The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

by far the most important members of the tribes They are supposed to be di- vinely appointed and especially author fzed to use magic for the good of the tribe Every witch doctor has to under go course of training before he can practice, and he must exhibit certain fdiosyncracies which prove him fitted for cused must take this out with his bare cial head-dress of fur and feathers and has charms of many kinds about his neck. He must be able to handle poisonous snakes. He must be a sleight-of- hand performer and able to make the people believe he has miraculous powers. As q rule he kills more than he cures, but this does not seem to affect his reputation. A Talk With Native Commissioner.
 The government has white officers who watch out for the interests of the natives talked with one of these, Mir Taberer, who has been managing the negroes for many years. He tells me that the whites are now respected and that the natives are better off than they were in the days of Lobengula. So far, comparatively lit tie of the country has been taken up by white settlers, and they plant their corn and graze their cattle about where they please They live in little kraals or villages ranging in size from 20 to 100 huts each and their corn fields are sC-. tered over the country outside the vil- lages. They gather their crops at harvest time, and store them in little granaries made of mud, matched with straw Such a granary is about as big around as a hogshead and four or five feet in height It is raised upon stones and is entered by hole near the roof the hole being stopped up when the corn is put in and opened from time to time as the grain is needed. These granares are often built on the tops of high rocks such as are found throughout Rhodesia. This aids in keeping out the damp and the vermin
 Wives Sold for Cattle.
 The native commissioner tells me that marriage among these negroes is largely matter of bargain and sale. The groom pays the brides father a certain sum for his daughter. The usual price for a strong and good looking girl is four cows; or if she be the daughter of a chief, she may bring as much as five or six. It used to be that girls were often betrothed and bought when they were babies, the grooms paying part of the purchase price at that time and the rest by in- stallments. In such cases the fathers agreed to rear the girls This practice has been stopped by the government, as it resulted in many an old man possessing several very young wives; and also as the girls frequently fell in love with young men, and the strife between the old pros pective husbands and the young lovers whom they wanted as husbands, was great.
 As it is now, a girl must be of certain 1 age before she can be sold In some tribes she is married at 13, and in others she must be IT before she is ready for { wedding. I suppose that IA or 15 might | be put as the average age of marriage | among the Matabeles
 The native women are gradually &C., | quiring more rights under the rule of the [ white men. In the past they had but few that their husbands were bound to re- | spect but to day the government grants divorces on the ground of infidelty and cruelty, and a woman may bring her husband into court. Among the various tribes of South Africa divorces are ire 1 ouent There are some in which wo- | man can be divorced if she takes milk out of the family supply without asking her husband. and some in which infidel- ity is punished by death, In such a case the husband can demand back the cat tle he paid for his wife. or if he cannot get the cattle he can claim all the chll- dren as his possession. As a rule most of the natives think quite as much of their cattle as their wives.
 A Poor Labor Supply.
 The natives are bad farmers and they do not form a good labor supply. In raising their own crops they do no blow ing. They merely hoe the ground over and drop the corn. The crop Is weeded once or twice and then allowed to ripen Nothing is known about fertilization. and.