The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-05-05
A WHITE AFRICAN QUEEN
The Mysterious Woman Who Ruled
a Native Tribe.
nnown ms Majaje, the Rninmaker,
and Controlled the Mnkatese Tribe
in the Northern Part of the Trans
vaal-Seen by n Bocr General

and Controlled the Mnkatese Tribe
in the Northern Part of the Trans
vaal-Seen by Bocr General
For more than half century the rail-
maker for all the native tribes south of
| the Zambesi River. in South Africa, was
| MajaJe. the White Queen of the Makatese
| tribe, which lived in the woodbush in the
northern part Of the Transvaal The
| Zulus, the Hottentots, the Kafirs. the Ra-
sutos, and scores of other tribes recog-
nized her as the great rainmaker. and
whenever there was drought in their
! provinces they sent their emissaries 50
| her with requests for rain.
The tales which white men heard con-
corning her led them to believe that Ma
| jaje was myth. and Rider Haggard elab-
GRATED the report in his novel She which
had for its leading character a mysterious
| white woman who ruled over a race of
! blacks somewhere in Central Africa Hag-
I gard wrote his novel in the eighties, while
! he was in South Africa, and long before
ii was established that the White Queen
| was not myth The fact that such
woman really lived was proved by three
white men who talked with her. and one
| OF those men. the late Piet Joubert, COM
mandant general of the Boer army. was
authority for this account OF the woman.
Henning Pretorius, one of the Trans
walls first commandment generals. and
probably the most fearless Boer that ever
lived. returned from one of his frequent
Journeys into unknown regions of the
Transvaal in the latter part of 1889 and
reported to his Government that he had
succeeded in seeing Majaje. In volum-
inous report which he made Of his journey
he stated that the woman was Queen OF
section of the Makatese tribe ana that
her capital was surrounded by an almost
impenetrable forest of small thorn trees
On the outskirts OF this forest ne was met
by large number of well-armed tribes
men. who asked him and his companions
to depart from the neighborhood imme-
diately. Pretorius refused to leave and
insisted upon seeing the Queen.
After long discussion, during which
many messengers were sent to the
Queens kraal. Pretorius was granted per-
mission to visit the monarch. He was dis
armed and his companions were left be-
hind under guard of a large number of
trlbesmen. He was led along a narrow.
winding path through the bush, and after
journey of about thirty miles he came
to the Queens royal kraaL In his report
nc described the woman infinitely and at
great length. He said that she was abso-
Lutte monarch over her people, that she
undoubtedly had the power of life and
death over them, and that she had estab-
lished a government that was far in adj
vance of any negro government he had
ever seen.
The most astonishing part of his report
was that the woman was not negress He
described her as having 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. Pretorius stated that she
refused to tell her age or anything con-
corning her antecedents, and added that
she appeared to be more than 100 years
old-perhaps lis.
Ia 1894 the Makatese tribe formed an
alliance with Magoeba, the king of the
woodbush Kaffirs, who lived near the
same district. and Majaje's people were
dragged into a rebellion against the Beers.
Joubert, the commandant general of the
Boer army. was sent against the re-
beliiouS natives and he took with him
small number of Swazis who had been
driven into the Transyaal from their ma
tive country by Umbandine, the father of
the late King Bunu. who acquired the
fatal habit of drinnIng five quarts of
champagne day.
When Joubert and his forces reached
riors of Maiaje and Magoeba attacked
them and fought valiantly for several
weeks. The natives were defeated finally
and fled into the bush and mountains.
The Swazis then asked Joubert for per-
mission to follow the rebels and it YVES
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 that they had really been
victorious.
+ta of no viz
rious Swazis several messengers carse
from Majaje, bringing peace offerings in
the shape of two ivory tusks and a beau
tiful white OK. The emisSaries declared
that Majaje had been misled by Magoei,a
and that she had no desire to be an enc
my of the Beers. Joubert told the mes
sengers to tell their Queen that If she
would surrender her arms unconditional
" and permit some one to go to her kraal
the war would be ended. In her reply
she accepted the first condition. but de-
clined to allow anyone to visit her kraal.
adding. however. that she would come out
and grant an audience to the Boer leader
The following morning the bush re-
sounded with the beating OF drums ana
the shriII noises of crude wind instru-
ments. Forerunners emerged from the
bush and announced the coming OF tne
Queen. f.s-t
When the head of the procession reach
ed General Joubert the priests deposited
the palanquin on the ground and drew
aside the curtains that concealed the
skin and was clothed in a variegated cos
tune of skins. furs and bead work Jou-
bsr: observed her closely and found that
Henning Pretorius' description of her
was accurate in every detail. The woman
had light soft hair. thin lips, blue eyes.
and a complexion as light that of the
Majority of white persons who have lived
in the Tropics for man years.
Many persons have attempted to eX-
plain the mystery of the Queens ances-
try and the result has been that many
strange tales are current in the country.
each being heralded as the only true so
luton. The most plausible theory is the
one that Commandant General Joubert
advanced. From some old chieftaius he
learned that there was tradition among
the Eiakatese that many genera tions ago
q large number OF white men had come
into the Zambesi region to dig gold. These
men incurred the enInity of the blacks,
who massacred all except one or two.
General Joubert believed as did the chief
tains. that Maiaje was the descendant OF
one of these survivors. but the native ira
dtion does not explain the process by
which she rose TO the position of ruler OF
the tribe Proof of the fact that gold was
dug in that neighborhood has been found
in scores of places along the Zambesi.
where in recent years many old shafts
have been uncovered.-New York Even
ing Post.