PUBERTY RITES OF BASUTO. 



By Rev. Father Norton, S.S.M. 



This question falls into two divisions — rites of boys and girls. 

 Of the latter I know very little. The operation is said to be slight, 

 but opinions differ about its value. Dr. Hewat in his book on native 

 surgery considers that it merely ministers to lust, though he strongly 

 approves of the circumcision of boys. Father Deacon, a missionary 

 friend of mine, on the other hand, who has had much medical prac- 

 tice among natives, considers that it is useful and would benefit 

 even Europeans. The girls' rites begin about November and 

 continue for four or five months. There is no lodge ; they stop at 

 home and spend the days about the country with masks made of 

 vertical straws, and necks and shoulders smeared with white clay 

 as a sign of uncleanness or dedication, like Zulu girls at their 

 puberty dances. They carry staves to drive away the uninitiated, 

 and formerly would set upon men and even kill them. The 

 operation is said to take place at deep pools, probably originally 

 because of ablutions. 



Boys' circumcision takes place about the age of seventeen or 

 eighteen ; girls' some two years earlier. It thus forms an intro- 

 duction to adult life rather than marks the first beginnings of 

 puberty. The Zulus have rites to mark this latter (ukutomba^ 

 menstrua prima ; cf. umtomba, fons ; intombi, virgo) and appar- 

 ently a similar rite for boys. The rite involves tabu of curds, at 

 least in the case of girls, as also after childbirth). Zulu boys also 

 sometimes have the string cut about ten years old, but regard 

 actual circumcision with scorn. They suffer somewhat, but under- 

 stand cleanliness, I am told. Circumcision of males seems to be 

 general among the Bantu, as among Mohammedans (much earlier) 

 and Jews (in infancy). I think I have heard that some Central 

 African tribes circumcise in infancy, but have also puberty rites. 

 The Zulus are said to have dropped it before Tshaka's birth about 

 the end of the century before last, to prevent the newly organised 

 warriors getting married (to which of course circumcision was 

 preliminary) before they had fleshed their spears. The Zulus in 

 Basutoland follow the Suto custom, partly in view of intermarriage 



It has been thought that circumcision was derived from the 

 Arabs, but Suto tradition derives it from the Bushmen, and if a 

 Bushman were in the lodge, he took precedence. The operation 

 is still performed in the old way, namely, with a blunt assegai 

 point, and not with a sharp instrument. This is said to be a further 

 test of endurance. On the other hand, I have heard of a doctor 

 saying that the operation was performed with great surgical skill. 

 During the operation the boy is gagged, and held by two men in 

 a sitting posture. The old method, said to have been derived from 

 the Bushmen, was to slit the foreskin some distance on the upper 

 side, and then cut the side pieces away ; to-day the ordinary 

 method (the same as the Jewish) is used, or else merely the string 

 cut as above among the Zulus. 



The boys enter the lodge (mophato) early in March, having 

 partaken of the inaugural feast (but of no beer thereat). This is 



