The administration of the ordeal-poison is a very solemn ceremony; commonly, as we have seen, it takes place in the _bwalo_, or village forum, but Livingstone speaks of some Batoka head-men making a pilgrimage to the graves of their ancestors for the purpose. ‘The ordeal by the poison of the muave is resorted to by the Batoka as well as by the other tribes; but a cock is often made to stand proxy for the supposed witch. Near the confluence of the Kafue the Mambo, or chief, with some of his head-men, came to our sleeping-place with a present; their foreheads were smeared with white flour, and an unusual seriousness marked their demeanour. Shortly before our arrival they had been accused of witchcraft; conscious of innocence, they accepted the ordeal. For this purpose they made a journey to the sacred hill of Nchomokela, on which repose the bodies of their ancestors; and after a solemn appeal to the unseen spirits to attest the innocence of their children, they swallowed the muave, vomited, and were therefore declared not guilty.’[25] NOTE.—The Rev. H. Rowley says that the Mang’anja distinguished between deaths brought about by Mpambe (_i.e._ those resulting from old age or ‘the ordinary diseases of the country’), and those caused by the _mfiti_. The former were buried; the latter, as being accursed, rolled in mats and hung up in trees. One cannot help suspecting some confusion here—more especially as violent deaths are reckoned as the work of the _mfiti_,—a word which this writer translates by ‘evil spirit’—thus introducing another element of misconception. Dr. Hetherwick, in a communication received since this chapter has been in type, says: ‘The Yaos lay their dead with their faces to the east, and with the knees bent to the chin. This is the invariable rule, and so the niche which they make in the side of the grave to receive the corpse is dug out on the _west_ side of the pit. The turning of the face to the east is interesting. At old Kapeni’s funeral one of his men went into the grave after the body was laid in its place, and fired an arrow up into the air. I have never found any explanation of this rite. It is not done on any other occasion that I have note of.’ CHAPTER VIII ARTS, INDUSTRIES, ETC. Agriculture: Maize, tobacco, gardens, etc. Hunting, trapping. Ant-catching. Fishing. Weaving. Basket-making. Bark cloth. Ironwork. Wood-carving. Pottery. Salt.