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CHRISTIAN FAITH PERSPECTIVES IN
LEADERSHIP AND BUSINESS

Organizational
Metaphors
Faith as Key to Functional
Organizations

Edited by
robe r t b. h u i z i ng a
de br a j. de a n
 Christian Faith Perspectives in Leadership
and Business

Series Editors
Doris Gomez
Regent University
Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Kathleen Patterson
School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Regent University
Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Bruce E. Winston
Regent University
Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Gary Oster
Regent University
Virginia Beach, VA, USA
This book series is designed to integrate Christian faith-based perspectives
into the field of leadership and business, widening its influence by taking a
deeper look at its foundational roots. It is led by a team of experts from
Regent University, recognized by the Coalition of Christian Colleges and
Universities as the leader in servant leadership research and the first
Christian University to integrate innovation, design thinking, and entre-
preneurship courses in its Masters and Doctoral programs. Stemming
from Regent’s hallmark values of innovation and Christian faith-based
perspectives, the series aims to put forth top-notch scholarship from cur-
rent faculty, students, and alumni of Regent’s School of Business &
Leadership, allowing for both scholarly and practical aspects to be
addressed while providing robust content and relevant material to readers.
Each volume in the series will contribute to filling the void of a scholarly
Christian-faith perspective on key aspects of organizational leadership and
business such as Business and Innovation, Biblical Perspectives in Business
and Leadership, and Servant Leadership. The series takes a unique
approach to such broad-based and well-trodden disciplines as leadership,
business, innovation, and entrepreneurship, positioning itself as a much-­
needed resource for students, academics, and leaders rooted in Christian-­
faith traditions.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15425
Robert B. Huizinga • Debra J. Dean
Editors

Organizational
Metaphors
Faith as Key to Functional Organizations
Editors
Robert B. Huizinga Debra J. Dean
Regent University Regent University
Virginia Beach, VA, USA Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Christian Faith Perspectives in Leadership and Business

ISBN 978-3-030-41711-6    ISBN 978-3-030-41712-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41712-3

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
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The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
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­publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect
to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Contents

1 From Dysfunction to Function: An Expansion of the

Organizational Metaphor  1
Robert B. Huizinga and Lawrence Jones II

Part I Organizational Dysfunction  11

2 An Introduction to Organizational Dysfunction 13

Robert B. Huizinga

3 White Blood Cell Behavior as an Organizational Metaphor 17

Robert B. Huizinga

4 Organization of the Living Dead: The Zombie Enterprise 31

Steven W. Renz and Lisa M. Renz

5 Pygmalion Mirage as an Organizational Metaphor 51

Lawrence Jones II

v
vi Contents

Part II Moving from Organizational Dysfunction to

Organizational Convergence  61

6 Introducing Workplace Spirituality as a Catalyst to

Transform from Dysfunction to Organizational
Convergence 63
Debra J. Dean

7 Shepherding the Flock: Shepherd Leadership in Multi-

Cultural Environment 79
Alexander Averin

8 Climbing the Corporate Ladder: Using the Ladder as an

Organizational Metaphor 91
Debra J. Dean

9 Vineyard as an Organizational Metaphor107

Deloris S. Thomas

10 Music as an Organizational Metaphor: Deadpan and

Expressive Organizations123
Crissy Ortiz

Part III Organizational Convergence 137

11 Dystopia as an Organizational Metaphor139

Chad Newton

12 The Organization as a Mixed Martial Artist: A Metaphor

for Environmental Uncertainty151
Carlo A. Serrano
 Contents  vii

13 The Book Metaphor and Its Representation of an

Organization161
Frederick S. M. Kawuma

14 Conclusion  177
Debra J. Dean and Robert B. Huizinga

Index183
 Notes on Contributors

Alexander Averin holds a doctorate from Regent University. His disser-

tation focused specifically on the exploration of the relationship between
employees’ perception of spiritual leadership and their commitment to
stay with their organizations. His scholarly work includes research in the
areas of leadership in multi-cultural environments and presentations at
various conferences on the topics of multi-cultural leadership and employee
retention. His professional experience in organizational leadership and
management encompasses a broad array of over 17 years of service in the
nonprofit administration, which includes positions of the chief financial
officer, head of school, director, and treasurer, among others.
Debra J. Dean is adjunct professor at Regent University, USA, from
where she holds a doctorate. She has decades of experience in Corporate
America as well as years of teaching experience at the university level. She
was nominated as one of three top operational excellence leaders with
OPEX Week Business Transformation World Summit 2019. She received
the 2018 Outstanding Reviewer award for the Management, Spirituality,
and Religion (MSR) community. She was nominated as a top female leader
with her previous global workplace, where she received accolades for
achieving some of the highest levels of employee engagement in the global
firm as a result of her efforts. And, she has been included in Biltmore’s
Who’s Who of Women Business Leaders, Continental Who’s Who of
National Business Leaders, and Who’s Who Among University Students.
Robert B. Huizinga is adjunct professor at The King’s University,
Canada. He holds a doctorate from Regent University. He continues to

ix
x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

hold his Registered Nursing registration, has a certification in Nephrology,

holds an M.Sc. Medical Science -Public Health Sciences (Epidemiology)
from the University of Alberta, and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau
(Honor Society of Nursing). He is also a partner with EQUIP
Leadership, teaching Christian leadership principles globally. Over
his time in global drug development, he has been involved in the suc-
cessful development of new medications in transplantation and auto-
immune disease. He has published in top tier medical journals,
continues to lecture extensively around the globe, and is recognized
as an expert in immunosuppression drug development from the pre-
clinical to completed clinical programs. In his role, he has also helped
raise over $250 million with public companies. He has a passion for
corporate reorganization for both for-profit and nonprofit compa-
nies, including faith-based organizations.
Lawrence Jones II holds a doctorate from Regent University’s School of
Business and Leadership with a concentration in Entrepreneurial
Leadership. He also holds a BA in biology from Webster University, a
Master’s in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, and Master’s
in Public Policy from University of Maryland at Baltimore County
(UMBC). He obtained Certificates in Entrepreneurship from Johns
Hopkins Carey Business School Innovate Program and in Business
Development from the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps
lean customer discovery program. He has a vast breadth of profes-
sional employment experiences by way of laboratory technical posi-
tions from the bench to managerial level positions at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health, to industry in the Rockville, Maryland, bio
space arena with the BioReliance Corporation and in consulting for
emerging start-up bioengineering technologies. He serves as the edi-
tor in chief for the Transcript Newsletter via the Hopkins Biotech
Network. He is founder and CEO of Biotechnology Health
Management and Care LLC, a consulting firm for early-stage biotech
start-up companies in the State of Maryland and founder of TelaSense
(health app development).
Frederick S. M. Kawuma holds a doctorate from Regent University. He
is a Uganda national, the Secretary General of the Inter-African Coffee
Organization (IACO), a Pan-African intergovernmental organization
based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (West Africa) since 2013. He is a graduate
 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xi

of B Com (Hons) Marketing (Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda),

