similar armlet that we were to press to our lips whenever we were about to engage in any business, and it would inevitably ensure our bringing off a favourable bargain. He gave us another armlet which he said was medicine to ensure that every- body would love us : he had bought the secret for ten head of cattle.
But they are not all carried ; many are eaten, or used as washes. A man who gets a charm is said to " eat " it (wachidya] ; but it does not necessarily mean that he con- sumes it by the mouth, but simply that he has it and its qualities are available for him. And not only are there
254 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
personal charms of this kind, but every village is protected by its own. There are also communal charms. Mr. Dale when engaged in ploughing on his farm was one day desirous of felling a tree that obstructed his work ; but every one of his men, usually so obedient, absolutely refused to touch it, and he had to start felling it himself. After he had chopped a few strokes, they took the axe from him and completed the job. The curse had now been trans- ferred to him, and they were free to cut. It appeared that some ten or fifteen years before, at the time of an invasion, a powerful musamo had been deposited in the tree to ensure the enemies of the community becoming lame and helpless ; and to this musamo was attached a curse against any one molesting the tree.
It is not possible always to discriminate accurately between amulets and talismans ; it is evident that a charm which protects may be also a talisman in the sense that thereby it brings its owner prosperity. The charms may have the character of both chinda and isambwe. We have, therefore, in our description not adhered to this classifica- tion, but rather grouped them in regard to the objects to be attained by their use.
As will be seen in reading this description, there is a close connection between the function of the charm and its name. Sometimes the name describes some quality inherent, or supposed to be inherent, in the thing itself, and the effect is easily deduced from it. For example, the violet-tree (called Mufufuma) has roots which are swollen (fufumuka), and the medical effect of them used as a drug is to cause swelling. Such seems to be actually its effect. It is used by boys to cause their members to grow, and we know one boy who nearly died of the effects, so great and painful were they. By analogy, therefore, the use of the drug is extended, so that children are bathed in a decoction made of the roots in order to promote their growth. The connection between the name and the effects of a drug cannot always be traced so clearly as in this case. Often the con- nection seems to be in sound only, e.g. between the name of the bird Kashise and the effect produced by the charm so named, i.e. to shishulula the family of a person (see p. 264).
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 255
Perhaps some habit of the bird has suggested the analogy. Whether the name of the bird has been derived from the effect desired from the charm, or the effect deduced from the bird's name is not clear. The principles of sympathetic magic — that like produces like, or that an effect resembles its cause — are well illustrated by these charms. But it must be remembered we are dealing with things that are real to the Ba-ila. There is power in these things which actually works to procure the ends.
Almost invariably these charms have taboos associated with them : things which the doctor forbids his patient to do, lest he should yaya chinda (" kill the charm "). Before doctoring the patient the doctor asks him : " Will you be able to follow the practices associated with it ? " and unless he undertakes to do so will not proceed. Some of these prohibitions are understandable on the principles of sym- pathetic magic, e.g. those against eating the Pallah (Nanzeli), for if you eat it your luck will zelauka (" disappear ") ; the Duiker (Nakasha), for it would forbid (kasha) your success ; and the Oribi (N akasotekela) , for it would cause your fortune to spring away (sotekela).
It is easy to understand, too, why imbwila, the ground- pea, is taboo to those who have misamo ya Leza, i.e. charms to prevent rain from falling. These peas are hard, and poured into a pot make a rattling sound like distant thunder ; thunder brings rain, and so the charm is rendered of no avail.
But other prohibitions are not so easy of explanation. Why, e.g., is a man with wombidi medicine not to allow another to carry a pot behind his back ? And when he is in a hut and a pot is passed in, why must he not take hold of it but only shove it along the ground ? And why must a lukwi not be brought into a hut where he is ? And if it is, why must he take it between his teeth, not in his fingers, to return it to the person who brought it ? And why, when eating milk-bread, must he be scrupulous in taking the first two spoonfuls in his left hand and the third in his right ? Perhaps the only reason is to impress appropriate thoughts on the patient's mind.
One method of self-protection is, by means of a powerful charm, to put one's life into a hiding-place, whether into
256 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
another person, or into some object. This is kudishita, to shield, protect, oneself. One chief, Mungaila, confided to us once that his life was hidden in the needle on a friend's head : he was careful not to say which friend. Another told us that his was in a friend's finger-nail. One of the doctors gave us the following description of this part of his practice. The patient comes to him and says : " Ndeza kulanga mwinzobola luseba Lwangu, ndaamba unkwatenkwate " ("I am come to seek a place wherein to keep my body, I mean that you should safeguard me "). If the doctor under- takes the case, the patient produces a hoe as a preliminary fee. The doctor then prepares the misamo, and charms him (wamwinda) by giving him some to eat in porridge and others to rub on his body. And the doctor asks : " Where is it you wish to hide ? Perhaps in the eye of some person ? ' ' " Yes, I wish to hide in somebody's eye." " What person ? " The patient thinks over the names o£ his relatives, and rejecting them says : "I would hide in the eye of my servant." The doctor agrees, and charms him accordingly, giving him all the medicines necessary to enter his servant's eye, whether it be man or woman. So wenjila momo ulazuba momo mudinso (" he enters and hides there in the eye "). He does not make the fact known to the servant, but keeps the knowledge to himself. He remains in the eye all the days of his life. Should he fall sick he tells his chief wife : " Know, in case I should die, that I had certain medicines from So-and-so." This is because of the claims that the doctor will make against his estate ; but even to his wife he does not tell that he is in any one's eye. Should he die, at the same moment that servant of his has his eye pierced (ulatuluka dinso), that is, by his master coming out of it. Then seeing the man's eye burst, people know where the master lay hidden. And the converse is also true ; should the servant's eye be destroyed, the master would die. Other people are doctored so that they may hide (zuba) in a palm-tree. When such a one dies, the palm falls ; and should the palm fall first (a very unlikely event), the man would die. If he were not sick at the time, he would die suddenly (ulaanzuka budio). Others eat medicine for taking up their abode (kukala) in a thorn tree (mwihunga). On the death
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 257
of such a person the tree breaks and falls, and the man comes out of it (wavhwa mo). Others get medicines to enable them to hide (zuba) in a cow or an ox. When the beast dies, the person " takes away his heart " (wakusha mozo) and dies also. Then people know that he had hidden in the beast. So was King Nisus's life bound up with the brilliant purple lock on his head, which his daughter Scylla stole and treacherously handed to her father's foe, saying :
Cape pignus amoris
purpureum crinem nee me nunc tradere crinem, sed patrium tibi crede caput !
And so was Meleager's life bound up with the billet of wood which, wishing to avenge her brother's death, his mother threw into the fire, and as it burned, so did the absent Meleager burn with those flames, and his spirit gradually slipped away as the billet was reduced to white ashes.
This same doctor went on to tell us of another kind of medicine which is called owelumbu, taken to produce the effect in another person of kulumbuzhiwa. Kulumbula is used ordinarily for " to pay tribute, tax " ; lumbuzha, the active form ("to cause to pay tribute, to levy a tax"), is used also of a person doing something in order thereby to put another in such a position that he is compelled to do something similar. The word is used in this sense in law- suits ; here it signifies that a man takes medicine in order that somebody else shall die at the same time that he dies, in other words, that he shall live as long as the other, who is perhaps younger. The doctor thus describes the process : A person eats medicine to lumbuzha another, whether his mother or brother or some one else, so that on the day he dies the other may die too. The doctor says : " Who is it that you wish to die with ? " He chooses the one. The doctor does not at once give him the medicines, but considers him quietly to see whether he is sincere (abone na udishinizhe) ; and if he finds him so administers the drugs. He goes on living, does that man, and also he who is lumbuzha 'd. But the day that the patient begins to be sick with a mortal disease, the other person who was put into the medicine and so lumbuzha'd gets sick also (aze
voi. i s
258 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
wezo owakabikwa it musamo owakalumbuzhiwd). When the one approaches death the other does the same : when one dies, the other dies. When this happens people know that they had one charm (bakadya chinda chomwi) .
He does not mean that there was any agreement between them : the victimised person knows nothing of what was done ; but that the charm has bound them together so closely that the one's life goes to nourish the other's.
This ilumbu medicine may be taken to produce a different effect. " He takes it with the intention that when he is sick and likely to die, his child or another member of the family shall die and he live. And so it happens, until in the end when nobody is left for him to lumbuzha, he himself dies." In these instances the musamo evidently enables the owner to feed, vampire-like, on the life-substance of others : their life nourishes his, so that they die and he lives.
Not only may a man live at the expense of others, but he may also by means of musamo draw life from trees. Once when Sezongo II. was very ill the doctor had men climb a Butaba tree, cut a thick branch and carry it, taking care not to allow it to touch the ground, to the chief's hut and plant it there. At the foot of the branch the doctor went through some incantations. The Butaba is a tree full of vitality ; a stick from it readily takes root and grows : some of its vitality by means of the doctor's magic passed into Sezongo and he recovered. The tree then planted is still pointed out.
There is another musamo named wabumi (" life medicine "), reputed to be very ancient ; it is indeed that mentioned in Vol. II. p. 102 as having been given in the be- ginning by Leza to men to enable them to propagate their species. There are certain taboos associated with this charm. None of the owner's people may strike a stone ; when cook- ing they must not leave a spoon sticking in the pot ; when offering him food they must not push the pot along the ground (if they do a Jion will drag him along) ; they must not empty out a pot (if they do, his life will be emptied out). Any one of these transgressions will vhumununa him, i.e. rob the charm of its virtue. We first got to know of this charm through a case in court. The
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 259
wife of a chief named Katumpa summoned him for beating her, and, in his defence, he said he had beaten her because she had struck a stone !
Another charm is named mongo : its purpose is to enable the owner to live long (kuongola). Another, named inzhinge, is " eaten " by a man when he falls ill to ensure that he will not die within a certain specified time, say two years. The crocodile is said to owe its longevity to the large pebbles it swallows ; they are sometimes found in the stomach. So people get a charm named chiwena (crocodile) to enable them to swallow small stones (imbwebwe) and live long.
There are numerous charms to ensure a man's well-being, and some of them act by causing an enemy to relent and stay his hand. Thus, if you have weshizhamozo (" that which blackens the heart"), any one wishing to do you harm will become black-hearted, i.e. will relinquish his intention. Namwetelelwa causes an enemy as soon as he arrives in your presence to feel sorry for you (ulukuetelela) and change his mind. If you have the charm wa-kutabikwa- ku-mozo, your enemy on the point of doing you harm will remember that he too is a sinner (wadibonena kakwe) and will spare you. And, on the other hand, as you are likely to want to harm others, you fortify yourself against relenting by getting shichebukwa, which will enable you to keep up resentment against a person, when you might be inclined to look upon him with favour (kuchebuka). But should you have had a quarrel with him and he return home, sick unto death through your resentment and ill-treatment, then another charm called chipinduluzho would destroy your ill-feeling and restore him to health (pindulula) .
Other charms act on ill-wishers to do them harm. Mpilu will make any one turn back (pilula) who sets out to hurt you — he gets sick on the road, or meets with an accident. Nakasha (" the preventer ") is a charm worn round the neck in a horn of the antelope of that name. Its use is thus described : " If it be a warlock or witch (mulozhi) who thinks of bewitching you, his musamo turns upon himself (wamuzhokela) and kills him." Lubabankofu (" louse-itch ") ensures that any one who plans to lay hands upon you will
260 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
be afflicted with an intolerable itching. If you have the charm shilandwa, any one who attempts to sue you (kulanda) will not live long or the goods he gets out of you will perish (taongola wafwa, na lubono ndwadiwa Iwazaia, Iwazhimina) . Ngongoki (a name derived from that of a fabulous monster, said to have a high spine, bare of flesh) will make your enemy waste away to a skeleton ; nanundwe will make him as slow-footed as a chameleon (nanundwe). Everybody knows how the hippopotamus rises up out of the water. The Ba-ila call the action fumpauka. If you have the charm named after that animal (chivhubwe) any one who fights you will have something terrible fumpauka in his body and be compelled to desist.
There is a mysterious plant named Mukombokombo, the leaves of which do not shake in the wind, not even in the fiercest tempest, and which has the property of moving off suddenly and replanting itself miles away. A musamo from this tree will make your enemy kombauka, i.e. break all in pieces and disappear. Mutakwa will enable you to vomit any musamo that a warlock has, without your knowing it, put into your food. Dipakumuma is one " that gives you to be silent." If you are at rest in your hut and some- body calls you it ensures that you will not answer him (kumuma). If he is a friend, well, he will understand ; if it be an enemy, well, he goes away and you escape from him.
Another amulet named wakutadiatwa (" for not to be trodden on ") will cause any one treading in your footsteps to swell up, and, unless an antidote be administered, to die. To trace a person's footsteps is one way of bewitching him.
Some talismans are specially useful to chiefs in that they tend to increase their following. One such talisman bears the name of mwino (" salt "), and the effect of it is to produce mwino-mwino in the owner, i.e. tastiness, winsomeness ; so that all may love him. There is a tree named Mumpangu, and it provides a medicine owakupangukilwa bantu, i.e. that will draw people from a distance ; they are compelled to come flocking, eager to become the subjects of the chief who has it. (The same medicine is used by a hunter to put in his game-pits and traps to draw the animals from afar.)
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 261
There is another medicine named mulundu used for the same purpose, i.e. that people may lundumuka (" flock ") to the owner; and another, muyobo (name of a bamboo), that causes people to oboloka, gather together to him, and those who come to visit stay on permanently.
A medicine to produce calmness and peace in one's life is named wetontozha. If you have it you rest tontola ne, tontolo, bubona budi itontozha menzhi (" quiet, oh, so quiet, like the calmness of still water ").
A common charm for warding off lightning is a tortoise- shell hung up under the eaves. As the tortoise in its " house " is safe from the elements, so it will cause people to be. When people are afraid of lightning during a thunder- storm they take a piece of tortoise-shell and throw it on the fire and say : " Laba kabotit, twafwa bowa tu bazhike bako. Twakabomba (" Open thy mouth gently (i.e. lighten gently), we, thy slaves, are nervous. We are humble before thee ").
There is a musamo to be obtained from the doctors which will give good luck in any way one wishes. It is called masamba (see p. 252). If a man wants very special luck, he not only gets the charm, but under the doctor's instructions he commits incest with his sister or daughter before starting on his undertaking. That is a very power- ful stimulus to the talisman. There are various taboos connected with the masamba. Thus during the month of Shimwenje (November, " beginning of the rains ") the man must refrain from having intercourse with his wife. If he neglects this he will become poor, and if any one through hatred plans his death he will not have the luck to escape. Even the girl-wife of a man, if she wishes to go home during this month, may not be forbidden. And all this month he may not shake his bed nor have it shaken by anybody, even if it be infested with vermin : nothing in the hut may be swept or shaken, for that would be equivalent to throwing away his luck. Again, if a man with masamba is away working he may not wash during the time. If he does he will tubuluka, i.e. the medicine will lose its properties and he will get small wages. Once again, he may not eat the flesh of the Kantanta (sable antelope). That animal is very dark ; they say the meat is dark also, and if he eats
262 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
it inshi ilamushila (" the earth will be black to him "), all good luck blotted out. He must also refrain from eating of the small antelopes, Duiker, Oribi, and Pallah. These buck are hard to kill. People often spear them and yet they escape. To eat them would be to transfer to himself that quality. One would think this should be a good thing, for by mating them a man would be ensured escape from trouble. But the Ba-ila argue differently : for a buck to escape may be a good thing for the buck, but it is a bad thing for a hunter ; if he eats the flesh his luck will escape him just when he thinks he has secured what he desires.
One class who specially need good luck are the hunters. As we have seen, most hunters use only spears, but around Nanzela many have old muzzle-loaders. At Nanzela we are told that when a hunter secures a gun he by no means trusts to his own skill in using it. Before he begins to shoot he takes it to the doctor, who gives him musamo with which to wash it. The doctor gives him directions and lays restrictions upon him : he may say, for example, " If you find game you must on no account shoot indiscriminately ; the only antelope j^ou may shoot is the Hartebeest." He obeys, and brings down his quarry. Having carried it home he makes a little offering of bits of meat to his medicines ; and the doctor tells him, " You mustn't give the heart away to people, keep it ; the chest and the loins are yours." The heart is to be cooked at the sacred forked- stick (the Iwanga), and when ready he cuts it up and dis- tributes it among his particular friends. It is a sacrifice. Having eaten they wash hands and lips. The doctor further gives instructions for the safe keeping of his luck ; he warns him especially against allowing any shikumbadi (" menstruat- ing woman ") to enter the hut where the gun is, for she would inevitably render it useless.
Another class that seeks medicine for good luck are the traders. Theirs is musamo wa bwendo (" trading medicine " ; kuenduka, "to go trading"). Before starting on his ex- pedition the trader places the receptacle before him and exhorts his medicine, saying :." May you help me to buy slaves, guns, cattle, blankets, whatever I want." Having done this he thinks, " I shall return having made good
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 263
bargains." The doctor who gives him the medicine bids him beware especially of menstruating women ; warning him against allowing one of them to touch his food on the journey. He cautions him also not to have intercourse with women. To do this would be kusotoka Iwendo Iwakwe ("to jump over his journey"), i.e. destroy its luck. One of these medicines is named mbimbe and is worn in a goat's horn. Just as the bimbe hawk swoops down on its prey and rarely, if ever, misses, so this musamo will enable the trader to carry off good bargains.
The Ba-ila will not eat rats, but if they find water in which a rat has died they will drink it, as they say it gives good- luck.
To raise himself (kudibuslia) above his fellow-villagers, a man secures the charm named chimbusha ; as a result, his neighbours sink (lobd) and he alone floats (webuka), and his name becomes famous. One means of getting rich is to have the charm lukunka, which will cause you to stumble upon (dikunka) an elephant, or a slave, or something else that will provide you with wealth.
We have described in Chapter VIII. the doctoring of the warriors before and after war.
Another musamo for warriors is the insect Injelele, one that darts rapidly over the surface of a pool or lake, so rapidly that you can hardly follow its movements. This insect is eaten with food to render you invisible in battle.
The skunk (Kanyimba) is a difficult creature to kill or catch, as when chased it jumps from side to side. A medicine is made from it to ensure one's safety in war ; he who has it becomes, like the skunk, a very difficult target.
Similarly the quail (Inzhinge) on account of its ability to hide, is eaten to render a warrior indetectable.
Another charm is named mulala, and its function is to enable the warrior (and also the hunter) to hit every time he throws his spear.
If any one is inclined to rebel (kupapa) against his superiors, he can get a musamo named chipapa-cha-munkudi ("bit of an old calabash shell "), and he will be made successful.
264 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
Wanzhimina is a useful charm which protects you in a court of law, by causing your accusers to forget the charge brought against you : it fades away (kazhimina), whatever it may be. Another named mudimbula, while stimulating your own wits and enabling you to put your case well (kubosha mikanano], makes your opponents stupid (waba- dimbula] so that they lose their action. The same musamo is used to stupefy the ghost of a man you have killed so that it cannot do you harm.
From this it is evident that misamo act not only on the living but on the dead. And a man at his own desire may be so doctored as to change his state in the next world. The charm will so act that when he dies he becomes a lion, or an eagle, or an itoshi, or an ant-hill. .We deal with this more fully later. Such charms have the name wakudisa- ngula (" musamo for transforming oneself "). Another charm Wakudifundula (" for shedding one's skin ") enables a man to turn himself into a lion or other beast.
The witchcraft musamo (inzuikizhi) may be "eaten" by a person with the object of transforming himself after death into a mutalu, a vengeful, destructive ghost, described as kayayabiiseka ("one who goes killing and smiling"). His victims fall suddenly dead. The only thing to be done in such cases is to get the mudimbula medicine, and doctor the ghost, balamuinda ku busangushi bwakwe (" they doctor the man in his ghostly state ").
Men not disposed to allow their survivors to live peace- fully after they themselves are dead, procure certain charms to cause their unhappiness. One of them is named sho- mbololo (" the kudu "), and it makes people fight, commit suicide, be rebellious, and turn criminal. " That is how it is to-day at Manimbwa," said our informant. " Whence all this upset since Sezongo's death ? Because that chief ' ate ' shombololo medicine."
Another man will " eat " the charm named after a small red bird, kashise, and the result is that all his family are wiped out : they shishulula (" disappear") ; or the kamivaya (" the disperser ") will ensure that all his property will disappear, that whoever takes his name will perish, that all his family will become extinct.
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 265
Another man will have a charm named after the tortoise (fulwe) ; just as Fulwe suddenly withdraws his head, and turns from a living thing into what seems to be mere stone, so he, when perhaps there is nothing wrong with him, or very little, suddenly dies, leaving the people puzzled as to his disappearance. Wakufulaukwa budio ("he just vanishes ! ").
Another man, who perhaps has a horror of being buried, gets a charm which will ensure the people carrying out his last wishes to be laid, not in a grave, but on a high platform (busanza) built of sticks. And another with a whim to be buried sitting up in the grave does the same. There is a charm named nakansakwe (a stork), which secures that when a man dies he remains to all appearance what he was in life. To look at him you would say he was alive, but he is dead. Another rnedicine named wakwadyamaila- kobili (" of eating grain twice ") enables a man after he is dead and buried to rise from the grave, go off to the village of the doctor from whom he got the charm, and there enjoy a second spell of life.
Finally, there is a charm named after a tree, mutesu, which will cause a great crowd to gather to a man's funeral (kutesaukd), all feeling very sorry and weeping for him tumult uously.
8. THE PRACTITIONERS, (a) The Diviner
Our final sections must be devoted to the two professions whose arts are of such vital importance in the life of the Ba-ila. The practitioners are of two kinds, the diviners and the doctors.
To divine is kusonda ; the diviner is musonzhi ; and the instrument with which he divines is chisondo.
Although we speak of him in this chapter devoted to Leechcraft, his art takes a much wider sweep. He is essen- tially a revealer : things that are hidden from ordinary view he can discover and make known. Hence, he is called upon to find things that are lost, to detect thieves, to trace straying cattle, to determine the identity of the child that is born, and so on. His importance in the present con-
266 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
nection is that he is the diagnoser of disease. He reveals not only what the disease is, but also its cause, and often tells what the medicine is and from what doctor (munganga) it may be procured. He tells also whether the death was due to witchcraft or to the divine will, i.e. of Leza.
There are several different ways of divining. We will describe those we have seen, and mention others.
(i) Shimubi. — The Shimubi, the divining rod used by some practitioners, is a piece of wood i-| inch thick, bow-shaped, with one end carved into the head of -a Shima- koma snake, two eyes (represented by beads), mouth and all.
The profession is handed down from older men to younger on payment of fees. One man we knew said he paid two impande shells. The older man takes the novice, cuts a slit in his hand, between the thumb and forefinger, and rubs in medicine ; he then puts the chisondo into his hand, places its nose over some smouldering herb in a potsherd and says an incantation, exhorting it to obey its new master. He then communicates to him the names and properties of various drugs and the new practitioner has graduated.
If anything is lost, or if a hunter has failed to track a wounded beast, the services of the diviner are called in. The first thing invariably to be done is to pay a fee — large or small, according to the ability of the applicant, and the value of the thing that is to be found. This offered and accepted, the diviner takes a potsherd and breaks into it from a smouldering log a quantity of live coal, and upon this he sprinkles crushed dry leaves of two or three bushes, which smoulder and send out a pungent smoke. Some of the leaves he puts into his mouth. Then grasping the Shimubi, he rubs (kubuwa) upon its head the chewed leaves from his mouth, and putting its head in the smoke begins to talk to it : " You hear what is said. This thing that is lost, discover it. It is an axe. Perhaps it is on the ground, or on a tree, wherever it is, find it. It is you who know where it is." Holding it in his left hand by the head, he takes in the other hand a rattle — made nowadays out of a milk-tin with some pebbles in it — and shaking this he
CH.X LEECHCRAFT • 267
continues his oration. Two men then hold Shimubi, standing one on each side and grasping it with alternate hands, so that the hand of one man is not next to his other. The diviner continues to talk in a plaintive, beseeching tone : " Now, arise and go. ... Go on, man. . . . Where is the road ? . . . Arise, my friend. . . . You know where this thing is. ... Come along, now do." Presently the men holding Shimubi begin to move ; they say the wood draws them and they must follow it. He moves along with them, shaking his rattle and exhorting the chisondo.
The belief in the diviner's power to find things is strongly held by most people, perhaps, though some merely laugh at it. According to the diviners the chisondo never fails. It will, they claim, follow a thief and pick him out of a crowd ; if a beast has been taken off by a lion it will take you to the carcase. How far it really acts, and if it does act what there is in it, we cannot say. We have put a diviner to the test by offering a reward if he would find things we had hidden, but he was not successful. Perhaps we could hardly expect him to be under the circumstances. He had plenty of excuses : that the men holding the chisondo were weak and that Shimubi soon exhausted them, etc. We can quite imagine that often they are successful, through knowing beforehand or through making shrewd guesses.
The diviner has a smaller rod called Shimubi mwaniche (" the young Shimubi "), which he uses in divining the where- abouts of game and in diagnosing disease. The applicant pays his fee and tells him what he wants to know. After going through the doctoring process as before, the diviner sits on the ground with the rod in his hand and talks to it in a low tone. Presently it begins to jerk about violently (puta- puta). He sits absorbed : it is as if the thing were jumping automatically. He asks it, " If we go to-morrow, shall we find Eland ? " Taps.1 " Shall we find them soon ? " No movement. " Shall we have a long search ?" Taps. "Shall we kill ? " Taps, slow, uncertain. And the diviner tells the applicant that if he goes out on the morrow he will find
1 To give the answer "Yes" the rod taps the ground ; by ceasing to move it answers "No." We use "it" in referring to Shimubi] a native would say "he."
268 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
Eland after a long search ; and if he shoots straight and hits it in the heart he may kill, if not, not. An oracle that leaves plenty of loopholes for escape. Others come before starting on a journey to discover whether they are likely to have a prosperous time.
And so in diagnosing a disease. After hearing what the applicant has to say, he talks to the rod, and according to its movements returns an answer ; perhaps that such and such a spirit is offended and wants to be sacrificed to ; or that he must go to a certain doctor and get certain medicine.
Should the head of a family suspect, after two or three members have died mysteriously, that there is bulozhi at work, he calls together the relations to discuss the matter. They decide to consult the diviner, and all go to him in company. Only the members of the family are admitted to the seance. They tell him what they want, and deposit three or four hoes as a fee. Having doctored the Shimubi, the diviner addresses it in such words as these : " O Shimubi, you see these people in trouble ; they are in tears ; they are weeping. They want to know from you the cause of this death. Tell them. If it was lufu Iwa Leza (" a death to be ascribed to Leza "), well, there is nothing for it but to go on weeping. But, on the other hand, if it was caused by a fellow-man — tell us, O Shimubi." Shimubi moves in the diviner's hand : it is attentive. "Go on ! Tell us, was it one man who bewitched those people, one who wished them to die so that he could inherit all their names ? " Shimubi taps vigorously. " No, no, Shimubi, those people died naturally." Shimubi is still. " Well, really, they did die bewitched. Was it a relation who was the warlock ? " Shimubi taps : " Yes." " Was it So- and-so ? " Shimubi taps vigorously. And the diviner turns to the people and points out how Shimubi was silent when natural death was spoken of, and gave its assent when one was spoken of as a warlock. To make doubly sure, he sends them away to make a cock undergo the mwazh'i ordeal.
This diviner says it is not he himself that gives the answer but the chisondo.
(2) Chipa. — The diviner uses one of the ordinary small
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 269
spherical pots. First he washes his hands and face in medicine. Then he takes the head of an axe and fixes it firmly into the ground with the sharp edge upmost. He chews more medicine and spits the juice into the small pot, full of water. He then stands the pot on the edge of the axe, with an arrow on each side resting on the ground to help in balancing it. He holds it in his hands, feeling about till he gets the balancing point. He has asked already what the applicant wants to know, and of course the fee has been paid. He now addresses the pot, keeping up a long incantation in a low voice. He asks it a question and withdraws his hands ; if the pot remains rigid, the answer is " Yes," if it overbalances, the answer is " No."
Once, after the diviner had delivered us an oracle that we should certainly find game on the morrow, we asked him if we could not make the thing speak ; he assured us it was out of the question since we had not the necessary medicine. When we pressed him, he readily allowed us to try. It was in a dirty, tumbledown hut, full of people who had crept in to see what the visitors were doing. We sat solemnly down, and in less time than we can say, luck had it that we got the pot balanced evenly on the axe-edge. The people were amazed : it looked as if he were about to lose his reputation ; but he quickly recovered himself, saying, " Yes, I see what did it. Look at those fragments of the medicine that have fallen under the pot ! "
(3) Kasambi. — This is similar to Chipa, but the pot is balanced on an untwisted piece of bark-string (ikumbo) instead of an axe-edge.
(4) Divining with Axe. — This man divines with an axe, just an ordinary one. He sits with the axe-head towards him, resting on a small narrow strip of iron bent double. He doctors himself and the axe, and then proceeds like the other diviners to ask questions. He keeps hitting it in two directions : down, to fix it on to the iron, and, forward, to try it whether it will move. A forward movement of the axe means " No," keeping still when he knocks it, " Yes." The question we propounded to this diviner was whether all was well at our home. He started to ask the axe questions : "Is there a death ? ... Is there sickness ? . . .
270 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
Are there visitors ? . . ." Finally he said that all was well, everything was as we had left it ; the chisondo had refused to answer except in the negative to all the questions.
(5) Impindo. — The chisondo in this case is a couple of short pieces of dark root, like two bits of slate-pencil, about 1 1 inch long. The diviner also has with him a walking-stick. Out of his bag he takes some drugs which he chews, and spits the juice out on to the stick. He then holds the stick upright in his left hand, while he applies the two bits of root to the stick. The idea is to see whether they will adhere to it ; if they do, the answer is " Yes," if they fall to the ground, " No." Incantations and questions as in the other cases.
In these five kinds of divining the thing addressed is the muzhimo, the ancestral ghost — so the diviners tell us ; it is the. ghost with its supernormal knowledge that guides the chisondo and thus gives the answer. But if we had not been expressly told that, we should certainly have said that the power of divination was in the chisondo itself, and that the medicine was to enable it to perform its office, or, in other words, to release its energy. For it is the chisondo that we heard addressed ; though there was much that we could not catch that might have been addressed to higher powers.
(6) Chilola. — This is divining of a rather different kind. The man has a small calabash, with holes bored around the neck, and containing a whitish medicine. He sits down with this between his legs, tipped somewhat towards him so that he can see into the mouth. He shakes his rattle and begins to talk to the thing, telling who the applicant is, and that it must give a ready answer to his questions. He then turns to the applicant and asks him to sansila, i.e. propound his problem. We reply that we are far from home and have had no news, will he kindly tell us what is going on ? He begins to put the questions. " Any visitors — five — four- three — two — one ? " He looks intently into the calabash as if he could read the answer there, and after each question shakes his head — " No." "Do they live well at the white man's home ? " Nods the head — " Yes." " Any death ? " No. " No woman dead ? " No. " No child dead ? "
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 271
No. " No man dead ? " No. A lot of other questions, and he turns to us with the comforting assurance that all is as we could wish, sixty miles away in our home.
This procedure, while interesting, was less so than the explanation which the diviner gave us afterwards.
There were, he said, two shingvhule ("shades"), each about an inch long, in his calabash : one a man, the other a woman. Who are they ? we asked. " Well, sirs, you know that as the father so is the son. My father divined with this calabash, and he handed me the medicine, so that when he died I should take his place. The male chingvhule in the calabash is that of my father ; the female chingvhule is that of my mother. . . . No, she was not a diviner, but used to go about with my father, and so they still keep in each other's company. . . . When I take the medicine and put it into the calabash it changes into my father and mother, their shingvhule appear in the calabash. They can see things we men cannot see ; and when I ask them questions they answer, and I read the answer." These were his words, noted by us at once. It would seem as if an act of transubstantiation took place in the pot ; or better, as if the medicine had the power of localising the spirits. The man would be helpless without the drugs, so he told us ; but with their assistance he can get into touch with the ghosts and turn their supernormal knowledge to good account.
(7) Kuteka. — Similar to this is the act the Ba-ila call Kuteka, which is their equivalent to crystal-gazing. Un- fortunately, we have always failed to see this done. A mortar (inkidi) is filled witli water, in which musamo is dissolved which makes it black, and the person peering in sees things which are happening, will happen, or have happened at a distance. We have heard of diviners who correctly told the fate of absent people in this way.
(8) Shantukumani. — This is another divining instrument that we have not been able to examine. We have heard of only one person who used it, and she was dead. According to eye - witnesses and the woman's husband, who described it to us, it consists of a small earthenware pot held in the diviner's hand. When asked questions,
272 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
it would speak and deliver an oracle. It sounds like a case of ventriloquism.
(9) By means of a Skin. — The chief, Mungaila, once described to us the way in which he saw a diviner detect a warlock. There was a large company present, and taking in his hands a leopard skin, the diviner, while murmuring incantations, proceeded to put the skin on the shoulders of some of them in turn. Suddenly, to every one's amaze- ment, the skin on being put on a man came to life ; and it was a leopard that fastened its claws into the man's neck and tore him to pieces.
(10) The Makakata. — We have known one or two diviners who used the Makakata, the divining bones, but as they are not native to the Ba-ila but were introduced probably from the Barotsi and have often been described (notably by Mr. Junod l), we refrain from saying more.
(9) THE PRACTITIONERS : (b) The Doctor
As we have before indicated, the knowledge of misamo is not confined to any one class of people. A great many know a few simples, and probably in all families there are a few cherished remedies. The banganga (" doctors ") are distinguished from among their fellows, not by the fact that they alone know of drugs, but that they know more than others and make their living out of the dispensing of them.
As is only natural, these doctors jealously guard their knowledge. We have, however, succeeded in learning something of their practices and secrets. From one middle- aged intelligent doctor we learnt a considerable amount. This man in his younger days was a warrior, and still bears honourable scars gained in the defence of his home against foreign raiders. On his thigh are the marks left by an arrow ; and he tells of a bullet penetrating above the collar-bone and emerging below the shoulder-blade, and points to the scars with pardonable pride. Both these
1 H. A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe (Neuchatel, 1913), vol. ii. pp. 493-5 19.
CH. X
LEECHCRAFT
273
wounds he doctored himself. He derived his knowledge from his grandfather, who in his day was a noted physician.
Photo E. II'. Smith.
A BAMBALA DOCTOR.
The old man used to take him out into the veld and forest, show him the roots and leaves, and explain their uses.
