on the other points; but these are not so important as regards these
people, who have no official position and have no duties to perform.

There are, as will be seen hereafter, a number of persons who are
employed from time to time to perform various acts and functions of a
ceremonious or superstitious character, notably the man who has the
important duty of killing pigs at feasts; but these men are not by
virtue of their offices or functions either chiefs or sub-chiefs, or
even notables or important personages. It is in each case a matter of
the specific personal power which the man is believed to possess. Any
of them might happen to be an important personage, and the pig-killer,
whose office is a prominent one, would probably be one; though in his
case muscular strength would, I understand, be an important element
of qualification. [59]







CHAPTER VI

Villages, Emone, Houses and Modes of Inter-Village Communication


Villages and Their Emone and Houses.

The Mafulu villages are generally situated on narrow plateaux or
ridges, sloping down on each side; but the plateaux are not usually so