CHAPTER XIX

.

ESTIMATE OF NATIVE CHARACTER.

“The savage is essentially cruel, not having the least regard for the sufferings of others, and inflicting the most frightful tortures with calm enjoyment. As for morality, as we understand the word, the true savage has no conception of it, and the scenes which nightly take place in savage lands, are of such a nature that travellers pass them over in discreet silence. Honesty in its right sense is equally unknown, and so is truthfulness, a successful theft, and an undetected falsehood, being evidences of skill and ingenuity, and by no means a disgrace.”—T. G. WOOD’S _Nat. Hist. of Man_.

In speaking of Native Character we begin with the PHYSICAL side. The _features_, despite thick lips and flat noses, are by no means unpleasant. The forehead is well formed. At first all black faces seemed alike, but this was because the blackness was then strange to us, and not because the faces wanted variety: after returning from a long stay among negroes, we felt the same difficulty in distinguishing white faces.

Their _figures_ are tall and graceful. Some of the men are six feet high, while few can be called little. The women, owing to their out-door work, are strikingly tall and strong. After becoming accustomed to their “want of dress,” one feels that natives are seen to most advantage in their own costume. They don’t look well in garments of the ordinary coat-and-trousers description,—coloured shirts, or even white shirts with red borders suit better.

Their _powers of endurance_ are very great. Men and women will carry sixty pounds on the head, and walk at a brisk pace for two days’ journey of forty miles. As they march thus under a burning sun, their whole body is covered with beads of perspiration, yet they do not succumb. In estimating the value of certain Roman Generals, Livy was careful to note, that they had the power of enduring hunger for a long time. The Yao would have merited his praise, for they possess this power in an extraordinary degree. They will march for days without any “ostensible” means of keeping themselves alive. On occasions when we misjudged distances, and were obliged to pass about 20 hours (mostly of great exertion) without food, our anxiety about our companions, was met by the polite assurance that “they had eaten”. They even contrived to turn the sympathy the other way by saying, “We are used to hunger, but the white man will faint”. The white man might endure hunger nearly as long, but the native has this advantage—when food comes he has an enormous capacity for quantity, he is a “dreadful eater,” while the white man can scarcely taste a morsel. The natives can also endure the burning thirst of this land. On a long day’s march, they pass all the streams in the morning without drinking: it is not till three or four o’clock in the afternoon that they become thirsty. But the white man may drink by the end of the first hour, and then he becomes “demoralised” for the day. As he continues the hot march his thirst increases but he cannot quench it. He arrives at a clear rippling brook, hastily puts a stone under his knees—a drinking jug is a mockery now, he must get at the stream itself—still he is never quite satisfied. He craves the drinking for its own sake. After imbibing a great quantity of water, he is grieved that he cannot go on drinking more, and no sooner has he left one stream than he begins to long for another. The unpleasant craving continues till the sun begins to sink in the west. He may avoid the torture by abstaining from drinking at first, only to exercise this self-denial, it is almost imperative to shut the eyes when passing a stream! Some natives suffer in the same way, but they are chiefly boys.

When much exhausted the natives light a pipe, each takes one or two whiffs and passes it on to his neighbour. In a few minutes all are inspired with fresh energy. In work that they do not like, they very soon complain of fatigue, but in other cases, even when asked to rest, they redouble their energies, while they make the whole welkin ring with some wild song. They are never so tired that the sight of game does not rouse them to every energy necessary for pursuit.

The natives are vegetarians not of choice, but of necessity. Few can procure much flesh, and they avoid milk and eggs on superstitious grounds. They are, therefore, in the opinion of some, deficient in muscle. They certainly do not excel in doing work that requires a dead strain, but this is due to want of practice—they are not used to such work. At their own homes they never require to raise heavy stones or weights, and their naked legs and arms are out of keeping with the task. Constant exposure of their bodies to the elements, renders them very hardy. This feature in the African has almost become proverbial. “From constant usage, the soles of his feet are defended by a thickened skin as insensible as the sole of any boot. He will walk with uncommon unconcern over sharp stones and thorns, which would lame a European at the first step.”

Mr. Wood remarks that, “Their state of health enables them to survive injuries which would be almost instantly fatal to an ordinary civilised European,” and mentions a wonderful case of two young girls that were removed from a heap of corpses. “One had received 19 stabs with the assegai, and the other 21. They survived their dreadful wounds, reaching womanhood, though both crippled for life.” “The dreaded ‘stick’ of the Orientals, would lose its terrors to a Kaffir, who would endure the bastinado with comparative impunity.” The same writer speaks of a Hottentot wagon-driver who fell under the wheels of his wagon. One of the fore-wheels passed over his neck, and as the wagon was loaded with some two tons of firewood, it might be supposed he was killed on the spot. He was not only alive, but had the presence of mind to roll out of the way of the hind wheel. In answer to anxious inquiries, he said he was not much hurt, except by some small stones which had been forced into his skin, and which he asked a gentleman to remove. In Africa we often saw instances of endurance, which would make us exclaim with Buffon, that civilised man does not know his own powers.

Judged by a European standard, these natives would not be commended for _cleanliness_. Their habit of smearing the body with oil or grease, is very repugnant. When a boy was cooking our dinner, he delighted to put his fingers into the fat and smear his whole body. “Kafirs,” says Mr. Wood, “are charming savages, but it is always as well to keep to the windward of them, at all events, until the nostrils have become accustomed to their odour.” Judged by an African standard, this habit would be highly approved; for a European when obliged to dress like a native, feels the necessity for his grease!

As they lie about on the ground their bodies and scanty dresses become very dirty. In some districts they bathe a great deal. Our pupils at Zomba availed themselves of the beautiful stream daily. Bathing in the morning is avoided; the streams are then cold, especially on the hills. But when a traveller rests by a brook at mid-day his native companions generally bathe.

Passing now to the MORAL side of their character I shall first point to their great want of _truthfulness_. “Telling lies” is much practised and is seldom considered a fault. The way in which it comes before the European is like this. He enters the country with half-a-dozen bath-towels expecting them to last for a long time. In a few weeks the majority of them have disappeared. He then begins to open his eyes, and in a short time he sees his “boy” making off with the last of them. I have been much amused at the earnestness with which the new-comer will exclaim: “I actually saw him take it and found it in his hands, and yet he denied”! In such cases the denial of the native is made all the stronger. What is wanting in probability must be supplied by boldness. The negro often thinks that he is flattered by being accused of falsehood. So, when natives wish to pay a high compliment to a European who has told them an interesting story, they look into his face and say “O father, you are a great liar!”