Master of Arts in Communication and Marketing (Wheaton College,
IL, USA), and a PhD in Entrepreneurial Leadership (Regent
University, VA, USA). He has over 28 years of experience in the cof-
fee industry. He has had a distinguished career as CEO for over 25
years, also as a leadership and management consultant and trainer
where he worked on several projects within and outside Africa. He is
a non-executive director of ACLAIM Africa Limited, a management
consulting company based in Kampala, Uganda, where he served as
CEO from 2004 to 2012. He served as a CEO of different coffee
organizations between 1994 and 2004 and as a marketing policy ana-
lyst from 1989 to 1994. He also served as a research associate and
lecturer at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985–1989.
Chad Newton holds a doctorate from Regent University. He serves as
adjunct professor. Newton’s notable presentations are (1) “Current
Leadership Crises “Within Churches” presented at New Horizon Faith
Center, (2) “Intellectual Discourse as a Trait of Ancient Transformational
Leadership” presented at the Regent University Annual Research
Roundtables, and (c) “Case Study on Business Apologetics in the
Autonomous Learning World Caucus” at Wolfson College. Newton’s
research efforts include the following: (1) “Concepts of human resource
development in Daniel 3: A conceptual framework for leadership develop-
ment,” (2) Intellectual discourse as a method of Saint Paul’s transforma-
tional leadership: A sociorhetorical analysis of Acts 17–19, and (3) Values of
ethical leadership in the Deuterocanon.
Crissy Ortiz applies 20 years of preparation within the human resources,
diversity and inclusion, career services, and learning and development
functions to fulfill her ministry of teaching the next generation of leaders
and provoking a global movement that broadens societal perspectives
regarding the contributions of individuals with autism within the
workplace. Her purpose of changing the world for her oldest daugh-
ter, who has autism, quickly manifested to a mission for the multi-
tude. This calling is interwoven with stretching the minds of the next
generation of leaders to walk boldly and confidently within their pur-
pose. Ortiz serves as an assistant professor at Charleston Southern
University, a leading Christian university in South Carolina. She is
also the founder and chief executive officer of The Autism Platform
Project, a nonprofit that seeks to create equitable employment oppor-
xii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

tunities in meaningful work for individuals with autism. Ortiz holds

a doctorate in Global Organizational Leadership and Human
Resources Development from Regent University. She holds a Master
of Arts degree in Human Resources Management and Management
from Webster University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology
from Charleston Southern University. Ortiz also holds the designation of
an SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP).
Lisa M. Renz holds a PhD in Organizational Leadership with a major in
Entrepreneurial Leadership (Regent University). She also holds an
MBA with a major in management from St. Leo University. She is
serving on Regent University’s Board of Advisors for the MBA pro-
gram, is a Beta Phi Fellow, and has served as a Sam M. Walton Free
Enterprise Fellow. Renz is an adjunct professor at Regent University,
Los Angeles Pacific University, South University, Piedmont
International University, and Mid-Atlantic Christian University.
Renz is also an executive director of BNI Southeastern Virginia. She
provides consulting and instruction to hundreds of businesses in
government contracting, networking, leadership, growth, and orga-
nizational development. Additionally, Renz presents at conferences
regarding networking, leadership, organizational development,
workplace privacy, and conflict resolution. A sought-after speaker on
entrepreneurship, Renz has presented at conferences, symposia, and
universities, including Oxford, on such topics as “How Entrepreneurs
Learn Through Business Networks.” In 2009, Renz was honored by
Inside Business as a Top 40 Under 40. In 2010, she was honored
with two awards: a Community Builder Award and Business Person
of the Year by The Specialist Radio Hour. In 2012, she was elected to
“Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges.”
In 2013, Renz was selected as “Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate” at
Regent University’s School of Business and Leadership. In 2018, she
was awarded the Compassion Award by Compassion Advocacy
Network, Inc. The Compassion Award is given to “A leader in the
community who teaches the world how to love through simple acts
of kindness by putting compassion into action.”
Steven W. Renz is a former US Marine and law enforcement professional
with over 20 years of executive management experience. He is the
­president and co-owner of Echo Logistical Solutions, LLC, and executive
director, co-owner of BNI Southeastern Virginia. He holds a PhD in
 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xiii

Organizational Leadership with a focus on Entrepreneurial Leadership

from Regent University and an MBA from Saint Leo University. He
is a Six Sigma Green Belt and holds a master’s certificate in Project
Management from Villanova University. He provides training and
consultative services for small, medium, and large firms and assists
them in all aspects of government contracting. He has assisted small
business owners in the procurement of over $130 million in govern-
ment contracts. As an executive director of BNI Southeastern
Virginia, he provides consultative services for over 450 business own-
ers, executives, and salespersons and coordinates effective networking
strategies and leadership training programs for organizations in more
than 75 industries. He serves as an adjunct professor at Regent
University in the School of Business and Leadership, Piedmont
International University, and South University in the graduate and
undergraduate programs.
Carlo A. Serrano is professor at the Grace College of Divinity and
adjunct professor at Piedmont International University and Regent
University, USA. He holds a doctorate from Regent University. He has
over 14 years of combined experience in executive leadership as a lead pas-
tor, teaching pastor, associate pastor, nonprofit board member, and orga-
nizational consultant. Serrano is a published researcher with work related
to leadership emergence, ethical leadership, and servant leadership. He
also holds an MA in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University
and a BA in Psychology from American Military University. In 2014,
Serrano was selected “Faculty of the Year” for Grace College of
Divinity. He also serves as the teaching pastor for oneChurch.tv in
Clarksville, TN.
Deloris S. Thomas is vice president of The Joseph Center® executing
the vision to eradicate poverty through entrepreneurship. Her responsi-
bilities include the strategic and global operational leadership for the
nationally accredited Joseph Business School and its related entities.
Thomas expanded the flagship entrepreneurial program by offering online
versions translated into English, Spanish, and Portuguese. She estab-
lished 22 partnership locations as she traveled throughout the USA
and to over 60 different countries across six continents empowering
people to become successful entrepreneurs. Previously, Thomas held
leadership positions in brand management and strategic planning at
Fortune 500 companies such as Xerox, Kraft Foods, and Sears
xiv NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Roebuck & Company. Thomas was selected for a Notable Woman in

