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Etextbook PDF For Survey of Economics Principles Applications and Tools 7th Edition
Etextbook PDF For Survey of Economics Principles Applications and Tools 7th Edition
Application 2 Vanity Plates and the Elasticity Economic Cost and Economic Profit 103
of Demand 84
Application 1 Opportunity Cost
Elasticity and Total Revenue for a Linear and Entrepreneurship 104
Demand Curve 84
A Firm with a Fixed Production Facility:
Price Elasticity along a Linear Demand Curve 84 Short-Run Costs 104
Application 3 Drones and the Lower Half of a Production and Marginal Product 104
Linear Demand Curve 86 Short-Run Total Cost 106
Elasticity and Total Revenue for a Linear Demand Short-Run Average Costs 107
Curve 87
Short-Run Marginal Cost 109
Other Elasticities of Demand 87 The Relationship between Marginal Cost
Income Elasticity of Demand 87 and Average Cost 109
What Determines the Price Elasticity Reducing Output with Indivisible Inputs 113
of Supply? 90 Scaling Down and Labor Specialization 114
The Role of Time: Short-Run versus Long-Run Economies of Scale 114
Supply Elasticity 90
Diseconomies of Scale 114
Extreme Cases: Perfectly Inelastic Supply and
Perfectly Elastic Supply 91 Actual Long-Run Average-Cost Curves 115
The Firm’s Short-Run Output Decision 126 Application 6 The Upward Jump and Downward
Slide of Blueberry Prices 141
The Total Approach: Computing Total Revenue
and Total Cost 127 Long-Run Supply for a Constant-Cost
The Marginal Approach 128 Industry 142
Economic Profit and the Break-Even Price 130 Long-Run Supply Curve for a Constant-Cost
Industry 142
Application 2 The Break-Even Price for Hurricane Andrew and the Price of Ice 142
Switchgrass, a Feedstock For Biofuel 130
Application 7 Economic Detective and the Case
The Firm’s Shut-Down Decision 131
of Margarine Prices 143
Total Revenue, Variable Cost, and the Shut-Down
* Summary 144 * Key Terms 144
Decision 131
* Exercises 144
The Shut-Down Price 132
Production Cost and Industry Size 137 Trade-Offs from Patents 156
Application 2 Bribing the Makers of Generic Price Fixing and the Game Tree 176
Drugs 157
Equilibrium of the Price-Fixing Game 178
Price Discrimination 157 Nash Equilibrium 179
Senior Discounts in Restaurants 158
Application 4 Failure of the Salt Cartel 180
Price Discrimination and the Elasticity of
Demand 159 Overcoming the Duopolists’ Dilemma 180
Examples: Movie Admission versus Popcorn, Low-Price Guarantees 180
and Hardback versus Paperback Books 160
Repeated Pricing Games with Retaliation for
Application 3 Why does Movie Popcorn Cost so Underpricing 181
Much? 160
Price Fixing and the Law 183
* Summary 161 * Key Terms 161
Price Leadership 183
* Exercises 161
Application 2 Opening a Motel 171 Price Controls for a Natural Monopoly 190
Cartel Pricing and the Duopolists’ Dilemma 175 Merger Remedy for Wonder Bread 195
Supply, Demand, and the Price of Marketable Application 3 The Beauty Premium 261
Permits 235
The Distribution of Income 261
Application 10 Weather and the Price of Pollution
Permits 237 Income Distribution in 2007 261
Market Demand for Labor in the Short Run 250 Application 5 Expanding the Eitc 267
Labor Demand in the Long Run 251 * Summary 267 * Key Terms 268
* Exercises 268
Short-Run versus Long-Run Demand 252
Changes in Demand and Supply 255 Putting It All Together: The GDP Equation 280
The Market Effects of the Minimum Wage 256 Application 2 Comparing Recoveries From
Recessions 281
Why Do Wages Differ across Occupations? 257
Measuring National Income 281 The Consumer Price Index and the Cost
of Living 305
Measuring National Income through Value
Added 282 The CPI versus the Chain Index for GDP 306
An Expanded Circular Flow 283
Application 4 The Introduction of Cell Phones
Application 3 The Links Between Self-Reported and the Bias in the Cpi 307
Happiness and GDP 284 Problems in Measuring Changes in Prices 307
Application 3 Sources of Growth in China and Why the Aggregate Demand Curve Slopes
India 326 Downward 341
Application 4 The End of Growth? 327 Shifts in the Aggregate Demand Curve 342
Application 5 The Role of Political Factors in Application 3 Oil Price Declines and the U.S.
