LION- AND TIGER-MEN
The rooted idea in the savage mind that animals may be invested by human
souls, and that men may at will transform themselves into animals, has
been largely strengthened throughout the ages by the teachings of the
"Medicine men" or wizards, who have no doubt found it profitable and
conducive to their own acquisition of power to work on the superstitions
and foster the weaknesses of the people to whom they minister.
Stories about lion- and tiger-men, hyæna-women, and other strange
monsters gifted with human qualities are found in the Books of Travel
in every part of the world.
The way the sorcerer sets to work on the imagination of primitive
people has often been described. Firstly he declares that he is about
to change himself into a tiger and tear the people to pieces, and he
no sooner begins to roar than the frightened natives, acting under the
spell of suggestion, take to their heels, but they dare not go beyond
the reach of those terrible sounds. "Look," cry the fear-stricken
women, who cannot really see what is going on, "his body is covered
with spots like a tiger! Horrible! his nails are turning into claws."
All the time the sorcerer is hidden in his tent, carrying on a kind of
magical performance which inspires the people with a dread of the
unknown, so that they fall a prey to the imagination and almost lose
their reason. When asked to explain this unholy dread, they declare
that it arises from being unable to see and to kill the fearsome
tiger-image which threatens them.
Africa is vastly rich in stories of wer-lions, wer-leopards, and
wer-hyænas, and the language of Bornu has a word "_bultungin_," which
means "I change myself into a hyæna." It is even said that in the
village of Kabutiloa every native possesses the faculty of
transformation.
The wizards of Abyssinia are said to be able to become hyænas at will,
and in "The Life of Nathaniel Pearce"[45] the story is told of a man
called Coffin who was asked by a servant for leave of absence. No
sooner had he granted the request than one of the other servants
called out, "Look, look, he has turned himself into a hyæna!" Coffin
gazed in the direction in which the first servant had disappeared, and
there he saw a large hyæna bounding across the open plain. The next
morning the servant returned, and when asked about the matter asserted
that such a transformation had actually taken place. Coffin brought
himself to believe in these native stories, and quoted in evidence of
their truth that he had often seen a certain kind of earring in the
ears of hyænas shot, trapped and speared by himself or his friends,
identical with those which were commonly worn by the native servants.
A natural explanation has been sought in the suggestion that the
sorcerers themselves adorned the hyænas with the gems in order to
encourage a superstition which they found profitable for their own
purposes, but no proof of any such thing has been discovered.
Abyssinia is a hotbed of strange happenings of this character, some of
which are quite beyond understanding.
The trade of blacksmith is hereditary there and is regarded with more
or less suspicion, from the fact that blacksmiths are, with few
exceptions, believed to be sorcerers and are opprobriously given the
name of _Bouda_. They are said to have the power of turning themselves
into various kinds of animals. "I remember," says Mansfield Parkyns
in "Life in Abyssinia,"[46] "a story of some little girls, who, having
been out in the forest to gather sticks, came running back breathless
with fright; and on being asked what was the cause, they answered that
a blacksmith of the neighbourhood had met them, and entering into
conversation with him, they at length began to joke about whether, as
had been asserted, he could turn himself into a hyæna. The man, they
declared, made no reply, but taking some ashes, which he had with him
tied up in the corner of his cloth, sprinkled them over his shoulders,
and to their horror and alarm they began almost immediately to
perceive that the metamorphosis was actually taking place, and that
the blacksmith's skin was assuming the hair and colour of the animal
in question. When the change was complete he grinned and laughed at
them, and then retired into the neighbouring thickets. They stood
rooted to the spot from sheer fright; but the moment the hideous
creature withdrew, they made the best of their way home."
