charms in the front of the picture had great magical value, and the shells and beads to the right of the picture were used by astrologers and fortune-tellers. The pack of cards, called ‘ngato,’ nine in number, were used very much in each ‘kigwa’ (house of the ‘mandwa’). Each card is made of leather, and is engraved with different patterns, and these were shuffled and thrown down on the ground, much as dice are thrown, and the ‘mandwa‘ was supposed to be able to tell by the way they fell what would be the future of the inquirer. Of course, for all these affairs the ‘mandwa’ demanded extortionate fees. The clay jar with the two branches, in the middle of the picture, was used in all human sacrifices, a liquid being put in, which all victims were made to drink of prior to being offered up.
A native came to me very recently and begged for a present of cowrie shells, because a ‘mandwa’ had threatened to bewitch him