Economic Growth 330 Economy 350
Application 6 Culture, Evolution, and Economic From the Short Run to the Long Run 351
Growth 331
* Summary 353 * Key Terms 353
A Key Governmental Role: Providing * Exercises 353
the Correct Incentives and Property
Rights 331
* Summary 333 * Key Terms 333 The Role of Fiscal Policy 357
* Exercises 334 Fiscal Policy and Aggregate
Demand 357
What Is the Aggregate Demand Curve? 340 Are Deficits Bad? 366
The Components of Aggregate Demand 341 Application 2 The Confucius Curve? 367
Fiscal Policy in U.S. History 367 * Summary 388 * Key Terms 389
* Exercises 389
The Depression Era 367
Application 4 Coping with the Financial Chaos Comparative Advantage versus Absolute
Caused by the Mortgage Crisis 387 Advantage 414
Comparative Advantage and International How Demand and Supply Determine Exchange
Trade 414 Rates 421
Application 1 Absolute Disadvantage and Fixed and Flexible Exchange Rates 424
Comparative Advantage in Latvia 415
Fixing the Exchange Rate 424
Protectionist Policies 416 Fixed versus Flexible Exchange Rates 425
Import Bans 416 The U.S. Experience with Fixed and Flexible
Quotas and Voluntary Export Restraints 416 Exchange Rates 427
xvii
Application 1
The market demand is negatively sloped, reflecting the law of demand. This is
sensible, because if each consumer obeys the law of demand, consumers as a group
will too. When the price increases from $4 to $8, there is a change in quantity
demanded as we move along the demand curve from point f to point c. The move-
ment along the demand curve occurs if the price of pizza is the only variable that has
c Why Five Key Principles? make the key concepts unforgettable by using them repeat-
edly, illustrating them with intriguing examples, and giv-
In Chapter 2, “The Key Principles of Economics,” we intro-
ing students many opportunities to practice what they’ve
duce the following five key principles and then apply them
learned. Throughout the text, economic concepts are con-
throughout the book:
nected to the five key principles when the following callout
is provided for each principle:
1. The Principle of Opportunity Cost. The opportunity
cost of something is what you sacrifice to get it.
P RINCI P L E O F O P P O RTUNITY C O S T
2. The Marginal Principle. Increase the level of an activ- The opportunity cost of something is what you sacrifice to get it.
ity as long as its marginal benefit exceeds its marginal
cost. Choose the level at which the marginal benefit
equals the marginal cost. c HOW IS THE MARKET EQUILIBRIUM
3. The Principle of Voluntary Exchange. A voluntary CHAPTER ORGANIZED?
exchange between two people makes both people bet-
Students need to have a solid understanding of demand and
ter off.
supply to be successful in the course. Many students have
4. The Principle of Diminishing Returns. If we increase difficulty understanding movement along a curve versus
one input while holding the other inputs fixed, output shifts of a curve. To address this difficulty, we developed an
will increase, but at a decreasing rate. innovative way to organize topics in Chapter 3 , “Demand,
5. The Real-Nominal Principle. What matters to people Supply, and Market Equilibrium.” We examine the law of
is the real value of money or income—its purchasing demand and changes in quantity demanded, the law of sup-
power—not the face value of money or income. ply and changes in quantity supplied, and then the notion
of market equilibrium. After students have a firm grasp of
This approach of repeating five key principles gives students equilibrium concepts, we explore the effects of changes in
the big picture—the framework of economic reasoning. We demand and supply on equilibrium prices and quantities.
• Current News Exercises provide a turnkey way to important economic concepts. Pearson’s Experiments
assign gradable news-based exercises in MyEconLab. program is flexible, easy-to-assign, auto-graded, and
Each week, Pearson scours the news, finds a current available in Single and Multiplayer versions.
microeconomics and macroeconomics article, creates • Single-player experiments allow your students to play
exercises around these news articles, and then automat-
against virtual players from anywhere at any time so
ically adds them to MyEconLab. Assigning and grading
long as they have an Internet connection.
current news-based exercises that deal with the latest
micro and macro events and policy issues has never • Multiplayer experiments allow you to assign and man-
been more convenient. age a real-time experiment with your class.
• Experiments in MyEconLab are a fun and engag- • Pre- and post-questions for each experiment are avail-
ing way to promote active learning and mastery of able for assignment in MyEconLab.
For a complete list of available experiments, visit http:// • Step-by-step guided solutions that force students
www.myeconlab.com. to break down a problem in much the same way an
instructor would do during office hours
• Test Item File questions that allow you to assign quiz-
zes or homework that will look just like your exams • Pop-up key term definitions from the eText to help
students master the vocabulary of economics
• Econ Exercise Builder, which allows you to build cus-
tomized exercises • A graphing tool that is integrated into the various exer-
cises to enable students to build and manipulate graphs
Exercises include multiple-choice, graph drawing, and to better understand how concepts, numbers, and
free-response items, many of which are generated algorith- graphs connect.
mically so that each time a student works them, a different
variation is presented.
