554
affirmative answer is obtained to the question put if the hands of the diviner suddenly spring back to back.
Oaths are commonly sworn solely on the jiro grass, and every Mambila man of importance carries in his bag some of this grass wrapped up in a bundle of leaves. In any dispute he will produce the sacred grass, strike his breast thrice with it, and ask that the grass may "catch" him if he is at fault, and his opponent if the latter is at fault.
Jiro grass also plays a part in other magico-religious rites. Thus in some groups at sowing-time the village priest plants a small patch of millet, and then lays on the surface some of the sacred grass. If the millet springs up well it is a sign that the rite has been accepted and the priest then authorizes the people to begin planting. Otherwise the priest must perform a second ceremony. Before harvest the priest prepares a brew of beer from last year's millet with a few grains of the new year's millet intermixed. When the beer is ready he spits some of it on to a bundle of the sacred grass. A wisp of the grass is then handed to each farmer, who plants it on his farm. This ensures that the crop will increase and not diminish during the process of harvesting. [84]
At the village of Ngubin [85] 
the following rites are performed in January or February, when the harvested millets are formally consigned to the granaries. All heads of families prepare a brew of beer, and on the morning of the day when the beer matures they proceed at dawn to an open space in front of the Chief's compound, where there are three monoliths, one, regarded as a male, facing East, and the other two, regarded as females, facing West. There a priest proceeds to cook the flesh of a number of bush rats, and when this is done he hands a little of the meat to each man present, together with some porridge which had been prepared by his assistant (and not, as usual, by a woman). The priest then takes a calabash of beer and stands beside the monoliths. The most senior men take hold of the right arm of the priest. The others present place their right hands on the shoulders of the senior man or of their nearest neighbour, the intention being that one and all shall participate in the rites. The priest then speaks, saying: "We have deposited our corn in our granaries, and we beseech you to grant that, however little it may be, it may prove sufficient for our needs