Chap. XXX. THE ORDEAL MUAVI. 403 



morning to inform Monina of this sad event, and he at once 

 ordered the gardens to be searched, and the wanderer, if 

 found, to be restored. He evidently sympathised with us in 

 our sorrow, and assured us that it was not the custom of his 

 tribe to kidnap. I gave him credit for truthfulness, and ho 

 allowed us to move on without further molestation. 



As we were leaving his village a witch-doctor arrived, who 

 had been sent for, to subject the chief's wives to the " muavi," 

 or ordeal, which is performed in the following manner. All 

 the wives go forth into the field, and remain fasting till that 

 person has made an infusion of the plant named " goho," 

 which all drink, each one holding up her hand to heaven in 

 attestation of her innocency. Those who vomit it are con- 

 sidered innocent, while those whom it purges are pronounced 

 guilty, and put to death by burning. The innocent return to 

 their homes, and slaughter a cock as a thank-offering to their 

 guardian spirits. This summary procedure excited my sur- 

 prise, for my intercourse with the natives here had led me 

 to believe, that the women were held in too high estimation 

 for it. But I was assured that the women themselves, on the 

 slightest imputation of their having used witchcraft, eagerly 

 desire the test ; conscious of their innocence, and having the 

 fullest faith in the truthfulness of the " muavi," they go will- 

 ingly, and even eagerly, to drink it. 



After leaving his village we marched in the bed of a sand- 

 river a quarter of a mile broad, called Tangwe, through a flar 

 country covered with low trees, and with high hills in the 

 distance. This region is very much infested by lions, and men 

 never go any distance into the woods alone. Having on one 

 occasion turned aside at midday into grass a little taller than 

 myself, an animal sprang away from me which was certainly 

 not an antelope, but I could not distinguish whether it was a 

 lion or a hyaena. We saw footprints of many black rhinoce- 

 roses, buffaloes, and zebras. After a few hours we reached 

 the village of Nyakoba. Two men, who accompanied us from 

 Monina to Nyakoba's, would not believe us when we said that 

 we had no beads. It is very trying to have one's veracity 

 doubted, but, on opening the boxes, and showing them that 

 all I had was perfectly useless to them, they consented to 



