Another  point  to  be  remembered  is  that  the  Africans
on  the  West  Coast,  at  any  rate,  are  far  more  liable  than,
white  men  to  many  strange  nervous  disorders,  especially!
to  delirium,  which  often  occurs  in  a  comparatively  slight
illness.  Why  I  do  not  pretend  to  understand  ;  but  I
think  in  these  nervous  cases  the  bedside  manners  of  a
witch  doctor — though  strongly  resembling  that  of  the
physician  who  attended  the  immortal  Why  Why's  mother
— may  yet  be  really  useful.
As  to  the  evil  these  witch  doctors  do  in  the  matter  of
getting  people  killed  for  bewitching  it  is  difficult  to  speak
justly.     I  fancy  that,  on  the  whole,  they  do  more  good  '
than  harm,  for  remember  witchcraft  in  these  districts  is
no  parlour  game  ;  in  the  eyes  of  Allah  as  well  as  man
it  is  murder,  for  most  of  it  is  poison.     Most  witchcraft
charms  I  know  of  among  people  who  have  not  been  in
contact  with  Mohammedanism   have  always  had  that
element  of  mixing  something  with  the  food  or  drink —
even  in  that  common,  true  Negro  form  of  killing  by
witchcraft,  putting  medicine  in  the  path,  there  is  a  pois-
oned spike  as  well  as  charm  stuff     There  can  be  no_
doubt  that  the  witch  doctor's  methods  of  finding  out^
who  has  poisoned  a  person  are  effective,  and  that  the
knowledge  in  the  public  mind  of  this  detective  power


i86  THE  WITCH  DOCTOR  CHAP,  ix

keeps  down  poisoning  to  a  great  extent.  Of  the  safe-
guards against  unjust  accusation  I  will  speak  when
treating  of  law.
