i^b Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



or twin birth considered; what is done for the mother ? etc. He 

 begins to grow ; what are the ceremonies performed when he first 

 leaves the hut ; how is his name chosen ; which medicines are used 

 to protect him against evil influences? Children's games and occupa- 

 tions are such an extensive subject that a book has been devoted to 

 them alone by Mr, D. Kidd. Then comes the age of nubility, which 

 is everywhere attended by special and very interesting rites. I should 

 rather treat this great subject of circumcision in the chapter conse- 

 crated to the national life, as it is one of its most characteristic 

 manifestations. But the relations betw^een the sexes might be descrilied 

 here. It would lead to the long and complicated marriage ceremonies 

 which present such strange features in more than one tribe. The 

 mature age customs would give us opportunity to search what is the 

 ideal of the native, how he conceives the aims of human existence, 

 how he enjoys it. And then w^e would consider the old age, death, 

 and the sometimes highly significant rites of burying the dead and 

 what is done to clean the village from the malediction or pollution of 

 death. The evolution of woman, though very similar to that of man 

 in certain domains, possesses peculiar features which might then be 

 exposed. For instance, among many tribes there are peculiar 

 ceremonies performed for the girls at the time of nubility. The 

 legal situation of the married women, and especially of the widow, 

 <ind the customs related to them, would present a special interest in 

 connection with the problem of polygamy. 



T/ie life of the family and of the kraal (as, in Bantu tribes, 

 a kraal is a family after all) could not be made the subject of a 

 long treatise when dealing with the nomadic Bushmen. But amongst 

 Bantu, this would form a very curious chapter. In trying to describe 

 the life of the family, one would have to deal with three of the 

 most characteristic features of those tribes : The familial system (or 

 kinship relationship) and the social customs of " lobola "" and 

 polygamy. The kinship relationships would best be explained 

 in establishing the genealogy of a given family and asking how each 

 individual names the others and behaves in relation to them. As 

 regards lobola and polygamy, they are far-reaching subjects which 

 present more than a scientific interest. Other questions would arise : 

 What are the causes of divorce? Is it frequent ? What are the 

 relations between the various members of the family, and especially 

 "between parents-in-law. Under the title, the life of the kraal, we 

 would give an idea of the form of the village, the disposition of its 

 buts^ goats, pigs, and oxen kraals ; then would follow a description 

 of the activity of the various inhabitants : first the activity of a 

 woman, from sunrise to sunset, the part she has in the manufacture 

 of domestic implements, especially the culinary art, which is much 

 more complicated than one might think. Then the activity of a 

 man, his special duties in the construction of the house, the weaving 

 of baskets, etc., his pastimes, his games, the famous beer-drinkincs 

 which occupy such an immense place in the life of the kraal, 

 •etc., etc. 



