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Trigonometry
Eighth Edition

Ron Larson
The Pennsylvania State University
The Behrend College

With the assistance of

David C. Falvo
The Pennsylvania State University
The Behrend College

Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States
Trigonometry, Eighth Edition © 2011, 2007 Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
Ron Larson
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13 12 11 10 09
Contents
A Word from the Author (Preface) vi

chapter P Prerequisites 1

P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties 2

P.2 Solving Equations 15
P.3 The Cartesian Plane and Graphs of Equations 29
P.4 Linear Equations in Two Variables 43
P.5 Functions 58
P.6 Analyzing Graphs of Functions 73
P.7 A Library of Parent Functions 85
P.8 Transformations of Functions 92
P.9 Combinations of Functions: Composite Functions 102
P.10 Inverse Functions 111
Chapter Summary 121 Review Exercises 124
Chapter Test 129 Proofs in Mathematics 130
Problem Solving 131

chapter 1 Trigonometry 133

1.1 Radian and Degree Measure 134

1.2 Trigonometric Functions: The Unit Circle 146
1.3 Right Triangle Trigonometry 153
1.4 Trigonometric Functions of Any Angle 164
1.5 Graphs of Sine and Cosine Functions 173
1.6 Graphs of Other Trigonometric Functions 184
1.7 Inverse Trigonometric Functions 195
1.8 Applications and Models 205
Chapter Summary 216 Review Exercises 218
Chapter Test 221 Proofs in Mathematics 222
Problem Solving 223

chapter 2 Analytic Trigonometry 225

2.1 Using Fundamental Identities 226

2.2 Verifying Trigonometric Identities 234
2.3 Solving Trigonometric Equations 241
2.4 Sum and Difference Formulas 252

iii
iv Contents

2.5 Multiple-Angle and Product-to-Sum Formulas 259

Chapter Summary 270 Review Exercises 272
Chapter Test 275 Proofs in Mathematics 276
Problem Solving 279

chapter 3 Additional Topics in Trigonometry 281

3.1 Law of Sines 282

3.2 Law of Cosines 291
3.3 Vectors in the Plane 299
3.4 Vectors and Dot Products 312
Chapter Summary 322 Review Exercises 324
Chapter Test 328 Cumulative Test for Chapters 1–3 329
Proofs in Mathematics 331 Problem Solving 335

chapter 4 Complex Numbers 337

4.1 Complex Numbers 338

4.2 Complex Solutions of Equations 345
4.3 Trigonometric Form of a Complex Number 353
4.4 DeMoivre's Theorem 360
Chapter Summary 366 Review Exercises 368
Chapter Test 371 Proofs in Mathematics 372
Problem Solving 373

chapter 5 Exponential and Logarithmic Functions 375

5.1 Exponential Functions and Their Graphs 376

5.2 Logarithmic Functions and Their Graphs 387
5.3 Properties of Logarithms 397
5.4 Exponential and Logarithmic Equations 404
5.5 Exponential and Logarithmic Models 415
Chapter Summary 428 Review Exercises 430
Chapter Test 433 Proofs in Mathematics 434
Problem Solving 435
Contents v

chapter 6 Topics in Analytic Geometry 437

6.1 Lines 438

6.2 Introduction to Conics: Parabolas 445
6.3 Ellipses 454
6.4 Hyperbolas 463
6.5 Rotation of Conics 473
6.6 Parametric Equations 481
6.7 Polar Coordinates 489
6.8 Graphs of Polar Equations 495
6.9 Polar Equations of Conics 503
Chapter Summary 510 Review Exercises 512
Chapter Test 515 Cumulative Test for Chapters 4–6 516
Proofs in Mathematics 518 Problem Solving 521

Answers to Odd-Numbered Exercises and Tests A1

Index A81

Index of Applications (web)

Appendix A Concepts in Statistics (web)
A.1 Representing Data
A.2 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
A.3 Least Squares Regression
A Word from
the Author

Welcome to the Eighth Edition of Trigonometry! We are proud to offer you a new and
revised version of our textbook. With this edition, we have listened to you, our users,
and have incorporated many of your suggestions for improvement.

8th
7th
6th
5th

4th
3rd
2nd
1st
In the Eighth Edition, we continue to offer instructors and students a text that is
pedagogically sound, mathematically precise, and still comprehensible. There are many
changes in the mathematics, art, and design; the more significant changes are noted here.
• New Chapter Openers Each Chapter Opener has three parts, In Mathematics, In
Real Life, and In Careers. In Mathematics describes an important mathematical
topic taught in the chapter. In Real Life tells students where they will encounter this
topic in real-life situations. In Careers relates application exercises to a variety of
careers.
• New Study Tips and Warning/Cautions Insightful information is given to
students in two new features. The Study Tip provides students with useful
information or suggestions for learning the topic. The Warning/Caution points out
common mathematical errors made by students.
• New Algebra Helps Algebra Help directs students to sections of the textbook
where they can review algebra skills needed to master the current topic.
• New Side-by-Side Examples Throughout the text, we present solutions to many
examples from multiple perspectives—algebraically, graphically, and numerically.
The side-by-side format of this pedagogical feature helps students to see that a problem
can be solved in more than one way and to see that different methods yield the same
result. The side-by-side format also addresses many different learning styles.

vi
A Word From the Author vii

• New Capstone Exercises Capstones are conceptual problems that synthesize key
topics and provide students with a better understanding of each section’s
concepts. Capstone exercises are excellent for classroom discussion or test prep, and
teachers may find value in integrating these problems into their reviews of the
section.
• New Chapter Summaries The Chapter Summary now includes an explanation
and/or example of each objective taught in the chapter.
• Revised Exercise Sets The exercise sets have been carefully and extensively
examined to ensure they are rigorous and cover all topics suggested by our users.
Many new skill-building and challenging exercises have been added.
For the past several years, we’ve maintained an independent website—
CalcChat.com—that provides free solutions to all odd-numbered exercises in the text.
Thousands of students using our textbooks have visited the site for practice and help
with their homework. For the Eighth Edition, we were able to use information from
CalcChat.com, including which solutions students accessed most often, to help guide
the revision of the exercises.
I hope you enjoy the Eighth Edition of Trigonometry. As always, I
welcome comments and suggestions for continued improvements.
Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the many people who have helped me prepare the text and the
supplements package. Their encouragement, criticisms, and suggestions have been
invaluable.
Thank you to all of the instructors who took the time to review the changes in this
edition and to provide suggestions for improving it. Without your help, this book would
not be possible.

Reviewers
Chad Pierson, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Sally Shao, Cleveland State University;
Ed Stumpf, Central Carolina Community College; Fuzhen Zhang, Nova Southeastern
University; Dennis Shepherd, University of Colorado, Denver; Rhonda Kilgo,
Jacksonville State University; C. Altay Özgener, Manatee Community College
Bradenton; William Forrest, Baton Rouge Community College; Tracy Cook, University
of Tennessee Knoxville; Charles Hale, California State Poly University Pomona; Samuel
Evers, University of Alabama; Seongchun Kwon, University of Toledo; Dr. Arun K.
Agarwal, Grambling State University; Hyounkyun Oh, Savannah State University;
Michael J. McConnell, Clarion University; Martha Chalhoub, Collin County
Community College; Angela Lee Everett, Chattanooga State Tech Community College;
Heather Van Dyke, Walla Walla Community College; Gregory Buthusiem, Burlington
County Community College; Ward Shaffer, College of Coastal Georgia; Carmen
Thomas, Chatham University
My thanks to David Falvo, The Behrend College, The Pennsylvania State
University, for his contributions to this project. My thanks also to Robert Hostetler, The
Behrend College, The Pennsylvania State University, and Bruce Edwards, University of
Florida, for their significant contributions to previous editions of this text.
I would also like to thank the staff at Larson Texts, Inc. who assisted with proof-
reading the manuscript, preparing and proofreading the art package, and checking and
typesetting the supplements.
On a personal level, I am grateful to my spouse, Deanna Gilbert Larson, for her
love, patience, and support. Also, a special thanks goes to R. Scott O’Neil. If you have
suggestions for improving this text, please feel free to write to me. Over the past two
decades I have received many useful comments from both instructors and students, and
I value these comments very highly.

Ron Larson

viii
Supplements

Supplements for the Instructor

Annotated Instructor’s Edition This AIE is the complete student text plus point-of-
use annotations for the instructor, including extra projects, classroom activities, teaching
strategies, and additional examples. Answers to even-numbered text exercises,
Vocabulary Checks, and Explorations are also provided.
Complete Solutions Manual This manual contains solutions to all exercises from the
text, including Chapter Review Exercises and Chapter Tests.
Instructor’s Companion Website This free companion website contains an abundance
of instructor resources.
PowerLecture™ with ExamView® The CD-ROM provides the instructor with dynamic
media tools for teaching Trigonometry. PowerPoint® lecture slides and art slides of the
figures from the text, together with electronic files for the test bank and a link to the
Solution Builder, are available. The algorithmic ExamView allows you to create, deliver,
and customize tests (both print and online) in minutes with this easy-to-use assessment
system. Enhance how your students interact with you, your lecture, and each other.
Solutions Builder This is an electronic version of the complete solutions manual
available via the PowerLecture and Instructor’s Companion Website. It provides
instructors with an efficient method for creating solution sets to homework or exams
that can then be printed or posted.

ix
x Supplements

Supplements for the Student

Student Companion Website This free companion website contains an abundance of
student resources.
Instructional DVDs Keyed to the text by section, these DVDs provide comprehensive
coverage of the course—along with additional explanations of concepts, sample
problems, and applications—to help students review essential topics.
Student Study and Solutions Manual This guide offers step-by-step solutions for all
odd-numbered text exercises, Chapter and Cumulative Tests, and Practice Tests with
solutions.
Premium eBook The Premium eBook offers an interactive version of the textbook
with search features, highlighting and note-making tools, and direct links to videos or
tutorials that elaborate on the text discussions.
Enhanced WebAssign Enhanced WebAssign is designed for you to do your
homework online. This proven and reliable system uses pedagogy and content found in
Larson’s text, and then enhances it to help you learn Trigonometry more effectively.
Automatically graded homework allows you to focus on your learning and get
interactive study assistance outside of class.
Prerequisites
P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties
P
P.2 Solving Equations
P.3 The Cartesian Plane and Graphs of Equations
P.4 Linear Equations in Two Variables
P.5 Functions
P.6 Analyzing Graphs of Functions P.9 Combinations of Functions:
P.7 A Library of Parent Functions Composite Functions
P.8 Transformations of Functions P.10 Inverse Functions

In Mathematics
Functions show how one variable is related
to another variable.

In Real Life
Functions are used to estimate values,
simulate processes, and discover relation-
ships. You can model the enrollment rate
of children in preschool and estimate the
year in which the rate will reach a certain
number. This estimate can be used to plan
for future needs, such as adding teachers
and buying books. (See Exercise 113,
Jose Luis Pelaez/Getty Images

page 83.)

IN CAREERS
There are many careers that use functions. Several are listed below.

• Roofing Contractor • Automotive Engineer

Exercise 131, page 55 Exercise 61, page 108
• Sociologist • Demographer
Exercise 80, page 101 Exercises 67 and 68, page 109

1
2 Chapter P Prerequisites

P.1 REVIEW OF REAL NUMBERS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

What you should learn
Real Numbers
• Represent and classify real numbers.
• Order real numbers and use Real numbers are used in everyday life to describe quantities such as age, miles per
inequalities. gallon, and population. Real numbers are represented by symbols such as
• Find the absolute values of real 4
numbers and find the distance ⫺5, 9, 0, , 0.666 . . . , 28.21, 冪2, ␲, and 冪
3 ⫺32.
3
between two real numbers.
• Evaluate algebraic expressions. Here are some important subsets (each member of subset B is also a member of set A)
• Use the basic rules and of the real numbers. The three dots, called ellipsis points, indicate that the pattern
properties of algebra. continues indefinitely.

Why you should learn it 再1, 2, 3, 4, . . .冎 Set of natural numbers

Real numbers are used to represent 再0, 1, 2, 3, 4, . . .冎 Set of whole numbers

many real-life quantities. For example,
再. . . , ⫺3, ⫺2, ⫺1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .冎 Set of integers
in Exercises 83–88 on page 13, you
will use real numbers to represent the A real number is rational if it can be written as the ratio p兾q of two integers, where
federal deficit. q ⫽ 0. For instance, the numbers
1 1 125
⫽ 0.3333 . . . ⫽ 0.3, ⫽ 0.125, and ⫽ 1.126126 . . . ⫽ 1.126
3 8 111
are rational. The decimal representation of a rational number either repeats 共as in
55 ⫽ 3.145 兲 or terminates 共as in 2 ⫽ 0.5兲. A real number that cannot be written as the
173 1

ratio of two integers is called irrational. Irrational numbers have infinite nonrepeating
decimal representations. For instance, the numbers
冪2 ⫽ 1.4142135 . . . ⬇ 1.41 and ␲ ⫽ 3.1415926 . . . ⬇ 3.14
are irrational. (The symbol ⬇ means “is approximately equal to.”) Figure P.1 shows
subsets of real numbers and their relationships to each other.

