and the Mpongwe. 
97 
wise as before. The reason afterwards proved 
to be that “Ologo he kill man too much.” 
I presently found out that he called my pocket 
compass, “ Mbwiri,” a very vague and compre¬ 
hensive word. It represents in the highest signi¬ 
fication the Columbian Manitou, and thus men 
talk of the Mbwiri of a tree or a river; as will 
presently be seen, it is also applied to a tutelar 
god; and I have shown how it means a ghost. 
In “ Nago Mbwiri” the sense is an idol, an object 
of worship, a “medicine” as the North-American 
Indians say, in contradistinction to Munda, a 
grigri, talisman, or charm. Every Mpongwe, 
woman as well as man, has some Mbwiri to which 
offerings are made in times of misfortune, sickness, 
or danger. I afterwards managed to enter one of 
these rude and embryonal temples so carefully 
shut. Behind the little door of matting is a tall 
threshold of board; a bench lines the far end, and 
in the centre stands “ Ologo,” a rude imitation of 
a human figure, with a gum-torch planted in the 
ground before it ready for burnt offerings. To 
the walls are suspended sundry mystic imple¬ 
ments, especially basins, smeared with red and 
white chalk-mixture, and wooden crescents deco¬ 
rated with beads and ribbons. 
During worship certain objects are placed before 
the Joss, the suppliant at the same time jangling 
and shaking the Ncheke a rude beginning of 
H 
i. 
