Elder Steigerwald reproved them for waiting so long, and took hold of the case, hoping still to save him. After looking to the Lord for guidance, he managed to get the bleeding stopped, but to see that everything was properly carried out one of us remained for a time at the kraal. When he was thought to be out of danger he was left with his people, with strict injunctions to do just as they were told. When the patient was next visited it was found that the people had again brought out their charms and put them about his head, and it was necessary to frighten them thoroughly before they would follow instructions.
Parents are always very anxious to have their children at home if they become sick. This may partly be owing to natural solicitation on the part of the parents, for they love their children as well as white parents do, but it is also due to the fact that they cannot use their divinations properly except at home. Then, too, if they die, they are always anxious that their people die at home. In this way we often had great difficulty in keeping at the mission some who were sick and needed care.
One of our boys was very sick and we had been unable to help him, and both he and ourselves were looking to the Lord in his behalf. He was a good Christian and perfectly conscious all the time, and quite ready and willing to die if such was the Lord's will. His parents lived near and had been trying to take him home, but he did not wish to go; and we too thought it best for him to remain under our care. When he became very low, it was necessary to inform his parents. The father, who was a very violent and wrathy man, was determined to take the boy home, but we felt sure that a move at that time would be fatal, and told the father so.
He replied, "I'll take him home if he dies on the way. I'll not have it said that my child died and was buried away from home." And it was with great difficulty that he could be prevailed upon to let the boy remain.
The Lord heard our prayer in his behalf and he recovered.
From what has been written it may readily be seen that the African believes in the immortality of the soul; that the souls of the departed take cognizance of what is done on the earth by the survivors; and that they have power over those who dwell on the earth to help, harm, or intercede in their behalf. They also believe in transmigration of souls, that the spirit of the departed often enters a snake, bird, lion, rhinoceros, or other animals, each of these tribes having its own especial animal. This does not necessarily imply that the soul remains in these forms. Frequently they speak of the animals as only a medium through which the spirit appears to its friends.
The Matabele revere the snake and will not kill it. The first year of the mission a long snake entered one of the huts, that was in process of erection, and climbed up near the roof. I told one of the boys to knock it down and kill it. He recoiled from the idea and refused. Thinking he was afraid I took a hoe, knocked it down and killed it. When other natives came to the mission the incident was related to them by the boys and they expressed great surprise. I rather supposed that they were surprised at my prowess, until one woman who knew me better than the others exclaimed, "Were you not afraid to kill it? Perhaps it was one of your friends." I then found out that the snake was an object of reverence.
Matshuba said that when his father was ill a snake entered his hut and he exclaimed, "That looks like a child of mine, it is so pretty. It is your brother, Matshuba."
"Is that the reason," we inquired, "why so many people are afraid to kill snakes?"
"Yes," he replied, "they think their friends come to visit them in this form."
Again, once while out kraal-visiting we were speaking to some people who were working in their garden. Some one came from their kraal with a message of some kind, and soon all was commotion and hurry.
I inquired, "What is the matter? Where are you going?"
They answered, "Two snakes have entered our hut and we must go and see them."
"Will you kill them?"
"No, they are probably some of our friends, who have come to visit us,"
was the reply.
The people were also accustomed to use a goat in their worship and then drive it away on the veldt. I know very little of this ceremony, except that when it was told to me, I was forcibly reminded of the "scapegoat"
of the Israelites. Each family also has a sacred ox or cow among the herd. They do not worship images, and are surprised to find that there are people on earth who do. Two of the boys in reading their Bibles one day learned for the first time that some people worship images made by men's hand, and they were as much surprised as any white child could have been.
"Do they answer their prayers?" inquired they. "Can they talk, or do they know anything? Is it something like we make cattle out of mud to play with?"
We are accustomed to despise people who worship animals, and it is certainly not very elevating; but they are God's handiwork, and are they not superior to many of the hideous images of idolatrous nations? When these people do worship, the object of their reverence is not the animal, but the souls of their people who they think enter the animals.
