iMiiATidN i.rii-:s oi" Till-; i'.api-idi. '^~'] 



Tin: Closinc, CKRE:\roNiE.s. 



'J'he closing ccrcniony is called Co aloaa, or The Gathering- 

 iip* The father of each Initiate secretly ohtains possession of a 

 slieefy-sk'm. These skins are brayed and used for making "" sicrt- 

 riemen " and Hlabes for the Initiates. The Hlaba is a piece of 

 sheep-skin, cut to an oval shape about 12 inches long, coloured 

 red, and worn suspended from the right hip. It is worn by the 

 newly circumcised for some time after their rettum home. When 

 the skins are brayed they are handed over to the women, who 

 grease them with a composition of red-ochre and fat, after which 

 they are carried by the men to the Lodge at night, and spread 

 upon flat skins stretched upon the ground outside the MpJialo. 

 The next morning the Initiates are told that they are to go and 

 cut lances, and while so doing they are informed by the Miditi 

 that on the morrow they will see their mothers again. The 

 morning following they are taken outside the enclosure, and 

 standing on the outspread skins, the body of each Initiate is 

 smeared with red ochre by some relative. He is then arrayed 

 in " stert-ricni " and Hlaba, and at the same time severely beaten 

 for the last time. A procession is then formed, which marches 

 away from the Lodge to the kraal, singing songs of triumph and 

 victory. Nobody is allowed to look back to the M phato. Each 

 one carries a bundle of wood with which supply the fire at the 

 Chief's kraal. If the party is so fortunate as to have any game 

 to take back to the kraal for the Chief, he will kill an ox in its 

 honour. Ox hides are spread on the ground around the Chief's 

 fireplace, and here they must all sleep at night for a week or 

 more, spending their time eating meat, beer-drinking, dancing, 

 and singing. 



The Rabadia remains in the MpJiatu when the others leave, 

 and piling up the branches which formed the enclosure of the 

 Mpliato, he sets fire to them, and so removes all traces of the 

 Lodge, with the exception of the Pliiri cones. 



APPENDIX. 



Note A. — " Ciarl ca iiiorcfloa," siibstajilia nigra tcijitnr. 

 Ouum glandem pencni hoc circumdediint. centrum glandis dcpres- 

 sitnr. .Mcmbranuhim prccputii turn trahifiir ultra fineni circi et 

 " Tipane " prcvputiiiin project urn secat. 



Note B. — Ceremonial thrasliiiuj. — Most of the customs of 

 the Kgonia are essentially magical rites. The thrashing of the 

 boys may be taken as an illustration. t The custom of burying the 

 Moretloa rods in the cattle kraal may possibly be done with the 

 object of imbuing them with magical powers ensuring fertility. t 

 The following explanation of the Sennanna thrashing was given 

 to Mr. Winter by a native. When the pap is mixed with milk, 



* Aloga ^= gather up meal which has been spread in the sun to dry. 



t Cf. Frazer : " The dyins; god," p. 236. 



XCf. Frazer: "Golden Bough: The Magic Art," 2, 317. 



