SUPERSTITIONS. 255 



they were brought in by natives on their way to 

 the Cape. 



All Kafirs seem to have one strange custom 

 in common that of spitting after inhaling a 

 bad smell. Those hereabouts too always try to 

 spit on a dog who barks at them, the super- 

 stition being that if the saliva touches the dog 

 it cannot bite. There is also some superstition 

 about digging a grave for a white man, which 

 they very much dislike doing, some also object- 

 ing to carry the body ; but I trust this objection 

 will not be felt when my horse is buried, as 

 when I leave I am resolved that a merciful 

 bullet shall prevent his ever falling again into 

 cruel hands. No doubt many other supersti- 

 tions are held, but they have not reached my 

 ears. 



The fetish man is employed here, as in other 

 places, to smell out thieves or to foretell the 

 result of a journey, which he does by throwing 

 about a number of little bones ; and he is also 

 called upon to pray for rain after a long drought. 



On these occasions a long procession of the 