Real
numbers Example 1 Classifying Real Numbers

Determine which numbers in the set

Irrational Rational
numbers numbers
冦⫺13, ⫺ 1 5
冪5, ⫺1, ⫺ , 0, , 冪2, ␲, 7
3 8 冧
are (a) natural numbers, (b) whole numbers, (c) integers, (d) rational numbers, and
Integers Noninteger
fractions (e) irrational numbers.
(positive and
negative) Solution
a. Natural numbers: 再7冎
Negative Whole b. Whole numbers: 再0, 7冎
integers numbers c. Integers: 再⫺13, ⫺1, 0, 7冎

Natural Zero 冦 1 5
d. Rational numbers: ⫺13, ⫺1, ⫺ , 0, , 7
3 8 冧
numbers 再
e. Irrational numbers: ⫺ 冪5, 冪2, ␲冎
FIGURE P.1 Subsets of real numbers Now try Exercise 11.
Section P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties 3

Real numbers are represented graphically on the real number line. When you
draw a point on the real number line that corresponds to a real number, you are plotting
the real number. The point 0 on the real number line is the origin. Numbers to the right
of 0 are positive, and numbers to the left of 0 are negative, as shown in Figure P.2. The
term nonnegative describes a number that is either positive or zero.
Origin
Negative Positive
direction −4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 direction

FIGURE P.2 The real number line

As illustrated in Figure P.3, there is a one-to-one correspondence between real

numbers and points on the real number line.

− 53 −2.4 2
0.75 π
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3

Every real number corresponds to exactly Every point on the real number line
one point on the real number line. corresponds to exactly one real number.
FIGURE P.3 One-to-one correspondence

Example 2 Plotting Points on the Real Number Line

Plot the real numbers on the real number line.

7
a. ⫺
4
b. 2.3
2
c.
3
d. ⫺1.8

Solution
All four points are shown in Figure P.4.

− 1.8 − 74 2
3
2.3

−2 −1 0 1 2 3
FIGURE P.4

a. The point representing the real number ⫺ 74 ⫽ ⫺1.75 lies between ⫺2 and ⫺1, but
closer to ⫺2, on the real number line.
b. The point representing the real number 2.3 lies between 2 and 3, but closer to 2, on
the real number line.
c. The point representing the real number 23 ⫽ 0.666 . . . lies between 0 and 1, but
closer to 1, on the real number line.
d. The point representing the real number ⫺1.8 lies between ⫺2 and ⫺1, but closer to
⫺2, on the real number line. Note that the point representing ⫺1.8 lies slightly to
the left of the point representing ⫺ 74.
Now try Exercise 17.
4 Chapter P Prerequisites

Ordering Real Numbers

One important property of real numbers is that they are ordered.

Definition of Order on the Real Number Line

If a and b are real numbers, a is less than b if b ⫺ a is positive. The order of a
and b is denoted by the inequality a < b. This relationship can also be described
by saying that b is greater than a and writing b > a. The inequality a ≤ b means
that a is less than or equal to b, and the inequality b ≥ a means that b is greater
than or equal to a. The symbols <, >, ⱕ, and ⱖ are inequality symbols.
a b
−1 0 1 2

FIGURE P.5 a < b if and only if a lies to Geometrically, this definition implies that a < b if and only if a lies to the left of
the left of b. b on the real number line, as shown in Figure P.5.

Example 3 Ordering Real Numbers

−4 −3 −2 −1 0 Place the appropriate inequality symbol 共< or >兲 between the pair of real numbers.
FIGURE P.6 1 1 1 1
a. ⫺3, 0 b. ⫺2, ⫺4 c. , d. ⫺ , ⫺
4 3 5 2
−4 −3 −2 −1 0 Solution
FIGURE P.7
a. Because ⫺3 lies to the left of 0 on the real number line, as shown in Figure P.6, you
1 1
can say that ⫺3 is less than 0, and write ⫺3 < 0.
4 3 b. Because ⫺2 lies to the right of ⫺4 on the real number line, as shown in Figure P.7,
0 1 you can say that ⫺2 is greater than ⫺4, and write ⫺2 > ⫺4.
FIGURE P.8 c. Because 14 lies to the left of 13 on the real number line, as shown in Figure P.8, you
can say that 14 is less than 13, and write 14 < 13.
− 12 − 15 d. Because ⫺ 15 lies to the right of ⫺ 12 on the real number line, as shown in Figure P.9,
−1 0
you can say that ⫺ 15 is greater than ⫺ 12, and write ⫺ 15 > ⫺ 12.
FIGURE P.9 Now try Exercise 25.

Example 4 Interpreting Inequalities

Describe the subset of real numbers represented by each inequality.

a. x ⱕ 2 b. ⫺2 ⱕ x < 3
x≤2
x Solution
0 1 2 3 4
a. The inequality x ≤ 2 denotes all real numbers less than or equal to 2, as shown in
FIGURE P.10
Figure P.10.
−2 ≤ x < 3 b. The inequality ⫺2 ≤ x < 3 means that x ≥ ⫺2 and x < 3. This “double inequality”
denotes all real numbers between ⫺2 and 3, including ⫺2 but not including 3, as
x
−2 −1 0 1 2 3 shown in Figure P.11.
FIGURE P.11 Now try Exercise 31.
Section P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties 5

Inequalities can be used to describe subsets of real numbers called intervals. In the
bounded intervals below, the real numbers a and b are the endpoints of each interval.
The endpoints of a closed interval are included in the interval, whereas the endpoints of
an open interval are not included in the interval.

Bounded Intervals on the Real Number Line

Notation Interval Type Inequality Graph
关a, b兴 Closed a ⱕ x ⱕ b x
a b
共a, b兲 Open a < x < b x
The reason that the four types a b
of intervals at the right are called
关a, b兲 a ⱕ x < b x
bounded is that each has a finite
a b
length. An interval that does not
have a finite length is unbounded 共a, b兴 a < x ⱕ b x
(see below). a b

The symbols ⬁, positive infinity, and ⫺ ⬁, negative infinity, do not represent

WARNING / CAUTION real numbers. They are simply convenient symbols used to describe the unboundedness
Whenever you write an interval of an interval such as 共1, ⬁兲 or 共⫺ ⬁, 3兴.
containing ⬁ or ⫺ ⬁, always
use a parenthesis and never a Unbounded Intervals on the Real Number Line
bracket. This is because ⬁ and
⫺ ⬁ are never an endpoint of an Notation Interval Type Inequality Graph
interval and therefore are not 关a, ⬁兲 x ⱖ a x
included in the interval. a
共a, ⬁兲 Open x > a x
a
共⫺ ⬁, b兴 x ⱕ b x
b
共⫺ ⬁, b兲 Open x < b x
b
共⫺ ⬁, ⬁兲 Entire real line ⫺⬁ < x < ⬁ x

Example 5 Using Inequalities to Represent Intervals

Use inequality notation to describe each of the following.

a. c is at most 2. b. m is at least ⫺3. c. All x in the interval 共⫺3, 5兴

Solution
a. The statement “c is at most 2” can be represented by c ≤ 2.
b. The statement “m is at least ⫺3” can be represented by m ≥ ⫺3.
c. “All x in the interval 共⫺3, 5兴” can be represented by ⫺3 < x ≤ 5.
Now try Exercise 45.
6 Chapter P Prerequisites

Example 6 Interpreting Intervals

Give a verbal description of each interval.

a. 共⫺1, 0兲 b. 关 2, ⬁兲 c. 共⫺ ⬁, 0兲

Solution
a. This interval consists of all real numbers that are greater than ⫺1 and less than 0.
b. This interval consists of all real numbers that are greater than or equal to 2.
c. This interval consists of all negative real numbers.
Now try Exercise 41.

Absolute Value and Distance

The absolute value of a real number is its magnitude, or the distance between the
origin and the point representing the real number on the real number line.

Definition of Absolute Value

If a is a real number, then the absolute value of a is

ⱍaⱍ ⫽ 冦⫺a,
a, if a ≥ 0
.
if a < 0

Notice in this definition that the absolute value of a real number is never negative.
ⱍ ⱍ
For instance, if a ⫽ ⫺5, then ⫺5 ⫽ ⫺ 共⫺5兲 ⫽ 5. The absolute value of a real
number is either positive or zero. Moreover, 0 is the only real number whose absolute
ⱍⱍ
value is 0. So, 0 ⫽ 0.

Example 7 Finding Absolute Values

ⱍ ⱍ
a. ⫺15 ⫽ 15 b.
ⱍⱍ
2
3
⫽
2
3
c. ⱍ⫺4.3ⱍ ⫽ 4.3 ⱍ ⱍ
d. ⫺ ⫺6 ⫽ ⫺ 共6兲 ⫽ ⫺6
Now try Exercise 51.

Example 8 Evaluating the Absolute Value of a Number

Evaluate
ⱍxⱍ for (a) x > 0 and (b) x < 0.
x

Solution
ⱍxⱍ ⫽ x ⫽ 1.
ⱍⱍ
a. If x > 0, then x ⫽ x and
x x
ⱍxⱍ ⫽ ⫺x ⫽ ⫺1.
ⱍⱍ
b. If x < 0, then x ⫽ ⫺x and
x x
Now try Exercise 59.
Section P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties 7

The Law of Trichotomy states that for any two real numbers a and b, precisely one
of three relationships is possible:
a ⫽ b, a < b, or a > b. Law of Trichotomy

Example 9 Comparing Real Numbers

Place the appropriate symbol (<, >, or =) between the pair of real numbers.

ⱍ ⱍ䊏ⱍ3ⱍ
a. ⫺4 ⱍ
b. ⫺10 ⱍ䊏ⱍ10ⱍ c. ⫺ ⫺7 ⱍ ⱍ䊏ⱍ⫺7ⱍ
Solution
ⱍ ⱍ ⱍⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍⱍ
a. ⫺4 > 3 because ⫺4 ⫽ 4 and 3 ⫽ 3, and 4 is greater than 3.
ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ
b. ⫺10 ⫽ 10 because ⫺10 ⫽ 10 and 10 ⫽ 10.
ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ
c. ⫺ ⫺7 < ⫺7 because ⫺ ⫺7 ⫽ ⫺7 and ⫺7 ⫽ 7, and ⫺7 is less than 7.
Now try Exercise 61.

Properties of Absolute Values

ⱍⱍ
1. a ⱖ 0 ⱍ ⱍ ⱍⱍ
2. ⫺a ⫽ a

ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ ⱍⱍ ⱍ
3. ab ⫽ a b 4.
ⱍⱍ
a
b
⫽
ⱍaⱍ, b ⫽ 0
ⱍbⱍ

Absolute value can be used to define the distance between two points on the real
7 number line. For instance, the distance between ⫺3 and 4 is

−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4
ⱍ⫺3 ⫺ 4ⱍ ⫽ ⱍ⫺7ⱍ
⫽7
FIGURE P.12 The distance between ⫺3
and 4 is 7. as shown in Figure P.12.

Distance Between Two Points on the Real Number Line

Let a and b be real numbers. The distance between a and b is

ⱍ ⱍ ⱍ
d共a, b兲 ⫽ b ⫺ a ⫽ a ⫺ b . ⱍ

Example 10 Finding a Distance

Find the distance between ⫺25 and 13.

Solution
The distance between ⫺25 and 13 is given by

ⱍ⫺25 ⫺ 13ⱍ ⫽ ⱍ⫺38ⱍ ⫽ 38. Distance between ⫺25 and 13

The distance can also be found as follows.

ⱍ13 ⫺ 共⫺25兲ⱍ ⫽ ⱍ38ⱍ ⫽ 38 Distance between ⫺25 and 13

Now try Exercise 67.

8 Chapter P Prerequisites

Algebraic Expressions
One characteristic of algebra is the use of letters to represent numbers. The letters are
variables, and combinations of letters and numbers are algebraic expressions. Here
are a few examples of algebraic expressions.
4
5x, 2x ⫺ 3, , 7x ⫹ y
x2 ⫹2

Definition of an Algebraic Expression

An algebraic expression is a collection of letters (variables) and real numbers
(constants) combined using the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division, and exponentiation.

The terms of an algebraic expression are those parts that are separated by addition.
For example,
x 2 ⫺ 5x ⫹ 8 ⫽ x 2 ⫹ 共⫺5x兲 ⫹ 8
has three terms: x 2 and ⫺5x are the variable terms and 8 is the constant term. The
numerical factor of a term is called the coefficient. For instance, the coefficient of ⫺5x
is ⫺5, and the coefficient of x 2 is 1.

Example 11 Identifying Terms and Coefficients

Algebraic Expression Terms Coefficients
1 1 1
a. 5x ⫺ 5x, ⫺ 5, ⫺
7 7 7
b. 2x ⫺ 6x ⫹ 9
2
2x , ⫺6x, 9
2
2, ⫺6, 9
3 1 3 1 4 1
c. ⫹ x4 ⫺ y , x , ⫺y 3, , ⫺1
x 2 x 2 2
Now try Exercise 89.

To evaluate an algebraic expression, substitute numerical values for each of the

variables in the expression, as shown in the next example.

