RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE 

 XOSAS: A STUDY IN PHILOLOGY. 



By James McLari-n\ M.A. 



{Read July lo, lyiS.) 



In making a rather close study for linguistic purposes of Dr. 

 A. Kropf's Kaffir-English Dictionary ( F'irst Edn. Lovedale, 1899, 

 Second Edn., greatly enlarged by Rev. R. (iodfrey, Lovedale, 

 191 5), I have been again and again struck with the wealth of 

 anthropological information that it contains, either involved in 

 or appended to the definitions of individual words. The same 

 thing is true, as regards the Zvdu tribes, of Dr. Bryant's Zulu 

 Dictionary. But the information, though there, is not easily avail- 

 able to students of anthroi)ology, as it is only given piecemeal 

 under the Kaffir words defined. Having some leisure time at my 

 disposal, I j^roceeded to form a draft of a sort of anthropological 

 subject-index to Kropf's great book, and I propose in this and 

 another paper to give a couple of sections out of such an index. 



In looking up, in connection with this, what has been done in 

 the way of systematic study of Xosa tribes. I find that. ]irobably 

 just because they were already fairly well known to Europeans 

 before the study of anthro])ology had been born, they have been 

 studied much less thoroughly than the tribes of Central Africa, 

 which have been more recently discovered. Of the books that 

 have been written on the Xosas, by far the best, in my opinion, is 

 again by Dr. Kropf , " Das Volk der Xosa-Kaffern in dsfliclien 

 Siidafrika," a book of some 200 ])ages, published at Berlin in 

 1889, I'^it i^ 's in German, and not translated, though well worth 

 translating. I have supplemented the information I had gleaned 

 from the Dictionary by reference to this work. 



Beings Venerated and Feared. 



The ideas of a Supreme Being among the Xosa-Kafiirs were 

 of the vaguest. The word n-Tixo, now used for God, was 

 imported by the missi<^naries, who began their work first among 

 the Hottentots, and later, using Hottentots at first as interpreters, 

 among the Xosas. The name, u-Oamata, used more naturally by 

 the Xosas, is also probably of Hottentot or Bushman origin. It 

 Is used most in ejaculation, e.g., Oamata ndincede (God hel]) me!) 

 Sckukokuka-Qamata (God knows'), u-Qamafa tmikakukangele 

 (May Qamata look graciously upon thee!) (to a sick person). 

 There is a striking mountain in the St. Marks District in the 

 Transkei which is called Qamata: It is a perfect dome, with 

 a dyke of igneous rock, like the raised ridge of a helmet, passing 

 right over the highest part. The name for a white 

 man, um-lungu-, is the same as the word mu-Jungn, 

 widely used in Central Africa as a name for the Deitv, and it is 

 probable that the white man on his first appearance was looked 