_Avarice_ is strong in these people, and prompts to much cheating. A native comes to the Mission store to sell eggs. When asked if they are fresh, as a matter of course he says they are. The storekeeper after trying them in water declines to buy, and the native calmly retires. He has been outwitted on this occasion and that is all, he hopes to play a better game next. He carries his eggs home, and carefully lays them past. A few weeks after, learning that this storekeeper is absent, he forthwith takes his eggs, hastens to the new storekeeper, declares that they are fresh, and succeeds in selling! In making a bargain the native has but one principle, he tries to get as much as he can. As avarice and selfishness are often too strong for the civilised man, we must not expect too much from the savage. Still, the natives have many motives against a wretched greed. The teaching at their Mysteries condemns the wretch who “concentres all on self”. Again, the members of a community have their meals in common, and when a stranger arrives at a village he is treated with the greatest hospitality. One night I came upon a village at the side of a wood, just as its two male inhabitants were beginning their evening meal. I was accompanied by twelve boys, two of whom were close by me, and at once received an invitation to supper. I expected that the men would be much puzzled when they found out the real number of their guests. But no. As soon as the other ten boys came out of the wood, they invited them likewise, gladly giving up their own meal to my party. Knowing that the hungry men would have to wait till more food could be cooked, I could not but admire their strict adherence to native custom under such difficulty. It would have demoralised them to offer payment, but I quietly sought an opportunity of meeting their daughters and presenting them with a quantity of beads. Still, it may be doubted whether the natives on the whole are more generous than Europeans. Their insecurity makes them lazy, their laziness makes them poor, they have little to give, and expect a large return for a small present. In our first contact with the Portuguese after emerging from the atmosphere of the native kings, we were received with great hospitality, and, having been so long used to the natives, I became concerned about repaying the kindness, when one of our party said, “Why, you are among Christians now, don’t think you are dealing with some old chief who gives for the purpose of getting”.

Any _novelty_ has a great attraction, though the emotion of fear sometimes overpowers that of wonder. A white man, sitting quietly after his day’s march with a crowd of people round him, proceeds to light his candle. In a few moments there is a terrible stampede. Shrieks of terror drown the laughter of the traveller’s native retinue. What can it mean? Why, he has struck a match! As soon, however, as the first scare is over, the crowd increases and comes nearer. When satisfied that there is no danger, the old men ask to see more of the wonderful little fire-stick; and by and by, all admire it so much that if the traveller were to listen to their entreaties, he would sit lighting matches all night. When the Missionaries first came into the country, the revolver produced a profound impression; it was looked upon as a supernatural weapon, the idea being that its possessor could fire without ever requiring to reload. Certain powerful chiefs near Nyassa, on being shown some revolver practice, at once put their hands to their throats and said to the Missionaries, “You are the kings of this country”. Such an impression as this, gives the Missionary a breathing time till the natives become acquainted with him. If they thought him quite defenceless many would kill him at once, especially if he had any goods. But apart from revolvers, the very appearance of a white man at first inspires the native with fear. Nor is this strange, for if a black man had shown himself in any quiet English hamlet before its inhabitants knew that negroes existed, there would have been a terrible scare. So, when a white man appears in an African village, natives that are unfamiliar with such specimens of humanity take to their heels! But gradually their fears subside, and they come to look at the man. They examine his long hair, his hat, his umbrella, his boots and his stockings, and when he goes away they follow him, and he can see that they will soon become his friends. The children are particularly drawn to the stranger: while those who rank highest as sorcerers are most influenced by superstitious fear.

The emotions of _tenderness_ and _sympathy_ are strong among some, while others are as callous as can be conceived. But few of them would say with Hobbes, that “pity is a weakness, and that the best men have least of it,” for on one occasion, where a mourner produced a copious supply of tears by taking snuff, the others administered a grave rebuke, telling him that, “his was no true sorrow”. Usually their grief for their friends is intense. In this respect (as throughout the whole emotional side of their nature), they resemble children. They are easily impressed, but they do not keep grief longer than grief keeps them.

The _humorous_ side of a subject has great attractions for the natives. In cases where there is any disposition to quarrel, one joke is worth ten arguments. They are always polite enough to laugh at the Englishman’s jokes, especially if he speak with a half serious air. In any discussion, it is the humorous side that they most appreciate. In the course of a conversation with Kapeni and his people, about the custom of killing slaves to accompany the dead, after trying the arguments that most readily suggest themselves, I pointed out that the slaves were big powerful men, while the deceased was very weak, and that if a quarrel took place beyond the grave, the deceased would have no chance against them. They laughed immoderately at this, and when reporting the discussion to their friends, they dwelt chiefly on the idea that slaves would be as good as their master “on the other side of the grave,” and might avenge their death. In conversation with each other they have a great capacity for presenting the laughable side of events. It often happens that a stranger regards the natives as beings to be patronised and amused by; so much does he consider himself superior to them. Now as might almost be expected, they view the new-comer in the very same light! Most of them humour him and allow him to treat them as children, but all the same, they amuse themselves at his expense after he is gone, and, indeed, while he is present, if they know that he cannot understand their speech. They are careful not to laugh if there be any danger of giving offence. Once at the close of an open air meeting, an Englishman happened to get up on the trunk of a large tree, which one often sees used for a seat in the native villages. The log revolved, and the man fell heavily on the ground. Yet the whole meeting looked as grave as if the accident had been part of the programme.

Their _anger_ though sometimes violent, soon exhausts itself: but where the passion cannot be readily gratified, it may settle into a lasting enmity. Many people, especially headmen, will not visit a village two miles distant on any account; rather than pass through it, they will fetch a wide circuit, and that although their children and dependents visit the place quite freely. The negroes are very cruel, and sometimes take a positive delight in inflicting the greatest tortures they can devise. They reserve much of this for enemies from whom they would expect the same treatment themselves.

Of their INTELLECTUAL powers I venture to speak very highly. I knew a number of boys that came to school at the ages of from twelve to fifteen, without knowing a single letter, and in six weeks, they could, after a little consideration, read any word in their language. This they accomplished without any unnatural cramming. There were many school children whose progress I watched with great interest, and who, I am certain, if they had enjoyed the usual training, could have taken no mean place among the Cambridge Wranglers.