VOL. I T
274 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
We were anxious to get a collection of this man's drugs, not that we might identify and name them botanically, for unfortunately we are not competent to do that, but in order to elicit his ideas of their use. In response to our urgent request, and for a consideration, he brought us upwards of sixty drugs which he named and described. It was in- teresting to note the air of mystery with which he produced these one by one out of a bag made of an entire monkey skin. They were all neatly tied up in bundles, many of them were wrapped and tied securely in pieces of cloth, and others were contained in various receptacles, antelope horns, crocodile teeth, armlets, etc. We have repeatedly noticed this among the doctors : the value of the medicine seems to be enhanced by elaborate tying up. As the practitioner sits down in front of his patient, he assumes an air of the deepest gravity, slowly produces the drug from the mysterious depths of his bag, and proceeds to unroll the various wrappings with portentous solemnity, examining them with close scrutiny as if some part might be missing. It is all done, of course, to impress the mind of the patient with the vast wisdom of the doctor. To deepen the im- pression, the doctor ornaments his person with feathers, antelope horns, and all kinds of the weirdest objects he can pick up. One thing - about them is at once apparent : whatever may be the real therapeutical effect of the drugs, these men are clever, if perhaps to some extent unconscious, practisers of suggestion. Whether that is the intention or not — and it often seems that it is — the things they do have a strong suggestive effect upon the suggestible minds of the patients. Perhaps we should not be wrong if we said that they do more healing by suggestion than by the * direct effect of their drugs. With the same intention, or perhaps we may say with more justice with true religious feeling, the doctor offers up a prayer before administering his drug. Sitting before the patient, he holds in one hand the small calabash containing the medicine, and in the other takes a rattle (musebe) made of round palm fruit on a handle, and as he rattles it he prays something as follows : "-Ndaka- bomba ! I am humble ! It is thou who created this medi- cine and all things. May this person live. Drive away
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 275
witchcraft. Let this medicine make him strong. May he see life ! "
Another strong suggestion as to the value of the drugs is applied in the shape of a fee. Doctors do not practise for nothing. The fee is termed chishishamutenga (" that which enables one to dig up a root "). Unless that fee is forthcoming, or a part of it, beforehand, the doctor professes not to be able to dig up the root, or that it will not work its effect. Usually one payment does not end the matter, and some doctors are very exacting. Frequently one will demand a slave or two, or sometimes as many as ten head
Photo E. W Smith.
A DOCTOR'S OUTFIT.
of cattle. A doctor we know of got £3, an impande shell, a woollen blanket, and four stretches of calico. He was doctoring the patient for four months. He was promised an ox if he worked a cure, but failed. In another case a doctor cured a woman of sores, and claimed and got as pay- ment his patient and another woman as slaves (see p. 395). To return to our doctor and his drugs : we give a de- scription of them here, not that we think the names will be of service to our readers, but in order to show the wide range of one man's practice and to exhibit his ideas about them.
i. Inkandangombe : roots of the Munkandang'ombe tree used to cure a person who has been in any way bewitched. The roots are scraped and the powder mixed with fat and rubbed
276 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. n
on his body ; the core of the root is soaked in hot water and the decoction drunk.
2. Kapululu : roots of a wild plant with a faint odour. Scrapings are smoked in a pipe, and a powder is also rubbed into incisions before cupping. It is used in any painful affection to drive out the disease.
3. Malumbwe : a small tuber ; peeled and eaten, or soaked in water and the liquor drunk, as a cure for chest complaints.
4. Kalangu : a small tuber ; rubbed on a stone and mixed with fat and used to anoint the body of a person to keep off spirits (kutizha luwo).
5. Mufwamba : root of a tree from which an emetic is made by soaking it in hot water, as a cure for kafungo (see p. 234). When the patient vomits he brings up a small white object in which the disease is ; the idea is that if he does not vomit it, it will get into his heart and kill him. The emetic can be used prophylactically, but if he has not already got the disease the person will not vomit.
6. Mukulu-ufumbete : roots of a small bush, used in setting bones (kununga chifua). When a limb is broken, the doctor scrapes this root and cooks the scrapings in a pot, puts them hot in a piece of cloth or skin, and with it manipulates the limb, getting the broken bones in place. He then takes, as a splint, a mat made of stiff thick grass or reeds, called kasasa, and binds it firmly round the limb with strips of bark. This is left on some weeks and is then untied. If necessary, the limb is afterwards worked backwards and forwards to restore the joint's suppleness. This medicine is called also mununga (" the joiner ").
7. Musekese : roots of a tree. A piece is scraped and torn up. A stout fragment is drilled and threaded, and is worn slung under the arm to induce conception ; and scrapings are mixed with fat and rubbed on the woman's body for the same purpose. The root is also soaked in warm water and the liquor used to foment the mouth inside for toothache.
8. Kanembe : root of a tree, used to induce conception. The roots are put to soak in water and the liquor is to be drunk daily every morning for a time. A powder is also made from them and mixed with porridge.
9. Mubimba: roots of a tree used for lushinga (see p. 240). They are soaked in water and the liquor drunk.
10. Mulembela : roots of a tree to keep off evil spirits (tuyobela) . They are scraped, mixed with butter, and rubbed on the body ; a decoction is also drunk.
n. Mufufuma : roots of a tree bearing a violet-like flower. If a person passes over where the after-birth of twins (mabombola) is buried he gets a disease called chinsangwa (a name also given
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 277
to the after-birth), his feet and legs swell, and his head splits across longitudinally down to the nose. This is the remedy. The patient is to sniff the roots, and this draws out the disease. We have seen this drug used for other purposes (see p. 254).
12. Tunkotonkoto : roots of a bush about 18 inches high. This is medicine for enabling a trapper to ensnare game. He mixes scrapings of the root with fat and rubs it on the string of his trap and puts some of it in the hole.
13. Chibubu : roots of a tree used as a remedy for diarrhoea. They are crushed up ; the outside is made into powder and added to flour and eaten : the inside is made into a decoction and drunk.
14. Mubanga : root of a tree used together with Mushi- bampeyo, root of a small bush, as a cure for impotence. The former is split up, warmed over a fire, and rubbed on the male organ ; the latter is powdered and blown into the orifice (kufunta).
15. Mulebelebe : tuberous roots of a plant. The rind is peeled off and the tuber is put into a churn to induce the butter to come (kuzenga mafuta).
16. Mukona : root of a tree. To promote menstruation when it is overdue. A decoction is drunk and an ointment made for rubbing on the abdomen.
17. Mukuba : roots of a small bush, used to promote the growth of grain and to prevent it being witched away by sorcerers. The roots are beaten up and fragments planted with the seed.
18. Mukunku : roots of a small plant. They are crushed and the powder is scattered in a ring around a field to keep away thieves. Should a thief attempt to cross it his knees get dis- located, his sinews dry up, and the owner finds him there helpless. Our doctor gave us instances of this.
19. Chibumbwe : roots of a plant, used together with Mushenshe, the root of a tree, as a remedy for syphilis. The former is put in water and the liquor used to foment the sores, and the latter is powdered and dusted on them.
20. Mubumbwe : roots of a small bush, used with Mukololo, another root, as a remedy for leprosy (chinsenda). The former is used to foment, and the latter to dust on the sores.
21. Shikantjo : tuberous root of a bush, used in midwifery practice. The roots are crushed and rubbed on the midwife's hands, which are then inserted in the vaginal passage, the sides of which are gently stretched. The purpose of the drug is to ease the birth,
22. Muyeye : roots of a small bush, from which a decoction is made and administered to a parturient woman, after No. 21 has been administered ; its use is to promote the birth.
23. Chamamopwe : the roots and stem of a small plant.
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They are burnt in a potsherd and the ashes scattered over the house to keep away witches and their influence.
24. Mumpempe : roots of a bush crushed up and put into a horn and planted at the doorway of a house to keep away witchcraft.
25. Muzhimbididi : the root of a tree. The rind is peeled or scraped off and the inside is put into water and the liquor drunk. It is used by men, lest when having intercourse with women they should catch lushinga — a painful affection — from them. The lushinga might catch a man in the abdomen and work its way down into the genitalia and cause impotence.
26. Chiwezezhi : bulbous roots, crushed up and put into a small horn, which is worn round the neck : its purpose is to keep off witchcraft. It is used also in smithery work. Some of it is put in the inganzo (the kiln) in order to promote the melting.
27. Katoze : the root of a tree, crushed and put into the horn of a large animal, which is placed on the roof of the house, to keep off witchcraft.
28. Muto : roots of a tree used by the digger of game-pits to ensure capturing game. When he has dug the pit he sits by the side of it, closes his eyes and prays : " Ndakabomba, udielele kumpa buzani. No walenga musamo wezo, o banyama wabalenga, ome wanenga, ndakombela buzani" (-"I am humble! Thou shouldst give me meat, thou who hast created this medicine, and hast created animals and created me also, I pray for meat "). He throws this medicine into the pit. The idea is that as he does this with his eyes closed, so animals will not be able to see the pit, but will fall into it.
29. Lubabangwe : the roots of a bush, combined with No. 28 for the same purpose.
30. Malama : roots of a bush, used for chest complaints. Portions of the root are placed in small hollow crocodile teeth and tied round the chest.
31. Imbono : black castor oil seeds. Medicine for warriors, worn in battle so that the weapons of the enemy may not wound them mortally. They dp not ensure entire immunity from hurt, but masumo tashika ku burnt (" the spears will not arrive at the life "). Also a witchcraft preventive. If you wear them the warlock who is thinking of doing you harm will get his heart black, as the seeds are black, and will be unable to do any mischief.
32. A tiny piece of hippo skin worn in a small horn. This also is medicine for warriors. If one is chased by his enemies and jumps into a river, this medicine will prevent him from drowning ; like a hippo, he will be able to stay under water and so escape.
CH. x LEECHCRAFT 279
33. Chalupako : a small section of an orchid stem, worn round the neck by a woman who is suffering from a sore neck.
34. Mululwe : shreds of the seed-pods of a tree. Smoked in a pipe to keep off witchcraft.
35. Mupagapaga : a bulb, crushed up and carried in a horn slung under the arm by a warrior going to battle. He also takes some of it and smokes it in his pipe, saying this : " Koko nkwinja ndielele kuvhwa o bumi, nimbayaye " (" There where I am going let me escape with my life, and kill them "). Wearing this drug ensures, like No. 31, immunity from mortal wounds.
36. Chitulu : root of a bush, used together with Mungunya, the leaves of a tree, as musamo wa luyaso (" spearing medicine "). They are put in a fire and the fisher's spears are held in the fumes to ensure his spearing, and not missing, the fish.
37. Chikalamatanga : root of a bush, taken as snuff for nasal catarrh.
38. Mudimbula : roots of a tree, to cure people suffering from kashita (epilepsy), caused by witchcraft.
39. Munshimbwe : the root of a tree, a decoction of which is administered to sufferers from kashita.
40. Lutende : root and leaves of a bush, put into hot water and the liquor used to wash out the mouth of one suffering from chikunkameno (" bleeding from the teeth ").
41. Mwebezuba : the root of a tree, a decoction from which is administered to a child suffering from kasema, a disease caused by sucking the breasts when the mother is pregnant (see Vol. II. p. 12).
42. Tandabala : 'a small running plant, used to make an ointment to rub on the body of the child suffering from kasema.
43. Chisomwe : the root of a tree, used for inchinko (in- cipient madness). The roots are scraped, crushed, and burnt in a potsherd, and the patient bathed in the fumes.
44. Chikwangala : a running plant, dried and powdered. Some is made into an ointment and rubbed on the body, and some blown into the eyes, ears, and anus of a man with inchinko.
45. Njamukupa : root of a bush, from which a powder is made to cure kafungo (see p. 234). Some is smoked in a pipe and some blown into the nose.
46. Talantambwe : the root of a bush from which an oint- ment is made to rub on the body c«f a person with kafungo.
47. Mununkila : the root of a tree used to cure a man who has lushizhi a menso (" darkness, or dimness, before the eyes," i.e. who is in a fit). The powder from the root is put into a basket and jerked out in front of his eyes as he sits opposite to you.
48. Tagu : root of a bush, used to massage the limbs of a person in a fit.
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49. Mudimbula : the pith of this tree is used with the root of Mufumu tree as medicine to promote conception. A decoction of the former is drunk, and an ointment is made from the latter.
50. Muchinga : the leaves and root of a tree, used to wash the body of a newborn child to make it strong.
51. Mulwe : roots of a tree, used in case a woman shows signs of aborting, in order kukadika mwana, akule atavhwi bubishi (" to make the child stay, so that it may grow and not come out unripe ").
This, then, is the list of drugs used by this doctor. We urge again that we do not guarantee the absolute accuracy of the list, but give it as illustrating their ideas. After this doctor had brought us about fifty of these drugs, we asked him for certain others, the names of which we already knew. We noted the names and he counted them off on his fingers. He brought the number, but after describing some he hesitated over the names and at last asked us to read over the list. He picked out one name and said that was the drug. When he did this a second time our suspicions were aroused that he was humbugging us, so we made up a name to test him. " Mukombo," we said. " Yes," replied he, " that's the name, Mukombo, and it is used as a cure for lukombo (" umbilical hernia "). When we told him what we had done and accused him of cheating us, he adhered unflinchingly to his tale that the drug was Mukombo. To test him further, we took various drugs out of the heap, all carefully numbered according to this list, and asked him the names again. Some days had elapsed since he had described them, but he was able to give the names and describe the uses as we had written them down, which he could hardly have done if he had only given us fictitious names. Probably, therefore, it was only at the end that he had deceived us. It is enough to show with what suspicion a doctor is to be regarded when he professes to let a stranger into his secrets.
PART III
281
CHAPTER XI
*
SOCIAL ORGANISATION
THE principal social groups among the Ila-speaking peoples are : (i) the Family ; (2) the Clan ; (3) the Community. Secondary groups are the Age-grades and other covenanted friendships.
The former do not bear any direct relationship to each other : that is to say, a number of the families does not make up a clan, and a number of clans a community. There are cross-divisions running through them, so that the members of any particular clan belong not to one but to several communities, and a community is made up of members of various families and clans. If we take any community, such as Mala, for instance, we find there many families and many clans, members of which are scattered through the other communities. This cross-division results in a certain amount of cohesion, for the fact of families and clans being dispersed in this way tends to bind the r.ornTrinrijt^s together by natural ties of affection and comradeship. But the further development into a nation has not taken place. There is no more than a congeries of communities loosely bound together by individual ties, not a nation welded together under a single head.
i. THE FAMILY
The domestic establishment among the Ba-ila consists of a man, his wife or wives, their children, the children under his guardianship, sometimes an aged parent, and slaves — all these dependents being grouped comprehensively
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as the man's bana (" children "). These groups are not large. The most numerous family we have seen is that of Chibaluma : we photographed a group of twenty-five,, and there were ten members absent. That is an unusual number. This was our friend Mungalo's family : his father and mother were both killed in a Barotsi raid. He had six wives. The first, Namucheme, died of smallpox, leaving two boys, one of whom died as a child. Mayaba, the head wife, had no children ; Shibusenga, the third, had two children, a girl and a boy ; Mompizho and Kambwila, the fourth and fifth wives, had no children ; the sixth was a girl- wife.
Little need be said as to the duties and privileges of family life, seeing that they differ scarcely at all from those prevailing in European families. There is a strong family affection ; fathers and mothers delight in their children, and do all they know how for their comfort and well-being. The father rules in the family, though his power over it is conditioned by the presence of clan rules, among which is the jule giving the mother's brother greater power than his over the children.
As divorce is so frequent, this group is not stable, but while it exists the members live and work together for their mutual interests, being held together by natural affection. But they do not form a homogeneous group as a family of Europeans do, in which the wife and children all take the father's name. There is no assimilation of clan (mukoa) within this family ; the father is still a member of his clan, and each wife of hers, and if the interests of the clan conflict with those of- the family, the former prevail over the latter, as a natural prevails over an artificial relationship.
A gulf separates a man from his children too, for although they are his and in case of divorce remain with him, yet they are reckoned as members not of his but of their mother's clan, and he has less power over them than their maternal uncles. The father's side of the pedigree is termed the mukwashi ; this is the family par excellence. As the Ba-ila tersely express it : Mukoa ngwa banoko, mukwashi ngwa uso (" The clan is your mother's, the family is your father's "). In a subsequent chapter will be found the terms expressing
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relationship, and it will be seen that a person gives his mother's relations the same titles as he gives his father's ; indeed he will bestow some of the same titles upon those who are related to him only by marriage. But this common usage must not hide from us the fundamental distinction between the mukwdshi and the mukoa : the former the line of descent through the father, and the latter that through the mother.
The nearest equivalent to " home " in Ila is the word uko.1 It coalesces with the personal pronouns : ukwesu (uko-wesu) is " our home " ; k'ukwesu is " at our home " ; Uko tata is " my father's home " ; Uko bama is " my mother' s home." A person is situated very differently in regard to these two homes : uko bama is mine in an entirely different sense from uko tata.
We may illustrate this with reference to certain people named in the pedigree on p. 333. Chimwadi was born at Buzhiba, where also his father, Kayobe, was born ; his mother, Mukamwenda, was from landa. Chimwadi went to Basanga to become chief, and while there married, as one of five wives, Nachiloba, who came from Namwala. While their son, Shamatanga, was still a child, both of them died. He has no recollection of them, but was told later on in life that he belonged to the Banasolwe clan. Chako, a chief at Namwala, being a Munasolwe, is a relation of his, and he was told not to misbehave at Chako' s because it was his mother's home, k'ukwabo banoko. Shamatanga speaks of Namwala as uko bama, and of Buzhiba as uko tata ; he speaks of both places as Buzukuzhi bwangu, i.e. " where my grandparents were." He has a status at Namwala that he has not at Buzhiba ; he calls himself mukamwini inshi (" a possessor of the land "), and he would be eligible for the chiefship there should he be elected. He married Kalubi, from Nanzela, and their eldest child is named after her grandmother Nachiloba ; she is muntu budio, a mere nobody at Buzhiba, her father's father's birthplace ; they will out of politeness speak to and of her as mwanesu (" our
1 The stem of this word (ko) appears to enter into several of the words used in this chapter : mukoa, mukwashi, kameAo, iAowela, chiko, but we cannot explain their etymology.
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child "), but she has no mukoa there. She and all her brothers and sisters have a kameko there, i.e. a half-and-half clan, a pseudo-clan, only. If she is visiting there they may, when offering sacrifices, make an oblation on her behalf (ku mupaidila) , but it will be of water only, because she is not of their clan, and so cannot expect favour from the ancestral spirits of that clan. They give her a cupful of water, and after she has sipped the rest is poured out at the musemu. She is not of their clan ; it is expressly said of her, " wadiata inshi ya beni " (" she is treading the land of others," i.e. is an alien). She is the same at Basanga, her father's birthplace : they call her mwanabo (" their child ''), because it is ukwabo ushe (" her father's home "). But she is an alien. At Nanzela she is on a different footing entirely, for it is ukwabo baina (" her mother's home ") ; there she has clansmen proper.
2. THE CLAN
The clan, then, mukoa, is the line of the mother. The mukoa is totemistic in character, that is to say, the members of a clan call themselves by the name of some animal or plant or natural object between which and themselves they conceive to be a certain relationship, and which they accordingly regard with considerable respect.
In an appendix to this chapter we give a list of ninety- three clans. It has been no easy matter to compile this list, and we are not even now satisfied with it. The difficulties are these. People are often very reluctant to give the names — why, it is not easy to understand. We compiled the list by asking people individually, and afterwards checked it with the aid of old men. This checking has been of help, but it would seem that no man, not even the most prominent of the old chiefs, knows all the clans cor- rectly. Then, a person on being asked his clan may answer you in three ways : he may give you the name compounded of the totem, such as Bananachindwe ; or the name of the place with which the clan is associated, as Ba-Santi ; or again he may give you the name of a prominent member of the clan, or the head, as Ba-Mungaila. They do this
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either out of a desire to mislead or because the name of the totem may not be pronounced or because in course of time it has come to be named from the place or person. Another source of possible error is that the totem often has several names, i.e. the common name and tembaula (i.e. praise) names, and the difficulty is to know whether there is only one or more than one clan under those names. The clan, e.g., of the Buffalo seems to have at least four names : Bananyati (munyati is the common name of the animal) ; Banamusungwa (musungwa is the animal's tembaula name) ; Bana-Mainga (Mainga seems to have been once the head of the clan) ; and Bana-Mbeza (Mbeza is the name of the place). And again the clan itself, apart from the totem, may have a nickname ; the Bamambwe, e.g., are called Banashishiikudya ("Those of I-won't-leave-the-lood"), be- cause some of them once stayed behind eating when they should have been fighting. There are therefore possibilities of mistakes in compiling a list of the clans, and we can only say we have done our best to avoid them.
As to the names of these clans, it will be noticed that they are compounded of the prefix Sana- and the name of an animal, in most cases. This prefix must not be confused with the word bana (" children ") of which the singular is mwana ; the singular of bana- is muna-. In the Congo region there is a similar prefix (muina, bena),1 which is explained by Sir H. H. Johnston2 as meaning brother, brothers ; others have taken it as master, masters. Among the Ba-ila muna- certainly does not mean brother, nor can it be confounded with mwini (owner, master). The na is a possessive particle used largely by the Ba-ila in such words as muwakwangu (" my person "), chiwflkwangu (" my thing"), literally "(thing) it-of-to-me." 3 The mu is a prefix denoting person, living thing, and its plural is ba. So that Munampongo means literally " he-of-the-goat " ; Banampongo " they-of-the-goat." Munakwesu in Ila signifies " my fellow-clansman."
The names of the animals are not always those-in common
1 See the list of Baluba clans, Appendix II. p. 313.
2 George Grenfell and the Congo, vol. ii. p. 684.
3 See E. W. Smith, Ila Handbook (London, 1907), p. 98.
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 289
use to-day. Thus the Ila word for lion is shumbwa, and the word nkalamo, which is part of the clan name Bankalamo, is rarely heard ; but nkalamu is the ordinary name for lion in Lenje, Lala, Senga, and Wisa. We must suppose, therefore, either that this clan has immigrated from some- where among those people or, what is more likely, that at some remote date, when the Ba-ila formed one people with those tribes, they had the same name for lion. For some reason the Ra-ila have lost the name while the others have kept it. The word kotale, which gives its name to the Banakotale, the crocodile clan, is also not Ila, but in the form of ntale is used by the Balenje.
We give in an appendix to this chapter the names of a few clans we have known among neighbouring peoples ; it will be seen that some of them are the same as Ila clans. Some of these clans among the Ba-ila are demonstrably foreign, e.g. the Batunga ; perhaps they all are. The presence of such clans seems to indicate immigration ; and could we have a full list of all the clans in these neighbour- ing tribes it would probably throw light upon the ancient movements of the people now described as I la-speaking.
Why do a number of people associate themselves with and call themselves by the name of a particular class of animals, plants, or things ? The clans are connected in some way, as we shall see, with certain localities, and it might be thought that the totem is an animal or plant living or growing especially in those places. But none of the totems is sufficiently localised to support such a conjecture. Duikers and lions and pigeons and baobab trees, and what not, are found in every district ; so we must certainly rule out that suggestion. We must also reject the theory by which Dr. Theal tried to account for the remnants of totemism among the tribes of South Africa. The Ba-ila do certainly believe in transmigration ; but there seems to be little or no connection between their totemism and their conceptions of metempsychosis. The only suggestion of this that we have had came from Mungaila, who once told us that all the Bakubi turn into matoshi (see Vol. II. pp. 128 sq.) on their death.
The Banachibizi do not pass after death into zebras,
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nor the Banasulwe into hares. The number of the animals into which the Ba-ila do pass, or believe they pass, is, as we shall see in a later chapter, strictly limited in number ; and people of any clan can pass into them — into lions, for example. We cannot indeed find in the facts before us any reason to support any of the current theories as to the origin of Totemism. Nor is that to be wondered at. The Ba-ila are far from ranking among the most primitive people of the world ; they are far advanced beyond the Australian aborigines, for example, who know nothing of working in metals or of agriculture. Sir James Frazer may find justifica- tion in their ignorance of elementary physiological facts for his " conceptional " theory, but, whatever it may have been in the past, any such theory would now only provoke the Ba-ila to ridicule. Like the Australians, the Ba-ila believe implicitly in reincarnation, but not without the ordinary pro- cesses of nature. With Sir James Frazer's theory in mind we put the question to one of the oldest men in the country, whether he had ever heard, or whether his fathers had ever told him, of a child being born in that manner. Without any hesitation, and with the air of one who closes a subject with a word, he asked, " Did you ever know of a cow calving without a bull ? " A pastoral people are not likely to remain in ignorance of such matters.
We cannot hope, in fact, to offer any suggestion as to the origin of Totemism. We have put questions in various forms, direct and indirect, to many people, and have specially questioned the old men as to what they learnt from their fathers, but no rational answer can be obtained. Nor can we offer our readers any legends like those recorded by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen, and other writers. The totem is regarded as a relation, but how or why it is so they can offer no explanation. Leza, we are told, caused the ancestor and his totem to descend together in the beginning, and some suppose that once the totem was a person ; te.g. Mungalo said that the momba (" hornbill "), his totem, was once a man, how it became a bird he did not know ; but we have got no further than that.
What is certain is that many, if not all, the clans are associated in the minds of the people with certain localities.
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The Bananyungwe, for example, wherever they live, assign the birth of their clan to Kane : " nku wakasokeia " (" that is where it originated "), they say. Now we are not to look to the Ila country for the real place of origin of their clan system, but must find some other explanation for that phrase. Seeing that the system prevails, or can be shown to have prevailed in the past, over, perhaps, the whole of the Bantu region of Africa,1 we are justified in thinking that it existed in their original "home before they separated. The first Ba-ila who came would already be divided up into clans. Divided up in what way ? If the descent was reckoned through the father, then we may suppose that a section of the invaders was made up of members of a single clan ; and settling at a certain place their clan would afterwards be always associated with that district. That gives an easy explanation of the fact, but we should then have to account for the change in reckoning descent from the father to the mother. We believe it to be established that female descent is older than male descent, and while there are instances of a change from female to male descent, there are none from male to female. We may take it, then, that the Ba-ila when they first came reckoned, as they reckon now, the descent through the mother ; and conse- quently any one section was made up of several clans and not of a single clan. We can imagine a man of the Nyungwe clan settling with his followers at Kane ; his wives would be of other clans, and his children would belong to their mothers' ; his other followers might or might not be of his clan, but because he was the chief of that place his clan name would be associated with Kane by members of other communities, and in time the idea would prevail that the clan originated there. His daughters would be married into other communities by members of different clans ; his sons would bring home their wives from other clans ; so that, even were it possible for Kane to have been originally inhabited by Bananyungwe only, there would soon be many clans there. It is in this way that we may venture to explain the facts as we find them to-day, that the clans,
1 See the large collection of facts in Sir James Frazer's monumental work, Totemism and Exogamy (London, 1910), vol. ii.
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while being each of them associated with a definite locality, are not limited to it, but are dispersed over the whole country.
For these clans are exogamous. That, at least, is quite certain. A Lechwe may not marry a Lechwe, nor a Leopard be married by a Leopard. No marriage is recognised within the clan. Members of different clans living in the same village may marry ; but though they live even a hundred miles apart, if they are of the same clan, they may have neither regular nor irregular intercourse. As love not only laughs at locksmiths but also, on occasion, dis- regards all laws, human and divine, cases have happened even of endogamous marriages, but they are regarded with the utmost abhorrence. Cases have happened in ignorance also, and, though it is difficult to believe, the clan relation- ship only discovered after marriage was consummated. No punishment is meted out to the offenders ; the marriage is simply dissolved, or they are left, if they wish it, to meet the inevitable fate of those who break a taboo.
Should two such people remain in wedlock a curious complication would ensue in their mutual relationship on the religious side. Pambala pamhala mnzhimo tokaki mwini is a saying which indicates that an ancestral ghost, the muzhimo, will not refuse to hear those of his own family, but will certainly not pay heed to those of another. Con- sequently a husband will not pray for his wife, nor a wife for her husband ; the muzhimo helps only his own people. Now, if they were both of the same clan the extraordinary sight might be witnessed of a "man praying for his wife, or vice versa ; to us that would seem the right and natural thing to do, but simply because it is not done a'mong the Ba-ila they say it ought not to be done : it is taboo. So that there is, indirectly, a religious as well as a social sanction to the exogamous system.
We have never seen or heard of any ceremonies being carried out for the purpose, e.g., of increasing the totem. Whether ever any such existed, as they exist to-day among the Australian tribes, we cannot say ; but if so they have long since faded away from the memories of the oldest men. The Totemism of the Ba-ila exists as a feature of their social
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organisation, not as part of their religion. The only semi- religious feature in it is the reverence in which the totem is held. In the case of the animal-totems this is shown in their not being killed or eaten by the clan. If you ask a man whether he eats his totem, he will protest vigorously against the idea ; he will say it is musazhima (" my kins- man "), or that it is mulemu (" honoured "). Katumpa, of the dog clan, when asked if he ate dogs, said, " Shall I eat a man ! " Yet this is not now a universal feeling. In this respect the totemism of to-day is a degeneration. Old men will refrain from killing or eating where young men will have no scruples. One young man said when we asked whether he would eat his kinsman, the lion, " Yes, even if it had just devoured my father I would take him out of its stomach and eat the lion." Generally speaking, we may say that where the totem animal is edible the younger men will eat it, and will only refrain when the animal is in itself unpalatable. Thus the Bakubi clan, whose totem is the vulture, the Bachiwena (Crocodiles), the Banaumpe (Wild- dogs) do not, and are hardly likely to break the ancestral custom ; while on the other hand the Bono, whose totem is cattle, the Basanti (Oribis), Banakonze (Hartebeestes), etc., are strongly tempted to eat, and as a matter of fact the younger generation do eat, the totem. In former days the Bono refrained not only from eating beef but also from drinking milk.
In respect to totems other than animals and birds we can hardly understand in what ways reverence was shown them. The Banamaila could hardly have refrained from eating grain or the Batunga from drinking water.
The mode of transmitting the clan also shows, we think, that the system is breaking down, or at any rate changing. The rule is for the child, whether male or female, to take its mother's clan. In making our list we had columns ruled showing in each instance the father's and mother's clan, and asked each person to state what they were. In a very few instances the man named his father's clan as his own, but otherwise all gave theirs as the mother's. We are justified in saying, therefore, that this is the general rule. On the other hand, if the question is put directly, " Do you
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 295
take your mother's or your father's clan ? " the answer varies. Some have said they take the father's, others the mother's, and others again that they take both. The latter means, as we have pointed out to them, that one person will have many clans, two at least from each parent : they have agreed with this, while affirming that the true mukoa is that of the mother. One of our most trusted informants said this : " The clan of a person is manifold : on the mother's side is his clan, and on the father's side too. Those born with his father are all of his clan, and those born with his mother. Those of his mother and the grand- parents who bore the mothers are his clan ; and the ancestors who bore his father are his clan too. All these are his clans, not pseudo-clans (mikoa itadi ibeshd), but patent to everybody." But in another connection he always spoke of the father's and grandparent's clan as kameko or kamekomeko only, i.e. half-and-half clans. We have heard him speak, too, of the ordinary covenants of friendship as mikoa. " One kind of mukoa," he said, " pertains to food. When a man is desperately hungry he will call to another, ' My clansman, don't you see I need food ? ' But this is no true clan. The true clan is that which appears when you are in trouble, when you are bereaved or ill and a clansman comes to see you : that is a clanship that is not of porridge ! Another clan is an acquaintanceship merely (ndikowela budio), not a true clanship ; you simply get to know each other and you call it a mukoa, because you eat and drink together. The true clan is of your father and mother who gave birth to those who were born with you. How are they the real mukoa ? Because they help you in all your troubles, they stand by you to death and everything else that comes to you — that is the great and true mukoa." Another said, " One kind of covenant among the Ba-ila is the mukoa — very long and unfailing. You and your friend hold each other ; you become firmly united chikaminwe, i.e. as the fingers are united in the hand ; if you are sick your friend comes to see you, and if you are bereaved he comes to weep with you, and you do the same for him. Of such a firm friendship you can say, it is no longer a covenanted friendship but an
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unfailing mukoa." This seems to imply that the word mukoa is being extended to cover not only a person's relations on both sides, but also others who act towards him as genuine friends, i.e. embracing all that the Ba-ila include in kameko, ikowela, milongo.
It seems inevitable that once the distinction between kameko and mukoa is obliterated, and a person takes several clan names, the exogamous system as it has existed must collapse.
One rule which may explain some of the exceptional cases mentioned above is that the children of a bondwoman married to a freeman take the father's clan, generally if not always. Such a child is often preferred for the position of chief of the community of which the father was a member, because he is much more likely to have the interests of the place at heart than a man the mother of whom was a free-* woman whose mukoa was in another community. The children of such a woman — she is called Mwanakashiila (kushia, " to leave ") — may probably return to her home after her death ; but those who take the father's clan are fixtures.
The clan is a natural mutual-aid society, the members being bound to render their fellows all the help they can in life. Members of one clan are, if we may use Biblical language, members also of one another. A member belongs to the clan, he is not his own ; if he is wronged they will right him ; if he does wrong the responsibility is shared by them. If he is killed the clan take up the feud, for he belongs to them ; if a daughter of the clan is to be married they have to give their consent first. Ba-ila who have never met before will at once be friends if it turns out that they are of the same mukoa. If one has the misfortune to become a slave his clansmen will contribute his redemption price. To some extent the same solidarity applies even to foreigners if they are of the same clan as any Ba-ila. If a Muluba comes to a village, and in response to a question says he is a Munampongo ("a Goat"), then any Banampongo in the village will show him hospitality, for though of another tribe he is a clansman. In short, a man's prosperity is that of the clan : a man's loss is that of the clan.
