Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-03-27


people only; aud previous TO the influx Of the
! white people he WAS noted for his hospitality.
Being social sylnpathetic and h.ospitahle, It is
| deed few people are really more so The host
receives his guest with 'Sd L1i bona" we see or
respect yon. and the guest on taking leave says,
| "!SdiG kdhie." "Remsin well. and the host re-
| plies "Hambd kdhic " Go well The plaintiff
| In court must be allowed 10 speak as long he
| pleases without interruption, and the defendant
| must have the same privilege and the same rule
holds In familiar conversation The Lulus sense
Of justice is quick, fine, correct He never com.
plains Of deserved punishment. His honesty 50
far at least pertains to stealing used to be
| worthy Of all praise. Under Chakas rule theft
| was counted a capital crime. But In word and
| thought the Zuiu is FAR from being honest or
truthful "He Is prone 10 have very large reser-
| vations in his own mind when he Is avowedly Civ
ing full account Of some occurrence. and man
ages to disguise aud distort facts with exceeding
cleverness and skill Nor does his hospitality
prevent his being avaricious; for cattle in partic
ular his greed ~ excessive.
| In the Zulus as In other African tribes and
races the emotional element Is broad and deep
| fn these Africans find the supplement Of the
| other great families Of man. In the Shemitic
| branch We have a manifestation Of the will. an
| earnest, serious seli.relying soul in the Japhet
| ic, a manifestation Of the mind as seen in poll
| ties philosophy science; in the Hamtic, the
heart the susceptbilites emotions affections
These affections, renewed aud sanctihed make
the base Of all the best Christian graces, other
| wise, they run to superstition, sensuality, and
often break into a fierce, ungOverned passion
| Hence. at ease, free from the exctements Of war
| and with their greed for cattle or other gain in
| abeyance they are wont to he not only social
| sympathetic, polite, but also to show warm re-
| gard for their kindred, and especially strong af
| fection for their mothers and children. Yet, he
ing impulsive, untutored, II is easy for them to
take offence, get into quarrel. and try to settle
their disputes by fiercely listing each other. But
| they not yindictiye people, and tue thunder
| storm commonly passes quickly by. The Zulu is
selfrespecting If not proud. naughty, of a mar
! tial spirit, sharp-minded, quick witted, logical,
| and most ready reader Of character.
Now in all this who does not see much Of en-
| eouragement to work for the re ,emptlon OF the
Zulu, the whole Bantu race, all Africa. TO Christ:
| As they have IN their heathenism their own con
stitutonal characteristics. 40 will they have when
| they shall be converted to God. As they are
| needed, in Gods economy. to round out and com
| plete the human family, So in that economy, they
| are needed to round out and complete the Christ
| ian church And II we take the leading traits of
| their present character to be any index to what
shall be- their Christian character, 1t IS easy
to see that their own peculiar type Of piety will
| not be without its place, use and glory ~ the
| great family Of regenerated men, the one body of
that church which shall I've gathered 'out Of all
/ nations
| The Zulus' manner of life their dress habita-
tions and pursuits are doubtless all that could he
| expected of people in a semi-tropical climate,
| In both the number and size OF the garments the
inventory Is very scant. lhe ordinary dress OF
women is half a COW hide, tanned soft, dyed
black, bound about the lous and coming down
about the knees. And when II is old and worn
and torn. she goes to one bush for bark with
| which to make a thread and to another for
| thorn to be used as needle or awl and sews up
/
| small apron, made from the hide Of some animal
| with the hair or fur retained and suspended from
| a grdle about his loins; or It may be bunch OF
| short, furry thongs. cut from the skin Of wild
| cat or other animal More than half the children
/ 20 without clothing enough to be named, much
/ less described The married women have the
| head shaved close and smooth, all except top
knot made solid with red Ochre in the crown, the
married men have their heads shaved also all ex-
| cept ring, made black and glossy by the use of
gum and charcoal around the crown. Men. won.
/ en- and children, young men and madens, are all
/ most fond Of ornaments. The supeTstitlous, and
that means ALL attach great value to various kinds
/ Of roots. bits of wood, pieces of bark, bones,
horns. hoofs the teeth and claws Of bird, beast
or creeping thing worn as amulets or charms eS.
/ pecially around the neck Snuh-taking is with
| them great institution Smoking the igUdu or
| horn is another. Mixing their tobacco with the
/ leaves of the wild hemp, they sometimes continue
the Supplying process till they are Intoxicated or
| maddened by the narcotic fumes.
