Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-07-15

| tie within their domains anu hmOnOpOly
Of the ivory trade. Wars are common,
their purpose being usually to obtain cat
tie or slaves. The latter are sold TO
traders from the coast, who are always
waiting around the courts of the chiefs
to pick up such merchandise. The Wa
Chaga are ircorrigible thieves, being
particularly given 10 chicken stealing.
DIR. Abbott found a convenient protec-
ton against their depredations in the
reputation he acquired as a sorcerer. His
fame in this respect was completely es-
tablished by a spring gun in his store
room, which went off and shot one of
the guar ds placed in charge of the pro-
visions.
For the dress Of both sexes white.
sheeting and bright calicoes brought by
the coast traders are the favorite materi-
ais. All the women adorn themselves
with as many girdles and necklaces of
beads as they can obtain. They are very
fond of massive pewter bracelets that
weigh several pounds each, as we'll rs Of
armlets and anklets of copper or iron
wire. The dress OF a warrior usually
consists of a ruff of ostrich feathers
around the face, large cap of vulture
feathers, anklets of black monkey skin
and bit of red cloth all Of which
make up an attire that is both striking
and picturesque. For battle a spear
with long and beautiful blade of steel
is carried, together with a huge oval
shield of buffalo hide painted with the
heraldic pattern of the owners tribe.
There are no villages, each family
living by itself in one or more huts,
with a granary and shed, surrounded by
banana plantation. Each wife has a
hut to herself The ordinary house is
twelve feet high, shaped like bee hive,
and built of grass over framework OF
sticks. The interior OF the hut ordinar-
ily accommodates besides the fam
iIy, one or more cows, several
sheep and goats aud flock of fowls. A
fire is kept continually burning, and the
smoke, heat and stencil are frightful.
The Wa Chaga arc the best of agricultu-
rists. Their neat little fields of grain
are prettily hedged AMI we'll wee led aud
watered, irrigation canals being brought
down thousands of feet from the higher
levels of the mountains, through prime
val forests, across ridges and over gull
lies by arttully constructed aqueducts.
Domestic utensils are made largely from
gourds, but plates and dishes are hol-
lowed out from solid blocks of wood, as
are also the beer tubs and bee hives, the
latter, shoped like elongated barrels,
hanging everywhere from the branches
of trees. Milk and butter are plenty,
but have an unpleasant taste. Great
quantities of beer, called "pombe," are
made from kind of sorghum. 1t is
consumed with especial freedom by the
chiefs, who are half drunk most of the
time.
The religion of these people is fetch
ism pure and simple. They believe all
sickness and misfortune to be due to
witchclaft. Scattered through the cul-
tivated regions are many small groves OF
large trees, carefully preserved from ln-
Jury. These are supposed to be the
abodes of spirits. Whenever there
is a thunder storm the spirits are
said to be passing from one grove to
another A year ago vast clouds of To-
Gusts passed over the country, but few
alighted and no damage was done. The
Wa Chaga ascribe their immunity from
injury to their having caught several Of
the insects and given them medicine,
letting them 60 thereupon to tell the
news of their ill treatment to others of
their kind Washington Star.