BOtKKi:.] SACRED POWDKR. 515 



in which the principal mail \vas a half- breed Portuguese named Alvez. 

 &quot;On Alvez making his entry lie was mobbed by women, who shrieked 

 and yelled in honor of the event and pelted him with flour.&quot; This was 

 Alvez s own home and all this was a sign of welcome. 1 



Speke describes a young chief wearing on his forehead &quot;antelope 

 horns, stuffed with magic powder to keep off the evil eye.&quot; 2 



After describing an idol, in the form of a man, in a small temple on 

 the. Lower Congo, Stanley says: &quot;The people, appear to have considera 

 ble faith in a whitewash of cassava meal, with which they had sprinkled 

 the fences, posts, and lintels of doors.&quot; 3 



&quot;According to Consul Hutchinson (in his interesting work Impres 

 sions of Western Africa ), the Botikaimon [a medicine-man], previous to 

 the ceremony of coronation, retires into a deep cavern, and there, through 

 the intermediary of a rnkaruka (snake demon), consults the demon 

 Maon. He brings back to the king the message he receives, sprinkles 

 him with a yellow powder called tsheoka, and puts upon his head the 

 hat his father wore. 4 In a note, it is stated that: Tsheoka is a vege 

 table product, obtained, according to Hntchinson, by collecting a creamy 

 coat that is found on the waters at the mouth of some small rivers, 

 evaporating the water, and forming a chalky mass of the residue.&quot; 5 

 Schultze says&quot; that the Cougo negroes &quot;appease the hurricane&quot; by 

 &quot;casting meal into the air.&quot; 



The voudoo ceremonies of the negroes of New Orleans, which would 

 seem to have been transplanted from Africa, include a sprinkling of the 

 congregation with a meal which has been blessed by the head medicine 

 man or conjurer. 



At the feast of Huli, at the vernal equinox (our April fool s day), the 

 Hindu throw a purple powder (abir) upon each other with much sport 

 ive pleasantry. A writer in &quot; Asiatick Eesearches &quot; : says they have the 

 idea of representing the return of spring, which the Romans called 

 &quot;purple.&quot; 



During the month of Phalgoonu, there is a festival in honor of Krishna, 

 when the &quot;Hindus spend the night in singing and dancing and wander 

 ing about the streets besmeared with the dolu (a red) powder, in the 

 daytime carrying a quantity of the same powder about with them, 

 which, with much noise and rejoicing, they throw over the different 

 passengers they may meet in their rambles. Music, dancing, fireworks, 

 singing, and many obscenities take place on this occasion.&quot; 8 



On pages 434-435 of my work, &quot; Scatalogic Kites of all Nations,&quot; are 

 to be found extracts from various authorities in regarn to the Hindu 



1 Cameron, Across Africa, London, 1877, vol. 2. p. 201. 



2 Source of the Nile, London, 1803. pp. 13(1, 259. 



3 Dark Continent, vol. 2. p. 200. 



1 Schultze, Fetichism, New York, 1885, p. 5:). 



5 Ihid.. footnote, page 53. 



6 Ibid., p. 67. 



7 Asiatick Researches, Calcutta, 1805, voL 8, p. 78. 



* Coleman, Mythology of the Hindus, London, 1H32. p. 44. 