Spiritualism is a legitimate product of their beliefs. I can best illustrate this feature of their worship by giving an instance which came to our notice in the year 1900. It was a religious dance. The chief actors had come from a distance and the worship was in honor of one of their dead relatives, the aim being to bring back the soul and hold conference with it through one who acted as medium.
We felt to avail ourselves of this opportunity of seeing something of their worship, that we might have a better understanding of the same.
The mother of Kelenki, one of our converts, participated and she, heathenlike, was anxious to have her boy take part, but he of course refused, as he had always done when urged to join with them. It was only about two miles from the mission, so Brother and Sister Lehman and myself went over for a short time. We entered the village at about 3 P.
M. and found about one hundred people assembled. They had just been drinking beer and were feeling quite good. As many of them knew us, they greeted us quite pleasantly, nothing loath to see us on this occasion, provided we did not interfere in their worship.
One of the most noticeable features at first was the evident attempt at ornamentation on the part of the women, especially the older women who were to take active part in the proceedings. We might add that only the older people took part in this dance, and that the ornamentation of the body is always a noticeable feature of their worship. Their dress, or rather undress, consisted of a short skirt of dirty, greasy leather, covered with a heavy embroidery of bright-colored beads. The rest of the body was ornamented with beads and heavy brass rings, neck, waist, arms, and ankles being heavily laden. The headdress consisted of a broad band of beads artistically put together.
Our attention was soon drawn to three women seated on the ground before one of the huts, each with a large drum made from a hollowed log, over one end of which was a skin tightly drawn. On this drum they were beating with their hands and accompanying the sound with low, plaintive singing. Presently a man, who proved to be the leader, or medium, stepped out, beating at the same time on a drum made of a broad wooden hoop, over which was stretched a piece of skin. He was a tall, athletic-looking fellow, clothed in a short skirt similar to that worn by the women. He had many yards of blue cloth wrapped about his body and a yellow scarf thrown over one shoulder. The drum which was beaten with a stick produced a sharp ringing sound, and he danced with a peculiar backward step, keeping time to the beating of his drum, and sang, calling upon the shades. To this the women, beating the drums or tomtoms, would respond. A number of other men with similar drums joined him in the dance, and the air was filled with their melody.
This was continued for some time, when all suddenly ceased and disappeared within a hut and continued their dance within. We were invited to enter, and after creeping through the low doorway we found ourselves in a hut about eighteen feet in diameter, with a somewhat higher roof than is to be found in many native huts. The performance was similar to that on the outside, except that others joined in the dance, but all danced alone. The actions and contortions of the body became more and more rapid and violent, and there was also leaping and jumping, the heat and violent exertion of the body causing the perspiration to flow freely.
The medium finally worked himself up into sort of a frenzy and announced that a spirit had entered the door. With this he pretended to enter into conversation, but as he spoke in the Shuna language we did not understand him. The dancers all finally rushed out on the rocks and the leader fell down exhausted. After their return the same motions were continued, but a new feature was added by women entering, having native-made bells tied to their ankles, and these added to the general din. The motions of all were more or less similar, and even when the actions and contortions of the body were the most violent, they were somewhat rhythmical. The noise was deafening in the extreme, and would have surely waked the dead were such a thing possible. In addition to a dozen drums and the bells, there were yelling, whistling, and singing. A huge battle-axe was handed around from one to another, and part of the time was dangling on the neck of the leader. Sad as one felt at the delusion under which they labored, he could not but be impressed by their evident earnestness, and only wished it might be expended in a better cause.
They did not forget our presence, and no doubt we did interfere with the freedom of their actions. The medium came toward us several times, beating his drum. Thinking he might be annoyed at our presence we spoke to the headman, but he hastened to assure us that we were welcome to remain. In fact, he as well as many others in the kraal, seemed to be spectators rather than participants in the worship.
