The evening times., 1899-10-07
Sfaries of the WalamOs Lfviua :p
the Unknown Country Between
Lake Rudolf and the Nile Valley.
Their Wonderful Power of Hyp-
notism-An Explorers Experiences
Frcm the London Spectator,

usFmah doctor who accompanied a pacf
: sent py said Pacha of Egypt some fif,
i years ago to see if he could not exact trit
ute Oh some sort from the extreme south
the Egyptian dominion. Mr. John Murra
pupiished in two small volumes transls
tion of his singularly lucid and interestin
narrative, and in it he gives an accoun
apparently identical with Captain Wellby'.
oi race OF naked men who were on a
average seven feet high.
} AS individuals reach that height even 1
England, and are common in Patagonia
we can believe that story without Difficult
~; but the account of the Walamo distri
is more severe draft on our credulity
IL is probably true, nevertheless, thoug!
the explanation is not easy. The native
about Lake Rudolf believe that the peopI
OF Walamo are possessed of the devil, an
captain Wellby is obviously not quite sur
that tney are not. Their land is singular
y ana exceptionally beautiful, a Crane
tropical park, in fact well waterel ans
well timbered, "a fortnights iourne,
south of Ads Abeba;' and the psop.e ar
quite friendly TO white men. They are ac.
eused, however, OF possessing gift, moth
ing less than the power of creating b,
suggestion only, insanity in those upon
whom they gaze. Captain Wellby, OF
course disbelieved this story but he was
soon undeceived. Il only state the facts
The first sign of anything wrong was when
one OF my Somali escort rushed into camp
! shouting 'Walamoi Walamo, He was
frlghuuily excited, he shook violently. and
kicked like a madman, and In the inter
walls between his shrieks he told me that he
was possessed by a devil. The whole of
that night he was neither more nor less
than maniac, but the next day he was
perfectly well. / had been previously tod
] that ulnn had
devil possessed, he was always liable to a
second attack, and as a simple measure of
precaution the mans rife was taken away
| from him. While on the march he had
| another attack of this curious madness in
the course of which he drew a knife and
rushing about threatened 10 kill every
body. II took several men to hold him
down. II is supposed to be specially dan
gerous to eat food in the presence of the
Nalamo people, and on one occasion
soudanese in the expedition who did SO be-
came raving lunatic, while on another
"a headman. 4 peaceable, orderly man, de-
clared that he had become possessed, raved
and kicked, and al last injured three men.
In all cases the fit seems to last for two or
three days, but is liable to recur
rendering all these facts, Captain Wellby,
like an Englishman with steady nerves and
the fine spirit of curiosity which keeps
US blundering about in all unexplored re-
gions, resolved cn supreme experiment
He solemnly ate his dinner in the presence
OF hundred Walamo. Nothing happened
at the moment, but two days after, the ex-
plorer, one of those men who are never ILL
was SO thoroughly ill''-he does not say
insane-that he had some difficulty in hid
ing the fact from his own people.
Now, how was that done? To saw II did
not occur seems TO us a mere rejection for
no reason of trustworthy evidence If Can
tain Nellby said he found gold or diamonds
IN Waiamo, thousands upon thousands OF
pounds would instantly be ventured in the
search for them; and why should he then
be distrusted Wnen he says that certain
men under certain circumstances Shove,
symptoms of insanity?
Ihere are, We think, just three hypoth
eses which are worth discussion. One is
that the Walamo, in the interest of their
special reputation, bribed or frightened
Captain Wellby's men into acting the SWIM
toms which he describes. That is possible
and is doubtless the explanation of many
apparent wonders of the kind; but in this |
instance 1t would seem to be barred by Cap
tain Welibys own experience He had
nothing TO gain by trick and his nerves
were clearly not of the kind which are up-
set by rumors of magical powers possessed /
by black persons without clothes.
another hypothesis, much more likely.
is that the Walamo are possessed of
drug, akin to that used by MANY
tribes Tor poisoning arrows, which shat
ters the nerves of those who have swaI.
lowed it That such drugs existed was
universal belief among the ancients and
mere Is no prima facie reason why they
'nouid not, as many substances now used
n medicine, lower tone" and depress the
spirits OF those who swallow them to a de-
gree which initiates many of the symp-
oms OF pronounced melancholia. The con
'utution OF negroes is not identical with
'urs. or they would not eat clay, and their
uperior liability to the action of the drue
is compared with Captain Wellby is NOT
matter for surprise. The white man
nay not be stronger than the black. but
lie mas far better nervous system. But
low, In that case, was the drug admins
cred! We should say in water some
ours after food had been. eaten in WaIa- {
no presence, or through the agency of
ONE unnoticed prick in sleep with a poi
oned thorn. medicine man. with a !
10 keep up in his tribe and for
is tribe would be quite capable of an
droit trick of that kind, especially If he 6
erformed it, as on the hypothesis seems
with hereditary ingenuity :
The third conceivable explanation is that '
ne men OF Walamo have by some accident c
earned that If they seriously set them
ewes In combination to willing that ef
'ct they can hypnotize victim or serious :
shatter his nerves. The interval which
Gems always to have elapsed between the
ccasion OF the evil effect and the evil
feet itself is perplexity, but otherwise
e doubt II DR.. Charcot and his assistants q
ould consider the phenomena exceptional !"
wonderful. There are good MANY in d
dents recorded OF many persons snd !,
'untries which, IL one will cannot affect
lie bodily frame of another person. are n
mply unintelligible. Or rather one mind N
ay SO affect another mind without af- m
citing the body as to produce a belief In "A
sease as operative as disease itself. Can =
In Wellby's men all believed they were T
ssessed, and consequently behaved as
ID they been possessed, they thought "
ey would have behaved re
1t may be said that il such a mower ev %
ea II would have been recognized first of Of
by white men, who know SO much more | ca
everything than blacks; but II is omit re
ssioie tnat white men may be compare C
'eiy lmmune"-the word is useful NJ
ousn II is horrid-and 1t is quite certain
at white men, having other things to Pl
Ink about, have paid little attention to 3:
en- phenomena. 1t is the meditattng ".
ces which, when accident brings such B(
lngs before them, study them and ex-
riment in them, without thinking first pu
all that they are all childish nonsense
9 Walamo, aware, probably through nc
ent, that such power existed, would =,
It's utility as means of defence, and -