'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1863 to December 1864. (Edited by the Secretary.) Volume XVII.' [‎275] (452/524)

VISIT TO THE WAN IK A COUNTRY.
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fire is lighted, and a sacrifice offered. At a given signal the youth
rush to the fire and extinguish it with their naked feet, and each seizes
a lump of clay. All this time they are beaten by the men of the Kamhi
or 2nd order with the palms of their hands. They then cover their
bodies with clay, and in this state, entirely divested of clothing, they are
required to pass eight days in the forest. They then apply a second
coating of clay, taken from any place they please, and pass another
week in the same manner as the first. During all this time decency
is laid aside and the utmost license prevails. At the close of the se
cond week they return to their homes and resume their usual avocations ;
but they still continue the application of clay till the order is given for
the concluding and most horrible part of the ceremony.
This consists in some one of the candidates killing a man ; he must
not belong to their tribe, but must be a person of some consideration in
another one ; the murder of a poor slave will by no means be accepted.
The particulars are kept a profound secret ; the novices simply inform
the elders that the victim has been slain, whereupon the former wash
their bodies, shave their heads, and the ceremony of initiation is
completed.
Promotion from the second to the highest order is performed gra
dually as the aspirants are able to pay the prescribed offering.
These consist of an unlimited quantity of palm-wine given to the elders
during a series of years, and finally two goats, thirty measures of
rice, and twenty-four fowls. While these are being presented, tbe
muanza or sacred horn, at other times carefully concealed in the for
est, is played in such a manner as to make the sound emitted resemble
the word (a goat). The rice is then put into three large
pots kept for the express purpose, and to each pot eight fowls are added.
This mess, with the goats, is eaten by the elders.
The Kambi or middle order is divided into four classes ; the first
consists of the eight eldest men, who are called “ people of the hair,
and have the privilege of selecting the prime pieces when an animal is
killed. The second and third sections also consist of eight men each,
next in age, while the fourth includes all the remainder.
On the day fixed for the initiation of the Kambi into the rank of
elders, they assemble in the village, while the elders meet in one of their
sacred places, disposed in two ranks so as to form a street; each man
is armed with a switch, and the candidates are brought two at a time and