Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, in Their Own Words

PREFACE TO THE FIRST VOLUME.

On completing this First Volume of Zulu Native Literature, — if we may be allowed to apply such a term to that which has hitherto been stored only in the mind and imparted to others orally, — I feel there is something due to the Reader and to myself.

When the First Part was issued in May, 1866, I had no idea what the First Volume would be ; much less, when I wrote the Preface to Part I. in the preceding January. I had collected a certain amount of material from natives ; enough to make me feel that it was worth printing, even though at the same time I felt sure that it was, for the most part, very fragmentary, and to be regarded rather as a help to others to collect fuller and more perfect materials, than as being’ complete in itself. But I had no idea how really poor comparatively the materials I then possessed were ; or how abundant a store of Popular Tales might be found among the Natives of Natal. The issue of the First Part aroused a spirit of enthusiasm among the natives of the village who were able to read, and several came and offered themselves as being capable of telling me something better than I had printed. From this source of information thus voluntarily tendered I have obtained by far the best part of the contents of this Volume, — the tale of Ukcombekcansini, which one of my reviewers describes as being “ as beautiful and graceful as a classic idyll,” — Umbadhlanyana and the Cannibal, — The Appendix on Cannibalism, — U gungyu-kubant wana and the Appendices which follow, — U mkccakaza-wakoginggwayo, — The Two Brothers, — TJbongopa-kamagadhlela, — The Appendices to Umdhlubu and the Frog, — Unthlangunthlangu and the Appendices which follow, — Untombi-yapansi, — Umamba, — Unanana-bosele, — The wise Son of the King, and some of the smaller pieces with which the Volume is ended.

Thus the Work has to a great extent been collected, translated, and arranged whilst passing through the press. This must be my apology for the many imperfections which will be found in it ; the absence of order, and occasional repetitions. I have been feeling my way all along ; and have discovered that there exists among the people a vast store of interesting traditional tales, which may yet be collected ; and it is possible that I have only just learnt the way of collecting them. I have already several of considerable interest, which wiU appear, it is supposed, in a Second Volume.

I must here state that I regard the Work in its present form as

The Students’ Edition : the student whether of the Zulu language, or of Comparative Folk-lore. There are therefore some things retained in it which are not fit for the public generally ; but which could not for the student be properly suppressed. The very value of such a work depends on the fidelity with which all is told. To be a trustworthy exposition of the native mind it must exhibit every side of it. I have felt what so many other collectors of such legends among other people have felt before me, that I have had a trust committed to me, and that I can only faithfully execute it by laying every thing before others.

But it would be quite easy to prepare a Popular Edition, which with a few alterations in the tales, and a condensation and modification of the phraseology, might become an interesting and not uninstructive book for the people generally and especially for the young, with whom it would become as cherished a favourite as any which is found in nursery literature.

And now for the worth of the Work itself. Those

“ Who love a nation’s legends,

Love the ballads of the people,”

will not look upon it as a mere collection of children’s tales. They will not banish these legends to the nursery ; but will hear them,

“ like voices from a distance Call to us to pause and listen.”

To such as these every thing human is valuable. The least incident which can throw light on the nature and history of man, especially his nature as he was in the now hoary past ; and his history, as he has been moving upwards in an ever progressing development, or sinking lower and lower in an ever increasing degradation, becomes a treasured fact to be placed among that ever accumulating mass of materials from which hereafter a faithful record of man as he was in the past, and of the causes which have influenced him, and the varying states through which he has passed to the present, shall be compiled. Regarded from such a point of view, these simple children’s tales are the history of a people’s mind in one phase of its existence. The tales of olden times collected from the people by Grimm, or Thorpe, or Campbell, or Dasent, are of a very different character, and speak of a very different society from that which takes so much pleasure in the compositions of Hans Christian Andersen.

We know not yet what shall be the result of such collections of children’s tales. Children’s tales now ; but not the invention of a child’s intellect ; nor all invented to gratify a child’s fancy. If carefully studied and compared with corresponding legends among other people, they will bring out unexpected relationships,1 which will more and more force upon us the great truth, that man has every where

1 An ingenuity similar to that which the Rev. G. W. Cox has exercised on the ancient literature of Greece, would readily convert many of these tales into Solar Myths , and thus connect the Greek with the Zulu, or both with a period anterior to either of them.

thought alike, because every where, in every country and clime, under every tint of skin, under every varying social and intellectual condition, he is still man, — one in all the essentials of man, — one in that which is a stronger proof of essential unity, than mere external differences are of difference of nature, — one in his mental qualities, tendencies, emotions, passions.

Elizabeth Cookson has remarked in her Introduction to the Legends of Manx Land : —

“ What Fossil Remains are to the Geologist, Customs and Creeds are to the Historian — landmarks of the extent and progress of intelligence and civilization.

“ Popular Tales, Songs, and Superstitions are not altogether profitless ; like the fingers of the clock, they point to the time of day. Turns and modes of thought, that else had set in darkness, are by them preserved, and reflected, even as objects sunk below the horizon are, occasionally, brought again into view by atmospheric reflection.

“ Fables are facts in as far as they mirror the minds of our less scientific Ancestors.

“ That man should have solemnly believed in the existence of Fairies, Spectres, and every variety of Superstition, but testifies the vivid impression physical and mental phenomena made upon his mind. Placed in a world of marvels, he questioned the marvellous — questioned until Dark Diviners, Interpreters, arose — bewildered and bewildering, yet striving after the light — striving to solve the enigma of Life, — striving to fling from the soul the burden of an unexplained existence.”

In reflecting on the tales of the Zulus the belief has been irresistibly fixed upon my mind, that they point out very clearly that the Zulus are a degenerated people ; that they are not now in the condition intellectually or physically in which they were during “the legend-producing period ” of their existence ; but have sunk from a higher state. Like the discovered relics of giant buildings in Asia and America, they appear to speak of a mightier and better past, which, it may be, is lost for ever. But though by themselves they may be powerless to retrace the footsteps of successive generations, yet is it unreasonable to suppose that under the power of influences which may reach them from without, they are not incapable of regeneration ? Far otherwise. For it appears to me that this Zulu legendary lore contains evidence of intellectual powers not to be despised ; whilst we have scattered every where throughout the tales those evidences of tender feeling, gentleness, and love, which should teach us that in dealing with these people, if we are dealing with savages, we are dealing with savage men , who only need culture to have developed in them the finest traits of our human nature.

And it is in bestowing upon us the means of bringing this culture to bear upon them, that we may see the chief practical use of this collection. We cannot reach any people without knowing their minds and mode of thought ; we cannot know these without a thorough knowledge of their language, such as cannot be attained by a loose colloquial study of it. What Sir George Grey felt was requisite for the rightful government of the people of New Zealand, — not only a thorough knowledge of their language, but also of their traditional lore, — -the earnest and intelligent missionary will feel in a tenfold degree as necessary for himself, who has to deal with questions which require a much nicer and more subtle use of words than any thing affecting man in his mere external relations. For myself I must say that scarcely a day passes in which I do not find the value of such knowledge. Whilst the lighter study of these children’s tales has prepared me to handle with a firmer and more assured grasp the graver task ol translating the Bible and Prayer Book into the native tongue.

I would take this opportunity of telling such readers as are interested in the Work, that the means at my disposal are very inadequate for the easy or rapid completion of all I have in hand. We calculate that at our present rate of proceeding it would take little less than ten years to print the materials already collected. And I would earnestly ask their assistance in some practical manner. This may be rendered in various ways : — By increasing the circulation of the Work ; it has reached about four hundred copies, quite as large, I admit, as might have been anticipated, but quite insufficient to cover expenses ; or by aiding to raise for the Work a special printing fund. The loan or gift of books on kindred subjects would also be a great assistance.

I must now for some time take leave of the reader. I purpose at once to commit to the press the part of the Work on the Zulu notion of the Origin of Things, — in other words, what I have been able to collect of their traditional religion. It is already prepared for the press ; but it is very undesirable to issue it in parts ; it must be read as a whole, carefully and thoughtfully, in order to form any just conclusion as to its real meaning. It will probably be about one hundred and twenty pages, unless it should swell under my hands, as have the Nursery Tales.

I would now, in conclusion, take this opportunity for heartily thanking those friends who have interested themselves in the Work, and expressing my obligations especially to Mr. John Sanderson for the much valuable assistance he has rendered me.

HENRY CALLAWAY.

Springvale , Natal ,

March , 1868.

PREFACE

Twelve years ago, when I commenced the study of Zulu, with the exception of a short, hut valuable, paper by Mr. J. C. Bryant, on “The Zulu Language and another by Mr. Lewis Grout on ‘ ‘ The Zulu and other Dialects of Southern Africa,” in the First Volume of The Journal of the American Oriental Society , there was not a publication to which a student could refer for a knowledge of the rudiments of the language. In the Kxosa dialect, indeed, there were the Grammars of Appleyard and Boyce ; and the small Vocabulary of Ayliff. But these were of little use to one engaged in the study of Zulu, and tended rather to confuse than to help. I was therefore, from the first, thrown on such resources as I could myself develop.

At a very early period I began to write at the dictation of Zulu natives, as one means of gaining an accurate knowledge of words and idioms. In common conversation the native naturally condescends to the ignorance of the foreigner, whom, judging from what he generally hears from colonists, he thinks unable to speak the language of the Zulu : he is also pleased to parade his own little knowledge of broken English and Dutch ; and thus there is a danger of picking up a miserable gibberish, composed of anglicised Kafir, and kafirised English and Dutch words, thrown together without any rule but the caprice and ignorance of the speaker. But whilst such a compound might answer for the common relations between whitemen and natives, yet it must be wholly insufficient to admit of any close communication of mind with mind, and quite inadequate to meet the requirements of scientific investigation.

Very different is the result of writing at the dictation of a native. The first impression immediately produced is of the vast difference between the best translations and the language as spoken by natives. A native is requested to tell a tale ; and to tell it exactly as he would tell it to a child or a friend ; and what he says is faithfully written down. We have thus placed before us the language as nearly as possible such as it is spoken by the natives in their intercourse with each other. And, further, what has been thus written can be read to the native who dictated it ; corrections be made ; explanations be obtained ; doubtful points be submitted to other natives ; and it can be subjected to any amount of analysis the writer may think fit to make.

Such is the history of the mode in which the original Zulu, here presented to the public, has been obtained. Very many different natives have taken part in the work. There will be, therefore, found here and there, throughout, personal and dialectic peculiarities ; but for the most part the language is pure Zulu. It was clearly no part of the work of the collector to make any change in the language with a view of reducing it to one imagined standard of purity.

The materials, which at first I sought to collect merely for my own instruction, gradually accumulated. As my ear became more educated, and the natives more intelligent, and able to comprehend the object I had in view, I could write with greater facility, until at length there was no subject on which I could not obtain the most accurate information possessed by the natives themselves.

Thus, as the materials increased they began to have another and somewhat

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different value ; they became not merely a means of learning the Zulu language, but also a means of obtaining a knowledge of Kafir customs, histories, mode of thought, religion, &c. And what was commenced as a mere exercise-lesson w as soon pursued with the further object of discovering; what was the character of the mind of the people with whom we are brought into contact ; and of endeavouring to trace out their connection with other nations by the similarity which might exist in their traditions and myths, their nursery tales and proverbs.

The result of this investigation has been quite beyond my own most sanguine expectation ; and it is probable that very much remains to be added which may help us in many ways to understand the past history of the Zulus, and to connect them with other people.

For some time it has appeared to me hardly right to allow so vast a mass of materials, full of interest to the missionary, the philologist, the ethnologist, and antiquarian, as well as to a large portion of the general public, to remain on my shelves, useful to myself alone, or to some few friends who might see it in MSS. Others whom I consulted were of the same opinion ; and after much consideration, and overcoming many difficulties, I have at length entered on the task of preparing it for the press.

At first I intended to print the Kafir only with a few explanatory notes. But so many have expressed the opinion that a Zulu book would have but few attractions, and a very limited sphere of usefulness, that I have, at the moment of going to press, concluded to print, side by side with the original Zulu, a translation. It will thus become available both to English and Kafir scholars, and can be used as a class-book to teach the English Zulu, or the Zulus English.

The translation, without being absolutely literal, wall be found to be a true representation of the original. An absolutely literal translation, on the Hamiltonian system, would be almost as unintelligible, to a person unacquainted with the language, as the original Zulu itself. My object has been to give idiom for idiom rather than word for word, and at the same time to preserve, as far as possible, the characteristic peculiarities of the original. Hence the translation will necessarily present a quaint and somewhat unenglish character, which will not, however, be urged against it as an objection.

Whilst on the subject of translation, it may be as well to remark that among the natives, as among all uncultivated people, there is great freedom of speech used in allusion to the relations between the sexes, &c. Whenever I could soften down such expressions, to suit our own more refined taste, I have done so. But, perhaps, there will still be found instances of what some may regard as too great outspokenness. I would, however, deprecate the thought that such outspokenness is to be construed into an evidence of a want of purity among the natives, or that our reticence on such subjects is a proof of purity in ourselves.

Writing and Spelling. — The principles which have guided me in writing and spelling claim a few remarks in this place.

There are two modes of writing — one adopted by Dr. Colenso and Dr. Bleek, in which a number of small words is run together ; and the other, that adopted by the American missionaries and others, in which there is, perhaps, the opposite mistake of unnecessary division.

As regards the first, I am quite unable to see anything to recommend it, or even to conceive the reason of its adoption. Why should we write ngdbebdbopa , ‘ ‘ they ought to bind them ; ” and not nga be ba bopa , ‘ ‘ ought they them bind ? ” Why should we run the Zulu words together, when we write the English ones apart ? How strange it would appear, and how difficult it would be to understand, a sentence of this kind, written in English as one word, Theyoughttobindthem ! But it is not less difficult or strange in Zulu than in English ; and tends, as it would, indeed more than it would, in English, to produce confusion and obscurity. A person thoroughly acquainted with the language gets over the obscurity by means of the context, and has little difficulty in determining whether he is to understand ubuya as u V u yay “you were going,” or as u buy a, “you are coming back.” So in the following sentence, Nembala ateti gulugudu ukungena, “ so then he hastens inside ; ” he may see at once that teti is not the negative form of tetat to “chide:” but it requires a ready knowledge of the

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language to separate a sentence so written into its elementary words, and catch at once the meaning of a t e ti in ateti. One could multiply instances ad infinitum of the confusion which arises from writing by sentences instead of words.

Who that has ever attempted to decipher old manuscripts, in which the words are all run together, has not felt a wish that the writers had adopted the modern system of writing each word by itself ? The Cuneiform inscriptions appeared but as a mere “ conglomerate of wedges ” to those who first discovered them, about which a doubt might exist whether they were writings at all, or “mere arabesque or fanciful ornaments.” In attempting to decipher these inscriptions a sign was discovered by which the words were separated ; on which Max Muller remarks : — “ Such a sign is of course an immense help in all attempts at deciphering inscriptions, for it lays bare at once the terminations of hundreds of words.” ( Lectures on the Science of Language. Second Series, p. 4. ) Being then practically acquainted with the difficulties and obscurities occasioned by the ancients having run their words together, why should we, in reducing a savage language to writing, introduce similar difficulties ?

I need not say much on the system I have adopted of writing the words apart. It is substantially the same as is found in other Zulu and Kccosa works. But in some instances, where a sentence has become petrified, as it were, into a word, although its etymology is still evident, I have written it as one word, as ngani, not nga ni , “why ; ” or kangaka, not ka nga ka, “so much.” So, perhaps arbitrarily, I have written prepositions with the nouns they govern as one word, regarding the combination as a case of the noun, as kuye, not ku ye ; nami, not na mi. By doing so I jump over, rather than solve, some questions which arise as to the proper method of writing certain words, as kwlti, bakwetu.

Again, I do not separate what is called the possessive particle from the noun. In most instances they are necessarily blended, forming the possessive case. It therefore appears consistent to write them together under all circumstances ; and as we have umntwana wenkosi (wa-inkosi), “the child of the chief,” I also write umntwana kampande, “the child of Umpande :” that is, I regard kampande as the genitive of Umpande, just as wenkosi is the genitive of inkosi. I also write umuntu waselovo, umuntu wakwazulu ; and not wa s'elovo , wa kwa Zulu ; regarding these as genitive cases, and examples of the mode in which the genitive of places is formed.

A difficulty, too, has been felt as regards the capital letters ; and we find consequently in printed books some ugly anomalies, such as a capital in the middle of a word, and paragraphs beginning with a small letter. This has arisen apparently, in part, from the error of not regarding the prefix as an essential part of a noun, and so giving the nominal root an undue prominence ; and, in part, from our not being accustomed to those initial changes upon which grammatical inflection so much depends in the Zulu language. But to use the capital letters to distinguish nominal roots is a novelty in writing ; and it appears to have been overlooked that when, as a mark of eminence, the capital is placed at the beginning of the root in such words as nKosi, “Lord,” Kosi has no personal meaning, indeed, no meaning whatever ; and that therefore the mark of eminence is thrown away on a meaningless combination of letters, which can only assume a living sense by having combined with it the requisite prefix. These nominal roots doubtless had, originally, determinate meanings well understood ; but the prefix was always necessary to specialise the fundamental root-meaning.

I have, therefore, very much reduced the number of capital letters, and use them only to mark paragraphs, and proper names in the nominative case.

The orthography of the language presents much greater difficulties. We profess to write it phonetically ; but then we are at once met by the objection that the same letters have a different phonetic value in different European languages, and even in one and the same language. The desirability of a uniform orthography is very generally felt. But if it be ever attainable, we are as yet very far from the adoption of a “ universal alphabet.” The practical difficulties in the way of using that of Lepsius are insuperable, even if we were prepared to admit the soundness of all the principles on which it is founded. I have therefore departed as little as possible from the mode of spelling already in use ;

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for it appears better to continue for a time some things which are felt to be unsatisfactory, than to introduce new characters, according to one’s private fancy, which may not be adopted by others, and which would only have the effect of removing to a greater distance the attainment of a uniform orthography. The system of Max Muller is more available for missionaries ; and mentioning only that I have, as far as possible, followed his principles, as laid down in his Survey of Languages, it will not be necessary to allude in detail to anything but the clicks, the aspirates, and the aspirated linguals.

The Clicks. — It is generally supposed that the sounds called clicks are a modern intrusion into the alliterative class of languages, arising from intercourse with the Hottentots. Dr. Bleek remarks: — “The occurrence of clicks in the Kafir dialects decreases almost in proportion to their distance from the Hottentot border. Yet the most southern Tekeza dialects and the Se-suto have also (probably through Kafir influence) become to a slight extent possessed of this remarkable phonetical element. ” (Bleep’s Comparative Grammar, p. 13.) Be this as it may, the natives scout the idea of having borrowed anything from the Hottentots. It is certain, however, that there are tribes speaking an alliterative language, the Amangarija and Ajawa on the Shire for instance, in which there are no clicks. And Kolben, whose observations were made early in the eighteenth century (his work was published in 1731), speaking of the natives of “Terra du Natal,” says : — “There is nothing of the Hottentot stammering or clashing of the tongue in speaking among them.” (The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope. Vol. I., p. 81. ) Whether other tribes have driven out these “non-clashing” people who then inhabited Natal, or whether the “ clashing ” has been introduced since, we have no data at present which would enable us to determine with certainty. The question may be some day solved by researches in the comparative philology of South African languages, so happily begun by Dr. Bleek. The view that the clicks are not native to the alliterative languages is quite in accordance with the theory I have formed of their nature.

Dr. Bleek remarks : — “ There is this distinction between the Hottentot and Kafir clicks, namely, that the latter are only found in the place of other consonants, and are used like consonants at the beginning of syllables, whilst in the Hottentot a guttural explosive consonant (k, kh, or g), the faucal spirant h and the nasal n, can be immediately preceded by a click, and form together with it the initial element of the syllables.” ( Bleek? s Comparative Grammar, p. 13. )

My own conclusions as to the clicks do not accord with the view here expressed. The clicks in Zulu are never heard without an accompanying consonantal sound. Thee, q, and x were adopted to represent “ this remarkable phonetic element,” simply because they were not needed for other purposes, in reducing the Zulu language to writing on phonetic principles. It is customary, in some instances, to write these letters alone, not only to represent the click, but at the same time the combined consonantal sound. But this is a merely arbitrary mode of writing ; for when there is not an accompanying consonant expressed, the c, q, and x are supposed to have an inherent k sound, and are to be pronounced accordingly. The consonantal sounds found with the clicks, and, with the exception of h already mentioned, expressed in writing, are g, k, and n ; the g may be nasalised, ng ; and it, as well as k and n, is often found in combination with w. Thus we have g, ng, ngw ; k, kw ; n, and nw, in combination with the clicking sound.

A difference of opinion exists as to whether the click precedes or follows in pronunciation the associated consonantal sound. Lepsius (Standard Alphabet. Second Edition, p. 81 ) and Dr. Bleek (Comparative Grammar, p. 13 ) consider that the click precedes the consonantal sound, and that therefore the sign for the clicking should precede the associated consonant. Grout and Dohne, on the other hand, do not concur with this opinion, but write the click sign after the consonant.

The true explanation of the clicking sounds appears to be, that they are impediments coming in the way of the free enunciation of the consonants with which they are combined, and which they modify. The organs of speech assume the position for uttering g, ng, ngw ; k, kiv ; n, or nw, and find a bar to

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the utterance, which is leaped over, giving rise to the click sound ; and then the consonantal sound is uttered. If this view be correct, there is an unsuccessful, but quite perceptible, effort to pronounce the combined consonant before the click, but its full utterance takes place after it. In fact , the sound is one ; and it is immaterial whether the click sign precedes or follows the consonant with which it is associated.

But what shall the click signs be ?

As the click sounds are new sounds, for which our alphabet has not provided, they seem to demand new signs, not found in that alphabet ; especially as c, q, and x, though not wanted in Zulu, are wanted when the Zulus are taught to read English or other languages.

If the clicks are an intrusion into Zulu of a foreign origin, and the sounds be a mere modification of previously existing consonantal sounds, it would appear that the best way of indicating them would be by a diacritic mark written with the consonants thus modified.

These two principles being laid down, it would not be difficult to determine a diacritic sign. The form of that sign is absolutely unimportant : it demands only that it should be distinct in print, and of easy adaptation to writing. If these two requisites are ensured, all that is required further is that writers generally should agree upon one sign. If we cannot yet have a uniform orthography in other respects, we ought to have no difficulty in determining what shall be the sign for a new sound, not provided for in any known alphabet.

Mr. Lewis Grout has adopted Lepsius’ characters for the clicks. And I would have willingly followed his example, but that the characters suggested by Lepsius do not present the two requisites above mentioned, distinctness in print, and easy adaptability to writing ; defects which, as it seems to me, must be fatal to their being generally used. Further, they do not provide for the consonantal sounds with which the clicks are pronounced.

Whilst this subject was under my consideration, being desirous of carrying out the principles above alluded to, and at the same time very unwilling to introduce novelties on my own responsibility, I corresponded, through a friend, with Max Muller. He suggested the employment of k, t, and l, either with a dot under each, or to be printed in Italics in Homan type, and vice versa.

To follow such a suggestion appears to me calculated to increase the present difficulties without any corresponding advantage : k, t, and l have already • in Zulu their known and acknowledged phonetic value : to introduce them as the signs of the click sounds, even though distinguished by being written as Italics, or with a diacritic dot, would be confusing. All that can be said, on the other side, is that k, t, and l dimly intimate the parts of the organs of speech where the several clicks are formed.

I have therefore concluded, until something better can be determined, to continue to use c, q, and x, which are already used, which are well known to the natives, and which have no other phonetic value in the Zulu language. But in order to impress on the eye the fact that they are not letters but diacritic marks, I so far adopt Max Muller’s suggestion, that I write them in Italics in Homan type, and vice versa. And as these letters, thus used as diacritic signs, have no inherent consonantal value, I always write the consonants before them with which they are combined in pronunciation.

I should prefer diacritic marks written with g, k, and n. But having stated my own opinions, I leave the matter to the consideration of others, and would express the hope that before very long, on this subject at least, there may be a uniform orthography.

The Aspirates. — There are at least four aspirates — the common aspirate h, a “lateral fricative,” and two guttural fricatives.

The aspirate h requires no remark ; the lateral fricative will be spoken of presently.

The letter r, not being used in Zulu orthography (although the sound of r does actually occur in one onomatopoetic word, ukuti dri, “ to whir ”), has been used for the guttural fricative. It is absolutely necessary to cease to use r for this purpose ; for it is continually needed to express its own proper sound in the names of persons and places now being rapidly introduced into the Zulu

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language. There may be something said in favour of the Greek x, recommended by Lepsius, and adopted by Bleek and Grout. But I have preferred on the whole, at the suggestion of Max Muller, to use hh. We cannot use kh, because that will be required for the aspirated k, which is a wholly different sound from the guttural fricative. The guttural fricative in many Zulu words is interchangeable with the simple h ; the double h, therefore, seems a very appropriate sign for the guttural fricative.

The second guttural fricative is extremely difficult to pronounce ; and as I can only approximately pronounce it myself, I speak with some diffidence on the subject. It is the sound alluded to by Dr. Colenso in his Zulu Grammar , as a “ sound peculiar to Zulu-Kafir, which may be pronounced either as a guttural from the bottom of the throat, or as a click in the ordinary way. Happily it occurs in only a very few words. ( Elementary Grammar of the Zulu-Kafir Language , p. 6. ) The sound certainly does somewhat resemble an imperfect faucal click. But it is not a click. Dr. Colenso uses the italic x to represent it. Mr. Grout uses for this sound the Greek x with a diacritic mark (which Lepsius proposes for a different purpose). He describes it as “a peculiar, hard, rough guttural sound, which seems to be made by contracting the throat, and giving the breath a forcible expulsion, at the same time modifying the sound with a tremulous motion of the epiglottis.” ( Grammar of the Zulu Language , p. 16. ) Dr. Bleek, who apparently has not heard the sound pronounced, cads it a “ faucal explosive ; ” but acknowledges that he is “ as yet at a loss regarding this sound,” from the description of Colenso and Grout. (Comparative Grammar, p. n.j

I should propose to call it the lateri- guttural fricative. Natives, and those who can pronounce it as the natives, have one idea of the mode in which the sound is produced : it is this, — the anterior portion of the tongue lies flat and relaxed in the mouth ; its base is curved upwards, so as to close the centre of the faucal region, and the breath is forcibly expelled on each side. It generally has a k sound with it ; and in many words is interchangeable with the guttural fricative. I shall therefore use for this sound the Italic hh in Homan type, and vice versd. When it is combined with a k sound, k will of course be written before hh.

The Aspirated Linguals , or more properly the aspirated l. — This sound occurs under at least two forms, usually spelt by hi and dhl. The aspirate heard in either case is not the common aspirate h. Dr. Bleek says: — “The aspirated lingual hi sounds in Kafir as if the guttural fricative (like the German ch in “ suchen ”) was pronounced in combination with and at the same time as l.” ( Comparative Grammar , p. 16. ^ The aspirate, however, is a lateral frica-

tive, as stated by Lepsius, who compares the Zulu aspirated l (that is dhl ) with the Welsh 11. ( Standard Alphabet, pp. 172, 270, 272. ) The sounds produced by the aspiration of l are difficult to pronounce, as is evident from the sounds which are uttered by colonists instead of the true native pronunciation, such as shla, or thla, the t being too much pronounced. To my own ear, the first aspirated l (hi J has always somewhat of a t sound more or less audible, especially where it follows a vowel, as in lahleka. But it is probable that the aspirated l occurs in three forms — simply aspirated, and preceded by th and dli ; the aspirate being not the common h, but a lateral fricative. I think it will help English readers to the pronunciation if they try to pronounce hi, as in lilala, as though the l were preceded by the th as heard in thigh, or, better still, the th as heard in breath. Lepsius, indeed, tells us that t must not be the basis of this sound. ( Standard Alphabet, p. 65. ) And no doubt thigh can be pronounced, or a sound very like it, without a t, in the same way as hla. The dhl, as in dhlula, may be pronounced by supposing the l to be preceded by th as heard in thy, or better as in breathe. The difference of the sounds in thigh and thy, or in breath and breathe, appears to me very exactly to distinguish the difference between hi and dhl. And it may well admit of discussion whether we should not use thl and dhl for the aspirated l sounds as heard in Zulu ; for I feel sure that no one who has never heard the sound would be guided to anything like a correct pronunciation by the ordinary spelling, hi. In translations I have used thl. At the same time I would have it understood that the t must be as little

PREFACE.

audible as possible. I do not think that k is ever heard in Zulu with the aspirated l, as it appears to be in other dialects of South Africa. ( B leek' 3 Comparative Grammar , p. 16. ,1 As it appeared desirable to distinguish the lateral fricative from the common h, I have determined to use for this purpose the Italic h in Roman type, and vice versa : thus, /ilala, dMula ; h lala, dhlula. We shall thus have a uniformity and distinctness without any real change in the spelling, and without the introduction of new characters. The four aspirates, therefore, are thus written : — The common h, or faucal spirant, h ; the lateral fricative, only found with 1, h ; the guttural fricative, hh ; the lateriguttural fricative, hh.

It does not appear worth while to mark by any sign the long and short vowels, as the organs of speech seem naturally to use the short vowels in the proper place. Neither have those few instances in which u is pronounced as in French been distinguished by any diacritic mark.

In conclusion, I would remind those who may read the following pages that

• ‘ he who first undertakes to bring into form the scattered elements of any subject can only accomplish his task imperfectly.” No one will be more sensible of the many imperfections which mark my work than I am myself. If, however, the result of my labours be to lead others to a deeper study of the Kafir language, and so to a deeper knowledge of the Kafir people ; and by their own investigations to fill up the gaps which exist in many subjects here brought before them, I shall be satisfied. If others will continue and perfect what I have begun, I shall not have begun in vain.

H. C.

Springvale , Natal ,

January , 1866.

The Tight of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved.

VOL. I.

(NUESEKY TALES.)

INTRODUCTION TO THE ZULU NURSERY TALES.

Like most other people, the Zulus have their Nursery Tales. They have not hitherto, so far as I know, been collected. Indeed, it is probable that their existence even is suspected but by a few ; for the women are the depositaries of these Tales ; and it is not common to meet with a man who is well acquainted with them, or who is willing to speak of them in any other way than as something which he has some dim recollection of having heard his grandmother relate. It has been no easy matter to drag out the following Tales ; and it is evident that many of them are but fragments of some more perfect narrative. One cannot but feel that one has here put together a great deal of what is supremely ridiculous, and which considered by itself may well be regarded as utterly unworthy of being perpetuated. Yet ridiculous and worthless as it is in itself, it will have its use in many ways. It will, I think, help us to find unsuspected points of contact between the Zulus and other people ; and may even give us a clue to their origin. It will also give them a claim to be reckoned as an integral part of our common humanity, by showing that they have so many thoughts in common with other men, and have retained in their traditional tales so much that resembles the traditional tales of other people. It will form a book, too, which the young Kafir will greedily read, whilst he pores, not without loathing, over translations which he understands with difficulty, which relate to subjects that are new and strange to him, and which he does not readily comprehend ; to which, it may be, he has a repugnance. It would be a great mistake to teach an English child to read solely from the Bible or books of devotion : yet this is what hitherto we have been doing, with scarcely any exception, for the Zulu. We want to teach the young Kafirs to read. We must, then, give them some inducement to read; and where can we find a greater than by giving them the traditionary tales of their forefathers, in the same words as they have heard them around their hut-fires 1

The first Tale in the Series is the History of the Travels and Adventures of Uthlakanyana, a kind of Tom Thumb, the Giant

Killer. Not that his cunning is exerted on giants alone. All is fish that comes to Uthlakanyana’s net ! Uthlakanyana is not a common man : he is a cunning, malicious dwarf ; and is possessed of magical powers. There are in these Tales, too, accounts of gigantic cannibals, who can carry a man in a sack, or swallow him at a gulp, as the Guzzler, in Uthlakanyana ; whilst the ogress Uzwanide, or Long-toe, is evidently a mighty magician, and capable, like Heitsi Eibip, of the Hottentots,1 of rising from a succession of deaths. We have, too, various animals introduced, not exactly as in Fables, but talking freely and, as it were, naturally, and holding intercourse with man. The leopard, the hare, the iguana ; doves, swallows, pigeons, and mice play their part on the stage, sometimes in their own characters, sometimes rather as forms assumed by magical powers ; as the swallow in the Tale of Uzwanide, and the striped mouse in that of Ubabuze. All these Tales allude more or less distinctly to the magical, and a contest going on between good and malicious genii ; and it is remarkable that nothing is said of the use of medicines, so much talked of now among the natives, and which they imagine can produce such marvellous results — love or hatred ; beauty or deformity ; prosperity or ill-luck ; bravery or cowardice. This would seem to give the Tales an antiquity of origin, referring them back to a very different social condition from that now existing. There are two Tales in which a Magical Tree is introduced ; and there is the Rock of Two-holes, which opens and closes at the voice of those who know the secret, reminding one of “ Open Sesame” in the Forty Thieves. Huge fabulous monsters, the existence of which has not been suggested by the fossil bones of extinct animals,2 are introduced ; the Isikgukgumadevu, which was as big as a mountain ; the Isitwalangcengce, or Isidawane, which carried people away on its head, and fed on their brains, and to this day is the nursery bogy, with which noisy Zulu children are silenced; and the huge River Tortoise, which is mistaken for an island. And then there is what is probably a modem “Myth of Observation,” in which is gravely related, as a fact, the existence of a Fiery Serpent five hundred yards long !

I have combined with the Nursery Tales the few Fables I have met with, and some other Narratives, which do not properly belong to them, but which could not so well be arranged with any other subject.

1 Bleek’s Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 75.

2 See Tylor’s Researches into the Early History of Mankind.

UHLAKANYANA.

PREFACE TO THE TALE OF UTHLAKANYANA.

U thlakanyana is a very cunning man ; be is also very small, of tbe size of a weasel. This man was despised constantly among those peojole, whom he used to deceive, and from whom he sprang; for they thought they could not be deceived by a child — they could be deceived by a man as big as themselves. Therefore, through not understanding him, that he had not grown because he was overweighted by cunning and wisdom, and so was undersized, and became a contemptible dwarf, they habitually despised him at all times. But he deceived a man, through his not being clearly seen to be, in fact, the very man to deceive. He was called also Ukcaij ana-bogconono, Mathlab’-indoda-i-s’-emi. The word Ukcaij ana signifies a little red animal, which has a black-tipped tail. And this animal is cleverer than all others, for its cunning is great.3 4 If a trap is set for a wild cat, it comes immediately to the trap, and takes away the mouse which is placed there for the cat : it takes it out first ; and when the cat comes, the mouse has been already eaten by the weasel.

3 As we say in English, “You must be pretty deep, to catch weasels asleep.”

4 Umjonjo. — This name is given to the mouse only when it is used as a bait. Its meaning is uncertain. But it is an ukuhlonipa -word, that is, a term of respect. The natives say that if they give a mouse the name of impuku when used as a bait, it will not catch anything, because it has been treated with contempt ! It is also called injova , and umvuzane. The same notion appears below, where it is said that when a weasel has been caught, it stands in the way of other animals, that is, exerts an influence adverse to the trapper’s success. — The same remarkable custom of speaking of numerous animals, and even of inanimate things, by euphemisms, instead of by their proper names, prevails in the north of Europe. ( Thorpe's Northern Mythology, Vol. II., p. 83. )

It also is a trouble to men ; for if it does not choose to get out of the way, if it see a man coming, it just quits the path a little, and growls and frightens the man ; and, sure enough, at length he goes round, thinking the path is obstructed by a wild animal. And it is a weasel, forsooth. Perhaps, when he has gone to a distance, he going and looking, he sees it depart and run away ; so he is ashamed, and his heart sinks, and he says, “ O, I have been made to quit the path by this piece of deformity ! ” And he returns to the path.

Again, it is at great enmity with snakes ; for it eats them, if it sees a place to which an imamba habitually resorts, it watches it, until it sees that it has gone out to feed ; it then goes into the hole of the snake first, that when the snake comes, it may come, it being there beforehand ; it sees the snake coming at some distance, and prepares itself ; it remains in the hole altogether intent on the snake’s head, that as soon as the snake enters, — for it enters the hole without any suspicion, — it may lay hold of its head, and go out with it ; and then it growls and kills it : it plays with the snake because it has killed it. At last it jumps backwards and forwards over the snake, and eats it.

Again, the weasel is an animal which occasions very bad luck ; for if trappers trap wild animals, and a weasel is caught, that man has no confidence that he shall catch any animals : he knows that the weasel stands in the way ; evil

5 Landula , “ stands in the way,” that is, not by actual presence, but by a kind of magical influence. The meaning of IJmuva is, “ that which follows in order after, or as the result of something.” Its force may be understood by comparing it with antecedents. As we say, “his antecedents are bad;” so here, if we may coin a word, “the succedents of the weasel are bad ; ” that is, that which follows in order after, or happens as a result of its entering the trap, is bad luck. Or it may be rendered the “ leavings.”

UHLAKANYANA.

follows it. Or if you have fallen in with it in a path, it crossing the path,6 7 you no longer expect to get food at the place where you are going ; you say, “ I have fallen in with a wizard, and I shall no longer get any food.”

XJkcaijana is like the weasel ; it is as though he was really of that genus, for since he is called by the name of the weasel, it is as though he was of the same genus as it; his smallness is like its, and his cunning as great as its : he resembles it in all respects.

The other names, Bogconono, Mathlab’-indoda-i-s’-emi, are his praise-giving names, which set forth his bravery : he is lauded by them. When we say Bogconono, it means, when interpreted, “ one of the weasel family,” the nation from which he sprung. Ogconono is a word which has a different meaning from Umathlab’-indoda ; it has its distinct meaning, for it means “ weasels.” If we interpret Umathiab’-indoda-i-s’-emi, it means that he stabs a man first, whilst he still despises him, seeing that he is so small, and regarding him as a mere infant ; he kills the man before he has done anything to him.

6 So in other countries it is considered a bad sign if a hare cross the way. (Thorpe, Op. cit. Vol. II., p. 274.)

7 Ukuweza , “ to help to cross a river,” or ukuweza ngamazibulco, “ to help to cross over by the fords,” is used of celebrating the praises of braves, by recounting one after another their praise-giving names, which they have gained by great actions. Amazibuko is used metaphorically for the difficult things they have accomplished. Thus, if a man has interfered between two fighting bulls, or between two contending parties, and so has obtained the praise-giving name, U mulamula-nkunzi-zi-lwako, “ He-separates-fighting-bulls,” they pass him over the river by this name.

c

IZINGANERWANE.

UIILAKANYANA.

U thlakanyana speaks before he is born.

A certain woman happened to be pregnant. When her time was fully come, the child spoke in the womb, and said, “Mother, give birth to me at once ; the cattle of my father are devoured by the people.” The mother said, “ Just come and listen. Here is a prodigy. The child is speaking within me.” They asked, “What does he say 1 ” “ He tells me to give birth to him at once ; he says the cattle in the kraal are coming to an end.”8

The father calls the people together.

The father had slaughtered some oxen. The people came together, and left the cattle-kraal with the men, crying, “ Oome and hear. Here is a prodigy, an unborn child speaking ! ” The father said, “Let the child speak according to your saying.” The child spoke, and said, “Yes, indeed, I say, let my mother give birth to me ; for the cattle in the kraal are coming to an end. And, I say, let me go and get ready flesh for myself.” The people wondered, and said, “ What is going to happen ! ”

8 How utterly absurd and far-fetched ! exclaims the English reader. Yet a no less wonderful thing happened, according to Mabillon, towards the end of the fifth century. He informs us that “St. Benedict sang eucharistic hymns in his mother’s womb.” (Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography. ) To whom shall we award the palm of originality — to Pope Gregory the First, Mabillon’s authority, or to the inventor of the Tale of Uthlakanyana ? The Pope intended his “ pious fraud ” to be believed ; the author of Uthlakanyana intended his fiction to produce laughter. The authors of fiction are allowed some license ; but those who invent “pious frauds” should be careful to state, as facts, such things only as are within the bounds of possibility.

UHLAKANYANA.

A ll the 'people are put out of the hut, wruL V thlahany ana is born.

The father said, “ Let all go out of the house. Do you give birth to him, that we may see if it is a man or not. It is a prodigy, this.” All went out. The father said, “ Let no man remain. But all go out, because he began to speak when his mother was alone.” So they went out : and the child was born. As soon as he was born, he stood up. His mother said, “ Come here, and let me cut off that which is hanging from you.” The child said,9 “ No, indeed. Don’t you cut me ; I am going to cut myself. I too am old. I am a man of the council.” He took his father’s spear,10 and cut himself, and threw it down. His mother took water, ' and washed him.

Uthlakanyana goes out , and the people run cmay.

He went out with the spear; his mother took it from him outside : he left it, and went into the cattle-kraaL The men ran away. He sat down by the fire, and ate a strip of meat, which the men had

9 In 1623 a report was extensively circulated in Europe, that information had been received from their spies by the “ brothers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, in the isle of Malta,” of the birth of a child “on the 1st of May, 1623,” near Babylon, which “ said child, incontinent on his birth, walked and talked perfectly well. ” The child was supposed to be Antichrist. (Englishman's Magazine. Vol. II., p. 116.,)

10 The word Umkonto, usually translated assagai, is applied to any weapon which is used in fighting, slaughtering, or hunting. (A gun or a knife is so called. ) There are various kinds ; all two-edged and sharp -pointed. The isinkemba or isijula consists of a broad and long blade, with a short strong shank, which is set entirely into a strong stick. They use this as an axe, when necessary, or to dig up roots. It is a deadly weapon, and would make a wound between two and three inches long. Ingcaice : A short blade, about as long as the finger, and slender ; the shank is very long, and is often twisted, or otherwise ornamented ; its stick is slender and short. It is used for hunting, either by throwing or stabbing, and in slaughtering. The irihkrihla or izakha is barbed, with shortish shank, and is used in hunting. The ikebezana has a short light blade ; it is used for carving, skinning, and eating. Ikhhica : Has a long blade, about as wide as two fingers, short shank and stick ; it is used as the " ingcaice. These are the chief genera of imikonto ; there are many other names, which are used to specify more slight peculiarities.

been eating. The men came back, and said, “ So then it is a man ! an old man ! We thought it was a child.” The men enquired, and said, “ Is this the very child which was speaking within you?” The mother said, “It is he.”

The men praise his wisdom, and propose that he shall be the great child.

They said, “ O, we thank you, our queen. You have brought forth for us a child who is wise as soon as he is born. We never saw a child like this child. This child is fit to be the great child among all the king’s children, for he has made us wonder by his wisdom.”11

Uthlakanyana proposes a test of manhood.

“Yes, indeed,” said the child. “ Father, since you say I am a child (I perceive that you, for your part, think I am a child), take a leg of beef, and throw it below the kraal, that we may see who will get it first. Let all your people, both boys and men, and me, go to fetch the leg, so at length we shall see who is the man. He shall be the man who gets the leg.” So the father took the leg, and threw it below the kraal. They all crowded together at the opening, at the upper part of the kraal ;1J but he

11 In the Basuto Legend, Litaolane grows to the stature and wisdom of manhood as soon as he is born. But Uthlakanyana is a destroyer, Litaolane a deliverer. On the day of his birth he kills the monster Kammapa, the devourer of the world. Some things are said of him that are said of Uthlakanyana ; but Litaolane’s skill is used only in self-defence. ( Casalis ’ Basutos , p. 347. ) In the Arabic Legend, Abraham is nourished by food miraculously supplied from his own fingers, and in fifteen months attains the size and semblance of a youth of fifteen years. Arabic Legends.” Englishman's Magazine. Vol. II., p. 246J

12 Among the natives of these parts, the opening of the cattle-kraal looks downwards. Among the Amakxosa, Amapondo, Amabakca, &c., it looks upwards.

UHLAKANYANA.

went out at the lower, creeping through the enclosure; and met them when he was already returning with the leg.13 He said, “ Mother, just take it. Here is my meat.” His mother said, “ I am glad this day, because I have given birth to a Wise man.”

UtMakanyana practises hypocrisy , and appropriates the property of other people.

He returned to the cattle-kraal. His father was giving another man some meat. He said, “ Hand it to me, that I may put it for you in your house.” The man replied, “ Yes, certainly, child of the king.” He took the meat, and went into the house; he took down the eatingmat and stick, and smeared blood on them, and went out with the meat, and took it to his mother, and said, “ Mother, take it ; here is my meat.” He gave thanks to each of the men (as he took the meat from him) ; and gave thanks again on his return. Again, he did the same to another man ; he

13 How deep a descent from the grand and poetical to the petty and practical, when Uthlakanyana’s exhibition of strength on a leg of beef is compared with that of Magni, a son of Thor and Jamsaxa, who, when only three days old, removed the giant Hrungnir’s foot from the neck of Thor, which all the gods had been unable to do ! (Northern Mythology. Vol. p. 71.) Or that of “ Odin’s son Vali, who though only one day old, unwashed and uncombed, slew Hod,” to avenge the death of Baldur. ( Id., p. 77.) Or that of Hercules, who when eight months old boldly seizes and squeezes to death the snakes sent to destroy him. Or with the Basuto Legend, where Litaolane kills the monster Kammapa on the day of his birth. But in Rabelais’ political satires imagination is carried further than in either, both as regards coarseness and exaggeration. He represents the birth of “the gigantic despot” Gargantua as miraculous. He springs from his mother’s left ear ; and at once, instead of uttering the infant’s ordinary cry, shouts with a loud voice, “A boire, a boire, k boire ; comme invitant tout le monde k boire.” (Book /., ch. 6. ) And his son Pantagruel far exceeded his father ; and the youthful feat of Hercules was as nothing compared with that of Pantagruel. At each meal he sucked in the milk of four thousand six hundred cows ; and whilst yet in his cradle one day seized one of them by the hind leg, and eat into the bowels and devoured the liver and kidneys. The attendants summoned by the cow’s cries, took it away, but not before he had got possession of the leg, which he eat up like a sausage, swallowing the bone as a cormorant would a little fish ; and then cried, “ Good, good, good ! ” And when bound with large cables to prevent a repetition of such voracity, he snapped the cables asunder with as much facility as Samson the withs with which he was bound. (Book II., ch. 4. )

IZINGAXEKWANE.

took his meat in the same way ; he said, “ Hand it to me, that I may put it for you in your house.” He did with that as he had done with the first ; he smeared the feedingmat and stick ; he left them in the same way, and took the meat to his own house, and said, “ Mother, take it; here is my meat.” His mother thanked him, and said, “ I have given birth to a man this day.” In the whole company there was not one who found his meat. The whole of it was in the house of the boy, who was born on the day the oxen of his father were slaughtered. The sun set. All the people of the village enquired of him when they did not find the meat. He said, “ Look at the stick and the feeding-mat, whether I did not place it on the mat, and take down the stick and hang it up, as meat is hung up 1 ” They said, “Yes, we see the feeding-mat is bloody, and the stick is bloody. Then has the meat been taken down 1 ” So he said, “ (Yes), for there is the mat really bloody.” All made the same enquiry ; and he answered them all alike. He persisted in making the feedingmat a witness to all the people of his father’s village.

The women express great doubt as to Uthlakanyana being a real man.

The women of the kraal cried out saying, “What is this that has been bom to-day ? What sort of a man is this that has been born ? We never saw the like. Why did you send him, since you clearly see that this is TJthlakany ana? Do you say he is a man?14 Do you say

14 It is a pity these women were not acquainted with Ellen Leah’s specific for testing the fact of Uthlakanyana’ s being a real man ora “ fairy substitute.” Mrs. Sullivan had “a healthy, blue-eyed baby, which in one night shrivelled

UHLAKANYANA.

there ever was such a man, who knew how to speak thus whilst a child ; and who was so strong that he could get the better of old men 1 Did you not see him when he took the leg of beef ? You might then have understood that this man was into almost nothing, and never ceased squalling and crying.” Of course Mrs. Sullivan believed, and her neighbours helped her in the belief, that fairies had taken a fancy to her baby, and had placed one of themselves in its stead ; and it was nothing but the strong resemblance which still lurked under the shrunken features, that saved the changeling from being griddled alive, or having some other equally merciful experiment tried upon it, which was sure to settle the child’s identity by proving the possibility or impossibility of destroying it ! But Ellen Leah was a more sensible and cautious woman ; she recommended Mrs. Sullivan to make a “brewery of egg-shells,” and she would see what she would see ; and then if the “ squalling, crying” thing turned out to be a fairy, and not till then, the red-hot poker was to be crammed down its throat. Mrs. Sullivan determined to try Ellen Leah’s specific, and the following is the result, no doubt in the authentic words of Mrs. Sullivan herself, duly attested : —

‘ ‘ Home went Mrs. Sullivan, and did as Ellen Leah desired. She put the pot on the fire, and plenty of turf under it, and set the water boiling at such a rate, that if ever water was red-hot — it surely was.

“ The child was lying for a wonder quite easy and quiet in the cradle, every now and then cocking his eye, that would twinkle as keen as a star in a frosty night, over at the great fire, and the big pot upon it ; and he looked on with great attention at Mrs. Sullivan breaking the eggs, and putting down the eggshells to boil. At last he asked, with the voice of a very old man, ‘ What are you doing, mammy ? ’

“Mrs. Sullivan’s heart, as she said herself, was up in her mouth ready to choke her, at hearing the child speak. But she contrived to put the poker in the fire, and to answer, without making any wonder at the words, ‘ I’m brewing, a vick ’ (my son).

“ ‘ And what are you brewing, mammy ? ’ said the little imp, whose supernatural gift of speech now proved beyond question that he was a fairy substitute.

“ ‘I wish the poker was red,’ thought Mrs. Sullivan ; but it was a large one, and took a long time heating : so she determined to keep him in talk until the poker was in a proper state to thrust down his throat, and therefore repeated the question.

“ ‘ Is it what I’m brewing, a vick,* said she, * you want to know ? ’

“ ‘Yes, mammy : what are you brewing ? ’ returned the fairy.

“ ‘Egg-shells, a vick,* said Mrs. Sullivan.

“ ‘ Oh ! ’ shrieked the imp, starting up in the cradle, and clapping his hands together, ‘ I’m fifteen hundred years in the world, and I never saw a brewery of egg-shells before ! ’ The poker was by this time quite red, and Mrs. Sullivan seizing it ran furiously towards the cradle ; but somehow or other her foot slipped, and she fell flat on the floor, and the poker flew out of her hand to the other end of the house. However, she got up, without much loss of time, and went to the cradle, intending to pitch the wicked thing that was in it into the pot of boiling water, when there she saw her own child in a sweet sleep, one of his soft round arms rested on the pillow — his features were as placid as if their repose had never been disturbed, save the rosy mouth which moved with a gentle and regular breathing.” ( Croker’s Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland.)

For the various methods for detecting an imp which has taken the place of a child, see Thorpe , Op. cit. Vol. II., pp. 174—177.

not produced in a natural way. He got into the queen ; he got in ;15 he was not produced in a natural way ; and as for the king, he is not his son. All we women deny it now j and you men will see it some other day. He will do great things, for he spoke before he was born. There, he has taken away your meat from you by his mouth, and you all old men too ; and he circumvented even his father about his leg of beef. He will do prodigies ; for he, too, is a prodigy, a real prodigy.”

Thus, all that meat was finished.

U thlakanyana goes a hunting , and takes birds out of other people's traps.

Uthlakanyana went to hunt by the river. He found very many traps: all the traps had caught birds, izindhlazi, by twos and by threes. So he took them all out, and made them into a bundle, and went home with them. On his arrival he went in to his mother, and said, “ Mother, take off my load ; I am weighed down.” She said, “ What are you carrying % ” He said, “ I am carrying my birds, which I went to catch.” His mother returned thanks, saying, “My boy is a man. He is wise. You

15 Luther believed in some such thing as this, which he speaks of not as a possibility merely, but as fact, which had come under his own observation. He says that, under certain circumstances, the offspring of women is “oftentimes an imp of darkness, half mortal, half devil ; ” and adds, “ such cases are peculiarly horrible and appalling. ” (Michelet's Life of Luther. Bogue. p. 325.) Such belief was not peculiar to Luther. He held it in common with his countrymen and the rest of Europe. In the Danish Traditions there is the legend of a demon who, under the form of “ Brother Ruus,” succeeded in corrupting, and almost in handing over to absolute perdition, the good brethren of Esrom; but having been detected, was “ conjured into the form of a horse ” by the abbot, and on promising to do no more harm, and swearing eternal obedience to him, was allowed to go free. The demon then passes over to England, and “ enters the king's fair daughter." When no wise man could be found sufficiently wise to expel the intruder, at length the demon himself exclaims, “lam Brother Ruus. No one can expel me from this fair vessel, save the abbot of Esrom, to whom I have sworn obedience. ” ( Thorpe's Northern Mythology. Vol. II.f pp. 2G9.J

UHLAKANYANA.

surpass all the men, and your father, and your friends.” So she untied the birds. He said, “ Cook them all ; lute them down with cowdung.” So his mother cooked them. The boy said, “I am going out of this house to-day, and shall sleep with the other boys. Do not take the cover off these my birds. I shall come in the morning ; they will be nice then.”

The boys object to have Uthlakanyana as a bedfellow.

He went out to go to sleep with the other boys. They said, “ Where are you going here ? We do not like to sleep with you.” He said, “ Why may not I sleep with you, since I too am a boy indeed? Am I a little girl?” They said, “ No. You are very wise. You deceived our fathers about their meat, which the king gave them. You said you would put it in their houses for them. There was not even one in the whole village of the king who saw anything more of his meat. And we see you are not the king’s son.” He said, “Whose son am I?” They said, “We don’t know. There is no child of the king like you. You are a prodigy, that’s a fact. You will be up to some mischief. It is not ended yet. You are a prodigy, that’s a fact.” He said, “Since you say this, I shall sleep here for contention’s sake.” They said, “ What contention do you mean, you being a mere boy? Do you say you have strength to fight? you have nothing but mouth- and word-strength ; you may overcome us with the mouth; strength itself you have none, for you are just born. Now we know that you are a child indeed. Words are your wisdom; that surpasses

Ba

Wa us, as well as our fathers.” So they were silent, and he too was silent. He went to sleep.

Uthlahanyana eats the birds , and deceives his mother.

The cock crew. He awoke and said, “It is now day. I am now going, for my part ; for the crows and men may take my birds out of the traps.” He left, and went to his own house. He did not open the door ; he raised it, and so went in, his mother still sleeping. He uncovered the pot, and eat his birds ; he did not eat the heads of them all ; he eat their bodies, every one of them. He went out and scraped up some cowdung, and returned and put it in the bottom of the pot, and placed the heads on the top of it; and luted it down. He did all this, his mother being still asleep. He went out under the door. He departed a little way, and came back again, and said, “Mother, mother, open the door for me,” as though he had only just come. He went in, and took water, and washed. He then said, “Just give me my birds.” He had said on his first going in, “You sleep for ever! The birds may have all turned into dung, for the sun is already up. I know that birds do so turn when the sun has risen, as it has risen now. We may not find them, but something instead of them at the bottom.” He uncovered the pot, and said, “It is even so now ; there is nothing but dung ; the heads alone are left.” His mother said, “ How has it been done?” He said, “Do you know how ? ” And then, “ It is I who know. You are but a little child. Did you give birth to me ? Did not I myself say, ‘ Give birth to me at once ; the cattle of

UHLAKANYANA.

my father are ooming to an end in the kraal ? * Did you ever hear a child say thus, ‘ Let me be born,’ he being a child who could be worsted by anything ? I am very old. I am not your child.16 And that father whom you are with, he is not my father ; he is a mere man, one of our people, and nothing more. As for me, I merely lay down in you, you being his wife. We will not live together. I shall set out on my own account by myself, just travelling about, and leave you, that you may live together here alone. For my part, I am going to travel over the whole world.”17 The contents of the pot were taken out. His mother said, “ Alas, my child, you have spoken truly ; you said that ‘the birds might turn into dung at the bottom of the pot ! * Truly there is now nothing but dung at the bottom, and the heads alone at the top.” The boy said, “Just let me see them ? ” He looked, and eat up the heads also himself, every one of them : and said, “As you have eaten my birds, I will not now give you even these heads of them ; for it is you who have eaten their flesh.” So he finished the heads.

16 “I ani very old,” says Uthlakanyana. “I am not your child.” So in Campbell's Highland Tales there is an account of a “ child not yet a year old, which had not spoken or attempted to speak, which suddenly addressed hia mother,” as they were passing near Glen Odhar, thus :

“ ‘ Many a dun hummel cow,

With a calf below her,

Have I been milking In that dun glen yonder.

Without dog, without man,

Without woman, without gillie,

But one man,

And he hoary.*

The good woman threw down her child, and ran home.” Uthlakanyana’s mother was much more cool on the exhibition of her child’s marvellous power.

( Vol. /., p. cvii. — See also Grimm's Home Stories. “ The Fairy Folk. ‘ Third Tale. * " )

17 Uthlakanyana feigns a reason for quitting the home into which he has intruded himself, and where he is acceptable to no one but to her who considers herself his mother. Other demons are not so accommodating. It is necessary

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Uthlakanyana goes to the traps , and gets trapped himself.

He took his walking-stick and went out, chiding thus, “ It was not right that my birds should be eaten whilst I was imagining that I was going to eat my birds, which had been cooked : yet, forsooth, she was going to sleep for ever, until all the birds became dung.” He was silent. He went on his journey, and came to the traps of a cannibal; so he took out the birds. As he was taking them out, the cannibal arrived. The boy, being caught, said, “ Don’t kill me.” The cannibal had seen that the birds were taken out by someone. Therefore he put birdlime on sticks in front of the traps, and he was caught by the birdlime. He said, “ Don’t beat me, and I will tell you. Take me out, and cleanse me from the birdlime, and take me home with you. Have you not a mother?” The cannibal replied, “ I have a mother.” The boy said, “ Why then do you spoil me, and not take me out, and cleanse me from the birdlime, and take me home with you ? I shall be bitter ; I shall not be nice ; if you beat me in this way, I shall not be nice; I shall be bitter. Cleanse me, and take me home to devise various plans for the purpose of getting rid of them. In the Danish Traditions we find an account of one whom “a shrewd female engaged to drive from the house,” which she did as follows : — “ One day, when he was out in the field, she killed a pig, and made a pudding of it, together with the skin and hair, which, on his return, she placed before him. As was his custom, he began slashing away at it, but as he ate he gradually became thoughtful, and at length sat quite still with the knife in his hand, and eyeing the pudding : he then exclaimed, ‘ Pudding with hide, and pudding with hair, pudding with eyes, and pudding with bones in it. I have now thrice seen a young wood spring up on Tiis lake, but never before did I see such a pudding ! The fiend will stay here no longer!’ Saying these words, he ran off, and never returned.” (Thorpe, Op. ext. Vol. II., p. 114:.) Luther suggested a more summary process; he recommended such a child, which is said to have “ had no human parents,” to be thrown into the Moldau ; regarding it as a creation of the devil — “a mere mass of flesh and blood, without any soul.” ( Michelet , Op. ext., p. 325. See also p. 326.)

UHLAKANYANA.

with you, that you may put me in your house, that I may be cooked by your mother. Set me there, that I may dry; and do you go away, and just leave me at your home. I cannot be cooked if you are there ; I shall be bad ; I cannot be nice.”

UtJclakanyana is taken home by the cannibal , and delivered to the cannibal's mother.

Uthlakanyana avoids being boiler

So the cannibal took him, and went home with him ; he took also his birds. On coming home to his mother, he said, “Mother, here is the animal which was eating my birds. I have found him to-day ; I caught him with my birdlime. He told me to take him out, and cleanse him from the birdlime. He told me not to beat him. He said he should be bitter if I beat him. So I assented; I cleansed him, and brought him home. He asked if I had not a mother 1 I told him — I mean this animal here — that I had. He said he would be cooked by you, when I was absent. He said he should not be nice, if cooked in my presence. So I assent. Do you cook him in the morning. Just let him lie down to-night.” The cannibal and a boy, his brother, both assented, saying, “Just let him lie down to-night.”

by boiling the cannibal's mother.

In the morning, the cannibal said, “Mother, take care of my game.” Uthlakanyana said, “Take me, and put me on the top of the hut, that I may dry in the sun’s rays”; thinking he should then be able to see in which direction the cannibal would disappear. So he was placed on the top of the hut. The cannibal and his brother departed, and disappeared over the ridge of the hill. Uthlakanyana got down, and said, “ Mother, are you still lying down?” The cannibal’s mother said, “Yes.” Uthlakanyana said, “ Get up, and let us play at boiling each other. You will boil me a little, and I you. Let the boiling be done in the great pot ; for I shall swell out very much, and fill the pot. There is the great pot which is fit for boiling me in.” The cannibal’s mother said, “Yes, surely; you say the truth ; for you know yourself, and about your being boiled.” He said, “ Take it, then, and put it on the fire.” Uthlakanyana kindled the fire ; he kindled it a little, and said, “ The fire is abundant.” He said, “ Let us just feel the water, if it is already hot.” He put in his hand, and said, “ Just the thing ! You must put me in. Let us begin with me.” “Yes, surely,” said the cannibal’s mother. She took him, and put him in, and put the lid on. He was silent in the pot. At length he said, “Just take me out.” She took him out. He said, “Out upon it ! Let us just kindle the fire a little.”18 Uthlakanyana made up the fire, and said, “ I have felt the water that it is not warm ; let us make up the fire.” He made a great fire, and looked in, and found it boiling. He said to the cannibal’s mother, “Take off your clothes, for the water is now fit for you to go in ; for I too went in when it was just so : now for you ; it is now pleasantly warm.” Uthlaka-

18 Ake ku nge ku ya baswa. — The conjunctive mood of uhinga after ake, followed by the present tense of the indicative mood, as here, is used to express a wish that something may be done slightly, or for a little time. The following are examples : — Ake u nge u ya vula, “ Do you open the door a little ; ” Ake ngi nge ngi ya lima, “Just let me dig a little ; v Ake a nge u ya li bamba, “Just let him hold the horse for a little while.”

UIILAKANYANA.

nyana began to unfasten her clothes. She said, “ Leave me alone, that I may undress myself; don’t urge me. Why do you urge me?” Uthlakanyana said, “ Of what consequence is it if I have undone your things, I who am mere game, which is about to be eaten by your sons and you? Of what consequence is it, I being mere game, which is about to be eaten by your sons and you ? ” He put her in, and put on the lid. She cried out, “ Uthlakanyana ! take me out ! I am scalded to death ! ”19 He said, “ No, indeed. You are not yet scalded to death. If you were scalded to death, you could not say you were scalded to death. I am a man, and so understand that if a man says, he is scalding to death, he is not yet scalded ; if he is scalded, he does not say he is scalding ; he is scalded, and that is all.” She said, “ Uthlakanyana, I am being done.” Uthlakanyana said, “No, you are not yet done. There, you are now saying that you are being done. I know, when a man has been thoroughly done, he does not say constantly, i I am already done.’ He just says nothing, when he is already done.” So she was boiled, and said no more. Uthlakanyana said, “Now, then, I perceive that you are done, because you no longer say so now. Now you have become silent; that is the reason why I think you are thoroughly done. You will be eaten by your children. Do away, then ! I see now you are

19 One cannot give this idiom, Nga tsha, the full force in an English translation. It is the aorist tense, and is used inter jectionally. Its meaning is either hyperbolical, to arrest the attention and fix it on some imminent danger, as Wa fa! “You are dead ! ” or it expresses a sudden, unexpected act, which has just been completed, as Sa tsha! “The gun fired.” An instance of the use of this tense occurs in the first paragraph of this Tale : InTcomo zikababa za pela. Uthlakanyana exaggerates ; he says, are devoured : the mother, in repeating his words, says, zi ya pda, “are coming to an end,” — are being devoured.

u vutiwe impela manje, ukuba u I boiled indeed, because you are now se u tule.” 1 silent.”20

U thlahanyana puts on the clothes of the cannibal's mother , and becomes a witness of the cannibal's feast.

Utblakanyana then took tbe garments of tbe cannibal’s motlier, and put them all on, and was big by means of tbe garments : be then lay down where tbe old woman, the cannibal’s mother, bad lain. The cannibals came at length, and said, “ Mother.” Uthlakanyana answered, “ Yes,” with a little voice like tbe mother. “ Why do you call me ? There is your game : it is now swollen to a great size, and is nice, just as he said. Do you eat. I shall not get up. I have already eaten of it.” They drew out an arm. They eat. The cannibal’s boy said, “ These hands are just like mother’s.” The elder cannibal said, “ How are you speaking? You are prognosticating evil to mother.” He replied, “No; I withdraw the saying.” So they eat, and finished the arm. They drew out a leg, and eat. The cannibal’s boy again said, “This foot is just like mother’s. Although you said as regards the hands, I might not say they were just like mother’s, I say it. I say again that this foot is just like hers.” The cannibal beat him. Uthlakanyana spoke, still lying down, and said, “ My child, that

20 A somewhat similar trick is played with equal success by Maol a Chliobain, on the Giant’s mother. She persuades her to open the sack in which she was suspended, to be killed on the Giant’s return ; she escapes, and transfers the old woman to her place in the sack, and she is killed by her own son. (Campbell, Op. cit. Vol. /., p. 255.) So Peggy succeeds in baking the cannibal-witch in her own oven, which she had heated for the purpose of baking Peggy. ( Grimm's Home Stories. “ Hans and Peggy.” — See also “ The Tale of the Shifty Lad,” a Highland Uthlakanyana, how he managed to hang his master in roguery. ( Campbell, Op. cit. Vol. /., p. 328.)

UHLAKANYAtfA.

wizard would eat me, for his part ; for when he is eating game, he calls it by my name, and thinks he sees a resemblance to me. Just be silent, my child, and go on eating.”

Uthlakanyana thinks it is time to be off, and sets off accordingly.

Uthlakanyana said, “Just get out of the way of the door ; I am going out ; I shall be back again presently. Do you go on eating.” When Uthlakanyana reached the doorway, the elder cannibal said, “ Surely this heel is like mother’s.” Uthlakanyana drew out his legs ; he was afraid now ; he went out as fast as he could, and hastened to get away from the cannibal’s house. He began to undo the garments ; he slipped them all off, and ran ’with all his might. He saw at length that he was far enough off that they could not catch him ; so he shouted, “ You are eating your mother, all along, ye cannibals ! ” The cannibals heard, and went out. The cannibal’s boy said, “ I said, these are like mother’s hands and her foot.” They ran after him. U thlakanyana came to a swollen river, and changed himself into a weedingstick on its banks. The cannibals came, and found his footprints on the ground ; and saw too the weeding-stick. The cannibal took it up, and said, “ He has got across.” He threw the weeding-stick, saying “ He did thus,” throwing the stick as he spoke. However, it

23 Uhlakulo. — An old fashioned wooden pick, which is gradually giving place to iron. It is made of hard wood, carved to somewhat the shape of a hand, and hardened by placing the edge in hot ashes. It is now used by old people, or by those who are too weak to use the heavier iron tool. The natives use it stooping. It is about a foot and a half long. It is sometimes carved into the shape of a hand at each end.

was Uthlakanyana ; on coming to the river, he had turned into a stick. He was happy when he stood on the other side, and said, “You put me across ! ” They said, “Oh, it was he, forsooth, who was the stick, when we thought it was a mere stick.” So they turned back.

Uthlakanyana circumvents a hare , and gets a dinner and a whistle.

Thus he passed over the river, and went on his way : he fell in with a hare, and said, “ Hare, come here, and I will tell you a tale.” The hare said, “No. I do not wish to have anything to do with you.” He replied, “ I will tell you some tales about the business which I Uthlakanyana have had with Mr. Cannibal, on the other side the river.” The hare still avoided him. At length he got nearer and nearer, and caught hold of the hare. He impaled him on a stick, and plucked off the hair,25 and lighted a fire, and roasted and eat him. He carved one of the bones, and made a whistle. And went on his way.

U thlakanyana is circumvented by an iguana , and loses his whistle.

He fell in with an iguana, high up in a tree : he said to him, “ Good morning, Uthlakanyana.” He said, “ I thank you ; good morning to you, iguana.” The iguana said, “ Lend me your whistle, that I may just hear if it will sound.” Uthlakanyana

24 Nozimu. — Uthlakanyana left the word izimu, “a cannibal,” and used Uzimu, a proper name. Had he spoken of having had anything to do with a cannibal, the hare might have been afraid that he was a cannibal’s agent : but when he spoke of Uzimu, the hare, supposing him to speak of a man so called, would be likely to listen willingly to his tale.

25 The natives do not skin hares ; they pluck them.

tjhlakanyana.

U thlakanyana steals some bread , said, “ No indeed ! I cannot lend you my whistle. I don’t like to.” The iguana said, “ I will give it back to you again.” He said, “ Come away then from the pool ; ” (for the tree was standing over a pool of the river ;) “ and come here into the open country ; I am afraid near a pool. I say, you might run into the pool with my flute, for you are a person that lives in deep water.” So the iguana came away, and went to the open country. Uthlakanyana lent him the whistle. He played on it, and said, “ My ! your whistle sounds. Just lend it to me, that I may play it again to-morrow.” Uthlakanyana said, “ No ! bring it to me. I now want to be off.” The iguana said, “ No ! you have now lent it to me.” He said, “ Bring it directly.” Uthlakanyana was angry ; he laid hold of the iguana, and said, “ Give it up.” But the iguana smote Uthlakanyana with his tail ; he hit him very hard, and he felt a great deal of pain, and let go his flute ; and the iguana went away into the deep water with Uthlakanyana’s whistle.

and escapes without punishment.

So Uthlakanyana went on his way to another place. He found some bread belonging to an old man hid away ; he took it, and ran away with it. When the old man saw him, he said, “ Put down my bread, Uthlakanyana.” But he ran into a snake’s hole. The old man came, and put in his hand, and caught hold of him. Uthlakanyana said, “ Ha, ha ! you caught hold of a root.” He left hold of him, and caught hold again ; this time he caught hold of a root. Then Uthlakanyana said, crying, “My ! my ! you have killed me ! ” The old man pulled with all his might, until he was tired ; he pulling the root all the time. At length he went away. Uthlakanyana eat all the bread, and then went on his way.

Uthlakanyana becomes the servant of a leopard.

Uthlakanyana went on his way, and fell in with a leopard which had cubs ; she, however, was not at home, but only the children. He staid with the children. At length the leopard came, carrying a buck. She swelled herself out, and was angry when she saw him ; she was very angry ; she put down the buck, and went towards him. Uthlakanyana said, “ My lord, dont be angry. You are a lord indeed, you. I am going to stay with your children ; you will go to hunt ; and I will take care of them when you have gone to hunt. I shall build a beautiful house, that you may not lie here at the foot of a rock with your children. I shall build your house well, and thatch it.” The leopard said, “Very well then ; I agree if you will stay with the children, and take care of them when I have gone out. Now then I agree.”

U thlakanyana gives the leopard a lesson in suckling.

Uthlakanyana then said, “ I will give you the children, that you may suckle them one by one.” So he gave her one child. She said, “ Bring my other child also. Don’t say, let one suck by itself. Let them both suck together, lest the other cry.” Uthlakanyana

26 Wa bamba impande. Wa ngi bulala. — Examples of the aorist used interjectionally. We cannot express them in an English translation. But somewhat of the meaning may be gained by comparing them with such expressions as ‘ ‘ Caught ! ” when a policeman puts his hand suddenly on a prisoner. Or as when a sportsman has made a successful shot, and says, “ Dead ! ” “ Hit ! ” “ Killed ! ”

UHLAKANYANA.

said, “Not at all ! Just suckle that one first, and I will give you the other when that one has come back to me.” She said, “ By no means. I do not do in that way, for my part, when I nurse them. Don’t teach me the suckling of my children. Just bring them both together.” Uthlakanyana said, “ Come, hand over that one which I gave you first.” At length she gave him back the first ; and then he gave her the other. She said, “ Now come out from there, and come to me, and skin my buck, and cook its flesh, according to your word, for you said you would cook.” So he went, and skinned the buck, and boiled it. The leopard eat, and her little ones. They went to sleep. They woke in the morning.

Uthlakanyana eats the leopard and her cubs.

The leopard said, “ Stay here, and keep things safe. I trust my children to you ; preserve them.” Uthlakanyana built a house, and finished it : he made it with a very small doorway ; and he dug a long burrow, which had a distant outlet, and cut off the hafts of four assagais. The leopard arrived ; she brought a buck with her ; she said, “ Uthlakanyana ! ” He answered, “ Ay, ay ! ” Uthlakanyana had

27 Nampo Tee abantwana, comp. Mame, nantso ke inyamazana yami, p. 17. — The demonstrative adverbs in o always point to something with which the person addressed has some concern. Nampo abantwana, “there are the children,” is an answer to a question, and implies that they are near the enquirer, though he does not see them. Nampo ke abantwana, ‘ ‘ there, then, are the children,” implies that some understanding has been previously entered into with the person addressed, and that they are now entrusted to his care, that he may act towards them in accordance with the previous understanding. Thus a man pointing out to another a horse running away, if near at hand, he says, Nanti li baleka, “there it is running away.” If it is at a considerable distance, he says, Nantiya li baleka. But if the owner asks, Li pi ihashi lami na? “ where is my horse ? ” the answer would be, Nanto li baleka. And if he had been warned beforehand that it would run away, Nanto ke li baleka.

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now eaten one of the cubs ; there was but one left. She said, “ Just bring me my children.” So he gave it her, and she suckled it. She said, “ Bring me the other.” He replied, “ Hand back that one.” She said, “No; bring them both.” Uthlakanyana refused, and said, “ Just hand back that one first, and then I will give you this.” The leopard gave it him. He gave it back to her again. For now there was but one child. She said, “ Come out now, and skin the buck.” So he went out, and skinned it, and cooked it. The leopard eat and her little one. Uthlakanyana went into the house. The leopard said, “ I too shall go in now.” Uthlakanyana said, “ Come in then.” She went in. It was hard to go in ; for Uthlakanyana had cunningly contrived the doorway, remembering that he intended to eat the cub, and the leopard would be very angry ; he said, “ She will be thus compressed, and not easily enter ; thus, whilst she is squeezing in, I shall go down into the long hole ; and thus, when she gets in, I shall be far from the house.” So he went into the hole which was in the house. And the leopard entered. When she entered, she found only one child. She said, “ Dear me ! so then this Uthlakanyana,— so then he is a fellow of this kind ! Where is my child ? He has eaten it.” She went into the hole, into which he had gone, intending to get out the other end ; Uthlakanyana had got out first, and returned to the house, and fixed his assagais in the earth at the doorway. When she came to the doorway, she was pierced by the four assagais, and died. Uthlakanyana came to her when

UHLAKANYANA.

she was dead ; he was happy ; he took and killed the leopard’s child. So he staid and eat up the leopard and her child ; he took, however, one leg, and went on his travels, for he was a man that did not stay in one place.

[In another version of the Tale, this story is told of a doe, which had “ thirteen children.” Uthlakanyana engages himself as nurse, and eats the kids one after another in thirteen days by a similar stratagem.

The story continues thus : —

Then Uthlakanyana fled. The doe pursued. Uthlakanyana came to a full river. On his arrival he turned into an upper millstone.28 The doe took it up, and threw it across the river,29 saying, “ Oh ! if this were he, I would now kill him.” When Uthlakanyana reached the other side, he said, “ You threw me, Uthlakanyana, Bogcololo, me, ’Mathlab’-indod’-i-s’-emi.”]

U thlahanyana falls in with a cannibal , whom he gets into trouble , and leaves to die.

On his journey he fell in with a cannibal. The cannibal said, “ Good morning, Uthlakanyana.” Uthlakanyana replied, “ Good morning to you, my uncle.” The cannibal said, “ Good morning to you, child of my sister.” Uthlakanyana replied, “ Good morning to you, my uncle.” He said, “ Come here, and I will tell you a business I and Mrs. Leopard have had together behind here ; come here, and I will tell you a business I and Mrs. Leopard have had together.” The cannibal said, “ Certainly.” Uthlakanyana said, “Just eat; here is some

28 The native women use two stones in grinding — the upper a hard pebble ; the lower a large flat stone, which is soft, and somewhat hollowed. The upper is made to perform about a half revolution backwards and forwards in the hollow of the lower ; and the meal is collected in front on a mat.

