MARRIAGE IN ZULULAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 129, 31 May 1879, Page 4

MARRIAGE IN ZULULAND.

The #ulu girls are naturally vain ; and their Highest ambition is to marry a white man. They will pose them- . selves in their most graceful attitudes when traders are about, and chatter noisily among themselves for the purpose of attracting attention. If the white man shows one of them attention at all, of if she only thinks so, she immediately, and withlgrsat; pride, communicates the fact to her father, who will direct her to return to the white man with 'mealies,' or whatever Bhe may have to sell ; while he, from a distance, watches the behaviour of the probably unsuspecting trader! Then if the father approves of what he sees' he will present himself to the trader' and offer his daughter at a certain price m cattle or goods. If the white man is so disposed after the inevitable amount of bargaining, the matter is settled, with the exception of the ceremony—quite a secondary consideration. Hut it is a law of the country that a ■-.: white: man should not ; take a Zulu ;■ woman out of Zululand. . As a set* off, 1 ' H>^P •$!?% M naturalised ' by apply- * "ing to the King ;ofiih.a Zulus,! who iwill very probably present fche new subject

with a tract of land. Many white men have contracted this sort of alliance, and have settled in the Zulu country of late years ; making trading stations of their homes. Marriage is contracted amongst the Zulus themselves upon a purely commercial footing. The eligible Zulu enters into negotiations with the lady's fa her, who will drive as hard a bargain as he can ; and in the end the daughter is knocked down for say eight or nine head of cattle. But as many as ten may be given, if the lady should possess exceptional charms. The wedding ceremony is interesting. As soon as the price of the lady is settled, a time— probably the day but one following — is fixed, and friends are invited from all the country round. The occasion is considered sufficiently important to warrant the sacrifice of a bullock; although the Zulu is very reluctant to kill cattle for food. When the company, elaborately decorated, is assembled the mooty-muntoo or medicineman enters the enclosure in the centre of the kraal and seats himself, or rather squats like a monkey, with great solemnity upon the stump almost always to be found there. Then four men lead before him the beast which is to be slaughtered and the mootymuntoo proceeds to deliver a sort of sermon to the animal, explaining to it the reason why it must be killed. His oration will last about half an hour, and when it ts finished he takes an assegai (spear) and Btabs the bullock with great precision behind the shoulner, piercing its lungs. Death soon ensues, and then the men fall to work cutting the throat and collecting the blood in earthern pots, in which it is boiled on the fire, to be afterwards eaten. Very rapidly the beast is cut up, the entrails being considered a great delicacy, and generally devoured first, and the whole company join in feast. But before this, and while the meat is being cooked, the bride is taken into a hut where her head is shaved, a small tuft only being left in the middle. This tuit is then filled with red clay, and in this condition she ever after, wards keeps it. After the banquet there is a great drinking of beer, and then the girls begin Ito dance. This consists chiefly of stamping and hopping off one foot on to the ether, aud keeping time by clapping hands. The dance is accompanied with a monotonous, melancholy chant. The girls' voices are generally melodious, but not so the men's. This dance is kept up nearly the whole night, and as the night advances, the performance becomes wild and weird in the firelight. The only interruption is caused by the formation of a sort of procession, the young men carrying and brandishing firesticks, to conduct the happy couple to the hut; after which dancing and drinking are resumed, the company generally becoming very mach intoxicated. But in their cups they rarely quarrel. — Globe.