The Zuus habtation and home effects are
| even more simple and limited. ii possible. than
/ his wardrobe Selecting dry oval spot near a
stream it possible, he sets a row of stakes in circu-
| lar form and weaves in wattles for cattle fold.
| Around this he builds series Of huts, one for
/ himself and one for each wife and her children,
and then around all another circular fence to pro-
| tect his home from outward foes. The hut is
made of rods set in the ground in circular form
with diameter of fifteen ortwenty feet, the tops
/ bent over in Il rainbow form, brought together
and covered with thatch; giving the whole u hem
/ spherical shape with height of about seven
| feet in the centre. where the roof rests post
An opening two feet high and eighteen inches
| earth. covered with clay makes the floor, and
| space yard wide slightly dished, between the
central post and the door, makes fireplace,
part of the border is marked of for goat, sheep
/ or calf: the remainder of the margin is devoted
to the storage Of firewood, water-gots calabashes
Of milk, sleeping mats etc Furniture, they
/ have none For knife and fork they use the
/ spear and their fingers
Among the Zulus the wife is the woman-of-a all
| work. AS soon as the rainy season sets in which
| is usually in.Septenlber, she takes her child on
her back, goes to the field prepares place in the
grass for her child. scatters the seed and begins
| to mellow up the ground and cover the seed by
| digging with her heavy pick Then, toward
night, she takes her child, gathers her bundle of
/ wood, goes home, brings water from the brook,
| prepares the evening meal and serves her nus
band with the best. When he has had his fill, she
gathers what remains and divides It between her
self and the children In times Of war the men
| are engaged In defending their homes from the
| incursions of their foes or in making predatory
/ attacks upon n-ighborng tribes. In times of
| peace they are expected to prepare the fields il
/ need be, for the pick and either fence or watch
them as against cattle and wild beasts. They tan
| the hides for their wives dresses: they and the
boys herd the cattle and milk the cows; they hunt
and visit and smoke and bask in the sun, drink
| beer and give much time TO following up their in
/ termlnable suits at law. The men build the cat
lie fold, and the women the houses. The practice
/ Of polygamy is common The wife is bought
/ with cattle, and generally the man who can pay
best is most likely to be successful in his suit.
Christian work among the Zulus had, from the
/ first. two great evils to contend with-polygamy
and superstition And now, of late, when the
rupt civilization, another evil, that of lntemper-
ance, has TO be added to the list IN his ignorance
OF the true God, and in his search for some kind
of divinity, some object Of aid, trust and worship,
the Zulu turned to the spirits of the departed, the
shades Of his ancestors especially TO the ghosts
| OF their most famous kings, as Funga, jana and
/ up to be OWNERS, izfHydngd, and profess to be
able to reveal 10 them the mind of their gods.
And like most other people, the Zulu is wont to
| be most religious when most in need.
xuaS b1, a nao,la Of yu,b nd
needs (the writer says, in conclusion
that | was welcomed with gladness and
gratitude when | told them, one dark
rainy night, in a smoky hut, how God had
loved them and given his own dear son to
| he their Saviour 1t was the sons of such
that gave me that impromptu, joyous re-
ception on the bright morning of my begin
ming work for them in the sources of the
| Umsundwzi. To their inquiry, Where is
the Book, how does it look, what does it
say and what will it do" | replied by
bringing out copy telling them of its OBJ
ject, and giving them lesson in the alpha
bet. They thanked me, and said they
would come again the next day, as indeed,
they did, and with them their sisters who
as nurses, had infant brothers and sisters
| bound on their backs, la Zulu, in goat
skins so that the second day | gave
another talk, and another lesson in the al
/ phabet And so the work went on.
| But the izinyangd, diviners, soon began
| to see that this new doctrine, should it pre-
vail, would strike death-blow to their oc-
cupation polygamists saw il was fatally
opposed to their practice; fathers saw it
would interfere with the selling of their
daughters in marriage and chieftains saw
that their rule would have to be conformed
fg fba Ia nd Ia ,f -
Hence came opposition to our work, But,
in time, half dozen young men and wom-
en-, from among those who had been long
est under instruction, came forward at the
close Of an evening meeting, and said they
wanted to repent, believe in Christ, be bap-
tized, and Join the church. A church was
formed, and, with hearts overlooking with
gratitude and joy, they and their teachers,
the missionary and his wife, sat down to-
gether one Sabbath afternoon around the
table Of the Lords great love to men, and
called afresh to mind what he had done in
giving his life a ransom for us. Then
came trials, ostracism, confscation of prop
erty, persecution in various forms, some of
them violent, for Christ's sake but most
of the believers stood firm, and numbers
were added, from time to time, of such as
seemed worthy, Polygamy was ignored
Christian families were established up
right civilized houses took the place of
dark, smoky huts becoming Christian
garb was adopted oxen that had been run
ming half wild on the hills were trained to
work; here and there pillow, cart or wag-
on made its appearance and woman, re-
leased from digging in the field and carry
ing produce to market on her head, gave
herself to the making of neat, happy
Christian home for herself, her husband
and their children.
Mr. James Lambert, OF New Brunswick, H.,
says Il was badly afflicted with rheumatism la
the hips and legs when bought bottle OF Cham.
berain's Pain Balm Il cured me in three days.