29 This is related of Litaolane in the Basuto Legend of Kammapa. ( Casalis ’ Basutos, p. 349. )

' meat.” The cannibal thanked him, and said, “ Child of my sister, you have helped me ; I was very, very hungry.” The cannibal eat, and Uthlakanyana eat with him. Two cows made their appearance — one white, the other black. They were seen by the cannibal ; he said, “ There are my cows.” Uthlakanyana said, “ The black one is mine.” The cannibal said, “ The white one is mine, which is white30 also inside.” They went on to them, and turned them back. Uthlakanyana said, “ Uncle, let a house be built.” The cannibal said, “You say well ; then we shall live comfortably, and eat our cattle.” The house was hastily built, and the grass gathered. Uthlakanyana said, “ Let your cow be killed first, my uncle, which is white outside and in, that we may just see if it is, as you said, white also inside.” The cannibal assented. So the cow was killed, and skinned ; they found it lean. Uthlakanyana said, “ I don’t eat, for my part, a thing like this. Let mine be caught.” The cannibal assented. It was killed, and found to be very fat. The cannibal said, “ Child of my sister, you are wise indeed, for you saw at a glance that this cow of yours was fat.” Uthlakanyana said, “ Let the house be thatched now ; then we can eat our meat. You see the sky, that we shall get wet.” The cannibal said, “ You are right, child of my sister ; you are a man indeed, in saying let us thatch the house, for we shall get

30 White, i.e., fat.

31 U hie. — This verbis often used with no very definite meaning, at least, such as we can translate. And often it can be omitted without affecting the sense even to the apprehension of a native. It is here translated “ at a glance,” or forthwith, or at first. It implies that what the other saw and said, without any one else at the time seeing, has turned out to be correct. U vele wa i bona is also used, “You saw it at the first.”

UHLAKANYANA.

wet.” Uthlakanyana said, “ Do you do it then ; I will go inside, and push the thatching-needle for you, in the house.” The cannibal went up. His hair was very, very long. Uthlakanyana went inside, and pushed the needle for him. He thatched in the hair of the cannibal, tying it very tightly ; he knotted it into the thatch constantly, taking it by separate locks and fastening it firmly, that it might be tightly fastened to the house.32 He saw that the hair (thus fastened in) was enough, and that the cannibal could not get down, if he should go outside. When he was outside Uthlakanyana went to the fire, where the udder of the cow was boiled. He took it out, and placed it on an eating-mat ; he took an assagai, and cut, and filled his mouth. The cannibal said,

“ What are you about, child of my sister 1 Let us just finish the house ; afterwards we can do that ; we will do it together.” Uthlakanyana replied, “ Come down then. I cannot go into the house any more. The thatching is finished.” The cannibal assented. When he thought he was going to quit the house, he was unable to quit it. He cried out, saying, “ Child of my sister, how haye you managed your thatching 1 ” Uthlakanyana said, “ See to it yourself. I have thatched well, for I shall not have any dispute. Now I am about to eat in peace ; I no longer dispute

32 In the Basuto Legend of the Little Hare, the hare has entered into an alliance with the lion, but having been ill-treated by the latter, determines to be avenged. “ My father,” said he to the lion, “ we are exposed to the rain and hail ; let us build a hut.” The lion, too lazy to work, left it to the hare to do, and the “ wily runner ” took the lion’s tail, and interwove it so cleverly into the stakes and reeds of the hut that it remained there confined for ever, and the hare had the pleasure of seeing his rival die of hunger and thirst. ( Casalis> Basutos, p. 354:.)

TZINGANEKWANE.

with anybody, for I am How alone with my cow.” He continued, “ What would you have said, since yours is thin, and has no fat at all? Come down by your own strength with which you went up. I cannot come and undo you.” And he cut into the fat meat, and said, “ Take this.” The cannibal said, “ Bring it at once then. Mount, and bring it to me, child of my sister. Help me; undo me, that I may come to you. I am not going to make a noise. You shall give me ; for I have seen that my cow is lean ; the fat one is yours. Whoever made a dispute about the property of another man, to which he had no right?” The sky came with hailstones and lightning. 'Uthlakanyana took all the meat into the house ; he staid in the house, and lit a fire. It hailed and rained. The cannibal cried on the top of the house ; he was struck with the hailstones, and died there on the house. It cleared. XJthlakanyana went out, and said, “ Uncle, just come down, and come to me. It has become clear. It no longer rains, and there is no more hail, neither is there any more lightning. Why are you silent ? ”

So Uthlakanyana eat his cow alone, until he had finished it. He then went on his way.

Uthlakanyana meets a cannibal , who will not trust him.

He met another cannibal, carrying a large musical calabash. ITe said, “ Uncle ! ” The cannibal said, “ How am I your uncle ! ” He said, “ Don’t you know ? ” The cannibal replied, “ I don’t know, for my part. ’ ’ U thlakanyan a

83 Wo lete is a paulo-post future imperative. It implies that a thing is required to be done at once. Wo leta is indefinite, applying to any future time.

UHLAKANYANA.

said, “You don’t mean it ! You are my uncle indeed.” The cannibal said, “ I do not like that cunning of yours. I know you ; you are Uthlakanyana. I am not deceived, for my part. I am a man. Just hold your tongue. I shall never admit that you are my sister’s child.” He said, “ No ? Lend me this calabash.” The cannibal refused, saying, “ No ! I can have no communication with you whatever ! ” Uthlakanyana left him.

Uthlakanyana makes the cannibal who would not trust him the means of frightening another cannibal.

Ile went on his way, and found another cannibal in a house. He went in. The cannibal said, “ Whence come you ? ” He replied, “ I came from yonder. I was with Mr. Cannibal, my uncle ; and you, too, are my uncle.” However, the cannibal he had met, who refused to lend him the calabash, was following. The one he found in the house said, “ Let us bray my skin, child of my sister.” So they brayed the skin. The calabash sounded “ Boo ” very loudly. Uthlakanyana ran out, and said, “ l)o you hear this?” The cannibal said, “ Where ? ” He said, “ Here outside.” The cannibal went out, and listened ; he heard the calabash sounding very loudly. He went in again, and said, “ Bray the skin, and I will bray it too.” He worked hard at it ; there arose a great noise from braying the skin. The calabash resounded exceedingly ; and now the sound came

34 A ngi yi ’ kuza nga vuma. — The aorist after the future in the negative, is the strongest mode of expressing a negation. It may be rendered, as here, by “never,” “ I will never allow ; ” lit., “ I will never come I allowed.”

IZmGANEKWANE.

Uthlakanyana comes back , and

35 Gargantua swallowed alive five ch. xxxviii. )

with loud blowings. Uthlakanyana said, “ Did you not say there was no noise outside 1 Why is it now approaching with loud blowings 1 ” It sounded at hand now. Both went out ; both fled. The owner of the calabash appeared. The cannibal was now standing on one hill, and Uthlakanyana on another; the cannibal asked, “ Who are you who are thus alarming us ? ” The cannibal who was carrying the calabash said, “ I am Mr. Guzzler. I guzzle down wild spinach ; and as for a man, I just bolt35 him ; I do not chew him ; I just bolt him.” The cannibal ran away when he heard that a man was not chewed.

gains the cannibal's confidence .

Uthlakanyana returned to him of the calabash. He had already taken possession of the house. Uthlakanyana came, and said, “ Uncle, I was living here as a child, as I have in all other places where I have been ; and with you too I will stay, and be your child ; for I lived here as a mere child, as well as in all other places. I wish to live with you, for you too are my uncle.” The cannibal said, “ Yery well, for you are smaller than I. Stay.” So he and the cannibal of the calabash lived together. The cannibal said, “Just stay here, and watch my kraal, that the vagabond I have driven away may not come and burn my kraal.” Uthlakanyana said, “Certainly. Do you go and hunt.” So the cannibal departed ; and Uthlakanyana remained.

lgrims with a salad ! ( Rabelais. Book

UHLAKANYANA.

Uthlakanycma brings a little army against the cannibal , which proves too much for him.

Uthlakanyana took a bag, and departed. He fell in with a snake ; he caught it, and put it in his bag. He fell in with a wasp ; he put it in his bag. He fell in with a scorpion ; he caught it, and put it in his bag : all biting, and deadly poisonous, animals he caught and put in his bag. The bag was full. He tied it up, and carried it back again to the house. The cannibal came. Uthlakanyana said, “Uncle, it is proper that the doorway should this very day be contracted, that it may be small : a large doorway is bad.” The cannibal said, “No. I do not like a narrow doorway.” He said, “Very well ; I agree. I am now going to my mother’s kraal, to fetch my cousin, and return here with her, that she may live here.” He took the bag with him, and hid it. When it was dark, Uthlakanyana came to the house where the cannibal was, with some rods for the purpose of contracting the doorway. He opened the door, and went in ; and again went out. He built up the doorway, making it small : it was not large enough for a child to go out. In the morning Uthlakanyana, still stopping at the doorway, said, “Uncle! Uncle!” The cannibal said, “ Who are you 1 ” He said, “ It is I, uncle.” He said, “You, child of my sister?” He replied, “ Yes ; open the door for me ; I come to tell you news ; I come back from the road ; I did not reach my mother : it is bad news which I have heard.” The cannibal arose. When he tried to open the door, it was firm. He said, “ Child of my sister, it is

36 Ekakomame = ekaya kubo kamame, that is, the place where his mother was born.

U tldakanyana mocks the dead cann of the hard to open.” The bag was inside ; Utlilakanyana had put it in in the night, when he contracted the doorway. He said, “Just undo that bag, and bring it, and put it here. I too wondered at the contraction of the doorway. Untie the bag, and shake it, and bring it to this little hole : as for the doorway, I will enlarge it.” The cannibal now undid the bag The snake came out, and bit his hand. The bee came out, and stung him in the eye ; the wasp came out, and stung him on the cheek. The cannibal said, “ Child of my sister, this thing which you have done to-day, I never saw the like, since I was born of a woman and man ! Help me ; I am being eaten up here in my house. I can no longer see.” (The scorpion too stung the cannibal.) Uthlakanyana said, “ I too am ignorant how those animals got into my bag.” The cannibal said, “ Open, that I may get out.” All the animals came out of the bag, and eat the cannibal, and he died of the poison of snakes, and of bees, and scorpions, and wasps. He cried and cried until he died. So the cannibal died.

ibal, and instals himself as owner house .

Uthlakanyana opened the door, and said, “ Are you still angry, my uncle 1 Do you no longer cry out so as to be heard • for I thought you were screaming ? My uncle, speak. Why are you silent 1 J ust play your calabash, that I may listen and hear. At length he entered ; when he came, the cannibal was dead. He took him out of the house, and took possession of it. He slept, and was happy now.

UIILAKANYANA.

The original ovmer of the house comes back , and submits to U thlakanyana.

The cannibal, the owner of the house, came, and said, “ Child of my sister, I have seen you. I was here at hand, and saw, when you closed up the doorway, that you are a man, since you shut in a man who drove me away from my kraal.” Uthlakanyana said, “And you — now I am greater than you ; for you were surpassed by your friend, and I have surpassed him. I am now finding37 you too today.” The cannibal said, “It is right ; for it is evident that I am surpassed.” So they remained for some time.

Uthlakanyana cannot forget the iguana , from v:hom he gets back his whistle.

Uthlakanyana said, “ I too am going away. My flute ! It is now a long time since it was taken away from me by the iguana.” So he set out; he came to the place, and went up the river. The iguana was out feeding, having gone to feed on the dung, which is its food, and carrying the flute with it. Uthlakanyana mounted on the tree, where the iguana sunned itself, and shouted, “ Iguana ! iguana ! ” The iguana said, “ Who calls me ? Since I have come here to find food for myself, let him who calls me come to me.” Uthlakanyana said, “ You are right. I am coming to the place where you are feeding.” Uthlakanyana descended, and came to

37 To find, that is, to admit as a dependent into the family, and to provide for a person. The use of find in this sense is found in the old ballad of Adam Bell

“ There lay an old wife in that place,

A little beside the fire,

Whom William had found of charity More than seven year.”

U thlahanyana returns to the canni determines to go l

U thlahanyana’ s the iguana, and said, “ Where is my flute ? ” He replied, “ Here it is.” TJthlakanyana said, “ How, then, is it now ? Where, then, is the deep water 1 It is far away ! ” The iguana said, “ What are you going to do to me, since there is your flute? And at the first it was left by you yourself ; I called you to give it to you, but you had already gone.” But TJthlakanyana beat him ; the iguana was beaten, and had the flute taken away. He killed the iguana, and left him dead.

il, but finds the house burnt, and ick to his mother.

Then TJthlakanyana set out, and returned to the cannibal. When he arrived, the cannibal was no longer there, and the house was burnt. So he lived in the open air, and was troubled. He left that place because there was no house, and became a wanderer. At length he said, “ I will now go back to my mother ; for behold I am now in trouble.”

arrival at home »

So he returned home, and came to his mother. When his mother saw him, since it was now a long time that he had separated from her, she greatly rejoiced on seeing her child returned. His mother said, “ How are you, my child ? I am delighted at your return. It is right indeed that a child, though he has separated from his mother a long time, should again return to her. I have been troubled, saying, you would die, since you departed from me whilst still young; saying, what would you possibly eat % ” He replied, “ O, now I am returned, my mother ;

UIILAKANYANA.

for I remembered you.” He concealed his trouble ; for he said, “If I say to my mother, I am come back because of trouble, it will come to pass, when I am guilty of any fault towards her, she will drive me away, and say, Depart hence; you are an old reprobate : and from the place you left, you were sent away for habits of this kind.” Therefore he concealed that, and made much of the saying, “ I have returned for the love of thee, my mother ; ” acting thus that his mother might love him constantly, and that it might not be, when he crossed her, that she should curse him. For Uthlakanyana concealed his faults ; knowing that if he recounted them, he might be treated badly.

On the following day U thlakanyana goes to a wedding , and brings home some umdiandiane.

On the morrow he went to a marriage-dance : on his arrival he looked at the dance : the damsel danced. When they left off dancing, he went home. He came to a hill, and found some umdiandiane ;38 he dug it up. On his arrival at home, he gave it to his mother, and said, “ Mother, cook for me my umdiandiane. I am now going to milk.” His mother cooked it ; when it was done, his mother said, “Just let me taste what it is like.” She eat, and found it nice, and eat the whole.

His mother , having eaten the umdiandiane , redeems her fault by a milk-pail .

Ukcaijana came, and said, “ Mother, give me my umdiandiane.” His mother said, “ I have eaten it, my child.” He said,

38 Also called Intondo, an edible tuber, of which the native children arte fond. Grown up people rarely eat it, except during a famine. But a hunting party, when exhausted and hungry, is glad to find this plant, which is dug up, and eaten raw. It is preferred, however, when boiled.

IZINGANEKWAXE.

“ Give me my umdiancliane ; for I dug it up on a very little knoll ; I having been to a wedding.” His mother gave him a milk-pail. He took it, and went away with it.

Vthlakanyana lends his milk-pail, for which when broken he gets an assagai.

He fell in with some boys, herding sheep, they milking into broken pieces of pottery. He said, “ Take this, here is my milkpail ; milk into it ; and give me also some to drink.” They milked into it. But the last boy broke it. Ukcaijana said, “ Give me my milk-pail : my milk-pail my mother gave me ; my mother having eaten my umdiancliane : my umdiancliane I dug up on a very little knoll ; I having been to a wedding.” They gave him an assagai. So he departed.

V thlakanyana lends his assagai, for vjhich when broken he gets an axe.

He fell in with some other boys, eating liver, they cutting it into slices with the rind of sugar-cane. He said, “ Take this, here is my assagai ; cut the slices with it ; and give me some also.” They took it, and cut slices and eat. It came to pass that the assagai broke in the hands of the last. He said, “ Give me my assagai : my assagai the boys gave me; the boys having broken my milk pail : my milkpail my mother gave me ; my mother having eaten my umdiancliane :

39 It will be observed that when Uthlakanyana offers to lend his property to others he speaks correctly ; but when it has been destroyed, and he demands it back again (that is, according to native custom, something of greater value than the thing injured), he speaks incorrectly, by dropping all the initial vowels of the nominal prefixes. By so doing he would excite their compassion by making himself a child, who does not know how to speak properly. But there is also a humour in it, by which foreigners are ridiculed, who frequently speak in this way. The humour is necessarily lost in the translation.

UHL AK AN YANA.

my umdiandiane I dug up on a very little knoll, I having been to a wedding.” They gave him an axe. He departed.

Utldakanyana lends his axe , for which when broken he gets a blanket

He met with some women fetching firewood ; he said, “ My mothers, with what are you cutting your firewood ? ” They said, “We are not cutting it with anything, old fellow.” He said, “ Take this ; here is my axe. Cut with it. When you have finished, bring it to me.” It came to pass that the axe broke in the hand of the last. He said, “ Give me my axe : my axe the boys gave me ; the boys having broken my assagai : my assagai the boys gave me ; the boys having broken my milk-pail : my milk-pail my mother gave me ; my mother having eaten my umdiandiane : my umdiandiane I dug up on a very little knoll, I having been to a wedding.” The women gave him a blanket. He took it, and went on his way with it.

Uthlakanyana lends his blanket , for which when torn he gets a shield.

He found two young men sleeping without clothing. He said, “ Ah, friends. Do you sleep without clothing ? Have you no blanket ? ” They said, “No.” He said, “ Put on this of mine.” So they put it on. They continually dragged it one from the other, for it was small : at length it tore. He said in the morning, “ Give me my blanket : my blanket the women gave me ; the women having broken my axe : my axe the boys gave me ; the boys having broken my assagai ; my assagai the boys gave me ; the boys having broken my milk-pail : my milk-pail my mother gave me ; my mother having eaten my umdiandiane : my umdiandiane I dug up on a very little knoll, I having been to a wedding.” They gave him a shield. So he departed.

Uthlakanyana lends his shield , for which when broken he receives a war-assagai.

He fell in with some men fighting with a leopard, who had no shields. He said, “ Have you no shield?” They said, “No.” He said, “Take this shield of mine, and fight with it.” They took it ; and killed the leopard. The handloop of the shield broke. He said, “ Give me my shield : my shield the young men gave me ; the young men having torn my blanket : my blanket the women gave me ; the women having broken my axe : my axe the boys gave me ; the boys having broken my assagai : my assagai the boys gave me; the boys having broken my milk-pail : my milk-pail my mother gave me ; my mother having eaten my umdiandiane : my umdiandiane I dug up on a very little knoll, I having been to a wedding.” They gave him a war-assagai. So he went on his way.

What he did with that, perhaps I may tell you on another occasion.

USIKULUMI.

USIKULUMI KAHLOKOHLOKO.40

The father of Usikulumi has his male children destroyed.

It is said there was a certain king ; he begat many sons. But he did not like to have sons ; for he used to say it would come to pass, when his sons grew up, that they would depose him from his royal power.41 There were old women appointed to kill the sons of that king ; so when a male child was born, he was taken to the old women, that they might kill him \ and so they killed him. They did so to all the male children the king had.

Usikulumi is horn , and preserved by his mother's love .

He happened on a time to beget another son ; his mother took him to the old women, concealing him in her bosom. She made presents to the old women, and besought

40 Usikulumi ka/dokoAloko, “Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko. ” Usikulumi, “an orator,” or great speaker. IAlokoAloko, “a finch.” Uthlokothloko may be either his father’s name, or an isibongo or surname given to himself intended to characterize his power as a great speaker.

41 “In the Legends of Thebes, Athens, Argos, and other cities, we find the strange, yet common, dread of parents who look on their children as their future destroyers. ” (Cox. Tales of Thebes and Argos, p. 9 .) Thus, because Hecuba dreams that she gives birth to a burning torch, which the seers interpret as intimating that the child to be bom should bring ruin on the city and land of Troy, the infant Paris is regarded with ‘ ‘ cold unloving eyes, ” and sent by Priam to be exposed on mount Ida. So because the Delphic oracle had warned Laius that he should be slain by his own child, he commanded his son (Edipus to be left on the heights of Cithreron. In the same manner Acrisius, being warned that he should be slain by his daughter Danae’s child, orders her and her son Perseus to be enclosed in an ark, and committed to the sea. But all escape from the death intended for them ; all “ grow up beautiful and brave and strong. Like Apollo, Bellerophon, and Heracles, they are all slayers of monsters.” And “the fears of their parents are in all cases realised.” fSee Cox , Op. cit., and Tales of the Gods and Heroes.) The Legend of Usikulumi has very many curious points in common with these Grecian Myths. There is the father’s dread ; the child’s escape at first by his mother’s love ; in his retreat, like Paris on the woody Ida, he becomes a herder of cattle, and manifests his kingly descent by his kingly bearing among his fellows ; he is discovered by his father’s officers, and is again exposed in a forest, in which lives a many -headed monster, which devours men ; the monster, however, helps him, and he becomes a king, and returns, like one of the invulnerable heroes, to justify his father’s dread, and to give the presentiment a fulfilment.

He goes with the herd them earnestly not to kill him, but to take him to his maternal uncle, for it was a son she loved exceedingly. The mother, then, besought the old women very much, and told them to suckle the child. They suckled him, and took him to his uncle, and left him there with his uncle.

oys, a/nd acts the king.

It came to pass when he had become a young man that he liked to herd the cattle at his uncle’s, and followed the boys of his uncle’s kraal ; they respected and honoured him. It came to pass, when they were herding, he said to the boys, “ Collect large stones, and let us heat them.”42 They collected them, and made a heap. He said, “ Choose also a fine calf, and let us kill it.” They selected it from the herd they were watching. He told them to skin it ; they skinned it, and roasted its flesh joyfully. The boys said, “ What do you mean by this ? ” He said, “ I know what I mean.”

He is seen and recognised by his father's officers.

It happened one day when they were herding, the officers of his father were on a journey, being sent by him; they said, “Who are you 1 ” He did not tell them. They took him, without doubting, saying, “This child is like our king.” They went with him, and took him to his father.

42 It is not at the present time the custom among the natives of these parts to bake meat by means of heated stones, which is so common among some other people, the Polynesians for instance. We should therefore conclude either that this Legend has been derived from other people, or that it arose among the Zulus when they had different customs from those now existing among them.

USIKULUMI.

The officers make him known to his father for a reward.

The king is angry , and commands and lej

When they came to his father, they said to him, “ If we tell you good news, what will you give us ? ” His father said to the officers, “ I will give you cattle of such a colour, or of such a colour, or of such a colour.” The officers refused, saying, “ No ; we do not like these.” There was a selected herd of black oxen, at which they hinted. He said, “ What do you wish ? ” The officers said, “ The herd of black oxen.” He gave them. And so they told him, saying, “It happened in our journeying that we saw a child which is like one of yours.” So then the father saw that it was indeed his son, and said, “ Of which wife is he the child ? ” They who knew that she concealed the child said, “ The daughter of So-and-so, your wife, your Majesty.”

iim to be taken to the great forest , \ there.

He assembled the nation, being very angry, and told them to take his son to a distance. The nation assembled ; his mother and sister also came. The king told them to take away his son, and to go and put him in the great forest. For it was known there was in that forest a great many-headed monster which ate men.

His mother and sister accompany him to the great forest , and leave him there alone.

Ba hamba be ya lapo. Aba- | They set out for that place, ningi a ba finyelelanga ; ba dinwa, | Many did not reach it ; they be-

43 It was formerly, and is still, a custom among the Zulus to separate their oxen into herds according to the colour ; and the different herds were named accordingly. Thus : — Umdubu, the dun-coloured ; intenjane, dun with white spots ; umtoto, red ; irikone, with a white line along the spine ; impemvu, black with white muzzle, or white along the belly, &c.

»-

Usikulumi is aided by the many-)

He visits his uncle , and ii came tired, and turned back again. The mother and sister and the king’s son went, those three. The mother said, “ I cannot leave him in the open country ; I will go and place him where he is ordered to go.” They went to the great forest; they arrived, and entered the forest, and placed him on a great rock which was in the midst of the forest. He sat down on it. They left him, and went back. He remained alone on the top of the rock.

iaded monster , and becomes great.

It came to pass one day that the many-headed monster came, it coming out of the water. That monster possessed everything. It took the young man ; it did not kill him ; it took him, and gave him food, until he became great. It came to pass when he had become great, and no longer wanted anything, having also a large natiou subject to him, which the many-headed monster had given him (for that monster possessed all things, and food and men), he wished to visit his father. He went with a great nation, he being now a king.

received with great joy.

He went to his uncle ; but his uncle did not know him. He went into the house ; but neither did his uncle’s people know him. His officer went to ask a bullock of the uncle ; he said, “ Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko, says, give him a fine bullock, that he may eat.” When the uncle heard the name of Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko, he started, and said, “Who?” The officer

USIKULUMI.

replied, 11 The king.” The uncle went out to see him. He saw it was Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko, indeed. He rejoiced greatly, and said; “ Yi, yi, yi ! ” sounding an alarm for joy, and said, “ Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko, has come ! ” The whole tribe of his uncle was assembled. His uncle gave him a part of a herd of oxen for his great joy, and said, “ There are your oxen.” A great feast was made ; they eat and rejoiced because they saw him, for they did not know that they should ever see him again.

He reaches his father's kingdom ; his father is grieved at his arrival , and tries to kill him.

He passed onward, and went to his father’s. They saw that it was Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko. They told his father, saying, “ Behold your son, whom you cast away in the great forest.” He was troubled exceedingly. He collected the whole nation, and told them to take their weapons. All his people assembled. The father said, “ Let Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko, be killed.” Usikulumi heard it ; and went outside. The whole nation assembled. His father commanded him to be stabbed with a spear. He stood in an open space, and said, “ Hurl your spears at me to the utmost.” He said this because he was confident he should not die ; although they hurled their spears at him a long time, even till

44 Ni nga zisoli, 1 * without self -reproof. ” — This saying is used to give a person liberty to do exactly as he wishes ; e. g. , if it is said, Hamba u yo'zikeiela umbila ensimini yami, “ Go and gather mealies for yourself in my garden,” the person addressed will not consider himself at liberty to take to the utmost of his wishes, but will gather a few. But if the words u nga zisoli are added, he will understand that no limit is put by the owner to his wishes.

the sun set, he should not die. He merely stood, until the sun set. They hurled their spears at him, without having power to kill him.45 For he had the power of not dying ; for that monster strengthened him, for it knew that he was going to his people, and that his father did not want his son; it knew, by its own wisdom, that they would kill Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko, and gave him strength.

45 There are two Legends in which we find the account of an invulnerable hero, against whom the assagais of armies are thrown in vain — this of Usikulumi kathlokothloko, and the other that of Ulangalasenzantsi. It is remarkable how wide spread Legends of this kind are. The invulnerability of the good Balder, the beloved of the gods, is ensured by his mother exacting an oath from all created things, not to injure her son. “ When the gods had thus, as they imagined, rendered all safe, they were accustomed, by way of sport, to let Balder stand forth at their assembly for all the dEsir to shoot at him with the bow, or to strike or throw stones at him, as nothing caused him any harm.” But the insignificant mistletoe vras omitted. And the bright god is killed by the mistletoe, through the treachery of Loki. ( Thorpe's Northern Mythology. Vol. /., pp. 72, 74. )

“ So on the floor lay Balder, dead ; and round Lay thickly strown, swords, axes, darts, and spears,

Which all the gods in sport had idly thrown At Balder, w hom no wreapon pierced or clave ;

Biit in his breast stood fixed the fatal bough Of mistletoe, which Lok, the accuser, gave To Hoder, and unwitting Hoder threw :

’Gainst that alone had Balder’s life no charm.”

(Max Muller. Comparative Mythology. Oxford Essays. 1856, p. 66. J Whether such a Legend arose spontaneously all over the world, or whether, having had an origin in some poetical imagining, it has travelled from a common centre, and become modified in its journeying in accordance with place and circumstances, it is not easy to determine. The possibility of a hero rendering himself invulnerable by medicinal applications, is not only quite wdthin the compass of a Zulu’s imagination, but appears to be something that would very naturally suggest itself to him. At the present time he has his intelezi, plants of various kinds, by which he can ensure correctness of aim : his assagai flies to the mark not because of his skill, but because his arm has been anointed. And the doctors medicate a troop before going to battle, to render it invulnerable to the weapons of the enemy. But together with the application of their medicines they give the soldiers certain rules of conduct ; and of course all that fall in battle are killed because they neglected the prescribed observances ! — So also in the Polynesian Legends there are two instances of invulnerability produced by magic. Maui transforms himself into a pigeon, and visits his parents ; “ the chiefs and common people alike catch up stones to pelt him, but to no purpose, for but by his owrn choice no one could hit him.” ( Sir George Grey. Polynesian Mythology , p. 30. ) And Rupe in like manner transforms himself into a pigeon, and flies in search of his sister Hinauri to Tinirau’s people, in the island of Motu-tapu. They try in vain both to kill it with spears and to noose it. (Id.} p. 86. )

UZEMBENI.

U sikulumi kills all his father's people , and departs with the spoil.

They were unable to pierce him with their spears. He said, “ Are you worsted h ” They said, “We are now worsted.” He took a spear, and stabbed them all, and they all died. He took possession of the cattle ; and departed with his army from that country with all the cattle. His mother too went with him and his sister, he being now a king.

UZEMBENI;46

OR,

USIKULUMI’S COURTSHIP.

Uzembeni , having destroyed all other people, wishes to eat her own children , but finds the flesh bitter.

Uzembeni was a great woman. She had two daughters ; but she devoured the men of the country where she lived, until she had destroyed them all : she ate men and game; she killed man together with deer ; and boiled the flesh of man and the flesh of deer together. It came to pass that, when men were utterly consumed, there were left herself and her two daughters. Her daughters were celebrities among the tribes, on account of their beauty. One of her daughters (it happened because there were no more men, she having destroyed them) she caught, and tore off her cheek on one side, and boiled it and ate it : it was bitter ; she no longer wished to eat her up, because her flesh annoyed her by its bitterness : she won-

46 Uzembeni, “Axe-bearer,” or Uzwanide, “Long-toe.”

4-8

IZIXGAXEKWAXE.

dered, and did not understand why the flesh was bitter. Therefore her daughters escaped from her through that bitterness.

Usikulumi comes to court Uzembeni' s daughters.

There came a young man, the child of a king. The name of the youth was Usikulumi ; he came to select a pretty girl from those girls. He came by day, when Uzembeni was not there, she having gone to hunt. Another of her names is Long-toe ; for her toe was very long; it was that by which she was recognised, as she was coming in sight, the dust being raised ; and before she appeared, the dust appeared, being raised by her toe ; for it came first to the place where Long-toe was going. So when Usikulumi arrived, he found indeed the two damsels. He saw that truly they were beautiful. He loved them, and they loved him also ; for he was a king’s son, and good-looking. But they wept .many tears on his account, saying, “You have come nowhere47 by coming here. We are troubled ; we do not know where we can put you ; for our mother eats men. And as for us you see us in nothing but trouble.” One of them said, “Just look at my cheek. It is my very mother ! 48 We do not know where we shall put you.”

47 A u fiki 'ndawo, “You have come nowhere,” lit., “You have not come to a place,” that is, you have come to a place where you will find no good, and may find evil. It is said when there is famine, or illness, or danger in a place. (So, A ngi svki 'ndawo, “I come from nowhere,” that is, from a place where there was no pleasure nor profit ; as when a man has left an inhospitable kraal, where he has not been provided with food. So, A u yi 'ndawo, “ You are going nowhere. ”

48 Telling Usikulumi that the injury of the cheek is her mother, that is, her mother’s doing, as though she was ever present in the injury. So also of property or benefits ; the natives point to the property or gifts, and say, U yena Jo, na lo, na lo, “ That is he, and he, and he,” instead of his.

UZEMBENI.

The (jirls dig a hole in the house y and conceal him in it.

To return; 49 Usikulumi came to the damsels alone. He left home with his pack of dogs ; but he left them in a bed of reeds. The girls devised a plan, saying, “If we tell him to depart, Longtoe will pursue him ; ” they dug a pit in the house, and put him in, and again covered it up, and sat over it.

Uzembeni returns , and scents the game.

Towards sunset the dust appeared. They said, “ Lo, she is now coming.” The toe came first ; she came after it. As soon as she came, she laughed to herself; she laughed, and rolled herself on the ground, saying, “ Eh, eh ! in my house here to-day there is a delicious odour. My children, what have you done ? Whence -comes this odour 1 ”50 She entered the house ; she laughed to herself, patting them, and saying, “ My children, what is there here in the house ? ” The girls said, “ Away ! don’t bother us ; we do not know where we could get anything.” She said, “ Just let me look for myself, my children.’* They said, “We do not know even what you want to find; for there is just

49 Ku njalonjalo. — A mode of expression by which a subject interrupted is again taken up. Revenons a nos moutons. It is also used with the meaning, Under these circumstances.

50 Although there are here no corresponding words, one cannot fail to be reminded of the “Fee fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman,” &c. The gigantic ogress here, as in the Legends of other countries, scents out the prey, and longs to be tearing human flesh. — So when Maui wished to gain possession of the “jaw-bone of his great ancestress Muri-ranga-whenua, by which the great enchantments could be wrought, ” and had approached her for the purpose, she “ sniffed the breeze ” in all directions ; and when she perceived “ the scent of a man, ” called aloud, ‘ ‘ I know from the smell w afted here to me by the breeze that somebody is close to me.” (Grey's Polynesian Mythology, p. 34. ) And in the Legend of Tawhaki, the scout of the Ponaturi, a race who inhabited a country underneath the waters, on entering the house wdiere Tawhaki and Karilii were concealed, “ lifted up his nose and turned sniffing all round inside the house. (Id., p. G4. See also Campbell, Op. cit. Vol. I., pp. 9, 252.)

Usikulumi runs away with <

nothing here.” She said, “Just move then, that I may seek for myself.” They said, “ We will not get up. We know of nothing, for our parts. Just do as you will. We do not know what you will do to us, since you have already injured us, and we are now as we are.” She said this, pointing to her cheek, which she had eaten. She gave up, and w~ent to sleep.

ne of Uzembenis daughters .

In the morning she went out to hunt. As soon as she was gone,51 they saw the dust cease, she having gone over the hill. They took out Usikulumi. One said, “ Let us go.” The other said, “ O, child of my father, do you go. I cannot go with you to be a disgrace to you in his presence. You see how I am ; my mother inj ured me. Do you go alone. I shall stay, that Long-toe may make an end of me.”

They travel night and day , hoping to escape Uzembeni.

So she went with Usikulumi ; they travelled till the sun set. He went by the way of the bed of reeds to fetch his dogs : he took them; and they went with him. At length it became dark. In the morning they were still journeying ; they travelled in fear, saying, “ If we sleep, she will come up with us. Let us go day and night, until the morning ; perhaps we shall leave her behind.”

51 This is intended to intimate the rapidity of her motion. She went so rapidly that the dust raised by her progress ceased to be visible, as it were, whilst she was in the act of leaving the house ; e sa jniina, * ‘ as she was going out.” She quitted the house, and at once disappeared over a distant hill.

UZEMBENI.

Uzembeni pursues them , and they ascend a lofty tree.

Long-toe came home : she found one daughter only. Without hesitation she went forward, saying, “ Where has my child gone l ” She went until the morning. At noon Usikulumi and the damsel saw the dust. She said to U sikulumi, “ Behold Long toe ; that is she yonder ; she has now come up with us. Where can we go ? ” And they saw a lofty yellow-wood tree ; they ran, and climbed into it ; the dogs remained at its foot.

TJzembeni attempts to hew down the tree , and is torn in pieces by the dogs.

Long-toe came. She was a very powerful woman. She came with her axe. She looked up, and saw them. Without hesitation she applied her axe to the tree ; and when she was now hewing the tree with all her might, the dogs bit her : she cut it with might. And when the tree was heard to creak, it now breaking, the dogs seized her firmly : one tore off her head,^ another her arm ; others tore off her limbs, and took them away to a distance ; others dragged away her intestines.

The tree becomes sound , and Uzembeni comes to life again.

The tree grew immediately, and resumed its original condition.52 Uzembeni came to life again ; all her limbs came together ; she rose up and took her axe, and hewed

52 A similar thing is related of a magical tree in the Legend of Itshe-likatunjambili, given below. — In the Legend of “The King of Lochlin’s Three Daughters,” the widow’s eldest son, who chose “the big bannock with his mother’s cursing in preference to a little bannock with her blessing,” went into the forest to cut timber to build a ship. “A great Uruisg [or Urisk, a “lubberly supernatural ”] came out of the water, and she asked a part of his bannock. ” He refused. “ He began cutting wood, and every tree he cut would he on foot again ; and so he was till the night came.” ( Campbell's Highland Tales. VoL

IZINGAXEKWANE.

the tree with might ; and when the tree was heard to creak, the dogs again tore off her head and limbs, and each went with one to the river, to a rock : all did the same ; they took large pebbles, and ground her limbs to powder.

Uzwanide having been ground to powder, Usikulumi escapes.

Whereupon Usikulumi and the damsel descended from the tree, and ran away to Usikulumi’s people. The dogs cast Uzembeni’s flesh, when ground to powder, into the water ; and then they followed Usikulumi. So Uzembeni died ; and Usikulumi came home to his people ; they made a funeral lamentation.53 Then they killed oxen and rejoiced greatly, saying, “ This so beautiful damsel, where did you get her? We thought you were no longer in the land of the living. We thought you were dead.”

/., pp. 236, 237. ) So Rata “went into the forest, and having found a very tall tree, quite straight thoughout its entire length, he felled it, and cut off its noble branching top, intending to fashion the trunk into a canoe ; and all the insects which inhabit trees, and the spirits of the forest, were very angry at this, and as soon as Rata had returned to the village at evening, when his day’s work was ended, they all came and took the tree, and raised it up again, and the innumerable multitude of insects, birds, and spirits, who are called ‘ The offspring of Hakuturi, ’ worked away at replacing each little chip and shaving in its proper place, and sang aloud their incantations as they worked ; this was what they sang with a confused noise of various voices : —

‘ Fly together, chips and shavings,

Stick ye fast together,

Hold ye fast together ;

Stand upright again, O tree ! ’ ”

This occurs again and again, until Rata watches, and catches one of them. They tell him he had no right to fell the forest god. He is silent. They tell him to go home, and promise to build the boat for him. ( Sir George Greg's Polynesian Mythology, p. Ill — 114.)

53 If a person who has disappeared for some time, and is supposed to be dead, unexpectedly returns to his people, it is the custom first to salute him by making a funeral lamentation. They then make a great feast. — A similar custom appears to prevail among the Polynesians. Thus Rehua is represented as making his lamentation on the approach of Rupe ; and ltupe appears to reply by a lamentation. ( Grey's Polynesian Mythology, p. 84. ) So “ Ngatoro-irangi wept over his niece, and then they spread food before the travellers.” (Id., p. 169.,) On Hatupatu’s return, who was supposed to have been slain by his brothers, “ the old people began to weep with a loud voice ; and Hatupatu said, ‘ Nay, nay ; let us cry with a gentle voice, lest my brethren who slew me should hear.’ ” ( Id., p. 1S9.,) So all the people weep over Maru-tuahu on his arrival. ( Id., p. 252.)

UZEMBENI.

ANOTHER VERSION OF A A swallow meets with Usikut

The swallow's shin wan

The swallow's shin tells

TORTION OF THE TALE.

:mi, and gives him a charm.

It happened that as Usikulumi was on his way to Uzembeni to court her daughters, he knowing nothing of Uzembeni, knowing only about the damsels, which were said to be beautiful, he journeyed and met with a swallow. The swallow said to him, “ Usikulumi, there is no place where you are going ; you will not be prosperous there. Who will be your protector % O, skin me, and sow up my skin, and put it on your rods, that I may tell you when Uzembeni is coming to eat you.” So he caught the swallow, and skinned it, and sewed its skin, and put it on his rods.

? UsiJcidumi of danger.

He arrived at Uzembeni’s. When Uzembeni came, the skin told Usikulumi, saying, “ There is Uzembeni.” And in the night, when they lay down in Uzembeni’s house, Usikulumi sleeping on one side of the house, it came to pass that in the night Uzembeni awoke, and stole stealthily, she going to lay hold of Usikulumi ; the skin awoke him, and said, “ Awake now. Lo ! Uzembeni is at hand.” So Usikulumi awoke ; and Uzembeni went back again ; for she wished to take him by surprise.

him to make his escape.

At length it dawned, whereupon the skin said to Usikulumi, “ Depart now ; for Uzembeni has already set out.” So he departed with the damsel. So he went and fled from Uzembeni, until he came to a place where there was a tree. The skin said, “ Climb into this tree ; I will preserve you there.

The dogs will fight with Uzembeni, and kill her.” He climbed into the tree. Uzembeni came, and hewed the tree. When it was about to fall, the dogs tore her to pieces. She came to life again. After that they utterly tore her to pieces, and scattered the fragments. The skin said, “ Descend now. Uzembeni is now dead ; but she will come to life again. Descend, and go speedily.”

TJzembeni comes to life again.

And truly Uzembeni afterwards came to life, although the dogs had ground her to powder, and thrown her into the water. She again joined piece to piece, and came to life again.54 She came to life again, when they were no longer on the tree. She sought them, but did not find them any more. So she gave up, and went home.55

54 So Heitsi Kabib, a very different character, however, from Uzwanide, “ died several times, and came to life again.” ( B leek's Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 76. j

55 In Basile’s Pentamerone we find a tale which has some points of resemblance with this. Petrosinella is a beautiful damsel in the power of an ogress, who confines her in a tower, to which access can be gained only by a little window, through which she ascends and descends by means of Petrosinella’s hair ! A young prince discovers her in her retreat, and reaches her in her tower by the same means as the ogress, the ogress having been sent to sleep by poppy-juice. But a neighbour discovers the lovers’ interviews, and tells the ogress. She says in reply that Petrosinella cannot escape, “as she has laid a spell on her, so that unless she has in her hand the three gallnuts which are in a rafter in the kitchen, it would be labour lost to attempt to get away. ” Petrosinella overhears their conversation ; gets possession of the gallnuts ; escapes with the prince from the tower by means of a rope-ladder ; the neighbour alarms the ogress, who at once pursues them ‘ ‘ faster than a horse let loose. ” Petrosinella throws a gallnut on the ground, and up springs a Corsican bulldog, which rushes on the ogress with open jaws. But she pacifies the dog with some bread ; and again pursues them. Another gallnut is thrown on the ground, and a fierce and huge lion arises, which is preparing to devour her, when she turns back, strips the skin off a jackass which is feeding in a meadow, and covers herself with it : the lion is frightened, and runs away. The ogress again pursues, still clothed with the ass’s skin. “ They hear the clatter of her heels, and see the cloud of dust that rises up to the sky, and conjecture that it is she that is coming again. ” Petrosinella throws down the third gallnut, when there starts up a wolf, “ who, without giving the ogress time to play a new trick, gobbles her up just as she is, in the shape of a jackass.” (p. 117.)

Tales in which ogres are represented as having beautiful daughters, which are courted and won by princes, are very common in the “Folk-lore” of different nations. ( See Basile’s “Dove,” Op. cit., p. 180. Compare also “The Young King of Easaidh Ruadh;” and “The Battle of the Birds.” Campbell , Op. cit. Vol. /., pp. 1, 25.)

UNTOMBINDE.

UNTOMBINDE.55

Untombinde urges her father to allow her to go to the Ilulange.

The daughter of tlie king Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko, U mbokondo -i-gaya-abagayi, 57 U - kgulungu - umlomo - waotetwa, 58 said, “ Father, I am going to the Ilulange.59 Mother, I am going to the Ilulange, next year.” Her father said, “Nothing goes to that place and comes back again :60 it goes there for ever.” She came again the next year, and said, “ Father, I am going to the Ilulange. Mother, I am going to the Ilulange.” He said, “ Nothing goes to that place and comes back again : it goes there for ever.” Another year came round. She said, “ Father, I am going to the Ilulange.” She said, “ Mother, I am going to the Ilulange.” They said, “ To the Ilulange nothing goes and returns again : it goes there for ever.” The father and mother consented (at length).

She collects two companies of maidens , and sets out.

She collected a hundred virgins on one side of the road, and a hundred on the other. So tliey went on their way. They met some merchants. The girls came and stood on each side of the path,

56 Untombinde, Tall-maiden.

57 Umbokondo-i-gaya-abagayi, Upper millstone, which grinds the grinders.

58 Uk/ulungu-umloino-waotetwa, .Pouter of the Abatetwa.

69 A river, not now known to the natives.

60 So the king’s daughter beseeches the lisherman’s son, her husband, not to go to “a little castle beside the loch in a wood.” “Go not, go not,” said she ; “there never went man to this castle that returned.” ( Highland Tales. Yol. I., p. 82.)

j

I ZING AN E E WANE.

SG

on this side and that. They said, “Merchants, tell us which is the prettiest girl here ; for we are two wedding companies.” The merchants said, “ You are beautiful, Utintakabazana ; but you are not equal to Untombinde, the king’s child, who is like a spread-out surface of good green grass ; who is like fat for cooking ; who is like a goat’s gall-bladder ! ”61 The marriage company of Utintakabazana killed these merchants.

They arrive at the Ihdange, and bathe : the Isikquk(\umadevu steals their clothes.

So they arrived at the river Uulange. They had put on bracelets, and ornaments for the breast, and collars, and petticoats ornamented with brass beads. They took them off, and placed them on the banks of the pool of the Ilulange. They went in, and both marriage companies sported in the water. When they had sported, they went out. A little girl went out, and found nothing there, neither the collars, nor the ornaments for the breast, nor the bracelets, nor the petticoats ornamented with brass beads. She said, “ Come out ; the things are no longer here.” All went out. Untombinde, the princess, said, “ What can we do ? ” One of the girls said, “ Let us petition. The things have been taken away by the Isik^uk^umadevu.”62 Another said, “ Thou, Isikgukgumadevu, give me my things, that I may depart. I have been brought into this trouble by Untombinde, the king’s child, who said, ‘ Men bathe

61 These are terms of flattering admiration. The gall-bladder of the goat, inflated and dried, and stuck in the hair, is a sign of having been honourably received at the place where a person has been sent as a messenger.

62 Isik^uk/umadevu, A bloated, squatting, bearded monster.

Some natives suppose that the Talc of the Isik^ukr/umadevu is a fabulous account of the first large ship that appeared to their fathers, being probably a slaver. Others think it is a corrupted tradition of Noah’s ark. See appendix at the end of this tale.

UNTOMBINDE.

in the great pool : our first fathers bathed there.’ Is it I who bring down upon you Intontela 1 ”63 The Isikguk^umadevu gave her the petticoat. Another girl began, and besought the Isikguk^umadevu : she said, “ Thou, Isikguik^umadevu, just give me my things, that I may depart. I have been brought into this trouble by Untombinde, the king’s child ; she said, ‘ At the great pool men bathe : our first fathers used to bathe there.’ Is it I who have brought down upon you Intontela ? ” The whole marriage company began, until every one of them had done the same. There remained Untombinde, the king’s child, only.

Untombinde refuses to 'petition the I siTcqiikqumadevu, and the monster seizes her.

The marriage party said, “ Beseech Usikguk^umadevu,64 Untombinde.” She refused, and said, “ I will never beseech the Isikguk^umadevu, I being the king’s child.” The Isikguk^umadevu seized her, and put her into the pool.

The other girls lament her , and return to tell the tale.

The other girls cried, and cried, and then went home. When they arrived, they said, “ Untombinde has been taken away by the Isik^uk^umadevu.” Her father said, “ A long time ago I told Untom-

63 Intontela. — The name of one of the military kraals of the Zulu king. The use of this word suggests either that the Tale is of recent origin, or has undergone modern corruption. It may, however, be an old name adopted by the Zulus. The question implies that armies were sent to contend with the monster.

64 They here say, not IsikgukgTimadevu, but Usikpik^umadevu ; thus flattering and magnifying the monster by giving it a personal name. It is something as though they said, “ My Lady, Usikpikgumadevu.”

IZINGA^ErWANE.

The king sends an army against ih and the wl

A father , who escaped, pursues U

binde so ; I refused her, saying, ‘ To the Ilulange, nothing goes to that place and returns again : it goes there for ever.’ Behold, she goes there for ever.”

s monster ; the monster destroys it, )le country.

The king mustered the troops of young men, and said, “ Go and fetch the Isik^ukgumadevu, which has killed XJntombinde.” The troops came to the river, and fell in with it, it having already come out of the water, and being now on the bank. It was as big as a mountain. It came and swallowed all that army ; and then it went to the very village of the king; it came, and swallowed up all men and dogs ; it swallowed them up the whole country, together with the cattle. It swallowed up two children in that country ; they were twins, beautiful children, and much beloved.

e I sik(\uk(\umadevu, and kills it.

63 Unomabunge, Mother of beetles, was a female. O-gaur-iminga, The fell

66 This reminds one of tlie man wh godfather : on reaching the house he fir and on enquiring where the godfather 1 succession, ‘ ‘ One flight of stairs higher, flight.” ( “ The Godfather. ” Grimm.

But the father escaped from that house ; and the man went, taking two clubs, saying, “It is I who will kill the Isikgukgumadevu.” And he took his large assagai and went on his way. He met with some buffaloes, and said, “Whither has Usik^ukgmadevu gone? She has gone away with my children.” The buffaloes said, “ You are seeking Unomabunge, O-gaur-iminga.65 Forward ! forward ! 66 Our mo-

This name shows that the monster r of lofty thorn-trees, pays a visit to his child’s mysterious Is inanimate things talking and acting ; red, receives for answer, from each in

• “Up another flight. ” ‘ * Up another

Op. cit., p. 170. J

UNTOM13IND3.

metu ! ” Se i /Jangana nezilo, se i ti, “ Ngi funa U sikgaikgumadevu, o muke nabantwana bami.” Se zi t’ izilo, “ U funa Unomabunge, O -gaul’-i m in ga, O-nsiba-zimakgembe. Pambili ! pambili ! Ma-

metu!” Se. i fika kuyena Unomabunge : indoda i m fumana e k^ukgubele, e ngangentaba. Se i o tata abantwana bami.” Se si ti, “ U funa Unomabunge ; u funa O-gaul’-iminga, O-nsiba-zimakge-

ther ! ”67 He then met with some leopards, and said, “ I am looking for Usik^uk^umadevu, who has gone off with my children.” And the leopards said, “ You are looking for Unomabunge, O-gaur-iminga , O-nsiba-zimakgembe. 08 Forward ! forward ! Our mother ! ” Then he met with an elephant, and said, “ I enquire for Usikguk^umadevu, who has gone away with my children. It said, “You mean Unomabunge, O-gaur-iminga, O-nsibazimak^embe. Forward ! forward ! Our mother ! ” Then he came to Unomabunge herself: the man found her crouched down, being as big as a mountain. And he said, “I am seeking Usikgmk^umadevu, who is taking away my children.” And she said, “ You are seeking Unomabunge ; you are seeking O-gaul’-iminga, O-nsiba-

67 “Mametu !” an oath. The essence of the Zulu oath consists, not so much in swearing by a person, as in calling upon him in an elliptical sentence, the meaning of which would be quite unsuspected by the uninitiated. ‘ ‘ M%- metu,” my mother, means in the native mind, What I say is true, if not I could be guilty of incest with my mother. The Zulu swears thus by his nearest relatives, e. g.y “Mametu,” my mother ; “Dade wetu,” my sister ; or, “Nobani wetu,” my So-and-So, mentioning his sister by name; “Mkwekazi,” my mother-in-law; or “Bakwekazi,” all the wives of my father-in-law. So the women swear in like manner : “ Bane wetu,” my brothers ; “ Bafana,” boys of my kraal ; “ Omkulu wraodade,” father of my sisters-in-law ; or “Mezala” ; or “Ngi funga ubaba”; or “Ngi funga aban/doni,” I swear by those who are reverenced, viz., fathers, brothers, &c., or simply “Ben/doni.”

Another common oath is by the names of the chief, as ‘ ‘ Tshaka ” * “Dingan” ; “Kukulela.” But a man does not swear by his wife, child, or brother. He swears by his father when dead, “Ngi funga ubaba,” which is equivalent to saying, I could disinter and eat my father, if it is not true ; or, “ Ngi nga ngi d/da ubaba,” I might eat my father ; or simply, “ Matambo kababa,” my father’s bones ; or “Baba,” my father.^

A chief or great man svrears by Ikwantandane, that is, a place in Zululand where Usenzangakona and Utshaka are buried. They use this formula, “Ngi m pande e kwantandane, ” I could scratch him up at Ikwantandane ; that is, I could disinter the chief buried there ; or simply “ Kwantandane. ” Thus Kwantandane is equivalent to swearing by the inviolability of the king’s grave. Other oaths are of a similar character ; “ Ngi ngene enkosini,” I could enter the king’s presence ; “Ngi ngene esigod/dweni,” I could go into the king’s palace ; or simply, “Sigod/do”; “Ngi ngene emapotweni,” I could enter the harem ; or simply, “ Mapote.”

Another oath is by the grave of a nameless king. ‘ ‘ Ngi funga inkosi i kwadukuza,” I swear by the king, he being at the kraal of Udukuza ; or simply, “ Dukuza.”

68 O-nsiba-zimakgembe, One whose feathers are long and broad.

IZIXG ANEXWANE.

mbe. Pambili ! pambili ! Mametu ! ” Se i fika, se i si gwaza isigak^a ; se si fa Isik^ukyumadevu.

All that the I sikogukopumadevu h body , and U ntornb zimak^embe. Forward ! forward ! Our mother ! ” Then the man came and stabbed the lump ; and so the Isikguk^umadevu died.69

d devoured come out of its dead nde among the rest.

And then there came out (of her) cattle, and dogs, and a man, and all the men ; and then Untombinde herself came out. And when she had come out, she returned to her father, Usikulumi, the son of Uthlokothloko. When she arrived, she was taken by Unthlatu,70 the son of Usibilingwana, to be his wife.

Untombinde goes to Unthlatu' s people to be acknowledged , but finds no bridegroom.

Untombinde went to take her stand in her bridegroom’s kraal.71 On her arrival she stood at the upper part of the kraal. They asked, “ Whom have you come to marry1?” She said, “Unthlatu.” They said, “ Where is he ! ” She said, “ I heard said that king Usibilingwana has begotten a king.” They said, “ Not so : he is not

69Whakatau was more successful. When Hine-i-te-iwaiwa at length reaches him, and asks, “Can you tell me where I can find Whakatau ? ” he misleads her by replying, “You must have passed him as you came here.” (Grey. Op. cit., p. 1180

70 In/datu, A boa-constrictor. Un/datu, The boa-man. It is clear, notwithstanding the explanation of the name given in the Tale,* viz., that when an infant he was wrapped in a boa’s skin, that Unthlatu had a peculiar snake-like appearance. His skin was bright and slippeiy. Compare “The Serpent,” in the Pentamerone. A prince is “laid under a spell by the magic of a wicked ogress to pass seven years in the form of a serpent.” In which form he loves and woos a king’s daughter.

71 When a young woman is going to be married, she goes to the kraal of the bridegroom, to stand there. She stands without speaking. Her an'ival may be expected or not by the bridegroom’s people ; but they understand the object of her visit. If they like her they “acknowledge” her by killing a goat, which is called the imvuina, and entertain her kindly. If they do not like her, they give her a burning piece of firewood, to intimate that there is no fire in that kraal for her to warm herself by ; she must go and kindle a fire for herself. — It appears to be the custom among the Polynesians also for the young woman to “ run away ” to the bridegroom, as the first step towards marriage. ( Grey , Op. cit., p. 238.^

UNTO !*I B IN DE.

Cl

Untombinde receives a nocturnal dep

Untombinde is troubled <

72 Na is not here an interrogate,

73 That is, for tlie purpose of eatii out, that is, eaten.

here. But he did beget a son ; but Avhen he was a boy he was lost.” The mother Avept, saying, “ What did the damsel hear reported ? I gaATe birth to one child ; he Avas lost : there Avas no other ! ”72 The girl remained. The father, the king, said, “ Why has she remained ] ” The people said, “ Let her depart.” The king again said, “ Let her stay, since there are sons of mine here ; she shall become their Avdfe.” She had a house built for her, and she remained there in the house. The people said, “ Let her stay Avith her mother.” The mother refused, saying, “ Let her have a house built for her.”

visitor , who eats and drinks , and irts.

It came to pass that, Avhen the house was built, the mother put in it sour milk, and meat, and beer. The girl said, “ Why do you put this here]” She said, “loused to place it even before you came.” The girl was silent, and lay doAvn. And in the night Unthlatu came ; he took out freon the sour milk,73 he ate the meat, and drank the beer. lie stayed a long time, and then went out.

i finding the fiood gone.

In the morning Untombinde uncovered the sour milk ; she found some had been taken out : she uncovered the meat ; she saw that it had been eaten : she uncovered the beer; she found that it had been drunk. She said, “0, mother placed this food here. It Avill be ut a strong affirmative.

; ; and below, the milk had been taken said that I have stolen it.” The mother came in ; she uncovered the food, and said, “ What has eaten it ? ” She said, “ I do not know. I too saw that it had been eaten.” She said, “ Did you not hear the man ? ” She said, “No.”

U ntombinde receives a second visit , and the 'person speaks to her.

The sun set. They74 ate those three kinds of food. A wether was slaughtered. There was placed meat ; there was placed sour milk ; and there was placed beer, in the house. It became dark, and she lay down. Unthlatu came in ; he felt the damsel’s face. She awoke. He said, “ What are you about to do here ? ” She said, “ I come to be married.” He said, “To whom ? ” The girl said, “ To Unthlatu.” He said, “ Where is he ? ” She replied, “ He was lost.” He said, “ But since he was thus lost, to whom do you marry ? ” She said. “ To him only.” He said, “Do you know that he will come ? ” He said, “ Since there are the king’s sons, why do you not marry them, rather than wait for a man that is lost?” He said, “ Eat, let us eat meat.” The girl said, “I do not yet eat meat.”75 Unthlatu said, “Not so. As regards me too, your bridegroom gives my people meat before the time of their eating it, and they eat.” He said, “ Drink, there is beer.” She said, “ I do not yet drink beer; for I have not yet had the imvuma slaughtered forme.” He said, “ Not so. Your

74 Unthlatu’s people, that is, those belonging to his mother’s house in the royal kraal, ate what remained of the sour milk, meat, and beer„

76 A damsel may not eat meat or amasi in her lover’s kraal, until she is actually married.

UNTOMBINDE.

G3

bridegroom too gives my people beer before they have had any thing killed for them.” In the morning he went away ; he speaking continually, the girl not seeing him. During all those days he would not allow the girl, when she said she would light a fire.76 He went out. The girl arose, going to feel at the wicker door, saying, “ Let me feel, since I closed it, where he went out h ” She found that it was still closed with her own closing ; and said, “ Where did the man go out h ”

Untombinde receives a third visit , and the visitor makes himself known .

The mother came in the morning, and said, “ My friend, with whom were you speaking % ” She said, “ No ; I was speaking with no one.” She said, “Who was eating here of the food?” She said, “ I do not know.” They ate that food also. There was brought out food for the third time. They cooked beer and meat, and prepared sour milk. In the evening Untlilatu came, and felt her face, and said, “ Awake.” Untombinde awoke. Untlilatu said, “ Begin at my foot, and feel me till you come to my head, that you may know what I am like.” The girl felt him ; she found that the body was slippery ; it would not allow the hands to grasp it. He said, “ Do you wish that I should tell you to light the fire 1 ” She said, “ Yes.” He said, “ Give me some snuff then.” She gave him snuff. He said, “ Let me take a pinch from your hand.” He took a pinch, and sniffed it. He

76 So Cupid visits Psyche unseen and unknown every night, leaving her at the dawn of day. In the Neapolitan tales, a fairy falls in love with a prince, and in like manner visits him every night, without making herself known, or allowing herself to be seen. ( Pentamerone. “ The Myrtle.”^

spat. The spittle said,77 “ Hail, king ! thou black one ! thou who art as big as the mountains ! ” He took a pinch ; he spat ; the spittle said, “ Hail, chief ! hail, thou who art as big as the mountains ! ” He then said, “ Light the fire.” Untombinde lighted it, and saw a shining body. The girl was afraid, and wondered, and said, “ I never saw such a body.”78 He said, “In the morning whom will you say you have seen ? ” She said, “ I shall say that I have seen no one.” He said, “ What will you say to that your mother,79 who gave birth to Unthlatu, because she is troubled at his disappearance 1 What does your mother say ? ” She replied, “ She weeps and says, ‘ I wonder by whom it has been eaten. Would that I could see the man who eats this food.* ” He said, “ I am going away.” The girl said, “ And you, where do you live, since you were lost when a little child 1 ” He said, “ I live underground.” She asked, “ Why did you go away ? ” He said, “ I went away on account of my brethren : they were saying that they would put a clod of earth into

77 In one of the versions of “ The Battle of the Birds,” the Giant’s Daughter, before setting out with the king’s son, “spat at the front of her own bed, and spat at the side of the giant’s bed, and spat at the passage door.” “ The giant awoke, and shouted, ‘ ‘ Rise, daughter, and bring me a drink of the blood of the king’s son.” “ I will arise,” said the spittle in front of his bed. When he shouted again the second and third time, the spittle at the side of her bed, and at the door, answered. (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. I.)

78 The Zulu very frequently expresses a strong affirmation by a negation, as : — A li lihle leli ’ hashi , The horse is not beautiful ; it is more, very beautiful indeed. A Tcu si yo indhlala la-pa , inkulu, There is no famine here, it is great : that is, We have nothing whatever to eat. Here we have an affirmation to express a strong negative, Nga za nga u bona umzimba onje — A ngi bonanga ngi bona umzimba onje. Lit., I came I saw such a body, I at length saw, &c. So below, Sa za sa m bona umuntu onje , o ''mzimba u nga fani nowabantu , We never saw such a man, whose body does not resemble the body of men. It is another instance of the interjectional aorist.

79 The wife calls her husband’s mother, Mother.

UNTOMBINDE.

Go my windpipe ; 80 for they were jealous, because it was said that I was king. They said, ‘ Why should the king be young, whilst we who are old remain, subjects?’ ”81

Unthlatu tells Untombinde to call his mother.

He said to the girl, “ Go and call that your mother who is afflicted.” The mother came in with the girl. The mother wept, weeping a little in secret. She said, “ What then did I say ? I said, ‘ It is my child who was lost, who had the smooth body.’ ” He then said, “ What will you say to my father ? ” She said, “ I will say, Let the whole country brew beer.”S2

Unthlatu' s mother tells his father of Unthlatu' s return and the nation is assembled.

The father said, “ What is the beer to do?” The mother said, “ I am going to see the people ; for I used to be queen. I was de-

80 It was formerly a custom, if a woman gave birth to twins, to kill one by placing a clod of earth in its mouth, so as to obstruct the respiration ; for they supposed that if both were allowed to live, they would destroy the father’s strength. Also in time of famine the father would sometimes kill a young infant in the same way, to preserve the mother’s strength. So here Unthlatu’s brothers purpose to kill him by a similar method.

81 Here we have the tale so common among all people, where a younger brother is represented as an object of jealousy and enmity, or of contempt and neglect, is persecuted, and an attempt made on his life ; but he escapes, and becomes a great man, superior to all. There is the beautiful, touching history of Joseph in the Holy Scriptures. In the Hawaiian traditions we have the legend of Waikelenuiaiku ( Hopkins, Hawaii, p. 67 ). That of Hatupatu in the Polynesian Mythology, who on his return is as much admired for his noble looks as Unthlatu : —“Hatupatu now came out of the storehouse, and as his brothers gazed on him, they saw his looks were most noble ; glared forth on them the eyes of the young man, and glittered forth the mother-of-pearl eyes of the carved face on the handle of his sword, and when the many thousands of their tribe who had gathered round saw the youth, they too were quite astonished at his nobleness ; they had no strength left, they could do nothing but admire him : he was only a little boy when they had seen him before, and now, when they met him again, he was like a noble chief, and they now looked upon his brothers with very different eyes from those with which they looked at him.” (Grey, Op. cit., p. 191.^ See also “The Brown Bear of the Green Glen.” Campbell, Op. cit. Vol. I., p. 164. “The Golden Bird,” and “The Three Feathers.” Grimm, Op. cit., p. 226, and p. 227.

82 Equivalent to saying, “ I will assemble the whole nation.”

Unthlatu makes himself knovm

Umangali kandhlovu (Leah).

posed because I had no child.” So the beer was brewed ; and the people laughed, saying, “ She sends for beer. What is she going to do, since she was the rejected one, and was deposed ? ” The beer was ready ; the people came together ; the soldiers went into the cattle enclosure; they had shields, and were all there. The father looked on and said, “ I shall see presently what the woman is about to do.”

to his father and to the nation.

Unthlatu came out. The eyes of the people were dazzled by the brightness of his body. They wondered, and said, “We never saw such a man, whose body does not resemble the body of men.” He sat down. The father wondered. A great festival was kept.83 Then resounded the shields of Unthlatu, who was as great as all kings. Untombinde was given a leopard’s tail ;84 and the mother the tail of a wild cat ;85 and the festival was kept, Unthlatu being again restored to his position as king. So that is an end of the tale.

ANOTHER VERSION OF A PORTION OF THE TALE.

The pigeons foretell the birth of Unthlatu.

The birth of Unthlatu. He was bom in accordance with the prophecy of pigeons ; two came to the mother; one said, “Vukutu.”86 The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Vukutu,’ since she has no children ? ” The other said, “ Vu-

83 Ukudhlala umkosi will be explained in another place.

84 The sign of being the queen or chief wife, the mother of the future sovereign.

83 The sign that she is no longer queen, because a new king has taken the government, and his wife is therefore queen, — a sign of her being “queen dowager.”

88 Vukutu, the native mode of imitating the cooing of the pigeon.

UNTOMBINDE.

kutu ; how do you know that she has no children ? ” So the mother said, “ He is correct ; I have no children.” The other said, “Yukutu ; what will you give us if we tell you that you shall have a child ? ” She took out all she had ; she did not leave a single thing, because she longed for a child. They refused, saying, “ We do not like all this. Have you not a vessel full of castor-oil berries'?” She said, “ There is a pot of berries.” They said, “ Bring it.” So she took it, and went out with it, and broke it outside ; the seeds were scattered ; they ate all of them. They said, “ Turn your back to us.” They scarified her in two places on the loins, and said, “You will now have a child.” So they departed ; and she returned home. So she became pregnant. And when she became pregnant she greatly rejoiced ; for she had been for a long time a wife no longer of any consequence through being reproached with barrenness ; but the other wives gave birth, giving birth to crows ; but those crows caused much trouble in TJnthlatu’s house by scattering the ashes;87 at length it was taken away from the upper part of the kraal, and was placed near the entrance, because she was a wife of no consequence. She had her place at the upper part of the kraal because she was the queen ; she was also the daughter of a great king ; but through her not having children, the name of queenship was less and less spoken of ; it was on this account that the house was removed.

87 Kicabo-rihlatu , Unthlatu’s house ; that is, the house of his mother. The houses in a polygamic kraal are called after the wives. — “Scattering the ashes,” that is, the children of the other women came into the hut of Unthlatu’s mother, and played about the fire-place. This she would have borne from her own children, but not from those of other women.

Untldatu when born is cradled in a boa's skin.

When she gave birth to Unthlatu, she wondered on seeing so very beautiful a child. There was there a boa’s skin which was sewn up ; it came from her people ; she put it on him ; she concealed him, that the wives who had the same husband as herself might not kill him ; for she had given birth to a man ; they gave birth to animals. She hid him on that account : the matter was not mentioned at the kraal into which she had married ; but it was known at her native kraal.

Unthlatu leaves his mother , to avoid being killed by his brothers.

The child, therefore, was diligently concealed, for fear of his being killed. He separated from his mother, not having told her, “ Mother, I am going away, for I shall be killed.” He went independently of his mother. His mother sought and sought in vain ; and gave up all hope. But his house was built ; for it was said, “ Let his house be there always.”

The mother places food for her lost child.

88 Ilau is a term applied to the hut for a young married woman, which it is this is not attended to the young bride by saying, Ngi ’ dikazi , I am a widow v for whom no ilau is built. The hut of not, as a common man, go to his severs him in succession.

The mother habitually took beer and meat and other food, and placed it there in the youth’s house ;88 in the morning when she went to see, on her arrival, a little of all was eaten. When damsels came to marry, they were asked, “ To whom do you come 1 ” They said, “ To Unthlatu.” The of a young man ; and to the hut built the custom to build with great care ; if is offended, and expresses her feelings ho has come here to be married again, a chief is also called an ilau. He does wives’ huts, but calls them to live with

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G9

Umpengula Mbanda.

mother cried, saying, “ Where is he, for I do not know ? ” The father said, “ Let them be left alone ; let them not be driven away, for there are sons who will marry them, although Unthlatu is not here at all.” Those sons were crows. At length Untombinde came, she too coming to marry Unthlatu. The mother said, “Where is he?” Untombinde said, “I do not know. We hear it said that he has been born.” The mother said, “ Do you separate from the other damsels, and go into the youth's house yonder, and stay there alone.” Surely then Untombinde remained there because she was much loved by the mother. It was then by these means that Unthlatu was seen at last; he was seen by means of Untombinde, who was the person who made him known. Through the arrival of Unthlatu by night he found Untombinde ; he told her not to make him known ; but at last he was seen.

APPENDIX.

MONSTERS.

“Tales of giants and monsters,” says Tylor, “which stand in direct connexion with the finding of great fossil bones, are scattered broadcast over the mythology of the world.” ( Op. cit., p. 314.) A belief in the former existence of giants is implied, rather than clearly stated, in the Legends of the Zulus. Neither that, nor the belief in monsters, appears to have arisen among them from the observation of huge fossil remains. The Isikgukgumadevu is the great monster of these Tales. It is a river monster, capable of living on the land. It answers to the Kammapa of the Basuto Legends. In the Tale of Usikulumi we read of a many -headed monster (p. 43), which was, like the Isikynkf/umadevu, destructive in its usual habits, but proved friendly to Usikulumi. We are at once reminded of the many-headed Hydra of antiquity, slain by Hercules ; of the Minotaur, slain by Theseus ; of the sea monster sent by Neptune to ravage ^Ethiopia to punish the vanity of Cassiope, which Perseus turned into a rock by the magic power of Medusa’s head. Again, in the Neapolitan Tales, Minuccio is represented as killing, by means of an enchanted leaf, a monstrous dragon, who “tore with his claws, broke in pieces with his head, crushed with his tail, craunched with his teeth, poisoned with his eyes, and killed with his breath,” — a monster which, like the Isikgukoumadevu, “ made nothing of an army.” (“ The Dragon.” Pentamerone. ) In the Highland Tales we hear of a “ three-headed monster of the loch,” which was about to devour the king’s

IZINGANEKWAtfE.

daughter, hut was killed by the fisherman’s son. (“ The Sea Maiden.” Campbell, Op. cit. Vol. I., p. 76. ) In the German Folk-lore we find the Tale of a seven-headed dragon, which was killed by the young huntsman. (li The Two Brothers.” Grimm's Home Stories, p. 253.) In the Polynesian Mythology, Kupe in his wandering is attacked by a “monstrous cuttle-fish,” which “raised its arms above the waters to catch and devour the canoe, men and all.” But Kupe kills it with an axe. ( Grey, Op. cit., p. 208.)

In the legendary lore of the American Indians we read of the monstrous Mishe-Nahma, the sturgeon, king of fishes, which

“ Opened its great jaws and swallowed Both canoe and Hiawatha.”

In the mythology of the Hindus we hear of ‘ ‘ Hari, the preserver of the uni verse,” who, to save “ the holy king Satyavrata,” assumed the form of a small fish, and in that form addressed the king, asking for his protection. The fish by a succession of rapid growths at length attained a magnitude, which suggested to the king that he had to do with an incarnate deity. The god at length revealed himself to him, and promised him preservation in the approaching deluge, into the waters of which “ the three worlds were about to be plunged.” “ On the appointed day the god, invoked by the king, appeared in the form of a fish, blazing like gold, extending a million of leagues with one stupendous horn, on which the king, as he had been commanded by Hari, tied the ship with a cable made of a vast serpent. ” ( Hardwick. Christ ancl other Masters. Vol. /., p. 312.) In the traditions of the same people we find the myth of the world-supporting tortoise and elephant.

In the legends of the Mussulmans we read of a camel “one hundred cubits high,” which came forth from the cleft mountain at the prayer of Salih. Besides other miraculous properties it could speak, and on being touched by Gabriel’s flaming sword gave birth to a young camel resembling itself in every respect. It visited the dwellings of the people daily, calling them by name, and supplying them with milk. ( Weil's Legends of the Mussulmans, p. 42.) The Ojibwa legend represents the dormouse as having been originally “the largest animal in the world ; when it stood up it looked like a mountain.” It was reduced to its present size by the heat of the sun, whilst engaged in freeing it from the snare in which it had been entrapped. ( Tylor. Op. cit., p. 341.)

In the northern mythology, again, we have the monster Jormungand, or Midgard’s Serpent, which All-father “cast into the deep ocean which surrounds all lands ; but there it grew and became so great that it encircles the whole world, and bites its own tail. ” (Thorpe. Op. cit. Vol. I., p. 50.) And the wolf Fenrir, another offspring of Loki and Angurboda, is a monster of but little less dimensions than Midgard’s Serpent. Having broken the chains Lseding and Dromi, he was at length effectually bound by ‘ ‘ the chain Gleipnir, which was composed of six materials, viz., the sound of a cat’s footstep, a woman’s beard, the roots of a mountain, a bear’s sinews, a fish’s breath, ancl a bird’s spittle.” “ The foam which issues from his mouth forms the river called Von.” ( Id., p. 49 — 52.) The Greeks had their Nemeean Lion ; the American Indians their “great bear of the mountains.”

We shall remember, too, the huge serpent which killed all the companions of Cadmus ; against which a rock was hurled without effect, though its force was sufficient to shake the walls of a city, and by the weight of which a lofty oak was bent. ( Ovid's Met. Book III., 1. 55 — 95.)

Then there is Sinbad’s whale mistaken for an island ; and the Hoc’s egg, which was fifty paces round.

Do we need anything more to explain the world-wide traditions of monsters — chimseras, gorgons, sea-serpents, &c., — than superstitious ignorance acting on a poetic or morbid imagination ? The untrained mind naturally looks outside itself for a power to aid or to destroy ; and sees in all striking natural phenomena, and in all unusual or unaccountable events, the presence of a personal, agency ; and nothing is more natural than to proceed to a description of the imaginary agent, — to clothe the idea with a form more or less in correspondence with the characteristics of the visible phenomenon whether of terror or of health -giving ; and then to give it a “local habitation and a name.” It has

UNTOMBINDE.

been said, “The philosophy of an early people is intimately mingled with mythology, and mythology, like nature, has an inexhaustible power of producing life.” It has exerted this power all the world over to produce monsters. When once the imagination, excited by any cause, has given birth to the conception of a monster, the example will be rapidly followed, and their appears to be no limit to the number or variety of monsters which may spring up, or to the grotesqueness of the forms, possible and impossible, with which the human mind will clothe the offspring of the imagination.

The foregoing was already in type when my attention was directed by my friend Mr. Sanderson, of Durban, to an article on real and fabulous monsters, in Household Words , entitled, “ A Set of Odd Fellows.” After noticing many “ bewildering shapes ” assumed by real monsters of the deep, the writer proceeds : —

“ Fantastic, however, as Nature herself has been in this part of her domain, Superstition has surpassed her. Poetry, also, has not forgotten her divine mission to create. Romance has been out upon the pathless waters, and brought back news of its inhabitants, mingling facts with fancies. And Investigation itself, in its early days, has babbled to the world of prodigies within the ocean depths a3 strange and appalling as any within the limits of acknowledged Fable.