Parkyns tells another _Bouda_ story[47] which is fully credited by the
natives. In the neighbourhood of Adoua there was said to be a woman
who had one human foot and in the place of the other the hoof of a
donkey. Several persons assured Parkyns that they had seen this human
monstrosity, and others firmly believed the following account of the
affair:
The woman was said to have died, and was buried with ceremony in the
churchyard. The following day a man came to one of the priests and
offered him a sum of money for the body, pledging himself to strict
secrecy. The bargain was concluded and the unscrupulous priest allowed
the stranger, who was a blacksmith, to disinter and carry off the
corpse. On the way to the market the blacksmith passed the house where
the deceased lady's family lived, and he usually rode or drove a
remarkably fine donkey which, strangely enough, on passing the house,
or any of the old woman's children, brayed loudly and endeavoured to
run towards them.
At first no notice was taken of this odd behaviour on the part of an
ass, but at last one of the sons grew suspicious and exclaimed, "I am
sure that ass is my mother!"
Accordingly _Bouda_, ass and all were seized and brought to the hut,
much to the apparent satisfaction of the animal, which rubbed its nose
against the young men and was even said to shed tears of joy on the
occasion.
On being charged with the offence of sorcery the _Bouda_ tried to make
light of it and denied the accusation, but at last by dint of threats
and promises he was induced to confess that he had turned the old woman
into a donkey, she having been not really dead but in a trance, into
which he had purposely thrown her. His power, he asserted, was
sufficient to change the external appearance, but not to alter the mind
of his victim. Hence it was that the old woman, or rather donkey,
possessed human feelings, which she had displayed in her endeavours to
enter her former habitation and in her recognition of her children. The
_Bouda_, moreover, agreed to restore her human appearance, and began his
exorcism. As he proceeded she by degrees assumed her natural form, and
the change was almost complete, when one of the sons, blinded by his
rage, forgot the promises of pardon which the _Bouda_ had exacted, and
drove his spear through his heart. The incantation not being entirely
finished, one foot remained in the shape of the hoof of an ass and
continued so until her death, which was not till many years afterwards.
Still another story belonging to the same class concerns two brothers
who lived in Gojam. One of them having transformed himself into a horse,
ass or cow, was sold in the market and driven out of town by his
purchaser. Directly night had closed the eyes of his new master in sleep
the _Bouda_ took on human form again and walked quietly home. The
brothers were known to sell cattle in the market so frequently that
people became suspicious, because they did not know where their stock
was kept, and they often had no beasts in their yard even the very day
before the sales. Besides, it soon leaked out that every animal sold
make its escape the same night and was never heard of again. Then a
purchaser who had been twice taken in by the brothers, determined to
discover how the fraud was carried out. One market day he bought a fine
horse from one of the brothers and rode off upon it, but no sooner had
he left the market town behind him than he dismounted and drove a knife
through the animal's heart. Then he walked back to the market-place and
meeting the vendor told him that he had killed the beautiful animal he
had just bought in a fit of passion. The _Bouda_ gave a start, but
managed to conceal his grief till he entered his house, when he burst
forth into lamentations and rubbed the skin off his forehead, as the
custom is when a near relative dies. To his inquisitive neighbours he
declared that his favourite brother had been robbed and murdered in the
Galla country, whither he had travelled in order to purchase horses. It
was said, however, that he afterwards sent no more animals to the
market-place for sale.
According to Livingstone's account[48] the Makololo also believe that
certain people can transform themselves into animals, and they call such
persons "Pondoro." Livingstone came across a Pondoro in the Kebrasa
hills, and heard that this gentleman was in the habit of assuming the
shape of a lion which he retained for days and sometimes even for a
month, during which time he wandered in the woods where his wife had
built a den for him and took care that he was provided with food and
drink. No one was allowed into the den except the Pondoro and his wife,
and no strangers were permitted even to lay a gun against any of the
trees in the neighbourhood of the den, or against any shanty owned by
the Pondoro. The wer-lion used his gift to go hunting in the village.
After a few days had passed his faithful spouse scented her returning
husband and provided him with a certain kind of medicine or ointment by
which it became possible for him to change into a man again. But she had
to hurry over this duty, so that the lion might not catch sight of her
and, falling upon her, devour even her.
