academy of SCENES] GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 161 



On another occasion I ran after a child in play. The child out of fright rushed into the 

 forest and hid. The same afternoon it was taken with a violent fever to which it succumbed 

 a few days later. I was not in the settlement at the time of the death, and was not sorry, for 

 it was reported to me that the father of the deceased child had said that he would have killed 

 me. On my return to his settlement a few days later I visited the father for the purpose of 

 having the case arbitrated. He broached the subject and demanded three slaves, or their 

 equivalent, in payment for the death of his child, which was due, he firmly believed and assever- 

 ated, to the scare that I had given it. 



Many instances might be adduced to illustrate the peculiar liability which one undergoes 

 in dealing with these primitive men who follow out in practice the old fallacy of post hoc ergo 

 propter hoc. 



LAWS OF CONTRACT 



The conception of contract is as universal as the conception of property rights, but a certain 

 amount of leniency seems to be expected in such details as fulfilling the terms of the contract on 

 the specified date, unless it has been expressly and formally agreed that no leniency is to be 

 looked for. In case of a failure to fulfill the contract at the stated time it is customary to offer 

 either what is called an "excuse," 4 in the form of extra hospitality or a free gift of some article, 

 not so valuable as to constitute a debt, or to make many explanations, very frequently fictitious. 

 These remarks apply only to cases in which the creditor has undergone the hardship of a reason- 

 ably long trip or of other necessary expenditures. Thus, to illustrate the point, A owes B a 

 pig deliverable, according to agreement, after the lapse of so many days, there being no express 

 provisions for any penalty in case of nonfulfillment of the agreement. B goes to A's house and 

 is treated to a special meal with an accompaniment of drink when obtainable. Toward the 

 termination of the meal, he is informed by A of the latter's inability to pay, for numerous real, 

 or more numerous fictitious, reasons. B accepts this excuse but before leaving asks for some 

 little thing that he may take a fancy to. It is always given as an "excuse." Another day for 

 the payment is agreed upon. This leniency may be displayed on one or more occasions till 

 the delay in paying exasperates B or renders him liable to loss. Ill feeling arises all the more 

 readily if B feels that A has not been as assiduous as he should have been. Then a stringent 

 contract is entered upon, the nonperformance of which will render A liable to interest or to a 

 fine, as may be stipulated. 



In cases where serious consequences might result from a failure to fulfill a contract, it is 

 customary for the contractor and often for the other party to make a number of knots on a 

 strip of rattan, each knot signifying a day of the time to elapse before payment, or representing 

 one article of the goods to be paid for, or one item of the goods to be delivered. 



All more important contracts are made in the presence of witnesses, and the time and the 

 number of articles to be delivered are counted out on the floor with grains of corn or with little 

 pieces of wood, or are indicated by counting a corresponding number of the slats of the floor. 



THE LAW OF DEBT 



The law of debt in Man6boland is so rigid that failure to comply with it has given rise to 

 many a bloody feud. All commercial transactions are conducted on a credit basis. An individ- 

 ual whom we will call A needs a pig, for instance, and starts out on a quest to secure one. He 

 visits one of his acquaintances and informally brings up the subject, remarking, for example, 

 that he would like to buy a certain pig that is in the settlement. He may not be able to make 

 the purchase until he has tried several settlements, for it may happen that the owner of each 

 pig may want in exchange objects that A does not have and is unable to get. Thus B, the owner 

 of a pig in the first settlement, wants in payment a Mandaya lance of a certain length, breadth, 

 and make. Now A knows of no one from whom he can procure such a lance, so he has to go 



< Ba-li-tmd. 



