236 
Seven Years in Central Africa. 
naturally filled with martial desires, as the Matabele and Zulu 
races appear to be, but seem rather to have been compelled 
to assume the aggressive in defence of their very existence. 
VARIETY OF TRIBES. WITCHCRAFT PUT DOWN. 
One remarkable feature of the Garenganze kingdom is the 
peaceable dwelling together of the remnants of various tribes 
under one chief To bring this about Msidi has, of course, 
to exercise a great deal of tact, and he shows considerable 
ability in dealing with the many questions that come before him, 
arising from the tribal jealousies that are continually at work 
in his dominions. It is frequently found that the men of one 
tribe are jealous of those of another, dwelhng in the next 
compound, and speaking a different dialect, and are ready to 
trace to them all their disasters. In the past, charges and trials 
for witchcraft were very common, and threatened to keep the 
country in a perpetual state of turmoil and strife. Msidi, how- 
ever, met the difficulty by declaring himself to be the only wizard 
in the kingdom — that is, the only person invested with any magic 
power — and so the tribes have now to cast about for other means 
of bringing their petty enmities and jealousies to bear upon one 
another. 
The variety of tribes that has just been alluded to, constitutes 
an element of weakness in the kingdom, and it would probably 
soon be disintegrated if the ruler were not a man of marked 
character. A somewhat similar state of things existed in the 
Barotse valley when the great Makololo chief ruled, and now 
there is nothing but strife and confusion there, Liwanika being a 
man destitute of decision and power. 
MEN SAID TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO ANIMALS. 
I have often tried to chide the Garenganze people for their 
want of bravery in not hunting down the many wild animals that 
prey around their towns, carrying off the sick people, and 
frequently attacking and seizing solitary strangers. They excused 
themselves by explaining that these wild animals are really men 
of other tribes," turned by the magic power they possess, into the 
form of lions, panthers, or tigers, who prowl about to take 
vengeance on those against whom they are embittered. In 
