No People In The World Are So Proud And
Headstrong As The Negroes, Whether They Be Pastoral Or
Agriculturalists.
With them, as with the rest of the world,
"familiarity breeds contempt"; hospitality lives only one day;
for though
Proud of a rich or white visitor - and they implore him
to stop, that they may keep feeding their eyes on his
curiosities - they seldom give more than a cow or a goat, though
professing to supply a whole camp with provisions.
Taking the negroes as a whole, one does not find very marked or
much difference in them. Each tribe has its characteristics, it
is true. For instance, one cuts his teeth or tattoos his face in
a different manner from the others; but by the constant
intermarriage with slaves, much of this effect is lost, and it is
further lost sight of owing to the prevalence of migrations
caused by wars and the division of governments. As with the
tribal marks so with their weapons; those most commonly in use
are the spear, assage, shield, bow and arrow. It is true some
affect one, some the other; but in no way do we see that the
courage of tribes can be determined by the use of any particular
weapon: for the bravest use the arrow, which is the more dreaded;
while the weakest confine themselves to the spear. Lines of
traffic are the worst tracks (there are no roads in the districts
here referred to) for a traveller to go upon, not only because
the hospitality of the people has been damped by frequent
communication with travellers, but, by intercourse with the semi-
civilised merchant, their natural honour and honesty are
corrupted, their cupidity is increased, and the show of firearms
ceases to frighten them.
Of paramount consideration is the power held by the magician
(Mganga), who rules the minds of the kings as did the old popes
of Europe. They, indeed, are a curse to the traveller; for if it
suits their inclinations to keep him out of the country, they
have merely to prognosticate all sorts of calamities - as
droughts, famines, or wars - in the event of his setting eyes on
the soil, and the chiefs, people, and all, would believe them;
for, as may be imagined, with men unenlightened, supernatural and
imaginary predictions work with more force than substantial
reasons. Their implement of divination, simple as it may appear,
is a cow's or antelope's horn (Uganga), which they stuff with
magic powder, also called Uganga. Stuck into the ground in front
of the village, it is supposed to have sufficient power to ward
off the attacks of an enemy.
By simply holding it in the hand, the magician pretends he can
discover anything that has been stolen or lost; and instances
have been told of its dragging four men after it with
irresistible impetus up to a thief, when it be-laboured the
culprit and drove him out of his senses. So imbued are the
natives' minds with belief in the power of charms, that they pay
the magician for sticks, stones, or mud, which he has doctored
for them.
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