“A common custom amongst the Machinga is divination (kupenda). Few will venture to go a distance of ten miles without first assuring themselves that no danger is to befall them on the way. Men going from Zomba to Blantyre seldom forget to try the ‘Chipendo’ before starting. One mode of divining is by means of the root of a small bush. This root is about the thickness of a pencil, and three bits of it about two inches long are usually employed. Most men carry these lots or roots with them when on a journey, and carefully preserve them when at home. A man wishing to know whether he may proceed in safety takes these bits of root and lays them carefully on the ground, placing the third above the other two. He then declares his intention of going to a certain place, and asks whether there is any hindrance. After retiring a few paces he returns to take his answer from the position in which the roots are now lying. If they have remained as he placed them his journey is to be prosperous, but if they have been separated it is to be unsuccessful, and he will not set out. Or the diviner may use only two roots—a method often resorted to by a traveller who comes to cross roads. He places his knife in a horizontal position, and lays the two roots against the blade. The traveller then stands pointing to one of the roads and says ‘Shall I take this one?’ and if the roots remain still fixed he takes it, but if they fall to the ground he chooses the other path. In the event of a man being without a knife he may use the palm of his hand or the side of a tree. “Another and more complicated method consists in boiling the roots and mixing the entrails of an adder with the water.” This use of the entrails is suggestive in an ethnological point of view. CHAPTER XVI. AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY.