Chap. IX. RESULT OF THE ORDEAL. 177 



the body and involuntary discharge — and the first 

 intended victim had escaped. The same soon after 

 happened to the second and to the third. They 

 gradually came back to their former state, but ap- 

 peared very much exhausted. Some people never get 

 over the effects of drinking the mboundou, although 

 they pass the ordeal without giving way. They linger 

 for a long time in a sickly condition, and then die. 

 The trial was over, and the doctor closed the cere- 

 mony by himself drinking an enormous quantity of 

 the poison, with a similar result to that which we had 

 witnessed in the young men, only that he appeared 

 quite tipsy ; in his wild and incoherent sayings, 

 whilst under the influence of the drink, he stated 

 that the bewitchers of Mayolo and the bringers of 

 the plague did not belong to the village, a deci- 

 sion which was received with great acclamation. 

 Mayolo was rejoiced that the wizards or witches 

 did not belong to his own people, and the whole 

 people were wild with joy : guns were fired, and the 

 evening passed with beating of drums, singing, and 

 dancing. 



To protect the village from the wizards who might 

 enter it from the neighbouring villages, and who had 

 been accused as the cause of Mayolo's troubles, the 

 doctor, accompanied by the whole of the people, went 

 to the paths leading to Mayolo from other villages, 

 and planted sticks at intervals across them, connecting 

 the sticks by strong woody creepers, and hanging on 

 the ropes leaves from the core of the crowns of palm- 

 trees. It is a recognised law among these people 

 that no stranger can come within these lines. When 



