carried the sympathies of the people along
with them, and not without reason. With the following arguments they
were all acquainted, and in order to understand their force, we must
place ourselves in their position, and believe, as they do, that all
medicines act by a mysterious charm. The term for cure may be translated
"charm" ('alaha').

MEDICAL DOCTOR. Hail, friend! How very many medicines you have about you
this morning! Why, you have every medicine in the country here.

RAIN DOCTOR. Very true, my friend; and I ought; for the whole country
needs the rain which I am making.

M. D. So you really believe that you can command the clouds? I think
that can be done by God alone.

R. D. We both believe the very same thing. It is God that makes the
rain, but I pray to him by means of these medicines, and, the rain
coming, of course it is then mine. It was I who made it for the Bakwains
for many years, when they were at Shokuane; through my wisdom, too,
their women became fat and shining. Ask them; they will tell you the
same as I do.

M. D. But we are distinctly told in the parting words of our Savior that
we can pray to God acceptably in his name alone, and not by means of
medicines.

R. D. Truly! but God told us differently. He made black men first, and
did not love us as he did the white men. He made you beautiful, and gave
you clothing, and guns, and gunpowder, and horses, and wagons, and many
other things about which we know nothing. But toward us he had no heart.
He gave us nothing except the assegai, and cattle, and rain-making; and
he did not give us hearts like yours. We never love each other. Other
tribes place medicines about our country to prevent the rain, so that we
may be dispersed by hunger, and go to them, and augment their power. We
must dissolve their charms by our medicines. God has given us one little
thing, which you know nothing of. He has given us the knowledge of
certain medicines by which we can make rain. WE do not despise those
things which you possess, though we are ignorant of them. We don't
understand your book, yet we don't despise it. YOU ought not to despise
our little knowledge, though you are ignorant of it.

M. D. I don't despise what I am ignorant of; I only think you are
mistaken in saying that you have medicines which can influence the rain
at all.

R. D. That's just the way people speak when they talk on a subject of
which they have no knowledge. When we first opened our ey