Example 12 Evaluating Algebraic Expressions

Value of Value of
Expression Variable Substitute Expression
a. ⫺3x ⫹ 5 x⫽3 ⫺3共3兲 ⫹ 5 ⫺9 ⫹ 5 ⫽ ⫺4
b. 3x 2 ⫹ 2x ⫺ 1 x ⫽ ⫺1 3共⫺1兲2 ⫹ 2共⫺1兲 ⫺ 1 3⫺2⫺1⫽0
2x 2共⫺3兲 ⫺6
c. x ⫽ ⫺3 ⫽3
x⫹1 ⫺3 ⫹ 1 ⫺2
Note that you must substitute the value for each occurrence of the variable.
Now try Exercise 95.

When an algebraic expression is evaluated, the Substitution Principle is used. It

states that “If a ⫽ b, then a can be replaced by b in any expression involving a.” In
Example 12(a), for instance, 3 is substituted for x in the expression ⫺3x ⫹ 5.
Section P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties 9

Basic Rules of Algebra

There are four arithmetic operations with real numbers: addition, multiplication,
subtraction, and division, denoted by the symbols ⫹, ⫻ or ⭈ , ⫺, and ⫼ or /. Of
these, addition and multiplication are the two primary operations. Subtraction and
division are the inverse operations of addition and multiplication, respectively.

Definitions of Subtraction and Division

Subtraction: Add the opposite. Division: Multiply by the reciprocal.

冢b冣 ⫽ b .
1 a
a ⫺ b ⫽ a ⫹ 共⫺b兲 If b ⫽ 0, then a兾b ⫽ a

In these definitions, ⫺b is the additive inverse (or opposite) of b, and 1兾b is

the multiplicative inverse (or reciprocal) of b. In the fractional form a兾b,
a is the numerator of the fraction and b is the denominator.

Because the properties of real numbers below are true for variables and
algebraic expressions as well as for real numbers, they are often called the Basic Rules
of Algebra. Try to formulate a verbal description of each property. For instance, the
first property states that the order in which two real numbers are added does not affect
their sum.

Basic Rules of Algebra

Let a, b, and c be real numbers, variables, or algebraic expressions.
Property Example
Commutative Property of Addition: a⫹b⫽b⫹a 4x ⫹ ⫽ x 2 ⫹ 4x
x2
Commutative Property of Multiplication: ab ⫽ ba 共4 ⫺ x兲 x 2 ⫽ x 2共4 ⫺ x兲
Associative Property of Addition: 共a ⫹ b兲 ⫹ c ⫽ a ⫹ 共b ⫹ c兲 共x ⫹ 5兲 ⫹ x 2 ⫽ x ⫹ 共5 ⫹ x 2兲
Associative Property of Multiplication: 共ab兲 c ⫽ a共bc兲 共2x ⭈ 3y兲共8兲 ⫽ 共2x兲共3y ⭈ 8兲
Distributive Properties: a共b ⫹ c兲 ⫽ ab ⫹ ac 3x共5 ⫹ 2x兲 ⫽ 3x ⭈ 5 ⫹ 3x ⭈ 2x
共a ⫹ b兲c ⫽ ac ⫹ bc 共 y ⫹ 8兲 y ⫽ y ⭈ y ⫹ 8 ⭈ y
Additive Identity Property: a⫹0⫽a 5y 2 ⫹ 0 ⫽ 5y 2
Multiplicative Identity Property: a⭈1⫽a 共4x 2兲共1兲 ⫽ 4x 2
Additive Inverse Property: a ⫹ 共⫺a兲 ⫽ 0 5x 3 ⫹ 共⫺5x 3兲 ⫽ 0

冢 冣
1 1
Multiplicative Inverse Property: a ⭈ ⫽ 1, a ⫽ 0 共x 2 ⫹ 4兲 2 ⫽1
a x ⫹4

Because subtraction is defined as “adding the opposite,” the Distributive Properties

are also true for subtraction. For instance, the “subtraction form” of
a共b ⫹ c兲 ⫽ ab ⫹ ac is a共b ⫺ c兲 ⫽ ab ⫺ ac. Note that the operations of subtraction
and division are neither commutative nor associative. The examples
7⫺3⫽3⫺7 and 20 ⫼ 4 ⫽ 4 ⫼ 20
show that subtraction and division are not commutative. Similarly
5 ⫺ 共3 ⫺ 2兲 ⫽ 共5 ⫺ 3兲 ⫺ 2 and 16 ⫼ 共4 ⫼ 2) ⫽ 共16 ⫼ 4) ⫼ 2
demonstrate that subtraction and division are not associative.
10 Chapter P Prerequisites

Example 13 Identifying Rules of Algebra

Identify the rule of algebra illustrated by the statement.

a. 共5x3兲2 ⫽ 2共5x3兲

b. 冢4x ⫹ 13冣 ⫺ 冢4x ⫹ 13冣 ⫽ 0

1
c. 7x ⭈ ⫽ 1, x ⫽ 0
7x
d. 共2 ⫹ 5x2兲 ⫹ x2 ⫽ 2 ⫹ 共5x2 ⫹ x2兲

Solution
a. This statement illustrates the Commutative Property of Multiplication. In other
words, you obtain the same result whether you multiply 5x3 by 2, or 2 by 5x3.
b. This statement illustrates the Additive Inverse Property. In terms of subtraction, this
property simply states that when any expression is subtracted from itself the result
is 0.
c. This statement illustrates the Multiplicative Inverse Property. Note that it is
important that x be a nonzero number. If x were 0, the reciprocal of x would be
undefined.
d. This statement illustrates the Associative Property of Addition. In other words, to
form the sum
2 ⫹ 5x2 ⫹ x2
it does not matter whether 2 and 5x2, or 5x2 and x2 are added first.
Now try Exercise 101.

Properties of Negation and Equality

Let a, b, and c be real numbers, variables, or algebraic expressions.
Property Example
Notice the difference between
1. 共⫺1兲 a ⫽ ⫺a 共⫺1兲7 ⫽ ⫺7
the opposite of a number and a
negative number. If a is already 2. ⫺ 共⫺a兲 ⫽ a ⫺ 共⫺6兲 ⫽ 6
negative, then its opposite, ⫺a,
3. 共⫺a兲b ⫽ ⫺ 共ab兲 ⫽ a共⫺b兲 共⫺5兲3 ⫽ ⫺ 共5 ⭈ 3兲 ⫽ 5共⫺3兲
is positive. For instance, if
a ⫽ ⫺5, then 4. 共⫺a兲共⫺b兲 ⫽ ab 共⫺2兲共⫺x兲 ⫽ 2x
⫺a ⫽ ⫺(⫺5) ⫽ 5. 5. ⫺ 共a ⫹ b兲 ⫽ 共⫺a兲 ⫹ 共⫺b兲 ⫺ 共x ⫹ 8兲 ⫽ 共⫺x兲 ⫹ 共⫺8兲
⫽ ⫺x ⫺ 8
1
6. If a ⫽ b, then a ± c ⫽ b ± c. 2 ⫹ 3 ⫽ 0.5 ⫹ 3
7. If a ⫽ b, then ac ⫽ bc. 42 ⭈ 2 ⫽ 16 ⭈ 2
8. If a ± c ⫽ b ± c, then a ⫽ b. 1.4 ⫺ 1 ⫽ 75 ⫺ 1 ⇒ 1.4 ⫽ 75
9. If ac ⫽ bc and c ⫽ 0, then a ⫽ b. 3x ⫽ 3 ⭈4 ⇒ x⫽4
Section P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties 11

Properties of Zero
Let a and b be real numbers, variables, or algebraic expressions.
The “or” in the Zero-Factor
Property includes the possibility 1. a ⫹ 0 ⫽ a and a ⫺ 0 ⫽ a 2. a ⭈0⫽0
that either or both factors may be
0 a
zero. This is an inclusive or, and 3. ⫽ 0, a⫽0 4. is undefined.
it is the way the word “or” is a 0
generally used in mathematics. 5. Zero-Factor Property: If ab ⫽ 0, then a ⫽ 0 or b ⫽ 0.

Properties and Operations of Fractions

Let a, b, c, and d be real numbers, variables, or algebraic expressions such that
b ⫽ 0 and d ⫽ 0.
a c
1. Equivalent Fractions: ⫽ if and only if ad ⫽ bc.
b d
a ⫺a a ⫺a a
2. Rules of Signs: ⫺ ⫽ ⫽ and ⫽
b b ⫺b ⫺b b
a ac
3. Generate Equivalent Fractions: ⫽ , c⫽0
b bc
a c a ±c
4. Add or Subtract with Like Denominators: ± ⫽
b b b
a c ad ± bc
5. Add or Subtract with Unlike Denominators: ± ⫽
b d bd
a c ac
In Property 1 of fractions, the 6. Multiply Fractions:
b
⭈ d ⫽ bd
phrase “if and only if” implies
two statements. One statement a c a d ad
is: If a兾b ⫽ c兾d, then ad ⫽ bc. 7. Divide Fractions: ⫼ ⫽
b d b
⭈ c ⫽ bc , c⫽0
The other statement is: If
ad ⫽ bc, where b ⫽ 0 and
d ⫽ 0, then a兾b ⫽ c兾d.
Example 14 Properties and Operations of Fractions

x 3 ⭈ x 3x 7 3 7 2 14
a. Equivalent fractions: ⫽ ⫽ b. Divide fractions: ⫼ ⫽ ⭈ ⫽
5 3 ⭈ 5 15 x 2 x 3 3x
x 2x 5 ⭈ x ⫹ 3 ⭈ 2x 11x
c. Add fractions with unlike denominators: ⫹ ⫽ ⫽
3 5 3⭈5 15
Now try Exercise 119.

If a, b, and c are integers such that ab ⫽ c, then a and b are factors or divisors of c.
A prime number is an integer that has exactly two positive factors—itself and 1—such
as 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11. The numbers 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10 are composite because each can be
written as the product of two or more prime numbers. The number 1 is neither prime
nor composite. The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic states that every
positive integer greater than 1 can be written as the product of prime numbers in
precisely one way (disregarding order). For instance, the prime factorization of 24 is
24 ⫽ 2 ⭈ 2 ⭈ 2 ⭈ 3.
12 Chapter P Prerequisites

P.1 EXERCISES See www.CalcChat.com for worked-out solutions to odd-numbered exercises.

VOCABULARY: Fill in the blanks.
p
1. A real number is ________ if it can be written as the ratio of two integers, where q ⫽ 0.
q
2. ________ numbers have infinite nonrepeating decimal representations.
3. The point 0 on the real number line is called the ________.
4. The distance between the origin and a point representing a real number on the real number line is
the ________ ________ of the real number.
5. A number that can be written as the product of two or more prime numbers is called a ________ number.
6. An integer that has exactly two positive factors, the integer itself and 1, is called a ________ number.
7. An algebraic expression is a collection of letters called ________ and real numbers called ________.
8. The ________ of an algebraic expression are those parts separated by addition.
9. The numerical factor of a variable term is the ________ of the variable term.
10. The ________ ________ states that if ab ⫽ 0, then a ⫽ 0 or b ⫽ 0.

SKILLS AND APPLICATIONS

In Exercises 11–16, determine which numbers in the set are In Exercises 25–30, plot the two real numbers on the real
(a) natural numbers, (b) whole numbers, (c) integers, number line. Then place the appropriate inequality symbol
(d) rational numbers, and (e) irrational numbers. 冇< or >冈 between them.
11. 再⫺9, ⫺ 72, 5, 23, 冪2, 0, 1, ⫺4, 2, ⫺11冎 25. ⫺4, ⫺8 26. ⫺3.5, 1
12. 再冪5, ⫺7, ⫺ 73, 0, 3.12, 54 , ⫺3, 12, 5冎 27. 23, 7 28. 1, 16
3
13. 再2.01, 0.666 . . . , ⫺13, 0.010110111 . . . , 1, ⫺6冎 29. 56, 23 30. ⫺ 87, ⫺ 37
14. 再2.3030030003 . . . , 0.7575, ⫺4.63, 冪10, ⫺75, 4冎
15. 再⫺ ␲, ⫺ 13, 63, 12冪2, ⫺7.5, ⫺1, 8, ⫺22冎 In Exercises 31– 42, (a) give a verbal description of the
16. 再25, ⫺17, ⫺ 125, 冪9, 3.12, 12␲, 7, ⫺11.1, 13冎 subset of real numbers represented by the inequality or the
interval, (b) sketch the subset on the real number line, and
(c) state whether the interval is bounded or unbounded.
In Exercises 17 and 18, plot the real numbers on the real
number line. 31. x ⱕ 5 32. x ⱖ ⫺2
17. (a) 3 (b) 7
(c) 5
⫺2(d) ⫺5.2 33. x < 0 34. x > 3
2
18. (a) 8.5 (b) 4
(c) ⫺4.75 (d) ⫺ 83 35. 关4, ⬁兲 36. 共⫺ ⬁, 2兲
3
37. ⫺2 < x < 2 38. 0 ≤ x ≤ 5
In Exercises 19–22, use a calculator to find the decimal form 39. ⫺1 ≤ x < 0 40. 0 < x ≤ 6
of the rational number. If it is a nonterminating decimal, 41. 关⫺2, 5兲 42. 共⫺1, 2兴
write the repeating pattern.
5 1
19. 8 20. 3 In Exercises 43–50, use inequality notation and interval
41 6 notation to describe the set.
21. 333 22. 11
43. y is nonnegative.
In Exercises 23 and 24, approximate the numbers and place 44. y is no more than 25.
the correct symbol 冇< or >冈 between them.
45. x is greater than ⫺2 and at most 4.
23. 46. y is at least ⫺6 and less than 0.
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3
47. t is at least 10 and at most 22.
24.
−7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0 48. k is less than 5 but no less than ⫺3.
49. The dog’s weight W is more than 65 pounds.
50. The annual rate of inflation r is expected to be at least
2.5% but no more than 5%.
Section P.1 Review of Real Numbers and Their Properties 13

