The Discovery of the Source of the Nile | Page 6

are about to travel over, no kings such as we shall find that the Wahuma have. The district chief is absolute, though guided in great measure by his "grey-beards," who constantly attend his residence, and talk over their affairs of state. These commonly concern petty internal matters; for they are too selfish and too narrow-minded to care for anything but their own private concerns. The grey-beards circulate the orders of the chief amongst the village chiefs, who are fined when they do not comply with them; and hence all orders are pretty well obeyed.
One thing only tends to disorganise the country, and that is war, caused, in the first instance, by polygamy, producing a family of half-brothers, who, all aspiring to succeed their father, fight continually with one another, and make their chief aim slaves and cattle; whilst, in the second instance, slavery keeps them ever fighting and reducing their numbers. The government revenues are levied, on a very small scale, exclusively for the benefit of the chief and his grey-beards. For instance, as a sort of land-tax, the chief has a right to drink free from the village brews of pombe (a kind of beer made by fermentation), which are made in turn by all the villagers successively. In case of an elephant being killed, he also takes a share of the meat, and claims one of its tusks as his right; further, all leopard, lion, or zebra skins are his by right. On merchandise brought into the country by traders, he has a general right to make any exactions he thinks he has the power of enforcing, without any regard to justice or a regulated tariff. This right is called Hongo, in the plural Mahongo. Another source of revenue is in the effects of all people condemned for sorcery, who are either burnt, or speared and cast into the jungles, and their property seized by the grey-beards for their chief.
As to punishments, all irreclaimable thieves or murderers are killed and disposed of in the same manner as these sorcerers; whilst on minor thieves a penalty equivalent to the extent of the depredation is levied. Illicit intercourse being treated as petty larceny, a value is fixed according to the value of the woman--for it must be remembered all women are property. Indeed, marriages are considered a very profitable speculation, the girl's hand being in the father's gift, who marries her to any one who will pay her price. This arrangement, however, is not considered a simple matter of buying and selling, but delights in the high-sounding title of "dowry." Slaves, cows, goats, fowls, brass wire, or beads, are the usual things given for this species of dowry. The marriage-knot, however, is never irretrievably tied; for if the wife finds a defect in her husband, she can return to her father by refunding the dowry; whilst the husband, if he objects to his wife, can claim half-price on sending her home again, which is considered fair, because as a second-hand article her future value would be diminished by half. By this system, it must be observed, polygamy is a source of wealth, since a man's means are measured by the number of his progeny; but it has other advantages besides the dowry, for the women work more than the men do, both in and out of doors; and, in addition to the females, the sons work for the household until they marry, and in after life take care of their parents in the same way as in the first instance the parents took care of them.
Twins are usually hailed with delight, because they swell the power of the family, though in some instances they are put to death. Albinos are valued, though their colour is not admired. If death occurs in a natural manner, the body is usually either buried in the village or outside. A large portion of the negro races affect nudity, despising clothing as effeminate; but these are chiefly the more boisterous roving pastorals, who are too lazy either to grow cotton or strip the trees of their bark. Their young women go naked; but the mothers suspend a little tail both before and behind. As the hair of the negro will not grow long, a barber might be dispensed with, were it not that they delight in odd fashions, and are therefore continually either shaving it off altogether, or else fashioning it after the most whimsical designs. No people in the world are so proud and headstrong as the negroes, whether they be pastoral or agriculturalists. With them, as with the rest of the world, "familiarity breeds contempt"; hospitality lives only one day; for though proud of a rich or white visitor--and they implore him to stop, that they may keep feeding their eyes on his