Mappila

“ The Makooa, or Makooana, as they are often called, comprise a people consisting of a number of very powerful tribes, lying behind Mosambique, which extend northward as far as Melinda, and southward to the mouth of the river Zambezi, while hordes of the same nation are to be found in a south-west direction, perhaps almost to the neighbourhood of the Kaffers, bordering on the Cape of Good Hope. A late traveller in that settlement, mentions them as a tribe of Kaffers, and says the name is derived from the Arabic language, signifying "workers in iron." ”

“ He was commissary of the Holy Office in the islands, which he administered with the greatest of prudence and wisdom, and not less to the satisfaction of the inquisitors.
He, also, added to the luster of the province by founding new convents. Among them was that of Apalit, in Pampanga. Apalit is located on the river of Candaba (of which we have before spoken) , very near to Macabebe. It had many Indians formerly, but now it has very few, scarcely three hundred, I believe.129 This house has no vote. One religious, who is sufficient, generally lives there ”

“ As instancing the mixture and confusion of religious ideas in Malabar, it may be mentioned that Māppillas have been known to indulge in Sakti worship, and Tiyans to have made vows, and given offerings at Māppilla mosques and Christian churches. Vows to the well-known mosque at Mambram are made by people of almost every caste. It is not uncommon to present the first fruit of a jāk tree, or the milk of a cow when it brings forth its first calf, to the local Tangal or Māppilla priest. ”

“ There I saw a large idol, called Makambi, shaped like a man, and by his side stood a female figure, Abiala his wife. Poor Makambi is a powerless god, his wife having usurped the power. She holds a pistol in her hand, with which, it is supposed, she can kill anyone she pleases; hence the natives are much afraid of her; and she receives from them a constant supply of food, and many presents (I wonder who takes the presents away) . When they fall sick, they dance around her, and implore her to make them well; for these poor heathen never pray to the true God. ”

“ Eight of the Makololo had also fallen dead, while several others were severely wounded.
Macora’s features began to assume an anxious and troubled expression. Knowing that an enemy of superior force to his own was before him, that all means of retreat was now cut off, and that an attempt to enter the enclosure had nearly proved successful, he could not avoid feeling a gloomy foreboding for the fate of his people.
He knew too well the disposition of the Matabili to suppose that they would easily relinquish their design. ”

“ Every man knew that Mapumulo was one of the most densely-populated districts in Natal. It was a purely Native district in which the ancient superstitions, habits and customs of the Zulus were still generally observed. The country was open and picturesque, with water and pasture abundant. The climate, moreover, was as fresh and exhilarating as that at Nkandhla. Such troops, e.g. Mackay's, as had not as yet clashed with the enemy, betrayed irrepressible eagerness to do so as soon as possible. ”

“ It is one of the sights of the place to see them fed. At the great festival called neercha (vow) , the Māppillas go in procession, headed by banners, elephants (if they possess them) , and music, and carrying offerings to the head-quarters (Malappuram and Kondotti are the principal ones) of some Tangal, where they deposit the banners, I think at the tomb of the local saint, and present the offerings to the Tangal. At Malappuram, an enormous crowd of ten to twenty thousand assembles, and there is a great tamasha (popular excitement) . ”

“ And yet it can be said of these Indians (and a strange thing it is) , that although they are treated so harshly, it is not known that a single one has deserted to the Dutch in Maluco, where they suffer more than in their own country. Many of the other Indians go and come. When these soldiers leave Pampanga, they present a fine appearance, for the villages come to their aid, each with a certain sum, for their uniforms. All this is due to the teaching of the religious of our father St. Augustine, whose flock these Indians are, and the children of their teaching. ”

“ To the west of this region is the Bamalitsi district, and to the east Bamapela, all within the Zoutpansberg division, and through nearly the central portion the tropic of Capricorn runs. The Maalaqueen or Nylstroom, an extensive river rising in the mountains round Nylstroom, flows north through Makapans Poort, past Potgieter Rust for eighty miles, and through Blaauwberg, a lofty range, and on through a dense and beautiful forest for nearly 100 miles, entering the Limpopo. The forest is full of game of every kind; the natives live on the river-banks. ”