After the Pondoro was once more human he returned to the village and
asked the inhabitants to help him carry home his prey. One of the odd
things about this wer-lion was that he always trembled if he smelt
gunpowder, and he sometimes overacted his part. Livingstone asked the
natives to make him show off while he was watching, offering a reward
for the performance, but they refused, saying, "If we ask him to do
so, he may change while we are asleep and kill us." It was owing to
his distaste for the smell of gunpowder that it was made punishable to
rest muskets against his den.
In the same district the belief is also current that the souls of
departed chiefs enter into lions "and render them sacred." Thus when a
hungry lion prowled round the camp where a freshly killed buffalo lay,
a native servant harangued him loudly in between his roars, saying,
"What sort of a chief do you call yourself, sneaking round here in the
dark trying to steal our buffalo meat? You're a pretty chief, you are!
You've no more courage than a scavenger beetle. Why don't you kill
your own dinner?" The Pondoro took no notice except to roar the
louder, so a second native took the matter up and expostulated in more
dignified terms as to the impropriety of the conduct of "a great chief
like him" prowling round in the dark, "trying like a hyæna to steal
the food of strangers."
A piece of meat dipped in strychnine brought the lion-chief to his
senses and he took his departure. It is not to be wondered at that
such things occur in a country where the natives regard their chiefs
as almighty and infallible. The extent of their faith in him appears
from the story of one Chief Chibisa, who placed a powerful "medicine"
in the river and told his people they might safely enter the water as
it was a protection against the bite of crocodiles. Thereupon the
people bathed there without fear of these dangerous reptiles.
Du Chaillu, in "Ashango Land,"[49] tells the story of a young lad,
Akosho, who declared that he had been turned into a leopard, and
feeling a craving for blood had gone forth into the forest where he
had killed two men. After each murder he said he had taken on human
shape. His chief Akondogo could not believe the story, but Akosho led
him to the scene where lay the mangled bodies of the victims. It
appears that the boy suffered from lycanthropia, and he was burnt to
death in full view of the tribe.
Theophilus Waldmeier mentions a similar case of possession in which
the patient thought herself to be a hyæna.[50] One evening when he was
in his house at Gaffat a woman began to cry fearfully and run up and
down the road on her hands and feet like a wild beast, quite
unconscious of what she was doing. The natives said to him, "This is
the _Bouda_, and if it is not driven out of her she will die." A crowd
gathered round and everything possible was done to relieve her
condition, but without avail. She howled and roared in an unnatural
manner and most powerful voice. At last a blacksmith, who was said to
have secret connection with the evil one, was called in to see what he
could do. The woman obeyed his orders at once. He took hold of her
hand and dropped the juice of a white onion or garlic into her
nostril, and then he questioned the evil spirit, by whom she was
supposed to be possessed, as follows:
"Why did you possess this poor woman?"
"I was allowed to do so," came the answer through her lips.
"What is your name?"
"Gebroo."
"And your country?"
"Godjam."
"How many people have you already taken possession of?"
"Forty people--men and women."
"You must now leave this woman's body."
"I will do so on one condition."
"What is it?"
"I want to eat the flesh of a donkey."
The long cross-examination being concluded the evil spirit was granted
his strange request. A donkey was brought and the possessed woman ran
hastily upon the animal and bit the flesh out of the creature's back,
and though the donkey kicked and started off, she clung to it as
though fastened by leather thongs.
After the performance had continued for some time the man recalled the
woman, and a jar of prepared liquid with which much filth had been
mixed was set down in a hidden spot where she could not see it. When,
however, the exorcist exclaimed, "Go and look for your drink," she
started off on all fours to the place where the jar stood and drank
the whole of its contents.
When she returned, the blacksmith said, "Take up this stone." Although
the stone in question was too large for her to move under natural
conditions, she placed it on her head with ease and began spinning
round, until the stone flew off on one side and she fell on to the
ground. Then the exorcist said to the people round, "Take her away to
bed, the _Bouda_ has left her."
