Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-05

of the white man, and so we can run
things about as We please
*
The Kafirs own land all over South A.
RIGA. In many places the land still be-
longs to the chiefs, subject to the rights
of their tribesmen. and the chief has no
right to sell or trade it away. In southern
Rhodesia the native commissioners assign
the land for huts and grazing. giving each
kraal SO much. When Cecil Rhodes died
he ordered that the natives on his farms
be undisturbed. and large blocks of gov
eminent lands have been set aside for
agriculture in different parts of Rhodesia.
In Natal something like 5000 acres were
transferred to a trust more than fifty
years ago. and this trust was to give all
the rents and profits from it to one tribe
A few years later another native trust
was given two mil ion acres. and this is
still administered for the Kafirs of Natal.
Within the last few years the nativ lands
have been fenced off from those of the
Europeans, and the boundaries between
the tribes defined. in that colony about
one-haif of the negroes live in kraals on
private lands. paying from So to So per
hut to the owners of their farms which
consist of from 1900 to 5000 acres each
One of these farms will have a group Of
natives upon it, and the group will he
governed by its hereditary chief or head
man. Every kraal will cultivate from
mainder is used for grazing in common.
= x
! had q good chance to see something
of the wilder Kafirs during my stay in
Matabeleland and Bechuanaland. and 7
also met strange tribes who are allied
to them in Northwestern Rhodasia. Near
ly all the natives live in what are known
as kraals. These are little mud viii
of brush.
Among the Zuus these kraals are cir
cular in shape. with the cattle pen in the
center and the nuts running around IL.
In Matabeleland they are somewhat irrcS-
ular, and in other regions they are built
like horseshoe with cattle kraal near
the opening. The cattle are herded dur
ing the daytime and are always kept in
the kraalS at night.
The kraal usually contains all the
houses of the village. These are of diff
ferent shapes, in different localities. In
Matabe Gland they consist of framework
of twigs woven together and plastered
with mud, and in Zululand they ara
matched down to the ground. In many
parts of Rhodesia the houses are made
of framework of sticks, smearcd with
the clay from the white ant hills. This
is a natural cement, and is used for all
sorts of BUILDINGS. In that country the
negroes have granaries Of mud and they
also make pigeon houses OF 1t and PUT
them on high poles to protect the birds
from the wild animals and dogs. The
ordinary granary is the size OF hoss-
head or larSSr. 1t has hole in one size.
which is stopped up with clay after the
grain is put in. In Zululand the rain
is kept in huge baskets inside the huts.
:: x
In q kraal like this one man owns sew
eral houses corresponding to his num-
Der of wives In the principal hut he
will live with the great wife, and on
the right of that will be the hut for the
spouse known as The wife of the right
hand" while on the left will be that de-
voted to the wife Of the ancestors,
whose children are supposed to carry
the honors OF the family. If there are
other wives their huts are built farther
over. Each wife is supposed to own her
own hut, and the husband is expected
to spend a week in each before he goes
to another.
In the same way each wife has her
own garden or field. which she culti-
Yates, and for which she alone is re-
SponSible. The women do all the plant.
ing, hoeing and reaping, and the moro
wives a man has to work for him the
richer he is
AS far as the stock is concerned. this
is usually cared for by the men. Milking
time is at II o'clock in the morning. and
then the men, stark naked. do the milks
ing. They take the milk in water-tight
baskets to their huts and pour it into skin
bags, where it is allowed to stay u..til il
ferments. The kafirs never drink fresh
milk. but they eat this koumis or fer.
mented milk with their boiled grain or
mush. They always have their big meal
at noon, when the men eat first, and the
women and children take what is left.
FRANK G. CARPENTER