Gela aSango

• Crampton, Hazel. ‘The Sunburnt Queen’. Johannesburg: Jacana. 2004. Print. Contact Sharon Doubell

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“The eldest daughter, together with the two eldest sons, have long been dead, so that Daapa and his youngest sister are now the only survivors ;—"

The missionary Kay visited the region in 1829. What time span he meant by "have long been dead" we do not know.

Gela is apart from the birth order only mentioned once in Kay under the spelling Gala. Warning: highly prejudiced and racist language!

Kay’s party found them slaughtering a heifer. “Cetani's child having been taken ill some days previously, one of the " wise women " had been consulted respecting it, and was now deluding both parents and friends, according to custom. The old witch stated that the shulugu (ghost or spirit) of Gala, the infant's grandfather, (many years dead,) was hungry, and desirous of obtaining- a little " flesh/' for which he had long" been looking- ; and that their inattention and negligence in not slaughtering for him earlier had at length induced him to afflict the child with the view of bringing them to a sense of their duty.

To appease his wrath, therefore, and to remove the threatening influence of his hand, was the object of this " edeeni," or sacrifice. She was of course sole director of the ceremony, and bountifully distributed the most profitable parts amongst her female companions, taking care, however, like the priests of Dagon and the Brahmins of India, to secure a satisfying portion for herself.

When the Chief and his Counsellors had stolen every " tid bit " upon which they were at all able to lay their hands, and the sorceress with her companions had gorged themselves to excess, poor old Gala was left to regale himself upon bones ! These are generally gathered together and burnt ; while to the patient is apportioned a quantity of dung, which is applied to the chest in the form of a plaster. So much for Caffrarian sacrifices ; and so much too for the hope of parents, when their children are suffering from pain and sickness!” PART II. CHAPTER XV. p 375

Kay is wrong in that the child of Cetani (Ngecetane aMlawu), is the grandchild of Gela / Gala, he was the grandchild of Mlawu aSango, as the Great House Son of the amaTshomane.

Source:

Travels and Researches in Caffraria Describing the Character, Customs and Moral Condition of the Tribes Inhabiting that Portion of Southern Africa (etc.) / Kay, Stephen. London: John Mason, 1834 https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/travelsresearche00kays