Education Award in the May 28, 2018, edition of Crain’s Chicago
Business. She is founder/CEO of Sterling Thomas, LLC, a manage-
ment consulting firm established in 2005. She serves as a consultant
for the OWN Network television series Greenleaf. Thomas authored her
first book, Awaken to Leadership (2018). Thomas holds a bachelor’s
degree in Marketing from Bentley University, an MBA from Harvard
University, and a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Regent
University.
 List of Figures

Fig.2.1 Competing organizational and personal priorities. (Source:

Adapted from Heller & Hindle, 1998) 14
Fig. 6.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs revised. (Source: Author’s creation
based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) 69
Fig.10.1 Music composition feedback loop. (Source: Author’s creation) 132

xv
 List of Tables

Table 3.1 The immune system as applied to organizational design 25

Table 3.2 The implications of a non-functional immune system as
applied to organizational structure 26
Table 6.1 List of survey’s and variables 70
Table 6.2 Workplace spirituality instruments 71
Table 8.1 Generational differences 96

xvii
 CHAPTER 1

From Dysfunction to Function:

An Expansion of the Organizational
Metaphor

Robert B. Huizinga and Lawrence Jones II

For centuries, the use of metaphor has attracted more interest than any
other traditionally recognized figures of speech (Hills, 2016). Aristotle is
thought to be one of the original logicians to consider the concept of
metaphor. His work is now known as the Traditional View (Wood, 2017).
However, in the days of Aristotle, figurative redeployment of words
counted as metaphor, and he recognized four different types of meta-
phors, including (a) term transferred from genus to species, (b) transfer-
ence from species to genus, (c) transference from one species to another,
and (d) analogy (Levin, 1982). He first broached the topic of metaphor in
his works titled Rhetoric and Poetics. He defined metaphor in Poetics as
follows:

R. B. Huizinga (*) • L. Jones II

Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
e-mail: robehui@mail.regent.edu; lawrjon@mail.regent.edu

© The Author(s) 2020 1

R. B. Huizinga, D. J. Dean (eds.), Organizational Metaphors,
Christian Faith Perspectives in Leadership and Business,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41712-3_1
2 R. B. HUIZINGA AND L. JONES II

Metaphor consists in giving the thing a name that belongs to something

else; the transference being either from genus to species, or from species to
genus, or from species to species, or on grounds of analogy. That from
genus to species i.e. exemplified in ‘Here stands my ship’; for lying at anchor
is the ‘standing’ of a particular kind of thing. That from species to genus in
‘Truly ten thousand good deeds has Ulysses wrought’, where ‘ten thou-
sand’, which is a particular large number, is put in place of the generic ‘a
large number’. That from species to species in ‘Drawing the life with the
bronze’, and in ‘Severing with the enduring bronze’; where the poet uses
‘draw’ in the sense of ‘sever’ and ‘sever’ in that of ‘draw’, both words mean-
ing to ‘take away’ something. That from analogy is possible whenever there
are four terms so related that the second (B) is to the first (A), as the fourth
(D) to the third (C); for one may then metaphorically put B in lieu of D, and
D in lieu of B. (Aristotle, 350BC-b, 21)

Can the use of words actually have an impact on the outcome or inter-
pretation of the content? Thibodeau and Boroditsky (2011) sought to
uncover if metaphors were “just fancy ways of talking, or do they have real
consequences for how people reason about complex social issues” (p. 1).
According to Thibodeau, Hendricks, and Boroditsky (2017), “metaphori-
cal language is understood quickly, easily, and automatically” (p. 854).
The scholars used several examples to demonstrate the power of meta-
phorical language, including the expectation that one person “was seen as
more of a genius… when his ideas were described as light bulbs instead of
seeds” (p. 852). Another example involved approval rates of reform when
crime was described as a virus instead of a beast. And thirdly, using words
to personify changes (climbing, slipping) in stock prices, rather than objec-
tifying them (increasing, decreasing), makes people more likely to think
recent price trajectories will continue in the future. In one of their studies,
Thibodeau and Boroditsky (2011) conducted five experiments, where
participants were presented with a short paragraph about crime in a ficti-
tious city. The paragraphs differed slightly between the groups with ver-
biage of crime-as-virus or crime-as-beast. The researchers found that
“even the subtlest insinuation of a metaphor can have a powerful influence
over how people attempt to solve social problems like crime and how they
gather information to make ‘well-informed’ decisions” (p. 1).
Using metaphor in rhetoric is one of the “most powerful tools in the…
toolbox” (Burkley, 2017). The use of metaphor adds texture and beauty
to dialogue that may otherwise be dry or difficult to understand. As exam-
ples, Burkley (2017) provided the following three metaphors: (a) all the
 1 FROM DYSFUNCTION TO FUNCTION: AN EXPANSION… 3

world is a stage, (b) love is a battlefield, and (c) life is like a box of choco-
lates. Each metaphor takes a simple, concrete, and well-understood idea
and compares it to an abstract impression. Ultimately, the goal is to
improve comprehension allowing the audience to see something old in a
new and vivid way.
Metaphor is described as “a figure of speech that makes a comparison
between two things that are basically dissimilar”, describing one thing in
terms of another (Damrosch & Keach, 1985, p. 990). It is comparative,
going beyond a mere descriptive adjective to describe one object as having
the characteristics of a second object. Unlike a simile, metaphor “does not
use connective words such as ‘like’, ‘as’, or ‘resembles’ in making the com-
parison” (p. 990). Metaphors use language to invoke imagery to provide
comprehension of an event, a situation, or even an organization. Malotki
(1983) describes the importance of metaphor within language as follows:

