Then a little after, the son of one of his other wives having gone out at midnight, a leopard came upon him and caught his foot just at the door of the house as he was running in. The lad was badly bitten, and his mother induced Matope to have resort to the usual methods of detecting witchcraft; the result was that Matope’s own mother was pronounced a witch. We were very sorry for the poor woman. She lived in another village, over the stream from her son’s hamlet. She had always shown us the greatest kindness and hospitality. She was fond of joking and fun, but this sentence made her an object of dread and aversion. Every native now shrunk from her, and her life became a burden. We tried to do everything for her; we gave her presents; invited her to come and see us, and cautioned her against drinking the poisoned cup. We made the village chief promise that it would not be administered. The result was that there was some delay in drinking the ordeal. We made every use of this respite by talking on the matter with Kapeni, the chief of the country, who was her brother, and who promised to use every influence on her behalf. Her son, the village chief, was a very successful hunter. During the delay he could not go to hunt. The superstition was too strong for him. At the same time his mother was anxious to break the spell that bound him, she was so sure that she was innocent. She drank the dangerous cup and died, and however dearly the liberty was purchased, the hunter could now go forth to his usual pursuit. So much for the danger of being suspected of witchcraft, a suspicion that might arise from flour not falling in the form of a cone. But it is seldom that a bad omen arises while the chief is in the mere act of putting down the flour. After the flour is put down, and has formed a shapely cone, he carefully covers it with a pot, and leaves it all night. During the night he may have a dream about the journey, and this will decide his course. But if he is still undecided he visits his offering early in the morning. Should he find that the cone of flour is broken down on one side (mbali jimo jiwalwiche), that it has not its proper point (lusonga), the omen is bad. The flour is thrown away in the bush, the journey is forbidden by the spirit, and cannot be thought of; and the result is an appeal to the oracle (chisango). But if the flour has preserved its conical form the omen is good, the divinity has accepted the present and granted the request. The village chief tells his man to go forth with confidence. The Wanyasa depend more upon the dream during night than the appearance of the cone. Some of them say, “Of course, the flour will form a cone if it is put down carefully, and the cone will maintain its form if the rats are kept away”. The Magololo chiefs would not send their children to school until they dreamt.