Hattiesburg daily progress. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 18??-1909, 1903-11-23
THE AFRICAN AT HONE.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT BAR
| 1ARiTY OF THE RACE.


Efforts to Convert - Number OF
Tribes NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Gus
toms Of Queer Specimens Of Man.
kind.
The prevailing Impression In the
United States Is that when the mis-
sionary goes to South Africa he goes
on a mission of great peril attendant
more or less with semi-barbarous saw
ages. Now, of course, this is all cor
rect with the exception Of the former.
as the missionary IN South Africa Is
just as safe there as II he stood In MS
own pulpit at home While barbarity
exists in a measure, 1t is not OF the
savage kind, the native having been
long ago quelled into absolute SUD-
mission and the white man could go
through the country unarmed, unat-
tended and with no other weapons
except those of nature. The mission
airy suffers no inconvenience except
in the way his food is prepared. and.
Of course, one could not expect to
have course dinners served them on
the "veldt"
There are no forests In the south
ern country, and one sees few trees
until he reaches the banks OF the Fam
best, where the wild part of the coun-
try begins. and of course so little Is
known Of this section that 1t is al
most impossible to give an accurate
account of it. The number of tribes
who inhabit the country is multitud-
inous, and the dialects and language
of each differ in a great measure, be-
ing so difficult to master that one
cannot speak them with accuracy I'M
less he is brought up to 1t from clild-
hood.
The principal tribes-or I might
say nations, as they really are-are
the Zulus, Matabeles, Swazis, Basut-
os, Bechuanas, Kaffirs, Pondos, Gaik-
as, Galekas and Namaquas, all OF
which have their own chiefs. feasts
and modes of living, which differ in a
greater or less degree, according to
how far one may be removed from
the other. While none Of these peo-
pie can compare with the American
negro, either mentally or physically,
the leading tribes rank very favor
ably with some of the European ma
tions as physical specimens Of hui
mainly.
There is one very queer type called
the "bushman." who lives in the bush
or underbrush, as his name would
signify They are very small OF sta
ture and rarely exceed four feet six
inches in height.
Near the larger towns the native
lives in what are called locations, a
part of the outskirts are set aside for
him to reside in, and unless he Is a
voter-an educated negro-he is sub
ject to arrest IL he is seen on the
streets after 9 O'Clock, and for this
offense he is usually fined shillings,
or $120. He cannot ride In the same
part of a train as white man,
neither can he be serve in any hotel,
bar, or restaurant which it is white
mans privilege to enter. He is allow
ed to ride upon the street cars, but
upon a portion that is set aside for
him.
One can go thirty miles from any
town in South Africa and see the
negro in his savage state, just as he
really Is, in all his savage rituals and
tribal customs. His dress Is usually
a loin cloth and sometimes In cold
weather a blanket thrown over his
shoulders. The women dress in the
same manner, while the children, as
a rule, have nothing to clothe them.
AS a rule the native Is unreliable
and not to be depended upon to do
any task you might set him, and
when he works 1t Is in such manner
that 1t would break the heart Of any
American or Irish foreman of street
laborers 1t usually takes about 20
of these people. to do the work re.
CURED of three ordinary men at home
while their hours are much shorter,
and their pay runs from so to 80 cents
a day. An exception to this is In my
own case, where employ about fifteen
to twenty negroes all the time and
pay them from $1.25 to- 1912 per day.
However, I may say that this is the
highest pay of any negro laborer in
in the whole country, but | have after
many efforts secured about the very
best procurable.
In the country the native lives IN
queer little mud huts with matched
roofs. These houses are usually
about seven or eight feet in diameter,
while that of the chief or headman is
about twenty feet In the one room
the family eats, sleeps and cooks.
In nearly all instances when child
Is born deformed he is killed, and
one seldom sees a cripple among
them, and even then 1t Is due to an
accident of some nature. AS to his
means of subsistence the native prin-
cipally lives on what Is called here,
"mealie pap" or as we know it at
home, cornmeal mush. Meat he sell
dom gets, exeapt, for instance, when
q cow or an OK dies. then runners
are sent out to all the friends of
the family, and they roast 1t in hot
ashes and stay there until 1t is all
eaten. Truly this Is 'fete of roast
OK" or a barbecue with vengeance.
Without a doubt the South African
negro is one of the queerest speci-
mems of mankind imaginable.-Balti'