222 
Life at Banza Nokki. 
it in presence of the buyer, the precaution is evi¬ 
dently against poison. Many of these “ Kizila” 
are self-imposed, for instance a water melon may 
never enter Banza Nokki, and, though slaves may 
eat bananas upon a journey, the master may 
not. Others refuse the flesh of a fowl until it 
has been tasted by a woman. These rules are 
delivered to the young, either by the fetishman or 
the parents, and, when broken, they lead to death, 
doubtless often the consequence of strong belief. 
The Nganga superintends, as grand inquisitor, 
the witch-ordeal, by causing the accused to chew 
red-wood and other drugs in this land ferax 
venenorum . Park was right: “By witchcraft is 
meant pretended magic, affecting the lives and 
healths of persons, in other words it is the admin¬ 
istering of poison.” European “ Narratives of 
Sorcery and Magic ” exactly explain the African 
idea, except in one point: there the witch “ only 
suffered from not being able to prove to Satan 
how much she burned to suffer for his sake here 
she has no Satan. Both European and African 
are the firmest believers in their own powers ; they 
often confess, although knowing that the confession 
leads directly to torture and death, with all the 
diabolical ingenuity of which either race was 
capable. In Tuckey’s time a bargain was con¬ 
cluded by breaking a leaf or a blade of grass, and 
this rite it was “ found necessary to perform with 