They finally became quiet and the medium again claimed to converse with the departed, and this time one of our boys interpreted. Of course both questions and answers were given by the medium. Among other things he said: "I see a spirit enter the door. It says, 'Who are these white people? Are they the people who killed the Matabele?' No, they are missionaries and like the black people." It seemed evident that not only the spirit but some of the strangers present were somewhat afraid and needed assurance that we were harmless.
We returned home sad at heart for their heathendom. We were informed that this worship continued until late in the night and two days following. There was much beer drinking and immorality, so that even some of the heathen in the kraal were thoroughly disgusted.
The Matabele do not use drums in their religious dance like the Mashona.
Once when we were out kraal visiting we happened to come upon some of these worshiping at Fusi's kraal. We stopped only a few minutes to see what they were doing, and were greatly shocked by the hideousness of their looks and actions. The very stamp of the bottomless pit seemed impressed upon their features.
Heathen worship, heathen dances, and hideous rites are becoming less and less in the vicinity of the mission, for the natives are fast losing faith in their old religion. The missionaries need a great deal of patience, forbearance, and firmness in dealing with the perplexing problems in reference to the natives' beliefs, but in the end God's cause is sure to win.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Some of the Customs
Custom is so interwoven with and dependent upon religion that it is almost impossible to dissociate the two, so there is a difference of opinion as to what constitutes custom and what religion. Whatever the natives believe or practice has in their estimation been given them by their god, even to the ornaments of their bodies. As Rev. W. Chapman says, "The most satisfactory way of changing native customs is by changing his religion." On the other hand, take away the native's religion and the restraints which often accompany it, and place him in a modern city, with its so-called modern civilization, without the restraining influences of the Christian religion, and a monstrosity of evil is often the result.
From infancy this inexorable law, custom, assails him. He must not step aside from the laws of his ancestors or he will suffer the consequences.
If twins are born, they must be put to death. If a child cuts his upper front teeth first instead of the lower, again death is the penalty. Not because the mother does not love her child. It is just as dear to her as the child of Christian parents is to them, and generally no amount of money will induce her to part with it, but this infant is departing from the customs followed by its ancestors, and if its precocity leads it thus early to change the customs, what will it not do as it becomes older? It is a monstrosity and must be dealt with accordingly.
If the child is a girl, it may at any time after birth be betrothed or sold to a man for his wife, and a part or all of the pay be given to the parents to bind the contract. This intended husband may be already middle-aged or old, with several wives. That is to his credit, because it frequently means that he is rich or a man of importance in the community. An old, gray-haired man living near the mission had nine wives when we arrived on the scene, some of whom were just young girls.
However, one frequently meets with heathen natives who have only one wife.
The would-be bridegroom sends some one to the father or guardian of the girl to ask for her hand in marriage. He consults his relatives in reference to the matter, but even if they disagree, he may give his consent, for he alone receives the pay. This may be in the form of cattle, sheep, or goats, or even money in later years, and the amount of pay the man can or is willing to give had much to do with the father's consent. Of course the girl has no say in the affair, and may not, until she is older, know who her intended husband is. If she is small, he waits until she is about grown before the actual marriage takes place, but in the meantime she is looked upon as his prospective wife and is often thoroughly demoralized before marriage.
Before the missionaries or Europeans came to the country, it is doubtful whether the girl rebelled much as to what disposition was made of her, for one choice was about the same as another, only so that she might become a married woman. In their eyes it was almost a disgrace to be unmarried after they had reached the proper age.
It is said that when the time came for her to be married she would say, "I am grown and want to marry." At first her people refuse, but finally they give her a hoe and showing her a piece of raw veldt say, "Show how you can dig, so that we may see whether you have strength to perform the work of a wife." She takes the hoe and shows her strength by vigorous work; for is she not to take the place of oxen or donkeys for her husband and plow and sow his gardens? This is no exaggeration, for more than one native has been heard to exclaim, "These are my oxen," pointing to his wives, the chief difference being that whereas the oxen get some time to rest and eat, the wife gets little, as she must grind and prepare the food in the interim of digging.
