210 rp:ligiox oi' the ija-vk-VJ)a. 



oti:eriii<>' witli liiiu lie now goes to the gi'iive of the giaiulfather, 

 digs a little and lies the pouch in the earth parallel to the 

 body which is beneath, and he prays ag'ain : *' We worship 

 you, grandfather I And we have clothed you. This is your 

 food. Eat and be full and be contented. And leave us food, 

 plenty of food, that we also may be contented, and bless the 

 sick child." 



This is the rite of the " goat with clothes. " Really 

 a perfect illustration of Bantu ancestor worship, where 

 sympathetic magic plays an important part. 



The second categoiy of offerings, as we said, are those 

 connected with the agricultural life of tlie tribe. 



If the rites performed in the case of disease reveal the 

 sense of dependence in the Bantu soul, but also the fear 

 towards its ancestor gods, it is in the agricultural rites we 

 meet with some higher features of the religious feeling* — an 

 aspiration to the communion with the dead forefathers and 

 an expression of thankfulness towards them. 



These agricultural rites are performed on two main 

 occasions, at the sowing- and at the reaping of the " mufoho " 

 corn. This " mufoho " {Elevsine indica), a cereal one or one 

 and a half feet high, bearing three or four spikes at its 

 extremity, somewhat like a Panicum, is the staple food of the 

 Ba-Yenda, and no doubt the oldest of their cereals. For the 

 modern ones, sorgdium, mealies, which have been introduced 

 later on, no rule is observed. Mufoho* corn only is tabooed. 



And the taboo is very strong indeed. Formerly a Yenda 

 who dared to reap his mufoho before the religious ceremony 

 had taken place was put to death. 



These two rites are not only family, but national rites. 

 They are national in this sense, that they are accomplished 

 with a special lustre at the chief's kraal; but they are also 

 family in this sense, that they are repeated at each headman's 

 kraal. 



The sowing rite is associated with the curious custom 

 called " Uzonda." When a headman has grown-up children, 

 they all must come at the time of tilling and help him to 

 cultivate a small garden which belongs to the gods. Should 

 this man die, the elder son inherits that field, and his brothers 

 and sisters must continue to assemble and till it and sow there 

 the first seeds of mufoho before the^y start cultivating their 

 own gardens. It is a taboo. Should they not cbsei*ve that 

 rule, they would obtain nothing in their fields — another 

 instance in which religion intervenes to uphold the funda- 

 mental law of precedence. Young-er relatives, if staying far 

 away from the head of the family, must at least send some 

 seeds for tlie sacred field. 



At the capital this uzonda assumes greater proportions. 

 The chief summons his neighbours and relatives to till this 

 special field. Little girls are committed to the task of 

 cooking a dish of native peas, and women prepare beer of 



* Miifoho is called " Mplioho " in Thonga. 



