26 Central Africa. 
the eye of a stranger after planting his foot upon the shores 
of West Africa, is the symbols of this religion. He steps 
forth from a boat under a canopy of fetishes, not only as a 
security for his own safety, but as a guarantee that he does 
not carry the elements of mischief among the people ; he 
finds them suspended along every path that he walks, at the 
junction of every two or more roads, at the crossing-place 
of every stream, at the base of every huge rock, or over- 
grown forest-tree, at the gate of every village, over the door 
of every house, and around the neck of every human being 
whom he meets. The practice of using fetishes is universal, 
and is so completely wrought into the whole texture of 
society, that no just account can be given of the moral and 
social condition of the people, that does not assign this a 
prominent place.'' A fetish is defined as a material thing 
which is made the object of brutish and superstitious wor- 
ship, as among African tribes. Professor Max Miiller says 
that fetish-worship is a superstitious veneration for mere 
rubbish, apparently without any claim to such distinction." 
A fetish may be a horn, a bit of bone, a round stone, a 
piece of wood, an ornament, a piece of glass, or indeed any 
object, singular in itself and mysterious in its meaning. 
These fetishes are supposed to guard the wearer from every 
form of evil — war, sickness, drought, death, and disaster — 
to procure every kind of prosperity, as rain, plentiful crops, 
plentiful catches of fish, success over enemies, preservation 
from the power of witchcraft, and to lead to every kind of 
success. There are fetishes belonging to the person, others 
belonging to the home, others to the chief and warriors, 
others to the towns and roads. The more uncouth and 
frightful the fetish, the more it is valued ; and a man would 
far sooner part with his life than lose it. Some writers re- 
gard fetishism as the oldest form of religious belief j others 
