SOUTH AFRICAN STORIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 132, 22 October 1912, Page 4

SOUTH AFRICAN STORIES.

LECCTUTiE BY COMMISSIONER RICHARDS. "South African Stories, or Work Among the Natives,'' was the title of an interesting and instructive lecture delivered by Commissioner Richards in the Salvation Army Hall last night, before a large audience. The Commissioner, who drew from a vast fund of knowledge on the subject, having himself laboured as a Salvation Army Missioner in the Dark Continent, dealt largely with the work of converting the Zulus* He gave an interesting account of this fierce and warlike race, interspersing it with many humorous anecdotes. Touching on the difficulties attendant on the work of the missionaries, the speaker described the wibheraft exercised by (lie witeh doctors. They were crafty to an extreme, and their influence on the simple-minded natives was unfortunately far-reaching. If a Zulu had a wife or child, or oxen sick, he consulted a witch doctor with the idea of ascertaining who had cast the "evil eye" on his possessions. The "doctor" never failed to accommodate a client, and woe betide him whom be finally selected by mean* of his "magic" as the caster of the-spell. The Commissioner then went on to .4atc that another difficulty the missionaries were up against was the number of wives the average Zulu kept. The native did not maintain them. The-wives did all his work, and were virtually his'slaves. The average number of wives to'each man ran from five to ci-rM, while ease* were known Were some natives had 40 or so wives with children in proportion. A Zulu paid for his wives in.oxen, the price varying with the benutv of the bride. Beauty as interpvetrl bv .1 Zulu lay in his wife's physique and'ability to wield the hoe. Manv other interesting features both of Zulftland-as well as its inhabitants wore also described by the lecturer, who proceeded to ask whether the missionary work was worth while. Answering his own question unhesitatingly in the affirmative, the Commissioner pointed to the enormous «ood that had already been accomplished by the Salvation Army and other bodies inspired with the same uplifting object. The work of the missionarv brought in its train a state of happiness and prosperity, which could never be achieved if the Zulus were left in tlleir primitive state of heathenism. A particularly encouraging feature of the work was the assistance lent by native converts who. when cognisant of the beneficial effects of Christianity, were eager to turn their brethren to the faith.