The dread of witchcraft prevails universally. In general, the occurrence of disease is ascribed to this source. In the north they fear a supernatural influence; in the south this is traced to no superhuman origin, but is conceived to be a power which any one may possess and exercise. Among these tribes, the man presumed to be guilty of this crime is a public enemy (as were the witches occasionally found among our own venerated pious, and public-spirited puritan forefathers--a blemish in their character due to the general ignorance of the age), to be removed if possible, as a lion, tiger, or pestilence would be annihilated. Even the force of civilized law, when introduced among them, has not saved a man under this stigma from being secretly murdered by the terrified people. It has yielded only to the enlightening influence of Christian missionaries. These delusions are often rendered the support of tyranny by the chiefs, for the property of the accused is confiscated. Scenes sad and horrible are exhibited as the consequence of a chief’s illness. In order to force a discovery of the means employed, and to get the witchcraft counteracted, some native, who is generally rich enough to be worth plundering, is seized and tortured, until, as an old author expresses it, “he dies, or the chief recovers.” They extend the horror of the infliction, by calling in the aid of vermin life, destined in nature to devour corruption, by scattering handfuls of ants over the scorched skin and quivering flesh of their victim. Generally among the Guinea negroes, the ordeal employed to detect this crime, is to compel the accused to drink a decoction of sassy-wood. This may be rendered harmless or destructive, according to the object of the fetishman. It is oftener his purpose to destroy than to save, and great cruelty has in almost all cases been found to accompany the trial. Plunder is the reward of the soldier. In the central regions this was increased by the sale of captives. Captives of both sexes were the chief’s property. Thus the warriors looked to the acquisition of wives from the chief, as the recompense of successful wars. They announced this as their aim in their preparatory songs. The chief was, therefore, to them the source of every thing. Their whole thought responded to his movements, and sympathized with his greatness and success.