The natives of British Central AfricaWerner, Alice
History
The natives of British Central Africa
Werner, Alice
Ethnology -- Malawi; Malawi -- Description and travel; Malawi -- Social conditions
This requires some deductions, and Mr. Rowley goes on to qualify it in
the case of the River people, who, however, ‘had less amiability of
expression—indeed, many of them looked fiercely vile.’ Perhaps time had
mellowed them in this respect, for I cannot say I observed any lack of
amiability when I came on the scene some thirty years later; and I must
own that I cannot form a very clear idea of a man’s expression when
he looks ‘fiercely vile.’ A cast of countenance with which I am more
familiar is that of the ‘Angoni’ (= Anyanja).
The original home of the YAOS seems to be in the Unango Mountains,
between Lake Nyasa and the Mozambique coast. They were driven thence
by the encroachments of other tribes from the north, and forced into
the Shiré Highlands, where they partially displaced the population, but
in course of time settled down side by side with them. In 1893-4 the
villages surrounding the mission station at Blantyre were reckoned, some
as Yao and some as Nyanja; but a good deal of intermarriage had taken
place, and many of the present generation are Yao by the mother’s side,
and Nyanja by the father’s, or _vice versâ_. When this is the case, they
usually speak both languages. Even in the villages west of the Shiré,
where the people are supposed to be pure Nyanja, there were families
whose mothers were Yaos, brought back in the Angoni raids of 1880-1890.
Perhaps the appearance of the Yaos cannot be better described than by
the authority already quoted for the Anyanja. ‘Compare an ordinary
Mang’anja with an ordinary Ajawa man, and the latter was at once seen to
be physically the superior: his face was broader; his frontal development
more masculine; the organs of causality fuller; the perceptive faculties
larger; the jaws not more prominent, but more massive; the chin large and
well to the front; the mouth, though of full lip, shapely and expressive
of strength of will; while the eyes ... had a steadfastness and an
intensity of expression.... Compared with the Mang’anja, the Ajawa head
was large and round.... The Ajawa varied greatly in height. You saw men
not more than five feet two or three, and you saw others five feet eight
or ten.’
I should have said—but it is dangerous to make such statements without
actual measurements—that a good proportion of them were six feet and over.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account