THEAFRICANS
or about women. Was that man entitled to reclaim his daughter, whose
husband's family had failed to hand over the promised number of bohali
cattle? Should that client have the right to own the calf of a cow that his
patron had committed to his charge? After a case had been argued at great
length by interested parties, the chief would announce his verdict. That
would be based on custom, but custom could be modified to suit the
occasion. In theory, the primary objective was to heal divisions in society
and restore harmony rather than to punish offenders, but people guilty of
disloyalty or witchcraft might be killed. In other cases, the normal penalty
was a fine, shared between the chief and the successful litigant.
A chief's powers were limited by necessity as well as by custom. He had
no standing army, no police force, no jail. He relied on the cooperation of
his councillors-male
relatives and commoners, many of whom were his
initiation-mates. He also needed the respect of his people. If a chief re-
quired public support for some enterprise or had important information to
communicate, he would convene a meeting of his male subjects. This
custom was particularly firmly entrenched among the Basotho and Bats-