IN WESTERN AFRICA. 
71 
many things are ascribed to the work of witches — 
such as sudden turns in fortune, diseases of difier- 
ent kinds, and extraordinary incidents in life. 
When anything occurs which is supposed to he 
the work of witches, no matter what it is, some 
person or persons are apprehended as the guilty 
party; and the ^‘witch-master’s’^ skill, — or more 
correctly expressed, his deception, trickery, and 
groundless assumption, — becomes the umpire to 
establish the innocence or guilt of the accused. 
Another mode of trial is to give the accused 
poisonous drinks, which they say are fatal if the 
person is guilty, but harmless if innocent. If the 
victim be an enemy of those trying him, death is 
certain ; but if a friend, they may easily save his 
life by making the poisonous draught very weak. 
The draught generally administered is a decoc- 
tion of the sassy-wood bark, and when strong is a 
rank poison ; but if too large a draught is given 
it acts as an emetic, and in this case death does 
not result. 
"When persons have been convicted of witch- 
3raft they are tortured in various ways, mostly 
until death ends their sufferings. They are tortured 
first to ascertain whether they are guilty, and then 
if convicted for the supposed crime, they are pun- 
ished most cruelly. 
At the town of Manyua, then an out-station of 
