REVIEW: KAY'S TRAVELS IN CAFFRARIA.-CONTINUED FROM P. 146. [From the Edinburgh Review, January 1834.] Travels and Researches in Caffraria: describing the character, Customs, and Moral Condition, of the Tribes inhabiting that portion of Southern Africa: With historical and topographical Remarks, illustrative of the State and Prospects of the British Settlement on its Borders, the introduction of Christianity, and the Progress of Civilization. By STEPHEN KAY, Corresponding Member of the South African Institution. 12mo. London: 1833. The Caffers are passionately fond of hunting, and pursue with ardour, not only the antelopes which inhabit their woods and mountains, but also the buffalo, the lion, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and the elephant. The latter animal they sometimes assail for several days before they can destroy him. The system of government among these tribes is of a very simple patriarchal character; resembling, in many points, that of our Highland clans in ancient times. The chieftainship is hereditary, though the succession does not always follow in a regular course, according to the European laws of primogeniture. The chief usually names his successor from among the children of his principal wife, who is always a female of high lineage, and generally taken from another tribe. The principal wives of the Amakosa chiefs, for instance, are mostly of the noble blood of Amatembu and Amaponda. The great chiefs are considered absolute sovereigns in their respective clans; but their arbitrary power is practically restrained, in all at least that relates to public affairs; nothing of importance is decided upon without the council of the leading men of the tribe, and captains of villages, who are selected generally from the wealthiest, the wisest, or the bravest of the horde. These men are termed amapagati, i. e. elders or counsellors. In all great questions of peace or war, a public council is held, at which all the warriors attend, and where the leading men deliver their sentiments with great freedom and animation. But on more ordinary occasions, such as disputes between individuals, or the trial of offenders, the Chief, assisted by a certain number of his amapagati, sits as judge, the counsellors forming a species of rude jury. The traditional usages and customs of the nation form their code of laws. Of these African courts of justice, the following account has been given by the intelligent Missionary, Mr. Brownlee, whose notes on the Amakosa Caffers are appended to Mr. Thompson's Travels:- When offences are committed, or disputes oceur, and the matter cannot be settled by the interference of friends, it is brought by the aggrieved party before his chieftain's court. Those concerned are immediately summoned to appear before a public meeting of the tribe or clan. The place where the meetings are convened, is usually the cattle kraal of the horde or village; but if the weather be very warm, they sometimes assemble under the shade of the trees in some neighbouring wood. The parties concerned sit at the entrance of the kraal or place of assembly; the rest take their station in a circle within; but women are not allowed to enter, and only a few of the oldest and most respectable persons speak. When the matter is of great importance, the most profound attention is paid. The speakers rise in succession with the greatest decorum, and make long and animated harangues, until all sides of the subject have ་ a of jury ap and produce their witnesses and proofs.In their public nterrupted, although his speech be continued for hours tos antagonist is all attention: when he rises to reply, every ed is taken up in the exact order in which it was delivered, s if answered at the very moment. Memory is their only -ently put, on many occasions, to the severest test, they selmaterial difficulty in bringing up all the details of the subs of recollection. Their language, on those occasions, is and their manner exceedingly manly and dignified. Even ply to the most simple questions, step forward, throw back and give to their words a full, slow, and clear enunciation." that Major Laing, in describing the judicial cusorth-western Africa, gives an account almost exthe above description furnished by these two Cafis this the only point of resemblance between the -parated tribes. er, theft, adultery, and most other offences between ly punished by a fine fixed by the court; varying, es, from a single cow to the whole property of the cases, or when the offence is committed against inal is sometimes punished with death. wever, of the sa eres are now. eir religious notions, Mr. Kay has not furnished tion. Nothing like a regular system of idolatry we find some traces of a belief in a Supreme Beious usages, which look like the shattered wrecks utions and higher civilization. Among the Ama2, the 'ruler of the stars and the thunder,' is someague sort of awe, under the name of Uhlanga, or issionaries settled among them, the term Utiko Fenote the true God) has generally superseded the ord (Utiko) is derived from the ancient Hottentot he Supreme Spirit, and which is said literally to Among the Bechuana tribes, 'the wielder of the with propitiatory rites, under the title of Moreether as a destructive than a beneficent power.