“We have already quoted a passage from the Faery Queene, touching seamonsters ; but the catalogue which the poet goes on to give us is so fearfully fine, and is such a condensed cyclopaedia of fabulous marine zoology, that we cannot forbear appending it : —

“ ‘ Spring-headed hydres, and sea-shouldering whales ;

Great whirlpools, which all fishes make to flee ;

Bright scolopendraes,* armd with silver scales ;

Mighty monoceros, with immeasured tayles ;

The dreadfull fish that hath deserved the name Of Death, and like him lookes in dreadfull hew ;

The griesly wasserman, that makes his game The flying ships with swiftnes to pursew ;

The horrible sea-satyre, that doth shew His fearefull face in time of greatest storme ;

Huge ziffins, whom mariners eschew No lesse than rockes, as travellers informe ;

And greedy rosmarines, with visages deforme.

All these, and thousand thousands many more,

And more deformed monsters thousand fold,

With dreadfull noise and hollow rombling rore Came rushing, in the fomy waves enrold.’

Book ii. c. 12.

What a passionate earnestness, as though the writer had been really scared with his own imagination, is there in the above repetition of the word ‘ thousand ! ’

‘ ‘ Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsal, in Sweden, who lived in the sixteenth century, is one of the chief authorities in support of the wild stories which were once in circulation respecting sea-monsters. He tells us of a species of fish seen on the coast of Norway, whose eyes, which are eight or ten cubits in circumference, appear, when glaring upward from the black chasmy waterdepths, like red and fiery lamps ; of the ‘ whirlpool, ’ or prister, who is ‘ two hundred cubits long, and very cruel,’ — who amuses himself by upsetting ships, which he securely fastens by entangling them in the windings of his long tail, and who is most readily put to flight by the sound of a trumpet of war, cannon balls being utterly ineffective ; of a sea-serpent (resembling that astounding phantom of the deep of which we have heard so much lately) who goes ashore on clear summer nights, to regale himself on calves, lambs, and hogs, and who

‘ puts up his head like a pillar, and catcheth away men ’ from off the decks of ships ; and of other marvels too numerous to mention. But we are, even yet, so imperfectly acquainted with the multiform vitality of the ocean, that we must take care we are not treading unawares upon the remote twilight boundaries of fact. Are scientific enquirers yet sure that those strangely vanishing islands, which at times appear and disappear in the solitary northern seas, are not the prominent parts of some stupendous kraken ? ”

AMAVUKUTU.

The following curious legend, claiming to speak of an event in the history of primitive man, is inserted here because of its correspondence with the tale of Unthlatu’s birth, into which it was probably inseited from some older tradition. Of a similar character and equally curious is the resuscitation of a damsel which had been devoured by a lion, by placing her heart in milk. “ Now the woman took the first milk of as many cows as calved, and put it into a calabash, where her daughter’s heart was ; the calabash increased in size, and in proportion to this the girl grew again inside.” ( Bleek's Hottentot Fables , p. 55. )

It happened in the beginning, at the first breaking off from the source of being,89 that some rock pigeons came to a house ; they found a woman sitting outside ; they went in and scattered the ashes in her house. She cried. She was a married woman ; she had no child. She said, “They have come to laugh at me ; they saw that I have no child to scatter the ashes.” There came six pigeons ; one said, “ Vukutu.” Another said, “Why do you say ‘ Vukutu ? ’ ” The first repeated, “Vukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Vukutu V” This was done in the presence of that

89 Elahlangeni or ohlangeni, “from the source of being.” This somewhat paraphrastic rendering of the word uhlan g a is perhaps the nearest approach we can make to an intelligible English rpeaning. Uhlanga is a source — personal or local — of other things, which may resemble the uhlanga from which they sprung, or be quite distinct from it. There are, therefore, many kinds of uhlanga. The notion of time, —except so far as it is involved in that of precedence,— is never wrapped up in the word ohlangeni ; it is not therefore, as has been erroneously supposed by some, a term conveitible with ekukqaleni, “in the beginning.” The personal Uhlanga, from which, according to the Zulus, all things out-came ( vela ) in the beginning, will be fully treated of when we come to their religious mythology.

AUAVUKUTU.

woman. And the other answered, “ Take a horn and cup yourself.” The other said again, “ Yukutu.” The other said, “ Take a horn and cup yourself, and draw out a clot, and place it in a pot, and lute it down, and set it aside for eight months ; lute it down, and in the ninth month, (the pigeon said,) uncover it.”

She uncovered it, and found a child; the clot had now a child inside it, in the pot. The pigeon said, “ Take him out now, and put him in a bag, and give him food.” Another came and said, “Wrap him in his blankets, and put him at the back of the house ; hide him, that the other women may not know ; give him a great deal of food, that he may grow immediately.” So the child grew immediately.

Her husband came in the evening. The woman lit a very great fire. The husband did not know of the child, the child of the clot only. The wife took the child from the back of the house, and came forward with him, and sat down, and placed him before her ; she took the child’s food, and put it before him, and said, “ Just eat ; see thy food, my child.” The husband wondered, and spoke, and said, “ This child, where did you get him ? Whose is this child ] ” The woman said, “ It is my child, the child of a clot of my blood, the child of the pigeons, which taught me wisdom : they told me to scarify and cup myself, and take a clot, and put it in a pot, and it would become a child. So it became a child. ”

And the husband rejoiced and gave her thanks, and said, “ I am happy and rejoice this day. You have now a child. It is very good.” Yes surely the husband said so. So the child of the clot grew up.

USITUNGUSOBENHLE.90

Usitungusobenthle and her sister go out to gather ubentlile.

As regards Usitungusobenthle ; there were two damsels ; the one who was her sister was a child of the great house. As they were going with their female attendants to gather ubentlile,92 they walked along plucking it, leaving it by the way-side. They reached the point where they would turn back. Her sister, the child of the great house, said she was not beloved by her father ; he loved the child of the inferior house. They turned back. They walked and collected the ubenthle ; but she who was loved by her father forgot, and left hers. When they were on the high land, on their way back, she remembered her ubenthle.

The female attendants refuse to return with Usitungusobenthle : she returns alone , and falls in with a cannibal .

She vainly asked her female attendants one after another, saying, “ Do you accompany me, that I may fetch my ubenthle.” All refused, both her own and her sister’s : they had been enjoined by her sister (to refuse). So she returned alone. She went and went, and fell in with a cannibal sitting in a house, where her ubenthle was. When she arrived, she found him

90 Bundle-of -ubenthle.

91 Amabuto abo, pronounced amabutw abo ; the o becoming w before the vowel. It does not appear desirable to note by spelling such peculiarities.

92 A fibrous plant, with which ornaments, &c., are made.

USITUNGUSOBENHLE.

hunting for maggots94 and eating them. He called her, saying, “ Come in, and help me to find.” She entered and went and found, and gave him maggots continually, and he ate.

V situngusobenthle’ s sister and the attendants make a false report.

The others arrived at their home ; they said, “ The little maid, Usitungusobenthle, has become a woman.” An ox is slaughtered, and the whole tribe comes together at the slaughter, because the princess has come to maturity. 95

The cannibal puts Usitungusobenthle into his bag , and walks off with her.

The cannibal put Usitungusobenthle into his bag, and she went with the cannibal, and he went to Usitungusobenthle’s home. They fell in with two of her brothers, who were with the calves ; and others were with the cattle, eating meat. The cannibal said, “ Cut off some meat for me.” They cut off some for him. He said, “ I will tell you something about the bag of a great person.”96

Usitu/ngusobenthle speaks in the bag , and her brothers recognise her voice.

They gave him meat, and he ate. They said, “ Beat the bag97 you said you would tell us of.” So he beat it. The little girl, Usitungusobenthle, who was in the

94 In a native hut which is not properly attended to, maggots come up from the floor. The cannibal is represented as eating them. The badly cared for house and the food are both intended to disparage the cannibal, by intimating that his habits are different from those of other men.

95 The ceremonies performed on such occasions will be given in another place.

96 The brothers of Usitungusobenthle understand by this that there is something mysterious which probably concerns themselves, being children of the king, in the cannibal’s bag.

97 That is, “ Out with this tale about the bag.”

U situngusobenthld s brothers to bag, said, “ What shall I say 1 I have been left by my father’s children, who refused to accompany me to fetch my ubenthle.” The boys, her brothers, heard; they understood by her voice; they said, “ Do you accompany him to our father’s, that he may eat fat meat at our father’s house.” So they accompanied him, and brought him to Usitungusobenthle’s home.

ke the cannibal to their father.

So the cannibal came to her people. Her mother cut him some meat, and he ate. They said to him, “Just beat the bag of the great person.” So the cannibal beat it, and the child said, “ What shall I say % I have been forsaken by my father’s children.” The mother told them to call the king, her father. So he came, and said, “Just let him beat the bag.” And he heard her say, “ What shall I say ? I have been forsaken by my father’s children.”

The father sends the cannibal to fetch water in a leaky calabash , and takes U situngusobenthle out of the bag.

So her father told them to give the cannibal a calabash, that he might go and fetch water. The father made a hole in it with a spear.98 So the cannibal went to fetch water. The cannibal wa* detained fetching water, for the calabash leaked. They procured scorpions, and snakes, and dogs, and put them in the bag ; and the little girl, Usitungusobenthle, was taken out by her father.99 They

98 In like manner the woman gives Moorachug a sieve to fetch water iu. (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. p. 160./ The Danaides are punished by being compelled to the infinite, unceasing labour of filling a vessel full of holes with water.

99 A tale similar to this in many respects, and containing some incidents from other legends, is related of Tselane, among the Bechuanas. (Abbousset's South Africa, p. 98./ See also above, p. 33. “ U/dakanyana. ”

USITUNGUSOEENHLE.

The cannibal departs with his

The canni put all kinds of biting animals into the cannibal’s bag. The cannibal came, and said, “ Why did you give me a leaky calabash 1 ” The king had made a hole in it, but he said, “ The queen gave it to you. How was it she did not find for you an unbroken, strong calabash ? ”

bag fidl of venomous animals.

The cannibal said, “ Is my bag still there?” They said, “It is still in the same place and condition as you put it.” The cannibal took it up ; he was given meat, and went home to his kraal. When he arrived he put his bag down outside, and told them to make a fire and boil the pot.

%Vs death.

The pot was boiling. He sent one of his children to fetch the bag. The child was bitten, and left it. He sent another ; he went, and when he was taking hold of it, he too was bitten ; and left it. The animals which were in the bag bit the cannibal’s children. He told them not to come into the house any more. He told his chief wife to fetch it. She was bitten, and said, “ The children are right ; they said truly this bag of yours bites.” So he said, “ Shut me up inside the house, and close up even the little holes.”1 They shut him up, and went out. He took the bag by himself. He was bitten again and again without shrinking. He emptied the bag, and shook it. All the animals which were inside rushed upon him. He screamed.

1 Thus giving them to understand that as they had spoken evil of the food he had in his bag, they should not only not have any of it, but should not even see what it was.

U situngusobenthld s father kills

Ufusi Mbele (Deborah).

He screamed inside, being unable to get out anywhere. After some time they opened the door, when he was already made an end of, and nothing was left but bones.2 He ran out, and went to a mudhole ; when he arrived, he fell in head foremost. And bees entered into his bones, he being now a tree !

the girls who had forsaken her.

At home the king called for Usitungusobenthle, and told her to come out. But the girls refused. He went to the hut, where the ceremonies of puberty were being performed. He found that they had decorated another girl with branches of trees, and it was said she was Usitungusobenthle. He called them all ; they came out every one of them. He got a block,3 and took a sword, and cut off the heads of all the girls.

USITUN GUSOBENHLE NAM A JUB ATENTE. 4

Usitungusobenthle is carried off by Pigeons.

It is said there was a girl, who had come to womanhood, whose name was Usitungusobenthle. All the people of her kraal went to dig at a distance from the kraal : the girls also had gone to pluck

2 An exaggeration of course.

3 This mode of punishing criminals is no longer practised among the Zulus ; neither do they know when it was. They say merely that it was common to execute in this way in the time of long ago.

4 A majubatente. — Pigeons. Although the idea of birds is practically kept up at first, it is soon left, and the Amajubatente are evidently a people, probably a people riding on horses.

USITUNGUSOBENHLE NAMAJUBATENTE.

incapa;5 and Usitungusobenthle was left alone. Some Amajubatente came and took away Usitungusobenthle; they carried her flying through the air ; they passed near the place where her mothers0" were digging, and moved her backwards and forwards in the air over her mother’s head. Usitungusobenthle shouted when she saw her mother, “ Mother, mother, I am going away with the Amajubatente.” They suspended her in the air. Her mother tried to lay hold of her. But they were merely distressing her mother, and went away with Usitungusobenthle : her mother also followed, going and weeping. When it was evening they came to a tree and perched on the top, and stopped there on the top. The mother lay down at the foot of the tree. In the night the Amajubatente took Usitungusobenthle, and went away with her to their own country.

Usitungusobenthle becomes the queen of the Pigeons.

In the morning the mother could no longer see the Amajubatente on the tree ; so she went back again. And the Amajubatente went to their home with Usitungusobenthle. The Amajubatente said, “ Let her be queen.” So she became queen accordingly. She gave birth to a child. (Her husband was an Ijubatente also.)7 Again she gave birth to a second child ; again she gave birth to a third child : three altogether.

5 Incapa. — A soft kind of grass.

6 Mothers. — The children of the polygamist call all the wives Mother, as well as their mother properly so called.

7 The notion of the marriage between human beings and animals is very common ; and like another very common notion with which it is associated, — the possibility of holding intercourse with and understanding the language of beasts, birds, and fishes, — may perhaps be regarded as an indication of that

IZINGANEKWANJE.

The men go to hunt , leaving Usitungusobenthle alone with an old woman.

It happened that a hunting party was called out ; it went to hunt at a distance ; Usitungusobenthle’s husband went also and her children ; and all the people went to hunt. Usitungusobenthle remained at home with an old woman ; they two remained at home. Usitungusobenthle devised a plan with her children ; she told them to feign sickness.

Usitungusobenthle' s children feign sickness % and return to their mother.

The hunting party went out in the morning. As they were leaving home, the bigger boy of Usi-

sympathy with all living things, which was characteristic of early man, as it is now the characteristic of childhood. The emotional mind naturally yearns towards the lower world of living things, and asks whether there may not be some closer relationship between them and man than is commonly supposed to exist ; loves to watch their habits, and longs to comprehend their language. And the philosopher appears more and more disposed to seek for and to acknowledge the existence of relationships, which a few years ago would have been scornfully rejected as derogatory to human dignity. (See an interesting and excellent paper on the subject by Mr. Charles S. Wake. Anthropological Journal No. 111., p • 365. )

Be this as it may, the notion is very common in the tales of all people. Here the husband is a Pigeon ; in the Highland tales it is a Hoodie, or Royston Crow ; or a Dog ; or a Frog. In the German a Horse ; or a Rabbit. In the Neapolitan a Serpent. In the Hottentot an Elephant. And we have our own tale of Beauty and the Beast. But in the progress of the tale the characteristics of the animal are lost ; there is nothing but the name ; all its actions, thoughts, and language are human. And it generally turns out that it is a ‘‘prince under spells.”

So here the progress of the tale shows that men and not pigeons are meant. They are unable to My across a river. The introduction of animals instead of men into a tale is easily explained as regards Zulu. Ijubatente, a pigeon, becomes a proper name by changing the initial i into u ; thus, Ujubatente, The Pigeon-man. Such names are common, as, Undhlovu, The Elephant-man ; Unyoni, The Bird-man ; Unhlatu, The Boa-man, &c. In the Kafir legends there is never, so far as I know, any allusion to horses. The Zulus are not a nation of horsemen ; and horses have only recently been introduced amongst them. This tale may originally have been a narrative of an inroad of horsemen, who carried off a native girl. Nothing would be more natural than for them to say on such an occasion, “ It was not men, but pigeons, that took her away.” The name of a bird would be given them to intimate their velocity. It is not uncommon at the present time to hear an old man speak of riding on horseback as flying. If a person complain of fatigue from riding, he would ask, “How can you be tired, since you have merely flown, and not gone on your feet ? ” If this be a correct surmise, it will throw some light on the origin of the tale, both as regards locality and time.

8 Omkuiwana, dim. of kulu, lit., biggish, somewhat big, that is, the one who was big as compared with the other two, the bigger.

USITUNGUSOBENHLE NAMAJUBATENTE.

U situngusobenthle escapes with h tungusobenthle fell down designedly, and cried out, “ O dear, I am hurt.” His father told him to go home. The hunting party again went on. Another child, the next to the eldest, said, “ O dear, I have a sudden pain in my stomach ! ” His father told him too to go back. The hunting party again went on. The little one said, “ My head is in pain all over.” His father told him to go back also. They did this wilfully, deceiving their father, thinking by this means to get away. All three were now at home with their mother.

r children. An alarm is given.

The mother tied up her luggage, and took her children, and went away with them. When the old woman first observed their departure, TJsitungusobenthle was no longer there, she having already set out. She shouted, saying, “ Yi, yi, yi,” (giving an alarm,) “the queen has gone away with the king’s children.” One of the hunters heard, and said, “ Keep still ! What does that person say 1 It is as if she said, 1 The queen has gone away with the king’s children.’ ” They laid hold of him, and said, “ You are devising ill luck9 for the king’s children.” So they killed him. Again the old woman shouted and said, “ Yi, yi, yi ; the queen has gone away with the king’s children.” Again another said, “You have indeed killed So-and-so. There is someone shouting. It is as if she said, ‘The queen has gone away with the king’s children.’ ” They caught hold of him too, and killed him, saying, “You are devising bad luck for the king’s children.” Again the old woman

Or prophesying evil.

cried, saying, “ Yi, yi, yi ; the queen has gone away with the king’s children.” Again another heard, and said, “No then. You have killed indeed those men ; but there is a person shouting, and saying, 4 The queen has gone away with the king’s children.’ ” They caught hold of him too, and killed him also ; they said, “ You are devising bad luck for the king’s children, that they may go away.” Again the old woman cried for the fourth time, saying, “ Yi, yi, yi ; the queen has gone away with the king’s children.” Again a fourth said, “ Be still, and let us listen. You have indeed killed those men ; but there is someone shouting ; it is as if she said, 4 The queen has gone away with the king’s children.’ Just leave me alone; do not kill me too. Let us just go back to hear at home, I mean near home, if there is not someone shouting.” The king let that man be. They returned home. The old woman said, “ The queen has gone away with the king’s children.” The man said, “ What did I say then ? I told you there was someone shouting.”

The king sets out in pursuit with a large army.

All the people of the king of the Amajubatente assembled. The king told them to fetch Usitungusobenthle. They set out a great army many thousands strong, and the king of the Amajubatente went with them.

The sea divides at TJ situngusobenthle1 s word , and she and her children pass through.

Usitungusobenthle came to the sea ; she said, “ Sea, sea, sea, divide ! I am Usitungusobenthle.” The sea at once divided ; and she

USITUNGUSOBENHLE NAMAJUBATENTE.

and her children went through,10 and sat down on the other side. The army of the Amajubatente arrived at the Sea, and saw Usitungusobenthle sitting on the other side of it. They wondered when they saw her on the other side of the sea.

The army is persuaded to follow , and is drowned.

Usitungusobenthle plaited a very long rope, and threw it across, and said, “Come along, I will cross you over.”11 But she was merely chaffing them. She had found also a sharp stone. Usitungusobenthle said, “A great many of you lay hold of the rope.” A great many of them laid hold of it; Usitungusobenthle drew it. And when they were in the middle she cut the rope, and they were carried away by the sea. She said, “ Woe is me ! The people of the king are carried away.” But she was dissembling, for she had purposely cut the rope. Then she said to the others also, “ Lay hold of the rope again.” Many laid hold of it. She drew them across. And when they were in the midst of the sea, she cut the rope again ; and said, “Woe is me ! The people of the king are carried away.” Again she threw the rope, saying it had slipped from her hand. And then she said, “A

10 A somewhat similar tale is told of the Heitsi Eibip of the Hottentots ; or, according to Knudsen, of some other person. ( Bleeh's Hottentot Fables , p. 75, and Note.) When pursued, on arriving at some water he said, “My grandfather’s father, open thyself, that I may pass through, and close thyself afterwards.”

11 In the legend of Maol a Chliobain, it is said that when she had successfully plundered a giant, and again and again eluded his pursuit by leaping a stream he could not pass, she at length killed the giant by a stratagem similar to that by which Usitungusobenthle killed the pursuing army. “So Maol a Chliobain stood on the bridge (made of a hair), and she reached out a stick to him, and he went down into the river, and she let go the stick, and he was drowned. (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. p. 260. ^ In this Highland legend, and in that above, as well as in that of Ulangalasenthla and Ulangalasenzantsi, given below, the pursuers and pursued hold a conversation across the river, and the pursuers are foolish enough to believe that the pursued will help their enemies to catch them, and so perish for their misplaced confidence.

Usitungusobenthle returns to )

Usitungusobenthle rips open the men come out of it , a great many of you hold on again.” And they held on to the rope. And when they too were in the midst of the sea, she cut the rope, and they were carried away by the water of the sea. At length there remained a very few on the other side, they being now few indeed. And one of those who remained said, “At last the people of the king are come to an end.” So they turned back.

r home , and finds it desolate.

Then Usitungusobenthle set out, and arrived at the country of her people. When she came, there were no people left ; they had been eaten by the Isikguk^umadevu. She saw a mountain which used not to be there formerly : she said, “ What is this mountain ? ” She went on and approached it, near the place where the village of her people formerly stood : she found a great thing, to wit, the Isik^uk^umadevu, which she at first thought was a mountain.

ik(\uk(\umadevu , and animals and all things are renewed.

She approached close to it, and went under it, carrying a knife in her hand, and cut open its belly.12

12 In a former tale, the Isik^ukgumadevu swallows Untombinde, and is killed by a man who had been bereaved of his children by the monster. Here the monster is killed by a woman. In the Basuto legend “Litaolane took a knife, and, deaf to his mother’s entreaties, went to attack the devourer of the world. Kammapa opened his frightful jaws, and swallowed him up.” But Litaolane cuts his way out, killing the monster, and making way for the natives of the earth to escape from the living grave. In the American Indian legends, there is an account of a monstrous sturgeon of the Big-sea-water, Lake Superior, which swallowed Hiawatha and his canoe. Hiawatha “ Groped about in helpless wonder,

Till he felt a great heart beating,

Throbbing in that utter darkness.

And he smote it in his anger With his fist the heart of Nahma.”

The monster dies, and Hiawatha is delivered from his prison by the birds of prey. ( Longfellow's Hiawatha. )

ULUHLAZASE.

There came out first a fowl; it said, “ Kukuluku ! 13 I see the world ! ” For for a long time it had been without seeing it. After the fowl there came out a man ; he said, “ Hau ! I at length see the world ! ” After him there came out a bullock ; and said, “ Uuum ! I see the world ! ” After the bullock there came out a dog ; it said, “ How ! how ! how ! I see the world ! ” After the dog there came out a goat ; it said, “ Mey, mey, I see the world.” After the goat there came out a sheep ; and said, “ Bey ! bey ! I see the world.” After the sheep there came out all other things. And men again built houses, and were again happy ; and all things returned to their former condition.

And that was the end of it.

ULUHLAZASE.

Two princesses with their attendant maidens go to bathe.

Once on a time some damsels went to bathe, accompanying two princesses : the younger was much beloved by her father, but he did not love the elder. The elder was named IJbuthlaluse, and the younger Uluthlazase.15 They came to the pool, and sported in the water.

13 The sounds used by the natives to imitate those of the various animals are here given.

14 A narrative which is supposed to be a mere fiction is opened by Kw' esukela. It is thus known that fiction and not fact is about to be related. They sometimes open it by, Insimu y' esuka, i sukela pezulu.

15 Ubuhlaluse and Uluklazase are proper names of women. Feminine proper names are formed in two ways, by prefixing Uno, or suffixing se; as, Uno-mali, or, U-mali-se. So U-buMalu-se, The bead-woman. It may be a name invented to commemorate the introduction of beads among the natives. — U-lu/ilaza-se may mean, The green -woman, a similar compliment being intended by it as by Ukr/wekqwana lotshani, given to Untombinde, p. 56. Or, as luhlaza also means jet-black, it may mean, The jet-black woman.

The Isikqukqumadevu ta

Uluthlcizase refuses to ask for her

The princess fights wit

16 Isigheghe is that portion of the of the male, which may be translated es away their garments.

When they were about to go out, they saw the Isikgukgumadevu. It took their garments.16 The damsels quitted the water, and said, “ Isikguk^umadevu, give us our garments.” It gave them. Again others said the same, crying, “ Isik^ukgumadevu, give us our garments.” Every one of the damsels did so.

garments , and is left by the others.

But the princess Uluthlazase refused to ask the Isikguk^umadevu to give her her garment. The Isik^ukgumadevu had given the elder princess hers. It did not give the younger one, because she was proud. The other damsels besought her, saying, “ O princess, just ask the Isikr/ukgumadevu. ” But she would on no account agree to ask. The others said, “ We will now leave you.” So they went away.

/ the I sik(\uk(\umadevu.

When she saw that she was forsaken by the other damsels, she laid hold of the Isikgukgumadevu, thinking she would take away from it her garment. She fought with the Isikguk^umadevu. It dragged her along on the ground, and sank with her in the pool. She continued to contend with it also in the pool. The damsel was unable to conquer, and so was the Isik^ukgumadevu. It now rested in the pool, because it was tired ; and the girl rested also, because she was tired. The Isikyuk^umadevu slept there, and so did the girl.

male dress which answers to the isinene q kilt.

ULUHLAZASE.

The 1 sihquhqumadevu goes to fetch assistance , and Uluthlazase escapes.

In the morning the Isikguk^umadevu departed, wishing to call other Izik^uk^umadevu, for it was unable to conquer, for the damsel was strong. There came another animal, and said to her, “ Go away, for the Isikgukgnmadevu has gone to call others.” So she took her garment, and went up out of the water, and returned home.

The other girls deceive Uluthlazase' s parents , and are hilled.

When she reached her home, the other girls were reporting that she had come to puberty. She went into her mother’s house. Her mother wept, saying, “ Whence comest thou? For the other girls say that the signs of puberty have come upon thee.” She replied, “ They left me with the Isik^ukgumadevu.” The mother told her father, saying, “ Our child, behold she was with the Isik^ukgumadevu.” The father took his assagai, and sharpened it, and barred the way against the other girls, and said, “ Produce my child, that I may see her.” The girls laughed at him. They said, “ Your love for her is evident, for you would see her when she has the signs of puberty upon her.” The father said, “ Notwithstanding, I say, bring her out to me, that I may see her.” The girls refused, saying, “ She has the signs of puberty ; we will not bring her out.” The father was angry ; he went into the hut : the girls caught hold of him ; he pulled aside the mats ; he saw that his child was not there. So he seized the girls, and dragged them outside, and killed them all. He killed also his princess Ubuthlaluse ; he killed all the girls. The men asked, “ Sir, why have you killed the children 1 ” He replied, “ They killed Uluthlazase. They left her with the Isik^uk^umadevu.” He brought her forth. So all the people wondered, for the girls had said, “ She has the

• signs of puberty.”

The father summons the nation , and goes in quest of the Isikqukqii-

madevu.

Then TJluthlazase’s father summoned the nation, and commanded the men to go in quest of thelsik^ukgumadevu. The princess went also, and showed them the pool. The men entered the water ; the Isik^ukgumadevu was in a rage, and came out, and they killed it

The damsels which the I sikqukqumadevu had devoured are recovered , and their fathers rejoice.

Then there came out all the damsels of the whole country ; for it was accustomed to go and remain in the pool where the damsels bathed, and devour them alive. They went home with, them. The damsels’ fathers heard it reported that their children had come forth ; and they came with cattle with which to take back their children.17 They gave them to Usikulumi. And went away with their children.

17 It is a custom among the Zulus if a child has been lost, and found by another man, for the parent to reclaim it by the offering of a bullock. The fathers are here represented as not merely fetching their children which the Isikrpikf/umadevu had devoured, but bringing cattle, as it were to redeem them.

ULANGALASENIILA NOLANGALASENZANTSI.

Ulutlilazase becomes queen.

Then Uluthlazase the princess governed ; she governed with the young girls, [who were not grown up when the others forsook her.] Then her father slaughtered cattle to make his child glad, because she had been carried away by the Isik^ukgumadevu. And the men, the fathers of the damsels, thanked him exceedingly, who had taken their children out of the Isik^ukgumadevu, because he killed it.

What the IsiJcquJcc[umadevu was like.

Ku tiwa Isikgukg-umadevu a si naboya, sa si isilwane eside, si sikulu. Intombi lezo sa si zi ginya, si nga zi d/di.

Unyaose Kciya, (Sophia, Umkajosefa.)

It is said that the Isikyuk^umadevu was hairless ; it was a long and large animal. It used to swallow the young girls without eating them.18

ULANGALASENIILA NOLANGALASENZANTSI.19

(ULAN GAL ASENTHLA AND ULAN GALASEN ZANTSI. )

It used to be said long ago that Ulangalasenthla was born, and then Ulangalasenzantsi. That was it.

18 This legend is very inferior in its general style to many of the others, and is devoid of life and incident. It was related by a young Ibakca woman. But it is worth retaining, as it appears to be made up of many others. Thus we have the two princesses, going with their attendants to bathe, as in the tale of Untombinde ; but here the name is Uluthlazase ; she is, however, the daughter of Usikulumi. Then the girls do not deceive in that tale, but go home weeping and report that she has been taken away by the Isikgukgumadevu. There is no fight there, as here, between the damsel and the monster, but she is swallowed up by it like others ; and the army sent against it by Usikulumi is also destroyed ; and it is ultimately killed by a man who has lost “ twin children which were much beloved. ” Some of the other incidents are related in the tale of Usitungusobenthle ; but there a cannibal takes the place of the Isikgukgumadevu. Then in a third tale Usitungusobenthle is carried off at the age of puberty by pigeons, and, after her escape from captivity, kills the Isik<7uk<7umadevu, which had swallowed all her people, &c.

19 Ulangalasenhla, Sun-of-the-West. Ulangalasenzantsi , Sun-of-thc-East. —

Ulangalasenzantsi goes to fetch his children : his way is obstructed by ten swollen rivers , which divide , and he passes onward.

Ulangalasenzantsi said, “ I am going to fetch my children, when I have collected ten oxen.” He took a good-for-nothing old, ragged garment, and so went to fetch his children, which were with Ulangalasenthla. He came to a swollen river ; he threw in one ox ;20 the river divided, and he passed through. So now he went on his way. He came to another swollen river ; again he threw in an ox ; the river opened, and he passed through. So he went on his way. He came to another swollen river ; he cast in a third ox ; the river opened ; and so he went on his way. He came to another swollen river ; he cast in another ox ; the river opened ; and so he went on his way. He went to the fifth river, and found it full ; he cast in another ox ; the river opened ; and he went on his way and passed through. So he went on his way, he having at length crossed the tenth river. So he went and went, going now alone ; the ten oxen being now all disposed of.

These words, used as the names of the two kings, show that the legend had its rise among people dwelling on the Eastern shore, — that is, where the course of the rivers is towards the east. The sea is below, the mountains above ; and so the Eastern sun, rising from the sea, is the Lower sun ; and the Western, setting over the mountains, is the Upper sun.

20 It is a custom among native tribes of South Africa to pay respect to rivers, which would appear to intimate that formerly they were worshipped, or rather that individual rivers were supposed to be the dwelling-place of a spirit. Thus when a river has been safely crossed, it is the custom in some parts to throw a stone into its waters, and to praise the itongo. Thompson, in his Travels in Southern Africa, speaking of the religion and superstitions of the Amakccosa, says : — “Sometimes they sacrifice to the rivers in time of drought, by killing an ox and throwing a part of it into the channel.” (Vol. II., p. 352.) When Dingan’s army was going against Umzilikazi, on reaching the banks of the Ubulinganto, they saluted it, saying, “Sa ku bona, bulinganto,” and having strewed animal charcoal ( umsizi ) on the water, the soldiers were made to drink it. The object of this was to deprecate some evil power destructive to life, which was supposed to be possessed by the river. It is a custom which cannot fail to recall what is recorded of Moses under somewhat different circumstances. (Exod. xxxii. 20. ) There can be little doubt that Ulangalasenzantsi threw the oxen into the rivers as a sacrifice to the amatongo , or more probably to river -gods.

TJLAXGALASENHLA N OL AN GALAS EN ZAN TS I.

Re comes to a spring , and falls in with his daughter's child.

So at length he came to a spring, where the water of the village of Ulangalasenthla was fetched. He found there very many little children. He thought he saw a resemblance in one of the children, and said, “Whose child is this ? ” They said, “ Ulangalasenthla’s.” He said, “ What is his mother’s name ? ” They said, “ Umalangalasenzantsi. ” 21 He said, “ Ah ! ” He said, “ Come here.” He took a reed. (For all the children had gone to gather reeds.) He crushed the reed of that child, the child of his daughter ; and said, “ Just go to your mother, and tell her to come and pluck a reed for you ; say, 1 Mother, my reed is broken ; do you go, and pluck a reed for me.’ ” So his mother went, and came to the bed of reeds.

V langalasenzantsi makes himself known to his daughter.

When she came, Ulangalasenzantsi went out, and said, “ Come hither, my child.” The queen started and cried and said, “ My father, whence do you come ? Since Ulangalasenthla says, he cannot set eyes upon you ; he could kill you, because he has possession of your children, what will you do ? ” Ulangalasenzantsi said, “ You shall say, ‘ I have taken under my protection, for my own service, my tall man, whose name is Ubombi.’22 Do not say I am Ulangalasenzantsi. Conceal me from Ulangalasenthla. Say I am merely a foreigner.” She said, “ What is your business here, seeing that you are threatened, and

21 Umalangalasenzantsi , — that is, the daughter of Ulangalasenzantsi.

22 Ubombi.- -A ragged, shabby fellow.

IZIXGANEKWAXE.

it is said you are not to make your appearance here ? ” She also said, “ What will you eat ; since at home you eat bread only, whilst here beer only is drunk ; that is the men’s food ? ” He said, “ You shall grind for me, and make me stiff porridge ; and put me in the house of the old woman of your family. I will not appear openly, Ulangalasenthla may see me. I will appear openly when I have rested. I will just rest, and then collect all the children of our nation. I fetch them all and you. I am about to kill your husband.”

Ulangalasenzantsi appears openly to Ulangalasenthla .

On the morning of the third day Ulangalasenzantsi went out of the house. And Ulangalasenthla went out and said, “ Whence comes this fellow? Who is he? Is he not like Ulangalasenzantsi ?” He said, “ It is I. I am come to fetch all the children of our nation.” (They had been taken captive by Ulangalasenthla’s army.) He said, “Wo! You shall never take away the children : they are mine. You shall never gain possession of them.”23

Ulangalasenthla summons his soldiers, and orders them to hill Ulangalasenzantsi.

He called a boy, and said, “ Summon my soldiers, that they may come and hear. There has arisen a matter of great importance.” His soldiers came. He said, “ Kill Ulangalasenzantsi. I

23 Ku za wa 6’ ezwa, i.e., a hi sa yi ’ haze wa 6’ ezwa, “You shall never feel them,” — that is, lay hand on them, so as to possess them. This is said when a dispute has arisen about children, and implies either a threat to kill the person to whom it is addressed ; or merely an assurance that he will lose his case. If he gains the case, as he is walking off with the children, he may say in derision to his opponent, “I ba pi o te a ngi ’uze nga b’ ezwa na ? A si bo labo na?” Where are those whom you said I should never lay hand on ? Are they not these ?

ULANGALASENHLA NOLANGALASENZANTSI.

Ulangalasenthla sends his a\

They come to a flooded river , refuse to give up the children.” All hurled their spears at him. The spears did not reach him ; they merely fell on the ground. He collected them all, and gave them to the soldiers. Again they hurled their spears. They did not reach him ; he remained standing ; their spears did not reach him the second time. He said, “ So I 'have conquered you now. Bring me then all my children.” Ulangalasenthla agreed. He said, “ Yes, you have now conquered us.” He collected them all, and said, “ Give him all the children of his people.” So they all came together. He said, “ Behold the children of your people. So go in peace.” So he went on his way.

ny after Ulangalasenzantsi.

It came to pass afterwards that Ulangalasenthla made all his army pursue him. He said, “ Go. You can kill them now.24 Put an end to him in the wilderness, together with his children ; and then do you come back, my people.” So the army set out. It did not come up with him ; though it went diligently, it did not come up with him.

divides , and allows them to pass .

Ulangalasenzantsi and his children at length came to a river whose waters were red ; it was very great : they found it very much flooded. Ulangalasenzantsi raised his royal rod ; he raised it, and the river was stayed, and they all passed over. Then they sat down, and took off their loads, and rejoiced and ate ; they cooked a large quantity of food.

24 Ku lungile. — It is right, — that is, they have got into such a position that we can readily kill them. If a man is pursuing another, and he sees that he has placed himself in such a position, as by running towards an impassable precipice, he shouts, Wa lunga! “You are all right ! ”

IZlNGANEKWANE.

The soldiers arrive at the river ; it divides : they enter ; it closes , and overwhelms them.

The army reached the bank of the river. They shouted and said, “ Where did you cross over ? ” They said, “ In this very place. Do you cross over, and come and kill us.” They said, “No indeed ! You did not cross here. Tell us.” XJlangalasenzantsi took his rod, and raised it, and the river was stayed. He said, “ Cross over now then.” They all entered. The river was wide. When they were all in the river, he dropped his rod, and the river overwhelmed them all.

Ulangalasenzantsi and his children rejoice.

They rejoiced ; the children of Ulangalasenzantsi played ; they rejoiced exceedingly. He said,

“ Do you not see then ? They are come to an end, who were coming to kill us.” He said,

“ Take up your loads, and let us go to our people.” So they took up their burdens, and set out.

Ulangalasenzantsi and many others die in the way ; a few reach their home.

Ulangalasenzantsi died in the way. The people now went by themselves. His brother, who had been with the children, came, and went with them. Death came, and killed the old men. The young remained ; they remained with only one man. And so they journeyed, and at length came to the country of their people. There was a great lamentation. They said, “ Where is your brother ? ” He replied, “ He died in the way.” They said, “ Where did he die ? ”

ULANGALASENHLA NOLANGALASENZANTSI.

Umpondo kambule (Aaron).

He replied, “Neither did I see where he died. And another and another of our brethren, I did not see them, I did not bury them ; they died without my seeing them. We journeyed with difficulty through the midst of enemies. I do not know even that they were killed by the enemy.”

So they remained, and built houses, and rejoiced, and at length again became a great people.

This legend is an old tale amongst our people. It is called a myth, because they who used to tell it passed away a very long time ago ; and it is no longer known whence it was derived. But it is said that it was an old legend, even before the white men came to this country.25

25 Whatever may have been the origin of this tale, there are few who will not at once refer it to the history of Moses and Pharaoh. Vasco de Gama discovered Natal in 1497. In 1600 the Dutch trading vessels began to touch at the Cape, and in 1650 they formed a settlement there. A crew of a wrecked English ship passed through Natal to Capetown in 1683. ( Holden's History of

Natal, p. 36. j Kolben says: — “The Caffres traffick with the Rovers of the Red Sea, who bring ’em Manufactures of Silk for Elephants’ Teeth. These Manufactures the Caffres exchange, as Ships from Europe touch at de Natal, for European commodoties ; often for Tar, Anchors, and Cordage ; which they exchange again with the Rovers of the Red Sea. The Silk they put not off to the Europeans, they dispose of to the Monomotapos. The Portuyueze of Mozambique trade not a little with ’em.” (Kolben. Op. cit. Vol. I. , p. $2.) It is certain, therefore, that for many years the natives of Natal have had abundant opportunities of receiving from others the substance of this i ale, which they may have worked up into a tale of their own. For whencesoever derived, it is now essentially Zulu in its character and accessories. At the same time, we cannot deny that it may be a tradition of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt and their deliverance from bondage, handed down from generation to generation, gradually becoming more and more corrupted, until the natives scarcely recognise of themselves any resemblance between it and the Sc? ipture narrative, which they now have an opportunity of hearing from the missionaries, or reading for themselves. In another tale the sea divides at the wo :d oi Usitungusobenthle, when she is flying from the country by whose peoj she had been taken captive. And in the Hottentot fables, in like manner, Hcitsi Eibip when pursued by an enemy prays, and the w'ater divides, and he and his people pass through ; and the enemy, attempting to follow, are destroyed. These facts show the wide-spread existence of such a traditiou, and would appear to suggest some common origin. Dr. Bleek has shown that the Hottentot language belongs to the class of languages spoken in North Africa ; and it may be regarded as an established fact that the Hottentots came from the north, having been separated from the northern tribes by the intrusion of another people, speaking a language of another class — the alliterative or Kafir language. ( Bleek' s Comparative o

UBABUZE.26

Ubdbuze obtains his father's permission to visit a maiden.

It happened that there was a king, whose name was Ubabuze; and he was wishing to visit a damsel. His father and mother objected ; the father said, “ Do not go to see that damsel, for no one goes there and comes back again.” But the king Ubabuze said, “ I wish to go there.” Then the father assented, and gave him many cattle, and bid him good bye. He gave him also men to accompany him.

Ubabuze sets out with his people : he goes by the wrong road.

So he set out ; he assembled his men, and set out. His father told him, saying, “ My child, do not go by that road which goes up the mountain ; but go by the road which runs round it.” So he set out. But it came to pass that, at the separation of the two roads, Ubabuze left the road by which his father had told him to go ; and went by that road by which his father told him not to go.

Grammar , p. viii. — Prof. Max Muller's Lectures. Second Series , p. 11.) It may not, therefore, be unreasonably surmised that they brought this tradition with them from their former home ; and have imparted it to the Kafirs. It is worth noticing that in one of the Scotch legends, the daughter of a magician helps a lad, with whom she has fallen in love, to perform the difficult tasks appointed him by her father, and among other things “ she strikes the sea with a rod, and makes a way to the island, where the nest was,” which he had been commanded to fetch. (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. /., p. 51 .) So in “The Three Musicians,” the dwarf is possessed of a magical rod, with which he struck the waters, “and immediately they divided, and left a passage, across which they passed with dry feet.” (Bechstein's Old Story-Teller , p. 136. ^

2G This tale was told by a woman of the Amabakca, and it is printed in their dialect.

27 Abantu. — I have not attempted to represent by orthography the sound the Amabakca give to t in this and in many other words, when followed by certain vowels. It is difficult to say whether the t is followed by a slender f v, u, or w sound.

UBABUZE.

Ubabuze gets into trouble , cm

Ubabuze is hel%

I loses all his cattle and men.

It came to pass that, on going forward, he fell in with many wild beasts ; they saw him as soon as he appeared, and shouted to him when he was still at a distance, and said, “ Ubabuze, Ubabuze, son of the king!” Ubabuze said, “My father told me not to go by this road ; he said it was a bad road, and infested by hyenas.” At the saying of the hyenas he gave them many cattle. They said again, “ Ubabuze, son of the king ! ” He again gave some more cattle in addition to the first, the food for the hyenas. At length the cattle were all gone. The hyenas again asked, and said, “ Ubabuze, son of the king ! ” Now he gave them men. Again they said, “ Ubabuze, son of the king ! ” He now gave them all his people. The hyenas again asked. He did not know what to do, for the men were all gone. He went on his journey alone now.

d by a mouse.

The hyenas again asked, saying, “ Ubabuze, son of the king ! ” He ran, and fell in with a striped mouse in front. The mouse said, “ Skin me, and carry my skin in your hand.” He skinned it immediately, for there were the hyenas coming to eat him, they being now near at hand. So he took the skin, and it now bore him aloft when the hyenas came, wishing to eat him ; it lifted him on high to the clouds ; the hyenas went on the ground. The hyenas turned back again.

Ubabuze is conveyed through the air to his destination.

The skin bore him in the clouds, and put him down at the side of the kraal where was the damsel which he loved. He went into the house, he now walking on the ground. He took with, him the skin, having bound it to his rods. They celebrated a festival at the kraal with great joy, saying, “ A husband has come for the princess.”

Ubabuze remains there a year , and then sets out with the wedding party.

They killed cattle for him, and he staid there. At the end of the year in which he went, he was still staying there. The damsel’s father, when the year was ended, assembled a large marriage party, that it might go to the wedding of his daughter. Very many people of that place went.

Ubabuze takes many cattle with him.

Ubabuze restores to the mouse

Ubabuze said, “ Give me also many cattle, for there are hyenas in the way; for I, when I was coming with many men, which my father gave me, the hyenas ate the whole of them in the way.” So he gave him many cattle. And he set out with the damsel, and the cattle, and the people.

its skin , and kills cm ox for it.

He came to the place where the hyenas left him ; he found the flesh of the striped mouse, and put its skin on it ; and then killed an ox for it, and left the whole of its flesh, and the mouse ate it.

UMUNTU NENYONI.

Ubabuze’s 'party exti

Wa fika emadzhamteleni ; a buya a kcela futs’, a ts’, “ Babuze bankos’ ! ” A ka wa nikanga

’luto. Umne wabo intombi wa li gwaza elinye idzhamtela, eli inkosi yawo ; a f’ onke amadzhamtela.

V babuze reaches home with his b

Unyaose Kciya, (Sophia, Umkajosefa.)

rminate the hyenas.

He came to the hyenas; they begged again, saying, “ Ubabuze, child of the king ! ” He did not give them anything. The brother of the damsel killed one of the hyenas, which was their chief; and all the hyenas died.

ide, and there is great rejoicing.

And so they now travelled prosperously. They came to their home. They made a funeral lamentation when they saw the king return, for they thought he would die. So he came to his home ; and many oxen were killed; they killed for the marriage party, and for the king, their child. They were married, and she became the queen. Her brothers never went home again. The whole marriage party lived there.

UMUNTU NENYONI. (the man and the bird.)

A woman goes to labour in the field : her labour is rendered useless by a wagtail.

They say who are acquainted with old wives’ tales, that there was formerly a great famine, and, besides, there were not any cattle. A woman went to dig in the garden ; and there came a bird, which is called umvemve. 2S The woman dug, and went home again. In the morning she went again to dig. The new ground, which she

28 The wagtail.

had dug yesterday, she could no longer see ; she arrived at the place, and it was just like the grass. She said, “ The ground I dug yesterday, where is it ? ” speaking to herself. She dug again the second time. As she was digging there came the bird, and sat on a tree in front of her, and said, “ Tshiyo, tshiyo, tshiyo ! That is the land of my father, which I have always refused to allow to be cultivated. You have acted in opposition to me. Little clods, turn back again ! Little seeds, be scattered in all directions ! Little pick-handle, snap to pieces ! Little pick, fly off!”29

The woman again tries , but the wagtail , as before , renders her labour vain.

The woman went to dig again ; she came ; a second time she could no longer see the ground she had dug on the day before ; it was now as it used to be : for the little clods had turned back ; the seed was scattered ; and the handle was broken ; and the pick was off. Again she dug. The bird came, and said, “ Tshiyo, tshiyo, tshiyo ! That is my father’s land, which I have always refused to have cultivated. You have acted in opposition to me. Little clods, turn back again ! Little seeds, be scattered ! Little pick-handle, snap to pieces ! Little pick, fly off ! ” And so it was in accordance with its saying. The little clods turned back ; and the seed was scattered ; and the handle was broken; and the pick flew off.

29 These diminutives are to be understood as spoken in contempt, and not to refer to size.

UMUNTU NENYONI.

She goes home and tells her husband of the wonderful bird.

The woman went home again to tell her husband ; she said to him, “ When I am digging, there is a bird which comes and says to me, 4 That is my father’s land, which I have always refused to have cultivated. You have acted in opposition to me. Little clods, turn back ! Little seed, be scattered ! Little handle, snap to pieces ! Little pick, fly off ! ’ And it is as it says.”

The husband catches the bird , and obtains a feast , which he eats alone.

In the morning the woman went out to dig first, they having devised a plan, to wit, “ When I am digging, you shall come, husband, to see what the bird says.” The husband followed, and sat near the woman, in concealment. As the woman was digging, the bird came again, and said the same as before. The husband heard it, and came up from under the bush on the ground, and raised himself, and saw the speaking bird : he sprang at it, and drove it away ; the bird fled, and the man also ran after it. The bird passed over the hill, the man passed over also he drove it without ceasing ; at length the bird was tired, and the man caught it. The bird said, “ Leave me alone, and I will make you some whey.” The man said, “ Just make it then, that I may see.” The bird made it, and strained the whey ; it gurgled.30 The man drank. He said also, “ Just make curds too.” It made a flopping noise.30 The man ate, and was

30 Khla, Puhlu. — These are onomatopoetic words, and are intended to imitate the sound occasioned respectively by taking out the stopper of the calabash for the purpose of pouring out whey, and that occasioned by pouring out the thick curds.

The husband again feasts alone , satisfied, for he had been a long time hungry ; and said, rejoicing, that he had found a cow.31 He went home with it, and put it in a pot in his hut, and luted it down, that his wife and children might not see it ; that it might be his own private titbit ; for he got it by himself.

by night , when the rest are asleep.

The wife went to dig, and the husband went to dig ; both came back again ; the husband returned when it was dark; they all lay down to sleep ; but the man did not sleep : he went to the pot, and uncovered it. The bird was sitting on the top : he held it in his hand ; he poured out the amasi32 into his vessel ; and again put the bird into the pot, and luted it down. He ate the amasi alone, all the children and their motherbeing asleep.

One of the children , having seen the father feasting , reveals the discovery to the other.

In the morning the man went to cut poles, and his wife went to dig ; and the children remained alone. But one of the children had seen his father eating the amasi alone, and said to the other children, “ I saw father ; there was something which he was eating in the night, when we were all asleep ; he took the cover off the pot ; I saw him pour out amasi from it; I was silent, and said, there is something which will take him to a distance ; and then

31 This wonderful bird was only a little inferior to Mick Purcell’s Bottle, which he purchased of one of the “ Good People ” with his last cow, from which proceeded at suitable times “ two tiny little fellows,” who spread his table with the best of food, on gold and silver dishes, which they left behind ; very considerately remembering that Mick and his family required other things besides food ! (Croker's Fairy Tales. “Legend of Bottle Hill,” p. 33. )

32 Amasi. — Sour milk, but properly prepared, not what we should understand by sour milk. The native name is therefore retained.

UMUNTU N EX YON I.

we will eat amasi, for he begrudges us.” Then they went to uncover the pot ; they found the bird sitting on the top of the amasi ; they held it ; they ate, they ate, they ate, they ate, until they were satisfied. They covered it up again. The father said, “ My children, what have you been eating, to be so stuffed out ? ” They said, “We are not stuffed out with anything,” deceiving him.

A ll the children watch their father at his solitary nocturnal feast.

During the feast of the <

In the night the husband did the same again, when they were all again lying down. But one of them told them a plan, that they should not sleep, but just see what their father would do. When they had all lain down, the man did as before ; he opened the pot, and ate, and ate ; and then covered it up again. But his children had seen him, and knew that he begrudged them food. They said, “ The morning will come, and we shall see if he will not go out.”

hildren , tJie bird escapes.

In the morning the man departed. The children went and uncovered the pot ; when they came, the bird was sitting on the top ; they took it out, and ate, and ate. The bird slipped from him who held it, and flew away with a whir, and stopped at the doorway. One of the boys, Udemazane by name, said, “ Udemane, see father’s bird is going away then ! ” Udemane said, “Wait a bit, child of my father, I am in the act of filling my mouth.” The bird quitted the doorway with a whir, and stopped outside in the open space.

p

Udemazane said again, “Udemane, see father’s bird is going away then ! ” Udemane said, “ Just wait a bit, child of my father, I am in the act of filling my mouth.” The bird quitted the open space with a whir, and pitched on the fence. Udemazane said the same words again. The bird at length flew away and departed* That was the end.

The father , finding the bird gone, mourns in vain for his titbit

Ulutuli Dhladhla (Usetemba.)

The father returned. At night, when he thought he was going to get his titbit, he no longer saw the bird, and there was no longer much amasi left.33 He wondered, and called his children, and asked, “ What has been here at the pot 1 ” The children said, “We don’t know.” But one said, “No, then ! They are deceiving you, father. They have let go your bird, and it has gone away ; and we have eaten the amasi also.” He beat them very much, punishing them for the loss of his titbit,34 thinking he should now die of famine. So that was the end.35

33 Lit., Was no longer as big as anything.

34 Lit., charging them with having taken away his titbit.

35 The reader will find the power of rendering labour vain, ascribed to a bird in the above tale, ascribed to all beasts, in a legend of Central America : — ‘ ‘ When the two princes Hunahpu and Xbalanque set themselves one day to till the ground, the axe cut down the trees and the mattock cleared away the underwood, while the masters amused themselves with shooting. But the next day when they came back, they found the trees and creepers and brambles back in their places. So they cleared the ground again, and hid themselves to watch, and at midnight all the beasts came, small and great, saying in their language, 4 Trees, arise; creepers, arise!’ and the trees returned to their places.” ( Ty tor’s Early History of Mankind , p. 356. ) Compare also Note 52, p. 51.

UKCOMBEKCANTSINI.

UKCOMBEKCANTSINI.

The wives of a certain king give birth to crows. His queen has no child.

There was a certain king of a certain country ; he used to have children who were crows,36 he had not one child that was a human being ; in all his houses37 his children were crows. But his queen

36 There are among the natives legends of women giving birth to crows, and to beings resembling horses and elephants. Such legends probably had their origin in monstrous births, which bore a real or fancied resemblance to such animals. This notion of human females giving birth to animals is common among other people. In the Prose Edda we read of the woman Gref j on, who had four sons by a giant, who were oxen. ( Mallet. Northern Antiquities , p. 398. ^ And of the hag, Jarnvid, who was the mother of gigantic sons, who were shaped like wolves. (Id., p. 408. j Loki gave birth to the eight-legged horse, Sleipnir. (Id., p. 434.,) In the Pentamerone we read of a woman who brought forth a myrtle, which turned out to be a fairy, who ultimately married a prince. (“ The Myrtle.”) Pasiphae gave birth to the monstrous Minotaur ; and Leda to two eggs, from each of which sprang twins. And in a recent number of All the Year Round we read of a Mary Loft, living during the last century, who succeeded in persuading many men of science, that she had become the mother of sixteen rabbits !

But this giving birth to animals is almost always, in these tales, spoken of as a disgrace to the human being, and is felt to be a reproach. In some tales a charge of giving birth to animals is made against a queen by malice for the purpose of taking away the king’s affection. And the term Igwababa (crow) is an epithet of contempt ; it is not clear in some of the tales whether we are to understand it in this way or literally. It is evident, however, in the tale of Ukcombekcantsini, that we are to understand the word literally. All the children of the king were crows. It is amusing to see how the people appear to think that giving birth to such animals is better than sterility. We alluded above to the notion of marriage with animals as possibly intimating a sympathy with the lower world of animal life. But clearly it is not such a sympathy as would allow, or scarcely even suggest, the possibility of overleaping the natural antipathy which exists between the human and all other animal species. This is evident from the repugnance which is frequently expressed for the bridegroom whilst under the animal form ; and which is overcome only, when under that form he manifests the dispositions of man ; the sympathy is with the human spirit even when manifesting itself under the form of a lower animal ; the love is for the human being which the animal form conceals ; and whilst that form is ascribed to the wicked influence of magic, love often becomes the immediate means of delivering the spell-bound being from his degradation. Such tales, therefore, really become parables in which the power of love over brute nature, to exalt and elevate it, receives illustration. The invariably much greater repugnance expressed for giving birth to animals, on the other hand, may be a kind of protest against degeneration. Many such legends were originally, no doubt, metaphorical, or alluded to some read fact misunderstood and misexplained.

37 Each wife of a polygamist has her own dwelling and establishment ; each such separate establishment is called a house.

12IN GANEKWANE.

bad no child ; it was said she was barren ; she remained a long time without having any child. All used to jeer her, and even the very women who gave birth to crows, saying, “We indeed do give birth only to crows ; but you give birth to nothing. Of what use then do you say you are ? ” She cried, saying, “ But did I make myself? For even you are mothers, because it was said, ‘ Be ye mothers.’ ”38

The childless queen receives assistance from some pigeons.

At length she went to dig ; when she was digging, and the garden was now nearly finished, two pigeons came to her as she was sitting on the ground and weeping. One said to the other, “ Vukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Vukutu,’ and not ask why she is crying ? ” She said, “ I am crying because I have no child. The other wives of the king give birth to crows ; but I give birth to nothing.” One said, “Vukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘Vukutu,’ and not ask her what she will give us, if we give her power to have a child ? ” She replied, “ I could give all I possess.” One said, “ Vukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Vukutu,' and not ask what food she will give us ? ” She said, “ I would give you my amabele.”39 One said, “ Vukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Vukutu,’ since we do not eat amabele?” She said, “ I will give you amadumbi.”40 One said, “Vukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say

38 Kwa tiwa , Zala ni. — This saying is worthy of note. It is common among the natives. They say it is a reference to the word which Unkulunkulu, when he broke off all things from Uthlanga in the beginning, uttered, determining by an ordinance all future events.

39 Amabele , Native corn.

40 Amadumbi, a kind of arum, the tubers of which are used as food.

UKCOMBEKCANTSINI.

1 Yukutu,* and not tell her we do not like amadumbi ? ” She mentioned all the kinds of food she had. They refused it all. At length she said, “ That is all the food I have.” The pigeon said, “ Yukutu : you have amabele ; but for our part we like castor-oil seeds.” She said, “ O, I have castor-oil seeds, sir.” One saicj* “Yukutu.” The other said, “Why do you say ‘ Yukutu,’ and not tell her to make haste home at once, and fetch the castor-oil seeds?”41

The queen fetches castor-oil seeds for the pigeons.

The woman ran home at once ; on her arrival she took the castoroil seeds which were in a pot,42 and poured them into a basket, placed them on her head, and went with them to the garden. On her arrival one said. “ Yukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Yukutu,’ and not tell her to pour the seeds on the ground ? ” She poured the castor-oil seeds on the ground. The pigeons picked them all up.

The pigeons draw blood from her , and tell her what to do with the clot.

When they had eaten them all, one said, “Yukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Yukutu,’ and not ask her if she has brought a horn and a lancet ?”43 She said, “ No.” One said, “ Yukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say

41 Compare the conversation between the Ravdhs in the tale of “The Faithful Johan.” ( Grimm. Op. cit. , p. 29. j And that between the gold and the silver pigeons in “The Battle of the Birds.” (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. /., p. 37.)

42 Umpanda is an earthen pot which is cracked, and no longer of any use but for holding seed, &c.

43 Inhlanga is a term applied both to the small knife with which the natives scarify, and to the scarifications.

‘ Yukutu,’ and not tell her to go and fetch a horn and a lancet?” She ran home, and fetched a horn and a lancet, and came back immediately. On her arrival one said, “Yukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Yukutu,’ and not tell her to turn her back to us1?” She turned her back to them. One said, “Yukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Yukutu,’ and not scarify her on the loins'?” The pigeon cupped her; but when he had finished cupping her, he took the horn, and poured the clotted blood into it. One said, “ Yukutu.” The other said, “ Why do you say ‘ Yukutu,’ and not tell her on reaching home to find a large vessel, and pour the clotted blood into it, until two moons die ; and then uncover the vessel?” She went home and did so.

She fouls two children in the clot at the end of four months.

She remained two months : when the third new moon appeared, she found two children ;44 she took them out of the vessel ; and placed them again in another

44 In Stephens’ Incidents of Travel in Central America there is a curious legend, which may be compared with this. An old woman mourned that she was childless. She took an egg, covered it with cloth, and laid it in a safe place. She examined it daily, and at length was gladdened by finding it hatched, and a baby bom. The baby thus obtained had many characteristics in common with Uthlakanyana. In the Polynesian mythology, Maui is represented as having been prematurely bom as his mother was walking on the sea shore ; she wrapped the abortion up in a tuft of her hair, and threw it into the foam of the surf ; it became enfolded in sea- weed, and the soft jelly-fish rolled themselves around it to protect it. His great ancestor, Tama-nui-ki-te-Rangi, attracted by the flies, ‘‘stripped off the encircling jelly-fish, and behold within there lay a human being.” And Mqjii became the Great Hero. In the same legends the origin of Whakatau, the great magician, is still more remarkable : — “ One day Apakura went down upon the sea-coast, and took off a little apron which she wore in front as a covering, and threw it into the ocean, and a god named Rongotakawiu took it and shaped it, and gave it form and being, and Whakatau sprang into life, and his ancestor Rongotakawiu taught him magic and the use of enchantments of every kind.” (Grey. Op. cit., pp. 18, 19, and p. 1 16. ^ — Compare also the Highland legend of the birth of Gili-doir Maghrevollich, or The Black Child, Son to the Bones. ( Scott's Lady of the Lake. Note on the

UKCOMBEKCANTSINI.

bheka ngeyesine inyanga, wa funyana se be bakulu, se be Aleka ; wa jabula kakulu.

large pot. She remained three moons45 without looking into it. When she looked on the fourth moon, she found them now large, and laughing. She greatly rejoiced.

She conceals the children , and feeds them by night.

She went to dig. When she reached the garden, she sat down till the sun went down, saying, “ Can it be that my children can live? For I am jeered by the other women ; and even they, forsooth, do not give birth to human beings ; they give birth to crows.” In the afternoon she would return home. When it was evening, and she was about to lie down, she shut up the doorway with the wicker door, and with a mat, saying, “ Then, although any one pass by the door, he will see nothing.” She waited, and when she saw that the people no longer went up and down in the village, she took her line, “Of Brian’s birth strange tales were told.”J But the production of a “f etcher,” as recorded in the Icelandic legends, is still more remarkable. A woman steals a dead man’s rib, over which she performs certain incantations, and lays it on her breast ; three times she goes to Communion, but uses the wine to inject into the extremities of the bone ; on the third time the “ f etcher has acquired his full life and strength.” When she can no longer bear him on her breast, she makes a wound in her thigh and places him to it, and he draws from thence his nourishment for the rest of his existence. The ‘ ‘ fetqher ” becomes a kind of familiar to his mother, who employs him for the purpose of sucking the cows of other people, the milk of which he brings home, and disgorges into his mother’s churn. — To the same class of eccentric thought may be referred the origin of the good old Raymond’s steed,

“ Which, Aquilino for his swiftness hight,” was bred by the Tagus. His dam

“ Wlien first on trees bourgeon the blossoms soft,

Prick’d forward with the sting of fertile kind,

Against the air casts up her head aloft,

And gathereth seed so from the fruitful wind ;

And thus conceiving of the gentle blast,

(A wonder strange and rare), she foals at last !

“ And had you seen the beast you would have said The light and subtle wind his father was ;

For if his course upon the sands he made,

No sign was left what way the beast did pass.”

— Tasso's Jerusalem Recovered. Fairfax. B. vii., lxxv — lxxvii.

45 That is, three months from the time of putting the clot into the first vessel ; one from the time she placed it in the second.

children, and placed them on a mat, and took milk and gave them ; the boy drank it, but the little girl refused it. When she had remained with them a long time, she put them back again into their place ; and slept.

The crows trouble the queen.

As regards their growth, both grew very fast ; at length they crawled on the ground, not having been seen by any one ; at length they walked, their mother concealing them from the people. They remained in the house, not going out, their mother not allowing them, saying, if they went out they would be seen by the crows, and they would kill them; for they used to vex her in her very house. For it was so that when she had risen in the morning, and fetched water and then went out to dig, when she returned in the afternoon, she found the water spilt over the whole house, and the ashes taken out of the fireplace, and the whole house white with the ashes. She said, “ This is done to me because I do not give birth even to these crows ; for if I too gave birth, I should not be treated thus ; for I have now been afflicted for a long time in this way ; and even with my husband who married me it is the same ; he no longer regards me as a human being, because I have no child.”

The queen gives the girl a name.

Both grew until they were great children; the little girl was at length a grown-up maiden, and the boy a young man. The mother

UKCOMBEKCANTSINI.

said to them, “ Since you are now so big, my children, but have no name, — ■” she said to the girl, “As for you, your name is Ukcombekcantsini.”46 The boy said, “ For my part, do not give me a name ; for I too will receive my name of manhood, when I have grown up, from my father ; I do not wish to have a name now.” So the mother agreed.

The hoy and girl go out when their mother is absent, and make some acquaintances .

It happened at noon when the mother was not there, the girl said, “ Let us go and fetch water, since the crows have spilt the water of our mother.” The boy said, “ Did not mother forbid us to go outside?” The girl said, “ By whom shall we be seen, since all the people have gone to dig ? ” The boy agreed. The girl took a water-vessel ; she went to the river, both going together. But as for the boy, his peculiarity was that he was white; but the girl was very shining. So they went, and reached the river, and dipped water. When she had filled the vessel, she said to the boy, “ Put it on my head.” When he was just about to put it on her head, they saw a line of many people coming to them. When they came to the river, they said, “ Give us to drink.” He dipped water with a cup, and gave the first. The second asked also, saying, “ Give me to drink.” He gave him to drink. All asked in like manner, until he had given them all to drink.

46 UJccombeJccantsini , The-mat-marker.

IZOGANEKWANE.

They tell their new acquaintances something about themselves , and learn something about their acquaintances.

The queen i

They said, “ To what village do you belong ? ” They replied, “ To that one on the hill.” They said, “ Is there any one at home ? ” They said, “ No ; there is no one.” They said, “ To which house do you belong ? ” They said, “ To that which is last near the main entrance.” They said, “ Which is the queen ? ” They replied, “ The queen was our own mother ; but it happened that, because she had no child, her house was removed, and placed near the entrance.” The children enquired of them, “ And you, to what nation do you belong?” They replied, “We came from yonder. We are looking for a very beautiful damsel ; for the king of our nation is going to be married.” They said, “ Is he then about to take his first wife ? ” They assented. They asked, “ Of what nation are you ? ” They said, “We are Abahhwebu.” The girl said, “ And the king of your nation, is he an IJmhhwebu?” They replied, “ No ; he is not of the same race as ourselves ; we only are Abahhwebu. And we are not many ; we are but one troop.” So the Abahhwebu departed.

The boy put the water-vessel on her head. They went up the hill to their home, and sat down. In the afternoon when the mother returned from digging, she asked, “ By whom was this water fetched?” They said, “ By us.” She said, “ Did I not forbid you to go outside? By whom, then, were

UKCOMBEKCANTSINI.

A large company come to the royal daughter ii you told to go and fetch water ? ' The boy said, “ I refused for my part, but Ukcombekcantsini said,

‘ Let us go and fetch water.’ ” The mother said, “ Did no man see you? ” They replied, “We were seen by some Abahhwebu, who formed a very long line. They asked us whose children we were ; we said we belonged to this village.” They were then silent. They remained for many days. But they were unknown to any one of their own village ; they were known by the Abahhwebu only.

kraal, with cattle, to ask the king's \ marriage .

It came to pass on another occasion there came very many cattle in the afternoon with very many people. All the people of the village said, “It is an army ; into what place has it made a forray, and taken so many cattle as these ? ” They saw many men coming to their village ; they left many of the cattle outside ; they entered with others into the very village. On their arrival they drove them into the cattle-pen, and went to the upper part, and stood there and respectfully asked his daughter from the father. All the people of the village were silent, being silent from wonder, saying, “ Is there a man who could come and select from among crows one to be his bride? For there is not a girl who is a human being in this village.” But the men asked as though they knew the damsel. At length the women said, “ If you are come to select a bride, which is the damsel among all these of ours ? That mother will be glad whose daughter shall be selected with so many cattle as these.”

The mothers of the crows jeer the queen.

All the women went out of the houses and stood outside; some ran to the entrance, saying, “Ye, ye ! is the woman who has no child satisfied as to whose are these bridegroom’s men?” saying thus for the purpose of jeering the childless one, for they did not know that it was she who really had a girl; for they had given birth to crows only. The men went out in anger together with the father of the crows, he being in a rage with the women, and saying, “ Away with you ; away with you ! For which girls of yours do you make this huzzahing ? since you have given birth only to crows. Who would cast away so many cattle as these for a crow’s dowry ? ” The men said, “ Make haste into your houses, and cease this noise.”

The king tells them he has no daughter ; but they persist in asking his daughter in marriage.

The owner of the village went to the bridegroom’s men, and said, “As for me, I have no girl. I am the father of mere crows, and of nothing else. Take your cattle, and go home with them to your people.” They replied, “We beseech thee not to refuse us ; for we know that there is a damsel at this place which is a human being.” The head of the village swore solemnly that there was no damsel at his home. At length the bridegroom’s people looked at each other, being desirous of enquiring of the Abahhwebu who had come there at first; they asked them, “ Did you in truth see a damsel at

UKCOMBEKCANTSINI.

this place 1 ” The Abahhwebu replied, “We did see one at this place : we can point out the house into which she entered.” They enquired which it was. They said, “It is that which is the last but one.” They said, “ O chief of this village, we are indeed acquainted with your daughter ; we can even point out the house in which she is.” The chief of the village replied, speaking in anger, “ Are these men then truly so very wise 1 For I the father of the children tell you, there is not a girl in this place that is a human being. But you dispute the matter with me, because you have come to laugh at me, because I am not a father of human beings. That house to which you point, the occupier of it has not given birth to so much as I a crow.”

The queen salutes the strangers.

The woman of that house, when she heard her husband saying thus, left her house, saying, “ Behold the bridegroom’s people of our princess ! 47 Come into the house, and have cattle killed for you, my son-in-laws. For though I have had no child, yet you have seen that I have a child.”

She presents her children to the king.

Her husband went to the house and said, “ I thought you had no child ; but, since you have come out and shouted, have you a child 1 ” She replied, “ Since I do not have children, where could I get a child?” He said, “I ask

47 Dade is equivalent to Nkosazana, “Princess.” But Dade wetu would mean “ Our sister.” The bride calls the Imbulu by this name, Dade , “ Princess,” as a mark of deference.

thee, my child, tell me for what have you shouted ? ” She replied, “ I have shouted for my children, who are not the children of a man, but mine only.” Her husband said, “ Where are they ? ” She said, “ Come out, that he may see you.” The boy and girl came out. When the father saw them, he fell on the boy, and embraced him, crying and saying, “ Hau ! hau ! Have women indeed so great courage ? How is it that you have hidden the children till they are so big as this, they being unknown to any one?” He said, “Where did you get these children ? ” She replied, “ The pigeons gave them to me. They scarified me on the loins ; there came out a clot ; it was placed in a vessel ; at length it became human beings ; I nourished them ; I did not like to tell you, for the crows might have killed them.”

They order an ox to be slaughtered for the strangers.

The father agreed and said, “ Which bullock shall be slaughtered for them? For as for the goats, they must not have a mere goat killed ; it is proper that they kill a young ox.” So the mother agreed. She went out of the house, and came to the bridegroom, now laughing and happy, and saying, “ Come out, that I may point out to you your bullock.” The bridegroom went out alone; she pointed out to him the young ox. It was killed and eaten.

The bridegroom is accepted.

URCOMBEKCANTSINI.

tber with that with which she is about to dance48 before her bridegroom’s people.” So the mother agreed. The father arose and said, “ It is proper that all the customs of this child be fully carried out, for it is my wish that her bridegroom’s party take her with them on the day of their departure, for the crows may kill her.” So all her customs were completed by having goats killed for her, for when she came to puberty she had nothing killed for her, because no one knew of her. She danced for the bridegroom’s party ; the cattle were killed, and the flesh eaten.

The king advises them to set out on the morrow.

The father said, “ Do you set aside a leg, my children, that you and your wife may have food on your journey.” They replied, “Yes, father ; and we are desirous of going in the morning.” They were entirely of one heart.

The queen forewarns them.

The mother said to the bridegroom’s party, “ When you have set out on your journey, you will see a green animal in the path ; it will make its appearance on the high land ; do not pursue it, just leave it alone ; then the marriage of my child will be fortunate.”49

43 This ceremony is for the purpose of openly acknowledging the bridegroom by the bride. A mat is placed on the ground in the middle of the cattle-pen ; the bridegroom and his party sit at the upper end of the enclosure ; the bride and her maids pass, dancing, from the entrance to where they are sitting ; one then takes the bridegroom by the hand, and leads him down to the mat, and leaves him standing on it. The mat is not afterwards touched by the bride’s party, because the bridegroom’s feet have stood on it ; it is h lonipa’d, that is, respected by them ; but it is taken away by someone belonging to him.

49 Jnsimango, a large kind of baboon, is possibly here meant. It is said to be green ; its skin is valuable, being used only for the ornaments of chiefs and great men. Its colour is grey with a greenish tint.

The bridal 'party sets out together ; but are separated in the way .

An Imbulu accosts the

On the following morning they set out. But two large oxen were selected for the bridegroom and his bride, and they were placed upon them, their soldiers going before them, and they following alone with many damsels which had been summoned from her father’s tribe. At length they reached the high land ; and then they saw that animal respecting which the mother had warned them, telling them not to kill it. All the soldiers ran and pursued the animal. The bride said, “ Forbid them to pursue the animal. Did not my mother tell you not to pursue it V The bridegroom answered, “0, of what consequence do you say it will be ? Just let them pursue it ; it is no matter.” The bride and bridegroom, and the bride’s damsels, remained there a long time. At length the bridegroom said, “O, we are now tired with standing here in the sun. Let me go at once and bring back the men, that we may go on our way. It is now noon.” So he departed.

bride , and deceives her.

After that they remained a long time, without seeing the bridegroom ; at length the bride said to the other damsels, “I am now tired with waiting ; and I am longing for water.” As she was speaking these words, an Imbulu50 came to them, and said, “ Good day, beautiful princesses.” They acknowledged the salutation. The

50 The Imbulu is a large land lizard, living mostly in forests. It is a stupid harmless animal. The natives say it is very fond of milk, and that it sucks the cows when they are in the open country. It is not uncommon for boys who have robbed their fathers of the milk of the cows whilst herding them, to lay the blame on the Imbulu.

UKCOMBEKCANSINI.

Imbulu said, “ Just come down, that I may see if your dress is suitable for me.” She replied, “ I do not wish to come down.” The Imbulu said, “ Hau ! Just come down ; you will get up again at once.” At length the bride descended. The Imbulu took her dress, and girded it on, and said, “ O ! how well it fits me ! ” The Imbulu said, “ Bring me your veil,51 that I may see if it too would become me.” The bride refused, saying, “lam afraid of the sun, princess.” The Imbulu said, “ Lend it to me ; I will return it to you immediately.” She gave her the veil. The Imbulu put on the veil, and said, “Just let me get on your ox, that I may see if that too would become me.” She said, “ Get up, but come down again immediately.” So the Imbulu mounted, and said, “ Ncinci ! How admirably it suits me ! ” She said, “ Come down now then.” The Imbulu said, “I do not wish to come down ; I shall never come down.” The bride said, “ Get down, that I may mount.” The Imbulu replied, “You gave me permission to get up ; I shall never come down again, for my part.”

The bride and her maids are turned into birds.

Then the bridesmaids and the bride departed ; they turned into finches, and the bride turned into an uluve.52 They went to the forest, and remained there, being now birds.

51 Ulembu. — The veil is now no longer used among the natives ; it is known only in nursery tales. It is said to have been an ancient custom for the bride to veil her face. She now partially conceals it with a prepared skin.

52 Uluve , a bird, a kind of finch.

R,

1ZINGANEKWANE.

The bridegroom is uneasy .

The bridegroom’s men arrived with the skin of the animal which they had skinned. They went in front. When they vrere still at a distance from the damsels,, the bridegroom said, “ Hau ! hau ! • My men ! do you see the bride, how small she is be* come, and that she no longer shines ? what has happened to her ? and where are the bridesmaids ? ” They replied, “ O, sir, perhaps the girls were tired with sitting in the sun, until they went back to their own homes ; we see what the sun has done to the bride, for she was not accustomed to sit in the sun.” He replied, “ And if it is so, that which is done by the sun would be evident. My body is weak;53 it seems to me that this is not my bride.” They came in front of her, and said, “ Where are the damsels ? ” The bride answered as though her tongue was tied, speaking rapidly and thickly, saying, “ They have gone home.”54

5:5 If a man feels his body weak and languid without being able to account for it, he considers it an omen of approaching evil. When the Troll had put her own daughter in the place of the young queen, the queen’s “little dog, Locke, was never cheerful afterwards ; the little infant wept uninterruptedly, and a weight lay on the Icing's mind” ( Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories. “ The Princess that came out of the water,” p. Ql.)

