Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/566

 464 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. Before the general acceptauce of Christianity, he bore the title of " Visible God," but now he is eonU'nt to claim supreme power " by the grace of God and the wiU of the people." Formerly he was the high priest of the nation, offered yearly sacrifices to secure the happiness of his people, and in return received from them the first-fruits of the soil. At his accession the courtiers took the " oath of the calf "—that is. after sacrificing one of these animuls, they swore by the swords buried in its body that the same fate should overtuke themselves whenever disloyal to their sovereign. His name, his image, all objects touched by him, are equally sacred ; he alone has a right to the red umbrella, and, as in other Malay languages, a special form of speech is reserved for the ruler. Terror precedes and follows him, and the highest in the land obey in silence at sight of the " silver assegai " ht'ld up by an attendant. Till recently officers doomed to death were invited to a banquet, where, after the feast, they drank the poisoned cup with acclamations in honour of the sender. Condemned nobles received an iron rod, with orders to voluntarily impule themselves; others were required to plunge into quagmires, where they disappearel in the mud; while some were burnt alive. But except in the case of slaves and the lower orders, care was taken to shed no blood, as a convincing proof of the royal clemency. Being onniipotent in principle, the king or the queen, overflowing with the " wisdom of the twelve kings " — that is, of all their ancestry — choose their own successors. Nevertheless, they do not escape from the court intrigues, and at present the real authority resides in the Prime Minister, husband of the Queen, and a sort of mayor of the palace. Other ministers are named by him, and all liave to obey his ordors. p]ven the dignitaries assembled in the kabari, or " great council," do little more than listen to the speech from the throne and signify their apj)roval. On grand occasions, when all the tribes with their chiefs are assembled according to the old feudal right, the minister addresses the multitude, which never fails to give its assent to his propositions. The ainlrinui, or baronial class, being t-tujtioned nearest to the palace and consequently more easily controlled than others, enjoy the least measure of freedom, and cannot even withdraw from the capital except on some special mission. But the old divisions into nobles, citizens, and slaves are being gradually replaced by the social classification according to ** honours," which is at once civil and military. The " first honour " is that of the simple soldier ; but from this it is possible to pass through all the intermediate grades up to the sixteenth, the highest rank in the social system. The trade in spirits has by recent enactments been prohibited throughout linerina, and 4,000 officials have been appointed to enforce the royal decrees, to keep the civil registers, and conduct the regular transfer of property. A penal code, far les3 rigorous than the old "common law," has been proclaimed, and henceforth the sentence of death is rarely inflicted. The army of "a hundred thousand men," although really comprising not more than thirty thousand, is recruited by a sort of conscription, the men being disbanded after five jears' service.