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 297
In illustration of this we will here transcribe a translation of a passage that was dictated to us by one of the Bansange, the Kestrel clan :
" If I hear that they have killed a Munsange, why, I go there to fight. Perhaps I meet an elder Munsange who dissuades me, saying, ' Don't do that, let us talk over the matter, so that the affairs may end by the mouth.' On that account I desist. The heads of the Bansange discuss their intentions ; perhaps they say ' Pay ' to the man who killed the Munsange. Or they ask, ' What is to be done to him ? ' So they talk and decide upon making him pay. So, if he is the member of a clan, he and all his clansmen begin to pay what the Bansange, whose the deceased was, decide. Whether it is ten cattle, he pays, or whether it is people as slaves, he pays. Why, then, the judgement is executed. If it be a man by himself who has no clansmen who stand behind him, they take possession of him. He becomes the property of all the Bansange, and they call him ' Our man.' When he is taken in this way, he lives with the head of the Bansange. Again, if there be one who is going to marry or be married, the same thing happens. All the clansmen consult together and say, ' The child is to be married.' Whether it be the daughter of the head of the Bansange, or of any clansman, they consult with the heads all together. But these things they do not tell the young Bansange, but only the elders. They converse, having met together and sitting in one place. Then one of the heads, when they name the man who is to marry her, objects, saying, ' That man is not to marry the child, our daughter ; he has misbehaved himself.' Whether he is poor, or something else, has a bad character, is a passionate fellow, or an adulterer, or a thief, anyhow he objects to him, and he, the elder of the Bansange, refuses him. Others who wish very much for him to marry her, when he speaks thus, they, his fellow-elders, object, and say, ' Let her be married. What's wrong with him you forbid ? If he is a rascal, his rascality is his own, and as for the girl let her be married.' The other answers them, ' Do you give her in marriage yourselves, I don't wish her to be married by that person.' On that the other elders agree, and begin
298 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
to talk about the chiko,1 saying, ' Let him pay (kwa) I Let him pay a lot ! Twenty ! ' They tell him who is to marry, ' Pay twenty head, for we refuse to let her simply be married for little, by you, because you do not marry well, they say you are not a good character.' Upon that the man does not worry himself, for he also has his clan, and he goes back, goes to talk with his clansmen, saying, ' They have given me a girl to marry, and for the chiko they want the amount of twenty, do you contribute.' They agree together, and begin to make contributions : they give (pa) the Bansange the chiko, twenty head ; they receive them, and the girl goes to be married. The elder who receives the twenty head as chiko takes out perhaps four cattle for himself, he takes out three and gives them to the one of next importance, then he takes out two and gives the next, then he takes out two and gives the next after the third, then he takes one and gives to the most important of the clansmen (not an elder) of the Bansange, and so he goes on giving them one by one to the clansmen, the ' brothers ' of the girl. There remain perhaps three ; if she has grandparents who bore her father and mother they give them two of them. The remaining one, which is taken by the people of the girl's mother, is called ' The one of the mother's girdle ' (nja mukaku owa baina}."
From these particulars we can see that in many respects the mukoa is a beneficent institution. It has acted as a unifying force between the various communities, and has softened that spirit of hostility which regards every one living outside a person's neighbourhood as his enemy. Yet, on the other hand, there is something to be said for those who, like Mr. Dudley Kidd,2 trace the mental stagnation of the Africans to the effects of this clan system.
3. THE COMMUNITY
We use the word community as the equivalent for the Ila word Chishi, the plural of which is shishi, or generally
1 For the meaning of Chiko see Vol. II. p. 48. It may incorrectly be termed " the bride-price." But notice above,' while for lack of a better word we translate Kwa by " pay," when they speak of the chiko they say pa, " give," not dia, " pay."
2 See his Kaffir Socialism, p. 258.
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 299
mashi, the prefix ma- being an augmentative. Perhaps the word commune would be better, for chishi connotes not only the body of people but also the locality in which they live. The whole of the Ila country is distributed among these communities, which number about eighty. They vary in size and population, the largest being Kasenga with about 3000 people ; others have no more than 100, some even less. They consist sometimes, as at Lubwe and Bambwe, of one very large village and several small ones, or of a number of villages of more equal size. The land is strictly demarcated between the communities (see p. 387).
The inhabitants of a chishi are made up of two classes — freemen and slaves ; the former are Ba-ila par excellence, the latter are bazhike, i.e. " the buried," of no status. But it is not possible to draw a hard and fast line between them, for freemen are liable to be degraded into slavery, while slaves may gain their freedom and even be elevated to the chief ship.
The rule of the communities is in the hands of chiefs and headmen, all of whom have the name bami (sing, mwami) . The tendency now is to call the latter bankoshi, a foreign term, and so distinguish between them, but the Bwila usage is to put them more or less on an equality ; the chief is more primus inter pares. Each chishi has its chief, and each village, or each segment of the large villages, has its headman. The chief and headmen form a council which settles disputes and judges cases. There are evidences that in former times many of the mashi were grouped under one supreme chief (see Chap. XXII.), but to-day there are no chiefs with the authority that Munyama and Malumbe wielded. Each chishi is entirely independent. Where, as at Kasenga, there is a chief over a number of small communities, his authority outside his own village is little more than nominal.
The Chief
We will first transcribe in English two accounts given us in Ila of the selection of a chief :
' The chiefs and headmen select their fellow-chief in an assembly after the funeral of the deceased chief. In
300 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
setting about the selection of the heir, they call over the names of his ' children ' and nephews, and then discuss among themselves whom they shall install, saying, ' Who shall it be ? Let it be a proper man from among his " children " or his nephews.' And then comes the argument. Because some wish to put in a ' child ' whom they think a suitable heir, but others when his name is suggested are hesitant and doubtful, and do not haste to agree, or if they seem to agree it is not heartily (babaingwila ku ntumba ya miozo, ' they will answer from the outside of their hearts '). Or they speak out and say, ' He whom you wish to install to-day, has he left off doing certain things he is used to doing ? Is he really competent to rule (kulela) the people ? ' The others, hearing this, reply : ' Well, name the one you consider the proper person.' So they put forward the name of their candidate for the chief ship, saying, ' We wish for So-and-so, one of the deceased's nephews, he is the proper person.' The others in their turn hesitate, and in silence turn the matter over in their minds, and at last say, ' We agree. Let your candidate be installed.' So they come to a decision. And the ' child ' of the chief, if he does not fall in with it, will leave the village : there is no room there for him who thought that the chiefship should be his ; there cannot be two chiefs. The chiefs can only put one in the deceased's place ; if a chief leaves many ' children ' they cannot give the position to all. And they do not select one without wealth, for he has to pay the deceased's debts, and also the debts of his ' children ' that the deceased should have paid. It is not for them to put in one simply on the ground of relationship ; no, the one they install is he whom they see to be the able man : that one is the chief. Still it is true that some chiefs are chiefs only in name (mbami ibando budid), they are unable for chiefship and affairs. But a chief is selected for his judgement and consistent good character (buswe bwakwe bwa shikwense) ; because they all see that if they place him in the position he will be able to rule (lela) all the deceased's people. Now when he is installed, he goes to seek medicines from the doctors, for his protection against warlocks. He protects himself to such an extent that he
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 301
may be said almost to become a warlock himself ; that is to say, he gets the genuine medicine, so that if a person plans his destruction or having a complaint against him, wishes him evil, that person will not rise well from his bed, but will rise with a body diseased ; and seeing that, the people will know that the chief has drunk medicine and is not to be plotted against. That is why chiefs drink these medicines when they are installed — to ward off warlocks and those with complaints against them, so that they should have no strength in their devices. And for building a village he also ' eats ' medicine ; not to say, he eats it by the mouth, no, but he invites one who has it, saying, ' Give me medicine for building a new village,' or he says, ' Come and help me to build.' That is to say, ' Come and doctor the site of my village.' The doctor puts in pegs of medicine in front of the site of his hut, at the doorway, and around it, on every side ; and also all around where the stockade of the village is to be. All these medicines he provides himself with (lit. ' he eats '), and so by protecting himself walema, he gets ' heavy,' dignified ; the people recognise his chiefship ; wazosha ku bantu, he is revered, feared, by the people. But if he goes too far with his medicines they will spoil him : he becomes a warlock. Suppose he sets out to follow the warlocks : and wherever he hears there is a doctor with medicine for such and such an evil purpose goes to him and learns its uses — perhaps getting as many as five medicines from him — well, that means he is no longer honest, no, he is mixing up with witchcraft. Apart from the medicines for self -protection, he is desirous of witchcraft. When he has a quarrel with a friend, he says, ' Let me fold up my heart (novhunge mozo) to hate him ' ; then comes warlockry — the man dies, he of whom the chief said, ' As we have quarrelled, let us never speak together again.' So the chief becomes a war- lock, and never comes back to his former nature, because of heaping up medicines. And they say of him, ' The chief has a great many medicines for self-protection, and also witchcraft-medicine he knows it all, there is none that he does not know.' '
The other account says :
302 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
" He who is to be a chief comes to it while still a lad ; people who see him say, ' That boy will be a chief some day.' Why ? Because he behaves well to people when he has to do with them. His subservience to the elders in listening and obeying is what makes them say, ' He is a chief.' He grows up in that way, with his good-heartedness to people in giving and talking nicely with them always. And so it conies to pass that just as people said he would be, so in time he becomes. That is the nature of chiefship. Others are like this : they are reformed characters (mbampi- takati ku nsoko). A man, say, was a shiluchea (' a rogue '), and then at some time becomes honest, and when they see the change in him they say : ' So-and-so is an honest man to-day, he has given up such and such habits, to-day he is a chief,' i.e. what he does he does in a way worthy of a chief. Others again are not fit for chiefship. Many do things notwithstanding they were born for better. One becomes a vagabond, another a warlock, another an adulterer. Perhaps his younger brother, his inferior, becomes the chief and rules many. To rule is to do well in affairs, to give food to people. He builds a large village. He gets the reputation of being a great chief. Whereas others are chiefs only in name (mbami budio ibando), that is to say, the name is of chiefship, but if his subject gets into trouble he is unable to settle the affair for him, nor is he able to pay a fine for him. Such a man is no chief : he has the name only : in matters pertaining to his position, settling his subjects' affairs and ruling them (kulela) in food and other things, he is no use. A chief has this said of him, ' lula o mwami ndichenga ' (' In a bargain a chief is worsted '). That is to say, if a subject has a thing ever so small the chief must give him liberally in exchange. A chief has no bad people : no, all his people to him are good. He knows them well, just as they know his very nature. If a man becomes a chief, and he hears one backbiting him, he says nothing ; if one curses him he lets him alone ; if a subject destroys his things he takes no notice. As for the chiefs of Bwila, in all their villages when they marry women, he only who does not like sleeping with women does not sleep with his chief's wives ; any one who wishes sleeps with
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 303
them ; the chief knows it, but he does not kill them, nor does he drive them out : all he says is, ' You, my dependents, why do you sleep with my wives ? '
To these accounts we may add some remarks by way of elucidating the several points.
The questions of succession are involved with those of inheritance. To succeed a person is kudyaizhina (" to eat the name"), the successor is called Mudyezhina ("Eater of the name "), and actually adopts the deceased's name. A man may have several " names," in the sense that he himself has succeeded to positions held previously by two or three men; in that case his successor may continue to " eat " all the names, or three other men may each take one. Eating the name involves inheriting a proportion of the property, but not all. A certain amount is called lukono, and is distributed amongst people who are said to kona. There is no essential difference between a chief and ordinary people in these respects, for every man and woman has some successor who " eats the name," and, if they have property, people who kona ; but of course in the case of a chief, on account of his position and wealth, it is a more serious affair.
While the mourning ceremonies for the deceased chief are still in progress, a council is held to decide the succes- sion and inheritance. This is the business primarily of the clan, assisted by other elders of the community and friends. The first step is to select the mudyezhina.
Where the deceased upon his death-bed has expressed his wishes on the subject, the matter is comparatively easy, and grave reasons must be adduced for setting his decision aside.1 Where, on the other hand, there are several claim- ants who, with their partisans, are indefatigable in pressing their several claims, vehement discussion and recrimination abound, and perhaps not for three days is the selection of the principal heir finally made.
In some districts the heads of two neighbouring com-
1 Captain Dale reports (April 1919) that this method of appointing a successor is growing in favour. When, at the end of 1917, Kakobela died, Shaloba endeavoured to exercise his right in appointing the heir, but the community insisted upon having the chief nominated by Kakobela on his death-bed.
304 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES FT. HI
munities have a reciprocal right (or claim the right) to appoint each the other's successor. Such an arrangement holds between the chiefs of Lubwe and Bambwe ; when Shaloba dies Kakobela takes the lead in appointing his successor, and then when Kakobela dies the new Shaloba appoints his heir.
The principle of the selection is expressed in the proverb : " Mwami t'azhala mwami " (" A chief does not beget a chief "). That is to say, no person succeeds to a chiefship merely in virtue of his birth, as the son, brother, or nephew of the deceased. Among the Nanzela people the succession is matrilinear, i.e. descends to the brother, or the sister's son, but in Bwila the selection is free ; the brother, son, nephew, or uncle may be chosen, but not necessarily so. In theory, at least, any person may be chosen ; indeed sometimes a slave is elevated to the position. At Kasenga, for example, the largest of the communities, the chief Mungaila II., although he represents himself as the nephew of the late chief, was really his slave, being what is called an inkudila- mudiango (" one who grows up at the doorway "), i.e. a boy bought as a slave and reared in his master's house. The clan relationship of the deceased chief is respected in so far that in selecting the heir an endeavour is made to find a suitable successor of the same clan ; thus when a Munasolwe dies they seek a Munasolwe in his place. If there is none forthcoming they may take, say, a Munampongo, but in so doing they cause the Banasolwe to ditaya to the Banampongo ; no evil consequences are anticipated to either clan. The heir, if of a different clan, may take as a courtesy the clan of his predecessor. Another point that may affect the selection is the doctrine of reincarnation ; where the spirit of a man of parts is believed to have returned to earth in the person of a youth with claims to the chiefship, this may well weigh down the scale in his favour. One such case is known to us. But while the question of clan and reincarnation may enter, we believe we are absolutely correct in stating that the main principle underlying the selection, and weighing possibly against strong claims of kinship, is the ultimate good of the community. This has always been apparent in the numerous cases we have known since the
CH.XI SOCIAL ORGANISATION 305
old days have passed away and usurpation is rendered im- possible. In certain cases men of some status and importance as the sons of a wealthy chief have reverted to the position of ordinary members of the community on their father's death, and we have known the change spoken of with commiseration. As our informants quoted above have indicated, a man's character, primarily, and his wealth, secondarily, are regarded in the selection. They want a man, wise, good- hearted, with capabilities for rule and conciliation. The question of wealth is also important, for according to the proverb, " Bulemu bwa lulu ndisanga " (" The fearsomeness of an ant-hill is the long grass upon it "), i.e. in the long grass may be lurking a leopard or lion, and so you give it a wide berth ; in its application the maxim means that what causes a man to be respected is his posses- sions. A chief may gain wealth after his installation, but he needs to have some to start with in order to fulfil his obligations.
He gains through fines paid to the clan and community of which he takes the lion's share ; offerings and gifts from black and white ; fees paid by strangers for the right to hunt, or fish, or build ; an occasional share of chiko outside his clan or family and a good share of chiko within the same.
We have heard of instances of the succession being determined by means of a trial of skill among competitors. One such case was at Itumbi. Shimaponda, the first chief, on his death-bed nominated Momba ; but others were proposed. To settle the matter several competitions were held, in one of which a large-eyed needle was thrown into a pool and the candidates were set to fish for it with their spears. The one who succeeded in spearing it through the eye was to be chief. Momba was the only one who succeeded, and he became chief.
To this heir is allotted the majority of his predecessor's wives, cattle, and chattels, and it is his duty, with the assistance of others, to distribute the return presents of cattle, etc., to those who brought oxen to slaughter at the funeral. It occasionally happens, when the deceased is more respected than wealthy, that the inheritance is ex- hausted, and the heir has to draw on his private herd in
VOL. i x
306
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
order to satisfy all claims. Each mourner who brings and is allowed to slaughter a beast is awarded a portion of the estate as his Inkono ; thus a near relative may slaughter a big ox and go away with two or three cows ; another man may kill a calf out of respect to the deceased's memory and lead away a small ox. Occasionally a man who is not welcome is told that the inheritance is distributed and he must take back his ox : this usually happens when the mourner's presence is prompted by avarice.
FATHER AND SONS.
The inheritor of " the great name " being chosen, another may be elected to " eat the lesser name." To him is awarded an inheritance smaller in proportion ; thus, if the first heir takes over six wives, the second may only take three and a lesser number of cattle ; while even a third heir whose claims are strong may be consoled with one hut or wife. In addition to the actual inheritance the heir takes over all claims pending and all debts due to or by the deceased. Frequently a man seizes the opportunity of a death to pounce down upon the heir for payment of medicine supplied to the deceased possibly ten or fifteen
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 307
years before, or to prefer some equally preposterous claim. The heir, therefore, has a most harassing time for months after his selection, and being quite unable to distinguish accurately between the fictitious and the true is sometimes eventually reduced to poverty.
One of our informants quoted above makes much of the " medicines " acquired by the chief which lend him dignity and power. This must not be taken to mean that all Ba-ila chiefs are renowned for their magic prowess. Outside of the Bwila proper we are told of Malumbe and Longo (the Busala chief tainess) , who were great magicians ; and Monze, the well-known Batonga chief, was famous far and wide for his rain-making powers. But to-day, as far as we know, no Ba-ila chief is distinguished in this manner. Still it is undoubtedly the case that the chiefs do supplement their natural powers of ruling by recourse to the occult, and in so doing impress the minds of their people with their superior dignity.
The word applied to a chief's relation to his people is kulela : in the extracts given above we translate it "to rule," but it has this only as a secondary meaning. Kulela is primarily to nurse, to cherish ; it is the word applied to a woman caring for her child. The chief is. the father of the community ; they are his children, and what he does is to Ida them. This involves maintaining their interests against neighbouring communities, settling their disputes in council with the headmen, helping to pay their debts, etc. It is not, we think, an enviable position to rule an independent people like the Ba-ila community, especially in these days when so much of the chief's power is inevitably sapped through the advent of European administration. Shaloba hit the nail on the head when he said in an epigram : " Bwami mbuzhike" (" Chiefdom is serfdom"). Yet the dignity of being the head of a fine community, of having a band of drummers to wait upon one, to be eulogised in flattering terms on great occasions, of being looked up to as the father and arbitrator — these make the position worth having. Among his duties and privileges may be mentioned the following. He allocates new grazing grounds when obtainable. (He cannot touch the old grounds.) It is for
308 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. in
him to admit or to veto the admittance of strangers as mem- bers of the community. He can, in certain circumstances, demand a tax to be paid. It is for him to settle the dates for wila-ing and bola-ing (see pp. 131 sq.) ; it is his privilege to partake first of the first-fruits. It is his duty to take the initiative, in conjunction with the diviner, in ridding the community of warlocks and witches. In time of war he is the commander-in-chief of the army.
4. SECONDARY SOCIAL GROUPS
A covenant of friendship (mulongo) is something greatly esteemed among the Ba-ila. Some of the covenants are of a private nature and have little social significance. Two men, for example, enter into a friendship for the purpose of an exchange of wives, which lasts as long as it is agree- able to all concerned. Other temporary covenants are entered into for the exchange of food and medicines. A binding covenant is that of blood brotherhood, named mulongo wa maninga. Each of the two men cuts his arm and sucks the other's blood, as the sign and seal of their vow, binding them not to refuse each other anything. One says : " As we thus drink each other's blood, if I come to ask anything of you whatsoever, will you refuse me ? " The other replies, " No, I will give you anything and every- thing you ask of me." Having exchanged this promise, they must keep it till death. If one breaks the vow he will die kambo ka buloa (" on account of the blood ").
The most important socially of these friendships is that called musela (" the age-grade "). The parties to this are all men, and all women, born in the same year ; and those who have been through the initiation ceremonies in the same year. There is a special term which these people apply to each other, musama. To address a person by that title who is not of your musela is a fault. A man's, or a woman's, particular friends, then, are those of his or her age-grade ; the outward sign being in the case of men the simultaneous growth of the impumbe, and in the case of women the similar stage of development in the breasts. But it is also reckoned that as a secondary musela a man or
CH. xi SOCIAL ORGANISATION 309
woman counts all those who belong to his or her father's and mother's age-grade. The members of a musela have certain privileges in the way of liberty of speech. As we shall see in a subsequent chapter, Ba-ila have a fine sense of personal dignity, and it is a grave fault to speak to a man in such a way as to bring him into ridicule, or to curse him. Now these rules are in abeyance when one man is addressing another of the same musela. As one of our informants expresses it : " The members of a musela will curse each other always with bad curses. They will run each other down. If one of them becomes poor or a coward or a lazy person, they will always deride him ; if he is brave (mukadi) his fellows will love him very much. But a lazy one, no, they do not love him. He who brings them into disrepute, how can they love him ? The musela must always be strong in this way. If you are not strong to bear being derided and cursed by your fellows, you will weep tears, even if you are already of mature age. If you are not strong in heart to face the curses with which your friends curse you, you will revolt and perhaps deny your musela. The musela of your father is yours also ; you may curse him just as his fellows curse him, saying : ' You lay with your mother. You lay with your sister.' You need not be afraid ; not a bit. Even if it be a chief of the same musela with your father or mother, you may curse him just as you curse one of your own age-grade. That is how a musela is strong in not being scrupulous about elders. As your father's and mother's age-grades are also your own, you will curse all their members as you curse your own — with curses, calumnies, derogations, ridiculings, and mockings at th'em and their belongings. There is a saying : Misela, misela (' There are age-grades, and age-grades ') ; one may be of energetic people, another of lazy-bones ; others again hard-hearted, or courageous ; one may be of lazy vagabonds, people with nothing (bapushi bapapa), like bare trees stripped of their bark, and another may be all of chiefs, having many possessions. These last when one of their fellows gets into trouble, perhaps because he has cursed those of another age-grade, will help him to pay." This is the social function of the musela : it is a
3io
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
mutual-aid society, giving assistance to its members when needed. It is possible for a man to get into an age-grade not his own properly, but only by making presents to the members.
APPENDIX 1
LIST OF MIKOA
(a) Those named from animals, plants, or things :
|
Name of Clan. |
Totem. |
Place the Clan is associated with. |
|
i. Banachibizi |
Chibizi, zebra |
Ngabo |
|
Banamwala (te- |
||
|
mbaula name) |
||
|
2. Bananyungwe |
Nyungwe, capped wheat- |
Kane |
|
ear |
||
|
3. Banatimba |
Timba, grysbok |
Nakalomwe |
|
4. Banamukubi,1 or |
Shikubi, vulture |
Ngoma (some say |
|
Banashikubi, or |
Kalando) |
|
|
Bakubi |
||
|
5. Banamomba |
Momba, the ground horn- |
Busangu |
|
bill |
||
|
6. Banashamayoba, or |
Nanja, the lech we |
Butwa |
|
Banananja |
||
|
7. Bananyovu, or |
Muzovu, elephant and |
|
|
Banamoba, or |
Shankole, wart-hog z |
londe |
|
Bananzovu |
||
|
8. Banasulwe |
Sulwe, the hare |
Bambwe |
|
9. Bananduba |
Induba, the plantain- |
Banga |
|
eater |
||
|
10. Bananzoka, or |
Itoshi, the river-monster |
Itumbi |
|
Banzoka |
||
|
ii. Bananzoka |
Mubondo, the barbel-fish |
Mwako |
|
12. Bono, or |
Ing'ombe, cattle |
Foreign |
|
Banangombe |
||
|
13. Banasolwe,3 or |
Solwe, the honey-guide |
Bambwe and |
|
Banashibuchi |
Buchi, honey |
Lubwe |
|
14. Bananzhiba |
Inzhiba, ring-dove |
Isuzhi |
|
15. Banakangvhuma, or |
Kangvhuma, a palm |
Kabanga |
|
Banabusanje |
Busanje, palm-leaves |
|
|
1 6. Banasuntwe |
Suntwe, hyaena |
Idiza |
1 Some of this clan are called Bana-Lubunda, others Ba-Nakalomwe, from those places.
2 The elephant and wart-hog are regarded as close relations.
3 The Banasolwe are nicknamed " liars " because of the reputation of the honey-guide.
SOCIAL ORGANISATION
|
Name of Clan. |
Totem. |
Place the Clan is associated with. |
|
17. Banabimbe |
Bimbe, kite |
Masengaila |
|
1 8. Banampongo |
Impongo, goat |
Foreign |
|
19. Banamaila,1 or |
Maila, grain |
Foreign |
|
Banashanamaila |
||
|
20. Bankontwe,2 or |
Nkontwe, baboon |
lyanga (PIsanti) |
|
Banankontwe |
||
|
21. Banashichifumbula |
Shichifumbula, scavenger |
Banga |
|
beetle |
||
|
22. Banankalamo, or |
Nkalamo, or Shumbwa, |
Bwengwa |
|
Banashumbwa, or |
lion |
|
|
Banashanza (te- |
||
|
mbaula name) |
||
|
23. Banaumpe, or |
Umpe, wild dog |
Longo |
|
Baumpe |
||
|
24. Banamayovu, or |
Mayovu, name of a tree |
Banga |
|
Bamayovu |
which is said not to |
|
|
shake in the wind |
||
|
25. Banankala |
Inkala, crab |
Nakalomwe |
|
26. Bananjuni, or |
Injuni, birds |
Foreign |
|
Banabayuni |
||
|
27. Banambwa, or |
Mbwa, a dog |
|
|
Banakabwa |
Kabwa, a pup |
Foreign |
|
28. Basange, or |
Musange, rain |
A Nangombe |
|
Bansange, or |
(Others say, Shapidio, |
(Probably Busala) |
|
Bana-Leza 3 |
kestrel) |
|
|
29. Banankonze, or |
Konze, the hartebeest |
Balumbwa |
|
Banashibwanga,4 or |
||
|
Balumbwa |
||
|
30. Banachiwena, or |
Chiwena, crocodile |
Jube |
|
Banakotale |
Kotale, crocodile |
|
|
31. Batembozhi |
Intembozhi, wasp |
Foreign |
|
32. Bananachindwe, or |
Nakafwifwi, oribi |
Isanti |
|
Basanti |
||
|
33. Banantite |
Intite, name of a small bird |
Lubanda |
|
34. Banasokwe |
Sokwe, monkey |
Kasamo |
|
35. Banachulu 5 |
Mulanzhi, termite |
Mbala |
|
36. Bananshimba 8 |
Inshimba, genet |
Chiyadila |
|
37. Bananyati,7 or |
Munyati, buffalo |
Mbeza |
|
Banamusungwa, or |
||
|
Banamainga, or |
||
|
Banambeza |
1 Said to be so named because it originated in the Chimbulamukoa country, whence came grain.
2 Members of this are called " baboons " (bapombd), also " Lazy-folk," see the tale No. 4, Chap. XXVIII. Part i.
3 We have heard a disreputable member of this clan boast of being a relation of the Creator (Leza) .
4 Name derived from the horn of the antelope being used as a receptacle for medicine (bwanga).
5 Chulu = ant-heap.
6 This clan is said to have been formed by division from the Bana-Leza.
7 See p. 288.
312
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. Ill
|
Name of Clan. |
Totem. |
Place the Clan is associated with. |
|
38. Banamwaba |
Mwaba, jackal |
|
|
39. Banachisakabale, or |
Chisakabale, palm-bush |
|
|
Banalubale |
Lubale, palm-leaf |
|
|
40. Banakabu |
Ibuzu, baobab tree |
|
|
41. Banamasale |
Masale, kind of grass |
|
|
42. Banakabwinde |
Kabwinde, squirrel |
Mbala |
|
43. Banamankonte 1 |
Mankonte, kind of edible |
Bunda |
|
root |
||
|
44. Banachikwangala |
Chikwangala, crow |
|
|
45. Banashimunyowe |
Shimunyeu, kind of ant |
|
|
46. Banamawi |
Mawi, wild orange |
|
|
47. Banachivhubwe |
Chivhubwe, hippo |
|
|
48. Banakabanzi |
Kabanzi, scorpion |
|
|
49. Banampata |
Impata, kind of fish |
|
|
50. Banashinyimba |
Shinyimba, buffalo |
Butwa |
|
51. Banakabundi |
Kabundi, hornet |
Butwa |
|
52. Banashimwetwa, or |
Mubondo, barbel (others |
Butwa |
|
Beetwa |
say Konze, hartebeest) |
|
|
53. Banansefu, or |
Musefu, eland |
|
|
Banongolo |
(b) Those named from places :
54, Banachazhi, or Bachazhi (Totem : munjile, wild-pig) ; 55, Basanga (Totem : mwino, salt) ; 56, Banakabanga ; 57, Bamambwe ; 2 58, Banalu- longa ; 59, Banachitumbi ; 60, Banachilala ; 61, Banichila ; 62, Bana- mwazi ; 63, Banachibunzi ; 64, Banakaulizhi ; 65, Bakaundu ; 66, Banachdmba ; 67, Banashikantengwa.
(c) Those named from persons :
68, Bana-Bunga ; 69, Bana-Chungwa ; 70, Bana-Shikambe ; 71, Bana-Maibwe ; 72, Bana-Nawi ; 73, Bana-Kaindu ; 74, Bana-Kasoke (Totem : musaka, wild dog) ; 75, Bana-Lwanza (Totem : Nawuwane, crested crane) ; 76, Banasha-Lwembe ; 77, Bana-Mpande ; 78, Ba- Ntanga, or Banantanga (Totem, : Kabwenga, hyaena) ; 79, Bana-Malumbe ; 80, Bana-Mazungwe ; 81, Bana-Kanyonga ; 82, Bana-Kalamba ; 83, Bana-Mwinga ; 84, Bana-Munombwe (Totem : munyumbwi, gnu).
(d) The following are doubtful :
85, Ba-Tengi3 (Totem: muzovu, elephant, foreign); 86, Ba-Tenda ; 87, Ba-Tunga (Totem is water, or fish) ; 88, Ba-Chimba (Totem : mpata, a small fish) ; 89, Ba-Yowa (Totem : rhinoceros) ; 90, Bauavhula (Totem : mukulo, waterbuck) ; 91, Banzhamba (Totem : isekele, a fish) ; 92, Bakapi (Totem : nachisekwe, wild goose) ; 93, Ba-Tembo (Totem : Shiluwe, leopard).
1 Others say the clan derives its name from Mankonte, who was chief at Chikome.
z This clan is nicknamed Banashibonwanuma : " Those whose back is never seen (in battle) " ; also Banashishiikudya, see p. 288.
3 It was suggested that this name was derived from their being so few in number (Bakatewgwdika) .
SOCIAL ORGANISATION
313
|
Clan. |
Totem. |
Clan. |
Totem. |
|
Some Baluba clans : |
|||
|
Banangonyi * |
Ngonyi, a bird |
Balembu |
Honey |
|
Bananzoka * |
Snake |
Banambwa * |
Dog |
|
Balonga |
A river |
Batunga * |
Any river fish |
|
Benampongo * |
Goat |
Benankalamo * |
Lion |
|
Benambulo |
Iron |
Batembozhi * |
Hornet |
|
Some Batema and Walenje clans : |
|||
|
Baneluwo |
Wind |
Banenkalamo * |
Lion |
|
Banamaila * \ |
Banembuzhi |
Goat |
|
|
Benemaila / |
Grain |
Baunga |
Lechwe |
|
Banambwa * |
Dog |
Banaumpe * |
Wild dog |
|
Baneng'ombe * |
Cattle |
Banachowa |
Mushroom |
|
Batembozhi * |
Hornet |
Bananzofu * |
Elephant |
|
Banampongo * Barumbu |
Goat Hyaena |
Banachulu \ * Benechulu J |
Termite |
|
Benenyendwa |
The vulva |
||
|
Some Balamba (Badima) clans : |
|||
|
Bankuwa |
Dog |
Banambwa * |
Dog |
|
Banachibanda |
The anus |
Bashishi |
Bark-string |
|
Banamaila * |
Grain |
Benakasonso |
Ant-hill |
|
Banamasambe |
Bark of tree |
Banantoto |
The vagina |
Among the Bashamba are Benembwa * and Benenyama. One Bambwela clan is Bambuzhi (Totem : goat) .
Among the Mankoya are Banangoyne * (Totem : hawk) and Balembu (Totem : bee).
* These are found also among Ba-ila.
