210 llELIGION OF THE BA-VEX])A. 



their tongues quickly in their mouths, producing' a kind of 

 tremolo on a very high pitch. Men were yelling- " E-E-E I " 

 and all of them were clai)i)ing- their hands. There had just been 

 a slig'ht tremor of the earth. During five minutes the extra- 

 ordinary clamour filled the air, and it was most impressive ! 

 The M'hole tribe was greeting* Raluvimbi, Avho was passing 

 through the country. People say that during- the earthquake 

 they also notice a noise in the sky similar to thunder. And 

 whilst they clap their hands, to welcome the mysterious god, 

 they pray. They tell him : " Give us rain ! Give us health I " 

 This story of a sj)ontaneous and collective act of adoration 

 of a Bantu tribe towards its g-od is most curious, and I wonder 

 if such a demonstration has ever taken place amongst Thonga 

 or Souto. 



When asked what was the reason of this shouting, they 

 said: " jVwali has come. It is Raluvimbi ! " 



Nwali, or Myari, is the Bakalauga god, and is well knoAvn 

 all through the tribes of Mashonaland, Transvaal and Gaza- 

 land as the great giver of rain. He is said to dwell in a 

 cave at a place called Mbvumela, in Mashonaland, somewhere 

 on the Sabi River, not very far from the Portuguese border. 

 People come from far away to pay him visits and to ask for 

 rain. This is the story they tell. They enter a kind of 

 tunnel, pass under an enormous stone hanging over their 

 heads, and at the extremity of that subterranean way they 

 reach an open place where the light of the sun is shining 

 again. Huts are built there. It is a village where the wives 

 of Nwali are residing. Everything there is very clean and 

 neat. Nwali greets the visitors from above or from the rocks 

 surrounding the village. He speaks in Zulu. He says: 

 " Good morning, my children I " The travellers must keep 

 looking- to the ground, else tlVeir eyes would be filled with 

 sand thrown by an invisible hand. Pots full of beer will 

 appear suddenly before them, and they will drink. Tobacco 

 also will be provided in the same way, as tobacco plays a 

 great part in all the dealings with Xwali.* He is a good god, 

 a great enemy of wizards, who are not allowed to approach 

 him, and he gives useful advice to those who go to consult 

 him. 



These are the main t^tories which are told everywhere 

 about Nwali amongst the Thonga and the Yenda. What 

 amount of truth there is in those descriptions I cannot say, 

 having- been unable so far to meet a white man who has seen 



* It is tobacco given by Nwali whicli caused the curious heathen 

 revival of " Murimi," which upset the wliole Thonga tribe from Gazaland 

 to Maputo during the years 1916 and 1917. Murimi is a deformation 

 of Mlimo (Mudimo?), a name given to the emissaries of Nwali who 

 were wandering about the country giving everybody a snuff of enchanted 

 tobacco, which was intended to destroy the power of witchcraft and to 

 bring about a new golden age, when disease, famine, and even death 

 would be unknown. 



