248 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the forest, carrying them off in their march to the corn-fields, to 

 cast them aside when the work of depredation began. 



If man's origin can be satisfactorily accounted for, his destiny 

 is shrouded in impenetrable gloom. All spirits live, nor can they 

 be killed ; but how employed or what country they inhabit is 

 known to no one. It is true a man's ancestors watch over his life, 

 and the chief's ancestors guard the honor of the tribe, but beyond 

 this all is uncertainty and doubt.* A man's spirit is not at his 

 grave, though it may be met there; it is not at his old home, but 

 still it sees the offerings placed in the votive pot. It does not in- 

 habit his son's house, though he can not cut his nails or trim his 

 hair without his father's eye being upon him ; and should he fail 

 to bury the clippings of his nails or to burn the produce of the 

 barber's shears, he may expect to be reminded of it in the most 

 unpleasant manner. Nor is it a man's own actions alone that come 

 under the cognizance and censorship of his father's ghost. Should 

 his wife, while he is on a journey, anoint herself with the oil or 

 fat in daily use, she will not only suffer herself, but bring calamity 

 upon her husband ; should she dream during his absence, she must 

 offer a private gift for herself and the absent one. So far the 

 wishes of spirits are known, but how they employ themselves in 

 the spirit land, and what are the mutual relations between them, 

 has never been told. A chief remains such in virtue of his office, 

 but as to the relations between rival chiefs and old enemies, " the 

 people who are here do not know ; it never was known, for they 

 never told." 



Turning from speculations regarding creation, life, and death 

 to the daily concerns of this world, we meet with a number of very 

 curious minor customs and institutions among the Yao and allied 

 tribes. One of these is that of surety, or what we might call God- 

 parent. Every girl has a surety, and when her hand is sought in 

 marriage it is this official who is approached, and not her parents. 

 He makes the necessary arrangements, and sees what provision is 

 to be made for her and her children, should she have any ; and 

 also, in the event of her being sent away without just cause, how 

 she is to be supported and cared for. When a free wife — for this 

 institution applies only to free women — is dismissed, she returns 

 to her surety, and he redresses her wrongs, and makes such ad- 

 justments as the circumstances admit of. 



In the ordinary conduct of affairs, domestic and public, women 

 have no voice ; everything is regulated by the men, who may be 

 said to sit perpetually in council. A Yao woman, asked if the 



* The following customs are gleaned from notes and references by missionaries in the 

 Nyassa and Tanganyika Lake regions, no particular tribes being named. The customs seem 

 common. 



