CHAPTER XI. 
Religious and matrimonial ceremonies of the Wa-moci—Customs and 
superstitions—Physical features of the country—Mandara’s presents 
—Photographic efforts—Mandara’s return visit—The lion-trap— 
Reflections. 
The Wa-moci, like the Wa-taveta, pray to the sun 
and moon, and believe in the spirits of their parents, 
whose bodies they bury immediately after death, but 
later on dig up and scatter the bones under the banana- 
trees. When ill they pray to these ancestral spirits, 
imploring them to send back health and strength. 
Crime is very rare among this tribe, and a murderer 
generally takes refuge, with a hostile neighbour, to 
avoid the penalty of death or a heavy fine of cows. 
A convicted thief is either condemned to die or to 
have his right hand cut off. 
The preliminaries to what we consider the holy 
estate of matrimony are, among the Wa-moci, full of 
theatrical absurdities and savagery. The young man, 
having cast “sheep’s eyes” at the damsel of his fancy 
for some months, enlists the service of four friends 
who are deputed “ to go and catch her.” The lady 
is sure to make some decent show of resistance, for 
this is her leading part in the theatrical programme, 
but she is eventually carried off in triumph, each 
