Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-08-15
A Wedding In ZuluIand.

Mrs. Hutchinson, in her work " A
Trip to the Transvaal," gives this ac-
count of n Zulu wedding: The wedding
was at kraal about two miles from the
camp. Shall | ever forget that drive, as
we jolted over stones and shaved" ant
hills, and bumped in and out of holes,
the mules all the time going at full
gallop, till we really expected that the
cart would turn over with us every mo-
mentp But we have grown so used to
that sort of driving now that we only
laugh and try to avoid having our hats
smashed and our heads broken against
the sides of the wagons. As we ap-
preached the kraal our ears were greeted
by the skrieks, yells and howls of the
wedding party, and on surmounting q
ridge OF ground we came upon COM
pany all in "full fig,n practicing one of
their dances. The men wore large
plumes of black feathers which covered
their heads and hung down over their
shoulders. They had shields covered
with cowhide, and carried sticks, which
they waved and brandished in very
warlike manner. They were continually
in motion, stamping, grunting and
shouting, and at last fell into a kind of
procession, which moved on toward the
kraal, dancing all the way. Every now
and then some warrior, more than usual
ly excited, would burst from the ranks
and bound, with housekeeping action,
several yards in advance. He would
then stop, and with queer antics and
strange gyrations would go through the
motions of killing his antagonist, con-
tinuing them amidst the plaudits of his
companions till they caught him up,
when he would fall in, only to be sue
ceeded by an excited rival, eager to equal
if not outdo him.
The two sisters of the bride, elegantly
attired in few rows of green, white and
pink beads, accompanied this lovial
crew, shrieking and racing about as if
possessed. The father of the bride was
there too, distin uishable from the other
braves by the extra length of his tail
of feathers, which hung from the top of
his head and reached all down his back
AS this interesting company proceeded
they were met-by women in pairs all
dressed (O alike in the same charming
simplicity, who ran to meet them,
screaming at the top of their voices and
making a most peculiar. tremulous,
shrill noise, which reminded me more of
neighing" than anything else. These
fell into the ranks, as did large COM
pany of young girls and children, who
all rushed to meet the procession, yelling
as loud as they could and appearing to
be quite mad with excitement.
The whole body then advanced at a
majestic sort of pace, all taking one step
forward at the same moment, raising
| their shields, giving stamp and yell,
and so ON TIL they got sort of parade
ground in front of the kraal, where they
drew up in line two or three deep, and
continued the stamping and shouting,
waving of arms, positioning, and all the
other maneuvers, accompanying them
selves by song which consist ed in the
perpetual reiteration of three notes in a
minor key. have ascertained that this
tune is the same which is used by them
on all similar occasions.
The bride, surrounded by whole
bevy of sisters and sympathizing friends,
knelt on a mat facing the dancers and
held shield and knife in her hand.
| Her dress consisted of beads arranged
with great taste and her hair was elabo-
rately got up with the brass wire and
palm oil of the period. But what en-
tertained us the most was the JlttSc, con.
temptuous expression of her c0unten-
ance, which was evidently the highest
mode for Kaf1ir brides to assume.