IN AFRICAN FOREST AND JUNGLE 



people met, and he drank the ' mboundou ' before 

 them, and after drinking it he became possessed of 

 the power of divination, and told them that Igala 

 and Yienoo through witchcraft had taken the shape 

 of leopards and eaten up the three people, and that 

 Igala had taken the shape of an elephant and trampled 

 the man. 



" There was a great uproar amongst the people when 

 they heard this. They went to the home of Igala 

 and Yienoo and brought them to the village. They 

 had to drink the ' mboundou * to prove their inno- 

 cence in the presence of all the people. Makoonga 

 made the potation, drank part of it first, and then 

 handed the bowl to Igala and Yienoo. They had 

 hardly tasted it when they fell on the ground. That 

 was the proof that they were guilty, and the people 

 surrounded them and cut their bodies into a hundred 

 pieces and then threw them into the river. Oh, 

 Oguizi," exclaimed Rogala, in concluding his story, 

 " often witchcraft comes into people without their 

 wishing it and against their will." 



After this narrative he untied "our canoe and we 

 continued our ascent of the river. After st long pull 

 he suddenly headed our canoe towards the shore, and 

 after passing under the branches of trees that almost 

 J:ouched the water we came to a path which no one 



28 