54 Roland leaves his bride to go home to prepare the marriage festival, but falls into the toils of new enchantments, and forgets his betrothed and his faith. When his marriage with another is about to be celebrated she joins the bridal party, and when it comes to her turn to sing, her voice is recognised by Roland. Between the time of being forsaken and again recognised, like Ukcombekcansini and her damsels, she occupies herself in secretly doing all the work in a shepherd’s cottage, who had plucked her in the form of a flower into which she had transformed herself, and taken her to his home. She assumed the human form during the absence of the shepherd. ( Grimm. “ Roland and his Bride,” p. 222.) One of the fisherman’s “ golden children,” through pursuing a fine stag, is led into enchantments, by which he is lost to his bride, till released by his brother. (Id. “ The Golden Children,” p. 326. ) The king’s son leaves the giant’s daughter, who had helped him to perform the laborious tasks imposed on him by her father, and finally to escape from him ; and through allowing himself to be kissed by a dog, loses all recollection of her, till reminded of her, when he was about to be married to another, by a conversation between two pigeons. (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. /., p. 251.) See also several such tales in Thorpe's Yule-tide Storks , pp. 202, 216, 447.

UKCOMBEKCANSINI.

The birds jeer Ukakaka.

So they went forward, the soldiers going in front, and the bridegroom himself went in front with his soldiers ; the bride55 remained behind, going alone with the ox. When they were at some distance from that place, they saw many birds pitched on the grass in front of them, saying, “ Ukakaka the king’s child gone off with an animal ! ” They said, “ Out upon him, he is running off with an Imbulu ! ” He said, “ Hau ! my men ! You hear what these birds say : what do they say ? Did you ever hear birds speak?” They said, “ O, sir, the manner of birds of the thorn country ; they speak.”56 So he was silent. They went forward.

In front also the birds went before them, and said, “ Ukakaka, Ukakaka, the king’s child gone off with an animal ! Out upon him, he runs off with an Imbulu.” But that troubled the heart of Ukakaka very much. When they were near home, the birds turned back and remained in the forest. They entered their home, all the men going in front, leaving the bride alone behind them.

The king is dissatisfied with the bride.

In the cattle-pen there were many men sitting with the king, Ukakaka’s father. The bride en-

55 That is, the Imbulu, the false bride.

56 In one of the versions of “The Little Gold Shoe,” a bird exposes the deceit which they are practising on the prince, by crying

“ Chop heel and clip toe !

In the oven is she whom fits the gold shoe.”

“What was that?” inquired the prince, wondering. “Oh,” answered the queen, “ it was nothing ; it was only the song of a bird.” ( Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories, p. 125.) See Appendix at the end of this tale.

Ukakaka is c tered, going alone ; she went up to the upper part of the enclosure. All the men who were in the enclosure said, “ What is that which has come with the prince ? ” The king spoke in anger, calling his son, saying, “ Come here, you boy.” Ukakaka went in fear, because he saw that his father was very angry. On coming to him he said, “ What is that with which you have come ? Is that thing the damsel which the Abahhwebu said was beautiful ?” He said, “ Make haste, and call them all to come here to me; all the Abahhwebu shall be killed ; for they have lied in saying they had seen a beautiful damsel.” Ukakaka said, “ No, king, my father; I too saw the damsel ; she was very beautiful ; the Abahhwebu spoke the truth, for I too saw her, when she was very beautiful.” The father replied, “ What then is the matter with her now ? ” He said, “ I do not know. We were told at her home on no account to kill a certain animal. But we killed it, and when we returned from killing it, on our arrival the damsel was as she is. And the damsels of her people were no longer there. As we went along I too saw that it is not the damsel with whom I left her home.”

so dissatisfied.

So the father was silent. They tarried a few days. But Ukakaka would not allow her to be called his wife, saying, he had not a wife yet. The time would come when he should marry a beautiful girl. And all the people wondered at the girl, and said she was not like a human being.

UKCOMBEKCANSINI.

The bride and her maids assume their own forms , and visit the bridegroom’s kraal.

But there was an old woman who lived at that village ; she had no legs, but only arms ; she remained at home doing nothing; her name was Uthlese ;57 she was so called because in walking she rolled along with her body only. The people had gone to dig ; when they were gone, the damsels again turned into human beings,58 and came to that place ; they went to Uthlese, and said, “Will you then say that you have seen any girls here at home 1 ” Uthlese replied, “0, no, my children. I will say, how could I see people here since I am but Uthlese 1 ” They went out, and took all the vessels from one side of the village, and went to fetch water. They came with the water : they crushed mealies for making beer for the whole village ; they fetched water again and again, and boiled it for the beer ; they fetched water, and smeared 59 the floors of the houses of the whole village ; they went and fetched firewood, and placed it in the whole kraal. They went to Uthlese, and said,

57 Uhlese. — Ukuti hfe.se, to shuffle along in walking. Uhlese, Shuffler.

58 Twelve brothers were changed into twelve ravens because their sister plucked the white lilies, in which her brothers’ destiny was in someway wrapped up. (Grimm. “ The Twelve Brothers,” p. 44.) In the tale of the Hoodie, the bridegroom is a man by day and a hoodie by night. ( Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. /., p. 63.,) The six princes who were changed into swans by their stepmother’s enchantments, resumed their human form for a quarter of an hour every evening. (Grimm. “The Six Swans,” p. 190.,) In Hans Christian Andersen’s beautiful tale of the Wild Swans, the princes were swans as long as the sun was above the horizon, and resumed their human form from sunset to sunrise. In the tale of “The Beautiful Palace,” we read of “ three fair damsels ” who could put off and resume the plumage of doves at pleasure. ( Thorpe. Yule-tide Stories, p. 159. ) And the white bear threw off his beast shape at night. (Dasent. Popular Tales from the Norse, p. 27.) In Snend’s Exploits we read of a Troll who “in the daytime transformed himself into a dragon, and his twelve sons flew about as crows ; but every night they became men again. ” (Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories, p. 340. )

59 The natives smear the floors of their houses with cow-dung or goatdung, to keep them free from insects and dust.

IZIXGANEKWANE.

The women wonder at the w

The bride and her ma

“ Utlilese, who will you say has done all this ? ” She said, “ I will say I did it.” They went to the open country, and on their arrival again became birds.

wk done by unknown hands.

In the afternoon when the people returned, all the women of the village said, “ Hau ! Who has been smearing the floors here at home ? And who has fetched water ? and firewood ? and crushed mealies for beer ? and heated the water?” All went to Uthlese, and asked her by whom it was done. She said, “ It was done by me. I shuffled and shuffled along, and went and fetched water; I shuffled and shuffled along, and went and fetched firewood ; I shuffled and shuffled along, and crushed the mealies ; I shuffled and shuffled along, and heated the water.” They said, “ Hau ! was all this done by you, Uthlese?” She said, u Yes.” They laughed and were glad, saying, “ Uthlese has helped us by making beer for the whole village.” They retired to rest.

ds pay a second visit ,

On the following morning they went to dig. All the damsels came, carrying firewood. Uthlese said, “Ye, ye, ye! behold the daughters-in-law of my father. It is well that the wedding party should come home.” They placed firewood for the whole kraal ; they ground the mealies which they crushed the day before for the beer; they made beer in every house in the kraal ; they fetched water; they ground malt, being

UKCOMBEKCAKSINT.

about to make umlumiso ;60 they mixed the malt with the mealiemash. They went to Uthlese, and said, “ Good bye, our grandmother.” She replied, “ Yes, bridal party of my mother’s mother.” So they departed. In the afternoon all the women came home, and again went to Uthlese, and said, “ Who has ground the mash % who has cooked h ” Uthlese said, “ I shuffled and shuffled, and went and fetched wood ; I shuffled and shuffled, and ground the mash ; I shuffled, and boiled water ; I shuffled, and fetched water ; I shuffled and shuffled, and ground malt ; I shuffled, and mixed it with the mealie-mash ; I shuffled, and came back here to the house, and sat down.” They laughed, saying, “Now we have got an old woman who will work for us.” They sat down ; they retired to rest.

They pay a third visit.

On the following day the damsels arrived, when no one was there; but Uthlese was sitting outside. They went to her, and said, “You are a good creature, Uthlese, because you do not tell any one.” They went into the houses, they ground malt, they mixed the mash, they strained the beer they had set to ferment rapidly on the day before, they poured the grains61 into the mash they had mixed, that it might quickly ferment. They collected into large earthen vessels that which they had strained ; they took another vessel, and went with the beer that was in the vessel to Uthlese. On coming to her they

60 Umlumiso , beer, generally a small quantity, the fermentation of which is pressed onward, that it may be soon ready for drinking.

(il Amahhabulo differ from izinsipo. The amahhabulo are the sediments of beer whilst actively fermenting, and which are used to excite fermentation in new beer. The izinsipo are the refuse sediment, when the beer is fit for use.

drank, and gave also to Uthlese ; she laughed, and was joyful, and said, “I will never tell, for my part ; you shall do just as you like.”

The women look out for something wonderful.

Again they departed and went into the open country, again turning into birds. In the afternoon all the women came and saw that all the mash was mixed. They said, “ 0, Uthlese is wearied with us for asking her by whom it was done. Let us just say nothing. There is something wonderful which is about to happen here at home.”

Ukakaka learns the secret from V thlese.

But in the evening Ukakaka went to Uthlese and earnestly besought her, saying, “ Hau ! grandmother, tell me by what means this is done?” Uthlese replied, “ By me, child of my child.” He said, “ Hau ! grandmother. You could not do it. Tell me by whom it has been done?” She said, “ At noon, when every one of you are gone, there come many damsels ; but among them there is one most beautiful ; her body is glistening ; it is they who make beer here at home.” Ukakaka said, “ Oh ! grandmother. Did they not say they would come tomorrow?” Uthlese replied, “ O, they will come.” Ukakaka said, “ I too will come at noon, and see the damsels.” He said, “ But do not tell them, grandmother.” She replied, “ No, I will not tell them.” So they retired to rest.

UKCOMBEKCANS IN I.

The bride and her maids pay a fourth visit

UJcakaka su

62 The king’s son is brought to the dove chiding her mate by saying,

“ Out upon thee ! Thou hast served As the king’s son

( Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories, p, 203. )

On the following day all the people departed, going to dig. Then the girls came; they went into the houses ; they strained the beer in the whole kraal. When they had strained it all, they poured it into vessels in the whole kraal ; they took a very large earthen vessel, and poured into it, collecting the beer of the whole kraal with a vessel. They filled the earthen vessel. They went out with it, and went to Uthlese ; on their arrival they set it on the ground ; they took cowdung, and smeared the floors of the whole kraal j they swept the whole kraal ; they fetched firewood, and put it in the courts of the whole kraal; they went into the house in which was Uthlese ; they took vessels and drank beer.

prises them.

When they had drank a great deal of beer, Ukakaka entered the kraal ; when they saw him, they went to the doorway, thinking to go out, and then escape without his seeing them. But he blocked up the doorway, saying, “ Hau ! child of my father, Ukcombekcansini, what great evil have I done you, that you have troubled me to this degree?” Ukcombekcansini laughed, saying, “ Eh, eh. Out upon Ukakaka ! Was it not you who took me from my father’s kraal, and left me on the high lands, and went away with an Imbulu?”62 He replied, “ I saw it recollection of Messeria, by the little me served Messeria.”

Ukakaka tells the king th was not you. And because I no longer saw you, I did not know what you had done.” So they remained, Ukakaka rejoicing greatly and saying, “ I said, ‘ I shall soon die/ when I no longer saw you.”

t the true bride has come.

When it was afternoon the people came. Ukakaka went out to his father, smiling with joy, and saying, “ To-day then, my father, the damsel has come, who was lost to me on the high lands.” His father asked, laughing for joy, “ Where is she ?” He said, “ Yonder in the house.”

They prepare a punishment for the false bride.

His father said, “Tell all the people here at home, that all the men are to dig a pit immediately here in the cattle enclosure ; and tell the women to boil water in all the pots.” So he told them. When all that was done, all the women were ordered to come and leap over the pit which had been dug in the cattle enclosure ; some milk had been put in the pit; and the bride63 too was called ; it was said, “ Do you too go to the cattle enclosure ; all the women are going to jump over the pit.” This was done because it was said, when the Imbulu sees the milk, it will throw itself in and go to eat the milk. They went to the kraal. The bride said, “ I am afraid to go into the cattle-pen of strangers.” They said, “ Go ; it is no matter.” So she went, and came to the cattle-pen. The other women leapt. She was told to leap too. Wien she was about to leap, she

63 TLat is, the false bride.

UICCOMBEKCANSINI.

The nation is called saw the milk,64 her tail unfolded, and she threw herself into the pit, on seeing the milk. Then all the people ran and took the boiling water, and came with it and poured it into the hole. The Imbulu died.65

to the royal wedding.

All the people were told that the true bride had come. They rejoiced ; and men were sent and told to go to the whole nation and tell the people to assemble for a dance, for the prince had been accepted by a damsel. On the following day men and youths, and maidens and women, assembled ; they danced ; and the bride and her maidens also danced ; many cattle were killed; and they ate meat for several days.

64 The cat which fell in love with a young man, and was by Venus changed into a beautiful girl and became his bride, retained the cat’s disposition under the human form, and quitted her husband’s side to catch a mouse which was playing in their chamber. “What is bred in the bone will never out of the flesh. ”

65 Basile’s Pentamerone is a series of tales related to gratify the fancy of a slave who for a time had succeeded in snatching her reward from Zoza. A prince named Taddio was confined by enchantments in a tomb, from which he could be liberated only if a woman would fill a pitcher suspended near the tomb with her tears ; by this means she would bring the prince to life, and have him for her husband. Zoza had nearly filled the pitcher when she fell asleep. A black slave had been watching her, and whilst she was asleep, filled the pitcher with her own tears. The prince awoke, and took the slave to his home. Zoza after much suffering, and only by the aid of magic, at length convinced the prince of the deceit, and became his bride. The slave was punished by being buried in a hole up to her neck, that she might die a more lingering death. — In the tale of “The Three Citrons,” a black slave takes the place of a prince’s beautiful bride ; the bride is transformed into a dove ; and the prince, like Ukakaka, on his return, is surprised at finding a black woman instead of the fair damsel he had left ; the slave tells him it is the result of magic. The prince by magic detects the deception. The slave is punished by being cast on a pile of burning wood. — In Grimm’s Home Stories we find a tale still more similar to the above. An aged queen sent her daughter to be married to the prince of a far distant country, accompanied by one female attendant. The condition of her prosperity was that she should preserve a white handkerchief on which the mother had dropped three drops of her own blood. In the journey the handkerchief was lost ; and the servant at once obtained a power over her mistress. Like the Imbulu, she succeeded in getting the clothes and horse of the princess in exchange for her own, and assumed her name. She was received as the princess at the king’s palace, and the princess is sent to herd the geese. The deception is at length detected ; and the servant killed by being placed in a barrel full of spikes. The young prince marries the true bride, and, like Ukakaka and Ukcombekcansini, “ both reigned over the kingdom in peace and happiness till the end of their days.” (“ The Goose-herd.”)

Ukcombekcansini reigns with UJcaJcaJca.

Lydia, Umkasetemba.

The king ordered TJkakaka’s kraal to be built. The wattles were cut, and the kraal built at once ; it was a very large kraal ; and the bride was appointed, it being said, it is she who is queen. The damsels plucked grass, and thatched the whole village of the bride ; they then departed and went back to their people. And she then reigned together with her husband.

APPENDIX.

THE “LITTLE BIRDS.”

In the legend-producing period, birds appear to have struck in a peculiar manner the fancy of man. Some were birds of evil omen, as the crow and raven ; and auguries were derived from their flight, &c. The same superstitions exist at the present time among the natives of this country. Thus a large bird called ingqungqulu or inhlazinyoni, if it cross the country in rapid flight, is supposed to be an omen of war in the direction in which it is flying. And if the utekwane , a bird to which the natives ascribe many peculiar powers, pass through a village, crying, it is considered as an omen of an approaching marriage, or of great fecundity in the herd.

But it is “ the little birds ” which are messengers, and who come with their tale of warning or instruction. “The belief,” says Dasent, “ that some persons had the gift of understanding what the birds said, is primaeval. We pay homage to it in our proverbial expression, ‘a little bird told me.’ Popular traditions and rhymes protect their nests, as in the case of the wren, the robin, and the swallow.”

This power of understanding the speech of birds not only exists in the legends of the Zulus, as we have seen from several of the tales already given, but even in recent times there have been those who pretended to comprehend their language, and to whom they have been prophets of the future. Umpengula, my native teacher, has given me several interesting accounts of the peculiar character of his brother Undayeni. He was a remarkable man, one of those who possess that high-strung, sensitive nervous system, which appears to place them en rapport with the spirit-world, and to give them capacities of sympathy which are not possessed by common men. He was the subject of dreams, which were realised, and of visions ; and often saved himself and family from impending danger by his prophetic insight into the future. It may be worth remarking that this peculiar power was not natural, that is, he was not born with it, but it manifested itself after a contest with a leopard which lasted the greater part of a day, and which nearly proved fatal to him. When he began to manifest these peculiar powers, his friends expected that he had been elected by the spirits to be a diviner ; and ascribed the fact of his not attaining to that eminence to a dispute between the spirits of his own house and those of his maternal uncle ; the latter wishing to give him the power and the former objecting, and thus he was only a wise man and interpreter of dreams, “ half-way between divining and not divining.” Together with these powers he also com-

THE “LITTLE BIRDS.

prehended the language of birds. The following is the account given by his brother : —

Kepa loko kwa si Alekisa. Umvemve lowo wa kuluma izindaba eziningi Undayeni a zi zwayo ; kepa a si tshele, sa m Aleka sonke, sa ti, “ U ya pupa ! Ubani o ng’ ezwa ukukuluma kwenyoni, o nge si yo inyoni na ? ”

Another thing which astonished me in Undayeni was that he was an interpreter of the language of birds. He heard the bird which is called the wagtail speaking in the cattle-pen, and saying, “ Dig extensively this year. You will buy many cattle [with the corn].” And he told the matter to the people, saying, “ I have heard the wagtail telling us to dig extensively, and we shall buy many cattle. And I agree with it, that it has spoken truly.”

But that saying was like a fable to the people, and they asked, “ Do you say, Undayeni, that you heard the bird say this?” And he replied, “ I say it will presently return, and say something else.” And indeed after a few days, as we were sitting in the cattle-pen, the wagtail jabbered, we not understanding what it said. But he said, “ Listen ! There is news.” We were silent. The wagtail spoke by jabbering. Undayeni enquired of us, saying, “ Have you understood then ? ” We replied, “We did not understand. We heard the wagtail jabbering very much, and nothing more.” But he said, “ It says that next year it will be a dry season.” But that made us all laugh. That wagtail spoke many things which Undayeni heard ; and when he told us we all laughed and said, “ You are dreaming ! Who can understand the language of birds, who is not himself a bird ? ”

But truly, that year Ungoza came. O ! we bought many cattle with our corn of the people of Ungoza. The year after we had a

Umpengula also relates the followk great famine, and went to buy corn in the forest-land. And so we saw that which Undayeni had said. And as regards the wagtail he told us continually what was said by it, saying, “ If when it speaks you give an attentive ear, you will hear it speaking something of importance.” And we wondered at that, for there was not one amongst us who understood the bird’s speech. But I say that even to this very day when I hear a wagtail speaking, I listen attentively, thinking, “ It may be I shall hear one word.” But, no, so as to understand ! And I still wonder at the saying of Undayeni ; the famine I saw, and the abundance I saw.

y anecdote : —

The account of a crow, which called Umpeza, the son of Umzenya, it calling him in the forest, where the people had fled from their homes, running away from the Zulus. But the people assembled on hearing that the Zulus were fighting with the Dutch, and were about to be conquered ; and they wished to take the cattle, for the Zulus were detained by the army, and were unable to look after the cattle ; and being much pressed by the Dutch force, they could not attend to little matters.

The men, then, went out to that spoil of cattle. It happened as they were going from home, a crow cried out ; the men listened, hearing a noise, but not hearing a word that was said. But the crow was very urgent, crying and saying, “ I say, Umpeza ! I say, Umpeza !. do not go by the way you are going ; you will die ; there will not return one man from the army ; the people will all die. Go home again.”

. THE “ LITTLE BIRDS.

When some heard thoroughly that saying, they interpreted it, saying, “The crow forbids us to go ; it says, ‘ Not a single man will return.’ ” But others did not hear the word, “ Not a single man will return,” nor that, “ I say, Umpeza ! ” They disputed, and did not believe, for birds were never known to speak with men. They were fascinated by the spoil they expected to gain ; and so they went.

But the body of Umpeza became weak and languid through being told beforehand of death. He returned home, and others who believed the word about death. The greater number went ; but from among the whole not one returned, but Usichile alone, who escaped. They were all killed by the Zulus. When he came home he said, “You see me alone ; you will never see any of the rest.” Those therefore who remained believed in the word which the crow had spoken. And so it was said, “ Forsooth these birds speak, and no one understands them.” So they lived, and that trouble came to an end. After a time many households were destroyed through that Zulu army. Umpeza lived a long while ; he has only just died at the present time, being a very old man.

The possession of this power of comprehending the language of birds is in old legends frequently associated with the influence of serpents. Thus, the young serpent which Melampus had brought up, played around him whilst he slept, and softly touched his ears. On awaking he found himself able to comprehend the chirping of birds. Iamus, the son of Evadne, was fed with honey by two serpents, sent to take charge of him by Apollo ; and when he had grown up, he besought Apollo to open his ears that he might reveal to the sons of men the hidden things of nature and of futurity. “Apollo touched his ears, and straightway the voices of the birds spake to him clearly of the things which were to come, and he heard their words, as a man listens to the speech of his friend.” (Cox. Tales of Thebes and Argos , p. 175. ) Whilst in the legends of the North we read of Sigurd, who, incited by Regin, slew the serpent ; whilst roasting the heart he accidentally touched it with his finger, and conveyed a portion of the blood to his tongue, when he immediately understood the language of birds, and heard them conversing with each other of Regin’s duplicity, and of the benefits Sigurd might obtain by eating the whole of the heart which he was roasting for Regin. (Thorpe. Northern Mythology. Vol. I., p. 97.) This legend has found its way into the tales of the people in Germany in “The White Snake,” (Grimm, p. 75,) and in the Highlands in “Fearachur Leigh.” (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. II., p. 361. ) The faithful Johan, through well understanding the language of birds, learns from them how to save his master from destruction. ( Grimm, p. 29. ) And the prince, when the little bird sang on the tree, understood its language, and detects the deceit of the pretended bride. (Dasent. Op. cit., p. 42,7.)

Among the North-American Indians the same power of conversing with birds and beasts is ascribed to Hiawatha in beautiful connection with the simplicity with which childhood looks on created things, and the readiness with which it sympathises with the lower world of animal life, and claims for itself a brotherhood with all living creatures.

It is a raven which instructed Adam and Eve what to do with their dead. ( Weil. Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans , p. 24. ) In these legends the reader will find numerous instances of man holding intercourse with animals, &c. (see pp. 38, 40, 44, 104, 152. ) It appears to be supposed that originally man had a language in common with animals. All nature is represented as weeping in sympathy with Adam, when he was expelled from Paradise, “and the birds, and the beasts and insects,” until “ the whole universe grew loud with lamentation” (p. 16) ; and that “ the brute creation lost the power of speech” only when the ox had reproached Adam with his transgression (p. 25). Compare also “the frightful shriek which all nature uttered ” when Kadbar, assisted by the priests, slew the wonderful camel, which, at the prayer of Salih, God had caused to come out of the rocky mountains (pp. 42, 45).

It is the guinea-fowl which warns the brothers of the approach of their sister for the purpose of killing them, and when the murder has been accomplished reports the fact to their parents. (Bleek's Hottentot Tales. “A Bad Sister,” p. 65. ) It is a bird that pursues Macilo, and constantly reminds him that he has killed his brother, and at length “ finds the sister of the victim and says to her, ‘ I am the heart of Maciloniane ; Macilo has murdered me ; my corpse is near the fountain in the desert.’ ” ( Casalis ’ Basutos, p. 339.4 And that tells the parents that the younger of their two boys had been cast into the water by his elder brother. (Zulu Legend to be given below.)

When Kasimbaba had climbed to heaven to seek Utahagi, a little bird shows him Utahagi’s house. (Tylor. Op. cit., p. 347.) The little birds tell the kind child how to perform the various difficult tasks imposed on her by the old witch who lived underground. (Dasent. Op. cit. “The Two Stepsisters,” p. 132. — Compare “The Two Caskets.” Thorpe. Yule-tide Stories , p. 102.4 And it is three sparrows, or in the corresponding tale three doves, which pronounce three blessings on the generous princess, and three curses on her churlish step-sister. (Thorpe. Idem. “The Beautiful Herd-girl,” p. 35 and 42. )

It strikes one as singular and interesting that there should be so universally spread about among widely differing people this curious notion. In addition to those already mentioned, I will point out a few more instances from the folk-lore of other people. We saw above that the swallow talks with Usikulumi, and by means of its skin protects him from danger and saves him from destruction (p. 53). It is Mama, the woodpecker, that comes to the despairing Hiawatha, and tells him of the place in the body of Megissogwon where alone he can be wounded. ( Longfellow's Hiawatha. ) A fairy in the form of a bird dropped a root on the arm of the king when he was about to kill Porziella, and he was seized with such a trembling that the weapon fell from his hand. ( Pentame - rone. ) It was a bird that told Kurangaituku of the destruction of her home by Hatupatu. (Grey. Op. cit., p. 187-4 And- it was the untimely laughter of the little Tiwakawaka that caused the death of Maui and the failure of his

THE HONEY-BIRD.

enterprise. (Id., p. 57. ) It is a little bird which warns the damsel that had been enchanted by her foster-mother, saying,

“ Look not at the billows blue,

For then thou wilt turn gray.”

(Thorpe. Yule-tide Stories , p. 64.,) That gives warning to the betrayed bride by the words : —

“ Return, return, unhappy bride,

Within this den the murderers hide.”

(Grimm. “The Robber Bridegroom,”^. 166.,) It is the little bird that exposes the deception of the false bride. ( Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. II., p. 288. — Thorpe. Yule-tide Stories, p. 125.,) And that restores the forgotten bride to the recollection of the prince. (Thorpe. Id., “The Mermaid,” p. 203; “ Singorra,” p. 220 ; “ Goldmaria and Goldfeather,” p. 451. — Dasent. Popular Tales from the Norse, “ Katie Woodencloak, p. 427.)

I here insert an account of the peculiar habits, almost amounting to intelligence, of the honey-bird. It was given me by a native, but has been substantially corroborated by whitemen who have themselves been led by it to deposits of honey. It is quite possible that many of the superstitions relating to birds had their origin in such or similar manifestations as are here described. The childlike mind has no theory to support ; it makes no arbitrary distinctions between intelligence as manifested by man, and intelligence as manifested by brutes ; where it sees actions implying intelligence, there it believes intelligence exists. Such a thought is probably at the bottom of the theory of transmigration, and of the possibility of there being an intercommunication between man and the lower animals.

INHLAMVU.

(the honey-bird.)

The Inthlamvu is a bird which by its cry calls men to places where there are honey-bees. Among black men it is said to be a chief. If a man throws a stone at it when he does not follow it, he is regarded as a man of nought. For if a man does not find bees, he should not say, “ Let me throw a stone at it, it is a liar.” It is not so. The bees are there ; or if they are not there, there is something else. If he does not see it, he must not blame the bird ; for if it is struck it is afraid to call men to the place where there are honeybees.

It happens when a man is walking, unconscious of anything, or perhaps he is very hungry, and is unable to walk fast, being a burden to himself j then may come a bird, its name is Inthlamvu. As he is walking along, perhaps it appears in front of him, and he hears it loudly chirping, and he begins to gain strength through faith, saying, “ My hunger is already appeased, because I am called for a reality.” So he says in answer, “Eh!” or “Chirp!” He first praises it, saying, “Thou honeybird, who calls the women when they are digging ! Yes ! yes ! Speak, that I may hear what you say.” Then it cries with a very great crying, and makes a great noise in the bushes ; and the man too is very glad ; the bird goes in front, for in fact it is a guide. The man does not ask where he is going. He follows it continually ; it goes and waits for him ; for it flies, but he passes with difficulty through the underwood. If it goes a great distance in front, it returns and meets him. When he does not hear even its cry, and it is quite silent, he says again and again, “Where are you gone?” If there is no sound, he begins to shout very loud, saying, “O-o-oyi ! ” telling it to understand that he is looking for it. And then he still stands near the place where the bird left him ; for when it comes back, it comes back to the place where it left him ; and he hears it coming and making a great noise, and he cheers it very much, shouting, “ E-ha ! ” At length it comes to him. If it does not see him and stops on a tree, he at length stands forth, and sees it, and it sees him, and so it departs and pitches in front : at length it comes near the place where the bees are, and begins to

THE HONEY-BIRD.

ze a ti, “A ngi hambe ngamandMa, se i bekile,” ’ezwa i nk^wininize kancinyane ; kanti a i ka beki ; u za ’uti uma ’like ~kona, i ti i sa m bona, i suke i k^ale ukubambela pansi ; ’azi ngaloko ukuti, kga, se zi seduze. Ku ti uma indawo i sobala, i y’ esuka, i ya M ala ngapambili ; i se i tsbo, i tula ; a bo ku i vumele, i twikitwikize, i tule, i kombe ; a ti uma i bona, a bone se i bamba, a kgale ukusinga ; a bo sa te, “ Ab ! Naziya, zi ngena pansi kwomuti.” Lapo ke se zi ngena ubutaputapu, a sondele ; i Male ; a ti uma e se fika impela, i suke i Male njeya eduze, i buke, naye a i bone i tule nya ; a zi mbe, a zi tape ; a i bekele amakgafazi ; ikekana a b Mome otini, ukuze i dMe; kona cry less loudly. And be says, “ Let me make baste, for it has now pitched,” when be bears it gently crying ; but it has not yet settled ; but when be approaches, it begins to go towards the ground ; and be thereby knows that the bees are near at band. If the place is exposed, it goes and settles in front ; it chirps and is silent ; be again and again responds to it, it chirps and is silent, and points in the direction of the bees. When it sees him it flies off, and be catches sight of it, and begins to mark down the bees ; again and again be says, “ Ab ! There they are entering at the foot of the tree.” And when be sees them going in in crowds be draws near; and the bird is still : when be reaches the very place, the bird comes and waits over against him and looks on ; and be sees that it is quiet ; be digs out the bees and takes out the honey ; be places the young bees for the bird, and sticks a piece of comb on a stick, that it may eat ; and then it will call him again on another day.

But it does not eat the comb, it eats the young bees which can fly. So the man sets out; for it is said if a man places honey for it, it will lose its voice. Perhaps if it is a country which abounds in honey, as be is carrying it off looking for a place where be can eat it, it comes again, and be bears it crying, and he responds to it gladly ; but since it has given him abundance be will not follow it again ; for be has enough, so be goes home.

And in the thorn-country bees are found by it. A woman follows it ; if it comes to her when she is digging, she calls another woman, and they follow it, and the bus-

band sees his wife returning with honey. When there is a snake in the hole, we know that people are frequently bitten when they are taking out honey ; for we do not like to destroy the hole; and a wise man when he digs does not injure the hole by which the bees enter; he digs at the side, and makes a hole by which he can take out the comb ; we do not destroy the hole by digging ; for if we destroy it, that swarm of bees will not repair it ; we measure the hole we have made, that we may find a stone and close it up nicely.

If there is a snake in the hole, when the man takes out the honey, perhaps he sees that there are holes in the comb ; perhaps he says it is roots which have occasioned the holes ; but if it is roots, the combs are broken. At the last where the snake is coiled up, when he thinks to grasp the last comb, (the eyes cannot see inside, he is searching about with his hand only,) he feels himself wounded ; he draws his hand out rapidly, and sees it bleeding ; he has been bitten. If it is an imamba, he will die there and then. If it is another snake, perhaps he may live to have remedies applied. Now, before we dig, we begin by putting a stick into the mouth of the hole, that we may see if there is a snake with the bees or not. If there is, as soon as the man puts the stick in, the bees will walk on it. So he says, “ There is a snake,” and will leave that hole if he is a timid man ; but if he is brave, he will break down the whole, that he may see what he is about when he is taking out the honey. That is how it is.

THE HONEY-BIRD.

When it calls a person to a place where there is a leopard, it is heard striking its sides with its wings ; and then a man will turn back. But at first it was not so ; it was not understood what it was doing, until the place was seen where the leopard was; and he said, “O, it calls me to where there is a leopard forsooth.” Or it may call to a place where there is a dead goat, or a bullock devoured by wild beasts, or a great snake coiled up.

As it happened to us when we were living on the Imbava. Our father having killed a buffalo, we awoke early in the morning to go and fetch the flesh ; when the sun was now hot, there came a honeybird, and called us urgently ; as we were many, we chose some of us to follow it ; some set out for the place where we were going ; I and others followed it. As it was winter the whole country had been burnt, and nothing was concealed by long grass ; when it arrived at the site of an old village, it stopped and pitched in the open space ; we proceeded gently, saying, “ Why, what kind of bees are those which are in an open situation ? ” When we came up, it flew away, and pitched again near at hand over against us, and was silent. We looked and looked, but found nothing. We went away, going along and talking. But it came again, and took us back to the same place. We searched and searched, for we were looking for honey ; but it, forsooth, was not calling us for honey ; it was calling us for something else. As we were searching, I saw something bent on itself under a tree ; it had an opening, and was large. I

Uhpengula Mbanda.

sfiouted, “ Behold my piece of metal.” We all ran hurrying together to the place. I took it up ; it was heavy. I said, “ Wliat metal is this 't ” The others said, u It is really metal.” But we disagreed. We found a stone and struck it, and said, “ Ah ! so it is a collar of red brass.” So we walked away ; it was silent ; and that was the end of it.

The natives also affect to hear in the cry of certain birds sounds resembling human speech ; thus, they say the female of the insingizi cries, Ngi y' emuka , ngi y' emuka, ngi ya kwabetu , “I am going away, I am going away to my people.” To which the male replies, Hamba, hamba, kad ’ u tsho , “Go, go, you have said so before : ” — an amusing illustration of what frequently passes between a native and his wife. The utekwane is represented as saying, Nga ngi ba ngi muhle ; ng ’ oniwa i loku na loku , “I should be beautiful, but I am spoiled by this and by this ; ” that is, it points to certain parts of its form which it represents as ugly. And one of our schoolgirls lately gave an articulate meaning to the cry of the ringdove, saying it called her brother Ungadenzima to eat the wild medlars, Gu-gu, ngadenzima , a vutiwe amatulwa , ngadenzima. Gu-gu, “ Coo-coo, ’Ngadenzima ; the wild medlars are ripe, ’Ngadenzima. Coo-coo.”

ITSHE LIKANTUNJAMBILI.

(the rock of two-holes ; or, the cannibal’s cave.)

The following fragment, a portion doubtless of some extensive legend, the details of which however I have as yet failed to trace out, is here inserted as an introduction to the tale of “ The Girl and the Cannibals,” in which allusion is made to the Bock of Two-holes.

The Bock of Two-holes, a house where cannibals lived ; but it was opened by the cunning of the owner ; it was not opened by hands, it was opened by the mouth ; that is, when a man came, he shouted near the doorway ; but that doorway had nothing which a man could take hold of with his hand, and open it. Therefore it was opened by shouting the name of the house, and saying, “ Bock of Untunjambili,67 open for me, that I may enter.” But it could

67 A personal name, meaning Two-holes.

THE ROCK OF TWO-IIOLES.

Umastjanje Mbanda.

answer if it did not wish to open to that man, who asked it to open for him ; it said in answer, “ The Rock is not opened by children ; it is opened by the swallows which fly in the air.” And he perceived that it would not open to him, but remained closed. That, then, is what I have heard of the Rock of Kntunjambili. Now we say, “ So then that Rock means these houses of the whitemen.” But there is still left one word, to wit, “ That house is opened by the swallows : ” it does not say it is opened by men ; but these are opened by men. We do not understand what kind of a house that is which is opened by birds which fly in the air. It is evident ; yet it is not very evident, whether it is these houses which we really see, or whether it is not they. It is not clear to us.68

63 The Rock of Two-holes has a considerable resemblance to the cave mentioned in the Forty Thieves, and which was opened and shut by a word. It is curious that the Sesamum should figure in both stories ; there as the word — “ Open Sesame” — by which the rock was opened ; here as the means employed by the girl in making her escape from the Amazimu. That was the abode of robbers ; this of cannibal thieves. The power of opening solid bodies by a word or charm is mentioned in many tales of different countries. The Nama woman and her brothers, when pursued by the elephant, address a rock with these words, “Stone of my ancestors! divide for us.” The rock divides, and they pass through. The elephant addresses it in like manner ; the rock divides, and closes upon him again and kills him. (Bleeps Hottentot Fables , p. 64. )— The “ Manito of the Mountain ”

“ Opened wide his rocky doorways, Giving Pau-Puk-Keewis shelter,”

when he was pursued by Hiawatha. But though Hiawatha he

“ Cried in tones of thunder,

• Open ! I am Hiawatha ! ’ ”

“ Found the doorways closed against him,”

(Longfellow's Hiawatha.) — So Hatupatu, when he was nearly overtaken by Kurangaituku, “repeated his charm, ‘ O rock, open for me, open.’ The rock opened, and he hid himself in it.” (Grey. Op. tit., p. 188.,)

Ogilby informs us that there was a hollow sycamore tree at El Mattharia (Materea, Heliopolis) respecting which the Turks related the following legend : — “ This tree by a miracle was split in two parts, between which the Virgin Mary, with her child Jesus and Joseph, put themselves to disappoint the persecuting pursuers, whereinto they were no sooner entered, but it immediately by

INTOMBI NAMAZIMU. (the girl and the cannibals.)

Some cannibals steal a sheep.

It happened that some cannibals went to hunt ; they went a great distance. They found some boys herding cattle and sheep and goats. There was a fog, and they took a fat ram of the sheep, and went away with it. The boys did not see them. They took it to their house.

The cannibals leave a captive maiden , warning her not to roast the sheep during their absence.

There was a girl, whom they had before taken captive at a certain village. She had some brothers. When the cannibals went away, they had exhorted her, saying, “ Do not roast the flesh of the sheep by day.” For they were afraid of other cannibals ; for they would come if they smelt the odour of the meat, and take the girl when her owners were absent. They went to a distance.

Other cannibals , attracted by the scent of the roasted meat , discover the maiden's retreat.

At noon the girl was hungry ■ she roasted some meat and ate it. Some other cannibals smelt the odour of the meat, and said, “Um, like miracle closed again, till the Herodian child-slaughterers passed by, and then suddenly reopened to deliver its charge, so as at this day it is to be seen.” (Ogilby’s Africa, p. 73.)

In the tale “ Dummburg,” there is the account of a door leading to concealed treasures, which was opened and closed by the words, “Little door, open ! ” and “ Little door, shut ! ” ( Thorpe. Yule-tide Stories , p. 482.)

THE GIRL AND THE CANNIBALS.

The Rock c

The cannibals summon tl um ! Whence comes this delicious smell ? ” They snuffed up the air, perceiving the delicious scent. They came to the place where the damsel was.

’ Two-holes.

There was a great rock where she was staying ; the name of the rock was, Itshe-likantunjambili ; for it was a house inside ; it is also said that that rock was opened by the word of its owner ; it was also closed by its owner, who said, “ Be opened,” and it opened, or he said, “ Be closed,” and it closed. Bor it was summoned by him alone.

3 damsel to open to them.

When the cannibal, the owner of the rock, went out to hunt, the damsel remained inside. He shut her up inside because she was his game. He exhorted her not to roast meat at noon, for he was afraid of the other cannibals. But when she was hungry, she roasted the flesh, and ate. When some other cannibals smelt the odour of the meat, they said, “ Um, um ! Whence comes this delicious odour 1 ” They snuffed up the air in the direction whence the odour — the nice odour — came ; and went in that direction, and came to the rock of Untunjambili. That was its name. One of them said, “ Bock of Untunjambili, open to me, that I may enter.” She who was inside, that is, the girl, on hearing that it was other cannibals, and not the owner of the rock, said, “ Away ! let the long-haired cannibal depart. It is not the owner of this place.”

u

IZINGANEIvWANE.

A cannibal feigns the voice of the owner of the Rock of Two-holes , and is admitted.

The cannibal departed, and made his voice hoarse with a hoe ; and returned to the rock of Untunjambili ; he came and said, with a little voice,69 which resembled the voice of the owner of the place, “ Hock of Untunjambili, open to me, that I may enter.” She opened ; the cannibal entered, and ate the meat which has been mentioned. When the girl saw him, she lost all power. He said, “ Let us go together, that I may not eat you.” The girl trembled, and was greatly afraid. She gave him meat; he ate and was satisfied. He said to the girl, “ Stay here till I come back. I am now going to hunt.” He went out, and went on his way.

The maiden escapes , and is pursued.

The girl knew that he would return and eat her ; she went out ; she poured sesamum into a calabash, and went away. The cannibal came and said, " Hock of Untunjambili, open for me, that I may enter.” There was silence ; for the girl had departed. Again he said the same words. There was perfect silence. So he knew that the girl had departed. He called many cannibals, and they pursued the girl. They came to a path, and saw sesamum scattered on the ground ; (for cannibals are fond of sesamum ;) they gathered

69 In “ The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids,” the wolf having demanded admission, feigning to be their mother, they replied, “ No, no ; we shall not open the door ; you are not our mother ; she has a gentle loving voice, but yours is harsh ; for you are a wolf.” The wolf went away, and “swallowed a great lump of chalk to make his voice more delicate.” (Grimm's Home Stories, p. 22.)

THE GIRL AND THE CANNIBALS.

it up.70 The girl had done this, that the cannibals, when they found the sesamum, might stop to pick it up, that she might see them ; for the girl knew they would follow her. The cannibals followed her. They found the sesamum, and picked it up. She saw them coming by the dust, and said, “ There they are yonder.” She poured a large quantity of sesamum on the ground, and went on quickly. They came where she had poured the sesamum, they picked it up, and loitered; and she went with very great speed. Again she saw them raising the dust, and she did the same again ; she poured sesamum on the ground, and went on quickly. She saw that they were now near ; again she poured all that was in the calabash, and went on.

She, being tired , ascends a high tree ; the cannibals come up to it, and sit at its foot.

The cannibals were tired, and sat down. She went on ; but she was tired too. She saw a very high tree; it was a great tree. She went to it, and climbed into it, and sat on a bird’s twig.71 The cannibals arose and pursued their journey, she being now a great way off. They came to the tree ; they being now again tired, they sat down at the foot of the tree, resting and saying they would presently pursue her again, when they had rested.

70 The reader will remember numerous instances in the tales of other people, in which the pursued is represented as throwing something behind him to delay the pursuer. But in those tales the thing thrown down has some magical power, and becomes a lake, a forest, or a mountain of rock, to be overcome only by great physical strength. In this the appeal is made to a mere childish appetite. (The Pentamerone. “ Petrosinella, ” and “The Flea.” — Tlioi'pe. Yule-tide Stories , p. 223. “Singorra.” — Dasent. Op. cit., p. 91. “ The Mastermaid.” — Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. I., p. 33. “ The Battle of the

Birds.”;

71 Kweknyoni , viz., igaba, twig or branch. That is, she sat on the topmost twig.

They discover her , and try to cut down the tree.

The girl was carrying a vessel of water, which leaked ;72 it leaked upon the cannibals ; they heard a sound, “ Kho ! kho! ” They were frightened, and said, “ What is that?”73 They looked up, and saw the girl sitting on the very top, on a mere bird’s twig. They were glad, and began to cut down the tree with their axes, for they had axes in their hands : they hewed the tree, some standing on one side, and some on the other. When the tree was now about to fall, it worked backwards and forwards, became still, and then sank down and became firm, and was just as it was at first. Again they hewed, some before and some behind, some on each side. They hewed it ; and when it was about to fall, it did the same again ; it settled down and became firm, and was again just as it was at first. Again they hewed ; and when it was about to fall, again it settled down and became firm, and was again just as it was at first.

The maiden's brother has a dream , and goes to seek his sister.

The brother of the girl had dreamed in the night that the little girl, his sister, was being eaten by cannibals, near a certain place, which he knew. In the morning he went out, taking with him his very great dogs ; he went to hunt in the direction of the place of which he had dreamed.

72 1 have ventured to make a slight alteration in this place. The original is, “Kwa ti intombi ya piswa umtondo, ya tunda pezu kwawo.” Which, though not at all offensive to native notions of delicacy, I do not translate for English readers.

73 Compare this with the tale of Fritz and Catherine, who had ascended a tree for safety. During the night some thieves came and sat at the foot of the tree. Catherine was carrying a bag of nuts, a bottle of vinegar, and a door. These were dropped one after another. The vinegar sprinkled them, and the door frightened them away. ( Grimm. Op. cit .)

THE GIRL AND THE CANNIBALS.

He delivers his sister , and

As he was hunting he saw a crowd of cannibals under a tree, hewing the tree. He went to them with his great dogs ; he came to them, and said, “ What are you hewing here, my friends?” They said, “ Come and help us hew, our brother. There is our game on the top of the tree.” He looked up, and saw that it was his sister. His heart sunk. He turned away their attention from his agitation, and helped them hew the tree. He tried very little to hew ; and then said, “ Just let us take some snuff, my friends.” They sat down. He made his dogs come to his side. He poured out some snuff, and gave them ; and when they were taking it, he set his dogs on them ; they laid hold of them, and drove them, the dogs running and killing them. They all died. So there is an end.

they return home together .

He said to his sister, “ Come down, child of my father.” She came down, and went with her brother, and came home to her mother. Her mother made her a great feast, with rejoicing. She slaughtered many oxen ; and all ate together with her daughter. So there is the end.

ADDITION TO THE FOREGOING TALE BY ANOTHER NATIVE.

The brother goes up the tree with his sister , and they find a beautiful country.

It is said, her brother also ascended the tree, and saw a very beautiful country.75 They found a very beautiful house there ; that house

74 Oaulisa , help us to hew ; gaulela, hew for us. By the former they ask for co-operation in the labour ; by the latter they ask to have the work done for them.

75 See Appendix at the end of this tale.

was green, and the floor was burnished ; and the country of the upper region was very beautiful ; they walked about there continually, and looked at it, for they saw it for the first time. But the earth they saw was at a great distance below them ; they were no longer able to go down to it, for they feared the cannibals, thinking they saw them going about on the earth, seeking for food.

They find an ox, which they kill and roast ; but are detected by the cannibals.

They set out, and went to the countiy in front of them. They at length found a bullock — a large ox ; they drove it, and went both of them to the house with it ; when they arrived they killed that bullock, and flayed it, and. spread the skin in the sun ; before it was dry they lit a fire in the house. The cannibals smelt the odour of the meat ; they looked hither and thither, they looked up, they saw the house. The youth said, “ That cannibal is like the one who pursued us on the earth.”

They make a rope of the hide.

The sister said, “ Let us draw him up here to us ; since you have a spear he will be afraid to eat us ; for cannibals are afraid of a spear.” Her brother said, “With what can we draw him up?” The sister said, “I do not know so well as you.” The brother said, “ Let us cut the skin into strips, since it is still moist, and draw him up by a rope of hide.” He then went out of the house with his assagai, and cut the skin into strips, until it was very long, and the whole skin was cut up.

THE GIRL AND THE CANNIBALS.

They devise a plan for drawing up a cannibal.

They took the rope, and threw down the greater portion of it to the earth, and said to the cannibal, “ Lay hold of the rope, and climb up by it.” He said, “ Hau ! we mamo ! I shall fall if I climb by the rope, for it is small, and will break.” They said, “ No ! it will not break; we know that it is strong. So climb.” The cannibal seized the rope, and climbed. But when he was midway, halfway between above and below, they spoke each to the other, the youth saying, “ Let us leave go of him, that he may fall down.” The girl said, “ Let us raise him, that he may come here to us, that we may harass him, for us too the cannibals have harassed.” He replied, “We will raise him again.” His sister agreed. The brother let go the cannibal ; he fell down, and cried, “Woe is me! Father! Dead! You said, you would hold me by the rope ; now you have let me go ; and my loins are now injured ; I fell on my loins.” The brother said, “No, cannibal, we did not let you go on purpose ; the rope slipped ; now we are about to throw you a very strong rope ; catch hold of it firmly.”76

They tantalise the cannibal by eating in his presence.

Surely then the cannibal caught hold of the rope, and climbed ; they raised him up to where they were, they placed him in the

76 In Bleek’s Hottentot Fables , the jackal plays the lion a similar trick. The jackal having built a tower for himself and family, and placed his food upon it to be out of the power of the lion, when the lion comes, he cries out, “ Uncle, whilst you were away we have built a tower, in order to be better able to see game.” “All right,” says the lion; “but let me come up to you.” “Certainly, dear uncle, but how will you manage to get up? We must let down a thong for you.” The lion ties himself to the thong, and is drawn up ; and when he is nearly at the top the thong is cut by the jackal, who exclaims, “ Oh, how heavy you are, uncle ! Go, wife, and fetch me a new thong.” This is repeated several times. ( Op. cit., p. 7.)

house, and went in ; they sat and roasted flesh, three strips.77 The brother said, “The flesh is now ready ; let us eat it now.” So they took the meat, and ate it. The cannibal looked at them ; his mouth watered. The brother said, “ Do not allow your mouth to water. I will stab you, since your mouth waters.” They sat and ate all the roasted meat.

The cannibal is 'prevented from appeasing his hunger.

When it was dark they lay down. The cannibal lay near the fireplace ; the flesh had been placed near the doorway, and they lay at the upper part of the house. In the night the cannibal awoke, and went stealthily, and took a handful of the contents of the ox’s stomach. The sister awoke, saying to her brother, “ Awake, awake ! There is some one taking handfuls of the contents of the ox’s stomach.” The brother said, “ By whom is it being taken ? ” The sister said, “ By the cannibal.” The brother then awoke at once, saying, “ Put down, put down the contents of the stomach of my bullock. Who gave it to you 1 ” He said, “No, indeed, my lord; I thought it was not yours ; I thought you were going to throw it away.” He said, “ Put it down at once. I could stab you.” The cannibal put it down. They slept.

The cannibal dies.

The day dawned. They tarried many days, eating the meat. As for the cannibal, they gave him nothing. The bones they cast down to the earth ; they watched the cannibal, lest he should pick

77 The natives cut their meat into long strips, and griddle them on the fire.

THE GIRL AND THE CANNIBALS.

up something from the ground. So the cannibal remained dying of famine. It happened during the night that he died. They were asleep, and did not see him die. In the morning when they awoke they saw that he was already dead. They cast him to the earth.

The sister proposes that they shall go down from the tree and seek their sister.

The sister said, “Let us go and look for our sister, for our mother used to tell us that there is another sister of ours who is married. Let us seek her until we find her, and live with her, since our fathers and mothers are dead, and there are now we two only.” Her brother said, “ When we have gone down — No ! shall we not see the cannibals 1 ” The sister replied, “ Since we have now staid here so long a time, do you think the cannibals are still there1?” The brother said, “ Let us set out then, and descend, and go and seek her.”

They find their sister , and live with her in peace.

They took the rope which was left with which they raised the cannibal ; they soaked it in water until it was softened. And during the day they sought a large log, and fixed it in the ground ; it went in very deep ; they fastened the rope to the log, and descended by the rope until they reached the ground. So they left the rope hanging from the log. They set out, and passed the bones of the cannibal which had died. They went on and sought their sister ; they travelled until that moon

UsKEBE NGUBANE, (Lydia, Umkasetemba.)

died, without finding her. But when another new moon came they found her. When they arrived they saw their sister, but they did not know her name. She saw them, and called them by their names, saying, “ These are like our children.” They assented. She said, “ Whence come you ? ” They replied, “ Long ago we separated from our fathers and mothers. But we were troubled much by the cannibals. We are now come from a beautiful country above, where we tarried without any trouble. We raised a cannibal, and we too harassed him ; we refused to give him food ; he died ; and we cast him out : then we descended to go and seek you. We are happy now we have found you.”

All three lived in peace at that place.

APPENDIX.

THE HEAVEN-COUNTRY.

Uba.ni o nga pot ’ igode lolcukupuka a ye ezulwini? “Who can plait a rope for ascending that he may go to heaven ? ” — It is remarkable that with this native saying to express an utter impossibility, there should also be found the legend of an ascent to heaven by a tree, so common in various parts of the world. Like other unadvanced people the Zulus think that the heaven is at no great distance above the earth. Utshaka claimed to be king of heaven as well as of earth ; and ordered the rain-doctors to be killed because, in assuming power to control the weather, they were interfering with his royal prerogative. These doctors have medicines and other means by which they imagine or pretend that they are able to influence the heaven, bring rain, repel a storm, send the lightning-stroke to kill an enemy, or circle a kraal with an influence which shall protect it from its fatal power.

In the Polynesian Mythology we read of a tree whose tendrils reached the earth, and by which it was possible to ascend to heaven. By these tendrils Tawhaki ascended to heaven to seek Tango-tango. (Grey. Op. cit., p. 71.) Rupe too ascends to the tenth heaven, it is not clear by what means, breaking through heaven after heaven, as though they were solid roofs overlaying each other. (Id., p. 83.) In the Zulu legend the floor of the heavenly house is burnished. Tylor, in his interesting work, Researches into the Early History of Mankind, has collected from different sources various legends of this kind. There is Chakabech, who ascended with his sister by a tree to heaven, and found a beautiful country (p. 342. j And Chapewee, who “stuck a piece of wood into the earth, which became a fir-tree, and grew with amazing rapidity,

THE HEAVEN-COUNTRY.

until its top reached the sky.” By this tree he reached the stars, and found a firm plain and a beaten road by which the sun pursued his daily journey (p. 343 ). These legends are from America. In the Malay Island of Celebes there is found the legend of Utahagi, who, like Tawhaki, had married a daughter of heaven and been forsaken by her, and ascended to heaven in search of her, by rattans ( p . 347,). We have in our own Nursery Tales “Jack and the Beanstalk.” In connection with these myths we may remember too those of the American Indians. Nokomis was swinging in a swing of grape-vines in the moon ; her companions severed the vine, and she fell to the earth, where she gave birth to Hiawatha’s mother. And Osseo, who descended from the evening star,

“ Once, in days no more remembered, Ages nearer the beginning,

When the heavens were closer to us,”

was together with several others, by the power of magic, again raised to the evening star, to descend again to earth when the spell was broken.

In a Dayak tale Si Jura ascends by a large fruit tree, the root of which was in the sky, and its branches, hanging down, touched the waters, and reaches the country of the Pleiades. He there obtains the seed of three' kinds of rice, with which he returns to be a blessing to mankind. But in the beautiful myth of Mondamin — the Spirits’ grain, Mondamin descends from heaven in the form of a beautiful youth to fight with Hiawatha, and to be overcome by him ; that from his body, when buried, there might spring up the magic-plant.

In other legends we have the account of an ascent from regions under the earth to its surface. In that of the Mandans this was effected by a grape-vine. In the Zulu legend, to be given hereafter, the ascent is mentioned, but not the means.

Then in the mythology of the North we have “ Yggdrasil, the largest and best of trees ; its branches spread themselves over the whole world, and tower up above the heavens.” (Thorpe. Northern Mythology. Vol. I., p. 13.) Amd should “the mythic Yggdrasil have been to the men of remote ages the symbol of ever-enduring time,” (Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 493, ) and of a strictly spiritual significance, it yet might be that which suggested the various legends, which have become mere senseless children’s tales in different parts of the world. Or all may have had a common origin in some older tradition now lost for ever.

But, as Tylor says, “it must be remembered in discussing such tales, that the idea of climbing, for instance, from earth to heaven by a tree, fantastic as it may seem to a civilized man of modem times, is in a different grade of culture quite a simple and natural idea, and too much stress must not be laid on bare coincidences to this effect in proving a common origin for the stories which contain them, unless closer evidence is forthcoming. Such tales belong to a rude and primitive state of knowledge of the earth’s surface, and what lies above and below it. The earth is a flat plain surrounded by the sea, and the sky forms a roof on which the sun, moon, and stars travel. The Polynesians, who thought, like so many other peoples, ancient and modem, that the sky descended at the horizon and enclosed the earth, still call foreigners papalangi, or ‘heavenbursters,’ as having broken in from another world outside. The sky is to most savages what it is called in a South American language, mumeselce , that is, the ‘ earth on high. ’ There are holes or windows through this roof or firmament, where the rain comes through, and if you climb high enough you can get through and visit the dwellers above, who look, and talk, and live very much in the same way as the people upon earth. As above the flat earth, so below it, there are regions inhabited by men or man-like creatures, who sometimes come up to the surface, and sometimes are visited by the inhabitants of the upper earth. We live as it were upon the ground floor of a great house, with upper storeys rising one over another above us, and cellars down below. ” ( Op. cit. , p. 34Q.)

The Arabs believe that there “ are Seven Heavens, one above another, and Seven Earths, one beneath another ; the earth which we inhabit being the highest of the latter and next below the lowest heaven.” (Lanefs Arabian Nights. Vol. p. 18 J

IJMBADHLANYANA AND THE CANNIBAL.

There was a boy whose name was IJmbadhlanyana,78 the son of U- makgubata ;79 when be was a child be liked to bunt game. On one occasion IJmbadhlanyana went to bunt, and killed an ukcilo;80 as he was going along carrying the ukcilo, be saw many cannibals make their appearance : they enclosed him in the midst of them, and said, “ Good day, Umbadhlanyana Kamakgubata.”81 He saluted in return. As he was standing in the midst of the cannibals, one of them took away the ukcilo, and ate it. When the cannibal had eaten the ukcilo, IJmbadhlanyana contracted himself and became short, and threw himself into the nostrils82 of the cannibal. The cannibal sneezed, and said, “Come out, IJmbadhlanyana ; the ukcilo is yours.” IJmbadhlanyana answered, speaking in the nostrils of the cannibal, “ Why did you eat my ukcilo, and then say you would eat me too ? There is another morsel, which will quite fill you.” The cannibal sneezed again violently, and said, “ Come out, Umbadhla-

78 Umbadhlanyana. — The meaning of this word is not clear ; but it implies a small person, a dwarf. It reminds us of the term imbatshelana applied to Uthlakanyana (p. 3).

79 Umakqubata. — UTcuti kqu-kxpi-hpi is applied to the mode in which a short person, incapable of making strides, runs, viz., by a succession of short rapid steps. Umakqubata is a man who runs in this way.

80 Ukcilo is a very small bird. There are three very small birds, the incete, the intiyane, and the ukcilo ; this last is the smallest, about the size of the humble bee.

81 Ka-makgubata, the son of Umakgubata ; the ka is equivalent to Mac, or O’, as in MacGregor, O’Connor.

82 In the tales from the Norse Thumbikin hides himself from his mother in the horse’s nostril. (Dasent, p. 430 .)

83 Nanto , not nanti ; that is, Umbad/danyana speaks as though he was a great way off from the cannibal. Elinye, that is, ikgata, a slice of meat. Ukuti Jikcij to fill up entirely.

CANNIBALS.

UmbadAlanyana kamak^nbata. Umakgnbatshana. Uma-’sila-’kugij ima-u-gij imisa-’kufana. Ingatabakazana-owa-bukca-amatulwa-wa-nika-umnguni. Inyatikazi-e-netole. Usomzinza-ngotwane-ubakazi - yena-umfo-a-nga-i-zinza-na ?

Lydia, (Umkasetemba.)

nyana ; the ukcilo is yours.” He replied, “Why did you eat my ukcilo, and then say you would eat me 1 There is another morsel, which will quite fill you.”

Then all the cannibals, when they saw that Umbadhlanyana had gone into the nostrils of the cannibal, fled ; and then Umbadhlanyana came out of his nostrils, and the cannibal died.

Umbadhlanyana kamakgubata. U makgubatshana. 84 Uma-’sila-

ubakazi -yena - umfo - a- nga - i -zinza- I na 1 85

AMAZIMU.

(cannibals.)

All I know is, that it is said that the Amazimu deserted other men and went to live in the mountains. For at first the Amazimu were men. The country was desolate ; there was a great famine; and they wished to eat men because of the severity of the famine. When the famine was great, and men were in want and there was no place where they could obtain food,

84 U makqubatshana. — As Umakr/ubata means the small, rapid stepper, so Umakgubatshana is a diminutive of this word, meaning a very small, rapid stepper, — the Little Umakgubata. Uma-'$ila-kugijima-u-gijimisa- kufana, ‘ ‘ When-he-escapes-by-running-he-runs-as-though-he-would-die. ” Inqaiaba-kazana-owa-bukca-amatulwa-wa-nika-umnguni, * ‘ Little-strong-one-the-son-of-thelittle-one-who-mixed-together-wild-medlars-and-gave-umnguni.” Inyatikazi-enetole, “ Buffalo-cow-with-a-calf.” Usomzinza-ngotwane-ubakazi-yena-umfo-anga-i-zinza-na ? “Chief-of-dancers-with-a-rod-(viz., at an ijadu) can-any-strangerhandle-the-dancing-rod-like-him ? Umnguni is a name applied to the Zulus ; it is also given to the Amakxosa.

85 We may judge from this string of epithets ( izibongo , praise-giving names) that we have here but a small fragment of the life and adventures of Umbadhlanyana. If we knew them all, he would be found probably to rival or even surpass our old friend Uthlakanyana.

they began to lay hold of men, ancl to eat them. And so they were called Amazimu ; for the word Amazimu when interpreted means to gormandise, — to be gluttonous. So they rebelled against men ; they forsook them, and liked to eat them ; and men drove them away. They went everywhere seeking men for food, and so they were regarded as a distinct nation, for with them men became game. They no longer cultivated the soil ; they no longer had cattle or houses or sheep, nor any of those things which they had had whilst they were men. They went and lived in dens. When they found a cave, it became their dwelling place, whilst they went to hunt men. If they caught a man, they went to the cave ; again they left it, to go and hunt men. They had no fixed habitation. If they did not catch a man, they were constantly on the move, going about hunting for men.

If they saw a man going alone, they went to him ; they decoyed him, and made themselves out merciful people ; they treated him kindly, and spoke gently with him ; and appeared incapable of doing any evil. When the man was thus beguiled and entirely unsuspicious, regarding them as pleasant people only, they ^ould then lay hold of him :86 if he was a powerful man, he might fight with them, and perhaps drive them off ; or they might overcome him, and carry him away to eat him. Again they hunted ; at all times their occupation was to hunt.

S6 How exactly this description corresponds with that given of the way in which the Thugs decoy their victims.

CANNIBALS.

When they saw many men, perhaps the men recognised them, and when they saw the Amazimu coming to them they began to prepare their weapons : if the Amazimu were numerous they threw themselves into line ; and the men too threw themselves into line, forming a row. Then they drew near to each other, the Amazimu too drawing near; but the men drew near with great courage,87 for they knew that the Amazimu were very powerful men and fought. Perhaps they fight, perhaps they do ,not fight ; but the men run away on casting one glance at them, for the Amazimu were terrible. Some who are brave may fight with them, and perhaps beat them; they then run away, and leave the men behind, for the Amazimu were very swift ; and the men can do nothing, and give over the pursuit.

Again the Amazimu hunt and fall in with other men : when they fall in with them, perhaps they see that they are Amazimu, and run away, and the Amazimu pursue them, until they overtake them ; when they overtake them they lay hold of them. Others hide themselves, and they do not see them. If they have caught sight of a man who has not hid himself, he must run a great distance, they pursuing him till he is tired. For if a man does not hide himself, but contends with them by running only, they pursue him till they overtake him, for they do not readily tire. Then they carry him away with them, seeking a place concealed from men in the wilderness ; when they come to such a place, they boil and eat him.

87 That is, it required very great courage to think of fighting them.

Ulutuli Dhladhla (Usetemba).

This then is what I know by hearsay from those who are acquainted with legends.

APPENDIX.

CANNIBALISM.

It is a common opinion among the natives of these parts, that cannibalism was introduced at a comparatively recent period, having arisen in times of famine. Arbousset found this notion prevalent among tribes in immediate contact with the Marimo or Bechuana cannibals. ( South Africa , p. 88.) He speaks of cannibalism as having been formerly “ one of the most active causes of depopulation ” (p. 91 ) ; but adds that now (1852) “ it is only in secret that they indulge their taste for human flesh.” We do not know on what kind of evidence such statements are founded. The Marimo, like the cannibals of the Zulu legends and those who are said once to have infested Natal, speak of men as “game.”

There are various forms in which cannibalism is said to be practised by the savages of Africa. Some eat their own dead, as the Amanganja on the Shire. In allusion to some such custom Purchas remarks: — “The Grecians burned their dead Parents, the Indians intombed them in their owne bowels.” Others sell their dead to neighbouring tribes as an article of food, and purchase their dead in return. In times of famine they are said to adopt the system of buying the people of other tribes with their own wives and children, to gratify their craving for human flesh. Some eat “witches condemned to death”; others object to such food on the ground of its “being unwholesome.” Others devour only prisoners of war, as an indication of savage triumph ; this probably is the most common form of cannibalism. Besides these there are said to be others who may be regarded as professional cannibals, who look upon men generally as their game, and hunt them as they would any other game. ( Savage Africa. Winwood Read , p. 156, &-c. — Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa. Du Chaillu, pp. 84, 88. ^

Herodotus alludes to another form of cannibalism : — “Eastward of these Indians are another tribe, called Padseans, who are wanderers, and live on raw flesh. This tribe is said to have the following customs : — If one of their number be ill, man or woman, they take the sick person, and if he be a man, the men of his acquaintance proceed to put him to death, because, they say, his flesh would be spoilt for them if he pined and wasted away with sickness. The man protests he is not ill in the least ; but his friends will not accept his denial — in spite of all he can say, they kill him, and feast themselves on his body. So also if a woman be sick, the women, who are her friends, take her and do •with her exactly the same as the men. If one of them reaches to old age, qfiout which there is seldom any question, as commonly before that time they have had some disease or other, and so have been put to death — but if a man, notwithstanding, comes to be old, then they offer him in sacrifice to their gods, and afterwards eat his flesh.” (Rawlinson’s Herodotus. Vol. II., p. 4:07.)

Winwood Bead suggests that cannibalism might be “a partial extension of the sacrificial ceremony.” (Op. cit., p. 158.,) And it seems by no means improbable that it had, in some instances, its origin in human sacrifices. It is •worth noting that the Zulu-Kafir considers it as unnatural, and that those who practise it have ceased to be men. They distinguish, too, between the man who has eaten human flesh from necessity in time of famine, and the cannibal proper.

One cannot, however, avoid the belief that there is, and always has been, very much exaggeration in the accounts of cannibalism. It is perfectly clear that the cannibals of the Zulu legends are not common men ; they are magnified into giants and magicians ; they are remarkably swift and enduring ; fierce and

CANNIBALISM.

terrible warriors. They are also called “long-haired.” This would make it appear probable that the cannibals which once infested Southern Africa were not natives of these parts, but people of some' other country. The Fans, the mountain cannibals of Western Africa, are said to have longer and thicker hair than the coast tribes. Their hair is said by Burton to hang down to thenshoulders ; but it is still woolly. (Winwood Read , p. 144. — Du ChaUlu, p. 69. — Captain Burton. Anthropological Review , p. 237. ) The hair of the Fulalis or Fellatahs is said to be “more or less straight, and often very fine.” (Types of Mankind. Nott and Gleddon, p. 188.,) Again Barth mentions seeing at Erarar-n-sakan, near Agades, a long-haired race, which he thus describes : —

“ They were very tall men with broad, coarse features, very different from any I have seen before, and with long hair hanging down upon their shoulders, and over their faces, in a way that is an abomination to the Tawarek ; but upon enquiry I learnt that they belonged to the tribe of Ighdalen or Eghedal, a very curious mixed tribe of Berbe and Soughay blood, and speaking the Soughay language.” ( Travels in Central Africa. Vol. /., p. 404.,)

But none of these can be considered as answering to the description of longhaired as given in the Zulu legends of cannibals ; neither could they possibly have formed their historical basis. Indeed, at the present time we occasionally meet with natives with long hair reaching to the shoulders, or standing out from six to nine inches, like a fan, from the head. It may be worth while to compare with the Zulu legends those of the Scotch Highlands, where we have accounts of Gruagachs, that is “long-haired,” gigantic magicians and cannibals, who play a somewhat similar part to the long-haired Amazimu of South Africa. (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. /., p. 1. Vol. II. , pp. 186, 188.,)

It is probable that the native accounts of cannibals are, for the most part, the traditional record of incursions of foreign slave-hunters. The whites are supposed to be cannibals by the Western Africans, because they hunt and buy slaves. (Winwood Read , p. 160.,) And even though the object for which slaves are purchased by the whiteman may be well understood, yet the use of “eat” every where among Africans for the purpose of expressing to waste utterly , and which across the Atlantic, in the elegant slang of the backwoods, is translated by “ chaw up,” would very naturally give rise to the notion of meneaters. Bead relates that a slave just brought from the interior, after gazing on him intently for some time, asked, “ And are these the men that eat us ? ” Which he supposes to intimate a belief that white men are cannibals ; but the native might have meant nothing more than that they were a wasting and destroying people. It is when different tribes come into contact, and the superior is continually driving further and further back, and straitening more and more the feebler one, that legends of this kind spring up. A few years ago in Natal the children were frightened by being told that the whitemen would eat them ; and no doubt they are still used to the present time, in retired places, as nursery bogies. And should the whiteman cease to be an occupant of Natal, there would be legends of men-eating, long-haired, gigantic, flying whitemen, magicians, and wizards told around the hut-fires of the next generation. To the savage the arts and habits of the whiteman appear to be magical ; and his adroitness and skill are supposed to be the result of spells.

But it is not only the savage who imagines that the superior which is opposing him is a cannibal ; but the superior has his mind filled with a similar dread of the savage neighbour whom he is oppressing, and who is destined to disappear before his steadily advancing progress. The Ancients had their Anthropophagi. And European travellers have so generally ascribed cannibalism to savages, that a cannibal and a savage are all but convertible terms in the minds of many.

We may refer, for instance, to a passage in the Arabian Nights , in “The Story of Ghanim, the Son of Eiyoob.” The black slave says to another, “ How small is your sense ! Know ye not that the owners of the gardens go forth from Baghdad and repair hither, and, evening overtaking them, repair to this place, and shut the door upon themselves, through fear, lest the blacks, like ourselves, w

1ZINGANEKWANE.

should take them and roast them and eat them ? ” Upon which Lane remarks in the note : — “I am not sure that this is to be understood as a jest ; for I have been assured by a slave-dealer, and other persons in Cairo, that sometimes slaves brought to that city are found to be cannibals ; and that a proof lately Occurred there, an infant having been eaten by a black nurse. I was also told that the cannibals are generally distinguished by an elongation of the os coccygis ; or, in other words, that they have tails ! ”

We find from Willis' Pencilling s by the Way that Turkish children are taught to believe that the Franks are cannibals. He relates the following anecdote : — “ ‘ Hush, my rose ! ’ said the Assyrian slave, who was leading a Turkish child, ‘ these are good Franks ; these are not the Franks that eat children. Hush ! ’ ” A relic this possibly of traditions of the times when European warriors, under the banners of the Cross, strove to wrest the Holy Sepulchre from the possession of the Saracens. Accompanying the army of the Crusaders, led by Cceur de Lion, there was a body of unarmed fanatics, who were known by the name of Thafurs. The Saracens, being possessed with the idea that they fed on the dead bodies of their enemies, which the Thafurs took care to encourage, regarded them with the greatest horror, and dreaded them even more than they did the armed knights. Hence probably arose the tradition of the cannibalism of Richard himself, which is preserved in Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances. The Rhymster tells us that a deputation was sent by Saladin to offer immense treasure for the ransom of prisoners. Richard told the ambassadors that he needed not their treasures, and added,

“ But for my love I you bid To meat with me that ye dwell ;

And afterward I shall you tell.”

The first course consisted of boiled Saracens' heads , which were served up having affixed to them the names of the prisoners who had been slain for the horrible feast. Richard, “ without the slightest change of countenance, swallowed the morsels as fast as they could be supplied by the knight who carved them.”

“ Every man then poked other ;

They said, ‘ This is the devil’s brother,

That slays our men, and thus hem eats ! ’ ”

Richard apologised for the first course on the score of “his ignorance of their tastes.” And then told them that it was useless for Saladin to keep back supplies in the hope of driving away the Christian army by starvation; for, said he,

“Of us none shall die with hunger,

While we may wenden to fight,

And slay the Saracens downright,

Wash the flesh, and roast the head,

With oo Saracen I may well feed Well a nine or a ten Of my good Christian men.

King Richard shall warrant,

There is no flesh so nourissant Unto an English man,

Partridge, plover, heron, ne swan,

Cow ne ox, sheep ne swine,

As the head of a Sarazyn.

There he is fat, and thereto tender,

And my men be lean and slender.

While any Saracen quick be,

Livand now in this Syrie,

For meat will we nothing care.

Abouten fast we shall fare,

And every day we shall eat All so many as we may get.

To England will we nought gon,

Till they be eaten every one.”

(Quoted by Sir Walter Scott.)

CANNIBALISM.

In connection with the above the following account relating to real facts in Zulu life will be interesting

Indaba ngokudAliwa kwomuntu e dAliwa inkosi e b’ i banga naye.

The account of a man being eaten by the chief with whom he had contended.

The chief that is eaten is one of a foreign nation, when there is mutual hatred through mutual contempt between two chiefs. It happens when the army of one chief goes to attack another, the chief addresses the soldiers with tears, saying, “ I shall soon hear then of your doings, soldiers of my father ! If you merely conquer them, and I do not see So-and-so88 here, I shall not be satisfied. It will be well for you to catch their chief, and not leave him behind, but let him come here, that I may leap89 over him, that the nations may know me.”

So then the army is levied through the great rage with which the chief rages against the chief which is at enmity with him. When the armies meet, perhaps, at the very time of meeting, the spies of the place are seized that they may tell where their chief is concealed. And indeed they tell, if they are afraid of being killed. The army is distributed into two divisions, and one goes to the place where the chief is ; he first becomes aware of its presence when he is suddenly seized. If they have been told not to kill him, they do not kill him, thinking, they should be burdened excessively by carrying a dead man ; and that it would be well for him to walk for himself, and I carry himself.

38 So-and-so, mentioning the chief who is about to be attacked by name.

89 Ngi y ekqe. — As the weasel leaps over a snake which it has killed (see p. 4), so a native chief leaps over the captive chief of another tribe which is brought before him ; or over his dead body. He also leaps over a lion, which his people have killed and brought home. This is done as an indication of perfect triumph. But sometimes a chief fears to leap over another chief of great reputation, lest he should be killed by the medicines with which he has been “ charmed ” by his doctors.

I bize inyanga yoku i kginisa, ukuze i ye ngesibindi. Nembala s’ esabi ’luto. Loku leyo e banjiweyo i se i hie zi pansi, se i umfokazana nje, se i zibonela ukuti, “ N am/da nje se ngi sekufeni.” I fike le e za ’ku i bulala, i y ekye kaningi, ekupeleni i i bulale. Lapa se i file i /dale pezu kwayo ; i y’ esuka se i i kcwiya umzimba wonke, ku nga shiywa nendawana

So then they seize him. And his soldiers which have been detained fighting with the enemy are first aware of it when they see their chief driven before the hostile army ; their courage fails, and they say, “0, we can no longer fight for So-and-so, since behold there he is already a prisoner.” So the army is scattered, there is an end of opposition, and the cattle are captured.

The victors take him to their own country. But before the arrival of the captive chief, messengers go forward to tell their chief, saying, “ Chief, we have made So-and-so prisoner this time.” Whereupon the chief who receives the information prepares himself, and remembers, saying, “ So then, if I do not prepare myself, I may die, for I do not know with what medicines he has washed himself. It will be bad if I go to him without courage, for if I am struck with dread, I shall die at once, for I do not know how terrible his influence90 may be ; perhaps it will break me.”

