Fetichism in West Africa

Fetich Magician. (With horns, wooden mask, spear, and sword; dress of leaves of palm and plantain.)
FETICHISM IN WEST AFRICA
Forty Years’ Observation of Native Customs and Superstitions
BY THE REV. ROBERT HAMILL NASSAU, M.D., S.T.D. FOR FORTY YEARS A MISSIONARY IN THE GABUN DISTRICT OF KONGO-FRANÇAISE AUTHOR OF “CROWNED IN PALM LAND,” “MAWEDO”
WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS
YOUNG PEOPLE’S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT 156 Fifth Avenue New York
Copyright, 1904 By Charles Scribner’s Sons
Published October, 1904

On the 2d of July, 1861, I sailed from New York City on a little brig, the “Ocean Eagle,” with destination to the island of Corisco, near the equator, on the West Coast of Africa. My first introduction to the natives of Africa was a month later, when the vessel stopped at Monrovia, the capital of the Liberian Republic, to land a portion of its trade goods, and at other ports of Liberia, Sinoe, and Cape Palmas; thence to Corisco on September 12.
Corisco is a microcosm, only five miles long by three miles wide; its surface diversified with every variety of landscape, proportioned to its size, of hill, prairie, stream, and lake. It is located in the eye of the elephant-head shaped Bay of Corisco, and from twelve to twenty miles distant from the mainland. Into the bay flow two large rivers,—the Muni (the Rio D’Angra of commerce) and the Munda (this latter representing the elephant’s proboscis).