1884.] From the Zambesi to Bengitella. 107 
him to detect in their tone of voice, or to read in their faces, 
the suspected source of the calamity. A man I knew had a 
favourite dog, which was attacked one night by a leopard, but 
succeeded in escaping with one of its eyes torn out. To ascertain 
the reason of this calamity the owner sent across the valley to 
call one of these diviners. When the man arrived he was told 
that a disaster had befallen my acquaintance, and was asked to 
find out by divination what it was. Beginning in the morning, 
he enquired respecting the man's family, without mentioning 
their names. All the members of the family and their con- 
nections, male and female, young and old, at home or absent, 
were carefully gone over. Not getting any clue, he left the 
relatives, and came to the oxen, questioning the spirit concerning 
them \ but still receiving no reply through the fragments which 
he continually shook in his basket, he next enquired about the 
goats. That was not satisfactory, and at last he thought of the 
dog. In the faces and tone of voice of his audience it was not 
difficult to discern that he had hit the mark, and after hours of 
dreary waiting his oracular utterance — obtained, of course, from 
the bones and claws — that something had befallen the dog, seemed 
to come quite as a relief. He now asked if the dog was dead j 
then if it was stolen ; then if it was wounded. Slyly reading the 
response in their countenances, he said, "Yes, it was wounded." 
Following up the trail, he touched upon all possibilities that 
occurred to him, his audience mechanically repeating his ques- 
tions, till at last he demanded of the spirit, " Was it a leopard ? " 
All the company roused up as they echoed,. " Was it a leopard ? " 
while they cast a knowing look of satisfaction at one another. 
"Yes," the diviner rephed, "it was a leopard." Then all present 
shouted, "// was a leopard^ But that was not enough. The 
cause of the disaster had to be traced still further back. What 
demon so possessed this particular leopard that it should attack 
the dog of this wealthy man? So other questions had to be 
asked, and the same process was continued. At last, towards 
evening, the diviner arrived at the very same conclusion that the 
owner of the dog had come to early that morning on hearing of 
the accident to his dog ; namely, that the spirit of the father of 
one of his wives had been grieved at the man's long absence from 
his town and family, and had employed the leopard to tear the 
