308 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



November, do this service for him bj any chance be absent, he then per- 

 1874. forms these duties for himself. 



No Warua allow others to witness their eating or drinking, 

 being doubly particular with regard to members of the oppo- 

 site sex ; and on pombe being offered, I have frequently seen 

 them request that a cloth might be held up to hide them while 

 drinking. 



Their religion is principally a mixture of fetichism and idola- 

 try. All villages have devil-huts and idols, before which offer- 

 ings of pombe, grain, and meat are placed, and nearly every 

 man wears a small figure round his neck or arm. Many ma- 

 gicians also move about with idols which they pretend to con- 

 sult for the benefit of their clients ; and some, being clever ven- 

 triloquists, manage to drive a flourishing business. 



But the great centre of their religion is an idol named Kun- 

 gwe a Banza, which is supposed to represent the founder of 

 Kasongo's family, and to be all-powerful for good and evil. 

 This idol is kept in a hut situated in a cleai-ing amidst dense 

 jungle, and always has a sister of the reigning chief as a wife, 

 who is known by the title of Mwali a Panga. 



Kound the jungle live a number of priests, who guard the sa- 

 cred grove from profane intruders, and receive offerings for the 

 idol, and also a large portion of the tribute paid to Kasongo. 

 But, although they hold this official jjosition, and are thus inti- 

 mately connected with all the rites and ceremonies pertaining 

 to the deity, they are not j)ermitted to set eyes upon the idol 

 itself, that privilege being reserved for its wife and the reigning 

 sovereign, who consults it on momentous occasions, and makes 

 offerings to it upon his accession, and after gaining any great 

 victory over his adversaries. 



Notwithstanding my efforts, I could not discover the exact 

 position of this idol's habitation, but am perfectly convinced of 

 its existence, as all the accounts I received were precisely simi- 

 lar on all material points. As a means of testing its truthful- 

 ness, more than once I tried the experiment of saying "Kungwe 

 a Banza" close behind a man, Avhen he would jump as if he 

 were shot, and look round with every outward sign of terror, 

 as though afraid that the dreaded deity were close at his lieels 

 ready to carry hiai off. From the nature of the natives, it Avas 



