A ZULU LAWYER. 335 



deed do all the Caffre tribes, manifest quite surprising intelli- 

 gence, and frequently display powers of Socratic argument which 

 would astonish some of our knights of the green bag. In illus- 

 tration of this talent, on one occasion, " some individuals had 

 been detected in eating an ox, and the owner brought them be- 

 fore a council demanding payment for the animal. The defence 

 was that they had not killed the animal, but found it dying of 

 a wound inflicted by another animal. When the defence was 

 ended, an old gentleman of the prosecution began in true lawyer 

 fashion to examine the previous speaker : 



" Q. * Does an ox-tail grow up, or down, or sideways ? ' 



"A. ' Downward.' 



" Q. ' Do the horns of an ox grow up, down, or sideways ? ' 



"A. 'Upward.' 



" Q. ' If an ox gores another, does he not lower his head and 

 gore upward ? ' 



"A. 'Yes.' 



" Q. ' Could he gore downward ? 



"A. 'No.' 



" The wily interrogator then forced the witness to examine 

 the wound which he said was inflicted by an ox, and admit that 

 the beast had been stabbed and not gored." 



Another element of character distinguishes them, and one 

 which is, if possible, more remarkable among savages, who are 

 generally serious folks. They are very fond of joking, and 

 quite practical in them sometimes. A resident mentions that a 

 lad in his service once took great pains to tell his fellow-country- 

 men that the English were bound by etiquette to kneel down 

 and kiss the ground at a certain distance from the house. The 

 natives, born and bred in a system of etiquette equal to that of 

 any court in Europe, unhesitatingly obeyed, while the lad stood 

 by superintending the joke with great delight. It was pleasant 

 to observe, too, that when the trick was at last found out none 

 enjoyed it more than those who had fallen into the snare. 



In addition to all their other virtues, they are essentially 

 hospitable, and no one needs to carry supplies who travels through 

 their country, except in localities where they may have been 

 seduced to more selfish customs by intercourse with Portuguese 

 traders. Such a digression in the interest of Zulu reputation 



