362 SUPERSTITIONS 



they can render themselves invisible and fly ; that 

 whilst thus impalpable, they assemble together and 

 summon the dead man, using language unknown to 

 ordinary mortals, and calling him, by the name of 

 his childhood, before puberty, to leave his grave. 

 This the corpse is compelled to do, whereupon they 

 fall upon and devour it. Whilst these dreadful 

 orgies are in progress, it is believed that large bats, 

 night-jars, and especially the great eagle-owl keep 

 watch to see that no person approaches. Hyenas 

 are also employed as sentries, and receive the 

 remains of the wizards' feast. The howl of a 

 hyena is, therefore, an eerie sound to the ears of 

 the average native. 



Belief in the future state of the spirit varies 

 considerably, for whilst among the people of one 

 tribe it is supposed that the flame of life remains in 

 the grave with the body it formerly inhabited, those 

 of another will tell you that it stays in a certain 

 locality, usually the summit of a mountain, which 

 is only visited occasionally by the living. Some 

 time ago, whilst T was staying a night in the village 

 of a chieftain whose huts were situated in a lovely 

 position seven or eight miles from the high Kungu 

 Peak of the Barue, he informed me that years ago 

 he had ascended it for the purpose of praying to 

 the spirits of his ancestors, but nobody had been 

 up there since. He was about to marry his first 

 wife at the time, and desired a sign as to whether 

 the venture would turn out well or not. He added 

 that in his father's time, when he was quite a small 

 boy, the Vatuas used to come from the Inhambane 

 region, and lay waste the whole country, where- 



