CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS 315 



Mr. C. Braithwaite Wallis, in his book on our West 

 African Empire, says l : " During my last residence 

 on the coast, whilst I was touring up-country with his 

 Excellency the Governor, a native was charged with 

 having accused one of the carriers of wrongfully selling 

 some of his property. The matter having been brought 

 to my notice officially, I returned it for investigation 

 to the chief, telling him to find out according to country 

 law whether the man was guilty or not. The ordeal 

 of the battu (whip) was the test decided upon, and 

 the ceremony was carried out in the following way : 

 The accused is placed in the middle of a ring of 

 interested spectators. The * country fashion man/ 

 called in Mendi Tot Tor behmor, is then introduced, 

 carrying his ' medicine whip ' in his hand. He now 

 hands the whip over to a youth, having first applied 

 some native unction to the lash, and rubbecl the lad's 

 arm, hands, and wrists with the juice of certain other 

 plants. 



At this stage the boy appears to fall into a sort of 

 hypnotic trance. He runs round the ring, flourishing 

 the whip and making the lash coil in writhing spirals 

 all about the onlookers, though without touching any- 

 body. At length the whip appears to have singled 

 out the culprit, whom it commences to belabour in real 

 earnest amid the cheers of the spectators. The beat- 

 ing goes on, in fact, until the boy is finally called off 

 and is held down by the * medicine-man.' 



The ordeal of the whip is the final recourse adopted 

 to discover the guilty person. Its decisions are never 

 appealed against, even by the party most nearly con- 

 cerned ; and the most curious thing about the present 

 1 See Bibliography, 53. 



