forms of incantation, would probably include the person who
does the nose-boring, and perhaps the person who detects the causes
of death above referred to. It would also, I think, include the
men who ascertain the whereabouts of a stolen article and discover
the thief, and who perform the ceremony in connection with hunting,
and the persons who effect, or profess to effect, cures of a more or
less superstitious nature, all of whom are probably not regarded as
full sorcerers.

The professional pig-killer is not, as such, either a sorcerer or
a magic man in the minor sense; and, if there has originally been
anything of a superstitious or magic character associated with him or
his functions, I was unable to find any trace of it, except perhaps
as regards the ceremony and incantation in connection with hunting,
which apparently is commonly performed by him.

Charms.

The Mafulu people believe in charms. I have already referred to those
used by young men desirous of marrying. But there are many other more
important charms for various purposes, such as averting illness and
death, success in hunting and fishing, and perhaps preservation in
time of war. These charms may be stones, small pieces of different
sorts of bark, flowers, or various kinds of poisons, though the
poisons appear to be only used for averting illness and death. They
are all procured from sorcerers, who may be of the same or of some
other village, or of another community, and there are sorcerers who
have specialities in certain sorts of charms. These charms are often
carried inside the small charm bags already mentioned.

Omens.

They believe in omens; but of these I was only able to hear of two
examples--namely, flying foxes, [116] and fireflies, the latter,
though common in the plains, being rare on the mountains, and both of
these are bad omens. Any person or party starting off on a journey,
or on a hunting or fishing expedition, and meeting either of these
creatures would probably at once turn back; and I was told that even a
full war party starting off on a punitive expedition would turn back,
or at least halt for a time, if it met one or other of them. I cannot
help thinking there must be some other omens, which I have failed
to discover.

General.

Referring generally to supplications, incantations, and acts
of propitiation, the only examples of them which I was able to
discover were the above-mentioned supplication to the river prior