and three on the left leg. They came hopping out of the
hut, clinging to their little stools under them, in order of
age. The baby came last, helped by the doctor, and then
they all stopped. The doctor put round the neck of each
a large collar of blue and white beads; then he arranged
them in a semicircle, always without letting them leave
their stools. He placed upon the ground an oblong
wooden trough containing a little water with medicine
in it, and the six patients each put one foot in this.
The doctor and each of his assistants then took small
medicine cups and shook them, singing the while a
monotonous chant, while the spectators shook gourds
full of pebbles. Little by little the doctor and his
assistants advanced towards the trough, still shaking
their medicine cups : these had handles and were mounted
on a small piece of leather split in two in the centre.
These cups were held over the trough; the six patients,
still leaving one foot in the water, looked up towards the
doctor; he and his men then passed the handle, which
had been previously covered with medicine, between each
of the toes of the patients, then along the foot, and up
the leg as far as the knee. The patients then turned
their left hands, palms upwards, towards the doctors, who
slowly passed the handle of the medicine cup along
each finger, then over the palm and up the arm to the
shoulder, then over the back of the neck, over the arm
and left cheek, under the eye, over the lips, along the nose,
over the forehead, and finally over the head—in fact, all
along the line of the white stars marked on their bodies.
The doctors then placed the leather strap holding the cups
on the heads of the six subjects. All this time the chief
doctor was still singing, and his assistants accompanying
him. At this point the song became more rapid and the
spectators broke into a dance. This song over, the
patients themselves removed the leather talismans from
their heads, placed them for a moment to their lips, and
then hung them from their left shoulders. There was
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another song and another dance, after which the chief
witch-doctor assumed an air of inspiration. He expended
his two arms, with the hands spread out and joined
together, and bowed his head between them. Then,
always singing, he pressed his left arm against his forehead,
his hands stretched out and pointing to the right.
He shook his whole body violently, and the dance and
the song became more lively for about ten minutes, after
which they ceased. The doctor took the medicine cups
from the shoulders of the patients, they withdrew their
feet from the trough, and this also the chief doctor took
away. He and his four assistants then placed themselves
each before a patient, turning their backs to them. The
patient put his little finger in the hand of the Mfumu, who
took a step forward, and the patient rose. The chief
doctor examined the meat, turned it over and distributed
it to the whole company. The ceremony was over. It
had lasted more than two hours. Soon afterwards the
holy men departed, carrying the horns of the goats which
had been killed for the ceremony strung on a stick. I
took my notes of this extraordinary ritual as it went on,
so that I can guarantee their accuracy. If two hours and
a half of it did not unbewitch the patients I should think
nothing would.
The next day I passed from religion, or physic if you
like, to sport. We had hardly been going half an hour
when I saw a large-herd of wildebeest, perhaps a mile
away. A little further, not much more than a quarter
of a mile from us, ten or a dozen zebras appeared. I
managed to get within shot and dropped a zebra. The
others galloped off, but stopped again about three hundred
yards further. A wildebeest which was accompanying
the zebras stood out by himself, and I brought him
down with the second shot. As this was the first game
I had seen since leaving the Shire river, I decided to
spend the rest of the day stalking them. I pitched my
camp at the first village we came to, and went off with
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