The natives possess great powers of _argument_. Though some are swayed by feeling and admit irrelevant matter, others stick well to their subject, and soon pull up a debater that changes his ground. In public speeches they use a style more elaborate than in ordinary conversation. Many English speeches are so different from ordinary talk, that to one who only knows English conversationally, they seem to be in another language. So native speeches may be greatly polished, and lose much of the bluntness of conversation. Public speaking is much practised, as an important meeting may last for days. Many of the speakers have a tone of quietness and self-possession that any orator might envy; others believe in loud words and bold gestures. An excited native orator presents an appearance never to be forgotten. I have one before my mind just now. He stands near an ant-hill, and at the close of each stirring sentence, he makes a wild rush to the top. “Are we all to be killed,” he cries, “by Chekakamila?” Having said this, he runs up the hillock. Coming back he confronts his audience and resumes at the pitch of his voice, “Is he to come and catch our wives and children? We’ll go and kill him! We’ll go and eat him!” The orator again runs up the ant-hill. He continues in the same strain till his hearers also begin to rush about and brandish their weapons in frantic excitement.

Natives have the bump of _locality_. I once lost my way when about nine miles distant from any dwelling. I was accompanied by a little boy, who followed wherever I led. After wandering for some time, I sat down in despair, unable to tell the direction I wanted. I asked the boy whether he knew the way, and to my great surprise he said he did. Advancing to a small knoll, the little fellow caught a glimpse of a distant mountain. He looked at it carefully for a few moments, and then marched off with confidence. For more than an hour I followed in great anxiety, fearing that he might be in the wrong direction. But whenever we escaped from the denser parts of the jungle, he stopped to gaze intently at some hill. This gave me confidence, and when at last I found myself on a native path, I could not sufficiently admire my youthful guide.

We often hear the expression “I don’t believe in a nigger”. It is common to assert that negroes have no redeeming quality. But much of this severe criticism springs from prejudice. The African is physically superior to most of the Indians that we see along the Mozambique coast, and I am materialist enough to hazard the opinion that this superiority will “mean something” in the long run. As it is, these Africans are not mere animals composed of greed and selfishness. They often shew great bravery and devotedness. I can point to one man who saved my life on three separate occasions at the risk of his own. Every one that tries to understand these negroes, will acknowledge that the better natives have in their breasts all the qualities that constitute the hero, and only want favourable circumstances for their development. But this is a great want. No doubt there are in Africa, natural differences both among individuals and among tribes. Mr. Rowley says, “Compare an ordinary Yao with an ordinary Anyasa, and the former is at once seen to be physically superior”. “A phrenologist would say, that firmness and self-esteem predominated, but that caution which prevails to a deformity among the Anyasa was barely evidenced.” The difference between the Yao of the hills, and the Anyasa of the plains is so very great, that I could generally tell a man’s tribe by his appearance. But admitting natural differences to the fullest extent, we cannot ignore the effect produced on the natives by their circumstances and customs. The institution of slavery is demoralising in the extreme. The master is a cruel tyrant, the slave is a thief, a liar, and a miserable coward. The government of the country has also a deplorable influence. Where it is weak, it gives the people no protection, where it is strong, it preys upon them. There is nothing to keep the headman of a village from robbing his people, and many a bitter complaint have I heard on the subject. Speke has some instructive observations on the African. “He works his wife, sells his children, enslaves all he can lay hands on, and, unless when fighting for the property of others, contents himself with drinking, singing, and dancing. They store up nothing beyond the necessities of next season, lest their chiefs or neighbours should covet and take it from them.” He adds, “If some government could be formed for them, like ours in India, they would be saved, but without it, I fear there is little chance. For at present the African can neither help himself, nor be helped by others, because his country is in such a constant state of turmoil.” Owing to the unsettled state of their land, they are victims of fear. The men never go unarmed, the women and children never venture far from home without a guard. A great proportion of their villages are built far up the mountains, for security against their neighbours. Hobbes says that men are naturally distrustful of their fellows—witness the barring of doors at night. Such distrust is greater here, and well it may. It is not that they fear for their property; that is too small to deserve anxiety! They fear for dear life—though they lie down quietly at night, they may awake to receive a mortal wound, and see their wives and children carried into slavery. One in this country finds a meaning in prayers for protection, that he does not realise in a civilised land. These circumstances of the native develop also a peculiar kind of patience and servility. He looks on injustice and hard treatment as something to be expected at every step.

Superstition also has a dismal influence. Throughout his whole life the native is haunted by the dread of being bewitched. As he grows older the shadows become darker—he has now escaped “the evil eye” so long, that he is judged guilty of witchcraft himself, and the few last days of his life are made unspeakably bitter. What a dreadful cry comes from the old men or women that are convicted by the witch-detective! Forsaken by friends, disowned by relatives; and detested by the whole community, they appeal with confidence to the poison. Oh! how must the iron fetters of superstition crush the very soul, when the victim finds recovery hopeless, and knows that in a few hours his dishonoured body will be cast forth to the vultures, and that his name will go down to posterity covered with infamy.

[Illustration: MUSICAL INSTRUMENT (WITH IRON KEYS).]

The _musical tastes_ of the natives may here be alluded to. Many villages have in the forum a large piano with wooden keys, while men often carry a smaller instrument with iron keys. The native musical scale is not the same as ours, and although there is a certain method about the instruments, it is rare to find two of them tuned exactly the same way.

Other traits of native character will appear when we describe our life among them.

