552
was required [77] 
to pay compensation to the family of the accuser, which
had lost one or more members as the result of the guilty man's
witchcraft. It was stated that an accuser could save the life of
a guilty man (i.e. of one who did not immediately vomit) by
calling on the poison to leave the accused, saying: "Sasswood
[78] 
I thank
you, you have shown his guilt; come forth now and leave him." The
accused would then vomit, but he would suffer from illness
afterwards.
Compensation generally took the form of a small boy or girl,
who was handed over by the family of the unsuccessful
litigant[79] 
to that of the successful litigant. If the unsuccessful
litigant had been the offspring of an exchange marriage, then the
boy or girl given as compensation had also to be the offspring of
an exchange marriage, i.e. had to be a patrilineal relative of
the unsuccessful litigant. But if the unsuccessful litigant had
been the offspring of a marriage by purchase then the boy or girl
given as compensation had to be the offspring of a marriage by
purchase, i.e. had to be a matrilineal relative.
There is a charm against witchcraft[80] 
which is known as
Ngub Sho or the rites of the Ngub bark. The head of
a family, in order to safeguard his household, goes out to the
bush and obtains a piece of the bark of a certain tree known as
Ngub. On reaching home he keeps the bark concealed, for if
any woman should look on it would lose its virtue. He places the
piece of bark on the ground, covers it with a layer of the sacred
grass known as jiro, lays a chicken's head across the bark
and grass, and then cuts off the chicken's head. He next pares
off a little of the bark, places it in the beak of the chicken,
and buries the chicken's head at the entrance to his compound,
together with some of the jiro grass and the fruit of the
Gardenia ternifolia tree. Next he takes a bundle of straw,
lights it, and begins singing the chant used at the funeral rites
of a woman. At the conclusion of the chant he kneels down over
the buried head of the chicken and says: "I am a lover of my
fellow men and work mischief on no one. If any woman comes to
this house to kill me or any of my people by witchcraft may she
be killed, even as I now kill the fire of this torch." So saying,
he presses the grass torch against the ground until the light is
extinguished. He then lights another bundle of grass, and singing
the chant used at the burial rites of a man he utters a prayer
that if any
Plate 57
Mambila Warriors
Note to L hand photo: [81]