BASUTOLAND AND THE BASUTOS

New Zealand Mail, 29 November 1900, Page 31

BASUTOLAND AND THE BASUTOS

interesting cf South of the KSydnoy ■i , ;r o U <h the Transvaal war the the Basufcos has been a matlaterest. They were • cie-"-fieing in “a state of unrest," joining in the strife -ertions of the English commisGodfrey Lagden. From rea'clone got the idea that about ten thousand raging and feathers, and jj' -assegaies and knob-lcerries, M&*if waiting an excuse to hurl the border and wade in After .General Hunter had capon the Basuto border, HEL through Basutoland to have a ■KthoseVariike people. We had jS§i'i!ttle experience of them during IKfsr.'ss plenty of Basutos were workB| for the array as mule-drivers and oxand' so on. One black was an English officer, andWli told .that he .must not speak ■piapoleijfc. way he said, “Oh, I’m We always speak to white Mpiat'.way in my country.” Where■^pfEsglisman, in defiance of army Jljfp.Hi jke Basuto a smashing blow RSifa, knocking him off his feet,. ■shbfl? him that he wasn’t iu his itrypand couldn't be .impudent superiors with, impunity. ® -BANJO'’ IS SURPRISED. .A Side Hunger s c-c'u.inu was fighting KfeGaiedon Valley if was close, on the M|vp d Basutoiand, and die nearest Sga&ii telegraph, line avaiiaoie was m country, so all the war ccrrespondjSA used to try to get liioir messages pfety'Seribe, in Basutoland, because message could go from there gper tfcn a -sliott iusw-age on an array St ™ 8 <w two _ correspondents v of ■era Liras one, left Hunter's col wan dovvn co he Basuto border, eight miio- off, to see if ve ■wd get ■any one to scud down to the : A niepages. c half expected »W the boraer lined with armed to shoot at anything that atfi-ed ane we kept a sharp lookout sis W*m aown through tins big bare .tu* -Caledon'' River, ag-. wuns tha Bam,h* border. The HE“° ? f ri D Mrea-in. and we IKL fU U Basutoland a . s we the bo roar, but we saw IROttle whim t il ' / ' lgli ? f except Kt’J • tsjl - c -’ ca c river bonk. h'.‘ r, t~ v/e ennie unex- % h ’rK« -tore, and the toid ns that Erie iu-f" Cu U’A a »*»to Police. fc®S hing . tlie . border -o preCoi , iU2 . l S i«to Basutoland. KnSaitT 2 -^ I ' ih ® Police had hi'hlnrJv' T‘ and bring kiwZ ■■ : ° Cdi mj § i£t rate. This n , «op ,to ail our flight of tier? a p° at fcl ‘ e Basufc os and their SAiM k. e Wo w ' ore threatened ii trht t a COitU!lOil police tn-an and TOSehSl ? when we &r nrd,m -° ,Koet assegaies and yr. ■ weapons. MIGHT Kir A BARN.” *u v ; fc -' ic away and rn g^' a -‘ a to chance being fe-£^ U 1! t 0 tho tents. Two Bisnfo Poie °, l; ‘—a sub-inspector Nei They A-m ? ! ' a ■" resident miigis- * ! ? ng for At G _^S, any distance! y^lielte^" a i n - ed U P a SOl 't men. .and the if a . si P'i liini wH"*9" aM , the war. men Id I J IQ expected to IS. EWS f°. light.' but they t” ot ,"t all ivell, f u > wiore s one man lf , he inside ! > i t-'e Ot,mm aren’t up p.;-:v : ; ’ - Were walking ! nmr uniforms, and LjUnd wh P iy e 'V msuts. They °f°rnm!ly |v, v * Crr - ail pH. '' ”"icd tiie officer. S; i :i3ei! - b!ack the I' •■%« I .deW. ' (Bests E?hS. R ‘cvoi'..p' 1 '! sIoa!; ' -which the Kfei'* Mostly r- ; V° ;vin K to E^?nbiaou ( i° n beer—a tmu according to EuroKliill.is mn.w r L agrees with these |W ''h washv i; lOUi corn, and fe. pfefc (iUor > about as strong F <s '’ aut *- the way these

