Barotseland

by D. E. C. Stirke

Amongst the Barozi, monkeys are said to be human beings and the Barozi do not eat them, although some of the subordinate tribes do so. The “Lisikita” (grey owl) is looked on with great dread and only a few educated Barozi will shoot at it. Its presence is said to foretell the speedy death of some member of the village at which it is seen. The “Lisikita” is said to live on human bodies and is often considered to be a “Muloi” i.e., an evil spirit sent by some one to bewitch and kill an enemy. Great faith is put in witch-craft of all sorts. If two men quarrel, one will go to a witch-doctor and pay him an agreed price to bewitch his enemy. The natural vicissitudes of daily life all play into the hands of the witch doctor. A man cutting a bough, may get hurt by the bough falling on him, the axe may slip and cut him, a thorn in the bush may graze him and give him blood-poisoning, he may have a touch of fever, his cattle may die from bad grazing, all and everything is immediately claimed by the witch-doctor as a proof of the potency of his charm. The bewitchment is in some cases, effected by certain herbs being boiled in water and the man’s name being whispered into the steam, in other cases, the doctor climbs a tall tree, faces the direction of the village of the party to be bewitched, and calls the party by name, in other cases some reputedly wondrous herb dropped near the fence or near the hut of the party will do the necessary mischief; in other cases, a wooden dish filled with human urine and excrement and placed inside the party’s fence will effect the evil. Women believe that by rubbing dried hyena dung on a rival wife’s blanket, the rival will become repulsive to the husband and will be driven away to the honour and glory of the other wife. A peculiar and very disgusting method exists but the origin of it is unknown and it is very rarely heard of. It may possibly come from the west from certain wild tribes in the Portuguese Territory. If a man wishes to strengthen himself to bewitch his foes, he cooks porridge. When cooked he takes it into his house and makes his wife strip and lie flat on her back. Each handful that he takes to eat, is rubbed on his wife’s genital organs. Whether this is only done when the foes are relatives of his wife, or against any or all foes is unknown. The Barozi deny all knowledge of this, but a case of it has been heard of in recent years, and as it seems a little too peculiar to be attributed to the imagination of the wife, mention has been made of it.

There is a quaint ceremony attached to the yearly move of the chief from his village to his rainy season dwelling-place. It might almost belong to the chapter devoted to customs, but its similarity to the Old Testament story of the ark, has almost brought it under the heading of religion. It must be explained that the Barozi valley is a huge plain which is inundated during the wet season, from March to May, by the floods from the Zambesi. There is a legend that the first known Barozi chief “Mbōō” (Mwanasilundwe) had warning that there was going to be an abnormal flood. The name of this flood was “Meya-lungwangwa” (the waters are itching). So he built himself a tremendous boat of beams of wood which he laced together with bark and reeds. When completed, he got on to this with his wives, children, animals and servants, and went on until at last he reached the higher forest country where he was safe. The chief, every year at high water goes off to his village at the edge of the valley, in a very large boat, with about sixty people paddling in front of the boat and another sixty in the stern. The boat is called “Nalikwanda” and is always spoken of as a man, and when being prepared for the excursion has a “beard” made of plaited reeds hung on to bow and stem. Over the shelter (“lutanka”) erected in the middle of the boat, is a big figure representing an elephant—the crest of the chief. (The Mokwai of Nalolo and Litia also perform this ceremony, and have a bull and an eland respectively as their crests.) The chief sits in the “lutanka” or shelter and eats there while on the voyage. Fire is carried on a small raised daïs made of clay, and the chief’s war drums are carried on board and beaten strenuously throughout the trip. The paddlers in front, where they can be seen, are always relatives of the chief, those behind are the leading indunas headed by the Prime Minister. If a “relative” swaggers because he paddles under the eyes of the chief, there is always the retort that he paddles where he can be seen, but may not paddle at the back as he can’t be trusted. In old days the induna in charge of the whole crew, had the power to throw out anyone who did not paddle well, and this is kept up to-day, though more as a memento of old times than for any inefficiency, one or two of the paddlers always being thrown overboard into the water, much to the delight of the rest of the crew. The whole trip is the most important ceremony of the year, and the “Nalikwanda” is accompanied by innumerable boats of all sizes filled with men, women and children. All present shriek and yell at the tops of their voices, and the drums are beaten as hard as possible. The resulting noise is better imagined than described. Every few moments a paddler of the Nalikwanda calls out “Ana moyōō” (People of life) and the whole crew roars “Wōō.” This is done twice at a time amid the redoubled yells of the populace. Arrived at their destination, the chief lands amid the acclamations and greetings of his people. The same ceremony is employed for the return journey at the end of the rainy season.

