[211] Chauncy, in Brough Smyth, op. cit. ii. 278 sq.
Among the For tribe of Central Africa “it is not considered right to rob strangers, but the chiefs wink at this offence, and the stranger runs but a poor chance of obtaining justice.”[212] Of the Mandingoes Caillié observes that, while they do not steal from each other, “their probity with respect to others is very equivocal and in particular towards strangers, who would be very imprudent to shew them any thing that might tempt their cupidity.”[213] When an Eastern Central African is plundered by a companion, he may be heard exclaiming, “If you had stolen from a white man, then I could have understood it, but to steal from a black man——.”[214] Among the Masai the warriors and old men have a profound contempt for a thief, but “cattle-raiding from neighbouring tribes they do not consider stealing.”[215] The Wafiomi[216] and Shilluk[217] regard theft or robbery committed on a stranger as a praiseworthy action, though they never or rarely practise it on members of their own people. The Barea and Kunáma[218] and the inhabitants of Saraë[219] consider it honourable for a man to rob an enemy of his tribe. The Kabyles of Djurdjura, who demand strict mutual honesty from members of the same village, see nothing wrong in stealing from a stranger.[220] Among the Bedouins “travellers passing without proper escort from or introduction to the tribes, may expect to lose their beasts, goods, clothes, and all they possess. There is no kind of shame attached to such acts of rapine…. By desert law, the act of passing through the desert entails forfeiture of goods to whoever can seize them.”[221] Indeed, the Arab is proud of robbing his enemies, and of bringing away by stealth what he could not have taken by open force.[222] The Ossetes “distinguent … le vol commis au préjudice d’une personne étrangère à la famille, et le vol commis au préjudice d’un parent. Le premier, à proprement parler, n’est pas un acte criminel; le second, au contraire, est tenu pour un délit.”[223]
[212] Felkin, ‘Notes on the For Tribe of Central Africa,’ in Proceed. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, xiii. 234.
[213] Caillié, op. cit. i. 353. Cf. Mungo Park, op. cit. p. 239 sq.
[214] Macdonald, Africana, i. 182.
[215] Hinde, op. cit. p. 104. Cf. Johnston, Kilima-njaro Expedition, p. 419.
[216] Baumann, Durch Massailand, p. 179.
[217] Petherick, Travels in Central Africa, ii. 3. Beltrame, Il Fiume Bianco, p. 83.
[218] Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 531.
[219] Ibid. p. 386.