Page:Seven Years in South Africa v2.djvu/476

 composed of Makalaka and Mashona lads recently enlisted.

In times of peace the boys are sent out to take care of the cattle, but on their return home they are always carefully instructed in the use of weapons. This constant exercise makes them so strong and muscular that a Masarwa straight from the Kalahari Bushveldt, and another having undergone his training with the Matabele, could not be recognized as belonging to the same tribe. The Matabele warriors live in barracks, and domestic life is quite unknown; only in very exceptional cases is it allowable for any one but a chief to treat his wife otherwise than as a slave, though it must be allowed that there is hardly any appreciable difference between the two conditions. The king does not prevent people of other tribes from practising their own religious and superstitious ceremonies, subject to the general prohibition that no subject of his may be a Christian. The ivory-traders followed the missionaries into the country; they found a ready sale for guns and ammunition, but the natives were little disposed to purchase any articles of clothing.

Every year before starting on their expeditions of plunder the Matabele perform their Pina ea Morimo, or religious war-dance. The warriors assemble on the parade-ground in full military costume, their heads, breasts, and loins being adorned with coverings made of black ostrich feathers. A black bull is led—forward and baited till it is angry; it is then chased by the soldiers, until, covered with blood, it sinks lame and exhausted to the ground; a few practised strokes then sever the muscles; the flesh is stripped off in cutlets and held for a few minutes before a