OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 463 



III. Amazulu or Kafir. One African schedule will be found in the table exhi- 

 biting the system of relationship of the Amazulus or Kafirs. The Kafir stock is 

 one of the largest, in the number of people, as well as most widely distributed in 

 Africa. Under this name, says the llev. J. L. Dohne, is included, " all the tribes 

 to the eastward of Cape Colony, along the coast, as far as Delagoa.'" He after- 

 wards enumerates twenty-nine of these tribes under seven general divisions." He 

 remarks upon the language as follows : " Generally speaking the Zulu distinguishes 

 only two dialects, the high language, Ukukuluma, and the low, Amalala. To the 

 first belong the Zulu, Tembu, and Xosa ; to the second, the languages of all the 

 other tribes of Natal, the frontier Fingoes, the Seetos," &c.^ The liecliuanas, and 

 some other tribes of the interior are said to speak closely allied languages. It is 

 pi-obable, therefore, that the Amazulu schedule exhibits the system of relationship 

 of the Kafirs proper, not only, but also that which prevails over a large portion of 

 Southern and Eastern Africa. Their system of relationship is classificatory in form, 

 and essentially Malayan in its characteristics. It is distinguished from the latter 

 in two particulars only, one of which is the discrimination of the relationship of 

 uncle, restricted to the mother's brother ; and the other that of cousin, which is 

 limited in its application to the children of this uncle. Its agreement with the 

 Malayan system in all other particulars will be at once recognized. 



The first African ]\Iission of the American Board was established among the 

 Kafirs in the province of Natal, about the year 1835; and it has been eminently 

 successful. Amongst the fruits of missionary labor upon the language is the com- 

 plete lexicon of the language before referred to, together with the reduction of the 

 language to a written form by the translation of portions of the Scriptures, and 

 of some entire works into the vernacular tongue. 



The schedule in the Table was filled out by the Ilcv. A. Abraham, one of the 

 oldest members of this mission, and a resident of Mapumulo in Natal. It was 

 executed with such fulness as to illustrate in the most satisfactory manner tlie 

 details of the system. He also furnished, with it, a number of valuable obser- 

 vations upon the nomenclature of relationships, and upon the Amazulu classification 

 of kindred, which will be found in the note, and to which attention is invited.* 



> Dohne's Tulu Kafir Dictionary, Intro., p viii. Cape Town cd., 1857. 



» lb. Intro., p. xvi. ' I^^- I"tro., p. sv. 



* " Notes on the Schedule'' by the Rev. A. Abraham, Blapumulo, January, 1866. 



" Tlie vowels are not always of the same length. They are longer on the accented syllables. 

 Sometimes the final vowel of a word is scarcely heard. The consonants are the same as in English, 

 except the M, represents a sound peculiar to this language. We have other characters which I have 

 not had occasion to use in filling up the schedule. The accent is on the penultimate ; and generally 

 every syllable ends with a vowel, as u-ba'-ba, u-md'-ma, u'-mna or um'-na. 



"a. The pronouns are not generally used in connection with the words for father und mother. 

 U-ba'-ba is my father, u-ye-hlo thy father, u'-ycse his father, u-ma'-ma my mother, u-my-o'-Ico thy 

 mother, il-ne'-na bis mother. 



"For grandfather and grandmother we suffix l-u-lu = great, to the above words ; thus, vhiiha kvlu, 

 ray grandfather ; wyise kulu, his grandfather. Ukulu is either grandfather or graMdmother, and is 

 used with the pronouns thus, ukulu wdrne, my grandparent; ukulu wdka, his grandparent. 



