Teita people. These Teita people had for years been
a thorn in the side of travellers passing through their
country. A missionary had been stationed among
them five or six years, but he had been unable in
any way to soften their hard and worthless natures.
R a m a z a n a n d M g u n d u
When I passed through Teita on my former journey
to Kilimanjiro, I met a party of ivory traders
who had just been robbed by these people. They
inhabit a range of mountains called Bura, and are
perhaps 10,000 in number. They possess a few flocks
of sheep and goats, and live almost entirely by agriculture.
In physique and habits they are very much
akin to the Wakamba, though less daring. I have
found it almost invariably to be the case in East
Africa that those natives who inhabit the hilly country
(possibly because in their homes they feel greater
security from attack) seem to have in great degree
lost the manliness and independence of character
which go in great measure to redeem the disagreeable
traits of the inhabitants of the plains.
The Teita people are very superstitious. One story
which reached my ears concerning their religious
beliefs is worthy of mention. Some years ago their
country had been visited by a devastating drought,
in consequence of which they were threatened with
starvation. The wise men assembled, and for days
discussed the probable cause of the drought and the
means adapted to hastening its end. These people
worship their ancestors, and one of the rites of this
worship is carefully to heap the skulls of the deceased
males of the tribe in piles near their villages.
While casting about for the cause of the drought,
one old man suggested that they count the skulls
of their ancestors. This was done, and to their
horror they found many were missing. To appease
the wrath of these familiars, the Teita people decided
to slay sheep and add their skulls to the piles of
their ancestors. This was done, and immediately the
flood-gates of the heavens opened, and the drought
ceased.
The capital condition of the road from the mission
to the coast is owing entirely to the efforts and intel