In a similar case the woman's symptoms began in a sort of
fainting-fit; her fingers were clenched in the palms of her hands, the
eyes were glazed, the nostrils distended and the whole body stiff and
inflexible. Suddenly a hideous laugh, like that of a hyæna, burst from
her and she began running about on all fours. The cure was brought
about in much the same way as in the preceding case.
Mr. Parkyns also tells the tale of a servant who was said to have
been bewitched by a blacksmith-hyæna. He evidently attempted to lure
her into the forest with the intention of devouring her.
One evening the howls and laughter of a hyæna were clearly heard from
the hut in which the sick woman lay bound and closely guarded. Her
master happened to be present, when he saw to his astonishment that she
rose "like a Davenport brother" freed from her bonds, and made an effort
to escape from the hut in answer to the call of the wild animal without.
That such proceedings were sometimes carried out for vicious ends not
unconnected with the slaying of human victims is proved by the
existence of the mysterious Human Leopard Society which Mr. T. J.
Alldridge writes about in "The Sherbro and Its Hinterland." The
society was founded for the purpose of obtaining the human fat used in
the preparation of a certain "medicine" mixed with Borfinor, the
resulting material being regarded as an all-powerful fetish.
Victims at first were relatives of the members of the society selected
at committee meetings, who were afterwards waylaid and slaughtered by a
man in the guise of a leopard. He plunged a three-pronged knife into the
unfortunate person's neck from behind, separated the vertebræ and caused
instant death. More victims were required, outsiders were made to join
the society by the expedient of giving them a dish in which, without
their knowledge, human flesh was cooked. Afterwards, on being informed
of the unpleasant fact, they were persuaded to join the society and told
they must furnish a victim as part of the initiation ceremony.
The members of the society rapidly increased in number but great
secrecy was observed, and it was impossible to bring the criminals to
justice. When questioned the victims declared that they had seen
nothing. The leopard sprang from the bush, and it merely seemed as
though a great wind had rushed by.[51]
Before seizing their victims the human leopards cover themselves with
the skin of the animal and imitate its roars. In the paws of the
leopard skin are fixed sharp-pointed knives shaped like a leopard's
claws, which are intended to inflict similar wounds, the better to
avoid unpleasant disclosure.
Many of the Indians in Guiana believe that "Kanaima" tigers are
possessed by human spirits who, as men, devote themselves to deeds of
cannibalism. Taking the shape of the jaguar they approach the lonely
sleeping-places, or waylay Indians in the forests. No superstition
causes more terror.
A legend exists among the natives about an old man who lurked in the
forest in the shape of a Kanaima tiger. His son, who was hunting, shot
the tiger down. His arrow, which was one of the old-fashioned sort,
tipped with bone, entered the animal's jaw. The tiger raised its paw,
broke off the weapon and vanished into the forest. The young huntsman
picked up the splintered arrow-head and returned home. Next day his
guilty father came back groaning, and cried out that his mouth was
"all on fire." The son drew from his cheek a bone which, oddly enough,
fitted into his splintered arrow-head. Then the son was very sorrowful
and said to his father that he must leave him and take his young wife
away too, for neither of them would be safe from the dread Kanaima
charm. This is a specimen of the "repercussion" stories, in which the
wound inflicted on the wer-animal appears in the human form.
FOOTNOTES:
[45] "Life and Adventures of Nathaniel Pearce," 1831. Ed. by J. J.
Halls. Vol. I, p. 288 n.
[46] 1868, pp. 300-1.
[47] _Ibid._, pp. 310-12.
[48] Livingstone, D. and C., "Narrative of an Expedition to the
Zambesi and its Tributaries," 1865, p. 159.
[49] p. 52.
[50] "Autobiography," 1886, pp. 64-6.
[51] 1901, pp. 153-9.