38 Proceedings of the Ruijul Irifth AiuiJemj. 



a stone knife is used, and the operation is performed at a paiticular stone on 

 the top of a hill. 



The day after the re\'ealiug of the de\il the candidates have medicine 

 water and some biish-lea^'es brought to them, in wliich they wash, and on 

 that day their Poro names ai-e given. On the fifth day the " Poi-KamUa " is 

 beaten. The Poi-Kamila is a tortoise-shell, which is beaten once quickly : 

 then follows a slight pause, wliich is followed by three quick beats. The 

 ■' Poi-Kamila " and the flute played by the Poro devil have aU the properties 

 of the bull-roarer.- They ai'e the instraments which warn the female and 

 uninitiated to keep clear- of the male ceremonies, any piying on which is 

 fraught with punishment. The first founder of the Poro had, so tradition 

 says, a squeaky voice ; hence the squeaky sounds of the reed-flute through 

 which the Poro de^il speaks. Xo woman may look on this flute or on the 

 tortoise-shell used as a " Poi-Kamila "' ; and on hearing the sounds made by 

 them, they must immediately depart to their houses or into the bush, and 

 kneel down with their faces covered and towards the ground 



jlfear the Poro bush is the sacred bush where the old men — the tribal 

 ancestoi-s — are buiied. When the " Poi-Kamila " is beaten, and all is clear and 

 no one but Poro people in sight, the Poro de^Tl passes through the town. The 

 candidates are then taken thi'ough the town ; and they have to run all the way 

 from the Poro bush to the sacred bush. Here the older Poro men are 

 assembled to receive the initiates, who are given food : and rice is placed on 

 the graves of the dead, gin is given to the older Poro men, and some is poured 

 on the graves as an offering to the dead. At a rude altar a pi-ayer is offered 

 to Xgewo (God the Ci-eator) and to the dead, commending the new initiates 

 to their protection, and asking for material blessings to be given to them. A 

 man answers at intervals, like a clerk putting in an Amen. 



On the last day, all the hair is cut oft' the heads of the initiates. Now they 

 are regarded as being sick; and their families send them each a new handker- 

 chief to cover their heads with. This they must use uutU theii' hair has grown 

 again. Coming back from the graves in the sacred bush, a procession is formed, 

 with the- old men leading, followed by other Poro members escorting the 

 initiates, who ai'e assembled under a country cloth which is held over theu- 

 heads, fonning a sort of canopy to protect them from the sun's i-ays, which 

 are able to exert an extraordinary and tnjiu-ious influence on the youth at 

 this time. The procession proceeds through the town imtil it reaches the 

 ban-e, or palaver-house, where the boys sit down for four- days before leaving 

 for home. 



' See " The Origins of Eeligion," by Andrew Lang, pp. 15 ei seri. 



