DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0371
THE WAYAO OF NYASALAND
355
Both before and after the introduction of guns, the Yao used spears, lipanga, and bows,
ukunje. The spear is a five foot long throwing spear with metal head and wooden shaft.
No shield was used. Bows and arrows are made from the wood of the teza or pimbinyolo
tree. The string is made of tendon. A double-bellied bow called ukunje wa mbama was
sometimes used, but, I believe, originally came from the Anyanja. The arrows, mpamba,
have a metal arrow-head, and were often poisoned with kornbe.
Hunting. The same weapons are used in hunting: the gun, the spear, and the bow
and arrow. Smaller bows and arrows made with bamboo or reed shaft are also employed
for shooting birds; one of the arrows has a blunt wooden head and serves to stun the bird.
From the Anyanja, the Yao learned the use of a harpoon for spearing the hippopota-
mus. The harpoon is a heavy spear-head of iron about eighteen inches long, attached to
a rope and float. From the Anyanja, also, was learned the use of the falling block with
spear for killing hippo.
Elephants are caught in staked pits, and the larger antelopes are similarly trapped in
pits with the sides sloping inwards towards the bottom, so that as the animal falls lower
and lower with expiration, it is eventually suffocated.
Small buck are driven by dogs into nets set for long distances in the forest, and then
speared or shot. Traps are also set for these smaller antelope and for many other small
animals, rodents, etc. Birds are shot or trapped. Bird-lime is also employed. It is prepared
from the juices of a number of trees by pounding the vegetable matter in water; the sticky
mass so made is applied to sticks or poles. The sticks are placed near drinking places so
that the birds alighting to take water become entangled. The poles are affixed to trees so
that they appear to be the topmost boughs; this the native does, recognising the common
habit of birds to sit on the very top of trees. The strength of the bird-lime is made accord-
ing to the size of the bird he wishes to catch.
Fishing. I am not sure how far the Yao is a natural fisherman. Not long ago he used
only a many-pronged spear to catch his fish. Since then, he has acquired from the Anyanja
the knowledge of making fish-traps and nets, and of using the fish poison. When the Yao
came to live and intermarry among the Anyanja, there was one practice of the latter which
they would not adopt and which caused a good deal of ill-feeling. A Mang’anja man com-
ing home after fishing always used to prepare the fish and, leaving some ready to cook, he
cooked others for his wife, bringing her water at the same time to wash her hands. After
eating her own fish, she cooked the rest for her husband. A Yao would never cook for his
wife.
Traps. The following is a list of some of the traps I have found in use among the Yao.
The sketches will serve to explain their mechanism better than a lengthy description. Some
are very ingeniously made, and most recall similar traps made in other parts of the world.
1. Lukonji lua litawala, a trap for the cane-rat (Pl. XIX, fig. 1).
2. Lukonji lua mbindi, a trap for sharp-toothed gnawing animals, so called from
355
Both before and after the introduction of guns, the Yao used spears, lipanga, and bows,
ukunje. The spear is a five foot long throwing spear with metal head and wooden shaft.
No shield was used. Bows and arrows are made from the wood of the teza or pimbinyolo
tree. The string is made of tendon. A double-bellied bow called ukunje wa mbama was
sometimes used, but, I believe, originally came from the Anyanja. The arrows, mpamba,
have a metal arrow-head, and were often poisoned with kornbe.
Hunting. The same weapons are used in hunting: the gun, the spear, and the bow
and arrow. Smaller bows and arrows made with bamboo or reed shaft are also employed
for shooting birds; one of the arrows has a blunt wooden head and serves to stun the bird.
From the Anyanja, the Yao learned the use of a harpoon for spearing the hippopota-
mus. The harpoon is a heavy spear-head of iron about eighteen inches long, attached to
a rope and float. From the Anyanja, also, was learned the use of the falling block with
spear for killing hippo.
Elephants are caught in staked pits, and the larger antelopes are similarly trapped in
pits with the sides sloping inwards towards the bottom, so that as the animal falls lower
and lower with expiration, it is eventually suffocated.
Small buck are driven by dogs into nets set for long distances in the forest, and then
speared or shot. Traps are also set for these smaller antelope and for many other small
animals, rodents, etc. Birds are shot or trapped. Bird-lime is also employed. It is prepared
from the juices of a number of trees by pounding the vegetable matter in water; the sticky
mass so made is applied to sticks or poles. The sticks are placed near drinking places so
that the birds alighting to take water become entangled. The poles are affixed to trees so
that they appear to be the topmost boughs; this the native does, recognising the common
habit of birds to sit on the very top of trees. The strength of the bird-lime is made accord-
ing to the size of the bird he wishes to catch.
Fishing. I am not sure how far the Yao is a natural fisherman. Not long ago he used
only a many-pronged spear to catch his fish. Since then, he has acquired from the Anyanja
the knowledge of making fish-traps and nets, and of using the fish poison. When the Yao
came to live and intermarry among the Anyanja, there was one practice of the latter which
they would not adopt and which caused a good deal of ill-feeling. A Mang’anja man com-
ing home after fishing always used to prepare the fish and, leaving some ready to cook, he
cooked others for his wife, bringing her water at the same time to wash her hands. After
eating her own fish, she cooked the rest for her husband. A Yao would never cook for his
wife.
Traps. The following is a list of some of the traps I have found in use among the Yao.
The sketches will serve to explain their mechanism better than a lengthy description. Some
are very ingeniously made, and most recall similar traps made in other parts of the world.
1. Lukonji lua litawala, a trap for the cane-rat (Pl. XIX, fig. 1).
2. Lukonji lua mbindi, a trap for sharp-toothed gnawing animals, so called from