196 THROUGH ANGOLA 



There are certain spirits like our elves and 

 fairies, which the hunters specially consult, as 

 they are forest imps, but I was unable to discover 

 the difference between them and the universally 

 feared spirits. The spirits of evil people may come 

 back to haunt the forest and river, the village 

 and field, where they lived when in the flesh, and 

 their presence dominates and terrorizes the life of 

 the African savage. These evil spirits represent 

 not only the evil dead, whom they once animated, 

 they may also represent special ills, such as various 

 diseases, which are even given the names of evil 

 spirits. The spirit of the evil hunter may cause 

 evil in hunting, that of the fisherman in fishing, 

 of the husbandman to crops, and so on, and the 

 sacrifice must be animal or fish or produce as the 

 case may be, and be placed in forest, river, or fielol.. 

 These spirits can be seen by the witch doctors 

 but only heard by the layman ; at least I have 

 never met any one but a witch doctor who said 

 he had seen one ; and the description of these 

 spirits was, as can be imagined, very conflicting 

 and^absurd. 



. No native will go alone into the forest at night, 

 and even when in the house they will cower and 

 refuse to look up if they believe they hear a ghost 

 w r alking about them or crying out. This terror 

 is, of course, taken full advantage of by the 

 clever and unscrupulous witch doctor, or his 

 imitators bent on theft. 



. "Spirits, being evil, are feared, and being feared 

 must be propitiated. Such propitiation is carried 

 out bv means of charms and amulets, called 



