a witch-doctor's kit, from magila, east central africa

A Witch-Doctor's Kit, from Magila, East Central AfricaAuthor(s): R. WebbSource: Folklore, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Mar. 25, 1904), pp. 68-74Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1254553 .

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COLLE C TA NEA.

A WITCH-DOCTOR'S KIT, FROM MAGILA, EAST CENTRAL AFRICA.

(Read at Meeting, 2oth January, 1904.)

IT would be almost impossible to travel in Central Africa without coming into contact with the results of Witchcraft. Even the few months that I spent there in 1896 were sufficient to show me how real is its strength and how evil its influence.

But really reliable information on the subject is difficult to obtain. Those who practise it naturally prefer to keep their knowledge to themselves, and not lose a profitable source of in- come. Direct questions by a European to a native on such a subject, if answered at all, would only lead to false replies and confusion of ideas. There is also a further difficulty. The lan- guages are in most cases in a state of transition, and in order to convey a new idea to the native we either have to adopt words from English, Arabic, or Portuguese, or else to take a native word which may already have a special meaning of its own. In the latter case we attach our own meaning to it, and are apt to imagine that this will be conveyed to the native by the use of the word, whilst in his mind the word gives a different idea, although he may be unable to define it. The opportunities for error and misunder- standing on both sides are therefore very great.'

The following is a case in point. A newly-arrived member of the Univer- sities' Mission recently created some little surprise by stating that while on a visit to another mission on Lake Nyasa, she had been shown two idols, and had been given " an account of the idolatry of the district " derived from a young native Christian. Now it is well known that there is no idolatry in East Centra



Collectanea. 69

It seems, however, to be certain that in Eastern Central Africa there are two classes of people who practise witchcraft.

(I) Witches and wizards, who only try to hurt and injure others.

(2) Witch-doctors. These may do harm, but can also provide antidotes and charms of a more powerful nature than the " medicine " of the witch. They are supposed also to be able to prevent failure of crops, to have the power of making wild animals carry out their wishes, to be able to treat diseases, and in fact to meet any emergency.

I. Wizards and witches are supposed to work by night. Visiting the huts of their victims they place poison in the mouth, unless the sleeper is protected by wearing or using a charm. In these poisons the ejecta of the human body, nail-parings, &c., hold a prominent part. In other cases large snail-shells are buried by night at the door of the man against whom spite is entertained. Another

Africa, and that whilst rude figures, or objects resembling figures, are used fr purposes of witchcraft, they are never used for worship. The Rev. E. B. L.Smith, who joined the mission in 1884, writes : " I know of a large number of objects used for calming and raising storms, securing good luck for persons and things canoes, fishing-nets, guns, &c.) and ill luck for enemies. Of natural or manu-

factured objects intended for worship or regarded as the temporary or local habitation of a divinity or spirits, such as are found on the West Coast and in other parts of the world, I have never seen or heard of a single instance. ... It is possible that some of Burton's tribe from the West may be settled some- where about Mwera, and that the young Christian native, from whom the account of the idolatry was obtained, may belong to it, and that the objects obtained are such as Miss Kingsley and others have described. I am more inclined to think that the young native Christian rather reflected ideas gleaned from mission teaching and Bible reading (with a special stress on the Old Testament) in his accounts of the local idolatry, than the wisdom of the ancients of his people. We bring them new ideas, and either new names by which to call them, or we requisition a term with a meaning already well comprehended in their minds, though they may not be able to define it well for ours. In either case we are apt to insist that the terms mean exactly what we mean by them, and to forget that quite possibly they are used in an entirely different sense by the native who hears them for the first time, or who, forgetful of the new technical force, mingles with them other and older associations. Thus in the present primitive state of our knowledge of African tongues-still variable and devoid of literature-it is so hard to realise the precise value, each to each, of the many words that we employ to denote worship, idols, &c., that the margin for error, misapprehension, and the reading in of entirely foreign ideas, is almost boundless; and this apart from any suspicion of bias or the equally insidious vice of putting leading questions."--Central Africa, No. 250, p. 198.



70 Collectanea.

powerful " medicine " is obtained by the use of vizulu. These are simply bits of sticks about four or five inches long which have been charmed, then smeared over with some substance, the composition of which is uncertain.' They are then wrapped round with white calico and are supposed after this to have the power of motion and of sucking the blood of the victim and thus causing his death.

There appears to be little doubt that witchcraft can cause death, either by the administration of poison, which the victim may sometimes take in his food, or by the state of abject fear into which he is thrown, when he will gradually pine away, unable to shake off the influence (possibly mesmeric) which has seized him.

