The Wichita daily eagle., 1901-05-05
SHE INDUCED RAINS
Ancient and Peculiar Queen
of The NajajeS.
.PRETORI0US SAW HER
Rider Haggard Based His
"She" Upon Her Romance.


! maker for all the native tribes south Oi
the Zambesi river, in South Africa, was
! Majaje, the White Queenso the Majaje
( tribe, which lived in the woodbush II
| the northern part the Transvaal. The
| Zulus, the Hottentots, the Kafirs. the
| Basutcs and scores Of other tribes recog-
/ nized her as the Great Rainmaker, and
/ whenever there was q drought in their
| provinces they sent their emissaTies to
her with requests for rain There We're
| rainmakers in every tribe, but Majaje
| was greatest, and was supposed to open
the clouds when all the others had failed.
For fifty years CT more she held this
| important native Office, and in that time
| she succeeded in enveIoping herself in
! deepest mystery. None but members OF
| her own tribe were allowed to see her;
! white men wer halted by her tribesmen
/ thirty miles from her capital and visiting
/ chiefs were informed by her headmen
/ that she had gone on a far journey. The
/ tales which white men heard concerning
her led them to believe that Majaje was
a myth, and Rider Haggard elaborated
! the report in his novel She, which had
for its leading character a mysterious
white woman who ruled over race of
| blacks somewherein central Africa Hag-
gard wrote his novel in the SOS, while
he was in South Africa, and long before
| it was established that the White Queen
was not myth. The fact that such a
woman really lived was proved by three
white men who talked with her, and one
/ of these men, the late Piet Jourbet,
.commandant-genera OF the Boer army,
was authority for this account of the
woman. The good old general and We're
caught in a rain-storm one night and
he related TO me the story. / told
him that 1 would some day write it out,
and promised to send him copy Of the
publication in which it should appear.
AIasl nothing from human hands, not
even modern journalism, can reach him
now.
Henning Pretorius, one of the Trans
vaal's first commandant-general and
probably the most fearless Boer that
ever lived returned from one of his fire.
quent journeys into unknown regions of
the TransvaII in the latter part Of 1889
and reported to his government that he
had succeeded in seeing Majaje. In a
volumirous report which he made of his
journey he stated that the woman was
queen of d section of the Makatese tribe,
and that her capital was surrounded by
an almost impenetrable forest of small
thorr1-trees On the opItsl1irts of this
forest he was met by a,large number of
well-armed tnbesmen, who asked him
and his companions to depart from the
neighborhood Immediately. Pretorius re-
fused to leave and insisted upon seeing
teh queen.
After a long discussion, during which
kraaI, Pretorius was granted permission
to visit the monarch. He was disarmed,
and his companions were left behind IN
der guard of a large number of tribes
men. He was led along a narrow, wind
ing path through the bush, and after a
journey of about thirty miles he came
to the queens royal kraal. In his report
he described the woman fninutely and
at great length. He said that she was
absolute monarch over her people, that
she undoubtedly had the power Of life
and death over them. and that she had
established q government that was far
in advance of any negro government he
had ever seen. The most astonishing part
of his report was that the woman was
not a negress. He described her as hav-
ing straight soft hair OF a light brown
color, thin lips. and light blue eyes. The
color of her skin was not black, but as
white as that Of a Portuguese. Pretor-
ius stated that she refused to tell her
age or anything concerning her antece-
dents, and added that she appeared
to be more than one hundred years old
perhaps one hundred and fifteen.
After Pretorius's journey many other
travellers and hunters tried to see the
woman, but none succeeded in passing
the guards that watched the entrance
to the forest day and night. Inasmuch
as the Makatese were ruled by the Great
Rainmaker, all other tribes regarded
them as neutral in all intertribal wars.
and consequently Majaje was able TO
remain quiet in her isolation for many
years. No one disturbed her unless rain
was wanted. and she herself made no ef-
fort 10 gain publicity either among
whites or blacks. Pretorius's report was
not printed by the Transvaal government
and consequently the popular idea of
Majaje, that she was a fictitious person
age, like many other strange characters
Of which negroes spoke. remained. Beers
living in the northern part Of the Trans
vaal near the boundaries of the tribal
home frequently heard natives report
that Majaje's people worshipped croco-
diles. and that the thorn-bush surround
ing her territory was bewitched in such
a manner that none but Makatese were
able TO penetrate it.
In 1884 the Makatese tribe formed an
alliance with Magoeba, the king Of the
wood-bush Rafirs. who lived near the
/ same district. and Majaje's people were
f7r r.s1rr Il ire
Beers Joubert, the commandant-generaI
Of the BoeS -rmy was sent against the
rebeilious natives. and he took with him
small number Of Swazls. who had been
driven into the Transvaal from their
native country by Umbadine. the father
of the late King Bunu. who ACQUIRED
the fatal habit of drinking FIVE quarts
of champagne a day. When Jouhert
and his forces reached the -.betrovert''
O5ewitched) bush. the warriors of Ma
jaje and Magoeba attacked them and
fought valiantly for several weeks. The
natives were defeated finally. and fle6
into the bush and mountains. The
Sw2zis then asked Joubert Tor pe-nis-
sion to follow the rebels. and 1t was
granted. When they returned. several
DAYS afterward. the Swazis brought with
them the heads of Magoeba and several
OF his indunas or headmen. in order TO
prove 10 the Beers thar they had really
been victorious. Joubert repvimanded the
Swazis hsrshly Tor having decapitated
the rebels and punished several Of the
leaders.
The day after the return Of the VIC
torious Swazis, several messengers came
from Ma3a5e. bringing peace-o1erings
in the shape Of TWO FIERY tusss ard
beautiful white OK The enaissaries de-
ciared that Na1aie had been nislead hy