Cattle Thief- The Story of Ntsukumbini

Had this book been written for South African readers only a preface would not be necessary, but it has been intimated to me that there may be many who will want to know who Ntsukumbini was, where he lived, how I came to know him, and how I came to write his story.

When one has lived for many years among South African natives, attended their marriage celebrations and ritualistic ceremonies, hunted with thyem, spent nights in their huts and been initiated by them into blood brotherhood, one becomes acquainted with intimate facts concerning them which do not come to the knowledge of the casual observer.

In my capacity as Native Commissioner the study of native mentality has appealed to me not only as part of my job but also as something intriguing in its ingenuousness and fascinating for its suble simplicity.

Hours spent in native huts, where the warmth of the smoking fire has been shared with the inmates by dogs, cats,fowls and goats, have not been wasted-knowledge was always to be gained there. The head of the \'kraal\' would explain in detail the inwardness of some obscure custom, or he would recite some fable that had been handed down from ancient times, or he would give a graphic description of some historical event redounding to the credit of his chief or tribe.

Original red cloth with black lettering to spine(faded) 159 pages text.Very clean copy.