In Exercises 51–60, evaluate the expression. BUDGET VARIANCE In Exercises 79–82, the accounting
department of a sports drink bottling company is checking to
51. ⱍ⫺10ⱍ see whether the actual expenses of a department differ from
52. ⱍ0ⱍ the budgeted expenses by more than $500 or by more than
53. ⱍ3 ⫺ 8ⱍ 5%. Fill in the missing parts of the table, and determine
54. ⱍ4 ⫺ 1ⱍ whether each actual expense passes the “budget variance
test.”
55. ⱍ⫺1ⱍ ⫺ ⱍ⫺2ⱍ
56. ⫺3 ⫺ ⱍ⫺3ⱍ Budgeted Actual
⫺5
Expense, b Expense, a ⱍa ⫺ bⱍ 0.05b
57.
⫺5ⱍ ⱍ 79. Wages $112,700 $113,356 䊏 䊏
58. ⫺3 ⫺3ⱍ ⱍ 80. Utilities $9,400 $9,772 䊏 䊏
ⱍ 2ⱍ,
x ⫹
81. Taxes $37,640 $37,335 䊏 䊏
59.
x⫹2
x < ⫺2 82. Insurance $2,575 $2,613 䊏 䊏
60. ⱍ
x⫺1
, ⱍ x > 1 FEDERAL DEFICIT In Exercises 83–88, use the bar graph,
x⫺1 which shows the receipts of the federal government (in
billions of dollars) for selected years from 1996 through
In Exercises 61–66, place the correct symbol 冇<, >, or ⴝ冈 2006. In each exercise you are given the expenditures of the
between the two real numbers. federal government. Find the magnitude of the surplus or
61. ⱍ⫺3ⱍ䊏⫺ ⱍ⫺3ⱍ deficit for the year. (Source: U.S. Office of Management
and Budget)
62. ⱍ⫺4ⱍ䊏ⱍ4ⱍ
63. ⫺5䊏⫺ ⱍ5ⱍ 2600
⫺ ⱍ⫺6ⱍ䊏ⱍ⫺6ⱍ 2407.3
(in billions of dollars)
64. 2400
65. ⫺ ⱍ⫺2ⱍ䊏⫺ ⱍ2ⱍ 2200
2025.5
Receipts

66. ⫺(⫺2)䊏⫺2 2000

1853.4 1880.3
1800 1722.0
1600
In Exercises 67–72, find the distance between a and b. 1453.2
1400
67. a ⫽ 126, b ⫽ 75 1200
68. a ⫽ ⫺126, b ⫽ ⫺75
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
69. a ⫽ ⫺ 52, b ⫽ 0 Year
70. a ⫽ 14, b ⫽ 11
ⱍ
4
Year Receipts Expenditures Receipts ⫺
71. a ⫽ 16 112
5 , b ⫽ 75
72. a ⫽ 9.34, b ⫽ ⫺5.65
Expenditures ⱍ
83. 1996 䊏 $1560.6 billion 䊏
In Exercises 73–78, use absolute value notation to describe 84. 1998 䊏 $1652.7 billion 䊏
the situation. 85. 2000 䊏 $1789.2 billion 䊏
73. The distance between x and 5 is no more than 3. 86. 2002 䊏 $2011.2 billion 䊏
74. The distance between x and ⫺10 is at least 6. 87. 2004 䊏 $2293.0 billion 䊏
75. y is at least six units from 0. 88. 2006 䊏 $2655.4 billion 䊏
76. y is at most two units from a.
In Exercises 89–94, identify the terms. Then identify the
77. While traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, you pass coefficients of the variable terms of the expression.
milepost 57 near Pittsburgh, then milepost 236 near
Gettysburg. How many miles do you travel during that 89. 7x ⫹ 4 90. 6x 3 ⫺ 5x
time period? 91. 冪3x 2 ⫺ 8x ⫺ 11 92. 3冪3x 2 ⫹ 1
78. The temperature in Bismarck, North Dakota was 60⬚F x x2
93. 4x 3 ⫹ ⫺ 5 94. 3x 4 ⫺
at noon, then 23⬚F at midnight. What was the change in 2 4
temperature over the 12-hour period?
14 Chapter P Prerequisites

In Exercises 95–100, evaluate the expression for each value 123. CONJECTURE
of x. (If not possible, state the reason.) (a) Use a calculator to complete the table.
Expression Values
n 1 0.5 0.01 0.0001 0.000001
95. 4x ⫺ 6 (a) x ⫽ ⫺1 (b) x⫽0
96. 9 ⫺ 7x (a) x ⫽ ⫺3 (b) x⫽3 5兾n
97. x 2 ⫺ 3x ⫹ 4 (a) x ⫽ ⫺2 (b) x⫽2
(b) Use the result from part (a) to make a conjecture
98. ⫺x 2 ⫹ 5x ⫺ 4 (a) x ⫽ ⫺1 (b) x⫽1 about the value of 5兾n as n approaches 0.
x⫹1
99. (a) x ⫽ 1 (b) x ⫽ ⫺1 124. CONJECTURE
x⫺1
(a) Use a calculator to complete the table.
x
100. (a) x ⫽ 2 (b) x ⫽ ⫺2
x⫹2 n 1 10 100 10,000 100,000

In Exercises 101–112, identify the rule(s) of algebra illustrated 5兾n

by the statement.
(b) Use the result from part (a) to make a conjecture
101. x ⫹ 9 ⫽ 9 ⫹ x about the value of 5兾n as n increases without
102. 2共 12 兲 ⫽ 1 bound.
1
103. 共h ⫹ 6兲 ⫽ 1, h ⫽ ⫺6 TRUE OR FALSE? In Exercises 125–128, determine
h⫹6
whether the statement is true or false. Justify your answer.
104. 共x ⫹ 3兲 ⫺ 共x ⫹ 3兲 ⫽ 0
125. If a > 0 and b < 0, then a ⫺ b > 0.
105. 2共x ⫹ 3兲 ⫽ 2 ⭈ x ⫹ 2 ⭈ 3
126. If a > 0 and b < 0, then ab > 0.
106. 共z ⫺ 2兲 ⫹ 0 ⫽ z ⫺ 2
107. 1 ⭈ 共1 ⫹ x兲 ⫽ 1 ⫹ x 1 1
127. If a < b, then < , where a ⫽ 0 and b ⫽ 0.
a b
108. 共z ⫹ 5兲x ⫽ z ⭈ x ⫹ 5 ⭈ x
a⫹b a b c c c
109. x ⫹ 共 y ⫹ 10兲 ⫽ 共x ⫹ y兲 ⫹ 10 128. Because ⫽ ⫹ , then ⫽ ⫹ .
c c c a⫹b a b
110. x共3y兲 ⫽ 共x ⭈ 3兲y ⫽ 共3x兲 y
111. 3共t ⫺ 4兲 ⫽ 3 ⭈ t ⫺ 3 ⭈ 4 ⱍ
129. THINK ABOUT IT Consider u ⫹ v and u ⫹ v ,ⱍ ⱍⱍ ⱍⱍ
112. 17共7 ⭈ 12兲 ⫽ 共 17 ⭈ 7兲12 ⫽ 1 ⭈ 12 ⫽ 12 where u ⫽ 0 and v ⫽ 0.
(a) Are the values of the expressions always equal? If
In Exercises 113–120, perform the operation(s). (Write not, under what conditions are they unequal?
fractional answers in simplest form.) (b) If the two expressions are not equal for certain
113. 163
⫹ 165
114. 76 ⫺ 47 values of u and v, is one of the expressions always
greater than the other? Explain.
5
115. 58 ⫺ 12 ⫹ 16 116. 10 6
11 ⫹ 33 ⫺ 66
13
130. THINK ABOUT IT Is there a difference between
117. 12 ⫼ 4 1
118. ⫺ 共6 ⭈ 8 兲4
saying that a real number is positive and saying that a
2x x 5x 2
119.
3
⫺
4
120.
6
⭈9 real number is nonnegative? Explain.
131. THINK ABOUT IT Because every even number is
divisible by 2, is it possible that there exist any even
EXPLORATION prime numbers? Explain.
132. THINK ABOUT IT Is it possible for a real number to
In Exercises 121 and 122, use the real numbers A, B, and C
be both rational and irrational? Explain.
shown on the number line. Determine the sign of each
expression. ⱍⱍ
133. WRITING Can it ever be true that a ⫽ ⫺a for a
real number a? Explain.
C B A
0
134. CAPSTONE Describe the differences among the
121. (a) ⫺A 122. (a) ⫺C sets of natural numbers, whole numbers, integers,
(b) B ⫺ A (b) A ⫺ C rational numbers, and irrational numbers.
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staggering along blinded and almost insensible, jostling and
stumbling against every one in their way; and mothers carrying
babes, both parent and progeny in the virulent stage of the fell
disease. The Arabs have partially introduced the practice of
inoculating, anciently known in South Africa; the pus is introduced
into an incision in the forehead between the eyebrows. The people
have no remedy for small-pox: they trust entirely to the vis
medicatrix. There is a milder form of the malady, called shúrúá,
resembling the chicken-pox of Europe; it is cured by bathing in cold
water and smearing the body with ochreish earth. The Arab
merchants of Unyanyembe declare that, when they first visited
Karagwah, the people were decimated by the táún, or plague. They
describe correctly the bubo under the axillæ, the torturing thirst, and
the rapid fatality of the disease. In the early part of 1859 a violent
attack of cholera, which extended from Maskat along the eastern
coast of Arabia and Africa, committed terrible ravages in the island
of Zanzibar and throughout the maritime regions. Of course, no
precautions of quarantine or cordon militaire were taken, yet the
contagion did not extend into the interior.
Strangers in East Africa suffer from dysenteries and similar
disorders consequent upon fever; and, as in Egypt, few are free
from hæmorrhoids, which in Unyamwezi are accompanied by severe
colics and umbilical pains. Rheumatism and rheumatic fever, severe
catarrhs and influenzas, are caused by the cold winds, and, when
crossing the higher altitudes, pneumonia and pleurisis abound in the
caravan. On the coast many settlers, Indian and Arab, show upon
the skin whitish leprous spots, which are treated with various
unguents. In the interior, though well provided with fresh meat and
vegetables, travellers are attacked by scurvy, even in the absence of
its normal exciting causes, damp, cold, and poor diet. This
phenomenon has often been observed upon the upper course of the
Nile; Europeans have been prostrated by it even in the dry regions
westward of the Red Sea, and the Portuguese officers who explored
Usenda of the Kazembe suffered tortures from the complaint.
Common diseases among the natives are umbilical hernia and
prolapsus: the latter is treated by the application of powdered
bhang, dry or mixed with ghee. They are subject to kihindu-hindu—
in Arabic, sara—the epilepsy, which they pretend to cure by the
marrow of rhinoceros’ shank. Of the many fits and convulsions which
affect them, the kichyoma-chyoma is the most dreaded. The word,
which means the “little irons,” describes the painful sensations, the
cramps and stitches, the spasms and lancinations, which torment the
sufferer. Many die of this disease. It is not extraordinary that the fits,
convulsions, and contortions which it suddenly induces should lead
the people to consider it in the light of possession, and the magician
to treat it with charms. Madness and idiocy are not uncommon: of
the patient it is said, “Ana wazimo”—“he has fiends.” In most parts
the people, after middle age, are tender-eyed from the effects of
smoke within, glare without, exposure and debauchery. Not a few
samples of acute ophthalmic disease were seen.
In the lower and more malarious spots, desquamations, tumours,
and skin diseases are caused by suddenly suppressed perspiration.
The terrible kidonda or helcoma of the maritime regions and the
prurigo of Ujiji have already been alluded to. The “chokea” is a
hordeolum or large boil, generally upon the upper eyelid. The
“funza” is supposed to result from the bite of a large variety of fly. It
begins with a small red and fiery swelling, which bursts after a time
and produces a white entozoon about half an inch in length. “Kumri”
are common blains, and “p’hambazi” malignant blind-boils, which
leave a deep discoloured scar; when the parts affected are distant
from the seat of circulation, the use of the limb is sometimes lost.
For most of these sores tutiya or murtutu, blue-stone, is considered
a specific.
As might be expected amongst an ignorant and debauched race
coming in direct contact with semi-civilisation, the lues has found its
way from the island of Zanzibar to Ujiji and into the heart of Africa.
It is universally believed both by the natives and by the Arabs, who
support the assertion with a host of proofs, to be propagated
without contact. Such, indeed, is the general opinion of the Eastern
world, where perhaps its greater virulence may assimilate it to the
type of the earlier attacks in Europe. The disease, however, dies out,
and has not taken root in the people as amongst the devoted races
of North America and the South Sea islands. Although a malignant
form was found extending throughout the country, mutilation of the
features and similar secondaries were not observed beyond the
maritime region. Except blue-stone, mineral drugs are unknown, and
the use of mercury and ptyalism have not yet exasperated the evil.
The minor form of lues is little feared and yields readily to simples;
the consequences, however, are strangury, cystitis, chronic nephritic
disease, and rheumatism.
“Polypharmacy” is not the fault of the profession in East Africa,
and the universal belief in possession tends greatly to simplify the
methodus modendi. The usual cathartic is the bark of a tree called
kalákalá, which is boiled in porridge. There is a great variety of
emetics, some so violent that several Arabs who have been bold
enough to swallow them, barely escaped with life. The actual
cautery—usually a favourite counter-irritant amongst barbarous
people—is rarely practised in East Africa; in its stead powder of blue-
stone is applied to the sore or wound, which has been carefully
scraped, and the patient howls with pain for twenty-four hours. They
bleed frequently as Italians, who even after being startled resort to a
mild phlebotomy, and they cut down straight upon the vein with a
sharp knife. They prefer the cucurbitula cruenta, like the Arabs, who
say,—
“Few that cup repent;
Few that bleed, rejoice.”

