68 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



bits of medicinal bark, and small bladders filled with various 

 substances are suspended round her neck and waist ; her wool is 

 long, unkempt, and adorned with many blown-out gall bladders 

 of animals. Sometimes her whole person is decorated with a 

 miscellaneous array of gruesome-looking things. 



Crouching down, she crawls around, sniffing each man. Then, 

 working herself into a frenzy, her features become distorted, 

 she writhes, twists, mutters, yells. In fact she does every- 

 thing in her power to inspire awe, reverence, and extreme fear 

 in the minds of the onlookers, each of whom is already in an 

 abject state of terror, lest he should be the victim of her atten- 

 tions. Eventually, with a succession of yells, she leaps high 

 into the air, and with her wand, points to one of the men in the 

 circle. Those in his vicinity instantly shrink away in horror 

 from him. The hitherto terrified savages, now become ferocious 

 and demoniacal, and gather around the victim, uttering the most 

 appalling threats. However, the Witch-doctor knows her busi- 

 ness. She wants the man's gall for the Chief ; so, commanding 

 the men to retire, she consults the Chief. Announcing that he 

 has given instructions as to the disposal of the man, he is dragged 

 off and done to death in a horribly brutal and agonizing manner. 



In due time the dead man's gall is privately conveyed to the 

 Chief by the Prophetess, who then receives an ample reward. 

 These " smelling out " cases were of frequent occurrence in former 

 times. If any of the Chief's cattle should sicken and die, if any 

 one should get ill from anj^ cause, if misfortune in any shape or 

 form should visit the tribe, this gruesome " smelling out " business 

 was usually resorted to in order to unmask the wizard with the 

 evil eye, who by liis bewitching powers had caused the trouble. 

 If the good folk in the Mother Countr}^ knew the conditions 

 under which the natives of South Africa hved before the advent 

 of the Dutch and the Britisli, they would have less to say about 

 the " poor, ill-treated, down-trodden, sweated blacks." A former 

 Chief Magistrate of East Griqualand writes me as follows : When 

 I came to Tembuland in 1876 there was living here a white man 

 named King, who was married to a native woman. This man 

 had killed a very large Python in the Dwesa forest. On informa- 

 tion received from his wife through her relatives, he was assured 

 that the chief Kuli was secretly laying plans to do him to death and 

 secure his gall, so he precipitately fled. In those days a refugee 





