102 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
Mavunga. This may be the Ovengwa of the “ Gamma 
people/’ a “ terrible catcher and eater of men, a vampire 
of the dead ; personal, whilst the Ibamba are indistinct ; 
tall as a tree ; wandering through the woods, ever wink- 
ing ; whereas the Greek immortals were known by their 
motionless eyelids. “ Ngolo Wanga ” is a man-shaped 
figure of unpainted wood, kept in the hut. Every house 
is stuck inside and outside with idols and fetishes, inter- 
preters of the Deity, each having its own jurisdiction 
over lightning, wind, and rain ; some act as scarecrows ; 
others teach magic, avert evils, preserve health and 
sight, protect cattle, and command fish in the sea or 
river. They are in all manner of shapes, strings of 
mucuna and poison-beans ; carved images stuck over 
with feathers and tassels ; padlocks with a cowrie or a 
mirror set in them ; horns full of mysterious “ medicine ; ” 
iron-tipped poles ; bones ; birds’ beaks and talons ; skins 
of snakes and leopards, and so forth. We shall meet 
them again upon our travels. 
No man walks abroad without his protecting charms, 
Nkisi or Nkizi, the Monda of the Gaboon, slung en 
baudrier, or hanging from his shoulder. The portable 
fetish of our host is named “ Baka chya Mazfnga : Pro- 
fessor Smith (p. 323) makes “ Mazenga” to be “ fetishes 
for the detection of theft.” These magicce vanitcites are 
phylactics against every evil to which man’s frailty is 
heir. The missioners were careful not to let their Congo 
converts have anything from their bodies, like hair or 
nail parings, for fear lest it be turned to superstitious 
use ; and a beard (the price of conversion) was refused 
to the “ King of Micocco.” Like the idols, these talis- 
mans avert ill luck, bachelorhood, childlessness, poverty, 
and ill health ; they are equally powerful against the 
machinations of foes, natural or supernatural ; against 
wild beasts, the crocodile, the snake, and the leopard ; 
and against wounds of lead and steel. They can pro- 
duce transformations ; destroy enemies ; cause rain or 
drought, fine or foul weather ; raise and humble, enrich 
and impoverish countries ; and, above all things, they 
are sovereign to make man brave in battle. Shortly 
