“You must not eat eggs, or your child will have no hair.”
“You must not eat the flesh of monkeys, or the child will have no more sense than a monkey.”
“You must not eat what is left over in the cooking-pot from the day before, or the baby will be ill.”
“If you go to the garden or the well, and anyone salutes you, you must not thank him or answer him in any way, for then the birth of the child will be long delayed.”
The conclusion of the whole lecture which, in contrast to the system pursued in our Universities, is simultaneously delivered by many teachers to one unhappy student, is the very urgent and serious warning to have nothing to do with any other man than her husband, or she will infallibly die. On the other hand, if her husband were to forget himself and go after another woman, she would have a miscarriage, resulting in her death. She must, therefore, be very good to him and cook his porridge as he likes it.
This is the last word. With the peculiar gait of the native woman, which has an inimitable twist in it, not to be described in words, the dispensers of wise counsel hasten, as fast as their dignity will allow, across the open space and join the rest of the throng, “Lu-lu-lu-lu-lu-lu,”—the shrill vibrations again agitate the air, the drums, beaten by the men’s strong hands, strike up afresh, a mighty cloud of dust rises and veils the whole scene, everything is in motion and full of genuine African mirth, all unconscious of life’s daily miseries. One alone sits by in silence, the young woman herself who, according to the instructions just received, is entirely interdicted from taking any part in the festivity. Her brown eyes—which would deserve to be called beautiful were their effect not marred by the white being interspersed with yellowish-brown specks—are fixed musingly on one point. Is she thinking of the dark hour she will have to encounter in a few months’ time? The Scripture, “In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children,” is true for the black race also. But, personally, I do not think that the young thing is looking so far ahead; it is not in any case natural for youth to do so, and African youth, in particular, sees no occasion to be anxious about the future. The race is truly happy, in the enviable facility with which it lives for to-day, leaving to-morrow’s cares entire and untouched for to-morrow.
Note.—The system of kinship among the Yaos and neighbouring tribes has not been so entirely overlooked by inquirers as Dr. Weule supposes. The subject has been investigated by Archdeacon Johnson, the late Bishop Maples, and the Rev. H. B. Barnes among others, though, unfortunately, many of their notes are buried in little-known periodicals. Some valuable information is also to be found in Mr. R. Sutherland Rattray’s Some Folk-lore, Songs and Stories in Chinyanja. We think Dr. Weule is mistaken in distinguishing the “larger groups” of the Yao tribe from the ngosyo: they are probably identical with the latter in origin: e.g., the Machinga would be the descendants of a single (female) ancestor, who in the course of generations became numerous and powerful, and perhaps increased their consequence by incorporating weaker clans who placed themselves under their protection and adopted their name. But there is a second system of descent, which may be what Dr. Weule is referring to. This is called by the Anyanja chilawa, and descends through the father; marriage within it is prohibited. “A man may not marry any woman who is of his kamu (Yao, lukosyo) or of his chilawa. Thus the daughters of his mother’s sisters are excluded because they are of the same kamu, and daughters of his father’s brothers are excluded because they are of the same chilawa; but the daughters of his mother’s brothers or of his father’s sisters are eligible, because they are neither of the same kamu nor of the same chilawa” (Rev. H. B. Barnes). This tallies with the information given to Dr. Weule about the Makonde marriage laws (p. [314]). Mr. Barnes doubts whether the clan names explained to Dr. Weule are really connected with totems, and thinks the customs they refer to are “perhaps more likely to be traceable to individual peculiarities of some ancestor than to any religious totemistic restriction,” and that the chilawa names, whose significance appears to be lost, are the real totem names. But the subject is too wide to be discussed in a note. [Tr.]
CHAPTER XV
LAST DAYS AT NEWALA
Newala, October 10, 1906.
“Morgen muss ich fort von hier