When the day set for the wedding arrives, a number of girls of about her own age are called and they have a feast, often of goat, after which they accompany the bride to the home of the bridegroom, an old woman, carrying a knife, leading the way. Here they are assigned their places and various ceremonies. The wedding lasts several days and ends in a feast, and very often much immorality is connected with it. During a certain stage of the ceremony the bride runs and hides, not again making her appearance until she is found by the others.
So-called marriages sometimes take place without any pay being given for the wife, but in such instances the children do not belong to or are not under the control of their parents; they belong to the father or guardian of the wife, as she has not been paid for. It may thus be seen that the giving of pay is not an unmitigated evil, as it leaves the children in the hands of their natural guardians, the parents. With the wife the pay is merely changing her from the ownership of her father to that of her husband, and if she should leave her husband, the pay or part of it must be returned to him.
It frequently happens that a man takes a wife according to native marriage without paying for her, and afterwards, if he desires to retain her or her children, he pays the father for her. A native in the vicinity of Matopo had, in this manner, taken five wives, at various times, without paying for any of them. When some of his children became of an age that his wives' parents desired to take them, he took steps to secure them by paying for his wives. One, however, whom he did not like, he drove away without paying for her. These things show that the marriage vow is exceedingly loose and leads to much immorality. Several years after we came to Matopo Hills a law was passed by the British Government, allowing the girls some freedom of choice in regard to the marriage question, and it is now possible for Christian girls to choose Christian husbands.
A man will have a hut for himself and one for each of his wives, and the more wives he has, the greater his importance in the community. I think that it is safe to say that an old heathen's ambition is to have many wives, each with her hut, about him, many sons, who too, with their wives, add to the number of huts, and many daughters, that he may sell them for cattle or sheep and thus increase his flocks and herds. He also likes to have nephews, younger brothers, and other relatives with their wives come to him and swell the number of huts. This makes a large number of huts, large herds, and he becomes an important headman; or if his followers increase sufficiently he may become a chief. These huts, built near together and often enclosed with a fence, are what constitute a kraal. This is a Dutch word and applies only to native villages, but there may be only three or four huts and it still be called a kraal.
Their huts are built of poles and mud, much as described in the making of our own, except that the huts of the raw natives are much lower, without windows and with a doorway only about three feet in height.
Sometimes no poles are used in the construction of the walls, but they are moulded of earth from the bottom up and are well made. The floor is made of ant-hill earth, well pounded. This is then covered with a thin coat of black earth and polished with stones until it looks not unlike a nicely-polished wooden floor. The Matabele build much better huts than some of the subject tribes; these latter are good farmers, but often have most miserable-looking huts.
[Illustration: Matabele Kraal near Matopo Mission.]
There is no furniture proper in the huts. The bed consists of a mat or hide spread on the floor at night. During the day this, together with the blankets, is rolled up and tied to the roof of the hut. The pillow is made from a block of wood, and there are no chairs, a small mat answering for this purpose. They have earthen pots for cooking and brewing beer and for various purposes. They have many kinds of nicely-woven baskets, and gourds for carrying and dipping water as well as for drinking vessels. There are also the necessary stamping block and a large flat stone on which the grain is ground. The wash basin is the mouth. The mouth is filled with water, which is allowed to run in a thin stream on the hands until they are washed, and then the hands are filled in the same way to wash the face. I was greatly interested once in the operation of bathing twins. This mother had sufficient light to keep her from killing her babies because there were two of them. She spread a blanket on a large rock in the sun. Then she took a gourd of water and filled her mouth. (It is surprising how much water they can hold in the mouth; practice aids greatly in this, no doubt.) She kept the water in her mouth a short time to take off the chill, then picked up one child, held it out and, with a thin stream of water pouring from her mouth, washed the entire body of the child thoroughly. After this ablution she laid it on the blanket in the sun to dry. She again filled her mouth and taking the other baby repeated the process and also placed it on the blanket. The children were evidently accustomed to such baths; for they took it all quietly, and perhaps enjoyed it as much as a white child in a bath tub of warm water.
Polygamy is not necessarily opposed among some of the heathen women.