— Mr. Kay found traces of a belief both in a Supreme ior evil spirits, not unlike some of the notions of ning demons and goblins: ese people upon religious subjects, I could not but remark used among the frontier clans for God, is here seldom or pled with the click attached to that word, very considerably being, like many others now embodied in the Caffer lanThe proper names of Deity, used by the Amaponda, are d Umenzi, which signifies "Worker," and which, when used erstood as referring to that Being by whom the great works heavens, the earth, and the sea, &c. Tikaloski also is much 1. rema ippers, and only the bones left to the hungry Shulugn. Besides these faint fragments of religious belief, the Caffer tribes th great strictness certain traditionary customs and usages, which e mentioned, appear to indicate their derivation, at some rem from a people much more advanced in civilization than they ves are now. The rite of circumcision is universally practised m, unaccompanied by any vestige of Islamism. They do not a ard it as an act of religion, but as an indispensable festal cerem ich the youth, on arriving at the age of puberty, are admitte k of manhood. On this occasion the circumcised band of yo nted white, arrayed in a fantastic dress of palm leaves, and are k ce for three months from the rest of the tribe; after which they ly admitted, at a public meeting, to rank with men and warri mony, somewhat analogous, is observed with regard to the y es, on their attaining the age of womanhood. till more remarkable are the funeral rites attending the sepu rchiefs, and the consignment of the dead bodies of all of infer he beasts of prey. The chiefs and their wives are usually inte the hedge of the cattle-fold, and all their arms, accoutrements, ents, are deposited in the grave beside them. These cemete ceforth held sacred; and among some of the tribes persons ted to take charge of them, who subsist on the produce of th ed cattle which are kept in these hallowed folds, and which are ved to die of old age. The abandonment of the dead bodie r classes to the hyenas has an appearance exceedingly savage al; and is attended with circumstances of a very revolting and character. It is evident that this barbarous practice has or eir ancient superstitions, connected with defilement from the nce of the dead. When they think that death is inevitably ap they carry out the sick person into some adjoining wood or eave him to expire alone; for they have an inexpressible dread ear or touching a corpse, and imagine that death brings misfo ving when it occurs in a hut or hamlet. Owing to this sa ition, they are so anxious to get rid of the dying, that it so ens, says Mr. Brownlee, that persons of the privileged class a nterred while yet alive. Cases also occasionally occur whe have been carried out to the woods recover, and return to th but this is very rare. The raiment of the deceased is consi an, and must be destroyed, and the hut which he inhabited rson ever enters it again; it is called 'the house of the dead; even touch the materials of which it is constructed, and they ally to crumble into dust. . Kay remarks, that many circumstances connected with these and also with childbirth, leprosy, &c., bear a striking affinity ining the the Losition] Now in er touches the dead body of a man is unclean for seven days, and is banished 'without the camp,' or kraal, till he be purified. After the death of a chief, all the people are purified on the third day in running water. When death has occurred in a village, all its inhabitants fast, abstaining even from a draught of milk the whole of that day, and sometimes longer. A man who has lost his wife, is required by custom to fast for several days, and to withdraw himself from society for the space of two or three weeks; during which he wanders about in some solitary and desert spot, without either comfort or companions. He not only keeps at a distance from the dwellings of men, but casts away his only garment, which is henceforth accounted unclean. His daily subsistence is derived entirely from a precarious supply of roots or wild fruits, &c. The widow's lot is harder still. On the death of her husband, she, in like manner, retires to the forest or the wilderness, where she is obliged to remain for a much longer period than custom requires of the man. Her means of subsistence are equally precarious; a little water from the brook, and a few bulbous or gramineous roots, generally constitute the whole of her supply of food. After wandering about in solitude for two or three days, she throws away her upper garment, which, as mentioned above, is henceforth deemed impure. She is now, of course, entirely exposed, without covering by day or shelter at night. Having spent a few days more in this state, she cuts and lacerates different parts of her body with sharp stones, until the blood flows in streams. The numerous scars left by wounds made on those occasions have, in several instances, been repeatedly shown to me. The hut in which she dwelt with her deceased husband is then burnt; consequently, she is obliged to erect a new habitation, or be dependant upon her friends for accommodation. When the days of her mourning are over, and the subsequent new moon makes its appearance, a number of cows or oxen, (if the husband had any,) proportioned to the number of wives that he had, are slaughtered, and new garments inade for each from the hides of them. And this appears to be the only portion of his property that is awarded to them by law.'