to it. When a king died from an hereditary throne, at 
least one of his sons must have submitted twice, must 
have been willing to undergo the trial for a third time, 
and must have given proof of his power as a great witch 
doctor, or the throne was declared vacant. In the rare 
case in which anenthroned king was called to submit, he 
was usually allowed to take the poison by proxy, i.e., a 
slave was sent instead. 
Before the occupation by the French, almost all of the 
villages of Cazamance and the Balantes held mass ordeals 
each year to purge their societies of any sorcerers or 
criminals. To participate in, and to triumph over, the 
ordeal was a matter of great social prestige. Even those 
who had left the country tried to return to join their 
families in the ceremonies. ‘Their faith was so great that, 
if a person tried to escape the ordeal, he was caught, 
deprived of his belongings, forced to leave the country, 
and branded a public disgrace for the rest of his life. 
In order to participate, it was necessary to pay a cer- 
tain fee, which was usually beyond the means of the 
average native. Their faith in the ordeal, however, 
prompted the poor to go to work for the whites of the 
area, until they had the requisite amount. Other forms 
of payment might be rice, silk, loincloths, or some other 
commodity. A middle-class person would often give a 
nanny-goat, and a wealthy native would bring a bull as 
his gift. In modern days, before the ordeal was outlawed, 
the privilege to participate cost three francs. 
This payment had to be made to the medicine man 
before the ceremonies. For this type of ordeal, that per- 
son was usually of the Diola race, and was brought to 
the village especially for the ceremony. The pay was 
split three ways: one-third went to the medicine man 
who officiated; one-third was given to the village chief; 
and one-third was sent to the chief of a village totally 
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