On Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 02:18:18 p.m. CST, Adolfo Mascarenhas <[email protected]> wrote: Several hours later in the night, Dr Mesaki sent me a paper he had written on Kilwa, about 3 years ago .....I was impressed with his references and content ..... including witch craft practices in Pemba and an island close to Zanzibar
AdolfoMakongo Juu ...In Haven of Peace ------------------------------------------------------ Doc,In the era before GPS, we knew a local fisherman who could take us to unmarked fishing spots out of sight of the mainland. He would get us there by reading the wave direction in the open sea at that time of the year and he was very accurate. He did have superstitious tendencies though. For example, he would insist that there had to be an even number of females on board. This was a challenge at first because we did not know which of our friends would be bringing their wives/girlfriends on the trip. It was only on the morning of the fishing trip that we knew if we had an even number of females or not. If there was an uneven number of women on board, the problem could be solved by carrying a female cat on board. There was one incident when we arrived at a deserted island and found what seemed like bleached bones scattered on a beach with sand so bright that it hurt your eyes. A (medical) doctor with our group informed us that they were human bones and later on we found two skulls. We guessed that they must have been those of fishermen who drowned and later washed up on shore. The superstitious local guide wanted to pick up the skulls and we warned him to leave them where they were. To make a long story short, our boat ran out of fuel on the way home and when we went to look for the flares, we found that the flare bag had two skulls and no flares. Two years ago, I was passing the village near Kunduchi where the guide used to live and asked the person I was with if the fisherman/guide was still around. My friend told me that the old guide was no longer a fisherman but a famous "healer." So we stopped at his house and I got a picture of the "healer" and me, complete with him wearing a Gaudi shirt and chrome sunglasses. Mervyn
