Each tribe of the Betchuanas has some animal in which it sees its " ancestor," from which it takes its name and which it celebrates by sol emn dances. Many tribes are named after these animals. Thus the name Ba-knena signifies " crocodile people;" Ba-tlapa, " fish people;" Ba-katla, " ape people;" Ba-tnang, " lion people;" Ba-tsetze, " tseize-fly people;" but there are also " iron people " (Ba-tsipi, Ba-rolong), and some tribes are considered to be sacred; as, for example, the otherwise powerless Ba-hnrutse.
The Hereros are divided into different "families" each of which considers some plant as sacred. By the question, "What do Yon dance?" one learns to which tribe the party addressed belongs, for the answer will consist of the name of the animal after which the tribe is called. The belief in " ancestral " animals prevails among all the Bantu nations. Guardian spirits and souls arc not always distinct. The latter are feared, as is shown by the funeral customs of the Caffirs; but many offerings are brought to them and prayers are addressed to them among the Wanikas and Tshagas in the north-east of this district, the Manganyas, the Betchuanas, the Zulus, the Amakosa, the Hereros, and others. The Bantu everywhere believe in men who can change themselves into ani mals, and in other ghost-like beings.
These ideas are by no means clear to the Bantu nations, and least of all to the southern tribes. The clearest idea is that of guardian spirits who settle in animals or in other objects. Thus we have pure fetichism. Hidden under these rude ideas there are others, which, though obscure, may nevertheless be recognized. "The religious system of these peoples," says the missionary Moffat, "has entirely disappeared, as their rivers dis appear in the sand ;" and this is very true. Yet there are some traces of it remaining. Titus, the nocturnal dances at the time of the full moon and others at the time of the new moon, and also some myths about the sun, seem to indicate an ancient worship of the heavenly bodies. They also know and venerate many stars.
The Amakosa esteem one of the spirits of their ancestors particularly powerful. They call him inkosi," chief, master," and they represent him as casting down the lightning (Fritsch). The (literally, " He above") of the Betchnanas is described by the magicians as an especially powerful and generally hostile being. The Betelmanas say that they themselves do not care about such things, but that their ancestors knew much about him. His name is mentioned in connection with the creation of all things: he is said to have proceeded, with the human race and the animals, front a large cave in the north, and for this reason the dead are buried with their faces turned to the north.
Other tribes (Hereros, Zulus) derive the origin of all beings from a kind of world-tree, a sacred aboriginal stem. Toward the east and the north-east we find a clearer idea of a supreme being: he is called .1/it-un.f,-/t by the Suahelis and by the Malzna. From this it would seem
that the Bantu had, besides their animistic and ancestral cult, a venera tion of heaven and the heavenly bodies which in time gave way to the ancestral cult: for this reason the originally supreme gods are described as having been former chieftains.
Magicians and rain-makers are everywhere important personages. Tke former constitute several classes, and one of them is a sort of high priest over the others. They cure diseases, are fortune-tellers, and detect and frustrate witchcraft; the belief in them is firm, and they are of supreme importance in the entire life of these peoples. They initiate everything: warriors and animals are rendered invulnerable by a black cross which the priest paints on them—among the Caffirs it is put on the forehead of the warrior (comp. fii. 86, jig. zo; b/. 89, jigs. 5, 6). Offerings are everywhere made to the spirits of ancestors, whom the Hereros represent by little rods, each " family " ;Ida) taking for this purpose the rods from the branches of its sacred plant. The Tshag-as are said to have idols.
Political what has been said it will be seen that the character and ability of the Bantu are good. The kingdoms of inte rior Africa, as well as the able achievements of some of the Herero sov ereigns, show what they can accomplish in politics. They have main tained their place against European culture, and can rarely be outwitted by the whites. In their political conventions they often exhibit eloquence; and they have frequently embarrassed the missionaries by their sceptical but sagacious questions. In ordinary life they are active and impulsive. They are but slightly accessible to the teachings of the Christian religion, as they concern themselves little about religious questions.
Moral regard to their moral qualities, they are brave and do not lack a kind of high-mindedness. They exhibit a sense of honor and of justice. We have seen (p. 318) how severely they punish theft, which, however, is of frequent occurrence; and avarice and begging are now prevalent among the Caffirs, though less so in the east. They are generally truthful, especially the inland tribes. Although the Bet chuanas never contradict and are outwardly polite and friendly, they are by no means always sincere. They do not value human life, and conse quently they are generally heartless and cruel to the suffering ; all the more so as superstition prompts them to it. But they are not really blood thirsty, neither are they revengeful or resentful. Hospitality and indus try are largely found among them where they have retained their native character, and they are no more dissolute than peoples in a natural state are wont to be.
On the whole, therefore, our judgment about the Bantu must be favor able: they are a gifted race, and have attained in civilization what was possible in the geographical and historical circumstances in which they live, and much good may be expected from them in the future.