170 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinhurgli. [sess, 
imknown parents, stolen in a distant country, who from his youth 
is supposed to be pure and uncontaminated, is buried up to his 
shoulders on the road which the army must follow. Along the 
route the scouts cautiously proceed, silent and watchful, always in 
fear of the danger of ambuscades. The column follows at a distance; 
they discover the little head of the innocent victim from afar ; it 
leans on its shoulder ; it is the head of a corpse, or, agonising, it still 
moves, uttering its last wailing. The child being still there, accord- 
ing to their belief, was a sure sign of victory, and this was confirmed 
in their minds by the fact that the enemy had not even put in an 
appearance on the road or expected an assault, whence they inferred 
that there was nothing to fear, and that ultimate victory was certain. 
No one dares to succour the wretched child of propitiation, or 
even address a word of consolation, for fear of breaking the charm.” 
Casati also gives a description of the ceremony of the mpango 
which I must quote : — “ To appease the favour of the defunct 
Kamrasi, resource was had to the ceremony of mpango or the axe. 
The articles for this rite are a drum, round which is wound a thick 
brass wire (it is also ornamented with talismans consisting of pieces 
of wood, to which are attributed special magical virtues), a wooden 
stool, covered with lion and leopard skins, an iron lance of about 5 
feet in length, the handle surrounded with brass wire, and lastly an 
axe (mpango), with the haft of wood covered by leopard skin, and 
with brass wire on the upper portion. The day passed. The sun 
hastened towards the west — a blow was struck on the grand drum, 
deep and solemn. In a moment songs ceased, all sounds were hushed, 
the market was empty, everyone went to his own habitation, the 
roads were deserted, and for three long days silence and sadness 
reigned around. Only the slow dismal rings of blows struck at 
intervals on the great drum told that they were fulfilling the mysterious 
rites of the mpango, which caused the miserable inhabitants 
to shudder with fear. It is the popular belief that the 
nuggare (drum) sounds without being beaten whenever the 
angry spirit of Kamrasi wishes to be appeased by human 
victims. The period of the mysterious rites was passed, the sun 
approached the end of his journey, the great nuggare gave forth its 
deepest sounds, cries of terror mixed with reverence echoed every- 
where, the miserable passers-by, the peaceful husbandmen, were 