As a Missionary with the Bible in his hand looks on the natives, he seriously ponders how the truth can, humanly speaking, be most readily commended to them. His first aim must be to reach their intellects. They stand before him as a people that are entirely unbelievers, and who cannot be blamed for being so. How shall they believe without a preacher? It is well when they state plainly that they disbelieve and point out their reasons, but alas! they often assent to everything from mere politeness. Still, they are well able to appreciate the narrative parts of the Scriptures. Persons fond of doctrine in its purest form think that the tales of Joseph and his brethren, of Saul and David, are so much packing in the sacred volume, but on coming into contact with the strong unsophisticated intellect of the savage, one becomes alive to the sublimity and power of this part of Scripture. These natives readily understand the Old Testament; familiar as they are with a state of civilisation, where a “younger brother” may be sold like Joseph, where a chief (like Saul) hunts a rival among mountains and caves, and where a headman thinks nothing of dividing a child to settle a dispute. A person in Britain thinks it almost incredible that a king could break promises like Pharoah; but to the subjects of an African chief, the narrative of this is the merest commonplace, while they feel that such falsehood in the prince would rather call forth the applause of his people so long as it seemed to be in their interest. Our pupils had often to write about these Scripture subjects in their own words. When they wrote on English affairs their remarks were extremely ludicrous; but by reading their Bible themes I have benefited as much as by studying a commentary. Again, they can understand and appreciate _parables_. They are all familiar with this species of literature, since many of their own tales have double meanings. The natives of course hold no theory of the universe that excludes _miracles_. In their own tales they have the miraculous and look for some teaching in connection with it, a habit which they may be taught to carry with them in using the Scripture records. In my first effort at translating Jonah, my little tutor thought there was some mistake and changed my proposed version. He felt it would be more natural for Jonah to “swallow the fish”. But it was a “great fish!” Still the same answer came. “No, a very great fish like a crocodile.” The dark countenance turned fully round upon me, and the sharp eyes regarded me with a strange quiet stare. He approved of my original rendering, and wondered what I would venture on next. Perhaps he thought I was “far gone” or perhaps I had come near something he had heard before. They have themselves a story of a man that was caught by a crocodile and effected his escape while laid past till the crocodile should be hungry. Their literature also contains some stories regarding the division of the waters of a river or lake, while one tale would pass for an account of Jethro’s interview with Moses.

The Africans have a liking for ontological speculation. Being ill one day, I asked one of our best students to speak to the people, when, to my utter disappointment, he dashed into an explanation of “three persons in one God”; but what surprised me most of all was that the people listened to him with the greatest attention. I felt that there was here the working, of a mode of thought that the Western mind has seldom sympathised with. The discussion seemed to have such a practical interest to them that I could not but think of the butchers of Alexandria, who, during the early Church controversy, when asked the price of mutton, would make some remark about Trinity in Unity. Little did the lecturer know what an amount of thought had been bestowed on this subject, and yet he showed he had been thinking himself, for every statement he made had evidently passed through the crucible of his own mind.

Our older pupils formed the habit of asking me about everything in the Bible that they did not understand, and I have watched them with breathless interest as they read passages bearing on “Free-Will”. But they were never “pulled up” by this subject, although I fancied that one boy came very near the difficulty. They would doubtless hold that God could foresee, much as a wise man can. It was a subject where to them “ignorance was bliss,” and I could not be so cruel as to suggest the difficulties that encompass this antinomy (as Kant calls it). Still, it might not have been such a puzzle to these young lads, as they had not lived in a country where will is evoked in a struggle with the elements. Again, where the vast majority are entirely at the disposal of guardians or slave-masters, a species of resigned fatalism is apt to be developed. Once when translating the sermon on the mount, “Be not anxious for to-morrow; sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,” I was admonished, “Don’t tell them that; their sin lies the opposite way. They never think of to-morrow at all!” Such is the fact, these creatures of God have little or no anxiety. Like the bird of the air and the beast of the forest, they “believe and live”.

END OF VOL. I.

APPENDIX.

NATIVE TALES LITERALLY TRANSLATED.

APPENDIX.

1. PEOPLE.

People came from _kapilimtiya_ [an unsteady (soft) stone][16]. There came forth two, a man and a woman, and they married and had children. Then there was seen another man who was sick, being a leper, who had come from _kapilimtiya_. The sick man sent the woman to draw water, then he opened a bag and took out maize and millet. On this earth there was no grass,[17] and he said, “You two may sleep in a cave”. The sick man died, and the other man put an offering on the ground[18] saying, “You have left us here, now give us grass”. So grass grew and trees; and his children grew and had children; hence the tribe of the Yao.

2. THE SUN.

It came to pass that two men went to the hunting-field and arrived at a cave. One said, “Here is heat!” The other said, “Is this fire?” He said, “I don’t know, come and help me to search”. They began to search in the cave. One peered and saw the sun[19] in the cave. Then he said, “Look! look!” his companion said, “Come, let us run away”. The other said, “I will look,” and he went into the cave and put away a stone, then the sun burned him and he died. His companion said, “Please, please, don’t burn me” (by this time the grass was on fire). The stone being thus removed, the sun went on high.

3. THE MOON.

Out here there lived Machelenga, and he said, “I want a firefly to make a lamp of”. A great man said, “Come, I’ll shew you a good fire”. And he said, “It is a good fire this”—it was just the moon. Then he took the moon and put it in a pot. And he said, “My children, don’t take off the cover of this, it contains my fire. I go to the garden.”[20] So he went to the garden. The children then went to fetch the fire, then there was light with a brightness! And he said, “My fire has come out, they have brought it out of the pot”: and he said to them, “My children, where is the fire?” And they said, “We—no”.[21] And he said, “Don’t meddle with the place where I have put my fire”. And they said, “We understand”. Another day he said, “Good-bye,[22] let me go down to the garden,” and he staid for the night at the garden.[23] One of the children then took the moon, which burned him, and flew away to settle right on the top of the hill.[24] The father awoke and looked out and said, “Outside there is light,” and he ran and said, “But now, see! is not my fire gone? Seek ladders, take it thence.” So they climbed the mountain; though they tried thus to go to fetch it they failed. The child fell down a precipice. The father next tried to climb, then the moon flew, going up to the clouds, and he said, “Now it is gone, it is settled in the clouds. Now my enemies will see quite well, because you have taken out my fire.”

His wife said, “Your moon has killed my child for me; I do not want to see the moon”. She went to another country, she looked on high and the moon was still there, and she was weary and said, “Dig a pit for me,” and they dug a pit. Then the woman went in and the man covered it over. The woman died in the pit.

Yonder moon was the fire of Machelenga.[25]

4. STARS.

It came to pass that the children of Mkwilima[25] said, “We will go to play,” and they arrived at the sands, and found many stones, and they threw them at each other. Their father said, “My children, do not strike each other, stones will pain you”. Then a stone was thrown, and one child was struck on the head and fell; and the stone ran away and leapt forth and became fixed on high. People looked, and behold! the stone was visible, and Mkwilima said, “My children, there I told you, behold the stone that killed your companion, behold! now it is on high”. When the rain fell particles of it kept floating filling the heavens everywhere.[26]

5. [27]CLOUDS.