A favourite place is the crown of the head. The practitioner, after

scarifying the skin with a razor or a dagger, produces a vacuum by
exhausting the air through a horn applied with wetted edges; at the
point is a bit of wax, which he closes over the aperture with his
tongue or teeth, as the hospital “singhi” in India uses a bit of leather.
Cupping—called ku hu míká or kumíká—is made highly profitable by
showing strange appearances in the blood. They cure by excision the
bite of snakes, which, however, are not feared nor often fatal in
these lands. They cannot reduce dislocations, and they never
attempt to set or splint a broken bone.
The mganga or medicine-man, in his character of “doctor,” is a
personage of importance. He enters the sick-room in the dignity of
antelope-horn, grease, and shell-necklace, and he sits with
importance upon his three-legged stool. As the devil saves him the
trouble of diagnosis, he begins by a prescription, invariably ordering
something edible for the purpose, and varying it, according to the
patient’s means, from a measure of grain to a bullock. He asserts,
for instance, that a pound of fat is required for medicine; a goat
must be killed, and his perquisite is the head or breast—a
preliminary to a more important fee. Then the price of prescription—
a sine quâ non to prescribing—is settled upon and paid in advance.
After certain questions, invariably suggesting the presence of poison,
the medical practitioner proceeds to the cure; this is generally a
charm or periapt bound round the part affected. In common
diseases, however, like fever, the mganga will condescend to such
profane processes as adhibiting sternutatories and rubbing the head
with vegetable powders. If the remedies prove too powerful or
powerless, he at once decamps; under normal circumstances he
incapacitates himself for performing his promise of calling the next
day by expending his fee in liquor. The Africans have in one point
progressed beyond Europeans: there are as many women physicians
as men.
A Mnyamwezi. A Mheha.

CHAP. XIX.
THE CHARACTER AND RELIGION OF THE EAST AFRICANS; THEIR GOVERNMENT,
AND SLAVERY.

The study of psychology in Eastern Africa is the study of man’s

rudimental mind, when, subject to the agency of material nature, he
neither progresses nor retrogrades. He would appear rather a
degeneracy from the civilised man than a savage rising to the first
step, were it not for his apparent incapacity for improvement. He has
not the ring of the true metal; there is no rich nature, as in the New
Zealander, for education to cultivate. He seems to belong to one of
those childish races which, never rising to man’s estate, fall like
worn-out links from the great chain of animated nature. He unites
the incapacity of infancy with the unpliancy of age; the futility of
childhood, and the credulity of youth, with the scepticism of the
adult and the stubbornness and bigotry of the old. He has “beaten
lands” and seas. For centuries he has been in direct intercourse with
the more advanced people of the eastern coast, and though few
have seen an European, there are not many who have not cast eyes
upon an Arab. Still he has stopped short at the threshold of
progress; he shows no signs of development; no higher and more
varied orders of intellect are called into being. Even the simple truths
of El Islam have failed to fix the thoughts of men who can think, but
who, absorbed in providing for their bodily wants, hate the trouble of
thinking. His mind, limited to the objects seen, heard, and felt, will
not, and apparently cannot, escape from the circle of sense, nor will
it occupy itself with aught but the present. Thus he is cut off from
the pleasures of memory, and the world of fancy is altogether
unknown to him. Perhaps the automaton which we call spiritual
suffers from the inferiority of the mechanism by which it acts.
The East African is, like other barbarians, a strange mixture of
good and evil: by the nature of barbarous society, however, the good
element has not, whilst the evil has, been carefully cultured.
As a rule, the civilised or highest type of man owns the sway of
intellect, of reason; the semi-civilised—as are still the great nations
of the East—are guided by sentiment and propensity in a degree
incomprehensible to more advanced races; and the barbarian is the
slave of impulse, passion, and instinct, faintly modified by sentiment,
but ignorant of intellectual discipline. He appears, therefore, to the
civilised man a paralogic being,—a mere mass of contradictions; his
ways are not our ways, his reason is not our reason. He deduces
effects from causes which we ignore; he compasses his ends by
contrivances which we cannot comprehend; and his artifices and
polity excite, by their shallowness and “inconsequence,” our surprise
and contempt. Like that Hindu race that has puzzled the plain-witted
Englishman for the century closing with the massacres of Delhi and
Cawnpore, he is calculated to perplex those who make conscience
an instinct which elevates man to the highest ground of human
intelligence. He is at once very good-tempered and hard-hearted,
combative and cautious; kind at one moment, cruel, pitiless, and
violent at another; sociable and unaffectionate; superstitious and
grossly irreverent; brave and cowardly, servile and oppressive;
obstinate, yet fickle and fond of changes; with points of honour, but
without a trace of honesty in word or deed; a lover of life, though
addicted to suicide; covetous and parsimonious, yet thoughtless and
improvident; somewhat conscious of inferiority, withal unimprovable.
In fact, he appears an embryo of the two superior races. He is
inferior to the active-minded and objective, the analytic and
perceptive European, and to the ideal and subjective, the synthetic
and reflective Asiatic. He partakes largely of the worst characteristics
of the lower Oriental types—stagnation of mind, indolence of body,
moral deficiency, superstition, and childish passion; hence the
Egyptians aptly termed the Berbers and negroes the “perverse race
of Kush.”
The main characteristic of this people is the selfishness which the
civilised man strives to conceal, because publishing it would obstruct
its gratification. The barbarian, on the other hand, displays his
inordinate egotism openly and recklessly; his every action discloses
those unworthy traits which in more polished races chiefly appear on
public occasions, when each man thinks solely of self-gratification.
Gratitude with him is not even a sense of prospective favours; he
looks upon a benefit as the weakness of his benefactor and his own
strength; consequently, he will not recognise even the hand that
feeds him. He will, perhaps, lament for a night the death of a parent
or a child, but the morrow will find him thoroughly comforted. The
name of hospitality, except for interested motives, is unknown to
him: “What will you give me?” is his first question. To a stranger
entering a village the worst hut is assigned, and, if he complain, the
answer is that he can find encamping ground outside. Instead of
treating him like a guest, which the Arab Bedouin would hold to be a
point of pride, of honour, his host compels him to pay and prepay
every article, otherwise he might starve in the midst of plenty.
Nothing, in fact, renders the stranger’s life safe in this land, except
the timid shrinking of the natives from the “hot-mouthed weapon”
and the necessity of trade, which induces the chiefs to restrain the
atrocities of their subjects. To travellers the African is, of course, less
civil than to merchants, from whom he expects to gain something.
He will refuse a mouthful of water out of his abundance to a man
dying of thirst; utterly unsympathising, he will not stretch out a hand
to save another’s goods, though worth thousands of dollars. Of his
own property, if a ragged cloth or a lame slave be lost, his violent
excitement is ridiculous to behold. His egotism renders him
parsimonious even in self-gratification; the wretched curs, which he
loves as much as his children, seldom receive a mouthful of food,
and the sight of an Arab’s ass feeding on grain elicits a prolonged
“Hi! hi!” of extreme surprise. He is exceedingly improvident, taking
no thought for the morrow—not from faith, but rather from
carelessness as to what may betide him; yet so greedy of gain is he
that he will refuse information about a country or the direction of a
path without a present of beads. He also invariably demands
prepayment: no one keeps a promise or adheres to an agreement,
and, if credit be demanded for an hour, his answer would be, “There
is nothing in my hand.” Yet even greed of gain cannot overcome the
levity and laxity of his mind. Despite his best interests, he will
indulge the mania for desertion caused by that mischievous love of
change and whimsical desire for novelty that characterise the
European sailor. Nor can even lucre prevail against the ingrained
indolence of the race—an indolence the more hopeless as it is the
growth of the climate. In these temperate and abundant lands
Nature has cursed mankind with the abundance of her gifts; his
wants still await creation, and he is contented with such necessaries
as roots and herbs, game, and a few handfuls of grain—
consequently improvement has no hold upon him.
In this stage of society truth is no virtue. The “mixture of a lie”
may “add to pleasure” amongst Europeans; in Africa it enters where
neither pleasure nor profit can arise from the deception. If a
Mnyamwezi guide informs the traveller that the stage is short, he
may make up his mind for a long and weary march, and vice versâ.
Of course, falsehood is used as a defence by the weak and
oppressed; but beyond that, the African desires to be lied to, and
one of his proverbs is, “’Tis better to be deceived than to be
undeceived.” The European thus qualifies the assertion,
“For sure the pleasure is as great
In being cheated as to cheat.”

