256 CAFFER SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. 



of his father and the hereditary privileges of the 

 family. The Chief having many wives, there is no 

 established right for the first-born, but the sovereignty 

 devolves on the offspring of tlie Inkose host, female 

 chieftain, or queen. Among the Zoolahs the title 

 of Inkose is solely confined to the principal Chief. 

 The term hay, in their language, is appended to 

 words by way of denoting anything in the superla- 

 tive degree : thus the natives, meeting an European, 

 will cry out Umblekay, or most beautiful. 



The Chief must obtain the consent of his captains 

 previously to his marriage with the Inkose kosi ; and 

 as she usually happens to be his youngest wife, her 

 son is generally a child when his father dies ; and 

 before he is old enough to act for himself, he finds 

 his influence " but a name," his cattle devoured by 

 his great men, and his family clan dispersed. He 

 must, on reaching maturity, begin by degrees to re- 

 sume his family authority, and should he die, as will 

 sometimes happen, before he has fairly succeeded in 

 consolidating his power, his son is placed in similar 

 circumstances ; so that the authority of the great 

 Chief is always kept within very confined limits. 

 The power of the superior Chiefs is restrained by 

 the necessity under which they are placed of meet- 

 ing the wishes of their subordinates, whose co-ope- 

 ration in their designs is entirely voluntary. On 

 particular occasions all the warriors of the tribe 

 assemble, and are allowed to give their opinion and 



