WALK THROUGH SESHEKE.
Except they have been declared free by the sovereign, members of all the subject tribes, except the Marutse and Mabundas, are regarded as slaves, but even the Marutse, although exempt from vassal-service, may be condemned to it for any misdemeanour, or by falling into disgrace with the king. The children of any vassal who may have married a Marutse wife are also regarded as vassals, and bound to perform the same service as their father. The price of a slave in Sesheke is a boat, or a cow, or a couple of pieces of calico; in the western part of the kingdom it is much lower, and in the north, in the upper Kashteja, a slave may be purchased for a few strings of beads. There are no public slave-markets, but slaves may be bought in any of the villages. The Mambari, who are the chief buyers and vendors, set the negroes the vilest of examples. With their prayer-books in their hand, they endeavour to represent themselves as Christians to any one who can read or write, but they are utterly unworthy of the name they pretend to bear, and so far from advancing in any way the civilization of the superstitious tribes on the Zambesi, they only minister to their deeper degradation.
Unless a man is an absolute vassal in the strictest sense, he may, with his master’s permission, have several wives, and free women who have not been given away or sold as slaves are allowed to choose what husbands they please. The preference given to female rulers causes the weaker sex to be treated with far more consideration than they receive amongst the Bechuana and Zulu races, where they are reckoned as servants, not to speak of the Masarwas, who treat their women as mere beasts of burden.
On the 10th we received the melancholy news that Bauren, Westbeech’s assistant, had died of fever at Panda ma Tenka.
The next day, Kapella, the commander-in-chief, came to our quarters with a message from the king to say that he was sending six boats to convey Westbeech’s ivory to Impalera. Westbeech sent word back that he required double that number of boats, and moreover that he was not ready to start for a day or two; but I took the opportunity of packing up my own baggage and departing, relying on the promise given me by Westbeech that he would follow me in three days. We did not doubt that the extra boats would be duly sent, and I only carried the provisions that were requisite to supply my wants for the time; I little dreamed that Sepopo would be five weeks before he provided the additional boats, and the consequence was that I was exposed to the severest privation that I had experienced throughout my journey.
I propose devoting the following chapter to a description of the manners and customs of the various tribes in the empire at large, but before bringing my account of Sesheke to a close, I may be allowed to mention some of the chief characteristics of the more important tribes that reside in Marutse-land proper.
For courage and bravery none of the Marutse-Mabunda tribes can compete with the Zulus and Amaswazies of the south; but leaving the Matabele colony in the Barotse out of the reckoning, the Mamboë and Masupias may in this respect be considered to bear the palm. The Masupia elephant-hunters exhibit great fearlessness in all encounters with wild beasts, though even they are surpassed by the Mamboë in their adroitness in killing hippopotamuses and crocodiles. Both Mamboë and Mabundas are well qualified for hard labour and for employment as bearers, the former being probably the finest and most muscular men in the whole empire. The Manansas have the reputation of being somewhat cowardly, but I found them very good and trustworthy servants. With all native races, pride goes very much hand-in-hand with courage, and consequently while it is highly developed amongst the Matabele, it is at a very low ebb amongst the Marutse-Mabundas; and notwithstanding that the Marutse make the other tribes feel that they are a dominant race, they exhibit nothing of the arrogance of conscious power that characterizes the Zulus. Even the Matabele settled in the Barotse have been influenced by their peaceful surroundings, and have exhibited something of the qualities of tamed lions; and altogether the relations between master and servant in the districts about the Zambesi are much more friendly than amongst the tribes to the south.
The Mamboë, and all the more northerly tribes that seldom come to court, are particularly unassuming in their demeanour; and although the natives of the Chobe district, the Batokas and Matongas on the Zambesi, as well as the Marutse, can be very overbearing with white men, the blame is more often than not to be attributed to the white men themselves. But haughtiness of this kind can scarcely be called pride, and I observed that a little firmness and severity rarely failed to bring the offenders to reason, and to check their disposition to be insolent.
The blindness of the obedience which is ordinarily rendered to rulers is exemplified by the fidelity of the people to Sepopo; but I am obliged to record that a corresponding faithfulness does not extend itself to conjugal life. Although I am prepared to allow that marriage in many instances may be the result of mutual affection, I am convinced that marriage-vows are very rarely considered binding, as the mulekow system too plainly testifies. This odious regulation is like a plague-spot amongst the people; it not only destroys anything like conjugal felicity, but has the most demoralizing effect upon the rising generation, as bringing them up with the idea that affection has nothing to do with married life. Though originally confined to the western and south-western tribes, it has now generally spread all over the kingdom.