Like the generality of barbarous races, the East Africans are wilful,
headstrong, and undisciplinable: in point of stubbornness and
restiveness they resemble the lower animals. If they cannot obtain
the very article of barter upon which they have set their mind, they
will carry home things useless to them; any attempt at bargaining is
settled by the seller turning his back, and they ask according to their
wants and wishes, without regard to the value of goods. Grumbling
and dissatisfied, they never do business without a grievance.
Revenge is a ruling passion, as the many rancorous fratricidal wars
that have prevailed between kindred clans, even for a generation,
prove. Retaliation and vengeance are, in fact, their great agents of
moral control. Judged by the test of death, the East African is a
hardhearted man, who seems to ignore all the charities of father,
son, and brother. A tear is rarely shed, except by the women, for
departed parent, relative, or friend, and the voice of the mourner is
seldom heard in their abodes. It is most painful to witness the
complete inhumanity with which a porter seized with small-pox is
allowed by his friends, comrades, and brethren to fall behind in the
jungle, with several days’ life in him. No inducement—even beads—
can persuade a soul to attend him. Every village will drive him from
its doors; no one will risk taking, at any price, death into his bosom.
If strong enough, the sufferer builds a little bough-hut away from
the camp, and, provided with his rations—a pound of grain and a
gourdful of water—he quietly expects his doom, to feed the hyæna
and the raven of the wild. The people are remarkable for the
readiness with which they yield to fits of sudden fury; on these
occasions they will, like children, vent their rage upon any object,
animate or inanimate, that presents itself. Their temper is
characterised by a nervous, futile impatience; under delay or
disappointment they become madmen. In their own country, where
such displays are safe, they are remarkable for a presumptuousness
and a violence of manner which elsewhere disappears. As the Arabs
say, there they are lions, here they become curs. Their squabbling
and clamour pass description: they are never happy except when in
dispute. After a rapid plunge into excitement, the brawlers
alternately advance and recede, pointing the finger of threat,
howling and screaming, cursing and using terms of insult which an
inferior ingenuity—not want of will—causes to fall short of the
Asiatic’s model vituperation. After abusing each other to their full,
both “parties” usually burst into a loud laugh or a burst of sobs.
Their tears lie high; they weep like Goanese. After a cuff, a man will
cover his face with his hands and cry as if his heart would break.
More furious shrews than the women are nowhere met with. Here it
is a great truth that “the tongues of women cannot be governed.”
They work off excitement by scolding, and they weep little compared
with the men. Both sexes delight in “argument,” which here, as
elsewhere, means two fools talking foolishly. They will weary out of
patience the most loquacious of the Arabs. This development is
characteristic of the East African race, and “maneno marefu!”—long
words!—will occur as a useless reproof half a dozen times in the
course of a single conversation. When drunk, the East African is
easily irritated; with the screams and excited gestures of a maniac
he strides about, frantically flourishing his spear and agitating his
bow, probably with notched arrow; the spear-point and the arrow-
head are often brought perilously near, but rarely allowed to draw
blood. The real combat is by pushing, pulling hair, and slapping with
a will, and a pair thus engaged require to be torn asunder by half a
dozen friends. The settled tribes are, for the most part, feeble and
unwarlike barbarians; even the bravest East African, though, like all
men, a combative entity, has a valour tempered by discretion and
cooled by a high development of cautiousness. His tactics are of the
Fabian order: he loves surprises and safe ambuscades; and in
common frays and forays the loss of one per cent. justifies a sauve
qui peut. This people, childlike, is ever in extremes. A man will hang
himself from a rafter in his tent, and kick away from under him the
large wooden mortar upon which he has stood at the beginning of
the operation with as much sang-froid as an Anglo-Saxon in the
gloomy month of November; yet he regards annihilation, as all
savages do, with loathing and ineffable horror. “He fears death,” to
quote Bacon, “as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural
fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.” The African
mind must change radically before it can “think upon death, and find
it the least of all evils.” All the thoughts of these negroids are
connected with this life. “Ah!” they exclaim, “it is bad to die! to leave
off eating and drinking! never to wear a fine cloth!” As in the negro
race generally, their destructiveness is prominent; a slave never
breaks a thing without an instinctive laugh of pleasure; and however
careful he may be of his own life, he does not value that of another,
even of a relative, at the price of a goat. During fires in the town of
Zanzibar, the blacks have been seen adding fuel, and singing and
dancing, wild with delight. On such occasions they are shot down by
the Arabs like dogs.
It is difficult to explain the state of society in which the civilised
“social evil” is not recognised as an evil. In the economy of the
affections and the intercourse between the sexes, reappears that
rude stage of society in which ethics were new to the mind of now
enlightened man. Marriage with this people—as amongst all
barbarians, and even the lower classes of civilised races—is a mere
affair of buying and selling. A man must marry because it is
necessary to his comfort, consequently the woman becomes a
marketable commodity. Her father demands for her as many cows,
cloths, and brass-wire bracelets as the suitor can afford; he thus
virtually sells her, and she belongs to the buyer, ranking with his
other live stock. The husband may sell his wife, or, if she be taken
from him by another man, he claims her value, which is ruled by
what she would fetch in the slave-market. A strong inducement to
marriage amongst the Africans, as with the poor in Europe, is the
prospective benefit to be derived from an adult family; a large
progeny enriches them. The African—like all barbarians, and, indeed,
semi-civilised people—ignores the dowry by which, inverting Nature’s
order, the wife buys the husband, instead of the husband buying the
wife. Marriage, which is an epoch amongst Christians, and an event
with Moslems, is with these people an incident of frequent
recurrence. Polygamy is unlimited, and the chiefs pride themselves
upon the number of their wives, varying from twelve to three
hundred. It is no disgrace for an unmarried woman to become the
mother of a family; after matrimony there is somewhat less laxity.
The mgoni or adulterer, if detected, is punishable by a fine of cattle,
or, if poor and weak, he is sold into slavery; husbands seldom,
however, resort to such severities, the offence, which is considered
to be against vested property, being held to be lighter than petty
larceny. Under the influence of jealousy, murders and mutilations
have been committed, but they are rare and exceptional. Divorce is
readily effected by turning the spouse out of doors, and the children
become the father’s property. Attachment to home is powerful in the
African race, but it regards rather the comforts and pleasures of the
house, and the unity of relations and friends, than the fondness of
family. Husband, wife, and children have through life divided
interests, and live together with scant appearance of affection. Love
of offspring can have but little power amongst a people who have no
preventive for illegitimacy, and whose progeny may be sold at any
time. The children appear undemonstrative and unaffectionate, as
those of the Somal. Some attachment to their mothers breaks out,
not in outward indications, but by surprise, as it were: “Mámá!
mámá!”—mother! mother!—is a common exclamation in fear or
wonder. When childhood is passed, the father and son become
natural enemies, after the manner of wild beasts. Yet they are a
sociable race, and the sudden loss of relatives sometimes leads from
grief to hypochondria and insanity, resulting from the inability of
their minds to bear any unusual strain. It is probable that a little
learning would make them mad, like the Widad, or priest of the
Somal, who, after mastering the reading of the Koran, becomes unfit
for any exertion of judgment or common sense. To this over-
development of sociability must be ascribed the anxiety always
shown to shift, evade, or answer blame. The “ukosa,” or
transgression, is never accepted; any number of words will be
wasted in proving the worse the better cause. Hence also the
favourite phrase, “Mbáyá we!”—thou art bad!—a pet mode of
reproof which sounds simple and uneffective to European ears.
The social position of the women—the unerring test of progress
towards civilisation—is not so high in East Africa as amongst the
more highly organised tribes of the south. Few parts of the country
own the rule of female chiefs. The people, especially the
Wanyamwezi, consult their wives, but the opinion of a brother or a
friend would usually prevail over that of a woman.
The deficiency of the East African in constructive power has
already been remarked. Contented with his haystack or beehive hut,
his hemisphere of boughs, or his hide acting tent, he hates and has
a truly savage horror of stone walls. He has the conception of the
“Madeleine,” but he has never been enabled to be delivered of it.
Many Wanyamwezi, when visiting Zanzibar, cannot be prevailed upon
to enter a house.
The East African is greedy and voracious; he seems, however, to
prefer light and frequent to a few regular and copious meals. Even
the civilised Kisawahili has no terms to express the breakfast, dinner,
and supper of other languages. Like most barbarians, the East
African can exist and work with a small quantity of food, but he is
unaccustomed, and therefore unable, to bear thirst. The daily ration
of a porter is 1 kubabah (= 1·5 lbs.) of grain; he can, with the
assistance of edible herbs and roots, which he is skilful in
discovering in the least likely places, eke out this allowance for
several days, though generally, upon the barbarian’s impulsive
principle of mortgaging the future for the present, he recklessly
consumes his stores. With him the grand end of life is eating; his
love of feeding is inferior only to his propensity for intoxication. He
drinks till he can no longer stand, lies down to sleep, and awakes to
drink again. Drinking-bouts are solemn things, to which the most
important business must yield precedence. They celebrate with beer
every event—the traveller’s return, the birth of a child, and the death
of an elephant—a labourer will not work unless beer is provided for
him. A guest is received with a gourdful of beer, and, amongst some
tribes, it is buried with their princes. The highest orders rejoice in
drink, and pride themselves upon powers of imbibing: the proper
diet for a king is much beer and a little meat. If a Mnyamwezi be
asked after eating whether he is hungry, he will reply yea, meaning
that he is not drunk. Intoxication excuses crime in these lands. The
East African, when in his cups, must issue from his hut to sing,
dance, or quarrel, and the frequent and terrible outrages which
occur on these occasions are passed over on the plea that he has
drunk beer. The favourite hour for drinking is after dawn,—a time as
distasteful to the European as agreeable to the African and Asiatic.
This might be proved by a host of quotations from the poets, Arab,
Persian, and Hindu. The civilised man avoids early potations because
they incapacitate him for necessary labour, and he attempts to
relieve the headache caused by stimulants. The barbarian and the
semi-civilised, on the other hand, prefer them, because they relieve
the tedium of his monotonous day; and they cherish the headache
because they can sleep the longer, and, when they awake, they have
something to think of. The habit once acquired is never broken: it
attaches itself to the heartstrings of the idle and unoccupied
barbarian.
In morality, according to the more extended sense of the word,
the East African is markedly deficient. He has no benevolence, but
little veneration—the negro race is ever irreverent—and, though his
cranium rises high in the region of firmness, his futility prevents his
being firm. The outlines of law are faintly traced upon his heart. The
authoritative standard of morality fixed by a revelation is in him
represented by a vague and varying custom, derived traditionally
from his ancestors; he follows in their track for old-sake’s sake. The
accusing conscience is unknown to him. His only fear after
committing a treacherous murder is that of being haunted by the
angry ghost of the dead; he robs as one doing a good deed, and he
begs as if it were his calling. His depravity is of the grossest: intrigue
fills up all the moments not devoted to intoxication.
The want of veneration produces a savage rudeness in the East
African. The body politic consists of two great members, masters
and slaves. Ignoring distinctions of society, he treats all men, except
his chief, as his equals. He has no rules for visiting: if the door be
open, he enters a stranger’s house uninvited; his harsh, barking
voice is ever the loudest; he is never happy except when hearing
himself speak; his address is imperious, his demeanour is rough and
peremptory, and his look “sfacciato.” He deposits his unwashed
person, in his greasy and tattered goat-skin or cloth, upon rug or
bedding, disdaining to stand for a moment, and he always chooses
the best place in the room. When travelling he will push forward to
secure the most comfortable hut: the chief of a caravan may sleep in
rain or dew, but, if he attempt to dislodge his porters, they lie down
with the settled purpose of mules—as the Arabs say, they “have no
shame.” The curiosity of these people, and the little ceremony with
which they gratify it, are at times most troublesome. A stranger
must be stared at; total apathy is the only remedy: if the victim lose
his temper, or attempt to dislodge them, he will find it like disturbing
a swarm of bees. They will come for miles to “sow gape-seed:” if the
tent-fly be closed, they will peer and peep from below, complaining
loudly against the occupant, and, if further prevented, they may
proceed to violence. On the road hosts of idlers, especially women,
boys, and girls, will follow the caravan for hours; it is a truly
offensive spectacle—these uncouth figures, running at a “gymnastic
pace,” half clothed except with grease, with pendent bosoms shaking
in the air, and cries that resemble the howls of beasts more than any
effort of human articulation. This offensive ignorance of the first
principles of social intercourse has been fostered in the races most
visited by the Arabs, whose national tendency, like the Italian and
the Greek, is ever and essentially republican. When strangers first
appeared in the country they were received with respect and
deference. They soon, however, lost this vantage-ground: they sat
and chatted with the people, exchanged pleasantries, and suffered
slights, till the Africans found themselves on an equality with their
visitors. The evil has become inveterate, and no greater contrast can
be imagined than that between the manners of an Indian Ryot and
an East African Mshenzi.
In intellect the East African is sterile and incult, apparently
unprogressive and unfit for change. Like the uncivilised generally, he
observes well, but he can deduce nothing profitable from his
perceptions. His intelligence is surprising when compared with that
of an uneducated English peasant; but it has a narrow bound,
beyond which apparently no man may pass. Like the Asiatic, in fact,
he is stationary, but at a much lower level. Devotedly fond of music,
his love of tune has invented nothing but whistling and the whistle:
his instruments are all borrowed from the coast people. He delights
in singing, yet he has no metrical songs: he contents himself with
improvising a few words without sense or rhyme, and repeats them
till they nauseate: the long, drawling recitative generally ends in “Ah!
han!” or some such strongly-nasalised sound. Like the Somal, he has
tunes appropriated to particular occasions, as the elephant-hunt or
the harvest-home. When mourning, the love of music assumes a
peculiar form: women weeping or sobbing, especially after
chastisement, will break into a protracted threne or dirge, every
period of which concludes with its own particular groan or wail: after
venting a little natural distress in a natural sound, the long, loud
improvisation, in the highest falsetto key, continues as before. As in
Europe the “laughing-song” is an imitation of hilarity somewhat
distressing to the spirits of the audience, so the “weeping-song” of
the African only tends to risibility. His wonderful loquacity and
volubility of tongue have produced no tales, poetry, nor display of
eloquence; though, like most barbarians, somewhat sententious, he
will content himself with squabbling with his companions, or with
repeating some meaningless word in every different tone of voice
during the weary length of a day’s march. His language is highly
artificial and musical: the reader will have observed that the names
which occur in these pages often consist entirely of liquids and
vowels, that consonants are unknown at the end of a word, and that
they never are double except at the beginning. Yet the idea of a
syllabarium seems not to have occurred to the negroid mind. Finally,
though the East African delights in the dance, and is an excellent
timist—a thousand heels striking the ground simultaneously sound
like one—his performance is as uncouth as perhaps was ever
devised by man. He delights in a joke, which manages him like a
Neapolitan; yet his efforts in wit are of the feeblest that can be
conceived.
Though the general features of character correspond throughout
the tribes in East Africa, there are also marked differences. The
Wazaramo, for instance, are considered the most dangerous tribe on
this line: caravans hurry through their lands, and hold themselves
fortunate if a life be not lost, or if a few loads be not missing. Their
neighbours, the Wasagara of the hills, were once peaceful and civil
to travellers: the persecutions of the coast-people have rendered
them morose and suspicious; they now shun strangers, and, never
knowing when they may be attacked, they live in a constant state of
agitation, excitement, and alarm. After the Wazaramo, the tribes of
Ugogo are considered the most noisy and troublesome, the most
extortionate, quarrelsome and violent on this route: nothing
restrains these races from bloodshed and plunder but fear of
retribution and self-interest. The Wanyamwezi bear the highest
character for civilisation, discipline, and industry. Intercourse with
the coast, however, is speedily sapping the foundations of their
superiority: the East African Expedition suffered more from thieving
in this than in any other territory, and the Arabs now depend for
existence there not upon prestige, but sufferance, in consideration of
mutual commercial advantage. In proportion as the traveller
advances into the interior, he finds the people less humane, or rather
less human. The Wavinza, the Wajiji, and the other Lakist tribes,
much resemble one another: they are extortionate, violent, and
revengeful barbarians; no Mnyamwezi dares to travel alone through
their territories, and small parties are ever in danger of destruction.
In dealing with the East African the traveller cannot do better than
to follow the advice of Bacon—“Use savages justly and graciously,
with sufficient guard nevertheless.” They must be held as foes; and
the prudent stranger will never put himself in their power, especially
where life is concerned. The safety of a caravan will often depend
upon the barbarian’s fear of beginning the fray: if the onset once
takes place, the numbers, the fierce looks, the violent gestures, and
the confidence of the assailants upon their own ground, will
probably prevail. When necessary, however, severity must be
employed; leniency and forbearance are the vulnerable points of
civilised policy, as they encourage attack by a suspicion of fear and
weakness. They may be managed as the Indian saw directs, by a
judicious mixture of the “Narm” and “Garm”—the soft and hot. Thus
the old traders remarked in Guinea, that the best way to treat a
black man was to hold out one hand to shake with him, while the
other is doubled ready to knock him down. In trading with, or even
when dwelling amongst this people, all display of wealth must be
avoided. A man who would purchase the smallest article avoids
showing anything beyond its equivalent.
The ethnologist who compares this sketch with the far more
favourable description of the Kafirs, a kindred race, given by
travellers in South Africa, may suspect that only the darker shades of
the picture are placed before the eye. But, as will appear in a future
page, much of this moral degradation must be attributed to the
working, through centuries, of the slave-trade: the tribes are no
longer as nature made them; and from their connection with
strangers they have derived nothing but corruption. Though of
savage and barbarous type, they have been varnished with the semi-
civilisation of trade and commerce, which sits ridiculously upon their
minds as a rich garment would upon their persons.
Fetissism—the word is derived from the Portuguese feitiço, “a
doing,”—scil. of magic, by euphuism—is still the only faith known in
East Africa. Its origin is easily explained by the aspect of the physical
world, which has coloured the thoughts and has directed the belief
of man: he reflects, in fact, the fantastical and monstrous character
of the animal and vegetable productions around him. Nature, in
these regions rarely sublime or beautiful, more often terrible and
desolate, with the gloomy forest, the impervious jungle, the tangled
hill, and the dread uniform waste tenanted by deadly inhabitants,
arouses in his mind a sensation of utter feebleness, a vague and
nameless awe. Untaught to recommend himself for protection to a
Superior Being, he addresses himself directly to the objects of his
reverence and awe: he prostrates himself before the sentiment
within him, hoping to propitiate it as he would satisfy a fellow-man.
The grand mysteries of life and death, to him unrevealed and
unexplained, the want of a true interpretation of the admirable
phenomena of creation, and the vagaries and misconceptions of his
own degraded imagination, awaken in him ideas of horror, and
people the invisible world with ghost and goblin, demon and
spectrum, the incarnations, as it were, of his own childish fears.
Deepened by the dread of destruction, ever strong in the barbarian
breast, his terror causes him to look with suspicion upon all around
him: “How,” inquires the dying African, “can I alone be ill when
others are well, unless I have been bewitched?” Hence the belief in
magical and supernatural powers in man, which the stronger minded
have turned to their own advantage.
Fetissism is the adoration, or rather the propitiation, of natural
objects, animate and inanimate, to which certain mysterious
influences are attributed. It admits neither god, nor angel, nor devil;
it ignores the very alphabet of revealed or traditionary religion—a
creation, a resurrection, a judgment-day, a soul or a spirit, a heaven
or a hell. A modified practical atheism is thus the prominent feature
of the superstition. Though instinctively conscious of a being above
them, the Africans have as yet failed to grasp the idea: in their
feeble minds it is an embryo rather than a conception—at the best a
vague god, without personality, attributes, or providence. They call
that being Mulungu, the Uhlunga of the Kafirs, and the Utika of the
Hottentots. The term, however, may mean a ghost, the firmament,
or the sun; a man will frequently call himself Mulungu, and even
Mulungu Mbaya, the latter word signifying bad or wicked. In the
language of the Wamasai “Ai,” or with the article “Engai”—the
Creator—is feminine, the god and rain being synonymous.
The Fetiss superstition is African, but not confined to Africa. The
faith of ancient Egypt, the earliest system of profane belief known to
man, with its Triad denoting the various phases and powers of
nature, was essentially fetissist; whilst in the Syrian mind dawned at
first the idea of “Melkart,” a god of earth, and his Baalim, angels,
viceregents, or local deities. But generally the history of religions
proves that when man, whether degraded from primal elevation or
elevated from primal degradation, has progressed a step beyond
atheism—the spiritual state of the lowest savagery—he advances to
the modification called Fetissism, the condition of the infant mind of
humanity. According to the late Col. Van Kennedy, “such expressions
as the love and fear of God never occur in the sacred books of the
Hindus.” The ancient Persians were ignicolists, adoring ethereal fire.
Confucius owned that he knew nothing about the gods, and
therefore preferred saying as little as possible upon the subject.
Men, still without tradition or training, confused the Creator with
creation, and ventured not to place the burden of providence upon a
single deity. Slaves to the agencies of material nature, impressed by
the splendours of the heavenly bodies, comforted by fire and light,
persuaded by their familiarity with the habits of wild beasts that the
brute creation and the human claimed a mysterious affinity, humbled
by the terrors of elemental war, and benefitted by hero and sage,—
“Quicquid humus, pelagus, cœlum mirabile gignunt,
Id duxere deos.”

