The Discovery of the Source of the Nile | Page 7

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 curiosities--they seldom give more than a cow
or a goat, though professing to supply a whole camp with provisions.
Taking the negroes as a whole, one does not find very marked or much
difference in them. Each tribe has its characteristics, it is true. For
instance, one cuts his teeth or tattoos his face in a different manner
from the others; but by the constant intermarriage with slaves, much of
this effect is lost, and it is further lost sight of owing to the prevalence
of migrations caused by wars and the division of governments. As with
the tribal marks so with their weapons; those most commonly in use are
the spear, assage, shield, bow and arrow. It is true some affect one,
some the other; but in no way do we see that the courage of tribes can
be determined by the use of any particular weapon: for the bravest use
the arrow, which is the more dreaded; while the weakest confine
themselves to the spear. Lines of traffic are the worst tracks (there are
no roads in the districts here referred to) for a traveller to go upon, not
only because the hospitality of the people has been damped by frequent
communication with travellers, but, by intercourse with the semi-
civilised merchant, their natural honour and honesty are corrupted, their
cupidity is increased, and the show of firearms ceases to frighten them.
Of paramount consideration is the power held by the magician
(Mganga), who rules the minds of the kings as did the old popes of
Europe. They, indeed, are a curse to the traveller; for if it suits their
inclinations to keep him out of the country, they have merely to
prognosticate all sorts of calamities--as droughts, famines, or wars--in
the event of his setting eyes on the soil, and the chiefs, people, and all,
would believe them; for, as may be imagined, with men unenlightened,
supernatural and imaginary predictions work with more force than
substantial reasons. Their implement of divination, simple as it may
appear, is a cow's or antelope's horn (Uganga), which they stuff with
magic powder, also called Uganga. Stuck into the ground in front of the
village, it is supposed to have sufficient power to ward off the attacks
of an enemy.
By simply holding it in the hand, the magician pretends he can discover

anything that has been stolen or lost; and instances have been told of its
dragging four men after it with irresistible impetus up to a thief, when it
be-laboured the culprit and drove him out of his senses. So imbued are
the natives' minds with belief in the power of charms, that they pay the
magician for sticks, stones, or mud, which he has doctored for them.
They believe certain flowers held in the hand will conduct them to
anything lost; as also that the voice of certain wild animals, birds, or
beasts, will insure them good-luck, or warn them of danger. With the
utmost complacency our sable brother builds a dwarf hut in his fields,
and places some grain on it to propitiate the evil spirit, and suffer him
to reap the fruits of his labour, and this too they call Uganga or church.
These are a few of the more innocent alternatives the poor negroes
resort to in place of a "Saviour." They have also many other and more
horrible devices. For instance, in times of tribulation, the magician, if
he ascertains a war is projected by inspecting the blood and bones of a
fowl which he has flayed for that purpose, flays a young child, and
having laid it lengthwise on a path, directs all the warriors, on
proceeding to battle, to step over his sacrifice and insure themselves
victory. Another of these extra barbarous devices takes place when a
chief wishes to make war on his neighbour by his calling in a magician
to discover a propitious time for commencing. The doctor places a
large earthen vessel, half full of water, over a fire, and over its mouth a
grating of sticks, whereon he lays a small child and a