APPENDIX II
LIST OF COMMUNITIES
|
Chishi. |
Chief. |
Population in 1915. * |
Tribe. |
|
Kasenga |
Mungaila |
2878 |
Ba-ila |
|
Bambwe |
Kakobela |
1148 |
,, |
|
Ngabo |
Shimafumba |
404 |
,, |
|
Lubanda |
Shapela |
1147 |
,, |
|
Banamwazi |
Chidyabufu |
996 |
,, |
|
Byangwe |
Nangulwa |
417 |
,, |
|
Kabanga |
Mianikila |
179 |
" |
1 These figures are only approximate ; they are under- rather than over-stated.
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
|
Chishi. |
Chief. |
Population in 1915. |
Tribe. |
|
Chomba |
Kaula |
350 |
Ba-ila |
|
Bunga |
Kalenge |
405 |
,, (Bambo) |
|
Babizhi |
Shobwa |
79 |
• I ii |
|
Bachele |
Shasokwe |
129 |
Ba-ila and Baluba |
|
Kaundu |
Namalau |
703 |
,, ,, |
|
landa |
Musanana |
395 |
» » |
|
Ingoma |
Shindavu |
233 |
,, ,, |
|
Idindi |
Shimukwayaila |
2OI |
• i ii |
|
Yeohvwe |
Shamajogo |
H3 |
ii ii |
|
Naumba |
Chipelu |
38 |
.1 ii |
|
Nakalomwe |
Shamikula |
441 |
• I ii |
|
Basanga |
Shiafuko |
449 |
• • ii |
|
Mulundungoma |
Mwanakaba |
420 |
• • •• |
|
(Makona) |
|||
|
Lubwe |
Shaloba |
1347 |
ii ii |
|
Manimbwa |
Sezongo |
2451 |
,, (Balumbu) |
|
Makalanda |
Mbila |
290 |
„ (Babizhi) |
|
Ichila |
Shivwambwe |
423 |
>i ii |
|
Namakubi |
Muchila |
IIIO |
ii ii |
|
Kabulamwanda |
Chikoti |
843 |
,, (Balundwe) |
|
Mandondo |
Kazoka |
2IO |
ii |
|
Mbeza |
Nalubamba |
1058 |
• I >• |
|
Bwengwa |
Shamusondi |
2172 |
• i 11 |
|
Intemi |
Shizhabuka |
1181 |
»i ii |
|
Banakaila |
Chongo |
961 |
• I 11 |
|
Minenga |
Mwanachingwala |
1961 |
11 ii |
|
Itesi |
Shichikalomo |
551 |
• • ii |
|
Namaronga |
Siowi |
549 |
• I ii |
|
Mulombwahula |
Siowi |
334 |
Mixed with Basala |
|
Chizwanyanga |
Monze (Mutonga) |
607 |
Ba-ila (Balundwe) |
|
and Batonga. |
|||
|
Latter in majority |
|||
|
Isalama |
Shikadyatombwe |
266 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Baluba |
|||
|
Luanga |
Mulendema |
245 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Baluba |
|||
|
Itapila |
Namoye |
65 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Baluba |
|||
|
Itumbi |
Kaingu |
423 |
Ba-ila, mixed with |
|
Banduwe and |
|||
|
Bambwela |
|||
|
Chinenga |
Under Kayingu A |
||
|
Nanungwe |
,, |
||
|
Balajnbwa, and nine |
,, |
233 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
other small com- |
|||
|
munities |
|||
|
Lusangazhi |
Mwanachionda |
45 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Baluba |
|||
|
Kaiongwe |
Mutanti |
52 |
Ba-ila and Baluba |
|
Bulobi |
Munashichonsi |
66 |
,, (Bambala) |
|
Bulala |
Managambwa |
159 |
• I ii |
|
Mwako |
Masaka |
220 |
„ |
SOCIAL ORGANISATION
|
Chishi. |
Chief. |
Population in 1915. |
Tribe. |
|
Lubanga |
Lukendo |
152 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Baluba |
|||
|
Lusaka |
Chibuluma |
444 |
Ba-ila and Baluba |
|
Mutenda |
Mulungushi |
138 |
.1 » |
|
Mafwele |
Mponde |
150 |
Ba-ila |
|
Marombe |
Muyanga |
no |
Ba-ila with Man- |
|
koya |
|||
|
Bombe |
Shamakanda |
255 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
with Mankoya |
|||
|
Nzovu |
Lutangu |
199 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
Nyambo |
Mwezwa |
586 |
„ ,, |
|
Chiyadila |
Shibulo |
374 |
,, ,, |
|
Makunko |
Musulwi |
694 |
a a |
|
Mauluzhi |
Mauluzhi |
211 |
a >i |
|
Longo |
Shikabuwa |
1 80 |
,, ,, |
|
Nalubanda |
Namukombo |
166$ |
a i> |
|
Naluvwi |
Mwanakampoti |
332 |
a a |
|
Chibu |
Mwanashimbolwa |
212 |
a |
|
Laluvwe |
Kakua |
54° |
» a |
|
Chisukwa |
Mono |
735 |
,, •• |
|
Maganda |
Kapelabulungu |
357 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Batema |
|||
|
Lutende |
Mwanachiwanko |
152 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
Kanyanji |
Shanaobi |
257 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Baluba |
|||
|
Hindi |
Shimwambwa |
247 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
and Batema |
|||
|
Shijanzu |
Shinyanga |
1 80 |
Ba-ila (Bambala) |
|
Namunde |
Chintembe |
2IO |
u a |
|
Kalangambala |
Shakumbila |
1823 |
Basala |
|
Kanza |
Shagele |
539 |
,, |
|
Pele |
Pele |
119 |
,, |
|
Chinkobonge |
Mulubela |
194 |
,, |
|
Kabile |
Chibuluma |
255 |
,, |
|
Chombwe |
Shangala |
449 |
,, |
|
Butwa |
Under various |
||
|
chiefs, number |
|||
|
about |
1200 |
Batwa |
CHAPTER XII
*
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP
ONE of the most difficult things for a newcomer among the Ba-ila to understand is their system of relationship. He learns very soon that tata means " my father," mukwesu, " my brother," mwanangu, " my child," but those terms only seem to confuse matters, for he quickly finds that a man has many fathers, many mothers, and, although he may not be married, a host of children, and even grand- children ; while as for his brothers, their name is legion. When a young man tells you that a certain woman old enough to be his mother is his child, you are baffled, and he does not make things clearer by explaining that she is his child because his great-grandfather's brother begat her father. The secret of understanding the system is first of all to rid one's mind of the terms one is used to, and to grasp firmly the principle that the words tata and bama do not mean what father and mother mean to us, but rather indicate certain positions in a table of genealogy ; and the same with regard to mwanangu, mukwesu, etc. etc.
The system in vogue among the Ba-ila is one common to a great many peoples in different parts of the world, and is known as the Classificatory system. In this system the relationships are grouped into large categories labelled "Grandparent," "Father," "Mother," "Brother," "Child," " Grandchild."
The system is very much complicated by the fact that the terms applied vary according as —
i. Whether I am the person speaking, or spoken to, or spoken of.
316
en. xii TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP 317
2. Whether I am directly addressing my relation or simply referring to him or her.
3. Whether I am speaking of myself as one person, or including others with myself, i.e. whether I use " I " or " we," " my," " our," etc.
4. Whether the speaker is older or younger than the person spoken to or of.
5. Whether the person speaking, or the person spoken to, is male or female.
To make it all clear to our readers we have prepared lists and genealogical tables which may be consulted while reading the following exposition. In the lists we carefully distinguish between the term used in direct address and that used in mere reference ; we also give the full forms used for " my relation," " your relation," etc.
To begin with contemporaries, i.e. those of the same generation with myself. There is no word which standing by itself means " brother." Mukwesu means " our brother " or " our sister," but is used by one person speaking, just as many English people say " our Sam." When speaking to a person, I say munyoko (" thy brother "), and I refer to a man's brother as munina. Munyokwesu would be used when I definitely associate others with myself in speaking of our brother ; thus, if I were speaking to a stranger of my brother I should say " Mukwesu did so and so " ; but if I were conversing with some of my brothers I should say, in reference to another brother, munyokwesu.
This term mukwesu is applied in the first place to all the children of my father, whether of the same mother or not, but it cannot be applied indiscriminately. If my brother is older than I, I, being a male, properly call him mukando wangu (" my great one "), i.e. my elder, if he is younger than I, I call him mwanichangu (" my junior "). If I am a female, I give these names to my sisters, elder and younger respectively, but not to my brother. I call him mulombwana wangu, or, as the Nanzela people say, muchizi angu. I, being a female, call each of my brothers mulombwana wangu (" my man ") ; but, being a female, I do not so call my sisters ; my elder sister is mukando wangu, my younger sister is mwanichangu. If, on the other hand, I am a male,
3i8 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
I do not apply those terms to my sisters ; but I call her by the same name that she calls me, i.e. muchizi angu ; or if I speak the true Ila, I say mukaintu wangu (" my woman "). These terms are used in referring to my brothers and sisters, not to them directly. It is strictly taboo for me to address any of them, or for them to address me, as mukwesu, or muchizi angu, or mulombwana wangu ; I must speak to them, and they to me, by name.
I also apply the same terms to the children of my father's brothers, and to the children of my mother's sisters, i.e. to my ortho-cousins. But there is a difference between these and the children of my mother's brother and of my father's sister, i.e. my cross-cousins. Of these latter, my mother's brother's children are bana-bachisha (" children of my uncles ") ; all other cousins are bakwesu, but I do not address any cross-cousin as mukwesu, nor by name. If I am a male, I address my male cross-cousin as mulongwangu ("my friend "), and my female cross-cousin as mwinangu (" my wife ") ; if I am a female I address him as mulumi angu (" my husband "), and her as mukazhima (" my fellow- wife "), that being the proper term used by one wife of a polygamist to another. This form of address found here and elsewhere is one of the most curious things in the system. Why should the children of a man and his sister respectively address each other as man and wife ? It is because, according to clan rules, they might marry. Inter- course between the children of two sisters is regarded as incestuous because they have the same totem, but these are of different clans, as may be shown in a diagram, where A' is the brother, A" is the sister, A standing for the totem clan. A' marries B ; A" is married by C, and the children, inheriting the mother's clan, are B" and A"' respectively. Thus :
A' A"
A' -- B C — A"
B" A"'
In such a case, as there is a possibility of A'" and B" marrying, we can understand why they should address each other as husband and wife.
CH. xii TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP 319
But, as a matter of fact, latter-day custom does not allow such marriages ; while I may marry the daughter of my father's sister, I may not marry the daughter of my mother's brother. I use the same terms of address to my mother's brother's children as to my father's sister's children ; but though I address my mother's brother's daughter as mwinangu (" my wife "), and she addresses me as mulumi angu (" my husband "), it does not imply that commerce between us would now be allowed. Of the four possible cousin-marriages, therefore, the Ba-ila nowadays only allow one. I may marry my father's sister's daughter, but as, according to the rules of relationship, she is mukwesu to me, I ought not to marry her.
Turning now to the generation above me : I call not only my own father but also his brothers tata (" my father "), and address each of them as ta — a shortened form of lata, My mother and her sisters and my father's sisters I call all bama ("my mother"). The latter title is really in the plural number and means " my mothers " ; it is the plural of respect. I address all these as ma. If I wish to dis- tinguish among " my fathers," I may call my father's elder brother tata mukando (" my big father "), and his younger brother tata mwaniche (" my junior father "). I may distinguish " my mothers " in the same way. But one " mother " has a term peculiar to herself ; this is my father's sister (elder or younger), who is tata mukaintu (" my female father"). It is only by that curious term that the Ba-ila express paternal " aunt."
It is also in accordance with the principles of the system that I give the name achisha (" my uncle ") to the brother of my mother only. This person is my most important relation, and it is easy to see why. Under a strict clan- system, my father and my mother have different totems, else they could not have married ; inheriting as I do my mother's clan, her kin are of more importance to me than my father's ; indeed at some time I might not have known my father or his clan. My mother's brother then stands as my natural guardian. To this day among the Ba-ila, although they have long since, outgrown any stage when the father is unknown or disregarded, the mother's
320 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
brother is a personage of vast importance ; having the power even of life and death over his nephews and nieces, which no other relations, not even the parents, have ; he is to be held in honour even above the father. This is avunculi potestas, which among the Ba-ila is greater than patria potestas. I speak of him as uachisha, and in address say achisha. I may refer to him among his other nephews and nieces as shimuzesu (which is also an honorific title I may give to other people whom I respect very highly) ; other people will speak of shimuzhabo (" his uncle ").
In the second generation above me I give the name nkakangu to my mother's and father's parents, and also to their brothers and sisters. That is, I regard as my grandparents all the parents of those who stand in the relation of father, mother, and uncle to me ; my father's father, father's father's brother and sister ; my father's mother, father's mother's brother and sister ; my mother's father, mother's father's brother and sister ; my mother's mother, and my mother's mother's brother and sister. . In the generation above this I give the name tata and bama to all who stand in the relation of father and mother to those I call nkakangu. There is no term answering to great - grandparent ; my great - grandparents are "my mother " and " my father." Similarly in the generation below me, I give the name mwanangu (" my child ") to my own child, male or female ; and my children's children are bazukuzhi bangu (" my grandchildren ") ; and in the next generation I call my great-grandchildren banangu (" my children "). Thus the special relationships may be said to be limited to the two generations above me : tata, nkakangu ; and the two below me, mwanangu, muzukuzhi angu ; the third above is tata and bama ; the third below me is mwanangu. The next above is nkakangu again, and the next below is muzukuzhi angu again ; and so on ad infinitum. But when I get back like that I am not likely to remember the names, and content myself with referring to them as maushesu (v our fathers ") ; the ma- being a prefix indicating a great number.
The name mwanangu (" my child ") I give not only to my own children, but also to the children of all who stand
CH. xii TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP 321
in the relation of mukwesu to me. • I address my children by name, or each as mwanangu. My first-born, whether son or daughter, I distinguish by addressing as musama (" my fellow, my equal "), that being the epithet I apply to all who are of my musela, i.e. of the same age as myself.
There is, of course, one exception to what has just been said. My sister's children are not banangu (" my children") ; I am their uncle and each of them is mwiwangu (" my nephew " or " my niece ").
The children of all who stand in the relation of banangu are bazukuzhi bangu (" my grandchildren "). The children of my nephews and nieces, i.e. bewa bangu, are not my grandnephews and grandnieces, but my " grandchildren " also. This clears the way for the next generation, so that being the grandchildren of the second line above them, they may be the grandparents of the second line below them.
In regard to the grandchildren, we may notice here the recurrence of the curious address applied, as we have seen, to my cousins. I being a male address my granddaughter as mwinangu (" my wife "), and my grandson as mulo- ngwangu (" my friend ") ; if I am a female I address my grandson as mulumi angu and my granddaughter as muka- zhima ("my fellow-wife"). This does not now mean that I may marry them or that I have any rights whatever over their persons.
Going back for a moment, we may trace the collateral descent from my great-great-grandfather. Each of his sons stands as tola to me ; and their sons should be bankakangu, but they are not all so. My father's father's brothers are bankakangu, but his father's brother's children stand to me as bakwesu (" my brothers "). That is in accordance with the rule that makes the children of my " fathers " my " brothers " ; it is a breaking of the rule when my grand- father, who is the son of tata is called nkakangu ; he should by rule be mukwesu ; but there the logic of the system breaks down, as it would be too absurd to call my grand- father " my brother." My grandfather's father's brothers are my " fathers " ; their children are bakwesu (" my brothers ") ; their grandchildren are " my children," and
VOL. I Y
322 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
their children are my grandchildren. Their children again are my children, and theirs again are my grandchildren. This brings them into line with my grandchildren by direct descent (see Table I.).
The whole system, therefore, works out with marvellous exactitude and symmetry. We may arrange the generations thus :
1. Nkakangu.
2. Tata.
3. Nkakangu.
4. Tata.
5. SELF.
6. Mwanangu.
7. Muzukuzhi angu.
8. Mwanangu.
9. Muzukuzhi angu.
Our exposition, with its necessary repetition of terms, may seem confused and confusing, but if we put all these relationships in the form of a table, showing the nine generations just enumerated, it will be seen how easy is the system when once graphically illustrated. The tables we now give are not fanciful, but are based upon Tables No. 4 and 5, which are the actual genealogies of people well known to us.
[TABLE
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324
CH. XII
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP
325
TABLE No. 3
ILA TABLE OF RELATIONSHIP
|
I la Terms in First Person Singular : "My." |
Exact Relationship give in English. |
Terms used in Direct Address. |
Variations for any reason in the Terms given in Column i. |
|
Nkakangu i |
Father's father |
Nkaka, |
Variation in person : |
|
Nkambo |
|||
|
2 |
Father's mother |
Nkakako (thy |
|
|
grandparent) |
|||
|
3 |
Father's father's |
Nkakakwe (his |
|
|
brother |
grandparent) |
||
|
4 |
Father's mother's |
Nkakesu (our |
|
|
brother |
grandparent) |
||
|
5 |
Father's father's |
Nkakenu (your |
|
|
sister |
grandparent) |
||
|
6 |
Father's mother's |
Nkakabo (their |
|
|
sister |
grandparent) |
||
|
7 |
Mother's father |
Bankakangu (my |
|
|
grandparents) |
|||
|
8 |
Mother's mother |
Bankakako (thy |
|
|
grandparents) |
|||
|
9 |
Mother's father's |
Bankakakwe (his |
|
|
brother |
grandparents) |
||
|
10 |
Mother's mother's |
Bankakesu (our |
|
|
brother |
grandparents ) |
||
|
ii |
Mother's father's |
Bankakenu (your |
|
|
sister |
grandparents) |
||
|
12 |
Mother's mother's |
Bankakabo (their |
|
|
sister |
grandparents) |
||
|
13 |
Father's father's |
||
|
father's father |
|||
|
H |
Father's father's |
||
|
father's mother |
|||
|
15 |
Father's mother's |
||
|
father's father, |
|||
|
mother, etc. |
|||
|
16 |
Father's father's |
||
|
father's father's |
|||
|
brother |
|||
|
17 |
Father's father's |
||
|
father's father's |
|||
|
sister |
|||
|
18 |
Mother's father's |
||
|
father's father |
|||
|
and mother |
|||
|
19 |
Mother's father's |
||
|
father's father's |
|||
|
sister |
|||
|
?ata 20 |
Father |
Ta |
|
|
21 |
Father's elder |
Tata mukando |
|
|
brother |
326 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
TABLE No. 3 — continued
|
Ha Terms in First Person Singular : "My." |
Exact Relationship given in English. |
Terms used in Direct Address. |
Variations for any reason in the Terms given in Column i. |
|
Tata 22 |
Father's younger |
Ta |
Tata mwaniche |
|
brother |
|||
|
23 |
Father's father's |
Variation in person : |
|
|
father |
|||
|
23« |
Mother's father's |
Uso (thy father) |
|
|
father |
Ushe (his father) |
||
|
24 |
Father's father's |
Ushesu (our father) |
|
|
father's brother |
(or Tatesu) |
||
|
25 |
Mother's father's |
Ushenu (your |
|
|
sister's son |
father) |
||
|
26 |
Father's mother's |
Ushabo (their |
|
|
sister's son |
father) |
||
|
27 |
Mother's father's |
Batata (my fathers) |
|
|
brother's son |
Bauso (thy fathers) |
||
|
28 |
Father's mother's |
Baushe (his fathers) |
|
|
brother's son |
Baushesu (our |
||
|
280 |
Father's father's |
fathers) |
|
|
sister's son |
Baushenu (your |
||
|
fathers) |
|||
|
Baushabo (their |
|||
|
fathers) |
|||
|
Bama 29 |
Mother |
Ma |
|
|
Elder : bama ba- |
|||
|
kando, or tata |
|||
|
30 |
Father's sister |
mukaintu Younger : bama |
|
|
baniche, or tata |
|||
|
mukaintu |
|||
|
[ |
Elder : bama ba- |
||
|
3« |
Mother's sister |
| |
kando Younger : bama |
|
I |
baniche |
||
|
Variation in person : |
|||
|
32 |
Mother's father's |
Banoko, baina, ba- |
|
|
sister's daughter |
nokwesu, bano- |
||
|
33 |
Father's mother's |
kwenu, bano- |
|
|
sister's daughter |
kwabo |
||
|
34 |
Father's father's |
Alternative forms : |
|
|
sister's daughter |
Noko, nina, nok- |
||
|
35 |
Mother's mother's |
wesu, nokwenu, |
|
|
sister's daughter |
nokwabo (or |
||
|
ninabo) |
|||
|
( |
Elder : Uachisha |
||
|
Uachisha 36 |
Mother's brother |
Achisha J |
mukando Younger: Uachisha |
|
'I |
mwaniche |
||
|
\ |
Alternative forms : •' |
||
|
Shimuzesu (my or |
|||
|
our uncle) |
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP
327
TABLE No. 3 — continued
|
I la Terms in First Person Singular : "My." |
Exact Relationship given in English. |
Terms used in Direct Address. |
Variations for any reason in the Terms given in Column i. |
|
Uachisha |
Shimuzenu (thy or |
||
|
your uncle), or |
|||
|
Owamuzenu |
|||
|
Shimuzhabo (his |
|||
|
uncle) |
|||
|
Shimuzhababo |
|||
|
(their uncle) |
|||
|
f |
Muchizi angu, or |
||
|
1 |
mulombwana |
||
|
Mukwesu 37 |
Elder brother |
By name -> |
wangu (if I'm a female) |
|
' I |
Mukando wangu (if |
||
|
V |
I'm a male) |
||
|
Muchizi angu, or |
|||
|
mukaintu wangu |
|||
|
38 |
Elder sister |
(if I'm a male) Mukando wangu, or |
|
|
mwenzuma (if I'm |
|||
|
a female) |
|||
|
I |
Mwanichangu (if |
||
|
1 |
I'm a male) |
||
|
39 |
Younger brother |
By name |
Muchizi angu, or mulombwana |
|
wangu (if I'm a |
|||
|
female |
|||
|
Mwanichangu, or |
|||
|
mwenzuma (if |
|||
|
40 |
Younger sister |
I'm a female) Muchizi angu, or |
|
|
mukaintu wangu |
|||
|
• |
(if I'm a male) |
||
|
Mukwesu mukando |
|||
|
or mukando |
|||
|
* |
wangu (if I'm a |
||
|
4i |
Father's elder |
By name |
male and he is |
|
brother s son |
older) |
||
|
Muchizi angu, or |
|||
|
mulombwana |
|||
|
wangu (if I'm a |
|||
|
- |
female) |
||
|
Mukwesu mukando |
|||
|
or mukando |
|||
|
wangu (if I'm a |
|||
|
42 |
Father's elder brother's daughter |
By name |
female and she is older) Muchizi angu, or |
|
mukaintu angu |
|||
|
(if I'm a male) |
328
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
TABLE No. 3 — continued
|
I la Terms in First Person Singular : "My." |
Exact Relationship given in English. |
Terms used in Direct Address. |
Variations for any reason in the Terms given in Column i. |
|
Mwanichangu (if |
|||
|
I'm a male and |
|||
|
he is younger |
|||
|
Vlukwesu 43 |
Father's younger brother's son |
By name |
than I) Muchizi angu, or |
|
mulombwana |
|||
|
wangu (if I'm a |
|||
|
female) |
|||
|
• |
Muchizi angu, or |
||
|
mukaintu angu |
|||
|
(if I'm a male) |
|||
|
44 |
Father s younger |
By name |
Mwanichangu (if |
|
brother's |
I'm a female and |
||
|
daughter |
she is younger |
||
|
>• |
than I) |
||
|
45 |
Father's elder |
Mulongwangu |
|
|
and younger |
(if I'm a |
||
|
sister's son |
male) |
||
|
Mulumi angu |
|||
|
(if I'm a |
|||
|
female) |
|||
|
46 |
Father s elder and |
Mwinangu (if |
|
|
younger sister's |
I'm a male) |
||
|
daughter |
Mukazhima (if |
||
|
I'm a fe- |
|||
|
male) |
|||
|
Mukando wangu (if |
|||
|
I'm a male and |
|||
|
he is older than |
|||
|
I), mwanichangu |
|||
|
47 |
Mother's elder |
By name |
(if younger) |
|
and younger |
Muchizi angu, or |
||
|
sister's son |
m ulomb wa n a |
||
|
wangu \ii I'm a |
|||
|
\ |
female) |
||
|
, |
Mukando wangu (if |
||
|
I'm a female and |
|||
|
she is older than |
|||
|
48 |
Mother's elder and |
By name |
I), mwanichangu |
|
younger sister's daughter |
(if younger) Muchizi angu, or mukaintu wangu |
||
|
> |
(if I'm a male) |
||
|
49 |
Father's father's |
By name |
Variationsin person : |
|
father's brother's |
Singular : |
||
|
son and daughter |
Mukwesu (my) |
||
|
50 |
Father's father's |
By name |
|
|
sister's son's son |
|||
|
and daughter |
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP
329
TABLE No. 3 — continued
|
I la Terms in First Person Singular : "My." |
Exact Relationship given in English. |
Terms used in Direct Address. |
Variations for any reason in the Terms given in Column i. |
|
Mukwesu 51 |
Mother's father's |
By name |
Munyoko (thy) |
|
sister's son's and |
Munina (his) |
||
|
daughter's son |
Munyokwesu (our) |
||
|
and daughter |
Munyokwenu (your) |
||
|
52 |
Mother's father's |
By name |
Munyokwabo(their) |
|
brother's son's |
Plural : |
||
|
and daughter's |
Bakwesu (my) |
||
|
son and |
Banyoko (thy) |
||
|
daughter |
Banina (his) |
||
|
Banyokwesu (our) |
|||
|
Banyokwenu (your) |
|||
|
Banyokwabo (their) |
|||
|
Mwanaisha 53 |
Mother's brother's |
Mulongwangu |
Variation in person : |
|
or |
elder and |
(if I'm a |
Singular : |
|
Mwanachisha |
younger son |
male) |
Mwanaisha (my) |
|
or |
Mulumi angu |
Mwanamuzenu (thy |
|
|
Mwana wa |
(if I'm a |
and your) |
|
|
waisha |
female) |
Mwanamuzhabo |
|
|
j'Mwinangu (if |
(his and their) |
||
|
54 |
Mother's brother's |
I'm a male) |
Mwanamuzesu(our) |
|
elder and |
•! Mukazhima (if |
Plural : |
|
|
younger daughter |
I'm a fe- |
Bana ba chisha |
|
|
( male) |
(my) |
||
|
Bana ba muzenu |
|||
|
(thy) |
|||
|
Bana ba muzhabo |
|||
|
(his) |
|||
|
Banaba muzeseshu |
|||
|
(our) |
|||
|
Bana ba muzezenu |
|||
|
(your) |
|||
|
Bana ba muzha- |
|||
|
babo (their) |
|||
|
Mwanangu 55 |
Eldest son |
Musama (by |
|
|
56 |
Eldest daughter |
mother and |
|
|
father, if it |
|||
|
is the eldest |
|||
|
child; other- |
|||
|
wise, Mwa- |
|||
|
nangu) |
|||
|
57 |
Younger son |
Mwanangu |
|
|
58 |
Younger daughter |
,, |
Mwana mukando |
|
59 |
Elder brother's |
,, |
angu (if I'm a |
|
son. |
male) |
||
|
Mwana mulo- |
|||
|
60 |
Elder brother's |
,, |
mbwana wangu |
|
daughter |
(if I'm a female) |
330
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
TABLE No. 3 — continued
|
Ila Terms in First Person Singular : " My." |
Exact Relationship given in English. |
Terms used in Direct Address. |
Variations for any reason in the Terms given in Column j. |
|
(Mwana mwani- |
|||
|
changu (if I'm a |
|||
|
Mwanangu 6 1 |
Younger brother's son |
Mwanangu |
male) } Mwana mulo- |
|
mbwana wangu |
|||
|
I (if I'm a female) |
|||
|
62 |
Younger brother's |
,, |
- |
|
daughter |
|||
|
63 |
Father's elder and |
By name |
|
|
younger brother's |
|||
|
son's and daugh- |
|||
|
ter's son and |
|||
|
daughter |
|||
|
64 |
Father's elder and |
By name |
|
|
younger sister's |
|||
|
son's and daugh- |
|||
|
ter's son and |
|||
|
daughter |
|||
|
65 |
Mother's elder and |
By name |
|
|
young sister's |
|||
|
son's and daugh- |
|||
|
ter's son and |
|||
|
daughter |
|||
|
66 |
Mother's elder and |
By name |
|
|
younger brother's |
|||
|
son's and daugh- |
|||
|
ter's son and |
|||
|
daughter |
|||
|
67 |
Mother's father's |
Mwanangu |
|
|
brother's and |
|||
|
sister's son's |
|||
|
and daughter's |
|||
|
son 'sand daugh- |
|||
|
ter's son and |
|||
|
daughter, etc. |
|||
|
68 |
Father's father's |
Mwanangu |
Variations in person : |
|
brother's and |
Singular : |
||
|
sister's son's |
Mwanangu (my) |
||
|
and daughter's |
Mwanako (thy) |
||
|
son's son, etc. |
Mwanakwe (his) |
||
|
6Sa |
Sister's son's and |
Mwanangu |
Mwanesu (our) |
|
daughter's son's |
Mwanenu (your) |
||
|
son and daugh- |
Mwanabo (their) |
||
|
ter, etc. |
Plural : |
||
|
bga |
Sister's son and |
Mwanangu |
Banangu (my) |
|
daughter (when |
Banako((thy) |
||
|
I'm a female) |
Banakwe (his) |
||
|
6gb |
Father's father's |
Mwanangu |
Banesu (our) |
|
father's brother's |
Banenu (your) |
||
|
son's and daugh- |
Banabo (their) |
||
|
ter's son and |
|||
|
daughter |
CH. XII
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP
331
TABLE No. 3 — continued
Ila Terms in First
Person Singular.
" My."
Exact Relationship given in English.
Terms used in Direct Address.
Variations (or any reason
in the Terms given in
Column i.
Mwiwangu 69 7°
72
Muzukuzhi 73 angu
74
75
76
77
78
79
Elder sister's son Elder sister's
daughter Younger sister's
son Younger sister's
daughter
Son's and daugh- ter's son
Son's and daugh- ter's daughter
Father's sister's and brother's son's son's son and daughter, etc.
Father's sister's and brother's son's daughter's son and daughter
Mother's sister's and brother's son's son's son and daughter
Mother's sister's and brother's son's daughter's son and daughter
Father's and
mother's father's brother's son's and daughter's son and daughter
By name, if I'm a male ; if I'm a female, I say Mwa- nangu
Mulongwangu (if I'm a male)
Mulumi angu (if I'm a female)
Mwinangu (if I'm a male)
Mukazhima (if I'm a fe- male)
As above
As above
As above
As above
As above
Variations in per son:
Singular : Mwiwangu (my) Mwiwako (thy) Mwiwakwe (his) Mwiwesu (our) Mwiwenu (your) Mwiwabo (their)
Plural :
Bewa bangu (my) Bewa bako (thy) Bewa bakwe (his) Bewa besu (our) Bewa benu (your) Bewa babo (their)
332
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
PT. Ill
TABLE No. 3 — continued
Ila Terms in First
Person Singular.
"My."
Exact Relationship given in English.
Terms used in Direct Address.
Variations for any reason
in the Terms given in
Column i.
Muzukuzhi 80 angu
81
82
Elder and younger sister's son's and daughter's son and daughter
Elder and younger brother's son's and daughter's son and daughter
Father's father's father's brother's son's and daugh- ter's son's son and daughter, etc.
As above
As above
As above
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333
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334
CH. XII
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP
335
TABLE No. 6
SHOWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN No. 7 AND OTHERS IN GENEALOGICAL TABLE No. 5
|
Reference No. in Table 3. |
No. 7 in Relation to No. |
is |
and addresses hirn or her as |
|
23 |
i. Muzhoka (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
I |
2. Kachinka (m.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka, nkambo |
|
20 |
3. Leshodi (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
30 |
4. Nankua (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
22 |
5. Shakezwa (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
22 |
6. Namashikwe (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
7. SELF |
|||
|
40 |
8. Mbambo (f.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
39 |
g. Kachinka (m.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
40 |
10. Mukamuluti (f.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
45 |
ii. Shimansi (m.) |
Munina |
Mulumi angu |
|
45 |
12. Katende (m.) |
Munina |
Mulumi angu |
|
45 |
13. Mushaka (m.) |
Munina |
Mulumi angu |
|
44 |
14. Mukamasole (f.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
56 |
15. Nachiloba (f.) |
Baina |
Musama |
|
58 |
16. Eni (f.) |
Baina |
Mwanangu |
|
57 |
17. Shimashikwe (m.) |
Baina |
Mwanangu |
|
57 |
18. Shimunza (m.) |
Baina |
Mwanangu |
|
6ga |
19. Mbambo's son |
Baina |
Mwanangu |
|
6ga |
20. Mbambo's daughter |
Baina |
Mwanangu |
|
6ga |
2 1 . Kachinka's son |
Baina |
Mwanangu |
|
bga |
22. Kachinka's daughter |
Baina |
Mwanangu |
|
64 |
23. Shimansi's daughter |
Baina |
By name |
|
64 |
24. Shimansi's son |
Baina |
By name |
|
63 |
25. Mukamasole's |
Baina |
By name |
|
daughter |
|||
|
63 |
26. Mukamasole's son |
Baina |
By name |
|
74 |
27. Nachiloba's daughter |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
73 |
28. Nachiloba's son |
Nkakakwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
74 |
29. Eni's daughter |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
73 |
30. Eni's son |
Nkakakwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
73 |
31. Shimashikwe's son |
Nkakafcwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
74 |
32. Shimashikwe's |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
daughter |
|||
|
74 |
33. Shimunza's daughter |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
73 |
34. Shimunza's son |
Nkakakwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
80 |
35. Mbambo's son's |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
daughter |
|||
|
80 |
36. Mbambo's daughter's |
Nkakakwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
son |
|||
|
81 |
37. Kachinka's son's son |
Nkakakwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
81 |
38. Kachinka's daughter's |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
daughter |
|||
|
75 |
39. Shimansi's daughter's |
Nkakakwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
son |
|||
|
75 |
40. Shimansi's son's |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
daughter |
|||
|
75 |
41. Mukamasole's |
Nkakakwe |
Mulumi angu |
|
daughter's son |
|||
|
75 |
42. Mukamasole's |
Nkakakwe |
Mukazhima |
|
daughter's daughter |
336
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
TABLE No. 7
SHOWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN No. 27 AND OTHERS IN GENEALOGICAL TABLE No. 4, AND THE SAME PERSON (No. 17) TO OTHERS IN GENEA- LOGICAL TABLE No. 5
|
Reference No. in Table 3. |
No. 27 in relation to No. |
is |
and addresses him or her as |
|
* |
|||
|
13 |
i. Luchacha (m.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka, Nkambo |
|
23 |
2. Kayobe (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
24 |
3. Nyama (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
24 |
4. Mudimbwa (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
I |
5. Chimwadi (m.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka |
|
5 |
6. Nabukomba (f ) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka |
|
5 |
7. Muzekwe (f.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka |
|
49 |
8. Shanyimba (m.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
49 |
9. Shikadilele (f.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
30 |
10. Shamwaze (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
21 |
1 1 . Kayobe (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
30 |
12. Kayobe (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
20 |
13. Shamatanga (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
30 |
14. Namashikwe (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
30 |
15. Mukashombo (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
3° |
1 6. Nadimba (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
28a |
17. Sebwa (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
34 |
1 8. Nambwasu (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
280 |
19. Kambwe (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
34 |
20. Namatama (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
696 |
21. Kachinka (m.) |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
45 |
22. Namangoma (m.) |
Munina |
Mulongwangu |
|
46 |
23. Chilabwe (f.) |
Munina |
Mwinangu |
|
46 |
24. Mongona (f.) |
Munina |
Mwinangu |
|
38 |
25. Nachiloba (f.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
38 |
26. Eni (f.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
27. SELF |
|||
|
39 |
28. Shimunza (m.) |
Munina |
By name |
|
jo |
29. Sebwa's son •' |
Munina |
By name |
|
50 |
30. Sebwa's daughter |
Munina |
By name |
|
50 |
31. Nambwasu's daughter |
Munina |
By name |
|
50 |
32. Nambwasu's son |
Munina |
By name |
|
50 |
33. Kambwe's son |
Munina |
By name |
|
50 |
34. Kambwe's daughter |
Munina |
By name |
|
50 |
35. Namatama's son |
Munina |
By name |
|
50 |
36. Namatama's daughter |
Munina |
By name |
|
82 |
37. Kachinka's son |
Nkakakwe |
Mulongwangu |
|
82 |
38. Kachinka's daughter |
Nkakakwe |
Mwinangu |
|
64 |
39. Namangoma's son |
Ushe |
By name |
|
64 |
40. Namangoma's |
Ushe |
By name |
|
daughter |
|||
|
64 |
41. Chilabwe's daughter |
Ushe |
By name |
|
64 |
42. Chilabwe's son |
Ushe |
By name |
* The numbers following refer to Genealogical Table No. 4.