A Traveller on the Zambezi

Photo by J. Walton, Esq.

The Mankoya Chief, Mweni-Mutondo, and Band

Photo by J. Walton, Esq.

The “Ngombo” is a Bambunda form of divination or fortune-telling. It consists of three or four skins of the stink-cat (a species of weasel) which are used as a small mat. The fortune teller sits behind these and holds a tray made of bark over the skins, with forty or fifty models and symbols on it. The models represent a man, a woman, a boat, a drum, a chair, a male child, a female child and a carrier’s load. The symbols are a buck’s hoof (pad) to represent travel, a dried monkey-nut shell to represent a pregnant woman, a star with rays to represent the sun, a quarter circle to represent the moon, a tortoise skull to represent “early” as tortoises are supposed to travel very early, a tiger-fish’s jaw to represent laughter, the dried out shell of a spotted beetle to represent trouble, a broken bone to represent fear, an iron bangle to represent a village and many other symbols too numerous to mention. These all lie in the tray and the fortune-teller, after invoking the aid of various spirits, sprinkles a little red ochre and a little chalk over the tray. The séance is then ready to commence and after payment of a small fee, the enquirer asks any question he may wish answered. The fortune-teller then gives the tray several gentle jerks to mix up all the figures and symbols and after doing this several times, and at the same time invoking the spirits to help him to read clearly and truthfully, he answers the queries put to him. Great faith is put in his answers, although to a sceptical on-looker it might well be thought that by judicious shaking, the various symbols can be arranged more or less as the fortune teller wishes. Directly the male (or female, as the case may be) figure assumes an upright or prominent position, the answer is read from the proximity of the surrounding symbols. The fee is very small, a shilling, or a few beads or a bit of limbo, are each and all sufficient to the “Ngombo” who is very popular, and if the fortune teller is at all lucky in his prophesies, his reputation spreads throughout the country.

There are several forms of witch-craft which have been alluded to previously, but the “tests” for proving a person guilty of witch-craft will now be described. There is the boiling water test, in which, after a large pot of water has been brought to the boil, the accused has to immerse his arm and to pick up the pebbles thrown into the bottom of the pot. His immunity from burn or scald proves his innocence. The most important test is that of “Mwati.” This test is made in two ways according as the matter is serious or not. If the matter is not too serious, the accused person brings a dog or a fowl. These are made to drink the “Mwati” and should they vomit and live after it, the accused is held to be not guilty, but should the dog or fowl die, the accused is found guilty and fined accordingly. In a more serious case, the accused will drink the “Mwati” himself. His innocence is proved by his vomiting and living, but his death proves his guilt and his relatives will then probably have to pay the compensation. These tests are of course prohibited by law, and any one aiding or abetting at an administration of the “Mwati” is liable to several years’ imprisonment. The same penalty is in store for any one who throws the bones to ascertain who may be guilty of witch-craft, and a heavy penalty exists for the person who even makes the bare statement that another is a witch, witch-doctor or a person who employs unnatural means for obtaining his desires. This may seem severe to any one who does not know and realize the immense influence and power any knowledge of the black arts, whether real or pretended, has over an ignorant, uneducated and superstitious native race. But when it is remembered what the part played in the rebellions by superstition was, it is easy to understand that anything appertaining to witch-craft has to be suppressed with a stern and unyielding hand.