202 THROUGH ANGOLA 



people or tinder a series of arches made by their 

 wands. \Voe betide the ailing wretch should he 

 stumble or fall, for the "casca" has then decided 

 against him ; and those who were once his friends 

 and even relations will fall on him without mercy 

 and hack him to pieces. 



When the slave trade was in force, those 

 found guilty by ordeal were sold as slaves, and 

 quite a number of slaves were obtained in this 

 way, and sent down to the coast towns to be sold 

 to the Portuguese slave dealers. Possibly quite 

 as many slaves were obtained through witch trials 

 as by war and capture ; for as every illness or 

 calamity was considered due to witchcraft, the 

 number of accused was endless. 



The fetish-man has other means of maintaining 

 his sway, and his income, than by " casca" trials : 

 by making and selling charms against every evil, 

 and to ensure good luck. These charms, called 

 " mokeeshoo," are of endless variety shells, seeds, 

 little wooden images, teeth, claws, and horns of 

 various animals. Nearly every child carries a 

 charm ; and expectant mothers, and those who 

 wish for children, wear and trust to them. Besides 

 the charm used on the person, the family or the 

 hut itself may have its fetish, and I have seen 

 little figures, or even pieces of wood, decked out 

 with rags, at the entrance to villages or the paths 

 approaching them. 



Fetish houses are probably more commonly 

 seen in the north than towards the south of Angola. 

 In these miniature huts, built generally near the 

 entrance to villages, and painted in red, white. 



