rt Trihc of Caffers on the East of the Cape Colony. 43 



TJifiir food is carried and deposited in a particular spot from 

 whence they take it. If the survivor be a woman, and she 

 have an infant at the breast, it is taken care of by some neicjh- 

 bour, who carries it to the mother once or twice a day to receive 

 nourishment. After the period of scchision they begin to return 

 to the society of their friends, first by night then by day, when 

 all the kraal assemble and set lire to the hut which was inhabited 

 by the deceased, breaking all tlie utensils and burning them in 

 the flames of the hut. The survivors, all relations and friends, 

 shave the whole of their heads. 



On the death of a Chief or any of his family, the like custom 

 is observed by all who were under his rule. The burying place 

 of the Chief or his family is in the cattle kraal*; that of the 

 common people is in the holes formed by the ant bear or other 

 wild animals, which they fill up with stones or dirt. Upon the 

 death of a man his chief takes all the cattle that were his pro- 

 perty. This custom has been laid aside both by Un Botuman 

 and Un Thlambe, who, on the death of any of their men, 

 appointed a guardian to the family, to whom are given up all 

 the flocks of the deceased, to be held in trust till they become 

 of sufficient age to manage them themselves. 



The only manufactory amongst them that is carried on by a 

 distinct set of men, is the making the heads of the assagai, 

 the forming of axe heads, and the making of their sewing 

 lieedlcs or awls ; and he who practices this art is held in great 

 estimation amongst them. The only tools are various kinds of 

 hard stones, as hammers and anvils. Flexible boughs of green 

 wood for holding the hot iron — and a bellows formed of an 

 entire buckskin ; the legs are tied up, and to the neck is 

 fastened the horn of an ox which is perforated and forms the 

 tube for the exit of the wind ; the other end of the skin is open 

 and two sticks are sewed to the brim — these have two loops on, 

 one to receive the thumb the other the fingers. The method of 

 using them is as follows:— a forge is formed on the ground by 

 erecting a bank of earth a foot or two in height ; this serves to 

 secure the nose of the bellows and protects the skin from the 

 action of the fire, which is made in front of the bank : a hole 



• When the chief is buried (he cattle kraal is filled up with bushes, 

 and the huts are all deserted. An extent of country is marked out, over 

 which no person must pass or cattle graze. A breach of this rule is 

 punished with confiscation of property, and if committed by a stranger 

 the punishment is slavery. A certain number of cattle — bulls, cows, 

 and calves — is turned out on this land, and they are ever after held 

 sacred ; they cannot be killed or even milked, but live on this spot, 

 herded by people set apart for that purpose. When the grass has gjiown 

 over the grave the land is relieved from this taboo, but the cattle a,re still 

 held devoted, and they die and rot on the spot, no part of them being 

 takeh or applied to any use whatever. 



