CHAPTER LVIII.

KAFFIR HABITS AND CUSTOMS.

66 HURTFUL CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS STRANGE AND SULLEN.”

"Each circle and section, each rank and class, has its respective customs and observances, to which conformity is required at the risk of being tabooed."— Samuel Smiles.

THE smattering of religious knowledge which the Kaffir has picked up, tends to foster his hereditary superstitions, of which the chief are, the belief in taghartis (ghosts), in witch-doctors, and rain-makers, and in "smelling out" witchcraft. A few illustrations may serve to show the bent of Kaffir superstition. About the time of the Langalibalele disturbance there was an eclipse of the sun. The Kaffirs rushed to the stores to put up the shutters, thinking that the end of the world had come, so that when the solar disc was again unobscured, half Durban was closed to business. I was unable to divine their object and their idea in doing thus, saving that they probably considered, that all being at an end, the proper and sensible thing to do was to shut up shop. There is a quite irresistible element of humour about the whole affair. However, the Protector of Immigrants made capital out of the eclipse by persuading the natives that the Queen had signified her displeasure, and that she had put her hand across the sun to denote to the natives that she was angry. Another time when more troops were being asked for in the papers, as troubles were apprehended, a man-of-war suddenly made its appearance at the Point. The Kaffirs fancy that England has ships of war full of soldiers all over the sea, and the news spread like wildfire that troops had arrived in thousands. determine our safety in Natal.

Little things such as these Twenty-five thousand whites to

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five hundred thousand blacks! Large odds! It must be admitted that in the Kaffirs' superstition our strength lies.

The Kaffirs are smart fellows, and pick up superficial knowledge quickly, which fact however has this disadvantage, that it unfits them for service. I believe their future is hopeful, but at present they seem to be unable to turn the knowledge which they may acquire to any rational purpose. This is in no wise surprising, for they spend years and years in perfecting the most trivial appliances, such as making a spiral column out of a cow's horn. This is an index to their almost Hibernian stupidity. May I further illustrate their opacity by a few anecdotes?

An up-country traveller, who was very fond of sago, took fifty pounds of his favourite food with him on his expedition. He gave it to one of his "boys" to prepare for him, previously enquiring of him if he knew how to cook it, to which he received an affirmative reply. The Kaffir boiled it in an earthen pot, and served it up as a piece of hard glue, which neither white man nor black man, dog nor fowl could eat.

Another Kaffir being at a loss as to how to polish a pair of patent-leather boots, conceived the brilliant expedient of boiling them in a saucepan. Tableau! Again a raw Kaffir was engaged by a squatter up-country. He gave him a packet containing some powdered soup, and naturally thought that when he had told him the quantity of water necessary to be added, he had discharged his part of the duty. What must have been his surprise when the Kaffir, totally ignorant of the proper use of the appliances of civilisation, made his appearance at the dining-table carrying the soup in a Wellington boot. It took some time to initiate this Kaffir into the uses of the various culinary appliances with which the colonist had provided himself, and it was very long before he could be persuaded to desist from the habit of putting the kettle on the tea table.

The vanity of the Kaffirs is another marked characteristic. They become inordinately disgusted with their personal appearance, particularly with the darkness of their complexions. These self-conscious fellows frequently powder themselves, especially before going to church.

Moreover, they are capable of looking after their own interests and the interests of their friends. The British workman has often been held up to ridicule on the score of his tendency to create work for his compeers, varying his repairing operations by breaking en route so as "to give other trades a chance". There would appear to be a sort of compact between all English artisans upon these lines. Thus you send a plumber on to your roof to look at your cistern, and you will find to your cost that he has succeeded in breaking a dozen slates for the benefit of the slater. Corrugated iron is generally used for roofing purposes in Natal, but when slates are employed, the niggers will smash twenty if they be sent to replace one.

The Kaffir is thus seen to be by no means a guileless or harmless being. When he is sober he is trouble enough, but when he is over-stimulated, he is far more pother. The native police in the towns hunt all the Kaffirs in at 9 o'clock; in fact, the old institution of the Curfew is resuscitated in Natal. Some few escape and get drunk on rum in quiet corners, and issue forth to make the night hideous with their screams. Occasionally they drink themselves to death, that is to say when the spirit moves them to extremities of over-indulgence. Various laws obtain in the different portions of South Africa as to the right of the native to purchase liquor. Some of these laws are very severe, and some are very lax. None are sufficiently stringent, nor are any so strenuously enforced as they should be. If we are really sincere in our professed wish to save the natives from self-destruction, we should take measures to prevent them from drinking alcohol at all. Any chance file of colonial newspapers will amply attest the truth of my contention, that whisky, brandy, and rum are not only deteriorating, but ruining and destroying the natives.