CH. XII
TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP
337
TABLE No. 7 — continued.
|
Referenc No. in Table 3. |
No. 27 in relation to No. |
is |
and addresses him or her as |
|
64 |
43. Mongona's son |
Ushe |
By name |
|
64 |
44. Mongona's daughter |
Ushe |
By name |
|
69 |
45. Nachiloba's son |
Shimuzhabo |
By name |
|
70 |
46. Nachiloba's daughter |
Shimuzhabo |
By name |
|
70 |
47. Eni's daughter |
Shimuzhabo |
By name |
|
69 |
48. Eni's son |
Shimuzhabo |
By name |
|
55 |
49. His own son |
Ushe |
Musama |
|
56 |
50. His own daughter |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
62 |
51. Shimunza's daughter |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
61 |
52. Shimunza's son |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
76 |
53. Namangoma's son's |
Nkakakwe |
Mulongwangu (if |
|
child |
male) |
||
|
Mwinangu (if fe- |
|||
|
male) |
|||
|
80 |
54. Nachiloba's son's |
Nkakakwe |
Mwinangu |
|
daughter |
|||
|
80 |
55. Nachiloba's daugh- |
Nkakakwe |
Mulongwangu |
|
„. ter's son |
|||
|
18 |
i. Muzhoka (m.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka, Nkambo |
|
230 |
2. Kaohinka (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
7 |
3. Leshodi (m.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka, Nkambo |
|
8 |
3«. Leshodi's wife Na- |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka, Nkambo |
|
kambwa |
|||
|
ii |
4. Nankua (f.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka |
|
9 |
5. Shakezwa (m.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka |
|
9 |
6. Namashikwe (m.) |
Muzukuzhi akwe |
Nkaka |
|
29 |
7. Naomi (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
31 |
8. Mbambo (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
36 |
9. Kachinka (m.) |
Mwiwakwe |
Achisha |
|
31 |
10. Mukamuluti (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
25 |
11. Shimansi (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
25 |
12. Katende (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
25 |
13. Mushaka (m.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ta |
|
32 |
14. Mukamasole (f.) |
Mwanakwe |
Ma |
|
[15-18 = 25-28 given |
|||
|
above] |
|||
|
17. SELF |
|||
|
47 |
19. Mbambo's son |
Munina |
By name |
|
48 |
20. Mbambo's daughter |
Munina |
By name |
|
53 |
21. Kachinka's son |
Mwanamuzhabo |
Mulongwangu |
|
54 |
22. Kachinka's daughter |
Mwanamuzhabo |
Mwinangu |
|
5i |
23. Shimansi's daughter |
Munina |
By name |
|
5i |
24. Shimansi's son |
Vlunina |
By name |
|
79 |
25. Mukamasole's |
Mkakakwe |
Mwinangu |
|
daughter |
|||
|
79 |
26. Mukamasole's son |
tfkakakwe |
Mulongwangu |
|
27-34 = 45-52 given |
|||
|
above] |
* The numbers following refer to Genealogical Table No. 5. VOL. I Z
338
THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES
TABLE No. 7 — continued
|
Reference No. in Table 3. |
No. 27 in relation to No. |
" is |
and addresses him or her as |
|
65 |
35. Mbambo's son's |
Ushe |
By name |
|
daughter |
|||
|
65 |
36. Mbambo's daughter's |
Ushe |
By name |
|
son |
|||
|
66 |
37. Kachinka's son's son |
Ushe |
By, name |
|
66 |
38. Kachinka's daugh- |
Ushe |
By name |
|
ter's daughter |
|||
|
6? |
39. Shimansi's daughter's |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
son |
|||
|
67 |
40. Shimansi's son's |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
daxTghter |
|||
|
67 |
41. Mukamasole's |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
daughter's son |
|||
|
67 |
42. Mukamasole's |
Ushe |
Mwanangu |
|
daughter's daughter |
CONNECTIONS BY AFFINITY
So much, then, for a person's consanguine relations, remembering all the time that the Ba-ila reckon consanguinity through the father only. My mother and her family are not of my mukwashi ; they are, properly speaking, affines not consanguinei. In a looser sense, as we have seen, the Ba-ila reckon as basazhinokwabo (" their relations ") all those to whom they are affined through the mother ; in a yet looser sense they also reckon as relations all who are con- nected with them by affinity, though they do not apply to them the name basazhinokwabo. We have now to deal with this latter class, and must be careful to draw the distinction between those who are taboo to each other and those who are not. Between those who are tonda (" taboo ") there exists a close connection shown mainly in the pro- hibition of all sexual intercourse.
Many of these affines are given the same names as the consanguinei. Thus, the spouses of all who stand to me as nkakangu I call nkakangu by courtesy, whether I be male or female. My grandfather's wives are my grandmothers, and if I am a male my wife's grandmothers in the extended
CH. xii TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP 339
sense are also mine ; if I am a female my husband's are mine. So that the term includes all a man's grandparents, his wife's grandparents, and also their grandparents' brothers and sisters. Between me and the collateral grandmothers on my own side there is no taboo ; I address each of them as mwinangu (" my wife "), and may treat her as such. Similarly there is the same liberty between me and my " grandchildren," whom I call benangu (" my wives "). This is only an extension of the principle that my collateral grandfather's property is mine potentially ; I may enter my grandfather's brother's village, spear his oxen or rob his fields with impunity. This liberty may not be taken with my wife's collateral grandfathers ; she may practise it with hers and I with mine ; but not I with hers nor she with mine.
The wives of all who stand as tata (" my father ") I call by courtesy bama ("my mother"). I extend the same courtesy to the sisters of these wives, and their brothers I call batata ("my fathers"). These women are all tonda to me ; I have no rights or privileges over their persons. Similarly the husbands of all who stand as bama, and their brothers I call batata (" my fathers ") ; their sisters are bama. The fathers and mothers of these husbands and wives I call bankakangu.
I being a male call my wife mwinangu, and she calls me mulumi angu. A polygamist's principal wife is nabukando, any other is nabwaniche. A polygamist's wife calls her fellow mukazhima (" my co-wife "). The prefix muka (" the one of ") joined to proper names indicates " his wife " ; thus : Mukamasole means Masole's wife, " Mrs. Masole."
The wives of all the men who stand as mukwesu to me are bazhilebesu, a term which may be loosely translated as " sisters-in-law." The husbands of those women who stand in the same relation to me are balamu bangu, which may be translated " brothers-in-law."
But those Ila terms are wider than the English ones. Among bazhilebesu I include the following :
My wife's elder and younger sisters.
My husband's elder and younger brothers.
340 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
My brother's wife, and the wives of all who stand to me in that relation.
My brother's wife's sisters.
These are strictly tonda to me ; any intercourse is reckoned as incest.
Among bazhilebesu are also reckoned the husbands and wives of cousins. Thus in the Genealogical Table No. 4 the husband of Chilabwe (No. 23) is muzhilakwe Nachiloba (No. 25) and calls her mwinangu (" my wife "). The wife of Namangoma (No. 22) is muzhilakwe Shimashikwe (No. 27) and calls him mulumi (" husband "). Between these there is no taboo ; intercourse, if found out, is liable to be punished, but it is not reckoned as incest.
Among balamu bangu are included the following :
Sister's husband, and husbands of all who stand to me in that relation.
Sister's husband's brother and sister.
Wife's brothers.
Husband's sisters.
These are tonda to each other ; intercourse with some exception is reckoned as incest.
The wife and husband of each person who stands in the relation of mwanangu and mwiwangu is mukwangu (" my son- (or daughter-) in-law"). But that is an inadequate rendering of the word ; mukwe is properly a son-in-law or daughter-in-law ; but when I say mukwangu, I mean much more than the English term suggests. In that category are included the brother and sister of my " children's " husbands and wives ; also the parents and brothers and sisters of my brother's wife. My sister's husband's brothers and sisters are balamu bangu ; but his fathers and mothers are bakwe bangu (plural of mukwangu). All who stand as bakwe bangu I address as ta and ma, male and female re- spectively. My wife's father and mother and their brothers are also bakwe bangu, and I address them as ta and ma. If I am a female, my husband's father and mother and his father's brother are all bakwe bangu, and I address them in the same way. My husband's mother if I am a female, and my wife's mother if I am a male, is bamakwangu.
There is a very special state of taboo between a person
CH. xii TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP 341
and his makwe, in which term are included the family of his wife or, if a female, the family of her husband. So much so that there is a special term, bukwe, which indicates the respect, honour, reverence that is due to them. To say of a person uina bukwe (" he has no respect for his wife's relations ") is to describe him as altogether a worthless fellow. For the term is applied in a wider sense than just indicated ; a man without reverence for any authority is said to be without bukwe.
For a man to have intercourse with any of those he names bakwe bakwe is a very heinous form of incest, meriting death. Even if the offender be not slain, the elders will take away his wife and send him out of the community as utterly unfit to be a member of it. Even males standing in that relation to each other may not occupy one bed together ; if they are travelling and circumstances compel them to sleep near each other, they will be careful to place a boy between them, so that the taboo may not be broken. There is also a strict taboo in regard to eating. I may not eat at my father-in-law's place unless and until he removes the taboo by giving me a hoe. Nor may I enter his house until the taboo is removed in a similar way. For some reason there is a special taboo attached to the eating of pumpkin ; I may by no means touch it when visiting my parents-in-law unless they please to hand me some, and thus remove the taboo. They may not address me by name, and this taboo is only partially removed by my making an offering. In this case the offering is the child which I beget ; when once I have presented them with a grandchild they may so far relax as to address me as " the father of So-and-so," naming the child. It is taboo for these relations- in-law to pass close to one another or to sit side by side. It is also tonda to receive anything directly from the hands of any of them ; if one is desirous of giving the other any- thing he must lay it on the ground for the other to pick it up. This applies to eating also ; it would be wrong for my father-in-law to break off a piece of bread and hand it to me ; if we are eating together, he will take his piece first, and place the dish on the ground for me to help myself ; nor may he take any more out of the dish once I have put
342 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
my hand into it. When you are travelling together, it is wrong to expect your wife's relation to carry any portion of the impedimenta ; only if he sees you overburdened and likely to faint under the load may he relieve you. We have seen a young man, active and robust, walking along free, while an older, somewhat decrepit man stumbled along in the rear bearing a big load of blankets, pots, and other things. When we asked him why he did not give the load to the young man, it was quite a sufficient answer to say, " He's my wife's brother."
Lastly, we may note that the husband of each of those who stand to me as bazukuzhi bangu I address just as I do my own grandson, i.e. mulongwangu (" my friend ") ; the wife of my " grandson " is mwinangu (" my wife "). There is no taboo between us ; I have every right over her person.
CHAPTER XIII
* **
REGULATION OF THE COMMUNAL LIFE
i. THE SANCTIONS
WE cannot imagine any people living, as the Ba-ila live, in communities without some kind of control. If society is to hang together at all, there must be some understood principles of conduct, certain restraints, objective or sub- jective, even though they are not always observed.
Independent, even fiercely independent, as they are, the Ba-ila are far from being anarchists in principle or practice. Their behaviour is not left to unchartered freedom, but is governed by an extensive system of rules and regulations. That they rebel against these restrictions is only to say that they are human ; but the principles of conduct are there and are well known. Immoral they may be ; they are not unmoral.
We are here concerned in asking : What are their sanctions of morality ? What is the nature of the social control ?
If their language be examined there will be found a large vocabulary of words expressing approval and disapproval. One pair of words is bota and bia, the former indicating what is pleasant, and the latter what is unpleasant, primarily to the sight. Chabota means it is good to look at, fine, beautiful ; then, it is good to the taste, nice ; and lastly, it is good morally. Chabia means the exact contrary, it is ugly, distasteful, bad. A second antithesis is that between straight and crooked. Lulama is straight, right ; sendama, minama, pitana indicate crookedness in various forms. A
343
344 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
third antithesis is that of heavy and light. Lema means, firstly, heavy, then weighty, honourable ; uba is light, worthless. To lemeka a person is to hold him in esteem and honour ; to ubya him is to slight, treat him with disrespect. From these root-words are formed series of derivatives, substantival, adjectival, and verbal.
For their simplest ethical expressions the Ba-ila go, then, to the concrete. It would serve no useful purpose to give further examples ; what concerns us rather is to ask, What in their minds is right and what is wrong ? What is the standard of judgement ? In a word, we may say : the norm is custom, what is done should be done. Bacon might have been thinking of the Ba-ila when he said that custom is the magistrate. A Mwila acts as part of a whole ; his well-being depends upon his conforming to the general practice ; the good is that which has the approval of the community, the bad is the anti-social. A Mwila child is born into a particular atmosphere ; his first teacher is his mother, and from her, and later from the guardian and other teachers, he learns what he may eat and what he may not eat, say and not say, do and not do. As he grows he shapes his conduct according to the thinking and doing of his fellows, and in turn leads the steps of the younger generation along the same path he has followed. He grows up to fear and resent change ; from the cradle to the grave he is ruled by custom.
But this, after all, does not lead us far. Upon what sanctions do these customs rest ? What gives them validity ?
It is difficult, impossible, to say of a particular custom that it rests upon any one of the sanctions we now enumerate, for the distinction between these classes is not always definite. But we shall not be far wrong if we say that there are three kinds of sanction : traditional, religious, and magical.
Customs, by their nature, are handed down from genera- tion to generation : they are invested with the sanction of the hoary past. What is ancient is aweful, to be reverenced. They may originally have rested upon sanctions of a religious or magical character, but to-day these have been forgotten,
CH. xin REGULATION OF THE COMMUNAL LIFE 345
and the only reason why the customs are still followed is : " We do it because our fathers did it."
Of many customs it is commonly said that they were established by Leza, and any breach of them may be punished by Him. Various prohibitions are called : Shifundo shaka Leza. The idea conveyed by the word chifundo is a line drawn on the ground over which people are not allowed to step. The first occasion on which we heard the word used was after we had doctored for some weeks a man who had been very seriously mauled by a leopard : we suggested to the patient's father that we should like to have the leopard's skin as a memento of his son's bravery. The old man, with every sign of reluctance, declined ; to give away that skin would be wrong, because by the Chifundo chaka Leza the skin of any animal that has attacked a member of one's family is to be kept as a sacred heirloom.
Customs rest not only upon the will of the Supreme Being, but upon the wishes of the lesser deities — the mizhimo, departed ancestors.
And it is important to observe that changes in traditional customs, and the establishment of new customs, are due largely and probably mostly, not to the ruling chiefs, but to those who are the mouthpieces of the gods — the prophets. They are actually the law-givers, and of course do not base their demands upon anything they are in themselves, but upon the authority of the god. We do not lose sight of the fact that a prophet may be prompted by a chief, who uses his alleged supernatural gift when his own power fails. It must not be thought, however, that every word uttered by a prophet proves acceptable ; his decrees may hold for a time and then be neglected, or they may never be accepted at all : it depends largely upon the status of the seer, and attendant circumstances. One prophet, for example, gave it as a message from Leza that the use of the Kamwaya bush in scattering inconvenient clouds was to cease. But immediately afterwards two men on their way home were overtaken by a storm, and one of them plucked some Kamwaya twigs and frantically waved them above his head, to turn the clouds and thus enable them to get home with dry skins. His companion remonstrated, reminding him of
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the prophet's message, but the impious fellow continued, until presently there was a flash of lightning and he fell dead. This was accepted by all as a confirmation of the prophet's orders and the news quickly travelled through the country. It will be interesting to know whether in a few years the use of the Kamwaya has ceased. We are persuaded that many a custom, and many a change of custom, might, if we had the means of doing so, be traced to the inspiration of prophets.
The third kind of sanction we mentioned was the magical ; and that is probably the oldest and strongest. The essential point here is that things are regarded as inherently harmful ; hence they are tonda, i.e. taboo. We shall have occasion presently to enlarge upon this.
2. CHISAPI, BUDITAZHI, TONDA
Almost all offences against the customary law fall in one of the three categories which we may conveniently, if not quite accurately, characterise by the words : Chisapi, Buditazhi, Tonda. A clear idea of the meaning of these terms is essential to understanding the life of the Ba-ila.
Chisapi is indecorum. Under this heading are grouped numerous sayings and actions which are regarded as con- trary to etiquette. It is by no means regarded as such a heinous fault as the two other things we describe below. A rude fellow (shikisapi) may be beaten, or rebuked or reviled, but he is not sued in a court, nor is any automatic retribution regarded as falling upon him.
Buditazhi is a word covering a host of offences which call out the active resentment of the offended. The offender is not left to the vengeance of hidden powers, but is punished by his fellows. Kuditaya, the verb from which the sub- stantive is formed, means to enslave oneself ; to say of a person wamuditaya means that by doing something wrong he places himself in the power of the person wronged, and to escape must redeem himself, or be redeemed by others, by payment of a ransom. Under this heading come various offences against the person, and since in the minds of the Ba-ila there is a very close connection, amounting almost
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to identity, between a person and his possessions, an injury done to his property comes also under this head.
Kutonda ( = kuila, kuzila, kuzhila) is a verb meaning to be taboo ; it is apparently a synonym of the Polynesian word. The substantive is mutondo ; thus we speak of mitondo ya bana, taboos affecting children. A thing, or person, or action or word is tonda, upon which an inter- diction is placed ; the thing or word is debarred to use, the person is under a ban. Chintu chilatonda, they say (" the thing is taboo ") ; muntu ulatonda (" the person is taboo "). Another word used in this connection is malweza. Kulweza, the verb, means to strike with amazement ; it is the proper word to use (ndalwezwa) when you first see a thing that astonishes you. Hence the special meaning : to be struck with horror and amazement at seeing some- thing contrary to the taboo laws — something atrocious. A malweza is an atrocity, a horrible thing : an infraction of a taboo. Thus incest is malweza.
The difference between Buditazhi and Tonda is this : in committing the former a man does something whereby he puts himself in the power of a fellow-man, who sees to his punishment ; in breaking a taboo he puts himself in the power of the mysterious forces which everywhere prevail and which at once react against him. There is the idea of danger underlying both words ; but in the former the danger is from persons ; in the latter it is from forces. There is something about the tonda person that jeopardises the well-being of others ; some baneful influence inherent in, or set in energy by, the tonda things, actions and words making them a source of peril not only to the person hand- ling, using, saying them but also, it may be, to his fellows. In this case they may excite the active resentment of those who are affected and the offender may be punished by them ; but, generally speaking, the taboo-breaker is left to the retribution of his own misdeed. That is to say, these deeds or sayings have a malefic essence in themselves, and by a kind of automatic action recoil upon the offender ; or, to put it more accurately, they release the spring which sets the hidden mechanism of nature in action against the offender.
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It is not easy for one trained in Christian morality to appreciate the position occupied by the taboo in the life of the Ba-ila. The things summed up in the word tonda include not only prohibitions due to a vague instinctive repulsion from deeds which the highest ethical consciousness recognises as wrong, but also others which to advanced thought have no moral significance. To our minds there is a world of difference between theft and, say, eating a quail ; but it is a sign of the weakness of their ethical discrimination that a breach of what we should call the " ceremonial law " is rated a greater offence than a breach of the " moral law." We have constantly had proof of their inability to recognise the distinctive nature of morality, i.e. as recognised by ourselves. We remember one instance particularly, because the man concerned was, we had imagined, considerably in advance of his fellow Ba-ila in intelligence. He came to complain about a certain woman, who had aborted some time previously, entering his house and stealing some of his things. Here were two crimes, for, apart from theft, the woman was in a state of uncleanness ; she was tonda, and for her to have entered his house was a serious menace to him and his family. The thievery might have been over- looked, but the tonda offence could only be expiated by the payment of a heavy fine. We were amazed, and yet — Why ? From his point of view he was unquestionably right. And in all these matters we have to think ourselves back into their position.
We have already had occasion to enumerate many of these taboos, and many more will be named in subsequent chapters. Here it will be convenient to attempt a rough classification of them.
By physiological taboos we mean those associated with certain vital functions. They regulate the relations be- tween the sexes and have a special implication in regard to women during menstruation, pregnancy, nursing, and widowhood.
Occupational taboos are such as apply to men while pursuing various occupations which bring them into intimate contact with death and other mysteries, and unless they are wary in observing the rules they will fail, and worse than
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fail. Warriors, iron-smelters, merchants, hunters are thus taboo.
Special taboos, like the preceding, are placed upon people during certain periods of their life : e.g. when a man is being doctored he must refrain from certain foods and certain acts lest the medicine should not be effectual.
These last are partly of another class, — that large and interesting class associated with diet.
Personal taboos are such as those associated with names, and those that are put upon an individual for a period, or for life, by a diviner or by himself. One often finds men who refuse to eat certain foods, and there is no apparent reason for their abstention : the things tabooed are not their totems, nor are they taboo to the generality of people. The reason is that earlier in life they ate them and were ill after eating ; and the vomiting and indigestion or what not is taken as a sign that the food is taboo to them. For example, our old friend, Mungalo, was a total abstainer from all kinds of beer : the reason being that once when a young man he had a " sore head " after a feast, and the diviner on being consulted declared that evidently beer was taboo to him : not to be drunk without danger. Often the oracle of the diviner is not considered necessary : should a man be ill after taking honey or milk or ground-nuts, or any particular food, and the same thing should happen a second and third time, he draws his own conclusions, and, no matter how nice it may be, from that time he does not touch it : it is taboo.
3. JUDICIAL PROCESSES
In studying now the deterrents against infringing such standards as we have named and the processes for punishing the wrong-doer, we are thinking only of misdeeds that are punishable by human agency.
When one man is wronged by another he may attempt on his own initiative to enforce his rights, with, however, the consciousness of the powerful combination of his chief and his clan in the background. No police force or public prosecutor being at hand, he is thrown on his own resources ;
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should he be distrustful of these he is allowed to shisha, i.e. to invoke the aid of some more combative friend, whose services he recognises by giving him a portion of the damages he obtains. Sometimes when these are small, as when only one calf is obtained, the friend claims the beast as his reward for the trouble taken, and the aggrieved person gets nothing.
The principal offences for which a man seeks to redress himself are thefts and assaults ; minor ones comprise damage to property, slander, and occasionally trespass, though as the land and water belong to the community this is more often a matter for the chief. Retaliation is practised rather against the property of the offender than his person. If a man breaks another's head, the assaulted, unless a fight in hot blood follows, will attempt to seize a person or a beast belonging to his assailant. It is singular how often some sense of conscience manifests itself in these cases, and the assailant in sullen acquiescence allows the thing seized to be taken away, after the whole night perhaps has been spent in vociferating against each other. Intimidation is often practised. When a man induces two or three stalwart friends to accompany him and assist in prosecuting his claim, the other party replies by summoning his clansmen to his aid, and sometimes the people of two whole districts become involved in a very trifling matter.
Matters in regard to which a man acts on his own initiative are invariably of a trivial nature. A man's life is so bound up with the interests of his clan, and his responsibilities to the clan so varied, that it is not surprising that when he meets with trouble or wrong in any affairs of importance he should immediately look to the clan to assist him in gaining redress. In any case where a clan takes up a dispute, responsibility is collective and therefore vicarious ; as in an old Border raid or Corsican vendetta, any member of the clan is liable to be punished. The dispute is against a rival clan, not against an individual ; the initiative is taken by common consent, not by an individual, and as the result of due deliberation by the elders. Such claims as the follow- ing : claims for chiko cattle, for ill-treatment of a clans- woman by her husband, claims arising out of raids and feuds, cases of redemption from slavery, theft on a large
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scale, as of cattle or ivory — all these are quickly adopted by a clan.
When these disputes are not settled by councils of the elders and mutual arrangements, they drag on, engendering bad feeling for a very long time ; and where distance separates the disputing parties, forays and reprisals take place, until finally some arbitrator acceptable to both parties is selected to whom the dispute is referred.
The last method amongst the Ba-ila themselves, as apart from their European magistrate, by which wrongs are redressed and order maintained, is by direct intervention of the chief or his headmen. He judges the matter in fault, and as a rule does so justly, according to custom and pre- cedent, with the assistance of the .elders sitting as assessors. Such an assembly is termed a lubeta. When a grave offence has been committed, or should a man prove stubborn or recalcitrant, complaint is laid to the chief, who summons the offender before him. The case is exhaustively detailed by both parties, the assessors quote precedents and give their opinions and suggestions, and the chief gives his decision : from this there is no appeal. The degree of obedience which his decision exacts depends entirely upon the force of character of the chief himself and the respect and fear in which he is held. In a well-controlled trial the loser has no misgivings about his future course of action. The chief has spoken, and it is not his to argue further but to obey. Under a man of vacillating character the offender temporises or defies as openly as he dares, and the matter rankles in the minds of all concerned.
We insert here an interesting pen picture of a typical Ila court taken as it was in the rough on the spot : "I was at Shamalomo's to-day and found all the chiefs there about to have a lubeta, I asked if I might enter and they readily agreed. On entering I could see nothing, it was pitch dark ; they gave me a stool and made room for me. Gradually I began to see that the hut was crowded with men. On the raised seat near the door sat the chiefs, Mungalo, Mungaila, Chidyaboloto, Nalubwe, and one or two more. The rest of the men sat about mostly smoking their long pipes. Many were invisible as they sat in the
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chimpetu behind the reed screen. Mungalo called upon Shingwe to open the case. Shingwe thereupon proceeded to state that a case had been brought to him against one of his men, and as he felt that he could not decide it satisfactorily he had asked his brother chiefs to meet and deliberate upon it. It was the usual sordid kind of adultery case but mixed up with other matters. The man who brought the complaint owed the accused some cattle, a question of inheritance also arose,— altogether an involved affair. Shingwe stated the case slowly, deliberately, Mungalo grunting E-weh ! every few words. When he had finished, Shamalomo gave his version of the affair. The accused, a young man who sat with his face covered with his hands, was asked what he had to say. He replied, ' What can I say ? ' and was silent. The chiefs then proceeded to argue the matter among them- selves, and finally announced their decision that the young man should pay a cow. He then spoke, just a word or two, but the effect on the chiefs was electrical. He declared he didn't care what they said, they were shami (' good-for- nothing chiefs'). I thought Mungaila would go out of his senses. Hitherto everything had been quiet and orderly, now it was Bedlam let loose. Mungaila screamed and gesticulated ; all the rest of the chiefs did the same. The cry was, ' He curses us.' After quiet was restored you could still hear Mungaila ejaculating Weh ! very disgustedly. Finally they declared the young man should be banished. ' We will drive him away,' they said to me. Another case was then brought by a chief against a man for adultery. This was chiefly notable for the decision arrived at. It is the custom for the relatives of a man to pay his fine and get him off, but this becomes a burden when a ne'er-do-well profligate son is always in trouble. To-day the chiefs decided that the man himself should pay, they would not have father and relatives impoverished any longer. The man was sentenced to pay £5, and if he wouldn't or couldn't, they would take him by force to the magistrate and ask him to sentence him to work for the money. The meeting then broke up.
" I was favourably impressed by the order of the meeting. The speaker as a rule was left to say his say, but sometimes
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he aroused feeling, and then tongues were untied. In the midst of the debate there were several interruptions. A lad came crying to the door and said : " They tied me up there at Busangu." He was told to go away, and not to interrupt the lubeta. Later some women were making a noise outside, and a man was sent to tell them to keep quiet. Other interruptions were caused by men calling for embers to light their pipes with. They kept sucking at their pipes most of the time. When speaking, Shamalomo would say a few words and then give a loud suck at his pipe."
Occasionally a chief is found whose decision is swayed by favour or affection, and whose partiality to his own kinsmen is pronounced. Possibly an outsider in a case of adultery he will mulct in heavy, against his kinsman he will only grant small, damages. His decisions cause much dis- satisfaction, and his people commence to fall off from him ' to other and stronger men. Unfortunately our administra- tion inevitably weakens the power of the chief even when every effort is made to support him. Protection comes not as the result of herding together for mutual support under a strong head, but from the stable European administration. Old deterrents lose their power, other chiefs are willing to receive the rebellious, and it requires a strong man to refuse to let things slide and insist on his control being a reality. A chief may decide a case against an habitual adulterer. He promptly disappears for two or three years to the mines, and on his return finds conditions changed, deaths or removals have occurred, and the matter has all to be reopened.
In cases tried before the local heads every endeavour is made to bring home guilt to the accused, nor is he allowed to take advantage of ingenious loopholes through which to escape his deserts. Nothing amongst the myriad changes and alterations we have brought into their lives perplexes them more than the verdict of " not proven " ; when the guilt of the accused is known to all, but incapable of proof by the laws of evidence, they sneer at our justice as a thing of word only.
Reversing the dictum that a man is innocent until he is proved guilty, the chief and the assessors who constitute
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the Court have one end in view, to convict the offender, not necessarily the accused : all means save physical torture are employed to press a witness ; he is invited to assert his innocence or ignorance by oath, it being held that the act of perjury will bring its own punishment.
There are many forms of oaths. Oaths proper are termed miya ; and to take an oath is kupinga, or kuchinga, miya. They are taken on sacred things, .namely, itwe (" the ash ") ; ivhu (" soil ") ; chunibwe (" the grave ") ; and Leza (" God "). The ash is primarily that of funeral fires, and the soil, the white clay with which mourners smear their bodies. The expressions are : Nditwe (" By the ash ") ; Ndivhu dilamba badila (" By the soil the mourners smear on themselves ") ; Ngu chunibwe (" By the grave ") ; Ngu Leza (" By God "). Kuombwezha is to make a solemn asseveration by calling down a curse upon oneself or some other person ; and it is implied that if the truth be not spoken the evil named will happen. The perjurer is guilty of buditazhi against the person named. Oaths, then, are uncanny things : they are not mere words ; sometimes, indeed, they pass by the speaker, and the person sworn by, and strike somebody else, causing him sickness, or ill-fortune, or death. So that if you hear a person swearing and have reason to believe that he is perjuring himself, the safe thing is to spit on the ground, Thu / so that it may pass you by. To ombwezha for the purpose of denying a charge is called kudikazhizha. Some of these oaths are as follows : Leza we nina ukwiba, pe, akudi ndeba utabuchesha (" Before God, I did not steal ; if I stole, may you (i.e. the accuser) never see the dawn ") ; Utadiboni kudibidila (" May you not see the sunset " ) ; Chidyo nchi wadya chikuite u manango (" May the food you eat come back through the nostrils ") ; Ngu nini wezu afwe sunu (" By so-and-so, may he die to-day ") ; Banoko bakufwa (" May your mother die") ; Ndamutuka utata (" I curse my father") ; Uandauke sunu (" May you split in pieces ") ; Upasauke (" May you burst asunder ").
Where feeling runs high over a matter, an ordinary oath will not suffice ; the demand is for a speedy conviction or acquittal, and the accused either volunteers for, or his
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accusers insist on, the trial by ordeal. It is to be noted that the oath and ordeal do not differ in principle : each is an appeal to the hidden forces to show the guilt or innocence of the person — the innocent escapes the penalty, while the guilty succumbs ; but while the action of an oath may be delayed, that of the ordeal is immediate and patent to all.
The ordeal is of two forms — the hot-water test and the poison test. The former the accused undergoes himself, the latter is frequently administered by proxy. In the former the accused has the right of drawing the water, cutting the wood, and lighting the fire. The friends of the accused and accuser take their places on opposite sides of the fire, upon which is placed a potful of water. When it boils they address the accused — the technical term is sansila — " If it be that you are guilty, then you will be burnt and leave your nails in the pot ; if you are innocent, then why should you be hurt ? " He plunges his hand into the boiling water and sometimes has to pick up a stone that has been put into the pot. If on examination there is no sign of blistering he is acquitted ; but should there be any, he is pronounced guilty. We have never witnessed this performance, but have seen men who have just come from the ordeal — sometimes with arms blistered to the elbow, once or twice with no evidence of scalding. We are told that men manage some- times to square the diviner presiding over the ceremony, who gives them " medicine " to smear on the arm to obviate any ill effect. Natives have great faith in this ordeal ; it is common to hear one, even children, say when accused, " I will put my hand in the pot."
The other test employs the mwazhi, a decoction made from a shrub of that name. Suppose that the diviner, on being consulted in the way described on p. 268, names two men as probable agents in the death of a person, they will administer the poison in the first instance to a dog or cock. A dog is tied up and kept perhaps all day and night without food. Then in the presence of the clansmen of both sides, the decoction is put before the dog, and one man charges it, naming one of the accused, and saying, " You, O dog ! we give you this mwazhi to drink. If it be that our relation died simply of disease, why should you die ? Let it go
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west ! Kashia mumbo, i.e. ' It is no concern of yours.' If he was bewitched, why, then, to-day you must not see the sunset ! " Then a man from the other party recharges (sansulula) the dog, saying, " No, O dog, this is the affair : if so-and-so (naming the deceased) was killed by witchcraft out of envy, to-day you must not see the sunset. But if it be that Leza killed him, as all men die, then you, why should you perish ? " Then if the suspected man be guilty of warlockry, the dog dies. They cut off its tail and deposit it with the chief. Then the two parties divide and each goes back to a diviner to get his oracle. Then they put a test to a cock : they ombwezha it, and charge it and recharge it, as they did the dog. If the man be innocent the cock vomits the mwazhi and lives ; if he be guilty it dies, and they take its wings to the chief. So bombona bukungu mulozhi (" they have detected the war- lock"), and seizing him they cry, "Let him die! Let him die ! " If he still protests his innocence they invite him to take the mwazhi himself. Sometimes he agrees to do so, and either dies — a sure sign of his guilt — or lives, and is pronounced innocent notwithstanding the evidence of the dog and cock. Should he refuse, they confront him with the dog's tail and cock's wings, and demand how he can deny his guilt in the face of such proofs. They then tie these proofs round his neck and lead him off to execution.
Should the tests fail to show a man's guilt, his accusers cannot close the matter by an apology. They are guilty of buditazhi, and will have to redeem themselves by a heavy ransom to the accused and his clansmen.
Occasionally the medicine is drunk not by a substitute, but by the accused himself, and on his own demand. He is " charged " similarly to the dog : " O So-and-so, if you are innocent, why should you die ? If you are no warlock do not die ; if you are, die." Sometimes, perhaps most times, an appeal is delivered directly to the mwazhi to reveal the truth.
Where a case of an ordinary nature is tried by ordinary methods, it is decided by the evidence produced. Hearsay evidence is admitted, and credence is occasionally extended to the one who indulges in the greatest wealth of embroidery
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and detail. Some chiefs show remarkable shrewdness in dealing with these matters, and their decisions are un- questioned ; others show themselves unable to grasp the kernel of the matter at issue. It is fair to say that the personal equation bulks more largely in a native court than amongst ourselves.
Supposing the case satisfactorily argued and the guilt of the accused clear, the question arises as to the punish- ment to be awarded. The warning of similarly evil-disposed persons, the well-being of the community, and the satis- faction of the wish for revenge in a private person are the objects aimed at.
The choice of punishments lies between outlawry, mutilation, death, confiscation of goods or property, and fines.
Outlawry is resorted to where the man has rendered himself insufferable, but is resorted to with reluctance. It means the deprivation to the community of a pair of hands and feet and the strengthening to that extent of a rival community. Therefore the departure of a hale evildoer is viewed with greater distaste than that of a respectable cripple. For these reasons no mwelenze (" vagabond ") has any difficulty in securing a place of abode at the village he fancies. The Ila proverb, " Chilo chibi chishinka musena " (" Any old stick will fill up a hole in the fence "), illustrates their attitude of mind towards this question.
