. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . witchcraft trial every day and a cannibalfeast once a week, and that all the varioushorrors which have happened at differenttimes and in different places are going oneverjrvvhere all the time. But it is a tritereflection that these things get chronicled,but not the uneventful years when peoplego on quietly marrying, and building huts,and bringing up children, and hoeing theirgardens. 276 WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS There is a common notion that the negro—I use the word loosely for the dark Africanin g
. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . witchcraft trial every day and a cannibalfeast once a week, and that all the varioushorrors which have happened at differenttimes and in different places are going oneverjrvvhere all the time. But it is a tritereflection that these things get chronicled,but not the uneventful years when peoplego on quietly marrying, and building huts,and bringing up children, and hoeing theirgardens. 276 WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS There is a common notion that the negro—I use the word loosely for the dark Africanin general—is ferociously cruel and blood-thirsty, besides being possessed by anirrational hatred for all white men Therecould not be a greater mistake. I do notknow how the idea grew up unless it be that disquisition which is likewise out of will only add that the most disastroustribal wars are those in which civilisednations have interfered, for their own advan-tage, on one side or the other. As for witchcraft, I have not said muchabout it—not because I wish to minimise vfy~^^^l. t\^. / ^1^ /«,..v,v,v;j G. T. li NATAL NATIVE GRANDMOTHER GRINDING MEALIESOn a stone beside the hut door. Note the basket (iqoma.) containing mealies. Europeans have so often seen him in a stateof violent exasperation, without knowingwhat provoked it. But if we ever hearof unprovoked aggression on whitepeople, we may be sure there is some darkstory behind it—perhaps so old that thoseresponsible have forgotten all about are plenty of stories to prove it—only this is not the place to narrate them. But the tribal wars ? you will say. Andthe witchcraft trials ? Well, the first seem to be an experience nations have to go through in their early stages. We ourselves fought each other pretty constantly in these islands when we first settled here. To consider this fully would lead us into a historical Tribal Warsand Witch,craft. the tragedies that spring from the belief,but because
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