The Head Man Of Any Section Of The Tribe
Is Generally Selected For This Office.
Spoons not being generally in fashion,
the milk is conveyed to the mouth with the hand.
I often presented
my friends with iron spoons, and it was curious to observe
how their habit of hand-eating prevailed, though they were delighted
with the spoons. They lifted out a little with the utensil,
then put it on the left hand, and ate it out of that.
As the Makololo have great abundance of cattle, and the chief is expected
to feed all who accompany him, he either selects an ox or two of his own
from the numerous cattle stations that he possesses at different spots all
over the country, or is presented by the head men of the villages he visits
with as many as he needs by way of tribute. The animals are killed
by a thrust from a small javelin in the region of the heart,
the wound being purposely small in order to avoid any loss of blood,
which, with the internal parts, are the perquisites of the men who perform
the work of the butcher; hence all are eager to render service in that line.
Each tribe has its own way of cutting up and distributing an animal.
Among the Makololo the hump and ribs belong to the chief;
among the Bakwains the breast is his perquisite. After the oxen are cut up,
the different joints are placed before Sekeletu, and he apportions them
among the gentlemen of the party. The whole is rapidly divided
by their attendants, cut into long strips, and so many of these
are thrown into the fires at once that they are nearly put out.
Half broiled and burning hot, the meat is quickly handed round;
every one gets a mouthful, but no one except the chief has time to masticate.
It is not the enjoyment of eating they aim at, but to get as much of the food
into the stomach as possible during the short time the others
are cramming as well as themselves, for no one can eat more than a mouthful
after the others have finished. They are eminently gregarious
in their eating; and, as they despise any one who eats alone,
I always poured out two cups of coffee at my own meals, so that the chief,
or some one of the principal men, might partake along with me.
They all soon become very fond of coffee; and, indeed, some of the tribes
attribute greater fecundity to the daily use of this beverage.
They were all well acquainted with the sugar-cane, as they cultivate it
in the Barotse country, but knew nothing of the method of extracting
the sugar from it. They use the cane only for chewing. Sekeletu,
relishing the sweet coffee and biscuits, of which I then had a store,
said "he knew my heart loved him by finding his own heart warming to my food."
He had been visited during my absence at the Cape by some traders and Griquas,
and "their coffee did not taste half so nice as mine, because they loved
his ivory and not himself." This was certainly an original mode
of discerning character.
Sekeletu and I had each a little gipsy-tent in which to sleep.
The Makololo huts are generally clean, while those of the Makalaka
are infested with vermin. The cleanliness of the former
is owing to the habit of frequently smearing the floors with a plaster
composed of cowdung and earth. If we slept in the tent in some villages,
the mice ran over our faces and disturbed our sleep, or hungry prowling dogs
would eat our shoes and leave only the soles. When they were guilty
of this and other misdemeanors, we got the loan of a hut.
The best sort of Makololo huts consist of three circular walls,
with small holes as doors, each similar to that in a dog-house;
and it is necessary to bend down the body to get in, even when on all-fours.
The roof is formed of reeds or straight sticks, in shape
like a Chinaman's hat, bound firmly together with circular bands,
which are lashed with the strong inner bark of the mimosa-tree.
When all prepared except the thatch, it is lifted on to the circular wall,
the rim resting on a circle of poles, between each of which
the third wall is built. The roof is thatched with fine grass,
and sewed with the same material as the lashings; and, as it projects
far beyond the walls, and reaches within four feet of the ground,
the shade is the best to be found in the country. These huts are very cool
in the hottest day, but are close and deficient in ventilation by night.
The bed is a mat made of rushes sewn together with twine;
the hip-bone soon becomes sore on the hard flat surface, as we are not allowed
to make a hole in the floor to receive the prominent part called trochanter
by anatomists, as we do when sleeping on grass or sand.
Our course at this time led us to a part above Sesheke, called Katonga,
where there is a village belonging to a Bashubia man named Sekhosi -
latitude 17d 29' 13", longitude 24d 33'. The river here is somewhat broader
than at Sesheke, and certainly not less than six hundred yards.
It flows somewhat slowly in the first part of its eastern course.
When the canoes came from Sekhosi to take us over, one of the comrades
of Sebituane rose, and, looking to Sekeletu, called out, "The elders of a host
always take the lead in an attack." This was understood at once;
and Sekeletu, with all the young men, were obliged to give the elders
the precedence, and remain on the southern bank and see that all went orderly
into the canoes. It took a considerable time to ferry over
the whole of our large party, as, even with quick paddling,
from six to eight minutes were spent in the mere passage from bank to bank.
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