Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/441

 THE WACHAOAS. 867 In gonoral the inhubitunts of Tavota are di8tin«,'ui>hc>J by their genial, cheerful dis]>osition, and the friendly reception they give to all peaceful strangers. Hence their town is the chief resting-place and revictualling station for caravans journey- ing backwards and forwards between the coast and Masai Land. In the neighbour- hood the Swaheli traders have founded a settlement, where they maintain temporary establishments. Thanks to these visitors from the coast, the Watavetas have acquired a considerable degree of instruction, and nearly all speak Ki-Swaholi as well as their own Hantu dialect. But they have not yet taken to the Arab custom of wearing clothes. Most of them still go naked, unless, for love of finery or as a protection against cold, they now and then throw some flowing drapery or animal's skin across the shoulders. The state is administrated by a council of five irazi, or elders, usually chosen from amongst the families of the original Taveta stock. But the decrees of this council are controlled and often modi tied by public opinion, which enjoys much force in the Taveta republic, and which is itself largely regulated by established usage or tradition. The marriage laws are somewhat lax, while those regulating betrothals are remarkably severe. Once engaged, or only partly purchased, the young woman can no longer go gadding about after dark ; nor can she converse with any of the opposite sex, not even her future husband, until the stipulated price in cows or oxen is fully paid up. Before the birth of her first child she displays herself before the dwellings of her female friends, preceded by a matron, and decked in all her finery : iron-wire, veil, pearls, chains, rings, and bracelets. The traditional funeral rites are also still scrupulously observed. The body is in the first instance buried in a squatting attitude, one arm resting on the knee and the head supported by one of the hands. Then, when nothing remains except the bare bones, the skull is removed — that is, if it belonged to the head of a family or to his principal wife — and transferred to the shelter of a wide-branching dracoeua, which it is henceforth charged to protect against the evil spirits. The Wachagas and Wanyikas. The Wachagas, who are divided into several petty monarchical states, inhabit the volcanic terraces of the Chaga country stretching along the southern slope of Kilima-Njaro. They speak a distinct Bantu dialect, which shows marked affinities with that of the Wasambara nation. Muchame, their most important state, is not strong enough to protect itself against the attack of the Masai raiders who infest its southern and western borders. Hence large tracts of extremely fertile land, which might support many hundred thousand inhabitants, have been entirely abandoned to nature. But however murderous the constant warfare carried on between the Masai and the Wachagas, the women of both nations are always mutually respected ; they enjoy such absolute immunity that they pass freely backwards and forwards between the hostile tribes, as if perfect |x'ace prevailed amongst them. The complete isolation of the farmsteads still attests the former peaceful habits of these people, so different from their present unsettled relations,