278 BASUTO TRIBAL SYSTEM. 



themselves obnoxious to the chief were hable to meet with fatal 

 accidents when they took their walks abroad. 



A person convicted of witchcraft was probably " eaten up," 

 that is to say his property and family were taken from him, 

 and he was driven naked into the wilderness, to live or die. That 

 is why a person so accused seldom waited for his trial, but fled 

 with such of his belongings as he could get together with a view 

 to attaching himself to some other chief. If he was unfortimate 

 enough to be caught his attempted flight would be considered 

 an additional proof of his guilt, and things were likely to go 

 hard with him. For though there have been cases where persons 

 accused of witchcraft, have been allowed to depart in peace 

 with their families and property, they were very rare. All other 

 trials were fair enough, and travesties of justice were the ex- 

 ception ; but on a charge of witchcraft, the accused had a poor 

 chance, and did well to fly if he could. Prosecutions for 

 witchcraft have now disappeared among the Basuto, and of 

 course the British Government could not allow such a thing ; 

 but the persons who really roused the nation to a sense of its 

 absurdity were the old sage Mohlomi, who died in 1816. and 

 after him the Chief Moshesh. 



Some of the ancient customs are worth noticing. 



Every man was compelled to work for the chief : that is to 

 say, to give him a day's labour at least three times a year at 

 times of ploughing, weeding, and reaping. These work meetings 

 are called Matsena, and any person absenting himself from them 

 without sufflcient cause was liable to be fined. The cultivation 

 of the field belonging to the chieftainship, called the Tsimo-a-lira, 

 was, and is, a binding tribal obligation on every able-bodied male : 

 that of the chief's other and personal lands was an attention 

 which it was not well to omit ; but as beef and beer were 

 always provided, and as these meetings partook of the nature 

 of social gatherings where people met, heard "the news, and 

 gossiped to their heart's content, they were never regarded as 

 a hardship. 



People were expected to help one another in accident or emer- 

 gencies. In the case of fire, it was the duty of everyone to run 

 to the spot with water and an^'one neglecting to do so was 

 liable to be fined. 



In theory everyone was responsible for his neighbour, and 

 liable to be punished for the fault of his neighbour if he failed 

 to report it. If the spoor of a stolen animal was traced to a 

 village, and the inhabitants failed to trace it further, they were 

 held collectively responsible ; and unless they produced the thief, 

 they had to compensate the owner and pay a fine " to clean 

 the ground." 



If any man saw two others fighting, and failed to interfere, 

 he was held to share the responsibility if either was hurt. Any 

 person hurt by another had a claim to compensation, and if the 

 person who wounded him wished to show his regret, it was his 

 duty to go and solemnly expectorate on the wound. This was, 

 and is, accepted as a proof of the absence of malice aforethought. 