“ It also has its own altar fund, which, although not very important as yet, will yield something for the support of those in charge there. All the [246] territory of Pampanga is surrounded by mountains where dwell Zambales and Negrillos, who descend to the villages for the purpose of head-hunting; for there is nothing so much to their taste as this. A people without abiding-place or house cannot be punished. They rest at night where they choose; and sustain themselves on roots and what game they bring down with their bows. ”

“ Few trees are indeed more deserving of culture than the American Maples, both for their beauty in early spring, and for the rich shades of yellow and brown which their leaves assume in autumn. The Maple tribe is a very small one; it consists indeed of only the genera Acer and Negundo, and an obscure Nepal genus, of which there are no plants in Britain. ”

“ Doubtless on the traversed roads and large centres, where they are brought into contact with traders and would-be civilisers of the race, these people become thieves and vagabonds; but in their primitive state the Makalangas are naturally honest, exceedingly courteous in manner, and cowardice appears to be their only vice, arising doubtless from the fact that for generations they have had to flee to their fastnesses before the raids of more powerful races. The Makalanga is above the ordinary Kaffir in intelligence. ”

“ His father ate his enemies. For fifty years Mapuhi has been sailing schooners in the Paumotus. He’s the richest man there, and the best skipper in these waters that ever weathered the New Year gales. I’m captain of a schooner and I have sailed the Group since a boy, but, matching my experience against his,—and I haven’t had a tenth of his,—Mapuhi knows more by instinct of weather, of reefs, of passes, and of seamanship than I have learned. He’s known from Samoa to Tahiti as a wizard for sailing. He knows every one of the eighty Paumotus by sight. ”

“ It has faithfully discharged the duties of a Maple there, all winter and summer, neglected none of its economies, but added to its stature in the virtue which belongs to a Maple, by a steady growth for so many months, never having gone gadding abroad, and is nearer heaven than it was in the spring. It has faithfully husbanded its sap, and afforded a shelter to the wandering bird, has long since ripened its seeds and committed them to the winds, and has the satisfaction of knowing, perhaps, that a thousand little well-behaved Maples are already settled in life somewhere. ”

“ So, having been joined by Taylor, the Native Commissioner, we rode off across the veldt towards the Matopos, some six miles distant from the fort. On arriving at Mapisa’s Kraal, a friendly chief, we off–saddled our horses (but never let our guns out of our hands, for even friendlies are not to be too blindly trusted) , and, taking two or three of his scouts with us, we climbed up into some koppies which commanded a view of the enemy’s position, and of the Matopos generally. Awful country, a weird, jumbled mass of grey granite boulders thickly interspersed with bush, and great jagged mountains. ”

“ Maples, trusting to the well-known awe of the natives for a white man, remained perfectly calm, fixing his eyes upon the assailants, and explaining by gestures that he and his party intended no violence. After a few moments' consultation, the Magwangwara bade them go into Masasi, but Mr. Maples, realising that this would probably mean death, or at any rate slavery, for his followers, without the hope of saving their friends, decided to strike eastward to Newala, a village some fifty miles away. ”

“ The length from east to west is 200 miles, and from north to south seventy miles. The Malapo, or the Mafeking river, rises in the Transvaal, flows west, through the entire length of this territory, continuing on in the same direction, receiving the two dry rivers, the Nosop and Onp, then turns south at the great bend, under the name of Hygap, and enters the Orange at Kakaman’s Drift; there are but few branches in its course. The eastern portion of this country is valuable and productive, suitable for any kind of vegetation. ”

