KILLINC; THE KING IX SOUTH AFRICA. 395 



Dos Santos gives a description of the Makaranga which is 

 wonderfully accurate to-day, even though there is no Mambo or 

 Monomatapa. Dos Santos confuses both of these terms. Mambo 

 is the generic term for chief, while Monomatapa, or Munumutapa 

 correctly, was one of the praise names of the Mambo, and meant 

 " great thief." Take the following extract as showing the 

 accuracy of Dos Santos : 



Monomotapa and the Mocarangas, his vassals, wear a white shell on the 

 forehead hanging from the hair as an ornament, and the Monomotapa 

 wears another large shell on his breast. These shells they call andot'os, and 

 they are looked upon with hatred by Quiteve, as they are the insignia of 

 his enemy. Monomotapa, and therefore neither Quiteve nor his vassals 

 wear ainii'ros. although they are all nt them Mocarangas.* 



Again : 



In this hunt, which is frequently held by Quiteve, it is lawful for the 

 Katitirs to kill lions, but not at any other time or place, for Quiteve has 

 made a law in his kingdom that none may kill a lion under pain of death, 

 for he is called the great lion, and as such he says he is bound to protect 

 the lives of the other lions, and they may only be slain in his presence and 

 and for his recreation. All eat of these spoils at the place of slaughter, 

 with great rejoicing and merriment, and they carry the remainder of the 

 meat to their homes.t 



It is interesting to find that a round shell, ndoro, is one of the 

 totems of the Makaranga, being the particular totem of Muranda's 

 people in the Untibi district, not far from the Sabi River, inside 

 the boundaries of ancient Makaranga. The lion, shumba, is also 

 one of the totems c(f Varozwe and of the Makaranga generally, 

 and is found in the Chibe and Chilimanzi districts. These tribes 

 are found in the ruins area. It would be quite natural for Qui- 

 teve, when his ancestor revolted from. ^Monomatapa, to take a 

 new totem. Such was the usual custom, and w^ould account for 

 his hatred of his former sovereign. 



But to return to king-killing, Frazer, in his book, relies 

 principally on the custom of the Shilluks to fortify his contention 

 that this practice was substantially the same as that of the priests 

 of Neini, the Kings of the Wood, who had regularly to perish by 

 the hands of their successors. He cites similar customs amongst 

 the Dinkas and people of West Alfrica, in addition to those given 

 above. The Shilluks are a pastoral people living on the White 

 Nile, and pay great respect and honour to their kings, whoin they 

 regard as incarnations of Nyakang, their great legendary hero, 

 who is worshipped as semi-divine by the Shilluks. He gives a 

 description by Dr. Seligmann of the benefits and blessings which 

 this hero-king brought to the Shilluk nation. He is the great 

 rain-giver of the Shilluks, and the fertility of the country en- 

 tirely depends on the rain which he sends. Yet his position is 

 only that of a demi-god, and is subordinate to Juok, the great god 

 of the Shilluks. Nyakang is said to have brought the Shilluks 

 into their present country, to have made them a nation of warriors, 

 divided the country amongst them, regulated marriage, made the 



' * ■' Records of South East Africa." 7, 280. 

 ■rH?i(f. 7, 208. 



