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Proceedings of the Royal Society 
different path from the one taken in going. Should they stumble 
when walking, it is a sign of had luck ; and the leader of a party 
who notices any impediment in the path strikes it as a warning to 
those following him, and each man as he passes repeats the signal. 
Some people are supposed to possess the power of the evil eye, and 
are dreaded in consequence. They are so much dreaded, in fact, 
that the people are afraid to harm them for fear of their revenge. 
Eain is believed to he given and withheld by some inhabitant of 
the spirit world, and the failure of increase in their herds or crops 
is attributed to the same cause. The fertility of women, cattle, 
and the fields may he ensured, they think, by proper offerings to 
the respective deities who overrule their destinies. It is not to he 
wondered at, if people given to so much superstition, resort to 
magic in their troubles. Medicine-men are to he found in great 
numbers in Uganda, and a few witches of high repute dwell 
scattered throughout the land. These persons are all powerful, 
though naturally some are more celebrated than others. They 
profess to interpret dreams, to make rain and withhold it, to cure 
disease and to induce it, to discover stolen articles and to indicate 
the thief. They also intimate to their clients that they are able 
to influence the deities for good or ill — of course, all for a con- 
sideration. They often amass great wealth, and form a mighty 
power in the land. It is from these magicians that the Waganda 
obtain the numerous charms, which they believe to possess the 
power of protecting their persons and belongings from injury. 
Charms are used to keep their dwellings from fire, and their 
possessions from thieves; others to ward off sickness, or to cure 
disease. Some are celebrated for their power over the bites of 
venomous snakes ; others are supposed to direct the flight of 
spear or arrow, while still others make their wives faithful and 
their cattle prolific. Some charms secure to a suppliant the grant 
of a favour, and some are used by women in the form of an oint- 
ment, with which they smear their bodies, in order to gain their 
husband’s special favour. Most of the charms are simple in con- 
struction, but they are manufactured with due mysterious secrecy, 
in some remote forest glade at dead of night on the appearance of 
the new moon. The magicians are* most careful that no prying 
eye shall watch their manipulations; in their retreats they construct 