“ It was, when I first knew it, full of game, but since the natives have obtained rifles, they have greatly reduced it. The Notuane river and its branches drain the country belonging to Sechele and Gaseitsive, and is a tributary of the Limpopo. Fifty miles to the east of Molapololo is a large Kaffir station, Chene Chene, within the latter territory, under the chief Maklapan. A beautiful and picturesque hill stands close to it, which is visible at a great distance. The whole country is forest and full of game. The town is twenty-nine miles south from Motsodie. ”

“ At the time I now write of, Father Mapple was in the hardy winter of a healthy old age; that sort of old age which seems merging into a second flowering youth, for among all the fissures of his wrinkles, there shone certain mild gleams of a newly developing bloom—the spring verdure peeping forth even beneath February’s snow. No one having previously heard his history, could for the first time behold Father Mapple without the utmost interest, because there were certain engrafted clerical peculiarities about him, imputable to that adventurous maritime life he had led. ”

“ It is all most pretty and charming, and Matupi is a most desirable spot.
The blue sky and sea, the waving green palms, the lovely islands, the white ships at anchor, make quite a beautiful picture. I am in a fever to come and live in this wonderful land and have an island of my own! The idea has already caught on, and all are joking about my island. Amongst the Germans who boarded the Stettin on our arrival—they all came to lunch as a matter of course — was an exceedingly pleasant young fellow, Herr Cart ”

“ From here on the journey would be by raft and batalon on the rivers. The mountain trail was ended.
The village has a long, grass-grown plaza on two sides; toward the muddy Mapiri River the plaza is open, and the entering end is blocked by a mud church with a mud-walled yard, loopholed and battlemented. Once a year a priest makes the trip to Mapiri and down the river, performing his offices as they are needed. He blesses the graves of the dead, christens the living, and performs canonical marriages for those who desire, and can afford, the luxury.
A squat Cholo welcomed us ”

“ In this there are many Indian villages administered by religious of the Augustinian order, and still more by the discalced of St. Francis. Toward the west of the jurisdiction is that of the province of Pampanga, which is fertile and well-peopled, and that of Bulacan, and the Cambales. These are not Christians and cannot be reduced to conversion, but are negroes who go about like wild beasts through the inaccessible parts of the mountains. They are given to cutting the heads from other Indians, and no woman will marry a Cambal unless he has cut off a head ”

“ Macara, a considerable stream running with a very great current, which is the boundary between Woggora and Lamalmon. At nine o'clock we encamped at some small villages, called Macara, under a church named Yasous. On the 11th of February, by the meridian altitude of the sun at noon, and that of several fixed stars proper for observation, I found the latitude of Macara to be 13° 6′ 8′′. The ground was everywhere burnt up; and, though the nights were very cold, we had not observed the smallest dew since our first ascending the mountain. The province of Woggora begins at Macara ”

“ With Captain Niedermayer and the two Englishmen from the second class I explored Matupi, we who were new to it being deeply interested. The natives have very small grass houses varying in appearance, surrounded by fenced-in enclosures in which they grow bananas. Even in this small island the people seem to swarm, and there are hordes of merry, mischievous, taking children all happily clad in their own natural beauty and wide smiles. Most of the men here have the lobes of their ears enlarged to an enormous size ”

“ An endless source of interest to me during our stay in Bafilo were the long strings of natives belonging to different tribes, Losso, Lamantiné, etc., from the Kabre Mountains—semi-wild people, who were travelling back to their far-off homes after going down to do their tax-work at Sokode, or to labour for wages on the railway at Atakpame and beyond. All these people were accompanied by their women to cook their food, and both sexes were absolutely nude; not even a loin-cloth amongst hundreds of them. ”

“ His eyes asked me if I was a trader come to compete with him. He sat down in a great chair that vaguely resembled a throne, wrought of bamboo, and carved, and trussed to bear the exceeding weight of the man, for Mapuhi was over three hundred pounds. As he sat he inquired of the elders the reason for my being there. He did it with his foot. He twisted his toes into the most expressive interrogation, which was a plain question to the elders. They said in Paumotuan that I was an American, an important man, but precisely what were my affairs they did not know. ”