We paint the Devil black, says George Herbert. On the other hand the
negro paints him white, with reason enough. The name of the Devil
at Mozambique is Muzungu Maya, or Wicked White Man. Of this demon
they make little images of extreme hideousness, which are kept by
people on the coast, and occasionally displayed, in the belief that
if the White Devil is lurking near them he will vanish out of sheer
disgust with a glimpse of his own ugliness. The hereditary horror of
the kidnapper displayed in this droll superstition may possibly have
been assisted by the familiarity with all things infernal represented
in the language of the white sailors visiting the coast. Captain
Basil Hall, on visiting Mozambique about fifty years ago, found
that the native dignitaries had appropriated the titles of English
noblemen, and a dumpy little Duke of Devonshire met him with his whole
vocabulary of English,--'How do you do, sir. Very glad see you. Damn
your eyes. Johanna man like English very much. God damn. That very
good? Eh? Devilish hot, sir. What news? Hope your ship stay too long
while very. Damn my eye. Very fine day.'
In most parts of India Siva also is painted white, which would indicate
that there too was found reason to associate diabolism with the white
face. It is said the Thugs spared Englishmen because their white faces
suggested relationship to Siva. In some of the ancient Indian books
the monster whom Indra slew, Vritra, is called Dasyu (enemy), a name
which in the Vedas designates the Aborigines as contrasted with the
Aryans of the North. 'In the old Sanskrit, in the hymns of the Veda,
ârya occurs frequently as a national name and as a name of honour,
comprising the worshippers of the gods of the Brahmans, as opposed to
their enemies, who are called in the Veda Dasyus. Thus one of the gods,
Indra, who in some respects answers to the Greek Zeus, is invoked
in the following words (Rigveda, i. 57, 8):--'Know thou the Aryas,
O Indra, and those who are Dasyus; punish the lawless, and deliver
them unto thy servant! Be thou the mighty helper of the worshippers,
and I will praise all these thy deeds at the festivals.' [111]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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