Man, in confronting reality, faces a kaleidoscope of phenomena ranging

from the natural to the man-made, to the imaginary, to the totally abstract.
Comprehension of such broad inventory of reality and non-reality requires
language, the tool that permits man to take verbal stock of objective and
subjective experiences alike. In man’s ongoing endeavor to conceptualize
and verbalize a world that can never be fully known, language is the vital
intermediary. Language provides a repertoire of coping mechanisms, of
which metaphor is one of the most powerful and useful. (p. 13)

The use of metaphor as a part of language is longstanding and can be

seen with Egyptian hieroglyphics (Trim, 2007), where the bull’s head sig-
nified rage. The Egyptian word ka was frequently used for bull, and
Ka-Nakht was the mighty bull. The hieroglyphic for an angry rampaging
bull (Ka-Nakht) has the head twisted to the side signifying rage (Rice,
2014). This metaphor for rage is seen in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Jordan,
the Arabian Gulf, and even in south-western Europe cave paintings. This
metaphor is still understood today as denoting rage or aggression. The
Charging Bull, the well-known sculpture which stands outside of the
New York Stock Exchange, was created by Arturo Di Modica in 1989 to
demonstrate the strength and power of Americans. However, it has also
been interpreted as anger or aggression. “The Bull’s head is lowered, its
nostrils flare, and its wickedly long, sharp horns are ready to gore; it’s an
angry, dangerous beast. The muscular body twists to one side, and the tail
is curved like a lash; the Bull is also energetic and in motion” (Durante,
2007, p. 30).
4 R. B. HUIZINGA AND L. JONES II

Metaphor is utilized within Scripture. 1 Peter 5 compares the enemy to

a lion, who prowls around seeking someone to devour. The Bible has been
compared to physical light, evoking an image of enlightenment. “Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105,
King James Version). This metaphor allows the reader to understand that
reading the Bible will bring clarity and light in their daily journey.
The strongest Scriptural metaphor is that of a shepherd. The ancient
Israelites were a semi-nomadic group and had many shepherds amongst
their leaders, including Abraham, Moses, Jacob, the prophet Amos, and
King David. The understanding of what a shepherd did, caring for sheep,
leading sheep, healing sheep, and correcting the path of sheep was intui-
tive to all Israelites. Ezekiel 34 speaks to selfish “shepherds” who were
taking care of themselves over their “sheep”. The metaphor was used to
point out how the rulers at that time used the government for their own
ends as opposed to the people:

The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the
injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the
lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
(Ezekiel 34:4, English Standard Version)

The use of metaphor in the Old Testament then provides imagery of God
caring for His people (The Lord is my shepherd, Psalm 23), and for Jesus
as the good shepherd in John 10:1–21, where Jesus will die for the salva-
tion of mankind: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep” (John 10:10b–11, ESV).
“Metaphors, like epithets, must be fitting, which means that they must
fairly correspond to the thing signified; failing this, their inappropriateness
will be conspicuous” (Aristotle, 350BC-a, p. 154). Oswick, Keenoy, and
Grant (2002) listed several uses of metaphors, including objectives, such
as to (a) provide literal meanings, (b) provide a point of comparison, (c)
create an image, (d) create an intersection of ideas, and/or (e) bolster
existing knowledge (p. 296). The researchers posited that the use of meta-
phors tends to focus more on similarities and less on differences to enrich
critical analysis (p. 301). Cornelissen (2005) argued that metaphors offer
creative and emergent ideas that lead to new theoretical constructs in
organizational leadership. Metaphors lead to heightened discernment to
capture new insights that otherwise are left unnoticed.
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being decidedly in a minority. This alone would be sufficient to
stamp the festival as one belonging peculiarly to the women.
The structure where this ceremony was to take place was typically
African, not over large, but quite sufficiently so for the object in view.
The natives thoroughly understand the art of putting up buildings
admirably suited to the purpose they are to serve, and also quite
pleasing in style and shape, out of the cheapest materials and with
the simplest appliances, in a very short time. This hut was circular,
with an encircling wall of poles and millet-straw, between six and
seven feet high. It was about thirty feet in diameter, with two
doorways facing each other, and a central post supporting the roof.
The women were just entering in solemn procession, while the
tuning up of several drums was heard from the inside. The jumbe’s
hint as to the shyness of the women was abundantly justified; those
who caught sight of us at once ran away. The participants only grew
calm when we had succeeded in getting up unseen close to the outer
wall of the building and there finding shelter in a group of men
disposed to be sensible. It was, however, even now impossible to
sketch any of the women. I am in the habit, wherever I can, of jotting
down in a few rapid strokes every picturesque “bit” I come across,
and here I found them in unusual number. Since I left the coast,
labrets, nose-pins, and ear-studs have become quite hackneyed, but
hitherto I had come across no specimens of such size or racial types
so markedly savage and intact. When one of these women laughs, the
effect is simply indescribable. So long as her face keeps its normal
serious expression, the snow-white disc remains in a horizontal
position, that is to say, if the wearer is still young and good-looking.
If, however, she breaks into the short, giggling laugh peculiar to the
young negress, the pelele flies up with an abrupt jerk and stands
straight up over the ivory-white and still perfect teeth, while the
young woman’s pretty brown eyes flash with merriment, and the
weight of the heavy wooden plug sets up a quick vibration in the
upper lip, which is dragged out by almost a hand-breadth from its
normal position. Then the baby on the woman’s back (nearly all of
them are carrying babies), begins to cry piteously under the
searching gaze of the strange white man; and, in short, the whole
spectacle is one which must be seen to be appreciated—no pen can
describe it.
 Our place was well chosen, and enabled us to survey the whole
interior of the hut without let or hindrance. I noticed three youths
sitting on stools of honour in a reserved part of the hall, and inquired
of the jumbe, who stood beside me, obligingly ready to be of use, who
those three little shrimps were? It appeared that they were the
husbands of the girls whose chiputu was being celebrated that day.

