84 NOTES OX THE EAST COAST BANTU OF EIGHTY YEARS AGO. 



Speaks the Jonga dialect. In 1778-81 one of the Khosa chiefs, 

 called 'by the Portuguese the " Grand Caxa," was rich in slaves, 

 and carried on a brisk trade with the Austrians at Delagoa Bay- 

 in ivory and copper, and in gold, which was brought to the 

 coast from the kingdom of Kiteve or Quiteve. The copper they 

 obtained by means of the Hlangenu, a Tonga tribe which, so 

 far back as tradition reaches, have dwelt in the Lebombo. The 

 Hlangenu (Ama-Hlangana) speak a distinct dialect, and are 

 probably related to the tribe of A-Thonga now living in Nyassa- 

 land ; the Hlangenu of the Lebombo trade, as just stated, with 

 the copper-working tribes of the Transvaal, with the Ma-Kalanga 

 and with the Barolong residing so far west as the Kalahari. The 

 Hlangenu are called by the Ba-Venda 'Ma-Gwamba (Sesuto 

 'Ma-lvwaba ) , or the people of Gwamba, their first ancestor, by 

 whom they swear. From a curious custom of tattooing the fore- 

 head they were called by the Boers " Knobneusen." It was this 

 tribe, probably, that Vasco da Gama met on the Rio do Cobre 

 (Limpopo) in 14S9 engaged in their copper trafifiic, and called 

 by him the Boa Gente. 



The Ama-Tonga (to distinguish from the Ba-Tonga) tribes 

 differ from the Zulu-Xosa and Bechuana groups in many ways. 

 They are sylvan and agricultural rather than pastoral, as is 

 evidenced by their currency (employed in the purchase of wives), 

 consisting of hoes instead of cattle. Their ancestral chiefs they 

 bury in forest glades which are sacred to their tutelary spirits. 

 They are devoted to the practive of divination and casting of 

 lots. Their political unit seems to 'be the village rather than the 

 tribe and, their law of inheritance and succession is exceedingly 

 peculiar. 



In the manufacture of weapons and utensils they show much 

 originality, their battle-axes, for instance, being of a type cjuite 

 different from the Bechuana pattern. Captain Owen, in his 

 report, says of these people that 



" they are armed with hassegays, spears and sometimes with small shields ;" 



but he says nothing of battle-axes. He states, further that they 



" have no clothes but the cotton they receive in barter from the Portuguese 

 or woollens they receive from the whalers ;" 



but in earlier days their scanty covering was restricted to girdles 

 of palm-leaves and aprons of wild-cat skin. 



"On the other hand [says Owen] , the Vatwahs clothe themselves in skins 

 of animals, live much on animal food, and cover their bodies in war with immense 

 shields of bullock's hide of an oval form much as the Kaffirs on the borders of the 

 Colony. Within the shield they carry from three to six or more hassegays and a 

 spear ready to be taken thence as from a quiver when required 



" The natives of Delagoa Bay [he continues] are too timid to undertake 

 anything by night. The Vatwahs always make their attack at night, when they 

 are sure to find no resistance. The latter have an openness of character which 

 speaks much for them ; it is said that they never attack their enemies without first 

 sending to inform them of their intention and the time." 



This appears rather inconsistent with the statement just 

 preceding, but, according to both Shepstone and Alberti, seems 