The barbarian worshipped these visible objects not as types,

myths, divine emanations, or personifications of a deity: he adored
them for themselves. The modern theory, the mode in which full-
grown man explains away the follies of his childhood, making the
interpretation precede the fable, fails when tested by experience.
The Hindu, and, indeed, the ignorant Christian, still adore the actual
image of man and beast; it is unreasonable to suppose that they
kneel before and worship with heart and soul its metaphysics; and
an attempt to allegorise it, or to deprive it of its specific virtues,
would be considered, as in ancient Greece and Rome, mere impiety.
By its essence, then, Fetissism is a rude and sensual superstition,
the faith of abject fear, and of infant races that have not risen, and
are, perhaps, incapable of rising to theism—the religion of love and
the belief of the highest types of mankind. But old creeds die hard,
and error, founded upon the instincts and feelings of human nature
borrows the coherence and uniformity of truth. That Fetissism is a
belief common to man in the childhood of his spiritual life, may be
proved by the frequent and extensive remains of the faith which the
cretinism of the Hamitic race has perpetuated amongst them to the
present day, still sprouting like tares even in the fair field of revealed
religion. The dread of ghosts, for instance, which is the mainstay of
Fetissism, is not inculcated in any sacred book, yet the belief is not
to be abolished. Thus the Rakshasa of the Hindus is a disembodied
spirit, doing evil to mankind; and the ghost of the prophet Samuel,
raised by the familiar of the Witch of Endor, was the immortal part of
a mortal being, still connected with earth, and capable of returning
to it. Through the Manes, the Umbra, and the Spectrum of the
ancients, the belief has descended to the moderns, as the household
words ghost, goblin, and bogle, revenant, polter-geist, and spook,
Duh, Dusha, and Dukh attest. Precisely similar to the African ghost-
faith is the old Irish belief in Banshees, Pookas, and other evil
entities; the corporeal frame of the dead forms other bodies, but the
spirit hovers in the air, watching the destiny of friends, haunting
houses, killing children, injuring cattle, and causing disease and
destruction. Everywhere, too, their functions are the same: all are
malevolent to the living, and they are seldom known to do good.
The natural horror and fear of death which may be observed even in
the lower animals has caused the dead to be considered vindictive
and destructive.
Some missionaries have detected in the habit, which prevails
throughout Eastern and Western Africa, of burying slaves with the
deceased, of carrying provisions to graves, and of lighting fires on
cold nights near the last resting-places of the departed, a
continuation of relations between the quick and the dead which
points to a belief in a future state of existence. The wish is father to
that thought: the doctrine of the soul, of immortality, belongs to a
superior order of mind, to a more advanced stage of society. The
belief, as its operations show, is in presentity, materialism, not in
futurity, spiritualism. According to the ancients, man is a fourfold
being:—
“Bis duo sunt homini, manes, caro, spiritus, umbra:
Quatuor hæc loci bis duo suscipiunt
Terra tegit carnem, tumulum circumvolitat umbra,
Manes Orcus habet, spiritus astra petit.”

