676 NATIVE CHILD LIFE, 



of hide tied round the hips, and another piece knotted at the top 

 of the little woolly head. A visitor asked why the child was thus 

 adorned, and the mother promptly explained that the pieces C)f 

 hide prevented the abatakati (wizards and witches) from causing 

 the food to go up or down before the process of digestion wis 

 properly completed ! 



Shortly after the shaving ceremony, the infant is subjected 

 to the process of blood-letting. The child is placed on a sheep- 

 skin, in the hut, and small gashes are made all over the body, 

 including the face and hands ; the wounds are then covered with 

 red clay to stop the haemorrhage. This operation is supposed, 

 first, to make the child healthy by removing- impure blood ; 

 secondly, to increase circulation ; and thirdly, to make the 

 infant beautiful and comely. Naughty, unruly children, 

 up to the age of four years, are subjected to phlebo- 

 tomy as a punishment for their misbehaviour. One good 

 gash is often considered sufficient. This is a most effectual 

 method of chastisement, and seldom has to be resorted to more 

 tb.an once. Blood-letting is again repeated at the age of five or 

 six years, not as a punishment, but for medical purposes. After 

 the age of four, correction (when considered necessary) is ad- 

 ministered by means of a good birching. 



In the event of the child becoming seriously ill, a goat is 

 slaughtered tO' propitiate the ancestral spirits (amatonga). Some 

 of the entrails are tossed over the principal post of the hut, 

 facing the door, and the ancestral spirits are sup|>osed to descend 

 during the night and appease their appetite. A strip of flesh 

 from the sacrificial animal is roasted over the coals, sprinkled 

 over with a powdered herb specially prepared by the " doctor," 

 cut into pieces, and every child in the kraal is given a morsel, 

 which must be hurriedly chewed and speedily ejected, the children 

 being instructed to beseech the ancestral spirits to remove their 

 displeasure from the home. 



Najii^ing the Child. — The names of children are often given 

 f'-onl some incident connected with the birth, the peculiarity of 

 tlie locality, or the employment of the parents at the time, con- 

 sequently the names are sometimes very ridiculous and sometimes 

 very appropriate. 



A baby is washed immediately after birth, and this exper- 

 ience is not repeated for sonle considerable time. It is thought 

 that continual ablution would be extremely detrimental to the 

 child's health, the natural filth that accumulates on the body 

 being regarded as necessary, and any process that would 

 periodically remove this is considered contrary to the laws of 

 hvgiene. The infant is not, burdened with too much clothing. 

 The little boys run about in all their pristine beauty, and the little 

 girls are also unclothed, a tiny " sporran " of beads being the 

 only " dress." A sheep-skin, with the woolly side next the wearer, 

 is used by the herd-boys on cold wet days, but the younger 

 children are not so fortunate. Red clay is liberally used to pre- 

 vent the skin fmm being blistered by the sun's rays. 