LAUGHING BEAUTIES

And what is chiputu? It is the celebration of a girl’s arrival at

womanhood; but that is a long story, which we have no time to
investigate just now, for the drums have struck up, in that peculiar
cadence, heard at every ngoma, which no one who has visited East
Africa can ever forget. At the same moment the closely-packed
throng of black bodies has already arranged itself for a dance. With a
step something like the gait of a water-wagtail, they move,
rhythmically gliding and rocking, round the central posts, at which
three old hags stand grinning.
“Who are those?” I ask.
Those are the anamungwi, the instructresses of the three girls;
they are to receive the reward of their work to-day. “See now, sir,
what is happening.” For the moment nothing happens, the dance
goes on and on, first in the way already described, then changing to
one which is not so much African as generally Oriental: it is the so-
called danse du ventre. At last this too comes to an end, the figure
breaks up in wild confusion, one snatching in this direction, another
in that, and everyone gathers once more round the anamungwi.
These are no longer smiling, but comport themselves with great
dignity as they have every right to do. One after another, the women
come forward to hand them their gifts, pieces of new cloth, strings of
beads, bead necklaces and armlets, and various items of a similar
character. “That is all very fine,” their looks seem to say, “but is this
an equivalent for the unspeakable trouble which the training of our
amwali, our pupils, has given us for years past? We expect
something more than that!” However, the festive throng are not in
the least disturbed by this mute criticism; people all chatter at once,
just as they do in other parts of the world, and everyone is in the
highest spirits.

GIRLS’ UNYAGO AT THE MAKONDE HAMLET OF NIUCHI

Now comes a new stage. “Hawara marre” mutters the jumbe. This
even Nils Knudsen cannot translate, for it is Kimakua, which he does
not know, but the jumbe, like all intelligent men in this country, is a
polyglottist. He says the Yao for it is “Chisuwi mkamule” (“The
leopard breaks out”). At this moment something unexpected
happens. The three young fellows rise quick as lightning, and, with
loud crashing and rustling, they have burst through the fragile hut-
wall and are seen retiring towards the outskirts of the village. I have
not yet clearly made out whether these youthful husbands
themselves represent the leopard or whether they are to be thought
of as pursued by an imaginary leopard. In either case, the leisurely
pace at which they stroll away is scarcely convincing and still less
imposing; less so, certainly, than the song of Hawara marre,
rendered by the women with equal spirit and energy, which rings out
into the sun-baked pori long after the three leopards have vanished
in the distance.
Now comes another picture; the hall is empty, but the open space
beside it, which has been carefully swept, swarms with brightly-
coloured fantastic figures. It is only now that we can see how they
have adorned themselves for the occasion. The massive brass
bangles, nearly an inch thick, which they wear on their wrists and
ankles, shine like burnished gold, and the calico of their skirts and
upper garments is of the brightest colours. These cloths, in fact, have
just been bought from the Indian traders at Lindi or Mrweka, at
great expense, by the gallant husbands, who have recently made an
expedition to the coast for the purpose. The white pelele seems to
shine whiter than usual, and the woolly heads and brown faces are
quite lustrous with freshly-applied castor oil, the universal cosmetic
of these regions. Once more the anamungwi take up a majestic pose,
and once more all the women crowd round them. This time the
presents consist of cobs of maize, heads of millet, and other useful
household supplies, which are showered wholesale on the recipients.
Once more the scene changes. The drummers have been tuning up
their instruments more carefully than usual, and at this moment the
fire blazes up for the last time and then expires. The first drum
begins—boom, boom, boóm, boom, boom, boóm, boom, boom,
boóm: two short notes followed by a long one. How the man’s hands
fly! There are more ways of drumming than one, certainly,—but the
art as practised here seems to require a special gift. It is by no means
a matter of indifference whether the drumhead is struck with the
whole hand, or with the finger-tips only, or whether the sound is
produced by the knuckles or finger-joints of the closed fist. It is
pretty generally assumed that we Europeans have an entirely
different mental organization from that of the black race, but even
we are not unaffected by the rhythm of this particular kind of
drumming. On the contrary, the European involuntarily begins to
move his legs and bend his knees in time to the music, and would
almost feel impelled to join the ranks of the dancers, were it not for
the necessity of maintaining the decorum of the ruling race, and of
keeping eye and ear on the alert for everything that is going forward.
The dance which the women are now performing is called ikoma.
[41]
Our eyes are insufficiently trained to perceive the slight
differences between these various choric dances, and so we grew
tired with mere looking on long before the natives, who are exerting
themselves to the utmost, begin to weary. In this case the sun
contributes to the result, and Moritz is already feeling ill, as he says,
from the smell of the crowd; though he certainly has no right to look
down on his compatriots in this respect. It is true that he has
improved since the day at Lindi, when I drove him before my kiboko
into the Indian Ocean, because he diffused around him such a
frightful effluvium of “high” shark, that it seemed as if he himself had
been buried for months. I am just about to pack up my apparatus,
when the uniform, somewhat tedious rhythm in which the crowd of
black bodies is moving suddenly changes. Hitherto, everything has
been characterized by the utmost decency, even according to our
standards, but now what do I see? With swift gesture the bright-
coloured draperies fly up, leaving legs and hips entirely free, the feet
move faster, and with a more vivacious and rapid motion the dancers
now circle round one another in pairs. I am fixed to the spot by a
sight I have often heard of, but which has never come in my way
before:—the large keloids which, in the most varied patterns cover
these parts of the body. The scars are raised to this size by cutting
again and again during the process of healing. This, too, belongs to
the ideal of beauty in this country.
Unfortunately, I was not able to await the end of the ikoma. The
performers, in spite of the small silver coin which I had distributed to
each of them, were evidently constrained in the presence of a
European,—a being known to most of them only by hearsay—and the
spontaneous merriment which had prevailed inside the hut was not
to be recovered. Besides, I was forced, out of consideration for
Moritz, who was now quite grey in the face, to return as quickly as
possible.
Akundonde’s junior headman is excellent as a practical guide, but
has little theoretic knowledge,—he is probably too young to know
much of the traditional lore of his own tribe and the Makua. Old
Akundonde himself keeps silence,—perhaps because he needs a
stronger inducement than any yet received. This, however, I am
unable to offer, especially as we ourselves have to subsist on our
tinned goods, the usual lean fowls and a few old guinea-fowl shot by
Knudsen. There is no trace of the liberal gifts of pombe which had
delighted our thirsty souls at Masasi and Chingulungulu.
It was, therefore, with light hearts that we left Akundonde’s on the
fourth day for Newala. The stages of our three days’ march were
Chingulungulu, where we had left a considerable part of our baggage,
and Mchauru, a very scattered village in a district and on a river of
the same name, in the foothills of the Makonde plateau. Mchauru is
interesting enough in several respects. First, topographically: the
river, which has excavated for itself a channel sixty, in some places
even ninety feet deep, in the loose alluvial soil, runs south-westward
towards the Rovuma. On reaching the bottom of this gorge, after a
difficult climb, we found no running water, but had to dig at least a
fathom into the clean sand before coming on the subterranean
supply. The deep, narrow water-holes, frequently met with show that
the natives are well aware of this circumstance. The vegetation in this
whole district, however, is very rich, and it is not easy to see at
present whence it comes, since we are on the landward side of the
hills whose seaward slope precipitates the rains. It is possible that
the soil here holds more moisture than in other parts of the plain.
Mchauru has not only charming scenery but abounds in
ethnographic interest. It possesses, in the first place, a fundi who
makes the finest ebony nose-pins in the country, and inlays them
with zinc in the most tasteful manner, and secondly, a celebrated
magician by the name of Medula. In fact, it was on account of these
two men that I halted here at all. The nose-pin-maker was not to be
found—we were told that he was away on a journey—but Medula was
at home.
From our camp, pitched under a huge tree beside the road, we—
that is Knudsen and I, with my more immediate followers carrying
the apparatus—walked through banana groves (which I now saw for
the first time), and extensive fields of maize, beans, and peas, ready
for gathering, in a south-westerly direction for nearly an hour. At
intervals the path runs along the bed of a stream, where the deep
sand makes walking difficult. At last, on ascending a small hill, we
found ourselves before an open shed in which an old native was
seated, not squatting in the usual way, but with his legs stretched out
before him, like a European. After salutations, my errand was
explained to him,—I wanted him to tell me all about his medicines
and sell me some of them, also to weave something for us. According
to native report, there are only two men left in the whole country
who still possess this art, already obsolete through the cheapness of
imported calico. Medula is one of these weavers,—the other, a
tottering old man, I saw, several weeks ago, at Mkululu. I was greatly
disappointed in him; he had not the faintest notion of weaving, and
there was nothing in the shape of a loom to be seen in his hut; the
only thing he could do was to spin a moderately good cotton thread
on the distaff.