Basutos could drink it would have opened the ejes of any beer chamnion of a German University. We S aV-bt°t a £f'» t 0 i ,2er for thc Present, till we desenbe die country and the pcoole a little. It doesn't look well to nvh on to the subject cf beer the moment onis in ,a foreign country. Well, the subinspector said he could get us a mes®f°ger 8° down to the telegraph station, oo miles, ror us., and one of the po-ice lifted up bis voice, and proceeded to maiso- a village about a mile and a half distant. He put his hands to his mouth ami emitted a series of roars like a healthy bull, and soon from the little oolleetion of red-earth beehives on the tar distant- hillside there came an answering bellow, and for a few minutes they tog-horned to each other. Then the policeman turned and saluted formally, and said, “Man come soon." W e found that this shouting business b« a great cliaraeterstic of the Basutos. . A SPLENDID RACE.

ihe country is all bare mountains nith broad valleys between, and they cad to each other across the valleys The whole plateau is 5000 ft above the -sea, while the hills run up another 3000 feet. or so, and. at that height the voice carries wonderfully through tire thin air. They all have tremendous voices, ami they think nothing of talking to a man a mile off. We waited for the messenger to come along, and soon he an-peared—-a tall, grim-visaged Basuto clad in a pair of tattered tweed pants, and a scarlet blanket wrapped round Ins body. He was riding a very fine wehbu,ilt_pony He took the telegrams and che os and disappeared on his 35 miles riae. Then, out of the red earth beomves, we saw the Basutos coming down to Hie camp to see the -.trangers. These were the “rude forefathers of tho hamieV —the leading citizens of the village of 3latehr,s Drift, which was the name of the crossing place where we came over the Caledon. The two white police officers went off to see General Sir Archibald Hunter, aiid we waited to Interview the Basutos, and find out what they thought of thc war, and what chance there was of their rising. The' men who came down were all six-foot-ers, at least; bis black men with fine presence and great natural dignity. Each was dressed in a red. bine, or many-ooloured blanket folded round the body, and secured by a, big pin. A RACE OF “CATTLE-MEN.” The chief was an evil-faced fellow, who was distinguished by having his blanket folded a different way from the others, and by wearing a curious conical fur can. His natural dignity was enhanced by the fact that he vras wearing a pair of old leather leggings, and as he hau no trousers nor boots cn, the leggings looked rather out of place and. lonely on. his bare shins, with bis big,* bare feet beneath. He waved his haiul with rapid grace in answer to our salutes,' and all his following, about 10 in number. - sat them down, and conversation began by-medium of one of the police, who spoke English. The natives all had a dull, drugged look about thc-ir eyes; just like the eyes of the Australian aborigines who smoke opium. T asked, .“Do these men smoke: opium?” hut it seemed'they had never heard of it. It turned out that they smoke a root called • “Dhar,” which they bury in the ground and suck up the smoke by a tube: This is like Indian hemp in it's effects, and stupifies. them if they smoke for long. We asked soine questions as to what they thought about the War, but they seemed “fed up” on the ’war: —wouldn’t evince any interest in it. But there was evidently some subject that was interesting them; as they chatted away to each other, and at last it came ovi':—tlieir one object, in life.was da.tt.lo. - They know that the British had just captured Thousands of Boer cattle, and they wanted to get cattle. Would the army sell them the cattle or give them the cattle—those .that were no good to eat? They wanted cows to breed from, and would give horses in exchange—Basuto horses, very good horses. It seemed that the rinderpest had killed nearly all their, cattle a few years ago. and they wanted to stock up again. This was the only thing they

