254 XATi\ !•: su i'i:kstiti().\ and crimk. 



and suspicion is crystallized into certainty at the first untoward 

 occurrence. Or it may be that there transpires some dread 

 omen, or some natural mischance not attributed to nattire but to 

 witchcraft. No one in particular is suspected ; the secret enemy 

 remains unknown. Recourse is then had to the diviner, wh;) is 

 expected not only to reveal this enemy, but, if his incantations 

 take place at the kraal where the mischance has occin-red, to 

 disclose also the means by which the evil spell has been wrought. 

 A search in the vicinit\'. or a little digging coupled with a sleight 

 of hand, will unearth a jjiece of old rag or bone, or stmie other 

 substance through which, as is ai)])arent to all, the mischief has 

 been worked. The person smelt cnit under these circtmistances 

 will probably be one on whom no suspicion has hitherto re-^ted. 

 }?is or her fate in the old days would be sharp and simimary, 

 subject only, and not always, to the necessary authority being 

 received from the King or ruling Chief. In these enlightened 

 days such authority is dis})ensed with; retribution may l)e swift, 

 or it ma\- Ije delayed possibly for years. At best, social ostr? • 

 cism is immediate, but once stispect, always suspect. Cumula- 

 tive evidence is gathered from one source or another; each un- 

 usual occurrence strengthens the chain; and the end is certain. 

 'I'his is not, in my judgment, an exaggeration. The death 

 of the sus])ect ma\ not take i^lace at the hands of 

 those first aggrieved, but he is a marked man. At his door th'e 

 misfortunes of others are laid ; he is an evil-doer, the enemy of 

 mankind. T.et him take refuge in flight ; this may save him for 

 the moment. Distance will lessen the potency of his magic, and 

 the vengeance of his accusers be averted. But in time his repu- 

 tation will follow him, the reason for his removal be known, and 

 he can count on no security in his m-w environment. ( )nce an 

 umtakati always an umtakati. luich ilisaster since his arrival is 

 traced back to him as its fons et origo ; a new and sinister signi- 

 ficance is assigned to insignificant events, each mysterv ex]:)lained ; 

 he is a man to be rid of. Unaware, i)erhaps himself, of thi> 

 new-born susi)icion, he may have no opportunity of further flight. 

 Many such instances are within my knowledge — in one case 

 where, for his ])rotection, a man mo\ed from one end of .\atal 

 to the other, and li\ed for years in ])eace and goodwill with his 

 neighbours. Then in .^ome way the secret leaked oiu. and it 

 was discovered why he had left his former district. The pre- 

 cautions he had taken to .sever the past were defeated: Nemesis 

 found liini, and the penalty was duly ])aid. 



In contradistinction to a vengeance U)ng deferred ma\- be 

 mentioned a case in which no sporting chance was accorded the 

 victim. The occurrence tot)k ])lace in Zululand about Ave \ears 

 ago. -A native named Magel)eni, had sickness in his kraal, resuh- 

 ing in the death of five per.sons. For .some reason or other, not 

 disclosed, he suspected a neighbour. Baleni. of having caused 

 these deaths l)y means of witchcraft. It is probable a diviner 

 was consulted, and the unfortunate man smelt out, but this was 



