I have never heard of this oracle of the sticks in the Blantyre or Upper Shiré district. Of course, it by no means follows that it is not used; but from various indications I fancy that the witch-detective, the _Mabisalila_, whose operations have already been described, has been more popular since the time of the Yao settlement. The ‘sticks’ are still in vogue on the Lake. The Rev. H. B. Barnes, of the Universities’ Mission, was told of a man at Ngofi who possessed this charm, and ‘had bought it with much money at the coast.... It was described to me as consisting of two short pieces of wood, with a large feather behind the second. The master of the charm sets it on the ground near the place whence the disappearance has taken place, and keeps his hand on the feather, following it as it moves off on the track. It is also used when war is threatening, in order to ascertain the safest direction in which to flee.’[16] There are various methods of divination besides those already referred to. The sorcerer puts bits of stick and pebbles into a gourd, shakes them up, and throws them out, deducing his answer to the questions put from their position as they lie on the ground. I am sorry to say I never saw this done, and cannot discover from any of the native accounts before me whether there is a system of interpretation which allows one to get an answer out of almost any possible combination of the ‘pieces’—as among the Delagoa Bay people; but it is probable that the diviner follows some such rules. Neither the ‘divining tablets’ of the Mashona, nor the knuckle-bones of sheep and goats seem to be used—their place is taken by small pieces of wood (_mpinjiri_), sometimes neatly cut into shape, and the claws of the tortoise, which are divided into four pieces—the front or tip of the claw being halved to make a ‘male’ and a ‘female’ piece (which are marked on the under side), and in like manner the back. One way of consulting this oracle is to spread all the pieces on a dry skin and then knock it from underneath, and catch in the hand the piece (if any) which jumps off; if the same piece comes twice running, it is a conclusive proof that the person whom the diviner thought of, when he made the inquiry, is the correct one. Another way is to put the lots into a jar, cover it up, and leave it for a time; if they still keep their relative positions when next looked at, the omens for the journey or other undertaking inquired about are favourable. Mr. Macdonald found that the Yao professional diviners were usually very intelligent men, who gave sensible advice according to their own lights, and invested it with a certain impressiveness by means of the ‘lot,’ thinking people would care nothing about it, or perhaps take offence, unless they could attribute it to a supernatural source.