THINKING MAN 



Xikamaci, whom I have described elsewhere as the 

 author of Ndongoism or witchcraft, is the north wind, 

 and, as a word, falls into the Xi or Ki, plural Bi, class. 

 Bunzi (also of this class), the south wind, is endeavour- 

 ing to bring the rain to fall upon the earth and make 

 it fertile ; Xikamaci wants to drive it away. The very 

 meaning of the word points to this, as it is (Xi) earth 

 (ka) divided from (maci) water. The coming of the 

 rain causes the earth to produce, and anything that 

 produces is good (Mbote). That which prevents pro- 

 duction is bad (Ambi). The story tells us that 

 Xikamaci usurped the authority of her chief or father, 

 and punished the children who damaged her planta- 

 tions, instead of allowing him to do so. She was 

 impatient of control, and did not give her parent the 

 honour due to him. She was punished by having her 

 fields flooded and by being driven into the sea. In 

 this struggle between Bunzi and Xikamaci, the good 

 south and bad north wind, we expect to find the origin 

 of man's ideational method of arriving at a right con- 

 clusion. This category, we must remember, has to do 

 with earth and trees and moral ideas. 



The name of the season of preparation for rain is 

 called Bunji (the deep of seed), and the months are 