In British Central Africa and in Equatorial Africa (I have not heard of it in German East Africa) witches practise the disgusting habit of exhuming and eating human remains. In the first-named country it is necessary on this account to take special precautions to guard the graves of those who are buried away from their huts in the Christian cemetery. (The native custom is to bury the dead inside the hut, where they are of course fairly safe from body-snatchers.)

II. The Witck-Doctor apparently does not resort to these abominations. Occasionally he may consult an oracle or use divining rods. The oracle sometimes consists of the skin of a small animal stuffed with herbs which act as " medicine." He has two principal branches of his art, surgery and exorcism. These are closely allied to each other, for nearly every disease is supposed to be due to evil spirits. I was fortunate enough whilst at Kologwe, in German East Africa, to see a witch-doctor at work. The sound of the drum one evening told us that some- thing unusual was taking place in the village near the Mission station at which I was a guest, and the nature of the noise told us also that the performance was not a "bad" dance; the grossly indecent character of which would deter any respectable European from being present at it without urgent cause. We went into the village. The clear light of the full moon was sufficient to show distinctly all that was going on. In an open space between the huts a fire of sticks was burning on the ground. Close by sat the patient, a woman who had rheumatism in

Canon Dale (of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa) implies the use of flour, but Archdeacon Woodward in a letter written from Magila in 19o3 states that they are covered with blood.



PLATE 1.

WIXH DOCTOR S

KIT

6A

A WITCH-DOCTOR'S KIT FROM MAGILA.

(EAST CENTRAIL AFRICA.)

To•ce p. 43. 7.



Colleclanea. 7I

her shoulder. Above her stood the witch-doctor, who at in- tervals took some ointment or mess from a vessel near him and vigorously rubbed the shoulder with it. To the European this would naturally seem the effective part of the treatment, but to the native the important part lay in the noise created by two assistants, one of whom beat three small drums with his hands, whilst the other with the keenest relish was engaged in striking a battered oil-tin with sticks. The noise would drive out the evil spirit which caused the trouble. Presently the doctor paused. The woman rose, rushed full speed round a couple of huts three or four times, went into one of them twice, and then danced backwards and forwards between the fire and the nearest hut, constantly keeping her eyes fixed on the full moon, and occasionally snatching a corn-cob from a basket near the fire, gnawing at it whilst she danced. In time, however, the noise became dis- tracting and the proceedings monotonous; and after an attempt to secure a photograph we returned to the Mission station.

Such a witch-doctor as this man would have had to pass through a long and severe course of apprenticeship to some recognised authority before he could be accepted as a practitioner. On applying for instruction, a lad would have to bring his master a cockerel just beginning to crow, and he would then be taught how to lay the divining-rods, would scarify patients who consulted his master, and would learn the names of the various gourds and vessels. Until he became fully qualified he would get no fees.

The basket, tools, and vessels which I exhibit to-night (Plate I.) belonged to a witch-doctor in the Magila district of German East Africa. At his death they were inherited by a relative who was a Christian, and through him were sent to England. They are now in my possession. The following description of them is quoted from the account (derived from the Rev. W. G. Harrison of Magila) by the Rev. F. R. Hodgson in Central Africa, a maga- zine of the Universities' Mission, No. 250, p. 194 (Partridge & Co.). Notice that the scarifying knife is a broken and rusty European table-knife, and that the influence of the white man's power is further seen in a rusty farthing tin lamp, which forms one of the vessels (fig. I3).

" I. is a packet, wrapped in a cob-sheath of Indian corn, of a preparation made from green shoots (called kongo) and sheep's dung. This is used by the mganga (medicine-man) before handling



72 Collectanea.

his medicines, as they contain poisons, and are also charmed to have an evil effect on those with whom they come in contact. It is an antidote, with which he wipes his hands before operations.

"II. contains a powder made from tree-roots and leaves; its use is to protect cornfields from theft. The medicine-man per- ambulates the field singing and sprinkling the medicine on the ground, making the bell on the medicine-bottle [fig. 2a] ring as he goes round. The belief is that any thief who crosses the trail will die. (This is properly a Digo medicine, not Bonde.) It is also used for personal protection against witchcraft. The people desir- ing this assurance call the mganga, who sprinkles the medicine in a circle round them, using incantations to the effect that anyone who seeks to harm them with witchcraft will only harm himself. Often greater protection is ensured by being inoculated or tattooed -the skin is cut, and medicine like soot rubbed into cuts. This medicine is kept in

" III. Kobo ya paa (bottle of the gazelle), so called from the fact that the bottle is made from the skull of a gazelle, and bound with banana leaf. The stopper is at the nose.