Mutilation was the punishment allotted to persistent adulterers and thieves, and to committers of arson. Either one or both of the following members were amputated : the ear, foot, finger, or toe. Mutilation of the privates was not practised, though burning with hot coals was. One extraordinary case of mutilation known to us is of a minor chief who when elected abused his position by selling into slavery the children born of his predecessor ; the indignant mother aroused neighbouring chiefs to take action against him, and they punished him by cutting off both hands.
Death, the supreme punishment, was mostly reserved for those found guilty of witchcraft, the supreme crime. The criminal was taken away into the veld, where a great pile of dry wood had been gathered. He was made to lie
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upon it, and other wood piled around him and lighted. We are informed that the men would stand round and watch until the victim "burst" (tuluka), and then cry aloud, Wo ! Wo ! and run off as hard as they could without looking round.
In regard to confiscation, we may advert to the custom known as kusala. Where a person by wrongdoing had cut himself off from the protection of his fellows, he was ren- dered defenceless ; and the persons aggrieved sala'd him, i.e. seized what they wished of his property, however dis- proportionate it might be to the offence. His property, his person, his wife, his children were, to an extent only slightly affected by the heinousness of his fault, at the mercy of the others, who took what they fancied.
In contrast with this irregular method of seizing damages are the fines inflicted and damages awarded by decision of the elders. These vary from the payment of twenty head of cattle as weregild (Iwembe) for homicide, to the ox-calf paid in compensation of minor cases of buditazhi. Some distinction is drawn between the amount of damages awarded to a chief and a commoner ; e.g. a chief may receive three head as damages for adultery with his wife, a com- moner only one, but the distinction between other grades is slight. A child's fault is not condoned ; the father must pay. Some consideration is shown to a poor person by a benevolent chief, in order not " to kill him outright."
That there is a real deep-seated desire that justice should prevail in the land is shown by the fact that these hot- blooded impetuous savages, as ready to stab as to smoke, provided that certain places should be regarded as sanctu- aries, on reaching which a criminal, even a warlock, was safe until brought to trial. Stories are still told of a criminal's wild race through hostile spears to one of these places ; if only he could get there he was safe. Many used to fail and fall mortally wounded in the chase. These places varied in different districts, but were generally either the hut of the chief, a temple over a grave, or a sacred grove such as that of Shimunenga at Mala and Chimbembe at Nanzela.
The degree of equity which characterises the judicial proceedings of the Ba-ila depends on the character of the
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chief. Bribes are offered and taken, but the wholesome in- fluence of public opinion, the fear of alienating the people, and the weight and standing of the assisting assessors act as a powerful deterrent against gross favouritism or injustice.
The Ba-ila are a litigious people, and extremely rapacious. Some of the cases brought before the chiefs, and even before the European magistrate, are extraordinary. The acme, we think, was reached in a claim brought by a man against another whose cock had committed adultery with his hen ; he gravely claimed damages amounting to the value of a cow. In the event they were persuaded that the ends of justice would be met by killing and eating the cock.
CHAPTER XIV
ETIQUETTE : THE LAWS OF POLITE BEHAVIOUR
THE mutual intercourse of the Ba-ila is marked by two features : bluff independence on the one hand, and a scrupulous regard for the laws of politeness on the other. These seemingly contradictory things have their root in personal pride. A Mwila has too much self-respect to cringe to any one. Europeans often think him rude, but he is not meaningly so. Colonel Gibbons, one of the earlier travellers, was not at all favourably impressed by this feature of their character : " Savages, whose sole article of apparel con- sisted in a leather necklet constructed on the principle of a bootlace — armed cap-a-pie with assegai, axe, bow and poisoned arrows — they passed within a few feet of me without greetings or remark, scarcely a glance, and some- times a sneer. Never having seen a white man before, the ignoring of my' presence by one and all of them, whether they passed by singly or in small groups, could only be remarkable, if not hostile." It certainly must have been remarkable to him, coming fresh from the more ostenta- tiously polite, not to say cringing, peoples of the south and west ; but we doubt as to it being hostility or calculated rudeness. Probably it was no more than bashfulness, mingled with a desire to show their independence. There is no doubt that superficially they are uncivil to strangers and among themselves. We have to remember that the freest nations are generally the rudest in manners. They have never been used, except when yielding to superior force, to acknowledge masters. The Barotsi made them salute by falling on their knees and clapping their hands.
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The Nanzela people have always had among themselves the custom of kamba'ing in this way. The European officials have insisted upon the Ba-ila saluting them in this servile fashion ; but it goes sorely against the grain. It is not a Bwila custom and is not practised among themselves. Any man or woman will go up to the biggest chief and, without any show of deference, address him bluntly, " Wabonwa, So-and-so " (" You are seen," i.e. " Good day, So-and-so ").
But it must not be inferred from this that the Ba-ila are without a sense of etiquette. Indeed they have their own forms of politeness, which a person only departs from at the risk of earning a bad name.
i. SALUTATIONS
When a stranger arrives at a Ba-ila village he first asks where the chief is. He is directed, it may be, to the chief's hut, which, as we have seen, is always directly opposite the gateway. He enters the enclosure and sits down, on a stool which somebody hands him, or on the ground. No- body says a word : it is an act of politeness to give him time to collect himself, to wipe the perspiration from his brow, and settle comfortably. Somebody silently hands him a cup of water. Then the chief, or his representative, opens the conversation by saying, " Wabonwa " (" You are seen "). If the person is not a stranger, but a visitor from some village near by, the salutation is more intimate, " W abuka " (" You have got up "). It is one of the conven- tions that the person at home must open the conversation ; till he is addressed the visitor should say nothing. In reply to the preliminary salutation he answers, " Ndabonwa. Wabonwa aze " ("I am seen. And you also are seen "). It is now open for others to salute him if they wish, and with every one, no matter how many they may be, the visitor must go through the same ritual. Then the conversation with the chief is resumed, following usually a definite course. The host asks, " Kwambwai P " ("What is said?" i.e. " What is the news ? "). Although he may have much to tell, it is correct for the visitor simply to say, " Kwina.
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 363
Tchita konoP" ("There is none. Atid here? "). To which the chief may reply, " Kwina, kwatontola " (" There is nothing, all is quiet "), or he may tell anything that has happened. Afterwards the stranger will tell the news of his journey and of his home. If the visitor is known, the chief will enquire as to his wife and children, and the visitor will return the compliment. If the visitor is to spend the night, the chief will have food cooked for him, or at any rate will offer him milk or beer. When he wishes to go the visitor simply says, " Ndaya ; kamuchishite " ("I am going ; stay on ! ") ; to which the reply is " Koya " (" Go ") or " Amukashike " (" May you arrive ! "). If the chief wishes to show him respect, he accompanies the visitor to the gateway, or if he be a friend, will set him some way on the road.
There are no extensive rules as to who should be the first to salute. Superiors may address inferiors, women men, or vice versa. Only, a child should not address an elder, but speak when spoken to. If it should salute an elder, the child would be called mwamu, a cheeky, forward youngster.
People passing each other on a road are expected to stop and greet each other, but if either party should omit to do so, it is not esteemed a fault, though it is considered • to be a silly impolite thing; and should some misfortune happen to the party who might have received warning if the others had stopped to talk, there might be serious trouble, as they would be held responsible. When two men pass each other, each goes to the right. It is con- sidered polite, at all events, to step off the path ; and in any case it must be on the right-hand side, so that the spear-hand is free in case of treachery. The proper etiquette for men passing each other is to stop, lay down spears, and salute each other. No rule exists as to who should open the conversation ; he who is a mumpaka, a ready-tongued person, will begin, anyhow.
In regard to spears, it is right for a man to carry them into a strange village ; but he must put them down some- where before taking a seat, and before doing so, must ask, Nzekekwi? (" Where may I stand them ? "). This because
364 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
the host may have some taboo as to his house, or other place, disallowing the placing of spears there.
Ba-ila houses are open ; a visitor may enter by the open door without speaking or knocking, though it is considered more polite to ask permission to enter. Of course any one will be careful about entering another person's house, for if anything should afterwards be found missing or damaged, he would be held responsible ; but simply to enter in the daytime is no offence.
The custom called kuyumbula, i.e. of giving a visitor an inyumbu or present of uncooked food, is not native to the Ba-ila, but is of Barotsi origin. It partakes of the nature of a tribute, and its more or less compulsory nature is disliked by the Ba-ila. But kutwila, to prepare food for a visitor, is Bwila custom. The host tells his wives to prepare food ; if he wishes to show much respect he brings it to the guest with his own hands, or at any rate offers it with his own hands, or his wives bring it. To ordinary people he sends the food by a servant. In any case he should take a taste of the food first. Should he not do so, and anything were to happen to the visitor, he would be liable to suspicion of witchcraft. The visitor should not eat alone ; if he has no companion, he should invite one of the villagers to share his repast.
It is considered polite always to take a gift with both hands, not with one ; this very obviously shows appreciation of the magnitude of the gift, whereas to take it in one hand is to betray your sense of its inadequacy.
On receiving food the visitor is not expected to say anything. When he leaves off eating, even if hunger be not satisfied, there should still remain something in the pot ; should he scrape it out, people might laugh at him for gluttony, and he would sink in their estimation. This is the rule for a stranger ; a fellow-villager or friend may eat, and should eat, all without reproach. The visitor then says, " Ndekuta ; wantwila. Nda lumba " ("I am satisfied ; you have given me food. I return thanks ").
A casual visitor is not expected to give anything in return for hospitality shown him. If he is out hunting, however, or trading, he may offer some meat or some of his merchandise
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 365
to the chief. If you were to offer your host anything, as an ordinary visitor, he might be offended and say, " Do I sell food ? "
There are other courtesies extended to a favoured guest, such as lending him a wife.
Hospitality is a virtue much esteemed, and is com- mended in many of their proverbs.
2. NAMES
A special department of Ila etiquette is that concerned with names. You cannot in Bwila call people by name indiscriminately ; some you may not address by the birth- name, others by neither birth-name nor nickname, others you may call by either.
There are various kinds of names. The birth-name (izhina dia buzhale) is the one given to a child soon after birth, when by the aid of the diviner it has been ascertained of which of its forebears it is the reincarnation. As the ancestor has come back to earth he naturally bears the name he had during his previous sojourn. The name is termed ndikando, ndi a muzhimo (" the great one, the one of the divinity "). It is tonda, not to be lightly used, and though it remains with him all his life, it is strictly tonda for him to pronounce it. To call any one by his birth-name is to shokolola him, and that is an offence, except on the part of his father, mother, brothers, and sisters.
The child is therefore given another name for everyday use, and this either describes some circumstance in the birth or points to some characteristic in the child itself. Such names are Nankuwa (" the howler"), Namashikwe (female) or Shimashikwe (male) ("born at night"), Namunza (female) or Shimunza (male) ("born in the daytime"). As he grows up, other names may be given. He may have an izhina dia buwezhi (" a hunting name "), such as Mukadi (" the brave "). All such secondary names are called mazhina a champi, nicknames.
A third great class of personal names are the mazhina a kutembaula (" praise- titles "), by which a person is lauded. On occasions when he garumphs (to use Lewis Carroll's
366 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. in
word ; the Ba-ila sayfumba) he shouts these titles aloud : "I am Lubabankofuntakutuzhiwa " (" a stinging plant that is not to be touched"); "I am Chaboshakutika-mafua-asekelele" (" he who gladdens by spilling that the hearthstone may rejoice"), etc. etc. They are bestowed upon a man by his fellows, or sometimes a man will boastfully entitle himself, in allusion to personal characteristics and exploits. Their use is a not very subtle form of flattering chiefs and others, when on occasion their followers hail them by these titles. We, in common with other Europeans, have had such names given to us, and as modest men have blushed when on entering a village at the head of our carriers they have shouted at the top of their voices for the edification of the inhabitants, " Here comes Shilangwamunyama-owakamu- langa-wakafwa (' he who is not to be looked at by a wild animal, for the one who looks at him falls dead ') ; Munene ntwizha-midimo (' the .great one who greets you, not with food, but with word about his work ') " . . . " Here he is, Chitutamano ('the silent, cunning devil'); Shalu- mamba (' the man of wars ') ; Mukumbwanzala (' the one stirred to pity by the sight of hunger ') ; Mutubankumu (' he who is white on the forehead ') ; Mulumi-a-Namusa 1 (' the husband of the mother of kindness ')," etc. etc.
Some other names we have known are worth quoting as illustrations of the kind of qualities and deeds the Ba-ila esteem in their chiefs and fellows, and also to show their powers of expression. A hunter or warrior may be entitled Chilosha or Chitikaisha (" the great spiller of blood ") ; Kabange-mukolabantu (" little-hemp, intoxicator of men ") i.e. he can overcome those far greater than himself ; Mukulubala ("he who does not seek shelter, but stands in a clear space, facing the foe ") ; Inzokamuchile ("a snake in a bundle of wood"), i.e. dangerous ; Lufungula-tunyama (" great weaner of little animals ") ; Kankolomwena (" the rinderpest "), i.e. destroyer of animals and men ; Kawizulula (" the famine-breaker "), i.e. in famine time he feeds people on the game he kills ; Ikunikualumuka (" like a great log in transformation "), i.e. in ordinary times he can be handled
1 Namusa, "the mother of kindness," was the title bestowed upon Mrs. E. W. Smith.
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 367
with impunity, but on occasion he flares up like a burning log. Mungaila of Kasenga has these among other titles : Chele (" porridge "), i.e. cool on top, but hot beneath the surface ; Kaambanamazwa (" he talks like a heap of demons "). Sezongo I. of Nanzela was named Shimuchinka- uchinka-buleza (" the great thunderer, who thunders like Leza himself ") ; Tandabala-munzhila-mukadi-a-kudiate (" he stretches out his legs across the road, so that a brave man may tread on them"), i.e. he is beyond being afraid of offending the bravest of men. Kakobela has the title Ibuluminabantu-owakadya'ze-obukadi-kumwizhi (" roarer at men, and let him who eats with him not forget his fierceness ' ') . Other names are Kaludi-mutanganinwa-owabulea (" a little roof that requires a host of men to hoist into position "), i.e. he is not easily overcome ; Luvhunabantu (" saviour of men"); Shikuboni ("he doesn't see you"), i.e. takes no notice of things done against him ; Chitwizhamanumbwa (" generous giver of food to the hungry ") ; Mwendakuseka (" he who goes about smiling ") ; Chozha (" the cooler-off "), i.e. like one who leaves his food to cool, he does not speak while in a temper; Katangakalula-kuhizha-matanganina, (" a sour melon which sours its fellow melons "), i.e. like a warlock who makes his friends warlocks, he is to be dreaded ; Kubushandwazhi (" he rises with sickness "), i.e. he does not allow sickness to keep him in bed when there is anything on ; Mutantabantu (" jumper on men "), i.e. he is a fierce man who fights without provocation.
To hail any one by these names is an act of great polite- ness, but in regard to other names it is necessary to be circumspect.
To begin with, a person is not allowed to speak his own name. This is particularly the case in the presence of older people. For any one sacrilegiously to pronounce his name in their presence would be a serious fault. They might sell him up, make him a slave, or drive him out of the com- munity, unless his clansmen redeemed him. It is accounted an act of great rudeness, chisapi, but is not reckoned as buditazhi. In regard to it they say, " Balatondela bakando " (" They are taboo on account of the elders "). If you ask a person his name, he will turn to another and ask him to
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tell you. Nowadays they are getting accustomed to being asked their names by Europeans, who insist upon a man speaking for himself, but they get out of the difficulty by making up impromptu names for the occasion, or they take advantage of the grotesque names given to them by European employers — such as, Shilini, Tiki, Wiski, etc.
A man may not pronounce his wife's name, at any rate unless and until she has borne him children ; nor his father's nor his mother's, nor the names of his parents-in-law, nor those of his bakwe, i.e. the brothers and sisters of his parents- in-law, nor those of the brothers and sisters of his wife, nor the name of his uncle. The last he addresses as Achisha ; his uncle's wife as Nachisha ; his brother's wife must be addressed as Muka-mukwesu. A woman must observe similar rules ; and she calls hei husband by his champi names, or addresses him as Munaisha.
The reason for these taboos is that by pronouncing a name you may bring misfortune upon the person or upon yourself. It is the same sort of a feeling that prevents some people speaking of a ghost when passing through a churchyard at midnight. Talk of the devil —
When you are travelling through the veld it is not right to speak of a lion by name : you must call him Shikunze (" the outsider ") or Kdbwenga mukando (" the great hyaena "), or you may bring him upon you. ' It is the same motive which forbids people staying in the village to speak by name of people away on business. An absent hunter may only be referred to as Shimwisokwe (" he who is in the veld ") ; a warrior as Shilumamba (" the warrior ") or Shimpi (" the fighter ") ; a fisherman as Shimulonga (" the river man"), a merchant as Mwendo ("the trader"). Were you to mention the name of any of these, accidents would befall them. And certain things must be treated in the same way. When you are engaged in smelting iron you must not speak of Fire, but only of Mukadi (" the fierce one ") ; and when women are threshing grain they may neither drink water nor speak of it by name ; they must, if it is necessary at all, refer to it as mawa Leza (" that which falls from the sky ").
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 369
Not only must one refrain from speaking the names we have mentioned, but one must avoid speaking of things by their names when those names bear a close resemblance to the person's names.
As we shall see, a man gives his bride a new name, and he may not call her by her maiden name, at any rate before the birth of the first child. In the same way the wife may not speak the husband's name. To do so is to tuka (" curse ") him. More than that, they may not use the names in ordinary speech. A man, e.g., is named Shamatanga and his wife Kalubi. Matanga means melons, and Kalubi is the shortened form of kalubilubi, the name of a kind of mush- room. The woman must not speak of melons as matanga, but as malumi angu ("my husbands"). Nor may he speak of those mushrooms by their proper name, but as benangu (" my wives "). The rule extends to the children , who must speak of the melons as masediata (" my father's namesakes"), and the mushrooms as busediama ("my mother's namesakes"). The rule extends also to the near relations on both sides. The man's wife's father and mother and sisters may not speak of matanga but of masediata (" father's namesakes ") ; nor may his brother, father, or mother speak of kalubilubi, but of masediama ("mother's namesakes ").
To offend against this law is kushokolola, kutuka (" to curse"), or kutengula ("to despise"). Of course, as a matter of fact, the rule is broken, for it would pass the wit of man to avoid speaking the names of all objects which enter into the names of his relations, but it is considered a fault all the same. A person could claim to be paid a fine of one or two hoes on account of a breach of the rule.
It is an act of politeness to avoid pointed reference to a thing whose name enters into the formation of the person's name whom you are addressing. Polite natives pay attention to this rule in the case of Europeans, who all have native names founded on some characteristic of theirs. Thus, a friend of ours who is named Kandiata (" Mr. Kicker ") tells us that if any one has occasion to speak of " kicking " in his presence he substitutes the word kuuma ("to beat"). This, of course, is to conform to a rule of politeness common
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among ourselves. Should we be lunching with a person unfortunate enough to be named Pickle, we should naturally avoid pointed reference to pickles.
3. OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON
(a) Buditazhi Offences
The scope of the Ba-ila laws of personal respect may be gathered from an enumeration of some of the offences which may be committed. The first of these in importance come under the heading of Buditazhi, the essence of which is, as we have said before, that the offender is liable to be seized and held to ransom.
(a) To throw ash upon a person. That there is some- thing about the ash that is sacred is seen by the fact that it is a common oath, Nditwe ! (" By the ash ! "). To take up a handful of ashes and scatter them over anybody is a great offence. It is a common method adopted by persons who for any reason wish to enslave themselves, and by slaves who wish to have a new master. Should a slave be ill- treated, he knows it' is of little use running away simply, for every hand is against him and he is soon brought back ; but if he has seen that another man is merciful to his slaves, he runs to him and throws some ash over him. Ipso facto he becomes that man's slave, and if his old master wants him he has to pay a ransom. If he is a kindly person, who knows the reputation of the old master, he will put his claim so high that the other cannot pay, and the slave remains his.
(b) To call a person out of his name. We remember a case brought into court. A woman visiting a village saw two children of A. She was familiar with one of them and knew his name ; the other she did not know. She got confused as to the name, and unfortunately addressed one of them by the name of the other. The father seized her, and she had to be redeemed by the payment of a cow and an ox.
(c) To claim falsely relationship with a man or to address another as your relation when he is not. We
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 371
remember a little schoolboy claiming damages against another who had addressed him as musazhima (" my relation ").
(d) To tell a man that So-and-so is the relation of some- body else. Thus A tells B that C is B's relation ; B goes and addresses C as such ; C then sues B for calling him a relation when he is not, and B in turn sues A who misinformed him. Of A it is said wamuditazha ("he causes B to commit buditazhi ").
(e) To throw a person down on excrement : kumu- wishizha a mazhi. It may not be done intentionally, or in anger, but it is a fault all the same. There was a case in court where a cow was claimed from the guardians of a boy who in play had thrown another boy on the ground and he had fallen on to some excrement.
(/) To bring a false accusation, or to bear false witness : kulengelela umwi kambo. There is nothing about which a Mwila waxes more eloquently angry than this. There is a boomerang action about accusing another that forces a man to keep his mouth shut, or to be very sure of his facts ; for should he fail to substantiate his charge, he is at once held to ransom, no matter how small the charge may have been. It is not, one thinks, always a matter of moral indignation, so much as a welcome opportunity of squeezing a substantial fine out of the culprit. As we were writing this section, our house-boy burst rudely into the room, and, beating his fists on his chest, worked himself up into a frenzy of indignation. Earlier in the day we had had occasion to punish a lad for repeated misconduct, and this house-boy had been informed by another boy that he had heard from somebody else that he had told us of the ill- doing of the boy.
(g) To accuse a person of being a warlock or witch : kulabula. This is a special and very heinous form of the preceding. It is of frequent occurrence, and always arouses great wrath. Among numerous cases we are ac- quainted with, we may select these as examples : A man, A, met two women, B, C, on the road, and as he passed them one called out to him : " Why don't you salute us ? You are mulozhi ! " Afterwards A went to D, the husband,
372 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
to make a claim, but D refused to pay A because he had a contra-case against A for calling his wife, C, by a name that was not hers. He, D, claimed a cow for this. As D wouldn't pay, A went to the women's hut to take them off to his village, but some men heard the disturbance and drove him off, after giving him a beating. A did not deny having miscalled C, but said it was before he had come close and saw who it was. D had to pay A an ox because of the beating. •
A man named Z took some grain to pay a woman diviner to diagnose the illness of his wife. On his return, two men, X and Y, asked him where he had been. They refused to believe him, and said : " No, you are a mulozhi : you have been dancing the whole night." X said that one night there were no people but himself and a woman in the village, as they had all gone to a feast ; very late he heard the cattle running about, and coming out he found Z holding some grass in both hands in front of a house in which X's wife lay sick. He asked Z what he was doing and where he came from, and Z wouldn't answer. He went to drive the cattle in and Z disappeared. He was quite convinced of Z's evil intentions ; but Z indignantly repelled the charge and claimed heavy compensation.
(h) To question a person about a fault which he has not committed. This is kuzunga. If I have lost a thing, or something has been broken, and I ask a man if he has done it ; if it should prove that he is innocent, he will claim damages for buditazhi. This is kuzunga mwanabeni muntu munwe ("to suppose a person as a bad fellow"). It is also kuzunga if you say of a person, " I wonder whether So-and-so did it."
(i) To inform upon a person, thus causing him to get into trouble. Ba-ila have this schoolboy virtue to a marked degree ; for one " to split " upon another is a rare thing ; and, if done, it is reckoned a crime.
(j) To perform any act towards a person that in some way makes him, in the imagination of his fellows, to be like a dead person. Under this heading are such things as : (i) To carry a person frog-march, as in a hammock. This is only excusable in the case of relations carrying a
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 373
sick or wounded person. (2) To lift any one up and say, " You are heavy ! " (3) To knock out a tooth, to cut off a finger or ear in a fight, for this means that a part of the person has to be buried. For a doctor to amputate a limb would be a great crime ; only relations, and that only when it is absolutely imperative, may perform such an operation. (4) To call a person by the name of a dead person.
(k) To be the means of causing another an injury, (i) If you call people to go and hunt a lion or leopard and one of them gets wounded or killed ; (2) if you take a youngster on a journey and any harm befalls him ; (3) if you deceive a person, kumuchitila chongela, by asking him to do something or go somewhere, and in doing so he meets with an accident ; (4) if you take any one in a canoe and he is drowned — in all these cases you commit buditazhi.
(I) The reason in the preceding cases is that you are supposed to have bewitched the person whom the accident has befallen. To do anything whatever to a person which may lead people to think you desire his death is buditazhi. Thus : (i) To put your hand on a person's head. For this reason the Ba-ila considered it wrong to send or take a young person away from home, because, being short, any one might easily lay a hand on his head. They are not so particular in this nowadays. (2) To pluck a hair from any one's head, or to take away any hair cut from a person's head. Such hair was carefully buried.1 (3) To take a tooth out, to knock it out, or to pull out a loose tooth from one who is not a relation.
(m) To micturate upon a person, to have a nocturnal emission upon a person (other than a relation) : kumulotela, kumusubila bwenze ; to attempt sodomy.
(«) To cause any one to dig the grave of a stranger.
(0) To make a sacrifice to another person's divinity.
(P) To tell a man that So-and-so are his relations. If a person in a village is bereft of his kinsmen and his neigh- bours know, as he does not, that he has relations elsewhere, they must refrain from informing him. The idea is that they may make a mistake, and misinform him, when they would be liable to be enslaved by the people spoken of.
1 Yet they buy hair to incorporate it in their impumbe (see p. 71).
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Whence the proverb Ku mukoa nku kutashindikilwa, muntu uladitola mwini ("To a clan is where a person is not accompanied, a person finds his own way ").
(q) For a woman to suckle a child not belonging to her family.
(r) To marry a widow to whom you have no right. This is kukosola lulala, kunjidila mukaintu. If a woman's husband dies, and a man who is not the heir marries her, he commits a great crime. He may be enslaved by the relations of the heir or of the woman. There was a case at Nanzela. Posha's husband died, and a man named Silwele took her as his wife ; it was regarded as a crime, but because Posha had no relations and the community at the time was in a disturbed state, no case was made of it.
(s) For a female under the age of puberty to touch the pudenda of a man. Some reckon this as buditazhi, but others say it is only chisapi. We have known of a man claiming a cow against a girl who had accidentally done this.
(t) For a woman during the menses to touch her hus- band's gun.
4. OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON
(b) Matushi
Matushi is a term that includes all manner of vilification : derogation, disparagement, denigration, contumely, vitupera- tion, scurrility, calumny, insult, ridicule ; all kinds of indecent remarks, and some rude acts. Aggravated matushi are called malambatushi. The verb is kutuka ; wantuka, (" you vilify me "). Matushi are reckoned as chisapi, but more, they are taboo, in the sense that the shimatushi may have evil brought upon him by their use ; they are reckoned also as buditazhi, and the offender is liable to be fined. The Ba-ila, one must say, are adepts in the art of bad language. Ordinarily they are scrupulous in avoiding the use of insults, but when they let themselves go they can, and do, pour forth a rich torrent of abuse. An eloquent Mwila could emulate the famous American who was said to swear for three-quarters of an hour without repeating himself. We once asked one of our young men
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 375
to write down a list of matushi and he reeled off nearly three hundred as fast as he could write.
One form of matushi is the ridiculing of a person by likening his members to various things, repulsive or grotesque ; these are called matushi a kusampaula muntu, i.e. derogations or detractions. They may be addressed directly to the person, or said of him indirectly. Here are a few examples :
You who have a mouth like the pouch of a stork.
You who have teeth spaced out like the keys of an unskilfully made piano (kankobele).
You who have eyes the size of a louse.
You who have cheeks like one with the mumps.
You with a member tiny as a leech.
You with eyes shelterless as a chameleon's.
You with a long-pointed nose like a weasel.
You draw in your belly as one who fords a deep river.
You have furrows on your forehead like the waves on a river.
You have a withered chest as if you forgot to eat bread last year.
You go along stooping like a man carrying demons on his back.
You stick out your belly as if you were going to have twins.
You who wag your buttocks like a fat old maid.
You pull a face like one passing hard things.
You are morose as one who has heard of the death of a friend.
You go off in a hurry like a man who has something in his game-pit.
Your nose turns up like a wild pig's.
You whose head is as bare as a threshing-floor.
You who have long finger-nails like an ant-bear.
You whose ears are as long as a Kudu's.
Another form of matushi is to shout out remarks about the private or other parts of a man's relations.
Mukanwa ka banoko (" the inside of your mother's mouth ! ") Matako a banoko (" your mother's buttocks ! "). Inango dia ushe (" your father's nose ! ").
Yet another and more obvious form of insult is to accuse a person, even in jest, of doing atrocious things.
376 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. in
You slept with your mother ! You hurt your mother ! You stretched your sister ! You married your aunt ! You cursed your mother ! You spoke of your mother's private parts ! You used your sister's name in a curse. Mwana Mawe-twamana ! (" Child of ' Dear-me !-We-are-done ' ").
And another form is to speak of a person in relation to his near relations' members. " Child of your father's glans ! " — " Child of your mother's genitalia ! " — " Child of the vagina ! "
Other matushi are such expressions as these :
Mwana chisapi (" child of indecency ! "). Mwana mulumbu (" child of a foreigner ! "). Mwana muzhike (" child of a slave ! "). Wezu mulumbu (" this foreigner ! ").
As might be expected, many of the rules of etiquette govern the intercourse between men and women. One of these rules is that it is a form of matushi for a man of one village to express his admiration for the women of another village, i.e. fora Kasenga man to say, " Babota bakaintu ba ku Bambwe ! " ("How fine the Bambwe women are!"). Nor may women express admiration for the men of another community. It is called kushomausha, or kmhomezha, and regarded as a very serious breach of decorum. As we were told, mbulowe bobo, malweza, ku babele kwamb'obo (" it's like witchcraft, a terrible atrocious thing for them to talk like that "). If they hear of a man speaking in that way the women give him a rough time. " How are they fine ? " they demand. " What have they got that we haven't ? You have slighted us by comparing us to our disparage- ment with our fellow-women. You tuka us." And they make him wish he had never been born. He has to pay heavily to all the women of his village.
In cases like this — offences against the sex — the women stand solidly as one against the men. It is not an affair of individuals : a member of one sex has blackguarded the other sex, and the whole of the males in the village are re- garded as participating in the offence. It is woman against man. The women have a simple way of asserting the rights of the sex, at once simpler and more efficacious than
CH. xiv ETIQUETTE 377
the methods of some of their civilised sisters. They go on strike. They down tools, hoe and pestle, grinding- stone and cooking-pot ; and the helpless men, faced with starvation, speedily surrender. The women refuse to be appeased until ALL the men of the village come and apologise for the one man's fault and bring gifts.
It is accounted as chisapi and matushi to speak of a person's private parts, or certain natural functions of the body, or to break wind, in a mixed company. If a man were to allude to faeces before women they would indignantly ask why he should tuka them, and he would have to pay them hoes or other things. The same applies to women. " These things," said one of our informants, " are without respect to persons (aza makani taasala), whether it be slave or rogue or chief, good or bad, whoever offends in these matters is fined by his fellows."
Not only must one refrain from these indelicacies, but, what is more difficult, one should when in a mixed company avoid the use of words and expressions of the same or similar sound. This is difficult, we say. The language abounds in the syllables nya, nye, nyo, and these are to be avoided (because nya means to defaecate, nyo the anus), though it would seem impossible entirely to do so as they enter into the names of very common things. Ground-nuts, e.g. are nyemo, and by strict etiquette that word and others like it are indecent in company.
There are many such expressions which cannot very well be avoided in ordinary speech. A polite person will steer clear of them as much as possible, but if he should stumble upon them he cannot be blamed. As they would say in such a case, makani aina bwisho (" the words have no room to pass "), they must collide with decent notions. It is otherwise with a man who repeatedly and of set purpose uses such words.
For example, if a man be asked, " Mwidi ngombe, sa, mu chimpati?" (" Is the beast in the kraal? ") if it is in, he has no alternative but to answer " Mwidi " ("It is in "), but that is an indecent expression. If you ask a person where he is going, and he answers, " Ndaya u mashi," (" I am going among the people "), that is a vague reply,
378 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
and you press him to be definite : " U mashikwi? " (" What people ? "), you ask. He still refuses to satisfy your curiosity and says, " U mashi no ! " (" Why, there among the people, of course ! "). His evasion has led him into an indecency (u mashi no = u mashino) . Words beginning with muse, such as musekelembwe (" things put separately and apart "), are to be avoided in a mixed assembly, not because they are indecent in themselves, but because of muse, which as a word by itself means the pleasure of the sexual act. The plural of the word for river, i.e. inyenge, is a rude word, as it has another signification. To say wantenta (" you burn me"), kumana ("it is finished") is also impolite because they are expressions that may be used in private acts. Kunyonkola means to pluck out a bird's feathers, but also to pluck out hair from the pubes, and so impolite ; if you must refer to plucking a fowl, you use the word kokola. Kusansumuna (to wipe) has also a special signification, and you must be careful in company to use a synonym such as kushula.
To get round words in this way is called kuzelulusha. Kulusha kwamba is to speak them without evil intention, and it is quite recognised that a man may be involuntarily rude ; unless you are a shimancha, a very quick-witted person, there are so many pitfalls that you are bound to offend some time or other. One who uses them carelessly is called a shapowe, and of such they say, " He is like a man who drinks hurriedly without taking the bits of dirt out of his milk."
It has taken us years 'to understand these matters. We fear to remember, we who have had so frequently to address mixed audiences, how often we must have trans- gressed in ignorance these rules of politeness.
5. THE REGARD FOR TRUTH
This section might be made as short as the celebrated chapter on snakes in Ireland — " There are none." For the laws of etiquette do not include a clause against lying : rather the contrary. The Ba-ila, like the people in Hudibras, are " for profound and solid lying, much renowned." No
ETIQUETTE
379
European can trust their word ; it is safest to doubt every statement they make, and not to rely in the least upon any promise. Among themselves they lie in the most barefaced and strenuous manner. Little children soon learn the trick of lying without the least shame. They lie often when it is to their advantage to tell the truth. A person caught in the very act of thieving will ardently protest that he has never seen the things in question. You do not listen long to any Ba-ila conversing without hearing somebody call out, " Wabea " (" You are lying ") ; and the one to whom it is said is not indignant — not in the least — but smiles and accepts it as a tribute to his prowess. It is altogether against their code of honour ever to admit they are lying or ever to confess to wrongdoing.