MyEconLab grades every problem type except essays, Additional MyEconLab Tools
even problems with graphs. When working homework exer- MyEconLab includes the following additional features:
cises, students receive immediate feedback, with links to
additional learning tools. • Enhanced eText—Students actively read and learn,
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Customization and Communication embedded and auto-graded practice, real-time data-
MyEconLab in MyLab/Mastering provides additional graph updates, animations, author videos, and more.
optional customization and communication tools. Instructors • Print upgrade—For students who wish to complete
who teach distance-learning courses or very large lecture sec- assignments in MyEconLab but read in print, Pearson
tions find the MyLab/Mastering format useful because they offers registered MyEconLab users a loose-leaf version
can upload course documents and assignments, customize the of the print text at a significant discount.
order of chapters, and use communication features such as
• Glossary flashcards—Every key term is available as
Document Sharing, Chat, ClassLive, and Discussion Board.
a flashcard, allowing students to quiz themselves on
For the Student vocabulary from one or more chapters at a time.
MyEconLab puts students in control of their learning • MySearchLab—MySearchLab provides extensive help
on the research process and four exclusive databases
through a collection of testing, practice, and study tools tied
of credible and reliable source material, including the
to the online, interactive version of the textbook and other
New York Times, the Financial Times, and peer-reviewed
media resources. Here is a snapshot of what students are
journals.
saying about MyEconLab:
It was very useful because it had EVERYTHING, MyEconLab content has been created through the
from practice exams to exercises to reading. Very efforts of Chris Annala, State University of New York–
helpful. Geneseo; Charles Baum, Middle Tennessee State University;
—student, Northern Illinois University Peggy Dalton, Frostburg State University; Carol Dole,
Jacksonville University; David Foti, Lone Star College; Sarah
I would recommend taking the quizzes on
Ghosh, University of Scranton; Satyajit Ghosh, Universtity
MyEconLab because it gives you a true account of
of Scranton; Melissa Honig, Pearson Education; Woo
whether or not you understand the material.
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Education; Chris Kauffman, University of Tennessee–
It made me look through the book to find answers, Knoxville; Russell Kellogg, University of Colorado–Denver;
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Students can study on their own or can complete assign- University; Christine Polek, University of Massachusetts–
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ated by their instructors. In Homework or Study Plan mode,
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for the Instructor
• Instant feedback on exercises that helps students under-
stand and apply the concepts Instructor’s Manual
• Links to the eText to promote reading of the text just Jeff Phillips of Colby-Sawyer College revised the
when the student needs to revisit a concept or an expla- Instructor’s Manual for the seventh edition. The Instructor’s
nation Manual is designed to help the instructor incorporate
applicable e lements of the supplement package. The Pearson Education is a proud member of the AACSB and
Instructor’s Manual contains the following resources for is pleased to provide advice to help you apply AACSB
each chapter: Assurance of Learning Standards.
• Chapter Summary: a bulleted list of key topics in the What Are AACSB Assurance of Learning Standards?
chapter One of the criteria for AACSB accreditation is the quality
• Learning Objectives of curricula. Although no specific courses are required, the
AACSB expects a curriculum to include learning experiences
• Approaching the Material; student-friendly examples in the following categories of Assurance of Learning Standards:
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• Chapter Outline: summary of definitions and concepts • Written and Oral Communication
• Teaching Tips on how to encourage class participation • Ethical Understanding and Reasoning
• Summary and discussion points for the Applications in • Analytical Thinking Skills
the main text
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• Diverse and Multicultural Work
• Solutions to all end-of-chapter exercises.
• Reflective Thinking
The Instructor’s Manual is available for download from the • Application of Knowledge.
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review questions and problems were prepared by the authors tagged with the appropriate standard. For example, a
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nalities would receive the Ethical Understanding and
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Delaware
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For the seventh edition, Liz Napolitano was the senior Deitmer, Christopher Bath, Ben Paris, Elisa Adams, Jodi
production project manager who worked with Michelle Bolognese, David Alexander, Virginia Guariglia, and
Gardner at SPi-Global to turn our manuscript pages into Lynne Breitfeller.
a beautiful published book. Lindsey Sloan, program man- Last but not least, we must thank our families, who have
ager, guided the project and coordinated the schedules for seen us disappear, sometimes physically and other times
the book and the extensive supplement package that accom- mentally, to spend hours wrapped up in our own world of
panies the book. David Alexander, executive acquisitions principles of economics. A project of this magnitude is very
editor, supported us and our users during the life of this absorbing, and our families have been particularly support-
edition. ive in this endeavor.
From the start, Pearson provided us with first-class Arthur O’Sullivan
support and advice. Over the first six editions, many
people contributed to the project, including Leah Jewell, Steven Sheffrin
Rod Banister, P. J. Boardman, Marie McHale, Gladys
Soto, Lisa Amato, Victoria Anderson, Cynthia Regan, Stephen Perez
Kathleen McLellan, Sharon Koch, David Theisen, Steve
1
Introduction:
What Is Economics?