And he calls a doctor to strengthen him that he may go to the captive chief boldly. So indeed he goes having confidence, and fearing nothing. Since the chief who has been taken prisoner is now sitting on the ground, and is now a man of nought, already seeing that he is now about to die. So the chief comes who is about to kill him, he leaps over him again and again, and at last kills him. When he is dead he sits upon him ; he then cuts off small portions from every part of the body, without leaving a single place of

90 Isitunzi is used to express what we mean by presence. It is applied either to a reverential presence, which however in the native mind is not separated from fear ; or to a terrible presence. It means also prestige. And what is called “ fascination ” would be ascribed to isitunzi.

CANNIBALISM.

yomzimba ; kumbe i i ngnme in- Aloko, i londolozwe endaweni yenkosi, ukuze leyo ’nAloko i be inAloko e ku bulawa ngayo amanye amakosi ngokutata isibindi kuyo ngoku i bheka.

consequence in the whole body ;91 perhaps he cuts off his head, that it may be kept in the chief’s house, that the head may be a means of killing other chiefs, by giving him courage when he looks on it.

All the flesh which is cut off is placed on a sherd, and mixed with king-medicine,92 and burnt until it is charcoal ; the king eats it with the tips of his fingers, making it an izembe.93 And so it is said, when his praises are recorded, “So-and-so, the son of So-and-so who ate So-and-so, without any harm resulting.” It is said thus because he ate his body and did not eat his cattle only ; it is said truly.

When an army is about to be levied, the head is placed near the king-medicine with which the chief is about to be treated, that he may have courage, saying, “And this fellow, I shall treat him as I did this. He shall shortly come here, and his things be taken, (that my people may be successful when fighting with has people,) and be brought to this head of the man that was conquered.” The head is made a charm with which they too may be conquered as he was.

91 The parts selected are the skin from the centre of the forehead and the eyebrow ; this is supposed, when eaten, to impart the power of looking steadfastly at an enemy ; the nose, the right ear and hand, the heel, the prepuce and glans penis.

92 King-medicine, that is, medicines which are supposed to have the power of producing kingly power and feelings in a man. Just as they say head-medicine, or eye -medicine, &c.

93 Izembe is a mixture of various substances used either for medical or magical purposes. It is thus prepared. The medicines are placed in a sherd over the fire and charred : when the sherd is red hot, the contents of the stomach of a bullock, goat, or sheep, or the dregs of beer, are squeezed over it, in such a way that the fluid drops into the sherd, and is stirred into the charred medicines. The fingers are then dipped into the hot preparation, which is rapidly conveyed to the mouth and eaten. When it is done with a magical object, the person whilst eating spits in different directions, especially in the direction of those he hates, or who are at enmity with him, and whom he thus, as it were, defies, fully believing that he is surrounding himself with a preserving influence against their machinations and power, and at the same time exerting an influence injurious to them. In the minds of savages, medicine, magic, and witchcraft are closely allied. These and kindred superstitions will be fully discussed hereafter.

TJmpengula Mbanda.

Such, then, is the account of a man being eaten among black men. He is not eaten like the flesh of cattle; he is eaten when he has been charred with great medicines, and the chief eats it with the tips of his fingers. Such is the mode of eating a chief.

For a chief to have been killed by another chief and to have had portions cut from his body, is a great humiliation of his tribe, for it is said, “ As for you, we ate you long ago ; you are now here in our stomachs : as regards us you are nothing at alb”

U GUN GQTJ-KUBANTWANA.

An old woman lives at her son-in-law1 s kraal.

There was in times of long ago a certain old woman ; she was living with her daughter ; she was the mother-in-law.94 Her son-in-law offered her amasi, telling her to eat ; for there was not much food, it was a famine. She refused the amasi. He offered her a cow, telling her to eat the milk : she refused, saying, she could not eat the milk of her son-in-law.95

94 Viz., in that household.

95 The father-in-law and mother-in-law may not eat their son-in-law’s milk. The bride elect cannot eat milk at the lover’s kraal, until she is actually married. Neither can a suitor, either before or after marriage, eat it at the bride’s kraal. If a lover eat milk at the bride’s kraal, or the young woman eat it at the suitor’s kraal, it is equivalent to breaking off the engagement. Those of the same house only eat each other’s milk, that is, brothers and sisters and cousins. But the chief’s milk can be eaten by any of his people, for he is as it were the father of them all ; they are one house, — all brethren in him. The milk of other people is termed ikwababa , “ a crow,” — that is, carrion.

UGUNGQU-KUBANTWAXA.

She steals her children's milk.

The son-in-law detects her ; a

In the digging-season sbe was very hungry ; she was in the habit of returning home at noon, and on her arrival to open her son-in-law’s house, and pour out the amasi and eat it. But when the sun had set, her son-in-law said, speaking to his wife, “ Go home and boil some maize, that we may mix it with the amasi, for the calabash is now full.”96 On their arrival she boiled maize, and made a soft mass ; the husband went and took the calabash; he found it empty; there was now nothing but whey in it.97 They and their children cried, being hungry ; and the mother-inlaw said, “ My child’s children will die, for a thief is eating their milk, through this great famine.” The old woman did thus at all times. But the husband and wife did not know that the milk was eaten by their mother.

d sets her an impossible task.

The husband lay in wait, and caught their mother ; but their mother cried, saying, “ I did it for the first time this very day.” Her son-in law said, “ Go and fetch for me water at a place where no frog cries ; and I will not expose you to the people.”

She sets out to fetch water from a pool where no frog cries.

He gave her a water-vessel. She went on and on for a long time, passing many rivers ; she came to rivers which she did not know ; she asked, “ Is there any

96 The daily milk is poured into a large calabash ; the whey is drawn off, and fresh milk poured in, till it is quite full ; the amasi thus obtained is then eaten.

97 This implies that she had drawn off the whey into another vessel, and' returned it to the calabash when she had eaten the curds.

She reaches a pool frog here?” A frog answered, “ KMwe,98 I am here.” She passed on, and came to another place ; she saw a pool ; she went to it and dipped water; a frog said, “ KMwe, I am here.” She poured it out. She travelled acting thus, and the frogs answering in like manner, for there were frogs in every pool. She came to another pool and said, “ Is there any frog here?” No frog answered. She sat down and dipped water. But when the vessel was nearly full (for it was a large one), a frog said, “ Khhwe, I am here.” She poured out the water again, now crying and saying, “ Woe is me, mamo ! I merely took of my own accord the amasi of my son-in law for food.” She passed on.

of delicious water.

She came to a very great pool ; she saw many paths which went to the pool. She was afraid. There were many shady trees on the banks of the pool. She went to the pool and sat down ; she said, “ Is there any frog here ? ” There was no answer. She repeated her question. There was no answer. She dipped water into the vessel ; the vessel was full. When it was full, she drank very much, until the vessel was empty. She dipped again till it was full ; she drank ; she was no longer able to drink the whole, she had a pain in the stomach, for she was unable to leave off drinking, it was so nice.

The animals vmrn her of the arrival of U gungopi-hubantwana.

Kepa lapa se si tanda ukusuka I But when she wished to arise si hambe, kw’ ala ukuba si suke ; I and depart, she was unable to

98 As pronounced by the native, this is an exact imitation of the croaking of a frog.

UGUNGQU-KUBANTWANA.

1G7

arise ; she dragged the watervessel, and went into the shade, and sat down there, for she was unable to walk. At length it was noon ; there came a rock-rabbit," and said, “ Who is this sitting in the shade of the king T1 She said, “ It is I, father. I was about to depart ; but my limbs failed me.” The rock-rabbit said, “You will soon see Ugunggu-kubantwana.”2 She went and drank at the pool, and returned to the shade. A duiker3 came and said, “ Who is this sitting in the shade of the king ?” She said, “ It is I, father. I was about to depart, but my limbs failed me.” The duiker said, “You will soon see Ugunggu- kubantwana.” A leopard came and said, “ Who is this sitting in the shade of the king h ” She said, “ It is I, father. I was about to depart, but my limbs failed me.” The leopard said, “You will soon see Ugunggu-kubantwana.” All animals came saying the same. And when at length it was about sunset, there came very many and great animals ; all the animals said the same.

A huge animal arrives, and the old woman is alarmed.

When the sun was now setting, she heard a great noise, — gunggu, gunggu. She was afraid and trembled. At length there appeared something greater than all the animals she had seen. When it appeared they all said with one accord, “ That is Ugung^u-kubantwana.” When she came in sight, whilst still at some distance, she

99 Rock -rabbit, improperly so called. The Daman or Hyrax Capensis has been improperly placed among the Rodentia ; it belongs to the Pacliydermata. “ They are,” says Cuvier, “ Rhinoceroses in miniature.”

1 All through this tale the mother of beasts is called king or chief.

2 See Appendix A at the end of the tale.

3 The Cephalopus Mergens.

Ugungo\u orders the c

She is delivered

4 Compare what is said of Behemol

5 Redunca Scoparia.

said, “ Who, who art thou sitting in the shade of Ugung^u-kubantwana ? ” Then the old woman had no more any power to speak ; it was now as though death had already come to her. TJgunggukubantwana asked a second time. The old woman replied, “ It is I, my lord. I was thinking of departing, but my limbs failed me.” She said, “ You will soon see U gung^u-kubantwana. ”

d woman to he eaten.

She went to the river; when she reached it, she knelt on her knees, and drank the pool ; although it was very great, she drank until the mud at the bottom of the pool appeared.4 She then sat down. And there were oribes5 there, who were the officers of Ugung^u-kubantwana ; there were also hyenas. Ugunggu-kubantwana said, “ Let her be eaten.” The hyenas agreed. But the oribes said, “ She shall be eaten when she is fat, O chief.” Again she said, “Let her be eaten.” The oribes said, “ It is now dark ; she shall be eaten in the morning, O chief.”

by four oribes.

It was dark ; they slept, and all the animals slept. But some animals put off sleeping because they wished that she should be eaten. At length it was midnight and all were asleep. But four oribes had not gone to sleep ; they arose and took the old woman, and raised her and placed her on the back of three of them ; the fourth oribe took the water-vessel. They ran i, Job. xiv. 22, 23.

UGUNGQU-KUBANTWANA.

The oribes contrive to thro

Ugungcpi dev <

during the night, and went and placed her on the border of her village on the outside. They returned with speed, saying, then they should arrive before morning. And truly they soon arrived.

v suspicion on the hyenas.

One said to the other, “ What shall we do 1 Let us devise a plan, that it may not appear that it is we who have enabled her to flee.” The others said, “ Since the animals which like to eat men are the leopard, the lion, other wild beasts, and hyenas — ” Then one said, “ Let us smear mud on the hyenas, for it is they who like to eat men ; and the chief will agree and say, ‘They have taken the game of the chief, and gone and eaten it at a distance ; * for if we smear the leopard it will feel, (for it is a very wrathful creature, ) and awake, and all the people will awake, and the chief say, it is we who have taken away the game, and gone to eat it.” So all the other oribes agreed. They went and smeared the mud on the legs of the hyenas ; and when they had cleansed themselves they went and lay down where they had lain.

irs the hyenas.

In the morning all the animals arose and said, “ Where is the game of the chief 1 She will kill the oribes, it was they who objected to its being eaten.” The oribes at once awoke, saying, “ The chief will look at the feet of all the people. If they have not gone any where, they will be clean. But if they have gone, there will be seen mud on their feet and on their legs.”6 The chief agreed, and said to the oribes, “ Make haste at once, and look for the muddy legs, and let them be seized and brought to me.” All the animals stood forth, and looked at each other ; there was found mud on the hyenas. The oribes said, “ It is the hyenas who have taken and eaten her, for they are animals which like to eat men.” The hyenas were seized and taken to the chief. She seized the three hyenas, and ate them.

The old woman is received by her son-indaw.

The old woman remained at the border of the kraal ; at length she saw some one belonging to her home ; he told her son-in-law ; he went and fetched her and the water-vessel. The son-in-law continually drank the water which his mother-in-law had brought.

She sets her son a dangerous and difficult task.

It came to pass on the day the water was finished the old woman said,7 “ Since I went and fetched water, do you go and fetch for me the liver of an ingogo.”8 Many loaves were made for him to eat on his journey, for it was a great way

6 In the Basuto legend of the Little Hare, the hare “rose in the night and drank the water of the king, and then took some mud and besmeared the lips and the knees of the jerboa that was sleeping at his side.” The mud is witness, and with one voice all the animals condemn the jerboa to death. ( Casalis. Op. cit., p. 352 .) And in the Hottentot fable, the jackal smeared the hyena’s tail with fat, and then ate all the rest that was in the house. When accused in the morning of having stolen it, he pointed to the hyena’s tail, as a proof that he was the thief. (Bleek. Op. cit., p. 18.,) Comp. “ The fox cheats the bear out of his Christmas fare. ” (Thorpe. Yule-tide Stories, p. 280. )

7 The son-in-law had spell-bound the old woman to do what was apparently an impossibility. Having accomplished it and returned, she avenged herself by binding him to enter on a dangerous adventure. Compare the tale of Mac Iain Direach, where the step-mother and son bind each other by spells. (Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. II., p. 328.)

8 See Appendix B.

U GUN G QU-KU BAN T W ANA.

The man is suspected and vj

9 That is, they claim him as one them, they would use as a dependent.

off. In the morning, carrying the loaves, he set out on his journey, sleeping in the open air ; at length he arrived at the new moon, and found very many izingogo, leaping on the bank of a river, at play. He approached them, he too now running and going on his hands and feet. The old izingogo said, “ There is our ingogo.”9 The young ones said, “ What kind of an ingogo is that, which has hair like a man ; and little eyes like a man ; and little ears like a man ; and little nostrils like a man ? ” The old ones said, “It is an ingogo : by such and such things we see it is nought but an ingogo ; by such and such things we see it is nought but an ingogo.” So the little ones were silent. But when they were by themselves they laughed, saying, “ That is not an ingogo ; we see, for our parts.” At length they returned to their homes.

itched by the young izingogo.

On his arrival he saw that there was at the kraal a grandmother, who was now old. In the morning they said, “ Go, our fellow, we are going to hunt.” He said, “ I am tired ; I shall not go to-day.” All the old ones went ; the young ones said, “ As for us, we shall not go any where.” The old ones said, “ Let us come home by and bye, and find that you have already fetched firewood for cooking.” The little ones said, “We do not like to leave grandmother alone with the person who has come.” So they went to hunt. At length they returned ; on their arrival the little ones were sitting still ; the old ones were angry, and of themselves, whom, having come to

He hunts wit lie kills their grandmother,

J0 That is, the man who had just 11 That is, the man.

said, “We are already come from hunting ; but you have not been to fetch firewood.” The little ones were silent. The game was cooked. They ate, and lay down.

the izingogo.

In the morning they said, “ Let us go and hunt.” He went with them. They went and hunted, and returned in the afternoon ; they found the little ones too now returning from fetching wood. They cooked their game. The newly arrived ingogo10 said, when the game was dressed, “ Just put aside a leg for me, for I have a pain in my stomach. I cannot just now eat meat.” They assented, and put him aside a leg. They lay down.

and runs off with her liver.

In the morning they asked him how his stomach was. He said, “It is still painful.” They said, “ Let us go and hunt.” So they went, and he remained alone with the little ones. As soon as they were gone, he said, “ Do you go and fetch -me some water from the river, that I may drink.” They took a water-vessel and went with it. But the vessel leaked, having a hole in the bottom. They arrived at the river, and dipped water ; the vessel leaked. They took a long time in returning from the river, until it was midday. But as soon as they went out, the ingogo11 arose and took a spear, and killed the grandmother of the izingogo which were absent; he cut open the chest and bowels ; the liver appeared ; he took it out ; he rived pretending to be an ingogo.

UGUNGQU-KUBANTWANA.

looked on every side ; be looked upwards and saw an uvati ;12 he took it down and fled.

The young izingogo give the alarm.

When the sun was setting the little izingogo returned ; when they were in the lower part of the village, they saw much blood which had run on the path, now dry, for he had stabbed the old ingogo in the morning. They at once ran home ; on their arrival they entered the house ; but the house was very long, and not very light inside ; they found their grandmother dead.13 They went out running with all their might, crying, and looking in the direction whither they had gone to hunt. When they saw the old ones, the little ones cried out again and again, saying, “ What kind of an ingogo is that who has eyes like a man ? ” The old ones said, “ What has happened?” The little ones replied, “ He has killed grandmother.” They ran, they threw down their game ; they carried their spears in their hands. They asked, “ In what direction has the man gone who we thought was an ingogo ? ” The little ones said, “We saw him not; we had gone to fetch water ; . on our return we found grandmother dead ; but saw no more of him.”

18 The Uvati, or fire -producing apparatus of the natives, consists of two sticks cut from an umuti womlilo, “ fire-tree,” that is, a tree which will readily yield fire by friction. The usando is preferred. The sticks are called male and female ; the male is small, a foot or two long and pointed ; the female is somewhat larger and longer, as it is more rapidly worn out ; it is notched in the middle with three notches ; the one which is uppermost is called the mouth ; it is larger than the others, and in this the point of the male-stick works ; from the mouth on each side are two smaller notches, which are called eyes. The male-stick is rotated between the hands, its point working in the mouth of the female-stick, lying on the ground ; by rubbing, dust is formed, which collects in the eyes, and falls from them on dry grass, which is placed underneath ; when enough is collected, the male-stick is rotated with greater rapidity, the dust is ignited, and fire is produced.

13 See Appendix C.

They pursue

He ei

14 Other people also apply the term friction.

the murderer.

They followed his track by the blood where it had gone dropping in the path. Th^y ran ; when it was dark they slept in the open country. In the morning they awoke and ran with all their might. When it was noon, the man who was carrying the liver looked and saw much dust behind him. He ran very fast. But the real izingogo were more swift than he ; for he was a man ; they were animals. At midday they saw him. It was as though they flew through catching sight of him. He saw that they would soon catch him. He ascended a very long steep place ; when he was at the top, they were reaching the bottom ; he descended ; he found very much long and thick grass; he took the uvati, and sat down, and churned14 it, and kindled a fire, and set the grass on fire ; it surrounded the steep hill ; the izingogo fled, for they feared the fire ; they went back from the mountain by the way they came. And he ran forward until it was dark without seeing them.

He slept. In the morning he awoke and fled ; he went and slept at another village on the high land. In the morning he awoke and ran. At noon he looked behind him, and saw the izingogo coming to him running. And those who had lagged behind being now tired, when they saw him, ran rapidly ; it was again as if their fatigue was at an end. Again he saw they were about to catch him. He churned the uvati, and kindled churn to the mode of producing fire by

U GUN G QU-KUBAN T WAN A.

The izingogo boil and fire, and burnt the grass : when they saw the fire burning, they halted. He ran and saw them no more ; until he had slept twice in the way he did not see them. On the third day, the day he would reach his own people, he saw them at noon ; they pursued him ; he hasted and approached near the villages, and then they turned back.

eat their grandmother.

They reached their own home. On their arrival they took the grandmother, and boiled her in a large pot. They took a whole day cooking her.15 XJntil it was morning they kept up the fire, and during the morning they kept up the fire. At noon they took her out of the pot, and placed her on the feeding-mats ; she remained there till she was cold. The old ones said to the little ones, “ Let us eat your grandmother, then we shall not die.”16 So they ate her up.

The son-in-law reaches home.

Lydia, (Umkasetemba.)

The son-in-law of the old woman reached his home ; on his arrival he gave her the liver. She said, “You have done well, my child.”

15 The natives reckon their days’ journey by the times they sleep. Nga lala hatatu, “ I slept three times,” — that is, I took three days. U ya'kulala kahlanu , “ You will sleep five times,” — that is, you will take five days. Here it is said, the dead grandmother slept or lay down when cooked, — that is, they were not satisfied with the ordinary time, but left her one day in the pot over the fire.

16 This is in allusion to a Btrange medical theory or superstition. When a serious disease invades a kraal, a doctor is summoned not merely to treat the disease, but to give “courage-medicines.” He selects, among other things, the bone of a very old dog which has died a natural death, from mere old age, or of an old cow, bull, or other very old animal, and administers it to the healthy as well as to the sick people, that they may have life prolonged to the same extent as the old animal of whose remains they have partaken. This is the native “ Life-pill.” The izingogo eat the old woman that they may not die.

APPENDIX (A).

UGUNGQU-KUBANTWANA.

Lydia.

TJgungqu-kubantwana was so called because sbe was the mother of all animals, for she was their chief ; and as regards the pool, the animals used to go to it first and drink, and leave water for her ; for she could not drink first, for all the water would have been exhausted before the animals had drunk if she had drunk first ; and as to her body, on one side there was a country, on the other rivers and great forests ; but the rivers which were in her the animals did not like to drink, for they were like common water ; that pool at which they drank was, at it were, milk ; therefore they did not drink at other rivers, they drank at the pool. She was called TJgunggu because when she was still at a distance she was heard coming, for when she was moving there was heard a great noise, and they heard that she was coming by the gung<?u, gunggai.17

In other legends of South Africa the elephant is represented as the king of beasts. The Basuto tale of the Little Hare has so many things in common with this of Ugungr/u:kubantwana, that one cannot doubt that they have a common origin. There a woman longs for the liver of a fabulous animal, the niamatsane ; her husband goes to hunt one to gratify her ; he finds a large herd, but as they could “ leap three sleeps at a bound,” — that is, a distance equal to three days’ journey, — and “their backs and legs were like a live coal,” he has some difficulty in catching one, and succeeds at last only by means of magic ; he kills one, and gets possession of the longed-for liver ; his wife devours it with avidity, but it is as a burning fire within her, and she rushes to the great lake and drinks it dry ; and remains, overpowered by the excessive draught, stretched on the ground, unable to move. The king of beasts, when informed, tells several animals to go and punish the woman, but one after another makes an excuse. The ostrich at length goes to her, and gives her such a violent kick that the water spouts up into the air, and rushes in torrents into the lake. The animals do not dare to drink the water ; but the hare goes stealthily by night, and drinks, and then smears the lips and knees of the jerboa with mud, that the charge may fall on it. ( Casalis . Op. cit., p. 350.) Compare also “The Elephant and the Tortoise. ” Bleek. Op. cit., p. 27.

17 Gungqu , gungqu. — This word is intended as an imitation of the noise produced by the animal, which is said to resemble that made by a heavily laden wagon passing over a bad road. The English reader will not be able to pronounce the click ; but he will succeed in producing a sound sufficiently similar by uttering gunghu , nasalising and aspirating strongly the g. — Another native adds, she was so called because she swallowed every thing that came in her way, so that when she moved the contents of her stomach rattled.

THE IZINGOGO.

APPENDIX (B).

THE IZINGOGO.

The Izingogo are fabulous animals, — degenerated men, who by living continually apart from the habitations of men have become a kind of baboon. They go on all fours, and have tails, but talk as men ; they eat human flesh, even that of their own dead.

The Izingogo were apparently men ; but it came to pass by their own choice they lived in the open country, until they were called animals, for they lived in the open country, and therefore they ate man. But when there arrived a man who came from other men who practised the same habits as themselves, they rejoiced, saying, he too was an ingogo, because he did as they did. But the discernment of the children, who were now sharp, was greater than that of the older ones, for they were on their guard against him, saying, “ It is not an ingogo ; ” and even though the old ones were angry and beat them, they denied notwithstanding they were beaten. They used to go and play on the bank of a river ; on their arrival they contended by leaping, saying, that he who could not leap was not an ingogo ; the little ones leaped too; and if there came a man feigning to be an ingogo, they would go with him to the bank, and tell him to leap like them ; for it is said, when they leapt they were light, because they ate red earth.

Izingogo za zi hamba ngezinyawo ezine ; za zi nemisila ; kodwa za zi kulumisa kwabantu.

Lydia.

The Izingogo used to go on all fours ; they had tails ; but they talked like men.

It may be well to compare this account of the Izingogo with Gulliver’s account of the Yahoos. The native imagination has quite equalled Swift in describing degenerate man.

This will be the proper place to introduce the native legend on the origin of baboons. According to this theory, man is not an elevated ape, but the ape is a degenerated man.

UKUYELA KWEZIMFENE.

(the origin of baboons.)

TJmamadunjini, Umkatuta.

Among the Amafene was the tribe which became baboons. The people of that tribe were habitually idle, and did not like to dig ; they wished to eat at other people’s houses, saying, “We shall live, although we do not dig, if we eat the food of those who cultivate the soil.” The chief of that place, of the house of Tusi, the surname of that tribe, assembled the tribe, and said, “ Let food be prepared, that it may be food for a journey, for we are going to leave our homes and go into the wilderness.” And they did so. All kind of food was collected, and bread made ; and they took the handles of digging-picks : they took these that they might fasten them on behind. It was then that they turned into baboons. We do not know any long account of what they did that they might turn into baboons, but only that they thus fastened on the pick-handles ; they grew and became tails ; hair made its appearance on their bodies; their foreheads became overhanging, and so they became baboons. They went to the precipices ; their dwellings were the rocks. And even to this day it is still said, when a baboon is killed, “It is one of Tusi’s men. The Amafene is the nation from which the baboons sprang,”

THE ORIGIN OF BABOONS.

ANOTHER VERSION.

It is said, the baboon was a man of the nation of men who are called Amatusi. The nation from which it sprang is known. And to this day the Amafene say, the baboons descended from them. It is said, a man of that nation was a very great idler; he was disinclined to do any kind of work ; he liked to eat what others had worked for ; but he was greatly troubled when men scolded him, and laughed at him, and ridiculed him for his idleness : at length he took the handle of his hoe, and fastened it on behind, that he might become an animal, and eat by stealing the food, for which they scolded him. He slept in the open country, and became a baboon.

He came one day, when he was now a baboon, where a man was watching ; but he got tired of watching, and went to sleep. The baboon entered the garden ; he ate and ate, until he felt satisfied ; he went to the place where the man was sleeping ; he broke off a reed of com ; he took it with him that he might use it as a switch for the purpose of arousing him ; he climbed into the watchhouse, he being asleep, and hit him hard with the reed; he woke with a start, and cried out with surprise ; the baboon at once descended from the watchhouse, and went out of the garden : he looked on this side and that, saying, “ Hau ! Where has the man gone that struck me?” He saw the baboon now ascending the precipice, and said, “So then I was struck by that baboon.” He descended, and saw the footprints below the watchhouse. He examined the garden, and found it already wasted.

Umpengula Mbanda.

Such, then, is the history of the baboon. It is said to be one of the Amatusi. The Amatusi still exist to the present time, the very people who became baboons. And when the baboons are crying on the precipice, and making a noise, it is continually said to them in jest, “ Behold your people on the precipice, talking.” Or if they have devoured the gardens, it is said in sport, “You So-and-so, tell those people of yours to leave alone our food ; we dig for ourselves ; and let them too dig for themselves, as we do.”

This, then, is what I know about the baboon.

It is quite noteworthy that among the Mussulmans there is a similar legend of the descent of apes from man : —

“ On one of Solomon’s progresses from Jerusalem to Mareb, he passed through a valley inhabited by apes, which, however, dressed and lived like men, and had more comfortable dwellings than other apes, and even bore all kinds of weapons. He descended from his flying carpet, and marched into the valley with a few of his troops. The apes hurried together to drive him back, but one of their elders stepped forward and said, 4 Let us rather seek safety in submission, for our foe is a holy prophet. ’ Three apes were immediately chosen as ambassadors to negotiate with Solomon. He received them kindly, and inquired to which class of apes they belonged, and how it came to pass that they were so skilled in all human arts ? The ambassadors replied, 4 Be not astonished at us, for we are descended from men, and are the remnant of a Jewish community, which, notwithstanding all admonition, continued to desecrate the Sabbath, until Allah cursed them, and turned them into apes.’” (Weil's Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans, p. 205. )

APPENDIX (C).

IZIMU ELA TOLWA UMASENDENI.

(the CANNIBAL WHOM UMASENDENI RECEIVED INTO HIS HOUSE.)

The following tale, told as an historical fact of comparatively modern times, bears so much resemblance to that of the slaughter of the grandmother of the izingogo, that it is inserted here : — *

My brother, whose name is Umasendeni, received a stranger into his house ; he said to him, “ I have received you into my house ; stay here ; there is famine in the land ; there is no corn.” So the

Umpondo Kambule (Aaron).

stranger staid ; but lie staid only a few days. He said one day, I am ill to-day. I shall not go out from this kraal.” Umasendeni’s mother had been suffering from pain. When the people had left home, the stranger laid hold of her and killed her, and boiled her and ate her. He filled all the vessels with her, and loaded himself, and went on his way. Her son came back again, and found the house befouled ; he found that there was much flesh in the house. So he cried, saying, “ Come ye, people ! come and look upon me ; for here is a prodigy ; my mother has been eaten by the stranger whom I took into my house.” So they assembled in his house ; and said, “ Do you not see then ] Did we not say this man was a cannibal] You said for your part, he was your dependent ; you denied that he was a cannibal. We said, on our part, that he was a cannibal.” So he carried out his mother in all those vessels, and went and buried her in them.

The birth of UmJcxaJcaza.

There was a certain king ; he had a child ; her name was Umkccakaza-wakoginggwayo.18 That name was given because an army went out to battle rattling weapons, and so she was named Umk.xakaza ; and further the name Wakoginggwayo was given* because

18 U mJcxakaza-walcogingqivayo. — The-rattler-of-weapons-of-the-place-of -therolling-of-the-slain.

Her father’s

U mk'K.akaza

The size of the town the army killed very many men, and when they were rolled altogether on the ground, she was named Wakoginggwayo* Again he had another child ; she was named TJbalatusi,19 because she resembled brass.

"ash promise.

When TJmkccakaza was growing up, her father said, “ Look you, on the day when you are of age there shall be collected many cattle for the purpose of bringing you home ;20 for the cattle which shall be brought to you shall be taken at the point of the spear, and forays be made into distant nations, and when they come they will darken the sun.”

’s maturity.

At length she came to maturity. When she was with others in the open country she said to them, “ I am of age.” The damsels rejoiced, and ran to all the villages, calling other damsels ; they came and remained with her ; again they left her and went home, going to plunder the whole village.21

in vihich she dwelt.

But the town was immeasurably large ; for the rows of its houses could not be counted, for if a man standing in the middle of the

19 TJbalatusi. — Composed of um-bala, “ a colour and i-tusi, “brass.” The brass-coloured one.

20 Ukubuyisa. — When a princess royal comes of age, she quits her father’s home, and goes out into the wilds, from which she is brought back by having a bullock slaughtered on her account. Other girls tell her parents where she is ; and all law and order are at an end ; and each man, woman, and child lays hold on any article of property which may be at hand, assagais, shields, mats, pots, &c. The king says nothing, it being a day of such general rejoicing, that it is regarded as improper to find fault with any one. If during this reign of misrule, any thing is taken which the chief really values, he can obtain it again only by paying a fine.

21 See preceding note.

pakati esibayeni, ngalapa kwoAlangoti be be ng’ ezwa uma u kona umuntu o memeza esibayeni ; ngokuba umuntu uma e vela okalweni u be ti imizi eminingi, kanti umuzi munye.

UmTcxakaza despises

A larger offering is cattle-enclosure shouted, people standing on one side could not hear that there was any one shouting in the cattle-enclosure ; for a man standing on the top of a hill would say it was many villages, when in reality it was but one.

Tier father's offering.

The damsels returned to Umkrakaza. The people at home wondered when they saw the damsels coming to plunder ; they shouted, “ The king’s child is of age.” The king selected twenty head of cattle to go and bring her back from the open country. But Umkccakaza said, “ I do not see anything.” They were taken home again. Then the father selected forty; they went with them to Umkajakaza ; Umkxakaza said, “I do not see anything.” They went home again. Her father selected a hundred, and said, “ Go with them.” They went with them to Umkxakaza. Umkscakaza said, “ There is the globe of the sun.” They returned home.

xde, but still despised.

But all the men belonging to her father’s tribe were running with cattle, shouting, “ Umkxakaza-wakoginggwayo is of age.” When those who had taken the cattle to TJmkrakaza returned, they were given two hundred ; they went with them ; Umkscakaza said, “I still see the sun. Until the sun is darkened according to my father’s saying [I will not return.”]22 They returned to the king. Men ran to the whole

Such elliptical

22 It is necessary to add these words to complete the sense, modes of expression are common in Zulu.

z

Again she despises a nation, taking the cattle from her father’s people, and the cattle of her father were collected and all brought to one place. Umkajakaza said, “ I still see the sun.” They returned home.

still larger offering.

An army was levied ; it went to spoil foreign nations of their cattle, and came back with them. They were brought to Umkxakaza. She said, “I still see the sun.” Another army was levied, and returned with many thousand. But Umkrakaza said, she still saw the sun.

The army sent to obtain cattle fall in with Usilosimapundu.

Again an army was levied. They set out, and at length saw some cattle feeding in a very large valley. They did not count how many hundred they were. But there were both white and dun, and brown, and black, and red ; the horns of some were directed downwards ;23 the horns of others were moveable ;24 others had only one horn. They were of various colours. And there was a very huge beast sitting on the hills overhanging that valley, where were the cattle. The name of the beast was Usilosimapundu.25 It was so called because there were hills, and elevations of little hills (upon it) ; and so it was named Usilosimapundu. And there was on one side of it many rivers ; and on another side great forests ; and on another side great precipices; and on another side it was open high land.

23 Cattle whose horns hang down are called imidhlovu.

24 These are called amahlawe.

25 Usilosimapundu. — A beast covered with small elevations. The rugose, nodulated, beast.

Usilosimapundu’ s officers.

And amidst all the trees which were on the beast, there were two trees ; they were very much higher than all the rest ; they were both named Imidoni.26 It was they who were the officers of Usilosimapundu.

The soldiers contemn Usilosimapundu, and are threatened.

When Usilosimapundu saw the army driving away the cattle, he said, “ Those — those cattle which you are driving away, to whom do they belong 1 ” They replied, “ Out on you ; let the rugose beast get out of the way.” He replied, “ Eh, eh ! Go off with them then.”27

Description of Usilosimapundu.

But as regards the beast there appeared only a mouth and eyes ; his face was a rock ; and his mouth was very large and broad, but it was red ; in some countries which were on his body it was winter ; and in others it was early harvest. But all these countries were in him.28

26 Water-boom.

27 “ Eh, eh ! go off with them then.” — These words are to be regarded as a threat. They mean, Very well, I let you take them now, but see to it, you will suffer for it by and bye.

28 We are forcibly reminded of Milton’s description of Leviathan, which,

“ Hugest of living things, on the deep Stretched like a promontory, sleeps or swims,

And seems a moving land.”

This fabulous animal of the Zulus “ seems a moving land.” It may possibly have some connection with the notion found among other people that the world is an animal. A similar one appears now and then, but not in a definite form, to crop out in the thoughts of the natives of this country. Some parts of this account would lead us to suppose that the basis of the legend is a traditional recollection of a landslip, or some extensive convulsion of the earth.

We may compare this beast overgrown with trees, &c., with Es-sindibad’s great fish. The captain says : — “ This apparent island, upon which you are, is not really an island, but it is a great fish that hath become stationary in the midst of the sea, and the sand hath accumulated upon it ; so that it hath be-

The cattle at length da/rken the s

Umkxakaza m, and Umkxakaza is satisfied.

They drove off the cattle of Usilosimapundu. As they were going with them near home, it was as if it was going to rain, for neither sun nor heaven appeared ; they were concealed by the dust raised by the cattle. At length they said, “ Hau ! since the sky was clear, whence comes this mist through which we are no longer able to see 1 ” Again they saw that it was occasioned by the dust ; they came near home ; and they saw it was dark, they could no longer see the cattle; they took them to Umkrakaza. She said, “ Behold then the cattle which darken the sun.”

'eturns home.

So they went home again. On her arrival the umgon^o29 was already completed, and the incapa spread on the ground. She entered the umgongo with the damsels, and remained there.

There is universal rejoicing.

And as for all the men who had gone out with the army, there was not one among them who had not killed a bullock ; every one in the town killed his own bullock. But many of the cattle were not skinned because they were so many. The crow skinned for itself ; the come like an island, and trees have grown upon it since times of old.” And with the huge tortoise, “ upon whose back earth collected in the length of time, so that it became like land, and produced plants.” (Lane's Arabian Nights. Vol. III., p. 6 and p. 19.) Compare also the monster Ugunggu-kubantwana (p. 176) ; and “ the Unkulunkulu of beneath,” who has a forest growing on one side, given below.

29 Umgonqo is a small hut or chamber erected within a house, in which a girl when of age is placed. She is kept there for one, two, or three months, and fed for the purpose of making her fat ; but if there should be a scarcity of food, she may be allowed to go out at the end of a few weeks. Umkxakaza is represented as remaining in the umgonqo for several years.

All the people go to dig in the roy<

her sist

There is thunder <

30 Umbutiso, the royal garden, in v sow for the king.

vultures skinned for themselves; and the dogs skinned for themselves. There was no other smell but that of meat throughout the whole nation. But the cattle of Usilosimapundu were not slaughtered, but those belonging to her father.

I garden , leaving XI mkxakaza and r alone.

She remained uncounted years in the umgon^o. The people no longer knew her ; she was known only by the damsels, for they would not allow people to enter the umgon^o ; and those who entered the house merely sat down without seeing her, she remaining inside the umgon^o. It happened after a long time all the people said, “Before Umkasakaza come out, let all the people go to the royal garden.”30 All the people agreed, for they had said, “ It will be painful to harvest after she has come out, for beer will be made throughout the whole tribe.” It happened when she was about to go out, all the people rose very early in the morning ; but at her father’s there was beer in the whole village ; in one place it was strained ; in another it was mixed with malt ; in another it was soaking. In the morning all the people set out; there remained herself and her sister only at home. But the royal garden was very far off ; when they arose they thought that by arising early they could return early in the evening.

ad an earthquake.

Some time after their departure Umk^akaza and her sister heard rich all the tribe assembles to dig and

12INGANEKWANE.

the heaven thundering, and the earth moved even in the very house where they were sitting. Umkrakaza said, “Just go out and see, Ubalatusi, what this is, the heaven to thunder when it was so bright ? ” Ubalatusi went out, and saw a forest standing at the entrance of the village, and she could no longer see where the entrance was. She came into the house, and said, “ You mil see, child of the king, there is something huge at the gateway ; the fence is broken down on one side, and is now just lying on the ground.”

They are visited by strange guests.

31 Speaking Trees are heard of in the legends of other people ; but I know of none in which any such personal action is ascribed to them as here. In the Amanzi stories, collected among the negroes of the West Indies, we read of a Doukana Tree which was covered with fruit ; a lazy man went daily to this tree alone and ate the fruit, but never took any home to his wife and children. When one only was left, it is represented as assuming the power of volition, and effectually eluding all his efforts to catch it. ( Dasent. Popular Tales from the Norse , p. 503.) In the same stories, the trees cry out “ Shame ” when the lion is about to devour the woman who had set him free (p. 490 ).

Shakspeare makes Macbeth say,

“ Stones have been known to move and trees to speak Augurs.”

Comp. “ Prince Hatt, or the Three Singing Leaves.” Thorpe's Yule-thle Stories, p. 17. Also “The Two Caskets,” p. 99; and “Temptations,” p. 369. — “ The Two Step-sisters.” Dasent., p. 134.

Comp, also Hiawatha’s appeal to the different forest-trees to give him the materials for building a canoe, and their answers. ( Longfellow. ) And the address “of the green reed, the nurse of sweet music, divinely inspired by a gentle breeze of air,” to Psyche. (Apuleius, p. Wl.)

We close this note on speaking trees by the following extract from the tale of “Lilia Rosa” : — “One day, while wandering on the sea-shore, she found the head and leg of a fawn that had been killed by the wild beasts. As the flesh was still fresh, she took the leg and set it on a pole, that the little birds might see it the better, and come and feed upon it. She then lay down on the earth, and slept for a short time, when she was wakened by a sweet song, more beautiful than anything that can be imagined. Lilia Rosa listened to the delightful notes, and thought she was dreaming ; for nothing so exquisite had she ever heard before. On looking around her, she saw that the leg which she had placed as food for the little fowls of heaven was changed to a verdant linden, and the fawn’s head to a little nightingale sitting on the linden’s summit. But every single small leaf of the tree gave forth a sweet sound, so that their tones together composed a wondrous harmony ; and the little nightingale sat among them and sang his lay so beautifully, that all who might hear it would certainly have imagined themselves in heaven.” (Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories, p. 43.)

doni, and entered the house where they were sitting. On their arrival they said, “ Take a water-vessel, Ubalatusi, and go and fetch water from the river.” She took the water- vessel and went to the river. They sat waiting for Ubalatusi. But at the river she dipped * water into the water-vessel ; when it was full she was unable to leave the place.32 At length the leaves said, “ Go out, Umkccakaza, and look for water here at home.” She said, “ I am of age, and I do not yet quit the umgong'o.”33 They replied, “We already knew that you were of age ; but we say, Go and fetch water.” She went and fetched water from another house, and came back with it. The leaves said, “Light a fire.” She replied, “ I cannot light a fire.” They said, “We already knew that you could not light a fire ;

32 This inability to move from being spell-bound is common in the nursery tales of all countries. In the tales of the North is a story of a bride who had been separated from the bridegroom ; whilst waiting for him she is annoyed by the importunity of other lovers. She gives them permission to come one at a time by night, but before retiring to her chamber, sends them to do something for her, to lock the door, to fasten the gate, or to tie up the calf ; and by a spell fastens them to the object till morning, ('See Thorpe. Yule-tide Stories. “ The King’s Son and the Princess Singorra,” p. 218.-— “Goldmaria and Goldfeather,” p. 449. — Campbell. Op. cit. “The Battle of the Birds.” Vol. I., p. 3 6.J The girl who attempts to steal a few feathers from Dummling’s golden goose, has her hand and fingers instantly fixed to it ; and all who approach and touch her are in like manner fixed, and are compelled to follow Dummling in a long line wherever he wishes to go. ( Grimm. Op. cit., p. 282. “The Golden Goose. ”) Marama-kiko-hura by her enchantments fixed a boat so firmly to the earth that no human strength could move it. ( Sir George Grey. Op. cit., p. 145. J

The master smith’s three wishes all refer to this power of binding others by a spell. “ Well,” said the smith, “first and foremost, I wish that any one whom I ask to climb up into the pear-tree that stands outside by the wall of my forge, may stay sitting there till I ask him to come down again. The second which I wish is, that any one whom I ask to sit down in my easy chair which stands inside the workshop yonder, may stay sitting there till I ask him to get up. Last of all, I wish that any one whom I ask to creep into the steel purse which I have in my pocket, may stay in it till I give him leave to creep out again.” (Dasent. Popular Tales from the Norse , p. 123. Compare “The Mastermaid,” p. 96.^

33 Compare this treatment of Umkccakaza with the method adopted by Hacon Grizzlebeard to subdue “ the proud and pert princess for whom no suitor was good enough.” (Dasent. Popular Tales from the Norse, p. 50.)

but we say, Light a fire.” She lighted a fire. The leaves said, “ Take a cooking-pot and place it on the hearth.” Umkxakaza said, “ I cannot cook.” The leaves replied, “We already knew that you could not cook ; but we say, Cook.” She put the pot on the fire, and poured water into it. The leaves said, “ Go and bring some corn from your corn-basket, and come and pour it into the pot.” She went and fetched some corn, and put it on the fire. They sat ; the corn was boiled. They said, “ Turn up the millstone, and grind the boiled corn.” She replied, “ I cannot grind, I am the king’s child. Look here,” — showing them her hands, for her nails were very long.34 One of the leaves took a knife and said, “Hand hither your hand to me.” It cut off the nails with the knife, and said, “ Now grind.” U mkxakaza said, “ I cannot grind ; I am the king’s child.” The leaves said, “We already knew that you could not grind, and that you were the king’s child.” One of the leaves arose and turned up the millstone, and took the upper stone, and put the boiled corn on it and ground it, and said, “ See, that is called grinding.” It quitted the stone, and said, “ Grind.” She ground a large mass of corn. They said, “ Take your pot of amasi, and put it here.” She took it. They said, “ Take a large pot and place it here.” She took it. The leaves said, “Wash it.” She washed it. The leaves said, “ Go and pick out the milk calabash from your calabashes, and bring it here.” Um-

34 Chiefs and great men allow their nails to grow long ; such long nails are regarded as honourable. But women are not allowed to have long nails, as they would interfere with their work. Umkxakaza being the chief’s child, has allowed her nails to grow. Cutting the nails is a reproof for her idleness and uselessness.

kafikaza said, “ Our milk-calabash is large ; I cannot carry it alone. It is carried by three men,” The leaves said, “ Go, and we will go with you.” They went and fetched the calabash, and came back with it. The leaves said, “ Empty it.” She brought the pot near, and they poured the amasi into it ; they also poured it into the large pot. They took a basket, and placed in it some of the ground corn ; they took another basket and placed it on the top of the ground com. Again they took another basket, and covered the amasi which was in the pot. One of the leaves took a spoon, and put it on the top of the basket ; and took the pot and the amasi to Usilosimapundu.

Usilosimapundu’s eating.

When the leaf came to him, he took the ground com together with the basket, and together with the basket which covered the ground com ; he opened his mouth, and put it in his stomach, both the two baskets and the ground corn. Again he took the amasi which was covered with the basket, and put it all at once into his stomach, together with the spoon.

The leaves force Umkxakaza to eat amasi.

The leaf went up again and entered the house. It said, “ Take down three spoons.” It said, “Look here, here is a spoon ; eat, and we will eat with you.” Umkxakaza said, “ For my part, I do not eat amasi, for I am still under the

A A

obligations of puberty.”35 The leaves said, “We already knew that you were of age, and that you did not yet eat amasi ; but we say, Eat.” Umkccakaza-wakoginggwayo cried, saying, “ Hau ! O ! my mother ! who would eat amasi before the ceremonies of puberty are completed?” She said this because when she should eat amasi many oxen would be slaughtered, because it would be given her properly by her father. The leaves said, “ Eat immediately.” She took a spoon ; they ate all the amasi.

They spoil the village , and Ueilosimapundu devours everything in it.

The leaves went down to the house which was near the gateway. As soon as they arrived, they took out the pots containing beer, and pots which contained the boiled meal, and mats and vessels ; everything that was in the house they took to the gateway. And though the village was large, they took out the things from the whole village, and did not leave anything in a single house. When they were about to take the things from the house of Uxnkasakaza’s mother, Umkxakaza said, “Just leave for me the little pot,36 it is in the upper part of the house, it is luted down with cowdung ; you will see it, it is little.” They went and took out the things ; but they left the very large pots which contained beer which was strained ;37 they left too the little pot. They went down to -the gateway.

35 That is, she had not quitted the umgon^o, and was still bound by the customs which are observed on coming to puberty, one of which is, that the young woman is not to eat amasi until she is called by her father to quit the umgongo. When she comes out, they slaughter for her a bullock ( inkomo yokwemula ), the caul of which is placed over her shoulders and breasts ; the head is shaved, and the whole body bathed ; she dances, and then she can eat amasi.

30 The .natives, not having boxes or cupboards, keep their ornaments, &c., in pots, or in sacks made of skins.

37 “ Beer which was strained,” — that is, already fit for use.

UMKXAKAZA WAKOGING QWAYO.

Everything that was taken out of the village Usilosimapundu entirely ate up. But he did not chew it, he merely swallowed it.

The leaves drink.

At length all the things which were in that village were taken out, but Usilosimapundu was not satisfied. The leaves went up and entered the houses where they had left two pots of beer ; one of the leaves threw itself into one of the pots, and the other cast itself into the other ; and when the two leaves came out of the pots, both pots were empty. They took them and carried them to the ' gateway to Usilosimapundu. He took them both, and put them in his mouth, and swallowed them.

Umkx.akaza goes to Usilosimapundu.

The mouth of Usilosimapundu moved with rapidity ; he said, “ Come down now then, Umkrakaza-wakoginggwaya ” Umkra-

kaza went into the house, and took the little pot, and uncovered it ; she took out the brazen ornaments for her body, and put them on ; she took out her brazen pillow fs she took out her garment ornamented with brass ; and her sleeping mat ornamented with brass ; she took her walking stick of brass ; she took out her petticoat ornamented with brass beads ; she dressed herself and went outside ; she stood holding her garment and pillow, resting on her sleeping mat, and rod. Usilosimapundu said, “Just turn your back to me,

3S The native pillow is generally made of some tree ; a fantastic piece is often chosen, with three or four branches, which, when cut, resembles a little stool ; sometimes it is a mere block of wood. The princess is represented as having a brazen pillow.

IZINGANEXWANE.

Her sister and mother have a pre

V silosimapundu runs

Umkrakaza'Wakoginggwayo.” She turned her back to him. He said, “ Now turn again, Umkscakazawakoginggwayo.” She turned. Usilosimapundu said, “ Just laugh now, Umkxcakaza-wakoginggwayo.” But Umkscakaza did not wish to laugh, for she was in trouble, because she was leaving her father and mother and her princely position. Usilosimapundu said, u Come down now, Urhkrakazawakoging^wayo.” She went down to Usilosimapundu.

entiment. of evil , and hasten home .

But by her going down it was as if her little sister at the river felt her departure ;39 she started up suddenly with her water-vessel, and went up to the village. And it was as if her mother felt it, for she left all the people behind which were walking with her.40

off vnth UmJcxaJcaza.

Umkccakaza - wakoging^wayo mounted on Usilosimapundu. As soon as she had mounted, Usilosimapundu speedily ran off. When he was just becoming hidden behind a hill, the sister saw something which was disappearing, but did not know what it was. And the mother too, when it was becoming concealed, saw it ; but did not know what it was.

39 “ Felt her departure,” — was sensible of her departure. There is an allusion here to what is called sympathy or presentiment, by which a person is impressed with a feeling that he must go to a certain place, or that something is about to happen to a certain person which requires his immediate presence, &c.

40 The sympathetic impression of the mother has its correspondence not only in the legends of other people as the relic of an old and effete faith, but to the present day the reality of such impressions forms a part of the creed not only of the natives of South Africa, but of a large number of educated people in all parts of the world. We cannot enter into the consideration of such a question here, further than to remark that it rarely happens that a wide-spread belief is without any foundation in facts, badly observed, it may be, and worse interpreted, but still facts, which it is always worth while to examine, to discuss, and to classify.

UMKXAK AZ A-WAKOGIN G Q WAY 0.

The sister and mother

The king and his army c

'each the town together.

They arrived home both together, the girl and her mother. The mother saw the fence broken down on one side ; she said, “ What has been here ? ” Ubalatusi said, “ I say it was the beast whose cattle were taken away.” The mother said, “Where had you gone1?” She said, “I had been sent by the leaves to fetch water with a vessel from the river. On my arrival I was unable to get away again.” Her mother said, “ Alas ! but do you say that my child is still here at home ? What was that which became hidden yonder, as I reached that place yonder V The mother ran, and entered the umgongo ; on her arrival she was not there. She went into another house ; she did not find her there. She went into another ; she did not find her there. She ran swiftly back again to the men, and said, “ Make haste ; my child is taken away by the beast who was plundered of his cattle.” They said, “ Have you seen him h ” She replied, “ There is something which disappeared behind the hill as I came near home. And my child is no longer there.”

nn, and pursue the beast.

They went home, and all armed. They set out on the tracks of the beast ; they saw it, they went to it, it having stood still and waited for them. They came to it ; it laughed and said, “Do what you are going to do ; do it quickly, that I may go; the sun has set.” They hurled and hurled their spears. One spear was thrown into a pool ; another on a rock ; another fell in the grass ; another

19G

The array tries in vain

V mJcxakaza’ s father and mother , fell in the forest ; all were used, without stabbing anything. They had not a single spear left. The beast said, “ Go and arm again.” They went home to arm. Again they hurled their spears ; it happened again as before ; they did not stab any thing. They said, “ At length we are worsted.” Usilosimapundu said, “ Good by.”

to rescue UmJcxakaza.

All the people cried, saying, “Let her come down.” He assented, and she came down, on his saying, “ Descend then.” They kissed her, weeping, and she too weeping. The whole army of her people put Umbcakaza in the middle. But when the beast saw it, he said, “ Forsooth they want to go off with her.” He turned round, and passed through the midst of them ; it was as though something threw Umkajakaza into the air ; he turned back with her, and went away with her.

and brother and sister , follow the per mother and sister, and father and' brother, followed the beast. They went on, and where the beast rested, there they too rested. In the morning when he awoke, they too went with him. The mother went weeping. But the father and brother and sister were tired and turned back. Her mother accompanied the beast. They went some distance, and rested. Usilosimapundu plucked sugarcane and maize, and gave it to the mother of Umkccakaza. She ate.

The mother also , being tired , turns bach

In the morning, when Usilosimapundu set out, the mother of Umkxakaza set out. At length she was tired, and asked the beast to allow Umkxakaza to come down that she might see her. He replied, “ Get down then, Umkxakaza-wakoging^wayo ; get down, that your mother may see you.” She got down. They both wept, both she and her mother. Her mother kissed her, saying, “ Go in peace, my child.”

The beast takes Umkxakaza to a beautiful cave , and leaves her there.

TJsilosimapundu said, “ Get up, Umkxakaza.” She got up. He went away with her, and put her afar off, where she did not know in what direction the country of her people was. He came to the site of an old village ; there was a large tobacco garden in the midst of it ; on the border of the garden there was a beautiful cave ; its floor was smeared with fat, it was very bright inside ; and there was a blanket and sleeping mat there, a pillow, and a vessel of water.

The beast's parting address.

Usilosimapundu said, “ Stay here, Umkxakaza-wakoginggwayo. I say, I have spoiled your father excessively ; for when you married, he would have got many cattle for you. And I have spoiled him, for you will never see him again, and he will never see you. Stay here then. Your father spoiled me by taking away my many cattle j and now I have spoiled him.”

LZIN GANEKWANE.

UmTcxakaza sleeps alone in the cave.

So Usilosimapundu departed. And she remained there alone, with two sugarcanes and four ears of maize which U silosimapundu had given her. She sat until she lay down to sleep there in the cave. In the morning she awoke and sat in the sun. She took a sugarcane, and broke off a joint, and threw it away. She broke off another, and threw it away ; she left one joint only, she peeled it, and ate it. She took the ears of maize, and roasted them ; she rubbed off the grain, she rubbed off the grain, and ate the portion which was in the middle, and threw the rest with the sugarcane.41

V mkxakaza is frightened by the approach of a strange being.

At noon, the sun. being now bright, she saw something coming in the distance ; for it was on the high land; there was there one tree, one tree only. The thing went and sat under the tree. Again she saw it approaching by leaps. Umkjrakaza went into the cave. The thing entered the tobacco garden ; it went plucking the tobacco. When it saw footprints, it was frightened ; it looked, and again plucked the tobacco, and went and put it outside the garden. It entered the cave. When Umkrakaza-wakoging^wayo saw it, she arose and thrust out her hand ; it saw the hand, and fled, and left the tobacco. It went and disappeared over a hill. She remained till it was dark.

41 Great people and men select the joints of the sugarcane which are in the middle, rejecting both the upper and lower joints. In like manner chiefs and great men reject the grains of maize which are at the ends of the ear, selecting those only which are in the middle.

Tvjo of these strange beings visit the cave .

In the morning Umkrakaza went and sat outside ; again she saw two things coming, proceeding by leaps ; they went and sat in the shade of the tree. Again they arose and went to the tobacco garden. Umkrakaza went into the cave. On entering the garden they plucked the tobacco ; the one which she saw the day before plucked starting and afraid ; it said, “ 0, footprints, footprints, whence did they cornel” The other said, “ Where did you see them 1 ” It replied, “ There.” They went and put the tobacco outside. Again they entered the cave. Umkscakaza arose and thrust out both hands. (She perceived that they were Amadhlungundhlebe.43) When they saw the hands,

42 These creatures are represented as talking a strange dialect ; it resembles that of the Amaswazi ; and is introduced to make them appear ridiculous.

43 Keightley has remarked in his Fairy Mythology, p. 28 : — “An extensive survey of the regions of fancy and their productions will incline us rather to consider the mental powers of man as having a uniform operation under every sky, and under every form of political existence, and to acknowledge that identity of invention is not more to be wondered at than identity of action.” However comprehensive we may be disposed to make this sentiment, there will still be left many tales in the folk-lore of different peoples so similar not only in their general characteristics, but also in their details ; and also some things so strange, that one feels compelled to refer them to a common origin. This of Half -men belongs to this class. It is so strange, wild, and eccentric, that it is not easy to conceive that it could arise spontaneously in two minds. Yet we find allusions to “One-legged men” in various authors.

Pliny mentions a nation of Monosceli. The Marquis of Hastings states that during his sojourn in India he found the germ of fact from which many of the most incredible tales of ancient history has grown. “A Grecian author mentions a people who had only one leg. An embassy from the interior was conducted into the presence of the viceroy, and he could by no persuasion prevail upon the obsequious minister to use more than one of his legs, though he stood during the whole of the protracted audience.”

It is quite possible that such a custom as that of standing on one leg as a ceremony of etiquette should become the starting point of the legends, in which we meet with the account of half -men. “ The Shikk,” says Lane in his notes to the Introduction to the Arabian Nights, p. 33, “ is another demoniacal creature, having the form of half a human being, (like a man divided longitudinally ;) and it is believed that the Nesnas is the offspring of a Shikk and a human being.

“The Nesnas is described as resembling half a human being, having half a head, half a body, one arm and one leg, with which it hops with much agility.” It is said to be found in several places. “ It resembled a man in form, excepting that it has but half a face, which is in its breast, and a tail like that of a sheep.” A kind of Nesnas is also said to inhabit “the island of Raig in the sea of Es-Seen or China, and to have wings like those of a bat. ”

they fled, and disappeared behind a hill. On reaching their chief, they told him, saying, “ There is something in the chiefs cave.” The chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe said, “ What is it like % ” They said, “ There are two.”

Many come, to the cave , and UmJcxakaza expects to be hilled.

Other Amadhlungundhlebe were summoned; and in the morning they went to the chief’s cave. Umka'akaza saw very many coming, and said, “ The day has now arrived in which I shall be killed.” When they reached the tree they sat in the shade, there in the shade where they sat and took snuff; always when they went to pluck tobacco, they sat there in the shade. They arose and went into the tobacco garden, and plucked tobacco, and put it outside; for the chief of the country of the Amadhlungundhlebe had ordered that his cave should be regularly swept ; and he had ordered that all people who went to sweep the cave should begin with plucking tobacco, and take and put it outside the garden. They enquired of the two Amadhlungundhlebe where they had seen it? They replied, “ It appeared in the cave.” They were told to go and look into the doorway, and see if it was there. They went stealthily, being afraid, and looked in ; they were unable to see clearly, for her body glistened. They came back, and said, “It is one, it glistens ; we cannot see it clearly.” The chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe said, “ Let us say all together, 4 Is it a man or a beast ? ’ ” So all shouted, saying, “ Are you a man or a beast?” Umkrakaza replied, “I

am a human being.” They said, “ Come out, that we may see you.” Umkccakaza said, “I do not like to come out, for I am a chief’s child.” The chief sent some Amadhlungundhlebe, telling them to run swiftly and fetch a bullock — a large ox — and run back with it. When the ox came it was slaughtered. Then Umkrakaza-wakogingg’Wayo came out, carrying her blanket and her sleeping mat, and pillow and rod, being girded with her petticoat which was ornamented with brass beads. She put down at the doorway the blanket and pillow, and rested on her rod, and on her sleeping mat she rested too. The chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe said, “ Turn your back towards us.” Umk&’akaza turned her back to them. The chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe said, “ Turn round.” Umkccakaza turned. The Amadhlungundhlebe said, “ Oh ! The thing is pretty ! But oh the two legs ! ” Again they said, “ It would be pretty but for the two legs.” They told her to go into the cave ; and they all went away.

The Amadhlungundhlebe take away Umkxakaza.

Many Amadhlungundhlebe were called together. In the morning they went to Umkrakaza; they carried a veil through which, if any one put it on, the body could be seen. They came and sat in the shade and took snuff. When Umkxakaza saw them, she said, “They are now coming to kill me.” They came to the tobacco garden, they plucked tobacco, and put it outside the garden. They entered the cave, and told her to come out. She went out ; they gave her the veil ; she put it on,

202 '

Umkxakaza is beloved by tl they looking at her and saying,

“ Oh, it would be a pretty thing, — but, oh, the two legs ! ” They said thus because she had two legs and two hands ; for they are like, — if an ox of the white man is skinned and divided into two halves, the Amadhlungundhlebe were like one side, there not being another side. The Amadhlungundhlebe danced for Umkxakaza. When they had finished dancing, they went home with her.

chief, and called his child.

When she saw the village of the chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe, she said, “ Alas ! oh this village ; it is large like that of my father.” For it was very great. She was placed in a house at the top of the village ; many cattle were killed, and she ate meat. She was called the chief’s child, for the chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe loved her very much, and called her his child. Umkxakaza lived in the dark palace; there was a white palace at the lower part of the village.44

U mkxahaza becomes very fat , and the Amadhlungundhlebe wish to hill her.

At length Umkxakaza was very fat, and unable to walk. When she left the palace, on getting halfway between the white and the dark palace, she was tired, and returned to the house. When she rose up there remained a pool of fat. The chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe used to drink the pool

44 Isigodhlo is the dwelling, consisting of several huts, which belong to the chief — the royal buildings. * ‘ The dark isigodhlo ” is that part where no visitors are allowed to enter ; “ the white isigodhlo ” is entered by those who are called by the chief.

Preparations are made for of fat which came from Umfcrakaza, for the nation of the Amadhlungundhlebe used to eat men. The people said, “ O chief, let her be eaten, and the fat melted down, for the fat is being wasted on the ground.” But the chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe loved Umkajakaza - wakoginggwayo very much, and said, “ When she is eaten, where shall I be ? ”45 The Amadhlungundhlebe said, “ O chief, since she is a mere deformity ? Of what use is a thing which can no longer walk, which is wasting the fat of the chief ? ”

melting down Umkxakaza.

At length the king assented, they having continued to beseech him for three months, saying, “ Let the fat of the chief be melted down.” So he assented. Many people of the Amadhlungundhlebe were summoned ; they went and fetched much firewood ; a great hole was dug; a large fire was kindled ; a large sherd was taken and put on the fire which was kindled.

Umkxakaza, by her incantations , raises a tempest, which destroys many of her enemies.

“We, zulu le. Wo, mayoya, we.

45 That is, “ So long as I live you \

46 We ! is an interjection by which Wo ! is an interjection in which a kind tention is not given. Mayoya is a kind by Umkxakaza to the sky, as though s is merely acting in an ordinary way, an to destroy her enemies. Emabilweni, li

It was very bright ; there was not a single cloud. At length the sherd was red. When it was very red, Umkxakaza was called ; she went with them. When she was at the gateway, she looked ; she saw that there were very many people ; she sang, saying,

“ Listen,46 yon heaven. Attend ; mayoya, listen.

ill not touch her. ”

the attention of a person is arrested, of threat is implied if the requisite atof chorus. The whole song is addressed tie was its lord ; it is a complaint that it i not in the way she wishes, viz., so as t., in the throat.

We, zulu. Li nga dumi nokuduma.

Li dinner emabilweni. L’ enza ni ?

Li dumela ukuna nokupendula.”

Listen, heaven. It does not thunder with loud thunder. It thunders in an undertone.

What is it doing 1 It thunders to produce rain and change of season.”47

47 The belief in the power possessed by human beings of controlling the elements by incantations and other means, is as wide spread probably as the human race. At a future time we shall speak of the superstitious faith of the natives in weather-doctors, which will probably throw some light on the belief as it exists among civilized nations as a relic of the past, in novels or old legends. We would just allude to the curious fact that a modern philosophic thinker of no ordinary power, Professor Mansel, has thrown out the idea that it is not out of the bounds of possibility that man’s scientific knowledge may one day be such as to enable him to do that which our forefathers were disposed to relegate to the domain of sorcery and witchcraft. He says : — “It is even conceivable that the progress of science may disturb the regularity of occurrence of natural phenomena. If men were to acquire vast power of producing atmospheric phenomena, the periodical recurrence of such phenomena would become more irregular, being producible at the will of this or that man. There is a remarkable note in Darwin’s Botanic Garden ( Canto iv., 1. 320), in which the author conjectures that changes of wind may depend on some minute chemical cause, which, if it were discovered, might probably, like other chemical causes, be governed by human agency.”

Thus the wisdom of the nineteenth century is leading men back again to the dreams of the childhood of our race.

We shall refer the reader to a few instances of the superstitious belief in power to control the elements.

We are told on the authority of a Bishop, Olaus Magnus, that Eric, King of Sweden, “was in his time held second to none in the magical art ; and he was so familiar with the evil spirits whom he worshipped, that what way soever he turned his cap, the wind would presently blow that way. For this he was called Windy-cap.” ( Sir Walter Scott. “ The Pirate,” Note 9.)

It is probable that this old legend of Eric, “Windy-cap,” has comedown to us in the saying, a “capful of wind.” When the old heathen superstitions had been displaced by the preaching of Christianity, they disappeared rather in external form than in reality, and still held their place in the hearts of the people ; and the powers formerly ascribed to gods, or deified kings, or sorcerers, came to be referred to saints. Thus Langfellow,

“ Only a little hour ago I was whistling to Saint Antonio For a capful of wind to fill our sail,

And instead of a breeze he has sent a gale.”

Sir W. Scott, who appears to have no doubt that those who professed to raise and lay storms, really believed in their own powers, and therefore concludes that they were frenzied, remarks: — “It is well known that the Laplanders drive a profitable trade in selling winds.” And he tells us of a Bessie Millie, at the village of Stromness, living in 1814, who helped out her subsistence by selling favourable winds to mariners ; just as in this country rain-doctors obtain large herds by selling rain.

In the Manx Legends we read of “the feats of Mannan,” who,

“ From New-year-tide round to the ides of Yule,

Nature submitted to his wizard rule :

Her secret force he could with charms compel To brew a storm, or raging tempest quell.”

(Elizabeth Coolcson's Legends of Manx Land , p. 23.)

The reader is referred to the incantation of the “ Reim-kennar ” in Sir Walter Scott’s “ Pirate ” ; and to the mode in which she obtained

“ We, zulu le. Wo, mayoya, we.

We, zulu. Li nga dumi nokuduma.

Li dinner emabilweni. L’ enza ni ?

Li dumela ukuna nokupendula.”

Izulu la /danganisa ngamafu ; la duma ngamandAla ; la na imvula enkulu. La kcima udengezi ; la tata udengezi, la lu ponsa pezulu,

All the Amadhlungundhlebe saw a cloud gathering tumultuously. Umkrakaza again sang,

“ Listen, yon heaven. Attend ; mayoya, listen.

Listen, heaven. It does not thunder with loud thunder. It thunders in an undertone.

What is it doing?

It thunders to produce rain and change of season.”

The whole heaven became covered with clouds ; it thundered terribly ; it rained a great rain. It quenched the red hot sherd, and took it and tost it in the air ; it

“ The power she did covet O’er tempest and wave.”

Allusions to this power will he found in many of our poets. Thus in Shakspeare’s “Tempest,” Mira says : —

“If by thy art, my dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them :

The sky it seems would pour down stinking pitch,

But that the sea, mounting to the welkin’s cheek.

Dashes the fire out.”

So in H. K. White’s “ Gondoline,” one of the witches boasts that “ She’d been to sea in a leaky sieve,

And a jovial storm had brewed.”

See also Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories , p. 63. And for a fine description of the exertion of this power by Ngatoro, Grey's Polynesian Mythology , p. 140, and again p. 179. “ Then the ancient priest Ngatoro, who was sitting at the upper end of the house, rises up, unloosens and throws off his garments and repeats his incantations, and calls upon the winds, and upon the storms, and upon the thunder and lightning, that they may all arise and destroy the host of Manaia.” The storm arises in its might, and the hosts of Manaia perish.

So the elements obey the call of Hiawatha, when Pau-Puk-Keewis had found shelter from his wrath in the caverns dark and dreary of the Manito of the Mountains : —

“ Then he raised his hands to heaven,

Called imploring on the tempest,

Called Waywassimo, the lightning,

And the thunder, Annemeekee ;

And they came with night and darkness.

Sweeping down the Big-Sea- W^ater,

From the distant Thunder Mountains. ”

( Longfellow's Hiawatha. )

In the legends of New Zealand we find a universal deluge ascribed to the prayer of Tawaki, “who called aloud to the gods, and they let the floods of heaven descend, and the earth was overwhelmed by the waters, and all human beings perished. ” (Grey. Op. cit., p. 61. ) Compare with this the legend of St. Scolastica, who two days before her death, being unable to persuade her brother St. Benedict to remain with her a little longer, “ bending her head over her clasped hands, prayed that heaven would interfere and render it impossible for her brother to leave her. Immediately there came such a furious tempest of rain, thunder, and lightning, that Benedict was obliged to delay his departure for some time.” ( Mrs. Jameson's Legends of the Monastic Orders , p. 12.)

was broken to pieces ; the heaven48 killed the Amadhlungundhlebe who were walking with Umkxakaza, but left her uninjured; it killed some others also ; but many remained with their chief.

Her enemies try again , and are destroyed.

“We, zulu le. Wo, mayoya, we.

We, zulu. Li nga dumi nokuduma.

Li dumel’ emabilweni. L’ enza ni?

Li dumela ukuna nokupendula.”

“We, zulu le. Wo, mayoya, we.

We, zulu. Li nga dumi nokuduma.

Li dumel’ emabilweni. L’ enza ni?

Li dumela ukuna nokupendula.”

Again the heaven became clear and bright. The Amadhlungundhlebe said, “ Let a fire be kindled immediately, that the sherd may get hot at once ; and let Umkccakaza be taken, and raised and placed on the sherd ; then she will not be able to sing.” The sherd was made hot ; at length it was red. They went to fetch her ; they lifted her up ; when she was at the gateway, she looked up and said,

“ Listen, yon heaven. Attend ; mayoya, listen.

Listen, heaven. It does not thunder with loud thunder. It thunders in an undertone.

What is it doing?

It thunders to produce rain and change of season.”

Again the clouds made their appearance. Again Umkxakaza said,

“ Listen, yon heaven. Attend ; mayoya, listen.

Listen, heaven. It does not thunder with loud thunder. It thunders in an undertone.

What is it doing?

It thunders to produce rain and change of season.”

It rained and thundered terribly. It killed .the chief of the Amadhlungundhlebe, and many other Amadhlungundhlebe ; they died ; there remained a small number only. The small remnant that remained were afraid, and said,

48 The heaven, that is, the lightning. But the natives speak of the heaven as a person, and ascribe to it the power of exercising a will. They also speak of a lord of heaven, whose wrath they deprecate during a thunder storm.

“ Let us not touch her again and again ; but let us grudge her food, until she gets thin and dies.”

Umkxakaza escapes from the Amadlilungundhlebe.

Umkccakaza rejoiced because they now gave her but little food. She remained until she was thin ; but she was not excessively thin, only much fat had disappeared. She took a basket, and placed in it the things which the king of the Amadhlungundhlebe had given her ; she set out when she had put them in the basket ; she carried it on her head, and went on her way burdened, for some of the garments were ornamented with brass beads. She journeyed sleeping in the open country, because she feared the Amadhlungundhlebe. She went a long time without eating, until she came among a nation of men. She travelled sleeping among them ; sometimes at one village they gave her food; sometimes at another they refused her. She travelled until she was very thin.

She reaches her home .

It came to pass on a certain day she reached the top of a hill ; she saw a very large town ; she said, “ Alas ! 0 that town ; it resembles the town of the Amadhlungundhlebe from which I come ; and that was like my father’s.” She went down, seeing in the houses at the top of the town the smoke of fire; when she came to the gateway, she saw a man sitting in the shade ; but his hair was as long as a cannibal’s. She merely passed on ; but she compared him, saying, “ That man resembles my father.”

c c

She makes herself known to her mother.

She went to the upper end of the town, seeing that it was her father’s. On her arrival her mother was making beer. She sat down under the wall, and said, “ Eh ! chieftainess ! Give me of your umhhikqo.”49 They said, “ Good day.” She saluted in return. She saw that her mother’s head was disarranged, and asked, “ But what is the matter at this kraal ? And what is the matter with that man at the gateway ? ” The mother answered, saying, “You, whence do you come?” She replied, “ I come from yonder.” The mother said, “ O, indeed, here, princess, death entered.50 The princess royal of my house went away. That is her father whom you saw at the gateway. Do you not see, too, in what condition I am?” She replied, “ When she went away, whither did she go ? ” She said, “ She went with the beast.” She answered, “Where did he take her?” The mother said, “She was of age ; the cattle of the beast were taken away ; for her father had said, before she was of age, when she is of age, cattle should be taken with which to bring her home, which should darken the sun. But her father did not possess so many cattle ; they went and took those of the beast.” The girl said, “ 0, but, why do you cry

49 Umhhikqo is beer in an early state of preparation ; it is called isijingi sobutshwala, that is, beer-porridge. It consists of the ground mealies steeped in water - till it is sour. When mealies have been ground and mixed with water and boiled, it is called umpunga. When crushed mealies are steeped in hot water till it is sour, it is igwele. When the mealies have been taken from the igwele , and ground, and boiled in the sour water of the igwele , it is umhhikqo. Umpunga , igwele , and umhhikqo are all thin porridge, somewhat of the consistence of gruel. Ground malt is added to the umhhikqo, and when fermentation has taken place, it is utshwala or beer.

50 Kwa fiwa, lit. , it was died.

The father summons the nation

The whole nation h then, since your child was treated badly by yourselves alone 1 Why did you take away the cattle of the beast? Forsooth, you killed her on purpose.” The mother replied, “ O, out upon the contemptible thing ! it sees because I have given it my umhhik^o. It now laughs at me as regards my child which is dead. Does there exist a person who would be willing to give anything to the beast 1 From the day my child departed from the midst of her father’s nation, has there been any longer any joy ? do we not now just live ? ” She replied, “ Here I am, I Umkasakaza - wakoginggwayo ; although you left me, here I am again.”

to rejoice at the return of his hter.

Her mother cried, and the others who were sitting by the door. The father came running, and saying, “ Why are you crying ? ” They said, “ Here is Umkrakaza come ! ” Her father said, “ Well, since she has thus come, why do you cry ? ” Her father sent men, telling them to go to the whole nation, summoning the people and telling them to make beer throughout the land, for Umkrakaza-wakoginggwayo had arrived.

Ids a great festival.

Beer was made throughout the land ; the people collected, bringing cattle, and rejoicing because the princess had arrived. Cattle were killed, and her father and mother had a great festival ; her father cut his hair, and put on a bead-ring ;51 her mother cut her hair, and put on a top-knot.51 There was rejoicing throughout the land.

Many kings come to woo Umkxakaza.

And it was rumoured among all the nations that the princess had returned to her home, and that she ' was very beautiful. A chief came from another country to ask Umkxakaza of her father. He refused, saying, “ She is just come home ; she was carried off by the beast ; therefore I do not wish that she should go away ; I wish to live and be glad with her.” Many chiefs came; but her father gave them all but one answer. At length the chiefs went away, without getting Umkxakaza for a wife.

A distant king hears of her beauty , and sends an old man to fetch her.

But there was another chief of a distant country ; he had heard that there was that damsel. He sent an old man; he said, “Let him go.” The old man went.

51 The head-ring is made by rolling together the midribs of the leaves of the vegetable ivory plant ( ingqondo zeiala ) to about the size of the little finger ; this is bound carefully and regularly with a small cord, and bent into a ring, which varies in size with different tribes ; in this state it is called the ukqondo. This is sewn to the hair, and covered with the exudation of a species of coccus, called ungiana, or ingiane. The exudation is collected, and when the insect has been carefully separated, boiled to give it firmness ; it is then placed on the ukqondo ; it is black, and admits of a good polish.

I have never met with a native who could give me any account of the origin of the head-ring or isikcokco. It is a sign of manhood ; and no one is permitted to assume it, until he has received the chief’s command. It is regarded as the chief’s mark, and must be treated with respect. If during a quarrel a man pluck off another’s head-ring, it is regarded as a mark of contempt for the chief, and the man is heavily fined. The head-ring is kept in good order, except during affliction, when it is dull, being no longer burnished. It is thereby known that the man is in trouble. If a man quits his tribe, he sometimes takes off his head-ring, and is then called igundela , that is, one who is shorn.