They lie in support of each other in the most shameless fashion. In earlier days we once, when sitting in company with a group of men, asked a direct question as to a well- known custom. To our amazement the first man addressed denied that there ever was such a custom ; turning to another, we said, " Don't you remember telling ui so- and-so ? " " No," was the answer, " there is no such custom." And every man strenuously denied that ever such a thing existed, something which there was no reason whatever for hiding, and which some of them individually had discussed with us before. We spoke to our friend Mungalo about it. He laughed and said, " That is Kano Bwila (the funny little way of the Ba-ila). The first man had some reason for denying and of course the others couldn't give him away. My friend, there are ways and, ways of asking questions." Needless to say, we profited by the hint, and never again put direct questions to a company of men.
Much of this lying and deception may be attributed to their sense of politeness ; they do not want to hurt one's feelings.
'/,
CHAPTER XV
* * *
THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY
i. How PROPERTY is ACQUIRED
THE Ba-ila have no vast property apart from their land and their cattle, but what they have they cling to very tenaciously, and vigorously resent any unlawful interference with it.
Property may be classed according to whether it is held by one person or held conjointly as by a man and his wife, or as by a clan, or by a community as a whole.
The Ba-ila recognise individual ownership, but, as we shall see, some people can only hold their possessions at the pleasure of their superiors. And one numerous class cannot hold property at all, viz. slaves : all they have belongs to their masters.
One feature of the Ba-ila laws is recognition of the holding of property by women.
Women can become possessors like men through their labour ; to some extent what they earn is their own. An unmarried woman or widow (shikatandd) often accumulates property in her own right, so much so as to become what the Ba-ila call mukaintu sakata mwinimwini (" very much a woman of bitterness "), the adjective meaning, not what it does with us, but dignity, position. Such a woman, not inherited by her late husband's successor, or left alone by him for some reason, may start on a fresh career of her own. By work in her fields she may secure a good harvest when others fail, and, the grain being in demand, she becomes rich on the proceeds. She gets cattle and slaves,
380
CH. xv THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY 381
and both contribute further to her wealth. And as riches makes the chief, according to the proverb, she may eventu- ally have a village of her own and rank as a chief.
Such a woman was Kasale, a somewhat famous woman who lived at Ichila, and died there at an advanced age in 1914. She was known far and wide for her wealth. She was not always rich ; she was once the wife of a nobody, and possessed little or nothing of her own. The Ba-ila, as is their way, attributed her prosperity to the fact that she had " eaten medicine " in extraordinary quantity for the purpose of securing long life and wealth. She had " eaten " no less than four of the most powerful drugs, made respec- tively from the shin bones of a wild dog, a crocodile, a lion, and a man ; the last, the bone of a mwalanze, an outcast living in the forest and wandering from place to place, and very powerful medicine. Before she died, she ordered her people not to bury her for four days — one day for each of these drugs — so not till the fifth day did they inter her and weep for her. The four medicines she had consumed caused her to become the animals named — wild dog, crocodile, lion, and vagabond. So to-day she is wandering around the country in the guise of four creatures.
Women do a great deal of work. They do most of the cultivation, and they have a certain right to the produce of their labour. The grain and nuts, etc., are not absolutely a woman's, but belong, as they say, " to the house " (nshi sha munganda) ; from this store she draws for their daily requirements. The test of ownership is what is done with the things when, as usually happens, the marriage is dis- solved. The food-stuffs " of the house " are divided between husband and wife in such a case. Basket by basket they are measured out, and she takes to her home her half, and the husband retains his. On the other hand, both husband and wife may have a katanda, a private garden, the produce of which is held not conjointly but individually. If the husband wishes to have part of her private store she has the right to demand payment or an equivalent in exchange. If she wishes, she can sell the grain and buy things for herself. In case of dissolution of marriage, she takes with her the whole of this property.
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A chief will have a field especially cultivated for him by his slaves or servants, the produce of which is used by him for the entertainment of visitors. If there are only one or two visitors, he may ask his wife to provide for them out of the household stuff, but if there are many in the company, he feels it would be burdensome upon the wife, and so sends to take the necessaries from the " guest granary."
Many women are expert basket and pot makers, and these things are in demand by their neighbours. They belong to the maker, and if she sells them the proceeds are hers. She may buy things they need in the house — may buy hoes, for example — and share the use of them with her husband. If he needs the proceeds for himself she may, and if they are living together on good terms she most likely will, give him what he wants ; but he has no right to them, and if she refuses can do nothing. And if the marriage is dissolved she takes the things with her.
As for her clothing and ornaments, if she has bought them for herself out of the proceeds of her labour, they are her own. If she is given them by her husband, they are " of the house," and she has no absolute right to them. If they separate, the husband may, if kindly disposed, tell her to take them, or may give her part — say one skin petti- coat out of two — but he has the right to keep them.
One present from her husband is hers absolutely : the impau, or receptacle for fat used to anoint herself, given to her when married. She would take this with her if divorced.
Ba-ila women have another way of earning property, by what is virtually prostituting themselves. Husband and wife make an arrangement by which she goes out kuweza lubono ("to hunt wealth"); she returns to report, and the husband promptly claims a cow from the man concerned. Such cattle belong to the husband. In this way she not only secures herself in her husband's affection — for the man, strange as it may seem to us, thinks all the more of her because she adds to his wealth — but after she has earned several cows for him he may give her one for herself. This is her own, and the progeny is hers ; so that a " faithful " wife may in time become wealthy.
Photo K. If. Smith.
A MWILA WOMAN CARRYING A WATER-POT.
384 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
A custom like this shows that while a husband has no absolute claim to the service of his wife's hands, her sexual quality is his. By the chiko he has secured the usufruct of her body. And this is brought out by another fact also : a woman has no right to her children. They are not hers, but his, notwithstanding the fact that they take her clan name. If the marriage is dissolved, the husband retains the children. If she is nursing an infant, she may have it till weaned, and then must return it to him.
Men, like women, are entitled to the fruits of their labour.
As for hunting, the game is the property of the man who first wounds it ; if he wounds it ever so slightly — even though it be but a grazing of the skin — and another gives it the death-stroke (kusunta). The real killer of the animal is only a musuzhi, that is, is given a piece of the meat, but has no claim. Such an animal is called munyama kalonda ("beast with slight wound"). A party of hunters may be under the leadership of an elder — an experienced man. When an animal is killed, he distributes the meat, though it is not his, but they all share. His perquisite is one of the hind legs : the other leg is the mwabo (" portion ") of the owner. The bukome (" the loins ") are the perquisite of the chief. The owner of the game, i.e. the hunter who first wounded it, has certain portions that are his peculiarly— the heart, the head, the feet, and the insanda (" breast "). Then on his return home he cooks and invites his man- friends to share the feast. No woman must share in it. These portions have some mystic significance ; they supply him with strength and skill in hunting. (The insanda is always the portion of a beast sacred to the men ; at a funeral when an ox is killed, the men eat this portion to give them strength.)
As for a beast found dead in the veld : if a hunter on returning home informs people that he has wounded such and such an animal, then should any one find it dead (kuwuld) his claim to it is recognised. Should he say nothing, it belongs to the finder. If it is found by others who have not heard his notification, it is theirs.
If a party of hunters find the carcase of an elephant, it
CH.XV THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY 385
belongs to the head hunter, not to the member of the party who first spotted it. He may take one of the tusks and give the other to the finder. The ground tusk is always accounted the property of the chief upon whose land it is taken ; if the elephant is found on such land, the chief takes the ground tusk and gives the other to the head hunter and the finder conjointly.
The head hunter has responsibility for the safety of those whom he has invited to accompany him ; should one of them be injured or killed in the hunt, his relations will come down on the head hunter for damages.
All the personal property held by a Mwila is subject to the rule that his elder relations on both sides have the right to take from him what they want. This is to nanga (" to seize "), " convey, the wise it call " ; it is not reckoned as robbery. The mwana, or child, as he is in regard to his elders, is likened to a bag which can be taken by you to carry things, out of which you can help yourself, and it can say nothing ; also to a lumano, a pair of pincers, for the elder uses him to convey things to himself ; also to a soft skin which can be turned this way and that without rebellion. Anything he has is at the call of the elders. We have had many opportunities of seeing this in practice. A young man working in our employ will perhaps have managed to save several pounds out of his earnings ; when the tax-time comes he is besieged by a lot of lazy fellows, who nanga him of every penny he has. Young men who go away to work for lengthy periods have very little to show for it after being home again a few weeks. The chief takes his pickings, and everybody who has any claim to relationship. One young man we remember was away two years and came back with quite a store of things : a ten- shilling blanket (this was seized by the chief), a quantity of beads (these his female relations shared between them),- a lot of calico (his elder brothers had this) ,« a fine overcoat (this somebody else took), five shillings in cash (seized by an aunt), a tin box and an iron cooking-pot (these he managed to retain ) ; there was also an impande shell which the chief wished for, but the young man had set his heart upon buying a gun with this, and his insistence prevailed
VOL. i 2 c
386 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
upon the chief to give him one in exchange for the shell. Some fare worse than this man did, for they have nothing left at all except the smart clothes, and those soon decay.
This is not made a matter of complaint by the young men. They know it is the custom, and that they them- selves will benefit by it when their younger brothers and nephews and cousins go out to work. And, moreover, the young man knows full well that if his elders are ready to seize upon his belongings, they will be equally ready to give of their substance in the day of his need — when he marries, to provide the chiko ; and when he gets into trouble, to pay his fines or redeem him from slavery. So that on the whole he is not the loser : and by working for his family he increases its wealth.
On the other hand, a young person has the same right to nanga things of certain of his relations. Grandfathers (see p. 339) hold their goods at the pleasure of their grand- children.
A person may gain property by looking after things belonging to others. Such things are mostly cattle belonging to people who live in the " fly " and cannot therefore look after their own. The herder has the use of the cattle, i.e. the milk is his; but he is paid no wages. On the death of the owner, however, he picks out one of his own cattle and sends it to the funeral feast as his chidizho ; those in his charge he does his best to retain as his own, inventing all sorts of excuses and false claims to avoid parting with the cherished beasts. If he is a strong man he may succeed in keeping them, or at least he will send back only part. In a case that came into court, A had handed his cousin B about a hundred cattle to herd for him. At A's death only ten were left. Before dying, A told B he was to have one of his wives as lukono. B returned the cattle except two, one of which he said had been given him by A and the other he retained till he should get the " rafter," as the wife is called. He did not receive her, so kept the cow, and C, A's heir, brought a case against him for it.
A shimalelo, one who acts as guardian to a child, is in the position of a parent and receives no wages for looking after the child. He gets the services, of course, but no
CH. xv THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY 387
more. If the child is a girl he will receive a beast or two out of the chiko ; if it is a boy he will be called upon to kwela him, i.e. find part of the chiko for his wife.
Communal property consists first and principally of the land occupied by the community, and which has descended to them, perhaps, from remote ancestors ; and, secondly, what is on the land and in the rivers flowing through it — the trees and fruit, the game, the fish.
Every chishi is divided into makute by well-recognised boundaries. No passer-by would know these boundaries : they are purely natural — a tree, an ant-heap, a certain direction ; all very vague, apparently, but known to all concerned as well as if fenced in with a stone wall. All boundaries are taboo. The chief apportions the land to his people for their fields : he does it in the presence of a company so that there may be no doubt about it. When a person has his field apportioned he puts in a few stakes, and afterwards clears a line around it. Woe to any one who moves his neighbour's marks ! It is kambo kazumozumo, a very serious crime. Batunanga inshi, batudya (" They take away our land ; they eat us up ! ") is the cry, and, if done by a neighbouring community, it soon leads to war.
The land held by a community is invested in the chief as its head and representative. He is the mwini-inshi ("master of the land"). He may not alienate it except by the permission of his people. He receives it with all the taboos attached to it — the sacred groves, the trees, ant-hills, pools, streams, the matongo, all of them with taboos attached — and it is his to see that none is violated, and to hand them on to his successor intact.
Should a stranger wish to come to live on the land, a lubeta is called and the matter discussed. Many things have to be taken into consideration, chiefly the character of the applicant ; there is need for some circumspection in this respect, for sometimes, like the camel in the fable, an undesirable person gets his head in and ends by turning the rightful owners out, or, at least, making himself their master. But unless patently undesirable the chief and his people are not likely to refuse him, because he adds to their number and dignity. The chief points out a place where
388 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
he may build and cultivate, and informs him of taboos he needs to know. If he oversteps the borders allotted to him he will get into trouble.
Occasionally land may be sold ; the purchaser acquires not only the land but all the rights not specifically reserved. The purchase price — in cattle, or whatever it may be — is named itongo, and remains the property of the community. It may remain in charge of the chief, or be handed over to a trustworthy elder. Only in time of very urgent need, and only then with the permission of his people, may the chief use any of it.
No person may commit trespass on another community's land. If a stranger wishes to hunt game, or to fish, he must first ask permission, and then lumbula a portion of his gains ; this is called an impaizho (" an offering "), acknow- ledging the privilege granted. People wishing to gather fruit must also ask permission. Failure to do this means confiscation of the game, or fish, or fruit ; in former days it meant death. Numerous wars have been caused by trespass of this kind. In addition to getting the permission of the chief, the strangers who wish to fish or hunt will also take steps to have sacrifices offered to the mizhimo to ensure their success.
This implies what one might call " spiritual ownership," which is not in the hands of the community as a whole, but in a certain family, and the head as its representative.
As an example of such ownership, we may instance the pool named Muvhumenzhi in the Kasenga district. It is fed by freshets during the rainy season, and only in years of severe drought becomes absolutely dry. At one time the pool belonged to the Kaulizhi people of the neighbour- ing Bambwe chishi, but in one of the numerous wars between the two peoples the ba-Mala seized it as the fruits of their victory. In ancient times the pool had belonged to the ancestors of a man now living named Nalunkwamba, and the family still held what we call the " spiritual owner- ship " of the pool. We mean that the ghosts of their ancestors were the guardians of the pool, and as they could only be approached through their living representatives, and no fishing could be done before their good-will was
CH.XV THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY 389
secured, the living family were regarded as beni-izhiba (" masters of the pool"), though it really belonged to the community. In the " war," among the five people killed were members of this family, and Nalunkwamba was the surviving 'representative. The ba-Mala held the pool, but it was of no use to them, for how could they fish without anybody to sacrifice for them ? What they did was to induce Nalunkwamba to come to live at Mala, or, as others say, he came of his own accord to live there. " What ! make friends with those who killed his relations ? " " Yes, sir," they reply, " Baila baina inkoto " (" Ba-ila do not keep up resentment "). And since then Nalunkwamba has been the presiding priest of the Muvhumenzhi fishing. Once a year, in the month of October, there is a great gather- ing at the pool. Nalunkwamba fixes the day and summons the people. He has brewed beer, and in the morning of the day, when all are assembled, he goes to the sacred spot — an ant-hill and a tree standing together — and there offers a potful of beer to his ancestors, and asks their assistance. He then with his fish-spears enters the pool, and casts his spears in different directions as if to impale the fish. This inauguration of the fishing concluded, the waiting crowd sets up the deep full-chested cry, " Woh ! " and rushes pell-mell into the water.
There is said to be a mupuka living in this pool. We are told that there are numerous snakes in the water ; but this mupuka is a fabulous creature ; it may be, and probably is, regarded as the embodiment of one of Nalu- nkwamba's ancestors. Anyhow it is held in great awe, and before the inauguration takes place nobody in his senses would venture to fish in the pool.
At Nanzela the " spiritual ownership " of the fishing in the river is held by a leper woman named Lukalo. Many years ago her people lived there, but died out mostly, and she went to live elsewhere. After the Mission was founded on the site she got permission to settle there. Though the land has passed to the Mission, nobody ever dreams of asking the missionary for permission to fish : they go to the leper woman and she offers a sacrifice to her ancestors for them.
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2. INHERITANCE
The subject of inheritance is an intricate and difficult one. While governed mainly by certain broad rules their application is determined to far too great an extent by the status and natural combativeness and tenacity of the legatees. Cases are not infrequent where feelings have grown so heated that an orderly apportionment of the inheritance has been quite suspended and a general scramble has taken place for the cattle and movables of the deceased. This was so in the case of an influential Mala headman, Shambweka : the young men lost all control of themselves and attempted to drive off as many of the cattle as they could by force.
To obviate any dispute, men frequently select heirs and apportion their goods previous to their death. This is termed kuvhubula, and the goods received are called ivhubo.
The usual procedure apart from kuvhubula has already been described by us in connection with the succession to the chieftainship ; and here it is to be noted that every freeman who dies has somebody who " eats his name," becomes the heir, the only essential difference being that in the case of inferiors the name and inheritance may be taken by a woman.' This for obvious reasons is extremely rare in the case of a headman, and unknown in the case of a chief, differing entirely from the practice prevailing amongst the Barotsi and other people to the west, where supreme power over a portion of the tribe is frequently exercised effectively by a woman .
As all land is held communally this question is not affected by the death of any person. What passes as inheritance are cattle, wives, slaves, and personal belong- ings, such as tools, spears, medicines, etc. To be allotted a portion of a deceased's estate is kukona ; and the portion is called lukono.
In the case of the wives of the deceased, the patriarchal practice is followed, and a kinsman takes them to raise up seed to his brother. Considerable injustice is sometimes the result of the variations, and more particularly the additions made to this rule, as where a couple happily
CH. xv THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY 391
married are wilfully separated in order that the wife may " eat," or inherit, a dead woman's name.
When a man's wife dies, he, after the funeral, forwards to his parents-in-law a present known as chishonsho, and intimates that, as their child has been taken by death, he looks to them to supply the vacant place. He will often state his wishes at the same time, saying he prefers an elderly woman, or a child, and the parents-in-law strive to meet his wishes and long palavers are held amongst the family over the matter. A sister is sought for first, and should one be alive, although married and with children she is attached to, no compunction is felt at ruthlessly severing those ties and installing her in the dead woman's place. Should it be impossible to find an heiress the chiko is returned. Should she be forthcoming the husband pays fresh chiko, of lesser amount than for his first wife. The heiress may be a girl in her mother's arms, and before reach- ing maturity may die, in which case a fresh heiress has to be found. The confusion resulting can with difficulty be realised, and the Ba-ila women frequently suffer under the laws of inheritance. A woman mourning a dead husband, or a girl living happily with a live one, may be forced at any time into a union utterly uncongenial. Pondering on a girl's upbringing in the public kraal, and the way she is liable to be bandied about in marriage, one wonders to find the genuine attachments that exist. Owing to the custom of sending children to be brought up by a relative, for a period, long or short, the abuses of the law of inheritance do not press so hardly upon the children ; and though the ostensible reason of the practice is to prevent the children suffering through jealousy, or partiality, on the father's part, one cannot avoid the thought that the liability 6f the mother to be called upon at any time to live with a fresh husband had much to do with the institution of the custom.
The widows of the deceased are taken, as we have said, by his heir. Or if there are many he may take three, the deceased's nephew one, and a son one. In the latter case, of course, he would not inherit his own mother. The deceased's mother's people have the right to one of the wives.
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Slaves pass, in the first instance, with the hut to which they are attached or belong, that is to say they follow their mistress, and then exactly like the cattle are distributed by the heir. The heir may take five, a son one, a nephew one, a younger brother one, and the mother's people one. The same with regard to cattle. Most of them are taken by the heir, then the deceased's nephews, children, and younger brothers. A doctor, if the deceased has had " medicine " from him, puts in a claim for a cow and calf. If not given things, the doctor will seize a child or nephew as slave, and they will have to be redeemed.
On the death of a big chief, a present of a woman slave as a mark of added respect frequently accompanies the cattle with the mourning party from another chief, a different slave being sent in return. On the death of the chief who sent the slave, the two individuals are returned, regardless of any ties they may have formed or children they may have borne, to their former homes, each accom- panied by a fresh slave. An arrangement of this nature is handed down from father to son for generations. Occa- sionally it is stipulated that any children the women have had shall accompany them, but more frequently not.
It is a principle recognised in all inheritance that lubono talumana ("goods have no end"). That is to say, if A dies and B takes things as lukono, when B dies A's sons have the right to kona some of B's goods. And not only so ; but if B inherited a cow from A's estate, A's sons have the right to a cow from B's estate — a cow and no more, always provided that they take to B's funeral an animal equal to that which B took to A's.
•
3. OFFENCES AGAINST PROPERTY
These come under the heading of buditazhi. It would be a mistake to measure their indignation against infractions of the property laws by any valuation of our own of the worth of the goods. To us the anger evoked, and the penalties imposed, are sometimes, perhaps generally, out of all proportion to the trumpery value of the goods. But we have to remember that what seems trivial to us is in
CH. xv THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY 393
their eyes very precious. And it is not so much the value of the thing that a Mwila looks at as the fact that it is his, and nobody has the right to interfere with it or damage it.
(1) Theft, robbery, etc., are termed buteu, a thief is muteu, and to steal is kwiba. Not all appropriations come under this head, for, as we have seen, some of them are kunanga. It is a principle of Bwila law that you cannot ditaya a clansman ; that is to say, in this connection, if you take his things it is not theft. And what is called buteu depends to some extent for its heinousness upon the kind of property stolen, who steals it, from whom, and the time. Theft of cattle is a great crime ; so is theft of grain from a field or a bin : death was sometimes the penalty. For a slave to steal from his master, or from his master's relations, is not regarded as heinous : being a slave he cannot ditaya his master or his master's clansmen. Burglary is a more serious thing than ordinary theft. To njila chimpotela, i.e. to remove a door and enter a house at night, unbidden and without warning, is a great crime in itself. If the trespasser steals anything or assaults a woman the crime is greater, should he assault a sleeping woman it would be still greater, and were the sleeping woman a nursing mother that would be the summit of wickedness. Such is the crescendo of crime.
There is much theft among themselves ; and a stranger is considered fair game, unless he has put his goods in charge of the chief. We remember one Sunday when all the Kasenga headmen had gathered to pay the tax and came first to attend the service at the Mission. One of the chiefs had, in a little bag, the cash for all his men's tax, amounting to some fifteen pounds. At the conclusion of the service he rose to leave and momentarily forgot his little bag. The next minute he remembered, but in the interval it had disappeared for ever. We shall give cases in the next chapter showing how people are enslaved for much less than this.
(2) To lose a thing entrusted to you is another crime, and the penalty is often very severe. We knew of a man who bought a pumpkin for a small piece of tobacco and when it got lost exacted three cows and an impande shell
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as the ransom of the person in fault. Another case we knew of was this : A man and his younger brother went to a funeral and one of the villagers named Katumpa accused the younger visitor of having lost a needle belonging to him ; he claimed damages against the elder brother, who, though denying all knowledge of the loss, had to pay Katumpa a shell. Then Katumpa's son committed adultery with a wife of a chief, who claimed and got a cow from Katumpa ; he also demanded an ox, but as Katumpa had not one, he referred the chief to the elder of the two brothers, whose fault was not considered to have been expiated, and the chief mulcted him in a cow and an ox. So that through the loss of a needle alleged against a boy his brother suffered to the extent of a shell, a cow, and an ox !
(3) To damage any one's property is also a crime.
A man visiting at another village was charged by a savage cow, and to defend himself snatched up a stool and struck the beast. He had the ill-luck to break the stool and the owner at once seized and tied him up, demanding a cow as ransom. The man asked indignantly how the breaking of a stool could justify a claim for a cow, and compromised for a young ox.
A little boy tore a man's cloth accidentally as they were eating together, and the man proceeded to take him away as a slave. The chief of the village supported the father when the case was brought before him, and ordered the man to restore the boy. Then the father demanded a cow because his son had been wrongfully accused.
A man committed adultery with a woman and gave her a shell. Shortly afterwards he accused her of breaking a beer spoon, a lukoma, and took a cow and shell as damages.
A man and a boy were once going on a journey and spent a night in a village on the way. The man had an accident in the bed that night and was much disgusted. By this he had committed buditazhi against the owner of the hut, who threatened to enslave him unless he were paid damages. The man paid. He attributed the accident to the boy having put medicine into his pipe, and years after- wards brought a claim for a cow against the boy's father,
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because the boy had caused him to ditaya. The boy was dead when the claim was made.
(4) If the damage is committed by a dog or beast the owner is held responsible. In one case we knew a man claimed two cows and an ox because another's dog had spoilt a skin belonging to him ; the accused promptly claimed two cows and an ox for wrongful accusation.
(5) If a man digs a game pit and any one's cattle fall into it, he will be held responsible for the damage.
(6) To take, or eat of, an animal killed by another is of course a crime. It is also reckoned buditazhi for any one to pass at the back of an elephant killed by a hunter, or to make remarks about, or laugh at, the appearance of its buttocks.
(7) Special cases of buditazhi relate to a person's misamo. For any one to steal, or damage, a medicine or a medicine receptacle, or to smoke a pipe in which another person has a drug, are all heinous crimes. A young girl staying in a village away from home went out in the night to relieve herself, and had the misfortune to befoul somebody's medicine. Next morning, seeing what had happened, the owner seized her as his slave, and demanded an ox for her ransom. The father having no ox offered two hoes, but the owner refused to accept them.
(8) If you get insambwe medicine from a doctor, you give him a spear, and he repeats the dose at intervals without further payment. If you go out trading, and as the result of the insambwe you make a good profit, you should give the doctor a share, but this is not compulsory. If on this trip you have the misfortune to die, you commit buditazhi, because you have robbed the doctor of what he might have been given by you. He can claim to take two of your cattle at the partition of your property, or in default one of your relations as his slave. On the other hand, if the doctor dies while you are still under treatment, you can claim damages from his estate : he has ditaya'd you. The same applies to the medicine called wombidi.
To illustrate various points we give the following notes of cases tried in the Magistrates' Courts :
i. This case had been going on for five years. Shimunza
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had a claim against another man, and handed it to his friend Mooba to obtain a settlement. Mooba succeeded in getting a cow, and, as a reward, was offered successively three strings of beads, an impande shell, a larger shell, and an ox, all of which he refused as inadequate. Not getting what he wanted he retained the cow, which in the meantime had borne three calves. When Shimunza brought the case to get his cow and the increase, Mooba alleged that Shimunza had tuka'd him. They were advised, Mooba to give up the cow and calves to Shimunza, and Shimunza to pay Mooba an ox in recompense.
2. Fifteen years before, the Batwa had caught a cow belonging to Nabwantu, and he sent Shintu to claim from them. He succeeded in getting a cow, an impande shell, and some beads ; Nabwantu was dissatisfied with this, so Shintu returned to the Batwa and secured another cow and a calf. As a recompense, Shintu claimed one of the cows, but Nabwantu offered him only a bull-calf, and then an ox, which he considered sufficient, but Shintu did not. Shintu was awarded a heifer calf.
3. Two men, named Shachibinzha and Shikanda, went to the Batwa to sell canoes. Shikanda was successful in selling his for an ox, and gave Shachibinzha a lump of tobacco for his assistance. They returned home and set to work to make other canoes, and as Shachibinzha' s was finished first they left Shikanda's for a later trip, and went off with the one. They sold Shachibinzha' s canoe for an ox. They then went off to collect debts elsewhere ; Shachi- binzha was successful in getting two cows and an ox, but Shikanda was not able to get anything. He then claimed a cow from Shachibinzha for the help he had given him. Persisting in his claim, he was promised an unborn calf, but when it was born Shachibinzha paid it away, and Shikanda, being angry, seized his companion's cow.
4. Two men travelling were attacked by a lion. When the first, Shako, was in the lion's grip, the other, Nabotu, went to his assistance and the lion seized him, leaving Shako who got away. Nabotu was rescued, and his people claimed and got a cow from Shako's people because Nabotu had got his injuries while assisting Shako. When, later, Nabotu
CH. xv THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY 397
recovered, Shako's people claimed for the restitution of the cow.
5. When Kasako's wife died he claimed a substitute from her people, who refused both to provide one and to give back the chiko. The deceased woman's brother, who was now dead, had received four cows as part of the chiko, and so Kasako claimed for them on the heirs. Not being satisfied with the offer of one cow, he brought the case to court.
6. These three cases arose out of the distribution of the property of one chief. He had a daughter, Posha, to whom he had given an as yet unborn child ; later, when it was weaned, she took it to her husband's home. When her father died she brought an ox to the funeral, but it was refused : and the heirs seized the child her father had given her. This was a great insult and injury, and the woman made a claim for the ten cows that had been given as chiko for her. During the same chief's life, a certain man named Kabo fell in love with one of his wives and committed adultery with her ; he brought a cow to the funeral and would have no lukono but the wife. The people tried to dissuade him from taking her at once : " The tears are not yet dry," they said; "when the woman has completed her mourning you can have her," but he persisted. Later, the heir claimed for her restitution. One of the same chief's wives was allotted to Shazuba, but as she had a violent dislike for him she was handed to Mukale, one of the de- ceased chief's sons. Shazuba then brought a claim for her and succeeded.
SLAVERY, as far as we can trace, has always been an institution among the Ba-ila, and still exists though it is not recognised by the British authorities. We find it impossible to compute the numbers of slaves still held, but there must be thousands. We have no desire to exaggerate the evils associated with this institution ; we know that a great many slaves are treated kindly, but there is nothing which gives one such an insight into the ruthless nature of savage society as a study of slavery. The manner in which men and women are enslaved, very often through no fault of their own, the way in which mothers and children, husbands and wives, are torn apart, the cold-blooded way in which they are often, nay, mostly, treated as on a level with the cattle — nay, on a lower level — all this makes up an unhappy picture.
i. How PEOPLE BECOME SLAVES
There are two chief ways in which people may be enslaved :
First, by purchase from slave-traders or from others ; and, second, on account of faults committed either by themselves or by others.
We have seen in an earlier chapter that in " ancient " times Arab and Mambari slavers carried on a vigorous traffic in this country, both buying and selling slaves. In those lawless days, also, many prisoners were taken during the intertribal wars, and these were largely detained
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CH. xvi SLAVERY 399
as slaves. These sources of supply have now been cut off by the advent of the Pax Britannica, but the surviving slaves and their children are still held as slaves.
In addition to this, slaves have been, arid we believe still are, on the quiet, traded among themselves. This means in many cases simply a transference from one master to another, but often a freeman, or freewoman, or the child of such, is seized by a strong man and sold. People were often waylaid on their way to the forest, or to water, and hurried away to a distant village and sold. This might mean trouble if it were discovered by the captive's kinsmen, but a man of strength and wealth could easily get out of the difficulty.
In those days a man wishing to buy slaves would equip himself with merchandise, such as hoes, and go through the country seeking somebody to trade with. He would be asked what sort of a slave he wanted : boy, or girl, or adult. The price commonly paid for a boy was five hoes, with perhaps a sixth called the iamba dia musako (" the hoe of the walking-stick ") given to clinch the bargain ; a girl would fetch more, perhaps ten or twelve hoes ; we have known an adult woman to be sold for ten baskets of salt, five bunches of beads, and a hoe. During the bargain- ing the unsuspecting boy (or girl) would be called, ostensibly to bring the visitors some water or embers for their pipes, but really to be examined to see that he was healthy and fit. The boy (or girl) would not be told that he was purchased, but was deceived by being told that he would accompany the visitors and return presently. So without farewell to mother or father the child was taken off into slavery. It often happened that when an adult had thus been purchased, on the return journey while the party was resting in a village, the slave would throw ash upon the chief, or other person, in the desperate hope of finding a kinder master ; and then if the master wanted his slave very much he had to redeem him, so that within a few days he would have paid twice over for the same slave : other- wise, he lost both slave and purchase money.
We may give some instances that have come under our notice of this traffic in human flesh.
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A man named Shialozhi brought a case against another for calling him by a dead man's name, and was paid a man. Some time afterwards he bought grain from Munampelo and offered this man in payment. The man was at a distant village, and as Shialozhi refused to accompany him, Munampelo had to go alone to fetch him. The man refused to go ; and eventually Shialozhi paid Munampelo a girl — his daughter.
Shimunza bought a girl named Kabocha for salt ; some time afterwards one of Shimunza's young men committed adultery with the wife of a neighbouring chief, and Shimunza had to pay Kabocha to the chief as a fine on his behalf ; as compensation he then seized the sister of the young man. The case came to our knowledge through Kabocha asking us to secure her release : she was tired, she said, of being a slave.
At Chinenga some people caught Mwanambo and sold her to Shapela for goods. Fifteen years later her brother turned up to redeem her from Shapela, and he demanded five cows as ransom.
A certain man named Mwezwa bought a woman, Kacha, for a cow, a calf, and a bull ; some time afterwards she ran away home and her son sent her back to her master. Later on she ran off again ; and this time she was away a whole year and died. Mwezwa died and his son accused the woman's son of .having caused her death, and got a cow out of him. The Batwa, in whose village the woman died, claimed heavily from Mwezwa's son for having buried his slave for him.
Some people enslave themselves. Should, for example, a person get into trouble and have not wherewithal to pay the fines inflicted on him, it is open to him to go to some wealthy man and say : "I have come to offer myself (kuditula), for I have a fault against So-and-so, and I want you to release me." If the man agrees, he pays the fine and the other becomes his slave until such time as he himself, or his kinsmen on his behalf, pay what the man demands as ransom. What that may be depends on the man's character, but generally the proverb is recalled in such cases : Kombekache kazhala adi ikumi ("A tiny calf
CH. xvi SLAVERY 401
will one day give birth to ten ! ") which means that heavy usury is to be claimed for any consideration you have given.
There is another way in which a man may get into slavery —this time without realty intending it. He gets tired of his own village and goes off to another, telling the chief that with his permission he has come to stay and work for him a time. His friends seek to get him back, but he disowns them and stays on. He gets familiar with the chief's wives and even becomes very intimate with them, but when they report it to their husband he takes no notice : he bides his time. Some visitors come, and among them wives of a neighbouring chief, and the man gets into trouble on their account. He is fined, and as he has nothing to pay with and he has disowned his relations, his friend the chief pays for him. The thing happens again and a claim is made on the chief on behalf of the man ; he does not deny his responsibility and tell them to go to the man's relations ; he pays, and then turns to the man and says : " Nobody asked you to come here : you came of your own accord ; you came like a blind man who doesn't see where he is going. Now you are my slave." And slave he remains.
Sometimes a person will enslave himself or herself because of utter destitution and lack of friends. This happened as an incident in the life of a much enslaved woman named Nanshiku. She was captured while still youthful one day when she was fishing. The news of her captivity reached Mompizho, one of her relations, who went off and redeemed her by giving up a slave : he then, in a very cruel fashion, claimed Nanshiku as his own. Her brother paid him seven stretches of calico, a blanket, and two strings of beads, and brought Nanshiku to his village. There she remained and was married. One by one she lost all her children, then her brother, and then her husband. Knowing of no other relations, and being left alone, she enslaved herself to another man. Years passed away and then a relation of hers turned up, paid her master five blankets, four stretches of calico, and twenty-five shillings, thereby releasing her, and took her to his own village.
