Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/439

 THE WASAMBARA8. 856 all these inland tribes. The English missionaries established at Magila, in the eastern Usambara highlands, have acquired a fluent knowledge of this idiom, which they make use of for instructing the Wa^ambara natives. But Moham- medanism has penetrated farther into the upland villages, probably because a mere outward sign suffices to effect a conversion to the faith of Islam. Just as a Moslem captive becomes a pagan by being compelled to eat pork, the pagan is transformed to a Mussulman by the simple process of having his head shaved. So early as the year 1848, at the time of the missionary Krapf, two of the king's sons had been converted to Islam, and had at the same time learnt to read and write, Mohammedanism and civilisation being considered in this region as synonymous terms. The king, who bore the title of the " Solitary Lion," had his harem, in imitation of the sultans on the coast. His wives, of whom there were several hundred, went veiled like all Moslem women, and no stranger was allowed access to their village, which stood on the brow of a hill, surrounded by c/iambas, or gardens cultivated by slaves attached to their several households. Many of the local usages are evidently due to Arab influence. Thus four holy villages have been set apart as places of refuge, and here reside all the native magicians. No strangers are permitted to enter these places, where the Wasambara or Washenzi murderers and other criminals find a safe retreat. Those who are fortunate enough to touch the king's garment are also henceforth regarded as privileged persons. In the same way slaves acquire their freedom by crossing the threshold of a royal dwelling, but in this case the original seller is obliged to refund to the last purchaser the price paid for the freed man. The king of Usambara is a powerful sovereign, who in the time of Krapf ruled over about half a million Wasambaras, Washenzi, and other tribes. His territory, which lies between the coast, the valley of the Pangani, and the Pare Mountains, is one of the most fertile regions in Africa. Till recently it also comprised a great part of the Zeguha country on the south side of the river, and beyond the Pare uplands, but the Wasambara tribes that had penetrated into these districts have been gradually driven back, and the conterminous peoples have succeeded in estab- lishing their independence. Some runaway Negro slaves have also founded petty republican states in the easily defended forest tracts which encircle the Usambara highlands. All the agricultural and pastoral inhabitants of the Usambara state are required to pay the king an annual tax amounting to one-tenth of their crops and live- stock, and this tax suffices to support a considerable export trade in the local produce, which is forwarded through the neighbouring seaports to Zanzibar, and even as. far as Arabia. All the women of the country are regarded as the personal property of the sovereign, who may choose whom he will without paying the usual dowry. "He is master, he is God !" All are his slaves and proclaim them- selves as such.