Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/282

258 The poles of the dead man's hut are then pulled out, as no one must live there again. Should any one be so heartless as not to cry at the funeral, the spirits become enraged, and visit him with some terrible sickness as a punishment for his hardness of heart.

Amongst the older and less civilised Basuto there is a strong disinclination to mention the dead by name. Young people too, as a rule, give each other nicknames by which they are known to their companions. Also, when a woman becomes a mother, she is no longer known by her former name, but is called "Mother of so and so;" thus, if the child's name Thibello, the mother will be called Me-go-a-Thibello (pronounced Ma-Tibello), and no matter how many children she may have afterwards she is always known as Me-go-a Thibello. The man on the other hand, though he is known as "Ra-go Thibello," or father of Thibello, still retains and is called by his former name.

I must now tell you who and what "Thokolosi" is and how I came to see him. There is in Basutoland a little creature of whom all stand in awe. He is not much bigger than a baboon, but possesses no tail, and is perfectly black in colour, with a quantity of black hair on his body. He shuns the daylight and abhors clothing even in the coldest weather. Such is Thokolosi the poisoner, the evil one, whose deeds of cruelty are even now told all over the country. He has power to kill, to send mad, to injure, to