Furthermore he alleged that the chief witness had a special ill feeling towards him because of a land dispute between the Kabati and Imperri people, and that he had only mentioned his name in connection with this matter after compulsion on the part of the District Commissioner. He further stated that some time after his election as Mahawa certain villages, including Kabati, which had been a part of Imperri Chiefdom, were transferred to his Chiefdom. He stated that it was well known that cannibal murder was rife in these villages, but that it was unknown in the other parts of his chiefdom. He pointed out that to put a stop to cannibalism he had made certain rules with regard to strangers reporting their presence in villages, as to people not sleeping outside a house, as to proper doors for houses and such like. He had also assisted the Government in the Mochach murder about September, 1910, and in the Sawura murder in 1911, and had done what he could at the request of the District Commissioner to elucidate the facts in this very case. He drew attention to the fact that the second accused had been handed over to him to be dealt with in accordance with country law, and that he was sent for by the Government Authorities to assist in the Imperri case, when he did all he could to elicit information from the very informer who was now giving evidence against him. The firi, he stated, was an heirloom and appurtenant to his office, and witnesses for the prosecution admitted that big Mahawas do possess firis, which are used as the credentials of important messengers. He explained that the chewing-stick was a present from a Muhammedan to whom he had rendered some service, and that the Arabic text found in the wrapper was nothing more than an invocation that none but seasonable words might drop from the lips of him who used it. [Illustration: A NATIVE VILLAGE.]