Traveller to go upon, not only because
the hospitality of the people has been damped by frequent
communication with travellers, but, by intercourse with the semi-
civilised merchant, their natural honour and honesty are
corrupted, their cupidity is increased, and the show of firearms
ceases to frighten them.
Of paramount consideration is the power held by the magician
(Mganga), who rules the minds of the kings as did the old popes
of Europe. They, indeed, are a curse to the traveller; for if it
suits their inclinations to keep him out of the country, they
have merely to prognosticate all sorts of calamities - as
droughts, famines, or wars - in the event of his setting eyes on
the soil, and the chiefs, people, and all, would believe them;
for, as may be imagined, with men unenlightened, supernatural and
imaginary predictions work with more force than substantial
reasons. Their implement of divination, simple as it may appear,
is a cow's or antelope's horn (Uganga), which they stuff with
magic powder, also called Uganga. Stuck into the ground in front
of the village, it is supposed to have sufficient power to ward
off the attacks of an enemy.
By simply holding it in the hand, the magician pretends he can
discover anything that has been stolen or lost; and instances
have been told of its dragging four men after it with
irresistible impetus up to a thief, when it be-laboured the
culprit and drove him out of his senses.