Mwangalika sent his son, and said, “In this country there is sun now. Please, please go and burn with fire.” Then the fire smoked, and Mwangalika said, “Now I want the smoke to be clouds, that my children may stay in the shade;” then it went on high.

6. [27]WIND.

A great man had a daughter, and she said, “Father, in this country I am hot, I sweat”.

Then her father said, “Come here, my child, I have pity, I will blow with my breath,” so he blew, and thence came wind.

7. RAIN OR LIGHTNING.

The lightning (rain, ula)[28] flashed and killed a man, then it ran on high, and they said, “Please, please, rain but you have killed people”. The rain said, “Now I am sorry, I have done wrong, but I want to send water that you may _drink at the mourning_”, and the people said, “Yes, let us consent”. The water of the rain then descended.

8. THE BOW OF THE LIGHTNING.

The bow of the lightning came from on high and struck a hill, then came Mtanga, and said, “My bow for killing meat”. The chief at that land said, “Let us see you killing”. He picked up an arrow, threw on high and killed four stars, and said, “I have killed this meat, let me give you to eat”. He said, “Give me that I may look at it”. He received it and looked, and there was just a flash-flashing. He said, “The meat of my shooting you cannot eat. That comes from on high. But watch what I shall do in the eating of it.” He boiled water, and filled a great pot, and picked up the stars and put them in the pot and stirred them, and then they actually found cooked flesh. He said, “Taste it now”: when he ate it he found it sweet like honey.

He said, “Lend me, friend, the bow that I may shoot”; but he was killed by his shooting. Mtanga (12) then said, “My bow is dreadful”. When Mtanga went away, it was not seen where he went, and he put up his bow on high.

9. MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS.

Mtanga came to the Yao country, and he said, “This country is bad because it is without a hill”. The inhabitants said, “What will you do?” and he said, “I will press out mountains”. They said, “How will you press them out?” He said, “I will press them out at night”. They said, “Come, let us sleep in the houses”. At night then passed Mtanga, and came to make a mountain spring forth. Then he took away his leg when he had pressed out one mountain, and went and pressed out another.

In the morning when people arose, they found that mountains were standing forth (in one place a mountain sprung up, in another place a mountain sprung up). He said, “When you thought of me, you supposed I told a lie. I am from ‘God,’[29] Chitowe sent me. This country I have now made right.”

He then said, “I will now press forth water, let us dig a river,” then he brought down rain, and the water flowed in the river.

In the beginning[30] this country was all a plain, and Mtanga put it right: there was no water and he pressed it forth.

10. COOKING POTS AND MORTARS.

Long ago ‘God’ said, “My children, I gave you food”. He gave them also a piece of iron[31] ore. Then he said, “Draw water, boil it on the fire”. Then he said, “This is a cooking pot”. The iron ore was lost, and ‘God’ sent Namawelenga, and he said, “Now I want to dig clay,” and they manufactured cooking-pots.

People used to roast (their corn), and there came a woman and she brought a short piece of wood. She said, “I am hungry, I want porridge”. They refused at the village, saying, “At our home, no; there is no porridge”. She said, “There is maize”. They said, “We have much maize”. Then she brought out her small reed and said, “Give me maize”; and she put it in her (piece of) wood and set to pounding. When she pounded she said, “Well, this is called a mortar, now pound and eat”.

11. HOES, KNIVES AND AXES.

People hoed with wood[32] and there came a certain man who said, “I have pity, let me give you things-to-hoe-with”. They said, “Give us”. He said, “Bring fire,” and they brought fire, and he took iron ore and put on the fire. They collected much fire, and pieces of ore were melted, and they took a stone and beat it, and it was smelted to make a hoe.

Knives and axes came together. People said, “We sleep outside,” and there came a man and gave them; he said, “With this axe cut trees, take the knife, dig down, use it as a pick, and put in your posts”.[33]

12. BASKETS.

He said, “Where do you put your food?” They said, “We put it on the ground,” and he said, “But seek for the _mneche_,” (a soft tree), and they sought for it and prepared it (there were no bamboos then). He said, “Take now your maize, put it in the baskets”. When they found bamboos then they plaited them: then were made things for holding their goods.

13. CLOTHING.

There were some that did not wear clothes, and a certain man came and stript off bark, and the males wore it. Then he produced a hammer from his bag, and said, “Cut down a _mjombo_ tree,” and he stript it. Then he set to hammering, and beat out the juice, and put the bark in the sun to dry. Then he took it and said, “Try to put it on,” and the females clothed themselves. Bark-cloth then abounded in this land.

14. DEATH.

This country was one where people did not die, and there came a woman that could not walk. People lived without sleep, and the woman said “sleep,” and two persons slept, then she caught one by the nostrils, and the other continued to breathe, and she said, “Arise,” the one arose and the other died. She said, “I am sorry, I have done wrong, I caught one by the nostrils, he can not breathe, now mourn” (for him). Then the people mourned, and continued three days. Afterwards they said, “Carry him away, dig a grave and bury him,” and they buried him.

People then discovered sleep; death and sleep are one word; they are of one family.

The woman that could not walk wrought mischief.

15. MORTALITY,[34] THE CHAMELEON (NALWII) AND THE SALAMANDER (MLALU).

The chameleon was sent to the graves to say, “When people die they may return” (to their homes). He went off and was passing along the road. Afterwards the salamander was called to go to the graves, and say, “When people die they must not return”. The salamander ran and arrived quickly (while the chameleon was still on the way), and said, “When people die they must not return”. Next morning the chameleon appeared. He said, “When people die, they may return”. Those at the grave said, “No, the salamander came and he told us the truth”. Then he (the chameleon) went back to report at the village (from which he was sent), and said, “The salamander was first. He gave the order, ‘When people die they must not return’.” Those at the village said, “How silly! You were stupid, O chameleon, you should have made haste.”

16. OFFERINGS.

A person hoed his field (lit. food), and there came a blind man and said, “You do not eat your corn, what prevents you?” He said, “The corn is without an offering”.[35] The blind man said, “I can give the offering”. Then he put his arm in his bag, and took out of it flour, and the man that hoed said, “Do it yourself, give an offering that you may see with your eyes”. The blind man said, “Please, please, I want to see, help me, O mother!” Then his blindness went away and he saw. Then the man that hoed the garden said, “Now you are able to see”. Then the farmer plucked five maize cobs, and said, “Please, please, a blind man told me about the offering, I now want that my maize may be abundant”. So the Yao when their child dies say, “Please, please, I give this offering for you which a blind man gave us”; the sick then have health. In this way the Yao continue (to exist).

