BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT. 955 



giraffe plain, rhinoceros and buffalo are said to be plentiful. This country was 

 populous and thriving a few years since before the incursion of the Maviti; 

 now the only traces we found of former prosperity were the charred remains of 

 numerous villages, strewn with fragments of household utensils, and indi- 

 cations of large plantations now rapidly lapsing to jungle. The fish of the 

 Kingani are very numerous and of fine quality ; wherever the banks are low, 

 they are lined with weirs and fish-traps of most skilful construction. 



" During our journey we happily had no trouble with the natives. There 

 were a few requests to know who we were who, in defiance of all custom, 

 passed without stopping to see the chief, or get permission to enter the 

 country, and a mild hint sometimes was given about hongo, but was not 

 noticed. We were, however, well provisioned, and to a great extent inde- 

 pendent of the country, otherwise we should have been compelled to pay 

 prices that would have been equivalent to giving hongo. 



" I am by no means able to confirm all that is said against the Waga- 

 ramo ; on the contrary, I am led to think that, for Africans, these people are 

 unusually industrious and domestic in their habits, and in regard to morality, 

 far in advance of what is generally found in Africa. The women, though 

 made to do out-door work, are treated, as well as spoken of, in a becoming 

 manner, and every one is perfectly clean, the huts being beautifully kept in- 

 side, and the open space in the centre of each hamlet well swept, and often 

 having a bench for the elders, around whom it was customary for the young 

 men to congregate during leisure hours. Of course polygamy is customary, 

 but it is only the rule amongst chiefs and persons well to do. Marriage takes 

 place at any age ; it is a matter of bargain with the father of the girl here as 

 elsewhere in Africa If a child, she works for her husband, living with his 

 mother or another wife till she becomes adult, after which she has a hut of 

 her own. 



" The Wagaramo appear to have no religion, unless a lively faith in evil 

 spirits and witchcraft can be so termed. Miniature huts, containing charms 

 against the secret clangers of the seen and unseen world guard the entrances 

 to every village, and incantations for securing success are performed before 

 every important undertaking. A specific from the medicine-man also pro- 

 tects every hut and patch of cultivation, and there is no doubt of its efficacy 

 against thieves among themselves, when all believe in its power. The peo- 

 ple, however, are practical agriculturalists. Against the depredations of the 

 hippopotamus and pig they erect strong barriers and dig deep pits ; and in 

 one of the latter we temporarily lost Mr. Mackay, who, stepping on shore 

 for the purpose of choosing a tree for fuel, suddenly disappeared. Fortu- 

 nately, the pitfall was only about six feet deep, and no spikes at the bottom, 

 so he escaped with nothing worse than a severe shock ; but many of these 

 traps are as dangerous as they are deceptive in appearance. 



