When a mysterious death has happened in a village it is at once blamed upon one of the “Afiti.” But who he is nobody can tell. It may be one’s very own father, for the “Afiti” during the day retain their ordinary form, one never can tell. Great fear hangs over the village for each suspects his neighbour of being the cause of the death. Then the witch-finder is sent for. He, or she--for sometimes the witch-finder is a woman--comes laden with medicines and charms and stays in the village. No one now will be seen out of doors after dark in case of being suspected. After learning all the gossip of the village and finding out who was on bad terms with the dead man, the witch-finder proceeds to business. The people are assembled to the sound of a large drum and stand in a circle in fear and trembling. The witch-finder now begins to dance and spin round and work himself up to a high pitch of excitement, during which he rushes here and there among the frightened people, smells their hands for traces of blood, and finally calls out the name of the guilty person. Then the poison ordeal is tried. A poison draught is made up with bark from a certain tree and the accused is given it to drink. Should he happen to vomit it up again after having taken it, he is declared to be innocent, and payment is made to him. But should he happen to die, what further proof was necessary? The village is now clear of the evil one, and great rejoicings are made and payment given to the witch-finder. In this way hundreds and thousands of innocent people have met their end in Darkest Africa. This belief in “Afiti” is one of the most difficult to deal with which the missionary encounters. You try to explain that God never gave people such power over one another, but although agreeing with you outwardly, they secretly cling to the old belief and their faith in the poison cup, for there are among them people foolish enough to imagine themselves possessed of “Afiti” powers who actually open graves and steal bits, especially fingers, from the dead. It is the occurrence of such cases that causes the people to cling to their belief. Among the negro peoples the makers of medicine are supposed to have power over the spirits and to “bind” them into what are called “fetiches.” A fetich may consist of any convenient-sized object. It may be a small horn or a snail’s shell or a stone. But it has power only when the witch-doctor has imprisoned a spirit in it. This he does of course for payment. And fetiches are made to meet every wish of the human heart. You can obtain them to make you brave, or wise, or cunning, or to prevail over your enemy, or to prevent theft, or to be successful in the chase or anything you wish.