Berry — The Sierra Leone Cannibals . 49 



the deceased, or of his potentialities for " bad medicine." If found to be a 

 " witch man," the body is not accorded honourable burial, but just buried in 

 the bush to hide it away naked and unsung. 



The victim is sometimes slaughtered by the throat being cut, and without 

 further ceremony ; but this is exceptional, and in many instances elaborate 

 ritual is indulged in. On one occasion the victim was brought to a gba-gba 

 tree and made sit down, with the chain by which he had been fettered still 

 round his neck. The chief for whom the sacriiice was made was called by 

 the officiating Murri-man, and at his request came and sat on the victim's 

 shoulders. All present came forward, and those near by placed their hands on 

 the chief or on the victim; the others put their hands on those who were 

 touching the chief and on each other. Thus placed they remained while the 

 Murri-men were saying Murri words (talking in Arabic), and as the Murri 

 men counted their beads, they called on the chief's dead ancestors to assist 

 him. The officiating priest then prayed in the Mendi language that the 

 saraka should take effect, and bring good in the chiefdom. The chief Murri- 

 man having recited his prayers and invocations, told the chief to stand up, 

 which he did, and all present then stood back against the fence. The head 

 Murri-man then told the chief to call the sacrificer. The office of sacrificer 

 is the occupation of a single man who makes his living by the exercise of it. 

 The sacrificer came forward dressed in a leopard-skin, and with the leopard- 

 knife cut open the victim's stomach from the centre towards the right s ids ; 

 an assistant placed a pan under the wound, and a third, inserting his hand 

 into the wound, pulled out the liver and intestines, which he placed in the 

 pan. Now came forward five others. The first placed his hand in the wound 

 and drew forth some fat, and the four others did the same. The pan with the 

 intestines, liver, and blood was taken away to a house. The body of the 

 victim was then carried to the piazza of the late chief's house. It being now 

 midnight, they separated. No one was left with the victim, who was still 

 alive and chained, and remained alive for some hours. 



Next morning the body was removed to a secret place in the bush near the 

 kunk and was butchered. First, the breast and ribs were removed ; then 

 the basin was brought, and the rest of the liver and the heart were put in the 

 pan and taken away. The chest and ribs were put aside as the chief's portion, 

 and one of his wives came and put it in a kettle and took it away to the chief's 

 .house. Then the legs were removed and the bones taken out, and the head 

 was cut off and skinned, and the flesh removed. Asked what these bones 

 were required for, the reply was given that they were required for the Tinga- 

 Tanga which would be used next time the chief was put in the kunk and the 

 Poro pulled. When the flesh was removed, the leg- and thigh-bones and the 



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