Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/89

 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 medi- cine. 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 mganga obtains his power. Lastly, there are several odd gourds — one receptacle made out of a snail's shell (loa), &c. — and

" XL, the basket {mkwiji) 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.

18. 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

' 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 Bonde 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.