The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-01-12
ONCE A POWERFUL NATION.
The Important Past of the Now fitif1i
and Timorous Nashonas.

Mr.. Theodore Bend has made some
surprising discoveries, says the \. L.
S1t12, with regard to the inhabitants Of
Mashonaland Eight years ago Mon
tagu Kerr described these natives as q
very timid people living among the
rocks and crannies of the hills, where
they kept a constant lookout for the
approach of the dreaded Matabeles.
Their enemies for many years had
kept them in 4 state of terror. Mr..
Bend says that in spite of their timid
nature he believed when he saw them
last year that their race had seen bet
ter days, as they retained traces of
a higher civilization in their skill in
smelling iron, their carvings, and
musical instruments. They called
themselves the Makalanga, name
which did not signify much to the ex-
plorer until he returned to civilization,
when lie began to read the works Of
early Portuguese travellers.
In the books written 80 wears ago
by Dos Santos, who was far more
careful and accurate writer on Africa
than most of his contemporaries, Mr.
Bent was astonished to find this state
ment referring TO the region of Ma
shOnaland:
"AIl these Kaffirs they call Mo-
Carangas, because they all talk the
Mocaranga language. The Monoma-
tapa and all his Yassals are Mo
carangas, name which they have be-
cause they live in the land of the Mo-
caranga, which is the best and most
polished of all the Kallir languages
have seem"
Here we have the same name as
Makalanga by substituting, as the
Portuguese always did. for |. Other
conclusive testimony with regard to
the identity of the two peoples has
been discovered by Mr.. Bent, and it
may be regarded as established thai
the timid Makalangas Of to-day are the
descendants of the once powerful or
ganization known in the sixteenth CEN
tury as the empire of Monomatapa, q
powerful kaftir organization like the
Matabeles Of to-day, which fell TO
pieces on account of internal dissen-
sions and finally became a prey to the
Zulu hordes. The descriptions which
Dos Santos gives of the Makalanoas Of
MOnOmatapa correspond exactly with
the habits and customs of the present
inhabitants. He tells of the annual
sacrifice to the spirits of their ancestors.
the intercessors for them between God
and man, the beer drinking, the iron
smelling. the Mashonaland piano. the
weekly day of rest during the plowing
season, and other customs which iden-
tifv them with the people of to-day.
bar o1ry 81, to
himself of the writings of Arab his
torians who lived 1000 years ago,
whose descriptions of the manners and
customs of the people living in this
region connect them with the present
race. Hence it seems very clear that the
country now called MashOnaland has
been inhabited for at least / 900 years
by the ancestors OF the present bar
5arous race, race which at one time
had power and some degree Of civiliza-
ton, due probably to its intercourse
with foreign traders; but it has again
fallen into a condition of barbarsm.
During the plowing season every
sixth day is called Gods Day, when
the people abstain from work. The
day is invariably devoted By the men
to drinking beer and lying idle on the
rocks. The Mashona piano consists
of more than twenty iron notes.
fixed to scale on square piece OF
wood and played on calahash to
bring out The sound. The natives are
a musical race, and easily pick up the
tunes to play on this Instrument.
The anthropologist evidently has an
inviting field for research in the study
of the Makalanga. whose language is
as yet little known. The natives are
very reserved with regard to their Gus
toms and reliUiOus ObserYances.