17. BOWS AND GUNS.

There was a man with three children, one was mad, and he bit, and his father caught him and put him in a slave-stick. Then he said, “Father, I want you to cut wood for me,” and he cut the wood. And he said, “Father, now I want a nail” (the iron pin of the slave-stick), and he brought a nail and gave him. In the same way he brought strips of bark, and he (the son) bent the wood with the cords. His father loosed him and he ran to the bush and returned at night and pierced his mother with the nail. She said, “My husband, my son whom you loosed has pierced me—pierced me with a bow” (something bent). These people then sought bows, and carried pieces of iron, and sought that madman; but he died in the bush. The people remained with the bow.

Here there were no guns, then came the people of Misiri[36] and gave to a man (who lived) long ago. The gun came with the people of Misiri.

18. CANNIBALISM.

There was a certain man, Malyawandu,[37] and an appetite for meat came (to him), and his wife cooked porridge with vegetables for a relish. He said, “No, I don’t want to eat vegetables”. So she killed a fowl for him, but he refused and said, “Look for a knife for me,” and he cut himself on the leg and roasted for himself on the fire. And she said, “My husband eating this meat alone!”[38] He said, “Delicious meat”. The man then died of that wound. And the woman said, “I will look at the flesh of my husband, I will eat it”.

Her children said, “Mother eating father!” and she said, “Come! taste”. One child received it and ate, and said, “Give me more”. It told its friends that human flesh was delicious. Then they began to kill each other.

At present they say, “We must not eat people”. Those that eat people are cannibals (§ 106, 107).

19. MEDICINE.

A certain man was sick; he said, “I shall dig up moles”. Then he found a root which was in a hole, he struck it with the hoe, and took it away from the tree and placed it so.[39] Then he killed two moles, and another mole ran away. Then the sick man sat down there to look, and it returned and carried the root and chewed it and spat on the other moles that were dead and they got life. The sick man then said, “Is this medicine? Those dead moles have risen again.” The mole said, “This is medicine, do you take it when you are sick, chew it that you may have health”. Then he went away to the village and chewed it and had health. Then others said, “Give your friends that they may have health”. Then medicine abounded in this land.

20. FLEAS.

People died and went to the graves and became ‘Itowe,’ and ‘God’ came and said, “You Itowe come all here,” and they came all round. Then he gave them little bags, and said, “You go abroad with these and give people”. They all received them. Some had a bag of fleas, and others of seeds, &c., &c. When they came abroad here then people refused the bag of fleas, but wanted the bag of seeds. So they gave the seeds and returned, but on the way they opened the other bags and threw the fleas away.

21. FISHES.

There was a woman, and she took bark-cloth and tore off a long strip and put on as a loin-cloth, and said, “Now let us go to the stream and bathe”. (In the waters there were no fishes.) The woman had untied her loin-cloth, and she said, “Give me my loin-cloth to wash”. As she was washing it the water took the loin-cloth from her, and she said, “My companions, my loin-cloth is lost”. Her companions said, “Sit down, let us go to seek it, that you may wear your clothes”. The woman then sat at the water naked; then she saw it coming, it having become a fish. And she said, “I have seen wonderful things; I saw my loin-cloth like an animal”. Then they took it, and saw that it was a fish, and they took a knife and opened it at the breast. Then they found inside the eggs of fish (nat. idiom), and threw them into the water, and they brought forth many fishes.

22. BIRDS.

There was a man that had two children, and they said, “We want a bow”. Their father made them a bow. And he said, “Don’t go throwing at each other”. One stood like this, and took a grass wand, threw it at his companion, and struck him in the eyes, and he died. His father then ran, “My son, you have killed your brother”; and he took the grass, and it said, “Your son threw me; I have killed a man. Now I don’t want to stay here below,” and it flew and lighted on a tree, and became a bird. And this is the origin of birds.

23. ELEPHANTS.

The elephants lived along with men, and the children took them out to eat grass in the plain. Then an elephant killed one child, and another ran saying, “Father, father, an elephant has killed my companion”. His father said, “Well, I want to go and kill it”. And he carried his bow and arrows and went to shoot it, and he shot it, and it died. The others then ran away, saying, “We have done wrong; now our master is killing us”. So they ran away to the bush, and people kept encountering them and shooting them, saying, “You killed a person at the village”. Hence there was enmity against them.

24. LIONS.

The lion was a cat dwelling with people. Then it sprung to catch a fowl The next day it sprang to scratch the baby. Then its master said, “I will kill you,” so it ran away to the bush. Whereupon it was at enmity with people.

25. THE SERPENT.

There was a man that hoed a garden and planted cassava, and took bark-cloth and twisted, and took thorns and put through this bark-cloth, and said, “Bark-cloth, I place you in my garden; bite those that come to steal”. So he went to hang the bark-cloth[40] in his garden. Then came a thief and took hold of a cassava plant, and the thorns pierced him, and that lad said, “War”. It said, “My master left me in the garden, saying, ‘If people steal cassava, bite them’.” The person died. Then came the man and said, “Bark-cloth, you have bitten a lad; you have a bad heart”. Then it went away in the bush, and when it saw people it bit them. Hence came the serpent.

26. BABOONS.[41]

A woman bare three children, but the children stole from the owner of the country, and he killed two. Then the woman ran away, and the other child went away. Her friends said, “Cut your hair”.[42] She said, “No, the chief killed my children”. And she said on seeing the maize of others, “That maize is ours”. On her running away hair grew on all her body. That fur of the baboons was the hair of the head, those legs were arms.

27. OTHER ACCOUNTS.

Some tell one way, others another way—telling and telling.

_Heavenly Bodies._—‘God’ made the stars and the moon and the sun likewise. All things in this world were made by ‘God’. The sun gave way to fierceness, and said, “Let me shine and destroy people”. God refused, and took rain and cooled down the sun.

_Wind._—‘God’ placed a spinning-top on the summit of a mountain, hence the wind.

