406 IIAXTU MKTIHJDS OF D[VI X ATiON . 



crowned by inverted cowrie shells. The bowl was tilled with 

 (water?) and a number of seeds, in the one case, and a pair 

 of naviculate wooden buttons, in the other, were cast upon the 

 surface, accompanied, presumably, by appropriate formulse. and 

 an answer divined from the position they assumed. Each bowl 

 was accompanied by a set of astragali and tablets. 



This method of divination finds many parallels in the his- 

 tory of magic. It bears a striking resemblance to the modern 

 practice of divination by tea-leaves, and if " The Golden Wheel " 

 said to have been used by Cagliostro-** were transferred to a 

 bowl the likeness would be perfect. It also reminds us of " a 

 widespread practice of divination by oil among the ancient Baby- 

 lonians, of which we have evidence in the reign of Urukagina, 

 King of Lachish (circa 2800 B.C.). The procedure consisted in 

 l)ouring oil upon the surface of watc, the different forms taken 

 bv the oil on striking the water indicating the course events 

 WH;uld take."-" 



The possession of a pair of these bowls l)y a native witch- 

 doctor is explained by the following ceremony, which is per- 

 formed during the training of a candidate in the art of divination. 

 Two qualified witch-doctors take up positions about half-a-mile 

 apart, and out of sight of one another. Each is provided with 

 a wooden bowl filled with beer. The bones ( astragali and 

 tablets) are thrown in the bowl by one of the " doctors." but 

 the position in which they fall cannot be seen, as they are hidden 

 by the beer. The candidate then carries the bowl to the other 

 " doctor," who consults his own tablets (or bowl?), and foretells 

 the position of the set in the bowl of his companion. The 

 accuracy of the Ngaka's forecast is then proved by carefully 

 decanting the beer in the first bowl. 



The Corcyrjean bowl of Dodona was probably regarded with 

 s]:)ecial veneration, as it combined three dilTerent methods of 

 divination — astragali, the bowl, and " sounds of ])rophetic im- 

 port." The use of astragali and bowls by Bantu diviners has 

 already been described ; it remains, therefore, to notice a method 

 as yet but little known to Europeans, namely, the 



" Dfkoman.x," 

 or divination by drums. 



Frobenius-'" describes many interesting customs relating \i^ 

 the use of drums in Africa, but he says nothing about divina- 

 tion. .'\s far as I am aware, the only non-Bantu i:)eo])le who use 

 drums for this ])urpose are the peo])le of Lapland and the North - 

 East Coast of Russia.'" Drum divination in those countries is 

 a species of sortilege akin to the Bantu "bowl" system, and in 



""Manual of CartcmancN " (Win. Ridn- and Son"), Sq. and Fron- 

 tispiece. 



^"Hastings, " Kncyclopa-dia of Roligi'.)n and Etliic.'^," 4. 783. 



""Leo FrolK'nius, "The Childhood of Man" ( Secley & Co.). 



''^Tornaus, c|Uoted liy F.nnemoscr, "Mist, of Majjic,"' 2, oS ; see also 

 " iMK-y:]. Hritt.," gth ed.. 14, 307. 