took the slightest interest in. If they Jhlw ri ?s. tlie _ latc war, it would bpy huie been ror the purpose cf getting cattle: and they would not have been very particular whose cattle thev icok Once they .had broken out, it x* not h.un. >r Oiey would have stopped l f nc ? thp y would have' looted f' ,J , laulec ] the T.oer farms along the Ijo.ciei, and as they can put about 10.000 men unnor arms, it would hare been i. terrible business. MATRIMONY IN BASUTOLAND. The chief was under the idea that the aimy would ggiv© him six cows for a gooch horse, so he -started to fell m about, a horse he had, and the others all chimed m, singing the praises of this horse m true horseooper fashion. Their horses certainly are excellent, beirm the result of a cress between the Arab, or African horse, ami a lot of Shetland ponies that were imported to these mountains some years bac-k by some patriotic -Scotchman. They are nil very square-built' active amrijafs, just the tiling for campaigning, but the Basutos wound’ not sell their own riding horses ror love.or money. All they would sell were the spare horses, and these they would not take money for if they could get cows. The cow is the currency of the place. When a Basuto can airord an extia wife—they have as many as 100 sometimes—he goes and buys a girl rrom her father at a fixed price in cows, i, itii a fat oallock as a wedding present to the lady nerself. This was explained to us by the policeman, who said that if the bridegroom failed to produce the la: bullock, the bride would go through the ceremony, but would refuse to enter the house, and would stand silently outside -till lie brought the animal. 'The bullock was a sine quo non. We asked if a. man could sell a wife again—if he could make a profit on her. Ti e thought that perhaps 'a man migut buy a lew “store” wives, and sell them as fats after a- treatment of Kaffir beer. The Basiito.s think a great deal of a fat wife. Ihe policeman explained the question to the others, who all laughed loudly, it seemed to strike them as inexpressibly funny that a man should think or selling a wife. Buying ■•■ one was ail right, but not selling her. This plurality of wives is tho great obstacle to missionary work, as the natives stubbornly refuse to give up the wives that they have paid good c-.ows for. When the rinderpest was bad no one had any cattle to buy wives with, so they evolved a system of buying wives by promissory note. The buyer took the wife, and handed over to her father a certain number of stones, daubed with white paint. Each stone represented an animal, and as he managed to get hold of the cattle he- handed them over, and "the stones were solemnly broken as each beast came in. We were not told what happened if the stones were dishonoured —if the husband failed to meet his engagements. Perhaps the lady went back to her parents, or perhaps lie asked for time from his creditors. The subject would suit Gilbert for a comic opera-—the old wife upbraiding her husband .with bringing home new wiveswhile she was yet unpaid for. THE BASUTOS AT HOME. After a. good deal of- talk, the policeman said that, if we liked, the* chief would send for -some Kaffir beer, and, as we were quite agreeable, we walked over to the village, while some .of the partyconversed amicably with friends away up on the side of the mountain, their voices rolling and echoing through the passes. At- the village we found a lot cf little red-earth houses, shaped like circular beehives and covered with thatch. The wives of the Basutos, each dressed in the inevitable blanket, were bustling about, grinding mealies (Indian . corn) on their mortars, or nursing their babies. Tho whole place was very clean. Each chief has a- compound or square walled off with a mud wall, and inside this, enclosure lie builds a nc-w house or “rondavei” for each wife. An old chief will have quite a village. The common people build their houses in some sorted order in a- kind of street, and round each house is a little mud wall. Inside the house is a hard earth floor, and a fere mats and blankets and gourds as furniture, but nothing to sit down on. They use no tables, nor chairs, and ail hands -.sit on the ground. They make huge grass baskets to hold their mealies; and these baskets are always about the doors of the houses. The chief sa.t down at the door of bis house and’ started sewing a basket ,while waiting for the beer. The policeman told us that the beer would be a shilling, -so we had to pay for the entertainment. The beer was brought in a liuge gourd carried on the head of a lady, who walked down a precipice with it without once putting her hands up.to steady the gourd. It was sour, tinn stuff, but the Basutos drank about a wash-hand basinful each, and .-11 the time they talked about cattle.