656 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tic seizure, which here, as among most other uncivilized commu- 

 nities throughout the world, is regarded as the effect of a god, or 

 devil, having entered the body. It is perhaps needless to say 

 that the oracle is nearly always ambiguous. " If Danh-gbi be 

 propitious, you will attain your object/' is a reply commonly 

 heard. If the applicant should fail, then the priest naturally 

 explains that Danh-gbi was not propitious ; perhaps he had been 

 offended by something, or perhaps the offerings were insufficient ; 

 and if he should succeed, then the priest claims the result as being 

 entirely due to the intervention of the god. In this respect, it 

 will be observed, the practice of the Ewe priest does not materi- 

 ally differ from that of the expounders of higher religions. The 

 sacred dance is always performed to the sound of the sacred 

 drums, on which is played a rhythm peculiar to the god. The 

 whole ceremony of " possession " is exceedingly curious, but for 

 further details I must refer the reader to Chapter X of my Tshi- 

 speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, where will be found a descrip- 

 tion which applies in all essential particulars, equally well to the 

 Ewe-speaking peoples. 



The Danh-gbi we " House of Danh-gbi " or Python Temple 

 at Whydah, which is the most important of its kind, is a circular 

 structure with walls of " swish " or kneaded mud, and a conical 

 roof thatched with grass, a privilege accorded to shrines and tem- 

 ples only, all other buildings being required to be roofed with 

 palm thatch. It stands in a small rectangular inclosure near the 

 center of the town, and around it are the calabashes and shallow 

 earthen vessels containing water, palm wine, palm oil, cowries, 

 fowls, and other offerings. A few sacred trees stand in the in- 

 closure, and long strips of white cotton fluttering from bamboo 

 poles indicate the sacred character of the spot, for white is the 

 color belonging to the vodu. The pythons, usually from fifty to 

 eighty in number, live in the temple, but have free exit, holes 

 being made in the mud walls to enable them to pass in and out. 

 They are allowed to wander anywhere about the town, and are 

 only carried back to the temple when they happen to enter some 

 profane locality, such as the yard of a European trader. In such 

 a case a priest goes to fetch the god, prostrates himself before it, 

 apologizes for the liberty he is about to take, and then, raising it 

 gently in his arms, carries it home. When a lay native meets 

 one of these snake deities in his path, he prostrates himself in 

 front of it, rubs his forehead on the earth, and covers himself 

 with dust which he throws on his head and shoulders with both 

 hands. " You are my father you are my mother ! " he cries. 

 " My head belongs to you. Be propitious to me." 



Opposite to the DaSh-gbi we are the schools or seminaries 

 where the Jcosio live, and where any child who may chance to 



