316 GOVERNMENT OF SUBJECT PEOPLES 



his fellows for his own ends. Even if it should 

 happen that the man chosen as chief by the ruler 

 possesses the necessary probity to represent the 

 people justly, there is all the difference in the world 

 between action with knowledge so that the choice 

 can be justified and action in total ignorance of the 

 revolution which is being introduced into the 

 traditional practices of the people. Even if the 

 course adopted be that which would have been taken 

 with full knowledge, the way in which it is carried 

 out leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction and injustice 

 which could have been wholly avoided if the action 

 had been based upon knowledge instead of ignorance. 

 The failure of justice in such a case can be traced 

 to ignorance of the all pervading part taken by 

 religion in the regulation of the social life of savage 

 and barbarous peoples. Not only will the indirect 

 effect of such ignorance do harm by the production 

 of a sense of injustice but occasionally ignorance 

 of the religious or magical aspects of chieftainship 

 may have still more disastrous consequences. Thus, 

 among the Nubas of southern Kordofan the chief 

 is also the rain-maker, and it is believed that 

 his rain-making powers will come to an end if 

 he leaves the hill upon which he and his people 

 dwell 1 . Formerly, when an official wished to deal 

 with a community of the Nubas he camped at the 

 foot of their hill and sent for the chief, thus forcing 

 the people to choose between disobedience to their 



1 I owe this information to Prof. C. G. Seligman. 



