278 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



such creature as a snake. If a snake should enter a Kafir's hut 

 he concludes that it is possessed by the spirit of a friend or foe. 

 To determine satisfactorily for what intent the spirit has visited 

 him, he takes a stick, and covering his face with one hand, lays 

 the stick gently over the back of the serpent. If it should not 

 show any sign of anger or resentment, he is assured it is the spirit 

 of a beloved dead ancestor. If this is the case, he instantly goes 

 forth and sacrifices an ox, if he has one to spare. If not, a goat 

 or two serves the purpose. He argues that the spirit of a dead 

 ancestor would not take the trouble to visit the earth and appear 

 to him, unless as a warning to be more careful in future, and treat 

 him with greater respect by offering sacrifices more frequently 

 to him. 



If the serpent should show irritability or anger, the Kafir makes 

 up his mind it is the spirit of an enemy who is intent upon doing 

 him some grave hurt. He therefore abandons the hut, at least 

 for a period. As a consequence of this belief, Kafirs, as a rule, 

 have a strong dislike to killing snakes in the vicinity of their 

 dwellings, for fear they may be offering an insult to an ancestor, 

 who will revenge himself upon them. If the snake should be 

 possessed of the spirit of a foe, and be killed, the hatred of 

 that enemy is increased an hundred fold. 



Contact with Europeans, however, is rapidly undermining 

 these old traditions and beliefs of the Kafirs. 



On an occasion when I was camping out at a Kafir kraal, a 

 Puff Adder crawled through the doorway into the centre of the 

 hut. The usual testing took place to ascertain if it were an 

 ancestor, or a bitter enemy. It proved to be the former. The 

 friends of the owner of the hut gathered around him, and brought 

 all their influence to bear upon him to sacrifice a cow forthwith. 

 I ridiculed the whole affair, and told him that his friends were 

 trying to scare him into killing a fat cow so that they might 

 participate in a glorious feast. I offered to kill the snake and 

 bring the penalty upon myself. No, he would not permit 

 that, because his ancestor would be doubly furious with him 

 for allowing a white man to interfere and insult him. The 

 simpleton was utterly terrified by the forecastings of his friends, 

 if he did not appease the ancestor with the spirit of a good cow. 

 Consequently, that night there was much feasting and beer- 

 drinking in the kraal. 



