This Open Defiance Of Authority Was Not Resented
By Moriantsane, But Referred To Sekeletu At Linyanti.
The following circumstance, which happened here when I was present
with Sekeletu, shows that the simple mode of punishment, by forcing a criminal
to work out a fine, did not strike the Makololo mind until now.
A stranger having visited Sesheke for the purpose of barter, was robbed
by one of the Makalaka of most of his goods. The thief, when caught,
confessed the theft, and that he had given the articles to a person
who had removed to a distance. The Makololo were much enraged at the idea
of their good name being compromised by this treatment of a stranger.
Their customary mode of punishing a crime which causes much indignation
is to throw the criminal into the river; but, as this would not restore
the lost property, they were sorely puzzled how to act.
The case was referred to me, and I solved the difficulty by paying
for the loss myself, and sentencing the thief to work out an equivalent
with his hoe in a garden. This system was immediately introduced,
and thieves are now sentenced to raise an amount of corn
proportioned to their offenses. Among the Bakwains, a woman who had stolen
from the garden of another was obliged to part with her own entirely:
it became the property of her whose field was injured by the crime.
There is no stated day of rest in any part of this country,
except the day after the appearance of the new moon, and the people then
refrain only from going to their gardens.
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