The top-knot of the woman is formed of red clay. It is of a bright colour, and is placed on the top of the head. At certain periods the chief directs young men and women to sew on the head-ring, and to fix the head-knot or in - lcehli. Much attention is paid to the head-ring and head-knot, and the hair is kept shaven both inside and outside the ring, and all around the knot. When they are in trouble this is neglected, and it can be seen at once by the head that there is some cause of affliction.

When he came to the entrance of the town, he turned into a beautiful and glistening frog. The frog entered leaping, and settled on the gatepost. Umkccakaza was playing with others near the gateway. They saw the frog. Umkccakaza said, “ Come out and see this beautiful thing.,, All the people came out, looking at it, and saying, “ What a beautiful frog ! ”

Umkx.akaza and her people follow the frog.

It leapt out of the gateway. When it had gone out Umkccakaza said, “ O, give me my things ; place them all in a basket, and set out with them.” They cried and said, “ O, you are just arrived ; and where now are you going again ? ” She replied, “ I am going to follow the frog, to see where it is going.” The father selected twenty men, to carry food and her things. They set out, following the frog as it leapt, until they were tired.

The frog becomes an old man again , and proves treacherous.

Umkccakaza travelled alone with it ; and when they were alone, the frog turned into a man. When it turned into a man, Umkccakaza wondered and said, “What was done to you, that you became a frog 1 ” He said, “ I just became a frog.” She asked, “ Where are you taking me % ” He replied, “I am taking you home to our chief.” They went together till they came to another nation. When they had gone a great distance, she saw a large forest, through which the path went. They reached the forest ; but the old man knew that they were now near home. He said, “ Make haste ; the place to which we are

U mkxakaza ascends a tree for s

All the beasts of the forest asst

52 Fiyo, fiyo , intended to imitate tl going is afar off.” She reached the forest. The old man took her, and quitted the path, and went into the midst of the forest. He said, “ Nay ! Shall I take so beautiful a thing as this just for another man?” He stood still with her in an open place. But Umkirakaza wondered to see a beautiful place in the forest, as if men dwelt there. The old man said, “ Let all beasts come, which come of their own accord.” Umkccakaza heard the whole forest in a ferment, and crashing ; she was afraid. The old man departed, and went up the forest, and shouted, whistling, and saying, “Fiyo, fiyo !52 let all beasts come which come of their own accord.”

ifety , after transforming herself

TJmkajakaza stood still and said, “ Open, my head, that I may place my things inside.” Her head opened, and she put in all her things. Her head again closed, and it was as though it had not opened. But it was fearfully large ; for when a man looked at it, it was fearful. She mounted a tree ; when she was on the top, the branches again came together ; for she had mounted where the trees were thick and united ; she turned aside the branches, and went up ; they again closed behind her.

nble at the call of the old man.

Umkxakaza saw a village in front of the forest. She remained on the tree. Wild beasts came, seeking for prey ; they caught hold of the old man ; he said, “ No ; do not eat me ; she is no longer here 3 sound made by whistling.

for whom I called you ; I no longer see her.” They tore him. He scolded them and said, “ Leave me alone, my children ; I will give you something to-morrow.” So they departed. The old man was left, and he set out and went home.53

Umk^ahaza again joins the old man, who wonders at the size of her head .

The people wish to drive her c

When Umkrakaza saw that he had gone outside the forest, she descended quickly, and ran out of the forest. When the old man was near the village, she saw him, and said, “Wait for me, for we travel together : why do you leave me ? ” He halted. But he wondered when he saw that her head was large, for Umkxakaza’s head used to be small. But the old man was afraid to ask, “ What has done this to you?” for he had called the beasts to her.

cay because of her deformity.

They entered the village ; she stood at the doorway ; the old man made obeisance to his chief, saying,

53 We find in one of the Northern tales something very like this. A damsel was passing through a forest guided by a white bear, who had given her strict directions not to touch anything as they were passing through. But the foliage glittered so beautifully around her that she could not resist the temptation, but put forth her hand and plucked a little silver leaf. “ At the same moment the whole forest was filled with a terrific roaring, and from all sides there streamed forth an innumerable multitude of wild beasts, lions, tigers, and every other kind ; and they all went in pursuit of the bear, and strove to tear him in pieces.” ( Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories , p. 129.) Comp. “ The Beautiful Palace east of the Sun and north of the Earth.” At the word of the “very, very old woman” who ruled over the beasts of the field, there “came running out of the forest all kinds of beasts, bears, wolves, and foxes, inquiring what their queen’s pleasure might be. ” In like manner all kinds of fishes assembled at the voice of their queen ; and all kinds of birds at the voice of theirs. (Id., pp. 163, 164, 165. j So all the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the forest, were sent out to prevent the youth from obtaining the match of the wonderful horse, Grimsbork. (Id., p. 258.) In “The Three Princesses of Whiteland,” the lords of beasts, birds, and fish are old men. ( Dasent. Popular Tales from the Norse, p. 212. ;

“ I have found a wife for you. But it is her head that is not right.” They entered the house, and sat down. All the people wondered, saying, “ O, she is beautiful ; but the head is like that of an animal.” They said, “ Let her be sent away.” But the chief’s sister was there ; she objected, saying, “ Leave her alone : if she is deformed, what of that ? ”

The king's sister asks Umkxakaza to go to a dance .

But the bridegroom did not love her, and said, “ Since I am taking my first wife, and I a king, should I begin with a deformed person ? ” His sister said, “It is no matter. Let her alone, that she may stay, even though you do not marry her.” So she staid, and the people called her Ukandakulu.54 There was a gathering of the people to a dance : the damsel55 asked her to go with her to look at the dance. But Ukandakulu said, “ Since I am a deformed person, the people will laugh at me, when they drive me away, saying I came to spoil their dance ; for if I make my appearance, the damsels will leave off dancing, and run away when they see me.” She said, “No, we will sit down at a distance if they laugh.” Ukandakulu said, “Will not you yourself dance?” She replied, “No, I do not wish to dance, for I wish to remain with you.” For the damsel loved her very much, and she loved her in return ; therefore she did not like to go to dance, and leave her alone.

The dance is broken up on the appearance of Umkxakaza.

54 Ukandakulu , Big-head.

55 That is, the chiefs sister.

•*

who saw them fled, saying, “ There is a deformed thing walking with the princess.” They asked, “ What is it like?” They said, “ O, the head is very fearful.” And immediately on their arrival at the dancing-place, all the people fled ; and some warned them off, saying, “Don’t come here.” They went away, and sat on a hill, until the dance was ended; then they returned and sat down at home. The whole nation exclaimed in wonder, “You should see the thing which the chief has married.”

Umkxakaza assumes her original beauty , and makes herself known to the king’s sister.

They remained at home many days. On a certain occasion they went to bathe. They bathed, they went out of the water, and stood on the sods of grass, that their body and feet might dry, for they had scraped their feet.56 The damsel spoke, saying, “ O, what caused you, Ukandakulu, to be as you are?” She replied, “It is natural to me merely.” The damsel said, “ 0, you would be beautiful, child of my parents, Ukandakulu ; you are spoilt by your head.” Ukandakulu laughed and said, “ Open, my head, that my things may come out.” Her head opened immediately, her things came out, and she placed them on the ground. Her head closed and was small again. The damsel, on seeing this, threw herself on her, laying hold of her ; they laughed immoderately, the damsel saying, “ Truly can it be she whom we call Ukandakulu ? ” They rolled each other in the mud, laughing, and unable to get

56 “ They had scraped their feet.” — The natives when they wash rub their feet with a soft sandstone, to remove the cracks and inequalities.

D D

IZINCANEKWANE.

The people admire her , up. At length they got up and bathed again. As they were standing, the damsel said, “ What had you done ? ” She replied, “ I had placed my things in my head.” She then related all that was done by the old man. The damsel wondered ; and Umkrrakaza said, “ That, then, was it that made me have a large head.” Umkceakaza gave her one of her garments. She put on her own garment which was ornamented with brass beads, and told her, saying, “ I am Umkccakaza-wakoging^wayo ; that is my name.”

and the king loves her.

They returned home ; on their arrival they stood at the doorway. The people went out and said, “ There is a damsel come to point out her husband.” Others said, “ Whose daughter is she V Those who saw her said, “We do not know whence she comes.” They asked, “ Is she alone 1 ” They replied, “ There are two. But we say one accompanies the other.” All the people went out and looked, asking, “ Which of you two is come to point out a husband ? ” For they did not see them distinctly, for they had bent down their heads, looking on the ground. The damsel of the village raised her head, and said, “ This is Ukandakulu.” All the people wondered, and ran and told the. chief, “ You should see Ukandakulu when her head is as it is.” The chief went out and saw her. He called for many cattle, and many were slaughtered. The whole nation was summoned ; it was said, “ Let the people assemble ; they are going to dance for the queen.” All wondered who saw Ukanda-

THE TWO BROTHERS.

The old man is killed ; and Umk: happily <

Lydia.

kulu. Beer was made ; the king danced ; he loved Umkccakaza very much. His sister said, “ How then is it now, since you gave directions that she should be sent away 1 ” •

ikaza marries the king , and lives •>er after.

The old man was killed because he was guilty of such practices. At length she returned to her father’s with the cattle by which the bridegroom’s people declared her his chosen bride. They arrived at her father’s ; they said, “ Umk&akaza-wakoginggwayo is come.” The bridegroom’s people had many cattle killed for them ; they paid her dowry immediately. She was married. The king loved her very much ; she became his wife. She reigned prosperously with her husband.

IZELAMANI.

(the TWO BROTHERS.)

Two brothers go out to hunt , and fall in with an old woman.

It happened in times long ago, that the children of a certain man went out to hunt ; one was older than the other. They fell in with a large number of pots, forming a long row. When the elder brother came to them, he was afraid of the pots ; the younger turned them up. He turned all of them up, and a little old woman came out of the last.57

57 Compare the Basuto legend, “The Murder of Maciloniane.” ( Casalis , p. 339. ) The differences and similarities are remarkable. In the Basuto legend the brothers had separated, and the younger finds the pots alone ; “ a monstrous

The old woman shows them something to their advantage.

She said to the elder, “ Come with me.” He refused. She said to the younger, “ Come with me.” The younger one went with her, and the elder followed. They went on and on. At length they came to a country where there was a tree which had cattle. They carried axes in their hands. The old woman said to the younger boy, “ Hew the tree.” He hewed it ; there came out a bullock ; he hewed it, there came out a large number of cattle ; and after that there came out a sheep, and after that a goat, and after that a white ox.38

As they return home , the elder forsakes the younger.

The little old woman remained there. They departed, both of them driving the cattle, with their dogs, with which they hunted. So they went on their way ; the country was scorched59 up, there being no water. At length they came to the top of a precipice; the elder said, “ Tie a rope round me, that I may go and drink at the bottom of the precipice ; for there is no way of going down.” So he tied a rope round him, and let him down ; at length he let him down to the bottom ; he drank man,” with a very big leg, and one of the ordinary size, comes out of the pot ; the man is killed by Maciloniane’ s dogs ; and on cutting up the large leg an immense herd of beautiful cattle come out. Maciloniane is killed by his brother for the sake of a white cow ; and a bird follows the murderer, and upbraids him, and proclaims the murder among the people of his village. The bird was the heart of Maciloniane.

58 The enchanted princess gave Strong Frank a sword, saying, “When thou strikest on. a tree, soldiers shall march out in multitudes, as many as thou requirest.” (Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories, p. 429.)

59 Izwe V omisile. — Lit., the country scorched, or dried up, viz., grass, trees, and rivers ; that is, there being no rain, the earth became hot, and dried up herbage, &c.

THE TWO BROTHERS.

21D

and was satisfied ; and he drew him up again. The younger said, “ Tie a rope round me too, that I may go and drink.” He tied a rope round him, and let him down to the bottom and left him. The elder one drove off the cattle. At length he came home to his father and mother. One asked, “ Where have you left your brother ?” He replied, “ He returned before me ; for my part, I went with an old woman ; she gave me these cattle.” They retired to rest.

The bird-messenger.

Early in the morning a bird came, saying, “ Tshiyo, tshiyo, tshiyo; your child has been put into the water.” The men said, “ Do you hear what this bird says?” The people said, “Let us follow it, since it cries like the honey-bird, when it is calling men to where there is honey.” The father and mother followed it. It went on constantly saying, “ Tshiyo, tshiyo, tshiyo ; your child is put into the water.” At length it descended to the place where they had gone down to drink. It still cried when it was at the bottom. The father looked over the precipice, and asked, “ O, what placed you there ?” He replied, “ I have been left here by my brother when we were drinking water; I first let him down, and drew him up again. Then he let me down, and left me. For he refused to turn up the pots ; and a little old woman came out. She besought him to accompany her, and take her to a certain country. He refused. When he refused she asked I me to go. So I went.61 She did

61 How common is this kind of tale among other people, where a younger brother, or sister, or step-sister, gains great advantages by performing readily some act of kindness ; whilst the elder suffers for his churlishness.

IZING.A NEK WANE.

The younger is rescued, <

Ukofana Dhladhla.62

152 There are peculiarities in the sty] will at once note. ■ The man is of the A

not tell him after that to hew the tree ; but she told me to hew it. So I hewed the tree, and there came out cattle, and sheep and goats, and a white ox. She said the cattle were mine, who am the younger. That was the end of it. So we drove the cattle. He left me in the water, for he was afraid to stab me.”

nd the elder disappears.

The father said, “ 0 ! What shall we do, since there you are at the foot of the precipice 1 ” He said, “Fetch another rope from home, and throw it down to me here, that I may tie it round me, and fasten it to the one which he left with me.” The father returned home, and the mother staid with him.

She threw him down the food they had taken for the journey. The father went, and reached his home ; he did not tell the elder son. He told another person to go and draw him up. They went and threw him a rope ; he fastened it, and told them to draw him up. So they drew him up. And his mother wept. When he had given them the account of their journey, they returned home.

When they arrived the elder son had already fled, and it was not known whither he had gone.

e of this tale which the Zulu student .makuza tribe.

UBONGOPA-KAMAGADHLELA.

UBONGOPA-KAMAGADHLELA.

The kings child and l

63 The meaning of Ubongopa is not Ubongopa’s father. It is compounded ( with the head, as rams in fighting. Th it is a name implying, When he strikes

64 U bo vuka is a mode of speech c &c. It is equivalent to the Zulu, Sa u r bongopa-kamagadhlela.

In the times of long ago, a king took many wives. When one was with child, an ox was born. The king said, “ When So-and-So gives birth, the child shall be placed on this ox.” The name of the ox was Ubongopa-kamagadhlela.63 The child was born and put on the ox ; he remained on it, and slept on it ; he did not put on any blanket ; food was taken there to him. When it was dark the gate of the village was closed, and the people went to sleep in the houses ; the child slept on the ox.

In the morning the child said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Awake now ; it is time to awake ;

Awake now ; it is time to awake.”

Ubongopa stood up. He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Set out now ; it is time to set out ;

Set out now; it is time to set out.”

He went to graze ; the cattle arrived at their pasture, and grazed. He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Return now ; it is time to return ;

Return now; it is time to return.”

known. Uma-gadhlela is the name of f Uma and gaahlela , to strike against 3 full form would be Uma-e-gadhlela ; with the head, he conquers. ommon to the Amangwane, Ama/dubi,

Thieves come to stt

Kwa fika amasela ezizwe, a ze ’kuba izinkomo. A vula esangweni, a ngena, e pete izinduku. Be lele abantu, a b’ ezwa. A zi tsbaya izinkomo, a za vuka pansi. Z’ apuka izinduku zawo a wa zi peteyo ; ’emuka ebusuku. .»

So l\e returned; the cattle went home again. He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Enter the pen; it is time to enter ;

Enter the pen; it is time to enter.”

So he entered, and all the cattle entered. His food was brought ; he ate it on the top of his ox.

He lived thus until he grew up, being unacquainted with fire, not having worn any garment, and not having trodden on the ground. At length he was a young man.

%l the king's cattle.

There came some thieves from another tribe to steal the cattle. They opened the gate and went in, carrying sticks in their hands. The people, being asleep, heard nothing. They beat the cattle; they did not arise ; the sticks which they carried were broken ; and they went away again by night.

In the morning he said, “ A- wake, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela. ” He awoke. He said, “Go to graze.” He went ; and all the cattle went. He told them to graze ; and all grazed ; they went home again at noon. His food was brought, and he ate it on the ox. He told them to go, and they went ; he told them to eat, and they ate ; he told them to return, and they returned.

In the evening the gateway was closed ; the people shut themselves up in their houses, and slept. The thieves came and opened the gateway, carrying sticks in their arms ; they beat the cattle *; they did not get up; the sticks broke. They

TJBON GOPA-K AMAGADHLEL A.

Kwa /dwa ngolwesine, a pelekezela, a beka ekcaleni komuzi. Kwa valwa esangweni, ba lala abantu. A fika ebusuku, a vula, a ngena, a zi tshaya izinkomo, z’ apuka izinduku, za pela izinyanda ; a puma, a tata ezinye izinyanda, a ngena nazo esibayeni, a zi tshaya izinkomo, z’ apuka izinduku ; ’emuka.

went away again by night. They conversed as they were going, saying, “ What is the matter with these cattle, that they do not get up1?” They said, “Let us cut a great many sticks.”

On the morning of the third day, (they did not see a person on the ox,) he told them to get up and go to graze. Ubongopa-kamagadhlela went; the cattle grazed. He told them to return on the third day. His food was brought ; he ate it on the top of the ox, on Ubongopa. He told them to go and graze ; they went : he told them to return home ; they returned. It was dark ; the thieves came by night ; they beat the cattle ; they did not awake ; the sticks broke ; the cattle did not get up. They wrenched their tails ; they did not get up. They went away in the night. They spoke passionately, saying, “ Let us each cut two bundles of sticks, that when one bundle is broken, we may take the other.” They said, “We never saw such a thing as this.”

On the night of the fourth day, they brought the bundles by going and returning twice, and placed them outside the village. The gateway was shut, and the people slept. The thieves came by night ; they opened the gate and went in ; they beat the cattle ; their sticks broke ; the first bundles were used ; they went and took the others, and went with them into the kraal ; they beat the cattle ; the sticks broke ; and the tliieves went away.

In the morning he told the cattle to go and graze on the fifth day. He did not tell the people

E E

IZIXGANEKWANE.

that thieves came by night to steal the cattle ; it was a matter known only to himself. They went ; he told them to graze, and they grazed ; he told them to re turn, and they returned home. His food was brought, and he ate. The people talked ; his father said, “ My child, you are passionate ; you have beaten the cattle with many stripes.” They saw that they were swollen, having been beaten by the thieves by night ; and thought he had beaten them.

They detect the king's son.

The next night the thieves came again; they opened the gateway and went in ; they beat the cattle, they did not awake ; their sticks broke, each man had but one left. One of the thieves saw him, and said, “ There is the fellow who refuses to allow the cattle to move.” They said to him, “ Speak.” He spoke and said,

“ XJbongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Awake now ; it is time to awake ;

Awake now ; it is time to awake ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe ? ”

Ubongopa - kamagadhlela awoke and stood up. He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe ? ”

Ubongopa went, and all the cattle. The calves came out of the house ; they freed themselves from the cords by which they were tied ; they opened the door, and followed

UBONCOPA-KAMAGADIILELA.

their mothers. The people were asleep. They stood still at the gateway. The thieves said, “ Speak, boy. You are stabbed.”65 He replied, “You cannot stab me,” and said,

“ TJbongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadklela,

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe 1 ”

TJbongopa-kamagadhlela went.

The king and people are alarmed at his absence.

A man of the village from which the cattle had been driven went out of the house ; he said, “ The king is of age,66 for he has aroused the cattle by night.” He called his father ; he said, “ Let food be cooked ; the king, the father of TJbongopa,67 is of age.” The whole tribe of his father made beer. The sun declined, it set, it became dark. The people looked for him, and cried, saying, “ What has devoured the child during the night 1 He set out with the cattle and the calves from the houses.”

The boy tries the thieved patience.

U bo ma ; kn y’ emiwa ;

U bo ma ; ku y’ emiwa ;

As they went the boy said,

“ TJbongopa-kamagadhlela, TJbongopa-kamagadhlela,

Stand’ still now ; it is time to stand still ;

Stand still now; it is time to stand still ;

65 Sa ku gwaza. — Aorist used inter jectionally. “We stabbed you ! ” that is, you are as good as stabbed ; you are a dead man.

G3 “ The king is of age.” — When a youth comes to maturity, he drives the cattle out of the pen to a distance from his home, and does not return till noon. Here, as in some other tales, the prince royal is called king. But it is not now the custom to do so among the Zulus.

He is called the father of Ubongopa, probably because he was in an especial manner his owner.

Za hamba ke.

They reach the king , who

63 “What are you ? ” — An enquiry to learn what his power really is. TI reply, “ I am nothing,” is striking.

69 This idiom is worth noting ; it The country was destroyed by famine. 1 The house is light by the stars, that is,

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe ? ”

They stood still. They said, “ Speak. You are stabbed.” He said, “ You cannot stab me.” They said, “ What are you ? ”68 He replied, “ I am nothing.” They said, “ What do you boast of? Do you so speak because you would not let us take the chief’s cattle, until we lost a whole month through you?” He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Ubo ngopa-kamagad hlela,

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe ? ”

So they went.

boasts of what he will do.

One thief was sent forward. When he came to the chief, he said, “We have lifted some cattle, they are under magical power ; there is a man that lies on an ox, on Ubongopa-kamagadhlela.” The chief told him to return and tell them to hasten with the cattle to him. They travelled rapidly ; they appeared on a ridge ; the thief said, “ There they are ; there is a boy on a white ox ; he has magical power ; he tells them to halt, and they halt.” The chief said, “When he comes, the ox, by which he practises his magic, shall be killed. And although he does not rest on the ground, he shall be made to rest on it.” They came to the open space in front of the village, and halted. The chief told them to go on. The men replied, “ The boy will not permit them; they expressive of contempt. They have yet Le dry irony of conscious power in the s the same as, “ Izwe la fa indftlala,” )r below, ‘ ‘ IndMu i kanya izinkanyezi, ” starlight enters by holes in the roof.

UBONGOPA-KAMAGADHLELA.

“ Bongopa-kamagadAlela,

Bongopa- kamagad Alela,

The boy descends , move at his word.” He commanded him to speak. He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadlilela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe ? ”

Ubongopa went on, and the cattle too went on. He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Go into the pen now; it is time for going in ;

Go into the pen now ; it is time for going in ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe?”

So he went into the pen.

and enters a liut.

They said, “ Come down, boy.” He replied, “I do not get off ; I do not walk on the ground ; I remain on the ox ; from the time of my birth I have never felt the ground.” The chief said, “ Come down.” He said, “ I cannot.” He said, “ Speak, boy.” He said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Let me get down ; it is time for getting down ;

Let me get down ; it is time for getting down ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe % ”

He got down. They told him to go into the house. He said, “ I cannot live in a house.” They said, “ Go into the house.” He said, “I do not go.” They said, “ What is the matter with you % ” They took him to the house of a man who was dead, which was already falling into ruins, and the stars could be seen through its roof. They told him to go in. He went into the house. They gave him food. He said, “I do not understand food which is eaten on the ground.” They said, “ What are you? ” The food was taken away.

He raises a storm , which affects every one but himself.

He spat ; the spittle boiled up and said, “ Chief, thou child of the greatest,70 thou mysterious71 one who art as big as the mountains.” It filled the house. It thundered and rained exceedingly ; all the houses leaked, even those which had never leaked before. The people shouted, saying, “ The chief is wet.” The chief said, “The boy is already dead, since I am in this state, for I never saw a drop enter my house before.” He said, “ Since the boy was sitting outside, he no longer lives; he is dead.” The heaven cleared. Some men were sent to go and see after him. When they arrived at his house, it was dry. They said, “ How is it that it is dry in the boy’s house % He is a boy possessed of magical powers. We saw that at the first. Let his ox be killed, that we may see if these tricks will then be done which we now witness.”72

They hill Ubongopa , but injure themselves.

All the people were summoned. A man took an assagai and entered the cattle-pen. The boy was called ; they said to him, “ Let the ox be killed.” He replied, “I shall die if that ox dies.” They said,

70 Wena wapakati , lit. , child or man of the centre or innermost circle.

71 Umnyama, Dark one, that is, one on whom we cannot look, fearful one, mysterious one.

72 Compare this Ox with the Dun Bull in “ Katie Woodencloak.” ( Dasent . Popular Tales from the Norse , p. 41 1.) And with the Horse Dapplegrim ( Dasent , p. 313 ), or the Horse Grimsbork. (Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories, p. 253 .)

UBONGOPA-KAMAGADHLELA.

They go to bathe , to wash away

“ What are you V They gave one of the thieves the assagai ; he stabbed at the ox with the assagai ; but it pierced the thief. They said, “ Speak, boy, that the ox may die.” He said,

“ TJbongopa-kamagadhlela, TJbongopa-kamagadhlela,

Die now ; it is time to die ;

Die now ; it is time to die ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe 1 ”

The assagai pierced TJbongopa ; he fell down. They took knives to skin him. A man divided the skin ; he cut himself. They said, “ Speak, boy. You are as good as stabbed.” He said,

“ TJbongopa-kamagadhlela, TJbongopa-kamagadhlela,

Be skinned now ; it is time to be skinned ;

Be skinned now ; it is time to be skinned ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe h ”

They accomplished the skinning..

the evil influence of TJbongopa .

The men said, “Light a large fire.” The thieves said, “ Let us just omit for a time to roast the ox ; let us first wash our bodies tO' get rid of the bad omen. This bullock had magical properties ; all matters connected with it differ from those of other cattle. At last they cut off the end of the tail ; a man cut himself. They said, “Speak, boy. You are as good as stabbed.” He said,

“ TJbongopa-kamagadhlela, TJbongopa-kamagadhlela,

Let your tail be cut off ; it is time to have it cut off ;

Let your tail be cut off; it is time to have it cut off ;

IZIKGANEKWANE.

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe 1 ”

They took the vessels for the blood, they dipped out from the carcase, and poured it into the vessels ; they cut off the limbs, and hung up the bullock in the cattle kraal ; the boys cut off slices, and went and set them aside for themselves. The chief called the people, and said, “ Go and bathe, and eat it after you come back.” All the people went.

The boy brings Ubongopa to life again , and leaves the village.

U bo ma ; ku f emiwa ;

When they were gone, the boy took the skin, and spread it on the ground ; he placed the head on it, he took the ribs and put them in their place ; he took one side, and placed it in its place ; he took a shoulder, and put it in its place ; he took a leg, and put it in its place ; he Took the intestines, and put them in their place ; he took the liver, and put it in its place ; he took the lungs, and put them in their place ; he placed the paunch in its place ; he took the contents of the paunch, and returned them to their place ; he took the tail, and put it in its place ; he took the blood, and poured it into its place ; he wrapped all up with the skin, and said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Arise now ; it is time to arise ; Arise now ; it is time- to arise ; Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe 'l ”

His breath came back again and entered into him ; he looked up. The boy said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Stand up now ; it is time to stand ;

UBONGOPA-KAMAGADHLELA.

U bo ma j ku y’ emiwa ;

“ Bongopa-kamagad/dela,

Bon gopa-kamagad/ilela,

Stand up now ; it is time to stand ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe ? ”

So he stood up.73 The boy said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Let me mount; it is time to mount ;

Let me mount; it is time to mount ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe 1 ”

He mounted the ox, and said,

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Go now ; it is time to go ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe 1 ”

Ubongopa set out. And the houses and gardens, and cattle pen, and all the things of that village, followed him !

They 'pursue him.

The men went up from the river. One exclaimed, “ See, ye men, a prodigy ! The whole country is going ! ” The chief

73 Thor in one of his journeys, accompanied by Loki, rode in a car drawn by two he-goats. At night they put up at a peasant’s cottage ; Thor killed his goats, flayed them, and boiled the flesh for the evening repast of himself and the peasant’s family. The bones were all placed in the spread-out skins. At dawn of day Thor ‘‘took his mallet Mjolnir, and, lifting it up, consecrated the goats’ skins, which he had no sooner done, than the two goats re-assumed their wonted form.” (Mallet. Op. cit., p. 436.^ “In the palace of Odin” the heroes feed on the flesh of the boar Saihrimnir, “ which is served up every day at table, and every day it is renewed again entire.” (Id., p. 105. ) See also “ The Sharp Grey Sheep,” which, when it was about to be killed for its kindness to the princess, said to her, “ They are going to kill me, but steal thou my skin, and gather my bones and roll them in my skin, and I will come alive again, and I will come to you again.” ( Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. II., p. 287 .J — Comp, also “ Katie Woodencloak.” (Dasent. Op. cit., p. 420. )

We may also compare the story of Ananzi, who having eaten a baboon, “ the bits joined themselves together in his stomach, and began to pull him about so much that he had no rest, and was obliged to go to a doctor.” The doctor tempted the baboon to quit his victim by holding a banana to Ananzi’s mouth. ( Dasent. Popular Tales from the Norse, p. 502. ) Compare the howling of the dog in the belly of Toi. (Grey. Op. cit., p. 124.,)

F F

A u me ; ku y’ emiwa ;

A u me ; ku y’ emiwa ; summoned the whole tribe, and said, “ Follow the boy, and let him be killed.” He went rapidly ; but when he heard that they were near him, he said,

“ TTbongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Stand still now ; it is the time for standing still ;

Stand still now ; it is the time for standing still ;

Do you not see we are killed By thieves of another tribe ? ”

The cattle stood still. They shouted to him, saying, “ Stand still in that very place, that we may kill you. For a long time you have practised magic.” They said, “ Come down, that we may kill you.” He descended to the ground. They told him to stand apart from the cattle, that the assagais might not pierce them. They hurled their assagais ; they did not reach him, but struck the ground.74 He jeered them, saying, “ Why what is this, you being men and so many too, the assagais do not reach me, but strike the ground 1 ” One of the soldiers, laughing at them, said, “ Why are you worsted by a boy, for the assagais strike the ground, and do not reach him ? ” Some gave in. He said, “ Give me too an assagai, that I may make a stab at you.” They refused, and said, “We are not yet worsted.” They hurled their assagais at him ; they struck the ground. They picked them up, and hurled them at him ; they did not strike him. They said, “We are worsted : do you try also.”

74 Compare this with the contest of Ulysses with the suitors of Penelope : ‘ ‘ Then all at once their mingled lances threw And thirsty all of one man’s blood they flew ;

In vain ! Minerva turned them with her breath,

And scatter’d short, or wide, the points of death !

With deaden’d sound one on the threshold falls,

One strikes the gate, one rings against the walls :

The storm pass’d innocent.” (Pope’s Odyssey , b. xxii. 1. 280. )

UBOXGOPA-KAMAGADHLELA.

The boy hills the chief, lie restores the

The chief tries in

75 Lit., End the sun, — that is, take day you have to live.

and all his people die.

They offered him many assagais ; he refused them, and asked for one only. They gave him one. He said, “ May I fling at you ? ” They laughed. He spat on the ground ; the spittle fizzed, it said, “ Chief, all hail, thou who art as big as the mountains.” He said, “ May I stab you?” They laughed and said, “ Do so, that we may see.” He hurled the assagai at their chief. They all fell down dead.

n to life again.

He took the haft of the assagai and smote their chief ; he arose, and they all arose with him. They shouted to him, saying, “Stand where you are, that we may stab you.” He laughed at them, and said, “Where have you already been ? ” They said, “We are just come.” He said, “ You were all dead.” They said, “ Bid the sun farewell.”76 Others hurled many assagais at him; they struck the ground. They picked them up, and again hurled many of them at him ; they struck the ground. The men laughed at them, and said, “ Give us the assagais, that we may kill him.” They hurled many assagais ; they struck the ground. The men picked them up.

min to kill the boy.

The chief said, “ Get out of the way for me, that I may stab him.” The chief hurled an assagai ; it stuck in the ground. He said, “ I am conquered, boy. Do you just tiy, that we may see.” He said, “ Give me an assagai, that I too may hurl it.” They offered him a last view of the sun, — this is the last many assagais. He refused them, and said, “ I wish for one.” They gave him one. He spat on the ground ; the spittle said, “ Chief, all hail ! thou mysterious one, thou child of the greatest.” He said, “ May I stab you V They laughed and said, “ Do it, that we may see.” He hurled the assagai ; he struck their chief. He died, together with all his people.

He brings the people to life again , and leaves the chief dead.

He took an assagai and smote the people. The people arose, the chief remained still dead. They said, “We are now your people. We will now go with you.”76

They are attached on their journey by a/nother tribe.

They passed through another tribe. The people gave an alarm, and shouted, “ Go and kill. There is a man going away with people.” The chief called them, and ordered them to be killed. They went to them. They told him to come down from the ox. He replied, “ I do not walk on the ground.” The thieves told them, saying,

76 We would refer the reader to the following similar instances : —

In Campbell’s Highland Tales we read the account of the Bed Knight, who meets his foster brethren, who were “holding battle against MacDorcha Mac- Doilleir, and a hundred of his people ; and every one they killed on one day was alive again on the morrow.” This was effected by a “great toothy carlin,” who had “ a tooth that was larger than a staff on her fist.” “ She put her finger in their mouths, and brought them to life.” (Vol. II., p. 446 — 448. ) In the tale of “The Widow and her Daughters,” when the two eldest had been beheaded, the youngest “ drew over them the magic club,” and they “ became lively and whole as they were before.” (Id. Vol. II., p. 269. )

See Grimm’s Home Stories, “The Three Magical Leaves,” p. 73. — “ The Widow’s Son ” Jain is killed three times and brought to life again. ( Campbell. Op. cit. Vol. II., p. 295.,)

Bata by repeating a * ‘ potent incantation ” restores sixty of his warriors which had been slain to life again. ( Grey. Op. cit., p. 116.,)

A spirit in the form of a flag found the place where Hatupatu was buried, and raised him to life again by enchantments. ( Id., p. 185.,)

When the prince who had been transformed into a cat was disenchanted by having his head cut off, a large heap of bones also received life, and became a large body of courtiers, knights, and pages. ( Thorpe's Yule-tide Stories, p. 75.)

The youth raises the father of the princess and her other relations by touching each of them with the hilt of the magical sword. (Id., p. 167.,)

UBONGOPA-KAMAGADHLELA.

“ He killed us.” They said, “ But us he will not conquer.” They hurled assagais at him ; they struck the ground. One of the soldiers laughed at them, and said, “ Make way for us, that we may stab him.” They hurled their assagais ; they struck the ground. They collected them. The chief said, “ Hand them to me, that I may kill him.” The people said, “We will praise you when you have killed him.” He said, “ I am very strong.” He hurled the assagais ; he was unable to kill him.

They try in vain to kill the hoy ; he kills the chief, and leads off the people.

He said, “ Do you try, boy, that I may see.” He said, “ Give me an assagai.” He spat ; the spittle remained on the ground and fizzed, and said, “ Hail, chief, thou child of the greatest.” They gave him assagais ; he refused them, and took but one ; he said, “ May I hurl at you % ” He threw the assagai at their chief. They all died. He took the assagai, and smote their chief; he arose, and all rose with him.

He said, “ Will you yet again attack me % ” They said, “ For our part, we will still make another trial on you.” They hurled the assagais ; they struck the ground. They collected them, and threw1 them ; they struck the ground. He asked for an assagai, and said, “ Are you conquered ? ” They said, “We are.” They gave him an assagai : he stabbed the chief ; they all died. He took the assagai and struck one man ; they all arose ; the chief remained dead. They said, “We are now your people.”

He sends messengers to his father.

He sent some men to bis father to tell him that Ubongopa-kamagadhlela was coming. His father cried, saying, “ Where did you see him % ” They said, “ He has killed many people' and is coming with many cattle.” His father told the men to go back again. On their arrival they told him his father refused to believe them. A few cattle were selected, and one bullock of a peculiar colour was placed among them. For he said his father would see that he was still living by that bullock which belonged to his village.

The nation prepares to receive him with joy.

His father summoned the nation, and commanded them to make beer. He said, “ The chief is coming back.” The people said it could not be true. He said, “ Go and look at the bullock belonging to our village, which has come back.” The people saw it, and said, “ It is the truth.” They said, “ Let a damsel be found, that on his arrival he may find her already here.” They sought for a daughter of Ubungani, the son of Umakulukulu.

lie returns to his home, and refuses to change his mode of life.

Those who were sent by his father reached the top of a hill, and said, “ Your father tells you to make haste.” The men and the cattle went rapidly. They appeared on a hill near their home. They placed Ubongopa-kamagadhlela in front : the cattle went rapidly, and reached the gateway. The people went out to see. His father and mother rejoiced. He said,

77 Ubungi , the grandfather of Ulangalibalele.

/

UMDHLUBU

U bo ngena ; kn ya ngenwa ;

Za ngena esibayeni.

W’ alusa izinkomo zakubo. W’ enza leyo ’mikuba a e y enza ekukgaleni.

Umatshotsha, (Umkamafuta.)

NESELESELE. 237

“ Ubongopa-kamagadhlela, Ubongopa-kamagadhlela,

Go in now ; it is time to go in ; Go in now ; it is time to go in.”

The cattle entered the enclosure.

Another village was built. He said, “I do not love the damsel, because she goes on the ground.” The damsel departed. He said, “ I will live on the back of Ubongopa-kamagadhlela till my death.” So they said, “ Stay then there on his back.”

He herded the cattle of his people. And continued to practise the enchantments which he practised from his childhood.

UMDHLUBU78 NESELESELE.

(UMDHLUBU AND THE FROG.)

The queen is hated by the other wives of the king.

Once on a time, a king married the daughter of another king ; he loved her very much ; his wives were troubled on account of his love for her. She became pregnant, and gave birth to a girl : the father loved her exceedingly. The child grew, and when she was a fine handsome child, the other wives formed a plot against her ; they said, “ Since her father is not at home, let us go and cut fibre.”79 They told the children not to agree

78 Umdhlubu, Garden-of -ground-nuts.

79 The fibre which is called imizi is derived from a kind of rush ( umhlahle ). It is used for binding up bundles, and for making the eating-mat. The natives obtain fibre ( itzi ) of a longer kind from the bark of several trees ; uscmdo and umtombe, the barks of which are red ; ubazi and umsasane, the barks of which are white. These barks are moistened and beaten, and so used ; or they are twisted into cord.

to carry the child. The mother called the little girl which nursed her child. She refused to carry her. The mother put her on her back, and went with her.

The queen forgets her child.

They cut fibre, and went on continually. It came to pass in one of the valleys80 they sat down and took snuff. The mother made a bundle of fibre, and gave it to the child : the child played with it. They set out again and cut fibre. They went on continually. The mother forgot the child. They went on continually cutting fibre ; they tied it up into bundles, and carried it home.

She seeks in vain for the lost child.

When they came home, they called the children’s nurses : they all came. But her’s came without the child. She asked, “ Where is my child ] ” They said, “ You took her with you.” She was troubled, and cried, and ran to find her. She did not find her, and came back.

The 'polygamic wives rejoice.

There was a great lamentation. The polygamic wives said, “How is it now then 1 We have destroyed the father’s darling. The pet wife is utterly confounded.”

A message is despatched to the king.

A messenger was sent to tell the father ; it was said, “ King, your child has been lost, whilst we were cutting fibre.” The father was greatly troubled.

80 Isihlambo, here translated valley, is a depression between two hills, where water runs in wet weather, or during storms.

UMDHLUBU NESELESELE.

The child is fount

She is brought up i

The officers tell the queen’ s i

81 Lit., She caused her to grow, tha

82 See Appendix (A).

by another queen.

In the morning an old woman of the royal household of another nation, went to fetch water : she heard the child playing ; she heard something saying, “ Ta, ta, ta.” She woudered, and said, “ Ah ! what is this ? ” She went stealthily along, and found the child, sitting and playing. She went home, and left both her and the water - pot. She called the king’s chief wife, and said, “ Come here.” The queen went out of the house. She said, “ Let us go ; there is something by the river which you will see.” She went with the old woman. They arrived. She said, “Behold a child.” The queen said, “ Take her.” She said so with joy. The old woman took her. They came to the river. The queen said, “Wash her.” She washed her. The queen took her, and placed her on her back, and went home.

ith the queevts son.

She suckled her, for she had given birth to a boy ; she brought her up.81 She grew. Both she and the queen’s own child walked. She grew and became a great girl. She was appointed chief of the girls,82 when a great feast was made. Many cattle were slaughtered, and all the people rejoiced.

on to marry the foundling.

After that the chief men said to the boy, “ Marry this girl.” The boy wondered, and said, “ 0 ! what is the meaning of this 1 Is she not my sister? Did we not suck together at my mother’s ; is, the queen nourished her.

breast?”83 They said, “ No, she was found in a valley.” He denied, and said, “ No, she is my sister.” The next morning they said, “ It is proper you should take her to be your wife.” He refused, and was greatly troubled.

An old woman imparts to the foundling the secret of her origin.

On another occasion an old woman said to the girl, “ Do you know ? ” She answered, “What?” She said, “You are going to be married.” She enquired, “ To whom ? ” She said, “ The young man of your own house ? ”84 She said, “ 0 ! what is the meaning of this ? Is he not my brother ? ” The old woman said, “No, you were taken from a valley, and brought up by the queen.” She cried, being much troubled.

The foundling’s grief

She took a water-pot, and went to the river, and sat down and wept. She filled her water-pot, and went home. She sat down in the house. Her mother gave her food ; she did not like it, and refused. The mother asked, “ What is it ? ” She said, “ Nothing.” There is a pain in my head.” So it was evening, and she went to lie down.

She meets with a friend.

In the morning she awoke and took the water-pot, and went to the river ; she sat down and wept. As she was crying, there came out

83 It is not in accordance with native custom for a young man to marry his foster-sister.

84 That is, the house in which you are living, — the house in which she had been brought up, and to which she supposed she belonged.

UMDHLUBU NESELESELE.

She quits her adopted home , and s<

a great frog, and said, “ Why are you crying1? ”85 She said, “ I am in trouble.” The frog said, “ What is troubling you?” She replied, “It is said that I am to become the wife of my brother.” The frog said, “ Go and take your beautiful things, which you love, and bring them here.”

(8 out in search of her own people.

She arose and took the waterpot, and went home. She took another pot, and fetched her things, and put them in the pot ; she took her brass rod, and her ubentlile kilt, and a petticoat with a border of brass balls ; and her fillet, and her brass, and her beads. She took these things, and went to the river, and threw them out on the ground.

The frog enquired, saying, “ Do you wish me to take you to your own people ? ” The child said,

“ Yes.” The frog took her things and swallowed them ; he took her and swallowed her ■ and set out with her.

The frog meets with a string of young men , who threaten to kill him.

In the way he met with a string of young men :86 they saw the frog. The one in front said, “Just come and see : here is a veiy great frog.” The others said, “ Let us kill him, and throw stones at him.” The frog said,

83 In Grimm’s story of the Frog King, the princess is represented as having dropped her golden ball into a well, and whilst standing by its side inconsolable for the loss, and weeping bitterly, she hears a voice, which said, “ What troubles thee, royal maiden ? thy complaints would move a stone to pity. ” This voice she found to proceed from a frog, “ which raised his thick ugly head out of the water.” The frog in this tale was an enchanted prince ; the princess is the means of removing the enchantment, and becomes his wife. — When Cinderlass is weeping at the well, an exceedingly large pike rises to the surface, and gives her assistance. ( Thorpe's Yule-tide Storks, p. 1 14. )

86 The natives walk in single file.

“ I am but a frog ; I will not be killed.87

I am taking Umdlilubu to her own country.”

They left him. They said, “ Hau ! how is it that the frog spoke, making a prodigy ? Let us leave him.” They passed on, and went their way.

And a string of men.

And some boys beb

And so the frog too went on his way. Again he met with a string of men. The one in front said, “ O, come and see a huge frog.” They said, “ Let us kill it.” The frog replied,

“ I am but a frog ; I will not be killed.

I am taking TJmdhlubu to her own country.”

They passed on, and the frog went on his way.

'iging to her father.

He fell in with some boys herding cattle : they saw him : he was seen by a boy of the damsel’s father.”89 He said, “ Wau ! By Umdhlubu the king’s child ! come and kill a great frog. Bun and cut sharp sticks, that we may pierce him with them.” The frog said,

87 “I will not be killed.” — A mode of deprecating death on the ground of having some work in hand, the importance of which will be admitted to be too great to allow of the messenger being put to death. When a person sentenced to death, or threatened with it, says, “I will not be killed,” he is at once understood, and asked, “ What i3 it ? ” He explains, and if the reason is satisfactory, they answer, “ Nembala” (truty,) and the sentence is remitted. — Comp. Jeremiah xli. 8, where Ishmael is represented as sparing ten out of the eighty men he had ordered to be slain, because they had “ treasures in the field” as yet not harvested.

88 Kwelakubo izwe , pronounced kwelakubw izwe.

89 A boy of the damsel’s father, — her half-brother.

UMDHLUBU NESELESELE.

O O

“ I am but a frog ; I will not be killed.

I am taking Umdhlubu to her own country.”

The boy wondered, and said, “ 0, sirs, do not let us kill him. He calls up painful emotions. Leave him alone, that we may pass on.” They left him.

And her own brother.

La harnba, la fika kwabanye, la bonwa umne wabo ; wa ti, “Md/dubu wenkosi! nanti iselesele elikulu kakulu. A si li kande ngaraatshe, si li bulale.” La ti iselesele,

The frog went on his way and came to others. He was seen by the girl’s own brother : he said, “ By Umdhlubu the king’s child ! There is a very great frog. Let us beat it with stones and kill it.” The frog said,

“ I am but a frog ; I will not be killed.

I am taking Umdhlubu to her own country.”

He said, “ 0, leave him alone. He speaks a fearful thing.”

He arrives at her mother's village.

La dAlula, la fika ngasekaya, la ngena esi/da/deni ngenzansi kwomuzi ; la m kipa nezinto zake. La m lungisa, la m pakgula ngompakgulo wodon^a, la m gcoba, la m vunulisa.

He went on and came near her home : he entered a bush below the kraal : he placed her on the ground with her things. He put her in order : he cleansed her with udonga :90 he anointed her, and put on her ornaments.

She makes herself known to her mother.

So she set out. She took her brass rod, and went and entered at the gateway, and she passed across the cattle enclosure : she went in the middle of it : she came to the opening, she went out, and entered

90 Udonqa is a small bush which bears white berries ; when ripe they are gathered and bruised and formed into a paste ; the body is first anointed with fat, and then rubbed over with the paste of the aclonqa. This is one mode of cleansing, which is supposed more effectual than water. The natives use the idumbe in the same way.

the house of her mother. Her mother followed her into the house, and said, “ Whence comest thou, damsel 1 ” She said, “ I am merely on a journey. ” The mother said, “ Tell me.” She said, “There is nothing, I am merely on a journey.” The mother said, “ Women are satisfied who have such fine children as you. For my part, I am in trouble : my child was lost : I left her in the valley : she died there.” The child answered, saying, “ Why did you leave her 1 Did you do it because you did not love her ] ” She said, “ No ; the queens made me forget her ;91 they would not allow the nurse to carry her.” She said in answer, “Ho. There is no woman who can forget her own child.” She said, “ No ; it happened through my not being accustomed to carry a child ; for she used to remain with the nurse.” She said, “ Yes ; you did it because you did not love me.” She began to look very earnestly at her ; she saw that it was her child.

Her mother rejoices.

When she saw her she rejoiced. She lauded with the laud-giving names of her child.92 The mother

91 “The queens made me forget her.” — The reply of the child shows this to he the meaning of koYiliswa in this place. The queens had so managed by giving her an unusual duty, and by beguiling her, to take away her attention from the child, that she was made to forget her.

92 As braves receive laud-giving names from their chiefs, which express their noble actions, so a child which is much beloved by its parents, or which is remarkable for its actions and character, has praise-giving names invented for it. There is a youth in this neighbourhood named Untiye, a child of Umuka, who received the following praise-giving names from his grandfather — Unganunameva, “The-thorny-unganu.” The unganu is a valuable tree in the native estimation, being a fruit-bearing tree, and used for carving vessels. But it has no thorns. The name therefore implies that he has qualities great and good like the unganu ; but besides those he has other qualities which resemble thorns, and which occasion trouble. Another name, 1 hhoboshi-eli-vimbe-esangweni-kwapungula ; — umakazi-abantwana-ba-ya-kupuma-ngapi-na ? “ Adder-

which-obstructs-the-doorway-in-the-village-of-Upungula ; — by-what-way-thenshall-the-children-go-out ? ” Both these laud-giving names have been strangely verified in the history and conduct of the young man. Thus in the tale, though Umdhlubu is lost, she is not forgotten ; but her brothers swear by her name, and her mother’s love invents laud -giving names for her.

UMDHLUBU NESELESELE.

took her robe, and girded herself ; she took her head-ornament, and put it on her head ; she took her petticoat, and put it on ; she took her staff, and went out ; she leaped for joy, and halalaed ;93 she went into the cattle-pen ; she played leaping about with joy. The people wondered and said, “ What has happened to Untombinde today ? Why does she rejoice so much ? Since from the time her first-born died, she has never rejoiced, but has constantly been sorrowful.”

Another woman joins in the rejoicings.

One from her side94 went out, and said, “Just let me go and see what is in the house ? Why do I hear the queen lauding with the laud-giving names of her dead child ?” So she went, and entered the house, and saw her ; she went out, and shouted aloud, and gave thanks.

The other women are confounded.

All the people went out. They ran to the house, hurrying to get there first. They crowded each other together at the doorway. They saw the child. All the people on her side rejoiced. All the others were troubled, and the queens95 of the other side said, “ Ah ! What does it mean ? For we thought we had already killed this child. She has come to life again. We shall be confounded together with our children. The supremacy of our children is coming to an end.”

93 Halala , to shout halala, a shout of joy, like our huzzah.

94 See Appendix (B).

93 Every wife of a chief is queen, or chieftainess. So in other kraals each W’ife is chieftainess in her own house ( endhlini yakwabo ), and all may be addressed by way of politeness as amakosikazi, “ chief -wives, ” if the chief wife is not present ; when she is, she alone is called inkosikazi.

24 G

The king is inforr

The news is published ,

The king visit ed of her arrival.

A messenger set out and went to her father ; he arrived and said, “ O king, your child that was dead has come to life again.” The king said, “ Hau ! Art thou mad ? Which is that child ? ” The messenger said, “ Umdhlubu.” The father said, “ Whence comes she ?” He said, “ I do not know, O king.” The father said, “ If it be not she, I will kill thee. If it be she, run, raise a cry in all places, that the people may bring together all the large oxen, and come with them.”

and the people rejoice.

He went and raised a cry, and said, “ The princess has come. Make haste with the oxen.” The men asked, “ Which princess?” He replied, “ Umdhlubu the child of the king, who was dead.”

They rejoiced ; they took their shields ; they took the oxen, and drove them ; they took also their presents to gladden the princess ; for she had risen from death ; they found her when they no longer expected it. They came ; they slaughtered many cattle, even in the ways, in order that the old men, and the old women, and the sick might eat, who were not able to reach the home where the princess was.

? iloe princess.

The father came and said, “ Come out, my child, that I may see you.” She did not answer. He slaughtered twenty oxen. She made her appearance at the doorway, and stood still. He slaughtered thirty ;90 she came out. The father said, “ Go into the cattle-

90 Not thirty other cattle, but ten, making thirty altogether.

UilDHLUBU NESELESELE.

kraal ; let us go to dance for you, for our great joy ; for I used to say, you are already dead, but in fact you are still alive.” She stood still. Again he slaughtered forty oxen. Then she went, and entered into the kraal.97

They dance, for her.

They danced for her very much. But the other side of the kraal did not rejoice ; it did not dance together with the children and queens of that side. -They left off dancing.

The kiny sits with his child, and orders a fat ox to he killed for her.

The father went with her into the house, and sat down with her. He said, “ Let a fat young ox be taken, and killed, and cooked for the child, that we may eat and rejoice, for she was dead, and has risen from death.”

The kiny and queen and her children rejoice toyether.

So all the people rejoiced. The child returned to her royal position. Her father did right royally ; he returned to his former habits, and lived at that kraal, for he had ceased to be there much, because he remembered his child which had died. Her mother and the children of her house rejoiced together.

The frog is called by the kiny and rewarded.

Her father asked her, “ How did you come here ? ” The child said, “ I was brought by a frog.” The father said, “ Where is he ? ” The child replied, “ He is yonder

97 This custom of slaughtering cattle to induce a person to quit a house, to move forward, &e. , is called ukunyatelisa , to make to take steps.

li n

IZIN G AN EK WANE.

in the bush.” The father said, “ Let oxen be taken, that he may be danced for, and come up to our home.” So they went and danced for him.

They brought him home. They brought him into the house and gave him meat, and he ate. The king enquired, “ What do you wish that I should give you as a reward ?” He said, “ I wish some black hornless cattle.” He took many cattle and people, and said, “ Go with him.” So they went and came to his country.

The frog becomes a great chief.

The frog built a great town, and became a great chief. He slaughtered cattle continually ; and men came to ask for meat. They enquired, “ What is your chief who built this town ?” They said, “ Uselesele.”98 They enquired, “ Whence did he obtain so large a town as this ? ” They said, “ He got it because he brought our princess to the king ; so he gave him cattle and men.” They answered, saying, “ Are you then the people of Uselesele? ” They said, “Yes. Do not speak disrespectfully of him ; he will kill you, for he is a great chief.”

Uselesele took many people under his protection. They revolted from their chiefs through seeing the abundance of food at Uselesele’s. So Uselesele reigned and became a king.

Umdhlubu's beauty is celebrated , and Unkosi-yasenthla sends his people to see her.

W’ ezwa Unkosi-yasenAla ukuti, I Unkosi-yasenthla heard it said, “ I kona intomb’ enAle kankosi- | “ Unkosi-yasenzansi" has a beau-

98 Uselesele, a proper name, The-frog-man.

99 Comp. p. 89, Note. Or we may render these words, King of the Uplands or Highlands ; and King of the Lowlands.

UJlDHLUBtJ NESELESELE.

tiful daughter, named Umdhlubu.” He said to his people, “ Go and see what kind of a damsel it is.” They went, and came to Unkosiyasenzansi, and said, “ King, we have been sent by Unkosi-yasenthla, that we might select a beautiful damsel from among your children.”

The king's daughters are summoned , and Umdhlubu is chosen for her surpassing beauty.

He summoned them, and they came. At length they saw one only damsel which excelled all the others in beauty. For they remembered, that if a king has sent people to go and choose a beautiful damsel, it is proper that they should look very earnestly ; for those people are the king’s eyes, because he trusts them. They look earnestly, that they may not be reproved when the damsel is brought home. When they see she is ugly, not like a damsel which has been chosen for a king, they find great fault, saying, “ Why have you disgraced the king by choosing an ugly thing for him ?” The honour of those men is ended ; they are removed from their honourable office, because they are not trustworthy. Therefore they chose Umdhlubu for her beauty-sake, saying, “ It is she only who is fit to be the king’s queen above all the others.”

The others are ashamed , and hate her.

Therefore those who were left were ashamed ; and their mothers were ashamed ; and their brothel's were ashamed.1 There was rejoicing in the house of Umdhlubu.

1 That is, those belonging to the other side of the village.

IZINGAXEKWAXE.

The joy began with Umdhlubu, who was conspicuous for beauty among many other damsels and in the eyes of them all, for it was said, “ There is a beautiful woman indeed ! ” Her mother rejoiced in her heart, saying, “ I did well when I gave birth to my child ! ” And the children of her house were exalted, although their mother had been long ago exalted 2 by the king, through being loved. There, then, was the hatred which increased towards that house of Umdhlubu ; it never ceased, for a king of another nation loved Umdhlubu, as her mother also was loved very much by the father of Umdhlubu. There was a very great hatred in the hearts of the other queens, on account of the beauty of Umdhlubu, which was admired by the king of another people above all their own children. They were ashamed for ever.

Unkosi-yasenthla (joes with a thousand head of cattle to take Umdhlubu as his bride.

So they looked, and chose Umdhlubu. They departed to tell the king. They arrived home, and said, “King, we have seen the beautiful damsel ; her name is Umdhlubu.” The king said, “ Aye ; it is well. We must set out and go thither, and take a thousand head of cattle.” So they set out.

He arrives at the king's, and asks for Umdhlubu in marriage.

Wa ti Unkosi-yasenzansi e Alezi j Unkosi-yasenzansi, as he was emtunzini pakati kwesibaya na- | sitting in the shade within the

2 Noma , etc. — This mode of expression is used to imply that the exaltation is nothing new, but something super-added to a dignity already possessed. If any one addressed a great man by saying, Si ya ku kulisa kule ’ ndawo, “We honour you in regard to that matter,” he would reply, Okwesingaki ukukuliswa na ? “Whence does that honour spring ?” The man would at once understand that he claimed a previous honour, and would ask, Umkulu ngapambili na? “Has he a greatness before now ? ” They would say to a great man, Bani, si ya ku kulisa kule 'nclawo, noma umkulu kade," “So-and-so, we honour you in that matter, though you are already great.”

UMDHLUBU XESELESELE.

The khv.

Umdhlubu is given

They are received with rejoicii

3 Head-ring.

cattle-pen with his people, said, “ What is that yonder ? There is a great dust which rises to the heaven.” They were afraid. He said to his soldiers, “ Get ready to fight, for we do not know what is coming.” After that the cattle appeared going with the king and his people. They went to meet them.

He said, “ I am Unkosi-vasentlila ; I come to see Umdhlubu.” They went with him home. When they arrived, they asked to have Umdhlubu given them. Her father rejoiced when he heard that.

assents.

They had cattle slaughtered for them. They spoke with the father. Unkosi-yasentlila said, “ I come to you, Unkosi-yasenzansi, I being desirous of taking your daughter ; if you assent, it is well. I come with a thousand cattle.” The father assented, saying, “ It is well.”

to Unkosi-yasentlila.

He assembled all the girls, and all the men, the young men with head-rings,3 and the youth ; he set apart men for the purpose of working for Umdhlubu. He took out brass and beads for her marriage, and five hundred oxen, and said, “ Now it is right. Set out with her. There is an officer for the purpose of conducting the wedding ceremonies.”

7 by Unkosi-yasenthld s people.

They went with him, and reached his home. As they were coming into sight, a great cry was raised,

-See p. 210.

IZIJiGANEKYTANK.

and the people appeared in all directions, shouting, “ The queen of Unkosi-yasenthla has come.” They rejoiced.

They retired to rest. In the morning, when the sun had risen, and it was hot, the damsels went out with the young men and youth, and went into the bush ; they sat down there. When the time for dancing arrived, they danced ; they fetched the damsel from the bush ; she went to the kraal to dance.

They complete the marriage ceremonies.

So they ended the dance. She took brass, and placed it before her father, 4 and prayed, saying, “ Sire, take care of me for ever, for now I am in thy hand, preserve me.”

The whole marriage party sat down. They danced for them. They ended the dance. In the morning the damsel killed ten bullocks ; they ate and rejoiced.

The officer returns with a present for Umdhlubu’s mother.

The officer said, “ Sire, we now wish to set out to return home, for the work is done.”

The king took five hundred head of cattle, and sent them as a present to his mother.5 They went home.

They build Umdhlubu's town.

The damsels remained. IJmdhlubu’s father had said that they were not to return, but stay with her, and work for her ; and much people, both male and female, remained there to build her town.

The king said, “ Now build the town of the queen, where she may live with her people.”

5 That is, his wife’s mother.

4 That is, her husband’s father.

UMDHLUBU NESELESELE.

U nkosi-yasenthla talc

The people return in saj

Mary (Uhkampengula).

s up his abode there.

So the town was built and completed. The king visited it ; many cattle were killed, that the soldiers might eat, and complete the queen’s town. The king also went to live there at the new town. Thus he took Umdhlubu to be his wife.

ity to Unkosi-yasenzansi.

The people of Umdhlubu’s father reached their home, and said, “ O king, we have done all things very well. There are cattle for Umdhlubu’s mother ; they are given to her by her son. He told us to give his respects to both his father and mother.”

So all lived together in peace.

APPENDIX (A).

INDABA YENKOSI YENTOMBI. (the account of a girl-king.)

W hen there are many young women, they assemble on the river where they live, and appoint a chief over the young women, that no young woman may assume to act for herself. Well, then, they assemble and ask each other, “ Which among the damsels is fit to be chief and to reign well 1 ” They make many enquiries ; one after another is nominated, and rejected, until at length they agree together to appoint one, saying, “ Yes, So-and-so shall reign.”

So then when sweethearts come, they are reported to her ; if she does not wish the damsels to go to them, they do not go ; they are bound by the word of the damsel which is their chief. If kona ey’ onayo, i Alauliswe isi/daulo esitile ezintweni zayo ; lokupela a zi naukomo, a zi fuye ’Into, i zona zi fuyiwe aoyise ; imfuyo yazo ubu/dalu netusi liokunye kwezintwana ; i loko ke oku imfuyo e zi /daula ngako, uma enye y enze ikcala. Ku ya buswa kakulu inkosi yazo.

any is guilty of an offence, she is fined by a fine taken from something belonging to her ; for in fact they have no cattle nor any live stock ; their fathers possess such things ; their property consists of beads and brass, and other such little matters; this, then, is the property with which they pay their fines, if any do wrong. The chief of the damsels exercises great authority.

But some will not permit their daughter to be elected chief, for they say, it is not proper that there should be a chief of the damsels. They do not say so because it is wrong, but because it is said, a girl-king never nurses a child, they all die ; it is on this account that her father will not allow her to be king. But it is *hot known that this is really true ; for although the children of some die, the children of others grow up.

So then, at the time of the approach of the feast of firstfruits, that»is, when they are about to eat new food, those young men who are loved by the damsels do not eat new food before they have given notice to them ; and a damsel cannot eat new food until she has given notice to her chief ; and she cannot tell her sweetheart before she has first told the "irl-king. They do not give notice with the mouth only, but with some present, saying, “ Here is my present by which I give notice that I am about to eat new food. Do not wonder ; I am now eating it.” If she eat without having given notice, she has committed an offence against the girl-king ; she is fined, and is refused all things which she would have been allowed if she had waited. Because she did not wait she is vexed by being obstructed in all her wishes.

THE GIRL-KING.

c This word is not only applied to which it is built.

When young men come to the umgon^o, where the ceremonies of puberty are being performed, — for when a damsel is of age, it is then that the filthy custom is practised of all the young people assembling to go to the umgonz/o where the ceremonies of puberty are performed ; the filthiness is this, that it is known that the house where a damsel is subjected to the ceremonies of puberty is now a house of sweethearts and damsels, where all kind of evil will be spoken ; modesty is at an end at that time, and all fearful things are mentioned, as if the puberty of a young woman set all free from all trouble of behaving modestly in reference to things which ought not to be openly mentioned, and which if a man mentioned them by name, he would be regarded as mad. There, then, at the umgon^o all people become mad, for there is no one of authority there who can say, “ Do not mention such things.” No, it is known that it is a day of filthiness, in which every tiling may be done according to the heart’s desire of those who gather around the umgon^o. So, then, at one time of the same day there come young men from all quarters, and the house is too small to admit them ; they are prevented from entering until they have made a present; if there is a girl-king, she determines what shall open the door ; if the present is small, she refuses ; and so a larger offering is made. The woman who sleeps in the umgon^o6 refuses to go out, and obstructs the young men ; and they are prevented from entering also by the other damsels, until they induce her to go out by a present ; so she goes out, and the the umgon^o proper, but to the hut in

Umpengula M band a.

young people remain alone, and sport after their own fancies in every respect. Such, then, is the conduct of the umgonyo.

The festival of a girl-king is this, — much beer is made, many people are assembled and drink. But the festival is not kept at home, as is that of one who is a chief indeed. No, it is kept near the river. Those who wish come to look on ; some will not trouble themselves to go, for they know it is a mere play, and ask, “ How should woman know how to act the king indeed ? ” The festival is great because there is much beer to drink.

Such, then, is the government of a girl.

APPENDIX (B.)

THE HERITAGE IN POLYGAMIC HOUSEHOLDS.

Abafazi aba zekwa ngezinkomo zakwabo-mkulu ku se ifa lake omkulu ; labo bonke naba zekwa

The account of the side of a polygamic house which is called the side of the house of the boy who is the little chief7 of his father. The women who are taken to wife by the cattle of the eldest son’s house,8 become the heritage of the eldest son ; all of them are

7 The little chief of his father, that is, the heir-at-law, — the next chief or head after the father. He is also called inkosi, “ chief.” To avoid confusion I generally translate such terms by heir, or eldest son.

8 It is important for the understanding of this matter to note the distinction made between kwabo-mkulu, which I have translated “the eldest son’s house,” and kwabo impela, (or as expressed lower down kwdbo-mfana, ) which I have translated “the eldest son’s house in particular.” The eldest son born to the chief wife or inkosikazi, has two inheritances, — the one hereditary derived from his father, and father’s father backwards. This is the inheritance kwabomkulu, and must descend from him, as it came to him by the law of inheritance, that is, of primogeniture. The other is derived from his mother, — a cow or more given her by. her father, or by a friend, or obtained by labour, becomes a new source of property, and is kept distinct in its appropriation from the paternal heritage. The difference is similar to that between entailed and personal property. But the entailed property of the native is invested in wives, girls, and cattle, and is necessarily as fluctuating as any other moveable property. The property of the eldest son’s house ( ifa lakwabo-mkulu ) is the hereditary estate. Note too the expression, Abafazi bakwabo-leyo ’ nkomo , “ The wives of the house of that cow.”

THE HERITAGE IN POLYGAMIC HOUSEHOLDS.

Kodwa umfazi o zekwa uyise ngenkomo e nge si yo yelifa, i inkomo yake nje, e nge bliekwe his heritage, together with those who are taken to wife by cattle of his house in particular, which are the offspring of a cow, which his mother gave him, which her father or grandfather gave her ;9 women taken to wife by these cattle belong to the house whence that cow came, the son’s house.10 And even if the village at length become great through the wives of those cows,11 the whole village is that boy’s. If all the children of the several houses die, he is the heir of all their property ; there is no one who can set up against him a claim, on the ground of its belonging to his side of the village, that is, on the ground that the women were taken to wife by cattle belonging to his house. They are not persons of another family ;12 they are subject to him.

But as to a woman whom his father takes to wife by a cow which does not belong to the hereditary estate, but is his own personal property, which is not re-

9 A new estate is commenced by gifts to the mother, — by her labour, — by girls whom she may have after giving one over to the chief house, — or by gifts to the eldest son, or by his labour and by the labour of other children till they are married. If any such property is taken by the father to pay the dowry of a new wife, that wife belongs to the house to which the property belonged.

Some such custom as regards marriage as this here represented as in force among the natives, must have existed among the- people of Asia in the time of Jacob ; and the account here given is calculated to throw much light on the history of his life and that of his children. By recalling that familiar history and looking at it from a new point of view, we shall also be helped to understand better the state of the native law in such matters. It would appear that Leah was the inkosikazi or chief -wife ; and Rachel the second chief wife or hill ; Rachel gives Jacob her maid Bilhah that she might have children by her , that is, the house of Bilhah is a secondary house under Rachel, who is the chief - tainess of the secondary great house, and the children born to Jacob in that house are Rachel’s. Then Leah follows Rachel’s example, and gives Jacob Zilpah, and Zilpah’s house is a secondary house under Leah, whose is the indhlu-nkulu or chief house. Reuben is the “little chief of his father;” and Joseph the “ iponsakubusa. ” His position not only as the favourite of his father, but as the chief of the secondary great house, explains his dreams of superiority, and the jealousy of his half-brothers of the house of Leah.

10 That is, the house of the eldest son, — the house of which his mother is the chief.

11 That is, the wives who have been paid for by those cows.

12 Lit., They are not at a distance from him, but are so near to him that if the heir die, he becomes heir.

IZINCANEKWANE.

garded by the chief wife [as belonging to her], and which she cannot claim. [When the husband comes home with such a cow,] he says to the chief wife, “ This cow, daughter of So-and-so, is not a cow of your house, for I took nothing from your house, nor from the hereditary estate ; it is my cow on which no one can have a claim ; I shall marry with it my wife, who will not be a wife belonging to your house, but is my wife only, — my village ; for you are a wife whom I took by my father’s cattle.

The husband gains such a cow in this way, — he cultivates a garden by himself, and the resulting produce is not mixed with the produce of the chief house, but is kept by itself, and he buys a cow with it. Such, then, is the distinction between that cow [and the cattle of the hereditary estate]. Or he may cultivate tobacco ; he does not say the tobacco-field is the chief wife’s, but he says, “It is my field,” and he does not call the field by the chief wife’s house, for a chief wife can put in a claim if a thing is called hers, when it has been taken away again. The husband acts thus that no claim may be made to such a thing.

When that cow, then, has increased, and he has taken another wife by it, it is known that that wife does not belong to the chief wife’s house, nor to the hereditary estate of the husband ;13 for nothing has been derived from either for the purchase of the cow. If

13 The reader must bear in mind that in a large household there may be distinguished the following houses which have especial claims : —

1. Indhlu yakwdbo-mkulu, or yakwabo-kandoda. The hereditary estate.

2. Indhlu yakwabo-ndodana enkulu. The house of the chief wife. The eldest son is heir of the property derived from both these. And the father cannot marry a wife by cattle belonging to either of these without placing the new wife under the chief wife, and whose house, viz., heir, has a claim upon the house of

THE HERITAGE IN POLYGAMIC HOUSEHOLDS.

the offspring of that cow are not all taken for the dowry of the wife, those which remain are the property of her house, and she is called a hill.14

Further, her son is called iponsakubusa,15 that is, he is not chief ; but in the village of his mother’s house when it has become great, he is the only head there, and is in no way interfered with.

When cattle remain after paying the dowry, the father may give his chief wife a cow that it may be the property of her house, if he does not wish that they should belong to the house of that chief wife which is a hill. If he wish, he can give the cattle to her, saying, “ Here are the cattle of your house.” She can make a claim on them if the husband marry a wife and does not place her under herself; she can make a great claim, saying, “ Why is my village devoured ? ” She says thus because the husband says, “ The wife I am now about to take does not belong to your house ; she is my wife the secondary wife ; which claim is settled by the first born female child becoming the property of the chief house.

3. Indhlu yakwabo, the house of a secondary or tertiary, &c., wife.

4. The husband has his private or personal property, with wrhich he can do as he pleases. This is the heritage of the eldest son, if unappropriated at the father’s death.

5. Indhlu yaktcabo-ponsakubusa. The secondary great house ( indhlu-nkulu yobubili ), which is constituted by the husband taking a secondary chief wife by his own private property. This house has no right to inherit the property of the great house but as the result of death carrying off all the heirs of the great house. Neither can the heir of the great house put in any claim to the heritage of this house, so long as any male child belonging to it survives.

14 An Intaba , or hill, not a ridge to which we give the name of hill, but a hill which stands out alone, without any connection with other hills. She is so called because she stands out alone, — the commencement of a new house, owing nothing to the forefathers of the husband ( indhlu yakwabo-mkulu ), nor to the house of the chief wife.

15 Iponsa-kvhusa , The-almost-a-chief. For he is not chief as regards his father’s house ; the eldest son of the chief wife is chief and heir of that ; but he is chief and heir in the secondary great house. The place of the chief, in a kraal or in a hut, is on the right hand side of the doorway. If the eldest son of the great house and the iponsakubusa are both at the same time in the hut, the eldest son sits near the doorway on the right, — that is, the chief place, — the iponsakubusa on the left of the doorway. But if neither the eldest son nor tho father is there, the iponsakuJyusa sits in the chief place above all the other children both of the great house and of his own. The iponsakubusa also sends the insonyama to the chief house.

2G0

only.” So that chief wife10 starts saying, “If you thus take your wife who has no connection with me, what will become of my children’s cattle? Take of your own cattle, that what you are doing may be right.” The disputed right arises in such circumstances as these.

Further, if the cattle with wdiich the wbfe who is a hill is taken are few, and the husband comes short, and does not make up the requisite number with the cattle wdiich belong to himself, but takes some from those of the chief house, the heir of the chief house will put in a claim, and will not agree with the son wdio is called the iponsakubusa, but will say, “ No, he too is a part of my house, for there are the cattle of my house too among the cattle by which his mother was taken to wdfe.” If the father wishes that that child which is the iponsakubusa should not return to the great house, he may pay back the cattle which he took by others, that the appointment of the father of that child may not be futile and come to an end.

And that child also has his side of the village, which has been derived from the cattle of that house ; and if there are no cattle of that house, if the father has cattle of his own, upon which no claim whatever can be made, he can enlarge that village by continually taking a wife, and declaring her to belong to that side, until it becomes a village ; all those wives are the heritage of that side.

16 That is, the chief wife of the other side, — the hill. She has the same right over cattle formally given to her by her husband as the chief wife has.

THE HERITAGE IN POLYGAMIC HOUSEHOLDS.

If the iponsakubusa live, and the chief house come to an end, yet if there remain but one little boy of the last little house, the iponsakubusa cannot inherit the property of the chief house, whilst there still remains a son of the side belonging to the chief house. But if there does not survive even one boy, the iponsakubusa inherits the whole, and has no fear, but is a chief in every respect, since the real chief is dead.

Such, then, is the condition of polygamy. And such is the position of a husband in his house.

And the cattle of a man’s father and his own cattle are distinct ; the son says his father’s cattle are his own when the father is dead ; but he too has his own which are distinct from those of his father, which his father gave him whilst living. For it is the custom for fathers continually to give cattle to their sons ; not many, but one ; but that one increases. When it has increased the son may marry two wives at the same time ; one he takes to wife by the cattle of his father, if he is still living ; the other is the wife of his own cattle. There, then, are the two sides.

The children which are bom from those two wives have not power throughout the whole village. The child of the father’s cattle17 claims superiority, saying, “ I too in our village am a great man, for mother was not taken with the cattle of our common grandfather.” But the son, whose mother was taken with the cattle of the hereditary estate, is the one that has authority in the village of the grandfather, if the grandfather has not another son who is chief ; if the chief of the grandfather is

17 That is, the iponsakubusa.

wale ’ndodana, i yona i busayo umtizi wonfce.

tlie father of that son it is he who is head of the whole village.

But he whose mother was taken by the cattle of the father, does not remain in the village of the hereditary estate ; he leaves, and has his own village by himself. And although he is inferior to him whose mother was taken by the cattle of the chief house, until he dies, yet then he takes the chief place, if there is no one remaining belonging to the chief house.

If the chief house takes a wife with cattle belonging to it which comes next in order after itself ; when that wife has a female child, she does not say the child belongs to her house ; she knows it belongs to the chief house, and the cattle with which her dowry was paid is thus restored. And when she is married, the son of the chief house can take a wife with the cattle which have come as her dowry ; and if he places her in the kraal as though she had been purchased by the cattle of the house of the girl by whose dowry she has been taken to wife, according to his own pleasure, he does not thus because he is afraid of a lawsuit, but because the village is his own. For example, Uzita married the mother of Ubabazeleni ; she was the chief wife ; she gave birth to Ubabazeleni, Uzita’s chief son ; after that cattle belonging to Ubabazeleni’s house took to wife the mother of Unsukuzonke ; Unsukuzonke was Ubabazeleni’s brother, that if Ubabazeleni should die, and his offspring should die also, there might be no dispute among Uzita’s children, but it be known that Unsukuzonke would enter on the inheritance, and would enter on it with reason, it being his property.

THE HERITAGE IN POLYGAMIC HOUSEHOLDS.

2G3

After Unsukuzonke his mother had a girl ; she grew up, and married Umathlanya. Uzita said' “ The child is Ubabazeleni’s.” Unsukuzonke objected, saying, “ Shall a child of our house be eaten by another whilst I am living, I who was born of the same mother as she ? ” Uzita therefore wondered very much at Unsukuzonke, and said to him, “ If you try to eat the cattle of that child you will commit an offence, for your mother was taken to wife by the cattle of Ubabazeleni’s house ; this child belongs to his house ; those who are born after belong to you.” Unsukuzonke refused, and said, “ Rather than that a child of our house should be eaten whilst I am alive, it is proper that I pay back those cattle, and I eat -for myself.” Uzita would not agree, but said, “ If you take outls those cattle of your own accord, you will take yourself out of the chiefplace ; you shall no longer come next in order after Ubabazeleni ; I will no longer know to what place you belong ;10 you shall be a mere man without a name in this village. You have now taken yourself out for ever. I no longer know you for my part.”

