Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 November 1893 — AFRICAN RAIN MAKERS. [ARTICLE]

AFRICAN RAIN MAKERS.

A Fakir Who Did His Cloud-Compel-lng With a Magic Whistle. A popular figure in Africa is the rainmaker. The office, however, is rather a perilous one, for if the chief in charge of the weather fails to produce rain on demand his life is not safe. Baker giver an amusing description of one of these rainmakers, half chief and half magician, named Katchiba, who called on the famous explorer, and said that rain was needed. “Well,” I replied, “why don’t you give your people rain?” “Give my people rain!” said Katchiba. “Give them rain if they don’t give me goats? You don’t know my people. If I am fool enough to give them rain before they give me goats they will let me starve! No, no! let them wait; if they don’t bring me supplies of corn, goats, fowls, yams and all that I require not one drop of rain shall ever fall again in Obbo. Impudent brutes are my people. Do you know they have positively threatened to kill me unless I bring the rain. They shan’t have a drop. I’ll teach the rascals to insult me!” With all this bluster I saw that old Katchiba was in a great dilemma and would give anything for a shower, but did not know how toget out of the scrape. Suddenly altering his tone, he asked: “Have you any rain in your country?” 1 replied that we had, every now and then. “How do you bring it? Are you a rain ranker?” I told him no one believed in rain makers in our country, but that we understood how to bottle lightning, meaning electricity. “I don't keep mine in bottles. I have a house full of thunder and lightning,” he most cooly replied; “but if you can bottle lightning you must understand rain making. Whatdoycu think of the weather to-day?” I immediately saw the drift of the cunning old Katchiba; he wanted professional advice. I replied that he must know all about it, as he was a regular rain maker. “Of course I do,” he answered; “but I want to know what you think of it.” ■ “Well,” I said, “I don’t think we shall have any steady rain, but I think we may have a heavy shower in about four days.” I had observed fleecy clouds gathering daily in the afternoon. ‘ Just my opinion,” said Katchiba, delighted; “in four, or perhaps in five dhys, I intend to give them one shower, just one shower. Yes, I’ll just step down to them now, and tell the rascals that if they will bring me some goats by this evening, and some corn to-morrow morning, I will give them, in four or five days, just one shower.” To give effect to this declaration he gave three toots on his magic whistle, inquiring: “Do you use whistles in your •ountry?”

I replied by giving so shrill and deafening a whistle on my fingers that Katchiba stopped his ears, and relapsing into a smile of admiration, took a glance at the sky from the doorway to see if any sudden effect had been produced. “Whistle again,” he said, and once more I performed like the whistle of a locomotive. “That will do; we shall have it,” said the cunning old rain maker, and proud of having so knowingly obtained “counsel’s opinion” on his case, he toddled off to bis impatient subjects. In a few days a sudden storm of rain and violent thunder added to Katchiba’s renown, and after the shower horns were blowing and drums beating in honor of their chief. Between ourselves, he considered my whistle infallible.:—[Youth’s Companion.