212 KEI.IGIOX OF THE BA-VE.\DA. 



As regviicls the mode of life of the Badzimu, reports are 

 convicting'. However, the general belief is that, in the land 

 yonder, they have the same occupations as on the earth. They 

 till the g'round, they eat, they are married. A very interest- 

 ing rite, met in all the parts of the tribe, illustrates the fact. 

 AVhen a boy dies before liaTing- been married, the handle of 

 his pick is" taken and laid down longitudinally at a place 

 where two roads sever from each othsr, at the very angle 

 where they separate. This handle is then secured bv two 

 pegs deeply planted on both sides in such a way that the 

 l^art remaining outside of the earth is only three or four inches 

 long, and these little poles are tied together by a white cotton 

 string. This handle is the wife of the deceased. She will 

 follow him and take care of him in the country of ih^ dead. 

 She Avill cook for him and cultiyate his gardens. Should 

 the deceased be married .and his wife be still living, the same 

 rule will be followed, but, instead of two poles, one will place 

 two broken pots on the sides of the handle. These broken 

 pots are the ones which were used in the fireplace of his village 

 as supporters for those in which the food is cooked. Should 

 the wife of the deceased have died before him, no such rite 

 is performed. He does not Avant a special helper dispatched 

 to him. Will he not find his regular wife yonder ^ 



As in ail the other tribes the Badzimu are worshipped by 

 their descendants on two main occasions : Firstly, when a 

 misfortune, especially disease, falls upon them, and, secondly, 

 in connection witli the sowing of certain seeds and the reaping 

 of the first fruits. But this worship is submitted to very 

 precise rules, which are in accordance with the constitutional 

 laws of Bantu society. In fact, Bantu religion is mainly a 

 social and family affair. There is very little place in it for 

 individual feelings. Therefore a Yenda does not reach his 

 gods directly, by the mere expression of his devotion or by 

 praying to them in his heart. He must perforin a number 

 of rites and pass through official intermediate agents if he 

 wants his request to be taken into coasideration by them. 



Let us first describe the way he has to follow in the 

 religious acts he accomplishes to obtain the help of his 

 Badzimu in the case of disease. Before all, the bones are con- 

 sulted. The Yenda system of divination seems to be very- 

 similar to the one spread amongst all the Siito tribes. Four 

 bits of carved ivory or bone are the main elements of the 

 divinatory set of bones, two male and two fem.ale. Some 

 astragalus and other obiects may be present also.. It differs 

 greatly from the Zulu-Thonga system, where the astragalus 

 bones play the principal part and where the four bits of caiwed 

 ivory are entirely absent. 



Suppose the headman of a village has died and his elder 

 son has been regularly established as liis heir at the head of 

 the kraal. If after, say, three or four years one of his children 

 becomes dangerously ill, he will run to the bone-thrower to 

 know where the misfortune comes from. The bones are 

 thrown. Thev mav fall in such a way that the diviner will 



