Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-10-05
An African SibyI.


that it keeps US in Il humble frame Of
mind about civilization. We find un-
der our rule peoples whose customs and
rituals, tolerated or forbidden by our
law, carry US back to the rock whence
we Were all hcWn. I'VE know" in
EmcrSOn's phrase. that the barriers Of
race are not 50 firm but that spray can
sprinkle us from antediluvian seas
In the current Monthly Review the rec
tor Of Barberton repeats Il rumor
which invests the present dreary Strug
gle in Natal with something Of the ro
nance which we are wont to associate
with an earlier epoch in our African
history. DniZulu, it is rumored. has
sent emiSSaries to consult Majaji as to
the chances of q native rising, and to
obtain war medicine for his people. All
over South Africa in every tribe there
is :; kind of rude priesthood. who deal
i'm big medicine and strong magic.
In the main they are challatanS.
ghost doctors who play strange tricks
with homes. ana intercedc between the
living and thu. spirits Of the dead. iut
no white man who has lived much
among natives will care to be- too dog
matte on the matter Of their charlanry.
They have often Il rough working
Knowledge Of medicine. and have dis
titled from herbs very effective rcme-
dies They arr often. too. fan
metecrologists. able to predict the
weather better than the white man or
their fellow tribesmen, and they have
some crude skill in hypnotiSm. The
writer has been 4 witness of instances
OF X fir tclepathy which make him
hesitate to say what is or is not posi-
BILE in that strange world. But az
rule these tribal doctors have only a
small local reputation. and there are
few whom other tribes would take the
pains IL consult. Majaji, however. j.;
another matter. Her reputation has
spread froIn the Zambesi To the south
ern ocean. Dinizulu. for all We know,
may be model Of loyalty, and may
have thought as little Of consulting
her AZ Of seeking advice from Mrs.
Eddy. But the fact that it is com
monty believed that the greatest Of
Zulu chiefs should send for help TO
remote country five hundred niles "ff
shows how great the repute Of the
wonder worker must De.
situated in III" northern Transvaal, in
the wild fangle Of mountains which eX-
tend east from Petersburg toward the
Portuguese frontier. and which in their
various ranges are known as the
Zuutp ausherg, the Spelonken. and the
Wood Bush. They represent the
northern extension Of the Drak" berg,
where the plateau of the high weld
breaks down i'll foothills to the tropical
flats IF the Limpopo. 1t is strange
country. for il has nothing in common
with the ordinary South African
Landscape. Its rainfall is 50 high that
vegetation even at height of 1000 feet
is luxuriant; the streams are not
strings Of pools, but fun mountain tor.
rents: and in summer and winter alike
you will find haze on the uplandS. No
sharper distinction can be imagined
than between this humid but bracing
climate and the dry clearness Of the
high weld. 1t is such a country as Mr.
Rider Haggard has drawn in his "Peo-
tle Of the Mist" and like that fanciful
land the totem Of ono at least Of the
tribes is the crocodile The natives
are divided into small clans. the chief
llflSAlk' " " men - HON iI'blt 'pl l'S Ill
commission. Malapuch. who lived in
the Ilaauwb"rg and Wnrshipcd a great
croco lille. was broken by the Bn"r4 in
the last of their it'll" native wars
Magato. the chief of the mountain
who had his kraal in the ZnutpanSbrrg
CloSt to the little village of Louis
Trichard suffered the same fate. ANA
his successor, Mpcfu. til" present chief
is under strict government surveil-
lance. In the Wood Bush Fdchubi
was hunted out by Il Boer commando
ana a hired impi Of SWazis, and killed
in the dense thicket where h. had taken
refuge.
OF all the little tribes. only Majaiis
has held its ground untuuchcd: but as a
tribe II is shrinking rapidly. and the
ground originally granted aS q reserve
is too large for the use nf those who
remain. and will probably be curtailcd
But if the tribe is declining the reputa-
ton Of the chieftainess still fingers. for
it is 4 rule founded not upon material
power. but upon occult tradition. Like
The Convent of Sanding on the road to
Lhasa, the tribe IS governed always by
4 woman who acquires the sanctity OF
nt' lltutCtSSOTS. / ne on MdJd1l, VINO
was believed. like another Gagool. to
have lived for hundreds of years. died
OF disappeared some years ago. and
was succeeded by little girl. An in
verified Sale law prevails, for the tribe
is Il rude thcocracy, which never sought
to overcome its neighbOrS by arms
Its ruler was true Sibyl and her
reputation went forth into the length
ana breadth of the land. Old hunters
tell how strings Of natives used to BE-
met in the bushveld-from Portuguese
territory, from what is now Rhodesia.
from Swaziland and Natal-all jour
neylng to consult the oracle Since such
services We're not given for nothing.
MaJa]i became rich. She was famed as
rainnaker as prophecies. and
ABOVE all as vendor of charms. Her
medicines would make a warrior in
Vulnerable. and her nominations would
weaken the power of his enemies
! small wonder that the Sibyl did n good
trace and became name of awe to