Take away the Manes and the astral Spirit, and remains the African
belief in the ειδωλον or Umbra, spiritus, or ghost. When the savage
and the barbarian are asked what has become of the “old people”
(their ancestors), over whose dust and ashes they perform
obsequies, these veritable secularists only smile and reply Wáme-
kwisha, “they are ended.” It proves the inferior organisation of the
race. Even the North American aborigines, a race which Nature
apparently disdains to preserve, decided that man hath a future,
since even Indian corn is vivified and rises again. The East African
has created of his fears a ghost which never attains the perfect form
of a soul. This inferior development has prevented his rising to the
social status of the Hindu, and other anciently civilised races, whom
a life wholly wanting in purpose and occupation drove from the
excitement necessary to stimulate the mind towards a hidden or
mysterious future. These wild races seek otherwise than in their faith
a something to emotionise and to agitate them.
The East African’s Credenda—it has not arrived at the rank of a
system, this vague and misty dawning of a creed—are based upon
two main articles. The first is demonology, or, rather, the existence of
Koma, the spectra of the dead; the second is Uchawi, witchcraft or
black magic, a corollary to the principal theorem. Few, and only the
tribes adjacent to the maritime regions, have derived from El Islam a
faint conception of the one Supreme. There is no trace in this
country of the ancient and modern animal-worship of Egypt and
India, though travellers have asserted that vestiges of it exist
amongst the kindred race of Kafirs. The African has no more of
Sabæism than what belongs to the instinct of man: he has a
reverence for the sun and moon, the latter is for evident reasons in
higher esteem, but he totally ignores star-worship. If questioned
concerning his daily bread, he will point with a devotional aspect
towards the light of day; and if asked what caused the death of his
brother, will reply Jua, or Rimwe, the sun. He has not, like the Kafir,
a holiday at the epoch of new moon: like the Moslem, however, on
first seeing it, he raises and claps his hands in token of obeisance.
The Mzimo, or Fetiss hut, is the first germ of a temple, and the idea
is probably derived from the Kurban of the Arabs. It is found
throughout the country, especially in Uzaramo, Unyamwezi, and
Karagwah. It is in the shape of a dwarf house, one or two feet high,
with a thatched roof, but without walls. Upon the ground, or
suspended from the roof, are handfuls of grain and small pots full of
beer, placed there to propitiate the ghosts, and to defend the crops
from injury.
A prey to base passions and melancholy godless fears, the
Fetissist, who peoples with malevolent beings the invisible world,
animates material nature with evil influences. The rites of his dark
and deadly superstition are all intended to avert evils from himself,
by transferring them to others: hence the witchcraft and magic
which flow naturally from the system of demonology. Men rarely die
without the wife or children, the kindred or slaves, being accused of
having compassed their destruction by “throwing the glamour over
them;” and, as has been explained, the trial and the conviction are
of the most arbitrary nature. Yet witchcraft is practised by thousands
with the firmest convictions in their own powers; and though
frightful tortures await the wizard and the witch who have been
condemned for the destruction of chief or elder, the vindictiveness of
the negro drives him readily to the malevolent practices of sorcery.
As has happened in Europe and elsewhere, in the presence of
torture and the instant advance of death, the sorcerer and sorceress
will not only confess, but even boast of and believe in, their own
criminality. “Verily I slew such a one!—I brought about the disease of
such another!”—these are their demented vaunts, the offspring of
mental imbecility, stimulated by traditional hallucination.
In this state of spiritual death there is, as may be imagined, but
little of the fire of fanaticism: polemics are as unknown as politics to
them; their succedaneum for a god is not a jealous god. But upon
the subjects of religious belief and revelation all men are equal:
Davus becomes Œdipus, the fool is as the sage. What the “I”
believes, that the “Thou” must acknowledge, under the pains and
penalties of offending Self-esteem. Whilst the African’s faith is
weakly catholic, he will not admit that other men are wiser on this
point than himself. Yet he will fast like a Moslem, because doing
something seems to raise him in the scale of creation. His mind,
involved in the trammels of his superstition, and enchained by
custom, is apparently incapable of receiving the impressions of El
Islam. His Fetissism, unspiritualised by the philosophic Pantheism
and Polytheism of Europe and Asia, has hitherto unfitted him for that
belief which was readily accepted by the more Semitic maritime
races, the Somal, the Wasawahili, and the Wamrima. To a certain
extent, also, it has been the policy of the Arab to avoid proselytising,
which would lead to comparative equality: for sordid lucre the
Moslem has left the souls of these Kafirs to eternal perdition.
According to most doctors of the saving faith, an ardent proselytiser
might convert by the sword whole tribes, though he might not
succeed with individuals, who cannot break through the ties of
society. The “Mombas Mission,” however, relying upon the powers of
persuasion, unequivocally failed, and pronounced their flock to be
“not behind the greatest infidels and scoffers of Europe: they
blaspheme, in fact, like children.” With characteristic want of
veneration they would say, “Your Lord is a bad master, for he does
not cure his servants.” When an early convert died, the Wanyika at
once decided that there is no Saviour, as he does not prevent the
decease of a friend. The sentiment generally elicited by a discourse
upon the subject of the existence of a Deity is a desire to see him, in
order to revenge upon him the deaths of relatives, friends, and
cattle.[17]
[17] That the Western African negro resembles in this point his negroid
brother, the following extract from an amusing and truthful little volume,
entitled “Trade and Travels in the Gulf of Guinea and Western Africa”
(London: Simpkin and Marshall, 1851), will prove:—
Always anxious,—says Mr. J. Smith, the author,—to get any of them (the
Western Africans) to talk about God and religion, I said, “What have you
been doing King Pepple?”
“All the same as you do,—I tank God.”
“For what?”
“Every good ting God sends me.”
“Have you seen God?”
“Chi! no;—suppose man see God, he must die one minute.” (He would
die in a moment.)
“When you die won’t you see God?”
With great warmth, “I know no savvy. (I don’t know.) How should I
know? Never mind. I no want to hear more for that palaver.” (I want no
more talk on that subject.)
“What way?” (Why?)
“It no be your business, you come here for trade palaver.”
I knew—resumes Mr. Smith—it would be of no use pursuing the subject
at that time, so I was silent, and it dropped for the moment.
In speaking of him dying, I had touched a very tender and disagreeable
chord, for he looked very savage and sulky, and I saw by the rapid changes
in his countenance that he was the subject of some intense internal
emotion. At length he broke out, using most violent gesticulations, and
exhibiting a most inhuman expression of countenance, “Suppose God was
here, I must kill him, one minute!”
“You what? you kill God?” followed I, quite taken aback, and almost
breathless with the novel and diabolical notion; “You kill God? why, you talk
all some fool” (like a fool); “you cannot kill God; and suppose it possible
that God could die, everything would cease to exist. He is the Spirit of the
universe. But he can kill you.”
“I know I cannot kill him; but suppose I could kill him, I would.”
“Where does God live?”
“For top.”
“How?” He pointed to the zenith.
“And suppose you could, why would you kill him?”
“Because he makes men to die.”
“Why, my friend,” in a conciliatory manner, “you would not wish to live for
ever, would you?”
“Yes, I want to stand” (remain for ever).
“But you will be old by and by, and if you live long enough, will become
very infirm, like that old man,” pointing to a man very old for an African and
thin, and lame, and almost blind, who had come into the court during the
foregoing conversation, to ask for some favour (I wonder he had not been
destroyed),—“and like him you will become lame, and deaf, and blind, and
will be able to take no pleasure; would it not be better, then, for you to die
when this takes place, and you are in pain and trouble, and so make room
for your son, as your father did for you?”
“No, it would not; I want to stand all same I stand now.”
“But supposing you should go to a place of happiness after death and
——”
“I no savvy nothing about that, I know that I now live, and have too
many wives, and niggers (slaves), and canoes,” (he did not mean what he
said, in saying he had too many wives, &c., it is their way of expressing a
great number,) “and that I am king, and plenty of ships come to my
country. I know no other ting, and I want to stand.”
I offered a reply, but he would hear no more, and so the conversation on
that subject ceased; and we proceeded to discuss one not much more
agreeable to him—the payment of a very considerable debt which he owed
me.
Fetissism supplies an abundance of professionally holy men. The
“Mfumo” is translated by the Arabs Bassar, a seer or clairvoyant. The
Mchawi is the Sahhar, magician, or adept in the black art. Amongst
the Wazegura and the Wasagara is the Mgonezi, a word Arabised
into Rammal or Geomantist. He practises the Miramoro, or divination
and prediction of fray and famine, death and disease, by the relative
position of small sticks, like spilikins, cast at random on the ground.
The “rain-maker,” or “rain-doctor” of the Cape, common throughout
these tribes, and extending far north of the equator, is called in East
Africa Mganga, in the plural Waganga: the Arabs term him Tabib,
doctor or physician.
The Mganga, in the central regions termed Mfumo, may be
considered as the rude beginning of a sacerdotal order. These
drones, who swarm throughout the land, are of both sexes: the
women, however, generally confine themselves to the medical part
of the profession. The calling is hereditary, the eldest or the
cleverest son begins his neoteric education at an early age, and
succeeds to his father’s functions. There is little mystery in the craft,
and the magicians of Unyamwezi have not refused to initiate some
of the Arabs. The power of the Mganga is great: he is treated as a
sultan, whose word is law, and as a giver of life and death. He is
addressed by a kingly title, and is permitted to wear the chieftain’s
badge, made of the base of a conical shell. He is also known by a
number of small greasy and blackened gourds, filled with physic and
magic, hanging round his waist, and by a little more of the usual
grime—sanctity and dirt being connected in Africa as elsewhere.
These men are sent for from village to village, and receive as
obventions and spiritual fees sheep and goats, cattle and provisions.
Their persons, however, are not sacred, and for criminal acts they
are punished like other malefactors. The greatest danger to them is
an excess of fame. A celebrated magician rarely, if ever, dies a
natural death: too much is expected from him, and a severer
disappointment leads to consequences more violent than usual. The
Arabs deride their pretensions, comparing them depreciatingly to the
workers of Simiya, or conjuration, in their own country. They remark
that the wizard can never produce rain in the dry, or avert it in the
wet season. The many, however, who, to use a West African phrase,
have “become black” from a long residence in the country, acquire a
sneaking belief in the Waganga, and fear of their powers. The well-
educated classes in Zanzibar consult these heathen, as the credulous
of other Eastern countries go to the astrologer and geomantist, and
in Europe to the clairvoyant and the tireuse de cartes. In one point
this proceeding is wise: the wizard rarely wants wits; and whatever
he has heard secretly or openly will inevitably appear in the course
of his divination.
It must not be supposed, however, that the Mganga is purely an
impostor. To deceive others thoroughly a man must first deceive
himself, otherwise he will be detected by the least discerning. This is
the simple secret of so many notable successes, achieved in the
most unpromising causes by self-reliance and enthusiasm, the
parents of energy and consistence. These barbarians are more often
sinned against by their own fears and fooleries of faith, than sinners
against their fellow-men by fraud and falsehood.
The office of Uganga includes many duties. The same man is a
physician by natural and supernatural means, a mystagogue or
medicine-man, a detector of sorcery, by means of the Judicium Dei
or ordeal, a rain-maker, a conjuror, an augur, and a prophet.
As a rule, all diseases, from a boil to marasmus senilis, are
attributed by the Fetissist to P’hepo, Hubub, or Afflatus. The three
words are synonymous. P’hepo, in Kisawahili, is the plural form of
upepo (a zephyr), used singularly to signify a high wind, a whirlwind
(“devil”), and an evil ghost, generally of a Moslem. Hubub, the
Arabic translation, means literally the blowing of wind, and
metaphorically “possession.” The African phrase for a man possessed
is “ana p’hepo,” “he has a devil.” The Mganga is expected to heal the
patient by expelling the possession. Like the evil spirit in the days of
Saul, the unwelcome visitant must be charmed away by sweet
music; the drums cause excitement, and violent exercise expels the
ghost, as saltation nullifies in Italy the venom of the tarantula. The
principal remedies are drumming, dancing, and drinking, till the
auspicious moment arrives. The ghost is then enticed from the body
of the possessed into some inanimate article, which he will
condescend to inhabit. This, technically called a Keti, or stool, may
be a certain kind of bead, two or more bits of wood bound together
by a strip of snake’s skin, a lion’s or a leopard’s claw, and other
similar articles, worn round the head, the arm, the wrist, or the
ankle. Paper is still considered great medicine by the Wasukuma and
other tribes, who will barter valuable goods for a little bit: the great
desideratum of the charm, in fact, appears to be its rarity, or the
difficulty of obtaining it. Hence also the habit of driving nails into and
hanging rags upon trees. The vegetable itself is not worshipped, as
some Europeans who call it the “Devil’s tree” have supposed: it is
merely the place for the laying of ghosts, where by appending the
Keti most acceptable to the spectrum, he will be bound over to keep
the peace with man. Several accidents in the town of Zanzibar have
confirmed even the higher orders in their lurking superstition. Mr.
Peters, an English merchant, annoyed by the slaves who came in
numbers to hammer nails and to hang iron hoops and rags upon a
“Devil’s tree” in his courtyard, ordered it to be cut down, to the
horror of all the black beholders, of whom no one would lay an axe
to it. Within six months five persons died in that house—Mr. Peters,
his two clerks, his cooper, and his ship’s carpenter. This superstition
will remind the traveller of the Indian Pipul (Ficus religiosa), in which
fiends are supposed to roost, and suggest to the Orientalist an
explanation of the mysterious Moslem practices common from
Western Africa to the farthest East. The hanging of rags upon trees
by pilgrims and travellers is probably a relic of Arab Fetissism,
derived in the days of ignorance from their congeners in East Africa.
The custom has spread far and wide: even the Irish peasantry have
been in the habit of suspending to the trees and bushes near their
“holy wells” rags, halters, and spancels, in token of gratitude for
their recovery, or that of their cattle.
There are other mystical means of restoring the sick to health;
one specimen will suffice. Several little sticks, like matches, are
daubed with ochre, and marks are made with them upon the
patient’s body. A charm is chanted, the possessed one responds, and
at the end of every stave an evil spirit flies from him, the signal
being a stick cast by the Mganga upon the ground. Some
unfortunates have as many as a dozen haunting ghosts, each of
which has his own periapt: the Mganga demands a distinct
honorarium for the several expulsions. Wherever danger is, fear will
be; wherever fear is, charms and spells, exorcisms and talismans of
portentous powers will be in demand; and wherever
supernaturalisms are in requisition, men will be found, for a
consideration, to supply them.
These strange rites are to be explained upon the principle which
underlies thaumaturgy in general: they result from conviction in a
gross mass of exaggerations heaped by ignorance, falsehood, and
credulity, upon the slenderest foundation of fact—a fact doubtless
solvable by the application of natural laws. The African temperament
has strong susceptibilities, combined with what appears to be a
weakness of brain, and great excitability of the nervous system, as is
proved by the prevalence of epilepsy, convulsions, and hysteric
disease. According to the Arab, El Sara, epilepsy, or the falling
sickness, is peculiarly common throughout East Africa; and, as we
know by experience in lands more civilised, the sudden prostration,
rigidity, contortions, &c. of the patient, strongly suggest the idea
that he has been taken and seized (επιληφθεις) by, as it were, some
external and invisible agent. The negroid is, therefore, peculiarly
liable to the epidemical mania called “Phantasmata,” which,
according to history, has at times of great mental agitation and
popular disturbance broken out in different parts of Europe, and
which, even in this our day, forms the basework of “revivals.” Thus in
Africa the objective existence of spectra has become a tenet of
belief. Stories that stagger the most sceptical are told concerning the
phenomenon by respectable and not unlearned Arabs, who point to
their fellow-countrymen as instances. Salim bin Rashid, a half-caste
merchant, well known at Zanzibar, avers, and his companions bear
witness to his words, that on one occasion, when travelling
northwards from Unyanyembe, the possession occurred to himself.
During the night two female slaves, his companions, of whom one
was a child, fell, without apparent cause, into the fits which denote
the approach of a spirit. Simultaneously, the master became as one
intoxicated; a dark mass, material, not spiritual, entered the tent,
and he felt himself pulled and pushed by a number of black figures,
whom he had never before seen. He called aloud to his companions
and slaves, who, vainly attempting to enter the tent, threw it down,
and presently found him in a state of stupor, from which he did not
recover till the morning. The same merchant circumstantially related,
and called witnesses to prove, that a small slave-boy, who was
produced on the occasion, had been frequently carried off by
possession, even when confined in a windowless room, with a heavy
door carefully bolted and padlocked. Next morning the victim was
not found, although the chamber remained closed. A few days
afterwards he was met in the jungle wandering absently like an idiot,
and with speech too incoherent to explain what had happened to
him. The Arabs of Oman, who subscribe readily to transformation,
deride these tales; those of African blood believe them. The
transformation-belief, still so common in Maskat, Abyssinia,
Somaliland, and the Cape, and anciently an almost universal
superstition, is, curious to say, unknown amongst these East African
tribes. The Wahiao, lying between Kilwa and the Nyassa Lake,
preserve, however, a remnant of the old creed in their conviction,
that a malevolent magician can change a man after death into a lion,
a leopard, or a hyæna. On the Zambezi the people, according to Dr.
Livingstone (chap. xxx.), believe that a chief may metamorphose
himself into a lion, kill any one he chooses, and then return to the
human form. About Tete (chap. xxxi.) the negroids hold that, “while
persons are still living, they may enter into lions and alligators, and
then return again to their own bodies.” Travellers determined to find
in Africa counterparts of European and Asiatic tenets, argue from
this transformation a belief in the “transmigration of souls.” They
thus confuse material metamorphosis with a spiritual progress,
which is assuredly not an emanation from the Hamitic mind. The
Africans have hitherto not bewildered their brains with metaphysics,
and, ignoring the idea of a soul, which appears to be a dogma of the
Caucasian race, they necessarily ignore its immortality.
The second, and, perhaps, the most profitable occupation of the
Mganga, is the detection of Uchawi, or black magic. The fatuitous
style of conviction, and the fearful tortures which, in the different
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