132 APPENDIX. [sect. 



and pursued their course, surrounding the base of yonder 

 hill. They slaughtered cattle ; they danced and sang till 

 the dawn of day ; they ascended, and killed till their hands 

 were weary of the spear '." 



In the following passage the missionary gives a terrible 

 picture of Matabele warfare: " The Matabele were not 

 satisfied with simply capturing cattle ; nothing less than the 

 entire subjugation or destruction of the vanquished could 

 quench their insatiable thirst for power. Thus when they 

 conquered a town, the terrified inhabitants were driven in a 

 mass to the outskirts, when the parents and all the married 

 women were slaughtered on the spot. Such as dared to be 

 brave in the defence of their town, their wives and their 

 children, are reserved for a still more terrible death ; dry 

 grass, saturated with fat, is tied round their naked bodies, 

 and then set on fire. The youths and girls are loaded as 

 beasts of burden with the spoils of the town, to be marched 

 to the homes of their victors. If the town be in an isolated 

 position, the helpless infants are either left to perish with 

 hunger or to be devoured by beasts of prey. On such an 

 event, the lions scent the slain and leave their lair. The 

 hyenas and jackals emerge from their lurkingplaces in 

 broad day, and revel in the carnage, while a cloud of 

 vultures may be seen descending on the living and the 

 dead, and holding a carnival on human flesh. Should a 

 suspicion arise in the savage bosom that those helpless in- 

 nocents may fall into the hands of friends, they will prevent 

 this by collecting them into a fold, and after raising over 

 them a pile of brushwood, apply the flaming torch to it, 

 when the town, but lately the scene of mirth, becomes a 

 heap of ashes 2 ." 



Among the Bushmen, if a mother dies, leaving an in- 

 fant, this is often buried alive with her. Infanticide is com- 

 mon among these people. 



1 Missionary Labours, &c. p. 528. 2 Ibid. p. 555. 