PARTICIPANTS ASSEMBLING AT THE UNYAGO HUT

PRESENTATION OF CALICO BY THE MOTHERS

 DANCE OF THE OLD WOMEN

ARRIVAL OF THE NOVICES

GIRLS’ UNYAGO AT THE MATAMBWE VILLAGE OF MANGUPA. I

OLD WOMEN GROUPED ROUND THE GIRLS TO BE

INITIATED
 DANCE OF THE OLD WOMEN ROUND THE INITIATES

DANCE OF THE INITIATES BEFORE THE OLD WOMEN

DEPARTURE OF THE INITIATES

GIRLS’ UNYAGO AT THE MATAMBWE VILLAGE OF MANGUPA.

II
 OLD MEDULA LIGHTING HIS PIPE

I expected more satisfactory results from Medula; but the

medicines were the first point to be attended to. We haggled with
him like Armenians, but he would concede nothing, finally showing
us one or two of the usual calabashes with their questionable
contents, but demanding so exorbitant a price that it was my turn to
say, as I had great satisfaction in doing, “Hapana rafiki” (“It won’t
do, my friend”). Medula is a philosopher in his way—“Well, if it
won’t, it won’t,” appeared to be his reflection, as he turned the
conversation to the subject of his name, then tried to pronounce
mine, and gradually passed over to the second part of our
programme. All this time I was on the watch with my camera, like
the reporter of some detestable illustrated weekly. Medula was
seated in an unfavourable position: bright light outside—deep
shadow within his cool hut. I requested him to change his seat—he
declined. My entreaties and flatteries had no other result than to
make him grin, deliberately get out his pipe, light it with a burning
coal, and puff away without moving. Trusting to my Voigtländer’s
lens, I at last let him alone, as things had come to a standstill, and I
wanted to see the loom and its use. Medula said that he must first
make the thread. I submitted; the old man put a leisurely hand into a
basket, deliberately took out a handful of cotton-seeds, husked them
secundum artem and began beating the flaky white mass with a little
stick. In a surprisingly short time a fairly large quantity of cotton was
reduced to the proper consistency; Medula seized it in his left hand
and began to pull out the thread with his right. So far the process
looked familiar; the people who came over every winter during my
boyhood from Eichsfeld to our Hanoverian village, to spin the
farmers’ wool for them, always began in the same way. The parallel,
however, ceased with the next step, and the procedure became
entirely prehistoric. The new thread was knotted on to the end of
that on the distaff, the latter drawn through a cleft which takes the
place of the eye on our spinning-wheel, the spindle whirled in the
right hand, the left being extended as far as possible—and then both
arms moved downward; the spindle was quickly rolled round on the
upper part of the thigh, and the thread was ready for winding.
Medula contrived to weary us out with this performance, but never
produced his loom, in whose existence I have entirely ceased to
believe. He promised at our parting—which was marked by a decided
coolness—to bring the implement with him to Newala; but not even
the most stupid of my men gave any credit to his assurance.
 CHAPTER XII
UNYAGO EVERYWHERE

Newala, middle of September, 1906.

The charming festival recently witnessed at Achikomu’s seems to

have broken the spell which debarred me, just when the season was
at its height, from gaining an insight into this most important and
interesting subject. In the short period since my arrival at Newala, I
have been present at no less than two typical celebrations, both of
them girls’ unyagos. This I owe to the kindness of the Akida Sefu.
Sefu bin Mwanyi is an Arab—apparently of unmixed blood—from
Sudi. He is a tall, light-complexioned man, with finely-cut features.
He knows a number of languages, excelling even Knudsen in this
respect, and I cannot say enough of the obliging way in which he has
endeavoured to further my plans ever since my arrival.
After a fatiguing climb up the edge of the cliff bordering the
plateau, which just at Newala is particularly steep, and a short rest,
we made hasty arrangements for encamping in the baraza—open as
usual to the dreaded evening wind—within the boma or palisade of
stakes. The cold that night was almost Arctic, and we wrapped
ourselves in all the blankets we could find. In the early dawn, the
zealous akida came in a great hurry, to conduct us to the Makua
village of Niuchi, where the concluding ceremony of the girls’ unyago
was fixed for that day, and where I was sure to see and hear much
that was new. An hour later, our party, this time including my mule,
had already wound its way through a long stretch of primæval
Makonde bush. It proved impossible to ride, however—the path,
bordered by thick, thorny scrub, being never two feet wide in the
most frequented parts. We suddenly walked out of the thickest bush
on to a small open space surrounded by houses, and perceived with
some astonishment a large crowd of strange-looking female figures,
who were staring at us, struck dumb with terror. I saw at once that,
here, too, it would be well to keep as much as possible in the
background, and disappeared with my men and all the apparatus
behind the nearest hut. From this coign of vantage, I was able to
watch undisturbed a whole series of performances which few if any
travellers, probably, have seen in exactly the form they here
assumed.

