man and beat him vigorously with their sticks. No word is spoken, but the unlucky man at once understands he is the father of a male child instead of the eagerly-hoped-for daughter. Naturally he is disappointed, but after all a boy is better than no child, and the spirits may be kind and give him a daughter next time.
If, on the other hand, the infant is a girl, there is great rejoicing.[1] The news-carriers hurry off to inform the father. Great caution is observed as they approach the village lest he should see them coming. This time the messengers arm themselves with a pot of water, which they throw over the happy father, who immediately receives the congratulations of his friends. The water is supposed to act as a wholesome damper upon his joy, lest the good news might prove too great a shock.
It is not considered correct for the man to visit his wife and child, but when the latter is a month old the woman returns to her husband, bringing the baby with her. Basuto women often nurse their babies for eighteen months. When the first baby is weaned the mother takes it back to her parents, to whom it will belong in future; the actual parents no longer retain any claim upon it, nor, should it be a girl, do they receive the dowry upon her marriage; that also belongs to the maternal grandparents.[2]
Should a doctor be called in at the birth of a child, the mother can neither wean it nor shave its head until the doctor has given his consent. Usually the infant's head is shaved on the second day after birth.
When other children are born there is no need for the mother to leave her husband's house, as no evil is likely to
- ↑ Because she will on her marriage bring a dowry of so many head of cattle to the family, while a boy will correspondingly impoverish it.
- ↑ I do not know whether there is any antagonistic feeling between son-in-law and mother-in-law, or any etiquette which demands that such a feeling should exist, but I should imagine not. I have certainly seen great friendliness on both sides.
