CHAPTER XI 



THE NATIVES : WA-SENA — A-NYANJA ANTHRO- 

 POLOGY TRIBAL ORGANISATION VILLAGES 



To the two tribal divisions whose names head this 

 chapter might perhaps be added two or three more, 

 namely, the Wa-Nyungwe of the Tete District, 

 the Wa-Tonga of the region of the Baru^, and the 

 A-Mahindo of the coast. Between these last-men- 

 tioned, however, and the Wa-Sena of the south 

 bank of the Zambezi, there is so little difference, to 

 all external appearance, that it is perhaps better to 

 allow them to fall into their two more important 

 tribal divisions, those of the Wa-Sena and A-Nyanja. 

 It is "customary, I am aware, in discussing the 

 natives of any given part of Africa, to attempt 

 the impossible, and, by dint of ingenious theories, 

 possessing probably not a trace of actual foundation, 

 to trace them back for more or less prolonged 

 periods and to dogmatise as to who they are and 

 where they came from. Such is not my intention. 

 The African we are about to consider is the African 

 of to-day, and we will regard him not in the skin- 

 clad cannibalism of his long-dead past, but rather 

 in the douce, calico-covered decency of the twen- 

 tieth century. 



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