4:-. 



98 HUNTING TRIPS IN NORTHERN RHODESIA. 



It is a principle with a native to choose " the way of least resistance," so he 

 generally lies. When he tells the truth, he thinks it will pay him to do so, or he does 

 it by accident. 



Most kind-hearted people try to find good instead of evil in others ; and, with 

 the exception of their continual lying and occasional dishonesty, there are many 

 good points in the native character. One of their good points is love for their 

 children, although at the best this is only a kind of animal love, for as soon as the 

 offspring grow up they have to shift for themselves, like the lion cub and baby 

 monkey. 



Perhaps their worst fault is their heartless indifference to pain, be it mental or 

 physical, in others. They will laugh and imitate the dying groans and gestures of 

 some poor wretch, and leave him to die alone and unattended. 



Surely this is animal-like in human beings, for the beasts do likewise, as a 

 wounded animal is nearly always found alone, having been turned out of the herd by 

 his stronger companions. They treat animals horribly in most cases, and pity is a 

 thing they do not know. 



Charity is a very scarce article among the natives, for there is no room for it in 

 their struggle for existence. Sometimes members of the same tribe, or clan, treat 

 one another well, but not always. They give very little away, and what they do 

 give they expect very full payment for. 



Their morals are no worse, or better, than other native tribes in different parts of 

 the world, and would compare quite favourably with certain European races. They 

 believe in polygamy, for the more wives a man can afford to keep the more 

 comfortable he will be, as the women do most of the work in the gardens, besides 

 cooking the husband's food and looking after their numerous children. A native's 

 idea of wealth is plenty of wives, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and a few daughters, 

 which he hopes to make something of in the future. As livestock among the natives 

 is not very plentiful nowadays, they sell their daughters now for money or cloth, 

 instead of for cattle and other animals, as was formerly the custom. 



At the present time the natives can make a good deal of money, considering their 

 simple wants. As carriers or labourers they can earn a shilling a week, and the 

 personal servants of white men generally get more. 



The hut-tax is very reasonable, and after it is paid the natives can either sit 

 down in their villages or work, for there is always a demand for labour in this country 

 among the traders, farmers, or hunters. As a native will never do to-day what he can 

 leave for the morrow, they wait until the last moment to prepare their gardens for the 

 crops, on the breaking of the rainy season. 



