POLITICAL HEADS CHIEFS, KINGS, ETC. 339 



throw one of his liege spirits into the body of one who 

 refuses to believe in his power, upon which the possessed is 

 taken with swooning and fits/ we may imagine the dread he 

 excites, and the sway he consequently gains. From some of 

 the lowest races upwards we find illustrations. Fitzroy says 

 of the &quot; doctor-wizard among the Fuegians &quot; that he is the 

 most cunning and most deceitful of his tribe, and that he has 

 great influence over his companions. &quot; Though the Tas- 

 manians were free from the despotism of rulers, they were 

 swayed by the counsels, governed by the arts, or terrified by 

 the fears, of certain wise men or doctors. These could not 

 only mitigate suffering, but inflict it.&quot; A chief of the Haidahs 

 &quot; seems to be the principal sorcerer, and indeed to possess 

 little authority save from his connexion with the preter 

 human powers.&quot; The Dakota medicine-men 



&quot; Are the greatest rascals in the tribe, and possess immense influence 

 over the minds of the young, who are brought up in the belief of 



their supernatural powers The war-chief, who leads the 



party to war, is always one of these medicine-men, and is believed to 

 have the power to guide the party to success, or sav&amp;lt;s it from defeat.&quot; 



Among more advanced peoples in Africa, supposed abilities to 

 control invisible beings similarly give influei ice strengthen 

 ing authority otherwise gained. It is so wil h the Amazulu : 

 a chief &quot; practises magic on another chief before fighting 

 with him;&quot; and his followers have great confidence in him 

 if he has much repute as a magician. Hence the sway 

 acquired by Langalibalele, who, as Bishop Colenzo says, 

 &quot; knows well the composition of that intelezi [used for 

 controlling the weather] ; and he knows well, too, the war- 

 medicine, i.e., its component parts, being himself a doctor.&quot; 

 Still better is seen the governmental influence thus acquired 

 m the case of the king of Obbo, who in time of drought calls 

 his subjects together and explains to them 



&quot; how much he regrets that their conduct has compelled him to afflict 

 them with unfavourable weather, but that it is their own fault. . . . 

 He must have goats and corn. * No goats, no rain ; that s our contract, 

 my friends, says Katchiba. . . . Should his people complain of too 



