St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-05-30
A Night Among the Zulus.
BY MRS. X. C. LINDLEY.


The fourteen oxen were harnessed,
the driver held his long whip, the bed
was made up in the great wagon, the
pots and kettles and food for the jour
uey were packed, and we were ready
to set out on our way. We are going to
the home or "kraal" of Unani, Zulu
girl, who had lived with us and OF
whom we heard that she was very i'll.
We could not tell how i'll she was, for
every Zulu man, woman or child must
have one ailment at least. 1t is Zulu
fashion to sit in circle, while each
one, in turn, tells his ailment. .My
trouble is in my head"-"My back is
my disease" etc. Theie efore we went
to see how really ill Unani was.
African wagon travelling is somewhat
rough at times, but very pleasant ; the
oxen keep up jog-trot all day occa-
sionally there is little excitement in
going down steep hill, in seeing IL
deer, a leopard, or some other animal
| i'll the bush, and there is no end OF
beautiful scenery-the South African
coast is said to be like Colorado.
1t was one days journey to Unani's
home, that is, somewhere between
eighteen and twenty-five miles, and,
having breaklasted before leaving, we
were ready to stop at noon for dinner.
The oxen were turned loose to Craze,
our fire was built, coffee-kettle put on,
meat hung in front of the fire to broil.
and then while waiting, we wandered
off for Il little walk. Going down Il
hill, we came upon crowd of natives
sitting on the ground in circle, around
"witch- DOCTOR" dressed in his snake
skin, with animals skins and teeth,
and his hair plastered with red clay.
After saying good day" we asked what
was the matter, and found that some
one had lost il COW, and had come to
the witch doctor to learn where to find
it. 1t is the custom not to tell the
doctor what is lost, SO he is obliged to
guess, which is not very difficult, as
the people who have brought the case,
say, ''Hedl" between his guesses and
the nearer he is to the right, the more
loudly they say ''Hear," just as chill
dren, in playing "hide and seek,n say
shot" or "cold." ais it IL chicken ~
says the doctor. "Hear," very family ;
or "an OK 2" "Hear," much louder !:
until, when he finally said "a COW q''
there could be no mistake he knew
what was missing, and yet, strange to
say, the people think this is wonderful
perception, and so their witch-doctors
have immense influence over them.
We could not stay for the end of this
case, being obliged to go back to our
dinner. As a rule, the doctors either
lind what is lost, or explain why they
cannot, in such a satisfactory way that
the faith of the people remains un-
shaken.
Having eaten our dinner, picnic
fashion, on the ground, we went on
our way, arriving about sunset at our
journeys end, passing only one object
OF interest, of which it is needless to
give the Zulu name. 1t was a large
pile of stones, on which each man in
passing, is expected to throw another
stone, so that on any frequented way
the heap becomes formidable. 1t is IA
very old custom, and may have come
by tradition from some such usage as
that mentioned in the book of Judges.
where great heap of stones was piled
on the burial-place of some notorious
criminal.
We had come with our bed i'm the
wagon, prepared to sleep there, as is
the custom in travelling, but the people
of the kraal were so anxious to be hos
pitable, that we accepted the empty
hut which they offered us. The Zulus
are clean people, very unlike some