Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 134: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

132 and then strode out of the sango to his cave to get ready for what was coming. Some ostriches boomed far away, an hyena laughed, and an owl hooted; for it was night. THE hut had burned down to its flimsy foundation. There-only re- mained some baked mud and heaped ashes and live red embers. The night wind revealed, when it blew them to life, a dozen small fires that had been made in a circle around what had been the hut’s walls. The people jostled each other as they crowd- ed in a complete circle around the fires. Their teeth chattered with nervous antici- pation for none knew who might be smelled out for having bewitched the now dead cremated infant. The crowd of people began to sing in undertones, with hair-rais- ing monotony, the “mournful bewitching song ‘“Vgase mlanie,” gazing at the center of the ash heap of what once was a hut. Upina, as father of the dead child, sent a messenger away to fetch the gira in order to smell out who had bewitched the child. The messenger went rather unwillingly, because it being night there were many chances he might be killed by a chance lion or even a leopard, not to mention the two inyoka that the gira had near the path leading to his wm xuma. Nevertheless he went, and, after arriving near the gira’s cave, he shouted loudly for him. “Onena gira, li kulu uya funna uzo ku nuka gira.—O you great and wonderful doctor, you are wanted to smell out a witch.” “Kulungiue, mdi yeza.—It is well; I am coming,’’ a voice from out of the dark answered, No sooner did the gira finish speaking than the messenger stumbled toward the kraal as fast as he could in the darkness. Arriving back at the kraal, he sought out Upina and informed him that the gira was coming. Even as he finished speaking, a long-drawn-out cry from the far distance was heard, which froze the song on the crowd’s lips, for it was the gira crying— ““Ndi-yezI—I am coming!” At different intervals the cry was heard as the voice drew nearer and nearer. From the top of one of the newly made huts, a form loomed up and in a flying leap landed in the middle of the ash heap of what had once been a hut. A cloud of ash dust flew into the air and covered every one nearby. Adventure The now high-strung crowd drew back as a noise from the center of the cloud of ashes boomed— “Ndi fikule vumanil” In husky quaver- ing voices they obeyed. The form leaped out from the center of the ashes, and hopped about in and out of the dozen fires. In the slowly settling haze of ash dust, the hopping form seemed to look like something unnatural, with the gray dust covering it, a specter from the world of horrible dreams. When the dust had settled and the form stood revealed, it was the gira in full uku nuka dress. On top of his head was a grinning human skull with a luminous sub- stance in the cavity where living eyes used to be. On top of the skull was the hide of a baboon or infene, with the two arms tied under his chin. The whole hide covered his back, the tail swaying this way and that way as he leaped about. ‘Tied by pieces of sinew were several live poisonous snakes or wyoka, that he had caught in some way or other; several ama duduana or taran- tulas crawled over him when still for a moment, or;dangled about on their strings of sinew when in motion; a few scorpions; some large striped spiders; and other grogro he had tied about him. Why the zzyoka did not bite him and the tarantulas and_other insects did not sting » (& MCA CERMAN ut SovTa f ‘ wEsT YeecWANA (oo es “ AFRICA LanD | tears ey Allg ee i) 7 ammee imMero DELACO oar Sco OF THR OREAT RAIP eeeee> Seneami As Ral Beart * mmmm> EORENCUEAD TRAM fh7+-"95 Sourn AFRIcA- 1899 or molest, him in any way is left to some person who may venture to explain these interesting phenomena. Also he had his large fur bag. He circled the fires five times commanding the people to “Vumani,” or, COmicloooks (C@