XOSA RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS. 423 



to settle on a house, an ox must be killed to avert the death of an 

 inmate. 



Twins. 



When twins, anm-zvele, were born, a couple of euphorbia trees, 

 iun-hlonflo, were planted near the kraal, and surrounded by a 

 small enclosure, i-tonto; the health and growth of the twins 

 depended on, and were coincident with, those of the trees. Twins- 

 however young, were always able to discover each other's where- 

 abouts. Twins were held in great repute as pruners, aha-teni, of 

 pumpkin-gardens ; a garden pruned by them would prodtice a 

 large crop. When a twin, is going away frc^ii home to work, he 

 exchanges his garment for the time with his brother for luck. 



Varia. 



Some Kaffir tribes, notably the Tembus. cut oft the first 

 joint of the little finger of girls. The finger-joint so cut oflf, isi- 

 shiinqe sommve, is evidenth^ of the nature of a sacrifice offered 

 to the imi-shologu, that the rest of the body may be in health. 



In olden times, before a meal was ])artaken of, a sma-11 

 jjortion of the food in the pot was taken u]> on the porridge 

 stick, i-pini, and given to children and hel]jless old people. This 

 was a custom of apparently religious significance. 



Blood, i-gazi, from a wound, or a cloth that had wrapped 

 a bleeding wound, must not be burned, but must be buried under 

 the earth ; otherwise, the w^ounded person or animal would suffer 

 great pain before the wound healed, if it ever did heal. 



The hair, i-mvele, when cut, must be buried or ])urnt, not 

 left lying about or thrown away, lest a wizard picked it uj) and 

 used it to bewitch, or the birds picked it up and its owner became 

 half-witted. 



Dog-bites, ukit-liimu kwenja, were literally treated with " a 

 hair of the dog that bit you." A few^ hairs of the dog were taken 

 and burnt, and the ashes rubbed into the wound, and all was well. 

 The bite of the millipede, i-songololo, was treated by bruising the 

 head of the creature, mixing it with water, and applying. 



An itching hand, isandla saiii sivababa (my hand itches), was 

 a sign that its owner was about to shake hands with a visitor. A 

 spider hanging in the doorway, isigcau sijinga cmnyango, was 

 also the sign of the early arrival of either a visitor or a letter. 



Griping of the bowels, and colic, were attributed to an imagi- 

 nary beetle, with long, pointed teeth, i-ghonya, which gnawed the 

 vitals. The doctors pretended to extract it by applying a poultice 

 of cowdung. A kind of snake, too, um-ruia, or u-via-iiilainbo. 

 was believed to be eating up the insides of people who were sick. 

 When a child or grown-up person sneezed, thnJa, the niother 

 or a stander-by would .say. Citi, or cifi iikule, shinmci ukule. 

 (sneeze and grow big) ; or, nw-kuhe cost (may it be well), or, as 

 we should say. Good luck to you! Sneezing in a child was a 

 sign of health. 



