434 THE ORDEAL. Chap. XXII. 



In the construction of this instrument they make use of 

 caoutchouc, which, with a variety of other gums, is found in 

 different parts of this country. 



The intercourse winch 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 

 hi different 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, 

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

 accused of witchcraft, will often travel from distant districts in 

 order to assert 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 going, 

 and thus saved her life, winch would have been sacrificed, for the 

 poison is very viralent. 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 par- 

 take 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 

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



