Icimamlilo is the name of a compound which is in use among the heathen Zulus in cases of murder or homicide, and so well is this known that if any person were found using it after a murder had been committed, that person would be strongly suspected of the crime. It consists of four or five kinds of very bitter roots, with pieces of the flesh of the following animals: a lion, a baboon, a jackal, a hyena, and an elephant, also a kind of hawk. All of these ingredients are essential, there are others which may be added, but which are not absolutely necessary. After all these things have been burnt to ashes and thoroughly mixed, the murderer or homicide swallows some of the powder, and mixing the rest with water sprinkles himself and goes off for a bathe; then the purification is complete, and any evil effects upon the system which, according to native superstition may follow the killing of a human being, are counteracted. This custom of purification is still strictly kept up by the heathen natives, as a preventive against their own death, which they believe might otherwise naturally take place as a consequence of having killed another.
About This Book
A collection of sketches and folk narratives records Zulu social customs, ceremonies, and beliefs as observed by a long-term resident. The author presents accounts of marriage rites, the handling of twins, sacrificial offerings to ancestral spirits, diviners and rain-makers, funeral observances, communal feasts, war preparations, and popular etiological tales about death and natural phenomena. Anecdotes and ethnographic commentary illustrate daily practices, songs, and the moral ambiguities surrounding witchcraft and healing, while occasional editorial notes clarify terms and compare local superstitions to wider traditions. The tone aims to convey native perspectives and the social logic behind customs rather than prescribe judgment.