10 3fr. Blorgan's Account of the Amakosae, 



Kraal is the name given to their villages by the Europeans ; 

 these in general are formed by the members of one family, 

 and by others united to that family in bonds of friendship or 

 servitude, for there exists in Cafferland a state of vassalage. 



This kraal is under the controul of a person who is generally 

 the senior of the whole, and always the father of many who 

 form this society ; to him belong the greatest part of the flocks, 

 which are pastured near it ; to him they look for assistance 

 and advice, — a sort of patriarchal authority exists in him, and 

 according to the extent of his fame as a man of judgment and 

 equity, so is his advice sought after and followed by similar and 

 surrounding kraals, and he becomes a sort of natural councillor 

 to a portion of the nation. 



The brothers, sons, and nephews of the king, who have ob- 

 tained a name from their experience or ability in the affairs of 

 the nation, or their daring and bravery in the chace or war, 

 also form kraals ; and to these persons are attached a number 

 of the more brave and ardent of the people. From the most 

 experienced of these chiefs of kraals and divisions a council is 

 formed, who esteem it as their right to advise and direct their 

 king in affairs of national importance ; and contrary to this ad- 

 vice no king has power to act. In conformity with the dic- 

 tates of this assemblage of chiefs, the king leads to war, or 

 negociatcs for peace. Their advice in favour of war is fol- 

 lowed by an arming of the whole land. Their recommendation 

 of peace re-calls the warriors to their respective homes, and 

 the person of the sovereign is forsaken by all except his own 

 immediate followers, who compose but a small part of the force 

 of the nation, and are only members of a society similar to the 

 others, but of which the king is chief. 



The government of these indiudual societies is vested in 

 their own chiefs, and they are entirely under his sway ; he may 

 be compared to the father of a large family, receiving sub- 

 mission and respect from them, and bestowing rewards or 

 dispensing punishment as to him may seem proper. From his 

 decision no appeal is made, and the advice of no other is 

 sought, except as a matter of choice, when a case of more com- 

 plicated nature comes under their notice. When the matter in 

 dispute involves a question of the right of another chief, then 

 it is considered as a national one, and the king and council 

 take cognizance of it, and the punishment of the otfender de- 

 volves on the king, to whom belongs the fine which is generally 

 in these cases exacted from the offender. 



It will appear by these observations that each chief is the 

 ruler of a small independent state, subject however to this re- 

 straint, that he is under the jurisdiction of an assemblage of 

 chiefs who are similarly situated as he is, — that a supremacy 



