ZULU MEDICINE AND MEDICINE-MEN. U 



and not rather, and in a very large deg-ree, to his possession 

 of a mind working in aiore perfect harmon}' with the require- 

 ments of the body '<! 



A native cannot understand disease in any plant or animal 

 as being" in accordance with the natural order of its destiny. 

 The only manner of death that is at all comprehensible to 

 him is that of senile decay — when a thing has run its allotted 

 course and expended its powers and sinks serenely back once 

 more into the lap of Mother Earth. Of the aged who pass away 

 in this "natural" way the native never says that "they have 

 died" {ha-file), but simply "they have gone home" {ha-godn- 

 kile). Where is the reasonableness in a thing withering away 

 in the very prime of its existence ? Obviously this can only 

 be brought about by some pernicious influence interfering 

 from without. He has fixed on only two such external agents 

 of harm — malice and magic — as best suggesting themselves to 

 his own innate suspiciousness of character. He is convinced 

 that fully 90 per cent, of those who die " prematurely " 

 have been done away with by the malice of their neighbours, 

 (lenerally speaking, the only form of contractible disease for 

 which an umThakatlii * is not held to be responsible is that 

 heterogeneous agglomeration of ailments Avhich he combines 

 under the generic term umKhuhlnne, which may be roughly 

 described as " fevers," and which he is satisfied are somehow 

 conveyed through the medium of the air. 



The result of all this is to produce a medical science very 

 unlike our own. The Kafir doctor is not only called upon 

 to combat diseases already actually in the system, but he has 

 also to combat the machinations and black arts of the venejici 

 of his race by charms and counter-magic. As we elscAvhere 

 observe^ medicine and magic among primitive peoples always 

 proceed together. They are one science, one art ; and to the 

 primitive mind both are equally feasible, equally natural. 

 In their view it makes no greater demand on reason to 

 believe that a piece of vegetable root tied round the neck 



' umThaJcathi descriljes in Z^ll^^ a person given to the secret killing 

 off of others. 



