THE OEDEAL. 47 j 



In the construction of this instrument they make use of caout- 

 chouc, which, with a variety of other gums, is found in different 

 parts of this country. 



The intercourse which the natives have had with white men 

 does not seem to have much ameliorated their condition. A great 

 number of persons are reported to lose their lives annually in dif- 

 ferent districts of Angola by the cruel superstitions to which they 

 are addicted, and the Portuguese authorities either know nothing 

 of them, or are unable to prevent their occurrence. The natives 

 are bound to secrecy by those who administer the ordeal, which 

 generally causes the death of the victim. A person, when accused 

 of witchcraft, will often travel from distant districts in order to as- 

 sert her innocency and brave the test. They come to a river on 

 the Cassange called Dua, drink the infusion of a poisonous tree, 

 and perish unknown. 



A woman was accused by a brother-in-law of being the cause 

 of his sickness while we were at Cassange. She offered to take 

 the ordeal, as she had the idea that it would but prove her con- 

 scious innocence. Captain Neves refused his consent to her go- 

 ing, and thus saved her life, which would have been sacrificed, for 

 the poison is very virulent. When a strong stomach rejects it, 

 the accuser reiterates his charge ; the dose is repeated, and the 

 person dies. Hundreds perish thus every year in the valley of 

 Cassange. 



The same superstitious ideas being prevalent through the whole 

 of the country north of the Zambesi, seems to indicate that the 

 people must originally have been one. All believe that the souls 

 of the departed still mingle among the living, and partake in 

 some way of the food they consume. In sickness, sacrifices of 

 fowls and goats are made to appease the spirits. It is imagined 

 that they wish to take the living away from earth and all its 

 enjoyments. When one man has killed another, a sacrifice is 

 made, as if to lay the spirit of the victim. A sect is reported to 

 exist who kill men in order to take their hearts and offer them to 

 the Barimo. 



The chieftainship is elective from certain families. Among the 

 Bangalas of the Cassange valley the chief is chosen from three 

 families in rotation. A chief's brother inherits in preference to 

 his son. The sons of a sister belong to her brother ; and he often 



