The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-25
ZULUS A STRANGE PEOPLE.
SOUTH AFRICAN TRIBESMEN Gov

ERNED BY DUAL AUTHORITY.
owe Allegiance Both to Great
Britain and the Native Chiefs.
Curious Manner in Which They
SETTLE Their Disputes-BetrOthaIs
and Marriages Are Affairs OF
Greatest Ceremony.
From the Boston Transcript.
The chief native races of South At
RIGA are the Bantu, the Bushmen and
the Hottentots. The last two are found
in the lower part of South Africa. All
those who have studied the three races
carefully agree that the Busnmen and
the Hottentots are of a different stock
altogether from the Bantu. Further,
they agree that the customs and lam
guage of the Bushmen and Hottentots
resemble in many respects those of
the ancient Egyptians and that, there
fore, they must be part of the Egyp-
tian or Coptic family. Further, it has
been proved very evident that the oc-
cupation of this part of Africa by the
Bantu race began just about the his
torical period. The assumption is that
this great mass of people pouring in
must have cut the old Egyptian or
Coptic family asunder, and shaping it's
course to the south has carried a large
portion of the sundered family before
1t. Whence came this sundering
wedge? 1 will not guess.
In this great Bantu family are a great
many tribes, each having it's own pc
culiar and interesting characteristics.
One of these races is the Zulu Kaffir.
The Zulus at first formed a very
small tribe. They were Just at the
mercy of other stronger tribes until
their greatest chief, Chaka, came to
the throne. He was then 80 years of
age, with very high military talent
and very ambitious to make a wide
conquest. His policy was to subdue
and to incorporate the neighboring
tribes into his own. Pursuing his pol
icy he conquered one tribe after an
other, locating here and there among
them his own people, establishing his
military kraals or villages among them
and governed them so as to hold them
in the most complete awe and subor-
dination to himself. For about six
years he continued this policy. Each
tribe conquered meant new strength
for his own army, because he cut off
all the royal family by the sword, to-
gether with all the old element, took
the young men into his own army and
gave the country over to his veteran
regiments.
His Name Is Revered.
The regiment thus honored was per-
mitted to retire from active service
and it's members to settle down and
get married. Only under such condi-
tons could any one marry.
In 1922 his conquering power was felt
IL
almost through the whole of South At
rica if you speak Zulu the natives will
understand you. Chaka's name will
never pass from memory so long as
there is any Zulu left to swear, even
by the terrors of his memory OF all
the Zulu kings Cetywayo was the only
one who had the same genius.
To-day the Zulus live in Zululand
and Natal, both British colonies. IN
der the British rule, they enjoy more
peaceful life, and are far greater in
numbers than before. They still have
their own chiefs, but these chiefs are
responsible to the British magistrate.
The greatest portion of the people still
live just as their fathers did. They ad-
dress their chief as king and when
ever they come near him or see him
they praise him with all the huge titles
of honor they can think of, and also
with all the names of terror, such as
tiger, the lion, the elephant, or "the
black one.''
My people hold "black' as the color
of honor. None of my people would
count it a compliment if you should
tell him he was light-colored. One of
the most common and yet choicest of
the titles of honor with which we at
tempt to praise and to extol our kings
is to say: Thou art black" An Eng
lishman who lived for fifteen years
among my people says about them:
Proud of Dark Skins.
You will not find any of them, es-
pecially among the young, whit less
Indifferent than the white man as to
their complexion, not a whit less proud
of clear, deep brown, bordering as
close as possible upon a pure black,
than any Anglo-Saxon is of the fairest
white" When one approaches a chief
he salutes him with these words, and
as he says them he approaches in
a stopped fashion:
Bayede. mungane! wena ukose! weno
Wen 'okula belibele; wen 'ongange
utaba.
That is
Hail my lord! thou art king; thou art
black!
Thou hast outgrown others; thou are
ike mountain.
These chiefs are their leaders and
judges. They settle all questions of
dispute which the underheadmen fail
to make straight. Then, if even here
anyone does not find satisfaction he
appeals to the British court
This is how a Zulu begins a lawsuit
In the first place. after a man finds
that he has sufficient grounds on which
TO conduct a charge against another,
he calls together his adherents and
they. all fully armed, proceed TO the
kraal, or residence. of the one charged.
At their arrival they sit together in
some conspicuous position and wait
quietly for the result of their visit
The people of the kraal readily see
that this IL a law party and they in
turn call together all the adult males
OF the family into arms and they, too,
nLL lonathar IN nnn hnau within hnarln..