Then roots of a tree called the “mboundou” were laid at his feet, and also a wooden bowl filled with water. The ouganga scraped the root of the “mboundou” into the water, which turned the color of the root, which was reddish, and then bubbled. He made incantations, and then drank the potion. Soon after his countenance changed, his eyes became bloodshot and glared. His veins swelled, and he looked as if he were drunk. Such was the effect of the “mboundou” upon him.
A man from the village named several of their own people whom they suspected of being sorcerers, and asked the ouganga to say if they were the ones. The ouganga seemed at first to speak incoherently. Then he said: “There are no witches or sorcerers in your own village. The guilty ones are living in another village.”
At these words they shouted with one voice: “Tell us their names and the name of the village, for we want to make war on that village, unless they deliver up the sorcerers to us.”
Then the hollow voice of the ouganga was heard saying: “Okabi and Aquailay are those who are sorcerers. They are full of witchcraft.”
“Death to Okabi and Aquailay!” shouted the people.
Okabi and Aquailay lived in a neighboring village, and were well known to all present, and, moreover, whispers charging them with sorcery had been rife for several years.
That night there was a great war dance. The people invoked their guardian spirits. The next day they were going to get Okabi and Aquailay and make them stand the “mboundou” trial, and if the people of the village where these two men lived refused to deliver them up, then they would make war upon them and take them by force. Not only must the two men be delivered, but indemnity, in the form of slaves, must be given for the mischief, deaths, sickness, and bad luck generally these two men were supposed to have caused.
The next day, however, on their formal request, the two men were at once delivered up by their people, who had long suspected them of witchcraft. The brother of Okabi came and talked in his behalf, and finally, after a most eloquent speech, persuaded the people not to kill them, but to sell them as slaves. This was acquiesced in by the leading people of the two towns, and it was arranged that the relatives of the two men should share equally the proceeds of the sale. Both were to pay a certain part of their goods to the families of the men who had died. The accused could have submitted to the ordeal of trial by “mboundou”—drinking—which is almost always mortal, except to doctors—but they preferred to be sold as slaves.
CHAPTER IX
KING MOMBO GIVES ME THE STICK “OMEMBA”—I LEAVE THE VILLAGE ON A HUNTING TRIP—PARTING INJUNCTIONS—A HERD OF HIPPOPOTAMI.