l86 NATlVli A(,;RK L'LTlRi:. 



tion of type, and the Natives have for a long time been using 

 their mealies in this way. When the great drought of 1912 

 came, large ([uantities of mealies were brought in from other 

 parts of the country, and the introduction of fresh mealies has 

 been continued every season since on account of the unusual 

 series of droughts which have afflicted the country. All this 

 has tended to improve the type of mealies produced by the 

 Native. It will probably come as a surprise to many to hear 

 that to this day it is customary for the heathen Natives to fear 

 lest their fields should be bewitched by some neighbour. 



They still go down and burn certain medicines^ a collection 

 of grotesque and fanciful odds and ends, in the middle of their 

 fields, in order to prevent their fields being bewitched, or the 

 worm from injuring their mealies, or the birds from eating their 

 Kafir corn. Each man seems to have his own special " medi- 

 cines," and he relies on these to ensure a good harvest. One 

 may even say that in their view a good harvest is due to tlie 

 discovery of some efl:ective " medicine "" rather than to proper 

 cultivation. But experience speaks in loud tones. Already 

 witchcraft is practised secretly rather than openly, and their 

 belief in its power, while still a force to be reckoned with, may 

 be described as passing. 



The growing class of school Kafirs laugh at the old heathen 

 ways, and many of the heathen themselves doubt the efficacy of 

 their sacrifices and medicines. Nevertheless, these are likely 

 to linger for long in the Territories as a superstition at the 

 very least; and at j:)resent this must still l)e classified among the 

 old methods of Native agriculture. 



Where land is unlimited in extent, manuring is not very 

 necessary, and until recent years the land was sufficient to support 

 the population, even though no fertilisers were used and the 

 most wasteful methods were em])loyed. But now we have come 

 to the point wiien an increased i)roduction is a necessity, and the 

 supply of available land having come to an end, it is essential 

 for the people to become familiarised with intensive methods of 

 cultivation. 



But in other ways, also, the influence of the past has re- 

 mained with the Natives even to this day. As we have alreadv 

 pointed out, the nomadic life tended to the neglect of agriculture, 

 and the people learned to be content with their herds of cattle and 

 goats, which could easily be driven to safety at the first suspicion 

 of hostility. In fact, the old Kafir custom of ox-racing, which 

 is now jjractically extinct in the Transkei, was ])rol)abh- due to 

 a desire on the part of the Natives to train their cattle to hurry 

 along at the first approach of danger. Largely as a result, then, 

 of the strife of early times, the Natives became a ])astoral people, 

 and even now their instincts remain pastoral rather than agri- 

 cultural. 



