The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1893-03-31
ZULU MAGIC.
Extraordinary Performances of
Witch Doctors
4 Professor of the Black Art Is Astound-
Id by the Tricks of Native Jug
gIers In Southern
Africa

During the Zulu war, says Prof kel-
lar. the well-lInown magician, in an
article in the North American Review,
1 was in South Africa, travelling north
through Zululand. In Dunn's reserva-
ton. two hundred miles north from
Durham, in Natal, | saw a witch doctor
levitate the form of a young Zulu by
waving a tuft of grass about his head,
amid surroundings calculated to i'm
press themselves deeply upon the most
prCSaic imagination. 1t was evening
and the witch doctor, who belonged to
the class more than once described by
Rider Haggard with great accuracy.
was as revolving in his appearance as
the high caste falIirs had been pleasing
number of fal1irs had gathered
about our camp fire and / had given
them some illustrations of my own
skill. They seemed puzzled. but We're
not specially curious. One of them
stole away and after some minutes re
turned with their own conjurer, the
witch doctor in question. After con-
siderable solicitation from the natives,
the intricacies of which my knowledge
of the Zulu language did not enable me
quite to penetrate, the cOnJurer, who
at first seemed reluctant to give his
consent to an exhibition of his powers
before me, took a knob kerry or club
and fastened ii at the end of a thong
OF ravhide about two feet long. a
young native. tall and athletic, whose
eyes seemed to be fixed upon those of
the conjurer with an apprehensive
steadfastness. took his own knob kerry
and fastened IL at the end of a similar
thong OF hide. The two then stood
81. Ill rrI.,, :
the fire, and began, all the while in
silence. TO whirl their knob l1erries
about their heads noticed that when
the two clubs seemed. in their swift
flight, almost to come in contact, a
spark of flame passed, or appeared TO
pass, from one of them TO the other.
The third time this happened there was
an explosion, the spark appeared to
burst, the young mans knob kerry was
shattered 10 pieces. and he fell to the
ground apparently lifelesss. The witch
doctor turned TO the high grass a few
feet behind us and gathered a handful
of stalks about three feet long. Stand
ing in the shadow and away from the
fire he waved. with swift motion, eX-
actly similar to that of the clubs Il few
minutes before. the bunch of grass
around the head of the young Zulu. who
lay as dead in the freight. In a mo-
uIent or two the grass seemed to ignite
in its flight, although the witch doctor
was not standing within twenty feet of
the fire, and burned slowly, cracking
audibly. Approaching more closely the
form of the native in the trance the
conjurer waved the flaming grass gently
over his figure, about a foot from the
flesh. To my intense amazcment the
rccumbent body slowly rose from the
ground and floated upward in the air to
the height of about three feet, remain
ing in suspension and moving up
and down, according as the passes of
the burning grass were slower or faster.
As the grass burned ont and dropped to
the ground the body returned to its po-
sition on the ground, and after a few
passes from the hands of the witch doc
tor the young Zulu leaped to his feet.
apparently none the worse for his Won
derful experience.