202 THE MEDICINE MAN IN NATAL AND ZULULAND. 



last inoculation, and his own remedies, applied just before he 

 died, were powerless. The facts as given seem to be well 

 verified from different sources where I have made enquiry, but 

 1 cannot personally vouch for them. 



The gall and other portions of the snake are an essential 

 ingredient in the cure, and preferably they should be obtained 

 from the identical snake which inflicted the injury. The snake 

 doctor, howe\xr, has a stock-in-trade to draw from if the 

 assailant lias escaped. Other ingredients are compounded from 

 roots and shrubs which are well known. Tradition, however, 

 ascribes a secret remedy known only to the few, and discovered, 

 according to legend, by observing an antidote which a snake itself- 

 when bitten by one of its species, v.dll have recourse to. 



Each class of medicine is distinguished by a generic name, 

 according to the use for which it is intended, and not dependent 

 on the genus to wdiich it may in science belong. There is. for 

 instance, the species known as aiuakainbi, consisting solely of 

 "green" medicines of the vegetable kingdom — not the dried 

 substances, whethtr animal, vegetable or mineral, which the 

 doctor carries with him. The medicine man will make use of 

 these, but they are essential !}• well-known household remedies 

 used as simple correctives by the Natives without medical sanc- 

 tion. The imbisa, on the other hand, is prepared by "the doctor, 

 and is the name given to many varieties of herbs which require 

 to be boiled and used for purifying purposes, and for chest com- 

 plaints. Isiconco denotes much the same sort of medicine, but is 

 not boiled, and has other substances added to it, the whole being 

 mixed together in water. Amakiibulo is the name given to the 

 medicaments invariably used immediately after a death has 

 occurred by the relations of the deceased. It is compoimded 

 chiefly of roots and bark, and must 'be taken fasting. Its chief 

 object is to fortify those who partake of it, and to protect them 

 from the evils that might otherwise ensue. Its effect would be 

 nullified or weakened if food were eaten after the death had 

 taken place : Isindiyendiya is a legal draught — that is to say, it 

 i-; used by a litigant before going to Court in order to secure 

 success if he has a good case, or to cloud the mind of the Court 

 if the issue is regarded as doubtful, in the hope that law and 

 justice, from the opposing standpoint, may not prevail. Refer- 

 ence has already been made to some of these distinctive classes 

 of medicine — the i)itclcci, or sparkling mixture; the iiufingo, or 

 j)ersonal medicine 'for protection against evil ; uniuti oninyama 

 (black medicine) or umsisi for charming away evil, and the 

 ■umiiti omhlopc (white medicine), for removing the effect of the 

 black. One other only will be mentioned — the nmkando, con- 

 sisting chiefly of minerals, its virtue being to obtain an ascendancy 

 over others, and to circumvent their attempt at supremacy. Some 

 of these medicines, particularly those of a purifying nature (as 

 for instance, when a man has killed another) nnist be taken only 

 in one way — by the process known as uknncinda (dipjjing the 

 fingers into the mixture, and thus conveying it to the mouth). 