So Unsukuzonke refused, until at length he ended by taking out the cattle ; and so he was taken out from holding the position second to Ubabazeleni. And Unsilane was placed in the position of Unsukuzonke, until Ubabazeleni’s son should grow up, and then he would give place to him and return to the position of a brother, and be the brother of the head of the house. But when

18 That is, from your own herd, to pay back the dowry of your mother to Ubabazeleni. There is a play on the word kipa , “ take out,” which it appears best to preserve in the translation.

19 That is, I will not acknowledge you as having any position amongst us.

Ubabazeleni died, Umatongo, who was next after Unsukuzonke, forgot that long ago his brother took himself out of the headship, and wished to enter on the government of the village ; but the men reminded him, saying, “ You, Umatongo, have no longer any position here ; there is Unsilane, who will assume the headship of the village.” So he yielded.

So, then, all the children of a particular house, which are born after the first girl, belong to that house. The children from whose house a girl has departed, will not follow her [to become the property of the great house] ; the chief house is satisfied with that girl. But the children are still the heritage of the chief house if all the heirs of that house die. But if they are still living, the chief house can touch nothing belonging to them ; they are under the chief house, because their mother belongs to the polygamic establishment of the chief house, because she was taken to wife by its cattle. It is not said, since the cattle [with which the mother was taken to wife] have now returned to the chief house [by the first girl], they are no longer under the chief house ; they are under it still, for if the chief house come to an end, it is they who will enter upon the whole heritage. The heritage is taken in the order of the houses as regards the times of marriage. The heritage is not allowed to pass by any house, so as to be given to one who does not belong to the polygamic establishment of the chief house, until all are dead who follow the chief house in order ; at last the last male child which belongs to the great house enters on it. When all are dead who

THE HERITAGE IN POLYGAMIC HOUSEHOLDS.

can properly enter on the heritage, it is taken by those who are of kin ;20 the heritage is taken by the house which used to participate21 with the great house when cattle were slaughtered. Such, then, is the mode of inheriting. The heritage falls to all the houses in order of their inheritances.22 If all are dead to whom the inheritance belongs, the iponsakubusa takes it, for he takes it with good reason ; it is now his ; no one will call him in question, for the whole house has come to an end ; and he takes possession with reason, because his father and the father of those of the chief house was one ; he is not far removed from his father’s estate ; when the chief house comes to an end, the whole belongs to him.

Further, as regards the ejection of the first wife from the chief place, she is ejected for two reasons for which it is proper that she should be ejected. She is ejected for adultery ; if she has been guilty of adultery before she has had a child, it is said that it is not proper that her house should stand at the head of the village. If she has had a boy, she is removed from the house at the head of the village, to the gate, or to the side of the kraal ; and another wife is sought who is a virgin, and not one of those who were under her who has been ejected ; and so she who is a virgin is taken to wife ; and she who has been guilty of adultery is

20 Umdeni , those who are of kin, — those belonging to the polygamic establishment of the great house, in the order in which the several wives have been taken in marriage.

21 All the houses under any particular house, whether the great house, or the secondary great house, participate in the meat of all cattle slain by any one house.

22 That is, if the chief house fails of heirs, the heritage falls to the second house ; if that too fails, it falls to the third, and so on. If all the heirs of the great house fail, the next heir is the iponsakubusa.

told, “ Since you have destroyed your great name, the daughter of So-and-so will be taken to wife and fill your place, and become the mother of So-and-so,” that is, the heir, the son who is separated from the mother on account of her offence, and placed with the new wife. If, then, she fills well that office, it is she who is the chief wife indeed ; it is she who is the mother of the youth who has been taken away from his mother. And the children of the new wife are not chief ; they come in order after the young chief who has been introduced into her house ; the first child of this wife comes next in order after the young chief ; and the property of his house is taken from his mother’s house, and is taken to the chief house ; it follows the boy to the place where he goes ; there is left behind in the old house23 only such little things as are necessary for his mother’s existence.

So they settle down as regards that matter, it being now known that she was ejected for ever, and that the new wife is established as chief. If she is a good woman and treats the boy with the greatest care, he forgets his real mother, and habitually goes to the new mother, no longer using himself to the real mother, but now using himself to the house of the new chief wife.

And she is ejected if she does not know strangers : for among black men the head house is that to which strangers from all parts go, and are treated well there ; for the treatment of strangers is an obligation resting on the chief wife of the village. When we say to treat them, we mean to give them

2a The old house, — the house of the displaced chief wife.

UXTHLANGUNTHLANGU.

2G7

Umpengula Mbanda.

food, and to give it without weariness ; not to know them is that she should grudge them food, denying that she has any, and if there is any, concealing it, and eating it secretly unknown to them ; scolding them, and turning them out of her house in anger. Among us such a wife goes out ; she is not tit to bear the village ; it is proper that she go lower and take her position at the entrance ; and another take her place, who is able to fill it aright. Such, then, is the ejection of a wife from the chief place. Such, then, is her expulsion.

UNTHLANGUNTHLANGU.24

All the wives of the king have children except the chief wife.

It is said in children’s tales that a king took several wives. He said, “ The child of So-and-so25 shall be mother of the future sovereign.” They became pregnant ; their months were completed ; the time of childbirth arrived, they had children. But she who was to be the mother of the future sovereign remained still pregnant. The children grew, they walked, they were weaned. Again the wives became pregnant ; their months were completed, the time of childbirth arrived, they had children. The children grew, they were weaned ; they grew until they were young men, the chief wife not having as yet given birth to a child.

24 Unthlangunthlangu , One who, when charged with an offence, denies every thing in the charge. Umuntu o zihlanguzayo , One who excuses himself.

25 Okabani. — It is the custom of persons who are not related to call married women by the names of their respective parents, and not by their proper names.

2G8

The chip/ wife gives birth to a snake.

Many years passed away ; at length the skin of the abdomen peeled off ;23 she was taken in labour ; the women assembled and said, “ She has given birth to a snake.” The snake took many days in the birth, and filled the house. They fled, and stood at the doorway; they called the people to come and see the prodigy. The nation assembled. They shouted to her, and enquired if the snake was still in the birth. She replied that it was still in the birth. The king told them to make a rope. At length she said, “ The snake is now born.”

The snake is cast into a pool.

A man was made to enter the house ; they gave him a pole, and told him to turn the snake over till he found its head. He turned it over and over till he found the head ; they threw him the rope ; he fastened it on the neck, and went out with it. They broke down the enclosure27 in front of the house. They asked, “ What snake is it h ” They replied, “ A boa constrictor.” They found a pool, and many people dragged the snake along, and threw it into the water. They washed their bodies,28 and again went up to their home.

26 The natives believe in foetus serotinus, that gestation may exceed the usual number of months or 280 days. When this is the case, they imagine that the skin of the abdomen presents a peculiar appearance, here called ukukxatuka, to peel or cast off as a snake does its skin. When therefore they say that a woman thus casts off the skin (viz., epidermis) of the abdomen, they mean that it is a prolonged gestation, and that she has passed beyond the natural period.

27 The enclosure here spoken of is a small enclosure, generally made of reeds, made in front of the doorway to shield the house from the wind.

28 They wash their bodies to get rid of the supposed evil influence which would arise from touching the snake, which they regard as an umhlola, a prodigy, or evil omen.

1TNTHLANGUNTHLANGU.

The king and hie people fly from the place , leaving the mother of the snake behind.

A fter many years

She reaches th

The king gave directions for them to fly from that place, but said, “ Let the mother of the snake remain ; she has given birth to a monster.” They departed, and went to another country. They completed the building of their houses. The children grew up, and took to themselves wives ; and the girls, who were bom after the boys, were married also. And at length their children were married.

she follows them.

The mother of the snake set out ; she met with some people. They enquired where she was going. She replied, “ I am following the king.” They said, “ What connection have you with him ? ” She answered, “ He is my husband.” They asked, “ Where have you been staying?” She said, “ He left me at our old village.” They said, “ What offence had you been guilty of ? ” She said, “ My offence was that of having given birth to a beast.” They asked, “ What beast ?” She replied, “A boa constrictor. I was pregnant with it for many years.” They asked where it was placed. She said, “ It was cast into the water. And the people fled ; and said there was a prodigy with me, for I had given birth to a beast.”

king's village.

She went and enquired in a village where Unthlangunthlangu lived. They told her the name of the river on which he had built.

The king summons

She is jeered for

She set out and reached the place. A boy saw her and said, “ There is the daughter of So-and-so coming.” She went into the house at the gateway. She saluted the owner of the house, who asked after her health. She told her she was quite well. The other said, “ I was asking because there used to be a beast within you.” She replied, “ It is entirely right.” She asked, “ What does the king say about me ?” She replied, “ He laughs ; they said, ‘ The king is happy because she is dead ; ’ they said, he would have done well in leaving her at the old village even though she had got well. She would again give birth to another prodigy.”

her to his presence.

The woman in whose house she was went out and entered the king’s house ; when she arrived, the king was lying down. She enquired of a child if the king was asleep. The king replied, “ I am lying down.” She said, “ There is the mother of the snake come.” The king sat up and asked, “ Whence has she come ? ” She replied, “ She says she comes from the old village.” He told her to go and call her. She went and called her ; she returned with her and entered the house. He saluted her, and she returned the salutation. He asked after her health. She replied she was quite well.

her misfortune .

She remained ; she was given food ; she ate. The people said to the king, “ Do not be any longer talking with her ; it may be she

UXTIILANGUNTHLANGU.

will add another prodigy to the first.” They built her a house near the gateway ; she dwelt there. She quarrelled with the other women. They asked, “ What are you, that you exalt yourself? Is it because you gave birth to a beast?”29 So she was ashamed. They said, “ It used to be said that your child should be king, and rule over our children. You are now a dog. Be not making us talk for ever. We have given birth to this village. You are a mere dog. Why do you not go back again to the pool, where your child lives ? ” She said, “ Why do you laugh at me ? ” They replied, “ Because we see that you come to us with boasting.” She 1 was silent.

The king mediates , and she humbles herself.

The king said, “ Leave her alone. I used to think she would give me a child who should be king. She gave birth to a moilster. Leave olf laughing at her on that account. She too did not

29 The notion so common in Zulu tales of women giving birth to animals has probably some connection with the curious custom called “Roondah,” among the Western coast negroes ; it appears to be something like the Taboo of the Polynesians, that is, it is a system of prohibition relating to certain articles of food. It is thus spoken of by Du Chaillu : —

“It is roondah for me,” he replied. And then, in answer to my question, explained that the meat of the Bos brachiche’ros was forbidden to his family, and was an abomination to them, for the reason that many generations ago one of their women gave birth to a calf instead of a child.

I laughed ; but the king replied very soberly that he could show me a woman of another family whose grandmother had given birth to a crocodile — for which reason the crocodile was roondah to that family.

Quengeza would never touch my salt-beef, nor even the pork, fearing lest it had been in contact with the beef. Indeed they are all religiously scrupulous in this matter ; and I found, on inquiry afterwards, that scarce a man can be found to whom some article of food is not “roondah.” Some dare not taste crocodile, some hippopotamus, some monkey, some boa, some wild pig, and all from this same belief. They will literally suffer the pangs of starvation rather than break through this prejudice ; and they very firmly believe that if one of a family should eat of such forbidden food, the women of the same family would surely miscarry and give birth to monstrosities in the shape of the animal which is roondah, or else die of an awful disease. ( Op. cit., p. ‘SOS.) See Appendix (A).

1ZIHGANEKWANE.

Ten children com make herself.” They replied, “What is she to us then? Just let her hold her tongue, and speak to us no more, (since she will make herself chief,) for she gave birth to a snake.” She said, “Leave me alone. I will say nothing more. I now see that you have taken me as a dependent into your village, because I gave birth to a beast.” They were silent.

out of the snake.

The snake lived in the water. The child which was in front of the rest turned aside the snake’s skin ; it was a boy ; he put out his hand and took away the snake’s skin. There appeared many children, who followed each other in order. They were all the children their mother bore. U nthlatu-yesiziba30 spoke, saying, “ Ntombintombi,31 we are brother and sister.” They remained there in the pool. He said, “ Let us go out, and go up to the land.” They went out of the water. He said, “ Let us go towards our home.” There were ten children — five boys and five girls.

They obtain oxen , and set out in search of their mother.

They went to the old village. They said, “ Let us look for the bones of oxen.” They found ten bones. They said, “ Let us prepare them, and make oxen of them.” They placed the bones together ; they brought the oxen to life again ; they said, “ Let us mount on them.” The name of the ox of Unthlatu-yesiziba was Umpengempe.32 He spoke, saying,

30 Unthlatu-yesiziba , Boa-of-the-pool.

31 Untombintombi. — The reduplication of intombi in this proper name ia to be understood as intended to magnify the sister ; or, as the native says, to mean that she is not a damsel “ by once, but by twice." It may be represented by “ Damsel-of-a-damsel.”

32 Umpengempe , a perfectly white bullock.

UNTHLANGUNTHLANGU.

They enquire at a milage. The

They enquire at another vii

“ Umpengempe, cry after your usual manner. We are seeking for our mother. She gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth ancfgrew ; we are the children of Ulubundubundu-a-balu-vume.”33 They all set out, having mounted on the oxen. They passed a village.

people tell them to go forward.

Unthlatu-yesiziba, the king, said, “ Let us go back again ; let us not pass a village.” The ox cried. He said, “ Cry, Umpengempe, after your usual manner. We are seeking for our mother. She gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew ; we are the children of Ulubundubundu-a-ba-lu-vume. ” The people said, “ Go forward.”

% and are told to go forward.

They went forward and came to a village. They found the cattle come back from the pasture. His sister struck her ox, and said, “ Cry after your usual manner. We are seeking for our mother. She gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew ; we are the children of Ulubundubund u-a-ba-lu-vume. ” They said, “ Go forward.”

They reach Umkuzangwe' s village , and are told to go forward.

They came to the large village of Umkuzangwe.34 They asked them whose children they were. They told them they were the children of Untklansmthlanou.

o o

They said, “ Where have you

33 Ulubundubundu-a-ba-lu-vume. — Ulubundubundu is anything that is well mixed so as to be free from lumps, &c. , as morter, or arrowroot. The meaning of the name therefore is, She-is-a-well-ordered-woman, -let-all-approve-of-her.

34 Umkuzangwe , He who drives away leopards by shouting.

IZIXGAXEKWAXE.

staid ? ” They said, “ Wc staid in the water.” They struck the ox, and said, “ Cry, Umpengempe, after your usual manner. We are seeking our mother. She gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew. We are the children of Ulubundubundu- a-ba - lu - vume.” They said, “We are seeking our mother. She gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; avC ate earth, and grew up.” They said, “ Go forward.”

They arrive at their grandmother' s village.

Their grandmother

They came to the village where their mother was born ; they stood at the gateway ; they smote the ox and said, “ Cry, Umpengempe, after your usual manner. W e are seeking our mother. She gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew. W e are the children of Ulubundubundu-a-ba-lu-vume.” An. old woman came out of the house and said, “ Do you hear that 1 Did not my child give birth to a beast, which was cast out ? ” They said, “ Strike the ox again.” They struck it and said, “ Cry then, Umpengempe, after your usual manner. We are seeking our mother. She gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew. We are the children of Ulubundubundu-a-balu-vume.”

acknowledges them.

They told them to get down from the oxen. They refused. They fetched the cattle ; they selected two oxen,35 and asked them saying, “ Whose children are you1?”

38 This is for the purpose of inducing them to dismount. See Note 97, p* 247.

UNTHLANGUNTHLANGU.

They set out with their grandmotlu

They said, “We are the children of Unthlangunthlangu.” They said, “ Where have you staid ? ” They said, “ Our mother had given birth to a* snake. The king commanded it to be cast away. Our mother was left at the old village, for they said, ‘ She will give birth to another monster.’ The king and his people set out, and she was left behind.” They asked, “ In what nation was your mother born ? ” They said, “ In that of Ulubundubundu - a - ba-lu-vume.” Their grandmother stood forth and said, “ She who gave birth to a snake is my child ; of whom it was said, ‘ Her child shall be king.’ She gave birth to a snake. And they forsook her.”

r, and reach their father's village.

Many cattle were slaughtered ; the people were assembled ; they said, “ Just come and see the children who came out of the snake.” They said, “ Let them be directed on their way.” They were directed. They met with some people who said, “ Whose children are these ? ” They replied, “ Unthlanguntlilangu’s. ” They wrent forward. They met other people, who asked whose cliildren they were. They went with the old woman, their mother’s mother. They asked, “Where did they live ? ” They answered, “ In a pool.” They asked, “ Why did they live there ? ” They answered, “ They were a snake.” They asked, “ Is it they whom Unthlangunthlangu used to say became beasts ? ” They pointed out to them the village of Unthlangunthlangu. They went to it. They reached their home. The people said, “ Just come out and

27G

IZINGAXEKWANE.

Their mother see these beautiful people. They appear to be the children of one man.” They stood at the gateway. The mother went out. They struck the ox and said, “ Cry, Umpengempe, after your usual manner. We are seeking our mother ; she gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew. We are the children of Ulubundubundu-a-ba-luvume.”

?■ cognises them.

The mother cried saying, “ These people distress me. It is as if they spoke to me ; and they mention the name too of my mother.” They said, “ Strike it again.” They struck it again and said, “ Cry then, Umpengempe, after your usual manner. We are seeking our mother ; she gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew. We are the children of Ulubundubundua-ba-lu-vume.”

The people were assembled, and the king was called to come and see. The king came, and sat on the ground. They said, “The king commands you to smite the ox.” The ox cried ; they said, “ Cry then, Umpengempe, after your usual manner. We are seeking our mother ; she gave birth to us only ; she did not nourish us ; we ate earth and grew. We are the children of Ulubundubundua-ba-lu-vume.”

Their father makes many enquiries of their grandmother.

They said to the grandmother, “ Since you go with these people, where did you find them 1 ” She said, “ They have just come to me,

UNTHLANGUN THLAN G U.

The king asks the and when the people asked whence they came, they said they came from a pool. The people asked if they had been placed in the pool. They said, ‘ It was a snake that was put into the pool.’ They said,

‘ Who was the snake’s father ? ’ They said, ‘ Unthlangunthlangu.’ They said, ‘ Did you see that you were a snake ? ’ They said, ‘ We saw.’ They said, ‘Who is your mother ?’ They said, ‘ The daughter of So-and-so.’ They were told to come down from the ox. They refused.”

i many questions.

They said, “ The king asks, ‘ Do you understand fully that Unthlangunthlangu is your father?”’ They answered, “We fully understand.” They said, “ Has your mother no other children ? ” They replied, “ She has none.” They said, “ How many times did your mother give birth?” They said, “ Once only ; she gave birth to a snake.” They said, “What snake was it?” They said, “A boa.” They said, “ When it was born, where did they put it ? ” They said, “ When it was born, they cast it into a pool.” They asked, “ How many months was the woman pregnant with the snake ? ” They said, “ Many years.” They said, “ Was not your mother pregnant at the same time as others ?” They said, “ She was pregnant at the same time as others ; at length they had children, and left her still pregnant. At length they became pregnant again ; again they left her pregnant. At length they gave birth to many children, our mother being still pregnant ; at length the skin of her abdomen peeled off, and she gave birth to a boa; it took many days in the birth ; it filled the house ; the women ran out. They shouted, and asked our mother if she was still alive. She replied, ‘ I am still alive.’ They asked, £ Is not the snake yet born?’ She replied, ‘ It is now born.’ A man was made to go into the house ; he told them to throw him a pole, that he might search for the head ; he turned it over, and said, ‘ I now see the head.’ He said, 1 Throw me also a cord.’ He fastened the end on the neck.” They asked them if they heard all that. Unthlatu-yesiziba said, “ I heard it ; but I could not see.” They said, “ How did you hear ? ” He replied, “ I heard them speak.” They said, “ Who spoke ? ” He replied, “ Unthlangunthlangu. ” They asked, “ Where did he command the snake to be put ? ” He said, “ He commanded it to be cast into the pool.” They said, “ Did you see the people who took the snake ?” He replied, “ 1 heard them.” They said, “Did they raise it from the ground ? ” He replied, “ They dragged it on the ground, and cast it into the water.” They said, “ Did you see them ? ” He replied, “ I heard them.” They said, “ But how did you get out ? ” He said, “ I went up to the mouth of the snake.” They said, “What did you do there ? ” He said, “ I put out my hand.” They said, “ What did you do with your hand ? ” He said, “ I removed the skin.” They said, “ How did you take away the skin ? ” He said, “ I slipped it off.” They said, “ What came from inside ? ” He said, “ There came out ten persons. They stood one after the other according to the order of their birth.” They said, “ How many persons?” He

UNTHLANGUNTHLANGU.

They recognise and }

The father acknowledges t

He makes TJnthlatu-yesiziha king , <

said, “ Ten.” They said, “ Point out the one which followed you.” He pointed her out. They said, “ And you, too, point out the one which followed you.” She pointed him out. They said, “ And you, too, point out the one which followed you.” He pointed her out. They all did so.

nnt out their mother.

They said, “ Point out your mother.” He pointed her out.36 They said, “ Which is your mother’s house 1 ” He said, “ There at the gateway.” They said, “ How happens it that your mother’s house is at the gateway 1 ” He replied, “ It happens because of affliction : because she gave birth to a snake.”

em, and gives them cattle.

The father commanded the whole nation to collect his cattle. Ten oxen were brought. He told Untlilatu-yesiziba to come down. He dismounted. Ten other oxen were brought ; these were given to his sister who was born after him. She dismounted. The others were told to dismount of their own accord, for the chief children had received presents.

nd gives everything into , his hands.

The mother rejoiced. The father took the arm of Untlilatuyesiziba, and said, “ Let us go to the house at the head of the village.” Untlilatu-yesiziba refused, saying, “ I will go into my mother’s house.” The father said, “ My child, what can I do, since

36 See Appendix (B).

L L

IZINGAXEKWAXE.

Se i pelile.

Umatsiiotsha (Umkamafuta).

her house is at the lower part of the village ? ”37 He replied, “ I see that my mother was troubled.” He said, “ My child, I saw that she had given birth to a beast. And the chief wife was removed from the superior house where she lived ; and there is another chief wife in her place.” He said, “ I did this because this one had no child, but gave birth to a snake. I used to say, it is she who shall be the mother of the future king.” He said, “ And to-day my king has come ; and all of you will now be governed by Unthlatu-yesiziba.” So he reigned ; the others were under him. His father took all that belonged to him, and gave it to his son. He said, “ I will now be given even the least thing by him. All my people are now his, and all I have is his.”

This is the end of the tale.

APPENDIX (A).

SUPERSTITIOUS ABSTINENCE FROM CERTAIN KINDS

OF FOOD.

The following superstitions in abstaining from certain food resembles the JEtoon dab of the West coast Africans : —

Ku kona kwabamnyama indaba ngokuziki ukud/da oku tile. In-

There is among black men the custom of abstaining from certain foods. If a cow lias the calf taken from her dead, and the mother too dies before the calf is taken away, young people who have never had a child abstain from the flesh of that cow. I do not mean to speak of girls ; there is not even a thought of whether they can eat it ; for it is said that the cow will produce a similar evil among the

37 The king, being accustomed to live in the chief house, could not condescend to live at the gateway.

ABSTINENCE FROM FOOD.

women, so that one of them will be like the cow when she is in childbirth, be unable to give birth, like the cow, and die together with her child. On this account, therefore, the flesh of such a cow is abstained from.

Further, pig’s flesh is not eaten by girls on any account ; for it is an ugly animal ; its mouth is ugly, its snout is long; therefore girls do not eat it, thinking if they eat it, a resemblance to the pig will appear among their children. They abstain from it on that account.

There are many things which are abstained from among black people through fear of bad resemblance ; for it is said there was a person who once gave birth to an elephant, and a horse ; but we do not know if that is true ; but they are now abstained from on that account, through thinking that they will produce an evil resem blance if eaten ; and the elephant is said to produce an evil resemblance, for when it is killed many parts of its body resemble those of a female ; its breasts, for instance, are just like those of a woman. Young people, therefore, fear to eat it ; it is only eaten on account of famine, when there is no food ; and each of the young women say, “ It is no matter if I do give birth to an elephant and live ; that is better than not to give birth to it, and die of famine.” So it is eaten from mere necessity.

Another thing which is abstained from is the entrails of cattle. Men do not eat them, because they are afraid if they eat them, the enemy will stab them in the bowels. Young men do not eat them ; they are eaten by old people.

Another thing which is not

IZINGANEKYVANE.

eaten is the under lip of a bullock ; for it is said, a young person must not eat it, for it will produce an evil resemblance in the child ; the lip of the child will tremble continually, for the lower lip of a bullock moves constantly. They do not therefore eat it ; for if a child of a young person is seen with its mouth trembling, it is said, “ It was injured by its father, who ate the lower lip of a bullock.”

Also another thing which is abstained from is that portion of the paunch of a bullock which is called umtala ; for the umtala has no villi, it has no pile ; it is merely smooth and hard. It is therefore said, if it is eaten by young people, their children will be born without hair, and their heads will be bare like a man’s knee. It is therefore abstained from.

• • • -*

Further, the flesh of a cow is not eaten by young people until it is eviscerated ; they fearing that wounds received in war will close and not bleed externally, but

38 This word is not derived from ukuJcquba, to drive or push, but from uhu- Jc(\uba, to contract or draw in. The click in the former is pronounced with a slight expiration ; in the latter with a decided drawing in of the breath, producing a marked difference in pronunciation, which would prevent a native ear from confounding the two words. We have at present no means of distinguishing them in writing.

SYMPATHY BY THE NAVEL.

Umpengula Mbanda.

within, and the man die. It is dreaded on that account.

There is, besides, another thing which causes a prodigy through being laughed at. The pig is a very ugly animal as regards its head. When it is seen, women laugh at it exceedingly ; but old people silence the one who laughs, by saying, “Do not laugh at an ugly thing ; you will give birth to something like it, and be ashamed.” So they are silenced. And a deformed person is not laughed at ; for it is said the woman who laughs at the deformed person calls down an omen on herself.

There are many other such tilings which bring about things resembling themselves, and they too are abstained from.

APPENDIX (B).

UKUZWANA NGENKABA.

(sympathy by the navel.)

U nthlatu - yesiziba is here supposed to recognise his mother, whom he had never seen, by what the natives call “sympathy by the navel,” that is, the sympathy which is supposed to exist between blood-relations, who feel a mutual, undefined attraction towards each other without being able to assign a cause.

The belief in the existence of such a sympathetic power is common. Thus, Raynburn is travelling with Heraud, and falls in with an unknown champion keeping a mountain pass. Raynburn determines to put his prowess to the test ; and after a long combat, in which neither gains any advantage, Heraud interferes, and advises the strange knight to yield : — “The young man then condescends to ask their names, observing, that at the sight and voice of Sir Heraud, he feels an affray of which he had never before been conscious. Heraud now, in his turn, refuses, and the young knight consents to speak first. The reader will perhaps hear with some surprise that this was no other than Aslake, Sir Heraud’s son, concerning whose birth and education we have no information whatever, and that the affray occasioned by the sight of his father was the instinctive voice of filial affection.” (Ellis. Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances. Vol. II., p. 90.) But the instinct of the horse Arundel detects his master Bevis, whilst Josyan his wife does not recognise him. ( Id., p. 131. J — So our own Keble :

“ No distance breaks the tie of blood ;

Brothers are brothers evermore ;

Nor wrong, nor wrath of deadliest mood,

That magic may o’erpower ;

Oft, ere the common source be known,

The kindred drops will claim their own,

And throbbing pulses silently

Move heart towards heart by sympathy.”

(The Christian Year.)

IZIXGANEKWANE.

The sympathy which men feel with each other through the navel is this : When a child, who is now grown, but is not yet called a boy or a girl, being too young for that, will not be taken by many people, but refuses to go to them, being sociable with its father and mother and the people of their household : but wdien there comes one who is a blood-relation, and calls the child, the parents say, “We shall now see, for he will not be taken by other people.” When that blood-relation calls the child to kiss it, it jumps up, and goes to him without fear ; so he kisses it, and places it in his lap. So the parents say, “ O, truly ! Forsooth the child knows a blood-relation by the navel, that it must not object to him ; he is one of us.” This is what we mean by “to know by the navel.”

Again, it happens with an elder person, when he has gone to a distant country, and has no acquaintance with any man there, he may be overtaken by night, and say, “ O, since the sun has now set, let me not pass this village, for the sun has really set.” He goes to it, being unacquainted with any one, going there just to pass the night, and in the morning pass on to where he is going. When he comes to it he salutes the householder and enters and sits down ; he is saluted in return, being like a stranger in the village ; the eyes having no sympathy. They ask him whence he comes; he tells them. They give him food, if there is any ; they treat him kindly, as if he belonged to them ; they refuse him nothing. He eats and is satisfied ; he loses all reserve ; they ask each other of the news ; they proceed with the news till they come to birth, and ask, “ What is your father’s name in

SYMPATHY BY THE NAVEL.

such a nation ? ” mentioning the surname of the nation. He gives the name of his father. He who enquires says, “You are the son of So-and-so, the son of So-andso, ” naming his grandfather. The man who is asked starts and asks, “ O, how do you know my grandfather?” And he hears him say in reply, “ Why do you say 1 ought not to know So-and-so, since I am the son of So-and-so, the son of So-and-so ? ” The grandfather of both of them is one. Then both begin to cry. So the people say, “A man knows one of his blood- relations by the navel. We have been wondering at the treatment of the man by So-and-so. W e thought he knew him ; yet he did not know him ; he sympathised with him by the navel only.”

Such, then, is the case of the navel. We do not hear from the old men that to sympathise by the navel is this or that, or how the navel acts that a man should know by it that such a man is his relation, because he feels his navel acting thus. We have not attained to such an understanding of what is said about it. But there is no doubt about it ; it is confirmed constantly.

Further; among black men there is a desolation of the country ; and parents separate from their children when quite young ; one child is taken by a person who is going about objectless, not knowing whither he is going ; but he knows his father’s name and the family name also. They are scattered, and the children are provided for in different places ; and each thinks that the child of his father is dead, saying thus because neither knows where the other is.

28G

IZINGANHEKWANE.

It happens because a man continually quits one place after another as he tires of them, he at length comes to a place where a child of his father is received into the household ; if it is a girl, he may begin to court her, regarding her as any other girl, for her name which she received from her father has become lost ; it is concealed because they suppose that then her people will be unable to find her ; and the name of her father is no longer mentioned, by calling her the daughter of her own father ; but it is now said, “ She is the daughter of So-and-so,” naming the person who has taken charge of her. But at length the woman says, calling him by the name he has received from those with whom he has lived, “ So-and-so, I cannot associate with you ; it is as though you were my brother; I do not think of it for a moment.” The other perseveres, saying, “Not at all ! you refuse me, that is all. I am of such a place. You merely refuse me. Don’t hide your feelings by such an excuse.” So they separate through the woman’s refusal.

At length in the course of time when the man is getting accustomed to the place, and has a fellow feeling with the people of the village, they begin to ask each other respecting the news ; and at length those with whom he is on good terms, not knowing that the man is one with the woman, thinking they are merely telling a matter of history to one whom they love, say, “ That child is the daughter of So-and-so ; he is her father. But the name of her father was lost, in order that we may get cattle by her.” So, then, he hears that she is his sister ; he

SYMPATHY BY THE NAVEL.

39 That is, the does not start, but merely turns away their attention from himself ; at length he communicates with the woman, and enquires thoroughly of her, saying, “As you are living here, are you acquainted with your own people ? ” If she knows them, she replies, “ I know them.” He asks her name, saying, “ The name by which you are now called, do you understand it ? Where did you receive it ? ” She says, “ It is the name of the place where I have been taken care of.” The other enquires the name she received from her father, saying, “ What name did your father give you?” She says, “My name is So-and-so.” He asks the names of all her people ; she mentions those she knows ; she is silent respecting those she does not know. He asks also as regards himself, saying, “ Do you know So-and-so ? ” She replies, “ I know him.” He asks, “ Could you point him out now, if you met with him ? ” She says, “I do not know ; for growth changes a man.” At the end of her words she hears the man rejoicing, and praising the Amatongo39 of their people ; and at last he reveals himself, saying, “ Behold, here I am, daughter of my father. I say the Itongo of our house is still mighty. You see I was nearly committing uncleanness. All the time you are my father’s child forsooth.”

Both weep, and say, “It is the navel which has brought about such a thing as this. We had no knowledge of each other.” At length the real facts of the case are related by those who have taken charge of her. When her brother first claims her, they endeavour to conceal her ; biit they are not acestral spirits.

M M

able to do so through the knowledge the children have of each other, and by their knowledge of the names of their people, which they do not themselves know. They are unable to conceal her, and so they demand repayment for having brought her up ; he gives it them, and his sister returns to him. That, too, is called a case of the navel.

F urther, there is a matter which resembles this of the navel, but this is something which is really known, but it is indistinct through the desolation of the country.

It happened when our family was scattered when we lived with the Zulus, in consequence of Udingane having been unable to contend in battle with the Dutch, we had two uncles which were younger than our father ; the youngest was called Umagushu. When the country was about to be desolated, he married the sister of the Manjanjas, the children of Unthlambela. When they had been married, and his wife XJmanjonga had been with him now four months, we were scattered from that country, and came here into the country of the whiteman. But in the way she deserted, and returned to her own people ; when she went away she was already beautiful,40 but they were not yet sure about it. So she was lost ; her husband continually looked for her, but saw no more of her ; for at that time people were in confusion like maggots in the path, and did not know whither they were going.

So we came here into the country of the whiteman ; and forsooth she too came, to a different place, with which we were not acquainted. We continually talked about her, saying, “ Where could the

40 An euphemism, meaning she was pregnant.

SYMPATHY BY THE NAVEL.

Umpengula Mbanda.

wife of our uncle, who left us pregnant, have gone V We asked about her whilst remaining at home. Until at length, when we too had grown up, we met with her, hearing her mentioned by the name by which we used to call her. We at once enquired, “ Since you are really living, what became of the child with which you were pregnant when you went away 1 ” She replied, “ I miscarried.” So we were satisfied, saying, “ Well, then, since she miscarried, what have we to say to it ? ”

There was there a girl which when we saw we wondered, seeing that she resembled one of our own children ; in fact, when we looked on her, we saw that she was one of our own. But we had no evidence, for it was said the child of our uncle died ; but the navel felt her, and would not allow us to be satisfied ; when we were not looking on her, we were satisfied ; but when we looked on her, we fully believed that she was one of us. At length in time she married, being still concealed. When at her marriage she was asked the name of her father, she replied, “ My father is Umagushu.” So she was called Umamagushu at the kraal into which she married. We heard the name; and even now the matter is not settled ; we know that she is our child by the navel, which causes us to have a sympathy with her.

41 Ewake.— This is a locative form, and is ecpii valent to emzini wasewake , that is, the kraal or village into which a girl has married.

INYOKA ENKTJLU E NOMLILO. (the great fiery serpent.)

In connection with the monstrous serpent mentioned in the foregoing tale, we insert the following, which may be regarded as a recent “myth of observation. ” The immigration of the Dutch to Natal began in 1836. All it requires as its historical basis are a large water snake, or eel, and firearms ; imagination and frequent narration would readily supply the rest. The man who related it first mentioned this snake in connection with the rainbow, which some imagine is a large snake, and enquired whether this snake which the Dutchman killed was not a rainbow, which lived in the river ? The native notion respecting the rainbow is added.

It came to pass, when I was a boy, I beard men say, at tbe time of tbe arrival of tbe Dutch, there is a fiery serpent, which comes out of the water ; it runs very fast ; a man cannot run away from it, if be goes on foot ; horsemen can leave it behind.

It happened thus about this serpent : There came some of the Amangwane ; they lay in wait for it ; when it was coming out of the pool, they cut off its head ; the body of the serpent went back again into the pool ; the pool dried up, and the water ceased to flow from the pool.42 Some of the men asked, “ Why has this water ceased 1 ” The others said, “Yesterday we killed a serpent at this place.” They of the Amangwane said this. They said, “ You killed a snake : what was it like?” They said, “We killed a serpent ; it had a fiery head.” They said, “We found in it a soft stone.”43 They said, “ Just go to the Dutch, and see if they will

42 This notion is similar to a superstition existing among the Bechuana : — ‘ ‘ In the fountains in this country, there is a species of large water-snake. The Bechuanas consider these creatures sacred, and believe that if one of them is killed, the fountain will be dried up.” ( Philip's Researches in South Africa. Vol II., p. m.)

43 A soft stone, probably alluding to some kind of bezoar, or intestinal concretion.

THE GREAT FIERY SERPENT.

know the serpent.” The Dutch came, and said, “You have killed this serpent indeed ; you killed it wrongly ; it is a serpent which ought not to be killed. We Dutch kill this serpent, only when another comes with it, in order that the pool may not dry up ; for we do not kill it if it comes alone. For you black men will see something ; since you killed a serpent which was alone, the water will immediately dry up, for it will obstruct the water, and it will no longer flow. For, you black men, who told you that it is proper to kill that serpent ? ” The black men answered at once, “We see an animal coming out of the water, and feeding outside.” The Dutch answered, “Although an animal should be seen again and again, nothing is done to it, if it does no harm.” The black men said, “ As for us, if we see an animal, we do not know how to leave it alone.” “ Something will happen,” said the Dutch ; “ we must not kill the animal by day. You will see what you never saw before.” The black men immediately asked, “ What is that which we have never seen before?” The Dutch answered, “You will see ! The head, with the piece attached to it, what have you done with it ? ” The black men answered, “We were wanting medicine to doctor ourselves.” The Dutch said, “ What then will you do with that medicine, since you killed an animal with which you are not acquainted ? ” The black men answered, “For our part, we just killed it because it is an animal which we never saw before ; we shall mix it with other of our medicines.” The Dutch said,

44 For bonanga.

12I3GANEKWANE.

“Take care. No one ever used that as a medicine, for you too say you are ignorant of it.”

They went away from the black men on horseback ; they came by night to the pool; they waited, saying, “We shall soon see it come out.” When they had waited and waited, the snake came out ; two came out, one at the bottom and the other at the top of the pool. As soon as the one at the bottom came out, there blazed up a fire. They did thus when they saw it. As soon as they saw it, they hit it with their guns ; they hit it again and again ; they did not hit it in a mortal spot. It came out, and pursued them. They mounted their horses, and fled. They fled, there being nine horses. When they fled, the serpent selected two horses which were in the middle. The horses divided into two parties ; some went up the river, and others went down. At length one of the two horses hid away, and the Dutchman at last hit the snake. As soon as he hit it, the horse which was in front turned back ; as soon as he came back, the Dutchman asked where it was gone. When he saw the horse, and heard the report of the gun, he no longer saw the flame. The other replied, “Do you say, you no longer see it ; what do you say the fire yonder was kindled by1?” He said, “ Let us go and look.” He said, “Ho. Where are the others ? And why do you say, ‘ Just let us go and look’ at a thing which has just troubled us 1 Where are the others ? ” The other Dutchman said, “ Let us go and find the others ; we have now seen the place where the flame is burning.” The other said, “ How shall we find them ? ” He said, “We will find them by our guns ; we will fire them on the hill, when

THE RAINBOW.

Ujojo Sosibo.

we get out.” When they got out, they fired, and met with eight Dutchmen. They enquired, saying, “ What have you done ? Are you safe?” They replied, “We are safe. At length one horse hid ; it was helped by the other ; we fired at the snake with the srun. And where it died, a fire was kindled.” They said, “ Go on, and we will go, and just see the place where it died, if it be really dead.” They went. When they arrived, they saw nothing but smoke. They came, and saw the snake ; it was great, and its fat was running out. They said, it was as big as a man, as to its size ; as to its length, it was very long, perhaps it would reach from here to Ukcitwa’s.45 They went back, saying, “ Let us go and fetch the wagon ; we will carry away this snake which is as big as a man.”

UTINGO LWENKOSIKAZI.

(the queen’s bow.)

TJma izulu li suke li 11a, ku bonakala utingo lwenkosikazi. Be se be t’ abantur “ Li za kusa ; ngokuba ku bonakala uti lwenkosikazi, utingo ; ” li se : noma izulu. li na kakulu, ku bonakala utingo, li se ; li nga be li sa na, li se ; no-

When the heaven happens to rain, on the appearance of the rainbow men say, “ It is going to clear up ; for the rod of the queen, the bow, is seen ; ” and it clears up : even though it rains much, on the appearance of the bow, it clears up ; it rains no more, but clears up ; even though it has rained two

45 A distance of more than 500 yards ! But this is a very modest exaggeration, compared with the Scotchman’s eel : — “ An old man in Lorn used to tell that he went one summer morning to fish on a rock ; he was not long there when he saw the head of an eel pass. He continued fishing for an hour, and the eel was still passing. He went home, worked in the field all day, and having returned to the same rock in the evening, the eel was still passing, and about dusk he saw her tail disappearing behind the rock on which he stood fishing.” (Campbell's West Highland Tales. Vol. II., p. 370 .) We may also not unaptly compare the Mussulman’s exaggeration of the size and characteristics of Moses’ serpent : — “Moses flung his staff on the ground, and instantly it was changed into a serpent as huge as the largest camel. He glanced at Pharaoh with fire-darting eyes, and raised Pharaoh’s throne aloft to the ceiling, and opening his jaws, cried, ‘ If it pleased Allah, I could not only swallow up thy throne, with thee and all that are here present, but even thy palace and all that it contains, without any one perceiving the slightest change in me.’ ” ( Weil's

Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans, p. 116.,)

ma li n’ insuku zombili, ku bonakala utingo, li se.

Uguaise wasemadungeni.

days, on the appearance of tlie rainbow, it clears up.

The people say the bow is an umnyama, which dwells in a pool, and is like a sheep. They say, that where it touches the earth, it is drinking at a pool. Men are afraid to wash in a large pool ; they say there is an umnyama in it ; and if a man goes in, it catches and eats him. But they say that a man who is being prepared to be a diviner goes into a pool which has an umnyama in it, and the umnyama does not eat him, but bedaubs him with coloured clay ; and he comes out of the pool with snakes entwined about his body, and goes home with them. Men believe in the tales they talk about the diviner.

UTSHINTSHA NOMNYAMA.

(UTSHINTSHA AND THE RAINBOW.)

I had been watching in the garden when it was raining. When it cleared up, there descended into the river a rainbow. It went out of the river, and came into the garden. I, Utshintsha, the owner of the garden, ran away when I saw the rainbow now coming near me, and dazzling in my eyes ; it struck me in the eyes with a red colour. I ran away out of the garden. I ran away because I was afraid, and said, “ This is disease ;46 why does it come to me ? ” Men say, “ The rainbow is disease. If it rests on a man, something will happen to him.” So, then, after the rainbow drove me from the garden, my body became as it is now, that is, it was affected with swellings.47 And now I consider,

45 Or death, that is, a cause of death or disease.

47 He was suffering from a scaly eruption over the whole body.

THE RAINBOW.

Utshintsha Mguni, saying, “ Is it the rainbow” [which causes the disease] ? They say, it injures a man, and his body assumes a colour which is not natural to him.

Men say the rainbow is one of the rods of the great house, which appears in the heaven when the heaven rains ; when it appears, it again becomes fine. As to what I have heard, they say it lives with a snake, that is, where the rainbow is, there also is a snake.48 But, for my part, I did not see any snake. And others say, it lives with a sheep. But I did not see any sheep. They say that diviners, when they begiu, enter into a deep pool of water ; they come out bedaubed with red earth, from the place where the rainbow enters ; so they come out, being now fully prepared to be diviners.

UMNYAMA.

(tiie rainbow.)

Ujojo Sosibo.

As regards the rainbow, I too hear old men speaking about it, and they say, the rainbow is a sheep, which comes out of great pools. It comes out of the pool, and rests outside on the rocks ; it comes out when the sky is clouded ; when, then, the rainbow comes out, it comes out under these circumstances. And there comes a man, who goes out in the morning ; when he has arrived, it poisons him ; and men say, “ This man has an eruption ; he lias been poisoned by the rainbow.” And then it will be said, “ A rainbowdoctor must be found for him, to treat him ; he has been poisoned.”

48 It is worthy of note that among the Dahomans, the word Danh is a snake or rainbow, which is an object of worship. Burton says : — “ Aydo-whe-do — commonly called Danh, the Heavenly Snake, which makes Popo beads and confers wealth upon man — is the rainbow.” (Mission to Gelele. Vol. 11., p. 148.^1 And there is a pool near the capital called Danh-to-men, Snake or Itaiubow-water-in. (Id., p. 242.)

N N

29G

IZINGAXEKWANE.

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

The chief's three children .

The chief's son

There was a certain chief who had dug a large field. At the proper season many men went to dig the garden. That chief had only three children ; the eldest was called Usilwane ;49 the second Usilwanekazana ;50 and the other Untombi-yapansi.51 But Usilwane and Usilwanekazana loved each other.

crnies a leopard.

It happened at a certain time that Usilwane went to hunt ; he returned carrying in his hand a leopard ; he said, “ This is my dog ; give it milk ; mix it with boiled corn, and make porridge ; and give it its food cold, that it may eat ; for it will die if you give it hot.” They did as he directed them.

The people suspect him.

At length the leopard grew ; it was a great dog ; and the people were very much afraid because it was a leopard, saying, “It will devour the people. Usilwane will become an umtakati.53 Why does he domesticate a leopard and call it his dog 1 ”

49 Usilwane , The beast-man.

50 Usilwanekazana , The little-beast-woman. Usilwanekazi , The beast-

woman. Usilwanekazana, the diminutive. — There is another version of this tale in which the names are different. Usilwane is called Unkoiya ; Usilwanekazana, Ulukozazana, — Little-hen-eagle ; and Untombi-yapansi, Umabelemane,

Four-breasts. Other differences will be mentioned in their proper place.

51 Untombi-yapansi, The damsel-of -beneath, or of-the-earth. It may have reference to three things : — 1. To poverty or distress ; 2. To origin, — from the earth ; 3. To her having travelled underground.

52 Isitubi, porridge made with milk.

53 A wizard, — secret poisoner.

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

His sister kit

Usilwane h

But Usilwanekazana being troubled because she heard the people say that a child of her family would become an umtakati, said, 44 With what can I kill this leopard?”

's the leopard.

It came to pass on another day that all the people went to harvest in the garden of the chief ; and Usilwane for his part he had gone to visit the damsels ; and Usilwanekazana remained alone. In the morning she cooked milk till it boiled, and added to it some pounded corn, and gave it to the dog of Usilwane. It ate and ate ; when it had finished it died, because the food was hot.

'Is his sister.

Usilwane returned at noon, and saw his dog dead. He said, 44 Usilwanekazana, what has killed my dog ? ” She replied, 44 It ate food whilst still hot, and died.” Usiwane said, 44 Why do you kill my dog ? for long ago I told you not to give it hot food, for it would die. You have killed my dog on purpose.” Usilwane took an assagai, and said to Usilwanekazana, 44 Raise your arm, that I may stab you.” Usilwanekazana replied, 44 For what evil that I have done?” He said, 44 You have killed my dog.” Usilwanekazana said, 44 1 killed it because the people said you would practise witchcraft by it.” Usilwane said, 44 No ! you killed it because you did not love it. Make haste, raise your arm, that I may stab you.” But Usilwanekazana laughed, thinking that Usilwane was merely jesting ; but he, being very angry, laid hold of her, raised her arm, and stabbed her below the armpit.

lie lays her out in <

lie mixes his sister's blood w n attitude of sleep.

Usilwane took a pot, and put in it the blood of Usilwanekazana. He then wiped her carefully, and washed her, and laid her on her mat ; he took a pillow and placed it under her head ; he set in order her head, putting scents on it, and placing a fillet on her brow • he put armlets on her arms, and anklets on her legs ; he anointed her with fat, and covered her with a blanket. It was just as though she was asleep.

Ith sheep's blood, and coolcs it.

He then went out and took one of his sheep, and brought it home and killed it ; he poured its blood into the vessel which contained that of Usilwanekazana, and mixed it together ; he skinned the sheep, and cut out the lungs, the heart, and the liver, and chopped them up, with the entrails and the caul ; he cooked it together ; when it was done, he placed it at the lower side of the fireplace ; and washed himself and sat down.

lie offers it as food to Untombi-yapansi.

When the sun was declining, Untombi-yapansi came. She entered her mother’s house, and found Usilwane sitting, and Usilwanekazana lying down. Usilwane said, “ Take ; there is food, Untombi-yapansi, and eat.” Untombi-yapansi said, “ Why is Usilwanekazana sleeping?” Usilwane said, ‘‘I do not know. She is merely sleeping.” Untombi-yapansi said, “ O, whence did this food come?” Usilwane replied, “Do you not see that sheep?”

54 Ububende here means the food made of blood, and viscera ; it is something like “ sausage meat ” or “ black-jiudding.”

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

She is 'prevented fro

She gives the fly food , and it tel

Untombi-yapansi said, “ Why was it killed ?” Usilwane replied, “ It was merely killed.”

m eating it by a fly.

Then Usilwane went to his own house, to wait there. Untombiyapansi took some food ; when she was about to eat, there came a large fly to her and made a great noise and said, “ Boo ! boo ! give me, and I will tell you.” She drove it away with her hand. When she was again about to eat, the fly came immediately and said, “ Boo ! boo ! give me, and I will tell you.” When it did thus the third time, Untombi-yapansi shouted, saying, “ Here, Usilwane ! Here, Usilwane ! There is a fly which says ‘ Boo ! boo ! ’ and asks me to give it, and it will tell me.” Usilwane replied, “ Kill it ; it is deceiving you ; do not give it.”

s her of the murder of her sister.

Again Untombi-yapansi took some of the food ; the fly made a great noise, saying, “ Boo ! boo ! give me, and I will tell you.” She drove it away with her hand. Again it said, “ Boo ! boo ! give me, and I will tell you.” When it did so the third time, she gave it ; it licked the food and said, “ Take care ; do not eat this food, for Usilwane has killed Usilwanekazana. He said, she killed his leopard without cause. See, Usilwanekazana is dead ; this is her blood ; and the leopard is dead.”

She runs away , and is pursued by Usilwane.

Untombi-yapansi at once arose ; she took off the blanket with which Usilwanekazana was covered, and saw the blood flowing from beneath the armpit. Untombiyapansi rushed out, and ran away to her fathers and mothers.55 When she was at the upper part of the village, Usilwane left his house and saw her. He called her, saying, “ Here, attend to me, Untombi-yapansi, where are you going1?” Untombi-yapansi fled with haste. Usilwane pursued her, taking an assagai in his hand, thinking when he should catch her, he would stab her with it.

U ntombi-ycipansi escapes.

| When Usilwane was very near her, Untombi-yapansi said, “Open, earth, that I may enter,56 for I am about to die this day.” The earth opened, and Untombi-yapansi entered. When Usilwane came there, he sought, but could not see where Untombi-yapansi had descended ; he said, “ Hau ! hau ! where did she descend ! for I thought when I was yonder, she was here.” He was no longer able to see her. He went back again.

She goes near the chiefs garden and gives an alarm.

Untombi-yapansi went on; when it was evening she slept, not having come out from the earth. In the morning she awoke, and again went on. When it was midday she came out of the earth, and went and stood on a small elevation, and shouted, saying, “ There will be nothing but weeping this summer.58 Usilwanekaza-

55 The brothers of the father are called fathers ; and the father’s polygamic wives, mothers.

56 See Appendix.

57 Yiyayiya for lilalila ; in Isik^wabe dialect.

58 The u here does not refer to any particular person, but to the people of the chief *in general. The natives say on such occasions, “U ya ’kuba Umayemaye kwela nonyaka,” “ There will come TJmayemaye this summer,” Umayemaye being a name personifying mourning. ‘ ‘ The woe-woe-man will come this summer.”

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

She goes to another j,

A ll the people run to her w)

59 Ingorri-ende, the name here gn na has been murdered by Usi* lwane ; he says, she has killed the prince’s leopard59 without cause.” An old woman which was in the royal garden said, 44 It sounds as though some one was shouting afar off, saying, 4 Usilwanekazana has been killed by Usilwane ; she has killed the prince’s leopard without cause.’ ” The king said, 44 Seize her, and cast her outside the garden.” They seized her, and killed her, and cast her outside the garden ; for they said she was prophesying evil against the king’s cliild.

ace and shouts again.

Again Untombi-yapansi passed onward from that place, and went to another small elevation, and cried, 44 There will be nothing but weeping this summer. Usilwanekazana has been murdered by Usilwane ; he says, she has killed the prince’s leopard without cause. An old man said, 44 There is some one shouting afar off ; it is as if it was said, 4 There will be nothing but weeping this summer. Usilwanekazana has been killed by Usilwane ; he says she has killed the prince’s leopard without cause.’ ” The chief said, 44 Seize him, and cast him outside the garden.” They seized him, and cast him out.

m she shouts the third time „

Untombi-yapansi then again departed and went near them, and shouted, saying, 44 There will be nothing but 'weeping this summer. Usilwanekazana has been killed by Usilwane ; he says she n to the leopard, means a long wedding song.

has killed the prince’s leopard without cause.” When all the people heard that, they all cried, and ran towards her, and said, “ What do you say ? ” She replied, “ Usilwanekazana has been killed by Usilwane ; she has killed the prince’s leopard without cause.”

Usilwane is seized and bound.

All the men went home. When they arrived, Usilwane fled; they called him, saying, “ Come back ; do you think that there is any reason why all the people should be killed ? You are not about to be killed.” Usilwane came back, and went into the house. They laid hold of him, and bound him, and said, “What is to be done with him 1 ” The king said, “ Close the door, and set fire to the house, that we three may be burnt.62 But you, Untombi-yapansi, go to your sister,63 and live with her ; for I and your mother shall be burnt64 with the house ; for we do not wish to live, because Usilwanekazana is dead, and we too will die with her.”

Usilwane •pleads in vain.

Usilwane said, “ Attend to me ; do not burn me with the house ; stab me with an assagai.” The cliief said, “ No, my child ; I will

60 U s' u ti ku kona abantu aba ka ba fa ngako bonke na ? — This would be the full form of the sentence. It is meant by the question to say, that he need not imagine that one murder — namely, his own — will be added to the murder already committed.

01 Wena, u se z’ ubulawa, for , a ku se z’ ubulawa.

62 We three — namely, himself, wife, and Usilwane.

63 The name of this sister in the other tale is given. It is Umkindinkomo, — Cow-hip-dress ; because the hip-dress she wore was made of a cowhide.

04 In the other version the father is represented as arming and fighting with Unkoiya, who also arms. Unkoiya first hurls his lance, but it falls short ; the father’s pierces Unkoiya with a fatal wound. But subsequently, without any reason being given, the father, mother, and village are burnt.

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

ku zwisa ubu/dungu obukulu kakulu, ugokuba u wena o bulele unmtanami.”

cause you to feel very great pain, for it is you who have murdered my child.”

The chief sends Untombi-ycipansi to her sister.

Untombi-yapansi said, “ With whom shall I go ? ” Her hither replied, “ Take your ox, mount it and go. When you are on the top of the hill, you will hear the great roaring of the burning village ; do not look back, but go on.”

She meets with an imbulu, who deceives her.

She went, riding on the ox. When she was on the hill, she heard the roaring of the lire. She wept, saying, “ So then I hear this great roaring ; my mother and father are burning.” She went on, and came to a great river. When she came to it, there appeared an imbulu, and said, “ Princess, Untombi-yapansi, just come down here from your ox, that I may get up, and see if it becomes, jne or not?” She replied, “No; I do not wish to dismount.” The imbulu said, “ What is the matter ? ” But Untombi-yapansi knew65 beforehand that an imbulu would appear at that place ; for her mother had told her, saying, “ If the ox treads on a stone, an imbulu will come out at that place.” She was therefore afraid to dismount from the ox. So she said, “ Get out of the way, and let me pass on.” The imbulu said, “ Hau ! Lend me the ox, that I may see if it is suitable for me ? ” She dismounted. The imbulu said, “Hand me your things, that I may put

65 The words with which she is warned before setting out are given in the other version : — “ Ba ti, a nga li tinti itshe eli sendMeleni. “ They told her not to tread on a certain stone which was in the path.” This is much more precise, and gives us the idea not distinctly brought out in the above, that there was a certain stone known as being the haunt of some magical evil power.

o o them on and see if they are suitable for me ? ” She gave the imbulu all her things. The imbulu put them on, and mounted the ox, and said, “ Oh, how they become me ! ”

The imbulu gives her a new name.

They reach the

Untombi-yapansi said, “ Dismount now, and give me my things, that I may get up.” The imbulu said, “ I do not wish to get down. Why did you lend it tome?” She replied, “You asked me to lend it to you.” The imbulu said, “I do not wish to get down. Let us leap here on the stones, and see which will have wet feet.” The imbulu leapt ; but Untombi-yapansi walked in the water, because she was not mounted on any thing.”

When they had passed across, the imbulu said, “ It is your feet that are wet ; now your name is Umsila-wezinja.66 And I am now Untombi-yapansi.” But Untombiyapansi made no answer ; she was silent. The imbulu went on, riding on the ox, and Untombiyapansi coming after on foot.

sister's village .

They went on, and came to the place where the sister of Untombiyapansi was married. They entered the village, and went to the upper part of it. The imbulu went into a house, and Untombiyapansi also went in. The imbulu said, “ Don’t come in. Hold my ox.” Untombi-yapansi held the ox ; the imbulu sat down.

6 Umsila-wezinja, Doga’ -tail.

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

The imbulu deceives her .

The sister of Untombi-yapansi asked, “ Who are you 1 ” The imbulu replied, “ It is I, child of our house. Hau ! do you not recognise me 1 ” She said, “ No ; I do not recognise you ; for the child of our house I left when she was still young ; I know nothing but her name. But, besides, her body glistened, for she was like brass.” The imbulu said, “I was very ill. I am Untombi-yapansi. I no longer have that body of mine which was like brass.” Her sister wept, saying, “ Hau ! Forsooth is this the child of our house 'i ”

Her sister said, “ And she who is at the doorway, whence does she come h ” The imbulu said, “ It is a mere thing. I fell in with it at the river ; it was merely going on foot.” She said, “ May I give you food ? ” The imbulu replied, “ Yes ; I am hungry.” She gave it porridge. It ate. She said, “ Call your servant yonder, that I may give her ; here is some whey.”67 The imbulu said, “ Give it to her there in the doorway.” Her husband said, “No, do not give food to the person outside ; bring her into the house, that she may eat here.” She called her, saying, “ What is her name 'l ” The imbulu replied, “ Umsila-wezinja.” Her sister said, “ Come and eat, Umsila-wezinja.”

Untombi-yapansi wastes the food.

She went in ; her sister took a child’s vessel, and gave her some whey in it. The imbulu said, “No! no! Child of our house,

67 The story makes it clear however that we are not to understand simple whey, but whey mixed with ground mealies. Poor people and dependents only eat ground mealies mixed with whey ; superiors use amasi.

30G

do not give it to her in the vessel of your children ; pour it for her on the ground, that she may eat it there.” Her brother-in-law said, “No, do not pour food for a person on the ground ; give it to her in her hands.” Her sister dipped it out with a spoon, and poured it into her hands. But Untombiyapansi put her hands round the pillar of the house, and her sister put it into her hands ; when she had finished, she separated her hands, and the amasi was spilt. Her sister scolded, saying, “ How is it tliat I pour my amasi68 into your hands, and you throw it away?” She replied, “It is because, when I stretched out my hands, I placed them on each side of the pillar.”69 She gave her boiled mealies ; she ate ; and they retired to rest.

She is sent to watch the garden .

In the morning the sister of Untombi-yapansi said, “ I am in trouble because there is no one to watch for me ; the birds trouble me in my garden.” The imbulu said, “There is Umsila-wezinja ; let her too go with those who watch, that she may watch for you.” She said, “Well, go.” Untombi-yapansi went with Uda- 1 lana.70

68 The sister here magnifies her gift by calling the whey amasi. Untombiyapansi acts thus because it was not proper for her to eat the milk belonging to her brother-in-law. See Note 95, p. 164. The Imbulu has no regard for such customs.

69 In the other version, it is groundnuts which are given to her. She takes but one out of the vessel, and all the rest disappear. It is thus, and not by dropping whey, that she fixes attention on herself. The chief exclaims, “Lolu udodovu lwenkosikazi lu tate yanye ind/dubu, za pela zonke esitsheni. ” ‘ ‘ This skinny one of the queen has taken one groundnut, and no more are left in the dish.” She thus also manifests her magical power, which is brought out so much afterwards.

70 Udalancu, Little-old-one.

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

She is visited by

71 In the other version, the dead, — ' are among the company.

When they came outside the village Untombi-yapansi stopped and said, “ Do you go before, Udalana.” Udalana went on ; they reached the gardens. U dalana went to the garden belonging to her house, which was high up ; and that which was watched by Untombi-yapansi was low down, and the watch-houses were opposite each other. The birds were very numerous. As they were entering the garden the birds came ; Udalana threw stones at them, and said, “ There they are, U msila-wezinj a. ” U ntombi-y apansi said, “ Tayi, tayi, those birds which devour my sister’s garden, although she is not my sister truly, for I am now Umsila-wezinja. I was not really Umsila-wezinja ; I was Untombi-yapansi.” The birds went away immediately in accordance with her word. They remained the whole day without any birds coming. And Udalana wondered much when she saw that there were not any birds, since they troubled her so much every day.

strange guests.

When it was midday Untombiyapansi said, “Do you throw stones at the birds for me, Udalana ; I am now going to bathe.” She went to the river ; when she came to it, she went into a pool and washed; she came out with her whole body shining like brass, and holding in her hand her brass rod. She smote the ground and said, “ Come out, all ye people of my father, and cattle of my father, and my food.” There at once came out of the earth many people,71 and many cattle, and her food.

ler father, mother, and Ulukozazana, —

I She ate. Her own ox also came out ; she mounted it and said,

“ In my father’s cattle-pen we used to sing E-a-ye ;

Among the white-tailed cattle we used to sing E-a-ye.”

All the people, together with the trees, took up the song, singing in unison with her. When she had done all this, she descended from her ox ; she smote the ground with her rod, and said, “ Open, earth, that my father’s things and his people may enter.” And truly the earth opened, and all the things and men entered.

She returns to the garden and Udalana wonders.

Again she took some black eartli and smeared her body with it, and was as she was before. She went up from the river to the garden, and went into the watch-house. She said, “ Have the birds been here some time ? ” Udalana said, “Au! by the council! does she see because she left me alone with many birds ? ” As they were still speaking a large flock of birds came. Udalana said, “ There they are, Umsila-wezinja.” Untombiyapansi said, “ Tayi, tayi, you birds yonder which devour my sister’s garden. Although she is not my sister truly ; although I am now Umsila-wezinja; I was not truly Umsila-wezinja ; I was Untombi-yapansi.”72 The birds at once went away in accordance with her word.

72 In the other version it is very different ; she does not protect the garden, but gives it up to the birds. “ Za fika izinyoni, za wela ensimini. Wa ti, ‘ Tai, tai, tai ; insimu kadade. Kona zi wa d/da, a zi wa kryedi. ’ A kwa sala nanxa li linye. Kwa ti nya. Ba ti, * Insimu yenkosi u i nika izinyoni.’ ” “ The birds came, and dropped into the garden. She said, ‘ Tai, tai, tai ; it is my sister’s garden. Though they eat the corn, they do not eat it all up. ’ They ate it all ; there did not remain one ear of corn ; the garden was utterly desolate. The people said, ‘ She gives the king’s garden to the birds.’ ”

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

U dalana mak

But Udalana wondered much at that saying of hers, and said, “ I say, Umsila-wezinja, what are you saying?” Untombi-yapansi replied, “ I say nothing.” Udalana descended from her watch-house, and went to that of Untombiyapansi, and said to her, “ Hau ! where have you eaten, Umsilawezinja?” Untombi-yapansi said, “ Why do you ask ?” She replied, “ I ask because I do not see the refuse of the sugar-cane where you have eaten.” Untombi-yapansi said, “I have eaten.”

The sun set ; they returned home. When they arrived the chief asked, saying, “Were there any birds there, Umsila-wezinja?” Untombi-yapansi replied, “Yes; there were very many indeed.” The imbulu said, “ This is her custom. Umsila-wezinja will just sit on the ground, until the garden is utterly destroyed by the birds. And when it is all gone, she says she has been worsted by the birds.” They sat ; they retired to rest.

s a discovery.

In the morning they went to watch. When they were at the gateway Untombi-yapansi stood still and said, “ Go on.” Udalana replied, “ Hau ! what happens to you if you go first ? Every day I go in front.” But Untombi-yapansi was afraid to go first because the dew wiped off that with which she smeared her body, that the brass-colour may not glisten, and people recognise her. Udalana went on. They came to the garden and sat down. Udalana said, “ There they are, Umsila-wezinja.” Untombi-yapansi said, “ Tayi, tayi those birds which devour my sister’s garden ; although she is not my sister truly ; but she was my sister.”

Kwezi-matsboba abomvu sa si ti E-a-ye.”

She said, “ Stay and watch, Udalana ; I am now going to bathe.” She went. When Untombi-yapansi had gone, Udalana went after her, and she too went to the river. When Untombiyapansi came to the river she entered the pool, and came out with her body glistening, and carrying in her hand her brass rod. Udalana wondered when she saw this. But Untombi-yapansi did not see Udalana, for she had concealed herself. Untombi-yapansi took her rod and smote the ground and said, “ Open, earth, that I may see the things of my father ; that all may come out, and my father’s people, and my things and the cattle.” All these things came out in accordance with her saying. Food also came out ; she ate. She took her garment which was ornamented with brass balls, she put it on, and mounted her ox, having adorned herself. She said,

“ In my father’s cattle-pen we used to sing E-a-ye ;

Among the red-tailed cattle we used to sing E-a-ye.”

All the people and the trees took up the song. Udalana was afraid, and trembled ; for it was as if the very earth was moving.

When Untombi-yapansi was getting down from her ox, Udalana went back before her and came first to the garden. And Untombiyapansi said, “ Let it all sink into the ground.” Every thing sank into the ground. She smeared her body, and returned to the garden. When she came she said, “ Have the birds been long here, Udalana ? ” Udalana said, “ Why have you staid so long at the river ? ” Untombi-yapansi replied, “ Do you not see that I cannot wash quickly, for my body is dirty and very black?”

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

The chief visi

TJdalana tells the chief

Udalana arose and went to the watch-house where Untombi-yapansi was ; she sat by her, looking earnestly at the whole of her body ; but she did not see any where a glistening spot. She wondered what she had smeared herself with.

Is the garden.

The chief came to the garden and said, “ Good day, Umsila-wezinja ; are there any birds here ? ” She said, “ Yes, sir, there are.” Untombi-yapansi descended from the watch-house, being afraid because the chief was on it. The chief said, “ Why do you get down, Umsila-wezinja ? ” She replied, “No, I merely get down, sir.” The chief got down from the watch-house, and returned home. Untombi-yapansi and Udalana also went home. On their arrival they ate and lay down.

’)hat she has discovered.

In the evening Udalana went to the chief and said, “ 0 chief, wake very early in the morning, and go and stay at my watch-house ; then at noon when Umsila-wezinja has gone to bathe we will follow her. You will see her with her body glistening. She comes out of the pool with her brass rod, and smites the ground with it, and says, ‘ Open, earth, that all the things of my father may come out.’ And there come out cattle and men and food and all her ornaments. You will see her mount on an ox, and sing. And the men and the cattle and the trees take up the song, and every thing sings in unison with her.” The chief said, “ If I go in the morning shall I

see that 1 ” Udalana said, “ Yes, O chief, you will see it.” They retired to rest.

The chief watches in vain.

When the chief arose in the morning he went to the watchhouse of Udalana. When the sun was up Udalana and U ntombi- . yapansi set out. When they were at the gateway Untombi-yapansi said, “ Bo you go on, Udalana/” Udalana said, “ Why do not you go first ? Why are you afraid* to go in front?” Udalana went on. Untombi-yapansi said, “ Hau ! How is it that to-day there is no dew?” Udalana said, “Perhaps a deer has passed.” Untombiyapansi said, “ But why has the dew dried up so much ] ” ••"J

They went on and came to the garden. They sat down. The birds came. Udalana said, “There they are, Umsila-wezinja.” She scared them in the same way as all other people ; but they did not go away ; they troubled them very much. The chief said, “ How is it that the birds have troubled you so much to-day ? ” Udalana replied, “ On other days Umsilawezinja scares them in a different manner. But to-day I do not know why she has departed from her usual method.”

Udalana went to Untombi-yapansi and said, “Why do you not go to bathe to-day?” She said,

“ No ; I am lazy to-day.” But Untombi-yapansi perceived that there was some one in the garden, because she saw that there was no dew. At length the sun set. The chief went down from the watcK house and returned home ; and U ntombi-yapansi and Udalana also returned after him.

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

The chief watches a second time , a

He watches A

When they reached home Untombi-yapansi said, “ The birds trouble us.” Her sister said, “ Watch the birds with great care, Umsila-wezinja, that they may not destroy my corn.” They retired to rest.

'd hears Untombi-yapansi' s charm.

In the morning the chief left home and went by another way to the garden, and hid himself in the midst of the corn. When it was light Udalana and Untombi-yapansi went to watch. When they came to the gateway Untombiyapansi said, “ Go on.” Udalana replied, “ No ; I too do not like to go first. Do you go in front.” Untombi-yapansi went first. As they went U ntombi-yapan si looked at her legs, and saw that the dew was beginning to wash off that with which she had smeared herself. She refused to walk first, and said, “ Go on, Udalana.” Udalana went on. They came to the garden. Udalana said, “ And to-day too are you not going to bathe % ” She replied, “ I am going.” Untombi-yapansi got down from her watch-house, and went to that of Udalana ; she sat down there. The birds came ; Udalana said, “ Scare them, Umsila-wezinja.” Untombi-yapansi said, “ Tayi, tayi, those birds yonder which eat my sister’s garden ; although she is not my sister truly ; since I became Umsila-wezinja ; I used not to be Umsila-wezinja indeed ; I was Untombi-yapansi.” The birds went away directly. And the chief wondered when he saw it.

r at the river.

At noon Untombi-yapansi said, “ I am now going to bathe, Uda-

lan a ; do you watcli the birds for me in the garden.” Untombi-yapansi departed, and went to the river. And the chief too and Udalana went to the river and hid in the underwood. Untombi-yapansi went into the pool, and came out with her body glistening like brass, and with her brass rod ; she struck the ground with it and said, “ Open, earth, that my father’s things may come out, and my father’s people, and his cattle, and my things.” Every thing came out, and her food. She ate ; and put on her garments and her ornaments, and mounted the ox and said,

Kwezi-matshoba abomvu sa si ti E-a-ye.”

“ In my father’s cattle-pen we used to sing E-a-ye ;

Among the white-tailed cattle we used to sing E-a-ye ;

Among the red-tailed cattle we used to sing E-a-ye.” :

All the people and the trees took up the song.

lie surprises Untombi-yapansi.

The chief wondered on seeing it. He said to Udalana, “ I will go out and lay hold of her, that she may no longer be able to hide herself again.” Udalana assented. When all those things had again sunk into the ground, the king went out. When Untombi-yapansi saw the chief, she feared greatly. The chief said, “ Do not fear, my sister-in-law. For for a long time you have been troubled without ceasing, for since you came here you have concealed yourself.”

She is made known to her sister.

The chief took her and went with her and Udalana to the garden. The chief said, “ When it is cpiite dark, come back with her,

UNTOMBI-YAPANSI.

The imbulu

Udalana, and put her in your house ; I will come with her sister when you are there.” The chief went home. When it was dark Udalana and Untombi-yapansi returned and went to Udalana’s house. The chief came, and called the sister of Untombi-yapansi. They went into the house, and he brought forth Untombi-yapansi to her. Her sister cried, saying, “ Long ago I said, ‘ Plow is it that her body does not glisten V ” They enquired of Untombi-yapansi what that thing w*as. She told them it was an imbulu ; and gave them a full account of what the imbulu had done.

is destroyed.

The chief said, “ Go, Udalana, and tell the boys to awake in the morning and make a deep pit in the cattle-pen ; and the women to boil water early in the morning.” Udalana took the message to them. They retired to rest.

Early in the morning the boys arose and dug a deep pit ; they put some milk in a pot, which they let down by a cord into the hole. The king said, “ Go and call all the women and the bride73 to come hither.” All were called and went. He said, “ All of you jump across this hole.” The imbulu said it was afraid to leap. The chief said, “ No ; do you too leap.” The imbulu refused. The chief boiled over with anger and said, “ Leap, leap immediately.” The other women leapt ; and when the imbulu too was leaping, its tail saw the milk, it went into the hole, throwing itself in with violence. The chief said to the women, “ Bun and fetch the boiling water

73 That is, the imbulu.

The chief marries

Lydia (Umkasetemba).

and pour it into the hole.” They fetched it and poured it into the hole. The imbulu was scalded. They covered it up with earth in the hole.

Then the chief told the people, saying, “ Go and tell the whole nation to come here, for I am a chosen husband ; my sister-in-law ' has come.” The whole nation was I told ; the people came. The marriage company entered the village. Untombi-yapansi danced together < with her people. She lived in happiness with her sister. Many cattle were killed, and they ate meat. They all lived together happily.

U ntombi-yapansi.

APPENDIX.

In several of the Zulu Tales we have allusions made to persons descending into the water , remaining there, and returning, as quite a natural thing. Water is not destructive to them. In a tradition of the origin of the Amasikakana, the tribe descended from the unkulunkulu Uzimase, they are said to have come up from below, but to have first revealed themselves to some women, whilst still in the water. In another tradition we hear of a heaven- descended unkulunkulu ; and there is, so far as I know, every where, among the people of all tribes, a belief in the existence of heavenly men (abantu bezulu) ; and of a king of heaven, whom they suppose to be the creator of lightning, thunder, and rain. The two following tales give an account of men who descended to the lower regions, and returned to relate what they had seen, not quite after the manner of Virgil or Dante, but strictly in accordance with their own earthly imaginings. They have a notion then, — or rather the fragments of their traditions clearly show that their ancestors believed, —that not only earth, heaven, and water have their man-like inhabitants, but that also underground there are those who are still occupied with the busy cares and necessary labours of life. They are supposed to be the departed dead, and lead a very material kind of existence. A more full account of the abapansi — subterraneans, or underground people — will be given under the head, “ Amatongo.”

Who can doubt that we find here the relics of an old belief, clothed after a new fashion, different from that to which we have been accustomed, coarse and unattractive, in accordance with the habits and unintellectual condition of the people ; but of a common origin probably with that which in other countries, whose inhabitants have been in different circumstances, and had a different development, has formed the basis of more exact theologies ; or of such fanciful tales as that of “Jullanar of the Sea,” in the Arabian Nights ; or of such pleasing conceits as have been clothed with so much poetical beauty by the pen of La Motte Fouqu6 in his Undine ?

UMKATSHANA.

UMKATSHANA.

Once on a time Umkatshana arose in the morning to go to hunt with his dogs ; he started a rheebuck ; his dogs drove it ; it went and entered a hole, and the dogs went in too, and he too went in. He went on and on with the buck, until he came to the people who are beneath, to the place where they dwell. He saw cattle ; when he arrived the people were milking. He said, “ So then there are people who live here.” (For it is said that the cattle which we kill become the property of those who are beneath ; they come to life again.) They said, “ This dog of ours, who is driving it % ” They said when they looked, “ Ah, there is a man.” And then he met with his own friends. They said to him, “ Go home ! Do not stay here.” So he went home again.

The days in which he was expected to come home had already passed away ; and when the people were saying, “ Where has the man gone 1 He is dead,” they saw him coming. They enquired of him, “ Whence come you ? ” He said, “ I had followed a buck ; it went until it reached the people who live beneath, it going into a hole. And so I too went in. And the buck went to the place where they live.” So they asked him, saying, “Do you say they are men like us 1 ” He replied, “ Yes ; and Soand-so and So-and-so were there. I was sent back by them.”