" IV. is a choice medicine-bottle with a bell attached to it. This is hung on the outside of the mganga's basket, and when he is on the march the bell sounds, so that people may hear there is a medicine-man passing along the road, and call him in if required, or at least pay him due respect when they meet him. The wooden stopper of this bottle is specially ornamented with a roughly carved head, which is meant to frighten people.' In early days of the Mission, dolls' heads were objects of envy to the witch-doctors. The skin of a young goat on the neck of the bottle testifies to the skill of the nmganga-that he works cures, so receives goats. The better bottles are generally gourds enveloped in skins-perhaps to give them the appearance of being alive, as well as to show that the doctor has earned many goats.

" When arrived at his destination the wizard puts his basket down and takes out his various koba (gourds), &c. The large gourd

" V., always stays in the basket, with the lid closed over it. It is the stock-bottle, and the medicines of Nos. IV. and VI. are

S[I.e. to scare away thieves ?-ED.]



Collectanea. 73

supplied from it. No. V. is called Baba (the father), and is supposed to have given birth to IV. and VI.

" VI. is a gourd containing medicine for curing kambaka (con- sumption). Oil is put into the small gourd, and the powder becomes a paste, which is then plastered on the patient's breast, &c., after the outer skin has been freely scarified with the knife (6a).

"VII. contains medicine for a woman who is barren. First she has to provide a black hen; then she is tattooed, and the powder out of the gourd is rubbed in; next the blue beads round the bottle are given her to wear as a necklace, and lastly the black hen is tied on her back, just as the baby is carried by a mother. The woman has to carry the hen for a fortnight and feed it with her hand from her own food, just as she would feed her child-in fact, the hen is treated like a baby in every way.

"VIII. and IX. are pots made of clay and covered with skin. They are used for uchawi wa baruti-gunpowder witchcraft-so called because gunpowder is used in the preparation of this medicine. It is supposed to be effective for all skin diseases, itch, &c., and is rubbed in all over the body after superficial incisions have been made in the skin.

"X. are two pieces of human bone, by which the medicines have been pounded, and through which the mnganga obtains his power. Lastly, there are several odd gourds-one receptacle made out of a snail's shell (ioa), &c.-and

" XI., the basket (mkwjyi) which the mganga always carries, and which contains the whole stock-in-trade."

The other objects included in the kit and figured on Plate I. are :

12. Antelope horn with ornamental network on rim. i8. Necklaces used by the witch-doctor. Various gourds

carried by the doctor, not numbered.' It is quite possible that the medicine-men may be acquainted

I The remaining objects figured on the plate do not form part of the kit, viz. :

14. Charm to keep off witchcraft, made of glass beads and wood. 15. A Bond6 charm, of goatskin and paper, with written characters. 16. A Mohammedan charm from Zanzibar. 17. Paper charm with Arabic inscription, worn in a case similar to that of

No. 16.



74 Collectanea.

with drugs and poisons unknown to us. The following story, told by Canon Dale in African Tidings for 1901, p. 41, seems to point to this conclusion. The Canon is writing of events during his residence at Mkuzi, a village about seven miles from Magila, in German East Africa, and perhaps 30 miles from the seaport of Tanga: " A man wished to get rid of his enemy, so he went to a native doctor and asked for some medicine of sufficient power to kill a man. The doctor gave it to him. The man distrusted the doctor and the efficacy of his drug, so he thought he would try it on the doctor himself first. Accordingly he went to the doctor's shamba and hid the medicine in a hole under a papaw tree. Soon after, a slave-girl belonging to the doctor came along, reached the spot where the medicine was concealed, and fell down dead then and there. But some one had seen the man conceal the drug, and accused him to the doctor, and the doctor carried him before the native judge. The native judge refused to give any damages. He said, ' No, my friend! if you deal in such medicines you deserve all and more than you have got. I abso- lutely refuse to consider your case.' Then the whole district in the person of the elders went to this doctor and told him, ' If ever we hear of a similar case we will either kill you or drive you out of the country.' Now the significant point in the whole case is that of the accused, accuser, judge, and people, not a single person had the slightest doubt that the medicine really did kill the slave-girl. The only sceptic in the district was myself, and I am still open to conviction one way or the other."

R. WEBB. 4, Osborne Terrace, Virginia Road, Leeds.



a witch-doctor's kit, from magila, east central africa

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