Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/44

32 came forth a child." In the Ronga tale of Ngumha-ngumba, the only woman of the tribe left unswallowed by the monster produces, from an abscess on her leg, a child who becomes the deliverer.

Coming back to Qamata, it may be of interest to examine the sayings in connection with which the name appears to be chiefly remembered. Utesi Mboni, a Gaika, says that, when a man is hopelessly ill, his friends say, "(The matter) is now with (i.e. in the hands of) Qamata." If any one has narrowly escaped from a great danger, they say "He has escaped through Qamata." And when they are about to appoint a chief: "Let him be chosen by Qamata." Another informant states that the men of old, when they acquired possession of anything, used to say, "We have got it from Qamata." And when they met with food (this refers, no doubt, to a time when supplies were precarious), they would say, "We have obtained food from Qamata." Or if they had lost cattle and found them again: "We have got them from Qamata." Or if a man had escaped with his life in battle, or if he had received a present of a beast from his chief, he would say, "Qamata has been keeping an eye on me." This man, Jeremiah Mtila, of the Amangqika tribe, is positive that the name Qamata was handed down to them from their ancestors, not borrowed from any other tribe, and that the Hottentots never used it.

Prayers are offered to Qamata—i. e. when a man is ill, they kill a bullock, and an old man rises up and calls on Qamata, saying, "O Qamata! look on thy son and raise him up from his sickness!" When the sacrifice is eaten, a small piece of meat is set aside and called the share (isabelo) of Qamata.

It is said that Qamata is also called Luqivitela, a word which means "a whirlwind," and is also applied to the spirits of the dead. The language used almost seems to