7!)2 XiLOTiC NEGROES 



in order to kill liiin. If ;i jx-rsoii is thought to be bewitched, the medicine 

 man conccrut'd is caught and forced to remove the spell, afterwards being 

 jmnished bv a fine. This kind of witchcraft, however, is not thought to 

 he verv serious. There is a deeper magic called ''jamkingo." Amongst 

 the (iemi tribe this is practised bv the blacksmiths. It is of the nature 

 of a secret societv, and no doul)t means secret poisoning. They have a 

 form of ordeal called "kiviri." A small pot of water is placed on the fire. 

 .\ little -'wimbi" Hour and a bit of "medicine" are put into the water. 

 If the water boils over, the man is guilty; if not, he is innocent. Another 

 ordeal is as follows : A gourd basin with a large hole cut in the bottom is 

 ) (laced on a flat stone. Water is then jioured into the calabash, the bottom 

 of which being, of course, not close-fitting to the stone, would permit ordinarily 

 of a leakage. But the medicine man who attends puts into the bottom 

 of the calabash crushed-up leaves of a kind of mimosa which, for a time 

 at least, stop the leakage and enable the calabash to be filled u[i with 

 water, the retention of the water by the calabash proving the man to be 

 innocent. Another ordeal is arranged in this way : Dry flour is given to the 

 suspected person. If innocent, he can swallow it : if he is unable to 

 moisten the flour with his saliva and swallow it, he is shown to be guilty. 



As regards omens : If a bird sings on the left-hand side as a man 

 is starting on a journey, the journey, if for war. will be unlucky ; but if 

 it be merely a peaceful visit, it will be a fortunate one. If the bird sings 

 on the right-hand side, it is a good omen for war, but a bad one for an 

 ordinary visit. If a cat crosses the road from right to left, it is a good 

 omen ; if from left to right, bad. If a rat is seen on the road, and it 

 runs along the road ahead of the man. it is a good omen ; but if it crosses 

 the road from one side to the other, it is an unlucky sign. If on a 

 journey a man strikes the little toe of either foot, it is a ^■ery bad sign ; 

 if he strikes the big toe, it is propitious. If the eldest child cf a man 

 is a boy. and the man sets out to travel, it will be an unlucky sign if 

 the first person he meets is also a man. On the other hand, if his eldest 

 child is a girl, and he meets a woman when he starts on a journey, that 

 is likewise a bad sign. They profess to be able to foretell events by 

 divining, and the divination is exercised on the entrails of an ox or sheep. 

 They are a good deal given to prophesying. The chief Odua when quite 

 a lad ])rophesied the coming of the white man. and this at a time when 

 no white man had entered the country. They believe in rain-makers. 



r)n the occasion of a hirth the infant, if a boy, is kept inside tlie house 

 for four days ; if a girl, for three days. When a birth takes place, the 

 female neighbours attend, and a goat is killed for the mother and the 

 other women. No man is allowed in the hut until three or four days 

 have elapsed. TIk- father of the child does not eat or sleep again in the 



