PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION E. 129 



.forced to coliabit, to the extent of the iikuuictsha custom, as long 

 as the festival lasted. Dancing, feasting, and wickedness con- 

 tinued iov a period of from seven to ten days. If anything of 

 this kind goes on to-day (and it does to too great an extent) it 

 is done secretly, the local magistrate turning his blind eye in 

 that direction, and undoubtedly the wise restriction of the 

 Government, even though loosely applied, has done much to 

 ameliorate this ap|)alling state of affairs. 



These few notable restrictions, then, to mention no other, 

 have made a great contribution towards the betterment of the 

 Transkeian natives, and of that State within whose borders they 

 dwell, and in the mere process of restriction and the consequent 

 gaining of experience the natives have been advancing towards 

 the responsibilities of individualism and acquiring a most 

 valuable education, different, perhaps, from that usually asso- 

 ciated with the schoolroom, and much more direct, but every 

 bit as important in its immediate outcome. 



3. The Place of IVUchcraft. 



Then, further, to come to the very heart of the matter, 

 witchcraft, which is perhaps the central force of heathenism, 

 had reigned supreme in' native life from time immemorial. Closely 

 related to. and confused with, the rudimentary elements of 

 religion possessed by the Bantu, inextricably woven into the 

 fabric of tribalism, witchcraft had to be broken. Through their 

 belief in witchcraft, the natives thought that one individual could 

 have an influence for evil over another, either through the 

 instrumentality of evil spirits, or by enchantments, or through 

 some animal like the baboon, the wolf, the toad, or the owl, 

 this last being specially feared. 



A sorcerer, desiring to injure another, could employ these 

 agencies to bring about the sickness, or misfortune, or death of 

 any individual ; or disease might be made to fall upon his cattle, 

 or it might operate to cause a drought, or a failure of crops ; 

 and, naturally, whenever any of these things occurred, a witch- 

 doctor (igqira) was called in to discover the sorcerer (umtakati) 

 who was bewitching his neighbour. The great thing in such 

 cases of sorcery seemed to be to discover the charm that was 

 working the evil, and the invariable punishment was the con- 

 fiscation of property, and. usually, death. Where every mis- 

 fortunte is explained in this way, it will be understood that 

 such a belief would keeo any population in a state of disturbance, 

 and the Government, perhaps merely from this point of view, 

 and little realising all that was involved, wisely insisted upon 

 the suppression of the witch-doctors, who made their living in 

 this way. It is, however, one thing to suppress witch-doctors. 

 and quite another to explode witchcraft and belief therein, and 

 in respect of this last nothing was even attempted, except, of 

 course, such efTorfs as individuals cared to make from time to 

 time. 



