Umnyama in Callaway’s Rainbow Accounts: documentary text witness, Callaway 1868, printed page 295; documentary source-page facsimile
Exact Umnyama heading and Ujojo Sosibo rainbow account, including the sheep emerging from the pool; separate preceding account ends above. Individually inspected original bilingual Zulu/English scanned page; documentary text, no creature illustration claimed. Physical edition 1868; translator/editor distinguished from traditional narrators. Public-domain publication and expired Callaway lifetime.
Overview
The Queen’s Bow account says the appearance of a rainbow signals clearing rain. The bow is described as an umnyama living in a pool and resembling a sheep; where it touches the earth, it is said to be drinking. Ordinary bathers fear being caught and eaten in its water. By contrast, an aspiring diviner enters the pool without being eaten, is marked with coloured clay and emerges with snakes entwined around the body. This witness is credited to Uguaise of Emadungeni.
Utshintsha Mguni offers a different first-person account. Watching his garden during rain, he says the rainbow descended into a river, came toward him and dazzled his eyes with red colour. He fled and subsequently interpreted bodily symptoms in connection with that encounter. Crucially, he distinguishes what others say from what he saw: some associate the rainbow with a snake and others with a sheep, but he explicitly says he saw neither. Their animal accompaniments therefore cannot be silently added to his observed scene.
Ujojo Sosibo separately repeats older people’s description of a sheep-like rainbow leaving large pools and resting on rocks when the sky is clouded. They attribute skin eruptions to its harmful encounter and call for a rainbow-doctor. These are historically situated interpretations of illness, not a verified diagnosis or advice. Taken together, the three witnesses document differing forms, reported initiatory encounters and personal uncertainty without reducing the rainbow to a consistently snake-shaped being.
Origins & earliest records
The selected account credits Uguaise of Emadungeni; Utshintsha Mguni; Ujojo Sosibo. Callaway supplies the English translation and commentary; personal recollection, hearsay and editorial explanation are separated below.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected account read: The Queen’s Bow, pp. 293–294; Utshintsha and the Rainbow, pp. 294–295; Umnyama, p. 295.
In the literature
“the rainbow is a sheep,”
Three separately credited rainbow accounts, printed p.295 · Henry Callaway
Ujojo attributes this description to old men rather than claiming his own animal sighting.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, in Their Own Words, volume I
The Queen’s Bow, pp. 293–294; Utshintsha and the Rainbow, pp. 294–295; Umnyama, p. 295
- 02
Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus — Three separately credited rainbow accounts
HenryCallaway, Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, VolumeI, Springvale,Natal:JohnA.Blair1868; bilingual Princeton scan. Complete selected English290–295/318–320 read; original290/293/295/320 visually inspected. Individual attributed accounts distinguished from editorial speculation and adjacent signatures.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, in Their Own Words, volume I
HenryCallaway, Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, VolumeI, Springvale,Natal:JohnA.Blair1868; bilingual Princeton scan. Complete selected English290–295/318–320 read; original290/293/295/320 visually inspected. Individual attributed accounts distinguished from editorial speculation and adjacent signatures.
- Uguaise reports the bow as a sign of clearing weather, then describes popular accounts of a sheep-like umnyama dwelling in pools, drinking where the bow reaches earth and attacking bathers. A separate diviner association concerns a return from the pool with coloured clay and snakes.
The Queen’s Bow, complete printed pp.293–294; Uguaise signature294
- Utshintsha describes a rainbow reaching his garden and dazzling his eyes, followed by his fleeing and later eruption. He questions the reported causal explanation and explicitly says he saw neither the snake nor sheep that others associate with the bow. The closing adds a reported diviner association.
Utshintsha and the Rainbow, complete printed pp.294–295; UtshintshaMguni signature295
- Ujojo says he hears old men describe the rainbow as a sheep emerging from great pools and resting on rocks under clouded skies. The account associates its encounter with eruption and a requested rainbow-doctor.
This is a historical belief report. The source’s fear and initiation accounts are not medical or natural-history facts; no ceremonial wording or practical instructions copied. The narrator’s uncertainty and denied animal sightings are retained. Callaway’s explanatory note reports a skin condition without proving rainbow causation; his Dahomey/Burton comparison is not merged into this local account. Explicit old-men hearsay, distinct from Utshintsha’s experience and Uguaise’s account. No scientific species identification or universal regional belief is claimed.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Attributed primary account with translation; digitized bilingual editionCallaway bilingual edition — The Queen’s Bow, pp. 293–294; Utshintsha and the Rainbow, pp. 294–295; Umnyama, p. 295Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical text facsimileUmnyama in Callaway’s Rainbow Accounts: documentary text witness, Callaway 1868, printed page 295; documentary source-page facsimile
Exact Umnyama heading and Ujojo Sosibo rainbow account, including the sheep emerging from the pool; separate preceding account ends above. Individually inspected original bilingual Zulu/English scanned page; documentary text, no creature illustration claimed. Physical edition 1868; translator/editor distinguished from traditional narrators. Public-domain publication and expired Callaway lifetime.
