(3.) THE POOR MAN’S PIPE.
(See [page 166].)

(4.) KAFFIR GENTLEMEN SMOKING.
(See [page 166].)

CHAPTER XVII.
RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION.

IMPERFECT RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF THE KAFFIR — HIS IDEA OF A CREATOR — HOW DEATH CAME INTO THE WORLD — LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS — BELIEF IN THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL — THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD, AND THEIR SUPPOSED INFLUENCE — TCHAKA’s VISION — A KAFFIR SEER AND HIS STORY — PURSUITS OF DEPARTED SPIRITS — THE LIMITS OF THEIR POWER — ANIMALS USED FOR SACRIFICE TO THEM — TEMPORARY TRANSMIGRATION — VARIOUS OMENS, AND MEANS FOR AVERTING THEM — WHY SACRIFICES ARE MADE — A NATIVE’S HISTORY OF A SACRIFICE, AND ITS OBJECTS — THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS — SACRIFICE OF THE BULL, AND THE STRANGE CEREMONIES WHICH ATTEND IT — KAFFIR PROPHETS AND THEIR OFFICES — HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION OF PROPHECY — PROGRESS OF A PROPHET — THE CHANGE — INTERVIEW WITH AN OLD PROPHET — THE PROBATIONARY STAGES OF PROPHECY — A PROPHET’S RETURN TO HIS FAMILY — SCHOOL OF THE PROPHETS — SEARCH FOR THE SPIRITS — THE GREAT SACRIFICE, AND RECEPTION INTO THE COMPANY OF PROPHETS — THE WAND OF OFFICE — DRESS OF A PROPHET.

It is not very easy to say whether a Kaffir possesses any religion at all, in our sense of the word. With superstition he is deeply imbued, and passes his lifetime in considerable dread of witchcraft and of evil spirits. But religion which conveys any sense of moral responsibility, seems to be incomprehensible to the ordinary Kaffir, and even his naturally logical mind inclines him to practical atheism. As far as is known, the Kaffir tribes have a sort of tradition concerning a Creator, whom they call by a compound word that may be translated as the Great-Great, and to whom they attribute the first origin of all things. But it is certain they offer him no worship, and make no prayers to him, and have no idea that they are personally responsible to him for their acts. Moreover many of the tribes do not even possess this imperfect knowledge; and even in those cases where it does exist, its origin is very uncertain, and it is impossible to ascertain whether the tradition may not be a corrupted recollection of instruction received from some European. Such, indeed, has been known to be the case among the Kaffirs, and it is probable that the knowledge of a Creator is really derived from European sources. At all events, such knowledge is by no means universal, and exercises such small influence on the people that it is scarcely worthy of mention.

There are, indeed, one or two legendary stories concerning the Great-Great, relating to the creation of man, and to the duration of human life. The man is supposed to have been created by splitting a reed, from which the first parents of the human race proceeded. This legend is probably due to a double meaning of the word signifying “origin” and “create,” which also signify “reed” and “splitting.” Another form of the tradition deprives the Great-Great of all creatorship, and makes him to be one of the two who issued from the split reed, so that he is rather the great ancestor of the human race than its creator.

The tradition concerning the affliction of death upon the human race is a very curious one, and was related to the missionaries by a native who had been converted to Christianity.

When mankind had increased upon the earth, the Great-Great took counsel with himself, and sent two messengers to them, one the giver of life, the other the herald of death. The first messenger was the chameleon, who was ordered to go and utter the proclamation, “Let not the people die!” The chameleon set off on its mission, but lingered on the road, stopping occasionally to eat by the way, and walking leisurely instead of running. The second messenger was the salamander, who was commanded to proclaim, “Let the people die!” But the latter was the more obedient, and ran the whole of the journey, until he reached the habitation of men, when he proclaimed his message of death. Shortly afterward, the chameleon arrived and delivered his message, when the salamander beat him and drove him away, as having failed in his duty to his Master. Then the people lamented because they had received the message of death before that of life, and from that time men have been subject to the power of death. The consequence is, that both animals are detested by the Kaffirs, who kill the chameleon when they find it, because it lingered on the way, and lost them the gift of immortality. And they are equally sure to kill the salamander, because, when it was charged with such a dread message, it hastened on its journey, and anticipated the chameleon in its message of life. There are many variations of this story, but in its main points it is current throughout many parts of Southern Africa.