441 



SESUTO PRAISES OF THE CHIEFS. 



BV 



Rev. Prof. W. A. Norton, M.A., B.Litt. 

 University of Cape Town. 



Read Jul// 13, 1921. 



Like the bards of Homeric times, or, if you prefer to come 

 nearer home, of Ossian's times, or to go further afield, of the 

 South Sea Islands, the Samoa of Robert Louis Stevenson — for the 

 afflatus knows no limits of time and place — the praisers of the 

 Native Chiefs have been very busy pouring forth enconiums of 

 greater or lesser length and value. These, but for the neglect, 

 of the younger generation, might have blossomed into sagas of 

 Native make and, with the arrival of the constructive poet, into 

 epic. 



As it is, the old men — who are repositories of the lore — are 

 dying day by day, but the " Leselinyana Magazine " and other 

 publications of Morija have done good work in preserving much. 

 On coming to Natal, I always read the native novelist, Mofolo's 

 charming odyssey, "Moeti oa Bochabela" (The Pilgrim to the 

 East) which, with a little more bloodshed, might have been saga 

 or, in verse, an embryo' epic. But most of the work of preserva- 

 tion is done by Europeans. "Golden Glory" and Mr. Haigh's 

 "Ethiopian Saga" follow Sir Rider Haggard with a more native 

 viewpoint. We are glad to know, however, that at Lovedale 

 prizes are being offered for native collections. I have been using 

 the schools I visit for some time in this way, and have made 

 efforts to get some endowment for the purpose — so far in vain. 



But the old men are dying, and the younger generation, if 

 it starts with zeal to-day, will have to put forth some effort to 

 overtake their death-rate ; and the work is by no means easy, even 

 for a native. The dialect is very special, and most extended 

 explanation is required. Every line is crammed with associations 

 like those of a Greek chorus, associations often lost in the mist 

 of antiquity, and the informant is often in the last stage of 

 decrepitude, blind and deaf. At the point of wildest excitement, 

 or most trying intricacy, he will hobble off tired, and adjourn 

 till to-morrow. You go on the morrow, and, in spite of his 

 decrepitude, he is away on the lands: you cannot stay, and the 

 opportunity is lost, perhaps for ever. 



Some of the Sesuto praises of the Chiefs may now be cited, 

 together with their English translations. 



