Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 133: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Tn Weather Kraals the witch-doctor,”’ the second wife sneered. Upina faltered, the woman watched him keenly. He caught her look and pulled himself together. ‘“Hamba u yoku fa, sukuapa.—Go and kill yourself; get away from here,” he thundered at her. She hastily left him, and he went his way to the zzkos1’s hut. Arrived there, he made a knocking noise. “Mgu mbani?—Who is there?’ a voice inside questioned. “Ndimn—i,” “T gamo lako?—Your name?” “Oka Pina.—Upina.” ““N gena.—Enter.”’ Upina stooped low as he entered; he found the inmkost eating some cold inyama. He squatted down on the inkosi’s left side near the door, this being native custom, for no one goes into the fireside unless invited to do so by the owner of the hut. “Vi ntoni?”’ ‘The tnkosi questioned after he had taken a dozen big bites of his zyama. “Ndi fun gira umtama wam uya gula.— I. want the witch-doctor. My child is desperately ill,’ he replied. “Inkano zako zi ngapi?—How much cat- tle have you got?” “Ama shumi ma ne nest bozo.—Forty- eight.” “Ndi funa ishumi nest hlann.—I want fifteen.”’ “Ze zako.—They are yours.” “Tgira laku za kusasanje—The doctor will be there this very morning.” “Ndya mbulela musutu.—I thank you, your highness.” And Upina left the hut. The inkosi sent a messenger to the gira to the effect that it was his will that he go and see the sick child at Upina’s hut. The giva was furious on hearing that he was ordered to visit the sick child at Upina’s hut, but he dared not refuse. Besides here w as a chance to get back at Upina for lowering his (the gira’s) dignity. It was umfaza’s work to attend abantwana, not an indoda’s. He dismissed the messenger, who was very glad to leave. Taking one of his fur bags with him from the cave home, the gira followed the messenger soon after to the kraal. A DARK form blotted out the morning light at the door of Mal- anga’s hut, for an instant, and then entered. It was the gira. He strode over to Malanga’s side, and bent over a bundle 131 that she unwrapped, which exposed to view the small squirming skeleton-like body of a baby girl. It could hardly breathe ex- cept in short gasps, one arm—the right— was turned a black-green because of the gangrene poison that had set in. The gira looked at the weakly squirming body intently for a long moment, and looking up at the mother uttered the dread words: “Lum ntana u takatiwe-——This child is bewitched. Puma apa st vale icango.— Get out of here and let us have the door shut.” The nina of the child got up and swung the little baby boy on to her back; his plump arms wrapped themselves around her neck. She stumbled her way out of the door. The gira followed her out and pulled the rude door shut with its rough leather hinges. Even as he did so there came a faint croupy cry from the abandoned infant inside the hut. From another hut he got a hunting spear and with it bored a hole in the wall of the hut that contained the sick baby girl. Through this hole throughout the long, long day different members of the kraal peeped to see if the little bundle of humanity was still moving. No one dared go inside the hut even to give the ailing babe a drink of water for its parched little throat, for fear of nkuiakatwa or being bewitched; and as it neared sunset, a dozen eyes looking through the dozens of holes bored since morn- ing informed the multitude of people that had gathered because of a natural and mor- bid curiosity, that the infant moved no more. The hut was therefore set afire, without any one going to see if the babe was really dead. No hut in which any one has died, even from natural causes, is ever allowed to stand, because the spirits will come back and worry the people living there. And now the next thing to be done was to have an uku nuka or smelling-out ceremony to discover who Had bewitched the infant. Malanga, leaning against a hut with the baby boy on her back, sobbed as if her heart would break as the hut with her girl baby’s body was set afire. Upina watched her a moment or two and then went up to her and awkwardly tried to comfort her, and found to his dismay that tears were flowing down his cheek, for an wmxoga never cries. In the light of the blazing hut the faces of the people were lighted up in anticipation of the coming scene. The gira looked on their excitement with a satisfied smile COMmMICLOoOolks (C@