The Garenganze Kingdom and People. 241 
the corn ripens, large stands have to be erected in the gardens, on 
the top of which Httle huts are built, perhaps fifteen feet above 
the ground, where the watchers sit to keep off birds and fowls by- 
day, and wild animals by night. During the summer the nights 
are continually disturbed by the shouts of these watchers, 
mingling strangely with the wilder cries of hyenas and other 
prowling animals. 
THE POSITION OF WOMEN. 
The rights and privileges given to women in the Garenganze 
country form one of the remarkable features of Msidi's govern- 
ment. Women are allowed to attend the courts, and to have 
a voice equally with the men, and Msidi succeeds pretty well in 
dispensing equal justice. Should a man beat or habitually ill- 
treat his wife, Msidi will allow her to return to her father without 
granting any compensation to the inhuman husband, even though 
he may have paid the father a heavy dowry. 
TWIN CHILDREN. 
As a rule, these simple people are fond of their children. 
Cases of infanticide are very rare, and then only because of 
some deformity. Twins, strange to say, are not only allowed to 
live, but the people delight in them. 
Mr. Swan thus describes a ceremony he was made to share in : 
^' While visiting Msidi my attention was drawn to a crowd of folk, 
mostly women, who approached singing, and ringing a kind of 
bell. They formed in lines opposite to us. In front of the rest 
were a man and woman, each holding a child, not more than a 
few days old. I then learned that the little ones were twins, the 
man and woman holding them being the happy parents, who had 
come to present their offspring to the king. They wore nothing 
but a few leaves round their loins — a hint to Msidi, I suppose, 
that they would like some cloth. After chanting a little, an 
elderly woman came forward with a dish in her left hand, and an 
antelope's tail in her right. When she reached Msidi, I was 
astonished at her dipping the tail into the dish, and dashing the 
liquid over his face. Msidi's wife had a like dose. But my 
surprise increased when she came to us and gave us a share. 
What was in the dish I cannot say, but it struck me as possessing 
R 