OUR CAMP AT NEWALA

It is eight in the morning; the Makonde bush, which almost closes

over our heads, is clad in the freshest green, one large tree in the
middle of the bwalo[42] and a few others of equal proportions rise
above the general level of the pori, and the low Makonde huts stand
out sharply in the clear morning air. The few women whom on our
arrival we found sweeping the bwalo with bunches of green twigs,
have vanished like lightning in the crowd surrounding five other
figures dressed in gaudy cloths. These are squatting in the shadow of
a hut, covering their eyes and temples with their hands, and staring
fixedly at the ground through their fingers. Then a shrill sound is
heard, and five or six women are seen hurrying with grotesque jumps
across the open space. As they raise the traditional cry of rejoicing,[43]
the pelele, here of truly fabulous dimensions, stands up straight in
the air, while the tongue, stretched out under it, vibrates rapidly to
and fro in the manner indispensable to the correct production of the
sound. The first six are soon followed by a dozen other women,
among whom one voice sings:—“Anamanduta, anamanduta, mwan-
angu mwanagwe” (“They go away, they go away, my dear child,”)—
the rest repeating the line in chorus. The song is accompanied by
accurately-rhythmical hand-clapping, as the dancers move in short
tripping steps backward and forward. “Surely a barbaric lament over
a parting,” I reflect, on hearing Sefu’s rapid translation, but already a
new song is heard:—
“Namahihio achikuta kumaweru” (“The
owl cries in the gardens”). This, too, is
repeated for some time, then once more, all
crowd round the five bundles of cloth. Five
elderly women now step forward out of the
throng and decorate the heads of their pupils
—for such are the gaudily-attired beings—with
bunches of millet. The latter now rise, and
take up their position in Indian file, each with
her hands on the shoulders of the one before
her. The drums strike up—old and young
together swaying with skilled vibration in the
danse du ventre.
“Chihakatu cha Kuliwile nandu kuhuma
nchere.” (“The chihakatu (small flat basket) of
Liwile is carried out of the house early.”) This
THE AUTHOR IN
WINTER COSTUME AT
is the song now chanted as before by solo and
NEWALA chorus. By the chihakatu is probably meant
the decoration of millet-heads—the natives
are fond of symbolical expressions.
This song in its turn comes to an end; the ranks of the dancers
break up and the women hasten in all directions, coming back to lay
further supplies of millet, manioc, cloth, etc., at the feet of the five
instructresses. These, meanwhile, have been preparing for the next
step. An egg is broken, a little of the yolk is rubbed on the forehead of
each girl and the rest mixed with castor oil and used to anoint the
girls on chest and back. This is the sign that they have reached
maturity, and that the unyago is over. The first part of the festival is
concluded by the presentation of more new cloth to the girls.
Sefu now points out to me a stick planted in the ground, and tells
me that medicines belonging to the unyago have been buried under
it. He also says that some months ago, a large pot of water was
buried at another spot in the bwalo; this was also “medicine.”
While I am listening to this explanation, the women have once
more taken their places. With a ntungululu which, even at the
distance at which we are standing, is almost enough to break the
drums of our ears, all the arms fly up with a jerk, then down again,
and the performers begin to clap their hands with a perfection of
rhythm and uniformity of action seemingly peculiar to the dwellers
on the shores of the Indian Ocean, in order to accompany the
following song:—
“Kanole wahuma kwetu likundasi kuyadika kuyedya ingombe.”
The meaning is something like this: “Just look at that girl; she has
borrowed a bead girdle, and is now trying to wear it gracefully and
becomingly.”
Women are very much alike all the world over, I mutter to myself,
as Sefu explains this—full, on the one hand, of vanity, on the other, of
spite. The song refers to a poor girl appearing in borrowed finery,
who is satirized by her companions. In the next song it is my turn to
furnish the moral.
“Ignole yangala yangala meme mtuleke tuwakuhiyoloka.”
The sense appears to be about the following:—
“You are here assembled (for the unyago), rejoice and be merry.
We who have come here, we do not want to play with you, only to
look on.”
If Sefu is right, as there is every reason to suppose, these words are
to be understood as spoken by myself, they are either dictated by my
own delicacy of feeling: “I have no wish to intrude”—or they are
intended as a captatio benevolentiæ: “Please stay at a distance, white
man, or we shall be afraid!”
In spite of my discreet attitude, the performers do not seem to feel
quite easy, for they now sing till they grow tired:—
“Nidoba ho, nidoba ho.” (“It is difficult, it is difficult, truly.”)
 This is followed by a long pause.
The second division of the programme goes on to repeat part of the
first. Still more completely muffled in their brightly-coloured cloths,
so that neither face nor arms are to be seen, the five girls come
forward as before, and march round to the right, the rest of the
company following them in the same order as previously. Now the
drums, which in the meantime have been tuned afresh over a
tremendous fire, strike up again, and the chorus starts: “Chihakatu
cha Kuliwile,” etc., with dance as before. This lasts fully half-an-
hour, and then the long file breaks up; the oldest of the instructresses
comes forward into the open space in front of the crowd, puts on a
critical expression, and waits for what is about to happen. This is not
long in showing itself. Like a gorgeous butterfly, one of the coloured
calico bundles separates itself from the mass, and trips gracefully
before the old woman, while the chorus bursts into song:—
“Nande è è, nande è è.”
The astonished white man, looking on, can only see clearly the
head and feet of the bundle, which are comparatively at rest—
everything between these extremities being an undistinguishable
blur. On boldly approaching, I make out that the girl is vibrating her
waist and hips, throwing herself to and fro with such velocity that the
eye cannot follow the lines of her figure. The performer retires after a
time, and the others follow, each in her turn, receiving praise or
censure from the high authorities convoked for the occasion. But not
even Sefu can tell me what the words of the song mean.
The third part follows. As full of expectant curiosity as myself, the
five young girls certified as having arrived at maturity are now gazing
at the arena. They have freed themselves from their wrappings, and
seem to feel quite at home, with their mothers and aunts all standing
round them. Then, with a quick, tripping step, another bundle of
cloth comes out of the bush, followed by a second, and, after a short
interval by a third and fourth. The four masks—for such, when they
turn round, they are seen to be—stand up two and two, each pair
facing the other, and begin the same series of movements which I
had already watched at Chingulungulu, comprising the most varied
manœuvres with arms and legs, contortions of the body above the
waist, quivering vibrations of the region below the waist. In short,
everything is African, quite authentic and primitive. I had seen all
these evolutions before, but was all the more struck with the whole
get-up of these strange figures. Makonde masks are now to be found
in the most important ethnographic museums, but no one, it
appears, has ever seen them in use—or, if so, they have not been
described. The masks are of wood, two of them representing men,
and two women. This is evident a hundred paces off, from the
prominence given to the pelele, whose white stands out with great
effect from the rigid black surface. The costume of the male and
female figures is in other respects alike, following the principle of
letting no part of the human form be seen—everything is swathed in
cloth, from the closely-wrapped neck to the tips of the fingers and
toes. This excessive amount of covering indicates the aim of the
whole—the masks are intended to terrify. It is young men who are
thus disguised; they do not wish to be recognized, and are supposed
to give the girls a good fright before their entrance on adult life. The
masks themselves in the first instance serve this purpose in a general
way, but their effect is still further heightened by making them
represent well-known bugbears: portraits of famous and much
dreaded warriors or robbers, heads of monstrous beasts, or, lastly,
shetani—the devil.[44] This personage appears with long horns and a
large beard, and is really terrible to behold.

