CHAPTER XIII 



THE NATIVES {continued) : superstitions — 



FOLK LORE 



The chief superstitions of the natives of the 

 Zambezi Valley are those with which the witch 

 doctor is closely connected, although there are 

 doubtless many others which are more in the 

 nature of habits hallowed by long custom than 

 superstitions properly speaking. But those which 

 centre on the ministrations of the witch doctor are 

 most extraordinary at times^a quaint melange 

 of fact and fiction, of demonstration on the one 

 hand and trickery on the other. Thus the witch 

 doctor (variously called Nganga or Kambaiassa), 

 who, without doubt, as a rule possesses a con- 

 siderable knowledge of certain natural remedies, 

 poisons, and kindred means of producing simple 

 results, is an accomplished trickster who bluffs 

 most superbly. A witch doctor who could not 

 make a handsome Hving in the present ignorant, 

 superstitious condition of the native mind would 

 be a born idiot. Not only is he entrusted with the 

 discovery and trial by ordeal of accused persons, 

 which duties offer at once a wide field for his 

 cupidity and ingenuity, but, at times, he is even 



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