ABSTRACT
The Ngoni(sometimes spelt Mangone on the old maps) are known by a wide variety of names, some taken from the name of a leader or one of the groups separated from the main body, e.g. Batuta, some pejorative and applied by the peoples whom they raided, e.g. on the west side of Lake Nyasa, Sinyama (wild beasts),! or Zowa,2 on the north-west, by the Bena, Wa-Poma, or by the Kinga, Wa-Yoya. 3 They were frequently called Zulus, Mazite (Mazitu), Maviti (Mafite, Mafiti), Manitu, on either side of the lake. On the east, the group at Songea is known as Magwangara (Makwangara, Magwangwala), said to refer to their head-dress of crows' feathers,3 or WaMachonde (Machendi).4 The Portuguese called them Landins (Landeens), which originally meant 'courier' and was applied by the Portuguese to all tribes of Zulu origin or under Zulu influence, and especially the Tonga tribes of the south whose dialects are at times called Landin.5
