MODE OF EXECUTION. 1 69 



men kept hold of their arms, even after we had sat down 

 — a thing quite unusual in the presence of a chief ; and 

 when Sekeletu showed me the hut in which I was to spend 

 the night, he said to me, " That man wishes to kill me." 

 I afterwards learnt that some of Mpepe's attendants had 

 divulged the secret ; and, bearing in mind his father's 

 instructions, Sekeletu put Mpepe to death that night. It 

 was managed so quietly, that, although I was sleeping 

 within a few yards of the scene, I knew nothing of it till 

 the next day. Nokuane went to the fire at which Mpepe 

 sat, with a handful of snuff, as if he were about to sit 

 down and regale himself therewith. Mpepe said to him r 

 " Nsepisa " (cause me to take a pinch) ; and, as he held 

 out his hand, Nokuane caught hold of it, while another 

 man seized the other hand, and, leading him out a mile, 

 speared him. This is the common mode of executing 

 criminals. They are not allowed to speak ; though on 

 one occasion a man, feeling his wrist held too tightly, said, 

 " Hold me gently, can't you ? you will soon be led out in 

 the same way yourselves." Mpepe's men fled to the 

 Barotse, and, it being unadvisable for us to go thither 

 during the commotion which followed on Mpepe's death, 

 we returned to I4nyanti. 



The foregoing may be considered as a characteristic 

 specimen of their mode of dealing with grave political 

 offences. In common cases there is a greater show of 

 deliberation. The complainant asks the man, against 

 whom he means to lodge his complaint, to come with him 

 to the chief. This is never refused. When both are in 

 the kotla, the complainant stands up and states the whole 

 case before the chief and the people usually assembled 

 there. He stands a few seconds after he has done this, to 

 recollect if he has forgotten anything. The witnesses to 

 whom he has referred then rise up and tell all they them- 

 selves have seen or heard, but not anything that they 

 have heard from others. The defendant, after allowing 

 some minutes to elapse, so that he may not interrupt any 

 of the opposite party, slowly rises, folds his cloak around 

 him, and, in the most cmiet, deliberate way he can assume 

 — yawning, blowing his nose, &c. — begins to explain the 

 affair, denying the charge or admitting it, as the case may 

 be. Sometimes, when galled by his remarks, the com- 

 plainant utters a sentence of dissent ; the accused turns 

 quietly to him, and says, "Be silent ,♦ I sat still while you 



