WITCH-DOCTORS AMULKTS. 319 



mainder of the animal, of course, being appropriated to the 

 sorcerer's own stomach. A few days afterward the wizard 

 returned, and cut some small holes in the abdomen of the pa- 

 tient, on which a small snake escaped, then a lizard, numer- 

 ous other animals following. 



To become a witch-doctor of any importance, a person is 

 required to be instructed by one previously well versed in the 

 mysteries of the black art. He must begin his lessons by 

 swallowing animal poison, be bitten by venomous reptiles, or 

 have poison inoculated into his body. A cap, a handker- 

 chief, or any sort of clothing worn by such a person until it 

 has become perfectly saturated with filth is considered the 

 most infallible cure for all kinds of diseases, poisonous bites, 

 &c. On emergences a corner of this treasure is washed, and 

 the dirty water thus produced is given to the patient, beast 

 or man, to drink. The chief Amral assured me that he 

 possessed a cap of this kind with which he had effected innu- 

 merable cures. " It is sure," he said, " to cause relief when 

 nothing else is of any avail." The witch-doctors have also 

 other disgusting methods of effecting cures. 



Like most of the tribes in Southern Africa, the Nama- 

 quas have great faith in amulets, which consist, as usual, 

 of the teeth and claws of lions, hyaenas, and other wild 

 beasts, pieces of wood, bone, dried flesh and fat, roots of 

 plants, &c. 



When a chief died, it was formerly customary to call the 

 whole tribe together, and to give a grand feast in honor of 

 the occasion. The fat, and all the choice parts of the slaugh- 

 tered animals, were preserved for the son of the deceased, who 

 was to succeed his father in the chieftainship.* The raw fat 

 was placed on his head, and worn until it became dry, when 



* After a great hunt, it was also the custom to reserve for the chief 

 the best pieces of the different kinds of game which had been killed, 

 such as the breast of the eland, the hump of the rhinoceros, and so 

 forth, the rest being divided among the tribe. 



