168 Proceedings of Royal Society of EdinhurgTi. [sess. 
Amulets and talismans are greatly in repute, and the Wanyoro 
believe that charms and incantations can render people ill, or even 
kill them. Speke mentions a magic powder which was supposed to 
give the owner the power of speaking with tongues. 
Divination by the appearance of the entrails of fowls is greatly in 
vogue ; sometimes the fowl’s stomach is slit open, and according to 
the state in which it is found a prognostication is given ; at other 
times the intestines are cleansed from blood and floated out in warm 
water. The magicians are consulted before a man may take a 
journey or before war, and, as before mentioned, to discover a 
criminal. Baker wrote- — “ When my wife was expected to die, the 
guide procured a witch, who had killed a fowl to question it 
whether she would recover and reach the lake. The fowl in its 
dying struggle protruded its tongue, which sign is considered 
affirmative.” 
Religious beliefs and Superstitions . — It is a matter of extreme 
difficulty, if not impossible, to give any idea as to the religious 
beliefs of the Wanyoro. Personally, I was not able to ascertain any- 
thing directly on the subject. Baker writes of the Wanyoro that 
the people had no idea of a Supreme Being nor of any object of 
worship, their faith resting upon a simple belief in magic ; and again, 
Emin says “ no trace is to be found of the idea of a future life.” 
Yet, in the light of their legends, their superstitions and their 
stories, it is almost impossible to agree with these statements. Else 
why the votive huts, or why the belief that Kamrasi, the late 
king, has an influence upon the destiny of the country. It seems to 
me that these things point to the belief in a future life, and the 
existence of a Supreme Being is evidently not altogether a strange 
idea to them', as is proved by their legends of the Great Magician. 
The human sacrifices also to the Great Father and the distinct ideas 
of spiritual beings who overrule personal destiny all indicate that 
further research will elucidate some primitive system of religion. 
No one, I think, has at present investigated this matter sufficiently, 
but what follows, and for which I have chiefly to thank the writings 
of Emin and Casati, as well as some legends I collected myself, will 
at any rate serve to fix a foundation upon which future observers will 
be able to build. 
In Unyoro there is a singular belief that certain men leave their 
