LIONS BECOME BOLDER.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 October 1923, Page 1

LIONS BECOME BOLDER.

RESULT OF WAR IN' EAST AFRICA LONDON. Aug. 27. Ellon.- to slump out witchcraft Jn Tanganyika territory—formerly German East Africa—are mentioned in the report on the territory for 1922, issued yesterday.

The medicine men. it is staled, are | the cause of the barbarous practice cit infant icicle which prevails in the Mcidii district.. Children horn with some abnormality, or considered by tho diviners to ho unlucky for a great tlivcr.xity of reasons, such as the cutting . of the lower before the upper teeth, 1 are done to death by starvation, suffocation, poisoning, or injury at birth. In general, the parents would not of their own accord abandon such children, and in main- cases have proterred to give* them away to strangers. hut they are more or less compelled by popular opinion or hv the fear ol incurring blame for any general misfortune that may befall the community, such as a drought or an epidemic. In certain districts, game multiplied during the war. while' lions, which aequired a taste for human lledi during the campaign, have retained that taste which they frequently satisfy at the expense of human life. Their boldness is incredible, and whole villages have been terrorised by their presence, hut, as they lie up ill dense hush in the daytime, their extermination is a matter of difficulty. In the first hall ol ilie year rewards were paid for the destruction of 800 lions and 800 leopards, hi the Tnbora district alone li7 people were killed by lions, and it is possible that there were oilier casualties which were not reported. Rock-paintings, similar to those which the hushmen have left in various parts of South Africa, have been found in the Kondoa district. Animals only are depicted, and are outlined in red pigment which, though exposed to the elements, remains dear and distinct. except where' chipped ofl by vandals. The paintings are undoubtedly the work of a tribe of hushmen of whic h all I races and even tradition has been lost. A spirit of jealous rivalry has manifested itself in certain districts between Christian of different denominations. This open display to the pagan of religious differences cannot but react to the damage of the Christian faith. Christian missionaries, by offering one doctrine here, another c-loso by, and still another a few miles away, must achieve little more than the complete , bewilderment of the pagan native. \ Many of the tribal chiefs, it is stat- ! ed, are uneducated and uncivilised and 1 accustomed to beer-drinking, bhang J (hashish) smoking and bunting, and J are unwilling to report or suppress the evils to which they themselves are j addicted. (