HANTU MKTIlonS OK DIVINATION. 40/ 



this respect has nothinj^ in conimon with tlic F»aniu (h'uiiis as far 

 as 1 am aware, hut in other ways they are siniihir. 



The dikomana, or war-drums, are essentially instruments of 

 niajjic. and are not to he confused with the morn pa, or dancing 

 drums, with wliich they have no connection. They are invariably 

 " consecrated " by human sacrifice, a custom recorded in the 

 Segananoa proverb : " The man who makes the dikomana will 

 see them with his eyes, but he will never hear them with his 

 ears." They are supposed to be possessed or inhabited by the 

 tribal spirit, •'■- and are consequently jealously guarded, and stored 

 in a special hut. They are only used in connection with tribal 

 fertility rites, or for other purposes of magic, and are therefore 

 seldom seen. 



The number of drums in a set is ahcays five or a multiple 

 of five. Each group is called a herd. in(li\'iduals being known 

 by the following names : — 



1. Moradu: the " big cow " of the herd. This is the largest 



of the set, and is beaten with the fists only. The rest 

 are beaten with sticks. 



2. Pau (Po-o). 



3. Maditsi. 



4. Todiane. 



5. Bo-pampane. 



Each drum'^'' is carved from a solid block of wood, and they 

 aj^pear to have been modelled on the spherical clay pots used 

 by the Basuto. All are provided with projecting handles with 

 the exception of the smallest, which has only one. The mouth 

 of the drum is covered with the undressed skin of an ox, specially 

 sacrificed for the purpose, and kept in position by wooden pegs. 

 The largest drum is only eighteen inches in diameter, and the 

 others diminish in size down to seven inches in the smallest. 

 Numbers 2, 4 and 5 are without ornament of any kind. No. i 

 has an embossed rim at the level of the handles, ornamented by 

 a series of curved lines. No. 3 is surrounded by a belt orna- 

 mented with a series of patterns, including the " selumi " or 

 " teeth." A smooth white pebble is kept in one of the drums, 

 and part of a femur in another. 



The use of the dikomana is closely bound up with a curious 

 instrument called sitlajaiii, made of two pieces of grooved i\ory 

 bound together, grooves inward, with a thin film of skin between 

 them, after the fashion of the *' squeaker " used bv " Punch and 

 Judy " showmen. 



At the time of some national crisis all men who have been 

 initiated in the dikomana degree are summoned to the Chief's 

 cattle kraal, where a solemn service is conducted. The invoca- 

 tion of the spirits is accompanied by the beating of the drums 



"^ At certain times lil^ations of beer are oflfered by being poured upon 

 the largest drum in the set ( ^^Irs. Franz). 



" This description is taken from a set said to be over .300 years old, 

 and now in the author's possession. 



