Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/229

 TEMBULAND. 175 hindrance. In fact, the common folk are expected to feel honoured and flattered by the whims und fancies of their masters Till recently chiefs alone were honoured with sepulture, the Ixxlies of their subjects being thrown into the bush. Nor was it always thought necessary to await their death before they were dragged from their huts through a breach puri)08ily made in the enclosure. But in the case of great chiefs the funeral rites lasted for weeks together. Friends kept vigils about the grave to protect it from the aerial spirits and the inclemency of the weather. At times these vig^s lasted a whole year, and those keeping watch then became sacred in the eyes of their fellow-countrymen. Cows were driven within the pre- cincts of the tomb, and being thereby sanctified, were henceforth regarded an protecting genii, that could neither be eaten nor sold. These precincts were also regarded as places of refuge, like the medieval sanctuaries, at the threshold of which the avenging arm of justice was arrested. At first sight it might be supposed that little public spirit could exist amongKt a people who thus surrounded the person of their chief with such marks of super- stitious homage. Nevertheless, the Ama-Kosas are well able, when called upon, to defend their traditional civil rights against their very chiefs. They have on all occasions given signal proof of a highly developed national sentiment as well as a strong spirit of fellow-feeling in the family relations. Those called upon to pay a fine in cattle which they are unable to discharge may always rely on their kinsmen to come to their aid. Tembilaxd. Tembuland, that is, the territory occupied by the Tembu nation, aevelops a semicircle to the north and east of the districts held by the Fingos and Galekas. Beginning at the Kwathlamba Mountains, und comprising several upland valleys draining to the Kei River, it stretches south-eastwards through a portion of the fluvial zone which is bounded by the Bashee and Um-Tata rivers. The Tembus, or Aba-Tembus, who are more generally known by the name of Tambookies, are a powerful people numbering altogether a hundred thousand. Although frequently compelled by the vicissitudes of war to shift their cumjnug-grounds with their herds and families, they have suffered comparatively little from the changes brought about by the gradual encroachments of the whites, and now accept with resignation, if not with gratitude, the jurisdiction of the British magistrates. Tembuland is intersected by accessible roads and even by tel('graj)h lines, and mining operations have already been commenced in the coalfields discovered in these highlands. A town in the strict sense of the woid has even been foundtd in the district. Umfatti, as it is called, stands on the east bank of the river of like name, above the magnificent fulls, which are exceeded in romantic beauty by few others in this region. The neighbouring Bomvana p<>ople, who dwell, to the number of twenty thousand, in the maritime district comprised between the Bashee and the Umtata rivers, have hitherto hud but little contact with the British colonists, and not much is known about their territorv.