E
conomics provides a framework to diagnose all sorts of problems faced by society
and then helps create and evaluate various proposals to solve them. Economics
can help us develop strategies to replace poverty with prosperity, and to replace
waste with efficiency. In this chapter, we explain what economics is and how we all can
use economic analysis to think about practical problems and solutions.
All my economists say, “On the one hand, . . .; On the other hand, . . .?.” Give me a one-
handed economist!
An economist might say, “On the one hand, we could use a shuttle mission to do more
experiments in the gravity-free environment of Earth’s orbit; on the other hand, we
could use a Mars mission to explore the possibility of life on other planets.” In using
both hands, the economist is not being evasive, but simply doing economics, discuss-
ing the alternative uses of our resources. The ultimate decision about how to use our
resources—shuttle mission or Mars exploration—is the responsibility of citizens or
their elected officials.
Most modern economics is based on positive analysis, which predicts the positive analysis
consequences of alternative actions by answering the question “What is?” or “What Answers the question “What is?” or
will be?” A second type of economic reasoning is normative in nature. Normative “What will be?”
analysis answers the question “What ought to be?” normative analysis
In Table 1.1, we compare positive questions to normative questions. Normative Answers the question “What ought to be?”
questions lie at the heart of policy debates. Economists contribute to policy debates by
conducting positive analyses of the consequences of alternative actions. For example, an
economist could predict the effects of an increase in the minimum wage on the number
of people employed nationwide, the income of families with minimum-wage workers,
and consumer prices. Armed with the conclusions of the economist’s positive analysis,
citizens and policymakers could then make a normative decision about whether to
increase the minimum wage. Similarly, an economist could study the projects that could
be funded with $1 billion in foreign aid, predicting the effects of each project on the
income per person in an African country. Armed with this positive analysis, policymak-
ers could then decide which projects to support.
• If the government increases the minimum • Should the government increase the minimum
wage, how many workers will lose their jobs? wage?
• If two office-supply firms merge, will the price • Should the government block the merger of
of office supplies increase? two office-supply firms?
• How does a college education affect a • Should the government subsidize a college
person’s productivity and earnings? education?
• How do consumers respond to a cut in • Should the government cut taxes to stimulate
income taxes? the economy?
• If a nation restricts shoe imports, who benefits • Should the government restrict imports?
and who bears the cost?
Economists don’t always reach the same conclusions in their positive analyses. The
disagreements often concern the magnitude of a particular effect. For example, most
economists agree that an increase in the minimum wage will cause unemployment, but
disagree about how many people would lose their jobs. Similarly, economists agree that
spending money to improve the education system in Africa will increase productivity and
income, but disagree about the size of the increase in income.
Economic Models
Economists use economic models to explore the choices people make and the conse-
quences of those choices. An economic model is a simplified representation of an eco-
nomic environment, with all but the essential features of the environment eliminated.
economic model An economic model is an abstraction from reality that enables us to focus our atten-
A simplified representation of tion on what really matters. As we’ll see throughout the book, most economic models
an economic environment, often use graphs to represent the economic environment.
employing a graph.
To see the rationale for economic modeling, consider an architectural model. An
architect builds a scale model of a new building and uses the model to show how the
building will fit on a plot of land and blend with nearby buildings. The model shows
the exterior features of the building, but not the interior features. We can ignore the
interior features because they are unimportant for the task at hand—seeing how the
building will fit into the local environment.
Economists build models to explore decision making by individuals, firms, and other
organizations. For example, we can use a model of a profit-maximizing firm to predict
how a firm will respond to increased competition. If a new car stereo store opens up in
your town, will the old firms be passive and simply accept smaller market shares, or will
they aggressively cut their prices to try to drive the new rival out of business? The model
of the firm includes the monetary benefits and costs of doing business, and assumes that
firms want to make as much money as possible. Although there may be other motives
in the business world—to have fun or to help the world—the economic model ignores
these other motives. The model focuses our attention on the profit motive and how it
affects a firm’s response to increased competition.
Cape
Verde Mauritania Eritrea
Mali
Niger
Senegal Chad
Gambia Burkina Sudan
Guinea Bissau Guinea Faso
Benin
Nigeria
Ghana
Sierra Leone Central African Ethiopia
Cameroon Republic (CAR)
Liberia a
Togo ali
Cote Uganda om
d’Ivoire Equatorial Democratic Kenya S Seychelles
Gabon
Guinea Republic of
Rwanda
Congo (DRC) Burundi
Sao Tome Tanzania
& Principe Republic
of Congo Malawi
Angola
Zambia
car
Zimbabwe
agas
Namibia
Botswana Mauritius
Mad
Mozambique
Swaziland
South
Africa Lesotho
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.