XATIVK SL'I'KKSTITIOX AND CKIMi:. 253 



endeavours have not yet sufficed to dispel tliis beliet'. scarcely in- 

 deed to pierce it. Not for a moment wt)uld it be suggested that 

 the teachings of Christianity have had a negligible result. ( )n 

 the contrary, it is to these we chiefl\' look for the gradual elim- 

 ination of the c\il. Natives who ha\'e conic directly under reli- 

 gious instruction may find it difficult to subjugate their ingrained 

 fear of wizardry, but they learn to kee]) it under control, it is 

 pleasing t(^ note that it is seldom tli.it an avowed!}' Christian 

 native allows his old su):)erstitions to lead him into crime. 



Although it is the Natives of Xatal and Zululand to wli mi 

 reference throughout is intended, they do not stand a]xirt from 

 other Bantu tril)es in their fear of witchcraft. Those resirlent 

 in the other Provinces, not excluding the Cape, with its older 

 civilization, are under the same thraldom. \'iewed in retrosjiect 

 with the dark centttries, when Euro])e groaned under the yoke 

 of witchcraft, it would be remarkable were it otherwise. 



For the purpose of illustrating the direct incentive to crime 

 which superstition supplies, reference will be made to certain 

 cimcrete cases which have come under ni\- personal observation; 

 and in order to show their present-day application, thev will be 

 confined, tinless in one or two instances otherwise stated, to exents 

 which have taken place within the last five or six years. No 

 exhaustive inquiry will be attempted ; crimes of a minor nature 

 dtie to superstition will not be touched U])on ; and indirect in- 

 stances, founded onl}' on suspicion, will be avoided. The facts 

 given will be those substantiated by judicial ])roceedings, and 

 the cases cited restricted to tw'o distinct examples — the hunting 

 to his doom of a supposed iniitokafi. whether witch or wizard; 

 and human sacrifices having for their object the ac(|uisition of 

 certain portions of the body for medicinal or other i)urposes. 



The reputation of being possessed of the powers of witch- 

 craft is not one which any Native will voluntarily seek to ac(|uire. 

 He knows tc^o well the fate which awaits an evil-doer ; he does 

 not. even for the sake of notoriety, or the enjoyment of a tem- 

 pr)rary ascendency, fearfully accorded him in the minds of his 

 fellows, dabl)le in sorceries which would encourage a susi)icion 

 that he is in league with the s])irits of evil. It is, ])erhaps, un- 

 necessary to emphasize that an umtakati must not be confounded 

 with the witch doctor or diviner, whose function it is to expose 

 him. and who, while being credited with mysterious and occult 

 ])owers. is recognised, not as an evil-doer, but as a benefactor, 

 by aid of whom protection is secured, llis energies are directed 

 against the uiiilakati ; with disastrous conse(|uences to the man 

 he smells out. His office is illegal, but he is seldom brought to 

 justice: the lovaltv of those who consult him is usually proof 

 against in(|uirv. and he continues to fiourisli in the land. 



But little is required to engender suspicion that a person is 

 an "evil-doer" in the sense used by .\atives. A peculiarity of 

 temperament, an idiosyncrasy of which he may be ignorant, a 

 tendencv to .solitude, is sufficient. And so in silence he is watched, 



