At another time, about 1879, in another Ogowe village, where a man's son had been wounded, and a bleeding artery which had been successfully closed had just broken open again, and the hemorrhage, if not promptly checked, would probably be fatal, the father ran out of the hut, wildly gesticulating towards the sky, saying, "Go away! go away! O ye spirits! why do you come to kill my son?" And he continued for some time in a strain of alternate pleading and protestation. In another case I saw a woman who rushed into the street objurgating the spirits, and in the next breath humbly supplicating them, who, she said, were vexing her child that was lying in convulsions. Observe that while these were distinctly prayers, appeals for mercy, pathetic, agonizing protestations, there was no praise, no love, no thanks, no confession of sin,--only a long, pitiful deprecation of evil. There are also prayers of blessing. Parents in farewells to their children, or a chief to his parting guest, or any grateful recipient of a valued gift, will take the head or hand of the child, guest, or donor, and saying, "Ibâtâ!" (blessing), or adding a cabalistic ejaculation, will sometimes "blow" a blessing. From this custom has arisen the statement in some books of travel that it was an African mode of honoring a guest to spit on his hand. It is true that the sudden and violent expulsion of the breath in "blowing" the "Ibâtâ" from the tip of the tongue is apt to be followed by an ejection of more or less saliva, but the kernel of the custom lies in the prayer of blessing accompanying the act. In auguries made by the mfumu, or witch-doctor, among the Wanyamwezi, "the mfumu holds a kind of religious service; he begins by addressing the spirits of their forefathers, imploring them not to visit their anger upon their descendants. This prayer he offers up kneeling, bowing and bending to the ground from time to time. Then he rises, and commences a hymn of praise to the ancestors, and all join in the chorus. Then, seizing his little gourds, he executes a _pas seul_, after which he bursts out into song again, but this time singing as one inspired."[42] 3. The third mode of worship has been already mentioned in a previous chapter, _viz._, the use of charms or fetiches. This is the mode most frequently used; and to the descriptions of their forms of preparation and manner, universality, and the various effects of their use, the following chapters are devoted. CHAPTER VIII THE FETICH--WITCHCRAFT--A WHITE ART--SORCERY