_Rain._—People who died became ‘God,’ and they said, “Come, let us give our children rain”. Others refused, and said, “Come, let us make pots and fill them with water”. And they said, “Come, let us break another pot; let us give our children rain”.[43]

_Animals._—At first the lion was a man; a man died and became a lion. So of the elephant.

28. ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF MAN.

At first there were not people but ‘God’ and beasts. There was a Chameleon, and he wove his fish-trap; when he had woven it, he went to snare in the river. The day after he went to take it out, and he found fishes therein. He took his fishes to the village to eat them. Again in the morning he went early and found that otters had entered the trap and eaten the fishes, and he said: “To-day I have bad luck. I just found that the otters had eaten my fishes. I do not know whether to-morrow I shall find they have eaten them again.” Then he departed to the village, empty, without fishes, and he went to sleep. When it was dawn, he went early again, and found man, male and female, entered into the trap.

He said, “To-day have entered things that are unknown. I wonder whether I should take them.” Mlungu (‘God’) was staying down here, before he went away to heaven. And he said, “Father, behold what I have brought to-day”. And He (‘God’) said, “Place them there, they will grow”. Man then grew, both male and female. But his father said, “Gather the people together, and call your master”. ‘God’ was called, and he came and said, “Now, Chameleon, where have you brought these from?” He said, “But they entered my trap”. Then Mlungu said, “Wait till I call my people,” and he went calling all the beasts of the earth and all the birds. They assembled. When they came, their Master said, “We have called you for those curious beings that the Chameleon went to bring in his trap”. All the beasts said, “We have heard”. (They had not a word to say.)

“Now let us go to our home.” So the beasts all went to their homes. And Mlungu said, “Now good-bye, let me go home”.

The day after they actually saw these people (the new creatures) making fire[44] (by friction). When they made fire, they set it a blazing, and found a buffalo and killed and roasted it on the fire, and it was cooked. And they kept eating all the beasts in this way. Again Mlungu came, saying, “Chameleon, I told you that you introduced puzzling beings on the earth here. See now my people are finished. Now how shall I act?” They actually saw the bush at their verandah burning with fire. Now the Chameleon ran away, and Mlungu ran away. The Chameleon ran for a tree. Mlungu was on the ground, and he said, “I cannot climb a tree”. Then Mlungu set off and went to call the spider. The spider went on high and returned again, and said, “I have gone on high nicely,” and he said, “you now, Mlungu, go on high”. Mlungu then went with the spider on high. And he said, “When they die, let them come on high here”.

(On this, the lightning when it came down destroyed a tree because the Chameleon ran to a tree.)

And behold, men on dying go on high in order to be slaves of ‘God,’ the reason being that they ate his people here below.[45]

29. NTEMBE, THE BROTHER OF THE “SPIRIT”.

Ntembe came to the mysteries; and people said, “A great one has come, let us go to see him”. They found him sitting on a stone and he said, “Have these people come”—(he spoke through his nose so). They said, “Yes, we thought we should go and see the great Ntembe the owner of this land”. He said, “You are welcome, I have come myself, I have come to teach the mysteries”. Then came a serpent and he twisted it round his head, and when people passed they were bitten and died. And people complained saying, “The serpent will destroy us all”. ‘God’ came saying, “You have a bad heart, you are killing (my) children”. He said, “Take them away and dwell with them, I Ntembe am here”. ‘God’ then took the children and went on high with them, and they were happy. Ntembe then became a mountain.[46]

30. THE THREE WOMEN.

There were three Women with their children, and they went to the water. When they reached it, one of them was cheated by her companions who said, “Throw your child into the water, we have thrown our children into the water”. But they had hidden their children under a tree. So their companion threw her child into the water, and a crocodile swallowed it (but did not kill it). Then her companions began to laugh at her and said, “You have thrown your child into the water! We were only cheating you.” Then she wept and said, “Why did you cheat me?” Her companions went to the village to tell her mother, and said, “Your daughter has thrown her child into the water”. When her mother heard them she said, “Can it be true!” Her companions said, “Yes”. So her mother wept in great sorrow.

But her daughter climbed a tree and said, “I want to go on high,” and the tree grew much and reached upwards. She met many leopards and they asked the girl and said, “Where are you going”? The girl said, “I want my child; my companions cheated me and said, ‘Throw your child into the water. We threw ours into the water.’” The leopards said, “Indeed!” and they showed her the way, saying, “You will come to the Nsenzi who will show you the way again”. So the girl went on and met the Nsenzi and they asked, “Girl, where are you going”? The girl replied, “I want my child, my companions cheated me saying, ‘Throw your child in the water’”. Then the Nsenzi showed her the way and said, “Go, there you will meet the Mazomba” (large fishes?). The Mazomba said, “What do you want, my girl”. The girl said, “I want (to know) the way”. The Mazomba said, “Where to”? The girl said, “The way to Mlungu (God)”. The Mazomba said, “Well, be strong in your heart”. The girl said, “Yes, Masters, I understand”.

Then she came to the village of Mulungu and Mulungu asked the girl, “What do you want”? The girl said, “Master! I want my child. My comrades cheated me saying, ‘Throw your child into the water,’ I threw it in, and a crocodile swallowed it”.

Then Mulungu called the crocodile and the crocodile came. Mulungu[47] said, “Give up the child,” and it delivered it up. The girl received the child and went down[48] to her mother. When her mother saw that her daughter brought the child she was much delighted and gave her much cloth and a good house.

When her companions saw that she had fetched her child they asked her, “How did you fetch your child?” Their companion said, “I went to Mulungu”. When her companions heard that she fetched it from Mulungu, then they threw their children in the water, and also climbed the tree, which grew quickly, quickly.

Then they met the Leopards. The Leopards asked, “Where are you going”? But the girls were obstinate and said, “We don’t want you to question us. No.” The Leopards left them, and they went on and met with the Nsenzi who said, “Well, where are you going”? But the girls began to abuse them. They went on and came to the Mazomba. The Mazomba said, “Well, where are you going”? The girls said, “We don’t want you to ask us”.

Then they came to Mulungu. Mulungu said, “What do you want”? The girls said, “We have thrown our children into the water.” But Mulungu said, “What was the reason of that”? The girls hid (the matter) and said, “Nothing”. But Mulungu said, “It is false. You cheated your companion, saying, ‘Throw your child into the water,’ and now you tell me a lie.”

Then Mulungu took a bottle of lightning, and said, “Your children are in here”. The girls took the bottle, and the bottle made a report like a gun. The girls both (lit. all) died.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Since then the Church altered their decision, and practically found that it was groundless.