-P. 199–201. But the most mischievous of all their superstitions, is the belief in sorcery. Mr. Kay has given a most frightful picture of its deplorable effects.Almost every disease and misfortune is ascribed to the practice of witchcraft, magicians or wizards are consulted to discover the supposed criminal; incantations are practised till the multitude are wrought up to demoniac fury; and then some unhappy wretch is accused, and subjected to a variety of tortures-such as scorching with hot stones, stinging with blackants, and the like--till a confession of the imaginary crime is extorted. Conviction being thus obtained, the culprit is either condemned to some cruel death, to corporal punishment, or to confiscation of his cattle. Some of the chiefs render this delusion an engine of terrible oppression. When they wish to seize the property of a rich subject, or to destroy any one who has offended them, they bribe the magician or witch-doctor to accuse him of sorcery; and then if he escapes with only the loss of all his property he is fortunate. The scenes of this nature, described by the present writer, are exceedingly revolting, and tend to lower not a little the favourable estimate of the simple happiness of these tribes, as depicted by some former travellers. Mr. Kay, indeed, represents those pleasing accounts as altogether illusory; as well as the flattering delineations, given by Barrow and Lichtenstein, of their pastoral simplicity and innocence of manners. But while he proves clearly enough that these intelligent travellers have considerably underrated the extent of misery and moral evil prevalent in these 'dark places of the earth,' the worthy Missionary, we cannot help thinking, shows, however unconsciously, a strong disposition to exaggerate even the darkness of paganism, and to paint the Ethiopian a shade blacker than the truth. We are led to draw this deduction, partly from a variety of circumstances stated by Mr. Kay himself, and partly from the fact that 'several other late writers, of the highest respectability, with the best opportunities for accurate observation, having concurred in giving a more favourable estimate of the Caffer character. It is, moreover, evident thet Mr. Kay, notwithstanding his residence in Caffraria, is but very slightly acquainted with the language of these tribes; and that almost all his information respecting their manners and customs, except when they fell under his own personal observation, must have been acquired through the precarious medium of native interpreters. The specimens he has given of their very interesting and beautiful language, are, with the exception of a few words and phrases, copied verbatim from the publications of Mr. Pringle and Mr. Thompson. In regard to the progress of Christianity and civilization, the information furnished by Mr. Kay is interesting, though by no means so ample as we should have expected. After adverting to the strange opposition, which, under the most absurd pretexts, was given to the extension of Christian missions in Caffraria, both by the Dutch and English Colonial Governments, up to a very recent period, Mr. Kay gives a pleasing though cursory statement of what has been effected during the last ten or twelve years. Four Societies, the London, the Glasgow, the Wesleyan, and the Moravian, have, within that period, entered, in Christian competition, on this wide and interesting field; and their stations are now planted among most of the principal tribes, from the Cape frontier to the coast of Natal, and from the south-eastern sources of the Orange river to Kurrichane, the chief town of the Murootzi tribe.* 'On every station,' says Mr. Kay, 'the Mission plough is busily engaged, and bids fair for ultimately putting down the field labour of the women altogether.' A variety of fruit-trees are now flourishing luxuriantly in many of the Mission gardens. Potatoes, parsnips, beet root, and other valuable esculents, have been introduced, and in some instances are beginning to be adopted by the native cultivators. Soothsayers, wizards, rain-makers, and sorceresses, are unable to maintain their ground, or sustain their reputation in the vicinity of 'the light that came from heaven.' Schools have been established; and, notwithstanding the difficulties arising from the want of books, numbers are now able to read the gospel in their mother tongue. The difficulties of an unwritten and unorganized language have been mastered; and grammars, dictionaries, and scripture translations, are now printed in the cognate Amakosa and Sichuana dialects. Comparatively few decided converts, indeed, have as yet been gained from among the adult Caffers; but two or three respectable chiefs of secondary rank have entered the pale of the Christian church; and, renouncing polygamy and other pagan customs to which their class are strongly wedded, have exhibited an example, which there is reason to hope will ere long be extensively followed. The author gives an interesting account of a Missionary Meeting, held in the Amakosa territory on the 21st of March, 1832, at which seven native chiefs, together with a number of civil and military officers from the colony, were present. On this occasion all the chiefs spoke with ardour and eloquence in favour of the Christian religion-the 'Great Word,' as they emphatically call it-and expressed their full conviction that the labours of the Missionaries, independently of their spiritual benefits, had tended greatly to promote the peace and prosperity of their country. Their speeches, of which Mr. Kay has inserted a translation, furnished by a brother Missionary, are striking and curious; but we cannot make room for a specimen. (TO BE CONTINUED.) * All the maps of South Africa which we have examined, are extremely defective and inaccurate, in regard to the designations and positions of the Native Trib s, and of the Missionary settlements among them, with the exception of one just published by Mr. J. Arrowsmith: |