DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0373
THE WAYAO OF NYASALAND
357
Amusements. Among the natives of east central Africa, the chief form of amusement,
apart from dancing, might be said to be sitting and chatting; it is interesting to note that
there is a word to express “ sitting up all night talking.” Often the younger members of
the community will gather about one of the older men and listen to his stories of travel or
fighting in the old days, and some men gain quite a reputation as raconteurs. Or again
riddle asking is indulged in to pass the time. Women and girls do not assist at these sittings.
Among the Yao youth, wrestling, ku-lingana (from ku-linga, to try), is practiced
with a fixed grip and no leg-work; the victor always accentuates his victory by hitting the
man who is down, and pummelling his face with his fist or a stone.
A ball game, played originally with a ball of native rubber from which it derives its
name, mpila, is a great favorite among boys. A dozen or more are divided into sides but all
mixed up together. The ball is then thrown into the air to a member of the same side, any
of the opposite side jumping into the air to try and catch it, accompanied by the clapping
of hands to time.
“Hide-and-seek,” chijuwajuwa, and “touch,” chao or chaolele (phipiasi, Chin.), are
played by boys.
Chinusya: toward the end of the ball game, when it is decided to finish, each boy as
he catches the ball puts it to his nose to smell {ku-nusya, to smell). He is then “ out.”
At the end of a game of “ touch ” played in the water, when one touches another, he jumps
out of the water, puts his cloth up to his nose “ to smell,” and is then “ out.” His cloth
may be thrown to him to “smell ” while still in the water, after which he gets out without
hurry. The object is not to be the last “in.” I am unable to explain this custom.
Knuckle-bones is played by girls, mdodo, from “do!” the exclamation made when catch-
ing anything.
Mchombwa: the Board and Counter game is played in nearly every Yao village. Dr.
Sanderson 1 has given a very complete account of a number of the games played by the
several tribes in Nyasaland and I need add nothing to his explanation of the methods of
playing.
Similar games are widespread throughout Africa and are well known on the West Coast
under the name mancala. The several games are played, either simply with holes in the
ground and small stones, or with a board and a kind of seed procured from Zanzibar. The
board is called mchombwa and the pebbles or seeds or other convenient “ counters ” njombwa.
Dr. Sanderson uses this word as the name of one of the games. The Angoni call the
counters mambe. The holes in the board or in the ground (Pl. XXII, fig. 11) are called
iputa (sing, chiputa) from ku-puta, to strike, beat, or put down with a thud, to “ plank
down,” and refers to the way the counters are “ planked down ” in the holes on the board
when playing. The large container at the end of the board is simply to hold the counters
out of play and is called nyumba, “ the house,” or lisimbo, “ the hole.” The counters are
1 Meridith G. Sanderson, ‘ Native games of Central Africa,’ (Journ. Anth. Inst., 1913, vol. 43, p. 726-736).
357
Amusements. Among the natives of east central Africa, the chief form of amusement,
apart from dancing, might be said to be sitting and chatting; it is interesting to note that
there is a word to express “ sitting up all night talking.” Often the younger members of
the community will gather about one of the older men and listen to his stories of travel or
fighting in the old days, and some men gain quite a reputation as raconteurs. Or again
riddle asking is indulged in to pass the time. Women and girls do not assist at these sittings.
Among the Yao youth, wrestling, ku-lingana (from ku-linga, to try), is practiced
with a fixed grip and no leg-work; the victor always accentuates his victory by hitting the
man who is down, and pummelling his face with his fist or a stone.
A ball game, played originally with a ball of native rubber from which it derives its
name, mpila, is a great favorite among boys. A dozen or more are divided into sides but all
mixed up together. The ball is then thrown into the air to a member of the same side, any
of the opposite side jumping into the air to try and catch it, accompanied by the clapping
of hands to time.
“Hide-and-seek,” chijuwajuwa, and “touch,” chao or chaolele (phipiasi, Chin.), are
played by boys.
Chinusya: toward the end of the ball game, when it is decided to finish, each boy as
he catches the ball puts it to his nose to smell {ku-nusya, to smell). He is then “ out.”
At the end of a game of “ touch ” played in the water, when one touches another, he jumps
out of the water, puts his cloth up to his nose “ to smell,” and is then “ out.” His cloth
may be thrown to him to “smell ” while still in the water, after which he gets out without
hurry. The object is not to be the last “in.” I am unable to explain this custom.
Knuckle-bones is played by girls, mdodo, from “do!” the exclamation made when catch-
ing anything.
Mchombwa: the Board and Counter game is played in nearly every Yao village. Dr.
Sanderson 1 has given a very complete account of a number of the games played by the
several tribes in Nyasaland and I need add nothing to his explanation of the methods of
playing.
Similar games are widespread throughout Africa and are well known on the West Coast
under the name mancala. The several games are played, either simply with holes in the
ground and small stones, or with a board and a kind of seed procured from Zanzibar. The
board is called mchombwa and the pebbles or seeds or other convenient “ counters ” njombwa.
Dr. Sanderson uses this word as the name of one of the games. The Angoni call the
counters mambe. The holes in the board or in the ground (Pl. XXII, fig. 11) are called
iputa (sing, chiputa) from ku-puta, to strike, beat, or put down with a thud, to “ plank
down,” and refers to the way the counters are “ planked down ” in the holes on the board
when playing. The large container at the end of the board is simply to hold the counters
out of play and is called nyumba, “ the house,” or lisimbo, “ the hole.” The counters are
1 Meridith G. Sanderson, ‘ Native games of Central Africa,’ (Journ. Anth. Inst., 1913, vol. 43, p. 726-736).