Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/48

34 cut off a knot, until at last they would see that the appointed day had arrived.

For counting months or native weeks (that is, the sets of four market days making a week), they would cut notches in a stick,—one notch for every month or every week, as the case might be.

For counting tens, pieces of grass, or palm nuts, or pellets of clay were used, whichever might be handy at the time of counting. In the same way a mark with the finger was made on the ground. Our ordinary old English tally was also known and used, i.e. notches cut across a piece of wood, and then the wood split down the middle, each of the two parties concerned taking one-half of the tally stick.

The King at San Salvador could proclaim war with a town without reference to anyone or consulting the chiefs.

A chief in the neighbourhood of San Salvador who wanted to fight another chief would have to gain the consent of the King first, and to ensure the neutrality of the King and neighbouring chiefs by presenting them each with the whole or part of a pig, according to their status. Having eaten his meat they would not fight against him.

A few days ago (June, 1908) Mayaji, a chief of a neighbouring town, (near Wathen Station), accused Makuka, a small chief, of committing adultery with one of his wives, and giving him "mbamba" (gonorrhoea) by giving medicine to her to put on her husband. Mayaji waited until Makuka visited his town, and without any proper trial he caught him and shut him in a house, and threatened to burn him in it. Some of Makuka's people hearing of this went to Mayaji's town unarmed,—(to have taken arms would have put them in the wrong),—to see if they could release their chief. Mayaji made an attack on them with sticks and knives, and severely wounded five of them.

The whole country side deprecates Mayaji's action, but