MAKONDE MASKS

While the four masks are still moving about the arena—sometimes
all together facing each other, sometimes separating and dancing
round in a circle with all sorts of gambols—a new figure appears on
the stage. A tapping sound is heard as it jerks its way forward—
uncanny, gigantic; a huge length of cloth flutters in the morning
breeze; long, spectral arms, draped with cloth so as to look like
wings, beat the air like the sails of a windmill; a rigid face grins at us
like a death’s head; and the whole is supported on poles, a yard or
more in length, like fleshless legs. The little girls are now really
frightened, and even my bodyguard seem to feel somewhat creepy.
The European investigator cannot allow himself to give way to such
sensations: he has to gaze, to observe, and to snapshot.
The use of stilts is not very common in any part of the world.
Except in Europe they are, so far as I know, only used in the culture-
area of Eastern Asia, and (curiously enough) in the Marquesas
Islands (Eastern Pacific), and in some parts of the West Coast of
Africa. Under these circumstances, I cannot at present suggest any
explanation of their presence on the isolated Makonde plateau. Have
they been introduced? and, if so, from whence? Or are they a survival
of very ancient usages once prevalent from Cape Lopez, in the west to
this spot in the east, preserved at the two extremities of the area,
while the intervening tribes advanced beyond the old dancing-
appliances? My mind involuntarily occupies itself with such
questions, though, properly speaking, this is not the time for them,
as there are still many things to see.
That the stilt-dancer’s intention is to terrify, is evident from his
movements, quite apart from his disguise. In a few gigantic strides he
has reached the other side of the fairly spacious arena, and drives the
natives squatting there back in headlong flight; for it looks as if the
monster were about to catch them, or tread them under foot. But it
has already turned away, and is stalking up to the five novices at the
other end: they, and others near them, turn away shrieking. Now he
comes within range of my camera—a click of the shutter, and I have
him safe. I could almost have imagined that I saw the man’s face of
consternation behind his mask—he stopped with such a start,
hesitated a moment, and then strode swiftly away.
This dancing on stilts can scarcely be a pleasure. The man is now
leaning, tired out, against the roof of one of the huts, and looks on
while the four masks come forward again to take part in the dance.
But the proceedings seem inclined to hang fire—the sun has by this
time climbed to the zenith, and the stifling heat weighs us all down.
A great many of the women taking part in the
ceremony have already dispersed, and those
still present are visibly longing for the piles of
ugali at home. I take down the apparatus and
give the word to start, and once more we are
forcing our way through the thorny thickets of
the Makonde bush towards Newala.

MAKONDE STILT-
DANCER. FROM A
DRAWING BY OMARI,
A MBONDEI

THE NJOROWE DANCE AT NEWALA

The indefatigable Sefu only allowed me one day in which to digest

the impressions of Niuchi, before announcing another important
expedition. Sefu lives only some thirty or forty yards away from us, in
a house built Coast-fashion. He is not, like Nakaam and Matola, a
native of the country, but has been transferred here from the coast as
an official of the German Administration, while the other two might
be compared with large landowners placed in a similar position on
account of their local standing and influence among the people. He
has rather more notion of comfort than is usual among his
congeners, for he has had very neat bamboo seats—some even with
backs to them, an unheard of luxury in this region—put up in his
baraza, where he holds shauris and also receives, with great dignity,
the leaders of passing caravans. Sefu spends all his spare minutes
with us; he arrives first thing in the morning, and shivers through the
evening with us in that temple of the winds which goes by the name
of the rest-house, and which we shall be compelled to close in with a
wall in order to get some protection against the evening gales.
Sefu, then, had a grand plan to propose. This time, he said, he
could show us a ceremony of the Wamatambwe at the village of
Mangupa. It was again a girls’ chiputu, that is, the conclusion of the
first course of instruction which these children of between eight and
eleven had been going through for some months in a special hut. But
the Matambwe procedure is in some points different from that of the
Yaos and the Makua; and, also, it was not far. If we started next
morning at 7.30, we should be in time to see the beginning after a
walk of an hour and a half.
I was able to form a slight idea of the famous Makonde bush on the
expedition to Niuchi—but it was very far from being an adequate
one. Much has been written about this form of vegetation, but I
believe the theme is inexhaustible. Not that this bush is remarkable
for æsthetic charms, for beautiful scenery, or abundance and variety
of vegetation. It is a perfectly uniform, compact mass of thin stems,
branches, leaves and tendrils. This is the unpleasant part of it; this
indescribably thick tangle lets no one pass unless he has first cut his
painful and toilsome way with axe and bill-hook. Our native troops
have gone through unspeakable sufferings in this way, in the last ten
years alone, especially in the war against Machemba. Things have
been made easier for us—the victorious struggle against the formerly
unreliable and often rebellious tribes of the south has led to the wise
measure of connecting every place of the slightest importance with