656 DEATH AND MATRIMONY. 



S. "But then he is a very great man, is he not?" 



T. " While he lives, only ; after death he goes into the pit, 

 and there is no more to be said of him than of any other man." 



S. " How do you bury a Mgogo ? " 



T. " His legs are tied together ; his right arm to his body, 

 and his left put under his head ; he is then rolled on his left side 

 in the grave. His cloth he wore during his life is spread over 

 him ; we put the earth over him, and put thorn bushes over it 

 to prevent the hyena from getting at him. A woman is put on 

 her left side, in a grave apart from the man." 



S. "What do you do with a sultan (chief) when he is 

 dead?" 



T. " We bury him, too, of course ; only he is buried in the 

 middle of the village, and we build a house over it. Each time 

 they kill an ox they kill it before his grave. When the old 

 sultan dies the new one calls for an ox and kills it before his 

 grave, calling on Mulungu to witness that he is the rightful 

 sultan. He then distributes the meat in his father's name." 



S. " Who succeeds the sultan ? Is he the eldest son ? " 



T. " Yes, if he has a son ; if childless, the great chief next 

 to him in rank. The msagira is the next to the sultan, whose 

 business it is to hear the cause of complaint and convey it to the 

 sultan, who through the sultan dispenses justice. He receives 

 the honga, carries it to the sultan, and when the sultan has 

 taken what he wishes the rest goes to the msagira. The chiefs 

 are called manya-para ; the msagira is the chief manya-para." 



S. " How do the Wagogo marry ? " 



T. " Oh, they buy their women." 



S. " What is a woman worth ? " 



T. "A very poor man can buy his wife from her father for 

 two goats." 



S. " How much has the sultan got to pay ? " 



T. " He has got to pay about one hundred goats, or so many 

 cows, or so many sheep and goats, to his bride's father. Of 

 course he is a chief. The sultan would not buy a common 

 woman. The father's consent is to be obtained, and the cattle 

 have to be given up. It takes many days to finish the talk 

 about it. All the family and the friends of the bride have to 

 talk about it before she leaves her father's house." 



