When a child dies but little notice is taken of the circumstance. Among adults, the dying man or woman, when known to be dying, is taken away to die in a ditch. So at least the Rev. Mr. Dugmore says in one of the papers from which I am quoting. When death has occurred the family become unclean and unable to mix in society for a certain period. It used to be the custom to cast the dead body forth to be devoured by beasts, the privilege of burial being only accorded to the Chiefs. But now all are buried under the ground, a hole being dug not far from the hut. The funeral of a Chief is attended with many ceremonies, his arms and ornaments being buried with him. Friends are appointed to watch by the grave,—for longer or lesser periods according to the rank of the deceased. If he have been a great Chief, the period is sometimes a year, during which the watchers may do nothing but watch. These watchers, however, become sacred when the watch is done. Cattle are folded upon the grave which may never after be slaughtered;—nor can anything be done with their increase till the last of the original cattle have died. The grave of the Chief becomes a sanctuary at which an offender may take refuge. The death of the Chief is made known to all other Chiefs around,—who shave their heads and abstain for a time from the use of milk. From all which it may be seen that a Kafir Chief is considered to be a very big person.
Justice is administered by the Chief assisted by Councillors. The Chief, however, is not absolutely bound by the advice of his Councillors. He is compelled to some adhesion to justice or to the national laws by the knowledge that his tribe will dwindle and depart from him if he gives unbearable offence. Cases of gross injustice do occur;—but on the whole the Kafir Chiefs have endeavoured to rule in accordance with Kafir customs. A certain amount of arbitrary caprice the people have been willing to endure;—but they have not been as long-suffering as the Zulus under Dingaan,—nor as the Romans under Nero. Disobedience to a Chief is punished by a fine;—but the crime has been unpopular in the tribes, and though doubtless committed daily under the rose is one of which a Kafir does not wish to have been thought guilty. The very essence of Kafir customs and Kafir life is reverence for the Chief.
I cannot close this short catalogue of Kafir customs without alluding to witch-doctors and rain-makers. Witch-doctoring is employed on two occasions—1st, when a true but of course mistaken desire exists in a kraal or family village to find out who is tormenting the community by making some member or members of it ill,—and, 2nd, when some Chief has a desire to get rid of a political enemy, or more probably to obtain the cattle of a wealthy subject. In either case a priest is called in who with many absurd ceremonies goes about the work of selecting or “smelling out” a victim, whom of course he has in truth selected before the ceremonies are commenced. In the former case, after much howling and beating of drums, he names the unfortunate one, who is immediately pounced upon and tormented almost to death; and at last forced, in his own defence, to own to some kind of witchcraft. His cattle are seized which go to the Chief,—and then after a while he is purified and put upon his legs again, impoverished indeed, and perhaps crippled, but a free man in regard to the Devil which is supposed to have been driven out of him. In the second case the treatment is the same;—only that the man whose wealth is desired, or whose political conduct has been objectionable, does not often recover.
The rain-maker is used only in time of drought, when the Chief sends to him desiring that he will make rain, and presenting him with a head of cattle to assist him in the operation. The profession is a dangerous one, as the Chief is wont to sacrifice the rain-maker himself if the rain is postponed too long. It is the rain-maker’s trade to produce acceptable excuses till the rain shall come in its natural course. It is not expected till the bones of the ox shall have been burned after sacrifice,—which may be about the third day. Then it may be asserted that the beast was not good enough, or unfortunately of an unacceptable colour; and there is some delay while a second beast comes. Then it is alleged that there is manifestly a witch interfering, and the witch-doctoring process takes place. It is bad luck indeed if rain do not come by this time;—but, should it not come soon after the witch-doctor’s victim has gone through his torments, then the rain-maker is supposed to be an impostor, and he is at once drowned by order of the Chief. Mr. Warner, from whose notes this account is taken, says that the professional rain-maker was not often a long lived man.
I did not myself visit the Transkeian territory, but in passing from East London to Durban the small steamer which carried me ran so near the land that I was enabled to see the coast scenery as well as though I were in a rowing boat just off the shore. We could see the Kafirs bathing and the cattle of the Kafirs roaming upon the hills. It is by far the prettiest bit of coast belonging to South Africa. The gates of St. John, as the rocks forming the mouth of the river are called, are peculiarly lovely. When I was there the rebellion had not been commenced, but even then I thought it a pity that English vessels should not be able to run in among that lovely paradise of hills and rocks and waters.
I insert here a table of the population of the Transkeian tribes, giving the estimated numbers of the people and the supposed number of fighting men which each tribe contains. They are all now regarded as Kafirs except the inhabitants of Adam Kok’s Land and the district called the Gatberg, who are people that have migrated from the west.
Estimated Population of the Transkeian Territories.
| Total Population. | Fighting Men. | |
| Fingos | 45,000 | 7,000 |
| Idutywa Reserve | 17,000 | 3,000 |
| Emigrant Tembus | 40,000 | 7,000 |
| Tembus (Tembuland Proper) | 60,000 | 10,000 |
| Gatberg {Bastards, 1,000} {Basutos, 5,000} | 6,000 | 1,000 |
| Griqualand East, or Adam Kok’s Land {including the Bacas} | 40,000 | 7,000 |
| Galekas (Kreli) | 66,000 | 11,000 |
| Bomvanas (Moni) | 15,000 | 2,000 |
| Pondomisi | 12,000 | 2,000 |
| Pondos | 200,000 | 30,000 |
| Total Transkei | 501,000 | 80,000 |
The number of fighting men has been arrived at by taking one-sixth of the total population.
The number here will be seen to amount to 500,000, whereas the Galekas of whom alone we are speaking when we talk of the hostile Kafirs across the Kei are not in this return given as being more than 66,000. It must always be remembered that there has been no census taken of these tribes and that many of these numbers are estimated by little more than guess work. The Fingos and the mixed inhabitants of the district called the Idutywa Reserve are already British subjects. The Tembus are not so nominally; but are for the most part obedient to British magistrates who live among them. The inhabitants of the Gatberg are natives who live there because the place is vacant for them,—also with a British magistrate. They certainly cannot be regarded as an independent tribe. The Griquas of Adam Kok’s Land are bastard Hottentots who have been moved west from one locality to another, and now inhabit a country which used to be called No Man’s Land and which was probably cleared of its old inhabitants by Chaka, the great Zulu king. They are British subjects. Of the Galekas and Bomvanas I have said enough. The Pondomisi are a small tribe of independent Kafirs among whom a British magistrate lives. Then we come to the Pondos, the most numerous tribe of all,—so much so that the reader will be inclined to say that, while the Pondos remain independent, Kafraria cannot become English. But the Pondos are a very much less notorious people than the Galekas,—and constitute a tribe who will probably be willing to annex themselves when the Bomvanas and Galekas are annexed. Their present condition is rather remarkable. The person most dominant among them is one Mrs. Jenkins, the widow of a missionary, who is said to rule them easily, pleasantly, and prudently. Mrs. Jenkins, however, cannot live for ever. But it is thought that the Pondos will of their own accord become British subjects even during the reign of Mrs. Jenkins. The mouth of the St. John’s River is in the country of the Pondos, and it would be greatly to the benefit of South Eastern Africa generally that a harbour for the purposes of commerce should be opened on that portion of the coast.