Native Beliefs. 215 



Should a person be accused of a bad action and he or 

 she feels guiltless of it, an instant offer is made to undergo 

 the boiling water ordeal, which consists in heating a bowl 

 or pot of water over a hot fire until it boils. Then a stone 

 is thrown into the bowl and the accused picks it out and 

 puts it in, several times, in the view of witnesses. 



If nothing happens the person is held to be guiltless, but 

 if the flesh is burnt or scalded, this is considered a sign of 

 guilt. My informant averred that no innocent person can 

 possibly be burnt by the hot water ; and he asked me to 

 accuse him of something he could not have done, and he 

 would prove it. However, I did not feel quite heartless 

 enough at the moment to experiment in this way. The 

 effect of the ordeal is heightened if the accused undergoes 

 the trial in a hot sunlight, it is usually performed after 

 the sun has set. I said that the accused person put some- 

 thing on the hand which prevented scalding, but this my 

 informant strenuously denied. 



Some natives accuse others of carrying poison under the 

 finger nails which they use at times against their enemies, 

 and they find this a convenient way of transporting it and 

 keeping it secretly. Many natives put charms round their 

 necks or wrists as a guard against Mfiti (witchcraft), or as 

 a charm against danger in different shapes and forms. One 

 will have a charm against illness, another against an 

 enemy, another against lions, another against snakes, and 

 so on. 



This reminds me of the witch doctor's charm against the 

 white man's bullets in the Matabele Rebellion. His charm 

 did not work, for he died ; but had he had time for an 

 explanation he would doubtless have stated that he had 

 brought the wrong charm out that day, and that he had 

 another at home which was infallible. 



The Angoni believe that the spirits of wild animals can 

 enter into human beings, and when a man-eating lion is 

 killing the natives they will say that is So-and-so who died, 

 and is now tormenting the people who are left by killing 

 and eating them. An elephant I shot which fell in a 



