Bebey — The Sierra Leone Camdbals. 63 



sharpening the ' perception and the sight of the wearer, and proportionately 

 diminishing the perceptions of those to whom it is opposed, until he who is 

 wholly anointed with it may become in^asible and carry out his will without 

 fear of detection. 



To the human constituents, which are often mixed with earth and ashes, 

 the material part of tire, are added other magical elements obtained under 

 peculiar cii'cumstanees and ha\'ing peculiar properties. Some portion of a 

 leopard, besides having the qualities pertaining to that particular part, give 

 bravery by stealth, quickness ; and strength is obtained from the elephant. 

 Buck, especially the ears and eyes, give the power to see and hear without 

 being seen, and to understand the cries of bii-ds and animals ; and similar 

 ideas, including the power to see and strike in the dark, are associated with 

 the snake — that most mystical of animals. 



The elements are prepared in seclusion by persons who have been isolated 

 for a greater or less length of time. During the preparations a definite ritual 

 is observed and magical formulae are pronounced, often in a secret language. 

 All this in the midst of a population who know the object to be attained, but 

 have but the haziest and most superstitious regard for and belief in the means 

 of obtaining it. The result is the engendering of a psychological atmosphere, 

 one of the effects of which is the great reverence shown to and fear produced 

 by the product, notwithstanding its contemptible exterior. 



The medicine when made, be it UsTessi or Borfimor, is, for convenience of 

 carriage, packed into the horn of some animal — antelope, goat, or sheep 

 generally, but it may be contained in a box, shell, nut, or piece of bamboo. 

 In this form it becomes a symbol or " symbolic charm with sympathetic pro- 

 perties," and its contents being pleasing to the powers, spirits, or devils, lures 

 one which is satisfied to take up its residence there, so that when the Borfimor 

 is worshipped the worship is paid to an intangible, nebulous, amorphous power 

 or spirit resident therein, and the horn and its contents form a tangible link 

 between the object of worship and the worshippers. 



One of the essential things about a fetish is the necessity for its renewal. 

 Fresh victims were sacrificed to renew the power of the Borfimor; and tlie 

 skin of the forehead of each new victim was given to the leopard king with 

 which to cover the Borfimor. Similarly, the ancient Aztec did not make his 

 horrible sacrifices so much to placate his gods as rather to rejuvenate and 

 keep them alive ; and in both Mexico and West Africa, after the sacrifice, the 

 victim was eaten in communion. 



There would appear to be some connexion between the full moon and the 

 Leopard murders, as the sacrifices are usually made about that time ; and if 

 this is so, the offer of the yellow woman has a peculiar significance, as Albinos 



R.I.i. PROC, VOL. XXX., SECT. C. [9*] 