It must be allowed, however, that they are a laughing, happy, jovial, merry race-free from care, and brimful of fun and good-nature. Until they are spoiled, they have little vice about them. They have no idea, however, of performing the slightest office without being paid for it. When Sir Garnet Wolseley's ox-waggon got stuck in the road, he called to some Kaffirs to assist him out. "Give me ten pounds," said

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the Kaffir. Sir Garnet wished to thrash him, but Mr. (now Sir Theophilus) Shepstone told him he would be fined if he did so. Again, a little girl was being drowned in the deep sluice at Maritzburg. Her sister who was with her was powerless to assist her. She besought a Kaffir to do so. Said the Kaffir, "Show me first your penny". The little girl replied, "If you please, I have not any". The child was drowned, the Kaffir looking on apathetically, haggling about his guerdon, when he might have stepped into the ditch and rescued the child with little or no trouble. Instances of this kind might be multiplied.

The Kaffirs who have been to the Diamond Fields are abominably impudent and disloyal. I have heard some strange expressions of opinion from them. One of these bravos assured me that "English soldiers liked plenty of money, plenty of food, and plenty of drink, but not like plenty of fight".

Kaffirs have some strange habits. If the gentle reader will follow me in spirit into a Kaffir hut-a wicker dwelling of semi-spherical shape-about 15 feet in diameter, I may hope, perhaps, to make him acquainted with the peculiarities of their manner of living. A well-to-do Kaffir will generally have a box full of clothes in his hut. These clothes are, more often than not, discarded uniforms-military, naval, constabulary, and all kinds of official garments, the more showy and loud the apparel may be the better they like it. The floor, which is simply hardened earth, is bestrewn with a few mats made of skins, Kaffir pillows, mouchas (kilts), assegais, the horns and hides of animals, and shields. All these are scattered around, while attached to the sides of the dwelling, you may expect to see pipes and the various ornamental appendages of the Kaffir toilet, and perhaps a few "highly coloured" prints, and other vulgar-so-called works of art-oleographs; a very appropriate place for both the one and the other. It is a pity the Kaffirs cannot take all these libels on true art; or rather all over and above those required in England by poor cottagers, and other uninitiated persons. As to aforesaid ornaments, they comprise an assortment of bangles for the arms and anklets. Some of these are of native manufacture, made of woven grass, but the greater portion are of Brummagen make,

wrought in brass and in white metal. Then there are numerous snuff-boxes, which are worn in interstices cut in the lobe of the ear. Some of these are of their own production, and are formed out of small gourds, others are made of brass, and are from the aforesaid town which worships Joe Chamberlain. Bracelets made of beads, and finger-rings, are also very dear possessions to the Kaffir breast. No hut is complete without a box of Kaffir scent (a peculiar black compound like unto the compressed dates one sees temptingly displayed in the windows of small general shops in London). It is produced from odorous roots and compressed flowers, and is a powerful perfume resembling the hateful Patchouli. Their kilts are made of hides and the tails of animals, and in their construction, no less than in the manufacture and ornamentation of their pillows and shields, they display not only skill, but also some rude artistic ability. The most elementary pillow is merely a tripod constructed from the forked and pronged limb of a tree, others are more elaborately finished, and there is some attempt at carved embellishment. Their shields too are somewhat curious. They are not made of wicker-work like those of the ancient Britons, although the Kaffirs are very proficient in the art of working in wicker, and in basket making. Their shields, however, are cut out of cow-hide, they are elliptical in shape and about 2ft. 9in. long, and 15in. wide, and a piece of wood is passed in and out certain slit-like apertures in the shield, and thus forms a handle. About a dozen incisions are made in the centre of the shield, through which hide of another colour is obtruded.

The really well-to-do Kaffir may include a rum-bottle and a Bible in his inventory of household effects, and some Kaffirs even "go in" for copies of Shakespeare and Milton. Singing, dancing, and various games, sleeping, eating, and talking, alternated by a little desultory work, occupy their whole time when living in their kraals. When they sleep they rest their heads on their hard pillows, and wrap themselves in karooses. In these modern days they prefer blankets, and each sable form is enveloped in the article of commerce upon which Lord Mount Charles and Mrs. Jellaby spent so much anxious thought. Thus reclining, forming the radii of a circle they place their feet in the ashes of the wood