Practically It
Is So, But The Doctor Says The Spitting Is Accidental, A By-Product
I Suppose.
The method consists in taking the right hand in both
yours, turning it palm upwards, bending your head low over it, and
saying with great energy and a violent propulsion of the breath,
Ibata.
Idols are comparatively rare in Congo Francais, but where they are
used the people have the same idea about them as the true Negroes
have, namely, that they are things which spirits reside in, or
haunt, but not in their corporeal nature adorable. The resident
spirit in them and in the charms and plants, which are also regarded
as residences of spirits, has to be placated with offerings of food
and other sacrifices. You will see in the Fetish huts above
mentioned dishes of plantain and fish left till they rot. Dr.
Nassau says the life or essence of the food only is eaten by the
spirit, the form of the vegetable or flesh being left to be removed
when its life is gone out.
In cases of emergency a fowl with its blood is laid at the door of
the Fetish hut, or when pestilence is expected, or an attack by
enemies, or a great man or woman is very ill, goats and sheep are
sacrificed and the blood put in the Fetish hut as well as on the
gateways of the village. These sacrifices among the Fan are made
with a very peculiar-shaped knife, a fine specimen of which I
secured by the kindness of Captain Davies; it is shaped like the
head of a hornbill and is quite unlike the knives in common use
among the tribes, which are either long, leaf-shaped blades
sharpened along both edges, or broad, trowel-shaped, almost
triangular daggers.
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