Oaths, &c.—The Barozi are very prone to oaths. If a Murozi makes an ordinary every-day statement, he is disbelieved promptly and has to swear to its truth before he is believed. The favourite oath is “Ka niti—It is the very truth.” “Fa” is another form which also means “It is the truth,” but “fa” also means “there” and has probably got its value as an oath in a roundabout way by meaning “yes,” there it is (the truth). The common expression of doubt is “Kauki.” This is a common vulgar expression and means “(If you tell me a lie) may you be broken.” Some of the missionaries hold that this word is very wrong, but it is dubious that it is any worse than the English “Go and be hanged,” or any other vulgar form of disagreement. The Barozi have many of these forms of disbelief, “Lu kupazule” (you be torn), “lukung’a ne wena” (may you be injured), “Sijo so ta ja si ku pazule” (may the food you eat choke you) and many more. This form of oath-taking is called “Ku konka” or “ku kaule” and if carried too far is often a cause of squabbles and quarrels, but if real trouble is wanted in the shape of a fight, swearing (“Kulwaha”) is resorted to. All swearing is done by invoking the private portions of the opponents’ relatives, thus “Malete l’aho” (the testicles of your father), “Maboya maho” (the hair on your mother’s thighs), and many other filthy suggestions, all enough to cause trouble. A man to swear at his wife or the wife at her husband is held to be quite sufficient grounds for divorce.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The father of Lobengula.
[2] With Sechuana prefixes, if Ba-rotse means the Rotse people, Bo-rotse = the Rotse country, Se-rotse the Rotse language, and Mo-rotse a Rotse man.
[3] See for a description of the Giant Sable and its habitat, and also an account of ‘South African’ elements in the Angolan Fauna, an article by Mr. Gilbert Blaine in the Part II Proceedings of the Zoological Society for June, 1922.
[4] As already mentioned, the ‘Bo-’ prefix before the root -rotse means the country.
[5] I do not here agree with the author. The first Bechuana invaders or visitors about the year 1800 were from the Ba-hurutse tribe of the Bechuana stock. Their name became shortened into “Barotse.”—H. H. J.
[6] The author spells this “Khotla.” But in the original Sesuto word it is “Kotla.”—H. H. J.
Genealogical Descent of Royal Family.