XOSA RELIGION AND SUI'KKSTITIONS. 421 



soniethin<^ done amiss or left undone, i)eoi)le entering- the sick- 

 man's hut would say. " Camagit ! Makubc held Makitbc co^! 

 Ma\ikukangcle imiiiyaiiya yakowenu ucyaniatsluncc! (Mercy, or 

 propitiation ! May there be alleviation ! May it be well ! May 

 thine own ancestors and those of the chiefs look upon thee). 

 But it m^ust be noted that the living- were addressed in a similar 

 way. In trying- to conciliate a displeased chief, they exclaimed : 

 Canuigit, mhlc, aknhlanga liingehlanga ! (Re propitiated, or, be 

 pacified, beautiful one; no evil has happened now that has not 

 happened before). And in approaching the witch-doctor with, 

 luipleasant or searching questions, they began: C'aiiiagii, ge.ca! 

 (Be pacified, frenzied one!) The word now used for pray, 

 ta)ida:::a (like coming, or, keep coming), meant originally to pray 

 for mercy or for life to the chief. If accessible to the request, he 

 was fanda.zcka (entreatable). 



Sacrifice. 



It was to the ancestral spirits that sacrihce was usually 

 ottered. The sacrifice of a beast, in-komo, was believed to be 

 demanded to appease them: if they appeared to a man in his 

 dreams (i.e., if he dreamt about them) ; if sickness broke out in 

 his family or his herd; of if rain was withheld and drought 

 prevailed. This sacrifice was called i-dini. It is described in 

 detail under this word by Dr. Kropf, in an article of 450 words, 

 to which you are referred. The details closely resemble those of 

 sacrifice among the Semites. Among things used in offering a 

 burnt .'sacrifice were chii)s and branches of nmtafi (sneezewood), 

 which is specially inflammable; leaves of the kinderbesje, or wild 

 fuchsia { imv-binca) and fronds of the cycad, or Kaffir bread- 

 fruit, um^panga. 



To sacrifice was iiku-binga ; the sacrifice iiui-bntgo. or i-dini : 

 the animal sacrificed, isi-biiigo; the man on whose behalf it was 

 offered, and who provided the beast, nm-bingi (the sacrificer); 

 the priest-doctor, who offered the sacrifice, iini-hi)!grlcli (the 

 sacrificer on behalf of). 



Sacrifice was made on behalf of a child on the day of its 

 ■mother's emergence from seclusion, imi-pmno, after cJiildbirth. 

 It was offered by the head of the kraal, or someone deputed by 

 him, not by the priest-doctor. 



Sacrifice was made also to the river-god when anyone had 

 been drowned, or was in danger of drowning, or when stock were 

 carried away by the .river. This was done by slaughtering a 

 beast and throwing it wholly in. The river-god was supposed to 

 be hungry. 



Lightning. 



Lightning was believed to be caused by the lightning-bird, 

 im-pnndnhi (a word apparently the same as iiii-pitndii. fat 

 breech), or bird of heaven, intak'ezidu, which set its fat on fire 

 and sent it down as lightning. The lightning-bird was fond of 

 milk, accordingly the doctor put poisonous herbs into a bowl of 