The place where he descended to those people is called Usesiyelamangana, in the country of the Amathlubi, where Ubungane lived, the father of Ulangalibalele, that is, his grandfather. In the Izimbutu, if it be not said Izimbutu, it is called Usenthlonga. These are names of those places.

IZINOANEKWANE.

Umpondo kambule (Aaron).

It is said that when a man dies in this world, and has gone to the people who live beneath, they say to him, “ Do not come near us at once ; you still smell of fire.” They say to him, “ Just remain at a distance from us, until the smell of fire has passed off.”

INDABA KANCAMA-NGAMANZI-EGUDU. (the tale of uncama-ngamanzi-egudu.74)

Uncama dug a mealie garden ; when the mealies had begun to get ripe, a porcupine entered it, and continually wasted it ; and he continually rose early, and arrived when the porcupine had devoured his mealies. At length he waited for a day on which there was abundance of dew. On the day he saw much dew he arose and said, “ To-day then I can follow it well, if it has eaten in the garden, for where it has gone the dew will be brushed off. At length I may discover where it has gone into its hole.” Sure enough then he took his weapons, and went out to the garden ; it had eaten his mealies ; he followed it by the trail, it being evident where it had gone, the dew being brushed off. He went on and on, until he saw where it had gone into a hole. And he too went in, without enquiring a moment, saying, “ Since it has gone in here, and I have no dog, what can I do ? ” Because he was angry that the porcupine had wasted his food, he went in, saying, “ I will go till I reach it, and kill it.” He went in with his weapons. He went on and on, till he came to a pool ; he thought Instead of eating, he

74 He-prepares-for-his-journey-by-smoking-wwawgrw. strengthens himself with the igudu, or insangu-horn.

USTCAMA-NGAMANZI-EGUDU.

it was deep water ; he looked carefully, until he saw that it was only a pool. He went by the edge, and passed on. It was dark in the hole, he not seeing clearly ; at length his eyes became accustomed to the hole, and he saw well. At length he lay down to sleep before he had reached any where ; and in the morning he awoke and set out again. He went and slept until at length he came to a river ; he crossed it and went forward. He now no longer went forward because he still saw the footprints of the porcupine ; he now went because the hole was the same as that by which he entered ; he persevered, saying, “ I shall at length arrive at the end of the hole, whereupon I shall be satisfied.”

At length in front he saw it began to get light ; he heard dogs baying, and children crying ; he passed on ; he came upon a village ; he saw smoke rising, and said, “ Hau ! what place is this 1 I said, ‘ I am following the porcupine ; ’ I am come to a dwelling.” Whereupon he returned, walking backwards, and returning on his path, and said, “ Let me not go to these people, for I do not know them ; perhaps they will kill me.” He saw a great country. He fled, and went day and night, saying, “ Perhaps they have seen me.” At length he crossed that river which he crossed -whilst he was pursuing the porcupine ; he passed the pool which he passed at first ; at length he went out of the hole.

He wondered on coming out ; for at the place from which he came, he saw all things resembled those which are above, mountains, precipices, and rivers. So he went home, and came to his own house. He went in and asked his wife for

Umpengula Mbanda.

a mat. His wife looked at him ; she smote her hands and cried ; the people started ; they hurried in and asked, “What is it?” She said, “ Behold Uncama is come ! ” The men wondered, and again shouted the funeral dirge. The woman said, “ Your mat, and your blanket, and your kilt, and your pillow, and your vessels, every thing I have buried, saying, you were dead ; your blankets and mats I burnt.”

So he told the tale, and said, “ I am come from a distance ; I am come from the men who live underground. I had followed a porcupine ; I came to a village ; I heard dogs baying, and children crying ; I saw people moving backwards and forwards, and smoke rising. And so I came back again. I was afraid, thinking they would kill me. It is because [I feared and returned] that you see me this day.”

That man was a very little whiskered man, who was hairy all over ; his whole body was covered with hair ; very ugly ; he had many gaps in his mouth, his teeth being no longer complete. And I too know him. I saw him when I was a boy. It was continually said, “ There is the man who went to the underground people.” We were afraid to go into an ant-bear’s hole from hearing that tale, to wit, “ He went till he reached the underground people.”

In Pococke’s India in Greece , pp. 308 — 311, we read a legend of the priest S6nuttaro, who performed a feat similar to that ascribed to Untombi-yapansi. A shrine had been prepared for the reception of relics. S6nuttaro being anxious to obtain a casket of especially valuable relics to deposit in the shrine, “ dived into the earth and proceeded subterraneously to the land of N&gas.” The N&ga king, on discovering the object of his visit, determined to keep possession of the casket, if possible. This he effected by means of his son, who swallowed it together with its contents, and then extended his dimensions to a most monstrous magnitude, and calling forth thousands of snakes similar to himself, encircled himself with them and remained coiled up in fancied security. But the priest’s power and subtlety were too great for the serpent’s magic. He “ miraculously created an invisibly attenuated arm,” by which he extracted the precious casket, unperceived, from the stomach of the N&ga. When he had done this, ‘ ‘rending the earth” ( dabula vmhfaba J, he again returned to the upper world.

UMAMBA.

UMAMBA.

/

A king marries two sisters.

There was a certain chief who married many wives. When his wives were very many he married two damsels, the daughters of another king. One of these he made the chieftainess ; and the other was very jealous because she too was wishing to be the chieftainess. When the dowry was paid, both danced the marriage dance.

The qneeris first infant dies.

It came to pass in process of time that all the chief’s wives were pregnant. They gave birth to their children, but the chieftainess was long in giving birth. When they had heard that she had given birth, her sister went to her house ; on her arrival she said, “ Bring me the child, that I may see it.” They gave her the child. She took it and looked at it. But whilst it was in her arms it died. All the people said, “ How have you handled the child ? ” She said, “ No. As soon as I took it, it died.” All the people wondered.

And her second and third.

Again they had children. And the queen’s sister took the second child also, and it too died. And three children at length died in this way. And all the people said, “ They were killed by the queen’s sister.”

Again they were pregnant. The

12INGANEKWANE.

She gives Mr

Her sister gives

The queen’s sis

75 The mother of the chief, lit. of 1

76 The imamba is a deadly snake.

77 Umamba , The-im amba-man.

78 Unsimba. — Insimba is a wild cat.

mother of the chief 75 said, “ If your sister had not touched the children which are dead, they would not have died. But she kills them because you place them in her hands.”

h to a snake.

Again she gave birth to a child. But she told no man that she was in labour. In the morning all the people heard that she had a child. They went to see it. When they came they said, “ Just let us see the child.” She replied, “ No. I have not given birth to a child this time ; but to a mere animal.” They said, “ What animal ? ” She replied, “ An imamba.”76 They said, “Just uncover it, that we may see.” She showed it to them. They wondered when they saw an imamba.

Mrth to a boy.

Her sister too gave birth to a boy. She rejoiced because she gave birth to a human being, and her sister had given birth to a snake. Both grew up. The chief said, “ As regards those children, the name of one is Umamba,77 and of the other, Unsimba.”78 But Umamba went on his belly.

er is suspected.

When she gave birth to Umamba, and he grew up and did not die, the people said, “ “ See now then, for this child did not die because he is a snake. The others were killed by the mother of Unsimba, because she wished that Unsimba should be king.” But le husband.

The-cat-man.

UMAMBA.

the father of Unsimba said, “ If you see the medicine79 with which she killed the children, bring it to me, that I may take it in my hand, and touch her with my hands, and she too will die ; for you say, ‘ She touches the children with her hand and they die.’ And I too see that it is so, for the children which are human beings die ; but the snake is not dead. But for my part I do not know if they were killed.”

Damsels come to marry the princes, bnt they fear Umamba.

It came to pass when they were grown up, damsels came to choose their husbands. When the people asked them whom they came to choose, they replied, “ Unsimba.” But others came to choose Umamba. But when they saw that he was a snake, they fled, saying, “We thought he was a real man.” The father was greatly troubled, for he loved Umamba. And all the maidens were afraid of him because he was a snake. The father said, “ And you too, Unsimba, shall not be married before Umamba ; for he is your superior.” But Unsimba laughed because he saw that the damsels rejected Umamba, and said, “ Since the girls reject Umamba and love me, what is to be done 1 ” And the mother of Umamba said, “ You, Unsimba, your father is merely laughing. Was there ever any one who was prevented from marrying because it was said, he rivals one who is deformed ? ”

79 This is the first and only instance which we meet with in these stories in which “ medicines ” are mentioned as a means of revenge. There is nothing in the action of the sister at the time of taking the children which would lead us to suspect she was using poison. The account there given seems rather to point to magical power, or to what is called the “ influence of the evil eye.” One is therefore inclined to ascribe this remark of the chief to some modern interpolation. If not it is probable that the tale itself is of a comparatively recent origin. But excepting this mention of ‘ ‘ medicine ” it bears the same stamp of antiquity as the rest.

A damsel comes to choose Unsimha, accompanied by her sister.

It came to pass after that, that two damsels came from another country to choose a husband ; one was the companion of the other. They asked whom she came to choose. She replied, “ Unsimba.” They placed them in a house. The father agreed that Unsimba might marry.

Cattle were killed, and many people assembled, because the king’s child was an elected bridegroom. In the evening many young men came in to get the damsels to point out those they liked be3t. When the young men had come in, Umamba also came. And the damsels fled, screaming, to the upper end of the house. The king said, “ Tell them not to run away, for that is my child.” The people who were in the house said, “ Sit down ; do not run away, for this is the king’s child.” He took his mat and sat upon it. The damsels said, “ But how did he become a snake ? ” They said, “ His mother lost her children by death ; and at last he was born.” They greatly wondered.

The sister chooses TJmamba.

The damsels were made to point out their favourites among the young men. But the sister of the bride pointed out Umamba. But Unsimba did not like his sister-inlaw to point out Umamba, wishing her to point out himself. They asked her again, “ Who do you point out as your favourite ?” The damsel replied, “ Umamba.” But the young men said, “ You mean Unsimba.” The damsel said, “ No ; Umamba.” The young men said, “ You mean Unsimba.” The damsel replied, “No; Uma-

U MAMBA.

One goes to Unsimba' s ho\

Unthlamvu-yetusi is asked if mba.” Unsimba said, “ No ; just leave her alone, for although she has chosen Umamba, she will soon reject him because he is a snake.”

Unsimba said, “ What are your names ? ” The girls said, “ She who has come to marry is Untlilamvu-yobuthlalu.so And her sister’s name is Unthlamvu-yetusi.” But Unsimba did not love Unthlamvu-yobuthlalu very much, but he loved Unthlamvu-yetusi.

se, the other to Umamba' s.

When they had ended pointing out their favourites, Unsimba went to his house, and Umamba went to his. The young men said, “ Let us take the bride to Unsimba’s house.” Unthlamvu -yobuthlalu went. They told Unthlamvu-yetusi to go to the house of Umamba. She went and entered the house and sat down.

she will be Umamba' s bride.

She saw Umamba resting on his mat ; and Umamba’s sister was also sitting there in Umamba’s house. Umamba’s sister said, “ Since the damsels pointed out their favourites, and you pointed out a snake as yours, would you agree to be his wife ?” She laughed and said, “ Is it said that he devours men?” Umamba said, “ Is there any one who chooses a snake?” Unthlamvu-yetusi said, “ As you do not devour men, what is there in me that you should devour me ? ”

80 Unthlamvu-yobuthlalu. — Inthlamvu is a berry, and here applied to ubuthlalu, means a single bead , of glass or some inferior substance ; as distinguished from inthlamvu-yetusi, brass-bead. Unthlamvu-yobuthlalu, Bead- woman. Un-

thlamvu-yetusi, Brass-bead-woman.

32G

I ZING AX EK W AN E .

She vjcrits on Umamba.

Umamba’s sister went out. Umamba said, “ Arise, and close the doorway.” Unthlamvu-yetusi said, “ Why do you not close it ? ” He replied, “ I have no hands with which I can close it.” Unthlamvuyetusi said, “ Who closes it every day V He replied, “ The lad who sleeps with me closes it.” Unthlamvu-yetusi said, “ And where has he gone ? ” Umamba answered, “ He has gone out on your account, my love.”81 Unthlamvuyetusi arose and closed the doorway.

Umamba said, “ Spread the mat for me.” Unthlamvu-yetusi said, “ Who spreads it for you day by day1?” Umamba replied, “My lad.” Unthlamvu-yetusi arose and spread the mat for him.

He said, “ Take the pot of fat and anoint me ; then I shall sleep well.” Unthlamvu-yetusi said, “ I am afraid to touch a snake.” Umamba laughed. They went to sleep.

The people wonder at her courage ; and V mamba’s mother rejoices.

They awoke in the morning ; and the people wondered, for they said, “We never met with a child possessed of such courage as to sleep in a house with a snake.”

In the morning Umamba’s mother took some very nice food, and cooked it and took it to the damsel, talking with herself and saying, “ If I too had given birth to a real human being, he would have married this child of the people.”82

81 Lit, my damsel, but meaning, my sweetheart or love.

82 Child of the people, a title of great respect. The natives address their chiefs and great men by “ Muntu wetu,” Man of our people.

UMAMBA.

Untldamvu-yetusi anoints Umamba.

In the evening they again went to retire to rest ; the sister of Umamba again went into the house ; they sat with her ; again she went out. Umamba said, “ Go and close the doorway.” Unthlamvu-yetusi arose and closed it. Umamba said, “ So then yesterday you refused to anoint me. Do you not see that I move with pain, for I go on my belly 1 It is pleasant to lie down after having been anointed ; then my body is soft, and I sleep well. Just help me, and anoint me to-day. I devour no one ; and my lad only anoints me ; I do not devour him.” Unthlamvu-yetusi took the pot of fat and a stick. Umamba said, “ No ; my fat is not taken out with a stick ; it is just shaken out into the hand ; it is soft.” Unthlamvuyetusi said, “Anoint yourself; I do not like to anoint you for my part.” Umamba said, “No. I devour no man. Just anoint me.” Unthlamvu-yetusi took the fat, and poured it into her hand, and anointed Umamba. But when she anointed him and felt the body of the snake very cold, she was afraid. But Umamba said, “ No ; just anoint me ; I devour no one.” When she had done anointing him, she left him.

Umamba transformed.

Umamba waited a little while, and said to Unthlamvu-yetusi, “ Lay hold of me here very tight, and stretch me, for my body is contracted.” But Unthlamvu-yetusi said, “ I am afraid.” Umamba said, “No. I shall do you no harm. I devour no one. Lay

R R

IZINGA NEK WANE.

bold of the pillar, and look at the upper end of the house; do not look at me ; and drag with all your might ; for my mode of going hurts me ; therefore I like when I am lying down that some one should stretch me.’' She laid hold of the pillar, and dragged with all her might. She felt the skin come into her hand ; she threw it down quickly, and started, thinking it was the snake. And she turned her eyes and looked, and saw Umamba very beautiful, and his body glistening. She rejoiced exceedingly and said, “ What was the matter with you 1 "

Umamba tells Unthlamvu-yetusi his history.

Umamba said, “ My mother had for some time lost all her children by death ; and the people said that the children of our house were killed by my mother’s sister. Before giving birth to me my mother went to her people, and told her brother to catch a small imamba and to take its skin. And when I was born I was put into the skin. But none of our people knew that I was a human being ; they thought I was truly a snake, for my mother did not tell them that I was a man ; and do not you tell any one.”

Unthlamvu-yetusi said, “ On other days do you take off this skin ? ” Umamba said, “Yes, my lad anoints me with fat and takes it off.” They retired to rest.

The damsels return to their fathers , accompanied by their lovers.

In the morning Unthlamvu-yobutlilalu said, “ I now wish to go home.” They picked out twenty head of cattle. Umamba said, “ I

UMAMBA.

Umamba ca

Preparations J

too, father, wish to take twenty,, that I might go and choose this damsel at her father’s.” The father assented, and he went with many cattle and young men to make the marriage settlement. So they set out.

When they were leaving home Umamba told them to take his pot of fat ; Unthlamvu-yetusi carried it. When they were on the high land, Umamba went slowly after the rest ; and told Unthlamvuyetusi also to go slowly. All the people went on in front, but they two went in the rear. Umamba said, “ Let us sit down, and do you anoint me with fat, and take off the skin, for I am troubled ; the grass hurts me when I go on my belly.” They sat ; she anointed him with fat, and dragged him ; the skin came off. Umamba arose and walked. They went behind the others. And when they were near the people Umamba put on the skin again.

ises alarm.

They reached the damsel’s home and went in. But all the people of the place fled, being afraid of the snake. They said, “ There is the wedding party of Unthlamvuyobuthlalu coming with a snake.” The damsels said, “ Do not say thus. That is the bridegroom of Unthlamvu-yetusi.” The people wondered and said, “ How is it that she is not afraid, since it is a snake 1 ”

r the marriage.

They had many cattle killed for them. When the meat was eaten the bridegrooms’ party returned to

IZINGANEKWAJTE.

their people. After a time they sent a man to wait for the marriage party.83 The marriage party was summoned ; much beer was made, and they were told to go and bring up the marriage company. They came with it.

In the morning there assembled many people, but some laughed because Umamba did not know how to dance, saying, “ Since he is a snake how will he dance V The line of wedding guests entered, and the brides and the damsels and men of their people danced.

When the marriage company had left off dancing, the bridegrooms’ party went to adorn themselves. Umamba went to his house, and his lad anointed him with fat, and took off* the skin. He said, “ Go and call my mother, that she may bring my things.’* His mother came with his things. He adorned himself, and said to the lad, “ See if Unsimba has already left his house.” The lad replied, “Yes, he has already left it.”

Umamba reveals himself at the wedding-tlance.

Umamba took a great skin, and put it on and went out, going on his belly. When the people saw him they all said, “ Now he is very great, because he has anointed with fat.” He went to the cattle-pen and sat down. When all the bridegrooms’ men stood up, Umamba wriggled himself, and his lad came and laid hold of his head, and took off the skin. And all the people were unable to look on him because of his glistening appearance.

83 The man who goes to wait for the marriage party is called Umkongi or UmMaleli. His office is to urge on the friends of the bride to hasten the marriage ; he stays at the bride’s kraal, and there is guilty of all kinds of mischief until they get tired of him, and the wedding party sets out.

UN AN AN A-BOS EEE.

Unsimba fears , an

Umamba marrie

Lydia (Umkasetemba).

I the people rejoice.

Unsimba went away to his house, being afraid because he saw that Umamba was a human being ; he was very angry. All the people wondered when they saw that he was now a man. They laid hold of him, saying, “What has been done to you all this time 1 ” His father refused to allow them to dance on that day. He said, “You shall dance to-morrow, for I wish to look at him to-day.”

?, and is happy.

Then the mother rejoiced because her child had taken a wife. The people returned to the house and sat down. In the morning they danced ; but Unsimba was much troubled because he saw that Umamba was a human being. They all remained, rejoicing ; the father rejoiced exceedingly when he saw that Umamba was a human being. Umamba built his own village, and lived there with many people, who wished to live with him. And when he had sewn on the headring he married many wives ; and lived happily and prosperously with them.

UNANANA-BOSELE.

Unanana builds in the road.

There was a woman who had two young children ; they were very fine ; and there was another child who used to stay with them. But that woman, it is said, had wil-

fully built her house in the road, trusting to self-confidence and superior power.84

Various animals visit her house in her absence.

On a certain occasion she went to fetch firewood, and left her children alone. A baboon came and said, “ Whose are those remarkably beautiful children 1 ” The child replied, “Unanana-bosele’s.”85 The baboon said, “ She built in the road on purpose, trusting to self-confidence and superior power.”

Again an antelope came and asked the same question. The child answered, “ They are the children of Unanana-bosele.” All animals came and asked the same question, until the child cried for fear.

An elephant swallows the children.

A very large elephant came and said, “ Whose are those remarkably beautiful children ? ” The child replied, “ Unanana-bosele’s.” The elephant asked the second time, “ Whose are those remarkably beautiful children 1 ” The child replied, “ Unanana-bosele's.” The elephant said, “ She built in the road on purpose, trusting to selfconfidence and superior power.” He swallowed them both, and left the little child. The elephant then went away.

In the afternoon the mother came and said, “Where are the children?” The little girl said, “ They have been taken away by an elephant with one tusk.” Unanana-bosele said, “ Where did he put them 1 ” The little girl

84 Ubungqotsho is any thing by which a man trusts to attain superiority, wordiness, craftiness, bodily strength, a name, passion, power ; all this in one is ubungqotsho.

85 Unanana-bosele. — Isinana is a batrachian reptile, nearly globular, with very short legs, and exuding a milky fluid when touched. It is frequently found under stones.— Bosele, of the family of frogs.

UNANANA-BOSELE.

replied, “ He ate them.” Unanana-bosele said, “ Are they dead ? ” The little girl replied, “No. I do not know.”

She goes in search of the elephant.

They retired to rest. In the morning she ground much maize, and put it into a large pot with amasi, and set out, carrying a knife in her hand. She came to the place where there was an antelope ; she said, “ Mother, mother, point out for me the elephant which has eaten my children ; she has one tusk.” The antelope said, “ You will go till you come to a place where the trees are very high, and where the stones are white.” She went on.

She came to the place where was the leopard ; she said, “ Mother, mother, point out for me the elephant which has eaten my children.” The leopard replied, “You will go on and on, and come to the place where the trees are high, and where the stones are white.”

The elephant attempts to deceive hert

She went on, passing all animals, all saying the same. When she was still at a great distance she saw some very high trees and white stones below them. She saw the elephant lying under the trees. She went on ; when she came to the elephant she stood still and said, “Mother, mother, point out for me the elephant which has eaten my children.” The elephant replied, “ You will go on and on, and come to where the trees are high, and where the stones are white.” The woman merely stood

I2ISGANEKWANE.

still, and asked again, saying, “Mother, mother, point out for me the elephant which has eaten my children.” The elephant again told her just to pass onward. But the woman, seeing that it was the very elephant she was seeking, and that she was deceiving her by telling her to go forward, said a third time, “Mother, mother, point out for me the elephant which has eaten my children.”

The elephant swallows her , to her sorrow.

The elephant seized her and swallowed her too. When she reached the elephant’s stomach, she saw large forests, and great rivers, and many high lands ; on one side there were many rocks ; and there were many people who had built their villages there ; and many dogs and many cattle; all was there inside the elephant ; she saw too her own children sitting there. She gave them amasi, and asked them what they ate before she came. They said, “We have eaten nothing. We merely lay down.” She said, “ Why did you not roast this flesh? ” They said, “ If we eat this beast, will it not kill us ? ” She said, “ No ; it will itself die ; you will not die.” She kindled a great tire. She cut the liver, and roasted it and ate with her children. They cut also the flesh, and roasted and ate.

All the people which were there wondered, saying, “ O, forsooth, are they eating, whilst we have remained without eating any thing ?” The woman said, “ Yes, yes. The elephant can be eaten.” All the people cut and ate.

THE WISE SON OF THE KING.

The elephant dies.

Lydia (XJmkasetemba).

And the elephant told the other beasts, saying, “ From the time I swallowed the woman I have been ill ; there has been pain in my stomach.” The other animals said,86 “ It may be, O chief, it arises because there are now so many people in your stomach.” And it came to pass after a long time that the elephant died. The woman divided the elephant with a knife, cutting through a rib with an axe. A cow came out and said, “ Moo, moo, we at length see the country.” A goat came out and said, “ Mey, mey, at length we see the country.” A dog came out and said, “ At length we see the country.” And the people came out laughing and saying, “ At length we see the country.” They made the woman presents ; some gave her cattle, some goats, and some sheep. She set out with her children, being very rich. She went home rejoicing because she had come back with her children. On her arrival her little girl was there ; she rejoiced, because she was thinking that her mother was dead. s 7

UMNTWANA WENKOSI OHLAKANIPILEYO. (the wise son of the king.)

The "king's daughters bathe. A strange thing happens to the youngest.

Kwa ti inkosi yasempumalanga ya | A king of the east reigned over a b’ i nesizwe esikulu ; ya i nezin- | large nation ; he had many daugh-

36 In another narration the elephant is represented as uttering a loud and prolonged groan, when the woman began to cut slices from the liver, and as the operation proceeded, the groans became so terrible and reached so far that the animals were startled where they were feeding, and attracted to the place where the elephant was.

87 Compare this Tale with the account of the Isik^uk^umadevu, p. 56 — 60. And with Ugunggu-kubantwana, p. 176.

s s

33G

IZINCANEKWANE.

The king calls a, counci ters ; they had their own pool in the river where they bathed. At noon on a certain day they left their homes and joined company and went to the pool ; they went to sport in the water. One little one started out from among them and went into the pool. So they all took off their dresses, and went into the pool and sported. They sported and sported. The little one went out and shouted on the bank of the pool, saying, “ Come out, and see what is the matter with me. Look, my breasts are swollen, as large as a woman’s, as big as yours too, ye maidens.”

They all went out of the pool and said, “ Let us go back to our father, and show him what is the matter with this child of his.” So they came home to the king their father, and said, “ Father, look at this ; there is your child. We went to sport in the water ; we observed, when she came out of the pool, that her breasts were as large as this.” The father said, “ Where are the men 1 ”

to consider the matter.

When the men came he said, “ Consider this wonderful thing, and whether it is disease or not ? Consider, ye old men, if there ever was such a thing as this 1 Did you ever see it before 1 The breasts of a child of this age to be as big as this ? Since it is not proper that her breasts should be so large, she being so young a child 1 ”

The council answered, “ No ; we have never known of such a thing. It is a prodigy. Do you speak, you whose child she is.” The king said, “ No ! Let her depart from her home amongst us. For I do

TI1E WISE SON OF THE KING.

The little one is dr not know what the beast with which the child is pregnant, will do when it is born. I say, there is a beast inside the child. I say, let it go to a distance and be born, at a distance from this home of ours, even though she die, that she may die without my seeing her when the beast is born.”

len from her home.

The child wept. And all the maidens wept when she left her home, saying, “ Alas, whither will the child of our father go ? ”

She wanders , not knowing where to go.

So she went, leaving her home ; she knew not where to go; she quitted her father’s village. She wandered hither and thither without an aim. Her wandering in uncertainty was great whilst thus pregnant.

She gives birth to a bog.

88 Comp, what is said by the

At length she came to another village, not belonging to her father. She gave birth to a child ; she gave birth to it among another people. She said, “I thought I was pregnant with a beast ; and forsooth I have given birth to a human being.” When she had given birth to the child her friends came who were seeking her ; when they found her they said, “We are seeking you. Your father told us to go and seek for the place where you died, and find if it were but your bones. And in truth are you here ?” She replied, “ I have become a mother. I have given birth to a human being, my own boy.” She said, “ Let us go home

[• of Ukcombekcansini, p. 116.

She returns

The child becom again. I am willing, for I have given birth to a human being. I know not how he entered within me. For you know that I was not yet of sufficient age to become pregnant. And my sisters with whom I went know that I never spoke with a man. I speak the truth. And I myself have taken care of my child, because I saw it was a human being ; I would have forsaken him if it had been an animal. I saw that it was a real human being.”

to her home.

So they set out and returned to go to the king of the east. They reached the king’s home. The king was glad ; he told the whole nation to assemble ; he said, “ All of you give praise. Praise this child. Praise and rejoice, for he is the child of my child only, for he is not the child of a male ; for she had not married; he is my child only.”

s a great doctor .

So he grew up ; he treated diseases, he was a doctor, he alleviated suffering, and excelled other doctors. He was named, The wise son of the king. He was greater than all the king’s children as regards being beloved.

The king’s town was full of people who went there to be healed ; he excelled all other doctors. People whom the doctors could not cure of their diseases, those he helped much throughout the whole nation over which his father reigned. He left his country and travelled among all nations, going about healing diseases, and merely staying in a place to heal diseases and to help the people.

THE GREAT TORTOISE.

He goes about with Ids mother doing works of mercy.

Ka be s’ aziwa ke kwabo-ntombi. Wa hamba njalonjalo. Ukupela kwayo.

Umpondo kambule (Aaron).

His mother too and others who went with him and his mother, also treated diseases. He was not given any reward. He said, “ I am a king’s child ; I have no other object than that of helping you. My father is a king, and possesses all things. I help you from pure mercy.” The nations too said continually, “ We too are the children of your father, because you seek nothing of us as a reward ; we are now the children of your father. He is king.”

So he ceased to be known among the people of that maiden, lie went about without ceasing. That is the end of the matter.

I received this account from Umamthlekwa Wakwandhlovu ; Uzikisa was her father, at the time when Uzithlantlilo, the father of Usingela, was king, and Utshaka, the son of Usenzangakona.S9

UFTJDU OLUKULU. (the great tortoise.)

It happened in the time of the famine, (Ugobinca was then king, the brother of Ubithla, who was killed by Umdingi,) our mothers went to gather herbs ; they went with our grandmother ; they were three, and grandmother was the fourth. They came to the river Umtshezi. When they were in the midst, there arose as it were a great tortoise, which was as big as the skin of an ox. It stood in the midst of the water ; the river filled, because it had obstructed the water. The three passed over ;

89 There can be little doubt that this is a legend of some perverted tradition of the history of our Lord. It was probably obtained through the Portuguese.

12IHGANEKWANE.

the fourth, which was the grandmother, sank, because the river was full. The tortoise took her, and held her and went with her into the deep water ; it just raised her above the water ; she was just apparent, until all her children had come together ; they lamented on the bank of the deep water. The tortoise went down with her.

It happened on another day some boys were herding on the Umtshezi. The cattle went till they came to the Umtshezi. A boy threw a stone into the pool. The cattle returned home. His mother said to him, “ Eat ; there is your food.” The boy said, “ I do not wish for food. I am going to the pool for my part.” The mother said, “ What are you going to do ? ” He said, “ I wish to go and get into it.”90 The mother said, “ What is there in the pool?” The boy now shedding tears went out of the house, and ran fast. His mother went out of the house and said, “ Umajola, run ; there is the child, saying he is going to the pool ; look to him well ; he is crying.” The father started up with a company ; he ran, the company followed him. When they arrived the child was already in the midst of the pool, liis head only appearing. The father wished to throw himself into the pool ; the company held him back ; they said, “ Don’t ; the child is already dead.” The father said, “I set forth all my cattle ; the man shall select a fine bullock who takes out my child ; he shall select for himself a beautiful bullock. I am dying ; I am at a loss to tell what to do for my child.” At length the sun set, the boy still appearing in the

00 See Appendix, p. 342.

THE GREAT TORTOISE.

water of the pool At length all the people of the village came. When it was dark they sat down on the bank of the pool and lamented there. At length he sank. At night they lit a fire, he being still visible by the light, and speaking said, “ I am held by the foot.” He too sank. They went home, and the people separated, saying, “ He has been devoured by the tortoise.” An ox was selected, and went to tell Ungonyama, the father of IJbithla.91

It happened that some boys went to play on the banks of the river Umtshezi ; on their arrival they said, “ There is a beautiful rock ; let us make our cattle-pens upon it with cowdung.” But it was a tortoise. [They fetched some cowdung] and went back to it again. A little boy said, “ This rock has eyes.” The others said, “ No ; you are telling lies.” He said, “ It has eyes.” He was silent ; and took his stick, and thrust it into the tortoise’s eye, saying, “ What is this eye 1 See, the eye stares.” They said, “ There is no eye, child,” they making their pens with cattle-dung. The little boy came home, and said, “ There is a rock which has eyes.” His father answered, “ What kind of eyes are in the rock ? ” He said, “ Indeed, there are eyes.”

It happened on another day the tortoise turned over with them ; one little boy crossed the river at a great distance ; he went crying home ; they asked, “ What is the matter ? ” He said, “ The rock has turned over with the other boys ; it went with them into tlie

91 That is, in accordance with native custom, the messengers who go to report to the chief, do not go empty-handed ; but take a bullock, which is said to go and tell the chief.

IZIXGANEKWANE.

Umpondo kambule (Aaron).

pool.” They -were all lost ; there escaped that one only, who went home crying. The men went out and said, “ Go and point out to us the place where the rock was.” They arrived ; he said, “ There is the place where the rock used to be.” The men said, “ Was it then a tortoise ? Have then the children been devoured 1 ” They saw them no more. They mourned for them. And all the people were told the history.92

APPENDIX.

Kw’ aliwa futi ukuba umuntu a lunguze esizibeni esimnyama, kw esatshwa kona loko ukutatwa kwesitunzi sake.

tries ?

As regards the boy recollecting the pool, and no longer eating any food, there is an account about a notion of this kind. It is said there is a beast in the water which can seize the shadow of a man ; when he looks into the water it takes his shadow ; the man no longer wishes to turn back, but has a great wish to enter the pool ; it seems to him that there is not death in the water ; it is as if he was going to real happiness where there is no harm ; and he dies through going into the pool, being eaten by the beast, which was not seen at first, but is seen when it catches hold of him ; and so it is said, “ Forsooth it has taken his shadow ; he no longer sees ; his eyes are dark ; he no longer sees any thing ; it is that which causes him to be as he is.” This is the tale which I hear people telL

And men are forbidden to lean over and look into a dark pool, it being feared lest their shadow should be taken away.

Among the Amakccosa there is a tale like this which states that a beast seizes the shadow of a man. So it was then among the Amakrosa, two damsels, one was

Have these tales any connection with the Tortoise-myths of other coun- See Tylor's Early History of Mankind , pp. 332 -336.

ISITWALANGCENGCE.

Umpengula Mbanda.

the daughter of a chief, looked into a pool. They were drawn, and went into it ; it was as though they were called. The alarm was given to the chief; he hastened thither with cattle to redeem his child. They cast in spotted cattle, and red, and white. But the beast did not let her go, until they cast in two black, hornless oxen ; then it left her and ate them ; and she was taken out. After that she was no longer as she was before ; she became an idiot, no longer understanding any thing. Such then is the tale among the Amak^eosa. But much of it is lost.

fabulous animals.

The following account of fabulous animals, — which bear a strong resemblance to the ' domestic and other sprites of Northern Nursery Tales, — the Fables, &c., are introduced here in order to give the Header a more general idea of the native mind, as it may be a year or more before we shall be able to enter on the Second Volume of the Nursery Tales, much of the materials for which is already collected, and which is quite as striking, if not more so, than any yet published.

ISITWALANGCENGCE.

The Isitwalangcengce described.

There is a tale which we hear from the ancients ; they say, there used to be an animal called the Isitwalangcengce ;93 it was like an hyena ; but its little head was rather spread out, and broad ish ; it carried all things, its head being a basket for carrying. If there was a famine it no longer lived in the open country, but remained constantly near a village. Its ear

93 Basket -bearer.

T T

was sharp in the direction where a bullock was slaughtered ; for according to the custom of black men, if one has slaughtered, he remembers all his friends for the purpose of giving them meat ; especially the women. When the meat of the mats has been all eaten, and the meat of the houses94 remains, a woman customarily divides it, remembering her friends, that they too when they have meat may remember her ; for it is said, “ Meat-baskets mutually exchange;” therefore she makes a habit of bringing out for the women pieces of meat, which she sends by the children. The Isitwalangcengce remains at the sides of the houses, at the side of the doorway, that when a child is going in, it may lay hold of him together with the meat, and throw him on its head ; the child cries when the Isitwalangcengce is already running away with him. It is said it does not eat a man, but only his brains ; it goes with him to a rock, and throws him down there, and knocks his head, and licks up the brain, leaving the body.

The Isitwalangcengce outwitted.

So then it awoke a man who was asleep, and took him, and put him on its head, and went out with the man, and departed. The man enquired, saying, “ Where are we going ? ” It replied, “We are going by the path of rocks,” remembering where there was a

94 The meat is distinguished as, Eyezoso , the meat of the roasting ; that is, the pieces cut off and roasted on tlie day the bullock is killed ; Eyezitebe, the meat of the mats, that which is boiled and brought out on mats the second day ; and Eyezindhlu or Eyasendhlmi, the meat of the houses, that which is set aside for the use of the village.

95 This is a proverbial saying, equivalent to “Love begets love,” or “ Kindness begets kindness.” Those who send meat to their neighbours, when they have slaughtered a bullock, have meat sent to them when their neighbours slaughter. So, “ Imikombe a i pambane,” — Let our meat-baskets cross each other, — is equivalent to “ Let us be on terms of good fellowship.”

ISITWALANGCENGCE.

Many escape l

^ Nobani means So-and-so, a place for breaking the head. So they went until they came to a bushy country, where there were trees. It passed with him under the trees ; and the man broke off some branches of the trees, and put them in the basket, doing so in order that the lightness may not be noticed if he got out. At length there were many branches ; he put them at the bottom, and sat on the top of them. Thus it went with a heavy weight ; it passed by a tree ; he stretched out his hand, and caught hold of the tree ; it passed on towards the rock. He got down directly and ran home. The Isitwalangcengce came, and emptied the basket on the rock ; it saw no man, but only the branches. It went back to the house, to find the man.

y a stratagem.

The man reported the matter, for the children were coming to an end. A child may be called from one house, it being said, “W ey, So-and-so ! ”96 The child attended. And the Isitwalangcengce ran forward to the place where she was called, and caught her, and went off with her. The people call her, and it is now said, “ She went out from here a long time ago.” The one who called her says, “ She did not come here.” In fact she has been taken by the Isitwalangcengce. That man devised the plan of having two ways, and not one only ; he said, “ Since the Isitwalangcengce prefers the path of rocks, but,” said he, “ I escaped by the busli-path.” So that plan was of great assistance to that tribe. And if the Isitwalangcengce caught a child, and asked it, “ Which way do you say we shall go ? ” it

!. Bani, So-and-so, a male.

34G

Lesi ’sitwalangcengce indaba e insumansumane, indaba endala. Manje se ku tuliswa ngayo abantwana uma be kala, ngokuti, “ U za ’kutatwa Isitwalangcengce.” Umpondo kambule (Aaron).

answered, “ O, sir, the good way is that of the bush,” saying thus in order that it might put branches in its place and return home, and the Isitwalangcengce go on rejoicing, thinking it is about to get a fill of brains ; but it pours out branches only. At length there was a great heap of branches on the rock ; and the man went home.

The Isitwalangcengce is a fabulous account, an old tale. Now children are silenced by it when they cry, by saying, “You will be carried off by the Isitwalangce-

INDABA KADHLOKWENI. (the history of udhlokweni.)

When it was dark there came an hyena, 9S and took Udhlokweni, the chief wife of a great village ; it took her on its head and went away with her ; it came to a forest, and said, “ Udhlokweni, by which path shall we go ? ” She replied, “ Let us go by the path of the narrow pass.” So she and the hyena arrived. She lay hold of a tree overhead. It saw her, and said, “ Udhlokweni, do you climb into the tree? Come along.” So it carried her again. It said, “ Udhlokweni, your funeral lamentation makes the ground thunder. How great a person were you, that your funeral lamentation should be so great ! ” She said, “ I was great, being the great queen ; and I used to treat kindly all the people of my village.” Again it said, “This is

97 So the American Indians silence their little ones, by “ Hush ! the Naked Bear will get them. ” ( Hiawatha , p. 559, and Note 55.) The Naked Bear, like the Isitwalangcengce, is a fabulous animal. In other countries they are frightened by the Wolf.

88 Isitwalangcengce, or Isidawane.

ISITSHAKAMANA.

Umpondo kambule (Aaron).

your funeral lamentation. How great a person were you ! The people are distressed by your funeral lamentation. You were great, Udhlokweni. I perceive you were great. You used to order the people well.” Again it said, “ Now the children are crying.” She said, “Yes, I used to love the children much ; and I gave the women many things, both the women and the men ; I regarded nothing; I used to give them every thing.” It said, “ Yes, Udhlokweni, I too perceive that the people are grieved for you. But I have now taken you from the people of your village for ever.” Again she caught hold of a tree, and climbed up. The Isitwalangcen gee went on alone ; it came to the river, and threw itself down, and cried, saying, “Woe is me, Udhlokweni ! I wonder where you are gone. I have killed myself, thinking I was throwing down Udhlokweni.” But in fact Udhlokweni had fled, and had already returned to her people, who were mourning for her.

ISITSHAKAMANA.

It happened that a man took a worm, and went to catch fish in the Tukela, at the time when Usenzangakona was king ; he caught an animal, the Isitshakamana ; it spoke, saying, “ Child of So-andso, of So-and-so, of So-and-so.” It went on thus repeating the names of his grandfathers, until it had mentioned names up to ten, names which he did not himself know. It said, “ Why have you treated me so unmercifully a£ to take me out of the pool? for I do not quit the pool; I live in it constantly ; I am afraid of the sun.” His eyes met the eyes of the beast ; and he fled and ran home. He said, “ Put a pot on my head ; hide me ; I have seen a great thing ; I have seen a beast, when I went to catch fish ; its eyes are still staring at me ; for its eyes and nostrils and ears and mouth are altogether in one place. But it is destroying me though I am here ; it is as though it was here with me.” A man came and said, “I continually am telling you, ‘ You will one day catch an Isitshakamana.’ It is that animal which he has caught to-day, which knows the names of all the old people.” He said, “ Take the pot off my head ; even now it is still looking at me.” They took off the pot. He said, “ Cover me with all the blankets wdiich are in the village.” He said, “ Take them off from me ; it is still looking at me. Carry me to a corn-hole.” They said, “ The hole will kill you ; it is hot.” He said, “ Take away the stone, that it may cool.” So they took away the stone, and it cooled. They put him in a little while. He said, “ Take me out ; the beast is still looking at me even here ; and besides the heat is killing me.” They took him out. When he came out he said, “ Take me into the house.” He came into the house. So he died on that account, because he saw the Isitshakamana. He said, “ I am torn to pieces by fear, when the beast calls me by the name of my father, and of my grandfather and my grandfather’s father ; mentioning all people without exception and generations which were unknown both to my father and grandfather. I die on that account.” So he died.

UTIKOLOSHE.

Umpondo kambule (Aaron).

It was said that the Isitshakamana was small and round ; it walked on its buttocks, being the size of a child which does not yet walk.

It happened after that, even in the same year, Ujobe had a child, and the child is still living which was born in that year, who is named Usitshakamana. He has grandchildren now, and is grey.

UTIKOLOSHE.

Umpengula Mbanda.

I hear of this creature from men who come from the Amak#osa ; for among the Amazulu there is no Utikoloshe. But among us Amazulu I heard a man say that he had seen it with his eyes, and not heard a mere report ; he said it was an animal which lives in a pool ; but it is found among the Amakajosa. This brother of mine said, it was a short little animal, and hairy. You may see it at a dance ; when the people dance, it too dances.

But especially it is said that the beast is fond of women ; it is said that the women of those parts cohabit with it. It is said that all the women of those parts have usually her own Utikoloshe, a little husband which is subject to her husband. And when a woman goes to fetch firewood, she returns with the Utikoloshe carrying the firewood. The men of those parts kill these animals which are called Otikoloshe. It is said the women love them more than their husbands."

99 Shaw, in The Story of My Mission , p. 445, thus alludes to this monster : — “ The people universally believe that aided by some mysterious and evil influence, the nature of which no one can define or explain, bad persons may enter into league with wolves, baboons, jackals, and particularly with an imaginary amphibious creature, mostly abiding in the deep portions of the rivers, and called by the Border Kafirs Utikoloshe.”

When I first began to look about me and to understand things well, I milked the cows of Uzilinkomo. Uzima, his wife, gave me a great calabash, and told me to fill it with milk. On the following morning no one would think that any milk had been poured into it ; it was always then empty, the milk having been eaten by the Utikoloshe.

When his boy, Unscatshe, milked the cows into his own mouth,1 the Utikoloshe was angry, and said, “ I continually pass from cow to cow, and find no milk ! ” And the boy, who was a beautiful fellow, who milked the cows into his own mouth, became deformed.2 And when they went to milk, all the milking cords were lost j and the Utikoloshe let out the calves by night, and they took all the milk.

Another woman I knew. The people were going to a wedding dance. The other women called her ; she said, “ No. I am still ornamenting myself with coloured earth.” So they set out without her. They went on and on, and whilst they were in the way, the husband was laying wait, thinking he had a reason for complaining of his wife. So the wife quitted the house, and Ugilikak^wa3 came, and took a garment made of the skin of the oribe and put it on, saying, “ I will come to the dance and do this,4 I the child of Ugilikak^wa of the river,” imitating the play which he would play when he got there, after the manner of the Amakxosa.

1 It is a custom among native boys when herding cattle to steal the milk by milking into their own mouths. When this is suspected, the father will give them a calabash, saying, “Since you know how to milk, milk into the calabash ! ”

2 Lit., Broke, — had spinal curvature.

3 Utikoloshe.

4 Imitating the native dance.

UTIKOLOSHE.

So tbe busband started up and dashed him to tbe ground, stabbing him with an assagai, and tbe wife as well. He placed them together in tbe path ; he wiped tbe blood from the assagai ; and went to tbe dance. And when the people were returning they saw and said, “ Ah, so then that So-and-so has killed his wife. He has killed her forsooth because he knew that Ugilikakgwa cohabited with her.”

It happened that a woman whose name was XJmtshakazi said, “ I am rejected by my husband.” Another asked, “ Why are you rejected 1 ” She said, “ I am rejected, child of my people.” She said, “ No ; it is not possible for you to be rejected.” She said, “ Tell me how you can help me ? ” The other said, “Just do so.” She gave her coloured earth and fat, and said, “I give you this that you may supple yourself; and tomorrow morning boil some white amabele ; when you have boiled it, just take a little vessel, pour the corn into it, and go to the river ; when there you shall say, ‘ Wo, Ugilikakgw — o !’ ” Umak^utshazinduku-zomlambo5 came out of the river; and now the woman began to say, “ Hau ! forsooth it is that thing I have summoned. Our people ! ” and ran away. So Ugilikak^wa said, “ You cannot call me, and when you have called me run away. Why have you called me ?” The woman fled till she reached her home. When the Utikoloshe saw that he was pelted with stones by the people, he went back again to the pool.

5 He who uses in dancing the rods (i. e. reeds) of the river.

6 The Utikoloshe speaks the dialect of the AmakQwabe, clearly suggesting that these tales are not indigenous to the Amakxosa.

u u

IZItfGANEKWANE.

Unoko Masila.9

A man one day when entering his hut just saw the small shadow of something pass out as he went in. At length he pretended that he was going to a distance. So his wife had the company of her sweetheart,7 the Utikoloshe. The husband came back by night, and found them sleeping together. He killed the Utikoloshe ; but left the wife. He said to his wife, “ Fetch some bundles of grass, and tie him up in it.” They then lay down. In the morning he said to her, “ Take that up and carry it.” She took it up ; and he went with her to her people. When they came to the cattle-pen, where the men were assembled, in the village of her people, he said, “ Put it down.” She put it down. He said, “ Untie it.” She refused. He took an assagai ; and the cord was cut with a kin, kin ; 8 he unfolded it. They then looked over it, and said, “ Ah ! ” They then took a rod, without saying a word, and selected all his cattle,10 and gave them back to him. Aud so he went home with them.

+.».♦

THE ABATWA.

The Abatwa are very much smaller people than all other small people ; they go under the grass, and sleep in anthills ; they go in the mist ; they live in the up-

7 The word here used is only applied to improper intercourse between people one or both of whom are married — Iltekze, Ikekicezakazi.

8 The cord used would be dry hide ; the ‘ ‘ kin, kin, ” is intended to imitate the sound which is occasioned by cutting the hide.

9 This man is of the tribe of Amangwane. He has lived with the Amak cosa, and hence many Krrosisms.

10 Which he had paid as the woman’s dowry.

11 Abatwa is the name given to the Bushmen. But they are not Bushmen which are here described. But apparently pixies or some race much more diminutive than the actual Bushmen. Yet the resemblance is sufficiently great to make it almost certain that we have a traditional description of the first intercourse between the Zulus and that people. I have not succeeded in getting any details about them. The singular is Umutwa.

THE ABATWA.

Umpengula Mbanda.

country in the rocks ; they have no village, of which you may say, “There is a village of Abatwa.” Their village is where they kill game ; they consume the whole of it, and go away. That is their mode of life.

But it happens if a man is on a journey, and comes suddenly on an Umutwa, the Umutwa asks, “ Where did you see me ? ” But at first through their want of intercourse with the Abatwa, a man spoke the truth, and said, “ I saw you in this very place.” Therefore the Umutwa was angry, through supposing himself to be despised by the man ; and shot him with his bow, and he died. Therefore it was seen that they like to be magnified ; and hate their littleness. So then when a man met with them, he saluted the one he met with, “ I saw you ! ” 12 The Umutwa said, “ When did you see me ? ” The man replied, “ I saw you when I was just appearing yonder. You see yon mountain ; I saw you then, when I was on it.” So the Umutwra rejoiced, saying, “ O, then, I have become great.” Such, then, became the mode of saluting them.

It is said, vdien Abatwa are on a journey, when the game is come to an end wrhere they had lived, they mount on a horse, they beginning on the neck, till they reach the tail, sitting one behind the other. If they do not find any game, they eat the horse.

12 The Zulu salutation is, “ Sa ku bona,” We saw you. Hence the play on the words.

ABATWA UKWESABEKA KWABO.

(THE DREADFULNESS OF THE ABATWA.)

They are dreaded by men ; they are not dreadful for the greatness of their bodies, nor for appearing to be men ; no, there is no appearance of manliness; and greatness there is none ; they are little things, which go under the grass. And a man goes looking in front of him, thinking, “ If there come a man or a wild beast, I shall see.” And, forsooth, an Umutwa is there under the grass ; and the man feels when he is already pierced by an arrow ; he looks, but does not see the man who shot it. It is this, then, that takes away the strength ; for they will die without seeing the man with whom they will fight. On that account, then, the country of the Abatwa is dreadful ; for men do not see the man with whom they are going to fight. The Abatwa are fleas, which are unseen whence they come ; yet they teaze a man ; they rule over him, they exalt themselves over him, until he is unable to sleep, being unable to lie down, and unable to quiet his heart ; for the flea is small ; the hand of a man is large ; it is necessary that it should lay hold of something which can be felt.13 Just so are the Abatwa ; their strength is like that of the fleas, which have the mastery in the night, and the Abatwa have the mastery through high grass, for it conceals them ; they are not seen. That then is the power with which the Abatwa conquer men, concealment, they laying wait for men ; they see them for their part, but they are not seen.

13 That is, a thing must be felt before the hand can lay hold of it.

THE HYRAX.

Umpexgula Mb ax da.

The bow with which they shoot beast or man, does not kill by itself alone ; it kills because the point of their arrow is smeared with poison, in order that as soon as it enters, it may cause much blood to flow ; blood runs from the whole body, and the man dies forthwith. But that poison of theirs, many kinds of it are known to hunters of the elephant. That then is the dreadfulness of the Abatwa, on account of which they are dreaded.

FABLES.

IMBILA YA SWELA TJMSILA NGOKUYALEZELA. (the hyrax wext without a tail because he sext for it.)

It is said, the hyrax went without a tail because he sent other animals for it. For on the day tails were distributed, the sky had become clouded ; other animals then went out to fetch their tails, to the place where they were given away ; but another, the hyrax, was prevented from going with them, and he exhorted all the animals who have tails, saying, “ O, my neighbours, do you bring back my tail for me, for I cannot go out of my hole, because it is raining.” So the others returned with tails, but the hyrax himself never had a tail because he was disinclined to go out in the rain. He lost all advantages of a tail ; for a tail is useful for driving away flies ; the hyrax then has nothing to brush them off with.

IZINGANEKWANF.

Umpengula Mbanda.

That loitering of the hyrax is now a great word among black men ; they use the words of the hyrax, and say to those who do not trouble themselves about that which others like, and who tell others [to act for them], “ So-andso, do you not know that that saying of yours, ‘ Do you bring it for me,’ — do you not know that another does not bring a man any thing, when there is only enough for those present 1 O ! the hyrax went without a tail because he sent for it. And you, do not act as the hyrax ; you will not get any thing by asking others ; go for yourself.”

Such then is the tale of the hyrax. He did not actually speak with his mouth, saying, “ Do you bring it for me ; ” but the word arose because other animals have tails, but the hyrax has none ; and it was as though the hyrax went without a tail because he sent for it ; and because he is afraid of a cloudy sky, and does not go out if there are not gleams of sunshine.

Such then is the tale of the hyrax. It was understood by those who were disinclined to work when it is foul weather ; they asked others to bring for them. So it is said in answer to a man who says, “ O, bring for me,” one says when he refuses him, “ The hyrax went without a tail because he sent for it. Soand-so, do not ask me to fetch for you.” So he who asks goes away. He acts thus that when he returns without it he may not ask many questions, saying, “How is it then that you have not brought it for me, since I asked you to do so ? ” He answers him by the hyrax.14

14 Other people have other fables to account for the tailless condition of certain animals ; but none of them are equal in point to this Zulu myth of the Hyrax.

In the Norse tales the Bear, at the instigation of the Fox, fishes with his

THE HYENA AND THE MOON.

IMPISI NENYANGA.

(the HYENA AND THE MOON.)

It happened once on a time that an hyena found a bone ; he took it up, and carried it in his mouth. Since then the moon was shining with a beautiful light, the water being still, he threw down the bone when he saw the moon in the water, and caught at the moon, thinking it to be fat meat ; he sank head over ears, and got nothing ; the water was disturbed ; he returned to the bank, and was still ; the water became clear ; he made a spring, and tried to lay hold, thinking he was laying hold of the moon, thinking it flesh, when he saw it in the water ; he caught hold of the water ; tlie water ran out of his mouth, and became muddy ; he went back to the bank.

Another hyena came and took the bone, and left the other still there. At length the morning arrived, and the moon became dull through the daylight. The hyena was worsted. He returned on another day, until the place, where he could get nothing, was trampled bare.

Therefore that hyena was much laughed at, when it was seen that he ran continually into the water, and caught hold of the water, and the water ran out of his mouth, and he went out without any tail through a hole in the ice, till it is frozen ; when he attempts to escape he loses his tail. — The story from Bornu represents the Weasel as fastening a stick to the tail of the Hyena, instead of the meat which was to have been fastened on as a bait for fishing ; and the Hyena loses his tail by pulling. — In others, with less point, the Wolf loses his tail either by fishing with it at the instigation of the Fox, or by covering the reflection of the moon on the ice, winch Reynard persuades him is a cheese. — Whereas in Central America the Stag and Rabbit had their tails pulled off by the princes Hunahpu and Xbalanque. ( Tylor . Op. cit. p. 355 .)

XJatPONDO KAJIBULE (AARON).

thing. Therefore when a man is laughed at, it is said, “ So-and-so, you are like the hyena ; it threw away the bone, and caught at nothing, because it saw the moon in the water.”15

I ZI M F E N E NENGWE. (the baboons and the leopard.)

It is said a babopn fell in with a leopard in the forest ; he called some other baboons. He came and'bamboozled the leopard, that they might kill him, when he was left without resource.

So thby came to him, and caught and killed the vermin which were on him. But at first the leopard was on his guard, for the leopard and baboons hate each other, for the leopard kills the young baboons. Therefore baboons are troubled in a place where there is a leopard ; they do not go alone there, they go in company. The leopard then was on his guard ; and he saw that he was about to die. But the baboons stroked him ; therefore he at length became gentle and accustomed to them, because he felt that their hands were not pressed hard on him ; he felt the separation of his hair ; he understood it, for leopards also kill vermin one for another ; therefore he was gentle, and lay quiet.

So they turned aside the hair, hunting for vermin, until they surrounded him, and he could no longet be seen ; some dug a long16 hole, for the leopard’s tail is long ; they did that because they knew The Dog and the Shadow,” or to “ The

15 This is precisely similar to our Hibernian Moon-rakers.”

1G The same word means deep and long.

THE MAN AND THE BREAD.

z’ azi ukuti, “ Ingwe ilula kunati ; uma si ng’ enzi ikcebo, i za ’ku si bulala.” Za u kgeda ke umgodi lowo, za u faka ke umsila, za u se zi i pata kakulu ngoku i funa izintwala, ukuze i ng’ ezwa ubu- /dungu bokuggitshwa. Ku t’ uba ni gaule izagitsha manje.” Za zi gaula ke, za buya nazo ; zi lingerie zonke izimfene. Za kgala ke ukutata izagitsha zazo, za i yeka uku i kcoba ; za i tshaya ; i ya kgala ukutukutela, i jama ; se zi i tshaya kakulu ; i se i zinge i bukuzeka, i nga se nakusuka, za za za i bulala, ya fa. Za i shiya.

Umpengula Mbanda.

that the leopard was more active than they, and if they did not devise something, he would kill them. So they finished the hole, and put the leopard’s tail in it, and rammed the earth down tight around it ; they rammed it continually, at the same time handling him very much in searching for vermin, that he might not feel the pain of being rammed down. When they had made an end of ramming down the tail, some said to others, “ Go and cut sticks now.” So they cut them, and brought them ; they were sufficient for all the baboons. So they began to take their sticks, and left off catching vermin ; they beat him ; he began to be angry, staring about ; and they beat him excessively ; and he continually rolled on the ground, being no longer able to get up, until they killed him, and he died. So they left him.17

INDABA YOMUNTU OWA LAHLA ISINKWA ; WA PINDA WA SI FUNA, KA B’ E SA SI TOLA.

(the tale of a man who threw away some bread ; HE LOOKED

FOR IT AGAIN, BUT NEVER FOUND IT.)

Indaba yendoda eya i hamba i pete isinkwa ; i puma se i dAlile

The tale of a man who was going on a journey carrying bread with him ; he set out, having already

17 This fable bears a strong resemblance in meaning to that of the Boar and the Herdsman, one of the tales told by the “ Seven wise men.”

There was a boar of unusual size and ferocity which was the terror of all who lived in the neighbourhood of the forest which he frequented. The cattle of a herdsman unfortunately wandered into this forest, and the herdsman, whilst searching for them, found a hawthorn tree, covered with ripe fruit ; he filled his pockets, and when about to proceed on his way, was alarmed by the boar. He climbed the tree, but the boar detected him by the scent of the fruit he had in his pockets. The man propitiated the beast not only by emptying his pockets, but also by plucking fruit from the tree, and casting it to his formidable enemy. The beast, being satisfied, lay down to rest ; “ the artful herdsman now lowered himself so far as to reach with his fingers the back of the animal, which he began to scratch with such dexterity that the boar, who was hitherto unaccustomed to such luxury, closed his eyes, and abandoned himself to the most delicious slumbers ; at which instant the herdsman drew his long knife and pierced him to the heart.” ( Ellis' $ Specimens, etc. Vol. III., p. 39.)

eaten at home ; and not knowing how to allowance himself by taking bread which was equal to his consumption, he took a large quantity of bread ; he thought he should eat it all. But by the way he ate, until he could eat no more. He could not tell what to do with it. He did not say to himself, “ Let me carry it ; perhaps in front there is hunger, and I shall want food ; perhaps I may meet a man who is hungry.” There was no such thought as that. But through being satisfied, the thought of taking care of that bread was hidden ; he did not wish to carry it, because he was then full ; he saw one thing only which would enable him to go easily. He threw the bread on the lower side of the path, and so went on no longer burdened. He did not return by that path for many days. Mice took the bread, and ate it all up.

It came to pass when the land died, it being killed by famine, as he was going by that way, going and digging up roots, (for there was no corn left ; roots only were now eaten,) the path made him remember the bread. He saw it still there ; a year was as it were a day of yesterday. He was at once summoned by the place by merely seeing it, and said, “ This is the very place where I threw away my bread.” He arrived at the place ; he saw where the bread had fallen ; he said, “ It fell yonder.” He ran to find it. But he did not find it. He began to look earnestly in the long grass, for it was very thick ; he searched thinking he should fall in with it, as he was feeling with his hands in the thick grass ; until some time had elapsed. He rose up, and

THE MAN AND THE BREAD.

thought, saying, “ Hau ! What happened after I threw away the bread 1 For I say, I do not yet forget the place where I threw it. No surely; there is no other; it is this very place.” He stooped down and searched. For whilst he is thus seeking he has gained strength, and is now strong through knowing, to wit, “ Though I am hungry, my hunger will end ; I may find my bread.” At length he was confused, he went up again to the path, he found the place where he first began to stand, he said, “ I passed over all this place before I threw it away.” For where he threw it away, there was an ant-heap ; he saw by that, and said, “ Ah ! when I was here, I did thus !” He said this, imitatiug with his arm ; the arm goes in the direction in which he threw the bread. And now he runs quickly, following the direction of the arm. He came to the place, and at once felt about ; he did not find the bread. He went back again, and said, “ Hau ! what has become of it ? since I threw it exactly here ; for no man saw me, I being quite alone.” He ran. At length the time for digging roots had passed away ; he went home without any thing ; he dug no roots. He now became faint again, because he had not found the bread.

And that man is still living, yonder by the sea. The man told the tale when the country was at peace, and the famine at an end. It was a cause of laughter that conduct of his, to all who heard it, and they said, “ So-and-so, sure enough famine makes a man darkeyed. Hid you ever see bread, which was thrown away one year, found in another, still good to eat 'i ” He said, “ Sir3, famine does not make a man clever. I thought I was seeking wisely, and

Umpengula Mbanda.

should find it. Famine takes away wisdom. And for my part, through my hunger, I believed in truth that I should find it ; for I was alone, there being no man with me. But in fact that was the means of increasing my want, until I was nearly dead.”

SPEAKING ANIMALS.

INDABA YEKWABABA. (the tale of a crow.)

Umankofana Mbele.

It happened that among the Zulus men were living in perfect prosperity, not knowing what was about to happen. One day a crow called one of the Zulus, an officer, whose name was Unongalaza, and said, “ Wey, Unongalaza! Wey, Unongalaza ! ” The people listened and said, “No one can be seen who is calling ; there is only that crow yonder.” It said, “You are living securely. This moon will not die [without a change]. You will be killed in Zululand ; if you do not depart, you will be killed during this very month. Go away, all of you.” And in truth they did not stay. Umawa,18 the daughter of Ujama, the chief of the people, set out, and came here to the English. Those who remained behind were killed.

ENYE YEKWABABA FUTI.

(another tale of a crow.)

18 That is, she and a part of the people.

SPEAKING ANIMALS.

Uluhoho Madonda.

on a tree, and they heard it crying and saying, “Woe, woe, child of my sister, who hast no children. What will she be able to do since she is childless ? ” They started up and ran away. When they reached home they told the tale. The people said it was an omen. The woman who had no child was the daughter of Usipongo of Idhlanimi here among the Amakuza. After that her husband 1 was very ill.19

INDABA YENJA EYA KQAMBA IGAMA.

(the tale of a dog which made a song.)

Lelo ’gam a la li igugu kakulu ezintombini, la li Alatshelelwa ngezinyembezi.

IInoko Masila.

It happened long ago when the country was desolate, during the war between Umatiwane20 and Umpangazita,21 the hoes rattled as the people were digging ; they looked up, and the hoes said, “ What are you looking at ? It is we.” Then a dog sat down on his buttocks at Isitshondo, the king’s town, and said,

“ Madhladhla !22 you have no pity For my treasure.24 Sing with me, my father,

About the son of Ukadhlakadhla, his only son ! ”

The people said, on hearing that song of the dog, “ The country is dead.”

This song was a very great favourite with the damsels, and used to be sung with tears.

19 Comp, these tales with those given, p. 131 — 133.

20 Umatiwane, a chief of the Amangwane.

21 Umpangazita, a chief of the Amathlubi.

22 Umadhladhla, the name of Ungalonkulu, the son of Ukadhlakatlhla, who was killed by the Amangwane during the war. Amadhladhla, his people.

23 Wame for wami, or warn1 — e , to prolong the word for the sake of the rhythm.

24 The dog rebukes the people for not weeping for their dead chief.

25 Yedwa kcatsha, (Zulu, kcoko, ) emphasizing yedwa, his only son, only indeed.

RIDDLES.

Guess ye a cow which never lies down. When it lies down it lies down for ever ; it will never rise up again. Its lying down is death. It is a very celebrated cow, and one which gives much milk ; its children are preserved by it. The owner possesses only one ; he does not want another ; he only requires one.

Guess ye a pumpkin-plant ; it is single, and has many branches ; it may be hundreds ; it bears many thousand pumpkins on its branches ; if you follow the branches, you will find a pumpkin every where ; you will find pumpkins every where. You cannot count the pumpkins of one branch ; you can never die of famine ; you can go plucking and eating ; and you will not carry food for your journey through being afraid that you will find no food where you are going. No ; you can eat and leave, knowing that by following the branches you will continually find another pumpkin in front ; and so it comes to pass. Its branches spread out over the whole country, but the plant is one, from which springs many branches. And each man pursues his own branch, and all pluck pumpkins from the branches.

RIDDLES.

3G5

Guess ye a man who does not lie down ; even when it is morning he is standing, he not having lain down.

Guess ye a man who does not move ; although the wind blows furiously, he just stands erect ; the wind throws down trees and houses, and much injury is done ; but he is just as if the sky was perfectly calm, and does not move in the least.

Guess ye some men who are many and form a row ; they dance the wedding dance, adorned in white hip-dresses.

Guess ye a man who lives in the midst of enemies every day, where raids are made without ceasing ; and he is alarmed when the army sets out, knowing that he is then in the midst of death ; he has no forest to which he can escape. He escapes only by the enemy retiring. He then eatsfood, saying, “ Ah ! escaped this time ! I did not think that I could escape from the midst of the army.” He has no children, because he lives in the midst of enemies, saying, “ No ; it is well that I should live by myself, and then when an alarm is given, I may be ready to escape.”

Guess ye a man who does not lie down at night ; he lies down in the morning until the sun sets ; he

3GG

ngobusuku bonke ; a i sebenzi emini ; a i bonwa ukusebenza kwayo.

then awakes, and works all night ; he does not work by day ; he is not seen when he works.

Guess ye some men who are walking, being ten in number ; if there is one over the ten, these ten men do not go ; they say, “ We cannot go, for here is a prodigy.” These men wonder exceedingly ; they are slow in settling the dispute, saying, “ How is it that our number is over ten, for formerly we did not exceed ten?” They have no love for the one over the ten.

Guess ye a man whom men do not like to laugh, for it is known that his laughter is a very great evil, and is followed by lamentation, and an end of rejoicing. Men weep, and trees and grass ; and every thing is heard weeping in the tribe where he laughs ; and they say the man has laughed who does not usually laugh.

Guess ye a man yvho makes himself a chief ; who does not work, but just sits still ; his people work alone, but he does nothing ; he shows them what they wish, but he does nothing ; his people do not see, he sees for them, they are blind, the whole of his nation ; he alone can see. They know that though they cannot see, they see by him ; for they do not go without any thing they want ; he takes them by the hand, and leads them to where there is food, and they return with it to their

RIDDLES.

homes ; but he touches nothing, for he makes himself a chief ; he remains a chief for ever, for his people are supported by him.

At first there was a dispute, and his people said, “ You cannot be our king and do nothing ; we cannot see the power of your majesty.” He answered them, saying, “ Since you say I am not a chief, I will just sit still, and look on the ground. Then you will see that I am truly a chief, for if I look on the ground the land will be desolate ; you will fall over precipices and into pits ; you will be eaten by wild beasts through not seeing them ; and die through famine, being unable to find food ; because you dispute wfith me, you are blind.”

So they see that he is a chief, and say, “ Let us acknowledge openly that he is our king, that wre may live. If wre die of famine, that majesty which we claim for ourselves will come to an end. We are kings by living.” So he was acknowledged a chief, and reigned ; and the country was peaceful.

And he is a man that never washes ; he just sits still. And when he is ill even with a slight illness all his nation is troubled, and dies of famine ; and the people are afraid to go out of their houses, because they would fail over precipices and be dashed to pieces. They long for him to get well at once ; and the people rejoice when he is wrell.

Guess ye a bullock which has no flesh ; no one can cut into it any where ; it is a mere hard mass ; it does not go unless it is w w

3GB

IZINCANEKWAUE.

Futi, a i u weli umfula, i ma nganeno ; uma umuntu e tanda ukuba i wele, nga e i sunduza ngamandAla amakulu ; kepa uma amanzi e tshonisa, a i vumi ukuwela, i ya m kcatshela emanzini ; ngokuba i y* azi ukukcatsha emanzini amakulu, a nga b’ e sa i bona. T ketelwa izindawo ezi bonakalayo pansi, ukuze umuntu a i bone, a i k^ube kona ngoku i sunduza.

forced, but always stands still, until it is pushed along by some one. It will not be pushed along if it is driven up a steep place ; but it allows itself to be pushed down. It is a bullock which does not like to go up hill ; it likes always to be made to go down, and then makes no opposition.

Further, it does not cross a river, it stands still on one side ; if any one wishes it to cross, he must push it with great strength ; but if the water is very deep, it will not cross, but hides itself from him in the water ; for it knows how to hide in deep water, and he can see it no more. One chooses for it a place where he can see the bottom, that he may see it and drive it forward by pushing it.

There is only one mode of eating it by paying a debt, if a man has a debt which can be paid by it. That, then, is the only work it can do.

And it is a very fierce bullock ; if it is pushed up hill, the men who drive it are on their guard, and one says to the others, “ Be on your guard ; you know that this bullock does not like to go up hill ; take care that it does not gore us ; if it gores us it will be very bad indeed, for we are below, and it is above us, and we shall be unable to shield ourselves, for it is a bad place, and is not advantageous for us ; and when we think we are shielding ourselves, we shall fall, and it come and make an end of us.” It is driven with such care, that when it will not go up, and wishes to come back again, they may make way for it and it pass on ; and perhaps they will not follow it any more ; for it will run away, and leave them behind, till it comes to a place which is good for it, but bad for the men. So they are beat.

Umpengula Mbanda.

KEY TO THE KIDDLES.

KEY TO THE RIDDLES.

We mean a house by the cow which gives much milk ; the milk is the joy a house affords those who live beneath it, for it remains a long time, the people being preserved, and not continually building. But when it falls it has fallen for ever ; it never rises up again. We say “cow” that a man may not think of a house, but seek about continually among cattle, following the name “ cow,” and fearing to say house, saying, “ How can I say that a house is a cow 1 I shall make a great mistake if I say house.”

A village, and the paths which pass from it are the branches, which bear fruit ; for there is no path without a village ; all paths quit homesteads, and go to homesteads. There is no path which does not lead to a homestead. We say the path is a branch which bears fruit, that the riddle may be good because it is hard. The pumpkins are villages from which the paths go out.

Intwala, ngokuba umuntu u ya i tata engutsheni, ka namand/da oku i bulala ngesitupa si sinye ; uma e nga Alanganisi izitupa zozibili, a i kcindezele, i fe ; nesinye isitupa si be bomvu, nesinye si be njalo, zi lingane zombili ngobubomvu. Si ti " inkomo,” ukuze

A louse, for a man takes it out of his blanket, but he cannot kill it with one thumb ; but only by bringing the two thumbs together, and squeezing it between them that it may die ; and both nails be bloody, and one equal the other in being red. We say “ ox,” that the

3 TO

IZIKGANEKWANE.

riddle may be difficult to guess ; afterwards when they cannot tell, you say to the persons who are guessing, “ Why do you say that a louse is not an ox, for it is killed in two cattle-pens ] ” meaning the thumbs. You do thus to lead them wrong, by calling them cattle-pens.

A pillar does not lie down, for it stands constantly and watches the house. If the pillar lies down, the house may fall. But when one says “ a man,” he entangles the matter, that the thoughts of the men may not reach the things at once ; but continually have their thoughts running on men in accordance with the word, man. When they cannot tell, one replies, “ Why do you not say that the pillar is a man, since you see it upholding so great a house as this ? But it does not fall.”

The ear. One says to them when they cannot tell, “ Who ever saw the ear of a man move, it being moved by the wind1? We see trees and grass and houses move ; but not the ear ; the man only moves ; if he is carried away by the wind, the ear is not carried away, it is he who is carried away ; or if he falls, it still stands erect ; or if he runs away, it still stands erect.”

The teeth. We call them men who form a row, for the teeth stand like men who are made ready for a wedding-dance, that they may dance well. When we

KEY TO THE RIDDLES.

say, they are “ adorned with white hip-dresses,” we put that in, that people may not at once think of teeth, but be drawn away from them by thinking, “ It is men who put on white hip-dresses,” and continually have their thoughts fixed on men ; for since white hip-dresses are put on by men when they are going to a wedding to dance, and to set men in order, they say continually, “ The men of the riddle are men.” And the man who is making them guess says, “ But how can they dance if their bodies touch 1 ” He continually draws them away by words from that which they say. He does not merely deny that they are right by saying, “No; it is not that. The riddle is not explained in that way.” He draws them away by words, and they really believe that they see that they are not near the meaning of the riddle. At length he says, “ Do you not see the teeth ; their order like that of men ; the white hip-dresses do you not see they mean the teeth 1 ” They say, “You have beaten us.”

The tongue is a man which is in affliction because it is in the midst of enemies ; the teeth are the enemy ; for when the teeth are eating, the tongue is often injured whilst they are fighting with the food, that they may grind it. Therefore when we say “ a man,” we entangle the subject, that men may not at once think of the tongue, but continually have their search directed to men ; and they say, “ Since the riddle says a man only, and says nothing about the tongue, we shall be wrong if we say the tongue.” The tongue, then, is not happy, for when the teeth are chewing food, the tongue continually moves from side to side between the teeth, and Is on its guard when the food is killed ; for the food is constantly killed by the teeth ; but the tongue is not killed by them, for it is known, it is a man of that place; but it continually meets with an accident, for there is fighting in the place where it dwells ; it is happy before the food is eaten ; but when the food is being eaten, it knows that it is in the midst of danger, and is about to be injured, without having had any charge made against it; it dies because the battle is fought in its presence. There, then, is the man who is in the midst of enemies, the tongue.

The closing-poles of the cattlepen. Their work by night is to watch the cattle by closing the gateway ; they are close together that the cattle may not find a place of escape ; though one try to get out it may be unable to do so through the strength of the bars ; and when it is morning the cattle have not got out ; in the morning they go out because the gateway is opened for them, and so the closing poles lie on the ground.

The fingers. Their proper number is only ten ; they are matched, going in pairs.26 Therefore, if

— the ring and little fingers, —

26 He means, the index and middle fingers, and the thumbs.

KEY TO THE RIDDLES.

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there is a supernumerary finger, they are no longer fit either to go together in pairs or to count with ; their counting is bad ; there is no argument, but only difference. This is what we mean when we say they are slow in settling the dispute, that is, if it could be done without pain the supernumerary finger could be taken off with a word, truly it would be said, “ Away with you ; you are not fit for this place.”

Fire. It is called a man that what is said may not be at once evident, it being concealed by the word, “ man.” Men say many things, searching out the meaning in rivalry, and missing the mark. A riddle is good when it is not discernable at once. We say “ a man,” because it is not liked that the fire, even indoors where it is kindled, should cause its sparks to start out and fall on the clothes. The owner of the clothes cries because it burns ; and when he sees a hole in it, he cries again. Or if food is being cooked, if the fire is large the pot may be put on, and be burned by the fire, and the pot burn the food. So the man laughs, that is, the fire. And the people cry. Again, if a spark is cast into the thatch of the hut, it is seen by the fire ; all the men will come together when the flame of the fire appears, and burns the house with the things which are in it ; and there is a great crying ; and the goats are burnt, and the calves ; and the children are burnt. The cows cry, crying for their calves which are dead ; men cry, crying for their goats ; the wife and husband cry, crying for their

IZIN G ANEKWANE, children which are burnt ; and the children cry for their father who has been burnt, haying died whilst fetching his precious things from the burning house, and the house fell in on him ; and the husband cries, crying for his wife who has been burnt ; she died when she was fetching her child which was in the house, and was burnt together with it; and the trees cry, crying for their beauty which is lost, being now destroyed by the fire, and the trees are shrivelled and withered, and their beauty gone ; and the cattle cry, crying for the grass, because they no longer have any thing to eat, but are dying of famine. This, then, is the laughing of fire.

Iso. I The eye.27

Umpengula M ban da.

A stone. When we say “ paying a debt,” we mean when it is wanted to stop up the gateway of an enclosed place with a stone ; or to grind with it. That is to pay a debt ; and therefore we say, “ It is eaten,” for it too has its work which can be done by it alone.

27 This riddle bears a curious resemblance to our fable of ‘ ‘ The Belly and the Members.” It is as much a fable as a riddle.