KAFFIR TRAITS AND CUSTOMS.
A curious custom prevails among the tribes of South Africa; namely, the so-called making of rain. Each tribe has its rain maker, who pretends, by certain charms, of which he alone holds the secret, to command the clouds to do his bidding.
These rain doctors, as they are termed by the Kaffirs, are looked upon with awe by the ignorant savages. It is believed that rain can be withheld or granted at the will of these men, who pose as magicians, but who are really the worst of impostors.
When a tribe wishes to invoke the aid of one of these rain makers, much ceremony is shown in approaching him. The chief and his bodyguard of warriors proceed in state to the dwelling of the magician, with presents of cattle to secure his favor. After making known their request a feast is held, lasting often for many days. During all this time the rain maker pretends that he is invoking his magic spells.
One of his devices is to gather a few leaves from each variety of tree in a neighboring forest, and simmer them in large pots over an immense fire. He then kills a sheep by pricking it through the heart with a long needle.
As the simmering goes on in the several pots upon the fire, the steam arises from them. This is supposed to ascend to the clouds and render them propitious, so that the desired rain may fall in grateful showers.
In the meantime the whole tribe joins in a dance. This is continued throughout the day at least, and often until after midnight. Songs are often sung in which a chorus of long-continued praise is shouted forth by the superstitious natives.
Often this praise may be premature. The rain maker may fail, and the young and tender corn wither in the drought.
Other charms are then tried. The young men of the tribe form a large circle to encompass the side of a mountain,—the haunt of the klipspringers. Gradually they surround the poor creatures, until several specimens of this antelope have been taken captive. It is believed that the voices of these animals have the power to attract rain.
The cunning, wily rain doctor urges the poor hunted creatures about the kraal, or cattle pen, and by pinching, prodding, and other tortures, induces them to utter their cries. Should his efforts prove unavailing and the drought continue, the impostor, believing flight to be his only protection, seeks refuge in this cowardly way, and some other member of the tribe is selected to serve as rain maker.
Truly, in the eyes of the tribe, the rain maker is an important personage. When members of a tribe visit him to induce him to invoke the aid of the elements, he often exhibits his so-called magic powers for the amusement and to the amazement of his credulous visitors.
When he believes them to be sufficiently awed by his charms, he dismisses them with minute directions as to certain observances to be held, without which his charms will fail. Some of these instructions are of the most trivial nature. On no account are they, like Lot's wife, to look backward, nor must they hold any conversation; they must compel every person they meet to turn back and accompany them home; and there are many other directions equally absurd.
Should rain fall, all credit is given to the wonderful power of the rain maker; should the drought continue, the simple-hearted fanatics blame themselves and say they must have failed to carry out the magician's instructions to the letter.
Of course, much time is spent in all these ceremonies, and, in the natural tide of events, the drought frequently passes, and the rain maker is gratefully regarded as the benefactor of his tribe.
The peculiar and terrific war dance of the Kaffirs is described by an observer as a performance far more astonishing than pleasing, exciting alarm rather than admiration, and displaying in rapid succession the habits and ferocious passions of a savage community.
"Let the reader picture to himself a hundred or more unclad Africans, besmeared and disfigured with copious defilements of red clay, and assuming with frantic gestures all the characteristic vehemence of a furious engagement.
"The dance commenced with a slow movement to a sort of humming noise from the women in the rear, the men stamping and beating time with their feet, until the gradual excitement occasioned a simultaneous spring with corresponding shouts, when the action proceeded to an unnatural frenzy, and was calculated to produce in the mind of a stranger the most appalling sensations.
"The dusky glare of the fire blazing in front of these formidable warriors gave an additional degree of awful effect to this extraordinary scene; and all that I had ever read in poetry or romance fell infinitely short of the realities before me.
"It was indeed a most seasonable relief, amidst the bewildering fancies of the moment, to hear the gratifying sound of 'All's well' from the sentries on the out-posts of the fort, which imparted to the mind a feeling of security and composure that, as may well be conceived, was truly welcome."
The Kaffirs gave the colonial government a great deal of trouble in the early part of the present century. Exasperated at defeat, and hostile after their country had been invaded and devastated by the colonists, these barbaric clans occupied the mountains and forests near by and sent out numerous marauding expeditions. These poured into the colony, determined to have revenge, to recapture the cattle of which they had been robbed, or to satisfy their claims by carrying off those belonging to the colonists.
The colonists depended upon the courageous, sturdy Hottentots, armed with guns, to guard their cattle, and ten or twelve of the boldest of them were selected to act as herdsmen.
The Kaffirs used only clubs and javelins for weapons. They knew from experience that these Hottentot herdsmen were unerring marksmen, and that their own weapons and their mode of warfare could in no wise compete with the trusty firelock in the hands of their opponents.
But the Kaffirs were wily and watched their opportunity. This occurred one day when the Hottentots had driven the colonists' cattle into one of the woodland prairies, and were seated in a group about a hundred feet from the edge of the jungle. Seeing no sign of danger, they began to smoke their pipes, their loaded guns in readiness on the grass beside them. The Kaffirs were watching every movement from the neighboring heights and found this a favorable opportunity to make an attack. With all the stealth of the panther they crept through the thickets, and advanced with the greatest caution till they reached the edge of the copse nearest to the unsuspecting herdsmen. Waiting till their enemies were engaged in conversation and had turned their faces in the opposite direction, they burst out upon them, uttering their hideous war cry.
Throwing a perfect avalanche of javelins as they approached, they closed in upon the bewildered Hottentots, club in hand, and soon overpowered them. A single herdsman escaped by fleeing to the jungle, two of the javelins sticking in his body as he ran. The cattle of the colonists, to the number of a thousand head at least, were captured by the enemy.
This is but one instance where the Kaffirs attacked and overpowered those who had inconsiderately dealt with them, or who had shown them cruel and oppressive treatment. The English nation has only too good reason to remember the Kaffir wars. The Kaffir race has, however, suffered much diminution, and is likely to become, like the red races of North America, less and less. Quite recently, between thirty and forty thousand Kaffirs surrendered themselves to the colonial government at the Cape. These are now largely employed as domestics and laborers.