The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-03-03
ZULU MAGIC.
Bodies Raised in the Air by Some Power
Tstnown to Europeans.

During the Zulu war / was in South
Africa, travelling north through Zulu
land. In Dunn's reservation, 300 miles
north from Durham, in Natal, | saw
witch doctor levitate the form of
young Zulu by waving tuft of grass
about his head, amid surroundings
calculated to impress themselves deep
ly upon the most prosaic imagination.
1t was evening, and the witch doc
tor, who belonged to the class de-
scribed more than once by Rider Hag-
gard with great accuracy, was as re-
voting in his appearance as the high
caste fakirs had been pleasing. A
number of fakirs had gathered about
our campfire, and l had given them
some illustrations of my own skill.
They seemed puzzled, but were not
specially curious. One of them stole
away, and after some minutes returned
with their own conjurer, the witch
doctor in question.
After considerable 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 re-
luctant to give his consent to an ex-
hibition of his powers before me, took
knob kerry or club and fastened it
at the end of a throng of rawhide
about two feet long. The young ma
tive, tall and athletic, whose eyes APP
peared to be fixed on those of the con-
jurer with an apprehensive stead
fastness, took his own knob kerry and
fastened it at the end of similar
rs
about six feet apart, in the full glare of
the lire, and began, all the while in 81
lence, to whirl their knob kerries about
their heads. noticed that when the
two clubs seemed, in their swift flight.
almost to come in contact, a spark or
flame passed or appeared to pass from
one of them to the other. The third
time this happened there was an ex-
plosion, the spark appeared to burst.
the Young mans knob kerry was shat
tered to pieces aud he fell to the ground
apparently lifeless.
The witch doctor turned to the high
grass few feet behind us and gathered
a handful of stalks about three feet
long. Standing in the shadow and
away from the lire he waved, with a
swift motion exactly 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 moment or two the
grass seemed to ignite in its fight. al
though the witch doctor was moi stand
ing within 20 feet of the fire, and
burned slowly, cracking audibly. APP
preaching more closely theform of The
native in the trance the coniuror waved
the flaming grass gently over bis fig
ure, about "A foot from the flesh. To
my intense amazement the recumbent
body slowly rose from the ground and
floated upward in the air to a height
of about three feet, remaining ia sus-
pension and moving up and down, ac-
cording as the passes of the burning
grass were slower or faster. As the
grass burned out and dropped to the
ground the body returned to its posi-
tion on the ground, and after a few
passes from the hands Of the witch doc
tor the young Zulu jumped to his feet,
apparently none the worse for his won
derful experience. Prof Kellar IN the
North Anaertcafa ReciclO.