CAFFRARIA. 
515 
people have seldom more than one or two wives, but their 
chiefs generally four or five. 
When a Catfre is sick^ they generally send for a person 
who is considered as a physician, who pretends to extract 
from the body of the sick, serpents, stones, bones, &c. At 
other times he beats them on the elbow, knees, and end of 
their fingers, till (as our Hottentots expressed it) these are 
almost rotten — they sometimes also kill cattle in the way of 
sacrifice for the person — at other times the doctor pretends 
to drive out the devil, and to kill him. 
When their chiefs are long sick, they suppose it to be 
owing to the conduct of some person in the Kraal. To find 
out this person they employ some woman who is reported to 
be a witch, who, when the people are called out, walks 
round and round them, until she fixes upon the supposed 
culprit, and points him out; on which ants, formed into 
balls are brought, ^vhen one ball is put between the up- 
per part of his thighs, and one under each armpit, to 
bite and torment him till he confesses; immediately on 
which he is put to death without mercy. When Congo, a 
chief, was sick, he employed one of these women to find out 
the aggressor. She selected a Hottentot who pretended to 
be a doctor among them. He was instantly slain. His 
widow is servant to one of our Missionaries. 
When Gika, the present king of the Caffres, was sick, he 
attributed it to the enchantments of persons who disliked 
him, however he would not permit them to be put to death. 
They are very expert in binding up a broken leg or arm. 
One of our Hottentots broke his arm in Caffraria, and had it 
well set and cured by a Cafifre. 
7'hey have a barbarous custom of exposing their sick 
friends, who, in their opinion, are not likely to recover. 
They carry them to bushes at a distance from the Kraal, 
where they leave them, either to be devoured by wild beasts, 
or to die of want. While Congo with his Kraal resided for 
some time on the grounds of Bethelsdorp, Mr. Read heard 
they had exposed a woman in this manner. He went to 
Congo to inquire into the truth of the report; who assured 
him, that two women attended upon her among the bushes. 
He went and found two women as had been stated, but he w as 
not sure that they had not been sent while he conversed with 
the chief. When he told them that that woman, and all 
mankind, would rise again from the dead, it caused un- 
common joy among the Caffres. They said, they should like 
to see their grandfathers, and others whom they mentioned, 
3 u 2 