[2] Livingstone says this is the most wholesome form in which they use their corn owing to their rude cookery.

[3] Ch is the proper spelling, but sh has gained acceptance. The Arabs cannot pronounce the ch; while the natives cannot pronounce the sh.

[4] Stanley calls the sorcerer “the gourd-and-pebble man”.

[5] Native idiom.

[6] This principle in human nature is fully recognised in philosophy. Butler in his ‘Analogy of Religion’ speaks of it as the principle of continuance, remarking “that we believe a thing remains as we left it, except where we have any reason to think it is changed”. Dr. Bain recognises the same belief in our postulate that “nature is uniform,” although he holds that the tendency in question gets its great value from “experience.”

Beyond this there is a tendency to find a place, as we have assumed above, for anything that has passed beyond our ken. We saw this in the case of a little child that was separated from youthful playmates. When asked “Where’s Nyama?” at first he pointed in a definite direction. As the journey proceeded he became quite at a loss, and shook his head over the question in sadness. Much farther on it was asked whether Nyama was not in yonder steamer, and the suggestion gave intense satisfaction, and ever after instead of shewing despair over the question he would brighten up and say, “She is in another steamer”.

[7] East African Tales, by Rev. Duff Macdonald. (Blackwood) Page 9.

[8] When mwai is not vomited it is fatal, and the symptoms that appear in such cases, are said to resemble those of dysentery.

[9] It is characteristic of Native Law that it throws all responsibility on Superiors. In illustration of this principle I may mention an application of it that occurs very naturally to these natives, and which they have urged upon me again and again. When I spoke to them of a day of judgment they remarked, “On that day we shall plead that we are the white man’s sons, and you, father, will not forsake your children”.

[10] Stanley in _How I Found Livingstone_, mentions that the natives in Unyanyembe, on killing an enemy, eat “the skin of the forehead, the lower part of the face, the forepart of the nose, the fat over the stomach and abdomen, the genital organs, and a bit from each heel”. Hence we see that African tribes, although living far apart, practice similar forms of mutilation.

[11] These names happen to be real, but are used only as counters.

[12] The word for _people_ is among some of these tribes _antu_, among others _wandu_, among others _abantu_, &c., hence has arisen the word Bantu.

[13] These statements do not occur consecutively in the authors quoted.

[14] Tens five and tens four, to this comes five then four. The inflexion of certain adjectives, and the negative inflexion of the verb, are also felt cumbrous by a European.

[15] A certain kind of politeness comes natural to the African. Seldom will he say anything to irritate a neighbour, knowing as he does, that in a country where there is little law, a neighbour may kill him without any scruple, and get absolution by paying over a few slaves.

[16] The Africans have a widespread tradition that man sprung in this way from the earth. The world is viewed as a house with three stories. The higher story, the region of the sky, is now occupied by Mulungu, and the sun, moon, &c. We inhabit at present the second story, but we came originally from “the first flat”. But all races did not come at the same time. According to the Kafirs, the white man staid till he cast off the skin of imperfection—much as a snake casts its skin. When a man dies, “he is summoned by those that are beneath”. This might be explained by saying that he joins the dead who are buried beneath, but Bishop Callaway thinks that such expressions intimate an old faith, now no longer understood, in a Hades or Tartarus.

[17] _i.e._, to make a house, grass being a main constituent of a native hut.

[18] They postulate that some one died before man could find any being to pray to. This is in accordance with their theology.

[19] Of course they think the sun is not bigger than a plate.

[20] Or “field” where he raised his food.

[21] A good specimen of native truth. The narrator assumes that the children will lie, and that the father will take it as a matter of course.

[22] The native good-bye is managed thus: The person that goes away from his friend says “Stay,” while his friend replies “Go”. In their intercourse this is not always a mere form. If a party with goods have rested at a village whose chief is powerful, and covets their goods, they are much relieved when he says “Go!”

[23] There are little huts in the fields where people stay to drive away such animals as would destroy the crops.

[24] In this simple nursery tale Perspective is ignored, but this will be excused by one who has observed how strikingly the moon rising over a hill resembles a distant grass-fire.

[25] His name implies that he was clever. The 3rd story reminds one of the Indian widow who refuses to survive her husband.

[26] Here the sky is likened to a great lake, and the stars are the “golden sands” of “Afric’s sunny fountains”.

[27] V. and VI. seem pointless, except that the etymology and the form of the native words are made to support the simple theories.

[28] Rain, lightning and thunder seem to be almost inseparably associated in the minds of the native. If a peal of thunder is heard, when we ask what it is, the reply is “rain”.

[29] Chitowe is generally represented as inferior in power to Mtanga. This passage would lead us, therefore, to understand that Chitowe called in Mtanga because he could not put the country right himself. The Yao as they contrast their hilly district with the flat burning plains around may well thank Mtanga.

[30] Native philosophers accept the existence of the world as an ultimate fact.

[31] Does this point to the use of ‘the pot-stone’? The native values his present methods as an advance on something more primitive.

[32] Compare the hoeing of the Hottentots.

[33] _i.e._, to form the sides of the native hut.

[34] This tale exists among both the Kafirs and the Hottentots, and is one of the most noteworthy.

[35] The offering of ‘first fruits’ had not been presented.

[36] Described as staying in the north. The word also means craftsman. Most of these names are mere adaptations for the story.

[37] _i.e._, Man-eater.

[38] A breach of etiquette. (67.)

[39] The narrative shews how.

[40] They have a custom of putting charms round their crops this way (see K).

[41] All the African races seem to have similar stories about the origin of monkeys.

[42] She would be expected to make herself bald in mourning for her two sons.

[43] Compare the ancient expression, “Who can stay the bottles of heaven.”—Job xxxvii. 38.

[44] Man is the only animal that can make fire. It is common to set fire to the bush with the view of catching game.

[45] Mulungu is here said to have lived once on the earth, and to have left it because of men. The Chameleon is introduced here as well as in tale No. xv.

[46] Such metamorphoses are very common in native tales.

[47] The narrator pronounces sometimes Mlungu, sometimes Mulungu.

[48] Here as in xxviii. and xxix. ‘God’ is on high. He is reached after a journey through a trilogy of Beasts, Birds, and Fishes. Compare with this, one native view that the sky is a great lake.