The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-05
ZULU MAGIC.
Extraordinary Performances O
Witch Doctors
A Professor of the Black Art Is Asto-rd-
ed by the Tricks OF Native Jug
slers Ia Southern
Africa

During the Zulu war, says Prof. + Il
| lar, the well-known ma ian, in N
| article IN the North American Review,
was in South Africa, tra~ciing north
| through Zululand In Duvn's reserva-
ton, two hundred miles north from
Durham, in Natal. ! saw 4 witch doctor
Ievitate the form of a young Zulu bv
waving q tuft OF grass about his head.
amid surroundings calculated 10 i'm
press themselves deeply upon the most
proSaic imagination. 1t was eveuinr
and the witch doctor, who belonged 10
the class more than once described bv
Rider Haggard with great accuracy.
was as revolving in his appearance as
the high caste fakirs had been pleasing.
a number of falirs had gathered
about our camp fire and had given
them some illustrations Of my own
skill They seemed puzzled, but were
not specially curiors. 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 10 penetrate, the conjurer. who
at first seemed reluctant 10 give his
consent to an exhibition OF his powers
before me, took a knob kerry or club
and fastened 1t at the end of thong
of rawhide 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 it at the end of a similar
thong Of hide. The two then stood
about six feet apart, in the full glare of
the fire, and began, al the while in
silence, to whirl their knob kerries
about their heads l noticed that when
the two clubs seemed, in their swift
fight, almost to come in contact, u
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 70
burst, the young mans knob kerry was
shattered to pieces, and he fell to the
ground apparently lifelesss. The witch
doctor turned to the high grass few
ANtb hN-AAAAAIA 40 anu kdlllCLFL "a iAliO4tll
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 a few
minutes before, the bunch of grass
around the head of the young Zulu. who
lay as dead in the freight. In mo-
ment or two the grass seemed 20 ignite
In its fight. 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 amazement the
recuHbent body slowly rose from the
ground and foated 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 out and dropped 20
the ground the body returned 10 its po-
sition on the ground, and after 4 few
passes from the hands of the witch doc
tor the young Zulu leaped to his feet,
apparently none the worse for his won
derfl1l exDerieuce