3<j6 KILLING THK KIXC IX SOUTH AFRICA. 



laws, and after having settled the.se matters, he did not die. but 

 simply disappeared. '\11 the sulxseqtient kings, in order to retain 

 their divinity, must die violent deaths whenever they show signs 

 of senile decay, lest their Divine spirits should show signs of decay 

 also. Most nations of ancient as well as some of modern times 

 regard their royal houses as of Divine origin, as. for exam]>le, the 

 ancient Mexicans and Peruvians. These latter called the Inca 

 the Child of the Stm, and the Chinese Kmperor was styled the Son 

 of Heaven. Amongst the Mexicans the great legendary 'founder 

 of their nation. Quetzalcoatl, disappeared on a raft of .snakes. 

 We see a near approach to this idea in the Basuto traditions of 

 Alohlumi, a semi-divine chief, who died, they say. about a century 

 ago. 'By all accounts ]\Johlumi was a remarkable man. He is 

 said to have been in communication with heaven from his youth. 

 He was caught up to heaven, and saw many peoples and heard 

 many things. He brought back an honest and ])rudent heart, and 

 never forgot the counsel that he had there received- He was a 

 great peace-maker and law-giver, and was gifted with the faculty 

 of prophecy. It was the ambition of his successors to be likened 

 to Mohlumi. He died at a place called Ugodile, and was buried 

 there, but no one could tell me exactly where. The Basutos say 

 " God took him," and they pay his memory great honour, and say 

 that they never had such a king as Mohlumi since. His succes.sors 

 are not conscious incarnations of his spirit. Of cotirse. given 

 long enough, Mohlumi might become semi-defied like the Shilluk 

 kings. There is always the tendency to weave romance round 

 the lives and actions of great ptiblic characters, especially if they 

 are far removed from the present, and to represent them and their 

 times as being so mtich superior to those of to-day. 



Amongst tlie Banyoro of Central Africa, the king was never allowed 

 to attain old age, his mental powers and bodily vigour never being allowed 

 to decline, nor did the king die from any lingering illness. Did be feel 

 unwell, or think he was about to be seriously ill. he would call his 

 leading chiefs and hold a council to consider state affairs, and would 

 leave them under the impression that he was quite well. When the chiefs 

 were dismissed, the king would retire to a special house, call his principal 

 wife, and ask her to bring the poison cup. She would understand that 

 he wished to have the poison cup to end his life, and accordingly pre- 

 pared a potion from a drug she kept ready to hand. This she gave to the 

 king, who drank it, and in a few minutes was dead. The death of the 

 king was kept secret as long as possible, and everything went on as 

 before in the royal enclosure. To account for his absence, it was said 

 that the king was unwell and could not be seen or hold his usual courts. 

 The principal wife took one or two chiefs into her confidence, and together 

 they provided a cowhide and stitched up the body of the king in it. 

 They then made preparations for crowning a new king. This custom 

 lasted down to within living memory.* 



Sometimes the people sought to kill their king while he Avas in 

 the full possession of his powers, and if he knew that his strength 

 was failing he anticipated theni. As Unyoro is no great distance 

 from the Dinka and Shilluk countries, it is possible that the 

 custom in one country may have influenced the custom in the 



*Roscoe: "The Northern Bantu." 14. 



