imagined to be sure before long to overpower his senses and to make him reel home again like a drunkard to receive his proper punishment.
Pulverized and charred bones of mammalia, birds, and amphibious animals are sold to hunters to ensure their fleetness in the chase, the powder being either carried in bags about the person, or rubbed into incisions made in the arms and legs.
All kinds of pharmaceutical preparations obtained from white men are regarded as possessing magic properties, as are also the skins of rare animals, such as the great black lemur, the eyes, nostrils, and ridge of the tail of the crocodile, the horns of the Cephalopus Hemprichii and of the Scopophorus Urebi, beads of any scarce sort, and any abnormal growth in the hair, on the bones, or on the horns of animals.
Other charms consist of small bags made of the skin of the python, belts and chestbands cut from the skins of snakes and lizards, and little shells fastened together into headbands, necklaces, bracelets, and girdles. The shells, as well as other products of marine animals, have been introduced by the Portuguese, and are in great demand.
Instead of being worn about the body, charms and amulets are often deposited in some secret place known only to the master of the house. All along the enclosure at the back of his reception-hut, Sepopo had a row of clay-pots and calabashes containing a great collection of charms, besides those that were stored in his laboratory. The receptacles were very diversified. Those that were uncovered consisted of bags and baskets made of bast, grass, or straw, rude wooden dishes of many