A very common source of slavery is the code of customary
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laws summed up in the word buditazhi, the very essence of which, as we have seen, is that the person breaking the law is ip so facto a slave and must be redeemed.
Here are some ways in which the thing happens.
A woman, for some reason, took a bell off a dog's neck and threw it away into the bush. The owner seized her as his slave and sold her to another man, who in turn gave her to his sister.
A woman visiting a friend was told by her to take what food she wanted from the field. She helped herself to a single maize-cob, but it was the wrong side of the boundary, and the owner seized her as his slave. Later on, when the Mambari came he sold her to them ; as they were in another village a man heard of the way she had been treated and persuaded her to throw ash on him, and thus escape from the Mambari. She did so, and he told the Mambari, who in vain tried to redeem her. The man's name was Salanga ; he died, and the woman fearing what might happen ran away to Mono. Salanga' s heir had to pay three pieces of calico and a blanket to get her away from Mono.
In a year of severe famine, when the only food to eat was wild fruit, a man named Kale was in the forest when he was told that a certain woman had been caught stealing young mealies out of his field. She was a distant relative, and therefore he did not wish, he said, to be vindictive, but took the woman and two of her children as his slaves. The relations paid Kale a fine and he later on released the woman and one of the daughters. The other daughter he married himself and she bore him three children. The relatives offered him heavy compensation, but he always refused to release her, so she appealed to the magistrate, saying : " People always call me a slave, I wish to be free."
Two women and a child, a girl, were passing through a village and plucked a few tobacco leaves from a plant outside one of the huts. The owner heard of this and followed them up. He found them stamping the leaves, and seized one of the women and the girl as slaves. He released the mother, but kept the girl and afterwards sold her for ten hoes and ten bags of salt. She was unmarried then, but with child. She ran away, and her people refused to give her up as she
CH. xvr SLAVERY 403
had been enslaved on such a trivial protest, but they had to pay the man a cow to release her.
Not stealing only, but more or less trivial, often unin- tentional, acts of damage to property, are thought sufficient to doom a person to loss of liberty.
Should a person make a mistake in a bed — not belonging to a relation but to some one else — where he is sleeping, he would be enslaved. To spit on a man, to foul him accidentally when blowing one's nose, or to micturate upon him — for any of these a person may be made a slave for life. To knock out a tooth, in play or in fighting, is a very great crime, which can only be expiated by a man surrendering his head — which does not mean capital punishment, but slavery.
We have mentioned the way in which sometimes a man takes possession of a woman without the permission of her people. It is called budinjidizhi ("self-entry"). Suppose a man comes across an unmarried woman and proposes to live with her without the usual formalities of kusesa and kukwa — asking for her hand and paying chiko. She may agree : he lives with her, eats the food she provides, but gives her nothing and gives her people nothing. It goes on like that for a time, and the man gets tired of her and proposes to leave her. Then she speaks up : "No, you don't ! You simply entered my house, and now you want to go ! No ! You are my slave : stay where you are." The man becomes slave to the woman and her relations. He has committed a crime against the bttditazhi code.
Should a woman who has aborted, and before she is cleansed from her impurity, enter a person's house or eat out of a person's dish who is not 'a relation, she ipso facto becomes that person's slave ; or if more than one person has been offended they sell her, and divide the proceeds. She has rendered them liable to contract that horrible disease, kafungo.
Again, should a woman break the receptacle (insambilo) containing the medicine of a man or woman, she will be enslaved unless there is somebody at her back — kumuzhima kunuma is the phrase — to redeem her.
To burn down a village, or any part of it, is naturally a great crime, even if committed accidentally through a
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hut catching fire while a person is cooking in it. If the person be a woman married from elsewhere to one of the villagers, she will be enslaved. It is reckoned as equal to murder — it is Iwembe, and unless the full amount of the fine is forthcoming from her kinsmen, she will certainly be kept as a slave. It is a warning always given to any one who goes to live in another's village, Kukadisosola ku bantu o ku shintu shonse ; watachita bobo ulazhimina (" Pay strict regard to people and to their things not to damage them, if you don't, you are lost ").
Kuidimuna mukabeni — to run off with another's wife, may result in the enslavement of the perpetrator, or of his mother or sister if he have not a slave to pay in their stead.
Many slaves are held on account of adultery. A fine is usually paid, as we have seen, but the husband has the right, if he thinks fit, to enslave the man, or his sister or mother. Certainly if the man cannot pay the fine demanded, and has nobody to pay for him, he will be enslaved. This of course is a practice that is coming to an end under British rule.
Another reason for men being enslaved is this : Should a man invite another to murder his enemy and afterwards fail to give him the reward promised, then the man has to surrender himself as slave to the other, unless, of course, he can gather sufficient to redeem himself.
Harder cases are those in which perfectly innocent people are enslaved, not for their own faults, but because of the faults of others. The clan system, according to which there is corporate responsibility for the crimes of a member, often falls severely upon individuals.
Here is one case that came into court. A man named Kabokota came to complain that before he was born the brother of a chief, named Kaluya, had married one of his (Kabokota's) relatives named Nabwantu. Some time after the marriage Nabwantu committed a fault, and her husband paid the fine to release her from the slavery into which she had been taken on account of the fault. Shortly after, he died, and his brother, Kaluya, " ate the name." He said that as his brother had paid a fine on the woman's behalf he would now take her children as his slaves. Nabwantu's relations were angered at this, and Kabokota had brought
CH. xvi SLAVERY 405
money and calico to release the children. Kaluya gave up the two sons, but refused to part with the daughters, and so Kabokota brought the case to the magistrate.
A certain woman had a spite against another, and one day, while this woman was in the act of delivering a child, she caught hold of her in such a way that, so it was alleged, she caused the child's death. The husband charged the woman with the crime and her friends had to pay a man.
A certain man had intercourse with a young woman, and becoming diseased with bunono shortly afterwards, accused the woman of giving it to him, and enslaved both her and her mother.
Another man lent a man ten shillings wherewith to pay his hut tax, and in return was paid a woman.
A pregnant woman entered a hut in another village in which there were twins. This of course was against Ila law, and when some time afterwards the children died, the woman was held to have caused their death. Her husband and brother were made responsible, and friends had to subscribe to release them from slavery. The woman herself subscribed a cow, the husband an ox and five loaves of tobacco, another person a shell, and another a slave, and others other things : in all, five head of cattle, two shells, six loaves of tobacco, and a slave !
A man named Chikumo seized another, Penze, and tied him up saying he had a case against some people, and would release Penze when he was paid the fines due to him. Penze had no conceivable connection with the case, but Chikumo expected that in this way he would compel Penze's friends to come to his aid to collect the fines due to him.
The following case was about a matter that had occurred before the claimant was born. Kalubu (father of the claimant) killed the son of Mukobela, who, as Kalubu wouldn't pay, caught a girl belonging to Kalubu, who then brought three slaves and three cows to release the girl. On the other hand Kazuba, the claimant, said he had paid four shells, a cow and two blankets, one hoe, and ten strings of beads to release the girl, and Mukobela stuck to them and demanded a girl. Kazuba got a girl from his uncle to pay him, and he said that on the second night she was at
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Mukobela's place, Mukobela's child died, and Mukobela claimed the girl to make up for it.
Many people are pressed into slavery as compensation for the death of others.
In one case we knew of, a man named Lubesha went to Mango's village for a wife. When, later, he took the woman away, he asked Mango to give him a young lad, to whom he had taken a fancy, to live with him for a time. Mango agreed, and Lubesha took the boy, who unfortunately fell sick and died a few days later. Mango claimed a slave as compensation, but as Lubesha had no slave he gave Mango his sister and her two children, Masamo and Lube. Before Mango died a relative of the woman named Muswela paid for the release of Masamo a slave named Chipila who had a child in arms named Kabuka. Mango agreed to this, and also promised that when Kabuka had grown up he would compensate Muswela for her. At Mango's death, Lube ran away, refusing to remain with the inheritor, but later she returned and was married by Fofu. Mango before his death had sold both Chipila and her child, and for the latter had made no payment as promised. Both Fofu and Lubesha had offered to ransom Lube, but he had refused. When Mango died his nephew succeeded him, and had to settle these matters as best he could.
Maso, a woman, was living among the Batema, and Solwe was in the next village. One day Solwe killed a buck and Maso's people went over to get some of the meat. Shaba, Solwe's uncle, saw and admired Maso, and wished to court and marry her. The elders of the village told him to get the permission of Maso's relatives. Her uncle, Kabo, was willing, but wished him to go with him to another village to consult some others. It was agreed that he should marry her, and they all made a plan to live some distance off. On the road Shaba was carrying five pots of fat and two parcels of salt. Presently a honey-guide appeared, and Shaba, still carrying his burden, went off the road to get the honey. But he did not return — for some reason, indeed, he disappeared, and later on was captured and enslaved by some of Shagele's people. When Solwe heard that his uncle was missing, he went to Kabo and said that Shagele's people
CH. xvi SLAVERY 407
had killed Shaba, and Kabo was to blame as Shaba had accompanied him and had married his niece. Solwe there- fore claimed Maso as his slave. Kabo refused to give her up, saying they were not to blame for Shabo's disappearance. Solwe insisted, and eventually Kabo paid him ten hoes, three shells, a bunch of beads, and four stretches of calico. Then Shaba turned up, but Solwe refused to give back the beads.
Manga inherited the name of Makoso. The child of Shitwe, one of the headmen, fell sick and died, and Shitwe said it was a sign that the ghosts were angry at Manga's in- heriting, and claimed compensation for the death of the child. As Manga had nothing to pay with, Shitwe seized Manga's niece, Lubota, and also a shell. Manga was angry and went to Lufuka to borrow some goods wherewith to redeem his niece. He left his wife and son, Shilo, at the village. While he was away, another of Shitwe's children died ; whereupon he seized Shilo and gave him to a certain woman, telling her to pray to the ghost of the deceased, i.e; Makoso, to leave off troubling his children.
Sometimes a case like this happens :
A man has a debt owing him which he has had great difficulty in recovering. He has a friend of forcible character and induces him, by a promise of a substantial share of the debt, to undertake its collection. He goes and so bullies the debtor that he gets the debt — perhaps a slave. On his return his friend finds he cannot fulfil his promise to give a reward. Then the man has two courses open to him. He either takes the slave he got for his friend, or he simply bides his time. In the latter event, on the death of his friend he puts in his claim to part of the inheritance. If he is mercifully inclined, he will be content with a slave equal in value to the one h§ secured for his friend, or if harsher, he chooses a son or daughter of the deceased, and will not be content till he has got what he wants.
It is things like this that induce men, who wish for the prosperity of their children, to settle their own debts before they die.
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2. CHARACTER OF THE SLAVERY
Perhaps the most pitiful thing to be seen in Bwila — where so many pitiful things meet the eye — is the old female slaves turning out to work in the fields on a cold, wet morning. Their skin is rough and dirty and hangs about their bones in ugly wrinkles ; their only clothing is a scanty ragged skin around their loins ; some of them have hair grey, almost white ; they go shivering with cold, taking in one hand a hoe and in the other a fragment of sherd with a few live coals in it. They are on their way to work. Poor souls — life for them is only work : nobody cares whether they live or die, except the master, and he only because they are his property. They are everybody's butt. You can see as they shrink past you, with frightened glance, that a kind word or look seldom or never comes their way ; and if you bid them good-morning they drop on their haunches and clap their gnarled old hands, while a faint smile chases across their wrinkled faces.
One of these old women we found lying one morning outside our gate. How old she was we could not say — she might have been a hundred and fifty to judge by her wizened appearance. She could hardly totter. All night she had lain out in the veld. The day before she had been turned out of the village by the master because she no longer had strength to work, and she had crept to us for food and shelter.
That is one side of the picture, but we should not like to say that is every slave's fate. Many of them live fairly happy lives, but however kind their masters are, the fact remains, they are slaves ; they cannot call their souls and bodies their own, and if they bear children they mostly have no right to them, and they have no title to resent the word slave (muzhike) flung at them. From the numerous cases we have met, we should say that the fact of being a slave, and being addressed as such, is keenly felt by the majority of them.
Now, what rights have they as slaves ?
As regards marriage. A female slave may be sought in marriage by a freeman not from her parents or guardians,
CH. XVI
SLAVERY
409
but from her owner. He demands some chiko. The mar- riage takes place, but she does not cease to be a slave. Every child she bears is a slave equally with herself, and
Photo E. 11' Smith.
AN OLD SLAVE WOMAN.
the owner may at any time take and sell them as he wishes. She will hoe her husband's fields, but has her owner's to do as well, and at any time may be summoned to leave her own in favour of his. The owner, too, has rights over her body — it is not hers, nor her husband's, but his.
410 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
A male slave will be given a wife by the owner, one of his female slaves, and the same conditions prevail, aggravated in this case by the fact that at any moment, without warning, his wife may be taken from him, given to another, or sold.
A slave woman who finds favour in her master's eyes may be in a better position. If he marries her, her children will be free. It may be that if he has no children by other wives, her children will not only be free but take an honour- able position, and one of them may " eat " his father's name.
An unmarried slave-woman is named nabutema (Butema means slavery, says Mungaila ; the word is also applied to the condition of any unmarried person). Her owner may sleep with her, but it is regarded by the married women as an indignity offered to them, and if a woman finds her husband doing it he will have to pay, or she will go home. They are practically prostitutes. The young men of the owner do much as they like with them, without getting into trouble ; if a man of another kraal wants one of them he can just give her a chipo (a present). If he doesn't give her chipo, she will get one of the young men to squeeze him, and will perhaps share the proceeds. These women are often lent by the chiefs ; we found one in our compound who had been lent to three young men. Such a person can give her something or not, as he pleases. The chipo may be her own — there is no rule, seemingly ; but the owner can take them if he wish. He can do anything he pleases. Who is to say ? If any one wishes to marry her she may be allowed by the chief ; he has to give chiko — not so much as for a free woman ; and the children are the owner's.
As for the right of protection of life and limb, a master will in his own interests, if from no more humane motive, see that his slaves are not ill-treated by other people. Anybody beating them will have him to reckon with. The slaves of a strong man enjoy therefore considerable im- munity, but at the same time they are absolutely in his hands. If he chose to beat, or even to kill, under the old regime nobody had the right to interfere. If it were a person held by him for a debt, his relations might be inclined to resent any ill-treatment, and especially a mortal violence, but he always had the answer ready, " He was my slave !
CH. xvi SLAVERY 411
You might have redeemed him and didn't." In case of a death, the owner would kill the luloa — one or two cattle, eaten by the people of the village to allay the wrath of the demigod, but that would be the end.
A slave might hold property, but he could never call it his own. As a matter of fact, most slaves neither own any- thing nor have an opportunity of owning anything. But some do. They may gain by trading or hunting, and their masters encourage them in this, knowing well that they can at any time avail themselves of the property thus gained. As the Ba-ila say, whatever a slave holds it shares in its owner's slavery (nduzhike nina). We are told that there are slaves who have more than their masters, but still it is not really theirs.
A slave cannot redeem himself, so as to be free. But the Ba-ila speak of a slave redeeming himself when they mean that by industry and zeal in his master's service a man may raise himself to a position of trust and influence, so that he may have the name mwenzhina shimatwangakwe (" his lord's friend ").
If a man were zealous, he would do all he could to increase his master's wealth. A slave might.be sent to trade, and would do his utmost to gain slaves for his master. As these increased, he would be regarded by them as their chief, and so would enjoy the dignity of being able to say to one servant, do this ; and to another, do that.
The slavery among the Ba-ila is thus seen to be, in essentials, real slavery and not mere serfdom. It has its mitigations. A person held for crimes committed has the hope that somebody may turn up to redeem him. And any slave, ill-treated beyond endurance, can always transfer himself to another and more kindly owner by throwing ash upon him. This process reminds us of that of notae datio, as existing in Mahommedan countries.
But when all is said and done, a slave is a slave, and his lot is not an enviable one.
On July 16, 1906, a proclamation was issued by Lewanika, the paramount chief, declaring that all slaves held by him and his people were thereby free. He expressed his desire that this would cause an end of slavery in his dominions,
412 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
and especially that trading in men, the exchange of men, and the separation of families, man and wife, parent and child, would be no more. The chiefs and headmen were to continue to have the power of calling up their people to do certain works en corvee, for twelve days a year ; if kept beyond that time, they were to be paid for their services. Under this law, no persons held in slavery hitherto could leave their old master's village to live elsewhere, except with the master's permission ; but they might leave without that if, on being married, he or she should choose to live in the other's village ; or if they were ill-treated ; or if the master refused permission to marry ; or if the slave was a foreigner, and his people lived in some other portion of Lewanika's kingdom. A person in such a state had the right to return home if his people paid, or if he paid for himself, two pounds. This law was taken to extend to the Bwila, as forming part of Lewanika's reputed possessions. And it has been understood that there is no such thing as slavery recognised, and that any slave on paying two pounds, or having it paid on his behalf, is free to go where and do what he pleases. A few have been released in this way ; but naturally the masters do not like it, and it is doubtful whether the slaves understand the matter.1
1 Captain Dale, writing from N. Rhodesia in November 1917, tells me : " The Government has taken up a very strong attitude over domestic slavery and refuses to recognise it at all." The men and women were assembled in each district and had the matter explained to them. Those who wished to claim their freedom were told to step out, and were given certificates without any mention of the £-2. "It created a great stir and scores claimed their freedom." This is good news and the B.S.A. Co. is heartily to be congratulated. E. W. S.
CHAPTER XVII
*
THE REGARD FOR LIFE
i. HOMICIDE
WE have already seen that even trivial injuries, such as knocking out a tooth or plucking out hair, are regarded as serious offences, and might result in the enslavement of the offender. The heinousness of an assault depends upon the relative status of the men concerned. For a man to beat his slave to death is no crime, for a man to spear his nephew is no crime, but for a slave or an ordinary freeman to assault a chief in even a minor way, as, for example, by catching him around the waist, is regarded as a serious offence, involving expulsion of the freeman from the community, and, as for the slave, death or a heavy fine upon his master.
There are some things which might lead us to suppose that the Ba-ila have a high regard for human life. One is the extraordinary precautions taken to secure the well- being of the unborn child and, in some respects, of the sucking child, and the severity with which everything that leads to the destruction of the former is punished. Another is the infrequency of capital punishment ; it was rarely inflicted except in case of witchcraft, for which no clemency was ever shown. The proverb we quoted in connection with banishment applies to this also. "Any old pole will fill a hole in the fence," which is to say : every member of a community has his value ; he at least adds to the number of the community however worthless he may be in himself. To kill a person beca use he has killed another
413
414 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
is ridiculous ; why make a bigger hole in the community ? Fine him, yes, but unless he is a veritable danger to the others, let him live.
But it is not human life qua life that is held sacred. They recognise that apart from war, when of course to kill one's opponent is not only legitimate but a virtue, there are occasions when killing is no murder. No abstract regard for life prevents them, for example, from killing those whose continued existence is a menace.
The killing of a person, per se, is not a crime, but is an offence, (i) against his clan ; (2) against the communal god ; (3) against the person's ghost, and (4) against the hidden forces of nature. That is to say, behind the respect for life there is a wholesome fear of the consequences. The clan is injured in that it loses a member, and anything that injures a member injures the clan. The communal god, the guardian of the community, is injured in the killing of one of his people : they are regarded as his children, and further, as we have heard it put, he is responsible to still higher powers, Leza, for their welfare. There is the man's own ghost to be reckoned with also, who resents being ushered violently into' the cold, dreary ghost-world, and may retaliate by haunting the slayer. And, moreover, there is something uncanny about spilling blood ; it is tonda, it is malweza, in certain cases, if not in all ; some- thing which sets the mysterious world-forces against you. These, it must be conceded, are considerable checks upon the man-slaying propensities of the Ba-ila.
It will be seen that these checks work in no uniform manner. They operate cumulatively against killing, e.g. one's mother. A stray foreigner, however, has no clansmen at hand to avenge his murder ; he is not under the protection of the communal god ; his ghost is not at home among strange ghosts and can easily be driven back to its own home ; and there remains only the bad luck that blood- shedding brings, and that with the help of friendly doctors is without much difficulty averted. Such stray foreigners did well to keep out of Bwila in the old days and still need to be wary. Even to-day such strangers occasionally dis- appear mysteriously, and the Ba-ila stick so closely by
CH. xvii THE REGARD FOR LIFE 415
each other that it is difficult, almost impossible, to discover the crime.
The principle that homicide is an offence against the victim's clan has to be read in connection -with another, that a person cannot ditaya his own clan. One, therefore, who slays his mother, or other member of the clan, is not called to public account, but does not thereby escape ; indeed the penalty is heavier than the payment of twenty cows, and is not so easily disposed of. There is something about blood, whether it be the smell, or the sight, or the associations of it, that gives rise to abhorrence and fear. Kill a pig and attempt to drive its mate past the pool of blood ; observe the sudden spring aside and alarmed snort given by an antelope when it comes near the blood of a fellow, and you will see how early this aversion is developed. In man this instinct is still strong, until indeed it is civilised out of him ! So that to shed blood is uncanny ; it gives the mysterious powers a hold on you. Warriors have always to be doctored to take away the consequences of their having slain, however legitimately, in battle. And whether in those or in any other circumstances you kill a person you must be careful to cut a short stick, split it partly down the middle, stretch the two sides apart, and jump through the cleft three or four times in order to avert the evil consequences. If you find a man dead in the veld, you do not tell lest you be suspected of having killed him, but, because the evil consequences may blindly attach themselves to you, you are careful to jump through a cleft stick as though you had actually killed him. This is apart from haunting by the ghost : it is as if the effect of your deed fastened itself upon you. And if the person you kill be a blood relation, a clansman, or even one related to you closely by marriage, the effect is one you cannot shake off, not even by jumping through a cleft stick ; and no medicine in the world will rid you of the consequences.
At Nanzela there was a young man named Kabadi who in a quarrel killed one of his father's wives by hitting her with a stick. The woman's clansmen had to be paid heavy damages, the communal god had to be propitiated, the ghost had to be laid, but that was by no means all. The
416 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
man was kuta : that is, the evil consequence, the curse, was upon him. Everybody knew that, though nobody knew how it would work out in his case. When years afterwards Kabadi committed suicide, they recognised how the curse had at last taken effect.
Chikuto (formed from kukuta) is the special kind of curse that falls upon a person who sins against close rela- tions. It is chikuto, e.g., for a son to see his mother's naked- ness, and sometimes a woman who has a disobedient son will deliberately remove her garments and expose herself before him : he is then kuta — a mukute, he is called, and will come to a bad end. So of any one who kills his father, mother, maternal uncle, brother, sister, child, the people say, " Mukute wezo ! Toongola janshi, pe, ulafwa chikuto, ulafwa inzanganzanga " (" That cursed one ! He will not live long on the earth, no, he will die of chikuto, he will die a violent death in the veld "). A lion will take him, or he will be drowned, or what he has done will so change him that he will go on killing others, will become a warlock, and at last be killed by his fellows.
Senicide and the killing of incurables are followed by similar consequences. We cannot say that we have ever actually known cases of this sort ; we were hardly likely to hear of them ; but we are told that they happen, and the Ba-ila have a word (kusaulula) for the action. We knew once a very old man — the oldest man we have met in Bwila, very near being a centenarian — whose daughters, we were told, said he had lived too long and they would kill him. Some time afterwards the old man, who was sleeping in a hut alone, rose in the night, stumbled and fell into the fire, and died next day of his injuries. So he escaped the fate those Gonerils were alleged to have con- templated for him. Some old people, tired of their life, ask to be killed, or rail and curse everybody they meet with the idea of so provoking them that they will lose their tempers and knock them on the head. As the Ba-ila say : " Balatukana mafwila " (" They curse to give a reason for dying"). They are very patient with such old people, and have the saying: " Mupami riakulemanina taingulwa" (" An aged person if he angers you is not to be answered ").
CH. xvn THE REGARD FOR LIFE 417
To kill such, or to give a death-stroke to a hopeless invalid, is regarded as wrong. Should a shikatemamudilo — a lawless fellow, or a shinchetela-mozo — a passionate fellow, commit the crime he is punished : if a stranger, by having to pay the full penalties of homicide, or if a relative and therefore incapable of buditazhi, by being left to the chikuto. What makes it the more dangerous to cut short the life of old men is that in the course of long years they have accumulated perhaps many of the misamo we described in Chapter X., such as lubabankofu and ngongoki, which produce dis- comfort, emaciation, madness, and death in any one who seeks to do them harm.
As we have said, the ghost of a murdered person has to be reckoned with. This we shall more conveniently deal with in another connection. We also reserve for a later section an account of the luloa (blood-offering ; cf. buloa, " blood ") made to the communal god, and consisting of two head of cattle. Here we may speak of the Iwembe, the fines paid to the members of the murdered man's clansmen.
Quarrels are of frequent occurrence in a village, especially when the men are heated by drinking much beer during a feast. Free fights take place with sticks and spears. Should on any occasion a man kill another, he is liable to be at once speared by the other's friends, and it would be accounted chadiyana (" vengeance ") and no crime. But generally the man's friends intervene and protect him, and the matter is brought before the chief. He awards the damages, which may be twenty cattle. These constitute the Iwembe. The man's clansmen, enga (contribute) these, and they are paid over to the murdered man's clan. They must also enga the two head as luloa. They get a doctor to physic the murderer, to lay the ghost and avert the ill-luck, and the case is at an end.
Before leaving the subject we may make mention of the extraordinary fact that there is a part of the Kasenga chishi, named Isanti, the inhabitants of which are exempt from paying any damages on account of murder. The tradition is that the ancient chief Shimunenga, who was living at Kane, envied the Banachindwe their fine site at
VOL. i 2 E
4i8 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
Mala and planned to dispossess them. He represented to them that at Isanti there were great herds of elephant and buffalo, and being such splendid hunters he was sure they would like to go and kill them. The Banachindwe turned out to a man for a hunt ; and on their return found Shimunenga and his people comfortably settled in their villages at Mala. When they expressed their indignation, the chief replied, " You go and live at Isanti, and as a recompense I give you this privilege : you shall be exempt from all Iwembe and luloa ; you may kill, and no blame shall attach to you." From that day to this, killing is no murder at Isanti.
2. FETICIDE
Here is a native account given to us : Should a woman become pregnant she is taboo ; she is not to be slept with by any man but her husband. Should another sleep with her the child will not be ; it will be born the day following. But the woman is not delivered in peace (chitela), but in a state of unconsciousness (mu chiu] not knowing what is taking place, and the child comes from the womb dead. Why ? Because she slept with a man other than the one she always sleeps with. Now that also is a case for Iwembe. The man is in fault against the woman's clan who are bereft of a child, and also against the husband of the woman. They all take it up, saying, " This is a great matter. Why is our child killed by this man ? Let him die also ! " But the elders who have seen these things before say, " No, he is not to die ; let him pay the Iwembe." So he has to pay what they decide upon. Sometimes in addition to the child being born dead, the mother also dies, and then there are two Iwembe faults. The Iwembe for the mother is paid first, and then that for the child. The greater is for the mother's death, and this is not paid, as is the Iwembe for the child, to both the husband and the wife's clan, but only to the latter.
If a pregnant woman is vexed at being in that con- dition and desires that the child shall not be, she goes to somebody, an old woman maybe, who she is informed
CH. xvn THE REGARD FOR LIFE 419
has an abortifacient (musamo wa kuyazha mafu}. The old woman asks her, " Do you wish to kill yourself ? " and she replies, " I don't care." " Bring me a gift," says the hag, and the woman gives her something big, because she knows that to procure abortion is the death of a person. Then the old woman hands her the medicine with directions how to take it at home. Having drunk it, the woman feels pains in her abdomen, and whether there be a child formed, or not, she aborts. Maybe somebody has observed her drinking the medicine and tells the husband. He puts the question to her, " Wife, is it true that you got and drank medicine, and that is the reason of this effusion ? ' ' The woman begins to deny it, saying, " No, no, the abortion came of itself." Then the person who witnessed her is sent for and the wife convicted. She is silent and hangs her head in shame. Thereupon the husband and his clansmen rise in indignation, and addressing the woman's people say fiercely, " Pay Iwembe for killing our child." The others have nothing to say, but pay up. And the woman who dispensed the medicine is not overlooked ; they are in the mess together (literally, Balabila ibia diomwinana , " they boil as one pot "), and she will have to pay. Twenty head of cattle is the amount paid, and it is divided among the man's clansmen.
3. INFANTICIDE
This is practised, or was practised, until quite recently, in certain definite cases where it was thought that otherwise misfortune would overtake the family. These cases were as follows : (i) A child who should happen to defaecate in being born (waletelela o mazhi). (2) A child who should be born feet foremost (wazhalwa chimpini). (3) A child who should be born with a tooth already cut. (4) A child born of a woman who has not yet menstruated ; called mwana utaselwa, or mwana wa mfunshi, (" child of the fist "). These are destroyed immediately after birth. More cruel are the cases when the child does not develop untoward symptoms until later. These are : (5) A child that when three years old, or so, is unable to walk. It may be born
420 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
strong and healthy, but when the time comes it shows no disposition to walk, but simply crawls about. Then if there have been any misfortunes in the mother's or father's family — and what family is there that goes for three years without some misfortune ? — the relations begin to look askance upon the child. " Look at it," they say ; " that is the one that brings misfortune upon us, wakalweza. Let it be thrown away ! It will bring us all to an untimely end ! " And they destroy it. (6) A child who cuts the first tooth on the upper jaw is also killed.
Of the last we will give an account in one of our informants' own words: " The child, whether boy or girl, is born without the slightest defect and goes on growing without blemish. It is nursed by the mother and fondled by mother and father until the time comes for cutting the teeth. They grow of themselves, or because they are rubbed with medicine. And perhaps an upper tooth is cut first. When the mother notices it she says nothing ; and should any one not a relation notice it he says nothing, being afraid that he might get into trouble ; the relations would say, ' Why do you look in the mouth of our child ? Waditaya, you have committed buditazhi.' But if a relation of the child's mother sees it she at once tells the others, ' So- and-so's child has cut its first tooth on top.' When the clan members hear this they call the woman, saying, ' Let her come and bring her child for us to see.' On her arrival, they ask her, ' This child of yours has it not grown well ? ' She answers, ' Tchita, who knows ? ' Then they play with and tickle the child to make it laugh, so that they can see into its mouth. They see the tooth coming out of the top gum, and turn upon the mother in anger : ' Why have you hidden this thing from us — this taboo thing ? ' Then the husband's and wife's clansmen consult together, saying, ' This child is malweza. Let it be thrown away.' Nobody dissents, for all know that it is tonda for a child to grow the first tooth above. So they throw it away, and nobody weeps and nobody complains."
Nobody, that is to say, but the mother, and she may not give loud expression to her grief in the customary fashion. It is tonda. However much she may rebel against the
CH. xvii THE REGARD FOR LIFE 421
custom she must acquiesce. And they do rebel against it. We remember a woman who after giving birth overheard the old crones discussing how to destroy the child, for it had been born with a tooth in the mouth. The mother snatched up the child, stole out of the hut, and began to run to us for protection. In her weak state she was easily overtaken, and the last she heard of it was its pitiful wail as it was carried off to destruction. This mother certainly rebelled against the tyranny of custom, but in all prob- ability had it been another's child and not her own she would have insisted with the others upon its being killed. Such children bring misfortune, and to the minds of the Ba-ila it is better to destroy the one rather than have whole families suffer.
As to the manner of killing them, a woman takes the doomed child upon her back in a skin, in the usual way, and goes either to the river or to a large ant-bear or other hole in the veld. Without stopping, or looking round, she slips the fastenings of the skin and allowing the child to fall into the water or hole walks straight on.
A living child born of a woman who dies in the act of bearing it, or soon after, is buried with its mother. This does not come under the same category as the other cases just described, for the motives are different.
4. SUICIDE
This is by no means uncommon among the Ba-ila. The methods adopted are usually either by smoking mufwebabachazi, a very strong narcotic poison, or hanging, or spearing. The reasons often seem trivial enough, but bear testimony to their sense of dignity.
One of the most striking cases we have known was a little boy of seven or eight years of age at Chiyadila who was reproved by his mother for leaving his baby brother. The reproof apparently rankled so that, starting with the other youngsters to set their bird-traps, he left them and hanged himself by a cord to a little fig tree.
Women unhappily married very often threaten to com- mit suicide, and sometimes carry it out. One of Malukwa's
422 THE ILA-SPEAKING PEOPLES PT. m
wives, at Namwala, was ordered by the magistrate to return to her husband. She left the court, ostensibly for another reason, and was found lying dead very shortly afterwards with a pipe alongside her, having smoked mufwebabachazi.
The most dramatic we knew was a case at Banamwazi. A headman quarrelled with his wife over a basket of meal she wanted to give away and he wanted cooked. She went off, attempted mufwebabachazi, and finally hanged herself in the hut, but was cut down. He, in remorse and not knowing that she was recovering, stabbed himself three times, aiming at the heart, but getting the breastbone each time. They both recovered and lived happily after- wards.
The attempt sometimes is not serious, as with a man we knew of at Lubwe (in February 1907), who pretended to stab himself -in the thigh, as if to sever an artery ; he inflicted only a small wound on himself, and was soundly laughed at for his pains.
A man when passing through a village was accused of stealing, and the shame of it so preyed upon his mind that he attempted suicide by driving a spear into his abdomen. Though the wound was severe it was not fatal, and by the assiduous care of the Government officials at Namwala he recovered. He then put in a claim for eight head of cattle against the people of the village. The magistrate expressed his surprise : " Why such a claim ? They didn't stab you." "No," was the answer, " but they caused me to stab myself."
In March 1907 a man named Julwi committed suicide after murdering a child. His father also then killed himself.
To get out of trouble, remorse, shame, pique, sorrow — are thus all teasons for the act.
This is what one of our informants says about it :
" One man kills himself for very little reason, another because he has committed a great fault and thinks, ' This affair is bad for me. I can't stand it. I had better get medicine and smoke it and so get away from the bad business.' Whereas, of course, nobody can destroy a fault
CH.XVII THE REGARD FOR LIFE 423
by killing himself, he simply leaves it to his relatives to settle. When a man commits suicide, those who wish weep for him, but in the old days nobody dreamed of weeping, for they said, ' He has wrought malweza.' It is taboo to kill oneself. Even for a man to purpose suicide and not carry it out is malweza ; one of his relations will suddenly die in consequence."
END OF VOL. 1
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